#genuinely honestly half crack but like. why did they put elation

[hsrlorefreak]

ok this is. completely basically crack but like.

is giovanni (in the new-ish event) sampo?????

because.

Elation. it was like, really heavily implied last time we saw sampo at the end of belobog stellaron crisis, that he was a part of the Masked Fools, aka followers of Aha, The Elation.

and in sampo’s story, it’s implied that he. dressed up as a woman. convincingly. and he wasn’t called out on his voice, so he can definitely change his voice, too.

and he even has a mask— to play at the eccentric billionaire who funds a game on a whim. that seems like something he would do just for amusement.

and it starts on belobog, too. and sampo does have ways to get to other world— the joke bomb he sent with a signature proved that.

i forgot to take a screenshot, but pela + serval also say that he told them to not tell march and trailblazer who the really good player was (might be him) because : “adding an element of mystery to the story” and what story? our story, our game. what is that doing? breaking the fourth wall. who, aside from trailblazer, breaks the fourth wall?

sampo.

but why???? but have followers of the elation ever had reasons for what they do??? zhongshan (unshackled on luofu mission) did what she did just because. didn’t plan it out or anything, saw a chance, decided it was funny, and pulled trailblazer along to play her tune

anyway if he isn’t that’s fine but if he is that’ll be so funny.

[yandere-daydreams]

Would I be able to request some Bakugou and some unintentional infantilization please?

He wouldn’t even have to try. The way he treats his Darling is already so demeaning, it wouldn’t be hard to interpret some of his more questionable methods as attempts to snuff out your independence entirely. It doesn’t hurt that he’d be more than willing to indulge your newfound limitations, either.

Title: Inept.

TW: Kidnapping, Isolation, Gaslighting, Emotional Manipulation, Slight Infantalization, and Stockholm Syndrome. 

~

To be fair, you said you liked the way Katsuki treated you.

You guess you weren’t supposed to, really. Early on, when you still thought you’d be able to escape through grit and determination alone, he’d made it clear that your time with him wouldn’t be enjoyable, not any more than it had to be to keep you sane. Your happiness was secondary, your safety came first, as Katsuki was so eager to tell you whenever you cried or struggled or fought back. No, you didn’t like the way he took care of you, you didn’t like him, but your surroundings had a funny way of worming themselves into your mind and settling there, making themselves at home in the darkest corners of your consciousness. You feared Katsuki, but fear had a way of becoming compliance, and compliance could be shaped into tolerance, and tolerance was only a misstep away from expectation. Not anticipation, just presumption. Katsuki liked routine, and you liked to know what was coming next. It was easier to tell yourself you were just doing what you had to do, when Katsuki found a way of boiling your life down to a few simple, non-negotiable tasks he could take care of for you.

That might’ve been why it bothered you so much when he did something you didn’t expect, even if it was a change for the better.

You didn’t like the way Katsuki treated you, but you hated not being prepared.

It didn’t help that he was so content to lord over you, always flaunting his control, his superiority, even so early in the morning, when you could barely keep your eyes open and he’d done little more than pull you out of bed, make himself coffee, and decline your request for a mug of your own. Caffeine was bad for you, he’d said, but you were sure having to go without it was worse as he locked the free cuff of your tether to his kitchen table, keeping your ankle bound to something you couldn’t weaponize as easily as a chair. He seemed to like it, when you were forced to sit and wait while he could stand and walk and give himself a reason to dote on you, but you couldn’t be sure whether he was doing it on purpose, or if making you feel small just came naturally to him. Either way, you tried to keep your eyes focused on the empty tabletop as leaned against it, refusing to tilt your head back to look at him. 

Refusing to give him the satisfaction of knowing you were tempted to.

“I’ll be gone for a while, today,” He started, as if you hadn’t been through this a hundred different times. Heroes took their jobs seriously, you knew that, but Katsuki was a monster when it came to his work. That’d been what surprised you most, honestly. Kidnapping made sense after you’d seen the extents of his desperation, and with a quirk like his, it was only natural that’d he treat you with care, but he was so intent on helping people, so intent on being a savior, it never failed to leave a bitter taste in your mouth. You were the exception, you had to be. That, or you were the result of his heroism taken to its extreme, and you didn’t think you’d be able to take the thought that he genuinely thought he was being kind. “Round Face’s injured, so Deku and I are leading a raid on our own. It’s just another bullshit gang, but we can’t start until after sunset. You’ll have the house to yourself for the next day or so, if I’m lucky.” He sighed, rolling his shoulders back, glancing at you out of the corner of his eye. You made a point of avoiding his gaze. “You know what that means, don’t know?”

You wondered if he enjoyed drawing things out. “That someone might break in while you’re gone and put me out of my misery?”

That earned an unamused chuckle and a stern scowl, but an answer less cryptic than his warning, too. “It means,” He corrected, working a hand under your chin, forcing you to finally face him properly. “You’ll have to take care of yourself, tonight. I don’t want you starving to death just because I’m not around to force feed you.”

You hated the way he said it, like it’d been your choice, like he hadn’t been the one to tie your wrists behind your back at every meal and make you beg just to have your hands unbound, even if he still rarely let you let you put them to any use. But, underneath your distaste, there was a sourceless, baseless dread, as dull and as undeniable as any other feeling you’d experienced, recently. You were prepared to be pampered, then abandoned, then coddled as if that’d make up for his daily betrayal. This was just abandonment. This wasn’t what you’d been prepared for. 

But, you couldn’t tell Katsuki that.

Instead, you glared at your hands and tried not to stumble over your words as you spat out a response. “Are you sure you’re not planning to let me die?”

His laugh was genuine, this time, but lower than it should’ve been, more patronizing than it should’ve been. You curled into yourself as his hold grew more firm, but your reluctance to face his wrath and his determination to treat you like something fragile made it difficult to pull away, to see the point in trying to. You clenched your eyes shut, but you could hear his smile, his satisfaction. His intent, as much as he tried to hide it. “Don’t be like that, (Y/n). I trust you not to do anything impulsive while I’m gone.” There was a kiss to your forehead, a playful squeeze to your jaw. “You shouldn’t have to cook, I’ve already made sure you’ll have something to eat. Just make sure you get a bath and some sleep by the time I come back, and I’ll see if I can you can handle a little more responsibility, next time.”

It should’ve sounded like an incentive. It should’ve been a prize. You should’ve been thankful for the chance to regain any freedom, let alone earn free reign of Katsuki’s apartment, if only for a day. You should’ve been happy, you should’ve been elated, but all you could feel was trepidatious, cautious, scared. Your fingers twitched as you tried to remember what it’d been like to take care of yourself so mindlessly, but your hands were soon occupied with another half-conscious task, your fists coming up to rub at your eyes as you fought to keep tears of frustration at bay. But, one managed to escape, then another, and soon, you were left to cover your face entirely as Katsuki clicked his tongue, his arm wrapping around your shoulders. “That’s not fair,” You mumbled, forcing yourself not to gasp. Not to speak loudly enough to let your voice crack. Not to cling to him and tell him you couldn’t, that he wasn’t allowed to let you. “That’s not fair and you know it. I don’t--”

“Calm down, angel. Tell me what’s wrong, or I’m going to assume you’re having another temper tantrum.” It was a warning, a threat that you’d be locked in your bedroom for the next few days if you didn’t tell him something he liked, but that didn’t stop you from folding into yourself, your arms wrapping around his neck and your head finding the crook of his shoulder as soon as he brought you close enough to make that kind of intimacy a possibility. He only hummed, muttering something incoherent and comforting as he leaned down, undoing your restraints with a practiced swiftness. You didn’t try to get away, though, not as he pulled you out of your seat and not as he held you against his chest. You were too busy trying to quell your own panic to even think about doing something more to fuel it. “You don’t want to make this worse for yourself, do you?”

It was a stupid thing to say. A childish thing to say. It was exactly what Katsuki wanted to hear, and yet, you found yourself forcing it out regardless. “You’re… you’re supposed to take care of me.”  

That seemed to catch him off-guard. There was a beat of silence, and then, Katsuki’s grip on you tightened, the edges of his teeth ghosting over the side of your neck as he spoke. “That’s more like it,” He whispered, more to himself than to you. “That’s perfect. Deku can handle the fucking raid himself, I’m not going anywhere.” He paused, a slight lilt finding its way into his tone. Just enough to make his bliss seem sympathetic, to an untrained audience. “You’re right, you’re so fucking right. I can’t believe I ever forgot.”

You shouldn’t have relaxed. You shouldn’t have deflated and caught your breath and been comforted by such a damning sentiment, but you didn’t try to stop yourself from being soothed by the slow, deep circles he began to push into your back, his grip so strong and your body so unused to such physical affection, his touch was almost enough to leave a bruise. And yet, this was what you’d been waiting for, what you were prepared for. Not what you wanted, sure, but what you knew was going to happen.

And that was enough to make you close your eyes and try to ignore the careless grin now burning into your skin, just as smug and just as cruel as you’d come to expect.

[ghoulfriendfam]

Shane Madej X Reader

College Bookshop AU!!

Summary: You are in college and for the past eight months you have been wrapped up reading books from a mysterious recommender that is only identified as “S” in your look bookstore. You have been trying to piece together who “S” is for month to no avail- but when you meet a handsome and helpful sales clerk you think you might have found your man!

Part 2 of 5; Part 1 Part 2 (I will link the updates as they come out!)

The next day you were back at the cafe, skimming over the book again and nursing some caffeinated beverage to perk up. You had woken up early- partially due to the fact that you never had really gone to sleep- and had sprung out the door. Thoughts about what could- what should happen had been filling you up- dancing in every quiet space of your mind.

It had been a little thing- the cider- but it was the little things that mattered. In your bag beside you laid the washed cup. You didn’t think you could ever be that nervous about washing a cup- but you had been- rubbing it squeaky clean with care. That cup could be the beginning of something- and beginnings are so fragile.

You must have looked like quite a sleepy wistful puddle of preoccupations- because at this moment Steven paused as he passed your table. Steven was your barista. Well, there were other baristas of course that worked the shop across from Calypso's, but Steven and you were friends. And not just the transient, “oh your usual?” type of coffee shop friends either. Steven was genuine like that- honest.

“You know,” Steven said, putting down the dish tray, “Sometimes too much studying isn’t good for you.”

“Oh-” You jumped, regaining your presence in reality, “I’m not studying,”

Steven frowned. “Then why do you look so beat up?”

You waved the book.

Steven squinted down at you. “Wow? Was the recommendation that good this week?”

Steven knew that you were following “S’s” recommendations. It would have been impossible for him not to, considering how you wouldn’t shut up about it the first couple of months you had begun reading them. But Steven didn’t know how obsessed you were. He already thought you were crazy enough for believing in conspiracy theories and paranormal activity. Adding being a “book stalker” to the list wasn’t something you were willing to admit to as well.

“Yeah,” You said, with an unconvincing smile that you hoped would deter the conversation. “It was a real-” You grabbed at the air, “You know a real gripping story.”

Steven was not convinced, you could tell by how his eyebrows were cresting above the frames of his glasses. Your anxiety jumped into your throat as Steven drug up a chair and sat down across from you with a look that told you he intended to get to the bottom of this.

“What’s a matter?” He said simply, as if it could be answered simply.

You thumbed the edge of the book up and down, the pages zipping across your fingertip.

“Do-” You bit your tongue, “Well I mean- do you see a lot of people here? Like working behind the counter?”

“Of course?” He scrunched his shoulders, “I see maybe half the campus- well half the liberal arts people- just in the morning shift alone. We don’t really get the STEM people. The Life Sci building is too far away for them to come down in the mornings. In the evening we might get them though.”

