#he entered the project as it was in the middle of development

[latin-dr-robotnik]

What do you think the next Sonic game should be about?

Please... PLEASE let it be a full game based on some kind of megacity or something, especially if it's a new metropolis built by Eggman.

I've gone about this a ton of times in the past, but now that Frontiers is out and proved the open zone is actually a good idea, I'd love to see them try a denser environment, one that better blends old 3D level design conventions with the open zone freedom.

Eggman has built or taken over a massive metropolis with several districts you have to explore and liberate, just like the islands in Frontiers. Each district is part of the same city but at the same time they're different enough from each other in aesthetics and mechanics. You may have your regular futuristic looking district, followed by some sort of "Egg Gardens" area, a casino/carnival district, maybe even some sort of underground/ancient ruins district buried under the city. Everywhere you look you see Eggman's face, colors and logos, and it's your job to do enough damage to tear it all down and face down each big boss controlling the districts. Now that I think about it, sounds kinda like what we expected out of Sonic Forces.

I think the open zone worked well in Frontiers, but the natural environments and sometimes their sheer size fought a bit against the floating rails and platforms. A more contained and condensed environment could probably make those bits of level design flow better and extract a lot more out of Sonic's movement options.

Imagine the final district is Eggmanland but open zone. I'd pay big bucks for that.

[batboyblog]

Happy 100th Birthday to President Jimmy Carter

Born October 1st 1924

Carter was America's 39th President serving from 1977 till 1981. President Carter is notable for many reasons, the first American President to oversee a Middle East peace deal ending 30 years of war between Egypt and Israel, the first President to address climate change, and established the Departments of Education and Energy. After his 1980 defeat by Republican Ronald Reagan Carter would redefine what it is a former President is supposed to do. His 40 years out of office saw the Carters work tirelessly on humanitarian projects around the world. Carter worked with Habitat for Humanity to build houses for those in need across America well into his 90s. Carter also worked to combat decease in the developing world particularly Africa. President Carter once said he wanted only to live long enough to outlive the last Guinea worm, a goal he may have reached, when the Carter Center started its work in 1986 there were 3.5 million cases, so far in 2024, 4. In 2002 President Carter became the first and only American President to win the Nobel Peace Prize for activities after their Presidency. He was awarded the prize for the Carter Center's work promoting Democracy and Human Rights around the world. Carter's political reputation in the US has long been overshadowed by his 1980 loss and the rough end of his Presidency but in 2010s and 2020s President Carter has become more engaged with domestic politics campaigning and speaking in his native Georgia. In February 2023 aged 98 President Carter decided to enter hospice care, and many believed the end was near. 19 months later Carter is celebrating his 100th birthday. Sadly his beloved wife of 77 years former First Lady Rosalynn Carter passed away in November 2023. Many commented on a frail President Carter's personal strength appearing in person at her funeral. President Carter's Family reports that since Kamala Harris entered the 2024 race he's become more alert and following events more closely. When asked about his upcoming birthday Carter told his grandson that he's looking forward to being 100, but what he really wants is to make it to November 5th and cast his last vote for Kamala Harris for President.

[imthenextrobin]

i love how teen Damian acts because yes, that boy IS a teen. he’s actually growing up and developing his frontal lobe. like UHRJRHD

anyways hc that Dick, Jason, and Tim all act like mothers who realize their baby is growing up. Similar to that one scene in the Simpson where it shows teenage Bart, and Marge begs him to say one of his old insults again, but he doesn’t want to because he’s grown up

Dick, noticing Damian’s homework on his desk while he was bothering him: What? Why do you have high school homework?

Damian, confused because he’s halfway done with high school: ??? It’s my homework what??

Dick, with tears now forming in his eyes: No it’s not. Jeez tell me no it’s not you’re still in middle school what. TIM GET IN HERE BACK ME UP

Tim enters, uninterested but later gets confused because? Yeah?? Why is Damian doing high school work? He’s just a little kid??

( Jason is the only one who’s semi-fine with it, only because Damian had asked for his help a good amount of times during his school projects related literature. He’s secretly cried about it the first time Damian asked for help, but he’s willing to take that to the grave for the second time)

[iz-star]

Do you ever think how Zayne was only 12 when he started to have nightmares and 22 years old when he went to that mission at Mt Eternal, not frontal lobe totally developed yet, a young man recently entering the cruel adult world especially in his profession and, William, one of his only friends at college, someone he trusted on and saw as his colleague (unlike Carter), and worked under his wing (Zayne was William's intern) asked Zayne who he wrote his last wishes to in case they couldn't return, but William was so sure they would return so he promissed Zayne that he would introduce him the person he wrote his last wishes, but didn't survive and later on we find that that person was William's girlfriend?

Do you ever think how Sienna asked Zayne to keep William's badge of honor so she could pretend that he was just in another of his travels bc of his work but would return later? So that way she could pretend that he wasn't already gone?

Do you ever think how when Zayne returned at Mt Eternal, thought of William and his girlfriend and asked himself if you would be just as devastated if he didn't return to your side? If you'd be upset if you two never saw each other again?

Do you ever think how in the middle of the battlefield at Mt Eternal five years ago, William made Zayne to confess that one of the reasons he's the most desperate about saving people is bc he almost accidentally killed you? Do you ever think how when you found him in Mt Eternal five years later during his research project, he couldn't tend to your wounds from an attack he caused himself and asked you to be away from him because he was scared to lose control of his evol? The PSTD plastered all over his face.

Do you ever think how you followed Zayne to the same place he last saw William? That the only reason you didn't end up the same way as Sienna, is because you went the fuck up there at the top of Mt Eternal to BRING. YOUR. MAN. BACK. ?

Do you ever think how you've followed this man to the places that have haunted him like hell, that you followed him all the way up to Mt Eternal and later on you even followed him in his OWN NIGHTMARES to face whatever the fuck is haunting him by his side?

And all of that because the heart remembers. Because in your previous lifes this man has loved you so much to betray his god, his duties, his own ethics and sacrifice himself and leave you behind if that guarantees your well being, your safety and that at least one of you two will survive.

Because he was born a tool and you made him feel so loved you showed what being free feels like so he turned his back to his god to turn you into his new religion? The way he now also follows you wherever you go even to put his name on the list that will head to the most dangerous zone just to ensure your safety? How you're not allowed to go without saying goodbye?

And now there's no place he can go where you can't follow. And there's no place you can go where he can't follow.

[passionwillow]

Reader secretly takes up their SOs hobby and SO finds them (making a gift possibly?) and absolutely loves it wanting to show appreciation 😉 (had Gibbs in mind but can be anyone you find fit)

THIS IS ADORABLE UGH ♥️

Warnings: fluff and smut, age gap!

You’d always been fascinated by Gibbs boat. The way he did everything by hand, the skill it took as he was carving and molding the pieces. You couldn’t count how many hours you’d sat there with him, watching him work and chatting about cases he was working on.

It wasn’t until a few years into your relationship with him you considered trying it out yourself. His birthday was coming up, and you couldn’t stop thinking about how perfect it would be to make a little model of a boat.

Only problem was, you had no clue where to start.

That’s when you went to DiNozzo. You’d visited enough over the years that they practically considered you part of the team. And any who kept Gibbs in a good mood was a friend to them.

Tony helped you find books, tools, anything you needed for your little surprise. He even offered up his apartment to make it, but with the hours Gibbs worked compared to your job, you’d have time.

So you went to town on it. While Gibbs was still at work and you had a few hours at home alone, you whittled away at the piece of wood. Your hands were quickly becoming sore, little splinters embedded in your fingers, and you smelled just like Gibbs now, like wood shavings.

So far, he hasn’t suspected anything. You hid your tools and the slowly developing hunk of wood, fleshing out the image of it day by day. It helped that you wore his hoodies so much, so he wouldn’t be surprised if you smelled of shavings.

The day before his birthday, you were adding the finishing touches. You figured you had plenty of time, Gibbs shouldn’t be home for another hour and it was just some fine detailing you wanted to add.

Except Gibbs had gotten off early, and wanted to surprise you with take out. Tony had tried texting you, calling you, but your phone was on silent somewhere upstairs. You didn’t hear Gibbs calling out for you, didn’t hear him enter the basement, didn’t notice him come up behind you and watch in surprise as you worked on this little boat.

You were wearing his USMC hoodie and gray sweats, your hair piled into a bun on your head, and you were totally caught up in your project. It wasn’t until Gibbs laid a hand on your back you jumped, turning in the chair and freezing when you saw your boyfriend.

“What are you doing?” he asked softly. He was surprised and amused, his lips slowly moving into a smile as he took in your shocked expression.

“I uhm.. I didn’t- think you’d be home.”

He hummed and stepped closer, a hand on the back of your chair and the other on his workbench, studying the little figure. “That didn’t answer the question,” he teased. You blushed and looked down at the table, biting your lip.

“Tony helped me learn how to-.. Y’know. Wood carving. I wanted to make it for you for your birthday. Surprise you.”

“You learned how to do all this for me? For my birthday?” his voice was soft and amused, his eyes taking in your reaction as you slowly nodded, cheeks hot and lip caught between your teeth.

He broke into a grin and cupped your cheek, thumb stroking your soft skin briefly before he took the boat, his large hands dwarfing it as he slowly turned it around, admiring the detail you’d spent hours carving out.

“Sweetheart, this.. it’s beautiful. You really did this for me?” he asked. He sounded almost surprised. Your eager nod and growing smile had him chuckling, but he was so caught up in that little figure. You’d done this for him. Picked up his hobby, his interest, learned it for him. It was the kindest thing.

He gently set it down and took your hand, guiding you to stand and wrapping his arms around your middle. You happily hugged around his neck, body pressed to his as he gently kissed your forehead.

“Thank you,” he mumbled, voice almost inaudible. “I love it.”

“I’m glad,” you said with a soft laugh, playing with the strands of his silver hair. “It took me awhile.”

He grinned and leaned down, his lips capturing yours in a soft kiss. He always tasted of coffee, it was one of your favorite things about. His hands slid up over your back, drawing you in closer as your mouth opened up to his, happy to let his tongue explore your mouth.

The kiss turned heated within minutes, his hands moving to your hips and easily lifting you, setting you on the bench and taking his place between your legs. Your knees locked on to his hips as you broke the kiss, lifting your arms for him as he removed his hoodie, a giant growl rumbling in his throat as he saw you were completely bare underneath.

“You’re a tease,” he mumbled. You simply grinned and grabbed him by his coat, tugging him back in and pressing your lips back to his. You could feel his smile as he kissed back, the rustling of fabric hinting that he was undressing as well.

He took you right there on the workbench, the smell of sawdust filling your nose as clothing tumbled to the floor, your moans and grunts mixing with Gibbs as he thrust hard and slow. His mouth attached to your neck and marked you religiously, fingers sure to leave bruises on your hips.

[lady-belz]

A Hard Day at the Office

⟶ pairing: Jin x Female Reader

⟶ word count: 6k+ 18+ // mdni

⟶ genre: angst, smut, fluff, coworkers to lovers au

⟶ content: officeworker!jin, hobi is a sneaky bestie, reader's inner voice is a ho and her name is IVY (aka "Inner Voice"), IVY does a lot of internal monologuing

⟶ warnings: explicit language, explicit sexual content: kissing/making out, groping, unprotected sex (don't do it kids!), nipple play, oral (f. receiving), markings (hickeys & other bruising), a bit of dirty talk, fingering, teasing, multiple orgasms…

↬ a/n: this is based on Jin's promo photos from 'HAPPY'. The girls in our BTS discord group asked (i.e. begged) me to write Jinfic based on those pics, especially the one where he's on the floor laying on a chair and SMIRKING! And thank you to my gal, Nightshade for giving Inner Voice a name. IVY may make an appearance again in a future fic.

You were slightly confused as to why you were being called to your CEO’s office in the middle of the day. As far as you were aware, you hadn’t done anything worthy of being fired or getting demoted as the office manager.

You knocked on the solid oak door and was bade to enter. You stepped inside, schooling your features so you didn’t look as nervous as you felt.

”You wanted to see me, sir?” you asked politely.

”Yes, please sit, Y/n.”

”Am I in trouble, sir?” you asked as you sat before his desk. He looked at you in surprise for a moment before he burst out laughing.

”Absolutely not. You’re one of my best managers in this company. Firing you would be like cutting off my left leg and I’m right handed.” he chuckled. You breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at the same time. “I called you in here because we have a new employee I need you to train.”

”Oh! I’m guessing they’re taking Geena’s spot?”

Geena, who had been your assistant, had recently gotten married and decided she wanted to be a stay-at-home wife. There hadn’t been the time to fill her position as it was one of the more busy seasons for the advertising firm.

”They are, or rather, he is.” He pointed to a spot over your shoulder and you turned in your seat to look. All the air was knocked from your body as you got a good look at the man standing there. You vaguely heard your boss introduce him.

Kim Seokjin… who would become your greatest weakness in the coming months.

But you did the job you were paid to do and trained him. He was a fast learner.

Kim Seokjin, quiet, shy and introverted, but also a very hard worker.

He grabbed your notice the moment you met him. Tasked with training him to be as good if not better than Geena was no hardship. But he made you so flustered and nervous, it was hard not to act foolish in front of him.

The January Coffee Incident comes to mind. The absolute worst day in the world that you chose to wear an all white suit to work.

You had been walking and going over some things with one of the project technicians when he came into the office. He looked absolutely gorgeous in a navy blue sweater, black framed glasses and white pants. He saw you and gave you a warm smile in greeting.

You tripped over your own two feet, crashed into a nearby desk and knocked your iced coffee all over yourself, soaking you from neck to groin to the point where everything became practically see-through.

And he witnessed the whole thing.

The ice made your nipples hard and you were unaware that his eyes had given you a very slow once over.

You couldn’t really avoid him after that day since he had the desk directly across the aisle from yours.

He was friendly to everybody, would go out of his way to help anyone in need. Including you, even though you felt like the world’s biggest klutz whenever you were around him.

The January Coffee Incident again comes to mind. You never wore a white suit to work ever again.

Sad to say – you developed a really huge crush on him.

Your best friend, Hoseok liked to tease you about it every chance he got. He kept encouraging you to talk to Seokjin but you refused, not wanting to make a fool of yourself any more than you already had. You had yet to even have a full personal conversation with him. You still felt like an awkward monkey whenever he was near, stealing glances when you thought he wasn't looking.

It was better for you to admire from a distance, much to Hoseok's annoyance.

