#fault is a strong word i guess its just like relationships are cooperative and i think its easy for me to not be critical of my part in them

[wawek]

Boundaries are really important to respect unless theyre mine bc mine are really confusing and normal people dont have issues with stuff like that

[byunsboyz]

My Answer (Is You)

Exo Fanfiction

Byun Baekhyun x Reader

Wordcount: 4k

Genre: fluff (teeny tiny amount of implied smut)

Wedding AU

____________________________________________________________

“How many puns should I write into these vows?” You overhear Baekhyun asking himself.

You’ve just walked through the door. It’s the late evening and you’ve just arrived home from work after a short stop at the grocery store. 

Walking in on your fiance still trying to write his vows for your wedding that’s in less than a month 

He’s scratching the top of his head as he hunches over the laptop screen in front of him. Sitting at the small dining table in the corner of your kitchen, his back facing away from you. 

You close the door behind you gently and walk up behind him.

“So you think proclaiming your love for me is a joke, huh?” you whisper menacingly in his ear, trying to hold back your urge to laugh.

Baekhyun jumps out of his seat in surprise. 

“WHY ARE YOU CREEPING UP ON ME” he gasps, dramatically holding his chest and slamming his laptop shut in an attempt to hide the blank word document that you already saw over his shoulder moments ago.

You ignore his dramatics and set the groceries weighing down your arms on the counter. 

“You know something Baek-” you huff as you start to unpack the food into the fridge and cupboards.

You’re about to say something petty, feeling frustrated and tired from a particularly stressful day at work. 

The brief thought that Baekhyun isn’t taking your wedding seriously appears in your mind before you cut it off with a shake of your head.

At the same time, you feel a pair of strong hands slipping around your waist, pulling you closely as the warmth of Baekhyun’s lips presses softly behind your ear.

You instantly relax. Leaning against him as you let out all feelings of tension in a single breath.

“Hey” he whispers, his lips still resting on the back of your neck. 

“Why don’t you go take a nice relaxing shower? I’ll finish putting this stuff away and get dinner started.”

He’s rocking you gently side to side. 

“We can put them away together” you hum, turning in his arms and reaching upwards to cup his face.

You pull him into a soft kiss, feeling the corners of his lips pull back into a smile against your mouth. 

His hand trails up your back to the nape of your neck, his other still wrapped around your waist as he pushes your back into the counter. Pressing himself into you as he deepens the kiss. 

You pull back from his devil lips before he has a chance to put you under his spell. “The groceries babe.”

You giggle as he pouts back at you. 

Baekhyun’s is definitely the more clingy one in your relationship. 

You smack him on the butt playfully as you release yourself from his embrace. “Let’s get cracking, I’m starving!”. 

You work in unison. Baekhyun unpacking the frozen and chilled stuff away while you organise the cupboard items. 

“Leave some of that, I’ll do the top shelf” he singsongs smugly. 

“Says the man who is literally two inches taller”. You mutter under your breath.

“What did you say?!”

You ignore him, stretching up on your tiptoes to place some cans of soup up onto the top shelf. 

“Oh yeah, thank god I’ve got you and your giant ass,” you add sarcastically.

You hear him huff as he closes the fridge and steps beside you, snatching the bag of pasta out of your hands in protest. 

As he opens back up the cupboard, the soup you'd just placed starts to wobble threateningly.

Your eyes widen as the can topples off the shelf. Everything happening in slow motion as Baekhyun’s mouth falls open in shock.

“OOOF!”

The can bounces off the top of his head.

You clasp your hands over your mouth. Half in shock, half to stifle the laughter building up in the back of your throat.

He turns his head to look at you and when you make eye contact you lose it,  bursting into a fit of giggles.

“Are you okay?!” You ask gasping for air, reaching up to check his head.

He smacks your hand away “DID YOU DO THAT ON PURPOSE!” he accuses, rubbing the top of his head while looking mildly distressed.

You have tears coming out of your eyes at this point and all you can manage is a shake of your head as you try and compose yourself. 

Baekhyun is staring at you with eyes full of betrayal, his arms crossed defensively over his chest and a giant pout present on his lips.

You catch your breath and wipe a tear from your cheek. 

“Babe, you really think I would set the can of soup up there just for it to fall on you?” 

His face softens a fraction but then you snort. “It’s a waste of soup!”

“Well it’s not like you don’t already have a history of throwing things at me!” he sniffs, holding his head and refusing to meet your eye in quiet protest. 

You start feeling a little guilty. He would have laughed at you but when he’s standing there all cute and whiney you can’t help but feel a little sorry for him. 

You reach out and take his free hand in yours.

“Well if I didn’t throw that book at your head, we wouldn’t be getting married” you offer sheepishly, trying to suck up a little as you wrap your arms around his waist.

He looks down at you feigning innocence, a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Are you gonna kiss it better?” he asks, rubbing the wrong side of his head.

You raise your eyebrow in response as he tests your patience, but you decide to allow him this victory and tilt your chin up to offer him your lips.

He flashes you a goofy smile and kisses you softly.

“Well, it might have been partially my fault”.

“The soup or the book?”

“Both”

You met Baekhyun in college, after being assigned as project partners while taking the same sociology class. 

It was the first time you’d crossed paths but you were painfully aware of him. He was the loud type, always offering his opinion without the teacher asking it. Anything to draw a laugh out of the rest of the class.

You decided to give him the benefit of the doubt, opting to not judge the book by its cover. He could have been a genius for all you knew. 

He proved you wrong, but not on the genius assumption. More so for expecting him to cooperate at all.

You had broken off into your assigned pairs and were meant to spend the rest of the class working on ideas for a presentation relating to mass media and its influence on the younger generation.

Baekhyun seemed to have other ideas and asked you a bunch of nonsense questions as you sat opposite him trying to refocus him to the task at hand.

You felt incredibly frustrated as you stared down at the empty page of bullet points in your notebook.

“I have a fantastic idea!” he called out, getting your hopes up.

Then he let rip the loudest fart you’d ever heard.

You could only look up in disbelief as he sat there laughing unashamedly.

“Wow, you could’ve waited for class to finish?” he tried to imply as he pinched his nose at you.

You felt mortified. When the rest of the class joined in with his laugher you saw red and launched your notebook straight at his head.

Then you were both promptly marched to the headmaster's office.

You had never gotten detention before and vowed to never speak to Byun Baekhyun ever again.

You sat in the small detention room for the rest of the day, feeling absolutely ashamed of your outburst. Wondered if you should apologise to the boy sitting behind you.

It was just the two of you in the room, the teacher had just left to get some coffee and warned you to remain in silence.

“I’m sorry” you had started. “I don’t know what came over me-”.

Your voice waved and eyes stung as tears threatened to fall.

“Oh no please don’t say that” came the voice behind you.

“I was acting like an idiot, I don’t even know what made me think that it was a good idea”.

You turned around at his words. Surprised that he had apologised.

“I thought it would, you know, break down the barriers” He shook his head “but it was childish. I just wanted to see you laughing with me for once”.

You had felt confused at his words. 

“W-what, why?” you stammered in total disbelief.

“I…Uh, I guess I always thought you were cute and you’re always so nice to everybody else and I just wanted you to like me?” 

You remember the way Baekhyun’s cheeks had flushed red, and that yours matched.

“You could have just tried being yourself” you hadn’t realised at the time, but Baekhyun later told you that what you said that day sparked a more genuine side of him. 

No longer feeling the need to act like the class clown.

Most of the time.

“How is your head?” you’d asked.

And as if a director had yelled ‘action!’ he held his head with both hands and sharply sucked in a breath.

“Ahhhhh, well I haven’t looked properly yet but I swear I felt a bump earlier” he winced.

You called his bluff and feigned concern as you stood up to and walked over.

“Oh my goodness, you poor thing” you cooed, as you tried to hold back all traces of sarcasm from your voice.

Baekhyun looked up at you with wide eyes as you placed your own hands on his head. 

“Wha-what are you doing?” he stuttered out, looking surprised.

“Does it hurt here?” you poked the spot on his forehead that you hit with your index finger. 

He shook his head.

“What about here?” you offered as you poked another random spot on his forehead, that time with more force.

“AH!” he cried out as he grabbed hold of your hand to make you stop. 

“You’re not even hurt you big dramatic baby” 

You shouted at him, while you’d felt acutely aware that you had been essentially holding hands.

“Well my feelings were hurt” he’d defended as you pulled your hands from his grip and slumped back into your chair with your arms crossed.

“This is all your fault Byun Baekhyun!” you sighed loudly. “But, I guess chucking my notebook at you wasn’t very nice of me…so I’m sorry”.

Just as you uttered those words, you heard someone clear their throat.

You turned your head to find the headmaster stood in the doorway. 

“I see you’ve worked this out between yourselves, so I guess I won’t ever be seeing you outside my office again?”.

You both nodded your heads frantically and he dismissed you.

You shot quickly out of the classroom, school had already ended so you walked towards the exit when you heard your name being called.

It could have only been Baekhyun, so you stopped and waited for him to catch up to you.

“So, are we friends now?” he had asked shamelessly as he fell into step with you. A wide shit-eating grin plastered across his face as he looked at you hopefully.

What can you say, he had you at the first puppy dog look.

“Sure, we’re project partners after all” you smiled at him before you turned to head in the direction of your street. But he reached out to stop you.

“What if I asked you to come and get some ice cream with me instead of going straight home” He rubbed the back of his neck, a habit that you would learn he only had when he was extremely nervous. “My treat?

You knew at that moment that you were going to be a sucker for the real Baekhyun. 

“I’d love to”. You smiled up at him as he gestured for you to lead the way.

“Yeah let’s go, it’ll be a da-“ he starts before stopping mid-sentence.

“Huh?”

“Nothing!”

The rest was history. You started dating, moved in together after you graduated and got engaged two years ago.

He had proposed in the most Baekhyun way possible. 

Baekhyun had gotten all your friends and family to hold up a letter, and hid each picture around your apartment as a scavenger hunt on your birthday. 

He was your first love and you’re future. 

“Since we unpacked the groceries together, maybe we should shower together...” Baekhyun purrs into your ear, pulling you from your thoughts. 

You hum thoughtfully as you leave him standing in the kitchen, heading towards the shower. 

He starts to follow you until you look back at him over your shoulder.

“You won’t be sharing anything with me until you’ve finished your vows Byun Baekhyun!”

You hear him groan in defeat as you shut the bathroom door.  

***

Three weeks later you’re sat at your wedding reception. The ceremony was beautiful and emotional, Baekhyun managing to avoid the puns in his vows.

“Let's be dumb together, make bad choices...eat the wrong things, take the wrong turns, and then let's tell great stories. The same ones over and over, forever and ever until no one can stand us but each other”

He sniffed, squeezing your hands tightly, all while staring at you like you were the only other person in existence. 

You couldn’t stop your tears of joy as you nodded furiously, smiling so hard that your face still aches even now. 

There was only one small incident.

“I can’t find them!” Chanyeol panicked, (meaning your wedding rings) as he frantically patted down his trousers.

You and Baekhyun stood awkwardly and the room was deafeningly quiet.

“Check your pockets.” Kyungsoo, one of Baekhyun’s other groomsmen had whispered

“I already did.” Chanyeol snapped back. 

Baekhyun started to whisper reassuringly that you didn’t even need rings. 

“Nothing will stop me from marrying you today” 

“Check your inner pockets.” Kyungsoo hissed, as you and Baekhyun became more and more anxious.

“They’re not – oh, son of a bitch!”

You think the entire room groaned in relief. 

His ears turned red in embarrassment as he sheepishly passed them along to you and Baekhyun.

Later in the evening, everyone sits at their tables enjoying dessert.

You decided to go with a traditional three-course sit-down meal. 

Currently regretting your decision to not change out of your wedding dress for the reception, but damn you felt sexy in your lace backless mermaid gown.

Baekhyun’s jaw practically fell to the floor when you’d walked down the aisle.

One of the servers approaches your table with a huge smile, “Could I get you anything else?”

In unison, you and Baekhyun reply “More of the ice cream cak-”.

You both burst into laughter.

“Wow, can I marry you again?” he gushes.

You press your lips to his cheek and whisper in his ear.

“I’d marry you every day if you didn’t mind us going bankrupt.” you tease.

Baekhyun snorts, followed by the sound of someone clearing their throat.

You forgot the server was standing there. 

“Apologies for the interruption, I just wanted to confirm that you both wanted more of the cake”.

You nod, blushing slightly. “Two more servings of cake for me and my husband please!”

Baekhyun gushes in excitement at your use of his new title. 

When the waiter steps away you continue where you left off. Baekhyun is already leaning towards you and offers you his free hand, you grin and high five him. 

“Excellent decision making Mrs Byun” he grins, moving in to steal another kiss. 

“You guys are giving me toothache” complains your brother Sehun. 

You look over to see him shaking his head with a grimace. 

“You brat, this is my wedding!”.

You tickle the side of his ribs playfully, forcing him to crack a smile.

“You’ve got yourself a keeper” You overhear Junmyeon, Baekhyun's co-worker slur. 

You look over just as he affectionately throws his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder, looking like he’s about to tear up, his cheeks tinged pink from the effects of the open bar. 

“Eh hem!”

Chanyeol stands up and taps at his glass trying to gain everyone’s attention.

Not seeming to realise how hard he’s tapping until the glass loudly shatters everywhere.

“OH SHIT!”

With everyone’s attention caught, Chanyeol sheepishly wipes the spilt champagne off his trousers. 

“Well that certainly BROKE the silence” he stammers nervously, trying to laugh it off.

Junmyeon laughs hysterically while Sehun pretends to gag.

Chanyeol kicks off the speeches for the evening, talking about how he first met Baekhyun in grade school, becoming best friends over their love of yu-gi-oh and ferrets and giving a short recap of all the pranks they’d pulled together.

You notice Baekhyun sinking in his chair as Chanyeol reveals how he had wanted to be a Ballerina when he was little.

You gasp for air, laughing at the image of your husband wearing a tutu.

Instant payback comes in the form of your maid of honour recalling the time you got super drunk during your first year of college and tried to fight the cardboard cut out of your favourite boy band member in the middle of a shopping centre.

