#i have an app that tells me the train schedule but i almost never check it

[crowjodojocasahouse]

got that city slicker sixth sense (i somehow manage to get to the train station exactly as the train i need is either pulling up or 1-2 minutes away)

[citrineghost]

Avoiding Scams on Freelancing Sites

Hi there! I almost just got scammed today, and I’m going to take the LITTANY of red flags from this interaction and use it to teach you all about how to avoid scams.

I am not making very much money right now. I just lost one of the accounts I was writing for, so I am not not even making enough to pay my rent. So I am desperately looking for work. And, like many people desperately looking for work, my panicking subconscious is willing to see a red flag and brush it under the rug because

“I’m probably being paranoid.”

So, to all of my lovely artists, writers, editors, and other types of freelancers who are desperately looking for work, I would like to create a comprehensive list of things that you should NOT FUCKING IGNORE while looking for a job. Actually, the list will be formatted as things you should expect from your employer/interviewer and if these things are missing, get the fuck out of there.

1. Reputable Platforms

The first thing you should be expecting is to use reputable platforms. If you’re being asked for a virtual interview, you should expect your interviewer to invite you via Skype, Discord, (Maybe slack if they’re middle-aged), perhaps Whatsapp, or whatever website you’re using to find your job.

DO NOT go for interviews on Telegram. This app has been reported as very commonly being associated with scams. This is where my recent experience took place.

2. Willingness to Verify Legitimacy

The first thing you should do when being in contact with an interviewer or HR is ask them to verify their identity. 

This may not be necessary if doing a video call with someone pictured on an official company website, receiving emails or texts from addresses/numbers that are listed on an official company website, or if the job you’re being interviewed for was applied to directly on the company website. In these cases, you are not likely to be scammed, as you’re working with verifiably information.

If you meet someone on Indeed, Fiverr, Upwork, or any other freelancing/job site, keep your contact within the website’s chat system, email system, or whatever. This is how you remain protected under the hiring site’s TOS/Legal whatever. If you get scammed because you took your hiring process elsewhere, they will not help you.

That being said, if you DO take your interview off the site, it should be somewhere reputable and you should ask for your interviewer to verify their identity before doing literally anything else. The best way to get them to verify their identity is to ask them to email or text you from an address or phone number listed clearly on the official company website, by asking them to show you their state ID and checking it for photoshop influence, or by asking to do a video call for the interview and seeing for yourself that you’re being interviewed by someone who is pictured on the official company website as an employee.

3. Clear and Professional Procedures

Any professional working as an interviewer or human resources personnel will have a skillset related to communication and organization. When being interviewed you should expect a number of questions about your skills and how you’re valuable to the company, etc. However, this is easy to fake, as a scammer. What you need to look out for is that they show a clear amount of structure.

If you’re asked for an interview, no real company will demand you be quick about responding. If they’re interested in an interview, a legitimate company is not likely to ask you to do the interview immediately. They will ask you to schedule an interview time with them. They may ask if you have availabilities that day, but they will not just start interviewing you immediately.

After the interview, any professional company will tell you that they will get back to you when they’ve made a decision about your interview. No professional company will tell you to wait for an indefinite amount of time while they talk to HR peers. If a company Does want you to wait, because they intend to make a quick decision, they will give you an expected wait time, as that is the courteous and professional thing to do. They will not expect you to be on-call for this period of time. A time projection is simply to give you an idea of what to expect. For example, “I’ll be in touch within the next 1-3 hours about the results of your interview. Thank you for your time.”

Furthermore, if you are accepted for a job, any professional company will make a clear outline of exactly how they plan to introduce you into company life. They will respect your time and ask you to schedule things with them. For example, “Is there a period of 2-3 hours within the next few days where you would be available for an orientation?” 

No professional company will demand you do anything at any particular time. That is not how legitimate professionals treat new employees. You will be asked to schedule things with them. Even when you’re assigned work hours, if the exact hours you’re applying for are not listed in the job description you applied for, they will ask you to fill out some kind of time sheet to outline your availabilities, then schedule you for times within that outline.

4. Doesn’t Show Signs of Money Scamming

There are two major red flags when it comes to money scams. Your interviewer should never ask you what bank you use and your interviewer should never ever tell you they’re going to send you a check, unless they send your paycheck as a check.

One of the more common scams at the moment is run by people pretending to be members of legitimate companies, hiring freelancers for things like proofreading and editing. These remote positions may require home office hardware, right? The interviewer will tell you you’re missing some hardware and software that are required for the job. Then they’ll tell you that they will send a check that you can cash and use to buy the required materials.

This is even sketchier if they email you front and back images of the check and tell you to print it and then deposit it through mobile banking. The way this works is that, if you cash the check successfully, you will then buy the list of software, which is usually completely unrelated to the job you’re being hired for, then they will cancel the check, which hasn’t cleared completely. That leaves you with ~$2k dollars less in your bank and their money right back where it started in theirs. Presumably, the scammers are the ones selling the software. So, that $2k dollars you just spent is also going into their bank account.

Professional companies will never offer to send you checks to buy products. If they have official hardware or software that they want you to use, they will buy it themselves and then send it to you. There is never a reason why a new hire should buy hardware or software out of their own bank, whether they have been given money for it or not.

Furthermore, a legitimate company will never ever pay you before you have signed and sent your contract to them. One of the obvious giveaways of the scam I was almost caught in was that I was sent the contract last night and I asked if I could send it in today, since it was getting late. The interviewer agreed. I signed it in the morning and then asked him if I should send it in a reply to the email I got the original contract from or if there’s another email I need to send it to. He completely ignored my question, asked me how I was doing, and then went into the check-related information so I could buy software.

The issue was bothering me ALL DAY. I knew there was something extremely weird about that, so I asked again a few hours later. His response? “You have nothing to worry about.” ?????? I was aghast. I wasn’t worried at all! I just wanted an answer! If he had simply told me to respond to the email I’d gotten the contract from, I might have fallen for his scam! What a terrible scammer smdh

A Non-Exhaustive List of Other Red Flags

Your interviewer shows a poor grasp on the language

If your interviewer is making frequent grammatical errors that are glaringly obvious to any native speaker, that is a huge red flag. HR reps and interviewers are hired because of their communication skills. It is highly unlikely that someone who makes non-native-like errors is legitimate unless they are actually openly non-native, in which case, it’s not so alarming.

Your interviewer is showing impatience or demanding you at certain times

If your interviewer is telling you to “report back by 8am tomorrow” without any kind of prior agreement that this is an acceptable time for you to meet, that is extremely unprofessional and shows a lack of patience. Scammers want to get to the meat of their scam quickly and will use an air of professional superiority and authority to scare you into moving faster than necessary.

Your interviewer shows a lack of opening and closing statements

Along the lines of the clear processes that I mentioned above anybody who is initiating you in the job you’re taking should show clear opening and closing statements. What I mean by this is: professionals in human resources or management positions will not keep you as a social hostage. If you’ve been discussing how you’ll begin training or somesuch, they will not just leave you hanging. You should have a dedicated time slot where you will have your discussion and, at the end of it, your supervisor should make a closing statement. For example, “It looks like our time is running out for today. What would be a good time to pick this up tomorrow?”

If you feel like you are “on-call” and unable to leave the room because the interviewer or supervisor keeps messaging, has not outlined a time slot for you to talk in, won’t seem to let you go, or shows no indication of stopping, that is a really bad sign. Either the company is legitimate and TERRIBLE at professionalism (a great sign you should run anyway), or this is a scammer intent on getting you to follow their instructions as soon as they can.

Your interviewer ignores time zones or gets them wrong

When I was contacted about doing an interview yesterday, it was 4:30pm. I did the interview and was told I got the job. Immediately after, without asking if I was free, he began listing off instructions and things I was to expect. It wasn’t until 7:30pm that he sent me the contract and asked me to review it, sign it, and send it back that I finally asked if I could do that tomorrow. The interviewer was supposedly on the west coast and knew that I was on the east coast. He agreed by saying “Alright” and then told me to report to him “by 8am your time.”

There are 3 things about this that are weird. The first is that he demanded I show up at 8am to continue where we left off. Any professional would have asked when I’m available the next day to continue. the second is that he said “your time” instead of saying EST, as most professionals in the US would be apt to do. And, lastly, I showed up at 7:50am, ready to continue, because I’m that desperate that I’m willing to be pushed around, and he showed up at 9am on the dot. He had gotten the time wrong. Nobody who works professionally on the west coast is incapable of adding 3 hours to their time. It was a rookie mistake, or a mistake made by someone in a completely different time zone than they say they are.

When asked to verify their identity, your interviewer attempts to reassure you or refuses

When I finally was fed up and knew this must be a scam, I politely asked my interviewer to verify his identity by either showing me his US ID or by contacting me from his email or phone number listed on the official company website. He sent me a photoshopped nametag with a completely different person’s name and photo on it and said it was the company ID of the HR director. 

I have never seen a facade fall so pathetically. Why would literally any even remotely legitimate person do such a thing? It was sad, really. He deleted the message in less than a minute - no doubt to keep me from looking at it long enough to see how badly it was photoshopped - and then aggressively reassured me that the company meant me no harm and would pay for everything, etc. Any real professional would have simply sent me an email from the legitimate address, stating that they’re legitimate, and then continued on with the initiation process.

Learn from My Mistakes

I hope some of this was helpful for all of you lovely freelancers trying to find work. I thought I would know a scam when I saw one, and I did have a Bad Feeling about this whole thing, because it did feel too good to be true, but I was desperate enough that my judgement was heavily clouded, and that could happen to anyone.

Don’t ignore red flags - especially these ones. Stick up for yourself. Avoid confirmation bias. I looked things up repeatedly to confirm that the company was legitimate and that it’s normal to do things like mobile deposit a printed check and so on. Every time, I found an explanation that suited me. I even tried to cash the check. The only reason it didn’t work was because there was an error with the name on the check because I recently legally changed my name and PayPal was having some kind of issue updating in some areas of its website. It was after that that I realized this was all crashing down and I needed to reassess it all. Don’t let yourself get that deep into it.

[tundrainafrica]

Title: Lovebug (3/10)

Summary:  

“It might be a bug.”

“A bug?”

“Sometimes the developers of this application make mistakes. This is our first time meeting I’m sure so…Isn’t it a bit weird that we just met for the first time and it rings like this? And for two strangers to coincidentally ring each other’s alarms?“

Levi is the developer of the Love Alarm App and Hange is married to Zeke.

Link to cross-postings: AO3

Other Chapters: 1 2 4 5

Notes: So I was really planning on my posting the next chapter tonight and wahhhh right on time @renrampant posted this beautiful piece of art inspired by lovebug. I hope this chapter satisfies <3. I hope the zekehan kiss which will be coming in a chapter or two does justice to the art too.

Levi was a man of his word and he always had been. The night he created his tinder profile, such a penchant had turned out to be more than just an inconvenient truth.

Something so ideally simple as to create a tinder profile, shouldn’t have taken him more than a few hours. Yet, Levi found himself searching, grappling for the right words to say, finding some way to make himself more attractive than he actually was. It turned out with his own meagre attributes, drawing the right person was an altogether daunting task.

Maybe he was overthinking that night. Overthinking had been enough though to leave him exhausted, retiring for the night even before he even noticed he had forgotten to place the phone by his bedside.

When he came into his senses again, sunlight was streaming through the room, turning even the dimmest corners a little less black and a little more gray. The phone was a warm heavy weight vibrating on his chest.

He had to leave for the office soon.

His sleeping schedule only provided him a generous hour and a half to shower and to commute. Frustration at not being able to complete his bio the night before had him sluggish. It had him unwillingly reaching towards the back of his mind as he showered, as he shaved and pulled his light sweater on.

He considered extirpating that nagging thought. All you have to do is put a bio right? Levi thought to himself as he made his way to the subway station. He memorized the way to work like the back of his hand, all the way until the train platform He took the risk of walking straight ahead, eyes completely glued to the screen in front of him.

How it had taken him so much focus to decide on a bio. How it had taken him so much energy and thought. He didn’t know.

Levi though was a man of his word and thus, he had ended up clicking save after typing only a few simple straightforward words.

'Currently software testing. If interested, please swipe right.’

***

“So Levi, you’re a software tester?”

Levi found himself stifling a surprise snort at that question. The sound had come out as something he managed to disguise as a clearing of his throat. Hopefully it worked.

They had just settled on one of the corner seats of a chain coffee shop, a conservative choice for a first date. That is, if he were planning on impressing her. The date felt more like an obligation than an actual passion project. And obligations always had Levi’s mind running on overdrive, even with things as simple as ice breakers.

He didn’t expect that to have been the first line of conversation. He didn’t even know how to pronounce her name yet. The woman was looking expectantly though, bending a little forward. Whether she had been feigning interest or whether she had been genuinely interested, Levi couldn’t really tell.

Technically he tested software for a living and he didn’t need to really expose himself as the head engineer of the software so he settled for a nod.

“Oh, what kind of software do you test?” The woman in front of him pressed.

Levi snuck a glance at his phone under the table. Lynn. But was it pronounced ‘lint?’ Or was it pronounced ‘line?’

He was overthinking again. But when the woman had pronounced his own name correctly, it seemed almost criminal to have to mispronounce her name. Maybe he could table that question for a while.

Or never go on a date with her again. Levi thought to himself as he looked back up at her with the most casual face he could muster. “I test biology related software,” he answered. He purposely kept it vague. He had to note she was also a love alarm user. She had mentioned that part in her bio. Bringing it up in a conversation though was another issue altogether. If he brought it up, she might ask. If the conversation continued, she might ask more.

Did he want to expose then that he was the one who had designed the actual application?

“Biology sounds very interesting,” she commented. She didn’t seem interested in Biology though.

Not as interested as Hange. That quick comparison came like an uninvited visitor and Levi found himself just slapping the phone on top of the table on impulse. The clack of the phone on the table, the metal on hardwood rattled him enough to drive those thoughts away.

Lynn jumped in surprise. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Levi felt the blood rush to his face. When he was thinking longingly about someone married, and comparing her to Lynn, his date for the day, blushing seemed like an almost welcome sensation. “I heard you use the love alarm,” Levi started. When he was already making a fool of himself, might as well go straight to the point.

“You would like to check if we’re attracted to each other huh?” She asked. “But I don’t think we’d find out by the first date…”

“I said on my profile, I wanted to test a software so that’s why I’m here now actually.” Those words forced themselves out of Levi and they came out as a disturbed flow, as guttural sounds that burned in his throat. In the end, the honest man inside him prevailed.

“Test?” Lynn had been nice enough at least to mirror him and put her phone on the table. “You wanna test the love alarm now?”

Levi nodded as he fixed his eyes on the screen in front of him. He was familiar enough with the banner in the front of the screen to know with just a quick glance. The love alarm was active.

He didn’t have to open the application or pull down the banner to know the result. He was all too familiar with how the application would work even when placed on silent mode. The banner should at least appear, with the words ‘Someone nearby is in love with you.’

If there were at least two people around them then, if somebody else rang it, Levi would have been compelled to check. Both applications were void of hearts though. Levi closed the application and pocketed his phone. “It looks like we aren’t attracted to each other.” He only realized as those words escaped from his lips, how awkward or maybe how rude of a comment it came out as.

Lynn’s eyes were wide for a second before she furrowed her brows, framing those brown eyes. “Of course, we just met. I think attraction is something that can be built over time right?” Lynn answered.

“You’re not wrong,” Levi said. Really, he didn’t even believe he could be someone who could rattle off facts about love. Hange had said it herself, he was a little inexperienced.

He wanted to be right about it though. He wanted to believe attraction could be built over time. By extension, he wanted to hold on to the possibility that attraction could also dissipate into apathy. After all, all those emotions should have been in the same ballpark.

“So what do you think?” Lynn asked. She had said some words before that but maybe Levi had reflected too deeply to have processed anything more than the face of the woman before him.

If he blinked and squinted a little afterward, he could pretend that same wavy brown hair was Hange’s. Hange’s hair though was a little shorter and a little messier and when bright light shone at it from certain angles, it came off as a little red. Hange’s eyes were a little bigger and her face was a little rounder.

Lynn was just too different from Hange to ever be Hange.

When Levi let his vision blur though, let it focus on her features slowly then all at once, he could play pretend. When looking from his peripherals, settling for blurs instead of clear pictures, he could pretend the brown hair was Hange’s, the waves that fell on her shoulders as just another layer.

He didn’t even notice it, even after they had split the bill and when she turned down his half hearted offer to take her home. That was until her last greeting came out as they parted ways along the main street that led up to the train station.

Her last greeting was a long way off from a conventional goodbye but it had done its job to get Levi’s attention.

“By the way Levi, my name isn’t Hange.” She unmatched him on tinder after that.

***

Levi decided to put a small note under his name.

Software Engineer. Currently testing software. If interested please swipe right.

It turned out though, there were people who never read bios. “So, what do you do for a living?” The woman in front of him asked. His case in point.

Hange likes reading. An invasive thought tore through him then and Levi wondered how that could have ever been related to the situation at hand.

When he questioned himself, he found out why he even reflected on it in the first place. Right, since Hange likes reading, she wouldn’t have overlooked my bio if she found me on tinder.

Of course, she wouldn’t have tinder. Levi took a deep breath then, reminding himself for the nth time that he was going to have to settle for people who weren’t married to billionaire business tycoons.

He was going to have to settle for people who weren’t Hange.

But he didn’t have to settle for her either. She was underwhelmed yet underwhelming at the same time and Levi was starting to miss Lynn already as the more desirable option.

He quickly shook his head. You don’t have to see any of these people again. All you have to do is turn the love alarm on and watch it ring. But he was feeling so underwhelmed, so disappointed with the turn out of the date in front of him just minutes into meeting her. He had entertained just the thought of cancelling their food there, the only thing stopping him being the wasted food and the poor waitress who would have to clean the mess. So he decided he could at least stay long enough to at least try.

“So, have you heard of the love alarm Nanaba?” Levi asked. He may have put just a little more emphasis in her name. After all, he didn’t want the Lynn-Hange incident happening again.

“Of course, who hasn’t learned about the love alarm app? Actually I have it with me right now.” Nanaba pulled out her phone and dropped it in front of him.

Ten years of hard and stressful work made Levi immune to even the slightest compliments. “You wanna do some testing?” He asked. “Don’t you want to see if we’re compatible?”

Compatible. That was a complex word and Levi started to doubt the applicability of that application in determining compatibility. It was a love alarm, not a compatibility alarm.

Nanaba grinned. “Sure but I have to tell you, I don’t think it actually works.”

Levi raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. He hoped it seemed genuine though. “Really?” When he momentarily thought back to the numerous support tickets logged just within the past two weeks thought, his expression may have turned just a little genuine. It was a mess of an application after all.

“I’ve been using it for a few months already... And it hasn’t rung, not even once. .”

Maybe nobody likes you. Levi had some ironclad rules about testing, always start with user errors, not with application errors and that had him instinctively blaming her but he had to note, most people had one to two matches, Nanaba didn’t look particularly unlikeable either. Just with the thought of statistics, it should have at least rung once if she kept it on regularly.

Levi quickly switched from his engineering hat to his much more empathetic yet still very shitty customer service persona. “Maybe you just haven’t found the one who could ring it for you?” The words tasted so sweet they almost instantly clabbered into sour milk in his mouth. He felt like he was in some sappy Korean drama.

