#could this Friday’s be the one where yu-yu finally comes out?

[jh-7]

Since we have yet to see this season’s obligatory heavily trans coded yu-yu speech, I have high hopes for Friday’s episode.

[king-bumis-armpit]

hihi, let me just say i love ur writing omg it’s so good

i was wondering if you could write a maiko fic about fire lord Zuko and fire lady Mai, post war, where zuko was put to do business and he comes back early after finding out mais been attacked by another assassination attempt (obv) and he goes borderline insane even if she’s just really chill about i, you don’t have to ofc just thought it was an idea 💗💗

You're my Peace

Summary: “Kiyi! It's good to see you again. Where are Mai and Izumi?” The Fire Lord was eager to see his wife and daughter. He had been forced to travel urgent diplomatic business, and it had been nearly a week since he was home.

Kiyi refused to break their embrace, “Izzy’s with mom and Mai… is okay. There was another attack.” Zuko’s world shifted. His inner fire turned to ice. His mind stopped.

Author’s note: HELLO!! Thank you, @darkacdemiasworld I absolutely loved this idea! Thank you so much for suggesting it <3 And thank you for your kind words! Zuko is such a protective person and if there’s one thing we all know about Mai it’s that she doesn’t need any protection, lol. I changed the premise just a tad. I thought it would be more dramatic if Zuko didn’t know what had happened until his return. But I hope you enjoy! Again, thank you so much for the ask!

My inbox is always open! Sometimes I take a while to respond, but I love all of the ideas!! I’m terrible at writing from scratch so they really help me. 

ALSO! Thank you to everyone who's reading right now. It brings me so much joy that I can share what I write with all of you. So thank you <3

This fic is cross-posted on Tumblr and ao3

TW: Stabbing, strangulation, death of a side character, and one raunchy joke. 

Expanded warning: Somewhat detailed description of an attack on Mai’s life and the resulting injuries, specifically stabbing and strangulation. It is also mentioned that a minor character dies. If these topics are triggering, please sit this one out. I’ll be posting something fluffy on Thursday or Friday for everyone to enjoy.

WC: 2,798

“Zuko!” His youngest sister barrelled into his arms as soon as he entered the palace. It was hard to believe she was already twenty.

“Kiyi! It's good to see you again. Where are Mai and Izumi?” The Fire Lord was eager to see his wife and daughter. He had been forced to travel to Yu Dao on urgent diplomatic business, and it had been nearly a week since he was home.

Kiyi refused to break their embrace, “Izzy’s with mom and Mai… is okay. There was another attack.” Kiyi finally pulled back and Zuko could see the anxiety in her eyes. His world shifted. His inner fire turned to ice. His mind stopped.

— —

“I need you to take a deep breath, Zuko.” Kiyi clutched the long sleeves of her robes so she wouldn’t fidget. She didn’t want Zuko to think she was upset, even if she was. 

“Where is Mai?” His voice sounded calm. Impassive, even. But Kiyi knew better. She could see the slight quiver of his bottom lip. He was blocking out every emotion in order to deal with the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible. It was a coping mechanism he’d picked up from his wife.

“Mai’s okay. She's gonna be fine.” 

“Good,” he was grinding his teeth. “Where is she?”

“It was another assassination attempt. The assailant was one of her father’s most loyal followers. All that stuff with the New Ozai Society happened so long ago that he wasn't even on the watchlist anymore. But–”

“Kiyi!” Zuko interrupted, “Where. Is. Mai.”

She put on her stern voice. “Fire Lady Mai told me to debrief you before letting you go to her. She said she would be too tired to answer all of your questions.” Zuko humphed but Kiyi could tell this put his mind at ease a bit. He knew that Mai was conscious and communicative at least. 

“This guy held a serious grudge against her for betraying her father. His journal had a bunch of misogynistic stuff about how she should have been prepared to sacrifice everything in her father's name.” 

He grabbed her shoulders, “Please, just get to the point!” Zuko was begging now. Kiyi really didn't need to be going into so much detail. She hated keeping her brother in suspense, but she was hoping he would regain some more of his composure before she told him what happened. And Mai really had asked her to explain everything to Zuko before she saw him. She didn’t want to make her sister-in-law relive her own attack in another round of questioning.

“He posed as a member of the kitchen staff, and took a tea tray up to Mai’s office. It seems she had fallen asleep at her desk. He stabbed her in the right shoulder, but Mai woke up before he could remove the knife. He– he tried to–” Kiyi felt tears sting her eyes. She had wanted to be the one to tell Zuko because she knew that if anyone else did he would probably light them on fire, either on accident or intentionally. But she hadn't accounted for her own feelings. She loved Mai too and this awful man– “he tried to strangle her. She has bruises…”

By this point Zuko's face was buried in his hands. He let out a strangled sob, and repeated his refrain, “Where is Mai?”

“She's in the spare room in the West Wing of floor 2.” The location was chosen because it was private and easily defensible, but still close to the Royal Healer’s office. However, Kiyi did not have the opportunity to explain as Zuko was already moving in that direction. Kiyi watched her brother run, formal robes trailing behind him, and she said a silent prayer to Agni that everything would be okay.

— —

He ran with abandon and burst through the door. “Mai!”

“Zuko, you're back.” She sounded as unaffected as ever. Hearing her voice for himself again jolted his world into focus once more. He stopped to catch his breath. Mai was sitting in the center of a large bed that he remembered well. This was the very same room where Mai delivered their child. So much pain, but in the end even more joy. 

He couldn’t say the same for today. Mai was wearing a white robe so that the healers could spot it if she began to bleed through her bandages. The wrappings peeked out through the collar of her clothing, and he wondered how far they extended. As Kiyi had said, Mai had haunting bruises on her neck. He could almost see the patterns of fingers. He inhaled sharply and looked away.

Azula and Ty Lee were in the room as well, sitting on either side of his wife. There was another chair halfway between Azula and the door, but Zuko strode past it and perched himself gently on the edge of Mai’s bed. He didn't want to cause her discomfort, but he would also die inside if Azula was sitting at his injured wife’s beside while he was relegated to the corner. He sat on her left to minimize disturbance to the wound.

“Are you really okay, darling?” Zuko searched her face for the slightest bit of pain, but as usual her expression betrayed nothing. 

Mai gestured for him to move closer to her. “I'm truly fine. I trust Kiyi filled you in?”

“She gave me the basics. I was… eager to see you.” Zuko forced himself back into composure. He needed to be strong right now. For Mai. He gently tucked her hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead.

“Bleh!” Azula made a face. “I thought you two would grow out of your sappy phase.” In the past years, his sister had a change of heart morally, but her attitude remained intact.

Zuko clenched his fists and felt his anger invigorate his chi. “I can and will have you escorted out of here right now!”

Mai took his right hand in her left and brought his knuckles to her lips for a quick kiss. “It’s okay, Zuko. Azula and Ty Lee have been looking after me.” She moved their joined hands into her lap. Zuko felt awful. His poor, injured wife was comforting him because he couldn’t keep it together around his sister.

Ty Lee stood from her place. “A calm aura is important for convalescence. I’ll have the servants bring us some–” she remembered the manner of Mai’s attack and her face went pale.

Zuko felt queasy, but Mai laughed. “Oh c’mon, we can’t let this ruin tea for us. What will Iroh say? The assassin could have just as easily been bringing dinner and I would still eat.”

Azula nodded, “We can’t project fear. In the next few days, we will have to make a public statement about the incident.” She eyed her brother warily. “Do you think you’ll be up to it?”

“Of course,” he stated with more bravado than he was feeling. “But I didn’t really let Kiyi explain the whole thing. When did this happen?”

Mai looked down at their hands. Azula answered for her, “It happened two nights ago. The day before yesterday.”

Zuko blinked. “You– you didn’t send word to me immediately?” He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice. He didn’t want Mai to feel guilty or anything, but he also felt genuinely confused.

Mai leaned into his side, not meeting his gaze. “We didn’t want the public to know, and you were coming home so soon anyway. I didn’t want to worry you for nothing.”

Zuko pursed his lips. He wasn’t satisfied with that answer, but he also knew that it wasn’t the time to argue.

“Okay.” He managed a small smile and tilted Mai’s chin up so she was finally looking him in the eye. “Do you want me to write to Aang and Katara? They can probably be here in a day or two.”

Mai bit her lip, and Ty Lee piped up. “We already did. According to their return message, they’ll be here in a few hours.”

She told them before she told me. Am I really so useless as a husband? Zuko pushed the thoughts away. “That’s good. Hopefully Katara can speed up the healing process a little bit.”

He let his eyes wander to the bruises on her neck once more. Rage lit a match in his heart, and it took like dry kindling.

Mai, sensing the shift in his mood, reassured him, “Really Zuko, I’m alright.”

“As long as you’re alright, Firelily, then everything is fine.” But everything was not fine. He was going to visit that man in prison and light every single hair on his head on fire until he told him everything he knew about everyone who could be a potential threat. And then he was going to find those people and he would–

“Izumi missed you,” Mai said calmly. 

Some of the heat left Zuko’s body. Their baby girl was only six, and Zuko despised being away from her. Ever since her birth, his absences were few and far between. Of course, an assassin would capitalize on the opportunity. “I should check on her before bedtime. Poor thing. I’m sure she’s worried about you.”

“She is, but she acts so brave. I talked to her as soon as I was stable so she could see me, but I don’t want her to spend too much time in here. I don’t want her fixating on my injuries and having bad dreams.”

“Have you seen her today?” Zuko asked. 

Mai nodded, smiling in the radiant way she reserved for talking about her daughter. “We had breakfast together. She tried to feed me with her chopsticks so I wouldn’t have to move my right arm.”

Zuko felt tears welling up in his eyes again. Family breakfast was such a mundane thing. He didn’t realize how much those moments meant to him until he was faced with the prospect of their end.

Ty Lee was still standing awkwardly by Mai’s side, unsure if she was joking about wanting tea. But Azula took control of the situation. “How about we all have a family tea? Ty Lee, you can bring the tray. Zuko, you and I can get mom, Noren, Kiyi, and Izzy. Mai, you’re due for a check in with the royal healer. They said they should be able to dress you in something more substantial by now. If you’re feeling up to it, we’ll regroup here when the Healer leaves.”

Mai nodded again. “That sounds really nice, actually. Thank you, Azula.”

Zuko wished he had his sister’s confidence and calm. He should have been the one to think of that and get everyone in order. It was a very Fire Lord-ly thing to do. He, on the other hand, was about to cry or commit a felony. (Could you commit a felony as an absolute monarch? He was going to find out.)

— — 

As he and Azula made their way through the palace halls, he realized she was leading them off course. “Where are we going?”

She looked at him sharply. “We’re taking the long way. You need time to pull yourself together. I’m not taking you back to Mai until you’re fully under control.”

He huffed. “I thought I was doing a good job, all things considered. I had half a mind to march to the prison myself and find the pathetic–”

Azula raised her hand, stopping his tirade. She had led him to the fountain, where he had tackled Mai as children. His heart seized. If his sister was trying to make him less emotional, this was a bad choice.

“He’s not in prison, Zuko. I killed him,” Azula reported in a disinterested tone.

That brought him up short. “What– When– How– Are you… okay?”

Azula shook her head dismissively. “Of course I’m okay. Ty Lee and I were entertaining Izzy, but she started getting fussy. I volunteered to go find Mai. When I opened the door, that bastard had his hands on her throat. She pushed him off and I… I filled him with enough lightning to arc across the ocean.”

Zuko’s mind was racing. He hadn’t been there, but Azula was. Would he have been able to do what she did? To take a life? In his anger, he’d thought about it, but he had never followed through. Even in the war. When Uncle spoke about his experiences, he could tell they haunted him. 

He put a hand on Azula’s shoulder. “Umm… Thank you. And I’m here if you need to talk.”

Azula rolled her eyes. “Mai’s my friend too, remember? Even without you, she would still be a sister to me. It was the least I could do after everything in our past.”

Zuko withdrew his arm. “I know that. But I’m still grateful. If you hadn’t been there…” He choked on his words. “Azula, I wasn’t there! I’m her husband and I wasn’t even there! She didn’t even tell me. I don’t understand. Doesn’t she trust me? Why can’t I do anything right?” The tears were flowing now and he collapsed on the ground. 

Azula lowered herself awkwardly beside him. Comfort was not her strong suit. “Listen, Mai loves you very much and she trusts you completely. Why she does those things is beyond me.” Zuko shot his sister a watery glare, but she continued. “But she made the decision to not contact you because she’s the Fire Lady. She knew you would be forced to choose between her and your duty to the Nation.”

Zuko took several deep breaths until he trusted himself to speak. “I still don’t get it, Azula. Doesn’t Mai know that I will always choose her over everything else? I took a vow before Agni to put her first in all things.”

Azula patted his back, hesitantly. “Yes, I think she knows that quite well. In fact, I think that’s why she made the choice for you. Whether she was right to do so or not, Mai wants what's best for you and for the country more than she wants what’s best for her. She’s not someone who thinks of her own pain as consequential. Her wounds aren’t fatal, so she’s hardly taken account of them.” 

Zuko sighed. When did his wife get so altruistic? No, she was always like that. She always put him first, even when they were angsty teens who hated the world. When had he stopped noticing? He needed to be attentive and start listening to the words that she left unsaid. When she was fully healed, they could have a long conversation about communication. Again.

He wiped away his tears. Mai was alright. The man who hurt her was dead. His family was safe. And Azula… was empathetic now? Perhaps life wasn’t so bad after all. 

“Change of plans,” Azula’s voice brought him back to the present. She was standing above him now. “I’ll find Ty Lee and tell her to delay tea. You go back to your wife and sit with her for a bit. But we’ll be joining you in an hour so don’t do anything obscene.”

Zuko rolled his eyes. “She’s injured. Have some decorum. But, thank you. That was almost sweet.” 

“Yeah, yeah.” Azula offered a hand and helped him off the ground. “Don’t get used to it.” She punched his arm, harder than playful, and the two went their separate ways. 

— —

When Zuko was readmitted to Mai’s room, he found she was indeed wearing a slightly heavier red robe. He took it as a good sign that the bleeding was under control. The healer had also secured loose bandages on her neck, purely to hide the marks.

“Hey,” Mai greeted him with a small voice.

“Hi.” Zuko resumed his place next to her on the bed, even though they were now alone and the chairs were vacant.

“Are you mad at me?” Mai asked. “I didn’t want to hide anything from you but I knew you would worry and get all worked up for nothing.”

Zuko didn’t think an attack on her life was nothing. He took a lock of her hair and twisted it around his finger. “I could never be mad at you. Not really. I’m angry at myself.”

His wife looked surprised. “Still? After all this time?”

“No,” he laughed humorlessly. “Again. I wish I was better at anticipating your needs. I want to always be exactly what you need. I wish I could have been by your side and prevented all this.”

Mai held his cheek. “You are always exactly what I need. You’re Zuko.”

“And you’re Mai. My fearless Fire Lady.”

“And we’re still here.” Mai brought him in for a kiss, and for a few minutes he felt peace.

[rosethornewrites]

NR, E, & M reading since 3/18

Finished

Not Rated:

JC & WWX role swap (LWJ/WWX/JC), by nirejseki

Prompt: au where wwx comes from the old and respected yiling wei sect and jc and jyl are the children of rogue cultivators (or maybe madam yu ran away with rogue jfm?), taken in by sect leader wei

four letters: H-A-T-E (Wei Wuxian's POV), by Edith343redwood

What if the first night they met was rewritten?

Four letters. One word.

that's all it took to send Wei Wuxian spiralling.

They say words hold power, but what can words do?

If a word could be rewritten into a story, what would it be?

Possible works 1 - Ghost Child, by Hauntcats

Wei Ying returns to the day Jiang Fengmian found him and decides to do something different.

None of these are very Jiang Cheng friendly. I'm not even sure if they are Lan friendly. At least one of them is nicer to Jiang Yanli.

Explicit:

The Best Laid Plans, by Admiranda, Rynne (11th in a series)

After a long day traveling, Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian just want to have a bath together. Those simple intentions don't last -- and neither does the bathtub.

and we can be anything, by Imatableclock (2nd in a series)

"You’re so good at this, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying says, panting.

From the look on Lan Zhan’s face, she probably considers it an offence that Wei Ying is still speaking. Wei Ying is very happy to learn this about Lan Zhan.

---

Two lesbians in one apartment, and their firsts.

Microphones and Camera Reels, by UseMyMuse

Wei Ying and Lan Wangji have been happily married for five years, their careers are at an all time high, and they really couldn't be happier. Purely by chance, the public is unaware of their relationship, and Lan Zhan's fans are severely misjudging his horny glare for hate and they decide to ban together to get rid of the thorn in their favorite star's side.

One Day We're Loving Each Other, by sami (2nd in a series, 2 chapters, reread)

The wedding is lovely, the bride is very beautiful, and Jiang Yanli comes to live at the Unclean Realm.

Mature:

Blood of the Black Earth, by wirevix (15 chapters)

By the time Jiang Cheng and his small rescue party managed to clear away the rubble at the cave's collapsed entrance, it was too late.

Wei Wuxian had already gone cold.

The Moon Reflected Upon Two Springs, by Rubberduckieassassin (🔒)

In many ways, this part of Wen Ning’s existence has felt like winter. Winter is the most Yin of all the seasons. It is a time of stillness and quiet reflection. Remembering how to ‘live’ again as best he could.

Possible Works 2 - Numb, by Hauntcats

Wei Ying returns to his teenage years, but can't shake the memories of what he has lost.

The Tamed, by pj_moonchild (7 chapters)

Wei Wuxian believes he can change the past for the better if he never misbehaved and remained considerate of the Jiang Yunmeng Sect the whole time. At the same time, he sacrifices meeting Lan Zhan but inevitably, they do meet again once the Wen Clan decides to take over the other sects.

Unfinished

Not Rated:

I'd Give You The Moon, by Teadrenched

Wei Wuxian is very smart, but you wouldn't think that if you saw him now, lost alone in the woods at night and being choked by a witch. Despite his predicament, all Wei Wuxian can think about is how pretty the witch looked, and that he didn't know boys were allowed to wear dresses (but after seeing Lan Wangji, definitely thinks more should)

OR

Wei Ying finds fem witch Lan Zhan in the woods and goes to bother him whenever Madame Yu has been a bit too much

Friday Nights, by Autumn_leaf101

“A-Cheng there is someone I would like you to meet with this Friday. He is the successor to Lan Academies. I’ve spoken with his uncle and we shall see if you both are suitable for each other.” Said Yu-Jiang ZiYuan, with a tone of clarity and finality.

“Yes A-Niang” Having expected this he felt relieved to get it over with.

“The Lan Academies huh? The heirs are quite the handsome duo.” A cheeky Cangse Sanren pointed out. “Isn’t the younger, the pouty one you’re always talking about A-Xian?! Oh, and the older, he has the sweetest smile, doesn’t he?” She continued an excited rant, met with an equally excited Wei Wuxian.

As the conversation steered to the rumours of Jiang Cheng’s potential betrothed, he wanted to know what was being said but no amount of effort could help him concentrate. His only focus; convincing himself that a lifetime of neglect and passive-aggressive companionship wouldn’t be too bad, or maybe, just maybe he could love and be loved the way a husband and wife are meant to.

wing bones touching, by ShanaStoryteller

Mo Xuanyu is the hastily legitimized daughter of Jin Guangshan.

Wei Wuxian wakes up in her body the day before her wedding.

Explicit:

the long way back home, by Misila (🔒)

Wei Ying always knew he was the single discordant note in the Jiang household. That was why, after graduating from university, he didn’t return home. With him gone, Yu Ziyuan wouldn’t have anyone to compare her son to, and Jiang Fengmian wouldn’t have to keep avoiding his own family to prevent further conflict.

…Right?

(Seven years later, married to the man of his life and with a four year-old son, Wei Ying returns to his hometown and tries to reconnect with his siblings and befriend his nephew; but, most of all, he struggles to figure out what’s wrong with his brother and how to help him, despite Jiang Cheng not wanting to have anything to do with him anymore.)

Lupine, by Anonymous

It’s never been an option before—to see Wei Ying after that dream. Typically, Lan Wangji jolts awake in bed, alone with his quaking limbs, and resigns himself to reading or meditating until morning.

But here in Qinghe, dawn is far away, and Wei Ying’s room is so, so close.

The Second Hand Unwinds, by trulywicked (🔒)

Sent back in time without his husband after a night hunt gone wrong, Lan Wangji is determined to ensure that Wei Wuxian’s safety and in the process hopefully mitigate, if not prevent, the war.

Through marriage among other things.

Heart of the Beast, by WaitForTheSnitch

“Wei Ying?” Nie Mingjue prompted him gently. “Where are your parents?”

“They went on a night hunt,” Wei Ying said, a bit evasively.

“Your parents are cultivators?” Da-ge asked in surprise. “Did they leave you here while they hunted? When did they go on their night hunt?”

“Four summers ago,” Wei Ying said a bit uncomfortable.

“Four summers ago,” Nie Mingjue repeated. “What are your parents’ names?”

“My mama is Cangse Sanren and my baba is Wei Changze,” Wei Ying told him, and recognition registered in Nie Mingjue’s eyes.

“Wei Ying,” Nie Mingjue said, sounding a bit regretful, “Your parents aren’t coming back.”

Or, Nie Mingjue and Nie Huaisang run into Wei Ying while in Yiling and decide to bring him home. And it changes everything.

Mature:

Dreams of Paradise, by Hauntcats

This on begins during the siege of the Burial Mound. Wei Ying is trying to destroy or nullify the tiger seal before anyone else can get it. The results don’t work out quite how he thought they would. His essence is trapped in between time where he witnesses different scenes of the lives of those he cares about. (The 13? 16? Years when he was dead.)

Then he wakes up in a place he didn't expect.

Once again, not Jiang friendly. If you don't like that, please, don't read.

Tragedy That Befall Upon Us, by xoxoholic

"Hey! What's this?" Jin Ling yelled, pointing at the glowing, black and red orb. Jiang Wanyin marched over to Jin Ling, but the young Jin sect leader had already touched the orb.

"Jin Ling!" Jiang Wanyin yelled in anger. If his golden core was not sealed, then Zidian would be cackling furiously.

"..Oops?" Jin Ling sheepishly smiled as he hid behind his friends. Lan Jingyi laughed at Jin Lings predicament while Lan Sizhui sighed. Ouyang Zizhen laughed with Lan Jingyi in amusement before he was hit in the back of his head by his father.

UNDER EDITING

【银 劍 探 心】| Silver Jian Seeking Hearts, by stiltonbasket

“A ghost bridegroom?” Wei Wuxian asks, when he receives his latest night-hunting assignment from Uncle Jiang. “Have women been going missing?”

If brides have been going missing, this is the first that Wei Wuxian is hearing about it; which is strange, because the systematic kidnapping of brides should have quickly been recognized as spirits’ work and reported as such to the nearest cultivation sect as soon as possible.

“Three women and ten men have gone missing so far,” his uncle tells him. “Jinshan town is out of our jurisdiction, and the records say there hasn’t been a hunt in the area since before my grandfather’s time. But no one from Jinshan thought to report the disappearances until today, so the victims must be long dead by now.”

Four hundred years after the Sunshot Campaign, a reincarnated Wei Wuxian dresses himself in wedding red to defeat the ghost of a bridegroom.

Deep within the forests of Jinshan Mountain, the mourning calamity Yin Jian Tan Xin waits to marry his beloved.

What If..... Jiang Cheng Understood?, by ToxicAngel13

It didn't take a genius to realize just what had happened in the time that Wei Wuxian was gone. Not with that damn ribbon on his wrist and Jiang Cheng was not going to let his brother be taken advantage of!

Or a tale in which one insight sparks a world of change.

[phagechildon]

An idea I came up with and may try to write sometime! We’ll see x.x 

Modern wangxian au where Wei Ying saves Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen from the Wen Clan (a very nasty gang, sort of like the mafia) at the cost of being kidnapped and presumed dead for 13 years. When Lan Zhan finally finds him, he learns Wei Ying has no memory of his old life, and a dark power surrounds him.  In this universe, some people have powers and some don't - no one really knows why. Cultivation is still in practice, but it's strength and popularity have been lost to time. Only a few prominent clans still practice it, but are more focused on recruiting and raising those with powers. It's almost looked down upon because most who cultivate weren't born with powers, and those that do are seen as greedy and power hungry. 

Growing up, Wei Ying always protected those who got bullied, no matter the reason; his sharp tongue just as painful as his fists. He even stood up for Lan Zhan in elementary despite the bullying not bothering him. Wei Ying would always turn to him with a bloody nose and toothful grin, stunning the little Lan. "Come on Lan Zhan, you gotta stand up for what you believe in, and you gotta believe in yourself!" Naturally Lan Zhan practiced restraint, and almost never lost his temper. Wei Ying defending him made the bullies stop him more often, claiming he hid behind the unwanted street rat. Only at those words did he nearly lose his temper. 

Yet even then, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan were never that close. Lan Zhan's uncle always claimed Wei Ying was a poison and he'd do well to stay away. High school however, changed everything. Always being an over achiever, Lan Zhan volunteered wherever he could, and that included being a tutor at their school. His first student happened to be Wei Ying, much to his 'displeasure,' but stayed civil. He hated Wei Ying, not because he was loud or obnoxious, or overly flamboyant. Wei Ying made him feel things, things he never felt before, and made him want to do things for himself. 

Every tutoring session was a two way street. While he helped Wei Ying with school, Wei Ying taught him how to live. To eat candy when he wanted, to relax his posture, to have an opinion, to almost feel like a normal teenager for once - hell even a kid. Over the next year and a half, they grow impossibly close.

Naturally there's family drama for Wei Ying. He beats Wen Chao up for nearly beating someone to death, and Madam Yu, furious at him for giving their family "bad attention," forces Wei Ying to go straight home everyday after school to either work or be punished. He's being forced into the family business, something he never wanted to do, and can no longer talk to Jiang Cheng or Yanli. He runs away and his siblings are forbidden to look for him. Lan Zhan hears Wei Ying ran away from home and sets out, finding him hiding under a Willow tree they took shelter under during a bad storm during a elementary school trip. This is the first time Lan Zhan sees Wei Ying vulnerable, and comforts him as much as he can. They both don't want to follow in their family's footsteps, they want to live their own lives Wei Ying jokingly says they'll come up with an escape plan together, not knowing Lan Zhan is serious when he replies with "lets." That night, Wei Ying texts Lan Zhan and asks him to meet him at the Willow tree Friday night, wanting to talk to him about something important. They never make it to Friday. 

While Lan Zhan and Lan Xichen are walking home together, they hear screeching tires. Looking up, Lan Zhan barely sees a motorcycle coming his way before his world is tumbling. When he comes back to himself, he feels a hand under his head, cushioning it from the ground, and something wet dripping onto his face. Opening his eyes, he sees Wei Ying hunched over him, one eye clenched tightly closed as blood runs down his forehead. A casual smile comes naturally to his lips as he sees Lan Zhan staring worriedly up at him, but it quickly fades as heavy footsteps make their way towards them. The motorcyclist is cursing and waving a gun at them, Lan Xichen naturally stands in front of them, trying to talk the man down. Wei Ying warns him not to, but the sound of the gun going off stops them all in their tracks. Lan Xichen drops to his knees, clenching his chest, and Wei Ying goes ballistic. Lan Zhan tries to get up, but another gun goes off, shooting him in the leg. Wei Ying at this point has beaten the shit out of the first guy, only to be surrounded by new motorcyclists. Lan Zhan recognizes the symbol on their clothes-  the Wen gang. 

Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu pull up just as they slam a bloodied Wei Ying into the ground. Lan Zhan is helpless as he watches them take Wei Ying away. Wei Ying is tortured by the Wens, used against the Jiang’s, making them lose so much and for nothing. All their promises to his foster parents are broken. Wei Ying, unable to stand being used against his family tries to kill himself, but fails, and amused, is taken to “The Burial Mounds,” where it’s said brutal acts of mass murder and genocide were committed. It’s a large canyon and they toss him in. 