She didn’t even spare you and leave out the part where you proceeded to sob when his head snapped off.

“The mall even made her pay for the standee and she brought him home!” 

You hide your face in your hands as Baekhyun vibrates with laughter next to you.

“He lived in our dorm until we graduated! But alas, he was no match for Byun Baekhyun!”

You shoot her a death glare as she finishes up her speech, your guests laughing happily around you.

After the speeches are finished, the DJ announces that it’s time for you and Baekhyun to have your first dance.

The lights around the edge of the room dim as the dance floor lights up. You and Baekhyun stand, walking hand in hand to take your places at the centre of the room. 

Everyone else forms a circle around the edges of the dance floor, phones and cameras out at the ready. 

Baekhyun places one arm around your waist and holds out the other. 

You, in turn, place your hand atop his and the other gently on his shoulder, just like you had been practising the last couple of months.

The lighting of the dancefloor shines around him, highlighting every beautiful angle on your husband’s face. You feel giddy over the knowledge that you get to kiss his beautiful lips for the rest of your life. 

The soft piano of Sam Kim’s ‘Would You Believe’ slowly fills the room as you start to dance, floating under Baekhyun's hold as he leads you around the room. 

It all feels so effortless, just like your love. 

You wrap your arms around Baekhyun, pressing your body tightly against him as he steals kisses from your lips. Your friends and family clapping and cheering. 

The DJ offers for the rest of the room to join you on the dance floor, but everyone blurs in comparison to the man holding you. 

You aren’t sure how long you’ve been slow dancing with Baekhyun, your head resting comfortably on his shoulder and his face buried in the crook of your shoulder and neck. 

“The moment I first saw you,

I was so attracted to you,

I didn’t weigh out my thoughts and just talked”

You shiver as Baekhyun sings softly in your ear. His voice, low and melodic.

“The answer is you…

My answer is you,

I showed you my everything,

You are my everything...

Because I was so sure”.

You inhale sharply as his hand slips lower to rest on the curve of your back, just above your ass as he continues to serenade you.

“Hey” you whisper, kissing just below his ear. “Wanna sneak away?” 

Baekhyun gazes down at you, a devilish glint in the amber hues of his eyes. 

“I thought you’d never ask” he grins, pulling you into a heated kiss.

“Get a room!” 

You think Jongdae shouts out from somewhere behind you, you both laugh and break your kiss to look over at your group of friends. 

It looks like they’re playing some type of drinking game over at one of the tables. Chanyeol is already passed out, slumped over the table. 

Baekhyun takes your hand and leads you out of the room before anyone else can catch you slipping away from the party.

It was getting late anyway and you have a flight to catch to the Maldives in the morning.

You were staying in the venue overnight, a beautiful manor house in the countryside. 

You knew a lot of the guests were also staying, so you could catch them at breakfast before your airport taxi arrives.

When you arrive at your room Baekhyun suddenly scoops you up in your arms making you squeal.

“What are you doing” you giggle. 

“I’m carrying you over the threshold!” 

“Uh what about the room key?” you snort. “Ah, shit...it’s in my pocket”.

You reach your arm down behind you, feeling for his pocket. “Wow is that a big key or are you just happy to see me” you gasp. 

You make it into the room, Baekhyun placing you back onto your feet and unzipping your dress all in one swift movement. 

“What the-” He cuts you off as he presses himself against you, mouth hungrily catching your lips as he walks you backwards and lays you gently on the bed.  

He steps back to loosen his tie and clicks a button on a tiny remote that you didn’t even notice him pick up.

R’n’B music begins to pulse from the speakers as he saunters back over to the bed. 

No sleep tonight We makin' love until the sun shines down on us No sleep tonight We makin' love until the sun (yeah)

“What are you doing?” you snort.

Baekhyun bites his lip and waggles his brow as he presses you softly into the mattress. Running his hands down the smooth silk of your lingerie. 

“I’m seducing you, Mrs Byun”. 

You exhale happily, shuddering under his touch. 

“I’m all yours”.

[snowstorm808]

More than Friends review eps 9-16

I previously posted my review of the first half of the series because I could not contain what I felt. It was quite impulsive of me but I wanted to let out everything I thought and felt for this drama. It is becoming better every time in such a way that I see the little creative ideas the writer or director is putting into each episode along with the development of the story. Familiar yet refreshing. I decided to create a new post because I saw that the first half recap was way too long if I would still add the remaining episode reviews because I just could not help it. I do understand that the length could be frustrating but I want my words to be read too, so thank you for everyone patient enough to read my words.

Episode 9 - Watching this episode made me realize a double standard I never really noticed before but I guess drama watchers would be able to relate to; the difference of pitiful and pathetic for female and male leads. I’m not yet certain if it’s deliberate but female characters locked in one sided love often seem pathetic but when it’s a male character they seem pitiful? Woo Yeon did seem pathetic in her one sided love in the earlier episodes so why does Soo get to be pitiful? It’s the same for the past dramas I’ve watched too. It’s just a food for thought. Based on last week’s preview, I really thought Joon Soo would punch Lee Soo after the drunk call but he held back so good job, Joon Soo. Honestly, I thought he wouldn’t be able to hold back because not only was he angry of the fact that Woo Yeon was getting swayed by Soo, but also because he knew how much it hurt, and hates the fact that she would still be hurt over the latter after a decade. This is why I keep wanting Joon Soo because he never thought selfishly when it came to Woo Yeon. I also love the fact that his character is being shown as someone seemingly perfect with a lot of flaws too. I love seeing his flaws and even relating to them! Being used to holding back is probably the reason why I write so much because I swear I can’t talk this much at all. I really hope he would stop holding back for his own sake. I think the most favorable Soo I have ever seen was him drunk calling his dad. I love the fact his parents went to his house to talk and console him. I also realized that Soo really closed himself up enough to have no one but his dad to drunk call. That was sad because the high school gang never really shunned him but he was the one who kept his heart closed. I half expected his folks to announce that hey would be back together because I feel that’s where those two are headed to eventually. As for Woo Yeon, I’m somehow glad she mustered up the courage to break up with Joon Soo after everything. As much as I was dreading it, I also felt that it was the right decision. She knew that it was too cruel to let him hurt quietly so I’m glad she had that decency; I could see that she was doing her best to be firm with her resolve. On her behalf, I get it why it’s difficult for her to let go of her feelings for Soo so I do not think she’s a weird one for that. I know that this is where my ship stops its sail but I’m satisfied that it’s not as I feared it would. The fight scene was reminiscent of Jealousy Incarnate, I just hope Dong Jun faked the punch because I know how athletic he has been from his Idol days which is enough for me to be scared for Seung Woo. Conveniently, it was only after this that Soo decides to take a break from pursuing Woo Yeon after ruining her chance to start anew with someone. Eventually, I know that Woo Yeon would not be able to defy the flow of her feelings towards Soo but I hope he can also grow up more because right now, I can still see him being selfish and self centered in his approach.

Episode 10 - How can one episode contain so much emotions? And it was all types of emotions at that! I mean one moment it’s awkward, cute, upsetting, lovely, funny then sad and even more! This episode was a roller coaster of emotions in my opinion. First thing’s first, the younger guy Jinju dated is a total loser and a scumbag. Good thing Sang-hyeok was there to the rescue. I feel so bad for Young-hee because every time she takes a step forward, she’s always dragged two steps back. She has a strong personality but it does not mean her situation does not wear her down too. So here comes the roller coaster because Lee Soo and On Joon Soo drinking together and ending up at Woo Yeon’s place is super cute. That includes her parents’ “interview” with the two men while they try to show off their “qualities”. I literally said “boom” when Joon Soo “let slipped” that Soo was the jerk Woo Yeon’s parents have been hunting for. That was really petty but I guess it’s his little revenge on Soo for interrupting their relationship when he used to date Woo Yeon. I am not going to lie about not loving the misunderstanding Soo had when he saw them together in the restaurant while he was with his parents. He tends to act so victimized which I really dislike then he readily blows up at Woo Yeon. But then again, it makes these characters more human then the usual kdrama characters I watched in the past. Lee Soo should really learn to express things more clearly so Woo Yeon would stop thinking that he’s simply bored or fooling around. As for Joon Soo, it’s a lost battle and I feel bad for him because he has become a masochist which is why I need to take care of him. I need Woo Yeon’s cooperation for this...

Episode 11 - Soo is finally given the chance he keeps on missing. As much as I am sad for my ship, I’m happy Woo Yeon and Soo are coming around although it isn’t the full circle yet. I do feel really bad for Joon Soo but it has always been clear how strong Woo Yeon’s feelings have been for Soo. I like how she at long last clearly stated that she will always give Soo the chance whatever he does because it has been evidently true for the past episodes. I guess that’s enough proof that feelings can’t be controlled easily. My favorite part in this episode would be her giving Soo an ultimatum because I always had a feeling he thought of her as a port always there for him. My second favorite in this episode would be Sang Hyuk and Jinju! He’s so sweet and caring which is exactly what she needs. Will they be my favorite couple? Hehe. I just want to take a bit of time to swoon over Joon Soo because he cares a lot for Woo Yeon though it isn’t returned, I appreciate him wishing her well. I can’t help but wonder if there will be another drama between Woo Yeon and Soo, because if he hurts her one more time then I would prefer her to be alone (I’ll be taking Joon Soo.)

Episode 12 - I never thought Soo and Woo Yeon together would be this mushy haha. They are making up for the lost time and I like seeing them happy and somewhat letting go of the inhibitions they had. And for the first time, I think I want to scold the writer for adding a character like Yura because seriously, those two no longer need another person to interrupt them. I suppose it’s to make up for the remining episodes? But then it could be expound on things like commitment issues for Woo Yeon and Soo, and taking the next step for their relationship. I do secretly hope for Joon Soo to make a comeback but not necessarily in a romantic light. Obviously, Soo is the one being careful now when it comes to dealing with Woo Yeon. I like seeing him nervous of losing her because it keeps him on his toes though I hope he would be more direct about it instead of acting cool so she won’t misunderstand anymore. I remember him saying he dated around too but Woo Yeon seems more like the one used to dating. I guess he never really thought of the other party when dating. I can sort of imagine his ex-girlfriends putting more effort than him.

Episode 13 - Lol, Soo should’ve been more sensitive when Woo Yeon insisted on going home by herself. I find it so cute when she defended Soo from her parents, she was so cheeky to point out her dad’s faults. After everything they have been through I hope they can do well from now on but something tells me otherwise. At least Woo Yeon finally said the magic words Soo has been so anxious to hear. It seems she was too nervous and being careful to say it though I had the initial impression that she must’ve had a stigma of some sort to those three words. I somehow feel nervous about Soo’s job offer from the airline because it might lead to a fight or even a break up. Speaking of a break up, I’m sad Hyun-jae and Young-hee had to part ways though it was one-sided. I do get the pov of his family but I can’t relate to the pressure of marriage. By the way, am I the only one who thinks Kwon Yura’s character is waste? I mean I don’t see much purpose for her character because she does not threaten the main lead’s relationship other than making Woo Yeon want to doll up herself. I must say one of my favorite scenes in this episode is when Woo Yeon went to the salon and told the staff she’s meeting with her boyfriend’s woman. I love how the customers and salon staff reacted even calling in their boss to style her. Was it a parody? I’m not sure because I have sworn to lay my hands and eyes off all dramas that deal with a husband’s mistress. Nevertheless, it was super witty and I had a lot of fun watching that scene including the one where she deliberately posed further behind Yura to make her face look smaller. Lastly, Sang-hyeok and Jinju are finally together! They look so cute together and make the perfect couple. In fact, all three couples seem to be perfect for each other because they complement each others’ personalities well. 

Episode 14 - This must be the episode where everyone breaks up or gets rejected. But before that, I can’t get over the expression Woo Yeon’s mom wore when she said to pack up contraception for her trip with Soo. One minute they were having a lovely mother-daughter moment then she suddenly brings that up. As much as most people would find it awkward, I think it was so funnily straightforward. Her mom cares which suddenly reminds me of the reaction of Young-hee’s mom when she found tons of condoms in her drawer. Another reaction I really enjoyed was when Woo Yeon and Soo found out Jinju and Sang-hyeok are dating! The way she splashed water out of shock really showed how it was the farthest thing in her mind. From the time Soo’s work offer came, it already seemed ominous along with Woo Yeon’s offer so I was not surprised with the break up. Maybe it was for the better; I have been mulling over Woo Yeon’s reasoning that she might end up hating Soo if they stayed together. The loneliness was eating her up which I believe is realistic in a long distance relationship like theirs. Soo shouldn’t have readily agreed regardless if he was thinking of her or not. Considering these two pursued their careers, I think this would leave less regrets in their hearts because they were able to fulfill the dreams they had. Their feelings for each other will always be there because they are Soo and Woo Yeon. I just need to wait how they will get back to each other.

Episode 15 - While watching this episode, I couldn’t stop thinking that this is the episode I finally see Lee Soo as someone heartbroken and not self centered, also, am I the only one who thinks his hair styled up is way better than his hair down? At last, I got to see Soo’s feelings of longing for Woo Yeon instead of his attitude of forcing his feelings like earlier into the series. I think it’s his maturity plus his sincerity in wanting her back because he now knows how it is to lose her. Their break up might just seem like another ploy by the writer to extend the series but I also think it was helpful to both Woo Yeon and Soo. In the first place, they decided to be apart so their careers could flourish which made them busy and drift apart. It also brought to light the insecurities they had especially Woo Yeon who had been so used to be the only one who in love. I think her fears of having the person she loved and wanted the most surfaced which keeps her from returning to him even if he’s practically begging her back. I just hope Soo would’ve made efforts to contact Woo Yeon or get her back after that break up call just as he was when he was courting her instead of stepping back. I guess it was partly a good thing because they were able to achieve certain things for their careers during that time too. Meanwhile Young-hee’s mom’s death was inevitable but at least they got to resolve the hard feelings and she was able to convey her love for her children. I think among the deaths I’ve seen in kdramas, this is the most touching for me. I must really be getting old to be sentimental like this. I also felt envious of the leads’ friendship. This episode showcased it the most especially how they supported Young-hee through the most difficult time in her life. I also love how they quietly support the complicated relationship of Soo and Woo Yeon. They have never attempted to kill him so yup they are good people.