“Well, it rang with my friend Mike once but we don’t see each other that way…”

“Oh, really? Then why did you say it’s broken?”

“Because it rang with my best friend and that doesn’t count...” Nanaba wanted to say more. It was all over her face and her tone.

Levi was in no mood though to play love counselor. But he wasn’t an asshole enough to cancel the food and ditch a seemingly sad woman either. The food came at the right time when Levi was entertaining the prospect of just leaving.

Nanaba looked very much in the mood to speak, speak about something a little more emotional, a little more serious than hobbies and Levi found himself hesitant to force the conversation elsewhere.

Levi came out of that date with no second date, no results. Nanaba on the other hand came out of that date with new found confidence to confess her feelings to her long time best friend.

By the time they had exited the shop, Levi was already swiping again, grumbling obscenities about how testing wasn’t supposed to be that hard.

***

“Rico Brzenska,” Levi said. There were only too many ways to mispronounce ‘Rico.’ Still, two failed dates had him careful about names already. “So what do you do for a living?” And careful about other things as well.

“I’m a student.”

Levi almost spit his tea out at that. He should have been more careful. He had read her bio, she had mentioned something about a love alarm app and that had him swiping right already. He was sure if he had seen any indication of a minor, he would have swiped left. “Really? What kind of student?” He asked, having gone subtly for his phone and pushing it further under the table.

“A graduate student taking business and commerce.”

Levi only had to take a quick glance at his settings to be sure, there were no chances of him dating a minor, as long as nobody was lying about their age on tinder. Being an honest man though, Levi had a harder time looking through white lies.

Such awareness had him studying her round face, her large blue eyes for a little longer. She could have been a minor. Or he could just be paranoid.

But when dating a minor could actually mean jail time, Levi didn’t want to take any chances. “Do you have any ID on you?”

“ID?” Rico frowned. “Why would you need an ID?”

“You said in your bio you wanted to test the love alarm right?”

Rico nodded. “Yes, I just wanna make sure before I start dating someone, we already have the initial attraction. I don’t wanna waste my time with people who aren’t attracted to me or I’m not attracted to, if you get what I mean?”

In response, Levi hummed in understanding. He did get what she meant. The last thing he wanted to do though was inadvertently ring the love alarm of someone a good many years younger than him and risk jail time. He probably wouldn’t ring it anyway.

But just in case. Levi put his phone out on the table, leaving one hand outstretched as if to wait for an ID.

No ID. No Love Alarm. He was sure that was the sign he was giving.

"Wait you don't think I'm off age do you? You think I'm lying on my profile?"

"No, I don't think you are," Levi said. Maybe his expression betrayed his words.

Rico eventually let go of an ID, a school ID from a familiar university logo Levi was sure he had seen a few times. And her face then had been one of pure irritation and maybe a hint of fury.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "There? Legal enough for you?"

Still a student, still too young to be engaging in anything with an older man, at least by Levi's standards. Still, he found himself almost obligated to just test the alarm in front of her.

Rico didn't look happy at all to be heavily scrutinized, or doubted. When she activated her application, Levi saw it as a cue to activate his own.

All you have to do is press the button. Levi told himself. He knew it wouldn't ring. He felt no attraction to her but paranoia had his brain going in all sorts of directions at once. Maybe the blood that rushed through his cheeks then was love. Maybe his hands shaking then were nervousness and excitement at meeting one's destined partner.

Also Rico wore glasses. For some reason, that had him thinking back to someone else with glasses, he wondered for a second if her eyes were much larger without those on. And he wondered if it was similar for Hange.

How such a long train of thought could have occupied him in such a short frame of time, interrupted by a quick sleight of hand, Levi didn't know.

But it had ended so abruptly, almost violently with the familiar cacophony of two love alarms ringing at once.

For a second, Levi sat frozen on the table as his mind went ahead, racing over theories and potential testing methods to deduce the root behind the outcome.

Do I have a glasses kink? That had been Levi's first thought. He looked down at his own phone to see the one heart and the bright message on top.

One person nearby is in love with you.

His second thought had been a little more objective. It's a bug. He told himself. I'll just have to do further testing.

Rico’s eyes were wide in shock. For a few seconds or so, she struggled to move and he couldn’t blame her. After all, the ringing of multiple love alarms in such a silent place like a cafe on a weekday morning was a scene that definitely had the potential to catch some people’s attention.

Levi couldn’t be too sure. He didn’t want to survey his surroundings either so he narrowed his view to just his own love alarm and back at Rico. The latter went for her phone.

From his own angle, Levi couldn’t see her interface but he was familiar with the way she had swiped it, to know she had turned it off. The two love alarms continued to ring in the silence. Even with the tension and awkwardness so thick that made it difficult to slog through, his brain was still moving.

He was blessed with at least enough deduction skills to quickly figure it out for himself.

He was in love with someone else in the room. But who? He surveyed his surroundings, keeping his view closed to only one person at a time. That gave him enough time to brush away the rest of the stares that surfaced from having made such a scene with the harsh ring of the love alarm.

Only after scanning for a second longer did his spatial awareness catch up to him. The other ringing was coming from behind. Levi turned behind him, quickly enough to catch the mop of chestnut brown hair. Fortunately, he had been slow and careful enough to pull away at the last second, missing her forehead by a hair’s breadth.

“Watch where you’re fucking going!” That had been Levi’s first instinct. After all, he was still seeing red, just imagining their heads slamming into each other in the middle of a very silent cafe.

The brunette in front of him, put one finger to her masked mouth, pointing at one of the old fashioned signs just above her seat.

In silence, there is eloquence. It read.

Hange was a very eloquent person. Levi had read enough messages from her and stalked enough of her works to know that much. Any other day, maybe any other minute, he would have been happy to listen, learn a thing or two from the master of diplomacy.

But Hange had virtually come out of nowhere. In the middle of a date.

Giving her a onceover though, noting her masked face. The only two things that made her recognizable then was her mop of brown hair tied in a ponytail and her masked mouth. Still, that had been more than enough for Levi to have seen through it.

She had settled on the seat behind him. The way she looked back at him and the way she had seemed a little too relaxed with a half finished cup of coffee just in front of her, Levi was sure she had been there for a while.

How much did she hear? Levi couldn’t ask just yet. The alarms were still ringing and as soon as Levi turned it off on his end, it stopped. Yet people continued to stare. More importantly, Rico was still staring from behind him.

“Do you two know each other?” She asked.

The answer didn’t come as quickly for Levi as he would have wanted it too. They knew each other, they’ve met at least twice. They’ve eaten out together once. But technically, did it count as ‘knew?’ Did Hange feel the same way?”

“We’re colleagues, working on the same project,” Hange answered for him.

Levi almost instantly realized he liked that answer. Colleagues. It was definitely more intimate than ‘knew each other.’ While at the same time, it held more respect in one’s skills and talent than the word ‘friends.’ And it implied in its own little way that Hange cared about the project just as much as he did.

It had been difficult to muster a straight face then. Still, he pushed forward, nodding when he struggled to stifle the motions of his mouth and the blood that rushed to his face then.

“But the… the love alarm… it…” Rico continued to speak. She shifted her eyes quickly between both Levi and Hange. “And you…” Her eyes fixed on Hange then.

Levi followed her eyes instinctively. Did Rico recognize Hange? He couldn’t confirm it for himself. Soon after that, Rico didn’t say anything in response. Instead she blinked back surprise. She started to clean out her things and place them into her bag.

“Wait, you’re leaving?” Levi wanted to pull her back. For a split second, he had reached out his hand, grasping his hand before pulling quickly back. He didn’t mind losing the chance at a second date. Just the thought of putting someone in such a tight and uncomfortable position had his stomach turning. He couldn’t for the life of him tell what she was thinking but he at least felt the tension.

Rico didn't have the most eloquent response either. “Sorry about this… I guess on my end it just feels wrong meddling in somebody else’s relationship… I don’t wanna be the one who’d stop people from getting together.”

Levi was quick to understand though. His thoughts flew back to Nanaba just a date ago and the long one sided counseling session which consisted of Nanaba’s long drawn monologues and Levi’s own grunts of understanding. The date which eventually ended with Nanaba finally figuring out for herself the best course of action.

You know, you’re right, Both of our love alarms rang. And that’s the whole point of this app right? If they both ring, it’s a sign, we should act on it.

And that was the whole point of the love alarm. How many times had he reviewed marketing material, love story commercials which ended with that same message?

Levi opened his mouth ready to speak up. By then, Rico was already out the door, any evidence of her presence just a second ago disappearing within seconds of her leaving. The chimes by the store entrance gradually slowed to a weak dance, the people who watched her leave eventually fell back to whatever they were doing beforehand, and Levi’s own protests had deadened into a light whisper.

It’s a bug. Besides, she’s married. The words had settled in his tongue like a familiar friend and he was sure if given the chance, he would have managed to say it loud and clear.

Levi looked back in his phone to see Rico had unmatched him, just a little too quickly.

“I think we should get that bug fixed soon,” Hange whispered. She sounded like she was stifling a laugh.

"For someone who's worried about the bug, you looked like you had a swell time ringing our alarms just a while ago," Levi said bitterly.

"Zeke's on a business trip and I'm bored and lonely."

“Well, don't take it out on me.” Levi took out his wallet and dropped the cash by the side of his drink, counting enough to pay for Rico’s drink too. He didn’t think too much about the receipt or the change.

The murmurs around him were more than enough to have him hurrying out of the cafe. Did they recognize Hange?

He thought it an appropriate time to satisfy his curiosity when they were both a good distance from the shop. “Do you think people recognize you as Zeke Jaeger’s partner?”

Hange put one finger to her mask. “I saw you outside the shop and when I thought of ringing your love alarm, I did what I could to prepare." Her eyes were still smiling though and Levi was sure there was a laugh behind that mask. "Besides, even though most people recognize Zeke, I don't think they'd notice me. I don’t join the interviews or events as much as he does,” Hange said.

Levi noticed though that Hange was the type to just get lost in her surroundings. Ort hat was at least what Levi had picked up on her the first few times they have gone together. She quickly relaxed after that short and quick question and answer, and in the way that she navigated through the crowds a little too clumsily yet a little too playfully, Levi found evidence backing up his mini theory.

Even if anybody did recognize her, she probably wouldn’t have noticed. And that little realization had made it much harder for Levi to stomach what just happened in the cafe. They needed to get the bug fixed fast. “Let’s go back to the office, maybe do some more testing.”

“Isn’t that why we’re here now?” Hange asked, pointing towards the general direction of their building. “I visited your office this morning because I didn't have much to doand I thought I could be helpful. You weren’t there so I asked around and one of the people from the support team told me you were out. She said probably in your favorite tea shop.”

“You met Petra?” Levi asked. “Redhead? Short?” He soon added, noting her confused expression.

Hange snapped her fingers. “Yes, that’s her name.”

“Yeah, she knows my favorite tea shop. Gets me my favorite mix of tea leaves every year for Christmas,” Levi said, more to fill the air with at least some conversation on the way back.

It took Levi a while to notice Hange had peeked at his face even as he averted his gaze, looking elsewhere.

She spoke up. “Say… Have you ever tried testing your love alarm on her?”

***

Petra was one of the newer employees, a little shy but particularly mature for her age. She was notably competent and had a particularly better handle of her emotions than most of the other colleagues. Her most important asset had been her level headedness even under the pressure of scrutiny. Petra was the type of person to know when she was attracted to someone and she was the type of person to admit it for the sake of a smoother testing process.

Thus, she was one of Levi's favorite volunteers when testing the love alarm.

And Levi was sure, to some degree she could have liked him. If he were to consider her words as truth, and the hearts at the bottom of the screen as some indication.

When they were testing every release on fifty employees over a one week period, putting results side by side with checklists and biometrics tests, they were as thorough as it could be. It was always the case that when it was the two of them testing with each other, Levi’s love alarm always rang, Petra’s didn’t. Every single time, Petra would tag that instance as ‘QA passed.’

It could have been a placebo effect or it could have also been just an admittance to get the testing process done just a little faster but Petra never seemed like the type, breezing through the awkward scenes that came with testing a love application like they were part of a job. If it ever bothered her, she never showed it.  

Levi’s alarm never rang in any of the tests he had ever taken anyway. When he double checked though, lining up the results side by side with checklists of what to look out for when one was in love, he found that it never had been a big deal. He had never been attracted to anyone in particular anyway.

“So, I’m the only one your love alarm rang with huh?” Hange asked.

Except maybe Hange.“Yeah, when doing QA work, I’ve had to test with the other employees and it never rang with any of them,” Levi admitted.

“How does QA work?”

“We test with employees, users… All on a volunteer basis if I may clarify.” Levi added that last part for just a touch of professionalism. “We have acceptable ranges for biometrics, checklists and we have a certain number of results which need to fit there to consider a release viable.”

“Why don’t we test using the QA procedure?”

“Because the QA process is a logistical nightmare. We plan a venue. We plan a schedule and we have to get a certain number of people to show up.”

“No, I meant… What if we try it, just the two of us. We answer the checklists, we take each other's biometrics and see if that falls in the exact range for ‘love'?” Hange suggested and her excitable tone only made it seem like she was suggesting something almost revolutionary.

Levi sighed. “I’d rather we use QA testing as a last resort.”

Hange’s face fell. “Why?”

“Because.”

“Because?”

“Because…” Levi would have liked to leave it at that. As he looked at Hange who had leaned on the wall, crossing her arms and staring back at him expectantly, he remembered, it was a professional relationship. If the partner of their very important investor demanded answers, she would get answers so he settled for something seemingly acceptable yet very pathetic in the grand scheme of things. “We’re going to have to answer standardized psychology quizzes and take some physical tests.”

“And I’m sure you’d have a few samples lying around. Let’s see what information we can get,” Hange said.

There were other reasons Levi had been hesitant to suggest such an exam in the first place. It had been difficult to grasp for the exact reasons until they arrived in the conference room Levi had reserved.

The room was a vacuum that had the special power of just drowning out voices, footsteps from just outside the hallway. The tables were empty, the white board put away towards the side of the room. It was clean, empty, void of any presence or even trace of it. It made Levi just a little more painfully aware of his heartbeat, his moist palms and his wild uncoordinated breathing.

He might just fail the physical exam. More specifically, he might just fail if he took it then, at the exact moment.

Grasping for some win, or at the least some comfort in that situation, he had half the mind to run through the ‘Am I in love?’ checklist or at least what he remembered from it. If he were a little honest, there might have been some things he would have checked.

But it didn’t mean he would fail it right?

“What do you think?” Hange pressed. She had settled for one of the chairs in the room.

Levi had answers, but he couldn’t share it just yet. Inviting her to take that meant that he was entertaining the prospect that they might just be in love with her---a cursed prospect.

“Or do you have any other ideas?” Hange asked. She cocked her head to one side in thought.

“If you give me a little more time to come up with something…” Levi said.

“Petra told me you have a week or two before they release the next fix. You’ve done most of the coding work. You just need to fix this bug right?” Hange was very talkative. It turned out Petra had been just a little talkative too with the right prodding by Hange. “Why don’t you wanna just test it now?” Hange's face darkened then to something almost threatening.

And maybe Levi was a little intimidated. He quickly turned away, unable to control whatever expression would force itself out of him then.

“Levi?” Her voice was grating. The echoing in the room didn’t do much to help alleviate it. “Come on, please? I want this investment as much as you do.”

If the partner of their very important investor demanded answers, she would get answers.

But it didn’t have to be the correct answers. “Fine,” Levi said. “You know, maybe the way we test this application… the way we test for love might actually be flawed so maybe some feedback from a researcher like you could be useful.”

Hange grinned from ear to ear, the ominous face of a while ago just a memory Levi could probably forget. “So where do we start?”

***

Testing for the biological numbers was quick with the right tools.

Heart rate. Hormone levels. Stress Levels. Pain Sensitivity. They had all the right test kits on hand with a document detailing the acceptable range.

All reasonable levels, albeit a little too far from the midpoint that Levi held on to the possibility that maybe they could log it all in as some coincidence. The checklists were just a little more difficult and maybe Levi was just thinking a little too far off that he had started to have a mini identity crisis.

I think about my partner a few times a day.

Partner: Referring to the person one tests the application with. Levi was aware of that much having tested the application long before. Yet for some reason, he had to loudly remind himself of that, even within the confines of his mind.

He entertained hypotheses. If Hange were his partner, that would be polyamory and that could even start the scandal of the year, or even the decade. He didn’t want to be part of that.

So he ticked ‘never’ because technically Hange wasn’t his partner anyway.

I want to be with my partner everyday.

Hange was Zeke's partner. Just the idea of getting in between a married couple had Levi's stomach turning and it had been easy to tick never right next to it.

My partner trusts me.

It was too early to tell, or so that was what Levi told himself then.

The word ‘partner’ had been a convenient term. Zeke had been a convenient presence in his mind. And that had him ticking all the 'nevers' towards the edge of the page just a little more confidently.

Technically, Hange wasn’t his partner. Technically they just met, so words like trust, amicability, happiness, charisma, compatibility and charm, didn’t have to apply to them just yet. A few minutes later, he had checked enough ‘nevers’ to have armed himself with the confidence to look her in the eye.

Hange though wasn’t reciprocating, looking deep in thought with whatever question she had been answering. She bit her lip.

Hange eventually met his gaze. Instead of being just a little more satisfied, Levi was a little disappointed, more in himself than in anyone else. For that few seconds that Hange bit her lower lip in thought, her cheekbones had seemed fuller, her hazel eyes held an almost imperceptible yet still very enthralling glimmer, and regretfully, he didn’t take the time to relish it when it was right in front of him.

“How’s the test?” Levi asked.

“It’s fine,” Hange said.

Levi slid his own answers towards her. “We just have to calculate the number of ‘always,’ the number of 'sometimes,' the number of ‘nevers’ and just match it on the document over here.” He turned his laptop towards her.

“I can do it,” Hange said, pulling the laptop towards herself. The next few minutes passed in silence. Levi stared at the ceiling, trying to keep his heartbeat in time with the clack of the keyboard. Hange typed fast and chaotically but in a way, there was rhythm and order and that had helped him get into a position where he could just drop his shoulders and fall back on the chair behind him.

“You don’t think I trust you?” Hange asked.

“It’s too early to tell right?” Levi said. That answer had been scripted and it slipped out of his mouth easily.

Hange’s let out a light sound, a cross between with a hum and a chuckle. “Well, to tell you the truth, I put here that I didn’t trust you either.”

“Well that makes both of us, I guess,” Levi said.

Hange continued to type, filling the room with some predictable rhythm, a predictable rhythm his own wild heartbeat failed to provide. Eventually, it stopped, with one loud clack on the ‘enter’ button or at least, Levi guessed it was the enter button.

Soon after, Hange leaned back on the backrest of her own chair. “Biometrics all fall in the acceptable range. Test results all fall in the unacceptable range,” she said, her tone unreadable. Too professional but Levi surmised it could be her usual ‘research’ tone. He hadn’t known her long enough to be certain.

“Maybe we should get to know each other first and try to answer again?” Hange suggested. “We just met so I can’t fully trust you yet but I think, we could get along with the right…”

Environment? Amount of time? Mutual Processing? Levi couldn’t be too sure of the answer. She had said something else after the word ‘right’ or maybe she didn’t. Still, there was a problem that needed to be solved, there was an issue that needed to be addressed that extended beyond the need to resolve the feelings between two strangers.

