#elegant white cat x brown dog

[chr0n1c-ag0ny]

Sigzai:

[grrlsoft]

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ constellations : eddie munson

summary : summer nights in hawkins are never boring when you have your boyfriend eddie by your side.

pairing : Eddie Munson x gn!reader

author's note : aaand more eddie fluff because i cant stop myself. i love this boy and wanted to write something summer-y for him (since it's summer now where i live lol)

warnings : none! just tooth-rotting fluff ;-D

it's a hot summer evening. Hawkins seems to be asleep, save for the occasional barking of dogs enclosed in people's yards and the loud chitter of cicadas. the scent of laundry floats through the air, a sweet and homey smell, and the sky is deep and black and littered with tiny stars. 

you rest on a grassy knoll, spread out on the wide patch of green as your boyfriend, Eddie, lies next to you. the two of you had been in his trailer before this, but you insisted that you wanted to go somewhere to waste the long hours of the night away. with tired reluctance, he agreed. as long as he got to pick the music for the drive there (wherever "there" turned out to be, anyway).

you clutch the grass between your hands, closing and opening your palms over and over again. the ground is cool against your back, providing a welcoming refuge from the sweltering night air. you draw in a long breath, inhaling the smell of nature and laundry detergent and Eddie. the moon rests like a white, elegant crystal ball in the sky, casting pale, shimmering rays of light onto your figure. you smile at her and she smiles back.

"this is boring," Eddie's raspy voice cuts through the summer silence like a knife, "can we go home?" 

you sigh at his impatience. "we've only been here for like, half an hour," you reply, "besides, I like being out in nature." 

"my trailer not good enough for you?" Eddie scoffs, and you lightly shove his arm, causing him to roll away from you. you laugh as he tumbles in the long grass. 

"do that again and I'll roll straight down the hill," he says, his wide brown eyes staring at your darkened silhouette. you nudge him further with your shoe and he makes a small, dejected noise. 

"I dare you," you grin. 

you giggle as he scoots back up to lie beside you once again. you look at the sky but he looks at you. 

"I'm glad we don't live in a big city," you say suddenly, "otherwise we wouldn't be able to see any stars." 

Eddie hums, his hands itching to hold you. his eyes can't stay focused on the sky for very long until they're gravitating back towards your figure.

"can you see any constellations?" he whispers into your ear, desperately trying to make an effort to concentrate on something that isn't you. you shake your head. 

"no. I wouldn't be able to tell even if there are any," you murmur back. he sighs disappointedly. 

there's a long silence between the two of you. a slight breeze tousles your hair and you tilt your head as you stare out into space. the grass tickles the bare skin of your arms.

"we could make our own," you suggest. Eddie raises his brows, considering the idea. 

"I like the sound of that," he nods. "where do we start?" 

he gazes at you as your wide eyes look across the expanse of the midnight sky. he can see you connecting all the little dots in your head. he likes the way that the stars reflect in your dark pupils, like little mirrors.

"well, how about these ones," your arm moves upward to point out at the sky, "those little blobs there." 

Eddie follows your finger and squints. “where?”

You point again, more aggressively this time, “there.”

“not seeing anything,” Eddie shakes his head with a frown. you sigh loudly.

"then humor me for a second," you reply. “I think it looks like a cat.”

Eddie says nothing and then shrugs. “okay. cat. sure.”

you narrow your eyes. "she needs a name, let’s-" 

"Eddie junior." 

you look over at the brown haired boy and he meets your gaze. you raise a brow skeptically. 

"seriously?" the corners of your mouth can't help but turn up at his playfulness. 

"it's a good name!" Eddie exclaims, and you laugh. you redirect your attention to the stars. Eddie does too, eventually.

"ooh, you see that like, big squiggle?" Eddie's excited voice interrupts your searching. you follow his hand as he traces a line of stars with his pointer finger. you nod. 

"looks like a dragon," Eddie states. you tilt your head to look at it more, and you find yourself agreeing. 

"mhm, I can see it's eyes, I think," you say thoughtfully, "it's got big wings, too." 

"I'd like to be a dragon," Eddie admits. you turn your gaze over to him. he looks dreamily towards the sky.

"yeah?" you reply. he nods surely, brown eyes still focused on the stars that sit above your heads. 

"yeah. I'd like, live in a castle and shit, and guard a big pile of gold and jewels, y'know?" he grins into the night. "oh, and I'd eat anyone who'd come to take any of my treasure." 

"sweet," you chuckle, "sounds perfect for you." 

"it’s my dream job, actually," he jokes, and you laugh. you sigh happily and look upwards once again. 

you're quiet for a while. you look out and search and search for shapes in the dark, tracing the little specks of light with your gaze. 

eventually, you find one that you like. 

"over there," you break the cool silence, "looks like a unicorn." 

Eddie moves to follow your gaze. he narrows his eyes and nods his head slightly. 

"oh yeah," his quiet voice tickles your cheek, "it's got a long ass horn. and funny hooves." 

you chuckle. "she's trying her best, Eddie." 

you look at your starry unicorn and you can swear that she’s looking back at you. you smile in the dark.

"she ain't got no wings, though," Eddie quips suddenly, causing you to roll your eyes. 

you lean further against him, not caring about how hot you'll eventually become. "don’t bully her. maybe she and the dragon are friends. he’ll eat you." 

Eddie tilts his head to stare at you. you do the same. 

"you kind of remind me of a unicorn, you know." 

you blink, smiling. "really?" 

he nods, reaching up to push a strand of hair away from your face. his touch is callous and rough. "mhm. all mystical and pretty and shit. like something out of a fairytale."

you hum wistfully. "I'd like to be a unicorn." 

"oh, and I mean that huuuge horn of yours is pretty noticeable too," he jests and you swat his hand away as he pokes your forehead harshly. a deep laugh rumbles from his throat and it sends shivers down your spine. 

before you know it, he's climbing on top of you and pushing you back into the grass, kissing you sweetly, fervently. you loop your arms around his neck and lean your forehead against his own. you feel his fingers weasel their way under your tank top, caressing your bare skin. he moves his attention to your neck and places a few delicate kisses to the soft skin there, biting you occasionally. you hug him tightly and bury your face into his curly hair. you inhale the familiar scent of him and run your own hands up and down his back. 

"Eddie," you breathe out his name gently, feeling hot and needy, "Eddie, I love you." 

Eddie moves and hovers over you. his dark eyes stare into your own. he smiles at your flushed face and how softly you gaze at him. 

"I love you too, sweetheart," he replies, his voice filled with admiration. your heart flutters at the nickname he uses for you. "my sweet, sweet unicorn darling."

a laugh bubbles from your throat, and Eddie truly does believe that you are from a fairytale.

[wondersofdreaming]

Third time’s the charm

Characters: Henry Cavill x 3rd person female reader (the reader in this story has been described as someone with long brown hair, hazel eyes and not very tall)

Word count: 1.705

Warnings: Fluff. Insecurity. Doubt. Chasing. Jumping. 

Author’s note: Thank you @radaofrivia​ for your guidance and your help <3

Go read her stories right here: Rada’s masterlist

Sentences in square brackets are Kal’s thoughts. Sentences in italics are Henry’s thoughts.

I do not own any characters in this short story, except the reader who is a figment of my imagination.

MASTERLIST

Feedback is appreciated.

It was a lovely day. The sun was shining brightly in the clear blue sky. Not a cloud present. The birds were chirping in the trees, and people were chatting away around him.

His hulking size of a fluffball dog was trotting happily beside him. Kal’s long tongue was sticking out between his sharp fangs, panting and drooling all over the uneven pathway.

He watched as a couple walked past him. They were smiling, and the woman was laughing at a joke her boyfriend had just cracked. It made him long for a special someone in his life he could crack jokes to, a someone who would laugh at his sense of humour, someone with a genuine laugh.

Henry filled his nostrils with the fresh air. He felt the vibrations of children's laughter through the ground. His heart was yearning to hear the giggles of his own flesh and blood, and it clouded his already saddened mind.

He hadn’t noticed that Kal had been sniffing the ground. His ears perked with interest as his nose found a scent that made his mouth water. Kal galloped across the park without warning, making Henry lose his grasp on the leash.

[Something smells yummy!]

“Kal!” Henry yelled at the black and white dog, but it was too late. Kal was already out of sight, following his nose to whatever had caught his attention. Henry wandered around the park. His heart was beating so fast it felt as if it would jump out of his chest. A million scenarios ran through his mind: What if something happened to Kal? What if someone dog-napped Kal? What if Kal hurt someone?

Henry searched all over the park but to no avail until he heard a loud scream coming from behind a group of trees. Shit!

The run towards where the scream came from felt as if it took forever. Time was standing still as he neared the trees. He first noticed the bushy tail, then the rest of Kal’s body, standing atop a woman who was loving up all the licks Kal was giving her. She managed to push the large dog off her body, while her delicate hands were giving him scritches all over his fluffy fur coat.

“You’re such a good boy,” he heard her sweet silvery voice say, then a bark came from his wayward dog.

[Yes, Kal is a good booooy… oh yeah, right there. More scritches!]

Henry let out a breath he hadn’t known he had been holding in since Kal went missing. Thank god!

“Kal!” Henry yelled over the sound of giggles coming from the woman. He started walking towards them but stopped in his tracks like a deer in headlights when the woman looked up. Her hazel eyes shone with excitement, and the grin on her perfectly succulent lips made his heart skip a beat. Henry felt like he had been struck by lightning, suddenly unable to move as he watched the dark-haired angel stand. She dusted off the dirt from her jeans and walked towards him. She seemed unharmed even after having been hammered by Kal, who probably weighed more than she did.

“You must be this dog’s owner. He really scared me, when he suddenly jumped on my back,” she giggled a melodious sound.

Henry’s brain finally started working again, the gears turning behind his eyes as he was processing what she had just told him. Kal; his sweet mild-tempered fluffball, who wouldn’t hurt a fly; had jumped on this woman’s back, and yet she was still smiling and loving up the bear without being afraid. It didn’t seem she knew who he was, as he didn’t see the recognition sparkle in her eyes.

“I am so sorry that he jumped on your back, he normally doesn’t do that, I don’t know what came over him,” Henry knew he was babbling, he knew he needed to shut his mouth, but the words kept vomiting out between his lips.

“It’s okay. I wasn’t that scared. Besides, he is such a sweet dog, I don’t mind being jumbled,” she looked into his eyes, and his heart did a somersault as she smiled again.

“Be a good boy for your owner, Kal,” she told the bear, and then she was gone.

Henry was standing cemented to the place. He didn’t know what had just happened. Kal barked at him, his tongue dangling from between his lips; he was smiling.

“Well Kal, you sure do have great taste in women, but you should stick to the four-legged kind,” Henry reprimanded him softly. Kal wasn’t happy. There was a reason why he had gone rogue and run away from Henry. So, before Henry could pick up the leash, Kal darted through the bushes to find the mystery woman. Not again!

[But I didn’t get to know what smelled so good!]

Henry, having gotten out of his trance, followed his dog once again. Why was his dog so keen on pursuing that woman? It was starting to annoy him. Panic was beginning to make itself comfortable in his brain, what if the woman had something that would make Kal follow her on purpose? What if she was pretending not to know him, so she could steal his dog and ask for an insane ransom?

He rounded a corner just in time to see Kal jump on the brown-haired beauty, again.

“Oh, it’s you again, Kal,” she said with amusement hinting in her voice. Kal barked and went to sniff her jacket, burying his snout deep in her right pocket. He came back out with a bag of peanut butter cookies between his teeth.

[TREATS!]

“Kal! Stop! You pig, what are you doing?” Henry raised his voice sternly at his furry friend. He grabbed Kal’s collar and pulled him away from the lady, making Kal drop the bag of biscuits to the ground. Kal lunged forward, which made Henry think he was going to jump the woman again, so he moved between Kal and the lady, and gave his companion a hard stare, as to say not happening, pal.

“So that is what you were after all along,” she said and picked up the bag.

“I am so sorry, miss, are you alright?” Henry asked while jogging towards the two. She gave him an amused smile.

“I’m fine. He didn’t scare me as much this time. Apparently, he just wants some doggie biscuits. May I give him some? They’re homemade and don't contain anything that could harm a dog.”

“Oh, yes, of course, but he shouldn’t be rewarded for leaping on other people. I swear, he has been trained not to do that,” Henry was rambling again. He was spewing out nonsense while the gorgeous woman was telling Kal to sit before she rewarded him for listening. She even asked him to give her paw, which Kal did immediately, a rare thing as he only wants to listen when he’s in the mood, kind of like a cat. She is way too nice to want to abduct Kal.

“Good boy, Kal.”

[Miss with the treats is super nice. Hey human, can we take her home with us?]

“You said those were homemade, did you make them?” Henry asked.

“Oh, yes. I have a dog myself who is a picky eater. I’ve tried all kinds of doggie treats, but she would spit them out. I had no choice but to experiment on how to make dog biscuits,” the woman told him while she gestured for Kal to lie down, which he obeyed instantly.

“And does she like the homemade treats?”

“She gobbles them down like I didn’t feed her for a week. She’s becoming quite the diva.”

They talked a bit more about her dog, who was a rescue labradoodle, and about how it had changed her look on store-bought dog treats. It was healthier to make them yourselves, and people in her neighbourhood, who had dogs, had been asking if she would sell the biscuits to them. She had then started her own one-man company, making dog treats, and her most popular item was the peanut butter cookies. They were shaped like the femur bone, which was the most popular form for dog treats.

“I’m Henry by the way, may I ask what your name is?” Henry asked her carefully. She smiled brightly at him, and it chased all the dark thoughts he had earlier away from his mind. She told him her name, which was elegant and so fitting a person like her. He had been expecting the penny to drop when he mentioned his name, but she was oblivious as to who he was, which in turn made his heart leap with joy inside behind his chest.

She looked at her wristwatch and gasped.

[Oh boy…]

“Crap, I have to pick up my dog soon. It was nice talking to you, and please don’t let this beautiful boy out of your sight,” a chuckled left her lips as she walked away once again.

Kal licked his mouth for the crumbs that might have gotten stuck on the fur around his snout. He then looked up at Henry with an annoyed look.

“What?” Henry asked with a sigh. Kal tilted his head to the right. “I can’t just jump on her like you do and then ask for her phone number, that would just scare her away.”

Kal looked towards the woman, who was getting further and further away from them. He then let out a bark, and with a waggle of his puffy tail, he demanded that Henry make a choice before it was too late.

[You’re blowing it, human!]

Henry sighed and crouched down. 

“What should I do?” he asked the bear-like dog. Kal tilted his head to the side, looking at Henry as if he was crazy.

[Marry her! I want more treats!]

“You like her as well, don’t you, bear?”

Kal stood and bumped his head to Henry’s back, as to tell him to start moving, which made the human mountain chuckle, getting the hint from his dog. He released Kal from the leash and whispered: “Go get her.”

Kal licked his master’s face and darted towards the woman with the gorgeous brown curls.

[casxmorgan]

Books Books Books

100 Years of Solitude

11.22.63

120 Days of Sodom

1491

1984

A Brief History of Time

A Canticle for Leibowitz

A Child Called It

A Clockwork Orange

A Confederacy of Dunces

A History of the World in Ten and a Half Chapters

A Land Fit for Heroes Trilogy

A Little Life

A Naked Singularity

A People's History of the United States

A Scanner Darkly

A Series of Unfortunate Events

A Short History of Nearly Everything

A Song of Ice and Fire

A Storm of Swords

A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments

A Thousand Splendid Suns

A Walk in the Woods

A World Lit Only by Fire

Accursed Kings

Alice in Wonderland

All Quiet on the Western Front

All the Light We Cannot See

All the Pretty Horses

America, the Book

American Gods

American Psycho

And then There Were None

Angela’s Ashes

Animal Farm

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

Anna Karenina

Anything Terry Pratchett, But, Mort is My Favorite

Anything Written by Robin Hobb

Apt Pupil

Artemis Fowl

Asimov's Guide to the Bible

Asoiaf

Atlas Shrugged

Bartimeaus

Batman: the Long Halloween

Battle Royale

Beat the Turtle Drum

Behind the Beautiful Forevers

Belgariad Series

Beloved

Berserk

Bestiario

Black Company

Blankets/habibi

Blind Faith

Blindness

Blood Meridian

Blood and Guts: a History of Surgery

Bluest Eye

Brandon Sanderson

Brave New World

Breakfast of Champions

Bridge to Terabithia

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: an Indian History of the American West

Calvin and Hobbs

Candide

Carrie

Cat's Cradle

Catch 22

Cats Cradle

Chaos

Child of God

Choke

Chuck Palahniuk

City of Ember

City of Thieves

Cloud

Collapse

Come Closer

Complaint

Confessions of a Mask

Contact

Conversation in the Cathedral

Cosmos

Crime and Punishment

Dan Brown

David

Dead Birds Singing

Dead Mountain: the Untold True Story of the Dyatlov Pass Incident

Delta Venus

Die Räuber (the Robbers)

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

Don Quixote

Dragonlance

Dune

Dying of the Light

East of Eden

Educated

Empire of Sin: a Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans

Enders Game

Enders Shadow

Escape from Camp 14

Ever Since Darwin

Every Man Dies Alone

Everybody Poops

Everything is Illuminated

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Fahrenheit 451

Far from the Madding Crowd

Faust

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S Thompson

Feet of Clay

Fight Club

First Law

Flowers for Algernon

Flowers in the Attic

Foundation

Foundation Series

Foundation Trilogy

Frankenstein

Freakonomics

Fun Home

Galapagos

Geek Love

Gerald’s Game

Ghost Story

Go Ask Alice

Go Dog Go

Godel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid

Goldfinch

Gone Girl

Gone with the Wind

Good Omens

Grapes of Wrath

Great Expectations

Greg Egan

Guards! Guards!

Guns Germs and Steel

Guts (short Story)

Half a World

Ham on Rye

Hannibal Rising

Hard Boiled Wonderland

Hatchet

Haunted

Hawaii

Heart Shaped Box

Heart of Darkness

Hellbound Heart

Hellraiser

Hell’s Angels

Helter Skelter

His Dark Materials

Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

Hogg

Holocaust by Bullets

House of Leaves

How to Cook for Fourty Humans

How to Win Friends and Influence People

Huckleberry Finn

Hyperion

I Am America, and So Can You

I Am the Messenger

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

I Was Dr. Mengele’s Assistant

In Cold Blood

In Search of Our Mother's Gardens

Independent People

Infinite Jest

Into Thin Air

Into the Wild

Introduction to Linear Algebra

Invisible Monsters

Ishmael

It

Jacques Le Fataliste

Jane Eyre

Jaunt

Job: a Comedy of Justice

John Dies at the End

John Grisham

Johnathan Livingston Seagull

Johnny Got His Gun

Jon Ronson

Journal of a Novel

Jurassic Park

Justine

L'histoire D'o

Lamb

Last Exit to Brooklyn

Les Miserables

Lies My Teacher Told Me

Life of Pi

Limits and Renewals

Little House in the Big Woods

Lockwood & Co.

Lolita

Looking for Trouble

Lord Foul’s Bane

Lord of the Flies

Lyddie

Malazan Book of the Fallen

Maldoror

Manufacturing Consent: the Political Economy of the Mass Media

Man’s Search for Meaning

Mark Twain’s Autobiography

Maus

Meditations

Megamorphs (series)

Mein Kampf

Memnooch the Devil

Metro 2033

Michael Crichton

Middlesex

Mindhunter

Misery

Mistborn

Moby Dick

Mrs. Dalloway

My Side of the Mountain

My Sweet Audrina

Nacht über Der Prärie (night over the Prairie)

Naked Lunch

Name of the Wind

Neuromancer

Never Let Me Go

Neverwhere

New York

Next

Night

Night Shift

Norwegian Wood

Notes from Underground

Nothing to Envy: Real Lives in North Korea

Of Mice and Men

Of Nightingales That Weep

Ohio

Old Mans War

Old Mother West Wind

On Heroes and Tombs

On Laughter and Forgetting

On the Road

One Flew over the Cuckoos Nest

One Hundred Years of Solitude

One of Us

Painted Bird

Patrick Rothfuss

Perfume: the Story of a Murderer

Persepolis

Pet Sematary

Peter Pan

Pillars of the Earth

Poisonwood Bible

Pride and Predjudice

Ready Player One

Rebecca

Red Mars

Red Night (series)

Red Shirts

Red Storm Rising

Redwall

Replay

Requiem for a Dream

Revenge

Riftwar Saga

Ringworld

Roald Dahl

Rolls of Thunder, Hear My Cry

Round Ireland with a Fridge

Running with Scissors

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

Sapiens, a Brief History of Humankind

Scary Stories to Read in the Dark

Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark

Schindler’s List

Sein Und Zeit

Shades of Grey

Sharp Objects

Shattered Dreams

Sherlock Holmes

Sho-gun

Siddhartha

Sisypho

Skin and Other Stories

Slaughterhouse Five

Smoke & Mirrors

Snow Crash

Soldier Son

Sometimes a Great Notion

Sphere

Starship Troopers

Stiff, the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Storied Life of A.j. Fikry

Stormlight Archives

Story of the Eye

Stranger in a Strange Land

Surely, You're Joking

Survivor Type (short Story)

Suttree

Swan Song

Tale of Two Cities

Tales of the South Pacific

The Alchemist

The Altered Carbon Trilogy

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The Art of Deception

The Art of Fielding

The Art of War

The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation

The Autobiography of Henry Viii

The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The Beach

The Bell Jar

The Bible

The Bloody Chamber

The Book Thief

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

The Brothers Karamazov

The Call of Cthulu and Other Weird Stories

The Cask of Amontillado (short Story)

The Catcher in the Rye

The Chronicles of Narnia

The Clown

The Color out of Space

The Communist Manifesto

The Complete Fiction of H.p. Lovecraft

The Count of Monte Cristo

The Curious Case of the Dog in the Night Time

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime

The Dagger and the Coin

The Damage Done

The Dark Tower

The Declaration of Independence, the Us Constitution, and the Bill of Rights

The Devil in the White City

The Dharma Bums

The Diamond Age

The Dice Man

The Discworld Series

The Dresden Files

The Elegant Universe

The First Law Trilogy

The Forever War

The Foundation Trilogy

The Gentleman Bastard Sequence

The Geography of Nowhere

The Girl Next Door

The Girl on the Milk Carton

The Giver

The Giving Tree

The God of Small Things

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Gatsby

The Great Gilly Hopkins

The Hagakure

The Half a World Trilogy

The Handmaid’s Tale

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter

The Hiding Place

The History of Love

The Hobbit

The Hot Zone

The Hunchback of Notre Dame

The Hyperion Cantos

The Jaunt

The Jungle

The Key to Midnight

The Killing Star

The Kingkiller Chronicles

The Kite Runner

The Last Question (short Story)

The Lies of Lock Lamora

The Little Prince

The Long Walk

The Lord of the Rings

The Lottery (short Story)

The Lovely Bones

The Magicians

The Magus

The Martian

The Master and Margarita

The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect

The Monster at the End of This Book

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

The Music of Eric Zahn (short Story)

The Name of the Wind & the Wise Man's Fear

The Necronomicon

The New Age of Adventure: Ten Years of Great Writing

The Night Circus

The Nightmare Box

The Odyssey

The Omnivore's Dilemma

The Orphan Master’s Son

The Outsiders

The Painted Bird

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Phantom Tollbooth

The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Pit and the Pendulum

The Plague

The Prince

The Prince of Tides

The Princess Bride

The Prophet

The Queen’s Gambit

The Rape of Nanking

The Red Dwarf

The Republic

The Rifter Saga

The Road

The Satanic Verses

The Screwtape Letters

The Secret History

The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

The Selfish Gene

The Shining

The Shrine of Jeffrey Dahmer

The Silmarillion

The Sirens of Titan

The Six Wives of Henry the 8th

The Solitude of Prime Numbers

The Speaker of the Dead

The Stars My Destination

The Stormlight Archive

The Story of My Tits

The Stranger

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck

The Suspicions of Mr. Witcher

The Tao of Pooh

The Things They Carried

The Time Machine

The Time Traveller’s Wife

The Tin Drum

The Unbearable Lightness of Being

The Unthinkable Thoughts of Jacob Green

The Wasp Factory

The Wind Up Bird Chronicle

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle

The World According to Garp

The Yellow Wallpaper

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Things Fall Apart

Thirsty

This Blinding Absence of Light

Tiger!

Time Enough for Love

To Kill a Mockingbird

To Say Nothing of the Dog

Toni Morrison

Too Many Magicians

Traumnovelle

Tuesdays with Morrie

Tuf Voyaging

Undeniable

Under Plum Lake

Universe in a Nutshell

Unwind

Uzumaki

Various

Village Life in Late Tsarist Russia

Walden

War & Peace

War and Peace

Warriors: Bluestar’s Prophecy

Watchers

Water for Elephants

Watership Down

We Have Always Lived in the Castle

We Need to Talk About Kevin

Wheel of Time

When Rabbit Howls

Where the Red Fern Grows

Where the Sidewalk Ends

Why I Am Not a Christian

Why People Believe Weird Things

Wizards First Rule

Wool

World War Z

Worm

Wuthering Heights

You Can Choose to Be Happy

Zen & the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

[drivingsideways]

Seo-ryeong and Tae-eul, allies

She sees her shoes before she sees the rest of her.

Correction: she sees her feet, before she sees the rest of her- the tension of the high arch radiating up to the calves revealed by the thigh high slit of her indigo skirt, as she climbs the stairs ahead of Tae-eul. It's a quick, confident gait: the stilettoes not wavering a centimeter. Tae-eul, slowing down, feels her back tense in sympathetic reaction.

She pauses at the door, hand raised to knock, when she realizes that she's not alone, and turns.

Tae-eul has already realized who it is, so she's able reply with composure.

"Madam Prime Minister, what a surprise."

The stairs give Koo Seo-Ryeong even more of an advantage; she looms, larger than life, than reality itself on Tae-eul's doorstep, her expression guarded.

"Detective Jeong," says Koo Seo-Ryeong coolly. "I'm glad to find you at home."

A pause, an upward curl of lip.

"Your real home."

"I'm sorry it's not fit to greet Your Excellency," Tae-eul says, mildly, as she reaches the landing. Koo Seo Ryeong doesn't step back, so she has to awkwardly move in the small space between the door and the giraffe behind her to unlock her door. Perhaps it was something in the water in Corea, she reflects, but they really did seem to produce people who couldn't resist being unnecessarily dramatic.

Koo Seo-Ryeong waits until the lights are switched on before she ducks her head to step over the threshold. She looks around, taking everything in- there's not much, Tae-eul admits, but it still feels like exposing her underbelly to a predator. But Jeong Tae-eul isn't a fool; she knows which battles to pick.

As does Prime Minister Koo, she thinks, watching her face as her gaze lights on the wall with the photographs. Without a word, she makes her way to it; saunters, really, like a giant, sleek cat strolling the savannah. The tension from the stairs is gone, replaced by indolence; which one is the act, Jeong Tae-eul wouldn't place bets on.

"Would you like something to drink?" Tae-eul says, after a minute.

"Hmm?"

Koo Seo-Ryeong tilts her head, showing off her lovely profile, her porcelain-cheek finely contoured, the elegant line of her neck. Her hair is coiled in a loose bun settled at her nape, a delicate white- jade hairpin holding it in place. She looks like the queen she intends to be.

"No."

"Suit yourself," Tae-eul says, shrugging, as she walks to the counter and turns the coffee maker on. "Personally, I find that caffeine helps speed up my brain."

Koo Seo-Ryeong turns toward her then, a half-smile playing on her cherry red lips.

"What's the hurry," she drawls. "Do you have somewhere to be?"

A pause, then a long, fair hand lifted to cover her mouth, showing off perfectly manicured nails in that same blood-red as her shoes. "Oh, that's right, you must be waiting for His Majesty."

Oh for the love of—

"What do you need my help for?"

"Did I say that I needed your help?"

Tae-eul rolls her eyes, as the coffee-maker hisses behind her.

"Your Excellency," she says, trying to use her best traffic-cop-explaining-rules-to-eighty year old ahjumma-in-a sedan-voice, "I can't imagine anything less than an emergency has brought you to my door. So, let's get to it."

"Where's your mother?" Koo Seo-Ryeong asks.

Tae-eul blinks at her.

"Dead," she says, after a minute. "I was five, it was cancer, there was nothing we could do."

She thinks rapidly, trying to remember the factoids of Koo Seo-ryeong's life that she'd devoured during her brief time in Corea.

"Where's yours?" she asks, but she thinks she knows the answer.

