#i do think he'd eventually ''get better'' in the sense of letting his guard down more and being just a bit more considerate

[skunkes]

dynamic

[hannieehaee]

Hi! I love your work I was hoping I could request something? this may be a little nsfw but I was wondering how SVT would react to having a girlfriend who likes to cockwarm them? like even after they’re done she just wants them to stay inside her like she could literally go to sleep like that. I just think it’d be interesting! you don’t have to do it though!

18+ / mdi

reaction to you liking to cockwarm them

content: afab reader, smut, cockwarming, mentions of riding, etc.

wc: 966

a/n: thank u for requesting!! i hope i did this justice <3

masterlist

seungcheol -

this wouldve become a common occurrence during his hiatus from seventeen. due to his injury, you'd have to ride him whenever the two of you wanted to have sex. at some point he wouldve dragged you back down as you moved to slip him out of you, pleading with his eyes to stay around him. would probably be unable to control himself and eventually try to fuck into you, not caring for the pain he'd bring himself.

jeonghan -

smirks to himself any time you whine at him when he goes to slip out of you after you're both done. the moment you showed any indication that you wanted to cockwarm him, he'd to squeeze your hips and feel up your ass and back rather than remove you. would entice you into another round after some time, hoping to create a vicious cycle in which he fucked you and you cockwarmed him, only for him to fuck you again.

joshua -

he'd wanna take care of you in any and every way, so if you were too sleepy after sex to get up from his cock, that simply meant you'd be going to sleep with his cock still buried deep inside you. it was a win-win situation for joshua. he'd have a restful sleep with the prettiest girl he'd ever held in his arms, and he'd probably get to fuck you just as the two of you woke up. there were no bad sides to the situation.

jun -

a little caught off guard the moment you simply pressed down against him after both your orgasms had subsided. regardless, he would understand you might be tired and just hold you as the two of you fell asleep. the next morning it would click that you'd slept literally wrapped around each other all through the night. that might've been one of his best sleeps ever, making him want to do it again and again.

soonyoung -

practically becomes hypnotized the moment you bring up cockwarming, now obsessed with the idea. he'd be so giddy every single time the two of you had sex right before going to bed, knowing he'd get to go to sleep while your arms held onto him and your pussy held onto his dick just as tightly. this would become his new favorite act of intimacy to do with you.

wonwoo -

would naturally happen one day in which you rode him while he was gaming. you'd both finish and you'd simply fall limp against him. after a few moments of no movement, he'd ask if you wanted to just stay sitting on his dick (not complaining! just wondering, he'd clarify). after your tired affirmation, he would smile and hold you closer, continuing to game but caressing your back every so often, adoring the intimacy of the situation.

jihoon -

it kills him every time you insist on letting him stay inside, face scrunching up in pleasure at the feeling of your warmth wrapped around him in such an intimate way. would insist that you can only do it for a little bit, knowing he'd probably cum the moment he grew hard again.

dokyeom -

would reluctantly agree, wanting nothing more than to be as close to you as possible, but knowing your cunt would overpower his senses at some point, which would probably make him beg you to fuck him in the middle of the night. the obvious would end up happening, making you ride him in the early hours of the am, only to cockwarm him again all the way into the morning.

mingyu -

he'd nod in agreement so fast his neck would hurt. holding you in his arms after sex? hell yes. being inside you as he held you in his arms as you fell asleep? nothing sounded better to him. would probably underestimate how pussydrunk he could get and beg to fuck you halfway through the night and then proceed to fall asleep buried deep inside you, only to fuck you again in the morning.

minghao -

he'd be a lil flustered at the bold way in which you simply tightened around him the moment he tried to slip out, wordlessly allowing you to lean against him as he stayed buried in you. would easily fall into the habit of you cockwarming him, now looking forward to that part of the day every single day. would feel most relaxed in those moments, feeling a level of intimacy with you he had never before.

vernon -

he'd insist you cockwarm him. after cumming you'd both probably be super spent and wanna rest, so he'd ask if it was okay for him to just stay in your cunt as the two of you cuddled and eventually fell asleep. this would prove to be a bit of a challenge, as the pulsing of your cunt and softness of your walls would probably take him a bit to get used to.

seungkwan -

he would also fall asleep right after sex, only waking up a few hours later to realize you were still wrapped around him as the two of you cuddled. his heart would swell at the warmth he felt both from your embrace and the tightness around him. he'd want this again and again, wordlessly begging you day after day to please give him your warmth as he slept.

chan -

he'd thank god under his breath as soon as you brought it up to him. he'd have wanted to try it out, knowing how warm and cozy it'd be to have you wrapped around him as he held you in his sleep, but he wasnt sure if you'd be into it. would probably underestimate how good itd feel, making him not realize how hard it was going to be to not fuck into you as you slept in his arms.

[heartfullofleeches]

hungry for titus & executioner reader. insane even. i bet my left lung titus was lying nude in the table with his cock hard in all its glory. was it the anticipation of potentially being brutally defiled by his "angel" executioner? or was it the cold air hitting his body? who knows.

do you think his fantasies of being violated by executioner interfere with his work? or is he diligent enough to not let it get in the way? would he let down an entire nation/empire just for his darling? did he fall head over heels before or after employing his darling?

i also love the concept of executioner with HUMONGOUS amounts of bloodlust, it's as equal and if not more than titus' libido. just straight up sadistic executioner — who relishes the screams, the cries, and the whines of their victims — it's music to their ears. and you wanna know what? they're also hysterical & weird. laughing out of immense satisfaction of violating their prey, drooling at the thought of skinning & carving their next victim. and they giggle — so much — when they present their bloody gift to titus. "i got'cha a little gift, master!"

speaking of their master, they are eternally grateful for them — for granting them the liberty to fulfill their selfish desires. it's two birds with one stone to them, harming people in the name of their desires, and harming people in the name of titus. despite their gratification and loyalty to the great tyrant, their view of each other is still not equal. like our cold executioner, they will do anything for their lord, but titus' offer of allowing them to ravage them, it's over the line.

i love them a normal amount your honor

That's a fun idea, but I wanna stick with cold Executioner Reader for the time being. I'm all for sadistic darlings, but I like what Executioner has going on now. An emotional stunted, husk of a person. Killing comes as natural as breathing to them. They can't sleep without the sound of screams to keep them company, they can't eat or accept gifts without their prize feeling earned. They hold more loyalty to their post than their ruler which is why they willfully follow Titus after he slaughtered their previous employer.

Titus develops a bit of a savior complex when it comes to them as he hopes to break this mentality at least to the point where they are accepting of his love. Dresses them in the finest attire, feeds them foods that are probably a shock to their senses compared to the bland filth their former ruler fed them. Tried to give them their own bedroom, but after finding Titus in their bed one night they solely stick to the dungeon floors. Really only uses the autonomy he gave them to reject his advices.

did he fall head over heels before or after employing his darling?

I'd say he fell for them somewhere between their imprisonment and their eventual promotion to Executioner. While other members of their ruler's guard attempted to fight against Titus hostile take over, Executioner Reader sat back and watched as Titus beheaded their master. He found them a little dull, but upon being captured is where they got interesting. If there's one thing the Executioner despises it's being in chains. Took out a fair chuck of Titus' fleet for the crime of attempt to put them in chains.

Titus figured they'd be an excellent pet after realizing they'd follow along obediently on the condition they weren't strapped in iron. He began to fall for them after barring witness to their expertise with a blade and their closed off nature. He thought it'd be fun to break them out of their shell. The executioner's rejection was the first he faced in some time and while he'd normally have anyone who refused his generous offer killed - he saw them as a challenge. Overtime his kind gestures to get them to warm up to them became more genuine as his curiosity got the better of him. Had his Executioner ever truly smiled? Had they known the joy of laughter and other similar feelings? If they hadn't - he wanted to be the only one capable of giving them such wonders. That was a prize of its own. One of the greatest he could possibly obtain. It took him a while to realize and understand his love for them, but his guard caught on quick.

do you think his fantasies of being violated by executioner interfere with his work? or is he diligent enough to not let it get in the way? would he let down an entire nation/empire just for his darling?

This is Titus we're talking about. Bro will drop entire events so he can take care of himself because he got horny over a memory of Executioner Reader bringing him the heart of a traitor. If the matter had dire importance he'll try to hold off on his urges, but he'll be grump about it all the way through and immediately seek Executioner Reader's warmth afterwards. It's less of a matter of would he let down something else for them and more when he'll do it.

[bloodywonder1846]

Sweenett headcanons, ‘cause I love these two & I have a problem

(Disclaimer: Feel how you want about this ship, but disrespect and general rudeness will not be tolerated)

• Dancing has become a regular thing for Sweeney and Nellie. It's rare for them to go longer than a day without dancing at least once.

• For a while, Sweeney struggled with expressing his feelings out loud, so he'd express them by writing love letters to Nellie.

Even after getting better at expressing those emotions out loud, he still likes to write her letters.

• Sweeney and Nellie always hang out after work.

• Sweeney likes to play with Nellie's hair, especially when it's curly.

• Nellie likes to play with Sweeney's suspenders.

Sometimes she'll pull on them when she wants to pull him close.

(She also likes to play with his hair too.)

• They have a very similar sense of humor, as well as a ton of inside jokes, and always find ways to make each other laugh.

• Nellie fell in love first, but when Sweeney fell, he fell hard.

• Sweeney is extremely protective of Nellie. Not in a possessive way, he just doesn't want her to get hurt, and has an intense fear of losing her.

• After finally saving up enough money, they took a trip to the seaside.

Nellie drew a heart with their initials into the sand.

• Sweeney is actually really strong, and he tends to carry Nellie a lot. He often lifts her and spins her around, and sometimes he'll carry her bridal style.

• After the years they spent alone, Sweeney and Nellie are both extremely lonely and touch starved. They hold hands and cuddle up to each other as much as they can.

For a while, Sweeney tried to keep himself from doing this because he still missed Lucy and also felt guilty for being like this with someone else, but he couldn't help but really like Nellie's affection, and he also quite liked the deep connection he had with her.

• Nellie absolutely loves cuddles. Any chance she gets, she'll cling tightly to Sweeney. She loves holding him, and she loves being held. They often snuggle on the sofa and talk for hours.

• One time, Nellie fell asleep on the sofa while she was sitting next to Sweeney. He didn't want to wake her, so he fell asleep next to her. Since then, she would try to purposefully fall asleep on the sofa so she wouldn’t have to leave him. They eventually began to share a room once they started dating, but every now and then, she still tries to fall asleep on the sofa with him, as if it still is her only chance to fall asleep and wake up in his arms.

