#her (visibly relieved): oh wow i had no idea

[anghraine]

Aww, Ash admitted to me when we were discussing Star Wars opinions that she's not only thought about these things before, she's actually really feeling like using her advanced creative writing degree to write ...................... fanfiction, and has actually done so in the past.

me, shoving my 67 SW fanfics on AO3 under the bed: Oh hey, awesome! That sounds really interesting.

[cottonlemonade]

When He Babysits His Niece

word count: 1278 || avg. reading time: 5 mins.

pairing: post-time skip!Atsumu x chubby!Reader

genre: fluff

warnings: a whisper of spoilers

synopsis: Atsumu finally has the opportunity to hit on you

The Official Version of Events

You stood in line waiting for your turn. It was a pleasant midsummer afternoon and your usual way home brought you through a little park. Children were yelling and laughing as they zipped in and out of couples going for a stroll or people walking their dogs.

A playful breeze tugged at your hair when the elderly woman manning the dorayaki cart told you she‘d have to prepare a new batch and it would take a moment. As the batter sizzled away on the hot stove you fished your phone out of your pocket.

With your mind on the movie night you had planned with your friends that evening, you checked the takeout menus of your usual places to see what you could be in the mood for when suddenly a little black haired blur in a pink tutu over jeans wooshed by and hid behind you, giggling wildly.

"Uhm, hi.", you said, uncertainly.

The little girl gave a tiny bow, said "Hello.", before grabbing another handful of jacket and hiding her face in the folds.

You scanned the people nearby, trying to make out someone who belonged to the child.

"Where are your mom and dad?"

"Kobe."

Well, that might present a problem. This was Osaka.

"Did you come with friends?"

The little girl shook her head at this absurd idea.

"No, my uncle."

"Kaidaaa!"

A young man, visibly distressed, jogged along the path, craning his neck left and right, calling the name over and over.

The girl, obviously “Kaidaaa”, giggled again and hid around the corner of the cart, her bright blue sneakers still very visible.

You waved the young man over, pointing subtly to the mischief maker.

When he reached you, he doubled over, catching his breath and with the most relieved expression you had ever seen on a person he just said, "Ya take Hide and Seek way too seriously."

"Yer just real bad at playin‘.", the little girl said matter of factly and with an added shrug bit into a steaming red bean bun the cart lady must have snuck to her. You pressed your lips together to stop yourself from laughing at the man's offended look.

“I really like your tutu.“, you said to make conversation and Kaida smoothed it out proudly.

“It‘s for my birthday.“

“Oh, it‘s your birthday?“

“No.“ Wow, this girl gave anyone a run for their money. “My birthday was last week, but uncle couldn‘t be there so we celebrate this weekend.“

“Ah, I see. That‘s very nice of him.“ The guy gave you a half smile, obviously very satisfied with himself.

“He got me a scooter!“, she told you excitedly, “And the wheels glow in the dark!“

“That‘s so cool!“

“Well, I wanted to getcha a pony“, her uncle said, picking his niece up like a cat and dangling her in front of him, feet swinging like a pendulum while she still nibbled on the rest of her dorayaki, “but yer dad said something about that being impractical.“

Uncle and niece made a tsk sound and said “so lame“ in unison. It was obviously a thing between the two of them.

“How many did you want, dearie?“, the elderly lady asked while she generously spread the thick dark red paste between two fluffy pancakes.

“Five, please.“, you said, then quickly raised your hands and added, “They‘re not all for me! I‘m having some friends over later.“

The guy set down his niece. “Too bad.“, he said with that half smirk again, “I was gonna ask if ya wanted to join us for some ice cream.“

You felt your heart do a little flip at the prospect. You couldn‘t remember the last time you got flirted with, let alone by anyone nearly as handsome as him.

When the lady handed you the paperbag with the pastries the guy said, “Ya think, I could get yer number? We could get some ice cream tomorrow?“

His niece got very bouncy at the idea and put her hands together in a plea, giving you the biggest puppy dog eyes.

“Please excuse her.“, the guy said, putting his large hand on her face and pushing her gently behind him which she found hilarious, “She doesn‘t get fed anything otherwise.“

You laughed and after a second thought nodded. Once you put your number into his phone and paid the lady, you waved goodbye to the both of them, grinning from ear to ear.

As you walked off you heard her ask, “Did I do good?“ and when you turned around he quickly swooped her up around the middle and carried her away as if she didn‘t weigh more than a pillow, calling over his shoulder, “I‘ll call ya later, byeeee!“

________________________

What actually happened:

“How come ya don‘t have a wife?“, Kaida asked as she linked a dandelion with a daisy, “Is it because yer hair looks funny?“

Atsumu stopped in the middle of braiding her ponytail.

“Oi, yer on real thin ice, pipsqueak.“, he said threateningly, his desired effect somewhat diminished a second later by the flower crown she placed on his “funny lookin‘ hair“.

She crawled into his lap and posed for a silly selfie he immediately uploaded to his socials, joining the many - many - previous pictures just like this one.

Putting his phone away again he snuggled her closer and together they relaxed in the shade of a tree for a while. Then he suddenly perked up.

He watched you walk past them and get in line at a street cart a little further down the path.

This was perfect! For weeks he had been trying to get your attention! But no matter how cool and stoic he looked while stretching for his morning runs or how often he exposed his abs when pretending to wipe sweat off his face after a jog, you never noticed him. To be fair, he had gotten a bunch of other admirers this way but he had his eyes set on you so what did he care?

A plan quickly formed in his mind.

“Hey, Kai. Do me a favor?“

“No.“, she mumbled, curling up against his chest.

“Come on. Whaddaya want? Name yer price.“

“Can we order pizza for dinner?“

“I was gonna cook for ya, princess.“, he said with a definite pout in his voice.

“That‘s why I want pizza…“, Kai noted coldly.

He sighed. “Fine. Pizza.“

“And fries!“

“And fries.“, he muttered absently. Atsumu didn‘t take his eyes off you, all but biting his lips at how good your curves looked in those jeans. What he wouldn‘t give to put his head on your soft pudgy tummy after a long hard practice.

“Throw in some gummibears and ya‘ve got yerself a deal.“

They shook on it and Atsumu detailed his plan. She listened excitedly.

____________________________________________

> once you’re dating Atsumu slips Kaida snacks and money whenever she calls you “aunt”

> Osamu tells the story of the dorayaki cart at every family gathering and eventually at your wedding when he is making his toast as the best man

> Atsumu asked Kaida 100% to help him with his proposal

> Kaida is the flower girl at the wedding

> later she will loudly sigh how she so wishes for a little cousin since her parents don’t plan on giving her a sibling

(Atsumu: “YES, OF COURSE WE’LL GET YOU A COUSIN!”, you: “We’ll think about it.”, your husband: “So it’s a yes.”, You, laughing: “I’m thinking, Tsumu!”)

> he’ll “borrow” Kai even more often from then on to show you what a great dad he would be and eventually Kai gets her wish when you and Atsumu walk in at Christmas holding your twins

a/n: thanks to @makkir0ll for spinning the post story headcanons out of control, so I just had to add some! 🌟

[evilphrog]

Watching Wheel of Time without reading the books: Episode 5

Wow. Damn. That was a powerful episode. I needed some time to recover before I could write this up. This one hit home for several reasons. Advance warning, this is 4 entire pages long on my google doc, and much less funny than previous ones.

So we start off with the burial scene, which for some reason these people bury their dead about 2 inches below ground level? Why???? Is there an in-universe reason for leaving corpses completely accessible to the local wildlife? Is this some sort of eco-friendly thing? Is the ground too frozen to dig further, even with magic? Are they afraid of digging too deep and accidentally awakening the Dark One? Is that why the Dark One had followers in the mining town? Is his power stronger in places closer to the core of the planet? Did the set designer just think it would look cool on camera? This really broke my immersion, but then I was brought right back in when the guys actually had visibly longer hair after a month of travel. Yes, thank you! But also, this bit of world building confirms that Rand isn’t capable of growing facial hair. Don’t worry, Rand. You’ll get there in time.

The way they could introduce a character halfway through last episode and then dedicate the majority of this episode to his emotional battle, and have me actually care and then be devastated when he died? What fucking brilliant acting, brilliant scriptwriting, brilliant direction, just wow wow wow. Kudos to everyone involved, because I think this is a super rare thing for any TV show. You could see Stepin’s pain reflected in Lan and Moiraine, who we already cared about. But that wasn’t the only reason I cared. He gave such a realistic portrayal of grief in the early days. Just the absolute, shell-shocked numbness, the monotone recitations of his memories that conveyed so much emotion. The way all the other warders came together to support him because he was currently living their worst fear. He was so lost and scared and hopeless. And on the outside, his friends see him start to reach out for support, and think “Hey, he’s getting better.” But it’s just an illusion because the reason he feels better is that he has made his decision.

“Love is usually a bad idea. Still, we allow it to happen, or this life would be intolerable.” And then he kills himself. That isn’t someone who thinks he will never be happy again. That is someone who understands his capacity for healing and moving on, and makes a deliberate choice not to, because he never wants to feel further away from the person he loves. He isn’t scared of losing someone again. He is scared of finding peace and comfort, and that doing so would be a base betrayal. He is choosing not to let himself love again, knowing that it will mean his life is no longer worth living. Grief and loss are done so badly so often in media, but this show really gets what it means to everyone left behind.

Moiraine got a lot more depth in this one. I said to my husband “Oh wow, so Moiraine has a sense of humor. Is that new, or is it just because this is the first time I’ve seen her not actively dying?” He said that was actually the part of the show that had been bothering him most. He thought Moiraine was too serious, and is now relieved to see that was an intentional choice to drive home how badly hurt she was. As a nonreader, that didn’t really translate for me. I just thought she was a doom and gloom type person until now. It’s good to see her a bit more comfortable, even in a setting where she says she is least comfortable. I loved her interactions with Nynaeve juxtaposed with the other Aes Sedai. She may act like she doesn’t pick up on subtext or human emotions at all, but that’s not true. She is just way better at one-on-one interactions than in groups. No wonder she ran away. Her scenes with JK Rowling were so hilarious because JK is just trying her best to give backhanded compliments and keep everything as subtextual threats, and then Moiraine just drops a lead brick through the entire conversation like “You hate men, and my new bff thinks you’re a loser.”

She told the green Aes Sedai who I’m deciding to call Polly (genuinely, Moiraine is the only one I’ve met so far with a unique name. The rest of them were named by someone filling a bag with Scrabble tiles that only contain vowels and the letters N, L, D, and R, and then just drawing at random. I swear at least 4 of them are named Allana.) that she read about a way to break a bond between an Aes Sedai and her warder. That seems like foreshadowing. She and Lan really care about each other. I think that, as much as she wants to spare Lan the pain of potentially losing her, she also wants to spare herself the pain of losing him. Bad news for you though, Moiraine. Breaking your psychic bond won’t break your love for each other. You are going to be devastated either way. As a side note, everyone is saying it’s rare for an Aes Sedai to die before her warder. How long is their life expectancy? Because I have not seen a single woman over 50 here. Do they age more slowly? Are all these ladies actually like a hundred years old? Is this conversation hinting that Moiraine is actually dying? Or is it just that she’s the reckless one of the group, and therefore voted Most Likely to Die Violently in the Aes Sedai yearbook? She and Lan are in tears at the end, and I am wondering if they know something about each other’s fate/health status.

Seeing Lan express his emotions more openly was fantastic. I don’t just mean the screaming at the end. I am not sure whether that was part of the ritual or not, so I’m not counting it. I mean him talking about how he feels, hugging his friends, crying in front of others, etc. He isn’t Mr. Stoic all the time. He just focuses on the task at hand when there is one.

Perrin and Egwene’s arc:

Damn, lots going on there. When Aram led Egwene and Perrin off to run I was scratching my head at how they could possibly not be noticed running through such sparse woods dressed in bright rainbows. Then they were immediately intercepted and I was like "ah, yep. Not a plot hole after all."

Perrin is finally starting to share his thoughts, rather than just asking more questions to get more data/context. And all it took was literal torture. I knew it was coming, but Perrin begging to die because he thinks he deserves it was so sad and hard to watch. I adore Egwene’s ability to absorb all that information in .05 seconds before coming to the response of “No, it wasn’t your fault, and I’m going to make sure you live long enough to believe that.” And Perrin thought she meant she was going to sacrifice herself, but she had a Plan.

I can really see now why Nynaeve thought Egwene would make a good Wisdom. She too gets absolutely feral when she needs to, but has the self-control to turn it on and off as the situation demands. Props to her for learning the lesson of strategic non-truthing right out of the gate.

Egwene: Look at me trying my best to channel this tiny little fireball. I’m so helpless and pathetic. Oh, and I also freed my very pissed off best friend who could easily kill you. Oh, but I am also going to go ahead and be the one to kill you because I know his conscience couldn't handle having to make that decision. And now I have successfully taken care of the problem and am going to take this moment to fall back into panic mode.

And then the Wolf Friends came to the rescue, and I may have scared my husband a bit by gleefully laughing and cheering every time a Whitecloak got brutally torn to shreds. "Haha that's what you fucking get! Go wolf friends!" I typically cry when anyone dies, including villains, so that can tell you a bit about my opinion on the Whitecloaks.

Perrin has clearly been observing and thinking about this mysterious connection to his wolf friends for quite some time, without communicating it. He ran from the wolves with Egwene earlier, but only because she wanted to run. He was still processing and thinking about what it all meant. When he first had his hidden leg wound and the wolves were being so friendly to him, I was a bit worried he was slowly turning into a trolloc. They seem like they could be the type of species that propagates similar to zombies. Get bitten by a trolloc, the trolloc poison turns you slowly into one unless you get treated. But this appears to be a wrong conclusion. The cut was maybe a red herring, and Wolf Friends are just a coincidence? Is he like Aquaman but for wolves? His eyes glow gold when he’s in distress, but it doesn’t seem to unlock any superhuman strength. He’s strong, but just regular “My day job is blacksmith” strong. Is that how he channels the One Power? By psychically shouting for help from all nearby wolves? Does this work on other animals also? Are wolves the only ones we see because he has a special connection to them specifically, or are they just in a place where wolves are the most common species?

Mat and Rand: Dumb and Dumber but with more gay subtext.

Mat may say he has been stealing to try and get home to his family, but I’m now 90% sure he is actually just starting a Cursed Objects collection. Items in the collection so far: demon knife, magic crystal, dog figurine, doll that definitely isn’t possessed. Hard to say which one is affecting him the most right now, but my money is on the knife. He pushed the little kid, and my initial reaction was “Hey, no, Mat would NEVER” but then I realized he is terrified of himself because he thinks he will black out and commit murders. Rand is the only one allowed near him, and I do not think it’s because he trusts himself to not hurt Rand. It’s because he trusts Rand to beat the shit out of him if he tries. His broken little voice as he asks Rand to tell him he wasn’t the murderer, and Rand emphatically assuring him that he saw the Fade kill the family when he in fact did NOT see any such thing just drives home how strong Rand’s loyalty and faith in his friends goes. He knows full well it could have been Mat, but just like Egwene and Perrin, he knows the only possible way Mat would have done it would be if he wasn’t in control of his own body.

When Mat makes Rand promise to kill him if he goes mad, I get the feeling Rand did not realize what he was agreeing to. I think Rand interpreted it as “Keep me sane and protect me from being caught” instead of “Murder me so I don’t end up as a sad caricature of all my worst traits.”

Rand meeting the ogier person, fantastic bit of levity that was desperately needed. Loial reminds me of my grandparents explaining American culture to us. He’s very passionate and excited about learning a new culture, but he’s also a bit condescending, and that leads to gaps in knowledge that have hilarious results. “Oh, you are missing a girl from the Two Rivers? I saw this girl with a braid, she is obviously who you’re looking for!” This is now the second hint at Rand being an Aiel, so I’m wondering about some things. We don’t know too much about his parents at this point.

The reunion with Nynaeve and the boys was so beautiful. Rand is so overjoyed and relieved, and I think a large part of that is “Oh thank the Light, finally there’s an adultier adult. Nynaeve can handle this!” He is not someone who is used to keeping secrets, or being the responsible one in the friend group. Props to him for doing the best he could, and even more props to him for asking for help the second he found someone he could trust.

Watching Nynaeve interact with these kids she grew up with versus the Aes Sedai and the warders is really beautiful. She slips right into Mom Friend mode and provides comfort and support. I am wondering how old she was when Egwene was sick. She tells the story as though she was an adult at the time, but she was 15 tops, maybe younger if she or someone else was lying about her actual age like I suspect. Must have been horrifying for her to watch a close friend nearly die, and I wonder if she unconsciously used her healing super powers for the first time then. Or maybe even consciously. Maybe she knew all along she had that much capability, but either didn’t know how to access it, or was warned not to ever use it because of the risk of burning out or something. Rewatching the end of episode 4, her facial expressions look less like “Holy cow I can’t believe I did this” and more “Oh shit, now things are going to suck forever.”

I adore the way this show portrays healthy platonic relationships. This entire culture seems to be very tactile with displays of affection. Holding hands, hugging, etc. It’s all just the way people show they care. That makes a lot of sense for a world where bisexuality and polyamory are so common. There would be less rigid distinctions between types of affection. Lan and Moiraine aren’t necessarily oddballs for this. Nynaeve and Rand can hold hands. Egwene can hang off Perrin’s arm. Rand and Mat can snuggle at night. Sometimes these are romantic, sometimes they aren’t. It depends on the context. Everything is so structured around community bonds and mutual aid. Men express their feelings and nobody mocks them for it. People ask for help when they need it, and actually expect to receive it because they have consistently received help in the past. It’s basically a giant middle finger to self-sufficiency. I love to see it. I want to live in this world.

Other episode reviews

[chelleztjs18]

Lost in Assistance - Ch. 10

Elizabeth Olsen x Fem!Reader.

GIF: I do not own this GIF.

Summary: Y/n is a professional celebrity's personal assistant in Hollywood got hired with two years contract to be the assistant of the famous and talented Elizabeth Olsen / Lizzie by her manager. Both Y/n and Lizzie hate each other since day one, and they have mutual friend. One is as stubborn as the other, will Y/n stay when Lizzie gives attitudes and tries her best to make her quit before the contract ends?

Warning: fluff, angst, smut (in future chapters), swearing words ( +18 only)

I do not own any pictures, name, brand, song titles or anything that I used in this story.

All chapters

The three of you are finally back at the hotel. As soon as you got there, you went to your room to get ready. So is Lizzie in hers. When you are ready, you go right away to the girls’ room. You knocked on the door, and for some reason you slightly wish that Lizzie’s face would slowly show up as the door is opening but like usual it was Aubrey’s smile the first thing you see. “Hey.” Aubrey moves to the side as she opens the door wider for you to come in. “Hey Aubrey.” You unconsciously smiled in slight disappointment.

You do not mind at all that it's always Aubrey who opens the door for you. She is your good friend, really. You just start to think why is it always Aubrey? Is it just a coincidence or not really? Does she hate you so much that she is avoiding you at all cost? Oh well, why does it matter anyway? Why did you wish it was Lizzie who opens the door for you just now? There’s nothing special to it. The hatred is mutual. You were probably just concerned about her anyway after seeing her cry, you think it’s just a normal nice gesture if you are wondering how she was doing.  but again it’s none of your business. Your mind juggling all of those thoughts in such a short time triggers a quick rush in your mind.

Your eyes secretly look for Lizzie. You try to do it in the most subtle way so Aubrey won’t notice while both of you walk to the living room and sit down on the couch. “She is inside, still getting ready, Y/n.” Aubrey told you as if she can read your mind. “Huh?” Surprised with her statement just now, you got caught off guard and that was all you can say. You curse yourself in your mind for being too obvious.

“I know those eyes,y/n. You can’t lie to me. Your eyes’ movement. You were searching for her.” Aubrey teased with a knowing smile. “No, I wasn’t!” You denied instantly. “Yes you were, Y/n.” She convinced you in a playful tone. “No,I wasn’t!” You shout in a whisper. You feel warm on your cheeks and ears. “Okay, y/n. You were not.” She agreed in a playful sarcasm. “Tell that to your blushing cheeks.” She mumbles under her breath and rolls her eyes at the same time.

“What Aubrey?” You asked. “Oh nothing.” She smiled.

Aubrey slouch on the couch yet you sit next to her awkwardly straight up with your hands keep tapping your knees like they are a set of percussion. “So, how is she doing? Do you think she already feels better?” Your voice is almost like a whisper when you ask her as you don’t want Lizzie to hear it.

“Hmm. Care much, are you Ms. Y/L/N?” Once again, She always finds the chance to tease you about Lizzie. “Seriously? I asked just because that’s the right thing to do as a human being towards another.” You lifted an eyebrow as you tackled her tease once more. “You know what? Just forget I asked.” You added with a discomfort tone.

Aubrey giggled. “Geez, I was just joking. I think she’s feeling better but she still hates you.” She answered as she tried to hold a laugh teasing you. “Well, that, I don’t need to ask you, I already know. The whole world knows how much she hates me.” You shook your head. She giggles.

“So you are coming with us right?” You asked the girl next to you. “Nuh-uh. I’m not coming. I need to take a break from both of you and your arguments.” the brunette answers while her eyes locked on the TV. “Ouch. Are we that annoying?” You put your hand on your chest and act like you are hurt by what she said. “You guys are not annoying, I love both of you. You guys are just too funny for me to watch but I can’t say anything yet because both of you are too stubborn to listen to me and that’s annoying.” She said nonchalantly with a small smirk.

“What’s too funny about it? And what can’t you say yet? Tell me.” You jokingly push her shoulder. “Oh nothing. I have my own theory, you’ll know it next time.” She patched a meaningful smile. “Oh yeah? Probably a stupid theory?” You jokingly make fun of her. “Whatever y/n.” She giggles.

“Hey, y/n. I just want to say sorry. Honestly, I was the one who gave Lizzie the idea of giving you hell when you are working with her but I didn’t know it was you until she told me your name. Please don’t hate me.” Aubrey’s face showed remorse. “So, you are the one that makes my life a hell? Wow Aubrey. Thanks.” You said it in a playful tone.

“So you are not mad at me?” Aubrey looks relieved. “Nah,it’s okay. I figured anyway. You are forgiven.” You winked at her. “Gosh, y/n I thought you were serious.” She giggles. 

Lizzie comes out to the living room. “What are you giggling about Aubrey?” Then she notices you are there. “Oh.” That was all she said before she went back into the bedroom. A few minutes later, you notice that both of you need to leave not to be late. “Ms. Olsen, we have to go now. We can’t be late.” You told her from the living room. “Gosh y/n, Okay! Okay!.” She let out a harsh breath as she came out. “Bye Aubrey, I’ll see you later.” Lizzie yells as she walks out the suite room. You stand up, wave goodbye at Aubrey, and follow her .

_____

Both sitting on each side of the back seat, the car ride without Aubrey was silent. Just pure silence but you both taking turns on getting caught stealing glances at each other. You really don’t know why you have the urge to ask how she is doing while you know she for sure is not comfortable if you ask her that. You are just her assistant and her personal life is definitely none of your business.  Luckily, you both finally arrived at the location.

The photoshoot starts right away after her make up and wardrobe is ready. Everything is going well with the photoshoot until the last session with the last wardrobe, Sophie who is incharge of makeup and wardrobe had to leave early for a family emergency. Thank goodness, it is the last session, Lizzie just has to change to the last dress, do some shots and they can call it a day. Sophie asked if you can help with the last dress as she showed you which one and said you can just hang the dress once Lizzie’s done and you have no problem with it.

You wait for Lizzie outside the changing room to make sure everything is okay. You heard her softly grunts and curse under her breath. “Ms. Olsen, are you okay?” You heard other soft grunts. “I’m okay. Can you call Sophie please?” Lizzie asked, not knowing that the french lady already left. “Um, she left. She’s not here. Do you need help?”