You forgot how devious your best friend could be.

Seokjin had been working in your department for nearly a year now.

You noticed he had some quirky habits that made him even more attractive in your eyes.

He listened to cassette tapes on a Walkman™ of all things while he worked. Something that became obsolete back in the early 2000's. The one time you walked by his desk, you could hear the faint sounds of The Beach Boys “Surfin' USA” coming from the tiny speakers. It made you chuckle.

He also liked to flip his pen around his fingers. You watched him do this for nearly 5 minutes straight once, mesmerized by how flexible his fingers were.

Your cheeks warmed when you thought about other ways his fingers might be flexible.

During a meeting, you were tagged by your boss to work together on part of a project due at the end of the month. Surprised, you glanced at Seokjin to see him quickly look away from you, his cheeks tinted a light pink. You wondered at that.

It was a late Friday evening and you were both staying after hours to work. It had been relatively silent for the most part between the two of you but you were starting to get hungry.

You picked up your phone. “I'm going to order some dinner. Would you like anything? My treat.” You asked him, nervous about speaking to him in the first place. He'd had his music over his ears, but not loud enough to where he couldn't hear you if you spoke to him. He glanced up at you, his eyes bright behind the glasses he wore.

“Um... yeah, sure.” he replied. His voice... you'd nearly forgotten how deep it was. Usually it was pitched high when he started to sing along with his music. It made your insides feel weak.

He walked across to your desk to get a peek of the menu on your phone, hovering over your shoulder.

You could cheerfully die.

He smelled amazing! Sandalwood and vanilla were starting to become your two favorite smells.

It took everything you had in you not to turn your head and bury your nose into his neck to imprint that smell on your brain.

His arm came around your shoulder while his hand covered yours as you were holding your phone so he could use his other hand to scroll the menu and make his selections.

Was it too late to order a funeral casket?

Red alert! Red alert! Engine is overheating! Get the tech crews on it STAT!

Selections made, he turned his head to look at you. Your eyes were immediately drawn to his plush lips.

You forgot how to breathe.

Mayday! Mayday! We are going down! All hands abandon ship!

“Thanks.” he murmured. You yanked your gaze away from his lips. Something was lodged in your throat. You couldn't speak if your life depended on it. You may have said something like “You're welcome.” but you're not exactly sure if you vocalized it correctly.

Did he smirk at you as he walked back to his desk?

You might have been seeing things because this shy, introverted man did NOT just smirk at you like he knew some great secret.

You put your phone down, grabbing your bottle of water to clear the obstruction in your throat (there wasn't one, but your mouth was drier than the Sahara in winter).

And you were wet... panties-soaking wet if you were honest with yourself.

Get a grip, you horny bitch!

You wanted to listen to that voice, but it was difficult since it had been more than a year since your last serious relationship.

Oh you tried random hook ups, but they just weren't satisfying.

It was quiet once again as you went back to your individual work, your heart rate returning to a normal level after he was sufficiently some distance from you.

Your dinners arrived less than an hour later and you set everything up at the meeting table that was in the corner. They didn't give you napkins so you headed for the break room to get a few.

When you returned to the office, he was nowhere to be seen.

You called out his name, hearing a reply from somewhere around his desk.

Frowning, you went around the desk to see him laying on the floor, using his chair as a pillow.

He had removed his glasses and undid two buttons on his shirt and sweater.

And the look he was leveling you with...

Unconsciously your eyes slowly roamed his body from head to toe.

You tried not to squeeze your thighs together. Tried to gather your scattered thoughts, but in that moment, there was only one word you could think of in this situation.

Fuck!

“W-Why are you on the floor?”

Yay! Words! And spoken correctly! Good job!

“I've been hunched over my desk most of the evening. Stretching out my back muscles.” he replied, a small smirk on his face.

Dammit, he IS smirking!

“...oh.”

I mean, what was there to say to that?

“Want to try it?” he asked.

“In this get-up?” You waved your hand over the plum-colored suit jacket and skirt combo you had chosen to wear that day. “Don't think so.”

You started to walk to the corner table when his hand snaked out and wrapped around your bare ankle before you even stepped a foot away.

Your body jolted like lightning had struck you and you bit your lip hard to keep a moan from being released into the air. You nearly ripped the napkins you were holding in two pieces.

Should have worn pants today! Your inner voice cackled.

You slowly turned your head to look at him. That infernal smirk was still on his lips.

“You sure you don't want to lie down here with me? Might do you some good.”

“I'm hungry.” was your immediate response. His eyes glinted and his smirk seemed to get bigger. “For food! I want my food!” You stammered loudly, cheeks warming with embarrassment. His shoulders shook as he chuckled. You looked down at his hand (Why are his fingers so soft?) still around your ankle.

“Oh... sorry.” he stated, slowly releasing you. He wasn't sorry at all.

Did this fucker run his hand over my calf? Your inner voice was having a serious meltdown. Honestly, you were too, but you were going to ignore it.

You moved to the table where your dinner's sat, ignoring the sound of him getting to his feet behind you. You could feel his eyes on you like the sun on your back on a hot day. You didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was making you hot and bothered (even though he probably already had an idea).

You need to get laid, sister! Your inner voice taunted. You wanted to punch that voice in the throat.

“Drink?” he murmured against your ear, sandalwood and vanilla permeating your senses once again. You clenched the plastic fork in your hand, nearly breaking it. You moved away from him, trying to be subtle about it, but you knew he was watching.

Where the hell has this cocky sonofabitch been for the last year?

“Yes, please.” You finally answered him. You got a breather from his overwhelming presence as he headed toward the vending machine at the other end of the office.

What was happening right now?

How did someone so unassuming hold such power over you and so quickly?

“Has to be the glasses...” You muttered.

He returned with the drinks, placing one in front of you. You noticed it was your favorite and it set you wondering how he knew.

Turning back into the gentleman you knew him to be (and wasn't that just deceiving?), he pulled your chair out for you before taking the seat right next to you.

Fuck me!

You decided to try and ignore him, browsing your social media on your phone while you ate. But you were so consciously aware of him on a level you've never felt before.

Somehow you managed to choke down your dinner, even though you tasted none of it.

Gathering your waste, you headed to the trash bin to dispose of it. You turned to head back to your desk and nearly ran face first into his chest. You jumped back in surprise.

Fuck, when did he move so quickly and why didn't I hear him?

“Um... we've got work to finish.” You stated. Surprisingly, he stepped aside and let you pass, but not before he drew his hand across your hip as you did.

You felt that touch through your entire body, making your woman parts throb with want.

You sat back at your desk as he went to his, but you couldn't concentrate very well. After about 2 hours and with a frustrated sigh, you put everything away, saving what you had been working on from your computer. It was 11 in the evening. He glanced up from his own work to stare at you.

“It's late. I'm tired. I'm going to head home and continue this on Monday.” You stated, getting to your feet and grabbing your coat. He jumped to his feet as well.

“I'll walk you out.”

“No, you stay and finish. I'll see you Monday.”

“It's alright. I don't mind. And I’m starting to go cross-eyed staring at my screen.” he insisted, slipping on his coat and his glasses as he shut down his computer.

You wanted to groan in frustration. He was making it very difficult for you not to tackle him to the floor.

You thought you'd be okay... until you got into the elevator.

Stuck in a box, smelling sandalwood and vanilla for 10 floors. Great.

It was snowing when you finally made it out of the building and you took a deep breath of the winter air to clear your sinuses.

“May I drive you home? I don't think you're going to get a cab or Uber this late.” he asked.

Bitch, don't you dare say no! This is your chance! your inner voice yelled.

You wanted to say no, not give in to that temptation. But you saw the earnest look on his face, the boyish grin that was anything but innocent (little did you know!). You took out your phone and saw that no cabs, Ubers or buses were running and wanted to groan in annoyance.

“Yeah, thank you.” you finally sighed, defeated. You tried to ignore the smile on his face at your capitulation as he lead the way to his car.

And of course his car smelled like sandalwood and vanilla…

Kill me now! You yelled out in your head. Your inner voice was suspiciously silent, but you felt they were smirking at you.

After giving him directions, it was a quiet ride to your home, a small two story on the outskirts of town you had inherited from your grandparents when they passed away. You tried not to stare at his hands as they manipulated the steering wheel. You don't know when you had become so obsessed with his fingers. You got lost in a fantasy of him running those fingers over your naked body and bit back a whimper, turning away in embarrassment as he took a quick glance at you.

You missed the smirk on his face that time.

The headlights of his car illuminated against the front of your home as he pulled into your driveway. He killed the engine as you removed your seatbelt, hand on the door ready to step out.

”Um, thanks for the ride, Seokjin.” you managed to say.

”You’re welcome. And please, call me Jin. I prefer it.”

”Jin.” you nodded. You were both silent for a moment, neither knowing what to say. You finally took a deep breath and opened the door, stepping out of the car. You carefully made your way to the front door, mentally reminding yourself to shovel and salt the driveway and sidewalk in the morning. You could feel eyes watching you and you waited until you got your door unlocked and opened before you turned to look. He gave you a wave, which you returned before he started his car to leave…

Or, at least he tried to start the car.

It made a whirring sound as if it wanted to start and you watched as the headlights dimmed before going out all together, the engine slowly dying.

You knew that sound.

He had a dead battery.

You watched as his head dropped to his steering wheel and you honestly felt bad for him. You went back down, knocking on his driver’s side window. He opened the door.

”You may as well come inside. You’re not going to get a mechanic out here this late.” you offered.

”I don’t want to impose.” he sighed.

”You can’t sleep in your car, Jin. It’s snowing and it’s supposed to drop below zero tonight. I wouldn’t offer if I didn’t mean it.” you replied.

”Thanks, I appreciate it. And I’m sorry about this.” You backed away as he climbed from the car, pocketing the keys as he locked it.

”Not your fault. Stop apologizing.” you returned, leading the way into the house.

You locked the door after you were both inside, turning on the lamp next to the couch to get some light in the room. It was slightly chilled in the air and you went to the thermostat to turn up the heat.

”You have a beautiful home.” He spoke behind you. You glanced over your shoulder to see him removing his jacket and shoes as he looked around at your holiday decorations.

”Thank you, it belonged to my grandparents.” you replied. “Um… would you like a hot chocolate or tea. Coffee?” You wondered, removing your suit jacket to leave you in a beige silk tank and your skirt. You turned to place the jacket over the back of the chair, missing his slow perusal of your body from head to toe and licking his lips in want.

”No coffee. I won’t be able to sleep.” he replied, pulling his eyes back to your face when you turned to look at him. The look of innocence on his handsome face should have had alarm bells ringing in your head, but you were tired and foggy-brained.

”Hot chocolate?” you asked.

”Please.” he nodded. You turned and headed for the kitchen, turning the light on over the stove before grabbing two mugs from the cabinet. You placed the kettle on the stove, turning the temperature up high before turning to get a couple of hot cocoa packets.

When you turned back to the counter, he was standing before you. You jumped back in surprise.

”You have got to stop sneaking up on me!” you burst out without thinking.

That damn smirk made its reappearance.

”Do I make you nervous?” He wondered, stepping closer. You stepped back, shaking your head.

”N-No.”

”Seems like I do.” He replied, taking another step. You backed up another and felt yourself hit the counter.

”Y-You don’t make me nervous at all.” You stammered, staring at him with wide eyes.

He stepped into your personal bubble, placing his hands on the counter behind you and trapping you with his body.

Oh shit! He’s got you now, girlfriend! Your inner voice cheered.

“You wouldn't be lying to me would you?” he asked, voice deepening.

Oh he hit you with The Voice! Give up already! Your inner voice cackled.

“N-No.” You whispered.

You could only watch, frozen in place as he freed a hand from the counter to brush across your cheek, his thumb stroking your skin. You wanted to melt into the floor. His eyes pinned yours and your breath wheezed from you.

“Jin.” you whispered, your voice husky with want.

“I have a confession to make.” he murmured, running his fingers along the skin of your neck and down your arm. Goosebumps broke out over your entire body and you could feel your nipples harden. You bit your lip, hiding another moan.

“W-What?”

“I've been fascinated with you since the first day I met you.” he admitted, taking your hand in his. “The more I was around you, the more that feeling grew – Coffee Incident, notwithstanding.” he chuckled, making my cheeks warm.

Oh my god, he saw that whole mess!

“Huh?” You were dumbfounded and it brought you just a bit out of the haze of lust you'd been in.

His cheeks tinted pink as he nodded. “I wanted to ask you out on a date so many times. But I always became tongue-tied whenever I was within 5 feet of you.”

“...oh.”

He just keeps reducing you to one-word sentences. This is great! Your inner voice was having the time of her life right now.

You took a deep breath, and decided to take a chance.

“So what was all that? At the office?”

“A friend told me to just go for it. The worst that could happen is you'd slap me and tell me to leave you alone. Or I'd get lucky.”

Ignoring his lucky comment (because you already knew he was going to get very lucky), a sudden suspicion flew through your mind.

“Would this friend happen to go by the name Hoseok?” you asked. His face lit up and a genuine smile graced his lips, making him even more attractive and your heart threatened to jump from your chest into his hands.

“You know him?”

“Unfortunately.” you grumbled. “My ex-best friend.”

“Don't be too hard on him. He was coming from a good place.”

“Right.” you snorted, looking away. You felt your hand raised and plush lips pressed a kiss to your knuckles (they felt like pillows!), making your head snap up in surprise. He was staring directly at you.

“Would it be safe to assume you feel the same about me? Or am I reading this wrong?” he asked softly.

You swallowed hard, slowly shaking your head no after a silent moment.

“I noticed you as well.” you admitted.

Still holding your hand, he stepped closer. You felt so small next to his larger frame and you had the sudden urge to press your cheek against his chest and listen to his heart beat. But the heat in his gaze kept you rooted in place.

“I really want to kiss you right now.” he murmured, his eyes ducking to your lips and back to your eyes. The saliva dried up in your throat at his confession and your lady parts woke up and started cheering. You could water a garden with the moisture that was gathered between your thighs in that moment.

“That would be... a really bad idea...” you whispered, denying yourself what you've wanted most of the year.

You idiot! Take what the man is offering! Your inner voice screamed.

“Why?” he wondered. The kettle went off, startling you both and you ducked around him to take it off the burner, but also to breathe and cool down for a moment.

But it was not to be.

A large hand wrapped around your bicep, yanking you around. Shocked, you were poised to tell him off when his lips covered yours, surprising a gasp from your lips.

