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jodilin65 · 18 years ago

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THURSDAY, APRIL 27, 2006 Summer’s setting in a good 6 weeks earlier than last year, I’m happy to say. I’ve been sleeping without heat for days now. In fact, I’ve been waking up sweating! Although I’ve been sleeping during the daytime since it warmed up, this comforter is much warmer than my old one because satin can’t breathe as well as cotton, so it retains body heat better. I found a shop online that has some cute wind chimes, lighter blankets like the wolf print blanket that’s hanging in the front bedroom window (in fact, they have the same one), and an indoor lavender growing kit. Two of the wind chimes will go out front to replace the two that broke last fall. One’s 20” with roses, the other’s 40” with butterflies. Then there are two really cool indoor chimes. One is sound-activated. I’ll put it in the kitchen for every time that fucking dog goes off, though I’m sure it wouldn’t drown it out completely. The other has a little fountain and is activated by water trickling through it. Although their butterfly print blanket is utterly gorgeous, it’s out of stock and more expensive, so I’ll probably go with the leopard print one for half the cost. The plant, 4 chimes, and blanket should be right around $100. I want to keep the cost as low as I can so I don’t delay Rebecca or other things too long.

Anyway, I was able to turn the living room heater off at 7 AM. It only ran for 7-8 hours last night, and not too often.

Someone was mowing the yard of the house diagonally across from us. I still don’t know what’s up with that place. There’s a chair out front and a wind chime hanging there too, so it makes me think someone may’ve moved in. Incredibly, there are no dogs or kids yet. In fact, no one on this block seems to have kids.

The bees and spiders are up and about now, unfortunately, so I set up the spider traps and had one hell of a scare with Tinkerbell! These are sticky pre-baited traps. I taped one to the living room wall by the door above her reach, as well as on the kitchen door. Then I placed one on the floor behind the toilet, planning not to let her in the bathroom. After letting her out later, I was wondering why she hadn’t come to see me in a while. I called her and she never came to me. Then I heard scuffling sounds while I was standing in Tom’s room and thought, well certainly she couldn’t have gotten in the bathroom and trapped, but she did! Doing my best to keep calm, I gently pried her free. It wasn’t easy either! To say the shit is sticky is an understatement! There’s no way even a huge tarantula could escape it. She squealed a bit but remained calm while I freed her, then washed her paws as best I could. I don’t know how the hell she got in the bathroom. She’s never gotten in there before. I felt just terrible, knowing I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to her, but so far she doesn’t seem at all affected. She was playing with me, eating, and doing her usual thing. I reminded myself that the stuff was meant for bugs, not rodents, but I’ll still worry about her for a couple of days. Even if she didn’t digest anything, I would think her paws would be sore, though she isn’t limping.

Uh-oh. Through the wooden planks of the stockade fence across the street, I can see the dogs. I hope they won’t be living out there till the fall!

When Tom was walking to the store the other day, he said he saw a woman get out of the ugly old white truck we’ve seen before next door, and also the girl I saw on the night they moved in. He said she looked 12, though he knew she had to be older because she was wearing some type of uniform with an ID tag.

I see that Jessie recently joined Classmates but like everyone else, she’s not a premium member. She left no information on herself. If you don’t, people can email you to ask what’s up with you, but I think you both have to be premium members to send/receive mail. So she’s got a computer. Guess I shouldn’t be too surprised. Just about everyone does these days.

I won a couple more Nair samples and an assorted flower basket that I guess a local florist is going to deliver at some point.

I got the red wig and it’s way nice. I prefer dark red over bright fiery red that’s sort of orangey. This one’s a nice, shiny ruby red. I’m amazed at just how shiny it is. It looks cool when the light hits it. I know my least favorite wig is the free blond one, but of the other 3, it’s hard to say which one I like best. The red one’s so shiny, the Cher one’s so long, and the copper one’s so Kate-like, even though her hair was actually dark brown.

TUESDAY, APRIL 25, 2006 It’s warming up and getting noisier. Next door’s been behaving so far, but I couldn’t even listen to my own music till after midnight because someone had to put on a show for a few minutes here and a few minutes there. Having the bass thumping along with my music was thoroughly obnoxious. To think I have to live with these things for another 40 or 50 years makes me want to scream! And they just keep getting louder and louder all the time. When it gets to the point where people’s windows are being shattered regularly, then will someone do something about them??? Is it going to take such extreme shit like that before someone does something???

It’s to be in the 70s by the end of the week. I checked my journal, and according to what I wrote, we didn’t hit the 70s till mid-May last year, so we’re a little ahead of the game this year.

Like every household but us, Tom said they got a grill next door, but it’s on the deck on the other side, so that’s good. He also got my computers hooked to a wireless network so that anytime they feel they have to make their presence known, I can escape to the other room. Tom doesn’t think they will with their house being a good 100 or so feet away and with the way it’s laid out, but we’ll see.

The order from Dragon Tears was a bust. Half the scents smell the same and none are very fresh. No wonder they claim to rarely have problems with the bendejo’s service; because they’re too stupid to take the time to make sure the scents are what they’re supposed to be. Either they just don’t care or not many people bother to let them know the scents aren’t all that kosher. They just end up doing what I’m going to do and not bother ordering from them again.

The coyote's face would be perfect if the nose wasn’t bent. I guess I’ll try to steam it sometime and see if that helps. The fur is beautiful and it’s nice and soft.

My wins are getting pretty pitiful lately. I won a watch and a 1-year subscription to Women & Horses magazine. I’m not sure what the grand prize was I was going for to end up with such a bum win like that, but at least we’ve got some other instant prizes coming that are ok. We’ve both been playing an instant sweep Kodak’s been doing. He won an 8x10 print and a mouse pad, both of which he’s received. He chose an old picture of his dad for the print, and I chose a mannequin picture for the mouse pad that he’s using. I haven’t received my 3 wins yet which are a 5x7 print, an 8x10, and a deck of cards. I used two rat pictures and a squirrel for these things, now all I have to do is hope we win mugs! A puzzle would be nice too, even if it’ll probably only have 50 pieces. But that’s just the thing; I just don’t seem to get the prizes I really want.

Later…

I just went to take some trash out. The dumpster’s half-empty since Miss Fat-n-Filthy doesn’t dump her trash. She just bags it and tosses it outside her door. What’s she going to do when she runs out of room back there? Put them by our door or start filling up our utility room?

Anyway, it’s hard to tell from this angle and distance, but it looks like they have a flowery plant on their porch. That’s what we need – two more wind chimes and a floral plant for our front porch. It’s not a high priority, but maybe we’ll find something. They also appear to have a nice bench swing with an awning like Miss Perfect had. Again, it’s hard to really see it well, but that doesn’t seem very college-kid-like to me. Too comfy, too fancy. I figured they’d eventually end up hanging on the front porch a lot, too. That could get to be a real drag depending on how loud they are and how often they are out there. At least they’re not literally right up against the wall of the house like the duplex assholes! Come to think of it, though, I don’t know just how shaded that deck will really be because that side gets more sun at least until the late afternoon, but they have trees over there, too. I don’t know how well they’ll shade the deck, but we’ll see. I still think they’re all a bunch of misfits on disability or in minor trouble and trying to get their act together before they end up in jail rather than a group home.

THURSDAY, APRIL 20, 2006 Tom shared with me his “bold dream,” and I was like, oh no! Your bold dreams are scarier than mine! And mine are always impossible whether they’re far out or not, while my goals are hit or miss. Well, I doubt it’s possible, but it did sound good once he explained it to me. We haven’t exactly been doing the greatest job of saving money, especially since we’ve been having so much fun shopping. Who could blame us, after all? We so rarely have money like this that after being so broke for so long, it’s hard not to get the things that were just a dream for so long.

The plan is for him to gamble enough horseracing wins to cover the cost of a trailer, which would be 5 grand or more. Then we’d save up enough money to live on for 6 months (we’d have unemployment checks for a while, too), while I won a grand’s worth of stuff to sell once we got down to Cali.

As I told him, saving up 6 months’ worth of living expenses may be reasonable, but gambling enough for a trailer and me winning that much stuff to sell seems unlikely. We may be able to do it, but it’d take 10 years since most of my wins are small. He’s thinking we could do it in just a year or two, but we’ll see. Then again, I’ve won at least 2 or 3 grand worth of stuff already. It’s just that you can’t usually get what things are worth when you try to sell them.

He said that if we could afford a hybrid car right away, there’s this perfect trailer park an hour outside of Sacramento that’s 3,000 feet up. High enough to be above the city smog, but low enough not to get more than a dusting of snow every few years. I’d hate to have even one flake a decade, but an occasional dusting would certainly beat this place any day. He says they only allow one pet per trailer that’s no more than 20 pounds, so you figure they’d get on them about it if it were noisy. They do have kids there, but we don’t have to have them right up against our place, he said. They have play areas designated for them, and as for the younger ones whose mothers would want them to play close by, they group those people together. We’d tell them up front that because I work at home, I would need a quiet section. We also agreed we’d soundproof certain areas of the trailer, which I always thought would be cool to do no matter what. That way I would not only not have to hear from other people, but no one could complain about me for having my own music too loud either.

This is going to be our cheapest day here so far this year. The heat hasn’t run since I got up at 3 PM, and I’m sure it was off for hours beforehand. It’s been hovering at 72º in here, but by midnight I’m sure I’ll want to kick it on for a while.

It’s been an amazingly quiet day, too. When I got up I expected to hear stereos boom by every few minutes, for the dog to be going crazy in back, and for the yard to be swarming with people next door. Instead, the stereos went by a little less often than a few minutes, the dog only took a few barking fits, and I never saw a soul next door. Tom said he saw 3 cars in front when he went to the store and there was a girl of perhaps 12 sitting on the back of one of the trucks, suggesting visitors. I think they’ll have visitors every day. Neither of us saw or heard any dogs, though, so that’s cool. The owners must’ve stuck to their no-pets rule.

Yuck! I swear I smell skunks now. Thank God for Pink Sugar! Whatever trailer park we land in, I sure hope it is livable and tolerable and that we can skip what’s my definition of rural and just go straight to a retirement community. In the West, they determine rural areas by how far they are from big cities, but in the East, it’s determined by how far you are from your neighbors. My demented sister had 11 acres in CT yet she was just minutes from cities of substantial sizes.

The good news is that Tom found out that you only have to be 50 to get into a retirement community down there, but the bad news is that they’d probably want me to be at least 50 as well. So if we left Oregon in two years, that’d be 8 years before we could get in, so this is why I hope to hell we can find a suitable place and skip rural living, knowing all the hardships that come with western rural areas. We don’t want to have to drive an hour to go grocery shopping and we don’t want to deal with wells, shallow or not, or loose dogs running wild on our land which we can’t afford to fence.

Ah, to stay put for 8 or more years! So far this has been just a dream, but maybe, just maybe, we could even stay in the trailer park after I hit 50, though I would think that by then we’d want a nicer place because whatever trailer we get wouldn’t be much nicer than this house. I could easily live in a place like Sun City or Sun Lakes, although it doesn’t have to be that ritzy. I mean, I can’t believe my singing would bother neighbors in houses like that, though I wouldn’t blast the stereo. I may be able to sing nearly as loud as the stereo, not that I have such a shabby voice to listen to, but I have no vibrating bass in my voice as the stereo does. I’m not like most people, so insecure that she feels she has to get the attention of every single person, stranger or not, that passes by. The only negative to moving to a retirement community if we couldn’t afford a down payment on a house would be that we’d have to rent. However, he’d be 58 when I turned 50, which would mean he’d only have 8 years where the threat of being fired or laid off was present. I guess that as long as the monthly costs weren’t as outrageous as Maricopa and we didn’t have a million-year mortgage, our security shouldn’t be in danger.

Mary’s going to be in for one rude awakening once she gets out and has access to computers if she thinks she’s going to make money at home. I told her not to bother falling for the survey scams and their false promises and said that if everyone could work at home that easily, they would. Work-at-home moms are a big scam right now. They couldn’t do it even if it was totally legit. How much work could they possibly get done with the kid screaming in their ear one minute, needing to be fed or changed the next, having questions to ask, wanting attention, etc.?

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 19, 2006 So far, the kids next door have been seen, but not heard. I did hear a minute’s worth of voices and laughter when I was in the kitchen earlier, but I’m pretty sure it came from across the canal. It was nice today and it’s to be even nicer tomorrow at 68º. Of course attention-getters love it and so between the stereos crashing down the street in front every few minutes and the dog going crazy in back, I put my headphones on to escape it all. Now things are winding down nicely.

When I got up at 2:30, I could see 4 or 5 kids with shovels in front of the house. I started to wonder if they were delinquents. Not criminal delinquents, but in a group home they set up over there for troubled kids since they’re home at that time. Tom pointed out that college kids’ schedules aren’t like regular jobs, and that management probably stressed to them the fact that they’ll need to care for the place.

It just seemed rather odd, all of them working diligently together, even amazing. There’s also the fact that all these kids seem to be in bed by midnight and they don’t blast music from either inside or outside the house. Tom thinks that they probably don’t blast it inside because they all wouldn’t agree on the same kind of music, and that if they do have car stereos, they’re far enough away on the other side of the house that they’d just blend in with all the ones that drive by.

I saw the black dog being led toward the front of the house, but I still can’t believe it lives there. We’d have to have heard it by now if it did. It better not live there! They’d have to chain it to the fence to keep it in the yard anyway.

Tom says he’s seen them hanging out on the deck on the other side and doubts they’ll switch to the yard in the summer since the deck is shaded and right off their kitchen. There’s no entry door on this side, fortunately. Either way, it’s still too soon to know for sure what kind of trouble they may cause.

We canceled our subscription with Netflix, and as far as signing up for the radio for a year goes, I don’t think it’s worth it. Sure the unlimited song-skipping is nice and so is not having commercials and having higher quality music, but you can’t get every single song they have and they’ve been playing less variety since we went premium. Perhaps I’ll just deal with the commercials and limited skip time for free. I can always play my own music files when my monthly limit is up. We got the recorder up and running again so I can snag whatever’s playing.

Since my sweeping’s done and I have nothing more to update on, other than that I ordered the last wig, a $35 21” red wig, and am to save up for the sitting mannequin next, I shall escape to the wonderful world of fantasy and fun and work on my story.

TUESDAY, APRIL 18, 2006 The incense people called to say they were out of cinnamon, so should they replace it? Hold the order till they get more? Or take it off my order? We told them they could replace it with an additional chocolate pack.

I got up today to find the handyman watering the backyard. He appeared to be concentrating mostly on the bushes in back of her place. We thought this was kind of weird since we’ve had enough rain. Besides, we’re coming up on May. It rains 24/7 in May. I wonder if his doing this means he’s going to do the mowing, too.

I hope he got on her about all the trash bags she’s got piled up in back. She’s going to attract ants like hell if she keeps trash back there. No wonder she had mice. I used to think that those that considered fat people to be filthy were just being mean and stereotypical, but I’m finding that this is no joke any more than it is to say that most blacks are mean vindictive assholes. I know what their lame excuse is for why they think they should be the sickos that they are, but just what was it that made fat folks decide they should be filthy?

Anyway, the children next door weren’t heard yet, but they’ve been seen and smelled. The place started smelling a little smoky and when I went and looked, I could see they were burning brush at the back corner of the fence. Typical rude western neighbors – stink up other people’s places, but not their own. If they make a habit of this I’ll tell them, hey buddy, do it up against your place, not ours, though I can’t see them having that much more brush to burn. Also, unlike with past neighbors that have run us out of various places, these people are going to pay with slashed tires and more should they run us out of here and fuck up our plans in any way.

I didn’t see any dogs today, but as always there were lots of cars. Tom pointed out that some may go to school while others work at night. He also said that there’s a possibility that the parents are paying their expenses. That’d be nice because then they’d be more apt to behave.

I love it late at night. Late at night I know I can do my thing in peace. Being on days may keep me from as many wake-up calls and let me be able to sign for any packages that require signatures, but the nights are so tranquil compared to the days. Either way, I sure am going to miss those wonderful 7½ months that next door stood vacant!

MONDAY, APRIL 17, 2006 I went next door to Kim’s out of curiosity and asked if everything was ok. It was shortly after I’d gotten up at noon. It’s a good thing I did too, cuz she’s got a hive in front of her place too, and I asked if she wouldn’t mind us spraying it when we spray ours. She said that’d be fine, so I’ll have Tom check the eaves of both places, though I don’t imagine he could check her right side. That’s pretty much in the old lady’s yard next door. Anyway, the driveway was littered with half a dozen or so pieces of trash that may’ve blown in but are more likely to be hers. Also, she had like half a dozen black trash bags stacked up just beyond the gate. Has she just been too lazy to drag them to the dumpster? I’d say her place was a shed rather than a garage. There didn’t appear to ever have been a door large enough for a car, and it’s angled too far in back of our place for a car to drive through. Looking over at next door I realized she was going to have to deal with it too, if they set up a circus of any kind in the yard.

Anyway, she said that after spending hours trying to fix the toilet, the handyman fixed it in just two minutes.

I was up late last night but never saw the blue truck return. That is, until today. It’s now parked in front of a lighter-colored truck that was there when I got up. There’s got to be 6 vehicles over there right now. No barking or music yet, though I did see a black dog run into the yard, then turn around and dash back out. I do not like the idea of people bringing their dogs over every day, and obviously they’re going to be home all the time like all our neighbors always are.

When Tom got in he told me he saw an ambulance over there on his way to work, but couldn’t tell what was going on. Some kid probably panicked over being away from home for the first time, he says.

What I wonder is – who’s going to pay their expenses if they’re going to be home all the time? Are they all on disability or something?

We took pictures of ourselves standing next to the mannequin, and I swear I’ve aged 10 years in the last 5 years! Boy, do I look bad! And there’s no way I’m in the 120s. I’m definitely in the mid-130s. Oh well. As long as I don’t have one health problem after another I’ll be ok. I’d rather be fat, old and ugly 24/7 than sick, injured or depressed half the time. My only thing right now besides my ear, which has been somewhat better overall, is that I’m waiting on my two-week period to begin any minute. I don’t think it’s that my ear has gotten better so much as it’s a case of me building up a tolerance for it.

I hit a Kodak instant win and got a deck of customized playing cards. I chose a picture of Little Buddy wandering around the Maricopa house. Since it allowed multiple people per household, Tom played too, and won a mouse pad. I chose one of Ashley’s pictures for that.

SUNDAY, APRIL 16, 2006 We just met our very ugly and very large yet seemingly nice neighbor Kim. Her toilet’s clogged up so she knocked and asked to use ours. Fortunately, the rat was in the kitchen and out of sight, but she doesn’t seem like the type who’d say anything. She left a message for the maintenance guy about the toilet, but being Easter Sunday, she probably won’t get anyone to help her till tomorrow, which means she’s going to have to piss and shit in buckets tonight. She said it’s been clogged since this morning.

Meanwhile, I told her I hoped she stays put and that she’s been the only decent neighbor we’ve had in years. She said she was in an apartment for 5 years, hated it, and that this place isn’t so bad. I still don’t see how they can even fit a bathroom and kitchen in that tiny room of hers. Anyway, I said that I understood what a nightmare apartments are and she said she tries to be quiet and I told her I try to keep the music down. She doesn’t get to door-slamming nearly as much as the dog across the canal gets to barking these days.

As for our other neighbors, they’ve still been okay, though they had me worried for a minute there. When Tom was coming back from doing laundry before I got up, a young guy was with a medium-large brown and white dog. Only the guy was outside the fence while the dog was inside the fence and the gate was wide open. Given the way everyone takes their dogs everywhere, we think it may’ve been a visitor with his dog, helping them get moved in some more. With the gate being open on both ends, there’s no way they could contain any dogs over there anyway unless they tied it to the fence. Well, I not only hope they don’t go getting any dogs of their own, I hope visitors don’t constantly bring dogs over either. As young as they are, they’re bound to have company just about every day. Anyway, we haven’t seen any dogs since and there’s been no music yet. We did see a guy walk to the back corner of the yard with a box, then back again, which was sort of weird. It was also weird that Quest was over there with it being a Sunday and especially Easter. The truck’s been gone all day, too. When he went to the store earlier he said there were 3 vehicles on the other side. I’m still not ready to say the neighbor curse has been broken, but it’s looking good so far.

We seem to have dropped the sex again, which doesn’t surprise me. It’s just fine with me too, since all I got out of it was pain and we both got zero orgasms.

SATURDAY, APRIL 15, 2006 Well, I’m a redhead, sort of. The 5 or 6 inches of regrowth I’ve got since dying my hair 10 months ago is bright red, but the rest is dark auburn, almost brown. It’s funny because it looks like my natural color is bright fiery red and that the auburn/brown is what I dyed it. I always said that blond was my least favorite hair color, but perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to have since it’d cover so much easier.

Tom went to Fred’s today where he got two boxes of dye with coupons and other stuff to take care of the pending bugs and spiders. We got flying insect tape, spider traps, bombs and beehive killer for the hive that’s under the front eave of the house.

They didn’t have Natural Black dye, but he said they had shiny black. If the damn company had their color list online complete, I’d have told him to get Shiny Black, but instead he got Chocolate Velvet. This means my hair will be a lot like my natural color. Tom likes that best, but I prefer black or red.

The jail’s fucking with me again. I sent 2 envelopes to Mary, each with 2 sheets of pictures and a letter. The first one has already been returned saying the pictures must be 5x7, but I swear they’re not larger than that! I think they’re just fucking with me cuz I’ve done time too, and they always try to discourage contact between two current/past inmates, and this was the perfect excuse to do just that. I knew I shouldn’t have bothered and could kick myself for it! Just because we’re not broke at the moment doesn’t mean I need to have our stamps and ink wasted. I could send in pictures that are 1x3 and they’d still find some reason to return them. I re-sent the letters and will just hope for the best. If this gets returned then I can’t write her till she’s released, whenever the hell that may be. I’m starting to wonder if she’s either in denial or being seriously bullshitted as to how much more time she has and beginning to suspect she may have many more years to do in jail and possibly even prison as well. Prison is very different than jail and while it may be more comfortable in some ways, I’d just hate to see her go there and piss off some bitch with a life sentence, no commissary, no visitors and nothing to lose.

As for next door, so far, so good, but I know that means absolutely nothing so far, and that it may take a month or two before they act up.

Since they don’t have any window coverings yet, I could see a teenage girl with straight blond hair to the middle of her back last night, and a young guy in his teens or 20s, walking around at one point, but after the truck backed up, they cut the front light and that was it. All inside lights were out by around 1:00.

We’re suspecting there’s a group of young adults over there, possibly college students. If that’s the case, then they can’t be home 24/7, and while it may be wonderful that there are no dogs or kids, college kids can be pretty damn wild. Come June it wouldn’t surprise me if they partied in the yard and blasted music both inside and out. With my shit luck, they’ll have band practice, too! Tom said that judging by the 1 car he saw in front and the 3 he saw on the other side, he doubts they’d have stereos, but I say that’s an awful lot of young folks not to have any. The blue truck hasn’t moved all day. They’re probably mostly night people. With at least 4 people over there, that means everyone has to pay just $200 a month which would make the ridiculous $800 a month seem like nothing. They probably liked that it was on a corner which would give them more space to park their cars, too.

True to vibed, Tom got a third $20 check from Pepsi, but I sense no more.

FRIDAY, APRIL 14, 2006 Another reason to hate Oregon. We owe nearly $300 in taxes. At least paying it won’t kill us or prevent us from moving when the people moving in next door raise holy hell in the yard. Yeah, it’s been rented. This is right about when I figured it would happen, too. All I’ve seen so far was an older guy in a white SUV and a couple that could be either young or middle-aged who carried in some piece of furniture. The guy took off in the SUV after they hauled the furniture in, leaving them to take off on their own in some other vehicle that was parked on the other side of the house, out of my view. I’m just so glad that house and its driveway aren’t right up against this house and that no dogs are allowed! If any dogs do come in over there I’m going to call the rental company and complain and complain and complain till something’s done about it, and I will not let what happened with the blacks and Mexies scare me out of doing so!

Tom said I shouldn’t jump the gun and assume the worst, but as I reminded him, you know we’re not allowed to have good neighbors. The only reason the lady on the other side isn’t a problem other than car door slamming is that she has no space in which to be a problem in the first place, though God could see to it that she started having company with stereos, or that she moved out and someone with a stereo moved in if He really wanted to. Regardless of who’s over there, they can’t have dogs, they can’t have kids living in that tiny shack, and there’s no basketball hoop on the driveway either.

Anyway, they can scream and blast music in the yard next door, and they can open their doors and windows and throw on their inside stereo when it gets warmer, but at least they can’t be playing basketball just a few feet away anymore than anyone on the other side could.

Tom agreed that if it got to the point where it was too obnoxious for me to work here in the living room which is practically in their yard, then we’ll swap offices. Better yet, we just got a wireless network hook-up also known as Wi-Fi, so I could drag my two PCs into the bedroom and stack up the boxes that are in there in here. But if it’s really, really horrendous, we’ll just move. I don’t know where the hell we’d go, but we do have the means to give notice right away if we had to. This much gives me great comfort as anyone who knows me knows I hate to be trapped by leases, poverty or other means.

Because their back door is on the opposite side of the house and because they have that nice, enclosed deck on that side as well, I’m hoping against hope that they’ll do their daily barbecuing on that side of the house, but I’m sure that whatever kids are over there will be running in and out of the yard on this side every chance they get. With my shit luck, they’ll put up swing sets and kiddy pools there, too. People don’t usually want big yards to act as buffers like we would, they want it for dogs and kids.

I have prayed nearly every day that God spares us from legal, health, financial and neighbor problems, but I’m not yet convinced that He gives a damn whether or not Jodi S is constantly annoyed by rude, selfish, loud unruly neighbors. It’s hard for me to pray for even these simple things because it’s awfully hard to forget just who allowed the horrible experiences I’ve endured in life to happen to me.

Tom doesn’t think we’ll notice they exist 99% of the time, but that’s just my dear optimistic husband for you. So what if there’s a 14-year pattern that says otherwise?

Oh, here’s a blue pickup that just parked along the side now. Tom assures me they won’t park on the side after they’re all moved in and that they’ll park on the other side. I hope so because while the door slamming wouldn’t be like next door, it could get obnoxious depending on how many people are there and how often they come and go. Our place and theirs are the only houses on this street that have a strip of space in front right next to the street to park because the houses are set back slightly further. None of the other houses can park in front unless they want to park on their lawn, and of course, there’s no on-street parking. Whatever the case, I’m sure there’ll be someone home all the time there. We’re also not allowed to have neighbors who work, remember? I see a twin-size mattress. Unless the people are just roommates that spells animal to me right there. Why do the 2-bedrooms always have to go next to the 3-bedrooms?!?!

Later…

The pickup left and just returned. Come to think of it, I’ve been hearing someone’s stereo that’s been parked somewhere around here lately. I wonder if it’s them. I also heard music before I saw that the pickup had returned.

What a pisser. They’re having highs in the 70s in Springfield, but as I always said, New England winters may be colder and snowier, but they don’t last till mid-June. This is the time it typically starts warming up there. They should have highs in the high 60s to low 70s till late May, then have highs in the 80s from June till August, then they’ll have some 90s mixed in with the 80s till September. August was always miserable there, deathly humid.

Later…

The bad news is that the blue pickup does have a stereo. It pulled up alongside here closer to our house so someone else could later pull in behind. It’s too dark now to see who else came in, but they arrived without music or a show of any kind. I haven’t yet heard any dogs, kids or house stereos. I’d bet just about anything that the vehicle that came in quietly doesn’t live here, but the pickup does. As for dogs, if they’re coming, I wouldn’t expect them till they’re completely moved in which I would assume would be sometime over the weekend.

The visitor just left and the pickup backed up closer to the door without any music, so that’s promising. With all the stereos swarming around here, maybe it wasn’t them I heard. Maybe someone with music happened to go by as they pulled up. Time will tell. It’s dogs I’ve got to worry about most. There’s nothing yet to say they didn’t ban the no-pets-allowed rule.

The front light is still on so unless they’re going to make a regular habit of that at night, someone still plans to either come or go.

Thank God for the air cleaner! Yes, basey sounds override it as well as shrilly ones like sirens, but it does a way better job than the fan. With just the fan I’d never get any sleep in the daytime on such a busy street and with her coming and going on the bedroom side.

Parking on the side (which is really the front) shouldn’t be an issue noise-wise, but Tom said that if they do make a regular habit of that, they’ll probably get ticketed. He parks on concrete that’s been designated for parking, but they can only park on a strip of grass and gravel.

I’m glad their living room is also on the other side. That way if they are blasting music, it would be harder to hear over here unless they’ve got the door and windows open.

