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dimpled-gukkie · 4 years ago

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Santa Baby (tell me you hear them too)

moodboard made by the lovely @today-we-will-survive

Summary: You attend a last minute Christmas party and meet your soulmate. The catch? You don’t remember anything about them besides the fact that they were wearing a Santa suit. Turns out there were seven Santas at the party... The question remains: Can you find your soulmate before Christmas Day?

Genre: Soulmate AU/ College AU

Pairing: ???? x reader

Warnings: hand burned on hot chocolate, Jin says he’s too pretty to be a hostage, mentions and depictions of drinking, joon is described as a porn aficionado

Word Count: 12.4k

a/n: It’s a very special day for my dearest friend @purpleful! In your honor I thought I’d write you a story of your own, as you help me with a countless amount of mine. Remember all the times you asked me this month if I had written anything or had a Christmas fic? I had been working on this the whole time nshjfhn. You sent me into a panic sometimes though because I swear you guessed the plot several times without actually knowing I was even writing. Anyways I love you and thank you for being my friend ❤️

a/a/n: also Happy Holidays to anyone else celebrating. I hope you’re able to find lightness even in these dark times. And to the atheists out there, cheers to the upcoming new year

1 day, 12 hours, 32 minutes and 12 seconds until Christmas

“Don’t you think those elf costumes are hot? Like damn I wish my legs looked like that in tights.” Mina whispers conspiratorially, though her voice has a tendency to carry no matter what volume she attempts to speak in, meaning the elf you’re passing by surely hears her based off his reddened ears.

“Do you have any shame?” You laugh, tucking your arm around her own to tug her into the nearby candle store. Your professor offered to give extra credit in exchange for a present and while she’s undoubtably exploiting her students for free gifts you could really use some help in your upper division history elective.

“What’s the fun in that?” Mina giggles, reaching over to the nearest stand and picking up a candle. She gives it a good whiff before coughing, holding the offending item away from her like that will somehow save her from smelling it further despite the top still being off.

“I imagine this is what elf vomit smells like.” She groans, shoving it into your arms in an effort to make you suffer as well. True friendship.

“Winter Candies?” You question, reading the label and the ingredients it’s supposed to smell like. “Adding pecan and peppermint is probably what went wrong.” You hum before smelling it yourself and coughing from the fumes. “Oh you were right this is disgusting.”

“Have I ever lied to you?” Mina hums. “Get that one for your professor.”

“I’d like my grade to be higher not lower. Let’s just get this pine one. It’s a safe bet right?”

“If you like your house to smell like a forest I guess so.” She shrugs, following behind you to the register. “Do you think we could get something to eat? I’m starving.”

“Didn’t you eat like half of Songi’s Christmas cookies this morning? Speaking of which you’re going to get in trouble, she was whining the whole time about how long they were taking due to her lack of patience.”

“When is she not whining about how long things take? Girl has the attention span of a nat, better yet a goldfish.” She snickers, though her eyes shine with a particular fondness for one of her oldest friends. Songi is actually how you met Mina in the first place, the both of you stuck in statistics together and becoming quick friends. When sophomore year rolled around it just made sense to move in with Songi and Mina as they were already looking for a third roommate.

“Very true. Though I’m sure her soulmate will find it charming. Hopefully.”

“Do you ever wonder when we’ll meet our soulmates?” Mina sighs, looking dreamily off into what appears to be the oncoming food court. It’s a toss up whether she’s thinking about her soulmate or fried food.

“All the time but I try not to dwell on it. I just want to live you know? They’ll find me eventually.” The line for hotteok is long, but the sweet smell of pancakes keeps you placated even if your stomach is grumbling.

“When my soulmate does come I hope they’re as fine as Park Jimin. That man must be an angel or something because no one has the right to be that attractive.” You’re about to comment on where that sudden thought came from when Park Jimin himself exits hastily from a store, a clothing bag thrown over his shoulder as he hastily types on his phone. From the draw of his brows and slight scowl he almost looks a little angry, an expression you’ve never seen on him before. “Jimin!” Mina calls, and the orange haired boy immediately picks his head up and puts on a light smile before jogging over.

As he approaches the bells around you jangle, the clock at Santa’s workshop echoing throughout the mall and ringing in your ears. Rubbing your ear to try and ease the slight pain you give Jimin a small wave when he finally appears before you. “The bells are pretty loud huh?” He smiles, nodding towards the large bell that apparently looms behind you.

You agree at the same time Mina says, “I don’t think they’re that loud. Annoying at most.” Before looking between the both of you and wriggling her brows. You brush it off as her being weird before gesturing to Jimin’s bag.

“Don’t tell me you bought a Santa costume.” You say, causing him to laugh. The way his eyes slip between his plump cheeks is rather flattering.

“I lost a bet and this is the price to pay for tonight’s party. Speaking of which you guys should come. Jin’s on alcohol duty so he’ll definitely get all the fancy shit.” Jimin says.

“Well since the Park Jimin invited us, I guess we’ll have to stop by. Text y/n the address and we’ll get there eventually. No promises to be on time though.” Mina jokes.

“That is why they created the term ‘fashionably late’ is it not? Just make sure not to wear a sexy Santa costume, Jin says he wants to be the lone slutty Santa.” Jimin laughs, as if drawing a picture in his own mind before shaking his head.

“It’s a little odd to have a party on the twenty-third though. Why not Christmas Eve?”

“Most of us are going home tomorrow so today was really the only time. Everyone was strung up with finals and stuff.”

“Understandable. I’m getting last minute extra credit before grades are finalized tomorrow. Our school really kills the festive spirit with everything being so close to the holidays.”

“Exactly. All the more reason to party out our frustrations.” His phone buzzes and Jimin types a quick reply before turning back to you. “I gotta go and help Tae at the shelter but I’ll see you both tonight right?”

“And Songi! Our ride or die, our forever plus one, our favorite-“

“Alright, alright. Yeah we’ll be there.” You smile, your hand still over Mina’s mouth as Jimin turns and jogs away. When you release her she smacks the back of your head and you whine.

“What was that for??”

“For being stupid dumbass. You’re telling me both you and Jimin thought the bells were super loud and didn’t think that’s sus. He’s clearly your soulmate!” Mina practically screeches, bouncing on her heels in excitement. The spectacle draws the attention of those around you and you can’t help but shy away.

“Shut up! Besides it’s the holiday season, bells are ringing everywhere. There’s no way to tell if it’s actually your soulmate’s bell jingle. Besides Jimin didn’t seem to think anything of it either. Shouldn’t you just know?”

“I don’t know, you tell me. You’re the one with the found soulmate after all.” Mina shrugs before giving her order to the vendor. She nudges you to give your own but your mind is still reeling. Park Jimin isn’t actually your soulmate, right?

1 day, 1 hour, 37 minutes, 53 seconds until Christmas

Despite your nonchalance earlier, you feel jittery standing outside the address Jimin sent you. Shivers rack down your spine at the prospect of seeing him again, of being certain that Jimin is your forever. You can hear the music through the door, a rhythmic thumping that you try and match your breathing to. Even if Park Jimin isn’t your soulmate it’s not going to be the end of the world. At least that’s what you try to tell yourself, ignoring the way just the idea forms a pit in your stomach. “I know we’re waiting for you to mentally prepare yourself but could you hurry up? I for one would love to witness slutty Jin.” Mina says, nudging you forward lightly with her shoulder.

“Chill out Mina, give the poor girl some time. She’s about to find her soulmate after all.” Songi says, throwing an arm over your shoulder and dragging you into her side. “If it makes you feel better I’ll stay by your side the whole night. We can make fun of Mina shamelessly trying to outdo Seokjin.”

“Hey! Jimin may have said I couldn’t be a slutty Santa but that will never stop me from being the baddest bitch there.” She makes a show of grabbing her sweater and tugging it to emphasize ‘ho’ stitched across the front. Songi has a matching one with Santa losing said hos.

“If I don’t see a dance battle I’m going to be disappointed. After all you promised to do something stupid for me to film. It’s the only reason I decided to come, I mean after supporting you of course.” Songi laughs, giving you an affectionate squeeze.

“Hey I could be an idol with these moves! Ryujin has nothing on me.” Mina huffs, breaking out into the iconic Itzy choreography in the middle of the hallway. You can’t help but crack up at the serious face she makes while ungracefully flailing her limbs. “And you should be grateful to us you hermit! I hope for your sake your soulmate is outgoing because you’ll live your whole life holed up in your apartment otherwise.”

“It’s safer that way. No bugs.” Songi says, causing Mina to push her and nearly send you both crashing to the floor.

“You’re insufferable. I don’t know how I’ve put up with you all these years.”

“You love me, I mean really it’d be hard not too.” Songi shrugs, a smug smile pulled onto her face as she pats Mina’s cheek.

“More like tolerate you and to be honest I’ve reached my limit. Let’s go inside so I can ditch you losers.” Mina throws the door open and heads inside, easily weaving through the bodies crammed inside the small apartment.

“I can just feel the love.” Songi sighs, clutching onto the space over her heart. “Now come on, we can’t find him if we’re in the hallway all night.” Moving to grab your hand she drags you inside, only for you to run into a boy passing through.

“My bad, didn’t think anyone else would be coming by. I have to go get more eggnog before Jin starts screaming at us again.” He smiles, the corner of his lips forming into soft right angles.

“It’s alright.” You murmur, looking around for Mina or Songi. Surely they’re somewhere nearby. Songi is most likely tucked away in some corner, longingly looking for an animal to keep her entertained while Mina is probably at the makeshift bar. If you weren’t so busy looking for your friends maybe you’d pay mind to the soft tinkling of bells and his cardinal red Santa suit wrapped nicely around his frame. Yet even when he breezes past you, your eyes are focused on your two friends. You spot Mina first, surprisingly she’s near the edge of the makeshift dance floor, a drink in her hand and likely about halfway drunk enough to begin belting along to whatever song comes on, even if it’s a terrible EDM mashup of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.

You push through the bodies to get to her, almost getting trampled twice before breaking out and grabbing her by the arm before she can walk away. “Oh hey! I got you a drink, I know you don’t like eggnog so I swiped the chocolate milk from the fridge and spiked it myself.” She smiles, shoving a green plastic cup decorated with little lights towards you. You take a sip and wince at the bitter taste, the gingerbread liquor making an interesting concoction. But it’s the thought that counts and you smile despite wanting to cough at the strong flavor.

“Thanks. Where’s Songi?” You ask and Mina curses.

“She was just over in that corner but she’s gone now. Maybe we should try to find her?”

“You know, for someone who claims to hate social interaction she goes off on her own quite easily.” You hum, pushing your way through only to bump into Park Jimin himself. “Sorry.” You say, bumping into Mina from how quickly you try to put space between the two of you. You had momentarily forgotten the whole reason you came was because of Jimin and the possibility that he’s your soulmate. Your hands are suddenly clammy and you rub them against the side of your pants nervously.

“No big deal. Good to see you though! How long have you been here? You should’ve come and said hi to me first.” He whines, his pretty lips drawing into a thick pout, brows upturned as he gives you his best puppy dog look. You can feel yourself melting and all he’s doing is staring at you. The bells around you seem to get louder, Mariah Carey’s iconic Christmas song setting the stage.

“Ahh yeah. Next time! Maybe we could-uhh even come together. If you want to that is.” You smile shyly, pulling your sleeves down over your hands anxiously. You hope he can understand the implication behind your words, and as he steps towards you the bells seem to grow even louder. Someone shoves you from behind and you stumble, body alight with nerves when Jimin catches you. You’re practically shaking, in nerves or excitement you can’t discern. The only thing you can focus on is how pretty Jimin looks cast under red and white lights, his eyes filled with little twinkles. Your breath hitches at how close he is and you look down quickly when he gazes back at you so he can’t read the pure adoration on your face.

Naturally to try and seem less awkward you rush out the first thought that comes to mind. “Your suit is orange?” He takes a step back and you wish to reverse time as the warmth of whiskey and cinnamon on his breath parts from you.

“Ahh yeah, I lost a bet so I had to wear a Santa Suit and Hobi didn’t have enough for us all. I was in such a hurry I didn’t even bother looking at it before renting it. It’s my own fault for being swindled. I should’ve known better than to rent from a halloween shop that was suspiciously still open in December. Can you believe all the other stores were sold out?” Jimin scoffs and despite being interested in his story you can only focus on the way his lips move and pout with each word. They’re a rosy pink, slightly shiny in the dim lighting like he had just put on chapstick or licked his lips. The only thing that draws you out of your stupor is a petite girl throwing her arm around Jimin’s waist.

“Baby!” She exclaims and your eyes widen as Jimin grins down at her, wrapping his hands happily around her own waist and dragging him tightly into her. His smile is the largest you’ve ever seen on him, cheeks particularly squished in utmost happiness and his expression being what you could only describe as love. You can feel your heart breaking already. “Hi I’m Jisoo!” You think you’re going to be sick to your stomach, not just because Jimin is in love with someone else but because the girl you’re supposed to hate is so nice. She smiles at you warmly like you weren’t just staring at her boyfriend’s lips and wondering what they’d taste like.

“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Isn’t my soulmate so cute?” Jimin asks you, his eyes sparkling like diamonds as he squishes her cheek between two fingers. Your breath starts to quicken and you smile widely to hide the way your eyes begin to fill with tears.

“You both are adorable together.” You manage to get out, impressed with how natural it sounds despite how tense you feel. The bells in your head are just mocking you now as you make up an excuse to leave, the two of them so wrapped up in each other they don’t pay mind to your absence. Clearing your throat you head to the bathroom to try and get some privacy for your inevitable break down only to run into Mina and some guy in a Santa suit stumbling out.

“Y/n!” Mina cheers, too intoxicated to notice the way small tears begin to fall down your face. The hallway is rather dark and yet you can still make out the guy next to her with a curved nose and reddened ears. He looks a little embarrassed to be caught after an obvious rendezvous in a bathroom at a party and yet his hands still wind around Mina’s waist comfortably when she pulls away from you. “My soulmate’s an elf!” She cackles and you welcome the distraction her words bring.

“What?” You ask confused. The guy beside her is wearing a Santa costume, you’re sure of it.

“Hoseok is a mall elf! You know the guy with the hot legs? It’s him, my soulmate!” She squeals excitedly, grabbing him by the arm and smiling up at him blissfully.

“How are you sure?” You don’t mean to sound so bitter, but Mina never mentioned hearing bells at the mall nor did she mention hearing bells when you caught her earlier. If anything this could just be her wishful thinking like her suggestion of Jimin being your soulmate.

“You just kinda know! Like at the mall when we passed I wrote it off as shop bells. Then when I got here and we bumped into each other I just knew it was actually him. And when we touched it was like I was struck by lightning.” Your face must show incredulity because she just smiles at you.

“I know, I know. It sounds super cliche but it’s true. Though now that we’ve touched a lot more it’s wearing down.” She giggles, winking at him and reveling in the way the blush burns brighter. He sticks his hand out to you after squeezing her waist and you stare at it for a moment before reaching out to shake it.

“Hi, I’m Hoseok. You can call me Hobi though.” His smile takes the form of a heart as he grins at you and Mina practically squeals.

“It’s nice to meet you. I’d love to talk later but I have to use the bathroom.” You nod behind them and Hoseok seems to realize he’s standing in the doorway and moves aside bashfully.

“So sorry! Didn’t realize I was still standing there.” You just give him a tight-lipped smile and nod, moving past them quickly. Your silence seems to be what draws Mina’s concern, a tentative hand coming to grab your forearm lightly.

“Y/n-“ She starts but you gently brush her off.

“I’m fine. Really don’t worry about me.” You say softly before locking the door and sliding down it. It’s in the comfort of the quiet bathroom that you allow the tears to freely fall and mourn the soulmate you didn’t have.

22 hours, 45 minutes, 35 seconds until Christmas

You finally find Songi, a random cat cuddled up in her arms as she’s squished into a small chair nestled by the kitchen. She’s a little hazy in your mind, it feels a bit like you’re looking at her underwater, and you smile at her lazily before plopping down into her lap. “Be careful!” She scolds, holding the cat up higher so it’s curled into her chest instead. You just blink slowly at her in response and she sighs. “How much did you drink tonight?”

“After I cried for like thirty minutes I stole a bottle of peppermint schnapps and drank the whole thing.” You sigh, resting your head against her own.

“Why’d you cry? I wish you would’ve told me you were upset, I would’ve suggested we leave right away.”

“Park Jimin already has a soulmate…it’s not me. I know chances were already slim because he’s Park Jimin and well, I’m me but I just thought maybe this would be it. I finally would have someone to share everything with and I wouldn’t.. be so lonely.” You murmur out the last part, your drunken state revealing the thoughts that consumed you upon meeting Jisoo. No matter how much you mentally prepared yourself for the possibility of Jimin being a fluke, you weren’t ready for just how brutal the disappointment was.

“Hey, there’s nothing wrong with being you. Besides I’d never let Park Jimin sit on my lap and yet here you are, perched upon a throne.” You can’t help the small giggle you let out. Songi always knows what to say to cheer you up.

“You’re so weird you know that? You’re the only person I know who refers to thighs as a throne.”

“Don’t judge me and my preferences. You drool over hands and I drool over thighs, it’s perfectly normal. Anyways, I know you mean romantically but I’ll always be here if you want someone to cry with or to yell at fictional characters about their stupidity with you. You’re my best friend.” Despite her hatred of hugs and physical contact Songi retracts her arms from the cat to put them around you instead, gently giving you a squeeze. It’s a little awkward because she’s terrible at hugs but you appreciate it nonetheless.

“How about we get out of here okay?” She suggests and you nod, wincing as your head starts to pound. The alcohol must be catching up to you. The pounding is then followed by ringing, and you hold your head in your hands as church bells ring in your ears. The world is truly out to make a mockery of your life.

“You okay? Here sit down a minute.” Songi ushers you into the chair as she hovers above you, rushing off to get some water for you.

“Taehyung really shouldn’t have been in charge of the playlist.” Someone from beside you sighs but you can’t look up at them for the sake of your pounding headache. “I think I’m going to have bells ringing in my head for days.” They sigh before they seem to notice you. “Hey you okay?” They ask, a hand placed on your shoulder in concern but the electricity that runs down your spine makes you gasp. Your skin prickles in goosebumps but Songi is just near enough that she takes your gasp as extreme pain instead of astonishment.

“I’m sorry I took so long!” She says, throwing your arm around her shoulders haphazardly before hauling you up and against her.

“Hey wait-“ The voice from beside you starts, but Songi brushes them off.

“Don’t worry I’m not gonna steal your cat this time. But don’t let him roam around with a bunch of drunk people. I almost saw him get stepped on five times by idiots.” For a brief second you manage enough strength to turn your head without wanting to throw up and blearily lock eyes with a pair of chocolate brown ones. They’re swimming with something you can’t quite make out: pain, regret, longing. But then Songi calls your name and you turn away to make sure you don’t smack into the front door. It’s odd but you can feel a pit in your stomach the further you walk away and his eyes are imprinted on the back of your lids with every blink.

14 hours, 18 minutes, 22 seconds until Christmas

“Wake up bitches!” Mina screams, banging on your and Songi’s doors and you groan. Rolling over, you throw the pillow over your head and try to fall back asleep to avoid the way your head pounds. Mina throws your door open and you wince when it smacks against the wall next to it. “You can’t evade me.” She says, reaching for your comforter and trying to throw it off. However, you predicted this to happen when you flipped over and cling tightly to the fluffy bedding, expertly disrupting her evil plan. Mina huffs in annoyance and you hide your grin in your sheets before releasing a puff of air when she jumps on top of you. “Wake! Up!” She yells, jumping on top of you like you’re some human trampoline.

“You’re the worst kind of person.” You grumble, rolling over to come face to face with her smile.

“Thanks! Now I want to eat cookies for breakfast and I refuse to eat them alone like it’s a shameful activity.” True in her shameless fashion she’s only wearing a baggy t-shirt, her neck exposed and colored various shades of purple and red. Though your night was unexplainably horrible you’re glad at least someone had a good time.

“I want Songi’s cookies. Hers always look pretty.”

“You mean you don’t want to try my cinnamon bourbon toffee snickerdoodles? I saw it on tiktok and they took me two hours! I nearly set the oven on fire!” You wrinkle your nose at the memory of two days ago, and coming home from finishing up one of your last papers to her covered in flour and the counters doused in eggs. It’s like she somehow got in a food fight with herself.

“And that’s precisely why they shouldn’t exist in the first place. You didn’t even know how to turn on the oven.” Songi murmurs, leant against your doorway.

“You’re all ungrateful, uncultured swines.” She huffs, though she still proceeds to make you all hot chocolates when you emerge from your room. The three of your are sat at the kitchen counter, plates full of cookies and Songi’s mom’s homemade fudge. If anything can cure a hangover it’s gorging yourself on unhealthy food.

“Did I ever tell you one kid in high school called me an uncultured swine because I didn’t know the rat from the ninja turtles?” Songi says, munching on her own frosted sugar cookie. It was her first attempt at a 3D wreath but turned out to be more like a bush of frosting. For most it’d be deemed to sweet and disgusting to ingest but Songi happily licks away at the icing.

“What is the rat’s name?” Mina asks, and Songi just shrugs.

“I still don’t know honestly.”

“Why were you up so early anyways? Don’t you normally sleep until noon?” You ask Mina, noticing the way she turns away from you almost shyly.

“Hobi slept over and he had to go back to work early to return the Santa suits he stole before his boss found out.” The Santa suits spring a memory to mind and you suddenly recall seeing more than just one. Though Jimin did mention there being others, you only saw Hobi and Jin wearing them.

“Why were so many people wearing Santa suits anyways? I thought Jin wanted to be the only one.”

“The only slutty one, so naturally he was wearing the top of the suit like a robe and cut the pants into thot shorts. Hobi was understandably pissed about that one since they were only borrowing the suits after all. But it was some bet, he told me about it last night but I was too drunk to remember.” Looking into your drink the swirling chocolate then reminds you of eyes and the tingling feeling down your back when a warm palm rested on your shoulder.

“Holy shit!” You exclaim, suddenly standing up and running to your room. Mina and Songi are hot on your heels, watching curiously as you bounce around on one foot while struggling to pull your jeans over your thighs and hips.

“Where are you going?” Songi asks and you widen your eyes at the realization that she’s the only one who would’ve seen their face.

“Songi who did you see before you took me home? Who had their hand on my shoulder?” You ask, running up to grab her by the upper arms and shake her almost desperately. “Songi I need to know who it was.”

“What’s this all about? Did they steal from you or something?” Mina asks and you throw your head back in a frustrated groan.

“No they’re my soulmate!”

“Babe-“ Mina starts and your glare at the pity in her expression.

“I’m being serious. I felt the sparks or whatever and I can see his eyes when we walked away. I just can’t remember anything else. Songi you have to remember who they were.” You plead to the both of them and they look back at you rather sadly.

“I’m sorry but I’ve never seen them before. I think they were wearing a Santa costume but I don’t remember much else about them.” She says and you can’t help but deflate. You actually found your soulmate and got so drunk you can’t remember anything about them. Great.

“Are you sure they’re your soulmate anyways. I passed by you later that night and you seemed pretty wasted but maybe after Jimin you just thought-“

“No I didn’t make up a soulmate just because I was depressed that Jimin wasn’t mine. You know how you just knew with Hoseok? Well I just know with him. How many people were wearing Santa costumes?”

“Six.” Mina says but Songi disagrees and says there’s seven.

“A guy came in later with another suit. That’s how I found the cat, it was just following him around and I heard the little bell on the collar.”

“You-you heard a cat bell at a party filled with drunk people screaming?” Mina asks, her face twisted up in confusion. You have to admit that does seem like it’s rather unlikely that someone would be able to discern such a quiet sound with so much commotion.

“I have exceptional hearing, of course I heard it. Besides this isn’t some fanfic where we all find our soulmates in the same place. The guy did have a pretty face though, I wouldn’t mind looking at it upon closer inspection.” Songi shrugs, staring off dreamily like the cat guy is standing right in front of her.

“Do you think Hobi can give me the name of the guys he leant the suits to?” You ask and Mina sighs.

“Just don’t get your hopes up too much okay? Songi only thinks he was wearing a Santa costume. I just don’t want to see you heartbroken again.” She pats your head softly, almost motherly, and you give her your best smile.

