#i had this idea last semester while i was in class and it almost gave me a stroke

[x--sinner--x]

Thinking about being your cute little girlfriend who’s normally book smart and passing all her uni courses until last semester she started to get a lil distracted by your cock and unfortunately her grades started to slip. So like any dumb cock hungry slut would do, she hid the fact she failed 2 classes from you but mistakenly forgot to sign out with her school logins on your computer. You eventually found out and of course you gave her a chance to confess truthfully but she’s already too deep in the lie to back down so she keeps going until you show her the proof. I feel like the most suitable punishment for a lying slut like your girlfriend would be of course to fuck her brain silly but also force her to memorize her lectures while simultaneously repeat them out loud as you slot your dick deep inside her dishonest pussy, drilling so hard in her tight hole to the point of almost breaking her and having her scream loudly for forgiveness but deep down she loves every second of it because she just can’t get enough of her daddy’s thick cock🤍

After reading this, I really wish you were my cute little girlfriend. I would love to take advantage of you after learning the fact that you have been lying to me about your grades.

I was so proud of you, telling everyone about how you are the top student in your class and I had this sense of pride as your boyfriend that I quite relished. We had been having a lot of celebratory sex as a way to motivate you. But somehow, you had become addicted to my cock, and I sensed a shift in your behaviour. It felt like you were hiding something from me, which you have never done before. I kept insisting you for answers, but you kept feeding me the same lie over and over until I got fed up.

I found my own answer and confronted you about it, but you still lied right to my face. So I did what any sadistic boyfriend would do to his cute lying girlfriend, and concocted the perfect punishment.

Of course the plan was to fuck your brains out, but that wouldn't be a great idea this due as you had failed your classes. So instead I took the path of torture, making you read out your lectures out loud and memorize it so many times that you were pushed to tears, all while I was pounding so deep into your pussy, and spanking your ass so hard that it had become red from all the hits I just gave you.

Oh and that's not all. I would tie you up and leaving you hanging in mid air, and then I would proceed to ask questions so I can test your knowledge. For every wrong answer you give me, I will use this huge stick I have and spank you anywhere on the body. You will also be blindfolded so that you can't possibly know where I am going to hit.

I'll even go as far to get you upside down, and shove my dick down your throat and suffocate you if you get any answers wrong. I'll slap your face hard, and I'll cum so far down your throat that you can't even taste it, even though you practically beg me for it.

I'll have you walk on all fours with ice cubes placed on your back and you would need to keep walking until all the ice cubes melt on your body. If you give me wrong answers, then I'll hit you and you will pray that the ice cubes don't fall, because that would incur even more brutal punishments.

This will continue until you always give me the right answers and you ace your lectures and reinstate your status in your class. But don't worry, once you achieve your goals, it will be all sunshine and rainbows and I'll treat you like a princess. But only if you don't let me down, or I'll drag you down into the depths of hell with me.

[raccoonface]

“T-Tara?”

______________————————_____________

Warnings- angst or fluff, idk tbh I haven’t decided. Swearing, idk what else

And yes. This is a series.

Summary- Y/n and Tara have a crush on each other and go to great lengths to make sure they have them all to themselves.

————————______________———————-

Masterlist Part One Part Two…(coming soon)

______________————————_____________

Tara was skipping. Again. A habit that became because of her friend Amber. Tara and Amber are best friends, they’ve been since middle school.

Tara was skipping English class because Amber convinced her she already had a good enough grade to pass the last semester of high school. Let’s just say Tara’s a little gullible…

While skipping class Tara and Amber were hiding underneath the bleachers. Amber said she wanted to show Tara something.

“Hey Tara!”

“Hey Amber!”

They were whispering because of an ongoing gym class that was active around them.

“I have something to show you”

“I know we’ve talked about this Amber”

“Yeah but you know”

“Just hurry up and show me”

Tara kept on hurrying because she had never been skipping underneath the bleachers before.

“Alright.”

Amber had brought out her phone from her back pocket to show Tara something.

-WHISTLEEEEEEE-

“HEY WHAT ARE YALL LADIES DOING UNDERNEATH THE BLEACHERS”

“Amber! What do we do?!”

“…. We run”

They both bolted off accidentally leaving Tara’s backpack

———————————————————————

After they bolted off they ended up outside of school in a park.

“A-Amber”

Tara was having a little asthma attack after all of that running

“Yeah? Wait where’s your bag at?!” Amber obviously not focused on the more important subject.

“I-I need… my inhaler”

She was taking big breaths in between the words

“Oh shit right my bad,”

Amber was looking everywhere but couldn’t find her inhaler Tara gave her

“Damn it”

“Hey!”

Some Random person came up to them

“You look a little out of breath… here.”

The polite stranger gave her their inhaler. Tara was taking a puff of the inhaler while Amber was just apologizing and thanking the person

“I am so so so so so so sorry Tara I didn’t mean to not bring your extra inhaler… and thank you you so so so so so much for lending her your inhaler.”

Amber was really hoping Tara didn’t hate her after this but that’s kinda implied.

“Yeah thanks for letting me use it”

“Of course no problem. It’s not even mine I just keep it in case someone needs it” Quite a charm of course

“Huh… that’s handy” As if she had one on her at the time.

“Maybe you should start doing that Amber” And of course Tara has to go at Amber for not remembering her inhaler.

“Tara!”

“Just saying” She could’ve died.

“Alright so I’m gonna go then if you’re Okay.” She started to walk away

“Wait! What’s your name?” A little bit of a weird question to ask when you’re probably never gonna see the person again.

“My names Y/n… what’s yours?” Let’s just say Y/n was a little weirded out.

“Uh.. Tara… Tara Carpenter”

“Nice to meet you Tara” Y/n’s gotta be polite to someone who almost just died… somewhat at least

“Nice to meet you too”

Amber was looking at them and smirking as Y/n left. Tara turned around and saw this then rolled her eyes.

“You’re so weird Amber”

“Maybe but not as weird as you were with Y/n~”

“What are you even talking about?” Tara started to get a little defensive after the statement Amber made.

“I have no idea what you’re saying Amber.”

“You know what I mean” Amber’s always teasing Tara.

“Still have no idea”

“God, you’re really helpless” Tara really is isn’t she?

——————————————————————

Y/ns POV

That was weird. Some random girl was having an asthma attack. I mean I gave her my extra inhaler but she seemed to be a little busy with her friend.

She was kinda cute though… what the hell are you thinking Y/n you’ll probably never see her again anyways.

I mean even if I never do again I’m glad I at least got her name. Tara. Tara Carpenter. Would it be bad if I went searching up her name?

Nah I don’t think so. It doesn’t harm anyone, does it? I put my bets on no…. I dont really know where my phones at though… that’s a little problem.

I should try and find that girl tomorrow. Maybe get her number. I should be worrying about that some time tomorrow and not right now. Because right now I need to find my phone.

Wait a minute… I’m literally using it as a flashlight… I’m a literal dumbass. Ugh. But it is time to go home. I guess I should probably start heading in that direction.

I’m so tired that I’m turning more delusional. I think I might be dying… oh well. I need my bed I wish I could just teleport there ugh.

———————————————————————

Tara’s POV

Jeez getting back into the gym was rough. I gotta get my bag.. hopefully they left it here.

“Aha!” They did! I was so scared they took it to the lost and found or something. I really should get out of here though. It’s getting kinda late.

The way in I took is a little while from the gym but I guess I could just take the way out from the gym… hopefully they don’t see me on the cameras tomorrow.

The gyms behind me now and I can’t stop thinking about that girl, Y/n I think her name was. She was super pretty. I’m just wondering why she was in such a rush. She also gave me a rush… but yet again that could just be from the inhaler she gave me

I still have it actually… I don’t know if I should return it or something. Wait she said to keep it.. she’s so nice. So beautiful. And smart. Well from what I know so far because bringing an extra inhalers pretty smart.

The way to my house is just over this bridge. It’s not too far away. Looking back at where I came from is a little bit farther away then I thou-

“Woah!” And of course I crash into somebody.

“Oh shit. Are you alright?” This person- wait it’s that girl- Y/n I mean.

“Yeah- yeah I’m good”

“You sure? You took a little tumble.. here let me help you up.” Y/n was built to be a goddess i just know it.

“Mhm… I’m sorry I wasn’t really looking where i was going.”

“Please it happens all the time don’t sweat it” Y/n’s perfect. Ughhhh I need to stop…. But I don’t really want to…

“Right.”

“I guess I should get going now. I’m thinking you should too probably” so thoughtful…

“Huh?.. oh yeah I should” my dumbass ‘oh yeah I should’ who the fuck says that ugh.

“Alright… bye”

“Yeah…. Bye I guess” Tara fucking Carpenter you need to stop it.

Time to go home now though. I really need to work on talking to her better. Really surprised I ran into her though… I wonder why that happened.

Probably shouldn’t think about it too much… I gotta get some sleep.

“Home sweet Home!” Finally.

————————______________———————-

A/n-

DANG IT….. IM TWO DAYS BEHIND SCHEDULE….. AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

that’s my bad I’ve been way too busy these past few days to even go on my phone. I just went to Niagara Falls yesterday and the day before that I was busy with a lot of homework.

But it’s here now so ENJOY!!!

There will be a part two within time.. I have a lot planned for this story…

[unholybacon355]

Kinktober Day 28 - GP! Winter x Im Nayeon

Kinktober Masterlist

A/N: Yes, I'm waaaaayyy behind my schedule for Kinktober (Like a week behind) but istg i gonna post the all 31 works.

Also I know I said no more than two stories per idol, but things happened this days and I just had to write this. So that's why nayeon is here again.

And also I apologize if this feels a bit rushed, but is the best I can get this days. With all that being said, I let you with this nonsense.

Minjeong never thought that she would need to be on her knees in order to approve this class. She came to Professor Nayeon's office to ask, or beg if necessary, for a chance to earn some extra points to increase her grade and pass her class. Minjeong was thinking of something like extra homework, a special test, maybe even doing Professor’s laundry, but nothing remotely close to being on her knees with her face buried between Nayeon’s thighs.

Nayeon was sitting on her chair with her skirt lifted to her waist, no underwear, and one leg over her desk to give Minjeong more room to work. Minjeong for her part was on her knees, caressing Nayeon’s thighs, and with her tongue as deep as she could inside her professor’s pussy.

At this time of the day almost no one left on this side of the building, but nayeon still has one hand covering her mouth and the other playing with her student's hair. Despite the low chances to be discovered, never is good having moans coming out of a professor's office. 

Minjeong obviously was doing a good job, otherwyse her face wouldn't be covered on her professor’s slick. To be honest she isn’t that good at giving head but the adrenaline of eating a professor's pussy and also saving her class in the process, is giving her all the enthusiasm she needs to eat that pussy as if it were the last meal on earth. And her effort seems to have a good result because Nayeon uses the hand that was playing with Minjeon’s hair to maintain her head in place while she orgasm and cum in Minjeong face. 

The girl has to admit that her professor’s pussy tastes so good, one of the best she's ever had. Maybe she needs to ask for assistance more often, because if this is the way to pay she has no problem with that.

“Good girl.” Nayeon was panting but still was able to speak. “ But if you had put the same amount of effort into your classes as you did into eating my pussy then you wouldn't have needed it.” Minjeong opened her mouth to protest but Nayeon cut her words. “No, no.” She said moving her index finger from side to side in a negative gesture. “We Aren't finished yet.”

“But I ate you, and made you come.”

“I say we aren’t finished yet. Get your pants down, now.” Nayeon was a good professor and never acted this bossy during class, but people know that it is better not to mess with her. She can be peaceful most of the time, but if you get her mad then you're finished. Better just get back home and take that class next semester but with another professor. Luckily for Minjeong that wasn’t her case, she always paid attention in classes and had decent grades , but shits happens and now she is here. “Don’t make me repeat it.” Nayeon's gaze was stern.

Minjeong was kinda concerned but still obeyed her teacher, but since she only mentioned her pants she only pulled off that garment. Despiste that she ate her professor’s pussy just minutes ago, this makes her feel vulnerable. Her cute white panties were on display and did almost nothing to hide her erection.

“Oh don’t tease me.” Nayeon herself pulled Minjeong’s panties down revealing her small and semi erected dick. “Much better. Now turn around.”  Nayeon gave her one of those looks that told her that was a bad idea to protest or not obey, so Minjeong turned around really confused because initially she thought Nayeon was gonna suck her dick, or at least touch it. But apparently her teacher has another plan for her. “Now bend over my desk.”

This time Minjeong didn't need to hear it twice to obey. She put her elbows on the wooden surface as she bent over the said desk. “No, no, not like that. Spread that ass for me.” This earned Nayeon a confused look from Minjeong. “Did you thought I was to touch your little weeny?” A loud laugh came from the teacher. “Come on, my hand is bigger than your dick. If you want me to touch you then earn it.”

Not waiting for Minjeong to actually do something, Nayeon espread her butthocks revealing her small wrinkle entrance. “Wha.. what…” But Minjeong’s words were cut when she felt Nayeon’s tongue doing things to her anus. Teacher's tongue was doing circles over Minjeong’s sensitive anus  showing a lot of expertise, she definitely has experience doing this.

Minjeong wants to protest but the tongue on her ass is doing things to her strength and she can't resist, so she tries to stick her ass out to help her teacher to have more access to her dirty back entrance. And Nayeon takes advantage of that by sticking her tongue inside Minjeong, pushing and opening her ass with her wet and warm muscle. 

Minjeong, far from protest, is a whimpering mess. Having a tongue inside her ass and her butthock being held by Nayeon’s big hands make her hard. Her dick is throbbing against the desk and her balls are arching.  Is so pathetic that she’s close to cum just by her teacher eating her ass.

But suddenly Minjeong's ass feels empty. She wants to protest, she wants Nayeon tongue inside her again, but instead she gets something more.

