#hard to follow which sucks because he had a really intriguing character

[secret-unburnt-guitars]

Hi i don't know much abt styx aside from general prog fandom osmosis but kwh has always intrigued me a little bit. Can you explain it in excruciating detail? (genuinely i'm not being sarcastic)

*cracks knuckles*

on february 22, 1983, styx released their eleventh studio album Kilroy Was Here. it was a concept album/rock opera though dennis deyoung likes to call it more of a "rock theatrical experience" in recent interviews. they even made a minifilm they played before the concert!!!! you can find it and the rest of caught in the act on youtube

it was made partially as a response to the rise of the satanic panic in the early-mid 1980s. people started to believe that rock music was evil and hiding satanic messages. the band was targeted by the public when they were accused in particular by the government of arkansas (i think?) of putting backwards messages (called backmasking) in their song Snowblind (the line "i try so hard to make it so" sounded like "satan moves through our voices" to some people. i own a copy of paradise theatre, that track in particular is damaged.).

and then dennis deyoung had a GREAT IDEA!!!!!!!!

imagine a big ol lightbulb flashing over him while the rest of the members of styx watch in mortal dread

so basically the album follows a sort of loose and vague backstory that's somehow still solid enough for people to follow some sort of a plot in their head (which is slightly backed up by Caught In The Act, the designated KWH "concert," which i'll get to in a second). the basic synopsis (paraphrased but still in excruciating detail) is as such:

set in a futuristic chicago(?) rock and roll has been made illegal under code 672 (prohibits the playing and purveying of rock music). Dr. Everett Righteous (played by JY), who was responsible for this, is the leader of the majority for musical morality or the MMM for short. the MMM is one of the strongest organizations in this universe since you know. they literally convinced congress to criminalize an entire genre of music for the entire country. righteous also hosts a television show where he encourages the public to burn guitars and records in a huge bonfire during “nightly rallies”. he also projects himself onto a big triangle over the skyline which i think is fucking hilarious i haven’t been able to get over it

Robert Orin Charles Kilroy (played by Dennis DeYoung, of course he's the title character), was a prolific rock musician at the time of the ban. he was thrown in prison for breaking the law and after being framed of murder. they accused him of bashing an MMM crusader's head in (which he obviously didn't do) after they raided one of his concerts at the paradise theatre. he then goes to rot in prison and is subjected to attempts of brainwashing by the dr. righteous show with the other “rock n’ roll misfits” they’ve arrested. it doesn’t work lol. i don't understand how it would work BECAUSE IT'S NEVER EXPLAINED

the prison kilroy is rotting in is maintained/monitored by japanese import, mass produced robots dubbed the "robotos," hence the title track. ignore how racist they look, it was 1983, this is not my fault

i mildly dislike them but it sucks how they’re essential to the plot ANYWAYS

here comes Jonathan Chance, (played by Tommy Shaw, albeit reluctantly) who is a rebel that is part of a underground resistance (that's only really mentioned once). with his friend, he breaks into some unknown area that is most likely a recording studio and hijacks the live television recording of the dr. righteous show. he proceeds to namedrop himself and then run off

credit to @mccoys-killer-queen for the gifs!!

kilroy sees this happen, which inspires him to attempt to escape the prison. kilroy incapacitates a roboto that visits his prison cell and disguises himself as it so he can escape without being noticed (i do not like the way he does this)

after kilroy escapes, he goes throughout the city and leaves messages for jonathan, leading him back to the paradise theater which is now the Dr. Righteous Museum for Rock Pathology

it's got a bunch of shitty animatronics that include people like jimi hendrix and elvis presley, but at the very back is an animatronic of kilroy repeatedly bashing in someone's head

this is my favorite part of the minifilm which i've basically explained sorry. you see like what you think is another roboto emerge from the shadows, and then it takes off its mask AND IT'S THE ACTUAL KILROY!!!

(this is taken from the live show, the transition is so goddamn dope)

and then dennis deyoung prances around and has his little pick me theater main character moment and sings mr. roboto and dances and stuff it looks so stupid. the live version of mr. roboto is way funnier than the official music video i don't know. i posted it about here before but i love this part in particular

so that's how kilroy and jonathan meet and that's basically the plot of one of styx's most popular songs!! sorry i gave kind of a play by play of the minifilm

now here's the fun part !!!! (unfinished lore/controversy)

unfortunately the reception of this album was less than satisfactory for most people back in '83, since KWH was way far away from the brand that styx had made for themselves in the 70s. they made art rock and prog, but this was just straight up synthpop. some people liked it though. i read somewhere in an article that it "alienated their male audience" and honestly if you're alienated by a little bit of gay pick me theater bs from your favorite band, that's a you problem

caught in the act was the designated "kilroy concert" that styx did sometime in 1983. the concert, however, doesn't give any. depth. to any additional explanations of multiple plot holes present in the story. as much as i love and cherish dennis deyoung he didn't do a very good job at writing this.

caught in the act felt more like a compromise than a show, seeing as the banter after the performance of mr. roboto was very bare? kilroy explains to jonathan that he was framed for murder, and then he goes in depth on the night it happened. "the crowd was totally psyched," he says, and then it goes to JY performing a guitar solo, which leads into the rest of the concert. the entire concert was portrayed as a flashback and gives no real backstory to any of the established characters. and then at the tail end of the concert they get "raided" by the MMM and you watch as an MMM officer murders one of righteous' own followers with kilroy's guitar. they cut back to kilroy and jonathan, they sing haven't we been before, and then kilroy hands jonathan this sick ass glowing guitar, then they perform the world's worst finale. the dance party ending of caught in the act. it sucks. it's horrible. i hate it. also there is no dennis deyoung in the kilroy was here universe lmfao

i'm still grateful for the concert though don't get me wrong!!! amazing concert

if the rest of styx didn't want to rip dennis deyoung apart for making them do this (i recently learned from a manager that DDY made them turn down an opportunity to perform at one of the largest concerts of the 80s, because he was like "but muh kilroy"), i believe songs off the album like High Time and Double Life would have been performed at Caught in the Act. both extremely lore-heavy songs, especially double life. i really wish they played double life. but c'est la vie, i guess.

literally everyone in the band hated dennis' guts so much while they were making this (justified, he was a stubborn asshole during production) but god was it worth it. for me at least. i imagine one of the conversations about production went like

JY: dennis have you considered that maybe this is a bad idea Dennis: i'm gonna make you the villain of the story if you don't shut the FUCK UP

i still think that JY had a little bit of fun though. he was hamming it tf up as dr. righteous i'm sorry you need to watch the mv's which you can find on youtube as well

but unfortunately tommy shaw wasn't having a good time at all, he literally quit on stage and stormed off and styx split for a while bc of this album i mean LOOK AT HIM HE'S SO PISSED OFF

overall this album is both cheese AND corn, worst album i've ever listened to, and yet it's given me a purpose in life. i've written 7,000+ words in one document about this album just to try and fill in the blanks the lore has, it's got so many. it's a running joke on this blog, i really hope you check out the album, because i think it's wonderful and it's endearing regardless of the controversy, it's too late for me. save yourself

[allgirlsareprincesses]

What did you think about fourth wing??? I'm dying to know. There isn't enough hate (coherent analysis) about these US Air Force Propaganda books. Please share your thoughts ☕ if you feel like it of course. I just really love reading your analysis about character building and romance 💋

HOOBOY. Brace yourself for the negativity. And for those of you who enjoyed Fourth Wing, turn back now and preserve your peace!

Firstly, I lowered my expectations going into this book. Not so much because I thought it would be bad, or I wouldn't have bothered, but because I've been burned before (I liked ACOTAR but hated ACOMAF and quit it about 3/4 the way through... I try to keep my negativity to a minimum but maybe some day I should post my full rant on that series, too). For the most part, I can be satisfied with a proactive heroine and a brisk pace.

And for the first half of the book or so, that's what I got. I liked Violet and the way she used her wits and studies to overcome obstacles, and I was charmed by her friends and dragons. Xaden struck me as kind of a cookie-cutter Sexy Emo Bad Boy, but that's okay. As long as Violet was having a fun adventure, she could have a steamy romance with the tattooed hottie, too. Dain sucked, but to his credit, at least he was written as sucking from the jump instead of like Tamlin who was character assassinated in the second book...

But then, once Xaden decided that he needed to personally oversee Violet's protection instead of just Liam, I started to notice that our heroine had stopped driving the action. Suddenly, she was reacting to things that happened instead of making plans and following through. She stopped using her wits and her book knowledge, she didn't pursue the obvious mysteries that should have intrigued her, and she just generally retreated into more of a helpless damsel than she had started. And here was Xaden, being JUST as controlling and protective as Dain, but because he's sexy and has a magical justification for his protectiveness, he gets a pass.

And then the worst part. It's revealed that Xaden's not ACTUALLY a bad boy at all. In reality, he's secretly noble and generous and self-sacrificial. Just like Rhys, this guy with the Dark Prince aesthetic is actually secretly perfect, and he's also been obsessed with the heroine since he first met her. So there's not REALLY any way for him to grow or any conflict for him to overcome, because he's already this perfect, flawless, blameless hero. And Violet doesn't figure out his secret on her own through clever sleuthing, doesn't defy expectations to do something no one else will do, she just discovers Xaden's noble crusade and decides to go along with it. Because why wouldn't she? He's already done all the hard moral work (or so we're told) of risking everything for an enemy. Now she just gets to go into battle and nearly die so that Xaden can have Man Pain.

It was just deja vu. Once again, a proactive heroine became passive when confronted with the perfect sexy man with the bad boy aesthetic. So BORING.

And lest you think I'm being too critical, I want to point out a variation on this story that I actually love: The Folk of the Air series, by Holly Black. In that story, Jude is similarly a proactive heroine who meets a sexy bad boy, but there are two key differences in her story: one is that she never STOPS being proactive. Take a look at all of the major plot points in that trilogy: nearly all of them are created by Jude herself, and frequently when she's taking action in opposition to what other characters (even allies) want. Jude makes plans, she follows through, she takes risks, she defies convention. The other major difference is that Carden is ACTUALLY a bad boy at the start of his story. He's a selfish, vindictive brat, and it takes him a long time to grow to a place of maturity (at which point he's still not perfect, but he's better). So he doesn't just have the Dark Prince aesthetic while being secretly perfect - he's actually a real antagonist to Jude, which makes their story much more compelling.

So yeah, those are my thoughts. Hope you enjoyed this rant.

[mortalityplays]

1995

My answer SHOULD probably be To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar but I'm gonna be honest kitten, daddy's only seen it once, a long time ago, and he was drunk and doesn't remember it well enough to write a whole thing.

Which means instead I have to go with:

This is less of an all-time top shelf movie of the heart for me, but I do love it, and I do consider it an excellent example of truly elegant crime writing. The huge strength of it imo is that all the mechanisms of the plot are motivated and justified by really well realised characters. It's essentially a social deduction movie - the story appears to be something very different depending on your assessment of the people you're observing.

Most of all though, it's a fantastic illustration that a good mystery stays compelling after you know the solution. It has one of the most famous twists of all time, and I think it would be incredibly hard to come to it in 2024 unaware of at least the shape of the grand reveal. But despite that, it's still intriguing. It still surprises, it still provokes you to reconsider what you know you know.

I think a lot of the success of The Usual Suspects comes from the fact it's unafraid of ambiguity. One of the reasons I fucking despised Glass Onion (sorry, sorry, sorry) is because it fits a very contemporary view of mystery that sees the story like a sudoku. It insists that not only is there only one correct answer, there can be only one answer the entire time. And that fucking sucks because I got 25 minutes in and looked at the sudoku and went 'ok obviously this is the only thing that could possibly be going on' and then I still had to sit there and watch it hammer me over the head with each individual number until it was done. And then it had the gall to tell me 'ooh sometimes complex things are obvious' god fuck that movie. Anyway.

My point is that The Usual Suspects doesn't eliminate alternative paths. They're dead ends when you follow them far enough, but you always have space to play as a viewer. Even on re-watching, you can still sit there and go 'huh, what would it mean if X WAS actually Y' or 'is Z really doing this for the reasons he claims, and if not what are the implications'. That's the strength of building the mystery out of the characters' internalities.

[alectology-archive]

a day of fallen night final thoughts below the cut, but to summarise I think this is a book people can enjoy easily but it didn’t really do anything particularly great for me in terms of the themes it was dealing with (although I do feel very positively about it’s scathing criticisms of monarchical systems of power especially when they wield power in alliance with the fantasy!church. also that climate fiction is always delicious to read about). spoilers include the ending and partly the general character arcs.

thoughts on the technical aspects of the book:

having finished the book I still strongly believe that the pacing of the story progressed at break-neck speed and left no room for the characters to breathe. I do think this is specifically an issue with the editors involved with this book because all of her other books have never given me the same impression and samantha has repeatedly mentioned that her editors trimmed a lot of words from tpotot and adofn. male writers get to keep nonsensical bits of useless exposition; she should’ve been allowed to throw in a couple more thousand words to let the characters breathe and develop and feel. not that it necessarily means that the manuscript didn’t need to shed some weight, but you know what I mean. the scenes also cut off pretty abruptly sometimes to shift POVs which is well. not good.

… speaking of which a lot of scenes that we build up to take place off-screen despite having a lot of emotional and narrative significance (for instance we learn off-screen that wulf spent 9 months in the priory and also that he was easily convinced that cleolind really defeated the nameless one). this happens multiple times, and made for a very frustrating reading experience - I think dumai’s storyline particularly suffers from this.

I never really felt my heart leap in my chest the way it did multiple times while reading priory and tbs - her writing style involves making her characters face a continuous stream of conflicts that seem insurmountable which is kind of what really drew me to her books in the beginning. I suspect this might be because I kind of have a sense for her writing patterns now that lets me predict her style of storytelling.

I think glorian’s storyline should have started around the time preceding/following sabran vi’s death because I really tired of her POVs before that - it just didn’t have any plot significance. I also admittedly don’t care for reading about characters who’re in their teenhood any more.

with dumai’s storyline, the story seemed to promise court intrigue but failed to really deliver on it. samantha’s also pretty good at writing flawed antagonists but none of them landed well for me in this book.

adofn also seemed to feature a lot of Telling rather than Showing, but this might also be a personal issue because I prefer books to be a lot more subtle with their character development and themes. this was not really the case when I was 16, so I’m not sure if I’ve just become more critical of her work (it’s probably just that).

I think samantha isn’t very good at writing Nice Male Characters. I say this fondly. I love that she excels at writing terrible men, though. jaxon tbs sucks! I love him.

we spend more time with training sequences than we seem to with scenes with conflict between the protagonists and antagonists which is kind of a shame.

this is a very vague criticism and people might not agree, but I also did get the impression that samantha had a hard time letting women just be… horrible in this book. really morally questionable in a significant way. this was not a problem she had in priory. I do think it’s interesting to really deconstruct the concept of a witch in the woods and instead present her as a person who seeks to protect the land, but it also seemed to… contradict kalyba’s pre-established characterisation? like she retconned her background while working on this book? just…. let women be horrible lol. nikeya also wasn’t nearly half as devious as the narrative tried to convince us she was.

she often clarifies how a certain character is queer sometimes in ways I don’t necessarily like (this is specifically referring to the point about how I’ve gradually grown to appreciate more subtlety in books recently). in nona the ninth, we learn that camilla hect has two dads and tamsyn muir never descends into discussing the minutiae the way samantha does.

while the climate and balance element of the magic system was dealt with a lot of nuance a lot of the antagonists lacked the depth that the magic system had with a bunch of conflicts being painted as black and white scenarios (it doesn’t really turn out that way at the end of the book, but you do spend most of the book with certain assumptions that are only countered in the very last chapters of the book. it doesn’t make for an fun reading experience).

kediko onjenyu should have waged a war against the priory. prince guma and robart ellar should have been allowed to mount a more formidable political opposition to glorian. the river lord and nikeya shoild have done more politicking. there was a lot of opportunity for more politicking that was wasted as empty threats.

I was personally a little annoyed that religion played such a heavy role in every single POV we got, but it’s fine, it’s not a big deal. I love examinations of religions in text, but I also don’t enjoy stories that have a high density of religious characters because I don’t like the touch of false belief that religion infuses into the narration of the characters who keep strong faith.

While her writing style was really the one I first remember falling in love with, I do think you could tell when certain sections of the book were better edited and went through more rewrites. it’s fine! she cares a lot about writing as a craft and that’s all I really expect from an author. it didn’t particularly wow me this time, although I continue to love her usage of metaphors.

thoughts on thematic coherence:

the single most frustrating narrative was the very unsatisfactory conclusion to siyu’s storyline - it ended with the narrative seemingly concluding that she needed to properly submit to the suffocating structure of the priory that caused her severe psychological and emotional distress ie it ignored the family as a tool of oppression. I’m not saying the criticism was entirely absent - the narrative is pretty sympathetic to her and generally indicates that she was treated very cruelly - but that criticism is negated when it’s ignored in the latter half of the series. why would you do this to her! I’m glad she was allowed to go to inys at the end of the book, but the conversation where tunuva and esbar apologised to her should have taken place, and it never did. ead’s storyline did focus more on the need for reform in the priory, but I don’t recall if it really dealt with the questions siyu’s storyline was posing.

^^^ speaking of which I do think it’s weird to reaffirm the need for siyu to integrate into a system that has hurt her when samantha specifically writes with the intent to critique the concept of family and marriage. she needed to do some more retrospection in that department, I think :/ also I’m probably making it sound worse than it really is, but the resolution was still Not Great.

the reproductive burden that women face in continuing bloodlines and its significance in monarchies particularly was dealt with excellently, as was the mechanisms through which the institutions of power that they were a part of played a role in the dehumanisation of women and in denying them any real autonomy over their bodies.

samantha’s personal struggles with mental health also give her an informed view on depression and I could Relate. excellently done, no notes, I did mark the quotes so I’ll hunt them down and post them later.

the individual endings presented to us in the epilogue were all pretty great though! I always love her endings - particularly, the touch of tragedy she infuses into them always makes them very satisfying.

[storytellingdreamer]

Watching Granada Holmes: On David Burke as Dr Watson

Okay so before I watch the next Granada episode, Empty House, I need to say goodbye to David Burke as Dr John Watson. David Burke couldn’t continue with Granada’s adaptation after FINA due to scheduling conflicts, which led to him helping them find his replacement, Edward Hardwicke. 

This post is me processing that in the hope that I can learn to love Edward Hardwicke as Watson without feeling too disappointed he’s not David Burke.

You see, going into Granada Holmes, I’d already been informed that Jeremy Brett is the Sherlock Holmes. This is definitely true. However, at this moment, all I can say that for me, David Burke will be the Dr John Watson. 

My tag for David Burke is “he smiles with his whole face”. Right from the start, his expressiveness intrigued me, and made it very easy to feel like I was part of the story. His openness invited me as the audience in. It also doesn’t hurt that he has a very fine voice - I’ve memorised the way he says “Holmes” and other words like “black moods”. They’re very fun to say in his accent! 

Watching the Granada Holmes series has felt very personal. For starters, watching TV shows or movies are always immersive experiences for me, due to the way my brain processes information. I get “sucked in” to the story very easily - it feels like I’m another character, almost, observing. It’s also hard because I’m having to process the audio-visual information, the language, the social information, the emotional contexts - and anything they trigger in me from past experiences - all at once. 

Granada Holmes is a very safe way to do that, because most of the time, the bad guys get their comeuppance in the end, and the client of the week has resolution, and perhaps catharsis. 

It also feels very safe because Holmes and Watson guide me through it. I’ll say more about Jeremy Brett at the end of my entire watch through, but for David Burke, my “oh, you’re my Watson” journey really took flight with the end of Solitary Cyclist. 

See, the thing about David Burke’s Watson isn’t just that he’s very expressive. He’s very reassuring. Steady and dependable, but also openly delighted in Holmes’s brilliance. A perfect foil for the audience. 

He’s the one who instinctively knows how to handle clients (see: any Woman in Need episode), and takes care of Holmes almost before Holmes knows he needs it (see: Norwood Builder) - and when he’s protecting you/ the client, by goodness do you feel it. 

You’ll recall that I had plenty to say about Solitary Cyclist, so much so that I wrote two posts for it. One about the episode recap, and another, which I wrote first, of my feelings about the episode’s context. Look, the Woman In Need episodes always strike a little close to home for me for various reasons. And after my first experience of that in Solitary Cyclist, one of the things that comforted me after was remembering, well, this moment: 

[Image description: Watson holds the drugged Violet Smith to him protectively with one hand while holding his gun with the other, a very serious look on his face. /end image description.]

Followed by this one: 

Watson: “You may call that love. I call it selfishness.”

[Image description: Holmes and Watson sit side-by-side, staring in disgust at one of the baddies of the story. /end image description.]

In the first scene, Watson was Violet Smith’s physical protector at a time when she couldn’t defend herself. His words afterward, a delightful castigation of the villain. As a woman, hearing someone say those things (and keep saying them in other episodes), whether to the perpetrator as a scold, to the client/ victim in comfort, or to Holmes about how very serious the situation is, has been good. 

It helps that Burke’s Watson also has this “softness with a core of steel” energy. The sort of energy that makes one think, if I was in trouble, I would very much like to have Burke’s Watson protect me and tell me it wasn’t my fault and such (while Brett’s Holmes solved the problem that had trapped me in the first place). 

Basically, I would very much like to be their friend. Or their honourary relation (which is what they are to the Women In Need). 

We see the Sherlock Holmes stories through Watson’s eyes, as he is the Narrator. (A fact brought home by Granada’s adaptation of The Final Problem.) Having David Burke in the role has been very comforting - and fun. We experience his emotions with him, and I have deeply enjoyed it. 

[sukirichi]

pink hearts

You only ever wanted a job as a babysitter to make ends meet – falling in love was out of the equation – but with the magic presented right in front of you, you weren’t going to push it away.

PAIRINGS. itadori jin x reader

WC. 10.7k+

NOTES. this fic is purely self indulgent, not requested, i wrote this for me so reader is mostly...well, me. okay listen I KNOW toji is the choice dilf but PLEASE daddy jin has my heart and i’m so soft for him like you guys don’t understand. this is my comfort fic now and jin’s made his way on my comfort character list, give this amazing man a chance, he’s amazing and so kind eeeee my heart is going to burst i love him so much lol + oh this is unedited as usual

masterlist !

The pink-haired man sat across from you, setting down the tray of two coffee mugs on the coffee table before you. He was of regular build, mostly on the lanky side, and his kind eyes peered behind glasses as he smiled at you. “So you’re the babysitter Mr. Gojo recommended?”

You stared at him. Shamelessly. 

Suddenly, your initial plan of impressing your employer by wearing a tight pencil skirt and an old white blouse after the assumption that they would be prissy and had way too much money on their hands felt useless. 

This guy wore a cream sweatshirt and black slacks, clearly happy and comfortable in his own home.

Upon being the subject of your stare, he only smiled awkwardly, clasping his hands in front of himself as he cleared his throat to let you speak.

“Oh!” you suddenly sat up straight, “Yes, yes I am. I’m sorry for staring. I just think you’d be this...young.” And modest.

“I understand. You’re in university, correct?” you nodded, leaning back in his seat, hand scratching the back of his head. His cheeks tinged a slight pink. “And you’re a close friend of Satoru’s, well...It’s not that I don’t trust his judgment or anything, but it’s my first time being a parent – and I’m a single dad, at that – so I hope you don’t mind that I’d like to see how you get along with my son first before I hire you.”

“Oh yeah, no, that’s perfectly fine!”

Satisfied with your answer, Mr. Itadori stood up with a bow, silently gesturing you to follow him down his hall. “Is there anything you’re uncomfortable with, or anything you don’t know much about? Changing diapers, giving the teething products, anything?”

“I’m the eldest in the family, four more hellish sun drops following afterwards. I think I’m good.”

He nodded at your answer, a small smile on his face. “That’s good to know. My last babysitter was the same age as you, but he didn’t know much about handling babies. I mean, neither do I, but a man’s got to learn, you know?” he laughed at himself, unaware that with each passing second, pink heart eyes gazed up at him admirably.

When you both reached a door that was left slighty open, Mr. Itadori lit up, bending down in front of a crib where his baby laid, small hands clutching at his feet. “Yuuji, baby, Daddy’s here. Are you ready to meet your babysitter?”

Your jaw dropped when he finally picked his baby up, the little boy clad in a tiger onesie and sucking on a toy. “Oh my gosh, you’re so adorable, come here!” you were more than glad when his dad laughed and gently passed the baby to you, who only gurgled in laughter when you cooed at him. “Oh, I want to spoil you and give you kisses, how are you this cute?” Well, it made sense he was cute, since his dad was as well. Yuuji made grabby hands at you, to which you happily obliged, leaning down so his tiny fingers could pinck your cheeks.

Unable to help it, you rubbed your cheeks on his touch, making the little boy clap his feet together, eyes bright with all the happiness and innocence in this world. You honestly wanted to cry right then and there.

“Your hands are soooo tiny, my goodness, I love you already! It’s so nice to meet you, Yuuji, you’re such an angel!”

“You like kids, huh?”

“Well, not so much with kids because toddlers have too much energy, but babies,” you gasped once you heard Mr. Itadori’s muffled laughter, greeted by the sight of him hiding his mouth behind his palm. Instantly, you smiled at him nervously, clutching the baby closer to yourself because he was so darn cute.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry if I’m being weird right now, I can’t help it! Your son is so precious!”

“Thank you. He’s the greatest blessing of my life too,” he beamed, turning to his baby with that soft look in his eyes that parents wore so well. “Well, it seems Yuuji really likes you. He’s friendly to everyone but...I’m surprised he’s warmed up to you this fast,” Mr. Itadori bent over to poke his cheek, the baby’s tiny hand wrapping around his dad’s finger. “Yuuji~ don’t forget I’m still your dad, okay? She’s the babysitter – she’s not your mom so don’t be too clingy, alright?”