THURSDAY, APRIL 13, 2006 It hit the low 60s today which is a bit warm for Oregon. I still don’t expect to trade in my sweatpants for shorts before another couple of months, though. The leaves are just starting to bud on the trees.

When I think back to the girl back east who sat alone with no one but losers for friends and who was in touch with an abusive family, it’s hard to believe that person was me! Getting my “family” out of the picture was by far one of the best things I ever did. I’ve never had any regrets since. My life back then consisted of nothing but getting up, going to cash in my food stamps, having to deal with buses and cabs to and from doctor’s appointments in what was usually pretty lousy weather, then coming back home to make prank phone calls, listen to music, drink coffee, smoke cigarettes and fantasize in my journal. It seems that even my worst of times with Tom beats my average times back east simply because I didn’t have a life back east, whereas my worst of times with Tom was still a life.

I got Ashley’s shoes and the Cher wig. They look great on her. I just wish she wasn’t so damn pale! The copper wig looks best of all on her because it matches her eyebrows and goes with her overall coloring best, but to have variety is nice. I’ll get the red wig next week.

Tomorrow I’m making a $35 order at a place that has cheap yet nice stuff. I’m getting a terry robe, a terry dress, and a lotion applicator that should be easier to use than the one I’ve been using with the various attachments. I can use it when Tom’s either asleep or at work. I’d say that the scalp massager is definitely speeding up my hair growth. Pulled straight it’s only 2” from the crack of my ass.

Anyway, the Cher wig is awesome. How I wish I had straight black hair like that, not too thick, not too thin. Instead, I’m stuck with a thick curly brown mane, sprinkled with gray. At least I know I could grow my hair as long as the wig, which comes to the middle of my thighs and just below Ashley’s ass.

What’s really weird is that they said Amazon said Ashley’s shoes would come via UPS, and the wig store said the wig would come via DHL. However, the shoes came by regular mail and the wig came via UPS! Weird. Really weird.

I won an autographed book by Sylvia Kurtz whom I’ve never heard of, and a book from Ebony, though they wouldn’t say what book and I can’t remember the sweep. Ebony is a black site, so I’m sure it’s just about gangs, welfare, drugs, rap music and that sort of shit. Something to add to my sale pile.

They’ve been working on the house diagonally across from us as well as building a porch on the front of the house that’s two houses away in front and to the other side. Fortunately, I haven’t been woken up or distracted from my work. Just a little hammering at times.

We don’t want to get our hopes up, but what Tom said happened at work may be a good thing, not that I still don’t fear they’ll close their doors forever, even though he’s learned that the owners aren’t exactly rich enough to quit working. Well, they had some visitors today from a technical company that orders parts to build various electronics. At first Tom thought they were coming to see if there was any chance they’d shut down for fear of placing an order they’d never get, but the truth is that they’re checking out and deciding who to use for certain parts. Supposedly they have over 400 companies that they use to make parts for them and they want to cut the number of companies in half. So as they told everyone there if they’re on the half that they keep, which I vibe they are, then their work will double. If there’s no hope for another raise or partnership, at least he’ll be doing overtime again, though he enjoyed taking a break from it for a while.

MONDAY, APRIL 10, 2006 Got a letter from Mary. She’s doing well. Keeping busy. She says she got measured at 25-21-26. I hate to break it to her, but that’d be impossible even if she were as short as me. I can maybe see the 21” waist, though I’m sure her waist is at least 23”. Also, she’d have to be dead to have 25” tits and 26” hips. She’s got to be at least 32” or 33” in that department and maybe even higher in the hips. She had 4 kids for God’s sake. I was quite anorexic myself at 5’ measuring 32-23-32, so there’s no way her hips could be that small on a 5’ 3” frame. The skeleton itself has to measure more than that.

We had a hail storm for a while there not too long ago. It’s been mostly in the 40s. They’re saying we should hit the 60s this Thursday.

The dog across the canal has gotten to be a problem again. It starts up at 6 AM on the dot and barks all day long. No one pays any attention to it at all. It’s just left out there to bark its ass off. I don’t see how the owners can stand it but maybe they haven’t been around. This barking is clearly that of a neglected dog calling for attention. I don’t think there’s more than a 15-minute lag between barking fits. And some say God never makes mistakes? Well, somebody sure as hell did when creating the dog! I hate the fucking things! It’s the same old shit that follows us everywhere we go with the only difference being that in some places it’s annoying while it’s downright maddening in others like at the duplex.

We made a botched attempt at intimacy on Saturday till I had to stop him because it hurt. I was surprised, too. I thought it’d be no problem at this point, so maybe I won’t have to fake pain after all. I offered to take care of him, but as always, he had no desire to participate in any way. I still say, what’s the point? What could possibly be in it for him if all he wants to do is get hard, jump in and jump out? And what could be in it for me when I don’t have any lust for him? I think we do much better as friends. If there’s one department we’re totally on the same wavelength in, it’s that one.

There are still a few more programs that need to be loaded up on my computer, but we’re trying out a month of the premium radio. It allows for commercial-free, unlimited song-skipping. It also allows access to download most of their songs.

We went out on Saturday and browsed through some stores while waiting for the pizza place to open. When it took longer to open than we’d have liked we hit the grocery store on our way back with plans to go back to the pizza place today after work. Hopefully, it won’t be jumping with too many unruly kids whose parents don’t care to teach them any manners, so we can eat in peace.

On the way down, we had just crossed the canal which they filled back up when the cops pulled up to ask if we happened to see which way this particular couple went, which we hadn’t. We weren’t paying attention. As long as pigs stick to asking about other people, I can deal with the slimy, corrupt little bastards.

FRIDAY, APRIL 7, 2006 The new bras came and they fit just fine, but talk about a bad win day! I got a book about big businesses, and 4 different predator and alien toys. Tom thinks I’ll have no problems selling it all. We haven’t decided yet when we’re going to have a yard sale or do eBay again. Yard sales are usually a summer thing around here.

Tom got all psyched up yesterday when he first got a message about my winning airline tickets, then totally disappointed when he called back. Yes, the tickets are for real. We could get two tickets for anywhere in the US, but we’d have to drive to the Oregon coast to get them which would take a few hours. There also wouldn’t be any hotel accommodations of any kind either, so we’re not interested. Even if the truck was licensed, the gas money it would take to get the tickets would cost nearly as much as what we got for selling the tickets. I don’t see why they can’t just mail the fucking things to us, but they won’t.

Anyway, I’m still waiting on the Cher wig and Ashley’s shoes. Plus, we ordered incense and the coyote face this morning from Dragon Tears, the site that uses Incense Galore as their supplier.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2006 I won some sci-fi action toy that’s on its way to me. A definite sell item!

We each also won a $25 Visa card, but we won’t get them till several weeks after the promotion ends, which will be around August.

I got my new panties yesterday. Although my hips are now 38” which falls into the category of medium on their size chart, they’re pretty snug. They say that when you’re heavy your clothes don’t fit as well and this is true. Maybe someday I’ll brave the hunger and lose some of this blubber. I really think our scale’s way off. No one carries rolls of fat like this at just 124 pounds no matter how short they are. I’ve got to be in the 130s. I’m currently 38-31-38, so how could I be 124 pounds? It’s just that while I could still lose weight in my early 30s even though it would come right back, by the time I got to my late 30s the weight became virtually impossible to lose! I could lose a few pounds, but I’ve already lost those so-called few pounds, and this is as low as I can go without coming real damn close to starving myself. I just don’t have the metabolism it’d take to lose the 15-20 pounds it’d take to make my clothes fit better. I suppose the sports bras I’m waiting on will be too tight too, though Tom says the undies fit perfectly and that I always think everything’s tight.

MONDAY, APRIL 3, 2006 Well, we did get it on after all, but only for a millisecond. He managed to get in there, and after I told him not to think or assume for me, he goes and does it anyway by saying that he stopped so quickly because he didn’t want me to get irritated, which I assured him I’d let him know if I was. I didn’t say anything, but the real reason he stopped was that he went soft.

I still don’t see the point in having sex that doesn’t get us off. I mean, how can anyone feel fulfilled and satisfied afterward? He’s already made it clear, although not directly, that he has no intentions of cumming and that’s a turn-off to me right there. At the same time, I don’t want him cumming. Not because I fear pregnancy, but because I don’t need the mess. Nonetheless, I don’t see what we expect to get out of it, but I’ll give it a chance for a while and we’ll see. I know it won’t last long anyway.

The scalp massager might be helping to speed up the growth of my hair, but it’s still too soon to say for sure. One thing I do know is that it seems to keep my scalp from getting so oily as fast.

For most of my life, I’ve looked younger than my age and lighter than my actual weight, but not anymore. I think I look a few years older, like 45, and I think I look heavier than 125 pounds. I think I look 140, but at my height, the extra pounds do show, so what’s considered average on a woman of average height is a lot of weight to carry down here at my height. How I feel is more important to me than how I look, or else I’d say that nothing’s more frustrating than doing all the right things to lose weight that I never seem to lose. At least I’m not gaining. That would be something I definitely wouldn’t want to do. As long as I work out regularly and stay between 1000–1500 calories a day, I should stay in the mid-120s. I just try not to deprive myself too much when I get hungry and to eat as soon as I do because the hungrier I get, the harder it is to get rid of.

The canal dog has stopped its barking fits. I don’t know what starts it up or what shuts it up, but I’m just glad that it’s not something we hear most of the time.

Someone was next door today because the upstairs light they had left on for about a week was off.

Tom says he feels I’m getting close to winning big. Well, I sure hope so! Especially since they could let him go tomorrow at work and trouble could move in next door the next day. I’d gladly settle for enough money for even the smallest of dumps in rural Sacramento. Of course, a newer pickup, some furniture and a silicone doll to go with it wouldn’t hurt, but I’d settle for just “getting home.” However, I still say there is no “home” for us, and if there is, it won’t exactly be much more peaceful than the city.

SATURDAY, APRIL 1, 2006 My periods are getting stranger by the minute. I hardly had much of a flow. Just maybe menopause is starting to set in, though I’m still rather young, and I have no hot flashes. Hot flashes are something I could definitely use in this frigid state! It’s April yet it’s snowing and it’s below freezing, too! Another 2½ months to go of winter – argh! I can’t believe some people consider this the high desert, but they do. Ain’t nothing deserty about this place to me! I don’t consider a desert to be a place where it snows and is this cold for this long no matter how dry it may be at times. Some people also consider this town a rural town, but to me it’s just a small town. I don’t consider this rural at all. Too many businesses, too many people, too many houses too close together.

Since I’m not allowed to make money, I do things to try to save it when I’m not blessed with spending it. I started turning down the gas heater in the living room when I go to bed. Then I turn it back up when I get up.

Buying the cones was a big mistake. They totally suck cuz I have a problem keeping them lit! Every other one I light goes out on me. I’m going to stick with sticks or with just pouring oil into the burner or warmer.

I won a coupon for a free half-gallon of Dole’s flavored juices. I love those juices and they’re kind of pricey, too. I also got that Mattel toy. No one who works in Tom’s department has kids, so it’ll just get added to my sale pile.

Every day I fear Tom’s bosses will decide to live the easy life, forget about what their dad started, and close their doors forever, leaving Tom to find a new job. He assures me that unemployment checks will hold us over till he finds a new job and that getting cut back to around $9 an hour wouldn’t be much different than $13 because the less you make, the less they take. Also, he wouldn’t have to pay a buck an hour for insurance. It’s only small businesses such as where he works that makes you do that in Oregon.

This may all be well and good to know, but still, we don’t need it. We don’t need it at all. It would still be enough of a setback for us, even if it didn’t exactly leave us homeless and starving, and it’s exactly something God would do right about now too, is say, “Okay, you guys have had your fun for a while, now I’ll just yank the carpet right out from under your feet and make you start all over again while I get a big old kick out of watching you struggle to pick yourselves back up.”

We might even be forced to license the truck which would cost a couple of hundred bucks a month if he couldn’t get a job close to home.

For now, I’m doing what I said I’d do…enjoying the money while it lasts. I got a hell of a deal for just $30. For an amazing $30 I squeezed in 6 new pairs of panties, 2 new bras, and a pair of gold pumps for Ashley. I just hope they fit as her feet are so narrow. I also hope they hide the toes too since they’re open-toed shoes. I’d have preferred closed-toed ankle pumps, but they were too expensive or were out of her size, which is an 8. I decided to go with gold rather than black or white because gold is sort of in between the two. Also, the style of shoe I chose goes with both dressy and casual attire.

In a $40 separate order, I also got that 40” Cher wig.

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tiikerikani · 5 months ago

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All aboard the time machine

2024 Aug 18 – Utran Uittoareena, Joensuu

Funnily, 2 years ago, on this same mid-August weekend, I also saw Rautiainen on Friday and Vesterinen on Sunday. But that's not the only parallel, as you will soon find out...

The usual shore pic:

I cut short my traditional listen-through of Sorni Nai because I heard music coming over from the theatre already at like 4:15. I went over to the yard there and sat on the usual steps facing the restaurant. Turns out the audio techs were setting up their stuff using tapes from previous performances, which ... really confused me at first.

Regular Groupie drives through the yard at 4:25, followed immediately by Merch Table Guy and Merch Lady. Regular Groupie walks over to me a bit later to say hi (she'd ended up parking the car in the other lot outside). At this point (about 4:45) the band van shows up and the guests who had purchased the pre-show dinner go inside the restaurant.

When I went inside to get my usual mug of coffee, I noticed that there was a stack of paper tickets by the till. So they did exist, despite not having really needed to use them. Anyway, I found out on Friday that they do actually scan the ticket QR codes now (they might have switched to this last year, since my paper ticket then had a unique alphanumeric code printed on it), so I'd printed out the ticket email at the library the day before.

The same (I think) two fangirls who blocked me in the queue last year started the queue again this time, but I remembered from Friday that there would be a second lane so I took up position there instead. I was first to be let in at 5:55 (yay for QR code on paper) and casually jogged to my normal first row seat. The girls took the other side of the centre aisle.

It's also my tradition to read something sociology/philosophy-related while queuing/waiting.

The woman and her husband on the other side of me were local. They weren't able to snag tickets last year but were on the ball this year. I think they must be newer fans because they didn't know about my cape. She was really excited to practise speaking English with me (it happens, I don't really mind). She'd recently lost a family member, so she was in tears the whole time. Not to trivialise her grief but certain songs trigger a grief-like mood in me as well and I also wanted to cry but sometimes I just can't. It makes these posts really hard to write.

Pictures part, I guess:

These people in the boat hung around a bit. There were also some people sitting on the dock on the other side of the river almost the whole time. Hey, free entertainment.

People more proficient with their cameras or whatever can go ahead and take their portrait photos of his infectious happy face. I'll be in this corner trying to capture his other, less common, expressions. My pictures don't win any popularity contests and that's OK.

Oh hey got a good picture of Markus and his grin again (he was not wearing fun socks)

I tried to get a few more of these reaction shots but I need more practice with the iPhone:

Why is he gesturing at me again after a [checks notes] 15-month break? (I'm not complaining but I thought he was over it.)

The two fangirls hung around after and wanted the set list signed by whoever they were able to catch, such as Jukka-Pekka. Markus was talking with some couple, and the fangirls and I hovered trying to find a gap in the conversation. It just didn't feel like it was happening so when I did get a moment I just said "Thank you" and shook hands and went on my way.

Maybe it's because it was Sunday, but the place cleared out really quickly. Like all the guests had either disappeared into the bar or (more likely) gone away within at most 20 minutes. Even Regular Groupie had to jet because she had work the following morning and needed to drive like 6 hours to get home. (She's told me once but I don't remember where she's from.)

Merch update: In addition to the denim jackets with the back patch, they'd also printed the design on the backs of t-shirts. Which, in my opinion, is less fun because it isn't as self-referential that way. They were also selling the patch separately so people could sew it onto their own things, but they'd already sold all they'd brought with them this weekend. I'm not really sure where I'd sew it. Like it looks quite large but is it the same size as the big Nightwish patch on the bottom of my party overalls? It'd take up a huge chunk of the apron I got for Vappu this year, which I'd hoped would give me at least a couple years' worth of space...

Maailma palaa

Kohti sydänpeltoja

Samaan mutkaan kaatunut

Jamesin takki

Kolme hyvää vinkkiä

Ilman mua

Tummilla teillä

Rodeo

Turisti [intermission]

Exodus

Valot eteiseen

Kiljut riemusta

Faarao

Kanto (yes the guitar solo is improvised.)

Kukaan ei koskaan

Nuoriherra

Hetken ikuinen

// Arlandan portailla

[Concert write-up archive and master calendar]

#music #concerts #vesterinen yhtyeineen #set list #band merch

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magicalsliceofpie · 9 months ago

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Day 6-10

On day six I was so tired. All I remember eating was an omelet with cheese and some hot chocolate. I was stressed out because I was trying to finish up some final projects for class. I didn't finish them which stressed me out more.

On day seven I felt completely exhausted. I stayed in bed all day but I didn't do much. I tried to finish my final projects which were due the next morning but I was just so tired. I started feeling sorry for myself so I made some cookie dough and ate 6 good size cookies worth. I also made 2 packs of the cream carbonara ramen flavor from that spicy ramen brand. At the end of the day I almost finished the projects out of anxiety but I fell asleep anyway. I barely had any liquids that day. I did have a glass or two of milk.

On day eight I was woke up very sick. I finished my projects early in the morning and printed them out. I felt dizzy and disoriented but didn't have any other symptoms. Every time I get sick and think its something else I get told it was stress induced and I can't keep going to the doctor. So I just wrote it off and went to work and my late lab. At work I felt even worse and I just stopped by my lab to turn in my project and told my professor that I wasn't feeling good. He let me leave and I'm grateful for that. I could barely drive home. I also slept terrible with constant tossing and turning. That day I drank a cup of milk and ate a banana. I had one slice of pizza when I got home. I drank a lot of water and some sugar free Gatorade for the electrolytes.

On day nine I took my temperature and it was 100 on my forehead and 102 under my tongue. I didn't feel good at all and I called out of work and school. I drank even more liquids that day. Only water this time because the gatorade started to taste pretty bad. I couldn't stomach anything with sugar or even sweet after eating all that cookie dough on day seven. I ate two eggs and two prunes for breakfast. I puked up everything around lunch. For dinner I had clam chowder and a slice of sourdough.

On day ten I was starting to feel better. When I'm sick, throwing up signals the end of it. I ate one small pancake, I made a white rice with a bit of butter and salt, and I blended frozen blue berries, yogurt, and some local honey together. I went to my late lab to present my final project but I called out of work again. They don't mind calling out because they don't have a lot of staff and don't want anything to spread. One time something spread to half the company and from then on they rather you just stay home. One of my class professors asked for a doctors note and I don't know how to tell her that the doctors is too expensive for me right now and that this was likely stress induced anyway. So I just told her that I didn't have one but that I was unsafe to drive to work or school. That usually works but I haven't gotten an email back yet. When I got home I ate a handful of peanuts (lightly salted, no sugar) and a tortilla out of the fridge. My appetite hasn't returned quite yet.

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I didn't exercise or do my routine for any of those days. I managed to shower twice and do my laundry but that's about it. This is what my health is like. I have given up on going to the doctors because they tell me the same thing. It's stress. And I have no choice but to believe them because they ran so many tests that I could barely afford. Blood tests and stool samples and ultrasounds. There's nothing but a bit of fat around my liver and even that shouldn't cause any symptoms since it is barley noticeable on the ultrasound. I would like to believe that I have some mystery illness and the doctors aren't listening to me but they are listening.

Everything just keeps showing negative. I feel like I'm going crazy. I was in lab on day ten and someone told me "It seems like you are sick every week. Did they (the doctors) tell you what's wrong?" and it just stuck with me. Even the people I barley know can tell that I'm just not healthy. I push and push and push but it just makes it worse. I know I'm just ranting now but I am happy that I made healthy choices with my food this week. I am going to keep trying to eat healthy and exercise. This blog and the food journal I have been keeping will help me in the future. If there is something wrong with me I can prove it by showing that I'm living a healthy life style. And if there is nothing wrong with me then I can see the patterns of what makes me sick.

I'm trying to keep a positive outlook. I'm going to get back into routine very soon.

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radicallow · 9 months ago

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Interview between Jolijn Baeckelandt, Nienke Baeckelandt and Tamara Beheydt in the artists’ shared studio

17 March 2024.

Tell me about your first experiences with Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Radicale1924.

Jolijn Baeckelandt: The first time we went to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, in 2022, only Nienke was participating in the Parade. I just tagged along. I did take a lot of photographs there, and after talking with Chantal it became clear that I was going to participate the following year as well. I didn’t have the intention to make a work that first year, but I took photos – like a tourist would – and it turned out that they would come to play an important part in the work I would later develop.

Nienke Baeckelandt: Chantal (Yzermans) had contacted me, first via email. I found it difficult to create a work in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie. I collected rocks, which we brought home. We stayed in the village during summer, but not during the Parade itself. That was impossible for me.

read full interview below OR on Jolijn or Nienkes page.

Which work did you make that first year, in 2022?

NB: I had collected rocks and Jolijn and her boyfriend brought them back to Belgium for me. I made epoxy molds from them and tried to cast them into ice. I made videos of how the stones melted, but I wasn’t completely satisfied. Instead, I decided to present a transparent epoxy version, merging with a smaller original stone, which seemed to ‘melt into’ each other. It was as if the transparent stone was desperately trying to conserve the other one.

That seems very fitting for the Parade, which in itself is also a fleeting event.

NB: My practice always revolves around themes such as melting, transparency, seeing and not seeing, ephemerality of moments. That’s what I like about working with ice. It’s transient, you cannot keep it, whereas other works of art are usually conserved, shown multiple times, maybe sold. There is a lot of beauty in making a work that is temporary. And indeed, it reminded me of the village itself. The stones also reminded me of typical souvenirs, like the crafted wood objects in Jacky’s shop in the village, or like minerals that you can buy in the museum shop at a prehistoric cave or archaeological site.

The work you created the following year, in 2023, is related. This time, you did use ice as your medium.

NB: The work Tasteless came easier to me – I believe because I had already experienced the village once before. I created my own glasses, plates and cutlery in ice and let them melt on Chantal’s table in her garden, where we always sat. I wanted the visitors of the Parade to witness this melting process (and I filmed it). The village itself seems like a frozen memory, there is a strong desire to conserve the heritage, but at the same time, hardly any inhabitants live there all year round. This is contradictory: wanting to conserve the stones, the heritage, but letting the soul disappear from it. And it happens in different places around the world too. In Flanders, I see this contradiction between the will to conserve Flemish heritage, but letting contemporary artists struggle. Anyway, that is what I wanted to show with the work: a frozen memory melting, with the most picturesque view of Saint-Cirq-Lapopie as its background.

Jolijn, was your work also inspired by your experience of the village itself?

JB: It’s so striking, in the village, to see how people come by car in the morning, open their shop or restaurant and go back home to another town in the evening. There is only momentary life. The first time I visited Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, I took polaroid photographs, quite a cliché. Back in the studio, I started scanning and printing them, repeating this process with each new printed result. I often work with patterns and images relayed in different mediums. The photos became the first layer of many, combined with scenic postcards of the village. My printer was broken and this also added to the image. The photos are present in the work, but fade with every new layer. I keep on scanning and printing layer upon layer and ultimately, I draw on them. Finally, I reduced the drawings to the original first layer: the format of a postcard. I added another drawing on top of the reproduced postcards. So, it became an edition but with each copy being unique.

Somehow, several things came together in this piece. I had this idea for a long time, since 2016 I think, to work around the contrast between ‘fiction’ and ‘non-fiction’. For me, this is also related to seeing and the contrast between green and red, which are contradictory colours, but also complementary. The have functions in painting, but also in our society. And I suddenly saw this idea perfectly fitting with Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, where there is a tension between the history and heritage on the one hand, an a kind of ‘Disneyfication’ on the other. I also created a pair of glasses, with one red glass and one green. The glasses are completely dysfunctional, made from cardboard and sticking together with tape. They make a kind of promise, of showing you what is real and what isn’t, but in fact, they’re useless. For the Parade in 2023, I presented these works, accompanied by a banner with the words FICTION / NON-FICTION, on a blanket in the street, trying to sell my work to tourists.

At the same time, you also started a spontaneous collaboration with Corentin Canesson, a French artist who was at the time residing in Maisons Daura.

JB: He was working as a resident at Maisons Daura and had an exhibition there. Chantal introduced us. Corentin’s project revolves around a collection of works, both his and others’. It’s a travelling project with works constantly being added due to spontaneous encounters, such as ours. So, I was invited to add my works in the show at Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and one work to his collection, which now traveled to Switzerland. I am still in touch with him. We are both painters. Content-wise our works are rather far apart, but we do relate.

In the threefold exhibition in 2024, you will both participate on different moments. What are your plans?

JB: I am still developing the works. The ideas are forming, but works usually develop just by doing. I will most likely continue working from those scans and maybe translate them to posters. Again, working with the idea of advertising the village and its tourism, but it would be closer to my own medium than the postcards.

NB: I will participate in the exhibition in May and I plan to show the video of the melting process of my previous work, Tasteless. I am doubting whether I will slow it down or speed it up. In any case, the experience of time will play an important part in it.

How would you describe the general impact of participating in Radicale1924, for your practice?

NB: I especially felt the impact of being there during the Parade… What this project does – it brings you together with other artists, but also people of the village. I was already experimenting with ice, but I really developed it there and made a strong specific work there. It was like a test scene. It’s a Parade, but it’s also a safe environment to show your work. It’s not like in a museum or institution. And because of that, the works usually turn out really well. You do work towards something real and concrete, but you’re allowed to develop it organically.

JB: As a painter, I often work alone and my practice is a bit isolated in a way. In Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, I am getting out. It is valuable to be surrounded by other artists, who are also there to create work. And remarkably, in this place, the ambiguity that I work with anyway becomes tangible, inherent to the context. It’s not neutral in that sense, like an exhibition space would be. And the idea can grow throughout several years of participation, that is a great gift.

NB: We had really nice encounters there. It’s not like at an opening or event here, where you might not really talk to each other. In Saint-Cirq-Lapopie, we eat and work and talk, so you get to know each other on a different level. Just by being in the same environment as other artists, you have a kind of unspoken check-up of your work. You see it in the artistic eco-system, whereas in your studio, you often remain alone, in your own thoughts. Speaking with Chantal is also a good way to spar about the work. That’s rather rare.

Are the works that you created in Saint-Cirq-Lapopie still there? They stayed behind?

JB: Yes, it only seemed logical to leave something behind.

NB: The work with the stones too, yes. It was created for that place so it makes sense. The stone especially: the real stone traveled from Saint-Cirq-Lapopie to Antwerp, and its copy traveled back. Just like the video will now come back one year after the work melting. It wouldn’t make sense to me to show this anywhere else.

Do you feel that your practice is somehow related to surrealism or the practice of Breton?

JB: For myself, my research or experience is really more empirical. I work from life, from the tangible contrast in the village between what is real and what is fictional. The idea of images fading and staying present only in the deepest layers… I think that might be the only link with surrealism.

NB: My research was directed more towards the village and its demographics. Maybe the nature of my work is a bit surrealist, but not on the surface. Other artists worked directly with surrealism or Breton and I think it’s good that there is this balance. What is more important to me, is Breton being there, inviting his friends over. And the fact that his house has been annexed by tourism. It becomes something completely different, like the house of Ensor in Oostende. How do we deal today with the heritage of these artists? That’s what really interests me. Their legacy becomes inscribed in a kind of touristic, and often political narrative.

#⌂mD #⌂mR

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illustratorintheprocess · 2 years ago

Text

WEEK 17: Back to Normality

This week I had a workshop booked in the Digital Space to learn Basic Video Editing using Premier Pro. Only 4 people showed up but the person teaching us made an exemption and held the session anyways. Usually workshops like this are cancelled if less than 5 people show up. I learned a bunch of useful tips and tricks although it was very basic stuff it made Premier Pro seem less daunting. We cut up a sample interview and had a good chat in our small group about our courses and external hard drives.

[I don't own the footage, we only used it as a sample during the workshop and I made this odd little edit]

I wrote down some of the recommendations he gave us and have since then bought a Samsung Portable SSD T7 with 1TB and up to 1.050MB/s. Needing to store tons of images and videos of the project processes and final outcomes for uni, my Computer is aching for more storage space. I don't know much technical stuff but it should help if I move Images, Documents and MP4s from year 1 and 2 from my PC to the portable SSD.

