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get0sfav · 1 year ago

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MEANIE! | ryomen s.

↳ ryomen sukuna x f!reader

assigned to be the resident bad boy's lab partner who also happens to be your friend's twin brother? so cliche! loosing your virginity to him? even more cliche! ugh!

18+ Minors DNI!

warnings; university au, mean!sukuna, virgin!shy!reader, sukuna is yuji's twin brother, superr cliche, ooc sukuna, cussing, teasing, dub-con/ish, pet names (good girl, brat, doll, etc.), name-calling (slut, whore, fucktoy), degradation, fingering, ass spanking, biting, nipple play, slight groping, mentions of f!masturbation, size difference, doggy style, vaginal penetration, unprotected sex (sukuna convinces reader to let him hit raw😔🤚🏼), multiple orgasms (2), choking, creampie, breeding kink, yuji catches the two of you🤓, not proofread.

wc; 2.7k

a/n; writing this made me realise how I was not built for this shit p.s this is so horrible but I had to post it because it was supposed to be up yesterday but eh, anyways, I promise the next fic would be a lot better thank you for reading. also lmk if anyone wants to be tagged in these fics !

tags(?); @satocidal <3

A familiar set of pink hair caught your sight, and if you didn't know better, you'd assume it was Yuji. But it wasn't, because you weren't in the cafeteria, waiting for him on a bench, but rather in a class he didn't take. No, It was his brother- Ryomen Sukuna. They looked identical for the most part, except, they often didn't. Where Yuji had a soft face, adored with the biggest smile ever, his brother had a sharp, ink clad face with an ever present scowl on it.

Luck of course wasn't on your side when you got assigned as his partner. Yuji wasn't happy either, because no way in hell would he want you, one of his best friends to be anywhere near his brother. Not like you had a say in any of this, but this project was worth about 40 percent of your grade, and you needed to get an A+ on this one. Your last project went horribly because of your last partner, and you weren't about to let another lazy, or rather intimidating partner let you drag your grades down once again.

Sukuna was sat beside you, occupying nearly 2 whole seats with the way he was spreading his legs. He seemed the least bothered about what the professor was saying, didn't bother to make notes or anything. That automatically meant that you were going to take notes for the both of you.

Great.

Chewing at your pen while the lecture hall filled with low chatter of people talking to their partners, discussing whatever topic they were assigned, on contrary to you and your partner, who was still the least bothered about anything.

Building up the courage to finally talk to him, you turn around to face him, but your attempt to speak up was cut off by his intimidating glare, "You're gonna do all the work, I'll pay you- or whatever. I don't got no time for this shit." He scowled, looking back towards his phone. "I- but-" The words died down in your throat with another look from him.

The class was dismissed soon enough, as he threw his bag over his shoulder, giving you a look that you couldn't quite understand, "Well?" He raised a brow, the way he stared down at you from his height was quite intimidating. And when he put one foot forward, his gaze only became more imposing.

"C'mon, speak up."

"Well-" You took a deep breath, trying to sound a little brave while speaking "Well, what I meant to say is that I can't complete the project by myself- it's way too big, and it's worth like 40 percent of our grade."

"Then I guess you'll fail" He chuckled, bringing his phone out and ignoring whatever else you had to add onto the matter. He did not want to be bothered. He turned to face you, the most threatening thing you could think of was now looking at you, and he had no intentions of moving. It was quite the sight.

You simply backed down, almost shriveling into the little bubble you came out from. Well that was a shit show. No wonder his brother didn't like him. Hell, moments like these made you wonder how the hell him and Yuji are related, moreover, twin brothers.

"What do you expect me to do? Babysit you? You know how to write, how to research, I'm sure you can figure it out." Sukuna grumbled, before returning his eyes to the screen of his phone. He clearly didn't want to be bothered, but he also didn't want to give the dean another reason to get on his ass, so he'd maintain the conversation. For now, atleast.

"I wouldn't have bothered you if I could do it alone-" You stated, chewing on your fingernails "It requires two people, and I don't think I count as two so." The words simply spurted out of your mouth, and you had no idea where you got the confidence to even speak like that in the first place. Maybe it was because you had already decided that it was A+ or nothing, and there was absolutely no way anyone was going to stand between you and your grade.

"Oh? And why can't you do it alone?" Sukuna asked, finally turning his gaze from his phone up to you.

His gaze was almost threatening, as if he was sizing you up. Which he was. After a moment of silence, and a slight shake of his head, "Fine." He said, turning on his heel and walking away. He did not, however, wait for you to follow, even though the way he ended the conversation implied that he wanted you to follow him.

"Oh-" Was it really that easy? Or was there a catch to his agreement. Whatever it was, you were sure you could handle it, but as for now, you quickly stuffed your things in your bag, rushing after him.

"And one more thing" He called over his shoulder, still continuing to walk. His voice sounded stern, unamused. It didn't have the same warmth and softness to it that Yuji had. Sukuna sounded cold, threatening and had a slight edge to it.

"We're not partners. Don't talk to me more than you need to."

"Okay" It wasn't as if you wanted to talk to him either, but it wasn't a big deal to affirm what he had said. "Well? Should we go to the library or somewhere else?" You asked awkwardly, fiddling with the hem of your sweatshirt.

"I do whatever I want, and you're coming with. We're going to study at my place." Sukuna did not go to the library to study- hell, he didn't even study, and definitely not in a pair. He didn't even acknowledge you until you spoke, but you would have to follow anyway. He turned to walk, expecting you to fall in line.

"Alright..." You spoke under your breath, following him back to his house. You had been there a couple of times when you hung out with Yuji, Megumi and Nobara, but you had never seen Sukuna around at that time, and you had a slight hint that most of the times he was out partying, or getting wasted one way or the other.

Atleast that's what Yuji had told you.

His and Yuji's apartment was close to the campus, and that's where you two went. He crept inside the house, removing his shoes at the door and you did the same. The same cold voice spoke once again, and you were left with no choice but to follow him to his room.

The lights were off, and the place was lit by a window that let the sun shine inside.

"You can sit on the bed." Not bothering to say anything else, he threw his bag on the floor, choosing to sit on his desk and working on his PC. Surprisingly, he actually knew what the topic was, and had already collected some material regarding it.

"kay" You nodded, sitting on the edge of the bed as you placed down your bag beside you, taking out your own laptop to work.

The two of you worked in silence, the only sound echoing in the room was the typing sounds of keys, or the occasional sigh that escaped his lips.

He continued, rolling his neck to ease up some tension, he seemed to work in silence, only calling your name when he needed something from you.

After a couple of hours, Sukuna pushed his chair back, stretching his arms out. He had finally finished and it was, rather impressive. Sukuna's writing skills were, to say the least, superb.

"Are you nearly done yet?" He stood up from his chair, walking to stand beside you, leaning down a little to see what you were doing on your screen.

"Yeah, I'm almost done. Could you just mail me everything you've written? I'll compile it and print it out and maybe tomorrow we can work on actually doing the project practically, since we're almost done with the theoretical part?" You spoke in a soft tone, looking at him, waiting for his response.

*He stared back down at you, for about a whole minute, his gaze was almost intimidating. "Check your email." He sighed, standing back straight to stretch his arms once more. You nodded, checking your email just as he asked, only to find the work you needed already there in your inbox. Wasn't he efficient.

"Oh, well, thanks. I think we're done for the day, right? I guess we'll meet tomorrow then?" You acknowledged, before packing up your stuff in your bag, giving him a curt nod, a way of saying 'thank you.' He simply gave you a quick look, probably his way of telling that he heard you. With that, you darted out of his room and towards the font door, without sparing another glance towards him.

As you exited his apartment, you realised that you may or may not have left your phone on his bed. Dreading to face his gaze once more, you needed your phone to get home, so, with sweaty palms, you knock on his door once, waiting for him to open it. The door flew open, with Sukuna's annoyed expression, eyebrows crossed in annoyance, "What the hell do you want now brat?"

"I- I think I left my phone inside." You gulped, and he simply lets out a grunt of annoyance, opening the door just enough for you to slip in, which you do quickly, rushing to his room where you previously sat to find your phone. Luckily, it was easily spotted, kept on the nightstand. You quickly pick it up and pocket it, turning around to find him leaning on the door frame with the same cruel eyes of his.

Refusing to make eye contact with him, you try to swiftly exit the room, but fate had other plans for you. Tripping on whatever invisible obstacle that was placed in your path, you fall. On Sukuna.

A yelp escapes your mouth, thankfully, his reflexes were quick, but not quick enough, causing the two of you to fall on the floor, him taking the most of the collison. You're way to afraid to even open your eyes, because you knew you'd be met with the most deathly glare from the man beneath you. What makes things even worse, you were basically stradling his lap, hands on his chest, and let's not forget- his hands, on your ass. Your cheeks turn crimson at the realisation, as you squeezed you eyes shut, hoping that maybe, somehow a strike of thunder would evaporate you from the world.

You're frozen in place, not being able to do anything as you await the meanest string of cusses ever heard, probably even a shove too, but no. What you hear is much, much scarier. A chuckle. A chuckle from the Ryomen Sukuna. "What's got you blushing like a 'fuckin virgin eh?" His chuckle resonated in the silent room, making heat creep up your entire body. You weren't sure whether it was from embarassment or something entirely different.

"Aw, you like my hands on your ass brat?" He teased further, slightly squeezing your ass in between his hands, eliciting a gasp from your lips, your eyes flowing open, only to see a smug smirl on his face. You were sure at this point, your entire face was red, and maybe, just maybe he was right. You just might like his hands on your ass.

Seeing your reaction, he pushes you so you were properly stradling his lap now, squeezing your ass once more, this time a little harder. "Let me guess- y're a virgin?" He concluded, from the looks you were giving. Was it really that obvious? Well, there's no point in lying anyway. You nod slowly, as he barks out a laugh, causing you to flinch a little, "Fuckin hell," He shook his head, the smirk still on his face, "Your cunt must be fucking tight, hm?"

His words made you shudder, and god you'd be lying if you said his words didn't give you the tingling feeling in your lower stomach. "Hah. Tell me this then, what would happen if i did," He gripped your ass tightly, and without putting in any effort, he lifted you up along with himself, causing you to mewl. Your legs were now hanging beside him, his hands still on your ass as he walked and thre you on his bed, quite a bit violently for your liking.

"W-What are you trying to do?" Your voice came out meekly, but he simply chuckled once more. "let's say; if i were to do, this," He moved closer to you, his hands gripping at your waist, pulling you closer to him, slowly snaking his hands under your shirt, his cold hands feeling electrical on your bare skin as you bit back a hiss, "And then, this," His hands were moving up and down your waist, inching closer and closer to the hem of your bra, "Do you like this?" He smirked, now enveloping his finger around your waist, pulling you in a way that you were laying on you back, with him on top of you.

Fuck him and his annoying, good looking, smug face. You never found him to be even remotely attractive before, so why were you dripping in your panties then? Was it your touch-deprived brain feel so turned on from finally being touched by someone else other than your own fingers? Probably.

Almost like he could read your mind, his skilled fingers traveled to the hem of your pants, raising his eyebrows, his way of asking if you wanted it. Not a single word came out of your mouth, breath hitching in your throat. You weren't sure yourself, whether you wanted this or not, but he took your silence as approval, pulling down your pants in an instant, followed by the removal of your shirt as well. It all happened so quickly that there was no time to process it, before his tongue was inside your mouth, while his hands roamed around your underwear clad body. You moaned softly in the kiss, his experienced lips guiding your own, his tongue exploring your mouth. Messy, sloppy and rough. He didn't stop kissing you, wanting to go on forever.

He breaks the kiss, a string of saliva connecting both of your lips and the sight makes the sensation in your lower stomach even stronger, feeling yourself growing wetter and wetter every moment.

You want to say something, anything at all, but you trail off, your throat feeling dry when his fingers tease along the line of your jaw, down to your chin. Tipping it up, he leans in and leaves a warm kiss on your throat, trailing lower, lower and lower until he reaches the valley of your breasts, fingers travelling to your back to unclasp the hook of the bra, throwing it away somewhere along the rest of your clothes. He bites down on the sensitive skin just about your left nipple, before lapping it with his tongue. His free hand plays with your other nipple pinching and pulling at it.

Each and every action he does causes a new sound to erupt from deep within you, the way you responded made him go wild. There was just something about virgins that made him lose his mind. The way they responded from just the slightest touch- or how wet their cunts get from just kissing. But he'd have to admit, you were his favorite by far. It wasn't just you that responded to him, it was your whole body, wanting more and more from him. He loved it.

His fingers brush over your clothed folds before he cups your mound. Grinding the heel of his palm against you gently, you roll your hips up into his touch, rubbing against his hand, "God.. Do you feel that doll, feel how soaked you are? getting my hand wet by just rubbing it over your pantie, tch, I bet you'd stain my sheets from just how wet this little pussy is." Closing your eyes shut at his words, you feel yourself leaning more and more into his touch, wanting nothing more than for him to touch you, directly.

Eager pants leave you when his fingers teasingly dip between your folds through the thin material of your panties. The fabric is damp already and as he teases you with touches that are entirely too gentle for your rising desperation, you find yourself whining under his cruel touch. He simply chuckles, "tch, now, now, it's not nice to get all eager, you should be thankful to me." His actions get more cruel, as he does nothing but play with your folds from over the fabric.

Satisfied with how you’re whining underneath him, he slides his fingers to the hem of your panties, pulling them down with a snap against your skin, retreating to keep them in the drawer of his bedside stand. The air hits your wet cunt, causing you to shiver, as you push yourself on your elbows, watching him look at your cunt with greedy eyes. Spreading your legs further apart, two of his fingers dip into your hole and he is pleased to find it welcoming him into your tight heat. A loud moan slips past your lips, as you feel his fingers dip inside you.

This was way better than any time when you had touched yourself on your own, his two fingers stretching you out better than anything. The length of his fingers caused you to jerk, feeling the slightest bit of pain from how long and thick they were, small tears forming in the corner of your eyes "Shitttt look at you" He grunts, and you look up at him, only to see him palming the tent in his pants, "You're nearly crying from my fingers, how are you gonna take my cock doll?" He chuckles cruelly, picking up the pace of his fingers inside you.

Your walls pulse around him and you arch your body into him when he curls the digits up and rubs exploratively within your pussy, trying to find the spot that makes you see stars.

He's too rough, adding a third finger and pushes all three of them into you down to the knuckle. This tears a gasp from your throat and you buck your hips up into his touch, over and over again, as you feel the strength leave your legs. You were seeing stars now, eyes closed shut, gasps and moans leaving your mouth. He loved the sight, continuing his pace, the knot in your stomach getting tighter and tighter.

"Su-Sukuna, 'm gonna cum-!" Your fingers grip the sheets beside you, your entire body shaking from the intensity and quickness of his fingers, moaning his name over and over again, "Good girl, good fucking girl, cum for me" He smirks, adding his thumb to rub circles on your clit, a yelp flies from your mouth as you're a sweaty mess under his touch. With a few more pumps from his fingers, you're yelling out his name, knuckles white from how hard you had been gripping the sheets as he guides you through your high, the intense wave of pleasure hitting hard, head hitting the plush mattress as your arms give out, and everything seemed a little dizzy around you.

He retreats his fingers, causing your cunt to clench around nothing. You hear him zipping down his pants, chuckling dryly. "Cmon slut, I ain't done with you yet." His hands grab at your waist, flipping you over so that your head was pressed against the mattress, and your ass was facing him. Huffing, you turn around to see him, eyes widening when you're met with the sight of his cock instead.

It was long, not too long but longer than the average one you saw in porn. He was girthy too, multiple veins running down to the tip of dick. The tip was flushed red, leaking with pre-cum, his hand grabbing the base of it. What caught your eye was that the tattoos that decorated his entire body ended just where his dick started.

"Aren't you going to use a- a condom?" You objected, slightly biting your lip. He simply scoffs, "Trust me, you don't want to use a condom for your first time doll, it's just more painful." He shrugs, his finger collecting the pre cum from his tip before pumping his hand up and down on his entire length. He looks at you with his eyebrows raised and a slight pout, "If you're that worried I'll buy you morning after pills alright?" He sighs, before aligning the tip of his cock with your already sensitive cunt, causing you to shiver.

One of his hands holds your waist, while the other grips your ass, slapping it twice and kneading the soft flesh, before he starts pushing more and more of his dick inside you, grunting every time your walls pulse around him.

You're holding back tears from how painful it was feeling, biting down on your lip hard enough to draw some blood. He notices how tense you are, massaging the small of your back, "Relax, it's going to be worse if you're tensed up, brat." His grip tightened against your hip, and just when he was almost inside you, he bottomed out, pulling your hips to meet his torso, eliciting a loud cry from you, and a drawled out grunt from him.

*"Fuck you're so tight" He moans, throwing his head back, giving you a moment to adjust to his length, tears spilling from your eyes. Carefully, he starts moving. You lean your head back, your jaw dropping open and a moan leaving your throat. The way his cock stretches your walls out, pain and pleasure are mixed together, "'s to big sukuna!" He ignores your cries, gripping tightly against your hit as he starts to pick up his pace, the pain slowly turning into a pleasurable feeling.

He pulls back totally, leaving only the tip inside your cunt before ramming inside. You cry out with pleasure, clenching your walls around his cock as he thrusts in and out of your pussy with no mercy. His hand which was previously gripping your waist grabs your left tit, groping and pawing at it, pinching the nipple over and over again. The bed shakes underneath you and sounds of skin slapping against each other resonate in the room. The scene was so lewd, your pussy making squelching sounds every time he thrusts a little harder, hitting the sweet spot within you.

Every so often the squelching nosies of your pussy can be heard as Sukuna thrusts his cock inside of you. Your eyes roll to the back of your head, mouth gaping open as loud moans and whimpers leave your throat. He was too rough, too rough to be your first time, but there was this thrill you got every time he bullied past your walls, hitting deep inside you.

He grunts, his fingers trailing up your back and to the nape of your neck, before he grips it hard, pulling you back so that your back was against his chest. His hand now held your throat from the front, and the new angle made you feel that he was inside your stomach, thrusting harder and harder.

Sukuna watches as his cock slides in and out of you, filling you up with pleasure. Sinful whimpers and cries leave your throat, strained from the hand wrapped around your throat. He could get used to the scene, watching how your tits bounced up and down with every mean thrust of his, how your hands desperately tried to find something to grab a hold of. Oh how he loved this.

You moan, feeling your mind shut from the pleasure, and how strongly the feeling of pleasure was creeping up. You were going to come again, "Sukuna ah- ah shit! I'm- I'm gonna come!"

"Not yet" He grunts, breath fanning over your ear as his thrusts become sloppier, "Not yet" his words are drawled out, "Gonna fill you up, yeah, take it like the good whore you are mhm?" He whispers, licking your ear and nearly sending you over the edge, "Sukuna pl-please! I-I need to-" "Shit- fuck, cum on my dick then" You felt hot, sticky ropes of his cum filling you up, as he thrusts once more, feeling everything empty out in you.

It's a lot, oozing out from your sore, abused cunt. The two of you pant heavily, His fingertips give your throat a light squeeze as he starts to roll his hips back, and you drop to the mattress, feeling more than euphoric, stars, moons, the entire universe clouding your thoughts. You were on cloud 9, even though your core was still shaking, even if he had fucked his cum deep inside you. It didn't matter, it was all too ecstatic, the daze you felt better than any high anyone could have ever experienced. You heard him chuckle, feeling his hands press on your worn out and shaky thighs, almost as if massaging the sore muscles.

It's bad to set expectations from him though, because all he did was use his thumb to collect his cum that leaked out of your hole to your thighs, pushing it all back inside. Giving your ass one last slap he stood up, and got dressed in just his sweatpants, and just then, you heard your name being called.

Your eyes widen as you realise who it was, turning around to see Yuji standing in the doorway, his eyes wide and an expression of disgust on his face.

"Get out you measly brat" Sukuna groaned, pushing his hair back before slamming the door in poor Yuji's face.

This just got a lot awkward, didn't it?

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #ryomen sukuna #sukuna ryomen smut #sukuna jjk #sukuna x reader #sukuna #jjk ryomen

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tothosewholisten · 5 months ago

Text

Forever Healed | TUA insert

Chapter: 05

<<previous chapter | next chapter>>

Masterlist

…

Five and I discussed our new plan on the way back to the academy.

“We need to go back, now.” Five insisted as he paced around his bedroom.

I stood by the door trying to distance myself from the angry teen.

“I know..” I pause. “But you already saw how demanding works. And also you're a kid, of course they didn't take you seriously.”

“Why is this eye so important anyway?” I ask.

He huffs. “Whoever has this eye brings upon the end of the world. I need to figure out who it is.”

Every time Five repeats that the world is ending I try to ignore it. But with the D-day getting closer and closer I realize I need to do a few things on my bucket list.

“We need someone else.” He mutters, breaking me out of my thoughts.

He's right, our story wasn't convincing at all. You need a strong narrative to get information out of suckers. So we need a dramatic person who can play a part.

Suddenly it dawned on me. We need-

“You know, I am so thrilled to join your guys' spy mission! It's just like old times.” Klaus reminisced with sappy tears in his eyes.

“I don't think we've ever done this.” Five retorts.

I know that the boy wasn't the most excited about getting help from Klaus but I told him if Klaus puts his mind to it, we're getting that information.

Five and I went over to the dining room where Klaus was snoring on the couch. In his underwear.

At first he wouldn't get up, that was until Five offered him twenty dollars and he bolted upstairs to get ready. We trailed after him back to Five’s room where he was waiting on Five's bed.

I love Klaus but his outfit choices have always been questionable even when we were teens.

“What are you wearing?” I asked disgustedly.

I did not receive an answer because Five heard a noise and peered his head out the door.

An annoyed look on his face appeared when he turned back around to us. “Vanya's here. Klaus hide.” He whispers.

Klaus gets up from the bed and dashes around the room, looking for anywhere that's big enough to fit his lanky body. I point to Five's closet.

He contorts himself to fit inside and closes the door behind him. Just in time too because Vanya walks into the room.

“Thank god, I was worried sick about you two.” She expressed her uneasiness.

I frowned. “Sorry, we left without saying goodbye.” If only I wasn't dragged by that little boy I would've loved to talk to her more.

“No look. I'm the one who should be sorry.” Vanya turns to Five. “Yeah, I was dismissive, and I– I guess I couldn't process what you were saying. And I still can't to be honest.” She stutters out.

I couldn't tell if it was an act but Five’s face turned almost sad. “Maybe you were right to be dismissive.” He says.

I'm not sure where this acting was when we were at Meritech. But I match his hurt look.

“Maybe it wasn't real after all. It felt real. Well like you said, the old man did say time travel could contaminate the mind.” Five continued.

Five is interrupted by a loud crash that comes from the closet. I ran over to stand in front of it trying to distract from the noises Klaus was making as they kept talking.

“Then maybe I'm not the right person for you to be talking to. Look, I used to see someone. A therapist, I could give you her information.” Vanya shares.

Five is quick to feign a smile. “No thanks, but I think I'm just going to get something to eat. It's been a long time since I've had good food.”

Vanya nods and steps back out of the room.

As soon as Five goes back to the door to make sure that she is gone, the warm look on his face disappears and his permanent scowl returns instead.

The closet behind me starts to shake and I take a step away hoping that Klaus doesn't decide to fall on me.

His curled body leaps out of the closet. “That was so… touching!” He trips over fallen junk from the closet. “All that stuff about family and Dad and time. Wow!”

“Will you shut up, she'll hear you.” He yells.

“I'm moist.”

“What the hell Klaus.” I scoot further away from him.

Five takes a moment to look him up and down. “I thought I told you to put on something professional.”

The outfit he put on was a green button-up shirt with frilly red-lined sleeves. Honestly atrocious.

“What? This is my nicest outfit.” Klaus cries.

“Let's go look at the old man's closet,” I suggest pushing Klaus out of the room.

Five groans before following us out.

“As long as I get paid,” Klaus exclaims.

“When the job is done.”

He stops us. “Okay, but just so we're clear on the finer details. I just gotta go into this place and pretend to be your dear old Dad. Correct?”

“Yeah, something like that,” I replied.

“What's our cover story then?”

“What? What are you talking about?” Five gives him a puzzled look.

“I mean, was I really young when I had y/n? Like, 16? Like, young and terribly misguided. Then yada yada some years later you came along, Five.” Klaus rambles putting his hands on his chest.

“Sure.”

“Your mother, that slut.. whoever she was. We met at.. oh! The disco.”

I cackle at Klaus’s backstory but Five couldn't look more concerned.

“Remember that.” The man snaps. “Oh, my god, the sex was amazinggg.”

“What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain.” Five turns to go down the stairs.

Klaus holds out his pointer like a stern dad. “Don't make me put you into time out.” He yells.

“Like I said to your son and daughter?” The same doctor questions us from before.

We arrived at the same part of the building but this time the man had the decency to bring us to his office.

“Yes, these are my children,” Klaus replies affirmatively.

He now had on one of Reginald's many suits; it made him look the part.

“Yeah, can't you tell?” My hand messaging my temple as I throw that in, trying to mask my sarcasm, cause well none of us looked alike.