Or two colleagues. Levi decided he liked the word colleagues better. “So what do you suggest Hange?” Levi asked.

“I wanna do further research with this application. We can tweak whatever processes you’re using now to QA, whatever processes you’re using to determine whether people are in love. Maybe we just have to fix that a bit.”

“This application took years to develop. It’s gonna be difficult to overturn a lot of the processes.”

“Without the right funding…” Hange said. She wagged her finger and gave Levi a knowing look.

Levi narrowed his eyes accusingly at Hange. “So how’s convincing Zeke been going?”

“That’s the caveat,” Hange said. “He’s not a very techy guy. He’s an investor and scientist more than anything and sometimes, even with the right proposition, he’ll stick to some really weird reasons why he wouldn’t invest in something. I don’t blame him though since millions of dollars are usually on the line with each investment.”

" So, I’m guessing you tried to convince him?”

Hange nodded. “I did. And it looks like he won’t budge unless you fix that ‘bug.’”

“The bug which caused his love alarm to not ring around you?” And the bug which is causing our love alarms to ring. Levi added silently to himself. “Can you explain to him that we need the money to continue improving the system?”

“I’ve been with him for years, Levi. I know how he is.”

“So what do you suggest we do?”

Hange hummed. “I don’t know how programming works but...Maybe you can program the application to make it work just the way that Zeke likes it... For the time being?”

***

No. Just no.

Those were the words written all over Petra’s expression. Levi only had to look at the other faces around him to be very much sure, everyone agreed with Petra

For posterity’s sake, he repeated those words. “I understand that the regression test is done but unless I am able to get to the bottom of this bug, we won’t be able to release the fixes,” Levi said. He kept his words soft, yet still loud enough to echo through the conference room. He said it slowly and clearly. Just in case it was a bit harder to hear through shock and surprise.

“Sir, a lot of the fixes in this release have been promised for months,” Petra argued. The professionalism in her voice was still admirably apparent.

“Erwin’s orders. I’m just repeating them now,” Levi said.

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Gunther asked. “Have you found the reason behind it? I’m guessing if you do… we might have to make some changes to the code and go through regression testing again.”

“If ever that happens, I’ll handle the testing on my end,” Levi said. “It wouldn't be too hard, it’s just a blip in the code.”

“So you’ve found the cause?” Eld asked.

“Yes.” If Levi didn’t open his mouth to speak then, he was sure no one would have for the next few minutes. There was something festering in the silence, some common sentiment that he sensed among them, among those doubtful faces tinged with irritation and confusion.

He had always told them before. Always assume a user error first. And there was an apparent user error which he was sure everyone was entertaining.

What if Hange just didn’t love Zeke? A prospect that was ambrosia to Levi’s lips but at the same time a piece of ambrosia that he was sure was laced with poison. He couldn’t chew it, he couldn’t swallow for fear of just letting go for a few seconds longer, letting a smile curl up his lips during the most inopportune times.

Levi turned to Oluo in particular who he guessed would have been the one most likely to bring it up. The latter remained begrudgingly silent. It looked like no one else wanted to bring it up either. After all, Zeke was a huge opportunity for company growth, a huge opportunity for investment.

Eld spoke up.“If there’s anything we can do, just please ask. It might be too difficult of an investigation to do for one person.”

Levi shook his head. “I think this is an investigation I’d rather do alone.” There were parts of the investigation he hadn’t admitted to the team yet. All they had gotten in the report from Erwin was that Zeke’s alarm didn’t ring with Hange there but the scandal of their alarms ringing together was something he didn’t want circulating around the building.

And more importantly, there was another plan he and Hange have been entertaining, an almost unscrupulous scheme and he didn’t want anyone else involved.

***

It felt like he had run a marathon and he had been doing that slow jog for at least three days already. Or maybe it felt like he was trudging through a dessert and had been trapped there for the past three days.

He couldn’t tell for sure but his throat was constantly dry, his heart was constantly beating fast and any notification from Hange was either a water break or an oasis.

Three days ago, Zeke came back from his business trip. Four days ago, Levi sent the apk file to Hange.

“It’s a test build,” Levi said as soon as she confirmed she received it. “A test build I hard coded just for Zeke’s use.”

“Meaning…”

“Just say it’s a test build. Say I’ve fixed the code.”

“Meaning…”

“I hardcoded his data and the expected result. If he opens the alarm around you, his phone will ring," Levi explained. "It’s just a quick fix for now.”

Just a quick fix. Levi told himself multiple times. He had changed the code drastically enough though that the love alarm wouldn’t work as an expected love alarm, having customized it just to fit Zeke’s desires. For just long enough to get the money and long enough to find the actual cause of the bug.

“And tell him we’re asking for feedback before we release it,” Levi had added then.

The last time he had met her was three days ago when he dropped her the file, explained its use and when she had promised to download the apk file to Zeke’s phone.

She sent intermittent updates over the four day period. He liked it. He was enjoying it. He had confidence in the application.

Levi had to ruefully note though that the conversation never strayed too much from work. As expected from colleagues, as expected from business partners working towards the same goal.

Maybe a few times he had asked some vague questions just to get a hint of her daily life.

How’s Zeke? How are you guys?

Still, the answers always went back to updates on the application. When he was trudging to the desert or while running through some dirt track in his mind, even when the water tasted too artificially like plastic---too professional for his taste---he settled for it.

That was the only water he had after all.

Hange limited herself to ten messages a day, mentioning something about being bad at replying, apologizing for late replies. Levi had to admit though when he was working, he was guilty of a similar thing. Yet he found himself just a little irritable, a little desolate at such an outcome.

A week after he had last seen Hange, he decided to start reading the books about love again.

Love is a choice. Overused.

To love others, one must love themselves. He got that already.

Levi dropped his reader by the side of his bed and stared at the blank ceiling above him. The books on love were biased. They created for themselves an assumption, an assumption that she was his and whatever he had to deal with was some inner turmoil inside him, an inability to love. But what if he was willing to love? What if it was just a matter of circumstances just not letting him indulge in such an emotion.

He had entertained that for just a second before brushing away the nagging thought and the annoyingly sticky guilt that clung to it. Maybe there was merit in just turning off his emotions then, just discarding the overall idea of love. He deleted the books Hange had sent him from his ebook reader.

If the company got the funds, if Hange got the greenlight on her research, he would see her again, he would be forced to read those books and they would be forced to work together.

Then and there, he didn’t need to think about it just yet. He didn’t have to put himself through the pain of analyzing circumstances and emotions that left a heavy weight and an ache in his chest.

He could forget Hange until then. He could ignore her messages and maybe focus on something else like an action movie or a video game. He had streaming service subscriptions, he had game emulators on his laptop. Soon he discovered, with the right combination of focus, willpower just getting through slow starts, it was easy to immerse himself in something as mundane as a city building game.

He was halfway through building one of his farms and was already attached to the regular city goers of the small city he created for himself when his phone rang. That abrupt and grating sound had been enough of a reminder, Levi still wasn’t completely over being sad. He quickly reached for the phone on the side of his bench in an ungraceful and seemingly desperate chain of motions that had him almost ashamed of himself.

His laptop had been one of the victims, toppling over to the side of the bed but by god’s grace it had only skimmed the edges before laying flat on its side.

Levi muttered a soft curse. This message better be worth it. And the only message he decided would be worth it, would be a message from Hange which didn’t involve that stupid application.

Leviiiiiii are you free? :))))))))))

Free when? Levi was quick to reply. Now? Tomorrow? Next week? Really, he was always free, it was just a matter of asking for a leave and opening his schedule. He didn’t want to seem so pathetic as to tell her that though

Long weekend this weekend so Zeke offered to take us south to one of our country clubs.

Us?

Erwin is coming too. Levi didn't’ know whether to feel relieved or disappointed at that exposition. Before he could reply though, the messages kept coming.

Think of it as a thank you for the app ;)

And a start to a great partnership ;)

Hange had too many smileys, too many winky faces but recently, she had started to pepper her messages with just a little too much. They were colleagues, very friendly colleagues. For a second, he wondered how many smileys Hange used when messaging Zeke.

Still, Levi saw some glimmer of hope and optimism in the fact that they were creating a special bond in their own way.

And who would he be to turn down a special invite from a special colleague. I’ll see you there then :) He added his own smiley in the end, trying to forget the fact that he had wasted a good few seconds vacillating between the winking smiley face and the normal one.

Hange’s reply came quickly and maybe a little more enthusiastically. Okay! We’ll pick you up Friday night at the office :D

Levi was grateful at least he had something to look forward to.

[mintchocohip]

sub!bts ﹢ the reason for chastity 🔐

❝ Chastity is best approached with a sense of purpose. Although the OT7 have their individual reasons for wanting the cage, they all do so with a deepening desire for your control.   

a/n ─ a little something i worked on to break writer’s block. with locktober as inspiration, i set out to write a few sentences about how the members would approach keyholder relationships. 1.5k words later, turns out thinking about the members in chastity is, indeed, very inspiring... 

note ─ sub!bts x domme!reader. see each member for any other kinks or notes!

 🔑 TAEHYUNG ﹢ adoration 

 other kinks - possessive behavior | note - poly mentioned

Without your constant gropes and nuzzles Taehyung is in danger of forgetting you’re obsessed with him. Although he understands you’ll stop if maintaining his interest in this play becomes boring for you, Taehyung also very sincerely hopes you view jealously withholding his body from a world that wants him as your job. When life pulls you in separate directions Taehyung feels connected to you through this private, secure symbol of ownership. You call constantly to hear that he’s being a good boy and ensure he’s comfortable in equal measure. Resting on your bed surrounded by cozy blankets looking vaguely shy to be captured from his thick collar down to his glittering cage and thigh harnesses while you photograph the artwork calms Taehyung with safe knowing. You’re proud this boy is yours. Every time he’s frustrated you won’t let him out of the cage so he can play with his friends Taehyung rereads the notes you scrawled on the backs of those polaroids, stashed inside an envelope in his sub journal—notes about how precious he is to you, how breathtaking his cock is, and how the world's finest treasures are always kept under lock and key.

 🔑 YOONGI ﹢ masochism

Yoongi’s tastes hide in plain sight. He finds satisfaction in intentional, controlled discomfort. Doing it to himself is easy. When he discovers you have the same interests he tries to cut his giddiness at finding a keyholder with a little diffidence. It’s similar to your elegant silk shibari knots under his work clothes, or simple pressure on the bruises you left along the insides of his thighs when he crosses his legs to sit and check his notifications while waiting for the butcher to call his number. Reminders of a body possessed willingly keep him grounded. Yoongi has caged himself in the past out of curiosity. He enjoyed forming new routines around the cage, remembering it slowly when he awoke at night confused by a strange heaviness, observing its effects on his libido, and generally experimenting with a transformative yet tame form of self-discovery. Your hand holding the key will change the experience completely. Before he can do this with you, Yoongi needs to hear you explain why you’re interested. The tension of physical strain and emotional warmth is what makes him itch for it. Beyond that, whatever rules you want to set, or games you want to play—Yoongi is here to follow your heed.

 🔑 JUNGKOOK ﹢ initiative

The moment the uncomfortable cage touches his sensitive skin Jungkook’s affectionate mannerisms shut down. Showering together finds Jungkook maneuvering around you awkwardly. Part of him is confused. His body serves you well. He’s internalized this confidence so deeply that even when you explain your intentions he secretly wonders if wearing the cage is a punishment. You always tell him he’s too tempting. Most days he can’t hug you without risking a hand on his cock two seconds later. The removal of his ability to provide all of himself to you feels like a subtle hint that he should give you some distance. Or, at the very least, he should cool down on the teasing touches and deep kisses until you want to fuck him again. “It isn’t about your body, baby,” you remind him patiently, “it’s about your loyalty. There’s no reason to stop showing me affection. Just because you won’t be getting off doesn’t mean I can’t.” The learning curve is a surprisingly steep slope. Satisfying you with his touch without worrying about getting hard as fast as you’d like and coming before you get bored is almost a relief. Jungkook begins to understand. By focusing on your body alone this dynamic is reinforced in a way he could never truly understand when he had his freedom.

 🔑 HOSEOK ﹢ humility

  other kinks - pegging, degradation 

Firm control corrects Hoseok’s scattered priorities when he forgets his true nature. Although you reassure him again and again he can slide it off comfortably with lotion and patience, Hoseok never tries. Not because he enjoys wearing the cage—but because he respects you, he’s a little bit scared of you, and honoring you is worth losing his autonomy. Initially, there’s no real purpose to the cage besides dominating Hoseok psychologically. You become so accustomed to seeing him with it on, though, that his bare cock begins to look underdressed. Slowly, bespoke cages in a glittery rainbow of colors fill out a sleek strongbox near the bed. Choosing what color he’ll wear today is fun for you. The flippancy hurts a little bit, but that sting is what pulls Hoseok in deeper. Neediness to have all this pent-up energy fucked out of his electrified skin fogs Hoseok’s mind and quiets him into obedience with the hopes that you’ll enjoy his plaintive kisses on your legs and give him what he needs. A condescending pat on the head when the strap pulls out of his ass brinks Hoseok into forgetting why he’s shaking yet unsatisfied and begging for more. Thankfully, you’re here to tell him. He’s a whore. Your whore. And, that’s all he really needs to remember. 

 🔑 JIMIN ﹢ passion

Jimin has always known chastity would be easy for him. He’s operating on intoxicatingly high levels of horniness every second of the day, anyways. He’s learned to cope valiantly. With his own pleasure defined loosely he readily offers one facet of it for the comforting notion he’ll be gifted a plethora of new intimacies. The cage will bring you closer. He knows it will. Scheduled check-ins keep you fed on each other’s attention. Randomly sending him a partial nude of yourself during the day with the promise you’ll give him one number of this week’s passcode for every photo he recreates to your liking has Jimin rushing to the nearest public bathroom, heart hammering with both desire for you and hope for good lighting to pose in. Tracking tasks on the daily habit app to earn evenings without the cage motivates Jimin to do the things he wants to do for you but sometimes lacks the energy for, like practicing the piano and providing you accompaniment when you sit with your cello. Caged sex is, however, never a loss. Jimin might prefer if you simply told him you love how creatively you please each other in bed without adding that you want to start incorporating anything from foot massage to prostate toys into his tasks. Nonetheless. This light in your eyes as you’re overtaken by whims of intrigue is too sexy for Jimin to resist.  

 🔑 NAMJOON ﹢ self-improvement

 other kinks - sub training, toys, voyeurism/exhibitionism, filming

Mediocre sex isn’t worth your time. Namjoon adores that you hold him to your standards. The intense single-minded drive that consumes him when you turn him on is redirected and channeled into other forms of pleasing you. Graduations from watching you use toys on yourself, to using toys on your body at your direction, to free play with the toys, to eventually repeat the process incorporating hands-on techniques fascinates Namjoon more than anything. In a scheme of education the cage is simply a reminder that you haven’t gotten to that part yet. Until then, Namjoon keeps the records of how many times he’s made you come this week and how he did it with fervor. Watching old videos of himself fucking you to take notes distracts from purpose; but, Namjoon can click his pen, shake his head, and refocus on a studious attitude. An extravagant rewards system combined with aftercare orgasms stop Namjoon from getting antsy. This venture is predicated on his ache to study your individuality, but you need to feel him savoring the process, too. When he is granted momentous opportunities to show you what he’s learned, mutual gratitude shines. 

 🔑 SEOKJIN ﹢ modesty

 other kinks - cuckolding, threesome

Seokjin asks about it often. If he’s too big, or too small—if you would like his cock better if it was thicker, or harder, or softer, more curved; a different shade of pink. “Stop with the inane questions,” you finally snap during attempts to assuage him for the hundredth time when it’s obvious you love it because you’re laying here blushing and cooing while you jerk it off, “or I’ll lock it up.” Seokjin shuts up; flustered. Coyness isn’t Seokjin’s usual style when talking about kinky things. Yet, chastity gives you an unusually sulky boyfriend. When you ask if this is what he’s wanted all along Seokjin won’t deny it. He’s also too embarrassed by how good it feels to say “yes”. There has always been an understanding in this relationship. You’re the only person he gives himself to like this. Fully. Wholly. Through that virtue of submission you’re falling in love with his body all over again. You kiss him deeper as if to imprint your love. You tease him harder, but pet him softer and let him cuddle him tighter. Seokjin has wistful daydreams about romantic vanilla missionary and hearing you moan in approval when the cage comes off; but, he also knows he can get confused. If you decide what’s best for him is listening to your fond laughter at how hard he’s dripping through the cage while you warm each other up for the guy who’ll be arriving in a few minutes—he trusts your judgment without question. 

[jikookiekosmos]

The Angel on Your Shoulder and the Devil in Your Corner || jjk (Part 2)

➥Pairing: angel!jungkook/reader, demon!jungkook/reader

➥Rating: nc17

➥Content Warnings: some cursing (fuck is said a few times), mentions of pain (nothing major)

➥Words: ~1k

A/N: there are some POV changes between the angel and demon twins; the POV switches will be indicated by their name being bolded. The angel twin usually goes by Jungkook/JK and the demon twin usually goes by Kook, so that’s how to tell the difference! (yes they have the same name, I’ll explain later lol)

Jungkook pocketed his phone then, and the feeling of uneasiness continued to bloom within him at a rate much fast than he appreciated. It was a feeling he’d never experienced, and to say it scared him would be an understatement.

Jungkook tilted his head back against the chair he was sitting in as he tried to calm himself down. He shut his eyes, hoping that maybe if he fell asleep the feeling would dissipate and be gone by the time he awoke.

That worked for all of maybe 8 seconds before his eyes snapped open. The feeling was suddenly much more intense and this time, he could actually sense it coming from a certain direction. To test his new suspicion (and to see if it was maybe all in his head) he stood up slowly and walked toward his window.

Unstable legs continued to carry him forward, and with each step the feeling kept growing. Jungkook clutched his stomach when he stood directly in front of the window, because now whatever was raging a battle inside of him had turned from uneasiness to something almost painful.

Unstable legs continued to carry him forward, and with each step the feeling kept growing. Jungkook clutched his stomach when he stood directly in front of the window, because now whatever was raging a battle inside of him had turned from uneasiness to something almost painful.

He took a deep breath, arm still wrapped around his midsection, as he pulled back the curtain. He figured maybe the view outside would help; at this rate he’d do anything to distract him from his current state.

His eyes travelled over the buildings across the street, landing on the sidewalks below as he observed all the people walking past. Most of them seemed to be in a rush, but one person in particular stood out more than the others.

This was because they were rushing toward a crosswalk and completely oblivious to the stoplight that had signaled them to wait. This would’ve been fine on it’s own...if there weren’t also cars coming now and bound to cross that part of the street any second.

Jungkook eyes were trained on the person and he couldn’t look away. He was waiting for them to pay attention to the light and stop.

But they didn’t stop. They kept going at such a fast pace that it made Jungkook suddenly realize that if he let this continue, that person would be in danger. And the thought of that alone made the sensation inside of him increase tenfold.

So he did the only thing he could think to do in that moment: he teleported. And he hoped with everything he had that he could save them before it was too late.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Kook huffed as he continued scrolling through his phone, bouncing between various apps to try and quell his boredom. He knew by now that this never worked, and especially not now since the thought of his twin kept gnawing at him.

