#felt like doing something messy today and i always love drawing these two

[spiderziege]

for the doodles, maybe some etho or/and cleo?

hello, request thats been in my inbox since october,

[junvibing]

Artfully Yours

pairing: art major renjun! x fem!reader; youtuber!renjun

warnings: lots of art and ramen, renjun is very much in love, college

summary: Renjun wants to get you something special for your birthday. He has two problems though: 1. there's not much time left, 2. he's a perfectionist. But hey, at least Chenle gave him the perfect idea. Now, he only has to finish in time and hope you'll love it.

wc: 12.5k

a/n: I've been working on this on and off for around a year lol. Anyways I really like it and I hope you do too! Leave me feedback haha this is my first long fanfic and honestly it's special to me :') <3

song recommendation: Like we just met - nct dream

credit for art inspo: matlagesilke3 on pinterest

The second Renjun got home, he prepared to spend the rest of the day working on a drawing. Since it's due for tomorrow's Drawing II class, he really needs to put his energy into finishing it today. His art projects are often accompanied with him staying up into the nights to perfect them. Sometimes while painting his thoughts drift away and he starts thinking about other things. This tendency surely adds to him staying up late but for today he hopes he’ll be able to finish before midnight. That’s why Renjun starts gathering his materials quickly before sitting down at his desk. His room is a little messy but college is stressful and an art major is no exception. Especially since he is somewhat of a perfectionist but he couldn’t imagine studying anything else other than art. For as long as Renjun can remember, he was always interested in it. The way colors dance on the paper, the way they blend into each other or how he can create anything he wants and get lost in the process - he just loves it. One of his favorite things is to try out different art mediums and see how they work, how comfortable he could get with them and if he’ll resort back to them in the future. Over the years, he discovered that he loves painting with oil paints and watercolors the most as they bring him great joy and the best results. Both mediums can be tricky at the beginning and it wasn’t much different for him when he started out but proper practice helped a lot. However, Renjun also enjoys drawing on his tablet, which is especially useful if he wants to post his work online. 

In his opinion, art is meant to be shared and what better way is there to reach lots of people than sharing it online? That's why he had started to post his art on Twitter when he was still in middle school. Whenever someone retweeted his art, he felt so elated, it pushed him to continue sharing his work. In high school he even started exploring with posting videos on YouTube, all related to art of course. Jisung, his classmate and one of his best friends, had encouraged him to just go for it and soon enough his other friends had joined in. Thinking back to his very first YouTube video, Renjun lets out a chuckle. Dang, I was so nervous. Shaking his head, he continues sketching. The thing is he never used to show his face on Twitter, it was all about his art and creativity but with the encouraging words of Jisung and his other friends, he dared to show his face on YouTube, alongside his art of course. The first video Renjun ever posted was of him drawing Moomin fan art. Over the years, his channel actually gained quite a bit of attraction and while in high school, he would often daydream about making money with his artwork even though he knew his parents wouldn’t really support him in pursuing such a career. As far as Renjun knew, his parents wanted him to get a “real” career. But he spent most of his free time either with his friends or sketching, drawing and painting. 

I still do that. Renjun sits at his desk, room dimly lit and pencil in his right hand. But y/n’s in the picture as well now. He grew up with art and it accompanied him throughout his ups and downs. He loves being creative, that’s why he had decided to go through with applying for a fine arts major when the time came around. However, his parent’s opinion and support was important to him. So at the time, he had a serious talk with them. Renjun knew they only had his best interest at heart. Naturally, they want him to be successful in life and it’s important to his parents that their only child has a good and comfortable life. They imagined for him to pursue a high paying, high status job like being a lawyer. His parents couldn’t picture how studying art would provide him with something like that. To them, pursuing an art career was too unstable, too risky. But Renjun managed to show them different ways in how he actually could be successful with it. He would do internships, could go into graphic design, could become an illustrator or go as far as to become an art instructor. There are different paths he would be able to take that would pay him well and hearing that eventually convinced his parents. Of course, Renjun had been overjoyed about that. He still is actually. All his life, art was one of the things that brought him the most happiness and his parents supported him in pursuing it as a career. What else could he wish for?

Turns out, there really was something else he could have wished for. He only knew it after you entered his life though. Renjun occasionally thinks back to how you two met. Out of nowhere, his mind sometimes drifts to the first time he saw you. Just like right now. The window in his room lets little light shine through, the sun is almost fully set at this point and the only other light source is the lamp on his desk, illuminating a bottle of milk and a few pieces of fruit. Renjun’s project for tomorrow is a still life, an art depiction of inanimate objects. It is pretty normal for him to drift off when he was monotonously sketching away, which is exactly what he is doing right now. His pen glides easily on the paper in front of him while he thinks back to his second semester. Renjun never really used to be a person who obsessed over relationships. His mind was filled with other things like ideas for art videos. In fact, he actually used to be the type who didn’t believe in love at first sight, which Jaemin thought was crazy by the way. But you kinda proved Renjun wrong. 

He still remembers the day clearly. It was fall and Mark invited you to come hang out with the boys. The dreamies, as Haechan likes to call their friend group, were still great friends even if they didn’t see each other everyday like they did back in high school. Mark actually mentioned your name before, it wasn’t your first time hanging out with the boys either but the few times you were with them, Renjun couldn’t make it, so he only officially met you in his second semester. Crazy, almost two and a half years ago. He can still remember exactly how he reacted to seeing you for the first time. The second Renjun’s eyes landed on you, the things and people around him somehow were moving in slow motion. To say he was intrigued by you would’ve been an understatement. You looked so mesmerizing, smiling at whatever Jisung was saying while the evening sun hit your face in the most beautiful way. Renjun felt like he was looking at the prettiest painting he ever laid his eyes on. All the beautiful, intricate art he saw over the years didn't compare to you and he immediately wanted to introduce himself. From that day onwards you joined his dear collection of things he loves to draw the most. 

It actually didn’t take long for Renjun to ask you out as there was no way he would be able to let you slip through his fingers. Over the years, your relationship has been going strong. Just like art you've become a constant in Renjun’s life that he wishes to never lose. With time, he even introduced you on his YouTube channel. It took a little convincing but after a while you were able to put your shyness away and join him in a vlog. Renjun smiles, thinking back to your first video together. Back then, he had decided to participate in the challenge of drawing under a blue light and you tagged along in his vlog at the beginning. It was fun for both of you and Renjun’s subscribers enjoyed seeing you guys together. The comments were flooded with how cute the two of you were and requests for you to join him more on his channel. But for today, Renjun's plans don’t include any art challenge. It’s time to finish this still life. He needs the day tomorrow for something else, something more important. 

The next day, with a fresh mind and his still life finished, Renjun prepares for a different project. There is still a bit of time left before he needs to get to class, so he wants to use it to start before it's time to turn in his still life. Renjun has something special planned for you. Your birthday is just around the corner and he had been unsure on what to get you. Last year he got you a beautiful necklace with a butterfly charm. “To show you my appreciation” is what he had said when putting it on you. Renjun never wanted to stop feeling warm and fuzzy inside when he was with you. For this year’s gift, he was thinking about decor for your dorm room since you moved recently. Yet for some reason, whenever he was strolling through stores, keeping an eye out for a suitable gift, he felt like nothing fit perfectly. You don’t really need a new rug or pillows. Your room is already decorated with various plants. Just getting you a few scented candles like Mark suggested was too plain. Getting a mug was out of the question as it’s not special enough for you. Not to mention a mug technically isn’t decor. Although it could be. However, Renjun wanted to get you something special, something that shows he put thought into it and when speaking to Chenle about it the other day, he suggested the perfect idea: painting you a picture. 

Naturally, Renjun drew small pictures for you over the course of your relationship and you cherished every single one of it but he never created a proper painting for you. Almost outrageous, how come he never did that for his girlfriend? Even Jeno did it at some point for his girlfriend. Or tried at least. Nevertheless, she loved it and Renjun still remembers your reaction actually. You and her go way back, having met during middle school. Naturally, you only ever wished the best for your best friend. So of course, seeing her that happy about Jeno’s gift, had put a smile on your face. You even laughed a little, seeing her show it off to the others. Thinking back, that should’ve been Renjun’s first clue to paint you something for your birthday. But at least he came around now, even if it is a little overdue. As soon as he had decided to paint you something to put on your wall, he had brainstormed for ideas. His still life project got in the way so he couldn’t start earlier but today is finally the day he can turn his draft for your gift into the beginnings of a painting. Last week, Renjun sat down and thought about what he wanted to paint for you and since the painting is supposed to fit your room well, he had decided to go with an enchanted forest. He feels like it would complement the various plants in your room nicely. A dark forest with colorful sparks throughout would be the perfect eye catcher for your plain white dorm wall. He had decided to draw two particular trees to accentuate the centerpiece of his painting: a magical path that’s curving to the right. Renjun feels very confident about the idea, so much so that he had decided to film a YouTube video around it: “Painting for my gf’s birthday”, where he documents the process of his painting and captures your reaction to the present. 

That’s why he sits in his chair right now, camera on his desk and films himself. His subscribers will surely enjoy seeing this. “Hi painters, so my girlfriend’s bday is just around the corner and I’ve been struggling quite a bit with finding a gift. I can’t just get her an ordinary gift, you know me. So I was thinking and searching and man almost gave up but my friend literally saved the day.“ Renjun salutes to the camera. “谢了, 哥们.“ ”So anyway, I decided to go with his idea of painting for her, hence this video. I was brainstorming in advance and already did a vague sketch of my idea.“ Renjun holds his sketchbook into the camera so his viewers can see the enchanted forest. “You can see it’s supposed to be a forest. I wanna add different colored sparks to it and make the path here a blueish white to give it a fairy, enchanted type of feel.” Renjun traced the path with his finger and then mentioned two particular trees. “The big trees in the front that bend over and form a heart accentuate the magical path nicely. I also added a little pond. I really like it and I think y/n will like it as well.” Renjun adjusts the camera to show his canvas and him. For the next thirty minutes, he hunches over his desk, sketching his draft carefully onto the canvas. Since this is supposed to be the centerpiece of your wall, Renjun bought a big canvas last week. It is supposed to be an eye-catcher after all. As the time passes and he finishes sketching, he stands up to look at his work. “Okay that’s good enough.” Renjun looks into the camera. “I’ll stop for now cause I have class in about forty minutes. But I’ll see you later tonight when I continue. Y/n’s bday is literally in 9 days and you know how it goes with oil paints, long drying times. So I need it to be done one day before her bday, meaning there’s no time to slack off.” Renjun takes the camera into his hand and smiles before moving his hand in front of the lens. “Only the best for my babe.” 

Hours later, Renjun is setting up his camera again. After his last class for today, art history, he got some lunch with the boys in the dining hall. Mark and Haechan had class though, so the group wasn’t complete. The boys catched up a little but Renjun didn’t want to spend too much time eating. There was still a project awaiting him at home after all. That’s why he only had a small chicken salad. Jaemin talked about how his professor has been kicking his butt with reading assignments for class and to be fair, Renjun could understand. There was just something unpleasant about having to read two 15 page papers about the causes and consequences of the French revolution. But Jaemin chose to major in history education. Although Renjun knows it’s not Jaemin's fault for having an unpleasant professor. Chenle, however, hadn’t been that interested in his friend’s distress. “Glad I don’t have to deal with that”, is what he had said. “Yeah, you need to deal with statistical models dude, gross” Jaemin really doesn’t like math. But, the boys were all able to agree that college workload is a lot, whether one studies education or economics. “Chill guys”, Jeno had taken a bite of his pizza slice, “Jun, how’s it going with y/n’s gift?” Well, Renjun still has lots to do, which is why he had used that opportunity to briefly explain his progress and bid his friends goodbye to go straight to his dorm.

“I’m back, people. I turned in a project and I had art history today which wasn’t so great. It has the touch of being boring sometimes but it’s okay, let‘s continue.” Renjun turns his camera to show the sketch he made earlier today. “This is what we’re working with. It’s time to bring some color into this. I don’t wanna waste much time, so let’s begin.” He pulls his easel out and places the canvas on it. The camera is pointing at him and the canvas again but this time he is standing in the middle of his room. After opening a window, he starts with mixing light gray and dark brown. Oil paints don’t have the nicest smell, so it’s good to have a window or two open while painting. This way, Renjun can maximize the time he is able to paint before getting a headache. “Since I don’t have much time for this painting, I’ll use a fast drying medium. Hopefully this way the painting will be dry on time for y/n’s bday.” Renjun starts with a medium sized brush to paint a thin layer of light gray on the middle of his canvas, where fog would later shine through the trees. The next step is to use brown to block in the general shape of the trees. The two bend trees forming a heart take up quite a bit of space on the left and right side of his canvas. Later on, he wants to spend time on the details to tie everything in. Renjun, like most artists, finds it better to start with the general shape of things and work himself up to the smaller, more detailed parts of a painting. 

After almost two hours of painting, he takes a small break to get a snack. I should still have a pack of ramen left somewhere. Of course, only if his roommate Jay didn’t eat it. After locating the ramen and preparing it quickly, Renjun places his camera in front of him. “As you can see, I took a break guys. I’m sitting in the kitchen right now since I don’t want to expose myself to the smell of the paint unnecessarily. I only have a little bit of the background left. So, I think I should be able to finish in about twenty minutes or so.” Renjun turns his camera off to continue eating. Conveniently enough for him, you video call him while he's still eating. So, he wasn’t rushed to get out of his room to hide his painting from you. Renjun answers your call while positioning his phone against the fruit bowl on the table. “Hi babe, hold up.” After his phone is stable, he smiles at you. “How was your day?” Seeing Renjun after a long day makes you sigh and smile at him. You just wanted to see him and hear his voice for a while to feel better. “Exhausting, I had so much class today and work was a mess.” You pout. You work at a coffee shop downtown a few days a week to save up some money. Sadly, more often than not, you have to deal with difficult customers. “I’m sorry to hear that, love. Did you just get home?” You nod. It is way past nine in the evening and you were ready to go to sleep in a bit, ideally with Renjun cuddling you but that won’t happen today. “Jun, how come you’re eating at this hour?” You know he doesn’t usually eat this late as he doesn’t like to go to bed with a full stomach. Renjun quickly tries to come up with a plausible answer. He doesn’t want to tell you that he spent a good portion of the day painting your gift. “I had a bit of a light lunch today, went out with the boys but didn’t eat too much.” That technically wasn’t a lie either. During lunch he was eager to go back home to paint your gift but the boys insisted he ate at least something before spending hours on it. Renjun and you spend the next ten minutes talking, before he sents you a kiss through the camera and you hang up for the night. 

After washing his bowl, he goes back to his room. He could feel a headache approaching but was determined to finish the background today. Soon enough, around thirty minutes later, Renjun picks up his camera again. “I’m finished with the background guys. This is how it looks so far.” He turns the camera to show the canvas in detail and zooms in a little. At this point, it looks like a simple foggy forest with tall, leafless trees. Renjun will worry about the details later, for now this is good enough. “Quite simple but that’s fine for today. Hopefully it’ll be dry by tomorrow so I can continue after classes. See you then.” Renjun quickly changes into his pajamas and brushes his teeth to go to bed but not before making sure to keep his window open. 

Wednesday morning comes around and Renjun wakes up in his chilly room. He doesn’t mind it that much since he needs to get to class soon anyway. His Wednesdays are usually packed with classes. But thankfully, they are ones he mostly enjoys, Ceramics, Contemporary Art, Digital Media and lastly Painting II. After quickly eating breakfast and getting dressed, he was ready to start the day. Today, Renjun and you are actually planning to get lunch together. Wednesdays and Fridays were set dates where you would either hang out in between classes and snack on a few things or eat lunch together. Renjun loves doing small, simple things with you like snacking on sandwiches together. Since you’ve been busy lately with your part time job at the coffee shop, he hasn’t been able to spend lots of time with you. He made an effort to show up at your workplace every other day or so but seeing you for fifteen minutes just wasn’t enough, which is why he looked forward to today. As soon as his fourth class finishes, he makes a beeline to the door. 

You were supposed to meet next to the library and just as agreed he sees you standing there, smiling down at your phone. You’re wearing one of his hoodies and jeans, quite simple but you still manage to look great. As if you had a feeling he was coming your way, you look up. Renjun kisses your cheek, “Hi love, missed you.” He holds out his hand for you. Putting your hand in his, you start walking towards a convenience store nearby campus. “Junnie, how was class? Did you manage to finish your charcoal drawing from last week?” A few weeks ago in Painting II, Renjun's professor introduced the topic of shading with paint. His professor gave a deadline of one week to turn in a small charcoal drawing and today they had the first hour of class to finish it. The assignment was only intented to be a supplementary technique though. It would help to understand contrast and value as a basis for shading with paint. Charcoal isn’t a medium Renjun uses often, so he chose a somewhat simple object to draw, a vase full of your favorite flowers, tulips. “Yeah, I managed to finish it within the last ten minutes. The shading was a little tricky though. I’m not too satisfied with it but you know my perfectionist self.” Renjun smiles sheepishly. You know he takes his art seriously and has a tendency to focus a little too much on the details. Sometimes he would ask you to have a look at this work since your input helped him and over time he learned that looking at his art with a fresh set of eyes always worked. Nevertheless, in your opinion, he always manages to create something that was beautifully executed.

On the way to the supermarket you tell him about your day, how boring class was and how your professor gave you tons of reading material for the next class. Renjun knows you have a thing for reading, hence your English literature major but he never understood how you were able to survive reading so much for your degree. He enjoys reading from time to time but having to read pages upon pages of who knows how old literature and analyzing it all in class never had much appeal to him. Nevertheless, he listens attentively to you and after you both get some snacks that Renjun kindly carries, you walk back to campus to your favorite spot near the economics department. Just a few minutes away from the main building were a few benches looking out at the gardening club’s flower field. You and Renjun love to sit on one of them and enjoy the beauty of different flowers together. Thankfully, one of the benches isn’t occupied so you both can sit down and enjoy your break together. Every year, the gardening club arranges their flowers in different themes. A few months ago in summer the theme was “beach sun set”. For this, their flower field basically consisted of flowers in three colors: blue, orange and yellow. Since the season has already changed, a new theme is in place at the moment. This winter, the gardening club focussed on winter themed food by using white and red roses arranged in a way that looked like a candy cane and so on. Renjun likes the idea of different themes, it was nice to see the club have fun with being creative. In a way they're creating their own art. 

An hour later, Renjun walks you to your next class and squeezes your hand lovingly before making his way home. He is happy that he got to spend some quality time with you, even if it wasn’t very long. While walking back, he is mentally preparing a list of what he needs to paint next for your gift. Since the background was finished and hopefully dry, the next step would be to go into more detail by giving the trees more depth, properly outlining their roots and branches. Renjun also wants to add more color accents to the trees by painting green and slightly bluish leaves. He wants to mimic moon light shining through the forest. It would cast onto the leaves of the trees and give them a light blue tint. As soon as Renjun arrives home, he continues filming his painting process. “Hi painters, I’m back for the next round. Right now it's Wednesday afternoon, meaning I have exactly 6 days left for this painting to finish, so it can still dry in time. Let's go!” The next hours of Renjun’s day consisted of his open window, the smell of oil paints and color on his fingers. At one point, he did actually take a small break to eat, even his roommate Jay made an appearance. Renjun gets along just fine with him but both prefer to stay in their respective rooms, meaning they don't see each other often. He literally is just his roommate, still a cool guy though. One time Jay even asked him for some art advice. Renjun didn't really imagine him to be the type of guy to be interested in art, but turns out he wanted to try out something new. Of course, Renjun was happy to help and advise. Maybe this time for his painting he would ask Jay for his opinion. 

Thursday flew by him it seemed. Renjun got in and out of class, worked on another assignment and met up with the dreamies. He didn’t continue to paint on the canvas because it was still too wet. Time is worrying him a little bit since the paint takes longer to dry than he likes and he still needs to do quite a bit. But he'll push through. Renjun is determined to finish your gift one day before your birthday and there's no way he'll give you an unfinished painting.

The next day, your Friday lunch break falls short because of an essay you have to finish. However, this gives Renjun more time to perfect his painting for you, which he feels like he really needs. He spent so much time working on it, yet he still isn’t satisfied with the outcome. In fact, he feels like the painting was nowhere near being finished in time. There is something about the way he placed the sparks that he doesn't like. The thing is, he can’t really pinpoint why exactly he doesn't like it. They just aren't really “flying” in the air well enough. Some are too close together, others too far apart. In a way it doesn't look natural enough, but that in itself doesn't make any sense, cause no normal forest has such sparks flying through it. Renjun was expecting them to deepen the magical feeling of the forest, but for some reason he couldn’t portray that feeling onto the canvas in a satisfactory way. Regardless, a few spots shouldn't be enough to give him the feeling of not liking the placement of the sparks overall, right?

To be frank, he is very frustrated. So, at one point he decides to vent to his camera. “I know I’m too nitpicky. But I just want it to look perfect for y/n. I also know she will like my painting regardless. Heck, she probably wouldn’t mind if I doodled her something as a present. But I want it to be deserving of being in her room. I want her to love my painting and me to like it as well.” Renjun wipes a hand down his face. “Maybe I’ve been on this for too long. It’s already past 7 pm and I’ve been working on this painting since I ate lunch. Or maybe time is just stressing me. There are only a few days left and I still need to work on the details.” Renjun decides he needs a break, a fresh breath of air. Maybe the oil paint smell is messing too much with his ability to create. Whatever the case is, he decides to go by your workplace and see you. Your smile would definitely help him feel better. 

As soon as you see Renjun walking through the door of the coffee shop, you have a smile on your face. Your work day is slowly coming to an end and even though most customers today weren’t that difficult to handle, working a long shift naturally tires your body out, which is why it's a pleasant surprise to see your boyfriend. “Junnie, what are you doing here?” Seeing you standing behind the counter smiling at him, gives Renjun a warm and comfy feeling. It was like all of his worries evaporated into thin air as soon as your beautiful face smiled up at him. “Hi love, came to see you. I needed a fresh breath of air.” You walk around the counter to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, the rag still in your left hand. As expected, his insides are feeling fuzzy again.

You’ve always had that effect on him. Renjun didn’t really mind holding your hand in public or you leaning on him, but kisses, even if only on the cheek, are something intimate to him, so he only really initiates them in public if he really misses you. Otherwise they are kept for when you two are in private. “Trouble with painting again?” Renjun smiles sheepishly. Of course, you would figure him out. But he doesn’t mind and fortunately, you don’t know what exactly he was painting. “Yeah, I think I’ve been on it for a bit too long. You and a nice cup of tea will surely help.” Renjun isn’t a big fan of coffee, he preferred drinking tea over coffee any day. Whenever he comes around the coffee shop you work at, he either orders tea or just some pastry to snack on, sometimes both if he feels like looking at you a little longer. Often Renjun thinks about how pretty you look and about how he could watch you for hours. He realizes that thought might be creepy but you didn’t mind when he told you about it one day. It’s him after all, not some stranger. 

You quickly wipe down the table before going behind the counter again to prepare his drink. Today, Renjun chose to drink lemon tea. Being the nice girlfriend that you are, you gave him a small cookie on the side as well. Sadly, he can’t spend much time talking to you as new customers come in. That‘s why he sits down at a table and enjoys his tea and the cookie. How nice it would be if we could just sit on my bed and talk. Or rather on her bed, can’t have her seeing the painting. Occasionally, he looks over to see you wiping down tables and you wink at him. He was right, a tea and you definitely help to calm his mind. Renjun spends about twenty minutes in the coffee shop before he gets up and gives you a sweet goodbye. It is time to return to the dorm and continue his painting.

For now, he plans to continue with a few details of trees. Maybe having a fresh look at the sparks tomorrow is a better idea. Not counting today, 5 days were left till your birthday, which meant he effectively has 2 to 3 days left to paint since oil paint, even with a quick drying medium, still needs comparatively long to dry. After working for about half an hour on the details of the trees in the back, Renjun feels a little better about his painting. He takes this as an incentive to end the day with a positive feeling and grabs his camera again. “Okay guys, I’m calling it quits for today. It’s about 8 pm already. I think it’s better to tackle the sparks tomorrow. ” Renjun quickly shows the current state of his painting before he turns off the camera. 

The next day is a Saturday, meaning Renjun has all day to paint and he wakes up with a good feeling. He quickly eats breakfast and immediately wants to get to painting, so he sets up his camera to further film his painting process. It’s time to focus on the sparks. The ones he already painted were in different colors, namely pink, yellow, blue and red. But looking at his canvas with a fresh set of eyes, he realizes they were not bright enough for his liking. They aren’t really sparkling. Maybe the feeling he got last evening of them not “flying” in the forest nicely was caused by that. He needs to paint in such a way that they look like they were actually sparkling. Renjun has the revelation that he needs to add highlights to the sparks. Adding highlights to them would ensure that the sparks stand out more against the forest, making them more interesting and giving the painting a more refined look. He likes that approach. Maybe he can even place the highlights in such a way that it would have the effect of letting single sparks look more apart from others. This way his problem of the placement of some sparks would be solved, at least to some extent. 