You mentally ran that through the list of possibilities. From Shane’s vibe, you had already pegged him to be an art history major- or maybe even something odd-ball like metaphysics. But when you scanned around last night at various art clubs and societies- yes you had done that like a psycho- you hadn’t found him listed in any one of them. He wasn’t even on Calypso's instagram as an employee… It was possible that he could be a STEM major- or something else strange- there was a certain chemistry. You frowned. Your humor was bad even in your own head.

“Why exactly are you asking?” Steven asked, with an ernest insistence

You felt yourself becoming hot- the table becoming suddenly really interesting. “There’s…. There’s this guy.”

“OOO-”

“It’s not like that!” You protested, knowing it was exactly like that.

Steven’s serious expression had completely flipped, turning into a cheshire grin, satisfied that his senses had been right. You had been messed up about something.

“Where’d you meet him?”

“Calypso's,” You said reluctantly, “He’s working the counter.”

“Calypso's?” He exclaimed, “Don’t you like live there or something? How do you not know him?”

“He’s new? Or well- I think he is new- it might just be I have never seen him before-”

“And you thought I might have? Y’know seen him.”

“Right-”

“Right- Right-” He quickly repeated, rubbing his chin with an intellectual air. “Certainly- Yes- Yes- tell me and I will see if my eyes have come across this certainly lovely man with which you have been so affected by.”

“Should I roll my D20 or are you going to lay off the game night bullshit!”

Steven’s expression remained unchanged- elated- curious- and eager.

You sighed defeated, “He’s- I don’t know- He’s tall-”

“How tall?”

“Like- tall enough to be a telephone poll.”

“Attractive-”

“Yeah- yeah- yeah- well he’s got long brown hair that kind of sticks out everywhere”

Steven nodded. “Brilliant”

Why were you so bad at this! “Oh he has a nice smile- and kind of a stache”

“Oh- a stache man?”

“It’s not a creepy stache-”

“Of course.”

“More like a professorial stache.”

“Oh?” Steven's eyes lit up with implications.

“He’s young-” Your hands shot up, “He’s not like a daddy or anything.”

God had you said that outloud. Steven started wheezing- dying actually. You were dying too but not from laughter.

“So-” Steven croaked, trying to recover, “Does this- not daddy- have a name?”

You twisted in your seat, your face still boiling. ”Shane.”

“.....Wait....” Steven’s composure changed, he leaned forward confused and startled,“You don’t mean Shane- Shane? Like Shane Madej?”

Your eyes grew wide.

Steven rubbed his mouth- a grin slowly forming on it- and sighed: “...Christ....” He paused, his thoughts cementing, “You do mean Shane Madej- of course!” He sat back in his chair running his hand through his hair thoughtfully, “...Shane Madej… I mean he’s definitely not bad?”

Not bad? He was perfect.

“What do you know about him?”

“He’s not an employee-” Steven’s eyebrows shot up, “He’s the owner so… I’m mean… he is kind of a daddy-”

“Steven!” You snapped, wanting information and not games. “What on earth do you mean he owns that place?”

“Yeah-” Steven sighed, “He inherited it or something- like a year ago?”

“So you know him?”

“Well- I mean not like personally? He came over when he first got the place and said hello and whatever with the owner here and occasionally he stops by pretty close to closing and gets some cold brew togo- or whatever- he’s pretty nice? He’s kind of shy- quiet- I guess I have never really stopped to fully talk to him?”

Never stopped to talk to him. What a crime. But your mind didn’t linger on that for long. The pieces were starting to click. A new owner, trying to get involved in the business, starts reading and recommending books. He might have gotten the place a year ago- but it would have taken a while to get adjusted and get on his feet. Perhaps he started reading because he had a crisis… The books in September were starting to make sense now… It was almost the perfect profile...

“So…” Steven said, interrupting your train of thought, “What are you going to do with all this knowledge?”

“I-” You paused. You honestly hadn’t thought you would get this far. You had to lend it to yourself, your detective inclinations were excellent. “I actually don’t know. I guess I was just curious...”

“Curious… right,”

You didn’t like Steven’s smirk. It was far too big and happy. It was still early- but Calypso’s was open. You hadn’t intended on making your exit just yet- you didn’t want to look as desperate as you felt- but you sure as hell couldn’t stay here with Steven knowing what he knew. That would be a slow death by embarrassment and knowing sighs.

“I have got to go now,” You announced, shuffling up from the table.

“Really?”

“Yes, really,” You picked up your bag and drink and quickly smoothed yourself out.

“Don’t worry- you look great,” Steven reassured, still smirking.

“Who said I was going to see anybody?” You bristled, getting blushy already- this was not a good sign.

“Not me,” Steven's voice trailed as you headed for the door, “But now that you mention it-”

The door to the cafe closed behind you. You didn’t look back- but you knew- you just knew Steven was watching out the window and smiling. The rain had stopped, but it was still foggy and dark. You crossed the overcast street, the cup burning a metaphorical hole in your bag with each step. As you reached the door and swung it open, your eyes brightened, anticipating to see his cheery face peering at you from behind the counter…

But he wasn’t there. Perhaps he was upstairs?

A strange nervous energy filled you. What if he hadn’t meant anything by it- by giving you the drink? Maybe he just wanted to be friendly? Maybe you had taken it the wrong way and he knew it- so now he was ghosting you! You hated getting ghosted. It happened to you more times then you liked to-

Your thoughts paused as you hit the landing of the stairs. The door to the upstairs office was open. You had never seen into the office before. In fact you weren’t sure if you were supposed to be seeing it now. From the crack in the door it looked like a crowded and homey place- it’s old wood paneling shining auburn in the lamp light- and it’s no doubt creaky floor littered with stacks of books and papers.

Shane’s books and papers.

No. No. No. This was getting too personal- too quickly- you needed to escape back down the stairs before it looked like you were being a creep. Cause you certainly weren’t a creep. Even if you did do it on occasion.

You made an abrupt turn to go back down and find somewhere normal to wait out this chill of anxiety when your foot came in contact with something warm- fuzzy- and catasphrophic. You tripped forward- face first- ass second- onto the floor- causing a horrid- simply terrible- noise. The fuzzy shape wormed out from under your feet and pounced up on you.

It was a cat- an orange one- and it was smiling down at you- happy with its work.

“OBI!”

Your eyes quickly focused past the cat to see Shane rushing out of the office. He quickly dumped his books and reached down and snatched the cat.

“I’m so sorry,” He tilted the cat up to face him, “Bad kitty- remember what we said about sneaking out of the apartment.”

Apartment? So he lives here?

“Oh- no it’s fine-” You grabbed your bag and the cup that had knocked out- thanking god it wasn’t broken.

“Here,” Shane put the cat down and reached towards you, “Let me get you fixed up.”

He took the cup from your hand and then softly grasped your forearm, helping you up. While your feet placed themselves underneath you firmly- your knees were weak. You were standing so close to him- the same scent and feeling brushing over you as before- the soft pine- the warm heat- the utter perfection of it all.

“Oh-” He retracted his arm, realizing that he had been holding on to you for a little too long, “You're not hurt or anything?”

“No,” You said, “I think I might have hurt the cat more then the cat hurt me- with my feet all-”

“Hogwash- the cat’s resilient,” Shane waved his hand dismissively, “Nine lives and all of that,”

Yes- of course. An awkward smile crept up on your face. “Um- well I just wanted to give you back the cup.”

“The cup?” Shane’s eyebrows went up, “Oh- yes the cup!” He shook it back and forth.

“Yes- and I just wanted to say thanks for the cider- y’know cause it really was cold out there- and I did appreciate it-”

“Sure- sure-” He nodded earnestly- a hint of nervousness in his voice, “It was- well it was- y’know- it was-”

“It was nice.”

Shane stopped mid ramble- a hint of pink dashing across his face. Had- had you just made him blush? Oh god- Oh jeeze-

“Um-” Shane turned back toward his office, “Do you want to step in for a bit?”

Your lips parted.

“It’s the least I can do- it’s quiet up there- you know you can work on all that- well- work you need to do- I have some cookies? You like cookies?”

He couldn’t even look you in the eyes as he said it. And you thought you were the jittery one.

“Cookies are great.”

Cookies were fucking awesome.

He laughed haltingly, pushing back a shock of his hair, as if he had never imagined this scenario happening today. He definitely wasn’t alone in that.

“Well- ah after you!” He made a swirly gesture with his hand, trying to regain his usual smooth confidence.

You put your hand to your lips not to giggle and stepped into his office.

[justlightthefirstspark]

Utd vs City - FA Cup 4th round - Jan 25th 2020

Okay so this game was a little all over the place, I feel like everything just goes out the window on derby day. For real tho my blood pressure went through the roof this afternoon, I HATE derby day. Moving on.

‘10 - Cracking save from Earps. She was on her game today (except for towards the end, but we’ll get to that later on). She did have some great saves though

Today I learned that I’m not a massive fan of Ellen White. She’s very good, yes, so disagree with me if you must, but she seemed pretty intent on literally killing Abbie McManus for a little while there, and she nearly came through Hayley Ladd at one stage, so... yeah. I’m not really a fan. Just don’t think a striker needs to make as many sliding tackles as she did today 🤷🏽‍♀️

‘22 - Jackie meggsed Steph Houghton and I thought I was gonna die of joy. If that’s even a thing. Also, wish we could have made something from that but hey.

‘24 - Was a little choppy for a lot of the first half. Sigsworth had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring but unfortunately couldn’t make anything happen, and then Ross went kinda close, but it ended up creeping over the bar. City were definitely in charge at this point though, most of what United had was coming off the counter

‘30 - Goal, City. Abbie... bro. Personally, I never bought a ticket for the McManus hype train. And that’s why.

‘37 - Nailed on chance for United surely, ball in from Hanson I’m pretty sure, but Sigsworth just couldn’t get there

Half time: First half went pretty much as I expected it to, minus the goal if I’m being honest. McManus’ mistake was pretty stupid, and shortsighted, but what’s done is done. I do think that we need a new CB (at least one) in the summer, cause I haven’t been majorly impressed w McManus tbh. I much prefer the Turner x2 partnership at CB, but even then Amy can have a tendency to make some silly mistakes. (I’m sure Millie does too, I just haven’t seen those yet. They’re human, not robots, we all make mistakes!) I think Abbie, needs to be benched for a little while; move Amy back to CB w Millie, move Smith onto the right and bring Ökvist in on the left, and just let her develop and learn on the job. (Should Amy have to relinquish that RB spot, Smith should have it over Harris imo)

‘45 - No changes at the half, which was annoyingggggg. Also the male commentator (can’t remember his name, soz) kept making reference to the QF loss to Reading last season and I was not appreciative. Like, at all.

‘48 - Like for the majority of the first half, Zelem was sitting very deep in the Utd midfield. Was almost like a back 5 at times, w Zel sat just in front of Abbie and Millie. She was basically invisible during the first half due to this as well, little to no offensive action. I’m pretty sure that Ladd started sitting deeper to push Zelem up at some stage though

‘56 - Goal, City. This was game over for me (lol). I’m not really sure who I blame for this one, seen a lot of blame on Amy, but there was definitely a delayed reaction from Millie in there too, so I’d have to watch it back (which I don’t plan to tbh) to fully make up my mind, so I’m gonna blame them both. Seems only fair. 🤷🏽‍♀️

‘59 - James 🔁 Ross. An hour too late but I’ll take it. I’d have started James, without a doubt, but Casey said they were “managing her for the upcoming games”, also she kinda has a tendency to pick up yellows - through no fault of her own really though. Some other players just can’t deal with her strength on the ball so when they challenge her, they come off the worse and she gets in trouble. Riddle me that one 🧐

I also think we need a new striker in the summer, Ross just isn’t working. We need another game changer, another creative outlet like Lauren cause it’s massively unfair to rest that responsibility solely on the shoulders of an 18 year old.