Furthermore I believe it was this Monday that Maisie, my group's usual tutor, couldn't make it and was replaced by VJ for the day. I described my idea for the Cryptid project to VJ and again he had no clue what Cryptids were and when I tied to explain he asked me if I was "one of those conspiracy theorists" which really annoyed me. I enjoy creepy stories, I don't think the government is brainwashing us or anything. Anyway, after a long time spent trying to explain I told him about my most recent idea of making a mini comic of only a few pages for the final outcome. This could be a cute little comic about what roles certain Cryptids play in an alternative modern day scenario in which they have surfaced to the public and become part of everyday life. The window cleaning Mothman, as an example, if you remember my previous post. VJ asked if I have done a comic before and I said no. Not really at least. The Element 2 for the CTS3 unit was just a one page spread. This is where VJ advices me against trying anything too adventurous and new for my final project since it weighs so much in my final grade (60 creds) and will be on display during the graduates exhibit. I was a little disappointed but adjusted my thinking. I have to come up with something else, more familiar.

This week we were sent an email by our year leader Angela describing an amazing opportunity of having our work hung in as part of an exhibition at the OXO Tower, London. It should be the outcome of our Minor Project and we had to submit a PDF detailing the work's size, material, name, etc. I sent mine off in the hopes of being able to display both, NAKED - the Normal and -the Nightmare but we were pressed for space and I could only fit all 3 Normal prints if hung underneath each other. Still a pretty neat opportunity though.

Finally, I attended a lecture by 2 alumni on Thursday, where they told us "What makes a creative". It was quite immersive and a nice little lecture. Afterwards I sought out Angela to collect my earnings from the Winter Fair in cash and to ask her a few more questions about the OXO exhibit.

The rest of the week was fairly uneventful.

#student life #university of the arts london #ual #studyblr #london college of communication #illustration and visual media #lcc #uni life

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kelsywrites · 2 years ago

Text

Time & Space Colliding

Chapter 4

The Smiths played in the background. Buzzing of the computer’s fan was loud and rhythmic. Black and Mild wine flavor burned slowly in the ashtray, its smoke twisting and curling in the air. Edison’s fingers pounded away at the keyboard. There was a sense of urgency that made this lame assignment due in 40-something minutes worthwhile.

The ringing of her phone interrupted her thoughts and caused her fingers to pause. Should she answer? She was running out of time. Fuck it, she picked it up.

Silence on her end and a rattling breathing on the other end.

“Weirdo, can’t you answer the phone like a normal human?”

“Maybe I would if I was normal. What do you want? I’m on a deadline.”

“What do you know about watches?”

“They tell time, and according to mine I have 15 minutes to finish and print this shitty paper.”

“I have this weird watch that looks like it plugs into something.”

“Cool, try the Radio Shack or Best Buy.”

“Are you saying you’d rather go to class than hang out with an old pal?”

“Well, Terry Jr, I think it would be beneficial for you to take a few psychology classes and learn the importance of not putting words in people’s mouths.”

“Yeah, no I’m good. Meet me in 10 at the usual spot.”

The sound of her fingers typing away was the only response.

“Edison…”

“Terrence…”

“Stanley made Mexican Coffee.”

Click.

“This better be interesting.”

“What happened to your arm?” She took the coffee cup he extended to her.

“Fell through a glass case. Nice mohawk…” he eyed her leather jacket and her spiked hair, “What was the inspiration?”

The way she glared at him in response caused him to realize he was in hot water with her. “Where’s this watch I’m missing class for?”

Terrence handed it to her as they began walking towards downtown.

Her eyes studied it as she twisted it in her fingers, her silence was unusual and bothered him. “What’s going on with you?”

“For real Terrence?” she glared at him.

“That’s the second time you called me that in one day. What’d I do?”

“What’d you drop your marbles in that glass case? Where’ve you been?”

Edison’s voice was sharp, and she picked up her pace. Racking his brain for what he was missing he stopped dead in his tracks. “Fu…shi…”

“Yeah, you’re an ass…”

“Eddi…”

“Don’t”

“Seriously, stop.” He grabbed her arm, “I’ve had a lot going on.” “Yeah, I don’t want to hear it…It’s not like we’re living in the dark ages…you could have at least called…sent an email. Shit, I would have been touched by snail mail.”

TJ forced her to turn towards him, “Listen to me.”

“Can we focus on the watch right now? That’s the point of this meeting, right?”

“Forget about the watch…I fucked up.”

“Understatement of the year. Terry, I really don’t want an apology or explanation or whatever your pea size brain is drumming up right now. Obviously, this watch was important enough for you to call, and you were important to Scotty so I’m doing this for him. I’ll get over your douchebaggery another time…”

It was clear she wasn’t going to hear him. He swallowed and clenched his jaw working through the gut punch of emotions.

“I think I can MacGyver something to plug this watch in if you want to head back to my place.”

The gut punch left him struggling to form words or even find his voice he swallowed the lump in his throat, which wouldn’t go away, and nodded.

Edison’s place was dark the one window was lined with foil and cardboard, and the air was smokey and stuffy. She pulled on the chain to her lamp and lit the place enough to see. He sat on the stuffed couch across from the desk and stared at his hands.

“You going to start mopin now? Feels good to feel like a jerk, don’t it?”

TJ shook his head.

She turned her back ignoring him as she rifled through a drawer of wires and tools and began tinkering away. “Where’d you find this watch anyway?”

Scratching his brow he cleared his throat, “an old pawn shop on Rowe.��

Eddi scoffed, “Nice looking for trouble again? Been hitting the good stuff too?” When he didn’t respond she turned and studied him, “Terry?”

“No…” he glanced up at her and noticed that she was really looking at him for the first time today.

She stopped what she was doing and propped herself up on the desk. “Did you check out?”

“Not exactly…” he nervously picked at his thumbnail then stopped and scratched the back of his head as he met her gaze again, “I…something strange happened…I don’t even know where to start.”

“The beginning is usually good. Although I have found some stories starting with a flashback or some scene from the future is always a nice twist.”

“The pawn shop is where I found the watch. This girl asked for directions to it and when she was in there something weird happened and she got hurt pretty bad. I helped her, took her to Mira, and then when I was trying to find answers to what she had going on she said they took her watch…whoever was in there hurt her and took her watch and vanished.”

“And this girl?”

He sighed still feeling the sting of her sudden disappearance…as if he lost a part of himself…which didn’t make any sense to him but that’s exactly how he would describe it, he felt lost without her. Maybe he was crazy. Brain damage much… he could hear Eddi say what he knew she would be thinking if he said all this out loud.

“I don’t know. She vanished.”

Edison could tell this was all eating at Terry and turned back to fidgeting with the watch. “So, this girl’s watch was taken but then you found it where she thought it was taken?”

There was silence as he thought this all over again. “No…I don’t know…I don’t think this was the watch that was taken, but I don’t know for sure…I don’t really know anything.” He paused and muttered the f word under his breath and then got up and started pacing about. “I’m sorry Eddi I really am…”

“I know your rule Terry…your Pop’s rule, it’s like your stupid fucking anthem. It’s how you got tied up with us losers. This girl needs help, and we are going to help her.”

Terrence blew out an exasperated sigh, “Thanks Edison.”

“Don’t mention it. So, what’s her name? Is she prettyyyy?” Her voice taunted him as she plugged the watch in, “Jeopardy!”

He spun around on his heel, “You got it?”

“Don’t sound so surprised lovebird…of course I got it. Give it a minute to get some juice.” She stepped over to her record player and put Joy Division on. The record spun as Love Will Tear Us Apart began to play.

“Always knew this day would come but thought you’d be in your 30s at least…A girl coming between us. She’d better be gorgeous.”

Terry smirked at her. “It’s not like that at all Eddi and you know no one can ever come between us. We have a blood pact.”

“Fuck that shit, we were high out of our minds when we did that.”

“High or not we did it…can’t undo a blood pact.”

Shaking her head, she threw the rubber band ball she had been toying with at him. “I’m just glad you ain’t using again.”

“I really am sorry I bailed.” He stepped towards her setting the rubber band ball down on the desk and then pulled her into a hug. She wasn’t much for hugs but responded in kind.

“No sweat Kid. We’ll make up for it tonight.”

He could hear the emotion in her voice and squeezed her a little tighter.

After a moment she pulled away, “All right let’s see what we can get out of this watch.”

TJ leaned over her shoulder as she brought the watch to life.

“Did you see that? The time automatically adjusted. I wonder if it’s…” her voice wandered off. “How strange was this girl…what’s her name? sick of calling her girl.” She glanced over her shoulder at him.

“She said Deni and CJ…I was calling her Deni, and she was pretty peculiar.”

Eddi arched an eyebrow at him, “Deni hu? Fitting… where are we talking on the peculiar scale?”

“Where does green jumpsuit, never hearing dancing in the moonlight, magic eyes, an unplaceable accent, and possibly not knowing what a Rubik’s Cube is, land?”

“Noooo…wait did you say magic eyes? Hold up go back I’m unpacking this. Where can I get one of these green jumpsuits? Magic eyes?! What the fuck…you are in love!” She lost herself in her laughter, “Wait til Mira hears all about this…”

“Shut up Edison! Come on I didn’t mean it like that…she just has eyes I’ve never seen before. I don’t know how to explain it. Can we get back to the watch what were you getting at?”

“Well, it was dead. And when I plugged it in it charged and instead of just ticking from the time it died on it adjusted on its own to the current time.”

TJ shook his head, “stop speaking nerd… what are you saying?”

“Rocks for brains. I don’t know maybe it has a setting or it’s connected to a satellite or somehow the internet.”

“Flip it over.”

The back side looked like some sort of screen but wasn’t responding to anything she did. “Might have to take it apart and study it some more.” Eddi sighed and sifted through her drawer again.

“Don’t worry about it right now…I owe you and Scotty. Let’s get out of here. I need to clear my head, all this is making me feel crazy anyways.”

“Love will do that to you,” she winked at him.

“You’re making me regret all of this Eddi.”

“Oh, you missed me, and you know it.” She grabbed her leather jacket and ditched her combat boots for high-top DC sneakers.

March 3, 2002, boldly etched into the tombstone, a date not easily forgotten, and yet somehow, he had let it slip by like just another day. It ate at him now as he stared at it under Scotty’s name. Hitting the skatepark before coming here had helped alleviate some of the remorse he was feeling, Eddi, helped too. But he was still beating himself up.

She sat crossed-legged to his right ripping at the grass and rambling on about funny shit Scotty used to say. “Nothing tops how he convinced us all to shorten our names during our blood pact. ‘We have to have a family name now that we are all blood. What if you go by Terry and Edison goes by Eddi and I go by Scotty…Eddi has to be spelled with an I though because you’re a girl and that’s how Spanish works right? You have to have the feminine version of the name’…shit, I hated him for that. You know how many people call me eeedie…gross.”

TJ couldn’t help but chuckle as he glanced back at her and then finally sat down next to her.

“Such a dummy when he got high but dumb funny shit…man, I miss that…probably the hardest part of sobering up. You know how many times I wanted him to get high just so I could laugh at his stupid ass.”

“He was still funny sober…”

“No, he was a smart-ass sober.”

“Look who’s talking.”

“I’m always a smart ass.”

He laughed and shook his head as he gulped his Squirt. “He once told me that the reason they have us learn about evolution is so that we don’t repeat it. I swear my nose burned for hours after blowing whiskey through it.”

“When I first met him, I swore he really believed half the dumb shit he said.”

“He was a true genius.”

Eddi twirled a piece of grass in her fingers. “Yeah, have everyone believe he’s a dumbass so they don’t expect much from him. Shit, how many assignments he got a B or C on when he should have fuckin flunked.”

“I’m telling you. Man, I wish I would have learned a thing or two from him.” Terry chuckled “I guess I had already set myself up for failure.”

“It never mattered what you did…Mira always expected more from you…not a bad thing. Her pushing you probably kept you out of more trouble than you got in.”

“Or pushed me into it…” He sighed, “No you’re right…I never wanted to let her down but when things got hard it was easier just to give up and shut the world out.”

“I don’t know how many times Scotty would ask me if I talked to you. I’d always give him the smart-ass remark that you were his friend.” Eddi sighed and laid back in the grass, staring up at the blue sky. “I’m sorry Terry…phones work both ways. I should have called you. But you know my hot head wanted a reason to be mad…mad at you. Blame you for how I was feeling. It’s just been really hard.”

A breeze picked up and caused him to shiver as he glanced over his shoulder at her, “I know and I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”

“Scotty would be really proud of you. And as hard as it is for me to say I am really proud of you. Even if you are the bane of my existence.”

He grinned at her, “I love you too.” Her ribbing had lifted his mood and he was feeling lighter. “Thanks, Eddi.” As he laid back next to her, he thought about how Scotty had introduced them and how Eddi had resented him for the longest time. She didn’t like that Scotty had a new friend and didn’t like having to share him. “As much as you hate me, I’m glad that Scotty brought us together…”

“Yeah, you ain’t too bad.” She smirked at him before turning back to the sky. “Tell me more about this Deni with an I.”

Terry laughed, “how do you know it’s with an I?”

“Because she’s a girl. No, but really, I’m sure Scotty wants to know about her too. And start from the beginning this time, and don’t leave anything out.”

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itsohh · 2 years ago

Text

Mission: Love Note

A/N: Female reader, Kali my beloved. I don’t think I’ve ever acted up so much for a woman like I have for her.

Word count: 4405

Warnings: NSFT, smut, boss / employee relations

AO3

Rule number one: don't get caught. That had been your first priority when you first started. At least not until you found out how she felt about the situation. If she didn't feel the same, then you could pretend the matter didn't exist. That nothing ever happened. You would simply never tell her and you wouldn't lose your job.

Rule number one dictated the way you acted. The way you worked. Over time you had made up a decently sized map of the main facility. There you found all the camera locations and their blind spots. Next was people. Most people on base had a rather typical regime. You figured out what people's patterns were and what their preferred paths were. For most, you didn't have to bother about lower operatives and staff. No one would question your whereabouts but people equal to you? They would. Anja was one of your biggest targets. She would immediately discuss something with Kali if it felt off or strange. Observant and smart, she was by far your biggest hurdle. Luckily for you, Anja was a person of habit. Which meant she could be predictable.

The first time had been a thrill. Anja would be very much in her lab as you slipped into Kali's office. While she kept the room unlocked, everything inside of the room was heavily secured. But you didn't need anything in her room. There was, of course, a camera right next to it but you discovered there was a three-second blind spot when it turned. One you abused to gain access.

Heart racing inside of you it was like you were a recruit on a first mission. The small note had been prepared ahead of time. Neatly printed words folded in half placed in the middle of Kali's desk. At first, you had been worried about handwriting but soon brushed the notion off as you realised it was very rare for you to actually write something at Nighthaven. Most things were emailed or typed up so Kali wouldn't recognise your handwriting when she came back and saw it She wasn't due back for another day at least. Leaving the room would be a little harder but your watch helped you time exactly when the camera would move. When the time struck true, you would slip out without notice.

This is how it started. A perfected system that you started to do whenever Kali left base. You hadn't heard anything from her. A matter which you couldn't tell if it was good or bad. Each note became more and more daring, flexing from small compliments into something far more. For a while, you were perfect in your execution. For a while.

Nerves racked your body, the note had been heavy in your hand. A final note of sorts that fully told her how you felt. The hand on your watch ticked away and you snapped the door open. Yet the hallway hadn't been empty. "Ah fuck!" With wide eyes, you quickly closed the door behind you. There with his hands over his nose was Håvard. You had always thought Anja would be the one to catch you, but no, it was unpredictable Ace.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry." Mentally you kicked yourself over being caught. Your hands went to his side in comfort and he showed you his nose.

"Is it bleeding?"

"No, no. It looks as perfect as usual." The compliment worked as intended and a grin covered his pain.

"Ah, that's what I like to hear. What were you doing in Kali's office anyway?" If it had been almost anyone else you could have brushed him off with 'important work, mind your own business' but in all matters he was your equal.

"Looking for Kali. Have you seen her?" Your voice was deadpan and he nodded.

"You heard she was back early too?" What. She was back early? You hadn't heard this at all. Panic spiked inside of you but you didn't allow it to get to you. "You know what, I'm really sorry to have hit you. How about I buy you lunch out somewhere as an apology?" His face lit up at the thought of this.

"How about dinner? I'll pay." He leaned in towards you with a wiggle of his brow. Mentally you smacked yourself. This wasn't what you wanted. Yet it worked as a successful distraction as the pair of you started to walk away from Kali's office.

"That would defeat the purpose of an apology lunch." He rolled his eyes at this but still held his interest and light mood.

"You know, you didn't need an excuse to ask me out." You almost coughed in disbelief at this.

"It's not a date Håvard." You reminded him as you started to look for an escape from the conversation.

"Ah yeah, 'an apology lunch.'" He winked while he gave you air quotes.

How is it that you managed to get the attention of the wrong person, mentally you sighed. "Yes, an apology lunch. How about I take you out tomorrow?" It was better to get it done sooner than later.

"Sure- oh wait we have Jason's birthday party tomorrow at lunchtime." Oh that, you had forgotten all about the engineer's birthday. His 50th, it was a big deal.

"Um, Friday then?" Your eyes caught a group of people exiting the shooting range and your head lit up.

"Can't wait."

"Look as much as I would love to stay and chat…" A lie. "...I'm actually going to hit the range. I'll let you get back to what you were doing Håvard." You veered off your course from him.

"Alright I'll see you Friday for our date" He shouted and you were glad no one was near to hear it.

"Not a date!"

"I'll tell Kali you were looking for her if I see her." You swore under your breath and you simply waved a hand in the air in response. Now you had to hope he didn't come into contact with Kali.

It had become routine for her. To get back to base and find a single note on her desk. In a way, it had been something she was subconsciously looking forward to. In fact, she had gone back to her office specifically for it, knowing one would be there. Her lips parted as she read the message. It was a game in a sense and you had evaded all her attempts to figure you out but a part of her liked not knowing it was you. In a way, it felt more genuine. Most would compliment and praise her in hopes to get into her good books or manipulate her. But with this, there didn't feel like an alternative motive.

The words on the thick paper were memorized in her mind. They made her breath hitch as she leaned on her desk. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to be absorbed in the note. Eyes closed, her mind wandered with the possibilities. Sure she had her suspicions but there was only one person she actually wanted it to be from. That angered her. Just a little. The heat in her cheeks made her feel like a young teenager in high school. A breath escaped her lips as her eyes opened and she promptly hid the note in her locked desk with the rest.

The small time she had set aside and come to an end, she needed to get back to work. With the confidence of a goddess, she strode out of her office only for her door to make a loud smack when she opened it.

"My nose!" A familiar cry came and she stared at the person who held their nose. Håvard. Pain consumed his face as he hunched over, and the door closed as she stepped out of the way.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings." Her brows narrowed at him.

"Is it bleeding? My noooose." He whined and she rolled her eyes at his dramatics. Still, she checked when he showed off his nose.

"It's fine."

"This is the second time today." Her lips curled slightly in amusement.

"You should have learnt from the first time." She folded her arms.

"It's not my fault that door swings out." He gestured to her office room.

"Have you tried watching where you are going instead of being on your phone?"

"My peripheral vision is exceptional, boss."

"Evidently not. Who was the first person to hit you?" Curiosity had peaked her.

"That was Clover earlier today." He winced as he rubbed his nose. "At least I got a date out of it." He muttered under his breath and Kali stilled.

"A date?" Her brows narrowed at him, envy boiled inside of her but she punched down her feelings with ease.

"She asked to take me out for lunch as 'an apology.'" His two fingers bounced Kali let out a breath that she hadn't realised she had been holding. It was just Håvard being his usual self. "Speaking of her, she said she was looking for you earlier. I think she might still be in the firing range if you're lucky." This sparked Kali's interest. Why would you need her? Either way, he had given her an opening from the conversation and she wasn't going to waste it.

"It might be important. I should go find her. Go ice your nose... and Håvard, watch where you're going."

The arsenal of your usual weapons was set up behind you. A handgun, submachine gun, assault rifle and marksman, all available at a moment's notice. You were focused on the hand in your gasp. With both hands extended out you emptied the clip at the target. No flinching or hesitating. The music beneath your earmuffs kept you caught up in the moment. It wasn't until a movement in the corner of your vision occurred did you put down your weapon. Kali. Shit. Mentally you swore, had Håvard snitched and told her that you came from her office? You hoped to god he hadn't.

"Hey, Kali what's up? Good to have you back on base." You pulled the plugs for your ears alongside the earmuffs and placed them on the metallic surface in front of you.

"Håvard said you were looking for me." Your shoulders relaxed for a moment before you realized you now needed a reason to have been looking for her.

"Oh uh, yeah. Nothing serious. I just uh." You swallowed and your eye landed on the marksman rifle behind her. "I've been wanting to improve my long range. You know, sniping and there's no one better than you. If your free sometime I'd love to get your help." Saved it. Mentally you patted yourself on the back for coming up with something so plausible.

Kali weighed her body and nodded. "Sure, always good to learn from the best. I'm free now. How about you warm up a few rounds and I'll see how you do." She took a step back out of your way so that you could retrieve the weapon.

You could feel your heart race as you put the target at the max range before you leaned over. There was something different about practising with her watching. Almost vulnerable as all your imperfections would be up for scrutiny. The gun snug in your grip you fired it. Just like with your pistol before, you emptied the mag. Your shots hit their mark, almost all of them. A couple of shots hit the target's shoulder but regardless all of them hit. To most, the result would be great. Kali wasn't most.

"Hm, you're tensing your shoulders too much. It's making your movements to stuff and your jerking." There was disapproval in her voice but no mockery. Her hand electrified your back in an attempt to fix your stiff state. The gasp that escaped your lips was covered by the knock by the doorway.

"Clover! Oh and Kali too." A high-pitched voice was ecstatic to see the pair of you.

The pair of you turned to face the scientist who bounced their way into the room. In her hand was a comedically large card and a pen. "I was just looking for Clover but since you're here too, you can sign as well. It's for Jason's birthday. Everyone's writing a message and signing it if you're interested." Lisa was her name, a nice girl. Smart.

You turned to Kali for a moment before you placed the gun down. "Sure. I'm not the best with notes though." You nervously laughed. A lie. One that Kali seemed to tense up at.

"Awh, just say how you feel. And if you don't know then just say something nice. It's the thought that counts." She handed you the pen and card. Kali's eyes were one of a hawk as you wrote down a small message and signed your name and call sign in brackets.

The card was quickly passed to Kali and she did the same but there was a shift in the environment. Kali's eyes seemed to look into your very soul. Seconds ticked by and Kali handed the pen and card back. Lisa grinned and bounced on her way. Kali started to follow the woman but onto to close the door behind her and you noticed the lock that she activated. The viewing shutters were closed behind you and Kali turned back to you.

"So we don't have any more interruptions." She explained. With a nod, you picked up the gun and her hand resumed its location. Directly behind you, her other hand came forward to correct your position. "You know better than this." She tutted in your ear. Her lips were so close to it as her head locked over your shoulder. "Fire." At her command, your finger came on the trigger and you squeezed it. Kali moved with you and absorbed the recoil.

It clipped the side of the dummy's head. "Continue." Slowly you lost yourself in her arms, working on muscle memory you fired almost your entire clip save the last bullet.

"I know I shouldn't be, but I am so completely and utterly smitten by you." The purr of her words in your ear had you flinch, the bullet missing its mark by a decent margin as your lips gaped open. How? Håvard must have told her and she figured it out. The words that you had left on her desk earlier in the day now spoken in your ear. There was no playing it off. She knew, there was no going back now.

"You missed. A shame."

"Kali I-" Your face was flushed with heat and her contact with your body didn't help the pure embarrassment that had consumed you.

"You have been busy while I have been gone haven't you, little girl." Kali leaned into your body and you put the gun down.

"I-I look if- sorry." You finally settled, stuttering over yourself.

She laughed. Oh god, she laughed. It was like music to your ears even though it made the heat in your cheeks five times stronger.

"Why would you say sorry. You weren't lying were you?"

"No of course not I just… I'm sorry if I've overstepped a boundary. You are my boss after all."

"That I am."

"If you wish to forget-"

"Forget? Oh, but how could I? I have all those so lovely notes in my desk at this very moment." Your eyes shut as she continued. "But you're very right about me being your employer. Do you know what's so great about leading a PMC darling?"

"N-no?" Her fingers were soft on your chin, directing your face towards hers as your eyes peaked open. With a whisper, her face was millimetres from yours.

"I get to pick the rules." At the end of her sentence, at the end of her bite, her lips pressed against yours. Time itself stopped as her lips confidently moulded against your own. The taste of her lips mixed with what you presumed to be Chapstick consumed your taste buds. Kali's movements paused for a moment, happy to take in your tongue against her own. Then like a wave she hit back twice as hard. Her tongue against your own had you moaning while she fully turned you around and picked you up only for a moment to slip you onto the metal surface where your empty gun lay.

Thoughts gone from your head, all you could do is think about was her. She consumed every thought, every sense of your body as your arms wrapped around her neck. Kali's hands ran up your thighs and stopped right at the bottom of your shirt. With her eyes now open she pulled back and a line of saliva kept the pair of you connected. "I have to know, how did you get into my office without any cameras spotting you?" It had been impressive feet that had been stuck at the back of her mind.

Without hesitation, you answered her question. "There's a decent amount of spit second blind spots and most operatives and employees are creatures of habit. I have a plan written up in my room that I can show you later." Her brow cocked and she graced you again with a swift kiss.

"Smart girl. But you didn't think that such an exploit could be used against us?" She hummed, his fingers playing with your shirt.

"Permission to speak freely?" She laughed as this, a full laugh that had her head tilt back for a moment.

"Oh, darling, you have permission to do a lot more than that. I assure you, however this develops?" She gestured to the pair of you with two fingers. "Is completely separate from our work. When it's just us, I may be your boss but I am not your employer. Now, I believe you have a question you were going to answer." Her eyes met yours.

"The last person who broke into Nighthaven can't even be seen on cameras and frankly I don't know how someone would manage to get such information without having decent access. I mean it took me a good couple of weeks of pure observation for people's schedules and habits alone." You were lost in thought, all nervousness gone as you both defended and explained yourself.

Kali watched and listened to you with such fondness. Only when you finished speaking did you bite your tongue.

"You put a lot of thought into this didn't you?"

"I uh- yeah." She seemed amused by the notion, but more importantly, she was impressed. Flattered. "How did you figure it out? Did Håvard tell you that he saw me leaving your office?" Her brows shot up in surprise and she laughed.

"Oh, he told me that you hit him with a door. I didn't realise you hit him with the same door that I did."

"You what?" Your voice was one of disbelief. She continued to laugh but soon grew incredibly close once again.

"You're a saint you know that sweetheart? You have put so much time and effort into this and it's only fair I reward you with such." Once again you were blessed with her lips, her hands now firm on your shirt and slipped the buttons undone. Kali's messy lips pressed down your neck in a line of kisses before she stopped at the crook of your neck. "Say the word and I'll stop. I may like to push but I want you to know that whatever you're comfortable with is perfect to me." She whispered into your neck in a way that was almost surprisingly vulnerable.

"Kali?"

"Yes?"

"Please touch me." Kali's lips spread into a grin against your skin and she but down. Hard. A yelp turned into a moan that echoed from your lips as her hands found your breasts.

"Such a polite girl for me. All mine aren't you?"

"From the moment I saw you." You mumbled back.

"I remember seeing you for the first time." Her hand found the back of your bra and undid it. The pair of you worked together as a team to remove it and your shirt. Kali's thumbs brushed over your hard nipples as her palms grabbed at the rest of your breasts. "You were training. Had that just adorable focused expression on your face." She pinched your nipple and you let out a whine. One she ignored. "Then you made just the most perfect shot and I knew right away I had to make you mine." She chuckled at the memory. "Of course back then I only meant as an operative. This, this is a pleasant development. One I plan to make the most of." The flat of her tongue licked the side of your neck before her teeth grazed your jaw.

"Such a perfect darling girl for me." Her breath was hot on your cheek while her fingers left your chest in preference of undoing your pants. "To be honest, I'm not sure what I would have done if it wasn't you sending me those notes. My disappointment would have been immeasurable."

You braced your hands on the metal surface and pushed your hips up into the air. Kali pulled down your pants and underwear in one go. At your ankles, your pants wear bunched up and she quickly dipped in between them. On her knees, she fell, face perfect height with your cunt. "So wet already, I'm glad to know you like my touch as much as I like touching you." Kali had that cocky grin on her face and her two fingers spread your lips wide.

"Stunning." Her tongue came forward to make a long and precise taste, her first taste of many to come. A gasp left your lips which turned into a curse while you lay back, your legs over her shoulders. One of your hands flew to her head and in the process of trying to get a grip, you knocked off her glasses and scrunched up her bandana before they both fell to the ground. Not that she cared. "Perfection." Her judgment came and she dove back in. Kali's salvia mixed with your juices as she first licked every spot, gauging and evaluating all your reasons. The small flinch you made when she came.into contact with your clit. The moan that joined it.