For the next hour Renjun works on adding enough highlights and blending around the sparks. He also adds a few more sparks to the forest. Taking a few steps back from his canvas, he regards the result. This time, Renjun definitely likes it a lot more. The sparks look nice against the dark forest and shine in different colors. It felt realistic and he was happy with the outcome so far. He grabs his camera, “Finally guys, I managed to paint the sparks in a way I’m satisfied with. I had the realization this morning that I needed to add highlights to them and I'm happy to report that it was a good idea.” Renjun shows his viewers the current state of his painting. “I’m thinking of continuing with the details of the two bent trees in the front. I only have a few days left to paint and I still need to work on the details of the pond.” Renjun puts his camera back on his desk again, before facing the canvas. These two trees still need leaves and defined roots. He wants to make them look like they are quite old.

Basically, Renjun spent the rest of his day painting, except for the occasional toilet and food break. After hours in front of his canvas, his head hurts. His bedroom is cold because of the opened window, yet he still feels the effects of the oil paint. Whatever. I need to continue at least a little bit more. At this point, the two trees forming a heart are finished. Renjun added a few bushes to the forest as well and moss around the pond. Since he had decided to make the path leading to the pond a blueish white, he worked on that as well. This way, it seems like the moon lights it up. Of course, he also needs to add highlights to the crown of the trees. He thinks about whether to make them a different color, but ultimately decides to go with the same blueish white since it ties in better with his concept of the moon shining down on the forest. Renjun wants to finish that part today, before calling it quits for tonight. It should take him under half an hour to finish this detail and then he can enjoy a bowl of ramen before going to bed.

The following day, Renjun can’t really continue working on his painting since it needs to dry, so he mainly spends the day working on his art history essay that is due for Tuesday’s class. He already had planned it ahead, which is why he had mainly focused on his painting for you yesterday. Since it needed to dry for him to continue, Renjun can use today for his assignment. He needs to write an essay about the way leadership and power gets depicted in art. For that he had to choose a picture to analyze and write about. Renjun knows he is pushing it a bit late but since he doesn’t plan to work on anything else today, he figures it’s fine. He’s sure that he can finish the assignment today and if not, he still has a bit of tomorrow left. It is only supposed to be four pages long anyway. How hard can that be, right? Well turns out a little harder than he had thought. Renjun spends around three hours in front of his laptop before he decides to take a break. I really should eat something. After all this writing his brain needs energy and a break. Standing up from his desk, he turns around and his gaze falls on the canvas in his room. Renjun inspects it carefully from a distance and actually likes the result. Of course, it still isn’t finished. He definitely needs to add a few more details. The bend trees need to look more interesting and realistic. A few more details on the trees in the back would be good. Maybe I also should add a few more sparks-– his finger twitches. There is nothing more that Renjun wants in this moment than to grab his brush and continue painting, perfecting your present. But right now is not the time. He shakes his head lightly. Still needs to dry. 

Trying to get his thoughts away from the painting, Renjun decides on what show to watch while he eats something. Surprisingly, he has been enjoying a Chinese drama you recommended lately, but maybe watching the next 40-minutes episode isn’t such a great idea with an unfinished essay sitting on his desk. So he decides to just watch a YouTube video. Twenty minutes later, Renjun sits at his desk again and continues with his essay. That’s basically how he spends his whole afternoon. Around 6 pm he is actually almost finished with the essay. That’s why he decides to get up and go into the kitchen to make some ramen. He knows that he ate a little too much ramen throughout the week but they are really just so convenient when he doesn't have much time to cook. 

However, on the way to the kitchen, his doorbell suddenly rings. Renjun isn’t expecting anyone, his roommate might have but Jay doesn’t come out of his room to open the door. So when the bell rings a second time, Renjun opens the door. To his surprise, it’s you. You stand there, smiling at him, dressed in an oversized jacket and plaid pajama pants, a small handbag on top of your right shoulder and a plastic bag in your left hand. As usual, you look cute and cozy but Renjun can’t really concentrate on that. He only stares at you. Why is she here? Did I miss something? And then it hits him. He curses in his head, you’re here for the movie night you both agreed on last week. Seems like amidst all the painting and college he forgot about it. Good going Renjun. You tilt your head a little to the side, “Baby, are you going to let me in?” Renjun’s mind immediately goes to your gift. Damn it, the painting’s still in my room! He can’t possibly let you see it. In panic, Renjun turns his head back, looking into the flat. He needs to come up with some kind of excuse right now, on the spot, “Love, babe, give me like 2 minutes okay, my room’s kinda messy”, he looks at you, his hand already resting on the door to close it. “Jun, you know I don’t care about that”, you step forward, laughing a little but he holds his ground. “No really, just give me like 5 minutes”, Renjun doesn’t give you any time to properly react and closes the door. 

Quickly jogging into his room, he looks around. He only needs to hide the canvas, his paints and brushes aren’t a problem. But where should he hide it? Behind the closet? No way, too risky. The kitchen, no it’s right next to the front door. And then it hits him. Jay! Carefully grabbing the canvas, Renjun quickly goes across the hall and knocks on his roommate’s door. “Listen dude, my girl’s just outside the door but I can’t have her see this painting. Can I please hide it in your room for a few hours?” Fortunately, Renjun and Jay get along well. “Oh yeah sure” Jay points to the corner next to his dresser, “you can put it there dude” Renjun quickly puts the painting down and thanks Jay like three times before he goes to get you. “Okay love, you can come in.” “Thank you for being so gracious, your highness” You jokingly bow down before entering, Renjun shakes his head, closes the door and grabs your hand. You do sometimes have this amusingly bizarre streak. “How come you suddenly felt the need to tidy up your room for me? Hiding something?”, you tease him. Renjun almost scratches his head. Surely, if he would’ve done that you would be more suspicious of him. “It’s just messy babe. I want you to be comfortable.” Humming, you decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. It sure seems like he didn’t expect you to come over today though. “Did you forget our movie night, Junnie?” Renjun smiles apologetically and nods, “Sorry love, promise, next time I won’t forget.” He squeezes your hand. Renjun normally isn’t the person to forget your dates. Spending time with you is one of his favorite things to do but even he can sometimes forget. You don’t mind, he’s also just human. Besides, you know Renjun had a couple of deadlines lately. 

Entering his room, the familiar sight of art materials, a few soda cans and an easel greets you. Renjun keeps his room mostly tidy except for whenever exam season hits and he has to deal with many art projects at the same time. Renjun’s habit of spending too much on details leads him to making full use of the deadlines, which in return stresses him out so much that he doesn’t bother a lot with cleaning. To you that’s fine, you aren’t much different in that aspect. Besides, why add more stress to exams by worrying about whether your room is clean or not. You make your way to his bed and put your handbag down, your gaze finding the empty easel in the middle of his room. That usually means he's working on something. “Jun, what have you been working on?” Renjun’s gaze quickly follows yours. Dang, should've put that away! Okay, just say something. Quick! “Ahh love, you know I have a few projects due soon. I’ve been spending a lot of time painting.” Renjun sits down next to you, nodding as if he was trying to reassure himself that he wasn’t caught by you. But technically he didn’t lie. Quickly trying to change the subject, he grabs your plastic bag. Before coming over to Renjun’s place, you quickly got a few snacks at a convenience store. “No movie without snacks right? Oh and I got you some ramen as well, Jun.” He looks inside the plastic bag, it contains chips in two different flavors, some gummy bears, his favorite ramen and pretzel snacks. “Thank you love, I should still have some soda in the fridge for us.” Renjun stands up and takes a step in the direction of the door but halts as you grab his wrist. “Jun, can we prepare the ramen now? I’m actually quite hungry, I haven't had dinner yet.” You’re hoping he agrees as the last thing you ate today was just a piece of toast a couple of hours ago. After your eight hour shift at work today you worked a little on an assignment before buying the snacks for tonight. Renjun immediately agrees, laughing a little. “Sure, I’ve literally wanted to make myself some ramen before you rang the bell.”

After cooking the ramen and grabbing two soda cans, you’re sitting on Renjun’s bed while turns off the lights before he grabs his laptop. Since he knows how much you like to have a few scented candles lit up while watching a movie, Renjun also does that before sitting cross-legged next to you and putting his blanket over you both. Turning on the third Harry Potter movie, you cuddle up to him and enjoy the evening together. Three weeks ago, Renjun and you had decided to rewatch all HP movies and so far you both enjoyed it very much. It’s been years since the last time you watched them, so you figured doing it together would be fun. That’s why you’ve met up with Renjun once a week for movie night, snacking away your worries and college stress for at least the few hours that you spend together with him. Sitting together under the blanket and just spending time together with him is one of your favorite things to do. It doesn't matter if you watch a movie or drink tea together, you just enjoy spending time in Renjun’s arms. How can you not? Renjun is just so good to cuddle. That’s why you always end up putting your head on his shoulder, hugging him and it’s no different today. Your head is resting on his shoulder and his arm around you. 

From time to time Renjun gives your body a little squeeze and feeds you snacks. He also sneaks a few glances at you. Seeing you so comfortable around him, makes his insides feel warm. So cute. He might love you a little more every time he sees you like this. You aren’t wearing any makeup and aren’t dressed up, yet you manage to make him attracted to you nonetheless. There is just something so attractive about you being your true self around him, not caring about how you look in your pajamas or how much you snack. Suddenly, Renjun feels the urge to kiss you. If only you weren’t so focused on the movie, “My love”. You hum as an answer, eyes still glued on the laptop screen. “Look at me please.” You lift your head off his shoulder and Renjun just looks at you lovingly. While you slowly sit up, he can only think about how you really are the most beautiful woman he set his eyes on. Tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, he slowly leans in. Renjun believes there is nothing better in the world than moments like these. Moments where everything fades into the background and only you two seem to exist. Moments where he can be very close to you and his lips can meet yours in a loving and intimate way. Your lips are soft and smooth in such a way it feels like kissing the clouds. Your hand naturally finds its way into Renjun’s hair. His right hand cups your cheek while his lips move slowly against yours. His other hand rests on your waist and after a loving moment, Renjun tilts his head a little more to the side, deepening the kiss. His lips still taste a little of the ramen you two had earlier but you don’t mind. Kissing him is always great. In a sense, kissing him is like drinking a cup of hot cocoa on cold winter days. Renjun’s kisses give you comfort, warmth and a sense of belonging like you’ve never felt before. Even in very passionate moments, where kissing him stole your breath away, Renjun is caring and gentle. Just like now as he holds you a little closer, loving you a little more. His hand, previously on your cheek, moves down, stroking your waist. Slowly he pulls away, hands still on your waist. “I love you.” Truly, you’re one of the people that make him the happiest. Smiling, you lean into him to place your lips on his one more time, portraying your love for him. “I love you too.” Putting your head on his shoulder again, you notice the movie is still playing. Both of you return to watching and enjoying it further. 

Around halfway through the movie, the cozy atmosphere and dim lit room actually make you sleepy. You did have a long day today and after a while, Renjun notices your lack of comments and snacking. Turning his head to look at you, he sees you fast asleep on his shoulder. Not wanting you to be cold, he places the blanket further up your body and tightens his arm around you. Renjun is unsure about waking you. Since you don’t need to work tomorrow morning, you could sleep over today. It’s been quite a while anyway since the last time you slept over at his place. To be honest, he kind of misses falling asleep with you next to him. However, if you are to sleep over, the painting will need to stay in Jay’s room for the night. I guess I could ask him. He probably wouldn’t mind. Renjun decides he would ask. So he slowly begins to move your head from his shoulder, hoping you won't wake up. He really tries to be careful but apparently isn’t careful enough since you slowly start to wake up while he tries to lay your head down onto a pillow. Slowly sitting up, you quietly mumble his name. Your hooded eyes find the laptop screen still playing the movie. “I’m sorry love, didn’t wanna wake you” “It’s okay. When did I fall asleep?” Renjun smiles, “I’m not sure, some time ago.” “Oh”  “Yeah, oh” He laughs a little. “Do you wanna sleep over, love?” You nod, you can just leave in the morning since you don’t need to work until the afternoon shift begins. Renjun and you decide to just wash up and relax in his bed. He doesn’t need to finish the movie and you’re so tired, you probably would’ve fallen asleep again anyways. Closing his laptop, you make your way to the bathroom he shares with his roommate. Renjun always has a toothbrush prepared for you even if you didn’t sleep over most nights. It’s pretty cute and someway along you also started to pick up that habit of his for whenever he would sleep over at your dorm. That didn’t happen so often though since you share your dorm room with another girl. It’s definitely more comfortable to sleep at his place since he has a room to himself. 

While you’re in the bathroom, Renjun quickly makes his way to Jay’s room and knocks quietly. In hindsight, he could’ve also just sent him a text but whatever, Jay already opened the door. “Hey man, y/n’s gonna sleep over. Is it okay if the painting stays with you tonight?” Jay doesn’t have a problem with it. It’s just in a corner anyway, so the painting doesn’t really bother him. Having solved that problem, Renjun makes his way back into his room and starts to put the snacks away before getting you a shirt and sweatpants to wear for the night. Just in case she wants to get out of her pajama pants. Shortly after, you enter. “Here love, you can get changed if you want while I brush my teeth”, Renjun points to the clothes on the bed that he neatly laid out for you. You’ve always liked sleeping in his clothes, somehow it’s another kind of comfy. Maybe it’s because they always smell like him and how is a girl able to resist that? “Thank you Jun”, you quickly kiss his cheek before he leaves the room. Looking around you notice that Renjun already blew out the candles and sorted out his bed. After quickly changing your clothes, you grab a corner of his blanket and slip under it. 

Not even three minutes pass before he opens the door to his room. A soft smile makes its way onto Renjun’s lips as he sees you already comfy and ready in bed, waiting for him. Seems like the tiredness is slowly creeping up on you again. My poor baby. It's not even 9:30 and she’s ready to call it a day. Renjun quickly turns off his light and gets in bed next to you. You turn around to face him and his arm automatically wraps itself around your waist, pulling you a little closer. You place your hand on his chest while your head rests on his arm. Renjun slowly strokes your hair, soft eyes looking at you in the dark. After a few minutes, you snuggle a little closer to him. Cuddling him like this makes you even more sleepy. You nuzzle your face into his chest, giving him the perfect opportunity to lay a sweet kiss on top of your head. Renjun rests his cheek against the top of your head. Little words are exchanged as you welcome the comfortable and sleepy atmosphere. Except for your breathing, your heartbeats and the occasional sound of the blanket shuffling, the room is silent. You love moments like these. You love when Renjun cuddles with you, when you can feel his arms holding your body closely and his soft breath against your hair. You’ve always had a soft spot for his hugs anyway and being so close to him that you can listen to his heartbeat while feeling the warmth radiating from his body gives another level of bliss. You actually want to stay awake a little longer, want to consciously feel his body for some time more but it’s getting progressively harder for you to stay awake and Renjun sees how you struggle to. He murmurs against your hair, “Close your eyes, love. I know you had a long day” You feel another kiss on your hair and mumble an “I love you” to him before closing your eyes and letting sleep take over you. You barely manage to hear him say it back before you fully fall asleep.  

Opening your eyes the next morning, Renjun’s sleeping face greets you. His hair is kind of messy and his shirt got pulled down a bit, exposing part of his collarbones. Renjun’s arm rests on top of your hip and your feet are touching. Watching him for a few minutes, you get lost in your thoughts. There’s just something different about him in this relaxed state. It's like all the world’s stress and pressure can't get to him, like he can truly be undisturbed and there’s nothing in the world less than peace and happiness that you wish for Renjun. You know he has tendencies that make his life, especially his college life, a little more difficult than it needs to be. But honestly who knew an art major could be so demanding? You used to have this picture in your head of an art major being easy. After all, the students only need to paint stuff, right? Yeah, not exactly. Because of Renjun, you were able to glance beyond surface level and it turns out, studying art is harder than it seems. Renjun has written exams, almost weekly mini art projects for his classes, he needs to hold presentations and when exam season comes around his room is piled up with different art materials for his creative projects. It truly seems like you have to love art to study it or else you will drown. Renjun gives his all for college and you love that for him but him being a perfectionist adds another layer of difficulty to his degree. Sometimes he really needs to relax. That’s why you like seeing him resting so much. He can shut the world out and doesn’t fry his brain with details of his unfinished projects. You get to see him recovering from all the work he puts into his passion. 

You regard Renjun‘s sleeping state for a little while longer. The sun falls beautifully on him, partly on his face and hair. It highlights his slightly puffy face that he tends to get in the mornings. Your hand unconsciously reaches out and begins to stroke his hair slowly. Feeling your hand caressing his hair, Renjun stirs a little and sighs. It’s a very cute sight. Slowly opening his eyes after a few minutes, he smiles at you. Tightening his arm around your waist, you exchange a small kiss. Spending the morning with Renjun is usually a calm and loving experience. He likes to take his time in the mornings whenever he can, especially when he’s still a little sleepy. So you both spend a while wrapped in each other's arms with quiet murmurs to not disturb the morning quietness, taking in the warmth of one another before slowly getting out of bed to get ready. After eating breakfast together you need to leave to go home. Since you didn’t plan on spending the night, you plan on making a stop at your dorm, changing into a different outfit and maybe reading a little before going to work today.

As soon as you left, Renjun got his painting from Jay’s room. Today is the last day he can work on it since the painting needs to be dry for your birthday. After spending the last evening with you, Renjun feels quite good this morning. He feels like he can finish the painting in time and that he’ll like the outcome. The painting still needs details to the pond. It hopefully won’t take more than two hours. After that, Renjun still needs to add finishing touches to your gift. He starts with the pond by adding light blue highlights and a few branches that touch the water before letting the paint rest a little. In the meantime, he moves on to the finishing touches of other parts of the painting. Renjun had planned on spending the majority of today to finish your gift. Unfortunately, he can’t varnish it yet because it needs a few months to properly dry before he can put the varnish on top to fully seal it. However, for your birthday it will be enough for the painting to be dry to touch. After adding a little more detail to the trees in the background and defining a few of them a bit more, Renjun continues with the two main trees forming the heart. He decides to add some moss to the tree barks. 

However, after regarding the thin layer of moss he painted, he isn’t really satisfied. It seems a bit too flat for his liking, so he decides to try a different approach and goes to the kitchen to get some coffee. Maybe adding a few sprinkles of ground coffee into the paint will create a more natural finish. After trying it out on a paper and liking it, he uses his mixture of paint and coffee for the moss on the canvas. Looks pretty good. Being satisfied with the moss, Renjun takes a few steps away from his canvas to have a look at the pond. It doesn’t necessarily look bad but there’s still something he doesn’t like. He feels like it's kind of looking boring, which probably is because of a lack of details. That’s why for the next hour or so he spends his time perfecting the pond. In a spur of inspiration, Renjun also decides to add shadows of little fish inside the water.

Just in time for a small food break, Renjun finishes with the painting for now. He decides to come back to it after eating a bowl of ramen to regard it one last time before deciding if it’s really finished or not. Twenty minutes later, after he finished eating, Renjun stands in his room with crossed arms in front of the canvas. The window is open again, still his room very much smells like oil paints. His shirt and hands have paint on them, he truly looks like an artist in this moment. To him, there’s something strangely satisfying whenever he gets lost in painting so much that his hands and clothes show the proof. Renjun is satisfied with the outcome. It looks great. Exactly how I envisioned it. Finally. The forest looks enchanted, mysterious and doesn't have too much or too little detail. It looks like a forest one could stumble upon in a fantasy world and that’s what he was going for. She will surely like it. Smiling, Renjun starts to collect his art materials to clean them.

But suddenly, he gets a thought. I totally forgot to film! He quickly gets his camera and presses record. “Hi painters, it’s the last day of painting. Tomorrow is just for drying and then it’s y/n’s birthday. I actually already finished the painting but forgot to film it. Sorry about that. It's around 5 pm right now. Last night, y/n stayed over so I couldn’t wake up extra early to finish it. But it’s okay, I finished anyway. Have a look at the result.” Renjun turns his camera to show the canvas. “This is the finished product. I added details to the pond and some finishing touches today and I made some spontaneous decisions that turned out really well actually. ” He zooms in on the moss. “For the moss I added ground coffee into my paint. It gives it a more realistic finish, maybe give it a try some time.” Renjun laughs a little, “I think I might use this hack more often.” He turns the camera to show himself again, “I’m super satisfied with the result and actually very happy that I got finished in time. Although I wouldn’t recommend that you guys start a project this size in such a short time frame. Honestly, it was quite stressful. But I’m glad I was able to pull it off and I know for a fact that y/n’s gonna like it. Thank you guys so much for watching!” Turning his camera off, Renjun let out a happy sigh.

He didn’t immediately start editing the video though. It’s really time to take a break. Renjun just finished a big project and wants to celebrate. That’s why he quickly cleans up his room and video calls the dreamies’ group chat. Haechan is the first one to pick up “Look who came back from the dead.” Renjun laughs dryly and right after Mark joins the video chat, “Yo whats up?” Soon enough all the dreamies join and Renjun tells them about how he’s finally finished with the painting. Of course they want to see it, which is why Renjun switches to his phone’s back camera. “Dude, that looks so cool!” “I think she’s definitely gonna like it” “How come you never paint me a pic like that?” “Are you my girlfriend?”, Renjun deadpans. Haechan sulks a bit, “No.” “See. Now anyways, do you guys wanna hang out tonight?” It’s been a while since all of them hung out together anyway. “Yeah, we could try out that new Mexican restaurant near my place.” Renjun likes Jeno’s idea and everyone agrees, except for Jisung. “Guys, I have to finish an assignment by Wednesday. Can I join a bit later?” Mark reassures Jisung that his assignment was more important. “For sure dude, work on your assignment. We’ll save you a spot.” An hour later, the dreamies are sitting in the restaurant, going over the menu. Renjun thinks it’s nice to spend time together again, catching up and joking around. 

After Jisung joins, the whole group is complete and they spend the evening eating delicious food and talking. Renjun knows that he shouldn’t spend too much money there but stressful days of assignments and the painting is coming to an end and he wants to enjoy himself. That’s why he goes for dessert even when he was kinda full already. It’s okay, I deserve it. Soon, the relaxing evening comes to an end and the boys part ways. The day after tomorrow they’ll meet up at Jeno’s place to celebrate your birthday. You know it's a bit strange to celebrate your birthday at Jeno's place and you were a little hesitant at first. Of course you and Jeno are friends because of Junnie and your bestie, but not that close. Originally, you had planned to just hang out somewhere in the park but the weather has been kind of on the colder side lately. But, Jeno assured you that it’s fine. He's living alone, meaning he has enough space to host your small birthday get-together. Having some people over is nice anyway and he knows most of the people you invited. Besides the dreamies and your best friend, only two other friends of yours were expected to come. So it’s really fine for Jeno. Not to mention, his girlfriend, your bestie, would probably be somewhat upset if he said no to you. You were the person to introduce them after all. 

The next day Renjun slept in. His to do list doesn’t include much for today, mainly getting some nice wrapping for your gift. He also plans on visiting you at work again. It’s going to be a pretty simple day but he likes that his day doesn’t include any stress. Tomorrow, the day of your birthday, he’ll buy you some flowers and your favorite chocolate before meeting up with Mark. He was so nice to offer Renjun to put the painting in his car and drive to Jeno’s place together. This way he won’t need to take the painting on the subway. Renjun is pretty excited for you to see his gift. Of course he knows that you would like it but he still looks forward to your reaction. Since Jeno’s place allows for more room, Renjun plans to show up a bit earlier to decorate the place tomorrow. He excluded you from decorating on purpose and had said he was gonna handle it and so you let him. That boy can be stubborn. Renjun wants to keep his painting out of your sight for as long as he can. 

So when he and Mark arrive at Jeno’s place with your gift on the day of your birthday, Renjun puts it in Jeno’s bedroom. He knows you aren't gonna go in there, so it’s a safe spot to hide it. After making sure the painting isn’t gonna slip while he’s away, Renjun starts to prepare snack bowls and places your cake into the fridge, before helping Jeno and Mark with some balloons and a happy birthday sign. There wasn't much to prepare since you just want to spend your birthday relaxing with your friends. So soon enough, the three of them finish and around 6 pm everyone you invited is gathered on the floor around Jeno’s couch table, playing some board games and catching up. Throughout the day, Renjun films a few moments of your get-together. He wants to include your birthday party but especially your reaction to his present in his video. As the evening passes you turn to karaoke, singing songs from ABBA to Little Mix. At one point Renjun even starts to serenade you. He puts on quite a performance, singing Hot by Avril Lavigne and you totally enjoy it. It’s pretty funny actually, he’s pointing in your direction and dancing around. It’s nice seeing him so carefree. You’re kinda tempted to join and serenade him but he won't let you outperform him anyway. Besides, Renjun really has a lot of energy to spend. It’s already 8 pm, gifts still haven't been exchanged and he’s excited but also somewhat nervous for your reaction. He hopes you’ll love the painting as much as he does. However, there’s a part of him that fears he chose the wrong thing to paint but he tries to ignore that voice. You’re gonna love it, he just needs to keep on reminding himself of that.  