‘60 - glorious shot from Hanson that just couldn’t make it. She really opened City up down the right side. To be honest it was a great save from Roebuck too

‘69 - GOAL; United. Remember when I said Lauren James should have started? Because Lauren James scored a super goal 10 mins after she came on the pitch. Lovely turn and shot, straight past the keeper. Game on, apparently.

‘69 - Arnot 🔁 Sigsworth. I think this was a good swap, even though it may not have been like for like. Jess was EVERYWHERE today, I genuinely don’t think there was an inch of the pitch she didn’t cover. She had a few decent chances, which any other day she probably would have put away but that’s the way it goes I guess 🤷🏽‍♀️ Honestly if we had any other options, I’d rest her more, but we don’t so... I do think it’s the right decision to sub her off around the hour mark if she’s gonna play this often though. She’s gonna burn out quick cause she’s doing way more than she needs/has to (because we have no bench and a lot of inexperience/players who just aren’t that good, so everyone is doing 47 jobs but shhhh)

‘72 - 👻 - Pure daylight robbery is the only way I can describe this. One of McManus or Arnot has the ball OVER the line, but it’s disallowed 🤦🏽‍♀️ (Before anyone comes for me claiming “salt” or whatever, there is nothing you can say to me that would change my mind. There’s videos from the stand that show the ball over the line, Ellie Roebuck’s body-language and position show her clearly fishing the ball out of the net, the reaction of all the players around the goal show that it went in - Utd players elated, and City’s dejected. Also Miss Ellen “I couldn’t really see. I wasn’t in the line of it” White can swing. She was 2 feet away and staring right at it.)

‘76 - Goal; City. Jill Scott floats it up and in , with a delayed reaction from Earps. She should have seen that one coming a mile off but I reckon it took a deflection (possibly off McManus’ shoulder?) cause her body movements completely changed - albeit just a fraction too late. Also, I have *no idea* what Amy was doing in the box there, I just know that I don’t ever wanna see whatever that was ever again. Flailing around on the ground like a literal fish out of water. Not good.

‘87 - GOAL; United. Well, own goal; Hemp. But I’ll take it. Thought for a second it was Houghton but she was too busy feigning a foul 🤷🏽‍♀️

‘90 - I’ll be honest, I had to stop watching here cause I couldn’t take it. There was like, a year’s worth of added time bc of two injuries to City players but nothing of note happened during this time so I have nothing to say.

All in all, I think our entire back line had an off day today.

Abbie, imo she’s our main defensive weak link. I’d say a solid 70% of City’s chances came down our right side due to this. I’d have to go back and rewatch every game from the start of the season to pick out specific instances, but there can be a bit of hesitancy and airiness to her game sometimes, it doesn’t always seem like she thinks before she does. And she (well, all of them do it really) plays it back way more than is healthy for my stress levels.

Millie gets the benefit of the doubt from me today cause she very rarely has off days, but she was very quiet today.

Amy, has some extent of the benefit of the doubt cause she’s not a RB/FB by nature, she’s had to change her game a bit, but she was not great today (see previous point about the right side of our defence)

I actually think Kirsty Smith was the best of the 4, her service to Hanson on the left was excellent.

We really, really missed Galton down the left though, so I hope she’s back for Wednesday! Lauren needs to start vs Chelsea too, and against Reading tbh but we’ll worry about that one later.

Also, as a little side note, I have to say I really enjoyed Jayne Ludlow’s commentary this afternoon! I know she did the Utd/Spurs reverse fixture in October, and I’m sure she’s done a few more, but I’d like to hear a lot more of her (or really, anyone else who knows the game as well as she does, or in a similar capacity). She, obviously, knows the game really well, and I thought her analysis and opinions were really interesting to listen to.

[hoseokmylovesworld]

Picture of Love | 10

Pairing: Photographer!Hoseok x OC x Producer!Yoongi

Genre/Warnings: Hoseok AU/Yoongi AU/Includes strong language, mentions of sex

Words: 5,340

Summary: Charlotte Galloway is the leader of the up and coming girl band, “She-Bang”, with a side hustle as a photographer for anyone who will hire her.  She meets a fellow professional photographer named Jung Hoseok who helps “She-Bang” realize their dreams and Charlotte to make a love connection along the way.

I pull out my phone as I search for pajamas to wear after my shower and I text Leyah asking where everyone was. 

"We're all in the boys' room watching them play video games"  was her reply. I nod to myself in understanding and head to the bathroom to change into my pajamas for the night, happy to hopefully to get most of tonight to myself as I hear a knock on the hotel door. I throw my pajamas back on top of the dresser for later to answer the door. I sigh as I look out the peep hole to discover it was Darren. I still hate that our relationship isn't what it used to be recently and we basically struggle to keep things cordial between us. I open the door to be greeted by his handsome smile and inviting eyes. 

"Hey." I blurt out, not knowing what else to say.

"Hey." So you're not gonna make this any easier, okay.

"What's up?" 

"Oh, nothing...Can I come in?"

"Oh! Yeah. Of course." I almost shout, realizing we were still talking awkwardly in the threshold of the hotel room. I stand aside to let him into the room and we move to the bed room area. As I sit on the bed, I get a text from Leyah that just reads "I'm sorry." which I can only assume she's referring to the fact that Darren suddenly showed up at our door shortly after I arrived back when he was originally playing video games next door. And Darren loves his video games. "You had to tell him I was back." I text back quickly.

I put my phone away and placed my attention on Darren. "So what are you up to?" He plops himself onto my bed. "Nothing, just watching some TV." He nods, very obviously trying to figure out what to say next.

"So, Mezzanine tomorrow?" He brings up our gig for tomorrow thankfully. "Oh, yeah! I'm super hype!" We finally settle into a smooth and comfortable flow of conversation. 

Just like old times.

I find myself smiling brightly at the thought that we were able to revert back to being comfortable in each other's company and cracking jokes like we used to...that is until Darren asks about my night. "So how was your night? You're back a little late." He notes. I sigh before answering.

 "Um, it was good. Went on a date." As if you don't already know. 

He nods. "So...did you go out with that Hope guy?" I sigh once more as I drop my head, already losing patience with this conversation. "Yes, Darren." He just nods again. 

"...You've been going out with him a lot..." 

"Yes, I have." I whisper shortly, my attention suddenly glued to the TV. Great an infomercial. 

"Don't hate me for asking this." He voices after a few long moments of silence pass. 

"What?" My head snaps in his direction, knowing what his question would be. 

"Is he... treating you right?" Feigning a pathetic attempt at a concerned face.

"Why, 'cuz you could treat me better?" I say raising my voice.

"I never said that." He rushes to defend himself, cocking his head to the left.

"No, no you didn't." But you were thinking it. 

"I was just making sure you're-" 

"I'm what? Hanging with the right people? That's not your responsibility or your concern-" 

"You're not my concern?" He questioned, getting offended.

"No, I am not." I sneered, my left hand turning to a fist and the right wrapping tightly around the TV remote.

"Char you're one of my closest friends, of course you're my concern-"

"Well I'm not your burden." Or your girlfriend. 

I'm met with silence and a floored yet somber look from Darren so I continue. "So don't worry about my dates with Jay." I march over to my dresser to busy myself with finding an outfit for tomorrow because I couldn't stand to be near him any longer. 

"...So they are actual dates then? Like he takes you out to fancy dinners and shit like that?" I pause and scoff at the indirect accusation and his equally as accusing tone. I know Darren enough by now to know the underlying subtext in everything he threw at me. 

"We haven't had sex yet, if that's what you're asking." I spit at him over my shoulder. He visibly deflates and his body untenses, confirming my suspicions. My eyes roll back into my head as I refocus on shoveling through my drawers. 

"Once again, that is not what I was trying to say. You can stop putting words in my mouth now." He grated sternly, trying to dig himself out of this never ending hole. 

I let my temper get my best of me and allow Darren to distract me from my task as I whip my body around to face him with a newfound animosity inside me, ready to be unleashed on him. "But it is. It is what you were asking and I don't appreciate it . And I'll stop feeding you words when you start saying what you mean." I snapped all while dangerously pointing my finger in his direction. All formality was gone from my voice because of the level of ridiculousness the situation has reached. I was over this conversation before it started and its about time I let Darren know that he doesn't have any sort of claim on me. 

He takes my statement in before shutting his eyes tightly and collecting his thoughts. "Look Char, I'm sorry, I just-"

"Are you? Sorry, I mean? You definitely don't seem like it. Honestly you seem like you got the answer you wanted and now you're trying to find an excuse for me to feel sorry for you. Admit it. You're relieved...You're elated to find out that no one's defiled my body in a month. 'Oh Char's not having sex with anyone? I still have time to make my move.'" I say in a deep voice, giving my impression of Darren as he sits politely waiting for my rant to be over. 

I make my way over to where he sits on the foot of the bed and loom over him, making fierce eye contact the whole way. "I have been and will continue to sleep with who ever I want and none of your 'concerns' are going to stop me." I hiss, making air quotations around concerns. I shut my eyes tight in frustration and move away from Darren as he reaches out to touch me. 

How fucking dare he?!

"No!...God, things were going so well! You just had to ruin it didn't you!?" I shout with abandon, wondering how we even got here.

Darren opens and closes his mouth, before actually deciding on what to say next. "Char, I...I know I've been a fucking dickhead lately and I cant seem to stop pissing you off, but you have to know that was never my intention and I do want things to go back to the way they were before."

No you don't. I roll my eyes so hard at this, I fear they'll get stuck. They didn't.

"And I'm sorry I fucked everything up-and not just recently, I know that-I just wanted to be sure that-you have to know I just wanted you be safe...and happy." In the middle of his speech, he makes his way over to me and I allow him to rest his hand on my arm as he shares his sentiment. I take a few deep breaths to calm down and eventually shrug his hand off of me, much to Darren's dismay. I feel the need to distance myself yet again so I drift back to the bed and Darren makes a wise decision to sit himself in the padded chair across from me.

"I just don't understand what you want from me." I start looking down at the carpet and fiddling with my already perfectly manicured nails. "I mean we flirt around each other for a year and a half and nothing comes of it, but suddenly when I finally find someone I might actually be interested in, you decide it's okay to be openly jealous...I'm sorry, but it literally does not work that way."

"I know that Char-"

"You have a funny way of showing it." I deride just above a whisper.

"I realize that, I realize that I've been an asshole-"

"Try douche-nozzle of the year." I interject once again.

"Yeah, that and sometimes, I just don't know how to act when-"

"Yeah, I fucking noticed!" I couldn't help, but laugh out loud at that one.

"Char!"

"What?!"

"Can you please let me speak? Please? I'm trying to apologize here and you are just-"

"Fine, go ahead...Sorry." I brush him off and immediately apologize when I see his annoyed face and realize I had in fact interrupted him while telling him to go on.

"I just...yes, I felt...some type of way when I saw the Hope guy come out of literally nowhere and basically sweep you off your feet."

"Why though? That is what escapes me. Sorry if I missed it, but it just went over my head, I guess." I shrug, my sentence dripping with sarcasm as well genuine intrigue.

Darren focuses on one spot on the floor as the gears almost visibly turn in his head on how to respond to my query. After two or so minutes, he takes a breath and sits up slightly as if to speak, when instead he lets out a hearty laugh. Any hint of curiousity or patience on my face had dropped and promptly been replaced with hostility.

