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foxgloveblue · 2 years ago

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pale in a liminal moon 🌙 chapter 20

Pairing: Grian/Scar

Tags: selkie AU, steampunk AU, enemies to lovers, slow burn

Summary: Scar has twenty-two minutes to find Grian.

Words: 4,768

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ao3 link || masterpost

The crowd felt alive.

The people themselves were obviously alive, but that wasn’t what he meant. The hundreds of guests milling about and chatting were each their own being – each an individual with their own life, own motivations for being there.

Normally, Scar reveled in these differences. It was almost like a game to him. With a few observations and careful words, could he dissect their life story? Could he connect with them, find a mutual understanding? Could he gain advantages, use their own nature against them?

Such thoughts, usually the crux of his galas, were now nonexistent. He couldn’t help but view each person as just another feature of the landscape – jewels, silks, bustles, tailcoats, all as uninteresting as an individual cobble of a road.

And yet that cobble was alive. Shifting, pressing, bumping. Talking to each other, talking to him. The party wasn’t even close to the height of revelry that Scar had seen before. People were still relatively sober. No untoward scandals had yet occurred. Nether, the dancing hadn’t even begun. And yet, the chatter of voices was somehow more deafening than Scar had ever heard before. Searching for Grian felt less like wandering through a crowded room and more like being swallowed whole.

It wasn’t just that people were in his way. Some were actively reaching for him – sometimes with words, sometimes even with their hands, grasping his shoulders, his arms. One even had the audacity to grasp his hand where he held his cane, as if physically trying to prevent him from walking away. He had wasted valuable moments wrenching free and barking out something quite curt, wishing he had the time to take an aside with his guards and have her escorted out.

Time. Time, time, time – that was really the crux of it. He had no time at all.

He checked his watch, something he had surely done more in the past precious few minutes more than the entire week beforehand. Only seventeen minutes left. Less when he considered that he had agreed to meet with Mumbo five minutes before his speech if he didn’t manage to find Grian himself.

The worst part, however, was the uncertainty. With every mask he glanced over, every turn of his eye, he worried that he had just… passed Grian over. It would be so easy, wouldn’t it? He had no idea what his mask was, and even if he did, the constant swell and shift of people made every glance fleeting.

And that wasn’t even considering the very real possibility that Grian wasn’t here at all. That he was hiding away in some other room, swimming in the garden pool, sequestered away with Jellie or Grumbot, waiting for this entire foolish affair to pass. Even though Scar would be shocked at Grian’s willingness to throw away his freedom, it wouldn’t… it wouldn’t be the first time that Grian surprised him.

Scar cursed under his breath. He was getting too lost in thought. He could talk it out with Grian after he found him.

There was a soft tug at his sleeve. Scar instinctively yanked his hand away, turning on his heel to chew out whoever had the gall to touch him this time.

He came to face a heavyset, dark-haired man, slightly shorter than himself. His mask was some kind of… blue imp? It was frustratingly familiar, but Scar couldn’t seem to place it.

“Sorry, sir, but I’m in a hurry.” Scar barked out, already pushing past the man.

This time, the man’s grip was more forceful. “Scar.”

Scar froze. Oh, shit.

He turned back, actually looking. “Cub?”

Cub let out a sigh, folding his arms. “I can’t believe you ‘sir’ed me.”

Scar scratched the back of his neck. “I… I didn’t recognize you.” It was more that he just couldn’t believe Cub had actually come. They hadn’t spoken since their little outing – Scar had figured his appearance at Joe and Cleo’s was, well… an excuse to talk to him.

“Clearly. I don’t think you’ve ever been so simultaneously respectful and rude.”

Scar laughed at that, some of the tension draining away. “Sorry, sorry. I honestly figured you weren’t coming.”

“I promised, didn’t I?”

“I… suppose you did.” Scar couldn’t help it – he checked his watch. Fifteen minutes. “Listen, Cub, I really am happy to see you; but I actually do have to go. We can catch up after my speech, I promise.”

“I actually have some rather urgent business with you.”

Scar blinked. “You… you do?”

“Yep. There’s someone I want you to talk to.”

Someone…? Cub wouldn’t be so insistent about a business proposition – or so mysterious. The only explanation that Scar could think of was that Cub was, well… involved with someone.

It was almost enough to make Scar laugh, but he stopped himself. Not so long ago, he had trouble picturing himself with any romantic involvements. Was the idea of Cub finding someone really so strange?

Of course, that might not be it at all. It didn’t help that Cub was hard to read on the best of days, let alone when he was wearing a mask.

Regardless of what it was, Scar still had the same answer for him.

“Whoever they are, they’ll have to wait.”

“Scar…”

“I promise I’ll come talk to them later!” Scar called out, already rushing through the crowd.

Cub moved as if to stop him again, but this time Scar was too quick, managing to slip into the crowd. Even that was odd – Cub wasn’t one to push like that. Not him, anyway.

Scar shook his head. He couldn’t worry about it right now. Whatever was going on with Cub could wait – it had to wait.

As if summoned by that thought, he heard a voice call out – “Scar?”

He tried to duck away – just another person to avoid. “Hey! SCAR! Get your sorry butt over here!”

For the second time that night, he froze with sudden recognition. Whirling on his heel, he scanned the crowd for any sign of his friend.

His eyes landed on a rather short figure, clad in a lovely green velvet cloak that looked almost like moss, and a truly horrific mask. He grimaced as Bdubs approached.

“Did you have to wear that mask? Again?” he complained as soon as Bdubs was close enough to speak at a normal tone.

“I like the mask!” Bdubs huffed, adjusting it so he could peer up at Scar. If Scar were forced to describe it, he would say that it was similar to the prototypical comedy theater mask, except far more grotesque. It was made of solid brass, but the mask somehow looked alive. The smile was stretched to the limits of the face. Patina patterning the metal so that it ironically looked like there were tear tracks cutting across the mask’s visage. Worst of all, however, were the eyes – rather than a mirthful upturn, the eyes were just wide and staring, repulsive in its mismatch.

Scar hated it. He had always hated it, and Bdubs’ insistence on continuing to wear it had not lessened his hatred in the slightest.

He, however, currently had more important things to worry about.

“Have you seen Grian?” he asked, not quite managing to keep the desperation out of his voice.

Bdubs cocked his head. “As a matter of fact, I have.”

Scar’s heart soared. Unable to contain himself, he grasped Bdubs firmly by the shoulders, practically shaking him in his excitement. “Where? Where is he?”

“Jeez, Scar, chill out!” Bdubs huffed in annoyance. “Saw him by the wet bar, nursing a glass of… something. ‘S why I wanted to talk to you, actually. Looked pretty down.”

As soon as his good mood had come, it evaporated. Grian getting drunk easily was an endearing trait when they had been on vacation – now that Scar wanted to have an honest, very serious conversation with him, it was a recipe for disaster.

Not to mention the fact that Grian had to give a speech in front of hundreds and hundreds of people.

“I need to talk to him.”

“Uh, duh.” Bdubs laughed, though he didn’t sound very amused. “I was worried that you already had, and it had gone awfully.”

“No, no. I haven’t said anything to him. But I clearly need to.” Scar instinctively straightened his back, fiddling with his cravat. “What’s he wearing?”

“You don’t know?” Bdubs tsked. “Dark red cloak. Seal mask. I’d say he’s impossible to miss, but… well, he has a lot of competition.”

A seal. It seemed obvious, but Scar hadn’t wanted to assume. Grian so often surprised him. He had been ready for him to be wearing… a macaw mask or something, just to throw him off.

Though maybe it was comforting in some way – just for tonight, he could be a seal again.

He shook himself out of the thought. “Thank you, thank you so much.” He exclaimed, giving Bdubs a cursory handshake before pushing past him.

“You still owe me that paycheck!” Bdubs called after him, though he was quickly swallowed by the fray. Scar made a mental note to double what he had been planning on giving him.

The wet bar wasn’t too far from here. He checked his watch. Eleven minutes. Not enough time for a proper conversation, but certainly enough time to reassure him that he was ready to talk, to apologize, to make it right. Enough to soothe Scar’s frayed emotions.

Tilting his head up, he could see the dark wood of the wet bar, art nouveau frame curving as it grew into the wall. He was so close, surely only seconds away from seeing Grian –

His sightline was suddenly cut off by a tall, long-haired man, standing resolutely between him and the wet bar. He was about to ask – not so politely – for the man to move when a second figure stepped in front of him as well.

The appearance of this second figure was so surprising that for a moment, the words died in his throat. She was a short woman, dark brown hair tied up in a fashionable, elaborate hairdo that even had fresh-cut flowers tucked into the whorls and braids. There were even real flowers on her dress, pinned between bunches of pale pink silk.

Her dress was much wider and more elaborate than most of his guests – a sure sign that she wasn’t from Cambria, where the dresses had been getting sleeker and more modest. Vindouxian, no doubt, which spelled trouble.

That little revelation was far from the most notable thing, however. Scar’s skin crawled as his eyes were naturally drawn to her mask. In a horrific contrast to the rest of her outfit, her mask was a snarling monster, too-many teeth bared in a gut-churning grin, features somewhere between human and… not.

Its horns, however, were decorated in green ribbon and pretty flowers. That was a nice touch.

“Mr. Scar,” the woman said in a heavy Vindouxian accent, confirming Scar’s suspicions. “May I have a moment of your precious time?”

If only she knew how precious that time was. Scar had to resist the urge to check his watch again.

Instead he bowed slightly. “May I speak to the madame after my speech? I have some urgent business to attend to.”

“Ah, but Mr. Scar, I’m afraid I insist. It is the contents of this speech that concern me – no, concern all of Vindoux.”

Scar’s heart sank. “Are you the wife of the diplomat?” Truth be told, he was a little surprised. The diplomat was a rude and cantankerous man. Despite his prestige and power, Scar had difficulty imagining any woman actually settling down with him, but if anyone were to… this woman certainly exuded some powerful air of control.

She cocked her head. “The monsieur is unfortunately feeling rather unwell tonight, so I came in his stead. I am his eventual successor – I’m rather surprised that you haven’t heard of me. The lady diplomat of Vindoux is quite the cause for chatter in this country.”

Scar was very grateful that his mask was full-faced – his cheeks were definitely burning. He had always thought of himself as rather progressive, but he supposed old biases died hard.

He bowed again, ducking his chin. “Forgive my rude assumption, madame .”

She tittered, producing a fan from… somewhere, fluttering the delicate, lacy contraption in front of her face. “You’re forgiven. Not everyone reacts as gracefully as you.”

She then turned, glancing back at the man who Scar now presumed to be her bodyguard. “ Ma chérie , leave us for a moment – I wish to speak with him alone.”

He hesitated. “But madame… ”

Oh. Not ‘he’ at all. At this point, Scar felt about ready to crawl into a hole. At least this time he hadn’t managed to put his foot in his mouth.

Though honestly, he could be forgiven for his assumption. She was certainly dressed like a man. Her long, blonde hair was tucked back in a no-nonsense bun, more suited for a working woman than a fancy party. More damning was, of course, her suit. The only times he had seen women wearing pants were the few militaries that allowed female soldiers, and even then, they usually had long coats that looked almost like a pseudo-dress.

Even her mask was, well, masculine. It was clearly a bald eagle, each feather meticulously sculpted as if to be as sharp and off-putting as possible, beak gleaming gold in the light; though Scar supposed it didn’t hold a candle to her companion’s mask in terms of fear factor.

“I insist,” the diplomat said, snapping Scar out of his momentary distraction. “I want to have an honest conversation. No intimidation.”

She lovingly ribbed her companion, who still seemed hesitant. Nevertheless, after a moment, the tall woman bowed. “Of course, madame. I will be waiting for you.”

With that proclamation, she disappeared into the crowd, melting away as easily as a shadow.

“Now then.” The diplomat said, snapping her fan closed. “To business. What was this I heard about your Solvan fiancé?”

“Husband.” Scar automatically corrected, then flinched. Void, his husband. The man he very desperately needed to talk to; the task he was rapidly running out of time for.

She made a noise. “Husband, then. Mr. Scar, do I need to remind you of your neutrality agreement?”

She did not. It was one of the reasons he so very desperately needed to give a speech.

At the beginning of ConCorp’s involvement in the war, Scar had signed an agreement to sell weapons to both sides of the conflict, with no exclusivity promises – other than, of course, the exclusivity that came with selling to the highest bidder. It was an arrangement that often benefitted Vindoux. It was simply a wealthier country.

No doubt she was scared to lose that edge.

“ Madame, all of this will be addressed in my speech. If you are really so worried about it, then let me assure you right now, my marriage was purely for love. There is no business about it.”

“You say that, but how can you promise it?” There was an inescapable edge to her voice, a driving, demanding force. “Even if it was truly for love and love only, can you really say that your husband’s country means nothing to you?”

“It doesn’t.” Scar said flatly, then froze.

His vision had melted away. No longer was he gazing down at the cross diplomat of Vindoux. Instead, he saw beauty.

A stark, craggy mountain range, dusted in snow. A thick forest in autumn, red and gold leaves turning the light rich and otherworldly. An entire ocean turned to ice, each crack an opportunity for fishing, for living . Solhav.

But the vision didn’t end there. A cold north gave way to a mellow south. Grand moors, dotted with flowers and cut open by trenches of white chalk. Beaches not so dissimilar from the one below Scar’s manor, water pale but holding secrets of great beauty. Cambria.

He even saw rows of vineyards and orchards, felt the wonderful crush of sweet juice in his mouth as he swiped plums off of trees. Vindoux.

And just as he had that thought –

The orchards were on fire. Acres of trees, turned to jagged black skeletons, fingers reaching desperately for a reprieve that would not come. The ruins of buildings, of entire towns – hundreds of years extinguished in the matter of seconds. The cold water of a ocean, far from here, littered with the ruins of boats and bodies, the desperation with which his lover clung onto life –

Scar gasped, shaking his head as the visions faded away. What… what had just happened?

More memories. There was no other explanation – he had experienced another foray into Grian’s mind. But why? What triggered it? It felt almost like karmic retribution, a rebuttal to his callousness.

But even still, why Vindoux? He had no idea Grian had even been there. Surely if he was being punished for not caring for Solhav, he wouldn’t be shown its enemy.

“Mr. Scar?” the diplomat called uncertainly, snapping him out of his haze. “Are you alright?”

“Yes, sorry, just – just got lost in thought.” He took a grounding breath, rubbing his finger over the smooth metal of his pocket watch. He could worry about… whatever that was some other time.

“Look, madame, the neutrality agreement is already in ink. I can’t give much stronger of a promise than being legally bound to follow my word, and certainly not at a party. All I can offer you is this; I have no plans to go back on my agreement, and if you’re still not satisfied, you can take it up with ConCorp’s lawyers. They’ll tell you the same thing.”

She hummed, clearly not thrilled by his answer – and yet she didn’t press further.

“Now, I really must take my leave. Perhaps I will see madame and her chérie later tonight over hors d'oeuvres ?”