To say your reaction didn’t disappoint would’ve been an understatement. Renjun actually managed to hold himself in check till he was the last one left to give his gift. You really like the gifts you got this year. From a new book to new skin care you’ve been eyeing for a while, your friends put thought into them and that’s what counts and makes you happy. Two of your friends left half an hour ago, cause it’s kinda late already. The boys spontaneously had decided to sleep over at Jeno’s place, so it’s only you, your bestie and the dreamies left. “Okay, time for the finale”, for some reason, Haechan is very excited for your reaction to Renjun’s gift as well. He secretly plans to take pictures of you two. Earlier today, he also appointed Jisung to take a video. “Give me a minute, love. I’ll get your gift” Renjun squeezes your hand, giving you a smile. You look over at the boys and they just have smiles on their faces. It’s obvious that you’re gonna like the painting. Really, Renjun doesn’t have anything to worry about. A minute later, he comes back with the painting in wrapping paper. He chose one with a leaf print on it. It looks nice and maybe it could give you a bit of foreshadowing on what the gift entailed. “Happy birthday, love” Renjun sets the painting down, holding it in place and signals for you to open it. “I hope you like it” 

It’s clear that his gift was some kind of painting. Knowing Renjun, you guess that he actually painted it. “You painted for me?”, you place your hand on the gift. There was a certain smoothness to the wrapping paper. Renjun murmurs a small yes and the thought alone that he had painted you something this big was enough to make you tear up. He must’ve spent hours on this, hours just to make you happy. Sometimes you question how you were so blessed to have someone like him love you. Renjun really is giving his all to make you happy. Slowly, you unwrap the painting. Piece by piece different colors shine towards you, greens, some darker and some lighter, brown and little colorful spots. As soon as you unwrap the gift completely, you have a proper look at the painting and almost can’t believe your eyes. It’s so beautiful and perfect. You would’ve never expected such an amazing gift from him. You can’t believe Renjun would spend so much effort just for you. He put so much detail and love into the painting and it feels like you could see that from a mile away. This was the most thoughtful gift anyone ever gave you. You couldn’t possibly describe the meaning this holds for you. It’s so mesmerizing, the way the colors dance on the canvas, how he managed to portray feelings into his painting and really make it come alive. In a way it feels like the gift expresses how much Renjun loves you. 

You’re so overwhelmed and touched by the painting, the hard work and love he must’ve put into it that the only thing you can do is let out a sob. Renjun definitely didn't expect that reaction. His eyes widen and he starts to panic inside. No no no, she hates it? I should’ve chosen something else, damn it! Your hand naturally finds its way onto your mouth, more tears rolling down your cheeks while you admire the painting for a few moments more. You know Renjun has always put thought into the gifts he got you, but this really is on another level. The amount of devotion he put into making this is unbelievable. You've never seen more beautiful art than this painting and he did it with his own two hands.

Renjun’s wide-eyed gaze finds Mark’s but he also doesn’t know what to do. It’s like Renjun’s worst nightmare comes true right in front of his eyes. How could I be so stupid! Damn it! I was so sure she’s gonna like it. “Baby-”, Renjun’s ready to apologize and go buy you a better gift immediately but you don’t even give him time to finish his sentence. Throwing your arms around him, you hug him tight. “Thank you, thank you.” Four simple words and Renjun’s world stopped crumbling. He is beyond relieved. It’s like all his panicky thoughts leave his body instantly. He lets out a small laugh, hugging you back and smiling into your shoulder. You actually like it, like really like it. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you so much” Your heart almost can’t handle the thought of Renjun giving you something so precious, so beautiful. “Baby you almost gave me a heart attack.” You lean back a bit, mumbling a small sorry before placing your lips onto his. Renjun’s lips were soft and smooth like always. His kiss makes your stomach flip. He’s truly yours, not going anywhere and loving you like no other guy ever has. Renjun’s arms tighten around yours before you tilt your head a little, deepening the kiss and soon enough you hear a mixture of complaints from the boys. “Okay, what the heck” “Ew, leave that for later guys” Renjun blushes a bit, pulling away slowly. He really isn’t used to doing that in front of the boys. Pecking his lips one last time, you loosen your grip and just smile at him. “Dang,” Haechan looks at the pictures he took of you two kissing, “I really need to learn how to paint”.

a/n: excuse any painting process parts or art major parts that might be inaccurate haha, oh and if you wanna request something, I'm open to hear your idea :)

[the-s1lly-corner]

Gunk and Glitter (Sun x Reader)

"Admin didn't you just write this for iteard-" SHOOSH I love this prompt sm OOOUGH

That being said I don't think I'll write a moon or eclipse version for this, at least not for a while- idk we'll see!

Plot: You help Sun clean his hands up after a particularly messy day

Notes: Reader is gn and human, they work as an assistant/handler for the DCA, non established relationship but he's got a huge crush on you word count: 2k

CWs: none

Typically Sun liked keeping things… as neat as possible in the daycare… whether it be cleaning as he tended to the children or turning the clean up itself into a game for them. However… there were days where things were going to get messy whether he wanted them to be or not. 

Today had ended up being one of those days, and it was rather… bad…

The children had wanted to paint- and Sun… that poor sweet animatronic, wanted to pull out everything. Glitter, glue, googly eyes… glitter glue. Everything, he even took out the stickers!

You were lucky to avoid a lot of the mess- the carnage as you had called it under your breath to Sun as he walked off to hand the last child in the Daycare to their parent. 

Sun raises his arm up high in a wide wave as he watches the pair walk away from the Daycare and to the exit of the Pizzaplex. Once they’re far enough away he tugs the massive doors of the Daycare shut and spins on his heel. Now that he was away from the children his rays shrank into his head out of discomfort as his hands locked together and picked at the mess stuck between the creases of his fingers. 

Even you were crawling on the inside at the thought, at least you had skin to stop things from getting in between your joints and bones… you couldn’t imagine what it felt like to have muck stuck deep in there. 

“Are you having regrets?” You called out, trying to keep your tone light as you reached across the plastic tables scattered across the Daycare to gather up the various drawings left behind… you weren’t sure where Sun wanted him… surely collecting them together would make his job easier. 

His rays spun about two rotations before halting and clicking into place.

A glue covered hand stiffly waves you off as he chuckles. “Oh course not Friend!” and he’s already skipping towards you- past you, actually, as he walks to a cabinet that’s too high up for a child to reach even with a stepping stool. He opens it, and takes out a bottle.

“What’s that?” 

He darts towards you so you can get a look at the Fazbear branded bottle… Hand sanitizer… 

“I use it to get sticky residue off after days like this!” Sun explains. His faceplate lowers to look at your arms. His neck snaps straight up and he nearly snatches the pile of drawings out of your arms and rifles through each piece… The slow rotation of his rays stutters for a moment each time he needs to carefully pull his fingers off of the paper. 

“I’ll hang these up once I’m cleaned up!” Sun decides out loud. He walks to one of the plastic seats by a table and makes himself comfortable in an effortless display that he has more balance than you- you always seemed to fall out of the tiny chairs. 

Sun puts the drawings to the sides as you follow him.

“You have… a little something right here,” You point to your own cheek and watch as Sun mimics you with his own face. “Glitter glue I think,” 

“Oh!” 

You take a spot in the seat next to him and try to fit your legs comfortably under the table… you fail, and instead keep your legs folded against your chest. 

“You’ve got something too!” Sun suddenly exclaims as his hand approaches you- stopping in midair before continuing with the motion. He carefully pushes the tips of his fingers that were spared from the mess close to your ear.

“I don’t have something in my hair do I?” 

Sun quickly whips his hand back and waves a small cloth in the air.

“No! You just had a little something I needed!” Sun chuckled.

“How do you keep doing that? You and Moon do that every other week…” 

Sun pauses and thinks for a moment, bottle of hand sanitizer in his hand as he taps his fingers along the outside. 

“Magicians never tell!”

You pout, and pull your legs closer as your nose scrunches from the smell of the sanitizer. It was scented, but the stench of the alcohol still cut through it and made itself known… dyed blue with raspberries to mix in with Freddy’s color scheme… actually you were almost surprised they didn’t try to make it pizza scented. With how committed they were with making everything Fazbear themed…

You’re pulled out of your thoughts as Sun’s soft frustrated grunts break the near silence… The cloth he had seemingly pulled out of nowhere was clinging to the glue on his hands- it was leaving some fuzz in patches, too. 

Once more you find yourself cringing at the idea of what that must feel like, and in a moment of compassion- or perhaps pity- you reach your mostly nonsticky hands towards the cloth and take it from the animatronics hands.

“Here… It won’t stick to me as bad, I didn’t really participate in your activities today,” You quickly snagged the sanitizer and put a few drops onto the cloth… would it be better to put it on his hands outright? 

The animatronic turns his faceplate towards you, but he doesn’t try to fight you on this. “If we’re lucky I won’t need to pick through the…. Bits between your fingers with something….” You pull his offered hand closer, and he busies the other with trying to pick the stickers off of his body. 

You push the cloth into the back of his hand and begin scrubbing. It takes a little force, but eventually the once white cloth begins to pick up the colors of the glue and the resistance dies down with each movement. You pause for a moment… “This won’t ruin your paint, right? Are… you guys painted or is it just…” 

You didn’t know what you were talking about but Sun understood. He nearly rips one of the stickers in half as he jumps to reassure you.

“No no- and thank goodness! I don’t like going down to maintenance… even if it’s just for a paint touch up!” 

You can practically hear him sticking out his tongue in his voice. 

“I’ve done this looooooooooads of times before, and there hasn’t been any problem yet!” Sun finishes pulling the sticker off and puts it with the others he managed to get off… there was still some residue of the glue left behind where they once were… scattered everywhere- his faceplate, his arms, and torso. Not one part of him seemed to be spared. You swear you saw one stuck somewhere on one of his rays but they keep rotating too fast for you to get a good look. 

“If you say so,” You continue on with your work and finish with the back of his hand… you flip it over, and grab the hand with your other to keep it in place. You were too preoccupied keeping it in place to notice him jolting at your touch. 

“Palms aren’t too bad…” You mutter under your breath and move to his fingers. You shift your hand once more and wrap it around his- slipping the tips of your fingers between the gaps of his own to spread them enough to get the cloth through them. 

“I didn’t even know you could use hand sanitizer to get rid of glue and stuff… I always used rubbing alcohol…” 

“It’s easier to keep on hand than rubbing alcohol, and the kids prefer the smell of them… they like collecting the different characters on the bottles!” 

You pause… Of course the company would capitalize where they could, they probably had a design for each character, or at the very least they had one for each of the glamrocks.

“Are there any for you and Moon? I wouldn’t mind having one of those on hand… are they all scented with their own thing? I bet they made your oranges… or maybe lemons? What would Moon’s be? Blueberries?” 

Sun’s fingers twitch.

“Lavender.” He says shortly.

You wrap the cloth around one of his fingers and work along it with your hand to relieve it of the glue- making sure to use the nail of your thumb to clean through the creases of each joint. 

“I guess that makes sense… naptime and all…”

Sun perks back up, “Mhm! The kids don’t like the scent as much, but I think it’s quite nice!” 

You pause.

“But you can’t smell? You don’t…” You trail off as Sun begins to laugh. 

“No but I can imagine… I bet you smell nice,” He teased. 

“Nah I smell like straight ass actually,” You grin as you wipe the last of his fingers clean and release him from your grasp.

“Language!” He hisses. 

You only chuckle softly to yourself as you reach a finger towards the edges of one of his popped out rays and gently push it back to its standard position, or rather, Sun had put it back for you and let you feel like you were able to do something to him. 

At least now you were able to see that you were wrong in thinking that there was a sticker slapped onto one of them.

The rest of his rays follow and sink back into his faceplate. 

“Give me your other hand, I’ll knock that one out real quick for you!” You make a grabby hand for it, and without further scolding he lets you have at him. 

“This one’s not as bad, so it won’t take as long hopefully…” You mumble and get right to work. 

You were right. 

It didn’t take long at all in order to finish cleaning up his hand… if anything you needed to apply more force behind your scrubbing in order to get the thicker areas off but in the end you were successful in scrubbing his hands clean. 

You look at the cloth… once white it was now stained and smudged with pinks and blues and greens and every other color a five year old could get their hands on when humored by an overly excited animatronic. 

And glitter… can’t forget the glitter now forever imbedded into the fabric. Cursed to remain until the last dying sun. 

You pass it to Sun as you’re not quite sure what to do with it now. Did he want it back? Did he have another or was this his only option? 

“Here,” You press it into his shiny hands- except he pushes it back to you.

His rays rotate slowly. 

“Can you… get my face, too? I can’t see it, and you clean faster than I can- it’s lights off soon after all! I don’t want to keep you waiting from clocking out, and…” He trails off sheepishly as a quiet giggle resonates from his voicebox.

You blink. 

“Oh!” 

“I think I can knock that out real quick… just the face? You don’t need any help? No stickers on your back?” You asked. Sun swivels his head backwards and angles the plate downwards. His arms struggle backwards only to be stopped by the sockets. 

They built him to be able to turn his head around in a full 360 degrees, but they don’t make his arms flexible enough to be able to reach and fold enough to pick anything off of his back efficiently… 

“I’ll get that, too… Moon wouldn’t mind if I pull my phone out for light, right?” 

Sun goes quiet for a long moment.

You’re about to repeat yourself before he finally speaks.

“He wouldn’t but only if you play some of your songs for him, he likes them,” Sun hummed and scooted away from the table so you can comfortably walk around him to get what you need done. 

“Alright,” You grunt as you push yourself up to your feet- palms pressed to your knees- and shuffle towards the animatronic. “I’ll try to make this quick so neither of you get held back on… whatever it is you do when I’m not around,” You mutter as your fingers hook the bottom of Sun’s faceplate and angle it towards you. He leans right into the movement easily, letting you fully take the reins. 

His plate felt warmer than you had expected, but you made no comment on it as you focused on keeping your hand steady so it didn’t slip across his face. It remained like this until the lights of the Daycare shut off…

[swiftiewillwrite]

caramel iced coffee -

a spencer agnew fanfic

pairing - spencer agnew x reader

warnings - none! slight anxiety for like a paragraph :)

a/n - hello!!! ive written a ton of fanfics but only published two, and this is my first published on tumblr! hope yall enjoy !!

You stand behind the counter, muscle memory making your fifth pumpkin spice latte in a row. Oh, how you love fall. Even during your least busy time of day, you still get to spend what feels like forever on overly complicated drinks.

You hand the last one to a teenage girl, looking very apologetic. You give her a smile.

“Next!”

Woah. the man who now stands in front of you was definitely gonna fuck up your work day. He wore thinly framed round glasses and had messy curly hair, plus a beard that you found all too attractive. You attempted to compose yourself. “What can I get you?”

The man stared blankly for a moment, then responded. Must've not gotten a lot of sleep last night. “Uh.. what do you recommend?”

“Oh! I guess I'm kind of a sucker for anything caramel, do you want something hot or cold?”

“Really just make me your favorite, I haven't done this in a while.”

“What, ordered coffee?” you joked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Ooh-kay, name for the order?”

“Spencer.” (god, why is it always the s names?)

“Alright Spencer, that will be 5 bucks, just tap or swipe or do whatever, and I'll have that ready for you in just a minute.” you smile, not letting the customer service voice falter, ignoring the unholy visions of what you wanted this man to do to you invading your mind.

You set to work on another overly complicated drink. Usually you would be complaining your ass off to yourself right now, but youre the one who subjected yourself to this. You're too weak when it comes to cute customers.

Working alone on slow days was your favorite kind of shift, because you got to play your own playlist. Today, that was a bit more of a curse as you notice Spencer humming along.

As you placed the lid on the cup, you looked up to the booth where he was waiting. He looked away immediately, as if he had already been staring. You hoped that he was.

Walking out from behind the counter, you set the cup on the table in front of him. “Here you go,”

He smiles softly, uttering a soft thanks. You made your way back to the counter, watching from a distance as he collected his things and walked out of the cafe.

God, you had never wanted a new regular more.

—

The next morning, he was back. Looking up at the door as the bell rang, you saw him once again. Spencer was wearing a graphic tee, revealing tattoos you hadn't seen yesterday. You felt a smile creep up your face, but a pit form in your stomach with no discernible cause. Before you could get too lost in thought, though, Spencer was at the counter, ready to order.

"Hey,” you smiled, “Are you ready to order for yourself today, or want another surprise?”

He let out a soft laugh, a sound that made your heart leap out of your chest. “If it isn't too much of a burden-,” he started, the last word dripping with sarcasm. “-I would enjoy a surprise drink.”

You sigh dramatically, “Fine,” drawing out the word with childlike brattiness. “Here or to go?”

Spencer said something he never could have if actual thoughts were going through his head:

“Here, but only if you sit with me while I drink,”

Holyshitholyshitholyshit- “Keep trying, maybe you'll get there eventually. Your total is 5.25.” You joked, a smile on your face covering your internal freak out over the fact that you just rejected the hottest guy you had ever seen.

And try he did. Every day, without fail, he came into your cafe, ordered his usual (your usual) and asked you to sit with him. And every day, you were too afraid to say yes.

"Are you sure that you don't want something new?”

“Give me the drink, please.”

You raised your eyebrows at him, but got to work making his drink. For the first time in three weeks, he stayed near the counter as you made it. As you let the coffee brew, you leaned on the counter, looking at him.

“So.. why are you always here so early? Like; this is earlier than all my other usuals,”

“You have other usuals? Wow, and I thought I was special,”

“Yes, I have other usuals. But you might be a favorite.” you smiled at him softly, and he returned the look. “Answer my question, though. Why are you here at like.. Six every day? How early do you work?”

Spencer looked slightly uncomfortable, then spoke. “I actually don't have to be there until 10 most days.”

“Hmm?”

“Well, I work at this Youtube comedy company, and so the first time I came here was a shoot week, so I did have to be at work by 7 to set up. It's just that when that week ended… I decided to just always get here early.”

“Wait, what company? Also, why? Why not just come later?” you questioned, trying to silence the hopeful voice in your head saying that you were the reason he kept coming back.

“It's less busy at this time. I get to actually talk to you.” What.

“Oh.. that's really sweet, man.” Man? Why would you say that- “I like talking to you too. So where do you work?”

Spencer looked slightly reluctant, but you tried to not read into it. “It's called Smosh,”

You perked up. “No shit? I was obsessed with Smosh when I was younger. Like- I got home from school every day and immediately pulled up whatever was posted that day,” you notice him looking down, and poke his arm, near a tattoo of a thwomp. “Why didn't you want to tell me?”

Spencer looks up at you. “Hmm?”

“You tried to change the topic. What's up?”

He purses his lips, then softly says “I didn't want that to be the only reason you like me. Or- like talking to me. Sorry.”

You open your mouth to respond, to tell him his worries were wrong, but are interrupted by the sound of the bell on the door. You look up and see your favorite coworker. “Hey Zoë! Can you watch the counter for like.. Two minutes for me?”

She raised an eyebrow at you and the man standing next to you. “It's about to get really busy.”

“I know, I know, just- please?” you looked at her, and she must've seen the desperation in your eyes, because she responded-

“Fine. Just be back soon. Love ya.”

You looked at her like she had just saved your life, and turned back to Spencer. “Wanna talk at a table?” Spencer just looked at you like you had grown a second head, but nodded. When you sat down, you started talking again. “I really like talking to you. And I did before you told me you have my childhood dream job. I like your humor and your laugh and your hair. I like your taste in music and movies and I like you.”

Spencer took a moment to collect his words. He couldn't find any, so he just leaned across the table and kissed you. A million thoughts raced through both of your heads, until you heard Zoë cough at you from behind the counter, and pulled away.

“Sorry.” Spencer apologized. You shook your head with a smile, and asked if you could put your number in his phone. He handed you the device, and you pondered for a moment before you put your name in as ‘beautiful sexy perfect human’. You texted yourself a “hey” from his phone, and added his name as ‘spenner’. He took his phone back, immediately letting out a “Shit! I have to get to work.” When he saw the time, and standing up to leave.

You frowned, but as he walked out and let the door close behind him, you sent him a simple two word text.

spenner

bye cutie

He was still close enough that you could see him smile through the window when he opened his phone. You turned to the counter to get back to work, when Zoë asked you:

“Was that Spencer Agnew?”

[mouwrites]

can you please do a movie Lloyd X reader basically this takes place after the movie so everyone in Ninjago city knows that Lloyd is the green ninja but back to the plot Lloyd is currently going through the Oni and dragon equivalent of puberty so he is growing 2 new arms, horns, Wings and a tail and the reader always visit and Lloyd is starting to feel insecure so the reader shows Lloyd all the messages on her phone and all of them are from there school saying that Lloyd will always be the city green ninja and so on and Lloyd is happy that everyone will accept him and the reader and Lloyd end up cuddling and then garmadon walks in accidentally and processed to embarrass Lloyd in front of the reader and the reader pushes garmadon out of Lloyd room and the reader locks the door so both the reader and Lloyd can have cuddling in peace and the reader says that she loves him no matter what he will look like

This was so cute,, I had to do a little doodle to go with it

Word count: 978

Ninjago - Comforting (Transforming) Oni Lloyd

“Lloyd?” You knocked on the door softly, your voice low and laced with concern. You waited a few seconds for a response before knocking again. “Lloyd, are you in there?”

“Go home, y/n. I’m alright,” Lloyd finally responded. You knew that tone of voice: something was definitely wrong.

You turned the doorknob. “Lloyd, you can talk to m—” 

You had hardly stepped inside when you were startled by a loud yelp. Lloyd yanked his blankets over his head. “Don’t look at me!” 

You let out a long sigh. You stepped around the messy room like it was a minefield, making your way to his bed. Taking a seat on the corner of the mattress, you gently tugged on the blankets. 

“No,” he protested. “It’s worse.”

You had suspicioned that this had been about the changes Lloyd had been facing recently, and this confirmed it. To be fair, you weren’t sure how you’d take it if you started growing dragon-like features instead of acne and a squeaky voice. Puberty sucked, but you knew it must suck a lot more to be going through this. At least the other teens at your school had the comfort of knowing that they weren’t alone in their experiences, but Lloyd really was all alone on this one. No one else was growing horns. No one else had a tail and wings sticking out of their backs. And no one else was growing so tall so quickly. It really made him stand out; as if he didn’t already receive enough attention as the green ninja.

You pulled harder on the blanket until Lloyd finally assented, allowing you to unveil his curled up form.

Two horns poked out from his blonde locks; bigger than the last time you visited. He was on his side because laying on his back hurt the budding wings on his shoulder blades and the tail springing out from his lower back. They looked odd; small and unshapely, but you knew this was temporary. Frankly, you thought they were looking better every day. But you frowned when you remembered Lloyd’s words. Apparently he didn’t think the same.

“They’re gross, I know.”

“Lloyd,” you sighed, pulling his arm to get him to sit up. “They are not ‘gross’.”

Lloyd’s brows lowered. “Have you even seen these?” He lifted his arms to reveal two nubs, one on either side. Those were new. They would become arms, you assumed.

“I can’t go out like this,” he shook his head.

You almost felt like crying, hearing him say that. But when your phone buzzed, you perked up. You had just the thing to cheer him up.

“Here, look,” you whipped out your phone and opened your messages, handing Lloyd the device. “Just scroll through those.”

Dozens of kids from your school, who you’d never so much as spoken to before, had messaged you when Lloyd didn’t show up to class today:

hey this is random but i know ur friends w lloyd, is he ok? can you please tell him that i think its cool that hes the green ninja plus a dragon or whatever

Do you know why Lloyd didn’t show for class today??? I was gonna ask if I could draw him,,, his horns are so pretty

While he was scrolling, a message popped up at the top of the screen. It was from your group chat with the other ninjas.

JJ: UGHHH I wish I was growing wings

You both giggled. Tapping the message, you told Lloyd to scroll through the last few hours’ chat logs.

JJ: He does realize that being an Oni makes him, like, the ultimate green ninja right

nya: oni or not, he’s the best green ninja ninjago could ask for

The Rock: so true <333

“She’s right, you know,” you said, slinging your arm around his shoulder. “You’re the green ninja—everyone loves you. Oni or not.” You poked his horn, smirking.

That earned you a little smile. His eyes, misty and full of emotion, peered deeply into yours. With a sniffle he threw his arms around you, squeezing you. He started to chuckle, but you could feel teardrops dampening your shirt at the same time. “You’re the best,” he hiccuped out.

You scooted back against the wall, letting Lloyd rest his head on your chest as he leaned into you. You petted his hair while the flow of tears gradually thinned. When his eyes finally dried, you traced patterns on his back, humming softly. Drawing circles around his budding wings, you whispered assurances into his ear. His breathing slowed to match yours, and in the quiet you could almost hear your heartbeats drumming together.

You could have stayed like that for an eternity, but unfortunately, fate, or rather, Garmadon, had other plans.

He burst into the room without warning, driving the souls out of both of your bodies. 

“Lloyd, have you seen…” he stopped mid-sentence when he saw you curled up together.

“Oh,” he wiggled his eyebrows, “my apologies, I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“Dad, get out!” Lloyd barked, his face bright red.

“This reminds me of how your mother and I were when we first—”

Lloyd clapped both hands over his face, groaning. You took the hint, hopped up, and shooed Garmadon out the door. “Hang on, I’m telling a story!” He protested as he went, but you shut the door before he could get another word in.

“Make sure it’s locked!” Lloyd ordered, still fuming.

You obeyed. Lloyd stood up and met you in the middle of the room, looking down at you as he pulled you closer. “Where were we?”

“You were being the most lovely green ninja, whom I love no matter what he looks like.”

Lloyd’s cheeks turned pink as he smiled. “Really?”

“Really.” 

You circled your arms around him. You stood just like that, holding each other tightly, swaying a little, enjoying each other’s presence. Uninterrupted this time cough cough

Thank you anon for requesting, and thank you for reading!! Hope you enjoyed! Take care!