"I suppose now I have to ask what it is that's so funny?" I cross my arms and wait for whatever silly excuse he has to offer. Why do I even entertain this?

"Nothing...Nothing is funny I promise. I...I knew what I wanted to say to you when I walked over here...I knew what I wanted to say when I showed up and knocked...but when I saw you it-it was like everything just left." He created a visual of his words with his hand in a wiping motion and laughed bitterly once more.

I feel my teeth grind together without my permission. "Then tell me what is it is you wanted to say initially. Before the ridiculousness ensued." I mutter ardently, hoping this conversation would end soon.

"You know what, nevermind." He gets up and makes his way to the door, but not before I jump in front of him to stab my finger into his chest.

"You're infuriating, you know that?" I look up at his looming frame with a ferocity in my eyes I haven't released in years. "You come in here with your accusations and your petty arguments, trying to incriminate me when you're the guilty one, Darren! And you know it! Nevermind? Are you fucking kidding me? You owe me that after this stunt you pulled today." I continue to dig my finger nail deeper into his chest with every poke. 

"You feign innocence and play the victim when you're the one instigating the trouble! You claim you're confused and J-Hope, is his fucking name by the way, you claim he's the problem and the reason why you're feeling this way when really it's you! It's your ego! It's the only child in you that always gets what he wants, it's the ladies man that's been rejected for once in his sorry life, it's you goddammit! How dare you come to my room and make me out to be the bad guy? It's literally not my fault you couldn't man up and stop being a pussy!" Through the inescapable, raw rage and tears that couldn't seem to stop falling down my face, I can just start to notice the absolutely crushed expression on Darren's face at my words. His jaw and fists were clenched, his eyes that harbored unshed tears looked everywhere, but at me. He looked pained.

I'd never seen him so utterly damaged. My hand instantly flies to cover my despicable mouth at the realization that I did that to him. My hand reaches out to grasp his arm and after a few fleeting seconds of contact, he shrugs it off and brushes past me to the door one more time. I all but chase after him and try grasp either of his arms.

"Darren, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, I swear I didn't mean any of that-"

He lashes around to face me, his feral, but upset face startling me a bit. I gasp and recoil back, no longer looking to touch him. "Really Char...You didn't mean all that shit?" He demands, incredulously. I shake my head, helplessly. "No, no." I whimper pathetically as I feel more tears begin to blind my vision.

"Just some of it then?" He offers, scrutinizing me. I have no answer and the urge to break down and cry is entirely too strong for me to continue any type of conversation so I just look at my bare feet to avoid his fierce gaze. It's funny how the hot seat can be switched that quickly. A second ago I wanted to slap him and now I just want him to forgive me.

"I'm-I'm just gonna go then-"

"No! Please don't go like this." I take a step towards him, but keep my hands to myself. "I am sorry." I plead.

Darren spares me one last glance before he walks to the door. He hesitates to open it, giving me a sliver of hope, but he comes to his senses and exits quickly to avoid anything else that might slow him down or make him stay.

I stay in place for what seems like five minutes or at least until Vicky and Carrie come into the room. I immediately go to dry my tears and try to get rid of my sniffles because I can't stand the idea of someone seeing my cry over a guy. Especially if that guy is Darren.

"Char! What's wrong?" They cry as they go to comfort me. I practically duck out of their embraces and grab my clothes off of the dresser. "Nothing...where is Leyah?" I clear my groggy, cried out voice. "She's still next door, talking to Darren. He kicked us out." I laugh humorlessly. Of course my best girl friend is Darren's best friend as well and she will most-likely be in the middle of our fiasco. "What happened, Char?" Vicky approaches me, I ignore her question and race to the bathroom. "I'm taking a shower."

After letting everything out in the shower, I crawl into bed, fully intending to pass out on sight and just forget this whole ordeal ever happened. About thirty minutes after I get out of the shower, Leyah finally comes into the room and she just offers me a kind Leyah-grin before getting ready for bed. Yeah this is bad. 

When I attempt to think of something that might cheer me up other than Leyah. J-Hope immediately pops into my head. I grab my phone and text him about the performance in hopes that he might come see me. I fear the joy of performing might not even be enough to lift my spirits, so I'm enlisting the help of the sun incarnate, A.K.A. Jung Hoseok. He replies quickly saying he'll be there and just like that I have something to look forward to tomorrow.

The next day, I was the first to wake up, as usual, around four in the afternoon and got ready for the day. Not even the excitement of performing at the Mezzanine could put any pep in my step or erase this deep frown on my face. The girls hit the showers one after the other and proceed to do their own thing in the hotel room. Vicky and Carrie give me pitiful, curious looks, hoping I'll confide in them sometime today. Nope.

What concerns me most is that Leyah hasn't even acknowledged me yet, but I cannot tell if it's because she's being her normal self or if she took Darren's side last night and thinks I'm in the wrong and I can't take the suspense. Watching her decide what to wear today in front of her closet, I take the opportunity to approach her.

"Hey, Leyah. Can I talk to you?" I whisper, hoping the others in the next room can't hear me. She turns to me with a bored look on her face. "Is it about Darren, by any chance?" She droned. "Yes."

Leyah sighs loudly and a knowing smirk appears on her face. "You don't have to prove anything to me, Char. Darren may be my best friend, but so are you and to be honest, you were both dead wrong." I can't help, but chuckle at her incredibly true statement. She focuses back on her clothing as she continues. "He should never have even come over here last night and if I'm being honest, it's my fault he did-sorry about that by the way-"

"It's not your fault-"

"And I hear you said some... offensive things." Her eyes focused on nothing in particular, as if she was reliving Darren telling her what happened here. I look down guiltily. "... Yes." I mutter.

"... But nothing that wasn't true." She offers me a humorous side eye. I fight the urge to laugh again as I reply. "Even so, I shouldn't have said them. He looked really upset and... I don't know how to fix it."

"You're upset too... no?"

"Yes, I am... he seriously rubs me the wrong way sometimes, but I know I really fucked up."

Leyah suddenly gives me her full attention with one hand on her hip and one resting on her wardrobe. "I'm proud of you."

Her reply made my eyes pop out of my head and my brows stoop down low. "H-huh?"

"I'm proud of you." She repeats. "I thought you would have held a grudge 'cuz he hurt your feelings-"

"I refuse to admit he hurt my feelings." I immediately defend and Leyah just points at me and tilts her head, as if to say 'That! That right there.' I just roll my eyes in response.

"I'm glad to see you actually trying to make amends is what I'm saying."

"Thanks... I'm glad to see you showing emotion." I utter sheepishly to the ground.

"Hey, I can... emote." Leyah makes lazy jazz hands to enhance her argument and I huff out a laugh.

"Yeah, okay... thanks, Leyah. This is why I love you."

"Ew, your welcome." She cringes and continues to look for an outfit. I just laugh at her and make my exit. As I'm about to exit the room I hear Leyah mumble just under her breath "Love you too." and I feel a blinding smile split across my face. Caught ya.

I look back at the night stand clock and realize it's almost time to go and I'm made aware that I have a favor to ask of Leyah. I spin back into the room, startling Leyah.

"Oh, would you mind checking on the guys for me?" I try to show off my best set of puppy dog eyes. She basically deflates and give me a 'you can't hide forever' look, but agrees anyway.

"Thank you so much." I sang and went to leave the room again, but not before letting Leyah know what I heard. "Oh, and I heard that!" I toss over my shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." She whines in the distance.

The girls and I join Darren and Kyle in the hotel garage to pack the van. When the job is done and the crew makes their way inside, I notice Darren stay behind to make sure everything was secure and I decide to strike.

"Hey, Darren. Can I talk to you real quick?"

Darren barely acknowledges me, clearly still pissed off from last night, and looks around the garage before making brief eye contact with me.

"I don't know if now is the time Char." He says quickly before heading to the driver's seat and I grab his arm before he can enter.

"Okay, after the gig then?... Please?" I squeeze his arm gently and turn on the puppy dog eyes again. He sighs and looks to his far right at nothing of importance. "Sure, Char." He uttered as if it hurt him to give in to me.

"Thank you." I whisper before we part ways and head to the venue.

The Mezzanine is thankfully already packed with bodies from wall to wall, almost more than the last time we were here and I hope it's because they're here to see us.

Aubrey, the club manager, welcomes us as we enter through the back entrance around 7:50 PM. "Hi! I'm so glad you guys could come and play for us, I've heard good things about you guys."

I thank Evan mentally for the promotion as I shake Aubrey's hand. "Thank you so much for letting us perform!" I say in my bubbly leader-voice.

I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the Mezzanine actually have stage hands to help the music acts set up. This place is more official than I originally assumed. That left me too much time to avoid Darren backstage, as if he wasn't already doing the same thing to me. 

As soon as the instruments are set up, the girls and I take the stage and give the Mezzanine the best performance they ever saw. "We are She-Bang! Goodnight!" I yell into the mic at the end of our set, receiving an even louder, enthusiastic reaction from the crowd. I guess they were here for us, that or we just gained a lot more fans.

After we dismantled the the equipment and the regular club music started pumping from the speakers, the group decided to stay and party for a little while, as usual. We all grab drinks from the bar and hit the crowded dance floor.

I can't help, but dwell on the fact that I didn't see Jay in the crowd tonight. Not that I could detect many faces, but his, I could usually pick out of the bunch. He is one of a kind. He didn't even bother to text me or call and tell me he couldn't make it and that's what actually pissed me off. But we aren't even together so I guess I can let up a little bit with the 'not calling' mess. J-Hope is a busy man, he probably got caught up in something.

I find my own place in the sweaty, gyrating throng of people and shake off the unnecessary thoughts, literally. As I look up from my tipsy stupor, I spot Darren from across the room. How we got so far apart is beyond me and I was thankful for it, until he began to make his way towards me and I started to panic. You asked for this, Char, it's now or never.

But as I mentally prepare myself for this conversation I see Darren's eyes narrow on something behind me. He stops in his tracks and his neutral expression turns to one of anger as I feel a pair of hands cover my face, gently from behind. I'm overtaken by fear just before a familiar cologne fills my nostrils and a beautifully deep voice fills my ears. "Guess who?". I turn around immediately in wonder, all thoughts of Darren gone from my mind. I am met with J-Hope's handsome, smiling face and his wandering hands on my hips. Not a second later we were each devouring each other in a messy, tangled kiss.

"I missed you." I breathed out heavily once we departed.

You just saw him yesterday.

Shut up.

"I missed you too." He laughed easily.

"I thought you weren't coming for a minute." I wrap my arms around his neck and we instinctively sway to the music.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that, I got caught up with something for work. I missed most of the set actually, but I made it! You guys sounded amazing... from what I heard." He finished timidly.

See? Overreacting as usual.

"It's okay, Jay. I am glad you made it. So now you can dance with me." I said flirtatiously, pressing my body closer to his.

"Of course." Was his response as he held me tighter and moved to the beat. Jay and I take after the crowd and grind our bodies together. I press my backside to his groin and roll my body on his and I can feel his reaction through his jeans, causing a smug smirk to grace my lips. All the while, Jay is tending to the weak spot below my jaw, causing my legs to slightly weak.

I make a conscious, but split decision to request that Jay and I take this party elsewhere. We've known each other for a few weeks now, it's obvious we're sexually attracted to each other and it helps that Jay is one of the most wonderful people I've ever met. And I haven't gotten laid since a week before we met. What's holding me back? 

The only reason I haven't pursued him this way before was because I wanted to take things slow since I actually might have feelings for him. Who am I kidding, I definitely have feelings for this kid. But I don't want to be his girlfriend, if that makes any sense. That word still stirs up anxiety in me. Jesus please take the wheel.