She opened her fan with another clat – this time, the flutters had a distinctly embarrassed edge to them. “Perhaps. Though don’t think you’re off the hook yet.”

“Noted.” Scar said, bowing his head.

As he straightened, finally walking past her and towards his destination, his mind couldn’t help but wander back to his vision. Had he been reaching out inadvertently? Or maybe it had been Grian, opening himself up for the first time in days.

That was almost certainly just wishful thinking; the bond had been horribly still for days. Cut off from each other, from themselves. Not surprising, but… it still felt terrible.

It should’ve just been a return to normal – after all, Scar had lived the first thirty-two years of his life without experiencing anything like it. And yet… that bond, that connection between them, was so sweet, so unforgettable, that its absence was all the more torturous.

If Grian had opened himself up, even just a little… maybe there was still hope.

Scar checked his pocket watch, cursing under his breath. Four minutes. Not enough time for a conversation. Nether, it probably wasn’t even enough time to get to the stage – as the hour drew nearer, the excitement was palpable, making it even more difficult to get through the crowd.

But even just seeing him beforehand, reassuring him that he wanted to reach out, to make some amends…

Scar stopped.

There weren’t many people at the wet bar. A couple sitting at the edge, chatting away. A man already slumped over, head in hands. The bartender, cleaning a glass.

None of them wore a red cloak. None of them were Grian.

Scar’s heart plummeted.

He made his way to the bar as if in a dream, not even feeling the plush velvet beneath him as he sat at one of the stools. He just stared, unseeing, at the dark whorls of the wooden bar.

He had been too late. And now it was all for nothing.

He wouldn’t be able to save his reputation – not without Grian. The rumors would just continue, compounding into greater, more lascivious lies.

And yet… Scar couldn’t manage to muster up any kind of feelings about that other than a dull apathy. The worry that had been haunting him for weeks – no. Had been haunting him for years.

He tried to really picture it, picture the consequences. Scandal, dissolution of ConCorp, going completely broke, losing everything. It all barely registered.

All he cared about was Grian.

“Mr. Scar?” Oh. The bartender.

He managed to drag his gaze up. The bartender had his head cocked as he gazed down at Scar, concerned expression plain behind his small blue half-mask.

Right. He knew this bartender, didn’t he? He had certainly been hiring the same person for every gala – much easier that way.

“Keralis.” he finally managed to reply, digging the name out of the recesses of his mind after an awkward few seconds.

“My, my.” Keralis clicked his tongue. “You are the second-saddest fishie I’ve seen tonight.”

“Axolo’ls aren’ fish.” A voice beside him slurred. Startled, Scar turned towards its source, and was even more surprised to see that he now recognized the man as Xisuma.

He was wearing a startlingly pink suit, complete with a strange mask that appeared to have some kind of… fronds sticking out of the side. Scar supposed that he was supposed to be an ‘axolo’l’, though he had no idea what that was.

It certainly didn’t help that Xisuma’s natural north Cambrian accent was out in full force, making him even harder to understand. He usually repressed it for fear of looking uncultured, but Scar supposed being drunk unlocked all sorts of things.

“Orcas aren’t fish either.” Scar ran his finger morosely over the fine wooden grain of the bar. “They’re not even whales. Isn’t that funny? They’re called ‘killer whales’, but scientists say they’re dolphins. Guess ‘killer dolphin’ doesn’t have the same ring to it.”

Keralis put his hands on his hips. “Well, aren’t you just a pair of smarty-pants. Fine then. You’re the saddest killer dolphin I’ve seen tonight.”

Scar managed to laugh at that.

“M’kay. So, what’ll it be?”

Scar sighed. What he needed was to bite the bullet, get up off this bar stool, and go give his speech. Instead, he just said “Whiskey neat. Whatever you have is fine.”

Keralis laughed. “My my, Mr. Scar. It’s like you’ve forgotten that you have the entire world at your fingertips.”

Xisuma cocked his head. “Don’ listen to him. He jus’ wants to make a frui’y cocktail.”

“Oh, hush up, Shashwammy.” Keralis tutted. Nevertheless, within a moment, Keralis had poured a plain glass of whiskey, sliding it to Scar with a flourish.

Scar reached behind his head, undoing the ribbons that held his mask in place. After a moment, it fell away from his face, and Scar placed it in his lap. The orca stared back at him, teeth still gleaming.

Scar brought the whiskey up to his lips, and despite it undoubtedly being a rather fine liquor, he could barely taste it. Just felt the fire going down.

“Mm. Very sad indeed.” Keralis said thoughtfully. “What has you so down, Mr. Scar?”

Scar swirled the contents of his glass. “Have you seen Grian? Wearing a seal mask, red cloak?”

Keralis cocked his head. “Sure. Was here just a few minutes ago. Went off with a woman.”

Oh.

A woman. Scar shouldn’t be surprised – they weren’t even in a relationship, let alone an exclusive one. It was completely within Grian’s right to enjoy some company at a party.

Didn’t make him feel any better about it.

Scar hadn’t realized it was possible to feel worse than he had, but tonight was apparently a time of new lows.

“Who is he, anyway?” Keralis asked, genuine curiosity in his tone. “Talked to me in Solvan. Interesting fella.”

“He’s my husband.” Scar said mournfully, staring at his drink.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Mr. Scar.” Keralis replied, sounding genuinely remorseful.

“‘S okay.” Scar managed. “Our relationship is complicated. I was just… I don’t know. I was hoping to talk to him.”

“Well, you still can.” Keralis encouraged. “He almost certainly hasn’t gone far.”

“No point. Had to talk to him before my speech in…” Scar pulled out his watch. “Two minutes ago.”

“Mr. Scar!” Keralis admonished. “You need to get going! There are journalists who are waiting for you!”

Scar groaned, dropping his head into his hands. “I know. Believe me, I know.”

“Stage fright?”

Scar managed a derisive snort. “Hardly. I’ve faced those vultures many, many times before. I just… I can’t bring myself to care.”

A sudden banging noise startled him, and he whipped around to face the source. Xisuma had slammed his pint glass against the table, some of the ale inside sloshing onto the surface of the bar table.

“Sashwammy…” Keralis started, a clear tone of warning in his voice.

Xisuma ignored him. “Mr. Scar… how can you say tha’?”

Scar blinked in shock. Was Xisuma… angry? Was he getting angry? At him?

When Scar didn’t respond, X just barreled on. “How could you say that? After all of this – after all of the last minu’e changes, the nether you put me an’ my team through, the funding you pulled – how could you say you don’t care?”

Scar just blinked stupidly. He had never seen Xisuma like this. He had seen him drunk before, certainly. Nether, X seemed to get drunk at most HEP galas. Something about being glad it was finally over. But this… this was something else entirely. Some facet of his personality that Scar had seemingly dragged into the light.

“Are all the things they say true?” there was an edge of desperation to his words now. “That you founded HEP as a vani’y project? That you only care about your reputation? What’s the truth, Scar? What is it?”

“I…” Scar started. He swallowed thickly. “I… I did care. I do care. About HEP, I mean. The environment. All of it. I just… I lost focus of what was really important.”

“If you care, then go up there!” Xisuma swung his arms wildly. “Go beg from donations from your rich friends. Do wha’ good you can.”

Scar ducked his head. He really had screwed X over – taking over what should be his ball, forcing donations to go towards his selfish project rather than raising any money for actual conservation.

It was too late to change any of that now. But it wasn’t too late for the truth.

“It… it doesn’t matter.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean… the donations don’t matter. This whole ball – no. The project itself. It doesn’t matter. Not the way you want it to. The marine research facility, when completed and utilized as planned, would have… maybe twenty percent of its operations dedicated to discovery and conservation. The rest would go towards weapon development.”

Xisuma was silent for a moment. “Why… why are you telling me this?”

Scar shrugged, shaking his head. “You asked for the truth. Maybe I wanted to try telling it for once.”

There was a long beat of silence. Xisuma took a deep, deep swig of his ale. “You’re no’ gonna have me killed or somethin’, right?”

“I’ll be honest, X, I have bigger fish to fry.”

“Not a fish.” Keralis corrected, startling Scar – he had somehow forgotten the man was even there.

He was once again surprised, this time by Xisuma bursting into too-loud laughter. Harsh cackles that shook his entire frame, which rapidly dissolved into awful sobs.

“Oh, Sashwammy…” Keralis sighed, leaning over to pat the man on the shoulder, who was inconsolably wailing into his mug.

Void. He must’ve lost his edge – giving concessions to diplomats, working up previously loyal employees to the point of tears, not even managing to gain an audience with his own damn husband.

At this point, Scar wanted nothing more than to crawl back to his room and sleep the rest of the night off.

But he had made promises, hadn’t he? Promises to the diplomat – void, he hadn’t even caught her name – promises to his friends, promises to himself.

He knocked back the rest of his whiskey, nearly choking on the fiery liquid as it ran down his throat. The clink of his glass felt like a death knell.

He went to put his mask back on, but something stopped him. Instead, he just placed it on the bar’s surface, the empty eyes of the orca staring back at him.

He was out of time. Had been out of time for a while. Whether he liked it or not, the only way out was through.

#scarian #hermitshipping #hermitshipblr #hermitcraft fanfic #pialm #my art #my writing

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cupidbedsy · 2 months ago

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𝙨𝙥𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙚𝙖 ; 𝘩𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 ୨୧

➪ summary: 3 times where y/n needs to tell her brothers about the drama going on at her school no matter where they are or who they're with

➪ warnings: stupid high school drama, reader is teased, luke embarrassing the reader, that's it i think (this is mostly dialogue)

➪ word count: 1.5k

➪ file type: new fic (baby bear universe affilate)

➪ sunny's notes: just a quick little funny fic that i came up with, the next baby bear fic (or at least just fic in general for the hughes bros) will be kind of sad i think but that'll come out later, probably after my birthday celly (WHICH IS A WEEK FROM THURSDAY!)

hughes brothers masterlist || nhl masterlist || taglist || navigation

⟹ quick recap (feat. brock) ; quinn - 24, reader - 18 ; november of 2023

Quinn hadn’t realized his phone had rung. It was only until Brock stood next to him and was handing him his phone, “It’s your sister. She said she really needs to talk to you.”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “Huh? Why’d she call you? Wait how’d she get your number?”

Then he heard a mumbled voice, “It doesn’t matter, just put the phone to your ear Quintin or call me.”

Brock hung up after being told to and Quinn called back on his, hearing her sad voice enter his ear, “Anna and Neil broke up.”

Quinn shook his head, “Who?”

“You know, Neil Castro and Anna Cunningham? They broke up bro. They were end game too! THis is so rigged.”

“Wait wait, who? You can’t just give me names, y/n/n.” He started walking out of the locker room, grabbing his keys from his back pocket.

“Anna is one of the girls on the team with me and Neil is one of the guys on the football team. They were endgame. I swear I told you about them.”

“Oh is he the one who got you all to do that one cheesy promposal thing last year?”

“Yes! I can’t believe they broke up Quinn, I have no hope for finding a relationship if they didn’t last. Love isn’t real.”

Quinn just chuckled as he got into his car and started driving out of the parking lot, “I’m sure you’ll find someone, y/n/n. Just give it time.”

“You sound like every taken girl who is trying to reassure her single best friend that there’s someone out there for her.” She groaned loudly, “Anway. Other drama I need to catch you up on.”

“Hit me.”

“So David and Pen got together, he asked her out after her game the other day.”

“Is Pen the one who kind of looks like Merida.”

“Yep. And I found out that this guy likes me. Which before you say a single word Quintin, he looks like Jack and I would not like to date someone who looks like my brother thank you very much.”

“Okay then…”

“And he’s a total creep, one time Ruby found him starring at us during practice, like just sitting in the bleachers.”

“Yep I retract my statement that I never said.”

For the next twenty minutes, y/n gets Quinn caught up on all the drama happening, even if it’s the smallest bit of drama, she still needs him to know about it.

“Okay I have homework to do. Bye Quinn!”

“Bye y/n/n.”

ﾟ +*:୨୧:*﹤

⟹ who told who w/ the new jersey devils ; jack - 20, reader - 15 ; september of 2021

The unexpected running of a phone made the rest of the guys who were in the locker room jump. Each one fumbled for their phones, Jack coming up the lucky one. However, he groaned when he saw who was calling him, “Who is it?”

“My sister.” He threw his jacket on before answering the call, “Hey.”

“Jack oh my god!”

He furrowed his eyebrows, “What’s wrong?”

“‘What’s wrong?’ Nothing. Well, that’s not true, but nothing’s wrong with me personally. I have just have news.”

“Okay…? “ He put it on speaker and placed it on the bench before continuing to put his shoes on.

“So basically, I was in class today and this guy came in.”

“Wait you’re on speaker.”

“Who’s there?”

“Uh Nico, Kevin, Dougie, Daws, Jesper.”

“Oh okay! Ask them if they want to hear the drama!”

Jack eyes his teammates who all shrugged and took a seat near his phone, “Talk away little Hughes.”

She grinned, “This guy came into class today and he had a homecoming poster.”

“Did someone ask you to homecoming?” “What’s homecoming?” “What’d the sign say?”

“Okay okay, hold. Jack; no one asked me to homecoming, Nico; homecoming is a week where kids who graduate can come home, there’s a game on Friday and then on Saturday we have a dance, and Daws; the sign said ‘Would you be my chick at Hoco’ with the Chick-Fil-A logo and food from there.”

They all nodded their heads, her answers fulfilling their questions, “Okay proceed.”

“So Dylan, that’s the guy's name, asked Elizabeth to homecoming but here’s the catch he was still quote-unquote dating Layla.”

“What an ass!” “Sleazy.”

“I know right, but that’s not all.”

The 6 exchange looks at each other, all slowly growing more intrigued by the second, “Go on.”

“Dylan’s about to get sleazier. So Elizabeth was the girl his best friend had a crush on, his best friend was Brandon, and Brandon was going to ask her out to homecoming with the same poster on the same day just later.

”It doesn’t end there. I heard from Shannon, you know who she is Jack, she’s my best friend. Anyway, I heard from Shannon who heard from Brenda who heard from her brother Liam, who heard from his girlfriend Chloe, who heard from Addison that Layla was going to break up with Dylan to ask Brandon to hoco. So I guess Layla wasn’t hurt by it but still, that’s fucking shitty.”

The boys all nodded wordlessly, trying to keep up with all the information that was being thrown at them. Kevin finally spoke, “Aren’t you just a sophomore?”

“That is totally besides the point, Kevin. But these are seniors fyi.”

“And how do you have all the senior drama?”

“One they’re popular, Two I have connections.”

“Connections huh?” Nico’s voice filled her room.

“Yes connections, Nico. I am a very popular girl contrary to people’s belief.”

“Aww, little shy y/n all popular with a bunch of friends.” Jack teases.

“Okay this is not why I called, I’m hanging up now! Bye, boys.”

“Wait wait wait!”

“Yes, Douglas?”

“Next time shit happens I want to know, I’ll have Jack send you my number.”

“Aye aye, captain.”

“Uh excuse me, I’m captain.”