“What do you mean she left?” She asked in surprise and confusion. “Yeah, she has a family emergency.” You explained. “I need help with the dress.” She asked from the other side of the wall. “I can help you.”

“No, not you. Is there somebody else who can help me?” She asked in a slightly irritated tone. “Yes, there’s Stefan, Andre, Antoine, Oh and there’s Claude.” You named all the crews that’s there who happen to be all males. “I meant a female one, y/n.” She opened the door a little, peek through the small open space and asked in annoyance.

“Yes, Her name is y/n. The only female here besides you.” You answered in a flat sarcastic tone, in emotionless face expression. “Like it or not, I'm the only one to help you.” You shrugged your shoulders. “Fine.” She groans and lets you in while trying her best to cover her body shyly. 

“Y/n, look the other way. Don't look over here.” She demanded. “How am I gonna help you if I have to look away?” You furrowed your eyebrows. She is in this red see-through sheer dress with some floral laces on some body parts that need to be covered with it but on the upper body part it looks like a beautiful corset. She turned around, her back facing you with the dress unzipped leaving her bareback exposed. You can see from the mirror in front of her, both of her hands crossed in front of her dress covered breast to hold the dress so as not to fall. She lowered her head, her face facing down.

The curve line from the back of her neck to her bareback with no bra straps whatsoever yet slightly covered with some strains of her long blonde hair was visible to you, the zipper slider body was way low on her lowest back, almost to her natural perfect size buttocks with the line of her g-string peeking out a little bit. Her peach-cream with a light hint of tanned skin colors look so flawless. Too perfect that no pores are visible.

You swallow your nervous feeling down, try hard to stop staring before she pulls her head up. No, you definitely don’t want her to notice that. “Okay,so you just need me to zip this up right?” You clear your throat. “Uh y-yeah.” You notice that she sounds nervous. 

“Okay. I’ll zip it up. Just pull the rest of your hair up so it won’t get caught in the zipper.” “She nodded, and her right hand grabbed the rest of her hair. The dress is slim-fitted, perfectly designed for her heavenly figure. You tried to pull the zip up by the pull tab but it was a little difficult to do, so you pulled it by the slider body. You tried to get a grip of it, your index finger is between her body and the dress. The tightness of the dress makes the tip of your finger slightly touch her skin. Both of you were surprised by it. You noticed her body jolted even in the very slightest movements when she felt the tip of your finger touch her skin.

You try to ignore the awkward feelings in the air, and you pull the zipper up slowly because you are afraid to ruin the dress. The room fell silent. The silence breaks down all barriers and makes you able to hear her breath hitch softly right when the tip of your finger lands on her bareskin slowly brushes her skin from the lowest part of her back slide up to the bottom of her back neck between her shoulders along her spine. Your eyes follow the zipper up and you lift your head higher to find her reflection in the mirror, her eyes closed and her lips slightly open as she slowly exhales.

“Uh-It’s all zipped up now.” You see her in the mirror standing there beautifully in the dress. She lifts up her head but as soon as her gaze locks with yours, she awkwardly turns her head sideways instantly. Meanwhile you are still hypnotized with the beauty in front of you.

“Take a picture. It will last longer.” Her voice brought you back to your consciousness. “I’m sorry?” You asked as you tried to recall what she was saying, unfortunately you didn’t pay attention at all. “I said, take a picture. It will last longer.” She repeated in annoyance.

“Oh. Uh, N-No, thank you. I’m good.” You answered quickly to hide your nervousness then you realized you picked the worst answer. You internally screamed at yourself for choosing such an answer but oh well, it is what it is. She was chagrined when you answered nonchalantly. She then walked out of the changing room and continued with the photoshoot.

As luck would have it, someone came to cover Sophie and help with the rest so both of you won’t have to deal with another insanely awkward encounter like earlier in the changing room.

______

Both of you are on the way back to the hotel now. After what happened in the changing room, it’s even more awkward to sit with her in the back seat even though there’s enough space in the middle space between you two. You tried to get busy to distract yourself, checking out work related things in your phone or notes and also answered a work call. You are talking french on the phone, Lizzie figured it’s from the magazine company. Lizzie took the chance that was laid in front of her to give yet another glance at you while you weren’t paying attention. 

Every single glance she threw seems to move up slowly. From your crossed leg then to your thigh and she noticed you are wearing ripped distressed jeans that show some part of your skin with your right hand on it. She glances again at your slender fingers with your polished short but not too short nails. She then realized she might glance too long (or more like staring). Mercifully, you still don’t notice what she’s doing.

She finally regains control of herself and stops herself from stealing glances at you then turns her head to watch the street of Paris through the window but that doesn’t stop her wondering what is happening with her at this moment. The more she wonders the more she gets irritated because she can’t figure it out.

Ch. 11

Taglist: @madamevirgo , @musicinourlips​ (Let me know if you want to be added in the tag list.)

[five-rivers]

Stars Aligned Chapter 3

(Please do not ask when the next chapter will be, I do not know. Links to AO3/FFN will be included in reblog.)

.

Here’s the thing. The very, very, stupid thing. Despite all his planning for this trip, Danny had no idea what his birth family looked like. Presumably, they also had no idea what he looked like.

As much as Danny would like to blame this on a wizardly aversion to the internet and photographs, he couldn’t. Danny could have sent them a picture of himself through the mail at any time. Even if wizard mail involved owls for some unexplained reason. But he didn’t. Because he was dumb.

And his equally dumb wizard family had also failed to send any pictures.

What were they thinking? Did they assume they’d somehow recognize each other on sight? Was that a wizard thing? Did they expect to spontaneously develop blood-relative telepathy? Was that a thing?

Danny did not know what to expect. He honestly didn’t know enough about wizards.

The end result was that Danny was standing in the middle of the wizarding world’s equivalent of an airport, which involved way more open fires than could possibly be safe, and people stepping into those open fires, which, again, could not possibly be safe. Of course, Danny had done it, as uncomfortable as it was for his core, and anything that used internal combustion was technically also using fire as a means of transportation, so Danny might have been a bit of a hypocrite, but still.

But, back to his dilemma. He, a dumb teenager, could be expected to do dumb, thoughtless things and make easily avoidable mistakes. It was basically a requirement. His actual family, who probably could have realized the error, didn’t want him to go and could be forgiven for any oversight. But dumb wizard birth family had at least one semi-competent adult in it. Supposedly.

Despite himself, his desire to kidnap his brother increased. Even though it would most likely cause an international incident.

He sighed. Maybe he should just follow the crowd and see if anyone stopped him. After all wizards might have magic blood-relative detection something or other.

He trudged along, pulling his trundle suitcase behind him. Silver lining was that whatever happened, he didn’t have to spend hours in a metal tube breathing recycled air. Silver lining. Silver lining. Silver—

Ah. Hm.

Danny blinked at his name written in large letters on a square of poster paper. His first and middle names, that is, and his bio-family’s last name.

He was highlytempted to turn around and go back home, but there was his twin, holding the card and looking fragile and hopeful, standing next to a tall woman with greying black hair.

He sighed. He was doing this, then.

“Hi,” he said, “you must be Draco. I’m Danny. And, uh, you must be Narcissa Malfoy?” He sort of held his hand out, feeling awkward.

“You can call me mother, Deneb,” said Narcissa. She sounded slightly tearful.

“It good to meet you, Deneb. Er. Danny.” Draco’s eyes flitted up to his mother.

“Yeah, um. Please don’t take this the wrong way, Mrs. Malfoy, but I don’t actually know you. And I’ve got a mom.”

“Yet,” interjected Draco. “You don’t know mother yet. That’s what this visit is about, right?”

“Right,” said Danny. “I’m… really looking forward to it.”

Draco looked relieved. “Excellent. Well, then, Looky can get your luggage and we can floo home.”

A very small, rather wizened person stepped out from behind Draco’s legs.

Okay. Danny had questions.

.

Danny did not particularly care for the answers to his questions.

.

Draco didn’t know why his twin had stopped talking to him before they’d even gotten home. He had, to some degree, expected rough spots. Merlin knew his family didn’t get along perfectly. But that didn’t mean he hadn’t hoped he and his twin would have a special connection. That they would mesh.

That… wasn’t happening. In fact, this was rather… awkward. Painful, almost.

He thought back to what they had been talking about. He didn’t think he’d said anything particularly objectionable. Had he hit on some chip on the shoulder those squibs had inculcated in him? Well, he thought, rather shamefacedly, he shouldn’t think of them like that. They hadn’t been the ones to abandon Deneb – Danny – just for not being immediately magical.

“Right,” he said, as Danny stepped (jumped, looking slightly disturbed) out of the fire. “Let me show you your room. We’ve had the house elves clean it out.”

Something on Danny’s face went dark, but he visibly controlled himself. “Thank you,” he said. “And, um, thank you, Looky. For your help.”

Draco frowned. He was confused, and he didn’t like feeling confused. He knew muggles didn’t have house elves, of course, but still. The concept wasn’t that hard to understand, was it? Although, it was possible Danny had never come across house elves at all, even second or third hand.

He supposed they might be unsettling if they were the first magical creature one came across. Ugh. He’d never tried to put himself in the position of someone learning about magic for the first time. Why would he? That was mudblood business, and he’d never associate with one of those.

But Danny was in that position, just about.

That meant it was Draco’s job to help Danny understand.

.

Danny was hoping he was misunderstanding something and that wizards did not, in fact, practice slavery.

This seemed to be a forlorn hope.

“So,” said Draco clasping his hands behind his back in the doorway of ‘Danny’s’ room, “er, house elves. You’ve probably not seen them before.”

“Can’t really say so, no.”

“Probably the first magical creatures you’ve seen.”

“Um,” said Danny. “Also no. I did have to go get a wand and stuff, and you’ve got to go to a wizard town to do that. I saw a bunch of different stuff there.” He didn’t really want to explain the ghosts, but… “Also, my parents study ghosts.”

“You mean, your adopted parents.”

“My parents, yes.”

“I didn’t know squibs could see ghosts. Well, they never seemed to have any trouble with it, so…” He shrugged.

“I… see.”

Danny doubted it, somehow. “But you were saying? About house elves?” Benefit of the doubt, he reminded himself.

“They’re servants,” said Draco. “Magically bound to serve certain families.”

“Magically bound,” repeated Danny, liking this less and less.

“Yes, it’s very old magic. An ancient agreement between our race and theirs, and the individual families and the house elves in question.”

“They can’t, like, opt out or anything?”

“That would defeat the point.”

“Okay,” said Danny. “So… Do they get, you know, paid at all?”

“Of course not,” said Draco.

Danny closed his eyes. “Okay. Um. Draco.” How to put this in a way that wouldn’t immediately alienate him. “Isn’t that slavery?”

“No,” said Draco, immediately. “They want to serve.”

“Well, they might say that to you, but human slaves used to say the same thing, because they’d get in trouble if they didn’t.”

Draco opened his mouth, closed it, and then said, confidently, “It isn’t like that.”

“Are you sure?”

“They aren’t human. They want to do this.”

Danny was no stranger to dealing with inhuman mindsets (but he most definitely did not have one himself). Even so…

“I think my point still stands. Like, are there very many house elves in this situation?”

“I don’t know,” said Draco. “I suppose so. Most families of substance and breeding have at least one.”

“Okay. Ah. Look. I’m not even sure where to start with this. Slavery is bad, right? We can agree on that.”

An annoyed expression passed over Draco’s face. “Yes, we can. That’s a given. But that’s for humans—"

“Great. Let’s start there. It’s bad for any human, right? Even, like, no-majs, or stupid humans, or—”

“Muggles,” corrected Draco. “No-maj is the American term.”

“When in Rome, I guess, sure. Muggles, then.”

“Yeah,” said Draco, uncomfortably crossing his arms.

Oh, Ancients, there was something there. Which Danny should have expected, given his birth father, whom he had yet to meet, threw him out of the house literally at birth.

Wizard supremacist weirdos corrupting his poor twin brother.

“Then what makes house elves so different?”

“Like I said, they want to do this. It’s in their nature. You wouldn’t, I don’t know, decide a dog was unhealthy because it barked instead of meowed, would you?” He spread his hands in frustration.

“I’ll give you that, but Looky looked actively afraid of you. And what was she even dressed in? That can’t be comfortable.”

“Giving them real clothes would free them – only if it’s their master, which in this case is Father.” He shifted slightly. “Except for Looky, I suppose, who is technicallymine. Great Aunt—Oh, you won’t know her. Why do you even care?”

“Why do I care about other people suffering? But otherthan that, what’s the difference between a house elf and a human servant? Like, would you treat a human servant like that? If you were a servant, wouldn’t you want to be treated with respect, even if being a servant was all you’d ever wanted?”

“But I’m not a servant.”

“But if you were. Can’t you just try to imagine it? A little? Please?”

“I… fine. But don’t bring this up to Mother and Father. They wouldn’t be pleased.”

“Okay. Deal.”

“Deal,” agreed Draco. “So. Do you like your room?”

Danny looked around. “Yeah, actually. It’s nice. Bit different from what I have at home, but, yeah. Good, um. Good floors. And wallpaper. And, um. Do all wizard paintings move like that?” He genuinely hadn’t noticed until just now, intent on the house elf problem.

“Yeah,” said Draco, seemingly relieved at the more normal topic. “It’s an enchantment on the canvas and paint.”

“Seems like it’d be hard to work with,” observed Danny.

“Well, the spell isn’t finished until after the actual painting part is done. At least, that’s my understanding.”

“I see, that would be easier.”

Silence.

“Would you like to see the peacocks?”

“Sure, why not?”

.

It took a bit of time to get bundled up in coats (cloaks in Draco’s case) because it was cold outside, but once they did…

“Wow. They’re albino peacocks.”

“Yes.”

“Wild.”

“No, they’re quite tame.”

“Oh, it’s, um, it’s an idiom. Like cool. Or wicked, I guess? Do British people use that?”

“I’ve heard some people use it. But Mother and Father are… not particularly enamored of slang.”

“Right,” said Danny. “I’ll remember that.”

They continued walking through the garden, towards the pond. Danny tried not to dwell on how much labor it would take to keep the grounds here so pristine.

“What do you do for fun in America?” asked Draco, out of nowhere.

Danny blinked. “Different people do different things,” he said. “Uh, a lot of things I usually do won’t work here because of the whole magic and electricity not getting along well thing. Have you ever heard about video games?”

“No,” said Draco. “Is it anything like quidditch?”

“I have only the loosest of understandings of what that is. It’s that broom sport, right? The one where you fly?”

Draco looked scandalized. “… Yes,” he said, finally. “I’m going to have to teach you how to use a broom before you have to go back to America.”

“The flying type of broom?” asked Danny, teasingly. Sure, he already could fly, but whatever.

“Merlin, yes.” Draco rolled his eyes. “I’m part of my house’s quidditch team. Letting you leave without some understanding of the rules would be a crime.”

“Draco, are you a jock?” asked Danny. “What is this world coming to. Related to a jock.” He shook his head dramatically. “I’ll never live it down.”

Draco nudged him slightly. “I’m not a meathead beater, at least,” he said. “I’m the team seeker.”

“I have no idea what that means.”

Draco’s smile slowly slid off his face.

“What?” said Danny.

“It’s just… you should. You should have grown up here, with family, as part of this world.”

“I did grow up with family,” said Danny. “Just not direct blood relatives. It kind of sucks that we didn’t get the chance to grow up together, but, like, I’m not really impressedby your parents so far.”

“Mother was very upset when she heard what Father did.”

“Sure, but she also kind of ditched us as soon as we got back here.”

“She has a delicate constitution? I’m sure she’s just trying to decide how to act… giving you space to make you feel more comfortable?”

Danny shrugged. “Well, we’ll see what happens. I’m going to be here until the end of the break, after all.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to go to Hogwarts, just for the rest of the school year? I’m sure they’ll be better than any alternative in America, when it comes to catching you up. Father has friends on the board of governors and the Ministry Department of Educational Oversight. It would be easy for you to go.”

“My friends are all back home,” said Danny, “and magic or not, what I really want to do with my life is become an astronaut, and I need ‘muggle’ grades and school for that.”

“A what now?”

“An astronaut?”

Surely, Draco had just misheard him.

“Is that some sort of muggle thing, then?”

“I- Do you not know what an astronaut is?” asked Danny, flabbergasted. “Really?”

Draco’s eyebrows were furrowed. “No, I don’t.”

“How about cosmonauts? Do you know about them?”

“No,” said Draco. “Is this related to the Argonauts, somehow? That Greek thing?”

“No,” said Danny. “I mean, the root word – But no. Not the same thing at all. How do I even… Do you know what outer space is?”

“Astronomy is a class at Hogwarts.”

“Not a very good one,” said Danny, “if you don’t know what an astronaut is. I think I’d die.”

“It’s a very good class. Hogwarts is the best wizarding school in Europe. And I know what outer space is. It’s the space up above the atmosphere, where the planets and stars are, and stuff.”

“Okay. I mean. I’m not trying to make you feel bad or anything,” reassured Danny, sensing that he had ruffled some feathers. “I’m just… an astronomy class should teach about astronauts. Astronauts are people who’ve been to space. Outer space.”

“That’s rubbish,” said Draco. “You can’t go to space.”

Danny refrained from informing Draco that he had, in fact, been to space. “Well, I want to go to space,” said Danny, “and other people have been there.”

“No one’s been to space,” said Draco. “Unless maybe someone apparated there by mistake, but how would you even do that?”

“I don’t know what apparating is,” said Danny. “Some kind of teleportation?”

Both of them stared at each other, each one probably at a loss for words regarding the other’s ignorance of things they themselves considered common knowledge.

“Yeah, more or less,” said Draco, finally. “But you can’t get to space. It’s impossible.”

“It isn’t. There are people up there right now,” said Danny. “On the International Space Station. Which is… it’s sort of a little house. In space.”

“There’s no air up there.”

“They bring the air with them.”

“Wouldn’t it explode?”

“They figured out how to make it so it wouldn’t explode. It’s very, um. Sturdy. Rigid. The space station is airtight.”

“And you’re saying that there are muggles in it. In space. Outer space. Right now.”

“As we speak. I mean, I guess some of them could be secret wizards, but considering your reaction, I’m doubting it.”

“Muggles. In space.”

“Yeah. We made it to the moon, too. But that was—”

“The moon?”

“Yeah?”

“In the sky?”

“That, uh.” He looked up, as if expecting to see the moon despite the thick cloud cover. “Yeah. The moon.”

“You’re telling me,” said Draco, in a hushed voice, “that there are muggles on the moon. Right now. As we speak.”

“No, that was before we were born,” said Danny.

“What.”

“Yeah, some people went, but it was really expensive, so they haven’t been back. Which I think is silly, because can you imagine the scientific advancements we could have made? The resources we could have brought back?”

“The moon.”

“You seem really hung up on this. Are you okay?”

“You- That- The moon. And muggles in space?”

“Yeah,” said Danny. He rubbed the back of his neck. “So, you see why I need to go back. I’m sure Hogwarts is great and all, but I really want to be an astronaut.”

“Can you see them through a telescope?”

“See what?”

“The muggles in space.”

“On a clear night, sure, if you know where to look.” Before the Accident (the Big One, the Unaliving, the Green Flash, the Knockoff Origin Story), Danny usually checked the internet for the times the ISS passed overhead. But he’d developed a ghost power that gave him a pretty good sense of where anything in the sky was, so long as he concentrated for a few minutes. “It orbits the Earth every ninety minutes or so, although it doesn’t always catch the light enough to see properly. You can actually see a lot of satellites.”

“There are more of these things?” hissed Draco.

“Not with people on them.”

“I’m getting my telescope,” declared Draco, starting to stride back to the house.

“We won’t be able to see anything now,” said Danny.

“It’s enchanted to see through cloud cover and ignore non-reflected sunlight. It’s top of the line.”

Danny had never wanted a physical object so much in his entire life.

“What? What? Magic can do that?”

[pagesoflauren]

Money’s Worth - You’re Mine

soft husband!Ransom Drysdale x reader

Summary: Starting 2021 answering the question I got asked the most in 2020: “How will the reader react to learning that Ransom hooked up with someone when she was away for Christmas?”

A/N: When y’all filled out this poll, there was a 100% yes answer for a spinoff for The Highest Bidder. Well, here it is: Money’s Worth. In which Ransom is getting $50,000+ worth of experiences with his wife and child(ren). If you have more ideas, don’t be shy, drop ‘em in my ask box! I’ll update this series from time to time. 

If you were tagged in Highest Bidder, I automatically tagged you in this. If you’d like to be removed, let me know! My feelings won’t be hurt, I promise ❤️

Also, I’m sorry if your name is Amanda 🥴

Warnings: smut, swearing, jealousy, angst, daddy!kink

The Highest Bidder Masterlist

Money’s Worth Masterlist

Main Masterlist

“Darling, can you go over to the next aisle and get a couple boxes of pasta?” 

Ransom nods, even though you’re too engrossed in looking at the differences between chickpea-based and gluten-based pasta. 

His son is awake, wide eyes looking around at brightly colored food packages and fluorescent lights with a pacifier in his mouth. From what Ransom recalls of tales from when he was a baby, Harlan Jr. is more like you. Quietly observing, not kicking up too much of a fuss. 

Pinching the baby’s nose gently and coaxing a small giggle out of him, Ransom ventures over to the next aisle to find the pasta you like. 

A sharp gasp and an obnoxious “oh my God,” draws his attention. When he looks up and finds the source of the voice, his stomach gurgles with dread and annoyance. 

“All the times I’ve been here, I’ve never seen you,” she says. “What are you up to? Disappointing more girls in bed?”

Ransom weighs his options in his head. He could dig low, reminding her of all the times she was actually begging for him, or he could take the high ground, grab the pasta, and ignore her. 

He does the latter, though makes the mistake of using his left hand to do so.

“Is that a wedding band?” she scoffs. 

“Yeah, it is--” 

“Oh, Ransom, don’t get that one, we want the bigger noodles.” 

Shutting his eyes, Ransom shouts all the swear words he can think of in his mind. This is such bad timing! 

“No fucking way,” Rebecca--or is it Veronica?--scoffs. 

“Hi,” Ransom sees you give a sickeningly sweet smile and he wants to disappear into the shelves. “I’m sorry, I don’t recall ever meeting you.” 

“I’m Amanda.” 

Wow. Completely different name than the ones his mind was supplying. 

“Your husband and I know each other pretty well.” 

He can see the gears turning in your head, analyzing the situation. 

“Quite frankly, I’m not surprised about the little one. I’m sure he did the same thing to you as he did to me, just finished and decided he was done without fully getting the job done!”

You’re visibly taken aback. “I’m sorry?” 

“Oh, we just hooked up casually like, two years ago? I can’t really remember, it was during Christmas though. Hadn’t heard from him in a while and he mentioned being lonely and I figured ‘Why not?’”

“Two years ago?” you echo, looking at her, then at Ransom. 

“It was casual, I left right after,” he points out, 

“Oh, were you two together then? I’m so sorry--”

“You know what, Veronica, just get your stupid pasta or rice or whatever the fuck you’re here for and leave me and my wife in peace! Don’t you have better shit to do?!”

“It’s Amanda.”

“I don’t care.” 

Rolling her eyes, she leaves, turning on her heel and exiting the aisle. 

Ransom turns back to you and doesn’t like the thoughtful look on your face. You don’t look at him or Harlan, just at the contents in your cart. 

“Hey, don’t let whatever she said get to you. You know I love you,” he reaches for you, fingertip just grazing your cheek and you cringe away from him. 

“Just put the pasta in the cart and let’s go.” 

