#i feel like the last few chapters were just filler idk

[moonpascal]

IN THE SHADOW OF MEMORY

CHAPTER FOUR I series masterlist I wc: 3.4k

WARNINGS:

hurt/angst, lonelines, lots of dialogue

AUTHORS NOTE:

thank you to @amiableness my love as always gave me the encouragement i need for these things!

sorry for the long wait! i played hogwarts legacy for the first time and got sucked in. but it did help me with visioning locations and everything. hopefully chapter four was worth the wait (idk feels like a filler lol)

The past few days had been agonizingly unproductive since you realized the extent of your memory loss—entire chunks of the last year and a half simply gone. 

Hermione, stubborn as ever, refused to tell you what you were missing, no matter how much you begged. You knew she was hiding something, and it frustrated you to no end. These were your memories, after all—you had every right to know what had been erased.

The memory that played in the great hall never left you. You couldn’t be sure if it was a fragment of what was lost or just your mind playing tricks on you. Either way, it felt personal, too personal to share with her without knowing for certain if it was real.

But every time you tried to push through and remember more, it was as if a wall slammed down in your mind, sending a jarring, almost painful shock that stopped you cold. Why had this happened to you? Was it an accident, or had someone targeted you? The questions were maddening.

Caught in a loop of pacing and rubbing your temples in frustration, you accidentally kicked your trunk, sending the pile of jumpers and a tie sprawling across the floor. Huffing in annoyance, you bent down to fold them again, ignoring the nagging sense of familiarity they stirred. You were too irritated, too overwhelmed to connect it.

Just as you finished folding the last item, Grace walked in, looking thoroughly exhausted.

“Tough class?” you asked, trying to shift your focus.

She let out a small, tired laugh as she dropped her bag at the foot of her bed. “I wish. Just boys not taking no for an answer,” she sighed.

You shot her a sympathetic look, knowing the feeling all too well. “Wouldn’t happen to be a certain Slytherin whose clothes I keep tripping over, would it?” you teased, holding up the pile.

Grace gave you a sharp, confused look for a moment, and you worried you’d said the wrong thing. But then she forced a smile. “Right! That’s… um, exactly why he’s upset, but he really shouldn’t have left his closet in our dorm,” she said, a nervous edge to her voice.

“Serves him right,” you laughed, before glancing at the clothes again. “But on a serious note, could you possibly return these to him? Or maybe I should just throw them out? They’re taking up space, and I keep knocking them over.”

“Oh,” Grace said, eyes widening like she’d just been reminded of something important. She grabbed the pile from you a bit too quickly. “Of course! I’ll do that right now.”

Before you could protest or tell her she didn’t need to rush, she was already out the door, leaving you standing there, even more confused than before.

In her hurried state, she might have noticed the pesky tie that slipped off again. 

You knew you needed to study and catch up on your missing assignments, but any excuse to procrastinate sounded more appealing. Weighing your options for a brief moment, you grabbed the tie and left the room, hoping to catch up with her.

Exiting your out of the common room and bounding down the stairs, you guessed Grace was heading toward the Slytherin area.

Hopefully, you could catch her but luck wasn’t on your side—she was on a mission, and you didn’t spot her once as you made your way through the castle.

The dungeons weren’t a place you frequented, so you were surprised when you managed to navigate there on your first try. 

Upon arriving, you saw Theo trudging down the steps, the pile of clothes in his arms. You faltered, a strange pang coursing through you for reasons you couldn’t explain.

You considered a quick escape, but Theo called your name before you had a chance to move.

“What are you doing down here?” he asked, a touch of surprise in his voice. You didn’t have any classes together today, so it was unexpected to see you. He shifted the clothes under his arm, stepping closer.

“I tried to catch Grace—she dropped this,” you awkwardly gestured to the tie in your hand, “but I guess I found the culprit.”

Theo’s eyes widened at the implication, his heart sinking a bit. “No, these aren’t mine,” he quickly corrected.

You shot him a skeptical look. “So, you and Grace aren’t... involved?” you asked, waving your hand in a vague motion.

Theo scrunched his face in disgust, shaking his head. “No, never. She’s just a friend. She gave these to me to return to one of the guys.”

“Right,” you said, though still not entirely convinced. “Well, make sure he gets his tie back, too.” You draped it over the pile in his arms.

“Right, of course. Thank you for bringing it,” Theo smiled, and any doubt you had about him lying slowly drifted away. You found yourself staring at him, that smile triggering a flash of a memory—the same one from before.

Could it have been real? Theo seemed different now, kinder than you remembered. And how had you never noticed how... easy on the eyes he was?

“Woah, Tesoro, are you okay?” Theo’s voice brought you out of your thoughts, and you realized he had a hand on your shoulder and another gently cupping your cheek. The clothes he’d been holding were forgotten on the ground. 

His face was so close to yours that you instinctively took a step back, but the absence of his touch left you yearning.

“I’m sorry, what?” you said, dazed and confused, not fully processing why he was asking.

“Your nose—it’s bleeding. Let’s get you to sit down,” he said urgently, grabbing the tie and guiding you to a nearby bench. You almost tripped from how sudden it was.

“I’m fine, really, Theodore,” you insisted, brushing it off. “This is probably the fourth one today.” The moment the words left your mouth, you regretted it.

“Fourth?” His tone grew tense, his eyes full of concern. “Are they accompanied by anything else? Headaches? Nausea? Fainting spells?” He inspected you, wiping the blood from your upper lip with the now-ruined tie.

You shrugged, trying to seem unbothered. “Not all the time. I don’t think it’s that serious.”

Theo, however, looked far from reassured. “That’s not normal,” he muttered your name, his worry etched deeply into his face.

“Theo, really, I’m fine. Just a little tired,” you tried to comfort him, but his expression barely softened. Hearing you use his name, though, seemed to snap him back. He pulled back slightly, still visibly rattled. 

“Right, sorry,” he stammered, dropping his hands from you as if your touch burned him. 

“I appreciate the concern, though,” you said, genuinely touched by how much he seemed to care. A stark contrast from the Theo you were used to. “Could we talk later? I have this thing that I can’t seem to figure out.” 

He blinked, seemingly taken aback by your suggestion. In truth, you were a bit surprised by it yourself.

“I have Quidditch practice tonight, but how about tomorrow?” he offered, a bit nervously.

“Perfect,” you grinned. “See you tomorrow then, Theodore.”

He smiled in return, and for a moment, you found yourself wanting to stay and just stare at him. Another part of you still hesitated, wary of his past actions and the memories you couldn’t access. But maybe he had the answers. 

You watched him walk away, a slight spring in his step as he bent to pick up the discarded clothes. He disappeared into the Slytherin common room, the snake door sliding shut. The sight surprisingly comforted you. 

You sat for a moment before finally rising from the bench and starting the walk back to your common room. Your mind was a tangled mix of questions, emotions, and fleeting familiarities that refused to come into focus. It felt like your brain was in overdrive, struggling to fill in blanks without knowing where to start.

The walk back to your dorm felt like a blur, your mind racing with thoughts of how to piece together the gaps in your memory. You needed answers, but the trio seemed determined to keep you out of the loop, offering vague reassurances that only deepened your frustration.

You hated the way they looked at you—like you were fragile, something to be handled with care. It made you feel small, like you weren’t capable of understanding your own situation. The growing silence around what was happening to you was suffocating, and your dorm had become the only place where you didn’t feel on edge.

As you spotted Harry ahead in the corridor, you sped up, determined to find a distraction from the overwhelming pressure of your missing memories. You bumped him lightly with your shoulder, forcing a smile. “Hey, stranger. Haven’t seen you in a while. Want to sneak off to Hogsmeade?”

Harry hesitated, rubbing the back of his neck. “Trouble, I would, really, but I’ve got Quidditch practice tonight.”

Your smile faltered, a flicker of confusion crossing your face. If Slytherin had practice, there was no way Gryffindor did too. The rivalry between the two houses was so intense they could barely play fair in an actual game, let alone share the pitch for practice. You opened your mouth to question him, but Harry quickly cut you off.

“Tomorrow, yeah? We can go then. It’s Saturday, so no sneaking required.” Giving you an awkward smile. 

“Right. Tomorrow.” You nodded, but the unease gnawed at you. First Theo, now Harry. The feeling of being lied to—it stung more than you wanted to admit. Harry never hid things from you before, and Theo—well, you didn’t know him well enough to judge, but it still hurt.

You turned away before Harry could say more, heading in the opposite of his direction- mind you was not towards the pitch. 

When you finally reached your dorm and shut the door behind you, the quiet hit you hard. Alone again, the weight of the past few days crashed down. You dropped onto your bed, letting out a shaky breath. The frustration, confusion, and hurt welled up, but you couldn’t bring yourself to cry. You just lay there, staring at the ceiling, feeling more isolated than ever.

No one was being honest with you. They were keeping you at arm’s length, treating you like you couldn’t handle the truth. You were left to fend for yourself, with only half the pieces to a puzzle that seemed impossible to solve. You felt pushed aside, only to be dealt with when it was convenient.

It hurt more than you wanted to admit, and the pity party you were throwing yourself was, for the moment, the only thing that felt comforting.

“Fridays, we’ll go to the Astronomy Tower at midnight. It’ll be our thing.”

The words jolted you awake. You blinked, disoriented, scanning the dark room. The moonlight filtered in softly, casting long shadows. You rubbed your eyes and looked around, hoping to find the source of the voice, but the room was silent. Your roommates’ curtains were drawn, and their steady breathing filled the space.

You lay back, trying to make sense of what you’d heard. Maybe it was a dream. Or maybe, another memory trying to break through the haze?

After tossing and turning for what felt like an eternity, it became clear you weren’t going to be able to fall back asleep. Frustrated, you sighed and threw off the covers, slipping on your shoes. Before you knew it, you were out the door, your curiosity leading you through the corridors.

You tiptoed through the common room, careful not to wake anyone. Without Harry’s cloak, you had to rely on the disillusionment spell to stay hidden, but you knew it wasn’t foolproof. 

You navigated the quiet halls, turning corners and climbing staircases with no real sense of direction, yet somehow you felt like you were being pulled somewhere—guided by the echo of those words.

Soon enough, you found yourself at the base of the Astronomy Tower. You hesitated for a moment, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu before your feet carried you up the winding staircase. The ascent felt both familiar and foreign, like a path you had walked countless times. It felt like your body was moving on its own, like it knew something your mind hadn’t caught up to yet.

When you finally reached the top, you paused. The silence of the tower wrapped around you, and with a quiet exhale, you removed the disillusionment spell, standing under the vast, starry sky.

The silence was broken by a cough, jolting you from your thoughts. You nearly screamed, spinning around to see Theo sitting against the railing, watching you with curious eyes.

“Merlin! Theodore, you scared me!” you hissed, clutching your chest as your heart pounded.

“Sorry,” he chuckled, clearly finding your reaction amusing. You glared at him, but he just smiled.

“What are you doing up here?” you asked, exasperated as you stepped closer to where he was sitting.

“I could ask you the same thing,” he smirked. The teasing tone was so typical of him, and despite everything, it brought you some comfort.

You rolled your eyes. “Needed some air. And you?”

“Something like that,” he shrugged, taking a drag from the cigarette between his fingers.

“You know those things will kill you, right?” you said, deciding to sit down next to him. You tucked your legs beneath you, resting your back against the railing.

“I’ve heard,” he replied, exhaling the smoke away from you before flicking the cigarette to the ground and crushing it with his foot.

You bit your tongue, resisting the urge to lecture him about the littering. “Maybe you should take their advice.”

He chuckled softly humming in response, leaning his head back against the railing, eyes closed. For a moment, neither of you spoke. Strangely, you felt more at ease up here with him than you had in days.

With his eyes closed, you stole a glance at his face—the messy hair, the moles dotting his skin, and those lips… You quickly looked away, mentally scolding yourself.

“So,” he said, grabbing your attention. His gaze so focused it made you avert your eyes again, “what really brought you up here?”

“I’m… not sure,” you admitted, fidgeting with the fraying edge of your skirt. “I thought I heard a voice, but it could’ve been a dream. It said something about Astronomy Tower at midnight, and I got curious.”

You noticed Theo’s jaw clench briefly before relaxing again, making you frown slightly. “And you?” you asked, trying to redirect the conversation.

“Just needed some quiet,” he said, hesitating for a moment. “But… what was it you wanted to talk about earlier?”

You had nearly forgotten about that. Now that he asked, the words seemed to stick in your throat. You wanted to say you could wait, let him have his moment of peace, but you needed answers.

“Oh, right,” you sighed, unsure of where to start. “I’m not sure how to explain it.”

“Take your time,” Theo reassured, his voice soft, and you were grateful to see no judgment in his eyes.

You took a shaky breath, trying to gather your thoughts. It was hard to know where to even begin.

“Long story short, I lost a chunk of my memories,” you started, the words spilling out before you could stop them. “And the other day, I think I had a flashback of one… with you?”

Theo immediately straightened himself, his attention fully locked on you.

“I was—um, what was your memory about?” he asked, his voice a little shaky as if he was trying to stay calm, but you could sense a bit of hope behind his eyes.

“Don’t laugh,” you warned, giving him a serious look, though a faint smile tugged at your lips. “We were in the Forbidden Forest, I think. I was upset about a letter, and you came along, and we… burned it. Does that sound familiar at all?” You searched his face, praying that this wasn’t just your imagination playing tricks on you.

Theo’s expression tightened, his brow furrowing as if he was choosing his next words very carefully. He looked torn, like saying the wrong thing might somehow hurt you more.

“It’s just… we only had our first conversation a few days ago, right?” you added, trying to lighten the mood despite the tension.

He grimaced slightly, rubbing his eyes. “No,” he sighed, his voice heavy. “That was a memory. That night in the Forbidden Forest—that was the first time we really talked. I was out there trying to clear my head, had a lot going on, and then I heard you. You were crying. I didn’t expect to find you out there.”

“Have we… had more conversations since that night?” you asked cautiously, feeling a strange mix of relief and confusion.

Theo hesitated, then nodded slowly. “Yeah, we did.” 

“Could you tell me more? Did we hang out after that? Were we friends or just acquaintances? I just feel so lost and confused. You confirming this is the first bit of clarity I’ve had in days,” your voice cracked, the weight of everything you’d been carrying finally slipping through.

Theo’s face shifted, a mixture of pain and hesitation crossing his features. He looked away briefly, his hands gripping the railing beside him. When he finally spoke, his voice was low, careful. “I wish I could tell you everything… I really do.”

He paused, glancing at you before continuing. “But… it’s not that simple.”

Your heart sank at his words, a mix of frustration and sadness settling in your chest. “Why? What’s stopping you?”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “It’s not that I don’t want to, believe me. We just don’t know what could happen if we sprung all this information onto you, how the spell or you would react if we try to fill in all the gaps. I mean you’re already having nosebleeds and intense migraines from no one even saying anything. If we push too hard, it could make things worse.”

Theo’s voice softened as he continued. “I just don’t want to hurt you more than you’re already hurting.” His eyes searched yours, hoping you’d understand.

You looked away, the sting of disappointment dulling the relief you’d felt just moments ago. “But I need to know, Theo. I can’t keep living like this, with these blanks and half-truths. Everyone’s treating me like I’m fragile, like I’ll shatter if they say the wrong thing.” Your voice trembled, a mix of anger and helplessness rising to the surface.

Theo shifted closer, his hand hovering just above yours before he hesitated and withdrew. “I get it,” he murmured, his voice thick with emotion. “But trust me when I say this—it’s not that we’re all in on some secret without you. We’re just… trying to keep you safe.”

The vulnerability in his eyes made your heart ache. You could see the struggle there, the pull between wanting to protect you and the desire to be honest. He wasn’t just holding back for the sake of secrecy—it was out of concern for you.

“Safe from what?” you asked, your voice thick with emotion. “I feel more trapped than safe. Like I’m stuck behind this wall, and everyone’s watching me struggle without actually helping.”

Theo exhaled, his brow furrowing as he searched for the right words. “I’m sorry. I know that’s not what you want to hear, but we’re doing the best we can. It’s not that we don’t want to tell you—it’s that we don’t know what’ll happen if we do.”

You bit your lip, feeling that familiar swell of frustration rise again. “So I’m just supposed to wait? Until what? Until my memories come back on their own? What if they never do?”

Theo breath stutters and he hesitates. He’s tried his best not to think of that possibility, that you’ll come back to him and this in time would be a funny memory. “I don’t have all the answers. But you’re not alone in this, okay? Even if it feels like it.” 

You wanted to believe him. Despite everything, you could sense that Theo genuinely cared, even if he couldn’t give you the answers you desperately sought. You looked at him, your chest tightening with the mix of anger and sadness swirling inside you. “I just wish I knew what I was missing.”

Theo nodded slowly, his eyes heavy with the weight of things left unsaid. “When the time comes, I’ll tell you everything. I promise.”

For a moment, there was nothing but silence between you. The cool night air seemed to press down, the weight of your shared secrets hanging in the space between you.

Finally, you nodded, feeling a small sense of comfort in Theo’s promise, even if it couldn’t give you what you needed right now.

If you enjoyed, please please reblog or comment! Your words keep me motivated to write and make me so happy <3

dividers by @saradika-graphics

[whimsyfinny]

He’s a Winchester

Chapter 5

Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader

Summary: It's been a long time since (Y/n) and Dean's paths have crossed. Last time they saw each other it was ‘98 and they were young and living in the moment. Nine years down the Line, their paths cross again, but (Y/n)s longest kept secret is about to become Deans reality.

Slow burn (ish), mom!reader

Warnings: language, alcohol, lots of feelings, small angst, bullying, reader being a victim

Chapter Word Count: 6639

MDNI 18+

A/N: sorry this took so long! Life has been a lot aha. I kinda feel like I’ve rambled on with this one, so I’m sorry about that… I also feel like this was kinda a filler chapter? Idk, I’m sorry if this one isn’t as exciting… Either way, I hope you like it! As always, it's only proofread by moi, so let me know of any errors. Also feedback is greatly appreciated!

A/N2: GUYS IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING but PLEEEEASE provide your age if you want to be added to the taglist and it isn’t in your blog. This story is tame now but it’s gonna get spicy, and my blog is strictly 18+. So pleeeeease save be a very long job and help a gal out.

Photos from Pinterest

New Readers Start Here: Chapter 1

Previous Chapter: Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Sunday mornings were the only time we could get away with being lazy. I would crawl out of bed at around eight o’clock - compared to my normal six o’clock - and shuffle downstairs in my pyjamas in search of coffee whilst Levi was either still sleeping or playing Guitar Hero on the PS2, quietly by himself. On this particular Sunday morning, however, I did indeed venture downstairs at just gone eight, and instead of finding one young boy playing video games by himself, I was greeted with the sight of him battling it out with his uncle whilst his dad sat and watched, critiquing his techniques. I padded in quietly, pulling my long soft cardigan around me further as I tried my best to watch on unseen, enjoying this moment just as much as they were and unwilling to pop their happy bubble. I watched for a few minutes, seeing how Sam didn't go easy on Levi just because he was a kid, and how Dean couldn't seem to take his eyes off his son who was entirely immersed in the game, a soft smile taking up permanent residence on his lips. Dean turned his head slightly and caught sight of me in the archway, that soft smile evolving into a pulse quickening grin. He stood quickly, striding over to me with those plaid pyjama pants distractingly low on his hips.

“G’mornin’ sweetheart, you sleep ok?” He was now a few inches away and smelt like coffee and warm linen - it was the sort of scent that wrapped around me and drew me in with an almost dangerous nature.

“Like the dead,” I grinned, looking up at him, “though I'm not surprised after all those beers and our 1AM bedtime. You're a bad influence Winchester,” I poked his chest and had to fight back a groan when I felt how frustratingly firm his muscles were beneath his grey henley. Instead of vocalising my ‘annoyance’, I bit my lip, which in its own way I suppose was worse. Worse, because now those mossy green eyes were looking at my mouth, their gaze lingering before looking back up to my eyes.

“What can I say except I had a good time? It was nice catching up like that. It was like…”

“Like we’d gone back to a simpler time?”

“Like we'd never been apart.” 

Those words held a sudden weight to them that thumped deep in my chest.

“Yeah,” I said quietly, my eyes not leaving him, “I know what you mean”.

We both seemed caught up for a moment, silent and unmoving - just watching each other. He seemed totally steady, save for the deep inhale he took when I held his gaze just a little too long. He cleared his throat, breaking the trance that seemed too quick to have ever even existed in the first place.

“Coffee?” He asked, jabbing a thumb over his shoulder towards the kitchen.

“Coffee sounds great,” I smiled, glancing over to Sam and Levi who'd still failed to notice my arrival.

Dean and I paced leisurely to the kitchen where I was pleasantly surprised to see a pot of coffee already brewed, just waiting to be poured. Dean reached into the overhead cupboard, already learning where things were and selected two mugs. Pouring the hot liquid into both of them before handing me one, we both leant against the counter as I relished the warmth seeping through the ceramic and into my fingertips.

“You know,” I took a sip, humming in satisfaction, “I could get used to this,” my words felt dangerous the moment they slipped from my lips, a part of me kicking myself for vocalising such internal thoughts. Deans eyes widened almost fast enough for me to miss before his gaze returned to normal, his lips parting slightly as his mug paused on the elevation to his mouth. But once that half a second was over, it was like the fleeting surprise never happened. He simply hummed in agreement, his eyes soft and warm.

“Did you sleep ok?” I said quickly, taking the attention away from my earlier slip of words. He grinned with a nod.

“You have no idea how nice it is to sleep somewhere that's not musty and dusty and a possible crime scene from back in the eighties.” I grinned much like he did, my mind suddenly filling with images of brown and orange decor, unwashed bedsheets and spiders who might as well pay rent because they’ve been there so long.

“Well I can assure you that you're safe from all of that here - though no promises on the eighties crime scene, I have no idea who lived in this house back then.”

Deans grin turned more self assured as he raised an eyebrow at me.

“You don't think the equipment I brought would've made a noise if there was something here that went bump in the night?”

“Equipment?” I almost snorted, “you mean the EMF thing that you made on ‘pimp my Walkman’?”

Dean practically clutched his pearls.

“How dare you - that thing is a work of art. Blood, sweat and tears went into that masterpiece,” by the end of his sentence he was grinning again, almost like he knew he was talking out of his ass.

“Uh huh. Sure thing baby.”

Shit.

Deans lips twitch upwards as the intensity of his gaze sparks up something hot before quickly dying out, his posture straightening as he lifts his mug to his mouth again. I kick myself a second time for letting the term of endearment roll off my tongue. I’d never had this issue before - accidentally calling people nicknames or anything of the sort. I’d dated guys who had perfectly reasonable names that I always remembered to call them. Yet Dean… he stood here, in my kitchen after almost a decade and somehow still managed to turn my brain to butter. It was hard to describe, as surely I couldn’t still feel that way for someone who I’d been parted from for so long with not a whisper of their name from anyone's lips but my own. I no longer knew him. Nine years of time and life and experiences will have sculpted Dean and everything that I knew him to be into a totally different person…wouldn’t it? Hell, maybe he’s even got a girlfriend somewhere out there who's waiting for him to return to her, but he’s just been too nice to mention it. That, or I’ve been too selfishly wrapped up in things that used to be us to even think of asking. Perhaps the mushy consistency of my brain was simply another symptom of some so-called ‘muscle memory’, as my current behaviour was always how I’d been around him. Flirty. Playful. Infatuated. Perhaps I simply didn’t know how else to act; how to be normal in his presence because I knew he’s seen every inch of me, both physically and philosophically. He’d seen my ugly days yet he’d still kissed away the turmoil without so much as a second thought. Maybe, just maybe, I needed to reel myself back in - take myself back to before we were star crossed lovers. Before the memories were made and our hearts beat to the same tune. Back when we were just two people who would laugh and joke and stay up late. Perhaps that would make this all easier.

“There’s that name again,” Deans low drawl snapped me from my internal debate, an unreadable expression dawning on his features.

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I just- I don’t think my mouth and brain are working together anymore,” I sighed, fighting to keep some sliver of amusement in my voice. 

“Oh yeah?” a smirk appeared on Deans face, that playful glint returning to his eye as he chewed his bottom lip as though having an internal debate of his own. Who knows what side won, but I’m sure some form of sleep depravity was involved with his next few words: “I remember a time when your mouth didn’t need your brain and it worked just fine on its own.” If his aim here was to make me flustered, he’d sure as hell succeeded as heat bloomed across my cheeks and my mouthful of coffee was spat back into my cup with a splutter.

