#even funnier that you put it on a hoodie

[dragonpyre]

The hoodie just came in and its amazing! I love it because it's my exact type of humor, I laugh like a mad person everytime I see the 'Shirt Pun'

🥹🥹🥹

[yawnderu]

Salvatore - Simon ''Ghost'' Riley x Reader

''Si?'' Your soft voice breaks him out of his trance. Cold, dead eyes look back up at you, the eye black that seems to be staining the skin around his eyes making them stand out even more. He acknowledges you with a small nod, waiting for you to keep speaking.

''You seem out of it lately.'' You tread carefully, standing up next to him as your eyes look up at the stars, the view fully clear as the base is far away from the city's lights.

''Can't sleep.'' Is all he replies, taking a drag from his cigarette while his mask is pulled halfway. You take that time to admire his lower face, carving the image in your brain just as you've done so many times. He has a soft jawline, thin lips, the slightest stubble, and a few small scars running along his top lip and chin. He gives you a side-eye, but you keep on admiring him in silence.

''I've hardly been 'in it', lass.'' You roll your eyes playfully, a small chuckle escaping your lips despite yourself. You turn to him when he offers you his cigarette, holding it between your fingers as you take a long drag, trying to figure out the odd combo of a man besides you.

''You know you don't have to be a brooding soldier all the time, right? The mask is scary enough.'' You tease, biting the inside of your cheek to avoid the giggle threatening to escape as he gives you another side-eye.

''This is my happy face.'' He says in a deadpan tone, voice completely flat on purpose as he gets all up in your face, the hard plate of the skull mask making him look even funnier. You can't hold in the laugh that escapes your lips as you push him away gently, the same way he can't help the small satisfied smile that sets on his lips as he turns his head away so you don't see it.

You pass the cigarette back to him, leaning on your hands as you look up at the stars. Though it's quiet between you for a few minutes, it's not awkward at all.

''What do you call it when a snowman throws a tantrum?'' You groan loudly and he smirks, cigarette hanging from his lips as he waits for you to humor him. You do, but not before sighing loudly and shooting him a fake, unamused expression.

''What?'' He takes a second to hold back a chuckle as he remembers the joke.

''A meltdown.'' You stay quiet for a second before looking away from him, face buried on the sleeve of your hoodie as you refuse to let him see your smile. He can hear you giggle softly, though, so he takes it as a win.

''I'm leaving.'' You announce jokingly, attempting to get up before his gloved hand gently pulls you back down.

''Stay.'' He says in the gentlest tone you've heard from him, a small smile playing on your lips as you sit back down, another loud groan in protest as he tries to tell you yet another dad joke, much to his amusement.

The rest of the night is spent together, being tormented by his bad jokes. It's easy to be detached when you're a soldier, but he can't escape the fact that he's drawn to you like a moth to a flame. You help put the turmoil in his mind at ease, if only for a short while. He'll take whatever help he can get from you.

[jakesangel]

late night drive with jake ꣑୧ - requested

notes : there you go bby @yunjaeda >.< i hope it's as good as you thoight i would make it <3 - not proofread i’m sorry :/

it's 10 pm and as your about to turn the lights off, you hear your front door ringing. knowing it can only be one person, at this late hour, you happily open the door already smiling thinking of jake making you an unnoticed surprise. hello, my love, he says as he hugs you tight. your precious boyfriend is only wearing his large hoodie paired w his sweatpants, but with his cute bare face and messy hairstyle, he looks more huggable than ever. i couldn't help til tomorrow to see you, he murmured in your hair, as he hugs you impossibly tighter. you can only chuckle and pet his hair as you know his embrace last usually long. the silence is comfortable, jake small pecks on your neck making you laugh from time to time earning to feel his smile on ur your skin. when he finally thinks his daily quota of hugging you is reached, he pulls back in a jump, too eager to tell you tonight's plan, actually i'm not staying here tonight, BUT before you pout at me and i'll give you everything, he starts teasing you, i have a surprise. follow me ?

and here you are, in the passenger seat, you know jake loves when you touch his hair, so as you wait for him to get ready, you brush the hair on his nap, making him slow down in his movement and hum as he enjoys your touch. he closes his eyes, and softly smile, silently thanking you for your sudden affection. he takes your hand away, and kiss it before putting it back on your leg, as much as i love it, i need to focus baby, he sadly say, finally starting the engine, where are we going btw ? you ask. he softly chuckle, eyes still on the road, no where baby, i just want to spend time with you. like late night drive ? oh by the way, can you connect my phone to the car, i made a playlist specially for this. his eyes rapidly move from the road to you, as he wants to see your reaction to his well thought playlist. his smile gets wider as he sees yours, happy to make you happy. car rides with the one who drives me crazy ? jake- you laugh, you're unbelivable, as you keep on laughing, what ? you always drive me crazy baby~ he replies back, his flirty side coming out. come on put it on !

the car ride goes smoothly, the car filled with laugher, the front windows rolled down, making your hair and his, fly around, making the atmosphere even funnier I PASS THE MIC, YOU STAY STILL YOU STAY YOU STAY, you guys sing-scream along the loud beat. your happy jake took a road far away from the city, the both of you would have waken up everyone. you laugh as you're done singing, followed my jake who slows the car. oh ? why are you slowing down ? you nevoursly ask, i thought we were having fun ? he juts looks at you with his trustful smile of his. he takes your hand in his, and hold it along the hand brake, don't worry baby, my surprise isn't just a car drive. aren't you wondering why we're so far away from the city ?

after stoping the engine, he goes around the car really fast, opening your door and offering his hand to help you, after you my lady, he playfully says. he then leads you to the back of the car, and open the truck only for you to see a plaid beautifully laid in it along with fairy light and snacks he thoughtfully paid. i thoight we could also stargaze, he turns you around and lower himself to look deeply in your eyes. what do you think ? he says with a smile hiding a hint of overthinking. jake- you're so... ? you're found speechless, his affection filling your body. you have the most thoughtful and caring boyfriend and he still show signs of insecurity, you're unbelievable, jake. you finally say as you hug him by the neck tight. you're so perfect, i love you, you whisper to his ear, not knowing what else to say but gets you're currently feeling. and hearing this makes him wrap his arm tighter around your waist and dig his head further into your neck, feeling proud of himself but mostly feeling joy as he knows and feels you love him.

after this heartfelt moment, he takes your hand again to help you jump in the truck, careful princess, he says as he put a hand on your forehead. he follows you, and bring you close to him, your head in between his laid arm n his chest. he hums in contentment, like always when he is in contact with you. as the silent falls comfortly between the two of you, you look up to him and his good looking side profile. tho the stars is beautiful, your boyfriend's agape lips is prettier to look at. his tall nose always digging into your neck, or his lips always saying sweet things to you. the said lips finally break into a laugh, jake's embarrassment coming out of his body, why are you looking at me, the show is ahead of you, he says, finally looking at you, i have a prettier star to look at, earning a shy laugh from him. it's rare occurrence you flirt with jake as he is usually the one making you fold, but everytime you do so, his shyness comes out. you're gonna be the death of me, his eyes falls on your lips, which doesn't go unnoticed from you. you come closer to jake, your hand coming up to his chest, signaling him to kiss you, which he totally gives in, his hand coming to your cheeks before diving in.

the kiss starts slow and soft, him wanting to pour nothing but his love for you. his thumb stroking your skin softly and his i love you's, fills you with nothing but warmth. it's only when he is out of breath, chasing your lips when you try to bake away, he breaks the kiss, but keeping you close, his forehead on yours, god i love you so much, y/n.

perm tag list ( open ) : @allurecile @luvj4key @stwrjvke @neos127 @goldenretrieverjakezgirlbaby @heeheeswifey @sjylouvre @txnwvc @oopshee @luvlyhee @en-ner-jay @en-chantedtomeetyou @erenmyman @hoonion @jlheon @ghostiiess @vlaeaex . @enhablr

[kpthoughts]

<Sam’s little sister>

-Colby Brock-

—————————————————————————

Before dating:

Sam hated the idea of his best friend dating his little sister

That’s why Colby held his feelings off for so long because he didn’t want to make Sam uncomfortable

But soon the feelings were too strong to ignore

You got closer very easily might I add

Everyone had a hunch you liked each other, the mainly knew he liked you.

Especially fans

He seemed very protective of you in videos, more than everyone else

In haunted videos he would always check up on you, make sure you’re not going in first or in any danger

You like the thrill though and he knows this but he can’t help himself

Fans picked up on all this and started to ship you

As much as you denied it you both knew it was true

You always seemed to gravitate towards each other even when you’re in a big group/crowd

For example you would sit beside each other, walk side by side, talk to each other more, find ways to be alone

This is what led you to dating

When at a party you both hid away in the bedroom

One conversation led to a deep conversation and he kissed you

You were shocked but didn’t fight it

Sam finding out:

You both hid this from your friends to avoid drama between everyone

They soon picked up on it though

Sam being the first to ask Colby about it.

He asked if anything was going on between you and Colby and because Colby didn’t want to lie anymore he admitted you were dating for the past month

Sam was rightfully upset

Not because you were dating but because you hid it from him

He came around though and was your biggest shipper

Dating Colby would include:

He always has his hands on you in some way

Not sexually though

He would hold your hand, your thigh, have his arm around your waist etc

Filming together

Sam teased you two SO MUCH

He’ll come in while you’re in his apartment or room and just tell something stupid before leaving

Colby finds it funnier than you do

“It’s a little funny!”

“No I hate him!”

He’s very protective of you and will constantly make sure you’re ok and safe

Especially in videos when you’re exploring or ghost hunting

You’re usually the little spoon but if he’s had a bad day it switches

His fans love you and are also protective of you when it comes to haters

He loves seeing you in his clothes

Hoodies, t-shirts, rings whatever

You steal his rings a lot

He knows you do and gave up asking you if it was you who took them because he already knows

Adventures when you want to get out somewhere

You’ll just drive until you find somewhere interesting to look around like a forest, cave or abandoned building

Checks up on you daily and knows when something is wrong

He’s not overly jealous but can get a little annoyed when a guy shows you a lot of attention

You don’t give the attention back though

Instead you go to Colby and kiss him in front of the guy

He loves it when you do this

When you kiss he always has his hands on your waist or back

He knows what spots to put his hands every time

During makeouts he’ll put you on his lap and hold your hips down

He’ll leave hickeys in less obvious spots because of videos and you two not wanting to share that part of your life

Your friends always see them though and you don’t hear the end of it

Forehead kisses all the time

When cuddling he loves to play with your hair and loves it when you play with his

He tried to braid your hair once but it didn’t end well

You paint his nails a lot and he loves it

When you’re bored you’ll draw on his arms or colour in his tattoos with felt tips

He just lets you do it while he scrolls through his phone

Stargazing is something you love to do as you know so much about Stars

He sits there and listens to you talk about it and he loves it

—————————————————————————

Master/Request Page

[ranhaitanisgf]

hi omg i'm so excited for you and your event you deserve the 2k!! could i request childhood friends to lovers with kazutora wherein reader is baji's sister and they fake date for awhile to fuck with their friends but then realize their feelings for each other? also angst to fluff maybe !! have a good one and take care<3

— kazutora hanemiya // childhood friends to lovers // fake dating

☆ ˎˊ˗ THIS WAS SOOO FUN TO WRITE OMG !! thank you for requesting for my event !! i hope you all enjoyyy xoxo

☆ ˎˊ˗ gn!reader

☆ ˎˊ˗ wc ; 1.8k+

masterlist || 2k masterlist

it was funny at first. 

when you’d seen the look on keisuke’s face, you’d had to use an epic amount of strength to keep yourself from laughing, only allowing yourself to have a bit of an amused look as you held kazutora’s hand. he was having a harder time containing his laughter, his face looking like he was going to break at any point as keisuke stared at the two of you, his jaw almost unhinging from how far it was hanging open. 

“you…you two…are dating?!” he spluttered, which made kazutora start to lose it. 

it had been even funnier when you and kazutora had shown up to one of the toman meetings, your hand once again encased in his. the amount of utterly shocked faces from all your friends had the both of you losing it once again, which had made the deal seem entirely worth it. 

that’s right. it was just a deal. a joke. the two of you were going to come clean soon and admit that it was all just to fuck with everyone. you would be able to laugh freely at their shocked faces, and you would all move on with your lives. 

so why were you feeling so bitter right now?

you had come across the scene by a complete mistake; you had been just been running to the convenience store to grab some snacks for yourself and your brother, (he had insisted on needing more yakisoba stocked up). you didn’t even known that kazutora had been in the area, and now you were frozen in your tracks, looking at him from afar. 

in front of the convenience store, he was holding a soda can in his hand, a plastic bag hanging from his arm. also hanging from his arm was a girl, the two of them talking with smiles on their faces as they seemed to be waiting for someone who was still inside the store. the girl was surprisingly close to kazutora, her body pressed up against his side, and you found it hard to recognize this boy who used to blush and stutter at the simple action of a girl talking to him. 

he hadn’t seen you yet, so you were taking a moment to contemplate what to do. should you just go back home? no, why should you care about this? the two of you aren’t even dating, so it really doesn’t concern you at all. besides, why should you go back home when you haven’t done anything wrong? 

you pulled the hood up on your sweater, pulling the hoodie strings so that most of your face was covered, leaving you with just a small amount of your vision. 

when you passed by kazutora, he didn’t even take a second glance at you, completely ignoring you. 

why would he talk to me?! i’m the one who made myself unrecognizable!!

you decided to put the confusing thoughts out of your mind, grabbing the snacks and packs of yakisoba, going up to the counter and quickly paying. with your bag of goodies in hand, you walked out of the store, noticing that kazutora and his little friend were nowhere to be seen. 

you let out a sigh of relief, (why are you relieved?) and started your walk back home, loosening the strings on your hood a bit. your hand reached into the bag, shuffling around in it a bit before picking a bag of chips, taking it out and ripping the top open. 

“yo.” 

“ahh!” you screamed, hearing a voice in your ear. you turned around, closing your eyes and throwing the bag of chips at the person. when you opened your eyes, you realized that kazutora was in front of you, looking at you with a confused expression and your bag of chips in his hands, (how did a single chip not fall out?). 

“your first reaction was to throw chips at me?” he questioned, taking a few steps to walk by your side as you grumbled, continuing your way home. “y’know, that’s not really a sound defense tactic.” 

“shaddup. gimme that.” you muttered, snatching your bag of chips from him. you grabbed a few chips, shoving them in your mouth and crunching as the two of you walked. 

feeling a stare on you, you glanced to the side, noticing how kazutora was looking at you with a quizzical expression. 

“what.” you said flatly, staring back at him with a blank look. “you got somethin’ to say?” 

“you seem pissed off.” 

“do i? well, i’m fine.” you answered, continuing to munch on your chips. 

“you don’t seem fine.” kazutora stated, his tone turning more serious. “what’s wrong? did someone do something to you? i can beat them up if you-” 

“i just told you i’m fine. can you get off my case? shit, i just wanted to get snacks! is that a fucking crime?!” you snapped. “don’t you have to go hang out with your arm candy or something? just leave me alone!!” you started to walk a bit faster, starting to regret what you said the moment it came out of your mouth. 

whatever. i’ll just go watch a drama and not think about this. 

you felt kazutora grab your arm, trying to keep you from stopping. the action made you want to roll your eyes; why was he acting like this?? 

“hey! i just told you i-!” your words were left unsaid as you turned around, guilt suddenly rushing through you. kazutora was looking at you with tears in his eyes, and now that you were paying more attention, his grip on your arm was extremely loose, holding it as though you were made of porcelain. 

“are you mad ‘cause you saw me with that girl? is it my fault?” he asked, his voice a bit shaky. 

“n-no, it’s not your fault…shit, i’m sorry…” you apologized, sighing a bit. “i’m sorry i snapped at you, i was just…” you trailed off. 

why were you so pissed off seeing kazutora with that girl? 

“...just…” you continued, trying to find an explanation for your actions. “...” your silence continued as you stared at him, the boy waiting for an answer from you. his sad, golden gaze felt like it was forcing you to admit the truth to yourself as you continued to look at him, (why did he almost look like a kicked puppy?). 

were you…jealous?

yes.

“i…don’t know. i’m sorry. just ignore everything i said.” you suddenly said. “i need to get home. okay. yes. i’m sorry, i’ll treat you to a meal soon as an apology, uhm, okay, bye-” 

“are you jealous?” 

you froze at kazutora’s words, your heart skipping a few beats as your jaw dropped. 

his face had suddenly changed into a smug expression, the tears that were in his eyes a moment ago completely gone. the look in his eyes hadn’t changed, he was still uncertain, but you could tell that he knew he had hit the nail on the head. 

“w-what?! why would i be jealous? we aren’t even dating for real!” you sputtered, trying to refute the accusation. “you could go and hang out with every girl in tokyo and i wouldn’t care!!” 

“you wouldn’t? that hurts me, (y/n).” kazutora said, a frown on his face as he stepped a bit closer to you, pulling your hood down. “i don’t know that girl, though. she was getting away from a creep, so i pretended to be her boyfriend for a while.” 

of course. 

you felt shame course through you as you realized you had overreacted for nothing, and you now looked like an absolute freak. there was no way kazutora would ever talk to you ever again, not after you had snapped at him like that-

“i would care if you were hanging out with another guy.” kazutora suddenly said. 

“what? why…?”

“because you’re mine. i like you.” you stared at him, your eyes damn near popping out of their sockets as you tried to figure out if he was playing with you or not. the look on his face and in his eyes didn’t change at all, staying serious and sincere as he looked back at you. 

“you’re…not joking?” you hesitantly asked. kazutora shook his head, his hands moving to rest on top of your shoulders. 

“i want…to date you. for real.” 

“...really?”

“yes. these last few weeks…” kazutora sighed, shaking his head. “...it was a mistake to agree to fake date. i was just too scared to ask you out for real, so i thought that it was the closest i could get to actually dating you. i’m sorry…if you hate me, that’s fine, i just needed to tell you-” 

“let me kiss you.” 

“w-what?!” 

“to see if you’re telling the truth.” you explained, putting on a confident front as you spoke. “if you’re lying, i’ll know it because you won’t kiss me. so, let me-mmph!” kazutora’s had suddenly moved from your shoulders to the back of your neck, pulling you towards him as his lips crashed into yours. 

your shock kept you from doing anything for a moment, but after your moment of shock was over, your hands immediately moved to cup his cheeks. you closed your eyes, embracing the feeling of kazutora’s soft lips on your own, gently moving as he kissed you deeper. 

you felt disappointed when he pulled away, though you suppose you were okay with the two of you staying this close together. 

“do you believe me now?” he asked earnestly. 

“yes…” you answered, still feeling a bit shocked at everything that had happened, (should you thank keisuke for bothering you to go and get yakisoba?). 

“good. lemme walk you home now, it’s getting kinda late.” kazutora said, smiling softly at you. his hands released from the back of your neck, tucking a piece of hair behind your ear before grabbing one of your hands from his face, interlocking your fingers and beginning to walk. 

the two of you walked for a minute or two in silence, which you felt grateful for since you were still trying to process what had just happened. 

did that really just happen?! ohhh my god…

“by the way, you didn’t answer my question.” kazutora suddenly piped up, looking at you. 

“what question?” 

“i asked if you wanted to date. for real, not fake.” 

“...shouldn’t you already have your answer?” you asked. “i don’t just let anybody kiss me, y’know.” 

“well, i’d hope not.” kazutora responded, pouting a bit. “i would be hurt if you did.” you rolled your eyes at his dramatic behavior. 

“riiight, because i’m the type of person who would actually do that…you’re so dramatic. i could almost think that you were fake crying earlier or something!” you joked. there was silence from kazutora, and when you looked at him, you immediately recognized his ‘oh shit’ face. “wait…were you actually fake crying earlier?!” 

“uh…” you gaped at him while he avoided eye contact. 

“are you serious?! what’s wrong with you!!” 

“well, you’re the one who was yelling at me…” 

“that doesn’t matter!! at least i wasn’t faking it!!” you argued, shaking your head. “seriously…you’re an emotional terrorist or something…” 

“but i’m your emotional terrorist!” 

“...you’re supposed to use that with an endearing term like ‘idiot’, not emotional terrorist.” 

“...sorry.”

[starlightkun]

❧ word count: 18.3k ❧ warnings: cursing, renjun gets CONSENSUALLY dosed with a magical aphrodisiac For Science ❧ genre: fluff, humor, one (1) heavy makeout scene but no actual smut, 0.1 seconds of angst if you can even call it that, academic rivals to lovers, modern magical creatures au, college au, siren reader, human renjun ft. siren ten, same universe as strawberry sunday ❧ extra info: in my lore, siren scales are visible when they’re in more human-like forms because of magic, and it’s not an indication of their skin tone at all. so when the reader’s scales are mentioned, please don’t take this as any sort of allusion to them being pale/light-skinned! i tried to take care and make sure i wasn’t implying that in how i wrote it, but please tell me if it reads like that this work is set in the same universe as strawberry sunday but can be read as a standalone! there is no continuing plotline between fics in this universe, they simply take place in the same world/magic system and may have overlapping characters (neos may pop up in more than one work!) ❧ author’s note: y’all. get ready for this one. no spoilers but renjun and reader r both crazy and nobody should be subjected to them except each other. like they both look at the other and think “i could fix them but whatever the fuck is wrong with them is infinitely funnier to me” but they’re both Wrong. they could not fix the other. i don't want what they have but good for them. anyway as always i had way too much fun writing this that it went over my projected word count and i hope y’all have a lot of fun reading it too

─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ explore the strawberry sunday universe more here!