God knows from where Nayeon takes a lotion bottle and pours some lotion on her hand, then her hands lands again on Minjeong’s ass. But this time instead of spreading her cheeks she massaged her anus. That little entrance is already so stimulated that nayeon easily slid a finger inside Minjeong. The girl is kinda hypnotized by her teacher actions because she don’t even think about to protest, even when she normally don’t get her ass fucked. The power nayeon has over her is so that Minjeon is now spreading her own butthocks to help her teacher. Maybe that gives her some more points.

“You’re hard but my hand is still bigger.” Nayeon laughs in her ear, finally touching Minjeong dick, and what she says is true. Girl’s dick is as hard as it can be but Nayeon's hand is easily covering it with balls included. In some way that makes Minjeong arousal go to the sky.

Another finger goes inside Minjeong anus. She already feel filled but Nayeon thing is time to really fuck her ass, so she start moving her fingers. Now both Nayeon’s hands are pleasuring Minjeong, one inside her ass and the other stroking her dick. Or most like grabbing and twitching her shaft while making fun of her size.

“You take my fingers so well. What a good girl you’re.” The mix between the compliment and the jokes about her size were really doing things to Minjeong. “If you take another finger I’ll allow you to cum. Want you?”

Minjeong's first response was a pathetic loud whimper. “I… I don’t Th-think I can take another.” Nayeon's hand leaves her dick and that makes her sad, but the other hand stays inside her anus. “Please, please. lee-t me cum.”

“Then be a good girl and take another finger.” Nayeon fingers were working extra hours on Minjeong ass to make her use to the intromission. She was opening her fingers inside Minjeong’s little entrance to gape her anus and make room for a third finger. 

“Ok… Ok. I’ll take it, but let me cum please.” Minjeong´s brain was already fried with all the unexpected pleasure she was getting from her ass and all she wants right now is to get some friction on her dick. When nayeon wasn't grabbing her she tried to grind against the desk, but that didn’t give her enough pleasure. She definitely needed Nayeon’s hand to make her cum.

“Good girl,” With a little bit of effort Nayeon puts her third finger inside Minjeong’s small anus. Her slender fingers feels so good against her warm walls, they were so long that were deeper than any other thing Minjeong had ever put on her ass. Also having three of them inside her ass makes her feel so filled. Having her anus this expanded was something really new to her.

Nayeon’s other hand came back to touch Minjeong’s dick, this time wrapping her fingers around the hard meat. While her work on the youngergirl ass was fast, really fucking her anus, the pace on her dick was more controled. Slow long pumps, or at least as long as her size allows, that had Minjeong’s shaft throbbing. The dual action was too much, and that added to the fact that Nayeon was complimenting her for taking her finger so well has Minejong at the very verge of the orgasm. But for some reason he knew she wasn't allowed to cum till her teacher gave her the direct order to do so.

Now the girl was holding the desk edges tightly till the point her knuckles turned white. The pleasure was so much that it was overwhelming. She was releasing patetic whimpers while her teacher was stuffing three fingers inside her stretched anus. “Good girl, you earned it. You can cum now.” Nayeon whispered to her ear and that was all she needed to stop holding her orgasm and pour out her cum on her teacher’s hand.

Minjeong released the desk and used her hands to cover her mouth as best as she could. After all they still were inside Nayeon’s office and her whimpers could get them to be caught, that would definitely end with her being expelled from college and Nayeon being fired. For that Minjeong tries to hold her whimpers, but didn’t help that nayeon still where fucking her ass while she was cumming, filling the big hand whit her hot milk. And even when it was a bit uncomfortable having her anus so stretched was also a very pleasant orgasm, even her legs were shaking for the pleasure and overwhelming feelings.

“Good girl. You did it so well.” Nayeon finally pulls her fingers out of Minjeong’s anus, leaving her entrance full open and feeling empty. “Actually you deserve more than a few points.” Minjeong's orgasm was so good that she had blurred vision. “If you can take my fingers again in the future I’ll let you pass my class with an A+.” Nayeon uses her panties to clean Minjeong´s cum from her finger while circling the desk to face the girl.” We call it a deal?” The teacher asked with her characteristic big smile, acting as if she hadn't just fucked one of hers students in the ass just moments ago.

[riddles-fiddles]

Help! Rook is in my backyard!!

Geez sorry my bad I didn't think he would be able to escape the basement. Anyway this gave me an idea for a short yandere Rook fic

Synopsis: it's not your mind playing tricks on you. Characters: Rook Hunt Tags: yandere, dark themes, drugging, stalking, Rook being a creep Notes: gender neutral reader

•·.·''·.·•ˏˋ°••·.·''·.·•ˏˋ°••·.·''·.·•ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

You can't tell with precision when it all started, but you do remember a lingering sense of uneasiness keeping you up your toes from the first day of the new semester. You were just sitting down by the cafeteria, sharing breakfast with Ace and Deuce and everything looked nothing out of the ordinary; the room was filled with vibrant chatter and the tantalizing smell of fresh scrambled eggs. Your friends seemed oblivious, too deep in conversation to notice the way you uncomfortably shifted on your seat, hairs standing on end.

You felt watched, predatory eyes scanning over your spine. Slowly, you turn to face the crowd, trying to make sense of someone that might have been staring for too long, but you find nothing. Everyone around looked equally emerged on their own interests, so you decided to rush on your meal, urgency rushing through you to get out of the cafeteria as soon as possible.

You can feel the ghost of those eyes when you are at class, but everytime you tried to peek, be it over your shoulder or looking through the mirror of your phone, nothing seemed out of place, no one was looking directly into you. By the extending days of this strange event, you try to reason with the fact you're apparently growing paranoid.

After some time, things cool down and the innerving feeling dies out. You grow strangely tired through the passing weeks, and you can't quite grasp what might be causing it; you have tried to sleep earlier, eat better and even sought medical help from the school's nurses, just for your blood tests to come out fine and healthy. Truly, your mind is just so constantly hazy that you don't even notice how the food you have been cooking tastes strangely more appetizing - actually, when was the last time you cooked? You can't remember, but you're too tired to try and think things through, so you just finish your soup and leave it by the sink.

When you reach your bed, you simply fall between the comfy sheets and slumber hits you almost instantly. Your body is heavy and you can't fight the closing of your eyes; a gloved hand reaches for the half open window, but you're already too drunk on your exhaustion to make sense of that vision, so when you wake up, you just assume it was a dream, a very weird one by that - hands reaching for your windows and a faceless figure hovering you with twisted devotion. Maybe you're not as over the mysterious creep from last week as you thought.

Small gifts seem to appear from nowhere on your bedside table, on the counter, or anywhere you can easily spot them - chocolate, roses, and small letters. You don't want to feed the growing sense of fear and vulnerability within you, knowing you're practically living alone, and the prospect of having a stalker was... not something you wanted to deal with - so you settle with the idea that Ace and Deuce are the ones leaving heartfelt gifts while you're away.

Rook revels on your oblivious innocence, watching from the shadows as you go about your day. What you don't know, though, is that Rook is an avid hunter, and that he has living with you ever since that night where he climbed over your window - such a romantic display of affection! Just like the fairytales of forbidden love he had grown with. He's fidgety, quietly listening to the lulling sound of your breath, aching for the night he'll be able to lay down beside you and hug you tightly, but for now, he can satisfy his most romantic urges by watching your sleep with almost unblinking eyes, etching to memory the way your chest flutters in a peaceful slumber.

He'll make sure that you're the most happy with small actions of service, cooking you nice meals with his tranquilizer formula - just to help you sleep better, of course! He wouldn't even dream of doing something innapropriate to his precious trickster! - and then cleaning all the mess you leave behind.

Rook hopes that someday you'll learn about his quirky advances, yearning for the day you'll appreciate him and reciprocate his deep, undying love for you.

[ferns-shenanigans]

I feel alone in my struggles but in the case that anyone else is feeling this way let me shine some light on my thoughts.

I took a gap year after high school, I got a full time job and moved out of my parents house, and I loosely tried out 3D modeling and some other things. I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do, within this time I had thought through multiple plans and half attempted others, I figured I’d try something and see if it would stick, I thought I wanted to do this thing (3D modeling for video games) so I tried it. I started off by learning some stuff on my own, but when that didn’t work out I decided to go to college. I got into a community college for 3D animation and waited for my semester to start. I took some classes part time but it wasn’t until this year that I actually started on the 3D modeling, and turns out I hate it. Now what do you do when you find out you hate your major? Well freak out of course!

I should mention that all while this was happening I was dealing with health issues, my parents getting a divorce, I also moved in with my mom, and I had changed jobs before having to quit because of my health. I didn’t take time off school but I did drop a class, and I gave 3D modeling one last chance (spoiler alert, I still don’t enjoy it). It was in this time that I figured out a direction (kind of). I’d always enjoyed writing and throughout my first year of college I had decided to write on top of creating art for video games, now I just took off the art portion of it and voila I’ve got a plan… well, kind of. Issue is my current community college doesn’t have a creative writing program, so I looked into other colleges.

At the time I hadn’t been planning on getting a bachelors degree, I was actually against it, but it was looking like I needed to open up to the idea. I couldn’t find a community college in my area that offered a creative writing course online (I need an almost all online program because of my health and inability to take in person classes), so I looked elsewhere. I looked out of my city, out of my county, and out of my state, but I still couldn’t find an associates in creative writing that was online. This (and a conversation with my academic advisor) made me change my search to a bachelors degree. I previously hadn’t wanted to get one because of time since I’m a part time student due to my health issues, so a bachelors will take me longer than the typical four years, but upon going looking for an online creative writing bachelors I found many options.

I’m now changing my current degree to a liberal arts transfer program so I can transfer to a university for what I want to do. I actually found a degree that has an emphasis in game writing, but I’m still on the fence if I should get such a niche degree (it has a lot more classes I’d want to take as compared to other writing degrees). I’ve done a lot to get to this point, I filtered through three universities before even deciding on my original plan, and now I’m changing it again. I’ve also thought about it a lot, talked it through with everyone in my life, and done a shit ton of research.

It brings up a lot of emotions: Am I doing the right thing? What if I don’t enjoy my new choice? What if I spend all this time and money on something I don’t like, or what if I fail? A portion of this has to do with my health too, my inability to be a full time student, and my need to do online schooling, but (and as cheesy as it sounds) I refuse to let my health stop me more than it already has.

School is a hard decision, one that should not be made hastily, but sometimes you just need to try something to figure out if you like it or not. It may seem like you’re wasting time and money, but it’s hard to know your feelings on something before even trying it (this is me telling you as much as it is reassuring myself).

[aceship-sconesterprise]

In Our Favor

Part 471

McCoy

“I’m going to get you this time,” Jim grinned.

McCoy shook his head. “You say that every time, and you’ve yet to put my back to the mat.” The prince bounced on his toes as Jim began to move towards him. McCoy sighed as he grinned. Self defense class was always a boost for his esteem. Jim always wanted to be his partner, and while Jim was a good fighter, he didn’t compare to the previous training McCoy had received.

“Maybe you should partner with someone else,” McCoy suggested as he easily dodged Jim’s attack for his torso. He twisted, ready for Jim to come at his back with both hands together, and carefully flipped him aside.

“Cadets!” called their instructor. “Back to the lesson please!”

Jim grinned again as he stood and he moved back to McCoy to work on the wrist locks they were supposed to be doing.

Dressed again in uniform, McCoy moved across campus to the simulator hall. Sparring with Jim was always fun, and he tried to hold onto that as his fears tried to make their way into his head.

Keenser waved to him from the front of their simulator as the prince entered the room. McCoy joined him quickly.

“Hey,” he greeted the smaller alien.

Keenser nodded at him, then looked up. “Scotty?”

McCoy frowned slightly, trying his best to read the alien’s face the way Scotty seemed too.

“He’s good,” McCoy answered, slightly hesitantly.

“About the project?”

Now McCoy nodded. “Ah. He’s disappointed,” he answered quietly. “But he understands why he and Aporal probably didn’t get picked.”

Keenser shook his head. “Not fair.”

“He knows you and Jaylah will tell them all about it though.”

“Yes.”

“Hey guys!” Cora was hurrying to join them.

“Hi Cora.”

“Hi.”

“Cadets, let’s get started,” said Lt. Flores from the middle of the room.

McCoy and Cora turned to follow Keenser into the simulator. The Roylan headed for the pilot's seat while McCoy sat behind him. Cora squeezed McCoy’s shoulder as she went to the copilot’s chair. They had settled into a regular order of Keenser first, McCoy second and Cora last. It had worked well for McCoy the previous semester to be the second flier. Once Keenser and Cora knew about his fear they had done their best to support him however they could.

McCoy took a deep breath as the simulator began to move. They would do six flights, two each and then be done. Then he could go see Scotty at lunch and relax for a short while close to his husband before afternoon classes. The simulator rocked and McCoy drew in a sharp breath. Anything completely overwhelming he would discuss with Dr. Cuthbert after his last class and then Scotty would be waiting for him.

“Leonard.”

McCoy startled out of his thoughts. Keenser had stood up and was staring at him. McCoy blinked and realized it was his turn. He stood and changed places with Keenser.

As his fingers moved smoothly over the controls, McCoy looked at the screen nervously. How had he not paid any attention to what Keenser’s flight had been like? Usually it gave him an idea of what he was in for. The simulator rumbled to life again below them and McCoy carefully took off.

He glanced at his control panel; a simple delivery and dock with a space station. He hadn’t felt any big movements from the simulator as Keenser flew. It must just be straightforward for once. Wouldn’t that be nice, a small smile tried to cross McCoy’s face.

Part 472

Scotty

"How difficult do you think the test will be? Because I haven't really studied for it," Jim asked as he strolled along with Scotty and Sulu to their basic medical knowledge class. Their instructor had announced that they would be taking a test this week to test their knowledge.

Scotty rolled his eyes and shook his head with a smile.

"What a surprise that ye of all people didn't study. And now ye're worried about how hard it'll be?"

"I assume it's getting a bit more challenging. After all, the topics of the last few lessons were almost more than just basic knowledge," Sulu pointed out.

"Hikaru's right, Jimbo. If ye really haven't studied, then ye're in a bad position."

Jim let out a sigh, then shrugged his shoulders.

"Maybe I'll just use my mental bond with Spock and ask him for help."