Somehow he survives the fall, and wakes in a small run down village. The said village is run by Wen Qing and Wen Ning, healers that rescue those the Wens and others throw down to rot as they too were cast away. When Wei Ying wakes, they make a startling discovery: Wei Ying has no memories. He doesn’t even remember his name, only basic functions and words. 

Something even more alarming: “You don’t need them to keep watch, it’s not like I have anywhere to go.” Wen Qing raises an eyebrow, confused by his statement. “No one’s watching you.”  “... uh huh,” Wei Ying blinks skeptically, hiding a scowl beneath his smile as he glances over the hooded figures in the room. Their forms are hazy and dark, as if a spell is preventing him from making out the finer details. “So they like spending their days watching poor little ol’ me waste away?” “What… are you talking about?” The sincerity in her question made Wei Ying’s facade fall a bit, nervousness seeping into his veins. “We’re the only ones here.” 

The sheer amount of negative energy, death, and fear tainted a once sacred talisman, one that was lost to the Burial Mounds long ago. When Wei Ying was cast down, the mountainside slowed his fall (if you could even classify it so), and landed on a ledge that so happened to have eroded a bit due to a violent storm. In the dirt lay the talisman, and Wei Ying, going in and out of consciousness, grabbed it, unable to resist the whispers beckoning him. 

Pain. He didn’t remember much, but he remembered the unforgiving, unbelievable pain he went through. His memory may be wiped, but his body remembered. It’s later revealed Wen Ning, who found Wei Ying, noticed hundreds of animal bones in the area along with fresh corpses, all of which facing the talisman that's clenched in Wei Ying’s unconscious hand. It used to have color, somehow Wei Ying knows. And a heartbeat. 

The same heartbeat he hears when it’s silent. 

They call him “Mo,” since he doesn’t know his name.

Any power he had before is gone, and replaced with strong darkness that overwhelms and blinds him at times. As time goes on, he gets better at controlling it and himself. Their living conditions worsen. Water barely collects and falls, and what little crops they have start dying. They repeatedly tell him they can’t leave, that something keeps them trapped there, so they have to rely on the land. 

Wei Ying however decides to test it, and finds both himself and Wen Ning are able to leave and find the road. The thing that was keeping everyone there was the talisman, which is now Wei Ying (but they dont know that). 

Going to the nearest city though, was a huge mistake. Wei Ying barely remembers it, but he wakes up, horribly wounded, with Wen Ning who also looks injured - and scared. 

When they first started walking around, Wei Ying started acting strange, losing his balance and speech, as if he was struggling to stay awake. He bumped into someone in a crowded crosswalk, and darkness pierced everyone around them. Wen Ning’s arm was scratched by a tendril, but thankfully nothing worse. People fought back, cops were called in. There were many casualties, both civilian and officers, and would’ve been more if Wen Ning hadn’t managed to use a dart to knock him out. 

From then on, Wei Ying stays home, that is until Wen Ning doesn’t come back with a few others after going to town to sell radishes. He leaves and finds them being killed and “toyed” with by the Wens, all but Wen Ning brutally killed and used, Wen Ning at the brink of death. This time Wei Ying works *with* the surging darkness, saving Wen Ning and giving birth to the rumor of a violent ghost escaping the Burial Mounds to slaughter anyone who dares go near. 

The experience makes Wei Ying understand his powers more, and he practices and owns them until he doesn’t have an experience again. By now it’s been 10 years since he first showed up at the Burial Mounds, which no longer supports them with potatoes and vegetables aside from radishes. 

Behind everyone’s backs, Wei Ying goes into town (not city) and starts working different jobs. There are days where he sleeps in the parks and such, far too exhausted to walk back to the Burial Mounds. He earns enough to save up while supporting his home. On the side he sells the beautiful flowers that grow in the Burial Mounds and nowhere else, along with some radishes. They soon find out they can grow coffee, which is odd, but eventually manages to open a coffee gift shop.

Fast forward to three years later, making it 13 years since he woke with no memory, he hears his *real* name for the first time. 

“Wei… Ying?”

Lan Zhan never gave up on Wei Ying even when everyone tried pronouncing him dead. He followed in his brother’s footsteps, becoming a very notable officer, then a guardian, as they call officer with such power and status, not to mention trust. Even with all his influence and power now, however, he still finds no clues or traces of Wei Ying. 

Ten years later however, he hears about the incident in the City near the Burial Mounds and is assigned to the case. He watches the footage of the culprit, and finds it… odd. Everytime his face looks in the direction of the camera (though obviously unaware of its existence), the footage blurs around the face, as if intentional. But it’s not. He can tell in the other’s body language, the happy skip in his step, the way he stops and excitingly points to something in the sky, gaining the attention of the clear young man next to him. There’s awe in the “accomplices” eyes too, as if they both have never seen the world before. 

No matter how much he investigates though, the trail goes cold. The only thing he can follow is the resentment, but being so close to the Burial Mounds makes it hard to track it. 

While patrolling the area 3 years later, pulling all-nighters working on a new mass missing persons case, he goes to a local popular coffee shop. He’s surprised to see it’s also a gift shop, all of which look handmade, that also sells flowers that are hand picked from the Burial Mounds? Who has the courage to attempt such a thing? 

But Lan Zhan’s whole world stops hearing that *laugh,* that *voice.* Denial hits him first, believing he’s being hopeful, as usual, but his breath leaves him as he catches sight of the owner. Silver eyes, long black hair, a smile that dazzles and enchants - there’s no doubt it’s Wei Ying. *His* Wei Ying. 

For a moment, he can’t move - he can’t *think.* After searching all these years, he’s not sure *what* to do. Yet his mouth moves before his mind:

“Wei… Ying?” That face he fell in love with so long ago freezes, and the air within the very room becomes stiff. *Recognition,* but not the kind he was expecting. He looks over, resembling a deer in the headlights- For Wei Ying, or rather “Mo,” it’s the first time he’s heard that name, yet knows it’s his. 

That voice too, his heart pangs as he grasps it, a name slipping from his lips as his mind starts to feel like it’s splitting. “Lan… Zhan?” The lights in the shop flicker a bit, remaining a bit dimmed. Wen Ning looks up, alarmed, then back to “Mo,” only to helplessly watch blood squirt from Wei Ying’s shoulder, the sound of a gun making everyone scream. 

Xue Yang was hired by the Wens to find the “creature” from the Burial Mounds, and although he took their money, he wants Wei Ying for himself, wanting his powers. He knows better than to get him too riled up, remembering the other City, and has been watching him a long time. The bullet is actually from his own body, and it acts according to his will. It makes him feel tired and out of it while he grabs Wen Ning and uses him as a “hostage,” pretending to be robbing him. He has to be careful not to overstimulate Wei Ying, so he makes it look like a simple robbery. Thankfully for Xue Yang, Wei Ying is very good at controlling himself and his powers. His plan might’ve worked, if Lan Zhan hadn’t recognized Xue Yang and managed a sneak attack. Xue Yang retreats, but Lan Zhan knows he’s not gone - that this isn’t over. 

Yet when he tries to go over to Wei Ying, who’s looking at him like a deer again, like a lost child wearily longing for freedom they won’t reach for, he learns Wei Ying doesn’t remember anything. He tries to reach for his arm to help him up, but Wei Ying cowers back, away from touch, something he’s *never* done before, and it makes his heart ache even more. After 13 years of going through who knows what, he realizes it’s to be expected, especially if he doesn’t even remember him. He won’t leave Wei Ying’s side again though, determined to help and protect him, especially since Xue Yang is after him, along with the Wens - *still.* After all these years, learning he’s still being *hunted* makes his stomach churn and boil.

The only bright side to this is that, even though Wei Ying doesn’t remember him, let alone himself, he reassures Wen Ning that they can trust him. Being near Lan Zhan though, hearing him speak, breaks the damn little by little, a damn the resentment has built, and threatens to fight Wei Ying the more he remembers his life outside the Burial Mounds - because he’s their property, their vessel and life. They don’t want to let him go. 

I donno a very long idea i might try to write at some point ;////; lots of cute parallels too like Wei Ying hiding in a tree to sulk after getting in a fight with Wen Qing or even Lan Zhan, and is surprised when Lan Zhan finds him. Small "insignificant" things take his breath away, and eventually he feels so comfortable with Lan Zhan he leans against him, falls for him, but the resentment treats this as a threat. Luckily for Wei Ying, Lan Zhan is very possessive too, and highly protective. Especially when both the Wens and Xue Yang come for him. 

And Xue Yang *does* come for him, manages to kidnap him, and Lan Zhan better find him fast because he’s a very cruel person who’s a little familiar with manipulating resentment, for he was cast down into the Burial Mounds, but wasn’t called upon by the cursed treasure. Now he wants it all, even if he has to learn how to control Wei Ying to do it. Thankfully Wei Ying is Wei Ying, and it’ll take a lot for Xue Yang to get his way

[jigujellee]

THROUGH WITH YU -> karina yu hates your guts and you don't really know why. | read part 2 here!

karina x reader angst word count: 3.8k warnings: there might be a swear word or two, nothing crazy

a/n: wow, another fic in less than 2 weeks? who is she? lol i'm jk but the first part to the karina enemies to lovers college au is here! there's only two parts, so hopefully, i should be able to get it out soon. don't worry, i'm also working on the requests you've all sent me so please look out for those. take care everyone, thanks for reading!

smu was home to numerous intelligent and hard working students who were slowly losing their sanity every day in order to achieve their future. if they weren’t burying their faces in their laptops or textbooks, students were drowning themselves in caffeine as they desperately try to work through the hell known as university. it’s definitely not easy for most, but then there are people like karina who make the university life look so easy.

karina yu graduated from kwangya high as valedictorian and received a full grant scholarship at smu where she is now a biomedical student with a dream to pursue a career in medicine. she also manages to maintain the top spot in the entire school while being the captain of the swim team and balances a part time job. the girl’s credentials are unmatched, you’d think she doesn’t have a social life but no. everybody and their grandmothers know exactly who karina is, and with a god given face, brain, and talent like hers, who wouldn’t be drawn to her? dubbed as the campus goddess, she captures the hearts of anyone who glances her way. karina could care less about the title though. she was nice to everyone she encountered and remained humble despite being treated like royalty at school. so when everyone’s attention is focused on something else, or rather someone else, karina suddenly becomes intrigued.

“alright class, that wraps it up for today. don’t forget, your assignments on DNA mutagenesis are due next Friday so i hope most of you have at least started on it”

as soon as the campus goddess finished typing up her last few notes, she sets a quick reminder for herself to finish the references for the assignment. karina’s work ethic was something every student dreamed to have in a perfect world, hence why it isn’t uncommon for students to ask her for help every now and then. her best friend ningning is a perfect example of these said students.

“so you’re going to help me with my assignment, right?” the blonde says, not even sparing a glance to karina as her eyes remained glued on her phone.

“ning, why do you still have to ask? i’ve been helping you with your assignments since we were in high school. but let me remind you that you’re smart enough to do it on your own. maybe if you spent less time on your phone, you would’ve gotten it done early”

“thanks for the ted talk but you know i gotta stay updated with the tea around here”

“right, so what’s new gossip girl hm?”

“well, jeno recently got injured after their last basketball game so he’s sitting out for the next few. then there’s yeji and ryujin who got into a pretty nasty fight and people are saying they still haven’t talked it out”

“isn’t it gonna be their 3 year anniversary in a few weeks? i hope they resolve things soon”

“well well well, would you look at that? seems like someone is fairly updated too” ningning chuckles and finally tears her eyes away from the phone to find karina putting her stuff away into a tote bag.

“you live and breathe tea and drama, and unfortunately, i’m the only one who has to hear all of it since i’m pretty much the only friend you have,” karina jokes.

“you make me laugh miss yu,” her best friend says dryly as rolls her eyes and continues to scroll through her phone once more. “oh, and there’s a new student coming in today. apparently they’re coming all the way from canada,” ningning turns off her phone and grabs her bag before sticking her arm out so that karina could link arms with her. the latter didn’t care much about the new transferee, not with her empty stomach practically ringing in her ears.

“yeah yeah whatever, let’s go grab lunch. i’m starving” she links her arms with ningning and the two make their way to the campus cafeteria.

they were greeted with crowds of students, which wasn’t a new sight to the two. almost all of campus knew karina ate in the cafeteria during lunch so they would always have an audience as they ate in peace. what was surprising to karina was that the students weren’t swooning over her like they usually do. instead, they were running right past her and making their way to the table where karina and ningning usually sat. confused, karina looks over at her best friend.

“why is everyone rushing to get over there? we’re not even there yet”

“you think i would know? i was beside you this entire time. but it looks like someone is sitting there already, i can’t see who it is though”

a girl in front of the two overhears their conversation before realizing who it was and immediately moves out of the way to let them pass. everyone else followed suit and the two manage to get a clear view of who was causing such a big crowd. they walk towards the table, but even as they get closer, they are unable to put a name to the face sitting in their usual spot.

as soon as they approached the unfamiliar person, ningning doesn’t hesitate to speak, “hi! i’m ningning and this is my friend karina!” the purple haired girl’s eyes widened at her friend’s sudden introduction, but not wanting to be rude, she just smiled and gave a small wave.

“hello! i’m y/n, it’s nice to meet you both” you say with a big smile plastered on your face.

“ah! you’re the new student, right? from canada?” you eagerly nod your head and continue to answer ningning’s never ending questions about your home country. meanwhile, the girl beside her stayed silent and just stared at you. you couldn’t tell what she was feeling, her face remaining stoic the entire time you were talking with her friend. you open your mouth to address her and try to include her in the conversation, but another student calls your name and invites you to eat lunch with them.

“karina and ningning usually sit here, so just sit with us for lunch” the student then whispered in your ear. you look back at the two girls and realize that they’ve been standing this entire time, so you immediately get up and allow them to sit at their respective table.

“well i’d be glad to answer your questions about canada some other time ning,” you chuckle. “i hope to see you both around more! sorry about taking your seat,” you say as your gaze lands on karina, who just quickly bows her head out of respect before taking a seat at the spot you were just in. ningning quickly hands you her phone for you to put your number in before letting you go. as you leave, you turn to take a look at the purple haired girl one more time.

you now understood why she was called the campus goddess.

-

funnily enough, the campus goddess wanted nothing to do with greek gods and goddesses, or any greek mythology in general. she hated history classes. the only reason she was taking it is because she needed an elective that wasn’t related to her major, so she chose ancient greek mythology and apparently, it was a really easy course. but even if this course was super easy, she got bored so easily. it was the only class that she rarely paid attention in and it made her want to fall asleep.

it doesn’t help that this class was a dreaded 3 hours of her professor going on and on about information that had nothing to do with what karina wanted to do with the rest of her life. oftentimes, her thoughts loved to wander off during class, and to her surprise, you are the one currently taking up space in her mind. karina couldn’t help but think about your smile, your dark brown eyes, your soft voice, the way your hair sat perfectly against-

“miss yu?” karina shakes her head and brings herself back to reality. was i really just thinking of the new student just now?

“sorry sir, what were you saying?”

“i asked which two groups fought during the battle of cynoscephalae?”

karina couldn’t bring herself to answer. she should know this, she did her readings on it so why couldn’t she remember? oh right, because some new girl was distracting her, that’s why.

“it was fought between the romans and the antigonids,” you spoke up after minutes of silence from karina. she looked back in shock, finding you three rows behind her. great, the person who’s been wrecking my train of thought is also in the same class as me.

you shoot her a wink with a smile, causing karina to immediately turn back around to the front, hoping you wouldn’t see her cheeks heating up out of embarrassment.

“that’s correct y/n, thank you. pay more attention karina, this isn’t like you”

“yes sir, it won’t happen again” karina sinks into her seat and groans internally for letting herself get distracted and embarrassing herself in front of you… and the class.

and now, she despised you for making her feel this way and decided that she wanted nothing to do with you.

so any attempt you made in trying to be her friend, whether it be buying her snacks, coffee, cup noodles, and even a whole cake, or trying to follow her on instagram and her other socials, karina shut all of it down. she couldn’t afford to be embarrassed like that anymore and she tried her best to avoid you, but she quickly learned that you were stubborn and you weren’t going to stop until you two were at least acquaintances.

“hi karina! i grabbed you a triangle kimbap and a choco pie in case you were hungry,” you hold out the snacks in front of her, hoping she’ll actually take them this time. but as usual, she just stares at them and her hands remain still by her side.

her eyes shift from your hands to your own eyes, and you could feel a bitter coldness being emitted from her dark brown orbs. “i’m going to make this very clear, y/n. i do not care who you are or where you came from, but i do not need you around me. buying me snacks is not going to get me to be friends with you, so drop the act. we are never going to be friends,” she says, words hitting you like a knife. your hands that are filled with snacks drop to your side as you watch the campus goddess walk away from you. from that moment on, you do your best to avoid her, hoping that you are finally giving her something she actually wants.

-

it’s only 9 in the morning, and karina is already having a horrible day.

“what? what do you mean i’m failing? that’s nearly impossible-”

“calm down karina, you’re not behind by much. with a little tutoring and some catch up assignments, you’ll be able to bring your grade up in no time,” her english professor says.

karina huffs in frustration. how could this happen? she swore she handed in all her essays on time and they were all done very well, so she had no idea how could she be failing the class.

“i asked the student who will tutor you to come in today so that i could introduce you two,” and as if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

“perfect timing. come in!”

karina doesn’t bother turning around to see who it was, still trying to rack her brain over how she could possibly be doing badly in english class.

“you wanted to see me professor lee?”

the purple haired girl’s eyes widened and her mouth falls slightly agape. she didn’t need to look at who it was; the voice said it all.

“thank you for coming, y/n! i wanted to introduce you to karina, have you met before?”

“yes, we share a few classes together” you say dryly.

you were aware that you had to tutor someone, but you didn’t know it’d be her. from where you were standing, you could see that she didn’t want to be in this setup either. she was avoiding your presence, putting all her attention onto the stack of papers on the professor’s desk and studying it as if it were the most intriguing thing in the world right now.

“with all due respect professor lee, i’m sure there are a number of other students who would be willing to help karina out. not to mention countless other students who speak english at a much higher level than i do, such as aeri, chaeyoung, jennie, yunjin, jisu, seungkwan.. need i list more?”

for the first time since entering the office, karina looks at you with a confused expression; she didn’t expect you to turn the opportunity down, not after all the nice things you’ve done for her just to be her friend. your focus remains on the professor as you wait for a reply, ignoring the other girl beside you who was trying to figure you out, the stack of papers on the desk now long forgotten.

“nonsense y/n, what better way to learn english than from someone who’s just transferred from canada? besides, english is your first language, correct?” you nod your head, unable to lie because the records were right there in front of the prof.

“then it’s settled! think of it as a way to get closer to one another. karina, i promise you won’t regret this and your grade will improve in no time! you two are dismissed, i’ll see you both on wednesday”

both of you bow your heads, and karina is the first one to get up and leave. you follow suit, rolling your eyes once you’re at the door because she didn’t even have the courtesy to hold it open for you. once you’re both outside of professor lee’s office, you’re about to retreat to your own dorm but karina stops you.

“hey”

you say nothing and just turn to look at her, waiting for her to continue what she wanted to say.

“2pm tomorrow at the library. don’t be late,” she says sternly.

with no ounce of emotion on your face, you turn around and leave the purple haired girl standing in front of the prof’s office.

you hoped this tutoring session will go somewhat smoothly.

-

no, it’s not going smoothly.

karina was the one who said not to be late, yet she’s the one who came almost 20 minutes late. she blamed it on ningning for asking her to accompany her while she talks to one of their other professors.

and now, karina hasn’t spoken a word to you since she got here. she didn’t bother asking for any clarification or any questions and just began working on her assignment, but you couldn’t care less. if she didn’t want to fix her grade, then so be it. you allowed yourself to enjoy this quiet time by catching up on your favourite book, but unfortunately, it doesn’t last long.

“here, check this for me”

you scan the paragraph writing assignment she had to do. with a pencil, you lightly circled her mistakes and even wrote down some comments on things that could be improved. when you hand it back to her, you watch as her eyes scan over the paper and she huffs in frustration. you continue to watch the campus goddess scribble onto her paper, erasing and rewriting things every other second. your eyes move to the paper and you notice her making the same mistake again.

“you did the same thing aga-”

“shut up, i got it” but even after she erases it, she does it again. this time, she realizes what she wrote.

“not a word, y/n”

“rina look, i just-”

“first of all, do not call me that. we’re not close, okay? and second, i don’t care that you were asked to help me. i just need to pass english and then i’m through with you,” without missing a beat, she continues writing her assignment.

you won’t lie, it hurt whenever karina dismissed you like that. you don’t even understand why she hated you so much. was it because you answered for her in class? or was it because you stole her seat on the first day? whatever it was, it still hurt. but if she was going to be like this towards you, then you figured you should be the same back.

and that’s how the rest of your tutoring sessions go. you both arrive at the library, not uttering a single word to each other. you immerse yourself in your book or in other school work, and you only say something if karina asks you. as you meet up more and more, however, you notice karina is slowly starting to ask more questions and actually initiate conversation but you always gave her a dry reply, not even bothering to look up at her as you answer. why should you? you were just here to help her.

after one of your tutoring sessions, you were walking back to your dorm when you suddenly receive a phone call. the caller ID was enough to make you decline the call, but you answer it anyway. you don’t bother saying hello, and just wait for the other party to say something.

“not even a hello? wow, who do you think you are?”

“what do you want?”

“jeez, what’s gotten into you? i just called to check up on you”

“i never asked you to check on me”

“god, you’re unbelievable. you should be thankful i’m even checking up on you even after what you did to your-”

“stop trying to act like my mother. you are not her and you will never be her, so just shut up and leave me alone,” you angrily say as you hang up, not letting her get a response in. you shove your phone back into your pocket and stormed off to your dorm, but you don’t notice the girl behind you who heard everything.

she didn’t mean to eavesdrop. if anything, she blames you for stopping in the middle of the hallway and answering the call, and even putting it on speaker phone. but she heard it either way, whether she wanted to or not. karina watched as you stomped away and she felt a heavy feeling in her chest - it was guilt. she’s been rude to you all this time when all you wanted was to be her friend. you even agreed to tutor her (though it was pretty much forced) and she was still acting like such a bitch to you. but after hearing the conversation, she couldn’t help but feel sad. she didn’t have the best relationship with her mom either, so in a way, she kind of related to you. she starts thinking that maybe you weren’t so bad after all.

-

a few more tutoring sessions and three assignments later, karina manages to get her grade back up. once she hears the good news from professor lee, she immediately goes to find you.

“y/n!”

you turn around to find an ecstatic and smiley purple haired goddess coming your way. she crashes into you and wraps her arms around you, but you just stand there and look straight ahead, leaving your arms glued to your side.

she finally lets go of you after what seemed like minutes of hugging, and she shoves a paper in front of your face.

“look! i got my grade back up, and it’s all thanks to you!”

“good. now we can go our separate ways,” you try to walk pass her, but she grabs your arm to stop you.

“wait! let me treat you to something to eat! as a thank you for helping me”

“i’ll pass,” and you try to walk by her again. she doesn’t stop you this time, but she starts following you instead.

“how about tomorrow? or next week? i’m free whenever, just let me kn-”

“what’s your deal, hm? why are you so nice to me all of a sudden? just because you got your grade up or what?”

karina’s smile fades and a nervous expression appears on her face, scared to tell you why she was acting this way. she fidgets with the paper in her hand, avoiding your gaze and biting her bottom lip.

“so what do you want?” you ask, trying to get an answer out of her.

“i..” she starts. “i overheard your phone call with your mom. i didn’t mean to, it’s just you were right there and you even put it on speaker phone so i just happened to hear everything..” you say nothing, and you wait for her to continue.

“i feel bad for how i’ve treated you all this time. the truth is, i get it. i know what you’re going through, and it’s okay to-”

“stop,” karina looks at you, and she looks scared but she’s not scared that you were angry, she knew you’re probably pissed at her. what was scaring her is the lack of emotion you were showing. she wanted you to scream at her, to cuss her out for being such a bitch, but instead you’re as calm as ever and it terrifies her to her core.

“she’s not my mother. that was my stepmom who tries way too hard to be my mother,” you say calmly. you start making your way to her, making sure that she hears what you have to say next loud and clear. once you're right in front of her, you continue.

“don’t act like you fucking know me just after hearing one phone call. if you’re being nice to me because you feel bad for me, then just save it. i don’t need your pity and i don’t need you around, got it? i’m through with you” you’re close enough to feel her breath on your lips, but you back away as soon as you’re done talking to her and you leave her in the middle of the hall with people were staring, but you didn’t care. you didn’t need karina or her pity, and the campus goddess got that message loud and clear. but it still hurt her. it hurt enough to make tears fall from her eyes, and karina rarely ever cries. she wipes away whatever tears were on her cheek and starts making her way to meet with ningning.

karina didn't want you to be through with her, but she deserved it. especially since she's the one who said it first.

[hexpea]

Ch. 1 - Satoru's Sister

Tokyo Jujutsu High - 2008 (AN: Since you will be Gojo's sister, I'll have to use first names in non-dialogue to keep things straight. In dialogue, I'll usually use last names.)

"Tonight, right?" Yu excitedly asked Satoru as the fourth and third years sat outside after a regular day of classes, or what would be considered "normal" day for Jujutsu High. It was Friday and at least once a month, Satoru would hold a party for whoever decided to show up to his large, usually parent-less family estate.

"Yeah, tonight," Satoru confirmed, "are you finally gonna' come, Nanami?" He asked the blonde who spent most of his time ignoring whatever it was Satoru was bothering him about.

"Of course he's not gonna' come," Shoko took a long drag of her cigarette, answering for him.

The six of them were hanging out in the one of the courtyards on campus. Suguru and Satoru sat on a brick half-wall while Shoko leaned against it, smoking. Said half-wall surrounded a small, pathed garden that was covered mostly by trees, providing comfortable shade to lounge in. The courtyard itself was toward the back of campus where almost no staff came, which gave a good space for the usual teenaged shenanigans. The wall itself was angled in an L-shape, so while the fourth years were all perched on one side - the third years were on the other. Just like Suguru and Satoru, Yu was seated next to them on his portion of the wall - confidently carrying on an enthusiastic conversation that Kiyotaka was trying his best to keep up with. Kento could care less, eyes busy scanning a chapter book.

"Bingo," Kento pointed a finger at Shoko without removing his eyes from the book. She gave a single laugh and a smirk at Kento's answer before dazing off into the clouds and taking another drag.

"You're no fun, Nanamin," Satoru continued to tease. "You know what happens at these parties, right?"

"I have no interest in whatever it is you do on the weekends," he sighed, turning the page - pushing some of his long hair from the side of his face in the process.

"Nanami!" Yu interrupted excitedly. "This is our chance to get with girls!" Yu briefly glanced up from his book to give his classmate a disgusted expression.

"Oh, Nanami, you're human like the rest of us. You know you want some." Satoru sighed. "Even little Ijichi is coming!"

"Like I said, I have no interest," Kento grumbled, flipping another page. "While I am human, I don't need to fill that with some random person."

"Uptight ass," Satoru scoffed, rolling his eyes from behind his round specs. Kento chose to ignore him as always.

"Hi Satoru," a new voice arrived, it was you, causing Kento to finally look up at full attention from an unfamiliar voice. His low, uninterested eyes met yours. "I'm here to ride home with you."

"That was quick," the lanky teenager hopped off the wall and patted you on the head. "You're usually late."

"Yeah, well I actually caught the train on time today - class didn't run over," you sighed, shooing your brother's hand away. With Satoru's hand away, you began fixing your hair which was clearly dyed black - snowy white roots starting to come in just a few centimeters from your scalp.

"Oh, sister..." Satoru now began to tease you, looking intensely at your head, "you really need a touch up. It's really obvious in the sunlight." You quickly clasped your hands over your roots.

