#grabbing people by the shoulders and going. You Are Talking About A Twelve Year Old.

[monstrsball]

defending mabel pines online isn't enough i need a gun

[prettypinkporkchop]

Hey love request again-

Seth x reader where his imprint thinks he only loves her cause the imprint bond, but he tries to explain it’s her he loves. Like some long angst then fluff…or whatever 😘😘

You bang against Seth's bedroom door. "Seth Clearwater! Open up!"

He opens it, shirtless and his hair in a mess. "What? What is it?" He grabs your waist and looks over you.

"Can you stop?" You shove his hands off of you. "Stop being nice to me! I refuse to become subjected to this forced bond!" You yell.

He stares at you blankly. "How'd you get in my house? I.. lock the door."

You lift up the key that he left in your house.

"Oh.. right. Can we please talk?" He gently touches your shoulders.

You shake your head. "No. Leave me alone. You don't love me, Seth. It's the stupid bond." You back away.

He steps closer. "Y/n, I love you. I loved you before the bond." He says.

You don't know what to believe. Way back when you both were younger, you'd just see him around town. You both got along and became acquainted. But when his father died, everything changed. Now, you BELONG to him. But... it's forced. He doesn't love you?

"You're lying." You whisper.

"If I was, would I have tried this hard?! Do you remember how I flirted with you so bad when we were kids?" His eyes water. "If I could go back and ask you then and not be so shy, I would."

You breathe out a shaky breath and shake your head. "God, this can't be real." You run your fingers through your hair.

He brings you in a hug. He holds onto you and rubs your back to calm you down. He has always done this while you were upset. But now is not the time.

You push away and look at him. "I'm gonna go home."

----

You're at the beach, sitting with Leah. You watch as the wolves laugh with their imprints. They seem so in love, but you believe what your mind is telling you.

"You know, it's not what you think. Seth does love you." Leah says.

Leah has been a good friend of yours. She doesn't talk much about what's between you and Seth. But sometimes she will vouch for him. He is her brother, so you understand.

"How would you know?" You turn your head to face her.

"Because before dad died, you were all he talked about. He was a twelve year old that swore he knew he loved you." She starts laughing. "The universe only told him he was right."

You look down and then look at the water where Seth and Quil wrestle.

---

You walk down the sidewalk to the bar with your new friend, who is your coworker. She seems cool, so you agreed to go to the bar with her. You figured it'd be a good opportunity to get your mind off of Seth.

You both walk inside, and you see a bunch of people. Some are sitting and drinking. A lot are walking around, visiting, or dancing to the blaring music.

Blake gasps as she notices a guy at a seat. "Hubba hubba." She chuckles.

"Eh, I thought this was a girls' night!" You whine.

"It sure is." She winks.

You end up drinking alone. Blake is dancing with the guy and had just forgotten you were there.

"Care to explain why a beautiful woman like you is by herself tonight?"

You look up from the bar table and see a man sitting beside you. He has a half smile on his face. He's tall with pale skin and blue eyes. His hair is in a military cut. You look at his wrist and see an army bracelet. Hmm.. a military mam.

"Uhm, I'm just being ditched." You giggle and sip your drink.

"Hey, sir? Can I get a shot of whiskey?" He asks the bartender. He turns back to you and nudges you. "Who ditched?"

You nod your head to the dancing people. "My friend. She found a guy."

He laughs and then takes the shot that is handed to him. "I think you just found your guy." He winks.

You get a random flash image of Seth in your mind. His face is looking at you like he did a few years back when you told him you don't want to be a part of the bond. His face breaks your heart.

You feel guilty. And the thought of being with this guy tonight is grossing you out.

"No, I'm not looking for anything." You smile.

"I respect that. Want to just drink and chat?" He smiles back.

"Sure." You turn to the bartender. "Hey, sir. May I get another (your drink)."

He nods his head and gets your drink for you.

"So, I'm guessing you're in the army." You look at his bracelet.

"Yeah. I'm home for the week. I don't really like serving." He takes another shot.

"How come?" You sip your drink.

"I miss home a lot. I uh, also don't want to serve a government that doesn't care about us." He smiles.

"I see. I still believe you have a good heart for joining." You reply.

"Pfft. I joined for the free schooling. I plan to become a cop. A good cop."

You drink more and more... and then more. Blake left with that guy. You and this guy you learned to be Tyler have been getting drunk by the minute.

"I just, I'm so over my life. I'm exhausted." You slurr and drop your head on the table. You're thinking of Seth.

"Fucking tell me about it." He agrees.

Your phone starts ringing and you answer. "Helloooo."

"Y/n? Where are you?" It's Seth. He's panicking.

"I'm okay. I'm at the bar." You groan.

"Damn it.." He hisses and then hangs up.

"Who was that?" Tyler asks.

"My..." You think carefully of what to say. "It's complicated." You sigh.

"Gotcha." He says.

After a few minutes, Seth barges in. He walks to you and gently takes your hand from the table.

"Hey!" You call out.

"Dude.'' Tyler says. He tries to grab your arm so your hand leaves Seth's hand.

"Let her go, man. She's my girlfriend." Seth says.

"No." You slurr and stand up. You stumble out the door.

Both guys follow you. You step over the sidewalk and bend over. You're about to blow.

"Who even are you?" Seth asks.

"Tyler. Who are you?" He asks.

"Her boyfriend, Seth!" He responds.

"I didn't know she had a man." He replies.

You throw up.

"Shit." Seth runs to you. He rubs your back and pulls your hair back. "It's fine. It's okay." He whispers.

God, his touches. The way he treats you. You feel so bad. He has been like this toward you since before all of this. Maybe you do believe him...

You collapse on the ground and in his arms. You breathe hard. "Seth.. can you take me home?" You ask.

He takes you to your house and you stop at your front door. He stands next to you while you fumble for your key to unlock the door. You find it and look at him. He looks back at you:

"Why are you looking at me like that?" You ask.

"Because I'm hurt." He responds.

"Me too. I'm mad at myself." You open your door.

You both walk in, and he goes straight to your bathroom. You hear him running the shower. You go in your room and drop your stuff on the bed and take off your jacket. Seth walks in the room.

"Are you sobering up?" He asks.

"A bit." You smile.

"I've got your shower going." He says.

"Thank you, Seth." You walk over to him.

You wrap your arms around his neck and pull his face down. He wraps his arms around you and smiles.

"Do you believe me?" He asks.

"Yeah. I love you."

His smile widens, and he slowly leans in. You hesitate but go in for it. You both kiss. It's slow and soft. This is the first time you two have kissed. You feel that chemistry. You feel... like this is all you've ever wanted and needed. He pulls away and places his forehead on yours.

[saebyeokbliss]

JUST MEET ME AT THE APT.— K. SAE-BYEOK

CHAPTER TWELVE

synopsis: managing a rising rock band is already chaotic enough, but when you're stuck touring with four reckless musicians, things get even messier. between late-night facetime calls, teasing that feels a little too knowing, and a certain guitarist who might just be your biggest problem, keeping things professional is getting harder by the second. but hey, no one said the music industry was easy.

warnings: mutual pining, intense eye contact, teasing that borders on flirting (or maybe it is flirting), friends who refuse to mind their business, secondhand embarrassment, slow burn that burns, emotional whiplash, jealously

playlist: spotify

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Middle school lunch periods were their own kind of battlefield.

It wasn’t just about eating—it was about where you sat, who you sat with, and most importantly, what that said about you.

For years, you had it easy. You were nice, friendly with everyone, and you had your usual spot at the table with the people you’d known since elementary school. It was predictable. Safe.

But things had changed.

Ever since that day behind the school—when you stood up for the four girls that everyone either ignored or avoided—you had started sitting with them.

And honestly? It was a lot more fun.

Still, old habits died hard.

So, on your way to the cafeteria, when you saw a familiar face from your old friend group—Hyejin, someone you used to talk to all the time—you smiled and waved.

“Hey!” you greeted, slowing down as she turned to you.

She looked you up and down, her expression unreadable for a moment before she pouted dramatically. “Oh my god, I totally forgot my lunch today.”

You blinked. “Wait, seriously?”

Hyejin sighed, her shoulders slumping. “Yeah… My mom was in a rush this morning, and I didn’t have time to grab anything. It’s fine, though. I’ll just wait until I get home…”

You frowned. Lunch wasn’t just a meal—it was important. How was she supposed to get through the rest of the day without eating?

Without thinking twice, you unzipped your lunch bag and handed it to her. “Here, take mine.”

Hyejin’s eyes widened. “Wait, what? No, I couldn’t—”

“Seriously, it’s fine,” you assured her with a smile. “I wasn’t that hungry anyway.”

She hesitated just long enough to make it seem like she wasn’t going to take it—but then she did, her fingers curling around the bag.

“Are you sure?” she asked, tilting her head in that sweet-but-not-really way.

You nodded, already stepping back. “Enjoy! I’ll see you later.”

And with that, you turned on your heel and headed toward your new table.

Where things were very different.

Ji-Yeong and Se-Mi were already deep in a conversation—more like gossiping aggressively—when you arrived.

“I’m telling you,” Ji-Yeong said, her chopsticks waving dramatically, “I heard that Minho got caught passing notes in math class, and the teacher actually read them out loud.”

Se-Mi gasped. “No way. What did they say?!”

“I don’t know, but Minho looked so embarrassed, so obviously something scandalous.”

Sae-Byeok, sitting across from them, rolled her eyes. “Or he was just passing answers like a normal person.”

Se-Mi scoffed. “Boring. I choose to believe it was dramatic and life-ruining.”

You laughed, sliding into the open seat next to No-Eul.

She barely looked up from her lunch, but the second you settled in, she paused—then frowned.

“…Where’s your food?”

You blinked. “Huh?”

“Your lunch,” she said, glancing at the empty space in front of you. “You always bring one.”

“Oh.” You scratched the back of your head. “Yeah, I, uh—gave it away.”

No-Eul stared at you for a long moment. “Why?”

You shrugged. “Hyejin forgot hers, so I just gave her mine.”

The entire table went silent for exactly three seconds before—

Ji-Yeong groaned, dramatically dropping her head onto the table. “You idiot.”

Se-Mi shook her head with a knowing smirk. “Sweetheart, you do realize she totally played you, right?”

You frowned. “What? No, she wouldn’t—”

“I guarantee she had food,” Sae-Byeok muttered, picking at her rice. “She just didn’t want to eat whatever her mom packed.”

You opened your mouth to argue—but then hesitated.

Because… okay, yeah. Maybe the way Hyejin had acted was a little too dramatic. Maybe she had hesitated before taking your food. Maybe she had done this before, now that you thought about it.

Ji-Yeong groaned again, shaking her head. “You’re too nice. It’s painful to watch.”

Se-Mi grinned. “It’s kinda cute, though.”

You sighed, slumping slightly. “Okay, fine. Maybe I was tricked. Whatever. I’ll survive.”

No-Eul, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly pushed her entire lunch toward you.

You blinked. “Uh—what are you doing?”

“Eat.”

Your eyes widened. “No, I can’t take your food—”

“You gave yours away,” she said simply, her tone leaving no room for argument. “So take mine.”

“I—No-Eul, I can’t—”

“Not asking,” she interrupted, picking up her chopsticks and grabbing some rice. She held it up expectantly, like she was waiting for you to open your mouth.

You stared at her.

She stared back.

A silent battle.

Sae-Byeok sighed. “Just take it before she force-feeds you.”

Ji-Yeong leaned in, whispering loudly, “She will do it.”

Se-Mi nodded. “I’ve seen it happen. It’s terrifying.”

You groaned, finally giving in. “Fine. But we’re sharing.”

No-Eul didn’t argue. She just nodded, calmly dividing the food between both of you like it was no big deal.

Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

And as the others continued gossiping—Ji-Yeong dramatically reenacting Minho’s supposed humiliation, Se-Mi adding exaggerated details, and Sae-Byeok rolling her eyes but secretly enjoying the chaos—you couldn’t help but feel… warm.

Like maybe—just maybe—this was exactly where you were supposed to be.

PRESENT DAY

Free days were rare.

Between recording, touring, interviews, and everything else that came with being one of the biggest rock bands in the world, getting a full day off was practically unheard of.

So when one finally came around, Ji-Yeong had immediately declared that they were spending it doing absolutely nothing—which, in her mind, meant forcing everyone to sit through an obnoxiously long K-drama marathon.

“You guys,” Ji-Yeong said dramatically, flopping onto the couch, remote in hand, “this is cinema. This is art. This is—”

“Bullshit,” Sae-Byeok muttered, arms crossed as she sat stiffly in the armchair.

Ji-Yeong gasped. “How dare you.”

Se-Mi, already sprawled across the other couch, smirked. “You did make us binge an entire show about a chaebol heir with amnesia last time.”

Ji-Yeong huffed. “And it was amazing.”

No-Eul, sitting beside her, sighed. “Let’s just start it before she throws a tantrum.”

Sae-Byeok exhaled sharply through her nose, glancing at the stairs. “Where’s she?”

The room went quiet for half a second.

“…Oh,” Se-Mi muttered, blinking. “She never came back down, did she?”

Ji-Yeong frowned. “She said she’d watch with us.”

No-Eul sighed, already standing up. “I’ll go check on her.”

“I’ll do it,” Sae-Byeok said immediately, pushing off her chair.