You stiffened at his words, your eyes flickering back and forth between the baby and him. They had the same eye and hair colour, along with that aura of kindness surrounding them...it was hard to imagine what the mother would be like. Was she as bright and adorable too?

If yes, then this was an entire family of pink hearted strawberries!

“If...if it’s not too much to ask, may I ask where his mom is?”

Much to your surprise, his eyes grew forlorn, though the smile remained on his face. “His mom...is in a much happier place now,” was all he said – and it was enough – that you couldn’t dare ask more.

Mr. Itadori walked out of Yuuji’s room and into the kitchen afterwards, eyes squinting over the neat handwriting on a sticky note on his refrigerator. “Okay, so, I don’t know if Satoru’s told you, but I’m an engineer. I usually just work from home, especially now that I’ve got a baby, but there are still days where I have to go the office for presentations and meetings. I can’t guarantee that the babysitting schedule will be permanent – is it alright if I call you whenever?”

“Yeah, yeah, I mean, other than university, I don’t really have anywhere else to go.”

“That’s good to hear! But wouldn’t this job get in the way of your studies?”

You shook your head, subconsciously pressing closer to the baby instead because he was just so warm and wouldn’t stop tugging at your collar. A part of you was also eager to get this job not only for the baby, but Mr. Itadori intrigued you as well. You knew it was wrong but you had to be honest with yourself, hiding this truth for him instead through a shaky smile.

“No, definitely not! I can just take my studies here – if you won’t mind, of course – and I promise I won’t litter or make a mess or anything. During babysitting hours, Yuuji will be more of a priority than my homework, so you don’t have to worry about it.”

Mr. Itadori hummed to himself, rubbing at his chin. “If that’s the case, then I suppose you’re free to use the study at the end of the hall. There’s a baby camera there that lets you see Yuuji in every room, but if he’s asleep, feel free to use it.”

“Oh wow,” you blinked back in surprise, gently rocking a gurgling Yuuji back and forth. “You didn’t have to do that so uhm, thank you, really, I promise I’ll take care of your son very well!”

“I can see why Satoru recommended you now,” he shook his head with a smile, moving over to the litter of dinosaur stickers onto another list. “Here is a list of the things Yuuji likes and doesn’t like. He’s mostly active in the afternoons when I’ll most likely get called for work, and he’s a mess by then. He really likes playing and cuddles, and he’ll also demand to be carried most of the time otherwise he’ll cry,” he paused as his eyes slid over to you, lips pursed in thought. “I know you’ll do great but...don’t spoil my son too much, okay? I just don’t want him to uh...think that you’re his parent or something. Yuuji gets easily attached like that. If he calls you ‘mama’...please tell me about it, okay?”

“Yes, of course. I know my place, don’t worry.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it that way,” he raised in hands in surrender as he saw your eyes widen with fear. “Being a single parent is just hard, you know? I can’t help but always feel that maybe I won’t be enough for him, and as much as I can, I’d like to let my son he can rely on me at all times.”

“I think you’re a very great father,” you admitted rather shyly, “Your son is really lucky to have you as his parent. I can tell he’s going to be such a sweetheart.”

“Thank you. That means a lot to me,” he placed a hand over his heart, then pulled out a business card from the back of his pocket. “Now, here’s my number and my work schedules. You don’t have to drop by during weekends since I’m always here, but I might need you every Wednesdays to Fridays. Can I have your class schedule as well? That way I know when’s the right time to text you if I need something,” Reaching into your bag that had a copy of your schedule, you handed it to him, the strawberry-haired man’s lips growing into a smile as he read over the content. “Well, what do you know? You study engineering too? Computer engineering?”

You winced, memories you’d rather not think of again resurfacing. “Please don’t call me a nerd. I’ve heard that enough already.”

“What’s wrong about being a nerd? I’ve always been a nerd too and I think I’m fine,” you swapped numbers after that, not even giving you enough time to recover from his comment. Not that being a nerd was a huge deal, but people always said it weirdly that you dreaded hat word. Hearing it from him though...it felt like a compliment. “Guess that settles it then. I’ll see you soon?”

Heart elated and spirits soaring into the sky that you actually got the job and the employer was a kind man, you nodded with a bright smile on your face. “Yeah, I’ll come by next week! Thank you so much for trusting me!”

“No, thank you for your service,” he responded back shyly, waving to you as you walked out the door. Not a few moments later, Mr. Itadori ran after you, his cheeks flushed pink from the shrot run. “Wait! Can I have my son back?”

Looking down at the baby in your arms who was too busy sucking on his thumb, your cheeks heated, extending your arms as gentle as you could while Mr. Itadori got his son back. He only laughed at your state, waving it off with a shake of his head. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry! It just feels so natural to hold him!”

“You’ll be a good mother someday,” he commented almost absentmindedly. Meanwhile, you couldn’t stop bowing and apologizing with each step backwards, too distracted to notice that your heels dug into a small crack. You yelped as you felt the floor slip beneath you, Mr. Itadori’s instincts kicking in when he easily grabbed your wrist to pull you towards him, your foreheads almost knocking one another’s. “Whoa – watch your step. You could’ve fallen seriously there.”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Itadori! I’ll try to be more graceful next time,” you bowed repeatedly, still so ashamed as you tugged your skirt down. “Why the hell did I wear heels anyway? It’s not like this is a law firm.”

“Please,” he smiled at you – and you swore in that moment that things were just going to be different – eyes closed and his whole face lit with light heartedness. “Call me Jin,” taking his son’s hands up, he waved the little arm as you walked out the door, still in a light trance of disbelief. “Say bye-bye, Yuuji!”

Even as you made it back to your bus stop, you still couldn’t get your mind off of the strawberry-haired father and son duo. Their home was just so...bright, you immediately felt safe and comfortable.

As your heart fluttered at the memory of Jin smiling at you, you placed a palm over your heart, willing it to calm down. That couldn’t be good, right?

“Earth to Y/N!”

You snapped back to life when your friend slapped you on the arm, smiling at her when she only huffed at your dazed out self again. It wasn’t irregular for you to space out like this, and you were more than thankful she was always there to bring you back to reality before you accidentally crossed a street when the lights were green or something.

“Sorry, what?”

“Do you know how many times we had to drag you away because you keep running into poles?” she rolled her eyes, “Sheesh, how would you survive without us? What are you spacing out for anyway?”

“Nothing, nothing. Just thinking about work and all.”

“Speaking of that, how’d the interview go? Was your employer as strict and condescending as the Zenins? The hell happened to those bastards anyway?” “I bet their child is going to grow up sexist or something.”

At the mention of Jin and his baby, your whole self lit up. “My employer is better this time around. He’s only a few years older than us; like five or seven, I think? He’s really nice too and dude, his baby is so. Freaking. Adorable,” you gushed, mimicking the gesture of rocking a baby around with your arms, eyes filled with heart-shaped characters. “Like a freaking strawberry in my arms! He’s so sweet too!”

“You and your attachment to babies,” she scrunched her nose in disgust – always having had an aversion to anyone younger than her. “I’ll never get it.”

“Babies are the best!”

“Yeah, until they drool and throw up on you,” as if the image procured in her mind, your friend shuddered, rubbing her hands up and down her arm to relieve her goosebumps. “I never want to be a mom.”

“You’ll change your mind once you fall in love with someone who’s amazing enough to make you want to have a family on your own.”

“You talk about that as if you’ve met that someone already!”

“Maybe I have,” you giggled stupidly to yourself. Of course you weren’t thinking about Jin – you just knew deep in your heart you always wanted your own family. Growing up from a large family and getting separated from them, it was uncomfortable to not be surrounded by crying and squealing, which was always accompanied with laughter and kisses at the end of the day. Now who wouldn’t want that? You waved your hand to your friend, trying to hide the apparent gushing behind your voice. “I’m just kidding. I just really love babies.”

“Whatever,” she closed the topic, and you didn’t protest, knowing full well your friend cringed at the mention of babies or children. “So are you coming to our study group tonight?”

“Can’t. Got work,” you shrugged, a light skip in your steps as you both walked to the campus. Thankfully, she mistook your enthusiasm with the excitement of getting to hang out with babies again, which was true, but something about meeting Jin again and possibly getting to know more about the sweet father was a huge cherry on top – one your friend didn’t have to know about.

“Shame. I heard that hot guy from Biology was coming too.”

“Fushiguro Toji? Wasn’t he scouted for the military?”

“Honestly, I’m more surprised he’s not a gangster,” she snorted, “But whatever. Text me when you get home safely, okay? If you don’t text within—”

“Yeah, I know, I know. Text you when I get on the bus stop, text you when I arrive at work, when I leave and when I’ve gotten home otherwise you’re calling the cops to report me missing or abused,” you stood up straight for a mock salute, brows furrowed in faux seriousness. “I know, ma’am. That’s drilled in my head already.”

“I’m serious. The world is a dangerous place!”

“Yes, I’ll text you!”

Wednesdays couldn’t come sooner. But when it did, you were far too excited. You’d never tell anyone you took the extra time to fix your hair and spritz on just a tinge of perfume, not wanting to overwhelm the baby.

You shot up from your seat right after class ended, hair flying in the wind as you bolted to the bus stop. Wiping away the sweat on your forehead and fixing your clothes with a pat of your hand, you took a deep breath, chanting inner mantras that today would be a good at work. You’d be contributing to society by caring for a child that would soon be the light of the future, and you were more than honoured. Clearing your throat, you pressed on the bell, humming to yourself as you heard the light patters of footsteps inside.

“Hey, you’re here!” Jin smiled at you, one you reciprocated wholeheartedly, and he opened the door wider while you took off your shoes.

He was still dressed in his sweatpants and a white shirt, looking utterly domestic and different from your previous employers that would glare at you if you touched their kid without sanitizing your hand twice first. Jin was like a breath of fresh air to you – one you breathed in with glee while you followed him inside.

His house was kept neat and clean, surprising you even more at just how immaculate to detail he could be despite his busy schedule. Was it because he was an adult or a parent now that people his age were just more organized and put together?

Whatever it was, you trailed around Jin like a puppy, eager to learn from his ways.

“I told myself I’d only ask you to come around if I’m away for work but I’m working on a huge project and my client is very demanding. He’s asking me to pass it this week already and he just sent me his plans last night.”

“It’s okay...Jin,” you stuttered over calling him by his first name like that, “You can focus on your work. I’ll take care of everything else.”

“Thank you! Yuuji’s in his room, by the way. He’s just had dinner so he’s still energetic – you can pull up the cartoons and lounge in the living room. He’ll be fine,” he opened his mouth to say something else when his gaze darted to your book bag, eyes widening. “Oh wait, you brought your schoolwork—”

“I’m good! I’ve already finished them during my spare time! I promise you really don’t have anything to worry about!”

“Oh, that’s cool, I guess,” he calmed down at your words, scratching the back of his ear before gesturing to his door. “Well, I’ll be in my room if you need me. I get really occupied and focused though, so just open the door if I don’t open it right away.”

“Noted,” You wasted no time in picking up Yuuji from his crib afterwards. It seemed the little man didn’t quite like being imprisoned like that because he was babbling nonsensically, fists banging on the edges.

Upon seeing you enter his room, Yuuji’s babbles got louder, small chubby arms reaching out to your extended ones. His pacifier fell inside his crib as he pouted at you, and how could you resist? Soon, you were happily nestled onto the couch on the living room, his favourite cartoons playing on the background.

His head swayed side to side as the songs came along, while you watched him with tiny giggles. You wondered if maybe your first day at work would be eventless like this.

You really thought you’d run back and forth doing errands and changing diapers, but that was your old babysitting experience – things were obviously different with Jin and his son.

Yuuji was quiet, but Jin was right, he was clingy. Not an hour later into the show, he crawled to your sides and settled into your lap, tiny hands grabbing at your shirt. He sighed as his cheeks rested on your chest, though his eyes still glossed over the cartoon. You felt like your heart would burst at his affection, and you patted his back gently to lull him to sleep.

Eventually, Yuuji fell asleep. You hadn’t even noticed it was dark out already, the cartoons only playing through loop.

You scooped up Yuuji closer to your arms before shutting the TV off, making sure to be as quiet as you could be while you placed him back on his crib. Smiling at the angel, you patted his hair before leaving the room, knocking on Jin’s door at the end of the hallway instead.

When he didn’t respond after four knocks, you thought he’d fallen asleep until you remembered his note.

Shakily, you twisted the knob open, a small smile on your face when you saw him furiously sketching something on his paper. An empty cup of coffee laid beside his table, eraser shavings everywhere. His room smelled like soft laundry detergent with the faint aroma of white caramel coffee – smooth and sweet like him – and it felt almost wrong to be in such a space that was clearly so intimate of him.

Not wanting to disturb too much, you cleared you peered from behind the door sheepishly. “...Jin? Oh. Hello.”

“Hey,” he blinked at you then rubbed his eyes, staring at you for a solid minute before his mouth formed into an ‘o’ shape. “Is everything okay? Yuuji didn’t destroy something, did he?”

“No, he’s fast asleep. I just came here to say I’ll be going home now. It’s past midnight already.”

“It’s that late?” Jin glanced at his wristwatch and adjusted his glasses, fingers swiping up to retrieve his keys as he wore his coat. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you stay this late, and you have school tomorrow too,” he groaned tiredly, though the apologetic smile on his face easily concealed his exhaustion. “I’m really sorry I lost track of time. Come, I’ll drive you home, it’s not safe this dark out.”

“But Jin,” you froze in his hallway, “What about Yuuji?”

“Do you live far from here?”

“No, the dorms are like five minutes away,” Jin pondered about this information, possibly hesitating that maybe it wasn’t his best to leave his son alone. You appreciated the thought, you really did, but you were worried for Yuuji too so you smiled at him, nodding to assure that he didn’t have to. “Jin, it’s okay, I can just take the bus. I’ve been doing that for a long time now and I’m really okay.”

Jin clutched at his keys, the frown on his face evident. “At least let me walk you to the bus stop? So I know you’re safe?”

“Yeah, that’s fine, I guess.”

“Let me just get extra covers for Yuuji. It might be cold tonight,” You waited until he came out with Yuuji warmly bundled up in his arms. The two of you walked side by side, baby Yuuji fast asleep in his arms with his head covered in a small cap. You blushed at the thought that maybe people would think you looked like a family, but before these foolish imaginations could consume you, Jin beat you to it. “I haven’t thanked you properly for today, by the way. Let me make it up to you sometime – you look really tired.”

You flushed deep at his words, shaking your hands in front of you. “Oh no, it’s fine, really! I’m just doing my job.”

“Yes, but caring for someone else’s child – whether you’re paid or not – is still a very selfless act and I can’t thank you enough for it.”

You looked away from how warm his smile was despite the biting chill of the night, turning away to bury your chin in your neck instead. “You really don’t have to do anything. I’m just happy to help.”

“If you insist then,” Jin waved at you as much as he could without waking his son up as you hopped onto the bus, with you watching from the inside. “Get home safely! Text me when you’re home!”

“I will,” you mouthed through the window.

Jin and Yuuji disappeared from your sight after that. All the way back home, the warmth and butterflies swarming your stomach wouldn’t disappear. Even as you flopped on your bed, you still kept tossing and turning, the bright light of your screen glaring at you to just send the darned text already.

Hey...or maybe hello? He’s older though... How do older people even text each other? He wasn’t that much older, but still...it kind of felt inappropriate to address him too casually.

Deciding to just screw it, you pressed backspace and settled for the most boring text, hitting send and flattening on the bed with a groan. Who knew texting someone could be that mind-boggling? Sweat beaded at your forehead as you stared at the plain I’m home, sleep about to take over when your phone buzzed afterwards.

I’m glad to know you’re safe. Sleep well, Y/N.

Looking over at your slumbering roommate, you grabbed a pillow to bite it and muffle your screams, legs flailing beneath you as you read his text over and over again. It wasn’t even that special, but Jin had wished you well – the hardworking and sweet Jin – sending your heart into overdrive.

Your roommate didn’t stir one bit even as you giggled to yourself, punching the bed while you replayed the image of his smile, the feeling of how warm he was walking close to you like that and the sound of his soothing voice that just messed with you on the insides.

God, you had it bad – and yet, why did it feel so good?

Babysitting had never been more fun. Even though the task was no longer new for you, you looked forward to working every single day. Your friends noticed your change in moods, but just downed it to the fact you were generally a cheerful person anyway and didn’t bother asking why, which you were thankful for because it wasn’t easy to admit it out loud you liked Itadori Jin, of all people.

Now that you looked back onto it, he wasn’t that special.

He was definitely the type of guy you easily overlooked in a train, but he would also be the type of guy who wouldn’t hesitate to give up his seat for someone else. It wasn’t like he was utterly interesting too since like you, his life was a bland routine of taking care of babies, working, holing up in his room to create something, drinking coffee as sweet and light as possible, then calling it a day and sleeping with a huge smile on their face, just thankful for another day.

Yes, he was simple. Yes, he might even be boring, but gosh, you had never liked someone so much.

You summed it down to him being kind and loving. Yes, that was all it was. While your friends flocked over to mysterious, dark guys like Fushiguro Toji and his friends, gossiping non-stop on how he supposedly had a hotter younger relative but were a lot shittier than he was, you were different. You were simple.

You liked soft, quiet guys who enjoyed the soft pit-patters of rain, the types of people who spent too much time in the library travelling across galaxies in their seat, and overall, you liked peaceful souls.

Jin was everything you ever admired – stable, simple, kind, affectionate. It was clear from how he was never shy to shower his baby with kisses and feed him with airplane spoons, using a small voice to baby talk his son. Every time you came around, you immediately felt welcomed into their happy home despite the lack of a maternal figure, and you found yourself wanting to be there a lot more often than you should.

It seemed that the heaven heard your prayers when your phone rang. Instinct kicked in, and you grabbed at your blaring phone, eyes wide when you read the contact name.

“Hello? Jin, what’s wrong?” Yuuji was crying in the background, accompanied with his father’s constant shushing and worried cooing.

“H-hi, I’m really sorry to bother you, I know it’s late, it’s just Yuuji won’t stop crying and my neighbours are mad at me because I can’t get him to calm down,” as if on cue, Yuuji only wailed louder. You could hear Jin’s desperate pleas for him to quiet down a little, with you dashing out of your bed and slinging your arms inside your coat. “Could you please come over? I don’t know what to do.”

“I’m on my way,” was all you said before hanging up. Minutes later, you’d entered their apartment thanks to the spare key Jin gave you, heart breaking as Yuuji’s wailings only got louder.

Jin’s shoulders visibly relaxed when you scooped his son into your arms, rocking back and forth as you pressed a palm flat on his forehead. He didn’t seem to be feverish or even warmer than usual, but he was definitely irritated, pushing away at your hands that laid on him.

“Yuuji, baby! What’s wrong, sweetheart? Something hurt anywhere?” you turned to Jin, “Is his diaper full?”

“I just checked, he didn’t poop,” Jin nibbled at his thumbnails, a quirk you didn’t expect he’d have with his seemingly put-together composed self. His son’s crying must’ve really bothered him because Jin wouldn’t stop pacing back and forth, Yuuji’s newly cleaned pacifier clenched between his fingers. “I gave him the teething rings too but he just dumped them to the side.”

Nodding, you tried poking at Yuuji’s stomach. The baby belly that should’ve been squishy was firm against your finger, the imaginary light bulb in your head going off.

“His stomach is a little tight. I think he’s got gas,” you informed Jin with a relieved smile, glad that it wasn’t as serious as you thought it would be. “We need to make him burp,” Patting at Yuuji’s back while Jin gently massaged Yuuji’s belly, prompting the boy to wail louder with his tiny arms banging both your chest, a big burp was finally released.

“Oh my gosh, he’s still crying.”

“It’s okay, Jin, he’ll be fine,” you reassured, smiling wide at baby Yuuji even though he couldn’t focus on you. “That’s right, sweetheart, you’re doing great. Just burp a little more and it won’t hurt so bad. It’s just gas, sweetie, you’re alright. I’ve got you.”

“B-but the neighbours...”

“Don’t mind them,” You didn’t mean for your words to come out harsh, but who could blame you? Yuuji was clearly in distress; the last thing you cared about was pleasing others. “They can plug in earbuds for all I care. Yuuji needs help,” at your words, Jin swallowed, resuming his ministrations of encouraging his son to burp.

Yuuji stilled for a moment before he resumed his crying. This time around, Jin was a lot calmer and focused as his hands rubbed at his son’s stomach. The burps came constant afterwards until Yuuji had enough, turning away from his father and burying his head on your chest. Small hiccups followed, but he’d calmed down, eyes shut tight from the previous discomfort.

“Are you feeling better now, baby? Tummy ache is gone?”

“He’s...not crying anymore...” Jin murmured in disbelief, his hands hovering above Yuuji’s belly.

“He’s still really red, though,” you frowned, hands brushing his bangs away from his forehead. It didn’t take long before Yuuji settled in, thumbs sucked into his mouth. Little whimpers could still be heard from the little guy, though nothing serious happened. You and Jin both sighed in relief. “I think he’s tired from crying. I’m going to go rock him for a bit,” Eyes flitting over to Jin’s face rigged with dark circles, you mustered a chuckle. “How about you, are you okay? You look half-dead,” you joked.

“He was in the crib next to me when he just started wailing out of nowhere,” Jin plopped down onto the sofa, his sweatshirt crinkled and sweatpants loose and comfortable as ever. “I was so scared that maybe something else was wrong.”

“Parenting is both a blessing and a hardship, huh?” you chided in, “Don’t worry. I still think you’re doing an amazing job at being a dad.”

“You’re quite amazing too. You’re a natural at this.”

You shrugged, unable to look Jin in the eye as you continued gently swaying side to side while Yuuji slept in your arms. “My parents were rarely around. They were too busy working to provide for all of us so I acted as the parental figure instead.”

“Your parents are really lucky to have you as a child – reliable and strong.”

“All I ever wanted was to make them proud,” you told him, looking far from the distance as you reminisced your old memories with your family. It felt so far away already – they felt far away – though you knew the love you had for one another still remained. “And I live a good life knowing they passed with no worries. My siblings are doing great, too, though we’ve all parted ways now. Some of them got adopted by our relatives and I’m...I’m here I guess.”

“I’m extremely sorry for your loss,” Jin’s voice was quiet, and when you looked back at him, you saw him smiling into his hands before turning to you, wearing that damned smile that always had your heart doing backflips. “You’re a really strong person, you know?”

Your cheeks flushed at his words. “Thank you. I think it’s all thanks to my parents,” you murmured; that slight pang of pain remained even after their death, though it wasn’t as awful as it used to be. The sting felt a lot calmer now, almost as if time slowly healed your heart back together. “After they passed from the car crash, I just knew I had to be strong for all of us. The pain and the hardship were worth the effort, though. All of us are happy and settled now.”

“That’s the one thing I’m most afraid of,” he confessed, frowning at the peaceful baby in your arms. “That I’ll have to leave my child before he’s ready to face the world by himself. I’m not...I could never be prepared for that.”

“As long as he knows you love him and you always will, I think Yuuji will always find his way in life,” Jin’s eyes widened, something unreadable glimmering behind those pretty eyes that had you feeling too many things all at once. Embarrassment and sudden shyness creeped all the way up to your spine along with exhaustion, and you gestured for him to move aside, heaving as you sat down next to him. “I’m really sleepy.”

“Please, let me hold – oh. He likes you more, I guess.”

You chuckled at his dejected face, the childish pout the exact replication of Yuuji’s. Yuuji refused to be held by his dad, burrowing himself into your warmth instead. “I’ve got a charm when it comes to children.”

“That you do,” he agreed absentmindedly.

Before any of you could realize what was going on, you’d fallen asleep on the couch. Yuuji was still safely nestled between your arms, while Jin’s head was tucked in your shoulder, soft breaths leaving those equally soft lips.

Oddly enough, when you woke up and noticed your current position, none of you found it weird. Jin only laughed at the way drool dried up at the end of your lips, to which you silently scolded him for as to not rouse Yuuji from his sleep. He didn’t move away from his position, eyes flicking over from yours to his son bundled up warmly, a smile tugging up at the ends of his lips.

“Uh... that was a long night.”

“Long night, indeed,” Jin nodded before standing up to stretch, exposing a sliver of smooth skin that made heat rush up to your face. You immediately looked away, heart pounding in your chest as Jin began to rummage through his kitchen. “It’s a Saturday so if you’re free...do you want to stay over for breakfast?”

Something about that night kicked off the start of your...budding friendship with Jin. Yes, that’s exactly what it was, just friendship.

You knew there was no way he could ever see you the way you looked at him; not that you minded. Being in their presence and having Yuuji around was already a blessing itself, the days progressively getting better the more you worked for him.

It had become a routine that Jin would come home, exhaustion lining his eyes before he caught sight of you standing in the living room, reading books out loud while you carried a babbling Yuuji. You would laugh because it felt like Yuuji was trying to have conversation with you, to which you responded with reading terms even you had difficulty pronouncing. He’d only nod and keep saying nonsense, grubby hands reaching for the book you held.

He was so precious that you leaned down to kiss the top of his head every now and then, giggles pouring out from the tiny baby strawberry.

Jin took off his shoes, the happiness bursting through his chest unexplainable upon seeing that his son was happy and safe. Loosening the tie with one hand, he extended his arms wide open, running into your direction. “I’m home!”

“Yuuji, Daddy’s here!”