“Would you shut up?” You sat back up, grabbing him by the hair.

“Why?”

“I’m trying to kiss you again, idiot.”

2608, 2610, 2612…

The numbers of the study rooms you passed by went up, up, up, as you continued your hunt. You knew he’d be here. It was the day before the first test in your Linguistics in Magical Creatures Studies class, meaning he was going to be holed up in the library until closing time. Now it was just a matter of finding him. Somewhere quiet, obviously, which was why you’d completely skipped the first floor with its wide-open “collaboration areas.” The second floor was all bookshelves and private study rooms that would hold four or five students at most. You peered into the narrow window on each painted metal door as you walked down the hall. While the first floor was recently renovated with new technology and upgrades such as the “collaboration areas” and bright pops of your university’s school colors that made for great promotional photos to put on the website and pamphlets to hand out to new students, this floor hadn’t had seen anything more than a janitor in a good couple decades. The musty, stale smell of old, unused books was all around you, the air conditioning hummed and clicked irregularly, all the furniture had ugly, outdated patterns, and the exactly three desktop computers they did have in a far back corner were practically as old as you. Which, in the digital age, meant that they were artifacts belonging in a museum.

And of course, sitting at very last one, as if he had been hiding behind all of these bookshelves from you personally, was Huang Renjun.

Renjun was sat in the wooden chair facing the computer, clearly deep in thought. He had one foot propped up on the wide chair seat as both of his hands were on the archaic-looking keyboard, speedily typing something out. He wore a pair of jeans, yellow hoodie, and a red backwards baseball cap kept his hair out of his face. An open energy drink can and empty bag of chips on the desk next to him belied that he had already been there for some time.

Now that you had found your target, you put on a burst of speed, stalking up to him from the side and smacking your hand down on the tabletop beside him. “Renjun.”

The human jumped in his seat, looking up from his screen to you. Taking his hands from the keyboard, he made a couple quick clicks on the mouse as he used the other to take his headphones out of his ears. “Y/N. Fucking hell… is your new strategy this semester to give me a heart attack and kill me?”

“If murder was on the table as part of our little academic rivalry, don’t you think I would’ve just drowned you after our Intro course freshman year?” You asked, tilting your head innocently. After all, you were a siren, that would be much easier than scaring him into an early cardiac episode.

Huang Renjun was not your friend. Not necessarily an acquaintance either, you’d known him for going on four years now, since your first class on your first day of college. The two of you were in the same Introduction to Magical Creatures Studies class. He had sat in the very front row, you just behind him in the second row. When your professor had asked an open question to the class, both you and Renjun eagerly blurted out the answer, Renjun just a millisecond before you. Dr. Li gave him the credit, and also requested that you two raise your hands in the future. And from then on you hated Huang Renjun.

Well, hate may be a strong word. You overlapped in at least two classes every semester being in the same major, and were both chronic overachievers. The first to raise your hands when a question was asked, studying in the library until closing (separately), and visiting professors’ office hours just to discuss topics from class further. Your professors noticed this. Some would pit the two of you against each other, and others would try to pair you up, whether on projects, research, or just in general, as a meeting of the minds or whatever. And you two would get your project done, pocket your As, and part ways again. Academic rival slash frenemy was the best way you could describe who Huang Renjun was to you.

“Who knows, you might still, if they ask me to carry the banner,” he muttered, picking his pen up and spinning it between his fingers.

This was your last semester, both you and Renjun were graduating in just a few months. At commencement, each department picked one “outstanding student” to lead the progression, carrying a flag with the department’s name and seal on it. This semester it was Magical Creatures Studies’ turn to select a student for the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, and your program head had already heavily implied that they could choose either you or Renjun, but they hadn’t made their final decision yet.

This was actually a pretty good segue into what you were really here to talk to him about. Pulling your lips into an alluring smirk, you nodded, “You’re right. It doesn’t take a rocket surgeon to figure out that—”

“A fucking what?” He cut you off, his face scrunching up as he blinked at you in confusion.

“Obviously it’s going to be one of us two, since we’re the two best students in the program.”

“Well, yes.” He nodded, seeming to let go of what had presumably been another one of your jumbled human malaphors. You admittedly hadn’t been living among humans for terribly long, and for some reason their idioms just didn’t stick in your brain very well.

“I mean, we not only are dedicated to the field itself and the content we study in class, but the program too. We probably know everybody in it, professors and students, right? Between the two of us?”

Renjun considered this for a moment. “Yeah, probably. We’ve both taken on a lot of SI and tutor opportunities for lower-level classes.”

“Right. So, you know those forums the school has on the online class platform? The general message boards?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I’m going to need you to sit tight with me on this until I finish talking, okay?” You pointed at him sternly. He nodded slowly. “Good. Back in the fall, about the end of September, I was on the message boards, just browsing around killing time. I was in the Tips & Advice section and saw this post. It was a gryphon who was losing feathers on one specific spot on her wing, and she didn’t know why. The witch she went to didn’t know why, nobody could figure it out. I was about to reply asking if it was her left or right, when I saw that somebody else already had. It was her left, and she’s a lefty. The same person replied again, asking if she sleeps with her wings out or not. She sleeps with them out. It turns out she was stress-preening in her sleep. Username: dr_magic2303. A couple weeks later, same message board, Tips & Advice, a human is suddenly producing dark purple goop from his feet but it’s so slippery he can’t even leave to go see a doctor or a witch and he was typing the post from his bathroom. Within an hour, this Dr. Magic is back telling him someone’s put an aether ooze hex on him, and to sit down and scoot on his butt to the kitchen and gather up all these ingredients for a cleansing foot bath. And if he doesn’t have them, then he’ll have to butt-scoot his way to an apothecary or call one who does home deliveries. Now people are posting on there specifically asking Dr. Magic to come heal all their magical aches and pains.”

Renjun stared at you, unblinking. The pen had gone still in his hand.

You breathed in, continuing, “I tracked this Dr. Magic all the way back to their first post in the first week of fall semester of this year. Now, I’ve been trying to figure out who they are on my own, and I’ve made a lot of progress on who they aren’t. But I’m going to lose access to those message boards once we graduate at the end of the semester. I know Dr. Magic has to be an MCS major, there’s no way they would be able to have to breadth, depth, and flexibility of knowledge by just Googling this stuff. And you and me, Renjun, I know we can do this. Not only do we know MCS, but we know the department, the people in it. It has to be us.”

He was still staring at you, mouth slightly agape. Then, his whole demeanor shifted. He dropped his leg so that both his feet were on the ground, and he resumed spinning the pen.

“Okay. I’ll help you.” He nodded thoughtfully. “If you’ll do something for me.”

“Do what?” You straightened up.

“I’ll tell you after we find Dr. Magic.”

You crossed your arms. “No, tell me now or no deal.”

“I tell you after, but you can still say no then if you don’t want to do it.” He bargained.

“That just sounds even more concerning, Renjun. Tell me now or I’ll do it myself.”

“I’m hurt. What happened to ‘it has to be us?’”

“I’m a siren, I know how to sweet talk. Don’t take it personally.” You snorted. “Now, what do you want from me?”

“You’re a siren,” he echoed plainly, as if that were all the explanation you needed.

“And you’re a genius.” You retorted. “Tell me now or I walk out.”

“I... want to experience siren venom. For science.”

Oh, you could kiss him right now, no deal necessary. He was meeting your gaze head-on, a slightly unhinged glint in his eye. Not a hint of fear, just a craving for new experiences, unbridled curiosity. Yeah, he was a bit crazy, you were realizing four years on, and you wanted him.

“You’re insane.”

He leaned back in his seat, putting his hands up in front of him in an ‘I-don’t-care’ gesture, “If you don’t want to find Dr. Magic—”

“I didn’t say no, I said you’re insane,” you corrected him with a grin, dragging your eyes up and down his form as he sat so confidently, negotiating with a siren like it was any average Tuesday for him.

“So do we have a deal?” He set his pen down and held a hand out to you.

“You help me find Dr. Magic, then I’ll spit in your mouth.” You momentarily thought about the disparity in division of labor on that, but decided not to point it out aloud. Easiest handshake of your life. “Deal.”

You wanted to eat him alive.

“You’ve tried IP tracking?” Renjun asked, scrolling through your word document of notes that you’d accumulated on Dr. Magic.

“‘You’ve tried IP tracking?’” You mimicked him under your breath, making your voice so high-pitched to the point of mocking.

He rolled his eyes.

This was your first meet-up to try to hunt down Dr. Magic together. It was a couple weeks after he had agreed to help you in the first place. There was a test and some assignments in a few of your classes to get through first before either of you had enough spare time to dedicate to this. But now the two of you were back in the library, having taken a study room on the second floor and set up with your own laptops. You’d sent him your notes to look through on it while you perused the message board for any new posts from Dr. Magic.

“You do know that any geographical location an IP address can give you will just be the city, right? It’s not like the movies,” you snorted, dropping your voice back down to your normal intonation as you shook your head. “Anyway, I did do some extra legwork with the IPs, and matched most of them to desktop computers here in the library. I think the others are a personal device, their laptop or something.”

“They’re all different.”

You tutted at him, “Oh, you sweet Thursday’s child…”

“That’s not the say—”

“They’re all somehow on other continents. Now, I don’t think Dr. Magic teleporting abroad and cross-dimensionally to make forum posts.”

“VPN?”

“Definitely. They’re covering their tracks, they almost never use their own device, and when they have to, they use a VPN to cover up the IP address of it.”

He made a noise of acknowledgement, eyes still focused on his screen.

Then, something on the forum caught your eye. “Oh! Right here. Thirty-six minutes ago, a dryad posted that she can’t sprout daffodils from her body anymore. Every other plant and flower are fine, except daffodils. She posted it specifically asking Dr. Magic if they know what’s wrong with her.”

“Huh.” Renjun’s brow furrowed. “Just daffodils?”

“That’s what it says,” you confirmed, making a few clicks on your computer. “And… ‘notify me.’”

“You can turn on notifications for forum posts?”

“You can’t,” you informed him smugly. “But one of the sirens in my pod, he’s got a bunch of CompSci friends who I paid to write a browser extension for me that bookmarks forum posts and sends me email notifications when anybody replies to them. So I’ll know exactly when Dr. Magic responds.”

“You…”

“Have definitely spent too much time, energy, and money on this, I know. Sunken cost fallacy, look it up.”

“I was going to say ‘are insane,’” he breathed out, his voice a mixture of awe and disbelief.

When you looked up from your computer at him, you saw that he had a curious gaze fixated on you, eyes narrowed slightly, mouth parted, and head tilted ever so slightly to the side.

You leaned forward minutely, holding his eye contact. “Takes one to know one, Junnie.”

He looked down at his keyboard, shifting in his seat before he looked back up at you. “Why are you calling me that?”

“Do you not like it?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“So you do like it.” You smirked.

He frowned. “I didn’t say that either.”

“Well do you?”

“Answer my question.”

“Answer mine.”

“I asked first.”

“Ooh, how very primary school,” you teased, setting your chin in your hand.

“It’s only fair.” He pointed out.

“We could flip a coin.”

“Y/N.”

“Junnie.”

The human sighed, holding your eye contact wordlessly, looking entirely unamused.

You finally gave in with a casual shrug. “I just am.”

“Seriously? We’ve known each other for four years and you’ve never called me that—you’ve called me plenty of other things—but now suddenly you’ve got a nickname for me?”

“I’m not trying to be derogatory with it, if you’re worried about that,” you clarified. “Just sort of happened. I’m a siren, I flirt with cute people, sorry. Do you want me to stop calling you that?”

He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing some off his face as he turned his focus back down to his screen. “It’s fine.”

“Anyway, I bookmarked the new forum post, so it’ll go on the board.”

“The board?”

“I, uh, I may be using a spare wall in my apartment to host a conspiracy theory board with you know, the red string and thumbtacks and stuff…” You admitted quietly.

“Can I see it?”

“Ho-ly shit,” Renjun breathed out, staring up at the multiple time-stamped printouts of forum posts, pictures of classmates and faculty, sticky notes, and yards of red string that you had pinned to a blank wall in your apartment.

You stood next to him, gazing up at your creation with a strange mixture of pride and embarrassment. This was the first time you’d let someone see this, and you were kind of glad it was Renjun. He actually seemed impressed. You were sure that any of your friends and family would be weirded out at best, and very concerned at worst.

“Yeah, I’m adding color copies off the school printers to the invoice I’m sending Dr. Magic at the end of all this.”

“You’re sending them an invoice for your self-assigned mission to hunt them down?” He snorted.

“Yup. It’s their fault for not using their school-issued login.” You crossed your arms. “Makes them enigmatic.”

Your classmate pointed to one of the headshots. “Is that Dr. Li?”

“Did you think our scope was narrowed to just students? Faculty have access to the message boards, too. And we’ve learned everything we know from our professors, so they obviously have the knowledge and skill to be Dr. Magic.”

“And their names also start with Doctor.” He added dryly, which you took to be a joke.

You decided that it wasn’t at your expense, though, and after giving a short chuckle, continued on with your explanation of why you specifically had your program head up on the board. “When I was grilling Dr. Li for information in the fall, he was giving me very duplicitous answers. Pointed me towards a freshman who I swear didn’t even know the difference between Arctic sirens and glacial sirens.”

“You think it was a diversion.”

“Obviously.”

Renjun tapped his chin thoughtfully. “What sort of questions were you asking him?”

“I couldn’t straight up ask him if he was Dr. Magic. So I was asking him things like... other than you and me, who did he think was the best student in the program, that kind of stuff. Said that kid reminded him of you and me on that first day of Intro to MCS.” You couldn’t help but let out an indignant scoff at the idea. “Can you believe? Didn’t know the difference between Arctic and glacial sirens…”

“Who was it?”

“Some basilisk in one of his Intro classes last semester. Uh…” You snapped your fingers as you tried to remember his name. “Seunghan! Hong Seunghan!”

“Seriously?” The human turned to look at you incredulously, clearly offended at the comparison as well.

“Seriously!”

He clutched at his chest like he was about to have a heart attack. “That’s who he thinks is the next us? I was an SI for that class…”

“I know! He’s not the brightest tool in the shed, huh?”

“So close, Y/N. So close…” He sighed.

“It almost completely threw me off my search for Dr. Magic. I figured I needed to seriously step up my game in his undergrad research or something.” You shook your head at the horrible memory. “Then I realized he might have been trying to get me to do exactly that.”

“Huh.” Renjun folded his arms over his chest as he looked away, pretending not to seem interested. “You did research with Dr. Li last semester?”

“Don’t give me those kicked puppy dog eyes, you’re doing research with Dr. Kwon this semester and she’s like, my academic idol!” You pointed at him accusatorily.

“And Dr. Li is mine!”

You waved your arms in front of you, shaking yourself out of the academic envy-induced frenzy you’d gotten worked up into. “We’re getting off-topic. We’re here to catch Dr. Magic, remember?”

“Right…” He took a deep breath, turning back to the conspiracy wall.

As Renjun studied your work, you studied him. You had a strand of fairy lights clipped up above the conspiracy wall for light and ambiance (mostly ambiance), and they now lit his features from the front. He didn’t have a baseball cap on today, leaving his brown hair to fall over his forehead, down past his eyebrows and just into his eyes. He blinked and shook his head slightly. A piece had presumably been bothering him. The curving slope of the bridge of his nose, his lips, his chin that he still had one hand propped up to hold, a finger tapping against his cupid’s bow like a metronome. You listened closer, curious if it would be mimicking the beat of his heart. The tapping was just slightly slower than his heart, and would stop if he found something that he took particular interest in, then start back up when he moved on again.

Not that you were going to tell him, but you were double motivated to find Dr. Magic now. Seeing Renjun under your venom was going to be a reward all on its own. You understood full well why he felt like he needed to ask you as part of an exchange like this, but he seemed to greatly underestimate his own selling value. Which was good for you. This was a win-win-win in your eyes.

Thinking of the deal made you curious, though. He had that request ready to go almost like…

“So, do you want to be petrified by a basilisk, too?”

Renjun didn’t take his eyes off the wall. “Already have been.”

“Really?”

“My friend Mark is a basilisk. When he had just gotten his powers a couple years ago and couldn’t control them, he kept accidentally petrifying his human roommate. So I figured out when it was most likely to happen, invited myself over and hid his sunglasses. It was strange, being able to think but not speak, see but not blink, and telling my muscles to move and not having them obey.” He casually detailed what sounded like one of the most horrifying experiences ever to you, leaning in towards a specific post from November. “But it only lasted one minute and twenty-nine seconds.”

You stared at him with both admiration and alarm. “You manufactured an opportunity to get petrified.”

“I knew he wouldn’t do it if I asked. He’s a wimp. That, and he couldn’t do it on command at the time, even if he did agree.”

“Have you had your blood drank?”

“Yup.”

“Been flying?”

“How so?” His eyes flicked over to you for a second, and you were glad that you had relaxed again with the more casual conversation.

“With a gryphon, phoenix, take your pick.” You shrugged.

“Uh-huh.”

“Do you have a list for this stuff or something?”

“Written down, no. But I suppose I have a mental list.”

“Poisoned by a wyvern?”

“Would have to find one first.”

You felt your eyes bug out of your head. “You want to be poisoned by a wyvern? You know there’s no cure for that, right?”

“Yes, I took the same class that you did on them last spring.” He reminded you tersely. Your head jerked back minutely, surprised for a second that he had noticed, remembered, and brought it up. The two of you didn’t have a spat in that class, taking an ‘ignore and pretend the other doesn’t exist’ approach that semester when you could, and hadn’t mentioned it since. Seeming to realize what he’d done, Renjun rushed to move on, “So I also know that there’s no cure because they went extinct hundreds of years ago.”

“Supposedly.”

“You think they’re still out there?”

“Maybe.”

“Hm.” He stepped to the side to read over the next post from the first week of December.

You scoffed. “Okay, coming from the guy who believes in aliens.”

“We haven’t explored all of space. But we know what habitats wyverns lived in, and they’re not there anymore.”

“They could’ve adapted, gone somewhere else,” you tried to argue. “I’m not exactly splashing around the ocean right now, am I?”

“Where did they go, then?”

“I... I don’t know,” you admitted, holding yourself by your arms protectively.

“Hmph.”

You tightened your grip, swallowing hard against the lump threatening to grow in your throat. “I just don’t want to believe they’re gone, okay?”

“So this isn’t a scientific hypothesis, but some rosy daydream?” Renjun’s disapproval of the lack of academic rigor in your argument was clear in his tone as his eyes never left your wall, following a red string up to your next connection for Dr. Magic.

“I don’t want to believe that wyverns went extinct because that means that sirens could too! Alright?” You finally snapped, hands squeezing tightly around your biceps as your claws came out with the raw burst of emotion. “I know that Magical Conservation was just some class to you, but I had to sit there and take notes on how exactly the native habitats of sirens—me, my friends, my family—are shrinking, and could theoretically lead to our extinction, and then write a discussion post on it after like it was some intellectually stimulating bit of information. So yeah, maybe I like to imagine that there’s still wyverns out there somewhere, because it gives me a modicum of hope that after everything, there could still be sirens, too. Sorry that that’s not academic enough.”

The image of Renjun that you had been yelling at in front of you was wavering as tears swam in your vision. He’d turned around to listen, mouth parting as he seemed to immediately realize his mistake. The human nodded regretfully, running a hand through his hair before finally picking his words.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. I didn’t mean to be so dismissive. I-I misread the tone of the discussion. Sirens aren’t wyverns, and you won’t meet the same fate they might have. Siren advocacy and conservation groups are making huge progress. The world now is a lot different than it was hundreds of years ago,” Renjun said, and you could hear both the remorse and firm belief in his tone. “And who knows, maybe there are still some wyverns out there. I could be wrong... it’s been known to happen before.”

You took a deep breath, your claws receding back into your fingers and just leaving your normal fingernails. As you looked down at your arms, though, you let out a sigh.

“Damn, I got myself.” You clicked your tongue in your throat regretfully, spotting a few drops of what looked like molten silver metal welling to the surface where you’d punctured your skin.

“Ooh,” Renjun winced sympathetically. “Do you have some… bandages?”

“Even better, I’ve got running water.” You started towards the door, then noted that there were no footsteps behind you. Turning back around, you looked at the human knowingly. “Do you want to watch, Renjun?”

He perked up. “Please?”

“Come on,” you jerked your head, holding your arms level as you shuffled towards your kitchen.

Thankfully, you hadn’t been nearly deep enough to get your scales, just the skin overtop. Turning the kitchen faucet on, you grabbed one of your sleeves, then looked at your classmate imploringly.

“A little help, Junnie?” You nodded towards your other arm, where the end of your sleeve was getting close to your blood.

“Oh, sure.” He surged forward to help you roll up the other one.

“I know you know this but be careful not to touch my blood,” you reminded him, finally pulling up the sleeve you’d started on well enough. Siren blood was a neurotoxin to humans—and not the fun kind like your venom, but a proper ‘kill you in an excruciatingly painful way’ kind.