Oh my god! He's kissing you! Yesssssssssss!!!!!! Get it girlfriend!

You could practically hear your inner voice celebrating with a parade.

You'd laugh, but your brain was slowly become mush under his slowly deepening kiss.

You were drowning.

And you loved it.

A whimper stole from your lips as his tongue penetrated the seam, darting inside to map every part of your mouth he could reach, his arms going around your waist to pull you closer.

You wanted to melt.

You wanted to die.

You wanted him to strip you naked and have his way with you.

You nasty ho! That inner voice chuckled.

You moaned into the kiss as his hands moved down your body, cupping your ass cheeks and squeezing like he was checking melons at the grocery store. You made an embarrassing sound that vibrated throughout your entire body as he backed you into a wall, your arms going up and around his shoulders.

The cool surface failed to put out the raging inferno going on inside your body and your hands went to his sweater, fumbling with the buttons. He pulled away, not even bothering with the rest of the buttons on either his sweater or shirt, gripping the back firmly and pulling them completely off, losing his glasses somewhere in the process.

You could only stare as his upper torso was bared to your hungry eyes.

He was hiding all that muscle beneath those sweaters? What the fuck?

You agreed with your inner voice. The man wasn't Hercules by any means but there was some definite muscle tone. You had the sudden urge to bite him.

“I won't stop you if that's something you want to do.” he chuckled.

“Oh shit! I said that out loud, didn't I?” you laughed, embarrassed. He caged you against the wall with his body and stared down at you with a piercing gaze. You didn't know what to do with your hands, he was so close. He remedied that problem by taking them and resting them on his bare hips.

Is that... is that a V-Line????????? You could actually feel your inner voice go into orgasmic shock as your fingers lightly grazed the lines of his hips. He took a shuddering breath as he finally had your hands on his skin.

“Incidentally... I've dreamed about biting your thighs.” he murmured, ducking to place teasing kisses along your neck and shoulder.

“Fuck!” you whisper-gasped, the thought of his head between your thighs your ultimate erotic fantasy. He smiled against your neck as you swore.

You were just absolutely wrecked by this man... and you hadn't even slept with him yet.

“What do you want? Whatever it is, I'll give it to you.” he whispered into your ear. You shuddered, your eyes nearly rolling into the back of your head as his breath ghosted across your skin.

Do it... you know you want to! Your inner voice was back to cheering you on and you decided to finally listen to it. You probably would never have another opportunity.

You gently pushed him away from you. He gave you a quizzical look as you took his hand. You turned and headed for the stairs, missing the large grin on his face.

At some point it had started to snow outside and you hadn't bothered with closing the curtains in your bedroom. The moonlight streaming through the windows along with the snowfall created an ethereal romantic effect.

Releasing his hand, you turned toward him, just as he wrapped an arm around you and yanked you against his body, his lips already covering yours in a kiss so passionate, you thought your clothes would melt right off.

His hands zeroed in on the zipper of your skirt, the material pooling around your ankles as it was released from the confines of your body. You both moaned as his hands squeezed the bare skin of your ass, barely covered by your underwear, a purple thong you had, on a whim, decided to wear to work that day.

His fingers, the same ones you'd had daily (and nightly) fantasies about, dipped down between the cleft of your cheeks, instantly discovering how much you wanted him. You were drenched!

His cock, half hard most of the evening, went instant hard, pressing against your thigh to introduce itself.

The moan you let out could have counted as your most embarrassing if it wasn't for the fact he made the same exact sound.

Still holding you, his fingers still causing insane amounts of pleasure inside of you, he turned and walked backward until you both fell onto your bed. Your legs were spread on either side of his hips and he took advantage of the position, dipping deeper inside of you, making lewd squelching sounds as he thrust them in and out.

Clutching his shoulders, you rode out your pleasure on his fingers, begging him not to stop (he had no intentions of doing so until you were a moaning mess on top of him). He leaned up to nip at the skin of your neck, the pleasure spiking through you.

With a cry of his name, you came, soaking his fingers and hand in your essence, most of it dripping down your thighs and soaking into his pants. He moaned at the feel of it.

And he was not done with you.

Distracted by the pleasure still running through your limbs, he rolled you onto your back, your legs hanging off the edge of the bed. He pulled off your ruined underwear, falling to his knees between your legs and pulling the jellied limbs over his shoulders.

Before you could ask what he was doing, he was kissing and biting your thighs, his greatest desire.

You moaned lewdly as he traveled along your skin.

And then it happened, your ultimate dream and fantasy rolled into one.

You felt his tongue along your still swollen folds and your whole body arched up off the bed, a loud cry falling from your lips.

He wanted to smirk, but his mouth was busy. You were like a sweet ambrosia to him and he didn't want to stop tasting.

Your fingers slid into his hair, gripping tightly and the pleasure/pain of it made him groan against you. Your cries of pleasure made him hornier than ever. He had to be inside you and soon or he was going to combust.

You were completely wrecked. Something you thought was only a dream, now a reality. Your body didn't feel like your own anymore as he did his best to overwhelm you with pleasure.

He devoured you like a man starved. You could feel that band deep your stomach becoming tighter and tighter, your thighs beginning to shake.

His tongue went deep, touching ever part of you he could reach as he fumbled with his pants to free himself from the tight confines. He was harder than he'd ever been in his life and it was for you.

“J-Jin!” you stammered his name, that band in your stomach finally snapping as you received your second orgasm in less than an hour. He drank you in like he'd been in the desert and gotten his first drink.

You yanked on his hair after a few moments, oversensitive as he finally pulled away. You were breathing hard, body covered in a sheen of sweat as he moved up your body to kiss you. His face was wet and you could taste yourself on his tongue. You still had your tank top on. He helped you take it off, along with your bra, tossing both items somewhere in the room as his mouth surrounded a nipple, sucking and biting your skin.

You moaned beneath him, wrapping your legs around his hips to keep him close.

“I want you so much.” he whispered against your damp skin, pressing his hardness close to your still throbbing core.

“Please.” you begged him.

“C-Can I?” he moaned, rubbing himself against you. You nodded your head. “Thank you!” he moaned, not wasting another second. He needed to be inside you like he needed air to breath.

You both cried out in shock as he slid in easily. He was long and thick, more than what you were used to and he felt like heaven and hell rolled into one. He was touching every internal part of you and you clenched tightly around him. He groaned, pressing his face into your neck as his thrust started off slow and deep.

“Fuck!” you babbled, gripping his arms.

“You feel so good!” he moaned. “Better than I dreamed.”

“Jin! Oh my god!” you cried out as he went deep.

He turned his head and started licking and biting the skin of your neck, marking you as his, wanting to imprint himself into your very soul. He kept his thrusts slow, deep and steady, wanting to make this last for as long as possible.

Minutes turned into hours and you were both a debauched mess. Bodies covered in a sheen of sweat, hair plastered to your foreheads, your body and soul on fire with the desire coursing through your veins.

The man had the stamina of a bull. You lost track of how many times he made you cum. You were oversensitive, swollen but happier than you'd ever been in your life.

“Jin... please...” you moaned, exhausted.

“One more... please, one more...” he groaned, gripping your thighs. He sat up, digging his knees into the bed as he started to jackhammer himself inside of you. You cried out in absolute pleasure, clutching your arms across your breasts.

“Oh... oh my god!” you moaned loudly, feeling that band of pleasure tighten within you one more time. He bent you in half, going the deepest he'd ever been the entire night and the band snapped. Your whole body went into pleasurable shock as you came. You might have blacked out for a few moments, the pleasure was so intense.

When you were aware of your body again, Jin was laying beside you, staring at you in concern. As your eyes focused on him, he gave you a sheepish smile.

“There you are.” he whispered. “I'm sorry.”

“For what?” you wondered, your voice husky.

“I got a bit carried away.” he murmured, ears turning red in embarrassment. You giggled, turning your tired body toward him to brush a lock of hair from his forehead.

“Am I complaining?” you smiled. He was entranced by your smile and he couldn't help but lean in to kiss you. You moaned softly as he slowly pulled away.

“I could kiss you forever.” he whispered, brushing his nose against the skin of your cheek.

“I-Is that something you want?” you wondered. He paused in his kisses, drawing back to stare down at you.

“So many times I wanted to ask you out on a date. I was and still am stunned by your beauty, always getting tongue-tied and nervous. I felt like the high school nerd having a crush on the captain of the cheerleading squad if I'm being honest.” he chuckled, the sound teasing along your nerve endings.

“So... what's stopping you now?” you wondered, staring at him. His jaw dropped open in surprise before his face morphed into a smile that could light a darkened room.

“Ms. Y/n... would you do me the honor of going out on a date... with me?” he whispered.

“I would love to.” you returned. “But... on one condition...”

“Anything.” he agreed.

“Be my boyfriend?”

His eyes widened in shock and you giggled.

“What?”

“I think we've gone beyond first dates, Mr. Kim.” you giggled, waving your hand along both your naked bodies. He laughed loudly, pressing his face into your shoulder.

And there was another thing that you were endeared by – his laugh. It was the most unique laugh you'd ever heard in your life, almost sounding like wipers on a windshield.

“The company doesn't frown on its employees in relationships?” he wondered sometime later after we had cleaned up. It was going on 6 in the morning and the sun was starting to peek over the horizon.

You were both again in the kitchen. He was dressed in his pants and his shirt, neither fully buttoned so you had perfect glimpses of his bare chest and stomach. You were dressed in only a t-shirt.

You both were sharing making breakfast duties, deciding to make pancakes, eggs and bacon.

“I'll tell you a secret.” you smiled as you poured batter into the warm pan. He glanced at you attentively. “The wife of the company president used to be his secretary.”

He stared at you, eyes wide.

“I didn't know that!”

“Mhm. They've been happily married for nearly 30 years. She still works for him too, now as his assistant.”

“So, you're saying we're okay.”

“We're okay, Jinnie.” you giggled. He stared at you, ears and cheeks red. “What?”

“You called me 'Jinnie'.” he grinned.

“Oh, I'm sorry. I won't do it again if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No!” he exclaimed. “I-I like it.” he grinned, looking away. You couldn't help yourself, you leaned over and kissed his cheek, making him blush even harder.

You were hooked.

And if he conveniently forgot to call a mechanic for his car that weekend... neither of you cared.

You couldn't have sandblasted the smile from Hoseok's face if you tried when he found out what you'd spent your weekend doing and with whom.

He (Hobi) cried like a baby when you asked him to be your Best Person at your wedding 2 years later... ~The End~

[davenporttf]

Bear Trap

Jake was a total dick and he was fine admitting it. He had the body to compensate for his short temper and overall unlikeable personality. He liked to think of himself as a real tradie through and through. He didn't care what the other guys thought of him because he knew he could do the job of three men by himself. When it came to the ladies, he was fine cutting things off after they started getting feelings. "Who hurt you?" the last one said when he broke it off. He smiled and replied "That'd be you for having to listen to you."

The crew had been working on a new apartment complex for a few weeks. The days were long and the middle of summer brought some very hot afternoons. Jake was working on installing a new water pipeline to the complex and removing the debris from all the jackhammering. They had been going at it since 7am and with the sun now beaming over him, he was feeling dehydrated. He forgot to bring his own water and was starting to regret it. He signaled over to the other guys that he was going to take a quick 15, and started walking towards the next door apartments.

Typically the neighbors next to their projects hated seeing them because of all the noise. He would see the dirty looks from the balconies but he would just wave at them to piss them off. Today he was going to play nice though, and beg for some water with a smile and an arm flex.

He went up to the first door and rang the doorbell. A few moments later, a loveable bear named Greg answered the door. He filled the door with his sturdy frame, and smiled at Jake. "Can I help you?"

"Hey man, sorry to bother you but I forgot my water today. Could I trouble you for some?" Jake said with the most charming smile he could manage.

"Yeah, of course! Why don't you come in and cool off and I'll grab you some water. I have the AC on." Greg offered kindly.

Jake was not about to pass up some free AC despite his reservations. "Yeah sure. Thanks, man." He entered the studio apartment looking around at Greg's very tidy apartment. "Have a seat on the couch, I'll grab you something to drink" Greg said as he walked to his kitchen.

Jake continued to look around and noticed some of the pride flags posted around the living room. "Awe fuck, a fag. Just great." he thought to himself as he took a seat on the sofa. He didn't like how all the gay guys looked him up and down. He worked hard to look good for the ladies, and felt uncomfortable when men shot glances his way. He had the urge to leave but the AC was feeling great against his skin, so he shoved his disdain to the side.

Greg could sense the hatred from Jake, and his overall douchebag demeanor. He had seen him for a few days now arguing with his coworkers and catcalling the women walking by. He didn't like the ripped guys, and tended to go for bears like himself. He had been living alone for a few years and with the rent about to go up due to the complex being built nextdoor, he was struggling. He didn't have an extra room to split with a roommate, and he wasn't having much luck in the boyfriend department. In the kitchen, Greg came up with an idea to fix his problem. He pulled out a bottle of water from the back of the fridge that he bought from a specialty store he frequented.

Greg walked back into the room and handed Jake the bottle of water. "Here ya go! Feel free to enjoy the air for a bit. You guys really seem to be working hard out there." Jake didn't waste a moment, and started chugging the water. The water tickled going down his throat and the water tasted so refreshing. He continued to chug the water as a bubbly feeling developed in his abdomen. Gurgles began to become audible as his stomach started to expand outward. Jake could feel his waistline pushing out against his jeans becoming more uncomfortable by the second. The water was too refreshing to stop so with his other hand he unbuttoned his jeans and pulled them down to make room. Jake's pecs softened and inflated, losing definition. His arms became heavier with his biceps growing more doughy. His face rounded and lost it's definition with his chinstrap widening to a full beard.

With one hand on his belly rubbing it for comfort, Jake finished the bottle and looked around at his new form. He wanted to be disgusted with himself but his grip on his prior life was slipping away. He was liking the way he felt more powerful by his size and ran his hands all over. He looked around at the apartment feeling more at home.

"You look good handsome." Greg complimented as Jake looked up at him. Jake could feel himself growing attracted to Greg, especially his handsome features. Memories of them meeting out by the construction yard surfaced. He was always on the heavier side and the crew loved how strong he was moving around the debris. Greg had walked by one day and he couldn't help but catcall him. Luckily, Greg was flattered and found Jake extremely attractive sweating in the hot sun. Moving in together was the greatest thing to happen to him, and it helped that they could split the rent.