“How’s my sweet little boy doing?” The smile on Jin’s face was phenomenal and even dramatic as his son finally reached out to him, the babbles only getting louder as his dad peppered his cheeks with kisses. Yuuji still wanted to stay in your arms though, and Jin sighed when his son’s hands went back to grabbing at your book, though the chuckles he let out told you he wasn’t really dismayed about it. “Thank you for looking out for him again. Isn’t your arm tired from carrying him and studying like that?”

“No, I’m good. I’ve got really strong muscles,” you flexed your bicep, “Plus, it’s so comforting to carry an angel like Yuuji around. I feel like I’m going to pass my exams with ease!”

Not a moment later, you dropped your arm and turned away to hide your frown, brows pinched together. Jin, being the ever observant person he was, placed a comforting hand on your shoulder, his voice gentle and warm as he asked, “Is something wrong?”

“Well,” you began, “I couldn’t understand something and I’ve been going at it for days. Nothing makes sense to me,” with the effort of only one free hand, you flipped to the middle of the book. A headache began to form the moment you read the chapter title, making you cringe while Jin leaned closer for a better look at its contents. “Look at this chapter here. It’s so confusing!”

“Oh, I know this!” he pushed his glasses back up to his nose, grinning as he pulled out a chair before gesturing you to do so. “Okay, so this means...” 

Not even in your craziest dreams had you imagined you’d be sitting at Jin’s table like this, your legs touching from the lack of space as he rambled on excitedly about the lesson.

He would have animated gestures to explain the dynamics of this and that, both you and Yuuji staring at him in awe as he broke the chapter down into easier parts. It was still difficult to understand since your attention was mostly on the way his eyes brightened the more he talked about his passion for the subject, not to mention that Yuuji was also grabbing at both your faces.

It made you both laugh, the two of you simultaneously bending down to kiss either sides of his cheeks until Yuuji was squished between the both of you.

You laughed with Jin the moment you made awkward eye contact through the kiss, chests bursting with laughter before he proceeded back to the lesson. With each passing second, you were beginning to fall for him a lot more and on a deeper level – so much so that you told yourself you should be scared. Instead, your heart felt at home, calm and peaceful, almost as if it knew you were safe and welcomed.

This sudden revelation had you looking at him in an entirely different light. Jin looked...the same, but somehow warmer? Like he was bathed in a soft glow, the edges pink like his hair, and your hair melted at each and every word that poured from his lips.

When you excused yourself to go to the restroom, you were greeted by the sight of a nearly passed out Jin on the couch, baby Yuuji asleep on his arms.

Jin must be really tired from work. He hadn’t even changed out of clothes. It was getting late too – you needed to come back home soon.

“Jin. Jin, wake up.”

“Huh?” his eyes snapped open, arms instinctively tightening around Yuuji’s before he relaxed, smiling stupidly as he leaned back on his seat. “Oh, it’s you. Hi.”

“Hi,” you echoed, nails digging into your palm to resist the urge to wrap him in a hug; he looked like he needed it. Hands held out in front of you, you took Yuuji from him, slightly nudging his knee with yours. “I’ll take Yuuji to bed. You should go freshen up,” Jin groaned in agreement as he ran his hands through his hair, muttering something about being a parent meant not getting to sleep well. You chuckled at his statement, already moving to get the cups out from the pantry. “Do you want me to make you a cup of tea?”

“Yeah, that’ll be great, thank you.”

Jin disappeared into his room while you tucked Yuuji into bed, the both of you meeting later in the kitchen. He still looked terribly tired, though his smile was lively as ever when he joined you at the table. “Long day again?”

“It’s always a long day,” he confessed through a sip, “But all my worries wash away when I get to see how happy and healthy my son is. I’d work day and night just to provide a good life for him.”

“Don’t forget to spend time with him too, okay? Using the present to ensure your son’s future in exchange of not watching them grow up isn’t worth it,” you reminded him, slightly referring to how much you regretted not getting to be with your parents much until you completely lost the opportunity to do so again. Jin easily read your eyes, fingers grazing the edges of his cup as you continued, “He’s growing day by day. Promise me you’ll always be there for him, okay?”

“I promise,” though whispered, you heard it loud and clear, and you knew without a doubt he’d keep to his words.

After Jin washed his cup, you gathered your things and allowed him to walk you all the way to his apartment’s entrance, waving softly at you. “Get home safely, Y/N. Text me when you’re home.”

It was the perfect routine: go to school, go to work, fall in love with Jin and his son a lot more than you should be, and go home with his kind smile as the last thing you saw.

Each night before sleep completely overtook you, your phone would vibrate, the name of the man who had completely smitten your heart appearing and washing away all the previous tiredness you both accumulated through the day.

Good night, Jin. Rest well.

You too.

It was a routine you’d never get tired of.

“Jin? Yuuji?” you gasped as Yuuji greeted you with bubbling laughter, his small arms slapping your cheeks while his dad giggled behind him. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Happy Birthday!” Jin greeted and finally showed his face after hiding from Yuuji’s buttocks. Your heart absolutely soared at the sight of the father and son duo wearing matching pink clothes, both of their bright smiles only adding to the warmth of the special day. No, actually, it became special because of them – the two people you adored most in this world. “Satoru texted me it was your birthday and it’s my day off too so I thought I’d drop by!”

Before you could respond, Jin huddled Yuuji closer to him, blinking at the audience you both managed to gather.  “I forgot you lived at a dorm, though...is it normal that people are looking us?”

“No, it’s not. They probably think I’m a young mom or something,” you flushed beet red at his words, silently glaring at the nosy onlookers whispering behind their backs. It wasn’t that you were ashamed people could assume that about you, it was just ironic since you actually wanted that to be real but it was embarrassing because you knew Jin wouldn’t see you that way. “Can you give me a few minutes to get ready? We should go somewhere else.”

“Okay, we’ll wait for you downstairs.”

You’ve never moved so fast in your life. Brushing your teeth, showering, and getting dressed in your best clothing were all achieved in the span of ten minutes. You felt proud of yourself as you hopped the stairs two steps down at a time, hair flying from behind you. It was clear you were too excited, but could anyone blame you? You never cared about your birthday, but Jin and Yuuji were here! Of course this was going to be a special day.

You froze at the end of the stairs, the drumming of your heart too wild to tame. Jin was blowing kisses into Yuuji’s belly, the baby’s gleeful laughter painting the walls.

He must’ve felt your stare burning holes at the back of his head because Jin turned your way, Yuuji pressed into his chest as he walked towards you. You were once again blown away by his sweet scent, a mix of gentle laundry detergent and something was just so Jin.

“Hey there,” he smiled, knocking the wind out of your lungs with just two words. “I didn’t have anything cool planned for today since I wasn’t prepared but I know this nice restaurant you might really like. It’s going to be my treat!”

“Oh thanks, but my friends already fed me enough with pizza and cake. Is it okay if we just take a walk around somewhere?”

“Yeah, of course!” Grabbing his arm to pull him away from prying eyes, you walked out of the campus, extending your arms to celebrate your freedom once the warm sunshine kissed at your skin, the cool wind soothing you afterwards. Jin laughed at your carefree expression, watching as you twirled and danced a little at the peace provided to you by the park. “Happy Birthday again! So how’s it feel like being a year older?”

“I feel like nothing’s changed, but at the same time nothing is the same too,” you told him through a laugh, “Does that make sense?”

“Totally. When I first got Yuuji, I didn’t think anything changed too, but now I can’t imagine a life without this little guy.”

Your adrenaline rush had worn down.

Walking side by side with Jin, arms brushing from the lack of proximity even though the area was practically empty, it dawned on you that Jin had lived an entire life before you, and you couldn’t stop yourself from asking: “Do you...do you still think about her sometimes? His mom?”

Jin was silent for a moment. The sudden stretch of nothingness had anxiety crawling at you hard enough you were about to apologize for asking such a sensitive question, but Jin only smiled at you, although his smile was...sad, regretful, even.

“His mom and I didn’t work out,” he began. “I always knew she had some family issues when we began dating in college, but I didn’t think too much of it. Back then, all I knew was that I loved her and wanted to spend my life with her, so we eloped. Her parents didn’t like it, of course, and they demanded we brought her back,”

“She was pregnant at that time so I refused to let her see her family again knowing how toxic they were to her. But they insisted, and...and she wasn’t the same after that. She just started looking at me differently and hating the growing child inside of her,” Jin kissed the top of Yuuji’s head as he spoke, almost as if silently reminding his son he was loved no matter what.

“When Yuuji was born, she couldn’t even look at him; said she refused to be a mother and to cut ties with me. So we divorced and...well, I don’t know, to be honest. Last time I heard, she’d already remarried in such a short time – to a man her family approved of this time around.”

“Do you still love her?”

“I don’t know,” he admitted with a chuckle, eyebrows furrowed while Yuuji clutched at the collar of his turtleneck sweater, his doe eyes staring right up at you. “Do we ever really stop loving someone?”

Your heart fell at his words. So maybe he still did love her. You always knew you might never get a chance – but surely wishing for it wasn’t such a crime. “Does that mean you won’t fall in love with anyone else anymore?”

“Who would like a nerdy single dad like me?” Jin threw his head back in laughter, the disbelief apparent in his voice. It shocked you that he thought of himself this way, because in your eyes, he was perfect. “Plus, I’m too busy to date. Other than you, I don’t really hang out with women all that much, and you’ve seen in my worst state – like that one time I nearly went to work wearing the wrong tie or with my glasses skewed. I don’t think I’m the type people would want to date.”

“Well, who knows?”

“Yeah, who knows?” he mimicked your shrug, still painfully oblivious that you wore your heart on your sleeve.

Once the sun had completely shied away from the clouds and the heat grew too much for Yuuji, you both resorted to going back to his apartment. Yuuji was happily playing on the ground as he smashed his toys together, while you and Jin wore matching aprons (you didn’t ask why he had two) as you mixed the batter and he preheated the oven.

“I’m still sorry I couldn’t get to buy you a cake, by the way. But we have all the ingredients here and a homemade cake is always amazing!” Instead of smiling at his words, Jin was met with your glossy eyes, lips trembling. You’d completely stopped mixing the batter, no longer in control of yourself as you watched him happily skip back and forth to the ingredients.

Jin rushed to your side in a flash, hands hovering before you. He couldn’t really touch you since he had flour all over his skin, a smidge of it right under his worried gaze. “What’s wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Nothing. It’s just...I’ve never really experienced this before. Having someone invite me to their home and bake me a cake for my birthday,” you looked down on the ground, feeling the emotional dam inside you starting to crack. “When I was young, I never even cared about my birthday because I was too busy tending after my siblings. After that, I forgot all about it and I was only surprised when my friends brought me gifts today,” You knew you were rambling, and you waved your hands in front of yourself, forcing yourself to smile. “I’m sorry – I’m being dramatic, aren’t I?”

“Hey, no, you’re not,” Suddenly, Jin pulled you into a hug, your body fitting perfectly in his arms. “I want you to know you’re family to us now. You’re always welcome here with me and Yuuji. We’ll take care of each other like family. We’ll bake you all the cakes you want from now on.”

The rest of his words were drowned out by the thumping of your chest.

You couldn’t hear him, couldn’t even properly see him – in that moment, all you could do was feel. You felt his warm breath ghosting over the column of your neck, his calloused hands patting gently at your back, the heat of his body seeping into yours that pulling away seemed to be such a daunting task. He felt like home, smelled like all the sweetness you lacked in your life, and you just knew you had to tell him.

“Jin. There’s something I have to tell you.”

“Yes?”

“I,” your breath shuddered, hands coming up to clutch at the material of his shirt. “I’m in love with you.”

Just like that, the string broke.

Jin pulled away from you faster than you could comprehend. When you opened your eyes, he was already at an arm’s length away from you, nothing but the sounds of your heart shattering into pieces muddling with his words.

His back dipped into a low bow. “I am extremely sorry; I cannot accept your feelings. It’s not that you’re not loveable; it’s just...you’re my son’s babysitter and I believe this is really inappropriate. Yuuji is vulnerable still and the last thing I want to do is date when I should be focusing on his life instead. I’m really sorry, Y/N. I don’t see nor do I feel that way for you.”

Hurt. Broken. Humiliated. Ashamed. Torn.

A plethora of feelings crashed over you all at once until breathing became such a hard thing to do, his words replaying like a broken record in your head.

He didn’t love you.

He didn’t feel the same way.

And it made sense – because why would he? “Yeah, oh my gosh!” you exclaimed while waving your hands frantically in front of your face, your unexpected enthusiasm causing Jin to peer up at you curiously under his lashes. “I mean, of course, I knew that already, duh. I’m not stupid, but like, yeah I’m really sorry, I’m probably making you so uncomfortable right now. I’m really, really sorry.”

“You’re not, I assure you,” he smiled gently again, but this time around, you weren’t soothed. It felt totally humiliating. Your toes curled inside your socks as your forced smile froze on your face in hopes of not making this any weirder than it already was, and you only chuckled as Jin cleared his throat. “I hope we can still be friends after this and that we can keep our professional relationship,” you nodded eagerly, a little too eagerly, and Jin awkwardly gestured to the pans. “So...a cake is waiting to be baked.”

“Yeah, let’s get to baking!”

If Jin noticed that you were a lot more enthusiastic than you were this morning, he didn’t comment about it. He hummed under his breath in agreement, the both of you working synchronously.

You’ve been in his house long enough that you knew where all the pans and ingredients were, silently handing things over one another through a forced polite conversation of how the other’s day went. A pat on your back was well deserved from how you managed to keep up with his questions, your broken heart perfectly concealed under forced smiles and dry chuckles.

In reality, you couldn’t focus.

On the inside, you were shattered. Why did you have to fall for him out of all people? There could’ve been so many others – like Fushiguro Toji from Biology, Gojo Satoru the playboy, Suguru Geto the heir of his large corporation – but it had to be Itadori Jin.

He was so close and yet out of reach, seemingly so unattainable that your lips had dried from how often you licked at them in an attempt to keep the tears in.

You knew you ruined everything. Soon, you’d have to say goodbye to baby Yuuji, no longer able to kiss him on top of his head and see him smile the moment you walked through the door, his dad equally alight upon seeing you got Yuuji a stuffed toy as a gift.

You were stupid for thinking you could even be part of this family. They were happy and fine enough – what role did you have here?

Compared to an actual working adult who’d already experienced many things in life like Jin, you were just a flimsy, lovesick little girl who was only learning how to love. And with loving, came the guaranteed promise of heartbreak.

You just never expected it would be this way.

As Jin turned his back to you to place the batter inside the oven, your hands shook, desperately wiping the sweat of your palms on your jeans. “Excuse me for a minute,” you dashed to the bathroom, locking yourself and finally allowing the broken gasps to leave your lips.

Your back was laid flat on the wall, your shirt tucked in your mouth as you slapped your thigh, the tears streaming endlessly down your cheeks.

You didn’t want to leave him. You wanted to stay longer, wanted to be able to see his face every waking morning and to make him tea while he made breakfast. You wanted to watch Yuuji grow up and hold hands with Jin, to tell him you would love him if he allowed you. But he didn’t – and it hurt so much that your eyes grew red from the incessant crying.

It was better to just leave than to be kicked out. You couldn’t stay here any longer.

So you wiped your tears away, dunking water to your face before you rushed out the room, bag slung across your shoulder. Yuuji stopped playing as he watched you wear your shoes in frantic movements, your heart bursting through with pain.

You didn’t dare look Jin in the eye.

“Hey, Jin, I’m so sorry – my friends called. They’re inviting me out for drinks tonight and I can’t say no.”

“But...the cake.”

“Yeah, you can eat it yourself, I’m really sorry to bother but uhm, anyways, BYE!” Left confused, Jin stared at the door slammed shut hard enough that Yuuji fell to the floor in surprise, small whines leaving his lips.

Jin couldn’t tell whether his son cried because you’d left them, or he was simply afraid of the sound. Whatever it was, the sinking feeling in his stomach was much too clear.

The next few days were hell. Your friends noticed the sudden drop in your mood, the loss of appetite, and the fact that you were clearly sleep-deprived.

How could you get sleep when your phone wallpaper was Yuuji kissing your cheeks, his dad laughing in the background? How could you sleep when your textbook still lay on your desk, a painful reminder of that time Jin had tutored you? How could you sleep when Wednesdays and Fridays had returned to its normal mundane self with nothing left to look forward to?

You couldn’t tell your friends about it either. All they knew was that you hadn’t been going to work because you came up with a flu, when in reality you’d been buried under your sheets, desperately ignoring the loud silence of your phone.

No texts. No calls. No how are you’s or how are you doing?

Not that you expected him to care since you did step out of line; you’d been completely unprofessional and Jin might not recommend you to future works anymore, though that was the least of your worries.

You just wanted to forget everything. His smile, his laughter, his kindness, the sound of his voice and how he always smelled like sweet vanilla.

Crying yourself to sleep and wishing each day would come to an end faster was absolutely exhausting. The lack of sunlight caused you to be groggy and gray – if you kept up at this state, you’d completely wither like a dried sunflower. You didn’t want to go out but your mini fridge was empty, stomach loudly grumbling for food.

You sighed as you closed the door, unkempt hair up in a bun and body adorned with an oversized shirt and the sweatpants you’ve refused to wash for two days now.

You were a mess – both on the inside and the outside – and your eyes lacked their usual warmth. Your movements mimicked that of a robot as you straggled to the nearest convenience store, about to enter when you heard someone cry out.

“Mama!”

Hands frozen on the door, your eyes widened before your head craned to the sound of rushed footsteps. In front of you was a panting Jin, a wailing baby Yuuji in his arms who only cried louder once he set his eyes on you. Jin gasped for air, and you both moved in sync, with you reaching out for baby Yuuji and him handing his child over to you.

“Y/N, I’m so sorry! Yuuji’s first word was Mama and I didn’t know what he meant but then he started crying and clutching the strawberry toy you got him and I’m so sorry, he just won’t stop crying. He kept looking for you.”

“No, I’m the one who should apologize!” you replied back, adding a bounce to your step to cradle Yuuji who’d buried his damp face onto your neck, crying mama over and over again.

Memories of meeting Jin for the first time and his reminder that he didn’t want Yuuji calling you that nearly made you kneel down in apology, but you opted for a slight bow, your hot tears trailing down your face because you missed him, but it was all messed up and seeing him once more only dug a deeper crater in your heart.

Before you completely left each other’s lives, you at least wanted to apologize.

“I realized my mistake and made it so weird for the both of us. Plus, Yuuji didn’t say Dada and I think that’s my fault. I swear I wasn’t trying to replace his mom or anything, I just—”

“I love you too,” he cut you off, and your eyes snapped from the ground back to his flustered face.

“What?”

“I’m sorry for lying that I don’t feel the same way,” he confessed, scratching the back of his neck while his ears flushed a deep red. “The truth is, my father always told me that Yuuji’s mom wasn’t a good person and I should stay away from her, but I never listened. A-and I always talked to him about Yuuji’s new babysitter and how kind you were and how I think I’m falling for you. He said I should man up and tell you but I was just afraid to love again since I’ve fallen before and I don’t want to be hurt again,” Jin bowed to you in a perfect angle, his son now at peace in your arms. “I’m sorry.”

“Jin,” you breathed out, the tears prickling at the back of your eyes. You couldn’t believe this was happening – you wanted to embrace him, to kiss him, hold him, but you’d been so engrossed in your own heartbreak you never even thought about Jin’s fears. “I’d never hurt you or Yuuji.”

“I know, and I’m sorry for hurting you like that,” he straightened up, feeling you stiffen under him when his arms wrapped around you. He felt so warm, and you felt so at place that your tears damped his sweatshirt, Jin’s hands gently caressing your waist. “Is it okay if we come back home?”

You cried louder than you ever did your whole life, though this time it was mixed with laughter. Jin laughed with you as you encircled your free arm around his neck to pull him closer, your lips eager as you littered kisses over his neck.

“Yes, of course,” you giggled, “You don’t even have to ask.”

You only ever wanted a job as a babysitter to make ends meet – falling in love was out of the equation – but with the magic presented right in front of you, you weren’t going to push it away, and neither did Jin. This time, you embraced each other wholeheartedly, pink hearts floating in the air while the strawberry-haired baby giggled in your presence, delighted that now his family was whole.

[5678thegirlalmighty]

Finwe, First King of the Noldor, a Character Study

Continuing this series on my thoughts on Silmarillion characters, I next move to Finwe. He’s one of those characters that we think we know, seeing as we know much about his private and familial life, but we know little else. It’s difficult, if not impossible to look into his mind and dissect his thoughts, most obviously because we don’t have access to them, but also why would we? He dies before the story really begins, his death in fact marks the beginning. Surely there’s a case to be made, and a compelling one at that, which would suggest that when the elves made it to Valinor things were never right or as they should have been. Finwe happened to be involved with most of these occurrences- whether that be the fracturing of elven clans, the death of Miriel, his remarriage, the conflict between his children, and violence coming to his doorstep from Feanor and Morgoth. So it seems that found himself in the center of the prelude to the events of the First Age. But it’s in the prelude that he stayed. That’s ultimately why it’s hard to give him great consideration, aside from his descendants, his role was limited.

Still I think it’s worth thinking about what the prelude held within it, and his role in forming the next generation of Noldor that defined their time in Beleriand.

Finwe as a father,

I won’t retread the well trodden ground here, as it’s clear he made serious errors in favoring Feanor over his children with Indis. But I’ll ask you, can we blame him? Feanor almost certainly needed more from Finwe, his mother had not just died but refused to return to life turning her back on them both, leaving little Feanor with a racing mind and unshaped talents- one doesn’t have to look far to see why he needed more. Though the question becomes, when should it have ended? With the arrival of more children, when he was an adult, when he had a family of his own? It’s not like people grow out of trauma so that’s unanswerable. So I don’t think that was his big mistake, what was is that Finwe failed to incorporate Feanor into his growing family with Indis. Instead of making him suck it up and deal with them kindly, he allowed Feanor to behave as he wished afraid of upsetting him. Leaving the situation unresolved and Feanor unrepentant. To me this is he failure, and reflects a weak character overall. He was weak enough to allow Feanor to run roughshod over him, his court, and his position. Undervaluing Fingolfin’s counsel, and letting the familial and psychological wound fester on and on and on.

While I find this character intriguing, his failures derived from a character weakness that prevented him from resolving even intimate problems, which were at his new unprecedented- as a wise leader he perhaps should have been more driven to working it out. My conclusion isn’t as negative as it may seem, as there’s still pretty to admire- no doubt it takes courage to follow your friends and a demigod to a foreign land, then lead your people there, rule, and face down to varying degrees of success new problems.

I think of Finwe as the quintessential grandfather, who thought of his glory days with rose tinted glasses, though with the regrets that only someone who’d grown wiser in life could appreciate. Maybe we like that in a person, or maybe we can’t get past the initial missteps. Either way those are my thoughts on Finwe, the first king of the Noldor, the founder of an illustrious family, and a study into parenting even in a almost perfect world.

Let me know your thoughts or who I should explore next.

(Art credit: Evankart)

If you enjoyed my analysis, you will enjoy my other work which is saved on my master list. 

[thebigbadbatswife]

One Single Thread Of Gold Tied Me To You

Summary - Everyone is tied to their soulmate with a red thread tied to their wrist. All except Y/N’s, who’s thread is gold. Tired of waiting for her soulmate to come and find her, she decides to go and find them. It doesn’t go quite how she expected it to.

Warnings - A little angst

[A/N] - This is a soulmate au where you and your soulmate are attached by an unbreakable red thread (or, in this case, gold), tied to your wrist. This was inspired by the song 'Invisible String' by Taylor Swift.

Word Count - 4k

As the early morning sun slowly filtered into your room, through your blinds, you carefully examined the thread attached to your wrist. Everyone had one; it was your link to your soulmate. Yours was different to everyone else though. While everyone had red, yours was gold. As you turned your wrist, it caught the sunlight and glistened a little.

Everyone you knew had always been fascinated by it. As was nearly every stranger you met. Why was it gold? What exactly made you and your soulmate so different to everyone else’s? Questions you had often asked yourself as well. Why were you two so different?

Your family had a theory that whoever it was, they were rich. Very rich. That was surely the reason it was gold. Nothing else made sense to them. Meanwhile your friends were completely convinced that your soulmate was some kind of God.

“Come on, Y/N! It’s the only thing that makes sense!” Tracey said before taking another sip of her third glass of wine. Her usually bright emerald eyes were glazed over from all of the alcohol. “Why else would it be gold?”

“You gotta admit, Tracey might be drunk right now, but she has a good point!” Skylar joined in. She took her brown eyes off the blonde and looked over at you before continuing. “Oh! What if your soulmate is like Wonder Woman or Superman or something! How cool would that be?”

You rolled your eyes and took a sip of your own glass of wine. “Stop it. You’re both being ridiculous,” you had told them because they really were being ridiculous. There was no way your soulmate was a member of the Justice League, let alone an Amazonian Princess or the Man of Steel.

You were, of course, curious of your soulmate yourself. Who wouldn’t be curious of the person they’re destined to end up with? But you didn’t think up the crazy theories your friends and family liked to come up with. Instead you wondered things like, what kind of hobbies do they have? What’s their favourite colour? What type of music do they listen to? Were they a cat person or a dog person? And other things like that.

Another thing about the thread that tied you to your soulmate was that, while everyone could see the thread around your wrist, only you and soulmate could see where it led. While you had always wanted to follow it, you had decided that it would be better to focus on having a decent job and place to live first.

During that time a small part of you had hoped that maybe your soulmate would come looking for you, but since they clearly weren’t, maybe you should? After all, you had a well paying job and a great apartment, so why not? Every job was legally required to allow people time off to go search, so that wouldn’t be an issue. It was paid time off as well so you didn’t have to worry about money. You also had a car so you wouldn’t have to spend a shit ton of money on travel. At least, you hoped you wouldn’t. In truth, for all you knew, your soulmate could be in a completely different country. Now that would certainly complicate things.