I open my eyes and intend to lean up and share my raunchy ideas with Jay, but I'm distracted by Darren's disappointed gaze from where he sat in the back of the club with Leyah nursing her drink and minding her own business directly next to him. 

We share a few more moments of silent, tense conversation until Leyah realizes what he's staring at and literally grips his chin in her hand and turns his attention towards her. After Leyah has a couple choice words with Darren, without responding, he decides to take a seat at the bar and mind his own business as well. I send Leyah a nod in thanks, then I hear J-Hope's smooth voice in my ear.

"Everything okay?" I quickly turn around to face him fully. "Everything is fine." I answer and place a sloppy kiss to his lips promptly as incentive for my next demand. Before I can open my mouth, J-Hope beats me to the punch.

"You wanna get outta here?" He asks as he strokes my cheek gently with his thumb. "I thought you'd never ask." My blissful reply causing a smile to spread across his face. "Just lemme tell the girls and we can go." He nods and follows me to the back of the club.

I approach Leyah, who seems to have been ditched by everyone already. "Hey, where is everyone?" Leyah puts down her drink and nods at Jay behind me. "Scattered around the club, they didn't leave, don't worry."

"Good. Well, Jay and I are gonna head out. Ya'll gonna be okay without me?"

"Yeah, sure." She shrugs, her hooded eyes and usually bored demeanor told me that she would be just fine without me, indeed.

I chuckle. "Is Darren okay?"

"He's... Darren. Didn't like what he saw too much, but... what are you gonna do?" Her eyes drift to Darren, sipping his drink morosely at the bar. She tried to shrug off the pity she felt for her best friend for my sake.

"Alright, well, I'll see you guys later." Leyah just waves in response and goes back to sipping her drink and browsing her phone.

J-Hope and I make our way through the crowd, to his car and once inside, he turns to me. "Have you eaten?" Oh.

"No, I haven't." I say, feeling out the situation.

"Oh, well, my friend told me about this neat restaurant on 9th. Would you wanna go? Or did you have anything in particular in mind?" He finishes with that hopeful smile. Yeah, your place.

Attempting to conceal my shock, due to Jay asking me to dinner instead of to fuck, I force my face into a kind smile. "Nope, anywhere's fine." It's okay, we can wait an hour to get some.

We travel for about five minutes to the place J-Hope mentioned. He finds parking, opens my door for me and leads me to the entrance with his hand rested on my lower back as usual. Above the entrance is a barely lit up logo of the restaurant's name; Taste Me. I tilt my head slightly in intrigue at the name, but shake it off. My attention is then brought to the view through the window of the establishment. It is hard to make anything out through the dark veil of the curtains, except that there is candle light and it is empty inside. I grow more and more suspicious of this place the closer we get, but I keep my thoughts to myself as Jay seems pretty excited about this place.

As we walk in, my suspicions, though I'm not sure what they are, are confirmed. The room was a small square shape with a door directly to the back and the walls were a rich, dark wood. Oak? Mahogany maybe? I'm not sure. The lighting in the room was pretty dark. There was only one small chandelier and a few candles on two brown, pub tables near the windows. In front of the door sat a young, blonde, woman dressed in all black on a bar stool who was scrolling through her phone. Okay.

It had great potential to be a quaint little restaurant... if only it had furniture... and food... and people.

Jay and I approach the woman who doesn't bother to look up from her phone in the slightest. "Excuse me." He tries to get her attention after a few moments of awkward silence. She looks up in a fright, as if she had no idea people had just walked into the building. "Yeah?" Is she says with a hint of annoyance in her voice. I know she didn't.

"We'd like a table for two please, if you don't mind." Jay demands, getting a little annoyed himself.

The girl's eyebrows sky rocket, so as to communicate that she has no idea what he's talking about. "What?" she mutters in shock.

"I said may we please have a table for two... please." He repeats, losing patience. I fight back a smile at the sight. The blonde also seems to be fighting back the giggles as she endeavors to come up with an answer to the question. "Uhhh... erm-I..." She continued to stammer.

Oh, for the love of God.

"Do you have any tables available, or not?" I snapped at her, just wanting to get this over with. I'm trying to laid here, lady.

"Um, sure." She finally forms a complete thought, though she is still fighting off laughter and it's pissing both me and Jay off. "You can just-just go through that door and someone should be there to help you out." She pointed to the door directly behind her.

"Thank you, I guess." Jay says and lets me drag him through the door. As I turn the knob and open it, I can hear the world's worst hostess let out a whimsical laugh from behind us and J-Hope let out an authentic gasp. We allow the door to close behind us as we stand there in complete awe.

Suddenly, I'm overcome with equal amounts of amusement and embarrassment as I burst out in a fit of laughter.

Taking in all of the different types of dildos, vibrators, plugs and costumes I realize J-Hope and I are standing in the middle of one of the biggest adult toy stores I have ever seen.

This is rich. 

[littlesundragon17]

Freezerburn Week 2018

This whole week of writing will be a collaboration with @littlesnowdragon​

Day 1: Soulmates AU

Word Count: 6759

“So...who am I meeting again?”

Blake turned slightly to look at her, giving Yang her trademark deadpan expression. “Ruby’s new friend from class.”

“Oh,” Yang hummed, pursing her lips slightly, “That’s...”

Any other day, she would've had no issue meeting Ruby's friends. In fact she would've been elated. There was a little bubble of joy and pride that always filled her up whenever she saw her sister leaving her comfort zone and socialising.

Unfortunately, today Yang was just really, really tired.

The walk from Beacon High's soccer field wasn’t exactly a long one, but with nationals around the corner and Pyrrha’s insistence to crank training up to nine thousand, Yang was more exhausted than ever. All she wanted to do right now was go home, take the coldest of showers and sleep forever. And usually, she’d do just that; Ruby would be waiting for her by bumblebee and Yang would drive them home in about ten minutes.

Today, however, her little sister seemed to have other plans—plans that apparently involved Blake taking her to meet a stranger after practice was over.

“Not all that surprising,” Blake finished off for her. “I mean, it is Ruby.”

“Good point, but she could’ve just asked me to stay behind after practice.” Yang said, as she crossed her arms and laid a hand on her chin.

Blake shrugged and pushed open the library doors.

Yang sighed, trying not to let her mood bleed into her words and tone. Blake was obviously as tired and as out of the loop as she was at this point. She wasn’t the kind of person to just drag Yang across campus, sweaty soccer jersey, shorts and all, for an unimportant reason. Maybe she’d seen how eager Ruby had been and known that the younger Xiao Long-Rose would be extremely disappointed if Yang didn’t show up.

And if there’s anything Yang would never allow herself to do, exhausted or not, it was disappoint her little sister, even by mistake.

“Have you met them?” Yang asked, the thought crossing her mind as she wondered just how important this friend was.

Blake gave her a small smirk, “If it’s who I think it is, then yeah. She’s...cool. I think you’ll like her.”

Yang’s eyes widened in wonder and she walked up close behind Blake in curiosity. “Does she play sports?”

“I’m not your personal spy, Yang.” Blake replied, as her expression become more deadpan, “Ask her.”

Yang clicked her tongue, glaring at the faunus. “You’re so mean…” the blonde teased, a playful frown gracing her features.

“I try.”

Yang was just about to reply when she saw a familiar red hood at a table in the corner. Ruby's friend was nowhere in sight... maybe she was on her way? Or getting something deeper in the library?

She decided that thinking on it would just stress her out even more. Besides, despite everything, Yang couldn't help but grin. Seeing her sister always made her a little bit happier.

“There ya’ are, Rubes! I’ve missed you!” The blonde said, as she jogged over to her sister.

“You two came!” Ruby yelled in excitement as she rushed into Yang’s waiting arms. “I thought she'd be too busy with captain stuff after practice.” Ruby mentioned as she looked over at the cat faunus.

Blake gave her a small, teasing smile. “What captain stuff?"

"I thought we were friends!?” Yang said, breaking away from the hug with a mock gasp.

“I changed my mind after having to drag you all the way here.” Blake replied easily. Yang gave her a small, playful shrug.

Ruby laughed at their banter. "Aww man, Weiss is gonna love you guys!"

Something pricked in Yang's mind. Did she know that name?

"Lemme actually get her," Ruby exclaimed excitedly, turning to the shelves and calling out before Yang could ask exactly who her new friend was and why there was something so familiar about her name. “Weiss!"

A loud huff sounded and Yang's eyes opened in recognition as a white haired girl appeared from behind a bookshelf.

"Ruby, honestly, for the last time-" The girl was interrupted by utter shock.

There were two loud, audible gasps.

“You!” Weiss exclaimed and glared. In seconds she was in Yang's space, close enough that her poking, accusing finger practically punctured the blonde's chest.

“Uh oh...” Blake mumbled and facepalmed.

It took Yang a second to realise what was going on, but when she did, she groaned in frustration. Gods damn it. She just wanted to go home! Now she had to deal with Weiss Schnee, the snotty, rich girl.

There was nothing wrong with her on principle. If anything she was rather intriguing and beautiful, the kind of girl Yang couldn't help herself around. But if her actions in the few instances they'd crossed paths were any indication, she hated Yang with a passion. All because of one tiny, teasing statement.

Ruby gulped, “Do you guys... know each other?”

“Yeah. We bumped into each other one day by accident," Yang put her hands up in mock surrender. "I was trying to be nice by complimenting her, but she just called me dumb jock and hasn't let it go since."

Weiss gaped, “I only called you that because you were flirting with me!”

Yang sighed. This again. “C'mon Schnee, a little flirting never killed anyone," and then, because she really wasn't alert enough to watch herself, Yang cracked a small grin. "Besides, I know you like it."

Weiss narrowed her eyes, crossing her arms and intensifying her glare. "Me!? Like anything that has to do with you?! Please!"

Yang wanted to continue their cycle, but then she remembered Ruby was there. As interesting as provoking the heiress until she eventually stormed away in a cute huff was, her sister would be crushed if they kept this up.

"Look, I was just trying to tell you that I think you have pretty eyes," she said honestly, looking at Blake and Ruby for support. "I mean, it's true, right guys?"

Blake let out a chuckle disguised as a cough and Ruby just blinked confusedly.

There was a redness in Weiss' cheeks that might've made Yang grin in satisfaction if it wasn't for the murderous look that accompanied it. Thankfully, drawing attention to the other two girls watching them fight was enough to reign in any possible attempt of homicide from the heiress.

Instead, she sighed as she uncrossed her arms in defeat. “My... apologies, Xiao Long. I've received multiple compliments with ulterior motives so my old defense mechanism kicked in. Perhaps I was too rash…”

The blonde was tempted to add a patronising 'perhaps?', but Weiss was obviously trying to extend an olive branch here. Genuine or not there was no point in continuing to argue right now, especially with an audience.

Yang grinned, deciding that if this was how they were gonna play it, she might as well enjoy herself with some dramatics.  “It’s okay, Ice Queen! I forgive you!” She said as she enveloped the smaller girl in a bear hug.

Weiss squirmed inside Yang’s grasp. “Let me go, you brute!”

Yang laughed at that and let her free. “So we’re good now?” she asked.

“I assume.” Weiss sighed with narrowed eyes, brushing herself off as if to remove the evidence of being in Yang's arms.

Blake cleared her throat. “You two done flirting or...?"

Weiss directed a glare towards the cat faunus whose current deadpan expression revealed a tiny trace of amusement.

"I’m just happy they're friends now!" Ruby, apparently too overjoyed to be confused anymore, cheered and zipped up between the pair. ”This went even better than I thought it would!”