You’ve snapped at him before to remind him to stop completely at intersections or double check the temperature of Harlan’s bottle. You’ve never snapped at him that way, in irritation as if you can’t stand him. 

He recoils, drawing his touch away from you. “Well, just...let me get the right one.” 

“Ransom,” you deadpan, “I wanna go home. Just put the pasta in the cart and let’s. go.” 

He does as you say, carefully placing the boxes atop the other items. 

You don’t speak to him as you check out and sit in the backseat with Harlan to make sure he’s okay as he drives the three of you home. His little eyelids drop closed, completely calm despite the palpable tension between the two of you. 

Once at home, Ransom takes care of the groceries while you bring Harlan upstairs to his crib so he can continue to sleep. Just as you get him settled, you hear your husband pipe up. 

“So, can we talk about what happened at the grocery store?”

You sigh, straightening up. You cross your arms as you turn to face him. “When was the last time you saw her?” 

“When you were on winter break a few months after you had just moved in.” 

You bite the inside of your cheek, a whirlpool of emotions spinning around in your chest. 

You’re angry and hurt, but you don’t know why. The two of you were just starting your sugar arrangement and it wasn’t anything deeper than that. There weren’t any feelings on your end until the following spring. 

“It wasn’t anything, it was just some hook up. She was just being a bitch because I left--”

“I don’t want to hear about it,” you interrupt him. 

You had long reconciled Ransom’s past and never held it against him. But you just cannot pin the exact reason why this revelation bothers you. 

“Look, I’m still figuring out things going on in my head. And I don’t really...I don’t really want to see you right now.” 

“I don’t understand why this is such a big deal,” he argues, “We weren’t anything. We only became a thing in July.” 

“Really?” you wonder. You weren’t going to bring this up, but it feels fair in order to get him to understand your perspective. “I had a crush on someone from my cohort.” You watch his expression shift from annoyed to surprised. “I kissed him once. In November, after I moved in with you. But it didn’t work out because I was living with you, so we decided to not do anything about it.” 

You can see the visible tinge of red on his neck. “Are you saying that just to get at me?”

“It’s the truth,” you say. “Does it bother you?” 

You can see him setting his jaw as he takes in the information. 

“But we weren’t anything, right?” you remind him of the words he spoke just minutes before. 

Ransom doesn’t say anything. He turns away and walks down the hall. You hear him going down the stairs and then the door to his office slams. 

You check on Harlan, he’s still sound asleep. Slightly relieved, you move into your bedroom and sit on the mattress. 

Ransom lets out a long-winded groan when he deletes the sentence he’s been working on for the fifty-second time in twenty minutes. 

He feels odd knowing you liked someone when you were living with him, just as the seeds of his feelings were being planted. He’s taken pride in the fact that he was the only one to have you, but turns out your heart was a better prize and that wasn’t his completely. 

He doesn’t doubt you love him and he’s certain he never has to worry about sharing you ever again, but it still bothers him. 

He scrubs his hands over his face and rubs the back of his neck. 

He remembers fights between his parents never being resolved, which resulted in their marriage slowly disintegrating into a financial arrangement than a romantic relationship. 

He knows you late at night when you’re both hungry; knows you pregnant and crying over hermit crabs while watching nature documentaries; knows you between his arms and keeping him warm, making him feel safe and loved when he felt he didn’t deserve it. He doesn’t want this to turn into anything close to the example of marriage he saw growing up. 

Shutting his laptop, he gets up and marches to the door. When he yanks it open, you’re standing there. 

“What are you doing?” 

You look caught, as if you’re somewhere you’re not supposed to be. “I...I wanted to talk. Unless you don’t want to.”

You begin to leave and he grabs your arm. “No, let’s talk.” 

Stepping into the room feels reminiscent of walking into his office at the publishing house for the first time. You’re not comfortable entering this territory. 

Hugging your arms around your middle, making yourself look as small as you feel, you decide to just be forward. Your words come out sheepishly, “I just...I didn’t like knowing the moment I was gone, you went out and replaced me. Even if we didn’t have an exclusive label. And, I just thought, like, I realize it doesn’t matter because we’re married. And like you said, I know you love me. But, I don’t know. Just didn’t sit right with me.” 

Ransom sighs, shaking his head. “I wasn’t replacing you or anything like that. I...I saw a change in myself from just having you with me for a few months. But I thought you’d leave as soon as you got the opportunity,” he uses a large sweeping gesture as if he’s picturing you leaving all over again. “And I’d…” he hesitates, hand up by his head before his arm goes slack, “be back to my shitty normal self.” 

It’s different now with the explanation, and you wish you had been in the mindset to listen to him earlier instead of hurt him.

“And I get it. Knowing you had a crush on some guy doesn’t sit right with me either. I just,” he looks up and distantly, “I wonder what he had. What made you like him but then you were fine with nothing happening and then you started liking me?” 

“Neither of us were ready for a relationship at the time. We had just started and our first semester was crazy.” You take your turn to explain. “And feelings just come and go sometimes. I saw him again in February and it just...wasn’t there.” 

He takes in your strikingly simpler explanation, understanding your reference to fleeting feelings that are gone almost as quickly as they appear. 

“I’m sorry, Ransom. I shouldn’t have said anything about that. It was so stupid and it really didn’t mean anything--”

“Neither did Amanda.” 

“I…” you trail off, not knowing what to say. 

“I wasn’t being very understanding earlier when you first said it bothered you. You were just trying to get me to know your side of things.” 

“Doesn’t make it right,” you counter. “I really am so sorry.” 

Ransom smiles and laughs to himself. He still doesn’t know how to accept an apology. He sighs, reaching for you. “How long do you think junior will be asleep?” 

“Could be an hour, maybe two,” you answer as he draws you closer with a hand around your waist. 

“Think that’s plenty of time for us to make it up to each other.”

“Technically I need to make it up to you,” you correct him as you take his hand. “And I know how I want to.” 

You lead him back around his desk, ushering him to sit in his chair. It’s large with dark blue velvet, providing enough room for you too and straddle his lap. 

You dive for his mouth, capturing his lips in a heated kiss. 

His left hand comes to cradle your jaw, keeping your lips locked onto his, while his right hand drifts down your back to cup your bottom. 

You grind your core against his, smiling when you feel his hips jut up to yours. Tilting your head you give a tentative lick into his mouth. He opens up, bringing his tongue in to play with yours. 

It reminds you of how it was when it started; being shy  and letting him take the lead. You haven’t fallen into this cloudy headspace in a long time, but it feels so good that when you pull back and gasp the word “daddy,” it feels so natural. 

Ransom, on the other hand, is taken aback. He’s gotten used to you calling him “darling” or other terms of endearment. Hearing you call him that awakens something that had long gone into hibernation; and he wasn’t sure if it would ever see the light of day again. 

But like you, he slips into the space, creating a firm grip on your ass as a smirk appears on his face. 

“Wanna call me ‘daddy,’ baby? Hm?” he taunts. Your eyes are wide and doey, feigning innocence when he knows you’re far from it now. “Well, guess we can do that. We’ll make up for that night I wasted on someone else.” 

He watches your brows furrow and eyes squint in anger. Your hands slide into his hair, fingers tightening in the tresses. It creates a pull on his scalp, something he enjoys. “You’re mine, daddy,” you whisper just before your lips are on his again, kissing him harder than before, certain to bruise. 

You pull away and lean down to nip at his neck, hands moving to the waistband of his pants. You pop the button and undo the zipper unceremoniously. 

You remove yourself from his lap only to kneel between his legs on the carpet, pulling his jeans down to his knees. His boxers are quick to follow, revealing his hardening member. You grasp it, giving it a few squeezes and tugs the way you know he likes, watching his head loll back against the back of his chair. 

“This is mine, too,” you say. 

“Yeah?” he pants, looking down at you. A hand grazes through your hair, stopping at the back of your head. “My cock only belongs to you?” 

You nod, working him with more determination. 

“Then take it, baby.” 

You practically lunge for it, leaning forward to take him into your mouth, lips spreading to accommodate his girth. 

You’re satisfied with the sound Ransom makes, something between pained and blissful. He eggs you on, gathering your hair into a ponytail secured with his hand as he guides you to take more and withdraw in rhythm. 

You want him to finish in your mouth, but he pulls you off him and makes to lift you back onto his lap. You stand, already shimmying out of your bottoms. 

Straddling him again, you focus your attention down to poise yourself just above the head of him. 

He takes your chin between his thumb and forefinger and makes you look at him before crashing his lips on yours once more. 

“Take what’s yours, baby. It’ll always be yours,” he whispers. 

You sink down, crying out at the feeling of him within you. The doctor had just given you the green light to resume sex as normal after Harlan’s birth weeks ago, but you haven’t been able to find a lot of time to tangle with each other without your baby or Ransom’s book needing attention. 

Ransom appears to have an equally hazy feeling, looking at you with heavy-lidded eyes. You straighten up slightly until just the tip of him is in and lower yourself again. 

It’s so much for the both of you that his hands come to your waist and he guides your pace. “Slow,” he instructs you. 

You obey, finding a steady pattern as you build a climax for the both of you. Coaxing your hips the slightest bit forward, Ransom sinks all the way to reach that spot within you that makes you see stars. 

“Like that, baby?” he taunts you again, moving your hips up and down his length. “Tell daddy.” 

“Yes,” you gasp, “Just like that, daddy.” 

He works you until you’re nearing your end, tightening and pulsing around him to bring on his orgasm as well. Just as you’re about to fall over the edge, he taps below your eyes, a silent request for you to look at him. 

Your eyes meet his and he verbalizes exactly what he’s thinking. “I’m yours,” he pants, “I’m yours, my baby, my sunshine.” You fall forward and kiss him, letting him swallow your moans and whines. “Come for me, let me show you.” 

Your body weakens in his grasp, leaning onto him for support. Your movements falter and he makes up for them, jutting his hips up until he’s finishing within you. 

You gasp at the warmth that blooms in your stomach, feeling like gravity is failing but it’s okay; Ransom’s holding onto you, keeping you grounded. 

He holds you tightly as you breathe heavily, trying to recover your strength. You sigh and your arms wrap around his shoulders. You hear him chuckle and lean back. 

“We should’ve thought this through better,” he smiles, “We gotta get upstairs and clean up.” 

You moan your disappointment. “M’tired. Can’t we just stay here a bit?” 

Moving your hair out of your face, he kisses your exposed forehead. “Okay, sunshine,” he agrees. “Just a few minutes.” 

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[angel-riki]

Dazed & Dreaming {Ch. 3 }

summary: Y/N's life was always quite normal, some may even consider it boring. However, Y/N enjoyed her simple life and the little pleasures it brought. Unfortunately, that all changed the day she found out her best friend's biggest secret. Her discovery leads her down a rabbit hole of a new and confusing world she never knew existed. She must now navigate this new life filled with love, fear, and the supernatural. What awaits her down this path?

pairing: enhypen x reader (vampire au)

warnings: light swearing

word count: 1,658

chapters: [Ch.1] [Ch.2] [Ch.4]

~~~~~~~~~~

God, the weekend can't come soon enough. You sighed as you strolled through the hall to go grab the books for your next class. As you approached your locker, you noticed Heeseung was there waiting for you. He was hard to miss since he towered over all of the lockers. Has he always been this tall? Your heart fluttered and you couldn't keep from smiling. He waved at you as you got closer.

"Hey, Y/N!" he said cheerfully.

"Hello," you replied, "What are you doing here? Not that I mind or anything!" You tried not to sound rude, you were just confused. Your schedules were completely different and his locker was in an entirely different wing than yours. Usually, you only saw each other at lunch.

"I just thought I'd come see you...I missed you," he admitted.

You were not ready for that answer. It was like he was trying to make you fall in love with him. Your face was burning up, you probably looked ridiculous.

"Oh, that's really sweet. I missed you too," you returned his kindness with a giggle.

Now, it was his turn to blush. He looked away from you, trying to contain his smile. It seemed like you had the same effect on him that he had on you.

Heeseung ended up walking you to your next class, chatting on the way. You were sad you only got to talk for a few minutes, but you'd see him soon since lunch was right after.

You set your stuff down at your desk and pulled out your books. As everyone settled into class, your teacher announced that today was going to be a work day. You were relieved because you had a couple of assignments you desperately needed to catch up on. You cracked your knuckles before getting to work. You managed to focus surprisingly well, considering Heeseung was taking up 90% of your thoughts. You ended up getting completely caught up with all of your assignments before the bell rang. Feeling accomplished, you packed up your books and headed to the cafeteria.

*****

You looked around for Jake and Heeseung like usual, tray in hand. You spotted them sitting with three other boys that you didn't recognize. Two of them were blonde and the other had black hair. Maybe they're those other boys that Jake and Heeseung talked about, you thought while heading to their table. Jake looked up from their conversation and noticed you approaching them.

"Hey, Y/N!" He smiled wide while motioning for you to sit next to him. The rest of the boys looked up and noticed you as well. You waved at them all, a bit intimidated. As you joined them, Jake introduced you all. "Everyone, this is Y/N. Y/N, this is Sunoo, Jungwon, and Niki," he explained. You smiled at the new faces,

"Hello, nice to meet you all," you said with a gentle smile. Wow, they're all so cute, you thought. Were all of Jakes friends this good looking? The three boys stared back at you in awe.

"Wow, you're Y/N? Jake has told us so much about you!" Sunoo chimed in excitedly. He really reminded you of a puppy.

"Yeah, he talks about you a lot," Niki admitted.

"It's nice to finally meet you!" Jungwon added with kind eyes.

You became less tense as you heard their words. You were touched, Jake really talks about me that much? You looked over at him and you noticed his cheeks were dusted pink. Why does he seem embarrassed? You decided not to think into it too much as the boys carried on their conversation.

"Where's Sunghoon? Shouldn't he be here by now?" Niki asked, confused.

"He had lunch detention so he'll probably get here pretty late, if at all," Jake said. They all chuckled. None of them looked surprised, a few even rolled their eyes. This seemed to be a common occurrence.

Everyone continued on talking and eating for a few minutes before the boys suddenly perked up and began waving at someone. You turned around to see who they were waving at.

Oh no.

It was that strange boy you had run into in the hall last week. The universe just loved making you uncomfortable, apparently.

"Sunghoon, you're here!" Sunoo exclaimed happily.

"How did you get out of detention?" Jungwon asked.

"I got up and left." Sunghoon said like it was obvious.

"Didn't the teacher try to stop you?" Heeseung joined in.

"No, she went to the bathroom."

The boys laughed and shook their heads. Sunghoon sat down at the table as Jake began to introduce you once again,

"Sunghoon, this is Y/N-"

"Oh, we've met." Sunghoon cut him off, grinning as his eyes went to you. The rest of the boys looked slightly confused.

"Uh yeah, we're in the same english class. I didn't know he was a friend of yours," you chuckled nervously as you tried to explain yourself. You didn't want anyone to get any weird ideas since Sunghoon seemed like he was trying to imply something else.

"Ah, that makes sense," Heeseung said. They all nodded, understanding now.

"So, how did you get detention this time?" Niki asked, changing the subject.

"I didn't do my homework." Sunghoon answered.

"What class was it for?" Jungwon questioned.

"English."

Jake perked up at his answer. "Oh, you should have Y/N help you! She's great at english and you're both in the same class, it's perfect!'" He explained. You shot Jake a look for volunteering you.

"What a good idea, Jake." Sunghoon turned to you,  smirking with his tongue in his cheek. "Whaddaya say, Y/N?"

"Uh, yeah sure," You laughed awkwardly and accepted his request, not wanting to appear rude. Although you really did not want to.

"Great, I'll see you after school," he said, pleased with the way things were playing out. You weren't expecting to start today, but you weren't about to argue with him.

*****

The end of the day finally came as you checked the time and sighed. Time to go meet up with Sunghoon. You grumbled as you headed to the library. How did I let myself get roped into this?

You entered the library and looked around for the dark-haired boy. You noticed him sitting far off in a corner by himself. As you walked over to him, you realized he didn't have any of his books or work with him.

"Where are your books?" You asked, confused.

"Eh, I didn't feel like bringing them," he said, uninterested.

"Why would you ask for my help if you clearly don't want to do the work?" He was starting to get on your nerves.

"Because I wanted to see you, obviously," he said smugly.

You scoffed before sitting down next to him and pulling out your books for him to use. You weren't going to let him off this easy.

"Well lucky for you, I have my books with me. So let's get started," you retorted. He rolled his eyes at you. "Hey, you wanted this, not me." You said, holding your hands up defensively. He sighed and accepted defeat as you opened the book and began going over the assignment.

You had only been working for about 15 minutes but you were already over it. Tutoring him was like pulling teeth. You would put in the effort to thoroughly explain something to him, just for him to write down the most half-assed answer ever. And what made things even more frustrating was that you could tell he understood everything perfectly, he wasn't dumb. He was actually quite smart, he just didn't care and didn't want to care. You quickly realized he didn't actually even need your help. Your patience was wearing thin as he began tapping his pencil against the table rather loudly.

"Can you please stop that?" you asked, unamused.

"Anything for you, princess." The nickname dripped off of his tongue so naturally. Too naturally. You rolled your eyes and turned back to your book. Yet, your heart was beating faster than you'd like to admit.

You continued working, but after a while he stopped listening and just began staring at you. You didn't want to give in. You carried on while trying to ignore him. Sadly, you failed. You turned to face him, visibly uncomfortable.

"Are you even paying attention?" You asked.

"Not to the work, just to you." He answered honestly.

Why were your cheeks getting hot?

"Why do you keep doing that?" you questioned, irritated.

"Doing what?" He said with a teasing grin.

"Saying weird things," you said, "Do you like making me uncomfortable or something?"

"Yeah, I do. It's fun. Plus, you look really cute when your flustered." He stated simply.

You hated to admit it, but he did have an affect on you. You convinced yourself that it was just because of his good looks. There was no way you actually liked him, right? Right? Either way, you were not going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had such an effect on you. You stood up and gathered your things, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. You were frustrated in more ways than one.

"Aw, leaving so soon, princess?" he asked.

"Yes. You're driving me crazy." You replied, already heading towards the library doors.

"Yeah, in a good way." He said, satisfied with himself.

You pretended not to hear his last remark as you left.

After exiting the building, you finally felt like you could breathe again. God, Sunghoon was suffocating to be around. Jake, why did you have to befriend such a jackass?

~~~~~~~~~~

Hello! Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I tried to pick up the pace and add some more ~romance~ hehehe. I also finally introduced all of the boys except Jay (don't worry he'll come into the picture very soon). Until next time!

~Elle <3

[mymoonagedaydream]

ps, idk what the biker/college bucky story will include but i can throw out the idea of doing the modern day army veteran Bucky as a one shot or something? or whatever you don't include in the series lol

Recluse

Summary: You barely even expected to get a conversation out of Steve’s reclusive roommate, never mind anything more than that.

Pairing: Modern Veteran!Bucky x y/n

Word Count: 2.8k

Warnings: Language, smut references, references to military service

Author’s Note: You bet your butt I can do that for you anon. This one really got out of hand idk what happened man I couldn’t stop.

---

You’d been living with your friend Sharon for a couple of years now, and it was still going pretty well.

Your ground-floor apartment was very compact, but she was so considerate and easy to get on with, you barely even noticed the lack of space. She cooked for you occasionally, always paid rent on time, even did your laundry without being asked.

You just couldn’t help thinking that things were much more fun when you were both single.

Nothing much had changed in your life, you were still a lone wolf, but she’d been with Steve for almost six months now and you barely ever saw her anymore. 

Most nights you were just left to your own devices, clattering around the apartment like some sad old spinster.

It got to the point where, one Friday when you got home from work, you heard Steve and Sharon talking in the kitchen and got excited at the prospect of just having some company for the evening.

Sharon almost jumped on you as soon as you walked in. ‘Y/n! Are you free tonight?’

‘Yeah, totally, completely. You guys sticking around?’

‘You think he’d ever agree to that?.’

‘We were actually thinking of going out for some drinks. You in?’ You contemplated for a second, not wanting to come across too eager, then gave her an enthusiastic nod.

As she grinned back at you, you saw an idea dawn on her. ‘Steve, you should totally bring Bucky.’

Sharon frowned in resignation. You had no idea who they were talking about, their conversation going completely over your head.

Steve went home to change, leaving you and Sharon with a couple hours to get ready before heading out, so you thought you might as well try to probe a little deeper.

‘Who’s Bucky?’ You asked casually, sitting on her bed, watching her hold dress after dress up to herself in the mirror.  

‘Steve’s roommate.’

‘I didn’t know Steve had a roommate?’

‘I’d be more surprised if you did.’ She turned towards you. ‘In six months I’ve only met him twice.’

Your eyebrows darted up. She spent so much time at Steve’s place, that made no sense at all. 

‘What? Why?’

‘I’m pretty sure he makes a point to avoid people generally.’ She flopped herself down next to you on the bed, her tone lowering to one of deep sincerity. ‘He was in the army with Steve. Apparently he just really struggled to adapt when they got back, collapsed in on himself for a while. I think he’s a mechanic now but Steve is still the only person he really speaks to.’

‘Shit, that’s awful.’

She gave a grim nod and shrugged slightly, before standing back up and starting to get changed. 

You figured you should do the same, shuffling back to your room and finally taking off your work clothes, relieved at the thought of getting out of the apartment for the evening.

Just as you were about to leave, Sharon’s phone pinged.

‘Holy shit.’

‘What?’ You’d never seen her look so shocked. She put her index finger up at you while quickly typing something back. ‘You’re killing me here Sharon, what the hell is going on?’

‘Bucky’s coming.’

---

You managed to find a cramped table in the back of the bar. Sharon made you wait for Steve to arrive before ordering drinks, because for some reason he always insisted on buying the first round.

About ten minutes after you arrived, she glanced over to the door, grinned and waved her hand above her head. Following her gaze, you saw Steve pushing through the crowd, followed closely by a statuesque, tower of a man.

Studying him intently as he approached, you noticed how visibly uncomfortable he was, his jaw clenched tight and his hands folded into slowly whitening fists. You let your eyes dance over his huge shoulders and wide chest, feeling your stomach flip a little as he got closer.

‘Hey guys. Sharon, you remember Buck?’ Steve gave his friend a proud pat on the shoulder. Sharon nodded and grinned at Bucky, getting only a short, tight smile in return. ‘And this is y/n.’

Looking up to his face, his sharp blue eyes briefly met yours, prompting you to quickly avert your gaze. He looked tense enough without you gawping at him.

‘Nice to meet you.’ You adopted the friendliest tone possible, doing your best to put him at ease.

Steve went to grab some drinks and Sharon volunteered to help him, leaving you at the table with Bucky, bracing yourself for some intensely awkward small talk.

‘So, you’re a mechanic?’ He nodded. ‘Do you enjoy it?’ Another nod.

Alright, he obviously wasn’t in the mood for chatting. 

Christ. If you didn’t break free from this spinster shit soon, that’s exactly where you’d end up.

You didn’t want to force it if he wasn’t comfortable, you could happily sit in silence if that’s what he’d prefer.

You moved your eyes to scan the room, eventually landing on an older woman propping herself up at the bar, downing martinis, eyeing up young men and wobbling on her insanely high heels.

‘What do you do?’

It was barely a mumble, you hardly heard it over the bar’s background music. 

Your eyes returned to Bucky’s face, meeting his hesitant gaze.

‘I work in HR, so boring admin stuff mainly.’ He nodded slightly, his eyes flicking nervously between the table and your face. ‘But occasionally I get to use the shredder, which is pretty rad.’

He cracked a brief smile, the sight of it giving you a wave of goosebumps. ‘Sounds thrilling.’

‘I’ve never been here before, have you?’ You were determined to keep this conversation going, especially if there was a chance that you’d be able to make him smile again.

‘No. I haven’t been to any bars recently.’