"Lee Lim's got her," says Koo Seo-Ryeong, casually, as though reporting the weather, "Somewhere here, in this world."

"Are you sure?" Tae-eul asks, after a moment. "It's my understanding that he usually—that he doesn't leave any loose ends," she amends, at the last minute, because there's something in the rigid nonchalance of Koo Seo-Ryeong's face that tells her she's not ready to hear the words "dead" and "your mother" in the same sentence.

"Somewhere in this world," Koo Seo-Ryeong repeats, "I'm sure."

"And you want me to help you find her," Tae-eul prods.

Seo-Ryeong shrugs. "You're a detective aren't you- and you and that little hound dog that follows you around- you've been investigating Lee Lim for a while now, so—"

Tae-eul sends up a prayer of thanks that hyungnim isn't around to hear this.

"Why should I, though?" Tae-eul asks.

It's not that she hasn't already made up her mind- taking down the bad guy is the job description, hello, and that's the golden rule even if the person who benefits from the work is a snake—but Koo Seo-Ryeong is a mystery she'd never thought she'd get a chance to solve, and here she was, delivered to her doorstep.

Plus, this was work.

Koo Seo-Ryeong looks bored.

"Do I have to explain the advantages of taking down a common enemy? Are you really the child you look like?"

Tae-eul takes a sip of coffee to hide her grin- but not fast enough, because Koo Seo-Ryeong's expression changes into a storm cloud.

"I see," she says.

Then the expression smoothens out, like a magic wand has been waved.

It was fascinating.

Tae-eul wonders if she'd ever thought of a career as an actor, and then reflects that Koo Seo-Ryeong's makjang style was probably more suited to her current career.

"If those are the games you like," the Prime Minister of Corea is drawling, "I can guarantee that His Majesty is going to bore you to death in two weeks."

"I'll take my chances," says Tae-eul placidly, hopping onto the kitchen counter, and swinging her legs. "Alright, eonni- I can call you that, right? Since we'll be working together and all? Tell me everything you know."

"You may not call me eonni," says Her Excellency, from her throne at the center of Master Jeong's 2 x 4, "And I will tell you what you need to know."

"See," says Tae-eul, slurping her coffee loudly and enjoying the barely hidden wince from the woman opposite her, "That kind of thing isn't going to work. All or nothing, Your Excellency."

"The things that you don't know, and I do, could fill the library of Sungkyunkwan," declares Koo Seo-Ryeong.

A pause.

"I will answer any questions pertinent to the situation."

"Cool, cool," says Tae-eul, "I can live with that. What's your favourite dish, Your Excellency?"

A glare.

"Why is that relevant?"

"It’s relevant to our dinner plans. I can't think when I'm hungry."

A (glorious) sneer.

"Pathetic," says the woman who possibly secretly smoked two packs a day to remain that svelte and run a country.

Tae-eul shrugs, pulling her phone out. "Alright, fried beef dumplings it is, then. I take it you won't mind it spicy?"

They're poring over the files that Koo Seo-Ryeong had brought- intelligence reports, and her own notes from her meetings with Lee Lim, comparing them with the information that Tae-eul has so far on her side, when the doorbell rings.

"Oh yum, food," says Tae-eul springing up and scooting to the door.

It's Jo Yeong, looking like Doom, as usual.

"Oh, not food," she says, disappointed, and steps aside to let him make his dramatic entrance.

Seriously, Coreans.

But hyungnim's right behind him- or would be, if he wasn't leaning against the railing with a put-upon look on his face.

Behind her, she can hear the exchange of artillery fire as Captain Jo Yeong meets the bane of his life in Master Jeong's living room.

She closes the door behind her.

"So, what, you and that crazy woman are allies now?" Kang Sin-jae asks, as he thrusts a bag at her, from which the delicious smell of fried dumplings wafts up.

"Nope," she says, rooting around in the brown paper bag, because she knows a fried food aficionado when she sees one, and if she doesn't get to her share now, it was unlikely that Koo Seo-Ryeong would be considerate enough to leave her any. Besides, for a woman like Koo Seo-Ryeong, ally would rank higher that blood-brother or soulmate for other mortals, and Tae-eul hadn't earned it. Not yet. There was time, she thinks, for that.

"Nah," she says, again, over half a mouthful of crunchy goodness. "just two people working together. Shall we go in before there are bodies to bury?"

"What, again?" mutters hyungnim, but he opens the door for her, and follows her in.

[maluminspace]

Genre: Fluff

Pairings: Michael Clifford/Female Reader 

Prompt: Person A goes to in costume to a Halloween party, to find no one else is really dressed up except Person B

Word Count: 3k

Content: mostly just cute Halloween fluff, Michael in drag, there’s also a bit of side lashton, 

Trigger warnings: Alcohol, strong language, references to sexual activity including public sex (nothing too explicit)

A/N: Okay, so this is my second attempt at writing something for this collab. My first one turned out huge and not really very halloween-y so I re-assessed and this is what I came up with! I hope you guys like it <3

Please check out the masterlist and support/show some love to all these amazing writers.

*** 

When your best friend in the entire world, Luke, had first invited you to his new boyfriend’s Halloween party, you’d taken it as the perfect opportunity to blow off a little steam. Work had been busy lately and you hadn’t had much chance to relax. Furthermore, Luke had told you that Ashton (the new love of his life) had a couple of hot single friends, so you’d figured your costume should be on the sexy side.

You’d spent weeks deciding on the perfect outfit before finally settling on a black cat outfit that was just the right side of tasteful. The bodysuit was figure-hugging, showing off your curves perfectly. The elegant velvet ears and tail matched it well and you finished off the look with some cute whiskers painted on your cheeks and a red choker with a little gold bell on it.

Luke let out a low whistle when he met you outside the house he’d given you directions for. “I wish I could say the same for you!” You huffed, surveying your friend’s very lackluster costume, if you could even call it that. “Where’s the pirate costume I helped you pick out?”

A slightly guilty expression coloured Luke’s pretty face as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. “Well, I mentioned it to Ashton and he kinda hinted that he didn’t like tacky costumes so I went for this instead.” He shrugged awkwardly.

“And what exactly is this supposed to be?” You asked, gesturing to the plain white shirt and black jacket. “You just look like you’re about to go to work at the office, what the fuck, Luke?”

“Wait…” He said, his face brightening a bit as he pulled on a wig that you hadn’t even noticed he was holding. “I’m Vincent Vega!” He announced.

You rolled your eyes, fully disappointed in your best friend’s decision to side with his new squeeze over you. “I preferred the pirate costume, you’d have looked super hot.”

“I’m sorry to break it to you, buddy…” Luke giggled, “but you’re not the one I want to impress tonight.”

You clutched your chest in fake pain and shock. “And here I thought it was me that you wanted to fuck you senseless whilst a huge queue forms outside for the bathroom we claimed.”

An embarrassed blush rose in Luke’s cheeks as the memory of the specific situation you had described filled his tiny, horny brain. “We were drunk, and if he’d whispered in your ear with that sexy, gravelly voice to tell you how beautiful you looked in the new shirt he’d bought for you, you’d have begged him to drag you to the nearest bathroom, too.” He huffed as he started off up the driveway, his ridiculous wig almost falling off with the force of his dramatic head toss.

Suppressing a giggle, you followed your friend to the front door. “You’re forgetting one important detail there, Lukey.” You reminded him with a smirk. “I’m not as big of a slut as you.”

“That costume begs to differ.” Luke replied, raising an eyebrow proudly. “Calum is probably gonna pop a boner after just a glimpse of your ass in that tight suit.”

“And Calum is one of the hot ones?” You asked, remembering Luke’s declaration of Ashton’s stupidly handsome best friends. 

“Yeah, he’s the one with the cute dog and swanky apartment near the beach.” Luke explained as he opened the front door. “Michael’s probably a bit more your type, through. You have about the same mental capacity as each other.” He snorted.

Choosing to ignore the weak jibe at your own intelligence and that of the as yet unknown Michael, you focused on Luke’s lack of manners instead. “Shouldn’t we knock?” You asked. “It’s rude to just walk in to someone’s house, even if they do ‘rearrange your insides like no one has ever previously managed’.” You added, taking a great deal of joy in quoting Luke back to himself.

“Keep your fucking voice down!” Luke hissed. “I told you that in confidence!” He shook his head as though to clear it (probably from another X-rated memory) before he answered your question.

“Ashton told me we could come right in. So stop worrying about stupid stuff and get in here!” He laughed.

For the second time in the few moments since you’d met him outside, you rolled your eyes at your best friend, but this time the exasperated gesture was accompanied by a small laugh.

Your merriment soon died away when Luke led you into the main sitting room, which was already packed with people…people who were not in Halloween costumes. People who were very much giving off a sophisticated air as they sipped their wine and stood around talking to each other comfortably over the music that was playing at a much too sensible volume for a party.

In your peripheral vision you noticed Luke tear off his wig and hide in the oversized vase he was standing next to before any of the other guests saw him wearing it. Without that ridiculous little prop, Luke would probably blend right in. You, on the other hand, were going to stick out like a (very scantily clad) sore thumb.

“I thought this was meant to be a Halloween party, Luke.” You hissed, offering awkward smiles to the few people nearest to you, who were regarding you with ill-concealed smirks.

Your best friend gave an awkward laugh before ushering you towards the kitchen.

A few spiteful glances and giggles followed you as Luke pulled you through the crowd of people. 

Luckily the kitchen was pretty much deserted, with just three people huddled over by the microwave. You only recognised one of them. Having met Ashton a couple of times previous to this evening, you had no problem identifying his muscular form and the sweater/jeans combo outfit he favoured at the moment, even though you could only see the back of him. 

The second man had a very handsome profile. He was wearing a pair of black skinny jeans and a white shirt, with very few of the buttons done up as far as you could tell from this angle. He looked kind of athletic, with strong, muscular arms and thighs. His curly black hair was styled neatly to perfectly frame his face.

Ashton and Muscles were mostly obscuring the third person from your view. But you could tell by the tone of their voice that they were not at all happy about something. “- cannot expect me to stay here like this!” 

Unsurprisingly, Luke gravitated to the little knot of people, dragging you along with him until you finally got a glimpse of the irritated man leaning against the counter. 

Suddenly, your own embarrassment at your chosen costume vanished. In comparison to this guy, you definitely weren’t going to be the center of attention.

The third man was dressed in a long blonde wig, albeit a very cheap-looking one, styled into high pigtails. His cute, unshaven face was painted in badly-applied makeup. The tight white dress that he’d squeezed into left you with no doubt of who he was meant to be dressed as, and the realisation pulled a snort of laughter from you.

Luke failed also to suppress a giggle as he let go of your hand and instinctively curled into Ashton’s side, as though the slightly older man was some sort of magnet. “Wow, you sure as hell didn’t get the memo about the ‘adults drinking wine’ vibe either, huh?” 

The angry ‘Baby Spice’ glared at Luke with what you just knew were usually very pretty green eyes. “Don’t you start, lanky!” He huffed. “I’m already this close to ending your boyfriend.”

“Hey!” Ashton interjected, his voice calm and smooth in comparison to his friends’. “First of all, don’t talk to Luke that way or I’ll be the one ending you. Secondly, it wasn’t me that tricked you into dressing as a Spice Girl.” His last two words were accompanied with a snigger and it only made his angry friend’s face get redder.

“I swear I’ll rip your-” Baby Spice began before Muscles cut him off.

“Now, now, Michael.” Muscles smirked, “don’t you think that’s a bit too much.”

You were apparently the only one to pick up on the reference as your burst of laughter sounded much too loud in the otherwise quiet room.

For the first time Muscles’ and Baby Spices’ eyes snapped up to meet yours. Their reactions upon noticing you properly for the first time were at opposite ends of the scale. 

Muscles became instantly flirtatious, his brown eyes lighting up with a charming smile as he greeted you with a smooth. “Oh! Hi there, beautiful…”

Baby Spice on the other hand, looked as though all of his nightmares had come true. The fear and embarrassment on his face were unmistakable as you focused on him over his friend. “It looks like you’re in the market for a new best friend too, Baby Spice.” You smiled gently, hoping to ease his discomfort a little. “I’m looking for a replacement, too.”

There was something about the genuine look of surprise in his green eyes that really endeared this stranger to you. Now that you were standing closer to him, it was easier to see the handsome features that the untidy lipstick and foundation were covering. 

“Yeah…” Baby Spice laughed awkwardly, all of his anger vanishing as he tried to adopt a more casual stance. “My ex-best friend thought this would be funny.” He said, gesturing to his outfit, that up-close was much worse than you’d originally thought. His hairy chest, arms and legs protruding from the cheap costume dress made for a comical sight, but you fought back your amusement, intent on befriending this man so that both your night and his might take a turn for the better. “I’m guessing Luke pulled a similar prank on you, too?”

“Actually, he didn’t.” You explained, shaking your head. “Believe it or not, this is what passes for a Halloween costume in Luke’s tiny, dumb brain.”

Luke’s offended noise was lost beneath his replacement’s beautiful laugh as you stepped forward and offered Baby Spice your hand to shake as you told him your name.

He took it, still smiling bright enough to make his emerald eyes sparkle. “I’m Michael.” He confirmed. “And I’d be more than happy to be your new best friend.”

***

In the following couple of hours you made two amazing discoveries;

Alcohol consumption was the best cure for embarrassment.

Michael was fairly close to being your actual ideal man.

Despite the fact that he was obviously gullible, most of Michael’s other qualities were very much to your liking. In the short time that you’d known him, Michael had proven himself to be kind, funny and incredibly easy to talk to. What’s more, as the night went on and more and more of his makeup wore off, you’d found out he was even more handsome than you’d originally thought he was.

“So did you mean what you said to Calum just now?” Michael asked, suddenly looking a little nervous as he dropped his gaze to the bottle of beer in his hand. “About not being interested in him, I mean.”

A couple of times, Calum had wandered over to the corner of the kitchen that you and Michael had claimed as your own, trying to flirt with you. On each occasion, you’d made it perfectly clear that you’d formed an alliance with Michael and that sneaky ex-best friends were not permitted to flirt with you under any circumstances.

If you were reading the signals right, Michael was a little jealous of his friend. That was understandable; Calum was conventionally good looking and was as charming as they come. On a normal night, you’d have been more than a little tempted to see if his smooth moves translated into decent bedroom skills, but tonight your attention was completely focused on Michael.

“Yeah.” You shrugged. “He seems nice and all, besides screwing you over on the costume thing.” You giggled. “But he’s not really my type.”

Michael looked mildly confused. “I’ve never heard a girl say that before.” He admitted. “I thought he was just everyone’s type.”

“I can recognise that he’s hot, but I like my men a little softer and my number one turn on is someone who can make me laugh.” You replied honestly. 

A light blush rose in Michael’s cheeks as he apparently realised you’d been describing him. Judging by the shyness emanating from him, people admitting they were attracted to him didn’t happen all that often. You couldn’t understand why; he was absolutely beautiful.

“C’mon, Baby Spice.” You smirked, “Lets get another drink and then you can show me some of your best dance moves.” 

“Oh, I can’t really dance?” Michael confessed, his blush deepening a bit as he headed over to the counter where numerous bottles of alcohol were laid out.

“I find that very hard to believe!” You gasped in fake shock. “I mean it’s easy, isn’t it? You just slam it to the left, shake it to the right.... Y’know, go round…” You smirked.

Michael rolled his eyes. “You’re gonna have to stop right now with those Spice Girls lyrics, kitten.” 

The pet name made your insides dance excitedly. It could have easily sounded like a cheap, tacky term of endearment from anyone else but Michael’s cute mannerisms just made it sound adorable. “Yeah, okay.” You teased, nudging his arm playfully. “I don’t want you to have to say goodbye, my friend.” 

Michael let out a reluctant laugh as he surveyed the drink options. “I can tell you were a huge fan, I’m flattered.” He said, playing along easily.

“What’s with the past tense, Bunton?” You continued. “The Spice Girls are timeless.”

Michael nodded as he continued to stare at the bottles of alcohol as though he couldn’t decide which to go for.. “I agree, I always had a bit of crush on Posh…”

“That’s basic!” You reprimanded him. 

“Rude!”  Michael scoffed. “Who’s your favourite?” He asked, raising a hopeful eyebrow.

“I’ll tell you if you hurry up and decide what you want; I’ll be sober by the time you pour a drink at this rate!” You laughed.

Michael shook his head, smirking a little. “Don’t rush me kitten, I need to weigh up all of my options.”

“Oh, come on Michael!” You scolded when he still hadn’t made a decision a moment later. “Just tell me what you want, what you really, really want so we can continue getting trashed.”

“That was your worst one yet.” Michael sighed dramatically. “I may have to disown you after that one, kitten.”

Excitement bubbled in your chest at the use of the pet name again, knowing it wasn’t just a one time slip of the tongue meant that it might stick and you couldn't put into words how much you’d like that. “Fine, just pour us both a vodka and lemonade so that you can show me those spicy dance moves.”

Michael couldn’t hold in the fond chuckle that rippled out of him as he obeyed your request. “So are you gonna answer my question about who your favourite Spice Girl is? Or do I have to guess?”

“Baby’s always been the one I crushed on the hardest.” You replied easily, deciding to forgo the guessing game.

“Yeah?” He prompted. “What attracted you to me?” He asked before panic flooded his features. “I mean her! Sorry...I wasn’t being-”

You cut Michael off with a giggle as you allowed your already tipsy brain to capitalize on the alcohol-fueled confidence you always seemed to develop after a few drinks. “I think it’s your terrible makeup skills, quick wit and those pretty green eyes that attracted me to you the most, baby.” 

You never really noticed how close you’d gotten to him until you felt the little puff of breath from his quiet “Oh…” ghosting over your own lips.

If there was ever an opportune moment to kiss him, that was it. Without any good reason to stop yourself, you tentatively wrapped your arms around his neck. “I can’t believe I’m about to kiss a Spice Girl.” You chuckled, loving the way his hands felt as they rested on your waist. 

“I hope I don’t disappoint you, kitten.” He replied, tilting his head to one side slightly so that you wouldn’t bump noses when the gap between your lips was finally closed.

It was you that took the final step, pressing a soft kiss to Michael’s lips. They felt every bit as soft as they looked and used them perfectly, kissing you back with just the right amount of enthusiasm. 

Usually, it’d take a lot more than a shy first kiss for a guy to fully win you over, but somehow you found yourself melting into Michael’s hold, prolonging the simple kiss for as long as possible. Michael didn’t seem to mind that at all, holding you closely as he parted his lips allowing you to deepen the kiss, sliding your tongue teasingly against his.

When the two of you naturally drew apart a few moments later, your head was spinning from more than just the alcohol. Michael was well and truly intoxicating in a very different way. “I’m gonna need a lot more of that to keep you on the top spot of my favourite list, Baby.” You said, trying not to let your voice sound too breathy.

“That’s definitely a promise I can keep, kitten.” Michael smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind your ear.

“Glad to hear it!” You proclaimed. “Now, let’s drink up so that we can move on to somewhere that our awesome costumes will be more appreciated!”

Michael raised a questioning eyebrow. “Leave Ashton’s party?” he asked. “Do you have somewhere in mind?”

Nodding, you picked up your drink and took a long swig, “My favourite bar always has an awesome Halloween event.” You confirmed. “I was gonna go there but Luke wanted me to meet his boyfriend’s friends so I came here instead.” 

“Well, I’m kinda glad you did, to be honest.” Michael said, his cheeks reddening slightly. 

You pecked another kiss to his lips before taking another drink. “I am too, but it’s time for us to be the life of a new party.” 

Michael nodded in agreement as he finished his drink in one go. That shouldn’t have been as hot as it was to you, yet there you were practically drooling over a man in the worst drag outfit and makeup you’d ever seen, wiping vodka and lipstick off his incredibly plump lips with the back of his hand. He reached out with the hand that didn’t have bubblegum pink smeared across the back of it and took hold of your hand with the full confidence of the drink he’d just downed.

 “So where are we going?” He asked. “I trust you, so don’t let me down and take me somewhere lame, kitten.” 

“Oh, don’t worry. This place is amazing.” You promised, smirking as your final Spice Girls joke of the night slipped past your lips. “It’ll really spice up your life, baby.”

***

Main Masterlist

Collab Masterlist

Michael Masterlist

Tag list: @h0tsos​ @byxthexway​ @afuckingunicornn​ @painkillerash @moonchildsblack​ @calumbbyyy​ @loveroflrh​ @sexgodashton​ @megz1985​ @myfalsedevotion​ @aulxna​ @honeyedlashton​ @tea4sykes​ @ghostofmashton​ @fairyintheglass​ @cashworthy @cashtonasfuck @opheliaaurora23​ @5sosnsfw @wildmichaelflower​ @wildfl0wer-meg​ @irwinkitten​ @cxddlyash​ @wildmalumflower​ @cashtonasff5sos @iovehemmings​ @lowpowermodex​ @pinkbubbles-and-bigtroubles​ @celticclifford​ @5-secondsofcolor​ @queer-5sos @Secret-Diary-of-an-Aquarius-blog @babylon-corgis​ @paradigmax​ @koalacal @treatallwithkindness​ @lovelybonesetc​ @morguleth​ @atlcalm @mantlereid​ @malumsmermaid​ @lashtonswildflower​ @mermaidcashton​ @mysticalhood​

[emile-hides]

Squad Question

@nuetella-twin @r1pwitch @x-crosslate @bopin-lucio-beets @syalin-deerfox @nyresnuger

What kind of Animal Crossing Villager are you?

Animal -

Alligator

Bear

Bird

Cow

Deer

Dog

Chicken

Frog

Duck

Ostrich

Eagle

Octopus

Cat

Lion

Horse

Hamster

Penguin

Squirrel

Anteater

Wolf

Personality -

Lazy

Normal

Peppy

Jock

Cranky

Snooty

Uchi 

Smug

Style -

Basic

Cute

Iconic

Rock N Roll

Official

Ornate

Flashy

Modern

Historic

Active

Cool

Elegant

Comfy

Everyday

Fairytale

Formal

Goth

Theatrical

Two favorite colors -

Aqua

Beige

Black

Blue

Brown

Grey

Green

Orange

Pink

Purple

Red

White

Yellow

[twiceblackvelvet]

Can I request a ceo playgirl Tzuyu x fem reader ? Where reader makes tzuyu believe in love? Thank you in advance and love your writing so much!

A/N; thank you so much. i have seen requests like this before where the writer places the character insert as an employee of the ceo character but i decided to try something a little bit different. also, i’ve got to be honest, i struggled to picture Tzuyu as a playgirl so this may not be too good but i hope you enjoy🖤

For the last two years, you’ve been single. Whilst you’d love to say it’s been a peaceful time-period for you, the two girls currently sitting in front of you have made it nigh on impossible. Nayeon and Sana have been your best friends since you were children but their unhealthy obsession with your dating life is beginning to become unbearable.

Sitting down to lunch, the conversation between the three of you quickly landed on the topic of what they consider your lonely, boring life. They’re animatedly discussing a brand new dating app that some wannabe hipster rich boy has created.

“So basically, you set up a profile and decide whether you wish to be the finder or the seeker. The finder is anyone looking to earn extra money by accompanying the seeker to events, parties, galas and all those other fancy things that rich people attend. They pay you for your service as their fake date and you can decide if you wish to stick with them or move onto the next millionaire. You both rate each other based on how compatible you felt the date went, it’s all very professional.” 

Nayeon’s explanation of the application deserves to be placed into an advert, she’s seemingly looked into it very thoroughly before presenting the idea of you signing up. 

The idea of dating some pretentious, stuck up person with too much wealth for their own good does not sound appealing whatsoever, and yet as you think about your dead-end job and various bills that are quickly mounting into an enormous chunk of your bank account being whisked away from you at the end of the month, you can’t help but give it a second thought.

“We both have profiles, there’s no shame in it. You don’t have to sleep with them or anything, well... unless you want to. You’re basically just arm candy for them to show off to all of their friends that they aren’t losers who isolate themselves to their offices to flirt with numbers and stocks. Trust me, it’s sad for them not you.” Sana adds.

“Fine, but if I end up with some weirdo who tries to get a little handsy, I’ll hunt you both down.”

A high-pitched squeal is all Nayeon and Sana gives you in response as they get to work in setting up a profile for you. Surely nothing will go wrong, right?

It’s been three days since the app has been taking up space on your phone. No messages. No notifications. Nothing. It’s not like you’re mindlessly checking it every couple of hours to check that your friends didn’t include something embarrassing that has been turning every potential seeker away from you, but it is starting to play on your self-conscious every now and then. Even more so when Nayeon reveals she has been on four dates since your lunch meeting.

Just as you’re about to switch off for the night and get some well-needed shut-eye, a small vibration emanates from your bedside dresser where your phone is placed.

[YOU HAVE ONE NEW MESSSAGE]

The bold lettering alongside the app’s logo lights up your bedroom. Truthfully speaking, your curiosity is in fact piqued for a split second until you realize it’s almost 3 AM and anyone using a dating app at this hour can’t be a good sign. You decide to still check who has sent you a message but only so you can tell them to get better nighttime hobbies.

However, what greets you when the app loads the singular message is tame compared to the despicable things you expected to see. 

Hello. My name is Chou Tzuyu, I am the CEO of Chou Technology. You’ll have to forgive my being blunt but I am a bit of a newbie to this here app. If you are free tomorrow, I’d like to meet with you to discuss potentially accompanying me to a business event that I am attending the following night.  If this is something you are interested in I will schedule a time-slot and give you instructions on what to wear and where we will be meeting. I know this is all very last minute but please let me know as soon as possible. Thank you.

God, just reading the message has given you a slight headache. This girl couldn’t be any more business before pleasure if she tried. You decide to click onto her profile picture to get a better sense of who she is to help you decide whether to agree to meet her or delete the message. 

Flawless golden skin, wide cat-like brown eyes, plump red lips formed into a small smile and hazelnut brown hair accentuate all of the features perfectly. You definitely did not expect the person behind such a straight-forward and bland message to be quite as beautiful as the girl you’re currently looking at through your screen. Upon scrolling through the images, you can see her alongside a small Maltese dog, posing with several other women who you assume are her friends, in a business suit outside of her company building which reveals that she’s fairly tall and her figure is to die for. All in all, you’re sold that either this woman is a catfish with impeccable Photoshop skills or there really is a goddess-like beauty using this shady app when she could probably bag anyone possible.

Hi Tzuyu. Yes, I’d love to meet with you tomorrow, anytime is fine for me just let me know.

You hesitate for several minutes debating on whether or not to add an emoji to make things a bit more casual between the two of you. You eventually decide against it and hit send. The follow-up reply comes a lot quicker than you expected.

Great. 1 PM @ Jungsik.

A quick search reveals that Jungsik is a restaurant not far from your apartment, however, the reviews and images show that it’s rather expensive and definitely way out of your very small budget. 

Would it be possible for us to meet elsewhere? It isn’t exactly in my price-range nor will I have anything remotely fancy enough to wear to a place like that.

Three small bubbles appear and disappear several times with Tzuyu’s face beside them. You begin to worry that she’s going to cancel and realize that someone like you probably isn’t a good fit for attending the event alongside her.

Send me your address. My driver will pick you up with an outfit for you to change into and dinner will be on me.

You must be dreaming. There’s no way any of this can be real. You read the words several times to try and kickstart your brain into processing them properly and despite believing they’d disappear or change into another message, it remains the same. You consider pinching yourself to double-check but decide against it. Your fingers disobey your thoughts about it being a bad idea to give Tzuyu your address as they lightly tap on the screen to tell her where you live. 

You wait for a response but it never comes. You can see that Tzuyu has read the message though and decide to finally get some rest.

Sure enough, at 12:30 PM. the buzzer to your apartment goes off and a gentleman speaks through the intercom summoning you on behalf of one Miss Chou. Entering the sleek looking car with blacked-out windows, you quickly realize that this Tzuyu woman is from an entirely different world to the one you are used to. A white box is resting beside you and the driver instructs you to put it on. 

You open up the box and pull out a black satin mini dress. The texture of the item alone calls you broke but you also notice that whoever purchased the item forgot to remove the price tag. Your jaw almost hits the floor upon seeing that it’s worth more than three times your monthly salary. Again, you’re left to question whether any of this can possibly be real until the car suddenly comes to a stop. 

“I’ll step out now to let you change but please be quick. Miss Chou does not like to wait.” The driver says as he exits the vehicle.

You change into the dress as fast as humanly possible and exit also. You follow him through a set of doors into the stylish restaurant. This is no doubt be the cleanliest place you’ve ever eaten and worlds apart from the diner you’d regularly visit on your work breaks. Oh, how the other side lives you think.