“Well, like I told your children earlier, any information about the prosthetics we build is strictly confidential.” The man emphasizes each word to us like we are all babies.

Klaus sat in a chair across from the man's desk and I sat in the other, but Five stood up in the middle of us with his hands on the doctor's glass desk. Getting ready for round two of his yelling match.

“Without the client's consent. I simply can't help you.”

“Well, we can't get consent if you don't give us a name.” Five yells.

The doctor looks defeated. “Well, that's not my problem.”

I’m sure Five wished his powers were laser eyes instead of teleportation because of how he was staring at the man so intensely.

“Sorry. Now, there's really nothing more I can do, so–”

Klaus looked up from his lap. “And what about my consent?”

“Excuse me?”

Everyone turns to look at him.

“Who gave you permission… to lay your hands on my son?” Klaus cried.

“What?” Five, the doctor and I all say at once.

“You heard me.”

“I didn't touch your son.” The man states matter of factly.

Klaus slowly gets up from his chair “Oh, really? Well, how did he get that swollen lip then?”

“He doesn't have a swollen-”

The man didn't have time to finish his sentence because Klaus suddenly swung at Five and slapped him in the mouth.

I hide my expression with my palm and watch.

He inhales sharply. “I want it. Name, please. Now.” He slaps his hands onto the doctor's desk.

The man stutters trying to think of something to say. “You're crazy.” He replies.

Klaus fakes a chuckle. “You got no idea.”

He picks up the snow globe on the man's desk. “Peace on earth? That's so sweet.” He reads out loud.

He then smashes the snow globe into his head causing everyone to let out a shriek as it breaks into tiny pieces. I cringe looking at all that blood on his head.

He screams out. “God that hurt.” Water from the snow globe dripped all over his face.

The man doesn't break eye contact with Klaus but hurryingly reaches for the telephone on his desk.

“I'm calling secur– what are you doing?” The man yells out but Klaus takes the telephone right from his sweaty hands.

“There's been an assault… in Mr. Big's office, and we need security, now. Schnell!” Klaus screams into the telephone before slamming it back onto its post.

He sighs. “Now, here's what's gonna happen, Grant.”

“It's… Lance.”

“In about sixty seconds two security guards are gonna burst through that door, and they're gonna see a whole lot of blood and wonder ‘What the hell happened?’ And we're gonna tell them that you… beat the shit out of us!” Klaus rambles.

“While making googly eyes at my young daughter!” He sobs.

Five stares at Klaus admirably.

“You're gonna do great in prison, Grant. Trust me, I've been there. A little piece of chicken like you. Oh my god, you're gonna get passed around like a…” He moves his hips in a circle to make a point.

Then shutters thinking back at old memories. “You're just– you're gonna do great. That's all I'm saying.”

Lance almost cries out looking at all of us. “Jesus, you are a real sick bastard.”

Klaus stares at him blankly. “Thank you.”

He spits out a piece of snow globe glass. The look on Five face is priceless, I'm for one so proud of Klaus right now. He never went Broadway but this was pretty close.

Lance rushes over to a long line of filing cabinets. Searching for the information that will satisfy us. Klaus sat on top of the cabinet making the doctor go even faster, fearing for his life.

“Oh, that's strange.” He says.

“What.” Five ask.

“Uh, the eye. It hasn't been purchased by a client yet.”

Klaus jumps off the cabinet and gets up into Lance's face. “What? What do you mean?” He whispers.

“Well, uh, our logs say that the eye with that serial number… This can't be right. It hasn't even been manufactured yet.” Lance looks up at Five. “Where did you get that eye?”

Five huffs. He walks away from all of us to the elevator and leaves us with Lance.

I grab onto Klaus to move him outside as he blows Lance a smooch before we go into the elevator as well.

We walk out of the building's doors when Five starts to talk again. “Well, this is not good.” He says.

“I was pretty good, though, right? ‘Yeah. What about my consent, bitch?” He laughs.

“Klaus, it doesn't matter.” The boy sighs and we stop walking.

“What? What, what's the big deal with this eye, anyways?” The hurt Klaus asks.

I grab onto the two men to heal them of their injuries before answering for Five who looks like he's about to explode.

“There's someone out there who's going to lose an eye in the next seven days. And they're gonna bring about the end of life on earth as we know it!” I say, rubbing my forehead.

“Yeah, can I get that twenty bucks, like, now, or what?”

I stare at my adopted brother with my brows furrowed. “You're not gonna question what I just said, at all?”

Five steps closer to him. “The apocalypse is coming and all you can think about is getting high?”

“Well, I'm also quite hungry. Tummies a rumblin.” Klaus wiggles his fingers to imitate grumbling.

“You're useless.” Five shakes his head while walking away from the two of us to sit on the building's steps.

“Oh come on, you need to lighten up old man!” Klaus mocks. I move from Klaus to sit near Five and listen to the rest of Klaus’s spiel.

“Hey, you know, I’ve just now realized why you're so uptight. You must be horny as hell!”

Klaus’s laughter is matched by my own as he sits next to us. “That’s not funny Klaus,” I reply still giggling. Five on the other hand wasn’t amused, he looked deep in thought not even staring in our direction.

“All those years by yourself, it's gotta screw with your head, being alone.”

Five concentration breaks, “well.” He starts. “I wasn't alone.” Klaus and I immediately go silent and stare at him.

“Spill,” I say.

“Her name was Delores. We were together for over thirty years.” The small bit of happiness on Five's face was very easy to see.

“Thirty years? Oh, wow!” Klaus chuckles. “God, the longest I've been with someone.. I didn't know for three weeks. And that's only because I was so tired from looking for a place to sleep.”

Klaus went on like that for a good five minutes rambling about his love life and how hard it was not having anywhere to stay. I yawned in desperate need of a break from whatever this was. And it looked like Five was ready to blink away.

I turned to him and signaled that we should leave by nudging my head to the busy road that was right in front of the building. He nods back at me.

“He did make the most fantastic osso buco, though. It was..”

Five takes hold of my sleeve and we blink from the steps into a taxi. “Don’t stop, just keep driving.” Five demands of the panicked driver.

“Hey! Where’d you guys go?” I hear Klaus yell as we drive past him. Five turns to the window and gives Klaus a wave that makes him instantly stand up and try to run over to us.

“Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, what about my money?!” He shouts but we’re long gone by then. I would’ve felt bad if this wasn't so funny.

Five was bleak at times and angry, and a lot of other things but he had his fun moments. We missed a lot of time getting to know each other but, this made up for it.

“So where to now?” I ask.

“I am going to run, uh an errand. I'm dropping you off at the academy.”

“Sounds good to me.” I smile. I needed this break to rest today. It was exhausting. “Our adventures have been fun, we should do it again.”

He turns to me, “Oh yeah?”

I hum in response.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

The sky turned a vibrant shade of dark blue by the time we reached a familiar street, we were almost at the academy. I kinda wanted to join Five on his errand but I didn't say anything.

I paid the taxi driver the spare tens in my pocket for not freaking out and reminded myself that I'd pay Klaus tomorrow too. And walked up to the doors of the Umbrella Academy.

“Goodnight Five!” I call out as I open the front door. But I walked in before hearing his response, only hearing the sound of the taxi driving away.

I found myself in a spot I always went to when I needed to escape my ‘father’. It was a storage closet-like room that had a tiny balcony where Ben and I would hang out in the late hours of the night.

But now I was by myself and Ben was nowhere to be found. So I lit a cigarette and stared at the night sky. It’s a bad habit that I picked up during all my time with Klaus, It did help me calm my nerves though.

“Y/n?”

I turned around to see Alison in the doorway. A frown was painted on her beautiful face.

“It's good to see you, I didn't expect you to still be here.” She expressed while sitting down next to me.

“Me neither but I had a busy day chasing around a fifty-something-year-old. Thought I'd stay just to see what else happened around here. Or the truth could be I just kinda missed it around here, I'm not sure.”

Alison nodded. “I'm glad you're here, we haven’t really talked at all I've just been so busy with trying to get in touch with Claire and-“

I briefly cut her off. “Yeah, is everything okay with that?”

“My ex-husband, Patrick is trying to make it seem like I don’t care about this court stuff. Since I'm missing a session of mandated therapy.” She huffs.

“Can I have a cigarette?”

I reached into my black jacket pocket and pulled out the pack. Half of it was already empty but I just bought it before I came here, I guess I need more.

“Wouldn't the court recognize that as like, certain circumstances?” I ask.

“Yes! That’s what I tried to tell him. But he won't listen at all.” Alison groaned, holding the now-lit cigarette.

I smirk. “He sounds like an ass.”

“You don’t even know,” we both shared a good laugh.

“But,” she says while laughing. “What’s been going on with you? I know that's very broad because we haven’t seen each other since my wedding but, have you been doing anything new?”

I look forward to the pitch-black sky. “Yeah uhm, not much,”

Alison thinks for a moment, “Oh! I know. Whatever happened to your boyfriend? The guy you brought to my wedding.”

I froze, my mouth slightly open and the cigarette I held between my lips fell to the balcony floor. “Oh him..”

“Did something happen Y/n?”

“No no, we just broke up I guess.”

Alison grabs onto my hand, squeezing me tightly. “I'm so sorry.” She says.

It’s not that I forgot about my ex, no I couldn’t. I just liked to pretend that he was a part of my childhood nothing more. But in reality, we only broke up about half a year ago.

“We didn’t have the best relationship,” I told her. “He wasn't the nicest guy but I stayed. We were on and off but I officially broke up with him a couple of months ago.”

She fiddled with her curly hair. “I would’ve never been able to tell, he just seemed so nice at the time. I thought you guys were the perfect match. Y/n I'm so sorry, forget I brought him up.”

“It’s okay, I mean you didn't know,” I reassured the woman.

“If you need anything I'm always here for you, you know? I don’t think we were ever the closet but. I'm here for you.” Alison states.

I wasn't sure how to respond, this was all so surreal. Telling someone how I felt was like a boulder being lifted off my chest. I was comfortable enough to do it again.

“Thank you, Alison, I appreciate you.” I grinned

“Miss Alison, are you up here?” Pogo's voice called out. The ape walked into the room as dapper as ever in his suit. “Ah, Miss Y/n you’re up here too good.”

“I was looking for you.” He said to Alison.

We quickly put out our cigarettes and turned our attention to Pogo.

“How did you, uh.. How’d you know I was up here?” She asked.

“Well it wasn't hard, this is where you two would always come when you were upset. I remember it, yes.” He nodded.

I didn’t know that Alison would come here too. All of our childhood I felt myself slightly put up against her when really we couldn’t be more alike.

“Who told you I was.. Luther.” She sighs.

“It was Miss Vanya. She called to make sure you were okay.”

“What happened?” I blurt out.

Alison stretches her legs by walking around the room. “I said some pretty

unkind things to her earlier.”

Pogo shook his head. “She’s your sister. She knows you didn't mean it.”

“Doubt it” Alison scoffs. “She doesn't know anything about me, which is fine because I don’t know shit about here either.”

That was the downside of all of us branching out, we never stayed in touch. If I had moved to a different state I would’ve never known how Klaus was doing and how I could help him. How different my life could’ve been, I mean what if I didn't come to the funeral? Life would’ve died without me having the slightest clue.

“Language”

Alison chuckles at his humor. “Sorry.”

Afraid of just sitting there, I cut into their conversation. “It has been a while since we’ve lived under the same roof, you know?”

They both agree with my sentiment.

“Almost thirteen years,” Pogo said

“Wow,” Alison and I both remark.

“How did you do it? Also in this big house for so long?” I ask.

“Well, one grows used to things, even if sometimes.. one shouldn’t.” He replies, the sadness evident in his voice.

I should’ve visited him, I'm an adult, Reginald can’t scare me anymore and no one was here. I was so close to them but still, I never wanted to come back without a reason. This place was my home for many years, yes, but it wasn’t my first home.

Pogo senses that we’re both down in the dumps. “You two should come with me. I want to show you something. It might just cheer you up,” he says.

We followed Pogo downstairs into one of the mansion's many rooms. But I don’t think I’ve ever seen this room before. The hallway was dark with only a few orange lights that barely helped see anything.

The tiny room was filled with rows of old TVs and controls with glowing buttons. Most of the tvs were black but there were a few Pogo must've turned on. Then he went into a box and pulled out a tape. He placed it into the TV closest to him.

The tape played old security camera recordings of us as kids, probably around thirteen from what we looked like. It would’ve been creepy if it didn't make me sad, these memories are some of the good times at the academy that I ignored because of all the bad.

Alison and I gawked at the footage. We sat in two chairs that were in front of the TVs as Pogo talked to us from behind. “Your father stopped recording years ago. But I still come here from time to time. When I'm missing you kids.” He said.

Alison was the first to speak. “Pogo, this is..” she sighs. “Most families have home movies to look back on. We have surveillance footage.”

“I hoped it might cheer you up.”

I laugh. “This definitely does.”

Previous to the new tape Pogo just put in, some of the other TVs had more footage. My eyes drifted from screen to screen soaking up all the cute moments.

“Oh my god look how little we were,” Alison tells me.

One screen was Alison and I in her room trying on Grace’s clothes. “Ohh, I remember this,” I said.

And Alison turns to see the one I'm looking at. “This was so fun! Mom always had the best clothes.” She exclaimed.

Grace's dresses were obviously too big for us, but that didn't stop us. Her clothes were modeled after old housewives of a different time and might look strange and out of date to others. But we loved them.

I moved to another screen of me, Ben and Klaus talking. We were sitting on one of the main staircases. I wish I could freeze time to that moment forever, just the three of us again.

Alison follows where my sad eyes are staring. “I miss him so much.” She said upsetly.

“Me too” I whisper.

The screen next to that was of Vanya, playing her violin alone. You could hear the sound of us children in the background and Alison’s voice while she played by herself. It was the heartbreaking reality of our childhood.

“Why didn't we include her? I mean if anyone ever treated Claire like that, I can’t even imagine.” Alison wonders.

“You were children, Miss Alison,” Pogo replies.

“Yeah.. but I'm not anymore and neither is she.”

Pogo straightens up like he’s getting ready to head out. “If you two aren’t in a hurry. There’s more tapes in that cabinet.” He nudges his head to a large cabinet overflowing with tapes with all different labels.

The man drops the key into my hand. “Make sure to lock up when you're done, things have been disappearing lately. These are too important to lose.”

I tell him I will and Pogo heads back out through the door. But before he leaves he gives us one more look. I turn back towards the screens and rethink back to those happier days.

Alison stands up to go over to the cabinet, she picks up a similar-looking tape. But above the box, there was a rusty tape. The label was gone and it looked scratched up.

“What’s that?” I ask. She opens it and slides it into a screen.

“I don’t know but I guess we're gonna see.” She hits rewind and it starts to buffer before playing. The video was harder to make out than all the other black-and-white films. Alison and I both leaned in and once my eyes focused it was clear what was going on.

“Oh god, Dad.”

…

Aug 14 update:

If you'd like to be added to the tag list for rest of the series (starts at chapter 10) say taglist in the comments!

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vodika-vibes · 6 months ago

Text

The Brotherhood - Stat Wars AU

Summary: Misfit is kicked from the 501st and barred from joining Rex with the 332nd. Though, he was warned that this would happen.

Characters: Clone OC - Misfit, ARC Trooper Fives, Clone Trooper Tup, Clone Trooper Dogma, Commander Fox, Captain Rex, ARC Trooper Jesse (mentioned)

Word Count: 764

“I know you're not thrilled, Misfit-” Rex says slowly as he looks at his, very unimpressed, little brother, “But this might be a good thing.”

Misfit pulls a cigarette out of his jumpsuit pocket and slips it between his lips, though he doesn't light it just yet, “A good thing, huh?”

“You're not made for military life, vod. You've been miserable since the war started-”

“-so you're ditching me.” Misfit replies, finally pulling his lighter from his pocket and lighting the stick hanging from his lips.

“I…wish you wouldn't say it like that.”

“Oh? Is there a nicer way to phrase it?” Misfit asks sarcastically as he flicks an unkempt curl off his forehead.

“Misfit, vod,” Rex sighs, “You haven't exactly made any friends over the years. You convinced Barriss Offee to leave the order.”

“I convinced her that terrorism wasn't going to prove her point.” Misfit corrects as he blows some smoke out the side of his mouth, “Her leaving the order was just the next best thing.”

Rex is quiet for a long time, “Ahsoka tried to have you transferred to her, but the Admiral decided that you're a liability. Your drug use is rather well known at this point.” He shakes his head, “I'm sorry, vod. But there's no longer a choice. Maybe…maybe you should talk to the jedi about rehab.”

Misfit flicks some ash off his cigarette, “I'd sooner eat my blaster.” There's a shout from the doorway, and Misfit turns his cold gaze to his older brother, “Better get going, Commander.” Somehow, the rank sounds like an insult.

Rex lingers for a moment, and then he turns away, “Don't do anything drastic, Misfit. We'll talk when I get back, maybe get you sent to the 212th.”

“I won't hold my breath.” Misfit leaves before Rex reaches the door, and Rex's shoulders slump as he walks over to Jesse, who sympathetically claps him on the shoulder.

Misfit walks through the clone Barracks, breezing past his brothers, content with them ignoring him. He turns down a side hall, goes down a flight of stairs, and kicks open a swinging door that leads to a darkened, musty smelling hallway.

The hallway leads to one place, a large room that's been ignored for years. Well, officially at least.

Misfit reaches the door and keys in the code that he was given earlier that day. The door slides open and Misfit steps into a well lit and clean smelling room.

“Do you have to smoke that in here?” Fives asks from where he's flipping a blade between his fingers.

“It's this or I throw myself off the roof, take your pick, vod.” Misfit replies.

“Put it out, Misfit.” Fox orders from where he's scanning a datapad, “I'm guessing you're here because you've been kicked out of the 501st.”

“And the 332nd.” Misfit confirms as he puts his cigarette out in the convenient ashtray. “Just like you said.”

“I'm sure it wasn't personal,” Tup says from where he's examining the blade attached to his wrist. “You know what Rex is like.”

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever.” Misfit tucks his cigarette behind his ear, and drops into a chair next to Dogma, “Anyway, why am I here with three vod'e who are supposed to be dead?”

Fox smirks and drops a strange looking blade on the table in front of Misfit. It straps to the inside of his wrists, and a sharp blade pops out from the hilt as he flexes his wrist. “This is a hidden blade,” Fox explains, “perfect for assassinations.”

“Will you finally tell us what you're planning?” Dogma asks.

Fox drops in a seat, a small smirk on his face, “I'm making an assassination squad. The four of you were chosen because all four of you are quiet in the Force. According to Vos, you're force quiet.”

“Meaning?” Tup asks.

“You're force sensitive enough that other force sensitives can't detect you.” Fox leans forward, “I'm sure you can tell that there are a lot of people in the galaxy who deserve to die. People we can't touch. That's what you four are for.”

“You want us to be your personal assassins?” Fives asks.

“No, I am going to be completely hands off from here on out. You'll do your own research, gather your own evidence. Your targets are your choice.” Fox says, “Fives will be in charge.”

Fives pauses and a dark smirk crosses his face, “Palpatine will be our first target.” He leans over the table as Fox leaves the room, “Welcome to the Assassin's Brotherhood.” Fives almost purrs, as he drops a map of the senate on the table, “We're going to save everyone.”

#star wars #star wars au #clone oc: misfit #i love him #and people should love him too

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sayakxmi · 17 days ago

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Some ideas for V3 as Remanants of Despair* under the cut, cuz it's prolly gonna be rambly.

Gonna preface it all by saying that some stuff will likely be inspired by in fact by Buttercup_ghost if not just downright borrowed, bc their takes are great (fully recomending reading the fic), but I'm also trying to add my own spin to it.

Another thing is that I like the idea of V3 Remanants being delusional/convinced they're doing the right thing. They all gave me very strong self-righteous vibes, and it's a recipe for disaster. Like, class 77 are more "burning the world down to burn it" while 79 (V3) are like "gotta burn it/purge it to make it into a better place". Like, Junko specifically used the fact that they are naive and view themselves as good people against them.

Shuichi Saihara

Ok, so first of all - SAWhara? Amazing, spectuacular, never been done before, full credit to Buttercup_ghost bc I love this idea so much. But I kinda like the idea of Despair!Saihara being some kind of a harbinger of truth if you get me. He sort of is one in the game, but there he is gentle and unwilling, but as a Despair, he has none of that kindness he's occassionally willing to give to the culprits. No secrets are safe around him, he will dig it all out to cause strife and despair. Unless, of course, you can actually overcome it. In that case, you have a chance of surviving. He probably doesn't view it as truth ruining people's lives but the lies they'd told to hide it earlier.

Also, again from Buttercup_ghost, but the idea of Junko getting to Shuichi first makes just so much sense. The two best picks are either Shuichi or Kokichi, but I feel like they also cancel each other. They're both capable of falling, but also they're both capable of standing their grounds if others fall first. The difference is that Shuichi is liked and can get Junko close to others, while Kokichi is alone and he'll always be, so getting through him first is a shot in the knee kinda, bc others won't be as trusting as they would've been if you met literally anybody else first, F. Plus, there's a chance of using that loneliness against him later to make him fall, so it makes sense that way, too.

Kaede Akamatsu

It's like semi-borrowed from in fact (it's faster to write the fic titile than the author's, so I'll be doing that from now on), but only semi bc it's something I probably would have come up to myself even without reading it, like, girl decides to take the one for the team & kill somebody, hoping the person that dies will be the one that "deseved" that/was the real enemy, and it's similar here. Some people are Evil and they need to Die.

Rantaro Amami

Something something, failing your family will get you in trouble, that's also why one of the first people he kills are his own parents. I mean, you lost 12 daughters, by now you should have found at least one, you're rich and all that, you can afford it, but apparently it's only Rantaro who cares enough to involve a detective I guess? But, yeah, abusers of all kinds are the targets, neglectful parents etc etc. You get the idea. It sounds ok in paper, but the definition of abuse in his eyes is kind of unclear, so if you beat up your kid he'll be after you, and you can also just have a nasty argument with your spouse, and then you won't have a spouse, so. And, again, the point of V3 as RoD is that they are doing what they believe to be right, but they have sekwed up perception of right and wrong and zero limits.

K1-B0

Something we kinda forget about Kiibou is that he canonically looks down on Shuichi, like, bro just tells him he saw him as beneath him in their last FTE, and only changed his mind after some time. MAN. But, anyway, Despair!Kiibou isn't trying to be perceived as like humans or anything of this sort, I mean, why would he put himself on equal grounds with some people (derogatory)? He's so much better than them! He's a robot, he's smarter, he's stronger, he simply knows best. And people better recognize that or they'll get burned to crisps. I can also see him perceiving himself as somebody who should make the law (a nod to all that lawsuit things), he kinda goes dictator mode I guess. Fuck the three laws of robotics.

Gonta Gokuhara

Straight up stealing from in fact, bc Gonta going around mercy killing people who are "least likely to survive" is peak. Also love him not considering the rest of his class his friends anymore (save for Kokichi, but we'll get to it later).

Angie Yonaga

Again, in fact, Angie believing that Junko is her god makes sense to me. Grl started a cult probably, so first half of chapter 3, but there's more blood, I guess.

Tenko Chabashira

Definitely one of the more difficult ones to turn into a Despair, but I can sorta see her misandry spiking up. My idea is kinda that since Shuichi, a degenerate male, brought Junko to them, which put Himiko and other girls in danger, she straight up blamed him for what happened, and got radicalized over time. Though, admittedly, Despair!Tenko is a subject to change if I come up with something better.

Himiko Yumeno

Chapter 2 body discovery, except she's doing it on purpose. Himiko Yumeno, Blood is Magic. Maybe she embraces the "evil witch" archetype, too. Nobody will question her status as a mage if they're dead. I like where I'm going with it, but I'm struggling to put it into words, I hope you get the idea.

Miu Iruma

I tried to think of something, and against myself I ended up kinda agreeing with in fact again, oh well. It just makes a lot of sense for her to turn into a Despair out of paranoia - get them before they get you, y'know? But it's Miu, so her ego has to be involved somehow. It's a mix, then, she's afraid of everything, but also wants the world to acknowledge her genius and hotness, so if she has to blast some people into fractions, she will.

Korekiyo Shinguji

Listen he was like 16 in the game how tf he managed to not only kill almost 100 women, but also somehow not be caught. Bro isn't exactly the definition of subtle appearance-wise. He's supcious as hell, actually. And for that reason, again, sadly, in fact went into this direction, and so am I. I told you the author's takes were great.

Ryouma Hoshi

Aaaand in fact isn't over. It was awfully simple with him - he has nothing left to lose, so Junko gets him to care about her, and he doesn't care what happens to the rest of the world.

Kirumi Toujo

I'm not 100% sure about it, but I'm kind of vibing with that backstory of hers, that she once served somebody so well that person became unable to do their job, and her opting to do just that, because everybody else is fucking incompetent compared to her, and she deserves far more appreciation. She's resentful, and she'll smile and bow politely and ruin her employers' lives from the inside, showing them they're nothing in comparison.