No-Eul paused, raising an eyebrow. “I got it.”

Sae-Byeok crossed her arms. “So do I.”

A beat of silence.

Ji-Yeong and Se-Mi exchanged glances.

“…Are we doing this?” Se-Mi whispered.

“Oh, we’re definitely doing this,” Ji-Yeong whispered back.

No-Eul tilted her head, watching Sae-Byeok carefully. “Why are you so eager to check on her?”

Sae-Byeok scoffed. “Why are you?”

“I asked first.”

Sae-Byeok clenched her jaw. “It’s not a big deal.”

“Then let me go.”

“No.”

“No?”

Sae-Byeok hesitated for half a second too long.

Ji-Yeong’s grin widened. “Ohhh, interesting.”

Se-Mi leaned forward. “Very interesting.”

Sae-Byeok shot them a glare before turning back to No-Eul. “Fine. Go.”

No-Eul didn’t say anything—just nodded once before heading upstairs.

Sae-Byeok exhaled, sinking back into her chair, arms still crossed.

Ji-Yeong smirked. “You wanna talk about it?”

Sae-Byeok shot her a look.

Ji-Yeong grinned. “Fair enough.”

You weren’t intentionally avoiding them.

It was just—

You had work to do.

Even on your so-called “days off,” there were emails to answer, schedules to manage, and a hundred other things that needed your attention.

So when No-Eul knocked on your door and stepped inside, you weren’t surprised.

“You’re really not coming downstairs?” she asked, leaning against the doorway.

You sighed, barely looking up from your laptop. “I’ve got things to take care of.”

No-Eul didn’t move. “You always have things to take care of.”

“That’s kind of my job.”

No-Eul narrowed her eyes slightly, studying you. “You need to relax.”

You scoffed. “I can’t relax. You guys have interviews next week, rehearsals, a flight to Japan coming up—”

“That’s next week,” she interrupted. “You have time.”

“Not enough.”

No-Eul sighed, stepping further into the room. “We can survive one day without you micromanaging everything.”

Your jaw tightened. “It’s not micromanaging. It’s making sure things don’t fall apart.”

No-Eul tilted her head. “You think we’d fall apart without you?”

You exhaled sharply, rubbing your temples. “That’s not what I meant.”

No-Eul stepped closer, her voice quieter now. “Then what do you mean?”

You hesitated.

Because how were you supposed to explain it?

That this was all you knew—keeping things running, keeping things together. That if you stopped, even for a second, you felt like everything would slip through your fingers.

That if you let yourself relax—really relax—you weren’t sure what would be left.

No-Eul was still watching you, waiting.

And for the first time, you felt like she saw it.

The exhaustion. The weight of it all.

“…I don’t know how to,” you admitted, voice barely above a whisper.

No-Eul’s gaze softened.

And then—

She moved.

Before you could react, she was cupping your face, tilting your chin up slightly so you had no choice but to look at her.

Your breath caught.

“No-Eul—”

“You don’t have to do everything alone,” she murmured.

You swallowed hard. “I don’t—”

But then she kissed you.

It wasn’t desperate. It wasn’t rushed.

It was slow, deliberate, like she was proving something.

Like she was telling you, I see you. I’m here.

Your hands curled into the fabric of her hoodie, gripping it like an anchor.

For all the times you had held yourself together—this was the first time you let someone else do it for you.

And just as the weight in your chest started to lift—

The door creaked open.

Both of you froze.

And standing there, in the doorway—

Sae-Byeok.

Her expression was unreadable.

But her hands were clenched into fists.

And her eyes—

Her eyes were burning.

taglist: @everly-summers-solace @knfthxv @madebysae @knfthxv @katieschry1 @imlackingsleep @lyzem @stellssxo @wiltingconquest @peelover25@monroesturnns @laurenkens @yenyu1s @idontliketoread2137 @bitchybananaflower @lyuuw

[lovers-rck]

you want to get better at kissing, so you ask your friend ellie to give you some tips

fluff ? i guess. modern au

☆

"how do you kiss someone?"

ellie looks at you "what?"

"do you have some tricks?" you asks

the past few months had been rough, the cold winter burned the cheeks of everyone, red noses and big scarfs were the last fashion tendency in campus. for the last few days you were drown in warm and cozy clothes, swimming through hot chocolate and watching christmas movies.

today wasn't the exception. after your last class of the day, you went to ellie's dorm and you both watched a movie in her laptop, ellie handing you her cup of hot chocolate every once in a while.

"what? no" she replies

"then how do you do it?"

"why are you asking me that? you kissed people before"

you roll your eyes "yeah, when i was like twelve years old" you make a disgusted face at remember that "he licked all my face"

ellie laughs

"i dont know. i kiss like everyone else"

"all the girls in my class talk about how you kiss them"

ellie furrows her eyebrows "i kissed one of your classmates?"

you roll your eyes "it would be easier to answer who you didn't kiss ellie"

"what is that supposed to mean?"

"i don't know" you shrug "do you have some tips for me?"

"avoid the excess of tongue"

"ellie!"

"okay sorry!" she says, thinking "i don't know. im not an expert"

"you kissed a lot of girls"

"so?"

"that means that you know something i don't!"

"how to flirt maybe"

you throw a pillow in her face, your cheeks getting red in anger "forget it"

you place your eyes in the movie again, seeing scenes and hearing dialogues but not really paying attention. you were swimming in a pool were the water was made of thoughts and questions.

"i can show you" you heard ellie say after a couple of minutes.

you swim to the top of the pool, getting out. "what?" you replie

she shrugs, her eyes still on the movie "only if you want"

you watch the laptop again, trying to process ellie's words.

"wouldn't that be weird?" you asks

"it doesn't have to be" she says and in her stomach a bunch of butterflys fight eachothers "it's for educational purposes"

you laugh softly, your fingers playing with the seam of your sweather "okay"

ellie finally looks at you "yeah?"

you nod, a funny smile resting in your face "okay" she says and moves the laptop away, making space as she taps her lap "here"

your eyes go wide "what?"

"what? i thought you wanted me to show you"

"yeah" you say "i just didn't know i have to sit in you"

"oh" she says, her cheeks getting red "you don't have to. sorry"

you nod slowly. an awkward silence sits between both of you.

after a few seconds, you start to move towards her. she offers her hand and you take it. your knees swim in the sea of blankets as you follow the path to her body.

your mind is fuzzy when you sit in her legs, her hands resting in your hip "okay" you sigh

"you okay?" she asks, looking in your eyes some answer

"yeah" you nod "you are warm"

ellie laughs and her vibrations resonate in her body, making your body shift slightly. you hold back a whimper with the faint suspicion that you shouldn't feel that way.

"im gonna kiss you now" she announces, you nod "just follow my lead"

"follow your lead" you repeat, your hands in her shoulders "got it"

ellie grabs your face with a soft grip, moving it gently to her lips.

you take a deep breath when for the first time ever she places her lips over yours. she leaves them there for a couple of seconds, warming your own before continuing. you feel her other hand caressing your waist over your tick hoddie.

ellie's kiss is soft and sweet, her lips moving against yours with such tenderness. you try to follow her, frustrated with your own inexperience "relax" she murmurs "no one is rushing us"

you try to relax. you direct your hands towards her neck, unconsciously caressing her skin with your thumb and gaining a few shivers on her part. you laugh softly, breaking the kiss as ellie laughs too "you got me there" she says, her breath hitting your lips "you want to keep going?"

you smile against her lips as you realize that you both were talking in whispers, like children sharing a secret "yes" you whisper, and this time you start the kiss.

you feel more confident now, opening your mouth a bit. ellie takes that as an invitation and turns the kiss in something deeper, moving her hand to your jaw.

you shiver as you kiss her back the same way, this time more hungry, less delicate. ellie handles your face the way she wants, moving it to the side to deepen her assault on your mouth.

you feel your breath getting louder as the seconds pass, her grip getting stronger in your body. you shift in her lap, your chest against hers , chasing that proximity and more.

the moment ellie slips her tongue in your mouth you moan softly, breaking the kiss "sorry" you murmur, completely embarrassed

"too much?" she asks, placing a strand of hair behind your ear.

you shake your head "i just didn't expect it" you replie "what should i do if someone wants tongue?"

ellie ignores the needle of jealousy that pinch her at thinking about someone else kissing you "it's up to you. if you like kissing with tongue and the other person too then go ahead"

"i don't know if i like it" you make a face "it's kinda weird"

on impulse, ellie replies "do you want to keep trying?" you look at her "to see if you like it, i mean" she adds, awkward.

you hide a smile and nod, feeling ellies mouth the very next second, wasting no time.

this time she does the tongue thing again and you decided that you like it. it's all wet and warm, and a bit weird at first, but ellie plays with your mouth in a way that makes you melt.

her hands navegate over the waist of your hoddie, trying to move you closer to her. you hug her by the neck, your fingers ghosting over her hair.

in the kiss, a weird feeling invades you. you feel weird, weird of kisssing your friend like this, of being sitting in her legs, of liking it. ellie grabs you and touch your face and kiss you and when she touch the exposed skin of your hip you realize that this wasn't a practice anymore.

"ellie" your murmur with agitated breath

and she understands, leaving your lips "sorry" her lips are red and swollen

you make an awkward smile and get off her lap, instantly missing her warm essence. you see how ellie plays with her fingers, nervous

you watch the laptop, the movie still on. outside is snowing. you feel warmth in places that you shouldn't.

"how did i do it?" you ask playfully, trying to lighten the atmosphere

ellie catch your intention and shrug her shoulders, making a funny face "i had better"

you laugh and push his shoulder lightly, pulling the blankets off her bed "i say the same thing"

"yeah, i bet that boy from when you were twelve kissed you better" she jokes and you throw a pillow to her face one more time.

[estell-allary]

Inferno of love

Relationship:romantic💚

Pairing:Clarisse La Rue x fem!hades!reader

Warnings:swearing,kissing,established relationship,name calling,kinda a make out sesh?!NO SMUT!

A/N-this is after capture the flag wear clarisses spear breaks from Percy and Clarisse is raging and upset so she sends all her siblings out of her cabin And you come in and comfort her and it turns into a little more if you get what I mean😉No but they literally just make out and Clarisse calls you angel as a nickname bc I think it’s cute(this is also inspired by the song lay all your love on me by abba)

The blue team won.Again,you were glaring at a annabeth for snatching the flag from right out from under your noses but nothing could be done now,what’s done is done,your glaring was rudely interrupted by matty,clarisses half-brother,oh yea where was Clarisse?you were about to ask the boy who was huffing and coughing his lungs out from running to you before he started talking,

“H-uhh-hey!um Clarisse is throwing a tantrum ‘huff’ in ou-our cabin we need you to calm her down..”he said still huffing and taking breaks from talking every few seconds.

“Damn is she taking this years loss that bad..kinda thought she would be used to it by now,I mean it is the third year in a row”you said in a puzzled voice before matty spoke again, “what?no-well kinda-but no she’s fuming about her spear.”he said looking at you like it was obvious

“What about her spear?”you spoke up again in a more serious voice furrowing your brows.

Matty looked at you for a few seconds even tho it felt like centuries “wait you don’t know”he said his eyes widening,even tho it wasn’t a question, he stayed still like he was waiting for a answer, “Matty.”you said louder drawing a few looks from people around you “What.Happened.To.Clarisses.Spear.”you repeated.

“T-the new kid”he said and grabbed your arm and started leading you back to cabin 5..“oh gods”

“Oh gods”you repeated at the sound of Clarisse yelling at her siblings to get the fuck out..you weren’t even there yet!at the sound of her voice you subconsciously picked up your speed,you now dragging matty,forcing him to speed up to.

By the time you arrived at the ares kids cabin the last of them walking or more like sprinting out to avoid clarisses wrath most of them looking annoyed and muttering stuff about her not owning the cabin but to scared to say anything to her face,you knew that she’s been trying to get the blond twelve year old to admit his faults in lying about the Minotaur but Jesus getting this mad..I mean you get where shes coming from,the kids kids like a stick but then again..fear can make you strong.Like really strong.

Before you walked into the cabin you told matty to go with his siblings so he doesn’t get yelled at by Clarisse and he obeyed in pure fear from the last time Clarisse yelled at him for spilling juice on you(she also soaked his socks in juice to get back at him dispite your pleas)

You walked into the cabin with one goal in mind help Clarisse even if that means help her in different ways then intended..

You saw her siting on her bed on the second floor directly next to the window.

“Clarisse..you alright my love..”you said startling the girl making her head shot up and grab her now Broken spear.Once she realised it was you she relaxed a bit placing her wreaked spear down.

She huffed out a sigh before responding,not answering your question “hey angel..”she said motioning you towards her and you obliged walking towards her till you were standing between her legs,her spreading them wider so you could be closer to her.

She layed her head down on your chest wrapping her hands around your waist and pulling you against her further.

You kissed her forehead stroking her tight curls that were now tangled up in a hairband that she put it in for capture the flag.Your hands started to untangled her curls 1 by 1 lightly tugging her hair,while Clarisses hands went to your shoulders as she began lighting kissing your neck, her hands playing with the straps of your amour to loosen them.

You slowly removed the hair band out of her hair as to not hurt her as she took off your chest amour,she placed it next to her and moved her hands from your shoulders to your waist,pulling you to her as she leaned back on the bed,making you straddle her thighs and lean down towards her face.