(divider by saradika)

[staplegxnn]

THE THIRD BEAT

(Reposts are appreciated, please do not steal, copy, or publish my work without proper credit.)

Tw: cussing, lots of juicy juicy angst

Headcannons: poppy does not like cussing (humor ensues), Barb is traumatized, Branch is a snuggly mf who loves his gfs with all his heart

Life was slow and messy for Barb after the whole “trying to turn everyone into rock trolls” thing. It wasn’t easy for her to make friends, some people still hated her, others went as far as teasing her and calling her names, it wasn’t something she could escape. But there was one escape…Poppy and Branch, Poppy was the queen of the pop trolls, a sweet and overly optimistic woman with a heart of gold and a love for glitter, and Branch was her pessimistic boyfriend, he was more chill and low energy than poppy was, but he was still all smiles and jokes. Poppy and Branch were Barbs absolute best friends, they didn’t judge her for anything, sure, Branch needed a bit more time before fully trusting Barb, but one he did, they were amazing friends. Poppy was certainly the closest to Barb, they could talk to each other for hours without getting bored, they did each others hair, they went on adventures together- they were absolutely inseparable.

Barb sat on the edge of her bed, sighing as she scribbled down some doodles in her notebook. She didn’t have anything to do today, Branch was out with his brothers and Poppy was doing some queenly shit that Barb would rather just not ask about- she had her own problems ruling her own kingdom. Barb laid back in her bed, looking up at her ceiling, she’d been staying temporarily in the pop kingdom for around a month now, since most of the rock trolls were helping re-construction of the other kingdoms, she honestly loved it there, it was bright and colorful, and sure- it was kind of not her vibe- but it made her happy nonetheless. Barb felt her hand grip around her pen, her notebook laying on her lap, she sat up and started to doodle again, it started with a head, then a body, some legs, some arms…Barb grumbled, she got up and walked to her desk, grabbing some other pens. Pink hair, pink skin, a blue and green dress…and pretty, hot pink eyes. Barb set her pen down, rubbing the paper and sighing, she chuckled, looking at the drawing.

“Poppy…”

Barb sat down in her desk chair, rocking it side to side as she flipped the page and started doodling again. Her heart thumped in her chest as she thought about Poppy, she looked to the picture on her wall of the two together, Poppy hugging Barb tightly, and Barb hugging back- she wanted that to happen again, she missed Poppy’s hugs when she wasn’t there. Barb looked back down at her paper, she drew poppy again, her smiling face and bright eyes, she closed the notebook, setting her pens aside, she took a deep breath and took the picture from the wall, looking down at it.

“Poppy. God damnit why can I not stop thinking about you….”

Barb heard a soft knock on her door, she set the picture down and opened it, almost having a heart attack as she saw the pink preppy princess standing right at her door. She stepped back.

“Ah! Poppy! Oh you’re here! I thought you weren’t gonna be back for another hour!”

Poppy giggled, hugging onto Barb and sighing.

“Ugh- the queen stuff was soooo boorrrrrinnnngg! So I snuck away to come see you!!! I- hope that’s okay-“

Poppy sat down on Barb’s bed, smiling at her. Barb nodded, smiling back and crossing her arms, trying to make Poppy’s hug last longer.

“Of course it’s okay. I’m always one for ditching.”

Barb sat next to Poppy, leaning on her a bit, Poppy leaned into her as well, the two of them falling back onto the bed and giggling. Barb looked at Poppy as she wrapped her arms around her, taking her in another big hug.

“I miss your hugs when you’re not around…”

Barb mumbled, looking up at the ceiling, trying to ignore her thumping heart and burning face.

“Awww! Barb!!! I miss you too. I wish I could come over here more often but I’m so freaking bussssyyyy- excuse my French.”

Barb laughed at Poppy’s remark, looking down at her and sighing softly.

“Eh, it’s fine, I can survive without you for most of the day. I just require like- 5 hugs per day.”

Poppy giggles, sitting up and tackling Barb, wrapping her arms around her.

“HAH! There’s number 3!!!”

Barbs face turned red, she laughed again her face now redder than the burning flames of a fireplace. Poppy noticed this, she tilted her head slightly.

Poppy, despite being busy, was a very devoted person to her friends. She had time for everyone, and everything, you could ask her to do a 4 hour long task during work hours and she’d find the time to do it for you. But most of her time was spent around two people, her boyfriend Branch, and her best friend…Barb. Barb was such a spunky woman, her personality was off the rocker and she was honestly so fun to be around, Poppy never wanted to leave her side half the time they were together, and her favorite times were when Branch, her, and Barb were all together, those were her happiest moments. Recently, poppy had been spending a lot of time with Barb, since Branch was busy catching up with his brothers, it was just the two of them most of the time, and the more that Poppy was around Barb….the more she started to notice little details about her. She always melted into hugs, she wasn’t really that snuggly, but when Poppy or Branch snuggled up to her she would cling right onto them, she always got a bit red when the two were around her…and most of all, the way Barb looked at her.

Barb looked up into Poppy’s eyes, tilting her head as well and chuckling.

“You okay there, princess?”

Poppy shook herself out of her trance, smiling and tackling Barb down into another hug, laying back on the bed with Barbs head on her chest, she melted into her like always, smiling and taking a deep breath.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinkin.”

Barb closed her eyes, her arms wrapping tightly around Poppy’s waist. Poppy gently ran her hands through Barbs bright red hair, it was soft and silky, and it shined like fire in the light.

“Whatcha thinkin about?”

Barb opened her eyes, looking up at Poppy with a smile. Poppy loved Barbs smile, it was one of the best things about her, it was crooked and toothy- and the most charming damn thing she’d ever seen, it reminded her of Branch’s smile.

“You and Branch, like always.”

Poppy giggled, ruffling Barbs hair. Barb grumbled playfully, turning over and pulling Poppy into an even tighter hug.

“I haven’t seen Branch in a while. Does he come home today?”

Poppy nods.

“Yeah, I hope so. I miss him.”

Barb sits up, smiling down at poppy and stretching.

“I miss him too. Let’s just hope he doesn’t bring his brothers around- cause I am not up for having like- 50 people in my house.”

Poppy giggles, laying her head down on Barbs lap. And there was that look again. Barbs gaze softened, her eyes half lidded, a spark firing deep within her pretty reds. Poppy adored it…it made her feel so special the way Barb looked at her, like she was the only woman in the entire world.

“Nah, I think it’ll just be me, you, and Branch. We could scrap book together!!!”

Poppy smiles widely, both hers and Barbs faces a bright red.

“Ah- scrap booking? Really?”

Poppy scoffs playfully.

“Yes really, you know you love it.”

Barb rolls her eyes, chuckling.

“Uh huh. Sureeeeee. Yeah fine, we can scrap book.”

Poppy squeals.

“YAYY!!!!”

She sits up, wrapping her arms around Barb and tackling her back onto the bed, laying down with her and closing her eyes.

“I love…-“

Poppy paused mid sentence, opening her eyes and looking up at Barb, that same look still in her eyes.

“H…hanging out with you.”

Barb smiled, sighing softly and looking up at the ceiling.

“I love hanging out with you too. I swear you and Branch are the only reason I’m even still in Trollstopia. I would’ve moved if I didn’t have you.”

Poppy gently plays with Barbs hair again, giggling.

“I’m happy you stayed.”

Minuets later, there’s a knock on the door, and Poppy immediately jumps up to go get it, swinging open the door and gasping as she saw who it was. Branch came rushing into the room, picking Poppy up and giggling.

“There’s my two favorite girls!!!!”

Branch threw poppy down onto Barbs bed, hopping up and giving Barb a big hug too. Barb giggled, her face flushing as Branch snuggled up to both her and Poppy.

“Oh you’re back Branch we missed you!!! Me and Barb were talking about scrap booking!”

Branch playfully rolls his eyes, just like Barb did.

“Really? Scrap booking?”

Poppy scoffs.

“You two are no fun!!! I’ll go get the supplies from my house. I’ll be right back!!!”

Branch leans in to Barb, whispering.

“Watch, she’s gonna take like a full fuckin hour.”

Poppy snaps back around and looks at Branch.

“LANGUAGE!!!”

Barb and Branch both laugh as Poppy closes the door and leaves. Branch sighs, wrapping an arm around Barb. Barb smiled and closed her eyes, wrapping her arms around herself and fidgeting with her leather jacket.

“So, anything new since I’ve been gone?”

Branch gently started playing with Barbs hair- that was one of the many things him and Poppy had in common, they liked playing with Barbs hair.

“Ah, not much. Poppy’s been busy with ruling, and I’ve just been kinda stuck here all alone until she gets done for the day.”

Branch frowns a bit, huffing.

“You could’ve told me, I would’ve come back sooner.”

Barb shakes her head.

“Nah, you were busy with your brothers. I can handle being alone…I was for most of my life anyway.”

Branch sighs, hugging Barb close.

“Well you don’t have to be alone now, you have me and Poppy. And we’ll never leave your side.”

As Branch said this, Poppy came back in the house, hopping up on the bed and snuggling right up to Barb and Branch.

“That’s right! We’re gonna be here forever and you’re gonna have to just deal with it!”

Barb smiled at Branch and Poppy, looking between the two of them.

“Ah- you guys are gonna make me blush.”

Branch chuckles, laying back on the bed and letting his head hang off the end of it.

“But you’re cute when you blush.”

Poppy nods.

“Very. I agree. BUT ENOUGH ABOUT THAT!!!! ITS SCRAP BOOKING TIME!!!”

Barb didn’t even have time to process what the two had said to her before she was dragged into the downstairs part of her house by Poppy, Branch following closely behind. Barb sat down on her couch as Poppy sat on the floor, getting out all her art supplies and clapping happily. Branch sat down next to Barb, putting his arm around her and yawning.

“Oh boy. Here we go.”

The next couple hours were filled with constant laughter and talking between the three, like always, it was the most fun they’d each had in a while, just making little paper cut outs, pouring glitter everywhere, listening to music and watching movies, it was great. By the end of the day, they were all 3 warn out, it was dark out and they’d been loud and crazy to their hearts content. Poppy sat on the couch next to Barb, leaning against her and groaning.

“Ughhhh- can’t we just spent the night? I don’t feel like going back home.”

Branch nods in agreement.

“Yeah neither do I.”

Barb chuckles.

“Yeah, no shit you can stay. Have I ever said no?”

Poppy yawns sleepily.

“Watch your-…language…”

She grabs a blanket, not even bothering to grab a pillow, just falling asleep on Barb, all snuggled up in her blanket. Barb sighed, chuckling as Branch sat behind her, covering the both of them with a blanket, Barb sighed, laying back against him and looking up at him. Branch smiled down at her, then he smiled down at Poppy, chuckling.

“She’s out like a light.”

Barb laughs.

“Yeah she is.”

Barb gently plays with Poppy’s hair, smiling as she laid against her, sleeping peacefully. Barb sighed, looking off into the distance for a second before speaking again.

“Branch? Do you guys ever feel like…I’m bothering you….? Like I’m intruding on your relationship…? I’m like- literally fuckin laying in between you two right now.”

Branch chuckles, shaking his head as he turned down the volume of the tv.

“Of course we don’t. Me and Poppy chose to have you around, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Honestly, you make our relationship complete, without you it feels like it’s missing a piece.”

Barb blushed at the remark, fidgeting with Poppy’s hair.

“Does Poppy feel that way too?”

Branch nods.

“Oh absolutely! She loves you. Anytime us two are alone together one of us always brings you up, and that’s why we’re always around you, Poppy needs you just as much as I do.”

Barb paused, the room was silent for a moment as she thought to herself.

“Branch…do you…ever think…- maybe….”

Barb paused again, looking nervous. She shook her head and sighed.

“Never mind. Night, Branch.”

Barb laid back, closing her eyes and snuggling against the two. Branch chuckled, patting her on the shoulder and laying back as well.

“Goodnight, Barb.”

Barb was the last one awake in the morning, she felt the slow rise and fall of Branch’s chest against her head, and the vibration of Poppy’s voice against her ribs. She opened her eyes, smiling down at Poppy, who immediately smiled back at her and hugged her.

“Barb!!! Sorry if we woke you-“

Barb shook her head, sighing and looking up at Branch.

“Nah, you didn’t.”

Branch sat up, helping Barb sit up as well as he walked to the kitchen and started making all of them coffee. Poppy leaned against Barb, sighing.

“Branch told me that last night you were asking if you bothered us. And you don’t!!! You really don’t. We love having you around!!! To be honest we hate “alone time” cause we like it better here with you.”

Barb giggled, nudging Poppy playfully.

“Branch, were you talkin shit last night?”

Branch walked back in with coffee, handing Barb her cup.

“So much shit.”

Poppy gasped.

“Language!!! Thank you for the coffee, sweetie~”

Poppy took her cup from Branch, taking a sip and sighing. Barb stayed quiet as Branch and Poppy spoke to each other, she thought to herself for a bit…she didn’t feel whole without Poppy and Branch with her either, she felt like she needed them as well, she felt…like she was part of their relationship in some way. She shook herself out of it, finishing her coffee and walking to the kitchen to put her cup away. Who would ever love her like that? She was a crazy, off the walls, angry, terrible person- who didn’t deserve love, that’s all she could think about, and that’s all she thought of herself. Poppy looked over to the kitchen, seeing Barb just looking down at the counter as she fidgeted with her cup. Poppy stood up, walking up behind Barb and wrapping her arms around her waist, laying her head on her shoulder.

“I know that face. What are you upset about???”

Barb shook her head, sighing and rubbing her forehead.

“It’s nothing.”

Branch scoffed, standing up and leaning against the kitchen doorframe.

“Don’t say it’s nothing. We know you, it’s clearly not nothing when you act like this.”

Barb groaned.

“That’s just the thing. You guys know me, but…you know me too well! You shouldn’t be- hanging out with me like this- you should hate me! You both know what I did…you both know how I am and get you still chose to stay….why??? Because I said sorry once? Because I had a change of heart? You shouldn’t just- forgive me right away-“

Barb put her head in her hands, sighing softly.

“I don’t deserve what you guys give me…- and I never will.”

Branch and Poppy looked at each other, both pulling Barb into a big hug. Poppy cupped Barbs face in her hands, shaking her head.

“Barb. You deserve all of what you get from us, and more. You are a sweet, loving, adorable woman and i love the way you are! I don’t care about what you did in the past- you’ve clearly changed.”

Barb placed her hands over Poppy’s hands, looking at her the same way as always.

“But…I…I just worry that…I’m a burden to you.”

Branch shakes his head.

“You are not a burden. We promise.”

But a promise wasn’t enough for Barb, she gave the two of them a soft, and clearly fake smile, before sitting up on the countertop and huffing. Poppy burrowed her head into Barbs stomach, her arms wrapping tightly around her waist, Branch just sighed and hugged the both of them, looking up at Barb.

“Cmon, you believe us right?”

Barb shrugs.

“I don’t know….it’s…- hard to. I’ve had people lie about that stuff in the past- and with you two…- I…”

Barb sighs softly.

“It would hurt worse if you two were lying.”

Branch grumbles, rolling his eyes and picking Barb up from off the counter, slinging her over his shoulder. He took her upstairs, Poppy following closely behind, Branch plopped Barb right down onto her bed, grabbing her desk chair and sitting down across from her, Poppy staying standing.

“Alright Barb. Talk. Somethings up with you. I came home, we all had some fun, and now you’re suddenly upset, and I don’t like it when you’re upset.”

Barbs face turned red, she didn’t know what to say, and she was so focused on Branch that she didn’t even notice Poppy opening her notebook.

“Ah- it’s- it’s nothing, you know me, I’m always down about something.”

Poppy suddenly spoke up.

“Oh…Barb…”

Barbs heart dropped down into her stomach when she saw what Poppy was holding- she was in some deep shit now. Branch looked over Poppy’s shoulder, his gaze softening as he smiled, looking up at Barb, who was now face down in a pillow, seeming to be preparing for the worst.

“Barb, why didn’t you tell me and Poppy?”

Barb lifted her head.

“Hah??? Tell you what??? You must be seeing things!!!! There’s nothing in that no-“

Before Barb could finish her sentence, she was smothered in a big Poppy hug, her shoulders dropped and she took a deep breath, hugging her back.

“Sorry….”

Poppy lifted her head.

“Sorry for what?? There’s absolutely nothing to be sorry about.”

Branch nods, sitting up on the bed with the two.

“Poppy is right. But why didn’t you tell us sooner…?”

Barb shrugged, she had an answer, she didn’t think she deserved to be in a relationship, especially not with two amazing people like Poppy and Branch, but they didn’t need to hear that, they probably already knew.

“I…I guess I was just nervous.”

Poppy looked at Branch, and Branch back to Poppy, the both of them smiled and nodded, looking back at Barb and taking her hands.

“There’s no need to be.”

Poppy hummed in her sweet and soft tone.

“Because- we love you like that too.”

Barb sat dumbfounded in the lower floor of her house, staring dead forward at her blank tv screen. 2 weeks. That’s how long she’d been in a relationship with Poppy and Branch, it hadn’t hit her until just then, her heart sank deep into her chest, but before she could think about anything more, she was tackled and immediately smooched on the cheek.

“BARBBBB!!!!! Hiiii!!!! I missedddd youuuu!!!”

Barb giggled, kissing Poppy back and sighing.

“You went upstairs for 10 minutes, Poppy.”

Poppy sighs, sitting up and looking down at Barb.

“That’s too long without you.”

Barb sat up as well, only to be pulled into another kiss by Poppy, Barb melted into her, sighing softly and wrapping her arms around her waist, she closed her eyes, allowing herself to enjoy the moment. Poppy giggled as she broke the kiss, holding tightly onto Barbs hands.

“Gosh, you’re such a good kisser~”

Barb turned bright red at the remark, chuckling and tucking Poppy’s hair behind her ear.

“Ah- I’m not that good.”

Branch came up from behind Barb, kissing her on the cheek and hugging her.

“Nah, you are. Don’t downplay yourself.”

Barb hid her face in her hands, shaking her head.

“Oh stop it-“

Poppy giggled, pulling Barb into another hug.

“Nooooo~”

Poppy, Branch, and Barb all sat on the couch together, snuggling closely. Barb stared off into space again as the other two spoke amongst themselves. She couldn’t help herself, she was deeper in thought then she usually was, she wasn’t paying attention to anything except for the voice in her own head. Poppy looked up at Barb, running a hand through her hair and trying to catch her attention, kissing her cheek, cupping her face, everything she could- but Barb was too deep in her own head. Branch sighed softly, just leaning his head against Barb, and waiting until Poppy was asleep around an hour later to pull Barb aside. He gently helped Barb off the couch, wrapping an arm around her waist and walking out onto the back porch with her, and as soon as they got outside, Barb broke down into tears. Branch took her hand, his heart broke seeing one of the people he loved most in the world break down like this, he just held her in his arms, hugging her closely as she cried, he didn’t even need to ask her what has wrong, she started talking all on her own.

“Branch- I- I don’t deserve you, or Poppy…I’m a horrible fucking person. I’m loud- I’m heartless, I’m too closed off to say anything about it- I…I’m the opposite of you guys.”

Branch paused as he listened to Barb speak, he gently sat down with her, taking her hands in his and kissing her forehead.

“Actually…Barb, you’re exactly like how I was once…”

Barb looked up into Branches eyes, seeming surprised. Branch just nodded.

“Yeah, I know- hard to believe- but…I was closed off once too, I was scared, I was isolated, and to be honest…I was kind of an asshole. I didn’t think I deserved love either, but Poppy helped me see differently, she helped me realize and understand that no matter what…everyone deserves a little bit of happiness. And especially you do, Barb. You’re the second sweetest girl I know, and I love you.”

Barb smiled, tilting her head slightly and giggling through the muffled sound of her tears.

“Second?”

Branch shrugged.

“No one can be as sweet as Poppy.”

Barb laughed and leaned into Branch, closing her eyes and sighing, maybe she did deserve love, maybe this was her second chance…and maybe, just maybe- she could finally be happy once again.

[flowersforal]

"Art wasn't supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something.”

Some headcanons today about Crypto and his art :) I know it isn’t mentioned much, but when has that ever mattered?

☆ I picture him having a really loose, sketchy kind of style. He draws in a free, exploratory way a lot of the time

☆ Because of the way he's grown up, he’s used to using minimal supplies and making what tools he’s got last as long as possible. It’s always been more about the art than about what supplies he uses to make it, because art is a means of expression and regulation for him

☆ Even though he could get better materials now, I think it would take a bit before he felt like getting something nicer or working with a wider variety of things. He’d have to warm up to the idea over time and probably some encouragement from others

☆ There’s this Tiktok that I really like, I love the way this artist creates. Park’s drawings and paintings are like this a lot—quick, free, not much thought, doing it to relieve stress not to create more sitting on details

☆ I can imagine him having drawn and painted so many things… like Paradise Lounge, Game locations and events, other legends, buildings, animals, etc. Pencil, then ink in some places, brought to life with a color or two using watercolor or pastel in a messy way

☆ Picturing that wherever he keeps his art and supplies would be about as cluttered as everything else… Pencils used down to the very nub, dirtied erasers, pastels that smudge onto each other, watercolors that have hit pan but still contain usable color in the corner…

☆ Honestly, if his area was too clean, he would probably struggle to get started again. Looking at a blank sketchbook or a new set of paint would make him stare and stress about getting started—having everything already used and familiar and worn makes it easy to hop back in

☆ Does lots of experimental work… Testing different color combinations, testing art styles… Anatomy practice from books and other references, practicing light and shadow and positioning with various objects like fruit and such. Has probably drawn his own art tools many times because it’s an easy way to play around with the way things sit and look in a 3D space

☆ He has a couple different kinds of art, the more rough sketches and then bigger, cleaner pieces… Most of it is rough and for fun, but sometimes he’s proud of something or really spurned on by an idea, so he’ll take the idea and redo it/make it better on a larger scale

[citrus-blade]

Meeting

Day 2 of Citrus Dreamnoblade Week with the prompt 'Meeting Parents'

Link to AO3 or read it under here!

Dream had everything he could have asked for in his life. Home, Job and a lovely fiance. But before his life could actually become perfect by turning said fiance into his husband he had to meet his family first. And let’s just say that Techno had talked about his family before, but meeting them was something completely different.

Story under the cut! Words: 1,534

Dream was the luckiest man in the world. He had a nice job in a firm where he had met his two best friends. Said job made sure he didn’t need to worry about money or the future, additional to that he also had a very nice home and a cat living in said home. Oh, and not to forget his boyfriend, or, since a few weeks, his fiance.

Techno was an artist working from home with his own studio in a room where most of the walls were made out of windows. The man with the pink hair always told Dream that he was is muse, ever since they met in college.

It was a normal day for Dream when he sat in the college’s cafe, trying to finish a project he had been stressing about for the last few weeks. His hair was messy, there were bags under his eyes and he accidentally wore his shirt backwards… with stains on it, cause he forgot to do his laundry.

In the middle of him panicking Techno had slid into the booth, immediately getting Dream’s attention. The student looked over his laptop at the man with a deep frown and mouth half open. “….what do you want?” He has asked in the hope that the stranger would notice that he wasn’t welcome and leave again.

“Sorry, I don’t want to bother your for long but,” the man started, voice monotone as he looked Dream’s face over, “you’re really beautiful, would it be okay for you if I’d draw you?” Dream felt his face turn red within seconds, no one had ever called him beautiful before. Handsome sure, sexy even, but beautiful? That one was new and despite himself he kinda liked it.

“Ehm, wh-what?”

“If I can draw-”

“No, I understood that part just- ehm- haha, it’s just,” Dream stumbled over his own words, a slight grin growing on the stranger. Only then did Dream notice the sketchbook in front of the man. “kinda direct, don’t you think?”

“Well, you have to be direct when you found your muse in a stranger you could lose, right?”

Muse?? Did this dude really just call Dream his muse? Damn. “Oh ehm, wow that’s, true I guess?”

The man chuckled then, holding out his hand. “My name is Techno and I’m an art student here.”

“Dream,” the blond answered as he shook Techno’s hand, blush still on his cheeks. “And sure, you can ehm, draw me, if you want to! I just need to work is that-?”

“Totally fine, don’t worry,” and just like that he opened his sketchbook and started drawing.

That was how they had met four year ago. Shortly after they became friends, then boyfriends and now fiances. Techno had asked him in a cafe the day Dream had worked on an important project for work. He did not miss what his lover did there.

No you’d think Dream’s life was perfect right? But you’d be wrong, cause there was one more thing Dream had to do and that was meet Techno’s family. And don’t come at Dream with ‘you should have met them already!’ like yeah, he should! It was just that all of Techno’s family lived in England while they lived all the way in Florida. And until a few months ago they simply didn’t have the money to just fly over there for a meet up.

Now that Dream had found a good workplace and Techno had boomed with his art and could sell it for a lot of money, they were wealthy enough for trips like that to be in their normal schedule. And today they finally flew over, eight hours of flight and they landed safely in London. “So, is your family picking us up?” Dream asked, fidgeting with the fidget spinner Techno had given him before the flight already.

“Yeah, I think Wilbur is,” Techno mumbled as he waited for their package. Dream knew who Wilbur was, he also knew who Tommy and Philza were, just because he hadn’t met the men yet didn’t mean Techno wouldn’t talk about them.