Tsumugi Shirogane

She's a tricky one, but I can imagine Junko making her recognize her "true potential" or something. She's likely the one who idealizes Junko the most out of everybody, and I can see it as somewhat similar to the Mikan situation, which, oof. She gives Tsumugi all the attention she could possibly ask for, while for the rest of the world she might as well not exist, and she roams it in various costumes, doing whatever she pleases and avoiding responsibility. She's similar to Impostor in a way, but I'd say their difference is that Tsumugi can copy only some general stuff, mostly visually, so she can trick people into believing she's somebody else only for a little bit, while Impostor is so good they could live somebody's life for years and nobody would question it too hard unless they and the original were literally in the same room, and also Impostor can learn their skillsets. Anyway, I think at her core Tsumugi just feels worthless, so she becomes anything else for Junko, and when she's dead, her reason for being herself is gone, too - nobody cares about some Plain Jane, so she wants to become the next Junko to feel the void something something.

Kaito Momota

I'm really entertaining the idea of him just embracing the worst parts of himself - he believes himself to be the hero, the main character, the chosen one, and he requires others to recognize that. He pulls a vigilante, probably, but, as usual in Despair!V3, his view of who is and who isn't a criminal is skewed. But it doesn't matter, because he's never wrong in his judgement. He knows best who desevres or doesn't deserve to live, and he takes all the credit for putting the ones who don't into their grave.

Maki Harukawa

And who else does Kaito take the credit from if not the Ultimate Assassin herself? Ngl, they give me the vibe of Fuyuhiko and Peko. Kaito's the hero, and Maki's his sidekick, his weapon. Her hands can never be clean, but she can use them to make the world a better place by getting rid of all the filth. And she trusts Kaito's judgement, so if he tells her to kill somebody, they'll be dead.

*Kokichi Ouma

In fact gets the credit for making me realize things can be happening in the same universe, and also that V3 can be the ones responsible for what happens to him. Kokichi isn't a Remanant, he essentially takes Chiaki's role. He is by no means his class' hope, but he sure af won't let anybody touch them (well, an attempt was made). I've mentioned by Shuichi that best options would have been either to start with him or Kokichi, and yeah. Kokichi absolutelu could become Despair under the right circumstances, anybody could, but Junko made her choice, and while it was logical, it also meant Kokichi will not fall to her. He was recognized by HPA as the Ultimate Supreme Leader for a reason. Nobody touches his people and gets away with it (whoops, she did). Bro went through a Chiaki-style execution, except he reaches his class who weren't as friendly to him as Chiaki's would've been. By which I mean they toruterd him to near death. Like, I have specifically ideas for Kiibou burning his wrists, making the hand-shaped scars resemble cuffs (punishment for all the robophobia, Kiibou doesn't need the human laws to do things for him, he can judge crimes himself), Gonta knocking him out, bc he wanted Kokichi not to be awake to experience any of that, and at some point when Kokichi looks at Shuichi, Shuichi ends up stabbing him in the eye. RIP.

In the good route, both him and Chiaki survive, btw. Very long story would be that Chiaki, Nagito and Kokichi were friends in HPA, doing some investigating on Kamukura Project and Junko, and for Reasons Nagito was suspended for a while, so he wasn't there when Junko was getting to his classmates, blah blah, Kokichi tells him to go where his classmates went (Chiaki's execution place), bc he has to go after his own to safety or sth (even tells him about DICE in case something happens to him, bc he has a Plan, but no plan is 100% cerain to be succesful), so Nagito gets there when she's still alive if barely, Kamukura arrives, Nagito gets him to help Chiaki anyway. Kokichi's execution happens some time later, and Nagito and Chiaki find out and get to him when he's already like 90% in the grave & thanks to Kamukura he survives.

Bad route has them not get to Kokichi on time, and also at some point both Nagito and Chiak die, so they're both AIs in the simulation, long story.

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drdemonprince · 7 months ago

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Look I understand that at the federal level we're cooked because we don't have a good third option but voting on a state and local level will help out peoples lives. We can see this with how abortion rights were enshrined in blue states and how places like Minnesota got children free lunch. We can't just decolonize the system overnight so I think it's the most practical thing to do is vote for the best change possible on levels where you're the most effected while working for more.

It's not that we lack a good or viable third option, the problem runs far deeper and more systemically than that. The system is set up such that no alternative option that is actually challenging to the status quo can exist -- the way election financing works and the structure of majority/minority leadership in houses and senates makes having a meaningful third party presence impossible.

As for the possible influence at the local election level, in some ways I am with you. I voted for an increase to funding for the forest reserve. I felt good when that passed. I voted for increased funding for homeless people -- it never materialized. Even when welfare packages pass, they rarely do materialize as promised because there is no way to hold the government accountable for carrying out the people's will.

I voted for the mayor that was less pro-cop. It hasn't kept police from brutalizing protestors all over this city all year long. He put in a few more bike lanes which I guess some people find an adequate enough reason to continue to be complicit within the present system. But my feeling is that every goddamned time that I convince myself that I should participate to try and move the needle, that I should lower my standards and accept even a modicum of improved treatment by the state, I wind up being bait-and-switched even further and having to accept even smaller table scraps than the crumbs I'd already been offered. And I see so many dedicated, passionate leftist people pouring hundreds of hours every year into campaigning for Democratic politicians who pull shit like this, and helping them raise copious amounts of funds that exist only to help them keep getting elected and doing fuck all.

if you wanna walk up to the polls on election day and pay attention to whats happening down ballot that's your business. im glad my alderwoman is the less pro-gentrification one than the other guy that used to be in office. she's still pro gentrification and building $1400 a month high rises all over the neighborhood. none of this is acceptable and the forward creep of economic displacement is still happening, it just has a happier face on it. and it always will because that's what the system is and does.

the deeper problem is that once people invest any hope in a system that is hopelessly oppressive, they tend to also funnel a lot of attention toward electoral politics and campaigning when that money and time would be a lot better spend like, just giving food to homeless people on your block or babysitting a neighbors kids or planting some vegetables or like anything else thats actually community minded.

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seospicybin · 2 years ago

Text

HAPPIEST SEASON.

Han x reader. (s,f)

Synopsis: It's the first time you take your best friend Han to spend Christmas holiday with your family and to also announce a great news but the more he knows the more he's doubting himself. (19,4k words)

Author's note: It's slow burn, best friends to lovers, just a tad bit angsty, warm and fluffy with a side of family drama and ex jealousy. It's my gift to you, hope you like it! Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone :)

Marry your best friend.

Han ever heard that line before, either from a movie or an advertisement, he couldn't remember. What he's trying to say is he has no problem with it but he's having a hard time making sense of it.

How can you marry your own best friend? Wouldn't that be weird? Isn't it going to feel like marrying your second cousin or something?

"If we don't find love then we'll just marry each other."

You once said it as a joke or he thought it was.

Han isn't opposed to the idea, he is pretty much given up searching for love because what's the use though if it would only end up in heartbreak and misery?

On the other side, you got tired of going on blind dates your father set for you in order to find you the one, or in your words 'the one' your father approved.

Just like tonight, it seems like you've just gone on another one and you come to his place afterward like you always do, either to vent about the date, your father and how you only obey him because of his stubbornness.

Han would intently listen to your rant with a can of beer in hand. Except, you seem so calm and he takes it that the date went well.

"You're working on something?" You asked from the doorway of his bedroom while taking your cardigan off.

"Just keeping myself busy," he answers, a bit stammering at the sight of you in a red dress that makes you look so radiant.

He clears his throat before asking, "what's up?"

You lean the side of your body against the doorframe, looking a little distracted like something is bothering you, then you softly sigh, "can we talk?"

Everyone would agree with him that those three words are anxiety-inducing he immediately thinks if he has done something wrong to you.

You take two canned drinks out of his fridge and hand the beer to him while you have your favorite peach-flavored drink in your hands.

"How was the date?" He asks because it seems like what you're going to talk about is something related to it.

"It was alright," you answered.

That convinced him that the date went well just as he guessed, and he feels relieved that he can finally pop open his can of beer, then takes a long gulp.

You sit next to him on the couch and take a sip of your drink as well while looking at the tree outside, changing its leaves at the turn of the season.

"You remember I once said that if we don't find love, we'll just marry each other?" You asked out of the blue.

Han laughs in response and takes another sip of his beer.

You put your drink away and shift on your seat to face him, "I think it's time," you said.

You do this all the time, keeping a straight face so that he can't tell the difference whether you're telling a joke or being serious. But it must be the former, right?

"Yeah, sure," he half-heartedly replies with a dry laugh.

You put your hand on his forearm and it feels cold that he turns his head at you, you look a little distressed like something is bothering your head.

"Why are you so nervous?" He bluntly asks because he has never seen you like this.

For him, you always have been the happy-go-lucky kind of girl, it's like you bring your own sun wherever you go and spread the warmth to everyone around you.

You put on a small smile before speaking, "Listen, Han, I'm getting tired of my father setting me up with these people that I barely knew."

He acknowledges the issue because you have told him enough to know that you're just so done with all of it.

"I figured that if I'll ever marry someone, it's not going to be someone my father chooses for me," you said.

He nods while intently listening to you, putting his hand over yours to show he's taking your side on the matter.

"And I choose you," you said.

It takes him more than a minute to process those words, because a) he didn't expect the talk would lead to b) implying that you choose him and c) to marry you?

He bursts out laughing because he doesn't know how else to react to this.

"You're joking right?" He asks because you always keep a straight face when you're telling a joke.

You shake your head, "No, I'm not," you shortly replied.

His laughs slowly die down and are replaced by anxiety, "but we're friends," he innocently remarks.

"And isn't that just great?" You exclaimed.

That's not the answer he expected, you seem rather delighted by this fact.

"We've been friends for years and we know each other the best and we're comfortable around each other," you listed all of the things that would favor the union.

If you put it that way then yes, it doesn't weird at all to marry your best friend.

"Come on! Let's get married!" You cheerfully said with your shoulder bumping him.

Yet Han is still not convinced by the idea, he was just minding his business a few minutes ago and the next thing he knows his best friend proposed to him. Anyone can understand how confusing this situation is for him.

"But– but, we're fri– we're not—" he is at a loss for words that he's unable to finish his sentence.

As a friend of his for years and grow a telepathic connection with him, you understand what he's trying to ask you.

You take his hand on his lap and clasped it, "Marriage is not always about love. I just think that if I want to spend the rest of my life with someone, I want it to be with my best friend," you explained.

And five years of friendship proves nothing but he does have those feelings for you but not in a romantic way.

Maybe it's possible after all, to marry your best friend with no love involved, but another question pops into his head.

"What about your father?" He asks.

You lean in closer and look him in the eyes, "I did this because I do want this. Not because of my father or anyone else for that matter, I want this," you emphasize how much you meant your words to him.

You don't need to do all that, he sees right through you, you crinkle your nose when you lie and all he can see right now is the sincerity in your eyes.

There are so many rhetorical questions appearing in his head and just like any other human being, he keeps being haunted by his own failures of his past romantic relationships that he can't help but ask you this one question.

"What if it doesn't work out?" He meekly asks.

You put on a smile and ask him back, "What if it works out?"

And he likes that about you, how you always see the world through a different view, how you always look on the brighter side of things, and how you can easily infect him with your confidence.

That's what he needs in his life, confidence and you help him build it in him over time.

That's only one of the many good things you've done for him, if he should list everything, it would take him forever.

You shake the hand on his lap to snap him out of his head, "Han, you know you're free to say no, there's no pressure," you reminded him.

He takes a shaky breath and awkwardly massages his temple, "it's just... so sudden," he admitted.

You crack a laugh, "I know, right? Just take your time," you assured him.

You take your hand off of him and grab your drink, walking away to the kitchen to give Han space and time to think.

He thinks it all over in his head, listing every pros and cons of marrying you.

Everything you said is fair and sensible.

You indeed know him best to the point that he doesn't have to hide his true self from you and the idea of having, living in that safe space for the rest of his life won him over almost immediately.

He looks at you as you return to the couch with a new can of drink, put the drink on the table then all of sudden, kneels on the floor in front of him.

"Whoa! What are you doing?" He asks in shock.

"Properly proposing you," you casually answer and take the ring tab from the empty can of your drink.

You look up at him with a smile on your face, "Han Jisung, will you marry me?"

Never in a million years he thought that his best friend would be on her knee and proposed to him!

He's in his black sweater and sweatpants, his hair is unruly from staying the night up finishing a track and he is aware of the mess in his small apartment, the dishes piling on the sink, and a basket full of dirty laundry in the corner of the room.

And he's certain that he doesn't have it in him to be a husband.

Yet here you are, kneeling in front of him and asking him to marry you.

He takes a deep breath, taking a moment to try to verbalize his thoughts into words even though everyone knows that's an impossible thing to do.

In the end, he settles with a simple answer, "let's do this!"

There is a deep crease between your eyebrows, "what do you mean by that?"

"Let's do this!" He repeats, "let's get married!"

"Are you saying yes?" You asked with your breath hitched at the end of the sentence.

"I am, yes, yes I do!" He says, softly laughing at how your face was all tensed and pale.

You break down on the floor and he thought you are about to faint, but you propped your hands behind you, "oh fuck!"

He holds out his hands to help you get up from the floor, he uses all of his strength to pull you up so that you crashed against him on the couch.

"I didn't know how nerve-wracking a marriage proposal is until now," you said while clutching your chest and then putting your arms around his neck, hugging him so tight.

"Thank you for saying yes," you said.

"You're welcome, I guess?" He gets flustered because it should be him kneeling on the floor for you, not the other way around.

When you let go of the hug, he sees your eyes brimming with tears.

"Are you crying?" He asked in pure confusion.

"No," You said while hurriedly wiping the tears that rolled down one side of your cheek.

"I'm just so happy, I guess?"

Han didn’t know you needed his answer that badly but at the same time, he can’t explain why he’s just as happy.

A few weeks after the proposal, you both moved into a new apartment intending to adjust to each other by living together.

He likes the new apartment because a) it is bigger than his old one b) you both have your own rooms and c) you share a bathroom, but he doesn't mind it because he gets to borrow your shampoo when he runs out.

He never skipped a meal since he started living with you, he knows where his things are because you keep everything well organized and he doesn't have to worry when he needs to wake up early in the morning.

He used to think that moving in with someone takes a great commitment, nobody said that this would be this easy or maybe it's because he's living with you that makes it seem so easy.

The more he thinks about the marriage, the more plausible it becomes to him, marrying his best friend.

The bedroom door is ajar but you come knocking on his door when he's packing for the trip to your parent's house for the holidays.

He looks up to see you in your night dress and smiling at him while showing him the canned drinks in your hands, "drinks?"

He grins at the idea, "sure!"

You step inside and lean against his desk, forgetting that his desk is so close to crumbling down.

You retreat and sit on his bed instead, handing him his favorite late-night beverage, beer.

Clanking your cans against each other before taking a sip, then you notice the things scattered on his bed, "do you need help packing?" You offered.

"It's okay. I'm almost done anyway," he answers but actually, he's still trying to go through the list of things he should pack in his head.

You softly smile and help him tidy up his folded shirts, "you're not nervous, right?"

"About the trip?"

"Yeah."

"A little," he honestly answers.

"What about you?"

You take a long gulp of your drink before answering, "I've never been this nervous to come home for the holidays," you admitted.

He understands that it's not going to be an easy thing to let your family know that you proposed to someone, to your own best friend, to him.

You take his stacks of t-shirts and roll them one by one, "It's just the uhm... there'll always be a drama," you awkwardly said with a flustered laugh.

"Well, at least, when relatives ask about my love life, I can confidently answer that I'm engaged," you said with a low laugh.

See? You always know where to look for the silver lining. But he can only respond with a dry laugh because he wouldn't be that confident to tell anyone if he's engaged to someone like him.

Once you both finished both of your drinks, you get up from his bed and take the empty cans with you, "if there's nothing else I can help you with then I'm going to bed."

"Sure yeah, you need to rest," he says remembering that he does not yet have a driving license so you'll be the one driving the three hours trip.

You place a hand on his shoulder and softly squeeze it, leaning in to kiss him briefly on the cheek, "don't stay up too late, okay?"

In the years-long of being friends, he remembers the three occasions in which you kissed him on the cheek, one was on graduation day, two was when he sold his first track and three was when he caught your favorite plushie from the vending machine for you.

And now, you start this habit of kissing him on the cheek before bed. To be honest, it felt weird getting it at first but now it feels weird when you didn't give him a goodnight kiss before bed.

"Goodnight!" You say while lingering in his doorway.

"Goodnight!" He says back, watching you leave his bedroom but keep the door ajar.

Gosh, why is he always sleeping through his alarm? Thanks to you, he's never late waking up in the morning and getting better at being tardy. With his eyes still heavy with sleep, he trudges his way to the bathroom only to barge in on you drying your hair in your bathrobe.

"I'm sorry. The door is open so I thought—" he slurs his words because his brain isn't properly functioning yet without caffeine.

You laugh at him, "no worries!"

Han will never get used to seeing you with that much-exposed skin. Just because you're his best friend doesn't mean that it's normal for him to see you naked, he still takes it as something inappropriate.

You sense his discomfort and unplug the hairdryer, "I'll continue in my bedroom," you say then leave the bathroom.

Knowing that he only can do much without a driving license, Han gets all of the bags down from the apartment and loads them into the car, warming up the car engine for you.

"Do you still have any space left in your bag?" You ask, the moment you get in the driver's seat.

He grabs his backpack from the backseat and unzips it, "I think so," he answers.

You hand him your book, "I forgot to put it in the suitcase," you say.

"I got this," he takes the book and puts it inside his backpack.

Han tries to stay awake the whole ride but he didn't listen to you to not stay up late, he went to sleep so late that he falls asleep in the car.

When he wakes up, there are only a few kilometers left on the trip.

The closer he gets to your parent's house the more nervous he gets, he met your parents a few times before but this will be his first time coming to your parent's house.

Your family is nice but now that he's agreed to marry you, he feels the need to prove himself that he's worthy to be a part of your family. He's not sure if he'll ever be a part because you have a picture-perfect family, your father is a retired district attorney and your mother is a licensed psychologist, your older sister teaches at university, she has also married a lawyer from a successful blind date your father set them up.

Well, he doesn't have to tell you how great you are, you are smart and beautiful, and you are on your way to being a great architect.

How can he compare himself to all of that? He's just a struggling musician, he earns money from making music and no one even knows who he is.

He feels so small already from assessing all that greatness in your family. How is he going to fit in? To add to his suffering, he's not great at being around family, no wait, he's not great at being around people in general.

"We're here!" You announce with a gleeful smile on your face.

If only he wasn't that nervous, he would be as happy as you but he manages to put on a smile for you.

"I'll get our things, don't worry!" He says. He needs a little more time to prepare himself before meeting your family.

But you help him get your things from the car and drag them to the front door of the house, then ring the doorbell with a gleeful smile on your face.

A moment later, someone opens the door followed by a shriek, "oh my God, it's you!"

Han sighs in relief after seeing that it's your sister who opened the door, he met your sister several times because she visited you a lot when you were still in university.

He watches as you reunited with your sister and exchange a kiss on the cheek after.

"I think you remember Han," you take a wild guess and present him to your sister.

"Of course! Hi, hello, Han!" She greets him like an old friend, then proceeds to give him a quick hug.

The house is looking empty when he enters but as soon as your little nephew runs down the stairs, it's getting a little loud.

You kneel on the floor with your arms open to embrace little Lee as he rushes to hug you and his father comes down the stairs after him.

Your sister introduce him to your brother-in-law and Han is grateful that he's not as serious as he thought he would be just because he's a lawyer, "nice to see you!"

Not long after, your parents come down the stairs as well and greet both of you with smiles on their faces.

"Mom, dad!" You greet and hug them in turns.

He stiffens at the sight of them and he starts to get hot with all the layers of clothes he's wearing inside the house.

"This is Han," you introduce him only by his name and he guesses that you haven't given them the details yet.

Your father comes up to him first and taps him on the shoulder.

"Long trip, huh?" He asks.

"Yes, sir!"

Everyone laughs at how he sounded so rigid when he answers your father.

"Call me however you want," Your father says with a laugh and a squeeze on his shoulder.

"I'm glad you're both home!" Your mother adds and firmly shakes his hand, "how are you?"

"I'm great," he shortly replies and he quickly thinks of something to say back, "you have a wonderful house!"

She brightly smiles at his compliment and places a hand on the small of his back, "it was my grandmother's," she informs.

You glance at him and sense that it's probably too overwhelming for him, you come to his side, "we're a little tired from the trip so..." you trailed your words to let them catch on your intention.

Your mother nods, "Oh yeah, sure, I have the rooms ready for you two!"

You must have noticed that it's too much for him since it's the first time he comes to your parent's house and he'll spend the rest of the holiday with your family.

You seem to mind that your mother assigned him to the room in the basement but due to your sister being pregnant, little Lee sleeps in the guest bedroom and Han sleeps in the basement.

He doesn't mind though, it's not like the two of you have been sleeping in one room anyway. He's unpacking his things when you come to see him, knocking on the door when it's already open, and sheepishly smiles when he looks at you.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that you'd be sleeping in the basement," you apologize and sit on the bed next to him.

"No, it's alright, I kind of like it."

You raise an eyebrow at him as if you just heard him wrong.

"I mean, at least I can comfortably work on my track in here," he quickly explains before you get the wrong idea or maybe the optimism in you seeps into him.

"Good to hear that!" You said, a little relieved.

"Anyway, we'll be out tonight to have a family dinner," you informed.

He's not sure if he brought anything suitable for a family dinner, all he can think about is the cold weather so he packed a lot of thick, warm clothes.

As if you sense the panic in him, you go to his other duffel bag, then pull out a black shirt and slacks that he doesn't remember he packed.

"I'll iron these for you," you said.

Thanks to you he doesn't have to worry about being underdressed for a family dinner in a fine-dining restaurant.

Also, your father is a well-respected man in town, a few people stopped by just to greet him and he got to introduce everyone at the table.

When it comes to introducing him, your father addresses him as your friend and he would glance at you to see your reaction.

By the time the main course is being served, someone comes by the table and everyone seem to recognize him as they're surprised but delighted by the visit.

"Oh, we haven't seen you in a long time!" Your mother says with a smile.

Han is the only one who is clueless about who he is, maybe a distant relative or...

"You came home!" He says to you and leans down to do what the French usually do when they greet each other.

"I've just arrived this afternoon," you told him and didn't forget to introduce him to this mysterious, charming man.

"This is Han and Han this is, Chris, he's a friend from high school," you introduced.

"Oh come on! We are more than just 'high school friends'," Chris playfully says to the entire table and earning chuckles from everyone.

Han gets up from his chair to give the man a handshake, "Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too!" He says back to him with a firm grip on his hand.

"Wow, it feels weird now seeing you all big and muscular and a what? A star athlete!" Your sister says with admiration in her eyes.

"No, I'm not!" Chris shyly denies the claim.

"We should have met a few years earlier, then I wouldn't end up marrying this lawyer," your sister jokes and causing everyone to laugh but a glare from her husband.

"We did meet a few years ago, it was you who's too late to acknowledge my presence," Chris jokes back with a charming laugh and dimples on his cheeks.

Han admires those people who know how to carry themselves and who are not shy about standing in front of a lot of people or being stared at. Ultimately, one that knows how to communicate with people without being awkward.

As everyone laughs at every witty remark Chris made, Han feels like he's shrinking into a microscopic size then he feels your hand on his thigh.

"You don't like the food?"

"Huh?"

"You haven't touched your food. I can order something else if you don't like it," you said.

He shakes his hand, "no, I'm good."

"Are you sure?" You asked.

"Yeah," he answers with a convincing smile.

It's snowing when they wait outside for the valets to get their cars, he reaches for your hand since he knows how easily you get cold.

You smile in response and hold his hand back while holding little Lee sleeping in your arms, then all of a sudden, your brother-in-law comes to him.

"I think I had too many drinks. Can you drive my car?" He asks.

"I told you to slow down with your drinking," your sister nags from behind him.

Your brother-in-law hands him the car keys without saying anything and goes inside his car the second it arrives. Han keeps staring at the car keys with blank eyes, doesn't know what to do with them but is too embarrassed to let everyone knows he doesn't have a driver's license.

"Why don't you hold little Lee for me?" You asked.

He opens his arms without complaint and takes little Lee from you, watching as you come to your dad, probably to explain the situation. He sees your dad nodding and takes the car keys, you’re probably telling them you can’t drive their car. It's just great that they now know the reason why he didn't drive is not that he doesn't know the way around the town, but he simply can't.

Han reluctantly follows you to your brother-in-law's car and sits on the passenger's side with sleeping little Lee on his lap.

Thankfully no one says anything because your sister is too busy taking care of his drunk husband but it doesn't make him less embarrassed.

He's happy to be back in his room in the basement and pities himself for being an incompetent man. How are you going to tell your family you proposed to a man like him?

The knocking on his door makes him jolt on the bed, he gets up to open it to see you standing there, carrying folded blankets in your hands.

"I brought extra blankets because it gets cold in the middle of the night," you said with a smile.

He steps aside and lets you in, watching you put the blankets on the bed and when he thought you'd be leaving after, you sit at the end of his bed.