He wondered what Jungkook had meant by ‘feeling ill’ and also if he should be concerned. He may be a demon, but it didn’t make him heartless.

Kook only lived a few blocks away, so he figured what better way to check in on Jungkook than to visit him in person. He shrugged into a leather jacket and swept his blonde hair from his face as he hunted down his keys. Sure, he could instantly transport himself anywhere he wanted, but he was long overdue for a peaceful walk through the city.

It dawned on Kook then that he wasn’t even sure if Jungkook was at home, but it didn’t really matter since he could find him anyway. Twin telepathy shit, or something. He ventured out into the wilderness, as he liked to call it, ready to tackle the day.

He made it maybe halfway there before he felt a small pinch of pain flutter through his stomach. His hand immediately dropped down to clutch at it through his jacket.

“The fuck?” He looked down, expecting to see something holding onto him or sticking to him, but he didn’t see anything. A few more experimental steps forward brought on another twinge of pain, this time more harsh than the one before.

“Seriously, what is happening,” Kook breathed out. He had a tendency to talk to himself sometimes, especially if he was confused about something. And that was definitely the case now.

He risked going further one last time, only to be met with a series of pangs that wracked his torso. And that was the last bit of convincing that he needed to stop going in that direction.

He jogged all the way back to his apartment, having forgotten about his entire reason for leaving in the first place. He expected that maybe if he went the opposite way, the pain would ease up or - preferably - evaporate completely.

But the pain stayed. The whole way home, when he entered his apartment, and even when he flopped down onto his bed with his arms outstretched, the pain was still taking up residence inside his body.

He took deep breaths, thinking that maybe he was just paranoid after his talk with his brother earlier. He’d been known to be paranoid a time or two in his life, so it certainly wouldn’t surprise him.

Nevertheless, he couldn’t shake the feeling that this was something important. Not many things can terrify a demon, but Kook would have to say that this came close.

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

Part 2: Paranoia

You never anticipated on having anything other than a friendly relationship with beings of the supernatural type...until one day an angel saves your life, and then a demon shows up on your doorstep. And when twin entities start vying for your affection, you’re not quite sure how to handle it. One thing is for certain, though: there’s never a dull moment in your life anymore.

A/N (again): finally starting to set the stage for what’s to come! I know there’s some questionable stuff happening but I promise it’ll be answered and explained in later parts ☺️ this format of social media/written parts is how most of the story will proceed, primarily switching POVs between the MC and the twins.

Currently there isn’t any kind of update schedule but I’d like to do weekly updates if possible; I do work full time and attend grad school so finding time to write can be a little hard but I’m really excited to work on this! Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy it; and if you’d like to be added to the taglist, please let me know~

taglist: @dntaewithluv @inlovewiththemoonn @girlontheblock

⊱──────── ✬ ✬ ✬ ────────⊰

➥Part 3 - Guardian Angel

➥Series Masterlist

➥All Works Masterlist

[idkthisisjustforfanfic]

U N P L A N N E D, part 1

There was one other time when you found yourself like this. Just once. 

In a bathroom stall in your college dorm room, your roommate on the other side with bated breath. What’s it say? She had asked, her voice echoing off the beige tiles that spilled into the messy living room, littered with solo cups and stale tortilla chips.

This time you were alone. No roommate on the other side of the door, no beige tile. Instead, a clean, white bathroom nestled on the third floor of the Los Angeles Facebook office. 

The white plastic stick in your hand, this time, showed a tiny plus sign. A light pink symbol of what was usually happiness. But alone in the bathroom at work didn’t feel like a happy place. 

You stared down at it, wondering if the tears in your eyes were responsible for the blurring of the result. You shook it, wiped at your eyes, and checked again. Still positive. 

So you capped it and tossed it into the top drawer of your desk a few minutes later, more than happy to pretend that it wasn’t a looming disaster. A life-changing, career-altering disaster. 

When it burned a hole in your drawer, begging you to open it and pray that the plus sign had changed, you decided to text Lexi. 

Y/N L/N (3:34pm): Broke down and took a test. 

You put your phone face down, hoping that an impending text from your roommate wouldn’t create a higher heart rate than what was already pounding in your ears. You tried to take a few breaths. 

This wasn’t the plan. This wasn’t the way you pictured life and it certainly wasn’t the way you pictured your summer. When the phone buzzed next to your mouse, you grabbed it so quickly you almost dropped it to the floor. 

Lexi MacMillan (3:35pm): And??

Y/N L/N (3:35pm): Positive.

You stared at the screen, watched as the three dots appeared, disappeared, appeared again, and then vanished. You imagined Lexi sitting on set, maybe in her dressing room or maybe right beside her co-star, typing and erasing, typing and erasing. 

You ignored the email that came through on your computer, likely a request from a team member to edit one of your last images, this marketing campaign is due at 5pm! This marketing campaign was also the furthest thing from your mind right now. 

Your phone started buzzing in your hand, a picture of Lexi with big white sunglasses splashed itself across the screen. You answered it quickly, holding a hand up to your mouth to keep your voice low and your words private.

“Hi,” you said, heading back for the bathroom that was around the corner from your office. 

“What the actual fuck, dude? Are you serious?”

“Yes--why would I lie about that? Do you think I’m that twisted?!”

She let out a noise of exasperation. “No, I just--I don’t know--I thought you were being paranoid or some shit! I didn’t think it was actually possible!”

“Me neither,” you said, shutting the door behind you and leaning against the cool metal. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Hey, it’s okay, it’s alright. People get false positives all the time, right?”

Her voice was suddenly more relaxed than it had been, like she realized how serious this was and how fucked you were. 

“I think people get false negatives,” you replied, defeated.

“Okay, well, you can take another test tonight.”

“Okay.”

“And then if it’s still positive, you have to go to the doctor. That’s the first thing.”

“Right.”

“They’ll do another test there,” she informed you. 

“Uh huh.”

You thought back to your most recent sexual encounter, half drunk and giggly, white linens and sneaking out when he was asleep on top a memory foam pillow. Lexi already made it home, she was high on the couch with a bag of pretzels when you sauntered in at 4am. You made pizza bagels and laughed until sunrise about the fact that you hadn’t gotten laid in what felt like ages. 

I don’t know how you made it that long, she said. You must have an extremely low sex drive. 

Or you just have a high one, you laughed. You’re always horny. 

You didn’t think about it again for weeks. Okay, that was a lie. The drinks were good and the sex had been even better. Lexi had dragged you along to the party even though you knew all the players. You had deadlines for days coming up and a Sunday night didn’t seem like a good time to end up drunk somewhere near Laurel Canyon. But you went anyway.

The first time you realized something might be off was when you were a day late. It never happened. You lived your life on schedule and your period followed the rules--it was no exception. It typically came in the morning, and by bedtime, you were only a bit concerned. You went to sleep with confidence that you’d wake up to it. 

The second day came and went, too. Lexi put on her OBGYN hat and assured you that it was nothing to worry about. Women are late all the time, uteruses have a mind of their own, really. 

Days three and four were busy at work. Five and six were spent finalizing ideas for a new commercial campaign for a product launch, dinner with Lexi and Glenne. It wasn’t until the seventh day, when the light purple app on your phone gave a gentle nudge. Be sure to log your period! 

There was no way you’d miss it altogether. You’d been careful and you watched him toss the condom into a garbage bin in the bathroom through tired eyes. He fell asleep beside you while he traced a circle on your skin--you were sure you’d never hear from him. 

So you slipped out in the early morning light and took an Uber home, knowing that while it might not mean anything, it was at least a story to tell your close friends and to keep tucked away in your mind. 

“Okay--I have to go,” Lexi said suddenly. “Derek’s being a dumbass today and can’t get his fucking lines right, so, I’ll see you tonight.”

“Okay,” you said, voice small, blurry-eyed again. You let yourself slump down to the floor, at least thankful that this time, the tile wasn’t beige. 

You did your best to make it through the rest of the day, playing Lexi’s words over and over in your head. People get false positives all the time! You weren’t so sure, but telling yourself that seemed to quell the nausea. 

Traffic was heavy on the way home, sunglasses pushed up on your face and radio high enough to drown out your thoughts. You parked your car on the same leaf-littered street in Century City, walked the block to your apartment, and dropped your bag on the floor before heading for the bathroom. 

Lexi keyed in right after you sat down, water on to induce the stream of urine that you had prayed for the whole way home. 

“Hi,” she said, pushing her sunglasses off of her face and dropping her keys on the kitchen counter. She let out a small laugh at the sight of you: pants around your ankles, hair up in a scrunchie, pink plastic cap in your mouth as you held the second stick between your legs. 

The afternoon sunshine danced through the window, a breeze from the open sliding door felt like sweet relief in your stuffy first floor apartment.

“Hi,” you breathed out, flushing and pulling up your pants before capping the test and putting it on the counter. 

She took a few steps towards you, her eyes wider than usual. “How long does it take to show up?” 

“I don’t know--a minute or two, maybe? The first one was quick.”

She came over and stood beside you, her eyes on the tiny window where the result would appear. She crossed her arms and leaned over, letting her shoulder bump into yours. 

There was one line forming, like fog fading in the early morning, the other came into view as the two of you stood side by side. You let out a shaky breath--tears in your eyes again when she turned to see you. 

“It’s okay,” she said. “It’s not the end of the world.”

You didn’t say anything in response, but a few sobs escaped through your lips when she wrapped her arms around you. She smoothed your hair with her hand and eventually brought you back to the kitchen, pulling two beers out of the fridge and setting them on the counter as she rummaged through a drawer for a bottle opener.

“I can’t have that!” You said, pointing at it like it was poison, mascara smudged beneath your eyes.

“Oh fuck,” she said, a small laugh from her mouth pulled one from yours, too. “Damn--sorry, it just--felt like a good option.”

“It would be,” you said. “Typically.”

She was quiet for a second. “Is it his?”

You shrugged, staring at the shade of dark red polish on your nails. “Has to be, right?”

“You haven’t had sex with anyone else?” 

She asked as if she didn’t know. You shook your head. 

She sighed. “That, uh, that makes it a bigger deal.”

“I know--I don’t even--what am I supposed to do? Call him up and tell him? I don’t even have his number.”

“Maybe we should call Glenne.”

“No!” You said quickly, shaking your head with force. “Don’t bring her into it yet. She’ll just tell Jeff and I need to figure shit out first.”

Lexi bit her lip, torn between the two options. She’d known Glenne since they were kids, they grew up down the street from each other in Sherman Oaks and when they got drunk enough, they tried to remember the super secret handshake they’d made up in the 8th grade. 

You’d met Glenne plenty of times in college, especially after Lexi became a more permanent fixture in your life. You’d met Lexi at resident assistant training the fall of your sophomore year, but you still had no clue how adults trusted her to be in charge of eighteen students each semester. 

The party was at Glenne’s house--the one she shared with her boyfriend Jeff. You’d met him a handful of times, too, but you typically opted out of the dinner parties or cocktail hours that Lexi invited you to. 

It wasn’t that you didn’t like her friends. They’d always been nice and welcoming, but being the one person not involved in the entertainment industry normally left you feeling like the odd man out. 

What's the latest at Facebook? They’d ask, gathered around a table with wine glasses in hand. 

You’d give them the update, tell them about whatever marketing campaign you’d been working on or whatever new feature you’d helped with, but the conversation always made it’s way back to music or acting or something in between. 

Glenne worked for Apple Music in artist relations, her boyfriend for a prominent artist management firm. Lexi MacMillan, a self-proclaimed B-list actress in a new Netflix series, fit right into their world of Teslas and hedge fund investments. 

She never liked to admit that she came from money, and she was more than humble about the uneven split in your rent or the fact that she often paid for groceries. Your salary at Facebook was good--more than a lot of your other friends who had graphic design and marketing degrees, but it was small in comparison to the type of money the rest of them were pulling in. 

“Well she’s gonna be the easiest way to get in touch with him.”

“I know,” you waved a hand and took a seat at the island. “Just, not yet. I mean, don’t you think I’ll need proof? I can’t just show up on his doorstep and say: ‘hey, remember me? I’m your manager’s girlfriend’s friend’s friend and we had sex one time at your house in late April and now I’m pregnant?’”

She stifled a laugh, nodding as if it was a good idea, her tone completely serious. “I mean personally I would love to see you do that.”

“Well, I’m not,” you said firmly. “There must be rules for this type of shit. I don’t know the etiquette.”

“You mean the baby mamma etiquette?”

You shot her a look, narrowed eyes before you let your forehead rest on the counter, a groan from your lips. “My life is over, Lexi--this is seriously the worse thing that can happen.”

She brought the beer bottle up to her lips to take a swig. “Which is why we should call Glenne.”

“I have to go to the doctor first, okay? That way we don’t stir up any shit without really knowing if they’re right or not.” You motioned over your shoulder to the test you’d left behind on the bathroom counter. The other, from earlier, was still in the side pocket of your work bag. 

Lexi nodded, brown eyes with a new shade of sympathy. 

**

A woman bounced her baby on her knee, big blue eyes looked up at the two of you, nervous and caving inward in the waiting room chairs. 

“Do they all stare like that?” Lexi leaned over and whispered, her gaze fixed on the tiny human beside you. 

“I don’t know,” you said quickly, hoping she wouldn’t make any other remarks. She didn’t--quickly distracted by the nurse who called your name and greeted you both with a smile.

“Y/N?” 

You stood, walked forward and ignored the nervousness in your stomach. Lexi was following behind, she’d been positive and upbeat in the car as if heading over to the gynecologist for what you’d both been referring to as a legit test was a typical Wednesday morning errand. 

“Are you her partner?” The nurse smiled over at her when she pointed at a chair in the hallway for you to sit in. She wrapped the blood pressure cuff around your arm when Lexi pulled her head back. 

“No, just her roommate.”

“Just my roommate,” you nodded, repeating her words as if that’d ease the tension in your muscles. 

The nurse smiled, scribbled a few numbers on a post-it and before handing you a small, plastic cup. You disappeared into the bathroom and realized you’d never thought so much about pee in your entire life. When you were done, you walked back to the small room that the same nurse pointed you towards to find Lexi in the small visitor’s chair beside the paper-lined exam table.

She looked up quickly, a life-like plastic uterus was in her hands. “I maybe broke it.”

“Put it down,” you ordered, rolling your eyes at her childlike curiosity. “Let’s just get in and get out, okay?”

“Knock knock!” A voice from the doorway, Laura Weston, red hair and blue eyes. Her white coat covered a pink blouse, one that matched the color of blush on her cheeks. “Good to see you, Y/N--who’s this?”

Lexi extended her hand and smiled. “Lexi MacMillan, roommate and moral support, nice to meet you.”

“So I hear there’s a possibility of pregnancy?” Dr. Weston sat down on a rolling stool, picked up the chart on the counter and flipped through some pages. She closed it, waited a second, and offered a smile when you didn’t answer. “How are you doing?”

You nodded, licked at your lips, and then met her gaze. “Been better.”

You’d been seeing Dr. Weston for a while--you found her card in the health services building on campus during your Freshman year. Now, a whole seven years later, her smile was a calming presence in a moment of fear and uncertainty. 

“Well, note says you’ve taken two tests, and they were both positive?”

You nodded again. “Just a drugstore brand, though. I don’t know how accurate they are.”

She tilted her head side to side, lifted her shoulders a bit when she rolled towards the counter. “They’re good enough--we’re running the urine sample now and that’ll give a good idea, too. Would you like to do a blood test to be sure?”

“Yeah,” you said. “Let’s do that.”

“Okay,” she nodded, “I’ll have Justine order that for the lab downstairs.” She produced a paper wheel diagram, the colors of the rainbow seemed to distinguish different parts of a typical menstrual cycle. “When was your last period?”

Lexi handed over your phone. “April, the middle of the month. I was due eight days ago.” You pulled up the app that now seemed like less of a friend and more of a source of shame. You were proud of how well you knew your cycle. You could typically tell when you were ovulating, knew enough about your PMS symptoms to know what to expect. 

“And do you know when the possible date of conception was?”

“April 18th,” a tinge of red on your cheeks. “That’s the only possibility.”

So sure, maybe you weren’t the most sexually active human on the planet. Maybe you were slightly embarrassed that the first time you had sex in a good eleven months resulted in a possible pregnancy. 

She scribbled something on a piece of paper, just like the nurse had. A knock on the door that Dr. Weston had shut behind her. The same nurse delivered another post-it note. Pink this time, not blue like before. Dr. Weston took it in her hands and then looked up at you, an unreadable look on her face when the nurse quietly left the room.

“That urine sample read positive, too.”

You didn’t mean to do it again, but another shaky breath left your mouth and Lexi was on her feet, a hand rubbing your back in an attempt to comfort. You wiped at your face, feeling guilty for the outburst of emotion. 

Plenty of people wished and hoped and prayed for this moment. They dreamed about it and tried for years to have this moment. And you’d been stupid enough to stumble your way into it. Ahead of schedule, unprepared, and unplanned. 

“I’ll order the bloodwork and you can do that on your way out--just to be sure. But take some time and when that result comes back we can talk about some options.”

You nodded--her words were a jumble of sounds that you couldn’t really comprehend. She offered a smile and left the two of you alone, Lexi still standing beside you.

“Let’s go do the bloodwork, okay? We can get ice cream when we’re finished!” 

You nodded, wiping your cheeks again before hopping down from the table. You knew she’d keep her word. 

**

The sunny California sky and a cone of soft-serve from McDonald’s made the afternoon somewhat better. You worked from home and went to bed exhausted, almost feeling detached from reality. 

You talked with Lexi that night about having Glenne over for dinner. It’d been a few weeks since you’d seen her, drinks after work one night to celebrate Lexi’s show getting signed for a second season. So when she knocked on the door of your apartment the next evening, Lexi opened it with a big smile. 

“Hi, hi,” she said, opening her arms in greeting. “Look at your beautiful face,” she pinched Glenne’s cheek between her thumb and forefinger. 

Glenne laughed and pushed her hand away, leaning around Lexi’s shoulder to see you in the kitchen. “She’s high already?”

“No,” you laughed, “she just loves you.”

Glenne made her way past her friend, offering you a hug before she set her purse on the counter. She’d always been so poised--perfect, clear skin, hair that was always flawlessly colored and cut. She took a seat on one of the stools and put her chin in her hands, “please tell me you have margarita mix.”

Lexi laughed, rounding the kitchen counter and heading for the fridge. “Oh, do we!”

“Tacos are on the way,” you said, reaching for glasses from above the sink. 

Mexican was always the go-to. You’d moved in with Lexi after college, and when Glenne ended up living only a short drive away, take-out became a regular reason for a get together. 

“How’s life?” Glenne stared up at you. “I’ve been so busy which is why I had to cancel on that movie last week. But--what have you been up to?”

Her question was pointed at you. While you and Glenne were definitely friends, you trusted that she communicated with Lexi a lot more regularly about life updates. 

You cleared your throat, ignored the awkward glance that Lexi shot in your direction when she reached for the tequila above the fridge. “Same old, you know. Just work, and stuff.”

Okay, so lying wasn’t a strong suit. You forced a smile and turned to Lexi, hoping she’d jump in with a hilarious story or funny remark. She was too busy lining up the cups, ready to distribute the liquor. 

You looked back to Glenne. “Uh, I wanted to talk to you actually.”

That got Lexi to turn around. Her eyes were wide, lips parted as if she was thinking oh, you’re doing it right now? 