Episode 16 - Loose strings are tied up in a pretty bow as the friends gear up for each of their happy endings. Joon Soo decides to let go of his feelings for Woo Yeon (he’s finally free to walk towards me! Yay!) I really like their hug because it sums up the affections and friendship they had. Good thing Soo wasn’t there to tear them apart. I also like that Soo is still a bit jealous of Joon Soo because whenever I remember how arrogant he was about stealing Woo Yeon away, I still want to punch him. His mom’s pushing aka guilting Woo Yeon was indeed effective, heh. Seriously though, it seems to me that his mom did it because she did not want him to end up like his parents and perhaps it was her way of making up for their negligence and mistreatment of him. I love the fact that Soo and Woo Yeon continued to fight and make up even after getting back together, it was very much in their character. It’s also nice that Soo’s parents decided to give their relationship another shot. It makes me think that they too learned from their son. Jinju’s and Sang-hyeok’s wedding pictorial was super lovely, it was very smart of them to trick Soo into it haha. Young-hee and Hyun-jae are finally back together too! Thank goodness, they’re getting married instead of returning to dating. As much as I cringed with their cheesiness, it was very much welcome and cute to watch. All six of them had their own cringey and cheesy way of saying and doing things. I think this drama has one of the most satisfactory endings ever, now, if only On Joon Soo can find his way to me...

More than Friends has met the amount of romance and tension that I always look for yet refreshing and not too cliché. I love the little details and the way it explored different types and stages of relationships including of different age groups. I hope other viewers would also get to see how the writer tried to portray these in the drama. Watching the ending made me realize the drama’s title was probably referred to these couples because they started as friends and became more than just that. Honestly, their situation is quite idealistic but I think it’s so cute if it does happen in real life. I’m happy I watched this even if it was mainly for Kim Dong Jun. Literally before watching this, I watched Moment of Eighteen then even prior to that, I watched Meow, The Secret Boy. MoE was sad because Junwoo had to put off his dreams and relationship to help out his mom. I initially wanted to skip or wait till later to watch it but ended up being hooked to it. Hehe.

One of the things I find fascinating in this drama is the casting! Shin Ye Eun’s step mom in MTSB became her actual mom while her dad became Lee Soo’s dad this time. There lots of familiar faces which made me like the drama even more. 

[theticklishpear]

Hi, I just wondered if you could help me with tips on how to write fiction in a diary format? Specifically creating tension as well as engaging scenes with mainly telling/summary. Some background without too much detail... its a horror short story involving the "haunting" of a MC where halfway through it'll change to normal narrative and the story unfolds real-time. Any other pointers you could would be useful for me to bear in mind would be appreciated. Thanks :)

The diary or journal format of story-telling is a near cousin to the epistolary, in which the story is told through letters. After all, aren’t diaries and journals basically just letters we write to ourselves? We’re not usually writing for it to be read by someone else - we’re trying our best to be real and say our true thoughts and feelings about a situation in a safe place. We use diaries and journals to be seen, even if that’s just helping ourselves see ourselves better.

So what makes a diary story work?

Voice.

These stories are all about the narrator being an actual person, not just some metaphorical god-voice describing life in as beautiful and highfalutin of terms possible. This is a real human being caught up in events they probably weren’t expecting, dealing with people they may not have thought they’d be dealing with, talking about real things happening to them. It’s key to the life and vitality of the story that it carry that voice to the audience and that the voice is strong. Just because you’re writing a diary doesn’t mean every entry has to start with, “Dear Diary.” In fact, depending on the character, it probably won’t.

While I said at the start that we often write to ourselves, sometimes diaries and journals are written as though someone might theoretically read them in the future. Consider how your character thinks of these entries. Are they trying to leave a message to someone who might come across the diary later? Are they writing to comfort themselves? Are they writing to an imaginary audience because it helps them to cope with what’s going on? What’s your character’s reason to write and relationship to their writings? That can help inform their tone and the kinds of things they might write about.

The device in D.J. MacHale’s Pendragon series is that the main character is on a different plane/planet/time from his friends who are receiving his journals periodically. His friends never know if it will be the last set of journals they’ll receive, and Bobby is writing his adventures specifically for his friends, so they are thorough and actually a fairly typical narrative structure in first person. This is possible because of the reason for Bobby’s writing them.

You still have standard narrative tools available to you; they just might look a little different. Descriptions that in an average narrative structure might have time to breathe and grow into longer, more detailed things will likely be shorter, more to-the-point, more visceral. You can feed on the real and disjointed way of describing that people have in conversation. Rather than needing it to sound “good” and to choose the perfect words to craft beautiful storytelling, you can embrace the garbage words we choose for ourselves. Descriptions can focus on fewer background details, fewer things we might include in longer stories to help build out the world.

Internal thoughts and monologues about what the character feels and thinks about what’s being witnessed are more able to be put front-and-center since these entries are directly from them. The story’s already purposefully being set behind a filter, so you might as well embrace it.

Dialogue is absolutely still an option for you. It may be just the essentials of a conversation, but don’t feel like you’re just constrained to telling. You can show, too; you just have to be judicious about it.

Tension comes from format as much as the events. When constructing these entries, take the practicality of sitting down to write an entry into account. Time is passing, always, for your character, even while they’re writing. Some days they won’t have time to write so you wind up with time gaps. These leave an audience looking at the dates from one entry to the next and wondering what could have happened to keep them from writing for so long. Sometimes your character only has five minutes to scribble down an update rather than write something long and detailed. Those short entries help to speed up pacing, which is a great way to get your reader turning those pages and tightening up subconsciously.

In the same vein, not every entry has to have a complete arc the way a scene does in a standard narrative structure. People get interrupted. These, like chapter cliffhangers, need to be used with enormous care and purpose, and sparingly. Remember that every entry will bring your character up to their present, even if it’s not what you think of as the present of the story.

In Tamora Pierce’s Beka Cooper books, which are all three written in journal format, Beka sometimes writes more than one entry per day as she has time to write throughout her chores and jobs. As a way to bring the audience into the urgency of a situation, entries will sometimes end with Beka remarking on something going on as she’s writing and then leaving it abruptly: “I’d drifted off, thinking of other things I had learned in Dale’s rooms, when I heard loud voices downstairs. I must go.” End entry.

Other times there may be simply a date but no entry, as though Beka intended to write but either didn’t have time, didn’t have anything to say on what had happened, or wasn’t quite ready to write. Sometimes there are more device-like endings in which Beka notes her tiredness and begins to spell poorly before an intense part of her day’s story, saying “[she] can barely see [her] page” and must sleep for now. This is a bit of a cheaper trick, but the forced pause for the reader does initiate some amount of excitement and trepidation for what’s to come.

Bobby in the Pendragon series often pauses his journals before something big is about to go down so he can send a final goodbye to his friends at the end: “The crazy thing was, this all came about because of two people who never could have foreseen the outcome of their actions. .... It was clear to me now. The turning point for Denduron wasn’t the battle between the Milago and the Bedoowan. ....[T]here was something else that became clear. I wasn’t going home. .... This may be my last journal I write to you, Mark and Courtney. If it is, then please know that it wasn’t your fault about the flashlight. All you did was help out a friend. The blame is all mine. If you don’t hear from me again, then please know I did everything I could to undo the mess I created. I may not be successful, but at least I tried. Thank you for reading this, and for being my friends. Hopefully this isn’t a final good-bye.” This helps remind the audience that, indeed, Bobby could die. Just because he appears to be the main character, and is the author of the journals, doesn’t mean he’s not in grave danger. He can still die, he can still be injured, and it helps to make the audience curious about how he gets out of his predicament.

That’s where your tension comes from. Making danger a reality for your protagonist and making your audience curious to see how it goes.

It is more important than ever to keep yourself present with your character. Tense and timeline can get tricky with diary entries, so make sure that when you’re writing an entry, you keep in mind exactly where in the timeline your character is. While you’re writing, don’t think about what’s coming up next for your character. That kind of thing has a tendency to sneak into these style of stories. Stay in the moment with your character, not in the future with your notes. Let them say things that are wrong because they don’t know the answer yet. Let them guess about their next step and what their plans are for tackling their situation, even if you know that’s most definitely not what’s going to happen.

Good luck!-Pear

[schnees-and-schnugs]

I wrote a weird little Mastermind/vengeful!mama schnee musing idk if its any good lol

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Pristine snowflakes slowly floated down into her wine cup. She wondered if she opened her mouth up to sky, would it sooth the slight burning feeling that the alcohol left in her throat? No, she knew- besides she was already used to it. It was at least what she deserved for what she had done. Married the wrong man, had children that would grow to think of her as an ornament- pretty and striking at first, looked up to with eyes full of love and hungry for the kindness she held, but eventually forgotten and frozen, left tarnished and only to be remembered on timely intervals, used, and left alone again. But it was fair. She had left them and ceased to spark joy in their lives, caught up in a whirlwind of anger and guilt, but eventually settling in on the numbness that only the wine is generous enough to give her. 

But there was a new feeling.

It started in her chest, an uncomfortable feeling of burning warmth- no ice that bloomed. She couldn’t help but to remember how back when it all fell apart, she was surrounded by heat: anger, passion, frustration- but all that had puttered out leaving just emptiness for the coming years. That coldness wasn’t like this- it was a painful serene emotion that left her hopeless, merely the cold that came to inhabit the area above the ashes of her soul. However, this new feeling- the thin pinpricks of frostbite that ate at her around the same time she watched her young daughter leave for Beacon. She recalled when her oldest attended Atlas Academy and eventually found her way to the military. Through unsavory means, she remembered with a slight grin- her daughter had run away, entranced by images of grandeur and away from the tight fist of her father. She hadn’t felt the same pinpricks that time, she had thought her daughter was just an anomaly. Her eldest had always been a stern and temperamental girl- something she inherited from her father, she thought bitterly- not the makings of a charismatic CEO. 

But her youngest daughter was, for a lack of a better term, kinder. Had more of that charisma that would have attracted people to her organically if she didn’t have her family status. But why was she leaving? 

She wants to escape, a soft voice whispered at her from the back of her mind. You’re nothing to her anymore. Did you think she would wait for you forever? 

A tiny needle of ice pricked her heart.

She was used to rejection at this point. She understood that she has ceased to be of any importance to the lives of her family. But it would seem that this departure has woken up a tiny part of her that still yearned for the validation that every mother needs from their children.

But you stopped giving them the validation that they needed from you.

But he hurt me, she reasoned with herself. This guilt that she lives with, is that what he wants? For her to continue to torture herself in addiction until she drops dead? As she lay in her bed later she understands her cold anger that had awoken in her that day. He took everything away from her. He turned her into this. He was the reason that her eldest was gone and her other daughter is well on her way to disappearing.This company, this home, this legacy, it should all belong to her. Stolen, her life, her dreams, future, her children, her love. She hadn’t noticed that he had his hand firmly grasped onto the rug beneath her feet until he had pulled it out from under her, and she was on her back staring at the ceiling for years, wondering what had gone wrong. What she had done wrong.

But she hadn’t done anything wrong.

It was all her father’s fault for marrying her to a man who sang false love symphonies, her family’s fault for turning the other cheek in the name of the company, his fault for having the gall to take advantage of her all these years.

 And she would make him pay.

As she lay there, she the frozen pricks in her heart had a sense of urgency. She understood. No longer would she stand by and let him have the last laugh, holding her by her tail, watching her numb every jab with a sip of wine. She would take every word, every sneer and snap, and use it. Use it to ease him into her trap, guide him with whisperings of her newfound interest in the company and his little heir. She prayed to the heavens that her daughter would forgive her for this.

Weiss would never listen to word you say, she tells him one day. She’s not like you, she doesn't have what it takes to make those cruel decisions. 

What would you understand?, he snaps, but she knows he’s listening. He may be arrogant, but he’s smart. 

She has a temper. Like yours, I suppose, she goaded him. She didn’t want to appear cooperative, he would be suspicious. She wanted to be smug, to take those ice-y pricks in her chest and stick each and every one of them in his brain, rendering him her puppet. 

Weiss wouldn’t listen to me either, she thought. That’s why I have to do this.

Whitley... he’s much more easy-going, don’t you think?, she slurred this without even looking at him- feigning disinterest while the words burned her tongue. She hated to bring her son into this. He was so young, so easily hurt. The most eager to please. His wide doleful eyes he had once realizing that his mother would never be truly the same was a knife to her stomach for the longest time, only continuing to twist once those once kind, innocent eyes grew bitter and angry at all those around him. I guess we’re the same. He’ll listen to me. He’s... impressionable. She felt a twinge of guilt, but waived it away. He’ll be thanking her soon enough.

She could tell all the offhand words and slurred messages left holes in her husband’s once strong intention to form her daughter into the perfect heir. All it took was one big push, and she’ll get what she had been pushing for in the last year.

It came the night of the gala. She hadn’t bothered to go, but she had a hunch that something had happened. Doors slammed, angry words were exchanged, and she felt a thrill travel up her spine. She want it to be true, and hated herself for it. Weiss is better off without this family, anyways. Without this. 

She waited in her son’s room, knowing that at this late time he would be coming directly to bed. She wanted to hear it straight from him, to be the first to congratulate him before his father could. He entered the room, his face carefully empty of any emotion- a familiar expression. He started at the sight of her sitting at the window.

Welcome back, little meadow. Was the gala eventful? Of course she knew something had happened, she lived here long enough to know what the ever familiar tension felt like after another one of their family’s fights. 

And so he told her. About Weiss’ outburst, her father’s decision afterward to strip her of her title. She had to resist the urge to chuckle. She didn’t want to be cruel, but it seems that after her own words, the missed calls, and the ignored warnings, the gala was finally the straw that broke the camel's back. 

Finally, something was going right for once. 

She blinked out of her victorious reverie to find her son looking at her cautiously. She had made moves to rebuild their relationship over the last year, insuring his loyalty- but even he didn’t know the extent of how much she has invested in him. Nobody knew. It was her secret, her plan.

She touched his cheek. So you’re the heir now, hmm?  