“Dean!”

He released an almost wicked laugh, clearly pleased with himself for my reaction. If he was going to be making comments like that on a regular basis, it was going to prove extremely difficult for ‘operation: we’re just friends’ to be in full effect. 

“I’m sorry sweetheart, I’ll stop,” his words were softer yet the edge of amusement was still present.

I scowled at him with as much venom as a fucking wetwipe, my own amused grin straining at my lips.

“You better,” I jabbed a finger into his chest before placing my half empty coffee mug on the counter, turning away from him to rummage through the kitchen cupboards. I turned back around a moment later and thrust four bowls in his hands along with four spoons and two large cereal boxes.

“Put these on the table before you say anything else that might cause me to choke on my coffee.”

I watched a choking innuendo pass right before his eyes yet he bit his tongue and pursed his lips, taking a moment before his eyebrows rose slightly.

“Were you always this bossy?”

“I’m not bossy, I just have a child who needs to be fed. Now, table,” I pointed to the items in his arms before pointing to their designated destination.

“You could at least say ‘please’,” his tone was growing taunting and it drew a sigh from my chest.

“Fine. Can you put those things on the table, please.”

“Hmm… I don’t feel like you meant that, it felt a little… I don't know… hostile?” The grin was now in full effect.

“DEAN.”

“Ok! I’m going!” he turned and did as I asked, finally setting the table for all four of us. 

Breakfast passed by with so much ease it was as though we’d done it every day of our lives. Sam and Levi continued to talk about Guitar Hero whilst Dean listened, chipping in the classic rock trivia where he could. The whole time, I just sat, listened and watched, absorbing everything about this moment in time and doing whatever I could to make this a core memory. I breathed in, telling myself to remember the smell of sugar and coffee in the air, along with the new and unfamiliar masculine undertone of cologne and old leather. I looked around, watching how the golden morning light made their hair and skin glow in shades of amber and white, the small dust particles in the air illuminated like fireflies. The sound of their animated chatter was soft, creating a serene ambiance that was as pleasant on the ears as notes from a music box. Everything about this moment was all I’d dreamt of; from the fully occupied breakfast table to the relaxed atmosphere, and the cherry on the cake was knowing that these men were family. Levis family. He had a dad and an uncle who wanted to cherish him and spend time with him, to make him feel so important and loved that it made up for nearly nine years of absence. I know, deep, deep down that part of this was from them feeling guilty - Dean more so than Sam - yet that was only a small part. Their love and affection for him stemmed from something real and it was so easy to see, so fucking clear on their faces, that it made me want to cry. And that feeling was so fucking strong that I had to excuse myself from the table and freshen up in the bathroom, barely able to utter a word to them as I stepped away.

After taking five and splashing some water on my face I emerged from the bathroom and headed back downstairs. Sam and Levi were back in front of the playstation, this time playing Need for Speed, and Dean remained at the table, another coffee between his palms as he leant forwards, staring into the liquid. He must’ve heard me coming as he looked up with a slightly concerned expression. 

“You ok?” he asked.

“Yeah,” my voice didn’t come out as level as I’d hoped, so I diverted the conversation. “I thought that’d be you over there playing Need for Speed. How come you’re over here glaring at your coffee?”

“Ahh, we’ve been up for a while and I spent about an hour on Guitar Hero with Levi before you came down. Plus…” the small smile on his lips that appeared when he looked over at his son was now directed towards me, “I wanted to talk to you.”

“Uh oh, I hate it when sentences start like that.”

“No, it’s nothing bad. I just…uhhh… well, last night when we were talking, you said something that I can’t stop thinking about,” despite his calm expression, his knuckles were starting to turn white around his cup.

“I said a lot of things last night, Dean, you’re going to ha-”

“Let me take you out.”

“What?” 

“Let me take you out,” he repeated, but this time softer and slower, “you said last night that you never get to go out for drinks anymore and that you’ve had some pretty shit dates,” we both grimaced slightly at the thought of that. “ Well… I’m here. Let me take you out. Levi is at a sleepover tonight so you have nothing to worry about where he’s concerned,” he took a deep breath and reached across the table to place his hand, warm and large, over mine. “Let me do something nice for you, like you deserve.” There was a pause as silence settled between us for a moment. He wanted to take me out. Like, a date, or just as old friends, or as co-parents…? I had no idea what his angle was on this. Did he want to have sex? Was that it? Was he just trying to get his dick wet? Old Dean would occasionally pull those tricks with me, though they were usually few and far between, but would the new Dean do that? Was it even a low bar thing to do? Maybe it’s a pity date, and he’s only taking me out because I’ve been so incapable of being able to replace him with someone who is better - who probably doesn’t even exist - that he’s now just feeling sorry for me. Why, oh why the ever living fuck am I even over analysing this? Dean wanted to take me for drinks so why should I care what his motive is. This is a fucking opportunity for me to relax and let loose a little. To not be mom for a few hours. To be me. And why should I care if he wants to fuck me? I should be flattered, right? That he possibly still finds me attractive? And I can’t deny that it’s been a while since I’ve had half decent sex - or any sex at all for this matter. 

“Yes,” I blurted, perhaps a little aggressively. 

“Yes?” he smiles again, that easy, contagious smile, “you’ll let me take you on a date?”

“So it is a date?” I couldn’t help but mirror his grin, adding my own amused tone.

“Wasn’t that obvious?”

“Well, no, you said you’d ‘take me out’. That could mean anything. You could’ve meant with a fucking gun.”

Dean erupted into laughter, shaking his head. That laugh. I remember likening it to a favourite song that was so easy to put on repeat. It was addictive.

“Ok, so I’m not taking you out with a gun. I’m taking you out on a date. Have I dumbed it down enough for ya’ know?”

“If you were any clearer you’d be transparent,” I said, my tone bordering on mocking. 

“Great, well, me and Sammy have a few loose ends to tie up from this case we’re on, so we need to head out soon. We’ll be back by the evening though, soooo…. Be ready for six?”

I nodded eagerly, watching as he stood from the table. The sight of him in the henley - plaid bottoms combo makes me want to have a cozy day indoors, watching nothing but scary movies and scarfing down popcorn and cookie dough. The sigh I heave from my lungs was totally involuntary. 

“Yeah,” I smile, “six is perfect.”

Kat and Toby arrived at the house around noon. Whilst the boys race upstairs to get on with God-knows-what, Kat strides in with a knowing smirk when she clocks the duffle bags that are clearly not mine beside the couch, along with the lingering aroma that's distinctly masculine intertwining with the pumpkin spice from my scented candles. As I studied her face for all but a few seconds, I braced myself for the flurry of questions that I knew were buzzing around her mind.

“Sooooo…” her tone was already amused as she flopped down onto the couch. “Anything you need to tell me?”

“What? Who do you think I am?” I scoff at her words, yet my pulse quickens at the thought of telling her about my plans for tonight. 

“I think you're a woman still in love with her childhood sweetheart and that he's already sweeping you off your feet.”

“I am not still in love with him. I can't possibly be in love with someone I've not seen for almost a decade.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Bitch, don't ‘mmm hmm’ me. I'm not in love with Dean.”

“Would you fuck him?”

“God yes.”

“So you're keeping him around for the possibility of good dick?”

I threw myself down beside her on the couch, pulling a throw cushion into my lap.

“No, that is so not true. I can't believe you'd think me so shallow,” I held my hand to my chest in mock devastation. She hummed again.

“Didn't you do that to what's-his-face?”

“Who?”

“The guy you dated about a year ago, drove around in that Mustang?”

“Oh shit yeah! I think his name was Chad? Or maybe Brad…? Ok yeah, I did kinda keep him around for his dick… and his car. That car was awesome.”

“You shallow, shallow bitch.”

I threw the cushion which hit her square in the face, likely leaving a print of her lipstick behind on the soft fabric.

“But that was just some dude that was only with me so he could fucking tick ‘banged a milf’ off his bucket list. This is Dean I'm talking about. He's… well… he's Dean. And he's not here for me. He's here for Levi. Don't blame a man for wanting to stick around when he's just found out he's got a kid,” I gave her a look that said ‘I fucking love you but please can we drop this now’, and she did, one final hum moving past her lips. We stared at each other for a moment, her expression one of a studious nature and mine one of feigned innocence. This woman could read me like a book, and I both simultaneously loved and hated it. I loved it, because when something went wrong, and quite often in my life things did, she just knew. She knew to be at mine that same evening with a bottle of red and a bucket of popcorn, pyjamas on and the boys asleep upstairs. This woman had slept in my bed more times than any man as we continued to have sleepovers like teenagers well into our twenties. Alcoholic sleepovers. Yet I hated how she read me like a book, because like right now, if I was in denial about anything or for some absurd reason trying to keep a secret, she would just know. She was like a fucking mind reader. I chuckled inwardly at the thought of that being true. Maybe Dean should scan her with his Walkman and freak her out. Maybe then she'd get off my case about me still being in love with him. I'm not in love with him. 

“You still aren't telling me something,” her voice was even, the amusement fading slightly as she stared at me, waiting for me to stop beating around the bush. Under the heat of her stare I caved, sighing and slumping even further into the soft cushions behind me.

“He's taking me out…on a date.”

“I FUCKING knew it!”

“What?! How would you know that?!” I almost jumped as she flew forward in her seat, the gleam back in her eyes as she grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

“I didn't know that exactly, but bitch I knew you were hiding something juicy!”

“It's not juicy! It's casual - just drinks. I’m gonna wear jeans.”

“Oh yeah, because flaunting the curvature of ones ass makes it casual…”

“Aren’t you here to collect my kid or something?” I launch into my last resort to end this hellish interrogation - which involved kicking her out.

“Babes you can kick me out of your house but you can’t ignore this,” she stood slowly, her ‘all-knowing’ expression un-faltering. 

“Kat, it’s only day two of him being here! You are getting way ahead of yourself,” I stood with her, shaking my head. 

“Two days plus the whole freakin’ year you were dating. That man is not a stranger to you. Hell, you’ve probably had that coc-”

“THANK YOU, Kat! I love you, you are the yin to my fucking yang but please for the love of CHRIST - shut up!”

Her expression finally cracked and she practically cackled at my discomfort, making her way to the stairs to get the boys.

“Bitch, if I don’t get details about tonight then -”

“Ok I’ll tell you! But seriously, don’t read into it too much, it’s just drinks.”

She strutted to the bottom of the stairs before ascending, calling over her shoulder; “Sure, whatever you say honey!”

It took longer than I'd have hoped, but Kat eventually left with the boys for the remainder of the day. As soon as they'd left the building, it was like I could breathe again - like the house could breathe again. It was a rare occasion for me to have the place to myself for five minutes, let alone a whole twenty four hours. It was like I could finally hear my own thoughts again after the busy breakfast and Kat's dire interrogation. The silence was bliss. It was pure bliss as I made myself a coffee and settled comfortably on the couch, taking a moment to myself. It was blissful right up until my own thoughts started banging at the door in the back of my mind. Thoughts about Dean, and his motives and my motives. Suddenly my relaxing afternoon to myself was quickly becoming a caged-in trap for my internal thoughts to run wild, the drums of possibilities sounding in the far reaches of my brain, beating faster and faster the closer they drew. Almost as quickly as I'd sat down, I jumped up and headed to the store cupboard under the stairs. One thing that could distract me was cleaning, so that's exactly what I was going to do. 

I blitzed the house from top to bottom, hoovering, mopping, cleaning mirrors and windows, dusting and evening folding the pile of laundry that was starting to become part of the furniture. Much to my dismay, that only took up two hours of my time, so I was left with the only other task that I hate more than folding hundreds of small human sized pieces of fabric. Grocery shopping. 

After a manic stock take of the fridge, cupboards and pantry, I made a list, grabbed my bag, threw on my jacket and headed out.

I'd been shopping around the small town convenience store for around twenty minutes, browsing the aisles and throwing everything - plus some extras - from my list into the aggravatingly wonky trolley. I hated grocery shopping with a passion - the constant beeping from the checkouts, the passive aggressive road rage between trolley users, and the dozens of obscenely slow browsers frustrated me beyond belief. I was normally able to push it to a big haul every two weeks, but with the prospect of Sam and Dean staying a while, it was a safe bet to fill the house to the brim with snacks and meals alike. With the lifestyle that those two lived, I can't imagine that they're overly fussy eaters, and I have a hunch that Dean still loves turkey dinosaurs.

The cereal aisle wasn't supposed to be an eventful place - deciding between Cookie Crisp and Cinnamon Squares should be the highlight of this venture. However as my luck would have it, it became eventful.

“Oh hi! (Y/n)!”

I looked up from my crumpled list and was greeted with three faces that I recognised but not to the point of acquaintanceship.

“Uhh, hi? Can I help you?” 

“I just wanted to say that it's so great to finally see that Levi's father is around. It's just so important, isn't it? For a boy to have that male role model,” the first woman spoke; her peroxide blonde hair looked so overbleached it may as well have been straw on her head, and it almost distracted me from her painfully patronising voice.

“Excuse me? Do I know you?” My voice started to take on a defensive edge as my palms immediately grew sweaty, this situation already making me uncomfortable. 

She laughed, looking over at her friend's like I'd asked some stupid fucking question. 

“Our son's go to the same school - you should really know this.”

“Well, if our sons aren't friends, then why would I need to?” 

She took a deep breath. 

“I just think it's funny how someone like you managed to get someone like… what's his name… Dean? Isn't he a little out of your league?”

My pulse thrummed as my frustration grew with the sudden, unsolicited and blatant attack. How the fuck did they know Deans name? Someone must've overheard us at Jolenes'... or maybe at the track? And what the fuck did she mean by ‘out of my league’? If she was insinuating what I thought she was, then she's going to need to head over to the fucking freezer aisle real freaking soon.

“Excuse me?” 

She smirked, knowing she was sinking her plastic fucking talons into my skin already.

“Oh I think you heard me. Does Dean know? That you trapped him? When you got pregnant on purpose at nineteen?”

My blood began to boil as I white knuckled the handle of the trolley to stop myself from punching her square between the eyes.

“Fuck you; I didn't ‘trap him’. Is that really what you cliquey bitches think?” I was equal parts furious and heartbroken. Furious, because how fucking dare they assume that just because Dean is a God tier DILf that I fooled him into getting me pregnant all those years ago. And heartbroken because, well, is that really what the people in this town thought of me? If these women thought that, then who's to say half the town don't think the same? Or maybe more - maybe it's the whole freaking town with Kat being the only exception, and I've been living so cocooned in my own bubble that it never even occurred to me. But Dean has barely even been here a day, so I can’t exactly blame myself for being so wrapped up in my own life with everything going on. How can people form such strong opinions so quickly when they don’t even know the whole story? My story with Dean. Not theirs. They’ve somehow managed to put two and two together to come up with negative fucking ten, and I’ll be damned if I let them drag our names through the mud.

“Oh honey, we know that you tricked him. A man like that, with that face and physique would never have chosen you willingly, right? I mean, you really don’t look his type.”

“Oh, and you do? Because you know Dean so well?”

“That’s enough!” We were caught off guard by the oldest of the three, a woman perhaps in her fifties, snapping in a clipped tone. “Michelle, that’s quite enough, you’re taking this too far now. And you,” she turned to me with a stern gaze, “that man looks like trouble. We don’t like those sorts around here; you tell him to behave himself.” My anger and frustration was quickly melting into straight up irritation.

“Look, lady-”

“Karen.”

“Sure, ok… look, Deans a grown ass man, he can do whatever the fuck he likes - he’s here on a job. I’m not telling him to do shit.”

“Language! Such a foul mouth-”

“Is he single?” our heads quickly snapped to the third woman of the group - younger than the other two but still a little older than myself. She was a near double of the blonde from the hair to the clothes to the claws, yet she seemed to lack the spite.

“What?” yet another question that caught me off guard. What the fuck is wrong with these women?

“Dean, is he single? I mean, I’ve not seen him, but from how you describe him, he seems hot,” she twirled a lock of hair around her finger like a school girl despite likely being in her thirties.

“Hannah you’re married,” Karen chimed in with obvious disgust. 

That was it, the last fucking straw. I’d had enough of the ambush from three women that I barely even knew. I adjusted my grip on the trolley and quickly planned my escape route, spotting an opening in the crowd to the side. I gritted my teeth and steeled my gaze, the bitter taste of disgust, fury, and disappointment coating my tongue as I all but spat my words.

“This has been a riveting conversation, truely, but I’m leaving. Now,” and with that I hastily left them behind, finishing my shopping with the dark cloud of judgement looming over me. 

The urge to cry hot, angry tears in the car on the ride home was a battle I didn't want to fight. The intensity of the emotions brewing in the pit of my stomach and bubbling into my chest was so strong, so consuming that I didn't even realise I was pulling into my own driveway, having completed the short journey on what I like to call ‘blackout autopilot’. One tear was shed over the shitshow, and in my opinion, that was one tear too many. I was annoyed at myself with having let it get to me so much, knowing I'd grown thicker skin than this. It wasn't the first time I'd been confronted, like a fucking black sheep in a blindingly white flock, yet for some reason, this got to me. At this point, I was drained from even thinking about it, so I grabbed the groceries, making several trips to get them all in the house, put away the fridge and freezer items and left the rest on the counter to deal with later. Right now, I needed a large glass of wine and something to distract myself with. So I decided on the only thing I had going for me at this point in time.

Time to pick an outfit for tonight.

My bedroom was a modest size and the king-size bed practically consumed the room. I had a large, sliding mirrored-door wardrobe that was built into the structure of the room which I flung open and started to rummage through as soon as I made it upstairs.

I'd told myself - and Kat - that it was casual. Dean had implied it, so this shouldn't be too hard to find something nice to wear.

Wrong.

I must've spent the best part of an hour trying on dozens of different tops with my only pair of ‘nice’ jeans - those ones that hugged my ass and thighs just right. I tried long sleeves, short sleeves, chiffon, cotton, satin, opaque, obscenely translucent, bright, monochrome and in all honesty, I felt inadequate in every single one. I'd never really been one to feel overly self conscious of how I looked, but for some absurd reason, this date with Dean was making me flustered. It had me worried that he wouldn’t like how I looked, especially since I’d had Levi and my body had changed in a way that he didn’t know just yet. 

Just yet. 

I cursed myself slightly, shaking that idea from my head. Yes, I’ve had plenty of time to try and get myself back to normal, but some things just weren't the same anymore, and probably never would be. I hated the fact that I was even stressed about this. The safest option was to just go for something comfortable, so I donned a stretchy, low-cut and long sleeved black top and slid on a pair of black closed-toe heels before sitting down at my dresser. 

I’d just opened my makeup bag when I heard the door downstairs open and close, quickly followed by the oddly comforting sounds of Sam and Deans voices floating through the house and up the stairs. I turned to myself in the mirror, sighing at the tired looking woman staring back at me. Get your shit together, (Y/n), Dean is taking you on a date. I grasped my over-sharpened eyeliner pencil that was likely no longer than an inch in length and got to work. I suddenly flinched and nearly poked myself in the eye when Dean appeared in my bedroom doorway.

“Jesus, Dean! You scared the crap out of me - I didn’t even hear you come up the stairs.”

He grinned slightly as he leant against the wooden frame, large arms crossing over his chest. 

“Sorry sweetheart, I didn’t mean to…” his voice trailed off and I could feel his eyes on me, as though he was searching for something. A few moments went by in silence, and right as I was about to turn to him, he spoke.

“Hey, are you ok?” His voice was dangerously soft, and concerned in a way that could easily have me weeping in his arms. Because of the shitty afternoon I’d had, I feel like it wouldn’t take much kindness from him to have me crumble - no matter how much I’d hate myself for it afterwards. Instead, I pushed everything down as best as I could and turned to him with a weak smile.

“Yeah, I’m ok. I’ve had a bit of a weird, shitty afternoon but I won’t ruin your evening with it.” At my words he pulled a face, his own words quickly following.

“It’s your evening. And if there’s something eating at you, you know you can talk to me. Just like you used to,” his smile was back, warm and comforting and like a balm over a burn. I looked back at myself in the mirror for a moment, debating if it was even worth talking about. If it was anyone but Dean, I wouldn’t hesitate to keep this to myself. But it was Dean, and I hated to say it, but he was always good at dealing with me when I was like this in the past. I turned to him and let his calming presence seep into my bones, desperately trying to take it on myself.

“Ok,” I said quietly, “I’ll tell you at the bar. But I don’t want to make a big deal out of it, and I don’t want to talk about it all evening,” He nodded.

“Whatever you need sweetheart,” he stood up straight and said something about getting ready himself before he left the room, leaving me to finish up before finally heading downstairs. 

It was roughly another fifteen minutes before I made my way down; Dean already waiting for me in the archway to the kitchen. He looked up as he heard me coming, eyes brightening when he grinned at me.

“Well aren’t you a sight for sore eyes,” his voice was smooth and deep, a flirtatious undertone rumbling in his chest. 

“Not so bad yourself Winchester,” I walked up to stand in front of him, almost toe-to-toe. I looked him over, taking in the black shirt he wore, untucked and paired his jeans. The boots and brown leather jacket remained the same, yet I could see the damp patches on both from where he’d scrubbed either mud or blood from the fabric - perhaps both. It wouldn’t be the first time. I took a deep breath, my pulse quickening as his scent filled my senses. 

“Have you eaten yet?” he asked, removing a hand from his pocket and let it hang awkwardly at his side. I shook my head. 

“Not yet, I sometimes forget to eat when Levi isn’t around.” Dean shot me a look that could have been both concerned or protective.

“Ok, well I’m taking you for dinner too then.”

“What? No Dean, you really don’t have t-”

“Don’t argue with me sweetheart, I'm fucking feeding you,” his tone was final, leaving no room for negotiation so I sighed in defeat. 

“Fine, but we’re not going anywhere expensive.”

His smirk widened across his face as he continued to look down at me, finally placing that awkwardly hanging hand on the small of my back, guiding me to the door. He shouted a ‘goodbye’ to Sam over his shoulder and, without really waiting for a reply, he ushered me out of the house and towards the car, locking up behind us. I walked up to the black vehicle, the excitement starting to bubble at the thought of going for a ride in her again after all this time. As Dean walked up to me, he opened the passenger side door, letting me hop in first. I took my seat, quickly dumping my bag and jacket in the footwell so I could softly run my fingertips over the perfectly maintained leather seats, noticing how not a thing had changed - not even the box of cassettes on the back seat. As Dean slid into the drivers seat, his expression something akin to pride, he couldn’t help but comment on my reaction to being back in the impala.

“I bet you missed Baby more than you missed me,” he joked, turning the key and letting the engine roar into life. I bit my lip, leaning back in my seat.

“I missed you both equally,” the humorous tone came easily, my earlier worries already started to feel insignificant as they slipped away with every tick of the engine.

“Equally?” he echoed, feigning hurt, “you don’t even prefer me just a little bit more?”

I pretended to ponder intently, holding a finger to my lips as I crossed my arms over my chest. An obnoxious string of ‘hmmms’ slipped through my lips before I saw him roll his eyes, still grinning.

“Yeah, I guess I do. Especially since you're taking me on a date,” my own words made my heart flutter and luckily he'd moved his gaze from me to the road as he pulled out of my drive. My face felt warm and I cursed at myself for being so easily affected by him already, entranced by the way those long fingers wrapped around the steering wheel and the muscles in his jaw flexed under the glow of the passing street lamps. I couldn't deny that he was still painfully attractive, even after all this time. If I was being honest with myself, he was making it incredibly difficult to concentrate on much else right now. If drinks were soon to be involved, there was a very high chance of me making a total ass of myself in front of him.

Tonight was likely going to be one to remember.

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Love You Through It (Pete "Maverick" Mitchell x Reader)

[Part Three of the Agents of Chaos series]

Maverick went and changed his mind after he nearly lost you for good, but a new and devastating loss has sent him spiraling.

Warnings: Probably incorrect medical procedures, but I'm not a nurse or a doctor so idk. Canon character death, feelings of loss & an extremely sad Maverick.

This is sort of a soft filler chapter before the angst.

I'll be back soon. Don't miss me too much.

Love,

Mav

You kept the note folded in the palm of your hand, your fingers gently closed over it. A nurse had come in to check on you and brought a little plastic cup and water to keep your flower in. Now it was on your little tray table, and you couldn't stop looking at it and thinking of Maverick, holding you close to his chest while you slept. You can't really recall a time when you've slept better.

Most of you was completely ready for this. He'd opened up to you, told you how he felt, and said that he wanted to make this work between you. That should have been the end of it. So why did you feel like the other shoe was going to drop, like everything would end before it really began?