‘You’ve got quite a bit of catching up to do then.’

Resting your head on your hand, you gave him a mischievous smirk, and felt a little smug as you noticed his shoulders relax slightly and the corners of his mouth curl upwards.

Hours passed, the bar called last orders, and the four of you traipsed out to begin walking home.

Then Steve and Sharon came back with the drinks, pretty effectively ruining the moment you’d been setting up.

Bucky went quiet again, keeping to himself for most of the evening, only speaking when spoken to. You felt his gaze fall on you occasionally, but each time you tried to meet his eyes they were quickly averted.

‘Oh hey, I forgot to ask.’ Steve gestured towards you. ‘Sharon said you went to visit your parents last weekend? How was that?’

‘I couldn’t go in the end, my car's fucked. It’s my own fault, everyday there was a new rattling sound but just ignored it.’

‘I’ll take a look at it.’ Your eyes snapped over to Bucky, a little shocked at how enthusiastically he’d come out with that. ‘If you want.’

You gave him a wide smile. ‘Wow, yeah, that’d be amazing. Thank you.’

---

A few days later, you were faced with another evening alone while Sharon was at Steve’s.

You unenthusiastically pulled a ready meal out of the fridge and poked some holes in the plastic, shoving it in the microwave and reaching for the half-empty bottle of wine on the counter.

‘Hi. Sorry. I was coming this way and Sharon said you’d be in, I thought I could take a look at your car?’

Just as you went to grab a glass out of the cupboard, you were stopped by a faint knock at the front door.

Shuffling over and yanking it open, you saw Bucky standing on your doorstep, looking just as uncomfortable as he did walking into that bar.

You were a little embarrassed that he’d caught in your pyjamas at 6:30, but that feeling was hugely outweighed with how pleased you were to see him.

‘Yeah, great.’ You gave him a warm smile. ‘I’ll just grab my keys.’

You found your gaze pretty quickly drawn to his arms, propping him up as he leant over the machinery like thick, hefty tree trunks. It was amazing how entranced you were by them, but considering how long it’d been since you’d even brushed past an attractive male, it made sense. God the things you’d let him do, if he-

You slipped on your shoes and led him over to the rustbucket, badly parked on the street outside. He flicked open the bonnet and immediately started tinkering.

You had less than no idea what was happening, but it looked very impressive.

‘Could you start it up?’ His deep voice pulled you out of your hazy fantasies.

‘Hmm? Oh, yeah.’

You tried your best to hide how flustered you were as you climbed into the driver's seat and turned the key. An intense rattling started, which he listened to for a second before signalling for you to turn it off and closing the bonnet.

‘You were right, it needs a lot of work. It’s definitely not safe to drive.’

‘Shit, stuck with the bus then.’ You sighed and climbed out, slamming the door behind you. ‘Thank you so much, you really didn’t have to do this. I appreciate it.’

‘Anytime.’ He smiled politely, taking a couple steps backwards before turning, dropping his head and starting to walk away.

‘You can come in for a drink if you want?’ You called after him, a little shocked at your boldness but not at all mad about it. He spun round. ‘It’s the least I can do.’

He took a sip and turned himself slightly to face you. ‘Look, if you bring your car to the shop where I work, I can probably keep the price down.’

His polite smile evolved into a wide grin as he nodded, following you inside.

You grabbed him a beer from the fridge and gestured for him to join you on the couch, smiling to yourself at how nervous he seemed as he balanced himself right on the edge of the seat.

‘Are you sure?’ He nodded. ‘That's so nice, you barely even know me.’

He looked a little sheepish at that, scurrying around for his words. ‘Sharon was pretty keen for me to come take a look, it’s probably best to keep Steve’s girlfriend on side, y’know.’

‘Oh I do know, Sharon can be terrifying.’ You both chuckled as Bucky edged back, settling himself into the couch a little more. ‘So you and Steve met in the army?’

‘We’ve been friends since we were kids, we signed up together.’

‘That’s nice.’ You tilted your head at him, deciding to take a slight gamble on your next question. ‘Do you miss it?’

He fixed his eyes on the ground and faintly shook his head, nervously starting to pick at the label on his bottle.

Shit, you really didn’t mean to make him uncomfortable, you were just curious.

A swift subject change remedied the situation somewhat, and after a while you sensed him beginning to relax again.

You finished off your glass of wine and checked your phone, your hand shooting up to your forehead in shock when you saw that it was close to midnight.

Over the next couple hours he slowly came out of his shell even further, eventually chatting and laughing with you like you were his good friend. The two of you unconsciously edged towards each other throughout the evening, ending up face to face with legs folded up on the couch, as close as you could get without touching.

‘Shit, I have work tomorrow.’

‘I’m really sorry.’ He put his bottle on the coffee table and stood up quickly. ‘I didn’t mean to keep you up.’

‘Oh you don’t have to apologise, it’s not your fault. I had a really nice evening.’

‘Me too.’ He smiled and buried his hands in his pockets, following you to the front door. ‘I’m working every day this week, you can come in whenever.’

‘Friday would be great? I have the day off.’

‘See you then.’

You watched him disappear down the street, feeling your limbs tingle with excitement at the prospect of seeing him again so soon.

---

You usually used your days off to sleep in till midday, but on Friday the tow truck showed up at 7am to take your car to the shop. You didn’t even get up that early on workdays. A pint of coffee was barely enough to keep you from passing out on the ride there.

He eventually noticed you stood there, staring, and your face immediately heated up as he approached.

You hurried inside the garage, scanning the room and eventually spotting Bucky underneath a hoisted truck, reaching up to work on it. His arms were glistening with oil and sweat and his shirt was riding up, exposing the faint trail of hair starting underneath his bellybutton.

Lord in heaven, what a view.

‘Sorry, didn’t want to interrupt.’

‘That’s alright.’ He pulled a dirty rag out of his pocket and roughly wiped his hands. ‘Did you bring the deathtrap?’

‘Yep, just outside.’

‘It’s gonna be a while. I finish at four, d’you wanna come back then?’

‘Sure.’

You walked up the driveway ten minutes early, which you thought was reasonable, and asked the very intimidating guy out front for Bucky. He just eyed you up and down and gestured vaguely to the side of the building.

On the way home you kept accidentally walking into roads, your mind completely occupied with Bucky’s midriff.

The whole day dragged. In your boredom you ended up leaving for the garage about an hour too early, meaning you had to loiter in an off-license, probably looking like you were shoplifting.

Turning the corner, you were met with a pretty impressive, cinematic wide shot of Bucky’s arse as he was leaning over the inside of your bonnet.

You should probably say something. Tell him you were there. Say hello.

Yeah, probably should.

Yeaaah.

You sighed and reluctantly shuffled towards the car.

‘How’s it-’ Bucky jumped and whacked his head against the propped-up bonnet. ‘Fuck! I’m so sorry, are you alright?’

He smiled at you, standing up and rubbing the back of his head. ‘Yeah, all good. Happens all the time.’

‘Oh, really? In that case you might want to consider a career change, could end up with some permanent damage.’ Chuckling, he reached up and slammed the bonnet with one powerful movement. ‘How’s it looking?’

‘Not bad. Want to take it for a spin?’

‘Sure.’ He held up the keys and you grabbed them out of his hand, excitedly hopping in the driver’s seat while he walked around and got in the passenger side. ‘You coming?’

‘Can’t just let you drive off without paying, you might never come back.’

You shot him a wide smile as you fired up the engine, amazed at how smooth it sounded, and pulled away from the garage.

‘I can’t believe it, it didn’t even run this good when I first got it.’ He smirked a little and nodded. ‘Thank you, Buck.’

You were already in the outskirts of the city, so you decided to drive out into the sticks a little, eventually pulling up into a dusty layby on a narrow side road.

Glancing to your side, you saw that Bucky was struggling not to look very pleased with himself.

As he began stroking his thumb along your knuckles, he cautiously pulled his gaze up to your face, looking at you like you’d just told him he’d won the lottery.

His hands were resting on his thighs and, almost unconsciously, you reached out to grab the one closest to you and squeeze it lightly.

He stared down at it for a few seconds, eventually turning his hand over and squeezing back.

You could barely even remember what happened next. You remember the back of your neck tingling, your stomach tightening almost to the point of becoming painful, the feeling of Bucky’s rough, calloused hand against your cheek and the way your heart jumped when he leaned towards you and pressed his mouth against yours.

Eventually pulling away, he buried his face in your neck, planting short kisses along your jawline between laboured breaths. You pushed his head back against the seat and pressed your forehead to his, closing your eyes and letting your hands dance down his chest.

It was slow and tender at first, but it quickly picked up, becoming feverish and passionate.

He threw his arms around your waist and roughly pulled you over onto his lap, holding you so tight to his chest that you couldn’t tell whose heart you could feel thumping like a steam engine.

‘It’s been a while since I’ve done that.’ He sighed, bringing a hand up to bury itself in your hair.

‘Me too.’ Your mouth curled into a smile. ‘It’s been even longer for other stuff.’

Melting into each other in a cacophony of limbs and flesh and tearing clothes, both of you eventually found the release you so desperately needed. 

There was a loaded silence, you opened your eyes to see Bucky staring at you intently, wearing an expression that made your toes curl.

You dived clumsily into the backseat and pulled him after you, giggling as you both adjusted yourselves, trying to get even slightly comfortable in such a tight space.

And both of you did all you could to savour the feeling of finally having someone to hold close.

---

[manggojooz]

Foolish Love, Fake Love (Part 10)

pairing: idol!Jungkook x bodyguard!reader

word count: ~2,590

genre: idol!au; angst; romance; drama; enemies to lovers sort of thing

warnings: some references to stalkerish behaviour

previous part: Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 |  Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 |  Part 6  | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 

summary: If all you can give me is a fake love, then I will be the fool to pretend that it is all true.

Taglist: @a-hopelessly-imaginative-girl @dollwithluv @sweetcheeksdna @yeontanie21 @peachygiraffe14 @jeontaes-world  @forvever-ddaeng @namjoonsslutakakoreanmanswhore @apurpledheart @ggukkieeee​ @witchxlove

You frowned at the smiley boy who awkwardly stood outside your door.  

“Uhh, you gonna let me in... or we gonna stand here all night?” Jungkook asked.

“Let... let you in? But why-” you were still only half-awake.  

Jungkook shoved his way past you in one swift move and you stumbled against the door slightly. Catching your balance again you quickly followed him into the apartment.  

“What are you doing here?” you asked as you trailed him into your own kitchen.  

“Ow, it’s so heavy, I can’t stand carrying it another minute sorry,” he lamented as he dumps the bags of groceries on the tabletop with a thump. “What’s this?” he asked as he peeked inside the bag that contained the chicken soup.

“Soup, I think...” you answered weakly.  

“You ordered it?” he asked.  

“No... I don’t know, some guy just came to deliver it...”

“Mmm okay,” he hummed mindlessly but melodically as he took the package away from the dining table and chucked it to the side of the counter. “Let’s see...” he murmured to himself as he took his handphone from his back pocket.  

“What are you doing here?” you asked again.  

He does not make eye contact with you but stares intently at his phone screen, “I heard you injured your shoulder from last night... I didn’t know and I thought...” he stops suddenly. He side-eyes you for a moment and notices that you were surveying him with that same frown. “Hmm,” he clears his throat rather forcefully, “I just wanted to say I'm sorry, I was overreacting because-”

“Because you thought Yeonjoo was hurt...” you completed his sentence.  

“I didn’t know you hurt yourself while protecting her, to be fair it wasn’t really visible you know...” he voice faded as he sounded a little relieved now that the topic has been broached.  

“It’s our job to get injured so that the people we protect won’t be. You don’t have to be sorry for that,” you replied matter-of-factly.  

“I know I know... but I shouldn’t have jumped to a conclusion and accuse you or shout at you” he still avoided looking at you as he muttered this.  

Sometimes apologies are like this – it does not necessarily make you feel better more so than it makes the other person feel better.  

“So... why are you here at this time?” you questioned a third time.

“Ah... Yuri is at another schedule with some of the hyungs and since I am free tonight so I thought I should come and make sure you ate dinner... at least...” he was still half-mumbling.

“You are here to make me dinner?” you asked incredulously.  

“Eo...” he answered affirmatively.  

---

Jungkook buying sacks of groceries just to make you dinner was the most unimaginable thing even just a day ago, but it was happening right this moment. You were too tired to quarrel with the idea and he had insisted that you get back to resting until everything was ready.  

You could hear a lot of tinkering, “ahh”, “ooh” and the occasional swearing from the kitchen even in your half-awake state. You had no idea how long this lasted but at some point you were awakened by a knock on your room door.  

“Dinner’s ready... are you awake?” his voice was soft but his tone was the usual.  

You pulled yourself out of bed and headed out to the dining table, marginally more alert than you were before.  

The spread that lay before your eyes was a wonder – a bowl of plain rice, some kind of stew that looked like it had a mix of unrecognisable ingredients in it and some kimchi.  

“Do I start with the soup or...” you wondered cautiously.  

“It doesn’t look that appetising but I promise you that it tastes fine and this is beef bone stew with abalone and what’s that thing...” he wasted no time trying to promote his masterpiece.  

You raised an eyebrow at him.  

“It’s some traditional herb... I’m sure it’s good for health” he continued.

He looked at you expectantly as you took a tiny sip of the stew with caution. It tasted... barely edible.  

“How is it? How is it?” he asked like a child who was asking for affirmation from his parents.  

“It’s nice...” you answered soullessly, “are you not having any yourself?”  

“Nope, it’s all for you” he answered very certainly and you weren’t really sure if this was all part of the bigger picture.

Be that as it may, you recalled how Yoongi felt bad for you at the hospital and did not want another one of them thinking that girls are too weak to do this job.  

“About last night... I just need to say it again, you don’t have to feel bad that I was injured and I can understand why you were worked up so you didn’t have to do this, but thanks anyway” you said while looking him straight in the eyes, maybe the drowsiness helps with boosting confidence.  

He sighed unintentionally. “Like I said earlier, I know I don’t have to feel bad about it but I was wrong to yell at you and I just feel bad because I assume that Yeonjoo was hurt while you were fine and... and... I guess she just looked really shaken and you looked fine so I thought...”  

“It’s ok, I get it. It’s just that we usually try our best not to show it even if we are hurt” you explained.

“If you don’t show it how do people know that you are hurt... what's the point of hiding it?” Jungkook mumbles endlessly as he walked back into the kitchen. He picked up the ladle still in the pot of stew, and you were about to continue the conversation but he took a sip of his own masterpiece.

“Bleh... oh my gosh... what’s this? This taste horrible! You should have told me honestly that it tasted bad... wow...” he shouted with his tongue half-hanging out.

“As you know, it’s not my forte to show how I feel” you replied sarcastically.

“Ugh I just wanted to make you something nice... what the heck is this even... you know what, this isn’t counted. I'll buy you something nice, what do you want to eat?” he lamented.

You were never a fan of bland soups and porridges anyway.

“Hmm... steak, buy me a nice a steak” you requested.

“You can eat that now? Or do you mean when you are better?” his eyes were round with curiousness.  

“It’s my rule that when the body is not feeling well, the mouth needs to eat even better than usual” you explained quite nonchalantly while taking another bite of the weirdly-seasoned stew. It seems like you were starting to get used to the taste of it.

“Ohhh, alright then. There is this place I know that’s really hard to get a spot at, I will use some connections and get you some really awesome steak. How about tomorrow, since it’s a rare that we don’t have any schedules... I mean if you are feeling better tomorrow...”  

You nodded somewhat eagerly as you continued taking another mouthful of the mysterious stew.

“Wow, you still gonna drink that?” his eyes were very round and large, clearly depicting his amazement by your ability to stomach his stew. “I’ll send you the time and address tomorrow.”  

---

The next day and an hour before seven.  

“Where are you going?” Yuri was shocked to see you all dressed up.

“I... uh... I’m going for dinner” you stammered. You were going to meet Jungkook at the restaurant at 7pm and the restaurant unfortunately has a casual formal dress code requirement.

“You are going for dinner? With who? Did you take your medicine?” Yuri nagged like a mother sometimes.

You thought for a long moment whether to reveal the truth but you decided to avoid it in prevention of any questioning that might ensure, “Wow, you are so naggy sometimes you know. I’m just meeting someone I know and yes ma’am I took my medicine, except that one painkiller that makes me really drowsy, I'll take that at night when I'm back alright?”  

Yuri throws a towel at you for calling her naggy and told you to hurry and get out of her sight.  

---

Thirty minutes to seven.  

Jungkook suddenly gets a call from Kijin; something must be up with Yeonjoo for him to be calling Jungkook out of the blue.  

“Hyung, what’s up? It's rare that you are calling me directly” Jungkook answered the call.  

“Jungkook-ah... I really didn’t want to bother you but could you come over... she wouldn’t come out or talk to anyone since last night.”  

---

Ten minutes to seven  

Jungkook stares at his watch, just as he took out his phone to type a message to you Kijin opens the door at Yeonjoo’s apartment and he rushes in.  

The door to Yeonjoo’s bedroom was shut tight. On the way here he was on the phone with Kijin the whole time and he explained hwo Yeonjoo had been receiving letters and calls from her longtime stalker.  

“Is that... from that bastard?” Jungkook looked warily at a paper box placed in one corner of the living room.

“Ya... I’m handing it over to the police later... it’s pretty gross inside I don’t think you should go near it” Kijin warned.  

“Why is he back? I thought he went quiet for a while...” Jungkook asked with a deep unhappiness.  

“Not sure, I think he’s been sending Yeonjoo some messages but she won’t speak to me now” Kijin answered with matching concern.  

Jungkook headed straight for Yeonjoo’s room. He carefully knocks on the door; there was no answer.  

“It’s me... are you inside? Can you open the door?”  

He was met with an eerie silence.

“Hyung... should we just go in?” Jungkook whispered to Kijin, his face fraught with worry.

“I think we have little choice now...” Kijing handed over a key to Jungkook.

The door creaked open slowly. Jungkook peered into the room that was pitch black. A narrow ray of light shone into the room from the opened door and he finally sees the silhouette of Yeonjoo crouched on the floor near the foot of the bedframe.  

He ran over anxiously, “Are you alright? Why didn’t you answer us?”  

Her hands scrunched the blanket that she had pulled over her legs. She was staring soullessly ahead but slowly turned to look at Jungkook.  

“He’s back. I'm scared” she uttered.  

“I know, Kijin hyung is reporting it to the police now” Jungkook whispers back.

“I’m tired, but I don’t dare to close my eyes” she whimpers.

“I’m here... I'll be here” Jungkook sat down next to her and she couldn’t help but lean against him.  

---

Five minutes past seven.

You stood at the sidewalk leading to the elegantly-furnished entrance of the restaurant. Unintentionally you looked around whenever you heard any sound of someone walking by. You had messaged Jungkook to ask if he was reaching but there was no reply.  

You did not even know whose name the reservation was under so you felt better waiting for him to outside. Time went by as you counted the number of times a car turned in but it wasn’t his car.  

The night grew colder as the time went by.  Eventually, you took a look at your watch.  

Ten minutes to 8pm – you decided to give Jungkook a call. The call went unanswered and you were not that surprised but now you became slightly worried.  

You made another call, this time to Sejoon.  

“Eo.. Y/N...” Sejoon picked up the call and sounded out of breath.

“Hi Sejoon, are you ok?” you asked out of concern.

“Yah yah I’m fine, just ran out to grab some thing for Yoongi and Hobi who are having a schedule now... do you need something?” Sejoon asked you back.  

“Uh... actually I am wondering if you know where Jungkook is now...” you started slowly, not sure how much to reveal about your plans with Jungkook.

“Jungkook? He’s not with you? I thought he told me he would be having dinner with you today,” answered Sejoon.

So, it is not much of a secret then. “Ah yes, he’s supposed to meet me for dinner but it’s almost past an hour and he’s not here, I tried calling him but couldn’t get him either,” you explained.

“What? Ok, he does tend to be late... but not this late... are you still waiting there?” Sejoon exuded his usual friendliness.  

“Yah, I’m kinda still waiting,” you replied.

“What? I'll try reaching him after I put down these things for Yoongi and Hobi? Let me know if he suddenly shows up,” Sejoon instructed helpfully before you hung up.  

---

Fifteen minutes past eight

Two police officers sat in Yeonjoo’s living room collecting as much information as they could from Yeonjoo and Kijin while Jungkook watched them from kitchen. It took him a whole ten minutes to coax Yeonjoo into speaking with the police after they arrived.  

Now that he had mostly done his part, he was letting go of the tension he had built up over the past hour and suddenly his stomach let out a low growl.  

He thought to himself that he could have been having some fancy steak now. “Right... would be nice to have some steak now... oh shit!” he suddenly jolted up and looked all over for his phone.  

---

Your phone suddenly pinged – a message came in.

“Hey Y/N, I’m so sorry, there was an emergency, I didn’t check my phone until now... you aren’t still waiting right? I hope you already ordered something... don’t wait for me,” the message read.

The cocktail of feelings left a bittersweet aftertaste. You were still trying to decipher what exactly it was. Was it worry? Was it annoyance? Was it disappointment?  

Then your phone rings. It was Sejoon.

“Hello? Y/N? Have you left yet?” Sejoon shouted through the noisy background noises on his end.

“Hey Sejoon, umm, yeah I got a text from Jungkook so I’m leaving now...” you muttered, trying to mask that bittersweet aftertaste  

“Oh he texted you? Great, did you already grab dinner? Do you need me to come down and settle the bill for you?” Sejoon enquired on 80% volume.  

“Uh no no don’t worry about me, I’m gonna go grab dinner when I get home...” you quickly cut in, “... but do you know what happened to him? He just said there’s an emergency... is he ok?”  

“Jungkook? Oh he’s at Yeonjoo’s place apparently. Kijin hyung messaged me just a while ago to give me the heads up,” Sejoon explained as you hear someone calling out his name on the other end, “I gotta go! You can text me if you need anything!”  

You hardly ever needed anything from anyone. You hardly believed that you deserved to need anything from anyone. And today was no different.  

Did he need to do this for you? No.  

Did you need him to keep his promise? No.  

Yet you stared down at the pavement clearly tasting bitterness this time. Of all the reasons, why did it have to be Yeonjoo?  

One of the staff at the restaurant must have observed you standing outside their door for the longest time.  

“Hi Miss, uhh... it’s rather cold out here... are you waiting for someone? Do you want to come in?” he offered kindly.  

there was a melancholic pause. “I was waiting for someone...” you replied with a wistful smile, “but not anymore, thank you.”  

[trashytummiez]

The old switcheroo!! Maybe Yuu overeats and Idia has to help get some burps out of her instead?

What a fun idea to role swap~ I prefer writing for Idia and the TW bois more but it was fun putting Idia in the drivers seat for once and seeing how the sweet boy handles it <3

"Unnnnngh...I can't believe how much Jack and Ruggie can eat..." Yuu complained.

"And I can't believe you tried keeping up with them for as long as you did!" Idia said in an awestruck way. "I was watching from my tablet and even I was worried your tummy was going to blow!"

Idia's comments weren't unfounded.

There was a little eating competition going on in the dining hall and to prove her mettle Yuu decided to participate. It was a foregone conclusion that was over before it even began but she still gave it all her all impressing every one of the boys who participated or observed. Even Leona gave her the faintest of praise.

But boy did it have an impact.

The usually petite teen sported a considerable tummy barely concealed beneath her buttoned up shirt. Yuu looked so uncharacteristically bloated that she looked as though she were smuggling a big watermelon under her shirt.

She huffed while sitting back on the edge of Idia's bed and gently rubbed the side of her bulging tummy. Of all the times Idia had overdone it either due to his weak nerves or for her sake it was a first for Yuu to be the one nursing an achingly full belly.