• Nellie plays the piano often, and she had started to make up little songs and sing them while playing. Sweeney always found it quite endearing. One day, she started singing and playing love songs for him, which he especially thought was adorable.

• Even when Sweeney was more indifferent towards Nellie's affection, he couldn't help but still find it endearing deep down. He tried to pretend he didn't care, but he couldn't help but want tenderness and love.

• When Sweeney first started to fall for Nellie, he tried desperately to push it away. When that failed, he tried to deny it. Eventually though, he couldn't help but love her, and he didn't want to stop himself anymore.

• Despite Nellie having loved him longer, Sweeney was actually the one who first asked her to be his official partner.

• Even after they began to use each other's first names, Nellie would still call Sweeney "Mr. T."

As an adorable retaliation, Sweeney would occasionally call her "Mrs. L," as well as "The future Mrs. T."

• Nellie was the one who helped Sweeney be able to finally start letting his guard down a little.

After they started dating, he became way more affectionate, and less afraid to show his love.

• A stranger in town once mistakenly assumed that they were married, and referred to Nellie as Mrs. Todd. She quite liked the sound of it, and was so happy that she didn't think to correct them. Sweeney couldn't deny that he also quite liked the sound of it, and decided that he wouldn't correct anyone if they made that mistake.

• Sweeney's first love confession was entirely accidental. Nellie had said "I love you" to him in passing, and he casually responded, "I love you too." He was shocked once he realized what he had said, since he was still nervous about admitting his feelings, and Nellie was quite shocked too, but happy nonetheless.

• They absolutely love using pet names for each other. Nellie's personal favorite is "my love." It's very sweet, and also gets to the point- He's her love, and she loves it whenever he calls her his love. "My love" is also a favorite of Sweeney's, but he also likes to be dramatic with it and use several at once. Examples: "My dearest love," "My dear, sweet Nellie," "My dear, sweet love," "My sweetest love."

• Nellie loves to lean her head on Sweeney. Usually on his shoulder, though she also likes to lie her head on his chest and listen to his heartbeat.

Sweeney also likes to lean his head on her every now and then. He loves listening to her heartbeat and closing his eyes as she pets his head and runs her fingers through his hair. He finds it very calming.

• Sweeney doesn't particularly like to admit to being soft and loving, but he's always very soft with Nellie.

Earlier on in their relationship, he'd try to deny being soft at all, though it would quickly be pointed out to him how sweet and loving he was being towards her.

• Sometimes, in an attempt to be cute and affectionate, Sweeney will bring up incredibly morbid stuff. Usually it's him mentioning death in some way or another, like him saying that he hopes they die in each other's arms and are buried beside each other, and that he hopes to spend his life after death with her as well. Nellie will tell him that this is sweet in a way, but also they'll cross that bridge when they get to it, and to maybe not focus on that right now.

He also tends to threaten to kill anyone who dares to hurt her. (Not to their faces, just something he mentions to her.) Nellie feels a little bad for finding it endearing, but she really does love how protective he is of the people he cares about, not to mention she ends up remembering that she's already helping him commit crimes, so it's not really any worse if she finds it cute that he'd kill for her.

• Sweeney and Nellie are both prone to nightmares, though Sweeney has them a lot more often. Any time that either of them has one, the other always comforts them.

Sweeney frequently has nightmares about his time in prison, and also ones about losing Nellie (or anything bad happening to her). Whenever he wakes up from said nightmares, he immediately pulls Nellie close and holds her as tightly as he can, extremely grateful that she's still there.

• Sometimes Nellie gets really emotional when it comes to their relationship, specifically because she had spent so long loving him, and so long dreaming and pining from a distance. She gets really emotional (in a happy way) whenever she's reminded that it's all real now, that they're really together and he really loves her.

Usually this results in her holding him tightly while crying and saying "I love you so much" a whole bunch. Sweeney can't help but find it adorable.

[katsigian]

hiiii, for the character building questions: 1,2,3,8 & 46 for Valen? 🖤

Hiii thank you so much for the ask! ♡ from this list here

1. What’s the lie your character says most often?

I think that would be "I'm not bothered by it." It's something Valen tells himself until he believes it when faced with something that does indeed bother him. It's an ability he picked up pretty early on in life and it's because of his dad, Callen. When Valen was a young kid and something would upset him, he would cry easily. Callen would kneel down in front of Valen, grab his shoulders, and tell him "What kinda VP are you going to be if you cry at the drop of a hat? You can't let everything bother you. Toughen up. Or at least pretend you're tough. Convince yourself that it doesn't bother you." So Valen did. He hardly ever cries now and part of his aloof attitude is simply because he convinces himself that he's not bothered by anything.

2. How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

Valen is pretty strict with his usage of 'friend'. It takes quite a bit for him to become attached to someone and he'll really only gravitate towards certain kinds of people. So until he's sure that he can trust someone and they really are who they say they are, then he'll hold off on calling someone friend. A friend to him is someone he's let into his very small inner circle and he doesn't do that very often.

3. How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

It depends on who he is around. Valen's emotional reactions to most things out in public are reserved. He's not completely stone-faced, though; Valen will show fairly surface level emotions around people he doesn't know in public, but keeps a lot of the bigger, deeper feelings to himself. For example, Valen goes out in the evening to pick up dinner and the person getting his food around cracks a joke about something. Valen'll chuckle along with them and if he's in the mood for it, he might continue the joke.

But, when he's safe with someone who he knows cares about him, Valen will be a little more upfront with his emotions. It took him a long time to feel comfortable showing his emotions to his loved ones, and he still sometimes has a bad habit of minimizing or simplifying them. He grew up with a father (Callen) who really only fostered certain emotions in his son; anger, disgust, devotion, disdain, contempt, rage, superiority, and love in a very twisted sense. Sadness, worry, fear, gentleness, and affection were not encouraged and sometimes were even punished if Callen caught Valen expressing them.

So, Valen had to re-learn how to show those emotions once he was free of his dad and he still struggles to this day with some of them, though he has put great effort into becoming self-aware and controlling his emotions. By that I mean he's learnt how to feel his emotions without letting them control him and he knows how to use them to his advantage. Sometimes he slips up and his emotions will get the better of him. Valen is at his most volatile when his control breaks and his actions become fueled by emotion.

8. How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

About as loose as a bolt that's been rust-welded onto a 50 year old nut. Valen does not use the term loosely, though that's not to say that he doesn't love anyone. Valen loves very deeply and there's many people that he does love more than himself. His husband is at the top of that list. It also holds Vesper, Vega, Reid, Nikita, Noel, Ilya, and so on. Valen loves them enough that he'd be willing to kill and die for them. He just struggles to say that out loud. It eventually becomes easier for him, but Valen is much better at expressing that love through actions. He's a guard dog, he's happiest when he's acting in service to someone he loves. Valen submits to the people he loves in the same way that guardian dogs submit to the sheep they protect. That's how you'll know he loves someone.

46. Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Valen is very much a listener most of the time. He much prefers to attach himself to people who can do enough talking for the both of them. But that's not because Valen is shy or socially inept, far from it. He's fully capable of chatting with strangers and doesn't get anxious in public. He's just introverted and has spent most of his life observing and listening as means to stay one step ahead of other people. Valen works in fields where being reserved and vigilant is more important than being chatty.

Even when he's not working or actively involved in gang work, Valen still lets his talkative counterparts take the lead. He's more than happy to let his chatty husband or chatty brother do all the talking to strangers while they're out and about.

That being said, Valen will get more talkative when he's around people he loves and focusing just on them. For example, when he and his husband are at a restaurant and they've sat down, then he's happy to chat because it's just him and his husband. Or, if he's in a group of people he's comfortable with he'll become more chatty. He just needs to feel comfortable around the people he's with for him to turn to talking and joking rather than observing.

[smuttywriter]

Nasty business with Brynjolf - Part II

While I made a detour to the official entrance of the Ragged Flagon – so Vipir wouldn't be suspicious as to what I was doing in the Ratway Vaults – I finally got myself to stop smiling. 

Every time Bryn comes near me, I feel a sudden urge to stop worrying about every single one of my questionable choices. It almost feels like his presence lifts the dark shadows surrounding me, because I know he does not judge me. He did and never will judge anything I do. 

If anybody understands what it means to try and survive in the Rift, it's Brynjolf. Together we not only make ends meet, we find solace in each other. 

As soon as I enter, I make my way straight to Delvin. After all, I still have some questions regarding that fishing job in Whiterun. I can't believe he makes me steal from Idolaf Battle-Born. Everyone knows Idolaf is my favourite Battle-Born. 

In fact, Idolaf and I are friends, which makes finishing the job even harder. But I learned quite early that personal emotions better not get in my way. 

So I will do it. 

It's how that troubles me. 

As I pass Dirge, he steadies himself and looks me directly in the eyes, his expression indifferent. 

“Even if you're one of us, you better not cause trouble”, he scoffs.

As I'm about to comment on his bitterness, I catch sight of Bryn sitting next to Tonilia. Seeing me makes him smirk, and he doesn't take his eyes off of me while he takes a big gulp of his mead. 

I begin to think of everything else he could gobble that way and start getting lost in my thoughts. 

Suddenly I realise Dirge still standing in front of me. “Stay out of trouble, or there's gonna be trouble”, he says as he crosses his arms and walks away.

I shake my head. 

Does Dirge really believe I give a fuck about what he thinks of me? 

What did catch my attention, however, is that Bryn is seated next to Tonilia. 

The way she smiles and touches his arm as soon as he says something remotely funny reminds of the fact they both once had an affair – long before I joined the guild. 

I glance at him, slowly rolling my eyes. For a second I'm sure I caught him off guard, but he quickly peeks at Tonilia and then shrugs his shoulders, while he smiles. 

He knows I'm not a jealous woman, but sometimes I believe that's what he'd like me to be. So I'll let him have it this time. 

Certain that Bryn would take the bait, I refrain from flashing him a second glance and walk straight to the cistern. I don't even bother talking to Delvin, the questions I need answered surely could wait a few more moments. 

Abruptly, I sense him following me.

As I reach the hidden corridor between the Ragged Flagon and the cistern, I turn to face him. 

He doesn't say a word. Instead, he examines my face, before his gaze slowly trails down to my body, eventually returning to meet my eyes. 

As his eyes trace the silhouette of my body again, I lean my shoulders back and enjoy watching him. 