Wilbur was Techno’s older brother, a musician who tended to be overdramatic but also very romantic. Tommy was Techno’s younger brother who had just turned eighteen and still visited high school, he was pure chaos and apparently annoying as fuck. And then there was Philza, Techno’s father, apparently calm and level-headed but sometimes a little hypocritical and sassy.

So yeah, Dream was worried and nervous, you can’t fault him for that! Walking to the picking up part of the airport made Dream wanna throw up, he knew how they each looked thanks to pictures. Sometimes he wondered if Techno also sent them pictures of Dream and talked to them about him.

“Calm down,” Techno whispered to him, one hand on Dream’s lower back, “they’re not gonna eat you.”

“What when they don’t like me?” Dream asked back, glancing at his fiance before looking back to search for Wilbur.

“They will and even when not, it doesn’t matter. You’re part of me, rather they like you or not.” That was kinda reassuring for Dream, knowing he wouldn’t lose the love of his life no matter what. But still, he wanted to be liked so there wouldn’t be any complications during the wedding or future events like Christmas.

“Techno!” A voice called out, making both men turn to their left. There he stood, Wilbur, a young man with curly brown hair and brown eyes smiling at them. He wore a yellow sweater, standing out from the crowd. The fact that he was also tall and waving his hand wildly around helped as well.

“Wilbur!” Techno answered, his voice as monotone as most of the time. He walked over to him with Dream and Wilbur immediately pulled his brother into a tight hug. “Urgh, Wilbur, please.”

“Come on man, let me hug and look at you!” Wilbur said as he pulled back, hands on Techno’s arms to hold him still. “You look good, healthy!” Then his gaze wandered over to Dream, a soft smile back on his lips. “And you must be Dream, nice meeting you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” Dream said, shaking the man’s hand with a gentle smile, trying to be polite. Wilbur pulled back and chuckled and only then did Dream notice how sweaty his own hand was, trying to dry it on his jacket. “Sorry about that…”

“No need to apologize,” Wilbur assured, waving it off, “you’re nervous, that’s completely normal okay? Meeting the family for the first time is stressful.”

“It really is,” admitted Dream with a deep sigh, earning a laughter from the other man. Techno also chuckled lightly before turning back to Wilbur, his hand founding it’s spot on Dream’s waist.

“Alright, let’s go guys, I bet Tommy and dad are waiting just as nervous at home.” And with those last words from Wilbur they left the airport, got into Wilbur’s car and drove. They were on the road for half an hour before arriving at the house. As they got out of the car Dream saw someone looking out a window, trying to hide behind a curtain.

“Oh my,” he whispered to himself, swallowing heavily before stepping to Techno’s side, taking his hand.

“It will be fine,” his partner said, looking down at the blond. “We’ll greet them and then flee upstairs to unpack and settle in before dinner in the evening, okay?”

“Okay,” Dream nodded, he saw Wilbur chuckle silently in his fist, hiding it badly. Then he pushed the key in and opened the door, two blond men already waiting. Dream took a deep breath before stepping inside with everyone. Obviously everyone greeted Techno first before the pinket gestured to Dream, introducing him as his fiance. “Hello! I’m happy finally getting to meet Techno’s family!”

“As are we! We didn’t get to see him for so long cause he didn’t want to travel without you,” Philza said with a strained smile, wrinkled obvious at the side of his mouth and eyes. Oh god, the man already hated him. “It’s funny that we meet now that you’re already fiances, right?”

“Dad,” Techno said in a warning tone and a frown, “Stop playing games.”

And all of a sudden the older man burst out laughing, shaking his head before pulling Dream into a tight hug. “I’m sorry, I had to do this,” he said, still laughing lightly. Dream was shocked and didn’t know what was happening.

When he pulled away Tommy started talking. “It’s okay, he does this shit with every partner someone brings home.”

Dream blinked at that before turning to Techno in shock. “Why didn’t you warn me?!”

“I thought he wouldn’t do this considering you’re not just a boyfriend!”

“Nope,” Philza said between them, “no one is safe here.” Dream took a deep breath in relief before he was invited into the living room, asked if he wanted to have a drink. It was still scary but the atmosphere turned more chill fast and eventually Dream was laughing with everyone as well.

Meeting his fiance’s – soon husband – family was as not as much a disaster as he had feared.

[binarybitex]

Since today is appreciation day, I obviously had to send something in ^^ This is going to be really long because I have a lot to ramble about -w-

Let's start with the obvious. Cardboard Castle. I FUCKING LOVE IT!!! I feel so lucky to have been graced with an over 100k-long slow burn with my favorite pair. You had my ass checking the tag every day to see if it had gotten an update. Every chapter is amazing, but 4 and 5 have to be my favorite. Something about them is just… idk. Maybe it's because I absolutely love carnivals and go to them every chance I get, and the way you described them it just made me feel like I was reliving them. Plus the corn maze scene?? Dawg you had me feeling like Sebastian thinking “Just kiss him!!” The fact that it’s not really a date, but totally is. Just reading it makes me feel so festive, no matter the time of year. Thinking about it now I have the urge to make some apple cider. With all the inspiration I get from it: here’s a little mood board based on it!

As for chapter 5, I really just enjoyed the dialogue at the end. The vibes are also immaculate. I can enjoy a good angsty fic like the next guy, but David and Max just bonding with each other and being mundane makes me feel so soft. The dialogue really felt like two people just going over old memories. In your author’s note, you mentioned it would be a boring chapter, but I feel like it was anything but boring. Whenever I want to read something fluffy, I always go back to that chapter. Plus what Max did to Charly was hilarious. I don’t have as much to say about this one as I did chapter 4, but nonetheless, I love it!! To be honest, it was after reading chapter 5 that I really got into writing and decided to upload my work/become more active in the maxvid community as a whole.

And onto Heart Hallow ;D I don’t usually find myself getting into OC projects, but when webtoons recommended it to me, I was like “I’ll give it a go” AND I’M GLAD I DID BECAUSE AJDGWMEOWHFE. I adore the characters, the drawings (particularly the coloring you do for each panel!), and the little stories they go through each chapter. I can tell so much love went into it from just seeing how you talk about it when asked. Kara is up there as one of my favs (yes because she’s Aroace but it has a good personality!! I just like seeing Aroace characters >w>) but Lewis and Zeke are my top too. On several of my assignments, I have Z + L scribbled on them surrounded by hearts. It has driven my friends crazy trying to figure out who they are LMAO.

And just like I do with all my favorite media, I had to insert my OC in there somewhere :3 So, Spencer! I had a lot of fun filling out her card and doing the little edit. She managed to sneak her way into employment at HH (I’m not creative, please just accept this.) and is one of the housekeepers. So two things about her. One, she’s an artist. She does a lot of landscapes/portraits. And two, she’s super messy. Which is why she has a bunch of paint all over her! She’s good at getting it out though.

Anyways, the reason that she has paint all over her is that she noticed a lot of the walls at the hotel needed to be touched up, and since she’s really good with matching colors (make-up artist), she used what paint the hotel did have to create the color needed to re-paint the walls. Then she heard about the old murals that used to be on the walls (probably from Lewis) and was like, “Wait a second. I can paint landscapes. I should do that!” So she got (dubious) permission from Mr. Wright and got to painting! She does it whenever she has time. Mr. Wright seems like he wouldn’t care, cause free art. So yeah. She does a lot of painting so constantly dirty, much to Lewis’s annoyance. And every holiday she gives all her co-workers paintings because it's cheap and easy.

And some doodles :> Not the greatest artist but I like to think I’m funny.

She suffers from having bad taste in men disease :( Her two friends, Ava and Mia run a bakery and anytime they have leftovers they give them to her. If she has anything left from that she’ll take in with her to share the next day. She is also super tall (6’5) because it's funny to insert her into a show/movie/comic and have her be the tallest person there. I also had another meme in mind but I don’t think I’ll finish it in time so be prepared for a random meme in your DMs one day.

And that’s it. Sorry it’s so long, I just want to make sure I say everything on my mind!! You’re super cool and I love your stuff and keep up the good work :3 Have a great day!!! (again your art is really nice to look at ok bye)

hi omg!! this is the most pleasant thing to open my phone up to and I just have to thank you for taking the time to write all this to me! 🫶

I'm beyond elated you've loved cardboard castles as much as me. it's my baby, and chapters 4&5 are my favorites too! I LOVE the moodboard!! omg!! srsly you did such an amazing job with it!

and Spencer is adorable !! I had a feeling you might have been coming up with an OC 👀 she'd fit right in with the cast. love how tall she is... the fact that she's taller than lewis is just 🤌and we're definitely missing a creative personality type at Heart Hollow! (for now. a new character gets released soon towards the end of book 1. she's an eccentric artsy kinda woman herself!)

your art is so cute, I love your style!! and the fact you filled out an employee sheet for spencer makes me so happy 🫶

have a lovely day and I hope that you'll send some more stuff my way! my asks are always open :-)

(btw ur ask totally made my day!!!!)

[rianafying]

it’s 4am i have the worst migraine of all time. i’ve had it for four days now. it was okay yesterday so i thought ut was over but it’s back again, and i have to go to work cause i’ve got a huge makeup gig today. i have to do hair and makeup for 10 models, and im just, exhausted emotionally. i was supposed to do some drawings and attach them to the file, and i told my client i would do it many days ago, but i didn’t do it. partly because of my headache and partly because ive been forgetful.

update: it’s 8am, i haven’t slept, took some painkillers, been getting spontaneous bursts of anxiety since yesterday afternoon. i always feel a little anxious before a job, but it’s only part of the reason. i feel terrible rn. i feel bloated and crusty, and my hair looks terrible. a huge part of how i feel is based on how i look, and until im happy w the way i look (hair styled, outfit pressed, makeup done, accessorised) i don’t feel okay. and i just hate the way i look and i hate everything rn. i’m having one of those moments where nothing is okay. it is entirely in my head because on other days everything could go wrong and i’d still feel okay. i hate being at the mercy of my emotions. i need more time to gather myself than i have. work is in two hours, at least it’s only a 10 minute walk from my place so if i forget something or whatever, i can come back and get it. but i feel really anxious. i can physically feel it. and i’ve misplaced everything, and suddenly my room is all messy again. and all i want to do is sleep and complain. i wish i didn’t feel so crusty 99% of the time. and i felt so lonely yesterday, not the kind of loneliness that makes me wanna talk to people. it’s the kind that just is there. i don’t wanna talk to anyone. i hate everyone. and i just wanna be by myself. but that also feels bad. i have a social life, and i love my friends but it’s different. i could even see people if i wanted to but i don’t want to. why do i feel this way. i don’t wanna be with people i don’t wanna be by myself either. at least i don’t feel suicidal lately. i just feel annoyed. frustrated. especially with the migraine i just wanna throw things and break things. i never have and i never will actually throw or break things. but that’s how i feel. just super. irritated. i need time i hate being in a time crunch. none of my thoughts make sense and im simultaneously over and under stimulated. how is it too hot and too cold at the same time??? it’s too hot in my blanket but too cold if i take it off. and i can physically feel my skin, like i can feel a separate layer on my body. and im itchy and im so annoyed. its too loud and too bright. and i hate that the sun is up again, and i hate the sound of my alarm. i hate it. and u hate every terrible thing that has happened to me or to anyone. and my heart breaks for those who are going through so so so much worse. and nothing is right. this is not how it’s supposed to be. and i need my therapist. i’m gonna have a mental breakdown. i am having a mental breakdown. i can’t even cry lately. i don’t even drink water. i suck. of course im gonna feel this way. i dug myself into this hole.

another update: it’s almost 8pm, finally got home from work. it was just the most draining day ever. i’m exhausted but also strangely anxious. extremely anxious. the shoot went well, i think?? i hope!

[teleiapotami]

(SFW) Excerpt from The Last Time Ch. 6

*This chapter is NSFW. If you don't like adult scenes, feel free to skip this one. There is no story advances in this chapter*

Following Natsu's confession of love, the two spend the night exploring each other. The next morning is spent lazily together, enjoying their new activities.

Lucy stood slowly and stretched before grabbing one of their discarded shirts and pulling it on to cover her nudity. Pulling a pair of panties on, she made her way into the kitchen and filled the kettle, still enjoying her memories. As she turned on the stove, a bright golden light flashed from her bedroom and Lucy cursed under her breath.

A moment later her most intrusive spirit stepped into view, running a hand through his messy orange hair. “Lucy, Natsu is naked in your bed.”

She rested her elbows on the counter and buried her face in her hands. “Good morning Loke,” she said tiredly.

“Why is there a naked dragon slayer in your bed?” His eyes narrowed as he looked her over. Lucy turned to him and glared.

“What do you want, Loke?” she asked with a hint of irritation.

He ignored her question, crossing his arms over his chest. “I came to see if you need help with work today. Lucy, why are wearing nothing but the naked dragon’s shirt?”

Lucy rolled her eyes and returned to making tea and pulling out ingredients for breakfast. “Did you wake him up?” Loke came to stand beside her, leaning against the counter and staring at her with an inscrutable look. He shook his head after a moment. “Good. Then you can help me make breakfast and I will tell you about it.” Loke made a sound of annoyance but took off his suit jacket and began unbuttoning his sleeves and rolling them up.

As she cracked eggs into a large bowl for him, she recounted the tale of Natsu’s return and a very simplified version of their conversation. Loke listened silently as he assisted her in cooking but cut his eyes to the side when she finished.

“None of that answers why you are only wearing the naked dragon’s shirt.”

“Would you move on? What’s wrong, are you jealous?” she teased lightly. Loke set aside the pan and turned to her, his face serious.

“No…. I just don’t want you getting hurt all over again, Princess,” he sighed. Lucy smiled and patted his arm. Despite Loke’s tendency to overstep boundaries of privacy and personal space, he really did care for her deeply. All of her spirits did, and it always made her heart swell when she thought about it. She let out a soft squeak as she was pulled into Loke’s arms for a hug.

“Loke….You’re burning the eggs,” she mumbled against his chest. She felt his head lift and he seemed to be looking at something behind her that made his arms tighten around her. She squirmed, trying to work her way out.

“Let her go, lover boy.” Lucy stilled at the sound of Natsu’s rough voice. His words were light, but his tone was controlled and had an edge to it.

“To you?” Loke challenged, drawing a long growl from Natsu. Lucy shoved against him. “Stop that right now, both of you. Loke, let me go or I’ll call Aries.”

Loke snickered. “You don’t have your keys, Princess.” Even so, he released her and stepped away, hands raised in surrender as he turned back to the stove. Lucy clicked her tongue in annoyance and crossed the room to stomp back into her bedroom.

She opened her dresser and grabbed a skirt and shirt. Natsu followed her into the room and watched her. “Why is he here?”

“You know very well that I can’t keep him from showing up when and where he wants,” she snapped, her voice sharp with irritation. She pulled his shirt over her head and threw it at him. He caught it with a grin and watched her with a longing look on his face. His hand twitched and he started to reach for her bare skin.

“You keep your hands to yourself Natsu. Loke already thinks things went a lot farther than they did. I don’t need you in here making it worse while he’s out there listening.” She pulled on her skirt and glared at him.

Natsu smiled with false innocence, then stroked her cheek gently. “He thinks? You didn’t tell him?”

“Of course not! He just showed up and found you naked in my bed and me wearing nothing but your shirt and my underwear. He jumped to conclusions and I’m not in the mood to deal with it.” She started toward the kitchen again, but Natsu caught her hand.

“Wait, please.” She looked back at him. “I’m sorry. I’ll behave, I promise. Just let me kiss you before we go back out there.” He pouted dramatically at her, and she failed to stifle her giggle.

“Fine, but you had better keep that growling under control. No jealousy around Loke of all people. You know he just wants to get a rise out of you.” He nodded and bent his head to hers for a sweet kiss.

“Breakfast is ready Princess,” Loke called out from the kitchen. When the two of them returned to the kitchen, the table was set with food and Loke was gone. “Solves that problem,” Natsu growled happily, attacking the food.

Find the whole story and more of my work on AO3!

[therk900]

💞August TC Challenge (Day 1-31) 💞

1. Name three words that always reminds you of your tc. B: the letter B, blue, english S: Italian, tall, gentle

2. Do you go to school at the moment (summer break)? Have you graduated? If not, when will you go to school again? Do you know when/whether you will see your tc again? I go to school at the moment, yes. I may see B today or tomorrow. I am not sure when I will see S again. Maybe tomorrow as well

3. What happened in the last dream with your tc in it? S: I Was sleeping with S, cuddling him while watching a movie. the next day, i was his teaching assistant B: Out for dinner at a fancy restaurant! We then went to his place and slept together!!

4. Would you describe him/her as a crush or love? maybe a crush

5. Finish the sentence “Having a tc is…” ...The best feeling ever

6. Do you remember when you first dreamed about him/her? (What happened in that dream?) It happened a long time ago so sadly no

7. Did he/she ever do something that made you think: “What? You are able to do this?” (I hope you understand what I mean ^^) Not yet

8. The colour that reminds you of your tc? How does this colour relate to him/her? Blue reminds me of B since he has this jumper that he wears that is blue Green for S because of a similar reason 

9. Please describe his/her character and if you want to, his/her teaching style. S is happy, full of energy and can hold a conversation with you for hours. B is humble about things and is here helpful! He is also very creative like S

10. When you think about him/her, do you think about *his/her first name* or about *Mr./Ms./Mrs. …*? Their nicknames I kind of made for them

11. Finish the sentence “My tc is my…” reason to go to school

12. Tell us about your weirdest dream you had with your tc in it. S and I were on a date, and we saw another teacher we knew run into the store that we were in. The teacher then yelled “WHERE ARE THEY?” And I said “there are these instead!” He then ran over to me, thanked me, and walked out like nothing happened

13. Name a line/lyric part from a song that just fits perfect to your tc situation. B: Powerful - Major Laser, Ellie Goulding and Tarrus Riley Line: “The stroke of your fingers The scent of your lingers My mind running wild The thoughts of your smile Oh, you gotta give me some” S: Forth of July - Sufjan Stevens  Line: “And I'm sorry I left, but it was for the best Though it never felt right”

14. Your favourite song/soundtrack when it comes up to your tc? Encanto??? Idk

15. If you were able to dress your tc, what would you let them wear? Suits for both of them!!! I’ve wanted to know what S would look like in a suit! I’ve already seen B in one and he looked good

16. What was the first thought you ever had about your tc? Can’t remember really, which is sad

17. How long does he/she now teach on your school? How long do you know him/her or have him/her in a class? S has taught for 2 years and 3/4 and I had 1 class with him during lockdown. B has taught for 1 year and 3/4 and I had 2 classes with him last year and 1 this year. 

18. Tell us one random thing that happened with your tc and that you’ll never forget. S witnessing me fall over and B complimenting my drawings!

19. Standard: What does he/she teach? Bonus: If it’s just one subject: What else do you think should he/she teach? If it are two subjects: Which one does he/she teach you? If you have to choose one, in which one would you rather like to get taught by him/her? S teaches Science and Italian. He taught me Italian. B teaches English and he looks like a teacher that would teach Humanities.

20. Did you like the subject that he/she teaches you before he/she began to teach you in this class? Or did he/she arouse interest for you in their class? I liked the subjects that they taught me! 

21. Would you say your tc is the hottest teacher in your school?  Definitely! They are both hot! B with messy hair just sends me flying each time!

22. If you were able to tell your tc about everything without getting into trouble with your school, would you do it? Would you tell him/her the whole truth? Maybe. It depends

23. Name an object that always reminds you of your tc. S: anything to do with science  B: a book about a play

24. Ever had a crush on a celebrity, older than you, before or beside your tc? (On who was it?) Yes. I currently like Booboo Stewart. Especially when he played Jay from Descendants! (My sister is a descendants fan so that's how i got to know about him)

25. Is there a teacher you love in a different way than your tc? Not really

26. Do you know his/her handwriting? Do you like it? (If you want to and if it’s okay for you, post a pic of something your tc has written, for example in your folder etc.) I know both of their handwriting! It’s both really good! i may post it here when this month is done

27. Tell us about one funny thing he/she has done while you were NOT in class! I am not sure if they did anything. 

28. Would you say your tc is a good teacher? Do you like his/her teaching style? Of corse!

29. Ever met your tc privately? Or saw him/her outside of school? Well, kind of in a sense. We have met both of them in their offices lots of times, if that counts

30. Does somebody around you know about your feelings for him/her? This isn’t surprising, but yes. my friend knows i like them

31. If your tc is/was teaching you, how long has it took you to realise you have feelings for him/her? If he/she is not, how long did you just saw him/her in the halls until you realised you have feelings for him/her? For B, It took me half a year, and for S, it took around a year and a half

[junvibing]

Artfully Yours

pairing: art major renjun! x fem!reader; youtuber!renjun

warnings: lots of art and ramen, renjun is very much in love, college

summary: Renjun wants to get you something special for your birthday. He has two problems though: 1. there’s not much time left, 2. he’s a perfectionist. But hey, at least Chenle gave him the perfect idea. Now, he only has to finish in time and hope you’ll love it.

wc: 12.5k

a/n: I’ve been working on this on and off for around a year lol. Anyways I really like it and I hope you do too! Leave me feedback haha this is my first long fanfic and honestly it’s special to me :’) <3 (posting this again cause I wanna try something haha)

song recommendation: Like we just met - nct dream

credit for art inspo: matlagesilke3 on pinterest

The second Renjun got home, he prepared to spend the rest of the day working on a drawing. Since it’s due for tomorrow’s Drawing II class, he really needs to put his energy into finishing it today. His art projects are often accompanied with him staying up into the nights to perfect them. Sometimes while painting his thoughts drift away and he starts thinking about other things. This tendency surely adds to him staying up late but for today he hopes he’ll be able to finish before midnight. That’s why Renjun starts gathering his materials quickly before sitting down at his desk. His room is a little messy but college is stressful and an art major is no exception. Especially since he is somewhat of a perfectionist but he couldn’t imagine studying anything else other than art. For as long as Renjun can remember, he was always interested in it. The way colors dance on the paper, the way they blend into each other or how he can create anything he wants and get lost in the process - he just loves it. One of his favorite things is to try out different art mediums and see how they work, how comfortable he could get with them and if he’ll resort back to them in the future. Over the years, he discovered that he loves painting with oil paints and watercolors the most as they bring him great joy and the best results. Both mediums can be tricky at the beginning and it wasn’t much different for him when he started out but proper practice helped a lot. However, Renjun also enjoys drawing on his tablet, which is especially useful if he wants to post his work online. 

In his opinion, art is meant to be shared and what better way is there to reach lots of people than sharing it online? That’s why he had started to post his art on Twitter when he was still in middle school. Whenever someone retweeted his art, he felt so elated, it pushed him to continue sharing his work. In high school he even started exploring with posting videos on YouTube, all related to art of course. Jisung, his classmate and one of his best friends, had encouraged him to just go for it and soon enough his other friends had joined in. Thinking back to his very first YouTube video, Renjun lets out a chuckle. Dang, I was so nervous. Shaking his head, he continues sketching. The thing is he never used to show his face on Twitter, it was all about his art and creativity but with the encouraging words of Jisung and his other friends, he dared to show his face on YouTube, alongside his art of course. The first video Renjun ever posted was of him drawing Moomin fan art. Over the years, his channel actually gained quite a bit of attraction and while in high school, he would often daydream about making money with his artwork even though he knew his parents wouldn’t really support him in pursuing such a career. As far as Renjun knew, his parents wanted him to get a “real” career. But he spent most of his free time either with his friends or sketching, drawing and painting. 

I still do that. Renjun sits at his desk, room dimly lit and pencil in his right hand. But y/n’s in the picture as well now. He grew up with art and it accompanied him throughout his ups and downs. He loves being creative, that’s why he had decided to go through with applying for a fine arts major when the time came around. However, his parent’s opinion and support was important to him. So at the time, he had a serious talk with them. Renjun knew they only had his best interest at heart. Naturally, they want him to be successful in life and it’s important to his parents that their only child has a good and comfortable life. They imagined for him to pursue a high paying, high status job like being a lawyer. His parents couldn’t picture how studying art would provide him with something like that. To them, pursuing an art career was too unstable, too risky. But Renjun managed to show them different ways in how he actually could be successful with it. He would do internships, could go into graphic design, could become an illustrator or go as far as to become an art instructor. There are different paths he would be able to take that would pay him well and hearing that eventually convinced his parents. Of course, Renjun had been overjoyed about that. He still is actually. All his life, art was one of the things that brought him the most happiness and his parents supported him in pursuing it as a career. What else could he wish for?

Turns out, there really was something else he could have wished for. He only knew it after you entered his life though. Renjun occasionally thinks back to how you two met. Out of nowhere, his mind sometimes drifts to the first time he saw you. Just like right now. The window in his room lets little light shine through, the sun is almost fully set at this point and the only other light source is the lamp on his desk, illuminating a bottle of milk and a few pieces of fruit. Renjun’s project for tomorrow is a still life, an art depiction of inanimate objects. It is pretty normal for him to drift off when he was monotonously sketching away, which is exactly what he is doing right now. His pen glides easily on the paper in front of him while he thinks back to his second semester. Renjun never really used to be a person who obsessed over relationships. His mind was filled with other things like ideas for art videos. In fact, he actually used to be the type who didn’t believe in love at first sight, which Jaemin thought was crazy by the way. But you kinda proved Renjun wrong. 