Idia nervously tapped at his fingers when he heard Yuu's round stomach groan heavily. He did his best not to whimper.

"...D-D-Do you need anything Yuu...?"

Yuu huffed and shook her head though there was visible discomfort across her face. "...Nff...just your company...ohhhh my stomach..." She groaned and cradled her belly while she stroked it

Idia frowned then sat down next to his girlfriend. He thought back to all the times he'd overdone it and Yuu took care of him. The nervous Shroud gulped thinly and anxiously then he started unbuttoning the bottom of Yuu's school uniform.

When Idia started to see more of Yuu's smooth bare tummy his cheeks darkened with an incredibly flustered blush. And when he undid enough buttons to reveal her belly button he had to resist the urge to shrink in his own oversized hoodie. Yuu blushed a little too because she wasn't used to being in this perspective at all but she didn't question any of it.

Idia only undid enough to expose the entirety of Yuu's belly and left both her tie and the button around her chest untouched. The poor boy would have passed out from how nerve wracked he'd be if he did that. Even still he very visibly quivered with how nervous he was to be intimate.

So Yuu lovingly stroked Idia's soft pale cheek. "It's okay sweetie. You can do it," she assured him.

Idia bit his blue lower lip as he often did but with her encouragement he put his hands on her taut bloated belly. The blush on the sweet anxious boys face was growing so intense that his fiery hair brightened. Again he gulped anxiously but remembered the way Yuu always rubbed his tummy and tried to do the same.

His hands very gently and carefully rubbed circles across the middle of Yuu's belly. They slowly slid over that smooth rounded surface and felt up her sides. "H-H-How...d-d-does that feel...?" Idia asked sputtering from how simultaneously nervous yet flustered he was at the exact same time.

Yuu crooned then leaned back which made her tummy stick out more and made Yuu blush intensely. "Ohhhh wow Idia. That feels amazing..."

Idia covered his eyes with one sleeve and whimpered softly. Even after being in a relationship for some time now he wasn't used to praise at all unless it came from Ortho who mercifully was hanging out with some other students.

With her approval he continued to gingerly stroke yuu's tummy up and down. His hand was very careful when it glided up the crest of her rounded stomach to avoid reaching too far and touching her chest. Idia might have literally died if he ever got that physically intimate with a romantic partner. At the peak he kneaded his fingertips gently but a little firmly into the tighter portions of Yuu's flesh. Then he very delicately slid his hands down to her lower tummy.

"Mmm you're really good at this..." Yuu moaned while Idia's hand stroked her lower belly from side to side.

Despite how anxious yet flustered he was Idia managed a small giggle. "With how much you're always rubbing my tummy it only makes sense a few things rub off on me right?" Idia said then gave a small hint of a grin. "For instance I know how good this feels too."

He drew circles around yuu's belly button then pushed it inside making Yuu moan a little more audibly and pleasurably. Idia giggled softly knowing just how great that felt and continued kneading his finger inside of her navel. He bit his lower lip once more when he saw her clutching at his sheets and sensed her toes curling in her shoes.

Though at one point he pushed a little too hard into her belly button making the girls stomach gurgle deeply. Yuu winced uncomfortably which made Idia grow nervous again. He pulled his finger out and carefully rested his hand against the middle of her tummy once more. "O-Oh no did I screw up?? Y-You're not feeling sick are you?!?"

Yuu shook her head and grew more strained which made Idia whimper nervously fretting that he screwed up somehow.

Until Yuu did something very unexpected.

She burped.

Loudly.

BBBRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHP!!!!!

Idia blinked with surprise while Yuu covered her mouth and blushed more furiously than Idia had ever seen her blush.

"...E-Excuse me...!" Yuu said looking both surprised and embarrassed.

But Idia just sat there stunned until he eventually broke into giggles. "Heeheheheheh! Wow that was pretty big!" Idia said and giggled some more. "Hahah sorry it's just with how much you always love making me burp I never figured you could burp like that yourself!"

He gave her tummy a few teasing pats which made her hiccup and made him giggle some more.

"That felt good though right? Getting that pressure out of your tummy?"

Yuu gently stroked the side of her belly and felt it burble.

"You're not wrong," she admitted and blushed. Though it still felt like there was a heavy weight beneath her ribs that made her huff exhaustedly.

"...Want me to keep going?" Idia asked.

Despite her embarrassment the relief felt really good. So Yuu nodded.

Idia very carefully felt for tense parts of her bloated stomach. His hands continued gliding over her skin and making her moan at the feeling. Then when he found a tense part he kneaded his fingers firmly into her belly and made Yuu burp again this time in her mouth. It rumbled loudly in her cheeks which puffed somewhat and left her huffing. When Idia kneaded some more she gave another big closed mouth burp that she really struggled to hold in.

But her tummy was giving her so much grief that when Idia kneaded a third time she couldn't hold back the burp that blew past her hand and forced her lips open.

BWWUUUUUUHHEEEEEEERRRRRROOOOHP!!!!!

She instinctively covered her mouth and blushed. It was really embarrassing to on the opposite end of this sort of thing. But then again it felt so unbelievably good getting that gas out. It felt even better when Idia pushed into her belly a little harder and made her burp even louder.

HRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRUUUURRLHP!!!!!!

"There you go. Get it all out," Idia said patting Yuu's tummy and pressing some more.

Yuu spent a few more minutes burping until an unexpectedly long and throaty burp left her panting but finally relieved.

"Whew. Oh wow hahah. Guess I'm less ladylike than I thought."

"You're just you Yuu," Idia teased and caressed her tummy a little more comfortably. "It's why I luuuuh..." he trailed off and grew nervous again. "Aherm. W-Why I l-l-luh..." he whimpered adorably. "...W-W-W-Why I love you..."

Yuu smiled and very gently rubbed the top of his fiery head which never failed to make Idia smile back.

"And I love youuuuUUUUUURRRP!!!" Poor Yuu accidentally burped the end of her sentence out which made her clamp her hand over her mouth and blush brightly.

Again Idia burst into a fit of childish giggles holding his sides and laughing with amusement.

"Heehahahahah! Vil is definitely a little more ladylike than you are Yuu," he joked teasingly. But he resumed gently rubbing her grumbling tummy and smiled anew. "But it's like you always tell me. Nothing to be embarrassed by. Though in your case it's also because of your unusual fetishes."

Yuu smiled despite her embarrassment and sighed. "Fair point. You'd think someone who can't get enough of hearing her boyfriend or any of the boys here burp so much wouldn't be shy about burping herself. Just isn't the same I guess."

"You're just not used to it," Idia said while he gently stroked her tummy from top to bottom.

"And you are?" Yuu said back in a teasing sort of way.

Idia raised his brow in a challenging sort of way then held up a finger before holding his fist to his mouth. Yuu saw him subtly gulping down air and heard his gullet gurgle with the gulps of air he was taking. Then Idia pushed out a burp of his own.

AAAAArrruuuuuurrrUUUUhp!!!

It wasn't that loud and Idia really had to push it out by the end but it still made Yuu blush and still left Idia huffing after.

"Haaah. See?" He said with as confident a grin as he could pull. His slight blush sort of undercut himself though.

Yuu smirked.

"Well if you're so comfortable then you won't have any problem grabbing a few sodas so you can put on a real show then," she suggested.

Idia's feigned confidence immediately left him.

Yuu chuckled and came up with a compromise. "You know I've never participated in a burping contest before. Maybe having one would make us both get a little more comfortable."

Idia's nervousness dipped a little at the suggestion. He chewed on his sleeve in thought. "Getting into a burping contest with my girlfriend...not how I saw my night going," Idia said then giggled. "But that sounds like it could be fun! Though..." Idia leaned over and rubbed Yuu's belly in a loving circle patting it gently while he did so. "With how full your tummy is you might have an unfair edge."

Yuu sighed at the feeling then smiled anew when she reached over and slid her hand under Idia's hoodie to rub his own thin pale tummy. He immediately whimpered and blushed hard. "We do still have an entire extra large pizza in the fridge if you want to even the odds."

Idia whimpered again.

"...Me and my big jittery mouth..."

[songficsbyrissi]

Make A Baby (T’Challa  x Reader)

“I'll be your Cinderella-ella (Aye) Then maybe you and maybe me Can maybe meet and m-m-make a baby Then maybe you and me Can meet and make a baby, let's make a baby” - Nicki Minaj

A/N: here’s an idea I thought about writing for MONTHS now but I thought it would be too stupid to write. However, with the tragedy we are currently facing, it wouldn’t hurt to write. If I tagged you in this and you’re not in the mood, please don’t feel obligated to but I wrote it to lift the mood. It’s all fluff and humor so I hope this puts a smile on your face through all the grieving 💞🙏🏾

************** You wanted a baby. You NEEDED a baby.

No ifs, ands, and buts about it.

You were ready to bring a life into this world and nurture it. All with your handsome husband King T’Challa. Simple enough, right?

Wrong. Here’s where the problem comes in.

You and T’Challa have only been married for 6 months. When you were engaged, you expressed to your future husband that you wanted to spend at least one year married before trying for a baby. Ultimately, he agreed with you. You know you wanted your husband all to yourself for a year or two before sharing him with a child, but shit changes. Your baby fever was at an all-time high and you wanted a baby now. You wanted to tell him but he seemed happy not having children right now. He got to live his life, do a whole bunch of dangerous shit, come and go as he pleases without worrying his children. He grew to love your agreement while you grew to hate it.

“Fuck it. I want a baby.” You declared quietly as you laid in bed next to T’Challa. The man stirred a bit and mumbled tiredly.

“What did you say, my love?”

Fuck. He was supposed to be 100% asleep. Well, there’s no backing out. Your mother raised a strong woman who says what’s on her mind. Here goes nothing.

“I said I’m feeling achy.”

Wow. You are a pussy. Your mother raised a pussy.

Your loving husband turned to you with a concerned but tired face. “Did you want me to call the medical staff? Because I-“

You bit back a groan and turned your back to him. “No, I’m fine. I just slept wrong. Go back to sleep.”

“Whatever you want, my love.” He planted a kiss on your shoulder and turned back around to sleep.

“I want you to nut in me.” You muttered under your breath.

“Pardon?”

“ I want you to butt and knee! Do some butt and knee workouts! Damn! Good night!”

The next morning, you smacked yourself on the forehead when you walked past the training grounds and saw your husband doing intense squats in his panther suit. He turned to see you and gave you a smile.

“Ahh, my Queen has come to see me do the butt and knee workouts! I am doing them right, Yes?”

You struggled to put on a fake smile and give him a wave as he demonstrated a squat for you. “Yes, you are, my love! Keep going! I’m proud of you!” You turned away and dropped your smile. You got your husband doing bad bitch workouts because you were too much of a pussy to tell him you want his baby. You gotta do better in life. You ran into Erik who was failing to hold back a laugh.

“Yo why the fuck is T on the training grounds trying to get thick?” Erik laughed harder, looking back at his cousin. “Nigga thinks he’s Megan the Panther or some shit!”

You glared at the laughing royal, crossing your arms. “Erik, it’s not funny. He’s only doing that because I’m an idiot.”

Erik stopped laughing and put on a face of puzzlement. “Wait what?”

You shook your head walking away. “Never mind. It’s a long story that you can’t help me with.”

He caught up to you and stood in your way. “And how do you know that?”

“Because you’re Erik. It’s ingrained in you to always have a bad idea.”

He put a hand on his chest in feigned hurt. “Ow, Ms. Queen! That hurt! You might as well slap a nigga in the face while you’re at it!”

“Oh, that was next. Now move out of my way, N’dickhead!”

“Hey! The nickname shit is my thing!” He shouted after you. “Damn, I miss being the only American here.”

You figured it out. You were going to try the subtle approach. Slightly let him know you were open to having a baby now and it was going to happen on your trip to the market.

The king held your hand tightly as you two walked through the market. You stopped at the carrots and saw an opportunity.

“BABY, look at those cute BABY carrots! Aren’t those BABY carrots so cute?!” You put emphasis on the word “baby.”

He gave you a weird look. “Uhh yes? They are adorable.”

You began to gush even more. “Don’t you wanna just have a BABY carrot?”

T’Challa smirked at you, shaking his head in amusement. “I see what you are trying to say.

You felt relieved as he grabbed you by your waist, lovingly. “You do?”

He planted a kiss on your forehead. “Yes I do and we shall prepare baby carrots when we get home.”

Yes! You were getting your baby! You couldn’t wait but you had to eat dinner first. Gotta get your energy up before you get your legs up. You sat on the opposite side of your husband at the royal table. You made eye contact with him and he winked at you, causing a non-visible blush to appear. The servants brought out the food and you were too stuck in your daydream until Erik’s voice broke you out of it.

“What the fuck is this?”

You looked down on your plate and your smile fell along with it. On the plate was Wakandan cuisine with a shitload of....baby carrots. What the fuck?! You glanced back at your husband who had a face splitting grin.

“What the fuck is this shit?!” Erik questioned and Queen mother slapped his head. “Ow Auntie!”

“Watch your language at the dinner table!” She scolded and turned back to her plate.

“Damn she picking up on the swears......”

“My queen pointed out to me multiple times that she wanted baby carrots today at the market so it is only right I had the chefs prepare some. I told you I could pick up hints, my love!” T’Challa declares happily, digging into his meal.

“Yeah...thank you, sweetheart.” You gritted out, popping a baby carrot in your mouth and you wanted to gag.

Not the gagging you were hoping to do today.

Once dinner was over, T’Challa had to attend a meeting with the tribes and you had Erik come beside you as you walked to the royal garden and you finally explained the weird shit that was happening.

“So what you’re telling me is that I had to sit at that table and eat those nasty ass carrots because you’re too pussy to tell your HUSBAND to give you his dumbass seed?!” Erik glared at you in disbelief. “I swear to God, y’all niggas make it hard for me to stay redeemed.”

You scoffed in annoyance. “Erik, this isn’t about you!”

“Like hell! It became about me when you made me eat those nasty ass carrots!”

You sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of your nose. “Alright! I'm sorry! If it makes you feel any better, I fucking hate carrots and I had to eat them.”

“Just tell that nigga, man. He don’t do hints or all that special shit. You just gotta be blunt and tell it like it is like I do.”

You thought about it and thought about it and finally shook your head. “Nahhhhh. Imma sneak it into a conversation.”

“You should not be this damn nervous to say you want to get nutted in.”

So the next approach was sneaking it into a conversation. How’d that work out? Well...

“Awww look at this! Russell and Ciara had their baby!” You showed him Ciara’s Instagram on your phone. You two were in his office, discussing a trade for him to sign off on.

“Who is Ciara again?”

You rolled your eyes. “A singer. She sang Goodies! My goodies! My goodies! Not my goodies!” You began to sing but he barely paid attention.

“Speaking of Ciara, there was a song meant for her that Nicki Minaj recorded-“

He finally looked at you. “Nicki Minaj! That’s the woman made a Friday the color of pink!”

Ok, so he half listens to you. “Uhhh sure, anyways, she recorded it but never released it. It’s called Make a baby. It’s goes, “maybe you and maybe me can meet and make a baby.” You stared into his eyes singing it slowly.

“Oh, I see why it was not released. No offense but The song sounds terrible.”

You groaned loudly slamming your head on the desk. Why did you marry such a gorgeous yet moronic man?! You should’ve have to spell this out for him.

“My love, do you always slam your head on surfaces? That might be the cause of your aches.”

Okay, so approach #1 and #2 did not work. How about approach #3?

You burst through the doors of his office on a mission.

“I want a fucking baby!”

Your eyes widened, seeing a group of superheroes in his office and not one glimpse of your husband anywhere. This group of superheroes were the fucking Avengers. You were embarrassed was an understatement. T’Challa came up beside you.

“Ahh, I see you’ve all met my beautiful queen, Y/N. Y/N, these are the Avengers.”

You waved sheepishly. “Hey...Avengers...”.

They awkwardly waved back at you in response.

“I heard you say something, my love. What is it?”

Shit. You definitely weren’t going to repeat the words now that you have an audience.

“I said Iran is a maybe! You don’t remember but remember when I said I was making a list of countries to visit next month and I said we were definitely going to Iran? Well, now it’s a maybe. A lot is going on over there. So it’s in the “maybe” column. Yeah.”

You must say, your ability to bullshit and bullshit quickly was impressive. If your future baby inherits that, you’re in trouble.

“Oh okay, we can discuss that later, my love.” He kissed your cheek and you awkwardly turned on your heel to leave the office. Just like that, approach 3 was a complete fail as well. You were such an idiot.

When T’Challa finally retired to your shared bedroom for the day, you were still wide awake. All these approaches were not working. Honestly, fuck approaches. Approaches were not getting you pregnant.

“T’Challa.”

“Yes, my love?”

“I want to have a baby.”

He shifted beside you. “I’m sorry?”

You sighed sitting up in bed and staring at him With all the sincerity you could muster. “I want to have a baby. I know I wanted to wait a year or two but I changed my mind. I’m ready to be a mother now.” You expected him to have a serious face, ready for a discussion but instead, he was....amused. Had his cheekbones poking out along with his signature smirk.

“I was wondering how long it would take for you to tell me that.”

“Oh my God! You knew?!?!!”

He sat up, chuckling at your expense. “Yes, I knew.”

You hit your husband in the chest. “You ass! How long did you know?!”

“When you said it in bed that one night,” T’Challa replied, causing you to hit him again.

“Wait so you had me making an ass out of myself to tell you I wanted to have your child?!”

He held his hands up in defense. “Hey, that was your choice, my love. You should have just told me, instead of creating all these complicated ways to say it. I am your husband. You should not have to beat around the bush with me.”

Damn, he was right. Damn, Erik was right. For once in his life. Damn him.

“So.....what do you say?” You asked sheepishly, avoiding eye contact. You made eye contact when he grabbed your chin and kissed your lips sweetly.

“My love, I’ve wanted children with you ever since I fell in love with you. I was always ready to be the father of your children but I wanted you to be ready to be the mother of my children.”

You smiled widely, kissing him again. “And I am. I am ready to give you children.”

T’Challa began to climb on top of you. “Then what is the holdup? I must...nut in you? Is that the proper language?”

“Yes! Yes, it is! Now do that!”

And unlike your approaches, it only took you and T’Challa one time to get what you wanted.

Tags:  @iamrheaspeaks @chaneajoyyy​ @dramaqueeenamby​ @marvelmaree​ @guccixcucci​i @brattywriters-anonymous @cancerianprincess​ @creole-mami​ @maddiestundentwritergaines​ @blowmymbackout @ljstraightnochaser @blackpinup22 @airis-paris14 @vibranium-chakra @sociallyawkward18 @chefjessypooh @mychemicalimagines @nerd-lovely @slimmiyagi @imasmille @ashanti-notthesinger @thehomierobbstark @give-me-a-million-dollars-pls @quietstorm-73 @90sinspiredgirl​ @lewatigress @kaykay0829 @queennanayaa @mysticbrownie @holy-minseok @queenof-wakanda @destinio1 @raysunshine78 @amelatonin​ @lewatigress​ @ambthegamer​ @fandom-fangirl22​ @catzspaceships​ @darkskin-buttercup​ @blackrockshooter780​ 

[phlox238]

i wrote a pretty long rymin fic and half of it is min being anxious and getting advice from a lesbian at a gay bar,,, it sucks but here it is anyway

2.5k words this is the most ive ever written

"So," The girl began, gesturing wildly with her hands. "You think you're in love with your best friend, who you've known since you were born, and you're in a band and traveling across Canada and the USA with. What did you say your name is?" 

"Oh, fuck." Min-gi sighed, letting his head rest in his hands. "This is weird, isn't it? I barely know you."

"Nah, I just thought that, if we're going to have a slightly drunk chat in the back of a gay bar, then we should know each other's names. I'm Eryn, and you?" Eryn stuck out her hand, the many bracelets she wore on her wrist clanking together. 

Min chuckled a little, then took her hand and shook it. Her dark skin was warm, which was surprising, since this part of the bar was near freezing. "Min-gi. But you can call me Min." 

"Awesome. So, tell me about it, Min." Eryn tightened her ponytail, leaning forward on her arms. 

"Tell you what about it? There's so many things that I could say." He was so caught up in this gay crisis stuff that he hadn't even considered stopping for a moment to really think about it.

Eryn shrugged. "Whatever you want to say. Get stuff off your chest, just let it out, if you want to. There's like, nobody else back here. Doesn't really matter, right? I'm not judgy." 

"Okay...well, he has a girlfriend, first of all; has had many of them. So he's not into dudes." Min crossed his arms. 

"Hey, he could still be. Just because he dates women doesn't mean he's straight. Could still be into guys. Don't give up hope just yet, okay?" Eryn laced her fingers together, as if she was planning something. The dark lighting of the bar didn't help anything.

“Damn,” Min rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t know you could like both.”

Not without laughing at him first, Eryn started to explain. "Oh, wow, you really are new to this, huh?" She chuckled a little more, shaking her head. “That’s okay. There’s a lot of different ways to love people, you just gotta figure out what works for you. Oh, also; it isn’t just both. There’s the genderqueer people, too, don’t forget about them!” She smiled. 

Min didn’t quite know what genderqueer meant, but he figured he could find out later. He was asking too many questions already. "Damn...how do you know all of this? I only realized I was, er, gay, like six months ago."  Min marveled at her, the same way a nerd at school would marvel at the 'cool kids.' And honestly, she really looked like one, with her ponytail and undercut, her yellow, patched leather jacket, even the flashy jewelry she wore.

It made Min want to start dressing differently. Dressing cooler, like Ryan, like Eryn. Maybe he could.

Eryn grinned wider. "Oh, you know. It's just things you pick up along the way. I've known that I'm lesbian for a long time, since I was like 11. And I'm 21 now, so that's a long time. Lots of experience." She shuffled a little in her seat, taking another drink of beer. "Anyway. We're getting off track, aren't we? Keep talking, man." 

Min laughed, a real laugh. "Okay, okay. A year ago, we, er…" He reached desperately for an explanation for the train, but decided that, just maybe, he could tell her. Really, the worst that she could think of him is that he's a drug user. "Can I tell you something? It's going to sound absolutely insane, probably, but I just. Need to tell someone." 

She looked concerned, her dark brown eyes wide, but nodded anyway. "That's real ominous. But sure, go for it."

"Okay. So. Stick with me, here. A year ago, him and I got on a train, right? But then, there was another train door within the train. We just...went into the door. Well, the bastard threw my keys into it and then ran in, so how could I not follow?" Eryn was looking at him intently like she understood. Min could tell he was pretty drunk by now; he'd never be able to open up to someone this much sober. But that's okay. More than okay, really. 

"It gets even weirder from then on. Ryan- that's his name, by the way- and I woke up on a giant, infinie train in the middle of nowhere. Gotta be pretty unbelievable, though. You probably think I'm on drugs." Min sighed.

Eryn was silent for a moment, but it was obvious she was getting ready to explode. "Dude, no fucking way!" Yep, there it was. "I got on that train! When I was eleven. I was super conflicted on my sexuality, had a shit ton of internalized homophobia as a result of having homophobic family. I felt like a disgusting person. So I got on the train, and it actually helped me through it." She'd completely lit up when Min mentioned the train. Looked like she was going to grab him by the shoulders and shake him. 

For a moment, Min was speechless. Soon, though, he regained his voice. "You're kidding," was all he could muster.

"Nope." Eryn's grin nearly reached her ears. "Did you have someone to help you along, too? There was a white cat named Samantha for me. She was French, for some reason. But I miss her." 

"Oh! Yeah, Ryan and I had a floating, talking bell named Kez. Weird, right?. I miss her, too. Wonder how she's doing." Min thought for a second, completely and utterly relieved to have met someone else to share an experience with. Then something clicked. "Hold on...I might have met this cat you speak of. Yellow eyes? Uh, blonde...hair?" 