“The table at the back, blue jacket. Enjoy.” The driver directs you towards a woman with her back facing you and hurriedly leaves. 

Your steps towards the table are hesitant and you can’t help but smooth out the new dress several times in fear you aren’t wearing it correctly or rather doing such a fancy item of clothing justice. When you finally reach the table where Tzuyu is seated you decide upon clearing your throat to gain her attention instead of sitting straight down. She stands to face you and her eyes scan over your entire body on the way up.

Even in high-heels, Tzuyu is still somehow towering above you both in height and demeanor. She’s elegant and graceful in her movements and you instantly feel self-conscious under her intense gaze. The pictures of her showed you that she is beautiful and yet here before you, they do not fully do her justice as she’s that and more. 

“Please, sit.” She motions you towards the chair opposite her own and waits for you to be seated until she herself does the same. “Thank you for joining me. I hope the dress is adequate enough, I had to guess your size based on your pictures. I wasn’t sure if it was something you’d like but it felt like a safe guess.”

“It’s beautiful, thank you.” She nods at your graciousness and moves to pick up one of the menus, when you go to do the same she grasps your hand and prevents you from doing so. 

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to order for both of us.” You drop your hand back to beside your lap and allow her to inform the waiter she’d like you to have her usual whilst she goes for filet mignon. “It’s by far the best dish, you won’t be disappointed.” 

However, when a lobster dish is presented before you, you can’t help but feel out of place. Tzuyu is quick to notice your confusion and fears she has in fact let you down before she’s even been able to present her plan for you to join her next week to you. 

“Is everything okay? Do you have an allergy? Is it not cooked to your standard?”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just, well… I’ve never eaten lobster before. I’m unsure of where to start.” A laugh lodges itself in Tzuyu’s throat with your words. “I’m glad you find my lack of fine-dining experience funny.” You roll your eyes annoyed at her clear arrogance. 

“I promise you, I am not laughing at you. I was once the same, I had no idea about any of this kind of stuff for a long time.” She offers you a genuine smile as she stands to move beside your seat to show you how to properly remove the flesh and what not to eat. “There you go, this stuff here is fine but this is the shell. Unless you wish to choke, stay clear of it.” 

Before you can truly think about it, words just begin flying out of your mouth after seeing such a kind action from by far the most gorgeous woman you’ve ever laid eyes upon.

“I have to ask, how come you’re using that app? If you don’t mind me saying, you’re a beautiful and charming woman. I don’t understand how you’re possibly single.” 

A more genuine and louder laugh exits Tzuyu’s mouth this time and for the first time, you can see that this is the real her and not the person she must try hard to present.

“Well, for a lot of years I struggled to see the appeal of commitment. I had plenty of companions to fill my spare time, however, none of them were ever the right for me. The position I’m hoping you will fill is somewhat different. As far as the women I have previously engaged with, I’d rather not show up to something like this with someone I have had casual sex with on my arm.”

Your face must be in a stunned state as Tzuyu continues to chuckle looking deeply into your eyes. Her honesty is weirdly refreshing and unsettling at the same time.

“I apologize if my bluntness surprises you, I just figure it’s best if we are both honest with each other here. In fact, that leads me to my next question,” She lightly brushes her mouth with a napkin before continuing. “Are you currently dating or meeting with anyone else from the application?”

Not willing to ruin the flow of honesty between the two of you, you tell Tzuyu that she is the first to reach out to you and that you wouldn’t be using the app if you were dating. She seems surprisingly happy with your answer though you’re unsure why. 

“That’s… good. I’d like it very much if you would keep it that way until I am sure that I no longer need your services. I don’t believe you will run in the same circles as those attending the event but I have to be sure.” You nod along not wishing to interrupt her thoughts. “Don’t worry, the event may be formal but I promise you the people attending will all be far too busy discussing themselves to bother you much. If you feel uncomfortable, simply tell me you need some fresh air and I will make sure to get you out of there.”

So far, Tzuyu is too good to be true. You will have to thank Nayeon and Sana for convincing you to sign-up for this app. 

“I will have another dress delivered to you in the morning with suitable shoes and accessories. Do you have a-” Tzuyu physically stops herself from finishing her question and curses to herself. “I will also send a stylist to take care of your hair, make-up and anything else you’re worried about.” 

“Are you sure all of this is necessary? I’m no one special Miss Chou.” The use of her family name stirs up a dark expression as Tzuyu’s eyes appear to be mentally undressing you. She shakes herself out of it before you can take notice of it. 

“Yes, you are. It may have been on short notice when I contacted you but quite frankly, you are a naturally beautiful person. I have seen plenty of attractive people within my life but none more so than you. Why do you think I have gone to all of this trouble thus far? I don’t just do this kind of thing for anyone. The majority of my relationships are a one-time thing that are not given the chance to progress further.” 

Once again, Chou Tzuyu has managed to confuse you. Your eyebrows have never felt so scrunched together quite as tightly as they are now. 

“What exactly are you saying?” is all you can whisper out in response.

“I’m saying that I’d like for you to attend this event with me. But, more importantly, I’d quite like it if you’d agree to do something like this with me more often. I will gladly pay you for your services tomorrow night in making me look good in front of a bunch of boring, old businessmen. Afterward, I’d like for you to allow me to date you. I can’t say that it will be an easy thing for either of us as I still very much so fear commitment, but I am hoping to learn, for you.” 

This time, you do pinch yourself to make sure everything you’re hearing is real and the stinging in your arm confirms you’re not currently dreaming. Your brain is running at a thousand miles-per-hour and struggling to formulate clear thoughts. 

“You do not need to answer now, attend the event with me. We can get to know each other whilst everyone else inflates their own ego. Then, we can see where things lead us. How does that sound?”

Truthfully, it sounds like a whirlwind, and yet you can’t help but agree.

“It sounds lovely.”

[bogleech]

Okay here’s the whole entire text of my original pokemon gen concept under a cut (sorry if that screws you up on mobile)

I’ve only ever sketched a tiny number of these (like my fly ideas here), but I can see most of them in my head pretty clearly and might sketch more of them by request someday. I originally set my fan-region in Florida, a place I hated living but still had a lot of interesting characteristics. This changed over once I moved to Oregon, and the thing about Oregon is that it has desert, forest, swamp, coastline and frozen mountaintops that are all pretty vast, ancient and in places relatively untouched compared to the rest of North America. This is not only a perfect setting for some really wild pokemon, but makes a believable choice because our Pacific Northwest is pretty popular in Japan.

The different biomes of this region have "deep" areas where the pokemon change. Some also have "polluted" areas. The region is environmentally themed and heavily deals with human interference on the natural world.

The villains are Team Bio, genetic engineerers lead by a mysterious old woman who narrowly survived the original Mewtwo experiment. Her underlings all use "mutant" pokemon, and she seeks to create a new species of hyper-intelligent, pure-hearted pokemon that will replace humans entirely. Along the way is a strange increase in reports of interstellar pokemon activity... I actually tried hard to minimize how many pokemon in this are just “my kind” of concept, but I think I failed pretty hard. It probably does feel like it leans a little more towards Mortasheen than something Pokemon would actually make, but for basically every pokemon that’s one of my “dream concepts” or “most wanted” I tried to come up with one that I thought would appeal more to somebody else’s taste than mine.

THE STARTERS

Grass Starter: a grass "lumberjack" pterosaur with an axe for a beak. Second stage has more saw-like beak, final stage is a grass/steel quetzalcoatlus (the pterosaur) with a beak and crest forming a chainsaw, no longer flies

Fire type calf whose black cow marks are actually soot. Evolves into cow with craggy black “helmet” and horns of charcoal. Final stage a charcoal-armored minotaur like fire/ground type.

Water Starter is a beady-eyed water shrew with big webbed flipper feet, known to steal shiny objects. Second stage more humanoid, said to dive for treasure. Final stage is water/dark lanky, stripey shrew with a black mask, said to rob boats like a “highwayman” of the river.

Meadows and forest:

Normal type mammal is a spherical porcupine, like a chestnut. Rubs its spines with noxious fruit juices, giving it a multicolored look. Evolved form is a colorful “punk” porcupine.

Early bug is a sticklike inchworm Evolves to cocoon resembling a wooden log on top. Final form is bipedal stick mimic grasshopper, evocative of a cute wooden puppet with a pointed nose.

Basic bird is a hummingbird Evolves to be four-winged and legless, never lands in its whole life. Final hummingbird is a fierce looking hunter that drains energy from grass types like a predator.

Grass type walking bud creature, looks nervous. Evolves to grass/flying orchid-like angelic flower. Alternate evolution is wilted, grey, grass/ghost goth orchid with tattered petals, cute but sad. (evolves this way if it levels up after a battle in which it sustained super-effective damage)

Ground type earthworm sticking out of dirt, cute flower-shaped head. Evolved worm looks like shark sticking out of the dirt, nose looks like its prevo

Electric/dark pikachu-like packrat holding a large coin. Electrically charges its treasure as a booby trap. Actually said to be employed as underlings by the water-type shrew starter.

MISCELLANY:

Bug/poison type grub with fangs. Only encountered in garbage cans. Evolves into a fly pupa Final stage is a gloomy looking, drooling anthropomorphic fly.

Single stage bug/fairy type: a beautiful Maleficent-looking parasitoid wasp. Evolves from any cocoon/pupa pokemon if they're holding a "suspicious egg" item.

Ocean

Water/grass nudibranch with flower on its back. Evolves to a glaucus, each "arm" a colorful flower that absorbs sunlight as it floats.

Water type fish that "sails" on the sea's surface with its fins. Sleepy looking stingray evolution. Final form is water/dragon deep sea fish, combines some traits of anglerfish and viperfish with eyes on stalks. Only evolves from stingray when you're in the sea trench.

Water/flying marlin with huge, dazzling butterfly like fins.

Water type baby dolphin, fuzzy like a seal pup, only evolves if it has fainted more times than the number of its current level. Evolved form is water/dark, shaggy-furred, fierce looking, battle scarred dolphin with legs instead of flippers, a throwback to the doglike ancestors of delphinidae.

Polluted inlet

Water/poison oil slick with two tentacles and beady white eyes, signature ability changes it to water/fire type if it uses a fire move. Evolved form is an oil slick rising into a cartoon octopus with x's for pupils.

Water/steel fish hook with tiny head and eyes, like a barbed metal worm. Water/steel fishing jig, googly eyes and everything.

Barren Island - just a very big rock in the middle of the inlet

Ghost/poison: a greenish "dodo bird" with a face like a biohazard mask, the ghost of a species that went exinct due to sickness.

Sea Trench

Water/fire bristleworm "snake" Water/fire tube worm "dragon"

Water/ghost wailord skeleton draped in pink fuzz and a garden of one-eyed bone worms.

Swamp

Electric/flying bird resembling a lightbulb kiwi. Evolved form resembling a neon light lawn flamingo.

Grass/fairy giant sloth with sleepy face, completely covered in shaggy moss with various flowers and mushrooms. Protector of the swamp, able to control plant life.

Grass/psychic sundew, just a pair of sundew leaves atop a sleepy looking oddish-esque bulb. Evolved sundew is mostly a big circular sundew rosette, but a humanoid flower rotates in the center like a music box to lure prey.

Water/fighting borzoi pup with long legs, acts like a water strider. Evolved form is an elongated, elegant borzoi "ballerina" that dances atop water

Water/ground red leech slightly evocative of a vacuum cleaner. A healer that sucks poison from the body instead of blood. May mysteriously appear in your team after walking through swamp water.

Deep Forest:

Grass/ground banana slug with colorful mold spots, learns spore. Evolves into mold splotched, brown banana peel creature, more like a big squid.

Grass/dark autumn leaf in the shape of a bat, has levitate. Evolved form redder, bigger "vampire cape" leaf-bat.

Psychic/ghost cheshire cat with Meowth-like proportions, bright crescent smile. Evolved form just huge smile and cat eyes hovering in the air, beastly cat body fading into view only for physical attacks or when struck.

Rock type humanoid made of transparent amber with a strange mayfly-like bug sleeping inside. Outer body can "break" at low HP and release faster, more offensive pure bug form.

Rock: incredibly huge, stony looking moose with long white fur draped over its eyes and back. Comes in size variations like Pumpkaboo line and said to never stop growing. A truly titanic one is used as transportation through the deep forest.

Snowy patches

Bug/ice velvet worm that spews a freezing liquid. Silly looking, almost like wiggler from mario.

Ice/flying fluffy white bird resembling a tiny Japanese style snowman. Evolves to resemble western style snowman with clawed bird feet, pointed beak nose. A flightless pure ice mountain dweller.

Electric/ice with levitate: a crystalline "UFO" sky-jellyfish with many colorful lights, core body looks like a cute pikmin-esque "alien" inside. Catch by fishing off of ledges into the sky. Mistaken by locals for alien activity.

Lava Tube Caves

Psychic type bipedal pink salamander with no eyes. Evolves into beautiful milotic-like psychic/dragon blind olm.

Rock/fighting spearhead with feet, eyes are just round holes through blade. Evolves to gain a stick-figure sort of body.

Abandoned town

Normal/bug filthy dog, a shaggy pile of fur with goofy eyes and pink tongue. Little black specks jump about it. Ability changes normal moves to bug moves. Evolved form more obviously a dog but still very shaggy, surrounded by constant cloud of black specks.

Grass/electric "christmas tree" made of holly and lights. Found in a burned down house, glowing eyes peer out from beneath it.

Ghost: has a colorful quilt for a body and a pincushion for a head. Found inside houses.

Garbage dump - accessible through abandoned town, possibly what drove people away (includes piles of toys you may investigate to encounter a banette, mimikyu or klefki)

Water/poison: cartoony fish with blank eyes and humanoid pair of legs. Fish for in toxic green garbage pools. Evolves into ground/poison skeleton fish with four limbs, walking like a lizard.

Steel/bug rusty orange silverfish. Eats junk metal. Evolved form so big it wears a rusty car for protection with just its legs and feelers sticking out.

MICROPOKEMON - enlarged artificially in a laboratory where you can also take your fossils.

Bug/fighting flea - spiny black flea with big jagged white teeth. Create from the "pest sample" an item carried randomly by the normal/bug dog.

Poison/fairy germ - fuzzy multicolored mold ball with eyes, stalked suckers. Retrieve "germ sample" from the dodo ghost.

Water/fairy tardigrade - transparent, cute bug stylized almost like a "gummy bear."  Retrieve "dew sample" from moss sloth.

Pseudolegendary:

Rock type baby gargoyle creature. Evolves to winged gargoyle with levitate and a few mossy patches. Final form is an elegant griffon-like rock/dragon with an elaborately carved surface

SPACE ARK DRAGON This location is itself a dragon/fairy legendary pokemon so massive you can enter its body. It exists to collect and preserve species from dying worlds. Most common wild pokemon inside is duosion and sometimes Reuniclus. You can also collect "gene samples" from crystalline pods to replicate the ultrabeasts in the same lab you enlarge the microbes and resurrect fossils.

Bug/dark parasitic alien, a little like weird yellow plant suckered to the ground, red flower-like head with an eye on each petal ala the yokai parasite, gyochu.

Bug/dark parasitic alien, a colorful worm with cute eyes and beautiful mothlike wings, a little like the yokai parasite koshi-no-mushi.

Bug/dark parasitic alien, a pale, red and white striped "lizard" with six spindly limbs and a tubular proboscis, inspired by the yokai parasite kagemushi.

Fairy type alien medic, looks like a cute flatwoods monster with heart motif and nurse coat. Flees from all battles unless you have defeated at least one of each of the parasites.

LEGENDARIES:

Dragon/electric: the ark dragon's smaller offspring, looks like an electronic space whale.

Dragon/steel, menacing, sleek black starship creature. Rival to the ark dragon, a "world reaper" that attempts to destroy planets that it thinks are already dying.

Psychic/fairy little white, fluffy mothman-like being, an observer that casts judgment on suffering worlds to call one of the dragons (version based)

Normal type legendary is the most human-like pokemon we've ever seen, a serene floating figure with long hair and black, almond-shaped eyes. A genetic experiment to supplant humans.

Electric/fighting: a hulking humanoid beast, almost frankensteinian with asymmetrical features, a failed early experiment.

A "glitched and scrambled" two dimensional pokemon. The result of the earliest known experiments in digital pokemon transfer. Actually literally typeless.

POISON FUSIONS created in the garbage dump:

Weezodor - poison/flying - Garbodor/weezing hybrid, like a jellyfish bag with smog tentacles.

Mukking - poison/water - Weezing/muk hybrid, like a koffing with slime appendages.

Garmuk - poison/ground - Muk/garbodor hybrid, like a giant slug made of trash.

MUTANT POKEMON: mutations of classic first-stage pokemon into creatures slightly tougher than even their original final stages.

Mutant Caterpie - bug/dragon - huge, dragonlike Caterpie with more menacing eyespots, clawed limbs.

Mutant Paras - pure grass - giant paras with far more mushrooms of different colors, body pure white with no mouth and white sphere eyes, actually made only of fungus.

Mutant Venonat - bug/dark - same old venonat with a big shaggy monster body

Mutant Zubat - Psychic - somewhat larger than crobat, has actual legs and a pair of clawed arms instead of wings. Much bigger ears.

Mutant Voltorb - electric/steel - a Voltorb even bigger than Electrode, otherwise looks normal besides angrier yellow eyes...until it splits open to reveal sharp teeth.

Mutant Tangela - grass/fairy - more like its scrapped Gen II evolution but perhaps a lot taller, with two very very long arms.

Mutant Geodude - rock/fighting - HUGE spiky arms and hands but head/body are the same as always.

Mutant Shellder - water/steel - it's the spiraly slowbro one!

Mutant Exeggcute - psychic/poison - bigger and more plentiful but "rotten" looking eggs with gloomier eyes and dark purple goo.

Mutant Eevee - normal - bigger than any of the eeveelutions, shaggy and beastly with the "camouflage" ability. Learns strong attacks of every eevee evolution type.

Mutant Doduo - fighting type with only one head

Mutant Luvdisc - the only one based on a non-evolving pokemon. Angry "broken heart" Luvdisc with record offensive stats for the series, but even worse defenses than regular luvdisc.

Mutant Trapinch - dragon/bug - giant turtle-like Trapinch, redder, spiny, second mouth inside jaws.

Mutant Dratini - dragon/fairy - huge long dratini with longer feathery wing ears, identical wings down body.

Mutant Larvitar - dragon/dark - big, armored green reptile, still has larvitar type head with craggier, meaner horn.

Mutant Bagon - dragon - huge, more t-rex proportioned bagon, spiked shell on head.

Mutant Deino - bigger and shaggier with a ring of five long-necked deino heads

Mutant Gible - dragon/fighting - only usually seen as a huge sharky fin sticking out of the ground. When it emerges, its body isn't much bigger than regular gible.

Mutant Goomy - psychic/dragon - giant goomy with gaping mouth, antennae are much longer, green and stripey.

Mutant Jangmo-o - dragon/steel - same old head but more ankylosaur-like big body, entirely a dark iron color with more pitted looking scales.

ENVIRONMENTAL VARIATIONS no mechanical or typing difference, but new color schemes and decorations on existing pokemon, totally an aesthetic change. Have their own shiny forms.

SEA TRENCH FORMS: Entirely pale pink golisopod line with closed eyes transparent red tentacool line with darker red nodules dark maroon inkay line with blue lights red and purple feebas line

CAVE FORMS: White, eyeless venipede line White, eyeless magikarp line

DEEP SWAMP FORMS: crocodile-green Sandile line with lily pad on head black shelled "freshwater" shellder line with green algae growths pure red and purple colored bellsprout line

DEEP FOREST FORMS: braviary with more hawklike colors foongus line with no pokeball pattern...the original foongus? wolf-spider colored joltik line

POLLUTED INLET FORMS: Dewpider line with all black body and limbs, yellow glowing eyes in dirty green water Grey wailmer line draped in red algae, clumps of barnacles (presumably degenerated binacle) Wingull line with grey and black oil-splotched feathers, tin can on head

GARBAGE DUMP FORMS: Bounsweet line with only grey, brown and black colors, dark spoiled looking splotches Black bag trubbish line with green trash, copper colored pipes Rusted looking klink line, rotates only once every few seconds.

----------GYM LEADERS -------------- In this region the gyms are dual type, and bring back past mechanics and gimmicks as their focus.

flying/normal: a blind, wheelchair-bound old man who specializes in dog and bird pokemon. Uses a baton pass team.

Steel/electric: an astronaut commanding his gym by remote feed from the station. Uses Magnezone, Rotom forms and, surprisingly, a random steel or electric ultrabeast.

Poison/bug: a germophobic lady scientist ironically obsessed with pollution pokemon, always wearing a biohazard suit. Has weezing, garbodor, the fly pokemon and Yanmega. Uses Z-moves, but it's random whether she uses a bug or poison one and on which pokemon.

Dark/fire: an elderly biker lady. Has no gym and in fact roams around the region. Surprisingly challenges you to a third-gen style beauty contest with her frightening selection of pokemon.

Grass/fairy: witchy pharmacist and botanist who lives out in the woods, all of her grass types are mushroom based. Unusually has you team up with her in a double battle against a random pokemon of unusual size and strength, like Alola's totem pokemon.

Ground/fighting: an extremely frail little nerdy guy who likes amazingly fearsome pokemon, hates bullies but kind of is one. Makes you face a horde battle with all of his pokemon vs. only one of yours at a time.

Dragon/rock: a boisterous monster movie director who dresses his pokemon in costumes, gym is a cardboard city. Uses a dynamaxed pokemon.

Ghost/psychic: a horror author, Vincent Price like, lives in a mansion and makes visitors face scenes from his books. Instead of a single battle, he has you face a series of singular mega pokemon behind each "scene." THE LABORATORY This location is of course secretly associated with the villain team, but you can free it up from them in the endgame. Here you can make fossil pokemon, micropokemon, regional forms from past generations, ultrabeasts and even mega stones, but all require you to spend one or more “gene crystals.” You’re handed a number of these through the storyline but it would be very challenging to farm more than that  (think Gen 7 bottlecaps). Spending more crystals at the lab would allow you to finally alter abilities, natures and IV’s at a whim, and for an exceptional cost you could upgrade the BASE stats of any L100 pokemon permanently. This is a percentage increase applied across the board to all of its stats at once, and stops at either 100 total points beyond their normal limits, or a final base stat total of 530 (equivalent to a fully evolved starter) MISC STUFF:

Your mom this gen asks you if you hope to have an easy, challenging, or very challenging adventure. You can return to her at any time to adjust the difficulty again.

When you beat the game, you can make a custom trainer for online battles using the models of other NPC trainer types, i.e. you can finally be a swimmer/scientist/grunt/etc. You can unlock some popular ones from past generations.

You can select one pokemon as your main partner, which not only has it following you, but involves it a little more in the storyline (special events based on its first typing) and gives it some in-game perks.

A special item attached to any one of your pokemon allows your whole team to “share strength,” meaning that their weaknesses are mitigated for each teammate they share a type with. This allows for type-themed teams to be more viable but wouldn’t completely eliminate their weaknesses, and the effect diminishes proportionately for every pokemon that faints.

You can designate a seventh pokemon to be your “team mascot,” a non-combat role with different effects depending on species/type.

A single team can have either the mascot, a z-move, a dynamax/gigantamax form or a mega, cannot mix these.

Legendary pokemon now suffer a stat nerf for every other legendary pokemon on the same team. A team of six legendaries would actually be somewhat below-average in stats.

[fandomdancer]

Special thanks to @thecaptainsgingersnap who taught me how to make a moodboard, and gave me this info sheet to fill out!

I present my OC for my NaNoWriMo 2020 story!

Teresa Lynn Devereaux

Birthday: September 12, 1962

Alias: Teri

Species: Human

Place of Birth: Fort Polk, Louisiana

Career: FBI Special Agent with forensics background, assigned to the X-Files.

Hobbies: Reading, playing pool and air hockey, roller skating, playing board/card/arcade games (Battleship is her favorite), watching movies

Likes: Spicy food, board games, fall, rain, Halloween, myths/legends of other cultures, dancing

Dislikes: Flying, dogs, too much sugar (she likes sweets but very moderated), and temperatures above 80 degrees

Favorite Bands: Teri tends to like 50s-70s rock and pop, including Elvis Presley, Cher, The Beatles, Queen, and the Rolling Stones. Bonus: her guilty pleasure is musicals, especially old ones.

Physical Quirks/Scars: Had a dog sicced on her so she has a scar above her left eyebrow and part of her left ear bitten off.

Speech: Speaks quickly. Also, she tends to talk to herself when she’s alone (or thinks she is).

Gear: Classy/elegant style with some playfulness, usually solid-color shirts in warm or neutral colors (taupe, off-white, amber, gold, red, brown), and skirts but will wear jeans or pants when casual. Often accessorizes with a piece of jewelry. (Always wears a brown-band watch with gold/white dial, on back is inscribed: “Sunk your battleship! J.S.”)

Favorite Animal: Fox

Pet: She doesn’t have one but if she were to get one it would be a cat. She would want something to coexist with that will occasionally give her cuddles when she is freaking out over something.

Family: Father Brandon (mechanical engineer, retired military, deceased), mother Shelley (nurse, retired military), older brother Jacques (drill sergeant), older brother Sidney (judge).

Friends: Jeffrey Spender, Lacey Curtis (OC), Henry Curtis (OC, PB Alex Désert), Patrick Cavanagh (OC, ex-boyfriend, PB Tom Cavanagh), Sean Pendrell (deceased), Dana Scully and Fox Mulder (more acquaintances, they don’t really hang out)

Love Interest: Jeffrey Spender

Personality: Teri is friendly, perceptive, and energetic. She has a plan for herself and sticks to it, but she make sure to have fun along the way. She cares deeply for her friends and makes herself available to them. She doesn’t much care for people beating around the bush and will often be direct to get to the heart of a problem so she can help solve it. She is reliable, open-minded, and playful. However, she can be petty, impulsive, and subjective (her emotions often play in her judgement which can really backfire on her). If she doesn’t like something, she lets you know about it. And if you hurt one of her friends? She can be downright vengeful.

[jojomugi]

Hello, again! This is the same anon who said thanks (I’m a little embarrassed to ask for something similar but, I really did love the last scenario). May I please have a scenario with SDC Dio nsfw/sfw w/ the same fem s/o who absolutely adores Halloween? Thank you so much! I truly appreciate it ❤️

Awh yes! I love Halloween themes! 🎃👻

Hope you didn’t mind but I decided to change it up a bit and make it a bit...AU-y(?) lol. I’ll describe it at the bottom :). I apologize for the wait and how short is it compared to the last one. Hopefully it was worth it and I hope you enjoy this piece because I certainly enjoyed writing this!

[Request:Open]

✨AU: Basically everything is the same except Dio is less focused on ruining the Joestars and more focused on his future plans (and Halloween)

✨Word Count: 1779

✨SFW?: Yes

SDC Dio x Reader (Halloween theme)

“Only 30 more days!” You proclaimed to yourself as you wrote in a little journal upon your bed. The gel tipped pen with the elegant white feather glided across the pages as you began making a list of what to do for your favorite holiday, Halloween. Of course, you had not yet had the chance to discuss your ideas and plans with your head of the household, DIO, so you had not yet gotten executive approval from your dearest. However, you kept your fingers crossed that you would be able to possibly sway him into allowing you to at least decorate. 

Though you have called this place home as Lord DIO has done nothing but provided for you here, in all honesty, the majority of the work was already done for you. The mansion itself already had a decrypted aura surrounding it. It was dank, dark, and was littered with cobwebs of many varieties. Though Lord Dio had never struck you as the type of man to be invested in holidays, you hoped he would not mind a few pumpkins and spooky ghost decorations scattered about. Actually, you couldn’t help but dorkishly grin at the ideas you had come up with to decorate the halls and rooms of the manor.

They frilly feather twirled between your fingertips as you continued to ponder and daydream on what else you’d do for Halloween if given the opportunity to celebrate. Though this was suddenly interrupted by a small yet strong gust of wind had blown through your window. A silhouette of a majestic falcon framed your windowsill, and it was none other than your favorite bird, Pet Shop. It sat there for a moment, before quickly darting to the floor to devour the rat that had gone unnoticed in the far corner of your bedroom. You jumped back at first, after all, he was a very fierce creature, however, you finally loosened up when he flew back over to your windowsill and perched himself proudly.

You shut the journal and got up from where you had resided, and made your way over to him. With a smile, you approached the falcon and gave him a single stroke on the head. “Thank you Pet Shop, you’re such a marvelous creature!” You softly praised.