"Ye want to cheat? I hardly think Spock will help ye with that."

The Vulcan was far too dutiful and honest for that.

Jim groaned.

"I know, I know. I'm on my own. As I so often am."

This statement made Scotty freeze. Something was clearly wrong with his friend. Sulu, on the other hand, didn't seem to notice the undertone in Jim's voice.

"If you had studied better, you wouldn't have to worry now," he said and Jim smiled wryly.

"Yeah..."

After class, Sulu headed straight off to his fencing training. That left just Jim and Scotty to make their way to one of the common rooms to do their homework together. Jim didn't look happy, although he tried to cover it up with a smile.

"Talk to me."

When Scotty looked at him promptly, Jim just blinked in confusion.

"Huh?"

"What's wrong? Something's bothering ye, isn't it?"

Jim's smile grew fainter and fainter until it finally disappeared completely. He slumped his shoulders.

"I... talked to Sam on the comm yesterday. I haven't been focusing on my studies as much lately because I'm trying to get along with him. We had a normal conversation at first, but... then we got into an argument and... well, I really don't know if I want to keep trying to trust him."

Scotty sympathetically put a hand on his friend's shoulder and squeezed it.

"Do ye want to tell me what happened? Why did ye have a fight?"

Jim's gaze darkened.

"We... were talking about quite private things and were just at a very good point when suddenly his doorbell rang. He answered it and I heard a female voice in the background asking Sam if he had time for her. He told me that he had to hang up right now because of something official, but I immediately knew what was really going on. Some flirtation with a woman is more important to him than a conversation with his brother. I gave him a piece of my mind and then hung up."

Scotty nodded understandingly. Of course he wanted to be on his friend's side, but he also wanted to try and mediate.

"It was definitely wrong of him to just end the call like that, but... don't ye think it might really have been something official?"

Jim snorted.

"Who knows for sure. In any case, I don't want to hear from him for now."

"Aye. I see. Well... if there's anything I can do for ye, just tell me, lad."

"Help me on the homework?"

"Alright. I got ye."

[lyssaterald]

Take Flight, Part ?: Mischief

In which student mischief and attempts at bullying can lead to something good.

Content Warning: General spoilers for the main story. Minors and ageless accounts do not interact! Named character, and slight mentions of character’s past and history which are not expanded on as they are not important to this chapter. Weirdly, I switch between past and present tense. Sorry, not sorry. Unbeta read.

Staring at the ruined cauldron was doing nothing for my temper even as the remains of my potion was starting to eat away the stone beneath it. One of my fellow students had tossed a firework into the Sleeping Solution that had been for the surprise practical for this class, and I had only escaped injury because of the blood barriers I wore like a second skin. If I had been a normal human, I would have been screaming and writhing in pain by this point. Solomon, as usual, was monitoring my body language to try and help if I needed him.

Which I didn't.

As it stood, the professor had been lecturing me about safety and showing off for the last ten minutes. He was even going on about assigning me extra cleaning duties for having damaged the classroom while the unfinished ingredients mixed in a hazardous slop and turned acidic.

"No," I stated calmly as he was wrapping up his lecture. The demon stopped speaking mid word and stared at me.

I flicked off a bit of the potion that had remained on my hand and heard it splat against someone else's cauldron. There was a muffled shriek and the scent of burning metal renewed itself. Without bothering to watch, I threw an ice spell in the same direction and more screams went up, but I was done with this class and it's bullies. I'd been enduring them for the last two months of our second semester together.

Apparently, the demoness who had ruined my potion and been trying to harass me had a thing for Lucifer. She doesn't seem to have taken well to the idea of me being with him in a relationship. She'd taken to school yard antics to try and bring my days down and to fuck with my mood.

Child's play.

Well, mission accomplished! Just not in the ways she had hoped. I smiled at the little she-devil with the bronze hair and emerald green snake scales that covered half of her face, neck, and trailed down and under her scanty shirt. The rest of her was humanoid enough to almost pass for human. She was pretty, fragile-looking, and her full mouth was pulling into a sultry frown under my look.

"Thank you for the safety demonstration with the fireworks, Aresha," I said and the professor's head slowly turned towards the she-devil. Her scaled tail was curling slowly from view behind her desk-likely to hide the fact that some of her scales were scorched. "As you can see, any basic shield spell will ward off most harm a potion explosion of this kind. What do you say about extra credit points for the demo, Professor Borzin?"

He had seen the tail retreating as clearly as I had and his small, dark eyes flickered between us for a second. "Yes, Lyssa, that seems appropriate. I'll call on the Little Ds for clean up," he said. "As for the exam, we'll reschedule it for Saturday afternoon." His greasy voice rose over the loud groan that the other students gave. "Class dismissed!

Aresha flicked her hair back over her shoulder as she reached to pick up her bag and hurry away without even putting away her potion ingredients. "This isn't over!" she hissed at me as I put away my own supplies.

"Sure," I agreed and she huffed angrily out the door.

The last of my things packed away, I headed for my Politics of Heaven and Hell class. On the way there, I hopped over two trip attempts, ducked under an arm that had been thrown in my way, and shoved through a duo of Aresha's little minions that had tried to block my path. My Politics class was the only one where I did not share a schedule with any of the brothers, angels, or Solomon. It was the only part of my day where I wasn't being hovered over or closely watched, but it had the effect that I walked alone through the halls alone between Potions and Politics, which also happened to be on the other side of RAD.

It had taken a fight of epic proportions with Luci to get him to relent on him or one of his brothers always walking me to this class. I had dug in and fought with him until his temper had won out and he tried to use threats to get me to comply. That had resulted in me hopping out the window I'd placed at my back and scaling to the other side of the building before he could finish his third or fourth threat.

Claws and wings were sometimes useful when they forgot I was only mostly human. Exploring the surrounding forest in my off time had also been useful in leading them on a mad search for me while I hid in one of the taller trees and watched them following my scent trail. Which had brought Diavolo and Barbatos out to the House of Lamentations when the search had gone over two hours. Diavolo had come directly to my tree and asked me to come down until I relented to him and climbed down, still in my Other form with my draconic features and wings revealed. The agreement where Diavolo would have invisible eyes on me at all times at RAD left none of us except Dia happy, but it had given me some semblance of freedom from constant hovering.

Those memories took me to the door of my Politics class and had me frowning at the two bulky, squish-faced demons with more animal features than human that were blocking the door. I was usually in the classroom with a minute or two to spare between and the bell chose that second to ring, making the two demons grin at each other.

Great, so the goal was to make me late.

It wasn't a rule that was usually enforced on me since I had been on point about my attendance, but usually being late would result in a detention after school. The other students had made sure to describe in detail some of the punishments that other tardy and absent students had gone through, some of the stories so outlandish that it had me squinting at them.

The click of the door lock had me growling under my breath and clutching the shoulder strap of my bag. Late students were also absent students if they weren't in class by the end of the first minute after the bell.

The twin morons were chuckling to each other as my frown deepened. "Are you asking for a fight?" I growled at them and their smiles quickly dropped away. I'd had my share of scrapes that'd I'd won since arriving. "Don't forget you're absent from your classes as well." The look of realization that dawned across their faces made me chuckle and lifted my spirits. Dim and Dimmer hadn't realized what Aresha was setting them up for when she recruited them. "Best get to the library and do independent study if you want to mitigate the punishment."

They scurried off without so much as a glance back at me as they hurried off to do their own thing. Without Dim and Dimmer blocking my path, I jiggled the handle and sighed at the ungiving metal. Right, so Politics of Heaven and Hell was out for today. Running my fingers through my hair, I considered just ditching for the rest of the day. Devildom History and Mathematics were confusing subjects on my best days. They'd be a headache today when I was already heading towards a foul mood.

With a sigh, I set off down the hall and paused at the fork that would take me to the library or towards Diavolo's office and the entrance hall. I glanced down both sections and weighed the options. Option one was to make sure I earned the detention...Option two was to not make it any worse. My lunch hour was right after Politics so it would give me at least two hours to run about with just the invisible eyes on me.

But it would also be an option to spend time with Diavolo for the rest of the morning.

He didn't usually have morning classes to look after since Barbatos made sure his schedule was full of paperwork and meetings until noon. If he wasn't in his office, I could always take the suddenly free two hours and go for a short flight. That would surely improve my mood for the rest of the day and whatever petty tricks Aresha had in store.

My feet took me towards Diavolo's office even as the itch to fly was growing under my skin. Diavolo hadn't had much in the was of free time this month as he and Luci were buried under a mountain of paperwork from-presumably from the Devildom's House of Lords. Their complaints had seemed to take an uptick in the last weeks of our semester as we headed towards the weeklong break everyone was supposed to get while Diavolo's birthday was celebrated.

My knock was soft on his door, but Diavolo's voice was clear when he called, "Enter." Golden eyes flickered up at me with his public smile already in place as I pushed the door open.

It was the smile that, if you didn't know him, could convince you that he was nothing but a goofy prince with the power destroy anything he desired, but chose not to do so because he was too...young. It was what I had taken to calling his lonely smile and I hated when he used it on me, but it melted into something more real as he realized who I was. The corners of his eyes crinkled as he held a hand out to me in invitation.

Quietly closing the door behind me and dropping my bag to the side, I strode forward to take his hand and let him pull me into his lap as he buried his head in my shoulder. My fingers slid through his light red hair as I breathed in his scent. Musk, cinnamon, and the smell of rain after a downpour. It was always a little different each time I saw him, but he always reminded me of home and settled that pang that would haunt me sometimes.

His red blazer was draped over the arm of his chair and documents were spread out around him on the desk as well as to the right of his chair. The tension left my body as I nuzzled into the hug and felt his arms tighten possessively. Even if no one other than the brothers, angels, Diavolo, and Solomon approved of my presence in the Devildom, that was all I needed.

Forget the others. Forget Aresha and her ploys. They are unimportant.

We sat like that for a couple of minutes, just Diavolo hugging me and my fingers running through his hair and scratching gently at his scalp. Until his DDD trilled loudly and shocked us into loosening our embrace. I gave it a baleful look as he reached for it and gave me an apologetic smile.

"Lucifer," he greeted and I rolled my eyes at him, drawing a laugh from him as he switched to Infernal for his conversation. They did that when they didn't want me to know what was being discussed. It was annoying and I fidgeted on Diavolo's lap as I cast a look at my bag.

There was still time for me to get some studying in preparation for one of my other classes. Diavolo's remaining hand slid to my thigh and gave a squeeze to catch my attention. He leaned back into his wing-backed chair and shook his head.

He wants me to remain.

Warmth flooded my chest and I leaned into him, tucking my head under his chin so that I could hear his heartbeat through the white-cotton dress shirt he wore. The beating of his heart was steady, strong, and reassuring. Mixed with him speaking in Infernal in his smooth tones and I was drifting into a state of half-awareness. I don't know how long I sat there with him, but I must have dozed off as I jerked awake when he shifted beneath me and set his phone to the side.

"Did I disturb you?" he chuckled at my bleary blink up at him. I could only chirr at him before I looked up at the clock on his office wall and almost leaped out of my skin at the time. Diavolo's hands on me kept me in his lap.

Two hours had passed by.

I groaned at the mistake I had made and buried my head into Diavolo's shoulder. Not one but two absences in the same day. It was starting to look like I might as well just skip the entire day and deal with the consequences tomorrow.

"Ah. Its past time for your Devildom History class," Diavolo said apologetically and I beat my forehead gently on his collar bone.

"No, I should have paid better attention, Dia," I groaned against him and he laughed at my muffled voice. "Should I even bother going to the rest of the classes today?"

He dropped a kiss on the top of my head and answered, "Lucifer will be most disappointed if he hears that you missed most of your classes." I growled at him and his laugh vibrated in to my chest.

Would it be too selfish to ask to remain with him for the rest of the day?

We'd had a thing going on between us for a couple of weeks now and I wasn't sure how serious he was about it, not that it could matter since I only had a year with them. But he was fun to be around and it was comforting to be held like this sometimes, not that Lucifer didn't also hold me like this while he worked in the evenings. There was just something different when I was with Diavolo.

Still, I hadn't moved and he hadn't made to push me away. "Was it a very important topic you and Luci discussed?" I asked cautiously.

"Middling," he hummed, sliding his fingers through my hair and pressing a lock to his lips before letting it fall away and repeating the motion. My stomach flipped as he did it again and the warmth spread from my chest to the rest of my body even as his golden eyes never left mine. "We probably shouldn't play...what was the word...hockey?"

"Hooky," I corrected with a laugh. "Hockey is a sport humans play on the ice with sticks, bladed shoes, and a heavy, round disk."

An odd sport but humans seemed to enjoy violence with their mass entertainment.

"Sounds interesting. We should try it sometime," he mused, still watching me. I knew what he was waiting for, but I just smiled at him, waiting for him to make his own decision. His eyes strayed to the window and I grinned harder.

"It probably isn't a good idea," I stated, running my unVeiled claws across his cheek. He shivered sightly under the touch. "Barbatos and Lucifer would be mad at us if we just vanished."

"There are no important meetings this afternoon or tomorrow morning." His eyes strayed back to the paperwork on the desk and he sighed, moving my whole body with the motion.

I shouldn't have been encouraging him along, but it wasn't like we had gotten up to mischief together, yet. It was something we hadn't yet gotten the chance to do something together and I knew whatever he had in mind was going to be outrageous and give Lucifer a headache, but the itch beneath my skin was making me lean towards whatever his idea was.

Diavolo was starting to grin back at me, seeming to be weighing his work against his desire to escape. "We could take some of your work with us." And that won him over.

After that, it was a bit of a scramble to dump my school bag out, hastily sort through what documents looked important and what could wait, and determine what grimm we had on us for the escape. I had jewels from my recent shed and he had an obscene amount of money in his wallet that made me laugh.

I got the window pried open while he was pulling his blazer back on and looked down at the courtyard. There were a few students milling about on their free period and enjoying the fresh air, but it was otherwise clear. Diavolo put a hand on my back as he leaned over me to check out the scene below.