Jake started to paw at the bulge in his briefs, thinking of how sexy his boyfriend was. "What's say we cool off more in the shower?" Jake said devilishly. He got up and walked over to Greg adjusting to his newfound size. He took Greg by the hand and lead him into the bathroom for some much needed fun.

[nevesmose]

Separation 11347

This was, by Trazyn's infallible reckoning, his eleven thousand three hundred and forty-seventh divorce from Orikan. The Diviner, on the other hand, was adamant that it was in fact only their eleven thousand three hundred and forty-sixth. This dispute was what had caused the current divorce.

At first he had settled contentedly into his usual divorce routine, entering his meticulously-preserved time loop of a "Happy Divorce" party plucked from the Terran city-state of Nova Yoruk in early M3 as the Imperium kept its years.

As had been the case so many times before, the Lord of Solemnace basked over and over again in the reassurance of the assembled middle-aged humans that he was indeed so much better off without that asshole in his life, rounding off the festivities with a cake depicting a miniature confectionery figurine of Trazyn using a guillotine on a similarly-constructed sugar-based effigy of Orikan.

It was all very gratifying, and he was certain that when the amusement faded he would return to find Orikan waiting for him apologetically, his eminently bullyable faceplate resembling a weeping juvenile felid.

It was, however, not to be. He returned to the Galleries to find no trace whatsoever of Orikan. He was so disconcerted that he even briefly considered retrieving his much-prized clone of the primarch Fulgrim from stasis, but decided against it. It had, after all, only been a few subjective decades since he had placed the clone into a detailed diorama of the genuine being's final battle with his erstwhile companion Ferrus Manus for enrichment purposes. He had been thoroughly pleased with himself for coming up with entertainment of such realism and, judging by his mute tears of joy, so too was the clone.

What a wonderful caregiver I am, he had thought, jauntily walking away. Perhaps he and Orikan should adopt, which when used by Trazyn the Infinite is a word which means kidnap, an Astartes or Aeldari together.

Time passed and with no sign of Orikan's return, Trazyn felt it justifiable to seek other outlets for his multifarious urges. After exhausting every category on Cronhub and getting banned from Nemesorindr, he arose to find that the necrodermis of his lower limbs had spontaneously reformed itself into the shape of a baggy, ill-maintained example of the Terran garment known as sweatpants.

This could not stand. He resolved that he would start A Project, an undertaking of such majesty and glory that no one, least of all that cycloptic fool Orikan, could deny him the attention he deserved.

After brief forays into stop-motion animation and painting miniature Space Marines (accomplished by shrinking normal Astartes through arcane technosorcery and ignoring the resulting high-pitched noises as he applied pigment of a much too viscous consistency to their battleplate) his thoughts returned once more to his display of the battle between the primarchs on Isstvan V.

Theirs was a tragic tale of heartfelt companionship severed by corruption and betrayal. He himself had mentally projected several hundred phaeronfics about them to the great repository of the Necron race whose name, although untranslatable into any other language, was best rendered as The Sarcophagus-Belonging-To-Us-Alone, and some of them had even received multiple scarabs of approval from the discerning audience entrapped there forever.

Surely, he reasoned with the confidence of a being who had long since activated the developer console of his necrodermis body and manually increased its confidence, intelligence and charisma variables to 100, this meant that no one other than he could restore their friendship.

And so, in single-minded pursuit of compassion and friendliness, the Archaeovist and his forces wrought a swathe of destruction across the galaxy.

A foray into the Eye of Terror itself resulted in the capture of Fulgrim through the use of a vast two-pronged stick to pin the writhing daemon prince to the ground where he had been basking one day, while the sacrifice of his entire collection of ancient Terran doujinshis to the haemonculi of Commorragh itself had given him forbidden knowledge sufficient to wrest back the very soul of Ferrus Manus himself and place it into a suitably prepared necron host body via the biomorphic resonance of the necrodermis which had coated his hands in life.

Finally, the moment of glory came. The daemon Fulgrim and the metallically resurrected Ferrus Manus were placed into the same containment chamber and -

It was not at all what Trazyn had hoped. After a monumental bout of hand-to-hand combat lasting for hour upon hour, the two primarchs had settled into an uneasy stalemate, in the sense that Fulgrim was currently coiled around a light fixture on the ceiling and Ferrus had run out of objects to throw at him.

"You're even uglier now than you were when you had flesh," Fulgrim hissed venomously.

"And you were more of a snake then than you are now," Ferrus shot back, the frozen inexpressiveness of his necrodermis faceplate matching the famously stone-faced countenance he had displayed in life.

Fortunately Trazyn, who never made a mistake of any kind whatsoever, had prepared for such an eventuality. A concealed slot opened in the ceiling of the containment chamber, dislodging Fulgrim from his perch, and through the opening there descended a vast garment of woven silver-metallic fabric, emblazoned with inscrutable Necron symbols and sized in such a way as to accomodate the bodies of both primarchs.

"This is your get along shirt," Trazyn said, his voice amplified throughout the containment chamber. "You will wear it."

[crazycurly-77]

Games

Don't really know what possessed me to write this, but here it is. Have fun! 

After a hard and tiring case Tim, Tony, Abby and you were celebrating the successful completion in a cute little bar. Amazingly even Gibbs joined your round.

You had a lot of fun and at one point during the evening Tony discovered the little stage and the karaoke machine. So he suggested playing a game. You all cheered about this idea. The game you played was truth or dare and everybody agreed to play. 

To decide who's next Tony put an empty bottle in the middle of the table and spinned it around. 

Tim was the first to play and said “truth”. Abby laughed and cheered immediately and asked him “how do you like my new tattoo?” His head became a fiery red and he stuttered “it's hot.”

“Wheeee!!!” She was absolutely excited, which made even Gibbs laugh. He was sitting beside you and was very content about that, because he came to be able to spend a few nice hours with you outside of work. 

But that you didn't know. Sure, the two of you got along very well and in the last couple of months in which you were working with Abby the team became friends to you, but you developed tender feelings for the silver fox as well. 

That he developed deep feelings for you too was a fact and everybody saw his longing looks towards you, except yourself. You were busy with trying to hide your feelings and pining after him yourself. 

You laughed so hard because of Abby's lucky dance, that you nearly missed that the bottle had landed on Tony. With a mischievous grin he chose “dare”. “I see a karaoke machine on the stage. So I dare you to sing “Rock DJ” of Robbie Williams” Tim challenged him. 

Tony laughed and nodded saying “alright!” and walked towards the place of the upcoming desaster. He performed extremely good, but luckily he was good in his job. His singing had your ears nearly bleeding, but it was very funny. 

He came back to the table exhausted, panting heavily and laughing his ass off as you all did. Sitting down he grabbed the bottle and spinned it. 

Again you were lucky. Abby was next. “Truth” she said smiling widely. 

Tony grinned as only he could and then asked “do you and Tim have an affair?” 

She clapped her hands laughing again and yelled a loud “Yes! Sure!” 

Pour Tim became red as a tomato again and tried not to be seen. 

Gibbs only looked at him, but said nothing. In all the happiness the atmosphere was now a little tense, so Abby quickly took the bottle to lighten the mood once more. 

This time you had no such luck as previously. The bottle landed on you. You took a deep breath, closed your eyes and said “Dare”. 

Abby knew that you can sing, because you were sometimes singing when you were waiting for test results and she loved your voice. But she was the only one who knew of your talent. 

Secretly she planned on getting Gibbs and you together because of your feelings for one another and this game was her perfect chance to work on this project. So she dared you “you have to sing “Hallelujah” in the version of Rufus Wainwright.”

All were laughing and you shrugged your shoulders saying simply “okay.”

You entered the stage, went to the machine and put it off with the words “that I don't need” and you winked to the waiting people. 

Then you took a seat on the piano and began to play and to sing. You closed your eyes to feel the music as you sang and the whole room was silent. After the song ended and you stood to walk back to your colleagues your audience gave you standing ovations. 

Abby fell into your arms jumping up and down “I knew you would make it! And it was so wonderful! I love your voice!”

“Y/N! I didn't know you could sing. Why didn't you told me?” Tony pouted. 

You smiled “you didn't asked.”

Sitting beside Gibbs again he layed his hand on your shoulder and said “very good, Y/L/N. Should sing more often.”

He gave you such a warm and tender smile that your mind gone blank and your heart was racing in your chest. Could he hear and feel it beating so fast? 

The two of you were so captured in each other that you didn't noticed that Tony answered another question truthfully and now directed the bottle back to you. 

Nobody complained about that, because all of them wanted to hear more from you. 

“Me once again? You're kidding. But alright. What do you want to hear?” you asked laughing. Immediately Tony demanded triumphantly “Sitting on a dock of a bay” of Otis Redding!”

“Yeah!!!” was heared from all sides. 

“Good. So be it” you nodded and walked back to the stage. 

Again everyone was fascinated and excited. 

“You are a singer!! What are you doing in the lab?” Tim asked in earnest. 

Your cheeks burned “Thank you so much, but it's just a hobby of mine and I love what I'm doing professionally.”

So this was settled. 

Gibbs asked himself the same what Tim had asked you and he feared your answer, but there was nothing to fear. You wouldn't leave him, would you? 

Of course they said that you were the next again and before you could say anything Tim cheered “I love when you sing ballads. So please, I want to hear “Run” of Leona Lewis.”

That was a sad but wonderful song, because it gives courage. 

So you sang it and Gibbs had to swallow hard. You singing this song got absolutely under his skin, no matter what. 

Tim, Tony and Abby saw this and congratulated themselves. Their plan seemed to work. Sure, originally it was Abby's plan, but Tim and Tony decided to help her as they noticed what she tried. 

Tim was next, so you didn't have to spend the whole evening on stage. He had to drink a glass of beer in one go as he chose the dare. Tony came after him, made the same choice and had to drink a glass of rum. He coughed heavily, but finally he made it and cheered at himself and bathed in his triumph. 

“Now it's my turn!” he then yelled and spun the bottle again. And again you had bad luck, because it landed once more on you. 

“Why does it never land on Gibbs?” you murmured a little annoyed. 

“Because it has too much fear of him!” Tony laughed and nearly toppled over because of it. 

While all were laughing, this earned him a glare and a head-slap from the boss. 

But it didn't help, it was your turn, so you said confidentially “I'll stick with dare.”

Surely you had only to sing again…

…but no!!!

Abby sent you a mischievous grin and demanded “you have to kiss Gibbs.”

Your jaw dropped and you blanched of surprise. Then you gulped and kissed him on the cheek. Everyone was disappointed, but most especially him. For a moment he thought his dreams would come true and his heart was trying to jump out of his chest, but no. He only felt your lips that he wanted to taste so much on his cheek.

Your cheeks however burned of embarrassment. Your heart was racing and you feared his reaction, but he simply stared at you with his wonderful ice blue eyes. 

Then you spun the bottle. It landed on Abby. She chose dare and gave a really good performance of AC/DC's “Thunderstruck”. 

Your little break wasn't long before it was your turn again. This time you chose to tell the truth. So Tony took his chance, stared at you and asked “do you have a boyfriend currently?” 

Once again you turned red “actually not. No, I don't have a boyfriend or someone like that at the moment.”

Tony and most of all Gibbs were very pleased with your answer. 

Then you turned the bottle, but Abby manipulated it, so it landed on you once more. You sighed and said “dare”.

Tim spoke up and made a wish “I would like to hear “The Rose” of Bette Midler.”

Abby cried excited “Yes! Such a wonderful song. A really good choice.”

You rolled your eyes, but went smiling to the stage once again. You loved singing, but you were getting slowly tired of the game. And you had a feeling, that maybe the three of Tim, Tony and Abby were up to something. 

But okay, it was your turn. 

You walked to the micro and it was silent again. Everybody held their breath in anticipation of what would happen. 

You breathed deeply to calm yourself, closed your eyes and began to sing. 

You poured all your heart in the song to get the wonderful message to your audience and everyone listened to your voice. 

You were totally oblivious that Gibbs stood up totally mesmerized and slowly walked to you. The team gasped in astonishment, but he couldn't help himself. He felt like he was drawn magically to you and couldn't resist for the life of him. 

As you had finished the song you opened your eyes to find his blue ones directly in front of you. Without a word he cupped your cheek with one hand and your waist with the other and pulled you to him. 

He wanted to taste your lips so badly so he slowly closed the distance between you and kissed you softly and tenderly. Breaking the kiss after a short while he kissed you lovingly on your forehead too, turned and walked back to your table. 

You stood there unable to move, think or do anything. What was that? Out of the blue your boss kissed you! The only thing in your mind was the word “wow!” 

After you collected yourself you went back to your table too, where you were met with three widely grinning faces and ice blue eyes which followed your every move over the edge of a beer glass. 

Sitting again next to Gibbs you took a sip from your own beer and then laughed “now it's MY turn to turn the bottle!” 

You grabbed it and instantly a hand was laid on yours. Holding your hand Gibbs turned the bottle at himself. He locked eyes with you and stated “it's my turn and I'm choosing the dare. But it's actually not a dare, but an honor.”

Everyone wondered and waited for what he was going to do, but he didn't care about the audience. He simply pulled you gently to him and kissed you hard and deeply to get his message to you and to stake his claim. 

Neither of you were able to grab a thought or say a word after this world turning kiss. You two were in your own world and forgot all your surroundings, co-workers inclusively. 

It took Tony to bring you both back to reality. He clapped Gibbs on the shoulder and winked saying “you should go and take a room.”

Instead of glaring at him, Gibbs grinned widely and murmured to you “for once he's right. Come on, Y/N. Let's go!” 

Under the cheering, clapping and laughing of your colleagues the two of you left the bar to celebrate the beginning of your life together.

The End

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Here you will find the other stories I've written to date.

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Tags: @ilovemark1951, @hobby27

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[kittycatvlogs24]

Are You Jealous

Paring: Draco Malfoy x Reader

Summary: You and Draco are classmates, you both know very little about each other, just a few nods and stares and some chats in class. Other than that, you two don’t really interact unless boredom or you guys get partnered up together. You have sorta developed a small crush on Draco overtime, but you think it is one-sided. Until Draco gets jealous that someone is flirting with you.

Warnings: Kinda angst, jealousy, some fluff and cuteness at the end.