"Is it warm enough for you?" You asked with your hand flattening the creases on the bedsheet.

"Yeah," he shortly answers and sits on the other end of the bed from you.

"Just tell me if you need anything or text me," you told him.

Well, he badly wanted to leave so you and your family can happily celebrate Christmas, with or without him, it's not going to make any difference anyway.

But he can't just leave, he knows how much you have prepared yourself considering how big of a deal this is for you. He knows you need him and he agreed to it, in conclusion, it's both of your decision to do this, therefore, he should stay here with you no matter what.

"My friends invite me for a drink tomorrow night. Do you want to go?"

You must have just put on your lotions because he can smell the shea butter scent which he's greatly familiar with. It makes him forget what you just asked him.

"Sorry?"

"Drinks with my friends tomorrow night?" You tried again.

"Ah! Drinks!"

He's not great at meeting new people but they are your friends so he doesn't see why he should worry about that, he knows the type of person you surround yourself with. Also, it's better than staying at home, especially a home that is not his.

"Sure, I'll go with you," he finally answers.

"Okay, great!" You said with a grin that shows how delighted you are that he'll be coming with you.

"Will your friend from tonight be there too?" He has no idea why he asked that, he's merely curious as to what kind of relationship you once had with him.

"You mean Chris?"

He nods.

"Maybe, I don't know but most of my friends are his friends so..." you vaguely answered.

"Your sister called him the star athlete," he says as if you weren't there to hear it too.

"Chris was the captain of the soccer team back in high school and now he's playing as a professional," you explained, "well, everyone knows that he was meant to be a star athlete."

So, aside from your family's greatness, there's this star athlete for Han to compare himself with. His head is getting dizzy from the insecurities that gnawing inside him.

"It's getting late, I'd better get back to my room," you said.

He watches as you get up from his bed and walk over to him, leaning down to land a soft kiss on his cheek, "Goodnight!"

And for a moment, all of his weariness disappeared into nothing and all he can feel is the searing kiss you planted on his cheek.

"Goodnight!" He says before you close the bedroom door.

You are cherished by your friends and it shows, from the way they welcome you with tight hugs and smiles.

Well, the friendship he has with you is enough proof of how much of a good friend you are.

"I want you to meet Han," you introduced him to your friends, again just by his name.

"Nice to meet all of you," he awkwardly tells everyone.

It's great that he doesn't have to go through the night sober, not that your friends aren't fun, it's just not his crowd.

Someone comes into the bar and there's the star athlete, taking big strides as he walks over to the table.

Your friend calls for another round of drinks and he's more than happy to take it, then gulp it down in one go.

"I heard that you're a songwriter," one of your friends tries to make conversation with him even though Han isn't sure if she's sober enough to hear his answer.

"Yes, I make tracks and music, lyrics and stuff," he nervously answers because when he puts it like that, it does sound like a fancy job but in reality, it's far from it.

"That's so cool!" She beams at him and takes a sip of her drink.

"It's not, it's a... a lot of work and staying up late, no sleep," he awkwardly refuses the compliment.

You lean to his side and join in on the conversation, "he's working on a song for a famous singer right now," you bragged to your friend.

"Who?" Your friend is getting curious.

"I can't tell you because it's supposed to be a secret," you lowered your voice at the end of your sentence.

Han snorts in response because only half of what you said is true.

"Then tell me if I've ever heard one of your songs on the radio or something," she slurs her words but sips her drink again.

"There's one, it's called 'Slump'," you told her and rest the side of your body against him.

You feel warm sitting next to him and he can smell your shampoo, your subtle yet citrusy perfume, and the twinkles in your eyes like two clear marbles.

Your friend hums the song and doing it off-key, you nod as you laugh, "That's it! He wrote that song!"

Your friend squeals like she just answered a billion-dollar worth of questions in a quiz, "Oh my God, I like that song!"

"That's so cool!" She says in awe.

You suddenly stop leaning against his body as Chris called for you, shifting your body in his direction to talk to him, leaving him to talk with your drunk friend.

It's only a little past midnight but he feels tired already and he's far from drunk, the exhaustion comes from being social longer than he can handle.

"Let's go for another round," Chris suggests, ignoring that most of the people at the table are already drunk.

You turn your head at Han and see how this is no longer comfortable for him, "I think I had enough drink for tonight," you kindly refused.

Chris laughs while pouring himself another glass, "you're barely drinking the whole night," he says.

Han notices it too, you only take small sips and when everyone was on their fifth glass, you were still on your second.

"That's because I'm driving," you told him.

"Well, I can drive you," Chris offers, smacking his lips together after drinking.

"Next time," you consoled him with an empty promise, "for now, I have to go home."

A smile blooms on Chris's face, "that's okay, we'll be meeting again soon," he confidently says.

You tip your head to the side in confusion.

"The mayor's Christmas soiree," he hints.

Then you remember that your family is always invited to that thing and that means his family too.

Watching you get up from your chair, Han does the same as well and takes his jacket from the back of the chair.

You say bye to your friends who are too intoxicated to pay attention and to Chris who's sulking at his drink.

"Don't drink and drive, Chris," you warned him.

He grabs your hand and smirks, "Are you still worrying me?"

You scoff and gently put his hand away, "just make sure you send everyone home safely," you added.

Now that feels like Han is getting between you and Chris, if only he has that damn driver's license, he would drive himself home right away. But once he lies on the bed, he closes his eyes but he can't sleep.

Then there's the knocking on his door.

"Come in!" He says in the direction of the door.

You swing the door open and smile at him, "round 2?" You asked, showing him the cans of beer in your hands.

It's like you heard his restless mind and come to rescue him, you both sitting on his bed with your backs against the headboard, drinking your beers in silence.

Han feels the need to explain something, "my track is not approved yet," he says.

"Mmh?" You glance at him while drinking your beer.

"She liked my track but she wanted me to change a few things, so..." he nervously wipes his hands on his thighs, "nothing is approved yet."

Take you a few seconds to catch on his explanation, "oh well, that means you're still working on it right?"

He sucks air through his teeth, "yeah but I'm not sure."

"Sure of what?"

"If she'll like it or not."

You catch the hand on his thigh and intertwine your fingers with his, "do you not believe in yourself?"

He's not sure about a lot of things but himself, "no."

"Then there's nothing to worry about," you said with a gentle squeeze on his hand.

"Whether she'll like it or not, you can worry about that later," you added.

That's true, all he needs to do is try his best and save the worry for later. This is why he needs you, you help him gain his confidence without making him feel pressured to do so.

"You're right," he says with a sigh.

You turn your head and squint your eyes at him, "of course I'm right," you playfully said.

Your shoulders shake when you laugh and it makes him notice how close you've been sitting next to him that he can feel the heat of your body, your knee nudges his and he catches you looking at his lips before glancing up to meet his eyes again.

"I'd better let you rest," you said while looking away.

"Are you going to leave without giving me a goodnight kiss?"

It comes out of his mouth just like that, he was supposed to say it in his head and didn't mean for you to hear that. He adds a nervous laugh because the damage has been done.

You stop on your track and turn on your heels, softly laughing while walking over to him.

You lean down to kiss him right on the cheek, a little too close to the corner of his mouth but not exactly where he wanted you to kiss him yet a soft sigh slips past his mouth.

You pull away but maintain eye contact with him, "Goodnight, Han!"

Your eyes put him in a daze and he responds a little after you close the door, "Goodnight!"

He'll never fit into this scene, among these people in their fancy suits and expensive watches.

He doesn't know anyone but you, yet your father keeps dragging you with him so he can introduce you to these important people.

"I'll fetch you a better drink!" Someone says from next to him.

He turns to see your friend, the one who got tipsy, and asked him about his song.

"Oh you're—" then he can't remember what her name is.

She smiles while taking the empty glass from him, "it's Kim."

And he feels stupid for forgetting such a general name, he follows her making a way through the crowd to the bar.

He trusts her to order him a drink of her choice until he tastes it and almost chokes on the first sip.

"It's whiskey," he says and almost spilling his drink.

"Because you can't get through this thing sober," she says and calmly sips her drink.

She takes out something from her purse, a name card then hands it to him.

"I own the cafe next to the ice cream parlor. Come whenever you like," she says.

After taking a glance at her name card, he puts it in the inner pocket of his suit jacket, "who are you coming with?"

She gestures to the man with salt and pepper hair across the room, "with my dear father," she said.

"Then why are you here with me?" He asks and he's aware that he just made himself sound so weird.

"Because I know everyone here but you, I'm curious about you," she says, holding the drink in one hand and the other resting against the counter, looking at him with wide eyes.

"Curious about me?" He stutters.

Kim puts down her glass and props a hand under her chin, "mostly about the relationship between you and my friend," she says.

Good thing that alcohol is only a sip away, "we're just friends," he coyly says but avoids her observing eyes.

She doubts his answer and smirks, "yeah I know but there's something more..."

He's good at deceiving people but not at lying, "we're just friends," he says again and that only raises Kim's suspicion.

Kim bursts out laughing, "yeah, sure," she half-heartedly says like she knows the truth.

"It's the first time she takes a guy home and not just someone's home," Kim says while nursing the drink in her hand, "it's her parent's."

Han grips his drink tight around his hand, "Yeah, well, I know her parents before this so I don't see—"

"And you know her parents are kind of a big deal in this town," she adds, calculating the assessment in her head to come to a conclusion.

She squints her eyes at him, "There's something, right?"

Someone taps your shoulder from behind and he turns around to find you there.

"Is that yours?" You asked, pointing to his drink.

He nods.

You take it from his hand and gulp it down in one go, gasping and wincing at the same time after swallowing the dry whiskey.

"I don't know how many more people my father will introduce me to," you complain and ask for another round at the bartender.

Han unconsciously puts his hand on the small of your back, acknowledging your distress and you smile at him in response.

Just like the night can't get any more interesting, Chris comes into the circle.

"Your father is looking for you," he says to you.

You sigh again and this time, Kim offers her drink to you which you eagerly drink in one long gulp.

"Nice to see you!" Chris says to Han as he takes your hand to bring you back to your father.

"Imagine dealing with that cockiness for 7 years," Kim plainly says.

"We've been friends since high school," she adds and immediately takes the drink the bartender just served.

He doesn't know why he's here and why he should be here, thankfully Kim offers him a ride home even though her sobriety level is kind of concerning.

"I'm in seven inches of heels and still waking straight, I'm good to drive!" She convinces him.

"What about your father?" He innocently asks.

"He served the country 15 years in the army I don't think he'll have a problem getting a ride home," she answers with a sassy eye-roll.

"I'll just tell her I'm leaving then," he says because it's rude to leave without telling you.

"I'll wait outside!" Kim says.

Han searches for you and it takes him a few minutes to finally be able to poke your elbow to get your attention. You excuse yourself before taking him to the patio.

"Hey, what's wrong?" You asked.

"Kim is offering me a ride home so I'm thinking of leaving with her," he meekly says.

You look at him, then sigh, "I'm sorry for taking you to this," you said.

"No, it's okay, it's alright. I got to drink for free," he says with an easy laugh.

You usually would laugh along with him but you reach for the lapels of his suit jacket and flatten them with your hands, then you lay your hands flat on his chest.

"You should wear suits more often because you look good in them," you say with your eyes intensely staring into him and the lights makes your eyes twinkle like a Christmas tree.

Can you feel his heart beating faster under your palm and see the blood rushes to his cheeks?

You slide your hands to the collar of his shirt then at once, put your hands around his neck and softly giggle.

He guesses that you're a little tipsy from the drinking that caused you to act this way, "are you okay?"

You take a step back but end up stumbling on your own foot but Han is quick enough to steady you with his hand around your waist.

Your eyes easily find him again and he can smell the alcohol-tinted breath when you lean in close to kiss him on the cheek, you give him a long kiss, longer than the previous goodnight kisses you had given him.

Then you slowly let go of your hands that have been clutching the lapels of his suit jacket, "Goodnight!"

"Goodnight!" He says back and watches you taking a step back, then back into the crowd.

When he gets into the car Kim is laughing and he realizes that she witnessed the goodnight kiss thing from inside the car, "we're just friends!" He says again with a little edge on his voice, not the best way to assure someone.

"I'm not saying anything!" Kim says while turning the car keys and the car engine sputtering alive.

He tries to wake up as early as everyone else in the house and you usually wake him up when it's time for breakfast.

Except for today, he woke up a little late than everyone. He climbs the stairs with his head down, ashamed of being a slacker at someone's house. He’s glad to find you first, sitting at the dining table working on something on your laptop. You notice him coming to the kitchen and greet him first, "hey!"

He trudges to the dining room and sits across from you, "you didn't wake me up," he meekly says.

"You sleep so well and I know you've been working on the track," you explained and puts your laptop a little to the side so you can see him.

Well, it's not like he's obligated to join in every family thing, he reckons so why must he make a fuss?

"Are you working on something?" He asks, shifting the conversation.

"Just some work emails," you answered and get up from your chair.

"Where are you going?"

"Getting you a cup of coffee," you answered while walking to the kitchen, getting him a cup of coffee.

"I can do that myself," he says but, of course, you don't stop just because he said so, you cook him breakfast after.

You sit there with him as he's eating his toast and scrambled eggs, with your hand under your chin while the other hand holding your coffee mug, a smile on your face.

"Stop watching me eating!" He grumbles with cheeks full of food.

You chuckle and sip your coffee, "I like seeing you eating," you said.

"Look at those cheeks!" You poked one of his cheeks with your index finger.

He stops chewing and glares at you, "we're at your parent's house," he says with a hushed voice.

You laugh at how his eyes widened in slight panic with those cheeks, "so what?" You dared him.

He looks at you and blinks his eyes a few times, then gets back to his meal before he makes assumptions about whether you have told your parents about the proposal or not.

"Where's everyone?" He asks because the house seems quiet.

"Dad and my brother-in-law left early to play golf, they invited you of course but I had to turn it down, I told them you've been up all night working," you explained.

Before he gets the wrong idea, you furtherly explained, "I'm saving you from excruciating hours of golfing in the cold and making acquaintances with his group of friends of important, boring old people."

He sighs in relief and swallows his food at ease, "Thank you!" He earnestly says.

From across the room, Han sees little Lee rush towards you and jumps onto your lap, almost sending you off your chair.

"Aren't you a little too excited?" Han asks him.

He doesn't answer but giggles in response.

"We're going ice skating today," you explain while hugging the child on your lap and keeping him still.

"And we'll have ice cream after," you add with a grin then shake little Lee's hand, "right, buddy?"

Little Lee nods with one finger tugged between his teeth and drool pooling on the corner of his mouth.

"Do you want to come?" You invited.

To him, it seems like you're the one who's more excited about it than little Lee. That sounds nice though if only he knows how to ice skate and remembers that he has been staying the night up, it wouldn't be a great idea to come along.

"Is it okay if I pass? I didn't get enough sleep last night so..." his words trailed off.

Before he can even finish talking, you wave him off and say, "that's alright."

"You should rest, of course!"

Han feels bad for saying no, "it's just that... it won't be a good idea... me and ice skating," he awkwardly explains.

You chuckle at him, "it's okay, Han. I understand!"

He's grateful that he doesn't have to explain himself a lot to you, you understand him so well. It's convenient and nice and comfortable and...

"It'll be just us then!" You said to little Lee with a ruffle on his head.

Han woke up from his sleep around noon and the house is a little empty.

He found your mom packing gift bags in the living room and he realized he should have come with you because it's weird being in your parent's house without you.

"She's going ice skating with little Lee," your mom informs.

Han pretends that he has just heard that now just to be polite, "ah, that's why!"

"There's no one using our car if you want to go," she says, forgetting that it's not that he can't drive, he doesn't have a driver's license yet.

A moment later, your mom is aware of what she just said.

"Or you can help me pack these," she kindly asks.

He shrugs and smiles, "Sure, I don't mind at all!"

A hundred or so gift bags are packed, your mother thanks him for the help and instead of calling the taxi company, Han pulls out the name card he received last night and asks for a ride.

Kim arrives at the front gate of the house almost half an hour later, she was busy at the coffee shop but manages to come to offer him a ride.

Then he remembers he should be thanking her for doing him a favor, "thanks for picking me up!"

"No worries! I'm on a break anyway."

Kim doesn't ask much but starts driving and she drives so slowly, "so where are we going?" She asks when the car stops at traffic lights.

Would it be too pathetic for him to say that he wants to go to the ice rink and watch you ice skating? He gets the impression that Kim is the kind of person that won't let him off easily and would make fun of him for it.

"I was thinking we can hang out at your coffee shop," he settles with a simple answer.

She looks at him and squints her eyes as if she's plotting something, "you're coming with me for last-minute Christmas shopping!" She decides then flash him a teeth-baring grin.

There's a Christmas market going on in town and shopping is never his favorite thing to do but maybe with someone like Kim, it's bearable to him.

They browse things and go from one booth to another, laughing at peculiar items they found.

After getting her things and having them wrapped, Kim is taking him to her coffee shop for a cup of coffee after walking through the bustling market.

"Should we go ice skating?" Kim asks.

Han doesn't see it until Kim pointed it out, the ice rink. You're probably already done with ice skating but what's the harm in checking if you're still there?

"Of course, Chris is here!" Kim says as she stands next to him and looks at the people skating around the rink in circles.

He can easily spot him from his charming smile and cute dimples, gliding through the ice in his skate, he's holding someone by the hand, a child.

"Isn't that little Lee?" Kim asks from beside him.

He recognizes little Lee from his blushing cheeks and crooked tooth, Chris is holding his small hand, and his eyes move to see the other person holding little Lee's hand, you.

Together with Chris, you help little Lee skate with a smile on your face, laughing at how little Lee almost slipped on his skate.

That's what a picture-perfect family should be, certainly not with someone like him.

He'll never fall in that category, not even close.

Kim suddenly links her arm with his and drags him away, "Come on, it's getting cold!" She says.

Kim serves him an iced Americano and a slice of cheesecake, sits across from him then drinks her latte.

"It's on the house!" She says.

"Thanks!"

"They dated in high school, they are what everyone called the high school sweethearts. Everyone wished that they stay together after high school but now they know that this is not a fairytale," Kim suddenly comes up with an explanation or maybe the disappointment is so apparent on Han's face.

He shakes his head and cuts his cake with the fork, "why are we talking about it?" He awkwardly asks and it's only making things obvious.

"They broke up a little before graduation and went on their separate ways, it was big news. That's what happens when two influential families in town got together," she furtherly explains as if to put more salt on his wound instead of mending it.

From the look on Kim's face, he believes she's enjoying it.

"I'm not– I don't—" why he feel the need to explain it? He barely knows him therefore there's no use to tell her what he's feeling right now.

"From what I've seen, Chris is trying to get back to her but on the other hand, she has moved on from him," she boldly states like it's written on the stone.

Han nervously chuckles, a part of him wanted to believe her but the rest is doubts and it's wearing him down.

"For instance, you're totally not her type yet she's taking you here because what?"

Kim leans forward and it's making him feel like he's being interrogated for a crime he didn't commit.

"Because she likes you," she finishes.

He snorts and tries to act coy, "we're just friends," he says.

It's something to cover the fact that the reason you took him to your parent's house is that you proposed to him.

"Nuh-uh!" She refuses to believe that.

"I may not know you well but I know her really, really well!" She lifts her coffee cup close to her mouth and put on a sinister smile on her face.

Rather than feeling like he's competing on who knows you better between him and Kim, he's got this realization that despite knowing so much about you, there's always a part of you that he'll never know just like how the moon shows only a few facets to earth, but never its full sphere.

"I'll just take a taxi home," he says.

It'll be troublesome for Kim to drive him home and then back to the coffee shop when he can go home by himself.

"Gosh! Just get in!" Kim orders with an annoyed sigh while unlocking the car.

Han is about to enter the car when you come out of the ice cream parlor next to the coffee shop and he automatically squats down, hiding behind Kim's car.

He peeks through the car window to see that you're still with Chris and he's carrying little Lee who's eating ice cream on a cone.

"Kim! Are you leaving?" Chris says, putting her on the spot and too late to avoid them.

"We're about to get coffee! Why are you going?" You ask, walking towards her and Han squats lower with his back against the car door.

He closes his eyes and tries to catch their conversation.

"Yeah, I Uhm... I'm going to run some errands. Office supplies!" Kim made up excuses on the spot and covered for Han.

"I'll be back in a bit!" Kim adds and opens the car door.

"I'll be waiting inside then!" You say.

Han carefully watches you again through the car window, walking into the coffee shop with Chris following behind you.

He hurriedly sneaks into the car but slumps down so low to get out of sight while Kim can only shake her head in disbelief.

When the car is far enough from the coffee shop, Han gets back to a proper sitting position and clears his throat, suddenly aware of his action.

"Why are you hiding?" Kim asks and glares at him.

"I don't know?" he meekly replies.

"You said you two are friends but you act like two exes!" She grumbles.

"It's not like that," he tries to avoid the talk but he doesn't know how.

"It's just that... they look good together. I don't want to ruin that..." he finally admits and he sounds so small after that almost like he doesn't matter anymore.

Why is he here? What good it does do that he's here? Who is he to you?

And what are you to him?

Just a friend but you proposed to him and he agreed to it. Just a friend but his feelings are not what one should have for a friend. Just a friend but he feels so restless when it's past midnight and you haven't come to his room for some talk and a goodnight kiss.

Your parents are usually in their bedroom at this hour and your sister always sleeps early, right after putting little Lee to bed. Sometimes he met your brother-in-law in the living room watching TV.

He only needs to take two flights of stairs to get to you and so he dared himself, walking without making any noise.

Your brother-in-law is indeed in the living room watching TV but he's too focused on the soccer match to know that Han is quietly climbing the stairs to the second floor.

The struggle does not stop there, he has to walk past your parent's bedroom, and he tiptoes until he's right in front of your bedroom door.

He gently knocks on the door, just enough for you to hear but not for everyone else in the house.

Not long after, the door swung open and there he sees you, in your night dress with your hair in a messy bun, a glasses perched on the bride of your nose.

He's greatly familiar with this look, he guesses you've been working.

You don't say anything but step aside, "Come in!"

"You're working?" He asks.

You sit on the bed and pat the space next to you gesturing for him to sit there, "yeah, it's an urgent one," you look at the clock on your bedside, "I didn't know it's midnight already!"

Is it okay for him to be happy knowing that the reason you didn't come to his room is that you're busy? When the silence settles in though, he realizes that he's in your room and sitting on your bed with you.

You take your glasses off and put them away, "so, is there something you want to talk about with me or...?"

He suddenly gets a little nervous, he has an excuse prepared for this question then pulls out his phone, "the track is almost finished but I want you to have a listen," he says.

"You want me to listen?"

He nods.

"Okay," you take your headphone inside the drawer, giving him a thumb up signaling to him you're ready.

Han presses play and intently watches you listening to the track he's working on, it's not the first time he got you listening to his works.

You'll listen to the whole track instead of talking in between, when you put your headphones down, he got his ears ready to hear your opinions.

"I like it," you say.

He notices that there's more you want to say to him, "You can tell me everything," he assures, putting his phone aside and sitting facing you.

You softly chuckle, "it sounds like a love song," you finally admit.

"That's the point," he says, "she wants it to be a love song."

You prop a hand against the mattress and lean to the side, "you said you'll never make a love song."

It seems like you remember everything he said and it's true, he said that. He can and is able to make a love song but his lack of belief in love made him think that there's no use to try. A love song should deliver a feeling of what it's like being in love not convince people otherwise.

"Well," he shyly says, "I'm trying new things here."

You place your hand on his knee and gently squeeze, "and that's good," you encourage instead of bringing him down.

"As long as you enjoy doing it then what else can I say? I know you'll try your best in everything you do."

He looks down at your hand on his knee and why did he think that it's hard to reach you when it's just as easy as putting his hand on yours?

When he looks at you, you're smiling so warmly at him and he feels so comfortable in this space whenever he's with you. He feels content even when it's just the two of you.

It's not enough with him placing his hand on you, slowly slipping his hand in the spaces between your fingers, intertwining his hand with yours.

Unexpectedly, you take his other hand in yours and put them on your lap, your thumb making lazy circles on the back of his hand.

"It must have been cold in the basement," you say with an apologetic smile.

It's not about the weather or the temperature, he's nervous and his palms are getting sweaty. His insecurities always show up in a moment like this.

"Not really," he says but the images of him sleeping with two extra blankets flash through his mind.

"It's warm in here so stay for a while," you say.

Is it him or is it you but it seems like the space between your body is close to nonexistent. He can feel the heat your body emits, your intense gaze, and your warm breath brushing his...

Then he feels it, your lips, soft and warm. He closes his eyes, not moving because if he did, he's scared that this will crumble into fragments of his imagination.

He never knew that he wanted this, to kiss you, to taste you until he holds your face in his hands and wants more of it, deepening the kiss.

Both of your bodies close in the gap between you and you grab a fistful of his t-shirt in your hand, pulling him with you as you lie down on the bed.

Deeper, harder, the kiss washes away all of his weariness and peels a layer of insecurities in him.

It's possible, he says in his head.

To fall in love with your best friend.

But the knocks on your bedroom door shatter his thought away.

"Are you awake?" Someone asks from behind the door.