Shaking that thought away (because there was no way fate could be that cruel), you got out of bed and set about putting the wheels in motion that would allow you to start following your thread

‘ Welcome to Gotham City! ’ the sign read as you drove past it. When you had told those close to you, your plan, they had been super supportive. Now, if they knew where your thread had lead you, you doubted they’d be as supportive. Hell, even you were rethinking things now. Out of all the cities for your soulmate to be in, it just had to be this one.

How did you know it was this city that they resided in and it wasn’t just another stop along the way? It was hard to explain, but you had a feeling deep within your gut, almost like a sixth sense that just yelled “Yep! This is the place!”.

You felt extremely uneasy as you drove through the city. It was night-time as well which did absolutely nothing to help. Honestly, of all the times to arrive in Gotham, night-time was definitely the worst. Well, there was nothing you could do about that now, you just had to keep on going, so you did.

The golden thread snaked through the gothic city and went from the “posh” part of the city all the way to the worst part of the city. The buildings were run down and most of the windows were boarded up. Each turn you took there were shiftier and shiftier characters on every corner. You started to get the feeling that you really shouldn’t be here. Plus you were starting to wonder if you really wanted to know who your soulmate was if they were hanging out in neighbourhoods like this.

You brought your car to a stop in front of a particularly dark and sinister looking alleyway. A particularly dark and sinister looking alleyway that your golden thread lead straight into. Coming to this part of this city was already a bad idea. Continuing to follow that thread to what had to be your certain doom was even worse. Yet, at this point in your mission, you were pretty much committed.

You couldn’t help out a quiet and very nervous laugh as you climbed out of your car. ‘ This is fucking insane ,’ you thought as you stepped out of your car. Before shutting and locking it (though you doubt that would do much to protect it in this area), you grabbed your pepper spray. ‘ I really hope your worth all this .’

As you followed the thread down the alleyway, you heard a sudden loud bang. A gunshot. You stopped in your tracks and you could feel your heart pick up its pace. Your thread lead in the direction the shot had come from. ‘ I really hope you weren’t involved with that .’ Taking a deep breath, you continued down the alleyway.

The alleyway lead out onto another street. There was a small crunching sound as you stepped out onto the street. Taking a step back, you looked to the ground to see what you had just stepped on. The ground was littered with small shards of glass. Looking up, you figured the shards of glass were from the bulbs from the streetlamps. Something had broken them. It didn’t take you long to figure out what, or rather who ,was responsible.

Further down the street, taking on group of ten men, was none other than Gotham’s Caped Crusader. The Batman.

You quickly ducked back into the alley you had just left. You then carefully peered around the wall, so you could watch the fight. You were well aware of the fact that your thread was leading straight toward the fight. Which meant that your soulmate was involved.

You watched the fight intensely, both intrigued and terrified to figured which one of the men was on the end of your thread. There was a voice in the back of your head praying hardcore that it was the hero in the centre of the fight.

Batman was a blur of black and dark grey as he rapidly made his way through the group of men. With a variety of different punches, kicks and gadgets, he made short work of them. During his combat flow, you followed your thread with your eyes and a small gasp left you as you realised who the other end was attached to.

Holy fuck. You’re friends had, kind of, been right. While your soulmate wasn’t Wonder Woman or Superman, like they had suggested, he was apart of the Justice League’s ‘Big Three’. Your soulmate was Batman . At least now you knew why he hadn’t come looking for you. He’d been busy saving the world.

Now you had to figure out how to approach him before he ended up disappearing into the night.

Exiting your cover, you took your thread between your finger and thumb and gently tugged on it a couple of times.

Batman looked at his end of the thread curiously as your tugs had gotten his attention. Then his head drifted upwards, following where it lead till his eyes settled on you.

If he was shocked, he didn’t show it. He just stood there, his eyes never leaving you. Part of you wanted to cower away from the intense stare, but you willed yourself not to. He was your soulmate, and you weren’t a criminal,  you had no reason to be afraid.

“You shouldn’t be here,” he said, finally ending the silence between you. His voice was deep and almost robotic sounding. Probably some sort of voice modulator to help hide his identity, you figured.

“In Gotham? Yeah, this place really sucks,” you replied, thinking about all the things you had heard about this city, “but I came here to find my soulmate; to find you.”

“You shouldn’t have.” His voice was sharp and serious as he spoke. He also sounded irritated at your sudden appearance, which caused you to frown. That couldn’t be right… could it?

“What?” You hated how meek and pathetic your voice sounded, but you couldn’t help it. Wasn’t this supposed to be a happy moment? One of the happiest in your life in fact. Instead you felt like you were being scolded rather than meeting the person who was supposed to be your other half.

“I didn’t want to meet you. Now I suggest you go home. It’s not safe here.”

What? You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. There was pressure behind your eyes and your throat tightened. You took a shaky breath as you took a step backwards away from him. It quickly sunk in that the man you’d been destined to be with, the man you had thought about since you were old enough to understand the concept of a soulmate, wanted nothing to do with you.

“I-I’m sorry I disturbed you.” Your voice broke as you fought back the tears that threatened to fall. You weren’t going to give him that satisfaction. You then turned around and ran back toward where you had left your car.

As fast as you could, you started your car up and made your way to a safer part of the city. It didn’t take you long to find a somewhat empty parking lot to park in. Once the engine was off, you screamed and aggressively slammed against the wheel as you let the tears freely fall.

You felt like a complete and utter fucking idiot. Of course he didn’t want you. You’d probably just get in the way of him saving the world or something like that. Besides, what was that article you had seen a few months ago? Something about Catwoman and a relationship between the two? While it happened very rarely, some people in the world had been known to reject their soulmate because they had found someone they deemed better. Is that what had happened? Whatever the reason, you could feel your heart breaking.

You had used to think that, out of all the members of the Justice League, Batman had been one of the cooler members. Now all you could think was that he was a massive jerk.

Maybe it was your own fault for romanticising the whole thing and thinking that your meeting would be something out of a fairytale. Apparently fate was far crueller than you could have ever thought it to be.

Bruce watched as she ran away from him, back down the alleyway she had come from. A small voice in the back of his head told him to go after her. To grab her, hold her close and apologise, tell her that he hadn’t meant it. He ignored it and headed off in the opposite direction, back to where he had left the batmobile.

Over his comms, he heard a barely audible sigh and he could easily picture his butler and lifelong friend shaking his head in disappointment. No doubt he was going to get an earful once he got back to the batcave. Well it certainly wasn’t the first time.

As the batmobile pulled up in the batcave, he could see Alfred waiting for him. ‘ Here we go ,’ he thought as he got out of his car and removed his cowl.

“I don’t want to hear it,” he stated as he walked past him and toward the batcomputer. He set his cowl down on the desk. Even as the words left his mouth he knew he had wasted his breath. If there was one thing that Alfred had done consistently since Bruce had started down this path, it was letting him know when he disagreed with something he did.

“Was that really necessary Master Bruce? She’s come all of this way…” Alfred started, but ended up trailing off. There was a small moment of silence before he continued. “You know, I remember a small boy who couldn’t wait to go out there and find…” Before he could finish what he was saying, Bruce promptly cut him off.  

“What would you have me do, Alfred?!” His voice echoed off of the cave’s walls and disturbed some of the bats still hanging on the ceiling. Bruce gestured toward his equipment and the display cases that held some rather badly damaged batsuits. All of them testaments to injuries that had come far too close to killing him. “Would you really have me force this life on to her? The dangers, the no guarantee I’ll come home…” He took a deep breath and rested both his hands on the surface of his desk. “She deserves so much better.” His voice was quiet, but still easily heard in the, almost, silent cave.

“With all due respect, sir, I believe she should be allowed to make that decision, not you,” Alfred replied before leaving the batcave, not giving Bruce a chance to respond.

He looked in the direction of the stairs that lead up into the manor. The direction that Alfred had headed in. Was he right? Should he be leaving it up to her to decide what she wanted? But with all the dangers he faced nightly… No, it was better for him to stay far away from her.

Over the following week Bruce found himself distracted. It didn’t matter where he was, what he was doing, he couldn’t focus. And considering what he did once night fell over Gotham, to say being unfocused really wasn’t good was a complete understatement of the situation. He had been having far too many close calls recently.

He couldn’t get it out of his head. The way she had looked at him as he told her he didn’t want to meet her, that she should leave. Alfred’s words echoed in his mind and he found himself questioning the decisions he had made that night. Something that Bruce rarely, if ever, did. Everything he did was meticulously planned and there was never any doubt when he made a decision. Was this what happened once you met your soulmate and rejected them?

Bruce was sure that the rest of the Justice League had taken notice. With how off beat and slow to react to certain things, it would be hard not to. Of course, if they had, none of them had mentioned it to him. Apparently they knew better. For the time being, at least. He was sure it wouldn’t be long before they did try to pry into his personal life.

Which lead him here. On the roof of the building opposite of Y/N’s apartment building. He hadn’t needed to do any extensive research to find her, or learn her name, because he had been in this exact spot a couple of years ago.

Two years ago Bruce’s own curiosity had gotten the better of him. He blamed Clark and his soulmate, a reporter by the name of Lois Lane, for it. He had seen them one too many times in the Watchtower together and had found himself wondering who exactly his soulmate was and what they was like. As a result, he had gone looking for them. Not because he wished to finally meet them, but so he could make sure his soulmate was safe and happy. And she was, so he had left. Only ever checking up on her every now and then to make sure she had stayed that way.

He looked down at the golden thread that came out of his gauntlet and lead down toward the apartment he’d been watching. Both as Bruce Wayne and Batman he had made sure to keep it well hidden. With its unique colouring he couldn’t allow anyone to see it. It would be all too easy for his enemies to find her if they did see it.

He knew that by being here he was easily undoing everything he had done to keep her safe, but, then again, had she not done exactly that when she had tracked him down in Gotham? Besides, and while he would never say it out loud, Alfred had been right. It should be up to Y/N to decide whenever or not she wanted all the baggage that came with him being in her life. Baggage that had driven more than one person from his life…

He shook that thought from his head and got up from his crouched position on the roof. Bruce then leapt from the roof and allowed himself to fall for a couple of seconds before opening up his cape and let it catch the wind that was rushing past him. He silently glided over to her apartment’s balcony.

Y/N was in her apartment alone. She was sat on her sofa, the light from the tv was the only thing illuminating the room.

Bruce was unsure of how exactly to go about this. Back in Gotham he had originally thought of approaching her as Bruce Wayne, but quickly discarded it. Bruce Wayne showing up at an out of the way apartment building was sure to garner attention. As would Batman using the front door, so the balcony had seemed to be the best option. But now that he was here, he wasn’t entirely sure it was.

Should he just knock? That seemed like the best way to go about this. It was going to scare the everloving daylights out of her, but he could deal with that.

He gently rapped the glass of the balcony door with his knuckles. As he had expected, Y/N leapt up from her seat. A bowl and the contents of the bowl followed her and scattered across her carpeted floor. She spun around and when she saw him, the look of shock on her face quickly turned to anger. Her eyes narrowed and he swore that glare would be enough to make even the toughest of Gotham’s thugs would cower at its intensity. Maybe she would deal with his life better than he thought.

After a minute of glaring at him, she turned around and walked toward the lightswitch. At the same time, she gestured for him to enter.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” she demanded as soon as he had entered the apartment and shut the door behind him. The rage in her voice was evident and Bruce was sure he could cut the tension in the room with a batarang.

“I came to apologise,” he said, his voice gentle despite how distorted his modulator made it sound. Y/N scoffed immediately. He didn’t blame her. If he was in her shoes, he wouldn’t believe him either. After all ‘Batman’ wasn’t exactly known for making apologies.

“Yeah right.” She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

“I’m being truthful. I… I shouldn’t have said what I said. It wasn’t right.”

“Then why did you say it?” A fair question and one he had an answer to. Before he even said it, Bruce was aware how cliché it sounded.

“I wanted to keep you safe. This life isn’t for everyone.”

“So without even meeting me, you decided that it wasn’t for me.” She shook her head. “That’s not your decision to make!” she yelled at him.

“I know. It’s been pointed out to me before.” In fact that night in the cave wasn’t the first time Alfred had told him that. “But that’s why I’m here now. To give you all the information you need to make that decision.”

You listened intently as Batman explained the dangers of the life he was leading. The dangers that effected the people in his life in one way or another. He also made it a point to reiterate the fact that when he left at night or was summoned by the Justice League there was no guarantee he would return. You asked the occasional question, but for the most part you just listened to him to talk and let his words sink in.

You got it. You understood the very clear concerns that Batman had about this whole thing, they concerned you as well, but you weren’t about to let it deter you. You wanted to know your soulmate. Even if it ended horribly, like he was saying it would, you felt it in your core that you would regret not knowing him, especially if the worst truly did happen. And you told him so.

“Even if you’re not wearing a mask, this life is dangerous. Anything can happen.”

“Anything could happen to me when I leave my apartment each day.”

The superhero life wasn’t special in that regard. As you spoke, your voice was a lot calmer than it had been earlier. In fact, as he had spoke and explained you had found your anger slowly fading. You still wanted to slap the jerk superhero before you, but that was a considerable downgrade from your overwhelming need to deck him when you first saw him standing on your balcony.

“It won’t be easy.”

“I’ve never backed down from a challenge before.”  

You admired his commitment to deter you, but it wasn’t going to work. You were too stubborn to let it. Something you were positive he was learning very quickly.

“There’s nothing I can say to convince you that this is a bad idea, is there?”  

“Nope.” You made sure to pop the ‘p’.

Batman sighed deeply. You watched as he looked away from you and toward the golden thread that linked the two of you together. You could almost hear the gears in his brain turning as he thought. Then he was looking back up at you.

“In that case then.”

You watched as Batman brought his hands up to his cowl. Your eyes widened and you couldn’t help the small gasp that left you as he removed the cowl and revealed his identity to you. Bruce Wayne. While you didn’t live in Gotham City, you were well aware of Gotham’s favoured son. You would’ve had to have lived underneath a rock to not know who he was.

And apparently your family had been right on the money, literally. Not that you cared about the money, you weren’t superficial like that. Personality was far more important than the material items someone may or may not have. In your eyes, at least.

You both stood in silence, his blue eyes studying you, probably trying to gauge how you were going to react. To be truthful, you weren’t entirely sure how to react. Except maybe…

“Well, it’s… it’s nice to meet you Bruce Wayne. I guess this is the part where we forget about what happened and start over?”

“If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

Yeah, sure, this was probably going to end horribly, but you were looking forward to the adventure that lie ahead.

[kim-miyeon]

Hell Above-Chapter One

PAIRINGS: Hwang Hyunjin X Female Reader

WARNINGS: Mafia!AU, strong language, violent scenes, use of weapons, mentions of blood, mentions of sex trafficking, murder, suggestive language, sexual scenes, unprotected sex. 18+ Please.

WORD COUNT: 6.8K

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This is a Wasteland, My Only Retreat.

The faint roar of the vehicle engine rumbled lowly as you sat in the driver seat of your car, both of your hands resting softly on the steering wheel. Your annoyed sigh released itself as your head turned to look at the sleek folder that laid in the seat next to you. You smirked to yourself as you averted your eyes back to the rusted standing building in front of you. The allure of the night caused the whole scenery to match the mood of this dreadful evening. Your eyes scanned over the area surrounding, four black cars parked to the left side of the building, the whole estate heavily guarded with about fifteen men, the soldiers. You stared for a bit before looking up to your rearview mirror and allowing your eyes to observe you. It was almost cliché the way you looked for the part you played. The way your features could kill a man alone and you knew that better than anybody. Reaching your hand into your purse that sat on your lap, you pulled out an item that was set to complete such a look of power,  your blood red lipstick. You moved closer to the rearview to get a better view as you applied a layer of the tint on your lips, bringing your character to life. You rubbed  your lips together and cleaned around the edges before your eyes naturally diverted to a dark figure walking towards your car.  You groaned in annoyance as you unbuckled yourself and grabbed the folder to the right of you. Turning your keys in the ignition off, you opened the car door, throwing your legs over onto the pebble ground, where the heels of your black boots met. Your whole appearance could have blended into how dark the night became as you wore black jeans and a black sweater, paired with your favorite black trench coat. The only color that could be determined was the deep red on your lips and the silver gun that hung by your side. 

“YAH Y/N!”  the voice of the figured called out and you heard the thick accent of an Australian native come through

You slammed the car door shut behind you as you inhaled the cool freshnes of the autumn night. Shifting your direction to the young man walking closer to you. He had a slim figure, soft blonde strands that fit his small face and hints of freckles that coated him. On a usual day, he would be smiling and spreading his contagious positivity. But on nights like this, he was different. We were different.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked sternly, voice low and accent deep. You walked towards him with the folder in your hand.  

“Is that anyway to greet your elder, Felix?” You smiled back playfully, shoving the folder into his chest. He grabbed a hold of it flipping through the contents before looking back at you.

“How did you find out?” he sighed in defeat. 

“Well, I heard you caught a mouse,” You said as you started to walk towards the building,  with Felix following, “the cat wanted to play.”

“You shouldn’t be here, Y/N,  you know you can be comprom-” 

“Cut the bullshit Felix,”  You waved your hand,  pushing away the topic. “Just tell me what you know.”

Felix groaned and you looked over to him, stopping both of your tracks, “He was one of the associates. Caught taking pictures and asked too many questions.” 

“Is that why the soldiers are here?” You asked, arms crossing over your body. 

“Mhm. We don’t know which associate can be trusted, and didn't want to create more trouble.” 

You squinted in confusion at his statement and Felix bit his lip as if he was debating to reveal anymore. 

“We think he might be working with ‘Y’.” 

Y. The alias name of a mystery person who has had multiple failed attempts in trying to reel you out. Or reel out whoever they can in all honesty. Pathetic and yet intriguing, as you and your family have been on the hunt for this mystery person for the past 6 months. Your interest spiked up to the new found information. 

You laughed sinisterly as you turned back to walk towards the entrance of the building. “God, I love a good Friday night.” 

“Y/N, I’m serious. You really shouldn’t be here. We don’t know the multitude that ‘Y’ is working on,” Felix pleaded.

“So we find out.” You stated.

 “We are. YOU just can’t be here because Min-“ you stopped in front of the door to the warehouse and you turned around to Felix who cut himself off from finishing his sentence.

“Because what, Felix.” You gritted.

Felix sighed and looked at you. 

“Minho doesn’t want you here”

You clicked your tongue and scoffed in disbelief at the sentence. You felt the blood bubble in your veins as the adrenaline from anger rushed through you. 

“Last time I checked, Minho wasn’t my fucking boss.” 

You marched up to the warehouse doors and pushed it open. Felix following you as you both walked into the dark and musty place, smells of decaying animals and blood surrounded you immediately, which could have bothered any normal individual, but the smell was too natural for you. 

Straight ahead was a dim light shining on a profound scene. Your sight was captured by a man tied to a chair, hands cuffed behind him, blood hanging from the ends of his hair dripping down his cheeks and arms. Barely hanging on to whatever life he may have left, he raises his head to a man who you assumed performed such a violent assault. The man’s brown hair was sweat ridden and he wore his white dress shirt with sleeves rolled up.  On his hand sparkled a set of brass knuckles that he wiped off with his handkerchief. Walking closer, you witness the man as he swung his forearm back and connected another blow to the captured man's face, earning splatter of blood to the floor and a grunt from the victim. You scoffed softly as you approached such a disappointing scene. 

If it weren’t for the loud clicks of your heels to suggest your arrival, it could have been the dark demeanor you had when you came into the lit area and the man looked at you, first in surprise and then annoyance. It was hard to admit, but he was attractive, his muscles bore through his shirt and pants. His face was one that could ruin a woman. His dark sweaty hair stuck to his forehead from the work he put in for the night. He scoffed when he saw you and you crossed your arms over your chest and smiled at him. 

His eyes switched his gaze to Felix who approached behind you.

“You had... one job.” Stepping forward and raising his finger to emphasize Felix’s one job of the night, implying that it was to make sure you weren’t there.

Felix bowed his head in an apologetic manner and you laughed as you looked down at the floor and the back to the man.

“You’ve been relieved of your duties for the night Minho, you can go.” 

He laughed at you and came closer, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion.” You stepped closer to him.

Minho paused and looked at you as you held his gaze sternly. He finally let up, cursing in the air, understanding the consequences of disobeying you. 

Minho turned to grab his coat and walked away calling out for Felix to come with him.

You breathed out in content and removed your coat. The man sitting in the chair raised his head slowly as he had heard your heels come closer to him. You grabbed his bloody chin and forced his head up to look at you as you examined to damage Minho had done. 

“Tsk tsk tsk, he really did a number in your face.” You let go of his chin and he hung his head low again. 

“Who are you?”

“Who am I?” You smiled at the question asked, “I can be whoever you want me to be.”

The man raised his head slightly as he saw you walk over and grab an empty chair, pulling it to sit across from him. You sat down and crossed your leg over the other one and pulled out a box of cigarettes from your back pocket, along with a lighter. You pulled a cigarette out with your mouth and lit it as you inhaled deeply. The smoke burning the back of your throat, almost sobering you for a second.

 “Who am I?”  you reiterated, “ Well truthfully, I don’t think that’s as important. I actually came here cause I wanted to get to know you more”

“I already told the man before that I don’t know anything.” 

You sucked in air as you pulled the cigarette out from your lips “See I could believe that, however, I know that’s not true, right... Danny?”

You paused as you saw no reaction, “ … or is it better to call you...SungHo.” 

He looks at you in immediate terror and you smile, inhaling another drag.

“How do you-“

“Kim SungHo, father to two beautiful young girls, Mina, 3,  and Hyerin, 5. A loving husband to Kim Ji Hye for 10 years. Congratulations, your anniversary was last month right?” You asked innocently as you watch the man in front of you begin to widen his eyes to your knowledge. 

You pulled another drag from the cancer stick, “A former professional photographer. You had your own business that went bankrupt, right? So you opted into your dangerous pleasures to feed your girls, huh?”

“I was just doing what I can,” He mumbled.

“Life in prison without parole. I heard they were even considering the death penalty for the men they found, men like you, right SungHo?” You scooted closer to him as you watched a tear roll down his face. 

“Did you like taking photos of those girls? Did you like watching them beg for their lives?”

He cried and choked on his own tears as you stood up and flicked the cigarette to the ground and stomped on it to put it out. 

“Tell me who you work for SungHo.”

“I can’t” he choked out.

“Oh SungHo, you don’t want to make me mad. I’m worse than that man before. Way worse.”

Sungho just cried and you grew intolerable to the minutes that past as you waited for information. You knew that beating him the way Minho did was foolish. So you did the one thing none of those bastards could ever. You grabbed your gun and cocked it back aiming for his head as he cried softly. You notice the lack of adrenaline, the almost inviting acceptance he was having to a moment of death you could implicate. So you moved your aim towards his groin.

“STOP! STOP! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” he screamed. 

“Tell me who you work for Sungho, my patience is at an all time low.”

“I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME, HE WENT BY Y!”

“What did he want?”

“HE WANTED TO KNOW IF THE LEE FAMILY WAS STILL OPERATING, HE ASKED ME TO TAKE PICTURES AND FIND OUT WHO THE BOSS IS. TOLD ME TO BECOME AN ASSOCIATE TO DO IT!”

“When’s the next time you’ll see him?” He paused and you lowered your gun and fired a gunshot right into his crotch. He screamed in pain and you aimed your gun back at his head. 

“ANSWER ME!”

“HE DIDN’T SEE ME, HE CALLED ME. TOLD ME TO GO TO THE TRAIN STATION AND DROP OFF MY CAEMRA BY THE HOUSE WITH THE MAILBOX!” he cried out as he looked down and saw the blood dripping from his crotch. “PLEASE, HE SAID HE’D KILL MY FAMILY IF I DON’T DO THIS! PLEASE!”

You stepped back and relaxed yourself as you had found all the information you needed. You stood back looking at him as your mind thought back to the kids he had. You can’t protect them y/n. You watched as Sungho cried out in the pain as he bled. Your curiosity got the better of you in the moment as you twirled your gun.

“Did you find out who the boss was?” 

Sungho breathed out heavily,“I took pictures of the man before you.” 

You smiled in disbelief, “and you believe him to be the boss of the Lee Family?”

“The associates say that he is the only one they have seen and fits the description of the son of Lee Won-Shik.” He looked up at you and your face went pale. 

That name. One that you knew too well. Your father’s name.

You aimed the gun back at his crotch and fired another bullet in anger. SungHo screamed and gritted as blood began to pool from his groin area, surely ending whatever reproduction system he had left.

“I TOLD YOU EVERYTHING.” 

“I know, it’s a shame.” 

The pain you inflicted caused you to wonder how painful it could have been. You just watched him bleed out and scream as he begged you for help. You turned and saw the camera lying on the table and you walked over to pick it up. You scrolled through pictures of Minho leaving offices and greeting people, people who worked for your family for years. Any leakage of this information could be detrimental. The whole thing put a sour taste in your mouth. 

“Unfortunately Sungho, you won’t be dropping off this camera tomorrow.”

“NO, NO, PLEASE!” 

“It’s a shame. A man who watches girls younger than your own daughters be taken from their families and exploited in such a distasteful manner… makes me sick.”

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” You walked over and you cocked your gun back again as you aimed the gun to his head. 

“Also, Lee Minho doesn’t run this family,”

You turn to Sungho who was crying in pain and pulled the trigger of your gun watching his head fall back as blood and pieces of his head splattered, coating the wall and floor behind you both. You move away and placed your gun back in your holder as you turned back to grab your coat, walking toward the exit. Leaving Sungho’s dead body to bleed out. 

“I Do.” 