“Mhm, I’m aware. You’re all Jack talks about, it’s always Nico this and Nico That.” Y/n mocks.

“Goodbye Y/n!”

“Bye Jacky!”

ﾟ +*:୨୧:*﹤

⟹ caught up in it (and so are the umich guys?) ; luke - 19, reader - 16 ; september of 2022

Luke was lounging on the couch surrounded by most of his team members when he got her call. At first, he was hesitant to answer it because he didn’t have the energy to do much but the voice in the back of his mind told him to answer anyway.

“What’s up, y/n/n?”

“Luke! Okay so, big news. Like massive.”

She could hear his groan on the other side, “Don’t give me that. You’re going to want to hear this. Put me on FaceTime!”

He rolled his eyes but did as instructed. He propped his phone against his water bottle, “Say hi to everyone.”

Everyone’s head popped into the frame and she waved excitedly, “Hi! Oh! You guys are going to want to hear this too.”

Her words caused all of them to scoot closer to Luke to see her better, watching as she talked animatedly, “So apparently wait do you remember Clara and Ruby?”

Luke nodded his head while the others shrugged cluelessly, Luke clueing them in on who people were “Right, so Clara and Ruby have been beefing since like freshman year for no fucking reason.”

“Language.”

“Would you stop with that, I’m eighteen, Lukas.”

“Almost eighteen, y/n. Now continue before I hang up.

She whined, making the others laugh but continued, “We were at practice before the game and suddenly Ruby knocks on my card window with tears streaming down her face.”

Y/n took a sip of her water before going on, “And what happened was that Clara was talking shit about me and Ruby was not having it so-”

“Wait what’d she say about you?” Rutger chimed in from behind Luke.

The girl only shrugged, “No clue, still trying to find that part out. All I’ve heard is that it was pathetic and douchey, so probably not something vary good.”

This caused all the boys’ eyes to narrow at her, “Are you lying?”

“What no? That’s preposterous.”

Luke rolled his eyes, “Tell us.”

“She called me a slut.”

This only made Luke bark out a laugh, “That’s impossible. You haven’t even had your first kiss yet.”

Y/n blushed a bright shade of red, murkiness, “That’s besides the point, Luke. And why do you always have to embarrass me in front of your friends.”

She buried her head into her hands, not daring to look at them. The boys chuckled before Adam spoke, “Don’t worry, we still find you adorable.”

She only blushed harder at his words, Luke hitting him in the arm, “Dude that’s my sister.”

After a few minutes of awkward silence, y/n finally remembered why she called them in the first place, “Right anyway, back to the entire reason we’re talking in the first place.

“Ruby yelled at Clara, like badly but then she talked to Caldwell, one of our coaches, and she’s not in trouble so that’s good. But jeez, I swear yesterday couldn’t have been more chaotic.”

“Well thanks for the update?”

Even though she knew his voice was sarcastic, she still smiled, “Anytime. Now I have to go tell Jack because I know he’s getting out of practice and the last time I told him something Nico and Dougie were there and they wanted to know everything.”

𝗛𝗨𝗚𝗛𝗘𝗦 𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 ୨୧

please message me if you didn't get tagged!

@toasttt11 @chiblackhawks @nicole01-23 @shawnshoney @auriesphantom @dancerbailey3 @quinnylouhughesx43 @petite-potato4 @thehuggybearslover @absolutelyhugh3s @kei943 @dyslecticdutchman @delilahhcky

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hayakawalove · 6 months ago

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PLEASE you’re the sweetest of hearts!! leme wipe those tears for kitten uWu! we can put bows in suguru’s hair and tie it up all pretty for the heat! I hope you have cool weather and lots of shade, yummy drinks, and sweet treats <3. I’m rly happy you have lots of time for writing and can’t wait for what’s coming!

In high school i would go travel, practice outside and compete in the midwest for dance in the summer LAWD the heat is real 😵‍💫. Now my aging self will simply perish in sunlight for more than 5 mins LASJSJKSSKSK.

Roblox is saur fun!! I started playing w my bestie during the pandemic and its all sorts of jokes XD. There’s a dress up game I love but the kids vote unfair im like ⁉️ bc how did i get 6th in a 2000s theme as brittney spears in her jean dress 🤨 im being set up i fear!

YESS i will take sm photos and vids! I acc gotta get my hot girl transformation ready since its next week 🗿 I wanna cosplay as ace from one piece for the concert :DD id def send u pics/vids if u wants hehe!!

Thank you again for being your kind, wonderful self and sharing your amazing works!! I can’t wait to yap more about my sugu hyperfixation w you<3 have a wonderful weekend!! I would drop a pic of coquette suguru but mobile asks are so weird to format -.-

-🗿

JDJDKDJFK SO ARE YOU! And I agree we should put bows in his hair. I think suguru is very. Doesn’t care OKFKEKDJDOD like I think if you were like suguru :)) can I paint your nails? Suguru :)) can I curl your hair? He’d be like yeah okay. Side note I find it so hot when straight cis men are like that. I think a lot of them don’t want to be associated with femininity, so when one of them doesn’t care what you do it makes me so ODJODJFOEJFK. AND THATS SO SWEET I have been eating so good lately honestly…. I have a very bad sweet tooth so I really need to try. Not doing that KDJDKDJDK i fear it will cause problems for me later on…. IM SO EXCITED TO SHARE THE WRITING WITH YOU!

OH WOW what kind of dance? I bet it does get hot over there. AND RIGHT SIJDKDJFKDK I can’t be in the sun for more than 2 minutes without losing it

IM SO GLAD YOURE HAVING FUN PLAYING IT and that is such a scam cause that is the biggest 2000s outfit I can think of!

ACE IS SO COOL I would love to see pics! I won’t post them if you don’t want me to but I’m sure you will look wonderful! Be safe though, concerts can have some weirdos.

YOURE SO SWEET I am so grateful to have you as a reader! And yes I love talking about suguru with you you just Understand him. I APPRECIATE YOU and HERES A COQUETTE SUGURU it’s very bad but. IDKFKDKDK

#asks #🗿 anon #twirling my hair #calling me kitten omg what are we #IM KIDDING #YOU ARE SO KIND ALWAYS

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thenomadinside · 10 years ago

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Welcome to Atlanta: Definitely in the South

Back in mid-January, I made a spontaneous last minute decision to visit a close friend in Atlanta, GA. This long-awaited excursion down to the South had been an ongoing discussion amongst my friend group for approximately two years but it all never amounted to anything except talk and speculation! Our musing had dragged on two years too long but in the end, I’m glad that we were finally about to make this trip a reality.

We decided to only spend a long weekend there, so not a whole lot of time to explore but just enough to get a taste of the South. I find it truly a fascinating idea to be able to visit an entirely different geographic location within the span of just a weekend. As I’m currently in my senior year, I have been wondering about how to maintain a balance of work and play once entering the dreaded territory we all acknowledge as “the real world.” It’s probably unrealistic to believe that one can do these sort of weekend trips, but hey I can dream right?

As this was my first time flying to the South, I really had no idea what to expect, which was in a way sort of thrilling. Immediately after landing and stepping into the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport, I was struck with the permeating smell of fried chicken.

The first thought that came across my mind was, “Oh, I’m most definitely in the South.”

Seriously, the entire airport smelled like greasy, fried chicken heaven. I would never have expected it but the Atlanta Airport is mad huge and it took what seemed like forever just to get from my terminal to the other end of the airport. I purchased a “Breeze” card which is what people here use to get around and took the Marta, a local train that I kept mistaking for “Martha” to the North Avenue Station.

After getting off the train, I was able to take a stroll around the campus, soak up Georgia in all its beauty and meet up with my friend. What I love about Georgia is the colors from the sky—everything looks as if it has a pink/peach hue filter overlaid on top of it. Is this also another reason why Georgia’s namesake is the peach?

https://i0.wp.com/www.thenomadinside.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Screen-Shot-2020-06-18-at-10.42.16-PM.png?w=1310&ssl=1

Conveniently enough, located right next to the World of Coca-Cola was our next expedition—the Georgia Aquarium. The Aquarium was super spacious (at least comparatively to the Boston Aquarium I went to last week with some friends) that contained a wide variety of creatures I haven’t seen elsewhere. I spent maybe way too much time intently observing penguins waddling around and ruffling their feathers. There is something so therapeutic about browsing through an Aquarium, possibly because everything is filtered in a cool blue hue. As Tom Ockerse always says, blue is the most pleasing and relaxing color. I also was able to see a Beluga whale for the first time. I swear I made eye contact with one for a hot second.

The rest of the trip primarily included exploring the campus, learning about the pros and cons to Georgia, eating a sinful amount of unhealthy Southern food, drinking, playing card games, and a surprise celebration for my birthday! The morning my friend and I were supposed to leave early for the airport, both of us overslept. I woke up approximately an hour and a half before our flight—woke up my friend, rushed through packing, ran all the way to the Marta train station, took a 20 minute ride to the airport, caught a transfer train to our stop, printed our boarding tickets, breezed through security and ran to my gate. I made it with less than 5 minutes before the flight left. Living life dangerously tsk tsk.

It was an amazing weekend trip and can’t wait for more of these. Georgia, I will be back!

#welcometoatlanta #travelatlanta #thenomadinside #travelvlog #digitalnomad #nomadlife #nomadlifestyle #georgia

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artistfingers · 3 years ago

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There’s one ~silver lining~ of my iPad being broken: I’ve had loads of time to think about my many half-formed undercover phantom au ideas! Since I have no idea when or what will make it to comic form, here’s the lowdown…. AKA, everything that’s been rattling around my brain recently :P

For context: Danny, Sam and Tucker have never met, and nobody knows Danny is Phantom. When Vlad’s newest bit of tech gets Danny stuck in ghost mode (with the rest of his powers on the fritz to boot), he meets Tucker and Sam—who instantly see through his disguise and lend a helping hand. (Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4!!)

So. After that, Danny—no, Phantom—becomes friends with them. It’s exciting! He was invisible at school even before the ghost powers; he was pretty isolated and lonely and being Phantom for the last year hasn’t exactly been a social boon. Kid’s lonely, ok?

But now… two human friends? Who’re his age & share his interests? It’s like a dream come true! If only they weren’t exclusively friends with his ghost self… and if only they didn’t wanna be so involved in his dangerous ghost hunting things…Uhhh. Hm. Could be a problem.

Danny angsts about the danger he’s putting his new friends in, and about not being able to befriend them as a human. He plays with the idea of telling them Everything but that’s… risky to say the least. He’s only known them a few weeks! ugh….!! it’s too much. maybe he should just throw the towel in.

Buuut Sam & Tucker don’t take no for an answer. Especially after they rescue him a third time.

Thus… Phantom friendship shenanigans!!

Sam filched some parts from the Fentonworks Lab when Phantom took them there, and later convinced Tucker to help her build a custom mini ectogun in case of emergency. They didn’t tell Phantom.

Danny is really sentimental about that DP hat he wore when he first met Sam & Tucker. He wore it as Phantom for a while but it got singed in a fight. He still wears it when he hangs out with Tucker & Sam but otherwise keeps it squirreled away for Sentimental Reasons.

“So Phantom, how old are you?” “I’m 15.” “15 now? Or 15 when you died?” “Yes.”

Tucker has a bunch of awful 90s button up shirts, and gives one to Phantom

They aren’t able to convince Sam to wear one too, but they sure do try.

Phantom won’t tell them when he died, so once he starts wearing 90s shirts they start using terrible 90s slang with him

“I am NOT from the 90s!!! They didn’t even SAY that then!!!” “methinks the lady doth protest too much…..home slice” “NOOO!!!”

“Phantom I have an extremely important question. Like, life or death. SHIT is on the LINE here. Are you listening?? I really need to know…. Do ghosts play video games”

The answer may surprise you (no it won’t)

Sam is completely convinced they can ACTUALLY get a good working guess of when Phantom lived and died based on the fact he liked Nasty Burger when he was alive, since NB’s a regional chain with a not-so-distant past. Tucker meanwhile thinks Phantom probably has a good reason for keeping them at arm’s length—but regardless of method, they can agree: they want to break down Phantom’s walls.

The next arc is less “Undercover Phantom” and more “Undercover Fenton” because the juxtaposition of him having to do hidden identities squared (squared again) is too good for me to pass up. It boils down to this: during a ghost attack at school, Danny finds himself stuck being “protected” by Sam and Tucker.

Sam and Tucker take their new jobs as Phantom’s ghost hunting companions too seriously to let this skinny stranger they just met run TOWARDS the danger. WHY does he keep trying to run TOWARDS the danger

NO YOU CANNOT GO TO THE BATHROOM THE SCHOOL IS ON G H O S T L O C K D O W N

Sam pulls out her ectogun.

Danny: WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?!

Sam does not tell him.

“Wait, your last name’s Fenton? Like Fentonworks Fenton?” “No, the other Fenton.” “Oh… well, that’s too bad…” “YES LIKE FENTONWORKS FENTON”

Sam is initially wary of Danny because of his parents’ super strong anti-ecto views. Danny is clueless as to why she isn’t very friendly to him-as-a-human when she’s great with him-as-a-ghost. but she warms up after he helps resolve the ghost issue in a way that shows he doesn’t subscribe to his parents’ views.

afterwards you get this excellent situation where Danny is now friends with Sam and Tucker as Phantom and as Fenton, and they’re not connecting the dots as quickly as they did when it was just “that’s Phantom wearing a hoodie and a cap with his own logo on it”.

the potential here? *chefs kiss* here’s a few things but honestly? the possibilities are limitless

Danny pretending to not have a cell phone because he already gave them his number as Phantom

Tucker: *dials Phantom*

Danny, standing directly next to him: *frantically attempting to silence his phone*

Sam & Tucker try to introduce Danny and Phantom. Danny has to make excuses to avoid this happening in both forms.

Danny takes Sam & Tucker down to the Fentonworks Lab to get them some real equipment. Sam & Tucker pretend (very badly) that they’ve never been there before

Rooftop chill sessions as Phantom, late night teenage hijinks as Fenton, plus school AND fighting ghosts does not do any favors for Danny’s sleep deprivation. Tucker introduces him to caffeine pills with… mixed results.