A knock on your door broke you out of your quickly spiraling thoughts, and you looked up to see Agent hanging out in the doorway of your room. He was smiling, holding flowers, and a little balloon with "Get Well Soon" written on it in fancy script. "Hey. I figured you could use a little company."

You sit up immediately, wincing as the movement pulls at your stitches. The doctor had said your wound wasn't too bad and that the stitches could probably come out in another three days or so. You had insisted on being released so you could be with your team during the mission, and he'd let you know that you could be released the next morning. "Yeah, that'd be great."

He steps further into your room, setting the flowers down on your side table and letting the balloon rest against the ceiling. "How are you feeling, Chaos?" He settled into the chair by your bedside, his hands folded in his lap while his deep brown eyes studied you with worry. "You look like you've been through the ringer."

"Gee, thanks." You answered dryly, getting a smirk from him. "I'm okay. Just a little sore, but apparently I'm healing up fine. I'll be out of here by tomorrow. I can rejoin you guys for the last few days before the mission." You pause then, looking him over. You can see a cut on his lower lip and a bruise on his cheek. "How about you, honey? Are you okay?"

"Leave it to you to worry about me while being laid up in a hospital bed." He leans against your bed, his chin resting in one of his hands. "I'm fine. A little traumatized, but no major wounds. Just a little shaken up. Our plane is obviously disintergrated, so I've been grounded for awhile. Not that I want to fly anyway, not without you."

Your heart melted a little at that. Josh has been your best friend since your time at the Naval Academy, and he's been your WSO practically your entire career. There was an unbreakable bond between you. "I'm sorry, J. If I had just seen the birds quicker, we wouldn't be in this mess." Of course you blamed yourself; you were the pilot. He put your life in his hands each time you went up, and this time, something horrible had happened.

"Oh, shut it." He swatted at your hand, grabbing it and squeezing it soothingly. "Don't you dare blame yourself for this, okay? It was just a freak accident; it happens. It's not like you went out of your way to hit them." Well, he had a point. "Besides, you gave me a few days of bed rest and a break from the tension between Mav and Rooster."

You smiled, but didn't say much to that. You still didn't know the reason behind the tension between them. You weren't sure if Maverick would talk to you about it if you were to ask. "Yeah. You know he's been here every night since the accident? I slept on his chest last night."

You watched as Agent's jaw dropped. "He's been here every night? Baby girl, I knew he felt something for you. Are you going  to...?"You didn't get to hear the end of that sentence.

Suddenly, you got a flash of Maverick's emotions. It hit you so fast that you nearly doubled over, and you were only faintly aware of Josh asking you what was happening. The pain your soulmate was currently feeling was overwhelming, and you could feel a deep sense of loss. Something bad had happened, and you scrambled to grab your cell phone off the bedside table.

After calling him three times, he finally answered. "Hey."

"Mav? Baby, are you alright?" His breathing was uneven, and it sounded like he was on the edge of a panic attack. "Baby, talk to me. What's going on? Is someone on the team hurt? I felt what you were feeling, and-"

"Ice is gone." He finally got the words out, and it sounded like he almost couldn't believe what he was saying. "He was sick for a long time; no one else knew. He went to take a nap, and Sarah found him. He was... he was already gone."

You knew that Admiral Kazansky had been a close friend of Maverick's since they first met in Top Gun back in 1986. You'd never had the pleasure of meeting the man yourself, but you'd heard through the grapevine that he was a good man. No-nonsense, sure, but also kind and fair. His loss would be felt far and wide by those who knew him. "I'll be right there."

Several hours later, you were marching out of the hospital with Agent tailing you. He'd tried to get you to stay put, but you had checked yourself out of the hospital with the promise that you would come back for a checkup. Right now, your only concern was getting to wherever Maverick was.

"You're the most stubborn little thing on God's green earth, you know that? Lord, help Maverick." He was grumbling, but he opened the door for you anyway and ushered you into his passenger-side seat. "I'll drive you to his place."

You were anxious the entire way back to base housing, and you practically launched yourself out of the truck when it came to a stop in Maverick's driveway. "Thanks! Love you!" You shouted over your shoulder to your best friend, but you kept heading to the door.

It swung open before you could knock, and you slipped inside.

He'd been waiting up for you. Or he couldn't sleep—probably a little of both. His face was red, tears staining his handsome face. His soft, dark hair was a complete mess, like he'd just spent hours running his hands through it. He was a mess, and understandably so. There was nothing you could do to fix this pain, but you could do your best to comfort him as best you knew how.

"Have you eaten?" His eyes were unfocused, but you knew he'd heard and understood you when he shook his head in the negative. "Okay. I know you may not feel like eating, but I'm going to make dinner. After that, I'm thinking a shower and bed."

He doesn't say much; he just lets you guide him around his house. He sits at the dining room table, watching you move around his kitchen as you use the ingredients you have to make him something to eat. He should be beyond thrilled that you're here, making him food, but the truth was, he couldn't feel much of anything right now.

You decided on making pasta with red sauce; it was the best comfort food you could think of. While the noodles boiled away on the stove, you walked over to the table and took the chair next to Maverick. His gaze is unfocused again, and you can't help but wonder what's going on inside his head. "Hey, Mav?"

The touch of your hand on his shoulder makes him tense up for a moment; it's like he didn't realize it was you at first. Slowly, he relaxes again and turns his head so he can see your face. "Hm?"

You brush your fingers gently through his hair, pushing soft strands of it back off of his forehead. "I'm sorry. I know he was one of your best friends. I wish more than anything that you didn't have to feel like this." Your touch seems to help a little, he's leaning into it. "And I know it's hard, but we'll get you through this."

He doesn't say anything for a minute. Just lets you touch him, play with his hair and talk to him. "I'm glad you're here," He finally says aloud, "Yeah, he was. One of my best friends, I mean. He was there for me, throughout the years, after I lost Goose."

You knew the story, about how Bradley's father was Maverick's backseater and best friend, and how he'd died after a catastrophic engine failure and a problem with the canopy not releasing quick enough. The memory of Hangman telling the team that story while Bradley was in the room still haunted you. You knew that memory still haunted Maverick, and you knew he still blamed himself.

"I wish you could have met Ice." He continues, reaching out one shaking hand to take yours. His thick fingers threaded through yours. "He'd have loved you. You're a lot like I was back when I was in my twenties." You were choosing to take that as a compliment. "We had our differences, me and Ice, but we got close after we graduated Top Gun."

You listened as he told his story. He told you about how Ice supported him throughout the years, being his rock through all the hardships and his dearest friend during the good times. He was a little more animated now, talking about Ice's children and how they all referred to him as 'uncle Mav' and how he had been one of the groomsmen at Ice's wedding.

"I'm really gonna miss him." He whispers, his voice cracking slightly. He doesn’t push you away when his eyes start to fill with tears, but it’s a very near thing. He’s not used to someone being around like this—someone who wants to hold him and comfort him when he’s hurting. He can’t remember a time where he’s ever felt quite so... cared for. Loved. For a kid who grew up without his dad and a mom who wasted away until she left him, too, this was everything. You were everything.

He watched as you leaned in, pressing your lips to his temple in the sweetest little kiss. “I know, Mav,” you murmured against his feverish skin. “And you will, for a long time. But each day will get easier, and this burden will get a little easier to bear. Until then, just let me help you carry it, okay? This is what I’m here for. The good and the bad, yeah?”

He is the one to hold you now. It was almost unfair how physically strong he was, because the next thing you knew, he was tugging you into his lap and pressing you against his chest. Now he was holding onto you like you were his lifeline, burying his face into the crook of your neck. You let him hold you for a few minutes before you had to kiss the top of his head and pull away to go finish dinner.

He makes a disappointed sound, but he lets you go. You can feel his eyes on you as you move around his kitchen, and it makes a pleasant shiver roll down your spine. You're here with him, making him dinner and offering your comfort in a way only a partner can, and you couldn't help but feel like this was always where you were meant to be.

After dinner, he helps you clean up. He rinses the dishes while you stack them in the dishwasher. Neither of you say much, but the little brushes of his hands against yours make your stomach flutter.

When the dishes are done, you take one of his hands in your own and lead him down the hall. "Alright. Now that your belly is full, time for a nice hot shower, and then it's bedtime." You tell him, shooing him off toward his bathroom.

"Wait." Before you can escape, his hand has snagged your wrist and he's tugging you back into him. "Maybe you can sit with me while I shower? You don't have to look or anything; I just don't want to be alone with my thoughts right now." His face is unreadable, but his eyes... he can't hide what he's feeling.

"Okay." You agree, your hands resting lightly on his chest. "Whatever you need. Go on in and strip, then let me know when you're in the shower. I'll come and sit with you." The relief in his eyes is instant, and you wink at him as he pulls away.

A few moments after he entered the bathroom, he called out to you, and you let yourself in.

"Thanks for doing this." He tells you, and you settle on the floor by the door. "I really appreciate you being here."

You half wonder if you should shower, too. Your hair had to be a mess, and you felt gross from sitting in a hospital bed for several days and nights. "Of course, Mav. I know you'd do the same for me if the situation was reversed. I really care about you."

There's a split second of silence before he pops his head out of the curtain. His dark hair is plastered to his forehead, and water drips from the curve of his nose. His chest is wet, and your mouth is dry. "I care about you, too." His gaze is as intense as it usually is, and you can't help the way you squirm.

"I know you do, Mav." You drop your eyes from that patch of wet skin, knowing that you're probably flushed from staring at him. "I think that's pretty evident, since you spent three nights by my side in the hospital."

"Speaking of..." He trails off for a minute, and then he sighs. "Get in."

"What?"

"In the shower, sweetheart." He gestures with a quick movement of his head. "It's been a few days since you've showered; I'm sure you're uncomfortable. There's plenty of room for the both of us. And I won't look, if that's what you're worried about."

You know you're safe with him; you're not worried about that. You are a little worried about yourself trying to catch a peek at him, but you make a decision to nod and stand up from your place on the bathroom floor.

Stripping out of the t-shirt and sweat shorts that Agent had brought to the hospital for you, you fold them neatly and set them on the counter. Then you take a deep breath and step inside the shower.

His smile is sweet and boyish, and, true to his word, his eyes stay on your face. He's in your space, and his hands touch your arms. For a moment, nothing exists but you and Maverick, together, warm and safe. "Here," You murmur after a moment, snagging a shampoo bottle from the ledge behind him. "Turn around."

He obliges, turning around in the spray, and you can't help it when your eyes scan over him. He's got a cute butt, and his shoulders and the dip of his spine makes your mouth water. Your hands are soft when they run through his dark hair, working your fingers in circles to lather up the soap.

The pleased groan he makes has your stomach swooping, and you grin. "You're like a cat, Mav. Just need food and a little love, huh?" You murmur, leaning forward to press a kiss to one shoulder. You catch the way he shivers at your touch.

"Seems like it." He answers, and he hasn't moved an inch since your hands settled in his hair. He's just in the moment, letting your touch chase away the feeling of grief, even for just a moment. "What did I ever do to deserve you?"

That makes you smile, and when the water has washed away the last of the shampoo, he turns around and smiles down at you. Your fingers ghost over his jaw, and your eyes flicker from his down to his lips and back again. "I think all you really had to do was be yourself, Mav. That's all."

His gaze softens, and he leans in. Your breath catches in your throat, but you don't move as the space between you becomes nonexistent.

His lips are surprisingly soft. It's a stark contrast to his work worn hands, the ones currently cupping your face with such care that it makes your stomach once again erupt into butterflies. He keeps it light, soft, warm... like he doesn't want to push too far, take too much, and risk scaring you away.

The groan he makes when your teeth nip his lower lip makes the waiting worth while. And the way he licks into your mouth when you open up for him makes your knees so weak that you have to slip your arms around his neck to keep from falling.

He presses you against him, careful not to brush against your stitches. He lets it continue for a moment before he pulls his lips away from you. "As much as I'd like to continue this, one of us is physically injured, and the other is not all mentally there."

"I know, Mav. Just kisses are good enough for me." You brush a lock of wet hair off of his forehead and smile. "Now, help me wash my hair?"

Half an hour later, you're both clean and curled up in Maverick's bed. You're wearing one of his old Top Gun t-shirts and a clean pair of boxers, and he's wearing just a pair of sweatpants. He looks so good, and you marvel at the fact that this man is all yours.

Moving onto your side, you prop your head up in a hand and just watch him. He's staring at the ceiling, his eyes far away, but they refocus when he sees you move. "Hm?"

"Nothing." Your free hand comes to rest on his chest, fingertips brushing over the skin and soft hair you find there. "Just admiring, that's all. You're very handsome."

His larger hand settles over yours, and his blue eyes flicker over your face. At last, his beautiful smile over takes his face. "Oh yeah?" There's that mischievious personality you've come to know and love.

"Yeah." You lean in, dropping a kiss on his forehead. "I got lucky in the soulmate area, you're kinda hot, Mav."

"And you're beautiful." He answers, turning his head so he can get his lips on yours again. He tastes like his mint toothpaste, and he smells like him, all of it plus the warmth of his skin makes your head spin. Despite your best efforts, and his, you were in love with Pete Mitchell.

When he lets you go, you curl up with your head on his chest, just as you had last night. It's almost instinctual, seeking out his warmth. "Goodnight, Pete."

"Goodnight, sweetheart."

[everybody-loves-purdy]

The thing is, they've really narrowed it down to 3 (arguably 2 because I genuinely don't think at any point have they honestly considered making it mothwing its just that shes the medicine cat and the only well established character so inherently important to this narrative about riverclan from a med apprentice's pov) options, and while there's a timeline out there where I could believe Frostpaw to bwcome leader... it really doesn't feel like this is it?

She's so far not showing ANY leader qualities in this, the final book, where you would think that's what they would do after she's gone on so many journeys. They had all of last book where they didn't seem to really know what to do to also establish it. And last book instead actually spent time... reestablishing her as a medicine cat? Unless this book throws out everything they've established so far and wastes her journey and has riverclan themselves choose her in a moment of bravery, I don't see her becoming leader.

The only realistic out of left field pick at this point is Dusk, though, and she is shown to be extra old and conservative, but I can see them pulling a character arc out of nowhere for her in this book since we haven't spent much time with her but have established her as existing.

I don't know if Icewing going away was so they could establish her as a character in ivypool's heart to make people root for her more and they just didn't think of the timeline, but I do think the preview has established this last book is likely going to be fast paced. (But they say the cats are only going to be gone a few days idk if thats another miscommunication between authors or setting up for the clans to worry about them not returning) or if it was to remove her from the picture? I think she'll be deputy if nothing else. I think she's the cat that they want us to think will be picked but the journey feels like it's removing her as an option.

I think that prologue, if the last chapter of last book didn't, and the comments about him so far have thoroughly established they arent gonna pull anything to say splashtail is the best option her just had to get over a bumpy beginning, though. Thats not actions they typically let cats recover from and theyre already saying he's just evil.

And the rest of riverclan have become the scared masses so unless a cat suddenly rises drom their rank I think all riverclan cats stoll in camp are being dismissed as options. Theyve certainly made sure it feels like frostpaw would never choose them evern if someone stood out among them with her even getting mad at the cats who got exciled for not standing up sooner.

Yeah I don't know, either this book's pacing is going to be insane and ignoring prior character development to get frostpaw where she needs to be, a mess to get icewing back in time, or to just pull a name out of a hat. It really feels like... they were super excited to make it impossible to guess until it happens but in the process have just straight up elliminated every option.

So I'm rooting for owlnose to get a second chance cause he feels as viable as anyone else at this point. Erins did their best to establish options but did even better at eliminating them as options and its entirely up in the air until we get to the choice on page.

It's by far my one major criticism of this arc, I feel like with 6 books either the options should have a stronger foundation for their possibility or we should already have such a strong idea its just a matter of showing them off by defeating splashtail at this point. It feels like they retroactively wasted the last book that was kind of filler in all honesty not doing this.

(And like i know you feel strongly about frostpaw being the winner but honestly itnfeels less like its because it makes sense as an option and more that there are no otherboptions as I said, imo)

This is a really good analysis on the whole thing.

I think the best way to explain my main reasoning behind Frostpaw becoming leader is through hope and also the quote

“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.”

Frostpaw is my number one leadership candidate largely because of a lack of better or eligible candidates. Icewing is close second but that is reliant on her being back from her Ivypool’s Heart quest in decent time. I do hope she becomes deputy at least though. Duskfur being antagonistic in the first half of the arc holds her back for me, although there is still time for that to be addressed and solved. And I really think Mothwing would be very unhappy with having to get nine lives and become leader and always have to answer to StarClan.

I think so far Frostpaw has shown herself to be suitably courageous and able to stand up for what she believes is right. She just hasn’t had many moments of displaying leadership yet, but she did organise the group at the start of Star, so I’m hoping, if she is to become leader, Star is used to establish her ability to take charge and actually lead cats prior to this. Maybe then and only then would Riverstar was maybe like “yeah I want you to be leader, I was just waiting for you to be ready”

I think it would be cool if she was always destined for leadership in her clan but her mother took a sledgehammer to that destiny and now Frostpaw has to develop these qualities quicker than she ever should have under normal circumstances in order to fulfil that destiny. But this is just purely a hopeful theory/idea and not at all established in the books thus far.

Like you say this whole thing is more of just “ok who is actually somewhat likely to become leader” rather than picking out a stand out candidate. Except Icewing of course, but again like you say, it looks like Star is going to move very quickly so I doubt she will get back in time, I saw someone calculate that the Ivypool’s Heart crew are gone about a moon. Which seems like a very long time. I feel like she could pop back up right at the end potentially, but I wouldn’t want her just to stroll in and get leadership almost immediately by default, I would want her to prove herself first.

[lulumilkshake]

oh my gawwd that chapter was so underwhelming so here’s my analysis on some parts lol

lowkey just felt like a filler chapter idk if that’s just me since it was extremely short, it just pretty much explained things we already knew or could infer.

two things that stick out to me during the chapter though were:

1. gojo and yuuta trained swapping souls?? hello?😭 the point of it was for yuuta to improve his barrier techniques and preform that hit on sukuna (hence why sukuna was impressed)

but one thing I’m confused about with this piece of information is: shouldn’t he(yuuta) have Gojo’s memories? during the domain clash, he didn’t know that Sukuna could bypass Gojo’s infinity because Mei-Mei’s crows weren’t inside the domain at that time, but since he also has Gojo’s memories now, shouldn’t he know this piece of info?😭

I’m guessing it was just because he’s only been in his body for a few moments, but whatever. In my opinion it’s just writing inconsistency because Kenjaku was fully able to access Geto’s memories and since Yuta copied Kenjaku’s technique, it should’ve been the same for him.

2. Poor rika ☹️

+ The hype of this chapter was large because of the “yuuji going crazy” allegations—but let’s be honest, bro got sidelined after the culling game ended and got sidelined in this chapter too. That was never gonna happen.

Gojo didn’t mind that his body was used for this too (the “practicing” with Yuuta confirming that further), so him going “feral” would look stupid asf without a valid reason 💀 He cares about Gojo as much as the next but right now the main goal is to finish off Sukuna just as it was for the last 30 something chapters.

Yuuta feels more like the main character than Yuuji right now obviously but I feel like Yuuta will most likely loose against Sukuna but then weaken Sukuna enough so that Yuuji will gain some massive plot-armour and defeat Sukuna. It’s a simple-minded explanation but seeing how Gege literally makes things up as he goes it’s my best conclusion😭

Gege got some kink for people switching bodies cuz this shit ridiculous and

(also gojo fans were definitely manifesting for gege to get sick. speedy recovery to him🙏)

[bellewintersroe]

Ronald Speirs x reader

Part 3! This should be better than the last part and less of a filler chapter?! I hope anyway.

Anyway, surprise surprise, sorry not sorry, this is smutty asf. Idk what’s wrong with me atm but whatever, I just need to write this whilst I can!!

Tw - 18+, sexual references, sex unprotected AGAIN lmfao, whatever, dirty talk, let’s just see what I end up writing.

Jenny keeps dreaming about Ron, now there’s no distractions with war, she finds the tension between the two of them too much and some how they end up in an office together… talks about fraternising ensue between the pair.

“You’re so good… so fucking good at that.” Ron whined, bucking his hips further up into my own. I was riding him, my hand pressed to his chest as his head dropped back, overwhelmed by the pleasure he was experiencing. He was beautiful, so overwhelmingly perfect, and he just oozed sex appeal.

“Keep riding me like that.” A soft spank was left on my ass cheek, my hips quickening their assault and my knees ached for release. “That’s it… cum for me Jenny, cum all over me.”

“Oh, fuck, I’m gonna c-“ gasping, my eyes burst open, scanning around the room wildly. My heart was thumping against my ribcage and my momentary confusion was soon dissolved when I remembered where I was and what had just happened.

A stupid dream, another one. About Ron as well, god, these stupid wet dreams had to stop, what was I, a 14 year old boy?? Glancing around my own room, I was grateful I had my own space, able to not disturb any of the other girls from their slumbers.

As I slumped back down into the bed sheets, I couldn’t help but feel the aching of my core between my legs, sighing, I crossed my legs and attempted to ignore the sensation. I was becoming obsessed with the idea of being around Speirs, I hated it, another few days had passed and I just couldn’t clear my mind of all the nasty thoughts I had about my commanding officer. We could be dishonourably discharged, punished, locked up- even though the war was drawing to an end, the methods of punishment were still severe. My hand didn’t slip anywhere near my underwear this time, I just couldn’t give in to the thought of ruining mine and somebody else’s life. It was easier for me to think that when I wasn’t around him, when he was there, I felt compelled towards him. Fuck.

The following day, I’d spent my day off in the confinements of my bedroom. I’d had a relaxed morning, desperate to avoid the exact same guy I was also desperate to see again. The only time I’d ventured out was to go on a gentle stroll around the lake to meet Betty who would be waiting for me somewhere around the waters edge. It was tranquil, peaceful, I enjoyed myself. That was until I’d bumped into a group of men from a company I didn’t realise. They’d been drinking, and for the most part the majority just smiled and walked past me, but two guys towards the back of the group began nudging one another, sneering towards me. I knew better than to react, so I continued walking past them, praying nothing else would be said until they decided to steer directions and walk up at either side of me. “Hey, pretty, what’s such a nice dame like you doin’ walking all alone?” “I’m meeting somebody.” I politely responded, forcing a smile as I continued my quick pace to my destination. “Oh yeah, who? Your boyfriend?” The other one responded as I simply forced an awkward laugh. “Shut up, Frank, she’s obviously not taken if she’s walkin’ around here alone.” “Uh- I actually am.” I lied, crossing my arms over my chest defensively as I waited for my answer to get rid of them. “Oh, really? What’s his name?” “Where is he?” I winced at their questions, ignoring them again and continuing to walk forwards. I was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the interaction, especially with both of them being on either side of me. “You don’t speak very much do you?” The one I assumed was called ‘Frank’ questioned, almost stepping in front of me so I had to step around him. That’s where things got weird. Just as I stepped around this ‘Frank’, the other guy stepped straight up behind me, seeming to find it appropriate to place a hand on my lower hip. “Get off me!” I snapped, brushing his hand off and yelping in surprise as I turned around to face the two of them. “Hey!” A third voice erupted, bellowing from across the dusty track. As I turned over, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. The moment couldn’t have been any more awkward than if it tried, but of course Speirs had witnessed the whole thing. “Oh great, who is that? Your boyfriend?” The first man leered as I watched Ron practically push straight past the second guy, snatching the other man’s arm. “Touch her again and I’ll break your fuckin’ arm. Both of you what’s your name and company? You’ve got nothing better to do than harass women, huh?” Woah. Even I was intimidated by Ron’s act of dominance. The men learnt the hard way not to mess with me again- or Captain Ronald Speirs. I’d never seen him in such a bad, bad mood and I didn’t know where to look when he and the two men’s commanding officer were practically telling them off like school children. As if the exchange couldn’t get anymore awkward, the men were fully escorted away to be dealt with, both their heads hung sheepishly low. Their commanding officer apologised to me once again before following the disgraced pair with a harsh stomp in his step. “You ok?” I was squinting watching the pair being practically arrested, my face only relaxing when I looked back over to Speirs. He was calm now, he wasn’t all pissed off and protective, even though I found that charming that he’d stand up for me, the way he was so soft now made me feel something deep within my chest. Something other than lust, oh no-

“I’m ok… thank you sir, I should go and find my friend.” “Where are you walking to? I’ll walk with you.” He swallowed as I averted my gaze from his. “To wherever my friend is, sir, Betty’s waiting for me somewhere.” “You don’t have to call me that, you know.” He muttered, beginning to walk besides me as I looked back up to him curiously. “Call you what?” I slowly asked, looking over his jawline that had a slight layer of stubble growing on. The afternoon sun was creating an orange glow across his profile, and I began to find myself admiring him in the most stupidest of moments.