"Cut it out," you hissed at your elder sibling who was giggling like some kind of idiot.

"I'm serious," he insisted playfully, poking the top of your head while Suguru and Shoko snickered. They always got a kick at how frustrated you got at your brother. "Your dumb, normie school forces you to dye your hair but they let this slide?"

"Shut up," your hiss turned into a growl, leaning upward toward him to snap.

"Who is this, Gojo?" Kiyotaka interrupted to nervously ask.

"Oh," Satoru slapped a palm to his forehead, "I don't see you third years enough for Y/N to have ever shown up or be mentioned. This is Y/N...my sister." He introduced you casually. "She doesn't have anything special about her, no sorcery...no nothing, so she goes to the nearby 'normal' high school." He stressed your lack of power which irritated you to no end.

"That's enough," you punched Satoru but instead, as usual, your fist stopped just a few inches away from his body. You sighed and angrily crossed your arms.

"You should leave her be, Gojo," Kento scolded, coming to your defense.

"Thanks..." you started but hesitated when you realized you didn't know any of the third years' names.

"Nanami," he filled in the blank for you, corners of his mouth politely turning up.

"Thanks, Nanami, but I deal with this idiot day in, day out. He has no 'off' button." You smiled back, putting some hair behind your ears.

"I'm sorry," he smirked, breaking the neutral expression he held, enjoying the humor of your answer.

"Tell me about it," you rolled your eyes toward your brother who was still grinning like an idiot.

"Alright, Y/N, let's head home. You have a party to prepare for!" Satoru wrapped his arm around your shoulder and began pushing you along. You dragged your feet as he pushed. "See you all - except you, Nanami - later!" He gave a single wave as he left his classmates behind.

Satoru was, of course, teasing you when he said that. He did all of the preparing for his dumb parties. When they went down, you usually kept to yourself or stayed in your room. It was usually the students at TJH but also nearby high schools who knew about the party through the grapevine. Your idiotic parents, who were almost never home, kept the house stocked with alcohol and never questioned where it went when they returned. Satoru got away with damn near everything just because he was born with the inherited technique of Limitless and the Six Eyes. You were the opposite. Your parents always grilled down on you about your grades when they were around, always getting an earful of something when they were home. You had neither Limitless nor Six Eyes. In fact, Satoru's were the only blue eyes in the family thanks to that special power only one could supposedly have at a time. Yours were a deep brown, just as the rest of your family. Limitless was just an inherited technique, but you had nothing of your family's power. You were simply a vessel of DNA, betrothed to one of the Zenin's in middle school thanks to some dumb contract the family elders had made.

As Satoru prepared for guests to arrive, you were stuck in the bathroom with a box of dye to touch up your roots. As your gloved hands carefully brushed on the toxic-smelling liquid, the doorbell continuously rang as those guests began to arrive. While loud party music thumped throughout the house, you sat on the lid of the toilet on your phone - waiting for the dye to set. Eventually you showered and snuck back to your room to dress, the upstairs off-limits to guests so you didn't have to worry about being caught buck naked and wrapped in a towel. Having your hair touched up made you feel more like yourself. Yes, your school forced you to dye it as your usual white locks stood out too much, but dying your hair made you feel like an individual - your family's white hair a signature. That, and you weren't necessarily proud to be a Gojo. Eventually, feeling hungry, you decided to dress and head downstairs to partake in those fancy hors d'oeuvres Gojo would get with Daddy's credit card.

The house was relatively crowded as always. You quickly headed to the large kitchen and, as expected, on the kitchen island were several platters that were partially picked clean. You casually helped yourself when the doorbell rang again. You figured Satoru was busy entertaining at this point and began walking to the front door with your mouth stuffed.

"Hello?" You answered in a muffled voice, swallowing the last of the appetizer. A familiar face stood in front of you. "Nanami?" You asked, cocking your head.

"Yeah," he answered, taking in a deep breath to return to his normal composure after expecting Satoru to answer the door. "You...dyed your hair." He pointed out.

"Oh," you blushed and smiled, placing a hand atop your head, "yeah. I have to do that every two months or so or else the white peeks through. School wants 'natural' hair only."

"Nanami?" Satoru peeked his head from around the corner and came strolling to the door. "What a surprise!" He lowered his glasses down the bridge of his nose with a cocky smile planted on his face after shoving you out of the way. "I thought you weren't coming!"

"Satoru!" You shoved him back, his infinity off for once. He didn't react to your push, so you pouted and crossed your arms.

"I...wanted to see what all the fuss was about," he looked away from his senior, refusing to give him the pleasure of any type of desire to be there.

"Well, come on in!" Satoru moved his body out of the way and Kento stepped inside. "Ijichi and Haibara are over there." He pointed to the figures that stood in the corner of one of the living areas. It appeared that Yu was trying to gently encourage Kiyotaka who stared nervously into a red solo cup.

"Right," Kento answered, strolling toward the familiar pair.

"Alright, everyone!" Satoru shouted over the music, gaining some attention. "Time to make things interesting, Seven Minutes in Heaven starting in two right here in the living room! It's required!"

"Ugh," you rolled your eyes and turned your body to head up the stairs.

"Where do you think you're going, sister dear?" Satoru placed a large hand on your shoulder. "I said it's required."

"You can't force someone to play a dumb party game," you grumped.

"Sure, but you're not just someone. Of course, if the bottle lands on me - you spin again, but I'm not letting you get out of this!"

"Fine," you rolled your eyes and took a cross-legged seat on the floor with a few others who had joined.

As time passed, more people joined in the circle that grew on the large living room floor. Kento was still leaning against the wall just as he had when he arrived, now holding a solo cup of his own. It was clear he was uninterested in joining the circle just as you were.

"Nanami," Satoru scolded as if he were an adult, "circle. Now." He pointed to the floor with one hand, an iPhone with the timer app open in the other. (AN: I honestly was about to make them use a kitchen timer but then I realized the first iPhone came out in '07 and if Gojo's rich as they say he is, of course he'd have one.)

Nanami wanted to avoid a confrontation at all costs, so he rolled his eyes and took a seat in the circle across from you, taking a second to make brief eye contact before glancing away. You slightly blushed at his cold stare, clearly already crushing.

"Alright, who's first!" Satoru joined the circle, loudly exclaiming - the drunk party guests cheering and chattering loudly as the round began. Gojo then handed you an empty sake bottle. "Y/N...would you do the honors?"

[mariamermaid]

Lucky Charm

Tyler Locke x Reader

Summary: After losing a hockey game, Tyler realized that you might be his lucky charm…

Words: 1k

A/N: With the prompt 59 “Are you happy now?”. I decided to leave off prompt 25 since I wrote already several oneshots with it. Sorry it took so long

 It was a simple routine you had grown to.

It started out when your friend dragged you along to watch her boyfriend play hockey, but what caught your attention was somebody different. Tyler noticed you immediately sitting in the rows, you had given him a pencil on his first day. He remembered your smile, not judgmental, not with second thoughts, honest. And he remembered your smile when he made a goal, his heart skipping a beat.

With weeks passing, you began talking more, first in school and later out of school. You met in the library to study or drink coffee in town. A casual flow keeping you on track.

However, there came a weekend where you couldn´t come to the game. It was your grandmother´s 80th birthday, an event you didn´t want to miss. Besides your family would disinherit you if you didn´t come. But when you heard the news of losing, you did have some guilt weighing you down. It was stupid, it wasn’t your fault they had lost, right?

The next day in school was being dragged along, the minutes just didn´t wanted to pass and each class felt like eternity to you. The ringing to the break finally echoed and exhausted you carried yourself to your locker, throwing the books carefree in it. When you closed the door again, you jerked, Tyler was suddenly standing next to. You hadn´t heard or seen him coming to yu. He chuckled at your surprised reaction, but became serious again. “Sorry, didn´t want to scare you.” You shrugged and offered him a polite smile. “It wasn´t your fault, guess I´m just on the wrong track today.”

“Not just you”, he sighed while scratching his neck. “Heard about the loss, really sorry.”

“It was the first loss in this year, guess everybody is just a little demotivated”, he explained but it didn´t sound convincing. It sounded like the explanation you´d give your parents, nonspecific and avoiding the heart of the topic. “Isn´t there a game next week again?” You asked while you both walked through the cafeteria. He nodded and grabbed a plate for the two of you. You nodded thanking and tried to stop your heart beating faster at this simple gesture. Pushing the thought away, you listened to him. “Yeah, the coach has made some new tactics, hopefully we´ll get luckier this time.” You smiled up to him. “I´m sure you´ll have more luck next time, you know why?”

“No, why?” The grin you wore was hard to hide now, but the sudden wave of boldness came rushing over you. “Well, you´ll have your lucky charm back!”

“My lucky charm?” Tyler sounded confused, which made him look awfully cute, not that you particularly noticed… “Yes, me!”

He laughed while following you to the table. “So that means you´ll be there?” “Count me in.”

 As much as the rest of the team was still a little demotivated and lacking in enthusiasm, Tyler was back in the game. Each practice he imagined you sitting in the audience, clapping and cheering for him. Well, for the team as well, but the thought of you being his, and only his, lucky charm… It drove him insane.

With his newly found motivation, which also led to the rest of them team getting pushed, the game started on Friday night. The crowd was also going crazy, doing it´s best to support the team and it worked. Till the first half everything was going fine, but then after the break, things got a little harder. The opponent seemed to have figured out a rhythm, and was able to bring the score to a tie. You could practically feel the tension hanging in the air and rubbed your cold fingers nervously. There were only two minutes left to play, it was still a draw, when Tyler´s coach called the team in for a last-minute talk. The ice stadium was filled and after the break, it seemed that even more people joined to watch. Sadly, it made it hard for you to see onto the rink, since people filled your view. Annoyed you let out a huff and hurried down the stairs to get a closer look. Tyler lost you in the crowd while still trying to listen to the coach. “I want you to push forward, John is gonna hold you back free and then try to score”, he explained at pointed towards Tyler. He nodded and felt how sweat dripped down his neck. He had pulled off his helmet, the loud crowd already made it hard enough to hear the words. But just before the referee was about to start the time again, the opponent team was getting back on their positions as well. Tyler heard somebody call out his name. He spun around and caught eye of you, standing next to the railing. He gave a quick sign to his team members and coach, before joining you on the side. “Good luck!” You explained, loud enough for him to hear, but nobody else around. He nodded. “We´ll need it.”

“Good thing I have a last resort for you”, you smiled. Tyler seemed confused, but then he felt your hands grabbing his collar and getting slightly pulled down. He felt your cold lips press against his warm ones. He was feeling hot and sweaty, while you had cooled down only sitting around. He had the urge to wrap a thick blanket around you and make you a cup of hot chocolate, but decided to save that for later. “Good luck”, you breathed against his lips. He smiled. “I don´t think we can lose now.”

His team colleagues hollered as he slid back on the ice field and he pulled down his helmet to hide his deep shade of blush. At the same time a rush of confidence floated through his veins. He was absolutely right, after that boost of energy, there wasn´t a thing that kept him from losing. The stadium was so loud after he shot the final goal, but all he could hear was your screaming, your clapping and your laughter. After his friends gave him a proud slap on the shoulder, he obviously made his way back to you. You grinned. “Are you happy now?”

“Not quite yet.”

He leaned down again, his warm lips back on yours, like they never left in the first place. The shouts and hollers got even louder and you both chuckled. “Good thing I had my lucky charm today.”

[wiypt-writes]

Riding On

Ch 18-Home Run

Summary: Frank’s competitive side comes out to play during an event at Mary’s school, and then he and Fliss get their first child free evening in well over 6 months.

Warnings:  Bad Language words, Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Frank Adler x Fliss Gallagher

A/N:  Special thanks to @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​ for her little drabble which was posted as part of her Birthday Celebrations which I used in here.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 17

Taking more than her share, had me fighting for air, she told me to come, but I was already there 'Cause the walls start shaking, the Earth was quaking, my mind was aching and we were making it. And you shook me all night long, yeah, you shook me all night long

February 2020

Fliss watched as Frank adjusted the blue Red Sox hat on his head slightly, the baseball bat hanging loosely in one hand before he took up position, turning slightly to the side, his long fingers curling around the handle.

"Five bucks says he misses..." Bill spoke and Fliss gave him a dig in the ribs.

"No chance Poppa B" Mary laughed from where she stood in front of Fliss "Frank's got a wicked swing."

Fliss saw Frank who was laughing at something that one of the school teachers who was current performing the role of catcher before his face suddenly warped into one of utter concentrate as the pitcher wound up. Sure enough, a second or so later Frank swung the bat forward and with a satisfying cracking sound he connected with the baseball and set off at a sprint. Fliss and Mary cheered along with the rest of the crowd who had gathered to watch and Frank rounded first base, then onto second as the other guy positioned there had also started to make his way home. Frank made it to 3rd easily, and then Fliss spotted the expression on his face change as he glanced around and set off at a sprint clearly going for home. The gathered crowd started to yell as the ball came flying in towards the catcher but Frank was there just that little bit faster, dropping into a slide and his boot hit the little square marked out as home before the ball. He jumped up, a huge grin on his face as the other parents on the team all cheered and congratulated him, various other yells ringing out around the little playing field, Fliss, Mary, Bill and Verity joining in. 

"Told ya!" Mary shouted as she jumped up and down. "Home run!"

Fliss looked up at her dad who was chuckling as he watched Frank who was now doubled over, hands on his knees, catching his breath. He wiped at his dirty jeans, which were covered in the orange dust from the school playing field and glanced over towards them, shrugging playfully. 

"Well considering he said he would rather stick hot pins in his eyes than play in the Staff v Parents game he looks like he's enjoying himself." Bonnie grinned as she gently placed a hand on Fliss shoulder, leaning over to pull a face at Alex. The 6 month old baby grinned and waggled his arms furiously letting out a loud giggle, a stream of drool trickled down his chin and Fliss wiped it away with the bib round his neck.

"Well Mary called him a chicken." Fliss snorted, gently running a hand down Alex's flushed cheek, thankful he seemed to be in a temporary respite from his teething pain. "Said he was only refusing to take part because he was scared he wasn't good enough. And let's face it, he's not one to back down from a challenge is he?" 

Bonnie laughed and then someone called her away. Apologising she headed off and the family turned their attention back to the game. It finished about 20 minutes or so later when the last batter was caught out, but it didn't matter as the Parents had won anyway. They all let out a little cheer, before the two teams congratulated one another and dispersed, Frank making his way back over to where his family was stood. He chuckled as Mary ran towards him and he swung her up with a little huff and she tipped his hat back to look at him. 

"You're all sweaty." She pulled a face and Frank rolled his eyes as he set her down.

"Yeah, well it’s in the 70s and I've been running." He shrugged, dropping a kiss to Fliss' cheek.

"Hey babe...Ruth. She teased and Frank chuckled before he smiled at his baby boy.

"How's he feeling?"

"He seems OK." Fliss shrugged, looking at him. "Mind you, I've not tried putting him down yet since he stopped crying."

"Let me take him for a bit." Frank said and Fliss passed him over, Alex immediately reached up for his cap. Frank jerked his head out of the way and Alex let out a noise of protest until Fliss handed him his teething ring from his buggy. They baby grabbed it and instantly jammed it into his mouth, chomping away whilst babbling to no one in particular. Frank dropped a kiss to his head as they walked over the field, making their way to the little refreshment tent where a few if the other parents all turned and cheered as Frank walked in. He grinned, flushing a little at the attention and nodded to Rosie's mom and dad as they wandered over to talk to them. Fliss glanced around and caught the eye of one of the other moms who she recognised as being the one who'd been chatting shit about Frank and Mary last June. She narrowed her eyes a little, staring the bitch out and the other woman hastily averted her gaze and making Fliss smirk.

"Stop it." Frank warned in her ear and she turned to look at him, her best innocent expression in her face.

"Stop what?"

"You know full well what." He arched an eyebrow and Fliss shrugged.

"She's a bitch." she offered as justification and Frank merely rolled his eyes, adjusting Alex slightly in his arms, turning the baby so his back was pressed to his chest, one strong arm under his butt, the other hand pressed over his little belly so they small boy could look round the tent. He waggled his arms and legs excitedly as he saw Bonnie who waved her fingers towards him and smiled as she passed with a box in her arms, heading towards the small table set out at the front. 

The rest of the gala passed fairly quickly. It had been pulled together as a way for teachers and parents to bond, a little bit of fun one Friday afternoon in February. And according to the Principal as she spoke, it was going to be a yearly thing from now on. The Staff V Parents Baseball Trophy was handed to the captain of the parents’ team, a tall dark haired man whose daughter was in first grade who grinned and teased the staff members about how good it would look in the cabinet in the entrance hall with the word Parents engraved on the plate for at least the next 12 months, and then there were a few individual trophies handed out. One for best catch which went to the 3rd grade tutor, best display of acrobatics which went to Rosie's dad for his specular trip over his own feet as he ran to 3rd base, most animated player which went to the school's janitor who had been ferociously rallying his team all afternoon and then finally the Top Slugger trophy which to Fliss' delight was awarded to Frank for his absolute peach of a hit and home run. Frank let out a little groan as his name was called and everyone in the tent turned to face him. He accepted his trophy with one hand, Alex still held easily to his chest with the other and declined to say much other than he'd had fun and it has been a nice afternoon, thanking everyone who has organised the day, before cheekily quipping it was about time Bonnie did some actual work, which earned him a slap upside the head when she was walking past him later. 

Eventually it was time to leave and they made their way back to the cars. Mary retrieved her stuff from Frank's truck, handing it to Bill who tossed it into his Range Rover before Frank then handed Bill a changing bag for Alex as Fliss picked him up from the stroller so Bill could collapse it.

"Sure you don't mind dropping Mary off at Roberta’s?" Frank asked as Bill popped the stroller into the trunk and closed it.

"Not at all, it's on the way." Bill smiled watching Mary give Fliss a hug goodbye before she turned and did the same to Frank. 

"Behave." He said sternly and she rolled her eyes.

"I always do."

"Huh must be just us you're a pain in the ass for." Frank shrugged, earning him a little dig in the stomach from Mary. He huffed a breath, grinning as she clambered into the back of the car. 

"One down...one to go." Bill muttered to where Fliss was holding Alex to her, gently kissing his head.

"Yeah and something tells me this one's gonna be a little more awkward to get in your car." Frank sighed and Bill chuckled. Frank turned to him "I know I don’t need to ask but..."

"He'll be fine." Bill smiled "travel cot and baby monitor all set up."

Frank gave a nod as Bill clapped him on the shoulder and they both turned to Fliss who was now talking to her mother in a worried tone as Alex was starting to grumble.

"You know, I'm not sure..."

"Stop. Now." Verity looked at Fliss, giving her a significant look and Fliss knew why. Her mom and dad taking Alex overnight was a trial run for a few weeks’ time when she was planning to take Frank away for the weekend as a birthday gift. It was more a trial run for her than Alex, mind, as she was still ridiculously clingy to him, a fact she knew and was actively trying to get over. 

"He's teething Fliss, not dying." Bill looked at her. 

"I know that" Fliss replied hotly "but he's a little grouchy and he's in pain..."

“So we'll dose him up with medicine, give him cuddles and let him sleep." Verity responded simply.

"Love, we've done this before remember? And we had 2 of them with Charlie and Joel." Bill chuckled as Fliss chewed on her lip.

"But what if he won't settle? I mean he's only just cut his first one and..."

"Honey, we're 15 minutes away." Frank soothed. 

“Yup, any issues we'll call and bring him straight back." Verity nodded. Frank looked at Bill who gave him a small wink which he understood perfectly. There was no way Alex was coming back tonight, even if he was grouchy. Frank knew Bill and V would just take it in their stride to give them their first child free night in well over 6 months. 

Fliss took a deep breath and nodded. "Ok, I know I'm flapping...I'm sorry..." 

She moved to the car and gently placed him in the car seat before Frank stepped forward to take it from their truck to Bill's. Once it was secured, he dropped a kiss to his head and moved so Fliss could so the same.

She stepped back, closing the door and Frank gently pulled her right hand away from her left where it had begun to worry at the knuckles, the way she always did when she was a little panicked. He laced his fingers with hers, thumb gently stroking the back of her hand in slow, comforting arcs, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Ok, we'll see you tomorrow." Bill smiled as he opened the driver’s side door. "And try to enjoy your night alone yeah? Ill permit one text an hour to check up otherwise I'll sever all communication."

Fliss rolled her eyes but stayed silent. Frank didn't miss the way her fingers squeezed around his as they waved goodbye to Bill's car as it pulled out of the space next to theirs. 

"So, what do you-" Frank stopped dead as he looked down at Fliss who has just burst into tears. "-oh honey!" He chuckled, as she pressed her face into his t-shirt, his arms wrapping around her, gently rubbing her back over her pale blue top. 

"I know I’m being stupid but I can't help it." She sobbed "He's my baby Frank and he has a sore mouth and he's been all grouchy and..."

"Yes he is, yes he does, and yes he has." Frank pulled back, cupping her face in his hands, wiping her tears away with his thumbs "But your mom and dad will be fine. The last few nights after his feed and some Orajel he's settled right down, and if he doesn't they've got the Tylenol. He'll be fine, I promise." 

Fliss nodded and Frank dipped his head, giving her a soft kiss. "Now, we got the rest of the afternoon and the entire night to ourselves...and dare I say it a lie in tomorrow morning." He grinned, turning to open the passenger door for her. "Do you wanna go out for a few drinks or..."

Fliss wrinkled her nose "is it bad I just wanna do nothing?" Frank laughed as Fliss shrugged "I mean I have a book that I haven't opened in like a week, I've got a bottle of pinot in the fridge..."

"So you wanna curl up on the window seat and not be disturbed?" Frank arched his eyebrow.

"Well, not all night." Fliss shook her head "but maybe for an hour or so when I finish the yard."

"Ok, well, let's make a deal." Frank's hand dropped to her hips "We take our own time till say 7 ish and then sit down for dinner and a movie."

"Oh my god, perfect" Fliss groaned. Frank shook his head as he snorted.

"When did we get so pathetic that we get our first child free evening in 6 months and you're gonna spend it reading about some lame ass British Detective and I'm gonna be screwing with boat parts?"

"Ok first off there is nothing pathetic about Detective Super Intendant Roy Grace and second off...will you be greasy?"

Frank's head fell back as a loud rumble of laughter erupted from his chest. When he looked back at Fliss she shrugged and he arched an eyebrow.

"You're terrible, you know that?"

"Not my fault you're such a dirty boat daddy."

"Dirty boat daddy?" Frank scoffed as he raised an eyebrow. "What the fuck..."

Fliss grinned as she traced Frank's bicep with the fingers of her right hand "You're my baby daddy...and you get dirty on boats..."

"You don't half talk some shit at times." He snorted and Fliss poked her tongue out, catching it between her teeth as she smiled.

"You love it."

 "I love you." He bent down pressing his lips to hers before he stepped back "Now come on, I got some grease to smear up my arms."

"Can you wipe some on your face too?" Fliss asked as the climbed in the truck. Frank merely rolled his eyes with a smirk in response.

 ****

 Fliss stretched her legs out as she reached the end of her chapter, Thor giving a little annoyed huff as she jostled his head from where it was laying in her lap as they sat curled up, snuggled into the cushions on the large window seat.

"Sorry boy." She chuckled, scratching behind his ears as she glanced outside over the garden. It was dark out, the various garden lights strung up on the fence illuminated the panels which separated their private space to the large garden that belonged to the next house along. They’d really lucked out on this property. The house itself was set into almost 2 acres of land, and not to mention the 8 that now belonged to Sandybrook Stables after they’d purchased the additional 3 at the back. Which reminded Fliss, she really should get the architect onto the re-design.

Reaching for her phone she gave a yelp as she realised what time it was. Almost 8pm. They’d gone well over an hour later than they’d agreed, and given that there was no sign of Frank, he too had clearly forgotten. She stood up, fired her mum a quick message and then called their favourite Italian, ringing through an order for delivery. The guy on the phone was apologetic, saying it would be at least 45 minutes before it arrived but Fliss assured him it was no bother. No sooner had she put the phone down than her mom sent her a message back which was a picture of Alex fast asleep in the crib at her parents, his little cheeks still slightly red, but he looked peaceful. Satisfied everything was ok, she bit her lip before she smiled to herself and pulled open the fridge, tossing a 6 pack into a cool box. Instructing Thor to stay she headed out the back door and round the side of the pool and out of the garden onto the main front area. The garage door was open, the light from inside streaming onto the gravel driveway and the low tones of AC/DC hit her ears as she approached along with Frank’s curses.

The reason for his cursing was simple. No matter how much digging into the boats engine, or twisting his hand at impossible angles, the mother fucking part still wouldn’t come out. Snarling in frustration, he yanked his hand out, and grabbed a wrench, hitting the metal against it, cursing “You son of a bitch, you’re coming out of there whether ya wa like it or not. I’ve been fahking with you all God damn night!”

Fliss climbed the ladder next to the boat and snorted as she set down the cooler on the boards of the deck, arching a brow. It wasn’t often that Frank lost his cool, but when he did, he usually turned a bit Boston.

“You alright Sailor or should I be worried?” she spoke, perching on the edge. Frank fell back on his heels, grabbing a rag to wipe at his grease-covered hands and looked round at her, his brow beaded with sweat.

“If you got a beer in that cooler there, then you got nothing to worry about.” His eyes were hopeful and Fliss leaned forward, popping open the top and drawing out the six-pack. Smiling, Frank pushed himself to a stand and took one, removing the cap and draining a good third of it in one go. “Confirmed, nothing to worry about now Cowgirl!”

Fliss grabbed herself a beer and watched as Frank stepped closer, his hands resting either side of her thighs as she sat perched on the edge of the hull. “You get bored reading already?”

“Well I’d read enough anyway, but then realised the time. Baby its gone 8.”

“Seriously?” Frank frowned and then sighed as Fliss nodded. “Shit, sorry, I lost track o’time.”

“It’s ok, I did the same.” Fliss shrugged “Guess a child free few hours really is a treat.”

Frank smiled softly “We should probably order dinner.

Fliss smirked “Already done, we got like…40 mintues.” she wrapped her hands around Frank’s neck and tugged him closer.

“Whoa whoa baby, I’m covered in shit.” He gave a laugh as he protested slightly.

Rolling her eyes, she snorted. “No, if you were covered in shit, it would be because I worked you for a day at the stables. You Frank…” Her voice lowered, and her eyes turned hooded, leaning up to his lips, whispering against them. “You are covered in grease, and that makes me so unbelievably hot for you, that if you don’t fuck me on this deck, I won’t forgive you.”

“Enough said, consider yourself fucked on deck Baby,” Frank smirked, catching Fliss’ lips. At that point the music changed and flicked over from Whole Lotta Rosie to You Shook Me All Night Long, Frank’s favourite song and he smirked against her mouth as he began to sing the first verse, all the time keeping his lips a mere centimetre or so away from hers.

“She was a fast machine, she kept her motor clean, she was the best damn woman that I ever seen, she had the sightless eyes, telling me no lies, knocking me out with those American thighs…”

“Err British thighs, thank you.” Fliss corrected him. Frank simply arched an eyebrow and pulled her easily off the edge of the boat she was leaning against. She giggled as she wrapped her legs around his slim waist, leaning in to press her lips to his in a slow kiss as he walked them over to the benches at the rear of the boat. The kiss remained soft, teasing licks, a slow pace, but it was no less intense than a furious one, if anything it felt more powerful than normal, the pair of them truly alone for the first time in months. With each steady, deliberate tangle of their tongues, Fliss could feel everything. The heat, the spark, the butterflies swarming inside of her stomach.

In an easy, graceful moment Frank turned and sat on the edge of the bench, his hands letting go of Fliss’ hips as she straddled him, reaching up to cup the sides of her face, holding her still while his mouth had its way with hers. Pulling back a little he softly bit her lip, drawing a groan from her mouth and he grinned, resting his forehead against hers.