Though you were not his master, the bird spread his wings and let out a sound that you could only assume was a ‘thank you’. A soft giggle escaped your lips, as you were completely tickled over how smart he was to actually understand you. “Perhaps for Halloween Lord Dio can let you be...A headless horseman! If they make dog and cat costumes, surely they make them for birds too.” You proposed. The bird merely lifted its head away from you and shut his striking eyes. You frowned a bit at his response, but let out a small smile quickly. “Or maybe instead of being a guard-bird you can look like a pharaoh bird?” 

Pet shop turned his head back to you with an approving gaze, however, just as quickly as he came to visit you, he quickly flew off to return to his guard-bird duties when the creek of a door filled the room. Your h/l hair flipped as you turned, knowing already who your next visitor was, none other than DIO. Your e/c eyes lit up with excitement, not only did you enjoy each other’s company, you also could sense he was in a good mood, possibly a good enough mood to even inquire about your idea of the upcoming spooky holiday that was approaching. 

“Good evening y/n. Say, who were you talking to?” His words were a harmony in your ears, even in the way he teasingly asked you about your conversation with your animal visitor.

 “Lord Dio! Welcome! I just got done with a visit from Pet Shop, he disposed of a rat in the room.” You smiled warmly, placing your hands together in front of your chest. “How has your evening been?”

DIO’s lips had turned up into a very calm smile as he approached you. “Oh? Yes, Pet Shop is a fine bird isn’t he?” DIO nodded before continuing. “So far it has been excellent, I thought that I would share it with only my most favorite human.” He explained as he finally made his way to you. He extended a hand and tucked a piece of your hair behind your ear. His honey-like eyes that had been fixated on you caught a glimpse of the bright full moon that was framed by your window. “Oh? And it's a full moon? How romantic. Just another thing for us to share tonight.” The large blonde had noted as he took his place beside where you stood. Now, both of you were admiring the view of Cairo and the bold night from your window.

“I know right, tonight is just wonderful isn’t it?” You nodded, leaning against the windowsill. A strong sculpted yet protective arm wrapped itself around your waist and pulled you close to his body. He obviously couldn’t allow his sweet angel of a pet plummet on accident, even though you were quite confident you wouldn’t as you had done this many times before. You turned up to his with a smile. “Oh, Lord Dio! Did you know on the 31st, there will also be a full moon.” You quickly spilled the piece of trivia.

Dio rose a boldly arched brown at the oddly specific information you gave him, however, he took it merely as a sign of your intellect and patted your head in response. “Well, that's very fascinating my little y/n. Is there anything else I should know?”

Your face quickly went red from embarrassment. You had wanted to bring up wanting to celebrate Halloween in a different more casual way, but instead, sabotaged what you had mentally planned. However, lying to DIO was never an option for you, you’d never want to break his trust in you and your loyalty for someone you lovingly adored. 

“Well, y/n?” He tilted his head slightly, patiently waiting for you to continue upon his request.

“Well...the 31st is also the night of Halloween.” A gulp slid down your throat before you had finally decided to expand onto your information. “Lord Dio, you uh, don’t have to answer if you d-don’t want to, But...do you...do you celebrate any holidays?” You stammered your question, and lightly shook your head at how embarrassingly nervous you got over a simple inquiry. What a silly thing to get all riled up over.

However, for the other party, this was a deep question for him. DIO went silent for a moment as he thought about the last time he had even celebrated a holiday. Suddenly a wave of blurred memories resurrected; The last holiday he spent was New Years with George and Jonathan Joestar. Sure, he was slightly invested in them once upon a time ago when he was still a human, but that was a century ago, and he was a significantly different person in those days. He shut his eyes and thought hard about the answer. “I suppose so. Though last time I had ever recognized a holiday was a century ago. These days I just do not have the time to manage, invest, and dedicate my important time to just another day on the calendar.” 

“Oh.”

Suddenly you felt your heart sink in discouragement over this development. He had a point, you couldn’t help but agree that his time was valuable, his points were unarguable. You let out a small frown and shifted your eyes back towards the streets, letting your disappointment out towards the world instead of letting him see. However, the silent sadness you felt was interrupted alas by his voice.

“Why are you, curious darling?”

You blinked, and slowly glanced back up at him. You felt no need to change what was undeniable, you had assured yourself that he would not be up for Halloween. No more need for beating around the bush, you just bluntly spoke. “Well, I was going to ask if you’d allow me to decorate the home for Halloween.” You sighed admittingly, while limply hanging your arm off of the windowsill. You couldn’t help but give him a smile, even if it was a sad one. “I really wanted to make everyone costumes, bake those cute little ghosts and pumpkin cookies, hand out candy to all your servants, of course, only the ones you say are worthy, and watch scary movies.” You could go on and on about all your favorite Halloween traditions, however, you felt for sure that he probably didn’t care to hear more.

DIO went back to silence, and so did you. You both just quietly looked up into the entrancing moon. Though the celebration of Halloween was much different from his era compared to how it is recognized in the 20th century, another distant memory resurfaced, and a fond one at that. A time when his mother was still alive and he was a young boy, and how they’d huddle close together next to the fire she’d share spooky stories with him before Dario would drunkenly return home for the night. When he thought about it, DIO was actually somewhat touched over how desperately you wanted to share your traditions with him.

With a short “hm.”, an unconscious smile formed from his lips.

“Well...I suppose if you do all of the preparation, it would not hurt to celebrate it if it's only for one night.”

Those were words you hadn’t expected to hear. Your eyes lit up like a spark in the night. “R-Really?” You gasped and before Dio would even be able to confirm, you already leaped into him for an embrace. You were over the moon. “Oh! Lord Dio! Thank you! Thank you so much! You’re honestly too good to me!” You squealed out of sheer happiness.

DIO held onto your waist and gently put you down on your feet with a slight smirk. “Y/n, if you make this Halloween successful, perhaps you can not only be my pet but my holiday planner as well.” He stated while softly patting your head.

“Oh, I surely won’t let you down, Lord Dio!” She chirped with a bright smile. 

“Well then, my dearest y/n, I will be holding you to it.” He leaned in and left a kiss on your forehead.

You shut your eyes when he leaned in to plant his loving mark on you and in turn, your cheeks flushed pink. You were going to make his Halloween memorable for sure!

[thefanficmistress]

My Friend, My Beloved: Requested ☆

Requested by @nowiloveandwilllove - You lovely bird you! I hope you enjoy it!

Warnings: Fluff Pairing: Richard Armitage x Reader, Richard Armitage x Female Character, Richard Armitage x OC Context © me _______________ TAG LIST: @deepestfirefun @shikin83 @catthefearless @patanghill17 @aelinninielelain @xxbyimm @nowiloveandwilllove @nellindreams @hails270105 @armitages-gisborne @jassy2101 @abiwim @anemiechen @nelswp @vaneaustation @fizzyxcustard @purplerain85​ @armitageadoration​ @princecami​ @princess-of-erebor1992​ @leah-halliwell92​ @vaneaustin​ @nellindreams​ @raindrops-on-roses142​ @wilhelmyna 

Please let me know if you would like to be tagged.

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Current Requests: JANUARY - Closed @purplerain85 ( A Kiss in the Wild ) - RA Request : Release 1/6/2019 @deepestfirefun ( Because I love you ) - RA Request - Release date : 1/13/2019 @nowiloveandwilllove ( My Friend, My Beloved ) - RA Request - Release date: 1/20/2019 @deepestfirefun  ( WORKING TITLE ) RA Request - Release Date :1/27/2019

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Message me if you would like a FanFic Sunday Request. _____________

The snow fell like raindrops, thick and cold. Falling dancing flakes of ice landed on your lashes and cheeks as you looked at the gift in your hand. The blue wrapping paper was decorated with silver snowflakes, was made even more beautiful when the snow frosted the cover; the tag read “To my dearest Richard”.  This time of year, in New York was your most favorite. The snow, the lights, and most of all the giant tree that was put in the middle of Central Park. It was particularly special due to meeting one of the most important people in your life. Richard.  However, you weren’t sure about the events of tonight. You weren’t sure about what you would say to him when you handed him his gift. The words “ I love you.” was ready to leave your lips for some time now, but you were far from the kind of girl he would go for.  You thought back on when you met.  - PAST - 4 years ago, you decided to take your dog Bingo for a walk-through Central Park before it got too dark. You needed to get out of your house and away from your good for nothing boyfriend who was content on drinking on day, sitting his ass on the couch, and playing World of Warcraft with is friends. Don’t get the wrong idea, you LOVED WoW, but you also had a job, and bills to pay, so you knew how to balance yourself. Him on the other hand, didn’t seem to care that you had to pay everything for yourself, and his only concern is if you bought him anything…with your money. What did you expect? It’s not like you were going to meet your Prince Charming on Plenty of Fish. So, you settled. The truth was, you kind of loved him, but not enough to make real plans with him. You figured that you would find no one else, and he was the best you were going to get. You never had much confidence in yourself, and you thought that you were never good enough. You liked some parts of yourself, mostly your face. You had big eyes with thick black lashes, pouty lips, and a natural blush to your skin. Your hair was long, and could fit many types, but you liked it wavy, and bouncy. Everyone complimented you on your “pretty face, and hair”, but that was about it. You knew that you weren’t the type of girl that every guy would throw themselves at. You weren’t a size 2, but more of an 18. You were short, curvy, and had amble breast, a robust hourglass shape that did look good any anything that you wore, but a girl with extra weight, thick thighs, and hips, wasn’t the ideal person a man would want. So, you always shied away from the types of guys you were actually attracted to. You didn’t really want a model kind of guy, but even if you did see a handsome nerd, you were still too shy to say anything.  Needless to say, you knew that you weren’t happy with yourself, or who you were with. But Christmas was a magical time. A magic you only liked sharing with yourself, and Bingo. Once you reached the part, you were greeted by many runners, bums, singing groups, and other pet parents. Your sights however were set on the giant Christmas tree in the center of the park, but Bingo, his eyes caught the sight of a stray cat and he darted from your grasp, and he ran off. Of course, you panicked, and ran after him. You ran through the frozen fields of grass, through bushes, almost knocked over an old couple, and you did manage to run into a vendor who was handing out hot chocolate to everyone on such a cold day. You not only had to pay for the vending cart you damaged, but the price of each lost cup of coco. $1300. Not a good start to your magical Christmas day, but you weren’t going to let that top you. You were going to find Bingo and get to that damn tree.  After a few hours of going through the park, you finally gave up and went to the tree, and looked up at the bright star. You were at of breath, and hope and frankly in tears at the thought of never seeing Bingo again until you heard a familiar bark coming from around the tree. As a dog parent, it must be a sort of power to know the sound of your fur-child’s bark, because when you came around to the other side, you saw him there jumping on another person with a wagging tail. Your heart sank and you smiled with joy as you ran up to him calling his name.  “Bingo! There you are boy!” Running up to him, you dropped to your knees, and threw your arms around his thick neck. Bingo was a rescue dog, that you had for 3 years. A Husky, with one blue eye and one white. He was just as happy to see you, as he yanked from the stranger, and immediately sat in your embrace, and bowed his head to you to show submission, and most likely apology for what he did. His furry tail wagged in the snow behind him.  “Oh my god, thank you so –“your voice was snatched the moment you caught the man in your sights. He was the most beautiful man you had ever seen, and they did a quick scan of his entire being from head to toe. You had to tilt your head up slightly to meet him at his full height.  He was much taller than you, around 6’2 or 6’3, white male, with dark brown hair that was combed back, and fell down to his ears, and small curls. He had a trimmed beard, and piercing blue-grey eyes that mirrored the Christmas sky above your head. You could have sworn you saw flakes falling in them as well. He was warmly dressed for the weather, with an opened black pea coat revealing a black sweater vest, and dark blue shirt underneath. He was still holding onto Bingo’s leash as he met your eyes with a smile.  Then from his lips came the most elegant sound you had ever heard. “Bingo?! Well that’s a lovely name for such a handsome dog.” He said. It was deep, and rich like a warm cup of tea in the morning. Something that could have held your attention for hours or cradle you to sleep at night You swallowed hard and nodded up and down like an idiot not using your words, but continuously staring at him, while trying to comprehend what he just said to you. But it only took you a few moments to see what you were doing. Then your voice came back.  “Thank you so much.” You smiled, as you clothed your eyes to blush and tuck hair behind your ear. You blinked your embarrassment away and looked at him again. It hurt to look at something so pretty. “I almost thought I lost him, and I don’t know what I would do if something happened to him.” you confessed flustered. “I completely understand, I would freak out myself.” He said as he gestured to the tree, “Luck as it was, he came running up to me when I was admiring the tree.”  Bingo started to bounce around you, wanting your attention. He jumped up on his back legs and brought his front paws on your stained coat. You tried to calm him by petting his head and rubbing him behind his ears.  “He must have remembered it from last year. I come here every year to look at it.” You stated as you finally got him to sit, but your hands were sweating in the gloves and you needed to remove them. You pulled one off and then the other placing it in your pocket. You looked down and saw the stain on your coat and clothes. “Oh my god, my clothes.” you opened your coat to see that it definitely ruined the dress you wore. You were so flustered that you didn’t even realize that you were shaking. Your nerves were shot.  “Oh, how did that happen?” he asked, reaching out touch your coat to examine the stain. “I think I have a handkerchief here somewhere.” he started patting around in his coat.  “No, it’s fine, you really don’t have to do that. It was my fault really! I ran all over the place looking for him, nearly killed an old couple” You pointed behind you, and then turned to point to the other side of you to the vendor, “I killed his vending cart, and had to pay a fortune, and got hot coco spilled on me.” You gestured back to your clothes, and then palmed your face, as you tried to hide the embarrassment that was your life at this moment.  “Here,” he held out a white handkerchief out to you. “How about we get you both get you out of the snow and get you some place warm. You’re shaking and I think he may be hungry.” He reached down to pet Bingo on the head, who in return leaned into his touch, with his tongue hanging from his mouth, his breath floating in the air.  “You really don’t have to. You’ve helped me so much already.” You tried to deny, but the strange held his hand up to you. So, you stopped speaking.  “I’m afraid I would have to insist. What kind of man would I be if I left you so upset?” He gentle placed his hand on your shoulder. He was so gentle, and his touch was comforting. “You’re shaking, and I’m sure you were going out of your mind trying to find him. Let me take you somewhere warm, just until you calm down.” You took a deep breath and looked around at your surroundings. It was getting dark, you didn’t get a chance to really enjoy the tree, it was getting colder, and started to snow harder. Bingo would have been hungry, and God knows you were. Some place warm would have been nice and having such a nice escort was even better. You looked back at him with defeated smile and gave in. “Okay.” You sighed. “I can hold him now if you like.” You said reaching out for Bingos leash. “It’s ok, I rather like walking dogs. Plus, I think it would be nice if I gave you a little break for a bit. At least until it’s time for you to go back to your home.” He smiled charmingly as he straightens his back, and bent his arm at the elbow, and looked down at you. “Shall we?” You smiled as you slipped your hand between his arm and body. Your other hand came up to gentle close the circle of your hands on his arm.  “I’m Richard by the way.” He added as pulled you closed, and you both walked towards the east entrance of Central Park. “I’m (Y/N).” _ You and Richard laughed and joked over several cups of coffee, and he even surprised you with a change of clothes when his assistant showed up with a large pink bag from Liana that was located on the Upper West Side. You told him he didn’t have to do that, and he blushed, saying that he couldn’t let you leave with dirty clothes. So, it was a Christmas Gift from Santa. He revealed that he was an actor, and after telling you the roles he was in, you palmed your face from being so stupid and not realizing who he was. He was shocked, but actually thought it was very refreshing to find someone that didn’t know him. You promised him that you would then make it a goal to look at everything he has been in. He quickly blushed and begged you not to. At this point, you needed to get out of your clothes that were starting to smell like mold and chocolate, as scent you would never want to smell again. So, you took the bag, and changed in the restroom. When you came back out, his eyes racked up and down your body. You had let your down from the hat you wore, and it fell over your large breast. As you swiped it away, Richards eyes slowly hovered on them. He pulled in his bottom lip and dragged his eyes away to look out the large window that gave a stunning view of the busy street and falling snow. You blushed and put your coat back on. Has you placed the bag with your dirty clothes next to you, you reached under the table to pet Bingo who was soundly sleeping under the table. The manager was nice enough to let you have him in the shop, but he had to behave. Luckily, he was tired enough to pass out. After an hour or two, Richard escorted you back to your apartment, and hugged you at the door. He said his goodbyes to Bingo and left. However, he did look back at you with flushed cheeks as he walked away. You were so hung up on the day’s events, that by the time you got to bed, you realized you never got his number, but also didn’t offer it. The thought saddened you so much that for weeks after you cried over once again not feeling good enough. He was an actor after all, and you were far from his type. So, as you walked into the new year, you left behind the sorry boyfriend and the thought and memory of the handsome stranger in the past. That was until the following Christmas when saw a familiar face at the tree. He turned to you, with two coffees in hand and smiled as you approached. “Fancy meeting you here again of all places!” He joked, as he handed you the coffee. - PRESENT - You told Richard that you would meet him tonight, and that you needed to talk to him about something very important. He wanted to meet you earlier to see what it was, but you told him that you needed time to think and would explain everything tonight. 

You looked from the present to the large window of a warm living room and warm bodies full of alcohol. Music, and dancing, with the smell of grilled food and fruits swirling in the air. You both were invited to a party that was for both Christmas and a friend’s birthday. Your friend insisted that the day should just be about him, but others, so everyone had to participate in Secret Santa, and you pulled Richards name. 

There he stood with his friends, and a choir of beautiful women around him. One of them was lucky enough to hold his attention a bit longer than the rest. She had long curly brown hair that framed her thin body well, and she wore a bright blue dress. Plying him with compliments on his success, and his talent they all were doing, but, Samantha, his very recent ex and very still close friend was all over him. You could tell that she wanted him back, and she tried everything in her power to not have you near him. She was always so clearly rude to you, and Richard always apologized for her behavior. You didn’t want to make a fuss because, what if you did and he picked her side? What if you lost him for good? You couldn’t take that chance. 

“I can’t do this anymore” you said to yourself. “I can’t compete with those women, and not with Samantha.” You started to back out of the door. “What would he even see in me?” You looked down at yourself. Your body wasn’t right, you weren’t right for him, and he would see you as nothing more than his chubby friend and take pity on you. That’s all it was. That’s all it ever was these pasts few years. He must know how you feel, and just wanted to be polite and not hurt you. 

You looked back at the gift and then back at Richard. Sam had pulled him close and kissed him deeply in front of everyone. His hands remained off of her body, and his eyes opened from surprise, but when she pulled away from him, her eyes locked with yours. She grinned at you, and then went back to pressing her body to Richards. He hadn’t even noticed you were in the room, or that you were around him. 

“What am I even doing here?” you said looking around. Most of these people you didn’t even know and the only person you cared about was surrounded by groupies, and an ex-girlfriend that he would most likely ditch you for. You started to back away from the crowd.

 Something in you broke when you said it. You felt the pain and hurt rise in your chest, and when it hit your eyes, you knew that you had to leave. You couldn’t even bring yourself to walk through the door and speak to him. He wouldn’t have even noticed that you were here or let alone didn’t come.  As your eyes glazed over, your attention was shaken when someone in the room shouted your name, you made eye contact, and then blinked as a tear rolled down your face. You waved them off, and turned to walk out the door, dropping Richards gift in the trash.

 By the time you got back home, you stopped in your tracks, wide eyed at what was waiting for you on your steps. There were 2 dozen roses in front of your door and your entire doorway covered in twinkling lights with post cards, and letters that you recognized. Every letter that you ever wrote him. Every email. Little trinkets of things he took when you both went out together; napkins with doodles, bottle caps from drinks you shared, movie stubs, every single adorable selfie you took and sent him, and ones you took together and a un opened box of your favorite perfume. Everything about your relationship hug on your front door. 

You couldn’t say anything but bite your bottom and look at the door in confusion. 

“What do you think?” came a voice from behind you. You turned to see Richard standing there with his hands in his pocket and a smile on his face. He caught up to you. 

“Why do you still have all this stuff?” you ask, your voice shaking as you try to hold back the tears, and fear of what was going on. 

“Why do you think?” He said as you stepped to your side and slipping his hand into yours, he looked at the door with a smile.

“How…did you even?” you said, as you looked down at your intertwined fingers. The touch of his skin sent shivers down your spine. 

“I’ve loved you since the moment we met.” He said confidently, obviously ignoring your question of how he got all of this here without you knowing. 

“What?” you soft said, in disbelief. You turned your head to look at him. He chuckles as he looks up and over to the left in remembrance. 

“Do you have any idea how many times I came back to that tree the next year when we met? I showed up at different hours, and days with two coffees just hoping you would come back. Waited for hours actually.” He looked down at you with a smile, and twinkling eyes, “I needed to see you again. I even showed up at your flat, but the landlord said you moved, and didn’t have your new address.” He turned his entire body towards you this time, your one hand still intertwined, and as he pulled the other hand out of his pocket, to put it on your hip, he leaned into whisper in your ear. “I couldn’t stop thinking of you.” 

You put your hands on his chest to steady yourself, and gripped the lapels of his shirt, holding him close, your face pressed upward into his neck. Your lips grazed his skin, and you felt him shiver under them. The smell of his skin was so sweet, like honey and lavender. 

“I couldn’t get you off of my mind either.” You confessed, but now you felt so bad. You threw his gift away after such a romantic gesture from him. 

“Richard…” his name slipped through your lips slowly, and you felt as his cheeks grazed yours. His lips were so close to yours. You could feel his heart beating on your hands. “I feel so stupid.”

“Why?”

“I got a little upset and threw your gift in the trash.” you said as you laughed to yourself. 

“I don’t need anything but you.” He whispered onto your lips, “The best gift I have ever asked for.” 

Richard cups your face in his hands and your eyes connect with his.

“I love you.” He says as he connects his lips with yours.

 When your lips meet it was as if a spark went off in you, and now your entire body was ablaze. You grab one of his lapels. He smiles against your lips. You allow one hand to play with his collar, while the other tangle in his hair. He responds, grasping at the back of your clothing. 

A gust of wind rustles your hair, and Richard pulls back when he feels you shiver in his arms. He reaches out to brush a strand out of your eyes. You notice the beginning of the smile on his lips.

“What?” you ask, leaning into his ever so gentle touch. 

“Do you fancy a cup of coffee and walk through the park?” he asked.

“I thought you would never ask.” He smiled charmingly as he straightens his back as he did before, and bent his arm at the elbow, and looked down at you. “Shall we?” 

You beamed up at him as you slipped your hand between his arm and body. Your other hand came up to gentle close the circle of your hands on his arm as you so fondly remember doing every year.  “My name is Richard by the way.” He copied from the first time you met.  “I’m (Y/N)”, you chimed back.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”  “And where have you been my entire life?” You replied back, putting your other hand on your chest dramatically like an actress.  Richard chuckled, and picked one of your hands up from his arm, kissed your finger tips, then knuckles, and finally a lingering one on the back of your hand, and said... “Right here my love” He said, almost poetically. As he bent at the waist, and bowed at you with his hand over his heart. You looked up at you and with a smile, he rose, and lifted his arm up for you to twirl under it. after you did, he pulled you close to him, and kissed your forehead. 

You walked off together towards the park, knowing that every year would be magical as long as he was with you.   END

[taesthetes]

the universe of us.

“I love you.” — “I know.”

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader | kim taehyung x reader genre: slight comedy, angst, fluff type: dream / fantasy / slice of life au word count: 21,112 words warnings: none author’s note: thank you to the true mvps @zephyoongist​, @gukstudio, and @syubits for all their aggressive motivation through means of screaming at me to continue dragging myself through this wild ride until the completion of this nightmare monstrosity. the italicized quote mentioned in this was said by dr. suess. i wrote this while listening to this song, and this fic is also inspired by the only two japanese films i’ve ever watched: “your name” and “five centimeters per second.”

nefelibata : (noun) lit. “cloud-walker”; the one who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams

The story of Icarus tells of a naive being who loved the sun and flew too close, leading to his untimely descent into the ocean. But what the tale didn’t speak of was how the sun and the moon fell in love with him, too. And with the pull of the tides due to the attraction of the sun and the moon, he tosses and turns, torn between two entities.

So if Kim Taehyung embodies the sun, then Jeon Jungkook is the moon.

And you are Icarus.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

In a realm of pointless illusions and shadows of reality, dreams are not something you tend to dwell over. Some say it is within dreams where your selfish desires, wants, hopes, and subconscious manifest into a tentative form. As a lucid dreamer, you absolutely enjoy delving into illusions of roaming the boisterous halls of Hogwarts or taking flight into the air as you stretch your fingers out and almost touch the second star to the right.

You never actively try to find the hidden meanings behind the imagined moments that play beneath your eyelids and find purchase within the secret crevices within your mind. There simply is no point in doing so when they are not seen as an escape from reality because you are more than satisfied, daresay happy even, with the way your life is.

You found happiness within a circle of trustworthy and wonderful friends, a stable and amazing job that you actually do not dread going to in the morning, a beautiful and spacious apartment, and to top it off, a very cute and lovable dog named Soonshim whom you are a proud parent of with your boyfriend. More so, after all, you know you're in love when you can't fall asleep because reality is finally better than your dreams. And you are completely head over heels for a certain Kim Taehyung.

But then you find yourself slipping between the stratums of real and make-believe, existence and reverie, day and night under the guise of slumber and fantasies, thrown headfirst into an entirely new life that leaves you confused and chasing after something—or rather, someone—who is more than just silly daydreams and butterflies.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The spacious area you are standing in is so tastefully decorated with a warm, yet minimalistic look. A comfortable, ebony L-shaped couch is pressed against the wall with a simple matching coffee table in front of it along with a large flat screen television fashioned against the wall along with a full sound system installed. A black bookcase is against the wall with a potted plant stands in the corner along with a keyboard and a guitar finding residence in the other corner of the room. The soft, ivory colored carpet beneath your bare toes feels like absolute heaven. There is a small hallway that most likely leads to several bedrooms and bathrooms.

There is no divider between the living room and the kitchen area. You have a full view of the beautiful state of the art kitchen space with white cupboards, marble countertops, and black wood island counter complete with elegant bar stools. The wall with the flat screen fashioned to it separates the living room and the dining room, which is adjacent to the kitchen area. A black dining table set with six cushioned chairs is behind the wall.

Turning around, you are staring in awe at the absolutely breath-taking city view courtesy of the floor to ceiling glass windows. Wanting a better look, you go over and slide open the glass door, stepping out onto the balcony, which houses two lounge chairs, a small patio table set, and various pots of vibrant, blooming flowers. The cityscape knocks the air out of your lungs as your jaw drops, and you take in the vivacious, bustling streets below and the tall buildings that poke a hole in the cloudless, endless azure span of the sky.

To put it lightly, it is a dream house. Or a gorgeous penthouse found on the nineteenth floor, to be more specific. You are feeling absolutely giddy, dancing around happily for a few seconds, before rushing inside once more to explore the rest of the home. But you come to an unexpected halt, a scream bubbling out from your throat. You are entirely disconcerted when your gaze is shockingly met with a rather unfamiliar pair of eyes: kind, dark brown, doe-like ones.

An unbelievably attractive stranger, judging to be approximately the same age as you, stands in the entrance of the hallway, completely startled by the shriek. His black hair is slightly tousled, and he is casually dressed in a pair of dark gray sweats and a loose black shirt that dips low enough to see his well-defined collarbones. The young man reaches out for you, but stops when you let out a small squeak, having backpedaled and now feeling your back touch the bookshelves behind you.

“Babe, are you alright?” he asks, concerned. His eyes widen, and you almost drown in the intensity of his gaze.

“Wha—I, who are you?” you stammer out, keeping your eyes trained the unfamiliar male in front of you.

His eyebrows furrow in confusion before he opens his mouth to speak.

“I’m Jeon Jungkook, your boyfriend.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You jolt awake, eyes wide open as they begin to adjust to the darkness. Your breathing steadies out, shaky puffs of air escaping between your parted lips, as your dream is still so vividly painted in your mind as it was on the back of your eyelids mere moments ago. Taehyung sleeps soundly next to you, his arm comfortably slung over your torso as he clings to you.

You feel flustered, dreaming about another man—someone who is not the one currently by your side and a complete stranger no less—being your significant other. You hurriedly shove away any thoughts of the man in your dreams. Turning onto your side to face Taehyung, you carefully brush away the strands of his brown locks away from his eyes, and his nose scrunches up subconsciously. Smiling to yourself, you press a light kiss to his nose before snuggling up against your boyfriend. Closing your eyes, you try to fall asleep again.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You cannot believe it. You are back in the same exact place as before.