He steps closer to me and I take a step back, trying to figure out what his next move might be. As I feel the wooden door behind me pressing against my back, I raise my right eyebrow at him.  “Again?”, I tease.

His fingers touch the door merely millimetres next to my shoulders, while he leans forward. 

“Didn't we have unfinished business together?”, he whispers in my left ear.

I feel his cheek brush mine before he takes a step back. 

“We do”, I agree breathlessly. “But rats are a rather hideous audience don't you think?”

“I arranged a room in the Bee and Barb”, he says. 

Then he finally wraps his arms around my waist. 

“Sounds dreamy”, I stutter, as I feel his lips delightfully igniting my neck. 

Even though I know I shouldn't lose myself in his embrace right now, I rest my hands on his shoulders.

“I – I should concentrate on the job I need to get done”, I mumble, although I desperately don't want this moment to end. 

“A'right, lass”, he whispers, his hands not yet leaving my waist. “But you take good care of yourself over there. Those Battle-Borns aren't messed with easily.”

His concern brings a soft smile on my face. “It will turn out just fine, don't worry about it.”

“You're probably right”, he utters with a low smile. “Oh and about that unfinished business - I'll await you at midnight”, he adds. 

[xekutozoren]

My version of Aqua x Sephiroth (explanation rant updated with mush)

Felt like explaining how I got into it. It's interesting how Tumblr seems to support it quite a bit but Pinterest is like ??? to it.

I guess I initially just wanted a character that wasn't really involved in the main KH story to appreciate Aqua for who she is and what she does. Aqua seems to give a lot to others to the point where she sacrifices her own ideals and herself. And the in-game characters don't do much for her imo.

I do still acknowledge Terraqua so it's Sephqua in a universe where Terra never ends up reciprocating her feelings. I can't deny how many times I got annoyed at Terra for not really showing he cares about Aqua like, at all.

And then KH3 happened and a lot of stuff in it made me annoyed too. Examples include no apologies happening between her and the Wayfinder trio, Ven not showing much appreciation for her, her getting tossed around after vamping her up and bringing her back, the game shifting the focus onto Riku when she was finally pouring out her feelings, Sora and Kairi not even remembering her etc. I get that a lot of these things could have happened offscreen/isn't really justified but it still made me feel the game just kind of abandoned her/treated her as a plot device.

After seeing some fanmade content about Sephqua I tried exploring it myself. I admit that I haven't actually played/watched FF7 so I really only know Sephiroth based off his wiki page and existing Sephqua content. My interpretation of him is also a bit loose and more working off his KH2 almost non-existent screen time as an excuse for doing what I want with his character. At this point he would be similar to his pre-Nibelheim self with a touch of snark. He sees visions sometimes of his canon-verse self but hasn't gone through all of that in this universe and is still capable of redemption. He's merely "the darkness of Cloud" as the KH verse called it, trying to find his purpose in my makeshift universe. His age would be more ambiguous to make the pairing work better (though Aqua being stuck down there for 12 years makes up for the difference anyway)

And one of the biggest things was ANGST COMFORT FOR AQUA'S PAIN.

I like the idea of him meeting her in the Realm of Darkness, intrigued why she refuses to give up despite no one seeming to really care about her, etc. At first, he'd just treat her as something to pass the time and not really care about her well-being but that changes eventually. >w> He is also drawn to her strength both physically and mentally.

I imagine she would be guarded towards him at first but eventually let her walls down a tinsy bit. But then she'd be furious with herself for going against Master Eraqus' ideologies and being worried what he might think of her being acquainted with someone who's full of darkness. But she eventually learns to go after what she wants, not what someone else expects of her. I like that dynamic of Sephiroth teaching her to be more selfish and her helping him find his light again.

In the AU, I'd like to see something play out that didn't in KH, which was Aqua being saved after the others. Though it wouldn't really make sense how they'd reach Ven first but it would be satisfying to see the other two do something for her for once. Sephiroth would be with her getting out of there and have to earn the trust of the keyblade gang/get over the fact that he's with warriors of light. His god complex eventually fades overtime as his feelings develop for her.

I like the idea of the two of them learning each other's vulnerabilities overtime as well as how to trust each other. It would be really interesting to see Aqua helping Sephiroth uncover the truth behind his biological parents too.

Sephiroth's need for comfort with the lack of a proper motherly figure and Aqua's need for someone to properly appreciate and acknowledge her. They love each other for who they are, not who they're expected to be.

Another big thing for me is how their interactions would go.

At the beginning, Sephiroth would be awkward and Aqua would be the more affectionate one - he's a broken man after all and scarred by lies and betrayals. Aqua will heal those wounds one by one. c:

I'm a simple woman and like banter in relationships. > w < After he's more comfortable and settled in, Sephiroth would tease her a lot and Aqua would get embarrassed easily.

That and I notice Aqua likes physical affection like hand holding and head patting in the games so it would be nice to have someone like Sephiroth who I imagine would be more hands on with her after he learns to trust again.

Not sure if anything I wrote here made sense. I typed this up pretty late. Gonna leave it there with one more doodle.

Refs are from Positively Yours, hana and a username that I don't really want to type publicly ^^;

Thanks for reading my spam! ; A ;

[invisiblegarters]

Only Friends Ranking - Ep 4

Genuinely had to sit and think on this for a bit and watch certain parts of the ep again (oh what a burden) and ponder my own reactions a little. I fucking love this show.

But I want to add a little disclaimer, since I guess it's needed: these opinions are subjective. I'm not objectively sitting here ranking the messiness I'm subjectively ranking how much the messiness (or lack thereof, for now) entertains me personally. It's not a statement of fact over which character is the "villain" or the "good guy" because frankly, I don't think we have any of either (maybe in their own heads, but not in the show itself).

Okay. That out of the way let's do this.

Character Rankings (Fave to Least Fave atm)

Sand. Yep he's back on top, it felt weird to demote him last week but he was much less boring this ep. I think I'm starting to get a better read on him, which I didn't have before, and I'm enjoying what I see. While I would like him to be much more guarded against Ray in particular, I think he's just too forthright. Not just with other people but also with himself. And I wonder how much of that stems from his situation. Back before ep 1 First said that Sand doesn't have time, he is patient, he has to do a lot of things just to make ends meet, and I think that extends to his personal life as well. He knows Ray's a bad idea and he also knows he's gonna walk right into it, and I am tentatively hopeful that this is what will make him come out okayish in the end. Because at the end of the day he still isn't gonna have time for bullshit, either other people's or his own. I feel like Ray's gonna fuck that up a bit (or a lot) for a while, but in the end he'll reset to form, probably a little more jaded but altogether still fairly whole. I think that's about all we can ask for him.

I hope that the ex shows up for real. Flashbacks are fun but I want a little bit of mess and it seems clear to me that Sand still has unresolved feelings there, maybe Top too. I am also more sure than ever that he has some serious anger issues and I think we might get to see the Return of the Bat, and I for one am so very here for it. He still seems the most put together out of all of them which is a little disappointing, but again, I do wonder how much of that is because he doesn't have the time to give into the hot mess he really is. I'm very very curious to see how his relationships with both Nick and Ray affect that moving forward, because it seems like regardless of what went down with Top and the ex that better be Mix or I will revolt, he tends to keep himself fairly restrained, and those two are so openly messy and so very unrestrained that you can practically feel the car crash coming (hopefully not in the literal sense).

Also people need to stop calling him a green flag like yesterday. He is not. He's just better at compartmentalizing, give him two episodes I feel it in my bones he's gonna turn out to be a messy messy bitch.

Mew. Never let it be said that I can't admit that I was wrong. I still think that Mew is manipulative but I no longer believe that he is specifically keeping Ray on the line. Ray is keeping himself on the line, every time Mew tries to yank him off he just bites in harder. Which means it's really gonna sting in so many different ways when Mew eventually decides fuck it and does what Ray's been begging him for for two years, because I'm not sure the feeling will be there then either. But I still expect it - frankly the real surprise for me would be if Mew and Ray end the show without fucking. And while I guess it's still possible that they did sleep together two years ago in the current timeline Mew has put a firm "no" down - at least for now. And I have to respect him for it.

Kinda wish he'd stop talking Sand up to Ray though. For one, the more he pushes Sand at him the less likely Ray will actually develop organic feelings for him. For two, he needs to back away from Ray's love life wholesale until Ray no longer wants him to be intimately involved in it. It's just smarter, although I can understand why Mew might think differently.

Then again if he wants to keep noticing how lovely Sand is (he is Mew, good taste no notes) he can go right on, because I wasn't kidding when I said I was shipping this. Maybe instead of Ray Mew should have Sand be his ill-advised hookup after things with Top blow up. I for one would not say nay.

I genuinely thought I'd be annoyed if Mew were not some sort of mastermind, but I'm not. At all. That said, I still don't think he's half as innocent as the show wants us to believe. And I still feel like he's playing with Top. Oh, Top is playing back, a little, but there's something about the way he looks sometimes and the things he says ("I don't want to hide anything from you / I need you to be honest with me") that makes me feel like he's still got more going on than we're seeing. Also he has to know that Top's not gonna stop doing drugs if he sexes him up. There was something about that whole interaction that struck me as weird. I can't put my finger on it right now but it's one of the things that I am going to be chewing on in the days to come, I can already tell.

Ray. This one was a surprise, and I want to be clear. I do not like this guy, and yes, a lot of that stems from the fact that he's set up to hurt my fave, but also he's a wrecking ball in human form and the worst thing about him is that he is an aimless one. Boston is a wrecking ball too but he's pointing himself in one direction; Ray just swings wildly in every direction because he himself is aimless, he doesn't know who he is or what he wants and that is dangerous, especially when you add in his substance abuse and his struggles with depression (look I don't like armchair psychoanalyzing but yeah, depression is what I am going to call it). He feels worthless and hopeless, he hates himself, and the problem with that is that no one else will ever be enough. He will turn his hatred against anyone who cares for him because he hates himself so much that he truly does not understand how anyone else could like him, and the self-hate turns into a weird derision for anyone who tries to see past the shell.

Mew is only exempt from this, I think, because he doesn't want Ray in the way Ray so desperately wants to be wanted. He loves him, he cares for him and tries to build him up, but he is not in love, he can and will step away if Ray is becoming too much, he will set boundaries and stick to them. So Ray's ire can't fall on him because he's reinforcing all the things Ray thinks about himself: that he's a burden, that he's too much, that he drives people away, that he's so unlovable even his own mother couldn't love him.