Mentally she was already planning how and when she would take you next. There was no way this was a one-way time, no, plans sprout in her head as she thought of what she wanted to do to you in the future, oh the things she would dress you up in, the things she would put inside of you. Lost in your taste her mind drifted away only snapping back when your thighs squeezed around her head. What a view. Her eyes looked up at your heavy pants, body wet and desperate as you rocked your hips against her face.

Kali's tongue focused on your clit, firm hard licks that had you practically shaking against her. Her nails dug into your thighs as she kept you from crushing her head. Like a prayer, you chanted out her name and it was pure music to her ears. How could she refuse you? Her motions continued until a long draw of her name whined from your lips.

Your nails clawed at her hair as your orgasm rocked your body, relaxing all tension that had built up. Eyes nodded, all energy had left your body as Kali started up at you. Her head rest on the side of your thigh when you finally sat up. "Back down to Earth are we?" She placed a kiss on your thigh before she dipped out between you and your pants. Her finger swiped up your leg where your juices had started to run. A wink was given to you before she stuck it in her mouth, humming at your flavour. Her new favourite flavour.

Slowly you shrugged your pants back up and she handed you your shirt and bra. "The card." She finally spoke up and you gave her a confused look while you did your bra up. Kali came forward to help button your shirt, her eyes flickering yours only for a second. "The message you wrote in Jason's card. I recognised your handwriting from your little love notes." She wet her lips with her tongue. "Speaking of, I hope this hasn't put you off giving them to me. I do rather like my welcome home gifts whenever I get back to base." Kali smiled and took your hand, leading you from the room, any gun practice long forgotten.

Bonus:

Kali finished making her speech at the birthday party, her eyes glanced over to you where you spoke to Anja. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Jason certainly seemed happy. In the corner of the room Kali eventually retired, she knew that they deserved to cut loose a little and wouldn't under her keen eye. Håvard was the one to join her, his eye on you just like hers was.

"You know I think I would be happy to be hit in the face by a door more often if it means I get more dates with her. Not my preferred method but I'm not complaining."

"It's not a date Håvard."

"She's just being bashful, the shy type you know."

"She's being nice, it's a pity thing." Kali rolled her eyes at him.

"Call it a pity date, all I need is one to show her a good time." Fed up with the discussion Kali put her drink down on the windowsill next to her.

"You're not taking my girlfriend on a date." She bluntly spoke only for both you and Anja to turn to face them. Of course, Anja had been the first person she spoke to about the situation and Kali wondered what the pair of you were talking about, probably her. Any nervousness had seemed to be removed from your body and you were frankly the most relaxed she had seen you in a very long time. With a wave, you beckoned her over.

"Wait what?" Hävard spluttered out as he absorbed her words. "What do you mean girlfriend. Like a friend that's a girl?" Kali shot him an annoyed look but ultimately left him there.

"Friend that's a girl right?!"

#r6s #r6s x reader #kali x reader #rainbow six siege #Jaimini Kalimohan Shah

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ao3komorii · 3 years ago

Text

Tangling with the Lifeguard (Pool Party Sett/Reader)

The Pool Party Sett story is done! I’ve gone with a beach!AU sort of setting where league races exist in a modern-day beach sort of place. Also sorry to any MF or Syndra mains, they don’t really come out the best in this xD Hope you enjoy, and as always, there is a smut warning for the end!

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The sun was shining high in the sky, crystalline waters lapping against the shore as beachgoers took advantage of the perfect summer day. Taking in the scene from your place in the shade of a tree on the border between the beach and parking lot, you let a smile grace your lips as you mused on just how much this place seemed to not change, even after so many years.

The last time you had set foot on this beach, you had been twelve years old, full of excitement and unaware of the harsh realities of the adult world. Your parents had brought you here for that summer, now thirteen years ago, the beautiful beach an unforgettable experience. You had left after that summer with treasured memories, and a new friend, that same friend the very reason why you had returned to Port Navori beach after so long.

Taliyah had been the same age as you, with fairly lax parents who let her roam the beach by herself, even as the small twelve-year-old she had been. You had bonded instantly, spending almost every day together, and keeping in touch through letters, and later emails and text messages.

You had long said that you had wanted to come back and visit the lively beach town, but the timing hadn’t been right, not until this year.

You were done all your schooling, and had quit your high-stress, low-pay job, and as Taliyah had said on your last phone call, you had no reason not to visit. Her parents had been travelling the world since they retired, so you would have her house all to yourselves.

In your absence, Taliyah had become a fairly accomplished surfer in the local scene, working at an ice cream shop on the beach to support her expensive pursuits. She had been so insistent that you couldn’t find yourself able to refuse her offer; work in the ice cream shop with her in the day, and then spend the rest of your time catching up with each other. You had missed your friend dearly, and had accepted the offer without a second thought.

And now here you were, waiting at the beach’s edge for Taliyah to show up. She had told you to dress for the beach, sounding casual as was her usual, so you had worn a swimsuit with a short, flowy shoulderless dress on overtop. Unwilling to look like a lobster by day’s end, you had carefully layered yourself with sunscreen, and now all you needed was for your friend to get here already. Just when you were about to get out your phone to text her, an excited call of your name had you re-stowing the phone in your bag and looking back to see your friend bounding across the parking lot towards you.

Taliyah, dressed in a two-piece water suit and carrying a tropical-flower-print surfboard, came to a stop before you, leaning her surfboard against a tree to free her arms to tackle you in a hug.

“You’re finally here!” she grinned, surprising you with the strength of her hug. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

“So what’s first?” you asked as you pulled back from the hug.

Taliyah hummed. “I guess I’ll show you the shop.”

You followed her onto the beach, recognizing the small bright blue building from the pictures she had sent you before. Taliyah took you around the back, fishing a key out of her pocket before unlocking the door and leading you into the small room.

There were large tubs of ice cream in the middle of the room, the walls lined with containers of various toppings and machines. On the back wall from you were two windows, glossy menus pasted to the doors that would display out when they were opened. Upon walking closer to the menu signs, you noticed something.

“Hey, it says we open at nine, but it’s ten-thirty…”

“It’s fine,” Taliyah replied with a shrug. “The owners are pretty chill. If anyone complains, I’ll just tell them I had to train the new employee.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. Sometimes you really envied Taliyah’s ability to be so carefree. Her calm energy was a big help for you, having got advice from her on numerous occasions over the years.

Taliyah came over to where you were, eyes flitting boredly to the menu boards before turning her attention back to you. “So I’m thinking we get you taking orders while I make them.”

“Works for me,” you agreed. It certainly sounded easier than figuring out what a poro float was supposed to be. You never knew ice cream stands had such fancy options now, used to the simple menus of ice cream cones and bars back at the shops in your hometown.

You were about to open the order windows when you were stopped by a rustling noise from the back of the store. You turned to see Taliyah digging in a cardboard box in the back corner, pulling out some folded-up fabric that was the same sky blue as the stand.

“Didn’t think you’d get away without an embarrassing uniform, did you?” Taliyah teased, tossing some of her fabric pile your way.

You caught the bundle, unfolding it to find an apron with Poro Palace Frozen Treats in pink bubble letters, little white fuzzy animals dotting the apron. There was an accompanying blue visor hat that looked like something out of a kid’s store. You reluctantly slipped both items of clothing on, looking back to find that Taliyah had done the same.

“Stylish, huh?” she smirked, striking a modelesque pose.

“We look like we work at an amusement park, Tali,” you laughed.

“Feels like it sometimes with all the annoying kids that come by,” she replied. “Okay, you can open it up now.”

Taliyah settled herself down in a chair in front of the section of ice cream tubs, and you reluctantly turned to unlatch and open the windows, unsure of exactly what you were getting yourself into.

The small room lit up with the outside sunlight streaming in from your window to outside, the immediate glare of the sun making you wish you had worn sunglasses.

Almost immediately, the masses were upon you. You noticed a woman with several children in tow who perked up as she laid eyes on you, striding over to you with her children right behind her, pushing each other as they scrambled to be the first one to get over to you.

You heard Taliyah groan behind you. “Get the pen ready. They always have the most annoying orders.”

You rose an eyebrow, but picked up the pen and notepad that sat beside the cash register as the woman came to a stop before you.

“You know, I’ve been waiting for an hour already. You young girls don’t know how hard it is for mothers,” the woman complained, not letting you get a word in edgewise. “Alright, tell her what you want.”

“I want a brownie sundae!” a small boy with blue hair who clearly intended to make full use of his outdoor voice shouted. “But with cotton candy ice cream and pop rocks and I want only blue candies!”

“Uh…” The kid was talking too fast for you to write, but luckily Taliyah had your back, a got it ringing out from behind you.

You weren’t sure how you had managed to get their orders out before they melted, messing up their total several times before Taliyah had to come and help you out. With a last snide look and a fistful of blue napkins, the mother and her little terrors left the stand at last.

“She’s the worst,” Taliyah said, bringing your weary gaze her way as she cleaned off an ice cream scoop. “I accidentally put one red candy in that kid’s sundae once and he screamed until I remade the whole thing!”

You winced. “Feels like we got off easy today.”

“Yeah,” Taliyah agreed. “Helps that they order the same thing every time, so I’ve got some practice.”

“Are they all this bad?” you asked, turning away from the window after seeing no potential customers nearby.

“Not all of them,” she replied with a strained smile. “I swear the heat just brings the jerk out in some of the people here.”

Speaking of jerks… your conversation was interrupted by an impatient-sounding throat clearing noise from behind you. You whirled around to see a redheaded woman with heart-shaped sunglasses and a revealing swimsuit leaning against your counter. She was staring at you like you were gum she had stepped in, flipping some hair over her shoulder when she knew she had your attention.

“Five cherry snowballs,” she said, dropping a few coins on your counter, some of which bounced and hit the floor. “To the red umbrella, thanks ice cream girl.”

Without any further interaction, she turned on her heel and strutted away, hips swinging as she went, leaving you wondering what had just happened.

You slowly turned back to face Taliyah again. “Um, do we usually deliver?”

“Nope,” she answered. “Not to people like that anyways.”

“But…” you protested weakly. You knew Taliyah got away with a lot here, but you didn’t want her to lose her job because some rude girl complained to her bosses. “I’ll just take them over and next time I’ll just say we don’t deliver.”

“Still tempted to put rocks in their snowballs,” Taliyah joked as she set about piling the scoops of red ice.

Soon you had a tray with five cherry syrup-coated piles of shaved ice in little plastic bowls with accompanying little plastic spoons stuck in the side of the dishes.

“I’ll be right back,” you said, heading past Taliyah to the back door, opening it to find yourself back out in the mid-morning heat.

The sand still felt uncomfortably hot underfoot, even with your flip flops on. With how hot it was out, these would have to be delivered as soon as possible to not be a puddle by the time they were eaten. Your only problem was that you had no idea where to go.

The redhead had said that she would be at the red umbrella, but of course nothing at this ice cream stand would be that easy. Standing just outside the hut, you were treated to a veritable rainbow of colored beach umbrellas. You counted at least ten red ones scattered across the beach, none particularly standing out to you. You didn’t have many options, and were forced to go with the most tedious one; checking every red umbrella until you found the girl and her group.

The first umbrella had been a bust, as had the next five. The sixth had led to a sweaty old man who told you that you were just in time to help him sunscreen his back. By the time you had hurriedly fled from that creep, it had been about five minutes of searching, the snowballs on your tray looking considerably droopier than they had been when you had left the shop.

You stared down at the tray of melting treats, unsure of what to do now. Should you go back and have Taliyah remake the snowballs? Try a few more umbrellas and hope you got lucky? You really hadn’t been anticipating this much stress when you had agreed to work here with Taliyah for the summer.

You frowned at the now-more-water-than-ice treats, your decision made. You couldn’t serve these, not as melted as they were. You would go back and help remake them and see if Taliyah had any insight as to which red umbrella was the right one. You turned around to head back to the stand, only to trip on your overheating flip flops and fall forward with a cry.

You had closed your eyes with a flinch as you fell, but opened them with a start as you heard a grunt from right in front of you. Looking up from your position in the burning sand, you felt like your heart was going to stop in your chest.

Standing before you was the most attractive guy you had ever laid eyes on, with fire red hair and a pair of black animal ears that looked soft to the touch. He was dressed in a tight pair of swim shorts, a lightweight red jacket tied around his waist. He had a flower lei around his neck, but that was the only thing that he wore on his top half, his insanely-well-built torso on full display, a torso you realized with horror was currently splattered with red syrup and shaved ice.

You looked from the hot guy to the ground, the sand around you speckled with plastic cups, spoons and napkins, your tray turned upside down in the sand. You slowly risked a gaze back up, only to see the guy staring down at you from behind his pink-tinted sunglasses as a clump of ice fell from his stomach to the sand just in front of your hands.

Embarrassment forced you to spring up, grabbing some stray napkins from the ground and dabbing them against the mess of syrup and ice on the man’s abdomen.

“I’m so sorry, I–” You looked up from your apologizing to see the man silently staring at you, your hand freezing in place as you realized that you were basically feeling this guy up through the napkins, the realization making your cheeks burn with shame and embarrassment.

“I’m really sorry!” you cried out, pulling your hands back. He still hadn’t said anything, and you realized that you couldn’t just stand here like an idiot, your flight instinct kicking in as you reached down to grab your tray before moving around the man and fleeing in the direction of the ice cream stand.

“Hey, wait!”

The man tried to grab your arm as you passed, but you were faster in your embarrassment-fueled retreat, and soon the hot stranger was far behind you. You didn’t stop running until you were back at the shop, the empty sand-logged tray clutched tightly to your chest, your heartbeat pounding in your ears as you shut the door, making eye contact with a confused Taliyah.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, getting up to approach you when you didn’t respond. “Talk to me. What happened? If that snob said anything to you–”

“No, no, she didn’t,” you replied weakly, sinking to the floor with your back against the door. “I didn’t even get to her.”

“Then what happened?” she pressed, bringing you a glass of water and prying the tray from your hands at last.

She ushered you to your feet and down into her chair, taking a seat on one of the counters. You took a deep breath, taking a sip of the water before recounting the events of the past ten minutes to Taliyah, who listened silently.

“…I didn’t know what to do, so I just ran,” you finished, setting your water down to bury your face in your hands.

“It’s no big deal,” Taliyah replied gently. “Everyone has embarrassed themselves in front of someone. Remember that time I tripped over my board in front of that group of tourists?”

“I covered him in cherry syrup, Tali,” you groaned. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this.”

“It’s your first day,” she stressed. “You’re bound to mess some things up.”

She stood up, returning to the shaved ice machine. “Now how about we remake those snowballs and then I’ll–”

Taliyah had frozen in place, a plastic cup in her hand as she stared straight ahead.

“Tali?” you questioned, standing up. “Are you–”

“That guy you dumped the snowballs on,” she quickly interrupted. “Did he have majorly cut abs and animal ears?”

“Uh, why?” You felt a jolt of fear shoot up your spine as you followed her gaze to see the man from earlier currently approaching the shop, well-defined abdomen now minus the sticky mess you had spilt all over him. “Oh god, it’s him!”

You and Taliyah exchange wide-eyed glances before you dove down out of sight, hiding behind the tubs of ice cream like they were a fortress.

“Please get rid of him!” you begged. “I’ll do whatever you want, I just can’t face him!”

You heard Taliyah sigh. “Fine, but this means you’re coming stone hunting with me tonight.”

You agreed immediately, even if the prospect wasn’t overwhelmingly appealing. Taliyah was always eager to add to her collection of shiny stones, but was so picky that it often took hours to find just one stone that met her standards. But right now you were so desperate that you would have promised her anything just to make the angry hot guy go away.

From your position behind the ice cream tubs, you could only hear Taliyah’s voice clearly, the general noise of the beach preventing you from hearing what the furry-eared man was saying. You wanted to peek out from your hiding spot, but found yourself chickening out. You really didn’t need him catching sight of you and making Taliyah’s job even harder.

You had gotten so in your own head with panic that you had completely tuned out of your surroundings until a hand waved in front of your face and you realized Taliyah was crouching in front of you, calling your name.

“You okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Is he gone?” you replied quietly.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” she confirmed, standing up and grabbing your forearms to pull you up with her. “Now help me remake those snowballs and then I’ll fill you in.”

You bit your lip as you scooped shaved ice into a row of plastic cups as Taliyah readied the cherry syrup. Soon you had five pristine-looking snowballs on your slightly-sandy tray, the sight of them bringing you back to your moment of collision with the cute guy.

The tray was snatched from your field of vision by Taliyah, who headed over to the rear door. “Be back in a few. Try not to freak out too much while I’m gone.”

And then the door was closed and you were left alone. Looking over at the order window, you decided that you were probably safer to just resume your position behind the ice cream tubs, unwilling to risk being out in the open in case the guy decided to come back.

While she was gone, you couldn’t help but fret over exactly what had been said between your best friend and the mysterious hot guy. She didn’t seem to be upset, so clearly their conversation hadn’t been that intense. Or maybe it had; Taliyah was a fairly relaxed person, so it would be difficult for a random angry customer to really get to her. But that didn’t quite make sense either; if he had yelled at her, you would have heard it over the noise of the beachgoers. All you were doing was overthinking yourself to death, exactly what Taliyah had told you not to do.

And it was there you remained until Taliyah returned, closing the door behind her and placing the serving tray in the sink before she turned her attention to you at last.

“Calm down, it’s fine… I think,” she said.

“You think?”

“Well he didn’t seem mad,” she explained. “He asked if a girl that looked like you worked here and I said you went home sick. Said he’d come back another time.”

“Another–” Oh god. Was he really so angry that he was willing to come back just for the chance to yell at you?

“I can see you freaking out,” Taliyah scolded. “Don’t. You’re fine. Musclehead or not, he’s not going to kill you just because you spilled shaved ice on him.”

She was probably right; hot shirtless guys on the beach likely had more important things to do than yelling at clumsy ice cream shop workers. By tomorrow, he would probably forget you ever existed, and you could go back to enjoying your time working alongside your best friend.

The rock collecting that night had been long and boring, at least for you. Taliyah hadn’t found any rocks she liked enough to take home, only ending the search after she had found some sea glass that she had deemed acceptable to add to her collection. You could only hope that you wouldn’t owe her any more favors any time soon, unsure if you could survive another late night rock hunt.

The next morning, you entered the shop alongside Taliyah, who put her bag down and began to set up the day’s supplies. Considering it was ten minutes past opening time and Taliyah had insisted that she didn’t need help setting up, you decided that you might as well just open the order window for the day, hoping that mom and her group of demon kids wouldn’t be waiting out there, only to unlatch the widows and see something arguably worse.

The window had only been open a peek, but it was enough for you to see the large figure of the man from yesterday standing ten feet or so from your shop, his back facing you as he stared out at the beach. In your brief glimpse, you also noticed that the jacket wrapped around his waist had a white plus sign in a circle as well as the word lifeguard in white blocky letters above it. Oh god, of course you had gone and pissed off a lifeguard on your first day here.

You shut the barely-open windows with a too-loud slam that made you wince before you quickly locked them again and rushed over to Taliyah.

“Tali, he’s here again!” you hissed.

“Huh?” she replied, pausing her task of refilling a container of sprinkles. “Muscle guy?”

You nodded frantically and Taliyah frowned, putting the sprinkles down and approaching the order window herself. You watched as she opened the window ever so slightly, peering out for a few seconds before closing it back up.

“Well… can’t say I was expecting him to actually come back,” she said evenly.

“What do I even do?” you asked, staring at the order windows like they would burst open at any second and reveal you to the clearly-determined lifeguard. “He’s a lifeguard, Tali! What if he bans me from the beach?”

She rolled her eyes in response. “He can’t just ban you from the beach. Lifeguards don’t have that much power. If they did, I would’ve been banned a long time ago for all the times I’ve surfed after hours.”

“Then what does he want with me?” you asked, looking away from the window.

Taliyah shrugged. “You’d have to ask him that.”

“But what if I… don’t?” you replied weakly. “He’ll give up eventually, right?”

“I mean, maybe?” she said. “But it might be easier to deal with him now and get it over with.”

You saw her point, but it wasn’t her that was being pursued by a tall, muscly lifeguard with a vengeance!

Taliyah clearly caught the reluctance on your face and sighed. “Fine, I’ll switch with you for today. Now let’s go over how to make the basic stuff before we open.”

True to her word, Taliyah had allowed you to hide in the back making orders, telling the lifeguard guy that you were off today. You watched him walk away from behind the shaved ice machine, hoping that your ordeal was finally over, but your hopes were quickly dashed the next day as you went to open the store again, only to see the same broad back facing you from just outside the shop.

Taliyah had reluctantly agreed to switch again that day, and the day after. But by day four, even the promise of helping her scavenge for rocks again wouldn’t get her to agree to switch.

You closed the window again, turning to Taliyah with pleading eyes, but she was having none of it.

“It’s been four days,” she said, arms crossed. “Clearly he’s not giving up. You should just see what he wants.”

“But…” The thought still terrified you. You knew you deserved to be yelled at for what you had done, but it was made that much worse by the fact that the subject of your plight was just about the hottest guy you had ever seen.

Taliyah shook her head at you. “Okay, but I’m not doing orders again today, so if you want to keep hiding from him, we’ll have to move onto plan B.”

Plan B, as it turned out, was a mascot suit of sorts; three fluffy poros stacked on top of each other like a snowman. A poro each made up your upper and lower body, the last poro being the head of the costume. You looked incredibly awkward, the arms and legs of the costume hairy and tipped with little brown claws. You were momentarily stunned by the sheer lengths you were going to just to avoid this guy, but you were already in the costume, so you reasoned that you might as well follow through with it now.

Taliyah put the costume’s head on you and your world was plunged largely into darkness, minus the mesh one-way view out of the top poro’s eyes. You were helped to the back door, some fliers for the store shoved into your hands.

Taliyah helped you walk out front, and you were pretty quickly swarmed by kids. You couldn’t see the lifeguard guy, but the relief that coursed through you was short-lived, swallowed by the immediate explosion of business brought on by your costume.

One thing you hadn’t considered in your haste was the heat. You weren’t sure if it was the costume or if today was hotter than usual, but very quickly you found yourself becoming a sweaty mess under the weight of the dense, furry costume.

The longer you were in the costume, the worse you felt, but you were determined to stick this out. So you handed out fliers and posed for photos with children while Taliyah ran the stand.

You wished that you could wipe the sweat from your face, but you weren’t sure if you could even reach up to remove the costume’s head yourself due to the awkward shape of the costume. So you endured the ever-increasing heat, only feeling wearier as the time ticked by.

You waved goodbye to a group of kids as they left with their ice cream cones, the sweltering heat really bearing down on you. As you went to turn and head back to the stand to ask Taliyah to help get the head off, a wave of dizziness crashed over you. You took one step towards the stand, and then another, and then it all went dark as you felt yourself falling forward, too weak to stop your descent to the ground.

You woke up with a heavy head, feeling foggy with confusion. The last thing you remembered, you had been heading back to the stand…

Immediately, you realized that you weren’t at the ice cream stand, and you weren’t wearing the poro suit, or even your beach dress. Sitting up in the cot you laid in, you found that you were wearing only your swimsuit.

As you sat up, a blue ice pack that you hadn’t realized was there fell from your forehead and into your lap. Picking it up, the pack only feeling slightly cold, you turned to look around the room, still unsure what exactly was going on.

You were in a room of some sort, guessing it was afternoon by the minute amount of light filtering into the room, even through the closed curtains. There was a fan gently whirring above your head, but otherwise the room was silent.

There was another cot beside yours, and a table nearby with a few red first aid kits stacked on it, some bandages messily spilling out of one of them. There was a sign pulled over the door, the side facing you reading come on in, we’re open.

You got up from the bed, shuddering with disgust when you noticed just how sweaty your whole body was. The bed squeaked as you got up from it, your knees hitting a bedside table between the cots that you hadn’t noticed had been there. On the small table was a glass of water, as well as a white fan that was emblazoned with what looked to be a group of cats waterskiing.

You picked up the fan, letting out a small laugh at the silly-looking cartoon cats on the fan. It looked like something you could win at a carnival booth.

“If you can laugh, then I guess you’re feelin’ alright.”

A deep voice from behind you made you jump, fingers fumbling the fan, which fell onto the floor with a clatter that was only made louder in the quiet room. You turned to look behind you, only to fall off the cot in shock when you saw the very lifeguard you had been trying so hard to avoid standing in the doorway of a small office you hadn’t noticed was there.

“Hey, careful!” He quickly crossed the room to squat down in front of you, taking your elbow and helping you back up onto the cot. You were too stunned to resist and found yourself falling into his chest as a wave of dizziness hit you.

“You okay?” he asked, and you tried to nod, but your head was spinning too much to focus. “Hey, hold still.”

He placed his hands on your shoulders, keeping you steady against him until you were able to regain your focus. When he was satisfied with your condition, he pulled back, releasing your shoulders and instead reaching out for the glass of water on the table next to you.

“Drink,” he instructed, handing you the cup before standing up. “I’ll be right back.”

He stared at you for a moment before finally turning back and heading into the office at the back of the room.

You watched him go, feeling on edge, but complied, bringing the glass up to your lips and taking a long drink. The last thing you wanted to do was give this guy more reason to be upset with you. You were surprised at just how refreshing the water felt, and you had soon downed the entire glass, placing it back on the table when you were done.

“Alright, lay back down,” the lifeguard instructed as he returned.

“What?” you replied. What was he going to do to you? How had you even got here? Where was Taliyah?

He stopped before you, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at your shaky, terrified form. “Are you–”

“I’m sorry!” you exclaimed, bowing your head. “I didn’t mean to spill the snowballs on you! If you need to yell at me, go ahead. I’m sorry I didn’t just come out sooner and–”

It had occurred to you mid-ramble that he had yet to say anything, and you cut off your babbling, slowly looking up to find him staring at you with what you could only describe as a bewildered look on his face.

He blinked. “Is that why–”

“I’m so sorry!” you interrupted, bowing your head again. “If you want to ban me from the beach, I get it!”

“Ban ya from the beach?” he replied with a bark of laughter. “The only thing I wanted to do was get your number.”

“My… what?” You had to be hallucinating. There was no way he had just said that.

“Lay down first,” he spoke sternly, and you complied, still feeling stunned by his words.

Once you were laid down, he picked something up from the bed, which you recognized as another ice pack. He placed it on your forehead, the cool pack immediately flooding you with a feeling of relief. Closing your eyes, you let out a tired sigh, suddenly feeling fatigued.

“Get some rest, princess. We’ll talk when you’re up again.”

You took his advice, the cooling from the ice pack lulling you back to sleep, your eyelids too heavy to keep open.

When you woke up again, you felt infinitely better, your head clearer and body feeling less overheated. The ice pack on your forehead was room temperature, and it was now dark outside. There was a light illuminating your left side as you sat up in bed, turning to see the office in the back with its light on.

The cot squeaked under you, which was responded to by the squeak of a chair from inside the office, the red-haired lifeguard emerging from the office and approaching your bedside.

“Feelin’ any better?” he asked, and you nodded, biting your lip nervously. “Got you some more water.”

You looked over to the bedside table to see the water cup refilled and took hold of it, grateful to have something to focus on other than the intimidatingly muscular man before you.

You drank the entire glass before you forced yourself to finally address the situation before you. “Um… why am I here?”

“You passed out,” he replied bluntly, taking a seat on the cot next to yours. “Overheated yourself in that rat costume.”

“They’re not rats, they’re poros,” you replied, unsure of what to say.

He let out a huff of laughter. “Poros that important to you that you’re willin’ to fry yourself for ‘em?”

“No, that was…” you trailed off. Well, you might as well just admit it. If he had gone out of his way to care for you after you had passed out like an idiot, then he deserved the truth. “I was avoiding you. I was scared you were going to yell at me. My friend didn’t want to keep covering for me at the window so I decided to wear that stupid poro costume.”

“So that’s what that was about,” he replied. “And here I thought you were avoidin’ me ‘cuz you weren’t interested. Gave up on gettin’ your number and then got news that someone passed out from heat stroke.”

You were still having a hard time comprehending the asking for your number part, so you instead chose to focus on the other half. “Heat stroke?”

“Not sure what you expected, wearin’ that costume in this heat,” he said. “Can’t say nobody’s ever been afraid of me before, but giving themself heat stroke just to avoid me is a new one.”

He sounded somewhat self-deprecating, and you immediately felt bad. You had clearly misjudged him, and realized that he hadn’t even mentioned the snowball incident himself.

You forced yourself to meet his eyes, even with as awkward as you were currently felt. “I’m sorry for giving you so much trouble, and for spilling snowballs all over you. I’m just really sorry.”