"Blonde hair? Well, she didn't have that. But yeah, yellow eyes, French accent." Eryn nodded. They were silent for a moment. 

Min chuckled, suddenly getting the urge to continue on with their story. Telling someone about the train would feel wonderful. "We had a lot of...issues...regarding our friendship, at the time. That's why the train picked us up in the first place." He fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "The train did help us. But we had a lot of weirdly intimate moments on it, and that's where my sexuality crisis started. Like, there was a car where we had to perform a song with each other to get out of it, and of course I got stage fright right before it. I left him alone on stage. Again." Min paused, the guilt almost making him feel like he was living through that moment again. 

Eryn nudged him. "And? That doesn't sound intimate. What happened next?" 

"I hid in the bathroom. So he came in, and at first he was angry, but I was having a full on anxiety attack. We sat in the bathtub, hip to hip, knee to knee. It was weird, but nice. He helped me calm down. And like...in our last year of Highschool, I gave him a shirt with our band name on it. In that bath tub, he had it with him. He kept it. Said he'd never done a show without it." Min laughed, but there wasn't much humor about it. "Man, I wanted to kiss him so bad right then and there. But I didn't." 

Eryn had a soft look in her eyes. "I dunno about you, but that sounds pretty damn gay to me. Maybe he's just dating other people to distract himself from his crush on you, who knows! All I'm trying to say is, don't give up on this, Min. You two have something going on, I don't know what, but it could blossom into a relationship." She patted him on the shoulder, then took another drink of her beer. 

Min did the same. "What if he's not gay?" His voice was small. "Worse, what if he's homophobic? I don't know...fuck, it's terrifying. I could lose him because I'm gay." 

"Well," Eryn paused for a moment, "you could try and subtly bring it into conversation. Maybe, like, bring up a celebrity who's gay. See his reaction." She gestured with her hands a lot, Min noticed. 

Min nodded. It seemed simple in theory, but he knew he'd manage to fuck it up somehow. The logical part of his brain knew Ryan wouldn't leave him for being gay, but at the same time, there was this voice in the back of his head. Irrational thoughts, irrational fears; that's all it spoke of. 

"Thank you. Really. It's been nice to talk about this, especially with someone who's been on the train. That thing is...a freak of nature. Maybe not even nature, I don't know. I'll try that with him, too." Min said finally, after some silence. Eryn laughed. 

"Yeah, it absolutely is." She smiled widely. Eryn glanced around, her eyes finally landing on the only visible clock in this part of the bar. Her eyes widened. "Shit, I should really get going! Sorry. I told my girlfriend I'd be back around now." She, out of nowhere, gave Min a hug. It'd been a while since he'd hugged anyone, he realized, and it felt nice. Although, very unexpected. 

Min hugged her back, sort of awkwardly. They separated soon after.

"That's okay. Again...thank you, so much. I should get young too." By now, it was almost 11 pm, and he figured he should leave as well. Ryan should be back at their apartment soon enough. 

Min was about to turn and leave, but Eryn stopped him.

"Hey! How about we exchange phone numbers? This was a good chat, eh? I'd like to stay in contact." Eryn searched her pockets for a pen and some paper, but only found a marker. "Can I, like, write it on your arm and you can do the same?"

Min knew Ryan would tease him over it, but oh, well, he made a new friend. "Yeah, that's fine." He laughed, offering her his arm. She quickly scribbled her number on it, and honestly, it was barely legible. But he could read it, somewhat. 

He then wrote his number on her arm, they exchanged goodbyes, and were on their way. Min dreaded returning to Ryan, who would definitely start to go on and on about his girlfriend, and just prove to make Min feel worse about his stupid crush.

But maybe, just maybe, Eryn was right. Maybe things would finally go his way for once. 

•••

Min's walk home was quiet (as quiet as New York can be at night) and cold, it being the middle of November. Snow was just beginning to fall. Being outside Eryn's words stuck in his head like glue. Talk to him. As if he could do that. The idea of even just mentioning anything close to being gay made anxiety rise in his throat like bile. 

He couldn't. Probably.

Before he could think much more on it, he was home. Home. Back to the decent one bedroom apartment they'd scraped up all of the money in their pockets to buy. Back to the scent of cigarette smoke in the air, back to the strange stains on the carpet in the hallway. Most importantly, back to Ryan. No matter how much resentment Min-gi might hold to him for having a girlfriend, Ryan usually made things better. 

He walked up the stairs and down the hall to apartment number 202, ironically. Unlocked and opened the door to find it dark inside save for a single lamp. Min walked in, curious, just to find Ryan curled up in the fetal position on the sofa. That really made him anxious.

"Hey...Ryan? You good, man?" Min sat on the empty portion of the sofa, near his head. 

Ryan stirred, rolling over onto his back. His head was resting a bit on Min's thigh, and it felt kind of nice. 

"I dunno…" He mumbled. "She broke up with me." 

"What?" Min looked down at Ryan, surprised. "Lisa? You're kidding." 

"Nope, not kidding." Ryan laced his fingers together over his stomach. "The thing is...I'm like, kind of relieved that she did it? How fucked up is that?"  

Min tilted his head in confusion. He really wanted to run his hand through Ryan's hair, but that was a really inappropriate thought for the moment. 

"She, uh...said some things. When she broke up with me." He sighed. "Called me a fag." Ryan laughed, like he found it funny. Min didn't. 

"Dude, what? Why?" Min's voice was a little shaky, for no other reason than that they were talking about gay people. 

Ryan sighed. "Take a good look at us, Min." He brought his forearm up to cover his eyes. "We're two dudes, living in a one bedroom apartment together. We do everything together. Of course she's gonna think there's something going on." 

Min felt like he was going to fucking disintegrate. "U-Uh...and that's a bad thing?"

"I mean...no. It just kind of clicked that...maybe she's right. Maybe I am gay." Ryan sat up, his back facing towards Min. He didn't look back. " I always assumed that I'd be straight, but this...it makes sense. None of my relationships have ever worked out. With women." 

Min reached out and gently touched his shoulder. "Ryan...it's okay." 

Ryan looked back, now, and his eyes were watery. Min frowned.

“How could it be okay?” His voice cracked as he spoke. “It’s just another reason for people to hate me. For my parents to hate me. Hell, maybe even you.” By the time that he finished talking, his voice was almost inaudible. 

"No!" Min almost shouted, jolting forward. "No. Ryan, I could never hate you." Fuck, how was he supposed to tell Ryan he's gay now? Part of him wanted to shout it out impulsively, but the other part, it just wanted to keep hiding. Because what if something goes wrong? What if Ryan's in love with someone else? All what ifs. He really needed to stop. 

Min inhaled deeply. Here goes. "This is gonna sound really coincidental, but...I'm gay too." 

Quickly, Ryan turned around to face Min. His eyes were wide behind his glasses. 

"What? No fucking way. You're kidding." Ryan was leaning forward, using his fists to prop him up. 

Min shook his head. "No...I'm not. I was gonna tell you soon anyway, but now seemed like a good time." He scratched his head awkwardly.

Then, Ryan launched at him, hugging him. Arms wrapped around his neck, knees touching Min's thighs, the whole package. Min was sure he'd die with how flushed his face was; but thankfully, he didn't. 

After what felt like a while, Ryan finally spoke. 

"I love you." He mumbled into Min's shoulder. 

Min paused. "In a gay way, or…?" 

Ryan laughed. "Yeah, you idiot." He shook his head in amusement. 

"Good. That's...great." He hugged Ryan tighter, finally letting himself run his fingers through his hair. It was soft, just like he expected. "I love you too." 

[pitch-pearl-void]

Hi! I love your work! Do you take requests? If so, would you mind doing something like maybe Skulker is looking for Phantom so in the middle of the day he comes to find Fenton to use him as bait while he's in the middle of class? And the class' reaction, because holy crap Fenton knows a ghost, and Phantom coming to save him? If not, that's totally fine, too!

I love the idea! I may have gotten a little carried away...whoops ^-^’ I focused more on Fenton and his classmates than on the romance, but I hope you’ll like it!

A paper football smacked directly into Fenton’s neck. Fenton cringed and gritted his teeth. In the desk behind him, he heard Dash snicker and the dull smack of two hands connecting as he high-fived Kwan. Mr. Lancer continued droning on about Shakespeare’s career, too passionate to notice Dash’s behavior—assuming he would care. He would probably just see it as another form of punishment for Fenton’s actions.

Not punishment for taking too many bathroom breaks or arriving late to class, though. No, Fenton’s days as a misbehaved student were supposed to be over, brought to an end by his and Phantom’s separation. He no longer needed to escape class to fight ghosts. He no longer needed to think about ghosts at all.

In theory…

Avoiding ghosts might have worked if Fenton could just stop thinking about his other half. 

For weeks after they had separated, they had barely spoken, but then Fenton had to go and open his big mouth, invite Phantom to play a round on his video game, driven by some instinct or by some longing he couldn’t put a name to. Phantom was just…he was his missing half. Being around him felt right. It wasn’t that crazy that Fenton had missed him, right? That they had stayed up nearly all night talking, playing, and joking? That Phantom visited almost every night, that they were rebuilding something new between them?

There was just so much to talk about, so many things to share, so many things to experience together in ways they never had as one. A month had passed with the two of them growing closer, and Fenton was losing his mind, he was sure of it.

What else but madness would have made him meet Phantom’s kiss with one of his own?

He had gotten caught texting Phantom. There was just so much they needed to figure out about what they were feeling… Lancer had confiscated his phone and moved Fenton to the front of the class where Lancer could “keep an eye on him.”

A fourth football landed without Lancer’s eye seeing a thing.

Fenton groaned and dropped his forehead onto the desk.

“Head up, Mr. Fenton,” Mr. Lancer ordered without looking.

Amazing, Fenton thought irritably as he lifted his head. He knows and sees everything except—

An invisible hand seized Fenton’s wrist, cold metal plates painfully squeezing his arm. He drew in a sharp breath. Before he could call out a warning, the ghost flew above his desk, lifting Fenton by his arm until they were at eye-level several feet from the ground.

Skulker, fully visible now, grinned viciously at Fenton’s stunned face.

“Crime and Punishment!” Mr. Lancer yelped.

The other students jumped from their seats, screaming. They ran for the door, but Skulker activated something by flicking the fingers of his free hand, and green electric bars sprang up in front of the door and the windows. The students cried out in fear and backed away from the bars. Fenton grabbed the arm holding his wrist and tried to pull himself up or at least relieve the strain on his shoulder and wrist. He grunted, kicked his feet, but he couldn’t manage a chin-up one-handed. He could barely do them with two.

“A bit overkill,” Skulker mused aloud, staring at Fenton’s classmates, “I have my bait, I don’t need hostages, but perhaps one of you lot can perform a service for me.”

“Skulker,” Fenton growled under his breath, trying to slip his voice underneath the fearful screams and yelling so he would only be heard by Skulker, “what the heck are you doing? You know I’m not half-ghost anymore, let me go.”

Skulker laughed, a cruel, creepy sound due to the robotic speakers and the natural echo in his voice. Fenton’s classmates shrank back from him. “You now serve a new purpose for me, whelp.” He swung Fenton by his wrist, Fenton’s legs swinging freely, and then, before Fenton could squeak a protest, he tossed him.

Fenton cried out and tried uselessly to activate powers that were no longer there. It took five seconds. Five seconds of falling before he landed on the cement floor. 

Air burst from his lungs. Pain and shock exploded from his back. He tried gasping in a breath, but his lungs didn’t seem to be working. He choked before managing a ragged inhale.

Skulker’s boot pressed down on his chest before he could roll over and curl into a ball. Fenton groaned, his back screaming, but he wrapped his fingers around the boot and tried to shove it off. He couldn’t. Without ghost powers, he was too weak. He was too disoriented. Had he hit his head? He thought his back took the full brunt of his fall, but his head might have bounced back.

Add super healing to the list of powers I wish I had right now, he thought woozily.

He had never hurt so much during a ghost fight, not even when he had been thrown through buildings. He had made craters in pavement and climbed out of the pit with only a sore shoulder. If this was the sort of dangers full humans faced during every ghost attack…

No wonder they always ran away.

Except Sam and Tucker… Fenton pried his eyes open and turned his head toward his classmates, desperately searching for the friends he knew wouldn’t be there. They shared a math class with Valerie during final period. Skulker must have waited until Fenton was isolated from any other ghost hunter who could help. But why?

“Where is your communications device?” Skulker asked him.

Fenton turned his head and blinked stupidly up at him. “What?”

“Your…” Skulker snapped his fingers together as he searched for the word he needed, “rectangular device. Phone. Phone! Yes, that was it. Where is your phone, whelp?”

Fenton tipped his head back and looked toward Lancer’s desk. It was probably there somewhere, but…he could see Mr. Lancer and a few of his classmates huddling behind the desk. He lowered his chin and looked incredulously up at Skulker again. “That’s why you’re attacking me? My phone? What the hell do you need my phone for?”

“Dude,” one of the jocks, Brad, hissed. “What the fuck are you doing, Fenton? Shut up and do what he says!”

Skulker snorted—or mimicked one, anyway. “Better do as the other whelps advise, child. You’re a great deal more delicate without your powers.”

Fenton hissed in a breath, but his classmates would hopefully miss the implication—if he spoke fast enough and gave them something else to think about. “Tell me what you want my phone for, first.”

Brad groaned.

“He’s a dead man,” Kwan whispered.

“To contact your ghost half, why else?” Skulker said disdainfully.

Fenton wanted to scream. “I don’t have one!” he said, the words almost tripping over each other as they rushed from his mouth.

“What?” Skulker’s menacing tone softened into something almost civil. “A phone? You don’t have a phone? Perhaps I can make one for you. I understand these devices are important to human development. And it would serve my purposes to be able to reach one ghost child through the other.”

“Stop—Damn it, Skulker! I don’t have a ghost half!” Fenton tipped his chin up and raised his voice. “I am one hundred percent human!”

“Oh yes, now,” Skulker grumbled bitterly. “You two have cheated me of a unique specimen.”

“Wow, sorry,” Fenton deadpanned.

“What the fuck are they talking about?” Dash demanded. He tried to whisper it, but his high-pitched voice easily carried his words to Fenton and Skulker. “What the hell is a ghost half? Why is that robot ghost after Fenton?”

Fenton glared pointedly up at Skulker, trying to communicate a silent “look what you did” reprimand, but Skulker only moved his head in a way that made Fenton think the tiny ghost inside it was rolling his eyes. A blade shot out of the armor’s wrist. Skulker touched the flat side to Fenton’s cheek, and Fenton drew in a breath, the cold touch of the blade spreading throughout his body.

“Your phone, whelp,” Skulker said, once again sounding menacing. A few of Danny’s classmates wailed in terror.

Fenton snapped, “I don’t have it!”

Skulker twisted the blade, the edge pressing into Fenton’s cheek. “Last chance, whelp.”

“Wait!” Lancer stood from behind his desk. Paulina and a couple other students stood with him, looking petrified. “Stop, stop!” He lifted Fenton’s phone above his head. “I have it! You can have it if you release him.”

“No, I don’t think I will.” Skulker blade moved away from Fenton’s cheek, however, allowing Fenton to breathe a little easier. “Awaken it for me.” Skulker’s false lips spread into a wicked grin. “We shall be making a little phone call…”

Fenton narrowed his eyes.

“Uhh…” Lancer began, uncertainly. “It’s, uh, it’s asking for some sort of password?”

“His password is numerical!” Mikey called from within the crowd of students clustered around the door. “A pin! Seven-eight-nine-zero.”

“Hey!” Fenton cried. “How do you know that?”

“You have other things to worry about, Fenton!” Kwan reminded him pointedly.

Lancer typed in the pin number and then stared down at the phone like he was facing down a complex puzzle. “How, uh, do I make a phone call on this thing?”

“Oh here!” Paulina snatched the phone from Lancer’s hands. “You just press the little phone icon, see?” She glanced up at Skulker and seemed to shrink in on herself, her confidence faltering. Fenton couldn’t really blame her. He remembered being terrified of Skulker the first few times he had met him too. “Um, what’s the phone number?”

“Child?” Skulker nudged Fenton’s cheek with the flat of his blade again.

Fenton kept his head turned toward Paulina and glared at Skulker from the corner of his eyes. “What?”

“The phone number, human child.”

Fenton snorted. “You haven’t said what you want to call him for yet.”

“Isn’t it obvious?”

“Spell it out for me.”

“In my efforts to study my prey’s habits, I have noticed the two of you getting…” Skulker tilted his head, “closer, shall we say? You have been spending a great deal of time together, lately. I don’t know how far things have gotten, but the signs of a ghost in love are fairly obvious. That is a weakness I can use. You are a weakness. Once he knows I have you, my prey will come to me.”

“You should change your name to Stalker,” Fenton grumbled, blushing.

The blush worsened as his classmates made little “ohhh” sounds of dawning understanding.

“Fenton has a ghost boyfriend,” Mikey said, his laugh too strained to be natural. “That must be what they mean by ghost half!!”

“Idiot,” Kwan groaned. “If this ghost doesn’t kill him, his parents are going to.”

Dash cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted, “Hey, Fenton, maybe you should dump your kinky ghost boyfriend before you get the rest of us killed over it!”

“Oh, fuck you!” Fenton shouted back, turning into the blade in order to glare at his classmates. “We’re not dating! We just kind of—He just…it’s complicated!"

Skulker snapped, “Whelp!” and turned Fenton’s head with the blade until Fenton’s glare had resettled on the ghost. “His phone number. Now!”

“No!” Fenton snapped back. “Forget it! I’m not going to let you use me as bait so you can—”

He cut off with a shriek of pain as the point of Skulker’s blade sliced across his cheek. Hot blood gushed from the wound and spilled toward his ear. He writhed under Skulkers boot and reached up to cover the wound, but Skulker’s blade slapped his hands away. Fenton’s classmates were screaming again, the tentative calm Fenton’s behavior had inspired shattered by the sight of so much blood. Tears streamed from Fenton’s eyes. Skulker slapped his hands away again before he could touch his face.

“You!” the hunter pointed at Paulina who quailed and shrank into Lancer. He protectively wrapped his arms around her. “Those devices can capture photos, can they not? Take a picture of this and send it to my prey as well.”

Paulina, trembling, shrieked, “I don’t know the number!”

Skulker looked down pointedly at Fenton. “Shall I give you a matching gash on your other cheek or will you cooperate for once, whelp?”

Fenton glared up at him and gritted his teeth against the pain.

“Look through his contacts!” Mikey shouted.

“Stop—” Fenton gasped in pain as speaking stretched the wound in his cheek. “—Stop helping him!”

“We’re not helping him we’re helping you, you suicidal maniac!” Dash shouted back.

Paulina’s hands shook as she maneuvered through Fenton’s phone. “What would the contact be? What—what do—h-how will I know which one is…?”

“He was texting someone during class,” Lancer said quickly. “That may be your best bet.”

“Mr. Lancer!” Fenton protested.

“Alright!” Paulina nearly sobbed. “Alright, I got it!” She pressed the phone to her ear, and Fenton squirmed under Skulker’s boot.

“Paulina, don’t!” he pleaded. “He’s just going to spring Skulker’s trap!”

“Hello?” Paulina gasped into Fenton’s phone, apparently ignoring Fenton. “Are you Danny’s ghost boyfriend, er ghost half? Yes, my name is Paulina, you have to come quick, there’s a ghost here!” Fresh tears escaped her eyes. “I don’t know his name!”

Skulker grinned. “He’ll know me once you take our picture.” He nudged Fenton’s chin with his blade, forcing his head to turn toward Paulina so his right cheek rested on the floor and the wound on his left cheek was exposed to the air. “Behave, child. Let him see the injury.”

“Uh, hold on,” Paulina told Phantom, “he wants me to take a picture…I don’t know! I’m just doing what I’m told!”

Fenton glared at Skulker from the corner of his eyes as best he could. “You’re a real piece of work, you know that?”

“I know.” Skulker grinned viciously down at him. “It’s part of the fun.”

Fenton heard the camera on his phone make an artificial shutter sound and clenched his jaw, the wound on his cheek shrieking.

“O-okay,” Paulina stuttered. “I’m sending it.” She pressed the phone to her ear again. “Did you get it yet? Danny’s bleeding really bad. If you can find Danny Phantom, tell him we need his help!”

Skulker tipped back his head and laughed. “Yes! Tell Phantom to come at once!”

“Oh!” Paulina exclaimed. “You got it? Yeah, it’s a lot of blood, but—” Her expression froze. Her eyebrows furrowed and she pulled the phone away from her ear so she could glare at it. “He hung up on me!”

Skulker chortled. “Excellent! He will rush over here at his fastest speed, don’t you think, human whelp?”

“Probably,” Fenton bit out through his clenched teeth.

Skulker removed his boot from Fenton’s chest, and Fenton didn’t waste any time rolling onto his stomach. He frantically pushed himself onto his hands and feet and scrambled toward his classmates huddled by the door. They backed away from him like he had some sort of disease. Skulker fired something at him—a net—and Fenton crashed to the ground again. He screamed his frustration and struggled against the ropes. Kicking. Pulling. Twisting.

“Damn it!” he howled.

Skulker laughed delightedly at his efforts. He stomped toward Fenton, his mechanical boots making hissing, clicking noises as he approached. “I see you are as fierce as ever, whelp.” He grabbed ahold of the net and lifted Fenton into the air. Fenton hissed as his weight caused the thin ropes to bite into his skin. “But woefully weak. I wonder…if I tied to you to your other half, would you slow him down?” His grin grew more vicious. “That would make for an interesting game.”

Fenton wiggled in the net, trying to get comfortable as he glared at Skulker. “You’ll have to catch him first.”

“It’s only a matter of time, now. His protective instincts and weakness for you shall be his downfall this day.”

Fenton growled through his teeth and kicked Skulker’s chest as best he could through the net.

Skulker snorted. “That tickled…”

“Are you guys sure this was a good idea?” Nathan asked anxiously. “I mean, inviting another ghost here? Isn’t that just going to result in this classroom turning into a battlefield?”

Fenton’s classmates murmured uneasily to each other.

“Not if Phantom gets here first,” Dash declared, his voice only trembling slightly. “He beat this ghost before! He can do it again, no problem!”

“Would you like to tell them, or shall I?” Skulker asked Fenton in an almost conversational tone.

Fenton scowled at him and slumped in his unwelcome hammock. All of his and Phantom’s efforts to keep whatever was building between them secret until they could figure things out for themselves had just been shattered by Skulker’s attack. “Fine,” he grumbled. “Go ahead. They’ll find out when he gets here, anyway…”

Skulker threw his arms outward, Fenton and his net swinging from his fist. Fenton hissed his name in complaint, but Skulker ignored him. “I am Skulker!” Skulker declared in a ringing voice they probably heard from several classrooms down. “The greatest hunter in all the realms! I have vowed to capture the ghost child known as Danny Phantom, and now thanks to all of you and Phantom’s other half…” Skulker raised the net and grinned victoriously at Fenton’s scowling face, “my prey is at this moment speeding toward my trap…”

The quiet that fell over Fenton’s classmates was deafening, tension adding an oppressive pressure to the air so that it felt like Fenton was suffocating.

It was broken by Paulina.

“No!” she screamed. Fenton flinched, assuming her reaction had to do with him and Phantom’s feelings for each other, but Paulina proved him wrong as she fumbled with Fenton’s phone. “No, no, no!” She pressed the phone to her ear. “Pick up, pick up, pick up! Don’t come here, Ghost Boy! Don’t come!”

Skulker laughed. “It’s far too late for that! I have studied my prey well. His temper is always at its most irrational when one he cares for has been harmed.”

Fenton pushed against the confines of his net again. “You bastard,” he growled.