13 hours, 45 minutes, 36 seconds until Christmas

The name Min Yoongi swirls around your brain as you stand outside of Bored and Brewed. It’s tucked between a music supply store and a flower shop, leafy plants hanging above the entrance and the large front windows blocked in by thin rectangular frames. You can see warm lights strewn across the cafe from outside, casting it in a golden hue as soft pink chairs and petal green couches decorate the inside. The bell above you jingles and you tersely smile, flashbacks of your embarrassment from misinterpreting a common sound during the holiday season returning. Hoseok gave no description of what Min Yoongi would look like, only stating that he’s a frequenter of this specific cafe given it’s proximity to your university’s music school buildings. Though Jimin mentioned all his friends were leaving today, you’re still hopeful that your soulmate will stick around long enough for you to find them. This is a matter of fate after all, the universe wouldn’t allow you to meet them before Christmas only to end up spending the day alone right? No matter how cruel the world normally seems you refuse to believe it would do this to you.

Upon entry the guy behind the counter smiles at you, then goes back to busying himself on the phone while you look at the menu. You’re not one for liking strong coffee, so your eyes naturally linger towards the sweeter drinks that are on the special menu. The bell to the shop rings again but you don’t pay it any mind, too fixated on trying to figure out what you want.

“I wouldn’t get the peppermint drink if I were you. They load it with sugar and whipped cream so it doesn’t taste like anything.” A voice from behind you says and you nod along. “I’d get the sugar cookie one, it’s not super sweet but also has a nice flavor. It’s the only thing I get that’s not actual coffee.” He hums and you decide to go ahead and order that before you make the guy behind you wait any longer.

“Make that two. I’m feeling particularly generous today.” He hands over some cash before you can say anything and you whip around to face him. Wavy black hair covers his brows, most of it tucked inside a gray beanie. A baggy hoodie and black skinny jeans adorn the rest of his figure and he gives you a tight lipped smile with the edges quirked upwards.

“Thank you. You really didn’t have to.” You say, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. You follow him to the pick up area for your drinks, tucking your hands into your pockets to try and hide your nervous fiddling.

“I try to do a good deed every day so today that’s you it seems.” His voice is low and soft, a quiet rumbling in the wind.

“Well I appreciate it.” You say and silence falls between the two of you. Your mind is searching for something to say to fill the silence but the barista comes by with your two drinks. You’re about to just leave the conversation at the polite end but the barista’s words catches your attention.

“Feel free to buy me a drink sometime Yoongi.” He laughs.

“Yoongi?” You ask and the boy with the beanie turns back to you.

“Yeah?”

“As in Min Yoongi. Hobi’s friend?” You press further and the boy’s confusion turns to skepticism.

“Why do you ask?”

“Well you see I met my soulmate last night at the party but I don’t remember who they were, just that they were wearing a Santa costume.” You murmur, following behind when Yoongi makes a move to leave the shop.

“I’m sorry but I don’t believe in soulmates. I think you should have a say in who’s right for you.” Despite the coldness of his words, his tone is still soft- sympathetic almost.

“Yoongi wait!” You exclaim, grabbing onto his wrist with your own hand. The bell above the store chimes above you and for a second you allow yourself to believe you’re the one to change how Yoongi feels about soulmates. And yet you feel no goosebumps when your skin touches his, only the slightly dry texture of his palm when he gently takes your hand off him. “The-the bells. I can’t lose my soulmate again, please.” The end comes off as a whisper and Yoongi must take pity on you because he gives you a gentle smile.

“The bells were from above the door. But I can give you the name of another Santa, his name is Jin. He’s the one who hosted the party. He works at the restaurant I play piano for, he should be there picking up his check because the manager is old fashioned. If you hurry you can probably catch him. Two blocks down, it’s the fancy place with the stupid golden archway like a high end McDonalds.” He pats your upper arm twice before walking away. Though you miss the way he turns to watch you run around the small corner mumbling a small good luck at your parting figure.

13 hours, 30 minutes, 23 seconds until Christmas

Yoongi wasn’t lying when he said the place did have a strange high-end McDonalds feel. The golden arches are spotless, reflecting the red and green lights scattered in some windows of the buildings across the street. The doors are large french ones with gold painted around the trim and a guy in a butler’s outfit opens them for you. You thank him before heading inside, observing the grandiose chandeliers and poinsettias decorating the host stand. A girl with long blonde hair smiles at you before asking if you need a table.

“Actually I was looking for Jin? He has blonde hair and really wide shoulders.” It’s the only information Yoongi offered but the girl in front of you nods in understanding and you can’t help the sigh of relief you let out.

“He just came in to get something so I’ll find him and let him know you’re waiting for him. Can I get your name?”

“Umm just tell him Hobi’s friend is waiting.” You say nervously, pulling at the strings of your sweater to busy yourself. She just nods before walking away and you stuff three of the free mints in your mouth to try and ease yourself. That is before you realize they’re peppermint flavored and instantly start gagging as the taste of last night’s peppermint liquor surfaces. With your hand over your mouth to stop yourself from gagging, Jin walks into the lobby and spots you. His eyes widen in recognition, sparkling as he gets nearer. And as he draws closer a distant tinkling sounds rings out and your eyes water with tears. Is your soulmate perhaps the sluttiest Santa of them all?

“I’d remember you from anywhere. You stole my entire bottle of Peppermint Schnapps out of my secret liquor cabinet. I’m surprised you could reach it to be honest, I have to climb on the counter to grab it myself so you must’ve done some serious spider man shit.” He smiles and you wish the ground would swallow you whole. You have no recollection of doing that. What had Mina put in your first drink?

“Ahh yes. I was hoping I could speak to you privately.” Your eyes dart to the blonde hostess, perched on the host stand and conveniently leaning toward the two of you to hear closer.

“I was going to steal some food from the back before I left. You want anything?” He asks, walking towards the kitchen with you following him like some lovesick puppy. At this point you refuse to let your soulmate be taken from you any longer.

“What do you have?”

“Anything you could ever want. I’m heading home after this so I need some snacks for the drive.” He picks up a baguette and fruit, before opening the freezer and pulling out ready made desserts and quiches. “You think the caviar is here yet?” He asks to himself before rifling through some more shelves and letting out a loud ‘aha!’

“You hold this.” He says, giving you the expensive caviar and gesturing for you to hide it under your shirt.

“You want me to smuggle it out?” You exclaim and Jin quickly shushes you.

“It’s not smuggling, it’s borrowing. If there’s any left I’ll return it.” He says, pushing you away from the kitchen and walking normally like he doesn’t have a baguette and many other foods in his arms.

“Isn’t that a health violation?” You ask and Jin rolls his eyes.

“What are you? The health inspector? Besides you weren’t worried about health violations last night.” He says, leading you towards the front. The tinkling sound is particularly loud here and you finally gather the courage to question him about your real intentions.

“Speaking of last night, I don’t actually remember much. But I do know I found my soulmate.” You start, looking towards him and Jin hums in acknowledgement. “And he was wearing a Santa suit…so as you know, you were also wearing one. So I was thinking-“

“I’m your soulmate?” Jin says and you nearly drop the bowl of caviar that’s tucked underneath your shirt.

“You are? Honestly that’s such a relief because I’ve been stressing myself out about trying to find them before it was actually Christmas so I don’t have to spend another alone. You said you were having to go to your family’s right? Would I be able to come with? I know we’ve only just met but I can’t imagine having to be alone again and-“ Seokjin has tucked the baguette under his arm, a finger pressed delicately to your lips.

“This is very flattering, truly the sweetest soulmate confession I’ve received thus far. But I have to stop you because I’m not your soulmate. You think you’re hearing bells right? The bus boys are polishing all the glasses and they always knock them into each other.” When he sees your eyes water again he gently wipes the falling tears. “I know you’re looking to find them and I want to help you. You said it was a Santa right? Lucky for you all my friend’s wore the costume because of Taehyung’s punishment. They were betting the length of time it would take Taehyung to smuggle a cat out of the shelter he works at. If you ask me I think it was rigged since Taehyung was the determinator of the bet length but my friends are stupid at best so they overlooked that. I was going to be slutty Santa anyways so I didn’t really care what they did. The only surprise was Taehyung being a freak and wearing a suit as well. Can you believe it was just because he wanted to be festive and not to get someone to sit in his lap?”

You can only sniffle and nod, internally questioning if trying to find your soulmate today was really a good idea. Mina did warn you about the potential heartbreak but you had been stubborn and unwilling to listen. The universe has had it out for you thus far, so why would it suddenly take pity on you and make things easy? “Hey, hey don’t give up. I’ll send you the shelter address and you can stop by when you’re ready. He should be there all day, his family is coming up here tomorrow so he has nothing better to do.” Jin says.

“You don’t think this is stupid? That I’m searching for something that clearly wasn’t meant to happen?”

“I don’t think any matter of the heart is something to criticize. If you really wanna find your soulmate you will, I believe in you. And Hobi must’ve believed in you too if he gave you our government names and locations. He wouldn’t give them out to strangers he didn’t trust. Or at least I hope he doesn’t, I’m much too beautiful to be held hostage.”

“Thanks Jin. That was oddly encouraging.”

“There’s nothing that a pretty face can’t fix. Now if you’ll excuse me, I must coast to the gas station and stand there until someone offers to pay for me. The sugar daddies are normally out right about now so that’s my queue. And when you find your soulmate, tell him he and his garbage truck stomach owe me groceries.”

“You know who it is?” You ask and Jin only shrugs.

“Maybe, maybe not. I’ll see you at the next party y/n.” He winks.

12 hours, 28 minutes, 12 seconds until Christmas

“Did you find them?” Songi asks excitedly when you enter the apartment and you shake your head in reply. You’re not exactly completely discouraged but you feel nowhere near as excited and prepared as you were earlier. “I’m sorry. Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?” She asks, tentatively sitting on the couch beside you.

“Can we just watch a fun movie or something? i don’t really want to think at the moment.”

“How about a drama instead? Someone I know really loves Goblin.” She sings, already reaching for the remote.

“Goblin would be nice. It’s been a while since I’ve watched it.” You hum, snuggling under a fluffy blanket thrown across the back of the couch and curling up next to Songi.

“You want some popcorn? I can make hot chocolate or something if you want.” She offers but you shake your head and lean your head on her shoulder.

“I just want to mindlessly watch some dramas and pretend I’m the main characters.” You say and she merely nods before turning Goblin on.

“We can do that.” You both settle in comfortably, your body easing as the stress and emotional toll begin to weigh on you. Maybe what you needed was to just relax before putting yourself back out there. Besides Taehyung was supposed to be at the shelter all day, you had plenty of time. And even if you missed Taehyung, even if you didn’t find your soulmate by Christmas, you wouldn’t truly be alone. You had Songi right here with you, someone who had already offered to bring you with her when she saw her family tomorrow. It was with this warming realization that you finally allowed yourself to stop thinking, and close your eyes to get a peaceful sleep.

8 hours, 32 minutes, 56 seconds until Christmas

“You two took a nap and I wasn’t invited? You know napping is my favorite part of the day.” Mina whines, setting bags down onto the kitchen counter before squeezing between you and Songi on the couch. “Oo I love this scene! Though I have to say Nam Joo Hyuk’s swim scenes in weightlifting fairy were the best part of any drama I’ve seen thus far. When I tell you I almost drooled.” She sighs, batting away the pillow that Songi attempts to hit her with.

“How dare you talk about my man like that.” Songi huffs dramatically before pouting. “Besides he’s best as Nam Do San. If I could marry any character it’d be him.”

“He’s cute but I wouldn’t want him.” You say.

“Yes, yes. We all know you like your men older.” Mina cackles, wiggling her eyebrows at you suggestively.

“Hey they don’t have to be! I just- I don’t know, I want someone who could take care of me.”

“In all ways.” Mina giggles, her voice choked when you smack her dead in the face with the pillow beside you.

“None of that in my christian household!” You giggle to which she gasps, accosted.

“Then tell Songi to stop her weird thigh club thing!”

“I am part of the weightlifting club it’s not my fault we focus on squats!” Songi says, her voice rising significantly higher as she attempts to defend herself.

“Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t join because you heard Wonho was the president.” Mina challenges, giggling when Songi’s cheeks bloom pretty roses.

“Sh-shut up. If you can have your hoe hours so can I. Besides Wonho’s my friend now, so I don’t admire them as much anymore.”

“You’re right, you admire them respectfully.” You add, laughing harder when Songi flips you off in retaliation.

“I hate you all. I need someone who will truly love me and be on my side.” She whines, standing up and moving to put on her shoes by the front door.

“Where are you going now?” Mina asks.

“To get a cat!” Songi exclaims, grabbing her bag off the rack by the door and storming out. You know she’s not really mad, but you also know there’s a one-hundred percent chance she’s coming back with a cat despite your lease directly stating it doesn’t allow animals.

You settle back onto the couch before your eyes widen and you jump up to put on your own shoes. “And where are you going?”

“I need to go to the shelter to see Taehyung and Songi’s the only one with a car!” You shout, running out the door and after her. You sprint down the stairs, it’s the most exercise you think you’ve gotten this year, and make it into the parking garage just as Songi unlocks her car. “Songi wait! Let me come with.” You yell, crossing over to her and throwing the passenger door open before she can say no.

“If you’re also getting a cat I get first dibs. It was my idea after all.” She says, waiting patiently for you to buckle up before pulling out. “Hey can you find directions for the nearest shelter? I know there’s one on third but I have no idea where third is.”

“Yeah I have the address for one.” You say, pulling up the place Jin sent you.

8 hours, 16 minutes, 24 seconds

The shelter itself is pretty small, but there’s a large fenced-in play area in the back. It’s filled with new toys and the sight makes you smile, especially at the few puppies that topple over each other when they trip while chasing one another. Your eyes linger on them a little longer and your heart pangs a little as you miss your dog from back home. You were supposed to see your family this winter season but all the flights in your home city were too expensive so you’ll have to see them after New Years instead. While you’ll get to see your family in a little over a week, you still miss them greatly especially when everyone is talking about going home to their own families.

“Do you want a dog instead?” Songi asks and you shake your head.

“No I don’t think I’m getting any pets. I have a umm friend who works here though.” You say, tucking your arm around hers and dragging her inside.

“Do you think they’ll give me a discount?” She asks, squeezing your arm when you tense at the little bell ringing above the door. At this point you hate bells and anything that has to deal with them.

“Maybe.”

“I’ll give you them free if you get two.” A smooth voice says, a boy with a black mullet and sharp eyebrows stepping in from the back. He smiles widely at you, rosy lips drawing into an almost blinding smile.

“Two might be a bit much for us.” You laugh stiffly. “I think we’re fine with just one.”

“Cat or dog?” He asks.

“Cat. Do you have any old cats? I’d like to give an elder guy a happy home.” Songi smiles and the beautiful man’s brows pinch.

“Taehyung is more familiar with the cats, I’ll go get him so he can show you around.”

“Sweet, thanks.” She says with a nod, tapping her feet to an imaginary beat. “Do you think I’ll find one that likes me? What if they all hate me?” Songi asks you, worry painted in her features.

“I’m sure they’ll all adore you. You’re difficult to not love.” You tell her, her shoulders sagging in relief.

“I just want to give them all the love in the world.” She says. “Oh do you think they sell collars? Something’s jingling.” She comments and before you can say anything the boy you first ran into last night appears. His boxy smile graces his features, dark eyes and long lashes fluttering as his gaze fixates on Songi.

“You’re the one looking for a cat?” He asks, his baritone voice causing a blush to rise to her skin. In fact, his voice when paired with his features seems to have glitched her brain out because she’s not moving at all. Her mouth is agape, her eyes wide as she takes in Taehyung. Several seconds have passed and she has yet to even so much as breathe. You nudge her shoulder and she seems to reboot, giving him a sheepish smile.

“Yeah.” She says breathily.

“Jaebum told me you wanted one of the older ones. I’ll show you the ones who’ve been here the longest too.” He says, urging you to follow him through the door on the left. “The first section is where we keep the older ones, hoping they’ll catch someone’s eye before they see the kittens.” He explains, gesturing to a large enclosure filled with cat beds and towers.

“Can we go inside?” Songi asks and Taehyung nods, opening the gate and allowing you both to enter before a cat can escape. Songi instantly takes a liking to a white fluffy one that’s sprawled on a blue bed in the corner. It’s ears twitch with each step she makes and she pauses when she’s an arms reach away.

“Hello.” She begins introducing herself to the cat and your eyes flicker to Taehyung who gazes at her almost fondly. Your stomach sinks because it’s clear you’re much more aware that Taehyung doesn’t have a belled collar in his pocket than Songi. Seeing her so clueless to her inevitable soulmate standing so close by allows you to give yourself forgiveness for being so clueless yesterday.

“That one’s named Gucci. Named him myself because he’s a rare breed.”

“Does that mean he’s going to be expensive too?” She jokes.

“Probably, he’s an old guy after all. Sometimes they develop health complications. This boy right here is thirteen and has been here for about two years I think?” Taehyung supplies and Songi immediately frowns.

“My poor baby.” She coos, gently reaching forward to scratch behind his ear and then further under his chin. “You wanna come live at my house? I’ll sneak you all the chicken you want.”

The cat just blinks at her, rather slowly, before sniffing her palm. Songi immediately takes this as a yes and tells Taehyung that she’ll take him. “A good choice if I must say so myself. You two look cute together.” Taehyung smiles before his eyes widen until they’re nearly entirely round like he didn’t realize what he was saying until it was already out of his mouth. He doesn’t retract them or try and make them less flirtatious however. He merely just walks away with a slight blush decorating the apples of his cheeks while mumbling about leaving to get paper work and a soft crate.

“You like him right?’ Songi asks and you just shrug despite the large smile pulling at your face.

“Taehyung? He seems really sweet.” You giggle to which she shushes you vehemently.

“He might hear you! Besides he’s way out of my league, there’s no way he’d like me back. Plus I already have a man in my life and he’s right here.” She tugs Gucci into her lap, pressing a small kiss to his nose.

“I will not let you turn into a cat lady. You’re already a hermit at twenty.”

“But people make me nervous.” She whines. Taehyung enters again before you can comment any further, the soft crate draped over his shoulder with a fluffy blanket tucked inside.

“I’ll come in with you and when you’re done signing, I’ll put him in the crate. Sometimes they put up a fight when you try and get them in there and I don’t want him scratching you.” Taehyung tells Songi and she just nods along. You can tell she’s stalling because the two pages takes her about five minutes, as she pretends to care about having neat handwriting. You’re pretty sure she’s working up the nerve to say something to Taehyung so you decide to do it for her.

“Taehyung do you have a collar on you? I think Gucci would look really cute with one with like a bowtie bell.” You ask and his mouth parts slightly open, brows pulled together in confusion. It gives off a similar vibe to when your puppy cocks his head to the side when it can’t figure out what you’re saying.

“We don’t have any collars here. We don’t want the animals to get caught on anything and owners usually like to pick out their own.”

“You mean you don’t have one in your pocket?” Songi asks, equally as confused. You love her but for being so academically smart she can be so slow.

“No.” Taehyung says before turning to her with startled eyes. “You can hear bells?”

“Yeah. Should I not be able to?”

“I can hear them too!” He yells, startling half the cats but he pays them no mind as he pulls her into a tight embrace. “I’m so happy, you don’t know how long I’ve been waiting for you…my soulmate.” He says it dreamily even though Songi is right in front of him and although your chances of finding your own is dwindling significantly you can’t help but be happy for your friend. She’s lit up under Taehyung’s attention, smiling so wide you think your own cheeks are starting to hurt. “And you my little man,” Taehyung says, squishing Gucci’s head between his large hands. “I’m going to be your dad!”

7 hours, 45 minutes, 31 seconds until Christmas

After finally convincing Taehyung to let Songi go, only under the terms that you’ll meet him at a nearby diner to get food, you wind up back in your apartment. Mina is gone, probably either on her way home or out with Hoseok so it’s quiet when Songi enters with Gucci. It’s probably a good thing as Taehyung warned you both that moving was quite stressful for a cat and he’d want a quiet room to hang out by himself until he felt comfortable. Gingerly taking him to her room, Songi sets up his things before opening Gucci’s crate and quietly closing the door. “I hope he doesn’t pee on my stuff.” She comments suddenly.

“I doubt it. He probably won’t even leave the crate for a few hours.”

“You think he’ll like it here?” Songi asks, following you out of the apartment and back down to her car. Taehyung wanted to go to somewhere near his work since he biked there this morning and Songi was happy to oblige even if she normally hates driving at night.

“I think so, I know you’ll shower him with as much love as you can. He’d have no reason not to like it.”

“Taehyung?” She asks, laughing to herself for parroting you from earlier. “I know, you meant the cat. But on a serious note, the cat will like me better than him right? It’d be so depressing for my cat to like my boyfriend more than me.”

“Mmm that one is hard. Your boyfriend is scarily beautiful.”

“Hey! You’re supposed to be on my side.” Songi whines.

“I am, I’m just speaking facts. It doesn’t mean you’re not beautiful too.” Your phone buzzes and it’s a text from Mina asking what your plans are for tonight. You guess Mina didn’t go home after all.

“Is it okay if Mina comes along? Hobi’s probably with her too.” You ask, already typing out a reply because you know Songi will agree.

“That’s fine. But hey, can you give me directions again? I really don’t know where I’m supposed to be going.”

4 hours, 47 minutes, 27 seconds until Christmas

Songi is sidled up beside Taehyung, his arm resting on her leg while Hobi has his arm wrapped around Mina’s shoulders. You’re all crammed inside a small circular booth, mountains of food spread around the table as you joke around about nothing in particular. You had forgotten Taehyung and Hobi were close friends, having met so many of said friends that it feels like everyone is just a friend of a friend. And yet despite being the only one without a significant other, you don’t feel left out or lonely. In fact, you’re the happiest you’ve been these past two days as you listen to Taehyung ramble on about the time he had to streak across campus.

“Should I be horrified that the campus security guards know what my boyfriend’s dick looks like before I do?” Songi laughs.

“Hey they only got a preview, you get the full movie.” She giggles to which you all collectively groan.

“Gross!” Songi says, making Taehyung beside her pout.

“I don’t know why I thought finding Hobi would make you any less shameless.” You chuckle.

“Hey you all love me like this. Take it or leave it as they say.” Mina says, dipping a fry in ranch before popping it into her mouth. “You sure you can handle all this Hobi?” She asks to which he only winks. Lord help you, there’s two of them.

“I think our best moment was when we convinced Namjoon to sneak into the science labs and set all the testing rats free. Imagine this like six foot tall man screaming as a bunch of little white rats chase after him.” Taehyung giggles.

“What he didn’t know was that Jungkook had stuffed cheese into the pockets of his cargo pants so the rats were trying to get a midnight snack.” Hobi snickers.

“Where’d they all go?” Songi asks.

“They just kinda scattered around campus. I’m sure half of them live near the dining halls now.” Hobi says.

“Do you think they formed packs? Or are they like Remy from Ratatouille and are going to take over as chefs. The dining halls could really use an upgrade. Remember when we used to trek across campus just to get a decent dinner?” Taehyung asks.

“I’m not sure. Why don’t you two go and ask them?” Mina snickers.

“Jungkook.” They both say suddenly like that’s a reasonable and valid answer.

“Jungkook.” You repeat, the words somewhat familiar on your tongue. Why did you know that name? Pulling out your phone you look back to the list of names Hoseok had given you of those who wore Santa costumes and gasp. “Jungkook!”

“Yes that is his name.” Taehyung adds dryly.

“Jungkook was wearing a Santa suit! At the party. He’s one of the two left. Do you know where I can find him?” You ask and Hobi shrugs.

“He’s probably gone home by this hour. He was whining so much about missing his mom that I’m sure he left earlier this morning to go see her sooner.” You visibly deflate and Taehyung decides to offer up additional advice.

“Jungkook and Namjoon live together. That’s two of your list right? I’ll send you the address and you can see if anyone is home.”

“Don’t you think that’s a violation of privacy?” Hobi whispers.

“Nah it’s fine. A bunch of porn sights probably track their location with all the viruses Namjoon downloads anyways.” Taehyung says this so casually that you wonder if a big part of Namjoon’s personality is liking erotic videos. You really hope not, soulmate or not. You have a threshold for that type of conversation and Mina is relatively mild but even she regularly meets said threshold.

“Anyways, they’re not that far from here if you want me to walk you there. I live nearby anyways.” Taehyung offers.

“If you’re sure.”

“No problem.”

4 hours, 15 minutes, 53 seconds until Christmas

The apartment building is small, the colors muted brown and had Taehyung not pointed it out to you, you would’ve missed it entirely. The only source of light is small patio lights strewn between the buildings, the likes of which are only a few stories tall. Taehyung tells you the apartment number before riding off, leaving you to your own devices. Except, you realize too late that despite the buildings being rather old they’ve upgraded to modern systems. Which means you need a fob to get in. You could walk home and call it a night, but at this point you’re just annoyed and stubborn. So instead you meander through the convenience store for a half hour, pretending that you care about the difference between regular and kettle chips when you spot someone walking towards the gate. Abandoning the aisle, you hurry out of the store and cross the street.