“Uh-huh, got it.”

A couple drops on your left and a drop on your right had run down to your elbows, and you just managed to catch yourself so that they dripped into the sink and not onto your counter (or gods forbid, Renjun). Looking over to make sure he was watching, you stuck your left bicep under the stream of water first. The ocean blue scales that peeked through your skin shimmered in the kitchen lights directly above your head. Thankfully you hadn’t come anywhere close to nicking one of those. That would’ve actually hurt. Within a second of touching the water your skin had meshed itself back together. You turned your arm to rinse off the blood, then brought it back out to show that there was no scar left. Doing the same with the other, it healed just as quick, no mark left behind to indicate that anything had ever happened.

“Yep…” Renjun breathed out as you grabbed a hand towel and went to dry off your arms. “I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that.”

“How many does that make?” You giggled.

“What?”

“How many creatures have you seen magically heal themselves? What number am I?”

“You make me sound so…”

“Like a common MCS whore?”

“I was going to say clinical, but damn, tell me how you really feel, Y/N.”

Both of you laughed, and you put the hand towel back.

“You’re the first siren,” Renjun answered your question genuinely anyway.

You hummed as you mulled this over. “I’ll take it.”

He made a dramatic motion of wiping sweat off his forehead, and you reached forward to smack his forearm. You two laughed again.

After a bout of comfortable silence, your eyes settled on him again, still thinking about exactly how you’d accidentally stabbed yourself in the first place.

“I forgive you, by the way,” you said. “I don’t think I said that.”

“You didn’t.” He nodded. “Thank you.”

“You really mean all that? You think I’ll—we’ll be okay? Sirens?”

“Of course I mean it. Or I wouldn’t have said it. It’s the most scientifically plausible. I did take that Magical Conservation class seriously, you know. I know it couldn’t have meant the same thing for me as it means to you, but I did my final paper on siren conservation projects in the Arctic. The progress that’s being made there is incredible. I-I don’t want to tell you about your own species’ problems, obviously, but—”

“I did mine on siren conservation in the tropics.” You let out a dry chuckle at the flawless symbiosis. “You can tell me about your paper sometime, Renjun.”

“And I’d love to hear about siren conservation in the tropics.”

“Ah, ‘a meeting of the minds.’” You did your best impression of Dr. Li, thinning your voice out to sound like an elderly man, which garnered a smile from Renjun. “Isn’t this what our professors always wanted?”

“Uh-oh. We’re giving them exactly what they want.” He shook his head ruefully. “Quick, you need to start yelling at me about something.”

“Well you need to say something obnoxious first.”

Another gentle lull in the conversation, and you watched as Renjun looked around your apartment a lot more carefully than when you two had first entered. Your destination then had been solely the conspiracy wall, but now he seemed to be really taking it in.

“So why don’t you have like… a fish tank or something?” He asked.

“Because that would be cruel! Imagine if someone kept you in a 2-foot by 2-foot box!” You jabbed a finger into his chest accusatorily.

He held his hands up in surrender. “You’re right. That was a stupid question.”

“I’m glad you said it, because I was about to.”

“So why don’t you reply? To the posts.” Renjun asked curiously, back to trolling the message boards for new Dr. Magic posts. You two were holed up in your second floor study room again. “You’ve been tracking Dr. Magic so closely, you’re getting to these posts before they do, and you can help all these students, too. So why don’t you just reply instead?”

Yours and Renjun’s search for Dr. Magic had been going on for a month now, and he’d been proving himself useful. He’d finally convinced you to rule out Dr. Li as a suspect when he found a message board post made from a school computer while Dr. Li was away at a conference giving a presentation. Confirmed to be done at the exact same time. So you’d found another wrong person, but you still didn’t feel any closer to the right person. The remaining people felt like they were going to turn out to be dead ends, and there was nobody good to rule in either.

Spring break was coming up in a few weeks, which meant that commencement preparations would be starting, which meant that the colleges would be announcing who would be chosen to carry their banners, which meant the actual students who were going to be chosen would be told at least a week or two ahead of time. Every time you thought about that you wanted to bite something. Maybe there was some ancestral link between sirens and werewolves. Another paper waiting to be written.

“They don’t want me. They want Dr. Magic.” You told Renjun, hating the irritable edge in your voice when you addressed him. You weren’t upset with him, you were just anxious in general. He didn’t deserve to have you take it out on him.

“Right. Sorry…”

“No, Renjun, I’m sorry,” you sighed, taking the wood pencil out of your mouth that you had been gnawing on. “I just want to get this Dr. Magic stuff over with before midterms because you and I are both going to get super busy studying for midterms, and then no matter which one of us gets picked to carry the banner, that’s going to suck up a lot of time preparing for commencement too. I shouldn’t have snapped at you though, sorry.”

He offered you a small smile. “It’s okay, I get it. It’s another deadline. But it’s a group project, remember? We’ve got this, Y/N.”

You nodded. “Yeah, I know. Just feeling the pressure. I’m going to get something from the vending machine. You coming?”

“No, I’ll keep chugging along.”

“Okay. You want anything?”

“Nah. Thanks, though.”

“Alright,” you nodded, standing up and rolling your neck out. “I’m going to stretch my legs while I’m up, so I’ll be a few.”

“I won’t sound the alarm then.” He gave you a two-fingered salute as you headed to the door.

You meandered around the second floor, taking your sweet time to get to the stairs. There was a vending machine on the second floor, but it had a limited selection. The good snacks were all in the vending machines on the first floor, by the collaboration zones. Your back cracked all on its own as you plodded down the steps, and you let quiet groans with each one, until you finally landed on the first floor. There was a noticeable hum to the first floor, which only increased as you neared the two-thirds of the floor that was taken up by the collaboration zones. The vending machines were on the boundary of the bookshelves and the open spaces filled with tables and TV monitors and so many students.

Stopping in front of the drinks machine first, you mused over the options for a moment. Picking out your preferred seaweed-infused iced tea—an option you only saw sirens and the really hardcore human health-nuts drink—you then sidestepped to the snacks. It took you just a second to select a pack of mini peanut butter sandwich cookies. Neither peanut butter nor peanuts themselves were in the regular diet of a siren, but Renjun sometimes had the cookies on him for one of his werewolf friends and you’d picked up a taste for them. You would’ve never considered even trying them before hanging out with Renjun. Being an MCS major, you didn’t like to admit it, but your social circle wasn’t very diverse species-wise. You had your siren pod, and you were very happy sticking with them, thank you. Renjun, meanwhile, seemed to be best friends or friendly acquaintances with everything except a wyvern. You knew plenty about other species, after all, you excelled in class. But practical experience, you were finding you seemed to be lacking in. Maybe you should start your own Renjun-esque bucket list. Something to consider after finding Dr. Magic.

Taking a step back over to the drinks machine, you made the split-second decision to get Renjun’s favorite non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic drink. Honeydew melon soda. He had already said that you didn’t need to get him anything, but you wanted to.

“Hey, Y/N!” A cheerful voice greeted you, and you spun around, your two drinks and bag of sandwich cookies in hand.

You already knew who it was going to be, smiling at the familiar face of Ten. He was not only another siren, but specifically a siren from your pod, ocean blue scales and golden eyes matching your own. You threw your arms around his neck to give him a hug. “Ten! Ah, hey!”

“Are those… peanut butter?” He looked at the snack in your hand suspiciously.

“Uh, human study buddy,” you brushed off his concerns nonchalantly.

“Right, gotcha.”

The two of you usually hung out a lot—about as much as you and Renjun were together now, you figured—but since your spare time had been taken up with putting the search for Dr. Magic on full throttle, you were blanking on the last time you’d seen him. The beginning of the semester. Oh shit, you felt so guilty now.

The apology immediately started spilling out of your mouth, “Gods, I am so sorry we haven’t hung out, I wish I could say it was classes, or even research or something, but I’ve got this project. I can’t even really explain it without sounding crazy but—”

“Woah, Y/N, it’s okay,” Ten reassured you with a laugh, the same bright smile on his face as always. “I know how you get when you get really into one of your projects. Just let me know when you’ve finished it, and we can hang. Or if you ever need a break from it, too. It’s fine. If you weren’t a little crazy and obsessive, I wouldn’t be able to recognize you.”

He ruffled your hair with a snicker for good measure, and with your hands full of food, you couldn’t fight back, just huff and try to duck out of the way. But he was genuine about his sentiments, which really did make you feel better.

“Thanks, Ten. I’ll get in touch soon, I promise. I think I’m almost done!” You told him proudly.

“Soon in normal person time or soon in Y/N time?”

“Me time…”

“That’s what I thought. I’ll see you in six months then.”

“I’m not that bad!”

“Remember when I wondered aloud if sirens at the North and South poles were related, and you ended up spending our entire winter break researching that?”

“It only took four weeks!”

“You said it would be a quick search.”

“Exactly! People will dedicate their entire lives to that kind of research! I vastly condensed it!”

He shook his head fondly at the memory, elbowing you gently. “Get back to your project so you can finish early again and we can hang out soon, okay? And scoot, I’m trying to use the vending machine. You’re always in my way, I swear.”

You playfully pretended to block him, laughing as he nudged you out of the way with his shoulder. Starting back off towards the stairs, you turned around to give a cheery, “See you, Ten!”

“Bye, Y/N!” He waved to you with one hand, punching in the vending machine code with the other.

In better spirits having seen your friend, you traipsed up the stairs with extra pep in your step. Except Renjun wasn’t in your study room. Huh. Well, nothing in the rules saying a guy can’t take a bathroom break.

Setting his melon soda down next to his laptop, you plopped back down in your chair and kicked your feet up on the table. You ripped open your peanut butter sandwich cookies and cracked open your tea. The cookies were sweet, and while you didn’t have any oceanic reference for what peanut butter tasted like (you were told that “nutty” was a flavor profile unto itself, which wasn’t very helpful), you had decided that you liked it.

Waking your laptop back up, you saw that you had a new email, and shot up in your seat when you saw the subject.

dr_magic2303 replied to a post.

8 minutes ago.

Holy fucking shit, 8 minutes ago. While you were in the library? They could still be there. You looked around frantically. Where the fuck was Renjun when you needed him? Shooting to your feet, you snatched your phone from the table and rushed to throw the door open. Into Renjun’s face.

He stumbled back, holding his face as he let out a string of curses.

“Shit! Sorry, Junnie!” You didn’t sound all too sorry as you bounced on your feet, antsy to get a move on with your search. “No time for an ice pack though. Dr. Magic just replied to that dragon post we had bookmarked eight minutes ago. Which means that they’re probably still in the library! We need to go look for them right now!”

You took off in the direction of the desktop computers on this floor, keeping your voice at a fervent whisper-yell. The second floor computers were their favorite, according to the IPs.

“I know!” Renjun hurried after you, still clutching his nose. “I saw the email, and I tried to call you, but you left your phone in the study room.”

Checking your phone, you did in fact have a missed call from Renjun from 6 minutes ago. Well shit.

“So I went to go get you, but you weren’t at the vending machines, so I came back up to the study room and then nearly got my nose broken.”

You looked over your shoulder at him with wide eyes. “You went to get me? Not look for Dr. Magic on the freshest lead we’ve ever had? When they were quite possibly around the corner?”

The two of you had arrived at the desktops, and there was nobody in sight. One was awake, on the account login screen, the other two asleep on the ancient screensavers. You let out a heavy sigh, looking over at Renjun.

“I went to get you because this is your thing, not mine. I don’t know, I’d figured you’d want the satisfaction of taking the mask off them.”

You nodded. “Thanks, Junnie. Next time, though, just get them.”

“And how about you keep your phone on you?”

“So we both fucked it up.”

He gave you a one-shouldered shrug. “There’s still three more floors, Y/N.”

“Right, come on. You take the first, I’ll go up to the fourth since I smacked you with the door.”

The other floors were busts, and when you finally met back up with Renjun in your study room, you were glad to have your cold bottle of tea waiting for you. Knocking back a third of it in one go, you let out a noise of relief. Renjun had already opened the soda you’d gotten him.

“Thanks, by the way.” He held it up gratefully before taking a sip.

“You’re welcome.”

“And, I’m sorry. That I let Dr. Magic get away.”

“We don’t even know what floor they were posting from yet. They’ve could’ve been on the fourth floor and would’ve been gone by the time you got there anyway.” You brushed away his apologies. “Or they could’ve been on the second and been a psycho and you would’ve been a poor defenseless human all by yourself.”

“Oh, right, without my big strong siren to protect me.” He scoffed. “Woe is me.”

“Exactly,” you laughed, shutting your laptop. “Anyway, I’ll take a look at the IP later. Who knows, they might not have even been in the library. Might’ve been one of those rogue VPN posts.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He looked over you packing up your things. “You heading out?”

You nodded, zipping up your bag and tossing it onto your shoulder. “Prior arrangements. Sorry to cut this short, completely forgot about it when we agreed to meet up.”

“You’re so popular.”

“I know!” You mimicked his sarcastic tone, holding the door open with your foot as you stopped in the threshold. “Oh, hey— the midterm in MCS Linguistics. It’s my only one this semester, I’ve just got papers in all my other classes. Do you want to study together for that?”

“Yeah, sure, sure.”

“First session Saturday? My place for lunch?”

Renjun grimaced, presumably remembering your typical stock of pantry items tailored to a siren’s food preference. “I’ll pack a lunch.”

“Cool. See you in class, Junnie!” You waved to him cheerily as you took off for the faculty advisor meeting with Dr. Kwon that you were going to need to run across campus to be on time for.

“What is it?” Renjun set his book down where he was sat across your coffee table from you, an inquisitive eyebrow quirked up at you.

“What? Nothing.” You bit down on your lip, eyes boring holes into your computer screen.

“No, it’s not ‘nothing.’ You’ve been staring at me ever since I got here, while also refusing to make eye contact with me. What? Something in my teeth? My hair look bad?”

Normally that would’ve made you chuckle—he was wearing a backwards baseball cap again today—but you just bit down harder on your lip and shook your head.

“Now you’re refusing to talk?” He scoffed. “Did you get hexed or something? I can’t believe you’re refusing to talk.”

“No, I can talk,” you insisted. “What uh, what’d you get for number four? On the review packet?”

“Don’t tell me you’re still stuck on number four. Y/N, I’m almost done, and there’s twenty-five questions on this.”

“I’m not, I finished and went back, it was just one that I didn’t—”

But Renjun had grabbed your computer and turned the screen around, and you knew he could see that you had only done the first one. You buried your face in your hands, your skin prickling uncomfortably with shame. Your friend’s sigh was audible, but surprisingly, the next thing said wasn’t a string of derision. Instead, you heard the shuffle of clothes against your rug, and then he was sitting shoulder-to-shoulder and knee-to-knee with you.

“Y/N, what’s going on with you today? Or, not today, the past couple days? You weren’t all there in class yesterday either. I left it alone then because it was Dr. Hyun, and nobody is ever all there for her classes but— what’s wrong?”

You slowly shook your head.

“You can’t tell me?”

You nodded.

“Okay. Is it bad? Like, dangerous?”

You shook your head.

“Alright, that’s good.” The relief was audible in his voice. “Is it family? Or, pod?”

You shook your head.

“School?”

You nodded.

“Alright, yeah. A lot going on. Is it like burn out?”

You shook your head.

“So, new stuff?”

You nodded.

He put an arm around your shoulders. “I’m sorry, Y/N. I know you already had a lot. Getting this midterm over with will be one more thing off your checklist, right? That’ll open a spot for this new thing.”

With a sniffle, you nodded.

“Ah, but you’re not going to be any good studying like this.” He sighed again, dropping his arm from around your shoulders and his presence shifted away from your side. “Come on, quick field trip. Then we’ll come right back to the MCS Linguistics grind. Sound good?”

You finally took your hands from your face to look up. Renjun was standing right next to you, offering you a hand. You tentatively put yours in his, and he tightened his grip to pull you up to your feet.

The two of you ended up in a froyo shop down the street from your apartment. You gleefully picked a gummy shark off the top of your swirl, biting the head off first before tossing the rest in your mouth. Renjun lifted a meticulously curated spoonful of froyo and toppings to his mouth, satisfaction on his face as he tasted his perfect bite. You watched in amusement as he went to start creating his next scoop that had the precise ratio of yogurt and every single topping he had chosen—each partitioned to their own area atop the froyo. You decided to save your second big gummy shark for last, and took a big spoonful from the melting edge of your froyo.

“Why not me?” Renjun asked abruptly, his gaze still on the dessert in front of him.

“Huh?” Your jaw dropped. How could he have known what—

“You haven’t asked me if I’m Dr. Magic. Why not?”

Ah, Dr. Magic. Of course.

“You were my first guess, and the first person I ruled out back in like September,” you admitted with a shrug.

His head snapped up at that. “What? Why?”

“Because you’re such an arrogant, neurotic overachiever that you’d want credit if you did all this. You wouldn’t use an alias.”

“Oh. Huh.” Renjun looked between you and his froyo, a sheepish smile coming to his face. “Strangely, that makes me feel better.”

You watched a dollop of froyo fall off your spoon and plop back into your cup. “And I nabbed your IP address off your laptop the first time we hung out in January and double-checked it with every Dr. Magic post. Just in case.”

“When I was in the bathroom?”

“Uh-huh.”

“Of course you did.”

“Were you taking it as an insult to your intelligence that I had apparently not considered you as an option?”

“Maybe…”

You laughed, and laughed, and laughed. You laughed so hard your sides hurt, there were tears in your eyes, and you genuinely started wheezing. Renjun pretended to roll his eyes, but you saw the smile on his face and knew what he was thinking: success, no more mopey siren.

Once you had enough air back in your lungs to talk, you pointed your spoon at him firmly. “See? Just proving my point. You want people to know you’re smart.”

He crossed his arms. “As if you don’t.”

“Oh, I definitely do. But I know I’m like that.” You put a hand over your chest, looking him dead in the eye. “Do you?”

With your head screwed back on the normal amount, you and Renjun were able to dive back into your study session at your apartment. Several hours into it, though, you noticed Renjun blinking like way too much and constantly rubbing at his eyes. It was to the point where it was distracting for you.

“What’s wrong with your eyes?” You asked bluntly.

That immediately burst the Renjun griping dam (which was really held together with tape and prayers anyway). “The screens hurt my eyes and human blue light glasses don’t do shit and no fairy has let me try theirs out. I know I should probably just take the plunge and buy them but I really can’t justify the price and—”

“Try mine.” You stood up, walking over to a display shelf on the other side of the living room.

“You have a pair? Why? Sirens don’t—”

“You collect magical experiences. I collect magical things.” You said nonchalantly, grabbing the pair of silver frames from where they sat between a phoenix feather (a gift) and a small wristwatch that would tell the correct time until it was put on, then it would be set on the time and date most significant to the wearer in that moment until it was removed. Walking back over to him, you held them out to him insistently, “Here, try them.”

“Oh. Thanks.” Renjun gingerly took them, sliding the arms over his ears and the frames onto the bridge of his nose. The pair you had was a little older, admittedly. You’d picked them up at a novelty shop, so they had some retro charm to them. An older style of frame, thicker lenses. But you thought it added a quaintness to their look. Especially on Renjun, he just looked downright adorable in them.

You sat back down to watch with your head in your hand as his brown eyes blinked from behind the thick lenses, and he looked around your living room like a newborn woodland animal. His face had already relaxed, and he turned his focus down to his laptop screen next, messing with the brightness up, then down. After that, he took out his phone, doing the same with that device.

“Well?” You prompted him, though you truly would’ve been content with watching him look around as if he’d been born colorblind and it were his first time seeing in color. Which, you had an enchanted pair for that too, but he wasn’t colorblind to your knowledge.

The human looked at you, a giddy smile stretching across his face. “They’re perfect! Thanks, Y/N!”

His hand reached up to take them off, but you stopped him.

“Keep them—”

“No, these had to be so expensive!” He protested immediately.

“Just for a week or so,” you finished your sentence pointedly. He was cute, but not that cute. “Make sure you really like them before you buy, okay? If you end up hating them, give them back. If you like them and buy your own pair, you can give them back whenever yours arrive in the mail.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, it’s not like I’m using them. Superior siren eyesight.” You tapped next to one of your eyes for emphasis.

“Thanks for not rubbing it in or anything.”

Scrambling to dial Renjun’s number, you put your phone on speaker as you fervently flicked through all of your Dr. Magic notes. You’d been laying in bed binging some mindless baking competition to numb your brain from all the studying you’d been doing when an email notification had popped up alerting you to a new Dr. Magic post.

“Y/N?” Renjun answered the phone, sounding utterly confused. “What’s—”

“New Dr. Magic post. I ran the IP and they’re in our city!” You blurted out.

“Okay… Well we already knew that, right?”

“Yeah, but this is an IP in our city that they posted from at midnight on a Saturday. Not any of the school computers.” You hit CTRL + F, typing in the string of numbers to quickly cross reference it with your extensive list. “This could be their IP. Like, their actual one, from a personal computer.”

“Oh, yeah. Could be.”

“Can you give me a little more enthusiasm here, Junnie? Did I wake you up or something? It’s only—” You stopped like you’d just walked face-first into a brick wall, eyes locked on the search result.

“Yeah, only quarter after midnight,” he scoffed.