“It’s just Fenton,” Dash said weakly. “Phantom wouldn’t risk everything just for Fenton, would he?”

“But Danny is his ‘other half,’” Mikey pointed out. “That’s what the robot called them. It might be a ghost thing? Danny could be special to him.”

“What, like soulmates?” Kwan asked, sounding almost intrigued.

“It’s Fenton!” Dash gestured at Fenton’s hunched form inside the net. “Just look at him! There’s no way he could be Phantom’s…other half. Soulmate. Thing. No!”

Others murmured their assent.

Fenton groaned. “I can’t decide if being called Phantom’s soulmate is better or worse than the alternative,” he whispered.

“Better,” Skulker whispered back. He lifted his other arm and stared at the screen on his wrist, only partially listening to the humans. “It’s far more amusing.”

“Yeah, for you.”

“Excuse me?” Amanda shoved Dash’s shoulder and pointed at Fenton. “Danny can’t be Phantom’s soulmate?’ Who here has been acting like a total badass? Who just bantered with a ghost while they were threatening him? Who got his cheek slashed because he was trying to be a hero? Like, uh, hello? Are you guys blind? They’re practically the same person!”

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Fenton groaned.

Skulker chortled.

“Fenton is nothing like Phantom!” Dash objected, sounding offended.

Fenton struggled in his net and searched the classroom for signs of Skulker’s trap. The only thing Skulker had activated were the glowing bars in front of the door and windows, but that was just to keep the humans trapped in the room, wasn’t it? That was why they only blocked physical exits and not the walls or ceiling.

Fenton narrowed his eyes. None of his classmates had actually touched the bars, they had only backed away from them. Skulker might have used the bars for the fear factor, not as a true barrier, and if that were the case, it made sense for them to only block the door and windows. He only needed to stop the humans from getting or receiving help.

“Hey!” Fenton shouted. “Someone run through those bars and get Sam and Tucker!”

His classmates stared incredulously at him. None of them moved an inch.

“It’s far too late for that as well,” Skulker said gleefully. “My prize shall be here in five, four, three, two…” he paused dramatically, “one.”

Phantom flew through the ceiling, his hands already coated with green energy. His head jerked left and right as his eyes searched the room, coming to a stop on Fenton in his net. His eyes widened and his jaw clenched. Fenton swore. His classmates shouted, some cheering Phantom’s name, others screaming for him to run, but Phantom’s eyes narrowed and he looked too pissed to think about running.

“Skulker,” he growled, his glare moving toward Skulker, “let him go.”

“That would be counterproductive.” Skulker lifted Fenton in his net and gave it a little wiggle. Fenton grimaced as he swayed. Phantom’s gaze jerked back to him. Something dropped to the floor, but Phantom’s eyes had become fixated on Fenton again. “If you want him, Ghost Child, come and get him.”

Phantom bared his teeth.

“Don’t do it!” Dash shouted.

Phantom shot forward, one fist pulled back for a truly epic punch. Skulker floated back a few steps, and as soon as Phantom flew over the space where they had been standing, a beam of light shot up from a small cube on the floor. Phantom’s eyes widened. Fenton didn’t understand until a vortex began to pull Phantom down into the cube.

“The Fenton Thermos,” Fenton gasped.

“Inspired by it,” Skulker corrected. “I have endured the indignity often enough to replicate its effects.”

Phantom fought against the pull, struggling to fly out of its range, but the cube floated off the ground and followed his movements. The tip of his spectral tail touched the cube, and in moments it sucked him in completely.

“Phantom!” Fenton and his classmates shouted. He struggled against his net, pulling on the ropes and kicking his feet outward.

Skulker laughed his triumph as he walked toward the cube. Fenton stared in horror at the little black box, his chest aching. Phantom had been captured because of him. It wasn’t over, not by a long shot, but…it wasn’t looking good. Skulker bent down and picked up the cube. He looked between it and Fenton, a wide, vicious grin splitting his face.

Fenton glared at him. “What?”

“How long has it been, human child?” Skulker asked him. “Two years?”

“Just about,” Fenton mumbled.

“It has been a long hunt…”

It’s not over yet, Fenton thought. He tried fitting his fist through the gaps between ropes, but it was no good. The holes were too small. “You cheated!”

Skulker’s eyes narrowed. “Cheated?”

“Cheated!” Fenton repeated.

“I baited and set a trap!”

“You cheated!” Fenton looked at his classmates. They were muttering and staring at the black cube in Skulker’s hands like they had just witnessed something impossible. “Right, guys? He cheated!”

They stared back at Danny with haunted eyes until Dash surged forward, pointing angrily at Skulker, and shouted, “Cheater!”

Starr gasped and exclaimed. “Yes! Cheater!” Her voice took on a practiced tone, and she chanted, “Cheat-er, cheat-er!” until the rest of the class caught on and began to chant it with her.

“I did not cheat!” Skulker yelled, offended, but the class continued chanting. He growled viciously, growing increasingly infuriated by the witnesses to his victory calling foul. It was exactly the kind of pride snatching maneuver Fenton had hoped for, and he waited anxiously to see if Skulker would take the bait.

He did.

“FINE!” Skulker roared. He lifted his arm higher and glared at Fenton as the other students quieted and shrank back from him. “I shall give you and your other half one last chance, whelp.” Slowly, he spread his metal lips apart in an angry grin. “I believe you know how this game is played. Let’s see how well Phantom can keep you alive when he’s tethered to you.”

Fenton sucked in a breath. It wasn’t unexpected, given Skulker’s previous comments, but all the same it was frightening, being hunted. He looked at his classmates. They were his only chance to leave a message, and he shouted, frantic, “Tell Valerie!” before electricity arced through the net into his body. He screamed, arching his back, before everything went mercifully black.

 I would absolutely love to continue this as an actual short story. Like, you’ve all heard of “Danny’s classmates taking a field trip into the Ghost Zone,” now get ready for “Danny’s classmates leading a rescue attempt into the Ghost Zone to free Phantom and his other half/boyfriend Danny!” Ahh it would be so much fun. Valerie would place herself in charge (because she’s actually been through this before, and because she won’t say why they all assume its because she once dated Phantom too which pisses her off) and she and Sam would butt heads a bit on what to do. Tucker would 100% brag about how much he knows about the GZ to Dash and friends like “yeah, that’s right, I’m a badass” but they’re all still reeling over the idea Phantom is 1) gay 2) dating Fento-loser.

Phantom and Fenton, meanwhile, are doing their best to stay alive on Skulker’s island while also dealing with the romantic tension between them.

I would absolutely love it. I have no idea how I would pull it off. Action scenes are my weak point, and I’m not entirely sure how I would sneak all these kids past the Fenton parents, if Jack and Maddie should even be told, if Lancer should go with the kids, or even if they could all fit in the Specter Speeder. RIP my idea lol. I think I might put it up on Ao3 just as a potential story some day? I’m not sure. It needs work, but I made leavemyelevator-alone wait long enough for this prompt lol

[kurowrites]

“You’re a tea-lover yet you come to the coffee shop where I work at just to see my foam art and you give me hefty tips regularly so I’ve taken it upon myself to master the art of tea-making just for you” AU. - Wangxian for preference!

“Hey, Xianxian,” Luo Qingyang whispered, poking Wei Ying with her pointy elbow. “He’s here again.”

She didn’t have to elaborate who ‘he’ was – the person in question was already sitting down at his usual table, in full view of the counter Wei Ying and Luo Qingyang were standing behind.

This customer had become somewhat of a fixture in their shop lately. All the people who worked there knew him by now, for two different reasons. The first reason was that the man was simply insanely good-looking, with handsome, harmonious features and well-formed, sensual lips that some women would be willing to kill for. He always wore well-tailored clothing that looked expensive in an understated way, which only served to underline his immaculate looks. The only thing that marred his good looks was that he never smiled and rarely spoke.

The second reason why everyone knew him was that he always ordered a coffee with latte art, but only from Wei Ying. There were some customers that made it a habit to order from their favourite barista, but it was strange for this particular customer, since he never actually seemed to enjoy drinking the coffee he’d ordered. Wei Ying had often wondered why he still insisted on ordering Wei Ying’s coffee’s if he didn’t like the coffee that Wei Ying made. Or why he came to a shop that served nothing but coffee, at all.

(Self-punishment? Harassment? Wei Ying refused to be intimidated.)

In short, the man was an enigma. But he was a handsome enigma, so all the girls in the shop went crazy over him whenever he came. All girls apart from Luo Qingyang, that was. She alone seemed to be completely immune to the customer’s good looks. But then, she was also immune to Wei Ying’s charms, so maybe she just disliked handsome men on principle.

“Xianxian, stop gawking like the embarrassment that you are and go take his order!” Luo Qingyang hissed in his ear, jabbing her pointy elbow into his ribs once more. “It’s not like he lets anyone else take his order!”

“Ouch, Mianmian, you’re so cruel!” Wei Ying complained, rubbing his smarting side. “I’m going, I’m going! There’s no hurry, it’s not like we’re busy right now.”

Luo Qingyang gave him a stern look and he hurriedly took off, making his way to the now occupied table.

“Hello,” he greeted with his friendliest customer smile. “What can I bring you today? The usual?”

The customer sent him a slightly confused look (as if Wei Ying wouldn’t remember his order by now, hello), but then he nodded once.

“Hn.”

“Very well, I’ll be right back.”

He turned around and went back to the counter. But today, instead of heading directly for the coffee machine to prepare the order, he opened one of the cupboards where he had prepared a surprise just for today. Well, he had hoped he’d get to use it today, but he hadn’t known if the customer really was going to visit. And indeed, he had been lucky.

He pulled a small tea set out of the cupboard and started to heat up the water and prepare the tea, just as he had practiced a dozen times at home. His movements were confident by now – he was sure he was going to prepare a really good cup of tea. Maybe not perfect, but good. And because he was unable to make any latte art as he usually would, he had prepared something else. He put the prepared cup of tea on a saucer and placed a little chocolate rabbit (self-made, of course) onto the rim of the saucer as decoration.

Luo Qingyang gave him a strange look, but he ignored her. He needed to move before the tea would go cold. Putting his creation onto a tray, he carefully carried his work to the waiting customer. With a flourish, he set the saucer onto the table in front of the customer and presented his work proudly.

All he got in return, however, was a severe frown.

“It’s good tea, I promise,” Wei Ying said encouragingly. “I can’t say I’m perfect, but I’m confident in the quality of the tea. And since I think you liked my little foam rabbits, have a little chocolate rabbit as decoration as a replacement.”

“I did not order tea,” the customer said, severe frown still in place.

“I know, I know,” Wei Ying reassured him nervously. “But uh… you never actually seemed to enjoy drinking the coffee that I make. I don’t want to make my customers suffer through my drinks, you know. And well, if I’m not entirely mistaken, then you’re the nephew of Gongfu cha master Lan Qiren. I thought that tea, rather than coffee, might be more your… thing.”

Lan Zhan (Wei Ying was relatively sure that that was his name) did not reply. He just kept staring at the cup in silence.

“I’m sorry if I overstepped,” Wei Ying said, suddenly feeling very nervous. How had he ever thought this was a good idea? Of course he’d overstepped. This wasn’t what the customer had ordered. Whatever he might feel about Lan Zhan not enjoying the coffee he brewed, it was none of his business.  He had to do what the customer asked him to. “If you want, I’ll bring you your coffee now. Free of charge, of course.”

“Nn.”

“Excuse me?”

“This establishment does not serve tea,” Lan Zhan observed.

“No, usually not,” Wei Ying said, clutching at his tray as if it could provide him with security. “I brought my own stuff to work. Oh! I made sure everything is in order, of course. I properly cleaned everything beforehand, and the tea is fresh.”

Lan Zhan didn’t visibly react to Wei Ying’s words. Instead, his attention seemed to be focused on the little chocolate rabbit next to the teacup, the one that Wei Ying had painstakingly modelled and decorated in order to make it look as cute as one of his foam art rabbits. Carefully, Lan Zhan reached out and touched the rabbit with the tip of his finger.

“You… made it?” Lan Zhan asked.

“Yeah! Took me a while to figure it out, not gonna lie, hahaha,” Wei Ying said. “It’s cute, though, no?”

“Hn,” Lan Zhan confirmed, and a big smile spread over Wei Ying’s face. Lan Zhan thought his little rabbit was cute!

Lan Zhan finally peeled his eyes away from the rabbit and looked up at Wei Ying.

“I like tea,” he enunciated. “I also like rabbits.”

Wei Ying smiled, feeling way too relieved for getting away with switching up a customer’s order without asking. But he didn’t care! Lan Zhan liked his surprise!

“So, what made you order all those coffees that you didn’t like?” Wei Ying asked, a little teasingly. “Don’t tell me the foam rabbits I make were cute enough to make you drink all that bitter bean juice in exchange?”

Lan Zhan looked back down on the tea in front of him.

“Hn,” he said, and before Wei Ying could ask what exactly he meant, Lan Zhan had lifted the cup to his mouth and was sipping on the tea.  

“It is good,” he declared once he had set the cup down again.

“If you want to,” Wei Ying said eagerly. “I’ll make tea for you from now own. But shhh.” He conspiratorially held a finger to his lips. “Don’t tell the others. I’m not sure my boss is going to like it if I supply the customers with anything other than bitter bean juice.”

Lan Zhan looked up at him, and Wei Ying’s heart beat a little faster. Lan Zhan really was very handsome. Especially from up close. Such pretty eyes that almost seemed to smile at him. He could drown in them, almost.

“I know a very good tearoom,” Lan Zhan said, and Wei Ying tilted his head, confused at the non-sequitur. Was he trying to gently refuse Wei Ying’s offer?

“If you like tea, we should go there,” Lan Zhan continued. “When you’re… not working.”

Wait, what?

Wei Ying gaped at Lan Zhan, speechless.

Wait, was this– shit, was this– He was familiar with the concept, because it sometimes happened to his female coworkers, but this couldn’t– there was no way–

“Forgive me,” Lan Zhan said, already reaching for his wallet. “I overstepped. I will–”

“NO!” Wei Ying shouted, just barely managing to hold himself back from latching onto Lan Zhan’s arm at the last moment. “I mean… sure. I can give you my number. If you want.”

Whatever it was that happened the next moment, there was no way Wei Ying’s poor heart could have been prepared for it. Lan Zhan’s mouth did something small, an almost imperceptible curving of his lips, but it transformed his entire expression, and… he was smiling.

Oh god, he was smiling at Wei Ying.

With a thundering heart, Wei Ying smiled back. Oh god, this was impossible. This… wow. He would do a lot of things to get smiled at like that again.

“I… give me a second. I need something to write.”

And with his still thundering heart, he ran back to the counter to grab a pen.

Luo Qingyang gave him a flat look as he rifled through their weird collection of mostly broken pens.

“Listen, I’m glad you two finally got your heads out of your asses, but can you please remember you’re still working right now?” she asked. “I’m not going to do your work just so you can make heart eyes at loverboy over there.”

“He’s not–”

“Sure he isn’t,” Luo Qingyang cut in. “That’s also why he only ever looks at you whenever he visits. Give him your number and go back to work, it’s upsetting having to watch you two being shy maidens at each other. It’s nauseating, is what it is.”

“Wait, Mianmian, so you think–”

Luo Qingyang gave him a slap on the back of his head. “The answer is yes, now go give him your number and get it over it.”

Wei Ying peered over the counter curiously, and he found Lan Zhan watching him. When he smiled, Lan Zhan answered with a matching almost-smile.

Oh, Wei Ying’s heart was going to stop any minute now. No wonder Lan Zhan never smiled. It was an actual health risk. He was doing humanity a great service.

“Dammit, stop it already!” Luo Qingyang hissed, and pushed him out from behind the counter.

He wouldn’t stop, Wei Ying thought giddily as he approached Lan Zhan’s table with his number in hand.

He wouldn’t stop, he thought as he placed the paper into Lan Zhan’s hand, their fingers brushing against each other in a way that certainly wasn’t a casual, appropriate touch.

He wouldn’t stop, he thought as Lan Zhan looked up at him with a slight flush in his cheeks.

And after all, he had just started.

He would make it up to Mianmian later.

[prodtrouver]

➾ The Criminal Who Loved

All he could do is run, hide, and live. He couldn't go to the town and always hid himself. After such accusation were made, the only person who could clear him is his brother, but he isn't there for him. What if a criminal finds a fairy who doesn't know him? What if he learns to love? Only for him to fear that will be taken away.

Pairing: runaway prince!Mark Lee x half fairy fem!reader

Other characters: mentions of Fairy!Renjun, Elf! Yeonjun and Huening Kai, Prince!Jeno, Baker!Haechan,

Genre/warnings: angst, fluff, running away, mentions of poison, mentions of traps,

No. of Words: 4.3k

The day felt longer than it was. The woods are quiet today which calmed you. The clouds that covered the blue sky, the strong breeze that was weakened by the tall trees; it was a long but peaceful day so far.

The flowers were gently plucked out from the ground to your basket. Your touch was so gentle, the other fairies found it amusing they couldn't feel it.

"Y/n! What do you think of today? Won't you go to the town?" A purple fairy sat on your shoulder. A soft smile on your lips as you softly shook your head. You gave her a dandelion,

"I have more important things to finish. I have no business in town," you softly spoke. You stood from the ground and begin to head back to your fellow fairies who took care of you.

Yes, you're a fairy, a half at least. You were trusted in their care, full of hopes you will protect them because you're one of the two who are human sized.

"Y/n is back! Y/n is back!" A tiny young fairy fled to you. Her small figure around your figure as you gently out the basket down for them.

"Yes, I'm back... Where is Renjun?" You asked, instantly while distracted, they pointed their fingers to the direction where the other is. You smiled, stood, and fixed your dress. "I will be back."

You searched for Renjun, the second fairy who protects the rest. The boy's pretty eyes are glued to the cloudy sky. He's the fairy who paints the skies, the truth to the saying of their world: 'Gods or Deities are responsible for the colors of the sky.'

"Why is Painter Fairy staring at his masterpiece today?" Immediately, he turned around to face you. A slightly serious expression on his pretty face.

"Y/n, there is this boy in this woods. He found the old cabin of your father. He lives there now," he said. Your eyes widen; A boy? Living in the cabin you grew up in?

"Who is this boy, Renjun? Is he bad?" You asked, your nervousness seen yet mostly covered by your courage.

"No, he is not. I could tell he is accused of something. Fear not, I will be here if you confront him." He patted your shoulder. You softly nodded your head, your heartbeat was rapid from the thoughts. Is the boy dangerous? Renjun said he could tell he was accused, what could it be?

"Y/n, you know what to do when you need me.",

You watched from a far as the boy exited the cabin. He combed his hazel hair with his hand as he sat on the stairs of the cabin. He looked at the dead leaves on the ground, his eyes glued there while his expression showed a troubled expression.

He stood on his feet again, he looked around, but your presence remained unknown to him. He returned inside the cabin and locked the door. You moved away from the tree and closer to the cabin. The boy was handsome, almost like a prince.

The way the sun glistened on his face. His shiveled hazel hair that reached his eyes lashes. He looked like a normal human and from his aura that you could feel, he is one. You placed your hand on the cabin wall but something else reflected light on your face.

You turned your head on the side, only to see a sheathed sword. You felt your heart freeze then you heard the door open.

There you are, standing in front of the human boy who looked surprised to see you. He glanced at his sword before he looked at you again. Immediately and by instincts, you backed away. Your figure was shaking and it was visible to his eyes.

"Do you... Live in this cabin?" He asked softly, and made sure you won't be terrified of him. However, he doubted that you live in the cabin for there was dust everywhere when he found it.

You, on the other hand, was still shaking. Your hand stayed close to your chest as you were ready to call Renjun for help. He observed your figure, you had h/c that matched your eyes. You looked magical yet mysterious to his vision.

"I won't hurt you, I swear," he said and moved a but closer. "Do you live in this cabin?" He asked and you nodded. His expression showed how surprised he is... He didn't expect that...

"But not anymore," you said with the left over courage you had. The more you stare at him, the more gentle he looks. You hoped he could say his name faster and as if he could read your mind-,

"My name is Mark Lee, I won't hurt you, don't worry.... Unless, you're one of them." He softly glared which made you take a step back. Judging from you acted just now, you aren't. Anyway, he knows his kingdom doesn't accept female guards nor assassins.

"Are you harmful? What's your objective? What are you doing here?" You asked but he just stared at you. "That's none of your business," he coldly said before he gets inside.

You know curiosity could be bad sometimes but the further you observe Mark, the more perks you notice of him.

The way he scrunched his nose when he couldn't do anything in one try or the way he clapped his hands when he successfully did something difficult. He's a funny and dorky boy, not to mention the way he treated animals is gentle as well.

You sat on the tree branch, your eyes glued on the boy who's feeding baby squirrels. You were surprised, amused with how beautiful the land has become when he came.

The dead leaves are gone, the pond beside the cabin looked cleaner. Flowers of different kinds are even blooming around the cabin. You never knew you would see this sight again of your old home.

However, other than his dorky side, he looks strong and cautious. You found it weird how he looks around every hour as if he's being hunted. You feel attached with the boy, even if it has only been days since you first talked to him.

"How is watching the boy, y/n?" An elf climbed in your shoulder and sat down. You gave him a sliced apple you have before you looked at Mark again.

"He isn't harmful, he takes care of the area very well. The animals loves him too," you smiled and the elf squinted his eyes.

"Don't be too distracted, y/n! He might be dangerous! Maybe, he knows you're watching, and acts nice, so you will think he's not dangero-,"

"Oh, quiet, Yeonjun. If he knew I'm watching then I'm pretty sure he would've talked to me or stopped me already. Therefore, do not overthink," you spat and left the tiny elf pouty and speechless.

"Maybe you should talk to him, y/n!" Another elf showed themself, this time he had a purple hat while Elf Yeonjun had orange.

"Should I?" You asked Elf Huening Kai who nodded. Yeonjun pulled your hair and shouted a 'no'.

"I think the boy there needs someone to be friends with!"

"I think the boy there deserves to be left alone!" Yeonjun said, grumpier from your words earlier. The two elves countinued to bicker while you take matters in your feet.

"Hold tight, little ones," you said and you begin to fidget. They immediately held onto your hair while you jumped down the tall tree. The elves screamed in fear, both afraid of heights while you kept a smile on your face.

As soon as your feet hit the leafy ground, Mark turned around. The surprised boy stared at you as he wondered where you came from.

"Y/n! Don't do that!!" He heard a voice from your shoulders. You chuckled and carefully get off the two elves who were shaking. You placed them on the wood railings of your old cabin while you looked at Mark.

"I'm impressed, you managed to make this lifeless are blossom again!" You said, you sweet smile distracted Mark from his wonders for a split second.

"Ah, yeah- wait, how did you- where did you come from?" He asked, his shocked expression still in his face. Quietly, you pointed at the tall tree where you sat.

"EH- You wouldn't be able to survive that fall!" Mark shouted and caused you to flinch.

"Hey, you big man! Yes, she can because our precious y/n is a half fairy! She can land on her feet like a cat!" Yeonjun pointed at Mark who looked even more shocked.

"Wow... Elves are real or is it a potion you drank?" Mark leaned closer to look at the 2 elves. Instantly, Yeonjun tried to punch his eye with his tiny fist but he was stopped by Huening Kai.

"I'm sorry, he can be feisty," the other elf apologizes while Yeonjun tries to get out of his grip. You sigh which caught his Mark's attention.

"I apologize for the little elf's behalf. Despite his small figure, he is pretty feisty. The gods made the right choice of making him an elf." You said and glared at Yeonjun who looked defeated.

Mark just laughed, still fascinated by the elves and you? A half fairy? He never even knew they exist until now.