"Fairly empty," he commented. "But I am still recognizable. Should we take the entrance hall to depart?"

"Nah, I have an idea," I said and turned to hand him the bag of documents. He looked down at me and took advantage of being so close to me to steal a kiss. It caught me off guard before I leaned into him and put a clawed hand on his face. I pulled back a second later and laughed with excitement. "We should probably wait until after our escape. Meet me on the tower closest to us when I distract everyone."

He stepped back from me and watched me with curiosity as I hopped up on the windowsill and took a moment to unVeil my wings. A soft touch from him had me looking back at him, but his gaze was raking over my wings like he did every time I showed them to him.

With a giddy whoop, I leapt out of the window and closed my wings around my body to spiral down. At the last moment, I snapped them open and threw an ice spell across the courtyard amidst screams of surprise as everyone scattered and I sharply changed my trajectory back towards the sky before quickly banking towards the roof.

My landing was rough as I skidded to a halt and then crashed into Diavolo, our wings tangling. I was euphoric. Laughter hadn't come this easily to me in years. My body was lighter than a feather and my heart was pounding when Diavolo picked me up and kissed me. It was hard to pull back from him, but I did and shook my wings free of his four.

"Where to?" I asked, feeling heat rush to my face.

His fingers threaded through mine and I stepped towards him again. "Do you trust me?" he asked, brushing a kiss across my knuckles.

"Yes."

The answer was automatic and breathless. It was like I had always belonged here, with him.

"Follow me, then."

And I did.

[theselfshippingwitch]

Ray x Violet - A Christmas Romance - Saturday, November 25th

A dinner party for the Ghostbusters the Saturday after Thanksgiving

-

"I'll get it!"

Violet, in her dark blue sweater and black jeans, opened the door to her and Ray's house. "Janine!"

"Hey, Violet. I brought the Broccoli casserole. It's my sister's recipe. Is my boyfriend still in your library?"

Egon had been working on some sort of research that required the books from Ray's private collection - the books he wasn't about to sell to just anyone who walked into the bookstore. "Presumably. I haven't actually seen him since yesterday morning." Violet took the casserole from Janine, and she took her coat off.

"I'd better go make sure he actually slept in the guest bedroom instead of at the desk again."

"Okay! I'll put this in the kitchen with Ray. He's just putting the finishing touches on his pumpkin pie!"

Violet brought the casserole to the kitchen, where Ray was wearing a white apron and matching chef's hat over his usual attire of a green sweatervest and gray slacks. "How goes it?" she asked.

"Well, I don't think it'll be as good as your mother's apple pie, but it's coming along."

She kissed his cheek. "Have I mentioned how cute you look in your little hat and apron?"

Ray blushed. "I would have remembered if you did."

The doorbell rang again. "I've got it. You keep working on dessert, handsome."

This time it was Louis at the door. "I brought the Turkey! You know, if you wait until Friday to buy it, they're selling it at half off! Do you believe it? I got the last one, it's only about five pounds, but I figure we'll have enough side dishes everyone will get enough food anyway!"

His girlfriend Layla came in after him. "I'm just really glad he didn't burn it. I'm proud of you, babe."

Winston came in next with his girlfriend, Cecile. Violet was ecstatic. "Cecile! Oh my gosh, it's been forever! How's the literature class going?"

"Fantastic! The students are wonderful this semester!" she said in her posh English accent. "But we'll have to see what happens when term papers come in. Where can I set up the charcuterie board?"

Winston gave Violet a tight hug. "Violet, hey girl, how's it going, how was your Thanksgiving? I bet Ray was happy to see your family again!"

Violet nodded. "He blends in so well with the men in my family, it's almost uncanny. And what about you? Specifically, you and Cecile. How was meeting her family?"

"Oh great, you know, you know..."

Next in was Steffi, Violet's personal assistant. "Hey, gorgeous. Good to see you again. I've got your half-caff mocha latte with soy milk and extra whipped cream."

"Steffi, you don't have to do that. You're not working for me right now, you're just here as my friend."

She gave Violet a look. "You know how my life falls apart when I'm not working."

"Hmm, okay. You know what you can do for me?" she leaned in and whispered, "Get the deets about Cecile and Winston's relationship while Cecile is still here. Winston is still holding out on the good stuff."

Steffi winked, and made her way over to Cecile.

Peter and Irina were the last to show up, with Irina's adoptive son Shannon in tow. He politely thanked Violet in his soft voice for hosting the event. Irina held up a large tray. "I brought stuffing! I made it with extra spicy sausage. Three different kinds. It's a family recipe." She grinned coyly, and her already sharp fangs seemed to grow sharper in the light from the chandelier.

Peter raised his glass at dinner. "To Violet. For having the idea to tell Slimer the party starts two hours after it actually started. For once, we can all eat a meal in peace!"

[aizawas-upper-left-wisdom-tooth]

Alright, story time.(Abbreviated)

My first college professor. Older lady came with glowing reviews from my literal friends, family, and highschool classmates.

I was doing dual credit (for anyone not in the know, that's when you take college classes while still in highschool) and while I wasn't top of my class, I was loved by almost all my teachers and well liked by the others. Needless to say, I had never had any problems with teachers in the past.

About 2 weeks into my Intro to English class in college, my teacher (we'll call her Mrs.B) goes off on a rabbit trail of conversation that leads into her rant of (and no, I'm not making this up) "The founding fathers we're all a part of some mass cult-like organization similar to the illuminati and founded the country on the grounds of brainwashing and controlling the public"......

So needless to say, the class was literally stunned. Like, no one had any idea what to say in this situation. So, since my dad didn't raise no idiot, I raised my hand and said.

"Mrs.B. I've never heard of this before."

And because I'm a Slytherin who tries to go for deniability, I VERY SPECIFICALLY add

"I was taught that they were christians who immigrated here seeking religious freedom from the British government. May I ask where you heard this from?"

BOI HOWDY! DID SHE NOT LIKE THAT!

She then proceeded to:

1.) lecture me in a very harsh hissing tone (that raised up to a yell!) in front of the whole class about not questioning her because she was "older and wiser than me."

2.) barred me from speaking in the class, and angrily cut me off every time I tried to apologize. (I was terrible with confrontation from authority figures since up until this point my teachers and bosses had been almost nothing but pleasant people)

3.) when I later emailed her an apology stating that I had not meant to question her authority in front of the class. I had only been genuinely confused at the information. But she also owed me an apology for banning me from speaking and almost full on yelling at me in front of the class.

She replied with something along the lines of "this is not an apology since you're not admitting full fault for the situation."

4.) for the rest of the semester I was in her class, she routinely gave me failing, or just barely passing, grades on my assignments. This is despite the fact that I had made 2 different As before the incident and I was a better writer than my best friend who had taken the class before me and passed with flying colors.

And 5.) the final the paper was simple. Write an essay on your favorite movie beforehand (following a bunch of rules), bring it to class, trade with your partner, you both correct each other's papers, HAND IT BACK TO EACH OTHER, THEN FIX ANY MISTAKES MARKED, and then you turn it in at the end of class.

I had missed the rule where it said the paper could only be 2 pages long. I had written 4.

My partner was an Egyptian young man who should have been in the other, easier class, "English as a second language."

He started writing his paper IN CLASS... His English was terrible and he barely spoke the language, much less could write it well. (No offense meant to him, but he should have been in the other class and this is relevant to the story)

I rolled my eyes and got to editing my own paper while he wrote his. I was down to 2 and a half pages. While also practically writing my partner's paper for him. We had 30 min left before the end of class and we were some of the last people in class.

She asks what's taking so long.

I calmly say that I had over written my paper and was editing it down while helping my partner with-

She cuts me off by YELLING at me saying that I was an idiot for not following the guidelines beforehand and ect. Ect.

But what really got me was when she yelled out "you're dragging down your partner! His papers are always so much better than yours and you're only going to ruin his paper!"

Then she demanded I turn on my paper right then and there... Despite still having 30 min left to finish it.

It was like a switch flipped.

Up until that point I had been in denial, thinking that I just had to work harder. But then she told me that this man was getting better grades than I was.

He was literally incapable of forming a complete sentence in English.

I simply turned in my paper and walked away.

I didn't rat out my partner for not having written his essay beforehand, because I ain't no snitch.

And, unfortunately, I didn't report her or go to the dean. I was a doormat when it came to authority figures and had previous bad experiences reporting harassment in other areas of my life.

Not doing anything when I had the chance to report her is still one of my biggest regrets. Last I heard, she died of some cancer or something like 8 years later?

I'm still pissed. My only solace is knowing that I don't take that kind of shit from people now.

does everyone have a teacher that they still have beef with/ hold a grudge against today??

[krotecho]

Update on my work, I shared with exactly three people and one read it (Without pictures~)

My dear friend, whom I love dearly, must have enough of me and my writing bullshit by now (I sent her unhinged smut yesterday and she didn't reply much after that, I think I broke her with my awful writing °-°) So. I'm going to whine about my characters here. Because who's going to stop me.

I mentioned before that I work on my old project now. My brain is amazing with how fast it ditches ideas in a hole, next to which is a sign "Hiatus purgatory hole". Besides. Original plot can make one question where were my parents, because stuff I wrote when I was like twelve is worrying. I didn't had a good concept of the world it turns out and my world was incredibly... Weird.

Still is, but at least I embrace it now and I think it isn't as horrible as I was painting it eight years ago XD Either way, I'm wandering from main topic. I work on my idea, with my nearly ten years of experience with writing. And it's a bit depressing that I'm still not that good at writing after all that time.

...

I warn about me spoiling stuff here, if you think you'll want to read that story (It's in polish so good luck, mate) then don't go below this point. I'll keep it civil, nice and clean, but I'm not going to hold much. Summary probably will be on my master post, so before reading this you can look there and decide. But to the main event.

I'm obsessed with my characters, for past week or so I was spamming my friends with random trivia, I randomly come up with. But I think I was annoying as hell with that xD That's why I will just do scene dump for my damn idea (Which btw would eventually be posted, presumably when I'm done or have more than two point one chapters) because I'm going for failing this semester with how distracted I am. I mean to be fair I'm improvising quickly but I have project for one class due this Thursday and I'm not mentally ready for this. Not to mention I didn't even start researching statistics for this. But that is future me problem.

My ultimate info dump would definitely start with the characters. I wanted to draw the designs but my drawing skills just said "Yeah your free trial ended, you can buy subscription nowhere" so I'm not going to do that for a while. I need new email and I can just cheat the system for my mediocre art style to work. I planned not to complicated story with main character older than me. It's plus minus ten year difference. I'm twenty for reference. His name is Rhys, because I love giving my characters unusual names. You will see that later. I'm still thinking about giving him last name, but I don't think I will. It has connection to his past, but that is still in development. Rhys is quite short man, he looks like he is no older than at most twenty, while in fact in the start of the story he is in mid twenties. And story is spread across something like ten years maybe. When I was first writing that shit (13/14) I would say he's old. But right know I would consider dating a guy that age. It's not that old honestly.

I kinda forgot if I did gave him freckles now but in original storyline he definitely had them. He has jet black hair, their length is based on my own hair's length because he would look awesome with that. It's like almost to the shoulders, but not too long? You can make a ponytail but it's not long enough to be a problem. I need to get a haircut they are getting too long. Besides. Black hair. We got that. In the first part of the story he looks like stray cat, who never saw brush in his life. Matted tangled messy. That is how you can describe it. Because he couldn't care less. By the time plot starts he already was alone for seven years, he only preached basic hygiene, because he knows somethings about diseases and doesn't want to fuck around and find out. But touching his hair isn't something he needs to do so he doesn't do it.

I spend whole paragraph about his hair only. It's going to be a long post. Really long. To complete that weird unusual look better he has matted golden eyes, lifeless and tired for most of the plot. They express more than he thinks tho, other people will see stuff there. His eyes are also so pretty I swear. Especially when there is dimmed light, and the light is just reflecting in the irises. I just made a pretty boy. Pretty man. He is a grown adult after all. Back to my word vomit. Eyes actually will be showing his personality better than I ever would with words (It's not that I'm writing the damn story. Nope) It is connecting to the back story, so I can just smoothly go to that. Because his skeleton-like look is also kinda connected with this.

Making a character without trauma is like cooking without spices. You of course can do that and it's fine but I like my food spicy. And my characters traumatized. It's so easy to give trauma to neurodivergent person, really. Because I kinda write him on the spectrum. And I refuse to believe he isn't there. But I'm not going to confirm nor deny this. I made him have some quirks and other stuff that feel like autism? It may be that or I just suck at characterization and stuff happened. Either way it was really easy to give my man trauma. He has three older siblings, did I mention that he's a shapeshifter, I think I didn't so I do it now, and both parents. That may feel weird, main characters usually don't have parents. Unless they are awful. And I did write them so good I hate them with burning passion. I do not have names for them because I only recently polished their personalities. It helps that I watch so much commentary videos on stories from r/InsaneParents on yt. I have my material right there. (The Click, I'm not going to hide that, why should I)

He had relatively good childhood, until he was seven and he broke his nose or something, not important what, important fact is that he was bleeding much. He bleed over some stones, when one turned into lovely green gemstone stained with some red on the surface. Here is some important information about my beloved shapeshifters. If you count all the time I spend with this somewhere creeping in my mind, I was planning this "race" for something 'round six years. At first I was going in some slavery territory with how I divided living beings there (I told you, it was weird) but I got better and now I have humans, shapeshifters and some kind of mages?, that is still under work. And among shapeshifters there are two groups. "Purebreds" and hybrids. It's mostly genetical factor how the kid will be, but traditionally hybrids are a mix of human and a shapeshifter. They can shapeshift but they need to have their precious gemstone, made from their blood (You see where I'm going with this). Without it they also can change form, but it's simply not worth it. They can't fully control their new form, giving to the animalistic brain. For example when a hybrid would change into a let's say panther, they would be under influence of panther's instincts only vaguely remembering they aren't a panther. To that goes pain, that rises exponentially with the size of an animal. To put that in perspective, changing in to the rat and back would hurt only a little or not at all, but taking form of a brown bear and back, would be agonizing. And for the record shapeshifters can do dragons, wyverns, and stuff. It simply isn't worth the trouble to change without the stone. Next thing you hear about shapeshifters as a whole will be tainted with mpreg, I'm not even sorry.