You clicked the next arrow on the search bar, but that was the only match. 1/1 results.

“Y/N?” Renjun called for your attention. “You there?”

You hung up.

Not wanting to lose your nerve, you pressed the doorbell over and over insistently. You could hear the complaining tone of the occupant before his words were even audible.

“Christ, I have neighbors, you know?” Renjun swung open the door with a scowl. The human was in a big, slouching hoodie and pajama pants. His hair was stuck up in a couple different directions, making you think he might’ve just woken up. Except behind him, you could see that his kitchen light was on, and a couple books and his laptop were open on his kitchen table. Late night studying. And the fact that you’d just talked to him on the phone fifteen minutes ago.

“Can I come in?” You requested, fidgeting with the sleeve of your cardigan.

His face immediately softened. “Yeah, of course.”

“Sorry to just show up like this,” you said as you took off your shoes by the front door before following him further into his apartment.

“It’s okay.” He stopped you two in the kitchen, picking up a colorful, patterned cardboard box. “Uh, I was just about to make a midnight snack. Pizza bites, you want some?”

“I�� don’t think I’ve ever had them.”

“Perfect, you can try one now then.”

“Mm,” you made a non-committal noise, leaning against his kitchen counter to watch him pour out the frozen food onto a baking sheet.

The oven beeped, and he put the tray in before pressing a couple more buttons.

“So, I was thinking about the Dr. Magic stuff. Not the IP stuff but like… What even is your plan for when you do find Dr. Magic?” Renjun asked as he put the remaining pizza bites in his freezer.

“What do you mean?”

He leaned against the countertop across from you, though in the narrow space of his kitchen, you were practically knee-to-knee. “Like, say we finally find out who they are, we run up to them in the library or on campus or something. Then what? What are you going to do? What are you going to say? You’ve done all this, and I know why you had to. I get it. But, do you know what you’re going to say to them?”

“Probably something along the lines of…” You trailed off, giving an exasperated sigh. Dropping your chin to your chest, you groaned, “Gods, I don’t know.”

“Hey, that’s why you got me. So you can bounce ideas off someone, do a dry run.”

“I thought the words would just come to me, and now that I’m trying, I can’t—”

“It’s fine, Y/N. Let’s think about why you did this. I know it’s really hard to put into words. I mean, I know why you did. I get it. It’s that need to know. Not because you can, but because you have to, right? It’s curiosity in its rawest form. So obviously it’s not going to be some schmaltzy ‘haha I caught you’ spiel or anything.”

Looking up from the kitchen tile to Renjun’s eager features, you shook your head in disbelief. “You’re still helping me… when I know it’s you, Junnie.”

He tilted his head to the side, a comical noise of confusion coming from his mouth, “Uh?”

“I know it’s you, and you know that I know that it’s you.”

“You already ruled me out, because I’m an arrogant—”

“Junnie, you made a post on the forums from your laptop. No VPN. When you knew I was still tracking Dr. Magic’s IP on every post they made, and that I had your IP. That’s not a whoopsie that you make unless you want to be caught.”

The human crossed his arms over his chest, but otherwise seemed entirely calm about being caught. “And you didn’t come in here guns blazing now that you’d caught me, either. Why?”

“I didn’t know how to say it. I mean, you’re right, I only did all this because I needed to know.”

“And now you know.”

“Why now? Why just give up now?” You asked with a shake of your head. “You started posting as Dr. Magic back in August, and I came to you in January. You knew everything I was doing; you could have cruised through the rest of the semester and I’d have never caught you.”

“You wanted to find out who it was by midterms. One less thing on your plate.”

“And now I know…”

“So how does it feel? Finally catching Dr. Magic?”

You wrinkled your nose and sighed, “Bit disappointing. I was right on my first guess.”

“And you immediately dismissed me out of hand for being an arrogant, neurotic overachiever on your first guess,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, but I didn’t really know you then. If I’d known you then like I know you now, I would’ve known as soon as I saw the first post.”

Renjun batted his eyes teasingly. “Aww, Y/N…”

“Doctor underscore magic two, three, zero, three? Twenty-three, oh-three? That’s your birthday, Junnie,” you deadpanned.

“Right.”

Pushing off the counter to stand up straight again, you said, “Anyway, you did help me find Dr. Magic. So, my turn.”

“Oh, no, you seriously don’t have to do that. I rigged the deal—”

“Yeah, about that.” You took a step forward. “How did you think that was going to end up for you, anyway? Were you going to sell somebody else out as Dr. Magic and hope I wasn’t going to talk to them? Spit in your mouth first and ask questions later?”

“I was thinking on my feet.”

“Maybe think laying down next time, Junnie.”

“Ouch.”

“Anyway, come on, you’ll want to sit down for this.” You grabbed his wrist, pulling him towards the living room.

“You don’t need to feel like you have to do this,” he reassured you.

Stopping the two of you in front of the couch, you turned to face him with a smirk. “Believe me when I say that it is going to be a treat unto itself for me to see you under the effects of siren venom. M’kay?”

Renjun’s surprise was evident on his face. “Oh.”

You stepped closer to him, delicately placing a hand on his chest. “Now unless you want me to literally spit in your mouth, I’m going to have to kiss you, to administer the venom.”

His eyes flicked between the hand you had on his chest and your face as he replied. “I’m okay with that—the kissing—if you are.”

“Renjun, I’ve been ready to eat you alive since you said the words ‘I want to experience siren venom for science’ to me.”

“Really?”

“Mhm. So why don’t you sit?” You guided him with the hand against his chest to sit back against his couch. Swinging one leg over his hips, then the other, you lowered yourself onto his lap. “Is this okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he nodded, tentatively settling his hands on your thighs. “Is this okay?”

“More than.” You smiled, looping your arms around his neck. “Now, a couple things, before we get started.”

“We haven’t started?”

“You’ll know it when we do.”

“Right.”

“I know you think you know what siren venom is like, but whatever scientific articles you’ve read, or documentaries you’ve watched, or slides you’ve studied under microscopes in lab, cannot actually prepare you for what it’s like. Which, I imagine is why you want to experience it for yourself.” You smirked down at him as you watched his Adam’s apple bob up and down with a gulp. “So before I actually dose you up with it, I need you to tell me what you’re actually okay with doing and what you’re not. Because once you get my venom in you, you’re going to want to let me do anything and everything to you, up to and including kill you, remember?”

“Well that’s off the table.”

“Good to know,” you snorted, running a fingernail down the nape of his neck. You felt a shudder go through him. “Is this okay?”

“Y-Yeah.” He seemed to be fighting to keep his eyes open. You halted your motions to let him think, and watched in amusement as he blinked his mind clear.

Once enough time had passed, you prompted him, “So?”

“I think just kissing,” Renjun answered. “Like, making out, or whatever. If you want…”

You snickered. “What part of ‘eat you alive’ was I unclear about?”

“The ‘eat’ part, actually. How literal is that?”

“Guess you’ll find out,” you teased. Then, you focused again as you sat back a little. “Okay, making out. Making out means different things to different people. So… we know kissing’s on the table. Tongue?”

“Yeah.”

“Teeth?”

“Where?”

“Waist up. You got somewhere you don’t want them?”

He took a moment to think about this. Then shook his head. “No. You can use them. Anywhere.”

“Same goes for you. Hickies?”

“Giving or receiving?”

“Both. You first.”

“Both are okay. You?”

You were already zeroing in on his neck and a small part of his collarbone peeking out from under his hoodie. “Same. Touching over clothes?”

“Okay, as long as you don’t think it’ll be too much with the venom…”

“Oh, Junnie, everything is going to be too much.” You grinned down at him.

His breathing had picked up pace as the two of you were talking. “You? The touching?”

“Good. Great. Touching under clothes?”

Renjun squirmed underneath you, but maintained your eye contact. “Just under my shirt.”

“Smart boy,” you said approvingly. “Me too.”

“Is that it?” He asked quietly, eyes now flicking down to your lips.

“I think so…” You looked around the room to buy a couple extra seconds of thinking time. When you hadn’t come up with anything else, you looked down at the human below you once more. “Ready, Renjun?”

“Yes.”

You took one final look over him like this, how much he already wanted you before he’d even gotten any of your venom in him, and dragged the tip of your tongue over your bottom lip instinctually. His heartrate jumped, and you wondered if it was fear—if the motion had reminded him perhaps of a hungry predator—or need. Or maybe a bit of both.

But you couldn’t tease him nor yourself any longer, swooping down to connect your mouths. You started off with just a couple light, closed-mouth kisses, to ease him into it. You heard him inhale quickly through his nose, his grip on your thighs tightening minutely. Swiping your tongue across the seal of his lips, you were delighted when he immediately parted his mouth in response, his tongue seeking yours out. You hummed contentedly into his mouth as you started stroking a fingernail down the back of his neck again. At the same time, your venom was beginning to mix in with your saliva, being passed onto Renjun.

Once his jaw started going slack in the kiss, and his hands slowly slid off your legs entirely to rest lamely at his side, you deemed him plenty dosed up. Consciously, you blocked off your venom glands once more. When one particularly drawn-out scratch down the back of his neck finally elicited a noise from him, an involuntary whine, you felt something in you snap. You needed more of that.

“So this is what siren venom feels like…” He mumbled breathily, letting his head loll back against the couch cushion as you kissed a path down his jawline and neck. When you felt his breath hitch in his throat over one particular spot, you decided to take your time there, sucking and nipping a mark into his skin.

When humans were… locked in a lover’s embrace, they let off a certain perfume distinguishable only to sirens—which was what made them the favored prey of sirens for so long. A human under the influence of siren venom? Delectable. And every human’s was unique too, so Renjun under the influence of your venom? Absolutely addictive.

With each kiss you stole from his lips, every nip you left on his neck that you then soothed over with your tongue, you got another taste of it. A sweetness that came with a bite, like ginger candy.

Renjun was still talking, though, his vocal cords vibrating under your lips. “My-My heart’s beating so fast, and I’m so warm—that’s so the ocean water doesn’t feel cold, of course—”

“Would you shut up?” You sat back up, grabbing him by the hair.

“Why?”

“I’m trying to kiss you again, idiot.”

“Oh. Right.” He closed his mouth, looking up at you with glassy eyes, waiting. Gods, he was so pretty like this.

You crashed your lips back on his, a mess of teeth and lips and tongue as he tried to keep up with you. But you knew that your venom was in full effect now, every single one of his nerve endings was approximately three and half times more sensitive. So you were sure it was all a little overwhelming. But he was definitely trying his best, kissing sloppily into your mouth with hungry, desperate whines.

Pulling him back off with your grip in his hair, you traced a thumb over his kiss-swollen bottom lip, cooing over how fucked-out he looked like this. “Oh, baby. Oh, poor Junnie. What’s wrong? Can’t even kiss me properly because it feels too good? Baby’s overwhelmed with just a little bit of kissing?”

He opened his mouth wider, darting the tip of his tongue out to brush against the pad of your thumb. You pushed the finger in his mouth, groaning as he immediately closed his lips around it. “Gods, you’re perfect, Junnie.”

Taking your thumb back out of his mouth just to grab his chin with the same wet digit, you attacked his lips with yours again. Ginger candy. His hands that had been lamely resting at his sides the entire time now fumbled at something in the area where your hips met.

“What? What are you trying to do, baby?” You asked, leaning back to look down. He was grabbing at the hem of his hoodie, unsuccessfully yanking it up towards his head as part of it was stuck under one of your thighs.

“‘m too hot. Please…” He panted, dropping it as he looked up at you pleadingly.

You nodded slowly in understanding, knowing that one of the effects of the siren venom was an increase in body temperature, not to mention what you two were just doing. The collar of another shirt was visible underneath the sweatshirt. “Okay, Junnie, we can take your hoodie off. But only the hoodie. Your other clothes are staying on, understood?”

He nodded quickly, hips bucking up against you. Sweat was beading up on his forehead, his hair getting stuck to the damp skin. You shifted back on his lap so that none of the sweatshirt was under you anymore, grabbing the hem and reaching behind him to yank up from underneath him as well.

“Sit forward for me, baby?” You requested in his ear sweetly.

Renjun obliged as best he could, leaning forward to get his back and shoulders off the couch. You pulled the hoodie up over his head, tossing it off to the side, leaving him in a black t-shirt that certainly couldn’t be helping much either. But having that heavy layer off seemed to provide some relief for him, as he let out a sigh, falling back against the furniture again.

You giggled as you settled back into the crux of his lap again, lacing your fingers together behind his neck. “Is that better now, Junnie?”

He shook his head, and you arched an eyebrow curiously.

“Oh? What’s wrong, then?”

Renjun tugged gently at your cardigan where it had shrugged down to show one of your shoulders. “Please?”

Pulling your bottom lip in between your teeth, you thought this over. You had a tank top on under the cardigan, and both of you were still wearing everything else. Not to mention that you were starting to get a bit warm too. Sirens ran naturally cooler than humans, so you were sure that to him, you felt practically refreshing right now, but you honestly were a bit hot for a siren’s tastes.

Giving a contemplative hum first, you finally relented, “Alright, Junnie. But just my sweater. Everything else stays on, because we didn’t talk about that before the venom, do you understand?”

He rushed to strip you of the knit cardigan, his mouth following his hands’ path down your skin. First on your shoulder, then down your arm. You let the garment drop on the floor behind you as he kissed back up along your shoulder, then over the fabric of your tank top until he got to your collarbone, and finally the hollow of your throat. Fondly stroking the back of his head, the pleased purr that had started in your chest turned into a surprised moan when he licked a long stripe up your throat.

Holding his face in your hands so that your noses brushed, and your lips barely ghosted over each other, you let your breaths mingle in the meager space afforded. Renjun ended your little anticipation game quickly, kissing you tongue-first, and you kissed him back just as eagerly, sucking on his tongue with lewd, wet noises. He moaned into your mouth, his hands grabbing at your waist for purchase first, then slipping and curling into the material of your shirt, bunching it in his fists.

Slowing the pace of your kisses, you eventually sat back, appraising the state he was in. You affectionately ran a hand through his hair as you took in his blown pupils, kiss-swollen lips, and pink cheeks. “Junnie? How are you feeling? Need a break?”

You hadn’t given him another dose of venom since the initial one, which wasn’t very large to begin with. But this was his first time experiencing it, so you wanted to check in. He should be just past the peak of it by now, starting to come down but for all intents and purposes still very much intoxicated. Siren venom wasn’t meant to last very long, after all, it took an adult human less than a minute to drown.

“Need you…” He insisted, arching up towards you.

Indulging him in one, two more feverish kisses, you pulled away once again. “I know, baby. And you’ve been doing so good for me. So I need you to tell me if you need a break. Okay?”

“’kay.” He agreed before you sealed your mouth over his again.

Kissing down from his mouth to just under his jaw, at the same time you trailed a finger down the center of his front until it got to the hem of his t-shirt.

He nodded fervently before you could say or do anything more. “Please… please…”

“Shh, shh, shh,” you quieted him down gently. “Doing so good for me, Junnie. The best.”

You slipped your hands under his shirt, just to stroke his waist. His muscles tensed under your touch, and he let out a sound of satisfaction. He grabbed at your thighs again, but you couldn’t tell if it was an attempt at reciprocity or to have something sturdier to ground himself to than your flimsy tank top. The corner of your lips quirked up as you pressed a couple more kisses down his neck to hover your lips over his pulse point, content to start a new mark there as your hands continued to explore under his shirt. It was when you gently raked your nails down over his pecs that you got the loudest moan out of him yet, and you groaned in response.

“Gods, you’re perfect,” you nuzzled your nose into Renjun’s neck, then pressed a couple relatively chaste pecks to his cheek. “Just perfect…”

Taking your hands back out from his shirt, you silenced his whine at the loss of contact by slotting your lips together once more. You cupped his face with one hand, using the other to take one of his hands off your leg and lace them together, palm to palm. This seemed to make him content once more, especially when you brought your connected hands up to the back of the couch, pinning his behind his head. He squirmed under you, letting out a familiar noise of pleasure into your mouth and squeezing your hand tightly.

You knew the venom was well and truly starting to wear off when Renjun began keeping pace with your slow, lazy kisses, his mouth not as sloppy but no less delightful as it moved in tandem with yours. The thumb of the remaining hand on your thigh started to stroke over your skin, and the hand that you were holding gave yours a gentle squeeze. You gave him one, two last lingering kisses, drinking in the dwindling taste of ginger candy while you could, Renjun matching you beat for beat.

Unlacing your fingers and dropping your hand from his face, you drew back from him. Before you could say anything, though, Renjun grabbed you by the back of the neck and pulled you in for one more kiss, sinking his teeth into your already tender, over-kissed bottom lip. You gasped into his mouth, which gave him the perfect opportunity to intertwine his tongue with yours again on his apparent mission to try to kiss the breath from you. A nigh impossible task for a human to do to a siren, but it definitely felt like he was succeeding. He was crushing his lips against yours so hard you were worried about him drawing blood—not because you would mind the pain, but for fear of his safety if he got a direct hit of your blood in his mouth.

In the back of your mind, you were desperately trying to remember if you had maybe accidentally opened your venom glands a second time later on, but just drew a blank. That wasn’t something you did unaware, it wasn’t automatic, it had to be done on purpose. Then, for a brief moment, you were worried about secondary wave syndrome—some humans break down siren venom in two phases instead of one, and the second one almost always kills them if they’re not brought to a human medical doctor for treatment—and you started running through the symptoms as well as the nearest human emergency rooms in your mind. Burst capillaries in the eyes, refusal of food and water, the hospital three blocks over should have an ER, right? But the kiss didn’t feel like when he’d been intoxicated on your venom before, this one felt deliberate, in control. He was in control. You let out a small moan at the thought, and Renjun’s lone hand on your thigh tightened in response.

Once he finally let you go, you both sat there in silence for a good few seconds, you still on his lap. You stared extra hard at the whites of his eyes. They looked normal. He seemed… normal.

It was rare for either of you to be speechless, much less the both of you.

“Well…” you broke the silence. “That was siren venom. You should drink some water. Stay right here, I’ll get it.”

You climbed off of him, heading into his kitchen. Looking at the oven, you were wondering how the timer hadn’t gone off in that entire time when you saw that it wasn’t on. The words ‘TIMER SET?’ were flashing on the screen at you, and the preheat hadn’t been started either. The pizza rolls had just been slowly defrosting on a pan in the cold oven. You couldn’t help but laugh, reaching into his fridge for his Brita filter then securing a couple cups from the cabinets.

Walking back into the living room, you handed the human his cup of water and remained standing as you took a sip of yours.

“You didn’t start the oven, for your pizza rolls,” you informed him quietly.

“Wh— oh, shit,” Renjun groaned, tipping his head back. “I guess I don’t get to give you your first pizza roll tonight.”

“That’s okay.” You dropped onto the couch next to him, shoulder to shoulder.

“So… that was siren venom,” he breathed out, then took a long gulp of his water. Definitely not second wave syndrome.

“That was siren venom,” you confirmed with a laugh, fondly brushing a piece of sweaty hair off his forehead.

“You were right… I was not prepared,” he admitted with a laugh, taking another drink.

“So do you think you would’ve let me kill you?”

“Yeah. I would’ve given you my credit card info, bank password, spilled all of my friends’ worst secrets, let you kill me, killed someone else if you asked me. God, that was…” He said with wide eyes, shaking his head. But there was a familiar glint in his eye as a smile cracked across his face, “Incredible.”

“Glad you think so,” you giggled, patting his chest. “Now don’t become a venom junkie, okay? I couldn’t live with myself if you did and it was my fault.”

“I won’t. Not really what I meant anyway.”

You grinned slyly at what he seemed to be implying, that it might not have just been the siren venom, but that it was you and your venom that made it so incredible. Like how every human had a slightly different essence, every siren had a unique chemical signature in their venom. It’s why using it non-consensually nowadays would be extremely stupid (as well as just an immoral thing to do and also a crime)—it can be matched to the siren in a lab like DNA. In addition, anecdotally, every siren’s venom was said to produce a slightly different high, but no mass studies had backed that up. You were inclined to believe the stories, though.

Renjun was still a bit hazy, though, still riding the high of the venom, so you decided to tuck a conversation like that away for another time.

“So why did you pick Magical Creatures Studies? Other than you’re insane?” You redirected the topic to a more neutral one.

Renjun didn’t seem put off at all about this jump. “When I was a kid, my family traveled around a bunch, for my dad’s job. I got to meet a lot of different kinds of beings, some of them became my best friends, and I never wanted to stop learning about it all.”

“What does your dad do?”

“Government job,” he answered, suddenly interested in picking at his nails.

You furrowed your brow thoughtfully. “Wait a minute… Huang Renjun. As in, your father is Ambassador Huang? That we’ve had to write papers on in class?”

Ambassador Huang was the first human ambassador sent on diplomacy trips to outside nations of magical creatures post-integration. His trips had largely been considered a monumental success, and credited as a big driver behind the huge uptick of immigration that your city has been seeing from outlying areas in the past couple decades. You’d hardly gotten through a single contemporary MCS class without directly learning about him or at least hearing his name. And you’d apparently been going to school with his son for four years and just pumped said son full of your venom and made out with him while he was high on your venom.

“Yeah…”

“Dude! What the hell? You didn’t think to mention that at some point?” You asked incredulously.