“Hey! I lost my fob could you let me in?” You ask, a pleasant smile on your face to try and sway the guy. You can’t see his face well, it’s obscured by a black baseball cap but you can see the distrust in his eyes. “Please?” You try again.

“I guess.” He mumbles, holding the door for you to slip inside. You have half a mind to warn him against doing such things in the case of strangers only to realize that you are the stranger in this situation.

“Thanks!” You say, hurrying away before he can kick you out. The guy working the convenience store was definitely taking note of your blatant loitering and he didn’t seem like the type to ignore it. It turns out the building coordination here is quite complex because while you’d think 101-106 would be on the right and 093-100 on the left, 093-100 is actually the next building over. It’s like they put the apartment numbers in a random generator and just let that decide the order. You’re making your fifth round of building B like a creep when you decide to just sit in the stairwell in shame. It’s clear this apartment complex is your own personal form of hell for trying to best the soulmate system which so clearly doesn’t want you to find your soulmate before the holidays. You already have your phone out to call Mina and express your woes when you hear the door below you attached to the stairwell open. Before you can scramble out of the way a pair of multicolored chunky sneakers stand on the step beneath your own.

“You okay?” The stranger asks and you just nod. “Are you sure? You look a little lost.”

“Metaphorically and physically, yes I am very lost. I have somehow found my soulmate and forgot them within the same day, I’ve been running around the city chasing after fucking Santa like an insane person and I have no idea where the fuck apartment 387 is.” You sigh, glad to release at least some of your pent up frustration. The stranger takes a minute before holding out a hand for you to grab.

“Lucky for you I happen to know where apartment 387 is.” His smile is indented by deep dimples, nicely framing thick lips.

“Really?” You ask, slipping your hand into his own and allowing him to drag you up.

“Sure thing. If you’re this determined to meet your soulmate I’m sure they’re equally distraught at not finding you yet.” He offers thoughtfully and you just hum.

“I don’t know, don’t you think I’d have run into them by now? I’ve been all around the city today.”

“Two moving pieces are just as hard to connect as two not moving at all.” The stranger offers before stopping in front of door 387. Just as you’re about to thank him he unlocks it and looks back at you with a wide smile. “How about you come in and have a drink? He should be home soon anyways. Probably equally as frustrated as yourself.”

“If it’s not a bother…”

“Hey you’re my best friend’s soulmate, you’ll never be a bother. Besides I try and do one good deed a day, so reuniting lost lovers can be that.”

“Funny, Yoongi said the same thing.” You muse to yourself.

“Who do you think taught him? I’m Namjoon by the way.” You freeze, mind struggling to pair the apparent porn addict with the insightful, sophisticated man in front of you. He notices this pause and frowns. “What did one of my idiots for friends say?”

“Uhh…maybe just something about porn.” You mumble and Namjoon just takes a moment to deeply sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose between two fingers.

“You should know they’re the ones who asked me to download it.” He huffs. “Chamomile or hot chocolate?”

“Hot chocolate is just fine.” You say, taking a a moment to observe the apartment. It’s decorated rather warmly, rich browns and black melding with soft orange. It feels a bit like you’re sitting at the edge of a bonfire, admiring the pretty glow it casts on everything. “Your decoration is really nice.” You say, taking note of the little wooden figures strewn across the living room. A small glass bunny makes you smile.

“Thanks I decorated it myself. I double major in interior design and business.”

“You think you could decorate my apartment? It’s terribly bland because my roommates and I all have different taste in decorating.”

“Sure thing, send me the dimensions and I’ll pick some stuff out. A lot of this is thrifted or from local vintage shops, so it’s not nearly as expensive as it seems.”

“Smart shopping, very sustainable.”

“What can I say? I’m a glutton for shopping but a stickler for lessening environmental footprints.” Namjoon says and you laugh, hiding your smile behind the mug he hands you. He even went so far as to add whipped cream at the top with chocolate shavings.

“Thank you. This is the best hot chocolate I’ve had so far.”

“Cool! I got some imported Belgian chocolate and-“

“Joonie I can’t do this anymore.” A third voice sounds before their body even enters the apartment, the front door thrown open carelessly as they flop themselves onto the couch. A jingle plays itself in your head, the bells have a rather bright sound. Namjoon urges you forward and you carry your mug with you just to keep your hands from shaking. “I’ve gone all over the city for nothing and of course when I come home to wallow in pity the bells are mocking me. They’re getting louder with each passing second Namjoon!” They whine, voice slightly muffled by the pillow.

“Would you like a hot chocolate?” You ask and they sit up so quickly that you jump back, sloshing some of the hot liquid onto your wrist. “Fuck! That’s so hot.” You whine, your supposed soulmate jumping over the back of the couch and holding your wrist gently in their hand.

“Shit, I’m so sorry.” They say, but you can’t even feel the burn because your nerves are too focused on his touch. Goosebumps scatter across your skin, as he hurries you into the kitchen to run cold water over your wrist. His mouth is moving a mile a minute, murmuring apologies and yet you can only fixate on the mole on his lower lip and the way his dark hair hangs in his eyes, long lashes blinking away stray strands. His nose is strong, a pretty curve making it much too enticing for you to not kiss it at least once. He seems to notice you’re not paying attention because he finally turns to face you head on and it’s only then does he seem to recognize you.

Similarly to last time his eyes are wide, several emotions running through them that you attempt to read: confusion, surprise, relief. He almost sags against you, pulling you into him before you can even think of anything to say. With your nose tucked into his neck, you can feel his small tremors and attempt to suppress them by pulling him in tighter. “I-I didn’t think-“

“I know.” You shush him softly, taking in how warm and solid he is, how real he feels beneath your palms. He smells like fresh linen, and when he finally pulls far away enough that you can look into his eyes you kiss the tip of his nose. His cheeks flush but the hands on your waist tighten. “I’ve looked everywhere for you, you know?”

He scoffs. “I could say the same. Why’d you disappear yesterday? I thought maybe you realized you didn’t..want me.”

“That could and would never be it.” You reassure him, running a hand through his hair to push it out of his face. “I hate for this to be our first meeting but I was super drunk when we met. I couldn’t really think and my friend thought I was really sick so she took me home before I had the chance to say anything.”

“Jin did say you drank an entire bottle of schnapps. Thanks for that by the way, now I owe him a new bottle.”

“He knew?! Why didn’t he save us the heartbreak and force us together?” You ask and he turns his head towards the small kitchen window.

Scratching the back of his neck, he mumbles, “that might’ve been my fault. I was supposed to be hosting with Joon but decided I didn’t want the mess. By then word already got out so someone had to host. You could say this was my punishment that you unfortunately had to suffer through as well.”

“Next time I’m going to pour his schnapps down the drain instead. Better yet, we’ll buy a bottle, drink it and replace it with thick water!” You huff and he smiles.

“I like the way you think. But what is thick water?”

“I heard it’s the consistency of snot. I guess drinkable jello would be the closest texture.” He scrunches his nose in distaste and you smile. He’s so cute.

“I uhh-I’m Jungkook by the way. I don’t think I mentioned that.”

“Y/n.” He stares at you for a moment before placing both hands on your cheeks and placing a tender kiss to your lips. It’s soft and warm, very much like the man who stands in front of you.

“You’re the best gift I could’ve ever asked for.” He says and despite the cheesy line the sincerity with which he speaks warms you. His hand falls to your own, only when he brushes against your wrist do you hiss and the moment is broken. “Shit, I forgot. Don’t worry baby, I took sports medicine in high school, I’ll fix it up real quick.”

0 hours, 0 minutes, 10 seconds

Jungkook’s arms wrap tightly around your frame, the both of you cuddled into the thickest blanket he could find as you gaze at the city around you. Your wrapped wrist sits carefully against your chest, a heart drawn over the fabric by Jungkook himself. The city lights are so pretty at night, the sky clear enough that if you strain your eyes you can even make out a few stars. The only stars you’re concerned about though are the ones in Jungkook’s eyes, glittering prettily as the sign from the convenience store across the street illuminates them. He takes a sip of Namjoon’s hot chocolate from a thermos before handing it to you, brushing your hair out of your face that’s been displaced by the slight breeze. Despite the fact that you’re both shivering you don’t think you’ve been this warm in a while. It’s part of the reason you insisted to stay out here just a little bit longer even though Jungkook’s warm bed is waiting for you downstairs. You just wanted to be in your own world a little longer, wanting to have an excuse to mold yourself as closely against Jungkook as humanly possible. Clicking his phone the time illuminates, 11:59, staring back at you before flicking to 12:00.

“Merry Christmas Jungkook.” You murmur pressing a chaste kiss to his lips as he smiles.

“Merry Christmas baby.” He says. Your eyes fall back onto his own and he’s looking at you as if you’re his whole world. You know your own mirror the same sentiment and you press closer to connect your lips to his own, writing your future along his tongue.

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kyber-crystal · 4 years ago

Text

pop the question || s.r.

summary: steve goes to his old love to ask her for advice on making the most important decision of his life.

words: ~2.5k

warnings: really nothing, just fluff and cheesy steve as always :)

a/n: this was an old oneshot and it’s poorly written i’m so sorry. post civil war au where everyone is happy and peggy is still alive hehehehe let’s keep in mind this is unedited so there’s a lot of errors.

Upon hearing that your boyfriend was going to go visit Peggy, you immediately jumped at the opportunity and begged him to let you tag along. Hearing countless stories about the fearless woman who helped found the very organization that you had been a part of for so long made you want to see her in person. So after several days of convincing, he finally caved in and allowed you to come with him.

The room she was staying in was brightly lit and minimalistic, mostly uncluttered with the only thing on the wall being a framed black-and-white photo of her back in the 40's. A grey-haired woman lay peacefully in the middle of the bed and as you took a step forward, she stirred slightly and for a moment you were afraid you'd woken her up in the middle of her sleep.

Her eyes opened and a bright smile lit up her face, softening immediately upon seeing the two of you side by side. "Oh, do come in...And who is this beautiful lady you've brought along with you, Steve?"

"I'm Y/N. Former SHIELD agent, currently an Avenger," you explained as you made your way over to her. She reached out and gave your hand a quick squeeze, returning your warm smile. "It's so nice to finally meet you. I've heard so much about you."

"And I've heard plenty about you as well," she replied kindly, "You're even lovelier in person."

You laughed nervously and rubbed the back of your neck. "I don't think so."

"I've always wanted to get to know the woman he's fallen so hopelessly in love with."

"Peggy..." Steve felt his cheeks heat up at her statement. "stop, you're embarrassing me—"

"I can tell why he chose you," Peggy smiled, "He's a good man...I know he loves you more than anything."

"Actually, I beg to differ, he loves Bucky more than me," you raised an eyebrow in suspicion at the super-soldier. "He wouldn't pay attention to me after he got roped into an Uno deathmatch last night."

"Classic Rogers," she laughed, shaking her head in disbelief as he pulled up a chair to sit next to you, by her bedside, "a true child at heart. I see you haven't changed much over the years."

Steve took your hand in his, intertwining your fingers together and soothingly rubbing circles across your palm with his thumb. Peggy noticed the softened look in his eyes when he glanced over at you and you felt your face grow warm.

"So how long have you been together for?"

"Almost two years," Steve replied, with a light pink shade tinting his cheeks. "Our second anniversary will be on..."

"May 20th. Two weeks from now," you finished his sentence.

"That's wonderful," Peggy laughed again, "I wish you two the best in your relationship."

"You're too kind," you thanked her, "I've been a huge fan of yours for so long."

"And I, you. He always talks about you every time he visits. He never shuts up about you, so I was dying to meet you from the moment he first mentioned your name."

"What did he say?" you looked over at your boyfriend to see that he was now flushing a bright tomato red, much to both yours and her amusement. "It was all good things, I assume?"

"Of course. He tells me he's never been this happy in his life until he met you...I honestly couldn’t be more proud."

"Aww, Steve," you nudged him in the side as he grew an even deeper shade of red, "you're so sweet."

"He is a hopeless romantic," she added on. "Captain America is great with the ladies."

"Peggy!" Steve exclaimed.

"Aw, you're making him blush," you giggled.

"He is the easily flustered type, if I'm being completely honest with myself here, though one might not see that right away when they first meet him," she agreed, but then her face fell. "Y/N, would you be a dear and get me a glass of water and some yogurt from the cafeteria? You just have to head straight down the hall, then turn right. You'll know it when you see it."

"Yeah, of course," you nodded as you stood up. "Just a minute."

Once you were out of earshot, Peggy gestured for Steve to come closer so he could hear her speak better.

"I'm glad you found a woman like her to stick by your side," she said quietly, "All these years, I waited for you, and I was completely, utterly heartbroken at the idea of not being with you ever again. But after hearing you talk about her frequently and seeing your face light up every time her name was mentioned...I didn't want to take that away from you. You're still that good man with heart from Brooklyn I met so long ago, Steve, and I hope you'll continue to treat her well. She’s a real keeper. Promise me you'll keep her close."

"I will," he promised, reaching over to gently squeeze her hand. "I love her more than anything, and there's nothing I wouldn't do to make her happy."

"Good," she nodded with a smile, "you make the perfect pair with her."

After you returned with Peggy's yogurt and water, you stayed for about an hour and a half longer before a buzzing sound from your phone indicated a new text message.

Natasha: Hey, love. I'm in the parking lot right now, where do you want to go for lunch? I kicked Bucky out before he dragged us to shawarma for the third time this week, so it's your pick today. Thank me later.

You: I'll be out in a sec. Meet you outside.

Natasha: See you in a bit.

You looked back up at Peggy after sliding your phone in your purse, giving her an apologetic look. "I'm afraid I have to go now. I have a lunch date. Natasha doesn't like to be kept waiting, especially when there's food on the line."

"It's okay," she reassured you as you stood up and shook her hand again. "It was absolutely wonderful meeting you. I hope you can come and visit again soon."

"Of course."

After exchanging one last round of goodbyes with her and Steve, you slung your purse over your shoulder and pushed the doors open to head outside, where Natasha was awaiting you in Tony's Audi.

"Hey, girlfriend," Natasha sent you a flirty wink and wave. "Get in."

You slid into the passenger's seat, buckling on your seatbelt as she stepped on the gas pedal. "Hey."

"So, how'd it go?"

"It was pretty nice. She seemed to ship it pretty eagerly," you chuckled. "Oh, also, Thai food."

"Got it." She typed in the directions to the restaurant into the GPS. "That's cute, having another person who's an avid shipper of Y/N x Steve. You guys have any plans for your anniversary?"

You shook your head, "I have no idea. Usually, it's him who makes the move and goes all out for the night, but I'm not sure what either of us have in mind this year."

Oh, he definitely had something in mind.

There was a burning question sitting in the back of his head and had been doing so for as long as he could remember. Right as he was prepared to leave half an hour later, he decided to ask Peggy and get it off his chest.

"Could I ask you something important?"

"Of course."

"I, uh..." he fiddled with his thumbs nervously for a few seconds before reaching into his jacket pocket and pulling out a tiny, cubic box encasing a gorgeous diamond ring inside. "Because our anniversary is coming up soon...I wanted to pop the question. How should I do it?"

"Oh, that's wonderful!" Peggy clasped her hands together excitedly. "Well...I'd suggest you go over-the-top for this occasion, it's a big, life-changing moment so why not? Don't be afraid to go all out, be romantic."

"What should I do, then?"

"Hmm. What are some things she enjoys?"

"Laser tag, crushing her opponents and beating them to a pulp in fights, Tom Cruise, Italian food, and Taylor Swift. She’s a popular pop singer these days."

"Ah, I see," she laughed, "She's a woman who enjoys variety."

"Exactly."

"A nice candlelit dinner would help set the mood very well, but if you're not wanting to pop the question in front of a crowd, you could always set that dinner up at home. Are any of you good cooks?"

"Bruce makes good pasta, and Vision's the baker of the compound."

"Back when my husband and I were still dating, he'd always surprise me with nice little fancy dinners at home. I believe that is the way to a girl's heart; sometimes you do not need to be extravagant to win her over. And you said she likes Taylor Swift, yes?”

“Yeah...”

“Take her to a concert! I heard from my niece that she’s in town right around the time of your anniversary...so you’re in luck. Get tickets, and take her there.”

"Thank you so much, Peggy. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Anytime, Steve."

...

"So," Natasha spoke up as you were on your way back to the compound after lunch, "it's been two years since you finally got off your asses and admitted you were in love with each other, how do you feel?"

"I honestly don't know," you shrugged, "but I guess I have you to thank, right?"

"Damn right you do," she smirked, "I've been rooting for you two since we were called in to take down SHIELD, and I started suspecting things during the Battle of New York."

"That was three years ago! And New York was five!"

"I know!"

You let out a long sigh, a wistful look appearing on your face. "I wish Mom and Dad were here to see where I am right now. You know, they always pushed me to get back into the dating game once I got over my nasty breakup in college...before I got my level 8 SHIELD promotion."

"Didn't they always tell you that they wished you'd date Cap?"

"They did, actually," you chuckled, "and here I am now. Their dream has become my reality."

"I always loved your mom. Remember when we were having dinner at their house? She snuck me extra cookies under the table. Being your best friend for over six years has its perks, you know."

"And she'd fangirl over Thor."

"Ho, boy. Yup," she shook her head as she thought back to that chaotic family dinner.

Two weeks went by in a flash, and before you knew it, it was the day of yours and Steve's anniversary. Strangely enough you'd been prevented from seeing him all day, with the team making extra efforts to keep you separated.

After a fancy home-cooked dinner, you found yourselves curled up together on the couch as you absentmindedly watched Tangled - one of your favorite Disney movies of all time. Your head was resting on Steve’s broad shoulder as he traced patterns on your arm, feeling his breath gently fanning over your head.

But partway through the movie, you noticed he seemed to be fidgeting a bit as well, glancing between you and his pockets frequently.

"Hey," you placed a gentle hand on top of his, still staring ahead, "are you okay?"

"Huh? What? Yeah, I'm fine," he blinked a couple times before snapping out of his daze.

"Okay..."

Several more minutes passed in silence before he decided to speak up again. “...If I recall, you’re into Taylor Swift.”

“Oh yeah! Why do you ask?”

“An insider told me she’s going to be in Brooklyn this weekend for a throwback tour. I managed to snag last-minute tickets for the two of us...what do you say?”

“YES,” you practically squealed, jumping out of your seat and throwing your arms around him. “You’re the best! I love you.”

“I know, darling, I love you too,” he laughed, one hand rubbing your back as the other was absentmindedly fiddling with the box in his pocket. You blew it, Rogers...

...

You were nearly bombarded by paparazzi as soon as you stepped out of your Audi with Steve by your side, reporters flooding your path. The guards at the main entrance were quick to notice, however, and led you aside so you could enter through a different route.

“This feels so surreal,” your voice echoed across the walls as you made your way down the hall hand-in-hand. “I’ve been dreaming about this moment ever since I was a kid.”

“I’m glad I was able to make that dream come to life.”

“This is why you’re the best person ever.”

“Not because I always have your back during missions?” he raised a brow.

“That too, but also because of the fact that you got me tickets to the concert of one of my favorite artists ever.”

He chuckled. “I get that.”

You ended up standing right in front of the stage - so you had not only a close-up view, but could hear everything beyond fantastically. As Taylor came out on stage and began to sing, Steve couldn’t help the look of adoration that crossed over his features at the sight of your brightened eyes and glowing complexion. You truly looked like an angel - and he knew for sure in that very moment, you were the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

His train of thought was interrupted at one point by you grabbing his hand and squealing excitedly. “My favorite!”

Steve recognized the familiar, soothing tune as Love Story. He recalled you and Natasha drunkenly dancing around on karaoke night to this very tune - heads thrown back in laughter as you exaggerated your movements, making everyone laugh. You’d explained that the reason why you were so attached was because listening to it made you long for a happy ever after - a perfect future. A girl could dream.

Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone I keep waiting for you, but you never come Is this in my head? I don't know what to think He knelt to the ground and pulled out a ring And said,

You were too busy jumping around and singing your heart out to notice the spotlight was now shining down on you, and it was only when the crowd started shrieking in excitement that you turned around to see-

Steve was down on one knee, holding up a tiny velvet box with a beautiful diamond ring nestled in the very center. Taylor was grinning down at you two as she continued to sing, the audience chanting for you to say something.

"Marry me, Juliet You'll never have to be alone I love you and that's all I really know I talked to your dad, go pick out a white dress It's a love story, baby, just say, "Yes"

“Yes! Yes,” you nodded, choking on a happy sob as you put a hand over your mouth, letting him slide the ring on your finger. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

He stood back up and wound his arms around your waist, pulling you in for a passionate kiss to your lips.

Oh, oh, oh Oh, oh, oh, oh 'Cause we were both young when I first saw you

...

if your name is striked out, that means i couldn’t tag you for some reason

general tags: @yoomum @captainchrisstan @sandystoriess @naomiiiiiiiiiii04 @patzammit @rynhaswritersblock @capcapcapsicle @wheresmyjae @thinkingofbuckybarnes @carryonmywaywardbucky @musicalkeys @buckybarnesthehotshot @zaddychris @optimistic-dinosaur-nacho @sylvie-writes @sis-it-dont-add-up @tonystankschild

permanent tags: @sandwitch-god @renaissancecherub

steve/chris tags: @marvelfanatic16 @angrybirdcr @speechlessxx @epiphanybucky @smokeandnailz

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patchofsunlight · 4 years ago

Text

Stand You | Bakugou Katsuki x Fem!Reader

SUMMARY: Bakugou insists he can’t stand stupid Y/N, even while he changes his entire routine to fit her in it.

WORD COUNT: 5.1k

WARNINGS: if this doesn’t show up on tags for the fifth time i will simply give up on it, cursing, bakugou is a lil bitch but he’s also a softie, there’s a nosebleed at one point but nothing concerning tbh, aizawa and recovery girl find young love amusing, shouto is baby

Y/N wasn’t sure of exactly when she started thinking of Bakugou Katsuki as a friend. Maybe it had been during their first year, after the first time he allowed her to join his study group alongside Kirishima, Kaminari, Sero, and Mina; or maybe it had been a bit later, when she hugged him tight in the middle of a crowd, almost as if she could squeeze the pain being kidnapped by the League of Villains had brought him, and he let her — while All Might fought his last battle and all of Japan feared for its future, Bakugou let her hold him.

She was deeply aware of the fact he tolerated her at best, as he made that abundantly clear every chance he got. He didn’t exactly hate her presence, but she was on thin fucking ice, and, even though Y/N knew this, she still managed to somehow develop a crush on the angry ash blond, like the stupid idiot she was.

It was ridiculous, to be honest, especially considering how there was no way he would ever feel the same. She would go as far as saying he didn’t even know her name — “Stupid,” he called her (how enchanting!) —, so, yeah, there was absolutely no possibility of her feelings being reciprocated in any way, and the dumb hug they shared was nothing but a coincidence. He was a bit shaken, a bit shocked, and those few warm minutes didn’t really mean anything.

Y/N didn’t mind. She was okay being Bakugou’s friend, satisfied with study group meetings and the occasional sparring. That way, at least, she could be sort of close to him, and that was pretty much enough.

Katsuki wasn’t sure of exactly when he had stopped thinking of Y/N L/N as another stupid extra. Maybe it had been when he found himself walking a little slower while she accompanied him towards class, or maybe it had been a bit earlier, when she hugged him tight in the middle of a crowd, almost as if she could squeeze the pain being kidnapped by the League of Villains had brought him, and he let her — while All Might fought his last battle and all of Japan feared for its future, Bakugou let her hold him.

He didn’t particularly like her. She talked too much, too fast, too loud; she insisted on walking him to and from the dorms everyday; and she was weak, stupid, useless. To be completely fair, Bakugou would say he despised her.

And yet, he found himself around her way more often than necessary.

“Hey, Bakugou, wait up! Let’s walk together!”

He groaned loudly at the sound of her voice, having been hopelessly hoping she wouldn’t be able to catch up.

“Fuck, no. Get out of my way, Stupid!”

He slowed down nonetheless, soon walking by her side. Her smile was bright and excited as she kept on blabbering about something Kirishima had done when they were paired up on training that day.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

“— and then he threw me off the training mat so easily! Who taught him how to do that? I wanna do that!”

“I don’t give a fuck, Stupid.”

“— but I won the second time we sparred, so I guess we’re even. It was fun.”