He still remembers the day clearly. It was fall and Mark invited you to come hang out with the boys. The dreamies, as Haechan likes to call their friend group, were still great friends even if they didn’t see each other everyday like they did back in high school. Mark actually mentioned your name before, it wasn’t your first time hanging out with the boys either but the few times you were with them, Renjun couldn’t make it, so he only officially met you in his second semester. Crazy, almost two and a half years ago. He can still remember exactly how he reacted to seeing you for the first time. The second Renjun’s eyes landed on you, the things and people around him somehow were moving in slow motion. To say he was intrigued by you would’ve been an understatement. You looked so mesmerizing, smiling at whatever Jisung was saying while the evening sun hit your face in the most beautiful way. Renjun felt like he was looking at the prettiest painting he ever laid his eyes on. All the beautiful, intricate art he saw over the years didn’t compare to you and he immediately wanted to introduce himself. From that day onwards you joined his dear collection of things he loves to draw the most. 

It actually didn’t take long for Renjun to ask you out as there was no way he would be able to let you slip through his fingers. Over the years, your relationship has been going strong. Just like art you’ve become a constant in Renjun’s life that he wishes to never lose. With time, he even introduced you on his YouTube channel. It took a little convincing but after a while you were able to put your shyness away and join him in a vlog. Renjun smiles, thinking back to your first video together. Back then, he had decided to participate in the challenge of drawing under a blue light and you tagged along in his vlog at the beginning. It was fun for both of you and Renjun’s subscribers enjoyed seeing you guys together. The comments were flooded with how cute the two of you were and requests for you to join him more on his channel. But for today, Renjun’s plans don’t include any art challenge. It’s time to finish this still life. He needs the day tomorrow for something else, something more important. 

The next day, with a fresh mind and his still life finished, Renjun prepares for a different project. There is still a bit of time left before he needs to get to class, so he wants to use it to start before it’s time to turn in his still life. Renjun has something special planned for you. Your birthday is just around the corner and he had been unsure on what to get you. Last year he got you a beautiful necklace with a butterfly charm. “To show you my appreciation” is what he had said when putting it on you. Renjun never wanted to stop feeling warm and fuzzy inside when he was with you. For this year’s gift, he was thinking about decor for your dorm room since you moved recently. Yet for some reason, whenever he was strolling through stores, keeping an eye out for a suitable gift, he felt like nothing fit perfectly. You don’t really need a new rug or pillows. Your room is already decorated with various plants. Just getting you a few scented candles like Mark suggested was too plain. Getting a mug was out of the question as it’s not special enough for you. Not to mention a mug technically isn’t decor. Although it could be. However, Renjun wanted to get you something special, something that shows he put thought into it and when speaking to Chenle about it the other day, he suggested the perfect idea: painting you a picture. 

Naturally, Renjun drew small pictures for you over the course of your relationship and you cherished every single one of it but he never created a proper painting for you. Almost outrageous, how come he never did that for his girlfriend? Even Jeno did it at some point for his girlfriend. Or tried at least. Nevertheless, she loved it and Renjun still remembers your reaction actually. You and her go way back, having met during middle school. Naturally, you only ever wished the best for your best friend. So of course, seeing her that happy about Jeno’s gift, had put a smile on your face. You even laughed a little, seeing her show it off to the others. Thinking back, that should’ve been Renjun’s first clue to paint you something for your birthday. But at least he came around now, even if it is a little overdue. As soon as he had decided to paint you something to put on your wall, he had brainstormed for ideas. His still life project got in the way so he couldn’t start earlier but today is finally the day he can turn his draft for your gift into the beginnings of a painting. Last week, Renjun sat down and thought about what he wanted to paint for you and since the painting is supposed to fit your room well, he had decided to go with an enchanted forest. He feels like it would complement the various plants in your room nicely. A dark forest with colorful sparks throughout would be the perfect eye catcher for your plain white dorm wall. He had decided to draw two particular trees to accentuate the centerpiece of his painting: a magical path that’s curving to the right. Renjun feels very confident about the idea, so much so that he had decided to film a YouTube video around it: “Painting for my gf’s birthday”, where he documents the process of his painting and captures your reaction to the present. 

That’s why he sits in his chair right now, camera on his desk and films himself. His subscribers will surely enjoy seeing this. “Hi painters, so my girlfriend’s bday is just around the corner and I’ve been struggling quite a bit with finding a gift. I can’t just get her an ordinary gift, you know me. So I was thinking and searching and man almost gave up but my friend literally saved the day.“ Renjun salutes to the camera. “谢了, 哥们.“ ”So anyway, I decided to go with his idea of painting for her, hence this video. I was brainstorming in advance and already did a vague sketch of my idea.“ Renjun holds his sketchbook into the camera so his viewers can see the enchanted forest. “You can see it’s supposed to be a forest. I wanna add different colored sparks to it and make the path here a blueish white to give it a fairy, enchanted type of feel.” Renjun traced the path with his finger and then mentioned two particular trees. “The big trees in the front that bend over and form a heart accentuate the magical path nicely. I also added a little pond. I really like it and I think y/n will like it as well.” Renjun adjusts the camera to show his canvas and him. For the next thirty minutes, he hunches over his desk, sketching his draft carefully onto the canvas. Since this is supposed to be the centerpiece of your wall, Renjun bought a big canvas last week. It is supposed to be an eye-catcher after all. As the time passes and he finishes sketching, he stands up to look at his work. “Okay that’s good enough.” Renjun looks into the camera. “I’ll stop for now cause I have class in about forty minutes. But I’ll see you later tonight when I continue. Y/n’s bday is literally in 9 days and you know how it goes with oil paints, long drying times. So I need it to be done one day before her bday, meaning there’s no time to slack off.” Renjun takes the camera into his hand and smiles before moving his hand in front of the lens. “Only the best for my babe.” 

Hours later, Renjun is setting up his camera again. After his last class for today, art history, he got some lunch with the boys in the dining hall. Mark and Haechan had class though, so the group wasn’t complete. The boys catched up a little but Renjun didn’t want to spend too much time eating. There was still a project awaiting him at home after all. That’s why he only had a small chicken salad. Jaemin talked about how his professor has been kicking his butt with reading assignments for class and to be fair, Renjun could understand. There was just something unpleasant about having to read two 15 page papers about the causes and consequences of the French revolution. But Jaemin chose to major in history education. Although Renjun knows it’s not Jaemin’s fault for having an unpleasant professor. Chenle, however, hadn’t been that interested in his friend’s distress. “Glad I don’t have to deal with that”, is what he had said. “Yeah, you need to deal with statistical models dude, gross” Jaemin really doesn’t like math. But, the boys were all able to agree that college workload is a lot, whether one studies education or economics. “Chill guys”, Jeno had taken a bite of his pizza slice, “Jun, how’s it going with y/n’s gift?” Well, Renjun still has lots to do, which is why he had used that opportunity to briefly explain his progress and bid his friends goodbye to go straight to his dorm.

“I’m back, people. I turned in a project and I had art history today which wasn’t so great. It has the touch of being boring sometimes but it’s okay, let‘s continue.” Renjun turns his camera to show the sketch he made earlier today. “This is what we’re working with. It’s time to bring some color into this. I don’t wanna waste much time, so let’s begin.” He pulls his easel out and places the canvas on it. The camera is pointing at him and the canvas again but this time he is standing in the middle of his room. After opening a window, he starts with mixing light gray and dark brown. Oil paints don’t have the nicest smell, so it’s good to have a window or two open while painting. This way, Renjun can maximize the time he is able to paint before getting a headache. “Since I don’t have much time for this painting, I’ll use a fast drying medium. Hopefully this way the painting will be dry on time for y/n’s bday.” Renjun starts with a medium sized brush to paint a thin layer of light gray on the middle of his canvas, where fog would later shine through the trees. The next step is to use brown to block in the general shape of the trees. The two bend trees forming a heart take up quite a bit of space on the left and right side of his canvas. Later on, he wants to spend time on the details to tie everything in. Renjun, like most artists, finds it better to start with the general shape of things and work himself up to the smaller, more detailed parts of a painting. 

After almost two hours of painting, he takes a small break to get a snack. I should still have a pack of ramen left somewhere. Of course, only if his roommate Jay didn’t eat it. After locating the ramen and preparing it quickly, Renjun places his camera in front of him. “As you can see, I took a break guys. I’m sitting in the kitchen right now since I don’t want to expose myself to the smell of the paint unnecessarily. I only have a little bit of the background left. So, I think I should be able to finish in about twenty minutes or so.” Renjun turns his camera off to continue eating. Conveniently enough for him, you video call him while he’s still eating. So, he wasn’t rushed to get out of his room to hide his painting from you. Renjun answers your call while positioning his phone against the fruit bowl on the table. “Hi babe, hold up.” After his phone is stable, he smiles at you. “How was your day?” Seeing Renjun after a long day makes you sigh and smile at him. You just wanted to see him and hear his voice for a while to feel better. “Exhausting, I had so much class today and work was a mess.” You pout. You work at a coffee shop downtown a few days a week to save up some money. Sadly, more often than not, you have to deal with difficult customers. “I’m sorry to hear that, love. Did you just get home?” You nod. It is way past nine in the evening and you were ready to go to sleep in a bit, ideally with Renjun cuddling you but that won’t happen today. “Jun, how come you’re eating at this hour?” You know he doesn’t usually eat this late as he doesn’t like to go to bed with a full stomach. Renjun quickly tries to come up with a plausible answer. He doesn’t want to tell you that he spent a good portion of the day painting your gift. “I had a bit of a light lunch today, went out with the boys but didn’t eat too much.” That technically wasn’t a lie either. During lunch he was eager to go back home to paint your gift but the boys insisted he ate at least something before spending hours on it. Renjun and you spend the next ten minutes talking, before he sents you a kiss through the camera and you hang up for the night. 

After washing his bowl, he goes back to his room. He could feel a headache approaching but was determined to finish the background today. Soon enough, around thirty minutes later, Renjun picks up his camera again. “I’m finished with the background guys. This is how it looks so far.” He turns the camera to show the canvas in detail and zooms in a little. At this point, it looks like a simple foggy forest with tall, leafless trees. Renjun will worry about the details later, for now this is good enough. “Quite simple but that’s fine for today. Hopefully it’ll be dry by tomorrow so I can continue after classes. See you then.” Renjun quickly changes into his pajamas and brushes his teeth to go to bed but not before making sure to keep his window open. 

Wednesday morning comes around and Renjun wakes up in his chilly room. He doesn’t mind it that much since he needs to get to class soon anyway. His Wednesdays are usually packed with classes. But thankfully, they are ones he mostly enjoys, Ceramics, Contemporary Art, Digital Media and lastly Painting II. After quickly eating breakfast and getting dressed, he was ready to start the day. Today, Renjun and you are actually planning to get lunch together. Wednesdays and Fridays were set dates where you would either hang out in between classes and snack on a few things or eat lunch together. Renjun loves doing small, simple things with you like snacking on sandwiches together. Since you’ve been busy lately with your part time job at the coffee shop, he hasn’t been able to spend lots of time with you. He made an effort to show up at your workplace every other day or so but seeing you for fifteen minutes just wasn’t enough, which is why he looked forward to today. As soon as his fourth class finishes, he makes a beeline to the door. 

You were supposed to meet next to the library and just as agreed he sees you standing there, smiling down at your phone. You’re wearing one of his hoodies and jeans, quite simple but you still manage to look great. As if you had a feeling he was coming your way, you look up. Renjun kisses your cheek, “Hi love, missed you.” He holds out his hand for you. Putting your hand in his, you start walking towards a convenience store nearby campus. “Junnie, how was class? Did you manage to finish your charcoal drawing from last week?” A few weeks ago in Painting II, Renjun’s professor introduced the topic of shading with paint. His professor gave a deadline of one week to turn in a small charcoal drawing and today they had the first hour of class to finish it. The assignment was only intented to be a supplementary technique though. It would help to understand contrast and value as a basis for shading with paint. Charcoal isn’t a medium Renjun uses often, so he chose a somewhat simple object to draw, a vase full of your favorite flowers, tulips. “Yeah, I managed to finish it within the last ten minutes. The shading was a little tricky though. I’m not too satisfied with it but you know my perfectionist self.” Renjun smiles sheepishly. You know he takes his art seriously and has a tendency to focus a little too much on the details. Sometimes he would ask you to have a look at this work since your input helped him and over time he learned that looking at his art with a fresh set of eyes always worked. Nevertheless, in your opinion, he always manages to create something that was beautifully executed.

On the way to the supermarket you tell him about your day, how boring class was and how your professor gave you tons of reading material for the next class. Renjun knows you have a thing for reading, hence your English literature major but he never understood how you were able to survive reading so much for your degree. He enjoys reading from time to time but having to read pages upon pages of who knows how old literature and analyzing it all in class never had much appeal to him. Nevertheless, he listens attentively to you and after you both get some snacks that Renjun kindly carries, you walk back to campus to your favorite spot near the economics department. Just a few minutes away from the main building were a few benches looking out at the gardening club’s flower field. You and Renjun love to sit on one of them and enjoy the beauty of different flowers together. Thankfully, one of the benches isn’t occupied so you both can sit down and enjoy your break together. Every year, the gardening club arranges their flowers in different themes. A few months ago in summer the theme was “beach sun set”. For this, their flower field basically consisted of flowers in three colors: blue, orange and yellow. Since the season has already changed, a new theme is in place at the moment. This winter, the gardening club focussed on winter themed food by using white and red roses arranged in a way that looked like a candy cane and so on. Renjun likes the idea of different themes, it was nice to see the club have fun with being creative. In a way they’re creating their own art. 

An hour later, Renjun walks you to your next class and squeezes your hand lovingly before making his way home. He is happy that he got to spend some quality time with you, even if it wasn’t very long. While walking back, he is mentally preparing a list of what he needs to paint next for your gift. Since the background was finished and hopefully dry, the next step would be to go into more detail by giving the trees more depth, properly outlining their roots and branches. Renjun also wants to add more color accents to the trees by painting green and slightly bluish leaves. He wants to mimic moon light shining through the forest. It would cast onto the leaves of the trees and give them a light blue tint. As soon as Renjun arrives home, he continues filming his painting process. “Hi painters, I’m back for the next round. Right now it’s Wednesday afternoon, meaning I have exactly 6 days left for this painting to finish, so it can still dry in time. Let’s go!” The next hours of Renjun’s day consisted of his open window, the smell of oil paints and color on his fingers. At one point, he did actually take a small break to eat, even his roommate Jay made an appearance. Renjun gets along just fine with him but both prefer to stay in their respective rooms, meaning they don’t see each other often. He literally is just his roommate, still a cool guy though. One time Jay even asked him for some art advice. Renjun didn’t really imagine him to be the type of guy to be interested in art, but turns out he wanted to try out something new. Of course, Renjun was happy to help and advise. Maybe this time for his painting he would ask Jay for his opinion. 

Thursday flew by him it seemed. Renjun got in and out of class, worked on another assignment and met up with the dreamies. He didn’t continue to paint on the canvas because it was still too wet. Time is worrying him a little bit since the paint takes longer to dry than he likes and he still needs to do quite a bit. But he’ll push through. Renjun is determined to finish your gift one day before your birthday and there’s no way he’ll give you an unfinished painting.

The next day, your Friday lunch break falls short because of an essay you have to finish. However, this gives Renjun more time to perfect his painting for you, which he feels like he really needs. He spent so much time working on it, yet he still isn’t satisfied with the outcome. In fact, he feels like the painting was nowhere near being finished in time. There is something about the way he placed the sparks that he doesn’t like. The thing is, he can’t really pinpoint why exactly he doesn’t like it. They just aren’t really “flying” in the air well enough. Some are too close together, others too far apart. In a way it doesn’t look natural enough, but that in itself doesn’t make any sense, cause no normal forest has such sparks flying through it. Renjun was expecting them to deepen the magical feeling of the forest, but for some reason he couldn’t portray that feeling onto the canvas in a satisfactory way. Regardless, a few spots shouldn’t be enough to give him the feeling of not liking the placement of the sparks overall, right?

To be frank, he is very frustrated. So, at one point he decides to vent to his camera. “I know I’m too nitpicky. But I just want it to look perfect for y/n. I also know she will like my painting regardless. Heck, she probably wouldn’t mind if I doodled her something as a present. But I want it to be deserving of being in her room. I want her to love my painting and me to like it as well.” Renjun wipes a hand down his face. “Maybe I’ve been on this for too long. It’s already past 7 pm and I’ve been working on this painting since I ate lunch. Or maybe time is just stressing me. There are only a few days left and I still need to work on the details.” Renjun decides he needs a break, a fresh breath of air. Maybe the oil paint smell is messing too much with his ability to create. Whatever the case is, he decides to go by your workplace and see you. Your smile would definitely help him feel better. 

As soon as you see Renjun walking through the door of the coffee shop, you have a smile on your face. Your work day is slowly coming to an end and even though most customers today weren’t that difficult to handle, working a long shift naturally tires your body out, which is why it’s a pleasant surprise to see your boyfriend. “Junnie, what are you doing here?” Seeing you standing behind the counter smiling at him, gives Renjun a warm and comfy feeling. It was like all of his worries evaporated into thin air as soon as your beautiful face smiled up at him. “Hi love, came to see you. I needed a fresh breath of air.” You walk around the counter to give him a quick kiss on the cheek, the rag still in your left hand. As expected, his insides are feeling fuzzy again.

You’ve always had that effect on him. Renjun didn’t really mind holding your hand in public or you leaning on him, but kisses, even if only on the cheek, are something intimate to him, so he only really initiates them in public if he really misses you. Otherwise they are kept for when you two are in private. “Trouble with painting again?” Renjun smiles sheepishly. Of course, you would figure him out. But he doesn’t mind and fortunately, you don’t know what exactly he was painting. “Yeah, I think I’ve been on it for a bit too long. You and a nice cup of tea will surely help.” Renjun isn’t a big fan of coffee, he preferred drinking tea over coffee any day. Whenever he comes around the coffee shop you work at, he either orders tea or just some pastry to snack on, sometimes both if he feels like looking at you a little longer. Often Renjun thinks about how pretty you look and about how he could watch you for hours. He realizes that thought might be creepy but you didn’t mind when he told you about it one day. It’s him after all, not some stranger. 

You quickly wipe down the table before going behind the counter again to prepare his drink. Today, Renjun chose to drink lemon tea. Being the nice girlfriend that you are, you gave him a small cookie on the side as well. Sadly, he can’t spend much time talking to you as new customers come in. That‘s why he sits down at a table and enjoys his tea and the cookie. How nice it would be if we could just sit on my bed and talk. Or rather on her bed, can’t have her seeing the painting. Occasionally, he looks over to see you wiping down tables and you wink at him. He was right, a tea and you definitely help to calm his mind. Renjun spends about twenty minutes in the coffee shop before he gets up and gives you a sweet goodbye. It is time to return to the dorm and continue his painting.

For now, he plans to continue with a few details of trees. Maybe having a fresh look at the sparks tomorrow is a better idea. Not counting today, 5 days were left till your birthday, which meant he effectively has 2 to 3 days left to paint since oil paint, even with a quick drying medium, still needs comparatively long to dry. After working for about half an hour on the details of the trees in the back, Renjun feels a little better about his painting. He takes this as an incentive to end the day with a positive feeling and grabs his camera again. “Okay guys, I’m calling it quits for today. It’s about 8 pm already. I think it’s better to tackle the sparks tomorrow. ” Renjun quickly shows the current state of his painting before he turns off the camera. 

The next day is a Saturday, meaning Renjun has all day to paint and he wakes up with a good feeling. He quickly eats breakfast and immediately wants to get to painting, so he sets up his camera to further film his painting process. It’s time to focus on the sparks. The ones he already painted were in different colors, namely pink, yellow, blue and red. But looking at his canvas with a fresh set of eyes, he realizes they were not bright enough for his liking. They aren’t really sparkling. Maybe the feeling he got last evening of them not “flying” in the forest nicely was caused by that. He needs to paint in such a way that they look like they were actually sparkling. Renjun has the revelation that he needs to add highlights to the sparks. Adding highlights to them would ensure that the sparks stand out more against the forest, making them more interesting and giving the painting a more refined look. He likes that approach. Maybe he can even place the highlights in such a way that it would have the effect of letting single sparks look more apart from others. This way his problem of the placement of some sparks would be solved, at least to some extent. 

For the next hour Renjun works on adding enough highlights and blending around the sparks. He also adds a few more sparks to the forest. Taking a few steps back from his canvas, he regards the result. This time, Renjun definitely likes it a lot more. The sparks look nice against the dark forest and shine in different colors. It felt realistic and he was happy with the outcome so far. He grabs his camera, “Finally guys, I managed to paint the sparks in a way I’m satisfied with. I had the realization this morning that I needed to add highlights to them and I’m happy to report that it was a good idea.” Renjun shows his viewers the current state of his painting. “I’m thinking of continuing with the details of the two bent trees in the front. I only have a few days left to paint and I still need to work on the details of the pond.” Renjun puts his camera back on his desk again, before facing the canvas. These two trees still need leaves and defined roots. He wants to make them look like they are quite old.

Basically, Renjun spent the rest of his day painting, except for the occasional toilet and food break. After hours in front of his canvas, his head hurts. His bedroom is cold because of the opened window, yet he still feels the effects of the oil paint. Whatever. I need to continue at least a little bit more. At this point, the two trees forming a heart are finished. Renjun added a few bushes to the forest as well and moss around the pond. Since he had decided to make the path leading to the pond a blueish white, he worked on that as well. This way, it seems like the moon lights it up. Of course, he also needs to add highlights to the crown of the trees. He thinks about whether to make them a different color, but ultimately decides to go with the same blueish white since it ties in better with his concept of the moon shining down on the forest. Renjun wants to finish that part today, before calling it quits for tonight. It should take him under half an hour to finish this detail and then he can enjoy a bowl of ramen before going to bed.

The following day, Renjun can’t really continue working on his painting since it needs to dry, so he mainly spends the day working on his art history essay that is due for Tuesday’s class. He already had planned it ahead, which is why he had mainly focused on his painting for you yesterday. Since it needed to dry for him to continue, Renjun can use today for his assignment. He needs to write an essay about the way leadership and power gets depicted in art. For that he had to choose a picture to analyze and write about. Renjun knows he is pushing it a bit late but since he doesn’t plan to work on anything else today, he figures it’s fine. He’s sure that he can finish the assignment today and if not, he still has a bit of tomorrow left. It is only supposed to be four pages long anyway. How hard can that be, right? Well turns out a little harder than he had thought. Renjun spends around three hours in front of his laptop before he decides to take a break. I really should eat something. After all this writing his brain needs energy and a break. Standing up from his desk, he turns around and his gaze falls on the canvas in his room. Renjun inspects it carefully from a distance and actually likes the result. Of course, it still isn’t finished. He definitely needs to add a few more details. The bend trees need to look more interesting and realistic. A few more details on the trees in the back would be good. Maybe I also should add a few more sparks-– his finger twitches. There is nothing more that Renjun wants in this moment than to grab his brush and continue painting, perfecting your present. But right now is not the time. He shakes his head lightly. Still needs to dry. 

Trying to get his thoughts away from the painting, Renjun decides on what show to watch while he eats something. Surprisingly, he has been enjoying a Chinese drama you recommended lately, but maybe watching the next 40-minutes episode isn’t such a great idea with an unfinished essay sitting on his desk. So he decides to just watch a YouTube video. Twenty minutes later, Renjun sits at his desk again and continues with his essay. That’s basically how he spends his whole afternoon. Around 6 pm he is actually almost finished with the essay. That’s why he decides to get up and go into the kitchen to make some ramen. He knows that he ate a little too much ramen throughout the week but they are really just so convenient when he doesn’t have much time to cook. 

However, on the way to the kitchen, his doorbell suddenly rings. Renjun isn’t expecting anyone, his roommate might have but Jay doesn’t come out of his room to open the door. So when the bell rings a second time, Renjun opens the door. To his surprise, it’s you. You stand there, smiling at him, dressed in an oversized jacket and plaid pajama pants, a small handbag on top of your right shoulder and a plastic bag in your left hand. As usual, you look cute and cozy but Renjun can’t really concentrate on that. He only stares at you. Why is she here? Did I miss something? And then it hits him. He curses in his head, you’re here for the movie night you both agreed on last week. Seems like amidst all the painting and college he forgot about it. Good going Renjun. You tilt your head a little to the side, “Baby, are you going to let me in?” Renjun’s mind immediately goes to your gift. Damn it, the painting’s still in my room! He can’t possibly let you see it. In panic, Renjun turns his head back, looking into the flat. He needs to come up with some kind of excuse right now, on the spot, “Love, babe, give me like 2 minutes okay, my room’s kinda messy”, he looks at you, his hand already resting on the door to close it. “Jun, you know I don’t care about that”, you step forward, laughing a little but he holds his ground. “No really, just give me like 5 minutes”, Renjun doesn’t give you any time to properly react and closes the door. 