Sand, however. Sand is gonna fall right into the trap that Ray is laying for him, and oh boy is Ray gonna make him pay for it.

I was surprised by how much he seems to have held on to all the mean things Sand's called him, though. Not that he held on to them as further proof of who he is but that it was Sand specifically that was calling him those things. That was interesting and unexpected.

I do not think that Ray genuinely cares about either Mew or Sand as people at this juncture, but I also don't think that it's on purpose. He's a drowning man grasping at any and everyone within reach who is treading water, and he can't look past his own panic at not being able to get enough air to understand or care if he's dragging others down with him.

So yes. I do not like him but I find him utterly fascinating and Khaotung is killing it. That bathtub scene was amazing and painful (and yes I'm still feeling smug for calling it, mostly because I made a bet with my friend and now they owe me fic. Man do I love profiting off of being right. It's like Christmas AND my birthday) and finally made me understand why he clings to Mew so hard, and why he will keep clinging in spite of everything that happened this ep, in spite of having someone else who wants to care for him the way Mew won't, in spite of probably trying to think of something (or someone) else.

But the sad, sad truth that Ray will have to face (maybe not in this show but eventually, as a character) is that it's no one else's job to fulfill him, and they can't anyway. He's gotta learn to love himself before he can really love anyone else, or let them love him. I can't get over the idea that at some point he's gonna have to break his own heart to figure that out.

Nick. He gets this spot just for the way he smiled at Top like "bitch I know Boston's the worst, do you really think I'm not?" I knew he wasn't gonna go to Mew with the sex recording though because he wants Boston and breaking Top and Mew up at this point is counterproductive to his goals. Still think that he should blackmail Boston into a real relationship though. Opportunity wasted. Also he's making me very wary of wanting to take my phone into IT if I ever break it, lol. Because you know Boston didn't give him his passcode.

I'm also curious why he went for Top because he has to know it was Boston pushing things this whole time.

Boston. He went from winning last ep to being kind of pathetic this ep. The elevator scene in particular. I was embarrassed for him. Don't tell me that he really thought that Top would just give up and start fucking him on the regular after one night? Come on. Top's pettier than that, my dude. He's gonna make you feel like a pathetic loser for it as well as renew his efforts with Mew just to prove that he can do everyone one better.

I have to admit I am curious what makes him pull the "I want to try settling into something" thing with Nick next ep. Does he suspect that Nick knows more than he's saying? Does Top outright tell him he does?

I am also looking forward to him or NIck causing some havoc with Ray and Sand. One of them is gonna spill the RayMew beans, right? Boston would do it out of pure nastiness, but Nick I think values Sand as a friend and would do it as a warning. Or maybe he's like Boston and will hold onto it for when Sand pisses him off...

Top. Frankly unless we find out that Boston has further evidence of Ray and Mew actually fucking or at least showed him some sort of manipulated vid, I think he's a complete dumbass. You don't get to police who the guy you're with now kissed before he even knew you existed (or did he? 👀👀👀). Literally the only reason I was on his side was that if they fucked it was less about the fucking and more about the deliberate dishonesty, but let's be real, even that is a little sketch. Especially when you yourself don't know how many people you've slept with.

However I also kind of want to be weirdly charitable and say that maybe it has less to do with being pettily annoyed that Mew *dared* to have some sort of non-platonic contact with someone else before him and more being blindsided by how much the idea of Mew playing with him hurt. Whether that's because players hate being played or because he has genuine feeling for Mew I'm on the fence about.

But I still think Boston showed him sex. Because he was very insistent about that point. Whether it was RayMew sex or something else I do believe there was something. And I wanted to look at that scene again to see what Mew's face does when he replies but youtube at this point youtube told me to go f myself so no dice.

Also I think we all called the addiction problems. Dude's a mess. And he's not going to stop being a mess for sex.

Relationships (most to least fave atm)

This time I'm not just going to include romantic relationships because finally we're seeing some real meat out of the other interactions.

BostonNIck. Genuinely I think these two of the best chance of actually working out right now, very much in a "they deserve each other" way. Neither one of them knows what boundaries are and they're both obsessive af. If they turn that on each other they're doing society a favor, lol.

SandTop. You know what I would love? If Top was actually into Sand and deliberately lured his ex away to make him available. Of course that's not where we're going but that's why fanfiction exists. But weirdly I do think that Sand hates Top more than Top hates him - maybe he feels remorse for stealing his ex. Maybe they were friendly before he did that. I don't know. I do know that I want them to make out about it and I will never stop. You hear me? I will. Never. Stop.

SandNick. These two are gonna be fun. You can just tell by the way that Sand didn't even bat an eye when Nick was like hey listen to this audio recording I got when I bugged my FWB's car.

TopMew. Both still playing games. The balance of power between these two fascinates me because it seems to switch back and forth at will. I still feel like neither of them is *really* feeling much but I wonder if and when that will change.

MewRay. It's the only thing I can't make myself ship, but I thought that their whole dynamic was super interesting this ep. I can understand Mew trying to build Ray up, especially as he seems to be the only one who is privy to how deep Ray's issues go, and I can also understand Ray latching on to him hard because of that. When he kissed Mew while Mew was trying to sleep I recoiled from my screen so hard it physically hurt, lol. I do not know if that was the intention but it's what happened. Ideally I'd love it if they came out of this mess stronger friends but not sleeping together or paired romantically, but I don't have the highest hopes for it.

SandRay. I'm gonna be frank. Ray doesn't need a boyfriend. He needs a therapist and possibly a stint in rehab. Sand's gonna bash himself on this one like a bird against glass and it's gonna hurt him a lot. They're gonna flare hot and bright and burn to ash, but maybe, just maybe, they'll be able to emerge from the ashes as friends. It isn't lost on me that they do genuinely seem to get on even when they're not preluding to sex. For me this really depends on how fast it falls apart. If they've split by ep 9 I can really see a friendship emerging from this, but if not...nope.

Franky this one worries me. Because Ray latches on and it would be very easy for him to become far too dependent on Sand far too fast, and that's the last thing that either of them needs. Whether they fall in love or not (and I still think Sand will and Ray probably will not) is immaterial. If Sand (because for better or worse it's gonna have to be Sand) doesn't catch on fast enough to what Ray's doing with him it's gonna spell trouble, even without any interference from an outside party or even counting in Ray's continued feelings for Mew.

Sand clearly wants to be with Ray as equals, whether their relationship remains just friends or something else. And Ray is incapable of fulfilling that wish as he is.

SandMew. New ship alert! They should make out. The only reason it gets lowest billing is that it's a pipe dream comprised of one line from Mew and the fact that they both would be very good at communicating their needs with each other, at least from what we've seen thus far.

[queen-of-boops]

hey!! how are you?? i have a hc request. how do you think the li's outside of s4 would react in a situation similar to the one with dylan?

Hey lovely!

I'm going to stick to S1 and 2 since S3 just ignored drama all together and everyone in S5 is impossible for me to create HCs for. I'm also going to ignore the whole making MC sleep on the daybeds thing for the most part because it seems ooc for like 90% of the LIs but:

Season 1

Levi: If the way he acts when Mason is involved in Cherrygate is any indication, Levi will not be pulling punches. At that late in the game, he's fallen hard for MC and trusts her when she says Dylan was lying. He'd be making digs at Dylan whenever he got the chance and openly hostile towards him.

Jake: 100% on MC's side. He believes her implicitly and is there to support her. Like Youcef, the whole thing would likely be the inciting factor for his love confession.

Mason: Of all the S1 LIs, he's the one I see being the most hurt by the situation. He wants to believe MC, but without meaning too, he'd pull away a bit and become slightly guarded. He'd come around eventually, but he'd need time to get there.

Talia: She takes no bullshit. She'd be the first to see through Dylan's macho bs and give him a piece of her mind before very happily falling asleep next to MC.

Season 2

Gary: I can't see him and Dylan getting along at all. Even before shit hits the fan, he's gruff and snappy with Dylan. He wants MC to trust him and that trust goes both ways.

Noah: Like Mason, he'd need time to think things through. He wants to believe MC, but needs time to really think about the relationship before chosing to move on.

Rahim: Let's be honest, it's all too easy for Rahim to believe his girl is going to move onto someone "better". He'd be really paranoid, trying to convince MC to stay with him no matter if the kiss happened or not.

Bobby: Boys got some self-esteem issues, and they'd be fully present in a situation like this. Outwardly, he trusts MC, cuddling her close and reassuring her that he knows Dylan is lying. Inwardly, he's panicking. But in the end, he'd fully support MC the way she needed.

Lucas: His jealousy would come out in a situation like this. Of all the S2 LIs, he's actually the one I can see sleeping separately from MC (although he'd be the one to move to the couch). He'd be making digs at Dylan, and snapping at anyone who tried to say something happened. But until the dust settles, he'd be on-edge and hurt.

Henrik: Since Henrik's so upfront and honest, he'd pull MC aside and straight-up ask her if the kiss happened or not. As long as MC said nothing happened, he'd 100% believe her, quickly moving past it like nothing happened.

Marisol: Another jealous LI, she'd have a hard time accepting it at first. But she also has likely been negged in the past and while she's hurting, deep down she knows nothing happened.

Arjun: He'd laugh and make a joke about it. He trusts MC, even if he's a little hurt inside, but he brushes it off because she needs him to be there for her. They'd have a long talk about it later, but when he's around the group he's clearly on MCs side

Carl: Another one with self esteem issues. He'd be hurt and second-guessing everything, retreating into his shell until the facts came out.

Felix: Panic. Full-fledged panic. He'd be convinced Dylan is a really cool guy and he lost his chance with MC. She'd have to literally knock some sense into him.

Elijah: Cocky and confident, Elijah would tell Dylan that there's no way his girl kissed someone else. He might not actually believe it right away, but he'd do everything in his power to convince everyone else nothing happened.

Elisa: Honestly, she'd probably be flirting with Dylan. In her eyes, it's harmless fun. But if MC showed interest in Dylan, she'd make it her mission to win her back. At the end of the day, she's fine with MC window-shopping as long as she came back to her.

Kassam: His jealousy would come out. He'd be sullen and withdrawn, snapping at anyone who suggested something happened between MC and Dylan

Jakub: I hate to say it, but he'd probably relate to Dylan. He's the only LI I can truly see believing Dylan because they trust him instead of personal insecurities. If MC decided she wanted to work through it, it would take some work and personal growth from both of them

Hope this answered your question and hope you're doing well!