“What the fuck was in that book you were reading?” he asked and Fliss laughed

“Rape, murder…” she pondered, before she grinned wickedly “A police man in a uniform with handcuffs…”

“So is it the Uniform or the handcuffs that have got you all worked up Pretty Girl?”

“Neither, it’s the dirty, boat Daddy that I’m currently straddling”

At that Frank tipped his head back in a loud laugh, his hands brushing Fliss’ hair back off her face. “I fahkin love you.” he chuckled, as she pressed her lips to his again.

“Good job.” She mumbled against his mouth “Seeing as you’re the father of my kids…and you’re marrying me.” She added as somewhat of an afterthought.

Kids. Plural.

Frank glanced at her, her eyes shining against the lights of the garage and he smiled softly, his chest tightening a little with emotion. Mary’s adoption had only been finalised a few weeks prior, the ink probably still wet on all the documents but in their mind it had been a done deal months ago, from the moment they’d made the decision. Still, it stirred all kinds of warm feelings in his chest when he heard her say it. She smiled, reaching up to brush her hands through the longer strands of hair on his head before her fingers delicately danced down over his shoulders, his strong arms before she gripped at the hem of his T-shirt. He raised his arms allowing her to pull it off, before she dropped her head and chained open mouthed, warm kisses across his collar bone.

Happy to let her take charge for a moment, Frank tipped his head back sighing as she nipped up his neck to his jaw, her mouth skating over the stubble of his beard before she met his mouth again and this time the kiss was fierce. In a flash, Frank fisted his hand in the loose t-shirt she was wearing, yanking it over her head, giving a soft groan as he realised she was wearing no bra. His large hands spread over her back, pulling her snug against his chest, his fingers sliding up and down her spine causing her to shiver a little, letting out a soft moan that morphed into that oh so familiar whimper he knew and loved.

“I could listen to you make that sound for days,” he muttered and Fliss smiled against his mouth, kissing him again. A few seconds later, deciding to push things a little as Fliss seemed to be in a demanding mood, Frank pulled back, his bright blue eyes almost icy with intensity and issued a single word instruction. “Strip” Fliss felt her stomach bottom out with excitement when his demand registered. She swallowed and stood between his legs, slipping down the shorts she was wearing, Frank’s eyes watching her as she then slid down her panties, her gaze never once leaving his face. When he finished looking her up and down as she stood naked in front of him, his eyes met hers a look of pure, unadulterated wonderment and appreciation on his face.

And it was all for her.

“Like what you see sailor?” she bit her lip, her skin tingling with excitement as Frank arched an eyebrow.

“Like you wouldn’t believe…” his hands reached out and grabbed her hips as he stood up, pivoting them so that the back of Fliss’ legs pressed against the bench he had been sat on. His hands slid up, thumbs brushing the underneath of her breasts as he kissed her once more, softly, before he pulled back, his lips gently sucking at that spot on her delicate neck, his teeth nipping at her skin.

“Wanna turn around and get on your knees for me baby girl?” he whispered his question. Fliss looked at him, wide eyed, and he noted that where there had at one time been a slight apprehension in those deep browns at being put in such a position, now there was nothing but excitement, and he wasn’t quite sure when that had changed. But it had, and he loved it. He loved the fact she trusted him, that she was happy to simply be pliant in his hands.  She nodded and turned, kneeling on the bench in front of him, bending over, gripping the back with her hands. Frank reached out, gently manoeuvring so she was positioned where he wanted her to be and then stepped back, biting back the groan that bubbled in his throat at the site of her there, ready and waiting.

Fliss’ head was spinning. She couldn’t see him, but could feel him behind her. He wasn’t touching her yet, but he didn’t have to. Just the fact she could feel the heat of his gaze and his presence was enough to send her into a freefall. Every inch of her skin felt like it was on fire, the ache between her legs intensifying with each passing second. Then she heard a soft thud—Frank dropping to his knees, she assumed, but the gentle press of his mouth to the inside of her left thigh was still a shock, even though she knew it was coming. She inhaled sharply and Frank paused, his hands sliding up the outside of her thighs.

“You okay?” He asked, his voice low with desire. “Yeah.” Fliss’ breath was equally loaded and she let out a sigh as his mouth traced a line of kisses up her thigh, then he moved to do the same to the inside of her right. Her eyes closed, Fliss breathed in slowly in an attempt to steady herself, to stay calm and collected. She was ridiculously close already and his mouth hadn’t even touched that part of her body yet. When his tongue finally made contact, she lost all semblance of cool. Her eyes flew open and she let out a loud cry as the tip of his tongue swirled against her made. It was mere seconds but she was already panting, her hands curling around the back of the bench, the feel of his beard scratching against her was almost too much. Frank fucking her with his mouth, from behind, on the deck of the boat, in their garage was the single hottest thing she had ever experienced, and she wanted it to last as long as possible. Frank however, seemed to have other ideas. Whilst he kept the slow, steady rhythm with ease, he let out a low hum, something he knew would send her wild.

“Fuck,” she whined. “Frank, I…” His tongue swirled faster, his hands gripping the outside of her thighs tightly as she felt the pressure inside her turn white hot. When he slipped his finger inside her she gasped, his mouth matching every gentle but firm thrust his hand made.  It all resulted in a sensation so heavenly, it was agonizing and it spread from between her legs to the farthest reaches of her body, until she could take it no more. With a loud cry she came, hard, pushing back onto his face and her knees buckled slightly, her hand slipping on the wooden rail of the bench, her body and mind completely gone. Frank stood up, giving her a moment as he quickly shed his jeans and boxers before his hands gripped her hips and he bent over to kiss her neck. “You good?” he asked and she gave a hum of satisfaction as she turned her head to look at him, her brown eyes meeting his as she nodded. “Jesus Frank…” she stuttered and he smirked, his grin slipping slightly as she reached back and gripped him in her hand, a choked little grunt escaping his own mouth as her palm tightened around his now throbbing cock. His hands dropped to her hips and he pulled her backwards and up slightly, manoeuvring her so she was exactly where he needed and with smooth, fluid thrust forward he slid slowly into her, the deliberate languid pace allowing her to feel every glorious inch of him. “Lissy,” he growled, and that was the last word he uttered as he thrust into her over, and over, screams and cries and grunts filling the air in the large garage, echoing slightly off the walls. As his hands tightened on her hips, Fliss knew he was close and so was she. He let go with his right hand, dropping it round between her legs to palm her clit and the warm press of his hand combined with the steady rhythm of his thrusts sent Fliss over the edge again and just as a low growl ripped from Frank’s throat, orgasm number two spiked through her. Only this time when she lost it, she was a complete mess.  Every single muscle in her body cramped and quivered as she tensed in front of Frank, bucking violently until she sagged forward, her sailor’s arms wrapping around her as he gave a few more deep thrusts before he shuddered, his arms tightening their hold and he groaned loudly, his hips faltering as he came with a surge that brewed right from his feet. They both remained still for a second until Frank slowly and gently pulled away. He pressed his lips to Fliss’ lower back, showering her in gentle kisses, as he made his way up her spine before he reached the crook of her shoulder. Fliss’s eyes were still closed but her face sported a sated smile as she let out a hum of satisfaction.  Picking her up, Frank sat down on the bench so she was cradled in his lap, reaching for the tartan blanket that was draped over the seat a few down and he wrapped it around them both, kissing her hair line.

“Suppose that’s one way to christen the boat.” She eventually spoke and Frank chuckled.

"God bless the good lady Felicity...and all who sail in her." He retorted, giving a little salute. Fliss snorted and slapped his arm.

“You’re such a wanker.” She shook her head and Frank laughed, kissing her gently”

“You love it, honey.” “No, I love you. Which means I put up with all your wanker-ish traits because I have no choice.”

****

 Once Frank had showered he made his way downstairs dressed comfortably in a pair of sweats and t-shirt. Fliss had already laid the take-out boxes on the counter so he parked himself down on one of the stools as Fliss handed him a beer, taking a glass of wine for herself. They talked as they ate, Fliss teasing Frank about getting him a display cabinet for his baseball trophy to which he snorted and told her he wasn't intending on making it a habit. Once they'd finished their food, they cleared the dishes and Frank made his way to the sofa whilst Fliss let Thor out into the yard as he was pawing at the door. 

Frank absentmindedly flicked through the news channels, pausing at a report on Trump's latest activity and the reaction to a stupid tweet he had made regarding guns and he shook his head, scoffing in disgust.

"I dont know why you watch anything about him." Fliss called as she shut the door "it just winds you up."

"His brain is a fucking scribble" Frank retorted, "I mean...just look at him Fliss!"

"I'd rather not!" She called back, shooing Fred down from where he had hopped up onto the kitchen counter. 

"President of the free world and he's an absolute tool." Frank continued his chunnering as he stretched out, his legs on the coffee table and his arms extending quite forcefully behind his head as he yawned. Unfortunately, Fliss had chosen that exact moment to cross the room ready to wrap her arms around him from behind and as she bent to do so the back of Frank's closed left fist connected with the top of her left cheekbone, just in the outside corner of her eye, and she gave a yelp of surprise. As soon as it happened Frank jerked his head round and as he saw Fliss recoiling from the accidental blow his blood ran cold.

"Shit..." he sprang over the back of the couch, ignoring Thor who was now growling furiously at him. "Oh my god, Lissy, I'm so fahkin' sorry..." 

She straightened up blinking, her hands falling to his biceps as he gently cradled her face. "Frank its fine, you just caught my eye a little that’s all, it won't even bruise."

"Well, maybe not but..."

"Did you-Thor!" Fliss yelled at the dog, turning to look at him "Stop!" The German shepherd fell silent and flopped his butt down on the floor, his dark amber eyes still fixed on Frank, as Fliss turned back to him. "Did you mean to do it?"

"No, of course not..."

"Then there you go. It was an accident." She smiled, "it wasn't even hard enough to bruise, trust me, I know."

"That's not funny." Frank said quietly and Fliss sighed.

"It wasn't meant to be." She shook her head as Frank's eyes roved her face, utter dismay across every inch of his own. "Frankie..."

"Baby, I'm so..."

"Stop apologising." She said softly "it was an accident. Nothing more." Frank looked at her again before she stood on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. "Please don't."

"Don't what?" He asked

"Worry that you've hurt me, or scared me. Because you haven't." She shook her head "would you be this bothered if I didn't have the history I did?"

Frank hesitated. Of course he'd be bothered about hitting his girl, regardless of it being accidentally, but she was right. He wouldn't feel the concern he did has she not been subjected to the abuse she had suffered previously. He gave a little sheepish shrug and Fliss shook her head again, smiling.

"I'm not made of glass Sailor, I'm not gonna shatter over something like this. Not anymore." She took his hand in hers, pressed a kiss to his knuckles and then let go. Frank dropped it to his side, curling both hands on her hips as her arms slid up round his neck. "Can we forget this now and snuggle up with a movie?"

Frank nodded "ok, sounds good..."

After a little deliberation and poking around the channels Fliss’ eyes lit up when she realised that one of the channels was now dedicated to James Bond, the next movie showing being Skyfall, one of her favourites.  However, fifteen minutes in Frank felt her head growing heavy against his chest as they lay sprawled on the sofa. He glanced down to see her eyes closed, her lids fluttering slightly, lashes laying against her cheeks as she slept. With a smile he pressed a kiss to her head, his hand gently resting around her back as she lay snuggled into him. It can’t have been much more than twenty minutes later when he too felt his eyes growing heavy, the exertion of the day finally getting to much for him and he nodded off, both of them waking with a jolt when the music for the end credits kicked in and Fred hopped up onto the back of the sofa before landing on Frank’s chest by Fliss’ head with a loud purr.

“Jesus Fred…” Frank grumbled, pushing him off as Fliss sat up, blinking. “Fucking one eyed bastard.”

Fred glared at him and slunk off, jumping up onto the armchair where he curled up, his tail flicking.

“What a rock and roll lifestyle we lead.” Fliss stretched slightly as she yawned and Frank shrugged.

“Well we had a busy day.” “Even busier evening.” She quipped and Frank chuckled, his hand rubbing at her back before she stood up, her hands rubbing at her eyes. With a heave Frank swung his legs off the couch and he too stood, pulling his girl into a hug.

“You go up, I’ll sort Thor check the doors.”

She gave him a quick peck and then left him to it, padding tiredly up the stairs. She headed into the bathroom to clean her teeth and was just climbing in between the soft sheets when Frank walked into the room, Thor behind him, the dog flopping down with a sigh into his basket. Fliss’ eyes fell to the empty bassinet and she suddenly felt a little pang for her missing baby, but she knew from the various texts and the conversation she’d had with her parents earlier that he was perfectly fine so she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

It wasn’t long before Frank joined her in bed and she shuffled over to him, tossing her leg over his as he kissed her forehead, his hand sliding up the back of her sleep cami, palm warm against her skin.

“Love you.” He yawned and she smiled.

“Love you too.” She sighed contentedly, her eyes closing as they both drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

 *****

Frank woke the next morning to an empty bed. With a stretch he rubbed his eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. Of course it would be too much to hope Fliss would be able to lay in. And then he turned over to check the time and did a double take. It was almost 10 am.

“Fuck!” he gave a little chuckle. Guess he’d been a lot more tired than he thought. Swinging his legs out of bed he padded into the bathroom, sorted his bladder out and went about the rest of his normal morning routine before he grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of sweats and headed downstairs. He paused in the doorway to the large family area, watching as she was stood at the stove, dressed in one of his button downs. It skimmed the curve of her ass, ending in the middle of her thighs and he smiled as he watched her move. He couldn’t quite remember the last time he saw her like this in the kitchen, it was certainly before Alex was born, most likely on one of their kid free Friday nights that had abruptly halted when he’d arrived, not that Frank would change a thing about it mind, but it was still nice to have it back, even it if was just for one morning.

He thought back to the first time he saw her dressed in one of his shirts. It was a Saturday in his old apartment, not long after they'd started dating. He found her in the kitchen much like she was now, making a coffee having woken early and not wanted to disturb him. He remembered thinking it was the first time a woman had ever done that, made herself at home, because in fairness she was the only woman that had lasted longer than a night in 8 years. It had stirred something in him then, a feeling of contentment, much like the one he was feeling now. His life had changed dramatically since she’d walked into it approximately 2 and a half years or so. In some ways the time had flown by, in others it felt like a life time when he considered everything they’d been through, both of them so far from the people they had been, yet so similar too.

With a smile he stepped into the room and walked over to her, and the fact she didn’t jump when he wrapped his arms aroud her from behind told him she’d been well aware of his presence in the doorway for a while.

“I thought we were supposed to be having a lazy morning complete with lie in” Frank’s hand gently brushed Fliss’ wild locks off her neck before he pressed a kiss to her skin

“I did.” Fliss smiled “I didn’t wake up until 8:30. Normally your son has me up at 6.”

“Our son.”

“When he wakes me up at 6 am he’s your son.” She turned her head to glance at him. “Dad’s gonna collect Mary and drop them both off at half past midday ish.”

“Well then, you really could have stayed in bed.” He pouted and she chuckled.

“Once I’m awake I’m awake…” she shrugged “No point staying there.”

“You should’a woken me up, I could’a given you a good reason to stay put.” His lips pressed more kisses to her neck and Fliss laughed, swatting at his head playfully.

“I’ll burn breakfast.”

“So?”

“I’m hungry.”

“So am I.”

“I meant for food.” She turned in his arms and he shrugged playfully giving her a deep kiss.

“Morning honey.” He smiled against her lips and she let out a little chuckle.

“Morning hot shot.” She grinned, patting his chest “you wanna set the places and pour us a coffee each? This is nearly done.”

Doing as he was told, Frank stepped back, grabbing cutlery and placing it on the breakfast bar before he made them both a coffee and grabbed the orange juice and a couple of glasses. As he set it all down on the side, Fliss dropped two plates of pancakes, bacon and eggs on the place mats and Frank gave a little groan of delight.

“You didn’t have to do this.” He looked at her.

“It’s just breakfast” she shrugged “Plus, thought it would be nice, just the two of us. And I wanted to talk to you.”

“Sounds ominous.” He arched an eyebrow as she sat next to him.

“No, not really.” She shrugged “I was just thinking yesterday a little. I wanna go back to work Frank, like full time. I’m ready.”

“Okay.” He nodded, “That’s fine. Did you think I was gonna protest or something?”

“No, I just wanted to discuss it, remember, we said we would do that after last time?”

“Liss, this is different.” He said, shaking his head as he cut into a pancake. “He’s almost 6 months old now, we’ll be weaning him soon.” “Yeah, I was thinking I can start pushing up the hours and then when he’s fully converted onto solids, which by the way, I’m not looking forward to those nappy changes…” she wrinkled her nose and Frank laughed, popping a piece of his breakfast into his mouth “well, when all that’s done then I’m back to full time.”

“Like I said, if you’re ready then fine.” Frank looked at her, hi hand dropping to her knee. “Guess we should start looking for a childminder huh?”

“Mum said she’d help out but I don’t want her to have him all the time, she’s got her own life. But I was thinking she could maybe have him two days a week, as she’ll sulk if I don’t let her have him some time.” Fliss shrugged “The other days, I thought we could speak to the one that Bonnie’s sister uses. She’s not far from Mum and Dad.” “Yeah, ok. Get her number and we’ll go meet her.” Frank agreed, shovelling more of his breakfast into his mouth.

“I also wanna call the architect that Steeby knows” Fliss added, taking a bite of food “Start getting the plans drawn up for the expansion. I’d really like to have that completed by the wedding. We got nearly 7 months. I think it’s doable. The additional stables won’t take long, or the lunging pen and the paddock move. The big job is gonna be the extension to the office and tack room but…again, a couple of weeks and Dad reckons it’ll be done. He doesn’t think that it’ll be much over 12 weeks in total if we get the right guys on the job.” Frank nodded “Well, the land is already ours so, go for it.”

“Yeah?” Fliss smiled and Frank returned the gesture, squeezing her knee.

“Yeah, let’s do it. Get the designs drawn up and some quotes for the work.”

“I love you.” Fliss beamed, leaning over to kiss him softly and he smiled, his nose bumping hers slightly.

“That’s because I’m a very lovable guy” he grinned and Fliss snorted, pulling back.

“Suppose so.”

They ate their breakfast and once the dishes were over they both retired to the sofa, Frank flicking on the news channel, Fliss picking up her book again, Fred curling up behind her head on the sofa back, Thor jumping up beside her. Frank gave a grunt and a huff, pushing the dog’s huge paw off his thigh before he flopped down, head in his lap. It was lazy, comfortable and remained that way until at midday, Fliss headed upstairs to pull on something a little more substantial than Frank’s shirt, much to his chagrin. When she came down dressed in a pair of breaches and a polo shirt little over 20 minutes later he smiled at her.

“You got a class this afternoon?”

“Yeah I’m taking Mary’s one at 2.” She said. “But I need to ride Cap  beforehand and then Bronson needs working and Heidi could do with a walk round the trail too, her back leg keeps swelling up.” “Still bad?”

Fliss wrinkled her nose as she crossed to the fridge “Nothing unusual for her age, the vet said it’s a touch of arthritis which is why I don’t school her any more. It tends to go down when she’s done a bit of walking. If I take her for half an hour hack round she’ll be fine. It’s when it stops going down that I’ve got a problem, but I don’t even want to think about that.” She shook her head, pulling the water out of the fridge. “I can’t imagine my life without her.”

“She’s certainly been with you a long time.” Frank looked at her and Fliss nodded

“20 years this year.” She sighed “Hard to believe really. She was the first horse I ever owned, best one I could have hoped for.”

“How long do you think Mary has with Monty?” Frank asked, declining Fliss’ offer of a glass of water. “I mean till she outgrows him.” “She won’t” Fliss shook her head “I can still ride Monty, he’s a welsh cob. Chunky, she’ll be good with him until he drops. But I do think she’ll be looking for something a little more advanced as well in a couple of years, when Monty needs to slow down again, but we can cross that bridge when we get there.”

“Oh, great.” Frank rolled his eyes and Fliss laughed as she sat next to him.

“Behave, it’s not like it costs anything to keep another.” “I’m referring to the advanced bit.” Frank looked at her “Still scares the crap out of me when she sails over those damned fences.”

“She’s good at it.” Fliss shrugged “If she gets placed in the final competition next month she’s got third place over all. She wins it, then she’s gonna take second. Not to mention the fact that she’s basically already won the Junior Rider class. Not bad for a first season.”

Frank smiled proudly, but before he could say anything else the back door opened and Mary skipped inside, her voice carrying over the room.

“That’s just not true Poppa B and you know it!” She sing songed and Bill rolled his eyes as he carried Alex’s car chair inside.

“Is so.” He nodded “I know someone it happened to.”

“Nah ah!” she shook her head “When you swallow gum it can’t physically wrap around your ribs as when you eat it goes down to your stomach. It’s impossible.”

“Smart ass.” Bill chuckled as Fliss stood up, crossing the room.

“Hi!” she smiled, before she beamed down at Alex who grinned and started to thrash his legs and arms about at the sight of his momma, screeching. “Hi baby, I missed you!”

“What am I? Chopped liver?” Mary looked at Fliss who laughed, and pulled her into a hug.

“And you, dur!”

“You have a good time?” Frank asked as Mary flopped next to him.

“Yeah, we had fish tacos.” Mary smiled “They were well nice.” “Fish tacos.” Frank made an approving noise in his throat.

“Yeah and then we watched some more of The Mandalorian. And I had hot chocolate and went to bed.” Fliss, who now had Alex cradled in her arms, turned to face them both. “Sounds better than my night.” She quipped giving Frank a wink as he raised an eyebrow.

“Oh does it?”

“Why does something tell me I don’t wanna know?” Bill asked and Fliss turned to look at her dad, an innocent look on her face.

“I don’t know what you mean.” She chuckled “I just helped Frank with some stuff on the boat.”

“Sure you did.” Bill rolled his eyes before his eyes twinkled cheekily “Hope you scrubbed the deck afterwards.”

**** Chapter 19

[gemstoneconstellations]

I’m Sorry I’m Nervous

Summary: First date jitters happen to everyone, even Red Riot.

Wordcount: 2800

A/N: This is a direct continuation of Hero By Another Name

“Okay, so I’ll…um, see you Friday,” Kirishima nervously chuckled in front of you, holding your hands as he stood in your doorway. 

You smile up at him. “Promise?”

He bent down and pressed his lips to yours. “I promise.” One more kiss turned into two, which turned into him with his arms tightly around your waist, your body pressed against the doorframe as he practically devoured you. Finally, the two of you said your  goodbyes, a little out of breath and flushed down to your necks. 

“We’re dating. We got a date on Friday,” Kirishima mumbled to himself as he got in the elevator, a dopey smile on his face. He threw a fist in the air, proud that he’d finally come out and said it. He needs to call Bakugo for saving his ass yet again. Who knew Bakugo was such a great wingman? Finally, Kirishima had made you his girl…his girlfriend. He hasn't felt like this in such a long time. Since, like, high school. His eyes went wide. He hasn't dated since high school! “Oh shit, we’re dating. I got a date this Friday.”

In a panic, he called the only Bakusquad member that knew the meaning of the word chill. “Hey dude, what’s up?” Sero answered lazily.

“Code Shitting Myself! I have a date on Friday!” Kirishima practically screamed into the phone as he rushed out of the elevator into the lobby, making a small woman who was entering at the same time jump back. 

Kirishima waved apologetically as he scurried away to possibly go bury himself somewhere. 

“Uh, congrats? Why are you panicking?”

“I don't know what I'm doing! What do people do for dates now?” He gripped at his hair, for all he knew, Netflix and Chill was the new norm!

“Bro,” Sero snorted at Kirishima’s distress; the red-head was overthinking the entire situation and Sero found it refreshingly funny.

“I haven't been on a date since high school, I don't know what a mature adult does for a first date. I’m not mature! I still watch cartoons in the morning on my days off!” That threw Sero over the edge; he bursted out into a fit of laughter, wheezing and coughing as he tried to compose himself.

After a solid five minutes, he was able to speak again. “Okay, relax dude. I’ll call the squad and we’ll brainstorm over some beer while Bakugo lectures us on the amount of sugar and calories we are putting in our bodies. Sounds good?”

“Yeah, yeah, that works.”

“You okay now?”

“Yeah….I have a girlfriend,” Kirishima let out a bashful giggle, looking back up to your apartment complex. 

“Good for you, bro. I’ll see you later.”

~

“I fucking told you extras. Pay up, assholes.”

The whole table groaned as everyone started slamming their money down on the table, Bakugo cackling unapologetically as he swept the pot of money over to him. “The hell? Guys?” Kirishima looked at them all, appalled. 

“We started making bets after you randomly became a junior firefighter,” Ashido frowned as she handed her money over to Bakugo, who snatched it from her and started counting it. 

Kirishima pouted; he didn't think it was that obvious. Ashido reached over, reading his mind and patting his arm. “Honey, we all know how considerate you are of other people but seriously? Yeah, we all saw it coming.”

Kaminari cut in, holding up a folded up piece of paper. “Alright, so I pulled up a list on the internet—” 

The whole table groaned, but Kaminari cleared his throat and spoke over their complaints. “I compiled a list of manly first dates and this is what I got.”

Sero swiped the paper from the electric blonde and glanced over it. “Museum? Does she like art?”

“Not all museums are just art. There is this really cool toy museum...” Kaminari took the paper back, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles.

Ashido rolled her eyes. “Is she even into video games?”

The red-head only shrugged as he took a sip of beer. Honestly, he couldn’t really think of anything that you were interested in outside of work. “I don't know? She’s kind of a workaholic. Only thing she collects is…”

“She's a creepy mega-fan of his and covers her entire apartment in Red Riot merch,” Bakugo chimed in nonchalantly, still counting his money. All eyes were now on Kirishima, eyebrows raised.

“Moving on!” Kirishima launched his body across the table to grab the list, trying to change the subject.  “A picnic, that sounds nice.”

Sero shook his head. “Uh, you might have to go where there are no people. Both of you are still pretty popular and with that gossip rag around, you might attract a crowd.”  The note was passed to Ashido; it was probably best in her hands since she’s the only girl in this group.

Ashido took out a pen and started crossing things off. “So anything with crowds is probably out. That means no to sports games and amusement parks…” Kaminari started to pout as he watched so many of his ideas get crossed out.

“Cross off crappy pottery painting. That shit is for some old married couple, or ones with little kids.” Bakugo finally joined the conversation only to scoff at Kaminari. Seriously, pottery? Ashido nodded in agreement at what the ash blonde said, tapping her nose as she scribbled that out.

Kaminari threw his arms in the air. “Let’s just cross off all my ideas!”

“Rock-climbing would be cool. She had fun doing that while we were camping. Maybe we could go on a hike.” Kirishima tried to be the positive one of the group. That camping trip had really helped change your relationship; something outdoorsy might be good.

Sadly, Ashido waved him off and started giving her “girl advice”, which really sounded more like a lecture. “No. You need to do something together that you haven't done. The first date can set the tone for the entire relationship. Plus, rock-climbing is more of a third date activity. First dates are when you need to have lots of face-to-face conversations. You are getting to know each other in a romantic sense; rock climbing isn't going to give you a lot of opportunities to do that. Also, no sex or too much kissing. Focus on talking to her as a person so she doesnt think you’re only after her body.” Kirishima’s face instantly flared up at being called out like that. Damn, Ashido can pick up on the slightest hint of anything that is remotely romantic. If only she had put that much effort into her studies when they were in school.

“Fine! All I got is one thing left. Tell me how that can go wrong so I can throw this stupid list away.” Kaminari was completely fed up, taking the list back and writing one more thing on it before thrusting it back into the center of the table. He crossed his arms as he slouched in his chair.

Ashido looked up at Bakugo and Sero, who both nodded with a look of surprise. “Actually….” 

“That’s not a bad idea. Good job, Dunce Face.” Bakugo waved over a waitress to order some wings for Kaminari as a reward for using so much brain power. 