“And sound like some uppity nepo kid bragging about my dad? No thanks,” Renjun snorted.

“Yeah, maybe not like day one but like… I don’t know, before I used my venom on you!” You nudged his arm teasingly.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I just venom-ed Ambassador Huang’s son!”

“Oh my God, could you not call me that?” He snapped at you. “This is why I don’t tell people! Because now I don’t have a name anymore, I’m just Ambassador Huang’s son.”

You immediately realized your mistake, your stomach dropping as you heard the hurt in his words. “Renjun, I’m—”

“Just go.” He demanded, standing up from the couch and putting distance between you two again. “We both got what we wanted, right? You found out who Dr. Magic was, and I experienced siren venom. That’s all this was, so you can go. You don’t owe me anything else.”

You clenched your jaw, setting your cup on the end table beside the couch. Picking up your cardigan from the floor with as much dignity as you could, you pulled it back on. Neither of you said another word as he watched you stalk over to the front door, shove your shoes back on, throw the door open, and slam it closed behind you.

Drumming your fingertips along your keyboard, you squinted at the flashcards on your screen. You were in a sour mood, which had persisted ever since you’d left Renjun’s last night feeling used.

Ten was next to you at your picnic table outside the student union, finishing up a pencil portrait sketch of one of his other friends—one of the CompSci majors you’d paid to write your browser extension, actually. Dejun, a dragon, whose slit pupils, many bejeweled earrings, and a singular fang poking out from under his top lip featured prominently in the portrait. The sketch was part of Ten’s midterm portfolio check-in for one of his classes. Midterms were literally this week. Like, right now. You forced your sharp teeth further into the wooden pencil in your mouth.

“You’re going to ruin your cuspids like that, Y/N,” Ten chastised you calmly, rubbing at a line with the pad of his ring finger to smudge it before flipping his own non-mangled pencil around and continuing to sketch with the graphite.

“I’ll grow another set,” you grumbled, but took the writing utensil out of your mouth nevertheless.

“And have no teeth in the meantime. Real sexy siren stuff. Sure to lure all the hotties to their deaths looking like GamGam missing her dentures.”

“Shut up!” You shoved his head away, earning a loud peal of laughter from your friend. “As if you’ve been pulling anybody yourself. You’re literally a siren art major covered in tattoos that he designed himself, more piercings than a dragon, including nipple rings, and you haven’t been on a date in… what, almost a year?”

“So we’re both disappointments to the good siren name, huh?” He held up his hands in surrender, still grinning. “Just a couple of poor, celibate sirens doomed to be disgraces to their species forever…”

“Can you not yell that to the entire courtyard, dude?”

“What? Not announce very loudly that you haven’t been with anybody in exactly four—”

You lunged to cover his mouth before he could publicize precisely how long it’s been since you’d hooked up with someone. Ten immediately broke down into laughs behind your hand that was covering his mouth, his shoulders shaking even as you smacked him on the back of the head with your other hand.

“Gods, what is wrong with you?” You hissed at him. “You’re a menace to society. And me.”

When you’d finally let go of his face, he said through a couple more chuckles, “Hey, you could easily do it back to me.”

“Why would I want to do that? And the fact that you’re suggesting it makes me think that you want me to do that, which makes me want to do it even less. You freak.”

Before your podmate could respond, you caught sight of a figure approaching your table head-on. Setting your jaw, your body immediately tensed. There was no mistake, Huang Renjun was walking straight towards you. Ten seemed to have noticed the shift in your body language and mood, as he didn’t say anything further, quietly going back to his sketchbook as you watched Renjun get nearer and nearer.

“Y/N,” he said your name quietly, stopping not quite at the end of the table beside you, but next to the end of the bench across from you.

“What do you want from me now, Renjun?” You replied bitterly, pretending to return your hands to your keyboard as if you were going to refocus on your studies.

“Uhm, to talk, I guess?”

Ten interjected, “Do you guys need a second? I can go—”

You held him in place with a hand around his wrist, your voice curt, “No, Ten. Stay. This will be short.”

Your friend lowered himself back down into his seat.

You then set your hard gaze on Renjun. The marks you had left on his neck were still visible above the collar of his t-shirt. Moving your eyes from that to his face, you cocked your head to the side. “What’s in it for me? You established that our relationship is purely transactional, remember? We apparently just use each other. You scratch my back, I spit in your mouth, quid pro quo.”

“Okay, I’m going now,” Ten declared, wrenching his arm from your grasp to grab his sketchbook, pencils, and backpack before taking off.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. I don’t see you like that at all, I just... I got defensive and snapped. It’s not an excuse, but still, I want you to know that I don’t mean anything I said. I’m sorry.” Renjun shifted uncomfortably on his feet, but you could see the genuine remorse on his features.

You breathed in, then out.

“I’m sorry too,” you sighed, letting your voice relax back to the natural softness that it held around Renjun. “You’re your own person, aside from just ‘Ambassador Huang’s son.’ I’m sorry for treating you like anything other than Renjun.”

“It’s not that I’m not super proud to be his son or anything, I think he’s really awesome. He was my hero growing up; still is. I mean, I’m going into the same field as him. Kind of. You know? It’s just because we’re going to be doing the same kind of thing, I want to be able to be looked at for what I do. Good or bad.”

“Bad? You plan on using your degree for evil, Renjun?” You teased, scooting over on the bench seat to take Ten’s previous spot and freeing up a place for Renjun to scoot in beside you.

“I could,” he played along, gladly taking the seat offered.

The two of you made eye contact, then burst into laughter at the same time.

“What?” He questioned in mock offense. “I think I’d make a great evil dictator, personally. You don’t think so?”

“Not at all, you’d be great at it.”

“Thank you. My friends don’t take my threats so seriously.”

“Which will ultimately be their downfall.”

Renjun looked back out at the campus in front of you two, his voice turning serious again, “But, seriously, I mean, I don’t want people having all these lofty expectations for me and then be disappointed when I don’t change the whole world, nor do I want them making things easy for me because they know my dad.”

“That’s fair. Unattainable, but fair to wish for,” you nodded in understanding.

“Ugh...” He slumped forward, dropping his head into his arms atop the table.

“Look, Renjun…” You rested one hand on his arm as the other rubbed up and down his back supportively. “You can’t change who your dad is, and you said it yourself, it’s not like you’re ashamed of him either. So don’t brag, and don’t be a dick when somebody brings him up either. Just do your best to show people who Huang Renjun is. And if they still don’t get it, that’s their loss. Because I already know him, and I think he’s pretty cool.”

Renjun sat back up to look you in the face with a skeptical eyebrow raised. “You’re such a cheeseball. Aren’t sirens supposed to be alluring and enchanting?”

“Shut up! I will drown you! See how alluring I am when you’re under a siren call,” you huffed, crossing your arms over your chest.

“I’m kidding.” He grinned at you, nudging your shoulder with his. “That really did make me feel better, thank you, Y/N.”

You smiled back. “You’re welcome, Renjun.”

The two of you kept smiling at each other for a moment before he broke the eye contact, looking down at his hands then shifting his gaze back to the courtyard.

“Uhm, while we’re airing stuff out about last night...” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Yeah, Junnie?” You tilted your head to the side, watching as his cheeks started flushing.

“I don’t think I ever said thank you. I kind of popped off on you right after... everything. But thank you, for taking care of me before, during, and after. It didn’t even occur to me to talk about what we could and couldn’t do beforehand. Thank you for that, and for getting me the water. And... all of it in between...” His ears were bright red too at this point, but he managed to look you in the eye as he gave you his genuine gratitude.

You nodded in understanding. “You’re welcome. I’m glad that you felt cared for during all of it. In addition to, you know, everything else you felt.”

“Mm, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Studying his face curiously, you said, “You look like you want to ask me something else.”

“Well, I feel like you still weren’t very clear on the ‘eat me alive’ thing.”

You rolled your eyes. “Gods, Junnie, I’m not going to actually eat you—”

“I mean...” Renjun took a deep breath. “I kind of always feel like I’ve got a little bit of siren venom in me when I’m around you, Y/N. My heart races, and my skin is warm, and everything is just better when I’m with you. I want to see you when you’re not around, and when things are hard for you, I want to make everything better. I like you, and between the Dr. Magic deal, and our stupid academic rivalry, and what we did last night, I don’t know what I am to you, but that’s how I feel.”

If someone had told freshman you that Huang Renjun would ever say words like that to you, you’d have laughed in their face to the point of tears— or slapped them. And yet, in that moment, you weren’t surprised in the slightest. It was the most natural, beautiful, delightful, perfect thing that could’ve happened. Just like you leaning over to give him a modest, near-demure kiss on the cheek, absolutely beaming at him as you pulled back.

“I like you too, Renjun,” you admitted.

His eyes went wide before a broad, tender smile spread across his features and he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. He let out a drawn-out sigh of relief, “Ohh, that’s one weight off my chest for this week.”

You laughed in agreement. “Me too. Actually makes everything feel lighter.”

“Yeah, it does,” he said, squeezing your shoulder. “So how much do I owe you?”

“What?”

“You said you were going to invoice Dr. Magic. For the browser extension, and the color copies, and whatever else. How much do I owe you?”

You tapped a finger against your chin, pretending to think before a smirk pulled across your lips. “Mm, should be exactly the price of one nice dinner and a movie.”

“Dinner and a movie? Just how many copies were you making?” He asked with a chuckle and a shake of his head.

“A nice dinner,” you reiterated. “I paid those CompSci majors fairly for their time.”

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Friday night after your last midterm, you were knocking on Huang Renjun’s door. The two of you had seen each other this week for your Linguistics in MCS class, but had been utterly locked into academic mode and hadn’t met up aside from that. So, per his invite, you were here in your “midterms best”— i.e., the pajamas you had been wearing at your own apartment since submitting your last mid-semester draft earlier today. You’d been told this wasn’t going to be a fancy affair.

Judging by the pajamas that Renjun had also answered the door wearing—giving you vivid déjà vu to the last time you were here—you were dressed appropriately for the occasion. He led you in by the hand, informing you there was something he wanted to show you in the kitchen.

You came to a stop in front of a plate piled high with small, pillow-shaped pieces of dough, some with bursts of red sauce leaking out of them. You couldn’t help but let out a sputtering laugh. “Pizza rolls? Did midterms scramble the egg on your face so bad that you missed the part where I said nice dinner?”

You might not have ever eaten pizza rolls, but you knew what section of the grocery store they came from.

“I can’t even tell what that was supposed to be… You’re so beautiful…” He was staring at you with a look of pure adoration, and surprised you by giving you a fleeting peck on the cheek, gone as soon as you’d realized what he was doing. Your hand instinctually came up to brush at your skin, almost in disbelief, as he went back to explaining his plans for tonight. “Anyway, I didn’t get to give you your first pizza roll the other night, and I figured that the last thing you actually wanted right after midterms week was to go out to some hoity toity place and be out at the movie theater really late, right? So, I’ve got pizza rolls, peanut butter cookies, your seaweed tea, and like way more snacks and candy and stuff. So we can chill and watch whatever movies you want tonight, unwind from midterms. And then next weekend, we’ll do your nice dinner and go to the movie theater. Think of it as an IOU.”

A fond smile tugged at the corner of your mouth as you nodded your approval. “Mmm… you’re right. This is great, Junnie. Thank you.”

Set up on Renjun’s couch with the assortment of snacks—pizza rolls included—and your first movie chosen, you settled in next to him, knee to knee, under the same blanket as the two of you ate. You decided that pizza rolls weren’t that bad (you still liked peanut butter sandwich cookies better), convinced Renjun to try some of your ocean flakes again—a favorite snack of sirens, which he’d already tasted on one occasion at a Dr. Magic hunting session and hated—to similar results, and finished off a bottle of seaweed-infused tea by the time the first movie was about a third of the way done. At this point, you were pretty satiated food-wise, and set your empty drink bottle on the coffee table to sit back on the couch.

Linking your arm with Renjun’s, you rested your head on his shoulder as he was still finishing up his plate of pizza rolls. “That was good, Renjun. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I call dibs on little spoon first, by the way.”

“Damn.”

Once he was done eating as well, you laid down to eagerly take your promised place as little spoon. Renjun stayed partially propped up against the arm of the couch so he could see the TV as you were nestled back against his chest, one of his arms slung over your waist. Your fingers played with his under the blanket absentmindedly as you got used to your new place, with him, in his arms.

“Renjun?” You said into the quiet. The only noises were coming from the TV. The movie was nearly done, just a couple little resolving scenes after the climax left. You’d seen it plenty of times before—both of you had, it was a favorite that you’d discovered you two shared earlier in the semester—which was why you’d picked it, an easy watch that you both liked. But nothing that required your full attention, so you could talk or miss scenes if you wanted.

“Yeah?” He responded just as softly.

“This is really nice. Hanging out, just us. No school, no Dr. Magic.”

“I know. Almost doesn’t feel real.”

“What? That we’re hanging out without trying to kill each other?”

He let out a couple laughs, catching your hand that had been playing with his under the blanket and lacing your fingers together. “I think there’s definitely some people that would be shocked to see us right now. But I meant more-so that we don’t have any schoolwork to do right now, and that the whole Dr. Magic thing is finally over. Other than the dinner that I owe you.”

“Oh… I owe you… I-O-U…” you sounded the words and letters out slowly. “I get it now.”

“God, you’re perfect,” he sighed dreamily, brushing your hair away from your face to press two kisses to your temple in quick succession.

You turned over to face him to properly protest, “Hey, I didn’t grow up around humans, you know that, right? I just came here to go to school! I moved here like, two weeks before our first day of freshman year—”

“I’m not making fun of you, Y/N!” He promised, sandwiching your hand between both of his and squeezing it tightly. “I respect how difficult it must have been for you to acclimate to the new culture and city when you moved, and so suddenly, on top of starting school. I just love y- love when you do that. Genuinely, I’m so charmed by it. Endeared. Bewitched. Whatever word you want to use. It’s something I never noticed until this semester, when we started doing the Dr. Magic stuff together. Despite knowing you for so long, in the department, in classes.”

“You know what I never knew about you before this semester, Junnie?”

“What?”

“That you were such a softie,” you snickered fondly. “I thought you were all textbooks and GPA and flashcards and whatever.”

The human ducked his head bashfully. “It’s something I’ve been working on this year.”

“Between this and Dr. Magic, I think you’ve been doing pretty well.”

“Thanks.”

“So, why did you do it, Junnie?” You asked curiously. “Not be a softie, I mean, but…”

“What? Be Dr. Magic?” He clarified, to which you nodded. “I didn’t mean to make a persona like that, really. I had to pick a screenname, and the guys had jokingly called me that a couple times when I helped them out with some problems. That’s all.”

“I know why you started the account. Knowledge. That’s also why you didn’t get the credit. You just needed to know. Though, the story behind the name is cute,” you pinched his cheek, and he tried to deter your hand with his shoulder half-heartedly. “I mean more like, why were you hiding your IP and using VPNs and stuff before you even knew that I was trying to track you down? In the fall.”

“I made the first couple posts from the school computers just because I like to do my work there, I wasn’t trying to cover anything up. Then I pictured what I’d do if I found someone posting like I was on the forums. And I would’ve tried to find out who they were. So I started covering my tracks a bit more intentionally after that. Didn’t want any groupies rolling up on me.” He pinched your side teasingly with the last sentence, and you slapped his hand away with an eye roll.

“Oh shut up!” You scoffed, ignoring his hands as he tried to pull you back towards him again.

“I’m kidding, I’m kidding, I’m sorry,” he apologized through his chuckles. “If anything I’m your groupie, I swear. Your number one fan from the moment you showed me your conspiracy board.”

“Mm, fine.” You scooted closer to him, letting him wrap his arms around you once more. “Glad we got that cleared up.”

Renjun shifted to lay on his back, and you easily followed the move to snuggle in mostly on top of him, resting your head in the crook of his neck and your hand on his waist, fingers innocently smoothing over a patch of skin above his hipbone where his shirt had ridden up. It sounded like the credits were on by now, but you didn’t really care about picking another movie as Renjun hummed along to the familiar song that played over the scrolling names. You’d sing along too, if you were alone at your own place. But now you didn’t dare even hum like the human with you for fear of what it could do to him. Renjun’s voice was plenty lovely enough though, even just this casual little bit humming. You’d see if you could get him to sing for you properly one of these days. If an opportunity came before graduation. Who knew what your days would even look like before then.

Gods, graduation. You felt like you could shrivel up and die just thinking about it. Not to mention that you hadn’t even told Renjun that you’d—

“Hey. What are you thinking about?” He suddenly asked, his disapproving tone clear.

You gulped. “How could you tell I was thinking about something?”

“For one, you’ve got your bad thinking face on.” He pinched your bottom lip. “You pout. It’s very dramatic. You look very concerned.”

“I have different thinking faces?”

“Yeah, you look different when you’re studying. I’ve seen you do plenty of that to know the difference. And you’ve got a third face when you’re contemplating. Usually you do that one when you’re looking at menus.”

“I didn’t know I was apparently an open book.” You covered your face with your hands in embarrassment.

“It’s cute, Y/N. You’ve got a cute face, and you make cute facial expressions with it, don’t cover it up.” He gingerly grabbed your hands to encourage you to take them off. “Except I am worried about what’s making you make your bad thinking face right now. What’s wrong?”

With a sigh, you pushed up into a sitting position. Renjun followed your lead curiously, a thoughtful frown on his own features as he watched you pull your knees to your chest.

“Renjun, I need to tell you something.”

He regarded you with a skeptical eyebrow raised. “Okay… go for it.”

Nervously, you smoothed out some wrinkles in your pajama pants as you confessed, “Uhm, Dr. Kwon asked me to carry the banner at commencement. I said yes.”

“I knew that.”

“What?” You looked up at him in disbelief.

“Well, since it was midterms already, I figured that if they’d picked me, they would have asked me by now and since they hadn’t, then they must have picked you. I was just waiting for you to tell me so I could tell you… Congrats.” Renjun grinned brightly at you, reaching out to rest his hand on your arm.

“You’re not upset?” You asked trepidly.

“We’re not petty little freshmen anymore, Y/N. No, I’m not upset. I’m proud of you, you deserve it.”

“So did you.”

“Not any more than you did.” He shook his head firmly. “So would you just accept my congrats already?”

You gave a small, shaky smile. “Thank you…”

“There we go.”

“This is what I was so freaked about… when we went to get froyo.”

“You were afraid of me being mad at you for being picked to carry the banner?” Renjun asked incredulously.

“I didn’t know how to tell you!” You defended yourself. “And now I have to do the commencement practices, on top of senior capstone and my extracurriculars…”

He wrinkled his nose. “Ew, commencement practices. So glad I didn’t get picked now, actually.”

“And that was so convincing, Junnie.”

“You remember what you said to me when we got froyo?”

Scrunching your face up, you struggled to think back to the exact conversation you had that day—you’d been really stressed. “Uh, ‘exactly two gummy sharks on mine please?’”

“Well, yeah, your hyper-specific froyo order—”

“Throwing stones at black kettles much?” You teased.

“Excuse me?” Renjun’s eyes went wide.

“Is that not—? I really thought I got it that time.”

“Did you mean to say ‘throwing stones in glass houses’ and/or ‘the pot calling the kettle black?’”

“…Yes.”

He turned very serious as he went to tenderly cradle your face in his hands. “I’m going to kiss you in like two seconds after I finish what I was saying, okay?”

“Oh, okay,” you agreed weakly, wishing very much that he’d just do it now instead of making you wait. He then let your face go.

“When we were talking about wanting people to know that we’re smart,” Renjun clarified. “You said that we’re both like that, and you knew that you were like that. And then you asked me if I knew that I was like that. I had tried to swear up and down this entire time that I was doing all of this—the needing to be the best—for myself. But it wasn’t. I’m like that too. That’s kind of what Dr. Magic was, me taking a step back from needing everyone to know I was the smartest person in the room. A quasi-experiment, to see if I could do it.”

“I think that after graduation, maybe we both chill on being the smartest person in the room, and try to just spend a summer working on that magical bucket list of yours?” You suggested.

“Oh?” He perked up at this. “Really?”

“You ever seen a werewolf shift?”

“No…”

“That sounds like a ‘not yet’ to me.”

“Sounds like a plan.” He confirmed with a conspiratorial grin that mirrored the one that you could feel across your own face. “You know how sirens can’t get dosed up on their own venom?”

“Yeah…” You nodded, wondering where he could be going with this.

“Well, I know a witch with a proprietary love potion blend that I think we might be able to modify to produce similar effects.”

“Fascinating.” You thought on this for a second, very quickly running through your knowledge of potion properties to imagine what it could be. “Two-factor blood potion?”

“Yes. But we’d put your venom in it instead of your blood so it wouldn’t kill me.”

“That could work…” You mused. “Speaking of, I should really give you a full dose one of these days.”

He breathed in sharply. “That wasn’t a full dose?”

“Nope.”

“Holy shit…”

“Have you ever watched a phoenix reincarnation?” You added another suggestion to your joint summer bucket list.

“Have you? Wouldn’t that literally blind us?” Renjun questioned, something akin to genuine concern on his face now.

You shrugged. “Allegedly. It’s never been recorded in a lab setting, so who really knows.”

“I think we’re going to get each other killed before we can get our PhDs,” he declared with a fond smile and shake of his head.