Tucker and Sam teach Phantom some sign language. Later Danny slips up and uses it casually with them as Fenton

…. And many other silly mixups that I’ve yet to think of because I live for that shit

Sam & Tucker have theories about the Fenton-Phantom connection and they’re all wrong but somehow also plausible and that freaks Danny out just a little bit if he ever overhears them

Ultimately, I see this AU having a final arc where a New Situation occurs in which Danny-as-Phantom has to—once again—pretend to be human. This time, he’s with Sam & Tucker as Phantom from the get go, and can’t disappear or transform, even if being Phantom is extremely dangerous at that moment. Somehow this scenario would lead to the Fenton-is-Phantom (or, in this case, Phantom-is-Fenton) reveal…. But the details still escape me :P

so in short………… I really like hidden identities

#danny phantom #danny phantom au #danny fenton #tucker foley #sam manson #undercover phantom au #no one knows au #DP #WHY is this 1000 words long IM SO SORRY #PS if you are reading these tags and you left tags on any of the comics so far with your own ideas for this au THANK YOU I LOVE YOU #PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE feel free to add on ideas to this au any way youd like 🙏#it is just a big ol hidden identities sandbox with also lots of teenages hijinks #im hoping to have my ipad fixed by wednesday-ish so more comics........ eventually :"D #in the meantime please enjoy this long text post and maybe some sketchbook things #if i can work up the nerve to post something straight out of the sketchbook lmfao #long post #fic #art writes

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honeyabyss · 3 years ago

Text

Phone calls after Mc returned to the human realm

Lucifer:

this man is stubborn, calling you would be like admitting he's gone soft and his pride does not allow that!

so he refuses to call for the first few weeks, keeping himself busy with work of which he has enough anyway

due to all his student council work, a few other tasks of Diavolo and on top of that the usual shenanigans of his brothers, he quickly becomes very stressed

he's at his breaking point and needs someone to talk to so he can release some of his stress before he takes it out on someone else

so he goes to your old room and starts talking as soon as he enters it, only to stop confused when he doesn't see you in the room, remembering only now you left for the human realm

disappointed he sits down onto the bed and curls the blanket around himself

"Their scent is almost gone...Soon it'll be as if they were never here"

he closes his eyes, sighs softly and makes his decision

"Mc? I hope I didn't wake you. I simply thought a conversation would be nice, it's been a while..."

Lucifer's call is pretty casual, he talks about his day, work and his troublemaker brothers, it almost feels like any other day before just this time it is over phone

he does not want to admit he misses you, a) because he'd seem weak and b) he fears what admitting it will do to him, he might just miss you even more

BUT while saying goodbye he accidentally lets a "I miss you" slip, his breathing stops shortly realizing his mistake, he is about to apologize when you say it back

he smiles softly, genuinely relieved about your shared sentiment and whispers "I'll call you again soon then" before hanging up

from then on he calls you every evening and you better jump right away and pick up at the first ringing, because this man is lonely without you

Mammon:

"Congratulations! You're one of our lucky winners of our monthly Devil-Lottery. We'll have to confirm your bank account number with the one given to us when you agreed to participating in the lottery. Would you be so kind to slowly repeat the number-"

this greedy demon will quite literally try to scam you, only to absolutely panic when you hang up on him

he will instantly call you back, constantly adjusting his glasses, a nervous habit he acquired over the years

"H-hey...Mc...uhm, it's me your favourite demon!"

he is relieved you picked up, as it means you didn't block him right away, he stumbles over his words trying to find an excuse why he just tried to scam you

"Ah you know I only did that to test you, you've passed nobody scams my human! You're my amazing human after all! That's why I love you...u-uh I-i mean...nothing...that was a static you must have misheard..."

when you tell him you knew it was him as you recognized his voice, he'll be outraged, screaming into his D.D.D (and probably later getting punched by Lucifer for being so loud)

"What do you mean you already knew?! You dared to hang up on The Great Mammon?

He gets a bit sulky by your reaction, so how about playing into his obvious lie of testing you to make him feel better again

besides trying to scam you Mammon also called to (not so sneakily) check on your wellbeing

now that you're gone he constantly worries about you and he can't do much to help, but if you were actually in need of help due to whatever, trust me he'd fight Lucifer himself for permission to go to you

he'll call you as often as he can, sometimes with a few days of a break in between, asking you about your life and also letting you in on his upcoming money making schemes...please don't tell Lucifer about them

Mammon has learned his lesson though, he'll never try to scam you again, he couldn't bare it if you were to block or ignore his calls

Leviathan:

phone calls? Why? You two can just talk about the in-game talk function of this new online game you play, but no real world talk while playing that ruins the immersion!

Levi will rarely call you as he just doesn't feel comfortable enough to talk with you about normie stuff for too long

he normally just spam writes you, ding, ding, ding, one message after another coming in without you being able to respond quick enough

so if gets too much and you decide to just call him so you can have an actual chance of responding, Levi just panics and almost drops his D.D.D

"Mc? D-did you accidentally hit the c-call button? N-no? I-i see no I love you too!!....AAAAAAAh I-i meant I l-l-love t-talking to you too...hehehe w-why would a yucky o-otaku like me say something like that"

poor boy is so nervous he'll say something stupid and will stutter a lot the first few times you call him, he is just not used to talking on the phone

he will laugh nervously over everything and sometimes there'll be a phase of awkward silence, but please don't point it out, Levi is already stressed enough as it is

once he gets used to calls, he'll surprisingly suggests to have a phone call while both of you are watching the new episode of an anime, so he'll be able to talk to you as if you're right next to him, which works out mediocre at first, you have to tell him to be a bit quieter a few times but besides that it's quiet nice

"Ooooooowhooooooah!!! Did you see that? That was amazing, I wish I had these superpowers, I'd save you of every danger like a real hero! W-what do you mean I'm already your hero?"

Yes, you saw and heard it, and your neighbours probably heard Levi...

on the rare occasions Levi calls you he'll often asks you for favours like to buy him this exclusively in the human realm sold limited edition game, of course he isn't like his scummy brother Mammon who'll constantly asks for things and he'll also make it up by sending you stuff you can only get on Akuzon

so calls don't happen very often, but neither if you really mind, you'll still be in contact through messages and games

Satan:

Satan will be very proper about calling you, he'll check through messages if you're fine with him calling you, so he can be sure you have time and he doesn't bother you

Satan never jumps into a conversation right away (unless he is angry), he makes sure to show interest in you and hold a bit small talk, asking about your day, how you're doing and so on

you talk about many different things with him mostly about your shared interests, but Satan is willing to listen to you ramble about hobbies he doesn't have as well

one thing you two quickly come to do was have book club sessions over phone

"I wish you were still here Mc. I miss my book discussion partner, nobody here has as interesting opinions and views as you..."

back in Devildom you two would both read a book and afterwards discuss your thoughts, and you found a way too keep doing just that

you both write about books, decide on one to read for the week and would than have a phone call where you just talk for hours about the piece of literature you've read

now that you're back in the human realm, the book choices are even bigger as you can read human books as well, you just have to send a copy to Satan, sometimes Barbatos will be nice and pick a book up and deliver it to Satan, or to you if it's the other way around with a demon book

"Oh? No, you're right. I haven't thought about it like that yet...your thoughts are so fascinating!"

Satan will shower you in praise for every little detail that you noticed yet he missed. he genuinely enjoys your phone calls, and though he wouldn't admit it, sometimes he anticipates your call more than the actual book

even though there now is a bigger distance between you two he still feels as close to you as before, not much has changed for him and he knows he'll be able to see you again soon, he'll just have to be patient

"Next week, same time? I'm looking forward to talking to you again. Take care until then!"

Asmodeus:

"Oh my Lord! You won't believe what just happened!!!"

no greeting or alike, just straight into the discussion

whenever something gossip worthy happens, Asmo is already dialling your number to spill the tea and keep you updated on any Devildom related gossip, even if it won't help you much, it's a nice thought of him keep you in the loop

those are only the spontaneous call though, obviously you can't take these all the time...you still have a life of your own...

you two actually call each other every day at the same time, plus/minus a couple minutes, the water in the tub has to be filled first...yeah Asmo likes to talk you while he is taking his afternoon bath

"Hahh it's so relaxing, warm water caressing my beautiful skin, and the bath bomb today smells so good! I wish you could smell it, or even better I wish we could bathe together!"

*water sloshing noises intensified*

Asmo...no....yes...maybe...just stop, you'll fluster Mc!

"No really! I miss having you here, I'll pamper you all day the next time I'll get to see you. You must already be starved of my beauty, but don't worry my dear, I'm just as starved of seeing your lovely face!"

what to talk about while he is bathing? Anything really if it's about your day, any complains or whatever, just expect a few innuendos of him...that's nothing new though

seriously though Asmo is the guy to talk to about any of your problems, he will listen and try to come up with a solution for you, even if he seems a bit narcissistic sometimes he really cares about you, so use your phone calls as therapy from time to time

"Oh darling, don't worry it'll be okay! I'm here to help...now tell me every detail so I can come up with a plan! I'll always be there for you, no matter what!"

Beelzebub:

"*munch munch* This one is really good! Mc you should try some...oh"

now that you're back in the human realm, Beels snack times are very lonely, he has just gotten so used to your presence, even sharing his food is normal by now

and let's be honest Beels snack time is 24/7 so he misses you a lot

he feels the urge to call you every five minutes and sometimes even forgets to eat while phone is ringing and he is waiting for you to pick up

but you can't constantly talk with him over phone so the calls often end up on your voicemail where Beel tells you about all the different kind of foods he ate that day

when Belphie catches wind of his twin constantly pestering you, he hides Beels D.D.D so he can't call you all the time

when you're actually able to pick up on his call, Beel will be so happy you can quite literally hear his huge grin while he's excitedly talking about his current snack

"Have you ever tried spicy bat-wings? There opened a new restaurant in town and it's really good!! Next time you're here I'll invite you there. Oh but what if it closes before you're back...ah you'll just have to visit soon!"

though Beel is often disappointed when you don't pick up, he would never hold it against you, he knows he calls quite a lot, but he just misses you and tipping a message while he eats is harder than putting his D.D.D on speaker and talking to you

of course he doesn't only talk about food, he also tells you about how his brothers are doing and how his workout was, or what things he has planned to do at the weekend, all in all Beel is just super happy to share everything of his life with you

on rare occasions he'll call you and be untypically quiet, that happens when he had a fight with his twin, it's not often but sometimes it happens and his first instinct is to call you, because he feels like he can tell you everything so he is very comfortable and trusting with you

"I miss you a lot, you know...but I also know that you think about me daily, every time your stomach rumbles you'll be reminded of me and that makes me happy, I also think about you every time I'm hungry! Hm? But I'm always hungry? That's right! You're always on my mind!"

Belphegor:

Listen, his sleeping schedule is very tight, you can't just expect him to call you!

he will call you so rarely and if you call him it might just happen that he is sleeping and has phone on silent...or he's just to lazy to walk to his phone, or he is just not in the mood to talk... he takes any excuse to not be on the phone

Belphie does like talking to you, but he is not the greatest at long conversations so he like messages more

sometimes when he can't seem to fall asleep, he will be the one to call you...in the middle of the night...and you better pick up or he gets annoyed

"What took you so long? I thought you wanted to talk more often and then you leave me hanging for a whole minute? Doesn't matter I would have waited longer with you...."

he is mostly silent through a phone call, his main reason to call you is because he like to listen to you talk, it's calming to him and if he calmer then he might be able to fall asleep again

so don't expect an amazingly deep conversation...

"Mhmmm...hm? Yeah I'm still there. I'm listening keep talking, I love your voice..."

he'll bring up a topic from time to time so you have an inspiration about what to talk about, but most of the times he just lazily hum or making acknowledging noises so you know he is still listening

"Zzz..."

he will to 100% fall asleep while being on the phone with you, that doesn't mean you're boring, but that he trusts you so much that he is comfortable enough to let his guard down

Diavolo:

"Good afternoon! How was the week of my favourite human?...ah don't tell Solomon I said that hahaha"

as the future king of hell, he is a busy man, but he still manages to give you a call once a week, to the same time you two would have normally had your weekly afternoon tea meeting in the castle

with the exchange year over there is not much about your classes to talk about left, but Dia is just as excited about any other topic you decide to talk about, be it the most mundane thing he loves it!

"Oh so you went grocery shopping? That must be fun! Barbatos does it all the time, though I suppose you buy less things...I'd like to see a human market at some point, I wonder if they're very different from ours...oh but I wouldn't really able to tell I suppose, Barbatos and you would need to point out the differences!"

this man can talk without taking a break for hours...you think Asmo is bad? Prepare for Diavolo...

but seriously it never gets boring with him, because he somehow finds good and fun stuff in every activity, I swear give him a vacuum and watch him clean you're whole flat with the enthusiasm of a child getting presents on Christmas

the work of a future king consists of so much paperwork, Dia will have only few events of his week to tell you about, if there is something to talk about there is a high chance it has to do with the brothers

so he'd much rather just sip his tea and listen to you, he'll ask you loads of questions though about anything he doesn't know

sometimes you two forget the time and Barb sadly has to remind you to come to a stop for now

"Mc? Did I wake you? If so I'm terribly sorry...would you be up to talk for a little bit more? I'm not feeling too tired yet"

surprise night time calls from Dia where you'll have to speak silently or Barbatos might reprimand Diavolo for staying up all night and being tired the next day, Dia doesn't regret it ever though, he likes to talk you a lot!

Barbatos:

Barbatos is always busy and his schedule can often suddenly change with a new whim of his master, so he can't exactly have a scheduled call with you

so you might not get to hear of him very often

BUT he made it a habit to call you when he is on duty to do the dishes, the chore is somewhat boring to him with no one to distract him

so he calls you and if you pick up, he'll put you on speaker and talk to you about whatever comes to mind while his hands wash one after another of the expensive porcelain of the royal household

"I've bought this new tea which is said to be really nice, it can even be enjoyed cold apparently. It seems to have to just the right amount of sweetness to not get bitter when drank cold...you can still add sugar for extra sweetness, though I believe you're already sweet enough as it is"

no matter what you decide to talk about Barbatos always has at least some knowledge about it, so it's beneficial for both of you, he can tell you the things he knows and you tell him your stuff

"I hope I'm not bothering you too much? There is quite a lot to do today... so it might take some more time..."

you will never get to know that Barb has actually already finished the dished a few minutes ago, but just isn't ready to say goodbye yet

the rest of the employees will be able handle the castle for a bit longer without him, meanwhile he can take a well deserved tea break and listen to you

he very much enjoys the fact he found a way to have some time with you while theoretically having to be at work, as long as he is able to finish all the tasks of his daily schedule, he doesn't feel too bad about his not so legal break

"I fear I'll have to get back to work now, but I loved talking to you today! I hope you enjoyed it as well. I'll talk to you again soon!"

Solomon:

Though Solomon returned to the human realm with you, you haven't heard much of him, being a wise old man sorcerer must be very time consuming

so calls of Solomon might be rare but that doesn't mean you don't write messages every now and then, when he calls you though it's always about something interesting or important to share, he talks about those things rather verbally, the best option for him would be in person, but that doesn't always work so a phone call is the second best option

"My lovely apprentice, how is your studying going? I've found the tome we were talking about last time you were interested in...it took some research to find which sorcerer had it but I brought it back for you. How about I'll drop by you next week? I can help you with your studying then, the tome is written in an older version of the language it might be easier if we do it together!"

Solomon can simply not sit still, so while you're on the phone, he is always tinkering at something and the background noises are sometimes quite peculiar...

Was that a pig squeaking? Are you sure you should be brewing a potion while being on the phone? Isn't it distracting?

Oh Lord was that an explosion?!