"May I come in? I missed this place," you asked boldly, even though it's unknown where you got this confidence from. Mark thought for a few seconds but remembered, the cabin used to be your home.

"Sure,"

"Y/n! We're going with you!" Yeonjun shouted, only to be flicked on the forehead by you. Elf Huening Kai tried to hold his laughter while Yeonjun stayed pouty.

"I'll be back," you said and followed Mark inside the cabin. The cabin isn't really small but it isn't really big either. It was a decent size for a small family. She was in awe, it felt like she was living her past memories once more.

Mostly everything is still the same but certain things have been moved. Mark's gaze followed you as you looked around. The strings of his heart were pulled when a smile appeared in your pink lips.

You looked so happy and relieved, he didn't want to ruin it by calling your name. You mentioned you once lived there, you must have missed the cabin.

Now, he begins to wonder- do you know? Do you have an idea who he even is? Do you know what he did that caused him to stay here? He didn't want you to know, he didn't want to danger you nor your kind.

"Can I go upstairs?" You asked and he nodded. You immediately head upstairs while Mark stayed.

"Hey, you big man! Who are you? Where did you come from!?" He looked down to see Elf Yeonjun and Huening Kai behind him, trying to stop the older from speaking further.

"Yeonjun, stop it!" Huening Kai held the elf's arm. Mark kneeled down to look at the elves.

"I'm a runaway," Mark admitted, and this surprised the elves. Yeonjun stopped moving and Huening Kai's grip became lighter.

"I'm a runaway from the kingdom," he said once more. Yeonjun took a step back and shielded Huening Kai. Fear on the elf's face as he remembered what his fellow elf told him once.

"Are you the runaway who tried to poiso-,"

"Mark! Thank you for letting me in," you went back downstairs. You halted your steps in confusion when you saw the Yeonjun cowering in fear and a confused Huening Kai behind him.

"What's going on?" You asked, Mark shook his head as he quickly looked away.

"No problem, however, I think it's better if you three head back. Night is about to come, it might be too dangerous for you." Mark smiled and passed by you as he head to the bedroom upstairs.

You nodded, although he couldn't see you. He gently places Yeonjun and Huening Kai on your shoulders.

"Why do you look scared, Yeonjun?" You asked but he only shook his head.

"I saw a giant spider behind Mark earlier, so I got scared!" Yeonjun believably lied which made Huening Kai believe in him too.

Shortly, you left the area and head back home.

You walked down the busy streets of the town. A basket on your arm as you head to your favorite bakery. However, on your way there, you saw a few castle guards asking the townspeople.

"Excuse me, young miss," you flinched. You looked to your side, only to see a castle guard.

"Have you see the first prince?" The guard showed you a paper. A paper with Mark Lee drawn below the word: wanted.

Your eyes quickly scanned through the whole paper. Words like 'first prince' or 'attempted to poison the king' or 'ran away'... They all shocked you. Is that what Renjun meant? Is he accused or really did this?

"No, I did not but may I keep the flyer, sir?" You asked softly. Your heart shattering with the news but you didn't understand why. You watched Mark for days and he didn't seem harmful. You needed to know the answer. The guard accepted your request and gave you the flyer.

"Thank You," you mumbled and began to walk away. You forget about the bread, you want to talk to Mark about the truth.

You went back to the woods, away from the guards, away from the town, and on your way to find Mark. The trip took time but you were determined to get the truth out.

You felt your surroundings stop when you saw Mark. He looked so happy when he fed the baby squirrels and the way he chuckled when a parrot sat on his head. You asked yourself again: did he really try to do that?

"Mark," you called him from behind. He turned to face you, a smile on his lips while you looked sad and confused.

"Mark, did you... Did you really try to poison... Poison the king?" You asked, your voice as soft as a whisper. Mark stood still, his smile disappeared from his lips, and it was replaced with a frown.

"You really think I would do that?" He asked, the bowl on his palm was still full of bird seeds.

"I-I don't know, Mark... I barely know you..." You said and Mark slowly walked towards you.

"I was accused, y/n. I don't want to kill my own father. I was accused because they saw the bottle in my bedroom. I ran away, y/n... I ran away because I was scared," his frown never seemed to leave his face. You felt your heart break at how weak and broken his voice sounded.

"How should I know... How can you prove to me that you are innocent?" You didn't have the will to take a step back but he stood so close to you. He delicately took your hand and placed it in his chest.

"I saw a book in the bedroom of the cabin. It said that fairies, even half fairies can tell if people are lying by their pulse. If it's uneven, they are lying. Is my pulse uneven, y/n?" He asked which shocked you. You knew that but never got to experience it.

You close your eyes, suddenly, everything felt silent. You could only hear his heartbeat and it didn't feel uneven. Instantly, a relieving wave washed over your worries. You pulled your hand back as you stared at Mark.

"You... You're not lying," you say and Mark let out a soft chuckle.

"Why would I lie?" He said and you hugged him immediately. He was shocked about your actions but tilted his head when you pulled away.

"How are you going to clear your name? You're not even a criminal!" You spat, angrily. A pout on your lips while the frown was back on his face.

"My brother... Lee Jeno could clear my name because he was with me the whole day the incident happened. He helped me run away as well. If there's someone who could clear my name, it is him," Mark said and everything went silent.

The woods strong breeze weakened by the tall trees again. Birds chirped above you both while little animals played on the leafy ground.

You want Mark's name to be cleared, although you don't know why you're suddenly feeling like this.

A week have passed and everything was peaceful. You felt at peace with Mark, even other fairies and elves loved him.

Here you are with him, both sat on the blanket as you played with the animals and fairies around you two. You feel so close with Mark as if he has been your friend for a long time.

Although, it gave you feelings that you've never experienced before. You have read about it and it's the feeling of love.

They say a fairy who is in love could feel how quick their heart beats. They could hear the thumps of their in love heart. Mostly, they definitely feel safer and stronger with them. Although, you never really showed your magic in front of anyone, other than Renjun, and a potion maker.

"Y/n, you said that you used to live in this cabin. Why did you move out?" Mark asked you as he fed the young fox. You frowned and looked away at the horrendous memory that served as your nightmare.

"My mom was caught and my father was killed," you said, able to trust Mark with your past. Mark stiffned as he looked at you. The sad and pitiful expression on your face was heartbroing for him to look at.

"My mom was a fairy, she was trapped by some mere castle servant for the king. My dad chased after her, only to be killed in the process. I never knew what they did to my mother but the fairies could tell her presence is no longer in this world." You told Mark, your heart wrenched at the vision a potion maker once showed you.

The vision of how they trapped your mother and how they killed you father. It was traumatizing and it served a horrible memory to replay after years.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know that. All I knew was that my father hated fairies. I don't know why but my mother told us, brothers that fairies are just found in books. That's why, I never knew they existed," Mark said and gently patted your back for reassurance.

"I'm very sure they are in a place where they could rest peacefully. I am also sure that they are happy of their daughter growing healthy." Mark smiled which caused you to smile as well. You close your eyes and rest your head in his shoulder.

How could you tell him you're in love with a prince? With an accused prince who is known as a criminal? How can you tell your people and Mark Lee that?

"Y/n, if I return back to the castle, will you go with me?" He asked you and you felt your heart stop for a second. You open your eyes and stare at the boy. His warm brown eyes stared into yours as you think of an answer.

"Why should I go with you, Mark? You are a prince, I am a half fairy who has her village to protect." You softly spoke and once again, the dreaded frown appears on his lips.

"You're right... But what if my name never gets cleared?"

"It will be cleared eventually, Mark. People will know the truth," you said as he took your warm hand. Your soft hand grasping his rough ones. He pressed it over his chest.

"I like you, y/n... Ever since I told you the truth, I feel safer with you. I feel happier with you and I'm afraid that might be taken away from me as well." He cries and you feel your body shake. Immediately, you engulfed the boy in a hug.

"I won't be taken away, Mark. I like you too," you whispered and Mark pulled you closer to him. You smiled in his embrace as he caressed your cheeks.

"Fairy Y/n, will you do the honors of being with the oldest prince of the Dream Kingdom?" He stood up and reached his hand out towards you. You laughed and held his hand before you did a small courtesy.

"Of course, Prince Mark,"

It was midnight when you begin to feel weird. The boy was sleeping peacefully beside you, however, you aren't sure if you could stay any longer. You quietly rushed out of the cabin to warn everyone.

You waved your hand, pile of leaves flying a certain direction to call Renjun. You gently knocked on the trees until a bird comes out.

"Check what is coming," you whispered before it flew away. You turn around, whispering to the small animals to hide for their safety. You looked around throughly, in search for a fairy ring you could control.

"Y/n, I'm here- what do you need?" Renjun asked as he stood beside you. You pointed at the direction that was giving you weird feelings.

"I could feel men walking, a group of them but not many," you said as Renjun nodded. He waved his hand, the same thing you did but this time, the wind became stronger. It couldn't be stopped by the tall trees anymore.

He held onto your wrist, not interested in making you fly away.

"Y/n, can you extend the fairy rings?" Renjun asked as he kept the wind at the same strength. You used the rest of your energy for that day to extend the rings.

Suddenly, the bird arrived and stood on your shoulder. It begin to whisper about what it saw.

"Renjun, the guards left and only two are coming. Those 2 are the princes of the kingdom," you said and Renjun sighed. He stopped the strong wind, only to face you. He patted your head,

"I will be near when you need me. I will be watching from above," he stated before jumping on tree to another. The bird quickly fled after him. You stood there, on your guard as you wait for the 2 princes to come... They must be here for Mark.

"Are you y/n?" You jolted your head up and in your sight, you saw them. Both on their tall white horses as you nod their head.

"I'm Jeno and this is my younger brother, Jisung... I heard from a fairy that our older brother is here, may we see him-,"

"No need, I'm here now," you slightly flinched once you heard Mark's deep voice after woken up.

"Mark, we have evidence!" Jisung said, about to take a step until he saw the line of mushrooms in front of him. "A fairy ring, interesting," he leaned down and saw glitters around each mushroom.

"Jisung, don't get distracted now-"

"I know, I know- actually, why won't you tell him the good news?" Jisung smiled as he looked left and right to see where the ring formed. Jeno sighed at the attention span of his brother.

"We got the poison's bottle checked by a witch. The fingerprints on the bottle belonged to a woman elf. The witch also stated that these kinds of poison could only be brewed by witches and wizards." Jeno explained as you look at Mark for any reaction on his face.

"How will you explain this to father and the kingdom? They will think you're only doing this to cover my 'crime' and not everyone believes in witches and wizards. I think, you guys are lucky you even found one," Mark said but you shook your head.

"Witches and wizards are common if you are in the right area. I believe there are witches and wizards in your kingdom as well but kept it hidden." You explained as you remove the fairy ring. Jisung wowed at the magic you pulled while Mark was shook you actually have magic.

You walk towards them before you reached your palm out. The urge to see the bottle of the poison curious you. You feel like you know something that might lead you to the real criminal.

"Can I see the bottle?" You asked and Jeno handed it to you by the neck of the bottle. Your brows furrowed at the sight of the familiar bottle.

"It's woman but definitely not a witch," you returned the bottle. You look by the trees where you saw Renjun watching. You walked by one of the tall trees and knocked on the wood.

"Elf Yeonjun? Yeonjun, are you there?" You said and Yeonjun popped his head out of the small hole. Jeno and Jisung stood there, shocked.

"Yeonjun, do you know where this bottle came from?" Mark asked and showed the small elf the bottle. Immediately, Yeonjun examines the bottle and he nods his head.

"It's a bottle that belonged to the Potionmaker," Yeonjun said as you thanked the elf before he went back to his hole.

"The criminal is a woman but I don't think she's the one who brewed the potion. Anyway, for now, can you clear Mark's name?" You asked and Mark immediately held your hand.

"Clearing my name means coming back to the castle. I don't want to leave you here," Mark said with a sad face. You chuckled and kissed his lips,

"I will be alright, go back home, Mark."

You bid goodbye to the Potionmaker of the woods. His sweet and confused smile stayed on his lips after his explanation of the bottle. The bottle belonged to him but he doesn't remember brewing poison as he swore to never brew one.

It has been days since you saw Mark. You missed his cheerful voice and his loud laughs. You return back to the cabin and laughed when you saw the young fairies playing chase.

You halted your steps when you saw the familiar figure in the kitchen. You dropped the basket and hopped onto his back. He cackled a laugh,

"Missed your prince too much?" He asked and you moved to hug him from the front.

"Far too much..."

"Jeno has settled in with his significant other and he will be coronated as king soon. The king is alright with me living with my love," Mark said and you immediately connected your lips.

Mark smiled and pulled you closer to him.

"I love you, my prince," you whispered and he laughed.

"I was this accused criminal who fell in love with a half fairy. I love you too, my fairy."

[shotofire]

There’s Just Something About Him

•SHOTO TODOROKI x READER

•Overview: having feelings for the icy hot boy just seemed like a lost cause

•Warnings: just some cursing, meantions of anxiety.

•Season: 3

-

You’d always found the split haired boy attractive, but nothing ever went beyond that. It seems that even if you wanted it to nerves would just be in the way. Besides, everyone’s working to become pro-hero’s, who has time for a relationship? With all the shit going on you were almost positive that Todoroki didn’t have you in mind at all. The constant sneak attacks from villains, not knowing when the next person is going to get hurt, it was all too much.

Atleast that’s what you tried to convince yourself. The sweet, quiet boy who’d caught your eye since the first day of school just couldn’t possibly like you. He couldn’t possibly let a thought like that even make it halfway into his head. You’d lost hope a couple months into school, realizing fate definitely wasn’t on your side.

The two of you never got partnered up or even in the same group. It’s as if something is telling you it’s not meant to be. Sure you’d taken your own initiative and made conversation with the boy, but it’s always short lived. He wasn’t the best at talking unless he was on an adrenaline rush during a practice scenario. You had never gotten the luck of him wanting to use your quirks together either.

It truly felt hopeless.

You tried your best not to dwell on these things. If it was meant to be it just would’ve happened by now. Right?

The thoughts left your mind as you walked with your fellow classmates. Today is an exciting day, it was time to move into the new dorms. It took way too much convincing with your family, but eventually they caved in. You knew it’d be hard, they’re just worried about you. At this point the whole world was worried about all of the UA students safety. But everyone can agree that dorms are the safest it can get with all of the new high tech security.

You all stopped, admiring the new tall building in front of you. Knowing Todoroki was going to be in the same building as you every night had your anxiety on edge. But you were also... excited? For what, you had no idea. It was just a swirl of emotions.

Oh no, he’s gonna see my puffy morning eyes.

The happy chatter was cut short when Mr. Aizawa started talking about hero licenses, something that seemed to slip everyone’s minds. He was rather intimidating, eyes stern and serious. It sent a wave of uneasiness throughout the group. He knew the whole class was aware of the plan to save Bakugou, and he wasn’t happy. You stare at him with legs beginning to tremble.

His words cut deep as he threatened the possibility of expelling the entire class. You definitely wouldn’t put it past him, he seems like the type. But, as he said, due to All Might’s retirement the need for hero’s was strong. He couldn’t just get rid of such potential.

You looked at Todoroki’s face and it was frozen, he seemed more worried than anyone else. His heterochromia eyes stayed fixed on Mr. Aizawa, and you couldn’t help but let yourself take in his features. Sure you see the boy almost everyday but it’s hard to get good long looks when you’re sitting in class, he’d easily feel your gaze. There’s already been a couple times where he’s caught you and the embarrassment was too much to handle again.

His jaw was cleanched and sharp as ever. You just loved it. You wondered if it was weird to think about running your slim fingers along the bone of his jaw, it was just so beautiful.

“(y/n), are you even listening to me? Or are you just going to stare at Todoroki?”

In that moment it felt like you were going to throw up. All eyes shot to you, including Todoroki. Mr. Aizawa was a real ass sometimes but this definitely was the worst thing hes ever done to you, and he’d made you fall on your face after taking away your quirk infront of the whole class. That was absolutely nothing compared to this.

“I- uh, I-I wasn’t, I just-“ you were totally at loss for words. You’d never been more embarrassed in your life. The heat on your face was hotter than ever, and you knew it was visible as well.

Mr. Aizawa rolled his eyes, no longer caring about the predicament, “Anyways, that’s all. Look alive, enjoy your new home.”

That statement didn’t help anyone’s nerves after his little intimidation speech, but you had it the worst. Your face was still red and you could feel your heartbeat in your ears. Today was not going the way you hoped, and you didn’t dare even peak at Todoroki. You couldn’t help but think he thought you were weird. A girl he barely talks to constantly staring at him, there’s no way he didn’t think that.

The speech about where the boys and girls were was given, including where everything else was. But you could hardly pay attention focus on anything, and you didn’t dare look up.

It was time to decorate your rooms and make it your own, and you couldn’t be more relieved. Finally away from that embarrassment, even though it was waiting for you on the other side of your closed door.

“damnit,” you cursed. No one was going to forget that and you knew it. And the girls were beyond nosey when it came to crushes, especially Ashido.

After a couple hours of getting things together there was a knock on your door. You immediately froze. It’s like you had forgotten where you were and what had happened for a little bit, but of course you were quickly brought back to reality.

“Who is it?” You asked.

“Its Uraraka, can I come in?”

Shes always the sweetest and you knew she wouldn’t bug you about anything. Especially after seeing the way you reacted. Uraraka always had her suspicions that you found Todoroki cute, your eyes practically lit up everytime he did something.

You granted her permission and continued to put your pillows neatly on the bed. She was in her pj’s but definitely seemed wide awake.

“Oh wow, your room is so cute (y/n)! Nothing compared to mine,” her smile was huge. You just adored her, she always brightened up your mood.

“Thank you so much Uraraka, you’ll have to show me your room later before that is confirmed,” you smiled back.

“Oh course! Actually, speaking of rooms, that’s what I came here for. The girls and I convinced the guys to show us their rooms and we kinda turned it into a little contest. Wanna join?”

Her request was extremely appealing. You immediately wondered what Todoroki’s room looked like, and now was your opportunity to see it. But the nerves were still there, and the embarrassment was even stronger. You just couldn’t face everyone right not, especially Todoroki’s. He probably didn’t want your creep self in there anyways.

“Thanks for asking Uraraka, but i’m very tired. I was just planning on finishing my room and crashing. But I still would like to see your room sometime tomorrow,” you said while trying to hold your smile. But she could see the said frown behind it, but she didn’t want to bother you any further. She could only imagine how she’d react and feel if Mr. Aizawa did that to her. She’d be completely horrified.

“You got it, see you tomorrow (y/n). Sleep well!”

She leaves, shutting the door behind her. Your smile quickly fades and your shoulders fall limp.

I really wish I could see his room, I bet it’s awesome.

In all honestly you figured Todoroki would be relieved you didn’t show. God, class tomorrow was going to be hell. You just knew it, there’s no way you’d be able to focus knowing the whole class knows you’re a freak who can’t keep your eyes off the icy hot boy.

You pushed your thoughts aside, ignoring them to the best of your ability. You attempted to sleep, but the constant stamper of footsteps above you and outside your door was keeping you from the world of dreams. The world where assholes like Mr. Aizawa didn’t completely humiliate you.

Just as sleep started to creep up on you, there was another knock on your door. It was soft, and you immediately knew it wasn’t Uraraka. You sat up in the darkness, reaching for your bedside lamp. It faintly lit the room with a yellow glow, and made a light buzzing noise. You were too tired to speak up and ask who it was, so you forced yourself out of bed.

Maybe it was Momo, she did say she was looking forward to seeing your room. You pushed your wild hair out of your face before opening the door. And when you saw who was standing there a sharp breath immediately got caught in your throat. You let out a light cough.

“Todoroki?” you asked confused. He was all alone, no one with him. The lights in the hallway were out, one could only assume the competition was over and everyone else had gone to bed. Yet here he is, standing before you.

“I wanted to talk to you,” he says as if it’s the most normal thing ever. You didn’t know what to say, he’d never even approached you first. But he can knock on your door late at night to talk to you?

You looked at him in disbelief. In that moment you realized how little you knew about this boy, and how odd this situation was.

“What time is it?” You asked, completely ignoring what he said. He huffed, he knew you’d be difficult. You two may not talk much but he’s good at observing. He knew you more than you’d think.

“Almost 12, not too late. Can I talk to you?” This time he asked, therefore making it harder to avoid.

“Uh, I-In here?” You asked.

You couldn’t help but think he was here to tell you to stop being a creep. He wasn’t interested in you and would really appreciate it if you could stop with the creepy stares.

“Anywhere is fine,” he answers.

At those words, you move aside. Widening the door so that he can come in. The smell of vanilla hit you in the face as he walked past, and his eyes immediately began to observe your room.

Todoroki is in my room... what the actual fuck is going on!?

His hand comes up to point at your wall, “Did you draw those?”

Your eyes dart to the colorful art pinned to your wall.

“Y-Yes.”

The constant stuttering was making you loose your mind. But when your anxiety is this high you can’t manage to think straight. Not even one word can come out without a struggle.

“I like them.”

You swallow, hard. He probably heard it. The room was so quiet without one of you talking, unbearably quiet. Without words the only sound was the faint buzzing of your lamp you’d turned on only a few minutes ago.

“Oh, uh, Thanks,” a blush began to creep onto your face. Your hand came up to cover your face as you looked down. You knew you looked odd in the moment, but it was better than him seeing how much he can effect you so easily.

Todoroki looked at you with sweet eyes, although you couldn’t see them due to your current state. He thought you looked cute right now, all bashful. That’s something he has always liked about you. Your cheeks got red so easily when you were embarrassed, nervous, flustered, even when you were tired.

He noticed these things because you interested him, you always had. You were way too cute and sweet to not catch his attention. He just truly sucked when it came to talking to girls. Especially pretty girls like you.

“I, um,” this time it was Todoroki at a loss for words. He had a plan before he came in, but now as he stood in your room it was much harder to think clearly.

You looked up at him, his hand was raking through his hair. He seemed almost... nervous.

Why the hell would he be nervous?

“I was uh wondering if you, uh, would like to,” he took a deep breath to clear his mind. He was stuttering too much and overthinking, it was just a simple question he was trying to get out.

He locked eyes with you, “Would you like to go grab some food after school tomorrow?”

Your mouth fell open, but you quickly covered it with your hand. There was no way, no damn way.

“You mean, j-just me and you?” You asked, making sure you were  interpretating this correctly.

“Yeah, Yeah,” He nervously laughs, “Like a uh, date.”

Like a what now?

There was absolutely no way this was real, you had to be dreaming.

“is this a joke?” You ask, but you meant to only think it.

His eyes widen and he quickly began waving his hands, “W-What? No, of course not! I really want to go on a date with you, I think it’d be fun. Plus you’re super sweet and pre-“ he stops himself.

C’mon man, you’re gonna scare her off by being too forward.

“Yeah, i’d really like that Todoroki,” your smile was surpressed by your teeth sinking into your bottom lip. At this point you wanted to jump for joy, but you didn’t want to scare this chance away.

“Okay cool, so after school. Tomorrow, you and me,” his nervous laugh comes back, “on a date.”

You can’t help but giggle, you’d never seen Todoroki so nervous before. Not in this way at least. It was one of the cutest things you’d ever seen.

“You got me after school Todoroki,” you giggled again, “You and me on a date.”

And with that, the two of you said your goodbyes, which were a little awkward considering the two of you kept letting nervous laughter slip.

As soon at the door shut, you let out a happy squeal. It didn’t even bother you that he might of heard it, you really didn’t care. You were so overjoyed that nothing could kill your mood.

On the other side of the door Todoroki had the geekiest smile on his face. He walked to his room completely satisfied. He did it, he finally asked the girl he liked on a date.

“Hell yeah,” he whispered to himself.

This definitely was heading in the right direction.