“Wait, what? You guys like one of my ideas? Yes! And you guys doubted me. Just call me the love doctor from now on.” Kaminari leaned back in his chair, rubbing a finger under his nose as he bragged smuggly. Ashido reached over and pressed a finger to his forehead, causing him to fall back. “Fuck!”

~

“Miniature golf?” you questioned as the two of you walked up to the indoor miniature golf course. It was perfect. It was less in the open, they controlled the amount of people on the course, and with a little extra cash, the attendant held back on letting in more people so the two of you could have plenty of time alone together.

Kirishima cleared his throat nervously. “You don’t like it?”

You linked your fingers through his, shaking your head. “No, that’s not it. I just haven't done it in years.” His heart nearly launched into his throat. How do you do that so easily?

“Oh, I guess that means I'm a shoe-in to win, then?” Keeping his cool, he teased you as he pulled you into the building.

That competitive nature of yours came in full-throttle, jumping at the bait. “Is that a challenge I hear?”

Kirishima looked down at you, leaning in with a smirk on his face. “Yup. The winner decides where we go for dinner.”

You leaned in closer, whispering, “You’re on.” Oh, he wants to kiss you so bad right now.

After paying admission and slipping the teen a few more bills to keep the crowd away from the two of you, you were picking out what color club you wanted to use. Of course, Kirishima chose red. He was leaning back, watching you as you narrowed in on a neon green club. You bent down to see if it was a comfortable height for you and that's when he noticed the curve of your ass in those jeans. He felt himself totally zone out, leaning more heavily on his club when he stumbled.

You looked back at him as he straightened up. “You okay?”

“Yu-Yup! Go ahead to the first hole to save our spot. I changed my mind about what color to use.” He hid his now bent club behind his back, praying you wouldn’t notice or argue with him.

Lucky him, you nodded in agreement. “Oh, okay.”

Kirishima sighed in relief once you were out of view. He held up the bent club; the poor thing didn't have a chance under his weight. He held it up to the attendant, who saw the whole thing transpire. “I’m so sorry, I’ll pay for the damage.” He can already hear Mina telling him off. I told you not to think about sex or kissing too much! Focus on getting to know her! Easier said than done...

Now with a new club that was a darker shade of red in his hand, he met you at hole one. You were tossing one of your golf balls in the air as you waited. “Ready?” Your smile helped him forget the incident; he silently promised himself that he wouldn't embarrass himself anymore on this date so that you wouldn't regret going out with him.

Around the third hole, you were starting to giggle as he was about to take his shot. “What?”

“Just watching you play. Compared to you, everything on the course looks child-sized.” True, he is pretty bulky and it was even more apparent next to a mini-Eiffel Tower. He pulled back the club to take a swing. “You’re so big.”

His face instantly turned red and he lost his grip; his second golf club was sent spinning four courses away. You held both hands over your mouth, trying to contain your laughter. He glared at your shaking back. This was your fault this time. He sighed, his head down dejectedly as he started walking. “I’ll be right back.” 

Club retrieved, you continued to play. He was extra cautious with the club, making sure to keep a firm grip on it and his sanity. Why is he so nervous? This shouldn't be that big of a deal; the two of you had hung out before. You skipped beside him, spinning your club in your hand. “I’m winning by four strokes.”

Kirishima looked over the course; it was set up so if he hit a corner just right, he could get it in one stroke. After you tried but didn’t manage to get very close to the hole, he felt like he had this in the bag. Time to show off. “I’ll get a hole in one on this, just you watch. This is basic geometry. Bakugo tutored me for hours til I was a master of it.”

You giggled, stepping to the side as he set his ball up. He hit the ball…but he may have hit  a little too hard. Instead of just bouncing off the wall and going back towards the hole, it went into the air and straight for the small Great Wall of China. He rushed over to see the damage he’d caused now. “It’s stuck in the wall….I must have hit it too hard.” The ball was lodged inside the plaster and everytime Kirishima tried to get it out, more cracks formed. “I can’t get it out without wrecking it any more….”

“Pfft.” He looked back to glare at you. “This counts as a stroke.” Your competitive streak was showing and it was not playing nice. 

Before he could protest, you went to your ball and tapped it gently. You smirked at him triumphantly as it came within an inch of the hole. “Well look at that, I’m going to get a birdie.”

“So much for looking cool….” Kirishima sighed to himself for like the millionth time. You were kicking his butt at this while he was stumbling all over the place. What the hell? He’d played this before and he was never this bad.

“Last one, the windmill.” The final boss of miniature golf stood on top of a small hill, paper mache blades spinning slowly. Kirishima was taller than it but it felt like it was towering over him. He swallowed. 

“I’ll get this one no problem.” Kirishima pumped himself up, stepping up first. He watched the blades swinging around, waiting with the club in the air for the perfect moment. Quickly, he swung at the ball and it zipped through the air. It looked like it was going to make it. Finally!

RIIPP SHWOOP

“It went through the blade!” You dropped your club and ball to laugh as Kirishima rushed over in horror.

He scrambled over to look at the damage and find the ball but he noticed that it wasn't there. He looked behind the mill to see his ball coming out the back, rolling down the ramp all the way into the hole. He fist pumped the air, forgetting all about the other hole he’d caused. “Ha! See? Hole-in-one!” He pointed towards the hole and then leaned against the windmill, only for it to start tilting. “Oh, shit!” He caught it quickly and balanced it back out. Well, at least you were smiling as you crumpled to the ground laughing.

~

“That was fun, especially since I won by 10 strokes.” You stretch your arms up, taking in the fresh air after such a fun game. You turn to the side, expecting Kirishima to be standing beside you, only to see the street. He was behind you, dragging his feet out of the miniature golf facility, head held low. “Kirishima?”

“I’m sorry about all that back there. I was just so nervous that I kept messing things up and….causing destruction of property. Kind of messed up our first date, huh?” He walked up to you, eyes still downcast as he apologized for one of the best dates you’d ever had.

You reached out to him, gently taking hold of his hand. “Why were you so nervous? It’s not like we haven’t hung out like this before. If anyone should be nervous, it’s me. You already know all my dirty secrets in my apartment.” Maybe you should mention that you’d had Bakugo give you another “pep’” talk  about how you were being an idiot for panicking slightly before the date.

Kirishima sighed, taking both your hands in his and rubbing his thumbs across your fingers. “It’s our first date, pretty much the deciding factor of whether you want to stay with me. I didn't want you to think I was a waste of your time…” You tried not to laugh. How could he think spending any time with him could be a waste?

“It’s not over yet, right?” You let go of one of his hands, pulling him by the other. “The winner gets to pick dinner. I vote ordering take out and watching a movie at my place.”

He looked at you with a dazed look, completely confused as he let you pull him down the street towards home. You smile at him reassuringly. “For what it’s worth, I had fun. I always have fun with you.”

Kirishima’s face instantly lit up, his mood seeming to perk up. “Really? You dont regret it?”

You move your hand in his, making your fingers weave together. “I don't think I could ever regret being with you.” Honestly, you’ve never felt this happy before, and it’s all thanks to the red-head walking beside you.

He tightened his grip and smiled down at you sweetly, making you feel all gooey inside. “Same.”

[entamesubs]

Yu-Gi-Oh! SEVENS Blu-Ray: Episode 4

Google Drive ONLY (for now)

Support us on ko-fi

Blu-Ray episodes will come out one at a time every Friday, until I’m done with the full first season (1-13).

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Please use either MPV or MPC-HC to view the Blu-Ray episodes. I do NOT recommend using VLC.

Please check the post for episodes 1&2 to see why.

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!! This is NOT a final release !!

If there are any corrections you wish to make, please put them through the ask box. This includes any typos, grammar weirdness, or if you have a better way to word a sentence. Once it goes up on Nyaa, the subs will be LOCKED and can no longer be edited. I will consider it the final and best version I can put out.

If you see any mistake at all, please do not hesitate to send me an ask about it.

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Extended Translation Notes

Gakuto’s characterization

RoadRush:

“I am supposed to be stopping their chaos [...] How could I do such a thing?!”

Original Japanese: 「遊我くんたちの暴走を止めるべき立場にありながら [...] 私としたことが…」

The original RR subs make it seem like Gakuto is appalled at the fact that he’s been going along with the crew, but in reality the original Japanese points to Gakuto being appalled at his lack of responsibility (as in Gakuto himself is frustrated that he, himself, has not done anything despite the fact that he should).

The bolded Japanese from above is what I’m highlighting as the key to understanding him here.

立場にあり = someone in (my) position 私としたこと = someone like me

The translation I decided to use instead, and which I felt conveyed his inner turmoil better, was “I’m someone who should be stopping them, and yet... [...] I, of all people...!”

Gakuto is very concerned with his position and duties, which is the main focus for this episode. He is a character who is hyper-aware of his place and what kind of person he should be (that is, someone who strictly follows the rules and enforces them). The conflict he feels here is because of that hyper-awareness, not (primarily) because of the fact that he’s been “having fun” or “swept away” by Yuuga’s antics, it’s that someone like him shouldn’t be “swept away” in the first place.

I hope this makes sense and that this translation gets across his characterization a lot better.

Further Gakuto characterization

RoadRush:

“I have to draw the line somewhere!”

Original Japanese: 「きちんとけじめをつけなければ｡」

This is actually a translation I liked a lot, with “draw the line” being something very clear and also easily got across his newfound determination. It’s the reason I decided to keep the “draw the line” phrase in my final translation.

However, there is one important part of his sentence: けじめ, which I bolded above. It means “distinction”.

My final translation was “I must be decisive and draw the line somewhere!”

Gakuto uses the word “decide” and “decisive” a lot. You’ll see it the most in his summoning chants, where he keeps “deciding” not to stop, or “deciding” to follow a road, or “deciding” to find something new, or that he alone must “decide” his resolve, etc. At this point, being “decisive” is a huge part of his character and who he is as a person. The main theme of Sougetsu Gakuto is being able to lead, to decide, and, as we see in episodes 24, 33, 50, and 57, to be someone worthy of the Sougetsu name and inheritance by making these “decisions” and having the power to do so.

For this reason, I decided (haha) to put in his keyword here and tie this line further to his characterization in future episodes.

“Yametekudastop”

“Does Gakuto actually say this?” No, but he makes a pun just as bad as this one. This is a great pun to convey just how weird his “Yameruler” pun in Japanese is as well.

Thanks English!

トイレには神様がいますからね “Since a kami is always in the restroom, you should...”

This is a fragment of the full sentence, though its implied that Gakuto is trying to say “[I cleaned the restroom with care,] because a kami is in there”. To make this sound more natural in English, my final translation was the sentence you see above in bold, which adds a “you should” for context.

This sentence may seem strange to a lot of people, even more so if you don’t know what exactly a “kami” is. I wanted to elaborate on that in this translation note, and also the reason why I left “kami” untouched.

A “kami” does not uniformly mean a “god” or “deity”. In some contexts, yes, someone can be referring to such a being. In others, a kami can also be seen as a “spirit”, not necessarily of divine origins, who exists in a myriad of spaces for a myriad of reasons.

The “kami” Gakuto says exists in the restroom is not a god in the way English speakers would see it, but a spirit that has found a home there. However, I felt that the word “spirit” did not really encompass the importance of the word kami and why Gakuto was so careful with it, while the words “god” or “deity” placed too much importance on it.

For further context, I’d honestly just recommend the kami wikipedia article, which goes a lot more into detail than I can here. For heavier reading, and if you’re interested in this sort of stuff, I recommend the books Shinto - A Book of Prayers and The Essence of Shinto: Japan's Spiritual Heart.

黒子 (くろこ) Kuroko / “stagehands”

Wow, Kuroko Tetsuya himself from the acclaimed basketball manga and anime, Kuroko no Basuke! Okay I’m joking.

A “kuroko” in Japanese means a “stagehand”, though they have very a specific job in Japanese theatre that is different compared to what you might know of stagehands in Western theatre.

The job of a “kuroko” is to be invisible, which of course is not a literal thing. This simply means they help move things along on the stage, appearing center at times, while still not being perceived by the audience. This is where the “kuro” part of “kuroko” comes from—traditionally, they wear black clothes and cover their faces with a black sheet on stage, so that when they appear, the audience will not focus on them and instead blend them in with the background.

A kuroko does such things like moving scenery and props as a normal stagehand, however they may also play non-human parts in plays sometimes, being something like an animal or spirit when needed (usually with the help of a minor prop, not with a costume). They are the “invisible stagehands”.

Gakuto’s entire aesthetic themeing with Ranze and Rinnosuke is basically kabuki, a form of Japanese theatre that places more emphasis on aesthetics than on story.

A popular genre of kabuki is known as jidaimono, or historical plays, which dramatize a major historic event (like a war), which is how Gakuto’s various “Rulers” tie into this theme. Of note, Yameruler’s defense position animation is very much like how one in kabuki would try to “disappear” off stage (by holding a fan in front of his face), Kimeruler has elements of kabuki makeup in his design (though heavily watered down), and Semeruler’s summoning animation is a very common kabuki pose for combat.

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For people interested in the raw BDMV vs encoded final video comparisons, click here. (Click the image in the center to swap between “raw BD” and “encoded”).

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Credits

Translation, timing: entame Proofreading: angelthinktank (Yona) Encoding: PelvisBass

[greasygyeom]

Title: Blame it on Me [Part II: Where Do We Go From Here?]

By: GreasyGyeom

Summary: what is someone supposed to do when they have to choose between the love of their life and the career of their dreams.

Word Count: 9.2k

Yugyeom x Reader / Angst, smut (kinda)..more angst. (i use noona but just pretend it’s y/n)

Warnings: Mature content please read only if 18+

Author’s Note: i am back after two weeks this is a character development guys. hope you like part II !! if you do leave an ask or write in your tags. i love hearing from you guys! tell me if it made you feel something. if there’s spelling errors, let me know hahaha. love you guys and thank you for reading.

Read Part I here

Your night burnt by slowly, filled with explanations and fake acceptances of congratulations that everyone showered you with; that you had no interest in. The only reason you stayed awake was because you were hoping Yugyeom would actually come back. Little did you know he’d been so drunk BamBam had to let him pass out on the couch and keep a bucket right next to him; because if drinking had taught him anything, the amount Yugyeom had, he was bound to throw up. 

You, poetically so, had also passed out on the couch. It was hard to believe that in the afternoon you were in a relationship, getting fucked out of your mind and by night you were single, bawling in your living room.

Still, he had to come back at some point, it was his house after all. How was he going to go to work without his clothes? BamBam for sure wasn’t going to let him stretch out his T-shirts.

Hanging onto that hope, you prepared breakfast in the morning, which unfortunately sat out cold until noon, while you face timed your best friend and let out all your pent up emotions.

She advised you to not hang onto the hope of him wanting to be with you for a few days extra. It wasn’t fair to him, because everything said and done, you were leaving. If there was a way around it, you would have done everything within your control to get that promotion without the transfer. Unfortunately the path you were going to take had been set in stone by your company. There was no space for any alterations left.

You didn’t want this to happen but really, what else were you expecting. This was never going to have a happy ending from the start.

Last week you’d wanted him to act like a douchebag so you could be bitter and cop out of being hurt over having to break up with the best guy you’d ever known. 

You finally understood why ‘be careful what you wish for’ was such a self-fulfilling prophecy. 

After your long distance chat, begrudgingly you got dressed for the office; even though you didn’t have to really go officially—you were off until you started at London next Friday—there was some paperwork that needed your signature. You wanted to get it over with so as to spend the next few days peacefully crying in bed.

Half-heartedly walking to the train station, you wondered if you’d even crossed Yugyeom’s mind since yesterday.

Maybe it was a bit selfish, but you wanted to know if he was thinking about you; or was it just you that was miserable.

He was.

Of course he was.

While he chugged a bottle of water, because his mouth felt like sandpaper, all he could worry about was how you were going to pack all your belongings in such a short amount of time, without forgetting the most important stuff; and how he was going to not lose his sanity over it. 

Ominously so, life had come such a full circle for him; because had your colleague not been a student at the academy, he would have never met you.

The work-life that brought you to him, ultimately took you away too. 

Funny how the universe works, right?

He’d drank so much alcohol the previous night in hopes of forgetting you that even an hour without your face swimming in his head would have been worth it. Yet, all night all he lamented about was how unfair it was that he was going to have to let you go.

His friend circle–that over time had also become your friend circle–had been made aware of the whole ordeal, so they knew what to expect. They were just surprised by the magnanimity of it. 

Yugyeom had never been heartbroken—at least to this extent. In the 10+ years of knowing him, he’d never expressed so many emotions in such little time to any of his friends. It was like witnessing a compressed pack of cocaine burst under high pressure; messy and not a good look for anyone.

When he woke up he already had a text from Jaebeom very sternly asking him to not come in to work until he got his shit together, several texts from Mark asking how he was feeling and to start hydrating his body immediately, and a whole essay from Jackson on how he should drop his tough guy act and be with you till it was time to go. 

He hated being called out like that.

Yugyeom: Hyung you’re supposed to be my friend and tell me I should forget her immediately. His text elicited an immediate response. 

Jackson: Listen you brat. I’m your friend that’s why I’m asking you to spend the last few days she is here with her. Because I know you and you’re going to regret this later.

Yugyeom: Tell me, how does it matter if she’s out of my life today or after five days?

Jackson: You won’t even try to stay in touch?

Yugyeom: No.

Jackson: Is that a mutual decision?

Yugyeom stopped replying after that, because now that he was sober, he was back to not being able to aptly express his feelings and he actually didn’t know the answer to that question. 

He’d thought about this so much yesterday, while in bed next to you. There was no expiration date on your time in London, there wasn’t even any guarantee that after London you’d come back—you could get transferred to anywhere in the world. That particular uncertainty had torn his heart into smithereens and had led him to end the relationship so abruptly. 

It had seemed logical yesterday.

Today? not so much.

You’d zoned out staring at a travel bag while window shopping. After your work was done you thought of giving retail therapy a shot, an endeavour that was proving to be extremely unsuccessful, for the lack of focus you were carrying with you.

A loud, screeching, honking bus on the road snapped you back to reality, but not really. You were still dazed and confused and within seconds wanted to go back home, wondering why you thought this was a good idea in the first place. 

You did buy three pastries and a venti on your way though, to devour your feelings once home. To discover that you’d forgotten how you lived life before Yugyeom and not understand how to combat it, was definitely taking a toll on you. The concept of being without him seemed so outlandish, it felt like a distant dream you might have had in your childhood. For now, until you found a way out of this maze, unhealthy coping mechanisms would have to do.

Truth be told, you were itching to call him. When it came to him, your ego was barely existent.

You were still plenty mad and wanted him to realise how stupid he was for not taking you up on the offer last night, of course, but you also wanted hear his voice equally badly, at the cost of him being unwilling to entertain you.

You had been postponing your urge every hour, since morning, because this time around you were reluctant to lose this battle; even though you’d already lost the war.

At 9am it was ‘Wait for another hour, maybe he’ll turn up.’ At 10am it became ‘Maybe I’ll stop by the studio’– but that was too much effort (and you were in no mood to face Jaebeom). When you were leaving for work, you baited yourself by saying you’ll call him after you were done at the office and currently you were convincing yourself to wait till you reached back home, so that at least when he ignored your calls, you could cry into a cup of tiramisu and feel better about it.

That thought was more comforting than it needed to be.

This awkwardness of not being able to wiggle your way into his life this time, was eating you inside, honestly. It’s not that you’d never had disagreements and fights before, where he’d left for Bam’s because he was too frustrated to even talk to you—in spite of him indulging his anger to a bare minimum, there had been plenty of those. But this was the only one time where saying sorry and promising to buy him chocoshakes for a week wasn’t going to cut it.

Along your route home, you bought more food—a full loaf of strawberry bread from the train station, some chips and a sandwich at the convenience store, a slice from the pizzeria nearby and finally your favourite fried chicken. Clearly, you had a lot of feelings to chew through and some days of solitude to chew them.

You hadn’t anticipated the struggle to get your apartment door to open, with all those packets hanging on your arms, trying not to spill any of the contents. What you also didn't anticipate was Yugyeom opening the door from inside, asking you to hand over some of the things you were holding.

You felt your system shut down like windows 98 being attacked by a trojan.

Was this real? Was this a delusion and you'd really just dropped everything on the floor? 

“Yu….gyeom?” You called out, afraid of not actually hearing an answer.

“Why are you still standing outside, noona?”

“Oh-uhm-I….” you fumbled, before closing the door. “This.. is-uh?? Hmm-what-what are you… doing here?”

“Honestly? I don’t know.” He replied curtly.

You furrowed your brows accompanying it with frown lines on your forehead, indicative of the confusion you were unable to convey verbally. 

However, you chose not to question him further, not wanting to go wherever that interrogation would have taken you. You were more than content to see him move around at close proximity, even if it was in silence. 

There were plenty of places he could have gone, really, he didn’t have to be there if he didn’t want to; but he did want to. Oh god he’d wanted to see you so badly. More so than the hangover, it was a bizarre feeling in his chest, from the way he’d behaved with you last night, that had caused him discomfort all morning. That and Jackson’s messages. 

Was he really not even going to try to keep in touch? But then….. who likes to stay in touch with an ex? 

“Want some cake?” you asked, in an effort to dissipate the elephant in the room. “Or some other food? Pizza? You look like shit, you should probably eat something greasy.”

“You went and bought the whole shop didn’t you?” he raised his eyebrow. 

“I… did not. I was….. craving a lot of things.”

“You know, the only times you’ve bought so much food is when you’re sad about us fighting over something.”

“Well—I am sad,” you paused, “and we are fighting ... and this one seems to be the last one.”

“For now” he added and then immediately retracted his statement 

“I’m...I don’t know why I said that. I shouldn’t have said that.”

“Yugyeom... baby,”

When did you even get close enough to do that, he wondered, as you cupped his face.

“I’m really sorry.”

“It’s not your fault, you know?”

He put his arms around your waist and pulled you into a tender hug, because if he looked into your eyes any deeper he would have either kissed you or teared up; and neither was a good option to choose from.

“Noona will you promise me something?” he then asked, his words heavy and morose.

“Hmm?”

“Please try your best to forget me.”

You weren’t expecting that sentence to knock the wind out of your lungs, because you weren’t expecting to hear that sentence at all.

You broke away from him, tears accumulating against your will. 

“Did you come here to hurt me, Yugyeom?”

It felt like a sword was now ominously hung above your head, when you looked at him; and it could fall at any moment and sever your head.

“Don’t take this the wrong way. I just…. I don’t know. Don’t hold onto some irrational hope or something. That’s all I meant.”

“Irrational hope? Really, of what? Getting back together someday? You wanna get rid of me and move on so fast that you want me to forget you? Is that it?”

“Don’t twist my words. That’s not what I meant. You know that’s not what I meant.”

“You think I don’t understand that this is the end for us?”

“Just ... leave it, I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“Yeah you shouldn’t have.”

“But I don’t want to be the reason you hold yourself back in London. That’s all.” He yielded, not wanting to make matters any worse.

“You know what…. I was wrong to think it would be a good idea to pretend like nothing’s changed until I get on the plane. You win.” 

The anger in your tone and your deadpan face made it very clear that you were not interested in holding a conversation about this, any further. “I’m gonna go start collecting my stuff. I should be out of your apartment and your life, by tomorrow evening.”

Before Yugyeom could react, you slammed the bedroom door shut and locked yourself inside.

One second later he was banging on the door frantically.

“Noona! Come on, open the door please.

Please, baby!”

He must have stood there trying to rotate the knob, begging you to let him inside, for at least fifteen minutes before giving up and sliding onto the floor.

This was turning out to be worse than his worst nightmare.

If he knew you at all, he knew you would want to come out to smoke soon. So he sat by the door, getting annoyed at himself for saying that and at you for taking it out of context.

Before coming here, he’d asked for Jinyoung’s opinion on whether this was a good idea or not; and Jinyoung had replied asking him to not do anything foolish. He had assumed Jinyoung meant going to his house to meet you was the foolish act. Dejectedly, he typed a text.

Yugyeom: Well…. I should have listened to you. I went to see her and you were right, it was a bad idea.

Jinyoung: when did I say that was a bad idea?

Yugyeom: you said not to do anything stupid

Jinyoung: yeah, I meant don’t go there and mess it up. I didn’t mean don’t go there at all. What did you do?

Yugyeom: oh…. nothing. 

Jinyoung: I can call her and ask.

Yugyeom: No! Fuck. please don’t do that. She’s already pissed at me.

Jinyoung: what did you do

Yugyeom: I asked her to move on

Jinyoung: huh?

Yugyeom: I don’t want her to get hung up on me and us and the maybes and what ifs when she's there. Because I know she will.

Jinyoung: and what about you? Are you going to try your best to forget her?

Yugyeom paused and stared at that question for a few minutes. No…. of course not, how could he want to forget you or anything about you. Even if every memory attached to you dug into his organs like shards of glass, he’d gladly take them all to his grave. 

Yugyeom: she doesn’t need to know if I do it or not.

Jinyoung: I’m glad God gave you the gift of dance because clearly intelligence and common sense are completely lost on you. 

Yugyeom: hyung i'm really not in the mood to be insulted right now.

Jinyoung: Jackson asked you to drop your tough guy act didn’t he? She doesn’t need you to protect her. She’s never needed anyone to protect her from anything. You should stop trying to save her from whatever it is that you think you’re saving her from.

Yugyeom: I’m not trying to do anything. I don’t want her to regret going to London.

Jinyoung: How is asking to forget you a solution to that? Say hypothetically she does forget you. In a years time she doesn’t give a fuck about what you meant to her. She meets someone else and starts dating, maybe even gets engaged. Would that make you happy?

Yugyeom: No. But she’ll be happy. 

Jinyoung: that’s your problem. You’re assuming that forgetting you and finding a new life would make her happy. 

Yugyeom: Well won’t it? Idk I just don’t want her to be hung up on us and if she gets stuck on it, I don’t think she will be. 

Jinyoung: You just said you don’t wanna move on so then why the fuck are you forcing it on her?

Yugyeom: hyung she doesn’t need to know how miserable I am. Without knowing that whenever she sees me she apologises to me. if she gets to know how much I want her to stay I’m scared she’ll turn down the promotion. She’s already thought about not going.

Jinyoung: let her make her own decisions? Right now you’re lying to her. I’m 95% sure she’s pissed because you’re trying to act unfazed by all of this.

Jinyoung: Just this one time, try to not bottle up how you’re feeling.

Jinyoung: tell her you have no interest in moving on. Be honest, man.

Jinyoung: and just saying, asking the ‘love of your life’, who calls you ‘the love of her life’, to forget you after 12 hours of breaking up is a shitty thing to do. She should have kicked you in the balls. 

He typed up a stingy reply to that but, before he could send it, the sound of you unbolting the door from inside distracted him. Hurriedly, he stood up, to catch hold of you. 

“Yugyeom, leave me alone. You got what you wanted?”, you spoke frostily.

“Are you going to smoke?”

“Are you going to stop me?”

“No.. But I wish you’d hear me out. Let me say my piece and if you’re still pissed, I’ll leave. I promise.”

After opening the window sill and lighting your cigarette, you waited for him to start. Your face was red and hurting from crying so incessantly, but you were determined to not let your emotions get the best of you, in front of him. At least, not right now. 

“When I asked you to forget me, I didn’t mean… you know, erase me from your memory or whatever. I meant give yourself a proper chance at happiness, when you’re there.”

You gave him no expressions.

“Like… I’m not dying to move on. This is killing me. I don't want us to come to an end. I even thought of giving long distance another shot… or like you know….maybe just keep in touch. But every time I thought about it, it was too painful. So I couldn’t ask you to do that because I…. didn’t wanna do that.” 

Saying that out loud made him realise how selfish he sounded. He continued his monologue when you wordlessly stood still and puffed away.

“I wanted to pretend like this isn’t hurting me, but I’m so miserable, noona. I don’t know how to live without you. I don’t even want to know how to live without you. But, I want you to live your life without me; which is hypocritical, I guess, but that’s why I asked you to forget me.”