“Hey, the betting pools said we’d kill each other by junior year, so I think we’re doing well for ourselves.”

“Do you think we can collect on those bets when we graduate and we’re both still alive and have all of our limbs?”

“We’ll burn that bridge when we get there.”

“Oh my god, come here,” Renjun groaned deliriously, kneeling to grab your face with two hands and crash his lips to yours. You curled your fingers in the front of his shirt, pulling him down with you as you fell back against the arm of his couch, still connected.

Yeah, you’d drive off that burning bridge when you got there.

⤷ blog masterlist  ⤷ anthology masterlist

[jtl-fics]

Fluent Freshman - Part 05

PREVIOUS

It might be objectively funnier if no one knows Fluent Freshman’s first name (even me because there’s some funny ideas but nothing as funny as “UNKNOWN” Smith) aside from Wymack.

Even the announcers just refer to him by his last name (maybe his first name is very foreign and hard to pronounce, maybe that’s why he got into foreign languages, maybe it’s so bland that the announcers just can’t his full name without yawning, maybe it’s just that someone else on the Foxes has the same first name so there’d be confusion, who knows) This only occasionally creates confusion because the Terrapins and the Ravens both have someone with the same last name as him.

Either way after one-two hit confidence crushing combo of the CVS girl knowing he has tummy trouble and the conversation with Neil where Neil asks about his stomach ulcers FF utilizes all of his years of learned behavior to fully fade into the background. Wallflower? No man I’m Wallpaper you cannot see me.” This has unintended consequences.

1. He has become undetectable which means that he is now, once again, hearing all sorts of relationship talk but now it’s not just between Captain Neil and Andrew Minyard and their surprisingly soft private life.

He is subjected to Nicky gushing to Erik in German. He has to listen to Kevin talk to someone named Jean in French (he only finds out later that they’re NOT dating but it sounds like date talk...though most of his experience is listening to Captain Neil and Andrew Minyard loving say they hate one another so maybe he has a bad pool of knowledge.) Matt, Aaron, Jack, and some of his other freshman players all speak in English but CHRIST he wishes it was in any language he doesn’t know. (If he hears Jack say ‘Yeah sure whatever Babe.’ one more time HE’S going to slap the asshole for being so dismissive to his girlfriend.)

2. He has become objectively better at being a defensive dealer because other teams just kind of don’t notice him and pass right to him. Kevin wants to study him on what about him makes him so adept at causing unforced errors in objectively better players. Fluent Freshman, having been yelled at by Kevin more than once, takes the moment Kevin’s eyes are diverted by Captain Neil saying something and just slides out of his seat into a different seat (Middle of the bus. The least noticeable section) and puts up his hoodie and pretends to sleep. (he does not. what if he drools? It’s already hard enough getting sleep in a room with two roomies. He got to campus earliest so that he could claim a top bunk so no one could see him even if heights make him nervous.)

3. Since he has become undetectable that means that Andrew Minyard and Captain Neil have a hard time detecting him. So he has not had to endure their silent judging company. He is sure that Andrew is waiting for him to slip and he’s also sure that Captain Neil thinks he’s stupid. No other freshman gets as much homework help from the Captain as he does. Still, he doesn’t have to sit in the silent knowledge that they both dislike him enough that they want him to know it. HIs ulcers are starting to get better and the girl at the CVS (He’d have to have a whole conversation to change where his prescription is filled and he’d rather die) didn’t even recognize him when he came in for a refill on his prescription or note that he was buying pepto bismol again.

HOWEVER

This means that Neil has come back with slumped shoulders and uneaten snacks the last five times he’s gone for his usual hangout. They are never planned hangouts it’s just that FF is always in the same 3 locations because there are only so many spots on campus where your back is completely secured and that weren’t so intimidating to go into (The library is terrifying. What if he sneezes???) and for the last two weeks Andrew has been unable to find FF outside of practice either.

(It has to be stated that FF is in the EXACT same spots as before but he is in stealth mode and therefore only visible if you are a mantis shrimp.)

Andrew Minyard does NOT like this. FF is THE singular tolerable teammate. Andrew likes the decompression time  he gets when him and FF sit in quiet and do their own things. FF never asks for his attention but occasionally offers him good german literature recommendations for every stage of literacy ever since Andrew had mentioned wanting to get better at the written language so he wouldn’t have to rely on Neil or Nicky when the Monsters vacationed there next summer. He doesn’t call people friend easily but FF is a friend.

So it’s incredibly irritating that for the last two weeks he’s been completely unable to grab that friend and ask what the hell is going on. The Foxes have histories and it wouldn’t be the first time a Freshman’s past caught up with them or that one of them had something set them back into old survival habits. It’d happened with Matt, it’d happened with Aaron and Andrew, it for SURE happened with Neil, Sheena’s coping mechanisms had been the bane of Andrew’s existence the year before, some of the other freshman had setbacks this year and a few players over the years have had to leave due to the very circumstances that gave them a home with the Foxes. Andrew had never really cared as long as his people were fine.

It’s just that Andrew actually kind of cares about this Freshman, he considers him as someone who could be one of his people.

Which is why Andrew will keep stalking the campus around FF’s preferred haunts until he grabs him.

Andrew catches him outside of stealth mode (He had been using a urinal that is NOT where you don’t want people to notice you) and grabs him by the scruff. “We’re taking a drive.” he says and FF just sort of goes limp and lets himself be dragged off.

He hopes that he can write his grandma a letter telling her how much her love and care over the years meant to him before Andrew kills him. He’d even take if Andrew would only let him write it in his own blood.

NEXT

Per your requests:

@i-have-three-feelings, @blep-23

[nyoomfruits]

6 & I for yhr ask game? any pairing you'd like!!❤️ i love your writing

i couldn't tell if this was i or L so i went with L because it was objectively funnier. also maxoscar :)

Fake Dating/Engagement/Marriage AU + “Why are you covered in blood?” “Uh. Long story?”

Max wrinkles his nose when Oscar finally rounds the corner and comes into view. “You’ve got to be joking me. Why are you covered in blood?”

Oscar’s face is unreadable. He twitches his shoulders in a bad approximation of a shrug. “Long story.”

“Whatever,” Max says, taking off his hoodie, revealing his plain white t-shirt underneath. “Put this on, yeah? We’ve come so far, we’re not blowing our cover because you decided to go on another unhinged murder spree.”

Oscar frowns. “It wasn’t an unhinged murder spree. It was one overzealous henchman who I accidentally hit straight in the artery with a ballpoint pen.”

The alleyway they’re in barely hides them from sight, and Max keeps his eyes flitting from one opening of the alley to the other. “I thought you said it was a long story.”

Oscar actually shrugs this time, and pulls off his own blood soaked hoodie, throws it in the direction of the trashcans a little further down the alley. “The killing wasn’t. The disposing of the body however. Fucking nightmare.”

“Tell me some other time,” Max says, anxiously glancing at one of the entrances to the alley again. “Fuck, come here,” And then, before he can stop himself, he pulls Oscar close, lets his back fall against the wall they were standing next to, buries his hand in Oscar’s hair, and kisses him full on the mouth.

And Oscar, Oscar’s a great partner to have in the field. He knows how to adapt, how to go with the flow, easily accepts a change of plans. And so he only lets out a teeny surprised sound into Max’s half open mouth, and then immediately leans into the kiss, nips playfully at Max’s bottom lip as he grabs Max’s hips and presses them further into the wall.

For someone who looks like The Headquarters made him straight in a lab on his best days, Oscar is a surprisingly good kisser. Gentle, playful. When Max tugs at his hair, he lets out the tiniest little moan straight into Max’s mouth, and Max bravely pretends that isn’t doing anything for him.

Because like. This is a job. This is diversion tactics 101. Nobody looks twice at a couple making out in an alleyway. Especially not at a couple in a serious state of distress, with their hoodies scattered on the floor at their feet and Oscar tugging at Max’s shirt in a way that makes it ride up his stomach enough to reveal some skin.

And still, the kiss lasts a lot longer than necessary. Over Oscar’s (broad broad broad) shoulders Max has spotted long ago that the henchmen have moved on. They’re safe. But he indulges himself only for a moment, lets Oscar run his fingers over the exposed strip of skin at the waistband of his jeans before he finally pulls away.

The hand he’d buried in Oscar’s hair has done serious damage to Oscar’s haircut, making it even more stylishly messy than it usually is. There’s a flush on his cheeks, his pupils blown, his breathing a little ragged. “Gone?” He asks.

Max nods, pushes himself off the wall, ignores the summersaults his stomach is making. This is a job this is a job this is a job. “Yeah. Let’s get the fuck out of here,” he says, starts stalking in the opposite direction of where he saw the henchmen. Oscar trails after him, pulling on the hoodie Max had thrown him earlier. Max decidedly does not look at the way it fits him, takes a deep breath and steadies his gaze ahead.

This is a job this is a job this is a job.

[watchmegetobsessed]

❄️HOT AND COLD❄️

A/N: week 2 of fanficmas yeah!! this was the first fic i wrote, some good ol' college!harry to get you all cozy hehe

WORD COUNT: 2.1k

SUMMARY: You decided to spend two more days at the dorm before heading home to have some peace and work on your assignments. However you didn't expect them to turn the heating off once everyone left. No worries, the hot guy living next door is ready to keep you warm.

MASTERLIST | SUPPORT ME!

This fic is part of ❄️ FANFICmas 2022 ❄️ Read more about fanficmas here!

You thought staying two extra days in the dorm before going home for the holidays would be a great idea. Have some quiet and peace for yourself, finish some assignments so you don’t stress about them during Christmas. Theoretically, it was a fantastic idea.

In reality? The worst one you’ve ever had.

You didn’t think they would turn down the heating the moment the dorm empties out. Well, it’s a logical thing to do, but it never occurred to you and you only realized it when the temperature started dropping significantly after the last wave of students left in the morning. You went out to run errands and you could feel the change when you arrived back. The hallways were chillier and your room started to feel like a cave. At first you just sucked it up, put on a hoodie, wrapped yourself in a blanket and got down to business. Your uncle always said you can decide whether you’re cold or not, so you kept thinking about hot things to keep your mind off of how freezing it was starting to get.

Hot tea.

Hot chocolate.

A tub of hot water.

Freshly baked, hot cookies.

The hot guy next door.

Wait, what? How did you end up thinking about Harry?

As you sit on your bed with your textbooks surrounding you, an all too familiar voice makes your ears perk up. You’d recognize it anywhere and it never fails to make your heart pitter-patter, but now you’re surprised to hear it since you thought you were the last one left in the building.

Well, you were wrong.

You hear Harry Styles striding down the hallway, singing Jingle Bells without a care. You get out of bed before you could think and throw your door open, catching him by surprise judging from the little jump he does as he turns around.

“Y/N? You’re still here?”

“I was just about to ask the same question from you,” you chuckle, stepping out into the hallway, but your smile soon turns into shock when you see him sporting shorts and just a shirt. “How have you not turned into ice wearing that?”

Chuckling he looks down at himself.

“I have a heater of my own. I could turn my room into a sauna,” he jokes and you can’t help a stupid laugh that slips out of your mouth.

You always lose your cool around him, he’s been your ultimate college crush since you moved in at the beginning of the semester and you usually end up making a fool of yourself in front of him. Whether it’s talking gibberish or dripping eggs when he walks into the kitchen, he has seen you at your worst in these two months you’ve been living next to each other.

“You’re not going home for winter break?” he asks, striking up a conversation and you pray you don’t embarrass yourself this time.

“Oh, I am, but only late tomorrow. Wanted some alone time before going home to the family, study and stuff, you know…”

“Clever,” he nods with a smile.

“What about you?”

“I’m leaving tomorrow too, I was supposed to go home today, but my flight got cancelled.”

“That sucks, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” he shrugs. “You’re sitting in your cold room all by yourself?”

“Well, not everyone has their own fireplace,” you snort out a laugh, but it sounded funnier in your head for sure.

“Come over to mine,” he offers and you have to fight yourself not to let your mouth hang open.

You’ve hung out before, ran into each other at parties and while your crush is deeply rooted at this point, you two aren’t exactly the closest friends, you haven’t been in his room before, haven’t even hugged him so entering into his private space is the most intimate you’d ever get with him.

“Um, I don’t want to bother—“

“Y/N, you’re not bothering, I’m just playing video games.”

“B-But still…”

“You’d rather freeze to death in your room than to be around me? I have to say I’m a little hurt.” With a hand over his heart he gives you a disappointed look, though you can tell he’s just teasing you.

“You really don’t mind?”

“I wouldn’t have invited you over if I did. Come on, bring all your stuff.”

And so you end up moving over to Harry’s room that feels like paradise. The temperature is perfect, you can get rid of your hoodie as you settle on top of his bed while he sits by his desk with his PC, some kind of action game paused on the screen.

His room is oddly tidy for a college boy. The bed was made even before you appeared, there are no dirty clothes on the floor, only in the hamper in the corner, his bookshelf is crowded, but it seems to have a system in it that probably only he knows.

“Is it warm enough?” he asks, settling at his computer.

“Yeah, thanks,” you nod, feeling a bit out of place, but the warmth feels nice.

“Cool,” he nods before turning back to his game and unpausing it.

For the first hour you just coexist in peace. It takes you some time to focus on studying with Harry being so close and also being in Harry’s room, but the feeling wears down and you can finally work efficiently while he keeps himself busy with his game. But then he stops playing and becomes more interested in whatever you are doing.

“You haven’t finished this sheet yet?” he asks, holding up the statistics task sheet you’ve been putting off for over a month now.

“No,” you sigh in defeat. “I’m not really good at statistics.”

“Want me to help? I’m in Dr. Thomson’s Thursday class, but we went over the same thing too.”

“It’s my homework, I don’t want to bore you with it.”

“It’s fine, I actually liked these tasks.”

So then the evening turns into tutoring, Harry sits on the bed beside you, explaining you how to solve the tasks and even shows a better method you understand way more than what you were taught. After that, he just sticks to studying with you, though it slowly turns into anything and everything but studying. He clearly loses interest in helping you, but he doesn’t seem to want to leave you alone and your focus breaks too. Of course you’d rather hang out with Harry than write a paper on Switzerland’s economy!

You’re having a blast. Both of you. It’s the first time hanging out one-on-one, but it’s going better than you imagined. You haven’t made a fool out of yourself, even cracked some jokes that made him laugh, though he is surely the funnier one. He is telling you all kinds of crazy stories from before college and also asks you about your high school years.

“Mm, this was great, though I did not get as much done as I planned to,” you chuckle, taking a look at your stack of textbooks.

“But we had a good time and that’s all that matters,” he grins at you, hugging his pillow.

“Alright. I’ll get out of your hair,” you move to pack your things and return to your room, but then he speaks up.

“What are you doing?”

“Going back to my room.”

“You didn’t think I would let you sleep in the cold, did you?”

“What, you want me to sleep here?” you raise your eyebrows at him.

“Sure. There’s plenty of space for us. You’re sleeping here tonight,” he simply states.

About twenty minutes later, you’re sitting on the edge of his bed in your pajamas, waiting for him to return from his shower.

You’re really about to sleep in the same bed as Harry Styles. Hopefully you won’t kick him in the groin or say something stupid in your dreams or drool on him or—“

“You look worried,” he comments as he walks in, dropping his used clothes into his hamper. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, everything is fine. Totally awesome and perfect!”

God, you are so awkward!

“Okay,” he smiles to himself. “Take whatever side you want. It’s not a king sized bed, but it’s fine for two people for one night.”

You gulp at the thought of Harry spending the night here with another girl, jealousy bubbles in your chest.

“At least Niall and I survived the time he got locked out of his room,” he adds with a chuckle and you exhale in relief.

You end up taking the inner side of the bed and you lie on your side as he makes himself comfortable on the outer side. It’s really not too spacious, but at least it’s warm and smells like Harry.

“Thanks for… letting me crash here,” you whisper into the silence. Harry turns to you with a tiny, but charming smile.

“I’m glad it’s you I have to share my warmth with,” he cheekily says and heat rushes into your cheeks right away. “Good night, Y/N.”

“Good night, Harry.”

 

You knew you’d end up tangled together. It was inevitable in such a small space. But still, your heart starts racing when you wake up and find yourself cuddling Harry, who has his arms around you as well. He’s warm and soft, definitely meant to be cuddled in your humble opinion.

He stirs in his sleep and your heart jumps when his eyes flutter open. He doesn’t move away, in fact, he pulls you closer as he exhales lazily.

“Good morning,” he mumbles groggily.

“Mornin’,” you breathe out, feeling like a giddy little girl.

 “I hope you weren’t cold,” he chuckles softly and you feel his chest vibrating underneath your cheek.

“No. I felt nice and warm.”

“Alright,” he smiles. “When is your flight?”

“Five thirty. What about yours?”

“Six. Want to share an Uber to the airport?”

“Sure,” you nod.

You spend most of your time left together. You grab a late breakfast, then hang out in his room and not just because his room is the only place in the building that hasn’t turned into a freezer. It feels natural to be around each other.

Then you share a ride to the airport, grab coffee and then wait together until it’s time for you to go to your gate.

“Well, have a great time at home,” he smiles at you.

“You too. Thanks for… everything,” you chuckle softly. “I’ll see you after the break and...”

Don’t forget about me, you want to say, but you bite it back.

There’s something hanging between the two of you, something unsaid and you fear you’ll have to leave without changing that.

“Okay, I’ll… go,” you mumble, grabbing your suitcase, but before you could walk away, Harry pulls you back.

“When we come back, do you want to… Do you want to go out? With me?”

You can’t stop your mouth from hanging open this time, his question came as a total shock.

“Honestly, I’ve been crushing on you for a while, but every time we spoke you seemed so frightened and ran away, so I took it as a sign,” he admits with a nervous chuckle. “But I think last night was nice, I liked hanging out with you and there’s a chance you feel the same way, so I thought I would… shoot my shot.”

You open your mouth, but then close it as his words sink in. He thought you didn’t like him. Because you ran away from him. But that was because you were into him. What a mess.

“Yes,” is all that comes out of your mouth at last.

“Yes as in…?”

“Yes, I want to go out with you,” you elaborate chuckling. “And I only ran away because I really liked you and I was too nervous.”

You watch his face light up before he nods.

“Great! I mean, not that you were too nervous,” he grins. “So then… Date. When we come back.”

“Yeah,” you nod, mirroring his widening smile. “I have to… I have to go now.”

“Alright. See you… next year then,” he chuckles and leaning closer he kisses the corner of your mouth before you part ways.

After that, you’re basically glued to your phone, nonstop talking to Harry throughout winter break and you’ve never wanted to return to school so badly before. You text, call and send pictures to each other continuously and you can’t even remember the times when it wasn’t like this.

When you return to campus in January, your excitement is kicking high, though on the day of your arrival, Harry’s responses come way less often than they used to, but you’re not trying to see too much into it.

As you’re unpacking your suitcase there’s a knock on your door and when you open it, your heart skips not just one, but probably several beats when you see him standing in the hallway with a bouquet of flowers in his hands.

“Don’t you feel cold in here? I think you should come over to my room.”

Thank you for reading, please like and reblog if you enjoyed and buy me a coffee if you want to support me!

[codfanficedits]

Before the mask - Part two

Pairing: Simon Riley x Fem!Reader

Summary: Because Simon wasn’t born as Ghost.

Wordcount: 2946 | Rating: E! (18+ only!)

Warnings: Author has daddy issues and not the sexy kind, talking about feelings? Some fluffy lovestory.

A/N: Simon would be around 22/23 in this fic, so it would be set around 2015 ish? Anyway, I didn't have loving parents and I am projecting here.

His eyebrow raises at that last bit. Your mother's words, they hang in the air. It's an offer. The right offer. The one he wants. The one he didn't even know he wanted, but now that it's presented, he needs it.

He can imagine it. Coming home with you at his side, spending time with the ones you love most. Maybe, perhaps... he'll love them like that, too.

"I'd...like that,"  He said quietly. "If you'd have me, of course."

Your mother smiles, and the smile reaches her eyes. "Of course we'd have you!"

In the background there are some muffled sounds, your father is clearly talking to someone, and the both of you try to make out who it is.

Your father gets back into the screen again, and an older woman sits down next to him. "Grandma!" Your eyes lit up as you see the older woman you adore so much.

You look like a little girl again, the way your eyes light up at the sight of your grandma. He wants to take your hand and pull you close again.

"Hello, sweetheart," she replies softly, and your cheeks flush. The way you smile at her, the affection you show...the feeling in his chest begins to ache again, and he finds it hard to keep himself from letting it out.

It seems they all have a way of bringing that pain to the surface. Especially you.

"This is Simon." You introduce him, pulling him closer to him by his hoodie. "He's a friend. I work with him."

Your grandma smiles at the both of you. "Her grandpa was a soldier." She chuckled. "Used to write me love letters all the time."

You smile at your grandma, you have heard the story a million times, but in times like these you miss them

You pull him closer, and that...it almost shatters him, completely. As if he needed that reminder. As if he needed something else to make him feel vulnerable, to let him feel what's been locked inside for years.

"A soldier?" He finds himself interested in the story. It's not just an excuse to be closer to you, he wants to hear what she has to say.

"What was he like?" He asks, smiling. "Was he a good writer?"