Yang grinned. "So much better! Right Weissy?"

“Ruby, I didn’t know you were friends with Blake?” Weiss asked, ignoring the blonde entirely, though Yang could've sworn her eye was twitching.

"Oh yeah!" Ruby nodded. "We've known Blake since we were kids. Right Blake?"

Blake chuckle-coughed again, but let the moment slide, probably for Weiss' sake. Knowing her, she was racking all this up, preparing an onslaught of subtle teasing for tomorrow. “Mhm. Yang’s my best friend.”

"Best friends, hmm?” Weiss seemed unimpressed.

"Unfortunately, yes."

Yang frowned. "Hey!”

It didn't take long for this to become their regular dynamic - Blake enjoying herself as Yang teased Weiss, and Ruby trying, and failing, to act as mediator between the two. But after a while, it became less out of irritation and anger. They enjoyed spending time with each other and, in a group, it was so much easier to play off their differences than bond over their similarities.

And, surprisingly, they actually had quite a bit in common. This fact became more apparent when Yang realised that they had over half of the same classes together. She insisted to 'help the new girl' by becoming her partner in practically every activity. Originally it had been just to get a rise out of her, but then they learned more about each other and, though Weiss would never admit out loud, they grew closer.

Now, it wasn't uncommon for the blonde to sneak the heiress a wink whenever they caught eyes in the middle of Port's lecture's causing the heiress to blush and narrow her eyes dangerously. Weiss would always reprimand her with a loud whisper, but there was no bite anymore, maybe something else?

Yang blinked at the whiteboard ahead. Professor Peach had never exactly been interesting, and Weiss wasn't in this class with her. Really, all she could do to stay awake was countdown the seconds until she could see the heiress in history later.

If only Weiss was in all her classes. The heiress was smart enough that she didn't need to pay attention to Peach, she probably knew half the syllabus already. Then the blonde could finally finish their conversation from lunch by telling her the big news.

After a whole two months of asking, her dad finally allowed her to get a tattoo!

The blonde smiled giddily as she nudged her sister who was absent mindedly doodling something in her textbook.

“Ruby, it's tomorrow!” The blonde soccer player said in excitement.

Ruby looked up at her sister. “Do I get to come with?”

“Well, yeah. I’m going to try to bring Blake with us but that means I’m going to have to convince Coach Goodwitch to let her... she's already pissed at me skipping practice for the appointment,” Yang said, cringing at the memory of Goodwitch's glare.

Ruby uncharacteristically smirked as she turned back to her drawing, “I’m surprised you didn’t ask Weiss…” she mumbled.

Yang raised an eyebrow, the thought had crossed her mind but... oh not Ruby too. As if Blake wasn't bad enough.

"You guys are really terrible, y'know that?”

"Yup!"

The night before the big chemistry test, Weiss Schnee was in excruciating pain. Her textbooks and study guides where uncharacteristically scattered all over her bed and floor, but she couldn't care less as she writhed on her stomach. The feeling on her back had been almost negligible, a tiny sharp pain that soon turned into a stinging, overwhelming pain that she suspected wouldn't subside for a good couple hours.

“Winter!” Weiss called, as she smacked her face back into her pillow.

She didn't know what she did to the gods for her to receive such terrible pain. It's not like she fell or hurt her head during the previous night... did she? If so, wouldn’t other parts of her body be in pain to?. It was only the top layer of her back, more specifically, the skin, that was in pain.

Weiss didn’t know, could barely even think rationally at the moment since her back burned more. For sure she was going to kill anyone if they were the causes of her soon to be death.

A couple seconds later, Winter came barging in her room, more medicine in her hands. “This is all I could find at the moment. Father ordered attention from professional doctors in Vale to come here immediately. They will be here shortly, Weiss.”

When Weiss looked up, she saw the deep frown on her sister's face, a rare portrayal of emotion she might've appreciated more if she could concentrate on anything but the pain.

Winter sat near the edge of the bed and folded her hands in her lap. “I’m still very curious as to why only your back is hurting all of a sudden?” She asked sullenly.

Weiss sighed before answering through gritted teeth. “I do not know. I was in the middle of studying for a test and a stinging pain hit my back. It hasn’t stopped ever since.”

"Odd," Winter hummed with a suspicious lilt in her voice. "Have you done anything... questionable lately?”

Weiss looked up in slight shock. What was Winter implying exactly? Because attending Beacon was something "questionable" all on it's own. For the first time, she made friends. For the first time, she didn't dread waking up and going to school. But even then, she was always home on time, always stayed top of her classes and accomplished all of her homework assignments as soon as she got them. She never gave her friends the chance to influence her into anything she wouldn't regularly do, despite how... attractive and inviting the prospect of certain adventures could be. In fact the only questionable thing that came to mind...

She groaned as the pain trailed lower. Now really wasn't the time to be thinking about that particular blonde haired annoyance. "No...besides studying and going through study guides with Ruby after school.”

Winter raised a brow. Knowing Weiss' competitive nature, that counted as a strange action, but it surely wasn't the answer she was looking for. Or even the most honest answer the younger Schnee could've given.

For a moment there was an awkward silence, then Weiss suddenly gasped in excitement.

Winter’s eyes widened in horror, thinking something terribly wrong had happened. “What?! What’s wrong? Are you still hurt?” She asked as she hastily jumped off the bed and in front of Weiss in a second.

“My back stopped hurting!” Weiss smiled, “The medicine worked, Winter!”

Sighing in relief, Winter placed a hand over her heart. “You scared me half to death, Weiss.”

“My apologies...” Weiss awkwardly stated. They were close, close enough that she wanted to tell Winter everything. Unfortunately, they created an unspoken rule: she was never allowed to mess up or show her emotions when talking to Winter. As upset as it made her, it would be unwise for either of them to slip up or be overly sisterly. Weiss knew Father would not approve.

If only they could be like Ruby and Yang, the two sisters were inseparably close. Speaking of the blonde, Yang had-

Realizing, Weiss stopped herself before her thoughts took control of her. Argh, come on Weiss. stop thinking about her for one second, she thought as she quickly made her way across her bedroom. She buried her face in her pajama drawer, rummaging through for a pair and prayed Winter wouldn't see her growing blush.

In one swift motion, the heiress shimmied out off her white bolero jacket and the top part of her dress when she heard Winter gasp.

“Oh gods...Weiss! What is that?!” She heard the older girl exclaim and speed walk towards her, the soft tone from earlier now accusing and demanding.

“What is what?!" Winter couldn't have seen her flushed face...her back was turned! As embarrassing as it already was, Weiss couldn’t think of a reason why she could find out...right?

Was there something else?

Then she remembered that they were in Vale.

"Is there a spider on me?!” Weiss screeched as she rapidly tried to turn her head towards the back of her. Her skin instinctively twitching and crawled, afraid that a terrible eight-legged gremlin was slowly eating her alive.

“No! You have a tattoo!” Winter said ange and disbelief, like Weiss' spider theory was the most ridiculous misdirect she'd ever heard.  

Weiss stopped her twitching and gave Winter an incredulous look. “Pardon?!”

“You have a dragon tattoo on your back!” The older Schnee repeated again.

The heiress, completely confused by the current escalation of events, quickly faced her back to the mirror. And indeed, there was a black tribal dragon tattoo engulfing most of the white-haired girl’s back.

“What in the actual...” Thankfully Weiss' muscle memory stopped her short of releasing a tirade of curses. “Where did I get this?!”

Winter gave her little sister a defiant look. “Weiss Schnee, you can’t just tell me you don’t know why there’s a tattoo on your back! A tattoo? Really, Weiss!?” Winter exclaimed, at this point she threw her arms in the air.

The younger Schnee girl was in complete shock. She tried to remember everything she’d done in the past week, but nothing this ludicrous came to mind. Did she hit her head at school or maybe someone spiked her drink… and somehow she decided to get a tattoo? None of it seemed real...

“Winter, I’m being serious! I don’t know how I got this tattoo!” Weiss reasoned. Did Winter really not believe her?

That’s when Weiss saw something in Winter’s mind clicked. And she noticed Winter’s eyes sparkled with recognition.

The elder Schnee walked up behind Weiss and briskly touched her sister’s now tarnished skin.

“The red string of fate...” Winter whispered.

Weiss blinked, even more confused. “The what?”

This time Winter walked back in front of a bewildered Weiss and smiled. Weiss blinked in confusion.

“The red string of fate! Weiss! You have a soulmate!” Winter exclaimed happily.

“I have a what?!” Weiss repeated. So much had happened in the span of a few minutes she could barely comprehend what her sister was going on about. “Winter, your scaring me...”

Sighing, the elder Schnee guided Weiss to the edge of the bed as both girls sat. “Have you ever heard of those legends and myths where two people are bound or destined to be together forever?”

Weiss had to ponder for a moment, “In a way yes...but this doesn’t explain about why I have a dragon tattoo on my back...”

Winter gave Weiss a look that told her to be quiet until she was done. “The red string of fate can be all types of different things to bring these destined people together. For example, the same exact birthmarks or even timers on the wrist will tell you when your gonna meet your soulmate.”

Weiss hummed, “I’m listening...”

Finally getting to her point, a small smile found its way to Winter's face and she crossed her arms, “There’s also a myth that the red string of fate connecting soulmates’ pain with one another.”

There was a pause as Weiss processed this information. Sure, she'd heard all the stories but honestly this was so crazy, too impossible to be true. Still, if Winter, the most logical and smartest person Weiss knew believed it...

“Are you saying," Weiss started, needing clarification. "That I got this tattoo and experienced all this because my apparent ‘soulmate’ originally got it as well?”

Winter nodded in affirmation. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

At this point, the heiress didn’t know for sure if she was dreaming or not.

She shook her head in defiance and asked, “how does it even work anyways?”

Winter shrugged. “The red string of fate is...I’d say...temperamental? It automatically decides when it wants to take place. So, this means you may or may not have met your soulmate yet. Sometimes it only activates after you meet your soulmate but then again, it may happen before you meet them in order for different combinations to work.”

“So I may or may not have met them already?” Weiss narrowed her eyes in concentration and thought.

Winter nodded, “Depends on if you met anyone new recently or something may have happened to trigger it.”

Weiss’ thoughts immediately traced back to the one person she'd desperately been trying to keep out of her thoughts.

Yang? Her chest filled with warmth at the thought.

Yang, her soulmate? That was too good to be true. No, that was impossible. Yang was... Yang. She was on the other side of the spectrum of Weiss' realm of possibilities and the living. Not that the blonde was poor, just personality-wise and raising. From this, the warmth from earlier was now replaced with a hollow emptiness. They couldn't be destined for each other, they were polar opposites. True, there were many moments both girls shared with each other concerning school, life and other things lately. Or so when the blonde would glance at her or say her name and she'd see... something in those lilac eyes, but that was all wishful thinking. To Yang, Weiss was nothing more than her sister's friend and school partner.

Besides, if all this was true, Winter mentioned that she could be yet to meet her soulmate... meaning that it could be literally anyone and not Yang.

Something about that felt very wrong.

“Do you think it may be this Ruby?”

Weiss’ eyes widened in shock. “Oh gods, no! She’s just...a friend of mine. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Well, did you meet anyone else recently?” Winter asked again. Weiss didn’t know why but Winter always seemed to know what was going on.

“I... I can't think of anyone,” Weiss tried but her blush resurfaced with revenge.

Winter could tell Weiss was hiding something, of course she could. It was written all over the heiress' face. But, Weiss really hoped Winter wouldn't push it. Telling Winter about Yang...

Deciding not tell her off right away, Winter decided to ask a bit more. “Oh really? Is that all?”