Y/N never seemed bothered by his harsh words. In fact, she usually either ignored them altogether, unfaltering and patient, or laughed and added some opinion of her own to his rage. It was maddening — she couldn’t take a hint.

Moments like this were common, almost routine. If Bakugou didn’t know better, he would’ve thought the girl had taken quite a liking to him. It was an obvious conclusion, considering she was always around him in some way or another, trying to spark up friendly conversation and letting him know how her day went.

(It was so, so calming to have her here like this. He would never admit it, but hearing Y/N’s endless rants brought him a sense of security he had never really felt before. She talked too much, that was for sure, yet he didn’t really care. It was okay if it was her.)

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

“Come on, try again. We’ve gone through this already.”

“I can’t, Bakugou. I—I’m sorry.”

The ash blond sighed, running a hand through his hair. The bite to his tone had disappeared after a couple of hours, red gaze intensely attentive to the frustrated tears gathering in the girl’s eyes. Every other student had gone back to their dorms, and the librarian seemed very intent on shooting the duo angry looks as if to tell them to hurry up and leave already, finally allowing their long afternoon shift to end.

“Yes, you can. I know you can. Try again, you’re almost fucking there.”

Katsuki had never been good at positive reinforcement. He was better at screaming and cursing and insulting, and, yes, he had tried that with Y/N a thousand times before, but he could see how hard she was trying. He noticed how disappointed and tired she was, and he couldn’t find it in himself to be anything less than what he recognized as incredibly soft. He was glad they were the only ones in the library — he wouldn’t know how to explain himself if anyone saw him like this, watching this random girl who he refused to call a friend mess up her homework in various different ways, talking quietly to stop her from crying.

“We don’t have all fucking day, Stupid. You can do this, go on.”

Yeah, definitely not good at positive reinforcement.

“Okay,” she inhaled deeply, pencil moving slowly through the paper, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration.

There was a slight crease between her brows as she worked, and Bakugou felt the sudden urge to rub it away, which he rejected immediately. That was ridiculous! There was no reason for things like this to plague his mind — L/N Y/N was an idiot, and he didn’t deliberately think about her in any way, form, or universe. She wasn’t worthy of his thoughts.

“Is this it?”

His attention immediately returned to the equations and messy notes on her notebook while he looked it over, a surprised glint taking his eyes.

“Yeah, that’s basically it. It could be better, but you got it right.”

“I did?”

“You did. I told you you could do it, Stupid.”

Katsuki choked on his own air when the girl jumped towards his place on the table, hugging him tightly by the neck while spouting a great variety of thank you’s and praise, disrupting the angry librarian. Bakugou could feel his cheeks heat up under the worker’s glare, both with irritation born from their silent attitude and from the weird warmth growing in his chest at Y/N’s attention.

It was the first time she hugged him since the kidnapping accident, and it felt different. It wasn’t a comfort hug like last time, no — it was almost like she had been so happy she couldn’t stop herself from touching him, and that thought alone was enough to send sirens flaring inside his head. Every single inch where her skin touched his seemed to tingle, a calming sensation flowing through his body.

He instantly decided he hated the feeling, pushing her off harshly but still a tad more carefully than he would’ve if it was anyone else.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, no need to freak out. Let’s just get done with this already and go back to the dorms.”

She smiled widely as she picked her things up, shoving them inside her backpack and patiently waiting for him to do the same. Strangely, the explosion boy couldn’t find it in himself to meet her eyes, avoiding the light blush he feared would coat his features when he saw her staring at him like that, with that pretty — no, not pretty, no, he didn’t think she was pretty in anyway — with that stupid smile on her face.

“I’m glad we can walk back together,” the girl declared cheerfully the moment they left the big and lonely library, strolling through the empty path side by side, the sun nowhere to be seen. “It’s late already.”

“Whatever,” he groaned back, refusing to look at her yet still maintaining a pace he was sure she could keep up with.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

Bakugou felt hyper-aware of every movement beside him. For a few days now, his heart would pump a bit faster whenever she smiled, and his skin would crawl with what he could only describe as the craving to have her hold him again.

It made him weak, and he wouldn’t have it. Bakugou Katsuki was a lot of things, but he refused to be weak.

Specially because of someone like Stupid.

“What grade did you guys get on last week’s math test?”

They always sat next to each other during lunch. It wouldn’t be that bad if it wasn’t for how her knee touched his ever so softly, her body too close for comfort because of Kaminari’s presence on her other side, pressing onto her enthusiastically each time he spoke. Kirishima had asked her once if she wanted him to exchange places with the electric boy, but she simply laughed it off — Kaminari’s manners were endearing, in a way. For some reason, those words gave Katsuki the urge to break Kaminari’s nose.

“I got an 87,” Y/N declared, delight dripping from her words while she played with the food on her plate.

“Y/N!” Mina’s smile was so big it almost didn’t fit on her face. “That’s almost 30 marks higher than you got on our last test!”

“I know!” Bakugou scowled at her excitement before she turned her head to look at him, a sunny grin directed entirely to him, stealing all the air from his lungs. “Bakugou is an amazing tutor!”

“Damn right I am,” he managed to rasp out, clearing his throat loudly before shoving a bunch of spicy noodles in his mouth. Kirishima and Sero exchanged a look.

He would never admit it, the raw pride that consumed his chest at her happiness. He knew how hard she had worked for that test, and was glad to see it went even better than she expected.

“Maybe now you could tutor me, Y/N,” Kaminari wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, causing a laugh to escape the girl’s lips while she turned away from Katsuki to stare at him.

“I would love to, but I’m pretty sure I would make your grades even worse.”

“Hey,” Bakugou barked angrily, fighting off the blush creeping up his ears, “don’t sell yourself short, Stupid. You’re not that much of a dumbass.”

A heavy silence fell down on the group, surprised stares pointed to the ash blond. He could feel his stomach twist in anger at the unwanted attention, yet something about the way her smile widened at his words caused his irritation to decrease exponentially.

“What are you idiots staring at?” he lashed out despite the calm settling inside his heart at the sight of her, rolling his eyes at the bunch of morons he called his friends.

“No, nothing,” Kaminari’s voice was high-pitched in obvious lying that brought out snickers from everyone else on the table but Bakugou himself. “Nothing.”

“It better be nothing, Dunce Face, or I’ll kill you.”

“Of course,” Kirishima bit down on his lip to contain his laughter, “don’t worry about it, Bakubro.”

The day went by slowly and way more often than not Bakugou found himself stealing glances towards where he knew Y/N’s seat was. There was a weird whispering in the back of his head, reminding him of how her arms felt around him when they hugged in the library the week before, reminding him of the warmth that invaded his skin and implanted itself in his brain, reminding him of how bright her smiles were and how nice her laughter sounded.

Oh, there was something wrong. Did she have some sort of secondary quirk guilty of making him feel like this? Never before had he ever given her much thought, even though he had to admit his mind wandered to her sometimes and he did try to somehow be nicer to her, but it wasn’t because he cared for her or anything, right? Of course not! He just thought she wouldn’t be able to take his usual self and he didn’t want to deal with her crying or whatever. It wasn’t because he cared about what she thought of him, hell no! Bakugou didn’t waste his time worrying about others, that wasn’t like him at all.

Bakugou Katsuki didn’t think about L/N Y/N, he didn’t, he wouldn’t.

The ash blond forced his gaze away from her once more, trying to make sense of what should’ve been neat notes instead of the mess of scribbles staring right back at him. He snarled to himself, immediately considering his disorganization as entirely her fault. How dare she play with him like this? How dare she think herself worthy of his time like this?

He couldn’t stand her.

And yet, less than two hours later, there he was, listening to her rant about this one movie she desperately wanted to watch while they walked beside each other after class. It would be so easy for Bakugou to pick up his pace and leave her alone, but his body refused to obey his mind’s wishes, and so he kept himself slow enough for her to stay with him.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

His whole body was sore, barely able to move his arms after overusing his quirk all evening. Bakugou knew he shouldn’t push himself this hard, but he refused to falter, refused to stay behind and risk being weak again. He needed to get stronger, smarter, and, for better or for worse, that involved long training hours.

The path back to the dorms was strangely lonely without a certain girl keeping him company — not that Katsuki minded, he obviously didn’t. Some loneliness was very much appreciated after the last couple of weeks, which were filled with study group sessions and stupid walks.

He sighed heavily when the 2-A dorm finally came into his range of vision, causing his tired figure to relax. He was almost there — he would soon be able to eat something, take a nice shower, and then fall straight into bed. He would soon be able to rest, and that was the only thing in his mind.

The ash blond kicked his shoes away the moment he reached the door, tossing them aside without a second thought.

He would’ve liked to say he bee-lined to the kitchen.

He didn’t.

“Stupid, what the fuck are you doing?”

Y/N looked up from the common room coffee table, startled by the sudden interruption. She studied him for a second before answering, “I’m just looking over some homework. Why? Did something happen?”

He grunted in distaste, unable to stop himself from sitting down next to her on the couch. Every single one of his muscles felt like it was on fire from overexertion.

“It’s fucking late. Didn’t we study yesterday? Did you even have dinner yet?”

She tensed slightly at his angry questions, returning her stare towards the papers in front of them. “Yeah, but I just thought it’d be good to go over everything once more. I’ll just eat some crackers for dinner, it’s fine,” she shrugged nonchalantly, missing the way his eyebrows furrowed at her words, “where were you anyway?”

Katsuki simply rolled his eyes, arms crossed. “It’s none of your fucking business, Stupid. And you can’t have crackers for dinner, that’s not a proper meal.”

“What are you gonna do about it, Bakugou? Will you cook me dinner?” Her tone was teasing, joking, but he stood up immediately, snatching all the papers and notes from her and walking to the kitchen without a second of hesitation. “Hey, what the fuck!”

“Come with me already, you dumbass,” he snarled angrily, a tint of red covering his cheeks, “what do you want to eat?”

Her voice suddenly went soft, “Bakugou, I was kidding. You don’t need to get me dinner, I can just heat up some ramen or—”

“Shut the fuck up, Stupid. I was already going to cook dinner for myself anyway.”

He wasn’t, actually. He planned on eating leftovers from lunch, but he knew there wouldn’t be enough leftovers for both of them, and it was good to prepare some lunch for the next day, anyway. It wasn’t like he was doing it for her, of course not! It was just… Mutually beneficial. Yeah, it was mutually beneficial, not—not special treatment. He didn’t care about Stupid, he didn’t.

“Can I help with anything?” she asked nervously, face flushed from bashfulness and hands fidgety. Katsuki shook his head, ignoring the twitching pain on his forearms as he stirred the pot.

“Just sit down and wait.”

“Are you sure?” Y/N bit her lower lip with furrowed brows. “You seem tired, I don’t want you to do everything by yourself.”

An angry remark sat on the top of his tongue, but the ash blond hesitated. Well, if she helped with the simpler things this would be done faster, and he could go back to his room and rest earlier. Besides, the idea of cooking and spending time with Y/N in the kitchen caused some type of warmth to take over his chest — a warmth that wasn’t exactly insufferable.

It felt strangely soothing, hearing her hum while slicing vegetables and waiting for the noodles to cook through. It felt even more strangely soothing to sit before her on the kitchen table, staring anxiously while she took the first bite of his food. The worst, however, was the way her smile brightened up the room when she started rambling about how good it tasted and how much of a good cook he was and how he now had to cook for her more often. He disagreed loudly, the tip of his ears burning with embarrassment, saying he didn’t cook for her — he cooked for him, and she just happened to be there too. She cackled, and his heart seemed to burn.

He couldn’t fucking stand her.

Seventeen minutes. Y/N was seventeen minutes late.

Had she forgotten about it? God, she was the one who brought it up in the first place, and now she was the one making him wait. Katsuki felt incredibly stupid sitting in his dorm floor, a bunch of her favorite snacks neatly organized next to the nightstand and pillows on the ground for them to sit on. It was supposed to be a study date or whatever, even though he repeatedly refused to call it that (“it’s not a date, Stupid, it’s just one of our homework sessions like always!”).

They had been spending a lot of time together between studying at the library, walking to the dorms, and cooking and eating dinner, and Bakugou had to admit he didn’t absolutely hate it. Don’t get him wrong, Y/N was still annoying and stupid and insufferable but—but something about her made him come back every single time, ignoring the knowing looks from his friends and the snickers from his classmates.

Despite his anger, a bit of worry started to blossom inside the boy’s chest. Stupid Y/N (and he hated how affectionate the mean nickname sounded to himself at this point) was rarely late — he had been seeing her after school hours enough to know. The girl was always on time and, when she wasn’t, she made sure to let others know why.

There was no text from her, though, and it made his fingers twitch uncomfortably with the urge to make a phone call and check if everything was alright.

Not that he cared if she was alright or not, because he didn’t. She was just—just some girl who decided to invade his life with no permission whatsoever and then stayed. He didn’t care about her.

And yet—

“Hello?”

“IcyHot? What are you doing with Y/N’s phone? Where the fuck is she?”

Bakugou couldn’t muster any reason for why Todoroki would’ve been the one to pick up the call instead of her. They weren’t even friends! Yes, they knew each other and he was vaguely aware of the fact the two had sparring sessions every once in a while, but not enough so for Todoroki to feel comfortable using her phone or for Y/N to bail on their study date.

“Oh, Bakugou,” Shouto’s tone was as casual as always, almost as if this was a common occurrence (which it wasn’t), “hey. Y/N is with Recovery Girl right now. She got into a fight, but she is okay, just a few cuts and bruises. I was the one to stop the fight, so Aizawa asked me to wait around while she gets checked up on. Do you want me to tell her anything?”

Bakugou had been out the door when he heard the words “Recovery Girl”, speed walking to the nurse’s office while Todoroki rambled. He could feel his heart picking up its pace. Why would Y/N get into a fight? God, this wasn’t like her, and the prospect of someone purposely picking a fight with her filled him with the most raw type of anger possible.

“What the fuck did she get into a fight for?” he voiced his concerns, and he was pretty sure Todoroki just shrugged.

“These two boys were saying things about—”

“Todoroki? Who are you talking to?”

“Miss L/N, I’m still not done with you—”

Katsuki furrowed his brows at the commotion heard from the other end. He could easily recognize her voice, even though it sounded raspy and tired, but the next bit of conversation was too muffled for him to understand. The future hero could already see Recovery Girl’s office a few meters away, and it made him walk a bit faster.

“Give me the phone, Todoroki.”

“Miss L/N, you are still bleeding—”

The door opened violently. Y/N met Bakugou’s glare and felt a bad shiver go down her spine.

Shit, they were supposed to have that study date today. God, did he come all the way over there just to scold her?

Heavy silence fell over the small group of people. Aizawa and Recovery Girl exchanged a quick look, the small lady’s arm still extended towards the girl in a failed attempt to grab her and drag her back to the hospital bed, even though she was definitely not as hurt as they made her out to be. Yes, she had a bunch of nasty bruises after throwing hands with two random guys from the year above her, and, yes, her nose hadn’t stopped bleeding yet, but she was mainly okay. Todoroki had gotten there pretty quickly and stopped her from making things worse, so she was fine.

“What the fuck did you do, Stupid?”

Yeah, he definitely went all the way there to scold her.

“Uh. Now, that’s a good question!” She consciously chose to ignore the smirk on Aizawa’s face, pulling her phone from Todoroki’s grip a bit more violently than necessary. “You see, I’m sorry for my tardiness, I know we had plans, we still can—”

“I asked you what the fuck you did, Stupid. I’m waiting for my answer.”

“Miss L/N picked a fight with two third years after hearing them talk about one of her colleagues in public. Thankfully, Mr. Todoroki intervened,” their teacher cut in, crossing his arms and staring as the girl cleaned up a stray drop of blood on her lips with the back of her hand. “She’ll be getting a written warning and will hopefully stay out of trouble.”

“Yes, sir,” she muttered, frowning when Recovery Girl started fussing over her again, sticking band-aids all over the small cuts on her face. Y/N had refused to accept Recovery Girl’s quirk treatment, aware that she was very busy and that it wasn’t necessary for the school nurse to tire herself out for just a few bruises. She was so intent on glaring at her elders that she didn’t notice the worry swimming in Bakugou’s red gaze.

“Good. Can you two get her back to the dorms?”

“Yes, I—”

“Fuck off, IcyHot, I’m taking her back by myself. Find something to freeze or whatever.”

Katsuki grabbed her by the arm, dragging her out of Recovery Girl’s office without a second’s worth of hesitation. He wouldn’t even look at her, fuming the whole way to the dorms. Still, he walked slow enough for her to not struggle to keep up.

“Are you mad?”

He snickered humorlessly, “of course I am, Stupid. How the fuck did you get yourself into this? And you fucking left me waiting, too, you idiot.”

Usually, Y/N didn’t care about his harsh words. Y/N didn’t mind his angry remarks. This time, however, she felt tired, and she had just gotten into a fight because of him, so she refused to take it. She had tried so hard to get close to him, to make him like her. The girl could feel tears gathering in her eyes from fury and sadness — how stupid was she to actually believe he would ever like her, be it as a friend or more? She should’ve known better. Dinner and studying and walking together meant nothing to him. She was just a bother, and she should’ve noticed earlier.

Y/N halted, pulling her arm away from his hand with rage and deception coating her every feature, “shut the fuck up, Bakugou. I don’t have to give you any explanations, you piece of shit. If you’re so pissed about it, why don’t you just leave me alone, huh? I’m done keeping up with your bullshit. I always try to be a good friend to you and you just keep doing this! You keep pushing me away and treating me like an idiot, and I deserve more than that!”

The explosion boy had a crease on his forehead, a cold feeling going through his body. The angry look in her eyes was something he didn’t recognize, and suddenly she felt so unreachable, so far away. He quickly decided he hated it.

Why did he hate it, though? They had nothing to do with each other. They were barely friends. Wasn’t this what he wanted? He couldn’t fucking stand her, he didn’t care about her. This was what he had wanted for months now — for her to tell him to leave, for her to not stand him too. Why did it feel so wrong, then? Why did he feel the urge to collect her in his arms like she loved to do with him? Why did he just want to hold her and tell her he was worried and that he couldn’t wait to spend more time with her, that he couldn’t wait for their stupid study date? And, yeah, it could be a date if she wanted it to. God, he’d accept any name or title she gave their meetings if only they could go on forever.

How long had this been going on? When did she make him so attached to her? Why hadn’t he noticed it before?

“Fuck you, Bakugou,” she muttered, slightly out of breath after her short outburst, face dark with frustration, “those idiots were talking about you and about how you should be a villain or whatever, and I got mad. That’s how I fucking got myself into this, because I care about you. Thanks for caring, asshole.”

The girl turned to walk away, and panic bloomed in the boy’s chest. He didn’t know why exactly, but he knew he couldn’t let her leave. He couldn’t let her leave him, couldn’t let her think he didn’t care, because he was just now seeing he did — so, so much. Of course he cared about her and all her silly manners that made their way into his heart and stayed there, on the edge of conditioning him to feel better whenever she was around. Of course he cared about her and the study dates and the sparring sessions and all the stories she loved to tell, of course he fucking did. Of course.

Katsuki was quick to grab her arm again, pulling her so close to him their chests bumped. Y/N furrowed her brows in confusion.

“Bakugou, what the fuck are you—”

“I like you. I really—I really do,” he shook his head, trying to gather his own feelings. “A lot. I was worried. I’m sorry.”

Y/N blinked.

“You were worried? About me?”

“Yes,” he scratched the back of his neck, looking away to hide his blushed cheeks, which didn’t go unnoticed by her attentive eyes. A smile played on the corners of her mouth, and Y/N let herself enjoy the rapid bumping of her heart, the flustered sight of the one boy she had fallen for. Flustered because of her. She could feel a rush of confidence building inside her chest. “I guess… I guess I care about you, too. Even if you’re absolutely insufferable,” he added clumsily, causing her smile to widen considerably, “I can’t fucking stand you, to be honest. You annoy me to no end.”

“Now do I?” she took a step closer, so close that he could feel her breath on his face and it made his head spin. “You don’t seem very annoyed to me, Bakugou.”

“Katsuki,” he corrected thoughtlessly, feeling his face warm up even more when he took notice of his own words.

“Right,” Y/N nodded, smirk on her face, “Katsuki, then.”

He opened his mouth to make a mean remark that would push her away enough to give him space to breathe, but he was suddenly interrupted by her lips on his. Before he could register it, she was gone, speed walking back to the dorms. After a few shocked seconds, he started running after her, calling her name angrily and trying to conceal the dark red on his face, neck, and ears.

“Hey, come back here, Stupid! What the fuck was that?”

Bakugou couldn’t have ignored the way his heart fluttered at the sound of her laugh even if he tried, a lazy smile taking over his lips immediately.

“I can’t stand you either, Katsuki.”

“Oh, shut up.”

#bakugou katsuki x reader #bakugou #bakugou x reader #bnha x reader #bnha #bakugou katsuki #mha x reader #mha

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diaphragmjellyfish · 5 years ago

Text

Roast Me, Baby

Not my gif

Note: This is my first fic ever, so any feedback would be appreciated!

Warnings: anxiety, panic attack, insults, sweet Rafe

Summary: Reader is a pogue and she and Rafe make fun of each other constantly. Like witty banter and roasting, and they act like they hate each other. Keyword- act. One night, the reader has had a terrible day and is having major anxiety, when Rafe finds her and unknowingly makes it worse. She goes into full-blown panic and he gets all soft and sweet and fluffy.

Life as a Pogue was anything you could ever want. It was a simple life, full of adventure and fun. And your personal favorite activity, pissing of Kooks. Specifically, Rafe Cameron. You guys had a strange relationship full of constant roasting and acting like you want to kill each other. But you’d be lying if you said you didn’t look forward to the witty banter. It was a good way to let off steam, and he seemed to be the only person you’d ever met that could keep up and not take anything personally. And you’d bet money he felt the same way about you.

It was a sunny day, late afternoon just before the sun went down and you were sitting on the docks near the Boneyard looking out at the ocean. You’d always loved sailing, and wanted to travel the world by boat one day if you could ever afford it. Suddenly you were interrupted from your fantasy by your nemesis himself.

“Damn, someone should really pick up the trash around here. Get back to the dumpster, Pogue.” He said, smirking at you.

You just rolled your eyes and laughed to yourself as you continued looking out at the water. Verbal battles with Rafe were sometimes your favorite part of the day. You turned around and noticed that his goons, Topper and Kelc, were with him.

“Ya know, I heard a statistic that the hair product from you three alone accounts for over 90% of plastic in the ocean,” you quipped back.

“Don’t push me troll. I might have to teach you some respect one of these days,” he challenged.

Topper and Kelc looked annoyed, though they were used to Rafe doing this. He always talked about you, how much you got on his nerves, how you were a dirty pogue with no manners or morals. They started to walk away, knowing he’d follow. When they were a few steps away, he looked at you smiling and said,”Until next time, y/l/n.” He winked, and ran to catch up to his Neanderthal friends.

As much as Rafe Cameron was your mortal enemy in life, you had to admit that some things he did just made your heart flutter. If he didn’t stop winking at you, you might just walk into the ocean to avoid the embarrassment of catching feelings for him.

Encounters like this happened often, and you were always ready for them. Except for today. You woke up with a tight chest and a pounding heart. So it was going to be an anxiety day. Okay. You had to push through it like always. But the day only got worse. Work was an absolute nightmare. You were a waitress at a restaurant on Figure 8- Kook central. Your boss yelled at you for being 5 minutes late and not having your hair up, someone let their toddler throw food all over the walls and you had to clean it, you didn’t get a lunch break because it was so busy, and to top it all off, some lady threw her drink at you because it didn’t taste like Diet. When your shift ended, all you wanted was to walk home, eat a barrel of chicken nuggets, and go to sleep. Only it was storming outside.

Normally you’d be fine walking in the rain at night, bit with the already bad day you were having and your anxiety, your brain screamed at you to take cover and wait for the storm to end. There was a small pavilion by the golf course that would likely be empty, where you could freak out in peace. The walk there was horrible, cold, and wet, but you finally made it and plopped down on one of the tables and tried to do some breathing exercises to calm your pounding heart. It seemed to be getting worse, though.

Rafe had left some golf clubs at the course when he was there earlier with Topper, and as he was running through the rain to the main building, he spotted you. It had been a couple of days since you guys had had a good bickering, and he needed to let off some steam. He approached, but didn’t notice your struggle to breathe.