“Just call me Ron.” He gently told me, kicking the dusty dirt below him. His words made me smile, the softness of them surprised me, before I then, of course, panicked that we were suddenly having a one on one conversation. “Okay… S- Ron.” I let out a soft breath of laughter at how normal it felt coming from my mouth. I’d only really called him that once before, and that’s when we slept together in the Eagles Nest. “I’ll have to get used to that.” I admitted. “I think I see your friend.” Ron then responded as I glimpsed up to see Betty waving me over. “Oh, yeah. Thank you for standing up for me earlier, I appreciate it.” Ron’s lips twitched half up as his eyes remained fixated on my own. “You let me know if anybody bothers you again.” Nodding, there was something a lot more innocent about the exchange compared to all the others we had. It felt pure, and it filled me with a sense of warmth. “Thank you, sir.” I quickly spoke, walking backwards, get still facing him. “Ron!” I corrected, before scurrying off to where my friend was.

* ”Then fourteen hundred you can report back to me that it all went smoothly in there.” Winters explained to me as we walked side by side towards battalion headquarters. Winters was busying everybody up, giving them ways to escape the war, whilst half of us nurses had been treat unfairly, he’d managed to get me out of a night shift by going down to a children’s hospital for the morning and visiting there. “Perfect, thank you so much, sir, I appreciate it.” I turned up to the red headed man with a smile on my face. “Good, you’ll be good help in there. It seems slightly more… alive than the night shift does.” “You’ve got a good point there.” I chuckled, entering the building to where a few of the other nurses were gathered around with our superiors. The majority of us had been fixed up with a good reasoning to get us off this unfair treatment, Winters wouldn’t have us being used unfairly.

The only space there was, was besides Captain Speirs at the back, as I walked over I smiled gently, swallowing the lump in my throat at the sight of him. I figured it would be substantially less awkward considering our interaction earlier, I hoped so anyway. Throughout the whole meeting I was only half listening, Ron’s arm would brush up against mine every now and then, and out of the corner of my eye I could see he was so close. If I stepped just the slightest bit closer, we’d be touching, to an outsider it looked normal, but to us it felt like there was something else completely different happening. Maybe that’s what he wanted, to play some kind of game, like cat and mouse. It was dangerous, so risky in a room full of all these people, but I liked the thrill of it. It felt like my breathing was uneasy, I swear he could tell, with one small glance to the side he’d be able to watch over my every movement.

Fidgeting, I moved my hand behind me, to rest on the table, but my fingers had brushed over his warm ones, and if I wasn’t crazy I swear I felt the nudge of his hand against my own. I remained completely still after that, feeling like a prey in that room under a predators beady eyes. Captain Speirs was so close to me, there was barely any room for small movements without grazing over one another. Worst of all, I wanted him to touch me- I wanted to touch him. After all the dreams I’d had about him…

There was a short film to be played, about the army nurses going into Japan. Exactly not what I wanted to think about, the impending threat of war not being over in the pacific somehow seemed even more daunting than everything we’d gone through in Europe. I switched my mind elsewhere, Ron. Avoiding listening to such statements such as ‘suicidal enemy’, I instead glanced down to the darkness that surrounded us in that small room. If he or I were to touch one another, nobody would know. He could probably slip a hand right up my dress and it would all be concealed by the darkness of the room. Sighing, I purposefully inched my hands ever so closer to him. Whilst I didn’t think he noticed, he did rest one hand on the table, the side closest to me. Stopping my movements, I glanced down to my left, making it a little obvious what I was doing. He must’ve noticed, copying my actions and gazing down to where my hand lingered before back up to the short film once again. For a moment, I thought he didn’t like it, so just as I went to retrieve my hand I was shocked when a simple finger ran over mine. A smile grew on my face, it was good it was dark in there because the footage was nothing to be smiling about. I felt his finger tip dance over the skin of my fingers, then my hand, before daring to reach behind me and stop at the tables edge. The small action drove me crazy, I think Ron knew it as well. When the lights were back on both of us acted like nothing had happened, despite the fact I was still breathing in manual mode, I semi ignored him, not knowing what to take from that situation.

Later that afternoon I was doing a few physical exams of the men for their records. I didn’t mind them, they passed time and I usually just got to spend time with the men I’d grew close friends with. It was 7pm, however before I’d got to the last man. “See you later, Alton, can you send in the next guy?” “Sure, I’ll catch you in a bit.” He winked, leaving the room as I ticked off a few more things on the paper before hearing the door shut quickly. “Oh, Captain Speirs, sir.” Scraping back my chair, I moved to stand at attention. “It’s fine.” He was quick to settle the formalities, handing me his papers over. “You’re here for a physical?” I asked dumbfounded as his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down. “Yes.” He responded, looking at me like I had two heads. What else would he be hear for? Stupid, stupid.

“Oh, yeah, of course.” I shook out of my awkwardness, glancing down to the papers on the table. “So you passed your physical exam by miles… you feeling okay in general?” My eyes widened seeing his physical scores. He was one of the top men, fastest, strongest- no wonder he was now the commanding officer. Ron nodded with a slight pout. “Okay, good.” I pushed the papers to one side, grabbing the stethoscope from the side. “I’m gonna just listen to you heart and breathing, take some blood and then I’ll start examining, come sit over here.” I nodded as he awkwardly took a seat in front of me. I smiled gently, moving over and pressing the stethoscope on his skin, under a loose gap in his shirt. Everything was fine, heart, lungs, but what I felt more awkward about was telling him to strip. “Um, if you just go behind the curtain and undress for me, same as always.” I avoided all eye contact, pretending to busy myself with a pen that I couldn’t find a home for. When I glanced up I noticed Ron attempting to undo his shirt right in front of me, my eyes widened. “Oh no, sir, you gotta go behind the curtain.” My hand landed on his as our eyes met for a brief few seconds. “Oh, okay.”

Within moments Ron was undressed and I was a blushing mess, of course he had his underwear on, but seeing him like this when we weren’t in a sexual situation made me al flustered. “You can come sit back down.” I watched as he sat back in front of me and I began examining, feeling his glands for any sign of bother, there was nothing.

“How much of this are you gonna do?” Ron then cleared his throat as I looked back up, my hand still rested on his chest. “How do you mean?” “As in… what else do you have to examine.” “oh, nothing private.” I sheepishly spoke. “That’s a man’s job, not mine.” An awkward giggle escaped my lips as I pressed over his chest, feeling for any abnormalities. I’d moved in closer, our knees knocking slightly, as I shuffled in my hair hearing him exhale gently. “You got any more after me?” Ron then questioned, my eyes lifting to really recognise how close we were. “No, you’re my last of the day.” My voice came out, barely a whisper as he nodded, a half smile growing on his face. Bashfully, I fluttered my eyes away, my heart rate taking off at a million miles per hour. Once everything was checked, sight, hearing, breathing- Ron was fine, but I however was left completely flustered, a literal mess, I was overheating as well. “You’re all done, everything’s fine.” My hand ran off his shoulder, standing back up from my chair, to push it back to where I got it from. “It is?” Ron spoke as I nodded. “Perfect, yeah. No surprise you got some of the top scores for your fitness earlier.” Ron sheepishly shrugged it off as I picked on the wooden table nervously as he stood up once again in front of me. “Don’t do that.” He winced, a hand covering mine. My gaze directed straight up to his, head tilting back to fully catch sight of him.

“Sorry.” My voice came out weak, like a whisper. “You said I was your last check up, right?” His voice lowered as I nodded, anticipating where this was going. His hand was still on mine, and we’d began to close the gap between us. “Yeah, last of the day. I got more tomorrow.” I averted my gaze one again, seeing him nod from the corner of my eye as his hand slipped off mine. Without thinking, I chased after it, my hand resting back in his again. “Ron, wait.” I stepped closer, borderline freaking out when I realised what I’d just done. Ron’s brows furrowed slightly, his free hand coming up to caress into my hair and over the side of my neck.

“You should go relax tonight.” He muttered, tracing his fingers across the sensitivity of my scalp. “I’m fine.” I sighed into his touch, hearing him hum out before moving closer to fully end the gap between us. Ron kissed me once sweetly, and again, before I felt myself practically dive on him. Shit, I couldn’t help it, I couldn’t get enough of him.

My fingers dug into the bare skin of his back, deepening the kiss as I couldn’t decide whether to yank on his underwear or his body to get even closer to me. The close proximity all day had ruined me, I was already aching desperately over him, and it was so wrong, in a physical exam with one of my superiors. But shit, I couldn’t help it. When my hands fell to his underwear, pushing on the band, he borderline pushed me back onto the desk, body toppling onto mine whilst pushing up my skirt. “I need you.” I admitted. “I just need you to fuck me.” The words came out bolder than what I expected. His fingers snapped at my underwear, stretching them down as he kicked at his fingers, lubricating my aching pussy before I pulled him by the ass into me. From the lack of foreplay I was still a little tight, but god I needed more of him, the second he entered me I let out a relieved sigh, feeling his arms wrap around my body to pull me close. His thrusts began, quick and harsh, filling me up in the way I’d needed. The sexual tension between us couldn’t be contained, and it always came to this in the most sneakiest of times. “Fuck me, sir.” I sighed out, keeping my voice on the low seeing as there was most likely people outside the door. Ron huffed with each thrust as he fucked into me, making the the table jump and move with each pump. He took a few harsh, slow thrusts, before giving it to me exactly how I wanted. One of his hands guided down to my clit, rubbing fast circles over my core as I covered my mouth with one hand.

Ron, knocked this hand away with his chin, attaching his lips onto mine as he groaned into the kiss causing me to scratch at his back harshly. “Please, please- like that, I’ve needed you so bad.” I admitted as he panted out, quickening his pace as he was encouraged by my words.

“Can’t stop thinking about you- about this.” He whispered back, grinding his hips right up to mine now as I let out a yelp maybe a little too loud. His words went straight to my chest, a warm swell filled me up and it caused me to scratch at his back more, Ron letting out a growl at the sensation.

It wasn’t long before I came crashing over the edge, babbling away as Ron moaned into my ear. “Cum all over me, fuck, that’s it.” He growled, biting down on my shoulder as his movements became choppy and strained. “Fuck.” “Cum for me, sir, fuck, I want it so bad.” With one last whimper from me, Ron pulled out and unloaded his seed onto my thighs, his high following mine shortly after as we both laid there breathing heavily. He was collapsed onto me, his cum rubbing up all over us uncomfortably. Grimacing, I glanced down as he followed my eyes. “Oh.” With that he was yanking tissues out of the box, wiping me clean before he did himself. I sat up on the table, still coming down from my high as Ron turned back to me, reaching forwards to do up my buttons. “So, is this becoming a regular thing now?” He practically smirked as my eyebrows raised. “I don’t know is it?” I straight up asked.

“Well… seems like it.” He muttered as he pulled his underwear back up, my eyes averting from his still evidently hard bulge. The white briefs didn’t do much to conceal anything, let alone something that bi- “shouldn’t we be more… careful?” “what d’ya mean?” He dumbly asked as I snatched my underwear back off the floor, pulling them back up. “I mean… you know, careful. If somebody finds out we’re both done for.” Ron watched me speaking with an unreadable expression. “You’re my commanding officer, I mean.” I mumbled out, shrugging with an awkward kinda chuckle leaving my lips.

Ron cleared his throat and moved around to retrieve his uniform that was discarded on the patient bed. “Yeah, suppose so.” Suppose so? How was he acting so nonchalant about this? His laid back attitude confused me, I’d expected him to be slightly more uptight, concerned, or maybe that was just me deflecting my emotions on him. “We should, I mean.” Ron corrected as I nodded, nudging down my dress to flatten any creases. Once dressed, Ron inhaled sharply like he was about to announce something important, but it fell flat. “Hm?” I frowned, not knowing how to fill the awkward silence. “I’ll see you… on patrol, tomorrow.” He too seemed a little awkward. After the intensity of our love making, our mundane conversations felt weird and unfitting. “Oh, I’m not going. I’m in the hospital tomorrow morning, so… I won’t be there…”

“Really? Forget what I said then.” He shook his head, fastening the last of his buttons on his uniform. He looked so handsome stood there, all tall and brooding, if it wasn’t so goddamn awkward then I would’ve been overjoyed. “I’ll see you later then, sir.” I smiled softly, fixing all the crumpled papers on my desk which we had messed up previously. “See you.” With one last nod of a goodbye, he’d left the room. A good 10 seconds later I’d noticed he’d left his god damn tie. Fuck. I contemplated running up after him, but then I didn’t want to seem desperate if I did so. Maybe he’d come back for it? Or maybe not, it had been too long of me sat there contemplating for him to have remembered. I was overthinking to the next level, so I simply left the tie there on my desk, gathered all my papers and left the office which I probably could never look at the same again. I was in trouble, big trouble- with myself.

————————————————————————

Here is the link to the chapter before: https://www.tumblr.com/bellewintersroe/714888831358451712/ron-speirs-x-fem-reader?source=share

[cottonkendi]

Betrayal | 9

MASTERLIST

Kunikuzushi x Reader

Word Count: 1.2k

Genre: idk, it’s like a filler… what genre is this? ksksks

Warning: None

Synopsis: Suspicious Figure

Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

a/n: ayeee, it’s an update that’s not 2 months late 🥳 n e ways, here’s to hoping that this writing fever lasts until I finish this series and maybe even more so that I can actually start taking in requests and ACTUALLY writing said requests 😖

Wordlessly, you kneel before the throne, eyes staring straight ahead as you await for the shogun’s words to allow you to speak. 

It’s barely been a year since everything has fallen apart, barely a year since Kunikuzushi was shunned away by the god before you. 

And now, you stare her down, fists tightly curled on your lap, willing the swirling emotions away. 

It is not your place to feel such things, much less towards a god. 

No matter how much your insides burn, you have no place to act on it against the god before you, even if you wished to do so. 

No. 

Your duty is to be the geo archon’s yaksha. If you so much as speak out of turn in front of the electro archon then you may as well start another war between the gods. And for what?

For Kunikuzushi… only for Kunikuzushi. 

“I heard that you have taken him under your wing.” The archon’s voice echoes inside the barren room, the vicinity ice cold, like that of an abode. It feels like it’s disconnected from the normal realm with its blurring views, thunder clapping in the background despite the foggy walls around you. 

The plane of euthymia… 

“I can’t say I’m opposed to you protecting the puppet… though I am curious as to why you would do such a thing… Answer me, yaksha.” Beelzebul drawls out though you can see the look of steel in her eyes, can see the way her hand tightens around the arm of her throne.

“I have vowed to protect Kunikuzushi, your son, for the rest of my existence. As long as I shall be alive in this world, then Kunikuzushi will be under my protection-” 

“He is no longer my kin. He is but a citizen of Inazuma or any other country for that matter. I wish not for him to be tied to me.” 

Your jaw clenches at her words, hands tingling as you start to feel the hilt of your claymore materialise though you try your best to will it away. “Whether he is part of the electro archon’s kin or not does not matter. My vow still stands and your words shall do nothing to change it. Though if I were to give my humble words of advice, I do not think that pushing him away so suddenly was a wise idea. Protecting him by hurting him… I do not think that the late electro archon would be pleased.” By now, you have stood up from your previous position, just as the thunder starts getting louder. 

“You speak of my sister with such familiarity, yaksha. I suggest you know your place.” 

Turning around, you are met with the sight of Beelzebul holding her sword as she stands before her throne, looking down at you. “The battlefield is a place that I am quite familiar with, electro archon. I have spent quite the time with Baal. In fact, Kunikuzushi himself shares a lot in common with her. Perhaps that is why you’re so afraid of keeping him close…” 

With that, you make your way out of the plane of euthymia, your hair starting to stand up as lightning strikes the ground.

The heavy feeling in your body quickly disintegrates as you’re met with the sight of Kunikuzushi laughing with the village kids, racing their way towards the blacksmith for their usual afternoon lessons. 

It’s only been a few months since you got Kunikuzushi out of your abode and into Tatarasuna. A small island near the main Inazuma island which hosts a small village where you met Niwa who was quickly taken with Kunikuzushi. 

The man quickly opens his home to the both of you, offering to help Kunikuzushi with whatever he may need on the island. The two of you were quite hesitant to be so comfortable with him but soon enough, Kunikuzushi takes to liking Tatarasuna, having his days filled with classes with Niwa wherein he teaches him how to forge swords, along with helping around in the village, you’ve never felt more assured with leaving him alone for a day or so while you continue to do your responsibilities in Liyue. 

“Kunikuzushi was looking for you, y’know?” Humming, you look to your side where Niwa makes himself comfortable against the tree, chuckling to himself when he sees your ever so serious face. “The kid was sulking all day when you didn’t visit at your usual time. He said that even though he can call you at any time, he didn’t want to bother you while you were off doing your duties in that foreign land. He likes telling the village stories about your journey, y’know? Sometimes, he even brings out books about you.” 

Crossing your arms, your gaze moves back to Kunikuzushi who’s starting on forging the metal that was freshly out of the water. 

Sighing at your usual silence, Niwa pushes himself off of the tree, a small smile on his face. “Dendro yaksha, you shouldn’t worry so much about Kunikuzushi… the village practically treats him as family, we’ll protect him.” 

Taking in a deep breath, you finally look Niwa in the eyes. “Please do so. His safety and happiness is the only thing that matters. Kunikuzushi deserves at least that much.” 

A little taken aback by your words, it takes the man a few seconds to respond, but when he does so, he offers you a genuine smile. “I promise you, I will do everything that I can to protect him. He is in safe hands.” Patting you twice on the shoulder, he starts to make his way over to the village once one of the villagers calls out to him. “Now c’mon, yaksha, there’s this Fontaine merchant that’s been visiting for the past week and he seems to have taken an interest in the village’s metal work. He’s been talking about making this place a more appropriate place for the forging, something about bringing in some new equipment.” 

Raising a brow at that, you silently follow before him, the pit in your stomach growing restless as you sense something shift in the air the closer you get to the village. 

Something’s not right… 

“Along with that, he’s even taken an interest to Kunikuzushi. The man’s been bringing in different devices from Fontaine, said that it’ll surely enhance Kunikuzushi’s abilities.” 

Frowning at his words, you can’t help but be unsettled at the thought of this man though perhaps it’s just because you haven’t met him personally… you’ve always been wary of strangers. 

“Ah, there you are, Niwa and oh? Is that the yaksha that everyone’s been talking about in the village? My my, it’s an honour to finally meet your acquaintance.” The man dressed in foreign attire greets you, a smile on his face as he holds out his hand. 

Immediately, you feel something trigger your senses. This man… feels familiar.

“My name is Escher, it’s nice to meet you.”

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[thetomorrowshow]

Mutually Beneficial Ch. xxiii

First  -  Previous  -  Next  -  Chapter list

Recommended listening: AJR - Karma

Tw: Roman’s just not having a good time of it y’all

A/N: This is the chapter where every ‘Virgil’ was replaced with ‘Vurgul’. I was . . . very sleep-deprived. I am pretty proud of it, though.

-

“Roman.”

Roman froze. He knew he should have gone straight to his room and not gone downstairs. Curse his sudden craving for chicken and waffles. He slowly turned. Logan sat in the armchair in the corner of the living room.

“Ah, Logan!” he tried. “How's it going?”

The steely gaze he was met with answered him.

Logan stood, a blanket falling off his lap, revealing grey pajama pants. It reminded Roman that he himself was wearing pajamas, a fact he'd forgotten during his time in the Imagination.

“Do you know how long it's been?” If possible, Logan sounded even more tired than he looked—which was exhausted. The bags under his eyes were so large, Roman thought they might be able to hold an airpod in each one, a rather revolutionary way of storing them. He shook the thought away. That was a stupid thing to come up with—he wasn't Remus, after all.

Roman had an idea of how long it had been, but he said nothing.

“Five hours.” When Roman didn't respond, Logan reiterated. “It has been five hours and twenty-one minutes. Thomas is exhausted. You are aware he has trouble sleeping when you are in the Imagination. Why did you not return home in the time frame I gave you?”

The disapproving tone hit Roman like a ton of bricks. The tears he'd thought were all cried-out threatened to make an appearance. Couldn't Logan tell he felt awful? Of course not, that was ridiculous, and a babyish thing to think. Logan was a 2005 Dell laptop, old and tired and boring and oblivious to feelings. All Roman wanted was for someone to tell him that yeah, things sucked, but they loved him anyway and were proud of him. Was that too much to ask?

“I'll go up to my room,” Roman heard himself mumble. His heart was screaming out for whatever comfort food he could find in the kitchen, but he ignored it and shuffled back toward the staircase.

“Roman, I'm not done speaking.” Roman turned back. Logan looked almost concerned. “You have not been your usual self today,” Logan continued. “Is something wrong? Are you sulking due to a lack of attention?”

Attention was everything he didn't (and did?) want at the moment. Most of Roman wanted to be left alone, wanted everyone to mind their own business and pretend like nothing was wrong. The rest of him wanted them to acknowledge that no, he was not okay, but reassure him that they were here for him every step of the way.

The two conflicting feelings fighting for dominance, Roman said nothing. He ignored Logan's repeated use of his name and trudged up the stairs. He paused at his own bedroom door and looked past it. He could pop in on Patton, see if the fatherly Side was still awake and up for a visit.

He decided against it. He knew Patton would welcome him with open arms, but he really didn't want to bother him. Besides, Patton would probably want to talk with him about what was wrong, ask questions that were too tender to ask.

Roman realized, with a start, that the companionship he desired was Virgil's. Virgil wouldn't ask questions, wouldn't try too hard to make him feel better. Virgil would pop in a Disney movie and grab blankets, and the two of them would enjoy the film until Roman felt reassured and calm enough to sleep. Roman missed Virgil.

Tears once again trying to force themselves from his eyes, Roman quietly went into his own room, shut the door, and collapsed on his bed.

-

Roman rolled over to his side, sleep blurring his vision. Footsteps up the stairs alerted him to someone coming up to the hall, and he quickly buried himself in blankets. No doubt Logan would be coming to try to talk to him. Sure enough, his door creaked open. A moment passed, then his bed dipped as someone sat on the corner.

“Roman.”

That was Logan. Roman continued to breathe evenly and feign sleep.

“Roman. Roman.”

Logan was persistent. Well, too bad, because Roman's most prominent trait was his dedication. Nobody was going to wake him up from a false sleep.

“Roman, I don't know what the matter is, and I won't unless you tell me.” Logan sounded annoyed. Roman resolved further to not tell him.

“I will be leaving this morning. Please don't let Patton follow. And don't follow yourself, either.”

Roman almost sat up just to say “screw you, I'm coming”, but caught himself just in time and turned the movement into a shift in position.

“I've had an idea. I think I may know a way to get Virgil back. I will possibly be gone for an extended length of time, depending on whether or not my theory is correct. I trust you to take care of Patton.”

The mattress sprang as the weight left it. Roman almost let him go. He almost thought good riddance and went back to sleep. Last minute, he remembered his promise to Virgil.

Roman promised protect them.

“Logan, wait.”

Roman sat up. He could now see the satchel slung over Logan's shoulder, the jacket covering the black polo. Logan paused and turned back. He appeared to have gotten some sleep, but his eyes showed depths of weariness.

“I made a promise,” Roman began, “to keep you and Patton safe. And maybe . . . maybe I've already failed,” he said, thinking of Remus. “But I can't let you walk right into what could be a trap.”

“Roman, I did not request permission.”

“For the best, because I'm not going to grant it.”

Logan's satchel fell to the floor with a heavy thunk. It was clear that he'd been looking for any reason to stay. However, Roman knew that Logan's stubbornness would insist he go anyway. He was proved correct by Logan's next words.

“I can't help you here. I have no reason to stay without knowing what I can do to assist in improving your current condition.”

“I'll tell you everything.” Roman heard the words slip out of his mouth and instantly regretted them. Too late. “Please stay. If not for me, then for Virgil, and Patton.”

Logan shook himself. “Ah, Patton. I ought to check up on him.” He abandoned his satchel and made for the door.