“That’s really fucking unfair.” you interrupted. “You’re planning things for me without asking what I want. That’s not how it works. If I want to move on or not, is my decision. If I want to be miserable over you or not, is my decision. If I want to live my best life in London or not, again, is my decision. I have never loved anyone like I’ve loved you, Yugyeom; so what you asked of me was just cruel. I know I want to live in a fantasy until I have no option but to accept the outcome. I know it’s not a good way to deal with things. How could you even think  that forgetting you would ever be an option?

“I’m sorry” he pursed his lips and looked at the floor.

“When I said we have five more days, I wanted to play pretend. I was just trying to live in this denial bit longer. 

“Then… can I live in that denial with you?”

“No, I’m sorry, I gotta pack and hand over the house to the owner by tomorrow.”

“I’m sure the owner will understand if you’re delayed by a day or two or four.”

“I’m tired of running around in circles with you man”, you sighed. “No matter how this turns out, I will never not love you. Maybe in ten years time you’ll be with some other girl and I’ll be with some other dude, even then I will probably, in some capacity, still love you. And I get it if you don’t want to feel the same way, you don’t have to. But don’t ask me not to.”

“Thinking about you with someone else really fucking hurts.” he admitted, feeling a knot tighten in his throat.

“It hurts me too but you’re the one so fucking adamant about moving on like it’s gonna happen in 2 days.”

“Are you still angry?”

“Yeah, of course... but I can let it slide if you promise to forget about me.” 

“Haha very funny.”

You chuckled and he wasted no time in giving you a kiss on the forehead.

“The only thing I can promise you is that I’ll love you till I die.”

“No one is dying, baby.”

“Without you, I just might.”

“Jaebeom won’t let that happen, you’re the second reason his studio has clients.”

“What’s the first?”

“Jaebeom, obviously.”

Yugyeom rolled his eyes at you. “He’s going to have to be the only reason, till next week because I’m stuck to you till you get on that plane.”

“You don’t have to do that.”

“I’m not letting you leave that room for the next 100 hours, starting now.”

He didn’t give you much time to process his words, as he picked you up to take you into the bedroom. You tried to fake-protest to the best of your capabilities, but truth be told there was no better feeling than hiding your face in the crook of his neck; while he effortlessly carried you in.

Making his intentions for the night perfectly clear, he took off his shirt.

“Wait-wait-wait!” you yelped, pinned under his lithe form. “All the food is on the table, I'll be damned if that Tiramisu goes to waste. I’ll be back in five.”

“Make it three.”

“Okay baby.”

Then you kissed him on the nose and ran out.

Since your last reconciliation, you'd spent most of your time in bed, mostly without clothes, wrapped in Yugyeom’s arms; savouring every kiss, every touch, trying to save these ending moments in your memory, so you could replay them over and over again at the end of this week when all this would inevitably be over. Your departure was three days away and the fact that you were still unpacked was beginning to weigh down on you heavily. You were at a point where you couldn’t really avoid it any more; even though it was antithetical to the denial you’d built your cozy house in.

As much anxiety you had regarding leaving and not wanting to deal with that, there was an equal amount of anxiety related to not being prepared ahead of time. It was a lose-lose situation either way, with consequences that weren’t susceptible to change. So, you decided to rip the bandaid completely, to avoid running around like a headless chicken at the last minute.

You didn’t have to deal with the furniture, at least, because even though some of it was bought together, Yugyeom owned the apartment. You just had to sort through your clothes and products.

He wasn't the most excited at the thought of seeing you empty out the house. 

“Do you know your living situation in London?” he asked, trying to hold up a conversation.

“Yeah…they’re giving me a furnished apartment as part of the deal.”

“Wait no rent?”

“Uh-huh”

“Woah that’s amazing.” The lack of excitement completely contradicted his statement. “And who’s gonna help you set up and stuff? Won’t you need help?”

“Uhm... mum’s already gonna be there when I land. Not at the apartment, obviously, but…. in London.”

“Aah. Ok ok. It’ll be good, you haven’t seen your parents in a long time”

“Hmm I guess.”

“And your visas and shit?”

“Yeah my passport’s with the company, they’ll sort it all out and hand it to me on the day of the flight.”A

Yugyeom felt like he’d accidentally stepped on an emotional land mine. 

He was already gutted about seeing his closet empty, and now hearing your monotone voice just upset him even further. But he didn’t want to show how sad this was making him either, because then you would probably cry.

It was really frustrating.

He quickly made up an excuse to leave for a bit. “Is it okay if I go to the studio, Jaebeom hyung needs me to sort through some assessments. But if you need me to stay, I’ll tell him something.”

”No, it’s okay. I have to face time Ishi anyway. I haven't spoken to her in a hot minute. And Jae has been more than patient this past week. I’ll try to be done soon too. It’ll probably take me 4-5 hours.”

Oh.

 “I’ll definitely be back by then.”

“Or… maybe I can meet you at the station and we can go to Naksan?”

He gave you an affirmative forced grin, kissed you on the forehead and headed to the studio to redirect all the aggression he was so suddenly full of.

Just knowing that you’d be leaving a giant gaping hole in his life, was driving him nuts. He wasn’t sure if he could keep up his end of the bargain any longer. You at least would get to start over a new life, in a new place with new faces. But he was going to have to pick up pieces of his life that he knew you were about to leave behind shattered; and never look back at 

Your fragrance lingered in every corner of his apartment. His bathroom smelt like your shampoo, his closet smelt like your body spray and cigarettes, his bed.… how was he ever going to exorcise your memories out of his bed? His king size bed that had not seen a dip on the right side up until you had waltzed into his life. Everything was going to remind him of you. His favourite restaurants, clubs, hideaways—it was overwhelming him. 

“Aah fuck” he mumbled to himself, absent-mindedly walking into the studio - much to Jaebeom’s surprise.

“I thought you weren’t coming in?”

“She’s packing. I’ll break something if I have to sit through it.”

“Don’t break anything here.”

“Maybe my bones.”

“The third room is empty.”

He was barely going to be able to concentrate on whatever choreography he was going to try, but he acknowledged Jaebeom and locked himself inside.

Jaebeom also felt rather incompetent to handle the situation, since he’d never seen this volatile and mostly upset side of Yugyeom. So he just let the kid do whatever he wanted to. No one knows what to do until you actually start doing it, right? Jinyoung would probably disapprove of this philosophy, but he wasn’t there to voice his objections, so too bad!

When dancing, Yugyeom barely ever understood the concept of time, so between choosing a song, researching some new styles, to mentally animating the possible formations, 4 hours flew by. He yelped and hurriedly ran to his phone, hoping he wasn’t already late.

You sighed heavily at the other end of the call “no... I’m still working through the pile. It’s probably going to take me two hours more.”

“It’ll be too dark to go to Naksan then.”

“Yeah…. I guess. Just come home?”

“It’ll take me some more time at the studio though.”

“That’s okay, take your time. It’s a mess here anyway.”

“Hmm… I’ll see you later then, noona.”

And he went back to focusing on perfecting the new moves, even harder than before, because otherwise your voice would keep ringing in his ears. He could hear how disheartened you already sounded and he wanted to be there for you, but he had to take care of his own feelings first, before he could take care of yours.

He didn’t know he could feel such a foul mood, but that’s what his days had recently been made of. All he’d done was get blackout drunk, fight and then fuck; this wasn’t a routine he recognised at all.

It was almost nine in the night when he entered the house, fully expecting to see you still having a rough time with a mountain of clothes next to you. Surprisingly, he found you passed out next to an empty cup of coffee.

He peeked inside the bedroom and his eyes immediately went to the two giant suitcases stacked in the corner and a cardboard box balanced on top of them.

His closet now housed his bare minimum collection of T-shirts and sweatpants and the bathroom was entirely stripped of its former glory. It was depressing. He took a quick shower and considered slumping onto the bed, knowing full well he should wake you up and make you eat something.

Who was going to feed you actual healthy food in London, with him not around? Because if you had it your way, you’d call a bag of chips dinner and call it a day.

He tried with everything he had, to not care about it and went back into the bedroom, fully determined to go to sleep. Perhaps it was his frustration towards the situation that was garnering such a petty reaction. But then he thought about it for five minutes more and felt like an absolute asshole. Why was he taking this out on you? It’s not like you deliberately caused it. It’s not even like he wanted you to stay for him.

He shook his head almost aggressively, as if trying to physically shake off the bad thoughts and went back out, to do what he actually should have done as soon as he came home.

You’d fallen asleep in the most haphazard position; your head resting on your arms on the kitchen island top, and your body stretched out on the chair. It didn’t look comfortable whatsoever.

He nudged you gently, “noona?”

You barely even stirred.

“Wake up, baby”. The butterflies he gave you, at such close proximity, made you open your eyes. 

“What time is it?” you groaned, lifting your head the slightest bit.

“It’s almost 10.”

You did a little cat stretch. “Did you just get back?”

“No... it’s been a bit, I took a shower and everything”.

“Oh… okay. I was planning on taking a bath too” you trailed off, yawning through the rest of the sentence.

“I’ll make something for us till then.”he replied, thinking about what they could eat, but his chain of thought was disturbed by a phone call.

“Oh hyung, yo.” you heard him say. His energy seemed so low.

“Wait right now? I don’t know hyung.”

Inquisitively you tilted your head and he handed you the phone. The quota of patience he had for the day was very low. 

You could see Jackson’s name on the screen and you greeted him accordingly.

“You wanna chill here?” You repeated, simultaneously gesturing to Yugyeom about his thoughts on the matter at hand. 

He shrugged indecisively and you came to the realisation that you hadn’t actually thought of when you’d say your final goodbyes to Jackson, or in fact anyone else except for Yugyeom; so now seemed like as good a time as any.

“Yeah cool, how long will you take?”

With his patience running on thin ice, the man standing in front of you frowned, but you pretended to not notice it. Instead, you stretched and headed for the shower, avoiding his gaze. Yugyeom’s energy was all over the place and you were lowkey glad you wouldn’t have to deal with it by yourself.

You thought about planning your day tomorrow and meeting at least some of the people you cared about. What you hadn’t expected was Jackson bringing most of those people to you.

Half an hour after the phone call, your living room was at full capacity. It wasn’t even that many people honestly, just your usual hang-out group - a mixture of your and Yugyeom’s combined friend list, but your living room looked full. 

Yugyeom was even more displeased than before, but managed to hide it by holding onto a bottle of beer, like it was crucial to his existence.

“He didn’t say he was coming with…. everyone.” You sheepishly expressed. 

“It’s fine. At least you get to meet most of your friends.”

“Yeah I guess, i was just thinking about it.”

You get distracted by a hand on your shoulder, “thinking about what?” Bambam asked

“Meeting some people before leaving.” You repeated.

“Ooh depressing.” 

“That’s one way to look at it.” You gave him a deadpan stare, unimpressed by his poor timing.

Yugyeom took the opportunity to wander off to his other friends, most of whom were gathered around the table of food, in front of the TV.

Some random nonsense movie was playing that Mark and his girlfriend were really invested in. He considered sitting next to them but he was not sure when they’d start making out, so he parked himself next to Jaebeom instead. His head was heavier in that moment than it had been in the morning, when he’d left. He couldn’t leave right now though, Jackson would beat his ass.

So he settled for eating silently and drinking slowly, in his little corner.

Meanwhile, you were trying to keep up a brave face. Jackson had already repeated himself at least thrice, saying how much he was going to miss you and it was getting more and more difficult to hold your tears. 

Taking a large gulp of the wine you had in your hand, you told him you were going to miss him a lot too and gave him a partial hug.

There was no scope of hiding from the reality of the situation anymore.

Two days later no one in this room was going to physically be a part of your life. Just two days. All you wanted to do was find Yugyeom and bury your head in his chest, like the ostrich that you were.

You took in some really deep breaths and poured yourself more booze, in the hopes of turning it around and becoming chipper.

Inevitability should be accepted or else life begins to feel like a drag…. no?

Alcohol made it a lot easier for you to bury the sadness that came with your unofficial ‘bon voyage’ celebration. A part of you was also suddenly scared to approach Yugyeom. You studied his face carefully, discreetly, while seated on the couch. Get togethers usually made him hyper, yet here he was looking into his phone like he was studying for a phd degree.

Even though there was an overwhelming urge to go and talk to him, you decided against it. If he wasn’t feeling some type of way, he would not have isolated himself like that and you knew you were partially to blame for it 

You indulged in more cocktails, talked to your friends and somewhere in the middle of all this chatter, Jackson, for the nth time commenced a relay of toasts addressed to you. Really on brand of him to talk about his feelings like that but because you were caught so off-guard you started crying.You weren’t prepared for this kind of emotional haranguing.

Yugyeom hated every minute of it. He didn’t want to hear over and over again that you were leaving, or see you cry. He should have declined Jackson’s proposition when he had the chance to, but now he had to deal with long speeches almost all of which included him too. He felt his lungs constrict like he was about to drown. Jaebeom gave him a comforting pat on the back and passed him a new bottle of soju. 

From time to time he looked at you but avoided eye contact. He knew he should have been next to you, hugging and comforting you, he just couldn’t bring himself upto the task. It was that same resentment he had felt earlier today that made him respond in this fashion. All he wanted was this night to end and for everyone to leave. But then again, maybe this was better because he didn’t have to be alone with you. 

You cried for a good hour while everyone told you they were going to miss you. There were long hugs and accelerating levels of inebriation involved. You promised to text everyone back because at that moment you had no proper words to say and you wanted to tell them all so much. 

By the time you crossed your threshold of tipsy to near blackout drunk, it was almost daybreak. The sun was just beginning to peek at you from behind the mountains. 

Yugyeom was in a worse shape than you, so Jackson and Jinyoung decided to clean up a bit, as your parting gift; trying to rope in Bambam in.

“No way. I know what’s coming after she leaves. I deserve a break before donning my emotional clean up crew role.”

“Don’t lie, you’re both just going to drink.” 

“Yes and drown him in his sorrows. This is how you clean out emotions. He’s gonna drink and cry.”

“That’s the worst way to deal with anything.” Jackson rolled his eyes

“Hyung…. you work out and write music, he drinks and dances. It’s not really all that different.”

“It’s not the same either though. If I feel something I don’t carry it with me. All he does is let it eat him until he forgets it or explodes.”

Can you debate about this later and help me carry him to the bedroom?” Jaebeom interrupted. 

Jackson handed the empty bottles to Jinyoung and got to the task of shifting Yugyeom’s large body from the couch.

“Just him?” Bambam asked

“I already tucked her in,” Jaebeom replied. “We should get out of here soon.”

“Yeah, I still have to go to work. Can’t believe Youngjae and Mark left me alone.” Jinyoung complained, trying to make as little noise as possible while trashing the garbage.

With a lot of difficulty, Jackson was able to plonk Yugyeom on the bed. Jaebeom studied you both before heaving a sigh. The peaceful look on your faces was not an accurate testament to your respective behaviours prior to passing out. But there wasn’t anything he could do about it. He kept a trash bag and a bottle of water each near your nightstands before leaving. 

At least he could hope that when you wake up, you’d feel better.

... You didn’t.

The splitting headache you were experiencing was really on another level when combined with your sandpaper mouth. Thankfully things were conveniently placed around you because if you had to walk to the kitchen to drink water right now you'd rather die of thirst than get up. Your attention turned to the man next to you, his porcelain skin tempting you to kiss him or at least stroke his face, but you resisted. 

You finished the whole bottle and gently lowered yourself back into the bed, lying awake with throbbing pains radiating from various places. 

Yugyeom made a cute sound in his sleep, making your heart jump. It was nearly impossible to not want to scoot closer to him. He hadn’t given you a hug in all of twenty four hours and you were already about to lose your mind.

How you were going to survive without him was really beyond your comprehension.

You just lightly touched your fingers to his palm and closed your eyes, hoping you’d fall back to sleep. The next thing you knew he had one arm around you and was pulling you into his chest; aligning his body with yours. His soft breaths landing on the back of your neck, making you shiver.

“Feeling okay?” He asked in his hoarse, morning voice. 

“Hmm…”

You could feel his lips moving against your skin as he spoke, making you melt in his embrace. Your heartbeat accelerated and he held onto you even tighter. 

Melancholy hung in the air, much like Christmas decorations in December; he could feel it. Your legs intertwined and he heard a faint sob.

There was nothing he could say that would change the atmosphere. It was time to burst the bubble, so he let you cry, and he cried too.

Head buried in your back, he whispered, “noona…. please will you leave a hoodie of yours with me?”

You nodded and kissed his hand. 

“I love you.” He said and the both of you went back to sleep. 

It was almost evening when he finally woke up. You weren’t in bed anymore, his head was hammering to a tune of it’s own, in spite of having medicated in the morning, and his body was craving water. Staggering, he made his way to the kitchen and found you in a semi-messy situation with cooking paraphernalia all over the counter.

“Oh? What is happening here”. It sounded like he was concerned but he was really only a bit confused. 

“making some sandwiches.”

“Suddenly? Why? We could have just ordered.”

“Yeaaah I don’t know, just felt like it.”

He smiled, because you looked so cute in that apron. His mood was foul but looking at you made it better. He chugged some water while you emptied the pan and he was overcome with the urge to hug you.

You were caught off-guard when he put his arms around you, but you reciprocated his gesture. It was difficult for you to look him in the eyes because you weren’t sure if, for the hundredth time, you'd end up crying. He cupped your face and nudged you to see him, the sincerity in his face…. all the love he wanted to shower you with right then.

He kissed you slowly, taking his time to taste the light traces of your strawberry lip balm. You didn'’t know what spells he used to get you turned on so fast. Threading your fingers with his hair, you deepen the kiss. The urgency that took over him was maddening. He wanted you right now, which he made abundantly clear when he slipped his left hand under your T-shirt and began caressing your boobs; his other hand gripping your hair and pulling it sharply. 

There was air caught up in your lungs as he kissed your neck, like you’d temporarily forgotten how to breathe. Low moans began to escape your lips and you squeezed your thighs together. You were so wet, just with his mildly aggressive kisses.

He knew what he was doing to you when he felt your lower body clench and both his hands slid back down to grab your butt.

The kiss got sloppier as your focus dwindled to his boner, your fingers already caressing it over his sweatpants. He bit your lip in response, pushed you against the kitchen island and aimed to remove your clothes. You were still in your flannel and shorts from the night before, so he fumbled a bit on the buttons. His accuracy was failing him because you weren't stroking him over the sweatpants anymore; he could feel your hand sliding over his skin, purposefully slow and tender. His eyes were barely open, your lips were still locked and he was trying to get you naked without actually seeing what he was doing. He grunted helplessly when you touched the tip of his cock. Wet sounds of you stroking his length, mixed in with his shallow breaths and moans, filled the kitchen. 

He nibbled on your neck, as your movements accelerated. With your non-dominant hand you tried your best to remove his sweatpants, but he stopped you.

“Turn around.” He whispered, pulling your hand away. The way he seduced you with his demanding voice and bedroom eyes, you gave in without a fight. You bucked your hips and grabbed the closest edge of the marble top. He bit your neck, gently sucking at the skin caught between his lips, until it looked bruised and then he moved on further down, while dry humping your ass, one hand firmly placed on your waist. A small gasp escaped your lips when his fingers slipped inside your panties. Automatically, you spread your legs wide, to let him access the delicate parts. 

He could smell your shampoo mixed in with your intoxicating scent and it was sending him over the moon as he played with your wet and sensitive clit.

“Good girl” he praised, when you pushed your ass further into his boner, craving to feel it bare.

You hummed, his thin and long fingers dancing to the tune of your arousal. He fingered you slowly and deliberately, and it was excruciating. 

It was the last time he was going to get to feel you. Tomorrow you'd be gone. It made him angry and sad. It made him desperate. 

You could feel his aggression in the way his lips collided onto yours with force, the way his nails dug into your skin, the way his body was stiff and wrapped around you in a solid cage.

His hold on you tightened and he spun you around again, to face him. He wanted to make sure you never forgot how he made you feel; so that no other man would ever be enough for you because he set that bar up so high. He wanted to spoil the idea of being pleased again by anyone else, for you. Maybe it was toxic to think that way, but he was already letting go of you.

He had no choice but to let go of you. The train of thought he'd gotten on made his brain short circuit and switch off. He wasn't aroused anymore and everything was blurry and confusing. Before he could stop himself, he took a step back.

“Don't leave me, noona.” He said in a small voice, looking at the floor.

The words crash on you like a violent wave. 

You wished he'd stayed looking at the tiles, because when he looked up, you felt the guilt of having accidentally run over a puppy. There was sadness and shame and anger and you didn't know which emotion to address first.

“Yugs….”

So many words swirled in your brain but your lips were sewn shut.

“So, I guess that's a no.”

“What are you trying to do, Yugyeom?”

“Oh well, It was worth a try.” He chuckled, rather bitterly.

What else was he expecting would happen.

Life is not a movie scene; the girl doesn't quit on her career for the boy, in real life. But was it valid for him to feel the sting that persistently worsened as you two stood opposite each other uncomfortably? He knew this was going to happen. He chose it with you. Hell, he chose it for you even. While he was trying to rationalise his own resentments, you straightened yourself up and started putting the buttons of your shirt back in place. 

“I don't know what you want to hear from me, Yugs. You know I don't want to leave you. And you don't want to come with me.”

Shit, that stung him even more.

“I have to leave for the airport in 12 hours so do we have to be like this?” You asked defeatedly. 

He shook his head and you extended your arms, waiting for him to fall into them.

“I'm really sorry we have to end this way.”

In his experience, there was no safer feeling than being held by you, but right now it was the root cause of all the knives ruthlessly jammed in his chest.

Nonetheless, he hugged you and exhaled pure agony.

“I'm gonna go take a shower. Maybe afterwards, if you feel like it, we can go get some drinks?” You asked cautiously.

“Yeah… I’d like that” he lied, as he let go. Truth be told, he couldn't look past the multiple ‘last times’ anymore. The last time he could hug you, the last time he could fuck you, the last time he could hear your voice… he couldn't do any of it. He didn't want to do any of it. He didn't want this for the last time. He heard you close the door to the bathroom and started fixing his appearance however he could, grabbed his wallet and phone and headed out. If he stayed in that house for a second more he felt he'd choke and die. He was trying to run away from the toxic fumes his own thoughts were emitting, and there was nowhere to hide from them, so he tried to leave them behind. 

His brisk walk turned into a sprint and then he ran as fast as he could towards the subway station. And just like that he vanished into the sea of anonymity, nowhere to be found.

Four hours had gone by since you'd come out of your shower to a deserted house and a singular message from Yugyeom. “Sorry noona, I can't do this.”

it felt like a cruel déjà vu.

His phone wasn't reachable. Bambam had no idea, neither did Jaebeom. You were much too confused to react in any appropriate manner.

“He left” You said to Jaebeom, who was equally confused and infuriated.

It seemed like you'd already connected the dots as to Yugyeom’s unavailability but a part of you was holding onto some hope.

“I'm sure he's gonna show up dude.”

“I have to leave in like 3 more hours. He wouldn't have left if he planned to show up.”

“He's definitely not at Bam’s?”

“Jae…. unless I was being lied to, he's not there. And i don't think Bam has any reason to do that.”

“Okay. Keep me posted.”

“Yeah” you sighed. 

You were neither angry, nor sad and you had good reason to experience both those emotions at once, but the way your brain had switched itself to autopilot, everything had just become a matter of necessity. 

You tried Yugyeom’s number once again, and weren't even surprised anymore when you heard the automated switched off message. 

While scanning the room your eyes fell upon your suitcases and your heart dropped 6 feet further than where it was already at.

You had to leave soon.

The silence had already been gnawing at your sanity, now it was overpowering guilt because if you had just said no, none of this would have happened. If you had just said no to the promotion. If you had tried harder for Seoul. If you had chosen to stay when Yugyeom asked you to, then the chain of events would have been different. Maybe, if he'd not run away from this whole situation you could have figured out a solution. But he wasn't here and you were running out of time.

A high pitched buzzer cut through the atmosphere, giving you a jump scare. For a second you thought maybe it was Yugyeom, but why would he need to ring the bell.

You saw Jackson's silhouette in the little alarm system by the door and sighed. 

“You look so unhappy to see me.” He huffed, when you greeted him dryly.

“Gee Jackson, sorry I'm upset about Yugyeom literally bailing on me when I have to leave in an hour.”

“Wait what? He's not back?” 

“No…..i don't know where he is.”

“And he's still not answering?”

“I tried about 50 times, it's off. Anyway, how come you're here?” 

It was comical how distraught you were internally and how inept you were at translating your emotions externally. The way you were talking, no one would think you were in this sad sad situation of leaving your life behind to start a new one.

“You don't remember asking me to drop you off?”

“Was I drunk?”

“Well…. tipsy maybe?”

“I was definitely drunk. I don't remember any of it. But, I'm glad you're here.”

“Are you…. packed?”

“Yeah, I just got the last batch of clothes I need to shove in.”

“Cool. You have anything to eat?”

“I made some sandwiches in the evening. Have at it.”

You were trying your best to be normal. A few minutes later Bambam and Jaebeom arrived as well, both without any worthwhile news of Yugyeom.

“I'm gonna kill him when I see him.” Jaebeom raged.”this is very childish.”

“It's fine man…. i know why he just vanished. It's okay. I'm not mad.” 

“Bro are you…. Hearing yourself?”

“Very clearly. He was never good with confrontational emotions. He didn't want to see me leave so he left. It's not rocket science.” 

“You went through your stages of grief really fast with this one.” 

“I didn't have an option.” you looked at the three of them sitting around you “So…. are all of you taking me to the airport?”

“Yeah, duh.” Bambam countered.

“Okay then wait for me in the car, I need to say bye to the house.”

“And you can't do that in front of us?” 

“Would you rather get uncomfortable watching me cry?”

Honestly, you were just prolonging it, the actual act of leaving. You felt so heavy when Jaebeom rolled your suitcases out. In passing you looked at your two favourite hoodies you'd left on the bed and it took everything out of you to not have an emotional breakdown right at that moment.

It was difficult, leaving was difficult especially without Yugyeom. You were in denial of your feelings but you were so angry at him but also so sorry towards him, your emotions kept cancelling each other out. You just wanted to hug him one last time and get the closure you were hoping to get but he took that option away from you. In your three year relationship, this was maybe the most cruel he’d ever been with you. But it was over now. This chapter was done, even with all of its loose ends.

You took your time saying your final byes to three of the most important people you'd met in Seoul. It was quite impressive that you didn't burst out in tears, even when Bam and Jae almost did. There was a part of you that was distracted by a hope that he'd be at the airport to see you off. When he wasn't at the main gates, you hoped he'd be there at check-in. While walking towards your departure gate you kept an eye out, hoping to catch a glimpse of his smile. You just wanted to say goodbye. But he never came. You sat glued to your spot, because what if he did try to find you and you weren't there. You boarded your flight at the very end. You gave an imaginary him all the imaginary chances you could, to materialise and tie a neat ribbon around your life in Seoul.

But your flight took off and the last shred of hope you had snapped and so did you.

Because life isn't a movie. Just like the girl doesn't leave her career, the boy doesn't run through the airport either. 

[haikyuu-scenarios-drabbles]

Professor Kuroo Part Two 

slides this across the table in a humble offering that it’s been 3 weeks since my poll pls forgive me 

part one

Love y’all,  J

~

You hate yourself for what you’ve done. But with the convention around the corner, your higher-ups are rightfully confused as to why you want out of Dr. Kuroo’s project so late in the game. You try to chalk it up to wanting to ‘broaden your horizons’, but even that doesn’t convince them fully. Instead, they tell you to continue working with Dr. Kuroo while also giving you some small task on Dr. Yu’s project that you’ll probably complete in two days.

So, Monday morning after that meeting crushing your hopes of just brushing what happened in the library Friday night under the rug, you trudge back to your desk trying your best to ignore the whispers following you as you go. Word spreads like wildfire around here. You’re not surprised, your request came out of the blue, particularly since up until now it seemed like you’ve been working fine with Dr. Kuroo.