He winced, father-

Lets not talk about him now. It’s only the two of us that matter, remember? Weiss is well on her way out the door and Winter is gone. It’s just the two of us. Nobody else could ever care for you the way I do.

He looked down. She knew that look. Doubt.

She pushed harder. He hurt me. It’s all his fault. Your loneliness, it’s all because of him. Our suffering will only continue if we listen to him. If we allow him to destroy us, my life will be for nothing. Your life. It will be different from now on- I will be here for you, always. Don’t doubt me. We have the upper hand now, you don’t need him anymore.

He only nodded, not saying a word. She left him to sleep, her future plants coming to fruition in her head. She couldn’t rely on Weiss to help her. Something had changed in her daughter while she was off in Beacon, a kind of intrinsic will formed in her that made her impervious to her father, and by extension, her mother. Pride swelled in her chest. Yes, her daughter would be fine after all. 

Concentrate! The company, that’s what I’m after. 

And Whitley is the key.

She would take back what was meant to be hers all these years.

She just needs to somehow get her son to the top quickly, even if that means she has to be the puppeteer pulling the strings.

To get rid of him, who took everything from her.

[borusawa]

1 New Message

A/N: Here’s the chapter one of the story. A little big, I know. You can read my other works in my masterlist. (I know I posted twice, but it’s because i’m testing something.)

Beta reader: @abbypdg again, cause she is my baby.

Warnings: As I said, this book is hated mature but this chapter has nothing abnormal, only some cursing and a lot of angst (but this is only the beginning).

Word count: 5,398

<  Prologue                   Chapter 2  >

CHAPTER 1: Date Nights and Ghosts

3:23AM Idiot

We gotta talk. Wait for me if you finish

the test first, ‘kay?

Now Me

Okay.

That message was definitely a new thing. What could it possibly be? I tried not to think about it too much and focus on the day ahead instead. But it was hard. All I could think of was the subject of the talk as tried to keep myself from imagining it too far. I dressed up and went to the kitchen with my best blank face, afraid of Chocho’s questions. To my relief, she wasn’t up yet and I left the apartment before having to face her. Chocho was a great friend but too interested in others’ lives to her own good.

Only the teacher was in the class when I got there and I politely greeted him good morning. He was a middle age man with a beer kind of belly and a bad-tied tie. The sun was reflecting right on his bald head and I hold back the laugh.

“Always the early bird, right Sarada?”

I tried to laugh at his comment but instead an awkward sound left from my mouth and I covered it up with a cough. “Yes, sir.”

“Don’t be so serious. It’s only the two of us here.”

I furrowed my brows. What? “…Okay?” I took my place, secretly hoping for someone to appear soon, and I went through my stuff, taking my notes and giving them a quick glance before the test. To my happiness or to my despair, the first person to appear was Boruto. His hair was crazy and the bag in his eyes told a story of someone who hadn’t slept enough last night, what I only could deduce by the time he had sent the message. I wondered why, though.

“Good morning, sunshine. You look like a broken Barbie today.” I said, seeing him rub his eyes with the right hand and taking his seat by my side. “What happened to you after I left last night?”

“Nothing.” He smirked. This guy was up to no good and I knew it.

“Hey, I know that nothing. I use that nothing.” I smirked back.

“Let’s talk about this later, okay?” His serious tone surprised me a little and I took that as my cue to shut up.

“Fine.” I answered quickly, turning to face my notes once again. What was wrong with him?

Soon, the class was crowded and we started the test. Boruto finished before me and when I left the class my phone had a message from him.

10:42AM Idiot

I’m in the cafeteria waiting for you.

Now Me

I’m going.

It wasn’t hard to find him, his blond hair worked well to highlight his presence. He spotted me and waved. I couldn’t wait to know what he needed to tell me. I sat across the table smiling, placing my stuff in the chair beside me.

“How was your test, Sarada?”

“I think it went well. I had reviewed most of its content so I’m confident. What about yours?”

He stared down while smiling. “I have no idea, but I guess it went okay.” He took a sip from his large cup of coffee that, until now, went unnoticed by me.

“What happened last night?” I giggled to relax the tension between us.

All the while I pondered if it was a serious or a normal topic but either way, something had to explain his current behavior, the night up and the smile playing on his lips. I wished it was something about Shikadai and his mother because that was an easy thing to deal with. I hoped it had nothing to do about me or him or, worst of all, us. I had feelings for him for as long as I could remember, since we used to play together as kids and he would make fun of me for my glasses or I made fun of him for his, most of the times, stupid words. We grew up together as family, friends and sometimes border lining the “more”. I just wanted him to correspond my feelings but at the same time, I had no intention of declaring my love first. Love is kind of weird and I was weirder. My mom used to say that I got that from my dad, but who knows.

“I didn’t go home after leaving you.”

I furrowed my brows, all ghost of smiling left my face completely. I was completely taken aback by his words, I wanted to pretend it was okay but my body wasn’t cooperating at all, so I just stood there, staring at him seriously, seeing that he was avoiding my gaze but I couldn’t imagine why.  “ Y-You… didn’t? Where did you go then?”

“I got to tell you from the start.” He sighed before kept on going. “There’s this girl I like really much. I wanted to ask her out but I didn’t know how.” My heart started racing, my mouth went dry and my eyes widened, all this in one blink. Who was he talking about? Was it about me? “So, yesterday I gather the courage to finally ask her out but…”

I could not hide my curiosity anymore. I wished he was more straightforward. “But what?”

“But I went her house after leaving you and she wasn’t there.” So no, it wasn’t me.

I could deal with that, right? I totally could deal with that. It looked like he needed me right at that moment. He needed his best friend and I was willing to be there for him even with my heart shattered in pieces. I could collect myself later; what I couldn’t do was avoiding the hurt.

And I was hurt. More than any other moment in my life.

More than when my parents had started to fight every day and I thought they were going to divorce. More than when the guy I had my first kiss had started dating my closest friend back in elementary school. More than when I had noticed that no relationship in my life would work while I still had feelings for Boruto. More than when I gave up trying to have a normal date life because I knew I would only hurt innocent people bringing them to my mess of feelings. No, nothing compared. His words were the statement that we would never work out together and even though I expected something, it wasn’t that. I expected more for what our friendship meant and it was my fault. I just thought maybe I… I mean, we could be more than friends somehow. I was clearly mistaken.

“Wait, who is she?” I asked, holding my feelings inside me in the best Sarada’s way possible.

“You don’t know her yet, but I’m hoping you’ll know it soon.” He managed to stare back at me, his eyes clouded by a feeling I couldn’t recognize. “Anyway, I messaged her and she told me she was in her way home from her parents’ house or so. When she got home we talked for hours. I felt so good around her and I got the feeling that she felt the same around me last night, so I asked her out and she accepted.”

“I see.” It was my turn to avoid his gaze, in order to keep him from seeing something I wasn’t able to hide. The truth is I wanted to cry right there and now, but I needed to be as strong as I could be. I was the best pretender I’ve ever met. And I intended to maintain that title.

“I have a date today and I need your help.”

In that moment, while he was looking at me with bags under his eyes for staying up all night talking with another girl, and not less but the one he liked, I knew I wasn’t going to have my cute and easy life story, where everything goes as planned. And I knew Boruto wasn’t for me. We were just friends and after so many years waiting, I thought I should just... give up.

Skip that date and go out with me instead. “I’d help you through anything. You can rely on me.” His grin went wider with my words. What the fuck is this guy doing to me? "Can I know her name at least?"

"Yuki. She is awesome, you are going to love her she's-"

Exactly when he was starting to make a speech about the Yuki girl, his phone rang, and looking at the screen he raised the left hand for me to wait while he answered the call. During his talk, my mind wandered to what this Yuki girl could possibly look like to make Boruto be so crazy about her. His eyes sparkled when mentioned her name and I had never saw him that way before. She was the first girl he was really showing interest about, I didn’t even know if he ever had others and I thought if there were others, they weren’t important enough for him, otherwise he would tell me. I was still his best friend so I could tell Yuki was a new feeling for Boruto. And that was what scared me the most.

He turned his phone off and sighed. “I gotta go.”

“Something happened?” I asked with my voice filled with worry.

“Well, I haven’t told you till this point because I wasn’t sure, but everything is settled and this weekend I’ll be moving to your building.” He couldn’t hold back a smile and I was just shocked and confused. “Yeah, actually not only me but the guys. Mitsuki heard from Chocho about the empty apartment in your floor and we figured it would be nice.”

“Who are ‘the guys’?” I raised a brow. The only roommate Boruto had in the moment was Shikadai.

“Mitsuki, Shikadai and I. There’s a fourth guy but I don’t know much about him. All I know is that he’s friends with Shikadai and used to live alone but decided to have roommates now. Shikadai said that he’s more a rich spoiled brat than me, so I can’t wait to meet him and apparently that’s where I’m going now.” He hurried and stood up.

“Wait, who called you?”

“Shikadai.” He paused for a moment. “What you think about I stepping in your house later?”

“Yeah, sure.” And he left me alone with that.

“See you later!”

The whole deal about his moving got Yuki out of my mind for a little moment, but it came back as soon as Boruto walked away. The last thing I wanted was to be alone with my thoughts, yet I was sitting in a crowded place with a lot going on in my own world, too busy to notice anyone close to me. I was resting my face on my arm, totally over the table and glaring nowhere. So when someone sat in Boruto’s former seat I didn’t pay attention until the person started talking to me.

“Earth to Sarada. You got to stop spacing out.” Mitsuki said. “What happened? You look upset.” Mitsuki unwrapped his sandwich and my stomach started to rumble, what I took as a signal to eat.

“Nothing.” Why was hiding my first reaction to any question about my feelings?

“Why is hiding your first answer to everything?” You got me.

I glared at him with brows knit together. “Since when you know shit about human behavior?”

“Since Chocho made me watch Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

“I’ve been there.” I rolled my eyes, what apparently made Mitsuki giggle.

“It’s a useful show if you intend to know something about crazy rich girls.” He took a sip from his juice. “But let’s not quit the topic. Why are you upset?”

He started to eat his sandwich and I start to ponder either tell him the truth or not. He wasn’t making too much pressure, but my guess it was because he knew if he pressed me, he couldn’t get anything. Smart bastard. But the truth is he only wants me to be fine, he’s not asking for curiosity, Mitsuki wanted to help.

I sighed after a long silence. “It’s Boruto.”

“Boruto again?”

“You sounded like my mother. That was weird.” I pointed with narrowed eyes.

“Sorry. Keep going.”

“It’s Boruto and that Yuki girl.” I sighed again. Talking to Mitsuki was almost like removing a weight from my shoulders.

He stopped eating to stare at me. “So… You found out about her, hum.”

“Yeah, I…” Realization suddenly hit me. “Wait, you knew about her?”

“Yes, you’re not the only friend Boruto has, you know? And Chocho also knows because I told her. I wouldn’t be surprised if Sumire knows too. You know how Chocho is.” I was shocked. Why were they hiding it from me? I was the only one allowed to hide things.

“So everyone knew and nobody told me? Why?” I throw myself against the back of chair, surprised with my friends’ betrayal.

“Chocho said it was better to spare your feelings, Shikadai said that love was too troublesome and that he was happy for not liking anyone and I just didn’t disagree with any of them.”

“Then, why Boruto didn’t tell me before?”

“He just shared with me because I asked and I guess Shikadai know because he knows the girl.” He started to eat again and I got that as the end of the talk. My stomach was aching at that point so I decided to head back home to eat something since I had the rest of the day free.

“Shouldn’t you be meeting your new roommate?”

Mitsuki face palmed himself. “Fuck. I knew I was forgetting something. Thanks, I totally forgot that when I saw you all sad.” I giggled while Mitsuki grabbed his things. When he finished taking everything, he stood up but stopped before leaving. “You shouldn’t be worrying about Yuki, though. Boruto will come back to you eventually.” And then he left, smiling and running right after. Back? He was never mine in first place.

I took my phone and sent a message to Chocho.

Now Me

R u home?

Now Chocho

Yes

It was surprising how Chocho always answered right away. Apparently, no matter where she was or what she was doing, she always had her phone in hands and I could trust that in any moment of my life. I headed home by walking as soon as I received her message. I didn’t want to overthink but, what option did I had? I needed to get my things clear before talking to anyone else. It took good fifteen minutes to finally get home, my mind replaying the talk with Boruto over and over like a broken disc, reminding me how things would change from that moment. It was inevitable. He was happy and I was broken, unable to say when I would be fine again but not even thinking about it. I wanted to feel the sorrow because that feeling was what would remind me that everytime Boruto and I were together, he didn’t belong to me, and even when we gravitated around each other, we would never attract, because he is always running away from me. I gave up waiting, there was no reason for.

With the keys on the door, I prepared myself to anything. All my willpower was required to face my roommates’ possible questions. I sighed and opened the door carefully. To my pleasure, an awesome food smell entered my nose and by that I just knew Sumire was home. As I said at some point, she was the sane of the house most of the times and probably responsible for the delicious smell.

I left my bag in the couch and headed to the kitchen with my fake smile ready. “Oh my god, I’m so hungry.”

“Hi, Sarada. Welcome home!”

“Thank you, Sumire. How are you? Long time no see. ”

She giggled. “I’m fine, and you?”

“Hn… I heard that you slept with your new boyfriend last night.” I smirked, expecting her reaction. The girl went all red but stood mixing her pans. I sat on one of the chairs of the four-place table in the center of our kitchen, resting my arms and head on the table. “How was it?”

“S-saradaaa!!” She stuttered, her hands covering her face.

“It’s okay, girl, we are all adults here, and you probably did nothing I didn’t do already. You will need to talk with us eventually, though. Not sharing any details, just be more open about it.” Be open. That was an advice I should try to follow at some point. Hn, naah. Either way my words were no use to relax her so I decided to change the subject. “So, when will we meet the guy?” She calmed down and faced me.

Sumire sighed. “Today is Friday so…” she made a pause and looked up, like she was thinking about it, but when she spoke again, she looked at me fiercely. “Never.” And she turned back to look for something in the cabinets. I raised myself from the table, narrowing my eyes at her answer.

“Wha-” My question was totally ignored since Chocho entered the kitchen calling my name.