Words: 1,586

A/N: This is my first time writing an actual short fic. I thought of this little OneShot and wanted to write about it. Sorry if it’s not the best. If you have any suggestions of what I could do better on let me know. I really hope you like it, please follow or/and submit a request. Have a good day/night and stay safe! :)

I was in potion’s class , bored out of my mind. Professor Snape was doing his usual lecturing about some boring ingredient for another one of our potion assignments. Somewhere in the middle of his talking, I started zoning out and staring at Draco. Draco had sat a little aways across from me, we were usually partners for most of the classes and talked a little here and there. I kept staring at him, watching as the faint white glow touched his skin and made his hair glow.

“I will be assigning everyone their group partners for this assignment.” Professor Snape spoke. My head perked up as I listened for my name to be called, and a part of me hoped I got partnered with Draco.

Nope. Instead I got paired with the famous Harry Potter, Draco’s rival. He sat down next to me and we started working on the project together. I didn’t know much about Harry, all I knew was that he survived you-know-who and played Quidditch. I had also noticed that he always looked at me and would never stop. I talked to him a few times before and he had always seemed so awkward around me.

Although our interactions were awkward he was quite kind and I returned the kindness, while trying to finish the assignment as soon as possible. I did not want to be stuck as the last person doing this assignment, Snape was tough on everyone and if you were the last person doing an assignment he would deduct points if you weren’t quick enough to finish before the timer.

Thankfully me and Harry finished the assignment before the timer, and it was a success. The only strange thing was how many times Harry brushed his hand against mine. He of course quickly pulled away, but still it was weird that it happened a lot during the assignment. We were waiting on two more groups to finish, Draco was talking to his potions partner who was also one of his friends, Blaise. So I decided to talk to Harry, discussing what class we had after this and the usual homework assignments. It really wasn’t anything special.

That is until out of nowhere Harry asked, “could we hang out over the weekends? If you're not busy then of course.”

I paused as I looked at the boy. “I’m not sure if I am busy or not, but I will let you know.” I gave a polite smile and he responded with a nod. We went back to our normal conversation before the groups had finished.

Class was dismissed and I walked out into the stampede of students trying to get to their next class. I kept walking and entered my next class, which was Charms. I sat down in my usual spot which was at the front on the right. As everyone started getting seated Draco approached me and took a seat next to me as he usually did.

“So what were you and Pottah talking about?” Draco asked, an annoyed tone in his voice.

I smirked. “Nothing much, just classes and homework. He also asked me if I was free to hang out this weekend.” I told him, talking out my parchment and quill.

In the corner of my eye, I saw his eyes roll. “And? What did you say?” Draco asked, getting his parchment and quill.

“Told him that I would think about it and see if I was free.” I said, before adding. “Why jealous?” I asked in a playful tone.

He just chuckled. “No, why would I?” He asked, looking at me. I just shrugged and was about to explain, until Professor Flitwick came into the class and hushed us.

As class started I leaned slightly closer to Draco and whispered, “explain later.” He nodded and we spent all class hearing more lectures and new incantations.

After class, me and Draco walked out to lunch and I explained that it was just a little joke. However, a little part of me wished that he was kind of jealous. To know that he might have at least a small crush on me.

Draco then departed and went over to his friends. I decided to sit by Luna today. she was, although quite odd indeed, she was a wonderful friend and could bring a smile to literally anyone. As me and Luna conversed, Harry and his two other friends Hermione and Ron had come over to sit with us. I smiled at the trio and started including them into the conversation.After lunch, Harry asked to walk me to my next class since we had the same one. I agreed and we continued part of the conversation laughing at the way Ron had defended the subject.

We made it to class and continued talking and laughing. Draco had chosen to sit with one of his Slytherin friends and I saw him sneaking glances at the two of us. At the end of class, I told Harry that if I was free on the weekend that we could meet up at the Three Broomsticks. He nodded and I started walking to my common room. As I was half way there to my house common room, Draco had appeared almost out of nowhere and walked beside me slightly brushing against my shoulder. “Hey.” I greeted him.

“Hey.” He replied back, giving me a little nod. He looked a little pissed and I felt like I knew exactly what it was about.

“So-”, I was about to speak before Draco interrupted me. “What is going on between you and Pottah?” He asked, annoyed. I stopped and stared at him.

“What do you mean?” I asked. “We are just friends, I literally have only talked to him a few times I barely know him.” I said, defensively. “Are you seriously jealous?”

“I’m not jealous.” He rebutted.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking to my common house dorm, before getting interrupted by Harry. I gave him a confused look as he was waiting outside my common room dorm. He saw me and smiled and started walking towards me.

“Harry what are you…?” I asked, as he approached me.

“I was going to wait till the weekends, but I was wondering- I have a crush on you and-” He stuttered over his words as he admitted his true feelings.

I froze before him and he waited for my response. I cleared my throat and spoke. “Look, you seem like a good guy, but I barely know you and I am also not that interested. I’m quite flattered but my answer has to be no.”

He nodded and apologized. “I understand, sorry.” Before I could speak he rushed off. I sighed and continued into my common room before going into my dorm and flopping on my bed. What a day.

The next day, I started heading down to get breakfast before seeing Draco out in the hall. I froze and we stared at each other for a few seconds. It almost reached a minute of the both of us staring at each till I walked up to him and cleared my throat. “Good morning.” I greeted.

He nodded, “morning.” He was nervously fiddling with one of the silver rings on his finger and avoiding my gaze.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked, studying the nervous fidgeting. “Are you still jealous?” I teased.

“I am not jealous.” He gritted his teeth.

“If you’re not jealous, then why do you care so much that I am hanging out with Harry?.” I crossed my arms and gave him a stern look as I interrogated him. He was definitely jealous but why wouldn’t he admit it?

“I just don’t like him.” He said, still looking at the floor avoiding my gaze.

I kept my arms crossed and looked at him. “If you don’t tell me the actual truth, I am going to go ahead and get breakfast.” I said. A long silence filled the hall as he awkwardly avoided his gaze.”Fine. Guess I’ll go.”

I was about to turn around, but instead he grabbed my arm. He looked up at me and sighed. I saw his lips move but only heard a little mumble come out which was slightly audible. “What was that?” I asked, giving a small smirk.

He rolled his eyes at me before clearing his throat. “Fine, I’m jealous.” He confessed. “I’ve started to grow feelings for you, and I tried to ignore them, but I can’t.”

A light blush started growing on my cheeks as he finally admitted his feelings. I was about to open my mouth and confess my feelings as well, but he started walking away. “Hey!” I yelled after him, grabbing his arm now. “You can’t just admit you have feelings and leave.”

“I can if you don’t feel the same.” He replied. He was about to pull away and go back into his common room, before I spoke.

“But I do have feelings for you.” I admitted softly.

He turned to look at me with a soft gaze. “Really?” He asked. “You aren’t just saying that.”

I nodded. “I really do have feelings for you Draco, I thought they were only one sided.” I kept holding his arm, hoping that this wasn’t a dream.

He looked down at me. “Well you were wrong, because I like you too.” His hand went to my chin and lifted it softly as his soft lips met mine for a gentle yet passionate kiss.

[mekachu04]

14. Punk

Kidd - 18 | Killer - 22

Tags specifically for this chapter:

Killer's struggling with identity issues

and how he fits into the crew

Killer might be slightly agoraphobic|claustrophilic

Read at A03 linked above or here below cut

Drabbles from Pocket Jack's KiKi-tober Prompt list

He's not as surprised as he outta be to find Killer dozing in the workshop again. What was part of the captain's quarters had been split down the middle with all the best shiny crap Kidd could fill it with.

The room was now the closest to the scrapheap one could get - sans the smell. Kidd wasn't particularly trying to replicate anything but Killer certainly seemed to gravitate to something in the area.

Or maybe it was just the smallest room right now. Killer had always been uneasy in open spaces. As kids, they'd learn to burrow into many a small cramped places at night for safety and Killer's never really lost that habit.

Today he was tucked in under the desk. Kidd smirked as he moved in another box of odds and ends he'd gathered up. Killer had a perfectly good mattress in his brand new room and yet continued to wedge himself under Kidd's desk to sleep.

Dork Kidd thought fondly. He did try to work quietly though.

After a few minutes, a thought struck him, and he paused to peer down at his new colleague and oldest friend inquisitively. He mulled over the curiosity forming in him mind, tumbled it around.

"Hey Kil?" he prompted, kneeling down by the man. Killer did not move. He was curled in on himself, bangs down around his eyes, chin and nose tucked down into his collar. Kidd touched the rough shirt fabric thoughtfully, before brushing Killer's bangs away.

Killer made a soft little, "hmmm?" but did not wake.

***

There was certainly a ... theme... starting to develop with Kidd's new crew. A lot of fishnet as a fashion statement. A lot more leather then he'd been expecting. He'd thought he might have gone over board with some of the ostentatious prints he'd hoarded in the corner of his wardrobe, but nothing compared to the belts and chains and straps that was clearly his crew's new aesthetic.

But they looked so happy. Some of the get ups were impractical as hell, but that just meant Kidd had to be stronger and better to make sure that he'd be the one taking on any challengers and letting them keep their towering heels and strands of pearls.

Before they knew it the ship was ready to sail. Kidd standing on the deck of the newly christened Victoria Punk.

There was just one thing left...

Before the rest of the crew assembled, Kidd took his box and headed to the quarters of his three commanders. Wire & Heat he had already passed, leaving just one man behind. Good - Kidd wasn't sure how his gift would be received and wasn't sure Killer would want an audience. Once entering, Kidd knocked on the wall once inside, eyeing Killer in amusement.

"Don't laugh at me." The man warned, as serious as a heart attack. Killer had lost his sense of humor after Victoria Prime handed his ass to him a handful of years back.

Kidd held up the box as a peace offering. "I'm sorry." And he was. He could only guess how uncomfortable Killer was in that get up. "You look pitiful."

Killer scowled but Kidd just shook the box for emphasis. "The three of us had a chat. Sorry you weren't invited."

The scowled deepened. One of Killer's problems was he was just too damn emotive. No matter how he tried to hid it, just a glance at his face told you everything you needed to know about his mood. The mop of hair he called bangs could only hide so much, and Kidd was waiting for the day he came out to find Killer replaced by Cousin It.

Killer took the box, glaring at him before opening the lid to.... "Kidd?"

"We wanted everyone to be themselves, Killer. Remember? No more acting or dressing how other people expect us too. And that includes you."

Inside was a soft cashmere sweater, pale blue and cream. Probably the most money any of them had ever spend on a single item, much less for a piece of clothing.

Killer held the sweater, stunned, fingering the soft weave. "Kidd... I don't..."

"If you don't like it - then we'll give it to someone else. But... Kil, don't pretend to be into what every one else in. You don't have to do that anymore. I want you to just be you. Killer. Not someone parading around in today's latest BDSM catalog - which, apparently, is our new signature style - because he thinks he has to to be accepted."

Killer chuckled before pretending to cough to cover it up. Kidd tried not to let his disappointment at that colour his expression. But Killer did slid the garment on, and Kidd smiled when Killer's face lit up at the soft feel, beaming ear to ear in that silly crooked smile of his.

[bigbandithewada]

Feeling like putting down my find so here is

JV/Ant Davidson Timeline

(Can’t guarantee 100% accuracy on all info, can’t guarantee no bias no projection, not using there full names because guess what, so less info about them together if you google their names together my blog appears on the 1st page)

JV was raised in Switzerland. Did math and computer science in Switzerland. He found out he needed an engineer background to enter F1 so went back to England to get a master in that. Got to work at BAR(later Honda, Brawn, Merc) eventually. (He had a billion interview on him hustling his way to BAR but that’s not relevant to the story here)

Ant was raised in a middle class family. Went to Karting with brother and he was more interested and started to compete in Karting. He worked his way to Formula Ford and was lucky to get a sponsorship( the sponsor bought a house and let him lived there). His sponsor talked to him about career choice, at that time, test driver made a decent amount of money and that f1 seat seems a bit too distant. So Ant ended up in BAR around the same time as JV

Well JV was not that much of an engineering guy. His job going into Honda was a combination of some data analysis, coordination between departments and some engineer. There was no proper strategist job back in the days so he just bounced around. (The untold interview he said he was suppose to fix an electronic problem on the front wing, Evan Short ended up doing that. Not saying that he knew nothing but inferring from his other interview, he definitely needed help). (Even now strategist have “low” status in the team since only the principal strategist can go to the track and everyone back home’s job is make sure to feed enough info through TR that the principal’s eyes are always on track).

Meanwhile, Ant was doing amazing as a test driver, too amazing that Honda was reluctant to release him to do actual f1 racing. He missed a seat(which team I forgot) but Honda eventually agreed to let him race for Super Aguri in 2007. That team didn’t last.

Then came the Brawn year. Before 2009, JV and Ant were already starting to worry about their jobs and registered a company together. Company never took off because here comes Brawn GP.

After the championship, our champ Jenson was scheduled to do victory laps in the factory for the fans but he already buggered off to McLaren. Ant did the laps and JV was his engineer for that.

Then came the Merc years.

Ant was doing a bunch of different things then: racing in WEC, driving the Merc simulator and later became a sky sport host. Ant missed the chance of winning a championship(he also missed a podium due to bad luck in 2007) but he got one eventually. When Alonso returned to F1, Ant interviewed him asking if Alonso remembered them racing against each other in WEC, Alonso did not remember. Ant also did Jenson’s retirement interview. Ant also did some interview later saying he was too nice to be competing in this shark tank of f1, nice guy can’t win races.

JV was doing a bunch of different things in Merc as well. He was in charge of simulator, junior team, esport team and development data analysis software for premier league(honorable mention: he wrote the drivers code of conduct in 2016 to prevent Lewis and Nico fighting). Ant was a reliable simulator driver, JV was working a lot with Ant at that time(JV didn’t need to be present for the crowd strike thing but he was there…) (Also they Merc’s equipment to tune cars for their friend’s Karting league, naughty boys). I want to believe JV cares about drivers he works with, especially junior team (he went up to hug Esteban Ocon(Merc junior driver) after his 2021 Hungarian gp win(Merc strategy was a disaster that race)

Ant said JV is one of his best friends. He phoned JV a lot during the Honda and Brawn years. Ant also texted JV to ask for technical details when he started to comment for Sky( Ant joked in 2023 pre season test that JV is getting to busy with his TP job to reply to his texts). JV also bugged Ant for a VIP pass during Ant’s LeMans years. JV had spent time with Ant’s family doing barbecue for JV’s birthday. JV is Ant’s kids’ god father.