Roman rolled out of bed and shuffled after Logan, headed toward Patton's room. The moral Side wasn't there; Roman assumed Patton was in the bathroom or downstairs. Then he noticed Logan's face pale. Then he saw the folded sheet of paper on Patton's neatly-made bed.

RoLo (haha!),

I hope this letter finds you well. Don't know how it could, though—it doesn't have eyes!

Thanks for sharing your theory with me, Logan. I think I know where it is, so I'll find it. I was blindfolded for part of the way, and, uh, I don't remember the way from when Ro led us, so, uh, I don't know why I'm writing these 'uh's down, I'm writing in pencil, I should have erased them, but too late now—I've already written a bunch after them and then there would be these weird gaps in between words and the eraser might smudge some some stuff so I'll just leave them in. Anyway, er, I don't really know how to say this.

I uh, I might be gone for a while. So I had a message for the both of you. I prepared this in advance, so all I have to do is copy it down. No weird pauses or 'uh's!

Logan, thank you for taking such good care of us. I promise I'm not trying to get Virgil! Please don't come after me. I can do this!

Roman, it's okay to not be okay all the time. You guys taught me that. All sun all the time sounds nice, but a world without rain is a dessert desert. You'll get through whatever this is.

Love you, kiddos! Please don't worry about me. I'm fine.

-Patton

The two didn't speak as the reread the letter. Roman found himself frantically wiping at sudden wetness in his eyes—Patton always knew just what to say.

Finally, Logan broke the silence.

“That . . . run-on sentence. Truly horrifying.”

-

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[impyssadobsessions]

Deleted Scenes

LOL Having chapter troubles, I'm not liking anything I'm writing for this chapter of Vacation Crashers. Idk the pieces are just not fitting. So I'm posting some parts I'm deciding to scrap. =w=b Just for fun LOL Like the scenes, don't like its place in the story. Doesn't help and fill like filler so its being cut.

---owo This was... an experience. Jazz pressed her lips, as she listened to the girl on the other end. Apparently, she had convinced Nightwing to let them talk... ear to ear. She sounded excited and was asking a lot of questions. It wasn't about ghosts either, it was about her hobbies, interests, and career choices. It was an... odd situation. Jazz never was particularly popular, in the friend department. She was very well known and liked in the school, but she had no clue how to make friends. She had a few, but they either ditched her before or beginning of high school. Jazz realized that she never really had friends, thanks to her psychological digging and self-reflections. At least, none that were healthy. They made her feel ashamed of her family, of the way she looked. She was grateful that they left, even if it hurt a lot when they did. Mom and Dadeven took notice, taking her out for ice cream to cheer her up. Danny didn't know until he accidentally dug at her sore spot, asking why she didn't go to her bratty friends and leave him alone. To be fair to Danny, She was bossing him around a lot and it was December. Didn't excuse him being rude, just explained it. Danny felt so bad once he realized and tried to make it up to her. It turned out to be one of her favorite Christmases, as he surprised her with their own little holiday celebration up in the Ops Center. Danny set up her tiny tree, red blankets, and lights around a table that held her favorite snacks and dessert. He even had her favorite stuff bear posed in front of the tree with a Santa's hat on it. They spent all night playing games and watching shows. The point she was trying to make to herself. She didn't know how to be friends. Heck, the closest friends she had was Danny's. So to have someone actually interested in befriending her.. no strings attached was.. awkward. But exciting. “I think you've made a huge mistake..” Damian nudged Dick with his elbow. Dick just smiled weakly and nodded, as they watch Jazz. Her face was pale and her expression looked panicked, yet she was still keeping a conversation going to Steph. Cass just walking along side her. “Perhaps.” “We're suppose to be on a mission,” Damian was disapproving of all the chatter. “Wouldn't be surprised if we were found out before we even made it there.” “Let them have this. Its not that often they get someone new to chat with.” “Spoiler only told you that so you would let her chat nonsense.” “Not-” “Dating?! No-no. I don't have time-” Jazz's face scrunched in panic and horror, completely red. She was shaking her head, making the braid Cass had made swing back and fourth. Cass was snickering behind her hand. Damian giving Dick a look, frowning with his arms crossed. “Maybe a little true...” “I should have stayed with Father.” ----owo “This... is amazing!!” Jazz was biting down into the lunch Alfred had sent to them, while Cass braided her hair. Tearing up in corner of her eyes. The bats sent each other confused looks, then nodded in agreement. Alfred was good at cooking. “You guys must have been starving.” “Apparently their last meal was marshmallows?” “I wouldn't call it a meal. Well, Danny might. He ate like ten of them trying to prove a point.”

[stellalunatmblr]

The Flower Path | Chapter 5

Genre/Tags: isekai (kinda?), bangtan x fem!reader, not poly, oc!bestfriend, surprise romantic pairings; rom-com (romance as a subplot), slow burn (the slowest of burns holy moly i cannot stress this enough), fluff, angst  (will update tags along the way)

Status: Ongoing

Summary: What would you feel if you find yourself transported to the world of a cheesy web novel? Ecstatic, of course (well, among other things), except you’re stuck being the main character’s best friend slash sidekick. Fair enough, you don’t think you’re main character material anyway. Determined to get through your life that has changed all of a sudden, you try to keep yourself in the shadows of your “best friend.” Let’s just try to get through the last year of high school in peace. You thought it was gonna be easy – like a walk in a flower path– but the thing about walking that road is that there are bound to be thorns along the way.

Inspired by the web novel and manhwa: Inso’s Law

Word Count: 5.8k

Chapter Note: it took me sooo long to get this out because i took a few days off for myself after finals, but hopefully i can make more progress with this story now.

i’m not really satisfied with this chapter because i felt like i wrote so much yet not enough? it’s certainly not a filler chapter because i dropped a lot here, but as i was writing it it felt like a filler so i was in so much dilemma idk.

masterlist

-

There was a shift in the group dynamic following your conversation with Jin—a culmination of all prior occurrences, really—though it was more evident from their perspective than yours. You interacted with them more, letting yourself go yet being rooted where they were. Minyoung gave you an earful after you returned after skipping classes, but when she noticed your new satisfied glow, she backed down and let you be. She still whacked Jin on the back for it, but you didn't need to know that. All he had to say about it was, "Totally worth it."

The group attempted to meet more regularly to make up for missed study group meetings, even if you are not always complete. With examinations approaching and the start of the sports season, the group has been increasingly busy.

Minyoung laughs fondly as she gazes at your sleeping form, hair disheveled and lips open, snoring softly. She didn't want to be the one to wake you up and disturb your seemingly blissful sleep, but she wouldn't even let the other three boys she was with play rock paper scissors with her to see who would want to take on the task. She takes a seat beside you on the mattress and gently shakes your shoulders.

"Wake up," she whispered, attempting to softly yet quickly wake you up. You simply hummed and wrapped yourself in the duvet completely. She pouts and realizes that her strategy isn't working, so she chooses the other approach. She lays her entire body on top of yours, ensuring that she is pulling her weight down.

"Wake up!" she sang repeatedly in a (annoying) sing-song tone, and she knew you'd lost when she heard you groan.

"It's so early Minyoung, what the fuck," you grumbled as you pushed the covers away from your face, and she just chuckled.

"Come on, we don't want to be late for the assembly!" She resorts to patting you repeatedly until you become frustrated and wake up on your own. She hears you groan again and murmur something about "why did I take this job," and she finally lets up and lifts her weight off of you.

“Your dad cooked us breakfast. Come on, the guys are waiting in the living room.” As soon as she finishes her sentence, you sit bolt upright in your bed. 

“I’m sorry, what?!” You yelled at her and she winced a little.

“The guys— just come outside.”

The sight that greeted you in the living room was the three musketeers—as you like to call them—lounging about in your house, making themselves feel at home. They were too at home, you think, because they were sprawled out comfortably on the sofa. You were so glad you hid the photo albums in the corner of your closet, or else they might have gotten their grubby little hands on them. They all took a look at you as you seemingly have a mental crisis. What were they doing in your home on a weekend at 6 am? Before you could even begin to pester them about it, your dad comes out from the kitchen. 

”Have breakfast before you leave. I’ll go ahead, sweetie, we have early prep for work.” Your dad gives you a tender kiss on the forehead before nodding at your companions and disappearing to the foyer.

Minyoung nudges you back to your room. “Go change, we’ll wait here.” she says and right after, you hear a snicker.

“Nice pajamas.” Taehyung mockingly remarks with a smirk and you look down on your clothes; a pair of silk pajamas with a repeated pattern of a cartoon bear print on it. You roll your eyes. There was nothing wrong with your clothing! You flash him the fakest smile you could muster and flip him off, earning some muffled laughter from his two companions.

“Did my dad let you guys in here? I should scold him about inviting strangers into the house.” You crossed your arms and looked down on them.

“Minyoung vouched for us.” Jimin says with a gentle smile. 

“Besides, we’re not just anyone, we’re your friends.” Taehyung adds as-a-matter-of-factly and reclines back on his seat. He looks at you as a pout forms in your face and you look away, not bothering to refute his statement. His grin grew wider and he chuckled. So something really did change, huh.

“Guys, help me with the food! We don’t wanna be late for roll call.” Minyoung’s voice reverberates from the kitchen and you all shuffled to get moving.

The five of you arrived at school fifteen minutes early for your scheduled meeting. Today was their first volleyball practice match of the season, against a team from another school. The managers and advisers worked quite hard to secure this practice game, especially because it was against a rival school and it needed all of your persuasion abilities to secure it.

It wasn’t until the schedule for this game was set that you met Yoon Sumi, your co-manager. You wondered why it took so long for you to see each other, given that you were both in the same year and she was in class 5, the room next door. When you first met, she greeted you with a grin and a warm, cheerful voice, and you were taken aback by her overall presence and elegance. You also notice that she is well liked by many people, as evidenced by the greetings she receives in the halls while you walk alongside each other. She possessed an aura that you couldn't quite put your finger on but knew was pertinent. But it wasn't any of those things that piqued your interest in Sumi; it was the color of her hair that surprised you the most.

You've seen other people with different hair colors— usually black or brown, with a mix of people with night shades. Though they're not as unique and bright as your friends', they're nonetheless uncommon and unnatural to see for you but seemingly normal in this world. Those people wore the darkest hues and were barely apparent. Sumi was an oddity; she had dark blue hair that was barely noticeable but otherwise shone brightly when illuminated. When she is under the sun, her hair seems to shimmer around her. It was similar to how Minyoung's light hair drew attention, but not exactly because Minyoung, like your other friends, exuded a certain glow that only they could muster.

You were naturally careful around her. You could tell by her hair that she had a role, probably an important one at that, but you don't know what it is yet. For the time being, it's best to be cautious with her and not let your guard down. You've already let down your guard enough around your friends.

"You guys are here," Sumi notes, a warm smile on her face, as the five of you approach the vehicles that the students will use to travel to Haneul High.

"Yep, captains must be on time," Minyoung responds with a kind smile.

You took it upon yourself to walk over to where the gym carts are parked next to a mini-bus and pull out your list of things to bring to the game. As you ticked off items on the list, you sensed a presence alongside you.

“Need help with that?” Jimin asks as he looks down on the items in front of you. You just shook your head gently at him.

“No, thank you. I have a list, anyway. I’ve got it all covered.” You reply and get back to what you were doing. He told you to find him if you do require assistance before backing away and getting back to where his friends are.

It wasn't long until both teams' members arrived, understanding how important punctuality is to being a good athlete. You were in charge of the girls' team's roll call, and they boarded the minibus as you called them. You were wrapping up when you noticed that almost all of the guys had boarded their designated vehicle—a van— save for their captain. Jungkook stood frowning, waiting for all of his members to be called before boarding the vehicle himself. You approached them while signaling Minyoung to board the bus.

"Hey," you said as you approached Jungkook and Sumi, who was looking down and double-checking her clipboard.

Jungkook shifted his eyes to you and scratched the back of his neck, causing your brows to wrinkle.

“All good. We can go now.” Sumi looked up and smiled at you before turning away, but you stopped her before she could go.

“Wait,” You said as you looked at the van in front of you. “Are you sure we only booked a van for the guys? They seem.. Cramped in there.” You remark and you see Jungkook perk up from your peripheral vision. You look towards the van, where the guys are struggling to find a comfortable position, their bags taking up some of the room.

“Oh, about that..” Sumi took a nervous glance at the boys’ team captain. “They only had the budget for a van.” You saw Jungkook frown even more at her words.

You sigh and run your palm down your face, frustrated. There's no way all of these guys are going to be comfortable all cramped in that van. You don’t understand why the management didn’t just allow you two mini–buses or maybe even one big bus, considering you were all going to the same venue anyway. They have different budgets based on their performance during sports seasons, and the boys' budget was cut over the summer, but this was only for a practice game; They didn't have to be too frugal.

You hear footsteps approaching from behind you and see Minyoung. She inquires as to what was causing the delay, and you provide a brief explanation.

"We only have enough seats for us, the coaches, and the managers," she says, nodding to the bus. "But we can fit some of your items on the bus, Jeon."

You nod at her and she turns to Jungkook again. "How about this: grab everything important from your gym bags, and we'll transfer them onto the bus. It won't really change much, but it'll give you guys enough room to be comfortable." She proposes, and Jungkook considers for a few seconds before accepting. He walks to the van to deliver the message to his team.

Some of them shuffle out and go through their bags, while Taehyung appears to be fighting to hold snack packages in one hand and his open bag in the other. You sighed and rolled your eyes.

"Leave the snacks Tae, you'll be fine without them for half an hour," you reprimanded, but he whimpered exaggeratedly.

"But here's the thing: I won't!"  You turn to Jimin, who is standing next to him, and communicate with him through your eyes that you need help in dealing with his friend. He chuckles and grabs the snacks, stuffing them inside his bag.

"I don't mind having my bag on my lap. Let him keep these," Jimin says, and you sigh in defeat. It's fine; you shouldn't spend any more time on this than you have already.

“Uhm, let me take those.” Sumi offers her hand to their bags and Taehyung hands her his, giving a small thank you.

Everything was settled soon after and you departed from the school to head to Haneul High, which was a little over 30 minutes away. You opted to sit alone in front, Sumi having beaten you to sit beside Minyoung. You didn’t mind, you were going to catch up on some sleep anyway – well, a nap more likely.

Minyoung’s teammate shook you awake as you arrived and you groggily thanked her. She politely smiled before leaving the bus.

“Minyoung?” You inquired about your friend's whereabouts to another team member who was passing by your seat, and she pointed outside the bus.

“She’s already outside.” She says. Without being the one to wake me? You thought it was strange because Minyoung typically took every opportunity to be near you, even when it came to the most mundane things. It wasn't a big deal that she didn't wait for you to get up; it was just a little out of character for her. You take the net bag with the balls and assist the driver in unloading the drink coolers from the bus.

"___, let us handle that," Someone from the girls’ team says, taking one of the cooler's handles from your grip. She motions for a member of the guys team to assist her, and two of them approach, taking the cooler with them.

You swiftly approach and greet the Haneul High team's manager, who was a guy who oversaw both their girls' and boys' teams, as well as a junior manager whom you learnt was being trained to take his place. He welcomes you and tells you that you can head with the rest of the group to their gymnasium, as Coach Kai was led away by them to greet the rival team's coach.

You were left alone for a bit, so you took advantage of the opportunity to look around. Considering it being a weekend, there were a surprising number of students present. You're not sure, but you think you spotted students carrying banners and walking towards the gym. Did they get those for the game? It wasn't even an official match. You look around to find Minyoung walking towards you, breaking away from her conversation with her teammates.

"You should've woken me up," you say, a disgruntled tone in your voice. She pinches your cheeks and coos at you.

"Sorry, I was so wrapped up in conversation with Sumi that I didn't notice I went straight off the bus," She said and you just grinned and shook your head.

“Nah, it’s fine. You should go ahead and warm up with the rest.” You tell her and she jokingly salutes you with a “yes ma’am” before turning away and gathering the girls inside the gym.

“Hey, I’m coming with the girls’ team, you can head with the boys. I think they’re starting their game first.” Sumi says as she approaches your side and you nod at her.

The teams split up opposite sides to warm up, because the gym can house three courts— which is significantly larger than your school's gym, with adequate space in the center for spectators. However, it meant that it blocked your view of the girls' game. Your initial assessment of the audience was correct; they were there to watch the game, but it became clear that they were also there to see the attractive players on your team. The legendary seven princes, if you will. At the very least, three of them. You overheard a few murmurs about how they heard about the Seven Princes of Kkotgil, as if it were some sort of lore that your school had, but in fact it was just seven teenage boys with obnoxiously colorful hair (and extremely good looks, but you're not one to admit that).

The captains bow to each other before tossing a coin, and your team receives first serve, followed by a whistle signifying the start of the game. You were almost ecstatic since the opposing team barely held the ball up at the very start, you could hear them shouting as they communicated with one another, and they were able to return the ball, although too busy doing so to execute an attack. Okay, they got this. This is an opportunity. Your team easily received the ball, and you notice Jungkook yell something as he prepares to attack. The setter rapidly moves to the center of the attack line and raises the ball.

But instead of passing to the captain, he passes to another attacker, who misses because the ball was a little short. What? Jungkook had the perfect setup for an attack, with a clear hole in the other team's position from his side. You furrow your brow as the other team huddles around with a small cheer. What was up with that? This isn’t good for building momentum. 

The students who were watching cheered, albeit there were a few disappointed murmurs mixed in, no doubt expecting the doe-eyed captain to show off his skills.

You see Jungkook shake his head a little before huddling his team. You took notice of how they didn’t immediately gather to the center, save for Taehyung, who was also a starting player. Jimin enters the court in the back line as the libero, tapping his friend on the back as they get ready to receive the opponent's serve. You notice with keen eyes how frantic they are with their plays. The opposing team was nothing exceptional, keeping their plays simple and straightforward, but it worked. It worked because they established a connection on the court that allowed them to communicate their plays and inform the rest of the team of their next move. You recognize that that was something your team lacked as the game went on.

You sigh as the ball lands on your court once more, Jungkook smacking the wooden floor in frustration after missing the ball by a hair. It doesn’t help with his frustration that the opponents seemed to be acting smugly towards him on purpose, as if taunting him to break his resolve. Coach Kai's presence looms over your shoulder, interrupting the notes you were taking.

“I’m calling time-out. Your notes are good, you should take this first one. I need to talk to the opponent’s team adviser.” He says and taps you on the shoulder.

“Yes, coach. Do you want me to record their game on my phone?” You asked but he shook his head no.

"Just keep taking notes. I trust those boys to get their shit together," he says, chuckling and turning away before doubling back. He whispers, "Don't tell anyone I said 'shit'," before walking away and calling timeout after a rally. You simply smiled at his antics and returned your attention to the team. 

They approach the bench, and the team gathers around each other, accepting their bottles and taking a swig of their sports drinks.

You approached Jungkook first, walking close to him. You begin with, "Hey."

"Oh, hey," Jungkook says, his brows furrowed and his eyes fixed on the currently vacant court, as if visualizing something. You hand him an electrolyte drink before pulling him towards where the rest of the boys are.

"You guys are stiff and hurrying your plays," you start. "I understand this is a practice game, but you guys need to get it together," you say as you look at the opposite bench, where the Haneul High team was. "At first glance, they don't appear to be doing anything complicated, but they're all connected, which is why they make it work with the most basic plays. You guys should communicate more in court."

You return your attention to Jungkook, urging him to appeal to his teammates. He clears his throat and nods. He begins, "She's right, here's the plan..."

Someone in the group snickers, and you notice Jungkook stiffening beside you, his jaw clenched. You look at Junghoon, who was huddled with two of his teammates, all of whom appeared to be close friends of his. Jimin takes a step up beside Jungkook, as if analyzing the situation. You shifted your eyes from the committee in charge of the timer for the time-out to Junghoon and his posse. Growing impatient with the boys for not making progress with the discussion on how to work on their play, you stepped in.

"He's your captain, Junghoon. If you're going to act like a child, you should be on a playground rather than a court," you remarked sternly with a sharp glare his way. You see them straighten up and you feel the tension grow slightly.

"Then, ___, you should be our captain instead. At least you can tell us off.” he replies with a slight smirk and suddenly you feel like you overstepped. You should've just talked to Jungkook on his own and left him to deal with his teammates. You felt like a jerk, as if you'd unwittingly taken his place.

You were ready to turn to him and apologize when you felt an arm pull you back. "Don't," you hear as you turn to find Jimin nodding at you “He needed that.” 

"He can handle it," Tae adds. They tap you on the shoulder, and you see Jimin nod at you again, so you reluctantly step away from the guys and focus on your notes instead.

Jungkook exhaled through his nose and closed his eyes. He needed to calm down and get his shit together. He cleared his throat to grab everyone's attention. 

"Whether you like it or not, I'm the captain of this team, and believe me when I say I'm looking out for everyone's best interests. Now..." he said, the tone of his voice stern and his eyes filled with rekindled determination. "If you can't respect me, respect your sportsmanship at the very least. You're an embarrassment of an athlete if you lose on purpose just to spite me."

Everyone seems to quiet up and look aside in shame, so he interprets that as a signal to continue. He tells the team the strategy, and they all nod, but his mind lingered on his teammates' words after they had left. At least you can tell us off.

Has he been too lenient? He felt embarrassed that he seemed to be failing miserably as a captain. He was so consumed with the weight of last year's loss on his shoulders that he didn't realize he wasn't keeping the team in check. Maybe he was so consumed with remorse over getting his position despite the... trouble he had caused last year that he wanted to make amends by not being too tough on his team. He knew now that his decision was catching up with him. Because he feels he owes them for last year, he was unable to establish his role and authority with the team, to the point where they listened to the manager more than their captain.

It was difficult for him to try to prove himself to the team when he himself did not believe he deserved the position after all that had happened. It was unfortunate for him that only their senior members got to vote on who will be the next captain in line, because his batchmates appeared to disagree with their decision. But he's here now, and if he backs down now, he won't be able to make up for anything at all afterwards.

They return to the game and play better this time, but they still lose the first set since they were unable to catch up on their mistakes before the timeout was called. Coach Kai returned to watch them play and instructed you on what else you should put on your notes for him to work on with the team when they returned. Your team eventually loses 3-2 against the opposition. It bothered you more than you expected, especially since the other team didn't make any really noteworthy plays. You haven't seen much of your team's practices, but you know they can put together some good combinations when they try. You're baffled as to why they didn't try now.

Jungkook was even more upset than you, considering he was the team's leader. He was able to rally the team to win two sets, but it wasn't enough to propel them to victory. He thinks he needs to reassess how he communicates with his teammates and how he deals with them. For the sake of the team, he must put his own objectives and guilt aside.

Minyoung approaches you after a cooldown routine with the joyful news that they won their practice game versus Haneul, as you suspected based on the cheers on their side of the court. They had a lot of supporters here for an away game; It was most likely because of Minyoung's popularity.

You pat her on the back and congratulate her. Sumi is standing next to her, congratulating her as well. You smile at the two of them and go back to double-checking the teams’ things, comparing them to the list you have. You were all loading the stuff into the bus after lunch when you noticed Jungkook still standing there, staring at their van from afar. You turn around and assist the driver with the coolers once more before backing up and letting him close the compartment.

After a head count, you were ready to enter the bus with Minyoung when you were stopped by Jungkook calling out to you.

"When we get there, don't go home yet. Wait for me," he says directly to you, catching you off guard.

"What do you need her for, Jeon? After the briefing, we still have more training to do," Minyoung tells him.

"I just need to speak with our manager," he says, his tone annoyed.

"I need to speak with her as well," she argues, adamant and protective of you.

"All right, let's all go together," he says, turning back to you. "Wait for us 'til after training," he demands, rather than requesting of you.

You were about to smack him in the face for speaking to you in that manner, but you recall that you owe him for earlier and retract your claws. Even if he didn't wait for an answer, you just sighed and nodded.

When you return to school, the teams go directly to the gym for a quick review of their games and the areas coach Kai wants them to focus and work on. They rush to practice and work on their plays, and you notice a teeny tiny improvement in communication with the boys' team, but there was still notable tension in the air. You have no idea what their deal with their captain is, or with each other in general, but you can only hope they work it out before the official season starts.

You had to wait for another four hours of training, but you made yourself useful by finalizing the other teams that were scheduled to have practice games with Kkotgil, which they would come to your school this time. Sumi chose to stay and work with you after seeing that you were also staying behind. After their training, the coach dismisses both teams, and the captains immediately rush to your side. 

"Let's go," Jungkook says, waving farewell to his other two friends, who waved back to you and Minyoung as well.