From the voice, it sounds like your brother-in-law and he keeps on knocking that Han has no other choice but to break the kiss.

He lets him go off you and sits at the other end of the bed while you dash to open the door but keep it open just enough to pop your head out, "yes? Can I help you?"

"Here! You left your phone in the kitchen," your brother-in-law says.

You take the phone and hold the door, "I was busy with work I forgot to take it with me."

"It keeps on ringing, I think it's Chris," he adds.

"I'll call him back, no worries."

"I'll head back then. Night!"

"Thank you and goodnight!" You say back and immediately shut the door close behind you.

You keep standing there instead of sitting on the bed holding the phone behind your back and Han takes it that it's his cue to leave.

"I better get back to my room," he says.

You catch his hand but when he turns around to look at you, you don't say anything.

"It's late. I better get back before anyone knows that I'm in your room," he says with a small smile.

"Can't you stay?" You ask with eyes that instantly got him under your spell.

Unfortunately, the sound of your phone ringtone breaks the spell.

"Goodnight!" He says, exiting your bedroom as soon as possible.

He lingers there to hear you pick up the call and faintly listens to you talking on the phone, "hey Chris, you've been calling me?"

Remembering that he shouldn't be here and eavesdropping on you, he walks back to the basement and into his bedroom where it feels exceptionally cold tonight.

He lies awake on his bed and thinks out loud if you're just a friend but why it feels more than that?

Since everyone in the house is busy preparing the festive for the Christmas dinner, Han volunteers to babysit little Lee.

He doesn't want to give you the impression that he can't do a simple favor like this when he's been staying in your house and you've been taking care of everything he needs without a word of complaint.

Besides, he's only watching over a little human who's been living for two years in existence, and as a grown man who has lived far longer and experienced more things than him, this should be an easy task.

Or so he thought.

After two hours of playing with legos, playing at the playground outside, then spending most of the time chasing him around the house, he takes back what he said.

But regardless of how tiring it was, Han enjoys spending time with little Lee, probably because he's just a toddler who doesn't ask too many questions and doesn't make him feel judged. If anything, he finds the joy of being carefree one more time, it's like going back to childhood where everything is so much simpler.

As little Lee rests his little head on his lap while watching The Grinch together on TV while sucking a bottle of milk, Han can see that his eyes are drooping. Her mother did say that it's his nap time soon.

He endearingly pats his head to lull him to sleep and the next thing he knows, he's dozing off as well and when he wakes up you're sitting next to him on the sofa, his head is resting on your shoulder.

His eyes frantically search for little Lee and you hold his hand down.

"His father took him upstairs earlier," you assure him.

He sighs in relief and rubs the sleep off his eyes, "I didn't mean to fall asleep," he explains.

"That's okay. Everything is pretty much set anyway," you calm him down.

Out of nowhere, you offer him a plate of cookies, "I bake some cookies," you offer, or more like telling him to take one to taste.

He takes one from the plate, "have you been sitting here holding a plate of cookies and waiting for me to wake up?" He asks with a laugh.

You shyly laugh and put the plate down on the table, "yeah, pretty much so," you joke.

Han laughs again to finally take a bite and chews it while you wait in anticipation for his response.

"So?"

"It's good," he honestly replies and shoves the rest into his mouth, it tastes better remembering that he just woke up from a nap and is hungry.

The surprise doesn't stop there, you bring a glass of milk for him.

"You've been sitting here with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk?" He asks in surprise and a suppressed laugh.

You nod and grin at the same time.

He takes a moment to take everything, sitting there with you and the Christmas tree blinking in the corner of the room, the snow piling outside the window, and the heat from the fireplace. Then your smile doesn't wear off as you watch him eating cookies.

He feels warm, inside and out.

"Chris and I... we're just friends now," you suddenly said out of the blue.

Han pauses chewing his cookies to listen to you speaking.

"Our break-up..." you take a shaky breath before continuing, "we were both immature at that time and we ended things pretty badly," you added.

He sees you clasping your hands together on your lap with your thumbs picking at its nails which means you're nervous and he believes it's because you're uncomfortable talking about this to him.

He breaks your clasped hands and grabs it with his, "you don't have to explain everything," he softly speaks.

You put on a small smile and continue, "I know but I also need you to know that he's been carrying that guilt for years, for dumping me, for how things ended."

You look down at your lap, "that's why he acts like that and that's why I cater to him, I thought that would lessen his guilt but..."

Turning your head to look at him, your eyes meet his in an instant, "he took it as a mixed signal and I explained everything to him. That was why he keeps calling me last night."

Now that you said all that to him, he wonders if he gave you a look that asked for an explanation from you and he feels bad for it because you don't owe him anything.

“I told him I don’t intend on getting back together with him,” you concluded.

Yet, he's unable to find anything to say because a part of him is relieved to know the truth.

"Thank you," he blurts out without thinking or maybe it's his subconscious that tells him to say that.

A smile rises on your face and it's getting overwhelming to him with the intense eye contact.

Maybe it's the atmosphere or his desires disguised as gratitude that push him to lean in and gives you a long peck on the lips.

Your eyes are still closed when he pulls away and you open them seconds later to find him looking at you.

Flustered, you look away and get up from the sofa, "I'll iron your shirt for tonight," you said then leave the room.

They're having Christmas dinner at home but everyone is dressed so formally. Not that he's complaining but it's making him nervous.

When he looks at you though, you're quite the opposite. Red dress and a sweet smile, sitting next to him on the dining table, talking so politely as your father asked you about your work.

He's happy that it's a family-only Christmas dinner but there’s a downside to it. At a big party, when it gets overwhelming, he can hide in the corner and people wouldn't notice but this, he doesn't have an escape plan for a scheme like this.

So when your father starts asking him questions, everyone's attention is on him. He felt invisible before but now he feels like he's under a big magnifying glass.

"What do you usually do on Christmas eve?"

It's a simple question but his panic gets to him, making him tongue-tied and frozen in his seat.

A warm hand grabs him under the table and he looks up to see that it's you, smiling so warmly at him.

"Han usually works during the holidays too," you answer for him.

"Oh, really? A hard-working man, I see?" Your sister inserts herself into the conversation with a teasing smile.

"He's a hard-working man," you say back without a doubt.

Han shyly smiles at your sister, then at your father, gaining a little confidence from your hand gently squeezing his, "first of all, I think it's the first time I've had such a festive dinner," he playfully remarks.

Everyone on the table chuckles and it gets easier from there, he feels silly for overreacting earlier when your family is nice and all.

After dinner, everyone gathers in the living room and talks with a glass of wine in hand, little Lee runs around and insists on opening a gift early. Maybe it's the alcohol or the fireplace or the fact that Han gets tired just from watching little Lee running around and then throwing a fuss about opening a Christmas gift early or the snowfall outside the window.

He feels so warm and the warmth fills him to the brim.

The doorbell rings and your brother-in-law is the one who opens the door, letting the person in without questions.

"Who is it?" Your mother asks.

Your brother-in-law comes in with someone else behind him, "A lost puppy!" He jokes.

Chris comes while carrying a red scarf in one hand, "I came to give your scarf back," he says to you.

But what you do is look at Han with an apologetic smile, hurriedly coming to get the scarf from him.

"Thanks! But you don't have to give it back tonight... I—"

Your words got cut off as your father hands him a glass of wine, "Come and have a drink. You must be cold!"

Since your family welcomes him, you don't have a choice but to let him in as well.

It doesn't take long for Han to become invisible all over again no one notices he just left for the kitchen but not you. You see him eating a plate of cookies alone while looking out at the window.

"I see that you're enjoying my cookies!" You said.

He gets startled and snaps his head at you, a bit surprised that you suddenly came behind him.

You start giggling at his shocked reaction, putting a hand on the small of his back to calm him down, "I'm sorry, didn't mean to startle you!" You meekly said.

He laughs at himself for being so silly, "why are you here?"

"I should be the one asking you that," you said back with squinted eyes.

"Why are you here?

He can't find anything proper to answer your question, but he believes that you know why.

"Well, you see that I'm trying to eat all of your cookies all by myself," he playfully says.

"I'm going to have a bite, then before you finish them all!" You bite the cookie he's holding.

He stares at you and it's not easy to ignore it, "why are you staring at me like that?"

He places a hand on your waist and he doesn't know when did he get this bold, "you're so beautiful tonight," he compliments.

You dare him by taking a step closer without breaking eye contact, "only tonight?"

See? It's nice when it's only the two of you and he repeatedly nods to answer your question.

"I take it that I'm cute on any other day," you said with a sly smile.

And he wanted to kiss that smile so bad.

Your hands are on his chest and his hands are on your waist, closer and closer. Your warm breath welcomes his lips but before they can touch, someone steps into the scene.

"Did you find the wine?"

You both turn around to see Chris standing there behind the kitchen island.

"Your dad is waiting!" He adds.

You and Han exchange a glance before getting off of each other.

"Uhm yes, it's here!" You take the bottle of wine you put on the kitchen counter earlier then pull open the drawer to get the wine opener.

"I'll just have to open it first!"

Why it's always him? It's always him. He doesn't mind if it's any of your family who caught him kissing you but when it's him, it just seemed like he's there just to ruin the moment.

"I'll open it for you!" Han offers first and takes the wine opener from your hand.

But Chris walks up to you and takes the bottle of wine from you, "I'll do it!" He also offers.

Han grabs the end of the bottle while Chris grabs it by its neck, "I said I'll do it!"

"I can do it faster," Chris confidently says with an intense stare, way too intense to try to win a bottle of wine.

They're caught in an intense fight for a bottle of wine but you're aware that it's more than that. They've been at it for a few minutes now, trying to get the bottle from each other. You only wish that no one is going to get hurt and from the two, you choose the one who would listen to you better.

You hold Han by the elbow to stop him, "just let him do it," you said.

But instead of letting it go, he uses all of his strength and yanks the bottle away from Chris, with the bottle all shaken up the cork pops open and it splashes all over him, creating a puddle on the kitchen floor.

Han looks up to see you giving him the look he always gets from people, a look of disappointment.

Han is half-naked and been waiting for you in the laundry room while you're going to get him a new shirt, borrowing one from your father's closet. Watching his shirt being washed inside the machine, his thoughts are swirling along and it's foaming, bubbling up inside of him.

Why is he here in the first place? Why would you ask him to come with you? So your family knows what a loser he is? Or so you can show that role model of a man called Chris?

The sounds of your footsteps derail his train of thoughts but not his anger.

"I hope it fits you," you said, holding a new white shirt and opening the button one by one with your hands.

He holds out his hand, asking for the shirt from you but you get behind him and holding the shirt for him so can easily slip his hands into the sleeves. You turn him around and start buttoning up the shirt with the constant whirring of the washing machine playing in the background.

"You should have proposed to him instead of me," he says with an edge to his voice.

"Chris is handsome and he's nice and he's an athlete, I'm pretty sure he makes a lot of fortune than me."

But you ignore his words and continue buttoning his shirt in silence, not batting an eyelash at his words.

"Your family likes him too," he adds.

Once you finished, you turn around to face the washing machine, putting the fabric softener into its container.

"You shouldn't have taken me here," he sadly says.

You slam the container shut and turns around, "did I ask how much money you make?"

The room is dim with the only source of light coming from the light bulb but he can see that your eyes are glossy.

"Do I ever physically compare you with someone else? Do I ask you to have a stellar career? "

Each question feels like a needle prickling his skin and it hurts.

"Have I ever made you feel like I'm patronizing you? Have I ever..." you paused to catch a breath, "have I ever made you feel that way?"

He tried to speak his thoughts out loud just in case you have made a mistake in choosing him, he wants to enlighten you by laying out all the facts but he didn't mean to make you cry like this.

You clasp your hands together and look down, "is it wrong of me wanting you to know my family better so you can get close to them, to the people I love?"

He regrets it instantly, he regrets doubting your intentions. He takes a step closer, "that's not what I mean," he quickly says.

A tear rolls down your cheek and you immediately wipe it with the back of your hand.

"Please, don't cry!" He begs and searches for your eyes so he can look at you, properly look at you so you wouldn't take his words the wrong way. When he finally sees you, your eyes are red and your cheeks are wet with tears.

You clear your throat before speaking and lean against the washing machine, "When I think about it... it's not me and it's not my family, it's not Chris," your broken voice echoes in the room.

"It's you!" You poked his chest with your index finger and it feels like a dagger digging into his flesh.

"You're creating problems that aren't there and I'm not responsible for that!"

And you make a deep cut with that dagger as you drag your finger across his chest, he can visibly imagine fresh blood oozing out of it.

Crimson red, almost the same color as the red wine splashed all over him earlier.

"So if you still want it," you wipe the tears on both of your cheeks with your hands, "please get out of your own way!"

You walk past him and brush shoulders with him, climbing the stairs, leaving him with all of his guilt, bleeding alone in the dark.

The truth will always be a hard pill to swallow.

But he has to take it no matter what if he wants to heal, if he wants things to be alright.

As he tries to swallow it all down, he's dragging himself back upstairs, knowing that he's too embarrassed of himself.

He knows he's making himself a loser because you're right, he created all those problems himself.

It seems like Chris already left because he doesn't see him around but he stays by the doorway, watching your family having a great time together in the living room.

He wonders how he ever thought ill of them when they're all fine and have been treating him nicely since day one.

He can't find you downstairs so he figures you must be upstairs in your room, probably still crying because of him.

It's no time to overthink, he needs to go and apologize to you, so he climbs the stairs to only find your sister comes out of her room with hands holding her baby bump.

"We have to go to the hospital!" She says.

"Huh?"

"Help me get downstairs!" She asks, putting an arm around his shoulder for support.

"Sure! Sure!" He says with a panicked voice.

He remembers that your sister said her baby is due next month but from what he sees, it seems like she's going into labor soon.

She starts calling for her husband as soon as she made it down the stairs and he comes to her in a few seconds, bleary-eyed and cheeks red probably from alcohol.

"We need to go to the hospital!" She says.

"But I— I drank—" he stutters with his alcohol-tinted breath can be smelled from where Han is standing.

Your sister hits him on the shoulder repeatedly, "I told you not to drink—"

She stops wasting her energy on hitting him and starts calling for you. You come from the direction of the kitchen with your eyes still red and a little puffy.

"Yes?"

"Drive me to the hospital! Quick!" Your sister says while still clutching at Han instead of at his husband.

You don't say anything but quickly grab the car keys and coats, running to the garage to get the car ready by the front of the house.

The family got panic as well and little Lee starts hugging Han by his leg, knowing that his parents have to go.

"Please, take care of little Lee!" Your sister says before she gets out of the door.

Your mother takes little Lee upstairs to put him to bed early while he stays downstairs with your father.

He's never good around parents but the silence is suffocating him, not that he doesn't want to talk but he's afraid of saying the wrong things to him.

He's probably not good at being in a crowd but he's not good at talking eye to eye either.

But he convinces himself that this is what he wanted as well.

He wanted this so he grits his teeth and just does it, coming to the living room, sitting across from your father.

"Sir, I have something to say," he begins with hands balled into fists on his knees, hiding his sweaty palms.

"Sure, go ahead!" Your father says.

He closes his eyes for a moment and convinces himself that this is what he wanted.

Therefore, just like you said, he must get out of his way.

Han waits for you to get home. He waits in the kitchen by himself until the coffee he's drinking is getting cold.

When the car lights flash through the window, he knows that it's you. He runs out of the door and sees you sitting inside the car, putting the scarf around your neck before getting out.

You look surprised to see him standing outside the front door.

"Why are you still awake?" You asked.

He walks up to you, "I'm waiting for you," he simply answered.

You shove your hands into the pockets of your coat and he understands why you're so defensive.

"Take a walk with me?" He asks.

You nod.

The night is so quiet that he can hear the crunch of the snow on every step you take and every breath you take.

"How's your sister?"

"She's having contractions but the doctor is not yet to decide whether she'll be going into labor soon or not," you explained, "she needs to stay in the hospital for further observation."

He sighs in relief, "I was so panic when she came to me," he says, remembering how shocked he was seeing your sister wincing in pain.

"Why were you there in the first place?"

"I was looking for you," he shortly replies.

Somehow the snow starts falling again as you stop on your track, standing there to face him, looking at him but he can't tell what you're looking for in him.

"I was so harsh to you," you said with half of your face covered in your scarf but be can see the regret drawn on your face.

"No, you're right," he says.

He's facing you and taking his hands out of his jeans pockets, "I created this in my head because why would a person like you want to be with me?"

He takes your hand out of your coat pocket so he can hold it, "you're so beautiful and smart and your family is so wonderful. I don't know if I deserve this."

When he puts it like that then yes, it makes sense that he got so insecure about himself and you understand why he acted like that.

You hold his hand back and stare into his eyes, shining under the streetlight, "I want you because you're my best friend."

There's nothing truer than that. You want him because he's your best friend, the only person who loves you in his own way and asks for nothing in return, you both have a sense of belonging to each other's but without having to own.

All the while, Han learns that love is not always what two lovers have. Love is there for anyone with open hearts and open arms and it's a good thing that he is ready to embrace it all.

So he kisses you under the night sky with flurries of snow swirling in the air and the cold of the night that brings you together.

You put your hands around his neck while he holds you close and kisses you more, taking your breath away as snow piling on top of your head.

Noticing that you're getting cold, he breaks the kiss and holds your hand, "Let's get inside!"

Back inside the house, you both struggle to get away from each other. None of you want to stop kissing as both of you make your way to his bedroom. You stop walking at the base of the stairs and be the one to break the kiss first, "do you bring any condoms?"

Why did he get flustered by such a simple question? He's an adult and a responsible adult should bring one because who knows that something like this would happen.

You laugh because he stays quiet and not answering your question.

"Why don't you wait inside and I'll get some from my room?"

He nods.

"I'll be back soon," you give him a peck on the lips and back to climbing the stairs.

In the bedroom, Han doesn't know what to do with himself.

He thought of taking his clothes off but that would be presumptuous of him. Should he sit on the bed? Should he lie down on the bed? Should he brush his teeth first?

Who the fuck brushes his teeth before sex?

He gets even more nervous with every minute passed that he's pacing around the house, feeling stuffy but refusing to loosen his tie.

Then the door swung open.

It's the first time that you come to his room without knocking and he sees the reason why. You come into the room in your silk robe and all of your hair down, you must have applied a fresh coat of red lipstick because your lips look so fucking luscious like a freshly picked apple and he wants to take a bite.

It's like he's drawn to you, he approaches you but maintains a safe space. Another step closer and he would probably pounce at you like a wild animal.

You put down a box of condom on his bedside table and it's enough to make his imagination goes haywire. You stop right in front of him and take his hands, putting them close to your body.

"Open it!" You softly spoke and it sounded like you just cast a spell to him that his body obeys your words, untying your robe.

He pauses for a moment before parting the robe open and thinks so hard. Is it okay to open such a gift when it's not Christmas yet?

He'll take his chances and take the robe off of you, letting it dramatically fall onto the floor. His eyes focus on your face and resist seeing lower than that because he knows he would lose his calm.

You lay your hands flat on his chest and slowly slide them up, holding the collar of his shirt while looking up at him through your lashes.

"Let's make it fair, mmh?"

It was a few hours ago that you put the shirt on him and now you're the one who also takes it off of him, slides it off his body then puts it aside. His skin feels hot as you place your hand on his chest, touching him with just your fingertips yet it feels like you set him on fire.

You glide your hands down his abdomen and rest them on each side of his waist, bringing your mouth close to his ear and whispering, "You can touch me too you know."

But his hands are stuck to his sides and you ended up putting them around you.

It's obvious that he's nervous and you don't want to force him to take things further, you press your forehead against him, then ask, "should we continue or...?"

He closes his eyes and softly exhales, "I didn't know that badly wanted this until now," he answers with a breathless laugh.

You hug him and laugh into his shoulder, holding him close until he softens around you, wrapping his arms around you.

From there, he slides down the strap of your bra to make a long trail of kisses on your bare shoulder. He drags his mouth to your neck, kissing down the column of your throat and making you softly whimper into his hair.

He's only getting started but he's drunk in the natural scent already that he needed to take a breather in between, looking at you and cupping your face in his hands, then kissing you more.

The sound of his belt hitting the floor makes him aware that your hands are working open his slacks and you're unzipping them in a painstakingly slow motion like the tension isn't unbearable enough. You let it fall down his legs and pooling around his ankles while you crash your body with his, kissing him again.

He envelopes you this time, putting his hands around you and kissing you back, needy yet tenderly.

With your hands on his chest, you steer him to the bed and push him down, making him sit on the edge of the bed. He takes a second to take his pants out of the way and pulls you close, inviting you to sit on his lap.

"I didn't know you have this many muscles," you said with an impressed smirk.

His muscles are firm and contracted when you put your hand on them, your hands seem to hesitate to go lower than his abdomen.

"You sound disappointed," he seems.

You briefly kiss him on the lips, "hmm... a little," you joked.

He understands that well because he has been with you for these past few years and tonight, he realizes that there's a lot that he's yet to discover about you. That you have an alluring body, every part of it lures him to touch, to taste and he's more than eager to cater to it. You have a tiny little tattoo on your ribcage of an outline of a heart and you have a mole right above your navel. Your skin is warm and soft with a scent that gives him a sense of comfort he doesn't get anywhere.

He has just so much to say about you that he can't find the words to verbalize his thoughts.

"Can you take this off of me?" You asked as you put his hand on your back.

"Okay," he answers, unclasping your bra and taking it off of you as you asked him to.

How can he avoid seeing those breasts when they're right in front of his eyes? He uses his hands to cup your breasts then uses his fingers to touch your hardening buds. He uses his mouth next and fills his mouth with ample flesh, gently sucking, and teasing your nipples with his tongue.

How can he stop when every part of you satisfies all of his senses?

Your body is unknown water, uncharted territory yet he dares himself to explore so he lays you down on the bed, so eager to discover more of you.

He catches a breath while admiring your naked body against the white sheet, flustering under his lustful gaze.

You take his hand and bring it close to your mouth, making him feel your lips under his fingertips, then you put his two fingers into your mouth.

He can't tell which one is hotter, the inside of your mouth or how you suck his fingers with your eyes fixed on him.

Slowly, you pull his fingers out of your parted mouth, wet with your saliva and you take his hand to where you wanted him the most.

"Touch me there," you said as you put his hand between your open legs.

When he thought you're going to let go of his hand, you keep your hand on his and start making a circular motion right on your clit.

"Like this," you added.

You're so delicate that it feels like he's touching a flower and it’s blossoming under his touch.

He continues touching you how you wanted it as you pull his head close to kiss him, moaning into his mouth as he applies gentle pressure on your clit. If not kissing you, he kisses your neck, and your chest, taking your breast in his mouth and continues sucking on your nipple.

With your moans growing louder, he's sure that he's doing well down there. Confidently and carefully, he inserts two fingers into you. You grip his shoulder as he starts pumping his fingers in and out of you.

"How about that?" He asks as he looks down at you, "do you like it?"

You hastily kiss his mouth and gasp, "I like it so much," you answered.

The room that is usually cold feels intensely warm that night with your moans bouncing around the walls, replacing the quietness with your lustful noises. His hand is drenched with your essence, it tells him that you're getting close to your climax.

Your back is arching and your eyes are screwed shut, biting your lower lip to try to muffle your moans even though you know that's useless.

"So close," you told him, burying your head into his chest.

Han keeps going with the same move but adds more speed but his eyes are focusing on you, doesn't want to miss the sight your face would make as he makes you cum with his fingers.

"Cum," he says with his lips grazing your cheek.

He presses a sloppy kiss on your jaw, "flood my hand," he adds.

You try to stop his hand from keep going only tells him more that you're on the brink of orgasm.

"Cum," he whispers, casting the spell right into your ear.

And you let go, holding on to him as you cum right into his hand.

After a moment, you lay back on the bed with your eyes closed, jaws slacked open while you try to catch your breath.

Fuck! He did that, he just made you cum with his hand and he wonders if he do that again.

Suddenly you pull him by the neck to kiss him, rolling on the bed and kissing him until you both run out of breath.

"Condom?" You reminded him.

"Yeah, condom," he foolishly repeats your word and reaches for it on his bedside table.

You snatch it from him, "I'll do it," you volunteered.

Well, he doesn't have any reason to say no but lowers his boxer, revealing his stiff member at you.

You silently giggle after taking a glance at it then say, "you're so hard."

Isn't it obvious that you're the cause that his cock is fully erected with a shining bead of precum leaking on its tip? But he doesn't want to give you the satisfaction of letting you know that, he shrugs and smirks instead.

You crawl over and sit on his thigh, ignoring the fact that he can feel your wetness against his leg.

Instead of putting on the condom, you put your finger on the tip of his cock and lightly circled it, smearing the precum all over, then delightfully having a taste of it.

"I wonder..." you said, didn't bother to finish your sentence but putting all of your hair to one shoulder and slowly taking his cock in your mouth.

"Ah... fuck..." he didn't mean to curse out loud like that and he quickly gets a grip of himself.

He can feel your tongue swirling around his cock before letting it go.

"Do you want me to continue?" You asked.

Truthfully, he doesn't give a damn. Whether it's your mouth or anywhere else, it's a win for him as long as it's with you.