"What the heck?" you mumble to yourself before carefully making your way across the carpet and towards the bookcase. You let out a small chuckle when you notice all seven books of the Harry Potter series lined up neatly on one of the shelves. A few unlit candles and small succulent plants are placed here and there. But what you look at more closely are the neatly framed photographs set on the shelves. All of them are images of you and him. There are one or two candid shots of you alone or solo pictures of him, but the majority are photos of the two of you together. 

Mouth agape, you can only stare at the visual evidence of your supposed relationship with this man. You brush your fingers against the cool, clear glass covering a photograph of him piggy backing you somewhere at the beach. The both of you are grinning widely as your head is thrown back in mid laugh while he is looking back at you with one of the prettiest, purest smiles you have ever seen. Of course, his smile cannot even hold a candle next to Taehyung's, but still, it is quite nice, you have to admit.

Your eyes catch on the phone that was thrown carelessly on the couch. You would recognize your phone case with the decorating cats and pancakes stickers on the back anywhere. Snatching it up quickly, you quickly look around to make sure your supposed boyfriend is nowhere to be found before turning on your phone. A picture of the most adorable, fluffiest golden Pomeranian dog is set as your lock screen, and you almost die from the sheer overload of cuteness, becoming starry eyed over the image for a few seconds before remembering your initial intention.

Fumbling with the phone and clumsily hitting out the passcode in your haste, you quickly click on the messaging app, finding the names of all your friends listed there, including one Jungcocky with a bunny emoji and bicep emoji. Picking out Taehyung’s name quite easily due to the slew of hearts and dog emojis he himself had put there no doubt, you tap out a text.

[12:31 pm] you: hey where are you

[12:31 pm] taetae: im bored

[12:31 pm] taetae: im in some stupid meeting and its a SATURDAY save me D: >_< ;-;

Quietly laughing to yourself, you cannot help but smile when you are reminded by his excessive use of emoticons.

[12:32 pm] you: ew gross )); late lunch date later? craving ice cream

[12:32 pm] taetae: asjffs i can’t )’:

[12:32 pm] taetae: go with kook this time

[12:32 pm] taetae: havE FUN WITH UR LOVER <3333

Fingers frozen and still hovering over the keyboard, your heart drops and gets buried six feet under when your eyes flit over his latest message that confirms it all.

[12:33 pm] taetae:  AND I JUST BOUGHT AN ISLAND HOW COOL IS THAT???? :D

“What the actual fuck,” you whisper out, forehead wrinkling as you squint and reread the latest message Taehyung sent you over and over again. You laugh in disbelief. “He just bought an island?!”

“Are you talking about Tae?” Jungkook suddenly appears beside you, plopping down on the couch and slinging an arm over your shoulders, and you almost suffer from a heart attack. Shrugging his arm off, you scoot over a few inches away from him, still very wary of this strange man.

“Christ, are you a ninja or something? Make some noise before you come into a room or something,” you exclaim, and he smirks back at you. “And yeah, he apparently bought an island in the middle of his meeting.”

Jungkook snorts, “Of course, he would.”

“What? Where does he get the money for that?!”

Jungkook looks at you curiously. “His startup company, remember? His chip took off, and he’s working with Apple and Samsung to start putting it in their phones and stuff.”

Frozen, you can only stare down at the phone still nestled in your hands. A small, proud smile forms on your face as you look down adoringly at the small contact icon of Taehyung beaming back at you, a signature V hand sign completing his image.

“He made it.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Soft kisses are pressed all over your face, and you slowly open your eyes. The early rays of sunlight filtering through the filmy curtains cast odd shapes and shadows over the comforter. Taehyung grins down at you, head resting in his hand as he lays on his stomach next to you. Giving him a mischievous glance, you loop your arms around his neck and tug him down, and he lets out a small yelp before laughing freely. Returning the affection, you place tiny kisses along his jawline before making a line down from his forehead to his chin, purposely skipping his lips to which he lets out a whine. Giggling, Taehyung scoops you into his arms, flopping onto his back and pulling you into his chest before kissing you gently on the mouth.

“We have to get up for work,” he sighs, his baritone voice deeper than usual in the morning. “I’m still working on the microchip, and we’re trying out another coding process for it. We have everything written and planned out, but if we can just perfect this code, the chip will be able to add another thirty extra gigabytes to any phone.”

A quick flashback to your dream last night brings the tiniest of smiles to your face.

“You’ll get it, Tae. I know you will.” Snuggling your head under his chin, you trace invisible patterns on his chest, enjoying the early moments of the day you have with him. The days are long and spent apart from each other; the quiet moments that occur before the city wakes itself are the ones that mean the most. He hums softly in response, the rumblings reverberating in his chest.

“And how’s your work going?” he asks quietly, hand weaving through the tangled ends of your hair.

“They gave me my first big shot client to work with, so I may have to come home late tonight. I really need to seal the deal with this client as fast as possible,” you answer, letting out a sigh. “My previous clients were more of minor companies. They were super satisfied with the product designs I came up with, so the company is trusting me with a bigger client pool now with more important clients.”

“Should we move our dinner plans to nine then?” Taehyung’s hands find yours, and he stretches your interlocked fingers towards the ceiling, admiring the way his hands envelop your smaller ones like a safety net.

“Only if you’re willing to try and make pasta from scratch with me that late,” you laugh, clasping onto his hand tightly. One squeeze. Four squeezes. Three squeezes. It was an unspoken “I love you” that conveys the same amount of emotions, if not more, without needing to move your lips.

“Anything for you, sunshine.”

“Great, I can’t wait to see your latest plating skills.”

“Hey, ‘Squirrel Locked in Garden’ was my pièce de résistance that only true artists can appreciate.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You find yourself standing in front of the counter this time with an unopened carton of your favorite ice cream set in front of you and the utensils drawer opened. Quickly taking out a spoon and pulling off the lid of the pint, you scoop out a hefty amount and almost moan as the first taste of the sweet goodness. Hey, if your dream gives you ice cream, you are never going to question it. A quiet jingling captures your attention, and a nudge to your leg has you looking down in surprise. The very same dog from your lock screen peers up at you, yapping excitedly.

"Oh my god, dog." Immediately, you put down the food to kneel down and pet the furry animal, squealing as it comes up and places its paws on your knees, tail wagging furiously. The jingling sound makes an appearance again, and you carefully grasp at the small tag hanging from its collar.

"Cookie," you read aloud, smiling widely as the dog nearly jumps into your arms and nuzzles your face.

"You called?"

With a small squeal, your head snaps up to see the same man from before, leaning against the wall, with an amused expression on his face.

"What?" You blink, staring at him—Jungkook if you remembered his name correctly—in confusion. You are a bit wary, hugging the dog tighter to your chest. Sure, you can trust any new dog in a nanosecond, but someone you never met before? Never.

He tilts his head to one side in a way very much similar to the cute dog in front of you that is cocking its head to one side as well. "You sometimes call me that. Kookie."

"Oh." You scrutinize the man who is supposedly your boyfriend.

"Should I be flattered that you still shamelessly check me out even after all these years?" Jungkook smirks, striking a greatly exaggerated model pose, and you cannot help but let a tiny laugh come out. But then you realize what he just said and—

"After all these years?" you echo his last words in bewilderment.

"Yeah, you've been stuck with me for a whopping eleven years since the start of high school." Grinning, he crosses his arms over his chest and damn, if you did not notice how defined his arms were before, you certainly did now.

You study him quietly, mentally noting down all your observations. He is dressed in another pair of loose sweat pants, but they are black this time, and a white shirt drapes onto his shoulders. His ebony hair is combed out better than before, but still retains a sort of wavy style. His nose slopes down slightly, leading to his mouth, cupid’s bow curving, forming into a mischievous smirk when he notices you are still staring at him, eyes crinkling in the corners.

But then, the thought of your actual boyfriend comes to mind, and you blurt out, "What about Tae?"

A look of surprise crosses his face. "Taehyung? What about him?”

“Where is he?” you ask in desperation, and confusion contorts his face.

“Uh, he’s probably at his house? I'm not really sure." His lips quirk into a teasing smile. "But I'm surprised you asked since you've been his best friend way longer than I have. If you have no idea, then how would I?"

Your heart nearly stops in your chest at this. Even if you already learned this before, it still does hurt. Why is Taehyung your best friend only? What about being your boyfriend? Why isn't he your boyfriend here? Wrapped up in your thoughts, you bite your lip, contemplating and tapping the spoon against your mouth lightly. Jungkook strides over to pick up the remote control, turning on the flat screen and video game console. Cookie wriggles out from your hands and pads over to the couch, jumping up and circling a few times before settling down.

"Super Smash Bros Brawl?" Startled, you look over at Jungkook comfortably sprawled out on one side of the couch, holding one controller in the air out towards you. You stay silent, contemplating your choices: should you make a run for it or should you sit down and play video games with some delusional man who calls himself your boyfriend?

"Afraid that I'll kick your ass this time?" Jungkook asks, grinning widely, and that completely settles it for you, flaring up that competitive streak in you. You grab the ice cream carton, spoon still stuck in it, and march over to where he sits.

"Hand over that controller."

Plucking it from his grasp, you sit down on the other end of the couch, Cookie immediately coming over to snuggle down in your lap, and you pet the dog happily with one hand as you flick through the various animated characters on the screen, finally settling for Zelda and Sheik.

"Darn dog never gives me any affection. Does he even know who he’s named after anyway?" Jungkook mutters, pouting, and you crack a smile at his words while you expertly maneuver your way around the battle ground, toggling back and forth with Zelda.

He is different from Taehyung, you silently observe. Taehyung usually lets you win even though you insist on playing fair and square. Your naturally competitive nature had become dormant over the years, but playing with Jungkook has caused it to reappear. Executing every move and play with ease, you battle against his character with more vigor than you usually do. And begrudgingly, you admit to yourself silently that you are enjoying yourself.

It is merely a dream, you reason in your head, momentarily distracted, and Jungkook lands a critical hit. Letting out a victory whoop, he smashes your character out in sudden death. Shaking your head, you let out a laugh before pressing the start button again, determined to win the next round.

Again, it is only a dream. You are simply playing a video game with someone. This is something you do with a friend. Who is a boy. And is supposedly your boyfriend. He seems harmless enough.

Plus, he is only a figment of your imagination after all.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Exhausted from staying overtime, you trudge down the hall and towards your and Taehyung’s shared apartment, slotting your key and twisting it before opening the door and walking in. Kicking off your kitten heels and placing them neatly by the door, you walk into the kitchen, only to find your boyfriend standing with what looks like a lumpy ball of dough in his hands, a splotch of flour on his cheek that goes unnoticed by him. He is focused on kneading out the dough, still unaware of your presence, the tip of his tongue sticking out in concentration.

Unable to stop yourself from smiling, you lean against the fridge, crossing your arms over your chest. “Well, hey there, hot stuff. What are you making?”

With a yelp, Taehyung looks up, wide eyed. “You’re home already? I was going to surprise you with pasta I made because I knew you were going to be tired and—”

“God, I love you so much.” At his explanation, your heart swells a hundredfold before you stride over to him and kiss him on the mouth quickly before leaning away, brushing off the stray flour on his face affectionately. Crimson blooms on his sun kissed cheeks as he grins happily at you.

“I made another masterpiece for you! It’s in the fridge,” he pipes up, still beaming widely.

“Oh, really? I don’t know if anything can top your squirrel one though,” you tease, making your way to the fridge and opening it. “Well, I stand corrected.”

“It’s called ‘Fish Stuck in Sea’!” states Taehyung gleefully as you pull out his latest food art.

“Wow… I just… wow, Tae. I don’t know what to say,” you say seriously, keeping up a straight face for a few more seconds, before finally breaking out into giggles. “It is truly an original beauty.”

“I know, right?” Taehyung says proudly, abandoning the dough, before going over to you and wrapping his arms around your waist, your back pressed against his chest as he rests his head on your shoulder. The both of you admire his chef-d'oeuvre, identical smiles on your faces.

Taehyung had made Jell-O, brightly colored with blue food dye with the use of a Bundt cake tin. He had stuck goldfish crackers in the Jell-O here and there, letting it harden in the refrigerator before flipping the tin onto a fancy cake stand.

“Amazing, Tae… Should we eat it now?”

“… Yeah. I really only made it because I was craving Jell-O.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The pasta came out perfectly, and the two of you had a pleasant dinner filled with funny office stories, and recounts of daily mishaps. After cleaning up, Taehyung chose a Studio Ghibli movie to watch. After turning on the television set and putting in the disc, he jumps onto the bed, patting the spot next to him for you. As you slip under the covers, Taehyung pulls you to his chest, bodies tangled together. Aside from quiet murmurs and occasional soft giggles, the only sounds came from the screen in front, the two of you quietly enjoying your time together.

When the credits roll onto the screen, Taehyung lazily turns off the television set. Setting the remote back on the nightstand, he settles down in bed again and presses a soft kiss to your forehead as you snuggle closer to him.

“Good night, sunshine. I love you.”

“G’night, Tae. I love you.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The penthouse is silent.

Clutching Cookie to your chest, you peek into every room, making sure Jungkook or anyone in general is not hiding anywhere. During your search, you discovered an art room. After making an entire round around the large apartment, you return to the space turned art studio. Gently placing Cookie down on the floor, you gaze at your surroundings as the dog heads straight for a small nest of pillows in the corner, jumping straight onto them and settling down.

The area is basked in the natural light coming from the ceiling to floor windows. On the one side, there are graphite pencils and ink markers scattered across the surface of the desk. A haphazardly stacked array of sketchbooks is teetering on the edge of the table. Several different models of cameras line up against the wall on the desk, and many photographs are tacked up on the wall. Taking a step closer to see the images, your breath is abruptly stolen from you when your eyes roam over the pictures. A door is next to the desk, a paper with the words ‘dark room’ scrawled in an unfamiliar handwriting taped on it.

With one glance over the other half of the room, you immediately know it is yours. An easel is set up next to the windows, an unfinished painting of the landscape below covering part of the canvas. A carefully compiled collage of graphite sketches and various water colors make its home on the wall in front of the desk. Colored pencils are positioned neatly in their boxes, like little soldiers standing in line and ready for duty. Tubes of paint decorate the top edge of the desk. A canvas heavily splashed with a myriad of hues sits in the bottom right corner of the desk to dry, and the once colorful palette now devoid of any vibrant splatters has returned to its position next to the colored pencils. A recycled glass decorated with the very same paints rests in the desk’s upper left corner, filled with varying types of graphite. Another glass holds ink pens. The last one carries paintbrushes. A sketchbook is flipped open to a fresh page in the center of the desk.

Excitedly walking over to the desk, you take a seat and stare down at untainted paper, a plethora of ideas already bursting from your mind and wanting to inch its way onto the ridged paper in front of you. Perhaps a still life of a gerbera daisy will dance its way onto the sheet. Or maybe a paper white narcissus will come to life, or possibly, you will draw a hand. Painting an exaggerated self-portrait sounds tempting as well. A small bark from the Pomeranian in the corner causes an idea to bloom in your mind, and you start to draw, stealing glances at the dog every once in a while.

Forty minutes later, you have a completed sketch of Cookie sprawled on the cushions. Satisfied with your finished artwork, you take a tape dispenser with you as you amble over to the relaxing dog. Crouching down, you carefully tape up the drawing on the wall at Cookie’s eyelevel.

“There. Now you have something in your art corner as well,” you say, admiring your drawing. “Do you like it, Cookie?”

“That’s cute as fuck.”

With a yelp, you flail slightly and fall on your bottom, causing Jungkook to chuckle from the doorway. Wide eyed and mouth open comically, you stare at him in surprise from the floor, which makes him laugh even harder.

“Need help getting up?” He smirks, eyes crinkling in the corners, and you scramble to stand up.

“No, I’m fine, thank you.”

“I got your favorite takeout for dinner. It’s on the table.” He disappears from the doorway, walking to the kitchen. Your favorite takeout? Does he know it? Even Taehyung sometimes doesn’t know it because you change it every week or so and has to call you to check. Curious, you make your way to the kitchen as well, Cookie following behind you.

When you see the tell-tale bag of the burger place down the street, you are somewhat impressed. How did he even know that was what you wanted? Okay, but surely, he could not have gotten your order correct.

“Cheeseburger with grilled onions, pickles, mustard grilled patty, and extra sauce? And an order of animal style fries and a Neapolitan milkshake?” he speaks up, and your jaw drops. How did he even—

“I overheard you talking to Tae about wanting a burger earlier.” He gives you a sheepish smile. “And you ordered that when we went there a while ago, so I figured…”

“I—thank you.” You stumble over your words, still in disbelief. You sit down on the bar stool adjacent to his.

His smile widens before he steals a fry from you amidst your protests. “You’re welcome.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Sitting in your friend’s apartment for a movie night, you wrap your arms around a pillow, squeezing it to your chest. Ann returns from the kitchen, holding a bowl of popcorn and a few bags of various junk food. Rys follows behind, clutching onto an apple juice for you and three fizzy drinks for her, Ann, and Elle. Dumping the food and drinks onto the coffee table, the two of them sprawl out onto the couch. Elle chooses to sit on the floor next to the table because “The closer to food, the better.” You opt to sit in the armchair, curling up as you hug the pillow with a blanket thrown over your legs, mind wandering back to the dreams that have been plaguing you the past month. Every night, you had a different dream, but they all revolved around him, some taking place in the here and now, while others reveal new bits and pieces of your supposed relationship from first dates to prom night to college outings.

“What do you think they’re all doing?” Rys wonders aloud, and Ann snorts, “The boys? They’re all at Taehyung and _______’s apartment probably playing a bunch of video games and screaming at the screen.”

“God, if they’re playing Mario Kart and Jin loses, he’s gonna come home so sulky,” sighs Elle, shaking her head.

“Good thing Hobi isn’t that competitive over video games,” Ann laughs before turning on the flatscreen and pulling up Netflix. “What are we watching tonight?”

“Oh god, anything but horror.” Elle shudders as she reaches for her soda. Grabbing a bag of cheese crackers, Rys agrees, “Something funny would be good. A rom-com?”

“Yeah, sounds good.” Ann turns to you. “Any suggestions, _______... _______? Hey, you there?”

Rys reaches over, waving her hand in front of your face slightly, and you break your chain of thought. “What? Sorry, I kind of spaced out.”

Elle looks at you, worried. “You’ve been doing that lately. Is everything okay?”

You hesitate, fiddling with your fingers. Should you tell them? Would they think you are crazy or overthinking it? You already think you are going crazy over these dreams. But the thoughts of keeping the dreams to yourself have been driving you insane, consuming your mind every minute as you ponder over every nightly fantasy down to the smallest detail. It has gotten to the point that when Taehyung does something, you immediately compare him to Jungkook. And you absolutely hate that, your stomach churning and mind uneasy that you keep making comparisons between your boyfriend and someone who is not real.

“I’ve been… having some dreams,” you admit, twisting the edge of the blanket around your finger anxiously.

“You mean, like scary nightmares?” questions Rys.

“Or… naughty dreams?” Ann winks at you. You immediately launch the pillow in your hands at her, and she squeals when it squarely hits her. “Okay, okay, I take it as a no then.”

“It’s like…” you start to say, and they all quiet down, looking at you expectantly. “… it’s a whole different life. Well, everything is the same around me, but my life is different. I have an entirely different life with someone who isn’t Tae.”

“Is that it? I have dreams about being with Liam Hemsworth, so don’t worry, you’re not the only one who doesn’t dream about their boyfriend,” says Ann, shrugging slightly and waving her hand dismissively.

“No, but it’s different!” you insist. “I get dreams that connect to each other… I thought they were just dreams of my life happening right now but with someone else… but there are time skips happening in some dreams, like I get dreams where I’m in high school again or college and then I have dreams when I’m five years older and in the future or something… and I get a lot that happen now too… but it’s of the same life, same relationship with the same man in every dream. And it’s been happening every single night for the past month.”

The three of them exchange silent glances, confused. You get exasperated, sharply inhaling. “You all think I’m crazy, don’t you?”

“No, of course not!” Rys protests, and Elle speaks up, “Have you seen… this man, um, outside of your dreams?”

“No! I don’t even know who he is or if my mind just decided to conjure up a random person. But I somehow have this entire relationship built up with him, and I don’t know why,” you sigh, clenching and unclenching your fists to stop yourself from getting so worked up.

“What does he look like?” Ann asks, stretching out to grab her soda and taking a sip of it. You reach down to your bag, rummaging around to find a pencil and any stray receipts or papers. Pulling out a wrinkled sheet with one of your discarded product designs, you flatten it out the best you can before sketching out a quick drawing of him and holding it up for them to see.

“Well, damn,” Rys whistles, peering at the drawing.

“He’s really cute.” Elle comments, and Ann agrees, “Yeah, super good looking. Damn, it’s like your dreams are literally blessed with a man of your dreams.”

“Guys, this isn’t about how attractive this dude is—I’m trying to figure out what’s going on with all these weird dreams.”

“Okay, yeah, but you agree, right? Because that man looks fine as fuck,” Ann says, smirking, and you move to throw another pillow at her. “Alright, alright, fine, just put the missile down, woman.”

“Is there other people in the dreams? Or is it just you and him?” Rys asks, all thoughts of a movie now forgotten.

“Everyone is in it. Even Tae. And he knows we’re dating. Everyone else’s lives are the exact same, except for mine. It’s like I’m going through every single one of my memories and adding in some boy who doesn’t even exist.”

“Every memory? What did you learn about him?”

“From the beginning? Well, his name is Jeon Jungkook, and we met in an English class I had in second semester, freshman year. It was the one with Mrs. Jung, and I knew no one in that class. He sat next to me and apparently forgot his book, and I offered to share mine. And we were just reading partners and always compared our notes with each other in class,” You start, and they all nod their heads, gesturing for you to continue.

“And during lunch one day, Tae was doing that thing, you know, where he sings that song ‘You Are My Sunshine’ to me because he knows I’ll do anything to get him to stop.” You smile fondly as your friends laugh, witnessing that firsthand so many times. “And Jungkook comes along, and he asks me out… and for some reason, I said yes.”

“Wait, hold up.” Ann holds her hand out. “You said yes? Aren’t you dating Tae by then?”

“No… he was just my best friend… and I saw him talking to Ave a lot, and they were really close, so you know, I thought… they were dating in my dream. I wasn’t thinking straight!” you burst out, twisting a strand of your hair around your finger tightly.

Something about Jungkook makes you forget Taehyung when you are in his presence. He reminds you of the beginnings of relationships with the unknown feelings and tentative gestures, something that intrigues you, like a moth drawn to the flame. In a way, he is like Taehyung, but you do not want to try your luck for a second time because you might crash and burn.

“Okay, okay, but it’s just a dream, so it’s okay,” reassures Elle, offering you a bag of potato chips tentatively, and you take them, thanking her. It is probably a good time to start eating your feelings out anyway.

“Did anything else happen?” asks Ann, biting her lower lip.

“Well, there were the first dates, you know, like going to the movies and then hanging out after school. Just the usual high school dates, except they weren’t with Tae… we went to that carnival with everyone else, and we both won stuffed animals though.” You add in as an afterthought before a tiny smile appears on your face. “He was surprisingly very good at the football toss, unlike Tae. Remember how I won Tae the tiger plushie?”

Elle laughs, “Yeah, he squealed so loudly and showed off his happy dance and then gave you such a big hug and kept clinging onto you and the stuffed animal after that.”

“Yeah, he was really cute.” You grin, remembering that night so clearly and the way Taehyung grinned so brightly at you. Even now, your heart flutters at the memory, and the tiger plush has made its home on the chair in your shared bedroom with Taehyung. “It just feels, I don’t know… so wrong to have all these new memories—dreams, I mean—in all the same places where I fell in love with Tae.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Laughing as you and Ann walk out of history class together, she nudges your arm, nodding her head in the direction of your locker down the hallway. The hallways are crowded with students all swarming out from the classrooms and rushing to leave after the last bell rang. Bobbing your head around, you finally spot Jungkook standing awkwardly near your locker.

You give her a questioning look, and she giggles, “Did you forget? He’s waiting for you at your locker for your study date. You know, for the English project you’ve been doing? Anyway, have fun! Go get him, tiger!”

With a wave and a light shoving of you in his direction, she goes in the opposite way towards her locker where Hoseok is standing and waving excitedly at her. He gives her a tight hug, and you cannot help, but smile. They are always cute together, even if they cause you to lose a good ten years of your life every now and then from their antics. Weaving your way around the other students, you find your locker: number 247 and Jungkook waiting there. He gives you a large grin, and you tentatively return it, spinning the right combination before opening your locker.

“How was your class?” he asks, slipping his hands into the pockets of his high school uniform.

“Honestly? I didn’t pay attention. Ann and I were mostly fooling around and sending each other memes in the back,” you answer, taking out the books you needed and placing them into your backpack before slamming your locker shut.

Jungkook chuckles before clearing his throat nervously. “So, um, I was wondering… if you wanted to… uh…”

Turning towards him, you tilt your head, waiting for him to finish. He becomes flustered, unable to finish, and you giggle quietly. “What is it, Jungkook?”

“Can we take the long way to your house? The way through the park this time?” He rubs the back of his neck, his face reddening as he avoids your gaze and holds in his breath, puffing up his cheeks. You are not going to lie; he looks downright adorable.

“Sure.” You let out a laugh when his head snaps up and he stares at you in surprise. “Wait, really?”

“Yes, really. Unless you changed your mind in the past three seconds?”

“N-no, okay, are you ready to leave?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

The two of you walk in the direction of your home, cutting through the park. You spot an ice cream cart, and your eyes brighten. Grabbing Jungkook’s hand to his surprise, you drag him over to the nearest wooden bench. “Can you wait here for a bit? I’ll be right back, I promise!”

Nodding dazedly, he still registers that your hand in his and it is so soft compared to his hands. You give him a genuine smile before sliding off your backpack and putting it down on the space next to him. Taking out your wallet from the small pocket, you race over to the ice cream cart, standing in line behind two younger girls and a mother with her small child.

Jungkook quietly laughs when he sees you giddily hopping from one foot to the other. Looking around, he notices a small patch of tiny daisies growing in the grass next to him. Leaning down and gently plucking one with a long stem, he carefully loops it and ties the end of its stem below the flower. He is careful, holding the delicate flower up to his eye level as he slowly tightens the knot so as not to break it. Satisfied with the end result, he pinches it lightly between his forefinger and thumb, waiting patiently for your return.

Five minutes later, you return, two cones in your hand, one with chocolate ice cream and one with vanilla for yourself. Grinning slightly, you hand him the chocolate dessert, and his eyes light up as he thanks you happily. Taking it from you with one hand, he shyly holds up the daisy creation with the other.

“Jungkook, wha—”

He takes your now empty hand and quickly slips on the daisy ring he made. “For you.”

You cannot suppress the smile you are holding back any longer, and you grin, looking down at the pretty flower. “Thank you.”

Jungkook smiles, squeezing your hand before grabbing his backpack and yours and hurriedly walking towards the direction of your house, trying to conceal his burning cheeks. You admire the ring for a few more seconds before catching up to him, that familiar feeling of high school crushes emerging in your chest.

You do not notice the tiny heart with your initials and his newly carved into the bench.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Jungkook takes you to prom in senior year. And everything was the same, but simultaneously different. Hoseok was absolutely crushing it on the dance floor while Ann cheered him on. Jimin and Rys were quietly talking with each other at the table still, and Jin was still persuading Elle to join him in doing something he called his “traffic dance.” The rest of the boys were hovering around the cupcake bar, thoroughly enjoying themselves.

Everything is the exactly same, except… Taehyung is over there and Jungkook is next to you instead. Jungkook’s arms are around your waist, and yours are loosely clasped behind his neck as the two of you sway to the music, Jason Mraz’s “I Won’t Give Up” coming through the speakers.

The nostalgia hits you when you remember standing here with Taehyung, but with Jason Mraz’s “Lucky” playing as you two giggle quietly amongst yourselves and he whispers ridiculous things, like random facts about dogs and how his favorite drink is hot chocolate with whipped cream and exactly ten miniature marshmallows and oh yeah, how he loves you very very much, way more than cute dogs and hot chocolate.

Your heart clenches in your chest, and you glance over at Taehyung, who is happily eating a cupcake and dancing around a rather disgruntled Yoongi. He makes eye contact with you and grins that familiar boxy smile, giving you a wink and your heart tightens up even more.

“Hey, babe… can I show you something?” Jungkook speaks up quietly, and you quickly look up at him, cheeks warm as you are caught staring at Taehyung.