"Hmm? Oh yeah...I`m cooking dinner right now! It was just a small explosion though, you know the ones that are regularly happen in the kitchen. Why? Was my cute student worried about me?~ heheh alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you...for now!"

no matter how chaotic, teasing or busy Solomon is though, if you call him and are in need of help, he'll drop everything and run to you

he knows how hard it can be when studying magic, not to mention that the studies are difficult, the constant hiding of any magic in front of other humans is also very nerve wrecking, sometimes you feel like giving up and going back to your normal life, back to your non-magical very human friends that are blissfully unaware of everything happening around them, but you know you could never forget and act as if nothing happened, you'd also miss your new not so normal friends, so when times get hard Solomon will rush to you and comfort you in person or at least calm you down on phone until he is able to go to you

if that happens he is more likely to call you every two to three days just to check in on you

"Hey how is my strong and beautiful fellow human doing? Feeling better yet? Need a shoulder to lean on? I'm at your flat in 10 minutes..."

Simeon:

Simeon is a daily caller as well, he's gotten so used to seeing you every day that he feels quite restless if he doesn't get to hear your voice at least once a day

he asked you to recommend at what time he should call, he doesn't want to restrict you in your daily life, so you both came to the conclusion after dinner would be perfect, as both of you are free for the rest of the day then

He will often write a bit on his TSL scripts, just some notes and inspirations he comes up while talking to you

"How was your day my little lamb? You haven't overworked yourself right? Tell me if you ever need help!"

though Simeon would definitely have things to complain about with how Michael is working him to the bone, he'd rather not worry you so instead he tells you about how Luke is doing and evasively answers you questions about himself

"Oh me? Ah yes, I'm doing fine, just doing the usual archangel stuff you know...Ah please do not worry Mc, my dear! Nothing dangerous!"

over the time his TSL notes turn into random scribbles, rhymes and poems and every now and then something that looks suspiciously like your name

Sometimes Luke crashes the call and wants to speak with you as well so Simeon tries to put the phone on speaker only to end up ending the call and Luke getting frustrated with Simeon and doing it himself

then again Simeon also just accidentally hangs up on you mid conversation, because his fingers hit the button without him noticing, he'll get so confused when you cut off in the middle of your sentence and thinks something has happened to you, only to be relieved when you call back a few seconds later

Simeon is very interested in your day and how you doing, asking you many questions and encouraging you to keep talking

"Oh no please keep talking! You're not overwhelming me at all, in fact I like listening to your voice, it puts even the most melodic voice of an angel into the shadows...hahaha did I make you embarrassed? I apologize, I didn't mean to, I was only telling you my honest opinion!"

Simeon is quite the flatterer, but he often does not notice it, he simply tries to be nice, so a call with him leaves you flustered and stuttering ever now and then, but he is just as quick to blush at a honest and heartfelt compliment

Luke:

Luke might be an angel, but he is still low ranking and therefore has less assignments, besides studying to become a great angel and doing some minor tasks for Michael, he is relatively free

he often spends his free time in the kitchen constantly trying to improve his baking, now after the exchange year not only to impress Michael and Simeon but also Barbatos, maybe a bit Beel and definitely you!

but as Simeon is still working at these times, he gets somewhat lonely so he'll try calling you to keep him some company

Luke has this habit of speaking the recipes out loud to remember the steps better and be able to able to make them from memory, he got that tip from Barbatos, but he still has his moments where he gets stuck and forgets what to do next, you can notice that when he gets silent and concentrates on trying to remember

"Ah right that was it! I almost forgot about the eggs! Good thing you were here...or well on the phone hehe! You always remember this stuff, you're so amazing!"

when you tell him you simply looked it up in the internet for him, he'll get a bit sulky that he now basically cheated, but with your reassurance that he is already great and can remember so many other steps, he is quickly back to his happy little angel self

"Michael let me help with his conference today I was assistant record keeper today, one day I'll be able to do it alone, bit they're talking so much and so fast...I think I still need a couple centuries until I'm fully ready, but I'm working on improving! You should also try to improve your skills daily! Even a small bit of practice is good! Though I think you're perfect already!"

Luke most definitely learned his flattering from Simeon... he talks about many different things on the phone but repeating topic is Michael...just talking to you makes his day and later he'll tell everything Simeon and he smiles so brightly while he reports to him, please keep talking to him a lot!

#obey me shall we date #obey me #obey me headcanons #obey me swd #obey me lucifer #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me satan #obey me asmodeus #obey me beelzebub #obey me belphegor #obey me diavolo #obey me barbatos #obey me solomon #obey me simeon #obey me luke

938 notes · View notes

sunfish-studies · 3 years ago

Text

Celebration

✄・・・ Feathery Ink [Karasuno Manager Series]

➜ Pairing: Karasuno x Manager! Reader

➜ Warning: none

➜ Notes: This is a separate series from Crisp Leaves. Similar to Crisp Leaves, manager in this story will be portrayed as a girl. She will be tall. This is just my appreciation towards tall girls, you guys are amazing.

Previous: ‹ Cogs › | Next: ‹ Let The Games Begin! ›

↷ SUMMARY ↶

Last day of training calls for celebration for everyone’s hard work, so it’s barbeque time!

“All right, meat!”

“I’m starving!”

While the boys freshened up after practice matches, the managers were already on the move to prepare for the barbeque. Since there were quite a lot of people, the coaches decided to held it on the backyard of the gym, where the sharp hill stood just beside it. The coaches helped setting up the grills while the managers divided to cater different things.

Yachi decided she would get the utensils they needed; paper plates, chopsticks, paper cups, trays for rice balls, and other things. Shimizu would cover for the rice ball making, Yukie and Eri were in charge on cutting the vegetables in bite-size, Kaori and Mako would clean the vegetables before it was cut.

Meanwhile, you’re in charge of preparing the condiments and sauces, unwrapping the meat cuts, and arranged them on a bigger plate. Aside from that you had to make sure the meats searing on the grills weren’t charred.

“[Name]-chan, please replace me for cutting the onions,” Eri sobbed, reaching out to you with grabby hands.

“Alright, senpai,” you giggled in reply because Eri was clearly needing a break and watching the meats seared was a great break for her. Quickly, you stood on her place and started slicing the tear-induced-menaces after washing your hands.

It didn’t take long for you to suffer the same fate as the Ubugawa’s manager–the first seven slices went through without a hitch, but when you reached the tenth your eyes started to sting and blurry from the pain. Then tears began trailing down your cheeks, and you wiped it you’re your shirt sleeve.

“D-Don’t cry, [Name]-san!!” you looked up, seeing Hinata with his place face quivering on his feet. “W-what should I do!?”

“It’s fine, Shoyo-kun, it’s just the onions,” you sniffled pointed towards the bowl full of it. “It hurts my eyes.”

“I can take your place, Otohaku-chan!” Lev popped up beside Hinata.

“Instead of cutting the onions, you’ll chop your fingers off,” Yaku deadpanned before offering. “Here, let me do it.”

“No, it’s alright, Yaku-san,” you shook your head. “It’s time for you to have a break, not working.”

Being persistent sometimes has it’s perks, it took numbers of rejection to finally have Yaku gave up. You knew he was just trying to help, but you didn’t want to rob his time relaxing. When all the preparations were done, the boys were already surrounding the grills with hungry faces. Coach Nekomata gave them a light speech along with praises for their hard work over the week, and they dived to grab on the meat straight from the grill.

“THANKS FOR THE FOOD!”

Just like Kaori, you brought a plate of rice balls to offer and managed to witnessed Yukie’s enormous appetite. She practically inhaled four rice balls in one go and you’re not the only who was dumbfounded from it.

Konoha and Komi almost had their souls went to heaven from the frightening circle Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Taketora made. Well, they did elbow each other to encourage one another getting close or at least having a talk with Shimizu. The girl walked pass them holding a paper plate with food–looking extremely gorgeous and she didn’t even try.

“That was scary,” Konoha muttered underneath his breath. The three finally stopped because of Karasuno and Nekoma’s captain scolded them–the three immediately shrunk.

“They really had their guard up, huh,” Komi added, feeling his energy drained from such a scary encounter.

“Uhm, excuse me,” the two turned to look over their shoulder and that’s when they noticed–Karasuno’s other first year manager who’s Bokuto constantly talking about. The owl captain wouldn’t shut up about her much to their annoyance and now they knew why.

“Would you like some rice ball?”

“Sure,” Konoha replied dumbly.

“I’ll take two,” Komi followed with a daze. You placed one on Konoha’s empty paper plate and two for Komi upon his request. Smiling at them, you proceeded to excuse yourself so you could offer to someone else.

Following your figure dazedly, they noticed how the light shone even brighter and basked you in a beautiful glow. That’s when they thought of a conclusion.

A goddess just graces us mere mortals! They screamed in their head.

You tried to calm Yachi down from her traumatizing experience being surrounded by absurdly tall boys (“Titans, [Name]-chan! Titans!”). Thankfully, all of them were nice enough to made room so your friend could reach for some meat. Yachi almost cried in happiness from the real taste of meat.

From the sidelines, Shimizu and the other managers were watching the two of you while talking about the boys sometimes.

“How much are you going to eat?” Kaori questioned because Yukie was having a ridiculous amount of food towering on her plate and she just kept munching away without care.

“The third-years in Karasuno all seems pretty mature,” Mako commented.

“Our ace is weak-willed, though,” Shimizu smiled sheepishly.

“What? Really?” Eri replied in surprise. “Even though he looks that scary?”

“Though, I think that’s still better than our simpleton ace,” Kaori commented. “Still,”

Their eyes were directed towards where the said simpleton ace was standing and placing meat until it towered on your empty plate.

“Eat more, [Name]-chan! Or you won’t get even taller!” he stated.

“And eat more vegetables!” Kuroo added, placing cabbages and carrots to your plate, adding even more food.

“Have some rice balls, too.” Somehow, even Akaashi participated in this whole fiasco and put a rice ball onto your plate. Now, there’s a ridiculous amount of food on your plate.

“…I can’t eat this much,” you commented, staring at the food filling your plate.

“Nonsense, I don’t see you eat anything even when the others are,” Akaashi stated. “You’re too busy handling other things nonstop.”

“Have a break will you,” Kuroo patted your back. “Everyone’s having fun and you should too.”

“Have more meat, [Name]-san!” Hinata said.

“You can have my share, Otohaku-chan!” Lev followed and you immediately shook your head.

“At least he and Akaashi took care of our baby manager well,” Kaori sighed in relief.

“[Name]-chan is close with Fukurodani’s captain and setter, huh? Even Nekoma’s captain,” Mako giggled. “She’s drawing everyone in.”

“Well, it’s rare for a first-year to be as tall as her,” Eri grinned. “The boys are especially poles so it’s probably great not to strain their neck once in a while from looking down.”

“Karasuno’s pretty lucky to have her, huh?” Yukie said after swallowing her food.

“Yeah, we are,” Shimizu smiled.

“Did you have fun?” Sawamura asked you when you’re helping other managers to clean up the remaining plates left behind on the table along with other scraps littering around. He picked up a few paper cups and placed it into the trash bin.

“Definitely,” you answered without hesitation. “Everyone’s so nice, it’s probably the most fun I’ve had.”

“Thank goodness, then,” he gave you a smile.

“I’m really glad I joined the volleyball club,” you commented, grinning.

“And we glad to have you here,” the captain chuckled and replied.

Everything was over by the time the sun started to sink into the horizon–time truly flew by when you enjoyed it. Since Miyagi was quite a distance from Saitama, they needed to depart first or they would be back extremely late at night. Yukie and Eri were fake-crying and joking about refusing to let you go–in the end, you’re all exchanging numbers so you could keep in touch.

“Did you have fun, Otohaku-san?”

“Coincidentally, you asked the same question as my captain, Akaashi-san.” The Fukurodani setter, like before, helping you on carrying the extra luggage in hand although you did tell him it’s only until you reached the stairs. “And to answer, I am. These one week of training camp is fun. Somehow, I don’t want this to be over.”

“Don’t worry, we’ll meet again,” Akaashi replied. “At the Spring Interhigh.”

“I’m sure we will, Akaashi-san.” you smiled. “And thank you for helping me with luggage.”

“[Name]-chan!!” Bokuto bounded over with a grin plastered on his face. “We’ll be waiting at the nationals!”

“Karasuno, Bokuto-san. Otohaku-san doesn’t play volleyball.” Akaashi deadpanned.

“Just agree with me once, Akaashi!”

“Well, whatever he said,” Kuroo piped up, approaching the three of you. “Made sure your team go to the nationals so we could meet again and make the battle came true.”

“I’ll do my best, Kuroo-san.” Then Kuroo reached out to ruffle your hair, it’s been a while since he did that and you weren’t even going to lie about enjoying it. The cat captain was similar to an older brother now.

“Off you go then, [Name],” he removed his hand from your head. “And don’t miss me.”

“How could I when I have your phone number, Kuroo-san?” you snickered. “You’re probably going to bombard me with chemistry puns at 10pm.”

“Then, I’m gonna call you every day so you won’t have to deal with Kuroo!” Bokuto declared before laughing victoriously.

“Please block his number immediately, Otohaku-san,” Akaashi stated. “Or you won’t be getting any sleep. His talking is endless.”

“Why, Akaashi!?” the said boy whined.

“Aside from that, be careful on your way home,” Akaashi decided to ignore the captain and gave you a small smile.

You returned his smile. “Will do, Akaashi-san.”

With that, the whole week of summer training camps has come to an end. The whole team watched you guys drove away into the other way back to Miyagi.

“You have a match tomorrow, don’t you?” former Coach Ukai questioned, brows creased from the insistence of your combi. “That’s probably enough, then!”

“One more! Just one more!” Hinata pleaded.

“We’ll finish after this one!” Kageyama added.

Two days of practicing to prepare for the preliminaries, just a day before the match Sawamura dismissed them early to get some rest. Since it would be impossible to use the gym unless getting an earful from him, Kageyama and Hinata needed to look for another place. Former Coach Ukai lent them the court only for a bit, just until the others who wants to practice comes.

And you were there to hold a leash if they’re being stubborn or something.

“This is the last, alright?” you scolded the two. “We shouldn’t bother the others who wants to practice here. And you should rest before the match.”

Thankfully the older man letting them had the court just one more time and you couldn’t help but feeling grateful of it. You sighed before turning to face former Coach Ukai and bowed down. “On their behalf, I apologize.”

“It’s fine.” Former Coach Ukai dismissed it. “Their eagerness is a great thing, but even eagerness isn’t going to magically give them energy. It would be bad if they burnt out even before the game started.”

“[Name]-san! Can you throw us the ball?” Hinata called out.

In the end, the two managed to successfully killed the quick–and sure enough, it also impressed former Coach Ukai which added more reassurance that your team would be more than okay to face the entire preliminaries and became champions.

347 notes · View notes

butterflyyeo · 3 years ago

Text

drunk in love

pairing - yeosang x fem reader

genre - fluff, angst (?)

tw - lots of alcohol consumption, swearing

wc - 10k

side ships - seongjoong, yungi

a/n -- was meant to be angst but turned into fluff... im trying my best to get better at writing angst aaaah. but please enjoy this for now <3 thanks for letting me tag you @iminchaosnow !!