[daintyduck99]

"you stayed up...all night...for them. oh dude you're in love." for Bobby/Julie because I need more Bobby/Julie from your brain plz and thank

When Bobby's phone lights up with Shooting Star 💜, he answers it automatically.

"Hey, Julie."

"Hey." There's a note of uncertainty in her voice, and he can picture her biting her lip, winding her curls around her fingers. "I didn't think…I should let you sleep."

Sleep? It's only—

Another quick glance at his screen reminds him that he's still screwed up from his latest international stint of being paraded around as his parent's little trophy pet. It's almost two am.

Fuck.

Said stints are the closest thing he has to a scholarship, though, so he'll continue to grit his teeth and bear it for now.

It's sweet that Julie had assumed he'd be any semblance of adjusted, at least.

"It's fine," he reassures her, leaning back in his chair, "I'm not back on California time yet. What's up?"

Her voice quavers a bit as she says, "Me?," but he knows that she's aiming for levity, so he huffs a laugh, which at least makes her let out a genuine little giggle.

He doesn't press her, and eventually, she sighs. It's her "I'm about to rip off the bandaid" sigh, and he sits up straighter.

"It's my mom's birthday. So I guess I just…I still talk to her all the time. But I needed to talk to someone I miss who could talk back. Does that make sense?"

"Of course it does. I'm haunted by some of the bridges I nearly burned when I was an angry teen, Jules." Bobby swallows. "I'm lucky that Reggie forced Luke and me to get our heads out of our asses, you know. I'd be a lonely, surly asshole without them."

"You aren't a surly asshole now?"

He gasps in mock offense as she giggles.

"Damn, Molina. You're ruthless."

"Not my fault when you make it so easy."

He's smiling. He can't help it.

"But yeah. If I couldn't talk to them, I guess the next best thing would be talking to someone about them. That's still some kind of closure. It makes perfect sense."

"I'm glad you get me." She's smiling too, he hears it in the sheer warmth of her words, and his heart stutters in his chest as she adds, "And I do want to talk about her, but I think you missed the part where I also said that I missed you. You'd better tell me about yourself too, Shaw."

The rest of the morning flies by. His head feels like it's full of lead, but—

It's Julie. It’s worth it.

She's mostly laughing by the end, and when she finally has to go because her dad is calling for her, she tells him thank you so sweetly and genuinely that the back of his neck gets hot.

He stumbles into the kitchen about half an hour later, summoned by the smell of coffee. It's a Sunday, so he could crash, but he really shouldn't fuck up his sleep schedule any further.

It's Reggie who's grinning at him from the kitchen counter, swinging his feet. Of course it is. He's generally the early riser of the four of them, followed by Luke.

"Good morning."

"Morning," Bobby murmurs warily, eyeing the coffee pot. It'd be silly to say that Reggie’s guarding it, but he sort of is.

Sure enough, he grabs Bobby's hand when he goes to snatch the carafe, lacing their fingers together, instead.

"Who were you talking to all night?"

"It wasn't all night. Can I have my hand back before your boyfriend decides to join the fray? I need caffeine first."

"Bobby. It was basically all night."

"How would you know that unless you were also up all night?"

Reggie reddens but refuses to back down or be baited, maintaining eye contact and a hold of Bobby's hand. "Was it Julie?"

Bobby's poker face is way better.

"Why do you want to know?"

Reggie knows him too well, though.

"Why don't you want me to know?"

"Because you're acting like it means something, and it doesn't." He sighs as Reggie's nose wrinkles judgmentally. "I'm not saying it meant nothing at all. I'm just saying that you're being weird about it."

"Bobby," Reggie says slowly, searching his eyes. "You really should've slept last night. You're a bear when your schedule gets all fucked up. But instead, you stayed up…all night…for Julie. Dude. You're in love."

He wants to protest, to say that she'd needed him, but he'd sooner walk through fire than divulge anything she'd told him before seven am, those vulnerable pieces of herself that she'd shown him.

Even if she hadn't needed him—it wouldn't have mattered. He may not be as bold as her, unable to say it outright, but he'd missed her, too. That, she must know.

Had she also been trying to tell him—

Luke interrupts with a loud, "Oh, are we finally acknowledging that Julie and Bobby are head over heels for each other?"

Bobby scoffs, peeling his fingers free from Reggie’s and nabbing the coffee pot.

"I'm sorry, how long were you two hooking up before you finally confessed?"

Luke and Reggie splutter at Bobby's back as he speeds back to his room with a smirk, heart knocking hopefully on his ribs.

Today's not the day, and maybe he still can't even get the words out in his mind, but he needs to try, and he needs to stay awake. He cues up his sister's contact.

He has another phone call to make.

[artdecosupernova-writing]

Fictober '19 Prompt No. 6 — "Yes, I'm aware. Your point?"

Category: Original WIP: The Darkspace Portent series Rating: G Timeline: sometime during chapter seven of Thriving: Destiny CW: none Word Count: 575 Additional Notes: This is canon. I think. Don't quote me on that.

***

"I think you should've been there for Warren when he disembarked."

Thrive didn't initially acknowledge Sussa's gentle attempt at easing away from the tense silence on the bridge of the L2. Instead, he opted to quite obviously ignore her in favor of steering the vessel through a field of asteroids and nebulous gasses. She caught the subtle lift of his brows, however, indicating that he did hear her and the stubbornness was deliberate.

She shook her head, her long, silvery ponytail dusting her shoulders. She folded her legs beneath her, perched on her chair with her spine straight in protest. "He was hurt."

"Yes, I'm aware. Your point?"

Ah. Interesting. Sussa watched through the false window as they passed a large rock of ice. "I just wonder why you made that decision."

Thrive dropped his attention down to the navigation console and the luminous glow of the volumetric controls cast dismal shadows over his face. His chest rose and fell with his even breaths, and with grace and patience, Sussa granted him the time he needed to curate an intelligent response. She wrapped her mind around him, causing a slight headache in her effort to keep herself from catching one of his thoughts.

"Hurting Warren has caused me a great deal of discomfort," he said, drawing out every word as if using them for the first time. "While I hope he eventually understands why I agreed that recovering on Earth is the best course of action for him, I also hope he understands that I am fallible, and I..."

Sussa's throat clenched, but not enough for her to dwell on it. "Do you think he'd ever understand the weight of you ripping an entire frost dragon in half with your bare hands because it dared to injure him?"

Thrive did shoot her a glance then. "Try to keep the envy from painting a dull sheen on your temperament."

"He deserves better."

She'd meant he deserved better than how he was treating him, but she knew just by the cloud passing behind his eyes that he read it as he deserves better than him.

A muscle in his temple flexed and he guided the L2 out of the debris field. "Most do."

"Are you ever going to allow yourself to fall for him? Resisting will only drive him away for real, forever, and then all you will have accomplished is making sure your fear of getting close to anyone else does what it manifested itself to do in the first place."

She witnessed a strange phenomenon just then; some of his spirit melted away. He leaned into the console and shut his eyes, a surge of weakness bursting from his mind and practically knocking Sussa out of her chair. She regarded him with surprise, the following swell of involuntary, empathic tears catching her off-guard. But just as quickly as it happened, the moment ended, and Thrive reclaimed his posture to set the autopilot for C'o.

"If you need me," he said, "you can find me on the observation deck. I'm due for meditation."

Sussa didn't watch him stride off the bridge. She sat in stunned silence, holding her own face as if she'd been slapped, letting the tears drop from her eyes so she could rid herself of them while also recognizing that she in no way had any ability to make sense of what she'd just experienced, and likely wouldn't for a long time yet.

[casspurrjoybell-29]

Forgotten Ties - Chapter 15

*Warning Adult Content*

Early the next morning, Nim and Skye returned to the entrance of the tunnel together.

Nim had half expected it to have disappeared, changed in some way or some other weird shit but it appeared to be exactly as it had been the night before.

Skye bent down to peer into it and frowned.

"Can I go first?"

"First?" Nim asked.

"You don't want me to go first and make sure it's clear?"

"Last time the monster came into the tunnel from behind me. It can't do that if you're there."

"But..." Nim started to say, then he shook his head.

Skye didn't need the thought that the monster could just as easily be in front of him put in his head.

"Sure."

Skye took a deep breath, got down on all fours and started crawling.

Nim didn't shift to go through the tunnel this time and it definitely made the experience worse.

He could run like the wind on four legs as a wolf but crawling in human form was slow.

He wasn't alone this time, though.

Somehow, having Skye with him made the whole thing more bearable, even if Skye wasn't much of a fighter.

Having someone he needed to protect made him feel less afraid for himself.

Skye was braver about the whole thing than Nim had been expecting.

He usually was.

It was easy to perceive him as someone who was sensitive and delicate and sometimes and in some ways he was but then he'd just shrug off things that would be traumatic for anyone else.

There was a certain sense of calm in looking into his eyes and realising his only concern was some mundane thing like licking the chocolate from a wrapper.

It wasn't that he was unaware of everything else going on.

He just didn't let it bog him down.

They emerged into bright sunlight once more and Nim let out a sigh of relief, though he knew that wouldn't be his last time making the trip.

Someone had to go back and help Marigold get the kids through once the cabin was cleaned up and Nim wasn't about to make Skye go through again.

Nim's sense of smell wasn't as good in this form and for once that was a good thing.

The cabin smelled awful.

They filled a bucket they found with water from a nearby river, scavenged some soap, a scrubbing brush and some strips of old cloth from the supplies that had been left behind and got to work. Skye made faces and said 'yuck' a lot but he didn't actually seem as disturbed by the blood as Nim was.

Maybe he wasn't thinking about where it had come from.

About how someone could come in the night and do the same to them.

Nim liked to think he could defend the others if that happened but if a panther shifter had been caught off guard, why should he think he would do any better?

They spent hours scrubbing out every drop of blood they could find but eventually they reached a point where all there was left to do was open the door and all of the windows and let things air out and dry.

They went and sat in the garden while they waited.

"Thanks for coming with me," Nim said.

"Nobody would have blamed you if you hadn't wanted to but you did anyway."

"Well, I do what I can do and I could do this," Skye said.

"And if I do this, even though everyone thinks it's hard, then when I don't do something everyone thinks is easy, maybe they will believe me that it's actually not easy."

"If you tell me something's difficult for you, I'll believe you. I promise."

"Oh. Well, sometimes I forget the part where I tell people that."

"That may be more the issue than them not believing you, you know."

"Maybe," Skye said as he pulled up a handful of weeds.

"It's a mystery and nobody knows for sure."

Nim let out a quiet laugh.