"Later?" You asked again.

He takes a breath before answering, "However you like."

You tip your head to the side and smile, without saying anything unwrapping the foil packet in your hand and rolling the condom down his cock without a hassle whatsoever. You lean in close to him and kiss him on the lips, "want you inside me now," you innocently said, in contrast to the favor you asked of him.

Having sex with your best friend? It gives him the ick just from thinking about it.

But that was him a few months ago.

Now, as he's fucking you deep and steady while you squirm and moan under him, he thinks that this is the hottest sex he's ever had and he's not even close to cum.

The fact that you're his best friend tells him that he can trust you and that somehow elevates the intimacy.

"Han..." you breathlessly called him.

He responds with a haste kiss on the corner of your lips, "mmh?"

"You can cum," you said to him, allowing him to cum since you already cum earlier.

He plans on going as long as possible because you just feel so fucking good but that's also the reason why he can't last long. It’s just too fucking good!

He picks up the pace and relentlessly thrusting into you, kissing you while he keeps chasing his high until he's free falling into endless pleasure.

You hold him close as he continuously whimpers, staying still with his cock still inside you, filling the condom with his cum.

"Are you okay?" You asked with a kiss on his lips.

He inhales air through his mouth and exhales it at once, "more than okay," he answers as he drops his head onto your chest.

After gathering all of his senses back, he finally gets to look at you and sees you're smiling at him. He suddenly cracks a laugh.

"What?" You asked, curious about what he's laughing at.

"Fucking your best friend," he says in disbelief and cracks another laugh.

You laugh along and nod at his remark, "I know right?"

Maybe once didn't feel real enough so you initiate another round and who he is to refuse your offer? It's just exactly what he wants.

"Let's take it slow this time," you said, then slowly lowering yourself down his cock.

He sees how your parted mouth lets out breathless moans all the while he's holding you by your waist. How come you still feel this good?

When he's fully sheathed in your velvety walls and he feels all of your weight on him, oh... it's pure unadulterated pleasure.

"Ouch!" You yelped as he grips your waist too hard that his nails dug into your skin.

"Sorry," he immediately apologizes and puts his hands around you instead.

You start by slowly rolling your hips and doing it without holding back your moans.

He's glad that the two of you doing it in the basement and not in your room, or else he would be having problems trying to muffle the noise you make. He can't ignore it too, you're so tight and warm and you keep sucking him deeper as you start moving on his lap.

You change paces a few times and if it's not that, you add more intensity to your movements. You said to take it slow but he can't tell if he can do that, heck! He doubts he can last longer than the previous session.

As if you heard his cry for help, you take pause and kiss him so tenderly. You taste the same as a piece of gum that doesn't lose its sweetness with every chew.

But it's you who tugs his lower lip between your teeth and gently pulls it down, giggling so cutely like what you did does not affect him.

"Chris is so stupid for dumping you," he doesn't know why but it crossed his head just like that. It's just that you're so smart and beautiful and kind and sexy and fucking him so good and Han doesn't get why he dumped you. The only conclusion is he's fucking stupid.

"Yeah, fuck Chris!" You playfully added to his remark.

"No, don't!" He hastily says.

"No?"

"Yeah no, don't fuck him!" He says while shaking his head.

Your warm breath brushes his cheeks as you laugh, "how about fuck you?"

He notices the wry look on your face and he likes it, how it implies that you're up to no good.

"Yeah, fuck me indeed," he says.

He kisses you hard as you start moving again, pulsating your hips against him, taking his cock deeper into you and sending him close to his high. But seeing you enjoy fucking him is what arouses him the most. You look so vibrant and alive and fucking attractive.

"Fuck, you're so beautiful!" He blurts out with dreamy eyes looking into you.

"Let's cum together," you said.

With your hands on his shoulders as support, you pick up the pace. He helps by guiding you by your waist and bucking his hips from under you.

"I'm close, I'm close," you repeatedly said with eyes screwed shut.

"Good cause I can't hold it much longer," he gladly admits.

You manage to put on a smirk while both of you try to chase your highs together and when you do, you melt into him.

Despite the cold, both of your bodies are coated with a thin layer of sweat. Despite the sticky skin, your bodies tangled together on the bed.

"We should have done it a long time ago," you sigh on the top of his head.

Han looks at you and says, "I agree."

He kisses you and continues the kiss down your chest, stopping there at the valley of your breasts. He holds you like that for a moment, indulging himself in the warmth of your embrace as you slip your hand into his hair, fingertips softly scratching his scalp.

He's listening to the sound of your heart beating and he feels just as alive. He's never been sure of himself but this is where he wants to rest his head at the end of the day for the rest of his life, close to your heart.

He tilts his head to look you right in the eyes and he wonders why he ever doubted you when you're the only thing that's certain in his life.

It's Christmas morning and yes, he can see that the snow starts falling again from the little window.

He turns his head to see that you're already awake as well, "good morning," he sleepily greets you.

You smile at him before answering, "morning!"

Now that your eyes have met, you lean in close to each other and kiss.

You shyly smile when you pull away but nestle your head further into his neck, "how do you sleep in this cold?" You asked.

He pulls the two layers of blanket and covers your bare shoulder with it, deciding that it's best to pass the question when the cold now has its perks.

He turns his whole body to face you and holds you close, looking at your bare face but that only makes him want to kiss you more.

So he did, he kisses your lips and cheeks and forehead and then your lips again, longer than the previous one.

"I'm so happy," you said.

Han puts away the strands of hair from your face, "yeah?"

You nod, "I'm happy that I get to wake up on a Christmas morning with you."

Just like everyone else, Han has a list of favorite things he keeps in his head but this, you saying that you're happy waking up on a Christmas morning with him with a bright smile on your face would go straight to the top of the list.

"I don't know about you but this is the best Christmas gift I've ever received," he said with a peck on your lips.

"What? Fucking your best friend?" You poked fun at him.

"Yeah, that too," he jokes back and pulls you closer.

He glances at the clock on his bedside table and usually, everyone in the house is already awake at this hour. It just hits him now that the two of you had sex at your parent's house and the possibility that someone might hear the noises scares him.

You recognize the horror on his face, "what?"

"Shouldn't we go upstairs since it's Christmas and your family is probably already... ?" he can't finish his sentence but gulps air to relax.

"Well, yeah..." you answered.

"But maybe a few more minutes? It's warm and nice and I still want to cuddle with you," you said with a pair of pleading eyes.

Deep down, he knows he's prone to your charms, always have and he believes, always will.

Almost half an hour later, you are both dressed and ready to go upstairs for breakfast. You stop when you see the book you told him to put in his backpack.

You take it and hand it to him, "your Christmas present!"

"Huh?" He takes the book with eyebrows knitted together.

"Open the book!" You ordered.

He obeys and it flips right to a part where a letter is tucked between the pages.

He takes it out and looks at it in curiosity, "What is it?"

You shrug.

He opens the letter and unfolds the paper inside, it's a receipt for a purchased desk.

"It's a new desk," you said since he's slow on processing it.

"Oh?"

"It'll be delivered when we get back," you added.

He shyly smiles because he always said he will buy a new one but didn't have time to do it. It's a little surprising because when he thinks about it, he's been keeping his Christmas gift with him this whole time.

"Thank you!" He sincerely said.

"You're very welcome!" You said back.

Fortunately, no one catches you coming together from the basement and walking past the living room to see little Lee too excited to open his gifts, impatiently ripping them open while sitting crosslegged on the carpeted floor still in his pajama.

Your father is also there, watching over him while sitting on the sofa with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Merry Christmas, dad!" You said with a quick hug.

"Merry Christmas!" He follows suit but skips the hug, he wants to respect his private space.

Your mother joins in after, bringing a tray of toast and pastries. You go to the kitchen and return with mugs of coffee in your hands, having breakfast together in the living room.

He sits next to little Lee and plays together with his new toys while watching you exchange gifts with your parents.

A new leather belt for your father, a pair of beautiful silk scarves for your mom, and a new set of legos for little Lee while you keep the ones for your sister and her husband aside.

It takes you a minute to find the gift he puts under the Christmas tree for you.

Your face lights up when you recognize his handwriting on the wrapper, "you didn't tell me!"

He shrugs and smiles.

You neatly unwrap it and carefully do not tear right through the content inside, finding a leather case for your drawing utensils.

He knows the one you use right now is worn-out and you need a new one.

"Oh, this is... this is very nice!" you cooed and not hesitating to kiss him on his cheek.

"Thank you!" you said while holding it close to your chest.

While Han freezes there that you just kissed him right there, in front of your parents.

He silently takes a look at them, but none of them seem to mind, they're busy talking about the piling snow outside.

The festivities don't last long since everyone has to get ready to go to the hospital to visit your sister.

Han puts the bags of food and change of clothes your mother packed into the back of the car.

Before getting in, he makes sure little Lee is safely tucked in his baby seat.

You're warming up the car as you wait for your parents to come out of the house.

"About the proposal..." you began.

Han pauses as he's about to click his safety belt in place, "Yeah?"

"We can just tell them next time," you said.

You look ahead at your parent's house, "I wasn't aware of how much pressure I put on you so let's just take things slowly.”

You turn your head at him with an apologetic look, "and I'm sorry," you earnestly apologized.

The hospital is a little emptier than usual and it's a good thing. That means a lot of people are celebrating Christmas in their homes with their families in good health.

But it's also sad to see some people sick in their hospital beds on a day like this.

He comes into your sister's room a little late, carrying bouquets of flowers for your sister as a substitute for a Christmas gift.

"This is for you," he says, handing one of the bouquets to your sister.

"I hope you'll recover soon!" he sincerely wishes.

Your sister gladly takes it from him and puts it as far away as possible from little Lee's reach, "Thank you so much, Han!"

He smiles in response.

"And the other one?" Your sister asks, eyeing the other bouquet in his hand.

You also look at it and give him a puzzling look.

"It's for you," he says, holding out the bouquet to your mother and waiting for her to take it from him.

She gives him a sweet smile before taking it from him, "aw, thank you!"

His palms start to sweat and he wipes them to the back of his pants, swallows hard before taking a stand among your family, one deep breathe later, he starts speaking.

"Now that all of your family is here, I have something to say."

He can feel sweat form on his back and all these pairs of eyes are on him, making him even more nervous.

Your eyes widen and there's a layer of concern on your face, guessing what he’s going to say but at the same time have an inkling of what it is about he would likely announce.

"Han..." you said with a concerned tone.

He takes your hand and pulls you to stand next to him, holding on to your hand like it's a lucky charm. He looks at you again and gains a little confidence.

"Last night, I asked your father for permission to propose to you," he says.

Everyone let out collective gasps but the ones from your mother and sister are the loudest.

You squeeze his hand and look at him in disbelief, confusion is visibly drawn on your face. You must be surprised because it's so unexpected.

He licks his dry lips before continuing, "I'm going to ask you..."

He takes your other hand and holds them both in his hands, "Will you marry me?"

You crack a laugh of disbelief but your eyes start to water, there’s a dead silent going on and everyone else is holding their breath waiting for your answer.

"Just say yes already!" Your sister impatiently chimes in.

"Shut it!" you shout back.

You look back at him and laugh again, it's the fact that he did it so unexpectedly that makes you so speechless.

"Yes," you said while nodding repeatedly.

He's too nervous to hear you the first time, "Huh?"

"She said yes!" Your brother-in-law shouts a little loud that a nurse who was walking past the room glares at him.

"Sorry, it's just that someone proposed to my sister-in-law!" he apologizes with a cringing smile.

Everyone laughs and cheers at a moderate volume while you crash into his hug, "are you trying to be cool, huh?"

"No, I was trying not to faint," he answers a little too honestly.

Everyone burst into a laugh and start congratulating both of you, there's no champagne but your mother starts passing apple juice in paper cups.

Your father leads the toast and a little before that, you interrupt with a confession, "for your information, I was the one who proposed to him first."

He pulls you to his side again and looks at you, this time, he doesn't hesitate to kiss you on the lips right in front of your family.

When he pulls away, you grab the collar of his shirt and kiss him more.

"Oh my God, there's a child here!" Your sister reminds you while covering little Lee's eyes with her hand.

But you're too happy to care and hug him again.

"Is that how you feel when you proposed to me?" He asks with a low voice that only you can hear him.

"Why? you feel like dying?" you joked.

"yeah," he innocently answered, "but of happiness."

You smile at his answer and put your hands around him, "exactly like that."

He understood now why you needed his answer that badly and he can't explain how happy he is right now but he guesses it also comes from the fact that the happiness is not only his but also everyone else's in the room.

Maybe this is why it truly is the happiest season.

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#stray kids smut #skz smut #han smut #skz han smut #han x reader #skz x reader #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #stray kids scenarios #skz scenarios #skz fanfics #skz fics #kpop smut #kpop fics #kpoop fanfics #seospicy smut

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marchsfreakshow · 11 months ago

Text

Princesses Over Princes {Dandy Mott}

Fluff. Little bit of teasing smut. Cover made by me

Fem!Reader

It's your first Christmas with the Mott family after Dandy 'convinced' you to move in. It's officially time to go present shopping, and Dandy almost buys the whole store.

Slightly self-inserted so consider reader autistic, just for now.

I miss writing for my murderous baby boy, so here's a holiday fic to keep y'all going. :)

No one's perspective.

⊹˚.⋆ ₊꒷ᘏᘏ︶ଓ︶꒷꒦⊹˚ᗢ₊꒷︶ଓ︶꒷

Windows had condensation on them because of how cold it was outside. Lights were twinkling around, and Dora made something warm in the kitchen. It smelled like leeks, so you guessed it was some type of soup. You were a bit sick. But, not sick enough to convince Dandy that you couldn't go out today. For Dandy, it had to be a broken leg, and maybe fully paralysed for you to not be able to go out.

Every single time you heard, "Y/N! We're going out." You dramatised fainting and laid like an 1800s lady who needed air on his bed. A grin and a giggle always gave it away, and Dandy stood there unimpressed every time. "Come on! I want to! You need to come with me! You need to! You need to!"

"Big baby." You muttered as you got up.

"What?!"

"you're. A. Big. Baby!" Dandy stood there, slightly gobsmacked, and watched you walk out of his door, a slight skip in your step. Despite being called a baby, he followed you anyway.

A baby? No. Dandy was your lovesick puppy. He'd follow you to the ends of the earth and buy you a company if it made you happy. He was wrapped around your finger like a tight glove. Your comfortability over anything. If you went to the freakshow to see your friend, Amazon Eve, Dandy would make sure you had front-row tickets and brought a pillow to make sure you were comfortable in the creaky, woody chairs. The way he looked at you, it was a look that could melt anything. His eyes were firmly on you. He was so happy he bumped into you with his mother on a walk.

You were sitting in the kitchen, having some of the soup that Dora made when Dandy finally decided to come into the kitchen. Even though he followed you out of the playroom. "Dandy, come eat something!" You smiled, gesturing to the small portion of toast that was available on the table.

"I'm not hungry."

"Dandy-" Dora started,

"Dandy eat something or I'll lock myself in one of the empty rooms and not talk to you until the new year."

Instinctively, Dandy sat down and almost scarfed down toast with nothing on it. He then sat impatiently as you finished your soup, albeit a bit more slowly, and less messily. You were almost elegant and looked like a princess in your baby blue dress that poofed out and rested just below your knee. All Dandy thought you needed now was a tiara, and a ring. Both have a gem-like sapphire in them to match the colour scheme. Staring at you was a full-time job for him. The only one he would like. "Are you almost done?"

"Almost." You giggled, feeling Dandy gently grip your thigh under the table. There was an impatience to his words, and you could feel a tantrum coming on if you didn't hurry up and finish. Thankfully, Dora took your bowl from you as soon as you placed your spoon down. She could also feel the impatience and wanted you to go so she would be away from Dandy for an hour or so. Your eyes met with hers, a silent thank you along with a smile. The small bowl was taken from you, and Dandy grabbed your arm, dragging you to stand up. The childish happiness within his run made you smile, and follow him quickly. He practically threw you in the car once you put a coat on, and started the car just as quickly.

"Love? Where exactly are we going?" You asked once you were on the road. Your boyfriend had calmed down now and was driving carefully. To him, you were precious, a statue or an angel that couldn't be damaged. That one piece of art that you own and wouldn't let anyone else touch it. That's what you were to Dandy, art. Everything about you was art. Your interests were included.

"Store."

"Well, I figured that." You chuckled as the car's hum ran behind you quietly. "But what store are we going to prince?"

A blush rose on your boyfriend's cheeks. His infatuation with you only increased when you called him a nickname. Prince was his favourite. You were his princess, deserving of everything. "Whatever store you want. What do you want right now?"

Silence was the answer until you sheepishly answered, "A new stuffed bear. Not a proper one! Just, a stuffed animal. A brown bear, I like those ones."

"Stuffed animals. Toy shop then. Childish.." He muttered the last part, but you heard it anyway. The roads merged as you were nearing the biggest toy store in town. The biggest was a dull, old toy store in between a book store and a café. It was a greying red and the blandest beige you've ever laid your eyes on. The owner was a sweet older man, but you hoped one day, someone would repair the outside, give it a paint job and make it lived in again as it was when you were a child.

The car screeched to a quick halt and scared you almost half to death due to the suddenness of it. "We're here." He mentioned flatly. It confused you, but you undid your buckle and opened the door for yourself. Just as quickly as you opened the door, a hand appeared in your view. You took the hand, and stepped out of the car, immediately walking around to the pavement. The store was in front of your eyes, children rushing around to grab whatever they wanted.

"I do hope that there's something I want left in stock." You sighed. Before you walked in, you adjusted yourself despite no one in the shop caring much about your appearance.

"We'll find something. You need something for Christmas."

"You do too. I do have most of your presents already though." You smiled. Striding into the shop, Dandy and you were suddenly overwhelmed by the amount of children's yelling and noises they made in general. There was a quiet corner in the corner of the shop, in which the shelves held different teddy bears. "Teddies." You mumbled, walking towards them like a soul heading towards purgatory.

Dandy followed but ran instead. He grabbed a random one and held it out towards you. It was a light beige and looked like a typical teddy. "Um, I don't know." All that kept coming out of your mouth was mutters. Small and messy kids were running around you as the other adults apologized. He could tell you were getting more agitated and uncomfortable but attempted to refrain from yelling.

That lasted about 4 minutes.

You were sitting in the storage room with the shopkeeper's permission, hands over your ears and your eyes were almost glued shut. It pissed Dandy off to no end and you heard, "GO AWAY! EVERYONE!!" Everyone stopped in their tracks and put their things down, not including the bought things, and slowly backed out. Silence filled the shop.

"Dandy. You, my...my customers!" The shopkeeper thought out loud.

"I don't care!! Y/N needs space! They need time!! Everyone was annoying her!!" You took this as a sign to walk out of the storage and Dandy immediately hugged you, kissing your head gently. "You have all the time now."

"Thank you, Dandy." A smile replaced the scared frown you wore on your face. The teddies were still lined up on the shelves, but some were on the floor. You picked the floor teddies up, and Dandy took them from you, going to place them on the till. Every single one you looked at was placed by the shopkeeper.

The small black ones, the beige, brown, white bears. The dusty pinks and blues. The ones with a small card tied to their paws, the bears who looked brown, big and dusty. The old ones who never got a chance to be loved.

Every. Single. One.

"Oh, my love don't worry. I don't-"

"No." Dandy cut you off quick. "You deserve the best. Especially after the annoying brats filled up this place." A sigh escaped you, and you placed your least favourite stuffed animals back on the aged wood.

What was left was 3 teddy bears, a puppet you liked the look of and a small robot. The teddies were the small black one that caught your eye immediately, one of the medium-sized dusty pink ones, and the aged, dark brown, squeezable bear. They captured your heart, along with the other two items. The puppet, and the robot. These 'robots of the future!' interested you dearly. Would talking pictures and robotics be the future? Either way, Dandy was happy you made your choice, and you could go home.

"Is this all you're purchasing today?" The shopkeeper asked. He was a kindle and gentle soul, who had manned the store since Dandy and you were children. He knew you well and saw a romance happen before his eyes when talking to you and Dandy.

Before you could answer, however, Dandy nodded and brought his wallet out. "$100."

"Really? $100. Wow, that's a good price!" You chuckled, gazing at your new and known presents.

"$100 is really cheap," Dandy muttered, paying the shopkeeper swiftly. The items were placed into two bags, and immediately getting scooped up by your childish boyfriend. "Okay, let's go."

You waved goodbye to the shopkeeper and headed outside, the car still in front of the dinky shop door. Dandy almost rushed again, placing the bags in the back of his car and resisting the urge to make you quicken your pace. He wanted to get home. Quick. You were a bit stressed still. He could tell and knew being back at home would make you feel better. Well, your new home. You suddenly got moved into Dandy's mansion at some point in time at the start of your relationship, and it still took you a few months to get used to.

As soon as you were buckled in the passenger's seat, it didn't take more than a second for Dandy to be racing back home. It was like there was a time limit to getting back, and he had to make it back within that limit. The roads were blurred, and you gripped onto Dandy's arm with your left hand, the other held onto your own seatbelt. Whatever race Dandy was having in his head, clearly his car was winning.

The car pulled up to the house in no time. Dandy looked completely fine, with no scratch, but you felt worse. Your stomach felt like it was flipped, your heart was racing and your hair certainly fell out of whatever shape you styled it in that morning. The laboured breathing you were doing concerned Dandy. "Are you okay?"

"yeah. Fine. Just, a bit too fast."

"Okay." A monotone voice came out of the man, and he got out, giving you about 5 seconds before he came around to your side and picked you up, along with the bags of course. "I'm taking you into bed."

You felt like a princess and just stared in awe at Dandy. This childish, but strong man was carrying you into the house, and all the way up to his playroom. It was his favourite room, and where you had your bed. Nothing but the best sheets for you. "Thank you, my prince." You giggled, as Dandy was now sitting by your side.

"You're welcome. you're my princess, and need the best, not whatever common people own."

"Would you kill someone for your princess?" You teased, biting your lip slightly. Pretending to love murder and blood made Dandy even more happy. It thrilled him to know that you were 'just as bloodthirsty as him' according to Amazon Eve.

"I'd murder anyone and everyone if it made you happy." He gripped onto your waist and you looked up at him again. Almost showing innocence in your eyes. He was all yours to ruin with blood, gore, anything. His innocent doll.

Just to make sure he didn't add on to his words, you kissed him and you held onto eachother tightly. The kiss was filled with nothing but lust. The rest of the day was heavy touching, breathing. Deep and heavy kisses. You and Dandy were wrapped around eachother's fingers, tight. "I love you my prince."

"I love you princess."

Tags; @slvt4jamesmarch @babygorewhore @taintandviolent @tatelangdonsweater

#texty #ahs #american horror story #dandy mott #almost smut #dandy mott x reader #dandy mott smut #finn wittrock #Finn Wittrock x Reader #ahs Freakshow #Freakshow #Fluff #Holidays #ahs x reader #Dandy x reader #dandy #x reader #ahs imagines

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canirove · 5 months ago

Text

Rice, Rice, baby | Chapter 8

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Masterlist

“And where do you say Kennedy is taking you?”

“I don't know, mum. It's a surprise trip.”

“She could have given you a clue.”

“She told me to pack clothes for two days, something fancy, my passport, and that she would pick me up from work.”

“Then you do know something, Olivia. You are leaving the country.”

“I guess” I shrug, closing my suitcase. This was Kennedy's birthday present: a girls trip somewhere for a couple of days to try and forget about work, kids… and men.

While she joked that she needed to forget that Madders existed even if it was just for 48 hours, I needed to forget that my friendship with Alex had gone to hell. The fact that he had changed all his shifts at work to not be there at the same time as me, was enough to confirm it.

“You are probably going somewhere that is close by. Like Spain or maybe Portugal.”

“Maybe. And I think I have it all” I say after double checking my bag.

“Will you call me when you know where you are going?”

“And once we've landed. Don't worry, mum” I smile.

“Ok, good. Now come here and give me a hug.”

“Mum, I can't be late for work” I chuckle.

“As if you didn't enjoy my hugs” she says. And she isn't wrong. I do love her hugs.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“I'm on the black BMW” I say to myself, quoting Kennedy's text while walking through the carpark. “Most players have black cars. How am I going to find hers?”

“Miss, Chapman?” someone calls behind me. “I believe you are looking for me. I'm Miss Kennedy's driver.”

“Oh, yes. Sorry if I made you wait.”

“It's ok” the man smiles. “This way.”

“Thank you” I reply, walking behind him. Turns out that the car wasn't that far away, but parked next to other super expensive black ones…

“Allow me” he says, gesturing towards my suitcase. “Miss Kennedy is waiting for you.”

“Oh, ok. Thank you” I say again, opening the car's door and getting inside. “You should have put a sign on the car or something, I almost didn't find… Declan?”

“Hello” he smiles.

“You… You aren't Kennedy!”

“Sorry to disappoint” he chuckles.

“Where is she?”

“At home, I guess” he shrugs.

“At… what?”

“Oh, Liv. You look so cute when you are confused” he laughs.

“Don't make fun of me” I say, hitting his arm. “What are you doing here, Declan?”