------------------------------------------- you had known kang yeosang for nearly two years now. two, dreadfully slow and exhausting years.it was your final year of high school when he transferred to your school, he was a close family friend of wooyoung's. his parents had spoken highly of the school, insisting that yeosang transfers in order to excel for his last year of schooling. as far as you were concerned, he had decent grades, but he preferred to spend his time hanging around the skatepark after dark, when everyone else had left.

and in all the two years you'd known him, you had never once had a full conversation with him, despite being in your group of friends. his side of the 'conversation' usually consisted of monotonous 'yeahs' and 'mhms'. wooyoung constantly assured you it was because he's shy and that he'd eventually open up. but you weren't convinced. you tried so hard for him to like you, but your efforts were fruitless. it was infuriating, feeling like you were constantly doing something wrong whenever you were around him.

you currently found yourself in the backseat of yeosang's car, wedged between a drunken yunho and mingi while a chaotic wooyoung was singing along to his chosen playlist. (though, it sounded more like wailing.)

you and the eight boys had all decided to take a gap year, spend every last cent you earned on adventure and alcohol to make lifelong memories, before your careers became a blockade in your friendship. but the year was coming to an end soon, it was already mid november. on the bright side, that meant your favourite holidays were just weeks away.

yeosang was always the designated driver. that was something you had noticed about him over the last few years. to be honest, you weren't sure just how he coped with a screeching wooyoung, because you sure as hell weren't dealing very well with yunho and mingi who were playing a very intense game of rock paper scissors to decide who would be crashing on the couch in your apartment.

"i win!" mingi cheered, waving his hands excitedly. "you're on the couch, man."

yunho frowned, "damn."

you laughed, "it's okay, yunho. you can share the bed with me if you'd like."

"hey! that's not fair y/n! you said i could this time." wooyoung whined from the front seat.

"sorry, woo. you know i keep my promises, but you're going back to your apartment. remember?" you tried to reason.

wooyoung looked as though someone had switched a lightbulb on behind his eyes, "oh yeah! i forgot."

the four of you burst into laughter, mainly caused by the alcohol and partially because of wooyoung's realisation. and still, yeosang didn't crack a smile, hands just gripping the steering wheel tighter as his knuckles turned white.

soon, you arrived outside your apartment block, quickly stepping out the car after yunho. wooyoung wound his window down and you poked your head in, attempting to hug him goodbye.

"bye woo!" you said, giggling at your faltered farewell.

"good night y/n, thanks for the drinks!" he shouted, exclaiming a bit too loudly next to your ear.

"thanks for the lift as always, yeosang!" you yelled, pulling away from wooyoung's tight hug.

he nodded, "no problem." before putting the window up and driving away.

you pouted, turning around to face the two boys. "i just don't understand what i'm doing wrong." you buried your face into your hands, "why doesn't he like me?" you groaned.

"y/n." mingi began, "its nearly 1am, its way too late for this 'why does yeosang hate me?' crap." he shook your shoulders, literally trying to shake some sense into you.

"yeah, mingi's right. we've had this discussion a thousand times." yunho said grasping your wrist and pulling you up the stairs, stumbling along the way. (because lets be real, stairs are difficult enough as it is, let alone when drunk.) "now, let us into your apartment so we can eat your food and crash on your couch!" he joked, nudging mingi in a playful manner.

you reached into your pocket and fumbled around with they key for a moment before unlocking the door. the boys practically pushed you inside and made a beeline for the fridge.

"help yourselves! i'm going to shower." you called, dragging yourself to your bedroom.

once you'd finished showering you went back to the living room to check on yunho and mingi. not so much to your surprise, they had fallen asleep on your couch already, cuddled up into each other. it was cute, even picture worthy to show their sober selves. you reached for your phone which typically lived in your pocket, though you began to panic when it wasn't there. hurrying around the apartment, you searched every possible nook and cranny for your phone, but it was nowhere to be found. you collapsed onto your bed, snuggling into the soft sheets, too tired to worry about your phone anymore and content with the assumption that you'd left it in yeosang's car.

shortly, your heavy eyes fell shut and you began to sleep away the tequila.

————————

the next morning you awoke to mingi and yunho's deep, hungover voices, discussing their plans for the next week.

you reluctantly pulled yourself out of bed and dawdled down the hallway.

"ah! there's our favourite karaoke partner!" yunho greeted, jokingly.

you laughed, "shh, don't let wooyoung hear you say that."

"she's right, man. he'd be so offended." mingi said, stretching out his sore limbs. "how are you feeling today, y/n?" he asked.

"not the worst hangover i've had. what about you guys? you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like, until you feel better." you replied, knowing them well enough to know that they'd need at least a few painkillers and a good meal before they went home.

yunho chuckled, "i feel like crap, but nothing a sandwich and glass of water can't solve."

"i second that." mingi said, raising a hand.

"okay, well in that case, i'll go to the store and get something for breakfast. sound good?" you reasoned, running a hand through your hair. you loved these boys, and making them breakfast was just a nice way of showing you cared. drunk or not, they knew how to make you smile and laugh, which they loved to see.

"sounds amazing!" yunho said, breaking into a sincere smile.

you quickly changed out of your pyjamas and slipped some shoes on.

"i might be a bit longer, i need to stop by yeosang's. i think i left my phone in his car." you explained, picking your keys up from the kitchen counter. "see you guys soon! feel free to take a shower if you want." you said, waving goodbye and heading out the door.

"okay, bye y/n!" the boys called from behind you.

the first stop was yeosang's apartment, he only lived about ten minutes away with wooyoung and san, in the same building as jongho. both yunho and mingi lived on the other side of town, which is why they so often crashed at your place after parties. seonghwa and hongjoong were fortunate enough to live in a house, just outside town, they had actually been the hosts of last night's party.

it didn't take long to get there. you pushed open the lobby door and made your way over to the elevator, disappointed to see that it was out of order for maintenance. instead, you took the stairs and began spiralling upwards. less than a minute later you looked up, only to bump into the man you came looking for.

"oh, yeosang! i'm so sorry, i didn't mean to." you quickly apologised, worried about creating another reason for him to dislike you.

"it's fine." he shrugged.

you both began to talk again at the same time, "ah, sorry, you go."

"i was just gonna say, you left your phone in my car. actually, i was about to bring it back." he pulled your phone from the pocket of his jacket, handing it to you. as he did, your fingers brushed against his. he spun around suddenly and began to walk away, "i'll see you around."

he had left before you even had a chance to thank him. slightly confused and frustrated, you turned back around and traipsed down the stairs.

you gathered what you needed for a hearty breakfast at the local convenience store before heading home and spending the rest of the day in the enjoyable company of yunho and mingi.

yeosang had entered back into his apartment and sat down on the couch.

"back already?" wooyoung asked, rummaging through the fridge.

"she was coming to get her phone and i ran into her on the staircase."

wooyoung sighed, "when are you gonna stop hating her?"

"i don't hate her." yeosang said, not looking up from his phone.

"then why do you act like you do?"

yeosang pretended to not hear that question and continued to scroll through his phone. see, he'd rather not dwell on things that he couldn't understand.

————————

to fill up your weekdays during your gap year, you had picked up a job at a hotel in town as a receptionist. to your dismay, your boss had asked you to work night shift all week, which is how you found yourself here on thursday night, sitting alert and waiting for the slight chance that someone might check in at this time of night. it was a pretty fancy hotel, and the job payed well enough, so really, you had nothing to complain about.

the nights seemed to drag on for an eternity. to keep yourself busy, you often wasted time counting the cars that drove past, or tried to count the number of crystals that hung from the chandelier. so far, only a few people had checked in during your shift, having come from overseas and recently arriving at the airport. honestly, whenever someone walked through the front door, lugging a suitcase behind them, you got excited as it gave you something to do.

the clock was creeping up to 4am and you let out a quiet yawn, feeling drowsy as your body clock hadn't yet adjusted to the change of sleeping patterns on such short notice. taking a sip of water, you shook your head, trying to stay awake. your head suddenly jolted up at the sound of the front door opening.

a man stumbled forward, and you'd seen enough zombie movies to become instantly paranoid. you quickly pushed the thought out of your head, feeling ridiculous for even considering it. but as the man got closer, you could smell the cheap, potent alcohol lingering on his body.

he leant against the desk, peering down at you. "i need a room for the night." he grumbled. "my stupid wife kicked me out." he said under his breath.

you forced a friendly smile, despite feeling uneasy, "of course! i just need you to fill in this form with some simple details." you said, sliding across a clipboard and a pen.

he huffed, picking up the pen and scribbling onto the sheet of paper before pushing it back to you. "can i go now?"

"just a moment, sir." you replied, eyes skimming over the form as you copied the information into the computer in front of you.

the man was growing impatient, stepping from foot to foot with his arms crossed.

"uh, sir, you missed a part of the form. could you please provide your phone number here." you pointed to the empty space on the sheet.

"for fucks sake." he muttered, "i don't have my phone on me and i don't know my phone number." he said, annoyedly tapping on the desk.

"i'm really sorry, sir, but—"

"can't you just find me a fucking room?" he snapped, hands balled into fists and slamming against the desk, making you jump in fright.

before you had time to try and reason with him, he continued to shout.

"you're as stupid as my wife! i'll just find a different fucking hotel." he yelled, swiping the clipboard and pen off the desk. "useless bitch." he mumbled as he kicked over a chair on his way out.

you chewed your bottom lip, trying to fight back the tears. with shaky hands, you picked up your phone and dialled the first place that came to mind. after a few rings, the phone answered.

"woo?" you croaked, trying hard to not cry.

"he's asleep. this is yeosang." he replied, evidently having just woken up by the sound of his voice.

"oh." you began, instantly feeling guilty for waking him up, "i'm sorry i didn't mean to disturb you."

"did you need something?" he asked.

"i just, i was..." you let out a sob, wiping at a tear falling from your eye.

this didn't go unnoticed by yeosang, "are you crying? what are you doing awake right now anyway?"

"i'm at work." you managed to choke out.

"at 4am?"

"i'm on night shift."

"why are you crying then?" he asked, feeling something slightly tug at his heart, but choosing to ignore it.

you began to ramble, "a man came in and he was really drunk and complaining about his wife and then he yelled at me because i asked him to give his phone number and—"

"i'm on my way." yeosang cut you off.

"what?"

"i'll be there in ten." with that, he hung up the phone.

exactly ten minutes later, you were sat in the passenger seat of yeosang's car. he was dressed in sweats, clearly having come straight from bed. you'd left a note on the desk, explaining to your coworker why you wouldn't be there when she arrived to take over your shift. a silence filled the car, and you felt the need to talk, but chose not to, worried about giving yeosang another reason to hate you.

once you arrived outside your apartment building, you were surprised that yeosang got out the car too and trailed closely behind you up the stairs to your apartment. when you reached the door you spun around to face him.

"thank you for bringing me home." you said, voice quiet and still rather shaken up.

"it's no problem. good night, y/n." he replied, sensing that you were still upset. he suddenly felt this overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around you tightly and not let go until you stopped crying. he wanted to protect you from every drunk idiot on the planet. he wanted to make you feel safe.

but instead, he watched as you closed the door behind you and locked it from inside.

————————

you arrived at work the next morning, instantly feeling more comfortable with cleaners, employees and people coming and going. immediately, you headed for your boss's office.

"good morning, sir. i just wanted to come and apologise for leaving my shift early last night. i can assure you it won't happen again." you said, feeling nervous as to what your boss might say.

he shook his head, "i should be the one apologising, a man came in this morning and spoke very sternly about the safety problems here. i realise now how stupid it was of me to make you work night shift, alone, at such a young age. we've hired security guards and have also made sure that two people will be on desk at all times. i'm sorry that you had to deal with that."

you were at a loss for words, you didn't think that there would be such drastic changes just from the once incident. "thank you so much." you replied.

"for now, take the rest of the day off. you'll only be working day shifts for next week and can return to doing night shifts whenever you feel ready to do so." your boss said, motioning for the door.

the rest of the day you spent in deep sleep, catching up on some much overdue rest.

———————

weeks passed and you found that work was much more enjoyable. you still hadn't returned to working night shifts, but at least now you had someone to run the front desk with you and keep you company.

this weekend, you were going to visit hongjoong and seonghwa. hongjoong was sick and so you decided to go help out since seonghwa couldn't always be there to look after him.

you knocked on their front door and was surprised to be greeted by san.

"good afternoon! come in." he gave you a hug before ushering you inside.

"what are you doing here?" you said, following him down the hall.

in the living room, you saw all eight of the boys gathered around a couch-ridden hongjoong.

"jongho was already here when me, yeosang and woo arrived." san explained.

"yeah, and then mingi and yunho turned up." wooyoung continued.

"y/n! i have never been more glad to see you! you gotta save me from them." hongjoong laughed, arms open, signalling for a hug.

you went over and embraced him in a hug, "good thing i brought an excessive amount of cookies." you said, placing the box of cookies on the coffee table next to the couch. the table was covered in empty mugs and bowls, you could tell seonghwa had been busy and hadn't had the chance to clean up. you opened up the box and handed him a cookie before offering them around to the rest of the boys.

"you're the best cook ever." mingi said, taking a big bite.

"i made you spaghetti last night!" yunho countered, feeling offended that his roommate didn't think he was the better cook. mingi just laughed and took another bite.

"jongho get off the counter, please." seonghwa said, coming through the front door. "don't be so comfortable, you were throwing up in my toilet like a month ago." he joked.

yeosang glanced your way, his eyebrows furrowed like he was contemplating something.

"lets head off and give these two some space." yunho said, dragging mingi behind him.

wooyoung stood up, "yeah, lets get going."

yeosang pulled his keys from his pocket, "okay, bye guys." he said, heading down the hallway.

"can we get some food on the way home?" you heard san call as they left.

"bye hongjoong! i hope you're feeling better soon." jongho said, "bye seonghwa, i promise i won't throw up in your toilet any time soon." he joked, leaving through the front door.

"seonghwa, how are you? don't forget to take some time for yourself as well." you frowned.

"i'm tired, but i'll be okay. i just gotta clean up and—"

"why don't you go rest a while? i can keep hongjoong company for a few hours." you reasoned, wanting to help as much as possible. there was nothing you hated more than seeing you friends in distress and upset.

he looked between hongjoong and yourself, "i couldn't."

hongjoong let out an audible huff, "hwa! will you just let her help please, she clearly wants to."

you grinned, "exactly, now go read or sleep or watch some tv or something." you said, gently pushing him towards their shared bedroom.

you spent the afternoon tidying up and talking with hongjoong. you managed to do all the dishes and put them away before scouring their kitchen, deciding on what you could use for dinner. you found everything you needed for a decent meal and began cooking it up. hongjoong had dozed off mid conversation, surrounded in a pile of tissues, you chose to let him sleep so he would recover quicker.

about an hour later, you placed two steamy hot meals onto their dining table next to two full glasses of water. you quietly knocked on their bedroom door, finding seonghwa asleep amongst the covers.

you gently shook him awake, "hwa, i made dinner for you guys. you can wake joong up, i'll head off now." you said with a smile.

leaving the two of them to enjoy their dinner, you headed home and cooked yourself something to eat. it was nice having some time to yourself, but saturday nights were becoming more and more empty as winter grew closer. december was only days away and the year would soon come to an end. you reached for the phone, suddenly desperately missing your friends despite only seeing them hours ago.