‘Don’t go wasting your emotion,lay all your love on me’

Your hands went from her hair to her shoulders tugging at the straps of her armour but she spoke “uh uh,not today the snotty brats will be coming back soon angel”she said moving your hands back up to her hands“please..”you whined at her trying to convince her that you two could be quick and won’t be caught but she cut you off by kissing you on your lips sloppily.

You moaned as she slipped her tongue into your mouth and gave her roots little tugs making her groan out your name and pulling you Flush against her.

‘Don’t go sharing your devotion,lay all your love on me’

You broke apart for air and before you we’re about to kiss her again someone came running up the stairs and pushing the door open before you and Clarisse could push away from each other,being caught in a very awkward position,you straddling Clarisse with your hands in her hair and her hands placed on the plush of your hips.

And worse it was one of her younger half-siblings,the poor boy looked traumatised,running out the room when Clarisse threw a pillow at him yelling at him to get out and fuck off.

Safe to say you and Clarisse got into a lot of trouble,and got stuck on cleaning the stables for four months.

But it was worth it to be with your girl.

‘Cause everything is new and everything is you’

A/N:I actually had a lot of fun making this because I could imagine Clarisse yelling at her siblings like she owns the cabin and there just renting it😭anyways but my request are open btw so just request what you want and I’ll try to do it💚

[doiliedaze]

Bloodlust: part one

Pitfighter! Vi x Stripper! reader

Warnings: none in this part

Genre: fluff ish cause no real angst yet???

A/N: i was listening to strictly for the strippers by sexyy red so enjoy!! Vi is depressed and impulsive but she’s trying her best.

1, 2 , 3

───────┈ · ·

Sounds of bottles popping, folks hollering, and ass thumping. That’s my typical atmosphere ‘round 11:30. I’ve only been stripping for three years, and I’ve learned a couple things.

Save your money

Get a buddy

Your real name is earned

Never sleep with your clients, this is fantasy

My stage name is Wisp. I got it when I auditioned based on how I move around the pole.

Recently there’s this new hardass that’s been coming to the club. She’s broad, covered in tattoos and has a chip on her shoulder. I avoid these types…but I can’t avoid her.

Think whatever you want about strippers but most of us are decent people tryna make it especially in Zaun.

I walk onto the floor getting what I can before I have to go on stage when I hear her whistle at me.

I roll my eyes fighting a little smile. I will admit she is beautiful but her attitude isn’t. Eventually I’m called onto stage. It never gets old when you are announced on stage. The crowd calling for you, the base thumping and the first moment you touch the pole and you whirl in the air…magic everytime.

The theme of the night was whimsical whores, I know subtle right.

No matter the lighting, fog of weed or anything else I see her through the crowd, heavy blue eyes watching me. Towards the end of my performance my heart was racing almost. She felt closer? She usually stays towards the bar and stares but this time she was closer to the stage.

The song fades out and I get off stage collecting my money when I feel someone hit my ass. Before I could react my new regular is picking fights. One fight, starts twelve here so I scurry off stage and change so I can leave early.

Outside I catch my breath and I see her get thrown out yelling and cursing when she makes eye contact with me. I don’t enjoy when customers get in my business it never ends well. She walks over to me, everything about her looking heavy. Her lip was bleeding and there was a cut under her eye. “You okay?” She said softly might I add.

“Yes but don’t do that again.” She tilt her head and scoffed at me.

“Is that how you say thank you?”

“Why am I thanking your drunk decisions?”

She rubbed her face like she was fighting to say something and just muttered a sorry. She’s obviously drunk and probably wanted to help, before she walks away I grab her hand and she snatches it away. “I just want to know how you’re getting home…”

“Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m not leaving you alone till you let me take you home.”

We stare at each other for thirty minutes until she starts leading the way. Is this dangerous? Obviously! However I’d feel better knowing she’s home safe.

She slows down so I can walk next to her. She smells like wood and blood, not sure if that’s her natural scent or because of tonight. I see some of her tattoos peeking out, they look so intricate.

Her voice broke the silence letting me know we’re here. I thought it looked okay on the outside but my gods it was horrible on the inside.

“Have you ever cleaned or is this the aesthetic you’re going for?”

She side eyed me so I stopped talking.

“I’m barely here so I don’t see the point in caring.” She mutters as she takes off her jacket.

I swallow thickly when I get a view of her back, instinctively I want to touch it but I won’t.

“Like what you see doll?”

“No and don’t call me that, it’s wisp to you.”

“Doll suits you better” she walks towards me, there’s a sadness in her eyes like she’s done this before.

“What’s your name?” I say abruptly trying to change the conversation. She catches on and leaves some space in-between us, “it’s Vi.” She was ashamed to say her name. Then it all started clicking for me.

Vi lays on her makeshift bed and I stare at her crumbled form, “I’ll let myself out…”

“Can you stay?” She whispers, her voice so soft I almost missed it.

You shouldn’t get this close to anyone in the lanes just because they have shit going on, we all have shit going on…but sometimes people need help and I have a hard time saying no to helping people.

I lay behind her and slowly wrap my arms around her. Vi flinched slightly but she was tryna relax. I rub her hair a little trying to comfort her as I hear her sniffle. She grabbed my hand and just lays it across her instead. We stayed like that till we fell asleep.

My downfall has always been my heart let’s see where that gets me.

───────┈ · ·

A/N: im trying not to be corny whilst writing this so I hope y’all enjoy!! I love strip club based stories so there will be more stripper! reader. I’m gonna try to make part two longer and add angst but I suck at writing angst so we’ll see (❁ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)

Taglist: @manfuckthisimout

(Dividers- @dollywons)

[hqbaby]

twelve — an agreement

fuck ur instincts — suna x reader & atsumu x reader

you and suna are just fooling around—so why does he care so much when you start falling in love with someone else?

previous — masterlist — next

word count. 1.4k content. swearing, mentions of sex, dick talk

It takes you a day to get over it. A day to get over your emotions and back under him. It’s pretty easy, if you’re being honest. You didn’t survive a year of sneaking around by trusting Suna Rintarou with your feelings. You’re not stupid. You know better than that.

“Can you get my lotion?” you call out, drying your hair on his bed while you scroll through your phone. “The old one, not the new one.”

“Where is it?”

“Beside your gel.”

He walks out of the bathroom, towel around his waist, and he tosses the bottle at you. “Catch.”

It topples into your lap. “Thanks,” you say mindlessly, eyes focused on your screen.

A notification pops up.

tsumu: do u wanna play smash bros

you: is that ur way of asking to fuck?

tsumu: WHAT

tsumu: IT’S A GAME U PERVERT

you: ik i’m just kidding

you: i’ll be over in a bit

“Why are you smiling?” Suna asks, putting on his shirt as he watches you type furiously. He smirks. “Still thinking about what I did to you in the shower?”

You shake your head. “Don’t even know what you’re talking about,” you say coyly, getting up. “I’m gonna go. I got somewhere to be.”

“Do you want me to drive you?”

“Nope.”

“Oh, so it’s Atsumu.”

You glance at him and shrug. “Why do you care?” you ask, changing out of his clothes and into yours. “This is just sex, right?”

It’s petty, you know, but he deserves it. Just because you’re giving him what he wants, doesn’t mean you’re going to make it easy.

He rolls his eyes. “I told you I didn’t mean it like that.”

“I know. I’m just kidding.” You grin at him as you put your perfume on. When he gives you an unconvinced look, you say, “Seriously, Rin. I don’t care. It’s true anyway.”

“You know it’s not true.”

“I mean, it kinda is.”

Suna shakes his head but decides to drop it. He won’t win. He never wins against you. “Why won’t you let me drive you to Atsumu’s?”

You check yourself in the mirror one last time before walking over to peck his cheek. “Because you don’t want people to know,” you tell him, patting his shoulder. “And, honestly, I don’t want people to know either.”

“What?” he asks, stunned. You’ve never said that to him before. For as long as this has been going on between the two of you, it’s always been hidden for his benefit, never yours. “Why?”

You give him one last look. “I’ve got a reputation too, you know,” you say, winking at him before leaving the room.

“Where’s the coffee?” you ask, opening a cupboard to find it empty as usual.

“My room!” Atsumu tells you, focused on the game he and Osamu are engrossed in. “Bedside table, third drawer.”

“Got it.”

You make your way over to his room. It’s a little more cluttered than the first time you visited, but it’s pretty much the same. You grab the jar of coffee and take the jacket that’s on his bed, slipping it on as you go back out and close the door behind you.

The twins are taking a break, both on their phones. Atsumu smiles when he sees you, following you into the kitchen.

“Ya found it?” he asks, pulling out some mugs he must have stashed… somewhere.

“Yup,” you hold the jar up. “It was right beside the condoms.”

He grins at you cheekily. “Alphabetical order, babe.”

You chuckle. “Makes sense.”

The two of you set about making the coffee, Atsumu finding everything you need and you putting it all together. It’s like clockwork, the way you move. Like you’ve been doing this your whole lives even if you’ve only done it a few times. You rarely stay over at their place, what with it being so austere.

“Yer like an old married couple,” Osamu sighs, watching the two of you from the counter with his head resting in his hands. “‘Tsumu even looks the part.”

“Hey!” Atsumu says. He opens his mouth to hurl an insult at his brother when he stops in his tracks, catching sight of what you’re wearing. “That’s my jacket.”

You look down at the piece of clothing. “Oh, yeah, I was a little cold, I thought I’d borrow it,” you say. You’ve worn his clothes before, you never thought it was a problem. “Do you want it back? I can get something else—”

“No!” he says quickly. “Nah, it’s just—it’s my varsity jacket. Has ‘Miya’ written on the back.”

You furrow your brows in confusion. “O-okay?”

Osamu sputters out laughing. “Yer really bad at this, man.”

Atsumu’s cheeks turn red. “I just meant to say it looks good on ya,” he tells you. “Ya can keep it. Wear it to school or somethin’—I mean! Only if ya wanna!”

“Oh,” you say, eyes widening when you realize what he means. He wants you to wear his name. He wants people to know that he wants you to wear his name. You can feel your heart racing. “Yeah, I can-I can do that. Thank you.”

Fuck Rin.

The other twin guffaws. “Yer the same kinda hopeless!” he says. “I love it!”

Atsumu turns his attention to him and they start arguing over something or other. You don’t really hear much of it. You’re too busy sipping your coffee and feeling the fabric of Atsumu’s jacket on your skin.

Miya.

You don’t mind it. You don’t mind it at all.

The two of you end up leaving the apartment when Osamu and his latest conquest start having loud, nasty sex in his room. You’re pretty sure it’s payback for all the times you and Atsumu have done the same thing to him.

You find yourselves sitting on a bench in a park across their building, staring up at the sky and pointing out which clouds look like dicks and which don’t.

“That one looks like yours,” you say, pointing at one particular cloud off to the side. “It even has your little curve thing.”

“I have a curve thing?” he asks. “I didn’t know that.”

You nod. “You do,” you tell him. “Makes it harder to suck you off.”

“Does not.”

“Does too.”

He points at another cloud. “That looks like Omi-Omi’s.”

“How do you know what Sakusa’s dick looks like?”

“What do ya think we do in the locker room?”

“Gross.” You turn your head back down, away from the clouds, and take in the view around you. The park is small, nothing special, but it has nice trees. Their colors are all changing as summer takes its last breath. “Hey, ‘Tsumu?”

“Yeah?”

“Are you serious about this?”

He looks at you with a raised brow. “Whaddya mean?”

“This,” you say, looking at him. “Us.”

Atsumu considers it for a moment.

You know something like this would normally scare you. Serious conversations and heartfelt responses aren’t your strong suits, especially when you’re fully-clothed and in public. Somehow, being so out in the open just makes conversations so much worse. But, for some reason, you’re not so scared right now. For some reason, the fact that you’re talking to Atsumu and no one else makes it better. Like your heart can take it.

“I am,” he says eventually. “I’m serious.”

You hum at his answer. “If I asked you to be my boyfriend, would you say yes?”

“Are ya askin’ if I wanna be yer boyfriend?”

You shake your head. “No,” you tell him. “Just asking hypothetically.”

“Well,” he says, stretching the word out on his tongue, “I guess, hypothetically, I’d say yes.”

“Really?” You glance at him with wide eyes. Maybe Rin was right.

He snorts at your surprise. “Did ya want me to say no?”

You sit with the question for a moment. You don’t really know why you asked. You don’t really know what you expected him to say. You don’t know what you wanted him to say.

“No,” you decide. “I think ‘yes’ is the better answer.”

Atsumu offers you a self-satisfied grin. “I think so too.” 

“Good.” You smile at him. “I’m glad we agree then.”

He reaches out to hold your hands in his. His touch is soft and warm, a little calloused, but nice. You don’t mind it. You have to admit you might actually like it. You like it more than you thought you did.

notes. we are now entering… team atsumu territory 🫣

[seraph-of-the-mikayuu]

Beginning of the fanfic I'm writing where Tang Bo has also reincarnated! I'm pretty much rewriting the novel, but with Tang Bo! Leave comments if u think it should go on ao3 with the rest of it!

It's quite long right now, but I hope you enjoy!