“Remember in April, at that party--” You trailed off, referencing it as if it was ages ago. 

“The album wrap?”

“Yeah, when I, you know, got laid for the first time in a while?”

She laughed, looking up at you with an amused smile. “Yeah?”

Glenne had been the most excited about your rendezvous that evening. When she’d first introduced you the two of you, she made your promise you wouldn’t get all weird around him. Apparently people did that. You laughed it off and tried to ignore him at the other end of the dinner table--an Italian restaurant in Studio City for her birthday last fall. He showed up twenty minutes late.

Lexi was still now, tequila on the counter, she wore nothing but a pair of shorts and a tube top in the afternoon heat. Glenne was impatient, the smile fading from her face when you broke eye contact with her for a second. 

She tilted her head to the side. “What? You’re freaking me out.”

“I’m, uh, I’m actually pregnant.”

Quiet. Outside the windows, the setting sun illuminated a hazy Los Angeles dusk. Kids swam in a pool at the house next door, their laughter was muffled through the sliding door out to your patio. It felt strange to say it like that. Up until this morning, the word possibly had been sprinkled in, a safe and reassuring disclaimer. 

“You’re joking,” she said, readjusting in her seat, the color drained from her tan skin.

You swallowed. “I’m not.”

She looked over to Lexi, then brought her gaze back to you. “And you’re saying it’s his?”

You rolled your eyes a little. “He’s literally the only person I’ve had sex with in the last year.” Lexi came over to the counter to stand beside you. She leaned forward and rested her elbows on the smooth granite. Glenne just stared at you, still in disbelief.

“I took two home tests on Tuesday and went to the doctor yesterday.” 

What you didn’t tell her is that you cried this morning when the email came through, new test results available from Dr. Weston’s office! Positive. Both the urine and the blood test. There was no denying it now--even if you wanted to. 

“Holy fuck,” she said. “Holy fucking shit. This is not good, you guys.”

“Don’t, Glenne,” Lexi stood back up and shook her head, making a face at her friend. “She’s already freaked the fuck out and she won’t stop fucking crying, okay? She doesn’t need you to add to that.”

You tried to swallow the emotion now, heat to your cheeks when Glenne rolled her eyes.

“I’m not trying to add to it--I’m just--I have no clue how they’ll take that.”

You knew who she was referring to. His team. The people around him who’d made sure, for all this time, that something like this never happened. 

She let out a sigh and looked up at you again. She stood from her seat and rounded the counter. “I’m sorry--I just--are you okay? How are you feeling?” She hugged you, it felt more obligatory than genuine. “You haven’t told him, have you? Does he know?! Jeff doesn’t know!”

“No--you two are the only people who know. I haven’t even told my mom.”

Glenne’s arms still encircled you, Lexi stepped over and hugged you both, a kitchen group hug. “This means more tequila for us, Glenney.”

“You’re fucked up,” she laughed in response, pulling away and looking at Lexi. 

It was quiet for a second, that was Lexi’s cue to make them both a margarita. Glenne went to sit back down, immediately going into business mode when she clasped her hands on top of the counter.

She took a deep breath, you were unsure if that was for your benefit or her own. “So--okay. Where are you at with it all?”

“Are you asking if I’m, like, excited? I am not excited. This is not how my life is supposed to go.”

“Oh enough with the plan, will you?” Lexi rolled her eyes and poured the liquor into two matching glasses, nonchalance lacing her voice. 

“Well forgive me for ideally wanting to find a partner before having a baby,” you shot back at her. 

“That’s not what I mean,” she turned around. “It’s just--I dunno, dude, you’re always so hard on yourself if something doesn’t go according to the plan. I get it--this is a big one, but, stressing over your plan isn’t gonna help.”

Glenne nodded, almost reluctant to side with Lexi. “I’ve heard about the plan. You are obsessed with the plan.”

“I’m not obsessed with it,” you retorted. “I just have a good sense of how I want my life to go.”

Had. You changed the verb tense in your mind. You had a good sense, until now. 

“Well, are you...gonna keep it?” Glenne’s question was innocent, her eyes searched your face as soon as the words left her mouth, she looked nervous, like she didn’t know if it was okay to ask.

A tired voice. “I don’t know,” you shook your head. “I haven’t even thought that far.”

She nodded. “You have to tell him. Have you even talked to him at all since then?”

“No,” you laughed. “It was only, like, a month ago.”

“He didn’t text or call?” she pulled her head back in surprise.

You shrugged. “No. I wasn’t expecting that. Why? Did he mention me?”

“It came up once or twice, yeah.”

“With who?”

“With me and Jeff--and Lexi.”

You turned to your roommate, narrowed eyes when she delivered the drinks. You knew she’d seem him once since then--a brunch one morning before Glenne left town for business. 

“I told you about it--he just said you were nice and that we should all hang out,” she mimicked his accent, earning a laugh from Glenne.

“That wasn’t the first time you met him, though, right?” Glenne pulled the glass to her lips, took a sip and then made a face. “Jesus, strong enough?”

“I figured you might need it since your boyfriend is about to be hella upset.”

“Thank you, thanks for that,” you made a face at her. “But no--” you turned back to Glenne to answer her question. “I met him at your birthday party last year--in Studio City.”

“Right,” she nodded. The doorbell rang and Lexi went to greet the delivery person, or, more so, the tacos. 

“But listen, you can’t tell anyone, okay? I don’t even know what I’m gonna do yet.”

She closed her eyes, made a face that told you it was going to be hard to keep her mouth shut. You leaned forward and lowered your voice, hoping to convey how serious this was. “Give me a few days to just--to talk to him first.”

She dropped your gaze, bit at her lip. You knew it was a big ask. Don’t tell your boyfriend something that is about to make his life a living hell. 

“Please, Glenne.”

She let out a long sigh, one that sounded like it was slowly deflating her lungs, tired and unsure. “Fine,” she said. “But you’ve got to get in touch with him then--like, soon.”

You nodded, Lexi reappeared from the front door with a box in her hands and a smile on her face. “Okay--two for each of us and plenty of guac to go around.”

“So,” Glenne pursed her lips. “Need his phone number?”

**

It felt like one of those dreams you couldn’t wake up from. Like a cloud that looms over the city when everyone is dying for a sunny day. 

You ignored the two phone calls from your mom you got in the span of three days--quick to text her some excuse about work or being busy with something at home. It felt too soon to tell her. You didn’t even know what he’d say or what he’d think or do or feel and the last thing you wanted to do was get a bunch of people involved in this before you even knew what to expect. 

There were a few options, in terms of what his response might be. Glenne had continued to prep you that night in your kitchen, the more margaritas in her the more she accepted that she was now complicit. In moments it felt normal, laughing and talking and then watching a stupid youtube video of some kid falling off of skateboard. 

But when you went to bed and then woke up, realizing that no amount of sleep would change the current predicament, you decided that maybe it was time to get in touch with him. 

You had no clue when or how or where. Over text? On the phone? Lexi agreed that was too impersonal. Out to dinner? Too public. In person? Terrifying, and possibly not an option. 

The truth was that you didn’t know him. He was someone who happened to be friends with your friend. Nothing more, nothing less. At least, that’s what you told yourself when you saw a billboard on the side of the 405 with his face on it. 

So you didn’t know if he’d even want to see you--he might consider you an acquaintance or even a stranger and maybe he had no desire to ever speak to you again.

You went about work and life as if everything was normal. You showered and brushed your teeth and took solace in knowing that whatever form of life was inside you was so tiny that it could just as well be a blip on the radar. 

A story in the future of hey, remember that time, when you were, and then it...

Plenty of people got pregnant and lost it, not even knowing until it was too late. You weren’t sure if you were wishing for that, in all honesty, but you knew that the alternative felt too overwhelming to think of right now. 

But when you found yourself sitting outside in the courtyard on your lunch break, a search typed into the app store for pregnancy tracker, you figured that maybe it was time to bite the bullet. If you were starting to think in terms of what size fruit a baby is at any given stage, maybe it was time to loop him in. 

You pulled up your text thread with Glenne--scrolled up past a meme and a recipe she’d sent you, until you found his name and number. You clicked it once, create new message. 

You stared at the blank bubble. A thousand words and a thousand choices of what to say and how to say it. With a rush of adrenaline, you exited out. Clicked the number again, call now. 

It rang. Three times. Then voicemail. A deep breath, you stood from the bench and started to pace. 

Beep. “Hey, uh, this is Y/N--uh, Y/N L/N. Lexi MacMillan’s roommate. I hope you’ve been well since I saw you, and, yeah--maybe we could get dinner or something soon. My number is--the one I’m calling on, so, I know you’re probably really busy right now, that’s fine. Just, uh, yeah, would love to talk with you. Okay, bye.”

You pulled the phone away from your face and wanted to throw it into the bushes. Would love to talk with you? That didn’t exactly do it justice. 

You let out a breath and clicked it to sleep, hoping that maybe it’d get lost in translation and you’d never have to talk to him or see him or think of him ever again. 

Something told you that wasn’t very likely. 

You went back inside and finished up the day of work, thankful for distraction from Aarav when he found you in the lounge. 

“Did you see the request that Carson sent?” He dropped his laptop on the coffee table and headed for the vending machine nearby. “Not to sound like a dick, but, he’s out of touch with reality. I’m concerned about him at this point.”

“Why?” You laughed, “cause he doesn’t understand that we can’t deliver a whole project with only two hours to do it?”

“Exactly,” he leaned down to reach for the bag of popcorn it spit out. “Hopefully he just fucking leaves and goes to fucking Tinder--he could even go to the Instagram department, for all I care.”

“Levi hates him anyway--pretty sure he regrets hiring him.”

He came to sit next to you and then opened the bag, putting his feet up on the glass table in front of you. “Yeah, well, Levi’s out of here as soon as he gets something with Apple.”

You smirked over at your favorite coworker, knowing exactly what was coming out of his mouth next. 

“And then you’ll get promoted. Much deserved, the queen of saving my ass.”

You brushed your hair off your shoulder playfully. “You’re welcome.”

He cleared his throat, opened up his laptop. “Levi’s great--but if you’re my boss, I’m working remotely two days a week instead of one.”

“We’ll see about that,” you said, giving him the side eye when you looked back to your screen.

You fell into comfortable silence--grateful for the change of scenery from your office that was far enough away from Aarav and Simone, the two people who made work feel like fun. So you got back to the project, sent your designs to Carson when you finished, and prayed that he wouldn’t have a fit over the fact that you didn’t take his advice on using the Aileron font instead of Arimo.

He emailed you, eventually, but you didn’t have time to read it. As soon as it opened on your screen, your phone rang--a Los Angeles area code appeared on the screen and you felt your stomach drop to the floor. You looked over at Aarav. “Sorry--I, uh, I have to get this.”

You stepped away, leaving him on the sofa with your laptop, hand still deep in his bag of popcorn. You swiped across the screen, brought the phone to your ear. “Hello?”

“Hi, uh, Y/N? It’s Harry.”

__

table of contents | talk to me + join the tag list

author’s note: Y’ALL. I’m back. As if starting a new story literally DAYS after I finish one isn’t crazy, here I am. Come talk to me and let me know your thoughts or your theories because THIS ONE is gonna be a wild ride. 

tag list: @stepping-into-the-light @thurhomish @afterstylesmadeit @iconicharry @stylesfics-xx @harryspirate @mellamolayla @harryinsweatersandbandanas @stylesfantasy @clorenafila

[limjaeseven]

Fill My Heart With Liquor

Pairing: Jaebeom X Jinyoung

Genre: Fluff

Word Count: 2,079

Warning(s): Alcohol consumption, drunk JB, sad JB, JJP being cuties

Summary: Jinyoung finds out the day before that he's going to be busy filming on Jaebeom's birthday.

[a/n]:  Written based off of this tweet which came to my notice thanks to the wonderful fitbbeoming. They are an incredible artist, please check out their work, they deserve all the love. A huge thank you to @taetaesbaebaepsae​​​ for beta reading this fic.

“Hyung,” Jinyoung calls out to his boyfriend who’s lying on their bed, his nose buried in a book as usual.

Jaebeom dropped the book to his chest, peering over to look at the younger who was sitting on the floor with his script in his lap and phone in his hand, a tensed smile on his face. The elder had known Jinyoung long enough to tell from just the tone of his voice and the look in his eyes that something was wrong.

Pushing himself off the bed, Jaebeom dropped onto the floor next to his boyfriend, groaning as a shock of pain ran up his spine, his back sore from his days of slouching in his chair in his studio.

“What is it, Nyoungie?” Jinyoung ignored him, his hands instinctively shooting to the elder’s back to massage the muscles and release all the knots, worry written on his face. “How many times do I have to tell you to stretch once in a while when you’re in the studio for so long?” Jaebeom waved the man off, turning to face him, his palms resting on the younger’s shoulders.

“Speak.”

Jinyoung’s face flashed with a nervous expression as he let out a heavy sigh.

“I have a shoot tomorrow, I will be leaving early in the morning and won’t be back before midnight. Yoo Jitae hyung isn’t free next week so we’ll have to finish filming the next two episodes before the weekend.” Jinyoung’s guilty expression made Jaebeom’s heartbreak more than the repercussions of what the man was saying. It was Jaebeom’s birthday the following day and not once in the ten years that the two men had known each other had they spent it apart, come what may they did their best to spare at least a few hours to themselves.

“It’s fine, Jinyoung, just get me a good bottle of wine on your way back.” Despite Jaebeom’s attempts to console the younger, it didn’t stop him from feeling bad about leaving his boyfriend alone for his birthday.

“Hyung,” Jinyoung whined but Jaebeom just shut him up with a peck to his lips before getting up to cook dinner for the two of them.

“At least let me cook for you tonight.” Jaebeom had been busy cutting vegetables when Jinyoung showed up from behind to wrap his arms around the elder’s this waist, resting his chin on the elder’s strong, wide shoulders. Jinyoung always found comfort in the way Jaebeom was so much bigger than him, his broad shoulders protecting him from the rest of the world when wrapped in his embrace.

“And what, let you burn the kitchen down? Just set the table, you’ll need to sleep soon anyways if you want to get up early tomorrow.” Jinyoung pouted cutely at the elder, which was rewarded with another kiss and a soft push, urging him to pull out the plates from the cabinet.

“Hyung, can’t we wait till midnight at least, that way I’d be able to wish you a happy birthday?” Jaebeom just laughed, dragging the younger to bed once they were done washing the dishes after dinner.

“You know if you don’t get at least six hours of sleep you’ll be cranky in the morning.” Jinyoung’s pout vanished as Jaebeom took his hoodie off to change into a sleep shirt, his eyes zoning in on the man’s toned chest. “Stop drooling,” A wad of cloth came flying straight into Jinyoung’s face, causing the younger to fall back onto the bed. As he pulled it away he realised Jaebeom had thrown the hoodie he was wearing at him and had already changed into his pyjamas, much to Jinyoung’s dismay.

“I’m sorry, hyung,” Jinyoung whispered as he fell asleep in Jaebeom’s warm embrace that night, his heart heavy as he cuddled closer to the elder. Jaebeom just ran his hand through the younger’s hair, wishing him goodnight before turning the bedside lamp off, plunging the room into darkness.

Jinyoung desperately wanted to call Jaebeom up to wish him, or at least make him breakfast before he left but Jinyoung slept through his alarm and woke up with five minutes to spare before his manager would arrive with the car. Running to get changed, the younger blindly grabbed his things, combing through his hair just to make it look presentable and throwing on a random sweater with a pair of jeans. He sprinted out of their apartment just as his manager arrived, Jinyoung climbing into the back seat, being driven off to the location of the shooting.

When Jaebeom woke up to a cold bed, he couldn’t help but groan at the thought of a birthday without Jinyoung. He grabbed his phone from the nightstand and scrolled through the endless list of wishes from his friends, family and fellow idols. Youngjae called him to talk to him for a while, Jinyoung had let the younger know of the circumstances the night before and asked him to distract the elder so that he wouldn’t spend too much time in his own head.

Eventually though the younger got called away for a schedule and the elder was left alone to his own devices, which meant that he stayed in bed till noon and threw together a simple meal for brunch. He considered heading to the studio to spend some time but recalled how he’d leant the space to a producer friend whose studio was undergoing renovations.

He decided to instead drive down to meet his parents and so he shot his mother a text, letting her know that he would be leaving soon. Unfortunately, just as he was slipping on his shoes, he received a reply from her, letting him know that both of them were busy visiting Jinyoung’s parents, a tradition that had started when Jinyoung and Jaebeom started dating. Every six months, Jaebeom’s parents would go to Jinyoung’s parents’ house and vice versa to just meet and talk, the four of them incredibly close.

He tried getting a hold of one of the members to hang out with but Yugyeom was out with his friend Seungyoun, Bambam was busy in the gym, Jackson had a meeting for his company, so on and so forth. Even his offshore friends had been too busy to spare him some time. Defeated, Jaebeom decided to just play some of his favourite LPs and read, changing into his comfiest pair of pyjamas and brewing himself a nice dark coffee in order to treat himself.

Half an hour into the process though, the words on the page in front of him refused to make any sense, no matter how many times he read them and the song, even  his favourite sounded like the blandest and most offensive piece of music he had ever heard. Frustrated, he grabbed his laptop to watch some anime on it but that too only entertained him for so long.

Jaebeom looked at his phone again, realising that Jinyoung hadn’t contacted him once since morning, not even sent him a text to wish him. Even though he knew it was probably because he was busy and maybe his phone would have died because Jinyoung always forgot to charge his phone, it didn’t stop the insecurities to brew in the back of his mind, dark as the coffee in his hand.

Jaebeom had many demons he battled every day, much like anyone else, many of them stemming from his persistence to overachieve and perfectionism and the waves of self-loathing that crashed over him when things didn’t turn out the way he wanted them to or the insecurities that exposed themselves like open wounds when he failed at meeting his own insane expectations.

Jinyoung to him was an angel, a creature from the heavens who had settled for someone like him. Even though he knew that Jinyoung loved him for who he was, flaws and all, he still refused to believe that he was nearly enough.

Before he could go too deep into that train of thought and get stuck in his own head till Jinyoung got home, Jaebeom decided a good drink was what he needed to clear his mind. Looking through the fridge for two bottles of soju and a glass, he sat on the couch, letting himself relax into the cushioned seat. Nora decided his lap was prime real estate for a nap and hopped on top, nuzzling herself against his thighs as he drank a shot, the liquid burning the back of his throat as it went down.

Jaebeom doesn’t remember how much he drank or when he picked up his phone to look through Instagram. Yoo Jitae, Jinyoung’s co-star for his drama had posted a picture of him and Jinyoung together, drinking coffee on set. Seeing Jinyoung in costume, dressed in a pair of tight black jeans, an oversized hoodie and a denim jacket made Jaebeom feel a pang in his chest. He missed his boyfriend dearly and he couldn’t do anything about it.

Opening up the camera in the app, Jaebeom took a picture of himself pouting with a cute filter on, wanting to send it to Jinyoung via dm but he accidentally put it on his story. Before long, posts of fans cooing over his appearance and expression came pouring in, many asking him for the reason for his pout. Jaebeom’s drunk mind decided it was a good idea to pine for his boyfriend via instagram and posted story after story, talking about missing a part of him, never explicitly mentioning Jinyoung, of course. He had that much sense in him, no matter how drunk he was.