So continuing with Rhys' backstory. To this point everyone thought he was just going to learn late to change shape. It happens nothing to be ashamed of. But when he with a smile and blood on himself, proud with his discovery showed this to his parents he wasn't expecting that reaction. There was shock, denial which he promptly debunked changing into wolf's pup to present what he could do. His mother went through all five stages of grief in mere seconds, accepting that fact pretty fast. But oh it wouldn't be nice. His father could not accept this. He accused the mother of cheating even though Rhys is practically his carbon copy. (And here is the genetical factor, Rhys is his son, he just got that genes. It's a mystery, because there is no modern genetics there. And I don't exactly have time for writing thesis for a fictional world. At least now. Semester ends in like two months) They started to argue in front of the child, that is confused as fuck, green gem clutched in hand. And things changed from there. Father either avoided Rhys or was just straight up cruel to him. That man had audacity to not acknowledge practically his clone as his kid. He ignored his youngest when he tried to impress him with skills he learned. He would call him useless, criticize him to the point he eventually was scared to do anything.

Rhys' parents also separated. That lead his mother to hate him, a child, because he was the reason. Not saying she wasn't right but she didn't need to take it on a literal child. Rhys got punished for stupid shit, he became a real troublemaker, putting himself and others in danger with his shenanigans. He didn't understand why suddenly his parents hated him, and stalking wolves was his coping mechanism apparently. Amount of times he got injured is amazing. His mother used corporeal punishment, locked him in the room (he learned how to pick locks just because of that), she even gone far enough to tell him, if she knew how he would turn out she would have get rid of him before he was even born. By that time Rhys was around thirteen. His oldest siblings weren't living around anymore, and his sister, barely eighteen, doesn't see severity of shit he goes through. She is busy with keeping her act together, pressured by mother to have her role as the future leader of the group they live in. Father left, few years before so it was only these three.

When Rhys turned fifteen, on the very same day he got a gift from his mother. She thrown him out. She told him to get out, and leave. And he did, only valuable thing on him his cursed gemstone. Surviving was hard, he didn't know where to go, wandering through forests, hunting for food, eating in animal form to not die. He found some lovely small village after few months like this. He wasn't warmly welcomed but it still became a place for him to live in. He spent three years there, life seemed to not be bad, he had a girlfriend. Even though he is aroace. We all figure out ourselves. But everything turned into shit again when his girlfriend, after committing literal crime got pregnant. She accused him of raping her, because she was from "no sex before marriage" background. Whole story almost ends here, people want shapeshifter dead.

Girl is at least decent enough to try and make it just a life sentence. Here chimes a mage, saying he can arrange something that will punish him, no one will see him around again and no one gets killed so everyone's happy. That is summary of a story how Rhys got himself into specifically designed for him prison with only himself as a company and grim future in dimmed light of fluorescent protists. Some people are just unlucky in their life. She also took his gemstone so no shapeshifting, something he dearly loved, that made him feel better with everything that happened to him. And suddenly he was only with his thoughts, skin itching to change and helplessness that weighted on him while he haunted tunnels that were his new home.

He learned to cope with that, seven years passed by. During which he slowly lost spark, blood on his hands, death wish not strong enough to give up. And we have my plot in that point. Rhys is tired, pessimistic optimist, clinging to life not even knowing why. Before I go more for plot, I can whine about him. Because man is clearly not good.

There is nothing he can understand, he was always "weird", the only kid that complained about noise, that one kid with the most disgusted look when touched by someone he didn't know that much, one that fascinated watched animal corpses and constantly begging to learn more about diseases, death and injuries. He knows it's just how he is, but he doesn't know why is it a problem? He slowly accepts the fact that he will die in darkness, alone, far from his family. That he'll not see any of his siblings again. He doesn't care about his mother, feeling of hate is now mutual. But after that seven years, que Ada. A ten year old, making man in his mid twenties question his life decisions even more than before. Bringing up his past, with grace of a wrecking ball, even when she isn't aware of that. And will not be until few years later.

...

I wonder if I should just post this and do this in parts. It's already long. I already miss on ocassions to make my uni work. Yeah I think I'll pick it up somewhere in the future. So I'm going to make it in parts✨ It's so good I don't have much audience to disappoint here.

Here is a playlist I made for this story: It's not on wattpad yet tho

Maybe next one will include designs or at least one design. Maybe project about red wolves will not make ma living corpse so I could do that. I'm going home for Easter so I'll have access to my tablet for four days. Maybe I'll do a ref for some of my characters. I'm betting on Rhys if I have time for this.

If someone sends me a tablet now I maybe would make some makeshift cover so it would go on wattpad. Don't do that I'm really enjoying my break from posting (I have no time to do pleasure stuff)

And if you are reading this, my perfect beta-reader, I do regret sending that smut to you, let alone writing it XDD Oh and sorry for any spoilers you could get from here.

Have a nice day or night, whoever you are person reading this, take care and drink water :3

[pastramimommy]

3/1/2025

I was supposed to be doing a journal entry once a month and it is now March so clearly I'm slipping. This month was very overwhelming with my first round of tests for the semester, my first immersion in Baltimore, Jacob's baby shower all while working full time and trying to date. It felt like I was getting dragged behind a bus while it was happening but everything turned out great, I did well on my tests, and I am alive. I was really feeling like I had slipped on most of my goals for myself but upon looking at them in writing, I am actually doing okay. Trying to be gentle with myself for momentarily slipping on the diet and exercise, plus I got right back on the horse immediately as tests were over. Now that I know what to expect from these classes I know what I need to do to be more efficient with studying. I am very proud of myself for being the 5-6 am riser that I’ve always aspired to be, bc I can actually get a substantial amount of work done in the morning without sacrificing too much workout time and feeling like I’m falling behind. What really has been suffering is all the little non-time sensitive things (house improvements, decorating, planning trips, etc).

Pole is going very well and I'm seeing so much progress. It has truly become a very life giving and therapeutic hobby for me. I love the studio I'm at, developing friendships with some of the people and I think I'm almost ready to get my first pair of heels!

Spirituality has taken a hit the last few months, since my morning routine has changed and I haven't made time for my morning reflection. If I can wake up even 15 minutes earlier I will have plenty of time to work this in. I literally woke up 30 minutes earlier every day last semester so I don't see why my body can't channel that energy lmao I am actively working on the church search, I've gone in person to one that I like so far, it feels much more high stakes now since I know I'll be living here for a very long time so I need to find a spot that I can actually get involved.

I’m still doing a shit job checking my budget lol idk why it’s so hard for me! I’m saving money nevertheless bc my spending habits are pretty good. But I would like to have a better idea of where I am at throughout the month. The thought of going part time soon and watching my funds dwindle is very scary but I know I’ll be okay.

As much as this job sucks for a number of reasons, I am so grateful for it and I know God gave it to me for a reason. This is 100% the experience I need to bridge myself to a more permanent job, hopefully at ucsd. I have been really working the ucsd connections at the VA and I am hopeful it will get me a solid part time gig in GI. That is all I can hope for right now.

The social life is a challenge BUT I have made a substantial effort. I've been finding fun things to do around SD and trying to get people to join me and shamelessly asking people to hang out as usual. What’s hard is that it really feels like I have to choose between dating and cultivating friendships bc in reality I get about 1 social event per week. And per usual I have a bunch of random friends but no cohesive group and idk how to (or if I want to) consolidate.

My dating approach the last few months obviously has not been working so I think I need to pivot. After Emmanuel was the first time I actually kinda felt disheartened, I’ve been extremely positive and optimistic until now. Getting my reps in by doing the apps when I’m on a break from school was great in theory lmao but I think the apps have allowed me to be so picky and takes the romance out of things. It makes me feel like I’m seeking a business deal instead of fun or romance lol but honestly I kind of am? I know it’s best for me to stop looking for the person who meets all the “requirements.” The situation with Emmanuel was evidence that you can meet all the requirements and it still doesn’t feel right. The brian situation supported this statement as well. Thinking I need to just hang out with friends, keep putting myself in new social situations and hope for the best. Idk how many times I need to hear that it usually happens when you’re not looking for it. That’s what happened with Chris! I just need to shift my perspective on dating right now and really take it to heart that it’s very possible that the right one might not check all the boxes. But which of these boxes am I willing to give up? And am I truly asking for too much?!

[djcapstoneprog]

Week 4: Milestone Critique

I had almost forgotten that the milestone was this week. I had presented what I thought was a fully functioning prototype. I had printed out a rule sheet, a series of hidden rule cards, and Icebreaker cards. However, when I looked on Canvas and saw the milestone critique's rubric, I was confused. As it turns out, the professor couldn't edit said rubric, even though it only applied to the first milestone from our first semester. Every single person in my class was well beyond that point in their project, and while I consciously knew that, there was still a voice in the back of my head telling me to follow that rubric to the best of my ability. So, instead of my game taking 2 minutes like I had planned and written on the rule sheet, I instead only gave my players 30 seconds, in an effort to keep my presentation down to 3 minutes. One of them did manage to guess a hidden rule, but only at the very last second. Needless to say, I feel like an idiot for trying to abide by a time limit that I knew I didn't need to, as specified by a rubric that I knew didn't apply.

Going forward, there are 4 key things I want to address in the coming weeks. First, edge cases, IE drawing 2 rules that contradict each other. This project's initial idea was about following the unspoken rules of conversation that I had to learn through trial and error, and some of those rules felt like they contradicted themselves with no clear line between where following one ended and where breaking the other began. That said, this frustration does not translate into good game design. I will need to find and playtest a workaround that addresses this without forcing a player to ignore one of the hidden rules. Speaking of playtesting, second; playtesting. A few of my cards needed a lot more playtesting than I gave them. Third, the box. In my last post, I noted that the card boxes I was thinking of were significantly larger than a standard 52-card deck, but in retrospect, I feel kind of stupid, since those boxes also typically contained a bit of plastic to hold the decks, as well as anything else necessary for gameplay. My game will also come with a timer, so I will need to look into either making an appropriate container, or, if at all possible, buying one. Finally, design. One more issue arose right before the playtest; sorting between hidden rules and icebreakers. I had already established masks as a general aesthetic for the game, but one solid design choice I want to implement is a visual difference between icebreaker cards and Hidden Rules. Cards Against Humanity does exactly what I'm talking about, by making prompt cards black with white text, and response cards are white with black text.

[christianjaym]

Pitch Experience: Part 2/ Finale Any Last Words?

The next pitch came a few months later, and I noticed that I wasn't nervous anymore. I think it's because I had experienced what it's like to be in front of my classmates. This pitch was about LPGs because I had experienced a problem where the gas suddenly ran out, and it was because I wasn't aware of when it would be empty or the gas levels in the tank. So, I thought I could create a technology to monitor the amount of gas left inside the tank. I called it GasWise Pro, a stove with a display monitor that automatically turns on when you turn on your LPG. It was a good proposal, as Sir said, but it was only neutrally approved because there were details I didn't know well, and I was asked to repeat it next time to improve my product. My classmates also had suggestions to further enhance my product, and I was grateful to them. Our instructor recommended adding a leak detector to my product, asking, "What is more important to you, the satisfaction of your stomach or safety?" I preferred safety, and Sir shared the idea of, "What if there is a leak, and you won't know about it?" So, I became curious and followed our instructor's suggestion.

After that, I immediately researched more about my product and realized that the problem lies with the stove itself since most people already have stoves in their houses and don't need to buy a new one for those minor benefits. So, I thought of changing my product to something more convenient, a regulator, so I named it WiseGas Pro Regulator as it is somehow similar to my former product it is more effective that is why I put the wise first. The regulator acts as a barrier to prevent pressure from exceeding its standard amount to avoid bursting. I added a twist to detect leaks by incorporating an analog system with sensors and indicators. A gas sensor detects LPG and alerts the indicators, which are three colored LED lights (green for almost full to full, yellow for half and almost empty, and red for empty), along with a slow tempo beeping sound. To detect leaks, the beeping buzzer will beep rapidly while the red light is blinking. With these developments, Sir finally approved my idea, and I felt joy and satisfaction.

Reflecting on my experiences in class from the start to the last part, which is the pitching, I have come to realize that I have really developed in the realm of business. The teachings of our instructor were impactful, as they made me feel confident to take risks and start a business. Though I wasn't convinced by him at first and felt intimidated, it made me realize that "I will be serious this time." I laughed at a so-called quiz he gave us, where we were instructed to use blue ballpoint pens, knowing that most of us only had black pens. Without the pen, I rushed out of the campus just to buy one, only to find out it was a simple quiz about connecting dots.

 Although I was frustrated, I later understood that he was setting expectations and preparing us for future challenges. He wanted to show that he wouldn't pamper us and that we were now in a different stage of life. His tough approach was meant to prepare us for the real world.

Overall, there were bunch of ups and downs yet are not entirely undoable. As the semester ends, I hope to use what I've learned in my future career. The lessons and experiences from this course have been invaluable, and I am eager to apply them in real-world situations. I appreciate our instructor for pushing us to think differently and become more resilient. His challenges and high expectations have helped us grow and prepared us for the obstacles we may face in our professional lives. Overall, this experience has been crucial in shaping my approach to future endeavors.

These are my Last Words.