Weiss sighed, realizing there was no way around it. The matter was obviously extremely important to her older sister. “Well, there is Ruby's older sister.”

Winter’s face lit up with interest. “Oh?”

“Yes, her name’s Yang, she’s on Beacon High’s Varsity girls soccer team and I think she’s one of the captains. She’s blonde, tall, muscular, lilac eyes...” Weiss got so caught up in thinking about her she didn't even realise she was rambling.

“I always knew you were into girls.” Winter was actually smirking. Weiss gaped.

“I am not!”

Winter rolled her eyes. “Then explain all the times when you completely disregarded all the boys father threw your way?”

Weiss didn’t say anything for a solid minute and finally sighed in defeat. “I maybe...I’m not sure." A pause. "What are you implying, Winter?” The heiress added, as she gave a small glare towards her older sister.

Winter's out of character smirk grew. "Don’t you think this girl...”

“Her name is Yang...” Weiss interrupted.

“...could be your soulmate?”

Weiss cringed as the thought crossed her mind again. It wasn't happening. It couldn't happen.

"No," she answered slowly, hating the reality behind the word.

If Weiss was being honest with herself, she wanted it more than anything. The blonde was extremely attractive and wasn't the typical jock-girl stereotype. She was admirably sweet and considerate but also prideful, and so obnoxious with her insufferable puns... but Weiss quickly learned to love all of her, even her flaws.

Winter shrugged, “Whatever you say, dear sister.”

Before Weiss could respond a loud gruffy voice called from the bottom floor.

It was their father.

“It must be Father telling us the doctors are here. I’ll go tell them that the medicine I gave you worked and that you fell asleep in peace.” Winter said, her hard, serious tone leaking through again. She got up and was heading for the door.

As Weiss tried to gather her emotional bearings another thought crossed her.

"Winter,” She said, right when the older Schnee was about to close the door.

“Yes, sister?”

“How do you know so much about the red string of fate?”

Winter allowed a genuine smile to settle on her face. “Let’s just say I was in your place once.”

And then she closed the door behind her.

Weiss was pleasantly surprised when she realized she quite enjoyed soccer matches. Something about the competition in the air sang to her, mingling and mixing with the scent of cut grass and the excitement of dozens of students. Her own competitive spirit made it ten times more enjoyable. As unconventional and downright odd Beacon Academy was she’d be damned if she didn’t come ready to glare at the referee when he called anything she disagreed with, or clench her fist hopefully at the chance of a goal.

There was also another blonde haired factor. Watching Yang on the pitch was so intoxicating she couldn’t take her eyes away. She played with so much passion, and it was so evident how much fun she was having, even when they were losing.

And when they won she’d smile and her face would light up and…

Weiss breathed out slightly shakily. This match was different. No time to get caught up in the euphoria of it all, she had to focus, because if she didn’t, she’d miss her chance at finding out the truth.

She blushed at the thought. Actively hoping that Goodwitch was looking away so Yang and Nora could carry on their winning tradition was not something she hadn’t done before. But those times she looked away as soon as she saw skin, far too embarrassed in herself to spare another glance.

They’d won the qualifiers against Haven and Goodwitch was nowhere in sight. Honestly this was so frustrating… and they were switching jerseys!

Weiss stared.

Not because Yang was stretching and she could easily see the muscles in her back taut and relax. Not because a tiny voice in her head told her that she liked this sight a bit too much and that she should get as much as possible before Nora’s jersey obscured her view.

No.

On Yang’s back was the very same black tribal dragon tattoo that Weiss had right that very second…

No. Why would Yang not tell her about getting a tattoo?

But there it was, identical to hers in every single way.

Weiss barely felt herself stand up and follow Ruby down the bleachers to go congratulate the team.

Soulmates. Yang and Weiss were soulmates, bound together by a tall tale the heiress had only heard last night.

This wasn’t possible. This couldn’t be happening.

They were… friends? No, that wasn’t it. Weiss had never felt this close to anyone, not even Ruby, who was her best friend.

Soulmates? She liked Yang, she liked her so much that she sometimes couldn’t understand how it was possible. But the odds of the blonde returning her feelings were nonexistent.

Why her? For the longest time the heiress was nothing to Yang but just that, a proud, self entitled heiress. They’d gotten past their facades together, learned more about each other-

“...I’m proud of us girls!” Pyrrha’s voice broke through her thoughts. “See you all in Vacuo!”

The team cheered and, with the meeting over all started to head for the showers.

The first thing Yang did when the formation broke was head for Ruby and Weiss.

As soon as Yang met eyes with the heiress, the blonde grinned and wrapped her arms around her.

Weiss wished she felt the need to squirm, she really did, but despite all the heat coming off Yang and all the sweat, she felt like she belonged there... and then remembered her recent discovery...

Yang buried her face into Weiss’ neck. “I’m so happy you made it, Weiss.” She whispered.

Yang had always been a very affectionate person and adrenaline never failed to make that even more clear. Weiss wanted to place her arms around the blonde’s neck and snuggle into her shoulder, but they had to figure this out first. So, she did what she'd usually do - pretended she didn't like it.

"Get off me, you smelly brute."

Yang grinned but pulled away. "Hehe... sorry. It's just that we won!"

"I know, I saw," Weiss rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help the smile that crept on her face. "You were pretty good out there."

Yang's grin morphed into an elated smile that was honestly the most beautiful thing Weiss had seen. "Pretty good, huh? Thanks princess, I'm glad you enjoy my performance." The blonde winked.

Weiss gave Yang a look, but the smile on her face and the blush in her cheeks only made the blonde laugh.

“Aren't you adorable.” Then, as if finally remembering Ruby was there, she engulfed her little sister in a hug as well, spinning her around and laughing happily.

Weiss frowned. Oh gods, Yang was just so amazing. And now she was her soulmate? Was that even possible?

And as scared as she was, she wanted it be. It was time to she stopped hiding behind their friendship and finally address the elephant in the room. They needed to talk.

The heiress was about to ask Yang to hang back for a minute, but the blonde had already put her sister down and said a quick "Talk to you later, Ice Queen!” before heading off to the showers.

She watched Yang literally bounce off with Nora, the two so high from their win the only reason they could walk straight was Blake, stoically leading the way.

Weiss found herself rooted in her spot. There was always a possibility that this was just... something, something else. It felt real but... what if this whole soulmates thing was just some lie created to explain an impossible coincidence? What if all this was just some sort of lucid dream that she'd wake up from as soon she even tried to pursue her apparent fate?

"Weiss?" Ruby's voice broke her musings. "You ok?"

The heiress looked at her friend for a moment, barely even registering her concerned expression.

Ruby Rose, against all odds, not only befriended her but introduced her to an amazing group of friends and was the reason she got to know Yang, all out of sheer force of will. Knowing how awkward she was, it was a miracle the younger girl had pulled it off.

She'd probably been a little nervous too, but she sucked it up and never looked back.

That's exactly what Weiss needed to do.

She nodded in response. "Yes. I'm fine. I actually need to take care of something, excuse me."

Weiss headed for the showers, not waiting for Ruby's response.

If this was a dream then fine, she'd wake up and everything would be as if nothing happened. If this wasn't meant to be, she'd be heart broken, but at least then she wouldn't have to bury her feelings anymore. And if they really were soulmates... she was ready.

The showers weren't far off and thankfully the noise of the team chatting lead Weiss to exactly where she needed to be.

She knocked on the door, standing up straighter to steel herself for what came next.

By some stroke of luck, Blake opened the door and raised a brow slightly in question.

"I need to talk to Yang," was all Weiss said, and for the second time since they became friends, the heiress saw Blake grin, a full sincere smile.

The cat faunus nodded and turned back into the changing room. "Yang, get out here, it's important!" She looked back to Weiss, her face free of teasing and entirely serious. "Good luck."

Weiss narrowed her eyes slightly. Of course Blake would know, she was Blake. And maybe her attitude meant that the heiress had a chance? Still that didn't take away the feeling of fear churning in her gut.

"Thanks."

There was some commotion behind the door, some laughter and then Yang's head popped out over Blake's shoulder.

"Oh, Weiss, what's up? You missed me?" She teased. "I was just starting to shower, you can hop in and join me if you needed to see me that badly."

The heiress fought to ignore the heat building up in her cheeks, blue meeting lavender with a serious glare. "We need to talk."

Yang's grin fell away immediately, giving way to a worried frown. "Umm, alright, sure," she said, shuffling past Blake. "C'mon.”

The blonde grabbed her hand gently and led them to a free changing room, closing the door behind her.

"Is everything ok? Did I do somethi-" she started, then realised she was still holding Weiss' hand. She let it go like she'd been burned. "Shit, umm, sorry about that."

Weiss sighed. "It's fine. I..."

"I just forgot. No touching, only hugs, maybe, if the moment calls for it-" Yang rambled, her worry evident in her features.

"Yang," Weiss interrupted.

"Yeah?"

"Just be quiet and let me speak."

The blonde opened her mouth to say something, but then remembered the heiress' instructions and stayed silent.

"Good,” Weiss started, as she looked up into Yang’s eyes. "I would like to tell you something."

Yang nodded and gave her signature, wide grin that made Weiss' resolve falter. This girl was so perfect and beautiful, this was impossible.

She sighed again. Now or never...

“Have you… ever heard of the red string of fate?”

Yang gave her a funny look. “Huh? What’s that?”

"Idiotic goof," Weiss said, though she couldn’t control the small smile that touched her lips.

Only Yang could look so amazing and so goofy at the same time, with her slightly wet hair sticking to her face and that adorable expression she got everytime she was confused. That was enough to give Weiss the confidence to take Yang’s calloused hands in hers.

“How about this...what would you say if…” A pause. “I said we were destined to be soulmates?”

“Say what now?”

Weiss groaned, now realizing how hard it is to actually express the red string of fate and what it was. Weiss knew only one other way to show her.

This was ridiculous! But at this point, Weiss just wanted to be done with it all. So, the heiress let go off the blonde's hands and quickly pulled her top over her head in one swift motion.

Yang’s eyes went wide and, for a quick moment, those lilac eyes seemed unable to look away. Then Yang shook her head as if to bring herself back to the present, looking straight down. "What are you…”

"Just look." Weiss said, turning her back to the blonde, "Please."

Yang bit her lip nervously and looked up, her eyes meeting the exact replica of her dragon tattoo.

Then, complete silence.

Weiss cleared her throat. She'd never been so mortified in her life. But they were already so far down this confusing path, might as well just keep going.

“The red string of fate says that one of the signs is connected pain and markings. I wasn’t positive that it was you until tonight.” Weiss explained slowly, not once looking back to see the blonde's reaction. "Once I saw your tattoo during the game...I just knew.” The heiress added.

The silence on Yang's end was suffocating. Of course the blonde didn't believe her. This was so weird and out of the blue. Weiss was, in essence, implying they were meant to be together for the rest of their lives. And that in itself was so assuming and self centered. What if Yang had no interest in her?

This was a bad idea. Of course Yang didn't reciprocate. Of course Yang thought she was crazy, she was starting to believe so herself.

She was just about to turn around and apologise for even bringing the issue up, but then soft, gentle fingers were on her back, tracing the outline of her tattoo.

“Yang?” Weiss asked, completely confused and nervous.

Was Yang trying to test the authenticity of the marking? Was she so in shock that she couldn't believe it was real? Or maybe-

Before Weiss could process what was going on, the blonde spun her around, leaned in and kissed her.

She was completely frozen for a moment, but then the heat in her gut burned brighter than ever, melting her from the inside. And soon she was kissing back, with absolutely no idea if she was doing it right or what any of this all meant. All she could focus on were the soft lips on hers and the firm arms wrapped around her waist.