Projection time: Brawn and Merc years treated JV so well he probably is a bit idealist about things now. The stuff he said at Williams make sense if your work experience is a streak of championships. JV will probably never get a reality check so hard the way Ant exit F1(divorce? Idw). Knowing they are good friends make me happy.

(Some source from Ant’s deleted twitter account)

[reasonsmandy]

Rare Things

Sam Claflin x Fem!Reader

✧.* requested by anon — Maybe something where reader and Sam knew each other for years (like right person wrong time) and then they finally start dating

✧.* summary — The paths of destiny are traced in different and curious ways, pieces that couldn't connect at certain times in the future would fall into place. Sam and you were pieces of fate about to meet again.

✧.* warnings — none

✧.* word count — 2.2k

✧.* ☁️ — Sam Claflin's Masterlist

There were several things about your work that amazed you, the way you were able to architect the writers' ideas, harmonize the actors' chemistry, bring the writing to life in front of the studio camera lens and provide a magnificent work of entertainment for the audience. You've always loved directing works since you entered the theater universe, there was a connection backstage where magic was created that you always felt like you belonged and that's when you decided to architect your career.

It didn't take you long to grow in the middle, of course things weren't handed to you on a platter, but with the sweat and talent you've been developing since you were very young, the steps were taken to where you are now. On your way here, you had already worked on some big projects, and that's when you met Sam Claflin.

You were relatively young when you first met, and from the very beginning, there was an undeniable connection between you. Your hearts synchronized effortlessly, causing palpable excitement in your chest every time he was near. His smile held a magnetic charm, capable of illuminating even the darkest of moments, and his infectious laughter made you feel an instant sense of belonging by his side. When his gaze met yours, the entire world faded away, leaving only the two of you in a timeless bubble of affection.

But despite the deep bond you shared, the path of your love was not without obstacles. You both tried to navigate the complexities of a romantic relationship, eagerly embracing the love that blossomed between you. However, as time went on, it became apparent that a formidable challenge loomed over your connection—geographical distance.

Sam, you see, had other recordings in a faraway country, a responsibility that demanded his presence in a distant land. The physical separation took its toll, stretching the limits of your love and testing its resilience. The enchanting power of Sam's smile and the laughter that once echoed through your shared moments now seemed distant, like faint echoes from a place you could no longer reach.

The voice inside Sam, which had once proclaimed that there was no one who could compare to you, now grew quieter, suppressed by the weight of the distance between you. The inexplicable connection you once shared began to fade, like a whisper carried away by the wind, as the physical space between you expanded.

Though your hearts ached for each other, the universe seemed determined to keep you apart. The jolt of electricity that surged through your veins when your hands touched was now overshadowed by the vast expanse of the world that separated you. The warmth of Sam's embrace, once a sanctuary, now felt out of reach, leaving an ache in your heart that couldn't be eased.

You both fought valiantly to keep the flame of your love alive, attempting to bridge the distance with late-night calls, heartfelt messages, and promises of reunion. But the strain grew too heavy, and the burden of distance proved insurmountable. Despite the love that still lingered, the circumstances forced you to make a painful decision.

And so, with heavy hearts, you realized that the physical separation had taken its toll, placing an unrelenting strain on the fragile threads that held your love together. You chose to part ways, knowing that it was the only way to preserve what remained of your hearts.

It hadn't been a breakup due to fights, or very drastic disagreements, but aiming at the good of both of you, a way of understanding that even though you loved each other, it was necessary to let destiny trace its paths. And it took a while, but it happened.

When you received the script for Daisy Jones and the six you were delighted with the project and the idea of the adaptation finally, you had already read Taylor Jenkins Reid's books and were a big fan of her work so you jumped right on the idea. When you guys started working on the casting and testing the connection between the actors it took a long time to find the ideal actor for Billy Dunne, and when you saw that well-known figure walk through the audition door your heart skipped a beat just like the first time.

There he was, his short hair, that characteristic smile that captivated everyone in that room, you try to maintain your serenity but lose all your posture when those eyes link to yours. He looks surprised to see you but tries to contain it, you can tell by the way his eyebrows come together so discreetly that it's a detail that probably only you noticed. It doesn't take long for Riley to join you and spend the monologue with Claflin, watching him perform has always been and always will be a privilege, the way he embodies the character wonderfully makes anyone stop what they're doing just to see him.

By the time he finished you knew you had the perfect Billy Dunne.

…

When you started to live together again on set, you knew that there wouldn't be a rancorous past between you, quite the contrary, it was as if you slowly allowed yourselves to get closer as before. Sam always admired your work a lot, for him it was sensational to work with you and let his character be guided on screen by your instructions and scene reading. You guys were quite a team and that conviviality soon reminded you of why you felt so connected to him.

You feared that it was something in your head for a moment, that you had identified something that was no longer there, that your memories were so vivid when you looked at him that it was difficult to distinguish if it was your delirium. After all, he was always close to everyone at work, wasn't he? It was common for everyone on set to feel that connection... Right?

Deep down you knew it wasn't, that despite not believing in the mysticism that surrounded all the romantic stories out there, he made you think that there was indeed an invisible thread tying your souls. He made you think about the unimaginable just by hovering over any thought where you could be together, and whether or not you fed those possibilities... Yearning to be with him as you already were.

…

During one of the breaks in the recording, you found yourselves alone, away from the bustling set, immersed in a moment of solitude. The air hung with a sense of familiarity, as if time had momentarily transported you back to the days when your connection was at its peak. Sam watched you from time to time while he threw some small pebbles on the ground, and you felt butterflies in your stomach with his gaze on you.

As you and Sam sat together, a smile tugging at the corners of your lips, you couldn't help but feel a rush of nostalgia. The memories flooded back, and you began to share stories from the day and eventually you couldn't help but bring up the past, the words flowing freely between you.

"You remember that time when we got stuck in that small town during shooting?" you asked, a glint of excitement in your eyes.

Sam chuckled, his voice tinged with fondness. "Of course I do! We thought it would be a disaster, but it turned out to be one of the most memorable nights. Everything cooperated so that we didn't lose the week of work, but that we had some challenges I won't deny."

The laughter that had once filled the air returned, weaving through your conversation like a symphony of joy. It was as if the barriers that had kept you apart had crumbled, leaving only the raw essence of your bond.

With each shared memory, a cascade of emotions washed over you. The anecdotes flowed effortlessly, punctuated by genuine laughter and shared glances that spoke volumes.

"You always had a way of making even the most mundane moments unforgettable," Sam remarked, a hint of admiration in his voice, his comment made your heart skip a beat. "I cherished every second we spent together."

You couldn't help but smile, your heart swelling with warmth. "You don't stay behind one bit, with your incredible ability to bring out the best in everyone. Your unwavering support and belief in my work meant the world to me."

As you spoke, the walls that had guarded your hearts seemed to dissolve, allowing vulnerability to seep in. There was a comfort in knowing that you could trust each other with the depths of your emotions, that your connection had withstood the test of time.

In that moment of vulnerability, the invisible thread that bound your souls seemed to grow stronger. It was as if the universe had conspired to bring you together, to give you a chance to relive the moments that had once set your hearts ablaze.

The conversation danced between nostalgia and hope, threading together fragments of the past with the possibility of a future that had yet to be written. The yearning in your voices, the warmth in your gazes, all conveyed an unspoken desire to reclaim what had been lost, to rewrite the story of your love.

"I've missed this, you know," Sam confessed, his voice filled with a mix of longing and regret. "The ease I have with you, where I know I can share all my thoughts, the way we understand each other without saying a word. It's a connection unlike any other."

Your eyes met, and the unspoken words hung heavy in the air. The depth of your bond was palpable, and in that stolen moment, surrounded by the echoes of memories, you found solace in each other's presence.

You take a deep breath, looking deep into his eyes that seem to pull you into that paradise. "I hope you don't think I'm crazy for what I'm going to say..." You laugh, looking away to the horizon. “I could search far and wide but no one could ever make me feel the way you do. It’s always you, and I think it will always be you.”

He opens a small smile, his hands go to your cheek and he makes you look at him again you feel that no matter what happens, those eyes that make you lose yourself are your way back. You can't contain the laugh that comes out of your mouth, stroking his hand over your face.

“I think we’re one of those rare things deserving of a second chance.” You whisper with a small smile.

"We are one thing, for sure." He slowly approaches you and you anxiously want him to break that distance soon. “I wanna make us work again, if you’re willing.”

“God, of course I’m willing.” His smile was wide and he shifted his gaze to her lips as a silent question. "Can I?"

"Please" You say, getting closer to him.

As Sam's lips meet yours, a wave of emotions surges through your being. It's a kiss filled with longing, the culmination of years spent apart and the hope for a future together. The world around you fades into insignificance as the intensity of your connection envelops you both.

His touch is tender yet passionate, his hands cradling your face, as if trying to imprint every sensation onto his memory. The taste of his lips is familiar, a bittersweet reminder of what you had once shared and what you now have the chance to reclaim.

In that single moment, time seems to stand still. The gentle breeze carries the soft sighs of two souls finding solace in each other's arms. The warmth of the sun caresses your skin, mirroring the warmth that blossoms within your hearts.

It's a kiss that speaks volumes—a testament to the unbreakable bond between you. With each brush of his lips against yours, the weight of the past lifts, replaced by a renewed sense of hope and possibility. The electricity that courses through your veins is a testament to the undeniable chemistry that exists between you, reignited in this tender embrace.

The world around you blurs, and it's just the two of you, locked in a timeless moment of pure love and longing. The kiss deepens, fueled by the unspoken promise of a second chance, a commitment to make things work this time around.

As you finally break apart, breathless and smiling, your eyes meet, and it's as if a universe of unspoken promises lies within that gaze. You know that this kiss is just the beginning—a rekindling of a love story that never truly ended but was simply waiting for the right moment to be rewritten.

In this stolen moment, the power of your connection is reaffirmed. And as you hold each other, your hearts beating in synchrony, you know that together you can overcome any obstacle that may come your way, for your love is stronger than the distance and stronger than the challenges that once stood between you.

This kiss, filled with hope and the promise of a future, becomes a symbol of your commitment to one another, a beacon guiding you towards a love that is meant to be, a love that will endure.

...

Hi, I hope you enjoyed it... If you wanted to ask for something my requests are open, and if you want to ask and don't have any ideas check out my prompt list :) xoxo

Want to be tagged when new stories come out? REASONSMANDY'S TAG LIST

[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 23 - International Minister of Arts and Culture

Kazunari: Ah, the livestream started!

Muku: Is Citron-sama really going to walk the red carpet?

Kazunari: All I’m seeing is overseas celebs so far~.

Kumon: I’m getting kinda excited!

Misumi: There’s Citron~!

Muku: Waah, he’s so dignified and cool…!

Tenma: He really does look like royalty like this.

Kazunari: I’ll snap a commemorative screenshot~.

Taichi: Is the interview in English? It’s crazy that Citron’s speaking without an interpreter!

Guy: This is a good opportunity to showcase the Kingdom of Zahra to notable figures in the culture and entertainment fields. It is most effective to communicate with those people in their own language.

Guy: Citronia has acquired foreign language skills to a certain degree for diplomatic purposes.

Banri: Even so, he’s completely different from the usual Citron.

Banri: Can switchin’ to a different language really make that much of a difference?

Guy: In his position, you must have a good outward appearance to a certain degree.

Guy: However, when he speaks Japanese, he is able to somewhat let his inner personality out more.

Banri: Yeah, I think he’s lettin’ it out a lil’ too much…

Tenma: I’m kind of surprised that he’s been able to keep it in at all.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Citron: 《As the people of Zahra have become increasingly more interested in them, we would like to invite many excellent theatrical and musical performances from overseas to the Kingdom of Zahra.》

Citron: 《I myself belong to a Japanese theater company called MANKAI Company, which has performed overseas in the Kingdom of Zahra.》

Citron: 《Based on that experience, I believe that we can be of great help in terms of support for overseas companies.》

Citron: 《We hope to have many new encounters through this.》

*Applause*

Arts Festival Participant A: 《I have not yet had the experience of visiting your country. I have always hoped to have an opportunity like this someday.》

Citron: 《We look forward to your visit. We have many theater fans among our people, and they will certainly give you a very warm welcome.》

Arts Festival Participant B: 《I have heard much of your success, Prince Citronia. My impression of the Kingdom of Zahra being a more open nation has strengthened thanks to you.》

Citron: 《A little wanderlust can be very useful sometimes.》

Arts Festival Participant A: 《Hahaha. Right, I will be starting a new project to combine theater with the latest in AI technology and--.》

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Citron: …Phew.

Citron: (I’m almost through with the greetings.)

Citron: (After all, if we look beyond Japan and Zahra, we can see that even if we just limit our scope to focus on theater, there is still a diverse range of development all around.)

Citron: (It is stimulating to actively go to places like these.)

Citron: (A whole new door, huh… That reminds me, I wonder if everyone in Spring Troupe watched the broadcast.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

TorORo has entered the chat.

Saku: He said MANKAI Company!

tsuzuru: It’s pretty amazing to hear your name mentioned at an international arts festival

Curry: citron’s here

tsuzuru: I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve read “TorORo” and wondered who that is

taruchi: skill issue

UC: Aren’t you in the middle of the arts festival right now?

TorORo: i amn on a rake!

Curry: break?

taruchi: the gap’s insane

tsuzuru: That’s our Citron-san

Saku: But it’s kinda a relief!

tsuzuru: It’s like you were a whole different person during the stream

UC: There was a lot of excitement in the company LIME chat too. They were all watching from the lounge.

TorORo: evenb thouvgh we’re aparnt, it is likeb we arbe in rhe same confessional

taruchi: confessional lmfaooo

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[tarditzgrade]

developing/developed a ninjago x splatoon au with someone else and so i wrote a little oneshot for it focusing on the agent 3 fight in octo expansion, but with lloyd and arin instead

i thought of the title at like 1 in the morning dont scold me for it

it's about 1,335 words :))

“It’s gonna be fine, Arin reassured himself. What was one more fight to get out of this place? He readied his gun and got into a better fighting stance, as Agent 3 finally turned and the two locked eyes and- --y-- -a-----n. Those eyes. That face. That was the face of a ------.” Arin's almost at surface after experiencing a hell like no other, but there's only one more thing standing in his way. Someone very…familiar?

“Keep it up, Arin!” Geo’s voice encouraged him over the comm. “You’re almost at the surface!”