“Surprise! This is my birthday present.”

“Your… what?”

“Should we get going, sir?” the driver says, closing the driver's door.

“Please” Declan replies. “Meanwhile I will explain everything to the lady. Though security comes first” he says, moving around me to put my seatbelt on, his closeness making my heart beat so fast I think it may rip my ribcage apart. Also, have I ever said that he smells like heaven? “There, perfect.”

“Thank you” I whisper.

“You're welcome” he smiles, making my heart do another flip inside me. Will I make it to the airport alive? Probably not. “Ok, so. Like I told you, this trip is my birthday present. I wanted it to be a surprise and I asked Kennedy to help me, to tell you that you were meeting with her instead of with me. And it looks like she was very convincing.”

“She definitely was, yes.”

“Aren't you happy about it, Liv?”

“Uh?”

“You look… I don't know. Not too excited about going somewhere with me.”

“No, no. It isn't that.”

“Then?” he asks.

“I thought I had scared you off.”

“What?” Declan laughs.

“After meeting my parents at the Emirates the other day I thought that you… That… I don't know, that it had been too much for you and that you didn't want to see me again. You've been behaving kind of weird.”

Since that day he had barely texted me when he used to do it all the time, and we had stopped facetiming too, something we had started to do daily. And on my birthday he had only sent me a happy birthday message, nothing else. It didn't even have an emoji, and Declan loves emojis.

“I'm sorry if I made you feel like that, Liv. But my life has been hectic lately. First I got injured, then sick, then when I recovered and was back in training they had us shooting stuff for the website for a few days and I ended up shattered, then I had to attend those music awards…”

Oh… The music awards. The ones where he presented “best female artist of the year”, and where the winner mentioned during her speech how extra nervous she was because he was one of her crushes, all that leading to everyone talking about it the next day. About that, and about how close they had been during the after-party, apparently spending most part of the night together. Some even reported that they had left at the same time.

“Liv… Olivia. Are you listening to me?”

“Uh?”

“You have not listened to anything I've said, have you?” Declan laughs.

“I stopped after you mentioned the awards.”

“I see… You read all the articles, didn't you?"

“Maybe” I shrug. “Is it true, tho?”

“What is?”

“That you and that singer spent the night together. Among other things.”

“Don't believe everything you read, Liv” he says, not answering my question. At least not properly. “Now, back to what I was telling you about. Where do you think I'm taking you?”

“I… I don't know. Spain?” I shrug again.

“Close.”

“Portugal?”

“The other side.”

“What?”

“Portugal is to one side of Spain. And to the other…”

“France?” I gasp.

“Have you ever been to Paris, Olivia?” Declan smirks.

“I…” He is taking me to Paris. Declan is taking me to Paris for my birthday. Am I dreaming again?

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Oh… my God. Is this real?”

“Very real” Declan smiles. “You can look outside to be sure” he says, nodding towards one of the windows in my room. I still can't believe I'm in Paris. That I'm gonna be staying in the fanciest hotel I've ever seen, and that I have a room twice the size of my own back home all for myself. Though to be honest, just the bathroom probably is as big as my room.

“That's… That's the Eiffel tower?” I gasp.

“The very same. Thought it would be something you would enjoy.”

“I do! Of course I do! I mean, it is a bit… lame to be this excited about Paris, but I don't care.”

“Glad to hear that” he chuckles. “I'll leave you alone so you can unpack, call your parents and maybe rest for a bit. I'll text you later to go to our first surprise.”

“I thought this trip was the surprise.”

“Part of it” Declan winks, instantly making my body temperature rise. “Keep an eye on your phone, ok?”

“Ok… But wait” I say, running towards him and wrapping my arms around his neck.

“Yes?” he asks, resting his hands on my waist and trying really hard not to smirk, something I am very thankful for. Because if he did that while being as close as we are, I know it would be the end of me.

“Thank you” I smile.

“You're welcome, Liv” he replies, kissing my nose.

━━━━━━❃━━━━━━

“Liv…”

“Yes?” I say, turning around.

“Perfect” Declan smiles.

“You are worst than a paparazzi” I laugh.

“I can't help myself” he shrugs. “You look stunning tonight, Liv.”

“Yeah, sure” I say, looking away so he can't see the colour of my cheeks. Though with the light on the boat he probably wouldn't notice. Because we are on a boat. On the Seine. And we've had the most romantic dinner ever with the Eiffel tower shining behind us. Cliché? Maybe. But like I said when we arrived at the hotel, I don't care.

“You've actually looked stunning since we arrived in Paris” he says behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. “And it's all thanks to that smile that hasn't left your face.”

“You should be thanking yourself for it.”

“What?” he chuckles.

“If I'm smiling like this is because of you. Because of this trip. It is… perfect.”

“Well, it has just started” he whispers before kissing my shoulder and hugging me tighter.

#declan rice #declan rice fanfic #declan rice x reader #declan rice imagine #football fanfic #football imagine

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stoopid-turtle · 1 year ago

Text

Consuming Candies Pt 2: DD ❤️ GG and GG ❤️ DD

ALL FAKE. I'M MAKING SHIT UP FOR FUN. DON'T BELIEVE ME.

Intro post for this series

Once I convinced myself that DD and GG are some variety of gay, the rest is honestly not hard to conceive of. Two gay guys filming a BL adaption on a set that was open to same-sex relationships who got on really well...it's not hard to believe they'd "get together".

3. DD and GG had "a thing" around the time of the TU production. This could include the time period during filming and through the promo period. Actual timelines and details of the nature of the relationship are secondary.

If an actor and an actress hit it off as well as DD and GG did, it'd be easy for people to see that they were an item. For some reason, people struggle more to see that with two men (okay, I know the reasons, but I'm not getting into that here).

By the time I'd established 1 and 2, I'd seen enough bts and other footage to buy in to 3, as well, but here's the list of moments/candies that just nail it for me. It would be impossible for me to list out all the moments that simply scream "They're in a relationship!!!" because there's, just, a lot. So here's the short list, again, in order of most inarguable to more open to interpretation.

a) Old cow eats young grass.

That's it. That's the clip. There is no het explanation for that. I guess you could maybe claim DD was referring to GG liking younger women, but that doesn't flow with the rest of the conversation they're having. Especially with GG's comment about paying for new brake pads,

They did the gay together. More than just casually. They were an item at this time. Hands down. Case closed.

(Again, I'll get to the argument that this is all fabricated fanservice at another point)

b) The bts of DD getting into costume where he's quizzing the costume-jiejie about what GG said about him in an interview.

This is straight-up, cliche, 'shows up in freaking romance novels' behavior when you have a crush. Nobody's that concerned about what their friend is saying about them in interviews. You only care that much when you're trying to get a feel as to their feelings for you.

Also, the costume-jiejie is hilarious about it. Asking him about his response in an interview and then teasing him about not remembering what GG said about DD. She clearly has served as a sounding board for DD about his crush before, and she's amused and encouraging and teasing, all at the same time. Hats off, costume-jiejie.

c) Happy Camp moments: jealous!GG and the necklace.

I don't usually put much stock in the jealous GG/DD stories, but the instance with GG going grimdark as DD wriggled through the hole with another guy is just...again, I'm struggling to think of a context that would make sense that isn't "they are together and GG is jealous".

(I don't find jealousy cute, tbh, so I'm not jazzed about the moment. I don't know what was going on between them that led to that, but I'm glad they seemed to clear it up).

This leads to the other Happy Camp moment, seen only in fancams. The ox-head necklace that DD had been wearing scratched up his neck during the game. GG's stunned reaction to DD's injuries and his concern, plus clearly telling DD to take it off...none of this makes sense unless GG gave DD the jewelry.

Like, okay. I have a necklace my bff gave me, and I wear it a lot. It's really meaningful and sentimental. But if it were scratching up my neck, I'd take it off. If she were there while it was scratching up my neck, she'd joke about it and agree that I should take it off. She wouldn't look distraught.

My wife, on the other hand...

c) DDU's 11th anniversary episode

There's no way to describe this episode except that it really felt as if DD was having his new partner meet his fam. The fact that DDU stopped throwing women at DD after that speaks volumes.

From a), it's clear that their relationship was pretty serious (and extended after the end of filming), and having GG meet DD's DDU brothers is another indication of where their relationship was at. That's not a trivial thing.

d) GG's lack of chill during promo interviews.

I get the vibe that if they were in a relationship, GG was a lot more scared/nervous about it than DD was. He also had less experience with interviews and such. There are numerous moments where GG misunderstands, overreacts, or just acts weirdly during interviews that are hard to explain away.

- The "It's been a year" video, where DD points out that the camera is recording and GG balks at whatever he'd been saying. Cue the nervous laughter and whispered conversation between them. - The backwards pants interview question. - An interviewer asking him if being in a relationship means the end of his career (right after asking about his marriage plans--a question that made dd mad). - His weird denial of DD's waterfall story

In each case, something startles GG into a panicked silence. Then DD usually intervenes and so then GG has some nervous laughter.

Plainly, there's something he's afraid of being revealed in interviews. So much that he's seeing danger, even when it doesn't exist. Given the nature of the questions, we can see that the "thing" he's afraid of is

- him being in a relationship - something involving DD and him and a waterfall - and accidentally wearing someone else's clothes.

All involve DD. In all, DD is the one who relieves the panic and calms him down while smoothing over the interview.

It's not a leap to guess that he's in a relationship with DD that he's afraid people will find out. Sure, he'd want to hide a het relationship too, that makes sense. But then there's the pants question and the waterfall question. And the only way GG and DD's reaction to the question of whether being in a relationship would be the end of GG's career is if...GG and DD were in a relationship.

e) Hot pot.

Okay, this is where I start sounding crazy if I discuss this without prefacing with everything above ^^^. But the fact that their tastes in hot pot shifted over time to more align with each other is significant. I've read about the regional differences and how DD's sudden taste for spiciness could only really be attributable to GG, who's from an area with spicy hot pot.

This resonates with me, especially, because I was a hella picky eater when I met my wife. Like, embarrassingly picky. But then I met my wife, and she cooks and is a foodie and eventually, my palate just expanded. Now I'm a freaking foodie (and a vegetarian, like her), and our eating habits are pretty closely aligned.

Merging is real in longterm relationships. It looks like this. In my case, my wife demystified food for me with her cooking and likewise, it seems as if GG taught DD how to handle spicy stuff.

This wouldn't be significant on its own, but in conjunction with everything else *waves hands*...well, it's convincing to me.

In summary, it is blindingly obvious to me that they were a committed couple at some point after TU filmed and aired (when that commitment started is unclear, but I'm not gonna get into that here). Even after 227, it's clear that they're romantically together. I'm 100% convinced of this. Since I started drafting this, I've come across older mentions of (now gone) bts that just...there's no doubt. They weren't hiding it on set. They were just out there, exhausting everybody around them with their chaotic flirting/mating dances. It's insane and I love it.

4. DD and GG are still together.

Me: So I've been watching behind the scenes for The Untamed, and I think the two actors maybe had a thing? There's just...a lot going on there. My wife: Sounds gay. Me: I mean, some people seem convinced that they're still together because of shoes or something. That gets real out-there. But I definitely wouldn't be surprised if they had a thing during filming. My wife: (who only watched the show) I could see it. They had that chemistry.

(2 weeks later)

Me: Honey, I swear I sound crazy but I'm not. These two guys were totally together and I think they might still be together. My wife: Because of shoes? Me: I SWEAR I'M NOT CRAZY, HONEY, JUST BELIEVE ME My wife: Yes, dear. Their shoes make them gay. Me: *sobs*

When I first started dipping into things, I felt a great sadness watching older videos of them, because I'd heard that they weren't allowed to interact in public, that they probably didn't even talk to each other anymore, etc etc. YouTube's full of this, and the fans who say they're still together look, well, crazy.

It's easy to conclude they're not together anymore given that so much early evidence of their relationship is based on videos/audios. The bts, joint interviews, fan meetings, etc. We were spoiled with up-front and personal visuals of their dynamic. It's not a surprise that in the absence of that, most people just assume they don't talk or interact much anymore.

Not to mention, wandering in some years later, you get a massive dopamine hit with the bts and the promos and then there's a drop when you try to look for more recent stuff. When we could see it, their relationship seemed to alive. So real. So undeniable. But in the absence of that, the immediate instinct is to assume that lack of visibility = lack of existence.

But we have only ever seen a small slice of their lives, most of which has been selectively shown to us by them or by production companies. Both DD and GG have full lives when we're not around to see them. They each have their own career trajectories. They have vastly different hobbies and both of them have their own friend groups. We only get a glimpse of all of that, but that doesn't mean that's all there is. Especially now, when they're sharing fewer personal posts and China is cracking down on the entertainment industry.

No doubt, we only know the tiniest, most tailored portion of their personal lives these days. But back in 2019-2021, they were clearly together. Their relationship was clearly serious. They joke about shared financial decisions, get introduced to each other's on-screen and off-screen family, visit each other's set. Both of them seemed in it for the long haul.

Given that, I don't see why we should assume they have broken up just because we're years later and we don't get the joy of seeing them together anymore.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think a break-up is impossible. Couples break up. Even couples that have been together for a while. Even couples who adore each other and try to make things work. It happens.

But there's no reason to assume that they're broken up just because we haven't seen them together recently.

I do have a couple "reasons", but this evidence won't convince anybody who doesn't believe they were ever a couple. It's only when you accept that, yeah, these 2 BL actors are actually gay and in a long-term relationship, that this seems reasonable.

a) The bone necklace.

I'm pretty well certain that the ox-head necklace was a gift from GG. The timing of the bone necklace's appearance, plus DD's attachment to it (similar to his attachment to the ox-head necklace), makes it a decent guess that the bone necklace was also a gift from GG.

We can kinda guess at the meaning. I've only seen one clip where GG has called DD gouzaizai, so I don't know if that's an actual "thing" between them. (though it's not outside the realm of possibility that they are influenced by bjyx fandom).

In any case, the bone necklace is still around. Still being worn. That's notable to me.

b) They could end this ship if they wanted to.

They have both had other pairings shut down. The fandom wars between turtles and solos is intense and causes disruption, something neither of them need. The solo fanbases are huge and it'd be a no-brainer to jettison the CPFs if you want to cut down on the type of fandom upset that gets unwanted government attention.

But they haven't.

They could have the supertopics shut down. DD could avoid being anywhere near the number 3. They could both dive into a bush rather than be around the color yellow or a turtle. DD could take a video of himself melting down the bone necklace or giving it to a pretty woman. They could starve the fandom.

But they haven't.

They keep around their gay CP, despite not publicly interacting with each other in years. They take down articles about them breaking up, pull down hot searches about them with actresses, and continue to feed the fandom with candy.

Most recently, GG went to work late on the days DD was out sick. That's not even an intentionally thrown candy. That's just us noticing a couple taking care of each other. If they weren't together, then GG, whose team certainly knows about DD being sick, could have avoided doing anything that would make it seem like he was involved with DD during that time.

But he didn't. Either their teams don't care about turtles, which seems difficult to believe given the conflicts that have arisen within the fandoms, or the teams (notably, gg and dd) want to keep turtles around. At this point, years past the point the show is out, years past the time the two have even been seen together, there's no rational business reason to hold on to the turtles.

That's not neutral. They're not keeping turtles engaged for economic reasons. They're not keeping turtles engaged just for shits and grins (the joke has run a little long for that). They're keeping turtles around because they're getting something of value from having us around.

Honestly, I think having a huge contingent of cpf cheerleaders is probably comforting when they aren't allowed to express their feelings for each other publicly. It's probably weird and sometimes probably intrusive, like most stuff with fans, but they still have millions of people who embrace them as a couple when they live in a country that is hostile to their relationship. Who in that situation wouldn't want to keep that?

In sum, I had to get past the "too good to be true" hurdle. The automatic dismissal of BL fangirl fantasies. I mean, BLs often market to those fantasies, so a healthy dose of skepticism seems reasonable. I don't honestly blame people for dismissing it when they only have a passing familiarity with the whole thing.

It took a lot for me to see past that, and to see that this is the one case (that I'm aware of) where the fantasy is real. I think it's notable that this "fantasy" doesn't actually look like the fanservice fantasy often served up in BLs. I mean, ggdd have their moments, but they're also snippy, jealous, possessive, lewd, awkward, and just plain weird sometimes. They're real and that's messy and that makes it even more real.

In the next part of this little series, I'll talk more about the fanservice question, plus fanfic, and The Timeline. That post requires more editing, so it probably won't go out until next week.

Just remember it's all fake and nothing I say is true.

#bjyx #yizhan #still clowning #24/7 apparently

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lolokouhm · 1 year ago

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FUSHIGOVER pt. I [THE LEAKING]

1 / 2 / 3 / 4

this ff is a fix, we’re living post 235 chapter. The rest is irrelevant

Loving him felt like cheating.

I was a fucking cheater.

I've cheated countless times in my life. There was a part of me that was convinced that this incredible luck I for some reason possessed would finally run out one day. I mean, everyone had their limits.

Well, that day definitely was not today.

I was in love with Megumi Fushiguro.

And I was more that ready to tell him that.

Actually no, scratch that. I wasn't. Despite being relatively brave (I was a jujutsu sorcerer after all), I'd much more prefer to exorcise another curse than tell him the truth. Reasons? Multiple. He was my friend. A good one at that. And the blood-freezing amount of shit we've been through together...

I mean, it takes two to tango, right?

Well, let's just put it that way. I didn't see myself tango-ing with Fushiguro anytime soon.

Maybe I was blind. Maybe I needed Gojo's Six Eyes to see what I've been so desperately wanting to see for the past few months, but unfortunately, this technique was, for some reason, reserved only for him. Well, that sucked. Almost as much as my mental state that morning.

'Didn't sleep much?'

The bed was definitely too small for two people, but I didn't really treat Nobara that way - she was a part of me by that time. A whole year of studying together, training together, shopping together, crying together was enough to blend us into one human being. Sort of.

'I'm so done.' I sighed. What would I give to hide under the bedsheets and never come out. At least for the next 15 minutes. 'It's insane that we still have classes.'

'It is', she nodded and snuck under my bedsheets to hug me tightly. 'Two more years and you'll be in the clear. So get up and let's go. We've got things to do.'

I stood up and slowly went into the bathroom, to make sure nobody would confuse me with a curse and I wouldn't get exorcised by mistake. That would suck. I shivered in front of the mirror, fixing my hair and putting on some sunscreen. Nobara joined me a moment later, being the only girl in the whole school that actually understood the importance of SPF filters, especially in this field of work. We were exposed to the weirdest shit on the entire planet, so the least we could do was putting on some cream.

'I've heard that he's coming back.'

'Today?' I tried not to sound too excited, but I apparently failed, as my best friend suddenly chuckled.

'Yup, today. So, is that it? Is that THE date? Should I prepare for being the only single person out of us two?' Nobara put the cream back in the drawer, delicately tapping the rest onto her right cheek.

'No.'

'Phenomenal. I've endured your mental breakdowns for the past four months, so I'll guess another few won't kill me. I mean...' She pointed at the left side of her face. The scars were getting less red by the day, but we both knew - they weren't going anywhere anytime soon. 'I've survived that. But still, (Y/N). You're hopeless.'

'I'm considerate.'

'You were.' Nobara nodded, catching my glance in the mirror. 'But he's fine now. Or... relatively fine.' She shrugged. 'Whatever. It's not gonna get worse. Someone has to unpack his trauma. You're the best choice. You were the first one to crack the 'fushigover' joke, weren't you?'

I was. And I wasn't particularly proud of that.

'I was drunk. And you were the one who gave me that... Vodka Sour, so it's technically your fault.' Alcohol wasn't my best friend, but Nobara and booze got along pretty well, so sometimes I got dragged somewhere in between them. 'I... Can you even imagine that?' I turned around to face Kugisaki. 'What would I say? Hi, Fushiguro. I've just wanted to tell you that I think I might kinda love you. I know you probably have more important things on your mind than that, but I was about to explode, so please, just don't think about it too much.'

'You're hopeless.'

'I'm realistic', I corrected. My morning routine was over. I was ready to go out. Finally. ‘I can’t just go out like that. It’ll be a disaster.'

'GIRLS!' Somebody opened the door and barged inside my room. 'Have you heard? He's back!' Yuuji suddenly appeared next to Nobara. His eyes shone in excitement. 'Fushiguro's finally back!'

My heart skipped a beat.

'Already? Gojo's back too?'

'Yup.' Yuuji nodded and looked at me. 'Oh, (Y/N). He wants to talk to you.'

I frowned. Gojo wanted to talk to me? Right after he and Fushiguro came back from Kioto? That was... surprising, to say at least.

'Now?'

'Yeah. Asap. That's why I came actually.' Yuuji smiled. He was an angel. 'I kinda got too excited. Oh, is that THAT SPF?'

I exchanged a look with Nobara. She seemed quite amused, but a small crease forming on her formed made feel me a little anxious.

Praying I wouldn't see Fushiguro on my way to the Gojo's office, I almost run through the corridors. I've been desperate to see him for the past few weeks, but when the day finally came, I wish I could fall under the face of the Earth and never come back.

It's been almost a month since Gojo got Fushiguro out. Or rather, since Gojo got Sukuna out of Fushiguro's body. That day... I couldn't say I remembered it very well because of the sheer amount of emotions I went through, but even the slightest thought of Megumi's body, laying there lifeless, was making me shake. Oh, that picture was tattooed in my head.

If only you could erase it.

'You're leaking.' That was the first thing I've heard when I entered the room.

'Huh?'

The white-haired man sat in front of me. His gaze was piercing. Gojo smiled and pointed a finger on me.

'I've been wondering for a while now. Sukuna is hiding somewhere, so some disturbances are normal. I'd be surprised, if there weren't any.' Gojo scratched his head. 'But the amounts of cursed energy in this school are ridiculously unbalanced. So I figured, someone has to be in a very bad state.' Gojo crossed his arms, but he didn't really look intimidating - rather amused. 'And it's you.'

'Me.' I repeated after him, not really sure, what to think. 'That's...'

Gojo tilted his head a bit, looking like a curious puppy. No way this man was the most powerful sorcerer.

'That's a very suggestive thing to say.'

The sorcerer chuckled and stood up.

'That was a good one. But nah. Your cursed energy is leaking out of you.'

If Gojo was joking, then the joke didn't sit right at all. What was even worse, most of the jokes we usually cracked together landed perfectly, so combining that with his piercing gaze made me feel even more confused. He wasn't joking. He was serious.

'(Y/N), I seriously adore you. And your sense of humour is just the best. But I've had my eyes on you since that day.' The stronger sorcerer alive, my ass. He suddenly looked somehow apologetic. 'I don't think...' He sighed and I felt weak. 'Let me put it this way. I felt your cursed energy during the fight, even though you were pretty far away. How is that possible?'

'I...' I was speechless. 'I have no idea.'

'You lost control. And you haven't regained it ever since.'

'It's not possible.' I panicked a little when I realised that my voice was actually shaking. 'I've got it all under control. I don't feel bad. Or any different.'

'You're lying.'

I was.

'You have to get it sorted out as soon as possible, otherwise we're going to have our hands full again. And I seriously want a break.' I've never heard Gojo speak like that. Right there, in that moment, he seemed... tired. 'But anyway, congratulations.'

'What for?'

'For getting him out.' The air in the room suddenly became colder. 'If it wasn't for your cursed energy, things might have been... different.' Gojo's gaze wandered for a second, looking for something behind the window. When he finally turned back to me, his fatigue vanished instantly. 'Whatever. I'm glad it happened. Just get it under control. Want some mochi?'

'Yeah.' I needed the sugar to process everything my teacher has just said. 'Maybe even two.'

'Take three.' Chewy rice balls felt somehow calming. 'Oh, and Megumi can't wait to see you. He was sulking most of the time in Kioto, but seemed weirdly excited to come back. And I'm good at connecting the dots. If your cursed technique was able to get his will to live back, then I guess he'll be more than happy to see you.' Gojo stretched his arms. 'Just don't scare him.'

'With what?'

'You know.' Yeah, I had it coming. 'The leaking. Megumi's inexperienced.'

'That was awful.'

'I know. But you laughed.'

I guess I really did.

———

It's really going to be an unhinged series. But we're going to have a lot of fun. Muahaha

#jujutsu kaisen #jjk #megumi fushiguro #megumi x reader #jjk megumi #jujutsu megumi #jujutsu kaisen megumi #fushiguro #jjk trio #itadori #gojo satoru #jjk x reader

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trauma-bot · 2 months ago

Note

ouuuu i need the lore... i love selfships so much.... nuze lore please.... if you want..........

YAY YAY YAY. im gonna try so hard to keep this somewhat brief to leave room for any more questions but we'll see how that goes <3

so to preface this E does have a toyhouse bio that you can look at if you're curious! it has a more in-depth look at his personality and whole deal. you can also look at his gallery if you'd like; thats where his references and other artwork for him are stored!