“What’s up troll? You’re looking particularly disgusting today. Tell me, what’s it like to have no future and to know that you’ll be slaving away for the rest of your life?” He knew it was harsh, harsher than usual, but he was pissed that Ward made him come back for those stupid golf clubs in the middle of a storm. He’d expected you to roll your eyes, clap back, or even give him a shove for that extra brutal dig, but he didn’t expect you to start choking on sobs. You grabbed at your neck, now sitting up, and tried your best to get air into your lungs, but it wasn’t working. His comment had sent you over the top, wondering if you really would be a slave to the rich and have soda sumped on you every day for the rest of your life.

Rafe was shocked. He’d never seen you anything but smiling, even when he teased you mercilessly.

“Woah, hey, are you ok y/n?” He asked.

You shook your head no and grabbed at your chest, looking at him with terrified eyes. You’d had bad anxiety before, but you’d never been unable to breathe like this, and it was scaring you.

“Ok, ok, I got you,” he said calmly while he lowered your head between your knees. “Just breathe. In through your nose, out through your mouth.” He rubbed your back comfortingly. He used to get panic attacks when his parents were going through divorce, so he knew what you were feeling, and that the best thing to do was distract you. He sat beside you and began to talk.

“You know this one time, when I was like 12, my parents had just told me and Sarah that they were getting a divorce. She didn’t seem to care, but I was so upset, it was like my whole world came crashing down.” You were able to take shaky breaths at this point, and nodded along to the story.

“And you know what I did? I had this whole plan to get them back together where I would get them both on our boat and push it off the dock, but I wouldn’t give them the key. And I wasn’t going to let them off until they made up.” Your breathing had slowed slightly and you gave a small laugh. This made Rafe smile, so he kept going.

“My dad threatened to beat my ass unless I let them off, so I did and he beat me anyways. And that’s when the anger started.” You tensed, and reached out to grab his hand that wasn’t rubbing your back.

“The next couple of years, I was so mad at everyone and everything all the time. And when Dad met Rose, I kind of spiraled. Started getting into drugs, stealing, bullying. But one day like a year ago Topper convinced me to go to this kegger at the Boneyard. I was by myself off to the side just drinking and being pissed, when this girl came up to me and said ‘why the long face? Daddy didn’t buy you the right color Corvette?’”

You brought your head up from between your knees and smiled slightly, “I remember that.”

Rafe moved so he was sitting with his arm around you, and your head on his shoulder. He continued, “Yeah. And I just thought like, who does this girl think she is? She can’t talk to me that way. So I clapped back, called you a troll and told you to go back to your bridge, and you just laughed. Threw your head back and laughed like you didn’t have a care in the world, like I’d just said the funniest joke and not completely insulted you.” His hand was rubbing up and down your arm now, and his other hand came up to caress your face, pushing your hair behind your ear.

“And we went back and forth, roasting each other for hours. That was the best I’d felt in a long time. I was letting off steam, getting my anger out, and you gave it right back to me smiling the whole time. I’ve never met anyone who smiles as much as you.” He gave your shoulder a squeeze and you laughed. Your breathing was normal now, and you’d forgotten about the tightness in your chest. There was a pause, before he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on your forehead. Your heart fluttered.

You lifted your head up to look at him and said, “Thanks. I don’t know why I was freaking out like that, but I’m really glad I wasn’t alone.”

“I get it. Here, the rain stopped. Let me drive you home.” He stood up and offered his hand for you to take.

“Umm, I actually might walk.” Fresh air always helped when you felt anxious, and you thought if you got in a car with that circulating AC air, you might freak out again.

“Then I’ll walk you home.”

As you stood up to take his hand, Rafe noticed your shivering form. You were soaked from the rain, and wearing only a thin t-shirt and shorts.

“Let me just grab something from my car real quick.” he said. You both walked through the parking lot towards his black SUV, the only car there, and he reached into the back seat and pulled out a hoodie, holding it out for you. “Here, put this on.” You didn’t object because, to be honest, you were so cold you couldn’t feel his skin. It hung down to your knees and swallowed you whole. Rafe just looked down at you with something like affection in his eyes and said “Adorable.” You blushed at the ground and started walking again. It wasn’t a super long walk, maybe half an hour, but it went by like 5 minutes. You talked, played eye-spy, and at one point he gave you a piggy back ride because you kept stumbling on a gravel road.

You reached your house all too soon, and went to take off the hoodie and give it back when he stopped you, “Keep it. It looks better on you.” You blushed and stood on your tippy toes to kiss his cheek.

It was his turn to blush as you said, “Thank you Rafe. For everything.”

You caught him looking down at your lips, and he started to lean down. He made you feel so much better tonight, and you wanted to know what it’d be like to kiss him. So you closed your eyes, and your lips met in a sweet kiss, his hands on your waist and yours cupping his face. You separated after a few seconds and both started to laugh. He followed by saying, “Maybe after tonight you’ll let me take you out some time?” You nodded and smiled ear to ear, because even though you never imagined this happening, you were happy to be with Rafe.

#outer banks #rafe cameron #rafe x reader #john b #obx imagine #x reader #fluff

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workingonit-currently · 3 years ago

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Bat Outta Hell

Text-session today so yay. Can look at my sheets peacefully.

Still in the cave, about to go through new door.

Courage ready, Aleris ready, Silas ready! (Imogen might drop in but she's battling fire currently.)

Grim landscape stretches out with a city in the middle, obviously we must go to the city.

We emerge from the cave, maybe, from a cliff and can climb down safely.

Aleris turns into a bat! Whoooo!

Courage climbs down normally though is worried about Silas getting down but ehh, he has his boyfriend

Silas climbs down as well

I'm expecting some dex saves or something.... (It never happens.)

Bat Aleris is trying to guide us down to stop us falling

Drusten and Link also get down okay

See an aarokokra and two goliath guards approaching us as we reach the bottom

Bat Aleris is hiding behind one of Courage's horns

Friendly bird-man welcomes us and offers some food and drink but Courage says no.

Bird insists as the guard behind him shakes his head, holding out a tray to Silas.

Silas just asks what the pastries are made of.

"Just some puff pastry and roasted vegetables grown locally, folded up and baked with some salt." -Yeah, not suspicious at all.

Silas asks about if it contains mushrooms. Good question.

Offers Drusten one, he takes it. (also says it contains no mushrooms.)

Silas takes one and Aleris wants to try one as a bat so takes a little of Silas'

The aarokokra starts cooing Aleris

"Is this your pet bat, good sir?" - To Silas.

Aleris hides in one of Silas' pockets to escape the bird man who is scaring her

Silas is amazing! - "um,, well, the bat is certainly our companion, though I don't think they're fond of being called a pet..I apologise, but we are in a bit of a hurry, so we must be off. Thank you for the sample."

Heads off but gives an extra pastry 'for your stern friend'-Courage.

Finally the goliath guards approach and ask what we're here for

Bat Aleris pokes her head out to hear better

The guards ask about the bat hiding anything on their person and Courage says it's just a bat

"Also, is that bat hiding anything on their person? Any seeds, plants, etc.?"/You don't want to know what we've found inside bat ear canals."

Aleris gets nervous because she's carrying a LOT of fruit, nuts and stuff

(thought the guards wouldn't.. bat an eye) - Thank you Griff. Never change because you are perfect.

Calls us rich and tells us to go back to the caves

*face palm* Silas actually explains the situation and then Aleris turns back into herself and demands to see druids

The guards are surprised as Aleris keeps demanding to see druids

Silas says 'Aleris' in a warning voice

"...What is your business here? Our boss told us not to let anyone in unless they had a note from him." - Great.

Aleris is being very blunt but I suppose it's understandable, she's kind of close to finally seeing who might have abandoned her.

"I don't think so, small druid. If you'll stay here, we can send a messenger out to the city and bring our boss back and he'll tell us if you can be let through." - About Aleris entering the city.

oooh, threats from Aleris as she says, 'Or you'll learn not to call me small."

Aleris tries to look scary and a thunder sound back up her scary-ness

Silas is done with this group and wants to see the guard's boss.

The say it will take an hour and are scared of Aleris, one looks at the pastries

"I strongly suggest you throw those out at the nearest opportunity."

Aleris eats one in stubbornness. (I really like her.) While Courage asks why

"Nobody's healing you if you get ill from that pastry." - Silas to Aleris

'Aleris, you've eaten your fair share of foul-tasting things in your life, as anyone who's been on the road before and has eaten from sketchy street vendors has, and this is one of them. It tastes like some unholy combination of bitter and sweet and salty.'

Power move! - Though not how Si would put it

Guard is scared of Aleris, yay

Silas asks a lot of questions about where they are, anything th guards might recommend about this place, who the guard's boss is.

"Our boss is a man named Doneld Gray Old. He runs the city you see back there. Honestly, in terms of places I'd recommend, it would probably be going back to the surface."

Silas asks about 'why the surface?'

"Because you're enemies of the truth?" - Aleris

"Aleris you're being rude." - Silas

"Well, it's just a bit gloomy here, isn't it? I mean look around you. No sun, nothing taller than a bush, those rivers have mosquito larvae in it..." He turns very deliberately towards Silas and away from Aleris. "It's not a nice place down here. That city, for example...", he gestures to the city, "is full of zombies if you're in there at the wrong time."

Well...that's good to know. Always handy

"So is the surface, I don't see the difference." - Aleris laying down the facts as she ignores Silas purposefully.

Silas says pros and cons

"The surface has the sun, at least." He grumbles. "I don't see any pros to living down here. I have to deal with that damned aaracokra and his attempts to make puff pastry with crushed leaves."

Aleris suggests kicking the bird out then

Silas laying down the logic on Aleris' head. (Stop Si, you might make her shorter.)

so on, so on. The talk continues about stuff.

HOLD IT! The Aarokokra has been alone down here...all this time? ALONE!?

Silas suggest getting the bird coupons for a cookery course

Courage asks what they mean by him being alone here.

"He was the original guardian of the gate before we came along and he picked up baking. Before that he'd be the one doing what we did. With significantly less professionalism, may I add."

Aleris asks about how much longer they have to wait, she might be able to teach the bird the basics.

"It'll probably be another while. If you can get him to accept your help, may the gods rain blessings down on you, because I couldn't and I've been subjected to shitty pastries for the past three months now."

So Aleris goes to see the bird

Courage asks their names because I've been wondering for a while.

Might ask the bird his name as well...

"M'name's Edar. Edar Helhein. The other guard is Sam, and the Aaracokra is Griss." (Opps, they actually didn't have names.)

Hear a shout and a large ploom of smoke comes out of Griss' house.

"I suggest you go teach him to cook before he burns his house down."

I open the door and say to Griss If you're try to kill them so you can have your old job back you're doing if the wrong way - Aww, Aleris you sweet murderer. No one suspects you.

Griss tells her not to come in because it's smoky and jogs out

Aleris asks if her 'murder' hunch is true and if she can help.

Griss thinks he's good at baking. (oh baby nooo.)

Aleris tells him the truth

Aww, Griss is learning from his mistakes. No...he's not.

"I can learn myself, thank you very much. Also, when did you get here? You need to check in with the guards." - I think..he might have memory problems

He goes back in his house which is still kind of full of smoke

Aleris accepts it and starts cooking in front of his house. (she's making a plant-based bread.)

Griss realizes it's too smoky and asks 'our names' but...Only Aleris is there at his house.

Aleris tells him her name while making dough.

Drusten also tells him his name. Griss then asks Silas' and Courage's. (strange.)

Courage states her name and asks how old Griss is

He's twenty four. Cool.

He holds out a sooty wing and I couldn't help but make Courage slowly raise her weapon and stare

He stares at your weapon for a bit. "Huh. I'm...gonna assume you don't wanna take my wing off as a trophy?"

"N-no... I wanted to shake your hand...as I did with Drusten...?" Drusten is trying to silence and hide his chuckles behind his hand.

Courage does lower her weapon but still doesn't shake his wing. (just be thankful Griss, the last person to hold out his arm got it half removed...)

Finally Silas introduces himself as just some bard. (still hiding from being hunted then.)

Griss asks about the taste of the pastries

Silas says he's never tasted anything like it, which is true, and says they were great, which is a lie.

Aleris mutters that she's surrounded by liars

"YOU HEAR THAT?" He suddenly yells across the field to the guard. "PRETTY GOOD, HE SAID! THEY'RE GOOD!"

Courage says Silas would probably eat a bird

Griss tries to argue but nope, Courage is having none of it

Silas apparently has friends who are bakers. Big suprise right there, for Courage

Griss doesn't trust falconmail and looks at Aleris' vegan-bread

Aleris continues baking and Griss is suprised by flowers and flour.

poor bird but Aleris offers that he can help if his feathers are clean.

Oh no, Aleris is turning to the bird's leafy ways! (leaves are probably what made his food so bad.)

Griss goes to get leaves and Drusten sits down to have lunch

Courage finally has jerky, courtesy of Drusten.

#oxfalconmail #dnd #imogen #aleris #silas #DM #dungeons and dragons #OXFalconMail #courage

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divinewhimsy · 4 years ago

Text

Ichor Pt 3 (DabixReader)

TW: Blood, Swearing.

I love this crazy psycho more than I probably should.

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Message me if you’d like to be added to the taglist~!

Taglist: @marydragneell @velvet-kissesss

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Part 1: X

Part 2: X

Part 4: X

Enjoy~!

You’re consumed by fire. Blue and brilliant, igniting from every inch of your skin. You’re a beacon in the dark, a sacrifice to your own pyre as you kindle the ground into a sea of flames. They rise around you and into the sky, flickering and lapping at any inch they can devour as they grow higher and higher. You’re the eye of the firestorm, the source and the match to keep it alive.

Wind sweeps it past your vision until it’s nothing but blue. Rain threatens in the darkening sky to dampen your fire. Your eyelids threaten to dip into your vision, to seal you off from the offering you’re displaying as the sky opens up to red droplets of blood. Rusty and murky and metallic. They ink your skin unlike any other liquid you’ve ever experienced.

You’ve bled before. You’ve felt the dried and crusted cells on the outside of your skin. You’re akin to the feeling of them slipping through your veins as you rain down on the world. A gift to the lost, to the dying, to the scared. A blessing on two feet and trembling hands.

But you’re tied to the burning. As your consciousness transitions from the burning figure in the middle of the storm to the one rising above the flames and among the thundering clouds, you feel it. The thick, red thread binding you to both ends of the battle between blood and blue fire. Purple bursts into life as the flames distinguish and reignite with every droplet in the sky. Raining fire down upon the blue to taint it, to change it.

It’s the feeling of falling that jolts you awake as you feel your body start to sail below the earth and through the swirling sea of churning magenta. Is it fire? Is it mist? You lose the sight as soon as your eyes fly open and you’re looking up at the ceiling of your kitchen.

You’re laying flat on the wooden floor, your body sore and taught as you pull yourself up. Your eyes glance over the room and you catch the every creeping darkness of night outside the windows. The pot on the stove sits full of water but cold, the vegetables still sitting on the side of the sink.

Your head throbs painfully and you clench your teeth at the sensation of it trying to peel away. You used entirely too much energy last night. Or was it yesterday? How much time had passed from then to now?

Your eyes catch the clock at three forty seven in the morning before they swim through pain to look at the now empty couch.

Dabi.

Adrenaline rushes past the pain and you surge toward the hallway. He has to be here. He can’t have left. He wouldn’t have, right? If he still doesn’t have his quirk back, why would he leave?

You bump into something warm and solid as you scramble down the hallway.

“Oof!”

Arms fling to the walls to catch the fall before you and the body you ran into crash into the floor. They succeed and you dare a peek as you open your eyes to the figure holding you both up.

“Do you mind?” Dabi huffs and you stumble backwards, bowing low as your face burns.

“I’m so sorry! I thought you had left and I was worried-“

You stop and glance back up at the man in front of you.

Gone is his jacket and shirt, leaving him in just his pants. They’re stitched much like his body as you trace the patterns of burnt skin and staples connecting to his pale patches of healthy skin.

“A picture’ll last longer.” he mumbles and you avert your eyes, your face burning.

“You stayed.” you murmur back. “You’re still here.”

“Why the fuck would I leave?” he snorts and brushes past you, back toward the living room.

“I didn’t see you on the couch…” you turn and watch as he plops himself back down on the aforementioned couch.

“Wishful thinking, huh?” he calls from the living room, his burning blue eyes locking on your form. “Can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“That’s not-“ you sigh and shake your head.

Deciding against getting into this little argument with him, you shuffle toward your room instead. Your body aches with the memory of sleeping on the cold, hard floor. Your limbs are stiff with pain and you stretch to release some of the tension.

The sound of your door closing behind you gives you a moment alone. Away from Dabi, away from the world. A moment where it’s just you and your mind.

You rub your temples and pad over to your dresser. What are you getting yourself into? He’s a no good childish and insincere brute. And you just let him in your home?

You did kidnap him. But was it really considered kidnapping if he had the idea first? That abandoned house from earlier was just as bad- if not worse- than you bringing him here.

You sigh and tug off your dirty clothes. Your pant legs still have his dried blood in the fabric. It’s rusty and brown and acrid and you wince. A good soak would probably help get that out. Or seltzer water and some lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice, judging by the amount that’s stained to the threads.

Threads.

You suck in a breath and cautiously stare at your wrist. The healing scar is still there, pulsating with the puffy red outline. But as you watch and wait for the strings to appear you notice they’ve all turned into one. The multiple tendrils of strings are all intertwined into one larger thread. It pulses with red light and shoots through the middle of the door. You know without looking who it leads to. The only person it could possibly lead to.

Dabi.

But why is it just one? What happened to the others? You worry your bottom lip between your teeth and try to wipe the fear from your mind. It would be easier to just pass it off as your quirk being weird but with everything that’s happened you can’t. He lost his quirk. And it’s somehow your fault. Could it be connected with the large string connecting you two?

You’ve never focused on your quirk being attached to another person so much. Too much time had passed since your last patient was helped and you couldn’t call upon the same connection. Your quirk only lasted so long but as you scramble to remember the time limit you can’t remember if you ever looked into it.

Damn it. This was the price to pay for using your quirk and not actually training with professionals. How much farther along would you be if you had? Probably enough to know why Dabi’s quirk was gone, at least.

You sigh and tuck yourself into your pajamas and then into your bed. Sleep, in your bed and not on the floor, will do you wonders. Who knows? Maybe you’ll even wake up and Dabi’s quirk will be back.

You ignore the doubt that settles in firmly at the thought. It’s unlikely it would be that simple.

By the time you wake up it’s already afternoon. The light shifts through your curtains blindingly, the sun demanding entrance into your room. When your turn away from it your stomach reminds you just how long it’s been since you last ate.

You sigh. You last ate yesterday before you went to that battlefield to help. And all that energy you’d had saved up was used trying to take away your aid from Dabi to get his quirk back.

Shit. Dabi.

You throw yourself out of bed and replace your pajamas with comfy sweats and a simple t-shirt. There wasn’t any chance you’d be going outside today if you could avoid it, so why dress nice just for some random brute you’d kidnapped?

You wince at the thought. You’re going to have to find a different word to use. Kidnapped was just too sinister. You hadn’t really done it, not exactly. You were keeping him here to monitor his health. Like a patient. Yeah.

You shuffle out into the living room and glance around the quiet apartment. Not a hair is out of place- save for Dabi, of course. He’s sleeping soundly on the couch, his entire body sprawled across the cushions messily. Soft snores emit from him and you can’t help but just stare. The man is sleeping so...soundly? Comfortably? You can’t place the word for it but it’s like he hasn’t slept in a long while. Not any real sleep. Nothing that his body needs.

Now that you think about it, he had puked yesterday. And he didn’t eat after that as far as you know. Had he eaten before at all? Before the battle? If he had no energy and then the sudden boost of your quirk than it could be the reason his body is acting strangely. But if that was the case he’d need to eat soon.

Has he always been so thin? Even though you can see the shape of his muscles defined in his torso and arms you still see the hints of his ribs peeking out. He must not eat all that often, then. Or he had a crazy high metabolism.

You shuffle to the kitchen to pick up where you left off with the food. You ditch the pot and instead start with a frying pan for stir fry. It’s a shame you don’t have a Wok but the pan will have to do for now.

As you set about cutting the vegetables and grabbing some chicken from the fridge to add that extra protein you flick your eyes to Dabi. He’s still sleeping soundly, unbothered by the slight noise you’re making. If only he was this quiet when he’s awake. It would save you more than one headache.

You blink as he shifts on the couch, his face twitching through his slumber.

Was he having similar dreams to the one you had? Where you were swallowed by the storm? Where you were both sides of it- although you suspected the blue fire had to be his end of it.

Your eyes trail lazily to where your quirk binds you two. The thread is there just as it is in your own body. Connected to his chest, right where the heart should be.

Maybe he had died… But you wouldn’t have bothered if you knew he was dead. You know you wouldn’t have. You felt the fringes of life in his soul just as you felt your own. As you had felt so many others before. Beyond your blood coming directly from your body, what was different.

You remembered the way he drank from your arm and your face burns at the thought. The feel of his lips as he latched on to your wound and devoured the blood as if it were ambrosia. As if he needed it just as badly as he needed air, if not more than air itself. The press of his smooth lip and the burned skin of his bottom one as they brushed against you.

Your wrist throbs at the memory. You had to push him away, after all. Did he drink too much? Was that even possible?

The knock at your front door pulls your attention from your thoughts and you flinch. You glance at the clock. It’s only four in the evening. Who could be here? What do they want?

You can’t let them see Dabi. You quickly shut the stove off and dash toward the couch as quietly as you can.

“Dabi!” you hiss in his ear and he blinks a lazy eye up at you.

“Hm.” he grunts and turns over.

“You have to move.”

He doesn’t respond and you shake him lightly.

“I need you in my bedroom-“ you barely get to finish as his eyes snap back to yours and a devilish smirk crawls up his lips.

“You want a piece of me that badly, babydoll?” he murmurs silkily and sits up slowly. His hands brush up the outer side of your thighs to your hips and you shove him away, your face bright red.

“No you idiot!” you seethe. “Someone’s at the door. You have to hide.”

The excitement bleeds back to boredom on his face and he sighs.

“Lame.” he grumbles but stands and grabs his jacket, heading for the back of the hallway.

You rush to kick his boots into the closet closest to the door. The person at the door knocks again, more adamantly this time, and you take a deep breath.

You can do this. Just gotta compose yourself. It’s just a random visitor. No one knows you took a criminal in for medical reasons. Or personal. Absolutely no one saw you.

Right?

You open the door with an annoyed huff, doing your best to appear upset to have been interrupted. What you expect to see and what you do are two separate things.

And who you do see surprises you.

It’s your coworker and friend, Lively. She’s a younger girl in her early twenties with dark brown curly hair and violet eyes. She beams up at you softly from her short height and you offer a small smile in return.

“Lively, this is unexpected.” you manage and quirk a brow. “Did you need something?”

You worked at a blood bank- which among the various ridiculous double standards you knew it contained- allowed you to help in even smaller areas of society. Donating blood just makes sense when you over produce it. Working at a blood bank on top of that? Ideal. It helps you get rid of the excess build up if you don’t come across someone who needs help on the off hand AND you get to help others who do need help. Even if the blood is boosted by your quirk you still think it helps. And thus far no one has suspected a thing.

“Hey I just dropped by to give you the schedule for next month.” Lively smiles. “I know you have some time off these next couple of weeks and I wanted to make sure you knew what was coming up.”

“Oh that’s so sweet, thank you.” you smile and take the piece of paper from her. “You could have just texted me this, you know.”

“I know but I couldn’t help stopping by!” she giggles. “I wanted to tell you about the new guy I’ve been seeing. He’s a teacher~!”

Crap. Of course she’d want to gossip and chat.

“Ah, sorry.” you frown. “Do you think maybe you could just call me about it? I’m in the middle of making dinner.”

“Oh? Sure.” her smile falters but she regains it in no time. “Is it a date?” she wiggles her eyebrows.

“No.” you stay sternly, not wanting her to get any ideas. “I have to discuss some pointers of the last proposal I brought to the medical-”

“Oh, boring stuff.” she fakes a yawn and winks. “I’ll leave you to your boring night in. But text me when you’re done!” she steps down your hall and waves off.

“Thank you, Lively!” you call back and shut the door.

You lock it for extra measure and heave a sigh of relief.

The silence deafens your ears as you stand completely still, your heart hammering in your chest. You hated lying. Absolutely, positively hated it. Especially to those you respect and cherish like your friend, Lively. But even she doesn’t know about your quirk and it’s better this way. Even if it hurts now. It’s better to keep her in the dark about your quirk and the villain in your bedroom.

Speaking of Dabi, your face burns at the implication he assumed when he first woke up. What was he thinking?! Why did he just assume you meant it in a sexual way?! You bury your face in your hands and groan. You’re not going to address this. You’re not going to even mention it. You need to keep things as professional between you two as possible. Well, slightly professional. Casual? You cringe as you try and find the right word but come up with nothing.