Quickly jogging into his room, he looks around. He only needs to hide the canvas, his paints and brushes aren’t a problem. But where should he hide it? Behind the closet? No way, too risky. The kitchen, no it’s right next to the front door. And then it hits him. Jay! Carefully grabbing the canvas, Renjun quickly goes across the hall and knocks on his roommate’s door. “Listen dude, my girl’s just outside the door but I can’t have her see this painting. Can I please hide it in your room for a few hours?” Fortunately, Renjun and Jay get along well. “Oh yeah sure” Jay points to the corner next to his dresser, “you can put it there dude” Renjun quickly puts the painting down and thanks Jay like three times before he goes to get you. “Okay love, you can come in.” “Thank you for being so gracious, your highness” You jokingly bow down before entering, Renjun shakes his head, closes the door and grabs your hand. You do sometimes have this amusingly bizarre streak. “How come you suddenly felt the need to tidy up your room for me? Hiding something?”, you tease him. Renjun almost scratches his head. Surely, if he would’ve done that you would be more suspicious of him. “It’s just messy babe. I want you to be comfortable.” Humming, you decide to give him the benefit of the doubt. It sure seems like he didn’t expect you to come over today though. “Did you forget our movie night, Junnie?” Renjun smiles apologetically and nods, “Sorry love, promise, next time I won’t forget.” He squeezes your hand. Renjun normally isn’t the person to forget your dates. Spending time with you is one of his favorite things to do but even he can sometimes forget. You don’t mind, he’s also just human. Besides, you know Renjun had a couple of deadlines lately. 

Entering his room, the familiar sight of art materials, a few soda cans and an easel greets you. Renjun keeps his room mostly tidy except for whenever exam season hits and he has to deal with many art projects at the same time. Renjun’s habit of spending too much on details leads him to making full use of the deadlines, which in return stresses him out so much that he doesn’t bother a lot with cleaning. To you that’s fine, you aren’t much different in that aspect. Besides, why add more stress to exams by worrying about whether your room is clean or not. You make your way to his bed and put your handbag down, your gaze finding the empty easel in the middle of his room. That usually means he’s working on something. “Jun, what have you been working on?” Renjun’s gaze quickly follows yours. Dang, should’ve put that away! Okay, just say something. Quick! “Ahh love, you know I have a few projects due soon. I’ve been spending a lot of time painting.” Renjun sits down next to you, nodding as if he was trying to reassure himself that he wasn’t caught by you. But technically he didn’t lie. Quickly trying to change the subject, he grabs your plastic bag. Before coming over to Renjun’s place, you quickly got a few snacks at a convenience store. “No movie without snacks right? Oh and I got you some ramen as well, Jun.” He looks inside the plastic bag, it contains chips in two different flavors, some gummy bears, his favorite ramen and pretzel snacks. “Thank you love, I should still have some soda in the fridge for us.” Renjun stands up and takes a step in the direction of the door but halts as you grab his wrist. “Jun, can we prepare the ramen now? I’m actually quite hungry, I haven’t had dinner yet.” You’re hoping he agrees as the last thing you ate today was just a piece of toast a couple of hours ago. After your eight hour shift at work today you worked a little on an assignment before buying the snacks for tonight. Renjun immediately agrees, laughing a little. “Sure, I’ve literally wanted to make myself some ramen before you rang the bell.”

After cooking the ramen and grabbing two soda cans, you’re sitting on Renjun’s bed while turns off the lights before he grabs his laptop. Since he knows how much you like to have a few scented candles lit up while watching a movie, Renjun also does that before sitting cross-legged next to you and putting his blanket over you both. Turning on the third Harry Potter movie, you cuddle up to him and enjoy the evening together. Three weeks ago, Renjun and you had decided to rewatch all HP movies and so far you both enjoyed it very much. It’s been years since the last time you watched them, so you figured doing it together would be fun. That’s why you’ve met up with Renjun once a week for movie night, snacking away your worries and college stress for at least the few hours that you spend together with him. Sitting together under the blanket and just spending time together with him is one of your favorite things to do. It doesn’t matter if you watch a movie or drink tea together, you just enjoy spending time in Renjun’s arms. How can you not? Renjun is just so good to cuddle. That’s why you always end up putting your head on his shoulder, hugging him and it’s no different today. Your head is resting on his shoulder and his arm around you. 

From time to time Renjun gives your body a little squeeze and feeds you snacks. He also sneaks a few glances at you. Seeing you so comfortable around him, makes his insides feel warm. So cute. He might love you a little more every time he sees you like this. You aren’t wearing any makeup and aren’t dressed up, yet you manage to make him attracted to you nonetheless. There is just something so attractive about you being your true self around him, not caring about how you look in your pajamas or how much you snack. Suddenly, Renjun feels the urge to kiss you. If only you weren’t so focused on the movie, “My love”. You hum as an answer, eyes still glued on the laptop screen. “Look at me please.” You lift your head off his shoulder and Renjun just looks at you lovingly. While you slowly sit up, he can only think about how you really are the most beautiful woman he set his eyes on. Tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, he slowly leans in. Renjun believes there is nothing better in the world than moments like these. Moments where everything fades into the background and only you two seem to exist. Moments where he can be very close to you and his lips can meet yours in a loving and intimate way. Your lips are soft and smooth in such a way it feels like kissing the clouds. Your hand naturally finds its way into Renjun’s hair. His right hand cups your cheek while his lips move slowly against yours. His other hand rests on your waist and after a loving moment, Renjun tilts his head a little more to the side, deepening the kiss. His lips still taste a little of the ramen you two had earlier but you don’t mind. Kissing him is always great. In a sense, kissing him is like drinking a cup of hot cocoa on cold winter days. Renjun’s kisses give you comfort, warmth and a sense of belonging like you’ve never felt before. Even in very passionate moments, where kissing him stole your breath away, Renjun is caring and gentle. Just like now as he holds you a little closer, loving you a little more. His hand, previously on your cheek, moves down, stroking your waist. Slowly he pulls away, hands still on your waist. “I love you.” Truly, you’re one of the people that make him the happiest. Smiling, you lean into him to place your lips on his one more time, portraying your love for him. “I love you too.” Putting your head on his shoulder again, you notice the movie is still playing. Both of you return to watching and enjoying it further. 

Around halfway through the movie, the cozy atmosphere and dim lit room actually make you sleepy. You did have a long day today and after a while, Renjun notices your lack of comments and snacking. Turning his head to look at you, he sees you fast asleep on his shoulder. Not wanting you to be cold, he places the blanket further up your body and tightens his arm around you. Renjun is unsure about waking you. Since you don’t need to work tomorrow morning, you could sleep over today. It’s been quite a while anyway since the last time you slept over at his place. To be honest, he kind of misses falling asleep with you next to him. However, if you are to sleep over, the painting will need to stay in Jay’s room for the night. I guess I could ask him. He probably wouldn’t mind. Renjun decides he would ask. So he slowly begins to move your head from his shoulder, hoping you won’t wake up. He really tries to be careful but apparently isn’t careful enough since you slowly start to wake up while he tries to lay your head down onto a pillow. Slowly sitting up, you quietly mumble his name. Your hooded eyes find the laptop screen still playing the movie. “I’m sorry love, didn’t wanna wake you” “It’s okay. When did I fall asleep?” Renjun smiles, “I’m not sure, some time ago.” “Oh”  “Yeah, oh” He laughs a little. “Do you wanna sleep over, love?” You nod, you can just leave in the morning since you don’t need to work until the afternoon shift begins. Renjun and you decide to just wash up and relax in his bed. He doesn’t need to finish the movie and you’re so tired, you probably would’ve fallen asleep again anyways. Closing his laptop, you make your way to the bathroom he shares with his roommate. Renjun always has a toothbrush prepared for you even if you didn’t sleep over most nights. It’s pretty cute and someway along you also started to pick up that habit of his for whenever he would sleep over at your dorm. That didn’t happen so often though since you share your dorm room with another girl. It’s definitely more comfortable to sleep at his place since he has a room to himself. 

While you’re in the bathroom, Renjun quickly makes his way to Jay’s room and knocks quietly. In hindsight, he could’ve also just sent him a text but whatever, Jay already opened the door. “Hey man, y/n’s gonna sleep over. Is it okay if the painting stays with you tonight?” Jay doesn’t have a problem with it. It’s just in a corner anyway, so the painting doesn’t really bother him. Having solved that problem, Renjun makes his way back into his room and starts to put the snacks away before getting you a shirt and sweatpants to wear for the night. Just in case she wants to get out of her pajama pants. Shortly after, you enter. “Here love, you can get changed if you want while I brush my teeth”, Renjun points to the clothes on the bed that he neatly laid out for you. You’ve always liked sleeping in his clothes, somehow it’s another kind of comfy. Maybe it’s because they always smell like him and how is a girl able to resist that? “Thank you Jun”, you quickly kiss his cheek before he leaves the room. Looking around you notice that Renjun already blew out the candles and sorted out his bed. After quickly changing your clothes, you grab a corner of his blanket and slip under it. 

Not even three minutes pass before he opens the door to his room. A soft smile makes its way onto Renjun’s lips as he sees you already comfy and ready in bed, waiting for him. Seems like the tiredness is slowly creeping up on you again. My poor baby. It’s not even 9:30 and she’s ready to call it a day. Renjun quickly turns off his light and gets in bed next to you. You turn around to face him and his arm automatically wraps itself around your waist, pulling you a little closer. You place your hand on his chest while your head rests on his arm. Renjun slowly strokes your hair, soft eyes looking at you in the dark. After a few minutes, you snuggle a little closer to him. Cuddling him like this makes you even more sleepy. You nuzzle your face into his chest, giving him the perfect opportunity to lay a sweet kiss on top of your head. Renjun rests his cheek against the top of your head. Little words are exchanged as you welcome the comfortable and sleepy atmosphere. Except for your breathing, your heartbeats and the occasional sound of the blanket shuffling, the room is silent. You love moments like these. You love when Renjun cuddles with you, when you can feel his arms holding your body closely and his soft breath against your hair. You’ve always had a soft spot for his hugs anyway and being so close to him that you can listen to his heartbeat while feeling the warmth radiating from his body gives another level of bliss. You actually want to stay awake a little longer, want to consciously feel his body for some time more but it’s getting progressively harder for you to stay awake and Renjun sees how you struggle to. He murmurs against your hair, “Close your eyes, love. I know you had a long day” You feel another kiss on your hair and mumble an “I love you” to him before closing your eyes and letting sleep take over you. You barely manage to hear him say it back before you fully fall asleep.  

Opening your eyes the next morning, Renjun’s sleeping face greets you. His hair is kind of messy and his shirt got pulled down a bit, exposing part of his collarbones. Renjun’s arm rests on top of your hip and your feet are touching. Watching him for a few minutes, you get lost in your thoughts. There’s just something different about him in this relaxed state. It’s like all the world’s stress and pressure can’t get to him, like he can truly be undisturbed and there’s nothing in the world less than peace and happiness that you wish for Renjun. You know he has tendencies that make his life, especially his college life, a little more difficult than it needs to be. But honestly who knew an art major could be so demanding? You used to have this picture in your head of an art major being easy. After all, the students only need to paint stuff, right? Yeah, not exactly. Because of Renjun, you were able to glance beyond surface level and it turns out, studying art is harder than it seems. Renjun has written exams, almost weekly mini art projects for his classes, he needs to hold presentations and when exam season comes around his room is piled up with different art materials for his creative projects. It truly seems like you have to love art to study it or else you will drown. Renjun gives his all for college and you love that for him but him being a perfectionist adds another layer of difficulty to his degree. Sometimes he really needs to relax. That’s why you like seeing him resting so much. He can shut the world out and doesn’t fry his brain with details of his unfinished projects. You get to see him recovering from all the work he puts into his passion. 

You regard Renjun‘s sleeping state for a little while longer. The sun falls beautifully on him, partly on his face and hair. It highlights his slightly puffy face that he tends to get in the mornings. Your hand unconsciously reaches out and begins to stroke his hair slowly. Feeling your hand caressing his hair, Renjun stirs a little and sighs. It’s a very cute sight. Slowly opening his eyes after a few minutes, he smiles at you. Tightening his arm around your waist, you exchange a small kiss. Spending the morning with Renjun is usually a calm and loving experience. He likes to take his time in the mornings whenever he can, especially when he’s still a little sleepy. So you both spend a while wrapped in each other’s arms with quiet murmurs to not disturb the morning quietness, taking in the warmth of one another before slowly getting out of bed to get ready. After eating breakfast together you need to leave to go home. Since you didn’t plan on spending the night, you plan on making a stop at your dorm, changing into a different outfit and maybe reading a little before going to work today.

As soon as you left, Renjun got his painting from Jay’s room. Today is the last day he can work on it since the painting needs to be dry for your birthday. After spending the last evening with you, Renjun feels quite good this morning. He feels like he can finish the painting in time and that he’ll like the outcome. The painting still needs details to the pond. It hopefully won’t take more than two hours. After that, Renjun still needs to add finishing touches to your gift. He starts with the pond by adding light blue highlights and a few branches that touch the water before letting the paint rest a little. In the meantime, he moves on to the finishing touches of other parts of the painting. Renjun had planned on spending the majority of today to finish your gift. Unfortunately, he can’t varnish it yet because it needs a few months to properly dry before he can put the varnish on top to fully seal it. However, for your birthday it will be enough for the painting to be dry to touch. After adding a little more detail to the trees in the background and defining a few of them a bit more, Renjun continues with the two main trees forming the heart. He decides to add some moss to the tree barks. 

However, after regarding the thin layer of moss he painted, he isn’t really satisfied. It seems a bit too flat for his liking, so he decides to try a different approach and goes to the kitchen to get some coffee. Maybe adding a few sprinkles of ground coffee into the paint will create a more natural finish. After trying it out on a paper and liking it, he uses his mixture of paint and coffee for the moss on the canvas. Looks pretty good. Being satisfied with the moss, Renjun takes a few steps away from his canvas to have a look at the pond. It doesn’t necessarily look bad but there’s still something he doesn’t like. He feels like it’s kind of looking boring, which probably is because of a lack of details. That’s why for the next hour or so he spends his time perfecting the pond. In a spur of inspiration, Renjun also decides to add shadows of little fish inside the water.

Just in time for a small food break, Renjun finishes with the painting for now. He decides to come back to it after eating a bowl of ramen to regard it one last time before deciding if it’s really finished or not. Twenty minutes later, after he finished eating, Renjun stands in his room with crossed arms in front of the canvas. The window is open again, still his room very much smells like oil paints. His shirt and hands have paint on them, he truly looks like an artist in this moment. To him, there’s something strangely satisfying whenever he gets lost in painting so much that his hands and clothes show the proof. Renjun is satisfied with the outcome. It looks great. Exactly how I envisioned it. Finally. The forest looks enchanted, mysterious and doesn’t have too much or too little detail. It looks like a forest one could stumble upon in a fantasy world and that’s what he was going for. She will surely like it. Smiling, Renjun starts to collect his art materials to clean them.

But suddenly, he gets a thought. I totally forgot to film! He quickly gets his camera and presses record. “Hi painters, it’s the last day of painting. Tomorrow is just for drying and then it’s y/n’s birthday. I actually already finished the painting but forgot to film it. Sorry about that. It’s around 5 pm right now. Last night, y/n stayed over so I couldn’t wake up extra early to finish it. But it’s okay, I finished anyway. Have a look at the result.” Renjun turns his camera to show the canvas. “This is the finished product. I added details to the pond and some finishing touches today and I made some spontaneous decisions that turned out really well actually. ” He zooms in on the moss. “For the moss I added ground coffee into my paint. It gives it a more realistic finish, maybe give it a try some time.” Renjun laughs a little, “I think I might use this hack more often.” He turns the camera to show himself again, “I’m super satisfied with the result and actually very happy that I got finished in time. Although I wouldn’t recommend that you guys start a project this size in such a short time frame. Honestly, it was quite stressful. But I’m glad I was able to pull it off and I know for a fact that y/n’s gonna like it. Thank you guys so much for watching!” Turning his camera off, Renjun let out a happy sigh.

He didn’t immediately start editing the video though. It’s really time to take a break. Renjun just finished a big project and wants to celebrate. That’s why he quickly cleans up his room and video calls the dreamies’ group chat. Haechan is the first one to pick up “Look who came back from the dead.” Renjun laughs dryly and right after Mark joins the video chat, “Yo whats up?” Soon enough all the dreamies join and Renjun tells them about how he’s finally finished with the painting. Of course they want to see it, which is why Renjun switches to his phone’s back camera. “Dude, that looks so cool!” “I think she’s definitely gonna like it” “How come you never paint me a pic like that?” “Are you my girlfriend?”, Renjun deadpans. Haechan sulks a bit, “No.” “See. Now anyways, do you guys wanna hang out tonight?” It’s been a while since all of them hung out together anyway. “Yeah, we could try out that new Mexican restaurant near my place.” Renjun likes Jeno’s idea and everyone agrees, except for Jisung. “Guys, I have to finish an assignment by Wednesday. Can I join a bit later?” Mark reassures Jisung that his assignment was more important. “For sure dude, work on your assignment. We’ll save you a spot.” An hour later, the dreamies are sitting in the restaurant, going over the menu. Renjun thinks it’s nice to spend time together again, catching up and joking around. 

After Jisung joins, the whole group is complete and they spend the evening eating delicious food and talking. Renjun knows that he shouldn’t spend too much money there but stressful days of assignments and the painting is coming to an end and he wants to enjoy himself. That’s why he goes for dessert even when he was kinda full already. It’s okay, I deserve it. Soon, the relaxing evening comes to an end and the boys part ways. The day after tomorrow they’ll meet up at Jeno’s place to celebrate your birthday. You know it’s a bit strange to celebrate your birthday at Jeno’s place and you were a little hesitant at first. Of course you and Jeno are friends because of Junnie and your bestie, but not that close. Originally, you had planned to just hang out somewhere in the park but the weather has been kind of on the colder side lately. But, Jeno assured you that it’s fine. He’s living alone, meaning he has enough space to host your small birthday get-together. Having some people over is nice anyway and he knows most of the people you invited. Besides the dreamies and your best friend, only two other friends of yours were expected to come. So it’s really fine for Jeno. Not to mention, his girlfriend, your bestie, would probably be somewhat upset if he said no to you. You were the person to introduce them after all. 

The next day Renjun slept in. His to do list doesn’t include much for today, mainly getting some nice wrapping for your gift. He also plans on visiting you at work again. It’s going to be a pretty simple day but he likes that his day doesn’t include any stress. Tomorrow, the day of your birthday, he’ll buy you some flowers and your favorite chocolate before meeting up with Mark. He was so nice to offer Renjun to put the painting in his car and drive to Jeno’s place together. This way he won’t need to take the painting on the subway. Renjun is pretty excited for you to see his gift. Of course he knows that you would like it but he still looks forward to your reaction. Since Jeno’s place allows for more room, Renjun plans to show up a bit earlier to decorate the place tomorrow. He excluded you from decorating on purpose and had said he was gonna handle it and so you let him. That boy can be stubborn. Renjun wants to keep his painting out of your sight for as long as he can. 

So when he and Mark arrive at Jeno’s place with your gift on the day of your birthday, Renjun puts it in Jeno’s bedroom. He knows you aren’t gonna go in there, so it’s a safe spot to hide it. After making sure the painting isn’t gonna slip while he’s away, Renjun starts to prepare snack bowls and places your cake into the fridge, before helping Jeno and Mark with some balloons and a happy birthday sign. There wasn’t much to prepare since you just want to spend your birthday relaxing with your friends. So soon enough, the three of them finish and around 6 pm everyone you invited is gathered on the floor around Jeno’s couch table, playing some board games and catching up. Throughout the day, Renjun films a few moments of your get-together. He wants to include your birthday party but especially your reaction to his present in his video. As the evening passes you turn to karaoke, singing songs from ABBA to Little Mix. At one point Renjun even starts to serenade you. He puts on quite a performance, singing Hot by Avril Lavigne and you totally enjoy it. It’s pretty funny actually, he’s pointing in your direction and dancing around. It’s nice seeing him so carefree. You’re kinda tempted to join and serenade him but he won’t let you outperform him anyway. Besides, Renjun really has a lot of energy to spend. It’s already 8 pm, gifts still haven’t been exchanged and he’s excited but also somewhat nervous for your reaction. He hopes you’ll love the painting as much as he does. However, there’s a part of him that fears he chose the wrong thing to paint but he tries to ignore that voice. You’re gonna love it, he just needs to keep on reminding himself of that.  

To say your reaction didn’t disappoint would’ve been an understatement. Renjun actually managed to hold himself in check till he was the last one left to give his gift. You really like the gifts you got this year. From a new book to new skin care you’ve been eyeing for a while, your friends put thought into them and that’s what counts and makes you happy. Two of your friends left half an hour ago, cause it’s kinda late already. The boys spontaneously had decided to sleep over at Jeno’s place, so it’s only you, your bestie and the dreamies left. “Okay, time for the finale”, for some reason, Haechan is very excited for your reaction to Renjun’s gift as well. He secretly plans to take pictures of you two. Earlier today, he also appointed Jisung to take a video. “Give me a minute, love. I’ll get your gift” Renjun squeezes your hand, giving you a smile. You look over at the boys and they just have smiles on their faces. It’s obvious that you’re gonna like the painting. Really, Renjun doesn’t have anything to worry about. A minute later, he comes back with the painting in wrapping paper. He chose one with a leaf print on it. It looks nice and maybe it could give you a bit of foreshadowing on what the gift entailed. “Happy birthday, love” Renjun sets the painting down, holding it in place and signals for you to open it. “I hope you like it” 

It’s clear that his gift was some kind of painting. Knowing Renjun, you guess that he actually painted it. “You painted for me?”, you place your hand on the gift. There was a certain smoothness to the wrapping paper. Renjun murmurs a small yes and the thought alone that he had painted you something this big was enough to make you tear up. He must’ve spent hours on this, hours just to make you happy. Sometimes you question how you were so blessed to have someone like him love you. Renjun really is giving his all to make you happy. Slowly, you unwrap the painting. Piece by piece different colors shine towards you, greens, some darker and some lighter, brown and little colorful spots. As soon as you unwrap the gift completely, you have a proper look at the painting and almost can’t believe your eyes. It’s so beautiful and perfect. You would’ve never expected such an amazing gift from him. You can’t believe Renjun would spend so much effort just for you. He put so much detail and love into the painting and it feels like you could see that from a mile away. This was the most thoughtful gift anyone ever gave you. You couldn’t possibly describe the meaning this holds for you. It’s so mesmerizing, the way the colors dance on the canvas, how he managed to portray feelings into his painting and really make it come alive. In a way it feels like the gift expresses how much Renjun loves you. 

You’re so overwhelmed and touched by the painting, the hard work and love he must’ve put into it that the only thing you can do is let out a sob. Renjun definitely didn’t expect that reaction. His eyes widen and he starts to panic inside. No no no, she hates it? I should’ve chosen something else, damn it! Your hand naturally finds its way onto your mouth, more tears rolling down your cheeks while you admire the painting for a few moments more. You know Renjun has always put thought into the gifts he got you, but this really is on another level. The amount of devotion he put into making this is unbelievable. You’ve never seen more beautiful art than this painting and he did it with his own two hands.

Renjun’s wide-eyed gaze finds Mark’s but he also doesn’t know what to do. It’s like Renjun’s worst nightmare comes true right in front of his eyes. How could I be so stupid! Damn it! I was so sure she’s gonna like it. “Baby-”, Renjun’s ready to apologize and go buy you a better gift immediately but you don’t even give him time to finish his sentence. Throwing your arms around him, you hug him tight. “Thank you, thank you.” Four simple words and Renjun’s world stopped crumbling. He is beyond relieved. It’s like all his panicky thoughts leave his body instantly. He lets out a small laugh, hugging you back and smiling into your shoulder. You actually like it, like really like it. “It’s so beautiful. Thank you so much” Your heart almost can’t handle the thought of Renjun giving you something so precious, so beautiful. “Baby you almost gave me a heart attack.” You lean back a bit, mumbling a small sorry before placing your lips onto his. Renjun’s lips were soft and smooth like always. His kiss makes your stomach flip. He’s truly yours, not going anywhere and loving you like no other guy ever has. Renjun’s arms tighten around yours before you tilt your head a little, deepening the kiss and soon enough you hear a mixture of complaints from the boys. “Okay, what the heck” “Ew, leave that for later guys” Renjun blushes a bit, pulling away slowly. He really isn’t used to doing that in front of the boys. Pecking his lips one last time, you loosen your grip and just smile at him. “Dang,” Haechan looks at the pictures he took of you two kissing, “I really need to learn how to paint”.

a/n: excuse any painting process parts or art major parts that might be inaccurate haha, oh and if you wanna request something, I’m open to hear your idea :)

[shadowed-dancer]

Thoughts on Episode 123 (S6 E10)

Visceral vestiges, meddling mentors, and Toga’s trick. Let’s talk about it

Spoilers for the episode but no spoilers for the manga

Apparently this whole episode got leaked yesterday or something? Idk I wasn’t paying attention (I thought I had a whole day so I wasn’t checking anything related to the anime). Either way, today was my first time seeing it

I liked seeing the Bakugo-impaled scene from Deku’s perspective. Very nice

That being said, the first and second halves felt like two complete different episodes, both in content and execution. I’m sorry, but the first half just didn’t get me

I found it really dragged. I knew the exposition dump was coming, but I still felt it got really messy. I also don’t know if it’s just the way the translations were for the subtitles, but I feel like everything was so convoluted that it was hard to tell what they were saying. I hope the dub makes the point a little clearer, and I hope anime onlies are still able to grasp the plot

Also was it just me or did AFO look off model? I didn’t know it was possible for a character without a face to look wrong, but he just did. It was unnerving, and not in a good way. His scars were so flat

Meanwhile, Nana was standing there being the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen in my life. Take a wild guess who the animators enjoyed drawing more lol

I will say this, the delivery of “look, Tomura! A dead person!” Actually made me chuckle

The random higher-ups in the observation room are back! Not that I missed them, but since they added them in the first place it’s important to check in once in a while. If they just disappear forever without a second mention, I’ll be annoyed cause like… you dragged these “characters” into existence

The second Toga appeared the episode got 1000x better, both animation wise and just the overall vibes

Her shaking Compress was so funny. That man is a dad and I love him for it

Dabi went :D and so did I. They’ve done his ridiculous panels so right this season

The suspense when Uraraka was in the house and it was all dark actually got me. Beautiful use of tension, and yes I jumped a little when Toga popped out

Overall, very mixed feelings on this one. First half was meh, second half was fantastic (all my opinion, of course)

Regarding next week, I am unfortunately going to be away but you’d best believe I will be watching that episode. I’ll do my best to write and post a review like I always do because, like I said when I started, this is a fun way for me to keep track of my thoughts

I’m also very excited for next week. Hoping and praying they do it justice

[americancowgirl19]

All Night

Summary: It’s your first time with your amazing girlfriend and she couldn’t sweeter and perfect.