“Sarada, are you okay?” Chocho walked directly to me, grabbing my hand while I confusedly watched her. I saw in my eye corner that Sumire was smiling. I bet she was happy I wasn’t asking anything about her boyfriend anymore.

“How did you know I was here and why wouldn’t I be okay?”

“I saw your bag on the couch, obviously.” She carefully sat beside me. “I was talking to Mitsuki.” Her tone made everything clear.

“Oh.” We went all silence. What were we supposed to say anyway? She knew what I was feeling and I knew that she didn’t want me to feel that way, but none of us could avoid the fact.

“What happened? I’m kinda lost here.” Sumire said, wiping her hands and getting closer to sitting with us after turning off the stove.

My gaze was fixated on the floor and I tried my best not to give in to my feelings. “She found out about Yuki.” Chocho answered in my place.

“Oh.” They both directed pity looks at me. I wished they didn’t because that made me feels worse.

“I’m okay, really. Stop worrying.” I shook my head and put an annoyed face. “It’s not that surprising, you know. He doesn’t like me; he would like someone at some point.” We fell silence once again.

Chocho’s face lighted up as she remembered something. “You know what we should do?” Sumire and I exchanged glances; we knew that nothing good was coming for that. “There’s that party today-“

“No.” I calmly said before she finished her sentence.

“At least let me finish.”

“No, Chocho, that’s not what I need. I need some time alone to think.” My stomach rumbles again. “And I need to eat.” I stood up and went to see the pans, my back turned to them. I took a deep breath and I felt a lonely tear in my right cheek. I knew my friends noticed, they always noticed, but both Chocho and Sumire knew better than bother me about my feelings. Previous experiences taught them that the best thing was to let me handle that in my way. I coughed before talking, just to make sure my voice was bold when I spoke again. “What did you make, Sumire?”

“I-I made spaghetti.”

I turned to see them. “Thank you, girls.”

The lunch went fine, despite Chocho constant questions about Sumire and her night with the mysterious boyfriend, which made the innocent girl almost faint. When we finished, I told the girls I was going to my room and maybe nap, but the truth was that I wasn’t planning to. I entered my room locking the door behind me. I couldn’t keep my pain inside anymore. I took my spectacles away from my face so my tears could freely run through my face. Sobbing, I placed my glasses on my night stand and sat on my bed hugging my legs. Should love be this hard? My mind wandered to places I never want to relive, memories of all the moments I thought that was more, and the times we only had each other for comforting. I wondered if they meant nothing to him, if he couldn’t see the things I saw, if I should have told him my feelings years ago, if he would reject me easily. The ifs were killing me, and I didn’t know what to do despite crying. Was that impossible for me to be loved? To be wanted? Dumb me thought I had a chance with him, dumb me thought that I was nearly enough for him. For a moment, I wondered if he ever felt like I was feeling at that moment, if he ever felt like his world was falling down into madness, into a sea full of tears and sorrow. No, he was too good for that.

At some point though, I fell asleep and I was woken up by a fucking loud music coming from my living room and I stood up fucking furious, opening the fucking door with rage in my eyes and killing intent.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS FUCKING GOING ON HERE?” My eyes weren’t quite opened yet and when I came back to put my glasses, I saw a perfect set of teeth grinning and blue eyes playfully staring at me in my room’s door. I stared at him while he pressed the turn off button of the remote in his hands, making  the annoying sound to stop, making me hear some laughing coming from the living room. That’s what will kill me: Rage. “What was that?”

“Oh, so you can complete a sentence without the f word.” Boruto’s grin grew wider. That boy loved to tease me and I hated it with all my heart.

“Fuck you, asshole. Where the f… Where are Chocho and Sumire?” I sat on my bed, rubbing my eyes and fixing my glasses.

“Chocho is in the couch with Mitsuki, obviously laughing her ass off because of your reaction and Sumire... To be honest I don’t know, she wasn’t here when I came.”

“Odd. She’s being out a lot lately.”

“Must be because of her-“ Boruto got closer to sat by my side.

“Her boyfriend, I know.” I looked at him. Why is this boy being the topic lately?

“How do you feel being the only single roommate? Feeling left out already?” He said playfully, a smirk on his face and his index finger trying touching my side. I wasn’t that playful though. At that point, I wasn’t able to hear the laughing outside anymore. I wonder what are Chocho and Mitsuki doing to be so silent.

“Get out.”

Boruto furrowed his eyebrows, his face turning into a confused expression. “What?”

I pointed to the door. “Get. Out.”

He didn’t show any intentions to move so I started to push him to the door, so he started to laugh and shouted. “No, Sarada, please stop! Let me stay! I’ll stop teasing you, I swear!” I stopped pushing him and he spoke low and slowly. “Please, I need your help.”

I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes. “Spill it.”

He sighed and motioned for us to sit in the bed again. I sat but my expression remained still. “I need dating advice.”

“YOU NEED WHAT?” I started to laugh hard, throwing myself back and hitting my head on the wall but I didn’t even mind. “You are asking the single one for advising?” He stood still, staring seriously at me, which made me frown. “Wait, you’re serious?”

“Yeah, you are the one that knows me better and since you’re the only one single, you have a clearer idea of what you’d want on a first date.”

I pondered for a minute. “Do you remember the last time I went on a date?”

“Wasn’t that when your father appeared in the middle of the movie and dragged you out?”

I closed my eyes, my mind brought to life that moment again, even though sometimes it popped up spontaneously in my nightmares. “Yes. And that was sophomore year in high school. Now we are sophomores in college, don’t you see that?  I know nothing about dating, that thing doesn’t work for me. One night stands, that’s what I know about.” That was all I let myself feel for another humans: physical attraction and nothing more. I didn’t want to play with people’s feelings because I was in love with someone that didn’t love me back but still, girls gotta eat. If papa knew that though, he would eat me alive. With only a glare.

“What you don’t know about dating, you compensate with your knowledge about me and my terrible behavior. Let’s start simple, what should I try to avoid?”

“You shouldn’t go then. You’d need to avoid being you.” I smirked and he raised a brow. “Okay, seriously now. Try not to rush things, you need to calm down and take your time to everything. To speak, to walk. Don’t scream and please don’t share your daddy issues just yet. If uncle Naruto calls you during your date, act normally without the scandal you usually do.”

He huffed. “I don’t do a scandal.” I stared at him. “I’ll try to avoid it, then.”

“You should seriously don’t talk too much about yourself too. Think about things you want to know about her before going and ask her them.” I sighed and closed my eyes. I couldn’t avoid to imagine how our first date would be like, if he would try to be nicer just for me or if he would be the same Boruto as always. Being a good friend sucks sometimes. “Compliment her, but not too much. Laugh at her jokes and help her with any struggle. That’s pretty much it.” Well, my advice was sure way better than I expected it to be. I opened my eyes only to see that he was watching me with such a cute smile on his lips. “What?”

“See? I knew you would be helpful.” I put my tongue out and giggled. “I gotta go now, my date is in one hour.” He sighed. “But first, I’ll need to ask one more favor.”

“Spit it, pretty boy.”

“Tomorrow we’ll start the moving out so... maybe, if you are in the mood, can you step by at my apartment and help us? The new guy will be there too, you’ll have the chance to meet him then. His name is Inojin, by the way. Apparently Namida, Denki and Iwabe will be there too. And you know that girl that was in love with Shikadai a while ago?”

“Which girl?” I narrowed my eyes. Despite being completely uninterested in any living creature, Shikadai sure was attractive to a lot of weird girls. Maybe it was because of his intelligence. Whatever.

“The less weird of them all, the one with blonde hair, that’s always alone or with that really good looking guy, Shinki, and the other.”

Oh, I remembered Shinki. He sure caught every girl eye and yet, the girl who was always with him, fell in love with Shikadai. Maybe that’s why they were friends. I thought I should learn from her. “Oh, you mean Yodo. Yeah, I know. What about her?”

“I called her too since is practically a get together and a farewell to the old apartment, right? I wish he gave her more attention, though.”

“Aren’t you cute trying to make everyone to have a relationship?” I awed.

“You’d be the next but it’s hard when you’re so denial with your feelings.”

All I did was to make an annoyed face. “HAHAHA now go. Otherwise you will be late for your date.” I stood up with arms crossed and ready kick him out of my room.

When he got to the door, he turned to me and smirked. “Fine, fine, I’m going. But you cannot avoid this talk forever.”

“I can, and I will.” We smiled to each other, we both knowing the other unspoken words. He knew that I was saying that I didn’t want to do that and I could almost hear him saying that I should stop being stubborn.

As soon as he left the room, I closed the door but I still heard his scared yell from the other room. ‘Mitsuki? What the hell is this? You two could be in her room. Ewww.’ I giggled all by myself. Wrong thoughts came to my mind again, but I was ready to put them behind me for a little so I went to the living room.

The rest of the day went by with a lot of my complaints towards Chocho and Mitsuki behavior. A part of me was happy that they were outside her room because if they were inside and if I was hearing wherever they were doing there, it could’ve been worse. I wondered how much this kind of problem I would have to deal with now that the boys were moving to our building. Gladly, they stopped when Sumire got home because there was a possibility that if they kept acting like teenagers in our living room she could die with a stroke, so Mitsuki finally went to his own home. Seriously I had no idea how Sumire managed to have a boyfriend and stay alive at the same time. We ordered pizza only by Chocho’s pressure and watched a girly movie, again, because of Chocho’s pressure. We were used to it though, so no stress. And the movie was good after all, disregarding how much Chocho was dissatisfied to have no company to the party she had mentioned earlier that day.

We all said good night and went to our beds and I took my phone as soon as I got inside.

2 new messages.

In the deep of my heart, I had an idea of who could be and I wasn’t ready to read, yet I pressed the notification.

22:34PM Idiot

Saradaaaaaaaaa. The date was

awesome and probably we will have a

second I’m so happy

22:34PM Idiot

Yuki is great, thanks for your advice

Now Me

You’re welcome. If it’s not a bother to

ask, how do you feel about her?

Before he could answer, I felt water in my cheeks again. I wanted to know his feelings but at the same time, I didn’t. It took a while before my cellphone vibrate again.

Now Idiot

I don’t know, but I’m excited to find out

It’s late so, good nite, ttyl

Now me

Good night.

I was already sick of feelings. Why did I keep acting like it's worthy? I had to find someone else. I stood up and headed to Chocho’s room. I knocked the door twice.

“Come in.” I heard her, so I opened the door carefully. The lights were still on and she had her attention on the computer, already wearing her pajamas.

“Are you still up to that party?” She just gave me a big grin and I knew the answer.

“Let’s party girl!” She stood up with a dance that made me laugh.

“I’m pretty sure I’m going to hell because of our friendship.” And with that, I went to my room to get ready too.

…

I woke up with a fucking headache. My body was completely sweaty from the sunlight hitting my body. Wait, sunlight? My room’s window was on the opposite side from the sun. I opened one eye slowly, afraid of what I might see. I was in a white room and white curtains dancing from the breeze entering from an open window, the same one that was letting the sunlight warm my body. I opened my other eye and looked down to myself. Okay, I was naked. Filled with worry, I turned to see the other side of the bed. Blond hair filled the pillow and the muscle body told me that it belonged to a guy. Well, that wasn’t my house, I have never seen that room before and definitely, I didn’t know this naked guy by my side. Where the fuck was I?

[justsomebucky]

Knowing Him

Summary: Songfic AU. Reader struggles with new feelings and insecurities in a new relationship.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!reader

Word Count: 2,596

Warnings: language, fluff, insecurity, bagel discourse

A/N: This is for @propertyofpoeandbucky‘s writing challenge (non-disney). My prompt was the song “How Will I Know?” by the iconic Whitney Houston. It’s short and fluffy. I listened to this song so many times I need a five-year break from it, haha.

There's a boy I know, he's the one I dream of Looks into my eyes, takes me to the clouds above

You had another dream about him.

That was your first thought, first realization, first eye roll of the day as you awoke that Saturday morning.  Eight dates was all it took…a mere one month of dating and you were already all-in with this one. There was just something about him…not that you wanted to be that way. Normally you were cautious with your heart.

It was a simple, soft morning as pale light streamed through your window and all over the room. Saturdays were usually your day to get a couple extra hours of sleep, but lately you’d been waking up on your own, always just after sunrise. It was like your subconscious was eager to start the day even if your body didn’t always want to cooperate.

You got out of bed almost lazily, as if slowing down the process would allow the images from your dream to linger. It was easy to get lost in the romanticism of it all, after growing up with Disney movies that brainwashed you with this starry-eyed happily-ever-after stuff.

Ooh I lose control, can't seem to get enough When I wake from dreaming, tell me is it really love

In the dream, Bucky held you in his arms, something that wasn’t unusual. You felt safe and happy, which was also normal. But then…

It was totally normal to dream about saying ‘I love you’ to someone you had only been dating for a month…wasn’t it?

After all, dreams were where implausible, crazy things happened. It was almost like the dream where you go to school in your underpants and don’t realize it, or the one where you clench your jaw and crunch all your teeth together by accident. They were just fears coming to mind while you were asleep, so that your brain could confront a fear or something.

It didn’t mean anything…right?

“Right,” you confirmed aloud to absolutely no one.

You made your way to the kitchen, still in your pajamas, and settled on a quick bowl of cereal for breakfast. Cereal was comfortable and familiar, like your pajamas, like the couch you sat down on, like the news anchors on TV who’d been there for nearly a decade…

…and familiar meant that you knew all about it. It meant that you weren’t second-guessing anything, because you didn’t have to. You weren’t wondering if you were crazy or imagining things, imagining feelings that weren’t really there.

Could your new relationship really be going this well? It seemed almost absurd to you. All your past experiences were nothing like this.

You heard your phone ring, the dream dilemma momentarily forgotten as you realized (with a really loud groan) that it was still on the counter next to the cereal box. You stood up and set your cereal bowl on the coffee table, making your way to the phone to stop its incessant ringing.

A quick glance at the caller ID told you who it was. “Hey, Wanda.”

“Y/N! You’re actually awake?” Her voice was cheerful as usual, though her thick accent always seemed to make her sound bored to someone who didn’t know her as well as you.