Being reborn into the Tang family to a body around 7 had to have been just his luck. If Tang bo knew that reincarnation was what would happen after death, he would have been more prepared. With the surprise of being alive again, he pushed that aside to train as much as possible in his hidden weapon techniques. The elders were useless and all the techniques they lost during the war, Tang Bo was steadily trying to bring back.

Long nights left unwanted thoughts to arise, of how he was truly alone in this world. Cheongmyeong was dead and so was everyone he once knew. The fact that when he asked about the war and someone said Mount Hua was in a decline was more than proof his old lover was dead. Tang Bo had decided to try and sneak glances at Mount Hua to maybe try and keep them from closing completely, that was the least he could do.

This all led to Tang Bo putting on a dark cloak and accompanying Tang Gunak and a few of his ‘brothers’ to see if the divine dragon was truly a problem. Something about a merchant’s son from Mount Hua had beaten two of his brothers and the divine dragon had mentioned the secret technique of twelve daggers. He vaguely remembers spilling all the secret techniques of the Tang family to Cheongmyung.

In reality he wanted to check the one with the name of his old love if he's honest. The news of Mount Hua starting to climb back up by the hands of one kid wasn't that big of a deal to Tang Bo. Even beating all second disciples of Zhongnan. Sure he was happy that Dosa Hyung-nim’s sect was growing back but the name of the kid changed everything. There was a slight flicker of hope that what happened to him happened the same to Cheongmyung.

He watched the Tang family’s lord talk, mostly spacing out. There was a tingling sensation on his skin. He was honestly excited to meet the Divine Dragon. Maybe it would be him. Tang Bo has nothing to lose in this, there's no point checking but the idea that he might have reincarnated made him giddy.

A voice quickly snapped him out of his daze, “Hey, old man. You've got a really weird personality.”

Tang bo knew that voice, he looked up immediately and as if the heaven was playing jokes on him, the bright blue sky made him look heavenly. The face was too similar, the nose, the grin, the expression, the voice. There was no mistaking it. It had to have been. How lucky was Tang Bo.

The rest of the conversation was muffled as he stared right at Cheongmyeong.He had landed near Tang Bo, his back was turned towards him as he spoke to the head. Tang Bo had ignored the pressing qi from Tang Gunak, moving closer to Cheongmyeong reaching out to grab his shoulder before he was startled by the sudden yell.

“ENOUGH!!!!”

Four people ran and placed themselves in front of Cheongmyeong as if defending him from Tang Gunak, Tang Bo gritted his teeth and took a step near the Tang Family head so he could see Cheongmyeong’s face. It was the same as he remembered all those years ago.

Bows from all four Mount Hua disciples, all at the same time, was honestly kind of impressive. The front one was wearing white compared to the rest so he must have been the eldest. The words of him being the Righteous Sword actually fit this kid well. He was quite handsome and he spoke like a melody.

The Righteous Sword mumbled about taking punishment for Cheongmyeong's actions. It honestly made Tang Bo snort in laughter but, that must have been strange to everyone else since they all turned to look at him as if just noticing him.

“What's so funny? Something you want to share?” Cheongmyeong stopped talking as soon as they met with their eyes. An indescribable expression clouded his face, eyes seemed to be glassy as if he was looking at a memory. Everything went silent, you could hear a pin drop before Cheongmyeong's face changed to anger.

“...bo-ya, wait..?”

“Dosa Hyung-nim?” Tang Bo said hesitantly as if testing the waters, that anger seemed to spike as Cheongmyeong clenched his fist. He started walking forward towards Tang-Bo, a smile on his face but it was obvious to everyone that he was mad.

“-you!” The Disciples quickly placed themselves in front of Cheongmyeong again to stop him from beating up an unknown Tang member

“Hyung-?” The Righteous Sword looked at Tang Bo then at Cheongmyeong and then back. Even Tang Gunak hadn't said anything yet, “What's your name?

“Tang Bo, it's nice to meet other Mount Hua disciples,” He slightly bowed his head before looking back up,”and you?”

“Baek Cheon, it's an honor as well” Baek Cheon turned around to Cheongmyeong, “You know him?”

With gritted teeth, Cheongmyeong stared right at Tang Bo, “Yes, I do. You guys can talk later” he turned towards Tang Gunak

“I agree, it's time to truly test what I came here for. I intend to see whether you are truly devoid of substance or unfathomable in its depth”

Watching the two of them walk away from the group, the killing intent from Tang Gunak only seemed to increase with every step. Yet Tang Bo didn't feel nervous or scared because he was more excited to speak with him after Tang Gunak got defeated. It wasn't that he thought of the head like the elders. If anything Tang Gunak felt like Tang Bo's grandson and nothing negative, really. Just that he knew with Cheongmyeong, Tang Gunak would put up a good fight with his hidden weapons but the fight's end was already set in stone.

Tang Bo glanced at the four standing near him and smiled before speaking, “Baek Cheon, was it? I see you're more impressive than your rumors state”

It was obvious by the red tip of the other person’s ears that being nice was the right choice

“-Ah thank you, it's just strange that you were once friends with Cheongmyung. The way you referred to him caught me off guard” Baek Cheon spoke with a fluidity that would charm anyone. He truly was fit for his title.

“Enough with the pleasantries, I'm sure we’ll be seeing each other much more”

It was as if all rigid movement bleed from Baek as a strained smile stayed on his face, “Oh? Why's that?”

That sentence made him chuckle. There was no way he was just gonna let Cheongmyung run off around without him by his side. His attention was brought to the other three standing behind Baek Cheon watching the so-called spar. If Cheongmyung was helping them then it would be nice to get to know them all.

“And you three are?”

“Yunjong”

“.. Yoo Iseol”

“Jo Gul”

Tang bo perked up when he heard the last name, “Jo Gul..? Ah, you’re the one who had fought two of my siblings and won. I’m curious to see your strength as well if the spar doesn’t take too long.”

“Yes, that was me.. although I hope that there's no hard feelings but, what do you mean not take too long? Do you already know who will win?”

“None at all and… yes, it's clear who will win this battle” That wasn't a lie, the two that got beat had no relation to him or importance. Seeing the Tang Family this weak did make him a little annoyed but that wasn't the fault of the disciples in front of him. Jo Gul put his hands on his face sighing,”So it’ll be for nothing-”

Tang Bo snapped back towards Jo Gul, raising his eyebrow “What do you mean? Dosa Hyung-nim is going to win”

Everyone's attention was quickly brought back on the spar as Cheongmyeong was pushed into a sticky situation. The dagger going right at his face caused Jo Gul to yell out only to be held back by Baek Cheon. Screaming and yelling about murder. The sight of Cheongmyung catching the dagger with his teeth made him smile as he brought his attention to Jo Gul who had calmed down.

“Eighth strike, you have two left. Make it count.”

Watching the rest of the two attacks was strange, it was like watching a memory. The movement of Cheongmyeong was almost the same as back then. Watching him jump and swing his blade right at the shoulder of the head of the Tang family, Tang Bo had started walking closer. The duel was done and decided. It was only when something shone from the corner of his eye as it flew through the air landing and planting itself into the side of Cheongmyeong's stomach.

Tang bo was the first who made it to Tang Pae, immediately grabbing the arm that had thrown that forsaken dagger. With a quick move, the arm snapped, a scream pierced the air as Tang Pae crumbled in front of him.

“..how dare you-.. who do you-..” He felt anger bubbling up to the surface, his grip tightened no doubt causing the broken bone to rub against each other. He swiftly grabbed a dagger and with one quick movement went to end the life of that pathetic-

“TANG BO!” He turned towards Tang Gunak who was looking right at him, “Tang Pae will deal with the consequences” Tang Bo dropped Pae's hand before walking over to where Baek Cheon had lifted Cheongmyeong up to bring him back to the Tang estate.

---------

Waking up for Cheongmyeong felt like he was swimming through a deep ocean, there was someone talking to him. It was muffled but he recognized the voice just couldn't place who.

He blinked slowly as he sat up, a tingling of pain near the side of his hip. Immediately the four on the ground were the first thing he noticed. He scoffed but a small smile threatened to break through on his lips. He truly cared for the four and it was nice to know they were the same.

“Dosa Hyung-nim?” That very word repeated through his head as he searched the room for the one who was responsible. There by the closed door was someone he thought he would never see again. Memories pushed to resurface of that last meeting between the two.

[]

“Will you marry me?”

“Ask that again when I bring you to the medics! Just- wait”

“Dosa, will you marry me”

“...” Cheongmyung desperately grabbed onto Tang Bo’s clothes, dipping his head down to the others face before placing a gentle kiss on Tang Bo's lips, “of course I will”

Tears dripped down Tang Bo's face as his smile widened. It took every energy left in his body to smile. Cheongmyung shakily cradled his lover to his chest. Tears flowed from his eyes before he screamed and screamed and screamed until his throat was torn. There is nothing he could do except promise to end this war.

[]

He carefully got off the bed and walked towards Tang Bo, his fist tightened into a fist as he walked closer to him. A smile on his face but, he definitely wasn't happy.

“‘Dosa Hyung-nim’ that's it? Just ‘Dosa Hyung-nim’. Did you want to die again today? Did you think I would be so happy to see you, I would forget that you broke your promise”

“Ah! Nonono Come on don't-” Tang Bo waved his hands as he backed up from Cheongmyeong who was quickly approaching.

“I didn't think it was actually you! Being reincarnated is strange by itself and you too I just- Wait! Don't hit me!” Tang Bo continued to ramble before he felt a tight grip on one of his wrists before he was pulled into a hug.

“Shut up, brat” Cheongmyeong mumbled as he hugged his lover, Tang Bo took a second before hugging Cheongmyeong back. A smile slowly making its way on his face, he could feel the way the other trembled and shaken with fear. It only made Tang Bo hug him tighter, tears running down his face. He could feel how his lover gripped his clothes desperately as if trying to find out if he was truly here. Tang Bo never thought he would see Cheongmyung again.

It only lasted a few seconds but felt like eternity to Tang Bo. He looked Cheongmyeong up and down when they let go. The Pink eyes he loved were glassy and sad. Tang Bo cupped Cheongmyeong's face placing a kiss on his cheeks then to his forehead then to his nose and at last his lips. He truly looked similar to his past life even though Tang Bo had never met him when he was a kid, he could definitely see the resemblance between the two.

He had wanted to stay in that hug forever. It was the first time since he reincarnated that he felt not completely alone in this.

“If I knew you were so clingy. I would've jumped for the chance every time!” There was one swift movement as a fist hit his head, Tang Bo reached up rubbing the top of his head before throwing his arm over Cheongmyung’s shoulder bringing him closer, it wasn't hard to notice the pink decorating his cheeks from this close “Come on I was just kidding”

“You never knew when to shut up” Cheongmyung scoffed before glancing back at the four by the end of the bed, Tang Bo used his sleeve to rub his eyes from the tears earlier.

“Oh! By the way, the way they protected you was kinda sweet, ripping cloth out of people’s hands to do it themselves. Eventually the current head had to press pressure points to safely get them to sleep. It's nice to see other people can manage to put up with y-”

WHACK

“Owowowow, Dosa Hyung-nim- why are you so mean? You don’t understand how hard it is to stay here. The elders try to control everything and they’re relying on poison, againnn. Tang Gunak has my daggers also so it's not like I can get those back and they made rules that the disciples aren’t even allowed to leave the sect without permission”

“Yeah yeah” Cheongmyung waved him off before blinking for a few seconds and looking back at Tang Bo, “Your family has always had that rule, you just didn’t listen”

“Oh right..”

Cheongmyung looked around before walking towards the door and opening it, “Aren’t you gonna take me to see Tang Gunak, Bo-ya? I would rather get this robbe-” He coughed before finishing his sentence, “compensation dealt with”

Tang Bo dragged his feet as he walked alongside Cheongmyung, “Can’t it wait? They don’t exactly know I’m here, ‘checking up’ on you and wouldn’t you rather go get some alcohol and just relax”

Cheongmyung rolled his eyes and took a step forward with Tang Bo hanging off the side of him. He never minded the physical touch from Tang Bo since it wasn’t like non harmful physical touch from someone was common in his past life other than his Sasuk and Tang Bo.

It wasn’t long until his eyes immediately locked on the person they were just talking about. Tang Gunak was walking this way and was only a few steps away. Tang Bo from next to him, let go of Cheongmyung with a grumble but suddenly grabbed Cheongmyung's arm and dragged him back into the room.

“..huh?”

Tang Bo opened up the window inside of the room as he pulled Cheongmyung with him. Sliding easily out of the window.

“Come on! You can always talk to him later, let's go to our favorite drinking spot!”

With a smile, Cheongmyung followed along where Tang Bo led him. It was a forgotten path filled with weeds but he knew every step of it like muscle memory. At some point in the stroll, their hands intertwined. Whether it was Tang Bo who started it or Cheongmyung. Neither would answer, only knowing that they walked side by side together.

When they got to the pavilion, it was dusty and cracked by the weather. Nothing like how it had looked 100 years ago. But it was better than nothing. The two sat down across from each other just like they used to.

“You better have actually brought alcohol if you wanted to drag me all the way out here”

“Yes, yes” Tang Bo set down two bottles, out of his robe, placing both on the table in front of them with a smile. Almost right after he pulled out a small wooden box and slid it over to Cheongmyung who had already poured himself a drink.