ALRIGHT. RAMBLING UNDER THE CUT

a lot of it is very much to fulfill my weird convoluted fantasy of "what if i lost all hope for a future that i exist in and was convinced that i was going to succumb to the claws of my trauma and rot there forever (basically dooming myself in my own narrative) thus becoming the absolute worst version of myself in what i believe to be my final moments only for someone (two someones in this case) to love and believe in me so much that, despite it all and despite everything that was done to me and that ive done myself, gives me enough hope to undoom myself". i'm normal i swear.

also just generally im a big big sucker for stories about survivors of trauma being there for each other, and in that way i get a lot of comfort from nuze.

SO. NUZE LORE... (once again shout outs to my bestie night for coining their ship name lol)

i guess ill break it down like this, starting with N/E. (alt. ship name being pupE love (coined by another bestie of mine charlie)) E knew N back at the manor and they were close friends then, N was the first person E came out as trans to (by that i mean. N helped E work through his tumultuous robo gender feelings in real time) and N was the only one E really felt comfortable around. (other than tessa! E was also friendly with V back then as well<3)

however, E was also badly traumatized by his time in the manor, and of course Canon Events happen. E, as a disassembly drone, is now much more muted, detached, numbed, and devoted completely to their directive. he's very very very repressed and his specific brand of memory issues as well as the fucked up memory dreams causes him to dissociate and spiral a lot. he also distanced himself a lot from N for reasons even he isn't entirely privy to. something in his hardwiring just told him that N would be safer the less E stayed with him. and N is!!! really saddened by that!!! its normal! E has to learn to not be an emotionless object and actually let himself feel and need and yearn, and N is a big help with that (uzi is as well ofc!!)

i have to skip past a lot of things for the sake of not making this post so many words long but regardless; N/E is really special to me because they are two people who are in a very similar and scary situation and have had to see each other get hurt or even killed in many clone instances in many reset memory files. and its the just. the willingness to love despite knowing what happened to you and even witnessing it at times, to say "this is not all we are" and break free from those iron chains despite knowing how much it'll hurt and how dire everything is. E is so convinced that its all worthless and he couldn't be anything more than what he's used for, while N desperately wants a better life for himself and those he loves, and he's gonna drag E kicking and screaming to hope and healing. <3

NOW. UZIE :3 (alt. ship name is angelfangz)

E is MIA from the squad until like right after episode 3 canonically happens and is found by uzi and N. uzi does not trust E at first not one bit LMFAO. she doesn't hate him but like. her only frame of reference for murder drones besides N is V and J. and also E is like. he's weird and says weird cryptic things and is not exactly the easiest to talk to due to how off-putting and repressed he is. at first E is like "why is there a worker drone. in the spire. and we're all okay with this" but after actually getting more context behind Everything he's curious about her more than anything. he has to be swayed into betraying his initial directive (kill all worker drones. yknow) only because thats like all he knows how to do and would feel aimless without it, but once he is he's loyal to his new directive (help uzi figure out what the hell is going on with this solver business). yeah he treats himself like an object that can only find worth in being ordered around but we dont have time to unpack all of that right now. he unlearns it later i prommy.

uzi is like. spitefully resistant to getting to know E on a deeper lever, but this is uzi "no bonding thing" doorman and she cannot help but care about E and be concerned about his behavior. she will notttt admit that however and stubbornly holds her ground. it isnt until post-episode 4 when E and uzi are fully vulnerable around each other.

uziE is. so so very important to me. uzi has been outcasted and isolated for so much of her life, she's been treated as a weirdo freak monster by her classmates and becomes outwardly prickly and aggressive to cope with how little affection and reassurance she's been given. i know she's internalized it to mean there is something wrong with her that everyone else can see, and its only a matter of time before those who actually care for her see it too and leave her. and i know that the events of episode 4 confirmed it in her mind, that she is a freak monster and everyone was right to avoid and hate her, even though she never asked for any of this. thats a very familar feeling to me- and by extension E. E recognizes the feeling of being made into a monster against your will, of fearing and being unable to trust yourself, and of feeling like its best for everyone's safety to hide away. E and uzi find solace and comfort in each other for that. they dont see each other as broken irredeemable monsters, so maybe they aren't.

im stopping here because holy shit this got long but THERES A LOT MORE LOLL. tldr nuze altogether is very very important to me and i could talk about them forever and ever. they love each other all so much and they grow and heal and forgive and aaaaughhhgh<3 im normal.

#gloom.ask #THANK YOU FOR ASKING AND LETTING ME BE INSANE <333 THERES A LOT MORE WHERE THAT CAME FROM #WOULD YOU BELIEVE ME IF I TOLD YOU THIS WAS THE SHORT VERSION. BC I LEFT OUT A LOTTT OF IMPORTANT DETAILS #that being said...... if theres any more questions...... hiiiiii<333 #long post #im so fucking sorry i tried so hard to keep it brief #murder drones #self ship #oc x canon #sd-e #murder drones oc #uzi doorman #serial designation n

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vulture-jack · 2 months ago

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been fishing around half my life to see if the amount of pain im in is normal and finally at 30 having a doctor be like "no, and im sending you to a specialist because you're young and thats abnormal" almost felt like I was getting something I didn't deserve

all i ever got from family members was "lol wait till your're older", "welcome to getting old", or at best "it runs in the family" without a word that i should maybe seek help instead of just gritting my teeth and bearing the agony i was in because THEY never did anything about it. nobody was curious? like god if a friend told me they were feeling what I'm feeling I'd tell them to bring it up to their dr at least. Why did it take me so long to think this was important? I felt like such a baby. Other people have it worse. Maybe everyone is in this much pain and can just. Handle it.

why didnt anyone see me wincing, limping, and looking for anywhere to sit down 3 or 4 hours into a day out at 14 years old and SAY SOMETHING other than "have you tried insoles" like YES. IVE TRIED INSOLES.

I will say in the last year I have had at least one or two family members be like "yeah it might be That and you should go" and that. Meant a lot. At the end of the day I had to learn that I'm an adult and I have to advocate for myself now, and I don't need permission from the people in my life to be in Enough Pain to ask for help. But like god if they took me seriously when I was a kid maybe I wouldn't have spent so much of my life in pain wondering whether or not I'm just a baby and everyone else is handling it better than me. Because thats how I was made to feel.

At a certain point I stopped telling people how much and how often it bothered me. It became a Me problem and something I had to put up with. If i didnt, I was disappointing people. I felt shame every time I tried to see if others my age shared my experience. Like I was revealing that I'm actually this weakling who cant handle Normal Pain.

But like tldr I guess if I could boil it down is, if a young person says theyre in a lot of pain, don't belittle it because of their youth, show concern BECAUSE of their youth. Don't laugh and tell them itll get worse. Don't dismiss them because they haven't "earned" YOUR aches and pains.

I don't know if the specialist I'm going to will be able to help me. I hope so. I hope its what I think it is. I know that its a good possibility that I won't get an answer. But man a doctor not needing any convincing, just listening to me and saying "Thats concerning for your age" and taking action to help me? Life changing on its own.

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08melancholie · 14 days ago

Text

Honeysuckle and Whiskey. — Micah Bell/OC

CHAPTER 9 — Distressed Damsel.

words: 3,874 | AO3 LINK — MASTERLIST

(Chapter 1 "Colter and Gang Rivalry" or Masterlist for tags and summary.)

It took a few hours—as Strawberry is quite far away from their camp—but she arrived soon enough, the sun showing her it was around noon. Melody immediately looked for the sheriff's office building, or for any sign of Micah at all.

It was a small wood building with the word 'JAIL' boldly embedded into it. She noticed it and urged her horse just outside, hitching it. She slid off her saddle, walking into the building.

"Hello.. ma'am. May we help you?" She was greeted cautiously by who looked to be the sheriff—eyeing her attire per usual, a few men gripping their rifles and shotguns tightly as she walked in.

Melody lifted her hands peacefully off her gun belt when the guns pointed at her. "Woah. Hello.. I had a question, is all." She said, looking each man in the eye and trying to calm them. They slowly put their guns down, making her breathe a tad bit easier. "I heard there was a hanging soon."

The sheriff stepped up to her, looking down at the cowgirl with his hands on his belt. "Yes. Micah Bell.. very lucky to have found him. Why do you ask?" He grew suspicious—since she's walked in with such an outfit, her sudden questioning of a hanging to her demeanour altogether. "You a friend of his?" He took another wary step to her.

"God, no." She shook her head with a chuckle. "I came all the way from Valentine to see the bastard swing." She said proudly, looking up at the sheriff. "He's a very, very bad man and if I could? I'd be the one to hang 'em." She said, putting up a bold façade.

The sheriff laughed, cocking his head down at the woman with a small shake of his hand. "Well, you're in luck; hanging is tomorrow morning." Her blood ran cold again—thank God she came when she did.

"That so? I'll make sure to show bright and early." She said confidently. "Excuse me." Dipping her head at the man respectfully—him doing the same back—she exited the building, pondering on what she could do about this.

She knew Arthur was getting him God-knows-when, and she couldn't risk anything at that point. As she looked around, she noticed a small path down the hill the office was on, leading down next to the building. She followed it, and surprise, surprise; Micah Bell had his head peeking out of the small room—presumably the jail downstairs—with bars for the window, his hands holding onto the metal around his head.

She walked down discreetly. "What'd you do this time?" She spoke suddenly, Micah immediately cocking his head to look at her. He grumbled something under his breath; obviously unhappy that they sent a woman to save him. "Guess I'll just go then if you're gonna complain." She threatened, turning on her heel.

"No! Melody, get back here! Don't be like that." He quickly stood up straight, head peeking out of the bars for her. She turned around with a teasing smirk—making his somewhat worried expression falter to his usual, stoic one—walking up to the bars with her forearm just above his head, leaning down. "Well, are you gonna help?" He urged.

Melody leaned down to his level now, face a few inches away from his. "Cut the attitude, be happy I came to check on your situation; they're gonna wanna hang you first thing tomorrow morning." She revealed, making Micah panic slightly. "Dutch was gonna send Arthur—and you know damn well he would have probably been too late."

Micah just nodded slowly, unable to convince his own self that he was quite grateful she came anyways. "Did.. Dutch send you to check on me?" He grumbled lowly.

"No—I insisted on coming myself." Melody said, leaning back slightly as she thinks of a way to get him out. "If I go to get Arthur, it'll be too late and they might know something's up. I'll.. think of something." She said quietly, looking around herself a moment. He seemed rather worried about having to rely on Melody to get his ass out, slumping over the bars silently. "Hey. Don't give me that." She said, snapping her fingers at his already faltering spirit. "You need to trust me here. I can do this." She reassured him sternly, slightly offended.

"I trust you." He said, slightly forced, but it was enough for Melody as he leaned back up and looked a tad bit more alive. "And.. got your plan?"

She pondered for another moment, an idea popping into her head as she started rummaging through her satchel. "Yes; a really foolish one." Micah watched, very skeptical as she pulled out a dynamite stick, waving it in the air slightly. "You might wanna step back for this."

Micah leaned over closer, disregarding her idea. "Are 'ya insane, cowpoke?" He said sternly, waving the stick of dynamite away. "You can't possibly be serious!"

"I am!" She defended the idea, slapping his protesting hands away and putting the stick on the bars. "Just.. trust me. I'll give you a gun when I blow this off, and we'll leave quickly. Got it?" She spoke firmly to him, trying to convince him. He simply stepped back with his hands in the air, giving her time to light a match. "Ready? Step back a bit more." He complied, and she put the lit match to the string of the explosive, scrambling back herself.

It was a rather loud and ground-shaking explosion, and she threw a revolver she kept on herself to him as soon as the smoke cleared. Micah looked back as a man followed behind him, shooting him between the eyes.

"Was that really necessary!?" She asked, ducking behind a barrel as the sheriff and his men ran out, blasting bullets their way.

"Very." Micah replied, ducking a few feet away from her and shooting back at the men.

Melody scoffed, quickly putting her bandana—which was ready around her neck—over her nose and ducking out to shoot at the people herself. When the last of the men dropped, Micah took a random turn further into town. "D'hell you going?" Melody asked, following close behind. Here it goes.

Micah hid his body behind a crate on a small bridge, Melody following next to him as they shot at more men coming their way. "A social call.. They got somethin' of mine." Micah revealed, shooting and moving ahead with Melody doing the same.

"We don't have the time for this, Micah!" She complained, shooting at anyone she saw as Micah made his way down to a house, banging on the door and calling out for a certain man named 'Skinny'. The man walked out—talking about how his name was Norman and not 'Skinny'—barely uttering a word to Micah before being shot in the stomach. "You always was a let down, you useless sack of crap." Micah spat, walking into the house. "'Scuse me a minute, Melody."

He shot a woman—most likely Norman's wife—and walked out. "They had something of mine;" He showed Melody his custom-made DA revolvers. "My guns."

"That's worth more law and more men we need to shoot?!" She scolds him, dragging him to duck behind a small half-wall as more bullets sped past them, barely missing the pair. Micah chuckled lowly, definitely loving the adrenaline rush. They shot at the police men and law together, barely making it to their horses as more and more law sped down after them. "We need to lose them." Melody said, urging Anni to quickly make work of the path ahead—Micah doing the same with the random horse he stole.

They ran, shooting back at any lawmen that followed them until they got far enough, halting their exhausted horses in the middle of a path. "Goddamn it, Micah; what the hell was that!?" She scolded him again, calming her distressed horse.

Micah chuckled again, his voice dark and low. "I think we did pretty good, cowpoke." He turned his horse back and away from the direction of camp.

"Where are you going? Camp's that way." She pointed, and Micah angled his horse to look at her again.

"I can't return now; not without a gift for Dutch." He explained, trying to control his own, distressed and stolen horse.

Melody shook her head at him. "Hell no, you're coming back with me. I'm using this," She pointed to their bloody attire and back at Strawberry. "as proof that I can handle myself. You're gonna do this for me, I saved your ass." Her voice was stern, making him cock his head in amusement and, with a simple nod, he followed behind her.

Another few—very silent—hours passed as camp came into view. "You're allowed to run off after I know Dutch has seen you and I." She says, jumping off her horse just outside camp and waiting for Micah to do the same. He follows behind her, stretching his body as they walk to Dutch's tent.

"Melody? I thought you said you wouldn't-"

"They was gonna hang him tomorrow morning." She cut off Dutch mid his attempt at scolding her, Micah standing awkwardly next to her. "I couldn't leave it be." She shrugged slightly, placing her hand on Micah's lower back and shifting him slightly towards Dutch, walking away silently. Dutch let's her, giving Micah a stern but discreet talking.

A few hours passed since she came back. Melody was sitting out at a table, practicing Five-Finger-Fillet with her knife when Micah dropped something on the table suddenly, making her jolt and cut her middle finger. "Scheiße!—hell's this?" She looked down at the item and up at him.

Micah looks behind himself at Dutch who eyes the conversation silently, nodding at Micah as he grumbles lowly. "Thank you. For saving me, that is." He puts his fingertips on his gun belt, looking down at Melody.

The woman barely keeps her giggle in. "Did Dutch send you to thank me?" The man grows a little embarrassed, pressing his tongue to his cheek silently. "You're very welcome, cowboy. Is that a holster?" She asks curiously, leaning back in her chair as she rubs the blood off of her bleeding finger onto her pants.

He nods. "A parting gift." He muses somewhat playfully, walking backwards slowly. "You do know how to handle yourself quite well, cowpoke." He leaves the vicinity with a dip of his head at her—oddly respectful of him—and with Melody doing the same before grabbing the holster off of the table, standing up and attaching it to her hip. "Sweet."

Micah left camp soon after gifting Melody the holster. It felt weird not seeing him going around antagonising every living soul, but she could get used to the quiet ambience by now.

One thing still stayed unclear; why were they suddenly so civil to one-another? It was weird, she knew he hated her and yet he still made an effort to talk to her—accepting to go on missions with her was probably the most weird thing. He wasn't forced to go by Dutch like he was to apologise, so why would he willingly go with her? It was weird, and it drove her to think of him more and more.

"You got Micah out of Strawberry?" Arthur approached her as she sipped on her morning coffee, taking a drag of her cigarette before turning to face him.

"They was gonna hang him. I couldn't just.. let it happen, no matter how much we all wanted that." She mused, knowing Arthur was going to try and avoid going anyways.

He sat himself down next to her. "Yeah, I know. Still, what the hell happened there? Why'd 'ya shoot up half the town?" He asked, almost as if scolding Melody.

She raised her hands in surrender. "Wasn't me! Some guy had Micah's guns, and he just had to go get them." Melody scoffed. "'Least we got him back."

"Oh yeah, that's just great." Arthur wasn't the biggest fan of Micah—nobody is, really, exception being Dutch; who had a bias because Micah saved his life. "Now he's inviting me to rob coaches with him." Arthur sighs. Melody's ears perked up at the words of 'rob coaches', opening her mouth to speak. "No." Arthur immediately cut her idea short.

She pouted slightly at him. "Oh, Arthur! I'm so damn bored here, let me come with you two!" She plead, stomping out her used cigarette butt into the dirt.

He raised a hand to stop her begging. "I ain't no mailman; you take it up with Micah."

"How? He ain't here." She commented.

"Exactly."

"Arthur!" She whined again, pleading tone in her voice again.

"Christ, woman." The outlaw scoffed, standing up tall over her. "Get your horse."

Melody rode to Arthur's left, all giddy the entire trip to where Micah hid out at the moment, looking for a score to bring back for Dutch as an apology for his recent arrest. They rode their horses uphill, leaving them close by when they caught glimpse of some smoke.

Melody noticed Micah's back turned to the two of them, which she used to her advantage—throwing a small stone at him. "Hello, cowpoke." She mocked his accent.

"You brought her?!" Micah leaned on the rock next to him, pissy at both of the other outlaws.

Melody scoffed, hands on her hips. "Gee, good to see you too." She was offended he was still adamant in bringing her around on jobs—as if the Strawberry massacre they caused didn't prove anything about her abilities.

"You two cut it out." Arthur scolded the arguing pair like children, pinching the bridge of his nose. "She ain't that bad and will do just fine. And you," He pointed his finger at Melody next. "won't rile him up while we do the job. Are we all happy?"

Melody nodded first, followed by Micah's more reluctant agreement. "Sure, she won't."

Melody ignored his snarky comment, turning her body to face his with a sour smile. "Tell us about the coach."

"It passes somewhere 'round thataway every day," He pointed in a direction away from them. "it's unguarded and, thankfully for our cowgirl here, an easy job." Micah explained, making no effort to hold his tongue per agreement.

She rolled her eyes at him discreetly. "How do you know this? Ain't you been in jail?"

"The O'Driscoll in his cell told him, and he believed it." Arthur chuckled, mocking the man. Melody joined in with a low chuckle.

Micah gritted his teeth silently. "Watch your mouth, cowpoke. Both of you, actually." He spat at the ground between them before starting to take his camp down. Melody silently lit a cigarette which she shared with Arthur as they waited, whistling for their horses.

"Just shoot the driver off and then anyone else with a gun, and it'll be fine." Micah spoke, turning hid head to Melody. "You got that, princess?"

She scoffed, spitting at the ground below her. "What's your problem with me, cowboy?" She asked firmly, holding onto the reins of her horse as she leaned onto his head. "Missin' the holster you gifted me already?"

"Will the two of you just stop?" Arthur raised his hoarse voice slightly, taking his binoculars out and watching for the coach. "How much longer?"

Melody bit her tongue, deciding on ignoring Micah's further comments for the rest of the day. Micah took a look at his pocket watch, eyeing the clock hands. "Not long. Just be ready, cowpoke."

He was somewhat right; the coach came into view after a few minutes, making the three outlaws put their masks over their faces as they raced their horses downhill after it.

The shootout was short; Arthur shot the driver first things first, making the coach stop as they jumped off their horses and ducked under any bullets flying at them, taking the rest of the untrained men down quickly.

"You're bringing the whole wagon back?" Melody asked as Micah and Arthur sat upfront the wagon, moving it whilst Melody rode her horse alongside them.

Micah urged the horses a bit faster. "Yes. A gift to Dutch from myself."

Melody accepted the normal enough answer, silently riding alongside the wagon. The ride was going just fine, thought as they reached the shore of a small lake, a tree suddenly fell in front of the wagon. "Christ, now we're the ones being robbed!" Arthur commented, swerving the wagon aside and into the water, sending the two men straight into the lake. A wagon at the other end of the lake pulled up soon after, many men coming out at shooting at the outlaws.

Melody left her horse a bit further out, shooting at the other men as she slid into the water herself, moving up as the three easily left the other men outnumbered. The last few that were left ran back through the woods, Melody managing to shoot one between the trees before holstering her revolver in her new holster. "How has every single job I've done with you ended with fellers getting killed?" She asked, walking up to the two men whilst scoffing.

"Ain't that the truth?" Arthur added whilst Micah hit the padlock of the lockbox from the coach with his revolver, cracking it open. "Looks good."

Micah split the take into three, handing the two other outlaws their share and packing his away. "Goddamn it. Where the hell is that horse?"

"You still haven't gotten Baylock back?" Melody asked Micah as he looked around for the stolen horse.

"Still wanted in Strawberry." He complained, watching Arthur hoist himself up on his horse. "Let me ride with you, cowpoke."

Just as he took a step closer to Arthur's horse, the man moved away. "I'm not going back to camp yet; get a ride from Melody there." He suggested, immediately sprinting off with his horse.

Before Micah could protest, Melody butted in. "Morgan, don't you do this to me again!" She scolded the cowboy as he rode away with a grin. A silence befell the two outlaws for a moment. "Damn it." She whistled for her horse, straddling the saddle and scooting up close to the horn of it, extending her hand to Micah. "Come on, it's a long ride."

Micah looked at her for a moment, obviously hesitant. He quickly complied when she shot him a glare, threatening to leave him alone right there. He took her hand, placing the other on the saddle as he propped himself up on the horse.

"Hold onto.. anything." Melody said, urging the horse into a trot. Micah held his hands up, gaze flicking between her shoulders, waist and the saddle under him. "I'm not made of sugar, cowboy. Grab onto something before you fall on your ass." She said more firmly, and he settled for one hand on her shoulder and one on the saddle.

She was right about one thing; it was a long ride.

They arrived in Valentine around 11PM, Micah now holding onto her shoulders with both hands as he almost tipped over when Anni made a sharp turn, which gave both outlaws a good laugh. "Would you mind stopping for a quick drink? I'm damn parched—haven't had nothing but one coffee today." Melody commented, slowly passing by the saloon.

Micah grumbled something in agreement, nodding slightly which made her turn and slide off the horse's saddle, hitching him outside the saloon. Micah slid off himself as Melody was hitching the horse, and they walked into the saloon with Melody in front of him—Micah very close behind. She leaned onto the bar, nodding her head at the bartender.

Micah leaned down next to her—leaving a good amount of space between the two—and tapped his fingers on the wood panels slowly. Melody ordered herself a Scotch; per usual. She looked over at Micah, who got a simple whiskey. The bartender slid their drinks over the bar to them, and Melody raised her glass to the outlaw with a small smile.

Time passed them by very quickly, downing their drinks and throwing coins at the bartender before they both got slightly tipsy—more-so Melody whose a slight lightweight. "Think you've had enough. You and me both." He carefully—quite hesitantly—placed his hand on the upper back of the overly tipsy Melody, leading her to the exit with a nod to the bartender. "Come on." His every touch was very light and careful, gently placing his hands under her arms and lifting her onto her horse.

"One more wouldn'ta hurt.." Melody mused, letting him hoist her up onto Anni and taking the reins.

Micah propped himself up behind her, taking the reins out of her hands very easily. "You can't ride like this." He grumbled, putting it on himself to bring them home. Melody complied easily, very weary in her tipsy state. She was a very tired, yet talkative drunk.

She rambled on about random incoherencies Micah either didn't understand or didn't care for, focusing on holding the reins out with his forearms around her, a few inches away from her waist in case she tips to the side at all. He got them back into camp from Valentine in a few minutes, surprisingly careful with the horse and herself.

He slid off the saddle first, holding her by the forearms as he helped her down with her hands on his shoulders gently. She kept drunkenly giggling and chuckling as she rambled on something about a coach she robbed with her brother August once. She had one hand on his shoulder still as they walked, using the other to wave it around while talking.

He walked her to her tent with another low grumble. "Go in there. Night." He mumbled, turning away before Melody landed on his back. "No, hold on! I'm not done!" She whined, her hands hanging over his shoulders which made him grumble again. He slapped her hands off somewhat gently but firmly.

Melody pouted at him before she walked around to face him. "Well.. thank you, cowboy, for.. having a drink with me." She clasped her hands behind her back gently, wobbling on her feet as she drunkenly grinned at him. Micah put his hands on his gun belt, eyeing her drunken state with a low, annoyed sigh. He gently took a hold of her upper arm, leading her into her tent as discreetly as possible—he did not need anyone seeing him going into her tent at night.

He sat her down on her cot, hands on her shoulders. "You're gonna go sleep now, got it?" She nodded quickly, tapping his hands on her shoulders with her own, before dropping down onto her back with a drunken, giddy smile.

He grumbled quietly, walking out quickly. "Night." He repeated, trying to walk away discreetly again; bumping into Arthur's arms which crossed around his chest with a knowing smirk. Micah looked him up and down once before gritting his teeth. "Not a word out of you, cowpoke." He threatened, walking away quickly as Arthur chuckled at him. Just what he needed.

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