You leaned against the counter, vaguely wondering how long it would take for your cereal to get soggy. “Yeah, it’s this new…thing…anyways, what’s up?”

“I was calling to see if you had plans today. I thought maybe you’d wanna catch a movie or something? I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever.”

That was eye roll moment number two. “I’m not as busy as you think, Wanda, it’s just that we have similar work schedules.”

“And you’ve been seeing that Borky guy-“

“Bucky,” you corrected her, biting back a smile. She knew what his damn name was, she was just agitated that he’d taken up a lot of your time lately.

“Whatever,” Wanda sighed. “Are you in or not? The weather’s going to be perfect for staying inside.”

That’s exactly what you had been thinking, though you were hoping to stay in your pajamas. “Sure, Wanda, but can we watch a movie here on Netflix or something instead of going out?”

“Yes! That works for me.”

“Okay. Maybe we can order in, too.”

She paused for a second. “I was worried that you might ditch me for him again.”

“You ditch me for Vis all the time,” you reminded her. “Remember the trip I planned?”

Before Bucky, before you had even decided to try dating again, you had planned a little trip to a music festival upstate you’d been wanting to go to for years. You plotted the entire weekend and sent the details to Wanda, only to have her thank you and go with her boyfriend instead.

“I thought you planned a romantic trip for us,” she protested with a laugh. “It’s not my fault you wanted the romance for you and me instead.”

“You are so funny,” you muttered, glancing back at your cereal. Yeah, it was probably mush by now.

“Oh, you know you love me. At least I have that over Borky, right?”

How will I know (Don't trust your feelings) How will I know How will I know (Love can be deceiving) How will I know

You stayed silent, your eyes flickering to the counter.

“Right?” Wanda prodded again.

When you didn’t answer a second time, she sighed in your ear. “Please tell me it’s not true.”

“Wanda!” you exclaimed, feeling a little offended. “Why can’t I feel what I feel?”

“Because you always do this, Y/N. You get these really deep feelings way too soon, and you always get your heart broken. I just don’t want to see you get hurt again, friend.”

Technically, she wasn’t wrong. You did tend to give your whole heart in your relationships, probably much sooner than the other person, but it was only because you cared deeply about people. You thought people deserved love, and while in the past you were better off just being friends, there was no denying that what you really wanted was true love.

Maybe that was the true issue.

Were you forcing it already? Did you make it all up, project onto Bucky what you wanted him to feel to justify it? Wanda’s words struck a chord; now you weren’t even sure yourself.

“Well, friend,” you echoed, trying by failing to keep the irritation out of your tone. “How am I supposed to know what I’m feeling? How am I supposed to predict how he’s feeling, while we’re at it?”

How will I know if he really loves me I say a prayer with every heartbeat I fall in love whenever we meet I'm asking you what you know about these things

“Well, has he said anything about it yet?”

With your cereal long forgotten, you flopped back down on the couch. “I mean, not really, no. Nothing like, explicitly declaring his love for me if that’s what you mean.”

Now the world didn’t seem as warm and bright as it had earlier, as if the sky was reflecting your change in mood. The clouds that were promised by the local weatherman were rolling in, and with them came a dim light and slight chill in the air.

Wanda didn’t speak for a few beats.

You picked at a piece of lint on your pajama pants. “Wan?”

“I don’t know what to tell you, Y/N,” she said finally. “You don’t want to say it too soon, you know, because you don’t want to scare him off, right?”

That was a reasonable statement. You stretched your legs out, putting your feet on the coffee table.

“Right. But I don’t want it to seem like he’s just a casual thing for me either, Wanda.”

“So ask him.”

How will I know if he's thinking of me I try to phone but I'm too shy (can't speak) Falling in love is all bittersweet This love is strong, why do I feel weak

The mere thought of bringing any of this up to Bucky made you want to curl up in a ball and hide under a blanket. You’d been so sure this morning, so certain that you were right, that this connection was different and much stronger than previous relationships.

It must not be that strong if one call from your best friend could derail your confidence that much.

“I can practically hear your panicked thoughts over the line,” Wanda laughed. “Y/N, I’m going to ask you some rapid-fire questions, okay? It’s something that Vis told me about, from an article he read or something. Whatever your first answer is, that’ll be it, okay?”

You made a face. “Uh, I guess?”

“Okay. Here we go.”

“Okay.” Your grip on the phone tightened. For some reason you were nervous to see if this would actually work.

You were nervous if the truth would be different from what you wanted it to be.

“Earth to Y/N! Are you awake?”

“Yes.”

“Is it raining?”

“No.”

“Is my name Wanda?”

“Yes.”

“Are you at work?”

“No.”

“Is it Saturday?”

“Yes.”

“Did you go outside today?”

“No.”

“Are all dogs cute?”

“Yes”

“Do you love Bucky?”

“Yes.”

Your left hand clamped over your mouth in shock. You sure as hell blurted that out without thinking.

Oh, wake me, I'm shaking, wish I had you near me now Said there's no mistaking, what I feel is really love

Wanda chuckled on the other end of the line. “So anyways, there’s your answer about your feelings, Y/N. I guess it’s true.”

You could barely hear her, though, as your thoughts raced and you tried to focus on the implications. That might have solved half of the dilemma, but it still didn’t answer your main question:

Did Bucky Barnes love you, too?

How will I know (Don't trust your feelings) How will I know How will I know (Love can be deceiving) How will I know

“So now,” Wanda continued, her voice getting louder. “Now you text him and spend the day with him instead, okay?”

You shook your head. “Wait, I thought you wanted to come over and watch movies?”

“I did,” she agreed nonchalantly. “I’m over it. Go be with Borky, Y/N. I’ll see you tomorrow, maybe?”

“Okay, Wanda, and thank you. I love you.”

“Oh, now you just love everybody, is that it?”

“Again, so funny.”

“Love you too. Have fun. Text me later.”

If he loves me, if he loves me not

You pressed end on the call, then stared at your contact list. Bucky’s name was just sitting there, ready for use. All you had to do was press call, or send a quick text. All you had to do was take a step towards the truth.

If he loves me, if he loves me not

“Come on,” you muttered, giving the phone a shake as if it was the reason you weren’t calling or texting Bucky. “You can do this.”

If he loves me, if he loves me not

What would you even say, though? ‘Hey, it’s Y/N. Wanna come over and maybe let me know if you love me or not?’

“Feh.” You stood up and launched the phone into the couch cushions, deciding to dump your mushy cereal while you tried to come up with what to say to him.

“This shouldn’t be so hard,” you chided yourself as you scraped the congealed cereal into the garbage bin. “You’ve been together an entire month now. Four weeks. Eight whole incredible dates. You can-“

Your self-pep talk was interrupted by a few raps on the door. It was probably your neighbor telling you to stop talking to yourself. That’s the kind of crazy your insecurity was causing.

You opened the door, not bothering to adjust your hair or pajamas.

To your utter surprise (and inner despair), Bucky was standing in your doorway, his blue-grey eyes wide as he took in your messy state.

“Y/N, hey,” he greeted with a warm smile. “Can I come in?”

“I uh…I wasn’t expecting you, Bucky. You usually text first?” You felt your face growing warm with embarrassment as you moved aside to let him in. If only you hadn’t worn your Wonder Woman pajamas to bed last night. Why, why, why…

“I’m sorry about that.” He held up a paper bag. “But I was nearby and I brought you bagels. You know, the ones you like from the café on the corner of Union and...what’s wrong?”

You shook your head, moving around him to head to your bedroom. “Let me just get changed.”

“Why?”

A quick glance back at him stopped you in your tracks. He truly looked confused. “Because I’m in my pajamas, my hair’s a mess, I’ve not even washed my face let alone put on makeup, Buck…I just…a little warning would have been nice.”

“I’m sorry,” Bucky repeated, stepping closer to you, his hands sliding to rest on your hips as he turned you back toward him. There was a small smile on his mouth and sincerity in his eyes. “I think you look great.”

“I look like a sloppy nerd,” you pouted, trying in vain to pull back from his embrace. So maybe you were flirting a little, too. Whatever. You had information to dig up, so it was almost necessary.

Oh, how will I know?

“You do,” he agreed, his smile widening. “But it’s really cute. And you’re cute when you’re embarrassed, too.”

“Bucky!”

He finally got you to stand still by brushing his lips over yours once, twice, enough times to make you lean into the kiss for more. The two of you stood there, wrapped up in each other for what seemed like ten minutes but was probably less than one, before he pulled back to look at you, his eyes twinkling.

“So I take it you forgive me?”

“I guess.” You shrugged as you untangled yourself from him, making your way over to the counter and the bagels he brought. You emptied the bag and opened the cream cheese. “I mean, you did bring me food, so you must really care.”

“I do care, obviously,” Bucky agreed, coming up behind you and reaching for a bagel. “I mean, love makes me do weird things, like show up early with breakfast. Speaking of, do you want yours toasted or not?”

You felt utter shock for the second time that day as you set the cream cheese down and stared at him.

He waved the bagel in your direction. “Toasted? Not toasted?”

“Not,” you said softly, offering him a smile.

Bucky gave a nod and set your bagel on a plate for you, then moved to toast his while you went over to the couch with all the supplies. Apparently he didn’t realize the gravity of his casual comment, or if he did, he wasn’t letting on.

“Do you wanna watch a movie?” he asked as he settled in beside you, steadying his plate on his knee.

“Yeah. I’ll let you pick,” you offered, taking a generous bite. Those bagels really were heavenly.

“Really? You’d even watch an old war movie with me?” Bucky gave you an incredulous glance, then wrapped his free arm around you, reaching for the remote with the other hand. “I thought you hated those.”

“Yeah,” you repeated, snuggling closer to him. “I mean, love makes me do weird things, like put up with your bad taste in movies.”

He chuckled, pressing a soft kiss to your temple. “Good to know.”

[fredrichards91]

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How To Stop A Divorce In Washington State

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[muthaz-rapapa]

A few thoughts about KiraPuri Ep. 8...

Another long post. I’m sorry. -.-;

It was good episode. Very good episode.

But I hope I wasn’t the only one who was a little disappointed that last week’s preview tricked us into thinking this would be about Ichika bossing the others around and through that, mess up the camaraderie they’re supposed to be forming. Which would then be followed by everyone deliberating what to do to solve this problem and what Ichika has to do to correct her wrongs. Or something along those lines.

Again, how things played out was in fact, a lot better than putting Ichika in the main spotlight like how it was for the past seven weeks. Now everyone has a part in putting this team together, finding ways to work with each other and so on. Honestly, I couldn’t have asked for a better end to the ‘introductory arc’, where we often see the lead Cure taking charge more than the others. 

Because I’m aware that it’s kinda necessary to have the them establish themselves into their leader roles that way (by being energetic and encompassing) so I’m willing to let that slide as far as the first 10 episodes go.

However, I still think it would’ve been interesting to see a flaw (any flaw) of a Pink Cure be portrayed in a negative light.

Mostly because I feel that a lot of times any aspect of the protagonist, even the very less than ideal ones, would rarely be displayed so badly that it would alienate the other characters or viewers from her.

For example, even if she was incredibly selfish and jumped into something without consulting her team members first, the plot would conveniently bend over to accommodate what she wants and then find some cheesy way to justify how ‘right’ she is or beautify her to such an extent that it leaves no room for argument against her. Then nobody would have a chance to call her out on her faults so that she can learn to fix it herself. Whether by virtue of her ‘purity’ or whatever glorified trait she possesses, it’s almost always guaranteed to turn out her way.

That’s one of the major reasons why I had so much difficulty tolerating Cure Flora in Go!Pri. As well as many other hero/heroines in other series and genres but those in Precure, especially, because this franchise seldom operates outside its usual formulas.

Maybe I’m not talking much sense but… it’s just this bothersome feeling I can’t help having on how the writers do their characterizations. Like, don’t just gloss stuff over all the time. Give me their ugly sides, give me unsettling confrontations between friends, give me something that won’t allow me to let her live it down but can also allow me to totally accept it as part of the composition of her character. Because that’s what going to flesh her out. She’ll be more of a person and less of an stereotypical image on paper. Flaws make a person a person.

Yea, yea, I do realize I might be thinking too deep into a children’s show but hey, since I invested myself in watching it, then it’d be dumb not to wonder about these things.

*sigh* Well, anyways, it’s a good thought exercise to have, nonetheless. And it’s still very early in the game for Kira Puri so maybe we will see some clashing development like that later on. Only the next 40 something episodes will tell.

Moving along!

I’m glad Yukari brought up the question on whether it’s true that “everyone” wants to open up this patisserie shop.

It implies that the lot of them might just be pulled in by Ichika’s enthusiasm and the fact that they are all Precure rather than being genuinely interested in participating because they want to.

Akira, in particular, is indirectly called a bit of a pushover which isn’t hard to see why since she often pampers her sick sister so that habit might have extended to their group where the majority of them are still in middle school. In other words, Akira has no will or opinion of her own. She just goes along with the flow to appease everyone and she’s being called out for it.

Yukari isn’t trying to be mean but it’s a question that really needs to be asked because lemme tell ya, starting and managing a business is no fucking stroll in the park. It takes a lot of time and effort and in this case, manpower, to get it off the ground and running.

If nobody but Ichika is 100% sure of really devoting themselves and a good portion of their schedules to this project out of their own volition or desire, then the patisserie is not going to succeed.

Thankfully, they all realize they do in the end but again, I have to say this because Toei is giving too many unrealistic expectations on what it’s like to run a shop. As a working person, I can’t just sit by and not say anything about it.

Another thing that got me concerned was how time management or store hours never entered their conversation and likely never will after this point even though it’s a super important discussion that you must have with your employees.

Because Precure universes have a weird sense of time in general but Kira Puri takes the cake in that I see these girls lounging around town and baking at the patisserie more than doing anything else that they should be doing. Like going to school, doing extracurricular actives, etc. I get that this season doesn’t prioritize those things but then…HOW do they make it work? It’s not like they have a fully-fledged, nontransparent and non-creepy adult to oversee the place when they’re not there.

Also, considering that 3 out of the 5 of them already had other commitments to attend to before the patisserie idea came up, it’s a surprise that nobody mentioned them until the very end of the ep. And even more of surprise when Ichika seems so shocked by it so you kind of wonder how self-absorbed she really is to forget stuff like that about her friends so quickly.