“Hm? What's this?” When he opened it, the first thing he saw was a green stone. It was surrounded by yellowish gold. Cheongmyung immediately looked up at Tang Bo. His hands shook as he tried to come up with a clear thought.

“I had them prepared a long time ago and I had already asked Cheong Mun first of course!,” a gentle smile replaced the look on Tang Bo's face, “if I'm being honest, this was the place I had wanted to ask you. When I was reincarnated, I checked and they were untouched in the spot I had left them. So I'll ask you again, this time at the right time”

Cheongmyung held the box tightly in his hands, yet gentle as if the ring would break with a touch from him. His brows furrowed in thought. Listening intently to Tang Bo.

“Will you marry me, Cheongmyung, the 13th generation disciple of Mount Hua?”

For a second, everything went quiet. Cheongmyung slowly stood up before moving around the table. Before Tang Bo could react, he grabbed Tang Bo to bring him closer before pressing a kiss to his lips. He licked his lips after they parted and he finally answered, “Of course I will”

Tang Bo pulled Cheongmyung back towards him, hands gripping the uniform he wore. As he was desperate just to have the touch of the other. Kiss after kiss after kiss, when it calmed back down. Tang Bo looked at Cheongmyung’s face with a slight chuckle, his cheeks were red and his lips were slightly swollen. It was a beautiful sight.

Flustered by all the attention that Tang Bo was giving him, he looked away mumbling, “What about your ring?”

“It's similar to yours, just a different stone!” He pulled out another small bow and opened it up, Tang Bo was right. The ring was the same but the stone was a deep pink.

“Look, it matches your eyes” He held it up to Cheongmyung’s eyes before reaching across the table and grabbing the ring he had made for Cheongmyung while using his other hand to grab Cheongmyung’s hand. He carefully slipped the ring on his middle finger and then on his own with a huge smile. The ring was a little big but not enough where it would fall off for both of them.

Tang Bo poured two cups of the sake he brought and pushed on the Cheongmyung, who had sat down next to him

“To celebrate?”

“To celebrate.”

They both brought it to their lips, taking a large gulp before Tang Bo flopped over onto Cheongmyung.

Resting his head on the other’s thighs as a pillow. Looking up at Cheongmyung who was looking down right at him, his hair falling to the side and tickling Tang Bo’s cheeks.

“You sure seem to get comfortable fast. There’s still alot to decide, you know.”

“All of that can wait! I’m busy with my husband”

Cheongmyung’s cheeks flushed pink at the word Tang Bo used,

“What? Are you flustered because I called you my husband?”

“...”

“My lover. My husband. My friend. My partner. My true love”

BANG

Cheongmyung pushed his hand to push Tang Bo off his lap, as he fell, his hand was brought up to cover his mouth. His cheeks burned redder at the very second.

“Ow-! You’re so mean”

----------

[envihellbender]

Roleswap: Gerry is the forced monster and Michael is the one trying to keep him together

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Characters: Gerard Keay, Michael Shelley

Content: Roleswap (Michael is a researcher of the Entities and Gerry is filled with one of the entities), hurt/comfort, trauma parallels, trauma mention

—

It wasn’t the first time it had happened. In fact, it was the third time that month that Michael had woken up to the sound of Gerry rapidly muttering to himself. He was laid back in bed staring at the ceiling, his limbs were twitching and his eyes had brightened so severely they were letting off a green glow of light. Michael shuffled onto his side, their bed was advertised as a double but it seemed a little small. They couldn’t afford anything than what the second hand furniture shop offered even if they were a little economical with the truth. Michael shuffled over under their indigo duvet cover that was patterned with silver moons and stars. He turned on his side, his pyjama top was currently Gerry’s old Gojira t-shirt that was paint stained and twisted around Michael’s body as he shifted. Similarly Gerry was wearing a black and grey t-shirt that stuck to him with sweat.

“Jane Horsforth. She doesn’t normally do this she says to Tyler, it’s a lie, one she’s repeated to three others that week,” Gerry muttered rapidly, his eyes moving around his head faster than should be possible. It began a year ago, but it had progressed faster in recent months - ever since Gerry had begun work at the Magnus Archives. The experiments his mother had conducted on Gerry when he was a child combined with him taking statements at the Institute had resulted in his mind becoming the perfect mixture of the Spiral and the Eye. As such any person in their flat building’s mind was open to Gerry, and the Spiral meant that other peoples delusions, mental illnesses, and paranoias latched into Gerry’s mind. Jane Horsforth was the woman who lived above them, she often listened to music and the television so loud they could hear it clearly especially through the thin walls. She also had untreated bipolar type one, something that Gerry and Michael had discovered as his connection to the entities strengthened.

“Hey, hey, sweetheart,” Michael yawned, he propped himself up on his elbow trying to wake himself up properly.

“Wendy Clutches”, Gerry began. She was the middle aged teacher who lived next door but one. “She’s pacing up and down her hallway. She’s scared to go into her living room, because she needs to pass the door twelve times to make the intrusive thoughts of demonic forces in her house go away. She hurts. I hurt. No. She does. I’m … My house. My house is fine. It just makes noises. If I open the door, six locks just in case, if I unlock them they might get in-”

“Gerry,” Michael said softly, interrupting him. He strokes just below Gerry’s sternum, but he barely seems to notice and instead he keeps talking - he gets faster and faster with every word.

“I need to choose Lucy’s shoes.” This was the overbearing father beneath them. “She doesn’t like when I pick out her clothes. I slip some pills into her to keep her quiet-”

“Hey. Hey.” Michael’s voice grew a little louder and firmer. Gerry turned to him, his eyes were oddly bright, terrifyingly bright so that they were like looking into a torch but he seemed to see Michael. That was a good start. “Storyteller. Can I speak to Gerry please?”

“Michael. Michael Shelley. You-”

“No. Storyteller, come on, you know Gerry doesn’t want you in my head.”

“You … You were having a dream about Father Oliver. His body was getting bigger and bigger. The church barely-”

“Gerard Keay,” Michael interrupted firmly. His hands grabbed Gerry’s shoulders. “I need you. I see you. I know you. You’re here. Can you feel me? Hear me?”

“I- I erm- I-” Gerard stammered, he blinked and looked as if he had just woken up from a deep sleep. Michael softened, a small smile spreading across his face. His hands letting go of Gerry’s shoulders and cupped his cheek with one hand and the other in his hair. “What… I… Jenny Whistler she sits below-”

“Gerry, Gerry my love,” Michael interrupted softly, stroking Gerry’s dyed black hair, neatening the thick tangles with his long fingers. “Come back to me.”

“Ah… Fuck,” Gerry groaned. His green eyes dulled, no longer a sharp, terrifying glow but their regular olive colour that was completely and truly Gerry. “Fuck. Where- what…” Instead of finishing that thought he buried his face into Michael’s chest. He inhaled the smell of the t-shirt that used to be his but now had been well and truly claimed by Michael. The soft cotton smelled of laundry detergent and the particular scent of clothes that had been loved, worn, and washed many, many times. Michael continued stroking his hair, and gently kissed the top of his head.

“You’re back, my love.” A smile spread across Michael’s face, relief filling his body,

“For now.” Upset and pain was covering Gerry’s face as he became more grounded, he hated how distant he became to the point that he almost disappeared, completely taken on by all the voices around him. He swallowed and pulled the duvet up to his chin, curling into a ball.

“You won’t slip back tonight, I won’t let you.” Michael wrapped his arm around Gerry and curled up around him.

“One day I might lose myself,” Gerry said quietly, burying his face in Michael’s chest.

“It wasn’t as difficult this time. Maybe you’re getting a better handle on it.”

“I- Maybe. I don’t know. I think it’s thanks to you. Couldn’t do it by myself.”

“Well, it’s a good job I’m not going anywhere.”

[jaidens]

And If She Grabs For Your Hand And Drags You Along She Might Want A Kiss —

pairing [s] : nick ‘goose’ bradshaw x fem!reader

warning [s] : mentions of : kissing | goose does not die in this he's alive (I'm delusional) | this is shoer and I dont know how to write anything because its late

a/n [s] : requests are open! for dal <3 @daltopia

The sand and sun is warm against your skin as you set down everything you need for the beach. Your fourteen year old Bradley is carrying most of the weight, hoping to help his mother. He has a gentle sprout of a mustache on his upper lip, and a good build of muscle from being in football from ages four to fourteen. “Mom! Is Dad coming today?” Bradley asks you while running up behind to take the chair off your back. “Umm, he should be. I called him before we left so we'll see.”

Bradley was raised very well and respectful as he tells you to sit down as he puts up the tent and chairs for you. You smile at him before pinching his side and telling him to go play in the water. “Nah, Mom. I'm gonna tan for a bit then play football. The guys are coming here around like, 12.” Bradley is setting up a small towel and his insulated water bottle next to him and lays on his back. Bradley looked like his father from the tip of his hair, to the bottom of his toe: was Goose.

His long legs sprouted early, pushing him up to 5'10, then at 6’1 he traveled around like he owned the world. You're reading a book while you attempt to relax through sounds of screaming children and drunk adults at twelve-thirty in the afternoon. Soon, you begin to space out while reading, passing a few pages without realization.

Suddenly, tickles of kisses and hands against your thighs were Nick. The tickling of his mustache is prominent as he whispers out your name and runs against your side. You lean your head back against his shoulder and his arms wrap around your body with a gentle tug and a squeeze. “Nick! It tickles!” You say as he rubs his head against yours.

One thing you loved about Nick was his love for PDA. It didn't matter when, unless around important people, he was loving and kissing on his beautiful wife. Bradley groans at the sight of his parents practically making out behind your book. “GET A ROOM!” He shouts as he runs to the splashing water and kicking his feet.

You pull away with a quick laugh and stare at your blond husband. With a blue Hawaiian shirt on, a bare torso, and his tiny swimsuit to match with the blue. “How was work today?” You ask and play with your ring that's clad on his ring finger. You are sure if he took the ring off, the skin underneath would burn your eyes from whiteness. “Gooood! Mav almost got grounded, again.” Goose says as he lays back against the sand. His Ray-Bans are on the lower part of his nose while he throws a ball in the air.

“He always does. I'm glad your day was good. Bradley was talking to this cute girl today, I'm excited for him.” You gossip and Nick sits up and laughs. You're messing with his hair that's longer upon the top, twirling a couple pieces around.

“I missed you,” Goose says. Your hands fall underneath his ears and you kiss his lips softly. His mustache tickles your upper lip as he deepens it.

“Later, love.” You giggle and he chases after your lips jokingly. “Swear, honey. Tonight I'll give you something extra special, okay?”

“Yeee-hawww!”

[starlightkun]

➠ word count: 2.4k ➠ warnings: cursing, explicit pre- and post-coitus descriptions (no smut but this one is definitely 18+, minors back off. you do not need to read this one to understand the rest of the series, i promise), implied unprotected sex (wrap it up, y’all— also reader is totally on birth control i SWEAR it’s just not TALKED ABOUT) ➠ genre: fluff, some minor angst, mature (as said in the warnings, 18+, minors stay out! if you skip this one, you will still understand the rest of the series), established relationship, former hockey captain sungchan, chronically ill reader (chronic migraines), shortfic in the buzzer beater series (after garbage goal, before saltwater smiles) ➠ extra info: the reader in this has chronic migraines, which i have. when the reader’s migraines, experiences as a chronically ill person, and thoughts about being chronically ill are described, that is me writing directly from my own life. i am not generalizing the lives of all people with chronic migraines/chronic illnesses, but i am sending all my love to any readers out there living with a chronic illness, and here’s a reminder to go take your meds! ➠ author’s note: i thought i was done with these two but they really do have me in a chokehold y’all 🤧 ➠ series masterlist

“I’m baby again?” He asked, his eyes sparkling hopefully.

“Oh, my Sungchannie,” you sighed, climbing onto his lap. His hands immediately found their natural place on your waist, looking up at you like he was holding the entire universe between his two palms. You looped your arms around his neck, the cool metal of your bracelet resting on the bare skin of the back of his neck. “You’re always going to be my guy. Don’t think one disagreement is going to free you. You���re stuck with me.”

“I love you so much,” Sungchan sighed, nuzzling his nose into your neck.

“Gross, you’re all sweaty,” you half-heartedly pushed at his bare chest pressed against your back, scooting forward to try to get away from the uncomfortable feeling of your hot skin sticking together. “Let me go.”

He just wrapped his arms around you tighter and pulled you back to him, a playful growl in his throat. “Say it back and I’ll consider it.”

“You’re such a loser,” you sighed, turning your neck to be able to peck the tip of his nose. “I love you, Channie.”

“I love you more, baby.” He connected your lips, earnestly slipping his tongue into your parted mouth. “Love you so much… can’t wait to marry you…” He breathed out between pants, cupping your cheek with one hand as his other traveled down the front of your body again. “And have the most beautiful babies with you… love of my life…”

You squeezed your eyes shut as his words stabbed you right in the chest, turning your head and rolling away from his grasp. “Sungchan, we’ve talked about this.”

There was pain and confusion on his features as he watched you sit up at the edge of the bed. He scrambled to follow you up, sitting next to you.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t thinking.” He wrapped an arm tightly around your shoulders, pecking your temple. “I know what you said—the migraines are genetic, you don’t want to risk passing them on. I didn’t mean it, I’m sorry.”