“Yeah, of course.” You smile as naturally as you can at him, heart still erratically thudding in your chest over a boy who is not standing in front of you. He slips his hand into yours, tugging you to the side door of the school gym. You marvel at how your hand fits perfectly in his, whereas with Tae, his hand is slightly larger and overlaps yours. Looking around cautiously for any suspecting teachers, Jungkook exits the gym with you closely behind. The hallway is much quieter with only muted sounds of the music playing filtering through the air.

Your grasp on his hand tightens as you walk down the darkened halls, shadows playing tricks on your mind. Luckily, the walk is short, and Jungkook stops in front of a door, and if you remember correctly, it opens up to the photography classroom. Hand still clutched in his, you quickly hurry in as Jungkook flicks on the light switch. He guides you over to what you assume is his work station.

He hesitates slightly before pulling open the drawer below the table top and taking out an envelope. “Our semester project is supposed to be about something that makes you happy, so I just…”

Your breath hitches in your throat when he opens the envelope and arranges the pictures on the table with utmost care. All across the wooden surface, there are beautiful, candid pictures of his dog, his parents, his brother, his friends, and you. Newfound affection for the boy next to you nestles its way into your heart, and you can only stare in awe at his talent.

“Of course, this one’s my favorite.” He grows more confident after seeing your reaction. He gently picks up the photograph of you laughing freely at the lunch table, throwing your head back. You remember that day. You were feeling terrible because you were so sure you had just walked out of the classroom and failed your computer science test. Taehyung decided to sing his signature song of “You Are My Sunshine”, but this time, accompanied it with a silly dance that had you laughing so hard, you forgot all about the exam.

Taehyung… your heart wrenches at the thought of him.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

There is a thud followed by a yelp coming from outside your bedroom door, and you jolt awake. Taehyung is no longer sleeping next to you, and you have a feeling he is the source behind your unexpected wake up call. Pulling the comforter around your body, you get up from the bed, walking out to the kitchen. Taehyung looks up guiltily when he sees you, a spoon comically hanging from his mouth and his eyes round like a child caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

“Breakfast?” he asks meekly, holding up a box of cereal, all the while trying to hide the evidence of spilled sugary flakes on the floor with his foot.

Holding back a laugh, you only nod, “Yes, please.”

You scoop up Soonshim before the dog can get to the fallen cereal, and Taehyung quietly sighs in relief. A small smile threatens to show on your face as you go to sit at the kitchen table. Taehyung peeks over at you. He thinks you look absolutely beautiful at four in the morning, messy bed hair framing your face with the comforter draped around you like a cape, drowsily holding your head up in one hand while petting the dog with the other.

If this is the sight that greets him each morning, then he would wake up at the crack of dawn every single day.

You notice him glancing over at you every few seconds, and you give him a playful wave. Taehyung’s smile appears bigger than ever, making the sun dull in comparison, as he laughs, the kind of laugh that sounds so breathy and his eyes twinkle in the way that even the stars would bow down to him. His hair is still fluffy, sticking up in the back slightly, and he looks so endearing that your heart might combust.

If this is the sight that greets you each morning, then you would wake up at the crack of dawn every single day.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The dream drops you right back into your college memories.

After a very stressful morning consisting of midterms in both your Business Law class and Quantum Mechanics class, you are happy to say that the rest of your day was free. People may hate having morning classes, but you consider it a blessing because one: that means there is no one to compete with when choosing your schedule; two: it forces you to actually wake up and do work because let’s face it, you would never wake up that early on your own; and three: hey, look who has the rest of their afternoon and evening free to binge watch Criminal Minds.

But those plans of crime show marathons are put to a halt when a group date was hastily decided upon through a flurry of texts during the time you decided to take a nap apparently. You were awoken quite rudely by a “Mean Girls”-esque moment when Ann barges into your shared dormitory room with a “Wake up, bitch, we’re going laser tagging!”

Groaning, you throw your bed covers over your head as Ann quickly rushes through the details of the outing. “So it’s Jin and Elle, Rys and Jimin, Jungkook and you obviously, and Hoseok and yours truly. We’re gonna compete it out this time in laser tagging. Loser pays for winner’s dinner.”

At the sound of competition and free food, you immediately get up. “Where are we going for dinner?”

“The new restaurant that opened down the street.”

“Alright, I’m in.” With a sigh, you heave yourself off your bed, lazily stripping off your sleepwear before clipping on your bra. Searching around for your black leggings, you find them bunched at the end of your bed and put them on. Pulling on a black and white striped crop top, you throw on your bomber jacket before slipping your feet into a pair of socks and your Adidas.

“Hey, just because you two won last time at bowling doesn’t mean we won’t kick your butt this time.” Ann playfully calls over her shoulder as she applies her makeup in front of the small counter in the room.

Combing through your memories quickly, you remember the bowling dream you had, and you smirk. “We won by a landslide. You all couldn’t even get higher than a hundred points.”

Ann points her mascara wand at you accusingly. “That’s because the two of you are just naturally gifted! You totally creamed everyone in our high school PE Health class, and it was your first time! It’s not fair!”

Grinning, you only shrug as you bump her hip slightly when you stand next to her. “I can’t help if I’m just talented, you know. But really, how did you manage to throw the ball into the other lane? You even had bumpers!”

“Oh my god, that was so embarrassing. The little kids next to us couldn’t stop laughing,” she moans, almost messing up her eyeliner as she cringes over the memory. “Elle was so embarrassed with Jin though. He kept throwing her hand kisses before every throw and calling her his lucky charm, but he only knocked down one pin.”

You hover in front of the mirror, swiping on some light mascara and then hurriedly brushing out your hair. “Yeah, and then Jungkook said she must be a bad luck charm and almost got a bowling ball to the face.”

Ann makes a face. “And yet, me and Hobi still lost and had to pay for your dinners. And of course, you two decided to be assholes and pick the most expensive dishes.”

“Well, I hope you’re ready to pay for tonight’s dinner, too.” You wink at her, and she narrows her eyes.

“Oh, you’re on.”

An hour later, you are ninety-nine percent sure Ann regrets everything. It is silent, and you are perched on the second landing like a sniper, peering down as a jumpy Hoseok clutches his laser gun to his chest and Ann uneasily walks less than a foot in front of him, grip on her laser gun tightening by the second. Jungkook hides behind one of the walls, motioning up to you with a grin. You sport a similar smile on your face as you anticipate what is going to happen next. Three, two, one…

An earsplitting scream leaves your lips, while Jungkook lets out an equally terrifying war cry that has Hoseok and Ann running and shrieking, almost tripping over themselves and abandoning any attempts to defend themselves. Immediately, the two of you begin shooting at the targets on their vests. The gun incessantly buzzes, signaling that you are accurately hitting the marks. Jumping down from your spot, you sprint after them with Jungkook, continuing to shoot at them. When the petrified couple reaches a dead end, they finally realize that they actually have weapons which they should probably utilize and then proceed to wildly shoot everywhere, punctuating every shot with a screech.

You and Jungkook quickly dodge out of the way, but he manages to get hit in the arm.

“I’ve been shot!” he gasps, and you turn around to see him sprawled on the floor, one hand dramatically pressed to his forehead while the other one stretches out towards you. “Run and save yourself, babe.”

While Jungkook is comparatively more enthusiastic about winning than Taehyung and completely understands the importance of competition, he is, without a doubt, much more melodramatic than Taehyung. And that is saying something, considering how your boyfriend likes to perform monologue dramas with himself while doing laundry. You never let Taehyung live it down when you caught him reenacting scenes from “Cinderella” alone.

“Oh my god, Jungkook.” Rolling your eyes, you grab his outstretched hand and haul him off the floor with a snicker. “Giving them five points isn’t going to make a dent in our score anyway. We gotta do this for the free food afterwards.”

“You’re right. Free food is important.” He adjusts his vest. “You think we should go back to Ann and Hoseok and try to get more points?”

“They’re still screaming though, and I’d prefer to come out of this with my hearing still intact. Maybe we should aim for the other couples.” You peer around the corner and confirm your assumptions when you see that they are still shooting haphazardly and mimicking a pair of banshees. It is an automatic death zone if you want to try and get past them.

“What the heck is going on over there?” Jin emerges from the other side, Elle walking close behind him as she checks over her shoulder. “Who is yelli—oh, shoot.”

His eyes widen comically at the sight of you and Jungkook, and the two of you are most likely mirror images of the Cheshire Cat right now. “Elle, run.”

“Wha—” She turns around, and a look of panic comes across her face in a split second. “Fuck.”

The couple immediately hightails it out of there with you and Jungkook hot on their heels, shooting the targets on their backs right in the bulls-eye. Chasing after them, you pass by a busy Rys and Jimin in a corner, and you slow down your speed, Jungkook almost crashing into you.

“Should we scare them, too?” You gesture towards the oblivious couple making out, and a mischievous grin makes its way onto Jungkook’s face as he nods before cupping his hands around his mouth, hollering on the top of his lungs.

“Hey! This is a kid-friendly area! Keep it PG over there!”

Frightened, Rys and Jimin break apart with a small scream and eyes wide. Bounding towards them, you and Jungkook raise your laser guns simultaneously, and they already know what is going to happen next. Jimin throws himself in front of Rys valiantly, and while the gesture is nice, it really will not matter since their joint score is going to escalate no matter who you hit. Ready, aim, fire.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The incessant beeping of the laser gun in your hands does not end even after you stop pulling the trigger.

Shaking yourself awake, you realize it is the sound of your alarm blaring repeatedly. You blindly wave your arm around before your hand finally hits the button to turn it off. Yawning, you sit up, rubbing your eyes. Taehyung enters the room from the bathroom. He already changed into his work clothes, and he came over to grab his watch from the nightstand.

“Morning, sunshine,” he greets you, smirking a little.

“Morning,” you mumble before squinting at him. “What’s with the smirk?”

“Well, I think someone was having good dreams last night.” He winks at you, and you turn red, palms beginning to sweat as the dream returns to you in full force and leaves you a nervous wreck. Did you say Jungkook’s name out loud?

“You were smiling and mumbling something about food and ‘aim at their vest!’ so I’m guessing laser tag?”

You relax, giving him a smile. “Yeah, that basically sums up my dream.”

“Mm,” he hums, leaning down to press a quick kiss to your lips. “I can’t remember the last time we went. It was probably during college. We should go do that sometime and invite everyone else.”

“Y-yeah, definitely.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Even in your dreams, you have to re-experience the horrors of waking up late for class.

You only had ten minutes before your eight am class starts. Throwing the covers off of your body and jumping out of bed immediately, you peel off the loose t-shirt you were wearing as your pajamas. Pulling on a pair of sweat pants, you twist on the bra that was hanging on your desk chair before pulling on a plain, black, long sleeve V-neck shirt. You run to the sink in the corner, splashing water on your face before squirting toothpaste onto your toothbrush and running it across your teeth quickly. Spitting out the minty foam and rinsing your mouth, you look up, catching a glimpse of yourself in the mirror—or rather, a glimpse of some rather visible love bites on your space between your neck and clavicle.

When did you ever let Jungkook do something like that? You rarely let him touch you in any of your dreams.

“Fuck it,” you heave a sigh, gently brushing your fingers over the bruises as you examine them quickly in the mirror, tilting your head to the side. “I can’t be late for Linear Programming.”

Grabbing your bag that you thankfully packed last night with your notebook and student access card among other essentials, you hurriedly slide your feet into a pair of flip flops and race out of your dorm room. You have five minutes to get to class, and you run faster than the time you heard they were giving out free milk tea in the courtyard. When you reach the lecture hall, you quickly slip through the doors and sit down in the back next to Taehyung.

He looks up at you and smirks. “Nice hickies.”

“Thanks.”

Unfazed, you pull out your notebook and a pen, scribbling down the usual header for your notes: the date, chapter number, and description. No sooner had you finished, the professor begins rapidly firing facts at the class, writing down examples on the chalkboard, and you and Taehyung take down notes without another word, all focus going into copying down notes and including personal inputs to help you remember certain concepts better. Sixty-five minutes later, the professor ends the session, and you shake out your cramped hand and shove your notes into your bag with the other.

“I’ll bet on chocolate chip pancakes that Jungkook is gonna freak when he sees the hickies at breakfast,” Taehyung says, waiting for you as you finish packing up.

You snort, standing up and slinging your bag over your shoulder as you exit the room. “No way. That’s already a given.”

“Oh, c’mon,” Taehyung whines, clinging onto your arm, as he looks up at you through his eyelashes, pouting. “I’m low on meal points and I don’t want to starve at the end of the semester. You’re at least five hundred points over still!”

Sighing, you give in as the two of you make your way into the dining hall, which was luckily right next to your lecture hall. You always were weak for Kim Taehyung. “I’ll buy you breakfast if you stand in line and get me a plate of chocolate chip pancakes, too.”

Taehyung squeals, eyes lighting up as he throws his arms around you happily. “Deal! Thank you! I love you, sunshine!”

When you hear those words, it is almost as if he drove a stake into your heart. Nostalgia for the college days you spent with Taehyung hits hard. Biting your lip, you hand him your access card, and he runs ahead to get in line. You spot the rest of your friends at the usual table near the window and walk over, dropping your bag on the ground next to an unoccupied chair.

“Damn, girl, those bruises. You’re ruining it for the innocent ones.” Ann wriggles her eyebrows at you.

You roll your eyes. “I caught you and Hoseok coming out of room 308 with him wearing your lipstick and your underwear in his back pocket, so you are definitely not innocent.”

Hoseok at least has the decency to flush red, suddenly putting all his interest in the breakfast set out in front of him. Yoongi shows absolutely no reaction and resumes his talk with Namjoon about their latest music project. Jin flashes the couple in question a disapproving look, while Rys and Jimin look somewhat scandalized at this new piece of information.

“Oh, don’t look so innocent.” Ann directs her statement towards Rys and Jimin, flicking a tater tot at them. “You two are all sweet in the streets, but probably freaks in the sheets.”

Jimin almost swallows his French toast whole, spluttering, while Rys nearly hacks up a lung.

“What the fuck, Ann,” Rys gasps out, staring at Ann, who simply gives them a shrug and a devilish grin before continuing to eat her breakfast.

There is a sudden choking noise behind you, and you turn to see a mortified Jungkook.

“Why didn’t you cover that?!” He wildly gestures at your neck in horror before quickly stripping off his sweatshirt and throwing it at you. “Put this on!”

 Stifling a laugh, you merely place the sweater in your lap, and Jungkook’s eyes grow even wider much to your amusement. You smile up at him innocently, waving your fingers at him. “Hey, Jungkook.”

“Oh my god, the professors all saw! Did you run out of that cover up powder shit? Should I go buy some? Wait, what color do you even wear? There’s like seventy different shades, fuck. This is like buying pads all over again. Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god,” he whispers to himself, and you almost start to feel bad for giving him a mental breakdown. He is squatting on the ground, head held in his hands in despair, and you reach down to tentatively pat his shoulder in efforts to soothe him.

“Just put the hoodie on before he suffers from a heart attack,” Elle pipes up, laughing slightly at Jungkook, who still looks like you put him through some sort of excruciating agony.

“Alright, fine.” You hide your smile when Jungkook finally gets up and sits in the seat next to you, the tips of his ears still red. Slipping on the sweatshirt, you are immediately enveloped in warmth, the edge of the sleeves reaching your fingertips. You pull the fabric around your body tightly, tucking your nose into the collar.

It smells like a hint of vanilla and fresh laundry.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

“Hey, Tae.”

You nudge him with your foot gently. The two of you are sitting on your respective sides of the bed, going through papers for work. Taehyung stops rifling through his papers, peering at you over his glasses, which are slightly askew. Hiding a grin, you reach over and straighten them out for him. He smiles, grasping your hand quickly before you can take it back, and then gently kisses the palm of your hand before answering.

“Yeah, sunshine?”

“Do you know anyone named, um…” You hesitate, biting your bottom lip nearly hard enough to draw blood. “Jeon Jungkook?”

Taehyung purses his lips absentmindedly, mulling over the name. “No, I don’t think so.”

“Not even high school or college?”

“No, I don’t remember anyone named that. Why?”

“Oh, no reason. I just—” You wrack your brain for any excuse because telling your boyfriend that you are dreaming of another man is not the best idea. “Uh, I saw the name somewhere, and it sounded familiar.”

“Huh. I don’t remember that name.” He scratches the back of his head. “Are you feeling okay, sunshine? You’re more quiet these days.”

“I’m fine, Tae. It’s just work stress.” You assure him, squeezing his hand lightly.

Taehyung does not look very convinced, but he drops it. “Okay, sunshine. I’m here for you if you need me.”

You smile at him, nodding before dropping your gaze to the papers in front of you. The uneasy feeling writhes around your stomach, clenching it tightly, and the guilt continues to hang around you. You shouldn’t be feeling this way, you chastise yourself, dreams are a normal thing to have… but somehow, it still feels wrong.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Stepping into your home, the small yapping of the Pomeranian meets your ears, and you crouch down, affectionately petting it before standing up and removing your shoes, tossing your purse onto the couch. After washing your hands in the kitchen, you stride over to the couch, flopping onto it before turning on the flat screen. You had returned from a spontaneous trip to McDonald’s with Ann, and you wonder if Jungkook had gone out and if you had the place to yourself.

No sooner than the first few seconds of the Law and Order: Special Victims monologue started, you hear the hurried footsteps of someone running, and Jungkook appears, nearly launching himself over the back of the couch and landing neatly on the cushions, giving you a wide grin.

“Well, I definitely can’t miss out on Stabler and Benson.”

You shake your head in disbelief at the over-extravagant way he decided to make his presence known. He nudges you with his arm. “So where’d you go? You left before I woke up.”

“McDonald’s with Ann. We decided to indulge in some Happy Meals. Check out my new toy.” You rummage around your bag before pulling out a small Iron Man figurine. “The toys are all Marvel characters.”

Jungkook stares at the toy resting in your palm for a moment. “I want one.”

“Tough luck. I’m not sharing.” He reaches out to snatch it from your hand, but you move quicker, wrapping your fingers around the plastic toy and holding it out of his reach. Jungkook pouts, sulking in his spot for a few minutes, as the two of you watch the crime show in silence. His leg jostles up and down, and you already know he is making some sort of scheming plan in his mind.

Abruptly sitting up, he announces, “I’m gonna go for a drive.”

“Okay, have fun.” You keep your eyes on the screen in front of you, but see Jungkook with your peripheral vision, making sure he is not about to do something unexpected. But he simply gets up and takes the keys from the hook by the door, and you relax. The door shuts behind him, and you settle down as you watch Stabler kick down a door. Cookie jumps up onto the couch and snuggles into your lap.

Thirty minutes later, the door slams and you look over to see a very disgruntled Jungkook who comes over and sprawls out onto the couch, facedown with a moan, kicking his feet slightly, and you are immediately reminded of a petulant child after receiving a lecture from his mother.

“What’s wrong, Jungkook?”

He merely moans, muffled because he continues to bury his face in the cushions. Finally, he stretches his hand out towards you, unfurling his fist to reveal a Thor figurine. Did he actually drive to McDonalds to get a toy? You almost choke on your laughter, but immediately stop when he looks up to give you a glare before resuming his facedown position.

You try to maintain a serious look. “I’m sorry, love.”

He turns his face, cheek resting on the cushion, as he peeks up at you, bottom lip jutting out in disappointment. “The lady refused to let me switch! She said I was holding up the drive thru line!”

“… You can have my Iron Man.” You hold out your toy tentatively, and Jungkook sits upright immediately, gawking at you for a few seconds, before his eyes curve into half-moons and a delighted laugh slips past his lips before he jumps on you, pinning you between himself and the couch as he latches onto you in a tight hug. Cookie barks, slipping out and settling down in the space next to you.

“You’re the best, babe!”

“Yeah, I know.”

“I love you.”

The sudden, casual confession makes you feel uncomfortably, a coil of nerves piling up in your stomach, twisting and turning. You smile uneasily, focusing your attention on the dog instead and petting its head gently.

“… I know.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Your arms are deep in the soap suds and lukewarm water as you pull up another dish to wash, scrubbing at the stains with a sponge. Jungkook stands next to you, carefully rinsing off any remaining soap before placing it on the rack to dry. He quietly hums, moving the plate in a circular motion under the stream of water coming from the faucet. You peek a glance over at him as he concentrates on that single piece of china.

A smirk plays on your lips before you reach over and flick a handful of soapsuds at him. It hits him on the side of his neck, and he looks over at you, wide eyed. You smile innocently at him.

“Oops. It was an accident.”

Jungkook narrows his eyes at you suspiciously as you return to washing the next bowl. Mere seconds later, you feel several bubbles smeared onto your cheek. Gaping, you turn to stare at Jungkook, and he only shrugs, turning away to hide a barely concealed laugh.

In an instant, you scoop up a hefty amount of foam into your hand and fling it at him, hitting him directly in the shoulder. Laughing, Jungkook grabs a large handful and throws it at you, and you splutter through the soap now dripping down your face. Picking up suds in both hands, you hurl it at Jungkook, and it soaks through his shirt.

“It’s cold!” Jungkook yelps, peeling the upper front of his shirt away from his chest, and you can only laugh, secretly very proud of your aim. Immediately, Jungkook grabs the remainder of the soapy remnants and shoves it down the front of your shirt. Gasping as the cold, not quite liquid nor solid substance slides down, you glare at him, and he merely gives you a cheeky grin.

“Nice bra, babe.”

Your brilliantly red undergarment now stands out against the drenched, white material, and you growl, “Oh, it’s on.”

Grabbing the sink nozzle, you spray him for a few seconds until his own shirt clings to him like a second skin before resuming your dish duty. Gasping, he gazes down at the wet fabric, a betrayed look aimed directly at you soon after. It gets quiet, a little too quiet soon after, and you cautiously glance up. Jungkook looks deep in thought, and you recognize that expression. It is the same facial expression he gets right before absolutely creaming you in Mario Kart. You carefully put down the plate before slowly backing away and taking off in a sprint around the counter.

You had taken no more than five steps when a pair of arms encircle around your waist, and the back of your shirt now meets the same demise as its front when Jungkook hugs you closely to his chest, laughing loudly as you squirm around with a small shriek. He only tightens his grip around you, placing his chin on your shoulder, his breathy laughs tickling your ear, and you give up, going limp in his arms, before your own shoulders start to shake from laughter.

“Well, technically, this is your shirt, so I guess you ruined your own clothes,” you finally say in between giggles, and Jungkook freezes. “What?”

“Sorry, not sorry.”

“Oh my god, why,” he groans, his forehead now resting on the crown of your head. “We’re a mess.”

You twist around in his arms to flick his nose lightly, and he wriggles it reflexively. “I know.”

“But I still love you.”

The knots in your stomach tighten. “I know.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"Hey, _______, wake up."

You suddenly stir awake, sitting upright with Rochelle, one of your co-workers and your friend, looking at you worriedly. Blearily glancing around, you realize you must have fallen asleep at your desk.

"It's time to go home anyway, so you should get some rest. You're been working overtime for your new clients way too much," she pipes up, placing a hand on your shoulder comfortingly. "Do you want me to call Taehyung for you? I don't want you falling asleep behind the wheel."

"Oh, no, I'm fine, really, don't worry," you assure her. She looks a little uncertain, but bids you a good bye before taking her leave. Rubbing your eyes with the palms of your hands, you try to straighten out the jumbled thoughts running through your mind.

"What has gotten into me?" you whisper to yourself.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Tonight, Taehyung has to stay in the office later than usual. He says they are close to getting a breakthrough with the coding after weeks of pouring over every inch of it. The excited tone of his voice makes you smile as he stumbles over his words in a hurry, eager to tell you about the latest news. However, his voice grows remorseful when he apologizes over and over again for missing dinner tonight. It has been a cycle, either you coming home late or him due to the sudden number of promotions or advances. But you entirely understand, having your fair share of skipping dinner due to overtime, and reassure him.

"It's okay, Tae. We've both been really busy this past few months."

“When I get this stupid chip done, we're gonna take a long vacation we both deserve."

You smile, your fingers tightening around your phone. "You promise?"

"I promise. And don’t wait up for me, okay, sunshine? I want you to get some sleep. I know you barely slept last night. You stayed up finishing your product proposal instead.”

“How did you—? Okay… well, how long are you going to be there?”

“I’m not sure… we fixed the coding, but I think there’s a malware issue for some reason… I’m sorry… I miss you… and I love you.”

“It’s okay, Tae, I understand. I miss you, too… I love you.”

“Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite. Sweet dreams, sunshine.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

When you enter the penthouse, the first thing that catches your attention is the blatantly conspicuous fort made out of sheets and pillows in the middle of the living room. You are speechless, to say the least, eyes roaming over the new construction taking up much of the space, corners of sheets being tied to various kitchen chairs and barstools that had been pulled over. Faint, glowing lights are outlined beneath the cotton, and you can only guess that Jungkook took out the Christmas lights from god knows where. But speaking of Jungkook—

“You’re home!”

Jungkook’s head pops out from under a pile of blankets, and he positively beams at you. With a glimmer in his eye akin to a child’s wonder towards their first snow, his eyes sparkle, curving into half-moons, as he struggles to get out of his blanket cocoon before giving up and simply waving you over. Laughter bubbles past your lips, and you walk over there, crouching down to peer into the fort. Jungkook’s hand shoots out and wraps around your wrist, tugging you in, and you lightly tumble in, giggling slightly as the copious amounts of pillows spread on the floor break your fall.

When was the last time you and Taehyung did this? You both were so busy with work these days that the time spent together was reduced to the few minutes in bed at night before sleep crept up or the rushed morning kisses sloppily slotted in between waking up and making it on time to the bus stop two blocks over.

You gingerly settle in, leaving a few inches between yourself and Jungkook. Wrapping yourself in your own blanket, you turn to look at the man next to you, who is still wriggling in excitement. “So, any reason why you decided to make a pillow fort?”

“I was bored.” He shrugs before a small smirk escapes onto his face. “And also because I thought we can, um, discuss Harry Potter in a magical setting. Or as magical as it can get. I bought butterbeer at least.”

“Wait, what?” You stare at him. “You’ve never read Harry Potter though.”

“I spent the past month secretly reading all the books because according to my girlfriend, only true Harry Potter fans read the books.” He mocks you with a high-pitched voice, and you hit him in the shoulder with a nearby pillow.

“I can’t believe you finally read them all. Wow, amazing.”

“Okay, but actually, what I can’t believe is that they completely butchered Ginny’s character in the movies. She’s way cooler and funnier in the books, and in the movies, she has the personality of a potato,” Jungkook scoffs, reaching over and grabbing one of the stray pillows. “And they totally left out Peeves! How could they do that to my man?”

“Well, technically, he’s a poltergeist, not a man,” you speak up, and Jungkook gives you a dead look, making you snort. “Well, he is!”

“Anyway, you’re a terrible girlfriend for not making me read them earlier,” Jungkook casually says, and you throw him an expression of incredulity along with several pillows, which he somehow manages to dodge due to his blessed reflexes. The blanket is bunched up around his waist now, but he does not seem to particularly care, enjoying the cool air against his skin.

You crinkle your eyebrows, jutting your chin out in protest. “I’m a terrible girlfriend?! You’re the one who refused to read it! You’re the terrible boyfriend here! I can’t believe you’d accuse me of bein—why are you smiling?”

Jungkook has a stupid grin on his face now, and you immediately stop talking, a tiny bit confused. Being called a terrible boyfriend does not usually bring up that kind of reaction. In fact, it would lead to quite the opposite response.

“You called me your boyfriend,” he answers in a sing-song voice, poking you in the arm. “I’m your boyfriend!”

“I—what, oh my god, you complete dork.” You become a stammering mass, absolutely flustered before making a face plant into the pillow in front of you. Rolling your head to one side a few seconds later, cheek pressed against the cushion, you eye him suspiciously. “Wait, but why is that so surprising? Haven’t we been… dating for years?”

“Yeah, and your point is, babe? What are you trying to say to your boyfriend of eleven years?” He winks at you, and you debate on doing a second faceplant or throwing another pillow at his face. At this point, you may run out of pillows. Okay, maybe you should take a few breathes. Close your eyes. Inhale, count to five, exhale, count to five again.

“You okay?” Jungkook waves his hand in front of your face, but you keep your eyes closed.

“Just peachy.”

“You sure, babe? Your boyfriend is very concerned.”

“Listen, I’m this close to strangling you.”

“Ooh, kinky.”