"hey woo, are you free next weekend?" you asked.

he paused a moment, "i think so, why?"

"you wanna go out with the others? it's been a while since we have all caught up for drinks."

"count me in!" wooyoung cheered.

you called everyone else up and they all agreed, even hongjoong promised to come if he was feeling better.

————————

you found yourself surrounded by wooyoung, san, yunho and mingi as the music blared. it was a less popular club on the far side of town but it was a comfortable place for you all. you often came here for drinks and the staff members knew you, quite well, a little too well. san grabbed your hand and spun you around a few times with the music.

you laughed, leaning against him, "maybe spinning around isn't the best idea right after two shots of vodka."

"what?" san yelled into your ear, struggling to hear you over the music.

you laughed louder, pulling him closer to you, "i said, spinning is not a good idea after drinking vodka!"

"oh!" he joined you in laughing before trying to twirl you around once more.

hongjoong and seonghwa sat at the bar, holding hands and being intimate as always. yeosang was sat next to jongho at a booth, quietly talking with him, but from the corner of your eye, you saw jongho stand up and walk away. your eyes watched him worriedly and you couldn't help but run after him. you followed him as best you could, stumbling every now and then. he'd gone to the bathroom so you patiently waited outside until he came back, looking slightly pale.

you practically leapt at him, doing a quick scan to make sure he was okay, "jongho? are you alright?"

he smiled at your overwhelming concern, "yeah, i just drank too much as usual. i'll be alright, you can go back to dancing."

"let me just get you some water first. i'll be right back okay?" you patted his shoulder. "don't go anywhere i'll be back in a second."

you made your way back to where jongho had been sitting with yeosang. as you approached, yeosang eyed you up and down, taking in your drunken state, though, it wasn't the first time he'd seen you this way. you nearly tripped as you reached the table, struggling to walk in heels.

"i need a glass of water, do you have a glass of water? jongho needs a glass of water." you mumbled to yourself, reaching for the jug in the center of the table.

"are you okay?" yeosang asked, quickly pushing your hand away from the jug.

"i'm okay, but jongho needs water. can i take this cup? he's waiting for me, i told him not to go anywhere, i need to get back to jongho—" you tried to pick up a glass but yeosang pressed your hand back down once more.

"i'll take it to him, you stay here." he said, filling the cup full with water and heading towards the bathrooms.

your brain suddenly felt fuzzy and your eyes became blurry, it was like the alcohol hit your system all at once. your head spun round and round and you leaned forward, resting your hands on your head. you'd never felt this sick from drinking, maybe you'd had too much too quickly, maybe it was the spinning. there was no way to tell, all you knew was that you felt like you were about to fall from the top of a very high roller coaster.

your eyes felt increasingly heavy, you allowed them to slip shut, head falling to the table with a not so gentle thud.

"y/n?" someone shook you, "y/n wake up!" it was wooyoung.

"shit, is she okay? should we call an ambulance?" jongho said, reaching for his phone.

"is she breathing? has anyone checked?" seonghwa gently lifted your shoulders and sat you upright, relieved to see the rise and fall of your chest. "we should call a taxi and get her home."

"are you crazy? she's unconscious, she won't be able to get up the stairs to her apartment! what if the driver is dodgy? she's already had to deal with shitty men while working night shift, imagine if something happened while she's drunk!" yeosang blurted out. the boys were shocked over his sudden concern for you. yeosang had never once shown any interest or care for you in the presence of them.

"well, what should we do then?" mingi asked, worriedly running a hand through his hair.

"i'll take her, you've all been drinking." yeosang concluded. "she'll be fine, don't worry. enjoy the rest of your night, okay? i've dealt with woo passing out before remember?"

"that's true." san said, throwing a light hearted glare in wooyoung's direction, who showed a rather sheepish expression.

the boys went back to their drinks, taking it a little slower now and yeosang carried you to his car. it wasn't easy, but he managed to sit you upright in the back seat of his car with his rear view mirror aimed directly at you so he could make sure you were okay.

he was able to lift you up the stairs and get your house key from the pocket of your jacket, which would've looked questionable to anyone else, but he had the best intentions. he sat you down in a dining chair, watching as your head lolled forward and your body slumped. he quickly filled a glass of water and came back to you.

"y/n." he whispered, resting a hand on your shoulder. "y/n." he said again, louder this time.

the last thing he wanted to do was hurt you, but you weren't waking up and that was becoming concerning. he shook your shoulder, as gently as he possible could in a moment like this, and to his relief, your eyes hesitantly opened.

your head felt like a bowling ball and you groaned quietly. "yeosang?"

"here." he said holding the cup to your lips, allowing you to take a small sip.

"how did we get here?" you mumbled, head rolling to the side.

he caught your head and carefully pushed you back upright, "i drove you, this is your apartment."

"oh." you said, eyes drooping shut again. "oh." you repeated.

"y/n, i really need you to stay awake right now." he said, bringing the cup to your mouth again. "lets talk."

"we never talk!" you exclaimed. "this is the longest conversation we've ever had!"

"i know." he said, pulling up a chair to sit directly in front of you. yeosang felt that slight tug at his heart again tonight, the way you sounded so excited just to talk with him.

"no, no, no." you whined, "this is so bad!"

"what is it?"

you pouted before nervously biting your lip, "i'm really sorry."

"for what?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair.

"for ruining your night and making you stay here with me! now you just have another reason to hate me." you sighed, letting your head fall into your hands.

"i could never hate you." he said, voice barely above a whisper.

but you had fallen back asleep, so yeosang sat you upright once more and monitored you closely all night. with every minute that passed, he wished more and more that it was easier for him to show his emotions, to you especially. he wondered if maybe he wasn't so closed off that things would be different between the two of you. but it was hard for him, to let people in, he was afraid. afraid of people judging the real him, afraid of what might happen if he lets himself become vulnerable, afraid of facing his feelings about you.

you awoke hours later with a raging headache and extreme nausea. you headed straight for the bathroom and hunched over the toilet, feeling the sickest you'd ever felt. yeosang waited patiently outside the bathroom door with a glass of water and painkillers.

when you came out, he held his hand out, "take this."

you looked down at his hand and then up at him, slightly confused, "what are you doing here?"

"you passed out last night, and i drove you home because everyone else had been drinking." he said, passing the glass of water.

"oh my god." you ran a hand through your hair, "yeosang, i'm so sorry. i didn't mean to be any trouble! you must of been here all night, i promise it won't happen again, that was so stupid of me—"

"it's fine, don't worry about it." he said, shrugging, "i'll get going now, but make sure you take it easy and drink enough water." his eyes carefully scanned your body one last time, making sure you were really okay. he headed for the door and you followed.

"i'm really sorry." you frowned, feeling as though no amount of apologies would make it up to him.

he let out a slight chuckle, "it's okay, seriously y/n." he said before leaving. you heard the all too familiar jingle of his keys as the door closed behind him.

he'd stayed with you all night, eyes watching over you closely. ready at your side whenever you stirred in your sleep. he'd been there in the morning prepared with water and painkillers. this was never how it was, usually this was your job, taking care of the boys. it was your way of showing you cared, helping out wherever possible.

this wasn't like yeosang. at all.

————————

as soon as yeosang got home he was greeted by a very concerned san and wooyoung.

"is she okay?"

"are you tired?"

"did she wake up?"

he was bombarded by questions.

"she's okay, she fell asleep after a while and i made her take some painkillers when she woke up." yeosang said, collapsing onto the couch.

"so you really don't hate her then." wooyoung thought aloud.

"he can't, he spent the whole night looking after her!" san said, hitting wooyoung like it was obvious.

"owww," wooyoung rubbed his arm, "even she thinks you don't like her!"

"i know, she said last night. but she probably won't remember saying that." yeosang said, feeling increasingly drowsy from his lack of sleep.

"maybe you guys should like, talk things out?" san suggested, taking a seat next to him.

"maybe." yeosang said, drifting off into sleep.

you had spent the day curled up in bed, wondering how you could make it up to yeosang, and there was nothing more you wanted than to get to know him better, but what would he want? you called up san on that thought.

"hey sannie," you said, "i need your help, actually, is woo there as well?"

"oh my god she's alive!" you heard wooyoung call from beside san.

"what do you need help with?" san asked.

you paused a moment, "is yeosang there?"

"well yes, but he's asleep."

you groaned, "i feel so bad that he stayed up all night looking after me. i really wanna make it up to him but i don't know how. plus, it's not like he's that fond of me. maybe i should just thank him by staying out of his space."

"i don't think he'd like that." wooyoung interjected. "i still think he just needs time before opening up to you."

"i think its just me." you sighed, worriedly chewing on your bottom lip.

"hey! don't be like that! there's no reason to not like you." san scolded you for down talking yourself as he always does.

"agreed." wooyoung said, chiming in.

"i'm sure i'll work something out. thanks guys! enjoy the rest of your day!" you said.

"good luck!"

"bye y/n!"

————————

you had been staring at your phone for at least an hour, typing and retyping the message to yeosang. wooyoung gave you his number so that you could contact him when you'd finally worked out how to make it up to him. in the end, you decided that you would let him decide.

you drew in a sharp breath and squeezed your eyes tightly shut as you pressed send.

you: hey yeosang, i still feel really bad about the other day, i wanna know how i can make it up to you !!

yeosang: did wooyoung give you my number? T~T

you: yes he did.. i hope thats okay !

yeosang: of course yeosang: how about you make it up to me over a cup of coffee? >.<

you: that sounds great !! you: when are you free ?

yeosang: does tomorrow morning work for you ? i can pick you up ^_^

you: of course ! i'll see you tomorrow :)

yeosang sat in his room, facepalming. why was it so easy to be more open over text?

you on the other hand, felt your heart swell in a bizarre way. maybe it was the way you hadn't expected him to use such cute little emoticons. maybe it was the way that you'd be able to have a full conversation with him. whatever it was, excitement had taken over you.

————————

a knock pounded at your door and you rushed to open it.

"ready to go?" he asked, leaning against the door frame coolly.

"yes, lets go!" you said, sounding a little too excited.

the two of you made your way down the stairs and into yeosang's car. you found yourself smiling as you looked out the window.

your excitement hadn't gone unnoticed, "you seem awfully excited."

"i really wanted to make it up to you," you beamed. "it must've been boring to watch over me all night."

"i didn't mind so much." he said, shrugging.

you frowned, "you shouldn't of done it."

"and leave you passed out in the club?" he quirked an eyebrow up at you.

"well..."

"exactly." he said, parking the car outside a small cafe nearby his apartment. "come on, lets go inside."

you followed him in and took a seat across from him at a table close to the window. you both ordered coffees and resumed conversation.

"so, where were we?" you smiled, taking a sip of coffee.

"talking about how you wanted me to leave you passed out in the club." he said. you were almost convinced you saw a teasing smile pulling at his lips.

"right. i'm so sorry about that."

this time he actually chuckled, and you were taken aback. it was like the wall yeosang had surrounding himself was crumbling before your eyes.

"you need to apologise less." he laughed, bringing his coffee cup to his mouth for a sip. "half of the time we talk its just you saying sorry to me."

"i'm so—"

"hey!" the two of you broke into laughter.

his laugh was loud but warm and you couldn't help but notice the way his nose scrunched up cutely, the way his eyes looked full of stars and the way he brushed his hair out of his eyes after, revealing his beautiful birthmark. from that point on, you wanted to be the one to make him laugh every day.

he felt that familiar tug at his heart, the one he'd been feeling every moment he spent alone with you. the one he felt when he first met you. the one he couldn't make any sense of. it was as though his heart was a violin and you were the one playing it. (which would explain the tugging feeling.) but you were playing the sweetest song and he never wanted it to end.

the two of you laughed the morning away, gradually making up for what you'd missed over two years in a matter of two hours.

you'd discovered that even after getting him to open up more, he wasn't one for words. you found yourself talking his ear off while he listened intently, occasionally sharing his opinions and stories. in all his honesty, he didn't mind listening to you talk. he could've sat there all day, drinking countless cups of coffee, watching the way you bit your bottom lip whenever you paused to think or the way your eyes filled with sparkles when you talked about something that made you happy.

you insisted on paying for the infinite cups of coffee, as it was your way of making it up to him. he reluctantly agreed, but promised that he would pay if there ever was a next time, which he secretly hoped there would be. he'd finally had the chance to let his walls down. (it was actually more like you'd climbed the walls and torn them down with your bare hands.) but he was thankful for it.

he drove you back to your apartment, even after you persisted on walking home, seeing as it wasn't that far. he refused, insisting that he drive you. he even followed you up the stairs to the door of your apartment.

you turned around to face him, "you know, you're not so bad when you actually wanna talk to me."

"you know, you're not so bad when you're not drunk." he countered, his lips breaking into a playful grin.

you glared jokingly, "hey! don't make me apologise again."

"okay, okay. i won't." he said, raising his hands in defence.

you smiled, resting against the door, "alright, well, i've really enjoyed hanging out with you today. maybe we should catch up more often."

"maybe we should." he said, bearing a coy smile, "bye, y/n. i'll see you around."

————————

it was only about a week later he showed up at your work, at the end of your shift. you were pleasantly surprised to see him, and at first thought he was just someone coming to book a room.

"hello, are you looking for a r— yeosang?"

"when do you get off work?" he asked, glancing over to the clock.

"five minutes."

"i'll be waiting in the car, okay?" he said, turning on his heel and heading for the door.

on his way out, you saw as he ran into your boss, the two of them beginning conversation.

"it's good to see you've made those security changes." yeosang said as he nodded, extending his arm for a friendly handshake. "i'm very thankful."

your boss shook his hand, "and i'm thankful that you suggested them."

just over five minutes later you got into the passenger seat of yeosang's car.

"it was you who told my boss about the safety problems." you said, in near disbelief.

"hello, to you too." he joked sarcastically. "well, i would hate to think that the situation could happen again, so i just suggested some possible improvements. thats all." he shrugged like it was nothing.

"suddenly, i feel the need to make it up to you again." you smiled shyly.

"you can do that by accompanying me to the skate park." he said, motioning to his skateboard on the back seat.

"ah, so thats why you came."