“But that’s what you want, isn’t it?” You sniffled, feeling tears rise in your eyes and a lump start forming in your throat. “Kids…”

“Baby, I want kids with you, because I love you.” Sungchan grabbed both your hands, squeezing them tightly. “And I mean—would it really be the worst thing for them to possibly get migraines? If they were even half as amazing as you in every other way?”

Your hands went limp in his as you stared him down. “Sungchan. Think about how you feel every time I have a migraine, and you can’t do anything to help. How useless you are. Now picture how you’d feel if our kid had one. Our baby. Twelve, ten, eight years old. Sobbing in your arms because it hurts so bad, begging you, their dad, to make it stop, just make it stop, but you can’t. And I can’t. Maybe they get the nausea part of it too, and they’re throwing up, and they get dehydrated and we have to take them to the ER because they can’t hold anything down and their muscles are cramping up and everything hurts so bad. What if they have to get brain MRIs, Sungchan? Imagine them being all alone in that machine, nobody to hold their hand. Not to mention— I can’t take any of my medications from the day we decide to start trying, while I’m pregnant, and while I’m breastfeeding. So in addition to everything I’d have to go through being pregnant, I could have migraines four or five times a week for… over a year? Two years? But hey, maybe they’ll get my smile and your eyes, at least, right?”

Sungchan’s eyes were brimming with tears, and he swallowed thickly. “I get it, I get it…”

You shook off his hands, standing up and wrapping your arms around yourself, suddenly feeling too cold sitting naked in your bedroom. “I have to go shower… I’m sweaty and have… cum dripping out of me.”

The shower that was usually cramped when the two of you were packed in there together felt oddly big now as you washed up by yourself, harshly scrubbing at your skin. You stared blankly at the water droplets running down the tiles long after you’d finished washing up, standing there as the water turned lukewarm, until it was freezing cold and you were forced out shivering. Turning the spray off, you grabbed a fluffy towel to dry off with, stepping out into the still-steamy bathroom.

You stopped at the vanity, the foggy mirror looking too empty without Sungchan filling it up from behind you, distracting you from your skincare routine under the guise of “helping.” You could hear him still moving around in your bedroom, and part of you wished you didn’t have the sick feeling in your stomach that you did every time you fought so you could pull him in and do his skincare too. You loved your quiet, silly nights when you got to put a fluffy character headband on him and apply a face mask and rub in various moisturizers and the like all while listening to music and sitting in his lap, exchanging pecks on the nose every so often.

It was a rarity when you and Sungchan did anything more than lightheartedly bicker about stupid, inconsequential things—you were sure you could count the number of real fights you’d had in five years on one hand and have extra fingers leftover—but every time you did, it made you feel like you were going to be sick, and you always lost your appetite.

Something sitting on your vanity next to all your bottles and creams caught your attention. Your fingers graced over the corded blue and orange bracelet, tracing the five familiar beads fondly. 27JSC. It was a memento now, of his collegiate hockey career, and the bubbly beginnings of your relationship in your last year of undergrad. As your lives changed, the token no longer coordinated with your professional office wear you had to don day in and day out, something that you thought would have made your clingy boyfriend pout. But instead, he had excitedly gifted you the bracelet you were wearing now, a dainty and stylish silver chain, with five small silver letters—27JSC.

You still put the old bracelet on every so often, when you were invited back to watch the big games along with the other graduated players. The first home game of the season, league rivals, and of course the championship series.

You finished your after-shower skin routine and cautiously treaded back out to the bedroom, towel still wrapped tightly around you to protect you from the cold air. Sungchan was no longer in your bedroom, and you could hear him ransacking the pantry. While you lost your appetite when you fought, Sungchan was the opposite, very much an eat-his-feelings type of guy.

Without hesitation or another thought, you grabbed a pair of panties and shorts from your side of the drawers and a t-shirt from his side, the top covering pretty much all of your bottoms. You stopped at the dresser after getting dressed, grabbing the top and taking a few deep breaths. The image of Sungchan with tears in his eyes flashed in your mind again, and you shook your head. You hated that you had done that. But the conversation that immediately preceded those tears replayed in your mind, and your fingers gripped the furniture tighter. Had he really not listened to you the first time? Did he think he could change your mind about it or something? You wouldn’t wish this on your worst enemy, how could he ask you to risk giving it to your kid, the one person you were supposed to love more than anybody else? More than him? It just struck you as a total misalignment of values... something you needed to talk about more, make sure you really understood where his head and his heart were at.

With one final deep breath, you pushed the bedroom door open wide, and walked out towards the kitchen hesitantly. Sungchan had his hand stuffed in a bag of chips, and you saw several other containers of snacks strewn around on the countertops. As he spotted you, he didn’t bring the handful he had just grabbed out, instead dropping it back in and wiping his mouth with the side of his palm.

“Hey...” You said quietly, stopping at the threshold between the kitchen and living room. “Are you ready to talk? Or do you want some more time?”

“I can talk, yeah,” he nodded, setting the chip bag down. “Let me uh, let me wash my hands and put all this away, then we can sit wherever you want. Kitchen table, couch.”

“Okay.” You gave him a small smile, turning back around to head into the living room. You sat down on one of the central cushions as you heard the sink running, then the crinkle of bags being rolled back up.

When Sungchan finally joined you again, he didn’t sit as close as he normally would’ve, but it wasn’t an awkward amount of distance. Just enough to allow you two to focus on the topic at hand.

He wrung his hands over his lap, offering you a nervous smile. You decided to go first.

“I shouldn’t have called you useless, I’m sorry,” you apologized sincerely, remembering the hurt that had come across his face as soon as the word left your mouth. “That was… just mean of me. You’re not useless. It’s easier to get through the migraines when you’re with me, you make me feel less alone and that makes a big difference.”

Sungchan offered a hand out palm-up in the space between you, and you set yours atop it. He squeezed your hand, his always much bigger and warmer than yours in comparison. “Do you remember that Halloween party? Before we started dating, when you had asked me to stay with you during that migraine.”

“Of course. It was... you were great. I fell for you before I even knew it.”

“The next morning, when we were sitting on Jeno’s bed in that nasty fucking frat house—”

That earned a chuckle from you, and Sungchan smiled bittersweetly, running his thumb over yours.

“—you were telling me about how you just wanted your pain to be real to somebody, because after so long, the word ‘migraine’ had sort of lost all meaning to the people around you. I let that happen to me, too. I was dismissive of all your pain and was even willing to put it on a hypothetical child of ours for a selfish reason. I’m so sorry for doing that to you, for making you feel like that, for becoming one of those people. I’m so, so sorry.”

You brought a hand up to stroke his cheek, his face more manly now than it had been on that Halloween night he had just described. “I forgive you. And I hope you don’t think this is the end of the kids conversation for us. I love the idea of starting a family with you, too. I think you’ll be a great dad. I just… Chronic migraines have a genetic component and I can’t stand the thought of passing on this kind of pain to my kid. You understand that, right? Please tell me you get that?”

“Yeah, of course. And I didn’t even think about you going off your meds either. God, I’m so sorry.” He leaned his head into your touch. “You’ll be the best mom. And I know that because you’re already making the best choices for them and they don’t even exist.”

You smiled softly at that. “I… probably could’ve been less… vivid earlier. It was a bit harsh.”

“No, I needed a reality check. A good slap out of the post-nut haze I was in.”

“Yeah, because you would’ve enjoyed a real slap,” you snickered, pulling on his ear gently.

He pouted at you. “Are you kink-shaming me?”

“No, just teasing you, baby.” You pinched his chin and wiggled his head back and forth.

“I’m baby again?” He asked, his eyes sparkling hopefully.

“Oh, my Sungchannie,” you sighed, climbing onto his lap. His hands immediately found their natural place on your waist, looking up at you like he was holding the entire universe between his two palms. You looped your arms around his neck, the cool metal of your bracelet resting on the bare skin of the back of his neck. “You’re always going to be my guy. Don’t think one disagreement is going to free you. You’re stuck with me.”

You leaned down to sink your teeth into the side of his neck, biting and sucking a mark into his skin. He immediately groaned, his hips pushing up into yours and his hands gripping onto you with a bruising strength.

“Nowhere else I want to be, than right here with my girl.” He was already breathing heavily. “God, so obsessed with you, baby. Could stay here and make love to you all day every day.”

“‘Make love?’” You repeated with a giggle, kissing a trail up his neck until you were sitting up straight again, looking him in the eye as you asked, “Not fuck my brains out?”

“Can do both at the same time,” he grinned, scooping you up in his arms bridal style. “Fuck your brains out lovingly.”

You let out a squeal of surprise, throwing your arms around his shoulders as the couch went out from under you. “Gah! Maybe your post-hockey hobby shouldn’t have been weightlifting. You scare the hell out of me every time you do that, Channie.”

“You love it and you know it.” He shook his head at you, looking pointedly at where your hands were gripping his well-defined shoulder and back muscles.

“I’m invoking my right to remain silent.”

“Don’t be too quiet.” He dropped you gently onto the many pillows at the head of your bed, immediately climbing over you. “We don’t have a baby to wake up yet.”

“Slow your roll, you haven’t even proposed,” you teased, sliding down flat on your back, grabbing his collar to bring his lips down to meet yours as you did.

“I’m— mmh— working on it,” he promised between kisses. “My girl deserves the best. Need it to be so special.”

“You’ve been saying that for almost a year,” you reminded him, pulling insistently at his shirt hem.

He obediently yanked his sweatshirt off, tossing it to the side before locking his lips with yours again. “Impatient?”

“To marry you? Mm, maybe,” you hummed, running your hand appreciatively up and down his pecs and abs. “Aren’t you?”

“Of course I am,” he moaned just at the thought, latching onto your collarbone. “I’d elope with you right now if you asked me to.”

He paused for a half beat, as if waiting to see if you would, then continued on when you didn’t. “I’m going to make it perfect for you, baby. Promise. Anything for my girl.”

“Well in the meantime…” You reached a hand down, palm out with your fingers spread, and Sungchan immediately laced his fingers with yours. You brought your linked hands up above your head, smiling down at him. “How about you fuck your girl’s brains out lovingly?”

➠ next | series masterlist | blog masterlist

[charkyzombicorn]

It was a stupid thing to forget. Usopp knew that. It was a monumentally stupid thing to forget, but he had.

Luffy and him were skimming the ocean a bit away from the ship, because wind was strong so Sunny was moving fast and scaring the fish. It was normal, Usopp was always dragging one of the crew around while he swam because people just couldn't swim as fast as him. Then he saw a bigger fish a bit deeper down. He told the human on his back "Wait here, I'll be back in a sec" and bucked away and into the ocean in less than a second, diving deeper and deeper after that huge fish - it was bigger than he thought, and further down. Usopp wrestled with the fish he could barely get his arms around for a second before giving up and forming himself fully into a seal to bite at the fish until it stopped moving. He changed his upper half back to grab the fish again before looking up to swim back, expecting to see kicking human legs just under the surface, like he did every time he left Nami from where he was carrying her for a second.

But Luffy was gone. Because Luffy can't swim.

Usopp took way too long looking for that bright red cartigan, and swimming them both back to the ship so Luffy could get the water beaten out of his chest. Usopp distanced himself once he saw Luffy breathing again, because he didn't think someone that almost drowned their partner and captain should eat and chat with everyone else like nothing happened.

So he took Franky's watch, took his dinner plate and went up to camp in the crow's nest.

Then Luffy came up, filling the room with noise before he even got the trapdoor open, ignoring how Usopp was sitting on the floor under one of the windows, wallowing, immediately sitting so close next to him that their shoulders touched and going on about a joke Brook told him that he forgot half of on the walk from the galley to there, as if he hadn't almost died because of Usopp, completely ignoring the slight rasp his voice still had from all the coughing as he rambled on and on.

"I didn't mean to." Usopp blurted, and Luffy stopped talking so suddenly it made the room feel empty. "I forgot you couldn't swim."

Luffy stared blankly at him for a second before snorting. "Usopp's a little dumb, huh?" He said, and from anyone else it would be an insult.

"I guess I am." The sniper responded.

"I haven't been able to swim in twelve years." His captain told him, and Usopp said nothing. "You've never seen me swim." Not entirely true, in Usopp's dreams where he grows old with Luffy, they always swim side-by-side. He supposed in hindsight that that couldn't actually happen.

But Usopp the liar nodded anyway, and Luffy was quiet again for another minute.

"You wouldn't have liked how I swam. Shanks always said I looked stupid." Luffy said finally, and Usopp looked up at him for the first time that conversation. "Gramps didn't teach me the kitty puddle or anything, just threw me in the water every time I beached myself until I learned to keep my head above water. I basically just flailed around."

Usopp leaned his head to clunk into Luffy's next to him. "I wish I could have seen."

"I could flail around on the floor?"

"Pfft-- No. I think I'm good for now."

Luffy leaned a little more into Usopp - head to head, shoulder to shoulder, knee to knee. "I won't ever be able to swim, you know. Even if I want to and you want me to. I can't."

Usopp knew, objectively, that that was true. It still made him sad that some of his favorite dreams would never come true.

"Does Usopp need someone that swims?"

Of course he didn't. Maybe. Possibly.

"No." Usopp said with the same confidence he used for any lie he told.