Sumi gets up from where she was sitting next to you. “Are you guys having a meeting? Do you need me to be there too?" She inquires of all three of you, and you turn to look at the other two since you, too, were unsure.

"No, that's all right, Sumi. Thank you for today." Jungkook bows politely and says, "You worked hard." Minyoung follows suit and Sumi lets out a smile that crinkles her eyes. 

“Alright guys, don’t work too hard. You need proper rest, too.” She nods at them and then at you before gathering her things and leaving.

You three go to a nearby café and order before deciding where to sit. Even after your orders had come, Jungkook was looking about and stalling.

"Just go right to the point, Jeon.” Minyoung informs him before stuffing a piece of cake in her mouth, "She's waited long enough to hear what you have to say."

He sighs and braces himself. “I.. heard that the coach seems fond of you.”

Minyoung drops her fork on her plate as you choke on your strawberry milkshake.

"Wait, do I have to be concerned about that?!" You sat up straight and questioned him loudly in panic.

He stuttered around his words, his cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “No! No, not at all. That's not how I should've phrased it."

He really should not have! Thank God, because you were about to call the cops for a second there. Minyoung chuckles from beside you, uttering a weak "what the fuck was that?"

He scratches at the nape of his neck, a nervous fidget you notice he does sometimes. He sees you and Minyoung offer him a little grin, which is enough to ease the tension in his shoulders.

"I was wondering if you could be the one to bring up budget renegotiation to him since he might actually listen to you," he says quietly.

Minyoung lets out a small “Oh.” as he says that, and you look back and forth between the two of them, wondering what this was about.

"There will be a meeting before the season officially begins, and that will be the final time the budget may be renegotiated. I need your help in convincing the coach to at least equalize the numbers with the girls' team." He turns to face Minyoung. "I sincerely hope you don't mind."

She gives him a kind grin. "Certainly not. In any case, we're all vying for championships."

Wow. It seems like just yesterday that they were attempting to claw each other's eyes out. You'd think this is a positive thing. It was a superficial rivalry anyway, arising from the same problem they're attempting to solve right now.

"But, why me? And why the coach? Shouldn't the discussion take place with the volleyball team's adviser instead?" You ask them.

"Well, you see, the adviser is there for formality since every sports team needs one. Coach Kai is the one in charge of and oversees all of our activities." Minyoung answers for you.

You exhale a quiet sigh before turning back to him. "I'm not sure I have a say in that, Jeon. I'm still new to the team, and I feel like I'd be pushing it if I tried to discuss money with him."

"But all I ask is that you try. I need you to at least help me in negotiating," he continues with desperation and you turn to look to Minyoung for advice. She reciprocates with a nod.

“Uhm.. Okay," you say, and you watch him breath a sigh of relief.

"I'll help in any way I can, too," Minyoung adds.

He gives you both a sincere grin. He was relieved that his misguided hostility against you didn't drive you away from him, because you were both genuinely nice people. With you agreeing to his request, his shoulders relax a little as he thinks he's one step closer to redemption.

❀。• *₊°。 ❀°

You hand the folder to the Volleyball teams’ adviser and she thanks you for your work. You bow to her before approaching the Coach's desk.

“Coach, we’ve finalized the request for this weekend’s practice game. Sumi couldn’t make it today but here’s the paperwork she asked me to hand in.” Coach Kai accepted the folder in his hands and thanked you before dismissing you, but you stood still in your place.

“Uhm.. Coach, it says on the schedule that a meeting will be held next week for the sports teams before the official season starts.” You ease into the conversation. He hums in response.

“Right, thanks for reminding me of that.” He didn’t bother looking at you; eyes fixated on the work on his desk.

“I was wondering if I can talk to you about the budget? The boys’ team’s in particular.” You prompted and you saw him pause to look at you. 

You prepare to whip out your persuasion skills as he mulls over what you said.

“Why?” He simply said and you were dumbfounded for a second before picking yourself back up.

“Jeon asked me to bring it up.”

He brushes his chin with his hands as he thinks again. "But he didn't tell you why their budget was cut?" 

"T-they lost the championships last year," you stammered, unsure. Jungkook didn't tell you that explicitly, but that's what you've heard, and that's all you know about what happened.

Coach Kai nods as if thinking of something, and you nearly breathe a sigh of relief until the next words he says.

"He didn't say why they lost, did he? Come back to me when you know everything, and I'll be more than willing to negotiate with him," he adds, turning away from you, signaling the finality of his statement.

You entered the classroom from the rear entrance, close to where Jungkook sat. You sat next to Taehyung in the vacant chair before tapping Jungkook on the shoulder to relay the news. He turned to face you, and consequently, Jimin too, who was seated beside him.

"About the thing you asked me to do..." You looked at him, then at his two friends, both of whom were staring at you, since you weren't sure whether he wanted them to know. He nods to signal you to proceed.

"Coach refuses to hear about renegotiating the budget through me when I had no knowledge why and how the cut happened," you continue, seeing his shoulders droop as his two friends gaze at him in surprise, having no idea what you guys were up to.

"He says he'd be more than willing if you told me everything, though." You continue, and he stiffens in his seat.

He could talk to the old man personally to avoid having to reveal all his wounds to you, but now that the coach knows he wants to negotiate through you, he knows the old man is dead set on having you know what happened. He really wants to torture me about this, huh. He returns his gaze to you and sees you waiting for him expectantly to say something. Jimin and Taehyung mirror your expression as they wonder how their friend will handle this. The events of last year were only known by a limited number of people, which included the whole team and the team advisers, after all. Having another person know would be like poking on his wound and opening it further, and he’s not sure if he can handle that.

You can all see through his eyes that his thoughts were racing a mile a minute. Jimin pats him on the shoulder reassuringly, and he seems to snap out of it. He stares you in the eyes once more before saying, "Forget it," and turning his back on you. You hear Taehyung audibly sigh beside you.

You were puzzled by his response. He had such resolve in his eyes when he brought up the subject to you, and now he's going to give up on it just like this? You tried to let it go, to believe that it was his decision and that it was now out of your hands, but you can't help but be bothered now that you already had one foot in the door.

Taehyung ruffles your hair to jolt you out of your trance before asking you to return to your seat, which you did absentmindedly, attempting to figure out where to proceed from here.

-

taglist: @reallysparklychaos @lovebun-19 @shownusshoulders @missseoulite @potaetopic @bbsantc @moderndaychihiro @bear-hugs-and-kisses

[yesimwriting]

I'm a little late with my review, but I made it 😌 In Part 3, we see a glimpse of Wells being weird with that comment of 'What happened to all those little girl dresses?' 🤢 Also, the fact that Gloria and Y/n live with Wells? I thought Gloria and Y/n lived together, but Y/n being forced to live with Wells kind of explains more why she's uncomfortable. She lives with him; therefore, she is being forced to be around him. I'm just surprised too that Gloria moved in with this guy even though I think they've only been dating a few months? 😬 If that's the case, Gloria and him move fast and I feel like maybeee this is hinting the relationship was rushed.

It's stated that Gloria and Y/n used to live in Texas...so how did Gloria even meet this guy? Maybe online? But why would she be so willing to just pack up and force her daughter to leave everything behind? It's safe to assume they both grew up in Texas, so to date a guy for a few months and move in with him is a huge leap.... Maybe love makes you do crazy things? 🤡 It's stated in ch 1 that Y/n has only known Wells for a few months, so maybe the reason Gloria was so comfortable moving was cause her and Wells had been dating a while, but maybe Y/n never met him until a few months ago? Thats definitely a possibility.

Idk something just doesn't feel right with that relationship 🤣 I love how medically accurate chapter 3 was. I literally had to do concussion research and reread ch 3 just to catch all the symptoms since I missed them all lol the tiredness, the headache, the way Y/n was falling asleep in Billy's car, the way Y/n got moody with Stu and Billy in the car...all of those showed that something was wrong. Billy and Stu picking Y/n up was cute and all, but we all know they secretly want Y/n fully dependent on them. Cute how they both quickly knew something was wrong in the car tho 🥺

The Stu vs Y/n staredown was unexpected. Y/n shouldn't have snapped, but Stu shouldn't have been condescending. The fact that he had the audacity to be like "You couldn't even last a couple hours in the hospital" just shows his lack of empathy for what Y/n went through and he's trying to show her that she 'needs' him.... don't make me laugh bro, she doesn't need NO MAN 😭🙄 'DOn'T COME CrYinG tO ME' Nah bro, I'll go cry to my mom instead 🙃

Not me leaving 4 paragraphs long review 🤪 Idc if this chapter was a filler, I loved it ❤

anon i love u so dearly :) i saw the start of your message while i was in class and got so so excited!! thank you so much this, i was feeling so unsure about part 3 bc of how messy my life has been!!

Yes the Gloria and Wells situation is weird!! That's part of the reason Y/n is so bothered by it, but let's just say Gloria's smart! They're there for a reason and it'll get revealed soon! but yeah, Gloria's def the type to date a guy for awhile before he lets them meet Y/n.

Also thank you for noting the medical accuracy 😭 my dad is a neurologist so i've been told quite a bit about head injuries!! i also did a bit of googling to confirm everything lol

i'm glad you liked the car moment!! i wanted something a little cute and domestic, especially bc they are definitely trying to make Y/n dependent on them so that she can't leave, plus it's not like they can make a real move on her, dating Sidney and Tatum is important for their plan and they know that Y/n isn't the type to (knowingly) be a side piece...but that's going to be shown a little more clearly in the next part :)

Also I feel like both Billy and Stu are so good a perceiving people, especially the one person they consider worthy of their genuine care, that they just instantly knew something was up. They can read Y/n better than she can read herself at this point.

also yeah both Stu and Y/n were being problematic that morning! Y/n's attitude was a combination of a lot of things. She was stressed and concussions can lead to mood swings so that was the main reason, but let's just say that Billy and Stu knew what they were doing when they were being a little touchy with their girlfriends. And, even though she doesn't fully realize it, it kind of worked. She was a tiny bit jealous and she's never really felt jealous over a guy before (especially the boyfriends of her best friends) and that, paired with some subconscious guilt and her concussion led to a bit of a tantrum. She wasn't the center of Stu and Billy's attention for one minute and she immediately chose violence😭 she's so real for that lowkey.

And on Stu's side, at first the fact that she was uncomfortable was kind of good for his ego. Like aw, she's jealous, she cares🥺, but then when she saw that she was actually unwell, he felt a tiny bit bad. Not guilty, just a tiny bit worried that something was going on with her head injury. So when he finally decided to ease up, and Y/n's reaction was to not only reject him but then to straight up not listen to him?? Stu was not having it, and it bothered him so much he low key forgot to act 'normal' and exposed his lack of empathy for a second.

also you’re actually so funny 😭 humble him!! he wishes he could go cry to his mom 🙄

thank you so much for the review!! it really made my day :)

[thosch3i]

Hi hi! So the lost tombs and chronology all super confuse me. So tlt2 ended on a cliffhanger that was not resolved by tlt3 which is ultimate note, but now there is another tlt3 that I am guessing is made by the same studio as tlt2 (but not UN) that actually follows tlt2? And it has the same WPZ as tlt2 (but sadly different WX, ZQL though I’m sure these guys are great). You seem to know what you’re talking about so I’m hoping you can help!

UN also ended on a cliff hanger so I’m wondering if they’ll get a sequel from their studio that comes before tomb of the sea.

ahhh hello anon! yes ahaha the dmbj dramas are certainly very confusing--because they keep switching the screenwriters/entire production team between dramas. huanrui did tlt1 (2015), tlt2 (2019), and the sequel to tlt2 (2021). they're also technically the production company for un (2020), but linghe did like all the directing/casting/writing so its significantly different in tone and quality from the other dramas huanrui produced. npss (dmbj author) did sha hai (2018) and tltr (2020), with sha hai being in collab with linghe, so you can see lots of parallels with un and shared cast. (gonna add that i dont know much about the m9 because that’s not what im personally interested in, so i’m only going by stories with wu xie & the iron triangle.)

unfortunately, the dramas pretty have no continuity as a result of all the weird shit and multiple studios doing different dramas and messy stuff going on behind the scenes. the author's production company currently has all the rights back for filming future dramas, which is......imo, a good thing for book fans who love the author but a 😬 thing for book fans who like the original story more than what the author is now doing with it. I'll uh avoid saying too much opinion stuff though so no more on that 😅

that aside! yes 云顶天宫 “explore with the note” part 2......is the direct sequel to tlt2 and done by the same studio. unfortunately the writers are different and im not sure how much of the production team is the same either. idk how much you know about the novels so brief summary here--for the chinese version, the main story has 9 parts split among 8 books (though the official eng tls have each part being a different book) with some important content being as follows:

official eng title “cavern of blood zombies” (first time wx goes into a tomb, first t3j meeting)

official eng title “angry sea, hidden sands” (xisha seabed tomb, introduce a-ning)

official eng title “bronze tree of death” (bronze tree in qinling, wx & lao yang solo adventure)

official eng title “palace of doom” (heavenly palace on the clouds, introduce bronze gate)

official eng title “deadly desert winds” (golmud, introduce hei xiazi, desert, rainforest, tamutuo)

official eng title “graveyard of a queen” (the rest of that arc, wu sanxing & xie lianhuan reveal, jade meteorite, amnesiac xiaoge and escape, sanshu vanishes for good--also i think the official eng tl covers a couple chapters of the beginning of the next part too)

阴山古楼 (searching for xiaoge’s memories in banai, miluotuo cave, i think introduction of wu erbai)

邛笼石影 (auction/hotel iron triangle fight, introduce xiao hua & xiuxiu, wx & xh on the mountains alone while pz & xg go with granny huo)

finale (rescue from zhang family mansion, changbai mountain goodbye, 10 years promise)

after the main story are the main sequels:

zang hai hua (tibetan sea flower; unfinished & abandoned) covers wu xie a few years after xiaoge has entered the gate, searching to understand xiaoge’s past

sha hai (tomb of the sea; unfinished & abandoned) covers wu xie’s plan to wipe out the wang family, after zhh

chongqi (reunion: the sound of the providence) covers wu xie’s lung disease and how he recovers from that, set after they pick up xiaoge again from the bronze gate. thunder city and everything.

灯海寻尸&万山极夜 (still updating on wechat) don’t worry about this one since it’s still a WIP lol

btw between sha hai and chongqi there’s also ten years later (a short story) that covers how wu xie and pangzi pick up xiaoge from the bronze gate and take him home

the dramas Do Not Connect To Each Other At All, which the exception of tlt2 & tlt2 pt2 somewhat, but they go in this order:

盗墓笔记 / the lost tomb 1 (2015): covers part 1 but with major OCs and filler, and includes the auction scene from part 8 for some reason, so introduces xiao hua early.

怒海潜沙&秦岭神树 / the lost tomb 2 (2019) technically “explore with the note”: covers parts 2 & 3 but with major OCs and filler, introduces xiao hua & xiuxiu (and hei xiazi briefly) early. last couple episodes also cover the beginning of part 4. not a direct sequel to tlt1 despite being done by the same studio.

云顶天宫 / heavenly palace on the clouds (2021) technically also “explore with the note”: covers part 4 with major OCs and filler (and the same changes carrying over from tlt2). some episodes are identical to the last couple episodes of tlt2. works as a direct sequel only if you ignore the last couple episodes of tlt2 that take place in the snowy mountains. (those episodes of tlt2 were filmed after this drama was filmed, and im still not sure why they dragged the wu xie and xiaoge from tlt2 back to changbai mountain to film those episodes.)

终极笔记 / ultimate note (2020): covers parts 5-8 with minor OCs and minimal filler, also introduces xiao hua & xiuxiu early. the only adaptation that resembles its source material most of the time.

沙海 / tomb of the sea (2018): covers the second sequel with major OCs and filler. includes some bits from zhh and the short story “three days of silence”.

重启之极海听雷 / the lost tomb reboot (2020): covers third sequel with major OCs and filler.

in addition there is the prequel series mystic nine (2016) and side movies for the dramas that the author produced. there is also a single standalone movie--time raiders (2016) that is....well it’s. very strange. it’s fully subbed on youtube if you’re interested?

the best way to watch the dramas is to assume each one is its own self-contained AU set along different points of the dmbj timeline because even the dramas the author himself worked on don’t have continuity LOL (and with the exception of ultimate note & sha hai most of the time, also assume most characters are pretty OOC from the novels).

i uh regret to inform you though, that ultimate note will not be getting a sequel unless the author magically decides to not care about making money anymore and sells the rights to film the finale to linghe or something ^^;;;; it’s....unfortunate bc un is the most highly-rated dmbj adaptation on douban by A Lot, but it’s an adaptation that the author had literally nothing to do with whatsoever.

more information on some of the side movies/stage plays/manhua/donghua here.

summaries of the main novel stories (currently through zhh) here.

edited mtl (some of which has apparently been looked over by native cn speakers) of the novels following where official eng tls end here. (there are many scattered extras as well.)

you can get the official eng tl books/ebooks on amazon or elsewhere(?), but if you have problems purchasing them or like you just dont wanna support amazon or something, dm me off anon. (also i dont want to be mean but frankly the official tls are kinda bad too ^^;;;)

a rough timeline (spoilers galore) for the dmbj novels here. (fair warning im not 100% sure how accurate all of this is--they put three days of silence as 1991 but looking at the info in zhh, it seems like it should have been before the 1950s...but it’s more than fine as a general overview.)

anyway i hope that was helpful in some way? dmbj is a Very Confusing thing to get into ahahaha, one of my twitter mutuals has made a few carrds if you think they might be helpful: book, dramas (slightly out of date bc it says heavenly palace hasn’t aired yet), ultimate note (got its own carrd by virtue of being the only adaptation aside from sha hai sometimes that most og book fans acknowledge lol ^^;;;)

also anon if anything wasn’t clear or if you had more questions feel free to ask again sorry ahahaha im kinda tired rn @.@ 

[seventeensarmy]

(2) Stuck With You (OT7!Hybrid Au)

Pairing: OT7xReader, Jungkook x Reader, rest will come in the course of the story

Warnings: a tiny bit angst in like the flashbacks, but also combined with fluff, bad written smut , oral (m. receiving), dirty talk, unprotected sex (reader is on pill, but i didn´t write that. Also don´t do unprotected sex!), spanking, dom/sub dynamics, that i described idk.. maybe a bit to obvious.

Words: 3.670

Summary: Planning to train the whole day doesn´t sit well with Jungkook, especially if he gets easily distracted. (Not gonna lie, this is kind of a filler chapter, because I wanted to give a bit more detail to JK´s and readers realationship)

A/N: Next Chapter we´ll have the next member appear, share your guesses?!

Previous / Next 

Chapter two

“And do you know where I want you? On your knees”

Taglist: @imezz​ @anxietylovesme​ @holaaaf​ @ot7purple​ 

(Not my gif)

One year ago ( Jungkook 21 / Reader 20)

 "Stop cheating!", you exclaimed, looking giggling through the mirror, watching Jungkook trying to warm up with you.

This morning he had insisted to try to warm up with you, but he quickly realised, that a ballet warm up looks a lot different than a normal gym warm up.

You were standing and bending down trying to reach your toes.

 Jungkook, being the good boyfriend he is, said he had to watch you do it first, so he'd know how to do it. Naively, you believed him, continuing with your warm up, not noticing that Jungkook didn't participate until you looked up to change the exercise.

"I'm not cheating, I'm practising my patience", he smirked, "You don't know how much patience and will it takes me to not take you right here. Seeing you so nicely bend over for me"

You felt the blood rush into your face, standing up straight to look up to him.

"Don't distract me", you whined, shuddering as his hands roamed over your body, setting on your behind. "I didn't get to train yesterday either", you pouted, remembering the way he didn't even let you leave the bed yesterday.

His grip tightened around your waist, one hand left to bring down a harsh slap on your ass, making you whimper.

"But I'm pretty sure you still owe me two free days, seeing as you trained three weeks non-stop."

You looked away, not wanting to see his smirk, as you realised he was right.

The last years had been rough, but better because of Jungkook.

 After hearing about your parents’ death you didn't know what to do. You were underage with no family, you couldn't live alone.

The lawyer came the next day and had even brought his hybrid, claiming that maybe the hybrid would have a calming effect on you.

After smelling the hybrid Jungkook came stomping out of the room he was hiding in, saying if someone would calm you it was him.

The lawyer had asked you if Jungkook was your hybrid and you admitted that he wasn't. The both of you feared that Jungkook would now be taken to a shelter, but were surprised when the lawyer asked you if you wanted him to be.

You and Jungkook were speechless, Jungkook becoming your hybrid?! You nodded your head rapidly and you could swear Jungkooks eyes were becoming teary.

After that the lawyer asked if you had anyone who could be your guardian and you immediately thought of your nanny and cook.

Unsurprisingly both of the asked adults didn't even need to be convinced. But seeing as they both had their own families and didn't want to move into your house and you didn't want to intrude in their lives, you came to the decision that you would stay in the house on your own and the staff would just come to work like they used to.

Money was a bit trickier; till you were legal your guardians would be in control of the money your parent left you. It was a huge sum and you were grateful, that even though your parents seemed to be travelling a lot they still managed to save up just as much, if not more.

 You and Jungkook should never have trouble with money, even of the staff was paid and bought the food from the same sum.

Now you were 20, last year you got your first credit card.

Hybrid laws were also changed in the last years, allowing them access to education (though not in public school) and even own money, so you also got a card for Jungkook with access to your money.

He started to be home-schooled with you, though he had to start first on the basics like reading and writing. But since its Jungkook, everything he set in his mind he achieved.

 You were planning to stay in Busan till you finished your school, maybe then moving to Seoul. After talking about it with Jungkook a plan was easy made.

You'd finish school here and move to Seoul, you weren't sure though if you'd want to sell your home. Jungkook told you that, if you could afford to keep it, you should keep it.

 Living with Jungkook was one of the best things to ever happen to you, he helped you to get over your parents death in a way no one else could. It had been hard, you couldn't eat and sleep, barley functioning.

It had been Jungkook who fed you when none of the staff could talk you into eating.

He was staying with you in your room, holding you while you were crying and mourning. True, the relationship to your parents was rough, them never being around and pressuring you. But they were still your parents and now they were dead.

 "Kookie, please. Just an hour or so", you begged, it was true, you were training a lot, but you had a performance in a few days and saying you were nervous was an understatement. It was the first time you were dancing in a competition in the age class adult. The people you were competing against were probably a whole lot older than you. “I think you trained quiet a lot the last weeks. A few days rest would help you gain some more energy” Jungkook said frowning.

“I need the practice, I know you don´t like it, but they all have more experience than me. How am I supposed to keep up with them? I have enough energy, I just need to get the choreography right. There are still so many parts that aren´t perfect, did you see my last few turns? If I don´t work on them I don´t even need to show up to the competition. Also, why would you even let me warm up if you don´t want me to practice?”, you were starting to rant, but you couldn´t stop yourself now, hands wildly moving you started to realise how many flaws your dance still had.

Jungkooks hand came up to your face, holding your chin tightly, making you look up and stop your movement. His gaze made you freeze immediately.

Never had you thought that your poor bunny would be so dominant and you never thought you would be so submissive. Though Jungkook told you it was pretty clear from the beginning that even though you are the human, you weren't really in control. You didn't know if you should have been offended, but you couldn't find it in you. You had just scoffed, saying, that if you really wanted to be in charge you could, but saying it felt like lying and your boyfriend just laughed.

There was no other person that you trusted like him, so you didn't mind letting him take control, it kinda took away a lot of your anxiety and stress and you saw that Jungkook was enjoying it too. Finally being able to have some control after living on the streets for years and not being able to control his own destiny.

You were looking up to him, hoping he would at least give you an hour.

He chuckled at your try to convince him.

"You know I don't like you training too much. You're going to overwork yourself again", his tone was calm, but firm, you tried to avoid his gaze, but he still held your chin, not letting you look away.

"Just an hour, please Kookie. Just for my peace of mind. So I won't feel bad"

 You could see him thinking, he was avoiding your eyes, knowing he would give in as soon as he looked at you.

Jungkook groaned, "You get one hour of normal training. Don't even think about pushing more than usual or I'll make you sit on that couch for the rest of the week. And I'm watching."

Knowing it wouldn´t be smart to argue you nodded, hugging him tight. "Thank you, thank you, thank you." He rolled his eyes and sat down.      

You started training, the moves just so flowing out of you, you didn´t even need to think about it. Dancing was the only thing in your life that was constantly there, before you had Jungkook, you had dance. While your parents had always pressured you to do better and told you to take part in competitions, you had still kept your love for ballet. Now dancing felt like the most natural thing to you, that doesn´t mean there weren´t moments where you wanted to quit.