He laughed. “Ain’t nothin’ for you to apologize for. I’ve had worse get on me since I started workin’ here, and usually it ain’t from a cute girl.”

You tensed in your seat, tearing your gaze from his to look down at your feet, your cheeks feeling warm.

“Hey, don’t go overheatin’ yourself again,” he scolded, standing up from the bed. “If you’re not interested, that’s fine, but I think it’s best if I take ya home. Don’t need your friend yellin’ at me again if you pass out on the way back.”

As much as you wanted to deny his assertion of you being not interested, you couldn’t muster up the courage, so you instead quietly accepted his offer of help. You would have to ask Taliyah what he had meant when you got back.

It was surprisingly cold on the beach at night, the icy breeze sending shivers along your skin. You stared out at the dark ocean waves, entranced by the water crashing against the sand, when your focus was broken by some soft fabric being laid over your shoulders.

You turned to look over your shoulder to see Sett just behind you on the steps of the lifeguard office, the jacket that was usually around his waist now laying on your shoulders.

He caught your curious look and raised an eyebrow. “You nearly cooked yourself to death today, I ain’t about to let you freeze yourself to death now.”

“Thanks,” you replied quietly, reaching a hand up to keep the jacket around your shoulders.

Your feet met the soft sand as you followed Sett towards the parking lot. The beach was totally empty, an odd contrast to how things were in the daytime. It felt weird to actually see the shape of the landscape unobscured by giant beach umbrellas and a sea of bodies. You only looked away from the empty scene when you realized that you had left the sand, and Sett was staring expectantly at you.

“…what?” you asked, getting the feeling that he had said something that you had missed.

“Which way?” he repeated with a quick glance at the street ahead of you.

“Oh right,” you replied. “My friend lives on Sandstone Way.”

Sett’s ears perked up. “By that tacky souvenir shop?”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “Right by there.”

You giggled at Sett’s assessment; you had noticed the eye-hurtingly brightly painted store when Taliyah had walked you to her house from the train station. She had rolled her eyes at the store as you surveyed the display of t-shirts with embarrassing designs on them, stating that sometimes they got some good rocks in, but it wasn’t worth the amount of tourists always asking for directions when she was walking around the neighborhood.

Looking over at Sett out of the corner of your eye, you were struggling to think of anything to say. He was dressed in just his sandals and shorts, his sunglasses forgone and giving you a clear look at his golden eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

“So this your first summer here?” Sett asked, breaking the brief silence as you walked side by side. “I know I’d remember you if I’d seen ya before.”

“I was here for a summer when I was a kid,” you answered. “But everything looks so different now. Maybe I just saw this place differently when I was a kid.”

“Nah,” he dismissed. “It never used to be this busy here. Tourists bring money to this place, but it means it’s always loud around here.”

The conversation was slowly helping you feel more comfortable with the intimidatingly handsome lifeguard. You felt dumb for putting so much energy into avoiding him.

“So have you always lived here?” you asked.

“Born and raised,” he answered with a grin that you couldn’t help but feel looked a little sad. “Ma used to work at the boating shop… and the laundromat… and the candy store.”

“All at the same time?” you asked incredulously.

Sett shrugged. “Didn’t have much of a choice. Pa ran off on us when I was a kid, and it wasn’t like anyone would hire a fatherless runt to work for them.”

“Sounds like it was hard,” you replied. “Did you ever find out where he went?”

“For his sake, I’d better not,” Sett sneered. “I heard ma cry missin’ that scumbag more times than I can count. There ain’t a family here for that bastard to come back to.”

“How is your mom doing?” you asked as you turned onto Sandstone Way, passing by the tacky tourist shop, the flashy paint on the walls too bright even at night.

“She’s doin’ good,” he answered, finally looking happy with a satisfied smile. “Got her to quit her jobs when I started workin’ enough to pay the bills.”

“You’re a good son,” you complimented him. “She’s lucky to have you.”

You smiled at him, coming to a stop before Taliyah’s house. “Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me back.”

“Take care of yourself,” he said. “I don’t wanna see you passin’ out again.”

“I’ll try not to,” you replied. “No more poro costumes for me.”

“On that topic,” he purred, leaning closer to you. “You never gave me an answer.”

“An answer?” you squeaked, flustered by his sudden closeness.

“I’ve been tryin’ to get your number for days now,” he replied, and you did your best to supress a shiver from running up your spine. Was this real life?

You wet your lips with your tongue nervously, unable to miss how Sett’s sharp eyes watched the movement.

“I, um, I don’t have my phone on me,” you said, immediately realizing how dumb you sounded. You didn’t need your phone on you to tell him your number! You hastily made to amend your statement. “…but if you come by the stand tomorrow, I’ll give it to you!”

“Oh?” Sett’s grin was wide, gold eyes flashing dangerously. “I s’pose I could find some time to stop by. See you then, sweetheart.”

Sett turned to walk away, but you stopped him with a call of his name. “Wait, your jacket–”

“Keep it for the night,” Sett replied. “I’ll get it from you tomorrow.”

You reluctantly agreed, stunned silent by his bold flirting, his jacket sitting warm on your shoulders as you watched him walk away. You stared at his broad back until he was out of sight, only then turning to head inside, knowing Taliyah would be waiting.

The next morning she was still on you as you spent some extra time getting ready.

“I still can’t believe he gave you his jacket,” she teased with a grin. “I mean, I figured he was probably into you, but–”

“You what?” you replied as you paused styling your hair.

“I kept telling you to talk to him,” she replied. “No guy like that is going to wait outside your work for days in a row just to yell at you for spilling ice on him. But I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

“I just feel so stupid giving myself heat stroke just go avoid him,” you lamented.

“Yeah,” Taliyah frowned. “If I had realized it was that hot out, I never would’ve let you go out in that thing.”

“It’s my own fault for being so dumb,” you insisted.

“But hey, it all worked out, didn’t it?” Taliyah grinned as she slipped on her water shoes. “You’ve got a hot lifeguard coming to visit you at work today.”

“Don’t remind me. I’m still super nervous,” you said, adjusting your beach dress over your most flattering swimsuit.

“You’ll be fine,” Taliyah replied. “He’s clearly super into you. You should’ve seen him when you passed out yesterday.”

“What?” You had been so tired last night that you had only told her the basics before crashing for the night, completely forgetting to ask her what had happened yesterday.

“Someone got him when you collapsed,” she told you. “You should’ve seen his face when he pulled off the poro head and saw it was you inside the costume! I tried to come with, but he told me he’d handle it. I maaay have threatened his life if anything happened to you, but just a little.”

You laughed. So that’s what Sett had been referring to.

Taliyah came up from behind you as you stared at your appearance in the mirror, resting her chin on your shoulder and meeting your eyes in the mirror. “Relax, you look great. Fuzzy ear boy isn’t gonna know what hit him!”

“Fuzzy ear–” you sputtered, laughing at Taliyah’s choice of words. “I guess his ears do look pretty fuzzy.”

“Well if he lets you pet them, tell me how soft they are!” she teased, pulling back from you to grab her bag. “Now let’s go. You’ve got a boy to meet!”

You somehow felt even more nervous today than you had the few days you had spent avoiding Sett. You were still having a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that a guy that looked like he had walked straight out of a fireman’s calendar was coming to your little beachfront ice cream stand for the sole purpose of getting your phone number. And his jacket, which was folded neatly on the countertop beside you.

You weren’t exactly sure when he was going to come. Usually, he would be there waiting outside in the morning before you opened, but all you had opened up to today was a sparsely-populated beachfront, no handsome lifeguards to be seen. By two in the afternoon, your anxiety had begun to get the better of you.

“Stop pacing,” Taliyah scolded you. “He’ll be here.”

“But what if he decided not to?” you said, taking a deep breath to try and calm yourself down. “What if this was just a joke?”

“Then I’ll go kick his butt,” she responded plainly. “He’ll come. Relax.”

You were about to reply, when a ding of the service bell at the order window had you spinning around, ready to take an order, only for the words to die on your lips when you laid eyes on the well-muscled lifeguard with the fuzzy black ears just outside the order window, sending a grin your way.

“Here to pick up my order,” he said, leaning an arm against the window.

“Your… order?” you replied, too entranced by his appearance to properly make use of your brain.

“A pretty girl promised me her number if I came by,” he replied, looking down at you through his sunglasses.

“I… right… I…” You turned back quickly to see Taliyah staring expectantly at you, mouthing the word number at you. Right.

With slightly shaky hands, you reached for the small notepad at the front counter, taking that and a pen in hand and trying not to focus on the fact that Sett was watching you as you began to write.

Double-checking that the number was right, you handed the paper to him, your fingers touching as he took it from you. Remembering about your other promise, you reached over to grab the lifeguard jacket from the counter beside you. You went to hand him his jacket, surprised when he didn’t take it from you.

“What time do you get off?” he asked, and you answered a quiet six. “Give it back to me then.”

With a short wave and a grin, Sett made a show of stowing the phone number in his pocket before sauntering off and leaving you standing there slack-jawed.

“See? Was that so hard?” Taliyah called from her seat at the ice machine. “Now you just have to keep it together for your date.”

“I don’t know if I can,” you said, leaning back against the counter.

“You did last night, didn’t you?” she countered. “He’s just a guy. A really hot guy, but still. Don’t freak yourself out. You deserve a nice guy. It’s just a bonus that he has more abs than spiders have legs!”

You let out an amused huff. Taliyah was right, as she always was. You needed to get over yourself and let yourself have a good time tonight.”

But for now, you had customers to deal with. You and Taliyah let out a shared groan as you saw the nightmare mom and her army of brats heading towards you. You both returned to your posts, hoping their overly-complicated orders would be right on the first try this time.

Taliyah let out a yawn, stretching her arms high above her head before beginning the process of cleaning up for the day. After the last customer left, you hastily closed the order window, not wanting to give anyone the chance to come and beg about how it was only five minutes past closing and they’ve been wanting a banana split all day. You had learned your lesson from that mistake on day two.

Once the order windows were closed and locked, you joined Taliyah at the side counter, helping to return all the different containers of toppings to their rightful places. You found your hands moving slower, your nerves slowing you down in order to prolong the inevitable.

Taliyah eventually got tired of your pitiful attempt at stalling for time and gently removed the container of blue sprinkles from your grasp. “Just go, I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, and Taliyah sent you an unimpressed look. “Okay, fine, I’m going, I’m going.”

“I hope you know I expect all the details later!” she grinned as you made your way to the door, hesitating with your hand on the door handle for only a moment before opening the door.

It was mercifully less warm outside today than it had been yesterday, not to mention that you were also minus a heavy mascot costume. Yesterday hadn’t ended too badly for you, but you would still prefer to not end today in a hospital if you exacerbated your current heat-sensitive state.

You weren’t sure if you preferred if Sett was already there, or if you got there first to wait for him; neither option seemed to abate your nerves. But of course, the lifeguard was prompt as always, leaning against one of the beams that held up the awning above the order window.

You didn’t think you had been making much noise walking along the sand, but he seemed to hear you, turning to face you with a grin as you approached.

“Ready?” he asked as you came to a stop before him, tucking some of your hair behind your ear in an effort to keep your cool.

“Yeah,” you answered, impressed that your voice hadn’t come out squeaky with how nervous you were.

“Good,” he replied, before his grin turned teasing. “Was half expectin’ ya to come on our date in that rat costume.”

“Poro!” you corrected again, trying not to get flustered by his mention of this being a date. You weren’t sure what else it would be, but you couldn’t help the butterflies that fluttered in your stomach when he had acknowledged the obvious.

He surprised you by taking your hand, pulling you along with him as you tried desperately not to stumble and fall into the sand.

The beach crowd was beginning to thin out, people heading home or to one of the many beachfront restaurants nearby. Watching as a kid packed up his sand toys, you wondered if one of those restaurants was where you were headed as well. Sett hadn’t told you anything about what the plan was, and you found yourself curious when he led you to the bright white lifeguard office.

At first, you had thought that maybe he had forgotten something, at least until you followed him into the small building to see what looked to be the table that had previously held all the first aid kits, now decked out in a soft-looking purple picnic blanket. On top of the makeshift picnic table was a spread of various tasty-looking finger foods, the scene completed by two chairs pulled up to the table, cushions with a starfish pattern placed on the seats.

You were perhaps too dumbfounded by the sight, as you snapped out of it to Sett calling your name, looking over at him to see him looking surprisingly tense. You should probably say something, you realized.

“It looks great,” you said, meaning every word as you looked over the table. “Are those cabbage rolls?”

“Ma helped me make ‘em,” Sett explained, looking bashful for the first time since you had met him as he raised an arm to scratch at the back of his neck. “Helped me with all of this, actually. Never done anythin’ like this before.”

“You mean a picnic?” you asked curiously.

Sett chuckled. “Picnics. Dates. Not a lotta women ‘round here who wanted anythin’ to do with a fatherless half-breed.”

You had a hard time believing that; you had noticed several mothers checking him out as they packed their family’s stuff to leave the beach. But the hint of something sad in his eyes made you reconsider. You had no memory of seeing someone like him that summer you had spent here, but it wasn’t like that was a surprise to you. You and Taliyah had been in your own little world at that time, only ever spending time with each other.

“Well I’m excited to try your cooking,” you said, figuring a change of subject was for the best.

Sett grinned as he sat down. “Should be decent. Haven’t poisoned anyone since high school.”

Your eyes widened, hand freezing on its path to grab a cabbage roll, startled eyes darting to his.

Sett let out a bark of laughter at your alarmed face. “Relax. Wouldn’t poison ya. Maybe those kids that keep swimmin’ into the boating zone, but not you.”

“Thanks… I think?” you replied, biting your lip as you stared down at the cabbage rolls, weighing your options.

“Wasn’t real poison anyways,” he scoffed, taking some rolls from himself. “Not my fault sugar and salt look the same.”

You laughed, grabbing some food for yourself at last. “I suppose they kinda do.”

“Ma didn’t wanna hurt my feelings, but I knew when I tried some myself,” he explained.

“It was nice of her to try,” you offered.

“Too nice,” he said. “Ma is always too nice. Never said anythin’ bad about my old man, even after what he did. Had to work three jobs for years because of that bastard, but not a word.”

“Well I’m sure she’s glad she has you,” you commented. “Even if you give her food poisoning sometimes.”

“Once,” he corrected, taking a bite. “Learned my lesson the first time.”

You followed his lead, finding the food to be entirely poison-free, and actually the best home-cooked meal you had eaten in a long time. The conversation moved to swapping work stories, and you were unsurprised to find out that the mother and her the demon children had been a thorn in Sett’s side as well.

“They really buried sleeping sunbathers in sand?”

“Five times in a day one time,” Sett grouchily confirmed. “Last time Braum went to handle it. Said I would bury those little assholes under the sand if I had to go yell at them one more time.”

You sympathized with his pain. You felt lucky that you had only experienced the tip of the annoyingness iceberg with that group of little terrors.

“Braum?” you inquired as you both left the lifeguard office, the beach now fully dark.

“Fellow lifeguard,” he answered, nonchalantly taking your hand in his as you made your way off the beach. “Bald, giant moustache, even bigger than me. Better at the whole gentle-but-firm thing than I am.”

“Oh, I think I’ve seen him before. He comes by for poro pops sometimes,” you said, mind drawing a picture of the surprisingly friendly man in the small purple swim bottoms with a weakness for poro-shaped ice pops. “So are you the head lifeguard then?”

Sett considered your question. “Guess I am the boss of ‘em. All of the other lifeguards are always comin’ at me with problems to solve. The extra pay doesn’t hurt either if I wanna keep momma from feelin’ like she has to work.”

“Say thank you to her from me for the dinner. It was really good,” you said as you passed by the familiar tacky souvenir shop.

“She’ll be happy to hear it,” he replied with a soft smile that made your heart thump in your chest. “I know she wishes she had more to cook for than just me.”

You both came to a stop before Taliyah’s house, and you sneakily glanced over just to make sure Taliyah wasn’t peeking out from a window, which she wasn’t. You turned your focus back to Sett, only to find him closer than he had just been. How was he so good at sneaking up on you?

A large hand came up to cup your jaw, thumb brushing against your cheek, and your face was tilted up towards Sett’s. You were glad it was dark out, because otherwise you knew your reddening cheeks would be obvious.

“Still afraid of me?” he asked, voice low, lips so close to yours that you could make out a small scar that crossed over his bottom lip.

“No,” you answered, making no move to pull away as you stared up into his eyes. “Not unless I was about to taste your high school cooking.”

“Smart,” he replied with a smirk. “But I’m talkin’ about right now, because if you don’t turn and run into that house, I’m gonna kiss you.”

Your bag almost tumbled from your grasp, but you held fast as you stared at Sett, whose own had already become half-lidded. You had no words to describe how much you didn’t want to run right now, so you didn’t use any, instead angling your face further upwards, trying to make your willingness abundantly clear.

With a grin, he leaned down and kissed you.

Pulling back slightly, he dove back in, his other hand coming to your waist to pull you against him. You happily leant into him, your hands on his firm chest.

When he pulled back again, you opened your eyes at last, feeling almost as dizzy as right before you had passed out from heat stroke.

Sett looked content, and you were only hoping you looked half as composed as he did right now. He leaned back in to give you one more peck before pulling back from you entirely, the cold from the air outside immediately apparent as soon as you were minus his warm hands against your skin.

“Think I’ll stop by tomorrow,” he said. “Been cravin’ a cherry snowball for some reason lately.”

Sett was a man of his word, you learned, though you were less happy to see him the next day when he asked if he could order a cherry snowball served like last time, and then laughed as you had proceeded to sputter like a broken machine.

His visits became daily, sometimes bringing Braum with him, who continued to surprise you with the sheer amount of poro pops he was able to consume in one sitting. Quite a few nights a week, you had found yourself all around Port Navori with the half-Vastayan lifeguard. You were surprised at how supportive Taliyah was being, considering you had originally come here to spend time with her.

“Gives me more time to surf,” she answered with a shrug when you had asked her. “And maybe that boyfriend of yours can convince you to stay here after the summer is over.”

“Boyfriend?” you yelped, and Taliyah raised an eyebrow.

“You aren’t? I thought he would have made it official by now. It’s been over two weeks… have you guys even done it?”

“Taliyah!” you scolded her, switching back to professional mode as a group of people approached the stand.

As you helped prepare their orders, you couldn’t help but think about what she had said. You and Sett had kissed quite a lot actually, but he had yet to do more than that. But it was far too embarrassing a subject for you to have the confidence to broach, so you had resolved yourself to just be content with things as they were.

It was just your luck that right then was when Sett had decided to make his daily visit to the stand, approaching the counter as the other group left.

Taliyah apparently wasn’t done pestering you for the day as she sped to meet him at the counter before you could get there yourself.

“Hey!” she greeted Sett with a sly smile as you stood frozen behind her, nervous about her motivations. “You’re on your break, right?”

Sett raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Well,” she said, in the voice you knew meant that she wanted something. “There’s a surfing contest I entered, and it’s almost my turn and it won’t even take that long and–”

“Tali!” you interrupted, rushing over to the counter.

“All I need is an hour,” Taliyah insisted, before pulling you beside her at the counter. “And she needs some help while I’m gone since lunchtime is when most of the people come by.”

“I’m fine, I–”

“I’m in,” Sett cut in, eyeing you with almost palpable smugness.

“Awesome!” Taliyah replied, immediately shucking her apron and hat onto the floor in her haste to get out the door. “Have fun, see you after I win!”

“Taliyah!”

Your call of her name fell on deaf ears as she already had her board and was out the door, leaving you standing at the counter with Sett still leaning against the counter.

Sett reached up to pull his sunglasses off, tucking them into his packet, his golden eyes fully uncovered and sparkling with mischief, the sight alone making you feel weary.

“Well? You gonna invite me in?” he asked. “Not sure I’d fit through the window.”

You scrambled to meet him at the back door, not wanting him to try and get into the shop through the order window that was less wide than he was. It was a strange feeling to open the back door of the shop to a guy that was almost too tall for the doorway, and another thing entirely to try and corral him into behaving as you tried to keep the ice cream stand functioning while Taliyah was gone.

“Aren’t lifeguards supposed to set a good example for others?” you huffed, wiping ice from your apron. At least he hadn’t made things truly equal and put cherry syrup on the ball of shaved ice he had pressed against your neck.

“Not when I’m off the clock,” he answered. “Besides, it’s my once in a lifetime chance to see what workin’ one of these is like.”

It would definitely be only one time if you had anything to say about it. If the almost-hour with him here had taught you anything, it was that Sett was not cut out to work in an ice cream shop.

The scoops of ice cream he doled out were easily twice the size of the ones Taliyah did, which made for happy customers, but a less happy bottom line if he was here for more than an hour. He was also lacking Taliyah’s patience, and you were forced to sideline him when an especially picky middle-aged woman came by who insisted you remake her smoothie four times until it had an acceptable pH level. The woman’s complaints had miraculously stopped the moment Sett had approached the window himself, becoming so invested in flirting with the handsome lifeguard that she had snatched her next smoothie attempt from you without complaint, not even glancing your way as she batted her eyes at him, only leaving when he excused himself with an excuse of needing to make more orders.

You approached Sett to check on him and found yourself pulled down into his lap as he leaned back in the chair.

Huffing, he pulled you against him, nuzzling against your neck. “Don’t know how you deal with that. Couldn’t pay me to make her damn smoothie one more time.”

“You get used to it,” you replied. “Don’t you deal with worse as a lifeguard?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “But nothin’ sayin’ I gotta be nice when I deal with ‘em.”

“That’s true,” you laughed.

“If anyone complains, they can go somewhere else. Ain’t another beach within a hundred miles as well-run as this one,” he bragged, kissing at your neck.

As much as you were enjoying his sudden affection, you knew time was running low until Taliyah would return. You made to pull back to tell Sett that, but were instead pulled into a kiss that took you a few breathless moments to find the strength to escape.

“This Friday,” he murmured, face inches from yours. “There’s a party at the pool. You should come with me.”

You had heard about the exclusive pool parties on this beach from Taliyah, but hadn’t expected to ever get an invite. The pool, which was at the far end of the beach from the ice cream stand, was as exclusive as it got. Gated with walls so high that you couldn’t see in, it was the membership-only place to be for all of the elite in the beach town of Port Navori.

“Is that… okay?” you asked hesitantly.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” he countered, and you didn’t really have an answer. “It’ll be fine. Come. Have some people I wanna introduce ya to.”

The door burst open at the same time as you nodded your agreement, revealing Taliyah clutching both her dripping board as well as a shiny blue ribbon.

“You won?” you asked, trying to disentangle yourself from Sett, who reluctantly let you up.

“Easily!” Taliyah gloated. “Nobody else stood a chance. So how were things here?”

“The money ain’t worth the drama of this place,” Sett griped.

Taliyah laughed. “Smoothie lady come back with a vengeance?”

“I’ll take kids buryin’ sunbathers up to their ears over this any day,” he replied with a grimace, standing up and stretching.

At his mention of ears, Taliyah had brought both hands up to her own head about where Sett’s were on his head, and you quickly waved at her to cut it out before he saw. Thankfully she did, but you could tell that you were going to get asked if you had pet his ears yet as soon as his fuzzy ears were out of earshot.

“I’ll text ya the time when I know it,” Sett said, giving you a quick kiss on the head and a two-fingered salute to Taliyah before heading out the back door.

“So?” Taliyah asked, pulling the chair up to the ice cream station after she had stashed her prize ribbon in her bag. “Are they as soft as they look?”

“I didn’t pet them,” you answered.

“It’s been over two weeks!” she complained. “Has he at least asked you to be his girlfriend yet?”

You shook your head. “He did invite me to a pool party with him on Friday at that fancy pool.”

“Really?” Taliyah responded, eyes wide. “You have to tell me what it’s like! I mean, I’ve seen satellite photos, but it’s not the same…”

“I’ll probably be too nervous to remember any of it,” you grumbled.

“This is your chance!” Taliyah encouraged. “By Friday it’ll be three weeks. You need to ask him if he sees you as his girlfriend or not.”

You reeled back, waves of anticipatory anxiety rolling over you. “I don’t want to scare him off. What if this is just casual to him and I’m too dumb to see it?”

“Then you’ll know,” she replied. “I know you. It’ll eat you up if you put this much energy into a guy without knowing how he feels about you. So ask. If he says no, then at least you’ll have an entire store’s worth of ice cream to drown yourself in after!”

Taliyah was right. She was always right. You knew that you couldn’t keep whatever this was up without knowing where you stood with him. The more time you spent with Sett, the more you wanted, and if he intended to keep things casual, you would rather know sooner so you could make an informed decision.

So that would be the plan then. Go to the party, have a good time (and get some photos of the pool for Taliyah) and then ask Sett about the state of your relationship. Sounded easy in theory. You could only hope you could muster up the courage to go through with the plan when the time came.

After hearing that the party was to start at four, Taliyah had gone all out, closing the stand at two so she could help you get ready to impress the snobs. You hadn’t put up too much of a fight, happy to have her help and her company, as your nerves only climbed higher the closer it got to four o’clock.

“You’ll be fine,” Taliyah said as she styled your hair. “You’ll only feel worse if you don’t get an answer from him. And with how good you’ll look at the party, he won’t be able to say no!”

“Thanks, Tali,” you replied gratefully. “I promise I’ll get you a bunch of photos of the pool. And whatever else you want.”

“What I want is for you to stay here for good,” she said. “So really I’m just doing myself a favor by helping you. This place has been a hundred times more bearable since you’ve been here, and I want it to stay that way.”

“Still,” you persisted. “I feel bad that you’re going to so much trouble. If you want anything, just let me know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taliyah dismissed with a wave of her hand. “You should get going, don’t wanna be late to the fancy pool party.”

She practically shoved you out the door, and then you were alone, walking down the mostly-empty sidewalk. As you walked along the street, you couldn’t help but dwell on the possibilities. What would happen at the party? What would Sett say?

If he told you that he wasn’t looking for anything serious, what would you do? It was hard to have an answer for until you were in the moment, since a lot of it would depend on what Sett’s answer would be.

You walked through the parking lot, and then onto the beach, passing by kids building sandcastles and games of beach volleyball as you walked towards the end of the beach where the pool was. As you made your way to the fancier end of the beach, you began to notice the differences that marked the split between here and the side of the beach that you were usually on.

The shops on this side of the beach were much fancier, the sand littered with designer beach chairs and umbrellas. It was crazy just how different two ends of one beach could be.

The pool was noticeable from a great distance, or at least the wall white walls that surrounded it were. At least you weren’t going to get lost and miss the party entirely.

You approached the pristine white stairs that led from the beach up to the pool entrance, equal parts excited and apprehensive. The entrance was an open doorway, covered by a deep blue curtain and guarded by a muscled bouncer in white. The sight alone was intimidating; why hadn’t you just asked Sett to meet you beforehand?

You plastered a reluctant smile on your face before approaching the man. “Hi, I–”

“Name,” he interrupted, not looking up from his clipboard, sunglasses too dark for you to see his eyes.

Well it wasn’t like you hadn’t expected some level of standoffishness from the elite side of the beach. Keeping your smile up, you told him your name, waiting the prerequisite few moments for him to leaf through the list.

He seemed to have found what he was looking for, as his hand with the clipboard went to his side and he moved over to the curtain, pulling it to one side to allow you to enter. He had said nothing further, but seemed to be staring in your direction, so you took that as your cue and walked towards the now-open entryway and into the pool.

The entryway led into a hallway with pristine white walls, soft lighting hanging overhead. You could begin to hear chatter as you got closer to the end of the hallway, exiting into an explosion of sight and sound.

The pool was huge, and there seemed to be an intricate gold pattern on the tiles at the bottom. The pool was surrounded by lounge chairs and umbrellas, tropical foliage bordering the inner walls around the pool.

There were people all over, in and out of the pool. There was also a bar in the center which seemed to be very popular, as many people were carrying around intricate-looking cocktails.

More than the scenery or the people, your eyes were scanning the area for Sett. You checked your phone again to make sure, finding that it was the time he had told you to be here for. Maybe he was just running late or…

Your rising concern was broken up by the tap of designer wedges on the granite heading your way. You looked up from your phone to see two girls heading towards you, one of which you realized you had seen before.

The stuck-up redhead that had been the reason you had been out on the beach to spill the snowball on Sett in the first place was striding towards you, not a hair out of place underneath her likely-expensive sun hat. At her side was a lilac-haired woman in a swimsuit with a plunging neckline that was color blocked with various shades of purple. Together they made quite a striking pair, but your previous encounter with the redhead had you wishing that Sett would get here soon to save you from the impending conversation.

“Look, Sarah,” the purple-haired one sneered as they came to a stop before you. “So eager to pretend she’s one of us that she rushed right over.”

You took a step back, but that only seemed to embolden them.