"I'm also glad you came because I doubt we'll be having much alone time any time soon. It's nice."

"Yeah," Skye said. "Very nice. Do you want to kiss?"

That startled another laugh out of Nim.

"I mean, uh. Yeah, if you want to?"

There was quite a bit of height difference between them, even sitting down but Skye got up on his knees and that mostly bridged the gap.

Nim rested a hand against the side of Skye's jaw and leant in.

Skye wasn't shy about kissing.

He wasn't necessarily skilled but he wasn't shy.

He peppered Nim's lips with quick little kisses and slipped his tongue out to taste them.

Nim didn't really know what he was doing either but he was trying his best to copy what he'd seen on TV.

Slow, increasingly deep kisses followed by a gentle slip of tongue into the other person's mouth and...

Nim startled and jerked back, his tongue stinging.

"Ah. Forgot about the teeth."

Skye smiled.

"My mouth is like a sharp little trap."

"Guess there are some things we won't be doing."

"Like what?"

"Uh..." Nim said. "Never mind."

"Oh, like blowjobs?" Skye asked as he flopped down on the ground.

That surprised a laugh out of Nim.

"Yeah, like that. You never stop surprising me."

Skye tilted his head back to look up at Nim and smiled.

"Nim, do you really think I could live for like three trillion years and then still not have heard of sex? I definitely know what sex is."

"When you say it like that, it makes you sound like you don't."

"How?"

"Never mind. Yeah, obviously you know what sex is. I didn't think you wouldn't. Just... the way you say things sometimes."

Skye nodded.

"So, uh. You know what it is but have you done it? Have you ever done anything like that?"

"A bit," Skye said.

"But people mostly don't really understand me, you know? Sometimes people think I don't know what's going on and then they want those sorts of things and maybe I sort of did want to do it but then it's all weird because they're weird. Does that make sense?"

"Yeah, that makes sense. Creeps."

Skye nodded again.

"So I've done some stuff. Mostly hands."

"Oh. I haven't really done anything. Not with someone else."

"Maybe we could do something one day. When we have time and maybe a bed."

"I'd like that," Nim said.

"Maybe we could have our own little cabin in the woods one day, just for us. I bet I could build one. My mum worked construction, so I know a few things."

"Can you build me a hammock to nap in?" Skye asked.

"When I was still human and I was on the ship, they had hammocks and I liked them."

"Sure," Nim said.

"I've never built one before but it doesn't seem like it would be hard. We could have our own garden, too, full of all kinds of fruits and vegetables so we always have food."

"Can we have a pet cat?" Skye asked.

"I liked the ship cats and then I became part cat, so... maybe a pet cat?"

"Okay, we'll have a pet cat as well. We'll have everything we want and we'll live there together and nobody will tell us we can't or try to move us along or take us away. It'll be a home we can have forever."

"And I'll never forget again because I'll never be alone and I'll never want to leave."

"Yeah," Nim said. "One day."

[smol-feralgremlin]

HI FERAL TRICK OR TREAT TIME 🎃

HI ANDI!

You get...

A treat!!

A scene of Aldon, Sylpha, Cal, and Valda playing around.

Aldon looked down at the small cloth ball in his hand before peering over the old oak log Cal had pulled him behind. "Explain this to me again?"

Cal hummed shortly and Aldon glanced over to see him loosening the thread holding the ball together. Aldon snapped his head around at the slight rustle in the dead leaves around them, trying to catch a scent or glimpse of their respective partners.

"Sylpha and Valda naturally teamed up," Cal said eventually.

"Naturally."

"Which means we're easy pickings if we're alone instead of teaming up. Besides, I like my odds teaming up with you over one of the others." Aldon sent a questioning look in Cal's direction before returning his attention to the branches above them. Sylpha relied on attacking from above. "You've got that sense of smell. You should be able to pick up their scent before they get too close. And you have better hearing than I do."

"Sylpha hears better than I do," Aldon reminded his friend as he moved up from a crouch so he could try and see if the shadows looked abnormal in any possible way.

"True, but I still think that nose of yours means we're at an advantage here."

Grimacing slightly, Aldon quickly studied the rest of the forest roof. Even after months he didn't like people drawing too much attention to that particular change. "Valda and his shadows might mess that up."

"Relax, I've got shadow cover over us as well."

While Aldon had a large store of faith in Cal, there were still all those failed experiments he'd done that he'd been so sure would work. Many of those Sylpha had been involved in as well...

Shaking his head of thoughts that weren't this game and keeping alert for any sign of Sylpha and Valda, Aldon crouched back down. "Let me get this straight. We've left two criminals who've spent most of their lifetimes thwarting mages and guards alike to make a plan on their own."

Cal picked at more thread on another ball of coloured dust before placing it in the pile of other doctored balls. "Right. What's your point?"

Putting the ball he held in the pile of unaltered ones and taking from the altered pile, Aldon looked back up. "My point is that one of them is a spy now, and the other grew up sneaking around Koric and has a lot of experience making improvised weapons."

Cal froze in his work and looked around. "We're fucked, aren't we."

Before he could try to get an answer out a small object impacted his shoulder, followed by a cloud of blue. Aldon shut his eyes against the colourful assault as Cal disappeared in a cloud of red, followed by green and yellow.

A peal of laughter came from the left and Aldon threw his ball in its direction. Just as he reached for another ball, Sylpha's scent filled his nose and the cloth he'd just managed to touch disappeared.

"You were too busy watched the tree tops," Sylpha said before footsteps took off.

Opening his eyes, wiping traces of mingled coloured from them as he did so, he saw Cal emerging from under his shirt. On the ground between them sat empty space.

"We're more than fucked," Aldon said rather unnecessarily to Cal who rubbed at a bare spot on his otherwise colourful temple.

"Damn whoever let those two meet," Cal replied as he laughed a little.

Standing up to shake as much colour from his tunic as he could manage, Aldon could only agree. The game was decided, but he doubted Sylpha and Valda would let them get back to the manor without pelting them with their stolen weapons.

[minifrenchfry-kabbit]

It certainly didn't feel like a day that would result in a near-death event.

In fact, Benji had felt more calm and at peace than he had in weeks, patiently waiting for his charge to wrap up her study group so he could take her home. It'd been too nice of an early evening to wait in the car, so he'd been leaning against the passenger door, arms crossed and eyes closed.

This side of town usually proved safe enough for him, so he didn't think much of letting his guard down, enjoying the cooling breeze ruffling through his fur, thankful that the oppressive heat of the summer was finally being usurped by the encroaching autumn.

His focus was elsewhere, considering what to do with night off he had to look forward to. If Lopey managed to finish her assignments, maybe they could pick up a few movies, and some snacks on the way home for them all to enjoy.

They hadn't had a real family night since their beach trip during her break from school, and with no shift to work or plans set in stone, being sweets-binging couch potatoes was an enticing start to the weekend. Maybe even Pup could play hooky from the kiosk and join their lazy lump fest, he could always send a text while he waited, to see if he'd be interested.

And even if he didn't, maybe he'd work up the gumption to finally have that talk with Fynn.. once Penny had succumbed to the inevitable sugar coma.

He'd try anyway. He was about sick to death of his own cowardice on that front.

With a quiet sigh, he pulled his phone from his jeans' pocket and started on that invite text to Rohan, when he was abruptly halted by a cloyingly sweet stench in the air, horrifyingly familiar and nearly making him reflexively gag on the reek of it.

The shakes began immediately, and his phone went crashing to the pavement, the licorice scent fogging his senses, making his attempts to get back into his car to escape it ineffectual.

What rational thought was left, was shattered by the source of the sweet miasma making herself known, suddenly feeling himself being slammed back against the car by a much shorter figure, accosted by a ripping grip to his shoulder fur, and a pair of hateful yellow-purple eyes.

Absolutely paralyzed with shock and fear, her malicious voice barely penetrated the traumatic haze that clouded his mind, trembling paw clawing, fumbling at the door handle to try and retreat, though she'd leaned her hip against it to prevent it from opening, even if his desperation eventually lent him some capability in operating it.

"You better fucking listen to me when I'm talking to you, rapist Rusty! I don't know how, but I know you're responsible for it! You won't get away with it, I'm going to make you pay for hurting my boys!! YOU HEAR ME??"

Her voice was a snarl and her nose was wrinkled with disdain and rage, eyes burning with malice. Even if her words weren't muffled by sheer panic and his brain trying to shut itself down from the rising trauma, he'd have absolutely no clue what she was insinuating.

Before he could attempt to formulate a response, anything.. ANYTHING to get her mind-breaking candy scent and horrifyingly familiar weight off of him before his soul gave out from the hysteria rooting him in place -.. she was suddenly gone.

Ripped away from him with a vicious scream and yelping from a sudden assault of her own, Benji staring at the fight taking place in front of him without at first comprehending that it was Penny who had come in like a little bat from hell to pull Josephine off of him.

No sooner than this fact had pierced the trauma fog of his brain, that the thrashing combatants had edged closer to the semi-busy street, noticing the flash of a switch-blade his former tormentor had pulled from a pocket, bleeding from several scratch wounds and clearly intent to inflict some damage of her own, her shrieking unintelligible.

White-hot rage surged through him, overpowering the ice that had kept him paralyzed, and he charged toward the two to snatch Josephine's knife-hand moments before she attempted to put it to deadly use, gripping tight and wrenching the arm up toward the air as far away from his charge that he could manage.

The need to protect overpowered his terror of her, and he wrestled to try and gain control of the knife, fully prepared to break the bitch's fingers if it meant the weapon was no longer a threat.

In the midst of the chaos, Penny - whom had still been trying to assist him in disarming their dangerous assailant, was savagely kicked into the street in the path of a fast-encroaching car, and with a roar of equal rage and dismay, Benji yanked them both into the street to try and reach the prone, stunned teenager.

"LOPEY!! THE CAR!! .. GRK..!"

Taking advantage of his preoccupation with Penny, the same knife was re-seized and plunged into his side, it's wielder desperate for the freedom to get out of the path of the car that had swerved around the girl, and was careening for them both, going far too fast for the brakes to be utilized in time to circumvent disaster.

The shock of excruciating pain was more than enough for the smaller rabbit to slip free of his grasp, just as the furiously honking car, with a too-late squealing of over-taxed bald tires, slammed into them.

Benji had tried to lurch out of the way - he was sure of it, desperation for his own life and the ever-prioritized life he was tied to, ticking down in the seemingly contradictory eternal and fleeting seconds before the car made impact... but it wasn't enough.