[codegengar]

just two hours prior, i was agonizing the rest of the night. i now feel very accomplished. it goes to show how just pushing through things despite your mental state can lead to an overall win for both your productivity and mood. it's not always easy, though, given bpd.

for context, i was offered my ideal job for co-op at my university. which, don't get me wrong, made me really happy upon seeing the message yesterday as i got ready to go see the screening of five night's at freddy's on halloween. however, i had gotten an email from another really good opportunity for an interview, which pays higher than my first choice, and is a similar kind of work. the difference is that mine caters to both students and staff, while the other one is only educational tech support to staff, with a lot of creative side projects to work on, as opposed to projects such as coding and data visualization. i want to learn more techy things, as well as my previous work at the bookstore being a point in contact with the first technology centre. but a part of me felt some grief because i wanted to be a graphic designer and content creator when i was younger, and i felt almost like i was throwing away that dream that little me had, and someone still holds onto every time i pick up a pen.

i sent in the email to respectfully decline the interview this morning. as well as cancel the interview to a big technology and accounting firm who also requested an interview with me. that felt really overwhelming, but i knew i had to as i had two assignments due tonight. all of these responsibilities would have incapacitated me mentally.

but all of that weighed on me heavily, and intensely. although i had woken up at around eleven or noon with d, i did not get out of bed until past five in the afternoon. i debated on what to eat, and almost gave up on the idea. there was a tiny platter of cheese leftover from when t and e came over and d and i had prepared a makeshift charcuterie board, minus the meat and garlic bread bits. just cheese. usually i do not like just eating blocks of cheese, a relic from my childhood where my mother gave me blocks of marbled cheese to eat in an attempt to increase my dairy intake. but goat cheese with herbs... sublime!

although these people could care less about me, it feels like i'm letting them down. if people become aware of my existence (which i do not make a habit of allowing), i need for them to have a good opinion of me. not that i wrote a disrespectful email to them, but... there is just some feeling of wrongness.

while i let these thoughts pass, i felt the wave of dissociation blanketing over my thoughts and encompassing my body in a warm cocoon of emptiness, as if it were comforting me. it is almost motherly in this sense, as it came to extinguish the anguish that i failed to pinpoint. why did any of this matter? i acted appropriately. which is always my fear, that i am not. i would wish my therapist would psychoanalyze me about this. i think she has, about my social anxiety. i can't remember what she said. that's just as well, with my security blanket always washing away memories like powder through a sieve...

as i did some routine tasks such as spending some resin on genshin impact, i thought about the two assignments i had for my undesirable course of the semester. you would think that a class on k-pop would be fun, but this class is anything but. i might elaborate in another post at the end of the year if i decide to do a semester review. i had a written assignment which i had, for some reason, thought was five hundred words (it was three hundred, i got mixed up with the recent paper proposals for my two courses which were to that length). then a pop-quiz on last lecture's content, which i had recorded as i do not pay attention. while i agonize about how unattainable it felt, as i have done none of the readings for that week and did not pay attention during the lecture, i decided to go outside and walk to my residence's main building to pick up my package. a halloween gengar sweater that came a day too late. but nonetheless, it will be worn and treasured. the fresh air did help, and i eventually decided to make my favourite meal, fire noodles, despite its unhealthiness. if i were to put in the effort to use any other items in my pantry and fridge, it would have been more beneficial for my passive weight loss goals, but the thought of cooking something from scratch was too overwhelming.

it was really good. i did not overcook anything this time, and all of the components were perfect. i had regular fire noodles this time, with two eggs, perfectly jellied, shabu shabu pork belly, carbonara fire dumplings, and my usual garnish of baby cucumbers, scallions, and cheese. sesame oil, sesame seeds, and the seaweed garnish packet for the final touches. sublime!

i watched some more masterchef canada season three while i was eating. there is just something more enjoyable when watching cooking shows (not kitchen nightmares, though) while eating.

revitalized, i decided to open up canvas and look at a potential reading i could skim and reference in my paper. it was long (as all of the papers the lecturer assigns for this class, which i think is unnecessary as she assigns three to four readings of twenty plus page length every week. very unattainable considering this class is considered an elective to most). i ended up taking a look at the actual assignment instructions, and the questions she wanted us to answer, i could actually do without any academic references. and so i did. and to put in one source to meet the minimum criteria for this assignment, i was pleased to find that the last paper listed of the week seven list aligned with what i wrote, and i inputted the in-text citation for it behind one of my sentences. again, i realized at this point that i needed to cut down my words tremendously as i had around five hundred fifty, which i thought would be okay as that was the cut off for the paper proposal, but i had forgotten that reading responses for this class was a maximum of three hundred fifty. so i did a lot of cutting down. but it was done fairly quickly, as it is easier to cut down rather than add more words.

now it was onto the pop-quiz.

unfortunately, my multitasking had rendered some of the recording visually incapacitated (i.e. i was trying to fix my discord third party custom skin, and had left winrar open for about five minutes over zoom). i kept skimming through the video for definitions to answer the five questions, and i had found a few after letting it play in certain parts. i was stuck on the last one, but eventually through some buffering through, i found the exact part where it was mentioned. it was quoted word for word, the quiz with the lecture.

excellent.

that's one of the things i dislike about this class. i do not know if it is part of the korean education system, but we had a guest lecturer for today and she did the same thing as my current lecturer does – read out a script basically (which was probably how the teaching assistant wrote the quiz word for word from what she had said). it is very formal and their voices are very monotone, which is hard to stay engaged with. anti-fun. if i tried really hard to, i could pay attention and take notes, but at this point, we do not have any examinations where i have to listen to the lectures attentively. i could rely on the readings and research for the final paper assignment. because what she "says" (re: recites) in lectures are just ideas from all the papers she assigns, anyway.

in total, these two assignments only took me two hours, unlike the five hours i anticipated from seven to midnight. i noticed in my email (which i have been avoiding by changing my phone's focus to my i'm going ghost mode – aka, no messages or notifications can be seen through the lock screen or as a banner) that my lap tray from costco is ready to be received through the main residence's mailboxes.

i happily put on my hoodie and made my way down from my building, vaguely concerned for the weather as the two girls in the elevator on my way down were wearing raincoats and donning a large, black umbrella. well. it was too late now. i trudged through the rain in my pikachu adidas slides and made my way to mailbox b-10, and got my box which i used as a rain cover on my way back to my dorm. i hope that everyone that i had passed by doesn't think i'm weird.

a concern i constantly have. it is very tiring.

i unpackaged it and revelled in its utility. i cannot wait to use my ipad and eat on the floor with it. i really do not like the desk and chair that the dorm came with, and it's hard to concentrate. i think the association with gaming and my personal computer also does not help.

i shared my sense of accomplishment and triumph over today's challenges in my prof's server afterward, to which he suggested i journal about this. and i haven't written on here in a while. so here i am. this is a reminder that i can accomplish tasks that feel overwhelming. and be eloquent, somewhat, than what i feel as of right now and my current unemployment. more on that later, perhaps.

in the meantime, i got to go do my genshin dailies.

[footygirl114]

Falta de Comunicación (Alexia Putellas x Reader)

The winning story from my asks as promised, sorry its a day late, had a shit week but wanted to get something out for y’all. Hope y’all enjoy this rollercoaster of angst.

The last thing you expected when you finished teaching your final class for the semester was to be stood up by your girlfriend. She had texted you the night before to let you know she has reserved a table at a trendy restaurant near your school and wanted you to meet her there to celebrate. You sat there for an hour nursing a cocktail before you gave up and went home.

It wasn’t till almost midnight when she had texted you an apology as she had gotten caught up at a media event the federation had asked her to come to and she lost track of time. You knew when you started dating a football star that things would be tricky but you had no idea how left behind you would feel. 

You had met Alexia almost two years ago, you had moved to Barcelona to teach English and never expected to meet someone that you would change your life for. The plan was a 6 month contract and then move on to another country as you wanted to see the world. You were only in Barcelona for a month when you met the superstar, and now you had signed on full-time and bought an apartment here. 

Alexia and a few of her teammates were involved in a local schools sports day at Camp Nou, as a newer teacher you had volunteered to supervise the event and were involved in some set up. While you were there early before the kids you were introduced to Alexia, and the rest of the day was spent flirting with her between events. When the kids had left and you were getting ready to head out, she had approached you and offered to show you around the city. 

The first time you met up with her, she really did just show you the city. It wasn’t till the end of the day when she walked you home and she place a kiss on your cheek. She nervously avoided eye contact and asked if you would let her take you on a date. You thought she was adorable and you were just as infatuated with her. 

It took 6 weeks before you were able to have your first date, as she was in Spain camp, and then had a string of away games. Once you did have that first date you both were inseparable when neither of you were busy. Until she had to leave again for training camps. Starting your relationship this way made you appreciate the time you did spend together and you knew you would have to have patience. 

Now almost 2 years since you met her you knew she was the one for you, you had only been together for just over a year with all the time spent apart, but you had no doubts that she was the one for you. The only problem was she was gaining popularity and as a teacher of teenagers, you both decided to keep your relationship out of the public eye. Which meant that as she got busier, you often got left behind. 

Missing a dinner wasn’t that big of a deal in the end as she showed up to your condo the next morning, with coffee, breakfast and an apology. You knew she was trying her best and that you would just need to have some patience with her. 

It was only a week later when Alexia had stood you up again. Both of you had your own apartments but were talking about getting a place together, you had reached out to realtor friend who offered to met with you both to go over the specifics. Alexia had given you a time that she knew she was free, as you were on school break you could make anything work. She had been busy with interviews and media for the upcoming Ballon d’or ceremony, so you let her dictate when you could meet. 

Texting her in the morning before your appointment, she confirmed she would be there in the afternoon. You ended up having to meet with the relator alone, and you were not able to go over any specifics. Alexia was unreachable and you were definitely annoyed. 

Heading back to your apartment after the embarrassing meeting was when your phone rang, you saw it was Alexia and immediately picked up asking “Where were you?”

“Lo siento hermosa, I was at a photoshoot and I didn’t have my phone on me” she immediately apologises. 

You shake your head but remember that she cant see you so you ask “Why did you tell me you would be free today for this meeting?” 

“Babe, I promise I was free but when I got a call this morning about the club needing me for a photoshoot I thought I could make it work too, Im sorry” she says, you can tell she feels bad and you start to feel your anger slip a bit. 

“Are you done with the shoot now?” you ask your love. 

She pauses and then adds “Yes, but I am going out with some of the sponsors for a drink, they want to buy me dinner” 

You want to be upset but you can’t, you would never hold her back from doing what she loves. You know she’s doing this because she believes that this is how she can grow the woman’s game. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then?” 

“Of course hermosa, Mama is so excited to see you” she says and then adds on “Te amo Y/N, i’ll see you tomorrow morning” 

“Adios love” you reply as you both hang up. As you get home to an empty apartment you settle on your couch and all you can think about is how easy it is for her to forget about you. You have been so excited about the possibility of living with your love, that you have been waiting for this meeting for weeks. Maybe you think she just isn’t as in it as you are. 

Falling asleep that night with the doubts of not being enough was what plagued your dreams. 

**

A few days later, after having spent some time with Alexia you felt a bit better. You were in your last week of school holidays and you had hoped to spend some more time with your love, but she had some team commitments that she needed to be at. You had a free day with no plans when your phone rang. It was Leila asking what you were up to since she was bored and wanted to do something. You agreed to meet up with her and grab an afternoon drink on a patio. 

You and Leila had bonded immediately the first time you had met Alexia’s teammates. She was one of your closest friends in Spain and you were grateful that she felt the same about you and wanted to hang out without alexia around. 

Once you both got settled and ordered a drink you asked her the question that was bothering you “So Ale told me that you guys had training this week and she would be busy?”

Leila looked over at you confused by the question and answered honestly “No, we start next week. I’m not sure who’s she’s training with, most of the team is spending this week back home before starting back next week.” 

You feel your heart sink, you never thought that she would lie to you. It was this moment you couldn’t help but to think that maybe you aren’t enough for Alexia, and she needed someone better than you. You start to feel tears in the corners of your eyes, you go to wipe them away and say “Im sorry.” 

“No no Y/N, don’t be sorry for being upset about something. I am here for you” Leila immediately says and reaches over and squeezes your hand. 

Squeezing her hand back you tell her “I don’t want to talk about it really, can we just enjoy the sunshine?” 

She smiles at you and nods as she adds on with a smile “so do you want to hear what I got up to on vacation?” 

“Of course Leila, thank you” you say and smile at your friend as she dives into an elaborate story that very easily makes you laugh at her antics. One thing you are super happy about is that you have Leila and you know she is there for you. 

**

It’s a few days later when you finally see Alexia again, and not in the way you were expecting. It was late and you had decided on an early night in as you had to go into your class room the next morning to get your self organised for the start of classes the following week. You are settled in bed reading, when there is a loud bang on your door. It startles you and then you hear a knock and your name. 

hoping out of bed and heading towards the door, you look through the peephole and see Alexia leaned on the wall looking worse for wear. You unlock the door and usher her into your apartment with an “Ale? What are you doing here?” 

She steps off the wall walks into your apartment as soon as you close and relock the door, she’s on you. Alexia is immediately in your space and has pressed your back against the door with her body, she has you pined as she leans in and presses her lips to yours. You can smell the alcohol on her and taste it in her mouth, you try to push her away but she’s stronger than you and you have to admit you did miss her. 

It isn’t until it takes her three tries to unzip her coat that you are reminded of her drunk state, but also how annoyed you still are with her. You push her back with a “Ale stop.”

She continues to press for a moment until she catches up with you pushing against her, she steps back with a confused look as she says “I missed you amor.” 

You step out of her space and say “Ale you are drunk.” At this point she hasn’t moved from her spot, but you step into your kitchen and grab a water and the bottle of advil. Walking back towards her you add on “Ale come on.” 

She shakes out of it and turns to you and says “I’m not drunk” You look at her with knowing eyes and she shrinks and says “Im not that drunk, i’m fine.” 

“Take your shoes and coat off Alexia” you order her, she obeys and walks over to you where you are standing by your couch, you hand her the water and pills and say “take these and drink this.” 

As she follows your orders you turn to the closet grab the extra pillow and blanket and plop it on the couch as you tell her “Now sleep it off.” 

“Y/N come on the couch?” she asks with a whine. 

Turning around with your hands on your hips you say to her “Yes Alexia. I haven’t heard from you in almost a week then you show up here drunk. What did you expect?” You finish with a shake of your head as you turn towards your bedroom. 

You can hear her sit down and she adds on softly before you close the door “Im sorry Y/N, I love you.” Your heart swells hearing that but your head wins out, you were too hurt to let just her words overrule her actions. You decide you need to talk to her in the morning when she is sober and lay it out on the table. 