Which…you have. Up until last week.

It isn’t that you don’t like him anymore, or that you don’t return his feelings—obviously not considering your reaction to his move on you. It’s more that you think it won’t be fair to either of you to go on pretending like nothing happened, because god knows you don’t even know if you can. Which is why it would be best if you stayed away from him, no reason to torture yourself like that. Or him.

Though, it looks like you’re just going to have to grin and bear it. No matter that you spent the entire weekend trying to stop thinking about what happened—and miserably failing. Any spare moment you had, without your permission, your brain would drift to the sensation of his hands clasped to your waist; his lips on yours, and from there you couldn’t stop imagining what would have happened had you let him continue.

That’s usually about the time you shoved your face into the nearest pillow to scream into or slapped your cheeks to bring you back to reality.

You think you can do it, act normal around him, give no inclination that anything is different. As much as you’re going to hate it, mainly because it’s going to hurt him, nobody—and you mean nobody can have any suspicions.

That is until he strides in the office door, looking more jaw-dropping than usual. You always had a hard time controlling yourself whenever he rolled up the sleeves of his button-up, but today he’s topping it off with the rare sight of his glasses and tousled hair looking notably unruly this morning. Judging from the glasses, hair, his bag practically bursting, and the numerous rolled up papers beneath his arm, it’s been a rough morning.

The dark circles under his eyes suggest it’s been a tough weekend as well.

You bite your lip, hoping it’s because of the conference and not you.

His eyes land on you almost immediately, expression giving away nothing. You are surprised that he makes his way over to you, drops his things on your desk in a huff, breathlessly explaining, “I have a meeting in like two minutes, I can’t make it back to my office in time, I’m sorry to ask you this but—,”

You go on autopilot mode, reassuring him, “I’ll handle it, just go!”

He gives you a grateful smile before jogging off to the conference room.

Truthfully, he’s glad he’s had a whirlwind of a morning, otherwise he doesn’t know how he would have approached you so normally. And he’s surprised at how receptive you were to him, he thought you’d be avoiding him, especially since you requested to switch off his project.

He frowns. He is not in the mood to think about that right now. It was bad enough being unable to focus this weekend, because if he lets himself, he’ll get consumed with thoughts of you. He’s thankfully able to think about something else during the meeting, distracted by data reports from other faculty and details about the conference. Upon the conclusion of the meeting, he’s surprised there’s no discussion about your request to transfer. As of now, all he knows is that the request has been made, there’s been no word on its verdict.

Before he can head out, he is by no means shocked when the head of the department asks him to follow him to his office. He does his best to remain as indifferent as possible as he follows him, making a point to ignore you as he passes your desk on the way to the back.

The door closes behind him, and Kuroo sets his expression straight, no need to give Dr. Takahashi any reason for suspicion.

“Are aware that your graduate student requested to be switched off your project, Dr. Kuroo?”

One of the reasons Kuroo respects his colleague so much is that he never dances around the subject, but right now he wishes he’d sound a little less accusatory with that statement.

No reason to lie here either, so Kuroo nods passively, replying with a noncommittal, “I did. Dr. Yu emailed me about it this weekend.”

He raises a brow. “Any idea why? There hasn’t seemed to be a problem all year, and with the conference coming up, it’s a bit unexpected.”

Kuroo takes a moment to consider what you might have said when probably asked a very similar question when you made the request. He’s certain you didn’t come clean about the situation, otherwise he’d be dealing with a much different person right now. “I’m sure they were looking for more to do,” Kuroo rolls his eyes good-naturedly, and judging by Takahashi’s expression he hit the nail on the head. “I can’t seem to give them enough, every time I turn around, they’re already finished and onto the task.”

Not entirely true, you do finish tasks quickly and diligently, but you’re pretty good about keeping yourself busy. He rarely has to explicitly tell you what to do next. He did when you first started, as expected, but by now you’ve gotten the flow of things and can work seamlessly with him like you’re reading his mind. Other professors are jealous and wish you were their graduate student, so he’s heard.

“Ah, well. Unfortunately, I denied the request. We’re winding down to the conference anyways, there’s not much to do anywhere. I’ll revisit it once things pick up again and see where they’re at.” He waves Kuroo out, and he almost sighs a breath of relief once the door closes until he realizes what comes next.

Facing you.

God, he’s gone over this situation over and over in his head all weekend, but now that it’s here his stomach is twisting into knots at the thought of confronting you. He wants to bring it up, thinking it would be best to talk it out, see where the other person is at, but not here. Not somewhere with the risk of someone overhearing.

He at least gives you the curtesy of approaching your desk from the front instead of behind like he usually does, as he found it amusing watching you jerk in surprise in your chair—no, even that’s too dangerous. You watch him carefully, wondering just what exactly he’s going to open with.

“Are you doing anything right now? Do you want to go over this week’s plan in my office?” He asks, unaware that the nerves coiling in your chest unravel slightly at his mundane request. It’s familiar, the two of you usually hash out the week on Monday to ensure an efficient plan, and you’re glad he started with that and not something ominous like, we need to talk.

Though there is an underlying suggestion in the seemingly simple question.

Go over the plan, in his office. A key detail that anyone else wouldn’t blink twice at.

You, on the other hand, fear an ambush. But part of you wouldn’t mind talking it out so there isn’t this air charged with anxiety that you can already feel simmering between the two of you.

“No, I was waiting for you to finish your meeting so we could go over the week.”

He smiles softly at you, and the expression that sends your heart thundering against your chest. The trek back to his office lets your nerves ramp up, making you paranoid about all of the possible things that aren’t the plan for the week he’s going to bring up once the door shuts. The closer you get, the more your mindset shifts from maybe being willing to discuss things to wanting to completely and utterly forget it, and go about your lives blissfully ignorant.

You’re glad he doesn’t take a seat behind his desk, which would have made you feel even more skittish that he’s planning on having a serious talk with you. Instead, he sinks into one of the two armchairs in the corner; a place the two of you have spent many hours in discussion over a cup of coffee in. You didn’t think it possible, but somehow that’s worse that him sitting behind his desk. This is far more…intimate.

He just looks at you, reading you so easily you hate it, saying, “I’m not going to bring it up. Not here.”

“Why not?” The words tumble from your mouth without much thought. You loathe how pathetic it makes you sound. His eyes softening only make it worse.

Choosing his next words carefully, he eyes the door behind you and lowers his voice, “Do you want to?”

He notices the flicker of your jaw. You’re contemplating something, so he just waits, despite his emotions rearing to bubble to the surface.

“I—uh…no. I’d rather not.”

You aren’t expecting the finality of those words to make your heart feel heavy in your chest. Like you’re closing a door that you’ve been wondering if it would ever open since meeting him and…it doesn’t sit right. None of this does. But you must continue on the way it is, there isn’t another choice, as much as you hate it.

You’re shocked to hear what he says next.

“Do you ever?”

Up until now, you were finding it difficult to look at him. But with those words, your attention snaps to his, getting pinned by his golden gaze. Without much thought you say softly, “I don’t know.” You wish he would wipe that stupid fucking expression off his face. It simultaneously makes you want to grab his head between your hands to kiss and slap him across the face. You have to resist the urge to do either, unfortunately.

“That’s fine,” he says, so nonchalantly you grit your teeth. He was the one to confess his feelings to you. It’s making you feel so childish how much you’re struggling with your emotions when he seems perfectly fine. Little do you know; he’s hiding his channeling his true feelings into gripping the armrests as hard as he can. At least you didn’t shut him out completely. “So,” he scratches his chin. “Your request to switch projects was declined.”

You visibly straighten. “Now that’s something I don’t want to discuss.”

He smirks, unable to resist his prevocational tendencies. “What are you afraid of?”

He watches as your fists ball, unsure if his tactic is going to work out in his favor or not. “You said we wouldn’t talk about it here!” You hiss, lowering your voice to barely a whisper.

Leaning forward in his seat and resting his elbows on his knees he proposes, “You’re right. How about tonight, The Brew at eight?”

“I am not going on a date with you! That’s the complete opposite of what we should do!” You whisper as angrily as you can muster.

“Just a humble meeting between colleagues,” he says simply. “Nothing else.”

Your eyes narrow, and he hopes with all his might you’ll agree to his request.

His heart soars as you say, “Fine. Just talking.”

“Just talking,” he nods, sincerely meaning it. You’re both adults here, and he’d like to settle this before it blows up in your faces.

He’s glad that you relax and slump into the chair beside him. “Can we talk about the week now please?” You hate how much you love the grin that lights up his face.

And as nervous as you are for tonight, you also feel a strange sense of calm about it. Relieved to get some things straight after a rather tumultuous weekend.

~

and now forgive me that there’s going to be a part 3 😈 

part three part four

[missjosie27]

Year 3 Part 9- Duel with Barnaby

Hey guys!

I enjoyed writing this one immensely because I feel like JC has butchered or reduced Barnaby down to an intelligence even lower than that of Patrick Star or Forest Gump. I feel there's a lot more depth to him even if he's not the brightest bulb on the porch. And though I give a lot of attention to Merula, he deserves a greater amount of coverage and nuance as well

So for those of you who like Barnaby, this one's for you. Enjoy!

How to approach a potentially hostile Slytherin: that was the ultimate question.

For David it presented a unique challenge, one untested until this very moment. For as long as he had attended Hogwarts, Slytherin House was an enemy, an antithesis to everything he believed in and a hindrance to finding the vaults along with his brother. Merula was the primary source for that picture, but it wasn’t only her. As Bill and Hagrid pointed out, many children of Death Eaters still attended the school, the overwhelming majority of them in Slytherin. And the ones that weren’t tended to be odd, reclusive, self obsessed, or alarmingly ambitious. It wasn’t a coincidence.

And yet in order to win over Barnaby to their side, he needed to drop these prejudices, at least for the moment. He still wasn’t sure this was a good idea but Tulip’s ideas, though often eccentric, tended to see things that others often overlooked. He would trust that instinct for now. The real problem was how to approach him.

Despite the huge Slytherin being seemingly more approachable, David was still quite hesitant. After all, they had opposed each other at least twice already and in both instances Barnaby was left either smelling like foul eggs or on the ground covered in snow. One wrong word might backfire immensely. He opted to try and talk to him in a more private setting but that proved to be impossible, as he was almost always with Merula and Ismelda during and after potions neither of which he had a desire to speak with at the moment.

So he tried a new approach, one more befitting of a Gryffindor but with a reasonable amount of tact. During lunch on a Wednesday, quiet by Hogwarts standards, he took the opportunity to walk over to the Slytherin table (with great caution) when Barnaby was alone and not flanked by the two girls. He was well aware of the dirty looks he received from the older students and some looked ready to curse him into oblivion, but he knew they wouldn’t, not with teachers everywhere. Most seemed content to ignore him.

“Barnaby?”

The teen looked up from his massive pile of roast beef and potatoes and gazed upon David with intense curiosity.

“Wat oo yu ooing er?”

“You might want to try swallowing.”

Barnaby did so and repeated the question though it was not hostile.

“What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to talk.”

“Talk about what?”

At this point, some of the Slytherins were looking over and had their wands withdrawn but a silent hand from Barnaby eased that tension.

“About what’s been going on lately. And the vaults.”

Barnaby narrowed his eyes ever so slightly.

“You know I stunk for weeks after that dungbomb. I’ve never taken so many baths in my life.”

“I’m sor-”

“And I mean three times a day. I didn’t know it was possible to bathe that many times. My mom said just once is usually enough.”

David paused at the childlike reasoning of the giant teen in front of him.

“Err...right. Sorry about that.”

Barnaby shrugged as though it had never happened.

“Tulip promised me a box of Peppermint Toads if I talked to you. What do you want?”

Good old, Tulip. She bribed the moron beforehand

“Do you like working for Merula?” he asked him directly.

Barnaby blinked stupidly at the question.

“I don’t work for her. We’re partners.” The statement sounded more like a question, doubt evident in his deep voice.

“Sure that’s why she considers you lesser than a bowl of tripe. But has she ever let you make a decision? Does she ever share her plans with you? Has she ever thanked you for anything?”

Barnaby thought for a second.

“No...no...and I forgot the last thing you said was.”

Resisting the urge to sigh, David continued on with his case.

“You should work with us, Barnaby. Not Merula. And notice how I said ‘with’ not ‘for’. I don’t treat my friends like objects to be cast aside.”

The Slytherin seemed to be taken aback.

“Why do you think I can help?”

“For many reasons, but above everything else you’re powerful and can duel better than most sixth years. I know firsthand how difficult it is to break into a cursed vault. We could use that kind of strength.”

It was quite clear from Barnaby’s reaction that no one had ever bothered to pay him that kind of compliment before or even if they had, it was few and far in between. He took his large fingers, which were covered in silver rings, and began rubbing his chin.

“Uh..you alright?”

“I’m thinking about your words.”

David made a final appeal to get the message across.

“I’m not going to boss you around or call you names like Merula does. I just want your help to find my brother. That’s all.”

Suddenly, a wide smile stretched across Barnaby’s face.

“I like you, Grant.”

“You do?” David asked, surprised it could possibly be this easy.

“Yeah! We should fight.”

Of course it wouldn’t be that easy

“What?” he said in a nonplussed tone.

“I need to prove I’m tough enough to help you and you need to prove you're tough enough to be my new partner,” Barnaby reasoned.

“But I’ve technically already beaten you.”

“That was three on one,” the burly teen shaking his head. “It doesn’t count. Group fighting isn’t the same as one on one.”

He finished eating the last of his lunch, stood up, and clapped a giant hand on David’s shoulder.

“Meet me on the training grounds this Friday after lessons. If you can beat me, I’ll ditch Merula and help you enter the next vault.”

“Why not just do it now?” David asked genuinely.

“Wouldn’t be fair that way,” Barnaby told him. “We both need time to get ready. See you on Friday!”

The third year Gryffindor could only watch as the Slytherin grabbed his bag and began to whistle cheerfully as he exited the Great Hall. It was only when a piece of bread was chucked at him along with an expletive he realized he needed to remove himself from Slytherin territory.

What he didn’t realize was what he had gotten himself into.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Rowan and Ben found out what he agreed to with Barnaby, both cautioned against it.

“Dave, no offense, you’re a good dueler, but Barnaby is the best in our year for a reason. It’s not a good idea to go up against him.”

“What if he seriously hurts you or something?” the blond asked nervously.

“Mates, I’ve explained this already. Barnaby isn’t trying to harm me he’s trying to test me. If I beat him one on one he’ll join us and stop hanging around Merula. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

David was looking over his last bit of notes in the Gryffindor common room before meeting Barnaby for their duel. The weather was surprisingly sunny, and the conditions ideal as you would find in late winter.

“But if wins you’ll just end up in the Hospital Wing and we go right back to where we started from,” Rowan pointed out. “And what then? I haven’t finished deciphering the notebook yet.”

“And Merula will just come after you even more,” Ben added.

David put on his jacket and hat while pocketing his wand. Classes were done and he was ready. Barnaby might be twice as large and physically stronger but he couldn’t back down now.

“You guys worry too much,” he told them with a somewhat cocky smile. “If I can handle three Slytherins at a time, then I’m going to be more than fine against one.”

“Just be careful,” his best friend told him. “We don’t know if we can trust Barnaby yet. Keep your guard up.”

David smiled knowing full well Rowan was just looking out for his well being and he appreciated the gesture.

“I will. Now wish me luck and watch me as I win this duel.”

As he exited and pushed past the portrait of the fat lady, Ben couldn’t help but sigh with jealousy.

“He asked for luck but still has full confidence that he’s going to win the duel. I wish I carried myself like that.”

“Don’t envy everything about Dave,” Rowan said wisely as he read his Magical History book. “He’s more complicated than lets on.”

“But...he’s the most competent person I know save for the teachers. He’s taught me so many things.”

“I’m his best friend, Ben. But even I don’t know all that he’s been through.”

The blond appeared puzzled.

“What are you saying? As far as I’m concerned, he’s a hero.”

Rowan shut his book with a soft thud.

“Even heroes have demons.”

Neither boy spoke much after that but each seemed to consider that the leader of their group had a cocky streak that hid something much deeper.

Even if he would never admit doing so.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sure enough, Barnaby was there waiting for him upon his arrival. By now the snow on the ground had begun to melt a little and the grass below them was little more than a muddle cesspool. But neither minded so much as the milder weather provided the perfect chance to duel without the howling wind or hail. David greeted him in a friendly manner to start things off on the right foot.

“You showed up,” the Slytherin said simply.

“Well yeah, it’s a duel after all.”

This seemed to cater to Barnaby’s simple way of looking at things as he smiled once more.

“I like you, Grant. You keep being nice. If you beat me in a duel, I know you’re tough for real.”

“And then you’ll stop working with Merula and help us find the next Cursed Vault?”

“I’ll have to think about it.”

David paused for a second, confused, though he tried to be as patient as he could be. After all, Barnaby probably didn’t remember what he had for breakfast.

“It was your idea, Barnaby…”

“Oh, right. I’ll do my idea then.”

David by now knew enough about the gargantuan teen to be aware that he was not taking the mickey and also the sincerity of his personality. Certainly a different kind of opponent than he had taken on in the past.

They took positions about thirty feet from each other and each withdrew their wands.

“I’ll warn you, David. I’ve never lost a duel,” Barnaby said with a confident grin.

The Gryffindor could only grin back.

“That’s funny, neither have I.”

Without warning, however, Barnaby struck first sending a disarming spell his way, which he managed to avoid. But unlike his other opponents, Barnaby didn’t rest on his laurels. Spell after spell and ‘Expelliarmus’ after ‘Expelliarmus’, the barrage was relentless and it was so quick David barely had time to recover and send anything back.

After the six stunner, he managed to fire off a Knockback jinx but it only threw back the Slytherin back a few yards and he stayed on his feet.

“Son of a…”

He never had time to finish the swear as Barnaby sent a slew of ropes towards him which missed but then caught him with a blasting curse, the impact of which sent him sprawling on the ground.

Not giving up, he leapt back up and fired back.

‘Depulso!’

The spell sailed over Barnaby’s right shoulder and he responded in kind.

‘Convulsio!’

The spell hit his left leg and it began spazzing as though he had a charlie horse. The sensation was incredibly uncomfortable but David gritted his teeth and managed to dodge another one of Barnaby’s spells, ‘Restricta!’

Ignoring the pain, he tried to use a time old tactic: distraction.

‘Fumo!’

Smoke temporarily blocked Barnaby’s view but with a wave of his wand, he cast it aside and sent another stunner before David could follow up a blasting hex.

Okay, this isn’t working

The burly Slytherin hadn’t been lying: he was good and it was also easy to see why he never lost a duel. His spellwork was precise and accurate, but also fast and nearly impossible to sidestep. The incantations combined with flicks of the wrist and a strong stance made Barnaby the toughest opponent he yet faced.

As he was forced to dodge yet another spell, this one blue in color, he flicked his wand forward and managed to hit Barnaby in the stomach with a tickling spell in order to buy time. To his shock, however, the effect did little other than to cause him to clutch his stomach.

“Those kinds of spells won’t work on me,” he called out. “I just so happen to be immune to tickling.”

It was the first thing Barnaby said all the while they were dueling, a refreshing change of pace from Merula, but the irrefutable fact remained. The Slytherin’s relentless battering ram style was unlike anything he faced before and only raw brute strength would take him down, strength that was failing him.

David was forced to bend down onto one knee when Barnaby yelled out ‘Stupefy’ in order to stun him. Clearly he was intent on ending this soon as his left leg had already given out.

No, not yet

Taking aim, the teenage Gryffindor did the only thing he felt was available to him. He knew the incantation and though he never attempted it personally, felt there was nothing left to lose. Either he would succeed or Barnaby would win the duel.

‘Stupefy!’

A powerful blast of red light shot forward and caught Barnaby square in the chest, uplifting him off his feet and onto the ground in a massive heap.

Breathing heavily, David limped over to Barnaby with the last he could give on his bad leg and offered his hand to the utterly dazed and confused opponent.

“Wha…”

“Come on, big guy.”

Once returned to his senses the Slytherin pushed himself back onto his feet and almost took David with him, who could barely stand as it was, causing him to grunt with pain.

“Oh, I’m sorry, David.”

Barnaby cast the counter curse and instantly his leg went back to normal.

“Thanks.”

“Blimey, I thought you had to be mean to hurt someone that badly,” the Slytherin spoke aloud rubbing his shoulder.

“Are you alright?”

“Are you kidding? This is nothing. A few of us Slytherins start every day by doing what we just did. They say it gets you in the right mindset.”

“Mindset for what?” David asked, very curious as to what kind of culture he was dealing with.

“To toughen up and be the best,” came the simple reply.

He elected not to press the issue and instead emphasize his victory respectfully in hopes that Barnaby would finally acquiesce and willingly join his team.

“Well there’s no doubt you’re tough, Barnaby. Will you help me with the cursed vault?”

Barnaby smiled, although he was still in some pain from the duel. They both were.

“You’ve proven you’re strong enough to beat me. You have a deal, David. But on one condition.”

Oh Merlin

“And what would that be?”

“We celebrate with a butterbeer,” he said cherrily.

“But there’s no Hogsmeade visit this weekend.”

“I can never remember when those happen,” Barnaby said, scratching his head. “But luckily, I always keep some on hand.”

He summoned two canteens from his back pocket and handed one to David, which he took with a degree of surprise.

“Cheers!” the Barnaby said, clinking his canteen against his and taking a large sip. “Let’s take a walk around the grounds.”

David obliged and together, the two began to traverse around the perimeter of the school, taking in the light breeze and bright blue sky which was beginning to turn into a reddish, gold. The young teen didn’t know what to expect but he indulged Barnaby all the same, who appeared quite content.

“I love a good butterbeer after a duel. They say it heals all bruises and broken bones.”

“Who says that?” David asked, raising an eyebrow.

Barnaby shrugged.

“I can’t remember. I’m sure someone said it.”

Resisting the urge to openly chuckle, David again marveled at the simplicity that his newfound acquaintance operated under. It was stupidly charming in a way. Given this fact, there was a question lurking in his mind he felt he had to ask him.

“You say I’m nice, but you’re quite friendly yourself. Too friendly to be hanging out with Merula. How did you two end up being friends?”

Barnaby’s face turned frank and even a bit solemn.

“We have a lot in common. Both of our parents were Death Eaters.”

David had to resist choking on his butterbeer.

“Wait...really?” He knew Merula’s parents were locked up in Azkaban but this was new information to him.

“Why are you so surprised? Everyone knows Slytherins have the most interesting childhoods,” Barnaby stated as though it were obvious.

“Interesting is one way of putting it I suppose.”

“Do you mean being the children of Death Eaters? Because you’re not wrong. There’s a lot of us in Slytherin. We have to stick together because no one else will.”

David never considered this aspect before. There was something very raw but also very poignant about what the burly Slytherin was saying.

“I never thought of it that way, but you might be right.”

“That’s why I believe Harry Potter will be a Slytherin. Someone that powerful as a baby has to be in our house!”

“Who knows,” the Gryffindor said with a half shrug. “He could be incredibly brave too. Sounds more like my house.”

“It’s power that helps protect yourself and people you care about. It’s better to be strong than weak.”

David suddenly realized these weren’t only Barnaby’s words.

“Look I can’t believe I’m saying this, but not every Slytherin has to be obsessed with being powerful. You don’t seem that way. So why focus on it all the time?”

“Because it’s what my dad taught me. His words. ‘It’s better to be strong than weak.’ Anything that can make you more powerful can only help in that.”

He sighed as he put his canteen back inside the pants pocket.

“You probably think my family is mad. I don’t blame you.”

“Far from it,” David reassured him and suddenly they stopped in front of the Whomping Willow, a dangerous tree liable to strike anything that came near it.

“They were Death Eaters. To be a Death Eater, everyone says you have to be mad.”

“I can relate to unstable family members. Try me.”

Barnaby considered this for a second, silver rings glistening in the sunlight one of which was inscribed ‘Vires In Virtute’. Far from being a simpleton, this time the Slytherin was considering how to properly explain things.

“My family’s crest follows the creed of strength. We’ve also been pure blood for centuries. For my dad, it was an opportunity and a duty to remain both. He followed the Dark Lord more willingly than others….I saw him once, actually.”

David almost didn’t register that last remark. It was one thing to read about the darkest wizard in many generations but to see him? He almost did a double take.

“You saw You Know Who?”

“He stopped by once as a little kid. At first I was afraid but my parents told me if I could become as strong as the Dark Lord, I could be anything. Mum was nice, but dad always said I was slow. It was the best way for me to be good at something. So I’ve spent my entire life doing so, even after they were both arrested.”

“When did that happen?”

“Shortly after You Know Who died. Didn’t take long for the Aurors to catch up. They were well known for doing a lot of horrible things.”

Following the duel in the foggy snow, David remembered feeling a pang of sympathy for Barnaby when hearing Merula insulting him. That pang was now a large wave.

“Barnaby, mate. There’s more to life than being strong. And those other kids aren’t the only ones to take after. You should do what makes you happy rather than what pleases other people...including your mum and dad.”

He looked up at the willow alongside Barnaby, studying its bare branches and thick, gnarled trunk.

“I know what it’s like to try and live up to an older family member. I’m trying to find him right now. And that’s what I need your help with.”

“Your friends won’t hate me? Or think I’m mad?”

“No. If anything it’s the opposite,” David said truthfully. Even uninformed people thought Barnaby to be stupid but not crazy or cruel. “Besides, if I can ingratiate Tulip into our group I can with anyone.”

“What does ‘en-gradiate’ mean?”

David again had to stifle a chuckle but it was not a demeaning one. On the contrary, he was beginning to enjoy the way Barnaby’s mind worked.

“It means that I want you to join our little group...as a friend.”

He held out his hand in a final gesture of goodwill, which the burly Slytherin took, cementing their new friendship in a masculine bond.

“Thank you.”

It was settled. Somehow or another, David had convinced Barnaby Lee to switch sides, a huge victory no matter which way you sliced it. It was one step closer to solving the ultimate mystery they had yet to solve.

[treya-barton]

souyo for 57. “There is enough room for both of us.” :33333

Yosuke and Yu had been officially dating for a few weeks.  It felt great being closer to his partner, and Yu had never been happier. However, there was one little change since they started dating that he was struggling with, and he didn’t quite know how to address it.  “Sempai, what are you doing?” Rise whispered as Yosuke squeezed in next to Yu on the train seat.  She had a free afternoon for a change so they were both accompanying her on a shopping trip.

“There is room enough for both of us,” Yosuke said, although he was pressed against Yu and squeezed next to the railing to the seat.  There had been a spot across from them, but Yu was starting to catch on to the fact that Yosuke always preferred to stick close by.  He had always entered Yu’s personal space back when they were just friends, but since they had started dating it had gotten a lot worse.  Yosuke always sat next to him when they went out to eat, no matter how small the booth was.  He would insist on cuddling together on the couch and sitting or standing close to him on the train.  Yu wouldn’t be surprised if Yosuke sat on his lap one day at this point.  While Yu had never minded Yosuke hanging on his shoulder or being in his personal space in high school, he wasn’t used to the level of closeness they had now; however, he was afraid of screwing something up if he said anything.

Rise raised an eyebrow at him before teasing, “Where you jealous of me getting to sit next to Yu-sempai?”

“You bet I was,” Yosuke replied with a huff, causing Yu to blush in surprise and Rise to giggle at him.

“It’s nice seeing you so honest these days, sempai,” she replied.  “I think by now it’s pretty obvious I never stood a chance though.” Rise didn’t look upset at the thought and had honestly accepted the reality last year when she realized between travelling to the city and Inaba that they both had feelings for each other that went past just being best friends.  She was also the one to encourage them to come clean about those feelings.

“I still prefer sitting next to Yu,” Yosuke said seriously.

“Even if it’s digging into my leg,” Yu muttered under his breath.

Both Rise and Yosuke looked at him, obviously hearing him but not understanding what it was he had said. “What were you saying, sempai?” Rise asked, and Yu shook his head.