Pain the likes of which he'd never felt before as the car simultaneously struck and he was bodily thrown over the hood, and top of the car, crashing hard onto the asphalt behind, that knocked the wind out of him, wheezing and rolling onto his side, vision and hearing blurring and deadening down to a muffle.

His ears were ringing from the force of which his head had met tarmac, and he was vaguely aware of a warm ooze of pooling magenta blood soaking into the fur of his cheek. The pain was so intense that it was beginning to numb, shock setting in as he lay there, wheezing around newly broken ribs.

There was a cacophony of chaos around him that he was oblivious to, blissful black invading the corners of blurred vision, before his eyes were forced to shut, vaguely wondering as they closed, if they would ever open again.

A wheezed apology was uttered into the bloody gravel before his consciousness was completely stolen away, unaware of anything else that centered around his rescue and emergency triage.

---

The next he woke, he was hooked up to beeping machines, and only able to see his heavily bandaged body through one blurry eye, feeling stuffy gauze wrapping the other half of his face and limiting his vision.

Pain was muted due to the painkillers being pumped directly into his soul, the same of which he could feel would soon be putting him back under in a medicated coma.

His immobilized arm was slung against his bandaged chest, one leg casted and hung up in a medical hammock to keep movement limited, and every wheezed breath stung like fire.

He recognized that feeling at least.. his ribs had been rebroken, among the rest of the currently insurmountable damage that had been done via car and knife.

But.. he was alive.

The allaying thought drifted through his quickly-fading mind, a sudden flare of panic making him reflexively try to rise, when he remembered that Penny had narrowly avoided being hit herself, with a sudden desperation for assurance that she had fared better in the aftermath than he had.

Unfortunately, the tsunami of pain that struck from even his feeble attempt to move from his sickbed, made him black out anew, visible eye rolling back as his bandaged head lolled toward his shoulder, the rising crescendo of harrowing beeping lulling back to a more neutral rhythm as he unwillingly slept.

[bumblesimagines]

Green Thumb

Part 17

Request: Yes or No

For anyone curious and if I did my math correctly y/ns dad had him when he was 35. This one feels short and I hate ittt but I tried making it feel longer. The chunks are just thicc

~

"So, why are we going to Belgium?" Natasha asked, setting the course. You looked at her, taking a seat beside her.

"Cause.. I have family there.. She might be family, I don't now." You answered, feeling the jet move forward before it took off into the sky.

"Family? Like, blood related? Who?" Natasha asked, glancing at you. You licked your lips, staring forward.

"My aunt." Natasha's brows raised, looking over at you. You sighed, nodding.

"What if she turns me away?" You asked softly.

"Well.. You're probably her only remaining family. I wouldn't want to turn away a family member." Natasha licked her lips, looking forward at the passing clouds.

"What do I even say? Hey, I'm (Y/N) and I have superpowers?"

"Well, you can introduce yourself and ask about her brother." Natasha gave a small smile. You nodded.

"How's Clint?" Natasha asked, rested her head on her fist. Her hair was long and her natural red locks were returning. It made her hair look a little weird but she was going through a lot of things.

"Who fucking knows." You frowned, arms crossing. Clint had fucked off to god knows where, leaving you to deal with your grief alone. Natashas' brows furrowed.

"Clint has decided not to return home in what feels like weeks. Maybe even months, I haven't been paying attention." You shrugged lightly. Natasha frowned, leaning back in the seat. Definitely didn't sound like Clint but grief could make people do crazy things.

"I've been trying to keep up with the house but I'm just one guy handling everything Clint decided to build and add on." You licked your lips, shaking your head and letting out a heavy sigh.

"I'm sorry." Natasha said softly, giving your arm a squeeze. "I'll talk to him if you want."

"Let him do whatever the hell he wants to do. He's a grown man." You replied, feeling bitter and resentful. Natasha silently nodded. The rest of the ride was silent until the jet reached Belgium.

"We're here." You stepped out of the jet, feeling a small breeze go by. You felt your stomach doing flips, heartbeat quickening. You took in a deep breath, glancing at Natasha. She placed a gentle hand on your back, offering a small smile.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get in touch with Clint?" She asked, head tilting. You shook your head.

"It could make things more complicated." You said, looking around. The house across the street matched with the address Tony had given you. It was more on the outskirts of town, surrounded by trees. You could hear some horses behind the house. You took in a deep breath, trying to ease your nerves as you walked towards the house, crossing the road. Natasha followed, studying the area.

"Seems like gardening might run in the family." Natasha said, motioning to the flower garden.

"Yeah.." You chuckled softly. You stepped onto the porch, noticing some plotted flowers on the windowsill. You raised your hand, pressing the doorbell. You waited a few minutes about to press it again before the door opened. A scowl appeared on Florines' face. She was shorter than you had imagined. Her hair was a bit messy and tied back into a low ponytail.

"Wat wil je?" She asked, gaze flickering over to Natasha. You swallowed, fiddling with your fingers.

"Are you Florine De Meyers?" You asked, watching her narrow her eyes.

"Who's asking?"

"(Y/N).. I think I might be the son of your brother." You said quietly. Florine stared at you, lips parting. Her features softened for a second before the frown returned. She opened the door wider, letting you and Natasha inside. The inside of the house smelled like black tea, earthy and floral. It felt straight out of a country movie.

"I've got some tea and speculoos." Florine called as she entered the kitchen. You looked at the pictures she had up. Most were pictures of horses or her at events with friends. You didn't see any pictures that seemed family related. You took a seat on the floral patterned couch, gazing dropping onto the unbothered elderly sheepdog. It made no attempt to move and simply rolled onto its side to face away from you.

"That's Gerdie. Old girl used to be a good guard dog but now she's more of a house cat." Florine said, sitting down and placing a tray on the coffee table. Natasha reached forward, taking one of the biscuits. Florine reached under the table, looking through the books she had before pulling out what looked like a photo book.

"The reason I didn't slam the door in your face is because Michael had told me he was gonna have a kid named (Y/N)." Florine said, hand wiping away the dust in the book. She scooted forward, placing the book on the table.

"Michael?" You repeated, looking at her. She nodded, opening the book. She flipped to the second page, pointing to a picture of a young boy by a fireplace opening presents.

"Michael, my half brother and your father." Your brows raised, leaning in to take a better look. The photo was old but you could see his face clearly. Natasha leaned in as well, smiling gently.

"You have his smile." She pointed out.

"Michael and his father moved here from America when he was about five. He met my mother and they got married. They had me when Michael was nine. He was a good brother. He held no resentment towards me or my mom. Michael was as stubborn as a mule and he could never keep his mouth shut. He'd let you know if he didn't agree with you." Florine chuckled, shaking her head. You watched the nostalgic look pass over her eyes.

"What happened to him?" You asked softly. Florine let out a heavy sigh, leaning back in her chair. She reached down, giving Gerdie some pats on the head.

"He disappeared for some time." She answered, gaze becoming distant.

"He wrote letters occasionally. Said he was working for a government in another country.. He might've been some sort of spy, my memory's a little fuzzy on the subject. He spent a long time working but.. He came back eventually. He never talked about it but he was good ole Michael." Florine leaned forward again, flipping to another page of a more grown up Michael. You did notice some similar features between him and you.

"By then, our father had passed from cancer and my mother needed all the help she could get. Michael built this house with some friends of his and gave it to my mother. Oh, my mother was so happy. She got the farm she had always wanted and got to garden whenever she could." Florine pointed to a a couple in the photobook.

"This is your grandmother, Sylvie. You would've loved her. She made the best cakes in town. This is your grandfather, Jonathan. He was always up to no good. He loved pulled helping the kids in town with pranks." Florine spoke of them fondly. Her childhood seemed to have been good with Jonathon and Sylvie.

"You have powers, right?" Florine asked, looking at you. You nodded, reaching out to the plant on the coffee table and watching it grow taller.

"She passed on her powers to you." Florine leaned back, clearing her throat. You glanced at Natasha, noticing her eating another biscuit.

"She? Who's she?" You asked, looking back at Florine.

"Your witch of a mother." She answered bitterly. You raised your brows at the hate and disgust in her tone.

"I shouldn't speak ill of her. Even if she deserves it." Florine muttered, standing up with a heavy sigh.

"C'mon." She motioned for you to follow. You turned towards Natasha. Natasha picked up another biscuit, making eye contact with you. You raised your brows.

"What? These are delicious!" Natasha huffed. You chuckled, standing up and following her out the backdoor. You noticed the stables with the horses walking around their fenced area. Florine had a vegetable garden and a greenhouse out back as well.

"Those pretty babies are Ernie, Kuma, and Goldie." Florine said, motioning to the horses. They approached the fence when she walked over to them. You smiled softly as she petted them, cooing in Dutch.

"They won't bite. Well, Ernie might but he's just a playful old man." Florine chuckled, turning back in the original direction. You followed her down a dirt path and into a wooded area. You blinked, seeing what looked like a moss covered statue of a woman. Her eyes were closed though her head was pointed downwards, looking at anyone who walked down the path.

"She was a charming little witch, I'll give her that." Florine crossed her arms, staring up at the statue. You tilted your head, licking your lips.

"Did he make this for her?" You asked, turning to look at her. Florine shook her head, looking down at the ground.

"Gaia, or better known as Mother Nature, is your mother. She took a human form in an attempt to convince humans to cherish what she had given them. When that proved useless, she spread plagues as punishment. What Gaia truly wanted.. Was a child. Animals, humans, and all those things were creations.. Projects she could ignore if she got bored. She met your father and he fell for her." Florine told you, another breeze blowing by. You reached your hand forward, gently touching a flower that rested by the statue. It felt full of life.

"Your mother fell pregnant with you and Michael was thrilled. Gaia had started realizing that human life wasn't for her. She was slowly becoming human herself. She disappeared with Michael and returned without him or you. She explained she couldn't stay and left her human body here."

"She abandonded me for no reason?" You stared up at the statue, features hardening.

"In some sense, she didn't. She's all around us so.. Your mother never truly left you." Florine said, turning to look at you. You scoffed.

"I have a mother. Her name is Laura Barton and she's not here anymore because of Thanos." You looked at Florine, blinking away tears.

"I don't blame you for being angry. I never found out where she took you or if you were even alive. If you want to keep in touch, I don't mind. Lord knows I could use the company." Florine looked forward again. You let out a soft sigh, shoulders slumping.

"And.. And dad? What happened to him?" You asked hesitantly, almost afraid of finding out he had done the same as Gaia. Florine stayed silent for a moment.