Luffy leaned even harder on Usopp, until he ws halfway in his lap. "Then I'm happy." He said, always eager to believe Usopp.

Usopp sat in the quiet of the crow's nest while Luffy drifted off on his shoulder, and wondered.

[bellesdreamyprofile]

chapter 9 - 1950

previous part

CECE MARTIN

"I've also finally learned how to play the guitar, because my daddy let me take some classes. He first wanted me on the piano, since it's apparently more 'ladylike' than the guitar. Anyways. You know the song I told you about? That's all right? I was thinking the song could be guitar only? It's not completely ready yet, because I was thinking you could add your personal touch to it. I can't wait to show it to you. My step siblings, my stepmother, my daddy and I are gonna visit you in Tupelo! Isn't it exciting? Like I said in the other letter, I'm not planning on leaving you again. We can finish the song together and we can finally be a duo! We have to think of a name—"

"Cecilia, please tell you ain't writing to that boy again?", I dropped my pen at my daddy's voice. I looked over my left shoulder and found him looking at me from the door, nothing but a disappointing look on his face. I gulped and made up a lie.

"I-I was writing to my mama—"

"You're stuttering, Cecilia.", he stated the obvious. "That means you're lying. Quit behaving like a child, when you obviously ain't one no more.", I hated the way he said those words. Lecturing me for something so innocent, for doing something that brought me peace and comfort. 

Writing to Elvis has been like writing into a journal. An activity that relieved me from the stress that's brought into my day to day life. The stress is very subjective. What's stressful to me is definitely not stressful to my daddy. I know that as a twelve year old there is no way that my life has reached a stressful point yet, but I feel like the pressure and expectations that people have of me, are what cause that heavy feeling at the end of a day. 

That feeling of being too much and being not enough at the same time.

However, knowing that I'll be seeing Elvis, his family and my mama in less than 24 hours gives me comfort. I've packed extra heavy, because I won't be leaving Tupelo again. I was planning on staying with my family.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your destination is only ten minutes away. Please remain seated, until—"

I silently squealed in my seat at the announcement. That was it. I was going to be finally home. I would be reunited with my mama and Elvis and I are going to be spending some quality time together. Again. Though the thought of being apart for so long made me slightly angry; but the excitement was unmatched.

"You excited to see your mama, Cece?", Matilda asked me. I remembered the way she used to talk to me and seeing that we're now civil to one another, I'm glad for how far we've come. I understand that me joining the family all of a sudden must have not been easy on them either. Though there is someone who still hasn't accepted it fully.

"She's excited to see that boy from her letters, Tilly. Her mama is the last person she wanna see now.", Clara leaned against Matilda to look at me. I rolled my eyes at her words and looked out of the window.

"It's none of our business.", she said. "I'm actually quite happy we're somewhere else for a change. The California heat was killing me."

Clara raised an eyebrow. "I'd say it's the perfect weather. We've got the beach—", the two of them kept bickering about Mississippi and California as I gently closed my eyes at the feeling of the warm sun on my skin. 

I thought of our small house and my first encounter with the Presleys, smiling a little at the memory. My thoughts moved on to Elvis, the Little Prince and his treehouse. I wondered if it was still intact or if he even used it anymore, since Elvis was no little boy now. I quickly thought of his age and felt my cheeks warm up at the realization that he was now 15 years old. 

He must be really tall now. And a high school boy. He's probably in that phase where boys get all gross and stuff. What if he doesn't wanna be my friend anymore?

What if he doesn't want to sing anymore? 

"Let's go.", we rapidly stood up and grabbed our bags before getting out. People seemed in a rush today, making me wonder if everyone was excited to get home too. We dodged some carts and quickly moved to the luggage section, now waiting for ours. My father caught sight of his and moved to retrieve it. I looked at Matilda, who smiled at me and then at Clara, who was mindlessly chewing her gum.

Matilda moved closer to me. "Who's the boy you've been writing to?", I froze at the sudden question. "You don't have to tell me. 'm just a lil' curious.", she quickly added, making me breathe out.

"He, uhm, he's just my friend.", I said, smiling a little. "We met when my mama and I moved in the neighborhood.", I continued and chuckled under my breath at the memory of meeting Elvis for the first time.

"He must be that good for you to be smiling like that.", she nudged me with her elbow as I felt my cheeks redden at her assumption.

"He's just my really good friend...", that was the first time I had said that out loud and it definitely felt different than when I admitted it on paper.

Matilda smiled, noticing me deep in thought. "Tell me about him.", she said, making me look at her in surprise. "Only if you'd like.", she added once again. I smiled at her kindness and sighed, wondering where to start.

"Well, his name is Elvis.", I initiated, blushing a little for no reason. 

Matilda nudged me again with her elbow. "Uhh, never met anyone named Elvis. Alright, alright. Continue."

I laughed a little at her words and agreed with her. "Me neither. Anyways, Elvis is two years older than me. His hair is brown and his eyes are blue.", I finished and looked at my stepsister, who had a huge grin painted on her face.

"What?", I asked, since it seemed like she wanted more.

"Oh, c'mon, Cece, tell me about his personality. By what you just said he sounds delicious—"

"Tilly!"

"Okay, okay, sorry. But, what about his hobbies? What is he like?", I raised an eyebrow at her questions.

"Why the sudden interest in someone you never even heard of?", Matilda scoffed at my words.

"Ah, is it a crime if I wanna know more about the boy you've been writing non-stop to?", she asked, crossing her arms on her chest. I blushed, shaking my head.

"It's not non-stop.", I muttered under my breath, failing to fight back. Matilda grinned and looked at me expectedly.

"So...?"

"The last time I saw him was... Four years ago.", I concluded as sudden realization hit me. "He's probably changed by now... But, uh, Elvis was my best friend. Always helped me out, always made me laugh... He actually taught me how to read.", I said, feeling a knot in my throat at the memories I shared with Matilda. Though when I looked at her, her smile was soft and kind, encouraging me to keep going.

"He read me The Little Prince in his treehouse and his mama made the best cookies."

"He a mama's boy?"

"Oh, yeah.", I laughed at Matilda's question, glad that my sad blanket was lifted off of our conversation. The love that that boy felt for his mama was like no other. He had no shame in showcasing it either and that was something I always admired.

"Elvis always wanted to sing and dance. Like for real. And we, uh— We made this silly pact many years ago. That we'd sing together as a duo.", I revealed, though I shook my head at how silly and childish it sounded.

"Well, I don't know how your man sings, but girl you've got the voice.", she laughed, patting my shoulder. "When daddy ain't home I can hear ya sing in your room. And you've got a beautiful voice."

"Wow. I-I don't really know what to say.", I stuttered out and looked up at her. "Thank you.", she just winked at me and let her eyes wander around the airport. The buzzing noise, the rolling of the suitcases and the chatter from the people, weirdly brought me peace. I also took notice of the people rushing out with their heavy suitcases. Where was ours, though?

"I know you're writing him letters, but, uh, does he do the same? Like, do you ever get an answer from him?", Matilda's words made my thoughts still. I'd been writing for four years and for four years I never received an answer from him. I couldn't say it didn't hurt, because it certainly did. I considered him to be my best friend and someone I looked up to. To this day I wonder if he was hurt by an action I had no control over, but something in me kept telling me that Elvis wouldn't believe his first instinct. Something in me kept telling me that he knew the truth. Very deep down.

"Uhm, no, he never replied to my letters, no. Why do you ask?", I looked at her and noticed her carefully look around, before she turned back to me.

"Listen, I-I don't know what I saw the other day... But—", Matilda looked around again, making my brows furrow.

"What?"

"The other day... I was looking for some supplies— for school you know, and I walked into daddy's office and found a box.", her voice quietened. "I-I took it, thinking it's the things I needed and found some closed envelopes. Stacks of them, Cece. Now, I-I don't know if those are—"

"Elvis' letters.", I concluded lost in thought. She looked around again.

"I-I don't know for sure... But if those are from Elvis..."

"He's been writing back.", I finished, feeling the lump in my throat and my feet particularly heavy.

"GIRLS!  Your bags!"

The drive to Tupelo was mostly silent. My daddy was driving and sitting in the passenger seat was my stepmother Naomi. 

She was a genuinely kind woman who married a man she didn't know was already taken. It wasn't her fault since my mama was the other victim that fell for my daddy's tricks. Either way, Naomi and I never really hit it off. We were civil to one another, of course, however she knew nothing of my silly dreams or my favorite color. And that was okay. I didn't need to feel that close to her. I didn't want my heart to replace my mama with her.

I was sitting in the right seat in the back, beside me was Clara and on the other end was Matilda. My eyes wandered out of the window in a daze as Matilda's words kept ringing in my head. Stacks of letters. Stacks. How could I have doubted Elvis even for a second? He cared and wrote back. My thoughts shifted in an other direction. How have I never asked my mother if he had been sending me anything? I didn't know whether I should bury the sudden anxiety and anger and to live in the moment or face my father and his lies.

I sighed as my fingers toyed with a bracelet I received for my last birthday. Though the more I looked at it the more I hurt on the inside. Small pearls with little details of gold. I glanced at my father and then back at the piece of jewelry. As my mama was fighting everyday to give me a safe and happy childhood, my daddy was off with another woman in search of a better future for himself. And himself only. I know it was wrong to think of someone in that way — especially when it's a parental figure, but he kept proving me wrong all over again. The lies, the scolding, the commanding. It was overwhelming.

"Daddy?", Clara called, making me blink quickly and readjust in my seat as I was slouching uncomfortably.

"Yes, darling?"

"Are we there yet? I'm bored.", she pouted, making me roll my eyes at her whiny tone.

"Seems like we're pretty close.", he answered with a chuckle. "Cecilia, anything you recognize?", for the first time a question was aimed at me. I sighed and looked out of the window. The sight made my heart burst as happiness started to invade my body. The familiar houses Elvis and I would walk past to get to school, the trees that seemed to touch the infinite the sky and finally at the end of it all: my little home.

"Yeah, I know this path.", I smiled a little as I took notice of a new house.

"Ew, why are these houses like this?", more words that made me lose hope in humanity.

"I think it's lovely.", Matilda nudged me with a small smile, which I gladly returned. I moved my gaze once again and noticed we were in front of my childhood home, though something felt off — despite the endless peace radiating from it. Once the car was parked, we walked out and were immediately welcomed by curious stares.

"One bag each, c'mon girls.", my daddy said, but something didn't feel right. It was too silent and no smell of freshly made cookies lingered in the air. I immediately made my way to the Presley home, knowing that my mama was having her coffee with Gladys. I knocked, taking notice of my sweaty palms. I quickly wiped them against my cotton dress and looked back at the door, knowing more.

"Ain't that my Cecilia?", I turned around at the sound of my name and smiled at Alberta. Gladys and my mama joined her little book club a long time ago, however I never had the chance to properly get to know her. Mostly because Elvis and I ran off as soon as we were finished with our homework.

"Alberta?", the woman smiled back and walked towards me, pulling me into a welcoming hug.

"Oh, child.", she patted my head. "How long has it been? Ten years?"

I chuckled at her. "Four years I think.", she pulled away, but kept holding my hands.

"Four years and you're a woman.", Alberta smiled, making me reciprocate sweetly. "Look at you.", she complimented again.

"You're too kind.", I blushed. "You still look the same. Still beautiful.", she laughed at my words and swatted me away.

"Lil' ol' me. What can I say... Though I have been using a new product for my skin and—"

"Cece? You there?", I looked to my right and noticed Matilda approaching me. She smiled at Alberta and extended her hand.

"Hello ma'am, my name is Matilda.", Alberta looked at me and then back at my stepsister.

"Ain't no way— You're sisters?", her gasp made me laugh a little.

"She's my stepsister, yeah.", I winked at Matilda. "Anyways, Tilly this is Alberta. Only the owner of the best book club in Tupelo."

"Hi darlin'.", she shook her hand. "So y'all visiting ol' Tupelo, huh?"

"Well, actually we're here for my mama."

"And Elvis.", Tilly added, making me blush a little.

Alberta smiled and then looked at the Presley door. "Oh, lawd.", she said lowly and pressed a hand to her forehead.

"Oh, Cece, your mama is not home? You think she's here?", I nodded at Tilly's words.

"Should be here with Gladys drinking coffee.", I said and knocked again.

"Oh, child, you ain't telling me you know nothing.", I turned around and noticed Alberta's face fall. My heart broke a little at her words.

"Know what?", Tilly asked for me as my words seemed caught up in my throat.

"Well... Mr Presley got a promotion last year... In Memphis.", and those were the words that made my eyes well up with salty tears. "The Presleys moved... And your mama chose to move along."

I looked down and sighed, not letting my tears roll down. 

I was stronger than that.

"She thought you were never gonna come back to her."

I'm not so strong anymore.

"I'm sorry sweetness.", Matilda wrapped an arm around my shoulders and nudged my head with hers.

"I thought your mama was writing letters to you, darlin'", I nodded and brushed a tear away. 

"She never mentioned Memphis... Maybe the letter got lost in the mail or something... I-I don't know—", more tears fell down as my throat closed at the heaviness of my words.

"It'll be okay, Cece.", Matilda murmured. "We'll find them."

And I was alone all over again.