**********

Outside, you see four men talking as you closed the large door behind you. Their views shifted on you and you watched as Minho walked up to you in anger.

“Three gunshots. You killed him.” He spat. 

“He saw my face.”

“I had everything under control.” 

“An interrogation that lasted two hours is your version of under control? What kind of questions did you ask Minho? What kind of camera does he use? Can he get you a deal at Best Buy?” you mocked.

“Like he told you anything! You were in there for 30 minutes and now we have a dead man and no information, I bet. I bet you killed him because he disrespected you as a woman! I know that really gets your blood boiling and you act like a deranged child!”

“Do you want a demonstration?” You grabbed your gun and aimed it at him until you hear a yelling from behind Minho. 

“GUYS SERIOUSLY.” You turned your eyes to the boy who yelled out at you and sighed as Minho began to relax is demeanor. “We are family, we shouldn’t be fighting like this.” 

“Seungmin’s right, we could be in a world of trouble and we need to work together now.” Felix reassured as he walked up to you and Minho and pushed your gun down. 

You walked up to the group as Minho avoided eye contact with you. You stood next to Seungmin who was looking at you with caring eyes. You smiled because he was the type to always bring down the heat of conversations and make everyone regroup. Next to you stood a smaller boy, with blue hair. He had a soft fox like face and you smiled at him as he admired you. 

“What information did you find?” The younger one asked you and you nodded. 

“He worked for ‘Y’ in exchange for immunity to his crime charges to come later this week. That camera is supposed to be delivered tomorrow at the train station on the west side but unfortunately there’s been a delay.” You looked the boys who were nodding their heads all except Minho. 

“And I saved both of are asses tonight, Minho. The associates are talking a lot among themselves, they believe you are the alleged son of my father. He has pictures of you meeting with secret partners. Had I kept him alive, our secret would have been revealed and the Hwang family would had found you, not just ‘Y’.” You informed. 

“Thank you.” he muttered. 

“Everyone report tomorrow 9 AM sharp. Seungmin put together a strategy plan for going forth on the ‘Y’ issue. Felix  dispose of the body near the train tracks, make sure you make a note for ‘Y’ to see. Minho,-”

Minho looked at you carefully having calm down from the interaction earlier, “Kill all the associates. None of them can be trusted.”

The boys all parted was and the youngest member stood by your side looking to you innocently. “What would you like me to do?” 

“I need you to go find Sungho’s family and bring them to safety tonight. Don’t tell the others about it Jeongin, keep your tracker on. Take your soldiers with you.” Jeongin nodded and you hugged him close as he went off. 

You walk towards your car and your phone dings in your coat pocket. You pulled it out and read the message that flashed across the screen. 

“Just got on to my connecting flight, see you soon ❤️-HJ” 

You smiled and put your phone back into your pocket, as you opened and sat in your car, ready to go home.

*************

You opened the oven and was blasted with a rush of heat as you removed the roasted potatoes in the pan and placed it on your stove top. The sound of the ongoing sizzle was still coming from the potatoes drowned out by the soft playing of jazz that you had in the background on your speaker. To the left of your view was the  piece of steak you had searing on your pan. It had been a while since you had a nice home cooked dinner. It had been a while since you two have eaten together like this. It had been a while in general. Since you last saw him, leaving you a kiss, one that you still remember fleshed on your lips, and watched him drive away. Just the thought of you two being in the same room made your stomach flip. He was captivating in the sense that he could make you drown in his aura and remove everything around you. It was like you were light like a feather, floating around him, and he was the gentle hand that caught you every time. You blushed to yourself, deep in thought as you began to place the food on the plates you had grabbed from the cabinet above you, remembering how incapable you were when reaching all the dishware in your house, becoming grateful for the way he towered you and helped you in these moments.

You just missed him. And it was difficult for you to admit to yourself that he made you feel secured. There was always fear when you thought of him and how you felt towards this man only to be reminded of how deep of a hole you dug for yourself. Your heart ached every time you had to remind yourself what your true mission was, what the point of this relationship meant. And yet, you pushed it all away. You turned an eye to the ratchet truth because you needed more time. It was a constant fight between heart and mind. Playing a double character all this time exhausted you even when you felt like you were completely and unapologetically yourself in front of this man.

You carried the plates over to your small dining room table and placed them at each end. Stepping back, you absorbed the smallness of the dining room area in your home. You laughed as you took in the lack of luxury in the space, and the lack of luxury in general. You lived comfortably, you never felt drowned in bills, you never went hungry. You had a roof over your head and a bed to sleep in. And yet, if anyone were to ever find out about your true income, they’d wonder why you opted to live in a one story house on the north side of town. You were able to buy the whole damn country if you wanted to. You were able to live a life of luxury and protection, but this is what he wanted. He wanted to show you that he is not who he really is and you acted like you didn’t know what he did, who he was. All these years, he played a character too. That’s how you knew that he loved you the same, if not more. You knew that in order to be with you, he had to tell you, because you had to know what it meant when you took his last name. But in his secrecy, you saw the need of protecting you from a world you already knew so much about and also the aching to hide away and be normal. 

You sighed as you reached over to the bottle of wine you had on the table. You unscrewed the bottle and grabbed your glass as you poured yourself a decent amount of red lush. You raised the glass to your lips as you walked slowly to the mirror on the back wall of your dining room. You looked at yourself, watching how the simple silk black dress hung loosely down your chest. Smiling, as the silk draped over your breasts teasingly and stopping just inches from your knees. Your hand caressed your collarbone, down to your chest as you rose your other arm to bring the glass of wine back to your lips. You drifted your eyes from the mirror to your drink as you took another sip of the sweet liquid. It was almost alarming the way your attention was brought back to the mirror when a figure appeared in your peripheral. Your eyes widened in shock as your breath sucked in rather quickly. You looked at the man through the mirror, as he stood long and tall. Dressed in a pair of freshly pressed black slacks, a white long sleeved satin shirt, and blonde straight hair that was tied in his most comfortable form. Half up with two strands caressing over his face. His complexion was such a creamy tone and had a natural airbrush effect. His thick pink lips were painted on his face with intent to make a woman go insane. His eyes were sharp hiding his dark orbs that made your heart flutter. 

Ethereal would be an understatement to describe him. He simply was created by all the gods.

He smiled softly at your longing gaze through the mirror, sticking his hands in both of his slack pockets,  tongue drifting over his bottom lip naturally. 

“I didn’t hear you come in,” you managed to choke out as you turned around swiftly to now face him.

“Should I have knocked?” The sound of his voice was honey and danced through your ears. It almost made you shudder. You exhaled a breath at his comment as he began taking small steps towards you, looking at the mess you made in the kitchen. “What’s all of this?” 

“I made dinner.” You sat the glass of wine on the table as you felt your skin tremble with anticipation as he made his way over to you. 

“What did you make?” He was so close, voice dropping volume as he walked closer to you.

“I-I made s-steak and p-potatoes,” closer.

“Mmm,” he hummed and got closer.

“and s-some salad-d…” closer.

Until there he was, in front of you. Eyes finally connected, his natural scent and cologne invading your sense of smell, you wanted to drown in it. The heat of his body could be felt on your own as he kept taking steps, making you stumble back until your back was against the wall. He removed a hand from his pocket and placed his fingertips on your forearm, brushing softly, slowly and teasingly dragging his fingertips up your arm as you felt goosebumps form.

“I thought maybe we could, sit and eat..”

Fingertips now close your neck, grazing over your shoulder blade. He tilted his head and his eyes looked down at your body and slowly came back to match yours. He hummed at your words and you eagerly let him stroke over your sensitive neck. It felt like years since you’ve been touched and the thought of him taking you, all of you,  flooded not just your mind, but your core. 

“That all sounds very nice but,” he paused as his fingers slid up to your chin pulling it gently to face him as he started down at you. He was now  centimeters over your face, you were convinced you could already feel his lips graze yours. “I’m actually craving something a bit more….sweet.” 

You were almost in euphoria, your mind was clouded with anticipation and desire. Lust was dripping down your legs and you were falling down a hole. Everything around you went black and it felt like it was just you and him. You barely heard the words that came out of his mouth.

“there’s ice cream in the freez-“ 

“Just kiss me.” 

You nodded frantically as he pushed into you against the wall. One of his hands slamming against the wall, the other wrapped around your waist as he brought you closer to his craving body. You had your arms wrapped around his neck pulling him deeper. His lips molded over yours in such an artistic way. It was simply amazing the way you two fit into each other, as if the heavens created you from the same strand of souls. One in body, spirit, and mind, you both became. You longed for the taste of him and it was as if on cue, he connected his tongue with yours, deepening your kiss. There was so much fire and passion, it was as if you two were begging for this. You moaned into him, feeling the vibrations against his lips as he pulled away from you to catch his breath. Eyes hooded, orbs dark and the light of the room stinging your sight as he moved his head to pepper kisses on your bare neck. Your body responded to him by tilting your head to the side and he used his free arm to slip down the back of your thigh, hiking your leg to his hip. The wetness of his tongue coating the hidden veins of your neck as he nipped softly, earning the sounds of your moaning. You felt his hard aching dick push near your core as his fingertips brushed further up your dress, barely touching where you needed him the most. He pulled back, panting and eyebrow cocked up at you as you licked your lips craving his delicious taste again.

“No underwear?” You felt your blood run cold as you remembered your lack of undergarments under the dress. You knew this was how you two would end up but your mind had erased every detail you had planned the moment he revealed himself to you. You just smiled seductively to him as he growled.

“I know my baby girl didn’t think she was going to tease me tonight.” 

In one fluid motion, you were lifted off the floor, legs around his torso as he carried you to your kitchen island sitting you on the cold surface, your bare ass touching the marble and you hissed at the sudden feel. He wasted no time pushing all your dishware away and you heard the sounds of metal crashing to the ground, as he made room for you to lay. 

“Normally you would have been punished for that,” he uttered referring to your attempt to edge him on. He pushed you back so you could lie on the counter, you grunt as you felt the shivers down your spine. He pushed the  fabric of your dress up, revealing your dripping  heat. He nearly groaned as he saw the way you glisten and wasted no time taking his long finger to drag  up your slit. You arched your back in delight as your pussy throbbed painfully for him. He leaned over your body, lips close to your ear as he let a low hot breath.

“But I’m fucking starving.” 

You watched as he leaned down your body and bent his knees to make himself align face to face with your core. He never broke your gaze as he did so and you hitched a breath as you felt his velvet lips kiss your inner thigh.

“Don’t tease,” you moaned out involuntarily. It was all too much, your mind was so foggy and you heard his low chuckled.

“I have to savor every part of my meal, babe”  his hot breath hit your wet lips and your breathing heightened. It was agonizing.

A sigh of relief and a cry from your lips rang out as he dragged his long hot tongue over your slit, collecting every drop of arousal you produced and laying flat against your throbbing clit. Your hands immediately rested on his head, fingers intermingling with his soft hair. You pulled yourself up in reaction as he lapped you sensually, drinking you, eating you. You were a mess, eyes shut and rolled to the back of your lids. Intoxicated by the way he performed. He looked up at you as you cried and heaved, sweating beads forming from the edges of your hairline. Profanities slipping from your mouth with every movement he made against you. You felt his tongue part your slit and insert inside of you, lapping all he could, moaning into you. You laid back and groaned, hips bucking up at him to chase more. Licking his way back up to your needy clit, he took the bud into his mouth, sucking and licking it. You felt two of his long digits slip into you with ease and stretching you out. 

“Oh my fucking god.” You cried out as you felt him bring you close to your edge. The white hotness built in the pit of your stomach and your legs began to shake. You felt his fingers curl inside you and he lapped deliciously, eyes looking at you as you held on to his head. He smiled as he saw your fucked out face and your mouth was opened, loss of words. He pulled back from your pussy and replaced his ministrations  with his thumb as he kept fingering you. Leaning forward he kissed you, your juices coating his face as you tasted yourself on him. He moaned when you arched your self into him and he pulled back to look at you. He knew you wanted to cum. He could feel the way your walls pulsated against his fingers and saw how fast your chest was rising and falling. Licking his lips he came closer your face, forehead resting on yours, one hand now pushing your hips down and the other fucking you into ecstasy.

“Cum for me baby girl.” He pecked your lips softly as you moaned “Cum for daddy.” 

Your body spazzed and you cried out to him as he enclosed your cries by kissing you passionately. His fingers slowed down their pace and pumped into you deeper, thumb grazing over your worn out clit, which made you convulse every time he flicked over it. He pulled back and stood over you, pulling his fingers out of your dripping core. You tried to catch your breath as he raised his fingers to his lips and slipped them into his mouth. You watched as he sucked your taste of him. It made your cheeks flush red and grow needy again watching the erotic scene. 

“I missed the way you taste,” he smiled at you. You smiled back and found the strength to raise your body to him, sitting up and grabbing his belt loops pulling him closer to you. He bent down and cupped your face as he kissed you again. Your hands fiddling with his belt and buttons of his pants frantically, craving his dick more than ever. You wanted to watch him come undone the way he did with you. As you started to unzip his pants he pulled back and placed his hands over yours. Your innocent eyes looking into his in confusion as he held your hands away from his pants. He knew what you wanted to do, but he had other plans.

“Later, love. Right now I just wanna be inside you” he said softly. You smiled and he resumed, taking his pants off along with his underwear. You watch as his hard dick sprung out of the fabric and you gasped in delight. He wasn’t big or small, but the perfect length, the perfect girth. You licked your lips in the thought of being filled by his cock. He took a hold of his dick  and rubbed up and down your slit, coating himself with your cum. You groaned due to your sensitivity and lied back down on the counter again.

“I can’t wait to ruin you” he stated as he inserted himself into you. 

“Oh my god, Hyunjin.” You slipped his name out for the first time of the night. His hands slammed on the side of your head, as he hung his head low by your neck, stretching you out. You heard his sighs and groans in your ear. He slipped an arm under your head, pulling you close to him and you gripped his shirt as he whimpered, “Even after all that and your still so fucking tight.” 

He snapped his hips into and you yelped. He groaned into your neck and his free hand found yours as he intertwined his fingers with yours. 

“Faster, daddy” you whimpered.

He lifted his head to look at you, “You want it faster, love?” 

He was pumping in and out of you slow and deep. His body melding into yours and your juices slipping out, pooling under you. You bit your lip at his question and you nodded. He pushed his way up and towered you again, grabbing a hold of your legs firmly. He began to quicken his pace as the room was filled with the slapping of skin. The feeling of him inside you was immaculate and you cupped your breasts through your dress as your mouth slipped out anything that came to mind.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck” 

“You like that baby girl, you like when I fuck you like this?” 

Your back arching off the counter again as Hyunjin fucked you into another world. It was almost impossible for this man to not bring you into a state of bliss. Each snap of his hip hit you in exquisite ways. His deep grunts and moans sent bubbles in your stomach you watched as he would roll his head back to the pleasure you gave him. The way he spoke to you in moments like this were difficult to overcome. You could cum just by his words alone.

“God y/n you feel so fucking good.” 

You could feel the pit of your stomach grow light again. Your walls began to pulsate around him and he could feel that you were chasing your second orgasm of the night. He smirked at you as you began to convulse, feeling the white heat rise to your ears.

“Are you gonna cum again, love? Am I making you feel that good?” 

“Yes Hyunjin, fuck, you’re fucking me so good...” 

“God dammit.” He growled. 

Everything paused for a second as Hyunjin grabbed you off the counter, still inside of you, and he carried you to the dining room, kicking one of the chairs out for him to sit on. He sat down bringing you on top of him, slamming down on his slick member. 

“AHH,” you moaned, tossing your head back at the different angle you had of him.

His hands rested in your ass and he leaned into your ear, “fuck yourself to oblivion, love”

You nodded as you rested your hands on his shoulders. You began to rock yourself back and forth on his dick, moaning loud. His hands helped you as you felt your orgasm grow closer and you began to lose your strength. 

“Come on baby, give it to me,” you rocked faster and faster and soon you felt your orgasm inch closer. The pit of your stomach churned and the walls of your pussy clenched. “That’s it baby, cum for me.” 

You cried out again and you felt your lower half give out to the intensity of your orgasm, you stopped moving for a second as you breathed in heavily trying to catch your breath. Hands still resting on Hyunjin’s shoulders and head hanging low, you felt so light, so spent. Hyunjin gripped your hips and began snapping his hips up into you, your eyes shut tightly as you gripped him, screaming. Your head now resting on his shoulders, body almost limp to the overwhelming orgasm you just had. Hyunjin fucked into you like a mad man, having not reached his high yet. You moaned into his ear at the overstimulation as he grunted to you. You finally felt like you had enough strength to finish him off and you began rocking yourself back to meet his thrusts.

“FUCK” he yelled as you didn’t let up. Your lips found the skin under his ear and you lapped and sucked on it tasting the sweat that formed in his neck from tonight.

“I’m gonna fill you up so fucking good.” 

You smiled against his skin as his thrust grew sloppy. Your lips moved to his ear and you placed a soft kiss before whispering, “do it, baby.”

He groaned on cue and whimpered as he snapped his hips into you hard. You felt the warm spurts of his cum hit your walls inside you and you didn’t let up to the way you rocked against him, wanting to milk him dry. He gasped and tried to hold you still, unable to handle the sensations. 

“Fuck, oh my god y/n,” he sighed as you stopped overstimulating him and just sat there in the chair with him still inside you.

You raised your head to look at him, both of you  fucked out, and you smiled as you leaned in and kissed him again. He cupped your face into the kiss and held you there. The heat radiating of your sweaty bodies and the smell of sex filled the air as the both of you kissed each other with so much need. Pulling back slowly, you rested your forehead against his with your arms around his neck.

“I am never leaving for that long ever again” he stated and you laughed as you moved a piece of his hair off his sweaty forehead, fingertips lightly touching his vein that the top that always came out when he was working hard like that.

“You were gone for a week” you responded and he pecked your lips a few more times and moaned softly.

“A week too long” he smiled and caressed your lower back as you still sat on him. “I missed you too much” 

“You’re back now, and I’m not letting you go anywhere” you kissed his nose cutely and he pulled you in for another kiss.

“Sorry about dinner.” 

“It’s okay, I’m glad you got what you were craving” he smiled.

“Oh honey, that was just an appetizer” he stated as he lifted you both up off the chair. You felt him grow hard again inside you as you laughed. He kicked his pants off his ankles and began walking you to your living room. Finding your couch, he laid you down and kissed your neck as you giggled. He pulled back and made a goofy smile as you reached your hand to caress his face. He tilted his head to kiss your fingertips softly as you smiled adoringly to him. 

“I love you so much y/n”  He leaned in to hover over your lips and your heart skipped a beat to his words.

Because you knew that no matter what, you were falling into that hole, deeper and deeper. And you didn’t know if you wanted to escape, no matter the consequences. Because this, here like this, with him was all you wanted. For the rest of your life. 

“I love you too Hyunjin.”

***

A/N: Ahhh, it’s out. The first chapter!! I hope you like it and are excited about the series as I am! If you made it to the end and are reading this you are loved <3 

[miraculouscontent]

Got any Mr. Pigeon 72 fix-its?

Nothing written exactly, but for sure, I’d change the episode so that it’s actually about Marinette’s character. A power-up and suit change like this should warrant the episode basically being all about Marinette, but considering the stupid rule about Aaaaadrien, fine, watch me get them to the damn swimming pool and talk about Adrien without any actual focus on him.

This is also a semi-continuation of the original “Mr. Pigeon” in terms of involving Marinette’s future fashion goals in someway, even if it’s more subtle, while also following up on her goal in “Gang of Secrets” of not focusing on love.

The beginning of the episode is mostly fine but no friggin’ Adrien pictures are needed. Not only does it break continuity (remember how Marinette had no Adrien pictures at all during basically all of Season 3? how is this season making me miss Season 3???), but it’s not like Alya can’t think of Adrien with or without any sort of prompting.

Alya still brings up the Adrimi break-up and Marinette still goes to comfort Kagami, who - and this is important - is happy to be checked on even though she’s over Adrien. (Like, really, why does the narrative and Alya essentially roll their eyes at Marinette for being worried about Kagami??)

Marinette still plans on taking Kagami to the pool, but neither know that Adrien is there. On their way, they see Xavier Ramier pacing on the sidewalk, seeming to be talking to a pigeon perched on his arm. Marinette and Kagami glance at each other, Kagami not knowing who the guy is and being generally uninterested. Marinette decides to approach, asking him what’s wrong, and Xavier explains that he has to help with a commercial for Adrien Agreste. Kagami sours at the name, mumbling about how Adrien is everywhere, but Marinette is intrigued; she’d been so busy that she hadn’t even heard about this (which really shows how much she’s overworked herself; something Adrien-related would probably be all over the news).

Xavier expresses that he’s nervous because he has a lot riding on this; Bob promised to talk to the mayor about making a pigeon sanctuary, and that’s his dream. Still, he tries to calm himself down, afraid of getting akumatized again and burdening Ladybug. Marinette falters at this, feeling bad and remembering how many times he’s been akumatized, then makes a comment about how it’s not his fault, it’s Ladybug’s for not finding a way to stop this. Xavier is caught off-guard, but defends Ladybug (much to Marinette’s surprise). He compares Ladybug to his best friend, the pigeon Edgar, who took a while to fly for the first time but is now the most intelligent and talented of all the pigeons. He adds that it’s not Ladybug’s fault that he gets akumatized; it’s the akumatized person’s fault.

This solves a big problem in the episode, which is that it allows Ladybug to downplay her abilities without making any argument against it, essentially saying that she’s not good enough and it’s all her fault.

Anyway, Marinette is comforted by the words and Xavier invites them along to the commercial showing since they were nice to him (bonus if some of the pigeons like Marinette and that’s another reason, double bonus if they also like Ladybug), seeing that they were on their way to the pool and they could always swim after the filming. Marinette and Kagami are pretty sure that’s not allowed but hey, they get to swim just by themselves and that’s cool. Kagami does get a bit of a jab in at Marinette for being “too soft” and helping strangers, but it’s a fond jab and not a malicious one.

Gorilla lets them in, but Marinette and Kagami keep their distance, partially so as to not interrupt and also because Kagami doesn’t want to talk to Adrien (Adrien awkwardly waves but Kagami ignores him). This leads to a conversation about the break-up, with Marinette talking about how “love is crazy and you’re not supposed to think about it,” but Kagami tells her that that’s exactly the problem; she was so focused on getting Adrien that it blinded her and caused her to just get more hurt when Adrien disappointed her. She also looks at Marinette, pained, and vulnerably admits that the thing that she regrets most is that Adrien damaged their relationship before they became friends.

Marinette reflects on this. When she thinks about it, her “dream” had been to have a house, three kids, and a hamster (referencing back to what Alya said before), but that depends on... well, depending on someone else; a romantic interest. She eyes Xavier, seeing him work so hard with his pigeons to try and achieve his own dream, and wonders how much time she’s spent on trying (and failing) to get Adrien’s attention. It unnerves her and it takes a grab of her arm from Kagami (a little too rough but it got the job done) to snap her out of it.

Basically, her dream should be about her and what she wants to do, yet she’s been relying on someone else for it.

(For the Lukanette lovers out there, yes, this could hypothetically be the moment where she realizes that things weren’t “all about the crush” when it came to Luka, as Luka wasn’t a vacuum that sucked up all available attention to himself.)

The episode plays out as normal, though obviously with just general shenanigans between Bob, Xavier, and Adrien that causes them to mess up without Marinette doing anything. Xavier does his job perfectly but Bob is demanding and tends to shout and mishandle the birds, which causes them to be startled, Adrien’s allergy not helping matters. When Xavier inevitably gets akumatized (bonus if Kagami, inspired by Marinette’s efforts, tries to go after him for some tough love rather than Marinette trying to comfort him), the hero stuff works out the same with the exception that Alya hasn’t figured something out with the grimoire, only that she has a hunch/lead on something but hasn’t connected the dots yet.

Cut to the end of the fight, where Rena Rouge goes up to Ladybug to show her the grimoire pages. She talks about the ladybugs and points to a few particular pages that have objects that aren’t in Ladybug’s arsenal, and she feels like it means something. Ladybug is skeptical, saying that she’s already seen those pages and can’t make sense of them, because said objects seem to be different/better/worse based on the particular Ladybug, and thus there’s no pattern to it.

Then, it clicks with her; the ladybug is the miraculous of Creation, and some are better at creating than others. She’d always been locked on one thing at once, like being just class representative or just someone who pursues Adrien, but she’s so much more than that and also a lot of things at once, and she was so focused on being “a guardian who needs to figure out the grimoire” that she forgot that she was also Ladybug, and a creative Ladybug who has figured out the strangest lucky charms over and over again. The reason all those objects are different in the grimoire is because the ladybug can make them and the ladybug is only limited by their creativity.

Cue Charm Bug transformation, along with Ladybug creating the magical charm to give to Xavier. The transformation is also more narratively appropriate, as Ladybug throws her arms back when her pigtails get longer, which could be seen as her “spreading her wings.”

After Adrien leaves, Marinette watches the car go and comments to Kagami that she too is sad that they hadn’t become friends earlier. She adds that she also decided not to focus on love anymore, and thanks Kagami for helping her in that. She pulls out her sketchpad from her bag and talks about her dream of becoming a fashion designer, leading Kagami to decide to tell Marinette about the fact that she draws.

The episode ends as the two as seen inside Tomoe’s car, drawing together and talking about each other’s abilities, both clearly happy with where they are right now.