I’m sorry for dragging out these gripes of mine but honestly, things can’t possibly go so smoothly like what I’m seeing here. Not to mention, I hate the fact that they brought this up for comic effect when in hindsight, it’s really not something you should be laughing about.

So I hope at some point later in the season, there will be scheduling and commitment conflicts. Everybody might be on board now since they just finished setting the place up and all but when business is booming (I’m guessing it will anyway) and Ichika needs all the help she can get, how will they deal with it when the others can’t spare the time for the shop?

Anyways, while I do make too much of a big deal out of kid’s show, I also know that that’s not the objective of this episode.

The point of this episode was to see if the girls could learn to cooperate with each other. Cuz that absolutely had to happen first otherwise KiraPati would never have been set up.

And since it was set up, obviously they did find ways to work together.

Which introduces new pair dynamics as well.

We already got a good feel of Ichika + Himari + Aoi and Yukari + Akira based on grouping them by age. Plus Ichika + each Cure in their respective scenarios.

But it’d be boring if it was always limited to those so it’s high time that interactions not involving Ichika was finally delved into.

For Himari + Akira, you can see the relationship as that of an older sibling and younger sibling (cuz duh, this is Akira we’re talking about).

Tol and smol. Cute. <3

But you can also see them as marketing partners, too.

Akira, who’s already been assigned as KiraPati’s main garçon, attracts customers and investors with that welcoming, charming demeanor of hers, making it easier to lower their guard so she can pitch their ideas to them.

Meanwhile the more knowledgeable Himari backs up their proposals with the extensive details, showing how serious they are about their business and assuring people that they will be putting the resources they receive to good use.

It’s very encouraging to watch as they naturally come to bounce off each other in that respect.

Then we have the creative pair. The cool feline pair.

Stylish Mama Cat and Rockstar Lion Cub pair.

Their job is interior design cuz you want your customers to enjoy themselves in a nice setting under a pleasant atmosphere after all, right?

Yukari certainly got the aesthetics for the store down and Aoi, being an artist in her own right, most likely agrees with the concept she came up with. So it’s just a matter of organizing everything up to scale.

And of course, they do.

Yukari makes efficient use of Aoi’s muscle to help her set up the decorations and furniture. Not a space wasted but not too cramped (yes, I wouldn’t put it pass Yukari to be an expert on feng shui, lol).

And Aoi, well, it’s just scary how she manages to throw everything into the right spots with such precision (moral of the story: don’t mess with Aoi cuz she will kick your ass).

To think they were in such a messy state the day before but they can all come together like this and make that much progress in such a short amount of time.

It’s great. Their strengths complement each other well and they’re being productive about it.

It’s just great. ^^

Last but not least, the moment of crowning.

While it’s still debatable if the current Ichika is qualified enough to be a steady manager who puts a 14-year old in charge of a store? AND the cook (oh boy…), there’s no doubt that she definitely did earn her title as the leader of the group.

Ichika was the one who brought them together. She was the one who made the decision to use this space provided to them for a cause. She was the one who wanted to bring something good to others and get them to smile from the sweets they’ll serve.

She may not have Himari’s brains or Aoi’s strong arm or Yukari’s calmness or Akira’s maturity. And it’s true that she’s reckless and clumsy all over the place.

But it’s indisputable that she’s got the heart needed to make all this possible.

And that, I think, is the most critical element in sustaining their patisserie. You gotta have the intention to make people happy. There’s no other way you can open a business without that.

So it’s only fitting that Yukari would be the one to christen Ichika with the important position of manager. Because throughout this whole fiasco of building a shop together, Yukari was the only one who didn’t lose herself to stress over the situation (duh, this is Yukari we’re talking about).

Why? Cuz she predicted this would happen.

She knew that with the variety of people here, it definitely is possible to open a magnificent patisserie. Them getting off to a rocky start is just a minor bump in the road because no one’s going to do everything perfectly on their first try like how she was with the macarons *gets shot*.

And she knew that Ichika had the potential to live up to the expectations of being manager because Ichika has the determination to see it through.

If she didn’t know those things, she wouldn’t have stuck around to help because then it would be a failure and Yukari doesn’t accept failure. She doesn’t function on something flimsy like a whimsical belief. She has to really know there is a winning result at the end to see this as worthwhile.

(True moral of the story: Kira Puri wouldn’t survive with Yukari. Yukari knows all. They’d be lost without her. This season would be nothing without her. Yep.)

So think about what it means for her to entrust this huge responsibility to Ichika. 

“I trust that you won’t bore me so do your best, little manager.”

Yukari, who’s the most capable of them all. Yukari, so capable that she can probably/easily be a better manager than Ichika but chose not to because that would be no fun for her. Yukari wants Ichika to rise up the challenge in overseeing this patisserie.

It doesn’t just imply how much faith Yukari has in Ichika. It also suggests that being manager will mold Ichika into an even better character. All the stuff she’ll have to face as the leader of her team, that is what going to serve as her character development.

And I so hope that is the case here. I really, really do. You’ve got 40 more episodes ahead of you to take this season’s Cures as far as you can, Toei. Don’t disappoint me.

And that’s that, I suppose. 

lol, what the hell is bunnycake looking so tired out for? She didn’t do anything while the rest of them were slaving away to construct her restaurant. :P

Now bring on the fillers~

I can’t do this kind of review every week, it’ll kill me. =A=;

[im-abanana]

This is a little fic I wanted to post, and it’s based on the Early Twins AU of @ask-artsy-oncie. OwO I love their AUs, and this one in particular! I had fun writing this, even if it’s nothing much and it kinda sucks in some points.

Short summary: Poppy comes to Branch’s bunker to give birth to their seed, she needs a safe and far-from-the-village place; in fact, the Princess cannot go to the infiermery, because no one knows about her secret relationship with Branch or her pregnancy and she just doesn’t feel ready to face her friends and dad. So the future and terrified dad has to help and discuss with her about what will happen next: the Trolls’ seeds need to be planted to grow, and you can’t do something like that without being noticed. 

“Wait, wait, wait! P-Poppy, are you giving birth right now!?” Branch panicked in a split second, aware of the situation at this point, seeing the poor girl standing in front of his secret opening and sweating, grasping her belly with desperation and panting heavily in evident discomfort. The poor survivalist almost had an heart attack when he saw the Princess in pain, bleeding and bending in front of his door. “Poppy, are you crazy!? Why did you come here!? Why did you put your own life (and the kid's) in danger, leaving your pod and walking into the wild woods when you went into labor!? What were you thinking!? It's almost midnight, and it's pitch black outside! A savage animal could have attacked and killed you! You could have lost your way and fall in a gorge or in a trap, I set lots of them around here! You could have-”.

“Y-yeah, pretty sure I'm about to give birth. Anf... S-sorry, but I j-just couldn't stay in my pod... it's too exposed. My dad and the others still don't know about... well, us and my p-pregnancy. I couldn't just go to the infirmery and say “Hey everyone, sorry for the interruption, but I'm giving birth and these kids are mine and Branch's”, don't you think? I'm afraid I-I guess need to give birth here, I can't exactly face my friends right now.” the pink Princess groaned, smiling softly to hide her sharp pain and to reassure her terrified partner, gritting her rounded teeth and whining for a few, endless moments. “F-fuck, it hurts like hell...! Branch please, please, I'm begging you... can I c-come inside your bunker? It's rather c-cold outside and I t-think I need to l-lay down a little, and I'm starting to feel the u-urge to p-push out this seed...”.

“O-oh! Of course, come inside immediately, don't even ask!” the dull and grey Troll said with his light blue eyes wide open, opening his secret gate and helping the girl entering and going downstairs, grabbing her by her now pudgy waist and holding her in his strong arms, kindly and lovingly. “Damn Poppy, you're giving birth, that's not right at all! I am not ready, I am not prepared right now! Of course, I knew this was going to happen sooner or later, but still...! What do I do!? What do you need!? … Oh, yes! Blankets and clean towels, of course! And water, a lot of water, you must be thirsty and dead tired! J-just lay down on m-my bed, you know where it is, everything will be alright, I promise! If you don't feel good, just call me, I just need to grab... something!” he literally screamed, running around the underground house and throwing things randomly in the air, terrified, searching for useful items.

“Branch dammit, c-calm down, you're destroying your own house! I-I'm not dying, don't worry, I can bear the pain.” Poppy snickered lightly, a little amused, sitting on Branch' shabby but rather comfortable pallet, removing her damp underwear, spreading her trembling and currently weak legs and leaning her aching back on a pillow. The pink girl grimaced visibly when, between her slim thighs a translucent-red liquid, probably amniotic fluid mixed with smelly blood, poured on the clean and white sheets. “I'm sincerely s-sorry for your poor bed, B-Branch... I am making a m-mess, eheh... but I promise I'll buy you another one.”.

“Don't even worry about it, ok? You're in labor, I don't care about my bed, screw that stupid bed! All I care about is you and the baby!” the dark survivalist rushed beside her with incredible speed, holding a large and wooden bowl full of fresh water and clean towels, then he put them on a night stand and asked to his secret girlfriend: “How do you feel!? Are you ready!? Is the seed leaving your body!? Do you need a glass of water!? Or maybe food? I have berries, roots, bark... maybe even a cupcake or two!  Are-”.

“Branch, shut up and chill!” the Princess shouted, panting, looking at her shocked “mate” with slight rage and gravity: that delicate situation was escalating rapidly, and he was panicking as usual. No he can't, not now, Poppy thought, I need him calm and cooperative, or he'll freak out and even hurt himself. “Listen to me. I... I'm s-scared too, like r-really scared. I'm gonna be a mum. And it hurts so much. And I feel the seed slowly coming out. I need you to b-be calm and next to me, at least try, I'm trying t-too! I... need you, Branch. I need your help and support right now. P-please, just try to relax for me, will you?”.

Branch seemed stunned for a moment because of her direct and strangely reasonable words (“Poppy” and “reasonable” in the same phrase? The world must be going upside down, the survivalist realized.), his breath held and his face pale as a ghost's. She was right. She was absolutely right. “Y-you... you are totally right, Poppy. I'm so sorry. I'm behaving like an idiot, I shouldn't have stressed you like this and I should have thought about making you feel like home.”

“I feel like home. You make me feel like home.” Poppy unexpectedly smiled, realizing that maybe she overreacted a bit (Branch was about to become a father as well, being nervous was totally understandable), caressing the male's left cheek and looking him in the eyes for an endless, infinite second. Until a strong contraction hit her unprepared body and mind, of course. “Fuck! Hurts, hurts, hurts!” the Princess wailed all of a sudden, grabbing Branch's hand tightly until she heard it crack, riding out the long contraction and pushing when she felt ready: the seed was coming out, she could feel it.

A Troll's delivery wasn't exactly long-lasting or too painful: an hour, or maybe two, and that was it. Short, sure, but intense. The contractions were pretty strong and breathing became difficult for the always-positive and optimist Princess.

“DON'T TELL ME ABOUT IT, POPPY!” the poor grey Troll tried to hide his evident pain with an agonizing grin, his eyes teary and wide open and his poor hand aching and throbbing. That girl was strong, probably even stronger than him, he almost felt his thick bones breaking because of her “little touch”! “Ok Poppy, just breathe. Inhale and exhale. In and out, in and out. Concentrate on your urges, I'm right here, I will always be...”.

“I'm trying to breathe, but the pain is increasing! F-Fuck!” the Princess shouted and panted out, gritting her teeth again and arching her back, kicking the air with her left and slim leg. “I-I think... I can almost feel the seed sliding between my legs... c-can you please check, Branch?”.

Branch quickly nodded and looked between her trembling thighs, blushing a little (that dark guy was still so shy...) as he did so. He gasped loudly and with anticipation when he saw the initial part of the seed coming out after a particularly strong push. “I can see it, you are right Poppy, it's coming out! Push, it's almost over!” the survivalist encouraged his brave and tough girlfriend, then he grabbed a scented towel and prepared himself to catch that little life. And with a last, powerful and long load, the always-happy Princess made it.

The colorful and now slimy and rather dirty seed fell kindly into the fluffy blanket and into his worried father's arms, leaving its mother's warm body forever. Branch started to check his future child with speed and professionalism: the nice color, the brightness of the delicate surface, the weight, the solidity and general conditions of the seed. “It's... perfect. Maybe a little smaller than a normal Troll seed, I must say. But it's ok!” he concluded with relief, sweetly cleaning the small bundle and looking at his excited and impatient partner. “You were brilliant, Poppy... how are you!? It was a quick delivery, maybe even too quick, are you sure you're fine? Nothing teared down there, am I right?”.

“I am fine, Branch. Don't worry about me. It was fast indeed (thank godness), but I'm not feeling bad or hurt, at all. And, as you said, the seed was little.” Poppy chuckled with a slightly tired voice, observing the product of her effort with her semi-closed magenta eyes: she wanted to sleep and rest so bad... But unexpectedly, right when she was finally starting to relax, another strong contraction hit her, making her groan loudly again. “A-and I don't even think I'm done!”.

“... What? A-aren't you done?” the grey Troll asked, tilting his big head to his right side, not quite understanding the point of that creepy phrase. “What are you saying, Poppy? What does it mean? Are you hurt!?”.

“No! I-I think there's two of them, two seeds!” the Princess growled, rubbing her swollen belly to ease the pain and re-starting to push on instinct. “Yeah, there's definitely two of them, I f-feel another seed inside my body! Fuck you Branch, this is your fault! Branch! Branch...? Branch!!! DON'T YOU DARE FAINT ON ME!”.

Gosh, that was going to be a very long night.

...

After just a few hours, inside that hidden bunker, everything was silent and calm as two moved and inexperienced parents were looking at their newborns with teary and happy eyes.

“Twins.” Poppy said with a soft and tired whisper, holding two big, colorful and violet seeds (as big as a rugby ball, Troll-sized obviously), wrapped in two comfy and damp towels, in her protective and maternal arms. She seemed so proud of herself when she looked at Branch and asked with a wide and funny smile: “Would you like to hold one? They're not heavy. You can feel them throbbing a little, and these little guys are so warm. Come on, take at least one, you won't hurt them...” the Princess encouraged him, seeing the grey survivalist a little scared and unsure, probably he was thinking that he could hurt the little and delicate seeds with his callous hands and lack of delicacy. “Here you go, new daddy.”.