Sarah lowered her sunglasses, staring at you like you were in her way. “Sad when they don’t know their place, Syndra.”

“Sett invited me here,” you replied defensively.

The women exchanged a pointed look before Sarah raised an eyebrow at you, a hand on her hip. “You ever think about why that was?”

“What?” you replied, unsure of what she was getting at.

“She doesn’t get it,” Syndra said with a cruel undertone in her voice that unnerved you.

“Look around,” Sarah said sharply. “Really look. Do half the people here look like they belong?”

You looked around, not sure what you were supposed to be seeing. A man with a hook-nose sat at the pool bar, flanked by women in skimpy bikinis. A humanoid form that seemed to be made of water conversed poolside with a large purple man in a ratty straw hat who was holding a ukulele. What were you supposed to be noticing?

“Sett is too nice to break it to you, so the job falls to me,” Sarah said with a smirk. “This is our annual loser fest. Charity case race. Bring-a-freak-to-work-day.”

“Pig party,” Syndra supplied.

“Yeah, pig party,” Sarah repeated, noticing your confused look. “Don’t know what that is? Poor thing.”

“I don’t–”

“It’s pretty simple,” Sarah interrupted. “We take half the summer to find the biggest freak we can, and then we bring them all together and crown a winner, and by the looks of you, Sett is really going for the top prize.”

You gasped, eyes wide, suddenly feeling like you were going to be sick.

“Aw, you really thought he liked you, huh?” Syndra mocked with fake sweetness.

“He didn’t… he never…” you stammered, clutching your bag to your chest.

“Well duh,” Sarah replied haughtily. “He wanted to win. Do you tell a pig when it’s about to become bacon?”

“What is meaning of this?” Braum accused, storming up to your group. “I have not heard of such a thing!”

“Need-to-know, Braum,” Syndra dismissed.

“And you didn’t need to know,” Sarah added.

You felt numb. This whole time… is that why Sett wouldn’t ask you to be his girlfriend? Why he never did more than kiss you? All this time, he had just seen you as a prize pig for an ugly date contest? It all made sense now, why he had been so desperate to get your number. He had never liked you… it had all been one sick joke. You should’ve known; nobody as attractive as Sett would ever see you as anything but a freak. And was too cowardly to come and tell you the truth to your face.

“Look, she’s crying,” Syndra taunted. “Don’t cry! Soon you’ll be queen pig!”

You couldn’t do this. You couldn’t stay here with all these people who saw you as less than human as your heart was breaking into pieces. You were so, so stupid, now wanting nothing more than to cry in peace. So you did, turning and running as fast as your legs would take you out of this awful place.

“Bye, piggy! We’ll ship you the ribbon!”

You heard Braum shout your name, as well as the cruel laughter of the women, but you didn’t stop running. Not when you got to the beach, nor the parking lot or the tacky souvenir shop, the sayings on the gaudy shirts too blurry to read through your tears. Your feet didn’t stop until you were at the doorstep to Taliyah’s home, out of breath, tears running down your cheeks.

The door opened, Taliyah’s face appearing in the doorway. “Hey, did you forget– wait, what happened?”

“Settrigh, stay still!”

Sett frowned, but did as his momma requested, allowing her to tie the ends of his hair after she had finished arranging it. He loved his ma dearly, but he really didn’t have time for her to redo his hair ten times right now.

It was getting way too close to the start time he had given you, and with how nervous of a person you were, he had intended to be on time, but that was before his mother had discovered the reason why he was cutting their visit short today.

Ma was aware that he had been seeing someone, had been ever since Sett had needed help making food for their first date.

“You do intend to let me meet her, Settrigh?” she asked, stepping back once she had fixed his hair to her satisfaction.

“Yes, ma,” he answered, standing up from the chair.

He wasn’t exactly surprised by his momma’s eagerness, considering this was the first girl he had ever dated, let alone considered introducing to her. This world was shallow; he had learned that early in life, which may be why he found himself so drawn to a girl who had put her all into having nothing to do with him. You broke up the monotony in this busy beach town and gave him something to look forward to other than seeing his ma for the first time in a long time.

Sett knew he was working on a time limit. You had mentioned that you had planned on only visiting Port Navori for the summer, and the summer was half over already, which meant his chances to convince you to stay were also halved, which is where tonight came in.

He had been taking things slow, not wanting to come on too strong and scare you off like he had watched happen to many a beachfront pick-up artist. He had been unwilling to rush things and lose you, but the slip of the calendar into August had forced his hand.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit apprehensive as to how today would end. How would you take him asking you to be girlfriend? He could only hope that he hadn’t misread you entirely.

He didn’t go to the pool parties often, but it seemed like a good way for him to introduce you to his friends, as they didn’t often all gather outside of those parties. He knew you would likely feel out of place, but Braum would be there, and he intended to stick by your side the entire time. And then after the party, if things went well, then maybe he would end the night with you as his girlfriend, but the party would be the first step.

As he left his ma’s house, he found his mind turning to the party. If you were wearing that red swimsuit you had worn last week, then it was going to be a difficult night for his self-control. His desire to take things slow had really taken a hit then, his only saving grace being ma’s lecture on being a gentleman pounding in his head as he tried not to look at how your chest was half-busting out of your top as you leaned over to pick a thread off of his glove. You were really too hot for your own good, which made him all the more eager to see you.

He knew he was running late, the party having started at least ten minutes earlier. It wasn’t his style to be late, but he was also pretty helpless to defy his ma. He only hoped that you hadn’t given up on him and left.

He took the shortest route possible, which included a short trek through some bushes that left him more leafy than he would’ve liked, but it was all forgotten when he spotted the stairs that led up to the pool entrance.

He was able to bypass the doorman who was only half as big as he was and seemed to be wary of interacting with him, stepping out of the way as Sett approached. He pushed past the curtain, hurried steps heading down the hallway. You hadn’t been waiting outside, so clearly you had been able to get in. He tried to fight back the excited grin that wanted to take over his face, but it was a losing battle as he entered the pool area, eyes immediately scanning the area for you.

“Your cruelty is unimaginable!” Braum’s booming voice carried easily through the air. “That girl has done nothing to be deserving of such treatment!”

What had Braum so worked up? Generally he was an easy guy to get along with, easily Sett’s most tolerable co-lifeguard. Not much phased him, which was a little concerning. But Sett had other priorities, the most important being locating you.

You weren’t in the pool, and didn’t seem to be sitting in any of the chairs. Maybe you had gone to the bathroom and would be right back–

“Well how else was she supposed to know Sett is too good for her? She clearly wasn’t going to see reality without a little help.”

Sett’s ears perked up, his attention snagged by the mention of his name, but especially by the latter half of the sentence. He turned around to see Sarah Fortune with Syndra at her side, who had her arms crossed and looked bored. In front of them was Braum, looking more irate than Sett had ever seen him.

“What’s this about?” Sett asked in a warning tone as he approached, the fur of his ears standing on end, leaving him feeling like he wasn’t going to like where this was headed.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Sarah dismissed, flipping her hair behind her shoulder with a flick of her head. “We just showed a daydreaming little clout chaser the way out.”

Sett’s eyebrow rose. “A what?”

“Your ice cream girl,” Braum cut in. “These two have told her that this is a party for pigs. They have told her that you intend to bring her here to win ugly contest, and then she had run off.”

“What?” Sett growled dangerously, but the two women remained nonplussed.

“We did you a favor,” Syndra stressed. “If we get a reputation of letting just anyone in, then we’ll lose all status as members of the ruling class of the food chain. So we decided to throw this little pig party to make you come back to your senses.”

“You’re one of us, Sett,” Sarah added. “This pool doesn’t have room for little nobodies who don’t know their place.”

“Rather be a nobody than whatever the hell this is,” Sett snarled angrily, the full knowledge of the truth turning his bad feeling to a mix of simmering fury at the two women, and worry for you. He hated himself for being late and allowing this to happen to you. “Save your concern and don’t talk to me again.”

“But we were–” Syndra started, but Sett wasn’t in the mood.

“If you even look at her again, you’ll have me to deal with. And unlike that girl you just bullied outta here, I ain’t so nice.”

With that, Sett turned on his heel and stormed towards the exit to go do his best to fix this mess.

Braum quickly followed behind him. “My friend, I am sorry I could not stop them in time.”

“Ain’t your fault,” Sett replied. “Wish I’d have known. Gotta go see if she’ll even talk to me at this point.”

“I wish you luck,” Braum said as exited the hallway and emerged out into the sunny late afternoon.

Sett parted from Braum, taking the stairs two at a time as he surveyed the area, trying to see if he could catch sight of you. He quickly crossed the sand, making a beeline for the ice cream stand, even if it seemed like a longshot. He passed by a group of kids throwing sand on an older man sleeping on a towel, but ignored it and kept going. If anything was on fire, Braum could put it out. Sett’s sole focus right now was finding you and hoping you’d let him explain himself.

His chest felt heavy with anger and regret. How could he have let this happen? He hadn’t realized how cruel those women could be, and it had led to them making you believe he thought you were some freak he was using for convenience, which could not be farther from the truth.

Seeing those two talk about you like you were a pariah had brought him right back to when he was younger, to what he had endured at the hands of people just like Syndra and Sarah. People who had ostracized him, did their best to make him feel like he didn’t have a place here. Sett-the-beast-boy-bastard; the words had haunted him for a long time.

He had grown tough in response to the years of bullying, but you hadn’t. This was your first exposure to how awful this place could be. He and ma had dealt with it for years after pa ran off; he had nearly gotten expelled from school after a particularly bad fight with a kid that had made one too many nasty comments about his ma to his face.

Sett stopped, letting out a frustrated sigh as he saw the large closed sign on the front windows of the ice cream shop. So that was a bust. Without giving the store a second look, he continued on towards the rocks and then up to the parking lot.

There was only one other place to try. Chest tight, Sett followed the same path he had the night of your first date, the same path he took every time he walked you home. The walk there was one long blur, his feet unable to stop moving until the familiar house was in sight. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sett approached the front door, rapping his knuckles against the wood. When no answer came, he tried again, and after a few moments, the door opened to reveal Taliyah, who glared once she caught sight of him.

“What do you want?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Is she here? I need to talk to her,” Sett said, urgency bleeding into his voice.

Taliyah sighed, stepping outside and closing the door behind her. “You’re lucky I’m even talking to you after this. You don’t deserve to talk to her if that’s how you let your friends treat her.”

“They ain’t my friends,” Sett argued. “If I’d have known they were gonna pull that shit–”

A sly smile lifted the corner of Taliyah’s lips. “Good answer. If you had said anything else, then I’d be slamming the door in your face right about now.”

“Then can I–”

“Talk to her?” Taliyah interrupted. “Nope. Not a good idea.”

Sett’s face must have taken on a darker quality, because Taliyah retreated back a step, raising her hands in the air in mock surrender. “Relax, tough guy. I didn’t mean it like that. But she’s a little too upset to talk to you right now.”

The information only made Sett feel worse. He wanted so badly to talk to you, to do what he had wanted to do before this mess had happened and make you his girlfriend. You had never felt farther away than you did right now.

“Give me some time to calm her down. I can get her to be at the pier at seven, then the rest is up to you,” she said, levelling him with a stern look. “I know this wasn’t your fault. That’s the only reason I’m giving you a chance. She really likes you, so try not to make her feel any worse than she already does. Bye.”

And then Taliyah was gone, retreating back into the house and leaving Sett standing on the doorstep.

“Brought you some water,” Taliyah announced as she entered the room, glass in hand.

“Who was at the door?” you asked.

She shrugged. “Someone looking for my dad. Told them he’s not here.”

You nodded. It was probably too much to hope that it would be Sett. You winced as you thought his name. You hated how much you wanted to see him, someone who had used you to win some popular kid ugly date contest.

So it had all been a lie then? All the things he had told you about his life, his family? Every time he had kissed you, was he picturing kissing one of those girls instead? Is this really what popular people did for fun? You felt stupid for falling for it, for falling for him. You were so stupid.

With some prompting from Taliyah, you took a sip of the water. After she had made sure you had drank the whole glass, she sat down next to you, taking the glass from you and setting it down on the bedside table.

“I should have known,” you croaked.

“Known that popular girls are bitchy? Maybe,” she responded.

“That it was too good to be true,” you corrected.

“You’re acting like you’re eighty,” she scolded. “There are other guys out there. Ones who don’t have shitty friends.”

“Yeah, I know,” you replied. “But I really liked him. And I didn’t even get to pet his stupid fuzzy ears.”

“Well if you’re joking, then you must be doing okay,” she said. “How about we go do something to take your mind off of things?”

You frowned, and she rolled her eyes. “Not right this second. I’ll give you until six-thirty to get yourself ready to go.”

Taliyah got up off the bed and headed towards the door. “I’m not gonna let your night be ruined because of a couple of snobs.”

She closed the door, leaving you alone with your thoughts again. You laid back on the bed, intent on taking some time before you got ready to just veg out. As much as the notion of going out didn’t excite you right now, it was probably better than being a mopey mess all night. There would be other guys; it was just a shame that you had liked this one so much.

Two hours later, you were walking down the street with Taliyah. Your getting ready to go had consisted of washing your face of all the smeared makeup from your crying, brushing your hair into a semi-decent state and then watching dumb cat videos on your phone until you felt like you didn’t want to crawl in a hole and die.

Taliyah had assured you that you didn’t look bad, which you might have believed if you hadn’t seen yourself in the mirror as you were leaving, but at this point you were beyond caring about how you looked right now.

Taliyah had refused to tell you where she was taking you, and so you were forced to follow her down the familiar path towards the beach, unsure of where it was you were being led. Part of you was worried that you might run into Sett, but then the more rational side of you took over; he was likely back at that pool, partying it up with those girls and lamenting that you had run off before he could win his ugly date prize. It was crazy to realize just how flawed your judgment had been.

You had expected to be walking onto the beach, as it was where you two usually spent most of your time, but Taliyah didn’t go to the parking lot, instead heading towards the rockier section of the beach. You hadn’t been over here before, only vaguely aware of the area as a prime fishing location, bait shops and the like lining the street across from this part of the beachfront.

She took you past the fishing spots, down to near the end of the beach, where there was a small pier that went about thirty feet out into the sea. Like most of the beach at this time on a weekday, the pier was empty, most of the fishermen also having headed out with their day’s catches.

Taliyah led you down the pier to the small bench at the end of it, pushing you to sit down. When she didn’t do the same, you looked up at her, confused.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I’m gonna go grab something to help cheer you up. You just enjoy the view for a bit.”

You decided to follow her advice, staring out at the water. There wasn’t much to see other than some boats in the far distance and some buoys bobbing in the water that marked the swimming section from the boating section.

It was kind of nice in a way, the calm waters helping you to relax as you watched the waves roll in and out. You stayed like that for a while as you allowed yourself to zone out until you began to wonder how much time had passed. Pulling out your phone, you saw that it had been almost twenty minutes, and yet there was no sign of Taliyah as you looked around.

You had assumed that she went to get you two some food, which likely was still the case. Some of the places here tended to have rather large dinnertime crowds, so a twenty minute plus wait wasn’t exactly unusual. You had no idea where she had gone, so all you could do was wait. If she wasn’t back by seven, you would just text her and ask what was up.

You let yourself be taken in again by the rolling waves as you continued to wait, trying to recall what kinds of restaurants there were on the beachfront. It couldn’t be that fish and chips place; Taliyah had spent a full half hour last week complaining about how stale their food was. Or the taco place, since it had been closed for renovations for the past week. You had been trying to think of a third option when your concentration was broken by someone taking a seat next to you on the bench.

You looked over, expecting to see Taliyah back with some food, but instead nearly jolted off of the bench when next to you was the very man you were out here trying to forget.

Just seeing him when you were feeling so pathetic sent a jolt of you weren’t sure what up your spine, your flight instincts screaming at you as you made to stand up, only to be stopped by a firm grip on your wrist.

“I know you don’t wanna see my face right now,” Sett said. “But I can explain.”

“Explain what?” you replied meekly. “Those girls explained enough.”

“I haven’t,” he insisted. “Just listen for a minute. Then you can leave, or punch me, whatever you want.”

You took a look around, still not seeing Taliyah anywhere. You weren’t sure what he could have to say that would make much of a difference, but you sat back down, and he let go of your wrist.

You turned reluctantly to face Sett, waiting for him to talk first.

“Never told ‘em to do somethin’ like that,” he said gruffly. “Didn’t even know about it ‘til I got there and you weren’t there.”

“But they said…” you started, taking a breath to keep yourself calm as you prepared to recount the hurtful words. “They said you were only spending time with me so you could win their whole ugly date contest.”

Sett’s eyes narrowed, the skin of his knuckles tightening on his curling fists. “First I’ve heard of it. Ain’t no way you’d ever place in an ugly contest anyways.”

His words threw you. “Wait, so you don’t think I’m ugly?”

He snorted, a grin playing at his lips. “Well I was plannin’ on askin’ you to be my girlfriend after the party, so nah, I don’t think you’re ugly.”

“You–” you gasped, pulse skyrocketing. This was not how you expected this conversation to go. You were half convinced you were experiencing auditory hallucinations until Sett reached over, pulling you into his side.

“This is my fault,” he spoke lowly. “If I hadn’t been late, I’d have been there to stop that from happening.”

“What happened when you got there?” you asked quietly.

“Braum told me what happened, then those two tried tellin’ me they did it for my sake,” he growled. “I thought I was used to seein’ through bullies from how I grew up. Doesn’t matter now, they won’t be botherin’ you anymore unless they wanna find out why momma says I got her temper.”

“Why were you late anyways?” you asked.

He groaned, leaning his head back against the bench. Even with the sun mostly set, you could clearly see a pink tone to his cheeks.

“What is it?” you pressed, curious about why the intimidating lifeguard was suddenly being so shy.

He let out a long sigh, finally meeting your eyes. “Ma was doin’ my hair.”

You looked him over, realizing that his hair did seem to be tied differently today. The only thing that looked the same was his ears, just as fluffy as they always looked. You could almost hear Taliyah’s voice screaming in your head to pet them. Speaking of Taliyah…

“Taliyah!” you gasped, trying to extract yourself from Sett’s grip, but failing. If Taliyah was to come and see you here with the guy she had taken you out to forget about… “My friend, she’ll be back any second and–”

Sett laughed, and you were immediately left with the feeling that you were missing something.

“She ain’t comin’ back,” he said amusedly. “I’ve got you all to myself for the night… if that’s what you want.”

“Taliyah set me up?” you breathed, not having suspected a thing.

“I asked her to,” Sett explained. “Wasn’t about to let you go ‘cuz of some shallow assholes.”

Taliyah was much sneakier than you had given her credit for, you realized, but you couldn’t bring yourself to mind right now. Though that didn’t mean you weren’t hungry, your previous stress melting away and removing the only distraction from your empty stomach.

“So,” you hummed. “Are you still going to ask me to be your girlfriend?”

You still had no idea what would happen by the end of the summer, but you really wanted this. You wanted him.

“Yeah, was plannin’ on it.”

You had thought about it all the way back to Sett’s house. Was it really for the best to go back to your city when the summer was over? Back to your parents’ house to find an equally demanding and unfulfilling job?

The more you thought about it, the more you wanted to stay. Taliyah was here, Sett was here, and other than your brief nasty encounter at the pool earlier, this summer had been the best one you’d had in a long time.

Sett seemed intent on giving you more reasons to stay as he was on you pretty much as soon as you entered his house. You had been standing in the entryway, looking at a picture of what must have been Sett and his mother when he caught you off guard, picking you up from behind.

You yelped, turning your head back to face him just in time for him to dart forward to snatch a kiss.

“You’ll have time to look around later,” he said as he walked down the hall, nudging a door open with his shoulder and then taking you into what looked to be his bedroom.

Once again, you were scarcely granted a look around before Sett had overtaken your attention yet again. You were swiftly carried over and deposited on the bed, Sett eagerly caging your body down against the sheets with his own.

“I wanted to go slow,” he said against your ear. “Didn’t wanna mess things up. But that’s not what you want, is it?”

“No,” you gasped as he snaked a hand under your dress, and then under your swimsuit bottoms. “I… I want…”

“This?” he inquired, thumb brushing against your clit, causing you to jolt against him with a breathy moan. “Waited a long time to hear that.”

Seeking more room to work, Sett pulled back to reach down and pull down your swimsuit bottoms, tossing them to the side. You watched with reddening cheeks as he returned his attention to you, head disappearing under your dress next.

His first lick against your pussy felt back-archingly good, but you didn’t have a lot of room to move with Sett’s hands holding your lower half in place. His tongue felt slightly rough, bringing pricks of pleasure-pain along its path.

Closing your eyes tight, you tried not to squirm, but it was difficult as Sett’s tongue prodded inside you before moving back to sucking at your clit. It felt good, almost too good, but you found yourself wanting more than his mouth against you.

“Sett,” you moaned. “Please…”

You weren’t sure if he got the message until you reached down to grasp at one of his hands. He pulled back from you, wiping one forearm against the wet lower half of his face as he sat back. His position on his knees on the bed allowed you a good look at the decently-sized bulge in the front of his tight swim shorts.

Sett caught your eyes, reaching one hand down to cup his cock through his shorts. “All you, sweetheart. Still think I think you’re ugly?”

You somehow managed to shake your head, speechless from his ardent display of his body. Sett seemed to bask in just how speechless he had made you, a sexy grin overtaking his face as he stared down at you.

“Couldn’t ask for more than this,” he said. “But if you want more…”

He was such a tease. With a burning face, you relented.

“Could you just put it in me please?” you asked, too shy to make eye contact.

“Can do,” he replied, and you could easily hear the smug satisfaction in his voice.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Sett stood up from the bed to pull his shorts off, wincing slightly when he pulled the tight fabric over his painfully-hard cock. Tossing the shorts to the floor, his attention quickly returned to you.

Giving his cock a few slow strokes, he watched you sit up on the bed. Feeling a burst in confidence from his display, you reached down to the hem of your dress’ skirt before pulling it up and off your body, Sett’s hungry gold eyes unable to look away from you as you moved onto your swimsuit top.

Once your top was off, Sett struck, pulling you towards him. Sitting at the edge of the bed, he pulled you onto his lap, reaching around to your front to cup your breasts as his mouth went straight to your neck. His hands were warm against the sensitive skin of your breasts, rolling your nipples under his thumbs as his teeth scraped against a sensitive spot on your neck.

You felt his hard cock under you and shifted yourself against it, Sett letting out a deep groan in response. You could feel how wet you were, but this wasn’t enough. You needed to fuck him, needed this building tension to come to a satisfying end for you both.

You turned in his lap, looping your arms around his neck and leaning down to kiss him. Sett was happy to meet tongues with you, one hand resting on your ass until you pulled back from the kiss.

You met eyes with Sett, who began to help you lift yourself up, lining up his cock with his other hand. When he brought you back down onto him, you both sighed as you were fully seated on his cock at last.

“Nothin’ else would feel as good as you,” Sett groaned as he began to help you move and up and then back down onto him. “Never wanted any girl as bad as I want you.”

You were much less coherent, moaning out his name as your hands grasped against his chest. With a further burst of confidence, you reached a hand up to his ear, running your fingers along the fur and enjoying the resulting groan, the next upward thrust of his hips hitting even better into you. Maybe you would leave this out at Taliyah’s interrogation later.

“There,” you moaned as he shifted you in his lap, his cock hitting even deeper inside you. “Right there, Sett.”

“You’re so tight,” he groaned, pulling you down into a rough kiss as he held you close, thrusting up into you as you eagerly moved along with him, needing to make this gorgeous man under you cum.

Sett came first, stilling for a moment before pulling you slightly back to put a finger to your clit, letting you cling to him as you followed him over the edge.

Once you had both come back down from the clouds, you were set back gently on the bed so Sett could run off to grab a cloth to clean you up with. You watched him leave the room, still having a hard time comprehending just how you had ended up this situation.

You definitely had some phone calls to make tomorrow. Your parents would be surprised, but you would probably focus on the Taliyah part rather than the new boyfriend part of your reasoning. Taliyah would be overjoyed for sure; you’d have to thank her for her meddling when you saw her.

As Sett returned, you realized something.

“Wait, is your mom home?” you asked in horror. You hadn’t made any effort to be quiet during sex, forgetting about his mother until he re-entered the room.

Sett laughed at your mortified face. “I don’t live with ma, so no.”

“Oh god,” you breathed in relief. “I was worried I was too…”

“She ain’t here,” he replied as he joined you on the bed, handing you the cloth he had grabbed. “You can be as loud as you want.”

You dropped the cloth, burying your head in your hands, Sett’s amused laughter ringing in your ears as you tried to content with just what you had signed yourself up for.

#xreader #readerinsert #league of legends #league of legends x reader #lol x reader #league of legends sett #sett #pool party sett #sett x reader #smut #pool party sett x reader

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cuttoothed · 4 years ago

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A little fic for @jonsimsandcats and also inspired by some adorable art on discord! Featuring notes on kitten rearing, and of course some Jmart because it’s me.

Jon works at the Institute here, but a non-spooky version of it!

Martin is doing a final check on the fish tanks when he hears the bell above the front door jingle. He sighs; he knew he should have locked up first. Just his luck.

“This is your fault,” he tells the angelfish balefully. They don’t seem contrite, too busy nosing in the fine gravel for any food they’ve missed. Martin walks out to the front of the shop, preparing his best customer service smile to tell whoever’s come in at—he glances at his watch—three minutes past eight that they’re closed, and no, they can’t just wander around for a few minutes to look at the animals. Honestly, some people seem to think there’s no difference between a pet shop and an art gallery.

There’s a man standing at the front counter, looking around anxiously, a bundled up jumper clutched against his chest.

“Sorry, we’re—” Martin begins, and that’s as far as he gets before the man unleashes a frantic tirade.

“Please!” the man says, “I need your help, I-I’m not sure they’re breathing and they were out there for hours on their own, I know you’re not supposed to move them in case their mother comes back but I couldn’t just—just leave knowing they were still there, and all the vet offices nearby are closed, this was the only place I could think of!”

The man is wild eyed, almost panicked, and Martin lifts both hands in an appeasing gesture.

“Woah,” he says, “Uh, maybe start from the beginning again? Slowly?”

“Right, ah, sorry. Sorry. I spotted them this morning, under a bush just outside my work.” The man sets the bundle of jumper down on the counter, and unfolds it to reveal two tiny scraps of fur: one gray, one black. Kittens, Martin realizes, so small they can only be a week or so old; certainly not old enough to be without their mother.

“I left them alone, because I’ve heard that the mother usually comes back after a little while. A-and I meant to go and check on them again during the day, make sure.” The man sounds anguished now, his face miserable. “But I—I got caught up in work, forgot about it. It was only when I was leaving that I remembered. And they were still there, on their own. Barely moving. Please—is there anything we can do?”

Martin looks down at the tiny creatures in their nest of wool; he can just about see the shallow in-out of their breathing. All day outside alone, at their age, the odds aren’t great. But he’s met enough kittens to know that they’re shockingly resilient little sods, and he’s never given up on a so-called hopeless case before. He’s not about to start now.

“You did the right thing moving them,” he assures the man, moving to flip the sign on the door to CLOSED. “We need to get them warmed up and get some food into them. Body heat is the best thing for them right now—can you start warming them with your hands?”

“Oh—ah, yes,” says the man, turning to his bundle of jumper with a worried frown. Martin leaves him there while he rushes around the shop, grabbing kitten milk replacer and nursing bottles, and then into the back to heat two mugs of water in the microwave while he makes up the bottles. He pops them into the mugs to warm, and brings the whole lot out to the front. The man now has a kitten in each hand, and is holding them pressed carefully to his chest for additional warmth; his expression is still worried, but also desperately tender, and Martin feels a pang of something behind his ribs at the sight.

“One of them is moving,” the man says eagerly as Martin sets the bottles down. Martin can see the gray kitten wriggling weakly in the man’s grip, responding to the heat. Its sibling is still motionless, and Martin’s heart sinks a little.

“That’s great,” he says. “Hold onto her for another minute, and let me see if I can get her sister moving too.”

He holds out a hand, and the man almost reluctantly passes him the black kitten. Martin doesn’t try to notice that the man has lovely hands, with long, slim fingers, narrow wrist jutting out of his shirt sleeve, but, well, he notices a bit. He turns his attention to the kitten; he can’t make out the motion of its breathing anymore. He takes it in both hands and starts to massage it gently. It lies limp in his palms, head lolling, and Martin starts to feel despair crawling cold up his spine.

“Come on, sweetheart,” he murmurs, “You can do it.” The man is watching him anxiously, the gray kitten cradled against his chest, and Martin knows he can’t give up. He keeps rubbing the kitten’s small body, trying to will warmth and life back into the tiny, fragile form. At last, after what seems like an eternity, the kitten squirms in his hands and a faint, plaintive mew escapes it. An answering mew comes from the gray kitten, and Martin laughs, relief washing over him.