Waking up in the morning, you have butterflies in your stomach cause you aren’t sure how this conversation is going to go. Deciding you have no choice but face your girl, you step out of your bedroom into the living room. You are surprised to find it empty and to see the bed linens folded neatly on the couch. Walking into the kitchen you find a note in Alexia’s writing that says “Had a meeting with physio this morning, I’m sorry about last night xx”

You read the note a dozen times before it finally hits you. She is clearly no longer in love with you, why wouldn’t she stick around this morning, and if she had a physio appointment why did she even come over. The sinking feeling in your stomach is back, and it brings back the feelings of not being enough for her. She can have anyone she wants, and she clearly does not want you. 

**

After turning your phone off for the day, not wanting to talk to anyone after the realisation you had that morning you got through what you needed to. When you finally turn your phone on you have a dozen missed calls from your brother, and a dozen texts. When you read the first one your stomach drops. You immediately call him and confirm the news, you father was in an accident and is on life support and they don’t know if he will make it. 

You haven’t been close with your family since your mom passed away when you were 17, you had 2 older brothers who had no idea what to do with their younger sister. Your father took your mothers death hard and took to drinking, and when he was drinking he was not the nicest person to you since you still lived at home. 

When you came out it became worse, and that was why you had planned to travel the world teaching english, to get away from that environment. Hearing the news about him, brought back all those memories but also all the good ones from your younger years. You were never able to grieve your mom as you were too busy trying to get out from your fathers anger, but he was still your father and you felt like you owed him and needed to be there. 

You were a rock in a crisis, immediately you had booked flights, called your bosses, and packed a bag to travel. You had to be at the airport in an hour and you called Alexia, she never answered. You tried multiple times and it would ring and ring. Finally giving up you called Leila and she immediately answered and agreed to come drive you. 

When she knocks you let her in and immediately she pulls you into a hug. You are so glad you have Leila in your life. “I am so sorry Y/n, I am here if you need anything” 

“thank you, I will let you know, but now I just need a ride” you tell her as you turn and grab your bag. 

Once you are both settled she finally asks “Where’s ale? I figured she’d be going with you?” 

You haven’t cried yet, but at that you can feel the tears in the corner of your eyes. Immediately you look up to stop the tears and say “I don’t know, she hasn’t been around much” 

“Im sorry Y/N, do you want me to tell her?” she asks. 

You shake your head and say “No, don’t get involved please, she’s still your captain.” 

She reaches over and squeezes your hand and says “you are too good for this world, but I am just a call away” 

“Thank you” you say to her. 

**

Once you land in the states and turn your phone on you notice multiple missed calls from your brother, you immediately return them and find out they are waiting for you to pull the plug on your father. You let him know you should be there in a half hour. You spend the cab ride to the hospital looking at the single text from Alexia that simply says “You called?”

You shake your head deciding not to answer her as you need all your emotions in check for this. Once you get to the hospital and directed to your fathers room, you walk in and see both your brothers with their girlfriends wrapped up in their arms. Everyone has tears in their eyes and you cant help but to wish you had your girlfriend here to comfort you. 

After the goodbyes are said and the plug is pulled your brothers both pull you into a hug, but you long for Alexia’s arms. You pull away and excuse your self for a moment as you want to hear her voice. You call and get voicemail, you at least can hear her voice in the voicemail. You decide to try again, and remember its 5am there so she should at least be asleep, and a second call should trigger her do not disturb to let your call through. 

It rings and rings, and when someone does pick up its a females voice you do not recognise and they ask “Who is calling at 5am and waking me up?” 

Pausing you strutter in surprise, when you hear Alexia in the background sleepy ask “who is it?” you can hear the phone exchange hands and then Alexia sounding much more awake says “Y/N?” 

Every scenario possible is running through your head, but you don’t know what to do, its too much all at once and you just hang up the phone. You manage to turn your phone off, and then to a bench outside before the sobs hit you in full force. You knew you weren’t good enough for her, you just never thought that she would ever do this. 

[youmarin]

Now Recruiting! ft. Inarizaki VB Boys - Part 7: The Summer is Ours

A/N: Took a while to update. This was supposed to come out before Summer ended because, well, it's a Summer chapter. And I had most of it written down but got stuck on the last part and a few others didn't convince me so I went back a few times to delete/change/add. And then a hurricane came, power took some time to come back and even after we had to deal with blackouts, my uni semester almost got fucked up since we lost three weeks of it so imagine how classes were to be able to make up for them. Thankfully I turned in my last projects this past Monday and got my grades today and they were all great!! I hope you enjoy this out of season piece. Happy holidays, everyone!

Summary: The team gets some well deserved vacation and goes on a trip. You all make the best out of hot Summer days, together.

Word count: 5,033

previous, masterlist

“Ya think she’s wearing the school swimsuit?” 

“Yeah, she probably is.” 

“Our school swimsuit ain’t that bad.” 

“You do realize you sound like perverts.” Aran disapproved, standing close to the edge of the pool near where the twins and Gin were, Akagi next to him. 

“That’s probably why she still hasn’t gotten in the water.” 

You were at the school pool with the team, who officially had started their summer vacation. All the other way across, you sat in one of those lounge chairs chatting with Kita and Suna, each on one side.  

“Oi!” Osamu called out. “What are you guys talking so much about?” making you three turn towards them. 

“Oh. We’re planning a trip to the beach.” you gave them a closed lip smile. “Suna’s going home and we were trying to figure out a date we could all make it.” 

“But we could just go without him.” Atsumu grinned at the middle blocker, “Do ya even like the beach, Suna?”  he asked knowingly. 

“I don’t mind it.” He shrugged. Fucking liar, Osamu thought looking at him but unable to see his eyes, covered by dark shades. Last year when they all went together, Suna didn’t get foot in the water, standing under an umbrella almost the entire time, only joining the group to play some beach volleyball. He didn’t like the idea of eating while the wind was blowing sand everywhere and was all whiny afterwards when he got sunburnt. 

“Yeah right, whatever. We can keep talking about it later. Now get in here.”  You couldn’t enjoy today if you kept only planning ahead. 

Rolling your eyes, you obliged, pulling your shirt over your head and sliding off your shorts. And Osamu was right, you were wearing the school swimsuit. It was all black, with a V cut yet not deep enough to be inappropriate for school. “Do you need help putting on sunscreen?” The blonde offered a helping hand, apparently with all good intentions. 

“Yeah, nice try.” you said. Still, you couldn't hide it got you a little flustered. The constant flirting would do that to you. He didn’t seem to mind the attention he got on himself and consequently to you when he did that, but you weren’t used to any of it. He chuckled as he noticed while the boys made fun of him for another failed attempt. What made them laugh even harder was when the captain got to help you apply some on your back instead, sitting behind you. 

Suna hadn’t made a move to get in the water, until he stared at you, letting your hair fall to the side to help Kita. He grabbed the sunscreen conveniently just as you guys were done. “Suna, wait, um-.”  he looked at you. Standing behind him, you hesitantly placed a hand on his bare back, hands brushing the skin as you finished putting the sunscreen on for him. “There. You’d missed a spot.” You said nervously and moved away. 

“I saw what you did there.” Osamu splashed water at him as soon as the middle blocker joined them. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” he played dumb, but as his shades slid down a little, he could see the playful glint in his eyes. If someone could feel the rapid beating of his heart, it would give him away that he wasn’t carrying the moment as smoothly as he played it out to be. 

****

You had stayed at home for a few days, spending some time on your own enjoying the things you liked. Today, you felt like going out. It was hot outside, so going to the mall where there was air conditioner seemed like a good idea. Holding your younger brother's smaller hand, you both went from one store to another.

“Are you tired?” You asked after a while of walking around, seeing him rubbing his eyes. He shook his head but you knew better than that. “Sure you aren’t, tough boy.” you said, making him chuckle, and picked him up in your arms. 

“I want ice cream.” he pulled back a little to look at you expectantly. 

“Then we’ll get some and head back home.” nodding excitedly, he put his head back on your shoulder. You began your walk to the food court and to the ice cream shop and as you stood in line you started to crave yourself a cup of chocolate ice cream. “Do you want strawberry or you want something different today?” No response. He had fallen asleep. So you got out of the line, bidding a painful farewell to the sweet treat. 

“y/n?” You heard someone calling out to you . Turning around, you were met with the twins and a smile was brought to your face.  

“Hey, boys.”  They were now walking over towards you, bright smiles on their faces matching your own. “Can’t seem to get rid of you ever since I met you now.” you joked. 

“I know you missed me.” Osamu winked at you and you chuckled. It was true, though. You’ve grown so fond of all of them these past few days without morning nor afternoon practice felt odd. 

“You mean us.” Atsumu was quick to correct. 

“No, not really.”  then he kept speaking to you, “What are you guys up to?” 

“Ah. We were going to get some ice cream but he fell asleep.” You gestured with your head to the boy in your arms. 

“Osamu and I were about to get some. Come with us.” Atsumu offered. You considered the offer. It was still early and you could use some time with your friends. 

“Okay.” You four went back to the ice cream shop. Osamu helped you with your bags as you two looked for a booth while Atsumu went to order. You tried to pay for yourself but both boys shut you down, saying it was on them. Osamu excused himself as he went to help his brother while you stayed back at the table, your brother still peacefully asleep, his head on your lap as you played with some strands of his hair. 

“Mint? With chocolate?”  you questioned. 

“That’s what I always tell him.” 

“I am not taking criticism from people whose favorite flavors are basic.” 

“I wasn’t going to.” you chuckled. “But does it taste good?” 

“You wanna try it?” He offered. You nodded, and Atsumu couldn’t believe what happened in front of his own eyes. His twin brother was sharing his food. And he wasn’t being pushed to do so either. His face contorted in protest, but he shut his mouth when he remembered your brother was asleep - not much out of politeness but more as he liked the little boy better when he was sleeping soundly -. Grabbing another spoon, you tried the mint chocolate chip dessert. Tilting your head, you took in the new flavor. After a few seconds you scrunched your nose, making Osamu laugh, ‘You didn’t like it.” 

You shook your head. “It’s not bad… But I would still pick chocolate over it.” 

“Your taste buds are broken.” 

****

Summer went by fast, days blurring together. Glimpses of warm yellow afternoons, clear blue skies, and sometimes a rainy day interrupting them, bringing some relief. 

 As Suna arrived at the station, he stretched his arms over his head before standing up and grabbing his bag. While he crossed the doors, he saw some people standing outside, some waiting for their turn to board, others waiting to meet with the arriving. He didn’t expect to see anyone until the next day, so imagine his surprise as his eyes landed on a familiar face, her gaze shifting in search of someone while she stood on the tips of her toes and craned her neck a bit, until her eyes met his and a smile took over her face. He told himself he shouldn’t like that sight as much as he did. Feeling his cheeks warm up under his mask he looked away, getting himself together before walking over to you. 

“Welcome back.” you greeted, before nervously starting. “I thought it would be nice to meet you here… Because it’s nice to have someone waiting for you, isn’t it? Is it okay for you? Maybe I should’ve asked first but I thought it would rui-” looking up at him again as you heard him chuckle, the words died in your mouth as you saw he had put his mask down, the crowd having dispersed, and a beaming smile was adorning his face as he stared at you, expression all soft. You felt your face heating up.

“Thank you for coming.” 

“S-Sure.” 

Something similar happened to him the next morning, as if recalling a favorite memory. 

“y/n! Over here!” the boys called you over as soon as they spotted you among the small crowd at the station. 

“Hey.” you greeted, “Sorry to make you wait.” you excused, looking around “Is everyone else here already?” 

“Nah, Suna's still missing.” Osamu looked down at his phone, “Ah, he texted. Says he just arrived.” 

It was pretty early, and Suna missed the comfort of his bed a little more with each step he took, still tired from his trip back to Hyogo the day before. He looked up from his phone after he texted Osamu looking around once again hoping to find one of his friends. 

“Oi!” Turning around, he was met with his team. As he walked over, you turned around and again you didn’t hesitate to dedicate your smile to him (a funny feeling kept creeping its way on his chest) . “Finally, man. We thought you were bailing on us.” 

****

As soon as you got to the beach, the twins raced each other to get on the water - but suddenly they made a harsh stop, hanging just by the shore, furiously warming up (it was dangerous to go swimming without doing so they recalled)-,you shouting behind them for them to put on some sunscreen but of course they paid no mind to you. They’ll regret it but now they felt they would regret more losing to each other. Everyone would have to deal with the consequences later. Kita and a couple of the others had stayed back to help getting settled on the spot you had chosen before joining the rest. 

 When you were done, you looked over dreamily towards the sea. It sure was a beautiful day to spend outside. Thankfully it wasn’t very crowded yet, so you could see the coast stretching far beyond, the water seemed to sparkle under the sunlight, so clear you could see the shore bottom. There were a few palm trees nearby, which brought a pleasant shadow over you to rest from the unrelenting sunrays. The sand was warm beneath your feet, as you wiggled your toes in it. 

Simultaneously, the green opal eyed boy had been looking over the scenery too, but his gaze was anything but dreamy. It denoted something close to struggle, constricted in discomfort. Looking over at you and taking in your expression, he determined he’ll have a good time nevertheless.

“It’s so pretty today, don’t you think?”  you turned your head to meet his gaze. He thought his surroundings got brighter for a moment. 

“Yeah, pretty.” 

“Aren’t you joining the others?” You both looked out to where the rest of your friends were, the twins splashing water at each other, Akagi pointing excitedly at something in the water as Kita’s curious glance followed it, Aran was talking to Omimi before Atsumu accidentally splashed some water at him, his momentaneous peaceful spell effectively broken. You chuckled. Poor Aran. 

“I think I’ll join later.” He settled in saying after a moment of contemplation. 

You hummed. It was obvious to you back then when you were planning this outing that he wasn’t fond of this kind of scenery. But you wanted to try and make it more enjoyable for him this time around, or tolerable, at least. It wasn’t fair to leave him behind. Taking a deep breath, you suggested, “Wanna take a walk around first?” 