You remember first starting to dance on pointe and how your toes kept hurting even days after. You couldn´t imagine continuing dancing like that, where was the fun in doing it when it was hurting you while doing it. You remember your mother screaming at you when you told her; you didn’t want to dance anymore. She was telling you how ungrateful you were being, claiming that you shouldn´t stop the only thing you were good at/for just because you were weak.

But you also remember Jungkook comforting you when you were crying to him that day, you almost expected him to tell you to quit, because you were crying so much. You knew he didn´t like seeing you sad or hurt, so it would only make sense for him to tell you to stop, but he didn´t. Instead he told you, that dancing was your passion and you shouldn´t stop just because you hit a rough patch.

“It may be hurting now, but imagine how you´ll be feeling once you can dance absolutely free. You´ll be able to do anything you like. Don´t you think that pain will be worth it in the end?” Your first reaction to his speech was a snort, no eleven year old boy could talk like that, you were convinced he heard something along the lines before somewhere and decided to recite that to you. But then you saw the serious look on his face and understood that he knew what he said and he meant it. You went to bed that day thinking about his words, you couldn´t really imagine how it would feel to dance without pain again, you didn´t think that would be possible again. Then the words Jungkook spoke hit you, you wanted to know how it would feel, you wanted to dance.

Thinking back on it now, you realised how stupid you were for even thinking about stopping dancing, but that´s why you were also so thankful for the bunny. You didn´t know how you would have decided without him, maybe you would have continued for your mother and grew to hate it, maybe you would have stopped and suffered the wrath of your mother.

Arms snaked around your torso, stopping your movement; you felt a hand brush your cheek. “Why are you crying?” Jungkook asked softly. You didn´t realise you were crying, you held eye contact through the mirror, cupping his hand with your smaller one and leant back on him. The two of you were just swaying comfortably to the music in the background.

“I just thought about how thankful I´m for you” you said quietly, knowing your boyfriend will hear you anyway. “You are pretty amazing, you know?”

Jungkook grinned before firing tiny kisses to your cheek and jaw, “I know I´m great, but don´t forget that you made me this great.” You shook your head, “You did that by yourself, I just let you be.”

The song faded out, but the two of you stayed this close, still swaying with no real rhythm. “You know, I looked at some houses in Seoul. I think there are some you´d really like” Jungkook mumbled into your hair, before pressing a kiss to the crown of your head. You hummed before finally turning around to face him, “But Kookie, we still have to finish the school year here, before we can go and move out.”

You were a bit confused why he would already worry about your new place; you still had to finish your last year of home schooling. “I know, but I thought, that we could maybe start looking around a bit, also, your school year has like eight months left, which isn´t a year, if I´m correct”

Jungkook looked smug as he realised, you couldn´t really say anything against that, you shook your head and rolled your eyes, “Whatever” You tried to wiggle out of his grip, but the way to strong bunny didn´t let you move an inch.

Instead he gripped your chin tightly, “Did you just roll your eyes at me?” he asked in a low tone, sending shivers down your spine. When you first started dating Jungkook showed already, that he didn´t accept certain behaviours and he had no problem to put you in your place should you forget. After you helped him with his first rut he only got more demanding, but you didn´t mind.

You loved to see him so confident and sure of himself and he loved to see you trusting him so much to let him be. You knew he loved being in charge and having power and he knew you loved feeling small and being taken care of, in a way you could say, that your childhood made you what you are today.

“I´m sorry”, you whimper out, not wanting to meet his stern gaze, silently cursing yourself. You knew that there was a good chance he would punish you, he already punished you for less, and while you loved it and the pleasure it brought, you loved being good for him. You wanted to be praised, be his good girl, the way he would praise you and tell you how good you were being for him always managed to make your heart flutter.

“Look at me” the dominance in his voice alone would have made you crumble to your knees immediately, if it hadn´t been for his grip on your jaw. “Did we forget how to behave now?” he spoke in a condescending tone that made your thighs clench. “First you train too much, then you dare to talk back to me, wanting to train even more, overworking yourself again. And now you roll your eyes at me and can´t even look at me. What am I gonna do with you, you brat?”

“I´m sorry Kookie, I really am”, you whine, hands softly gripping onto his arm. Jungkooks eyes soften for a short bit, before turning hard again. “I believe you are, baby girl. I know how much you love to be good for me, but sorry isn´t going to cut it this time. I think you need to be reminded where your place is. Tell me little girl, do you know where your place is?”

You shuddered, finally looking up to him through your lashes, already knowing what he wanted to hear, Jungkook watched with hungry eyes as you spoke, “Wherever you want it to be, Kookie. My place is wherever you want me.” Your boyfriend hummed in agreement, “And do you know where I want you? On your knees”

Without having to be told twice you sank to your knees, hands already on the zipper of his pants and Jungkook didn´t stop you, as you pulled his hard member out.

“That´s right, my baby already knows what I want from her. Trained her so good, so obedient for me. Go on little dancer, take it in your mouth. If you do good maybe I´ll let you cum today”

With new motivation you took the head of his member in your mouth, before flattening your tounge against his the underside of his dick. You kitten licked him a few times, but started taking him all in after he growled at you not to tease him. You began to steady bob your head up and down and Jungkooks groaning from above you told you, you did everything right. A hand came down to your hair and he started to control the pace, making you gag as his dick hit the back of your throat.

“That´s right little dancer, taking me so well, looking so pretty while you choke on my dick.”  

Jungkook watched you with hooded eyes, your hands tightly gripped the back of his thighs, tears leaking your eyes and the only sound to be heard were Jungkooks quiet groans.  “Ah fuck baby girl, if we keep going like that I´m gonna cum” he moaned and you brought your hands to his balls, trying to make him cum, especially after tasting his pre cum on your tounge.

But Jungkook had other plans, he pulled you off his dick making you stand up. “That´s not where I´m cuming in baby girl. Up to the mirror, hands against it” Before he even finished talking you were already in motion. Bend over, hands pressed against the mirror. You felt Jungkook standing behind you, big hands roaming over your back till they came to rest on your hips.

“Always so responsive for me, good girl” he praised knowing it´s what you´ve been dying to hear. His feet kicked softly against your ankles, making you widen your stance, before he hooked his fingers under your shorts, pulling them down along with your panties.

You whimper as the cool air hit your core, you arched your back, hoping Jungkook would get the hint to finally fuck you. You felt finger tips brushing down your spine till they came to a stop at your core. Whining you tried to push back, wanting Jungkook to touch you where you needed him most, but as he picked up on your neediness he chuckled, his one hand on your hips limiting your movements. “If there´s something my little dancer wants, she should just speak up”

You looked at him through the mirror, hoping your pout would make him soften up and just give you what you want. He caught your pout and smirked, one finger stroking painfully slow over your clit, making your legs tremble. “Is there something you want me to do? You are so wet, I bet there´s something you want. Speak up baby girl, you were so good at talking back earlier”

You whined at the thought of having to voice your wishes, but your whine was quickly replaced by a groan, as you felt his finger leaving your clit. Gone was the only stimulation you had gotten so far.

“No no no, Kookie. I want you to fuck me” you exclaimed loudly. You looked at Jungkook through the mirror, his face darkening and you realised, you may have forgotten something. Before you could talk again, a harsh slap came down to your ass, followed by the next. You first yelled out, but quickly started to find the pleasure in the sting. “Did you lose your manners? Is that how you talk to me? I thought you were my good girl?” he asked, not stopping spanking you and you couldn´t control your cries anymore. You could feel how wet you were and you needed him, now.

“I´m sorry, Kookie. Please, please fuck me. I promise I´ll be good. But please I need you to fuck me”, you begged and almost let out a sob as you felt his thick member slowly pushing into you. “Yes, yes, please- fuck Kookie” you rambled as he completely entered you, not giving you much time to adjust and starting off in a fast pace. Jungkooks hands both found your waist, holding you as he fucked into you. The only sound to be heard was the sound of slapping skin and yours and Jungkooks moans. You threw you head back, letting Jungkook lean forward to leave his marks all over your neck. One of his hands snaked their way between your legs, finding your clit and helping the knot in your lower stomach build.

“Look at what a good girl you can be if you want. Begging like a good girl, letting me mark you up, so everyone knows you are mine- fuck such a good girl” Jungkook moaned making your head loll in bliss. You felt your orgasm approaching, your pussy clenching around Jungkooks length. “Fuck! Keep clenching like that. Are you close, you wanna cum on my dick? Letting me pump you full of my load, yeah?”

“F-fuck, please Kookie. I wanna cum, please, can I cum? Please I-I” you were babbling by know, the pleasure coming from Jungkook combined with his dominant aura was clouding your senses. He chuckled and moaned as he also felt his dick twitch, “Look at you being my good girl and asking. Cum for me.”

At his words you felt white pleasure run over you, you came moaning Jungkoooks name, head falling forwards. Your legs felt like they might give up if it wasn´t for Jungkook holding you. Jungkooks thrust’s starting becoming sloppy, letting you know, that he was also close as he continued to fuck you.

Your pussy clenched around him, causing Jungkook to also finally cum, his finger dung into the flesh of your hips, no doubt leaving more marks. He moaned out your name, along with a few cuss words, before stilling. The sound of your heavy breathing filled the room.

Slowly he pulled himself out and turned you around, so you were standing chest to chest, you both still fully clothed above your hips. Jungkook pulled you into a sweet kiss, “My good girl, you did so well for me. I love you” You melted at his words, but the sweet moment was ruined as you felt his warm cum running down your leg. Jungkook noticed and swept you up in his arms, “Let´s get you cleaned up. How about a bath and then a movie?”

You nodded and relaxed in his arms, you pressed a sweet kiss to his neck and murmured a quiet “I love you Kookie”, but by the tightening of his grip and the smile on his face you knew that he heard you just fine.

 Next

[snkpolls]

SnK Episode 61 Poll Results (for Manga Readers)

The poll closed with 359 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Please note that these are the results for the Manga Readers’ poll. If you wish to see the results for the Anime Only Watchers’ poll, click here. 

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RATE THE EPISODE 347 Responses

While this episode wasn’t as big of a hit as episode 60, overall most viewers still enjoyed the content and are looking forward to more next week!

amazing amazing! I'm so delighted with this season so far!

Im so beyond pumped i love everything

Dissapointing but acceptable.

I’m like angry I loved it so much.

I just wish we didn't have to wait a week

It was amazing. We all gotta apologize to MAPPA for ever doubting them.

It's a huge stepdown from episode 1. At times the animation was straight up painful to watch. My expectations were low and yet I'm still disappointed :/

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE SCENE/MOMENT? 349 Responses

Reiner-centric scenes were the highest on people’s radar, with 24.9% of respondents enjoying his reunion with the warrior cadets, and not far behind, 22.9% enjoyed Reiner bringing up the 104th at the dinner table. In third, with only 13.5%, was Pieck and Porco’s formal introduction to the audience. 

Hearing Zeke greet his grandparents with such happiness warmed my heart. I do believe that he loves them. 

They just had to add one last image of Ymir's broken face before she died, huh? :(

WE FORGOT TO ASK LAST WEEK D: WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING SCENES/MOMENTS FROM EPISODE 60 WAS YOUR FAVORITE? 348 Responses

Last week we forgot to include what your favorite scenes were. The scene from episode 60 that got the most favor was Reiner’s, “I’m sick and tired… of walls” with 33.6% of the vote. 16.7% most enjoyed Zeke’s titan transforming scream. 14.9% were hyped about Reiner and Porco wrecking Fort Slava.

MAPPA WENT ALL OUT WITH THE CINEMATOGRAPHY IN THIS EPISODE. WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE CINEMATIC PANS AND ROTOSCOPE ANIMATION? 349 Responses

Overall, a total of 74.5% respondents have positive feelings about MAPPA’s use of rotoscope animation and camera panning. Some felt like it was akin to watching a movie, while others are just happy to have the dynamic movement. A smaller amount of respondents didn’t have feelings one way or another, and a minority (about 10.3%) really are not a fan of this type of animation style for the series.

It felt odd sometimes as they used it for long scenes (like Udo talking or Gabi telling the story to her family) but overall it was pretty great and I prefer it to WIT's stale animation during season 3

I liked the more dynamic movement during dialogue, but my roommate found it super awkward and off-model. So a fifty-fifty split in a sample size of two lol

It could have been animated better, but I like the extra dimension it gives to scenes

Enjoyed it a lot! However, there were a few scenes that felt a bit off, like some frames were missing. Specifically, when Udo was doing all those gestures while talking with the rest of the Warrior Candidates.

It felt dynamic to the point of looking unnatural - some gestures and expressions just moved wrong

i'm split, in some scenes it was great (like reiner waking up), but in the dialogue scenes the constant movement seemed kinda unnatural and distracting

It was amazing but at the same time I'd didn't look fluid enough, especially at Udo's mouvements which made the character look kind of...video game-ish in constant moving. 

I thought it looked great the rotoscoping,the movements all looked amazing

The animation during Urdu’s scene is so cool!  I was caught of guard at first though lol. It’s so realistic!

NOW THAT WE’VE GOTTEN TO HEAR A LITTLE MORE OF THE NEW OST TRACKS, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE SOUNDTRACK SO FAR THIS SEASON? 344 Responses

So far, reception to the newer music is overall positive. 31.1% are really enjoying the music and think the songs are being used immaculately, and 40.4% really feel that the song choice compliments the scenes they’ve been used in. 13.1% think the songs are good, but miss having that sole Sawano feel to them. 10.8% just feel the music is “ok” and 2.6% aren’t a fan of the new OST tracks so far. 

I mean it sounds good, but we haven't gotten to important moments that require a memorable track, so we'll see!

First episode slapped because it really complemented the scene but it's more... generic. I didn't like how it was used in this episode, there wasn't enough of it and again, generic. I miss Sawano's unreal scores.

the animation absolutely blew me away, and i love the intense music that played during Reiners monologue 

The music is fine.

I've heard both new and old songs from the previous seasons. Still too soon to make an opinion as we need to hear more.

I am deaf, I can't hear no damn soundtracks 

That music guys when they came back to Liberio and reuniting with they parents, made me tear up but also because the scouts never had the chance to go back home with victory in the arms of their family, I wish I could have seen EMA like this.. It kinda felt unfair X) but I was happy for them nevertheless.

HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CLOSEUP OF ZEKE’S MOUTH? 346 Responses

Our first of probably too many crack questions in this poll, 32.7% thought the closeup of Zeke lighting his cigarette was cool looking. 21.4% are concerned about Zeke’s lung health. 19.1% are probably annoyed with us and simply don’t care (lol). 13.3% wouldn’t mind smooching Zeke, and 11% were just plain grossed out.

Does smoke even affect a titan shifter? Surely his lungs just heal themselves

ASMR for the eyes, right there. Aww yiss

It was awesome! Zeke is shown as relaxed person with a big drop of mystery. 

Smoking Bad but he is gonna die in a year anyway

Suuuuuuucc

It might've just been an artistic choice to include it in there, but i gotta say I'm oddly fascinated and idk why

I don’t remember it lol

I didn't even notice.

Zeke looks hotter than he has ever looked

WHAT’S YOUR OPINION ABOUT ELDIAN ASSES? 341 Responses

Most of the responses seemed to feel rather positively about Eldian asses, with almost 40% seeking out Zeke’s ass wiping technique. About 17% simply stated their appreciation for them, while almost 13% are just thirsty. In contrast, a little over 17% seemed confused to the question’s inclusion and about 10% were confused outright. 

MAPPA WHERE IS PIECK'S ASS

More into Eldian thighs, really

I bet Levi’s is nice

If only Eren had one

zeke has the energy of a straight man who doesn't wash his ass

Only Shadis' ass

GIVE IT TO ME 😏😏

They are like normal, human asses. Do not turn them into some magical, special snowflakes, just because they belong to Eldians. 

Seek help

Enough

DO YOU WANT REINER TO GIVE YOU A HEAD PAT? 343 Responses

A definitive majority, almost 59 percent, openly expressed enthusiasm for the prospect of a head pat from Reiner. However, a near 30% fraction of responders didn’t seem too happy about this recent chain of less than serious questions. We’re sorry about that. 😅. The rest either didn’t seem interested in said prospect or noted they wouldn’t care either way.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE DECISION FROM MAPPA TO CONDENSE REINER’S FLASHBACK INTO (PRESUMABLY) A SINGLE EPISODE? 346 Responses

It would appear that the majority of those who took our poll express cautious optimism at the prospect of seeing all (or the vast majority) of Reiner’s backstory being adapted into a single episode, with a near 47% supporting the move, thinking it could make the narrative “more coherent”. Almost 20% argue it would work better pacing wise. On the flipside, just over 17% state that they would rather have a more accurate adaptation to the manga. 11.6% simply say they have no opinion. There were also more than a few write-ins.

I do wish everything could be animated to full detail, but pacing and structure will benefit here

They've done a good job so far, so I'll reserve judgement until I actually watch it.

It will be difficult as they're chapters with loads of dialogue, but they can pull it off if unnecessary stuff gets cut out or changed in some type of way (like watching Marcel's death for the sixth time, them breaking through the wall or even Jean and Eren fighting) 

If they get the pacing right, then the rearrangement will be for the better.

Reiner flashbacks + Reiner suicide attempt + Falco meeting "Kruger" (more than 2,5 chapters) in a single episode? HELL NO! WTF MAPPA!  

Worried and cautiously optimistic.

At least it looks like they're going to stick to just one episode for the RBA flashback. It was mostly just filler anyway, so there was never any need to stretch it out and waste precious time getting back to the Paradis side of the story

I doubt that that's exactly how it is, but if so, then I don't think that that's a wise idea

It’s gonna be rushed as hell

Reiner flashback is very long and there is tons of dialogue, so I dont know how its going fit in only one episode, but if they can make it work then its fine for me

WHICH CHARACTER DESIGN DID YOU LIKE BEST IN COMPARISON TO THE MANGA? 346 Responses

This question gave us a somewhat evenly split pie chart, but Porco nonetheless managed to gain the bigger piece with just over 55%. Surely due to that bomber jacket and haircut. Nearly 45% picked Pieck (gottem) instead. Must have been the somewhat inconsistent nose. 

WHO’S SEIYUU DID YOU LIKE BEST? 335 Responses

On the flip side, 68.4% seemed to prefer Pieck’s soft voice. Porco with his (how the hell does Porco sound like… how can you describe his voice) managed to win the hearts of 31.6% of responses.

Pieck voice wtf? I imagined Pieck with a more Hanji-ish voice, not this sweet and high pitched.

DID MAPPA DO PIECK’S NOSE JUSTICE? 345 Responses

The debacle over Pieck’s POWERFUL nose gave us quite a colorful pie chart. Almost 39% of responses noted that Mappa was on point with Pieck’s nose for most of the episode. Afterwards, 26.7% stated that they thought that Mappa got it right only in some points of the episode. On the flip side, another 26.7% thought that Mappa was generally quite on point throughout the entire episode. A small minority (7.8%) thought that Mappa simply did a poor job. 

The animation is good, and while I don't want to complain, I have a small problem with the drawings themselves. I feel like they lack precision (like Pieck's nose, idk if that's clear).

I'm grateful for Pieck's nose. I always respected Isayama for drawing imperfect characters, because this way he has made them to look more realistic. Even though Pieck has so-called imperfect nose, she is still absolutely gorgeous. Her imperfections are part of what makes her beautiful and unique.

PORCO’S HAIR - WERE YOU TEAM RED HAIR OR BLOND HAIR? AND ARE YOU HAPPY WITH HIS ANIME COLOR SCHEME? 345 Responses

A far less controversial debacle concerned Porco’s hair scheme. The folks supporting a Blond color scheme were universally content with his hair color (all 57.4% of team Blond). On the flip side, an almost universal approval was also present from team Redhead (13.6% of those supported his blond hair color). 27.5% of the responses seemed to care not about this issue at all, however.

NOW THAT WE KNOW PORCO BETTER IN THE MANGA, DO YOU THINK HE WOULD HAVE *ACTUALLY* DONE A BETTER JOB THAN REINER IF HE HAD INHERITED THE ARMOR AND WENT TO PARADIS? 348 Responses

Porco inheriting the Armored Titan is a rather interesting what-if scenario. Perhaps of the most interesting as a whole, so it’s no surprise to see a rather divided opinion of those who took our poll. A little over 36% believe that Porco doing a better job than Reiner on Paradis is a definite possibility. Just over 24% believe it’s not likely Porco would have done better than Reiner. On the flip side, 21.6% think that is is likely Porco *would* have a more successful conduct on the island. 9.2% believe that Porco’s success is a given and in opposition to that, 8.9% think that Porco’s success would have been basically impossible.

HOW ABOUT IF PIECK HAD GONE TO PARADIS WITH THE WARRIORS? 346 Responses

Much less division here, however. 70.5% of responders believe that Pieck’s possible trip to Paradis (in the initial attack) would have not have resulted in a given “mission success” for the Warriors, although she would have been a rather useful ally. Nearly a quarter, on the other hand, think that Pieck’s inclusion would have ended the story right then and there. The rather small minority of the other responders think that Pieck would not have been useful had she participated in the mission.

GABI HAS ALWAYS BEEN A CONTROVERSIAL CHARACTER. HAS MAPPA BRINGING HER TO LIFE CHANGED YOUR FEELINGS TOWARD HER? 342 Responses

64.6% of respondents overall have positive feelings toward Gabi as of right now, with 39.5% having already been enjoying her character throughout the manga. 25.1% now view her more positively with her being brought to life. 20.2% don’t really care about Gabi either way, and 11.7% feel very negatively toward Gabi, without the anime swaying their opinions. 

Gabi still sucks

Sakura ayane as gabi is probably the best thing to happen to me all year

WITH SUCH A DIALOGUE-HEAVY ARC, CUTS WERE INEVITABLE. WHICH CUTS WERE YOU DISAPPOINTED IN, AND WHICH CUTS CAN YOU LIVE WITH?

Overwhelmingly, the scenes that were most missed by manga readers were “Pieck walking on all fours/scaring Porco”, “Zeke mentioning the Ackerman Clan”, “Reiner’s smirk when his family talks about ‘Island Devils’”, and “The imagery of Eren and Armin wrecking ships”. Smaller character details, such as Reiner mentioning how he acted like Marcel on Paradis, Gabi wishing to understand Reiner’s feelings, Falco pointing out how Reiner almost had the Armor taken from him, were also very missed by manga readers, although just less so. 

General Calvi talking about Zeke’s loyalty, Gabi getting praise from her parents when they reunite, and Magath trashing the Marleyan navy, were moments that many respondents didn’t feel strongly about one way or another, or felt that these were details that weren’t really needed anyway. 

Cutting the scene where Falcon talks about why Reiner kept the AT was really bad.  Also the table scene could have been better. Some imagery when Reiner was describing the 104th and his smirk.

The cuts the anime has done made the spectators less informed about some story background stuff. This is in order to direct attention to the marley's eldians planning how to overcome the world's disparagement towards the power of the titans. 

I'm sad they cut the gate guards. They humanize the marleyans a bit. Hope they add their scenes next episode and do them justice.

I hope we will get the Gabi/Reiner talk about understanding each other through PATHS when she eats him next episode

Gimme crawling best giiiirl

MAPPA cut Pieck's ass so this episode wouldn't be so ass centered with Zeke's ass wiping technique. This is my theory lol

Great episode but U was so looking forward to the Reiner scene talking about Paradis “devils”. In the mange it was a powerful scene really adding to the duality of Reiner and the pain he has, and the animation did not do it justice. Plus some parts of his speech were probably hard to understand for a non mange reader without the flashback. (Like which one is referring to Jean for example).  I really wish it had been better delivered

IS THERE ANY CHANCE WE’LL SEE SOME OF THESE CUTS ANIMATED IN A LATER EPISODE? 342 Responses

them into different scenes. Overall, the majority answered a big, fat, “maybe.” 15.8% are confident that what’s done has been done, and 12.6% are more optimistic that MAPPA will find a way.

Overall I was a bit disappointed. I feel like the amount of material cut from every conversation included really added up overall and gave it a very rushed feel to me. I really hope they add it all in later.

ON THE FLIP-SIDE, WHICH ADDITIONS/CHANGES DID YOU LIKE/DISLIKE?

The changes and additions that MAPPA made were overall viewed very favorably, with the scene of Porco and Pieck interacting with the warrior cadets being the most liked addition. This is followed closely by the overall character movement during dialogue scenes, the small detail about Pieck’s father being unwell, and Gabi shouting “Watashi!” on the train.