Your eyes snap open, and, well, forget the breathing exercises, you can release your frustration by beating the man next to you several times with your pillow. However, the sound of your ringtone abruptly fills the air, and you fumble around to grab it from your back pocket. Jungkook starts to say something, but you hold up one finger in the air to silence him. Ann’s name flashes on the screen, and you tap on the ‘accept phone call’ button.

“Hello?” You put the phone to your ear, waiting for her response, but all you get are muffled noises. "Um, Ann?"

A rustling noise is heard, along with muffled voices, and you grow concerned. The worst case scenarios begin to filter through your mind, each one getting exponentially more horrifying, and you contemplate dialing 911 just in case.

Jungkook's voice crashes your train of thought, interrupting, "Hey, what's wrong? Does she need something?"

"All I'm hearing is muffled voices and rustling, oh my god, what if she's being kidnapped?" Your eyes grow round as the terrifying thought surmounts in your mind again, and for once, Jungkook looks serious, taking consideration into your concern.

"Put it on speaker."

You wordlessly tap the button, the noises much louder now, and the two of you listen intently with bated breath. Any movement on the other line has ceased considerably, and you do not know if that is a good thing or bad thing.

"Okay, so," Jungkook starts to say, but halts when the noise starts up again. But it was definitely not what either of you were expecting. The lewd sound of skin against skin, high pitched moans becoming more vocal by the second, and oh my god, did Ann just refer to Hoseok's dick as Lil' SeokSeok?

You want to just crawl into a hole and die from the embarrassment. You are completely horrified, but for a different reason than you thought you were going to be, and Jungkook is frozen, eyes impossibly wide and cheeks burning from mortification. In a flash, he grabs your phone, presses the 'end call' button, and throws it as far away as possible. It falls somewhere near the wall, and Cookie runs over, sniffing it, before padding over and curling up between the two of you.

"Fuck, I think I need to go scrub my ears. What the fuck did we just hear?" Jungkook says at last, inhaling deeply.

"... It was a butt dial."

"So, a literal booty call. The Hobi Dick is the new Moby Dick."

“What the fuck.”

After giving him a strange look—which he returns with an even stranger expression much to your amusement—you burst out laughing when it finally registers in your mind what he just said, and Jungkook looks especially proud of his word play.

"Oh my god, how can you still make terrible puns after experiencing that?"

"I blame Jin for being a bad influence."

"Poor Elle."

"Poor Elle? Poor us! We had to listen to the grossest thing ever.” He makes a face, and you can only laugh even harder, as he continues to say, “This calls for payback."

"... Well, we could order Viagra and send it to Hoseok and Ann's apartment under the name Lil' SeokSeok."

"Well, shit, I was gonna say prank call them, but that’s even better. I'm dating an actual genius. God, I love you."

“I know.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Jungkook picks you up from your workplace, sitting in the lobby and calling out to you much to your surprise. You walk over to him, and he reaches over to lace his fingers through yours casually. You are startled, but do not pull away this time.

"What are you doing here, Jungkook?" You ask curiously, following him as he tugs you forward.

"I'm taking the long way home with you." He smiles shyly before looking ahead. "I figured since it's Friday and all, we can walk through the park because the cherry blossoms are all blooming and you always liked them. They're your favorite."

"Oh.." A smile slowly crept up on your face as you squeeze his hand tightly and fall in step next to him. "That sounds really nice."

When the two of you reach the park, you stroll under the blooming branches of the trees, petals falling down like light snow. He swings your intertwined hands between your bodies, and you join in, swinging your hands at ridiculously higher and higher heights until you both stop and erupt in a fit of laughter.

"Oh, ice cream cart!"

Jungkook lets go of your hand and bounds over to the man selling ice cream. Chucking to yourself, you go to sit down at a nearby bench, waiting for him. You notice the small clump of dandelions growing nearby, and you walk over, bending down to pick two. Holding them carefully with a hand cupped around the tops so they would not blow away, you return to your seat.

Jungkook comes back, looking a little flustered, as he wordlessly hands you a vanilla ice cream cone and keeps the chocolate one for himself. Thanking him, you take the sweet dessert from his hands, enjoying the cool, sugary taste immediately. Jungkook sits there, contemplating over something.

"What's wrong?" You nudge his leg with your knee before shooting him a suspicious look. "Did you do something weird with the ice cream?"

"What? No!" He protests before taking a lick of his ice cream. "It's just... the ice cream man said we were cute together... He told me to not mess it up with you."

"Oh. Well, what did you say?"

"I said I'll try not to." He ducks his head down, cheeks turning a faint shade of red, and you stay silent, unsure of what to say. He notices the dandelions held in your hand and gestures to them. "Aren't you gonna make a wish?"

"Oh! Yeah, here, I got one for you." You offer one to him, and he plucks it from your grasp carefully. "Make a wish."

The two of you simultaneously blow the seeds off of the stem as the remnants of the flower float away, joining the cherry blossoms that continue to swirl around the two of you. You watch with joy and fascination as they dance away, fluttering around in the wind until you lose sight of them.

"So, what'd you wish for?" Jungkook speaks up.

"Well, if I tell you, it's not gonna come true." You give him a smirk.

"Oh, c'mon! What about a hint? I'll give you a hint, too."

"Okay, fine, I wished that I won't spill my ice cream on my blouse."

"I wished something about us."

"Oh."

You lied.

You wished something about you and Jungkook, too.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

"Sunshine, we made it! We did it!"

Taehyung comes bursting through the door of your apartment, and you are startled, looking up from the numerous entrepreneurship deals and program designs you have scattered all over the kitchen table. Kicking the door shut behind him, he rushes over to you and pulls you out of your seat. Twirling you around, he picks you up and lifts you off the ground as he spins and you hug onto him tightly, laughing, before he gently puts you down and kisses you on the mouth.

"I figured out the chip." His eyes sparkle as he tells you the news, nearly wriggling in excitement. "After three long years of slaving over this thing, I finally figured out the programming and fixed it up and I got so excited, I just drove home to tell you and Namjoon is probably really confused why I just left, but I had to go home and tell you first."

Your eyes widen when your mind finally registers what he said and you let out a scream, and Taehyung joins in, the two of you dancing around in some silly circle that involves a lot of tears and flailing limbs. He pulls you in for a firm hug, lifting you off your feet again as you bury your head into the crook of his neck, latching onto him just as tightly.

When the two of you collapse on the couch after expending all your energy, he wraps his arms around you tightly, nuzzling his face into your hair. You curl up into his side, leaning up to press a kiss on the corner of his mouth.

"Congratulations, Tae. I'm so damn proud of you. I love you."

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Jungkook makes you swear on your last carton of Ben and Jerry's ice cream that you will not take off the blindfold and open your eyes until he tells you to. You blindly reach out, swinging your arms around hesitantly as he tells you to walk forward. Straight into a wall.

"Fuck! Jungkook, I swear to God I will kill you later," you threaten through gritted teeth as Jungkook laughs so hard to the point of coughing. You desperately want to rip off the flimsy piece of fabric covering your eyes, but ice cream is on the line and you definitely do not want to lose it.

"Okay," You feel Jungkook gently take your hands into his, and your fingers tighten their grip. "No more wall crashing. I'll guide you this time."

You shuffle forward tentatively as Jungkook tugs you in his direction. The sound of the chair scraping against the floor is heard, and then he carefully eases you down into your seat before pushing you and the chair forward. There is a rustling sound, and you can only imagine that he is taking the seat in front of you.

"Okay, you can take the blindfold off now."

Pulling it away from your eyes, you are gaping at the sight that meets you, the fabric fluttering away from your grasp, abandoned on the ground. A magnificent spread for a three Michelin star candle lit dinner is set out. Gordon Ramsey would be proud. But only if he enjoyed chicken nuggets and ketchup. And if he accepted construction paper place mats and flashlights as alternatives for candles.

"I... I don't know whether to laugh or cry." You decide to do a little bit of both.

"Hey, I put a lot of work into this," Jungkook sounds indignant and somewhat offended before a familiar smile peeks out and he is beaming at you.

You reach out towards your filled glass, bringing it to your lips and taking a sip. "... This is grape juice, isn't it."

"Of course. I serve only the classiest of wines."

"I applaud your choice, Mr. Jeon."

"Thank you. I have quite a refined palate, you know." He takes a bite of a chicken nugget delicately, and you struggle to keep a straight face.

"So Jimin's proposal went well." You recall seeing the picture Rys sent to the girls' group chat of her new engagement ring.

"Jimin had me and the rest of the guys running around for hours, making sure everything was perfect," Jungkook groans, slouching back in his chair. "I had to go to three different flower stores because 'the roses aren't the right shade of red, Kookie! Gosh, do you want me to be alone forever?!'"

You snort, listening to Jungkook's rather accurate imitation of Jimin. "If you thought that was bad, try going with him to design the perfect ring for Rys for three weeks. Or going with Hoseok to find the right promise ring. I swear, if Jin comes to me asking for help on a ring hunt, I might scream."

"Ah, so does that mean you don't want a ring?" Jungkook looks at you seriously, and your heart drops.

"Wait, oh my god, you can't be—No, please, stop, I—"

Jungkook gets out of his seat and drops down on one knee dramatically. "Babe, _______, you are the vanilla to my chocolate, apple to my pie, peanut butter to my jelly. You make my heart skip a beat, my palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy..."

He pauses dramatically, and you are still in panic mode, your mind going into overdrive.

"Mom's spaghetti."

"... Jungkook, literally, what the fuck, you absolute idiot."

A weight the size of an elephant is lifted off your chest, and you start to laugh so hard that tears spring to the corners of your eyes. Jungkook grins up at you happily before pulling out a clear, plastic, egg shaped container—one that comes from a twenty five cent machine. Popping it open, he pulls out a red dinosaur ring and presents it to you with much flourish and a bow of his head.

"For you."

Unable to suppress the giggle that comes out due to the sheer absurdity of the situation, you chuckle quietly as you give your left hand to Jungkook, and he places the ring on your fourth finger in a very ostentatious way that has you laughing even more.

You admire the ring, wriggling your fingers slightly, as you get used to the feeling of a new material wrapped around your finger.

"Thank you, love," you say quietly as Jungkook slides back into his chair across from you, munching on another chicken nugget.

"You're welcome, babe."

You smile at him, and he grins back, and the two of you continue to eat your dinner. You glance down at the construction paper mat Jungkook had made underneath the plate of artfully decorated chicken nuggets. Various doodles litter the paper: pictures of you and him, pictures of Cookie, and—you hold back a laugh—a very random picture of a chicken drumstick.

"Hey, _______?"

You look up, meeting Jungkook's steady gaze. "Yeah?"

"I love you."

You break the eye contact, eyes now downcast, as you idly push around the pieces of chicken on your plate with your fork. You hesitate.

"I know."

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Taehyung and you are meeting for dinner. There is so much work to do, now that both of your careers have been taking off in the past two months, but if there is one rule the two of you have established, it is that you always have to have dinner together at least twice a week. You arrive a little early to the upscale restaurant, reciting Taehyung’s name to the hostess, and are seated at a table next to the window. With the restaurant nestled on the top floor of a building, the view looks so beautiful. It reminds me of the penthouse view, you think wryly to yourself.

Glancing down at the menu, you already know everything is going to be so expensive by only looking at the names of the dishes that you can barely pronounce. Well, this place definitely is not going to be serving chicken nuggets and grape juice, unless you consider cordon bleu escalope de poulet as the former and a two hundred dollar bottle of red wine as the latter. You hide a smile when you notice the waxed light on the table; that most definitely is a real candle, not a flashlight.

As your mind wanders off, Taehyung enters, rushing over to take the seat across from you with a grin.

“Hey, sunshine! … honey bunches? Love of my life? Light of my world? Sugar plum? Darling? Angel? Strawberry shortcake? Babe?”

“Huh?” You blink twice, still lost in thought. “Yeah, love?”

At the term of endearment, Taehyung giggles, and you look at him, confused. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing.” He gives you a wide smile, cheeks turning rosy, and you temporarily forget that you should probably start breathing. “It’s just that you’ve never called me that before.”

“O-oh.” You realize your slip up, and a certain boy—someone who is not sitting across from you—pops up in your mind once again. You feel so guilty, trying to push away the glimpses of another man whisked together entirely by fragments of your imagination, but he remains so vivid in your thoughts, pushing away any other remnants to the deepest crevices of your cognizance.

“I like it, sunshine. And you look very beautiful.”

Your cheeks turn rosy as you beam back at him. “And you look very handsome, Mr. Kim Taehyung.”

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You find it in the back of the coat closet. Jungkook's winter coat had fallen down, and you had picked it up to hang it back in its proper place when you felt something rectangular in the pocket. Pulling it out, a simple, black box rests in the palm of your hand, and you hold your breath, counting out five seconds, before you open it finally.

The intricate, silver band with the prettiest set diamond gleams back at you.

Your heart leaps up into your throat when you notice the tiny engraved inscriptions of your initials and his on the inside of the ring. You haphazardly close the box and stuff it back into the pocket before putting back the coat and shutting the door. Your breath comes out unevenly as you slightly shake in your spot, leaning against the closet door.

What scares you is not the reveal of the jewelry and its significance, but the tiny inkling of emotion that you had tried to block and pushed far, far back into the deepest parts of your mind has come out full force.

Controlling your breathing, you walk into the kitchen, pulling out ingredients to start dinner. The simple pasta with white sauce is easy to make as you have already prepared the chopping and measurements beforehand. You boil the premade pasta, and then work on the Caesar salad, making a nice bowl of it before placing aside on the counter. Before starting the pasta sauce, you quickly prepare some garlic bread, spreading the butter, garlic, and chopped herbs on the cut loaf of French bread and popping it into the oven. You pour out the pasta into a strainer next, letting it sit for a while.

Jungkook appears, stealing a crouton, as he sits at the barstool. "Hi, babe, dinner smells good."

"T-thanks. I'll be done in ten minutes." Your mind goes back to the ring in the closet, and your hands shake as you pour in the heavy cream for the sauce. Your phone buzzes, and you pull it from your back pocket to see that Taehyung has texted you. Ignoring the message and tucking the device back into your pocket, you continue to make the pasta, your mind in a complete jumble, and all you can do is focus on preparing the food in front of you.

"You know," Jungkook starts, "I always thought you'd end up with him in the beginning."

"What?" Your head whips up as you fixate on him with a glare.

He looks a little taken aback by your sudden attention, but continues on, "It's just.. you two liked each other back then, didn't you? You liked Taehyung... And I heard Taehyung confessing to Jimin that he was in love with you..."

"Why didn't you say anything about this back then?" Your voice comes out strangled, and you duck your head, trying to keep your breath steady. "If you knew we loved each other... Why didn't you tell one of us?"

He fucking knew.

In this weird, fucked up dream universe, you thought you were suffering a one-sided, unrequited love, but Taehyung loved you, too. And Jungkook knew all along. A sudden burst of emotions—bouts of anger, nostalgia, sadness, and hatred—comes, and you struggle to hold it all in.

"Why didn't you say anything?" You loudly exclaim, staring at Jungkook straight in the eyes, and he looks frightened, eyes widened.

"I—well, I—"

"You what exactly?"

Jungkook's eyes drop, and so does his voice, now barely above a whisper. "I was—and still am—in love with you, too. So I took my chance by asking you out before Taehyung did. I knew you'd be happy if I told you Taehyung was going to confess. I knew you'd say yes, and you two would be so happy together... But I wanted to be happy, too. Was that wrong of me?"

You can only hold back a sob, choking on it quietly, as you push the unfinished dinner away from you and quickly brush past Jungkook, wiping away the tears that start to fall. Calling out, Jungkook reaches toward you, wrapping his hand around your wrist, but your next words have him letting go.

"I hate you."

His hand slips away as you dash off, putting on shoes quickly and walking out the front door. He sits there, looking around at the empty place, now hushed and silent.

"I know."

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

When the sunset bleeds into the purples and blues until it completely transforms into the night sky in the darkest hour, you and Taehyung are tucked under the covers and wrapped up in each other’s arms, tangled limbs and tangled sheets alike. You are quiet, and Taehyung notices, bopping your nose affectionately.

As your nose scrunches up in reaction, Taehyung laughs. "What are you thinking about, sunshine?"

“I just... In another universe, do you think we’d fall in love with each other?” you quietly ask, letting the question settle into the silence as you trace invisible patterns on Taehyung’s chest. He lets his fingers glide up and down your arm in various swirls and lines absentmindedly, pondering over the inquiry with the most serious and concentrated expression you have ever seen him take on.

“I think we would,” he says at last, gazing at you softly. “I’d like to think that I’ll always fall in love with you regardless of any changes in time, distance, and coincidences.”

“I’d like to think so, too.” You smile up at him, and his heart skips a beat, and you can hear it thumping faster than ever out of his chest. He places a tender kiss on your forehead, and you can imagine your heart is racing just as fast as his.

"But," he speaks up, and your heart stops. "Even if we do love each other, the universe is not always kind. We may not end up with each other. And I want you to be happy, even if it's not with me.

"But I will always love you, sunshine."

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

You find yourself retracing your steps to the park Jungkook took you to last time. Taking deep breaths, you settle down at the same bench as before. The uncomfortable bulge from your phone in your back pocket reminds you that you had received a text message from Taehyung earlier, and you take out your phone, unlocking the screen to read it.

[6:51 pm] taetae: finally remembered to send you the vid i took at Jiminnie and Rys's wedding!!!!~ ^^

[6:51 pm] taetae: <video file attached>

"What video?" you wonder aloud before clicking on the video.

The soft strums of the guitar begin to play in the background as the beginning lyrics of Ed Sheeran's "Photograph" is heard. Your eyes widen, and the tears begin to form, tangling up with your lashes, and your vision becomes blurry when you see Jungkook pulling you onto the dance floor. He tugs you in tightly, arms wrapping around you safely, as the two of you sway back and forth. The video zooms in closer, and you want to cry when you notice that he was quietly singing the song to you.

You hate how you are not with Taehyung.

You hate how happy you look with him.

You hate how you can almost hear him singing to you.

You hate how he is making you feel.

But most of all, you hate yourself for not hating him at all.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

When you return, Jungkook is pacing around in the living room. You silently walk past him, retreating to your bedroom, and Jungkook leaves you alone, going into the guestroom. Changing out of your clothes, your heart lurches when you realize you pulled on one of Jungkook’s oversized white t-shirts. You clamber over to his empty side of the bed. Sitting on the edge of the bed and closing your eyes, you feel so incredibly conflicted, holding your head in your hands.

Taehyung embodies the sun. Shining so brightly, he exudes warmth, happiness, and joy. He showers you in love and affection, surprising you with sweet love notes that render you into a puddly mess, carefully chosen bouquets of flowers, and perfectly thoughtful presents, like a pretty necklace that brings out the color of your eyes. He takes you on perfect dates with candlelit dinners and romantic walks at the beach. He is perfect—more than you can ever want or imagine—and makes you quite possibly the happiest woman in the universe. Every day is absolute, pure happiness with Taehyung.

But Jungkook… Jungkook, on the other hand, well, if Taehyung is the sun, Jungkook is the moon. He is subtler and quieter, but is still there, shining brighter than ever if you are willing to stay up for him, casting the softest of lights upon you. He makes you smile with his ridiculous antics and silly adventures. He surprises you with your favorite tub of ice cream and tries to make you dinner, even though he hates it. He secretly reads your favorite books in his spare time just so he can talk to you about them and see that bright spark in your eye when you talk about something you are so passionate about.

But he also makes you cry. He makes you scream and yell and fight. He makes you go through the entire range of emotions and even taps into emotions you realize you never had. He makes you feel sad, angry, loved, upset, jealous, excited, scared, annoyed, surprised, and so many more feelings. And that just makes the moments of happiness and exuberance all the more special to you.

Letting out a shaky breath, you open your eyes. Immediately, they are drawn to the slightly open drawer of the nightstand. You have rarely ever seen this drawer open, being as it was Jungkook’s possessions and you have never actually seen what he put there. But now, you can faintly make out the outlines of many simple, black moleskine notebooks. With your curiosity getting the better of you, you slide the drawer fully open.

Plucking out the first notebook, you flip it open to the first page, and the wind is knocked out of your lungs. A lump is starting to form in your throat as you stare down at the intricate drawing. Rifling through all the pages, you see more and more hand crafted images.

They are all pictures of you and him.

Carefully dated, Jungkook had drawn a small doodle of you and him every single day. And on the first page you are staring down at, it was the day you two first met. He had drawn the two of you in English class, sitting next to each other in your uniforms. The boy in the drawing is looking subtly, but still adoringly, at the girl next to him, who is diligently working on her paper. A picture of him shyly asking you out appears about forty pages later along with a slew of awkward first’s being inked across the papers that come up after that.

You relive your entire relationship, pouring over every page painstakingly slowly, each book representing one year. As you turn through each page, the tears begin to well up and the pictures start to blur. Going through every book, one by one, page by page, the ache in your heart grows exponentially larger and larger.

Picking up the last book, you open up to the first page. That day in particular was when the two of you had gone to the park, having a swing contest of who can get closer to the sky. Flipping to the next page, there is a picture of you cooking dinner while he carefully cuts up the vegetables next to you. There are several pictures of you playing with Cookie and Jungkook pouting in the background. Finally, you reach the last page. Looking down at the page dated today, a hiccupping sob slips through your teeth as you stare down at the beautifully drawn image before you.

Two people. One that is undeniably you and the other that is him. Sitting in two different rooms. A wall between the two.

A tear splashes onto the page, and you hurriedly wipe it off with the edge of your—or you suppose, Jungkook’s—shirt. You sit there, gazing at the picture in your lap, as your heart twists and turns in your chest.

You love him.

You are truly, unmistakably, undeniably, deeply, hopelessly in love with Jeon Jungkook.

Carefully putting back all the notebooks and closing the drawer, you slide off from the bed, your heart now ready to burst out from your chest for a new reason. Tiptoeing out of the room and down the hallway, you stop in front of the guestroom, slightly hesitating as your hand hovers over the doorknob. Taking several deep breaths, you twist the doorknob and enter the room, closing the door behind you with a soft click. Moonlight streams in through the window, illuminating the room with a soft glow and leading you easily to the bed. Sprawled out, Jungkook sleeps peacefully, hair mussed and dark eyelashes resting on his cheeks as even breaths come out between his lips.

You silently slip under the covers, reaching him within seconds. You rest your head on his chest, hugging him tightly and brushing away the last of your tears. Jungkook stirs in his sleep, and his arms wrap around you subconsciously. Suddenly aware of you next to him, he drowsily opens his eyes.

“_______? What—what are you doing?” he asks sleepily. Upon a closer look at your face, he becomes more alert, a more prominent panicked note in his voice. “Why are you crying?”

“I’m sorry,” you murmur, “I’m so sorry.”

“Shh, don’t cry.” Jungkook gently brushes away the tears that begin to form in the corners of your eyes. “Why are you saying sorry? There’s nothing to be sorry about.”

“Yes, there is. A-all I’ve ever done is push you away and—and hurt you and you do nothing wrong. All you do is love me and all I do is hurt you. And you just took it all in. And, I’m sorry. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Jungkook.” You harshly brush away at your tears, swallowing the lump in your throat.

“And god, I never realized how much I miss you until you aren’t with me, and everything comes crashing down, and I’m so scared, so terrified that I’m going to lose you. I messed up badly so many times, yet you’re still here. I got so used to you being there, but what if one day, you leave, and oh god, please don’t leave me. I don’t know what to do, how to even breathe without you. I realized that it’s you.

“I want your face to be the first thing I see every morning and the last thing I see every night. I want to share corny jokes with you and be that couple that we always complain about. I want to drink grape juice and eat chicken nuggets that you made even if I might get salmonella but I know you’ll drive me to the hospital. I want to make a competition out of everything with you, even if it’s just who can fold laundry the fastest. It’s you who I want to grow old with and live the rest of my life with, and if I have to listen to you talk about your Overwatch characters for hours when we’re eighty, then so be it. I don’t care as long as I’m with you.”

Laughing quietly at your last remark, he hugs you closely to his chest, pressing a kiss to your forehead tenderly. The two of you lay there quietly for a few moments before he breaks the silence. “You know, they’ll probably have a newer game when we’re eighty. Are you up for learning new characters then?”

You choke on your laugh, burying your face into his chest as your grip on him tightens. You can hear his heart thumping away faster than ever, and you know that your heartbeat matches his as well.

With your heart doing flip flops and cart wheels and a whole colony of butterflies plus an entire zoo in your stomach, you tilt your head upwards to see him as he gazes down at you adoringly in the very same way he did when he first saw you. You brush your fingers against his face lightly, skimming over the small scar on his cheek. The corners of your lips upturn as you give him the prettiest smile he has ever seen and cause his heart to skip a beat or maybe two.

With only millimeters measuring the space between his lips and yours, you close the gap as your eyes flutter shut. His naturally pink lips are softer than you ever imagined, pressing gently against yours. With your body intertwined with his, you can feel the thumping of his heart through his chest. Pulling away, you smile giddily as his eyes gaze at you with so much affection and his lips quirk into an identical smile.

“I love you, Jungkook.”

“I know.”

He gives you a mischievous glance, poking your side, and you laugh, skimming your fingers over his chest and tracing out the invisible letters of your confession.

“You know.”

“I know,” he repeats softly, reaching out to interlock your fingers with his. Your eyes meet his steady gaze as he smiles tenderly at you, and the realization hits you like a ton of concrete blocks when you finally discern the hidden meaning. All this time, he knew.

Flowers bloom in your chest as your heart sings and dances at this newfound understanding. Rendering you emotional, the tiniest of tears begin to well up in the corners of your eyes once more, and your cheeks begin to hurt from smiling so widely. Beaming back at you, Jungkook opens his mouth to say one more thing, but you hear nothing. There is absolute silence. Confused, you tilt your head, trying to tell him you do not understand but no words come out.

Suddenly, his expression changes into one of alarm and panic, and he is saying words to you that you still cannot catch. You signal him to slow down, and he repeats the same phrase over and over again but you cannot comprehend it. The edges of your surroundings begin to vanish, disintegrating into translucence. It creeps up closer and closer to you. You desperately reach out to him, tightening your embrace around him, but he seems to slip away with every heartbeat. An unusual, yet warm and pleasant, sensation takes over as your eyelids grow heavy.  You blink once, twice, and then, everything is gone.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Opening your eyes, you rub at them gently before staring up at the ceiling. There is an edgy feeling that you are forgetting something, but your mind merely draws a blank. Glancing over at Taehyung peacefully sleeping, you turn on your side to face him, curling up in his embrace before falling asleep again.

You dream of attending Hogwarts and playing in a quidditch match, going up against your Hufflepuff boyfriend. Taehyung continues to pout when you score against his team, but happily gives you a victory kiss in the end when your team wins, telling you that if only a certain cute Slytherin chaser did not keep distracting him, then Hufflepuff would have won.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

The nagging feeling continues to pester you in the back of your head as you go through your day. You ignore it as you work, your clientele list stretching farther as your boss praises your work. You try to concentrate on sketching out your designs, but for some reason, you keep getting distracted. Countless doodles of an unfamiliar man with a boyish look and a bunny smile litter the edges of your paper. Groaning, you crumple up the piece of paper, throwing it into the waste bin under your desk where it joins several other squashed papers with similar drawings of that same man.

When you pass by the street stand selling lamb skewers on your lunch break, you pause, debating whether you should buy some or not. You never really had a craving for them before, but something draws you over to the stand where you purchase two sticks of nicely barbecued meat. Walking to the nearby park, you sit down on a bench, the light blue paint peeling off at the edges with a small tuft of wild daisies growing next to it. With one lamb skewer in each hand, you alternate, biting off a piece from each stick. Once you finish eating, you stand up and start to walk back to your workplace, failing to notice the tiny heart shaped carving with a pair of initials engraved into the wood where you sat only moments ago.

The heart begins to fade away, the wood becoming smooth and unblemished once more.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Fast forward seven days, and you decide to walk home instead of taking the metro this time after glancing overhead and seeing how the day is blessed with good weather. The sun gleams from its position in the azure sky, leaving soft kisses against your skin, as the light breeze whispers and twirls around you. You amble along the sidewalk, admiring the pretty cherry blossom trees that line the street. Several petals fall as the wind weaves through them, and they dance around you. You reach out as one falls perfectly into the palm of your hand. Smiling, you continue your walk home. At one point, you decide to take a break, your kitten heels decidedly not being the best pair of shoes to wear while taking a stroll.

The street is fairly busy, and you move to the side, stepping out of passerby’s way. Upon closer look at the building you are standing in front it, it looks vaguely familiar. The sleek, luxurious apartment building looms over you as you peer up at it. Furrowing your eyebrows slightly, you start counting the number of floors it has, ending up with nineteen. Huh, that is a strange number to end at, you muse.