****

You situated yourself in Atsumu’s shoulders as Suna did the same in Osamu’s. You were currently playing Chicken Fight. 

“Don’t let me win.” You said to Suna jokingly. 

“I wasn’t planning on doing so. You’re going down.” 

“Please, y/n, we can’t afford to lose to these two.”  He wouldn’t be able to stand it. 

“I’ll do my best.” 

And so the game began. You leaned over, careful not to lose your balance going forward and felt Atsumu’s grip on you tighten to keep you steady and safe. Reaching for Suna’s side, you tried pushing him, barely making him stagger. He chuckled mockingly at you which only provoked you, huffing determinedly, deep pout set on your face. So you went to push him harder this time. He was standing on the defense because he knew he didn’t have to do much to make you tumble. So when your hands reached forward you were met with his own, both putting some strength to avoid losing your balance - you were straining more than him, though, he was just putting enough to not let you push him off Osamu-. 

“This is ridiculous.” You groaned out. “You’re stupidly strong. All of you. It’s not fair.” 

“Giving up already?”  Again, that stupid, yet very nice you had to admit, taunting smile was directed at you. 

“Never.” Freeing yourself from his grasp, you tried again. This time, he was surprised as he almost fell, but managed to recover. You, on the other hand, got so carried away by your almost victory that when he made his next attempt, you, ungracefully, tumbled down into the water, much to Atsumu ‘s dismay. You heard Osamu and Suna cheer as you resurfaced, squinting your eyes playfully at them as you moved your hair away from your face. 

You all amused yourselves a lot the entire day. Playing volleyball later came to be a tougher yet funnier activity, with how the environment didn’t play a very supporting role with the boys causing them to make a few more mistakes they could’ve easily avoided were they in their usual setting. 

“That was the wind!” The blonde protested after one of his killer serves’ trajectory went out of whack. 

“Stop blaming the wind on you being a shitty player.” 

They had placed a bet: losers would get buried in the sand. Yet, when the game was over and losers had to give in, they started to back track. 

“Maybe if you hadn't been arguing half the game, you would’ve won. Now keep your end of the bet.” Gin sent a mocking smile to the twins while Suna pouted and squinted his eyes up at the sky, light skin visibly sunburnt already. Thankfully, he was on the winning team. 

Just as they were about to surrender and give in, an idea sparked up in Osamu’s mind. 

Osamu had a nice smile, you always thought. Kind of a lazy smirk that was quite attractive. But right now he was grinning at you, and you didn’t like it. You could only have an idea of what that could possibly mean, and it wouldn’t  end up good for you. “Whatever you are thinking, it’s a no.”  you rushed to say, emphasizing with a profuse shake of your head and your gestures. That caught the attention of the rest, which quickly caught what was happening. “I wasn’t even playing.” Because you were keeping the score.

“C’mon, it’ll be fun.” 

“Then you go and accept what’s coming for you.” 

The attention was effectively shifted towards you and they totally forgot about the initial point of the bet. Guess who ended up covered in sand? (Atsumu sacrificed himself and ended up under the sand beside you. Osamu jokingly threw a handful of sand over his head, then wrote over him “Here rests the lamer twin”. When Atsumu managed to get out of there, a cackling Osamu set out running with his bickering twin hot in his heels.)

When they got you out, you went into the water to get the excess of sand off you. Kita was starting to build a sandcastle when you got back out. Joining him, you set to do one beside him, while Akagi joined the captain. Your work, however, was quickly criticized. 

“Uhhh,” Suna started, fighting a smile, as he looked down between you and your blooming architectural project, “What are you doing?”  

“A sand castle.” you answered, oblivious to his tone or the look on his face until you heard Akagi snort and looked up from your work. Rintaro found hilarious, yet very cute, how your face morphed from pure enthusiasm to complete offense in mere seconds as you took in their expressions.

You looked between Akagi and Suna, “What?”  

Your “castle” had one of its towers collapsing, the others looked like tiny mountains. There even was one which looked more like a cone or pyramid, as if someone had just picked up a bunch of sand and thrown it in the spot without bothering to shape it. Looking over at Kita’s, you saw two twin towers imposingly upright on front, and two matching ones at the back, its walls forming a perfect little square. Staring at your poor little castle, your high spirited spark died and fell from your eye. Even Kita chuckled, as his all devoted eyes looked at you. 

Suna sat down opposite to you and flicked your forehead, making you yelp, hand flying up to the offended spot. “Stop pouting. Let me help you.” 

“Oi, ‘Samu, I bet I can make a better sand castle than you.” 

“Why do you two turn everything into a competition?”  Omimi asked in vain, for Osamu was already agreeing. 

“Bet.” 

“I think it’s missing something.” you said while inspecting the improvements over the small sand structure, “We should decorate it.” the idea lighted up like a lightbulb over your head, eyes roaming the sand. You walked a bit further. 

The boys looked at each other, still not getting where you were going with it, “What exactly are you searching for?” 

“This.” you crouched down and picked up a few small seashells. 

Suna smiled, unbeknownst to you, as you excitedly carried on your task. “Do we get extra points for creativity?” you joked as you finished and turned to look at him, then at the others. 

As early evening rolled in, you had all gone to the showers and changed into your dry clothes. The boys suggested one last activity before having to leave, as they got out of their bags a bunch of fireworks they had acquired from who knows where. 

“We’re going to miss our ride back.” You stressed. 

“There’s still plenty of time, relax.” Atsumu walked over to you, handing you a sparkler while giving you a smile. You hesitated to get pulled into it but to no avail.

 Reaching for it attracted by the shining light which reflected in your eyes and casted a warm glow on your faces under the twilight, you spun it around, face illuminated also by your excitement as the blonde watched you. You met his eyes, but the little moment was broken by a loud explosion, startling you and looking in its direction. 

“Oi! Why the hell you bring that? You’re gonna get the police called on us.”  But there were no signs to be alarmed. You all laughed it off and kept walking or running after each other along the shore, fireworks dancing in the air. 

****

“I’m melting.” Atsumu complained, voice distorted as the fan placed on the table close to his face, turned towards him. Some of his hair was sticking to his forehead, moist with sweat. 

“Yeah, and you’re not sharing the damn fan.” Osamu tilted the appliance over, further to his direction. He was sitting beside his brother.

You had all crashed over at Suna’s to help him settle back in properly. Now that you were done, the twins sat down on the floor by the table, while you cut some fruit on the small kitchen. Suna was standing by your side. For a while, he kept brushing his hair back and out of his face until he gave up and grabbed a hairband instead. You had to stop yourself a couple of times from staring at him, nothing obstructing the view of his features. You stood there in comfortable silence as you worked and he revealed some plates out of the cupboard. 

When you both walked over to the other pair, they both thanked you as you passed them the food, and Osamu brought something up, “There’ll be fireworks tomorrow night. We should all go.” He shrugged, giving his watermelon slice a great bite. 

“You’re coming, right, y/n?” The blonde insisted on your confirmation.

“Oh. Sure.” You smiled at them.

“Are you wearing a yukata for the festival?” Osamu prodded. 

“Maybe.” you hadn’t worn a yukata in years. “I might go see the sunflowers during the day.” 

“We could go with you if you like.”  

“Okay.” So it was settled. 

The next morning, the four of you met and made your way to the sunflower fields and walked along rows and rows of them. 

“Atsumu.” You called the blonde, and as he turned to look at you, you took a picture on your phone. 

“Oi! I wasn’t ready for that.”  He protested as he made silly poses to make you laugh. 

“She could’ve let you know hours in advance and still it’ll turn out bad.” 

“I still can’t believe people like you better than me.” 

You turned, hoping to find Suna near you but he was nowhere to be seen. You frowned, walking back the way you came. As you rounded a corner and almost reached the entrance where there was a small stand with buckets filled with sunflowers ready for sale, you saw him.

“There you are, Rin-“  The rest of the words vanished as one bright, yellow bloom appeared in front of you. Suna was offering one of the flowers to you. Extending your hand, you went to take it from him, fingers brushing as you did. 

“Thank you.” you smiled down at it, then back up at him. 

“Don’t thank me.” He patted your head, faint blush covering his cheeks matching yours. “What are you doing?” He questioned as he saw you aim your phone towards him. 

“Picture? It’s just… You look pretty. And the sunflowers…” What the hell were you saying? You stopped yourself as you looked over at him, faint blush now a bright pink. He covered your mouth with his hand in case you planned to kill him with another comment, making your eyes widen as he pulled you next to him. 

“Excuse me, sir.”  He called a man who was about to walk by. “Could you take us a picture, please?” 

And so you got your pictures. The man took several just in case. In the first one, you were looking up at Suna with a bright smile as you took in his reaction. The second one, he tried to hide his face a bit by placing his head on top of yours, and he was smiling on the rest.

Evening came, you were almost done getting ready to go out with your friends. The invitation was extended to the entire team and you were to meet them there. Your mom helped you put on your yukata. She stared at you through the mirror in front of you, she seemed happy. “I like that you’re going out more.” 

When you were done, you made your way to the festival. There were a lot of stands, so you didn’t know where to go first to find them. It wasn’t necessary, for as you took out your cellphone to shoot a quick text on the team's chat, Shinsuke stood in front of you, wearing his own yukata. He had a placid look on his eyes, seeming as if he was enjoying the night outing, while they took their time to take your appearance, “Good evening, y/n. You look nice.” 

“Thank you.” you smiled at him, “Not looking so bad yourself.” As you began walking, you asked, “Have I missed much?” 

“Not really. Atsumu has been trying to get every prize he can at the games while the others stop by the food stands.” 

It was not longer after that that Suna found a noticeably - coming from him any evident sign of emotion was something to take seriously- uneasy Kita.

“Kita-senpai?”

“Suna. Have you by any chance seen y/n?” 

“She got here already?” Kita took that as a no. 

“Yes, not so long ago. As we went to join you guys I looked beside me and she was gone. I’m worried she got lost in the crowd.”  Kita was beating himself up for it pretty seriously. If he’d been more careful, he could have prevented this from happening. 

Suna tried calling you, while looking side to side hoping to get a sight of you. No answer. It was directed to your voicemail. 

Both boys tried to reach you, unsuccessfully. Finally, they updated the rest and each went their way to look for you and agreed to meet near the entrance after some time if there weren’t any news. 

While you tried making your way back to Kita or hopefully find any of the others, you’d catched a glimpse of a gloomy little boy standing alone. It seemed like he had been crying not too long ago. 

“Hey, darling. Are you lost?”  he nodded, sniffling and rubbing his eyes. 

“Mommy told me to stay by her side but I wandered off to play and now I can’t find her.”  

By now, Suna swore he had walked the festival grounds thrice. And no sight of you. He was about to ask the others again when suddenly you showed up in front of him like an apparition. Relief washed over him as he saw you, and then he took in what was happening. You had a little boy in your arms, and he had signaled over to a woman excitedly, screaming for her. When the woman heard him, she turned sharply and hurried to meet with you. She took the boy from your arms and hugged him fiercely, while you smiled watching them reunited and she thanked you. Before they left, the little boy reached for you and gave you a hug and kissed your cheek. Only when you were alone, you realized your situation. You had become the lost kid. For one second you got distracted with your phone, and when you turned, you collided with Suna, who held you in a secure grip by your arm. 

“I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Was the first thing he said, taking your full presence now, starting from where he felt your skin under his touch as he held you to staring at all of you. Your hair was unusually styled up, a bit disheveled by now. You had put a little makeup on, and were wearing a yukata too. To him you appeared absolutely breathtaking and just for a moment you stared at each other. But then he noticed the small cut on your temple and brought his hands to both sides of your face. 

“Are you hurt?” 

“That’s…  I fell while looking for Kita-senpai. There were these people handling a giant puppet and they didn’t see me so we crashed.” You hurriedly explained, flushing deeply under his concerned gaze as you avoided eye contact and gestured with your hands. He caught one of your hands as he saw your scuffed palms. “And my phone got broken. But I’m okay. Then I found a little boy who lost his mom and helped him find her. So I guess it’s good I got lost too.” You chuckled nervously.

The next thing Suna did caught you by surprise and almost killed you on the spot. He held both your hands up to his lips and kissed them right over your hurt skin. Then a kiss to your temple.  “There. Now’s much better.” He smiled at you, then offered his hand. “I’m not losing sight of you tonight.”  Nodding hazily, you took it and started walking - might as well floating- while your brain tried to make sense of what had just happened. 

“Y/N! It’s really you!” Suna let go of your hand as you got closer and  the group spotted you coming. 

“What are you on now? Of course it’s really her.” 

He skillfully brushed off the comments and approached you, grabbing your face much like Suna had done earlier, only his face was much closer, and you could smell the sugar off his breath from whatever sweets he had been eating earlier. If you were still holding hands you would’ve noticed  how tense the latter got. “Are you sure you’re okay?” What happened to your forehead? And your face. It’s a little red. Actually no, it’s redder now. “ Only when your gaze traveled quickly between his lips and back to his eyes, he realized how close he was and his breath cut in his throat. Atsumu blushed deep pink before Osamu broke the awkward moment for everyone. 

“Get out of her face, dude. Trying to steal the air out of her lungs? No wonder her face’s red.” 

“Y/N.” Kita started later, careful as you both sat on a bench and he placed a band-aid on your palm, the cute plushie a shy Atsumu had won for you sitting on your lap. “I’m so sorry for not noticing earlier that you were missing.” 

You gave him a soft look. You didn’t think he'd take it so personal. “It wasn't your fault. Stuff like this happens.” You tried to reassure him.

“But something worse could’ve happened to you. And if only I’d been more careful-” 

“It didn’t. And it wouldn’t have been your fault if it had.” You looked at him waiting to see if he understood. He gave you a slight nod and you smiled contentedly. “Besides, I’m tough, don’t you think?” That made him laugh. "What? You don't think so?" You faked offense.

"No- I mean yes. You are." You thought you saw a faint blush covering the apple of his cheeks. You let out a small chuckle, then you stood up.

“Now, let’s have fun all together." And he followed you to join the rest.