Your grandma laughs. "Horrible writer. As dyslexic as could be. I spent most of the war trying to decode what he meant." It is the truth wrapped in a little joke.

And you laugh too. "Grandpa was in his element when he could put his hands to use." You explained.

"He was a proud woodworker." You added with a smile.

He chuckles softly, hearing the story of the dyslexic love letters that she had to decode. What's even funnier is imagining a tough, stoic soldier trying to express his love for his wife, and writing it in the most jumbled, confusing way possible.

"That sounds adorable."

He turns to you, still smiling slightly. "I bet the two of them were quite the couple."

"They were." You chuckled. "They adored each other until the day he passed."

Your father clears his throat. "Grandma is staying for dinner, and we really should start cooking. Can't have your nan miss her favourite shows because you've kept her busy."

His attention shift to Simon. "The both of you promise me you'll be safe, okay?"

His expression softens, as your father brings the spotlight back to what really matters.

“We will," He replies, the quietest and most solemn of the group. His eyes switch back to your grandma, whose own expression is of both amusement and hope. She can tell how much this means, how much you mean for him. She's smiling again, maybe she can see herself and her husband in the two of you. This entire call, it felt like they were inviting him in. Like...if he is with them, he is not an outsider. He is family.

"This would be easier if you wouldn't worry so much, dad." You teased your father, and both your parents can’t help but laugh.

"Guilty as charged." Your father laughs. "Well kiddo, see you soon okay? We love you!"

You smile, "Love you all too!" The call gets ended and you close the laptop and toss it to the side.

“They loved you."

And with that, the connection is severed, and the room is once more silent. You toss the laptop to the side, and he is left staring at the floor. Your words echo in his ears.

They loved you.

The truth of those words sink in, and he knows they're true. In a way, he almost wishes the call was longer. It was nice to be welcomed into your world, even if it was just a glimpse.

He looks over at you. "Maybe...can I see that picture book your mom was holding?"

You groan, but it shifted to a laugh halfway. "I want to say no." You begin. "But I just know that when we visit, mom will just whip it out and you'll be seated next to her, forced to look at my baby pictures."

Your phone beeps and you take it out of your pocket. Your gaze softens and the softest of smiles formed on your face.

You showed him your phone, a text from your parents, and that while it is so expensive to text oversees.

"He's a good boy."

He smile as you show him the text message, feeling... He doesn’t even know what he feels right now. He wants to say it's happiness, but what he feels is...so much more complex than that.

He leans back against the wall, letting out a small huff, as he thinks back about the pictures he was shown of you. "You were a cute kid. Can you blame them?"

You've always been a cute kid, actually. The picture book proves that. But there's a certain...tenderness, a softer side of you when you're younger. And it's beautiful.

You lean against your pillows while you roll your eyes playfully. "Nah, I'll have you know I had a full on emo phase."

Your smile turns into a sheepish one. "And my childhood room is still mostly black and pink, with a healthy amount of posters."

You chuckle "And I'm sure mom would be happy to show you."

He stifles back a snicker. You had an emo phase? He feel like he is going to need to see some pictures of that for proof, that's too good to pass up.

"Your mom would say you were just ahead of your time," He adds, teasing you with a smile. "But I wonder if you looked as adorable in black as you do in pink." And to get that reaction, he'd even be willing to tolerate the cringe from your old emo phase.

"Oh stop it!" You grumbled while you tossed a pillow his way.

"I had a full blown argument with my mum about how it wasn't a phase, the first time I wore way too much eyeliner and all black. While it very much turned out to be a phase, and now she won’t let me redecorate my childhood bedroom." You sighed.

He catches the pillow at the very last second, avoiding the hit. He then looks back at you, with a devious look on his face.

"So? What was it with that eyeliner? Something you picked up at a Claire’s, maybe?"

The memory brings a smile to his face. Those early attempts to be cool as a teenager...the fashion and the music and the attitude. The memories, however, always bring a laugh out of him. And it's been a while since he had a laugh like that.

You stick out your tongue at his teasing words. "You would fit right in with my parents." You sigh. "Leave me and my Claire’s eyeliner alone."

"But all jokes aside. Mom's really picky with who she invited. So they must really like you."

He smiles at your compliment, and his cheeks flush slightly at the realization.

"Honestly," He admits, speaking softly, the truth finally coming out. "I was a little scared about meeting your family. I couldn't imagine how they'd feel about me. Knowing they like me? It means a lot."

His voice is quiet. "I...have to be honest. I didn't have the best family life growing up. It was always just me. And it's hard to shake that feeling. Your family feels like...like what I never had."

Your smile softens and your teasing gets put aside. "My folks got plenty of love to take you in too."

"Even grandma, I can tell that she likes you too." Your eyes light up. "I'm even willing to bet that when we visit, grandma will drop by with some homemade cookies."

"That sounds amazing," He replies, his eyes lighting up as well. Homemade cookies are one of those things where once you taste it, store bought can't compare.

He looks at you, and now he is curious. He wants to know everything about your family at this point. Your eyes still sparkle, and he wants to keep them like that.

"Tell me more about your grandpa. What was it like?" He asks, his expression genuinely interested. "What was that love story like?"

You let yourself sink into your pillows as you think about it.

"Grandma had always been a.. rebellious woman. Not wanting to get married, raising hell when her father didn't want her to work, that kind of thing." You began.

"They met in a pub, grandma was about to start a brawl, and grandpa convinced her to drink a beer with him instead of punching a guy." You continued. "They had been inseparable since."

"She wanted to punch the fella because he had tried to corner her and kiss her. Grandpa revealed on his death bed to us all that he paid the guy a visit the night after and beat him senseless."

This story is better than any love story he had read in a book. The idea that your grandparents met while your grandma was about to start a brawl...it's hilarious, and adorable at the same time. It's also really heartwarming that despite all the struggles they had, they were still so close.

He smiles softly, his own expression getting softer. "...they sound like they were perfect for each other. And the fact that your grandpa beat up the guy that attempted to take advantage of your grandma..."

He chuckles quietly. "She got herself a guardian angel, that's what it sounds like to me." Simon looks over at you, you look so comfortable resting on your pillows, and he would love nothing more than to join you, holding you close while the softness of your pillows surround him. And he hates to admit it, but the thought gets him so hot and bothered he takes off his hoodie, tossing it to one of your chairs, leaving him in his shirt.

"He was. He was a quiet 6'8 man. Never spoke much, unless it was to family and loved ones." You smiled.

"When he returned from the war he became a woodworker, and he adored grandma. She had a thing if taking in stray animals, even wild ones, and he would build them homes and beds without complaining."

You sigh softly, the memory of your grandparents is a nice one. "In return she made sure to always take care of him, you know, kept him well fed, made him soak his hands in a bucket of warm water, so they wouldn't hurt after holding tools the whole day."

Your grandfather sounds like an interesting person to him. Quiet and reserved, but with a heart underneath that's bigger than most people would get out of him. Your grandma on the other hand sounds like a bit more of a handful, just like you.

And it's adorable to Simon how they both had their own ways of showing their love. They were each other's perfect fit, each the other's guardian angel.

"He sounds like he was a man of honour. And your grandma...she sounds like she was a strong woman."

You laugh at his comment. "Grandma was a handful, she never went off on people who didn't deserve it. But one of their neighbours neglected their dog, and she yelled at him to the point that they left the dog with her. All while grandpa stood behind her, just towering over her, not saying a word."

"Dad had a very peaceful upbringing, and he gave me the same." You add.

He can't help but laugh. Just imagining your grandma being so loud, while your grandpa was just standing there behind her, looming over the entire scene with a silent and knowing gaze. It's a funny picture to imagine, and it is something he would love to be his future.

"Peaceful?" He replies with a chuckle. "I have a feeling you weren't always so peaceful."

He looks over at you, with the tiniest of teases. "You seem like the type."

You want to protest, but you know he is right.

"What can I say? I have my grandma's mindset." You chuckled softly. "and very supportive parents. So they let me discover my own personality, my likes, my hobbies."

"Which is what I love about you." There, he said it.

Your grandma's mindset, that stubborn streak, he finds it to be charming. It's part of you, and he loves every bit of it.

"I'm not surprised to know your parents were supportive. You're their daughter, of course they'd love you like the most precious thing on earth."

He said those words, but the both of you know they're words he never got to experience.

"Yeah, I got really lucky, Simon." You answer.

"And I'm happy I can share that luck with you."

He almost make the mistake of asking you what kind of luck you meant. Was it the way he'd been welcomed into your life and your heart?

Whatever it was, he was glad he knew it. Being in your world...it makes him feel safe.

He doesn’t know how to put it into words, but this is the most...fulfilling feeling he has had in a while.

He wants to look into your eyes, and he wants to thank you, with every ounce of his being. But he doesn’t, he can’t, not yet anyway.

Instead he gets up, cutting the conversation short. “I should get going. I have an early morning.” And with those words he leaves you behind, the both of you confused, but for different reasons. You’re worried you and your family overstepped any of his boundaries.

Simon lies on the other side of the wall, confused about this warm feeling in his chest and afraid that he will just get hurt again if he allows himself to be happy.

He puts his arm under his head, listening to your soft snores before he finally falls asleep himself.

Simon wakes up before his alarm, not that he got a lot of sleep, he had spend most of the night being worried, being sad, being confused.

Being jealous.

Because it wasn’t fair that you had a nice upbringing, that others had a nice upbringing. Why not him? What had he done in life to deserve this? And fuck did that keep him up at night, because no matter how good he could hide it during the day, at night that damaged child came out.

With a groan he gets out of bed, trying to listen if he can hear your alarm, and he shakes his head when the sound stays out. This. This was why you had to clean the toilets the other day, not that you learned from it, that much was clear. He steps under the shower, trying to wash away the salt from the tears, trying to wash away the shame, the guilt, the feelings, and as always he does a pretty good job.

When he gets dressed he can’t find his hoodie anywhere, and he curses under his breath, it was his favourite one, and he just hopes that he had tossed it in the laundry basket and had forgotten all about it.

When he leaves his room he notices that there is no sound coming from yours and he bangs on your door, before he leaves for the mess hall.

The loud noise startles you awake and you curse loudly when you wipe away the drool from your cheeks. This was the third time this week that you had forgotten to set your alarm, and it was only Wednesday.

You get out of bed quickly, running a washcloth over your face before you change into your clothes. Taking a random hoodie of the pile on your chair. You sniff it and a smile forms as you smell Simon on it. Maybe it was because he was in your room last night?

You put the hoodie on, and it is way bigger than you can remember, but you shrug, you’re already running late, you can worry about this later.

You’re barely on time when you make it to the mess hall, and breakfast is mediocre as usual.

On the other side of the mess hall sits Simon, spotting you wearing his hoodie, a smirk on his face. He would’ve demanded it back from any other girl, but not from you. You look insanely good with his last name on your back, and he will make no attempt to get that damn hoodie back.

Instead he lets his mind wander, did you know it was his? Maybe you liked how it smelled liked him? Maybe you had done it on purpose? Who would know?

[ipleadbritney]

ipleadbritney f1 fanfic masterlist

check the title hashtags for more info!!!

🗣️ you know (it kinda makes me laugh)

Lando/Oscar, T, 1.6K multiple povs, 5+1 fic, williams + mclaren chaos

Somewhere between Mr. Piastri and Oscuh, or a name holds meanings and Oscar's name is one of Lando's favorite ways to communicate. Outsiders’ perspectives on the McLaren duo.

🥞 got love-struck, went straight to my head

Lando/Oscar, T, 11K mutual pining, lando crushes hard

Maybe Lando will pull a Carlos in the future, crash into Oscar's new teammate every chance he gets. Lando has no idea how whipped he is for Oscar. Won't even admit he is whipped. Bear with him, please.

🧑🏻‍❤️‍🧑🏽 no proof, not much (but you saw enough)

Lando/Oscar, T, 3.5K magical realism

A soul bond is like any other type of magic; you can buy it in a bottle. Or, to be more precise, you can manufacture it. Oscar and Lando are accused of having an illegal soul bond.

💜 oscar piastri's guide to breaking the internet

Lando/Oscar, T, 4.5K prema boys, sharing clothes

Featuring: a challenge on who will break the internet the fastest, Prema boys, Oscar's confusion, long-distance phone calls, being young, stealing hoodies, and Lando's weirdly helpful antics.

📱 love you, bye

Lando/Oscar, T, 1.7K social media au, relationship reveal

𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 | 𝗴𝗼𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗲 ‘𝟮𝟰 @quadrantnondriverau the video won't load for me i’m getting fomo please someone describe it for me what is happening > 𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗮 @childofdivorce644 lando was streaming and someone called him. we don't know who's on the other line but lando ended the call with “i love you, bye” 

🏡for keeps

Lando/Oscar, T, 8.7K spy au, domestic, unreliable narrator

“I had some compelling evidence and you just laughed in my face.” “You can't call Seb wearing a turtleneck ‘compelling evidence’, Lando.” Lando and Oscar's neighbours are international spies, or so Lando tells Oscar. They're just two normal guys, though. Just Lando-and-Oscar.

👻h(a)unted you down Lando/Oscar, T, 3.9K magical realism, ghosts, pining

“Are you sure you're haunted?” A laugh rings out beside Lando. He didn't hear the joke, but he knows the punchline. “Yes,” Lando answers. Or, there's a ghost named Osc that haunts the halls of MTC. Only Lando can see him.

🚪 just to be mean

Max F/Oscar, Lando/Oscar, T, 2.1K max f pov, jealousy

From the outside looking in (which isn't the best perspective to judge from, Max admits), Lando and Oscar communicate exclusively via race data and high-pitched giggles. Oscar has this way of laughing that's funnier than the actual joke. Max would know because, well, because Max used to be the one who cracked the jokes.

📸 scenes from a social media admin

Lando/Oscar, T, 3.7k smau, pr!lando, crack

> 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘃𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 @birthdaybars is your job hard? >> 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 @lnorris Sure it is! But nothing compared to the work in the factory and at the track. I’m usually just at the side >>> 𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘃𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺𝘀 @birthdaybars ADMIN DON'T YOU DARE PUT YOURSELF DOWN FAN INTERACTIONS KEEP THE LIGHTS ON AT MTC >>>> 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼 𝗡𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗶𝘀 @lnorris haha don't think that's how it works but appreciate it!

👀 jealousy⁴

Lando/Oscar, T, 3.9K jealousy lol

Oscar said something about Arthur, half-asleep. Oscar never said anything about Max. That can't be possible. Or, jealousy can take many forms. Lando Norris encounters four of them.

😘 three-sixteenths

Lando/Oscar, T, 4.3K magical realism, kiss curses

Lando's cursed and has to kiss someone Italian. Good thing Oscar Piastri is his teammate.

[beauleifu]

WHAT IF,,, a sequel to the Mac ask where he sees reader laughing with MK/Swk? He’s out patrolling and being dramatic and he sees reader at a café with MK/SWK, and you’re laughing at one of his stories… just for that extra bit of spice,,, (I’m leaning towards it being MK because i think thatd be funnier)

Ahaaaa i KNEW someone would ask, and I'm happy to deliver! Hope you enjoy!

I'm still considering this a Macaque x reader 'cause in the end, he still loves you

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MACAQUE X READER PT 2

Lego Monkie Kid

Context: He's been living fine on his own for quite some time now. Used to the loneliness that at first was a dagger to his heart, Macaque finally accepted that you're not coming back to him. He has to let you go. Even if it means seeing you with someone else with a smile you never gave him.

CW: Language, aftermath of a breakup I suppose

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Macaque wears a sharp grimace, but only because he'd kicked a stone a bit too hard.

He travels solo along a long, thin wall that stretches from palace to palace, tightly fisted paws in his pockets, brows furrowed in thought. The stone had fallen off the wall now, so there's nothing to kick further along.

Nothing to distract himself from his thoughts.

He thought for sure that it would be easy to get over you. To forget everything you both ever did together.

What even was there?

Macaque frowns deeply, realizing that the memories weren't great.

You both hardly ever did anything worthy of memories. Macaque was always worked up over Sun Wukong and conjuring up ways to defeat his nemesis.

Over and over, he repeats your last conversation in his head.

"Goodbye . . . forever."

So that's it.

You're gone, but it still breaks his heart to realize how much he misses you. Your smile. You rarely smiled, and he was a fool to never appreciate it up until now. In a fit of frustration and self-loathing, Macaque kicked the next stone up ahead so hard it catapulted into the nearest house, leaving a gaping hole in it's wake. Quietly, the shadow lord vacates the premises before anyone can point fingers.

He's done with blame. He's done with conflict.

Landing gracefully on the ground in a dark alleyway, Macaque puts up a dashing smile.

"Oh, sweet (Y/N)," he tries, facing the wall with his hands on his hips.

The wall gazes blankly in return.

Macaque bites his lip rather hard. "I know you hate me, I know you'll never want me back, but perhaps we can still be friends? Is there any way I can . . . no, wait. That's sounds too desperate."

Oh, if walls could talk.

The shadow lord grumbles under his breath, frustrated.

Running a paw through his hair and tugging at the strands, he changes tactics. "(Y/N)! Good to see you! Anyways, about that break-up. I understand if you never want to see me again. You're incredibly strong for putting up with my bullshit, but . . . uh. . . . M-Maybe we can still be friends?"

No reply.

The wall probably wishes to deliver a sharp smack to the monkey's face.

Miserably, he leans against the wall and gazes dully at the sky.

What's wrong with him?

When you were his, all he could think about was someone else. Now, you belong with someone else, and you're all-consuming in his mind.

"Dude, you're gonna get a brain-freeze."

Ha.

He can practically hear your sweet, melodic voice.

"Whaddya mean, you're not bothered?? I saw the look on your face! It's cold!"

Hmm.

Macaque lazily cracks open one eye to the sidewalk the alleyway opens up into. Call him crazy, but your voice sounds like it isn't in his head anymore. It sounds like you're right next to him. Right outside, in fact.

Your face suddenly manifests in the distance.

The shadow lord's heart

stops.

There you are.

There you are.

You're walking along the sidewalk with someone else, in an oversized hoodie and pants to accommodate for the cold weather. With sparkling eyes and a fond smile on your face, you lean against your significant other and lick at an ice-cream cone.

The breath promptly abandons Macaque. You're here.

He almost fails to conceal himself in the shadows when you glance curiously down the alleyway.

Then you vanish, and Macaque propels himself into the sky, landing on the rooftop of a house and crawling to the edge to peer down into the town.

You're here!

Mind running wild, Macaque tries to compose himself. Breathe.

Taking deep, controlled breaths, the shadow lord watches you with someone else, with . . . with the Monkie Kid.

The two of you had gotten ice-cream together.

Rage boils in Macaque's gut, and he bares his teeth at the boy, claws digging into the roof plates. How dare you associate with someone so lowly . . . a friend of Sun Wukong . . .

But then he sees your smile.

Your beautiful smile. He doesn't recognize it.

It's not one you've ever given him. You've never smiled at him with such ease, such affection and love.

Something squeezes his heart. Macaque watches you and MK head into the café nearby, arms linked, with eyes only for each other. You're currently laughing at one of his epic tales, no doubt exaggerated to the limit.

Macaque listens to your voice in wonder, grip loosening on the roof.

Seeing you so happy, even if it's with someone else.

He could never bring you that kind of serenity.

Tail twitching, Macaque narrows his eyes, trying to spot you within the café. You're seated at one of the duo tables in the corner, MK going to buy the both of you a drink.

His vision blurs.

What . . .

It's not anger that he feels, not anymore. As Macaque raises a paw to brush underneath his eyes, he's surprised at what he finds.

His paw is wet with tears.

"What is this," Macaque hisses to himself.

Teeth gritted to help support his crumbling wall, Macaque stares at his paw with wide, disbelieving eyes. He's crying??

He feels remorse, of course. Regret, pain, guilt.

However, these tears are not because he wants back what he'd lost. Perhaps, deep within the recess of his mind, he does long for you. But the tears leaking from his eyes are due to the bittersweet warmth in his chest. His wall is finally down.

He's . . .

Happy for you. Incredibly so.

He doesn't want to be, considering you're with someone he obviously detests, but he can't help it. Knowing that you're with someone who can take care of you the way he never could, love you the way he never did, fills him with relief. So much so that he's fucking crying.

"Damnit," Macaque grunts, turning away from the scene.

He'll leave you be.

No more stalking, no more trying to get you back. To ruin the peace you'd just managed to find feels awfully wrong.

So Macaque slowly slips off into the shadows.

The grip around his chest finally loosens, as though this realization is a weight off his shoulders. Although he wears a bittersweet frown, his footsteps are light.

You'll smile for someone else from now on, and he's all right with that. Perhaps, months from now, he'll cross paths from you once again, and he won't beg for you back. No, he'll congratulate you on how far you've come. Something he's likely only willing to do in his head.

Surviving him was the greatest thing you've ever done.

Macaque could never hate such a warrior.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

Short replies! As many as I can write in 30 minutes! Let’s goooooooooo

Anonymous asked:

Deuce should have put a ring on his mom if he didn't want anyone to flirt with her. she's free for picking

Yeah, by the time Deuce figures it out there’s going to be a line of people who want to put a ring on his mom, and I stand in this line too.

Anonymous asked:

Which anime characters do you love drawing the most?