“Oh... Of c-course...” Branch stuttered a bit, slowly and carefully reaching for one of the fluffy bundles and taking it into his cautious arms, trying to be as kind as possible, his heartbeat becoming faster and faster as he looked and caressed his future child, their future child. A little life, a beautiful, tiny creature that he and Poppy created with their love, passion and colors (well... at least Poppy's colors were showing). “They will be beautiful, I know that, and they already are. Even if they're still little seeds.” the male added, a few silent tears streaming down his face and his touched expression, usually worried or tense, now relaxed and sincerely happy. “Thank you Poppy, I... I can't say how much this means to me and how much I-... I...” he tried to say, sniffing and sobbing silently, trying desperately to hold those new and strong emotions in. “I-I'm sorry, I'm just-”.

Poppy interrupted him, pressing their lips together in a smooth move, while hugging him with her free arm and enjoying the warmth of his strong and chubby form. “You don't have to say anything to me, Branch. I already know that.” the pink girl said when they slowly parted, her nose nuzzling against his bigger one in a protective and affectionate way. “I love you too, you smartie dork.”.

“... You'll be a perfect mum, you can bet on it. Except for your pesky parties and loud screams, dances and karaokes... I hope our kids will be a little more... uh, restrained?” the dark survivalist grinned a little, wondering what the babies will look like in the meanwhile. With pink body and magenta eyes like their mother? Or blue-green like his hidden and lost colors, with his light blue eyes? Or maybe... grey and black?

“And you'll be a perfect daddy. A little dreary and overprotective of course, but good, loyal and tender.” the always-happy pink Troll replied, chuckling and snickering with a cocky expression. But after just a few seconds her expression changed and her facial muscles tensed: “Tomorrow morning we'll have to plant our seeds or they won't survive, you know that. And we'll also have to reveal our secret relationship, we can't hide it anymore, everybody deserves to know about us and our new family.”.

“I know, and I guess it's time to reveal it... It won't be easy, but I'll be with you. I promise.” Branch reassured his beloved girlfriend, rubbing her elegant back and nuzzling her fluffy and scented neck. “Probably they'll look at us and judge our relationship, mostly because of me and my different personality. I don't care about that, I'm used to their insults and nasty looks. But if they touch or push around my children, I swear I'll-”.

“My friends and dad will love our kids, and surely they will love you too.” Poppy interrupted him with a wink, a bit sleepy and exhausted, lazily stretching her legs and arms' muscles. “You are the father of my children, you are my boyfriend and a very brave, brave Troll. These seeds... are our work! A beautiful and perfect work, I must say, we did really well. We make a good team, don't you think?”.

“Indeed we are, I think we complete each other in some way.” the grey survivalist smiled back holding his purple seed, the blood of his blood, tightly and lovingly against his chubby chest. “And we'll fix this situation together, we are a family now. And I'll protect you and our kids everyday of my life, I won't let anything happen to you.”.

“Same here. We are a family, and also a team. We'll work together and fight together.” the Princess nodded with enthusiasm and great optimism, grabbing her mate's hand with a kind move and sighing softly. She wasn't scared, not anymore. She wasn't tense about tomorrow, because she loved that new, full of changes today. Poppy had a tender boyfriend, two upcoming children, her friends, her dad, her kingdom and a home. Nothing else mattered, because everything was going to be alright. “Together.”.

“Yes, together.” Branch repeated with a whisper, pressing his forehead against the pink Troll' sweaty one and looking again at the two fluffy bundles. He almost couldn't believe it: he was holding and looking at his kids, conceived with the love of his life, he had everything he ever wanted. “I think it's true, at this point: some things are just meant to be.” he thought, thanking the heavens for that blessing.

[spiteweaver]

previous | next

Almost the entirety of Clan Feldspar, several-hundred strong, had gathered in the town square. A large stage had been erected, upon which Dreamweaver and Banrai now stood. Dreamweaver’s hand rested lightly upon their husband’s. They surveyed the crowd in patient silence, waiting for their people to settle.

“Quiet, you lot!”

Solaire’s hardy call cut through the commotion, and silence descended on the square. Now the only sound came from Phantasos, giggling in their brother’s arms and reaching upwards to grasp at the lanterns hanging overhead.

“Thank you, Solaire,” Banrai said. “Now, to business. I’m sorry we’ve called you all here so late in the evening, but we didn’t want to cut into your busy schedules. As you well know, we’ve all had our hands full this past eon.”

“That’s an understatement,” Castor said. “Seaglass took out half th’ village.”

“I-I didn’t--”

“I know ye didn’t mean to. I was only teasin’ ye, boy.”

“Good-natured ribbing aside,” Dreamweaver began, “and despite the fullness of our hands, Banrai and I have decided it would be best if we made an official announcement regarding some of our new members.”

Dreamweaver motioned to the group of eleven loitering by the stairs. One by one, they ascended to stand beside their founders, each of them with hands clasped and eyes downcast humbly. A murmur rippled through the crowd below as heads came together in gossip.

“Some of you are already familiar with them and their duties,” Dreamweaver said, “but this gathering affords us an opportunity to discuss future plans with the whole of the clan. Firstly, however, we must see to formal introductions.”

A short, stocky dam with hair the color of ripe peaches stepped to the edge of the stage. Dressed in dusty gossamer and strings of gold, she gave off a warm, inviting air. She bowed her head to the audience with a gracious smile.

“My name is Rosegold,” she said, “and I will be your Earth Representative. My first task, as decided upon by both the founders and myself, will be to reach out to clans in Dragonhome who have fallen under the tyranny of the Warren. The Warren’s queen has long cast a dark shadow over my people’s lands. I hope to put a stop to its spread, and gain us many strong, loyal allies in the process.”

Next to shuffle forward was a tall, gangling fellow. He had an anxious aura about him, as if he were the sort to never speak above a whisper--yet, when he addressed the crowd, his voice was surprisingly strong and clear.

“I am Plaquemine,” he said, “and I am your Plague Representative. My first task will be to journey to my homeland and commune with its medicine people. They have a wealth of knowledge concerning disease and rot that may aid us in coming eons. Our clan’s epidemiologist, Loyal, will be accompanying me. My hope is to gain not only allies, but experience that can be put to practical use here in the Light lands.”

“I’m sure you can all guess which flight I represent,” the third hummed. They were lithe and pale, clothed in shimmering silks and flowers native to the Windswept Plateau. “My name is Dahlia,” they introduced, “and I’m your Wind Representative. My first task will be to establish trade routes between clans in the Twisting Crescendo and Feldspar. Crescendo clans are infamously difficult to trade with, due to the volatile nature of their home. My primary goal is to work with them to find new, safer ways to transport goods.”

The fourth was a beast of a drake. Larger than life, seemingly clothed in the reflections of stars upon the sea, he commanded the crowd’s attention. With his dark skin and deep blue eyes, there was no mistaking what land he called home.

“My name is Levi,” he said, “and I will be your Water Representative. Like Dahlia, my first task will involve trade. The Leviathan Trench is just as treacherous to navigate as the Twisting Crescendo, if not more so, and clans there suffer for it. We could gain much by lending them our aid.”

The fifth, in stark contrast, was short and thin. One could tell at a mere glance that he was ill-tempered and overworked--as a Lighting dragon should be, their Patron would claim.

“I am Volskaya,” he said, and his voice was so heavily accented that several members of the assembly exchanged confused glances. “I vill be your Lightning Representative. My first task vill be to integrate my people’s knowledge of technology and machinery into the clan. To do this, I have requested aid from Feldspar’s inventor, Hyde, and from Mettaton, who is, himself, a mechanical marvel. My goal is to make our clan more efficient in everything it does.”

“Ah, well,” Juneau said, “you all already know me. I’ve been so involved in the clan’s affairs lately...” A slight blush colored his pale cheeks. “I’m Juneau, and I’m your Ice Representative. My first task has been and will continue to be keeping channels open between Feldspar and our distant allies in the Ice lands. With the Southern Icefield being so far south of the Continent, it’s important to establish and maintain communication. I’ll appreciate any cooperation from my fellow Ice dragons.”

Next was a sleepy being, obscured by ebony smoke and purple cobwebs. When they spoke, their voice echoed with an odd and otherworldly tone, as nebulous as their shifting, shimmering form.

“I am called Silhouette,” they said, “and I am your Shadow Representative. My first task will be to gather allies for us in the Tangled Wood. We have none at present, but I know my homeland well, and it is abundant in rare resources found nowhere else. I will begin with a journey to Darkroot Garden, with Mergo as my aid.”

Just as Silhouette was cloaked in shadows and illusions, the Imperial that stepped forth in their wake was cloaked in light. He seemed to radiate it, his sun-kissed skin illuminating the very air around him. If ever a being had perfectly encompassed light, it was surely he.

“Dreamweaver chose an Imperial to represent us?” one onlooker murmured to another.

“Shameful,” the other tutted, “it should have been a Pearlcatcher.”

“My name is Dawn,” the Imperial said. “I have been given the great honor of representing our homeland. My first task will be to aid Clan Aphaster in all of its endeavors. As a new clan to our lands, they will need the guidance of those born and raised under the Lightweaver’s banner. I hope to work closely with their Light Representative, and help them adjust their clan to their new surroundings without major incident.”

“Clan Aphaster appointed a Pearlcatcher,” the first onlooker said.

“Lucky them,” the second grumbled.

Then Dreamweaver’s gaze fell upon them, cold and sharp, and the dissenters bowed their heads. “Honestly,” Dreamweaver muttered.

“We did warn Dawn there may be naysayers,” Banrai reminded.

“Even so, it hurts my heart to think that there are those among us with such needless biases,” Dreamweaver said.

Unlike his colleagues, Crucis did not mince words. “I am Crucis,” he said, “and I am your Arcane Representative. I’ll be helping Clan Aphaster tidy up the mess they made of my homeland.”

“Crucis,” Dreamweaver hissed.

“What?” Crucis blinked. “What did I say?”

“Three guesses what flight he’s representing.”

The next dragon to step forward had hair so wild that his face had long ago been buried beneath it. Vials and trinkets dangled from his sleeves, so that he clicked and clinked whenever he moved. His voice was rich and deep to match the soil of his homeland.

“My name is Keakaokalani,” he said, “and I am your Nature Representative. For now, I intend to focus on establishing inter-clan relationships with the scattered tribes of my people. We are of many cultures and beliefs, but I hope to unite us under a common desire: happiness.”

Last to step forward was Izalith. He held his head high, as he always did, dipping it only slightly when prompted by Dreamweaver.

“I am Izalith,” he said, “and I am your Fire Representative. My first task will be to negotiate peace and alliance with the Beastclans of the Volcanic Vents. Fiver and I will journey to their lands the day after tomorrow and, if we are fortunate, return with delegates from each of the clans. Allying with them will offer us a great many opportunities for expansion and trade in the future.”

As Izalith stepped back, Dreamweaver stepped forward, opening their arms wide. “So it is,” they said. “You know now who they are and what purpose they wish to serve among us. I ask that you welcome them as you have welcomed all those that came before them.”

“You can all go to bed now,” Banrai added. The crowd laughed. Dreamweaver shook their head, but smiled all the same.

“Let this mark the dawning of a new era for our clan,” Dreamweaver went on, “and let us make it an era of peace, friendship, and growth. We wish you all a good night, and that, when you dream, you dream of our future together, as Clan Feldspar.”

Slowly, the crowd dispersed, but many lingered to converse with their new Representatives, eager to learn more about the mysterious strangers they’d seen skulking about in recent months.

“They kept most of you a secret from us,” Seaglass remarked. “'Course, I knew Juneau was our Ice Representative, so I figured there had to be more, but Dreamy’s funny about things sometimes, y'know?”

“We’re sorry for keeping to ourselves so much,” Rosegold said.

“Dreamweaver feared us simply appearing and claiming to be ambassadors may not sit well with the clan,” Levi explained. “Mmm, some of us, at any rate. Juneau was accepted almost instantly.” Though his expression was stern, his eyes were gentle. “Not very good at keeping secrets, are you?”

“Is it my fault Seaglass recognized me straight away?” Juneau asked.

“Every Ice dragon knows you,” Seaglass replied, “so, no, it’s not really your fault! I’m glad you told me you were our Ice Rep, though! I might’ve actually tried to fight you if you hadn’t!”

“I--I do hope my previous actions didn’t--”

“Nah.” Seaglass waved a hand. “I spent my youth along the Frigid Floes. Too far west for you, I think.”

“That’s...” Juneau sighed. “That’s good. That was my greatest worry when Dreamweaver invited me to settle here and represent the Icefield. I don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable.”

“You’re already making me uncomfortable,” Silhouette said, “you, and Rosegold, and Dawn; you’re all much too radiant for my liking.”

“We’ll take that as a compliment!” Dawn said.

“What I find curious,” Isaiah said, “is why they chose now, of all times, to appoint Flight Representatives. We’ve always done well on our own in the past, seeing as our clan is a major hub for trade in the east.” He fixed each of the ambassadors with his piercing gaze. “I don’t suppose any of you know why?”

“No,” Rosegold said, “I’m afraid we don’t.”

“All they said was that they felt it was time,” Dahlia said, “which, if you ask me, is a perfectly sound reason for appointing Flight Representatives.”

“You’re a Wind dragon,” Volskaya said, “of course something nebulous like that vould suit your tastes.”

“Is the ‘why’ really that important?” Dawn asked.

“Of course it is,” Isaiah insisted. “This is a big shift for our clan. I’ve been here since the first cycle. I know what that means.”

“You think something’s wrong?” Seaglass said.

“I know something’s wrong,” Isaiah replied.

They turned as one to watch as their founder descended from the stage. They could sense nothing amiss about Dreamweaver. They were smiling softly, conversing with Banrai in that loving way they always did. Yet, when the group returned their attention to Isaiah, the doctor was frowning severely.

“Mark me,” he said, “there’s a storm brewing.”