The pouty selfies became teary eyed ones as he quoted lines from his favourite books, one that talked about feeling empty, lost and lonely. His fans expressed concern but he immediately shut them down, calling them ‘late night musings’. Just as he was about to get fed up of posting stories too, he heard a soft knock on the door.

Jaebeom sprinted to the door, almost falling over multiple times before he made it there to open it. The elder all but fell into Jinyoung’s arms as he saw the younger standing there, smiling brightly. Jinyoung had to drag a very drunk Jaebeom back inside the house as the elder rested all his wait on the younger, refusing to let him go. Deciding to just dump him on the couch, Jinyoung fell with the elder as he continued to clutch onto the younger.

“Happy birthday, hyung,” Jinyoung whispered to Jaebeom, his phone in one hand indicating the time as 23:59. Jaebeom took a few seconds to register what was happening but as soon as he did, he resolved to smothering his boyfriend in kisses instead of answering him.

“Why didn’t you text at least? And how come you’re home so early?” Jaebeom practically whined, his words slurred. Jinyoung couldn’t help but coo at his hyung as he finally wriggled his way out of the elder’s embrace, instead sitting up on the couch and helping the elder to do the same.

“My phone died before I could text you and by the time I got a charger for it we were so busy recording I couldn’t get to it till like twenty minutes ago;” Jinyoung confessed, the guilt heavy in his voice. "As for why I'm back early, well someone decided to pine on their stories about how much they felt lonely and sad and all that jazz and I thought they were talking about me so I came here. Were they not? Should I go back?" All Jinyoung was rewarded with was a slap to his chest and a peck to his cheek.

"I did get the wine you asked for but I think that's best left for another day. Let's get you to bed, hyung," Jinyoung knew he couldn't carry the elder, so he opted to drag him to the bedroom, pushing him onto the bed before changing quickly and snuggling in close to his hyung.

"I love you, hyung. Good night" Jinyoung said, pressing a kiss to Jaebeom's forehead as he slept with his head resting on the younger's chest, his breathing slowing as he fell into deep sleep.

****

"Omg what was I thinking, last night?!" Jaebeom exclaimed, looking at the barrage of memes his group mates had made of all the pictures he had posted the night before. "Don't worry, I found them adorable," Jinyoung replied with a soft peck on the elder's cheek.

[neurosengarten]

• Learn how to learn from those you disagree with, or even offend you. See if you can find the truth in what they believe.

• Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.

• Always demand a deadline. A deadline weeds out the extraneous and the ordinary. It prevents you from trying to make it perfect, so you have to make it different. Different is better.

• Don’t be afraid to ask a question that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it.

• Being able to listen well is a superpower. While listening to someone you love keep asking them “Is there more?”, until there is no more.

• A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier.

• Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.

• Treating a person to a meal never fails, and is so easy to do. It’s powerful with old friends and a great way to make new friends.

• Don’t trust all-purpose glue.

• Reading to your children regularly will bond you together and kickstart their imaginations.

• Never use a credit card for credit. The only kind of credit, or debt, that is acceptable is debt to acquire something whose exchange value is extremely likely to increase, like in a home. The exchange value of most things diminishes or vanishes the moment you purchase them. Don’t be in debt to losers.

• Pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes.

• Extraordinary claims should require extraordinary evidence to be believed.

• Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you.

• Rule of 3 in conversation. To get to the real reason, ask a person to go deeper than what they just said. Then again, and once more. The third time’s answer is close to the truth.

• Don’t be the best. Be the only.

• Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are waiting for you to send them an email, they are waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead.

• Don’t take it personally when someone turns you down. Assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. Try again later. It’s amazing how often a second try works.

• The purpose of a habit is to remove that action from self-negotiation. You no longer expend energy deciding whether to do it. You just do it. Good habits can range from telling the truth, to flossing.

• Promptness is a sign of respect.

• When you are young spend at least 6 months to one year living as poor as you can, owning as little as you possibly can, eating beans and rice in a tiny room or tent, to experience what your “worst” lifestyle might be. That way any time you have to risk something in the future you won’t be afraid of the worst case scenario.

• Trust me: There is no “them”.

• The more you are interested in others, the more interesting they find you. To be interesting, be interested.

• Optimize your generosity. No one on their deathbed has ever regretted giving too much away.

• To make something good, just do it. To make something great, just re-do it, re-do it, re-do it. The secret to making fine things is in remaking them.

• The Golden Rule will never fail you. It is the foundation of all other virtues.

• If you are looking for something in your house, and you finally find it, when you’re done with it, don’t put it back where you found it. Put it back where you first looked for it.

• Saving money and investing money are both good habits. Small amounts of money invested regularly for many decades without deliberation is one path to wealth.

• To make mistakes is human. To own your mistakes is divine. Nothing elevates a person higher than quickly admitting and taking personal responsibility for the mistakes you make and then fixing them fairly. If you mess up, fess up. It’s astounding how powerful this ownership is.

• Never get involved in a land war in Asia.

• You can obsess about serving your customers/audience/clients, or you can obsess about beating the competition. Both work, but of the two, obsessing about your customers will take you further.

• Show up. Keep showing up. Somebody successful said: 99% of success is just showing up.

• Separate the processes of creation from improving. You can’t write and edit, or sculpt and polish, or make and analyze at the same time. If you do, the editor stops the creator. While you invent, don’t select. While you sketch, don’t inspect. While you write the first draft, don’t reflect. At the start, the creator mind must be unleashed from judgement.

• If you are not falling down occasionally, you are just coasting.

• Perhaps the most counter-intuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.

• Friends are better than money. Almost anything money can do, friends can do better. In so many ways a friend with a boat is better than owning a boat.

• This is true: It’s hard to cheat an honest man.

• When an object is lost, 95% of the time it is hiding within arm’s reach of where it was last seen. Search in all possible locations in that radius and you’ll find it.

• You are what you do. Not what you say, not what you believe, not how you vote, but what you spend your time on.

• If you lose or forget to bring a cable, adapter or charger, check with your hotel. Most hotels now have a drawer full of cables, adapters and chargers others have left behind, and probably have the one you are missing. You can often claim it after borrowing it.

• Hatred is a curse that does not affect the hated. It only poisons the hater. Release a grudge as if it was a poison.

• There is no limit on better. Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with.

• Be prepared: When you are 90% done any large project (a house, a film, an event, an app) the rest of the myriad details will take a second 90% to complete.

• When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation.

• Before you are old, attend as many funerals as you can bear, and listen. Nobody talks about the departed’s achievements. The only thing people will remember is what kind of person you were while you were achieving.

• For every dollar you spend purchasing something substantial, expect to pay a dollar in repairs, maintenance, or disposal by the end of its life.

•Anything real begins with the fiction of what could be. Imagination is therefore the most potent force in the universe, and a skill you can get better at. It’s the one skill in life that benefits from ignoring what everyone else knows.

• When crisis and disaster strike, don’t waste them. No problems, no progress.

• On vacation go to the most remote place on your itinerary first, bypassing the cities. You’ll maximize the shock of otherness in the remote, and then later you’ll welcome the familiar comforts of a city on the way back.

• When you get an invitation to do something in the future, ask yourself: would you accept this if it was scheduled for tomorrow? Not too many promises will pass that immediacy filter.

• Don’t say anything about someone in email you would not be comfortable saying to them directly, because eventually they will read it.

• If you desperately need a job, you are just another problem for a boss; if you can solve many of the problems the boss has right now, you are hired. To be hired, think like your boss.

• Art is in what you leave out.

• Acquiring things will rarely bring you deep satisfaction. But acquiring experiences will.

• Rule of 7 in research. You can find out anything if you are willing to go seven levels. If the first source you ask doesn’t know, ask them who you should ask next, and so on down the line. If you are willing to go to the 7th source, you’ll almost always get your answer.

• How to apologize: Quickly, specifically, sincerely.

• Don’t ever respond to a solicitation or a proposal on the phone. The urgency is a disguise.

• When someone is nasty, rude, hateful, or mean with you, pretend they have a disease. That makes it easier to have empathy toward them which can soften the conflict.

• Eliminating clutter makes room for your true treasures.

• You really don’t want to be famous. Read the biography of any famous person.

• Experience is overrated. When hiring, hire for aptitude, train for skills. Most really amazing or great things are done by people doing them for the first time.

• A vacation + a disaster = an adventure.

• Buying tools: Start by buying the absolute cheapest tools you can find. Upgrade the ones you use a lot. If you wind up using some tool for a job, buy the very best you can afford.

• Learn how to take a 20-minute power nap without embarrassment.

• Following your bliss is a recipe for paralysis if you don’t know what you are passionate about. A better motto for most youth is “master something, anything”. Through mastery of one thing, you can drift towards extensions of that mastery that bring you more joy, and eventually discover where your bliss is.

• I’m positive that in 100 years much of what I take to be true today will be proved to be wrong, maybe even embarrassingly wrong, and I try really hard to identify what it is that I am wrong about today.

• Over the long term, the future is decided by optimists. To be an optimist you don’t have to ignore all the many problems we create; you just have to imagine improving our capacity to solve problems.

• The universe is conspiring behind your back to make you a success. This will be much easier to do if you embrace this pronoia.

[imjeralee]

Wallflower: Chapter 5 - The Long Day

Raihan x F!Reader

Disclaimer: Do not own Pokemon

Note: This is my first Pokemon fanfic. I hope you enjoy it :) Originally posted on Archive of Our Own.

Summary: You’re an unassuming Pokemon breeder who works at the nursery in the Wild Area and he’s Raihan, the fearsome gym leader of Hammerlocke who has more than a million followers.

You don’t want anything to do with him but he’s…persistent.

Rating: Mature/Explicit

Warnings: Lemon, smut, violence, language

THE LONG DAY

...

...

It's been a long day.

A match has just finished. He lost, again. The gym challenger jumps up and down happily whilst he recalls his fainted Duraludon and the sandstorm subsides. There's sand in his eyes but he forces himself to blink through it. The crowd's cheers gradually die down as both challengers make their way to the middle of the pitch and shake hands.

"Congrats." Raihan says, before he goes over his rehearsed line. He's said it so many times, he's lost count. He hands out the Dragon badge, gives them a TM as a gift and sends the gym challenger along their merry little way. He'll also keep his eyes peeled whether the gym challenger makes it to the finals or not.

The audience leaves, the stadium grows quiet and Raihan retires to the changing rooms where he pulls off his hoodie, leaving himself in his dragon uniform, plops himself down on a cold, hard bench, removes his headband and checks his phone. He goes through his selfies and opens his trusted app, uses the filters and chooses which one suits his liking. When he's finished with the minor edits, he posts it up on his account and a slew of likes and comments appear within several seconds of being uploaded.

'Great match, Raihan!'

'Loser'

'Ur so hot my king <333'

'Lost again, huh? not surprised'

''I get how u like to use weather in ur battles - sandstorm, rain, hail - but that was a pure shitstorm'

'Sending u so much luv, ur ma precious bby (ง︡'-'︠)ง'

’DADDY’

'Marry me!!!'

'Maybe if u spent more time training ur pokemon rather than taking selfies, u wouldn't b a shitty trainer. Just sayin ¯\_(ツ)_/¯'

'can I suck ur cock??'

The comments are mixed, needless to say. He scrolls down the growing list until he spots one from a fan with a username that seems familiar to him. The message says 'Plz go 2 Spikemuth??? I know u lost but I’ll always b ur biggest fan'.

Huh. Interesting. He hadn't been to Spikemuth for a long time and he hadn't seen Piers for a while either. Checking his Rotom calendar, he sees that he doesn't have any matches scheduled until next week. Maybe he should go and unwind, take a quick break. Replying to the message, he says 'Great idea!'. He doesn't even need to pack anything because he'll just be there for one night; instead, he merely books a return ticket from Hammerlocke to Circhester online and grabs his hotel keycard. Being a gym leader meant he had several privileges, including a twenty four seven hotel room courtesy of Macro Cosmos in Hotel Ionia.

Once he arrives in Spikemuth, it's already nighttime and he hits the nightclub after visiting Piers. He doesn't remember the name of the club but he frequents it and before he enters, he snaps another photo of himself and uploads it.

Inside, the nightclub is bustling. He's used to this type of scene and he goes to the bar, orders a drink. The first drink is on the house because he comes here so often. Although he's alone, he's approached various times by attractive women of all shapes and sizes who take selfies with him. In almost every photo, they stick their tongue out and do the peace sign. The amount of people who recognise him and go up to him as the night goes on makes him a little exhausted, so he doesn't stay in one area of the club for long, opting to change seats often. As soon as he's changed seats for the umpteenth time, he's immediately approached by a girl in a black dress; she's very attractive and slim.

"Hi." She says coolly, looking at him through half-hooded eyes.

"Hey." He replies, taking a sip of his drink.

"What are you doing here?"

He shrugs.

She smiles widely. "I'm Louisa. Are you gonna buy me a drink or you gonna leave me hanging?"

He takes another sip of his drink and settles the glass on the counter. "Sure."

Calling the bartender over by waving his hand lazily, Louisa excitedly takes the seat beside him and he allows her to order what she wants. It's something expensive but he puts it on his tab. For a few minutes or so, they chat and flirt, and she orders more and more drinks and her words become garbled and she asks him invasive questions which he’s used to, then she tells him she wants to be as rich and famous as he is and asks him for his secret. When he tells her there is no secret, her demeanour changes - she rubs her foot against the length of his leg before she slips out of her barstool and tugs at his hand playfully, inviting him to dance. He lets her take the lead and once on the dance floor, she begins grinding against his hips and taking his hands with hers and putting them on her waist.

Louisa's pulling some pretty bold moves but he finds himself looking away and it's then Raihan spots a girl sitting amongst a group of women in one corner who are chatting loudly; he remembers that interview he did recently and this girl - he has never seen her before and she is definetely not a gym challenger either - but she fits everything he described. He can't help but stare. She's wearing a tight, black dress which she doesn't seem to be comfortable in as she sits at the very edge, looking rather lost as she holds her drink in hand. She doesn't even look like she's enjoying herself. He watches her for a few moments or so, noticing how she lifts a hand to tuck her hair behind her ear and glance at her companions before she shifts her gaze to her lap. She's clearly not at home here. Raihan stares at her for a little longer than intended, drinking in the sight of her until Louisa steps on his foot with her pencil heel.

"Oh! I'm so sorry - " She says, before she immediately slams a hand over her mouth and rushes away - and promptly projectile vomits all over the floor. Looks like someone’s had too much to drink. She collapses and some concerned members of the public go help her out.

After making sure she's okay, he watches as she's carried out and returns to his seat and orders another drink. He downs it in one sip and wipes his mouth, finding his eyes glued on this other girl who’s captured his eye and piqued his interest; he sees her leaving her seat and walking towards his direction. It appears she's been asked to order drinks because she's the only one sober. Raihan watches her; she walks right past him, not even batting an eyelid.

What the Bidoof? She totally ignored him!

Doesn't she know who he is???

He observes her as she returns to her seat, balancing three drinks on a tray which her friends end up making her drink. A while later, she seems to be drunk as well because she heads to the dancefloor on her own, looking around and swaying slightly. Raihan finishes another drink and his head's throbbing too but what the hell - he wants to talk to her so he heads over and once he reaches her, he slides an arm around her waist and she looks up.

"Hi, do you wanna dance?"

She squints her eyes at him; she didn't hear him over the loud music. "...What?"

He repeats his question.

"I don't...I don't talk to strangers." She manages to slur out.

He's fairly amused; she's so cute, like a little Skitty with her pink cheeks and somewhat dazed expression. "I'm not a stranger, I'm Raihan."

"Who?"

He pauses, momentarily stunned.

Then he grins.

A girl who doesn't know him.

What are the odds, really?

...

Present.

There's a team of investigators at your house; the box has been removed and they opened it.

A pokemon's heart was inside.

You didn't see it but these men dressed in white came and took something red and fleshy out and deposited it into an icebox. The date has ended miserably; you sit on your sofa with the front door open as Looker’s team scour the rest of your house but the culprit is long gone. After taking down your testimony, you wonder what's going to happen next - Looker speaks to a man in scruffy shorts, flip flops, t-shirt, cap and sunglasses. People would've thought this man was a hobo but it was actually Chairman Rose in his civilian disguise. You can't hear what they're talking about but it can't be good. His secretary stands stiffly in silence with her hands clasped together, looking rather solemn.

Raihan sits beside you and you're stuck in his embrace. He's been hugging you the entire time but you feel he needs a hug more than you do because no-one should be facing this alone and also, you are grateful he's here so you wrap your arms around his waist and when you look up at him, he smiles at you reassuringly and pecks you on the forehead before snuggling you, and you do the same. It feels good to be in his arms, even though the date is over and there’s random men in your house, going through your things and trampling over your nice pristine carpet with their mucky boots.

Luckily, your Pokemon were fine - you flung open your door and when you saw Drifloon and Phantump in the living room, you pulled them into a hug and returned them to their pokeballs. Then you looked around for Espie and found her sleeping in your closet so you quickly returned her safely into her ball as well. Poliwag never left the bathroom and was swimming in your bathtub which he had filled with water so you quickly recalled him too. You tucked all your pokeballs into your safe box and counted them  three more times just incase. Everyone's accounted for. Thank Arceus, your Pokemon are unharmed. You will call Glenn later and ask if he can pop by your house and look after your Pokemon if he’s free.

What a shit way to end the first date you have with Raihan. You'll remember this for the rest of your life. Oh boy, what a story to tell the grandkids. Jokes aside, the Chairman's presence here doesn't bode well because you know once he finishes talking to Looker, he will probably speak to the both of you. This is bigger than you, Raihan and Looker...no matter how much you wanted to keep the Dusclops in the closet. More and more people are getting involved and will find out about the one night stand. This is humiliating.

Groaning, you close your eyes and Raihan hugs you even tighter than before that your lungs might pop. "Are you okay?" He's asked you that question a few times now.

You're not okay and you don't know whether to humour him or not, so you utter, "This isn't the first time I've seen a dead pokemon. Did I tell you that too?" Sarcastic, cynical response it is. He doesn't deserve it but you can't help yourself in this situation.

"Yeah," He replies (thank goodness he's not offended), "I'm sorry I got you involved."

"It's not your fault."

You resume your cuddling but it's cut short when Chairman Rose finishes talking to Looker and begins heading towards your house and enters through the front door. His secretary follows silently. Immediately, you climb out of his lap, allowing Raihan to stand up and you follow his example, except you begin to tremble slightly until Raihan squeezes your hand. Once Rose is directly in front of you, he exchanges glances between the two of you before he smiles warmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, my name is Rose and I'm the Chairman of the Pokemon League. You must be Raihan's new belle." He says.

Belle? Like the character from the popular, classical movie, Beauty and the Buzzwole? This guy is kind of weird. There's something off about him but you can't just put your finger on it.

Before you can even speak, Rose turns to the gym leader and adds, "Raihan, it's been a while since we last saw each other; usually I have no business in your affairs but this time....well, where do I even begin?" He's smiling but you don't think this conversation is heading to a good direction.

"Chairman Rose." Raihan greets him; he's different when dealing with this man. He's more stoic and serious. "We're taking care of it. I've got Looker helping us."

"I'm taking your word for it, but I'm disappointed in you. Get this sorted out right now. This could ruin everything I've worked for and I'm not taking any chances. Why else do you think the paparazzi aren't going crazy over this? I'm paying them to keep their mouths closed."