Warnings: fluff, adorableness, and most importantly... sex

Reader: Male Reader

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Male Reader

Word Count: 2856

A/n: Requested by Anon:  Ayo can I request a Wanda x male reader smut where it's their first time together but also the reader's first time ever and he's kinda nervous and Wanda's just being super sweet and gentle and supportive? Make it as smutty and adorable as you want!... I could totally see me doing a part two where the reader is more experienced (let me know if you want it!)

Masterlist

Wanda may have been an enhanced human slash Avenger but your meeting with her couldn’t have been more normal. You were helping a friend out with their coffee shop. It was their first store and they were running low on staff and you just so happened to be in between jobs.

It was the classic and cheesy scene where you took her order and nonchalantly put your number on her cup. You honestly had no idea that she was the Wanda Maximoff. All you saw was a very attractive woman with a kind smile. You saw a woman who was mysterious but had a kind heart. You wanted to know more about her.

Unfortunately, she didn’t call. You didn’t think much of it and quickly got over your disappointment. You thought she had walked out of your life forever, but fate wasn’t done with the two of you.

She returned to the coffee shop a couple of months later. It wasn’t a long-time span, but she seemed different. She seemed more unsure, cautious, and... defeated. 

You knew you couldn’t let her go again. So, you asked if you could spend you break with her. You bribed her with freshly baked muffins and she accepted.

You didn’t ask about what was on her mind or what seemed to be wrong. You knew you needed to make an impression. You needed her to keep coming back. So, you did what you knew how to do. You made an idiot of yourself to get her laughing. By the time she left she seemed lighter and promised to return.

Casual meet ups turned to sporadic dating turned to moving in with each other. She was, without a doubt, the most complicated girlfriend you had with baggage unlike any other girl you met. You didn’t always take everything in stride. The two of you argued but always worked together through the problems.

The relationship was moving faster than your previous ones. Within a year the two of you were moved with each other and practically inseparable. It helped her fellow Avengers liked and approved of you. You had taken practically every step a relationship could take within a year excluding marriage and sex. Those were two things you weren’t going to rush.

Marriage could wait a while. You were both young and didn’t feel the need to take something that felt so final.

Sex, on the other hand, was harder to wait on. The two of you desired each other but it either never felt like the right time or she was called off for hero duty. The both of you were nervous about it. Wanda hadn’t been with someone in years and you... well, you’ve never been with anybody before. You didn’t want to disappoint.

However, today you couldn’t seem to hold back any longer. It was the most domestic setting but if made you fall even more in love with the woman in front of you.

She was moving around the kitchen cleaning and cooking. She had her hair up in a messy bun with your sweatpants rolled up around her hips and a tank top. She was humming under her breath and dancing a little bit.

“I’m making your favorite,” Wanda says without glancing at you. You grin breathing in the delicious smells of your favorite dish. You walked deeper into the kitchen and draw her back to your chest.

“What’s the occasion?” You ask, circling your arms around her waist. You lower your head into her neck and kiss her skin lightly.

“What? I can’t cook for my favorite boyfriend?” Wanda asks and you smirk.

“Favorite? I hope I don’t have any competition,” You mumble. Wanda just hums. You continue to smirk while drawing your hand back. You pinch her bum making her jump and promptly reach around to hit your shoulder. You laugh and hug her once again.

All day Wanda did nothing extraordinary. She was just herself. Totally relaxed enjoying being home with you. She didn’t have the Avengers calling on her nor the press pestering for interviews. She was light on her feet and just genuinely happy.

Since she cooked you took it upon yourself to do the dishes. She grabbed a glass of wine and hopped onto the counter beside you. When you were done you couldn’t help but to push her knees apart and step in between them.

“You look beautiful,” You whisper, rubbing her thighs slowly. She smiles lifting her glass of wine to her lips. You kept your eyes on her as she drank slowly until you just had to taste her.

Leaning forward your lips find her bare neck. She breathes in slowly, trying to calm her racing heart, and sets her wine off to the side. You kiss along her neck, your fingers digging into her legs. Her ankles hook behind you in order to keep you close.

“Y/n,” Wanda whispers, her fingers threading through your hair. You lift your head moving your lips from her neck to her lips. Her legs tighten around you and your hands slide to her hips. You squeeze her flesh holding her flush against your chest.

The kiss begins to pick up. Wanda’s hands make a mess of your hair, gripping and pulling it. You moan after a particularly rough tug. The tug prompts you to bite her lip a little rougher than you meant too but Wanda seemed to like it.

Wanda’s hands leave your hair and starts attempting to pull your shirt off. Your heart lurches anxiously but you don’t want to stop. You lean back, showing Wanda your most confident expression, helping her take your shirt off before lifting her from the counter. Her grip around you instantly tightens as you carry her to the bed.

You gently lay her down, but she sits up and reaches for your pants. Your heart lurches again but you let her unbutton your jeans and pull them down your legs. You step out of them, your eyes remaining glued on her.

Her eyes look up at you as she kisses your stomach, her nails grazing over the back of your thighs. Reaching out you tuck some hair behind her ear.

“Wanda... this is... I’m a little...” You can feel your anxiety rise as you try to explain to Wanda what was running through your mind. Being the wonderful woman she is, she understands. 

“Shh, it’s alright,” Wanda whispers, standing up. Her hands run up your chest and wrap around your neck. “Do you want this?” She asks gently. You nod eagerly. “Then just do what feels right,” She whispers. “Just relax... it’ll feel good, I promise,” She reassures you, one of her hands traveling down your chest and to your cock.

You groan, resting your head against hers when her hand palms you through your underwear. Wanda smiles tilting her head to lightly kiss your lips. Just when you were falling under her spell she pulls back. Before you could chase her she’s on her knees,

“Oh, shit...” You whisper, not believing your luck.

“Something wrong, baby?” Wanda asks. Words escape you when her lips lightly press against your clothed cock. Your eyes roll back, and a deep groan leaves your mouth. Your eyes snap open and down when you feel her pulling your underwear to your feet.

“Oh... God...” You groan as her warm fingers wrap around you. She spits on the head before spreading it down. Her hand worked you better than yours ever could. She grips, twists and massages in all the right places.

As amazing as her hand felt it was nothing compared to her mouth. She took you into her mouth and you lost all sense of the world. Everything belonged to her, and you’d do anything to keep her. She was magic.

She bobbed her head, hollowed her cheeks and gripped what she couldn’t fit in her mouth. When her hands gripped her balls, you struggled to stay standing. Your hands gripped her hair and you found yourself thrusting into her. She relaxed and let you use her.

“Fuck baby,” You pant looking into her eyes. Her big innocent eyes were tearing up, but she never tried to stop nor pull away. “I’m not gonna last babe,” You grunt trying to pull out, but she grabs your legs and takes you deep. You groan releasing down her throat. She takes every drop and grabs your cock as she slowly pulls away and continues to milk it. “Damn Wanda,” You pant, moving around her to sit on the bed.

She stands up and turns around to look at you. She gives you a sexy grin and wipes her lip before straddling your hips.

“We’re just getting started, baby,” She winks at you. She pushes you to lay down before leaning back on your thighs. You watch her slowly take off her shirt. Her breasts were laying on her chest, she wasn’t wearing a bra. “What do you want?” She asks, her voice low and seductive. Her clothed cunt begins to grind down on your cock. It wasn’t hard yet but the picture of her shirtless, straddling your lap and moving the way she was helped it come back to life.

“You... Damn, Wanda, I want you... All of you,” you say, your hands twitching. You wanted to touch her skin, most specifically her breasts. 

“I don’t want you to just want me,” Wanda whispers. “I want you to touch me... Please, touch me,” Wanda encourages. “Make me feel good,”

Instantly you became insecure. Where did she want you to touch her? What would make her feel good?

“Y/n,” Wanda whispers, leaning over you. Your eyes shamefully watch her boobs sway before you force yourself to look into her eyes. She’s smirking knowingly and your blush fiercely. She lowers her head and her lips brush against yours. “Don’t think,” She mutters, lowering her hips even more to rub your cock once again. “Tell me what you want right now,”

You don’t answer verbally but your eyes flicker to her chest. She smirks and leans back again. She grabs your hand and lifts them to her breasts. You let out a quick breath unable to stop watching her hands move yours.

You instinctively begin to massage them. Her hands leave yours allowing you to take over. You squeeze them before focusing on the nipples. You pinch them and when she moans you get the confidence to twist them.

“There you go...” Wanda whispers.

Deciding to take it a step further you lift your hips and switch positions. You pin her to the bed and hover over her. She gasps not expecting it which makes you grin cheekily.

Before she could say anything, you lower your head and suck one of her nipples into your mouth. Her breath hitches as you swirl your tongue around the nub before lightly biting it. While she’s focused on your mouth you experiment with your hips. She had been grinding down on you, so you figured she’d like you doing the same.

Her moans are like music to your ears. Every sound she makes is a severe confidence boost. Every moment you’re with her you desire more.

You move from one nipple to the other while humping into her. She whines pulling at your hair. She moves her hips against yours but it’s not enough.

“Y/n,” Wanda begs, panting.

“Yes, sweetheart?” You ask, cheekily. You grin up at her. She looks at your frustrated but slowly smiles as well. She grabs your face and pulls it towards her capturing you into a kiss.

“Please fuck me,” Wanda whispers.

“Not yet,” You whisper, nipping at her lip. “We’re just getting started, baby,” You wink at her. She pouts but you kiss it off of her before kissing down her neck, between her breasts, and over her stomach.

You pull your sweatpants off her hips and down her legs. You toss them to the side before taking a moment to look at her. To have your first time with someone so beautiful and kind and patient as her is unreal.

You lightly graze your fingers over her legs before kissing the inside of her thighs. You hook your fingers into her underwear and pull them off.

“Mm, you smell amazing,” You whisper. Your eyes widen when you realize what you said. Your eyes dart to hers to make sure you were turning her off. To your surprise she was blushing. “I love you,” You whisper to her. 

It isn’t the first time you said it, but it felt like the right moment. She was still blushing, but she seemed to relax. Her fingers reached down and played with some of your hair.

“I love you, too,” She whispers. You kiss her thigh again softly before looking at the slice of heaven between her legs.

You had no idea what you were doing and prayed that all of her ex-boyfriends were horrible. The last thing you wanted was to be so bad she’d go back to someone for a decent lay. You knew she wasn’t that shallow, but you were nervous.

You pushed her legs even further apart before diving in. You licked up her pussy lips and the taste was amazing. Your fingers dug into her thighs as you regained confidence.

Wanda whined and panted while grinding her hips riding your face. Before you could help yourself, you stuck a finger inside of her and then another. You thrusted in and out while still lapping at her. 

And then her body jerked.

You paused for just a second before repeating the action.

Her body jerked again but this time she moaned your name and begged you to keep going.

It took you a second but then you realized what you had just found. You had found it... the one thing men complained of never coming across. Some believed it was a myth. You had found the clitoris.

Your mouth focused on her clit while your fingers thrusted in and out of her. You didn’t bother edging her when she got close. You didn’t think you were skilled enough to keep her on the edge for long. 

When she came her back arched, and she moaned loudly. You kept your ministrations until she was twitching again. You got the crazy idea of trying to make her come again. Before you could talk yourself out of it you were bringing her to the edge and overstimulating her to her second orgasm.

Only then did you with draw and slowly kiss up her body. She had a blissful look on her face. You’ve never seen her so relaxed and happy before. Pride filled your chest and you lightly kissed various parts of her body as she recovered.

“You sure you haven’t done this before?” She asked and you laughed.

“I guess that’s a good sign?” You whisper, lying beside her but still practically on top of her. She laughs breathlessly before rolling on top of you.

“You’ll ruin me for anyone else,” She whispers, kissing you softly.

“You keep saying shit like that and my ego will surpass Starks,” You whisper. Wanda giggles quietly.

“You’re good with your mouth,” Wanda whispers. “Let’s see what else you’re good with,” she says, summoning some lube and squirting it on your cock.

“Shit... Couldn’t you have warmed it up?” You grumble. Wanda giggles again.

“Cold?” She asks, tossing it to the side. “Don’t worry, baby, I’ll warm you up,” She promises, sitting up. Your eyes widen as she grabs your cock and begins to lower herself onto it.

“Uhhggg...” You groan, gripping her hips. She pants and continues down until she’s sitting on you completely. “Holy hell why’d we wait so long?” You groan and she quickly agrees. “You’re so warm... and tight... fuck, Wanda,”

Her sitting there, warming you cock, was perfect. Her, not moving and just squeezing the life out of your dick was enough for you to come but she wasn’t letting you get off that quick.

She starts off slowly. She lifts up and down trying to find a rhythm. When she finds the perfect angle and gets comfortable, she goes to town. You watch her breasts bounce and her head roll back.

“I’m not gonna last,” You warn trying to hold it back for as long as you could. She throws you a smirk.

“Give it to me baby,”

“Fuuuck,” You groan squirting deep into her pussy. She continues to grind taking everything from you. You hand reaches forward and makes a beeline to her clit. Her breath shudders and her body shakes as another orgasm rips through her.

You groan as she collapses on your chest. The two of you pant coming down from your highs. You gently pull her hair to the side and begin to rub her back.

“We are so doing this more often,” She pants and you laugh.

“Baby, I wanna be in you so often you’ll have to beat me off with a stick,” You tease. She leans back and looks into your eyes.

“Promises, promises,” She smirks, kissing your lips.

[writingformyblorbos]

It's cloudy above (Part 1) [next chapter >]

Steven Grant × gn!Reader (possible Marc × Reader and Jake × Reader in the future) Summary: You spot the cute man from the bus while buying groceries and try talking to him. A strange encounters takes place later on. Word count: 2.2k Warnings: Mugging, canon-typical violence (death, guns, you know the drill), swearing in Spanish, not proof read (taking risks is my speciality not really). a/n: This is my first fic in a loong while, but I wanted desperately to write something for Steven and make a shameless self-insert. I just love him so much. Also, I don't think I'll want to see the word mushroom in a long while. Lastly, I want to apologize in advance if i got the intricacies of London's public transport wrong, I tried to do my best as a foreigner with the most research I could. I hope you enjoy:)!!

It was late in the afternoon on Sunday, and you had gone to your nearest Tesco to stock up on groceries. You were on the vegetable isle, looking for some items from the shopping list on your phone. As you were reading what the next item on your list was, you couldn’t help but notice a familiar figure out of the corner of your eye. When you looked up, you saw the back of a man with curly hair you swore you could almost recognize. When he turned around, you couldn’t believe your eyes. ‘Could it be? There’s no way,’ you told yourself. But it was. It was him; the cute guy from the bus you had a crush on.

You would see him often on your way to work, always having dark bags under his eyes, adorned by the messy curls in his head. He seemed like the shy type, and the poor man always looked totaled, like he hadn’t had a good night’s rest in a long while, often falling asleep on the bus; there was even one time he screamed and looked frightened, which was weird, but you figured was because he'd had a nightmare. Who doesn't dream a clown is chasing them every now and again? You didn’t know that much about him, only that he would get off on Trafalgar Square and that he was a person keen on history and other intellectual stuff, judging by the hieroglyphs on his phone case and the kinds of books he would occasionally read on the bus to keep himself awake, poetry and history books of the sort —always wearing his reading glasses, of course— yet your little knowledge of him and his generally disheveled appearance didn't stop his sharp jaw, his curly hair, his beautiful brown eyes, and his intriguing interests from drawing your attention, leading you to develop a crush on him. He was the whole package, after all (smart and handsome).

But one day, he stopped boarding the bus. You figured he'd gotten a day off or he was sick, but days turned into weeks, and eventually, it had been a while since you'd last seen him. Maybe he'd switched jobs or had moved. Either way, he wasn't a part of your life anymore.

Or so you thought, up until today, seeing him going about his errands. You stared at him in disbelief. He still looked as tired as ever, you could even say he looked more tired, like he'd been working out an entire week non-stop. You wanted to ask him so many things, but there was no way you could ask him why he no longer took Bus 24 without sounding like an absolute creep. You contemplated on whether it was better to leave him alone or if you should try talking to him, but this feeling in your gut told you this might be your chance: what if you never saw him again and just lost the opportunity of a lifetime? So, you started brainstorming any kind of small talk you could spark up in the supermarket without it being awkward. Then bingo! He was holding two packets of mushrooms: one was a packet of normal mushrooms, and the other was a packet of sliced mushrooms, and he was looking at them indecisively. You could help him and go from there?

You felt absolutely ridiculous, but you had to. Your conscience would never leave you alone if you didn't. So, you mustered up all the courage you could and made you way towards him. You took a deep breath, trying to stop your hands and legs from shaking, and said:

"If I were you, I'd get the sliced ones."

"Sorry?" he asked, a bit startled by the sudden comment.

"Oh! I just, I would get the sliced mushrooms. They really help you save up time. Unless you have skewers, then you can just..." —you gestured your hands as if you were pricking an imaginary mushroom with your imaginary skewer— "stick it in the mushes and slice them".

He looked at you a bit confused, but you could also see a glimpse of surprise in his eyes.

"That's quite impressive, seems like you know your mushrooms," He chuckled, leaving the normal mushrooms in the bin they were. "I don’t happen to have skewers back at home, so I guess I'll just take the sliced ones, more practical. Thank you"

"No problem," you smiled.

Great, what now? That wasn't the most captivating conversation starter you could bring up. Perhaps it was a stupid idea to try talking to him, 'he probably thinks I'm a weirdo for talking about mushrooms' you told yourself, so you decided to turn around and get back to your business.

"Wait!" You heard from the dark-haired man, "do you happen to take Bus 24 in the mornings?"

No way. There's no way he actually recognized you. Now that you thought about it, what if he thought you were stalking him? I mean, you weren't, but anxiety often leads you to the most extreme trains of thought.

"Uhh, yeah! Yeah, I do," you answered, nervously waiting for him to get angry.

"That's mental! I remember you. You watch videos of cute animals, yeah?" He immediately looked flustered, like he regretted what he'd said, "I mean, not that I eavesdropped on what you were doing on your phone. I only saw it once."

You were relieved he wasn't angry, but also a bit amazed he'd remembered that small detail. He said he didn’t eavesdrop, but that was clearly a lie. Watching cute animals was a must in your daily commute to work though. You could see he was a bit embarrassed by his comment, so you tried to reassure him.

"Oh no, no worries. I once saw you reading a book on Ancient Egypt, right?" he affirmed with his head and seemed to be a little less afflicted, so you tried breaking the ice a bit more. "My name is (y/n). (y/n) (l/n)" you said as you offered your hand for a handshake.

He shook your hand back, with his big, calloused hands, "Steven Grant. The Steven is with a 'v'"

Steven. ‘A pretty name and very fitting,’ you thought. He indeed looked like a Steven.

"It's nice to finally know your name, Steven with a 'v'".

“Likewise, (y/n),” he nodded back, and you both stayed silent for a while, smiling and blushing.

"Well, I'll see you around then. Cheers!" he waved off. There he was, again, slipping through your fingers, like sand on the desert. Come on, had you really gone through embarrassing yourself by talking about mushrooms to just see him walk off? Steven was such a mystery, but one you wanted to know oh so desperately. It was now or never, you had to try to ask him out, or at the very least get his phone number.

"Hey! Uhm..." You called out. Steven turned his head and looked at you with those gorgeous eyes of his that made you feel all jittery inside.

"I was wondering if, I know we just formally met, but..." you started fidgeting with the keys in your pocket, trying to get the words to come out of your mouth, "Could we exchange numbers? I would really like to see you again, and I know this place that makes amazing pastries, so maybe... we could go out?"

That was it. You shot your shot. The ball was in his court now. There's nothing else you could've possibly done. It was only up to fate if—

"Yes, I'd love too."

Your eyes probably shot out of your face, similar to a cartoon, because of the way he looked at you, with a tiny bit sweet grin on his face. You were absolutely over the moon. He said yes! You swore you would’ve danced in the middle of the veggie aisle if it wasn’t considered something weird to do.

Still, you managed to stay calm on the outside and exchanged numbers with Steven. Finally, each one went on about their shopping. But on your way home, you couldn't help but feel butterflies in your stomach thinking about the next time you would see handsome Steven Grant again. Hopefully, it wouldn't be too long.

By the time you’d finished placing the groceries in their place, the sun had gone down, adorning your windows with London’s city lights.

You were sitting on your couch, scrolling through your social media. One of the hottest topics of the moment was the latest hero-related incident: some people started dropping dead for no reason in Cairo, which would be shocking news if the world didn’t seem like it was on the verge of ending every couple months. Apparently, a cult had been behind the attack, and there were two heroes involved. One was a woman with curly hair and her suit had golden wings, people started calling her the Scarlet Scarab, and there was this other man with moon motifs who seemed to be able to go from a full-on costume with cape to a fancy suit; people hadn’t come up for a name for him, yet. If it was up to you though, you’d call him the Moon Shifter, or something along those lines. You were glad you weren’t in charge of naming superheroes.

Tired of reading about this latest tragedy, you stood up and opened the nearest window to admire the nocturnal landscape, a cold breeze hitting your face; it felt oddly comforting. You glanced around the street. Nothing was out of the ordinary, just the usual noise of cars passing by. You felt as though the city was luring you out of your flat to go on some moonlit adventure around its streets.

You figured you wouldn’t be going on an adventure, but you sure as hell were starving and didn’t feel in the mood to cook, but there was a Chinese restaurant not far from your place you could get some takeout from. Determined to get your dinner, you grabbed your coat, a pair of shoes, your tote bag, and headed out into the windy streets.

As you were walking to the Chinese restaurant, you felt someone was staring at you from a distance. When you were about to turn around, someone on a moped snatched your tote bag from your shoulder and drove off.

“Hey!” You tried chasing the person with your belongings to no avail, they were long gone. Your first thought was to call the police, but your phone was inside your tote, along with your wallet. You scooped your faced and whined in desperation, feeling this empty hole in your chest. You figured your best course of action was continuing your trip to the restaurant and ask if you could borrow the phone to call the police, so you continued making your way to the restaurant in resignation.

CRASH!

There was a loud noise not so far from where you were. Weary of your surroundings due to what had just happened, you cautiously made your way to the noise. You poked your head towards the alley where it came from and, to your surprise, saw the same moped that had just mugged you crashed into a garbage container. The guy was in the floor, pleading for his life, and in front of him was a figure with a white cape who remained silent.

The caped person only took a step forward, retrieved a gun from his waist, directed it to the man, and said in a raspy voice:

“Mejor ruégale al diablo, pedazo de mierda”.

You covered your mouth to stifle the tiny yelp that escaped your mouth when the shot was fired. You felt the urge to throw up as you saw the man lay lifeless on the pavement.

“Ahí está, Jonsu. ¿Necesitas que me ocupe de alguien más hoy?” The man said nonchalantly to the air, as if he hadn’t just killed a man. Silence followed. Was he expecting someone to talk back to him? Then, he growled in desperation, “¿Qué? ¡Pero Harrow está muerto, tú mismo viste que lo maté!”

It seemed he’d gotten a response, but he wasn’t too happy about it. After a few moments of the wind talking to him, he turned around, looking directly at you.

Shit! You hid from him on the outer corner of the alley. You could hear his steps drawing nearer, but you stayed frozen in fear. He was probably going to kill you for what you’d just seen. Then, the footsteps stopped. You slowly opened your eyes and got a full view of the man. It was the superhero from Cairo, only his costume looked slicker, less mummy-like.

“This yours?” he asked with his thick accent, reaching your tote bag towards you. You nodded.

“Be more careful,” he warned as you grabbed your tote bag from his hands.

As soon as you had a hold of your bag, you made a run for it. After all, you’d just gotten mugged and had seen a man get shot, so you definitely weren’t going to stick around to chit-chat with the superhero in front of you. After running for a bit, you made it to the Chinese restaurant. You opened the door and slammed it shut, letting out a sigh of relief.

“Are you alright?” the person at the register asked. You made your way towards them and slumped down in the counter, head burried in your arms.

“Can I get the large combo?”

Another a/n: Tysm for reading! I am going to be working on a follow up to this fic, so look foward to that. I am planning on making this a Marc × Reader and Jake × Reader series , and maybe even add Layla into the mix because, lke I said at the beggining, I live vicariously through the fanfics I write and I am a bisexual disaster who would really like to be in a poly relationship with all of them.