"well yeah, i wanted to bring you to the skate park."

your heart swelled once again, feeling joyed that he wanted to share one of his favourite places with you. (despite him never telling you directly, you knew he loved the skate park as he spent majority of his high school time there when he wasn't studying.)

when you arrived, the sun was beginning to slip behind the horizon, causing the sky to glow a rosy pink. there were still a few kids, probably high schoolers, hanging around the park. you took a seat at a bench and waited for yeosang to come over, who was getting his skateboard out the car. you felt oddly out of place since you were still in your neat work uniform and didn't know the first thing about skateboarding.

yeosang rolled over with a grin plastered onto his face, you'd never seen him so happy, and it made you happy to see him this way. it was strange how all it took was a few cups of coffee for him to become a completely different person around you.

he didn't need to ask you to watch as your eyes were already glued to him as he dropped into the bowl, showing countless tricks and flips.

the truth was in fact that yeosang was grateful for you 'making it up to him'. he'd never been able to comprehend his feelings for you, if they were even feelings at all. he hated the confusion and decided it was easier to ignore it, and to an extent, ignore you, to make it go away. it had been working for the most part, until every time the two of you were alone together, he couldn't ignore the slight tug at his heart, that was becoming more of a pull over the last few weeks.

"you're amazing!" you cheered as he sat down next to you, out of breath.

"thanks." he smiled shyly, running a hand through his hair and out of his face. he leaned back, looking up at the sky. "do you sometimes wish you could see the stars from within the city? hongjoong and seonghwa are so lucky they can see them from their house."

you pondered a moment, thinking about the last time you actually saw stars in the sky. "i see stars in your eyes sometimes." you said, absent minded.

he felt warmth burning in his cheeks, "you do?"

"do what?" you turned to him, "did i say that out loud?" you gasped, covering your face in embarrassment. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to say that it was just a thought and—"

"what did i say about apologising?" he laughed. "it's getting cold, right? you ready to head home?" he asked.

you smiled, "if you are."

he drove you home and said goodbye, feeling happy about spending time alone with you once again. he couldn't stop thinking about what you said and you couldn't stop feeling like a fool for saying it.

————————

the weather got colder and colder and soon it began to snow as the days of december passed. you had spent the day helping jongho move some new furniture into his apartment. it was a difficult job, but easier with the two of you, even san and wooyoung came to help. you couldn't resist wondering where yeosang was and why he didn't come, seeing as they lived in the same building. maybe he was busy, you thought.

"hey, where's yeosang?" you asked, lifting a box and placing it on the kitchen counter.

"at home, i think he's been feeling sick or something, he hardly comes out of his room lately." wooyoung shrugged, assuming it was all good.

"if he's sick i'll bring him over some food and painkillers, maybe keep him some company." you explained, not wanting yeosang to be unwell.

"i think he'd rather be left alone, to be honest." san said, giving wooyoung a side glance that you couldn't miss.

you pulled out your phone and sent yeosang a quick message.

you: are you feeling okay? san and woo said you were sick :((

he didn't respond right away and you just figured he was asleep. but as you finished helping out at jongho's house a few hours later, he still hadn't responded. when you were sitting down to eat dinner at home, he still hadn't respond. just before you were going to turn the lights out and go to bed, he still hadn't responded.

something was up. this wasn't like yeosang, not anymore. not since the two of you had been spending so much time together. maybe it was like the boys said, and he was truly very sick, but in that case, why wouldn't they let you help?

————————

days passed and you went to work as usual, repeating the same few lines, asking people if they want a room, asking them to fill in a form, then directing them to the right room. days passed and you still hadn't heard back from yeosang, you wondered if he was still sick. days passed and you began to think maybe you should go over there to see if he's okay.

but if there was one thing you'd learnt about yeosang recently, it was that he was the quieter type, and probably wouldn't appreciate you going over there to keep him company and would rather be alone. so that evening when you got off work, you didn't go visit him like you so desperately wanted to, instead, you went straight home.

you cooked and ate dinner for yourself, before picking up your phone, only to see still no messages from yeosang.

you: hey woo you: is yeosang feeling better ?

wooyoung: yeah he is

you: well then can i come visit tomorrow ?

wooyoung: i think he's busy wooyoung: sorry

you: its okay woo you: its not your fault !!

you switched your phone off and headed for the shower, trying to wash away the stress and worry for yeosang that had built up over the last few weeks. you had really grown to like him and there was still so much about him you wanted to learn, like when he learned to skateboard or how he got the small scar on the back of his hand, that you'd noticed when ever he brushes his hair out of his eyes.

two years he'd spent, not interested in holding conversation with you and two years you'd spent, wondering what you'd did so wrong. but lately, you felt like you were doing something right around him, getting him to smile and laugh, share his own stories.

you couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he still didn't like you, and had just been trying for wooyoung's sake.

or maybe he was genuinely starting to like you, but you went and fucked it up by weirding him out and telling him about his starry eyes.

or maybe he'd just had enough of you already. decided that a few weeks was enough time spent trying to change things between the two of you.

as you finished showering and changed into comfortable clothes, you glanced at the clock which read 10:56pm. you switched on the television to watch some youtube before going to bed. as you felt yourself dozing off, a faint knock sounded at your door, so quiet you almost missed it.

when you opened the door, you were shocked to see yeosang standing there, leaning against the door frame for support. he looked up at you, his normally starry eyes were dulled with tears.

you rushed forward to him, smelling the alcohol as you got closer, "yeosang are you okay? what are you doing here? i thought you were sick. are you drunk? you never drink, come inside." you gently pulled him inside, closing the door behind you. when you turned to face him, he was staring at you, tears about to spill over the brim of his eyes.

"i hate you." he breathed out, voice barely louder than a whisper. he didn't seem angry though, he looked fragile, like a glass vase balancing on the edge of a table.

you felt the urge to cry, finally hearing those three words that confirmed your biggest concern, yeosang disliking you. "yeosang, i'm so sorry. i never meant to—"

"i hate you." he said, louder this time before running a hand through his hair hastily. he let out a frustrated groan, dragging his hands down his face. "i hate the tugging feeling in my heart whenever we're alone. i hate the way you put yourself before others. i hate the way you ramble on when you're nervous. i hate the way your eyes sparkle when you laugh. i hate the way i don't drink around you because i feel the need to protect you and make sure you're safe. i hate the way i tried to ignore you for two years because i was scared and confused about my own feelings. i hate how it only took one cup of coffee with you for my walls to come crashing down!" he paced from side to side, waving his hands around crazily.

yeosang looked scared and lost, like he'd never felt this way about anyone before, and that was the truth. he didn't know how to comprehend these feelings and it terrified him.

you watched as he spiralled, seeming as though it would never stop. you weren't sure what to do, so you just listened to that swelling feeling in your heart once again, the one that had led you to develop feelings for yeosang, and you pulled him close into your arms. he clung onto you tightly, scared to let go, like if he did then he'd lose you forever. you ran your fingers through his hair briefly, trying your best to comfort him.

"i'm sorry." you repeatedly whispered to him. you'd never meant to upset him or confuse him.

yeosang let out a quiet sob into your chest, "i hate the way i've fallen in love with you." he croaked out.

he didn't hate you. never did. never will. your heart swelled completely in your chest, feeling as though it would burst through. but it couldn't be true. he's totally drunk out of his mind.

"you're not in your right mind, yeosang, you need to get home. you're drunk and talking nonsense." you embraced him tightly one more time, and you could've sworn you felt the beat of his heart through the hug. "come on," you urged, steering him towards the door, "wooyoung and san are probably worried and waiting up for you."

with much effort, you led him down the stairs of your apartment block and walked him home. the street lamps led you in the freezing city night air. you held his wrist lightly, guiding him up the stairs to his own apartment. he didn't speak a single word the whole time, instead, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. it hurt you so much to see him this broken, but you knew he wasn't saying the truth under control of the alcohol in his veins.

you knocked at his apartment door, hoping that one of the boys were still awake. luckily, they both were and quickly they flung the door open.

"y/n? yeosang?" san questioned, his eyes wide open with disbelief.

"we've been so worried about you!" wooyoung said, pulling yeosang away from you. "hang on, are you drunk?"

san had noticed his tired, tear stained eyes, "you look like you've been crying! are you okay?"

you let out a quiet sigh, knowing you didn't need to be here anymore. you gave a small wave goodbye and headed home, utterly exhausted.

and though you were so drained, you couldn't seem to fall asleep. those words yeosang said to you kept running through your mind busily.

did he mean any of it?

————————

yeosang felt bad. he felt terrible. like he wanted to vanish into thin air and float away with the breeze. though he couldn't, no, he desperately wanted to apologise to you. but he didn't know how, he wasn't good with words or expressing his feelings, and you wished he knew that was something you loved about him.

wooyoung and san tried to ask him what happened the night he drunkenly confessed to you, but he couldn't have them know that he'd been harbouring feelings for you for all this time, they'd never let him live it down. he could imagine the continuous teasing they'd give him, nudging him whenever you were together or giving him side glances after talking to you.

yeosang gave it lots of thought. he mulled it over in his head repeatedly. it was only after hours spent hidden away in his room that he decided to go back to where it all started, a text. a text that said how much he wanted to make it up to you for having to deal with him drunk, just like the one you'd sent initially.

yeosang: hey y/n, i feel really bad about the other day, i wanna know how i can make it up to you! T^T

your heart leapt a mile seeing his name appear on your phone. you grinned upon reading his message, realising it was scarily similar to the message you had first sent him.

you: hmmm you: that sounds familiar

yeosang: >.< yeosang: seriously though, how does dinner at my place tomorrow night sound? i'll cook

you: you can cook?

yeosang: there's a lot you don't know about me x_x

you: okay, i'll be there !!

————————

yeosang wasn't lying when he said he can cook. as you traipsed up the stairs of his apartment block you could smell something delicious laced in the air.

the usual swelling in your heart had instead fell to the pit of your stomach, you were feeling slightly nervous as to what would happen when you entered yeosang's apartment. you inhaled deeply before knocking at the door of his apartment.

"hey y/n, come in." yeosang greeted, holding an arm out, signalling for you to come inside.

"you must've been working hard cooking! it smells delicious." you said, feeling a sense of comfort just from the smell of food.

"yeah, lucky i sent wooyoung and san over to jongho's place, otherwise i doubt there would be any pasta to serve." he joked. "you can take a seat, i've just gotta serve up."

you sat down in front of a neatly laid table, it had somewhat surprised you how much effort yeosang had put into this dinner tonight. he placed a steamy hot plate of pasta in front of you and one where he would sit.

"so." he began.

"so." you copied, teasingly.

"i guess, i really just wanted to say i'm sorry for how i behaved the other night when i was drunk. you shouldn't of had to deal with that." he frowned, poking at his dinner.

you furrowed your brows, "it's seriously fine yeosang." you took a bite of pasta, "i was just surprised to see you drunk, since you never drink."

he chuckled, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth, "actually, i do. i just never drink when you're there."

"really? why?" you questioned, eating another mouthful of pasta.

"because..." he paused. "no, it sounds dumb out loud."

"it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself." you smiled warmly, "but that does remind me to ask... do you remember anything you said to me while you were drunk?" you leant forward, genuinely curious.

he sighed, "i remember.. enough."

"you don't really hate me, right?" you asked, playing with the food on your plate.

"of course not! that's why i invited you here tonight. to show you that i don't, and to make it up to you." he had to refrain from reaching across to hold your hand, just to show how much he cared that little bit more.

you nodded, "well, thats good. i was kinda worried that we'd gone back to square one."

comfort settled within you. it was relieving to know you weren't hated by the one person whose love you wanted most. a tiny thought crept into your mind, maybe, just maybe, now would be the right time to tell him about your blossoming feelings for him. or would that confuse him more? now you were the one feeling conflicted.

"are you finished eating?" he asked, reaching for your empty plate.

"yes, thank you! it was delicious. you're a good cook, y'know."

"ah, thanks y/n." he turned away to hide the blush appearing on his cheeks.

"would you like me to do the dishes? since you cooked." you offered, standing up. but he quickly opposed.

"don't be ridiculous." he shooed you back to your seat. "can i get you a coffee? water? wine?"

"a coffee sounds good, i think you and i have had too many drunken situations lately." you laughed.

yeosang pulled out two mugs and put the kettle on. he felt your eyes carefully watching him. once again, he hated the feeling that was pulling at his heart. the way you could say nothing, yet he felt everything.

"can i tell you something?" you asked, voice now quieter and more hesitant.

"sure, what is it?" he said, placing a warm cup of coffee in front of you.

you took a sip, humming in delight. it was exactly the way you liked it. when the two of you went out for coffee, he had unintentionally remembered just the way you like it.

"well," you began cautiously, in case you brought this situation into flames again. "i just... i always wondered why you didn't like me. if i was doing something wrong, if i said something once that really upset you. and then after we started spending time together, i finally felt like i was doing the right thing." you groaned, frustrated with yourself for not getting to the point quicker. "what i'm trying to say is that i have feelings for you. it's okay if you don't feel the same way. i wouldn't expect you to, i just thought you should know—"

yeosang basically choked on his coffee, eyes widening in shock. "it's okay, y/n! in case you hadn't noticed, i'm crazy about you."

you had continued to ramble nervously before hearing what he said.

"wait. you are?"

"basically ever since you said that thing about stars in my eyes, yes."

you cringed, remembering how you had said that so absent minded. "yeah, sorry about that."

"it's okay, it was cute. and what did i say about apologising?"

you shook your head and smiled, "i know."

————————

ever since the two of you confessed to each other, you had been almost inseparable, except of course when you had work. but he dropped you home most nights, even though you insisted it was okay and that you could walk. he came over every weekend just to spend time with you, even if the two of you just sat and talked, enjoying each other's company. you'd been dating for a few weeks now, but kept it undercover, not wanting to suffer the incessant questioning that would come if you told your friends.

it didn't go unnoticed either, wooyoung and san were constantly nagging yeosang about why the two of you spent so much time together, and each time he just shrugged it off.

christmas was just around the corner, so you were spending the evening at seonghwa's and hongjoong's house, who of course, were throwing an unnecessarily large house party to celebrate.

you were sat between a very drunk yunho and mingi, who were trying to talk to an also very drunk jongho. you eyed your boyfriend from across the room, as if asking for a way out and he just laughed at the situation you were stuck in.

after at least ten minutes more of having your ear talked off, yeosang came to pull you away to the dance floor.

"care to dance?" he asked, extending his hand to you.

you immediately jumped up, latching onto his hand, "i would love to!"

he chuckled, pulling you close to his side and leading you to the makeshift dance floor that seonghwa and hongjoong created.

the two of you laughed at the boys' reaction. they were completely shocked to see the two of you so close together and yeosang being friendly.

he twirled you around a few times with the music, before settling his arms around your waist. he brought you near to him as you placed your arms behind his neck. you swayed back and forth, engulfed in your own little bubble of comfort in each other's arms, completely out of time with the loud thumping music that blared around you.

you felt content, and yeosang no longer felt confused. he found his home in your arms and his happiness.

you reached up to place your lips on his, capturing the moment surrounding you. yeosang melted into the kiss, discovering that your lips were soft and sweet against his, just as he had imagined, which caused his knees to feel weak and his heart to skip more than just one beat. he never wanted to let you go, he wanted to compensate for every second that he didn't spend with you since the two of you met.

he leaned forward and whispered softly, just so you could hear above all the music and singing, "lets stay like this forever."

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