The heiress allowed herself to give into instinct, pressing ever closer to the blonde and clinging onto her slightly damp jersey. Yang seemed to like this, because soon they were against the wall and she was groaning.

Weiss let out a small squeal from surprise and that was all it took for the moment of bliss to stop.

“I-I’m sorry Weiss. I—“ The blonde distanced herself even faster than she had let go off the heiress' hand earlier.

Weiss rolled her eyes and got in closer, gripping onto Yang's jersey and pulling her in. "I told you to keep quiet."

And then their lips were connected again, this time more ferocious and heated. Yang's gentleness from before was cancelled out by the urgency in the heiress' movements. She needed to let the blonde know somehow, how much this meant to her, how much she hoped that this kiss was confirmation.

And even if it wasn't, even if they weren't actually destined by the gods, she didn't care. This felt right. This was right.

All that mattered was the brilliant and gorgeous girl in front of her.

But then Yang was pulling away and she panicked. This couldn't be it. They didn't have to stop.

"Weiss, you're half naked," Yang said as if only just realising it, stepping away again.

"Oh?" It took Weiss a minute, then her eyes widened. "Oh my gods," she turned around and blushed madly.

Ohhh, this can not be happening right now...

Yang outstretched her arm, holding out the shirt she'd picked off the floor and looking down again.

“Oh shit! I-I’m sorry, Weiss," she rambled again. "I was too caught up with the fate, tattoo, soulmate thing. I have all these undeniable feelings for you and just-“

Weiss ripped the shirt out of her hands and quickly threw it on. "Yang, shut up... it's ok. It's fine."

It wasn't really fine though, because she'd just kissed her soulmate for the first time, in a changing room, with her shirt off and she really wanted to do it again.

Yang cracked a grin. “Cause you liked it?”

The heiress rolled her eyes again. Trust Yang to go from thoughtful and respectful to flirtatious and teasing in a second. "Talk like that and it's never happening again."

"Hehe, nah, I know you can't resist Weissy."

Weiss sighed, looking away slightly. It was so annoyingly true and, although she was glad, she didn’t want to encourage Yang’s teasing. But, there was still the fact that she really couldn’t help herself.

"I can't," she replied honestly. "I have undeniable feelings for you too.”

Yang's demeanor changed again and she grabbed Weiss hand, unafraid this time.

“Does that make us…?” she asked, not sure if she should say it or have Weiss do it.

“Girlfriends?” Weiss finished for her.

Was it really that easy? Were they really together? Soulmates?

The heiress almost said no, but Yang's excited smile told her that they were, and that they would be for as long as they had each other.

Weiss nodded. "I suppose so."

And in a matter of seconds, Yang had her trapped in a bone crushing bear hug. "Well in that case, come to nationals with me." She said. “It’s gonna be held in Vacuo next weekend and we're allowed to bring a guest. I really wanted you to ask you before so I’m hoping that now—“

“Yes. I’ll go with you.” Weiss interrupted, but realising she sounded far too eager she added, “of course that’ll depend on if I have no prior engagements.”

Yang laughed. She could probably read through the heiress completely. “Oh, you agreed that quickly huh? Shame, I thought it’d take some more convincing…”

Her tone sounded almost promising and Weiss’ blush returned in full force at the implications.

“Are you seriously going to keep this up?” The heiress questioned as Yang pulled away.

“Umm, yeah. Cause I know you secretly love it.”

Weiss practically growled, because the blonde was right. First Blake, now Yang? Was she really that easy to read?

A change of subject was in order. “What about Ruby?”

“Oh you mean for nationals?” Yang smiled at her girlfriend knowingly. “Blake’s got that covered.”

[halethesourestwolf]

Some ramblings about tonight’s episode(s).

It’s understandable that a lot of people are unhappy with tonight’s episode(s), but, honestly, it was better than I thought possible. It may be that I’m lost to denial land and can’t get out, or it might be because the story I’m working on reflects all of the positive aspects of the episode(s), which I’ll keep that way, but I don’t know. I’m not overjoyed with the negative elements, but the positives are enough for me.

I mean, it started out with Aaron and Robert waking up, and their reactions to the release; Aaron’s elation, and Robert’s excitement, which was tainted with guilt and fear (he wears it so beautifully). Let’s talk about how adorable it is for Robert to have set an alarm with a reminder that he gets his husband back, how nervous he was, and how anxious he was to look half decent for their reunion. Or the fact that he got out of the car, crossed to the middle of the road, and just held the shit out of Aaron for all the world to see. How far he’s come in accepting himself for what and who he is makes me so, so proud of him, and accepting them and their relationship; it’s a beautiful thing. Plus, the second Aaron reached out for his hand in a pub full of people, Robert didn’t hesitate.

Robert telling Rebecca to keep quiet, sure, it looks bad, but I genuinely believe it’s because he needs Aaron to have at least one day to ease back into his life before he gets his heart broken rather than him desperately trying to hide what he’s done. He chased after Aaron, thinking he knew, and he was prepared to face up to it, taking whatever he deserves, because he’s going to fight for them with all it takes. And the punch! I love Robert, I really do, but he looks so good getting the shit knocked out of him.

Aaron, finally breaking down and telling someone about what he’s been dealing with in prison, this is such a huge deal for him, and he did it. I mean, he could have kept quiet, it’s over now, so what would anyone do about it, anyway? But he didn’t, he told Robert everything, let it all out. And, Robert, he listened to it all, reacted perfectly, and tried to offer the support Aaron needs. Both of them admitting and accepting that there are problems there between them that they need help with, and Robert promising to do whatever it takes to make sure Aaron gets that; it’s been a long time coming, and, finally, it’s there. It’s such a huge thing, and I really, really hope that Emmerdale don’t gloss over it, that we get to see them getting counselling/talking about things that matter, because otherwise what would the prison hell have been pushing towards if not this? Both of them have been forced to face the issues they have, their reactions to situations beyond their control, the inability to communicate properly when it matters the most, and they’ve had to face their demons (Aaron more than Robert at this stage, but I’m sure his time will come soon enough). They’ve both learnt a lot about themselves through all of this, realised how low they can truly sink, and now here’s to hoping they learn to understand each other better as well as sorting themselves out.

Victoria suddenly befriending Rebecca is as odd as Adam suddenly hanging out with Ross (because both pairs hated each other, and with nothing between that and this to show them getting over their issues, it’s just...odd. Or, well, obviously, it’s all one big plot device to shove all of them together in a weird pregnancy gang. I’ve decided to let them get on with it, because I’ve got more important things to worry about, like, well, Aaron and Robert (and Liv!). Whatever comes of all this, those two are my focus, everyone else around them are just things getting in the way, so I’m concentrating on them and mentally willing them to figure it all out, together, as a couple, because sod everyone else.

Rebecca. I want to like her, I’ve tried to hate her and failed, because she started out with so much potential to be a really interesting character - she was set apart from the rest of her horrid family, but now I have no idea what she’s become. But if she is pregnant with Robert’s baby, I’ll do something improbable that I’ve yet to think of, because, really? She’s been sleeping with Ross, apparently a lot, for months, but one night with Robert, mere weeks ago, and her first assumption is that it’s his (that look meant that, right? I was focusing on the beautiful people in the room at the time, oops). What are the odds? And that’s if she’s even really pregnant at all. No reflection on this entire mess of a storyline, but I really don’t see her as a mother; she was described as a flighty young thing at heart who did what she wanted, when she wanted, and just up and left and moved wherever, whenever, so a life-long commitment like that doesn’t fit, and there’s been no real character development to show us she’s moved on from that or how and why beyond her obsession with winning Robert. Not that she’s shown us much of this exciting side that was built-up and forgotten about two minutes later, either, like, but still. I honestly don’t know what to think or how to feel about her, this sudden attitude of being a victim somehow amongst all of it, and her desperate attempts to make Robert jealous, as if he’s ever going to pick her (or anyone else, for that matter) over Aaron, sorry, love, but nice try.

I think I’ve reached the point where I don’t care about her character one way or the other (it’s a bit late to actually make her into an established character), because the cheating (if it actually happened, I’m still not convinced, but I’m no doubt going to be proved wrong - I mean, that look could have been her cooking up a plan to get back at him for all we know, especially after hearing Robert and Aaron being perfect), well, it’s done, now, it’s over, and Robert’s never going back there again, so that’s all out of the way, and the fallout will bring us some spectacular scenes from Danny and Ryan, so I can live with that, to be honest. We can put the Rebecca thing to bed and get on with our lives, even if there are some bumps along the way.

Faith. I want to like her, but I also can’t forget what she did to Chas and Cain. She’s trying, though, I’ll give her that, and she seemed genuinely hurt when Debbie decides to put her in her place, but I don’t know. She does crack me up, though, she’s getting the best funny lines, and I’m mostly Aaron, laughing and pretending not to be.

Gabby, though, oh god. I feel for her so much, but I think she’ll be all right with Laurel there; they’ll help each other through it. Sometimes I wish Laurel really was her mum, I think she would have been so much better off, because most of the time, as far as parenting goes, Bernice is useless. The moment she had with Ashley, though, and, I mean, I’ve never liked Ashley, over the years there’s been so many things I’ve hated about him, but I wouldn’t wish dementia on anyone. I’m so glad she finally managed to talk to him, even if he’s not really there anymore, it’s what she needed. And Marlon, god, why does it hurt me when he cries? Stop it.

Let’s not even start on Rhona and Pierce, because watching someone be manipulated and abused like that, it triggers me a little, not enough not to watch, but I struggle to cope with it. I know what it’s like to have someone whispering in your ear, and to believe them, to let them cause pain and suffering, and to see them getting off on it, but being powerless against it. I really hope that whole thing isn’t on screen too much or too often.

But did I mention Aaron and Robert? I love them, and I’ve missed them, and as far as they were concerned, this episode was better than I’d hoped overall. Hugs, hand holding, adorable little moments of them being dorks, emotions being talked about, experiences being shared, supporting each other, and, well, they’re no longer separated, I think that was the whole point of this post. Aaron is home, Robert has his husband back, and now we can at least bask in that for a week before it all goes to hell again.

Things I do feel disappointed by, but that I’m not surprised at, the same with the whole pregnancy thing - we knew it was coming, and it was obvious how it would go, and I’m a bit of the same with these as well. Aaron supported Adam all throughout his prison ordeal, but not once did Adam go and visit Aaron, and then he comes home and he’s so busy being a dick in the background with Ross he couldn’t be arsed to even hug his best mate and welcome him home. Why don’t people talk about how Aaron makes Adam a better person, but unlike Robert who actually remains someone who keeps trying to be better when he’s in a scene without him, Adam reverts right back to being a dick (or stupidly adorable whilst still mostly being a dick). Again, Cain supported Adam when he went to prison, but it was as if he couldn’t care less about Aaron going, and although I am pleased we got a scene with Cain and Aaron, I think he could have seem more pleased to have him home, and what about Cain knowing Jason’s dad, what was the point in mentioning it at all if there’s not even a conversation about it? And where the hell was Paddy? Chas and Liv are gone, which is understandable, but where is everyone else? Faith cared more about welcoming Aaron home than anyone else outside of Robert, and I think half of that was because she wanted an excuse for a party with someone else paying the bill. I just find it odd that no one seemed to care he was home all that much, especially since we didn’t see or hear of anyone else visiting.

Overall, though, as far as our lads go, I’m happy with what we got of them. Fuck everyone else, because no one ever cares about Robert, and Aaron is always overlooked, so, whatever, I’m beyond caring about anyone else, even the few characters I usually love have been so awful lately.