“I was just asking how long until we get to our stop.”  He was unused to this part of Tokyo since he had grown up in a different ward.

“Only about 20 minutes,” Rise replied.  “It’s not too bad!”  20 minutes of being squeezed between his boyfriend and one of their best friends…Yu held back a sigh.  There were much worse things out there than this.  He would just have to endure.

After a long day of shopping, Rise headed off on her own since she had a modeling job to do that evening, while Yosuke and Yu stopped at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat.  Yu was exhausted since it had been awhile since he had to deal with both Rise and Yosuke’s excited energy at the same time on top of the stress of picking out and trying on clothes.  He normally had unlimited patience when it came to his friends and enjoyed spending time with them, but after a long week of classes and tutoring jobs he was worn out.  He also needed some space to recharge.  So, when Yosuke tried to slide in the booth next to him, he stopped him.  “Actually, can you sit across from me this time?” he asked.  “I need a little space today.”

“Oh, yeah, of course,” Yosuke said, quickly standing back up and moving across from him.  He slid into the booth, and Yu noticed he had an odd expression on his face.

“Everything ok?” Yu asked, and Yosuke let out a small laugh.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” he asked, picking up the menu and perusing the options.  Dinner ended up being quieter than normal, but Yu was so tired he appreciated the silence.  On the train ride back home, it was much busier due to most people heading out for dinner or nighttime activities, so they both had to stand while crushed between the crowd of people.  Yu’s stop was before Yosuke’s, and when he adjusted his bags and readied himself to head out, he was surprised when Yosuke merely waved instead of giving him a hug like he usually did.  He just figured Yosuke was probably tired too, and he gave him a small wave before stepping out with his bags and heading to his apartment.

It was a few days before he and Yosuke had time to hang out again, since they both went to different schools and had completely different schedules.  They always ate lunch together on Wednesdays, however, since it was a day their schedules had a break around the same time, and this day they planned on meeting up at their favorite family restaurant.  Yu was looking forward to it, since he always missed Yosuke when they weren’t together.  He arrived first since the restaurant was a little closer to his campus and got their regular booth, sliding in and leaving some space for Yosuke to sit since he always sat next to him.  To his surprise, however, when Yosuke finally did arrive he took the spot across from him instead.  “Sorry I’m a little late!  I missed the usual train and had to wait for the next one,” Yosuke explained.  He didn’t even bother looking at the menu; they both ate there so often that they always knew what they wanted.

“It’s quite alright,” Yu smiled at him, content to finally be in Yosuke’s presence again.  Just seeing his smiling face had a way of putting him at ease.  “Oh, did you figure out your schedule on Friday?”

“Yeah, I’ll be able to join you and Kanji for dinner,” Yosuke replied.  Kanji was now in his third year and he was traveling up on Friday so he could visit a few college campuses over the weekend; he wanted to go to school for elementary education and was looking into a few different programs.  Yu had offered to allow him to stay at his place so he wouldn’t have to pay for a hotel; he had a larger apartment than Yosuke did since his parents helped pay for it.

“Good, I know Kanji will be happy to see you,” Yu replied.  They ended up having a lovely lunch together, although Yu couldn’t help but feel like something was a little off.  He figured he just wasn’t used to Yosuke sitting across from him and wondered why he had chosen to sit there instead of in his normal seat.  Once they were both finished, Yosuke leaned forward to press a kiss to Yu’s cheek.

“I’ll cover lunch today,” he said with a wink, heading to the front counter before Yu had a chance to protest.  He then waved before heading out the door since he had to be back in time for his afternoon class.  Yu’s heart had skipped a beat at the display of affection, but he still couldn’t quite escape the unsettled feeling he had in his heart.

The next two days went by quickly and soon it was time for Kanji to arrive.  Yu had tidied up his apartment and made sure he had snacks that he knew Kanji liked stocked for his visit.  Yosuke came up to his apartment to meet up so they could go to the train platform to meet him together.  “Hey partner,” Yosuke greeted when Yu opened the door, waiting for him to step out and join him.  Yu quickly switched over to his shoes from his house slippers and made sure he had his keys before closing the door behind him.

“How was class?” Yu asked.

“It wasn’t too bad. Had a quiz which kind of sucked but I think I did alright,” Yosuke replied. He turned to head back down the hall, and Yu grabbed his arm to stop him.

Yosuke turned to look at him, and Yu leaned forward to press a quick kiss against Yosuke’s lips. Usually, that was Yosuke’s normal greeting when it was just the two of them, and he had been surprised when Yosuke had skipped it this time.  “Now we can go,” Yu said with a small smile, and Yosuke smiled back, appearing almost relieved.  He walked ahead of Yu, chatting about his day and his part time work at a record store near his school’s campus, while asking Yu questions about his tutoring sessions. Normally Yosuke would walk next to Yu while holding his hand or with his arm around his shoulder, so Yu couldn’t help but find it a bit odd.  He didn’t question it, however, and after a short walk they arrived at the train platform to wait for Kanji.  His train arrived right on time, and soon he was stepping off the train and making a beeline over to wrap them both in a bear hug.

“Sempais!” he said excitedly, and Yu had to again get used to the “new” Kanji.  He still looked odd with his black hair, although today he had on jeans and one of his old skull shirts instead of his new, nerdier style. Yosuke, who had gotten used to it his third year, didn’t seem bothered by it.

“How’s Inaba been?” Yosuke asked, and as they headed to Yu’s place to drop off his stuff before dinner, they took the time to catch up.  They walked on either side of Kanji, which Yu again felt was a little strange, but he figured Yosuke just wanted to make it easy for them both to conversate with their friend.  It wasn’t until they finally got to the restaurant that Yu finally had to face the fact that Yosuke’s actions were definitely bizarre.

Once they were led to their table, Yu had sat down first, and Yosuke had quickly taken the spot across from him, leaving Kanji to stand awkwardly for a moment in surprise.  He eventually sat down next to Yosuke, and while Yosuke acted like everything was normal, Yu could tell Kanji seemed just as bewildered as he did.  Yu didn’t want to say anything in front of Kanji, however, but he was definitely getting the feeling that something was wrong and had been wrong all week.  It wasn’t like Yosuke to give him so much space, and he felt worry gnaw at his heart.  Despite that initial awkwardness, they ended up having an enjoyable dinner. Kanji’s perspective was always refreshing, and it was nice hearing how everyone was doing back in Inaba.  Yu couldn’t wait to visit again over the holidays; it had been too long since he had seen his friends and family there.

Once they were done with dinner, Yosuke reluctantly excused himself since he had the opening shift at work the next day.  “Let me know if you have plans once I get off though,” he said, heading out with a wave. He didn’t give Yu his customary kiss on the cheek, although that could have just been because Kanji was also there.

Once Yu and Kanji got back to his apartment, Kanji bluntly addressed Yosuke’s weird behavior as was his nature.  “Did you and sempai get into a fight or somethin’?” he asked, surprising Yu.

“No, why do you ask?” he replied, heart hammering in his chest.

“He was actin’ weird,” Kanji replied.  “He’s usually all over you.  And sits next to you.  So…I thought maybe you had gotten into a fight since he wasn’t.”

Yu sat down with a sigh. “He’s been doing it all week.  I don’t know why,” he admitted.

“Hmmm…when did it start?” Kanji asked.  Yu described the outing with Rise and how he had asked Yosuke to sit across from him, and Kanji tilted his head.

“Are you sure that’s all?” he asked, and Yu gave him a puzzled look.  “Y’know, Yosuke-sempai is really good at reading you.  It sounded to me like maybe you didn’t want sempai hanging on you, and he probably caught onto it.”

“I don’t mind Yosuke hanging on me,” Yu replied.  “I’m just not used to it because he started doing it even more once we started dating. I’m trying to adjust since I’m not used to that kind of affection from my parents,” he admitted.

“Hmmm, but does sempai know that?” Kanji asked.  “You know, last year I went to his house a few times to study.  And I couldn’t help but notice his parents,” he admitted.  “At my place it’s just me and ma, so I can’t help but kind of notice how they act around each other.  Yosuke’s dad is kind of more reserved with us, but his mom is really affectionate and one thing I’ve always noticed is when it comes to her, his dad always acts different.”

Yu nodded his head. Yosuke’s dad was nice, but he definitely wasn’t as affectionate with his son or with Teddie as his mom was. However, he had noticed that whenever she went in for a hug or needed attention, he was always more than willing to give it to her, even though with his son he could be kind of awkward.  “I think Yosuke’s like his mom,” Kanji pointed out, and Yu suddenly realized what the younger man was trying to tell him. Yosuke had grown up in a household where his parents were affectionate with one another – for him, it was something natural.  In fact, it was something he needed.  And Kanji was right, he had probably caught onto the fact that Yu had felt a little uncomfortable by it.  So, when Yu had asked him to move…  Yu’s heart sank.

“God, I’m such a shitty boyfriend,” he suddenly said, hanging his head.  He remembered the odd look on Yosuke’s face and how he had hidden it with a smile and a laugh, and realized that he had probably hurt his feelings.  He had just been too relieved and tired to acknowledge it.  How selfish of him.

“No, you just show your affection differently,” Kanji pointed out.  “You always do things for sempai, right?”  Yu nodded.  He liked to cook for Yosuke or go over and tidy up his apartment when he knew he was having a rough week.  He also would help him study or go visit him at work when he had free time to keep him company.  Yosuke knew that and did little things for him too, but Yu hadn’t thought about the fact that Yosuke needed a different kind of validation from him.

“You know, tomorrow I’m going to be out late visiting the different campuses,” Kanji commented.  “Why not invite sempai over after he gets off work? If you cook him somethin’ nice, then I get to eat somethin’ good when I get back later.”

Yu nodded to himself. He knew exactly what to make to cheer Yosuke up, and knew Kanji would appreciate it too.  “I’ll make my curry,” he said, and Kanji looked excited.  

“Hell yeah!” he said, causing Yu to smile at him.

“Thanks, Kanji.  I really appreciate your advice,” he said, feeling relieved.  Now that he knew what the problem was, he knew just how to take care of it.

“I mean, you helped me out a lot second year.  I wouldn’t be where I am today without your advice,” Kanji replied.  “So it’s nothin’.”

Kanji left early the next morning after a simple, homemade breakfast from Yu, letting him know he probably wouldn’t be back until around 7-8pm.  Yu messaged Yosuke, asking him over for dinner around 5pm, and then headed out to pick up the ingredients for curry.  He was going to make it from scratch, the way Yosuke really liked it. Once he had everything together, he ran some other errands before returning home and getting to work.  He ran through his plan for the evening and how he would address the small rift that had formed between the two of them as he chopped up the ingredients and created the roux.  Finally, he had everything simmering in the pot as he got the rice going in the rice cooker.  Not too long afterward, Yosuke arrived a little early, although Yu wasn’t that surprised; he normally arrived early when they had plans to hang out with one another.

“Do I smell your curry?” Yosuke asked as he stepped into the apartment and slid off his shoes.  He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply before sliding on the house slippers Yu had bought specifically for him.  “What’s the occasion?”

“Come and sit with me,” Yu said, heading to the living room and sitting on the couch.  His heart clenched when instead of moving to sit next to him, Yosuke moved toward his armchair instead.  Yu cleared his throat, catching Yosuke’s attention, and shook his head before motioning him over next to him.  Yosuke looked nervous as he came around, sitting at a respectable distance from Yu, and looking surprised when Yu moved closer to him in order to bridge the gap.

“Should I be worried?” Yosuke asked, and Yu shook his head.  He placed his arm around Yosuke’s shoulders, and felt how tense they were. He tugged until Yosuke was pressed against him, and gently squeezed until he felt the tension begin to ease out of his boyfriend.

“I wanted to apologize,” he said, and Yosuke gave him a confused look.

“About…?” he asked.

“Being a complete idiot,” Yu replied, and Yosuke looked amused at the idea.

“Isn’t that normally my line?” he asked, and Yu shook his head.

“No, this time it’s most definitely mine,” he replied.  “I hurt you, and instead of owning up to it, I turned a blind eye.  I’m really a shitty boyfriend.  You deserve better…”

Yosuke’s brows furrowed, and Yu spotted tears welling up in his eyes although he held them back.  “I don’t want another boyfriend,” he replied, and Yu shook his head.

“I don’t either.  It’s why I need to make things right,” he said seriously.  “I love you Yosuke.  And I should respect and understand your needs and feelings.  And I’ve been doing a poor job of that.”

Yosuke finally dove into Yu’s arms, wrapping his arms around his waist while burying his head into his shoulder.  Yu breathed a sigh of relief, relishing in his partner’s embrace as he held him tightly in his arms. It had been too long since they had last held each other like this. “I just don’t want you to be uncomfortable,” Yosuke replied, voice a bit muffled, and Yu gently rubbed his back.

“I wasn’t uncomfortable because of you,” he said.  “I’m just not used to it yet.  And this whole week…I’ve missed it. Please don’t pull away from me like that again.”

“Unless you ask me to,” Yosuke said seriously, and Yu nodded.  

“On the rare occasion yes. Sometimes I need to recharge,” he replied. “But while that may happen, it doesn’t mean I don’t want it at other times.”  He then pulled away and lifted up Yosuke’s chin so he could look him in the eyes.  “And I realize that it’s something you want and need, so I want you to let me know when you do need it.”

“Ok,” Yosuke replied. He looked drained, and Yu realized how hard it must have been on him keeping his distance from Yu this week. Yu’s chest tightened as he thought about how rough it must have been on Yosuke and how much he had probably been hurting while hiding his pain.  

“And when I’ve hurt you, don’t hide it anymore.  I can’t fix it then.”

Yosuke nodded, and some of his tears finally spilled over at those words.  Yu sucked in his breath before using his thumbs to gently wipe away the tears.  He then pulled Yosuke onto his lap so he could hold him even tighter for a few moments until his boyfriend began to calm down and relax.  He pressed a kiss to the top of Yosuke’s head before saying, “The curry should be about done.  Make sure you save some for Kanji, ok?”

“If I have to,” Yosuke said with a dramatic sigh as he climbed off Yu’s lap.  He then scratched his head a little.  “Did…Kanji talk to you about it?”

“Yeah.  He helped me realize what was going on,” Yu said honestly.

“Let’s leave him lots of curry,” Yosuke said resolutely, and Yu let out a laugh.  They had a pleasant evening together, eating Yu’s delicious curry and cuddling on the couch while they waited for Kanji to come home.  Just as promised, he had a hearty helping of curry to look forward to when he returned as a thanks from his very grateful sempais.

[aion-rsa]

Mulan And The Chinese Women Warriors of History and Legend

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While American audiences know the story of Mulan through the 1998 animated Disney film and the upcoming live-action reboot, they may not know that the films are based on a Chinese legend. Hua Mulan is a legendary figure whose story was first told in “Ballad of Mulan,” a folksong first transcribed in the 6th century. In the legend, Mulan is a girl who disguises herself as a man and goes to war in place of her father. Mulan fights for many years as part of the army and, after earning much honor and gifts from the emperor, returns home to her family. Only then does she reveal her gender identity.

While Mulan may be the most familiar of woman Chinese warriors (at least to American audiences), she’s only one in a rich history of historical and legendary female heroes in Chinese history. With the live-action adaptation of Mulan releasing on Disney+ this Friday, here are some of the highlights you might encounter when brushing up on your Chinese legends and history—figures who perhaps warrant their own feature film adaptation…

Xun Guan

At thirteen, Xun Guan was already an accomplished martial artist and tactician. Her father, Xun Song, was the governor of Xianyang in the late 200s A.D. One night, when the castle was under siege, Xun Song was ready to lead a force against the opposing soldiers. Convinced that her father leaving the castle would be bad for morale, she proposed that instead she lead a group of elite soldiers out to defeat the enemy. Even though she was only thirteen, Xun Gun had her father’s trust, and he sent her out. Once outside the walls, Xun Guan immediately spotted a weak spot in the enemy’s position, and she and her troops were triumphant against them, successfully allowing the castle to hold out until more reinforcements could arrive.

Pingyang

During much of Pingyang’s lifetime in the early 600s, the emperor, Yangdi, was incompetent, greedy, and vain—he’s become a villain of Chinese history. Pingyang was the daughter of military commander Li Yuan, and became the wife of Chai Shao, the leader of Yangdi’s palace guard. Yangdi decided that Li Yuan was just too good at his job, so he trumped up false charges and had Li Yuan arrested, only to realize that Li Yuan was the only person who could protect Yangdi from people who actually were plotting against him. Yangdi released Li Yuan, but the damage was done: now Li Yuan wanted Yangdi dead, as well. As Li Yuan rebelled, Chai Shao and Pingyang had to decide how both of them could safely support her father; Chai Shao left first to openly join Li Yuan’s rebellion, and Pingyang later escaped on her own, braving the danger because she was confident she could hide in plain sight. 

She journeyed back to her family’s lands and threw open the larders, endearing the people to her and recruiting the first members of what would become known as the Army of the Lady, or the Woman’s Army. As the war continued, Pingyang made alliances and built an army 70,000 strong, keeping them all under a strict code of conduct the prohibited looting, raping, and pillaging. Where the army went, they brought food with them to feed the locals, so they were greeted as liberators. Yangdi dismissed Pingyang as a threat (she was just a woman, after all!), until it was far too late; her forces were unhindered by Yangdi’s troops, and they joined up with Li Yuan and Chai Shao for the final attack on the capital—and, in their victory, the establishment of the Tang Dynasty.

Wu Zetian

In the late 600s, China had a woman emperor. Depending on which historical records you read (the sources tend to be very biased against or very biased toward the empress), she lied, cheated, and murdered her way to the throne—and did more of the same to stay there. She started her imperial career as the favorite concubine of Emperor Taizong. When he died, she married his son, the new emperor, Gaozong. Some sources imply that a romance was going on long before the old emperor’s death; others suggest she was so good at courtly intrigue that Gaozong kept her by his side and ruled equally with her, relying on her political savvy. After Gaozong’s death, their children were in line for the throne; Wu poisoned the eldest, exiled the second, and had plans to manipulate the third and continue to rule. When that son showed too much backbone (and made too many other courtiers angry), she had him deposed, replaced him with his younger brother, and then eventually deposed that child, too, taking on the mantle of rule for herself. Though her rule as emperor was short, she made a number of state improvements in religion, literature, and education—and some historians credit those changes with still having an influence on modern Chinese scholarship.

Liang Hongyu

Although she started her career as a musician, Liang Hongyu ended up using her instrumental skills for a more military purpose. She is said to have met her husband, military officer Han Shizhong, when she was performing as a singer and drummer for his troop. They married in 1121, and she later fought by his side as the army pushed back an invasion by the Huns. The drumming comes in because, during that era, commands were sent to different units in the military through flags and drum signaling. Her drummed orders (and the strategy she came up with) are credited with leading a group of only 8,000 soldiers to victory against a force of 100,000 Hun warriors.

Qin Liangyu

Fighting against the Manchus was a family experience for Qin Liangyu, who went to war alongside her brothers in the early 1600s. When the Manchus—from beyond the Great Wall—threatened Beijing, Qin Liangyu led troops from Sichuan to defend the capital. But there were also rebel forces within the Ming Dynasty, and Qin Liangyu fought against them as well, alongside her son, Ma Xianglin. There’s not just one story of Qin Liangyu’s successes; she fought so many successful campaigns that the Chongzhen Emperor appointed her Crown Prince’s Guardian and a title equivalent to marquis. When the Ming Dynasty fell during Qin Liangyu’s later years, she remained in control of an area of Sichuan, where she helped settle 100,000.

Wu Mei

Women in martial arts are common enough in modern schools (and modern film), but they’ve been around much longer! In fact, the founder of the famous kung fu style Wing Chun was one of the legendary five elders of Shaolin Martial Arts, was a woman. Buddhist nun Wu Mei (also known as Ng Mui) survived the destruction of the Shaolin Temple of Dengfeng during the Qing Dynasty. The shaolin practitioners had been accused of anti-Qing activities, and the army went to destroy them for it. In the bloody battle that followed, only the five known as the five elders survived. They’re credited with spreading martial arts across China, and Wu was said to have invented some of the most important styles. Her Wing Chun is possibly the best known of these, named after Wu’s first student—also a woman—Yim Wing Chun.

Ching Shih

In the early 1800s, when the Golden Age of piracy had already faded in the Caribbean, a pirate queen was sailing her fleet, commanding as many as 80,000 outlaws (sources differ), in the South China Sea. History has forgotten her birth name—Ching Shih translates to “widow of Ching”—but not her amazing deeds, which have put her down in the history books as one of the most successful pirates in history. Ching Shih worked as a prostitute until she married the notorious pirate Cheng I (who was reportedly impressed with her shrewd business sense), who had united different factions of pirates into his Red Flag Fleet. 

Legends say that she required half the fleet to belong to her as a condition of the marriage, and when Cheng I died six years later, she took control of the entire fleet. She kept order by enforcing a strict pirate code, and though the Qing dynasty officials, Portuguese Navy, and the East India Company all tried to defeat the fleet, she ruled the waves, only ending her piratical activities when she was offered amnesty from the Chinese government. She lived until she was 69, and she’s the inspiration behind Mistress Ching, one of the Pirate Lords in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

Yu Shu Lien and Jen Yu

These two are completely fictional, but as far as pop culture goes, these women warriors cannot be left out. In the film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, Jen Yu (played by Zhang Ziyi) is a teenager and an amazing martial artist who has been secretly trained by the villainous Jade Fox, under the nose of Jen’s father, the governor. Yu Shu Lien (played by Michelle Yoeh) owns and runs a private security company; she’s close friends with Li Mu Bai, and she agrees to go with him to take his sword, the Green Destiny, as a gift to a benefactor. When the Green Destiny is stolen, they track it to Governor Yu’s mansion. Eventually, Jen Yu is discovered as the thief, but her youth and talent make both Li Mu Bai and Yu Shu Lien sympathetic to her, even after they realize she’s been taught by Li Mu Bai’s enemy, Jade Fox. Later in the film, Yu Shu Lien tries to teach Jen Yu a lesson, and the two have one of the best choreographed multi-weapon epic martial arts movie fights in the history of martial arts movies.

Aero

Another fictional Chinese hero is Aero, Marvel’s manhua series star. When she’s not being a superhero, Lei Ling is an architect in Beijing. When the monsters start coming, however, she takes to the sky as Aero, the protector of her city. Using powers of manipulating winds and air currents, she struggles with the destruction caused by supervillains, because her passion is for building and creating, not for seeing things torn down. The character was first introduced in the Agents of Atlas comic, but she started starring in her own ongoing comic series in 2019. It’s too much to hope that we’ll get a hint of her in the MCU’s upcoming Shang Chi, but the ongoing series, written by Zhou Liefen with stories by Alyssa Wong and Greg Pak, and art by Keng and Pop Mhan, is definitely worth picking up.

Honorable Mention: Cassandra Cain

I didn’t know this when I watched Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), but Cassandra Cain—the thief kid who swallows the film’s macguffin—has a long and awesome history in DC comics. She’s a first generation Chinese American; her mother, Lady Shiva, is a dangerous assassin who fled from her village, and her father, David Cain, is one of Ra’s al Ghul’s henchmen. It’s not a love match—he blackmails her into having his child, and then he raises Cassandra to be the perfect assassin and bodyguard. But when she was just eight years old, her empathy made her reject a path of killing, and she ends up in Gotham, where she saves Commissioner Gordon’s life and becomes Batgirl. In fact, Cassandra Cain was the first Batgirl to have her own standalone series run (in 2000). Eventually, after a series of twists and turns, she takes a gig working as one of the global team of Batmen as the Black Bat, where she fights crime in Hong Kong. It’s hard to imagine the Birds of Prey version matching up, but I’d love to see that character in more DC movies!

Mulan premieres on Disney+ on September 4th. Find out how and when you can access it here.

The post Mulan And The Chinese Women Warriors of History and Legend appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[wylan--van-sunshine]

KAINORA FANFICTION

Soooo I finished all kainora fics so I will just write one myself.

Ps. They are both 22 in my fic.

It was a sunny day at Air Temple Island. Tenzin had gone to a meeting in Republic City and left Jinora in charge. She was thrilled because 1. She loved to teach Air Nomad culture and 2. Her boyfriend was coming tomorrow and she would have the day off... At least that was her expectation before she saw him flying with his bison, Lefty. She quickly came as they landed and hugged him. "I missed you! How are you back so early? Not complaining tho." Said Jinora. "Well, I may have lied to you so that I can surprise you.. And don't worry I have the day off and I made arrangements so you do too!" Jinora was surprised as she didn't think Kai could be like this and she liked it. She was loss at words. So she just kissed him. It was a long waited kiss as his trip was for a month. When she let go to breathe, it was his turn to be fascinated. Even tho they were together for 6 years, Kai still blushed furiously when she kissed him. " wow, I love you Jin" "I love you too, and I also love the way you blush eeevery time I kiss you. " Jinora said as she burst into laughter. Kai tried to be sad but gave in after 0.4 seconds. You just can't be mad at Jin, he thought. They hold hands as they went inside, where everyone greeted Kai and Jinora learned that she had a day off because Kai asked Ikki to teach instead of her. After the greeting, they went to their secret place since they were kids, a hill down the mountains near Republic City. They talked about Kai's trip to the Fire Nation and when he has to go back. Then, they started to talk about the future.

Kai?

Yes sweetie?

I was thinking, and I want to give you an offer about something.

Of course, what is it?

Well I completed my training years ago so my dad said I can travel anywhere I want, even tho it was hard to convince, so I was thinking if I could come along with you to the Fire nation.

Kai had the biggest smile on his face. Of course! I was actually thinking about asking you to come but thought you would want to stay here to teach the air acyoltes.

Well then we leave together on friday!

She happily kissed him, which was meant to be just a peck but turned to be a full-on makeout. She wrapped her arms around her neck, one stroking his hair as Kai continued to cup her face and his tounge asked permission to barge in. She happily allowed and got on top of his lap." Oh spirits Jins, I love you so much" said Kai as he proceeded to kiss her neck. "I love you too.. Kai " They made-out until the sky turned pink. That is when they realized it was time to hit the road for Air Temple Island.

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*3 days later*

They were finally in the fire nation city, Yu Dao. And Jinora couldn't be more excited. Kai on the other hand had already started to feel jealousy through his veins as fire nation boys stared at HIS girlfriend and he wished staring could be a logical reason to beat them up. Because that was HIS Jinora, not their eye candy. As they were talking about the air nation finally being over 50 airbenders, a one heck of a handsome boy walked over to them. Well, not them, he mostly focused on Jinora. He introduced himself.

Hi, my name is Chan, and I couldn't take my eyes away from you.

Umm.. thanks I guess? My name is Jinora and this is Kai, my boyfriend.

Boyfriend huh? Well the title is going to stay, but the name will change soon enough, mark my words. Said chad with a smirk and a wink.

Jinora was mad, but Kai.. oh he was furious. He quickly intrupted his flirting and said:

Well yeah of course it will change, but not my name,but don't worry, her surname will change eventually.

Chan was shook. He couldn't get a word out so he just left. Of course Jinora was surprised too but she just kissed him. After the 'incident' as Kai liked to call it, they went to their house and went to the shower together where they relaxed and then went to bed. But Jinora couldn't get her mind out of one topic, so she asked Kai before he began to sleep.

Kai, I have a question.

Yeah Jin?

Well I know it is kind of silly but did you mean what you said?

About what?

About us being.. you know, married in the future. You said that I would take your surname. Said Jinora blushing.

Yes I was serious I mean do you want it to be serious I just- I need to calm down. Look Jin I love you so much and if you want to, I would love to get married in the future. Not right now, because Tenzin would kill me if I did. Said Kai as he chuckled.

Well, we do have a lot of time as we will be together forever.

Suuper cheesy Jin but I couldn't agree more.

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I DON'T KNOW WHY I LOVE JEALOUS KAI SO MUCH I DON'T KNOW.