“The elevator ahead should carry you up the rest of the way!” Cole added. “And the battery’s already in there, too.”

“So it should be an easy ride from here, huh?” Arin let himself relax as he crossed the rail connecting the spawner used to enter the facility and the bridge to the elevator platform.

“Should be.” Cole agreed. “And, hey, look at that. Agent 3 and the Captain’s signals are close by as well. Maybe you’ll run into each other on the way up.”

“We haven’t heard from them in a bit.” Geo muttered. “I hope they’re doing okay…”

“Oh, Geo! Y’know what?” Cole had an idea, possibly to cheer up Geo. “We should get the heli’ ready to pick him up once he gets out.”

“The chopper? Won’t that be overkill?”

“You’re gonna let the kid’s first ride on the surface be something lamer?”

Geo sighed, giving in. “Yeah, I guess not. I’ll make the call.”

The two idols continued to talk as Arin reached the elevator. Arin didn’t need to activate anything, as the platform began to rise a few seconds after he stepped on the checkpoint in the middle. It locked into a larger platform and the whole thing continued to rise.

Homebound, was the first thought he had. Could you really be homebound to a place you’ve never been? Well, home was where the heart is and Arin felt his heart belonged on the surface.

Just a few more minutes, a few more meters up, and he’d be there.

All the things he’d be able to see. The clothes he’d get to wear. The people he’d get to meet. He’d actually get to meet Cole and Geo face-to-face and they said they’d pick him up in a helicopter? It was gonna be so cool to get his first views of the surface from so high up.

Many exciting thoughts and speculations of what his life would be like by the end of next hour ran through his head. Once this elevator reached the end of its climb and-

Thud.

With a hiss, the platform abruptly halted.

“What’s going on?” Geo asked.

“Uh- the elevator… it stopped.” Cole replied. Arin could hear a frantic keyboard typing from their end.

“It shouldn’t be doing that?”

“No. He’s nowhere near the top and the battery’s still working. Something external must’ve stopped it.”

Geo turned his attention. “Are you okay, Arin? Do you see anything?”

“Um, yeah? I think I’m fine. I don’t-” Arin glanced up.

Oh.

Arin had gotten so caught up in his own fantasies of the surface he hadn’t noticed that there was something standing between him and the world above.

On top of one of the posts bordering the elevator, someone stood with their back turned.

Arin couldn’t see their face, but judging by the tattered cape flowing about in the wind…

“Oh, it’s just Agent 3 up there.” Arin let out a sigh of relief.

He wasn’t actually too familiar with Agent 3. The captain had put up a missing poster for him, but his drawing hadn’t been the most detailed or legible. Other than that, the only time he could recall meeting him before now was only a short while ago in the Central Station.

And that meeting had been very brief due to the fact that Agent 3 had passed out immediately after showing up and the telephone was cephalocidal now.

But Agent 3 had saved both him and the captain from the blender and it was everyone against the telephone in this fight, so Arin felt no major need to have concern.

Cole must’ve seen or known something else, though. Worry crept into his voice. “Yeah, that is Agent 3 up there, but…”

“Agent 8?!” A panicked voice rang out from behind Agent 3. A UFO floated into view, Captain Wu himself dangling upside down from under it, tied up yet squirming in his restraints. He caught sight of Arin. “Gah! Agent 8! Help! That telephone got Ll- got Agent 3! His mind’s been hijacked!”

Agent 3’s back was still turned, but Arin could see it now. A bluish-green ooze was latched on to the side of his head.

It’s gonna be fine, Arin reassured himself. What was one more fight to get out of this place? He readied his gun and got into a better fighting stance, as Agent 3 finally turned and the two locked eyes and-

--y-- -a-----n.

Those eyes.

A bright, vibrant turquoise that clearly wasn’t his normal color, but the color of his eyes didn’t matter.

That expression. On that face.

Cold and callous. Emotionless as it looked Arin over.

That was the face of a -------.

--o-d -ar-a-o-.

Arin didn’t know much. That darned telephone had taken away all he had known before the underground. So he had no memory of meeting Agent 3 before all of this.

But that face of almost apathetic resolve. The stance of someone who knows power. Who knows they’re powerful.

It awakened a feeling deep within Arin that he didn’t know he had.

--oy- --r-a--n.

Again, Arin attempted to remind himself that he’d be fine. He was capable, surely capable enough to beat Agent 3.

But there was something that his body knew that his head didn’t.

His grip on his gun shook. His breathing quickened. His legs begged to run or give out.

Arin was panicking. He had faced many, many worse things in the depths of Kamabo than what stood above him, but nothing had gained a reaction quite like this.

-l--- G--m--o-.

Hero. Traitor.

How could someone evoke both fear and admiration simultaneously?

Conflicting feelings stirred within and Arin tried to push them aside, but how could he when there was a chance that one of them may finally give him some kind of closure?

H-pe from a ------ that’d lead them out of domes to salvation.

D-sp-ir from a ------ that’d bring blackouts and death.

“Arin?” Geo asked, light and soft.

L--y- --r-a-on.

And that name. Arin felt like he was grasping at straws trying to remember it, an ultimately useless feat thanks to the telephone, but his mind couldn’t help but try.

It felt so…controversial. So polarizing. A name that, when mentioned, would gain fifty different reactions from fifty different people, and yet Arin couldn’t and would never remember it on his own.

He was starting to get that feeling of frustration that had pervaded this whole experience. That feeling he felt when he’d be on the verge of remembering something, anything, but ultimately never would.

That feeling felt stronger than ever now.

Would it mean anything to him if he did remember that name? Would it matter if it did?

-lo-d --rma-o-.

“Arin?” Cole asked this time, worried.

Those turquoise eyes were still empty of any feeling whatsoever. There were no signs of eagerness for the anticipation of a fight. There were no signs of disgust for someone daring to stand against him.

They only looked over Arin to assess him. Attempting to figure out the most efficient way this fight could play out. 

Not registering a fellow Octoling, only an opponent.

No, not even that. An obstacle.

And despite the fact that he was being mind controlled, that expression wasn’t alien on his face.

Champion. Menace.

-lo-- Ga---do-.

“Agent 8!” Cap’n Wu shouted, urgent and pleading.

Arin blinked, snapping out of his daze. Agh, now wasn’t the time for this.

Maybe he would never remember once he made it out of here. Maybe he’d never remember anything ever. Who knew how many answers the surface would have for him?

But there was a guarantee that he’d never remember anything if he died here.

Agent 3 fully turned to face Arin. He leapt off the post, Splashdown at the ready.

Arin had fought like hell to make it out of here. What was one more fight?

[lovebatty]

ㅤ( English and Spanish ver. )

Diabolik Lovers: Haunted Dark Husband — Dark Prologue

ㅤTW: none / ninguna❔

English ver.

—Monologue—

I have always thought that, as long as I can remember, I have never felt the need to venture into something. Maybe it’s normal for kids my age to act this impulsively, kicked out of the woods at such late hours... even out of public places.

It’s not that I don’t believe in magic or the paranormal activity, it’s just that maybe it doesn’t make an impression on me.

Maybe we were never the only intelligent beings on the surface, we just played at believing we were important. Thinking we were unique, valuable.

And if so, why would we be now? In a vast world, where without being —or not being— we cannot be happy and the morning smells like cigarettes.

—Flashback, 10 years ago in Mexico.—

❁ㅤHe still remembers that afternoon when one of his many colleagues took him by the arm to the computer room. It seems like a joke, but Romantic isn’t used to being dragged around. Spring was just dawning in the joy of the 21st century and they ran without any rush just to look at the day’s publications. For a laugh or two. After all, they were children.

Romantic: Vampires?

❁ㅤSaid the kid glued to the counter, more like a murmur to himself.

They? Romantic believed that they had become extinct from cinema; subjugated by entertainment, romantic comedy and Superman. For this reason, the little one could not help but frown, sliding his eyes over that digital page that no longer transmits that intoxicating aroma of fresh ink on his screen.

Romantic: Oh! Incredible! Who knew vampires could develop immunity to their weaknesses.

( Waa! This book is fabulous! If only I had the money to buy it... )

( At least, this girl uploaded all the translations like an angel from heaven would do. Now, I owe her my entire life! )

Hehe. ♪

Even if it’s crazy... If I was a vampire as well, maybe I could do those cool things too. Ah, that most be... too good to die for. ♪

—End of flashback.—

—Currently, «Haunted House» in Japan.—

Romantic: What a joy! I can’t stand this shoes anymore, I should have brought something lighter.

❁ㅤRomantic proclaimed as he looked at the huge houpse.

Romantic: Is this the place?

❁ㅤHe could expect everything, but a mansion is a luxury even for the most greedy. The boy searched his pockets, pulling out a battered sheet of paper with a scrawl of the address. It was the right place.

Romantic: It seems fine... is this really the «Haunted House» everyone is talking about?

❁ㅤHe didn’t have time to think about it. The skies rumbled and the rain became even more aggressive, forcing him to enter the space of that solemn construction without taking even a step back. He stuck to the entrance and carefully knocked on one of the two large wooden doors, waiting patiently in the rain without any response.

Romantic: Hello? Is anyone here?

( I could swear that everyone I asked along the way said this was the exact place. Was I wrong? )

Maybe they didn’t listen, should I knock again?

❁ㅤUnder his voice, his tone hinting at a certain insecurity. Maybe he was too used to the air of his home that being alone and without signal in the middle of the night is a worry.

Romantic: ( I don’t know what to do. There aren’t even any lights on, there’s most likely no one there after all. )

( It was to be expected. After all this place... is the famous «Haunted House» of the street. )

( They say there are monsters inside, but that doesn’t make much sense. After all, there are people living here... It must be a shame that they are considered that way. )

( I’m sure that if I approach them cordially, they will agree to answer my questions about the mansion. )

( I want to be the first to tell their story! It will be a fabulous project. ♪ )

Just one more try—

❁ㅤThe boy tried to knock on the door again by retracing his steps, shaking off some of his wet clothes and tilting his wrist, but his hand stopped in mid-air when the door opened on its own, leaving Romantic fully impressed.

Romantic: It’s open!

( The... the door opened by itself? )

This... can’t be possible, can it? Are there thieves snooping around in there...?

❁ㅤHe spoke while his mouth was partially open, turning his head from side to side to check that no one was there, and letting the wind of the storm blow his hair from the outside in.

Romantic: ( There’s only one way to know how lonely this house is—! )

( God, forgive me for what I’m going to do! I know it’s reckless, but I can’t handle this concern anymore. )

( I swear it’s for the common good... )

❁ㅤFor a brief moment, he had his doubts, but in the end, he never lowered his face as he walked through the lightning inside the house.

Romantic: ( It doesn’t look like anyone is here... but, the door opened. Should I grab something just in case? )

This is all so strange...

❁ㅤWhile paying close attention to all the amenities present inside the mansion, the boy lowered his voice. The house was huge inside, so he didn’t want to make noise in case someone was home.

Romantic: ( I must admit, this house is pretty scary. I wouldn’t blame anyone for thinking it’s haunted... although the decoration is nice. )

It’s so dark, maybe I should go back now...

❁ㅤSuddenly, lightning fell from the sky and light filtered through the window, revealing a figure lying on a sofa in the main room that left Romantic paralyzed.

❁ㅤRomantic walked there, the image of that figure slowly focusing on another male with refined features. He was so beautiful, his red hair covering part of his face as he lay on the couch.

Romantic: ( A person! )

( I feel so bad interrupting... whatever he’s doing, but maybe it’s the best option. )

Romantic: ( What a pretty face... )

( Will he live here? He shouldn’t have left the door open like that. )

Um... Excuse me.

???: ...

Romantic: ( Is he sleeping? He must be a heavy sleeper... )

Hello, are you okay? Please, wake up.

❁ㅤRomantic asked in a low voice, trying to wake him up. He wanted to get closer, but once he ended up accidentally touching the stranger’s hand, a chill ran through his skin.

Romantic: ( He’s... frozen. )

( Did he...? )

Excuse me—

Ugh! Ah...

❁ㅤWithout knowing why, he suddenly clutched his chest and pulled at his clothes as he gasped in pain. A puncture piercing his heart.

Romantic: Agh—!

( What was that...? G-god...! )

( W-what’s wrong with me?! It hurts so much! )

...It hurts...

Unknown voice: Where are you? Where...? Where?

Romantic: ( What... what is this voice in my head? )

( This is all so strange... did seeing this person really affect me that much? I’m afraid something bad has happened to him. )

( ...My sickness must have played a trick on me again... but I have to help this person first, he seems to be alone, I can’t leave him here by his own. )

I have... I-I have to get help, yes. That’s it...

❁ㅤHe staggered weakly, took out his cell phone from his pocket, and looked at the person sitting on the sofa who had not moved yet. He had to help him, help himself. Romantic tried to call someone.

Romantic: Let’s see... Ah, should I call someone to come here—?

???: ...Ngh...

Romantic: !

???: You are so loud...

Romantic: You–! Y-you’re fine!

( He grabbed me by the ankle to sit on the couch... But I can't believe he’s really okay, this must be a miracle! )

Oh, god... I’m so glad you’re okay, I... I thought that–

???: Oh...? What the hell... you’re a guy. What are you doing in a place like this?

Who gave you the permission to sneak out, huh?

Romantic: I’m really, really sorry. I didn’t want to break into your house, and— I did it because...

( I thought he was hurt... Or even worse. )

???: «Because» what? I was just sleeping peacefully... and you ruined it, do you have a problem with that?

Romantic: No, not at all.

???: Well, in that case...

❁ㅤThe redhead smiled mischievously, grabbing the boy’s hips to pull him onto the couch with him, pushing his body against his, making sure to keep him under him.

Romantic: W-wha...?!

( He pushed me! )

???: Heh, you’re like the moth flying itself towards the light, isn’t? Just when I’m hungry.

Romantic: ( ...What did he say? This can’t... )

???: Having a feast right in front of me...

Romantic: W-wait! What are you doing?!

???: That’s what I should ask you. It’s you who appeared out of nowhere!

Romantic: ( Well, he’s right, but that doesn’t mean he have to attack people like that! )

???: What’s happening? Were you suddenly embarrassed?

Just accept it and stay still for me...

Romantic: ...!

( I-I feel like I want to say something, but I can’t... )

No, don’t touch me! Get out of me!

???: Haa?! Who the hell do you think you are to reject me?!

Romantic: D-don’t you dare come any close... you... monster!