This is such a difficult question to answer, I can’t pick 😭 Pretty much every title that we watch or read or play has a bunch of characters that I adore drawing, but I guess I gravitate towards characters with long hair and unusual hairstyles or outfits?? I also feel the urge to try to draw a character when they are out of my comfort zone, which doesn’t mean that I always do it or good at it, but I always have fun drawing stuff in a different art style (like the guys from Scott Pilgrim),with complicated outfits (like Barok van Zieks) or with mechanic parts (like Ortho!)… but the last one is pretty recent, I just noticed that I kind of enjoy drawing it. I guess I love a challenge? In a way? It’s just more fun that way.

By my comfort type of character and a default option would be a gloomy boy/girl in a hoody, my heart is always smiling whenever I draw this type.

Examples of some of my faves throughout the years (without twst): Levi (SnK), Ainosuke (sk8), Killua (HxH), Shiroba (DMMD), Apollo Justice (AA), Geto (JJK)… this is just a few of them.

I also still think that Prussia from Hetalia is our ultimate boy because I’ve been drawing him for about 15 years now lol

Anonymous asked:

Omg, your boob post,bless u... What would Riddle think of her childhood friend having those honkers though?? (Also, her burying her face in those tits or fondling them with curiosity lol)

Ahh thank you so much, Anon!! <3

I still giggle every time I think about how we ended up with poor Riddle being surrounded by busty girls, I swear it wasn’t intentional. But the more I think about it, the funnier and more Freudian it gets… what an aggressive way to heal mommy issues and an acute deficiency of tight hugs.

To answer your question, I think Riddle was kind of surprised when she saw Trey after being separated because she didn’t think boobs could get that big. Logically yes, it makes sense, but seeing it in person is different. Riddle always does her best to be proper and act like a lady, but I can imagine her eyes sliding down all the time during their first conversation. Trey would absolutely notice…

Riddle is indeed very curious, and it’s pretty obvious, but she would never talk about it or even ask to touch Trey’s boobs, but maybe one day… you know, for science… or Trey is just going to offer it herself lol save that girl, Trey.

Honestly? If Riddle could just bury her face in Trey’s chest for a minute or two, I think a lot of her tantrums would just… not happen. She would be so calm…

Alright, now Trey owes this to humanity.

blackbutlerfandomnerddomain asked:

Why do I deeply headcanon Night Raven Collage have orgies? I kind of blame you

😭Look at us being the worst influence on this fandom LOL

Ironically, I don't think we ever talked about orgies and such?

NRC might have a secret student society for orgies though...

Anonymous asked:

Eric Venue can get it though 🥵

And he did! That’s how we got Vil 🥰

hipsterteller asked:

Have you seen Vil’s father?! And why do I get a feeling you might be putting him and Trein together?

Yes, we have! He looks great, and based on everything we’ve seen and heard so far (as always, we aren’t watching the event just yet), he is everything we wished and expected him to be, so I’m very satisfied hehe.

I don’t know about your feeling though, do you want us to? 👀 Is it because of another certain stylish young man?

We don’t know who we’re going to ship Papa Schoenheit with though, only time will tell…

Anonymous asked:

just wanted to say i absolutely adore your Ortho x Vil stuff!

Thank you so much, Anon!! <3 I am very happy that you love them!

Anonymous asked:

Do ya think Sebek has fantasies ab breeding Malleus

Kind of talked about it here!

But also in general, I feel like Sebek has all kinds of dreams about Malleus, like he wouldn’t dare to actively fantasise about it, but his mind keeps showing him so many naughty scenarios that he finds it very difficult to look at Malleus after that sometimes…

Anonymous asked:

Do you guys ever think about how Floyd would try to breed Riddle?

Because he probably didn't understand how human bodies work at first (was probably taught but got bored listening)

Floyd probably like : Where the baby bump?

Then Riddle would be like : Baby bump? I can't have babies -

*insert small sad Floyd in eel form here*

Awwww, poor eel, he was so sure that he found his mate 😔 Keep trying, buddy, maybe you’ll get him next time. Or the time after that. Basically, just keep mating with him until you change his entire anatomy lol

We haven’t really thought about this specific theme, but we did talk about Floyd being in heat and being all over Riddle, so at least there’s that!

Anonymous asked:

Hello!!  Iirc, you guys don't read the TWST mangas or light novel right?  There's a bit in the new 4-koma manga I'd thought you'd like: Rook, Leona, and Idia have to paint something and then make it move with magic.  Rook paints himself about to shoot an arrow that always aims at Leona.  Then the Rook in the painting comes to life and terrorizes the Savanaclaw students, so Leona smacks Painting!Rook with his canvas where P!Rook decides to stay.  Leona's okay with it cause it means he doesn't have to paint anything.  Idia's just there to judge I guess.

(new head canon, Leona's a pillow princess)

Hi Anon! Yeah, I heard that they’re making a 4-koma manga, and even though we don’t read any additional twst material, I really love that they’re making it! I love 4-komas, they’re silly lol

The one that you described is golden and pretty in-character; god poor Idia who had to witness all that lol I love that just running around and shooting beast boys is pretty much Rook’s entire essence…

It also makes sense that Leona would do something like this omg, paint your own picture you lazy bitch 😭

(also not a headcanon, Anon, this is 100% factual)

Anonymous asked:

I….That anon was….personally offended by a headcanon? I’m so confused…

(related to this reply)

Maybe?? I don’t know, but they weren’t rude about it or anything, so I hope it’s all good.

Anonymous asked:

Jade can gaslight me all he wants…

Don't encourage him, Anon... he is already very ill-behaved.

Anonymous asked:

Jinx from Arcane looks like Idia’s long lost sister.

Don't know much about her other than her design and some bits and pieces of her story, but Idia with two pigtails would look very cute.

[oldiesstationlover11607]

Okok ive lurking around your blog for a little bit with no real rq ideas and i finally got something a little silly sjshskfhshf,, consider, reader surprising Tyler with one of those shirts that has the celebrities name (Tyler’s ofc) with a buncha dramatic photos. Like the shirt Jenna was wearing at one of the more recent Clancy shows. Perchance male!reader? Feel free to skip that I can replace the pronouns in my mind lmao

Okay bye have good day have good night !!!

Crazy Shirt - Tyler Joseph x GN!Reader

Warnings: none :)

Word Count: 1430

A/N: Hope you enjoy this! Sorry it took so long!! I thought I'd make it non binary so everyone can enjoy :)

I’d been planning this little surprise for weeks now. Ever since I saw the shirts fans had been wearing at the recent Clancy shows – the ones with Tyler’s name in huge letters and a bunch of his most ridiculous, dramatic photos plastered all over it—I knew I had to get one of my own. They looked so proud and happy wearing it. It was perfect. 

So, I spent a good chunk of time scrolling through every old picture, every shot where Tyler looked like he was trying way too hard or barely trying at all. He’s naturally a little reserved in photos, which makes his rare “dramatic” shots so much funnier. I dug up the most over-the-top images I could find. There was that one intense glare he’d tried to give during a serious photoshoot, which made him look more confused than intense; another one from a tour when he looked so grumpy that it was unintentionally hilarious; and my personal favorite: a shot from backstage where he’d fallen asleep with his mouth wide open, sprawled across a couch with zero dignity. 

I put it all together in a design that featured "TYLER JOSEPH" in bold, all-caps lettering across the top, with each photo carefully arranged below it. I went through three different online stores before finding one that would let me print this mess of a tribute in high definition. When it arrived in the mail, I actually had to stifle a laugh just looking at it. Tyler’s face, in all his most ridiculous moments, was blown up and staring back at me in full color, ready for me to proudly wear.

The plan was to surprise him with it on one of his rare days off. He’d been on the go almost nonstop with shows and interviews, and I figured he deserved a night to relax. I kept the shirt stashed in my closet until then, counting down the days until I’d finally get to see his reaction. Tyler can be pretty calm and collected about most things, but I had a strong feeling he wouldn’t know what to do with this one.

When the day finally came, I tried to play it cool, slipping the shirt on before he arrived and grabbing a sweatshirt to cover it up. Tyler had been running around all day, so when he knocked and finally walked in, he looked grateful to just sink into the couch, dropping his keys and kicking off his shoes with a tired sigh. He flashed me a warm smile, the kind that always makes my day, and handed over a bag full of snacks. 

“Ready for the most laid-back evening possible?”

“Absolutely,” I replied, trying to keep a straight face as he settled in next to me. We had a stack of movies ready to go, and for a good half-hour, I kept my hoodie zipped up as we relaxed, both of us almost melting into the couch. I could feel my heart racing, biding my time for the right moment to reveal the shirt.

Finally, I decided it was time. I sat up a little, shrugging off the hoodie, and stretched my arms casually—almost too casually. Tyler’s gaze drifted toward me as I pulled the sweatshirt over my head, and then he froze.

At first, he just blinked, his face a perfect blend of shock and disbelief. He tilted his head, eyes narrowing slightly as he tried to make sense of what he was looking at. I’d never seen him look so caught off guard.

“No way. Are you—” He broke into an enormous grin, covering his mouth as he took in the whole shirt. “Is that… Is that me? What… Oh my god.” He was laughing so hard he practically doubled over, glancing at the shirt again and again as if he couldn’t quite believe it.

I spread my arms wide, giving him the full view. “Yup! Full Tyler Joseph fashion statement, in case the world didn’t already know who my favorite lead singer is.”

He leaned forward, studying the pictures with his mouth hanging open in a mix of horror and delight. “How did you even find these?” he asked, pointing to the picture where he was squinting off into the distance like he was brooding, though it was actually just a photo from a windy day when he’d gotten something in his eye.

“Oh, I have my sources,” I replied with a smirk. “Besides, these are all classics! The people deserve to see every side of Tyler Joseph. The good, the bad, and the totally ridiculous.”

He squinted at another one, the backstage nap photo. “And you thought this one was necessary?”

“It’s one of your finest moments. You look so peaceful, so at one with the chaos around you,” I said, stifling a laugh. “If anyone asked, I wanted to be able to tell them that I had a shirt with all your best… moods.”

Tyler shook his head, laughing harder as he reached out and flicked the collar of the shirt. “I don’t even know what to say. This is… I mean, it’s a lot of me. Is this what it’s like for you all the time, just seeing this face?”

I grinned, shrugging. “Every day. Consider it an immersive experience.”

He laughed, still looking at me in total disbelief. “Well, I guess now we know what I look like in high-definition… during some unfortunate moments.”

I leaned back with a grin, patting his shoulder. “Hey, at least I didn’t dig up the one from that Halloween show where you tried to look spooky and ended up just… kind of looking like a tired vampire.”

“Okay, that was one time,” he groaned, shaking his head with a smirk. “But now I feel like I should be worried about the next ‘surprise’ shirt you’re going to come up with. You’re too good at finding my worst angles.”

I laughed, pulling him in for a quick hug. “Don’t worry; I’ll save that one for your birthday. Gotta keep you on your toes.”

We both settled back on the couch, but I could tell he wasn’t quite over the shirt. Every so often, I’d catch him glancing down at it, shaking his head with a small smile as he took in the chaotic collage of his own expressions. At one point, he leaned over, running his finger along the edge of the design. “I have to admit, it’s kind of impressive. You’ve made me look like a full-on character, like I’m the star of some dramatic documentary.”

“Exactly. That’s why I’m thinking… maybe I should design the next batch of tour merch? I mean, imagine: stadiums full of people, all proudly wearing this shirt.”

He laughed, clearly both horrified and amused by the idea. “Okay, that might actually be too much. But if it were just a few people…” He shrugged, raising an eyebrow. “Maybe I’d actually wear one. I kind of want everyone to see this disaster now. It’s… perfect.”

The rest of the night was a mix of snacks, laughter, and Tyler periodically throwing a joking compliment or two at his “new fan.” As we were finishing up a movie, he nudged me, a mischievous smile on his face. “Hey, what would you do if I wore this to a show? Just strutted onstage like, ‘Yeah, this is my official look now.’”

I gave him an exaggeratedly serious nod. “I’d cheer louder than anyone. I’d be *so proud* of your bravery.”

He chuckled, grabbing a pen from the coffee table and pretending to make notes. “Alright, alright. Maybe one day. But if I see any fan walking around in a shirt like this, I’m blaming you.”

I put my hands up, grinning. “Deal. But something tells me they’d probably love it.”

When he walked out the door later that night, he gave me one last lingering look, shaking his head and smiling like he still couldn’t quite believe it. “You know, you’re actually ridiculous,” he said softly, pulling me in for a hug. “But… thanks. This was honestly hilarious. I’ll never forget it.”

“Neither will I,” I replied, smiling into his shoulder.

As he walked down the hallway, he turned back, a playful grin lighting up his face. “Just wait—one day, I’m going to surprise you with a shirt of my own. You’re not ready.”

I laughed, watching him disappear around the corner, already plotting for the next shirt. And as I closed the door, I found myself grinning, feeling like maybe I’d made his day just a little more memorable. 

//

REQUESTS OPEN

[far-from-fran]

Violence ask game!! 7. what character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Ooh, this is a good one!😈

I'm gonna start with the funnier ones, then get to the more serious ones.

I don't currently hate any of these characters. I've pretty much gotten over it, but these are the first ones that came to mind.

Ok, I'm putting this under a cut as a warning to people in these fandoms. I'm going to be bitching and moaning. Probably about your favs. So, read the tags and:

🚨 DON'T LIKE, DON'T READ! 🚨

Anyway…

Danny Phantom

I don't have anything against Danny. I actually really like him. I just got tired of seeing him all over AO3. Almost every time I searched for a fic, even in fandoms that had nothing to do with him, I'd have to filter out a bunch of DP stuff. It got to the point where I was filtering out more DP tags than tags I actually wanted to filter out. It was annoying for a while, but I took a break from AO3, and now I just find it funny.

Dr. Emile Picani (Cartoon Therapy)

This is a general pet peeve sort of thing, but I just don't like how “uwu babyboy” people make him. He's a geeky therapist with a sensitive side, but people act like he's a softboi who's never done anything bad. (He has. I actually have big problems with his debut episode. The second episode is a lot better, imo.)

It's the same issue with Patton from Sanders Sides. They take a grown man and turn him into a tiny, wittle babyboi. It's mad annoying.

Also, I hate Emile in a skirt. I just don't think he'd ever wear one, so I wrinkle my nose whenever people talk about him in one. Honestly, the “fandom is afraid of masculinity” sentiment I've seen here and there is a completely different can of worms. But I'm starting to agree with it. Nothing against men in skirts in general/irl, though. Just to be clear.

But, anyway, fanon Emile is becoming indistinguishable from fanon Patton, and I hate that. Hell, canon Emile is becoming indistinguishable from canon Patton. Like, seriously. Since when has Emile ever had to “earmuff” because someone was cursing? (Mixed feelings about the Remy/Thomas therapy video.) Let Emile be an interesting character, please. And not just “Baby softboi, but he's wearing pink this time™”.

Virgil (Sanders Sides)

My feelings toward Virgil tend to fluctuate. Most of the time, I love him, but sometimes I can't stand him. (Mostly by his own doing.) But, the way the fandom treats him like the second coming of Christ in a purple plaid hoodie is so fucking annoying. Especially with the way people woobify him.

In canon, he started as a big jerk, realized he was a big jerk, and decided to be a little jerk. It's not like he's a little uwu baby who's never done anything wrong. The Halloween ep is even sort of about not woobifying Virgil. (It's more about taking anxiety seriously.) Like. I get it, but it's still really annoying.

Of course, there's the other side of the fandom that treats him like he's the devil. Which can also be annoying, but at least they actually call him out for stuff.

The most annoying thing, however, is how the other sides will be villainized to make Virgil look better. It's nuts. Like, yeah, Janus and Virgil have beef, but neither one of them is evil, so.🙄

Aang (Avatar: The Last Airbender)

Speaking of people treating a character like they're the second coming of Christ…!

In all seriousness, I never really had problems with Aang until toxic Kataang shippers started harassing Zutara shippers. They held the ship, and Aang, to such a high stature that I couldn't like either anymore. Especially since zutara shippers were (and still are) accused of being shallow, at best, and… checks notes supporting genocide????? at worst. And, the brunt of that was when I was, like, 12, so.

Obviously, I don't blame all kataang shippers. Most of them are pretty cool. And, zutara shippers can also be toxic. I'm a zutara shipper, and I've seen some of the toxicity firsthand. But, that experience really made fandom shitty for me.

However, I've watched the show recently and remembered that I really like Aang. Despite how much he can annoy me. So, there's always a bright side.

But, yeah. Thanks for the ask, @msnihilist!😊 Sorry if I got a little heated.😅 That wasn't directed at you, lol.

[sochilll]

nyehehe i caught up on ur writing tag Just as you recently reblogged a prompt thingy >:] 13 + kleinsen ?

Kleinsen + 13. leaving notes for them around the home (this one… got away from me. she’s long)

Send a ship and a prompt request!

Jared woke up and flung his arm out sideways. The bed was empty. He frowned. It was Sunday, Evan’s day off. And more importantly, it was the day before a very big important event.

Jared sat up and swung his legs out of bed. It was surprisingly cold for how late in spring it was. He grabbed Evan’s hoodie from the floor and pulled it on.

He started toward the kitchen but his eyes caught on something. A pink sticky note was stuck to the bedroom door. Jared peeled it off and read it.

I have a few last errands to run before tomorrow. I’ll be home soon <3

Jared smiled. He stuck the note in his pocket and made his way to the bathroom before breakfast. There was another note on the mirror.

Wow you’re cute :o someone is very lucky to be with you

Jared snorted. He put that note in his pocket with the other. There were three notes in the kitchen.

One on the fridge:

Sorry to disappear on such an important morning. I know you’ll be annoyed you didn’t get to make a “last time we wake up together as boyfriends” joke

Jared snickered. He had been making that joke about everything lately. The next note was on the coffee maker:

Don’t drink too much or you’ll get all jittery. We don’t both need to be nervous wrecks today.

The last one was stuck to Jared’s favorite coffee mug:

I’m so glad I get to spend every morning watching you drink out of this dumb mug for the rest of my life. I love you.

Jared put all three notes in his pocket. He leaned against the counter to wait for his coffee to brew when he spotted a box on the table. Inside was his favorite type of donut, a note scrawled on the lid.

Happy wedding eve! Love you more than anything <3

Jared enjoyed his breakfast. He texted Evan a picture of the box and a bunch of heart emojis. Evan’s response was quick.

:) how many?

Jared tapped out a reply.

Five not counting the box.

Halfway! :) <3

Jared laughed. He set his mug in the sink and wandered to the living room, looking for spots of pink.

The first one was obvious, stuck in the center of the TV.

I know I say it a lot but I really don’t know what I’d do without you. You make everything easier and better and funnier.

He had to hunt a bit for the next one. He found it stuck to their favorite DVD.

I never thought I’d feel so content and secure in a relationship. But I am. I know you don’t like talking about feelings and I don’t even mind. Cause I know how you feel even when you won’t say it.

Jared was stumped after that. He wandered around the apartment, sticky notes stuck to his fingers, hunting for more. He double checked the bathroom and the living room.

He finally found number eight back in the bedroom, sitting right on Jared’s desk.

The last four years have genuinely been the happiest of my life. And while some of that is due to therapy (shout out Dr. Myers) mostly it’s been because of you.

Number nine was inside Jared’s laptop.

No one has ever understood or cared for me more than you. And I hope you feel the same about me. (Please do oh my god how embarrassing would this be if you didn’t?)

Jared laughed. He added the note to the collection in his pocket. He searched the room again before moving his search into the hallway closet. Nothing there. He checked the bathroom and kitchen again.

No note. Jared frowned. He checked tall surfaces. He checked every kitchen cabinet. He even lifted up the couch cushions. Nothing.

He pulled his phone out.

You’re a liar. There’s only nine.

Nope. Ten.

Including the donut box?

No. Ten sticky notes.

Where the fuck is the last one???

:)

Jared went crazy, pulling out pots and pans, unscrewing bottles in the medicine cabinet, digging through the laundry hamper. He could not find the last note. He briefly wondered if Evan was lying and this was some sort of psychological warfare.

Finally, digging through Evan’s sock drawer he saw it, a flash of pink. He grabbed at it. It was stuck to the top of a small velvet box. Jared didn’t need to open it to know what it was. He frowned slightly and read the note.

I never told you but I’d been to a jewelry shop five times before you proposed. You only beat me because I take too long to make decisions. I love how you did it but I’d picked this ring out already and I thought you should have it anyway.

Jared felt his eyes sting and rapidly blinked the tears away because he wasn’t lame. He opened the box.

The ring was pretty similar to what Jared had ended up getting. A bit thinner and without Jared’s super romantic and expensive engraving like Evan’s ring had. But still nice.

“You like it?”

“Holy fucking shit!” Jared spun around, clutching his chest. “How did you get in so quietly? And how did you time this so perfectly?”

“I didn’t actually. I really thought it would take you longer to find it and I’d already be home by then,” Evan laughed. “Also didn’t think you’d tear the apartment apart.”

“You gave me a puzzle,” Jared said by way of explanation.

“Yeah. I should’ve known better.”

“I do like it.” Jared slid the ring into his finger. “You have good taste.”

“Yeah. Sometimes,” Evan said, crossing the room and kissing him.

“Aw,” Jared grinned. “Last time you’ll be able to insult me as my boyfriend.”