You close your eyes and turn back toward the kitchen to continue dinner. You’re just about to turn on the burner before you realize that Dabi’s still in your room. Alone. With all your things.

The thought is unsettling enough to make you dash to your room. You slide down the hall and to your bedroom door, your hand hovering over the knob. Sure, he’d shut the door to be discreet if someone actually walked into your home but what was he doing in there? What was he looking at? Or for?

Regardless if he is or isn’t looking he needs to get out of there. Now.

You fling the door open and scan the room for the tall man only to find him sitting at your writing desk. His turquoise eyes are scanning the walls and flickering over the photos and memento’s you’ve put up. He turns to you with a bored look as he yawns and you breathe a sigh of relief. He wasn’t going through your things. At least as far as you can tell. Everything looks to be in the same spot as it was before but you weren’t the neatest person in the world so it’s not easy to tell.

“Did they leave?” Dabi mumbles and rests his head on his fist.

“Uhm, yes.” you swallow and force yourself to keep eye contact, ignoring the fact he doesn’t have a shirt on. “It was a coworker.”

Not that he needed to know who was at the door but you can’t stop yourself from explaining. Especially as he continues to sit in silence. He quirks an eyebrow up at you and you bite the inside of your cheek. Why is he just sitting there and staring at you?

“And?” he presses and you blink.

“And nothing. She just dropped off my schedule for work.” you sigh and step into your room, skirting past him and toward your dresser.

You grab your laundry basket filled with dirty clothes to pretend you came in the room to pick it up. Totally not to make sure he wasn’t snooping. Absolutely not. Actually, why even bother trying to hide it? Your bedroom is your most private space and having a stranger in here is uncomfortable. It’s normal to be anxious and suspicious. Right?

“You should probably clean yourself up.” you mumble and start making your way back to the kitchen. “You can shower while I cook some fried rice. Do you want me to wash your clothes, too? I can’t imagine they’re clean after that battle.”

Dabi stands and follows you out of the room, quiet as you ramble on.

“What? Don’t want your coworker knowing a dirty villain is in your apartment?” he scoffs and you roll your eyes.

“I don’t want anyone to know a dirty villain is in my apartment, actually. Like I told you yesterday, I want my life to go back to normal.”

“And normal is kidnapping then caring for some dangerous stranger?” he chuckles darkly and you feel the heat from his body radiating behind you.

He’s trying to intimidate you. Or fluster you. And you’re not going to let it work.

“Both of us understand our agreement, yes?” you sigh, “I figure out how to get your quirk back and then you leave forever. I wouldn’t say I’m caring for you- that’s not what this is at all. I’m covering basic needs. Making sure you don’t smell like a goddamn barn animal? That’s a must. Food? Food is needed if you want either of us to have the proper amount of energy to get through this. Washing your clothes? Mandatory. I’m not going to let you sully my entire home with your filth. If we’re going to get this done as quickly as possible we’re doing it my way.”

He weighs your words for several long minutes before he brushes past you and toward the bathroom.

“Towels?” he calls over his shoulder, raising a brow.

“Linen closet.” you point to the door across from the bathroom. “What about your clothes?”

He opens it and grabs two towels, his face blending from bored to an amused smirk.

“You really just wanna get me naked, don’t you?” he chuckles and meets your gaze as his hands start to slide to the waistband of his pants.

“Just leave them outside the door!” you squeak and turn away from him- much to his delight as he laughs from the hall.

Dabi’s laugh is unusually delightful. Even though you can recognize the smooth tones of his voice like bourbon on ice, the silky notes caressing your ears with a sultry note, his laugh somehow amplifies the sensation. Goosebumps run down your body and you shiver in front of the washer and dryer.

You try to push past it and ignore the feeling of his voice sliding down through your ears and into your mind but it reverberates like a toll of a bell. Shockwaves of it linger as you stuff clothes into the washer and listen to the sound of the shower turning on down the hall. Once your basket is empty you grab the clothes Dabi left outside of the bathroom door and dump them in with the load. You start it and turn back toward the kitchen, finally getting back to finishing cooking.

The food hadn’t grown too cold but you hate leaving it alone for so long. It won’t taste the best but it’ll be food. The point of it isn’t it’s taste, it's the sustenance. The amount of enjoyment is secondary to its primary goal. Food is energy. Energy means you can work more with your quirk and get Dabi out of your hair.

Yet you still feel the tug of the thread connecting you two. It’s a constant feeling deep in your bones, knotted to the essence of your soul. It’s beyond what you’ve experienced. Sure, you’ve heard about the red thread of fate but that can’t be this, right? It was probably just red because of the blood. That was the central point of your quirk! And blood is red! That’s the only reason those string things connected you two and then turned into one. Probably.

As you finish making food the shower stops in the bathroom. You set two plates filled with fried rice at your kitchen table. You settle into your own and actually enjoy the first few bites before you nearly choke to death.

You made the mistake of looking up as Dabi sat down across from you, water still dripping from his damp hair and down his body. He barely pays attention to you as he glances at the plate of food, his eyes scanning the steam rolling off of it. Your eyes are wide and glued to the steam rolling off of him- the patches of burnt flesh and staples holding him seemingly in one piece. Although you know it's rude to stare you can’t help yourself. Some parts of your brain short circuit and freeze all intelligent thinking.

You don’t know what you expected him to do since you did take his clothes to wash but it wasn’t just to walk out in only a towel. It’s loosely slung on his hips, dipping lower than you’re willing to let your eyes wander. He has another towel draping over his shoulders to catch the brunt of water cascading down from his hair.

You tear your eyes away from him before you get caught staring and focus completely on your food. Only on your food. Plate. Rice. Vegetables. Chicken. Shoveling the food into your mouth. Never once looking up.

No wonder he made a joke about you wanting to get him naked.

If he saw this as an issue before his shower, why didn’t he say anything about it?! You fight off the urge to snap at him for it. You don’t want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he’s gotten to you. If he gets even a hint of your flustered state you know you’ll never hear the end of it.

“Thanks for the food.” he grumbles and you dare to meet his gaze with a solemn nod.

You turn your eyes back down to your plate. He totally didn’t have a knowing glint in his eyes. Absolutely not. He’s clueless to this ridiculous miscommunication.

“So,” he sighs as he picks up his utensils, “your quirk.”

Do you two really have to talk about this now? Like, right now? Can’t it wait until later?

“Hm.” you strain to keep your eyes on your plate.

“Anything different today?”

You should tell him about the threads turning into one. But you don’t even fully know what that means just yet. Then again, he could help decipher it. But what if he gets the wrong idea?

“Actually,” you swallow the food in your mouth, “kind of.”

He waits quietly and you dare to glance up to his face. Your eyes catch slightly on his bare chest for a second longer than they should and his smirk lets you know that he caught it.

“Oh?” he pushes, a cocky look capturing his eyes.

“H-how it normally works, I guess, is I have these...Threads connecting me to the recipient. Before I helped you I never actually paid much attention to them. I just let the person go with the boost. But there were these threads that connected you to me and when I tried to take them back we both passed out.”

“Yesterday?”

You nod and push your food around your plate.

“Ye-Yes. Yesterday. When I woke up, though, I found the threads that had been there before turned into one larger piece.”

He tilts his head as you meet his eyes. The cocky look and smirk are long gone, replaced by the neutral bored look that seems to be his norm. His gaze dips to the side as he glances at the couch.

Was he thinking about last night?

You debate telling him about your dream but decide against it. That was a clear message from your subconscious on how you were feeling. It has nothing to do with your quirk and this situation. It’s just a manifestation of your fears and worries.

“I won’t try and take it away.” you burst out before he can say anything.

His gaze flickers back to you, an eyebrow rising on his face. Questioning.

“If it makes us both pass out then it’s not good to take it away.” you murmur. “I won’t do it again.”

“Can you add more?”

Add more? But the only way to do that…

The blood packs in your fridge. You jolt from your chair and hurry toward your fridge, throwing it open and grabbing two packages. Just for good measure. You return to the table and step to his side, extending the bags toward him.

“You’d have to drink more.” you say quietly.

“Why not from the source? That’s what you did last time, right?” he glances from the blood bags to your face.

“That could have been the problem, though.”

“Then why go with that to begin with?” he sighs, “why not just feed me the bags?”

“I didn’t have them.” you seethe. “Drink one.”

“No.” he shakes his head, his eyes never breaking from yours.

Challenging you, he stands from his chair. You keep your gaze glued to his, too determined to let his state of undress bother you.

“Do it.” you push them to his chest. “It could fix your quirk.”

“Or it could make it worse.” he pushes them back toward you.

“If not getting it back is the worst that can happen then what’s so bad?” you push them back toward him.

“I want it the way you gave it originally.” his nostrils flare and you steel your nerves.

He’s taller than you. And stronger. And more experienced in taking what he wants but you have the fact you have to willingly give him your blood on your side. He can’t just take it from you.

He grabs the wrist you fed him from originally and turns it over to see the scar. You try and yank it away from him but it’s no use. He’s got a firm grip on you.

“I’m getting real tired of you ordering me around.” he growls and you squirm to try and tear your arm from his hand.

He pulls it closer to his face.

“We don’t do this your way anymore. We do this my way. Even if that means you’re a sweating mess barely able to remember your own name. Even if I have to bleed you dry. I will do whatever it takes to take back my quirk from every last drop of blood you have.”

“I didn’t- ugh- take it!” you snap and tug uselessly at your arm. “Let me go!”

“No.”

“You can’t take any drop of my blood without it being willing.” you hiss. “Bleeding me dry won’t do anything.”

“It’d kill you.” he says coldly and you freeze.

He wouldn’t.

Right?

“Who knows?” he chuckles darkly, “maybe the moment you fade from this godforsaken planet I’ll get my quirk back in full. Maybe you don’t have to give it willingly. Have you ever experimented with it to know?”

He yanks you to his chest, glowering down at you with fuming fire in his blue eyes. He examines your wrist with a glare as he shoves back your sleeve to reveal your entire arm.

“You don’t have any idea what I do and don’t know about my quirk.” you spit. “I could choose to kill you with it, asshole.”

“Oh, can you? Would you? You’re such a saint, aiding any poor soul bleeding before you. You can’t even stomach the thought of killing someone on purpose. The guilt gnaws at your mind, at your precious little heart. I know you wouldn’t dare. You can’t.”

His body is burning with warmth. His hands on your arm feel like they’re about to burn your flesh down to the bone. Is he trying to summon his quirk? Or trying to roast you alive?

“You’re content to sit idly by and let the world go to shit so long as you get to stay out of everyone’s attention. But that leaves you all alone, doesn’t it? Your coworker was unexpected but she doesn’t normally come to check on you.”

You feel your eyes widen at his words. He’s more perceptive than you have him credit ford

“You jumped at the first sign of anyone at your door. You have few photos of you in groups, you’re not a very outgoing person. Your friends know your solitary lifestyle. How long until someone notices you haven’t said anything? Haven’t reached out? I can break you before anyone even knows you’re in trouble.”

Your heart is racing in your chest, your breath short and panicked as his grip tightens on your arm. You can feel yourself tremble as he speaks. His voice cutting lower and lower until he’s snarling at you, inches from your face.

“Know your place, [Name]. You’re trapped here just as much as I am. Don’t forget I won’t hesitate to kill you.”

Your name. You never told him your name.

Your bedroom. He did snoop.

He knows who you are. He knows your name. He knows where you work. He knows your lack of social interactions well enough to deduce you’re mostly a shut in. And worst of all?

He’s absolutely right.

#Dabi #Ichor #blood #dabi x reader #dabixreader #dabi x y/n #dabi x you #my hero academia #boko no hero academia #dabi todoroki #dabi is a todoroki #divinewhimsy #swearing

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mae-gi-writes · 4 years ago

Text

Deobi Playlist (EP 2) | The Boyz Imagine

The Boyz x Hospital Playlist inspired drabble series.

Episode 2: in which Hyunjae is a drama queen.

Genre: fluff, friendship, slice of life

EP 1 | EP 2 | EP 3 | EP 4 | EP 5 | EP 6 | EP 7 | EP 8 | EP 9 | EP 10 | EP 11

--------------

Hyunjae is in the middle of playing a battle game when the sound of someone busting the door open causes him to yelp, fingers slipping over the keyboard as he watches his character die in front of his very eyes.

He swivels around in his seat, glowering with anger, “KEVIN!”

“Oops,” the said man slides in, totally unfazed by the glare that would’ve killed anyone else off, before looking around at the empty office that is stacked with piles of paperwork, most of them probably belonging to Hyunjae since he had always been messy.

“Where’s everyone?” Kevin frowns while checking his watch, “I thought we were having dinner tonight.”

“Too slow, romeo,” a voice chimes from behind. The pair turn around to see Mae holding up three takeaway bags. Kevin squeals in delight, rushing over to throw his arms around her in a hug.

“You are the best,” Kevin singsongs before grabbing one of the bags. Mae tuts at him, “woah wait a minute Kev, that’s not--”

Too late, for Kevin’s hands have already opened up the box. He stares at the multitudes of shrimp on a bed of fried noodles, and a grimace falls over his face, “ew no, that’s not mine--”

Mae proceeds to snatch it away, “that’s why I told you to wait,” she huffs, handing him his rightful dish; fried pork and vegetables with rice.

“Wouldn’t mind having him choke on some shrimp,” Hyunjae mutters gloomily, still sulking in his desk chair like a five year old child being denied cookies. Mae’s brow quirks up in curious amusement, before they flicker towards Kevin.

The latter, already stuffing his face in like he hasn’t eaten for days, mumbles out through a mouthful of rice and meat, “he’s mad ‘cause I distracted him and his character died. The usual.”

“You always lose, anyway Hyunjae. It wouldn’t have made a difference,” Mae opens up her own takeaway, a Chinese Korean dish named Jajangmyeon. She motions him over, “come on.”

But Hyunjae’s pout only deepens. He slides into his seat, unwavering.

“You sure you don’t want it?” she taunts him, “I ordered it specially for you.”

Still, the caramel-haired man twists his head away adamantly. Mae huffs, turning back to roll her eyes at Kevin, “fine then, suit yourself. I’ll just--”

Hyunjae’s out of his seat in mere milliseconds, grab his dish, and sits down onto the shared couch with crossed legs and face looking as though he’s going to murder anyone who even tries to get within touching distance.

“By the way, you remember the patient I was telling you guys about?” Kevin says, chewing on a mouthful of food, “the one that had a weird extra bone in her foot?”

“The one who kept asking you to marry her?” Mae confirms.

“She mustn't have high standards,” comes Hyunjae’s mumble, causing Kevin to cluck his tongue at him in disapproval before answering, “yeah, we had to shave it off cause she’s a rising ballet star. Her mother was livid when she heard that she wouldn’t be able to dance for a good six months.”

“Sunji, was it?” Mae asks.

“She came to see me today,” Kevin beamed, warmth practically alighting over his face, “gave me flowers and a box of chocolate.”

“Did she give you a ring too?” Hyunjae adds mockingly.

“At least she likes me,” Kevin retorts while sticking out his tongue.

“Please! It’s not like she had a choice. You’re the only doctor she sees.”

"Just a game, Hyunjae," Kevin reminds him, gesturing towards the computer with a roll of his eyes since he knows exactly why the older man is being salty at this particular moment.

“Do you know how much time and effort I took into staying alive all that time?!” Hyunjae shoots back, leaning forward in his seat, “It was my fifteenth time!”

“It. Is. Just. A. Game,” Kevin’s words punch through like staccato notes.

“I care about that game, like it or not!” Hyunjae moans, “now my life is over!”

“Shakespeare needs to see this,” Mae mumbles behind her bowl of noodles, “he would’ve loved to write a story about you.”

“I think that’s the greatest compliment you’ve ever given me,” Hyunjae smirks.

“It’s...not a compliment.”

“I hate you. I hate you both,” Hyunjae sniffs before pouting and looking away, once again the very picture of a spoiled brat. The pair meet each other’s eyes before Kevin throws Mae a shrug.

“Don’t look at me, I didn’t raise him.”

-------------

The week, it seems, keeps getting worse for the titled drama queen, who proclaims that the heavens must be against him this week and that his astrological must be definitely off balance. Hyunjae’s shifts seem longer, tougher to handle this week, while the line of patients have suddenly multiplied by a tenfold the moment he thought that he could use a bit of a break. A few nurses have taken some time off for some last-minute vacation, meaning that he’s had to scramble around for help with no assistant by his side to jot down his every day needs.

Most of all, he still hasn’t been able to finish that damn game, and he has no one else to blame but dear Kevin for that.

“You look like shit,” is the first thing that pops out of Juyeon’s mouth the moment he stumbles into their shared office. He’s looking particularly dapper, with his freshly cut bangs and his usually hooded eyes alight with a sparkle that can only mean one thing:

“Did you guys kiss or something?”

Colour blossoms across Juyeon’s cheeks, hooded eyes widening in alarm, “What?”

Seemingly undisturbed by lack of sensitivity, Hyunjae proceeds to shrug off his beige coat as he opens his locker, “you look like freshly snogged material."

“I--That’s--That’s not--” Hyunjae can’t help but smirk at the flustered expression on the younger man’s usually bland face. One of his favourite pastimes is to make fun of Juyeon, mainly because he seems so much younger than what he appears to be, for they are only a few months apart in age. Not to forget the fact that he's so innocent, despite his mature, bedroom eyes and the lazy, sensual smile he gives to women. It's, as Hyunjae had once stated, incredibly misleading.

"Want to shadow my surgery?" Hyunjae asks, picking up his clipboard to scan the patient's profile. The younger man stretches out in his seat and yawned, "what kind?"

"Brain tumor I believe."

"Hm, I might shadow noona--"

"Oh right, loverboy's got a girlfriend now," Hyunjae rolls his eyes and lets out a soft sigh, "ah well, I'll just get one of the newbies on board. I love teasing them."

"They're all scared of you, you know," Juyeon can't help but point out.

"Oh really?" Hyunjae flashes a wicked grin.

Juyeon proceeds to roll his eyes, "that is not a compliment."

"You know, Mae said the exact same thing."

"No surprise there."

A few hours and a long trail of patients later, Hyunjae lets out a loud, noisy sigh when he finally allows his body to flop in his office chair, his feet aching from constantly running back and forth between wards. Mondays are always especially tiring, but he's quite satisfied that most of his patients seem on the track to recovery.

His hand quickly darts towards his mouse, when his phone suddenly rings.

Pressing the device to his ear, he murmurs out a quiet, "hello?"

"Son," his mother's terse soprano echoes through the receiver, "how are you?"

"Are you stressed, Ma?" Is the first thing that pops into his mind. There's only two reasons why his mother would call; either 1) she wants to give him food or 2) she has fought with his father yet again.

It is no secret that Mr. And Mrs. Lee have been living apart for more than seven years now. The scar that Hyunjae still bears is now covered by nonchalance, and the fact that his two parents have kept an amiable relationship has helped balance out his upbringing. He has to admit that for a child with divorced parents, they handled him pretty well.

"Can't I call to ask about my son?!" Mrs.Lee retorts back.

"Ma."

"Alright alright," she huffs, "I might have made some extra Kimchi stew and--"

"Ma, I told you not to cook so much," Hyunjae groans, one of his hands going up to ruffle his hair, "can't you just freeze it?"

"Freeze Kimchi Stew? Are you insane? I would never! Anyway, I already let the leftovers with--"

Knock knock!

Hyunjae glances back just in time to spot Mae standing in the doorway, holding out a cooler towards him.

"Ah," Hyunjae gestures for her to come in, "you met Mae?"

"Right right! Such a wonderful girl that one! Are you sure you've never had anything for her?"

"Ma--"

"No no, if you're going to tell me that you're just friends, I don't want to hear it."

"Listen Ma, she's--"

"I can't believe you didn't even try it out with her--"

"Hey Ma, I got a surgery soon," Hyunjae hurriedly says while watching Mae stuff the cooler inside the fridge he shares with Juyeon and two other doctors. He holds out a finger for her to wait, "I'll talk to you soon okay? Okay. Bye."

Cutting off the call right before she's about to keep on insisting how amazing Mae would be as a wife, Hyunjae lets out another trepid sigh before shaking his head at the said woman, who's gazing at him with raised eyebrows.

"My mother really wants me to go out with you," Hyunjae rubs a hand over his face, clipboard in hand, before following her out into the corridor.

"Yeah I know, she told me the exact same thing when I bumped into her in the lobby," Mae shoves her hands in her pockets, smiling slightly.

"I mean, if you weren't so much into Kevin, maybe--"

He doesn't get to say anything more because of Mae's hand slamming down atop his mouth. He groans in part pain and part protest, "that hurts!"

"I should've sewn your lips shut when I still had the chance," Mae hissed under her breath, careful to drop her hand and smile as they pass by a group of older doctors.

"You guys are like turtles. By the time you ask him out, you'll both be dead," Hyunjae mutters loud enough for Mae to hear.

She scowls back, "last I checked, I was the only one who decided what I could and could not do with my love life."

"You're doing a terrible job of it."

"I am not!"

"Okay, then where are the four children you said you wanted!? That's all you could talk about in college!"

"I was young and stupid, as were you."

"Ah, to be young and in love again--"

"Hyunjae?"

The pair turn instinctively towards the sound only to fall upon a familiar face, a face that Hyunjae remembers almost instantly as one of the girls who had pined after him for years' on end. He briefly recalls breaking her heart once and for all when she'd decided to give him a box of chocolates during their second year Valentines.

"Oh," Mae seems to be thinking the same thing as he does, for she doesn't waste time to smile up at him, clap him on the back and say, "see you then!"

And she's off, running down the hallway and leaving him to deal with the awkward aftermath of a rejected confession.

-------------

I honestly just love Hyunjae because he's so loud and annoying and straight up transparent. Surprisingly, I wasn't attracted to his physique as much as I was to his natural genuine personality.

Hope you enjoyed this one! Next Ep will be out on Monday!

Episode 3: in which Juyeon has a complicated relationship with food.

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kayteewritessteve · 5 years ago

Text

Beautifully Unfinished - 6/8

Description: One foolish outburst, one moment of weakness at the worst possible time, and everything goes up in smoke. Who knew finally voicing your true, deep-rooted feelings, would lead to the complete destruction of your most cherished friendship?

Masterlist HERE.

Word Count: 3,450 ish.

Pairing: Modern!Steve Rogers x Reader.

Rating: PG.

Warnings: Curse words. Lots of angst. But if you’ve read my stories before, then you know how this will end.

A/N: I sadly don’t own any of these characters. And no beta reader, so I do proudly own all the errors and this story, so there’s that.

Adulthood.

You make your way down the long hall to your suite door, it’s a little later than usual, as you stayed at work late to finish up a few things. Not wanting to leave them for Monday You to have to suffer through. It’s Friday night now, AKA BFMMN™, and the last few months your traditional friends group night has been going full force. None of you missing a single Friday in the last 6 months.

It’s been 9 months since you all graduated and started your careers. It took you all about 3 months to fully settle in and get the swing of things. But after that initial transition time, you all had more free time and were able to pick up your Friday night plans again. Plus you were all able to see each other more in general during the week as well, it was wonderful to have your guys back again. You’d missed them, and little updates here and there via text just wasn’t cutting it for you.

You approach your suite door, and instantly hear muffled voices on the other side. Now most people would probably freak out if they returned to their apartment after work, and heard voices behind the door. Especially if they lived alone like yourself. But you know those voices entirely, and knew the guys would be here when you got home, as they both have a key to your place and this was how every Friday night went. Except normally you’d be here when they arrived, but today, not so much.

You open the door, knowing they’d have left it unlocked for you and are just about to yell hey when you hear the hushed voices a little more clearly. Your words halting in your throat at the tone both men are using, it’s their pissed off tones and your curious what they are bickering about now.

They bicker like an old married couple, they always have, both guys being far too outspoken and comfortable with each other. Plus both are ridiculously stubborn and bullheaded, in their own ways, and when they want to be. It’s rather frustrating for you, when you have to go up against one of them in that state. But if you’re being totally honest, it’s hilarious when they go head to head with each other. You normally stay all the way out of it, and just sit back to quietly allow them to work it out on their own.

Though sometimes you’ll step in, if you feel the issue is going nowhere and they will just end up at an angry stalemate. Or the odd time that you side strongly with one of them, then you’ll pipe up and voice your opinions on the issue. But it’s a pick your battles sort of situation, and they always work it out, with or without your help or say on the matter.