( It can’t be true, is this a nightmare? )

( He’s... not a person. He can’t be one! )

???: ...

...How did you call me...?

Romantic: ...?

❁ㅤThe young man suddenly stopped and raised his head when he heard the footsteps of another person who came here and showed some anger, growling through fangs as he turned around.

??? (2) : What is the reason for this scandal? I wish you weren’t so noisy after you woke up, Ayato.

Ayato: Ugh... Reiji...

❁ㅤConfused, Romantic turned and looked at the vampire’s face once more before slowly backing away from him. His eyes fixed on the other’s with uncertainty.

Romantic: ( Ayato...? )

꒰ 𔓕 ꒱ㅤThis chapter comes included with a poem, these are related to the story, but you can skip them. Do you want to read it?

CW: Pregnancy, blood mention.

Greatness is in my veins.

Every morning I find myself, but I don’t see myself in the mirror.

I was just a zygote in the womb of a young mother when they told me that glory ran through my veins, with the pain of the soul and anesthetized of the heart.

I don’t know what it’s like to depend on someone, because my greed has embraced me every sleepless night; with each sentence of his for a confusion and between my footprints the blood of a greedy child.

I always have to be the best because I am full of pride, I am the only one who can handle it and only I can do it. There is nothing in the world that can change the price of your praise.

So, lie.

Let’s see if you see me.

ーー END OF DARK PROLOGUE ーー

Admin's comment 🧚🏻‍♀️

It’s very good to post here again, I already missed doing it. This time, I updated and improved the main lore experience. You guys chose for me to upload the oldest chapters first, and here it is.ㅤ(〃´𓎟`〃)

If you like it, please consider giving this post a fav, reblog and why not, even follow me❕ As always, thank you so much for reading. Have an amazing day.

Versión en Español.

—Monólogo—

Siempre he pensado que, desde que tengo memoria, nunca he sentido la necesidad de aventurarme a algo. Puede que sea normal para los chicos de mi edad actuar de esta manera tan impulsiva, expulsados de los bosques a horas tan tardes... incluso de los sitios públicos.

Tampoco es que no crea en la magia o en lo paranormal, es sólo que, tal vez no me genera impresión.

A lo mejor nunca fuimos los únicos seres inteligentes pisando la superficie, tan sólo jugábamos a creernos importantes. Pensando que éramos únicos, valiosos.

Y si así fuera, ¿por qué lo seríamos ahora? En un mundo vasto, donde sin ser —o no ser— no podemos ser felices y la mañana huele a cigarro.

—Flashback, hace 10 años en México.—

❁ㅤÉl todavía recuerda aquella tarde en que uno de sus tantos compañeros le tomo del brazo hasta la sala de cómputo. Parece una broma, pero Romantic no está acostumbrado a que lo arrastren. Apenas iba amaneciendo la primavera en el júbilo del siglo XXI y corrían sin aprieto alguno sólo para mirar las publicaciones del día. Por una risa o dos. Después de todo, eran niños.

Romantic: ¿Vampiros?

❁ㅤDijo el niño pegado al mostrador, más como un murmullo para sí mismo.

¿Ellos? Romantic creyó que se habían extinguido del cine; sometidos por el entretenimiento, la comedia romántica y Superman. Por eso mismo el joven no pudo evitar fruncir el ceño, resbalando sus ojos por aquella página digital que ya no transmite ese aroma tan embriagador de la tinta fresca sobre su pantalla.

Romantic: ¡Ah! ¡Increíble! Quién diría que los vampiros pudieran desarrollar inmunidad a sus debilidades.

( ¡Waa! ¡Este libro es fabuloso! Si tan sólo tuviera el dinero para comprarlo... )

( Al menos esta chica subió todas las traducciones como ángel caído del cielo, ¡le debo mi vida entera ahora! )

Jeje. ♪

Incluso si es una locura... Si yo también fuera un vampiro, tal vez también podría hacer todas esas cosas geniales. Ah, eso debe ser... demasiado bueno para morirse. ♪

—Fin del flashback.—

—Actualidad, «Casa Embrujada» en Japón.—

Romantic: ¡Qué alegría! Ya no soporto los zapatos, debí haber traído algo más ligero.

❁ㅤProclamó el joven al mirar la enorme casona.

Romantic: ¿Es este el lugar?

❁ㅤPodía esperar todo pero, una mansión si que es un lujo incluso para el más avaricioso. El muchacho reviso sus bolsillos, sacando una maltratada hoja de papel con un garabato de la dirección. Era el lugar indicado.

Romantic: Parece estar bien… ¿es está de verdad la «Casa Embrujada» de la que todos hablan?

❁ㅤRomantic no tuvo tiempo para pensarlo. Los cielos retumbaron y la lluvia se hizo incluso más agresiva, obligando al chico a adentrarse dentro del espacio de aquella construcción solemne sin dar ni un paso hacía atrás. Él se pegó a la entrada y golpeó cuidadosamente una de las dos grandes puertas de madera, esperando pacientemente en medio de la lluvia sin respuesta alguna.

Romantic: ¿Hola? ¿Hay alguien aquí?

( Juraría que todas las personas a las que les pregunte en el camino dijeron que este era el sitio exacto. Acaso... ¿me equivoqué? )

Tal vez no escucharon, ¿debería volver a tocar?

❁ㅤBajo la voz, su tono dando a entender cierta inseguridad. Quizá estaba demasiado acostumbrado al aire de su hogar que, estar sólo y sin señal a medio anochecer es una preocupación.

Romantic: ( No sé qué hacer. Ni siquiera hay luces prendidas, lo más seguro es que después de todo no haya nadie. )

( Era de esperarse. Después de todo este lugar... es la famosa «Casa Embrujada» de la calle. )

( Dicen que hay monstruos dentro, pero eso no tiene mucho sentido. Después de todo, hay gente viviendo aquí... Debe ser una pena que se les considere así. )

( Estoy seguro de que, si me acerco cordialmente, ellos accederán a responder mis preguntas acerca de la mansión. )

( ¡Quiero ser el primero en contar su historia! Será un proyecto fabuloso. ♪ )

Bien, sólo un intento más—

❁ㅤEl niño trató de llamar a la puerta de nuevo volviendo sobre sus pasos, sacudiéndose parte de su ropa mojada e inclinando la muñeca, pero su mano se detuvo en el aire cuando la puerta se abrió por si sola, dejándolo impresionado.

Romantic: ¡Está abierta!

(¿Realmente... la puerta se abrió sola?)

Esto... no puede ser posible, ¿verdad? ¿Podría haber ladrones husmeando por ahí...?

❁ㅤHabló mientras ten��a la boca parcialmente abierta, girando la cabeza de un lado a otro para revisar que no había nadie, y dejando que el viento de la tormenta soplara su cabello de afuera hacia adentro.

Romantic: ( ¡Sólo hay una forma de saber que tan sola está esta casa—! )

( ¡Dios, perdóname por lo que voy a hacer! Sé que es imprudente, pero ya no puedo soportar más está inquietud que me carcome. )

( Prometo es... por el bien común. )

❁ㅤPor un breve momento, tuvo sus dudas, pero al final, nunca bajó la cara mientras caminaba a través de los relámpagos en los adentros de la casona.

Romantic: ( No parece que haya alguien aquí... pero, la puerta se abrió. ¿Debería ir agarrando con qué defenderme? )

Todo esto es tan extraño...

❁ㅤMientras prestaba mucha atención a todas las comodidades presentes dentro de la mansión, el chico bajo la voz. La casa era enorme por dentro, así que no quería hacer ruido en caso de que hubiera alguien en casa.

Romantic: ( Debo admitir que la casa es bastante aterradora, no culparía a nadie de pensar que está embrujada... Aún así, la decoración es bastante bonita. )

Está tan obscuro, lo mejor será que regrese pronto a dónde estaba...

❁ㅤDe repente, un relámpago cayó del cielo y la luz se filtró por la ventana, revelando una figura tendida en un sofá de la sala principal que dejó al pequeño paralizado.

Romantic: ( ¡Una persona! )

❁ㅤRomantic camino hasta allá, la imagen de aquella figura lentamente enfocándose en un hombre joven de rasgos refinados. Era tan hermoso, su cabello rojo cubriendo parte de su rostro mientras yacía en el sofá.

( Me siento tan mal interrumpiendo... lo que sea que esté haciendo, pero tal vez sea la mejor opción. )

Romantic: ( Qué cara tan linda... )

( ¿Será que él viva aquí? Porque no debería dejar la puerta abierta de esa forma. )

Romantic: Um... disculpe.

???: ...

Romantic: ( ¿Está durmiendo? Si que algunos tienen el sueño pesado. )

Hola, ¿estás bien?

❁ㅤPreguntó el chico en voz baja, tratando de despertarlo. Quería acercarse, más una vez este terminará tocando la mano del desconocido accidentalmente, un escalofrío le recorrió la piel.

Romantic: ( Él... está helado. )

( ¿Acaso él...? )

Disculp—

¡Ugh! Ah...

❁ㅤSin saber por qué, de repente se agarró el pecho y tiró de su ropa mientras jadeaba de dolor. Un pinchazo que le atraviesa el corazón.

Romantic: ¡Agh—!

( ¿Qué fue eso...? ¡D-Dios...! )

( ¡¿Q-qué pasa conmigo?! ¡Duele mucho! )

...Me duele...

Voz desconocida: ¿Dónde estás? Dime dónde... Por favor, ¿Dónde?

Romantic: ( ¿Qué... qué es esta voz en mi cabeza? )

( Es tan extraño todo esto… ¿realmente me afectó tanto ver a esta persona? Temo que le haya pasado algo malo. )

( ...Mi enfermedad debe haberme jugado una mala pasada otra vez… pero primero tengo que ayudar a esta persona, parece estar solo, no puedo dejarlo aquí. )

Tengo... tengo que buscar ayuda, sí. Eso es...

❁ㅤÉl se tambaleó débilmente, sacó su celular del bolsillo y miró a la persona sentada en el sofá que aún no se había movido. Tenía que ayudarlo, ayudarse a si mismo. Romantic trató de llamar a una autoridad.

Romantic: Veamos… Ah, ¿debería llamar a alguien para que venga aquí—?

???: ...Ngh...

Romantic: ¡!

???: Eres tan ruidoso...

Romantic: ¡Tú–! ¡E-estás bien!

( Me agarró del tobillo para sentarse en el sofá... No puedo creer que verdaderamente esté bien, ¡esto debe ser un milagro! )

M-me alegro tanto de que estés bien, yo... creí que–

???: ¿Ah...? Qué demonios... es un chico. ¿Qué estás haciendo tú en un lugar como este?

¿Quién te dio permiso de entrar?

Romantic: De verdad lo siento muchísimo, no quería irrumpir en su casa, y-yo pensé...

( Creí que estaba herido... O algo peor. )

???: ¿Qué «pensaste»? Tan sólo estaba durmiendo pacíficamente... y tú lo arruinaste, ¿tienes algún problema con eso?

Romantic: No, para nada.

???: Bueno, en ese caso...

❁ㅤEl pelirrojo sonrió con picardía, agarrando las caderas del chico para tirarlo sobre el sofá con él, empujando su cuerpo contra el suyo asegurándose de mantenerlo bajo suyo.

Romantic: ¡¿Ah–?!

( ¡Él me empujó! )

???: Je, eres como la polilla volando ella misma hacía la luz, ¿eh? Justo cuando estoy hambriento.

Romantic: ( ...¿Qué es lo que dijo? )

???: Tener un festín justo frente a mí...

Romantic: ¡E-espera! ¡¿Qué haces?!

???: Eso debería preguntarte. Eres tú quien apareció de la nada, por suerte, justo delante de mí.

Romantic: ( Bueno, tiene razón, ¡pero eso no significa que tenga derecho a atacar a la gente así! )

???: ¿Qué te pasa? ¿De repente te sentiste avergonzado?

Sólo acéptalo y quédate quieto para mí...

Romantic: ¡...!

( S-siento que quiero decir algo pero no puedo... )

¡N-no, no me toques! ¡Alejate de mí!

???: ¡¿Haa?! ¡¿Quién carajos te crees que eres para rechazarme?!

Romantic: N-no te atrevas a acercarte... tú... ¡monstruo!

( No puede ser verdad, ¿es esto una pesadilla? )

( Él... no es una persona. ¡No puede serlo! )

???: ...

...¿Cómo me llamaste...?

Romantic: ¿...?

❁ㅤEl joven de repente se detuvo y levantó la cabeza cuando escuchó los pasos de otra persona que vino aquí y mostró algo de enojo, gruñendo entre colmillos mientras se daba la vuelta.

??? (2) : ¿A qué se debe este escándalo? Me gustaría que no fueras tan ruidoso después de despertarte, Ayato.

Ayato: Ugh... Reiji...

❁ㅤConfundido, Romantic volteó y miro el rostro del vampiro una vez más antes de apartarse lentamente de él. Sus ojos fijados en los del otro con incertidumbre.

Romantic: ( ¿Ayato...? )

꒰ 𔓕 ꒱ㅤEste capítulo viene incluido con un poema, estos están relacionados con la historia, pero puedes omitirlos. ¿Quieres leerlo?

CW: Embarazo, mención de sangre.

La grandeza está en mis venas.

Cada mañana me encuentro, pero no me veo en el espejo.

Yo era sólo un cigoto en el útero de una madre joven cuando me dijeron que la gloria corría por mis venas, con la dolida del alma y anestesiada del corazón.

No sé lo que es depender de alguien, pues mi codicia me ha abrazado todas las noches sin dormir; con cada frase suya por una confusión y entre mis huellas la sangre de un niño avaricioso.

Siempre tengo que ser el mejor porque estoy lleno de orgullo, soy el único que puede manejarlo y sólo yo puedo hacerlo. No hay nada en el mundo que pueda cambiar el precio de tu elogio.

Así que, miente.

A ver si me ves.

ーー FIN DEL DARK PROLOGUE ーー

Comentario del admin 🧚🏻‍♀️

Es muy bueno volver a publicar aquí, ya extrañaba hacerlo. Esta vez, actualicé y mejoré la experiencia de la historia principal. Ustedes eligieron que yo subiera primero los capítulos más antiguos, y aquí está.ㅤ(〃´𓎟`〃)

Si les gusto, consideren darle a esta publicación un fav, rebloguear y, por qué no, incluso seguirme❕ Como siempre, muchas gracias por leer. Qué tengan un maravilloso día.