Raihan's expression doesn't change. "I'm aware."

"I'm glad you understand the severity of the circumstances here." With that, Rose turns and leaves. The tight-lipped woman doesn't say anything and follows after him.

There's a brief silence between the two of you until Raihan sits down on the sofa again.

"Raihan?" You mutter; he keeps his eyes trained on the floor but he looks up when you sit down beside him. "What did he mean? Is...is that why...when the photo of us got posted online, it just vanished the next day? I mean, okay, I guess it's a godsend something else came up but...did Chairman Rose really pay the press off? I'm sure that man won't do things for free......Is it coming from your pay cut?" Although you're not sure exactly how Raihan's making money - either from being sponsored by various companies or individuals, or from his social media - you're not sure but now that you think about it... well, you didn't think about it until now.

He nods.

Oh, shit. Your lip trembles slightly and you rub your elbow awkwardly. "Oh, Raihan."

"It's fine. I didn't want you to worry or get hurt." Raihan says, smiling gently before he reaches for your hand, entwining your fingers with his. You gaze at him worriedly and when he drops the smile, you carefully pull your hand free from his and taking a deep breath, you attempt to calm your thundering heart as you awkwardly slide your arms around him. This is your first time taking the initiative and your cheeks feel warmer than usual. He realises this too and he looks at you in surprise before you give him a squeeze. So... here you are, showing affection and care.

"I think it's best if we lay low after this." You mutter, "Chairman Rose is right. This is getting worse...and your career might be ruined. It's not worth it."

In response, he gives you a tight squeeze.

You hear someone clearing your throat and that's when you both throw your glances over. It's Looker; he looks slightly disgruntled. "Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to check if you’re both okay.”

“Thanks, Looker,” Raihan replies, "We're fine."

”Good.”

As he begins to leave, his Rotom hovers into the air and exclaims, "Bzzzt! Confirmed visual! Suspect is at Rose Tower!"

"Thanks, Rotom. Let's go."

You turn to Raihan and your gazes meet. "...Should we go with him?"

....

Looker leaves Ballonlea and makes his way to Rose Tower; arriving at reception, he shows the receptionist his badge and proceeds to tell her he's looking for someone. He gives a name - a female's - and the receptionist checks internal employee records and informs him this particular employee is located on the fifteenth floor, belonging to the IT department. Looker thanks her and enters the awaiting lift. He's only been to Rose Tower a few occasions and discovers it's quite a sterile environment. He watches various Macro Cosmos employees walking around, all donned in the casual, cool uniform, with the hat and shades and the funky-looking triangle shaped pokeball holders stuck to their hips. They're all role model trainers - friendly, intelligent and hip.

Rotom did an excellent job - Raihan's biggest fan is a Marco Cosmos employee who lives in Spikemuth. It was typical - drunk father, dilapidated environment, hundreds of photos of Raihan in her room... This will be over soon.

Once the lift doors open, Looker finds the next reception desk and asks the lady for the girl and where she sits; the lady asks if she should call her - Looker says no, but asks for access inside - the lady kindly grants permission to enter the IT floor using her pass. Once inside, there are rows and rows of desks in open plan all filled with large computer screens - many employees are looking at two or four screens at one time, tip-tapping away rapidly into their computers. There's numerous Porygon floating around but they don't pay attention to him.

Looker goes up to a random employee and asks if he knows where the girl is. The employee tells him that she's at a booth and points down the hallway. Looker curses and makes his way as quickly as he can to the hot desk area where he sees a lone girl with her back to him, sitting at one of the terminals. Looks like she's in the middle of uploading something. Shit, it's not the video, right? A Banette stands beside her and once it senses Looker's arrival, it tugs on her elbow and hisses, a rattling noise emitting from its body.

"Stop!" Looker yells; he's just a few feet from her and the girl abruptly turns round in her swivel chair. "Don't do it."

It's a young girl; maybe even younger than Raihan's current girlfriend. Looker wasn't sure what to exactly expect but she seems perfectly normal. "Who...who are you??" She demands, clearly stunned by his arrival.

"Don't do it." Looker says sternly; he doesn't bother with any introductions. "I know who you are and what you did. Are you sure you want to do this to Raihan?" Looker points to the computer where the screen is frozen with the commands 'Confirm' or 'Cancel' and she throws her glance to the monitor. "Do you have it in your heart to do something like this to him? Is this something you really want to do? Think about it. If you press that button, you'll ruin everything he's worked for and you know he's worked hard to get to where he is now."

The girl looks annoyed at his words, "I-I don't know what you're talking about. Please leave."

"I went to your home and spoke to your father, and I found the hotel room with the slot behind the light switch where you put the camera. We know what you did to the Deerling. Do you really want to go through with this?"

He's expecting some kind of angry response, some form of retaliation to his claims. However, she merely closes her eyes, re-opens them and says, "You don't understand, nobody does. If I don't do this then he won't even bat an eyelid at me. I did everything for him. He is my everything. I've done everything for him and it's still not enough. He didn't see me at all. He doesn't see me...why doesn't he see me? I do so much for him. I comment on every video and photo, I go to as many matches as I can, I changed myself, I changed my hair, my eyes - but it didn't work, nothing did."

"And are you happy with yourself? With who and what you have become?"

She grows silent.

"You aren't, are you? You probably don't recognise yourself anymore. You probably don't even know who you are anymore. Deep inside, you know this is wrong."

"She was one step ahead. It should've been me, it was supposed to be me."

"But it wasn't. And now you're angry, you're upset and betrayed."

"Yes."

"It doesn't have to be this way."

A brief silence spawns before she casts her morose gaze to the floor. She utters, "He helped me get up every morning....helped me get through the day. If it wasn't for him, I probably would've killed myself a long time ago."

"I understand." Looker replies, "If you really love him, then you would forgive him."

Before the girl can say anything, however, there's the sound of footsteps approaching and Looker turns to see Raihan and his girlfriend standing at the hallway along with a random Macro Cosmos employee - looks like they've just arrived and everyone seems stunned to see each other.

Chaos ensues:

"What's going on here?!" The Marco Cosmos employee demands.

"Goddamnit, what the hell are you two doing here?!" Looker barks angrily; he rarely loses his cool, but this...? Motherfurret!

"What the...what is she doing here?!" The obsessed fan begins to screams; her calm demeanour vanishes at once and her expression turns murderous as she glances at Banette. "Go Banette, attack! Use Shadow Ball!" She promptly turns to the computer and Looker fumbles for a pokeball.

"Growlithe, stop her!" He throws the capsule and releases the puppy pokemon who immediately dashes over and bites on the sleeve of her uniform, pulling her arm away from the mouse but she's able to start the upload.

Banette's Shadow Ball hurtles towards the gym leader's direction; Raihan releases his Duraludon to shield his girlfriend whilst he also throws himself over her. She cannot react in time to Banette's attack but a pokeball stuck to her waist opens up and a burst of light appears, revealing another pokemon that blocks the attack along with Duraludon - it's a Garchomp - and it immediately retaliates with a Dragon Claw, knocking the Banette out in one smooth hit. Looker rushes up to the desk and grabs the mouse, cancelling the upload before it reaches one hundred per cent. Banette's attack bounces off Duraludon and the room grows silent.

”No, Banette!” The obsessed fan screams as Growlithe tugs her away from the computer and Looker quickly pulls out the USB device. With her other hand, she grabs a pokeball off her belt and tosses it forwards, “Druddigon, go!"

As a massive pokemon appears and attacks Growlithe, she is released and she quickly returns her fainted Banette into an Ultra ball before making a run for it. Looker chases after her as she disappears into the emergency exit.

...

"Beldum, use Take Down!"

From that day on, you took Beldum outside to train everyday. The mountains near your home was an ideal place and after a few days of scouring, you found a small patch of grass containing weak pokemon which you could use to train Beldum, namely Trapinch who are at a level much lower than Beldum. You direct Beldum when to attack and avoid and when the Trapinch faints, you jump and down on the spot with joy.

"Yay! You did it!"

Beldum turns to you, eye curling with happiness. You can't always tell what it's thinking but you know it enjoys training. You can also feel it's growing stronger as the days pass. Beldum is not strong enough to face other pokemon so you only have him face Trapinch and so far, you're also noticing that his attack stats are getting stronger compared to his others.

"Phew! Let's go home!" You exclaim, "It's been a long day."

Beldum nods in agreement. You've used up all your potions to keep his health up; no worries though, because Glenn will be going to the pokemart tomorrow and you can ask him to buy some for you. As you return Beldum to his pokeball, suddenly it disappears from your hand and you're shoved from behind. Landing on the ground, your knees scraping in process, you look up to see a group of boys on their bikes who are clutching Beldum's pokeball. Urgh, if it isn't Graham and his little gang.

"Hey! Give me him back!" You yell angrily as you get up wobbly. Your knees are bleeding and so are your palms, but Beldum was more of your concern.

"You want him? Then come get 'im!" Graham exclaims, before he starts pedalling away on his bike. His cronies follow and you growl under your breath, grabbing the handlebars of your bike and lifting it off the ground. You follow the boys as fast as you could go, going deeper and deeper into the forest and up a steep mountain path until you see them up ahead and looks like they've ditched their bikes to crouch in front of some bushes; once you arrive, you climb off your bike and run up to them, furious.

Before you can even yell, Graham grabs you and slaps his grubby hand over your mouth, silencing you. "Shhhh! It'll hear you!" He hisses and you blink, wide-eyed.

He drags you towards the rest of his group where they're spying on a large dragon pokemon in a cave that is hunched over a Deerling... it's a small, feeble thing - and your eyes widen as you see the large pokemon smash the Deerling's head into the ground and it lets out a weak but horrifying, pained bleat until it stops moving. Growling low, the massive dragon pokemon begins to sink its jaws into its body and tear at the flesh. Using it's massive claws, it proceeds to tear the body apart and you see nothing but blood and entrails. The boys are staring, transfixed, whilst you watch in horror. You try to escape but Graham's grip on you is too strong as he forces you to watch, much to your disgust.

"W-what is it?" One of the boys asks.

"I think it's a Druddigon."

"And it's eating that Deerling!"

In unison, they all coo in awe even though you're horrified and repulsed and you try to escape once more, your foot stepping over a twig and causing it to snap loudly.  Everyone gasps as the Druddigon immediately turns its head to your direction and the boys make a run for it; Graham lets go of you and pushes you to the ground once more and your head smacks against the dirt. As you sit up, your vision is slightly blurred as you watch the boys grabbing their bikes and pedal away, leaving you behind. You don't know where Beldum is until it appears in a burst of light and hovers in front of you protectively.

"Beldum!" You exclaim with relief. Glancing around, you find Beldum's discarded pokeball and grab it, just as a massive shadow covers your form and you look up to see the huge Druddigon before you. It lets out an insanely loud roar and you scream, throwing your arms over your head to brace for impact -

- but nothing happens.

Lowering your arms, you glance over to see a small blue pokemon with a red tummy that has stopped the Druddigon in its rage; it stands alongside your Beldum, facing off against the dragon. It waves it's little arms and snaps its jaws as it attempts to kick sand at the Druddigon and you know it's using Sand Attack.

A Gible?

Standing up, you know neither of the pokemon are a match against the Druddigon so you recklessly grab your Beldum and the Gible and take off running.

....

Oh crumbs, Looker had almost calmed down the culprit but your group ruined it by waltzing into the scene. Neither of you were aware, of course; you and Raihan had merely arrived at Rose Tower and asked if anyone had seen Looker. A kind Macro Cosmos employee said yes and agreed to take you over to see him. However, the moment you saw that Druddigon and fear gripped you like ice. It's been a long time since you've been afraid and you’re brought to your senses when you hear Garchomp growling and you blink, turning to him.

"Chompy?"

Garchomp emits another growl; you know he's asking if you're okay.

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry about that. Thanks for saving me."

He nods and then turns to the Druddigon.

Ah, that's right. A Gible came to save you that day. It just came out from nowhere and once you successfully ran away from the Druddigon, it decided to stay with you and Beldum. Ever since you added Gible to your team, you trained him until he evolved into a Garchomp and now he's one of your most reliable fighters along with Metagross. You smile fondly at Garchomp as he waddles in front of you and you quickly come to realise that Raihan's Duraludon is fighting the Druddigon; he's whittled down the Druddigon's health until it's weak and you hastily issue a command to finish it off: “Garchomp, use Dragon Claw.” You instruct, and your pokemon strikes down your opponent with speed and strength like no other.

Druddigon is quickly knocked out and Raihan turns to you and your pokemon, grinning. "We make a good team."

You're not sure what to think - Looker was handling it fine without you two. "We shouldn't have come. What were we thinking? We're not ten years old anymore. I'm too old for this." You reply, and Raihan chuckles. Turning to the Macro Cosmos employee who has escorted you to Looker, you see he's busy on the phone informing his superiors about an emergency - also, the entire IT hot desk area is in complete disarray. Your skirmish with Banette and Drudiggon has resulted in many upturned computers and chairs and a few broken desks.

"C'mon, we need to help Looker." Raihan says, reaching for your hand.

You nod and you both recall your pokemon, then head towards the direction where Looker and the girl sprinted off to.

Adrenaline pumps through your veins and your pulse is racing. This is definitely a date to remember. You're going to remember this day for a long time. You reach the emergency exit, opening the doors where you see the stairs as well as three lifts. It's eerily silent - if Looker was chasing the girl, you would hear them, right? Two of the lifts are heading up, so naturally you assume they've taken the lift - looks like it's going to the very top floor - and you and Raihan immediately jump into the third lift once it arrives and take it all the way up. This very exciting moment is temporarily put on hold as you stand side by side and listen to dingy elevator music on your way to the top; Raihan even attempts to take a selfie. He tries to include you in the photo too but you're not in the mood for photos so you politely decline.

Once the doors slide to an open, action rears it's ugly head again - you and Raihan find yourself in a huge outdoor arena; the air here is terribly chilly and you can feel strong gusts of wind blowing from the stands. Your breath comes out in short puffs and you begin to shiver but you see Looker and the obsessed fan ahead; they have finished a pokemon battle with Looker recalling his fainted pokemon. You and Raihan rush up to him but he holds his arm out.

"Don't do anything rash." He warns, and you take note of the obsessed fan who is standing a distance away. The moment she sees Raihan, and her eyes widen with fright.

"Thanks, Looker. What's her name?"

Looker tells him.

"Thanks, I'll talk to her." Raihan mutters.

"Wait, don't - " You and Looker speak in unison, but Raihan is already walking towards her. You help Looker stand on his feet and you both watch Raihan approach the girl. The atmosphere feels terse, thick with tension.

"Hi," He says, smiling, "You're my biggest fan, right?"

"Y-yes, I am." Strange, she's very timid all of a sudden.

He says her name and she nods.

"You....you know my name?"

"Of course I do."

She clamps a hand over her mouth in shock before tears begin bubbling in her eyes.

"Thanks for supporting me. If it weren't for you, for all of you, things could've turned out a lot differently for me. Thanks for being there for me. I get a lot of harsh comments, but you've always cheered me on. Thank you."

She nods vigorously. "Yes, yes, of course I will!!! You're so important to me, I-I - " She clutches her chest, "I can't believe this, you're...you-you're actually talking to me. I-I've always imagined this! And it's really happening!" She can't seem to control herself now as she splutters and stutters before she reaches for him. She wants to touch him and she begins making her way towards him. Raihan doesn't move, allowing her to approach. What the hell?! You try to interrupt but it's too late - as soon as she's in arm's length of him, you see her pulling a knife from behind her and Raihan doesn't realise -

You release Garchomp from his pokeball and he executes a Slash, causing the knife to go clattering out from her hand. She whips her head to you, furious; Raihan exchanges glances between the two of you whilst Looker hurriedly collects the knife.

"I challenge you to a pokemon battle!" You find yourself yelling out; you need to avert her attention from Raihan or else she'll try to pull a stunt like that again should she get the chance. Enraged, the obsessed fan accepts the challenge, grabs a pokeball from her belt and releases her pokemon. It's a Garchomp, too.

"Garchomp, use Dragon Tail!" She directs her pokemon to attack first.

"Outrage!" You yell, and you watch as both Garchomp lunge at each other. You will show no mercy. The moment they clash and you wince as the Dragon Tail connects with your pokemon; your Garchomp assaults the opponent at the same time and both pokemon land on the ground. Her Garchomp wobbles slightly before collapsing. Success! The enemy Garchomp is knocked out cold and your Garchomp is still standing!

Annoyed, she recalls her fainted Garchomp whilst yours stands proudly in the arena, victorious. She chooses her next pokeball and throws it high into the air. "Go, Dragonite!"

You return Garchomp, thank him for his hard work and choose your next battler. "Go, Tyranitar!"

Raihan watches you and your pokemon with his arms crossed and a smile; you know he's impressed but there's no time to waste.

"Hyper Beam!" The obsessed fan commands, and the Dragonite begins gathering energy in its mouth.

"Ice Punch!" You yell, and Tyranitar acknowledges your instruction with a roar and slams one arm towards the direction of the Dragonite's belly. A cluster of thick ice surrounds your Tyranitar's claw which proceeds to ram into the Dragonite and it stops in mid-attack, promptly knocking out the dragon pokemon with one hit. It's super effective!!!!

The Dragonite is recalled and there's only one pokeball attached to her belt; the obsessed fan is down to her last pokemon. You wonder what her final pokemon is - and she tosses the ball onto the field. A Hydreigon appears in a burst of light and you stare as she quickly returns it; a bright red light appears on her wrist and begins to gather around her - she has a Dynamax band - and she grabs the ball which has become enlarged and throws it high into the air, revealing the Dynamaxed Hydreigon. It promptly flaps its massive wings and a fierce gust of wind almost knocks you off your feet if Tyranitar didn't help by shielding you.

"Thanks, boy." You say, as Tyranitar growls affectionately at you before turning to face the gigantic Hydreigon. "It's Dynamaxed but don't be afraid."

Tyranitar throws it's glance to the ground, twiddling it's claws together timidly.

"You can do it! I believe in you!!" You pat him on the back, and Tyranitar returns to the field. "Use Stone Edge!"

Your Tyranitar nods and emits a roar; the ground shakes and just as the Hydreigon is beginning it attack, Tyranitar summons enormous pillars of rock that burst out from the ground and slams into the Hydreigon without delay. Although it's not a super effective move, the attack hits the Hydreigon square in the chest and it begins to explode in a glorious display of fire and light before it begins to return to normal size. He did it!!

Raihan and Looker watch as the dust clears away. The obsessed fan is out of pokemon. Your pokemon had completely and utterly decimated her team in minutes and her jaw drops in disbelief.

"No!" She yells, furious. Distraught, she looks around the arena shakily before she runs for the railings - you know what she's trying to do - before she can throw herself off, Raihan has grabbed her, hauling her away from the edge just in time. She lands in his chest as he drops over the floor and she attempts to wriggle free, flailing violently. Although you wonder if she's got another knife hidden somewhere, you get the feeling she's out of options and now she is truly helpless. Raihan sits up with the girl who's crying heavily and she's immediately intercepted by Looker who takes out a pair of handcuffs, slapping them on her wrists.