You quietly close the door, locking it and tiptoeing to just before the living room entrance, not wanting to give yourself away just yet. At least not before you can figure out what the issue is this time.

“Just drop it, Buck,” Steve exasperatedly whispers. “It’s done, and I’m happy about it. I’m not going to put a damn grenade in the middle of my life, just because you have these unfounded and unrealistic beliefs. I love her, end of story.”

“You may ‘love’ her, but you aren’t in love with her. And you never will be, we both know it. And don’t give me this ‘I’m happy’ bullshit, we also both know that you aren’t, you’re just lying to yourself,” Bucky quickly fires back. “Why are you doing this? Why are you letting it go this far?”

“I am happy,” Steve growls, which doesn’t really prove his case and flat out contradicts his words. “But I can’t stand this shit, we always fight about this. Why can’t you just let this go already. Why can’t you see that this is what I actually want?”

“Because it’s not, and don’t act like I don’t know you inside and fucking out,” Bucky scoffs, clearly offended. “We both know what you really want, Punk, I’ve only said it about a thousand times. And marrying that woman ain’t it,” he bluntly says. “Give ya damn head a shake, she ain’t right for you. She’s never been, and she never will be, and you know damn well exactly why.”

“I can’t have this fucking conversation with you anymore. I’m marrying her and either you get on board with that, or you don’t, but keep it to ya damn self from here on out. Because it isn’t going to change anything, I already proposed and she already accepted. It’s done, now just drop it. Please.”

You freeze at his words, your heart plummeting to the hardwood floors beneath you—no, further than that! Plummeting to the damn ground floor of your apartment, 8 whole stories down. You feel your eyes start to prickle, Steve is engaged. Fuck, you didn’t even know he was planning to propose. Shit! You didn’t even know he was thinking about it for crying out loud.

You blink quickly and take a few silent steps back, quietly unlocking the front door and slipping back out into the hallway. You’ve heard enough—too much, actually. And now you just need a moment to collect yourself before you face your two best friends, head on.

They have no idea you were eavesdropping, and you want it to stay that way, so you have to get your emotions in check, and fucking fast at that.

After a few moments, and some deep breaths that do little to quell your shattering heart, you force yourself to plaster on your best fake smile and re-enter your suite. Promptly slamming the door just enough for the guys to hear and know you are ‘just getting home.’

“GUys?” You call out, your voice cracking on the vowel and you cringe. Ugh! Like who even still suffers from voices cracks this long after ending puberty! You, clearly. You clear your throat as you remove your jacket to hang it and your purse, up on the coat hooks by the door. “You both here already?” No voice crack this time, thank God.

Your ears pick up a few rushed, and hushed voices going back and forth, but you can’t make the words out this time.

“Yeah, Doll. We’re in the living room,” Steve hollers back, and then the hushed voices start up again. The guys are clearly still arguing about Steve’s engagement, obviously they weren’t quite finished but you’ve already inserted yourself into the mix so they will just have to be done for now. Unless they continue it on with you present, which is highly unlikely from what you can gather, and you thank fuck for that. You don’t want to be apart of this topic, not one fucking bit.

Well, at least not tonight anyways, you need some time for the news to sink in first. You need some alone time to cry and come to terms with it before you are forced to comment or partake in this topic. Now all you can do is pray they drop it and leave it the fuck alone for tonight. God, that’s all you ask for in this moment.

You remove your shoes, and take a deep breath before venturing into the war zone—eer, you mean your living room. And as you do, you see Bucky sitting up on your couch, leaning on his knees, and Steve standing by your large living room window. Both guys look towards you as you enter, the blonde giving you a smile that you know is forced, but you ignore that. And the brunette looking at you sceptically, as if he can tell you heard something you weren’t supposed to. As if he can read your currently dazed and frazzled mind.

But you just ignore that as well, and pretend you are perfectly fine. You aren’t supposed to know a damn thing, so you’ll just run with that cover.

“How’s my guys today?” You ask, as you force a smile of your own.

“Good,” Steve says quickly.

“Yeah, fine,” Bucky says right after, still giving you the side eye.

“So convincing,” you say sarcastically with an eye roll, but you don’t give them a chance to comment back and quickly go to change the subject. “What are we thinking for food? Chinese? Thai? Pizza?” You ask hopefully, as you move towards your kitchen to grab your various take out menus. “If you can’t tell, I’m freaking starving,” you say with a giggle, trying your best to lighten the awkward and gloomy tension.

Bucky chuckles, “you’re always starving.”

“Ain’t that the damn truth,” you sigh, returning to the living room and plopping down on the couch by Buck, menus in hand. “So. Food. What’s it gunna be?”

Steve smiles and shakes his head at you, as he makes his way towards your arm chair. “Whatever you feel like, Doll. You know we ain’t picky.”

“At least not like you are,” Bucky grumbles, playfully elbowing you.

“I’m not that picky, ya Jerk,” you defend, elbowing him back. “I just like what I like. So sue me.”

“I just might, I could use some extra play money,” he says through a grin as he elbows you again.

You scoff, “why, so you can buy more ridiculous clothes? You’re worse than a woman.” And because of who you are as a person, you also elbow him again, but more forcefully this time.

He flinches, and shoots you an indignant glare. “Wanting to look good isn’t ‘ridiculous’, Y/N,” he defends, then pokes your shoulder. “And I’ll have you know, that many men take their looks more seriously these days. Not just me. Be more open minded, would ya?”

“Awe, did your therapist tell you that, to ease your troubled mind?” You chuckle then poke his shoulder in return, “and I am completely open minded. Thank you very much.”

“No, but she did tell me that donating my time to the less fortunate would make me feel better about myself. And she was right, I do feel better about myself afterwards.” He gives you a once over, before pointedly locking eyes with you and smirking, “with that said, want to get coffee tomorrow, ya closed-minded little asshole? I need the ego boost.”

You give him a dry look, “no, you don’t. At this rate I’ll have to get a bigger apartment, just to fit your whole damn ego into my,” you trail off, your eyes locking onto a part of his hair. Fixating on that one spot.

Bucky narrows his eyes at you, asking suspiciously, “what are you looking at?”

You snort, snapping your eyes away from his hair, “nothing, nothing.”

“Spit it out, Y/L/N.”

“You been a little stressed lately, Buck?”

“What does that matter?”

“Oh, ya know, you just got a few rather juicy grey hairs coming in,” you point to the spot you were looking at before. “I like that you’re so okay with having them on display at your age. But the salt and pepper look really works for you, and the girls must really dig the whole ‘Daddy’ vibe.”

Bucky gasps and goes to snap back, but Steve beats him to it with a loud, overly dramatic sigh. “Would you both quit it? You’re like freaking siblings. One minute you’re all lovey dovey, and the next you’re shooting to kill. I’m getting fucking whiplash over here.”

You glance over at Bucky, barely able to contain your smirk and holding your hand out. “Pay up, fucker. I won this round.” He groans loudly, but pulls out his wallet and hands you 5 buckeroos, as is the deal.

Steve scoffs, “You guys still play that stupid game?”

You laugh, looking back to him as you tuck your newly acquired fiver into your pocket. “As long as we can continue to piss you off with it, we’ll continue to play it.”

“Plus someone has to fund her damn coffee addiction,” Bucky playfully adds, slinging an arm over the back of the couch behind you.

You laugh, then focus back on the real issue here. Food. “So, Chinese then?”

Steve snorts and Bucky hums, tapping a finger on his chin, “I dunno. I was kind of feeling Indian.”

You gasp, “I didn’t even think of Indian! Oh no,” you groan, then whine out, “now I can’t decide!”

“Way to go, Jerk,” Steve says playfully as he shakes his head.

Bucky bursts out laughing and picks up the Chinese menu, “on second thought, Chinese sounds best.”

You think that over for a second, then nod, “yeah, you’re right. Chinese, it is.”

Once you’ve called and placed your order for delivery, you pick out a movie. Well, Bucky does as it’s his turn to pick one, regardless of how much Steve or yourself bitch and groan about him always picking the same movie. You’ve all watched it so many damn times that you literally know every word off by heart. For the whole freaking movie, start to finish.

“Space Jam is a damn classic!” Bucky defends his choice. “You uncultured swines!”

“It is a classic, no one is refuting that!” You quickly say. “We have just watched it so many damn times! Can’t you pick something else for once? Please, for the love of all things that are holy, pick a different movie!” You aren’t above begging at this point.

“Y/N’s right, Buck,” Steve agrees. “We’ve watched that movie once a month since it came out, let’s watch something else this time, maybe?”

Bucky glares daggers at you both, before sighing loudly. “Fine! Then we will watch Fight Club.”

“Ugh, I hate that freaking movie,” you groan, “but I’ll take anything over Space Jam, at the moment. Even fucking Fight Club.” You narrow your eyes at the brunette standing on the other side of your living room looking at your wall of DVD’s. “You just have the worst taste in movies. You know that, right? You’re aware of that?”

He scoffs, “not as bad as your taste in them. Pretty Woman, really? Ya know, I used to have dreams with Julia Roberts in them. And not because I found her hot, but because we watched that movie so many times that her face was etched into my mind.”

“Take that back!” You gasp.

“I won’t,” he crosses his arms, “I meant every word.”

“Pretty Woman is a fantastic fucking movie! It’s the best ‘two worlds collide’ love story that there ever was! And Julia Roberts is a damn fox! So don’t pretend like you wouldn’t have had dreams about her anyways. We all know how depraved your little mind truly is.”

He opens his mouth but you don’t give him a chance to speak, “and furthermore, you are comparing a true 90’s classic romcom, with 2 hours of Edward Norton talking about his shitty life, and Brad Pitt shirtless? I mean, I’m okay with that last one,” you trail off, making an overdramatic ‘Oooh, got it’ face. “Never mind, I just figured out why you like that movie so much, you perv.”

“Okay, okay, wave the white flag already,” Steve sighs. “Geesh you two, break it up before someone gets hurt. Or ya know, I lose what little sanity I have left,” he grumbles the last part quietly, but you hear him anyways.

You grin and stick your hand out at Bucky once again, causing him to groan loudly and drop his head back in exasperation. “Stevie, buddy, come on already! You are gonna make me poor! Can’t you pipe up just once after I say something!” He picks his head back up to look at Steve. “Just once, that’s all I’m asking for here. It’s like you two are working,” he trails off as he shoots a glare at you, then your still outstretched hand, then Steve before his eyes land back on you and narrow. “You’re working together to doop me out of my hard earned money, aren’t you?”

“What? We would never!” You feign shock just to bug him, and truth be told, you weren’t actually working with Steve. That would have been a fantastic idea though, had you thought of it first! But now that Bucky put it out there, it’s no longer an option, he’d be too suspicious now. “But no, seriously, I’d never cheat against you,” you say honestly, then smirk, “because I wouldn’t need to, I’m naturally just better at this game than you are. Face it.”

“I’m not paying you this time,” Bucky says adamantly, with his stupid arms still crossed.

“Fine,” you grumble, pouting as you drop your hand back down. But then your smirk returns tenfold, “I’ll just add it to your tab then.”

“Like Hell—“

Steve groans loudly, cutting Bucky off as he gets up and takes the Fight Club DVD out before putting it into the player. “Okay, that’s enough of this game for tonight. Both of you are driving me insane with this shit.” He grabs the remote and gets to the movies main menu before looking pointedly between the two of you, “I’m pulling a temporary Rule Card, no more ‘Stevie Snappie’ for tonight. Got it?”

You gape at him, “wait, you know the name of the game?” Then you look up at Bucky and narrow your eyes, “you told him the name!?”

“It wasn’t me,” Bucky shakes his head. “It must have been you!”

“Jesus Christ. It was neither of you,” Steve says exasperatedly. “I overheard you guys arguing about it back in grade 10.”

“You’ve known this whole time?” You question, wide eyed. “And you’ve never said anything about it before tonight?”

“Don’t act surprised, you both aren’t very stealthy about hiding the game from me. You ask for payment right in front of me,” he shakes his head. “Every time.”

“Oh, we don’t care if you know about the game, Stevie,” Bucky says and he comes to retake his spot beside you on the couch. “But the name was sacred. We both vowed to take it to our graves.”

“Well, you failed, because I’ve known all along,” Steve says as he pushes play. “Now both of you zip it, and watch the damn movie.”

“The damn shitty movie,” you correct, but one glare from Steve has you snapping your mouth shut and nodding to tell him you’ll keep your mouth shut from here on out.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch, at least while the guys were still here. The food had arrived shortly after you started the movie. You and Buck had abided by Steve’s temp Rule, and ceased on the fake bickering for the remainder of the night. But just for the night, you both secretly needed this game to keep you sharp and on your come back toes, so it would pick back up. Just on a different night, as Steve’s wrath was no joke, and neither of you wanted to be on the receiving end of it. Not even a little bit.

You had kept all your groans and mumbling insults towards the shitty movie to yourself, and once it was over you all had decided to watch Home Alone. That movie was a fan favourite for the three of you, and never caused any bickering arguments. Why you didn’t just start with a movie like that, was beyond you.

After that one ended, around midnight, the guys called it a night and both headed out. And the moment the door closed behind them, you locked it and promptly flopped down on your bed. You spent the rest of the early morning hours crying, and feeling sorry for yourself. Which was a first in a while, you hadn’t actually cried once in the last 9 months.

But the news of Steve’s engagement took all the wind out of your sails. No, wrose than that, it ripped your heart directly from your chest, and then just for good measure, it stomped all over it. Ya know, just to ensure it was truly and completely broken beyond repair this time.

You ended up spending the entire weekend in bed, once again. But come Monday morning, you dragged your ass out of your makeshift hidey-hole, showered and band-aided your heart back into one piece. And as you opened up the door to your suite, you plastered that all too familiar fake smile on your face, and continued to pretend like you were okay. Like you were fine. Like you weren’t in love with your, now engaged, best friend.

I know that I should not hold on, so why can't I let go?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

@caps-lockdown @boxofteenageideas @giggleberts @strawberry-gothchild @theonelittleone @agentbadbitch @ratwrites @bandsandanimefreak @rockyroadthepastryarchy @lovvliies @cuffski @icesoccerer @steeeeverogers @zombiepotterfour @ledandan1244 @straightforwardly @denzmallows @xremember-me-notx @gwynethjodie @lollipopdomination @capstopavenger @jemimah-b99 @rcvenqers @justkending @alagalaska @silent-loucidity @sabertooth-potato @pies-wands-and-more @interstellarmess @gabriella69816 @phantom-soilder @viarogers @kaithezaftig @the-kinkiest-goblin @hysterically-original @badassbeckettswan @heyiamthatbitch @zlixlle @givemehopenfandoms @pretendingandpreposterous @frozen-phoenix17 @emotionallysalty @saturngirlz @atomicsludgedonutbiscuit @bohemian-barbie @marvelous-capsicle @ivoryhazlewood @cjhorseback @jessiedaeum @capricornprince118 @pinkleopardss @drayshadow @wiserebelpartypie @dark-night-sky-99 @patzammit @cs-please @troublermalik @anika-ann @wxstedhexrt @rynabarnesrogers

#au fanfiction #fanfiction #long post #long read #marvel au #marvel fanfiction #steve rogers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x you #modern!steve rogers x reader #modern!steve rogers #modern!steve #modern au #Beautifully Unfinished #Part 6 #steve rogers au

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wickedgamesoyaoya · 4 years ago

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Amnesia - Let the Games Begin

A mixture of delicious fragrances engulfed the café, compelling those who were fatefully walking by to enter the bistro. While the intoxicating scents may be what lured guests, it was the diverse set of attendants that created loyal customers. Jack Rose was founded by Hyroshi Miya eight years ago after the passing of his wife. Kaori Miya was known for having a sweet-tooth and her obsession with the tragedy of the Titanic. During Kaori’s battle with leukemia, Hyroshi developed an obsession with baking, with young Atsumu serving as his assistant. At first it served as a distraction for the duo, and a source of happiness for Kaori. However, when Kaori passed away, Hyroshi wanted to honour his wife’s life, and so Jack Rose was established. Named after the two love interests in Titanic, with an eccentric menu that no neighbouring café could challenge – it was a massive success.

“Hi, welcome to Jack Rose. Please follow me.” The rehearsed dialogue was not short of any enthusiasm, despite having said it hundreds of times.

“Oh my god, she’s so cute!” The middle-aged woman cooed to the male stood beside her, who nodded in approval. His amusement was untraceable due to the dark lenses that adorned his face, but he too was enthralled by your uniform.

A sugary smile had painted across your fuchsia painted lips, earning you a few extra points with the couple. It was a simple act that came natural to you, serving at Jack Rose had never struck you as a tedious job, rather it was a pleasurable experience.

After leading the pair to their assigned seat, a gentle hand had pressed into your lower back indicating that your replacement had arrived.

“Thank you, y/n. I will take it from here,” The mocha haired boy radiated an alluring aura, instantly capturing the interest of the two patrons. “Hi. I’m Tooru, your server for today.” Once introducing himself, his mouth twitched into his signature grin, prompting his eyelashes to flutter shut for a moment. Seated a few tables away, Oikawa’s fangirls were huddled together, squealing in unison.

“Enjoy your stay.” Folding an arm over your stomach, you bowed to excuse yourself before their hypnosis wore off, and the fangirls’ attention landed on you. Needless to say, anyone close to Oikawa Tooru was considered a threat. One they were eager to eliminate.

At the hostess stand, a familiar figure had shifted their weight onto the podium, the ends of his golden strands were frayed from the exposure to chemicals, yet with the sunlight sneaking through the glass behind, he resembled the subject of a painting.

“Oi. Are you feelin’ better today?” Atsumu Miya had always insisted that his accent was a natural product of his environment, although no one truly believed him considering the fact his family home was located in the wealthiest part of the city. Nonetheless, the accent persisted beyond his teenage years and into his young adulthood. It never bothered you, particularly because you had never heard him without it. After eighteen years of friendship, there wasn’t a single thing you did not adore about him.

“I am, don’t worry. Now will you please get off my stand? You are going to scare the customers.” Playfully you waved a hand in the air, gesturing for the blonde to reside elsewhere. “And if I’m not mistaken, you are skipping class right now, aren’t you?” As your tongue hit the roof of your mouth, a clicking sound was created to exemplify your disappointment.

“What was that? ‘tsumu is skipping class again?” If you had not become accustomed to Kuroo Tetsurou’s large and notable presence, you would have flinched the second his shadow had blanketed over you. Rather than experiencing any form of fear, his presence had only amplified your gaiety.

“Uh huh. Shall we get Papa Miya?” The bed-headed server leaned down, nestling his chin against your shoulder as he grinned provocatively at the target of your amusement. Kuroo was only a single year younger than you two, despite physically appearing to be older. The three of you were inseparable since the tender ages of six and five. When Kaori had passed away, Atsumu relied heavily on his two friends, as he had lost motivation to complete the smallest of tasks. That was why you took a job at Jack Rose, you needed it to succeed for his sake. It was a reminder of how his mother lived, rather than how she died. Kuroo had joined you in your quest a month later, and somehow your dream – Hyroshi’s dream had become reality.

“I swear yer the worst friends ever. It’s an online class! Don’t bring pops into it.” The blonde blew out a huff, turning his gaze away from those who threatened to ‘betray’ him.

“Oh my god, you guys are the worst! Poor Omi is in the back preparing all the drinks and you’re out here doing… whatever the hell this is!” Makoto Saito waved a small napkin at the black-haired server, unwilling to engage in any physical violence since it would require energy she wished to conserve. “Go back there, you man-baby. Help him. Shoo. Get off my adorable y/n.”

“Okay, okay. I’m going.” Kuroo raised his hands in defeat, unbothered by the napkin that was now being swayed towards his chest. Makoto had joined Jack Rose two years ago, and not because she was in any need for money – you were the reason she found herself sending in an application for what others would consider a low-end job. She had stumbled into the café one evening, boredom plaguing her after finishing a three-hour lecture. Oikawa had been the one to greet her, yet it was the positivity you emanated that brought her to return a night later. A month later, a job application was handed to you bashfully, whereas you could barely withhold your excitement. She was the second female to join Jack Rose, with Atsumu (accidentally) recruiting Ichika a year later.

“Now that he’s gone, y/n, I’m here to replace you. Omi said something about teaching you the new drink? I honestly don’t remember because I was on the phone, but let’s ignore that fact, hm?” Makoto’s interest in the boys was below minimal, the only male who was deserving of her respect was ‘Papa Miya’. Once Atsumu had jested that it was because she secretly had a crush on the much older male, to which she responded, ‘so what if I do’. The response had defeated his humour instantly.

“Oh, he must be talking about the blue pearl! It’s the newest addition to our menu.” Tapping a finger against your cheek, excitement burned in your y/e/c irises, prompting something to stir inside of both Atsumu and Makoto. What? You were so damn adorable.

“I don’t care, but you are so cute that I’ll pretend I do.” Reaching out, the black-haired girl patted your cheek affectionately. “Now go on, little bird. Fly fly away.”

“You guys better not fight while I’m gone.” With two fingers, you pointed at your eyes then at the two chaotic individuals you called friends, even with the warning, it was highly probable that the second you turned around they would begin bickering.

“Shoo, birdie.” The comment was accompanied by an unusually heavy sigh, Makoto completely intended on annoying Atsumu, but that was none of your concern.

Upon entering the kitchen, your nose crinkled at the delectable scents wafting towards you. When Sakusa Kiyoomi was working in the kitchen, everyone knew magic would materialize in the form of sweets. No one had believed the germaphobe could bake until he dropped off a box of home-made pastries along with his resume. Papa Miya was in the process of finishing his first bite when he declared that Sakusa was hired. He was just that damn good.

“You’re here.” The curly haired male had a bad habit of stating the obvious, he argued that it was key to the proper performance of his logical processes. No one tried to refute his claim, considering the fact he was essentially a genius. “Are you ready to learn?” Raising an eyebrow, his slender fingers wrapped around a glass-vessel before placing it on the counter.

“Mhm hm.” It was a bad habit of yours to chew on your bottom lip when in thought, but Sakusa found it endearing – even though he would deny such a claim out loud. Removing the notepad from your apron, your eyes darted aimlessly, searching for a writing utensil. You may have been a little too occupied with your pockets, a detail that the male picked up on, as he removed the pen tucked behind your ear.

“Are you sure you are well? If not, you should return home.” He held out the pen, analyzing your visage for any physical sign of illness.

“Woops. Sorry. I forgot it was there! But I promise, I’m fine!” It seemed that everyone was a bit on edge since yesterday, when you may have accidentally forgotten to eat and passed out mid-shift. You appreciated the sentiment, but you were fine. Really.

The curly haired baker refused to begin his demonstration until you consumed some food and water, his dark hues did not waver until each inch of the plate was clean. By the time you were done, Ichika had joined you in the kitchen for the lesson.

“I should have recorded that. I feel like I forgot it already.” Ichika was the youngest person on the team, Atsumu had offered her a job after finding her crying at a bus stop one night. The young girl was the breadwinner of her home, and due to her fathers gambling addiction, she was the only parental figure for her two younger siblings. Atsumu, after learning that her mother had too passed, was unable to turn a blind eye.

“I can show it to you tomorrow. I think I’ve got it.” A reassuring smile was presented towards her as you captured her hands and provided a gentle squeeze. “And then we all have the day off. I think everyone has decided we’re going to the amusement park, so it will be fun.”

“Okay… Thank you, y/n.” Ichika blinked excessively to withhold the tears that were brewing, she could always count on you to provide her with the support she so desperately needed. Sakusa who was simply watching the two interact was on guard with a rag to catch any tears that could possibly fall onto the counter he had just disinfected.

“Please do not cry.” The black-haired boy had almost sounded sincerely concerned for his co-workers emotional state, it was enough to fool Ichika who redirected her affections to him.

“You care about me too? Waa. I’m so loved!” As the tears began to exit her eye sockets, Sakusa jumped forward on instinct, pressing the cloth against her face. Laughter danced past your lips as you shook your head slowly. Jack Rose really attracted the strangest of people.

After your shift ended, instead of returning home to complete your assigned work, you decided to finish your assignment at the café. It was fairly quiet after 11pm, and Kuroo had offered to walk you home after closing up. Recently there were a striking number of assaults occurring in your area, and so you accepted the proposition without any hesitation.

“Welcome to Jack Rose! We are about to close soon, but I think I have enough time to serve you a drink or two. Is that okay with you, kind sir?” The words were conveyed in an anxious tone, as Ichika glanced at the clock plastered on the wall. Upon hearing the ‘kind sir’, both you and Atsumu glanced up from your laptop screens, stifling the laughter that was bubbling inside your throats.