Something tugs at your memory, and you find yourself pushing the one of the double glass doors and entering the building. A young man quickly brushes past you as he exits through the other door, murmuring a quick apology. He gives you a small smile, bunny teeth flashing for a millisecond and you are dazed, gaze transfixed on his retreating figure. A faint scent of vanilla and freshly done laundry lingers after he leaves, and for some unknown reason, it yanks at your heartstrings, stopping you in your tracks momentarily. Shaking your head lightly, you continue walking inside, the door closing behind you.

The cool, refreshing air inside contrasts with the warmth outside, and you cannot shake off the feeling that you have been in here before. The dark blue carpet masks the tapping sound of your heels as you make your way towards the front desk. A beautiful purple orchid potted plant stands in the corner of the desk, and you admire it briefly.

“How may I help you?” The woman behind the desk smiles pleasantly, and you return the friendly smile.

“I was just wondering if someone lives in the top floor penthouse?”

“Going apartment hunting, sweetie? I’m sorry, but the eighteenth floor penthouse isn’t on the market right now.” She looks apologetic. “We do have several large apartments available on the sixteenth and seventh floor though.”

“Ah, I meant the nineteenth floor penthouse, not eighteenth.”

She gives you a funny look. “We don’t have a nineteenth floor.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yes, we don’t have one.” She looks concerned, seeing the expression of absolute bewilderment painted across your face. “Are you okay, sweetie?”

“Wha—? Oh yes, I’m fine. Thank you for your time, and I’m sorry for my confusion.” You give her a tight smile, and she waves you good bye when you leave the building, more perplexed than ever.

Standing outside in the same spot you occupied previously, you look up at the building again.

Huh. There are only eighteen floors. You must have miscounted earlier.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Two weeks later, you walk past the building once more. This time, you are meeting up with your girlfriends for a drink and to catch up at the one of your favorite coffee shops. Glancing up again at the building, you could have sworn you counted nineteen floors the first time. Quietly sighing, you continue your trek to the café, lost in your thoughts.

The brass bell jingles overhead when you open the door, entering the warm atmosphere inside. With brick-like walls and bookshelves lining them along with bare lightbulbs hanging above in an aesthetic pattern, the waft of freshly brushed coffee brushes against your nose, and you inhale it in deeply, enjoying the homely scent. After ordering your favorite drink, you stride over to the minimalist wooden table in the corner where you spot your friends sitting.

“Hey, _______!” Ann greets you amicably as Rys and Elle wave. You greet them back, sliding into the last vacant seat.

“So what have you been talking about?” You cross your legs, leaning back into the chair comfortably. All three girls exchange looks of barely contained excitement—Rys, especially—and she bursts out, “Jimin proposed!”

Your eyebrows shoot up in surprise and your mouth is agape at her announcement. “Oh my god, congrats! Wow, I just—Rys, wow.”

“Oh, you don’t have to pretend,” Rys laughs, giving you a wink as she shows you the new chocolate gold band around her ring finger. “Jimin confessed that you helped him with picking and designing the ring.”

“O-oh, right.” You get a shaky feeling of déjà vu when you take a closer look at the ring, almost as if you have seen it before. You remember going with Jimin to the jewelers and explaining the details of the ring, but you never actually saw the final product until now. So how did you already have a perfect image of the ring on your mind that was a perfect replica to the ring shining prettily on Rys’s hand?

“Are you feeling okay, _______?” Elle pipes up, staring at you with a worried look etched on your face. “You’ve been really quiet for the past few weeks.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I just—” You are distracted momentarily, finding a folded piece of paper in the pocket of your bomber jacket. “Did I ever talk to you guys about someone…”

“Someone? Who?” prompts Ann, propping her head on her hand. Rys and Elle look at you expectantly, waiting for you to continue your sentence.

“Just… anyone strange? I don’t know, someone new?”

Elle furrows her eyebrows, “No, aside from talking about Taehyung, you never mention anyone new. Is something going on?”

But you stay silent, staring down at the paper you unfolded in your lap. It was one of your old, discarded papers for product designs dated five months ago. But what had you mesmerized was the miniature sketches doodled along the edges of some man you do not recognize. It was the same man you have been drawing now.

“Hey, who’s that?” asks Rys, glancing down at the paper. Ann and Elle look over, their interests piqued.

“Oh, he looks cute,” comments Ann before pausing, scrutinizing the drawing more closely. “But yeah, who is he?”

You stare at the picture, unmistakably drawn by yourself. You try to think back, but your mind somehow wanders to that stranger you passed in the building. Shaking your head slightly as if to clear your thoughts, you bite your lip, fingers tracing the image.

“I have no idea.”

⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Stepping onto the train, you weave through the crowded space, making it to the other side. Holding onto one of the poles and jostling slightly, you stand next to the closed sliding door, Taehyung’s arm slipping protectively around your waist as he stands behind you.

The train adjacent to the one you are currently in—the one about to move in the opposite direction—has temporarily stopped for new passengers as well. Absentmindedly looking out the door’s windows, you are entirely disconcerted when your gaze is shockingly met with a rather familiar pair of eyes: kind, dark brown, large, doe-like ones.

With only two sheets of thin glass separating the two of you, you could have sworn you knew the young man from somewhere before, and an inexplicable ache finds solace in your heart. He is so achingly familiar to you, but you cannot recall when or where you managed to memorize someone who is so unforgettable, yet simultaneously someone you have never met.

His lips curve into the slightest of smiles at the corners, the minutest hint of his bunny-like teeth making an appearance, and your eyes are frantically scanning him for any clue, any indication, any allusion as to why you feel this way—why you feel so intertwined with a complete stranger. His eyes tinged with the barest traces of melancholy and nostalgia bore into yours, teeming with golden specks of untold stories that seem to thread the loose ends between you and him, and all the oxygen appears to have escaped from your lungs.

Your eyes widen in recognition, and Jungkook gives you one last smile—a full blown one that leaves you even more breathless as his nose scrunches up and his eyes form the prettiest pair of crescents that puts the moon to shame—before mouthing one small phrase consisting of eleven letters, three spaces, and infinite meaning: his final response to your first and last confession.

I love you, too.

The automated voice of the standard metro warning jolts you awake from your reverie, and you turn away to face Taehyung, the moment now broken, as the train starts to move.

“Are you okay, sunshine?” Taehyung whispers to you, worried about your unusually quiet state. His hand stretches out to overlap the one you have wrapped around the metal railing.

“Yes, I’m fine.” You pause momentarily. You peer over your shoulder for one last glance, but the familiar figure has disappeared, now a train or maybe worlds away. Reaching into your jacket’s pocket, your fingers curl around a small trinket—a child’s costume jewelry, really, something you can easily get from any twenty-five cent machine—a red, plastic, dinosaur ring.

Smiling fondly to yourself, you turn to place a tender kiss on Taehyung’s cheek, and he looks adoringly at you, the stars in the night sky seemingly captured in his eyes and shining only for you. Wrapping your arms around him gently, you rest your head on his shoulder, still smiling softly.

“Everything’s perfect.”

Perhaps, maybe someday, in someplace only we know, in between the looming alternate universes laced with iridescent ribbons of fairy tales and star dust, transcending the mystical forces of time and happenstance, we will meet again.

We will be ready for each other.

And we will fall in love once more.

[starkdissembled-arc]

Appearance meme

BOLD ALL PHYSICAL TRAITS THAT APPLY TO YOUR MUSE.

Tagged by: @lovelornrocketscientist Tagging: @they-call-me-professor-x @ofcrimsonenchantresses @finalvalkyrie @startlingmetamorphosis and anyone else who may be interested!

EYES (general):  large  |  small  |  narrow  |  sharp  |  squinty  |  round  |  wide-set  |  close-set  |  deep-set  |  sunken  |  bulging  |  protruding  |  wide  |  hooded  |  heavy-lidded  |  striking  |  bright  |  sparkling  |  glittering  |  flecked  |  dull  |  bleary  |  rheumy  |  cloudy  |  red-rimmed  |  beady  |  puppy dog  |  bird-like  |  cat-like  |  jewel-like  |  steely  |  hard  |  long lashes  |  sweeping eyelashes  |  thick eyelashes  |  heterochromia  |

EYES (colour):  chestnut  |  chocolate brown  |  cocoa brown  |  coffee brown  |  mocha  |  mahogany  |  sepia  |  sienna brown  |  mink brown  |  copper  |  amber  |  cognac  |  whiskey  |  brandy  |  honey  |   tawny  |  topaz  |  hazel  |  obsidian  |  onyx  |  coal  |  raven  |  midnight  |  sky blue  |  sunny blue  |  cornflower blue  |  steel blue  |  ice blue  |  arctic blue  |  glacial blue  |  crystal blue  |  cerulean  |  electric blue  |  azure  |  lake blue  |  aquamarine  |  turquoise  |  denim blue  |  slate blue  |  slate gray  |  storm blue  |  storm gray  |  silver  |  silver gray  |  chrome  |  platinum  |  pewter  |  smoky gray  |  ash gray  |  concrete gray  |  dove gray  |  shark gray  |  fog gray  |  gunmetal gray  |  olive  |  emerald  |  leaf green  |  moss green  |

EYEBROWS: arched  |  straight  |  plucked  |  sparse  |  trim  |  dark  |  faint  |  thin  |  thick  |  unruly  |  bushy  |  heavy

SKIN (general):  lined  |  wrinkled  |  seamed  |  leathery  |  sagging  |  drooping  |  loose  |  clear  |  smooth  |  silken  |  satiny  |  dry  |  flaky  |  scaly  |  delicate  |  thin  |  translucent  |  luminescent  |  baby-soft  |  flawless  |  small pores  |  large pores  |  glowing  |  dewy  |  dull  |  velvety  |  fuzzy  |  rough  |  uneven  |  mottled  |  dimpled  |  doughy  |  firm  |  freckled  |  pimply  |  pockmarked  |  blemished  |  pitted  |  scarred  |   bruised  |  veined  |  scratched  |  sunburned  |  weather-beaten  |  raw  |  tattooed  |

SKIN (colour):    amber  |  bronze  |  cinnamon  |  copper  |  dark brown  |  deep brown  |  ebony  |  honey  |  golden  |  pale  |  pallid  |  pasty  |  fair  |  light  |  cream  |  alabaster  |  ivory  |  bisque  |  milk  |  porcelain  |  chalky  |  sallow  |  olive  |  peach  |  rosy  |  ruddy  |  florid  |  russet  |  tawny  |  fawn  |

FACE STRUCTURE:   square  |  round  |  oblong  |  oval  |  elongated  |  narrow  |  heart-shaped  |  cat-like  |  wolfish  |  high forehead  |  broad forehead  |  prominent brow ridge  |  protruding brow bone |  sharp cheekbones  |  high cheekbones  |  angular cheekbones  |  hollow cheeks  |  square jaw  |  chiseled  |  sculpted  |  craggy  |  soft  |  jowly  |  jutting chin  |  pointed chin  |  weak chin  |  receding chin  |  double chin  | long chin  |  cleft chin  |  chin dimple  |  visible Adam’s apple |  rounded jaw  |  prominent ears  |  

NOSE:  snub  |  dainty  |  button  |  turned-up |  long  |  broad  |  thin  |   straight  |  pointed  |  crooked  |   aquiline  |  roman  |  bulbous  |  flared  |  hawk  |  strong

MOUTH/LIPS:  thin  |  narrow  |  broad  |  full  |  lush  |  rosebud  |  cupid’s bow  |  dry  |  cracked  |  chapped  |  moist  |  glossy  |  straight teeth  |   crooked teeth  |  gap between teeth  |   gleaming white teeth  |  Fangs  |  yellowed teeth  |  braces  |  overbite  |  underbite  |  dimples  |  deep tubercle (dip)  |

FACIAL HAIR:  clean-shaven  |  smooth-shaven  |  beard  |  neckbeard  |  goatee  |  mustache  |  sideburns  |  mutton-chop sideburns  |  stubble  |  a few days’ growth of beard  |  five o’ clock shadow  |

HAIR (general):     long  |  short  |  shoulder-length  |  loose  |  limp  |  dull  |  shiny  |  glossy  |  sleek  |  smooth  |   luminous  |  lustrous  |  spiky  |  stringy   |  shaggy  |  tangled  |  messy  |  tousled  |  windblown  |  unkempt  |  straggly  |  neatly combed  |  parted  |  slicked down  |  slicked back  |  cropped  |  clipped  |  buzzed  |  buzz cut  |  curly  |  bushy  |  frizzy  |  wavy  |  straight  |  lanky  |  dry  |  oily  |  greasy  |  layers  |  corkscrews  |  spirals  |  ringlets  |  braids  |  dreadlocks  |  widow’s peak  |  bald  |  shaved  |  comb-over  |  thick  |  luxuriant  |   voluminous  |  full  |  wild  |  untamed  |  bouncy  |  wispy  |  fine  |  thinning  |

HAIR (colour):  black  |  blue-black  |  jet black  |  raven  |  ebony  |  inky black  |  midnight  |  sable  |  salt and pepper  |  silver  |  silver gray  |  charcoal gray  |  steel gray  |  white  |  snow-white  |  brown  |  brunette  |  chocolate brown  |  coffee brown  |  ash brown  |  brown sugar  |  nut brown  |  caramel  |  tawny brown  |  toffee brown  |  red  |  ginger  |  auburn  |  copper  |  strawberry blonde  |  butterscotch  |  honey  |  wheat  |  blonde  |  golden  |  sandy blonde  |  flaxen  |  fair-haired  |  bleached  |  platinum  |

BODY TYPE:   tall  |  average height  |  short  |  petite  |  tiny  |  compact  |  big  |  large  |  burly  |  beefy  |  bulky  |  brawny  |  barrel-chested  |  heavy  |  heavy-set  |  fat  |  baby fat  |  plump  |  overweight  |  obese  |  flabby  |  chunky  |  chubby  |  pudgy  |  pot-bellied  |  spare tire  |  portly  |  thick  |  stout  |  lush  |  plush  |  full-figured  |  ample  |  hourglass  |  rounded  |  voluptuous  |  curvy  |  soft-bodied  |  hippy  |  leggy  |  long-legged  |  coltish  |  gangling  |  lanky  |  lissome  |  willowy  |  lithe | slight  |  lean  |  slim  |  slender  |  trim  |  thin  |  skinny  |  emaciated  |  gaunt  |  bony  |  spare  |  small-framed  |  long-armed  |  solid  |  stocky  |  wiry  |  rangy  |  sinewy  |  stringy  |  ropy  |  sturdy  |  strapping  |  powerful  |  hulking  |  fit  |  athletic  |  toned  |  muscular  |  chiseled  |  taut  |  ripped  |  herculean  |  swole  |  broad-shouldered  |  sloping shoulders  |  bowlegged |  knock-kneed  |  duck-footed walk (feet turned out)  |  pigeon-toed (toes in)  |

HANDS:  delicate  |  small  |  large  |  square  |  sturdy  |  strong  |  smooth  |  rough  |  calloused   |   elegant  |  plump  |  neat  |  manicured  |  stubby fingers  | long fingers  |  ragged nails  |  grimy fingernails  |  clean  |  ink-stained  |  blunt finger tips  |  tapered fingertips  |  visible bones  |  visible veins  |

FEET:  small  |  large  |  wide  |  narrow  |  smooth  |  rough  |  calloused   |  bony  |  plump  |  splayed  |  flexible  |  stubby toes  |  long toes | one crazy long toe  |  two short baby toes  |  perfect angle toes |  straight toes  |  crooked toes  |  flat toes  |  plump toes  |  neatly trimmed nails  |  ragged nails  |  dirty nails  |  clean nails  |  flat feet  |  high arches  |

[lumiereswig]

Dear @lumiereswig, I don't have a tumblr account, so I just quickly want to tell you (through here) that your writing is heaven-sent for me and for this awesome fandom. You write perfectly in character (like, everyone) and are so freaking hilarious I die laughing. I come to your blog every day whenever I need to get feels or smile - and you've never dissappointed me. Also, I feel like I need to request a fic if I send an ask, so what if Plumiere goes to Paris? And maybe a Moulin Rouge x-over?

omg you are best person. hello, best person. you too are heaven sent and have made this small trash heap feel that perhaps all the garbage fics are, in the end, worth it

obviously a moulin rouge crossover would be amazing, but everytime i try to write one i fall over laughing and can’t get up, so here’s a PLUMIERE IN PARIS fic because you are best person and here you go

Paris is different from how Plumette remembers it. When she left, it was clouded by the smoke of burning bodies and the coughs of the dying: plague-filled Paris, a gloomy shadow of its former glory, swallowing itself up in its own smoke. Now, the sun shines on the cobblestones. Old women, bundled up in their knitting and their groceries, amble across the streets with no fear of disease. There are children running around.

Lumiere is relaxed, and easy, and smiling. He tucks her arm into his, and takes in his beloved city with one sweeping arm.

“How long has it been since you were here, Plumette? Do you remember the sweet sound of the café cantinas? Have you danced beneath the stars in le Marais?”

“It has been about eleven years, my love,” she says. “But...I was too young, then, to spend time in those streets. I stayed at home—until I couldn’t, any more.”

He doesn’t pick up on the reluctance in her tone, the slight fear that is still there. The plague left no scars on Plumette that anyone can see—but her heart still holds one, from the sickness that took her family and former life.

“Come, then! You must meet my family. You must see my street!” He is twenty-three, and overflowing with joy; he has his love on one arm, and his city on the other. No curse has crossed his life, as yet. All he has is vivacity, and Paris, and Plumette.

Lumiere’s fine, golden coat lights up the streets as they plunge away from the richer areas of town—les Champs Elysées, les Tuilieries—and into the working districts of the city, where the grand boulevards give way to bread-shops and feral cats. His wig, his best, bobs high; he looks the picture of the royal courtier, and Plumette feels a prick of pride to have him at her side.

The store they stop at is extremely ordinary. Bottles and jars of herbs and powders are stacked up in the paned window; broken barrels crowd the stoop, and the roof is lopsided. A crooked, ordinary apothecary shop, that smells of mothballs and camphor.  Standing in front of the door, resplendent in embroidery and gold buttons, her Lumiere looks supremely out of place.

“Your ancestral home?” laughs Plumette. “Come! Let me meet your family!”

He throws open the shop door without even looking. Her graceful courtier would know his way around this poor apothecary with his eyes shut.

“Papa! Maman! Where are you? Ach, mon dieu—I forgot how much I hate the smell of castor oil—Papa!—”

“Lumiere!”

She would never, ever guess that these people were his family. They are dressed as ordinary as could be: brown vests, black bonnets, hair tied back without adornment, spectacles pinched onto long noses. Though wait, now: the woman hugging her now, she has bright blue eyes in her broad, happy face; and his father’s nose is just the same, and the way his hair flops toward his face is so familiar.

“Oh, you are so good, you are so lovely, oh he didn’t describe you nearly enough—” Lumiere’s mother, small and fussy and Scottish, is almost shaking her with approval. “Oh but how do you put up with him? Take off that coat, there we go, oh my word she is Parisian, I haven’t seen such elegance in years—”

“Maman, you live in Paris!”

“Now you shut up, dear, and take off that wig—let me see the hair I gave you—”

He takes off the wig and lets his russet curls bounce free. When his parents aren’t looking, he ruefully rolls his eyes at Plumette; but she can’t stop laughing, and is dragged into the shop by the rough, glad hands of the shopkeepers. Lumiere’s father is quiet and contained; his mother is wired with energy, and bustles around to get them ordinary tea and a few ramshackle, half-burned cookies.

It smells terrible, in here. The sun hardly enters in. Dust and flour coats the boxes of herbs, and it is too cramped to dance, and too damp to sing. Next door, the neighbors are shouting. A badly tuned accordion is playing out the window. It is all noise, all ordinary dust and must.

And Plumette loves it.

It takes them hours to get away, stuffed on terrible Scotch eggs (merci, maman) and dull anecdotes on the quartier’s political situation (non! papan!). Lumiere breathes easy when they are back in the city’s grand streets, and puts the wig on again.

“I love them, Plumette, you know I do—but oof! They are so...bourgeois. I lived out in their attic by dancing and singing and studying etiquette. We can love our roots, but not abide by them.”

“I know you love them, mon coeur.” Affection was obvious, despite the sighs and secret feeding of the cookies to the dog. “And they are good people! A little...stuffy. But good.”

“But come! You must show me where you grew up! Show me Paris: Plumette’s Paris.”

He has no idea how much her heart’s scar aches, just then. But she leads him on—away from the humdrum streets, with their grannies and their children, and down a boulevard.

“Is this a shortcut, ma chérie?”

“Keep going.”

The streets get quieter and quieter; the gates grow higher, the people better dressed. Soon they have outpaced the sounds of Paris, and walk down grand highways, lined with fine mansions. And still Plumette keeps going.

The grandest house is at the end of the street. Gardens surround it. A fine, arched iron gateway keeps them from going in. Emblazoned on the iron is a feather motif: the insignia of a fine, noble house.

“C'est ici,” says Plumette, and watches Lumiere stare.

“This?!”

“Mon chéri, don’t lose it.”

“Which window was yours?”

She doesn’t expect the question. Gasps about her wealthy childhood, maybe a startled inquiry or two about what her title truly is—but the touch of home, in this question, knocks at her heart with gentle hands.

“That one. On the second floor—do you see? With the jasmine climbing up the windows.”

Lumiere nods and holds her hand. She did not expect this. Words are flowing fast.

“It was a beautiful room; bright and sunny—I had a bed of my own, and a vase with daffodils by the window—”

“Excellent taste.”

“And somebody—my grand-mère, I think—she hung crystals up, little glass stones to show the light. I liked to look at them as I fell asleep.” She remembers her grandmother now, in her white dress, and sees her worn old hands, brown like mahogany, pointing to the portraits on the walls, saying: and he fought with Charlemagne. He courted the Princess of Austria. She stunned the Prussians with her wit and her grace. And I almost became the Queen of England!

“More.”

“My mother had the smallest shoes—but the most of any woman at court. 500 different pairs, I think?”

“Truly excellent taste.”

And Plumette talks, as they walk around her old home, and though its gates are barred and locked she feels something inside her uncurl, like a budding rose. She hasn’t thought of her family like this, as healthy and whole and loving, in eleven years. Lumiere listens, and Plumette’s eyes mist.

“I lost them,” she says at last. Sorrow, sorrow: to end so much happiness on such a bitter note. Plague deprives her of a happily ever after. “And I ran away, and came to Villeneuve. And I love it there, you know I do—but I miss my home.”

“Bien sûr, ma chérie.” His arm is tucked in hers, now. “But, now—if all your family was gone, then who maintains these gardens?”

She stops and starts and stops again. The gardens look magnificent. The windows of the house are sparkling in the light. A face peeps out the window.

“Do you—do you think I still...?”

“Your ancestral home, non?” says Lumiere. “No one can live there except someone of your family. Let us go and meet the family!” And he opens the gate with a sweeping gesture, to take in all of Paris—and Plumette’s heart, as well.

[bloojayoolie]

Andrew Bogut, Cats, and Children: HOT POCKETX A GORGEOUS ELEGANT SUPERMODEL. BASHFUL ABOUT HER BEAUTY INCREDIBLY SWEET MANNERED. PLAYFUL. POLITE ID 56458, 2 YRS. 40 PETITE POUNDS. WAITING FOR LOVE, AT MANHATTA ACO INTAKE DATE – 3/7/2019 Mannered, petite, super sweet champion leash walker & supermodel – HOT POCKET is the whole package! A volunteer writes: “Walking through the adoption ward, I spied a lithe elegant beauty, all lean gray lines and tremendous rabbity ears. That's Hot Pocket! It was like running into a magazine model at the ACC. Cool, a touch bashful being, the focus of attention from an admiring friendly human; we leashed up and out to the pen. Hot Pocket turned to the right, then left, easy-breezy, so it really was like photographing a supermodel. She indulged in lots of treats (had to be a cheat day to keep that figure!) and quickly had her "model's day off" self and charmingly leapt and scampered around the yard in play! Go, Hot Pocket! But, Hot Pocket is well mannered on the leash; she helped train new volunteers! If you are looking for a gorgeous sidekick, full of class and style, hustle over to MACC and get yourself our Hot Pocket.” HOT POCKET, ID# 56458, 2 Yrs. old, 40.4 lbs., Female Manhattan ACC, Large Mixed Breed, Brown Brindle / White I came to the shelter as a Stray 3/7/2019 (found outside) Shelter Assessment Rating: Medical Behavior Rating: 2. Blue MEDICAL EXAM NOTES DVM Intake Exam. Estimated age: ~1.5-2yrs based on PE. History : stray found outside. Subjective / Observed Behavior - BAR, very wiggly. Flinches when face and neck touched. Easily distracted with food. Tail wagging and loose body throughout exam. Evidence of Cruelty seen – none. Evidence of Trauma seen – none. Objective: BCS 4/9, EENT: Eyes clear, ears clean, no nasal or ocular discharge noted. Oral Exam: dc 1/5; pd 0/5. PLN: No enlargements noted. H/L: No murmur ausculted; CRT < 2, Lungs clear, eupnic. ABD: Non painful, no masses palpated. U/G: intact female. no scar or tattoo seen. MSI: Ambulatory x 4, skin free of parasites, no masses noted, healthy hair coat. CNS: Mentation appropriate - no signs of neurologic abnormalities. Rectal: externally normal. Assessment: underweight, dental disease. Prognosis: excellent. Plan: weight gain, routine daily dental care after placement. SURGERY: Okay for surgery *** TO FOSTER OR ADOPT *** If you would like to adopt a NYC ACC dog, and can get to the Shelter in person to complete the adoption process, you can contact the Shelter directly. We have provided the Brooklyn, Staten Island and Manhattan information below. Adoption hours at these facilities is Noon – 8:00 p.m. (6:30 on weekends) If you CANNOT get to the Shelter in person and you want to FOSTER OR ADOPT a NYC ACC Dog, you can PRIVATE MESSAGE our Must Love Dogs page for assistance. PLEASE NOTE: You MUST live in NY, NJ, PA, CT, RI, DE, MD, MA, NH, VT, ME or Northern VA. You will need to fill out applications with a New Hope Rescue Partner to foster or adopt a NYC ACC dog. Transport is available if you live within the prescribed range of states. Shelter contact information: Phone number (212) 788-4000 Email adopt@nycacc.org Shelter Addresses: Brooklyn Shelter: 2336 Linden Boulevard Brooklyn, NY 11208 Manhattan Shelter: 326 East 110 St. New York, NY 10029 Staten Island Shelter: 3139 Veterans Road West Staten Island, NY 10309 *** NEW NYC ACC RATING SYSTEM *** Level 1 Dogs with Level 1 determinations are suitable for the majority of homes. These dogs are not displaying concerning behaviors in Shelter, and the owner surrender profile (where available) is positive. Some dogs with Level 1 determinations may still have potential challenges, but these are challenges that the behavior team believe can be handled by the majority of adopters. The potential challenges could include no young children, prefers to be the only dog, no dog parks, no cats, kennel presence, basic manners, low level fear and mild anxiety. Level 2 Dogs with Level 2 determinations will be suitable for adopters with some previous dog experience. They will have displayed behavior in the Shelter (or have owner reported behavior) that requires some training, or is simply not suitable for an adopter with minimal experience. Dogs with a Level 2 determination may have multiple potential challenges and these may be presenting at differing levels of intensity, so careful consideration of the behavior notes will be required for counselling. Potential challenges at Level 2 include no young children, single pet home, resource guarding, on-leash reactivity, mouthiness, fear with potential for escalation, impulse control/arousal, anxiety and separation anxiety. Level 3 Dogs with Level 3 determinations will need to go to homes with experienced adopters, and the ACC strongly suggest that the adopter have prior experience with the challenges described and/or an understanding of the challenge and how to manage it safely in a home environment. In many cases, a trainer will be needed to manage and work on the behaviors safely in a home environment. It is likely that every dog with a Level 3 determination will have a behavior modification or training plan available to them from the behavior department that will go home with the adopters and be made available to the New Hope Partners for their fosters and adopters. Some of the challenges seen at Level 3 are also seen at Level 1 and Level 2, but when seen alongside a Level 3 determination can be assumed to be more severe. The potential challenges for Level 3 determinations include adult only home (no children under the age of 13), single pet home, resource guarding, on-leash reactivity with potential for redirection, mouthiness with pressure, potential escalation to threatening behavior, impulse control, arousal, anxiety, separation anxiety, bite history (human), bite history (dog) and bite history (other).