"He.. They never told me how it happened but.. He was murdered." Florine revealed, staring at the ground with a small frown. You stared at him, brows furrowing.

"What? By- By who?"

"You might've heard of him. People around town were talking about him a two or three years back. The infamous Winter Soldier."

~

Tags: @geek-and-proud @wolfelocksley @babyvisionisamenace

[jenojaemssss]

happier

synopsis: in which mark was happier with you.

pairing: mark x reader (i attempted to write the mc as gender neutral, so lmk if there are any tips on how to be more considerate! i wanna be able to write as inclusively as possible heh)

genre/category: angst, exes!au

word count: 2.4k

a/n: i have an assignment due in like 20 minutes (so i did not get a chance to proofread!!) but i got distracted thinking about mark while listening to my 2017 simp playlist :D so here's a mini-fic (that was supposed to be a drabble) based on this song!

I saw you walk inside a bar.

When Mark looked up from the almost-empty bottle sitting in front of him, he didn’t expect to be greeted by the sight of you. But what caught him even more off guard was that you were entering the bar hand in hand with someone new.

You, not yet noticing your past lover's hunched figure, walk towards a set of empty bar stools, another man's arms wrapped around your waist like possessive belt. Mark began to stare then. He stared at what used to be his reason. What used to be the one who'd wake him up in the morning, who used to be his reason for coming home when the days were too long, yet somehow eventually bled into nights. He continued to stare at what had been his true source of happiness.

In his eyes, you still were. You were his only radiating source of light that made him feel warm. You were his comfort, like a warm blanket during a rainy day, or an iced tea when the weather was too hot to do anything else but lounge around the house with all fans on full blast.

He said something to make you laugh.

Mark noticed how the one that accompanied you looked at you with a small spark in his eyes as you cover your mouth in attempts to shield your erupting laughter. That was a cute habit of yours when you laughed, and he used to stare at you the same way; he was staring at you almost identically as he's sat across the bar at that moment. The only difference now was that Mark stopped being the reason for your bright smiles and warm laughter.

I noticed how both your smiles were twice as wide as ours.

The first encounter between the two of you would forever be engraved in the mind of Mark Lee.

He was walking around a lake during a camping trip with a few of his friends, mindlessly swinging his arms around to cool off. Mid swing, though, he made contact with something he later found out was your face. He apologized so many times that you had almost busted a lung laughing at the poor boy's terrified features.

Soon, Mark joined you, laughing in harmony because apparently being smacked in the face by someone was the funniest thing to the both of you. Mark proceeded to awkwardly ask for your contact information, hoping to make up for the mishap, and you complied because the man was so darn cute.

One meet-up (he never specified it as a date) turned into two, which turned into three, and soon, you were seeing each other everyday in a small cafe hidden within the corners of your shared campus.

The two of you attended the same university, but due to being in different departments, there was never really a chance to come across one another while running to your next classes, but this cafe was the one spot you two had in common.

The cafe meetings soon turned into cafe dates (he clarified this time that they were in fact, dates), and soon enough, you were both head over heels in love, moving in together as you approached your final years of college.

Mark and your's relationship wasn't perfect, but it was always so much fun. Mark was always able to make you laugh because of how awkward he was, and one time you to left him behind on a trip to the grocery store because he was so embarrassing, making stupid puns at the poor worker just trying to stock the shelves of the cereal aisle. That day, you bought a watermelon the size of both your heads combined to make up for leaving him behind.

Mark bitterly smiled at his recollection. That was one of the last times he and you were able to smile together.

You looked happier.

The last time Mark saw you, it was on a sunny, Saturday afternoon. You were on your way back from a trip to your local convenience store, bags of chips, a tub of ice cream, and boxes of candy spilling out of the watermelon themed reusable bag he had left behind after moving out. You were still wearing his hoodie, then. He left that behind for you too.

It made him smile, knowing that you kept it.

Ain't nobody hurt you like I hurt you.

You felt as though you couldn't breathe. When you entered Mark and your shared apartment, you sensed that something was wrong; that something was missing from your normally warm environment. Mark and you have been arguing more frequently recently, and the night before, it was the worst it had been in years.

Mark had been going out later into the night, sleeping on couches of friend's houses more than in his own bed. Your shared bed. You more often than not woke up to nothing, the radiating warmth missing from your side.

You'd had enough of it, and confronted the man when he walked into the apartment at 2 am. Words spewed from either side, along the lines of "I'm sick of this" and "What is there to be sick of?" Mark ended up sleeping on the couch that night while you cried yourself to sleep, clutching Mark's pillow and attempting to hold onto what used to be the warm, delightful love of your life.

The next day when you woke up, he was gone. He texted you saying he had to leave early for work and that you should go ahead and start your day without him, and you did. You began planning ways to talk things out, to fix things with Mark over a nice dinner.

You set your plan to action and made your way to the local market. When you returned home and stepped foot into the kitchen, though, your eyes landed on a small note placed right in the center of the dining table. Written on that note in Mark's sloppy handwriting were the words, "I'm sorry, but I need to clear my head."

You dropped the note and ran into your bedroom, only to see that Mark had taken almost half of his belongings from the cramped space, along with one of the suitcases the two of you placed behind the closet when you first moved in. He was gone.

But ain't nobody love you like I do.

He'd been gone for about 10 days when you receive a call from Donghyuck. The brown-haired boy informed you that Mark has been sleeping on his couch for over a week and would be stopping by within the next few days to take up all of his friend's belongings he'd left behind.

You hummed, almost numbly, and before hanging up, you mustered up the courage to ask Donghyuck if Mark was currently there with him. He hummed in response, and you mumbled a good before dropping the line completely, falling to your knees and sobbing until you no longer had tears to let fall.

You were broken, and it was all because of Mark, yet a piece of you continuously hoped and prayed that he was safe. That he was living in a proper home with a place to sleep, and that he wasn't too cold because he often got cold very easily.

Mark, on the other end of the line, was silently holding in his cries as his best friend hung up the phone, disconnecting him from his one true love. Mark never intended to hurt you the way that he did, but in his mind, because he loved you so much, too much, he had to let you go.

He was noticing how much he was holding you back, from job opportunities to your social life, he believed he was the reason. He was the reason you declined the job offer in the neighboring city because that meant you'd have to either move out or drag Mark with you, and you chose on neither and stayed. He was the reason you never left the house on weekends because only then was he ever home. He was the reason you had bags under your eyes, he soon realized.

You'd been staying up night after night, waiting for him to come home. You'd been crying because he would come home with bags darker than yours. You'd been losing sleep because you spent too much of your time worrying about him.

He was holding you back by loving you.

So he decided to let you go.

Promise that I will not take it personal, baby.

A few months have passed and Mark's finally settled down in a new place in the town you had rejected the job offer from all those months ago. A part of him wished that moving away would offer you closure, knowing that Donghyuck explained his side of the story to you. Mark wanted so badly to be the one who spoke to you that day, but he was afraid of the confrontation. He was scared he'd break and hold you into his arms and promise to never let you go, bringing himself and you back into the endless loop.

So he left. He moved away and had Donghyuck clean up the mess he'd made. Mark owes him one.

The other part of him, though, hoped that you contacted the agency that offered you the job all those months ago. The selfish part of him prayed that the agency granted your request and offered you the job you passed up on in this new city. He hoped that you and him could start over in a different setting, and maybe a few years from now, run into each other again. You'd be in better places in your lives and the two of you could start over.

He knew he was hoping for too much, but oh a man can dream.

If you're moving on with someone new.

Mark was brought back to the present when he hears a loud shattering of glass. He averted his eyes towards the source of the ruckus and landed his eyes on you. He noticed how your eyes grew into large saucers when he displayed similar shocked features.

Shit.

He quickly and clumsily packed up his belongings as he waved down one of the waiters, asking for the tab. Noticing Mark's shaken composure accompanied by the glares being sent in his direction from the other side of the bar, the waiter sympathetically printed out the bill as fast as he could and didn't let out a peep when Mark underpaid about 10 bucks.

Mark rushed out of the bar, only to be caught by the sound of your voice calling out to him.

"Don't you dare run away." The voice was cold.

"Not again, Mark." It was almost shaking.

You caught up to the man. He turned around, slowly, wishing that this was all just a messed up dream, and the alcohol was only playing tricks with his mind.

Indeed, though, this was his reality. Mark remained silent, only staring at his feet as you approached him.

"Look at me," your voice was softer now, but he noticed the stern edge laced within your words. You were never one to raise your voice, not even when Mark would spew incredulous things at you during an argument. You were always calm.

Mark shifted his gaze from the ground towards your face and noticed you looked wiser. He noticed how your soft features were now more sharp. He noticed how you wore your hair differently. He noticed how you'd ditched your casual jeans and a shirt for something more business-casual. He noticed how your aura had changed into something more serious. He noticed every little change about you.

He also noticed how, beneath all the physical changes, you were still you. You still had the same stars in your eyes. You still had his favorite scent. You still had the same quip in your lip when you spoke. You still had the same smile.

You were smiling at him.

Mark finally managed to meet your eyes, and as you opened your mouth to speak, he cut you off before you could get a sound out.

"You look happier."

Your smile dropped a bit at his observation. He was right, you were happier than you were after the breakup. But you were happier when you were with him. Using other men to distract yourself from Mark worked for a while, but it was never the same.

It's been over a year, and you still missed him. You missed everything about Mark; his smile, his laugh, his posture when he was furiously typing away at his keyboard because he had an essay due in 10 minutes. You missed the way he'd sing to you at night when you woke up from a nightmare, and the way he'd pet down your hair when the two of you wake up in each other's arms after a nap.

And although you missed him, a part of you was still angry at him. Angry that he left without an explanation, and had Donghyuck be the bearer of bad news that he wanted you to be happier. That he wanted you to have a life not revolving around him and his actions.

A part of you hated how he was so selfish, and how he never looked to you for his decision. Yet the other, wiser, part of you was thankful. Thankful that he cared about you enough to let you go, cared about you enough to put your priorities above his own feelings for once. Most importantly, you were thankful that he was your first heartbreak.

Before he was the boy who broke your heart, he was a friend.

You tilt your head a bit sideways, plastered another smile and nodded in response.

"It's a process."

He smiled back, toothy grin warming your heart. "I'm glad you're doing okay."

Maybe it was the universe finally hearing Mark's wishes of starting over, or maybe it was just a mere coincidence that you ran into each other that day. But nonetheless, the encounter made him realize one thing.

"I was happier with you."