“I won’t be long.” There was something peculiar about his choice of words, prompting your neurons to convey the word danger to your body. Before your mind could catch up with your physical movements, you had lifted from the chair and shuffled closer to where Ichika was stood. From the side of your eye, you saw your childhood friend following close behind, presumably picking up on your apprehension. But before you could utter a response to the mystery guest, the lightbulbs illuminating the bistro had burnt out.

The second darkness had enveloped the space, someone had seized your waist aggressively and a cloth was pressed to your mouth. The more you squirmed, the harsher their touch became – fear gradually paralyzed you. Or perhaps it was the chemical coating the fabric on your lips. Piece by piece your senses began to dull. Whether the person screeching your name was a hallucination or not was unclear…. All you knew was that your intuition was right, but unfortunately a bit too late.

Hume, who pioneered the bundle theory, would state that the human soul is nothing beyond a collection of still-shots and experiences. The self is a loosely connected bundle of perceptions, one that would change overtime. The question that remains is…. who will you be now? Who will you become? Without your memories as a guide, can you win the game that was designed specifically for you…? Or will you lose the never-ending battle?

Amnesia - Let the Games Begin

Masterlist - Previous - Next

A/N: and so it begins! also in this I may have erased osamu!? LMAO sorry

Tag-list: @kara-grayson04 @namyari , @cuddlesslut , @iloveanime691 @shakiraisawesome @idiot-juice-enthusiast @fangirling-25-8 @krynnza @yetchann @chxrry-wxne

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belovasangel · 5 years ago

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Hallucinations

Summary: Never lost, just waiting to be found

Pairing: Mob!Tom x (fem!)Reader

Warnings: Swearing, blood, death, angst all around, mentions of sex, mentions of drugs and crime

You wore his green sweater when he left. It was old, had a few moth holes, and itched your sides, but it’s all you could wear to remember him. Vanished. It was a mission he said wouldn’t be too hard. He gave a hug, a long kiss on your lips, and a lingering stare before he walked out the door.

He tasted like toothpaste and tobacco, smoking being what he did when he was stressed. Tom had been nervous all week, fiddling with loose ends on his shirts or running his fingers through his hair. Coming home with blazed and glossy eyes while he held you tight in bed. Whispering sweet nothings and soft touches. As if this was the last time.

Tom and Harrison left in the middle of June, a week before your anniversary. It was muggy in August when Harrison returned with a tattered suit, under eye bags, and Tom’s wedding ring in hand. Harrison gave a tight hug, holding you close to his heart. You smelt Tom’s cologne on his shirt, and saw bright dots of red on the white.

The funeral was in late September. Family came to your side immediately, Tom’s parents and siblings were holding your hand the whole time. When the burial took place, everyone held their breath and collectively said a prayer to the closed casket. Nobody saw the body.

You looked to the sky, a single tear falling down your cheek. Looking back to the grave, beyond the cemetery there was an apparition quickly ducking behind trees and bushes. You scoffed lightly, confused by the onlooker and turned back to the funeral of your late husband

Every day became an uphill battle. Nikki and Dom stopped by once a week to deliver company, taking you out for brunch or bringing by pictures and memories. The wedding, the first pregnancy test (even though it was negative), his shirts and baby photos. It made you feel closer to someone you’ve known for years and that’s been dead for weeks. Sam, Harry and Paddy kept you busy by keeping you in his business. They brought you to meetings, taught you to use a gun, wear bullet proof clothing and even pick a lock.

The more you’ve become aware of what Tom did was when you noticed things at home were changing too. Tessa always greeted you extra happy, items in the kitchen and bedroom were slowly missing, food was gone and shirts were being lost. A final straw was hit when the wedding picture hung on the fireplace of you and Tom was taken from the frame.

You installed more cameras, hired more of Tom’s henchmen, and started carrying your gun in its holster whenever you went home. Harry, being the new man in charge, held the power and gave you your wishes, while also letting you into the business more than Tom did.

A chilly October night, Halloween exactly, was your first drug bust with Harrison. “Are you sure, I know that dealing with your loss is hard but this isn’t exactly the best idea?” You rolled your eyes, unlocking the safety on the gun and turned on your heel. “I want to see what made Tom go out and get himself killed, is that too much to ask for?”

Harrison bit his lip, swiping his hand over his face. “This isn’t healthy, (Y/N).” You stopped walking, tears pricking your eyes. “What’s not healthy is wishing that you died instead of your husband, Harrison. Wishing you could have held him longer or said ‘I love you’ before he left. It’s not healthy staying up to see the sunrise in hopes that the love of your life will somehow walk through the front door and be alive! I need this, even if I end up in the ground next to him, I-I can’t just sit and wait for something to happen. Not anymore.”

You wiped a tear, then turned back to the bar entrance. “Let’s get this over with.” Harrison placed his hand on your shoulder and opened the door.

That night you killed five people. Five of the same henchmen that were involved in Tom’s murder. You got the drugs, got the sliver of revenge, and it soothed a tiny part in your gut. Getting home was silent, you were shaking with adrenaline and a cheshire smile on your face while Harrison watched with a look of sympathy and anxiety. He dropped you off at home and slowly pulled out of the mansion, not before taking a call.

Night after night, you showed up to Harry’s and asked for a mission, begging for them. And night after night, Harry gave you your request. Drug busts, torture missions, robberies, deals and hostages. You were addicted to the rush. On Christmas, Harry got you a new gun. Sam gave you the same cigarettes that Tom smoked. Harrison gifted Tom’s favorite cologne and cufflinks he wore his last night alive.

By the new year, the boys (except Harrison) all believed you were the reincarnation of Tom, even better and more ruthless. You got the money, and blew some brains in the way. It became a hobby for you, and damn did it feel good. Yet, at the end of the night when you scrubbed the blood off your hands did you finally get the killers remorse. On particularly hard nights, you slept in the green sweater.

The same one you last saw Tom in.

It brought you back to the last hug, the last kiss, the last “I love you.” He was everywhere when you wore it. It brought your humanity back, just for a night’s sleep.

“Tommy, slow down! Where are we going?” You laughed, as Tom pulled you through the busy crowds of London. He rushed you onto the busy subway, holding you close to his side as the bustle of people stop after stop nearly swept you away. “I’ve got you, love. You’re safe with me.” His breath tickled your lips while your cheek rubbed against his wool sweater, the one you wore every chance you got.

You woke up in the middle of the night, the day after Valentine’s Day, to the wind whipping outside your windows. The trees were slapping the glass, snow was filling the patio and the gust of wind nearly opened the door. You picked up your pillow and began walking to the living room for peace.

“Are you okay, my love?” Tom watched as you paced in the bedroom, peeking into the bathroom and dodging back out. “Are you feeling ill?” You looked up, biting your lip.

“I think I’m pregnant”

You silently closed the bedroom door and made your way down the polished wooden steps to the living room. Each picture down the staircase was a memory of you two. The wedding picture at the bottom always reminded you of the beautiful night. With a heavy sigh, you turned to the occupied couch.

“Cheers to the new Holland’s!”

Harrison put the microphone down, his best man speech brought tears to everyone in the crowd, and as everyone cheered loud, Tom left a tight kiss on your temple. “I cannot believe you’re my lovely wife.” You looked back, rosy cheeked and slightly champagne tipsy as you cupped his jaw. “And I cannot believe you’re my incredibly sexy husband.”

He let out a laugh, and with a smirk he leaned down to whisper in your ear. “Just wait for the honeymoon, sweetheart. I’ll have to carry you around when we’re done with tonight.”

“Harrison?”

The man on the couch turned around, and he gave you a sheepish look. “We need to talk (Y/N).” You rolled your eyes. “I came down here to sleep, not to listen to whatever bullshit you’re about to give me.” Harrison furrowed his brows, clenching his fists and looking at Tessa curled by his feet. “It’s about Tom, (Y/N).”

You took a seat on the couch, fluffing your pillow and setting it down on the edge. “Oh, I’m ready. Let me guess, you found another picture. Oh! Oh! How about that he had a half burnt cigarette that he happened to leave behind as a memory? Maybe it’s a few pints of that honey bourbon he loves so much. Tell me, Harrison, what else is there to give a poor widow?”

“He’s alive.”

You rolled your eyes, sitting up to the table next to the couch and pulling out a cigarette and lighter. “Oh yeah, tell me something else that’ll give me false hope. He’s in the kitchen, he’s outside with flowers, he’s waiting at the fucking alter!” You huffed a smoke cloud out, tilting your head to the side. “Is that all you’ve got?”

“He’s at Nikki and Dom’s. Tom got there a few weeks ago. That’s why Harry keeps giving you those missions, so he can go back and see him. They’ve all known. He’s alive.” You let out a laugh, bringing the cigarette back to your lips. “This is so fucking low of you, Harrison.”

You stood up, a tear rolling down your cheek as you picked up the pillow. “I thought you were my friend, Tom’s best man. You’re disgusting for doing this to me. Don’t come here again. You know where the door is.” Walking back to the stairs, Harrison stood. “Let me take you there, please.”

You walked up the stairs alone, wiping tears and holding in your wails for a little longer until you heard the door slam shut. The cigarette fell into the sink, burning out while you splashed water on your eyes. Looking up, you grabbed your phone and called Harry.

“Hello?” You gripped the phone tighter. “Is it true?” Harry let out a deep groan. “What do you mean by that, (Y/N)?”

“Is it fucking true?” Harry sighed. “Yeah.”

You pulled the phone away and ended the call, looking up at the mirror of the girl wearing the green sweater. The one you wore the last time you saw your husband.

#tom holland imagine #tom holland imagines #tom holland x reader #tom holland fic #tom holland #tom holland angst #mob!au #mob!tom #mob!tom imagine #mob!tom imagines #mob!tom x reader #mob!tom fic #fiction #fanfiction

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tigerkirby215 · 4 years ago

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5e Alistar the Minotaur build (League of Legends)

⚠️ WARNING: THE FOLLOWING BUILD USES CONTENT FROM THE MYTHIC ODYSSEYS OF THEROS SOURCEBOOK. DO NOT OPEN IF YOU WISH TO AVOID SPOILERS. ⚠️

(Artwork by Riot Games)

Wow is Alistar’s champion title really just “the Minotaur?” Like damn I know he’s an old champion but other old champions have titles like “the Dark Child” or “the Frost Archer” or “the Barbarian King.” Calling Alistar “the Minotaur” is like calling Yasuo “the Wind Sword Guy”, or calling Blitzcrank “the Robot”, or calling Amumu “the Sad Mummy.” ...Wait...

GOALS

Pulverize - Alistar’s an old champion with a very simple kit. Hit people, hit them some more, and hit them a third time for good measure.

Trample - The bull has a lot of CC at his disposal with tons of ways to keep enemies at bay.

Triumphant Roar - Ali’s main “supportive” mechanic is the ability to heal himself and his allies in the middle of a teamfight.

RACE

This may be surprising to hear but Alistar is a Minotaur, which is a race in Guildmaster’s Guide to Ravnica but I suppose it got reprinted in Mythic Odysseys of Theros. Your Strength increases by 2 and your Constitution increases by 1. You have Horns that you can use for an unarmed strike that do a d6 piercing damage instead of the bludgeoning damage of a regular punch, and if you dash 20 feet in a straight line you can make an unarmed strike as a bonus action with Goring Rush.

Most notably as a Minotaur you get Hammering Horns: Immediately after you hit a creature with a melee attack on your turn you can use a bonus action to attempt to shove that target with your horns. You can push the target up to 10 feet away from you unless they succeed on a Strength saving throw. The creature can’t be more than one size larger than you and has to be within 5 feet of you.

You can also speak, read, and write both Common and Minotaur, and get your choice of either Intimidation or Persuasion proficiency thanks to Imposing Presence. Of course we’ll be choosing Intimidation but feel free to opt for Persuasion instead if you think it will be more useful.

ABILITY SCORES

15; STRENGTH - You’re a big bad bull whose powers include punching people, headbutting people, and stepping on people... not like that.

14; CONSTITUTION - You’re a tank as well as a support, and Constitution is required for tanking.

13; CHARISMA - You’re a big scary purple monster, and while you could probably convince your DM to be intimidating with Strength Charisma is a requirement to multiclass.

12; DEXTERITY - Not the most in-character since Ali is a slow dude, but DEX is required for AC.

10; WISDOM - You smack people a bunch; you don’t ask them about their feelings. Wisdom could help you with Animal Handling though since you are an animal.

8; INTELLIGENCE - You smack people a bunch you don’t read books.

BACKGROUND

Alistar’s backstory has been through the wringer so many times which is to be expected of an older champion. But apparently now he’s an Outlander seeking vengeance for his tribe? Regardless you get Survival proficiency but I’d actually recommend swapping the Athletics proficiency for Animal Handling since we can’t get it elsewhere, and it makes sense for the cow to be good with animals. You also gain proficiency in an instrument and a language of your choice. Again whenever we make warrior types I always recommend Drums, because I doubt those big hooves can play a lute.

Your background feature Wanderer is kinda like Laberintian Recall from older versions of the Minotaur. You can recall the general layout of the terrain around you, and can find food and water within reason. Alistar’s just generally a cool dude; he seems angry but I don’t doubt he’d be willing to help you out if you got lost in the mountains.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

THE BUILD

LEVEL 1 - PALADIN 1

Starting off as a Paladin for a variety of reasons. But regardless of the reason you get proficiency in two skills from the Paladin list: take Athletics from your class instead of your background. Any other skill makes sense so pick whatever you think will be useful. (I opted for Insight personally.)

As a Paladin you get Divine Sense, letting you use an action to detect any celestial, fiend, or undead within 60 feet of you that is not behind total cover. You can use this feature a number of times equal to 1 + your Charisma, so twice. For some Relic Shield healing Lay on Hands gives you a healing pool equal to 5 times your Paladin level. You can heal a target you touch for any amount of health as an action, up to the remaining total of your Lay on Hands pool. Alternatively you can spend 5 health to neutralize a poison or disease, because a good support knows when to grab Mikael's!

LEVEL 2 - PALADIN 2

Second level Paladins get a Fighting Style: to remain in-character it would make the most sense to take Unarmed Fighting from the Class Feature Variants UA, but there really isn’t much reason to use your fists over an actual weapon (especially since you have horns) so I’d suggest grabbing Great Weapon Fighting instead. Use a Maul since it’s a heavy weapon that does bludgeoning; so it’s practically like you’re punching them!

You also get Spellcasting as a Paladin: you can prepare a number of spells equal to your Charisma modifier plus half your Paladin level (rounded down) so... not a lot. Bless will let you boost your allies by setting enemies up for them... that’s how I’d flavor it at least. If you want to take things into your own hands Thunderous Smite will let you empowered your next attack to do bonus thunder damage and force the enemy to make a Strength save or be knocked prone. Is your spell save really bad because your Charisma is so low? Yes!

But naturally we’ll be ignoring most of those spells for Divine Smite! When you hit a creature with a melee weapon attack, you can expend one spell slot to deal extra radiant damage in addition to the weapon’s damage. The extra damage is 1d8, plus an additional d8 for the level of the spell you use. So a level 1 spell does 2d8, level 2 does 3d8, and so-on. Additionally if you hit an undead you do an extra d8 of damage! Fight toe-to-toe with Mordekaiser for a battle of the tanks!

LEVEL 3 - PALADIN 3

Third level Paladins get Divine Health, making them immune to disease, which is good because you’re bound to catch a cold by running around shirtless. (Except you should be wearing armor for now.) But more importantly you get to choose your Divine Oath, and I did say we’d be using content from Theros so... Oath of Glory! As a Glory Paladin you get the Guiding Bolt and Heroism spells innately.

You also get two Channel Divinity options: Peerless Athlete will give you Advantage on Strength and Dexterity checks for the next 10 minutes... and I’m obligated to tell you that advantage on Athletics will let you shove people better to try to knock them over. Inspiring Smite however will let you make a Triumphant Roar when you hit an enemy with your Divine Smite. Roll 2d8 and add your Paladin level: you can distribute this pool of temporary hitpoints among your allies however you wish.

LEVEL 4 - PALADIN 4

4th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement: I’m going to suggest increasing your Charisma and your Constitution by 1, putting them both at even scores.

With the increase to level and Charisma you can also prepare more Paladin spells: Compelled Duel is a good way to keep foes close and CCed so your allies can fight them, and Cure Wounds is a good way to keep those allies in the fight!

LEVEL 5 - PALADIN 5

Paladins get an Extra Attack at 5th level, letting them attack twice when taking the attack action.

You can also prepare and cast second level spells now: as a Glory Paladin you get Enhance Ability and Magic Weapon innately. Hit hard and resist any incoming damage!

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 6 - BARBARIAN 1

Okay I know I usually like to start the builds for shirtless characters with Barbarian first but half of Alistar’s skins give him armor, and Paladin levels simply gave us more to work with. Regardless: Barbarians can go shirtless with Unarmored Defense equal to 10 plus your Dexterity and then plus your Constitution.

Of course we’re not just here to go shirtless in Seattle: as a Barbarian you can Rage a number of times per day as shown on the Barbarian class chart. While raging you have advantage on Strength checks and saving throws (which yes our Channel Divinity could also do) and do bonus damage when attacking with a strength weapon. But the most important thing is that you have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage while raging, meaning that your Unbreakable Will will keep you in the fight!

Note that you can’t cast spells while raging, nor can you concentrate on them. You can still benefit from any spell effects that aren’t concentration though, and more importantly you can still smite! What’s more important though is that your rage will end if you don’t take damage or attack someone for a full round. Beyond that your rage lasts for one minute, so keep in the fray while absorbing every incoming blow!

LEVEL 7 - BARBARIAN 2

Second level Barbarians get Reckless Attack, allowing them to attack with Advantage at the cost of being attacked with Advantage. You know what Advantage means? A higher chance to crit. You know what more crits means? Harder smites, as the smite damage gets doubled! You’ve got the health to take hits, so why not hit them hard?

In addition you get Danger Sense, giving you advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects you can see. Don’t be a dummy: dodge skillshots you can see coming.

LEVEL 8 - BARBARIAN 3

Third level Barbarians can choose their Primal Path. You’re meant to be a tank so naturally Totem Warrior. As a Totem Warrior you get a Totem Spirit and the Spirit of the Bear gives you resistance to all damage but Psychic. (I suppose you can consider Psychic to be True Damage.) Yup it’s a tank build so of course we’re going Bear Totem Barbarian.

As a Totem Warrior you also get Spirit Seeker, allowing you to cast Beast Sense and Speak with Animals as ritual spells. See I told you the Animal Handling proficiency would help!

LEVEL 9 - BARBARIAN 4

Regardless of your class you get an Ability Score Improvement at 4th level, so with 4 levels in Barbarian it’s time for a... Feat! No not Athlete: I’m actually going to suggest the Resilient feat in Strength this time. You’re a tough guy so naturally you can wrestle toe-to-toe.

NOTE: I opted for Resilient in Strength since it’s unlikely you’ll need to concentrate on spells much. (As you’ll be Raging most of the time.) But if you want better concentration checks feel free to take Resilient in Constitution instead. The last ASI was in both CON and CHA, so you can opt for CHA and STR instead.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 10 - PALADIN 6

With our ultimate in-line it’s time to become the ultimate support! Level 6 Paladins get Aura of Protection, granting allies in a 10 foot radius a bonus to saving throws equal to your Charisma modifier. So again: not much. But it does benefit you as well!

Additionally you can prepare another spell: Lesser Restoration will let you cleanse minor CCs from your allies... or yourself.

LEVEL 11 - PALADIN 7

As a Glory Paladin you get Aura of Alacrity at 7th level, making you and anyone within 10 feet of you move 10 feet faster! Alistar’s a pretty slow boy, but there’s no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth. Maybe you’re not fast; maybe everyone else is just slow?

LEVEL 12 - PALADIN 8

8th level Paladins get another Ability Score Increase so it’s time to cap off that Strength modifier for the hardest hits possible.

LEVEL 13 - PALADIN 9

So you could’ve prepared another spell at the last level but I didn’t mention it because there isn’t much at 2nd level we want. But regardless you can prepare third level spells now! As a Glory Paladin you know Protection from Energy innately for a Knight’s Vow, but much more importantly you get Haste! Buff your ADC, or buff yourself to attack at lightning speeds!

Speaking of ADC buffs: Crusader’s Mantle will give you and all your allies within 30 feet an additional d4 radiant damage on their attacks. You can’t cast it while raging but you can have it up normally to further support the team.

LEVEL 14 - PALADIN 10

10th level Paladins get an Aura of Courage, making it so that you and allies within 10 feet are immune to being frightened. No scarecrow is going to scare you! And you can prepare another spell: Spirit Shroud is an Unearthed Arcana spell that works a lot like Randuin's Omen, slowing enemies within 10 feet of you by 10 feet. On top of your Aura of Alacrity you can easily keep foes at bay, especially since you do an extra d8 of damage (Necrotic or Radiant) to enemies you hit!

LEVEL 15 - PALADIN 11

11th level Paladins get Improved Divine Smite, doing an extra d8 of Radiant damage with all their attacks. Despite the name of this class feature it doesn’t activate your Inspiring Smite feature; sorry.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

LEVEL 16 - PALADIN 12

12th level Paladins get another Ability Score Improvement, so for more tanking increase your Constitution.

Speaking of tanking you can prepare another spell: Aura of Vitality will let you spend a Bonus Action to heal anyone within 30 feet (including yourself) for 2d6 health, for a whole lot of Triumphant Roars.

LEVEL 17 - PALADIN 13

13th level Paladins can prepare 4th level spells. As a Glory Paladin you can cast Freedom of Movement to ignore CC, and Compulsion for some CC of your own.

LEVEL 18 - PALADIN 14

14th level Paladins buy a Mikael's Crucible to use Cleansing Touch, allowing them to end a spell’s effect with a touch. You can use this feature a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier before taking a Long Rest.

And another spell to prepare? Sure! Aura of Purity gives your whole team CC reduction!

LEVEL 19 - PALADIN 15

As a Glory Paladin you get Glorious Defense at 15th level. When you or another creature you can see within 10 feet is hit by an attack roll, you can use your reaction to grant a bonus to the target’s AC against that attack, equal to your Charisma modifier. If the attack misses, you can make one weapon attack against the attacker as part of this reaction, provided the attacker is within your weapon’s range. You can use this reaction a number of times equal to your Charisma modifier. Man this class has a lot of features based on Charisma... shame we didn’t increase it much.

LEVEL 20 - PALADIN 16

16th level Paladins get our last Ability Score Improvement so I’d suggest capping your Constitution for a 20 health increase and maximum tanking!

And you can prepare one more spell at this level: Staggering Smite is perhaps the ultimate knockup, doing a ton of Psychic Damage on a hit and also giving the target disadvantage on attack rolls and ability checks for the duration, and it can’t take reactions until the end of its next turn.

FINAL BUILD

PROS

Gargoyle Stoneplate - This is certainly a tanky build! Over 200 health and a positive modifier in every saving throw, all on top of Bearbarian Rage to halve all incoming damage!

Locket of the Iron Solari - You also have a lot of support and utility. Inspiring Smite alone grants 2d8 + 16 temp HP to your party, and you have a huge variety of healing spells at your disposal.

Lich Bane - Unlike Alistar in League you can hit very hard! A 2d6 weapon with Advantage and Smites will let you break some skulls. (Side note: if you want to be more supportive try investing in CHA instead of STR to boost your auras and spells.)

CONS

Lord Dominik's Regards - Even with the high Constitution mod your low Dexterity means that your AC is subpar. You may have the health to spare but you’re going to be hit a lot.

Blade of the Ruined King - Let’s talk brains: you’re not good at them. Raging stops you from concentrating on spells, and most of your spells are concentration. More importantly you had to dump both mental stats, and while your saving throws are still okay thanks to Paladin levels you’re not going to be succeeding on any History checks.

Guinsoo's Rageblade - Ultimately while Raging lets you absorb a lot of damage the investment in Barbarian makes this class insanely MAD (Multi-Ability Dependent) and raging can do as much harm as it can help. The requirement for Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma means that something ultimately ends up dropped. If you can make this build with Point Buy (dumping the hell out of your mental stats) then it’s great, but with such a low Charisma a lot of your Paladin features end up being subpar.

But you’re the support. If you were good at everything you’d just carry yourself. Keep the enemies at bay and your allies in the fight. If you go down it’s a job well done! Space created! But do your best not to feed, obviously.

(Artwork by Riot Games)

#DnD 5e #dnd #dnd build #dnd guide #dnd barbarian #dnd paladin #League of Legends #League of Legends Alistar #minotaur #Mythic Odysseys of Theros

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