[lifewithdavefarts]

DaveFarts - Episode 6 “Fart Bet, Easy Bucks” [Episode List] When, rather immaturely, Tim’s friends are doing some random, silly bets, things soon turn stinkier and gassier as Dave joins the game…

Fart Bet, Easy Bucks

The immature, roaring laughter of me and my friends echoed in the living-room as another pal of mine, Jim, took one last bite of an onion, his cheeks turning red, teary eyes, almost puking in front us. We clapped our hands like the drunk monkeys we were, ignoring our friend’s gagging sounds, and we all took another shot of vodka in his honor.

“Well done, Jim!” Adam laughed, as tipsy as the rest of us.

That’s what we were doing in Adam’s parent-free house: really mature bets. At late night, it was almost 3:00 a.m. Our onion-eating friend just lost one of those silly bets we were challenging each other to do. Pretty stupid tasks, like standing on one foot for 3 minutes or reading stuff upside down. Quite mundane, easy, but try doing it after two bottles of vodka-lemon. Each.  The loser had to take a couple of bites of an onion, because as I said, we’re very mature. And clever.

The entire room stunk like that stinky vegetable and alcohol, didn’t help that some of us were also burping loudly and proudly, but we were too tipsy to even notice or even be bothered by that (plus, it’s not like I’m not used to… bad-smelling stuff…). When not betting each other to do shit, we were all sitting on two different couches: Adam, Jim and a couple of other guys were all sitting and burping on a longer couch, while I was on a smaller one with Dave, sitting next to me.

As more laughs roared in the room for no reason, in the chaos, Dave elbowed me and chuckled a bit, bringing to my attention the weird vibrations on the couch: he was ripping one of his big farts, the sound completely muffled by the pillows, his loose dark grey jeans probably making it sound even louder and manlier. I only smiled a bit a took another shot of vodka; my gassy friend did the same, finding my awkward reaction hilarious as usual.

“Tim, it’s your turn!”

I almost chocked on my own drink when I heard my name: Dave’s flatulence usually makes me very absent-minded. I finally realized that Adam was standing in the middle of the room, each one of us, one by one, whistling a song to him: if he guessed wrong, then it’s onion-hell for him. It was my turn to whistle a song then. I think about it for a moment, and then I start to whistle this famous hit from a couple of years earlier, but I was pretty drunk, so I didn’t really realize how weird the sounds coming out of my lips were, but my friends laughing should have been a wake-up call.

Eventually, Adam ran out of time, because he couldn’t guess the song I was “singing” to him. He was mad, almost furious, but it was the alcohol talking.

“Tim, you’re an idiot!” he was understandably angry, because it was my fault. “That wasn’t even a real song, you asshole!”

Didn’t help that we were all laughing at him, but my friend didn’t accept defeat, and he actually had all the rights to.

“I’m not going to eat those fucking onions!” Adam shouted. “Tim made me lose: he should be the one choking on that shit!”

I wasn’t offended, to be honest. I was actually laughing like the rest of the guys.

“Dude… we’re out of onions!” Jim said, noticing the empty plate.

We all laughed even more after that and I may have given to my angry friend a smug-ish look. I was just kidding, but he took it very seriously.

“Oh you’re going down, Tim. Just you wait…”

He eventually convinced our other pals that I was, indeed, deserving a “punishment”.

“Make him lick your dog’s balls!” someone suggested. “Leave my princess out of this!” Adam replied, offended.

It’s like the entire group stopped being drunk just to decide what disgusting task I should have done. I just laughed the whole time: it’s part of the game, they were not mean-spirited. Even Dave suggested some stuff, like drinking expired milk with my nostrils. Each suggestion was met with a mixture of laughter and disgust.

After a couple of minutes of discussion, I felt Dave once again elbowing me.

“Gentlemen, please!” he shouted, in a slightly sarcastic tone. “Since you’re wasting my time, I propose an entire new bet. Whether the result, Tim will still get his… punishment, trust me!”

He was trying not to laugh, but he did earn some puzzled looks from our other pals.

“If Tim survives to  this  for 5 minutes straight…” he leaned a bit, the couch shaking again under the pressure of his enormous, muffled fart, which lasted 4 seconds. Our other friends laughed immaturely and I started to sweat. “…then you guys are going to give us 20$. Each.”

Dave was insane. Was he really going to do what I think… no, that’s just crazy. It can’t be, come on! There was people watching us! Our friends were a both amused and disgusted.   But also intrigued.

“But if he gives up, then Tim owes Adam… let’s see… 200$” “What?!” I thought, the money-part being the only thing I disagreed with. The thought of Dave face-farting me was amazingly distracting as usual.

As our friends discussed Dave’s proposal, my gassy friend just patted my shoulder. “Come on Tim, that’s some easy bucks, right?” he whispered, chuckling a bit. My fetish was just a weird, fun game to him, and I couldn’t have been happier. But in front of our pals? That was too strange even for my standards.

When I turned to my gassy bro, however, he was already leaning on his back, his legs cocked up, his loose dark grey jeans forming that well-known “barrage” made of denim, a really familiar sight for me. I heard my friends laugh, Adam getting closer to me, his hands on my shoulders.

“Come on Tim… I want to see your face turn green!”

He was trying to sound threatening, but he couldn’t help but laugh; I know Adam: he’s just a friendly dork trying to act tough and I knew that he was actually finding the entire situation immaturely hilarious. But he had to look mad, it’s part of his… character.

I heard Dave sucking some air in his ass, his jeans now sagging, exposing a bit of his red underwear (interesting color, that’s for sure). The weird sounds coming from my friend’s butt were the only thing I could hear, despite my friends laughing. Every time Dave farted was like a dream coming true, but this time we were not alone. I stopped thinking about how risky the situation was for a moment, knowing that my friends would never suspect what was really going on between me and Dave, and just listened to the chorus of “Sniff it!”.

I gently buried my face in that soft, denim pillow, his legs slowly wrapping around my head, as if he was hugging me, trapping me in his gas-chamber. With my nose touching his underwear-covered anus, I could still feel the air being sucked in. A moment of silence, and then I felt his butt-muscles relax, and a first fart began.

It was so loud it’s hard to describe. Despite being on command, it was incredibly gross and wet-ish. The smell was rancid and unbearable, the mixture of alcohol and onions in Dave’s stomach probably produced something that no human would have been able to handle. The fart was so strong… loud, manly: my entire face was shaking, I swear I’ll never get used to his gassy talent. I could barely hear my friends laughing: my ears were devoted to Dave’s immense display of flatulence.

I coughed a bit, pretending to hate the smell, when the truth was obviously really different. This first fart alone lasted almost 20 seconds, one of the longest I’ve ever experienced from him. Our friends clapped their hands in approval, having yet another shot of vodka, a toast to the incredible display of fart-talent they just witnessed, and just kept laughing immaturely.

As they laughed, I saw Dave’s face just above that “barrage” of sagging jeans: as usual, he was laughing, and smiled at me, and then winked: his “plan” was working great. I felt his hand brushing through my hair and gently pushing me even deeper into the denim depths of his ass, this time with my nose almost perfectly aligned with his underwear-clad anus.

Dave’s grip, as usual, felt more like a caress, and the fart that immediately followed was just as big as the first one. And hilarious as well. “This is a natural one!” I heard him say, basically bragging about his gassy-abilities, as the fart kept going strong, our friends laughing again. “Pull him closer!” Jim shouted, then (probably him) pushed me even more “inside” of Dave’s butt (I couldn’t tell if it was Jim, as my face –and eyes- was completely buried in my friend’s fart-shooter). Dave made his butt comically wiggle a bit, forcing some toots out: my nostrils were almost burning, the stench being a mixture of rotten onions and burning vodka-lemon.

“That’s so gay!” Adam laughed. Ironically, he was right, about me at least.

“3 minutes already!” I heard somebody scream. I almost lost track of time: as I said, those farts make me absent-minded. Dave just kept ripping this series of loud rips one after one, without even sucking in. I couldn’t tell anymore whether he was farting on command or not anyway: he was just so good at it that the farts always felt natural (and, 99% of times, they were). “Aww man.” Dave chuckled, lying down slowly. He was tired, exhausted. “Can I turn around?!” he asked. They all simply laughed in response, though I also heard some gagging sounds.

My best friend turned around slowly, adjusting his position, his legs somehow keeping my face planted in his ass, as if he was “wrestling” me down, albeit very slowly and gently. He was now lying on his stomach, his loose-jeans butt looking like a beautiful pillow made of denim, his red underwear slightly popping out.

“Do your longest one, Dave!” Adam suggested. I was both mad and grateful for that.

He then came closer and made sure that my face was buried in the farter’s butt, pushing me even deeper in it. Dave just laughed, while I was trying not to get as red as tomato. I just couldn’t believe how open-minded Dave was about this, going as far as face-farting me in front of everyone else; granted, the bet was a smart excuse, but still, I was speechless. I didn’t even feel embarrassed: it was like a big prank, and friends alway prank each other, but the friendship remains intact, if not even stronger.

“Alright, I feel a good one… ready?” my gassy friend said, but it’s like he was talking to me only, as if we were alone as usual, during one of our fart sessions.

It’s like his butt “hugged” my face even more, right before the explosion that engulfed my entire, defenseless head in a cloud of stench. The fart shook my entire face and part of the couch like an earthquake. The chainsaw-like sounds were as loud as a thunder; the whole flatulence sounded fake, but it wasn’t, at all. 10 seconds, but the fart kept going strong, almost unnaturally.

I caught a glimpse of Dave’s smile as he slightly turned his head around, making sure I was enjoying it, but the rest of our friends didn’t notice that apparently, as they were too busy laughing and clapping their hands. “No way!” Adam shouted, in a mixture of anger and hilarity: as the fart was still being ripped, Dave slightly lowered his jeans a bit, fully exposing the red underwear, the sound getting even louder. I felt his hand again pushing me between his buttcheeks, as he spread his legs a bit more. I was having a close-encounter with his anus, the underwear acting as one final line of defense separating me from the real source of that gas. The smell was unbearable: onions smelt nice in comparison. And it was great.

As a “big finale”, as Dave announced it, the flatulence turned as loud as it was humanly possible, the ear-piercing sound almost destroying my own eardrums. My nostrils were burning, my nose getting wet-ish due to Dave’s sweaty buttcheeks. It was the most intense face-farting that my best friend ever made me experience… and he was straight: imagine if he was gay!

“No fucking way!” Adam roared. “5 minutes!”

Everyone else cheered and laughed, playfully throwing pillows at our angry friend. I slowly sat back, Dave doing the same, tying his jeans belt again. He patted on my shoulder, laughing, while I was doing my best to tame my huge boner, hidden by my own jeans.

“No way! You guys did this before, come on!”

Adam asked, ironically (if only he knew…), now laughing too, as he took a 20$ bill out of his wallet. The rest of the guys reluctantly did the same, throwing money at us, disgusted and amused at the same time.

The entire living-room now smelt like onions and rotten alcohol (if rotten-alcohol existed… does it exist?), everyone moaning in disgust, while me and Dave counted the money we just earned… by cheating.

“Easiest bucks we ever made!” he whispered, handing 50% of the cash to me, elbowing me like he did other times. “Great job!” he chuckled.

We all had another shot of vodka-lemon, and the night proceeded as usual, as Jim found another stash of onions hidden in the fridge. As the really clever betting continued, my gaze landed more than once on Dave… just Dave, sitting next to me, as if nothing happened. He’s like a brother, my best friend. He did that for me, he felt he was really gassy because of all the alcohol… and so farted in my face as an excuse, money or not.

Yes, I bet Dave did all of that for me, not just the money. And that’s another bet I’m sure I’ll win.

End of Episode 6

[jq37]

The Report Card – Fantasy High: The Seven Ep 5

Through a Glass, Darkly

Welcome back to the Temple of the Earth Defiant where the girls and their magical horses (and one pony!) have found refuge from the strange, twisted, fae creatures that have been chasing them. The statue of Asha Hammerheart that Ost animated last episode is still alive and wrecking house on the remaining harpies and beasts that are foolish enough to keep fighting and the rest soon get the hint and flee. 

Ost does some healing (boosted by the ambient Hallow effect of the temple which gives everyone a short rest) and then, seeing the damage to the temple caused by erosion, starts using Mending to fix things up. Her friends help out too with Sam and Yelle being most effective--Sam by repairing water damage and Yelle by creating tree cover and other druid-y tricks. But of course, we can’t overlook Katja’s crucial addition of carving “A Horse is a Home” into one of the walls of this sacred temple. 

Anyway, the girls are nesting super hard, the horses are having their scrapbooking reviewing club (an insane thing that was established last episode) and then Sam asks a question. Did y’all mention something about a photo of me going viral? Everyone’s like yeah, but don’t worry, you looked super hot. That’s not the part Sam was worried about. What she’s worried about and what all the girls except Zelda don’t really seem to know is that Sam doesn’t really have a social media presence. So like, 180k and climbing views (as decided by a dice roll) isn’t really what she wants. She scrolls through the comments really quick and sees that they’re not awful but one person is like, “Hey that girl looks a lot like that character from that old show”. Which Sam doesn’t love. She says that she’s fine but also that, even without an Insight check, she’s obviously not. 

Sam kind of looks to Zelda to bail her out and Zelda is like, “Hey, I’m gonna delete this video.” The other girls follow suit, even though they don’t quite know what’s happening. When they have to split up to investigate, Sam has Zelda kind of bail her out again and they split up to go check a nest outside--Zelda waving off Danielle when she wants to go with. Ant and Yelle decide to check out a cache of some treasure they saw earlier and Ost and Katja stay with the horses to keep fixing the temple up. Penny initially goes with Ant and Yelle but rushes back to be with Ost and Kat when Ost discovers a hidden lock while she’s fixing a wall.

So, the girls are split up, let’s run all these scenes.

Antiope and Yelle

Ant and Yelle go see the pile of treasure (near the statue of dwarven paladin Yvonna) which they learn is like a “take a penny leave a penny” situation for weapons and items. They were left by adventures who were similarly chased here and you can take what you need as long as you leave something to help others. Like, “Oh no I only have an ice sword and I need flaming arrows.” It doesn’t have to be equivalent exchange, you just need to leave something useful.

In this space, Yelle feels a weird melancholy and like they’re within the watch of something vast and powerful. She tries to check for TK’s presence but rolls low. Antiope leaves her Kalvaxus killing shortsword and takes some really nice, white feather fledged arrows with mirror tips and an ax Kat wants as a present for her dad. Danielle takes a bandolier of potions (3 healing and 2 mystery I believe) and leaves a bunch of mushrooms. Some of them are psychedelic and Ant takes one because this is probably a good time to be high, right?

It’s not messing with her competence obviously though because she rolls a 25 on Primeval Awareness and gets a weird sense, like something is closing in on this place. And like something very powerful is bleeding, which combined with the chaos of the mountains might explain the weird harpies and the cat/dogs. But she’s high so she explains this is a very spacey, stoner way. Probably a good thing she’s with Yelle.

Sam and Zelda

Sam can fly and Zelda can basically walk vertically with her goat legs so they check out the nest. Well, ostensibly that’s what they’re doing. Really they’re just having a heart to heart. Sam thanks Zelda for saving her ass and apologizes profusely for being so short with her. Zelda gives her a huge mid-air hug and says it’s not a big deal because she knows Sam is just lashing out because she’s hurting but Sam says it’s not a good enough excuse and she’s truly sorry. It’s been her coping mechanism for so long but she doesn’t want to be that way. She tells Zelda that the Everpetals are divorcing and that she’s living alone and Zelda says that any one of the girls would be happy to have her stay with them. Sam further explains that this is a big part of the reason she’s been so broken up about the possibility of their group splitting up and Zelda immediately takes out her crystal and texts her “I’m in” in the thread, breaking Sam again. 

Since they’re in heart to heart mode, Sam tells her that she talked to her bio-mom and an agent and she’s not sure what to do. Zelda says that she’s gonna be spectacular no matter what she does and she doesn’t have to do any of them but it’s cool doors are opening for her but also Antiope and Penny are gonna be PISSED that she’s out here making side plans after she gave them so much shit for theirs. Lol, well it’s a nice moment in the meantime and we cut to…

Penny, Ost, and Katja 

While Penny is lockpicking (and also trying to teach one of the horses to lockpick because sure) Katja and Ost go talk to the statue of Asha Hammerheart. It seems to be animated with at least some level of her true consciousness from beyond the grave and that she can kind of woge into her statue when she wants, which is cool. She’s been there for like 250 years so that’s a lot of history to see. 

Ost is maybe the most polite we’ve ever seen her talking to Asha (at least to begin with lol) and they ask her about TK. Asha says she saw TK show up 12 years ago but she never left, at least not through the front door. And then about 2 years ago (right around when they were in the crystals) that’s when the harpy queen showed up. At first they were normal and then they started mutating. Also, recently, Korra (one of the other statues/heroes) saw a woman in the mountains--not TK. 

Ost then takes a page from the book of one St. Kristen Applebees and asks, “Hey. What’s the deal with our god? He never talks to us, does he just suck?” Asha--who has never talked to him even though she’s a martyred hero and literally in dwarf heaven makes some excuses for the guy but Katja scoffs at them. “If people wanna take care of you, they do.” Ost then straight up asks if Logran Soulforger is even real which sets Asha off but Ost isn’t mad AT her, she’s mad FOR her. You go and do all this cool shit to the point where you have this cool ass statue, you fully DIE for him and he doesn’t even say hi? With a 21 Persuasion check, Asha admits that yeah, she would have liked some recognition. She decides she’s gonna go do some talking to some people and leaves after getting Ost’s number but before they can ask more about the woman Korra saw (who they think is Charity). 

OK, that’s all the small group stuff! Everyone comes back as Penny finishes up with the lock and they go down into this room that’s full of polished, precious stones. This is probably where people who were upkeeping the temple stayed. While everyone else is going down, Sam feels some powerful magical pull--much like her episode 1 Lightning Lure--calling her from the top of the stairs so she goes back up. We’ll get back to her in a bit. 

Penny rolls a high check to clock what’s going on down here. First off, she finds flintlock bullets and airship uniform scraps which makes it seem like there was a battle here involving some airship guys from the Baronies. Which is not just the place of origin of Riz’s imaginary Romance Partner. It’s a cluster of nations known for high rates of monarchical turnover and renaissance style intrigue. I’m picturing just a nation of [REDACTED]s from Crown of Candy. 

With all of this stuff, Penny finds an emblem of a billionaire airship mogul named Lord Talcidimir Tallbreeze who is a friend of her dad’s. Yelle is immediately like FUCK billionaires which isn’t plot relevant but it’s nice to know she’s always on brand. 

Oh also, Penny just casually finds the Legendarium so that’s neat. 

To be safe, Ost casts Protection from Energy on Ant (who is the one who knows how to use it) and brings out her Spirit Guardian (who is a combo of her mom, nona, and Asha, with her dad’s rings). Ant checks it out and sees that there are currently no A, B, or C quests in all of Spyre. While Penny cross references the bylaws to see if there’s a way to get around this, Yelle does some druid BS that I still do not understand to use the crystals in the cave to jailbreak this super powerful magical Artifact so they can just have copies on their crystals. While that’s happening, let’s check on Sam. 

Sam goes back up the staircase where she sees Ending who doesn’t look menacing at all, just extremely sad. She’s looking out the mouth of the cave and, when she turns, Sam can see she’s crying blood. 

“What’s wrong?” asks Sam, the acid-tongued but good-hearted. “Can I help you?”

With a 25 Persuasion check to get her to talk, Ending apologizes for scaring her and her friends before. She didn’t mean to. She sometimes forgets that her very nature can be frightening and dangerous to others. She says that when she escaped, she tried to rejoin her sisters but found their mirrors shattered and them gone. Sam thought they escaped but that doesn’t make sense to Ending. If they had, why wouldn’t they have freed her as well?

Sam asks who her sisters were and we finally get true names for Ending and her sisters:

Chrona, Terra, Pyrria, Nira, Zefira, Anima, and herself, Talura (which is what I’ll be calling her now that we know). Talura is the baby, the youngest. Sam realizes she’s talking about the Eidolons and Talura seems surprised and a bit pleased that Sam recognizes them. 

Sam asks if she can hug her and Talura hugs her tightly in a very cold embrace that doesn’t hurt. Downstairs, she hears her friends (Penny specifically) freaking about about the lack of quests but she doesn’t break the hug. 

“My own sisters are struggling right now but I’m gonna stay with you because you don’t know where yours are. But maybe we can find them.”

Talura clocks that the way that Sam is being is her true nature, not the bitchiness she often uses as a shield. Then she starts to talk about her history. That she and her sisters were sealed away when the gods were done with them (Sam can relate to being used and set aside) and the only way out was death. Talura has been crying and looking for her sisters to no avail. Her tears of blood leaking seems to be what caused the monsters to mutate which is in line with what Yelle and Ant were sensing. 

Talura doesn’t think anything could have destroyed her sisters so she’s very confused. Sam offers Talura her Mirror of the Past because it almost knocked out Sam to get god-tier information but Talura presumably won’t have that problem. Talura offers her a boon in exchange for this great kindness but Sam says she doesn’t need any quid pro quo. “This is just because you’re hurting.”

Talura is supremely touched and still wants to do something for her new...friend? Sam accepts the title and says that what she needs is some help on her GED quest. Once she explains what she means, Talura again recognizes Aguefort and is like, Oh, you need a quest? I can totally help with that! As we learned earlier, these guys are kinda genie connected so it’s not super surprising when Talura very happily goes full your wish is my command.

Downstairs, a Class A quest suddenly appears in Spyre on the screen. 

Back upstairs, Talura says that it’s been too long since she got to grant a wish and seems really happy about it. Sam gives her the mirror so she can check what happened to her sisters but when she does, she totally flips out and gets super angry--not at Sam, just at whatever she’s looking at. She can hardly believe it. Sam tries to figure out what’s wrong but she just gets super big and then disappears into a puff of smoke, leaving Sam's mirror on the ground, covered in frost. 

Downstairs, the Class A quest expands across the entire globe and then the Legendarium cracks. Ost’s spirit guardian disappears because of alarm bells ringing in the afterlife. And the girls learn that a Class A quest is a quest that affects the whole MULTIVERSE. Yikes!

So anyway, they girls go upstairs to check on Sam (on a bear that Penny makes because sure) and they see that something clearly just happened with Sam. Yelle asks if she’s good and Sam is like yeahhhh I don’t think ANYONE is good right now. Sam seems like she’s about to cry and Antiope instantly forgets all the petty bullshit going on between them and rushes to make sure she’s not hurt. 

Sam gives the girls a rundown of what happened and Yelle concretely puts together what I said earlier about Talura’s tears messing with nature. 

Sam wants to check her mirror to see what Talura saw and Brennan says she can do it the safe way with risk of failure of the surefire way with risk of personal harm. She, of course, picks door 2 and rolls a 13 on her con save which means she rises into the air like Storm from X-Men, eyes wide, and then instantly passes out and goes into shock. Antiope is there to catch her as she does. 

Also, she looks SUPER hot while falling on a 31. Honestly, it’s a shame she doesn’t allow herself a social media presence. 

Anyway, we’ll get to what she sees in a bit. Yelle and Ant make sure she’s OK (she is, but the has to be knocked out for this or she won’t be able to handle it). 

Penny tells them what she knows about each Eidolon from her earlier research which is what element each goes with:

Chrona: Time (Related to astral and elemental planes) 

Terra: Earth

Pyrria: Fire

Nira: Water

Zefira: Air

Anima: Life

Talura: Death 

They also talk about TK never leaving via the front door and all this airship stuff being around. Maybe she left out the top of the mountain on an airship? Katja has the hookup with this Tal guy (she’s met him when she was younger) so they decide they need to check it out once Sam is good. 

The girls fix the Legendarium and Ost, when she goes to pray for her spells for the night, doesn’t pray to her usual god. She prays to Asha. And not only does she get her spells, she also gets a new one--Commune. 

And now let’s get to what Sam is seeing in her Vision Coma. 

She was told by Talura that the only way out of the mirrors given to them by the gods was death. And what Talura saw that drove her to do whatever multiverse threatening thing that she did was every one of her sisters walking out of their mirrors and choosing death. I will specifically highlight that the oldest sister leaves almost immediately with a small, “Oh,” of realization and Anima, the closest sister to her seems terrified before coming to a joyful realization and leaving.

And that’s the end of the episode! Join us next week when apparently there is talk of a masquerade ball?????? Brennan, you shouldn’t have!   

Superlatives 

Sam: Most Likely to Accidently Snag a Brand Deal

Did you guys ever read the Greek myth of Cupid and Psyche? Where Psyche was born so hot that it was basically a curse and she was miserable because she was so hot that Aphrodite hated her? That’s Sam. She is incapable of almost dying in a non-aesthetic way. It’s like a Pantene commercial every time. This is my favorite running gag.

Random Thoughts

Man, I have so many feelings about Sam. She’s such a BITCH in so many ways but it’s so obvious that she has a good heart. Every time she has an opportunity to be nice with no gain--helping Lola find her dog, magically turning the pages for the horses during book club, fully refusing a boon from Talura--she does. And I’m glad she gave Zelda such a sincere apology and didn’t let the extenuating circumstances absolve her because she said some pretty uncalled for things. But at her core she’s so kind and I want only good things for her. 

Also those of you who know me from my FH recaps know I’m a messy bitch for sister stuff so Talura and Sam both referring to the other maidens as her sister had me dead. You can tell when something in this show is f’ing me up when I just start directly quoting instead of paraphrasing. 

Katja being richer than Helio but having no idea what any of the brands Ost is mentioning are is peak comedy.  

As is Ant’s response to the take and penny leave a penny translation from Ost, “No, Penny didn’t come with us.”

Ost: I get service in the afterlife.

You could really tell which of the players watched Sophomore Year because the Baronies came up and all of them went into fight or flight immediately. 

Very Elsa vibes from Sam during the top of the scene with Talura. (Sam is, of course, a better sister but we simply do not have time to get into my feelings on Frozen 2 right now).