I loved the additional details made it very emotional

IT WAS A GREAT TIME TO BE GALLIPIECK TRASH

Sneakier Eren's a nice addition too

Porco my boiii I'm so happy he's here 💖💖💖💖 if mappa is adding some extra scenes then gimme more of gallirei 👀

WHICH SCENE FROM THE PREVIEW ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO? 338 Responses

Unsurprisingly, 42% of respondents are hyped about Kenny’s brief return and Annie’s unlikely encounter with him in the Underground. 22.2% are eager to get that sweet Reiner angst as he is rejected by his Marleyan father. 17.8% are looking forward to Reiner’s training days.

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE EPISODE?

great! it was inevitable they would cut stuff but it hasn't changed any major plot point or thing i would want to see desperately 

It was just really great to see the scenes animated, it adds another level of depth and understanding to the story I believe. 

Loved anime-onlies missing Eren completely. Some even thought it was him but then noticed the leg and thought against it

I think it was very well done. Just need a little getting used to with MAPPA on the reins now. I think MAPPA added some scenes to show how those Eldians over there are still just human after all and they have their own problems to deal with. 8/10 episode.

I feel like they took a lot of emotion way from reiner. made him seemed stoic and determined to go to the island even though in the make he looked scared about having to return. 

I thought the rotoscoping was really well done! I’m happy with the pacing, the fact that the episode felt like it went by fast is good considering it was dialogue based.

Incredible. The direction, the cinematic quality, we are feasting. MAPPA is elevating the story beyond anything I could have imagined! I'm beyond hyped for the rest!! But where is asshole Marley guards/Hobo!Eren's appearance as a favorite moment?!

Incredible, it adapts the source material very well while adding some touches that make it unique in it's own way. As a manga reader, I'm really glad that they're doing this because it feels like a completly different experience from reading it and makes me excited on what changes or directing choices they're going to make during the course of the season, great job so far MAPPA!

Such an amazing episode. Made 20mins feel like 5. MAPPA is doing fantastic. The characters have never felt more alive and the animation style is something I never knew I wanted until now. 

I can't believe they didn't cast Mads Mikkelsen to voice Mads Mikkelsen

The episode was good but the dinner scene didn't do justice to the manga. It didn't have the same feeling to it. I saw a lot of anime onlys thinking Reiner was just trying to talk shit about the 104th. I feel like the flashbacks during that part in the manga gave it a nostalgic feeling that helped convey what he truly felt about his time on the island. His facial expressions were not quite there either. Specially sad because it was the moment I was expecting the most this episode and because it's a big part of Reiner's character, maybe next episode can kind of fix this.

I haven't seen the anime only poll results, but given personal conversations with them I imagine quite a few could care less about the Warriors and are looking forward to the 104th showing up to stir shit up. Boy are those folks in for a treat :)

I knew I'd feel more attached to all of them once they got animated. I didn't expect getting real thirsty for Lainah.

I was so happy with how much detail MAPPA put into the background scenery. Also, I think that an underrated moment during this episode was the Marlian douchebag triggering the Eldian soldier’s PTSD. You could really feel their terror, and THEY KEPT THE HOBO EREN PART IM SO HAPPY!

Its consistently very pretty and well animated which is great of course, but I worry the team won’t be able to maintain this quality for some of the meatier scenes in the later episodes. The fast pace of the episode (compared to the manga) as well as the many cuts make it a bit harder for scenes to stick, I wish there was a bit more breathing room at times. This also makes the fancy animation and frequent rotoscoping cuts feel less impactful for me—with every scene being cut down to its core ingredients, and every scene having at least one cut with more motion and energy than we’re used to, I can’t help but feel it all kind of mashes together without sticking out as much, leaving less of an impact. (I feel really really weird actually complaining about good camerawork/animation, what the hell lol) Also hobo <3

Plenty of questions about ass but no questions about the full ED? Or how we thought the episode did at hiding Eren in plain sight?

rip Reiner's chocolate abs :'(

The episode wasn't as interesting as the first one. I was yawning from time to time. Yet, I think that Mappa did a great job, because it's hard to animate full of  dialogues chapters. I was disappointed of the fact that flashbacks from Paradis have been cut. I hoped to see Sasha, Connie, Ymir and Marco while Reiner was speaking about them. Without the flashbacks we just got the dry speech and this way hard to say what Reiner is really thinking about people he met on Paradis. We - as manga readers - already are aware of his feelings, but anime onlies may not know and see Reiner as cold hearted person. I'm not complaining over animations or the OST tracks because no studio is perfect and some small mistakes here and there won't destroy my fun. I just sit and enjoy the episode. 

Very good, with the exception of the dinner scene, in which the director missed the mark completely with the tone.

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 328 Responses

Thank you again for participating! We’ll see you again next week!

[lupinlongbottom]

Burning Bridges pt. 2

Neville Longbottom x Reader

Summary: First day of school! First day of fighting! Wait what? Neville convinces (Y/N) to chat with him, explain what had been going on for the last five years. It’s not much, but it’s a start.

Word Count: 3.3k

Warnings: some swearing, angst if you squint idk

A/N: i’m not good at angst. i’m also not good at plot? dunno. trying hard, my dudes. i have like, 6 plot points i want to hit but this chapter hits none of them. filler? idk. angst? who’s to say? enjoy!

Part 1 ... Part 3 ... Part 4 ... Part 5 ... Part 6 ... Part 7

__

It had taken nearly all day to get her classroom in order. McGonagall wasn’t joking, the previous Potions Master, Atticus Barclay, was a bit of a hoarder and a terribly messy one at that. To (Y/N)’s knowledge, Slughorn had retired only a year after the Battle of Hogwarts, leaving a rather necessary spot to be filled quickly. Not exactly the wisest choice, she noted. (Y/N) finished dusting the final shelf, turning the label on the fluxweed jar outward.

“Atticus you swine,” (Y/N) groaned, stretching her back. “Honestly, any worthwhile Potions Master would’ve taken much better care of their workspace…”

She took a step back, admiring her handiwork. No more did the dungeon feel like it had in her school years. (Y/N) had opened the curtains, allowing the little bit of sunlight to filter in. A few waves of her wand allowed ivy to grow, following the curvature of the ceiling, dangling ever so slightly. Felt homey. Inviting. A barn owl rested on (Y/N)’s shoulder, nuzzling her face slightly.

“Hello, Edgar,” She smiled, petting him gently. “You like the place? Seems more my style, no?”

The barn owl sputtered a response, flying over to the window.

“I know you want to go fly, but I haven’t got any letters to send,” (Y/N) sighed. “As usual. You can make laps around the castle, right?” 

Edgar’s black eyes bore into (Y/N)’s, almost as if he was cross. No, (Y/N) decided. Her owl, best friend, was cross.  

“If you want me to send a letter so bad, I could convince myself to send mum one. I know how much you love flying through Bristol to get to her,” Edgar stood silent. “Right. I’ll think about it,” (Y/N) turned to her owl. “Maybe I should cast a warming charm in the winter…”

-

“(Y/N)!” Neville smiled, practically running into the Potions classroom. He sat down next to (Y/N). “Got here early, as usual it seems.”

(Y/N) grinned widely at her friend. “Never late, to Potions at least. I want to pass my O.W.L’s somehow.”

“If anyone had to worry about not passing their Potions O.W.L, it wouldn’t be you,” Neville laughed.

“You flatter me, Longbottom,” said (Y/N), watching a wisp of her breath escape her lips. “You’d think Snape would put a warming charm on this room when snow’s on the ground, right?” She rubbed her arm slowly, trying to warm up.

“You’re cold?” Neville’s eyes widened. “You should’ve worn your cardigan! I tell you that every time we have class.”

“You know I like the look of vests much better,” (Y/N) teased, moving her hand to her nose, pinching it lightly. “Besides, someone jinxed my jumpers. Shrink every time I touch them.”

“Again?” Neville brought his voice to a whisper. “You’ve got to stop letting them bully you like that…”

“You’re one to talk!” (Y/N) quipped, giggling slightly. “I tried enchanting my chest to keep them out, but maybe I need to try something different.”

“In any case,” Neville stood up, walking behind (Y/N). “You should at least be warm in your favorite class.” Suddenly, (Y/N) felt a slight weight on her shoulders. Intrigued, she glanced down to see a familiar gray cardigan. Gryffindor cardigan. Neville sat back down, sans jumper, his cheeks dusted pink. From the cold, of course.

“Snape’s going to dock at least 10 points from Gryffindor when he sees you not wearing the proper uniform,” (Y/N) said, fighting back the biggest smile from her face.

“It’ll be like any other class, then,” Neville shrugged, moving to fix the jumper now atop of (Y/N)’s shoulders, wearing it like a cape. “Y-you can keep it, if you want.”

“What? No, I can’t keep it! It’s—”

“Keep it until you can un-jinx your jumpers. It’s bloody freezing.” 

-

“On second thought… the cold builds character.”

__

It had only taken three outfit changes for (Y/N) to finally settle on a pair of matching robes and a hat, mauve in color. They were once her mother’s, passed down in hopes (Y/N) would make better use of it at Hogwarts. 

“I guess she’s right,” (Y/N) hummed, readjusting her hat. “Don’t you think I look just ghastly in hats?” Her head turned to the barn owl, sitting on his perch adjacent to the full length mirror. The owl cooed. “Exactly right. I do look like my grandmother. Always the observatory owl, Edgar,” (Y/N) glanced at the clock. “Shit! I’m going to be late!”

Flying out the door, (Y/N) hardly had the moment to recognize the figure exiting his door as well. The two collided, knocking both parties to the ground.

“I’m so sorry!” (Y/N) blurted, grabbing the wall to steady herself upward. “Are you alright?” 

“Been better,” Neville groaned, rubbing his forehead.

“Oh, Professor Longbottom,” (Y/N) readjusted her robe, reluctantly offering her hand.

“Thanks,” Neville forced a smile, his lips drawing a fine line. He took her hand, fingers lingering for a moment too long. He pulled away at the realization. “Running late?” 

“Old habits,” she shrugged. “I see you’re not exactly punctual tonight either.”

“Gran sent me an owl, had to reply before I forgot,” said Neville, smiling at the thought. “Wished me luck on my first day.”

“That’s sweet of her, how is she—” (Y/N) stopped herself, coughing lightly. “Well, by any means it’s not wise for the two newest professors to be late on the first night.” 

“Of course not, that’d be barbaric. I doubt McGonagall would let us hear the end of it,” He laughed, expecting a response. Nothing. “Is that your hat?” Neville pointed to the mauve pile to the left of her.

(Y/N) glanced downward. “So it is,” She gently leaned down to retrieve it, placing it again on her head. “Is it on straight?”

“Isn’t it a circle? How could it be on straight? Is there a wrong way to wear a witch hat?”

“I’ll go check my mirror then—”

“You look spectacular,” Neville grabbed (Y/N)’s hand, stopping the witch from re-entering her room. “We’re running late as it is, come on.”

The run to the Great Hall wasn’t the most graceful, but years of practice and memorization of the hallways of Hogwarts allowed the two to arrive just before the rest of the students. McGonagall eyed the two of them down, almost disapprovingly.

“I see you two made it,” she said, slightly sour. Her eyes glanced down between the two wizards, noticing their hands were still intertwined from the run. “I do suggest, however, that you keep any and all personal relationships between the two of you absent from the students,” (Y/N) realized what she had meant, immediately pulling her hand away, almost angry at the lack of warmth.

“Oh, we’re not—”

“Students tend to gossip,” Minerva smiled, glancing down at (Y/N). “I would assume you of all people would know that much, Professor (L/N).”

“Yes, Headmistress.” (Y/N) responded meekly, dipping her head down, eyes disappearing from the brim of her hat, hopefully covering the growing pink in her cheeks.

Neville laughed. “Sorry for that,” his hand moved to fix his rather perfectly gelled hair, a strand had flown loose. “I had to stop you from going back into your room somehow.”

“You didn’t have to grab my hand, I know my way around the castle,” (Y/N) huffed, marching up to the faculty table that sat in the front of the hall.

“You didn’t let go, though,” Neville smiled slightly, if only to himself.

(Y/N) found one of two empty seats, thankfully not next to one another. The wizard that was sitting in the seat next to hers was unfamiliar to (Y/N). His dark brown hair was tied together with a gold ribbon, the hair touching nearly the bottom of his robe hood. He looked young, maybe a few years older than (Y/N), slight wrinkles dancing the corners of his violet eyes.

“Is this seat taken?” (Y/N) asked, smiling gently. The wizard shook his head.

“Of course not,” He hummed, gesturing for (Y/N) to sit down. “I must say, I can already tell you’re going to be better company than Barclay.”

“This was his seat?” (Y/N) asked again, finally settling into her seat. The students had started filing into the hall, sitting at their respective  house tables.

“He smelled of murtlap bile and cigars half the time,” He hummed, looking at (Y/N). “I enjoy your perfume much better,” the wizard sniffed deeply. “Mint. Slightly musty.” 

“It’s not perfume,” (Y/N) flamed. “I hardly wear any. It must be my toothpaste, or potions ingredients.”

“Alright Minty,” the wizard laughed, enjoying his new nickname for (Y/N). “I assume you have a name?” 

“(Y/N) (L/N), Potions Master,” She nodded. “You are…?”

“Lancelot Knight, Muggle Studies,” He shook (Y/N)’s hand. Firm, almost constricting.

“Lancelot…Knight?” (Y/N) fought back a laugh.

“Most people call me Lance, I actually prefer it,” He laughed. “My parents, bless their hearts, really had it out for me I reckon.”

“Strong name,” (Y/N) hummed. “Nice to meet you, Professor Knight.”

The first years had finally filed in, ready to be sorted by the ever elusive hat. (Y/N) had to fight back the tears each time a student was claimed to her house, like a proud mother. She had never met these kids, but was sorely excited to do such, to teach them. As the dinner went on, (Y/N) tried to memorize every moment she could, raking in her first night as a professor.

Neville had been staring at (Y/N) for quite some time. He really didn’t intend to. Why had she been trying to ignore him? All he wanted was his friend back. They were practically best mates years ago, what happened? Surely their fight couldn’t have left scars that deep on (Y/N), right? He swallowed hard, crossing the now empty hall over to the mauve-clad witch.

“(Y/N) I really think we should talk,” He started, smoothing his robes. Neville caught the eye of the wizard sitting next to her, he looked like he hadn’t taken a proper bath in weeks. “Please. Hear me out.”

“Professor Longbottom,” (Y/N) sighed. “I really don’t see—”

“Please. Just one conversation and then you can go back to ignoring me,” Neville pleaded. “I need closure. We need closure.”

“Closure?” (Y/N) stood up. “Closure to what? If the last five years were any indication to what sort of relationship we could possibly have—”

“We don’t need to be friends,” Neville felt particularly bold, cutting (Y/N) for the second time. “We don’t need to go back to where we were before, but I want to at least… I don’t know. Clear the air.”

Lance laughed. “Wow. The tension in this room is… pliable. Could run a knife through it,” He stood up. “I dunno, Minty. I reckon you should give plant-boy a chance, at least a walk in the moonlight.”

She groaned lightly, feeling both sets of eyes digging deep into her. “One lap."

Neville’s ears perked up, grinning lightly. “One lap?"

“Around the grounds. Clear as much air as you need,” She stood up, pushing her chair back hard. “You can meet me in the courtyard, I don’t think I could stand another minute in this hat.”

“Right,” Neville fought back his growing grin. “See you in a few.” He darted out, practically running to the teacher’s wing.

Lance laughed again. “Ex-boyfriends can be a pain, can’t they? Been there, done that,” He flattened his kerchief. “Though, ex-girlfriends are much messier. ‘Bout fifty-fifty, really.”

“He’s not my ex-boyfriend,” (Y/N) stated matter-of-factly. 

“Right,” He smirked. “Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy your walk, Minty.”

(Y/N) took her time returning to her chambers. Neville could wait a moment, he could wait a thousand moments. She knew he would. Was it unfair of her? Perhaps. She tried not to dwell on it, as she really needed to change into something less constricting.

Filtering through her dresser, (Y/N) had found the black trousers she had been searching for, but was distraught on a top. “It’s a windy night, better wear something warm…” she mumbled, opening her jumper drawer. She owned too many sweaters for one person, as they were her favorite thing to wear. The scratching wool felt comforting, warm. “I know I have that blue one in here somewhere…” Flinging through her collection, her hands stopped, reaching a gray one, the trim gold and maroon. (Y/N) allowed her fingers to trace the messy stitching underneath the tag.

N . L

“Stupid,” (Y/N) mumbled, throwing the cardigan to the side, revealing the blue jumper she had been searching for. “Edgar, what do you think?”

The owl clicked his beak twice, floating down to the discarded cardigan. 

“Eddie…” (Y/N) strained. “No, I’m not going to return it! Not now, anyway. It’s been seven years,” Edgar stared at his owner, fluffing the jumper with his talons. “Well don’t ruin it...” (Y/N) whispered, clawing it out of the owl’s grip. She folded it gently, placing it on her nearly empty counter, next to an old Honeydukes box. An old gift. (Y/N) hesitated for a moment, almost begging herself to pry it open.

“I shouldn’t keep him waiting any longer,” she decided, pulling the blue wool over her head. “Like a plaster, rip it off quickly.”

__

The moon was almost full, only a sliver missing from the round figure, allowing the entire courtyard to shimmer in its light. The fountain still babbled as always, water tricking down to the pool below. Neville focused on his reflection as well has he could, his hair still neatly gelled back. Well, as neat as it could be.

“She’s taking a long time…” Neville hummed, twirling a finger in his reflection, distorting the water. “Is she trying to pull a prank on me?Never going to show up? No,” Neville clicked, shaking his head. “Shut up, Longbottom. She’s your friend—was your friend.”  

“Sorry I’m late,” said (Y/N), finally entering the courtyard. “Couldn’t decide on a jumper.” 

“Miss wearing uniforms?”

“All the time,” (Y/N) groaned. “Never have to worry about what to wear, always put on the same thing.” 

Neville smiled, standing up to meet (Y/N) in the middle, hands again in his pockets. “You look nice, as usual.”

“Trying to butter me up?” (Y/N) smirked, teasing the Gryffindor slightly.

“Compliments never hurt,” he shrugged. “Thank you, for agreeing to this (Y/N).”

“I only did it because Professor Knight was listening to our whole conversation, it would’ve looked poor on my part if I didn’t”

“So that bloke’s name is Knight?”

“Lancelot Knight, if you can imagine.”

“His parents must’ve really had it out for him.”

“Must’ve.”

Silence.

“Well? We should get walking,” (Y/N) began to leave the courtyard, headed towards the open fields surrounding the castle.

Neville followed suit, allowing (Y/N) to stride at least five steps ahead. Her hair was pulled into her signature low ponytail, wrapped neatly with a bow. Neville could count on one had the amount of times he had seen her without her bow, her hair down. One of them being at the Battle of Hogwarts. It was in a pink ribbon, just like the one she was wearing now. Somehow it fell out in all of the commotion.

“Do you ever get tired of your bows?” Neville asked, almost absentmindedly. 

“We’re not here to discuss my hair choices, Professor Longbottom,” said (Y/N), not turning around. “If we were, we’d start with your horrendous use of gel.”

“Horrendous?” Neville choked. “My Gran loves it when I gel my hair back!” 

“Your Gran needs better spectacles,” (Y/N) slowed her pace, allowing Neville to get closer to her. “You used too much of it.” 

“I’ll tone it down,” said Neville, fingers now trying to mess up his hair. “(Y/N), I’ve missed you,” she didn’t respond. “I know that you probably think that I’m the dumbest bloke to walk these grounds after the way we left off, but I just wanted you to hear that.”

“I wish I could say the same.”

“I know you’re lying, (Y/N).”

“You don’t know anything, Longbottom,” (Y/N) quipped, allowing herself to turn around just once. “You don’t know how badly I needed a friend that day, how badly I needed someone to care about me.”

“I see we’ve dropped the formalities,” said Neville, noting her lack of their shared title. “(Y/N), I didn’t know what you needed. You can be really good at avoiding conversations… or people.”

“You…” (Y/N) fought back the tears, trying hard to give herself the restraint she had years ago. “You never asked!"

“How was I supposed to know?” His voice rising.

“How were you supposed to know, what? That my dad escaped from Azkaban? That-that he joined the Dark Lord again? A man I had never met in my life?” She felt the hot tears stream down her cheeks. “You knew all of that!”

“I didn’t know he was there! The battle was a bit hectic, loads of people were dying, (Y/N).”

“Including him! My own father!” (Y/N) seethed, her eyes forcing themselves to meet with Neville’s. “My own father died and I never got to meet him, never got to say hello, let alone goodbye.” 

“I’m so sorry, (Y/N). I didn’t know at the time, I was—”

“Preoccupied with Lovegood. I know.”

“That’s a bit uncalled for,” He quipped. (Y/N) sat with her knees tucked under her chin. Neville’s tone softened. “You’re hurting right now. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you, then, I mean,” He sat down next to her. “But I’m here now.”

“That man,” (Y/N) continued, as if Neville wasn’t staring her down. “He was the reason I tried so hard to be good. To be everything he wasn’t. Kind, caring, loving,” she wiped a stray tear. “Why did it hurt so bad when he died?”

“I don’t know,” Neville admitted. That was a question only (Y/N) could answer. He felt like she knew that. “I found out when reading about the dead. Your dad’s name stuck out. I sent an owl—”

“I know.” 

“What? I thought you said—”

“I lied,” (Y/N) chuckled airily. “I got them. All of them.”

“But why would you lie?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged, hugging her knees harder. “I never opened them.”

“Why?”

“I dunno,” another shrug. “I was being dumb. I wanted so badly to cut you out of my life for good. To forget that I ever—” she stopped.

“I know I wasn’t the best of friend in that moment,” he rested a hand on her shoulder. “I’m damn well trying now. I know we can’t get back to where we were before, but I want to at the very least give it a go,” he sat down, gingerly, as to not disturb (Y/N). He pushed his arm to the other shoulder, resting his head atop hers.

“Thank you,” (Y/N) whispered, leaning into his touch, enjoying the embrace.  

“Do you think you could start calling me Neville again? As a step in the right direction?” (Y/N) nodded wordlessly. “Good. I’ve missed it.”

“My father dying…” (Y/N) loosed her grip on her knees, opening up slightly. “Isn’t the only reason we fought.”

“No. I guess not,” Neville knew exactly what she was talking about. He couldn’t find the words to express that day, that argument in full. “ We can pretend it is for now. We should talk about it. Another day,” he smiled lightly.

“Another day,” she repeated. “Neville.”

__

General Tag List: @maralisa124 , @leighxlover , @hey-its-me-rai , @missihart23 , @biatheintrovert , @luna-xxxxx , @chocolaterumble, @why-am-i-sad-and-sleepy , @steve-thotgers

want to be added to a tag list? hmu in the replies or ask box with what characters you’d like to be tagged with!

[47crayons]

Writing Habits Tag Game

thank you for the tag @opes-magnas <3

I write: daily |  most days | a few times a week | a few times a month | random

I write most often: when I first get up | later in the morning | afternoon | evening | the wee hours of the night | whenever

In one sitting, I tend to write: a few sentences at a time | a few hundred words | a few thousand words | a complete chapter/section no matter how long | whatever comes

I tend to write scenes: in chronological order with no skipping | mostly in order but with some filler/skipping | whatever scene I feel like | who knows what’s gonna come out???? (the stuff I write usually finds its way on its own idk how it works it just does)

The things that comes easiest to me are: dialogue | description of senses | description of action | description of characters | exposition | other [please specify, i’m curious :P]

I tend to write: on a phone | on a laptop | in a notebook | on whatever paper I can find | with speech to text | in the blood of my enemies | it doesn’t really matter to me | on paper first and then typed up | old school typewriter

When I take a break from writing, it usually lasts: a few days | a few weeks | a few months | it’s kind of random

My favorite thing to do when I’m on a writing break is : recharge with other creative hobbies | read/ consume other media | do something physical | catch up with old friends | work on my WIP in other ways like with playlists or art | other [please specify for us nosy rosies XD].

In general, I think my writing habits are: pretty much what I need them to be | okay, but I’m working on making them better | non-existent | not great :/ | i’m excited to develop them further | totally random | perfect for me :D

i’ve seen this going around a bit (and i don’t want to tag anyone again) so if you’re reading this thinking about what you would pick if you were tagged, this is for you!