“Right, let’s see if we can get them to eat.”

After checking that they’re not too chilled to feed, Martin tests each of the kittens with a drop of formula on their tongue; thankfully they both seem able to swallow without difficulty. He shows the man how to feed the gray kitten, holding its body in a neutral position with the bottle tilted for a gentle flow. It doesn’t take long for the kittens to figure out the process, and Martin can feel the tug on the bottle as his kitten begins to suckle.

“Oh,” he hears softly from beside him, and turns to see the man gazing in delight at the gray kitten, whose tiny, unfurled ears are twitching as it sucks.

“She’s doing great,” Martin comments. “Good job.” The man gives him a tentative, pleased smile, and Martin still isn’t trying to notice but it’s a very nice smile. “I’m Martin, by the way.”

“Jonathan Sims—Jon,” says the man, and then gives a small, tense laugh. “God, I haven’t even apologized for storming in here while you were clearly trying to close up for the night.”

“That’s all right, I didn’t have any exciting plans tonight anyway. I’d much rather be spending time with these little beauties.”

Jon smiles again, more sure this time, and all right, maybe Martin deliberately notices the dimple in his right cheek. Just a bit.

Once the kittens are fed, Martin shows Jon how to stimulate them; both of them only pee a little—poor things are dehydrated—but it’s a good sign. They clean them up and tuck them back into the nest of Jon’s jumper, where they curl up into a small puddle of black and gray. Jon gives a sigh that’s somewhere between relieved and exhausted.

“Thank you,” he says. “I, ah, I think I forgot to say that as well. You know a lot about this.”

“I volunteer at a shelter, there are a lot of kittens. If you like, I can take them for tonight and bring them in tomorrow?”

“Ah,” says Jon. “Do you think that’s—I mean...I-I’m not sure I’d feel right, handing them off to someone else. Not that I think you’re not capable!” he rushes to add, and Martin finds himself smiling.

“No, I get it. You found them, you want to take care of them. I’ll warn you, though, it’s a big commitment. For the first couple of weeks you have to feed them every two hours, even during the night, and then it’s every three or four hours until they start weaning. It’s like having a newborn baby.”

“I don’t get much sleep generally,” says Jon. “At least this way I’ll have something to do while I’m up all night. And my work is—well, I’ll explain the situation.”

He looks set on it, brow furrowed with determination. Martin considers arguing more: that a shelter will be better equipped to care for the kittens, that there’s no guarantee they’ll survive in any case, that Jon doesn’t know what he’s signing up for. But the shelters are always crowded, and kittens this young have simple needs, and really, a dedicated foster parent—armed with the right knowledge—is probably the best thing for them.

“Right,” he says, “Let’s make sure these two are well wrapped up before you take them home.”

He scrounges a cardboard box from the back and they settle the kittens into it, still wrapped in Jon’s jumper along with a soft fleece blanket printed with cartoon fish. Martin gathers a couple of cartons of liquid formula and extra bottles to get them started, and shows Jon how to pierce the nipple so the flow isn’t too strong.

“It should be warmed to body temperature,” he explains, “But not directly in the microwave—put the bottles in heated water, like I did earlier. Do you have a hot water bottle?”

“Yes, I do,” says Jon, frowning intently as he listens. Martin nods.

“It’s better than a heating pad at this age, they’re less likely to get overheated. Don’t make it too hot—body temperature, again—and wrap it in a blanket so they’re not touching it directly.”

“Got it,” says Jon firmly, and Martin believes him. He bags up the formula and bottles and an extra pet blanket, and presses them into the hands of a startled Jon; the till is shut off for the night, but Martin can explain and pay for the items tomorrow.

“What’s your phone number?” he asks, and Jon looks even more startled.

“S-sorry?”

“Or your email. I’m going to send you some links—videos, a couple of good blogs that should be helpful.”

“Oh, ah, right. Of course.” Jon recites his number and Martin saves it under “Jon (Kittens).” He peeks into the box one last time before Jon scoops it up, and sees the kittens snuggled in the folds of the jumper, paws waving in little kitten dreams.

“Thank you again, Martin,” says Jon. “I honestly don’t know what I would have done without you tonight.” His tone is shy but genuine, and it sends warmth through Martin’s chest and up into his cheeks.

“Any time,” Martin says. “And feel free to text me if you need anything—if you have a question or...anything. Or call me if you like.” He’s aware he’s rambling a bit, but it’s not every day an attractive man says that he doesn’t know what he would have done without you, so he can hardly be blamed.

“I will,” says Jon solemnly.

He doesn’t text Martin any questions that night, but when Martin sends him the links to a youtube channel and three blog posts on kitten care, he replies:

Thank you :)

Martin spends most of the rest of the night wondering what that smiley face means.

He doesn’t necessarily expect to see Jon again, and certainly doesn’t expect to see him the very next day. But just before one o’clock in the afternoon the bell above the door jingles and there’s Jon, looking tired and more than a bit sheepish.

“I got all the way into work this morning before I realized I’d never paid for any of the things you gave me,” he says, reaching for his wallet.

“Those were gifts,” Martin tells him firmly. “Sort of a “welcome to foster parenthood” care basket?”

“No, I couldn’t let you—” Jon starts to protest, but Martin shakes his head emphatically.

“It’s no big deal, honestly. I get an employee discount anyway.”

“I...well, then I suppose I need to thank you yet again,” says Jon.

“It’s becoming a bit of a habit,” Martin jokes, grinning, and Jon smiles in return. He hesitates a moment before continuing:

“Maybe I could buy you lunch instead, then? To pay you back.”

“There’s no need, honestly,” says Martin, even as his brain berates him: What are you doing, idiot, he’s asking you to have lunch with him? Say yes!

“Please, I’d like to,” Jon says, and then gives a thoughtful frown. “Only if you want to, of course, don’t feel obligated—”

“I’m on lunch in five minutes,” Martin blurts out before he can overthink it.

“Great!” says Jon, sounding pleased. “If you have time, we could go by my office as well and visit the kittens. I just fed them before I came to see you.”

Before I came to see you, not before I came to pay you back, and Martin feels that warmth crawling up towards his cheeks again. Even if Jon’s intentions are purely friendly rather than...anything else, well, Martin could always use more friends.

“How were they last night?” he asks, and the smile that spreads across Jon’s face this time is pure delight.

“Oh I barely got an hour’s sleep,” he says, waving a hand. “And today they’re sitting under my desk reminding me every couple of hours that they need attention and that they are far more important than whatever I’m working on. They’re perfect.”

“Sounds like cat parenthood suits you,” Martin teases gently, and Jon laughs.

“I think it rather does.”

Lunch is...nice, and only slightly awkward in the “getting to know a new person” sort of way. Jon is serious, but also funny in an understated, acerbic way, and there’s a gentleness to him that wouldn’t be immediately apparent, if Martin hadn’t seen him cradling two tiny, fragile lives to his chest last night. He’s the kind of person Martin would like to know better, he thinks.

Afterwards they go to Jon’s workplace, which is extremely academic with a brass nameplate by the door and everything, and down to the basement office where Jon works; Martin doesn’t really know what archiving entails, but it looks like mostly a bloody great pile of paperwork. Jon’s two colleagues give Martin friendly and extremely curious glances as they pass; Jon pointedly ignores them in favor of directing Martin to his desk and the cardboard box sitting beneath it.

When Martin glances inside, the two kittens are curled up in the folds of the fish-print blanket, lying against the shape of what he assumes is the hot water bottle. Their bellies already look rounder than they were last night, thanks to regular feeding, and their limbs twitch as they sleep.

“I’ll take them to the vet for a check up after work,” Jon murmurs quietly, gazing down at them with a soft expression. Martin recognizes that look of adoration, and he knows this pair won’t be going to a shelter or anywhere else; they’ve found their home with Jon.

“They’re lucky you found them,” he says, and Jon smiles self-consciously.

“I think I’m the one who was lucky,” he says.

They spend a bit more time with the kittens, and then Martin realizes that it’s about time he got back to work if he doesn’t want to get in trouble. He excuses himself, waving goodbye to Jon’s still curious colleagues, and Jon walks him out to the grand front entrance of the building.

“Thanks again for lunch,” he says. “And—you have my number, right? The offer is open, if you need anything, just text me.”

“I will,” says Jon. “And, ah, let me know if you’d like to come and see the kittens again. Any day. Well, most days,” he corrects himself. “We could, ah, maybe have lunch again?”

“That sounds...really nice,” says Martin. Jon smiles, pleased, and Martin isn’t trying to notice the faint flush that spreads across his face, but it’s very cute anyway.

As he walks back to work, Martin’s phone vibrates with a text. It’s a picture of the kittens, curled up on top of each other, with the message:

Come back and see us soon!

Martin grins; the kittens, he thinks, weren’t the only ones lucky to be found last night.

#the magnus archives #jonsimsandcats2021 #my fic #jonmartin

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1kook · 5 years ago

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netflix & chill

summary If you planned things right, you could rain down your raging displeasure on Jeon Jungkook right after the meal but before this proposed ‘Netflix and chilling,’ maybe dramatically throw your glass of wine at him, before storming out of his place and reporting him to the authorities (Namjoon) for his douchebag personality. warnings grinding, 2 seconds of sub kook, oral (f), cum eating, vanilla but [ passionate ], unprotected sex, dirty talk tags use of the oldest trick in the book (“your hands are sooo big”), shy oblivious AND gentleman jk? pick a struggle, brief ment of app developer kook, evil and conniving oc wc 10.2k !! wow!!

will I ever write a serious jk fic? NO. this entire thing was based off this pic of jungkook which i’ve said before that i would print out in sepia filter and crumple and stuff in a drawer n then tell my kids 35 years from now was a long lost lover i met on a cruise to the bahamas and never saw again ty to mia more @daechwlta for being there during my brief crisis over this fic 🥺

When Namjoon had first not so subtly mentioned the idea of setting you up on a date, it was with a faux air of disinterest that you had masterfully pried the details out of him. Namjoon has a friend, he said, a friend who was kinda sorta attached to his hip. And while Namjoon loved the kid, he also thought this friend could use some social interaction outside of Namjoon.

Now you and Namjoon weren’t exactly the most conventional of friends for him to be proposing blind dates to you at whim. He was your senior at school, your mentor in your scholarship program, an educated man studying for his masters. So when he’d first uttered the words you were immediately on the fence. Sure, the two of you knew each other well and probably got along better than most mentor-mentee pairings among your year, but you doubt Namjoon knew enough of your tastes to offer you up for a blind date.

According to Namjoon, his friend was a kid in the same year as you, making him not so much as a kid as he was your classmate. You brushed it off at first, spewing some bullshit excuse that you’d rather focus on your studies, and how dating was a distraction to your education, as if you hadn’t spent the weekend prior binge watching some Spanish novella while you dutifully ignored your essay.

The second time Namjoon mentions it you agree on the spot. Life on campus could only be interesting for so long, so you might as well make the best of it and go on as many stupid dates as possible.

Namjoon is over the moon.

He tells you he’ll pass your phone number on over to that friend of his—“Jeon Jungkook”—and promises you you won’t regret this because his friend was amazing, really. And for Namjoon to sing his praises for just any underclassmen was unheard of. In fact, besides you, you don’t think Namjoon knows many other students younger than him, and if he did, you hardly doubt he would regard them so highly.

So he gives his friend your number, and so ends your weekly meeting with your mentor. You only realize on the walk back to your dorm that you forgot to ask him about some club at school, the whole goal of this week’s meeting, but by then you don’t really care, the whole conversation fading into the background.

In fact, you forget about the whole ordeal until Friday night rolls around and you’re once again, binge watching another novella on your laptop, when your phone suddenly vibrates.

You were by no means a loser at school, a friendless nobody, but you were also not the outgoing, school-spirited student on the front page of your school’s website, and thus had nearly every app that could produce a notification on your phone muted, every text thread silenced. The only notifications and messages you allowed were from your email and from your roommate, and considering the fact Doyeon was face down in a puddle of her own mid-semester tears right across from you, it was probably your email.

Much to your surprises, it isn’t that “Monday’s Class is CANCELLED” email you were hoping for, but instead some unknown number in a text notification. You roll your eyes, click it open thinking it’s a reminder from some store or from some guy claiming to be from your bank, only to pause at the words written inside the little grey bubble.

hey its jungkook!!! joon gave me your number to I guess ask you on a date soo are you free tmrw night??

The excessive punctuation reminds you a little bit of your kid sister back home and the dorky emails she’ll send you from time to time. It’s with that memory and a smile on your face, that you’re suddenly reminded of what exactly this message is saying. “Oh shit,” you mumble, moving to sit up and reread the text. Doyeon complaining loudly in the background has you reading it twice more before you understand it, and by then there’s a fluttery feeling in your chest.

You were by no means easily swayed by people, but this guy had received praise from Kim Namjoon of all people, so he definitely had some prestige to his name. He doesn’t seem overbearing from this one text he’d sent, but he also didn’t seem completely disinterested.

You try to match his nonchalant energy, letting him know you were in fact free and down to meet him, just to let you know more details.

You won’t lie, there’s a giddy feeling bubbling within you at the prospect of getting all dolled up, hitting the town, pawning a free meal off some unsuspecting college soul, and maybe even hitting it off. It’s been a while since you’ve dated, sue you.

Jeon Jungkook’s response crushes those dreams as well as hurdles you straight into a nightmare.

cool!! was thinking i could cook for us at my place, drink a little wine, maybe Netflix and chill a little bit??

You are blown away by the absolute gall of this man, to butter you up by painting a pretty picture only to reduce you to a mere booty call. The fact he had felt confident enough to say all that within the same sentence blows your mind.

Did this Jeon Jungkook, who you had no idea of what he looked like, who had no idea of what you looked like, seriously just invite you over for some quote unquote Netflix and chill?

Who, in the ever living hell, was this guy who so sleazily invited women over to fuck with no qualms about who they were?

You’re offended that Namjoon would set you up like this, pawn you off to such a greasy friend. But then again, you guess not everyone knows their friends thoroughly, because this Jeon Jungkook flirtatiously inviting your over for some sex sounds nothing like the golden boy Kim Namjoon had raved about earlier this week. You click your phone off, tapping the device against your lips as you ponder how to best rip this jerk to shreds via text.

It’s amidst Doyeon cursing out her statistics teacher that an idea hits you.

Tomorrow was Saturday night, and as far as you knew, you really didn’t have anything else going on for you anyway. You’d take Jeon Jungkook’s offer, let him cook you a free meal and drink some of his wine. He mentioned having his own place, and vaguely you remember Namjoon saying he lived alone, hence his introverted tendencies, so you could slip in and out without doing that walk of shame through a boy’s dorm hall.

Not that there would be anything to feel shameful about. In fact, if you planned things right, you could rain down your raging displeasure on Jeon Jungkook right after the meal but before this proposed ‘Netflix and chilling,’ maybe dramatically throw your glass of wine at him, before storming out of his place and reporting him to the authorities (Namjoon) for his douchebag personality.

Ha! That would certainly teach the asshole not to use his poor, unsuspecting friends to reel in nice girls like you into one night stands.

You could practically feel the devil horns begging to poke out of your skull, the forked tail wiggling behind you, as you click your phone back on and text Jeon Jungkook a great!! what’s your address :)

——

Saturday morning and afternoon are as boring as they usually are. You do a little homework, and spend thirty minutes filling Doyeon in on your master plan, which she eats up and even gives you some pointers—“and then you can be like, ‘you sick freak, as if I’d let you near this 5-star, Michelin reviewed, Gordon Ramsey approved coochie’ and throw the whole plate at his head!”—before getting ready for your little date at Jeon Jungkook’s.

You try hard to look good, harder than you would have if he hadn’t offended you by reducing you to a booty call, and Doyeon helps. She does your eyebrows all nice and natural, dusts the thinnest shin of liquid highlighter across the high points of your face, the whole shebang until you’re looking like a sexy, glowing goddess. You shimmy into a pretty dress, nothing too fancy nor too casual, and even pull on those strappy sandals you’d bought on sale last winter before blowing a kiss to Doyeon and meeting your Uber downstairs.

You don’t quite remember what the reason behind Jeon Jungkook living in such a swanky neighborhood a few minutes from campus was, if it was from a job you vaguely recall Namjoon mentioning, or if it was just purely hereditary, but his place is nice. It’s a connected townhouse, something you’d expect a newly wed couple to live in and not some douchebag third year.

Worse comes to worse, you get banned from this rich neighborhood after humiliating one of its residents in his own home, not that you’d ever make it big enough to live here anyway.

You’d texted Namjoon sometime that morning to let him know you were meeting his friend, an ominous text with an even more ominous smiley face attached to it. But it seems Namjoon is easily blinded by underclassmen he trusts, if Jeon Jungkook’s assholish feats and your own suspicious behavior is anything to go by, because he texts you back a polite have fun! he’s a little shy, so it might take a while for the ball to start rolling hahahaha.

Shy my ass, you think closing the door of your Uber behind you. You double check the address that had been texted to you, walking up to the neat townhouse and knocking against the polished door.

It’s a little chilly, and you hope finding an Uber is easier later tonight when you make your grand escape. It’s between these thoughts that the door swings open, revealing the most handsome man you’ve ever met.

He’s attractive, disgustingly so, with dark hair and light brown tips to contrast, tickling his cheekbones. His dark eyes are round and imploring as they meet yours, gaze almost innocent and doe like as he takes you in. He’s got this soft, blue turtleneck on, and it looks like it should be a seasonal sweater reserved for the holidays but he pulls it off nicely on this premature spring night. His pretty pink lips move, and it takes you a second to realize he’s talking.

“___?” He says, and his voice is deep, yet soft in its own unique way. You nod, like a stupid bobble head, because your throat constricted the moment this beautiful angel opened the door. “It’s cold outside, come in!” He urges you, out stretching his palm to make sure you don’t trip over the slight step up the door as he brings you into his home.

“Hi,” he exhales when you’re finally inside, standing a little too close to you in his small entryway.

“Hi,” you finally choke out, a little dazed by how handsome he is, and the sudden realization that you’re supposed to throw your glass of wine at him tonight because he’s a douchebag dawns on you. You blink yourself out of your stupor, taking a step back and gesturing towards your sandal clad feet.

“Oh!” Jeon Jungkook exclaims at the sudden realization. “I forgot to set out a pair of slippers for you,” he sheepishly admits, before he excuses himself to go get some. There’s a tiny ottoman pushed against the wall, beneath a long mirror, that you take a seat on it, carefully unstrapping your sandals.

All the while, you’re deep in thought.

It makes sense that someone like Jeon Jungkook was so forward in inviting you over for sex during your first interaction. Realistically speaking, the guy had it all. He lived alone in a swanky townhouse in a wealthy neighborhood (you finally remember Namjoon saying he did some app developing for major companies—yeah, still in college but already making it big because he was that good), and looked like the blueprint for the perfect man, someone who’d impress your parents. On top of that, the man was was a 21st century Adonis. You hadn’t missed the flash of ink on his knuckles, or the way his jeans had hugged his legs.

He’s making his way back now, inspecting the slippers in his hands, and you don’t miss the way the jeans are pulled taut around his thighs in particular.

Yeah, he definitely knew his way around a woman’s body, there was no way he couldn’t have.

You slip your feet into the slippers he places before you, wiggling your toes around, before glancing back at Jungkook. He smiles warmly, a little beauty mark beneath his lip making itself known. He takes your hand, pulls you up onto your feet, and begins guiding you down the hall and to what you assume is the kitchen.

“I didn’t know what you liked, and I figured asking you three hours before you came over would be too awkward,” he laughs, rubbing the back of his neck. He glances at you again, and upon seeing your inquisitive stare, quickly turns away with flushed cheeks.

Oh this man knew the game, and he knew it well.

Jeon Jungkook still thinks he can play that cute campus boy being set up by his senior card now, after he’d shown you his true colors last night via text. But he has a big storm coming. As much as you could admit he was good to look at, you would not be fooled by some pretty face and tasty food. No, you came here with one goal and one goal only, and that was to give Jeon Jungkook a piece of his own two-faced medicine before running off to tattle to Namjoon.

You reach the kitchen and the heavenly smell of Alfredo sauce swarms your nostrils. “I… I’m still new to cooking, so I hope you don’t mind some Alfredo pasta,” he admits, shy smile adorning his features as he avoids your gaze once again to toy with the dish towel by the sink.

You creep closer to the counter, where two meticulously presented ceramic plates sit beside a wine bottle, and the glands in your mouth suddenly go into overdrive in their rush to make you salivate, and you choke out an overly eager, “it looks amazing!” before you know it.

Okay, you came here with two goals.

——

Jungkook carries the two bowls in his big hands to the dining room beside the kitchen, and you follow behind with the bottle of wine and two glasses as you set the table together. The utensils are already there, but Jungkook runs back into the kitchen anyway to return with some fancy cloth napkins for the two of you.

Just as you're tugging a chair out to sit, Jungkook beats you to it. “Ah, let me,” he smiles, and your heart thunders nervously in your chest as you return the expression, brushing your hands beneath you before sitting down and letting him push you in. Jungkook takes his own seat in front of you, and before you can dig in he calls out to seemingly nobody, “Alexa, dim the dining room lights.”

The overhead lights dim, and with their overbearing glow gone, you can finally appreciate the battery powered candles snuggled neatly into a little bowl on the table between you two. You ooh appreciatively, and Jungkook looks proud of himself.

Then, he says, “Alexa, play…Date Night Playlist.”

You blink, and a soft piano tune begins filtering through a speaker he’s hidden somewhere in the room. Even with the fake candles being your main source of light, the flush on Jungkook’s cheeks is evident as he gestures towards you to eat.

You won’t lie. Jeon Jungkook was extremely endearing.

This much becomes evident the further you get into the meal. As small talk devolves into full fledged conversations and story telling, his shy demeanor slipping away but still sticking to the edges of his personality, you begin to have a more difficult time connecting this Jungkook to the one who had less than 24 hours ago asked you to come over and “Netflix and chill” with him.

But the more you speak, the more distant that image begins to feel. For one, Jungkook does put on a fairly reserved aura for you, telling you about his job but refusing to brag about it even when you egg him on. He has no qualms gassing up his friends, Namjoon in particular, who Jungkook claims is his role model for some unknown reason, given the fact they are neither in the same major nor in any of the same clubs. They’re friends, point blank period, but Namjoon is very obviously a star in Jungkook’s eyes.

Additionally, he’s quite embarrassed to admit why Namjoon had been so set on getting Jungkook to date, but eventually tells you it’s because Jungkook’s last girlfriend had been during your freshman year—two whole years ago! It makes you wonder what he’d been doing since then, if he’d used the time to fully invest in his work or if he’d been mingling around, unbeknownst to his friends, which would explain the flirtatious offer that landed you here.

Still, a part of you refuses to believe last night’s Jungkook and tonight’s Jungkook were one in the same, and if they were, what had made this shy man so unabashedly invite you over for some sex. Was this act all a ploy? Or maybe, was he purposefully trying to ward you away by coming off as a gentleman now that he’d seen your face and wasn’t interested in you anymore?

Apparently it’s neither of the two, and you don’t realize this until you finish your meal and make your way into his living room to finally get down to the long awaited Netflix and chilling. It’s only when you sit down on the couch, smack dab in the middle, because at this point, you’re not gonna throw your wine at Jeon Jungkook like you planned, he was too nice. And if this niceness was an act to get in your panties, you didn’t care at this point. He was hot, achingly so, and at least you’d get a good fuck out of it.

But as you said, apparently not. Because Jeon Jungkook sees you purposefully take up the entire middle of the couch, sultry eyes staring him down, and decides to sit flush against the armrest, somehow leaving a good foot between the two of you, despite the fact you’re sitting next to each other.

Your brain can’t work fast enough to comprehend the situation, before he’s asking you what you want to watch. “Um,” you say, pointedly staring at him and not the screen. “Tr-Transformers?”

The way Jungkook’s eyes light up is insane, already round eyes nearly popping out of their sockets as he eagerly rushes to select it from whatever streaming service he has, probably not even Netflix, all the while chattering on about how much he loves that series, and is so glad you do too.

The whole time, you’re struck by the oddness of his casual tone, the way he’s overly invested in the 20th Century Fox opening, and how he’s very carefully avoiding intruding in on your personal space.

The last point in particular has you wanting to pull your hair out, because you want Jeon Jungkook intruding in on your personal space. You want him pressed so tightly against you you can’t breathe, you can’t move, until you’re drowning in him as he finally lives up to his promise of some Netflix and chill, because you want him, and you want him so. very. bad.

“Oh, I forgot the popcorn!” Jungkook exclaims, and you jump at the sudden volume of his voice, because he’d been pretty silent as he avidly watched the first few minutes of the movie. “Sorry,” he chuckles, and his leg brushes against yours as he shuffles between you and the coffee table on his way out. You vaguely hear the popping of the popcorn in the kitchen, but you’re too distracted by your suddenly overwhelming thoughts.

Okay, one thing was for sure, and that was that Jeon Jungkook definitely had no fucking idea what the phrase Netflix and chill meant, because the way he’d zeroed in on the movie and the popcorn, and not you, was unheard of on such invitations. You deduce he probably heard it somewhere, and, now understanding the true nature of Jungkook’s sweet and shy personality, made no such perverted connection to the phrase.

Which meant he most definitely did not demean you to a mere booty call, like you’d deluded yourself into believing, someone he could hump and dump with no regrets, before calling Namjoon up to thank him. Which meant he’d had no ulterior motives in meeting you tonight, just planning to get to know you at the suggestion of his friend, and had—unbeknownst to him—successfully wooed you thus far.

Which was great! If you turned a blind eye to the evil, conniving plans you’d made without even meeting the guy, and the subsequent flood of self-inflicted disapproval when you realized Jeon Jungkook was a sweetheart who definitely did not deserve having a glass of wine thrown at his face after making you a home cooked meal and giving you the full Olive Garden experience, with his dimmed lights and candlelit dinner and piano music on the background.

Yeah. Perfectly fine.

The only problem now was that you had become so dangerously smitten with the man that you wanted to sleep with him. You wanted that Netflix and chill, needed it like it was the last slot in a daycare class and you were a soccer mom of five wanting to get at least one kid out of the house for the summer for the sake of her own sanity. You were desperate.

No, you scold yourself. This was fine, this was good, this was perfectly okay. If anything, this just further made you enamored with Jungkook, because it proved how gentlemanly he was by not trying to sleep with you on the first date.

But that didn’t mean he didn’t want to, the devil on your shoulder crooned.

The microwave in the kitchen stops, and you hear the sound of cabinets opening as Jungkook pours the popcorn into a bowl. On screen, the main character is meeting a bunch of giant cars-turned-robots, you don’t fucking know.

But the devil was right.

Jungkook hadn’t offered to sleep with you, but that didn’t mean he didn’t want to. Furthermore, that didn’t mean he couldn’t be seduced into wanting to, your evil brain suggested, and the hope that had slithered it’s way into your chest from the very moment Jungkook had opened the door, took that fact and ran with it.

“What’d I miss?” Jungkook says when he returns, popcorn bowl in hand.

“Oh, um, he was with the car,” you offer, trying to stop the nefarious smirk from slipping onto your features. Jungkook laughs, cute and airy as he shuffles past you.

He’s too absorbed in the screen, not looking as he sits down, closer than last time until his thigh brushes yours and he jerks back in embarrassment. “Oh, sorry,” he flounders, goes to move away but you act fast.

You grab onto his upper arm with both of yours like an octopus, keeping him flush to you as you gaze up at him with wide eyes. “No, it’s okay,” you rush to assure him, loosening your hold as he tentatively relaxes beside you. You glance down at the popcorn bowl in his hand, swiping a piece to pop between your lips. “It’s easier for us this way,” you say, and you’re pulling that straight out of your ass, because you hate popcorn and have literally zero desire for it and wouldn’t have reached for it anyway if you weren’t trying to convince him this was all for popcorn sharing purposes.

Jungkook’s eyes briefly flicker down to where you’re munching on that popcorn, your lips, before he’s quickly averting his gaze. “Ah, y-yeah,” he agrees, and though he tries to relax back into the couch, you can still feel the tension of his muscles as he settles beside you.

With his eyes no longer trained on you, you snuggle closer into his side resting your cheek against the soft material covering his shoulder, finally letting that devious smirk slip onto your face. You keep yourself close to Jungkook, loving the way his warmth permeates the thick sweater he’s wearing, even if he’s still overly into the movie. You know he’s seen it before, because he keeps telling you random tidbits like, “they use this in the next movie!” Or “he ends up becoming really important in the sixth movie,” and you want to listen to this endearing nerd’s commentary, you really do, but once your brain is stuck on horny, it is stuck on horny.