I was wondering why this season was called just “The Seven” when it dropped initially. Like, was it snappier? Did they not want to use the word “maiden”? But they still call themselves the Seven Maidens in the show so it’s probably not that. Now I’m wondering if it’s just to parallel the 7 of them w/ the 7 Eidolons. 

So it seems clear based on the reactions of the first and sixth sisters that they didn’t just “go gently into that good night” as Ant would say and ditch Talura. It seems like they figured something out. Also Brennan isn’t really a “and then they all died, the end” kind of DM, you know? Credit to my friend @camwritery for getting here before I did but the gods said the only way out was death and she is death so you know? Those def seem like puzzle pieces that go together. 

The only crit rolled this episode is a 1 by Penny which she gets to reroll as a halfling. 

[floralseokjin]

final sleigh drabble #2

❛ it’s Christmas day night...❜

original oneshot here // drabble index here

kim seokjin x reader smut  4,179 words 

It was Christmas Day night. You’d spent most of yesterday and today at Ana’s parents’ house. It was different to how your own family celebrated the occasion but lovely, nonetheless. Her family always made you feel welcome, no matter the instance, and you were really grateful that they’d let you spend Christmas with them, like you’d already said, because your parents were spending the holiday season abroad. 

Now, just gone eight, you and Ana were getting out of an Uber outside a familiar house. Seokjin and Yoongi’s. You hadn’t seen your co-worker, since the weekend. The weekend of nonstop sex. You’d only parted because he had a train to catch, promising his mom he’d visit for a few of days before Christmas Eve. The sex had been so good it had taken him a while to remember said plans actually, and when he had, he’d unbelievably tried getting out of them just so he could stay and fuck you even more. 

“You want to ditch your mom to continue getting your dick wet?” You asked him with severe judgment, both of you naked in your bed. It was Sunday morning. Yes, that was correct. He’d stayed over practically 48 hours nailing you over and over again. And then some. 

“Don’t say it like that,” he whined, feeling instantly guilty. “I just don’t want to leave you. I’m having too much fun.” 

“We can still have fun when you get back.” You murmured suggestively, running a hand down his chest. You were not ready to give this all up quite yet… 

With a raised eyebrow, he seemed intrigued. “Even more fun than right now?” 

“We can try.” 

You hadn’t known if it was possible, the weekend had been very fun to say the least, but who knew. You’d definitely give it your all... 

You’d spent the last few days messaging each other sporadically, but there hadn’t been too much conversation. You mean, you’d never talked a lot before the sex, so why would you start after it? But seeing his face right now, as he opened the door, you practically beamed. 

“Merry Christmas, ladies,” he grinned, outstretching his arm to gesture you both to step inside. 

Admittedly, you weren’t expecting him to invite you over tonight. He’d been back since Friday but you hadn’t made plans to meet again yet so when he’d text you this afternoon, asking if you and Ana would like to come hang out with Yoongi and him, you’d been surprised. Excited, yet surprised, but obviously you’d played it cool. 

Ana had been a little reluctant. She had slept with Yoongi a couple of weeks ago after all – and hadn’t seen him since. But, obviously Seokjin had run this idea by him? They’d both decided it together, right? So it was fine. Plus, she needed to support her best friend. If she wanted you to get boned again, she needed to come! You couldn’t turn up on your own. Not that she needed much convincing after the initial unwilling... Secretly you thought she was hoping for a round two with Seokjin’s best friend... Who knew, maybe he was too... 

Ana stepped in first and as you followed Seokjin pulled out a small piece of mistletoe from behind his back. He held it up between you both, taking you by surprise. A good surprise though. “Oh,” you uttered, wasting no time in reacquainting your mouths. 

“He’s been planning this all day.” It was Yoongi’s voice, coming from somewhere ahead of you, but you both ignored him, kissing just a little longer. 

Ana scoffed. “Surely no planning was needed. It’s holding up some mistletoe.” 

“Mmm. I missed you,” Seokjin hummed, breaking away to snake an arm around your middle. 

“I missed you too,” you grinned, aware Seokjin was dialling up the amount of yuck to piss your two friends off. 

“Jesus, you guys.” Yoongi sounded like he was about to be sick. “I preferred it when she hated you.” 

Seokjin turned to the other guy, sounding vaguely annoyed. “She never hated me. It was a misunderstanding.” 

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, man,” Yoongi chuckled. “Ana, let’s leave them to it. I’ll get you a drink.” 

You watched as they walked off together, towards the kitchen. Seokjin was the first to turn back to you, an eyebrow raised. “How much do you wanna bet they end up hooking up again?”

You were both on the same wavelength. It was obvious something was going to happen. “She hogged the entire bathroom getting ready.” 

.

. 

“Have fun, you guys,” Seokjin sang as Yoongi and Ana made a less that inconspicuous exit from the living room. It was three hours later. They’d lasted well, but obviously the need to get in on again had won. 

Seokjin turned to you immediately, sat next to you on the sofa and gave you a wolfish grin. “Finally, we’re alone.” 

You were no sooner in his lap, mouth glued to his. Moving your ass a little as you broke apart for a much needed breath, you felt the familiar impression of his erection. “You’re hard already?” You raised a judgmental eyebrow. 

“Why do you sound so shocked?” He questioned indignantly. “My dick has missed you insanely.” 

“Just your dick?” 

It was a playful remark, you didn’t mean anything by it, but Seokjin lowered his gaze, giving you a small chuckle. Instead of answering he kissed you again, his tongue pushing its way inside your mouth as his hands gripped your ass and rubbed you against his groin. Instant pleasure zapped up your body and it wasn’t long before you were grinding on your own accord, fists clutching his white t-shirt, which you had to admit, outlined his chest perfectly – You’d been trying not to stare all night. 

“Do you want to go upstairs too?” He panted against your neck, teeth nipping the flesh sharply and you bit back a moan. He was already so tuned into what you liked. “I really need to fuck you.” Pulling back to get your answer he saw the look on your face. “What’s that face for?” 

“It’s turning into a sex party,” you moaned. You couldn’t all be having sex upstairs, it seemed... You couldn’t think of the word. 

“An orgy?” Seokjin wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. 

“Behave.” You needed more people to turn it into an orgy.

Seokjin’s mouth was back on your neck, kissing down your throat, to your collarbones and he sunk his teeth into the thin skin gently, causing your breath to hitch. “Well, do you wanna fuck down here?” 

His dick was so hard underneath you, you rubbed against it some more, despite your objections. “No! What if one of them catches us?” 

“Don’t be stupid. Yoongi is definitely balls deep by now.” 

You whacked his back and he yelped in surprise. “That’s my best friend you’re talking about.” 

“I didn’t say who or what he was balls deep in.”  His reply didn’t impress you and so he grumbled. “I wish I was balls deep in you right now... Don’t give me that look, it turns me on when you’re pissy.”

Unable to stop your grin, you leaned in. “You must be constantly turned on at work then.” Pressing your lips into his, you bit down on his bottom lip. His hiss soon turned into a moan – and then a whine. 

“Let’s take this upstairs. There’s a bathroom between our bedrooms. It won’t be like our headboards are hitting the wall in rhythm.” 

“Fine.” You couldn’t hold out much longer anyway, and you both made your way upstairs, yelping loudly when Seokjin slapped your ass. You glare didn’t do much to discourage him, laughing loudly as he wrapped his arms around your middle and directed you to the door to his bedroom. 

“At least they’re being considerate and playing music,” he said, the music loud enough to block any other noise going on inside Yoongi’s bedroom... Thank God. 

“I feel like I’m back at college,” you whined as you stepped inside Seokjin’s room. 

“Huh? Did you and Ana make a habit of hooking up at the same time? Hot.” 

You pushed his arm. “No.” Chuckling, he made his way to the bed, sitting on the end, but you were too preoccupied with checking out his room. It was a lot larger than you imagined, walls cream, some covered in artwork. His computer was the main attraction, multiple screens, an unnecessarily large gaming chair and some other things you weren’t familiar with, mainly character figurines. His bed cover was a grey check pattern, a throw draped over the end with a couple of cushions against the headboard. Very clean. 

“Your room’s cute,” you commented. 

“Cute?” 

“Yeah.” Turning to look at him you smiled playfully. “So, I guess this is where you jerk your dick to fantasies of me.” 

He scoffed. “I don’t need to fantasise anymore. I have memories stored away in the wank bank.” Tapping his temple with his index finger he looked more than impressed with himself. 

“Gross!” You cried. 

“Come here,” he groaned, fed up with stalling, and he leaned over and grabbed you, causing you to squeal. “Or are you just planning on being a cocktease the whole night?” The sound wasn’t like you – but Seokjin had become good at making you act in ways you weren’t used to so far... 

Which is why you found yourself on your knees for him, sucking his dick, his jeans and underwear around his ankles. “Your mouth is fucking magic,” he grunted, head falling back, his perfect, thick neck on show as you glanced up. You felt the urge to take him deeper, pushing him closer and closer to the back of your throat, ignoring any noises of reluctance it made. 

“Fuck.” Seokjin choked, his fingers running through your hair to collect it in his fists. “That’s it. Take it all.” He pushed his hips up, stuffing your mouth for a few gloriously unbearable seconds before easing up. You lifted off, half of his dick still in your mouth as you caught your breath. He looked down at you with half-lidded eyes that seemed to eat you up. “Do you like choking on my cock?” 

Nope. He was not doing this. It was infuriating what his words did to you, and you immediately swallowed him again, ignoring the way your underwear stuck to your damp skin. He was going to have a field day when he felt you... 

Gasping for air not soon after, you had no choice but to pull off him entirely, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand. You were drenched in spit, so was his cock. You watched him kick off his clothing, naked from the waist down and you made moves to follow, reaching for your shirt and pulling it over your head. 

“Let me see those tits. I’ve missed them.” He murmured, and you complied, unhooking your bra to reveal yourself to him. His eyes instantly glazed over.  Confidently, you cupped the soft flesh in your palms, massaging yourself, putting on a show, and as your thumbs brushed the hardened peaks that were your nipples he practically growled. “Oh, fuck. You want to end me.” 

Laughing, you stood up, pushing your skirt off your hips, leaving you in just your tights and panties. He followed with his t-shirt, now fully naked. You’d never get enough of his body. “Come up here,” he whined. “Let me taste them.” 

Sat in his lap, you let him grope you, his mouth making out with your chest like it could kiss back. The sensation was so intense you quickly became weak at the knees and you clung to his neck, grinding against his thighs like nobody’s business. Unable to take it any longer, his hands slipped behind you, into your underwear, and he felt the silky fabric with a groan. Soon enough he was wrestling with your pantyhose again. 

“These fucking things. What the fuck. You’re doing it on purpose now.” 

“Am not,” you insisted. (Maybe you were). “I need to keep my legs warm.” With a furious tug you heard a rip and looking down you saw his damage. “Seokjin! You laddered them!” 

“Ugh. Just get them fucking off already, I need to feel you.” 

Asshole, but wet and desperate you quickly pulled then off, giving Seokjin a great view of your ass in the process. The underwear you had on had a cut-out at the top of your ass, revealing a “cleavage” of sorts. He seemed to appreciate the sight very much, giving you a playful smack and now you were very confused. Was he an ass man like you’d originally thought, or a tits guy? He was probably both. Greedy. 

You slipped the panties off too, settling back down in Seokjin’s lap, who instantly started running his fingers over your heat. You pulsed against him, desperate for some stimulation. 

“I swear to God you get wet so easily.” 

Says the guy who’d grown hard from a kiss? Okay... “Are you complaining?”

He shook his head. “Not at all. It’s stroking my ego.” 

“Your massive ego.” 

“Behave, or I won’t fuck you with my massive dick.” Okay, now he was just bragging. His smirk was annoying you. He looked way too sexy. 

You were expecting him to finger you for a bit, make sure you were stretched out enough for him, but all he did was dip his fingertips into your entrance, content with what he’d felt and then he was shuffling out from under your body to grab a condom from his bedside drawer. 

“God. I want to fuck you so much,” he muttered a few moments later, sliding the latex over his length as you securely sat on top of him again. You kissed him sloppily, letting him angle the head of his cock against your entrance. Impatiently, you pushed down, surprising yourself – and him – when you took him whole. 

You sat there, both breathing heavily as you started to adjust to him, walls clamping down like no tomorrow, which must have been torture for Seokjin, if his expression was anything to go by. 

“Shit. You got tighter,” he panted, reaching for your mouth again, trying to calm himself with kisses. You attempted to do the same, beginning to slowly grind back and forth, getting used to the full feeling. It wasn’t painful, just a little uncomfortable, but you were no longer scared of his monster cock. You’d had a fair few goes last weekend and you were now a near enough pro, so without further ado, you started moving for real. Up, until he was almost out of you and then down, slamming into him. You just about knocked the air out of Seokjin’s lungs, but he soon steeled himself, grabbing the tops of your thighs to keep you safe as you started bouncing up and down, riding his dick like it was the easiest thing in the world. In this moment, it was. 

Seokjin started groaning pretty quickly, his jaw clenched as he watched your every movement, his chest and neck patched with red. You clung to his shoulders, anchoring yourself to him as you flung yourself back. 

“Shit. Y/N!” He panicked, hands coming out to hold your lower back, afraid you were going to fall backwards off the bed. You were still sat on the edge after all, but of course he was strong enough to hold you tight, letting you lean back as far as possible to fuck yourself along his cock, the squelchy, sticky noise music to his ears. 

“Mmm. I missed this cunt so much,” he moaned. 

You wanted to tell him he was being a big baby, it had only been a few days but his vulgar words were having the desired effect on you yet again. You were like putty in his hands, especially when he started thrusting into you, meeting your movements with a thud. “I want you to cum on my dick.” 

Fuck. You were so close, his words only helping, but by now you were getting tired; out of breath and sweaty. “Seokjin—!” You moaned, voice breaking at the second syllable, and you leaned forward, collapsing into his chest. 

“Take it easy,” he murmured, hands dragging up your sweaty back. “Want me to take over?”

You grinned drunkenly. “No way, I’m enjoying myself too much.” 

Seokjin chuckled, pressing his mouth into yours. “Make yourself cum.” He whispered against you, thrusting into you still as he grabbed your ass, digging his fingers into the flesh. “You can do it, Y/N. Grind on me like you mean it. Grind all over me.” 

You listened, rutting into each one of his thrusts, holding on for dear life as your sensitive clit rubbed against his groin. You were both so sweaty and hot, your fingers sliding down his back, unable to grip on until you dug your nails into the skin. He hissed, thrusting into you harder. It seemed like Seokjin liked a little pain, too... 

“Baby, go a little faster,” he panted, kissing your neck, and you sped up, grinding into him messily, chasing your high like something possessed. You were so turned on, so sensitive, it only took a couple more minutes, a strangled cry leaving you as you tensed in his arms, your orgasm rocketing up your body.  “Ngh, fuck. Fuck.” 

Seokjin stopped his thrusts, letting you gradually come down, and soon enough your body relaxed, almost turning into goo as the pleasure warmed its way all throughout you. You lifted your head up, staring Seokjin straight in the eyes, both of you panting like crazy, and without a word he lifted you, flipping you over, your back to his mattress before he crawled over you. He wasn’t done yet – and neither were you. 

As he pushed inside you again, his hand found its way around your throat and he looked down at you carefully. “Is this okay?” 

You nodded, voice hoarse as you replied. “Yeah.” 

It wasn’t the first time he’d asked or done this – last weekend had been a lot, you still weren’t over it, and right now you were still so horny and desperate for him. You also really liked the feeling of his grip around your neck as he fucked you. 

“Fuck,” you breathed, feeling him start to thrust harder, faster, his palm tightening around your neck a little. You folded your legs at the knees and widened them, wanting him as deep as possible. 

“God, you’re so fucking hot,” he grunted, kissing your mouth in a frenzy, all tongue and teeth. His whole body was pressed into yours, pushing you into the mattress, his pelvis beginning to rub against your mound. You were still a little sensitive from your first orgasm, but you could already feel yourself a little needy for another. If he kept this up he’d have you coming again, and he knew by the way you started to meet each one of his thrusts, moans starting to slip from your throat – louder and louder. You hoped Yoongi still had his music on... 

“S-seokjin,” you stammered, hands sprawled across his back as you felt that familiar sensation again. “I’m going to–ngh–”

He moaned in reply, pushing into your harder, using his pelvis to get you off, and you held your breath, willing your orgasm to come. Your walls clenched around him, making it harder and harder for him to drag his cock inside of you, but he fought it, continuing with gritted teeth until he heard you cry out, your body stiffening under his. 

It wasn’t as strong as your last orgasm, but seemed to knock you for six, heady dizzy as you felt Seokjin kiss down your chest, slipping out of you carefully. His tongue circled one of your nipples, his hand cupping the other breast as he groaned softly. His erection bobbed against your inner thigh. 

“Coming on my cock twice. You’re amazing.” He awed, lifting his head up to smile at you. He sounded drunk. You felt drunk. 

“Well, I do try.” You joked, voice soft. 

He chuckled, and then his voice grew serious, eyes large and black, still very much turned on. “Tell me what you want, Y/N.” 

It was pretty obvious, his dick burning a hole against your leg. “Your cum.” 

His eyes widened, obviously not expecting you to be so upfront, and you took great pleasure in that. 

“Where?” He whispered. He didn’t bother to wait for your reply. “Mouth? Can I come in your mouth,” he asked. 

Your stomach dipped with urgent need, and you nodded your head rapidly. “Yeah.” 

He sat up instantly, moving to kneel over your face. He tugged the condom off, jerking himself off a couple of times before his eyes met yours. “Tongue out.” You obeyed, keeping your eyes open as the weight of his cock pressed against your tongue. “Good girl.” 

Okay, that was new. He hadn’t called you that last week, and instantly you felt your gut squeeze. You sucked the tip of his cock, eager now for him to cum in your mouth. As you did so, he started jerking himself off, eyes fluttering closed as his head lolled back, Adam’s apple bobbing slowly. His movements grew quicker, matching his breathing and then he hissed, body tensing up. 

“Fuckkk.” A couple of drops of cum landed against your tongue and you swallowed them, ready for more. You sucked him for all he was worth, your gaze never leaving his face, and even once he was done, you kept on lapping him with your tongue, digging the tip across the slit. 

He shuddered, making a strained noise and he pulled back, his cock falling out of your mouth. “Shit. I’m sensitive,” he laughed, collapsing next to you. You were both out of breath and sweaty, but wholeheartedly satisfied. 

“That’s gotta be the best yet?” You asked, grinning from ear to ear. 

“I think you may be right.” He agreed, pushing his hair out of his eyes, exposing his forehead. You wanted to reach over and kiss him, but you stopped yourself. “You were riding dick like a pornstar.” 

“Shut up,” you whined, pushing his shoulder. How embarrassing. 

Laughing at your reaction, he sat up, propping himself up with his elbow. “If you want the bathroom I have one over there.” 

You followed his thumb to a door on the right of his room. “An en suite? Very fancy.” 

Seokjin shrugged. “Yoongi has the main bathroom, so.” You didn’t move, tired more than anything, peeing could probably wait. Seokjin’s brows furrowed together. “Are you okay though?” 

“Of course,” you laughed. “I feel fricking amazing. I’ll be sad once this ends.” 

As soon as you said the words you felt funny. Seokjin looked surprised, voice low with... what was it, concern? “Who says it has to end? Do you want it to?” 

“...No,” you answered after a pause. 

Truthfully you didn’t want it to end just yet, you were enjoying yourself, you were just unsure of what was happening between the two of you... You’d  both confessed something back at the office last week but you were still uncertain what exactly it was. What had you been expecting? To fuck once and then that would be it? You liked having sex with Seokjin, it was fun, and you liked his company (most of the time). You liked him. He liked you. Maybe you didn’t need to put an expiry date on this thing. It was fine to see where it went. You didn’t need to turn it into a big deal. You didn’t need an outright answer for everything. It was fine to just live in the moment. 

“I don’t either,” Seokjin smiled, looking mildly relieved by your answer. 

“I just... when work starts back we won’t have much time to meet up like this.” 

“I’ll make time, trust me.” He kissed you then, hovering over you, lips warm and soft, a far cry from earlier, and the thought made you giggle. 

“What?” He asked bemused. 

“You know, you turn pretty demanding when you get horny.” 

He raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Like, bossy and all, I don’t know, domineering.” You shrugged, feeling a little awkward. “It’s hot.” 

He smiled, chuckling softly as he kissed you again, a hand cupping your face. “It’s not too much?” He murmured. 

He didn’t sound surprised by your revelation so something told you he was aware of how he acted. Which made it even hotter, to be honest. 

“I like it.” You told him, biting down on your bottom lip. 

Eyes darkening, he hummed, his gaze running down your body. “So how about I tell you to spread those gorgeous legs so I can eat dessert?” 

You repressed the urge to laugh out loud. Dessert?! He was such an idiot. “Right now?”

“Yes. Right now.” Then he paused, rubbing his nose against yours, his tone softening. “Yeah?”

With a massive grin, you spread your legs. “Be my guest.” 

A third orgasm? You weren’t going to turn that down. 

 Written 2020 - 2021.  Please refrain from posting my work elsewhere. No translations allowed. © floralseokjin 2021

[abitoflit]

Where the Crawdads Sing

“For years, rumors of the "Marsh Girl" have haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet town on the North Carolina coast. So in late 1969, when handsome Chase Andrews is found dead, the locals immediately suspect Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl. But Kya is not what they say. Sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life--until the unthinkable happens,” (Delia Owens).

What on earth was this nonsense? This book was awful. It felt like nothing was happening even with a murder investigation going on in the background and then a trial looming large toward the end of the novel. I don’t understand how an author can make a murder feel so darn dry either. Perhaps the most painful thing for me, however, was how the vast majority of the characters spoke—their deep, southern drawls, their heavily accented speech. It is hard to understand in real life if you are not accustomed to it; it is even more difficult on paper, and I found myself reading the same sentences over and over again in frustration. It was AWFUL! Not to mention, there wasn’t anyone who really drew me in to the story or was particularly interesting. Some characters were better than others, but as a collective, they didn’t appeal to me much. Jumpin’ was probably my favorite though simply because he seemed like both a kind and genuine soul and one of the few who could find it within himself to be kind to the “Marsh Girl.”

With that being said, this novel reminded me of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird, in part because of the prejudice Kya faced from her town while on trial and in part because it was a coming of age story in which she fully matured following the events that took place during the trial. I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing, but the book didn’t seem as original as it could have because it reminded me so much of Lee’s work.

Now, let’s talk about the cover. Why? Just why? I’m pretty sure that’s supposed to be Kya and it looks like she’s paddling in a canoe. I don’t recall there being mention of her using a canoe, and the boat she was known for using had a motor. I don’t like how the cover not only fails to tell me anything about the novel’s contents, but how its art is incongruous with what was written within its pages. I honestly wonder who signed off on it. The only thing that redeemed this dumpster fire of a novel at all were the final two pages. That was an interesting ending. But everything else about this novel sucked. Period. End of story.

Rating: 2/5 stars

[fandom-eclectics]

hi i don't known you but i saw your shinsou idea in the tags and i really loved it?? it could be so cute and silly at the same time. i hope you'll write it if the motivation/inspiration is right! <3

Apologies if this didn’t live up to it’s potential. I tried though, I really did. Thank you so much though for the encouraging words!

|| "𝔻𝕠𝕖𝕤 𝕄𝕒𝕣𝕚𝕠 𝕂𝕒𝕣𝕥 ℂ𝕠𝕦𝕟𝕥?" ||

Character: Shinso x reader

Status: Proofread- doesn’t mean it is free of typos tho

Type: Oneshot // Fluff; possibly the cringiest thing you’ll ever read

Summary: You and Shinsou are both crushing on each other. Still friends though, you go over to his place because he invited you to game. You thought he meant to play Minecraft, Mario Kart, and Super Mario Brothers. Boy, where you wrong.

Warnings: Some mild negative self talk. Nothing too extreme though. Shinsou might be ooc, idk, and….. Cringiness, cause it’s cringey

P.S.: Y/n’s internal dialogue is in italics

Word Count: 2, 202

A/n: Really, this feels SO cringey, like apologies in advance if this just sucks. I honestly just kinda hate this. Like the concepts cool but I hated how I did this.

Just do it, come on, it’s not that hard y/n. You mentally told yourself as you you our fist was raised, inches away from the door. Okay, I’ll, I’ll close my eyes, everythings always easier when you close your eyes, count to five, and then go for it, right? You shut your eyes tight, as tight as they could be shut, and you blocked all sound out from your ears. You were determined, you were focused, you were in a clear and confident state of mind. Alright, knocking in 5...4...3...2.. You knocked, letting all your energy and nervousness into your fist. It was like breathing in, and then finally breathing out after ages and ages. Finally, you knocked at the door.

Well, you thought you knocked at the door, until you heard a

“Y/n, y/n stop, the door’s open.” You heard your friend Shinsou say.

You opened your eyes, and saw your fist raised inches away from where his forehead was, you froze.

“I didn’t just…..” You trailed off

“Knock on my forehead, yeah, yeah you did.” He finished

“I’m such an idiot.” You mumbled under your breath.

“Well, would the idiot like to come in?” Shinsou asked

“Yeah, yeah I would.” You replied, walking across the threshold into his dorm room.

As he closed the door, you stared at him for just a moment. Big mistake, really really big mistake. His side profile was gorgeous, oh no, you were doing that thing again. The thing where you ramble on about how beautiful and amazing your friend is, digging yourself deeper into the hole. You scolded yourself, I don’t like him, he’s just regular old Hitoshi Shinsou, with nice lavender hair, and eyeliner that’s always done just right, and intriguing purple eyes, and…..crap, not the point.