A/N: thank you for reading! hope you're enjoying the story so far! I hope you've had a good start into the new year xx

index chapter 10

[oh-surprise-its-me]

I watched some rodeos today so that means I desperately need to write about 20 year old non pilot Jake being a cowboy and terrifying his New York dads. (Here’s prequel to this fic)

-

Chris, David, Wolfman and Lucas are all up on the fences watching. They all are used to this kind of thing. Oh the joys of growing up in Texas.

Tom, Ron, and Hollywood are in the stands. They all keep flinching when people get tossed. Tom’s nails are digging into Ron’s arm. He gasps every time someone lands wrong. He can’t believe they let their kid do this.

They’re in Vegas. All things considered a fun trip. They all took vacation time for this. Promised that if Jake used his fake ID they won’t call him on it. This is the final day of four for the rodeo.

Jake’s good. Too good. Ron can’t stand to watch him most days. Terrified that their kid is going to slam his head and not get back up.

Lucas promises him that he’ll be over the fence first before anyone else can be. Ron supposes an ER nurse is better then the paramedics they’ve got on ground.

-

Jake is hopping in place. He can feel the energy of the stadium, he watches them put the bull in the corral, Hell Maker is his name. Jake slides his helmet on and climbs the fence. He settles on the bull.

He hears the announcer.

“And now. Jake ‘Hangman’ Seresin. He’s one of the best twenty year olds competing he’s got a real chance at winning this Frank.”

“You’re so right Shawn. His father rode in Texas circles, Chris Seresin is in the crowd tonight. We’ll remind y’all listeners that the Seresins have a long history in riding rodeo.”

Jake shakes off the nerves. He knows he’s best. He can make it twelve seconds. Has to.

-

As he’s flying through the air it’s in slow motion. He made it nineteen seconds. He beat the records in place. Jake is going to make his dads buy him so many drinks tonight.

He slams into the ground. He tucks and rolls. He leaps up and takes off for the siding. Makes it over right at the bull slams into the wall.

Suddenly Jake is being held in the air. He shrieks, David and Wolf have him on their shoulders. Chris and Lucas are standing grinning up at him. Chris opens his arms and Jake jumps down and into them.

“Baby you did so good. I’m so proud of you.”

Jake sees his pa and tata make their way over to him. He’s surrounded by everyone suddenly. He’s so overwhelmed. He has to blurt it out now or he’s going to explode.

“I think this is going to be the last pro competition I do. Gonna go to med school.” They all stare at him for a second. “I’m not going to stop riding. Just no more getting thrown off intentionally.”

Ron is the first to react. “Chickie thank god.” He scoops Jake into a hug. Tom hugs him from the side. Chris plucks the hat off Jake’s head and kisses his hair.

He’s then passed to all of his uncles. Lucas looks like he might cry. He holds Jake’s face for a second. “You’ll be incredible.” Jake grins at him. “Wanna be a nurse like you. Help people.” Lucas lets the tears go down his face now. David loops his arm around his neck.

Jake is grabbed by Hollywood and Wolfman, Holly is grinning at him. He passes over two hundred bucks. “What the fuck?” Wolf blushes. “We made a bet on which career you’d follow. Decided you’d get the money no matter what happened.” Jake laughs. He grabs the two of them into a hug.

A photographer comes over and asks to take a photo of Jake with his dad. Chris smiles and agrees. Women still practically faint for him at points. Ron and Tom smile at the two of them. Jake is every bit his dads son.

Jake ends up getting a trophy. He’s proud of it but is even more proud of the money he wins at slots two nights later. All of them insist he cheated. He didn’t he’s just lucky.

-

In his thirty’s he talks Bradley into going to the rodeo, Bradley thinks it’s insane that Jake’s dads let him do this. Jake points out Mav and Goose had Bradley up in planes when he was definitely too young.

Bradley leans over while they watch the kids rodeo, “our kids are never doing this.” Jake stares at him. They’ve barely talking marriage. Fuck, Jake wants kids with Bradley. He flushes, “okay. They’re learning how to ride horses though.” Bradley nods. He presses a kiss to Jake’s head. “Anything you want sweetheart.”

[ninacytosis]

For the time lost

Summary: Zuko wants to erase every reminder of his past mistakes, and Katara will take him on a journey to, quite literally, heal both of their scarrings.

Contains: Angst, Fluff, Katara has burns scars from Aang's first attempts to firebend, Katara tries to get over her resentment towards the FN, Zuko doesn't hate Azula.

Dear reader: I hope you enjoy it! <3 Let me know if you want me to continue posting.

Find chapter one here.

Find chapter two here.

┊┊┊┊☆┊*🌙*┊☆┊┊┊┊

Chapter Three

To Katara’s surprise, his scar looked pretty much the same as before. After greeting her, she got a look up close and searched for a different color, texture, or size. Maybe it was smoother? Her thoughts kept meditating on this new information while she followed Zuko through the palace.

Zuko stopped walking and turned to her. “You're so quiet today... Not complaining, though" he smirked.

The place was a bit different from the last time Katara visited. The walls, once filled with portraits of the former Fire Lords, were left with paintings of birds and rodents; some pieces were pale and ill-looking, and, to her surprise, others were unbelievably adorable. Every part of the palace seemed to be made with such delicacy, it made her wonder how much respect people had for the royals. The marble floor felt like floating through the hallways.

“How old is this place?” she asked Zuko.

“Maybe two hundred years old” he replied, with a doubtful tone. “But every now and then it got redecorated. My mom was really into gardening, so there were a lot of floral decorations until I was like twelve.”

“I guess you’re into hawkpards” she smiled. “I’ve seen like five paintings of them so far”.

“Oh, yeah… We got a lot of those in the back garden. Oh, I got to show you the turtleducks in the front!” He grabbed her shoulder. “They’ve grown so much since you last came”.

They both rushed to an open space in between the castle. It wasn’t a front garden technically, but Katara didn’t want to ruin the moment. He was so excited to take her there. And the turtleducks were beautifully bathed in the golden sparks of the setting sun.

“The little ones were born by the end of autumn”.

Her eyes followed the furry little guys as they approached Zuko’s feet. He seemed annoyed, yet patient, while their little peaks pinched his pants. He proceeded to sit down and surrender to the attack. Now the turtleducks looked at him expectantly, Katara guessed that they were pet recurrently by him.

“No treat today,” he said, in a high-pitched voice. “But we got visits. Greet Katara!”

She chuckled. Zuko’s silliness always got to her, she could tell he was comfortable if she paid attention and saw through all his awkwardness. The water that had golden sparkles some minutes ago, was now in a purplish tone, the sky was getting darker. Two guards walked in their direction with small lamps in their hands. She imagined they lit them up themselves. How cool that must be.

“The visitor’s room is ready, my Lord” one pointed out.

Katara guessed both the guards were about thirty. By the looks they gave to her, she guessed they still weren’t used to having waterbenders around. To even see them as allies. She tried to convince herself some progress had been made. Some years ago, it was hard to tell if the Fire Nation guards saw her as human. Now they’re just weirded out, she can’t really blame them. She’s feeling odd herself, trying to turn off her flight or fight mode. Trying to hold eye contact with them, because she doesn’t want to seem snobby. Trying to look at Zuko, to remember nothing bad will happen. Weirdness is progress. Weirdness is not cruelty.

“I’ll take her, thanks for letting me know” he replied. “You can go now”

With a small flame in his hand, he led her to one of the upper floors. It was a pretty place, but it felt so empty. All she could hear were their steps and the whispers of the guards. Probably they talked all night to avoid getting asleep.

"My Lord" she tittered.

"Oh, shut up" he sighed. "I can still hear Toph laughing about it."

They arrived at her room. Katara noticed a penguin plushie on her mattress. She turned to Zuko and scrunched her face. After seeing her funny covers and blue walls, she realized what he was trying to do.

“I thought it would feel more like home” Zuko whispered. “Is it too corny?”

“I love it” she giggled.

“Come here” he asked her. Katara walked to the window and saw the moon rising from mountains.

“Now, that’s too corny” she mocked. “Thank you, I feel like I’m royalty too”.

“Well, technically you are a royal of the Southern Water tribe” he squeezed his eyes.

She rolled her eyes. If she was a princess, her “castle” was a giant whale skeleton. But she couldn’t complain, it felt more sacred than most homes. And it showed her people’s historical resilience, something that would transcend centuries more than her desire for a fancier house. For a second, she feared she spent too much time in her mind and ignored Zuko’s presence.

“We’re such a diplomatic friendship” she whispered. Zuko laughed, still looking through the window.

“You know, back at the garden, I noticed you were a bit shaky” he admitted. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure” she nodded.

“Do you find it scary to come here?”

“Of course not” is what she would’ve answered to most people. Four springs have passed since the war, and even in the war, she wasn’t the type of person to hide from Fire Nation guards. It would be unlike her to fear a threat that it’s not even there. And as much as it didn’t make sense to her or anyone else, she felt her heart race when a guard looked at her for a little too long, she lost her breath when a firework sounded a little too loud. She was afraid.

“I… think so, Zuko” she answered. “Sorry if it sounds ungrateful, I don’t mean to show prejudice towards your people. I bet your guards are highly honorable and your friends here are nice. But it’s hard to see these walls and walk through this city without getting a bit sappy, you know?” she sat on the floor. “I think that’s why I usually don’t come here often”.

“I know what you mean. Well, that’s one of the reasons it’s so hard for me to go to the South” She leaned her head. “I’m ashamed, for my nation, my ancestors’ actions, and my own. I see all the empty houses and the little kids in your town and it makes me feel so unworthy of being a king.”

He covered his face with his hands and sat next to her, both on the cold wooden planks. Katara caressed his hair, gently, not really sure how to say what she thought of Zuko. At least, she didn’t know how to deliver it in a way that convinced him that he was a good person. A compassionate, caring, noble person. She put her head on his shoulder.

“You are not your father, Zuko” she mumbled. “And the Water Nation’s door will always be open for you. Not only on the North, by the way”.

“About that… I know all these traveling to the North might seem weird to you”.

“You’re Zuko, you’re always weird” she bumped his arm.

He disapprovingly shook his head.

“Anyways, I thought I should tell you I went there to get rid of my scar” Zuko stood up. “I’m so tired, you probably are too. I’m going to my room.”

“So you’re just gonna drop that bomb and leave?” Katara raised her eyebrow.

“We can talk tomorrow. I promise” he walked to the door. “Good night, Katara.”

[palomahasenteredthechat]

Vic fidgets at her desk, her nails tapping the keyboard impatiently. Glancing at the time, she tries not to think about her favourite pub down the street, and the bottle of Dubbonet waiting for her, ready to be poured expertly with just the right amount of gin. Lou always worked Fridays, and he would start on her drink the moment he spied her walking through the door. By the time Vic would be sat with her purse tucked safely away under the bar, the cocktail would be presented perfectly on a crisp napkin with a lemon garnish.

Sometimes Vic contemplated marrying Lou; he rarely spoke, which was a huge benefit in her opinion.

The clock in the hallway chimes 5 pm. Vic sighs and fidgets on her laptop, clicking the zoom link. In the front room, the intern does the same. Vic would normally consider it ridiculous that two people sitting 10 feet from one another would need to log in separately, but she learned from experience that these people talked so fast someone needed to take notes on a keyboard whilst the other sat there absorbing as much information as possible.

At 5:01, the host lets her into the meeting and soon they all began popping on. Her screen was full of young women and one man, all of them polite and so very serious. Not for the first time, Vic wonders if any of them had ever had a proper drink.

"Hi Victoria, Happy Friday to you," chirps one and the others nod while still obviously typing furiously away on other work. Her screen was a model of multi-tasking.

"Hello," Vic replied, wishing she had a cigarette. "Glad we could schedule this little chat." Little being the operative word, she hoped this conversation would be short.

The team lead, who looked twelve years old, kicked things off. "So, we sent over the deliverables earlier this week, did you get a chance to review them?"

"Yes, thank you. I reviewed them."

"Okay great! Any questions?"

"No, everything looks in order. My client did have a question about one item that was missing, however."

Six heads looked up in unison, their slack channels temporarily forgotten.

Team lead's botoxed brow furrowed, if only slightly. "I don't follow?"

"Yes, there had been some conversations about, er, Babybel cheese-"

Silence. A couple of them go back to typing.

Team Lead smiles; a big, bright insincere smile. Vic feels the tension in her neck start to creep down toward her shoulders.

"We're reviewing it and will get back to you."

"I see. It's just, well, he would be very interested-"

"You're aware of the brand guidelines," the man cuts her off. "Family, friendship, sincerity. A sense of unity and teamwork."

"Yes, I'm aware," Vic manages to keep the annoyance out of her voice with superhuman self-control. "We just think-"

"We'll get back to you when they have made a decision," chirps Team Lead. "We just want to make sure it's a good fit. They were- a bit surprised their name came up in the press."

"Yes, well, just a bit of humour, you know how it is..."

Six blank faces stare back at her. In the background, Vic can hear the intern typing.

"...It was a joke." Vic exhales, desperately wishing for a cigarette.

"Okay then!" Team Lead redirects as if the exchange has never happened. "Just give us a call if you have any additional questions and have a great weekend."

They end the zoom before Vic can respond.

The intern peeks around the corner. "Do you want me to print the document?"

Vic snorts. "I want you to shove it up their arse. Have a good weekend." She grabs her purse and heads for the door, already tasting the Dubonnet on her tongue.