He doesn’t even eat a lot of popcorn, setting it down not ten minutes later onto the coffee table. You release him as he moves forward, but quickly latch onto him again when he sits back down.

Much to your surprise, Jungkook is way more relaxed then, shrugging you off to rest his hand on the couch behind you, and you inwardly squeal at the prospect of getting to cuddle up to his body, and not just his arm. You cuddle in close to him, leaving your slippers on the ground as you tuck your legs up onto the couch cushions.

Jungkook is so warm and firm, and you know it’s your horny brain speaking, but you swear you feel a tight set of abs underneath the palm you rest on his stomach, and you give an experimental brush over the area. His heart picks up, you hear it by where your head is leaning against his chest, and you tilt your head up to give him a curious glance. His cheeks are red, and he doesn’t look at you even though you know he sees you, so you decide to kick things up a notch.

You sigh loudly, peeling yourself away from him to properly level him with a pout. “Jungkook, aren’t you hot in this?” You ask, pinching the wooly material between two fingers and pulling it from his skin. Jungkook finally looks away from the screen, nibbling his lower lip as he takes in your quizzical expression.

“Um, only a little… but it’s fine!” He rushes to say, and you recall from your conversations over dinner that Jungkook doesn’t much like people fussing over him, so you quickly change gears.

You press a hand against your cheek, the same one that had been resting against his shoulder earlier. “Oh, well… it’s really itchy,” you announce, and his eyes widen, one hand absentmindedly reaching to clutch the material at his chest. “It’s making me really itchy,” you emphasize, and part of you feels bad for taking advantage of his caring nature, but this is all for the greater good, you convince yourself. “Do you mind taking it off?”

“I, uh, yeah,” he agrees, reaching for the hem of his sweater before carefully peeling it off. When he pulls it over his head, you can’t help the triumphant grin that overtakes your face, though you quickly mask it when he finally frees himself from the material. “Better?” He says once he’s clad in only a plain black shirt.

“Mm, much,” you sigh, and nearly soak your panties then and there when a tattooed sleeve comes into view. “Woah!” You exclaim, snatching his wrists up to examine his skin. “What’s this?” You marvel, tracing every inch of delicious skin with your predatory gaze. Jungkook huffs out a laugh, and you glance up to watch as he rubs the back of his neck in that same embarrassed way he’d done multiple times throughout your night together.

“My tattoos,” he says, and then seems to realize the simplicity of his statement and rushes to add to it, “I hope you don’t mind?”

You hum, shifting onto your knees to face him as you continue tracing over a huge tiger lily by his forearm. “Why would I? It’s your body,” you say, and watch the nervous glance melt off his face as he regards you with something new. Something akin to wonder as he lets you trace over more of his ink, nodding along to your words.

“Yeah… yeah!” He agrees, and you grin at his sudden zeal. He chuckles, physically relaxing beneath your touch, and it’s probably the most relaxed he’s been all night as you continue rubbing your hands over every tattoo on his skin, and then purposefully focusing on the ones near his bicep. “Sorry, ‘m just used to people pushing off their own opinions about them onto me,” he explains, and for a moment, the horniness that had been fueling you all night fades away, and you let your hands trail down, past his wrist, until you’re sandwiching his hand between yours.

“Fuck what anyone else thinks,” you tell him, eyes hard as you imagine anyone imposing their stupid thoughts on Jungkook, who was too good for this world. “If you think they’re cool, then they're the coolest thing in the world.”

He smiles at you, and you’ve seen this smile about a million times tonight—when you first came in, when you talked about yourself at dinner, when you mentioned this stupid movie—but it has something swelling in your chest. Something too intimate for a first date, so you quickly move to repress it.

Glancing down at his hand in yours, littered with smaller tattoos across his knuckles, your brain whirls into action. Bringing it up between the two of you, you turn his hand over to line your palms up. “Wow, your hands are so big,” you sigh, slowly reverting back to dirty thoughts as you twist yours and Jungkook’s hands this way and that. He snorts, bends the tips of his fingers over yours just to hear you ooooh again.

“Yeah, they’re pretty big,” he agrees, completely ignoring the film playing on the screen, which is a huge win in your eyes considering how deeply he’d been watching it earlier.

Finally, you see an opening and pounce.

“Well, that means something else is pretty big too,” you murmur, chancing a glance up at his face. His face is the perfect definition of composed, and you can tell when exactly he processes your words because those little pink lips part in surprise, red slowly filling the apples of his cheeks. You let go of his palm, letting it slide between your fingers until it falls limp beside him.

Jungkook watches you with wide eyes, as you raise yourself up onto your knees. “Jungkook?” You mumble, giving him no warning before you’re throwing a leg across his lap, knees pressed into the couch on either side of his thighs.

“Y-Yes?” He stutters, brown hair falling away from his face as he stares up at you. You flash him a sweet smile, and you can tell it relaxes him because his fists unclench beside him.

“You’re a really nice boy,” you sigh, and when you’ve scooted your knees a little closer to his ridiculously thin waist, you finally let yourself sit. You find yourself right before his crotch, which he desperately tries to hide as he shifts around, but can’t with you on top of him. You let your hands flutter to rest at his shoulders, and he gulps. “You’re so sweet and cute,” you add, relish in the flush that climbs up to his ears. “But I’m a little sad you invited me over to Netflix and chill, but won’t do just that,” you pout, a finger tangling itself in a soft strand at the back of his head.

“Huh?” He stutters, eyes nearly bulging out when you wiggle around again. “I-I’m sorry?” He huffs, and when you move too close to his crotch, where his jeans are slowly growing more and more strained, he panics and reaches a hand out to steady your waist.

You feign confusion, flashing him another pout as you duck closer until your noses bump against each other. “You know what it means, don’t you, Jungkook?” You inquire, eyes falling dangerously lidded as you swallow up every inch of his appearances.

He stutters, hands moving up and down as if he doesn’t know where to put them anymore. But you know exactly where Jungkook can put those hands, and you waste no time catching his wrists in your hands to guide him towards your hips. “No?” He breathes, fingers flexing against you, and you smile sweetly at him.

“It means,” you purr, shifting forward until you’re flush against where you need him most. You can barely contain the whimper that climbs out of your throat when you finally feel the rough material of his jeans against your panties. “It means you wanna fuck, Jungkook,” you exhale, tossing your head back as your body basks in the slight reprieve, the way Jungkook squirms beneath you aiding greatly in providing that sensation you craved.

“It’s nothing more than an excuse,” you huff, placing a hand on the back of his neck to steady yourself. At your touch, Jungkook jolts, thighs jumping beneath you and you stifle another groan when the zipper of his jeans prods against your core. “For you to fuck my brains out while some s-stupid movie plays in the background.”

You’re not sure when, but sometime during that last explanation your hands had fully delved into the thick tresses of Jungkook’s hair. You give an experimental tug, and poor Jungkook, so lost in all that you’re telling him, lolls his head back for you easily until the long expanse of his neck is available, soft creamy skin yours for the taking.

You pounce, kissing the skin gently at first, before sprinkling in a handful of nibbles. He’s sensitive, devastatingly so, as he gasps at a particular suck. You suction your lips on the spot below his ear, carefully biting down on the skin as he unravels beneath you. “Will you do it, Jungkookie?” You murmur against the shell of his ear,

He nods eagerly, and his fingers hurt where he’s pressed them deep into your waist, like he’s trying to brand you as his with his mere strength alone. “Y-Yes,” he exhales, hips jerking when you swipe your tongue over the pretty mark you’d left on his perfect skin.

You smother your smirk against his neck, grinding down on him once again. “Yes what?” You tease, and let his strong hands roll you against him afterwards.

“Yes, I-I’ll…” he stumbles, eyes dazed as he watches you through hooded lids. You raise a brow at him, shifting in his lap. It’s enough to kickstart him back up, and he’s biting down on his lip hard enough to draw blood. “I’ll fuck you, I’ll fuck you just like you want,” he rambles. He surprises you when he begins rutting up against you, so animalistic and uncontrolled, nothing like the sweet Jungkook that had indulged you over dinner. “I’ll make you come, p-promise,” he rasps.

You smirk down at him, hoping he doesn’t see the metaphorical horns sticking out of your head the further he falls into your trap. Before he can say anything else, you surge forward, slotting your mouths together for the first time that night.

It’s no surprise that Jungkook kisses just like he speaks, carefully like he’s afraid one hard press of his lips will ward you off. His lips are smooth, a fact you’d hyper-fixated on all night as he spoke, but before you can ponder on that any further, something hot and wet is prodding at your lower lip.

The gasp you barely manage to contain ends up escaping anyway when Jungkook’s hand comes up to cup the side of your face, tilting your head to the side as his tongue slithers into your mouth. You become obsessed with the way he touches you, every bit the gentlemen he’d been all night, fingers just barely pressing into your cheek like he doesn’t want to mess up your makeup. His other hand, snuggly wrapped around your waist, pulls you tighter against him until your chests are pressed together.

And that tongue. That tongue of his that leaves no room for argument, quickly shutting down any attempts of yours to overtake him. He’s graceful about it too, one nudge enough to convince you he’s got this, he’ll take care of you. You whimper, a sound Jungkook swallows before he’s biting down on your lower lip.

When he pulls away, his lips are red and glossy, and you wonder if yours are too. “Fuck, you’re so pretty,” he sighs, gazing at you like he can’t believe you’re there in front of him.

Before you can say anything else, he’s burying his face in the crook of your neck to brush kisses over your skin. “Let me eat you out,” he begs, but his voice is so silky and smooth that it doesn’t sound so much as a plea as much as it does a suggestion. He licks a stripe up your neck, and you jump in his hold.

It’s at this moment where the sudden realization hits you, the feeling of having the reins yanked out of your hands. You so vividly controlled every aspect of Jungkook just a few moments ago, when you’d had your own mouth on his neck, and carefully coaxed him into some sex.

But it seems Jeon Jungkook isn’t as soft or as pliable as you had dubbed him to be, and if the way he’s begun subtly rolling your hips into his crotch is any sign, he certainly wasn’t the submissive type either. Which leaves you wondering, exactly what type of person was Jungkook in bed?

Well, you had all night to figure that out.

“Hey,” he whines suddenly, ripping you out of your thoughts. You glance down at him, registering the bored set of his eyes and the unimpressed quirk of his lips. “Pay attention to me.”

You blink, lips twitching. You can barely muffle the giggle that tears itself from your throat, leaning your forehead on his shoulder as your body shakes at his suddenly childish words. Jungkook chuckles too, as if suddenly realizing how out of place his own statement was. “Sorry,” he smiles, cheeks pleasantly rosy and you can’t even stop yourself from kissing him silly.

Jungkook, bless his heart, let’s you rain down a good three kisses on him before he’s pushing you down on the couch beside him. There’s still a slight gleam in his eyes, but the rest of his face schools itself into a hungry expression as he drinks in your body laid out before him. “Let me eat you out?” He asks again, voice but a soft whisper.

You nod, heart beating loudly in your chest as he shuffles down until he can press a kiss to the tops of your thighs. He hasn’t even done anything that intense yet, but you already feel the muscles in your leg ready to spasm just from his proximity.

He’s mouthing at your skin, nudging your legs apart, and you, usually so confident in your sexuality, can’t find the courage to look at him as he so lovingly carries out his ministrations.

As if sensing your sudden bout of shyness (you! shy! Doyeon was gonna tease you about this for the rest of your life once you recapped this for her), he places a soft kiss just below where the hem of your dress begins, before pulling back and uttering, “this okay?”

You hum in response, face warm from just imagining how good he must look down there, peppering your skin with kisses. Your heart nearly rips itself out of your chest when a strong set of fingers wraps around your wrist suddenly, sliding over and around your hand until he’s tangled them with yours.

At this, you nearly break your neck trying to look at him, only to be met with an amused smile. Jungkook gives your hand a squeeze, and you barely get to appreciate the schoolgirl flood of emotions in your chest, when suddenly his free hand comes out of left field, cupping the back of your knee to push your legs further apart, before gliding across the expanse of your thigh to push your dress up.

If Jungkook holding your hand was enough to make your heart skip a beat, Jungkook pressing a chaste kiss to your panty-clad mound was enough to send you into cardiac arrest. Your leg twitches at the sudden touch, a gasp catching in your throat at the delicate path he kisses over your panties, until he’s flicking his tongue over your clit. “Oh,” you moan, and against your better judgment, your free hand is tangling itself in his silky strands.

Jungkook smirks, what sounds like a tiny chuckle muffled as he continues mouthing along your sex, until your panties are soaked both from your arousal and his saliva. Your little thong stares him in the face, and he groans at the sight, glancing up at you with those wide eyes of his like you’re his entire world. “Can I?”

Jungkook gives your clit one final kiss, before he lets go of your hand, and you can’t help the whine that leaves you upon the lost contact. Jungkook eats it up, pressing a kiss turned smile against your knee as he tugs your underwear down. It coils up as it goes, until he’s pulling a tightly twisted maroon thong off your ankles, and tossing it off somewhere behind him.

If his mouth felt good through your panties, it feels even better without. You mewl when he brushes his lips over your clit, plush lips working your sensitive bundle of nerves, sly tongue occasionally creeping out to toy with you further. “Jungkook,” you cry out, back arching. He licks and slurps likes he’s a starved man, and you're the first meal he’s ever had. You want to sob from how good it feels, his tongue flicking over your bud like he just can’t get enough.

He pulls away to catch your gaze, doesn’t let it go as he runs a lone finger over your slit, coating the digit in your own arousal, before carefully plunging it into your warm, wet heat. “Is this good?” He rasps out, watching your facial expressions carefully as he wiggles his finger deeper into your core, his other hand wrapped around your thigh to keep you still. You moan, feeling like a boneless heap of organs beneath this insanely handsome man who can’t keep his hands off your quivering pussy.

His fingers don’t let up, slowly pulling out before plunging back in. The room fills with disgustingly wet sounds, but that fact drifts to the back of your head the faster his fingers go. Your eyes roll into your head, your body twitching with each press of his fingers.

“Is it good, pretty?” He repeats, and since you’re not looking at him anymore, the sudden lick against your clit has your back arching and your thighs quivering with surprise. “Tell me it’s good, ___,” Jungkook croons, and you nod in a hurry.

“It’s good!” You cry, moaning loudly when he slips another finger into you, scissoring the two inside of you. “It’s so good, Jungkook—y-you’re so good,” you moan, and nearly cry actual tears when he curls his fingers inside of you, pressing down against the most sensitive spot within you.

Jungkook doesn’t let up, continues licking and slurping against your sensitive bud, even when your orgasm hits and you’re begging him to stop. He doesn’t let you go until he feels the warmth coat his fingers, feels the wetness begging to seep out of your plugged pussy. He lets you go then, only to move closer to your hole and replace his fingers with his mouth. There, he carefully catches and collects the cum that trickles out, mouth warm against your trembling body.

Your body quivers with each long drag of his tongue over your sensitive cunt, and you’re about to ask him to stop, when he finally pulls away and pushes himself over you, arms caging you in as he stares down at your withered form. “Kiss,” you manage to gasp out, and Jungkook raises an eyebrow in question. “Kiss me,” you repeat, and then, thoughtfully, “please.”

Jungkook complies, leans down to connect your mouths in a sweet kiss. You’re blinded by the delicacy of it all, that you in no way see coming the sudden substance that slides down your throat from his own. You choke at the sudden intrusion, belatedly realizing it’s your cum he’s pushing down your throat, the cum he didn’t swallow.

“That’s it, pretty,” Jungkook croons, licking up the residual come that hadn’t made it into your mouth. “See how you taste for me. Isn’t it sweet?” He murmurs, pushing his tongue into your mouth as if he regretted not saving any for himself. It’s the first time you’ve had your own pleasure in your mouth, so you’re not exactly sure how to feel. What you do feel is the overwhelming surge of arousal at seeing Jungkook rave about it and lap it up inside your own mouth.

He kisses you for a few moments, mouth moving languidly along yours. One hand reaches down to rub soothingly at your inner thigh, like he’s coaxing the feeling back into your body after lulling you into one of the most heavenly orgasms of your entire life. You whimper when he bites down on your lower lip, like you’re still too sensitive to reciprocate, but Jungkook doesn’t mind. He lets you go, licks over where he’d bitten like an apology.

After a few minutes of just this, of feeling like the most cherished girl in the entire world, Jungkook finally pulls away and levels you with a dashing smile. “All good?” He asks, hands still trailing up your waist until they’re framing the swell of your breasts, where he gently circles your nipple.

You nod, dazedly staring up at him and it’s at this exact moment that you realize there’s something stiff poking at your hip. You glance down, and Jungkook glances down with you, until you’re both staring at the hard on he’s hiding beneath his jeans. Jungkook chuckles, low and dark by your ear as he experimentally presses it against you.

Before you can stop yourself, your hand is untangling itself from around his shoulders and slithering down his front. You cup his erection, his shaky exhale giving you the courage to toy with his belt buckle until it’s undone and you're battling with the button on his jeans instead. You put up a good fight, but in the end the angle is too tight for you to properly undo it, and Jungkook brushes your hands away with a soft kiss to your lips.

He pushes himself off you, and you’re immediately craving the warm press of his body against yours the second he’s gone. “Get that dress off for me, pretty girl,” he says, pulling his shirt over his head, rendering you completely speechless as you gawk at his body. Jungkook glances down at you as he goes to undo his pants, a shapely brow raising in your direction and a soft quirk of his lips gesturing for you to do as you’re told.

You spur into action, wiggling the dress up and over your breasts until you’re pulling it over your head and letting it drop beside you on the floor. You’re just in time to see Jungkook push his jeans down his hips, a classic black Calvin Klein underwear band glaring back at you.

The chance to marvel at Jungkook’s thin waist framed by that tight underwear is gone as quickly as it came, and you’re greeted with an even more mouthwatering sight when he pushes the elastic band down, and that big cock you had alluded to springs out of its confines. You groan, subconsciously rolling your hips into the air as you take in the sight of his cock, mushroom tip swollen and flushed. There’s a thick vein that runs along the underside of it, one you only see when Jungkook grasps his dick in his hand and tugs upward like this isn’t his true form, and he can get bigger.

“Ready?” He asks, biting down on his lip as he continues to stroke himself. You nod, wiggling closer to him until the backs of your thighs rest on top of his, knees knocking against his waist. He grants you one more of those kind smiles, before he’s leaning down to press a hand beside your head, the other lining himself up with your soaked entrance.

Running his cock over your folds one last time, collecting as much of your cum as he can, he brushes a kiss against your cheekbone before he’s pushing in. You moan, throwing your hands around his neck as he pierces through the initial ring of muscle surrounding your warm heat. “Holy shit,” you choke, mouth dropped open as you pant like a dog against his shoulder. “J-Jungkook,” you cry, legs tightening around his waist the closer his body presses against yours.

Once he’s at the hilt, pelvis flush against you, you can’t help the series of whines and mewls that escape your lips from being so comfortably filled to the brim.

To your surprise, Jungkook is the first to speak. “Fuck,” he groans, breath hot against your ear. He sounds fucked out, once silky voice raspy with need as he grinds his hips against you tentatively. “This is what you wanted, isn't it?” He huffs, both hands coming down to wrap around your waist, your back arching under the wonderful hands that find themselves squeezing every inch of your back in an effort to pull you closer.

His mouth brushes against yours from this new position, and Jungkook puckers his lips, tongue coming out to lick at your bottom lip. You nearly cry when he finally pulls his hips away, relieves his cock from your tight heat before surging back in. “Wanted this from the moment you walked in, didn’t you, sweetheart?” Jungkook grunts, repeats the same motion until he’s picked up a steady pace of pushing and pulling, each roll of his hips sending a shock of ecstasy crawling up your spine.

You nod, eyes screwed shut as pleasure warms every inch of your body. It’s even worse to not see, because every sound and every touch is magnified tenfold, until you’re drowning in sensations. Jungkook’s choked groans, the slide of his hips, they all become too much too quickly and you’re choking back a sob.

“Fuck,” he groans, glancing down at your withered form like an animal as he picks up his pace. His hold on you tightens, never letting your body move away from him and he begins jack hammering in his thrusts, swallowing your cries with his lips. “Had me thinking you were a nice girl,” he huffs, and you wonder if he knows how tightly he’s holding you, how this grip will most likely leave you with fingerprint bruises tomorrow morning. But then again, you don’t care. All you care about is Jungkook’s voice and his body, guiding you toward completion. “But all you wanted was a quick fuck.”

You steel yourself to look at him again, and when your eyes finally open and focus, you’re wishing you hadn’t because Jungkook looks so hot over you. His pretty eyes, the ones that had led you into a false sense of comfort throughout the night and tricked you into believing he would be easy to bend to your every whim, are hard now. “Isn’t that right, doll?” He spits, and you whine when he punctuates this question with a particularly brutal thrust of his hips. His balls slap against your ass, and you squirm beneath him as you begin to feel the beginnings of an orgasm build in your core.

“I-I thought—“ you stammer, tone pitched from the way he jostles you with every thrust he gives. “Y-You wanted that,” you weekly defend, canting your hips down in a feeble attempt to progress this along.

He snorts, captures your lips in a rushed kiss where he wastes no time snaking his tongue inside your mouth. His saliva trickles into your mouth, and you whine as he purposefully lets it happen, pulls away just the slightest to pucker his lips and let a thick trail of spit fall straight into your open mouth. Satisfied with his little stunt, he rams his cock against you once more.

“If you wanted a quick fuck,” he says, nearly loses himself in your pussy, “you came to the wrong guy, sweetheart.”

You’re too caught up in the nice drag of his cock against your pussy, the tip of his cock stopping him from ever pulling out completely, that it takes you a second to process his words. “H-Huh?” You choke, teary eyes flickering across his face wildly as if the answer will be right in plain sight.

But all you’re met with is the soft pull of his lips as he flashes you a smirk, pearly white teeth tugging at the pink flesh, as he levels you with a glare of his own. Before you can question him further, he’s letting go of your waist to hike your knees into the crook of his elbows, his pouty lips growing further away as he leans back.

This shift has his cock nudging up, rubbing against the hood of your clit where a bundle of nerves he’d only briefly brushed before sits. You shriek in pleasure, writhing beneath him as the sudden sensation hits you full force. “Jungkook!” You sob, his hips slowing to a grind as he watches your face crumble beneath him.

“You like that?” He murmurs, rutting his hips against you shallowly. The change of pace, the rabid piston of his hips slowing to this, has your body melting into his touch. You barely manage a nod, eyes fluttering open and shut as his hips move sensually against you.

His cock brushes against that sensitive spot with each roll of his hips, and you’re a mewling, puddle of emotion by the third thrust. “Pretty girl,” he hums, letting go of one leg to place a hand above your mound, thumb circling your clit until you’re trembling beneath him. “Did you think I would fuck you and kick you out?” He husks, watching your body like he’s a lion and you’re his prey.

Your brain is far from comprehending anything at this point, reduced to a mere mass of nothingness as he continues moving against you, fingers rubbing your clit in all the right ways.

“Well, you were wrong about that, doll,” he huffs, and you’re blessed with the sight of his head lolling back as he loses himself in the tight grip of your pussy, skin glistening with sweat, trailing from behind his ear and over his neck, until you’re watching a pearl roll over his collarbones. “I don’t do that,” he informs you, and he pinches your clit between two fingers, hard enough that you almost miss his next words as you moan. “No, baby, I’ll fuck you and keep you forever,” he spits, and you whimper at his words. Finally, he lets go of your knees, right as you’re teetering on the edge of an orgasm and you moan out in protest as he ducks down to cage you between his arms again.

“Please,” you beg, voice hoarse as his hips slowly return to their pace from before. He’s still not pulling out as much, keeping his thrusts shallow as he kisses a trail up your neck and over your jaw.

“Gonna fuck you so good, you don’t ever want to leave, pretty,” he says, kisses the corner of your mouth as his hips pick up pace. You wanna cry, feeling so warm and cherished in his arms, his voice telling you how good you’re doing as the coil in your stomach tightens and tightens until you’re begging him for more. “Do you want that?”

“Yes! Yes!” You sob, rolling your hips against his like a madman as you chase your high.

Jungkook hums, smile smushed against your lips as he watches you desperately writhing beneath him. “Yeah? You want that?” You nod, mewls swallowed by his kisses. “Then cum for me, pretty girl.”

You whimper, just as he bucks into you once more, and suddenly you’re falling apart. It starts in your lower back, the ecstasy climbing it’s way through your body until you’re quivering and sobbing in his embrace, muffling your sounds against his shoulder. The muscles in your entire body tighten painfully, until suddenly a wave of contentment washes over you, and you’re too weak to even hold onto him anymore, arms flopping back onto the couch cushions beneath you.

The whole time, Jungkook mutters encouragement against your jaw, keeps his thrusts short but quick, guiding you through your orgasm. When you’re done, he presses an open mouthed kiss beneath your ear, pulling away to look at your boneless frame beneath him.

A few pistons of his hips later, and Jungkook is coming inside of you, cum coating your walls as he hammers his way through his orgasm. He pulls out when he’s done, and you instantly feel your mixed arousal drip out between your thighs.

Woozy from the wine and the two orgasms, you fall asleep soon after.

——

“Good morning,” you murmur, standing at the doorway leading into the kitchen, an area you’d only been able to find after stumbling around the upstairs of the house in confusion.

Jungkook whirls around, wide eyes taking in your appearance. You clutch at the hem of the big t-shirt you’d pulled on, the only article of clothing you saw that was thrown over a chair in a bedroom you didn’t dare snoop around. “Morning,” he exhales, calculating gaze never leaving you as you tiptoe over to him by the counter.

He doesn’t say more, spluttering into action when you peek over his shoulder to see what he’s up to. “What’re you making?” You inquire, and his hands begin fidgeting with the knife.

“Oh, um,” he stutters, and perhaps he’s overly aware of your presence so close beside him, because he suddenly doesn’t remember how he’s supposed to cut an avocado. Cute, you think. “Just, um, toast with avocado spread…”

You hum. After a moment, it seems Jungkook is able to quell his nerves, and he carefully slices the avocado open, spreading its innards across the toast. He hands you the first piece, which you take after masking your own surprise, and soon after he’s turning away from the counter as the two of you eat in silence.

After a few thoughtful munches of bread, you speak. “Thanks for carrying me to bed,” you say, refusing to look at him.

“You’re welcome,” he replies, almost a little too fast and you barely bite down a grin as he rambles on. “Wasn’t gonna leave you on the couch, especially not when you were so tired after… ah, yeah.”

It’s the reserved way he carries himself that gives you the balls to look at him. His ears are flushed adorably red, like when you were at dinner last night talking about his job, and all you wanna do is pinch his cheeks. “Yeah,” you agree, and then add with an air of faux shyness, “you were really cool last night.”

It’s the little devil in you begging to jump out, curious to see how far you can push Jungkook before he shifts into that suave version of himself from last night, and you would feel bad had the corner of his lips not tilted up in amusement.

He chokes out a laugh, mutters a “yeah?” and you don’t stop yourself when you jump into his arms and kiss that avocado spread right off his lips.

——

On Tuesday afternoon, Kim Namjoon is in the midst of delivering another sermon-like speech on the importance of utilizing your student ID when visiting any of the Starbucks within a two mile radius of your school, when you spot a chestnut head of hair from the corner of your eye.

“Sorry, Joon! My ride's here!” You yelp, shoving your notebook into your bag as you stumble over yourself in your haste to leave.

Namjoon blinks. “Huh? I thought you lived on campus?”

You nod, that giddy feeling starting up in your chest as he comes closer to where you and Namjoon have taken up residence on a table in the commons for your weekly meeting, and by the time he reaches the table Namjoon is still in the midst of questioning you.

“Jungkook,” You say, all dreamily and dazed, and you know this because Doyeon caught you with this same exact look on your face after he dropped you off at the dorms Sunday afternoon.

Namjoon startles. “What the f—“

“Hi,” Jungkook beams, leans down to brush a kiss against your cheek, which only serves to make you even more ditzy and dumb in the face of this handsome man. “Oh, hey, hyung.”

“What’re you doi—“

“All set?” Jungkook asks you, completely ignoring whatever his beloved senior was saying in favor of taking your bag off your shoulders. You nod, have to swallow a giggle down when he takes your hand in his. “Bye, hyung.”

“Bye, Joon!” You barely remember to throw over your shoulder, too busy wrapping yourself around Jungkook’s arm to hear Namjoon blabber in shock.

“Kids these days,” he huffs.

[ part 2 ; hulu & woohoo ]

#jungkook smut #jeon jungkook smut #goldenclosetnet #ksmutclub #jjk smut #bts smut #mine

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