Hope you guys have a good day/night!

“Y/n, are you okay?” Shinsou asks, going to sit down on one of the black bean bags that faced his tv.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine.” You replied, following him and sitting down into the empty one beside him.

His dorm room looked really nice. He had the walls painted the standard cream color that all the other dorms were. Though, they were covered with all kinds of unique band posters. A few posters for certain video games that you couldn’t place hung on the walls as well. The curtains were a simple black that matched his bed spread. The tv sat in front of the window that showed it to be mid afternoon. The whole room smelled of vanilla and lavender, which now explained why Shinsou always smelled of that scent. It was a bit chilly, but nothing you couldn’t handle.

“So, what do you want to play first?” He asked, turning to look at you.,

Okay, Y/n, you can do this, just answer the question like anyone else would. What do you want to play first…...what do you want to play first…..

“Why don’t you pick.” You propose, a soft smile gracing your face.

“Alright then.” Shinsou agrees, returning your smile. He walks over to pull a disc and insert it into his Xbox.

Xbox, last you remember Mario Kart was on the Nintendo. Huh, maybe you two were going to play Minecraft?

“Do you like racing games?” He asked, his attention mostly on the screen, switching through the different gameplay settings.

“Oh yeah, I love them. I’ve been told I’m quite the pro at them.” You say, a smirk forming on your face. Do you like racing games? Is that even a question? Mario Kart was your thing. You absolutely loved it.

‘We’ll see about that.” Shinsou says, turning to you, a smirk forming on his lips to match your’s.

“So what are we playing?” You asked, recalling the memory of him putting the disc in the Xbox, you were presuming Minecraft.

You were wrong. Shinsou said the name of a game that you had never heard of. It sounded all professional and scary. You couldn’t remember it even if you tried. In your head you gulped as he started up the game and passed you a controller. Oh no, what do these buttons do, how do I start my car? You saw the “READY, SET, GO” pass across the screen, and pressed the right joystick forward with your thumb as hard as you could.

“Y/n, why are you going in circles.” Shinsou asks, keeping his eyes focused on the screen.

“Turning in-” You look at your screen, apparently pressing the joystick forward does not make you go forward like it does in Minecraft, it makes you turn.

“Oh, yeah, I’m just, just not used to this controller.” You laugh nervously as you quickly think of a solution. What should I press, what should I press.

Shinsou chuckled at your confused expression and reached over quickly to place your thumb on the button that had a red capitalized B on it. You pressed harder on the button, switching to your pointer finger so you could use your thumb to steer with the joystick. You thought you were doing great, really, you thought you were crushing this whole new and fancy racing game. You only cut a few curbs, and it seemed there was only one fence that severely got in your way. Until, you crashed right into Shinsou.

He let out a frustrated sigh as the words “FINISHED” flashed across the screen.

“I’m sorry Shinsou, you almost had first place there.” You said/.

“It’s okay, it’s not your fault, it’s mine.” He replied, setting his controller aside.

“How so? I’m the one who crashed into you.” You asked, after all, you were right.

“I didn’t tell you that you were driving the wrong way.” He confessed, holding back what seemed to be laughter

“Hitoshi! Why didn’t you tell me! No wonder I saw everyone going a different way!” You exclaimed. Wow, I sound stupid you thought.

“I thought you’d catch on.” He insisted. “Plus, your confidence was cute.”

At that, you felt butterflies form in your stomach. Cute. I was going to have to do this driving the wrong way and acting like I own it thing more often.

“What if I told you I was just…..warming up?” You proposed.

“I’d say that I’m terrified if this is you just ‘warming up’” Shinsou retorted

“Ha-ha, very funny.” You rolled your eyes, setting your controller down in front of you.

“So, what do you want to play next?” He asks, getting up to take the disk of the game we just played out of the Xbox.

“I’ll let you pick again.” You answered, thinking of the pressure of actually having to pick a game yourself. What if he thought Mario or Minecraft was dumb? No, that’s not right, he’s a gamer, he must okay those games all the time.

“I get to pick two times in a row. I feel honored.” He says, fake surprise in his voice.

“Don’t get too flattered, I’m just indecisive.” You reply, and instantly regret it. Oh no, that’s a flaw, you just admitted a flaw to the guy you like. Great job Y/n, you're playing this crush thing really well.

“Do you want me to explain the rules of this one?” He asks, sitting back down and picking up his controller. You mimic his motion of picking up the controller, and nod, looking in his direction. He starts explaining all the rules of the game, but of course your small brain only caught onto two basic things. You have a gun, and if someone who’s not on your team walks up to you, shoot. Everything else was lost in a place that your brain didn’t let you see. You were also too busy thinking of Hitoshi.

You wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship with him. Maybe he could teach you how to play that racing game you just completely failed at playing. You guys could spend hours and hours building castles and towns in Minecraft. You could both play Super Mario Brothers and beat the final boss level together, resulting in a passionate high-five and an even more passionate kiss. Your brain couldn’t get all these little scenarios out of it. All of them just kept flooding your thought process, keeping you from paying attention to Hitoshi’s explanation.

“Got it?” He asked you, turning to the screen, getting ready to start the game.

“Yeah.” You quickly said, realizing shortly after that you definitely didn’t have it.

“How do you shoot again?” You finally ask, feeling bad about sitting there for five minutes not being able to do anything but walk using the left joystick.

“Here.” Hitoshi says, setting down his controller and pulling your wrists so your hands holding the controller hover between both of you. He puts his hands over your’s, gently pressing your fingers on the buttons and explaining what does what in a soft and patient tone. It was a calming and peaceful moment that made you smile. Your face felt very hot because of the constant contact between you two. Eventually, when he finished explaining what does what, he went back to his controller and went back to playing.

You walked around, shooting people down for you and Hitoshi’s team, you actually felt like you had this. Your aim was awesome, spot on. You even surprised Shinsou with some shots. Earning a “Wow y/n” Or “That was an awesome shot Y/n”. Though, your streak only lasted a good three minutes before people started coming for you. Shooting at you from every direction. You were trying desperately to defend yourself, shooting many times at everyone around you. In your overwhelmed state, you didn’t notice Shinsou had come over in the game to help you, and ended up shooting him down in the process.

After you killed Shinsou by accident, your attempts to win the game just got more and more laughable. This was not at all what you were expecting this evening to go like. Eventually, Shinsou took pity on you and shut down the game.

“Y/n, no offense, but those were two of the most popular games..and well...you completely sucked at them. I thought you gamed.” Shinsou says, sitting down beside you after taking the disc out of the gaming console.

“I do.” You insisted

“Do you play any real games?” He asks, sighing and looking at you.

“Does Mario Kart count?” You ask shyly.

Shinsou busts up laughing, all his suspicions of you lying about gaming fading away. Mario Kart, you were asking about Mario Kart? How hilairous.

“Y/n, what were you expecting me to play?” He asked you, having genuine laughter in his voice.

“Hey, I was expecting Super Mario Bros, Minecraft, ya know, the hard core stuff!” You insisted.

That only got him to laugh even more. You were so concerned. He hates me, he thinks I’m completely lame. I just blew my shot, I just completely lost all hope of ever being with Hitoshi Shinsou. He’s never going to want to be my friend again. My, I’ll be surprised if he even wants to ever talk to me- your thoughts were interrupted by a previously wordless Hitoshi.

“Y/n, someday, you’ll have to show me how you play these “hard core” games of your’s.” He gets out, laughing at the “hard core” part.

“You can’t tell me you don’t know how to play Minecraft!” You exclaimed,

“Oh no, I know how to play it, but I think it would be even more fun with you.” He confessed.

“Well….I could always come over tomorrow evening and we can play together, maybe build something cool?” You offer.

“Perfect, it’s a date.” He says casually.

“A-a date?” You question the butterflies in your stomach going crazy at his words. You heard him right didn’t you? No, you must have heard it wrong, my word you’ll sound so stupid if he didn’t say anything about a date.

“Unless you don’t want to make it a date. It can just be us hanging out, I just thought, well never mind.” Shinsou says, all emotion draining from his voice.

“No, no, a date sounds awesome!” You reassure him.

“Really?” He asks

“Really.” You say

“I hope you're better at killing zombies than you are at driving cars.” He jokes, giving you that classic smirk that made your heart rate skyrocket.

“I’ll kill all the zombies you want if you’ll deal with the endermen.” You said.

“Deal.” He agreed.

Hope you guys have a good day/night!

You are so loved! <3

[wannabe-fic-writer]

All Over Again - Chapter 3

Summary: What was lost can be found. 

Warning: 18+ Smut, Language, Violence. 

Ch. 2

* * * * * *

Breathing heavily, you run your hand along the rifle, watching as it glows red. You then peek around the corner, calculating your next moves, and counting the number of enemies ahead. 

The new plan of action quickly falls to pieces when a dash of red goes by from the corner of your eye. Natasha leaps over the desk she used for cover, intent on charging the guy ahead of her, not paying attention to the other guy emerging from the shadows of the hallways to her left. 

You take off, pushing yourself over the desk, and tackling Natasha behind yet another one just as shots are fired from both men. 

She quirks an eyebrow, smirking just a little,“ got my back like always huh Y/Ln.”

Resisting the urge to curse, you just punch the ground beside her in frustration. Pushing yourself up and shooting focused, power imbued, bullets at the last two guys. 

Natasha sighs and follows after you as you head further into the building. 

Of course after that incredible day spent in NC, you come back to find out Bucky is no longer available for your mission, so Steve assigns Natasha. Maintaining your professionalism, you didn’t make any complaints. . . out loud. So now you’re in Canada with the woman. 

“Data retrieved, prepare for extraction.” You speak into the coms, pocketing the drive. 

Tense filled silence surrounds yourself and Natasha as you head to the extraction point. She’s mentally facepalming herself for screwing up. As if she wasn’t already on your bad side, now you’re annoyed with her for making a mistake. 

When the jet doors open, you let her in first, and she heads to the front of the ship with Steve. You opt to sit at the back. No longer needing to be off radar, you pull your phone out, an onslaught of messages coming in. 

Hey Y/n! - Wan

Before you go off radar, can you tell me what I’m supposed to wear tonight? - Wan 

You chuckle and shake your head, quickly telling her hi and to wear something formal. Then going to the other messages you have. All from Miss Luthor. 

Hi - Lena

Y/n hi, again. I realized you’re probably doing super important Avenging. Lmk when you get this. - Lena

You reply with a message received, a subconscious smile on your face. Seeing as you didn’t expect it or know why it’s there, you can’t fight it. 

Great. I was wondering when you’d be free to come back to NC. - Lena

Aside from debriefing and your plans tonight with Wanda, you aren’t sure what you have to do. But you also know you can’t just get up and go to NC. As much as you wish you could. So you tell her you’ll let her know and she quickly sends back a smile and thumbs up. 

When the jet lands you’re the first off of it and heading to the meeting room for debriefing. Steve meets you and Natasha there with the mission files. 

“How did it go?” He asks, eyeing you and the redhead. 

The woman stiffens beside you, ready to open her mouth to say something when you speak,“ just as planned Cap.” You slide the drive across the table.“ We collected the data without any injuries.”

After explaining a few more things in detail Steve ends the debriefing, taking the drive and walking out. You’re just about to follow when Natasha speaks up.

“Why didn’t you tell him about my mess up?” 

You sigh,“ because if I had we would’ve been here a lot longer. You know you fucked up, train harder, don’t do it again.”

Natasha pushes herself up and comes to stand beside you,“ I know I don’t have a right but I’m begging you to at least act like you still care.” 

“It’s not that I don’t. In fact the problem is that I care too much.” You turn to face her,“ there are times where I still want you. I care about you like you’re still mine. And I feel like shit because you deserve every bit of love that Bruce gives you and more, without my silent dislike of it.” 

The redhead reaches up, resting a hand on your arm,“ and you deserve love too.”

You step away from her touch.“ Look, Natasha, I’m sorry I’ve been acting cold toward you. But you have to understand how hard this is for me.” 

“I know.” She nods. Your relationship was a strong one, could’ve been stronger had she been honest with you. Having that end out of the blue sucked.“ But I don’t know how to make this easier for you. I want us to be friends.”

Friends? 

Friends.

The idea isn’t the worst thing ever. But being friends means hanging out. Which will most definitely include Bruce. You don’t really have anything against the man. He didn’t do anything. And quite frankly, you wouldn’t mind having Natasha back in your life, in a good way. 

You just aren’t sure if you’re ready for that at this particular point in time. 

“I can’t say I won’t ever be ready for that, just not now.” 

Natasha refrains from placing her hand on your arm again,“ you will tell me when you are right?” 

For the first time in years, you smile at Natasha and the woman can’t help but smile as well,“ I can. Or we can just hang out, they say actions speak louder than words right?” 

All that being said, you nod to her, and leave out. Heading towards your room. 

“Y/n!” 

Your gaze snaps up from the floor to find Wanda. 

The young woman stands at her door, a black knee length dress fitting to her form nicely, and her curled hair pulled into a ponytail. 

“Wan!” Going over to her, you take her hand in yours.“ You look great.” 

A light blush hits her cheeks and she smiles down at the ground,“ thank you.” She chuckles softly then looks back up.

“Give me a minute to clean up and we can go.” You tell her as you take a few backwards steps down the hall.“ Wait for me in the commons yeah?” 

She nods and you disappear into your room. 

After a shower you get dressed and do your hair, making sure you have everything you need before leaving out. 

Meeting up with Wanda, you tell everyone you’ll see them later, and you both leave. 

“So,” Wanda speaks up as you slide into the driver's seat,“ I never had a chance to ask: how did your trip to National City go?”

A smile forms on your lips at the reminder of the one day trip and you tell Wanda about it. Admittedly she has no idea what half the stuff you tell her even means, but she loves seeing how happy you are. She hated not having you around but if it meant you staying this happy, she wouldn’t have a second thought about you going out there again. 

In fact, she’s quick to ask when/if you’ll go back. While you plan to, you just aren’t sure when.

Before heading to the theater, you stop at the Stark’s. Tony has Morgan bring the tickets out to you (he got them for you after you told him that you endorsed Stark Industries to Lena). You and Wanda have a short conversation with the girl. Waiting for her to get back inside before you pull off. 

Wanda’s excitement for seeing the play kicks in on the drive to the theater. She asks you to tell her everything you know about Alexander Hamilton, to which you tell her that if you do, you’re spoiling the whole play. 

And she’s glad you didn’t.

The whole time she’s dancing in her seat and watching on in intrigue. She starts getting excited when certain “characters” come on stage. 

By the time it’s over she already has songs stuck in her head. Singing along to them on your way to dinner. 

“I am not throwing away my shot! I am not-” the lyrics fall short as she looks out the window.“ Where are we?” 

“A restaurant. You hungry right?” 

She smiles at you when you open the door for her and together you walk inside. 

You have to ask what her favorite part of the play was and she launches into telling you about it. Apparently she loved Lafayette. Hamilton’s crew in general was awesome. And she just has to know if that’s what really happened. You hate to tell her it wasn’t nearly as exciting and that there was a lot less music. 

You laugh when she tells you real history sucks and you have to agree.

Over dinner you ask about her. To which she tells you that she’s good and considering going to Clint’s for the holiday. The man truly cares for Wanda. She admits that it’s almost like having an older brother with hints of a father figure. You get that brother vibe from Clint, but being the same age takes away from the father aspect of it. 

With it getting late, you pay and leave, not heading back to the compound until you’ve gotten dessert(ice cream per Wanda’s request).

You find yourself shushing Wanda when you get back. The woman can’t seem to not sing the songs. But the majority of the team is probably sleeping or getting ready to and the disturbance probably isn’t welcomed. 

“Wan please it’s late.”

The Captain’s voice speaks up, startling you and Wanda,“ I take it you two had fun.” 

Wanda nods excitedly and tells Steve he has to see it. Steve tells her he just might.

“Hey Cap,” you stop short on the way out and turn to the blonde man,“ am I assigned to any missions over the next month or so?” 

His brows pinch together in thought, then he shakes his head.“ No you’re not. Got another trip?” 

You chuckle softly,“ yeah probably, but I’m always on call.” 

Nodding in understanding, he bids you and Wanda a good night. The two of you heading to your room, Wanda saying she doesn’t want to be alone tonight. She’s out in an instant and you ease into the bed after her. 

Before you go to sleep, you text Lena, telling her that you’d be happy to come down for a bit in a couple of days. 

That time passes quickly. All of it you spend with the team. They hate that you won’t be around on Thanksgiving so they implement an impromptu movie night. In which you’re allowed to pick the movie. 

Funnily enough you end up between Wanda and Natasha for the night and while you’re a little tense, since your last talk you don’t feel entirely upset about being so close to the ex-assassin. 

The day of, You and Wanda leave at the same time, her heading down to Clint’s, and you to the airport. Outside the compound you part ways, a long hug and a promise to call left between you. 

As expected it’s chaotic as hell getting through the airport with everyone traveling for the holiday. Over the flight you find yourself coming up with designs for the power saw. By the time you land you think you have a pretty decent idea for it. 

This time around, you’re let up to Lena’s office when you get to Luthor Corp. The space is impressive but not nearly as much as the labs.

“All work no play Miss Luthor?”

Lena looks up from her desk and smiles instantly at the sight of you leaning into the room,“ work hard so you can play harder Miss Y/Ln.” 

You point inside and she nods. Her office has a great view of National City. Despite the cloudy sky, it still looks nice out. Lights from other skyscrapers scattering the view almost like twinkling stars. 

“How long have you been here?” You ask, turning from the floor to ceiling windows to the clock. 

The brunette shrugs,“ got in at eight.”

It’s currently nine, p.m.“ You’ve taken a couple breaks right?” Her silence is answer enough. Walking around the desk, you lean on it and lock your gaze with her green eyes.“ Why don’t you head home and we meet up tomorrow.” 

Her gaze snaps up to yours,“ why?”

“Because it’s been thirteen hours and you’ve been working nonstop. I’m not going to be the reason you end up exhausted Lena.”

She sighs, knowing you’re right, but still wanting to spend at least a little time with you.“ Okay. You’re right. How about dinner?” 

“How about you go get some sleep?” 

“We’ll do it at my place. I relax and we both eat.” 

The two of you stare at each other with narrowed eyes. Determination swirls in those green ones and you can’t help but chuckle at it.

Standing up straight you nod,“ fine fine. Dinner at your place.” 

Lena smiles satisfactorily and makes quick work of packing her things up and leaving. Instead of a car service, Lena walks you out to her car. You must admit, you appreciate the simplicity of her black BMW. Only to find that the luxury lies inside with the red leather interior. Suddenly you want one. 

The second she’s sitting you compliment the car and she waves it off, saying she’s had the car for years now. Among having other things in common, you find that you and Lena share similar tastes in music. Which is really a mix of all kinds of genres: Jazz, Pop, R&B, Classic Rock. 

On the way inside her apartment, you end up joking about the last song being stuck in your head.

“Oh wow, this place looks great.” The apartment is similar to her office with the open concept and glass walls. However there is a very homey feel about it, with a combination of colors making the place warm and inviting. 

Lena smiles,“ thank you.” Moving into the kitchen, she pulls out two menus, both of which she orders from constantly.“ Thai or Mediterranean?” 

Thinking for a second you agree to Thai. Then joining her in the kitchen to choose a meal and accept the glass of scotch. 

“So, have you given any thought to the power saw?” 

“Aht aht, nope.” Lena raises a brow at your response.“ You just came from work, you really want to talk about more work?” 

A laugh falls from her lips,“ no I suppose not.”

You nod,“ as I thought. Without overstepping can I ask how things have been outside of your career?”

With a nod she beckons you to the living room, the two of you sitting on the couch,“ I’d love to tell you it’s been great but really, I’m far too invested in my career to focus on my personal life.” 

“I’m afraid that’s not very healthy Miss Luthor.” Your tone is teasing but you’re serious. 

She chuckles,“ I’m aware. But finding the time is a struggle.”

After a sip of your drink, you set the glass on a coaster on the table,“ not about finding the time, it’s already there. It’s about making the time. Thing is, work will always be there, and not to get dark but, you can’t guarantee that the people you love always will.”

Green eyes watch the emotions flickering through e/c and Lena knows immediately that you’re speaking from experience. If she had to guess, she’d say it was your dad. When you spoke of him at dinner the first time you came there was distance in your voice.

Before she can ask about it though, you add,“ besides I’m sure there are plenty of people dying for a bit of your time.” 

She tilts her head, expression of disagreement.

Noticing, you say,“ then allow me to be the first.”

Her jaw slackens and she’s ready to comment on your words but the buzzer sounds.

“I got it.” You pat the couch, pushing yourself up and fishing your wallet out. 

Lena still sits there, wondering if your statement was meant to be as flirty and suggestive as it sounded. Because her heart definitely reacted to it that way. 

It’s fluttering, a feeling she hadn’t had in quite some time. 

“He gave us a bunch of fortune cookies.” 

Your eyes are trained inside the bag as she looks at you, a smile pulling at the excitement in your voice. 

Suddenly she can’t help but see you in a different light. She saw how attractive you were before, sure. But it’s now a lot more than your looks and science knowledge that has her taken by you. 

With the containers spread out on the table, you and Lena start to eat. Conversation between the two of you light.

God you’re hilarious. And was that laugh been that cute last time, she finds herself asking(mentally).  

She washes her last bite down with a sip of wine and looks at you,“ how long will you be staying this time?” 

“I planned for at least a week, but I’m always on call with the team.”

The CEO smirks and raises her eyebrows,“ I get you for a whole week this time. And Thanksgiving.” 

Even if you tried you couldn’t fight the heat rushing to your face. Much like Lena just had, you wonder if she meant that flirtatiously. 

You laugh a little,“ if that isn’t a problem of course.” 

“I don’t see how it ever could be.” 

Over the next two days, ending the night like this seems to be a little routine. You go into Luthor Corp with Lena and hang around while she attends to company matters during the early hours of the day, the two of you work on the core and saw for a few hours, and then you have dinner together. 

Until tonight that is. You still spend the first half of the day like before, however as you two are working on the core security lets Lena know a friend of hers is here. So you both go up to her office, where Kara is waiting. 

The blonde smiles at Lena brightly, that same smile then directed to you,“ Y/n it’s great to see you again.” 

“Likewise.” You accept the hug she gives after pulling away from Lena.

“How’ve you been?” 

Nodding your head, you decide to just shrug,“ alright. In need of this little vacation that’s for sure. But what about you?”

The blonde’s smile is incredibly contagious. She pushes her glasses up her nose,“ great. I’m actually here to see if Lena will be joining us for game night.” The look on her friend’s face has Kara telling you,“ which you are more than welcome to join.” 

“Oh um,” e/c eyes flicker from Kara to Lena and back,“ I really don’t want to intrude.”

Lena waves it off, ignoring Kara’s curious look,“ game night is for friends, old and new.” 

It takes a few more persuasive words from the women, and a promise of good food before you give in. 

That’s how you find yourself in Kara’s apartment for the first time. Winn is the first person to approach you, hesitant about giving you a hug but you open your arms for it. 

“Y/n,” Alex approaches you,“ you’re joining us tonight?”

“If that’s okay.”

Lena and Kara frown at you then Alex. They’re wondering if you’d leave if Alex said she didn’t want you here. And you would. This isn’t your space. But you don’t have to.

Alex smiles a little,“ it’s fine, great even. I need a new partner since Olsen has fallen off.” She raises an eyebrow,“ drink?”

You nod and follow after her,“ what’ve you got?”

With your drink in hand, you go over into the living room where everyone is. Alongside greeting all the people you’d met the first time, you meet Mon-El. 

“Pleasure to meet you.” You shake his hand and the guy smiles.

He returns the sentiment,“ these guys told me about your last visit.”

“Uh-oh.” 

The friends around you laugh at your reaction. 

James shakes his head,“ nothing bad.”

“Yeah no,” Winn adds,“ we had fun last time.”

Smiling, you tell them,“ me too.” And you have fun this time as well. 

Quickly discovering that this group is competitive. Being on Alex’s team has you striving to win. The amount of high fives she gives you has your hand red but you love that you’re both dominating in charades right now. 

“Hey woah no!” Alex exclaims and you’re right there with her, shouting,“ you’re mouthing words James!”

“Exactly!” Alex smacks your arm with the back of her hand.

Kara looks from you and her sister, a laugh on her lips, and sees Lena. The blonde follows Lena’s gaze to you, for seemingly the hundredth time tonight. 

“Lena, mind helping me with these?” The closest excuse she has to getting the woman alone and she takes it.

The two pick up the empty snack bowls and carry them into the kitchen. At Lena’s side, Kara notices that she continues to glance over at you.

Playfully bumping Lena’s shoulder with hers, she says,“ this explains why you rescheduled lunch the other day. Didn’t want to waste a second of Y/n’s visit huh?”

The CEO’s eyes widen,“ I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Oh yes you do. You like her. I’ve seen it every time you looked at her tonight.” The blonde leans down a little to catch Lena’s eyes,“ what changed and when?” 

She could try to deny this statement, but looking over at you and the way you throw your head back with laughter, she can’t.“ The day she came back. We ate dinner together at my apartment and I don’t know-” she shrugs with a soft smile.

A quiet squeal of excitement leaves Kara,“ this is great. I’m so happy for you Lena.” 

“For what there’s nothing going on between us. It’s just a crush.” 

“Right now maybe, but if you tell her how you feel. . .” Kara trails off, knowing the brunette can fill in the blank herself. 

While she knows there’s a chance you do in fact like her, there’s also a chance she’s just reading too much into small things. You could just be being friendly. 

Giving Kara a pointed look, Lena says,“ Y/n and I are just friends.” The words don’t reach her heart though and as she carries the refilled bowls back over to the living room, she knows that statement isn’t very believable.

* * * * * *

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