You recall Tyranitar, rush over to Raihan as he gets up to stand, grinning at you. Without thinking twice, you throw your arms around him; he's taken aback by your action, eyes wide, before he chuckles and quickly wraps his arms around you in return and scoops you off the ground; you find your feet leaving the floor and you quickly adjust yourself to this new position, slipping your arms around his neck whilst he keeps you hoisted up with his arms tucked under your knees, your chest pressed against his.

"You idiot, you could've gotten killed!" You can't help but scold him.

Your faces are close as he clutches you. "I'm sorry I made you worry."

"Not good enough." You retort, "Don't do that ever again!"

"Okay." He leans in and quickly pecks you on the mouth and you find your anger subsiding; you can't stay mad at him.

The two of you then turn to Looker who is escorting the obsessed fan out of the arena and towards the lifts. She's still crying uncontrollably, and Looker glances at you and Raihan. "Good job," Looker grunts out, "Thanks for your help, I appreciate it."

"What's going to happen now?"

"You both need to come with me to the police station." Looker replies, and Raihan - still carrying you - begins to trail after him.

"You can let me down." You tell him but he merely smiles at you cheerfully.

"Nope, I like carrying my princess like this ~ "

...

At the police station, there's a lot to do but Looker releases both yourself and Raihan after a few hours; you have provided another set of testimony and it does appear the case is closed. He thanks you for your efforts in stopping the obsessed fan and also your assistance with police investigation. Unused to receiving compliments, you stuttered out that you didn't do anything substantial. Meanwhile, there is some damage to Rose Tower but Macro Cosmos will deal with this themselves and Looker will ensure there are no repercussions on you and Raihan. When you ask Looker what will happen next, Looker informs you that the fan is charged with a number of crimes - recording illegally, blackmail, abuse of employee rights, invasion of privacy, attempted murder and pokemon slaughter. It will depend if charges are to be pressed - in a few days, she could stand trial and her pokemon, confiscated.

Attempted murder? It sounds serious and you scratch your head in befuddlement. It's taking a while to sink in that you were in a dangerous situation earlier...it's like something out of a crime drama or an action movie. Again, these sorts of stuff might happen to your friends, yes. Just not...you.

You can't help but wonder how Raihan feels. Is he doing well? Should he see a counsellor after this? Is he traumatised? You stand at the vending machine, slotting in coins for two fresh waters. You collect the drinks and turn round to see Raihan sitting quietly with his gaze trained on the floor. He's not on his phone, either. You sit down beside him and hand him the bottle of water; he thanks you, unscrews the lid and takes a few gulps.

You both sit in silence for a while until you say, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He breathes in and exhales gently then leans back on the seat, resting his elbows on the chair and looks up at the ceiling. You guess he isn’t in a mood to talk - which you will respect so you don't press him any further. However, he reaches for you, lifts you off your seat and eases you into his lap. He lifts you up as though you weighed nothing. You blink owlishly as he encircles his arms around your waist and buries his nose into your hair, inhaling your scent. You're unmoving for a few moments before you slowly wrap your arms around him. Your action prompts him to clutch onto you tighter, his grip on you increasing.

It becomes a full body hug with your chest pressed tightly against his and your hips knocking together, your arms wrapped tightly around his neck whilst he holds you by the waist. You’re so close to him you can feel his breath on your cheeks. You rest your chin on his shoulder and give him a little rub on his back. His muscles are tense. You hope he will loosen up but all Raihan does is hold you close to him and you can feel the warmth that radiates from his body as well as his steady heartbeat. This actually feels...nice.

There's never a dull moment with Raihan, because he begins trailing little kisses over the side of your face as you cling onto him. You can feel him grinning against your skin before he presses another kiss over your cheek and finally, your lips.

...

Once you return home, you open the door to see Glenn in your living room, playing with your Pokemon. He's wearing a Hydreigon hood with Hydreigon sock puppets on each hand. You bristle at the sight but say nothing. Meanwhile, Espeon sits at his feet, watching. Even Poliwag has left the bathroom and is now sitting in the armchair to his left. Upon your arrival, everyone looks up and Glenn removes the hood and grins widely at you, "Yo!!! How was the date?"

You exhale loudly as you trudge over, removing your bag and collapsing over the couch beside him; you drop your head on his shoulder and groan. "It was fine. I have something for you." You take out Ponyta's pokeball and hand it to him. Glenn has been looking for one for a long time and you know he really wants one, so you figured you'd gift it to him.

"Ohh, a pokemon! This is so exciting! I wonder what's inside?" Glenn takes the pokeball off you and opens it, releasing the horse pokemon and for a few seconds, he's stunned as it lets out a high-pitched whinny and clops its hooves. Glenn's jaw hits the floor. "Oh my Drowzee, whaaaaaat! No way!! Whaaaaaaat? Nooooo, it can't be - whaaaat!"

"Yep, it's a Galarian Ponyta."

He lets out a hoot of joy. "Thanks, sis!!!!" Glenn exclaims cheerfully as he reaches over and pinches at your nose with his fingers hidden behind the Hydreigon puppet before he rushes over to the Ponyta and throws his arms around it. "Ohhh, you're so beautiful, yes you are!! I'm gonna call you 'Sugarplum'."

You giggle as Glenn continues fawning and doting over the Ponyta who neighs in response as he hugs it. It appears to have taken a liking to him immediately and he returns it to the ball, grinning widely. "Thanks, sis!"

"Raihan caught it but he gave it to me.”

He blinks. "Really?! That's amazing! Can you thank him for me?"

"Of course."

You and Glenn settle on the couch again where he continues where he left off with the Hydreigon puppet, "Hydreigon used Dazzling Gleam!"

You wrinkle your nose in response; you don't remember Hydreigon being capable of using this fairy type move, but you're well aware Glenn likes to improvise a lot. "Do you have another puppet?"

"I sure do." Glenn fishes around his bag and gives you a puppet - it's an Espurr with pink beady, glassy eyes - and you promptly drape it over your right hand. Phantump and Drifloon watch, engrossed. "Hydreigon used Dark Pulse!"

"Nooooo, it's super effective!" You cry, shaking your puppet and Espeon hisses angrily at Glenn, "But Espurr clung on using it's Focus Sash! Espurr used Play Rough!"

"It's super effective!!!" Glenn roars, throwing his fists into the air, "Hydreigon regained a little of it's HP using its Leftovers! Hydreigon used Dragon Pulse!"

"Espurr fainted!" You yell, and you make the Espurr puppet squeak with pain before doubling over. Phantump trills loudly in response whilst Poliwag and Drifloon looks between the two of you. And Espeon is still hissing in dismay. When it grows silent, the two of you burst into laughter before you drop to the couch, exhausted.

"Long day, huh?" He asks, when you stop laughing.

"Yeah," You say, "...It was a long day."

...

[nrth-wind-a]

@trollamulet​ - Christmas Gift!

Drabble Below the Cut!

Prompt: Grown-up Jlaire Fluff --

Jim, half-troll though he was, had rapidly adjusted his sleep schedule to match Claire’s. It helped that he could go into the sunlight now, of course, and so didn’t have to sleep the day away with blackout curtains over every window.

Yet, he wasn’t sure what it was— maybe a leftover side-effect from being nocturnal for a while in his youth, and thus, was more used to being awake in the hours before dawn— but frequently, so frequently that it was nigh a habit, he woke in the dead of the morning, just before sunrise.

This morning was no such exception. As his eyes flickered open, slowly, naturally, the room was shaded in such a way that indicated that the sun had yet to rise, but was perhaps flirting with the idea.

Whenever this happened, he couldn’t entirely say he minded. He’d never considered himself a morning person as a teenager, but he had to admit that the early morning, the golden over the horizon… it was beautiful.

Almost as beautiful as the person in bed next to him, he thought, giving a private smile as he glanced over at them now.

Their hair was tangled and messy, and fell over their forehead in feathery waves. He almost brushed it away, but was concerned that he’d wake them. They’d been chipping away every day at a doctoral dissertation, and so deserved the rest. He wished he could get them to rest more, but Claire was endearingly stubborn. They worked harder than anyone else he knew, and while he worried sometimes, it really was stunning to watch. They were easily one of his biggest inspirations. And, vice versa, they were happy to inform him that he was the same for them. It was sweet to know that. He loved them dearly, and the idea that they motivated each other to be better, together? It was sublime.

This, he thought, staring up at the ceiling with a goofy smile on his face, this is sublime.

In a few hours, they’d need to get up, the both of them. In a few hours, Jim would begin on breakfast, and Claire on coffee and setting the table. In a few hours, he’d kiss them good-bye, and open up his to-do list for the day.

But for now… for that moment, Jim could simply breathe in the dawn, and let his smile grow wider, when he noticed the first rays of sunlight lighten their window sill.

Gently, carefully, he slipped from their bed, taking his phone with him. He walked into the sitting room of their apartment, pulling up one of their kitchen table chairs to the living room windows. They weren’t enormous, but they were big enough to stare out at the horizon of the city in which they lived, and appreciate how the sun glittered over the buildings, over the park nearby.

Tearing his eyes from it for a moment, he opened his phone, slid over to his camera, and snapped a picture.

He didn’t do this every time, because it would fill up his storage with how often he treated himself to watching the sun, but he clicked over to the group he shared with Strickler and his mom, and sent the picture along anyway because it had been a few weeks since he’d done so. After the message read that it had sent, Jim glanced back up and out the window, mind feeling blank, and calm.

It wasn’t until a few minutes later, that he looked away again. His phone had buzzed with a text from— oh, his mom. He chuckled softly; no matter what hour it was, his mom was often one of the first to get back to him, unless she was in the middle of working with a patient. She kept almost as odd hours as he had when he’d been the Trollhunter, so it wasn’t at all odd to see her quick response.

“That’s beautiful, honey!” she’d written back.

He grinned wide, sending a heart in return, and was about to close out of his messages app again, when a new message popped up, from Strickler. Now, that one was odder. Strickler’s sleep schedule was also that of a human’s, but even he usually took what chances he could to sleep through the sunrise, given that they had quite a number of— in Jim’s opinion, too-quickly— growing children in the house by now. He was reliably up fairly early, still, for a stay-at-home parent, but waking at dawn was rarer. He had half a mind to send a check-in message to him privately, but as Strickler’s message loaded, Jim got a little distracted— it was picture as well. A picture of Walt Jr., riding the bike that Strickler and Jim had gotten him, and helped to build, when Jim had been home last week for the boy’s eigth birthday (pointedly not his fifth). Jim beamed, seeing the huge grin that Walt was wearing, as he had clearly been trying to peddle hard down the sidewalk, training wheels and all.  He looked fiercely determined to perhaps run Strickler over, even, and Jim was only proven to be correct in this assumption, as Strickler supplied a second text, which read, “Nearly made me drop my umbrella yesterday. I think he enjoys the gift.”

Jim let out a quiet laugh and texted back, “Man, if only I’d known your true weakness was kids on bikes, back in sophomore year. Happy he likes it, though.”

Strickler’s response was near immediate, “You were a child on a bike back then as well, Young Atlas,” the old nickname made Jim’s chest flip a little, with sentimentality, “And you certainly tried too. Unfortunately for both you and Walter Jr., I am a little harder to defeat than that.”

Jim snorted and keyed in “A shame,” but thought that perhaps a different approach would get Strickler back for the ‘Young Atlas’ use— no way was it an accident— so he backspaced and typed out, “I know. And I’m glad.”

Strickler’s response was slower this time, and Jim grinned to himself, a little victorious grin.

“Barbara, come quick. I believe something is wrong with Jim. He is saying kind things to me.”

Jim rolled his eyes fondly and typed back, “You’ve heard me say more kind things than that.”

“Like what?” Strickler wrote back, and Jim’s response is too fast for him to realize that he’s being baited, as he sends, “Things like ‘I love you’ for example.”

“Oh, I love you too, Jim.”

Jim let out a soft gasp when he realized what Strickler had done, almost dropping his phone. Sure, he’d said it before, but it wasn’t often. Strickler tended to show, rather than tell. Not that Jim hadn’t heard it enough, either, but… well, it was just nice, sometimes, to hear it aloud. Or, well, over text in this case.

He puffed out his cheeks in amused frustration, and sent back, “Smooth.”

Jim could practically hear Strickler’s smug tone as he read the man’s “Thank you” in response.

Unable to resist, Jim ended the conversation by shooting back a “:P”. He had no doubt that Strickler was laughing on his end.

It was as he set his phone on the windowsill when he heard movement in the bedroom, and moments later, Claire was walking out, wrapped up in a throw blanket, looking like the very definition of the word ‘groggy.’

Jim broke out into yet another smile, seeing them. Wordlessly, he opened his arms, as Claire walked directly into them, leaning on him sleepily.

He ran his fingers through their knotted hair, being gentle when he hit snags, and laid a kiss on the top of their head, murmuring against it, “What are you doing up?”

They pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes as they said, “Had to get up early today. You didn’t hear my alarm?”

Jim looked embarrassed, “No. Guess I was too distracted by- oh, hold on one sec,” he perked up, and reached for his phone, pulling up the picture of Walt Jr.

Claire gave a soft “aww,” seeing it, and made a mental note to get that picture from Jim later. It would make a nice surprise to frame it for him. Because they’d seen the way he looked, when he showed it to them. He’d stared at it longer than they had, even though he’d seen it already. His eyes had held something honestly magical, and if there was anything that they knew well, it was magic.

Jim gave them a quizzical look, though, when he noticed them staring not at the picture, but at him. They grinned with the look of someone who knew something they didn’t, as he asked “What?”

Claire patted his cheek softly, “Nothing… just… admiring.”

The blush that overtook Jim’s face gave Claire no small amount of delight. They giggled seeing it, and only moreso when he shot them a look and then leaned in for a sudden kiss. They cupped his jaw, holding him there, placing a few more pecks on his lips, before pulling back, eyes meeting his. The look they shared could only be described as an exquisite kind of loving, as they leaned back in again, this time, pressing their foreheads together.

Without breaking that, Jim stood slowly, having to bend a little to reach, but he didn’t mind. He took both of Claire’s hands into his own, and began to hum a song.

It took them a few bars to realize that it was the song from the overlook, the song that they’d both long ago decided would be their first dance if they ever got married.

Claire gave a quiet laugh as it clicked, and looked at Jim fondly, “You sap.”

“You know it.” Jim grinned back, twirling them.

They raised an eyebrow, almost as if they’d been challenged, and, with a careful sweep of their leg, they disrupted Jim’s footing enough to allow them to catch him in a dip. They smirked down at him, as his surprise colored his face. When what had happened truly set in, he let out an amazed giggle, staring right back up at them. “Well… looks like I’m falling for you, huh?”

Claire snorted, “That was very unoriginal, you dork.”

“You’re the one who laughed.” Jim winked, and Claire shot him an amused look.

“I could drop you, you know.”

Jim responded by wrapping his arms around their neck. “Do it, and you go down, too.”

Claire considered for a moment, before shrugging and letting him drop, going willingly with him.

Jim gave a yelp as he fell back, though neither of them were harmed by the fall. “I can’t believe you actually did it!”

Claire put their hands on either side of Jim’s head, pushing themself up enough to look into his eyes once more. “Surprise.” They teased, before leaning in for another kiss, a long, deep one.

When they pulled back, the both of them were just a touch dazed— mornings like this, kisses like that, were not all that rare, but it was still nice when they happened— smiling like fools.

Their eyes met again, blue on brown, as Jim broke the silence first, “You hungry?” He whispered.

Claire sat up fully, pushing themself to standing, and then offered Jim a hand to help him up as well, as they nodded. “Starving.”

Jim grinned, “Awesome. I’ll get started on breakfast.”

“‘Kay,” Claire stood on their tiptoes and gave him a soft peck on the cheek, before continuing, “Gonna go shower real quick, then; be right back.”

“Alright. Oh, and— hey— Claire?”

They turned back to him, looking confused, “Yeah?”

“I love you.” Jim said simply, a goofy smile written across his face.

Claire blinked, before going a little pink in the face, “Jim Lake Jr. you really are a sap.” They huffed, smiling back. “But, I love you, too.”

[shmisolo]

For Anyone Looking for Not-Super-Angsty-Stuff

I’m compiling mine (or at least the less-angsty stuff) into one list for ya.  

Seen ✔️✔️ 

His lock screen has three texts from Rey on it:

Rey Wife: Babe I know you’re probably busy right now, but you sent that pic to the wrong chat. Rey Wife: Bennnnnnn Rey Wife: Call me when you’re done processing your trauma.

And then about ninety chats from the Skywalker Ranch WhatsApp thread.

--

In which Ben sends a picture to the wrong chat.

The Sweater Curse

She’s never made a sweater before, but she saw the pattern on Ravelry and who cares if she’s only made (lumpy) hats before—she has to try it.  She has to make it. She has to make it for Ben.

“You realize that Hannukah isn’t an important holiday, right?” Ben asks as she makes eye contact with him.  His eyes are big and brown and—at this moment—mildly annoyed.

“Really?  Is it a giant conspiracy theory?  Part of the war on Christmas?”

“More than you realize,” Ben says and for the life of her she can’t tell if he’s joking.  He does this thing sometimes that’s confusing—where he’ll say something that sounds mopey but is actually snarky and it disarms her every damn time.  “In any event, ugly Hanukkah sweaters definitely aren’t a thing the way ugly Christmas sweaters are.”

“Well, they are now,” Rey says firmly.  “I’m making you an ugly Hanukkah sweater.  Deal with it. And stop moving.”

it's you and me (i know it's our destiny) 

It’s just a kid’s game, he thinks when jealousy pangs in his heart. But it’s more than just a kid’s game.

It’s Pokémon.

It’s the only good thing in his life.

Shalom Rav!

In which Rey comes to terms realizing that she is attracted to the rabbi.

Apples and Honey

When Ben catches wind that his mother is planning to foist a potential girlfriend on him when he comes home for Rosh Hashanah, he takes matters into his own hands: specifically, he runs to Rey and asks her to pretend to be his girlfriend.

atlanta > all atlanta > community > missed connections

In which Rey meets a cosplayer at DragonCon. 

Two to Tango

Rey: I need to ask you something awkward. Ben: What’s up? Rey: Can I give you a blowjob? Please?

Bang for your Buck

“We ready?” he asks her, sounding huffy.

“Nice to meet you Ben, I’m just familiarizing myself with your training,” she replies.

“Ok, well I don’t have all day.”

“No, you have,” she checks her watch, “another hour.” Because of course he’d booked an extra long session. Bless that sweet, sweet overtime pay.

“And you’re sure you know what you’re doing?” he asks her and she glances up at him, sure that her eyes are flashing because that’s fucking rude. She’s a professional. Amilyn wouldn’t have hired her if she didn’t know what she’s doing, and just because he apparently thinks he’s the center of the universe doesn’t change that fact.

“Don’t worry, you’ll get your bang for your buck,” she tells him icily.

A Picture's Worth

reyjay: hiya your art is amazing

reyjay: it’s a big ask but could you draw me for my art final tomorrow? i’m shit at drawing people and i can’t fail this. can you help?

He stares.

And stares.

And stares.

kyloren: is this some kind of a joke?

reyjay: no?? why??

kyloren: you’re asking me to help you cheat your exam, but you’re not even offering me money?

Forged

There are several reasons that Ben would never have dreamed he’d ever receive this text. The first is that he’d be invited to a Halloween party. The second is that he’d never in his life expected to be in a serious relationship, much less the sort of serious relationship where his partner would suggest matching Halloween costumes. And the last is that he is dating someone who’s show only and they’ve only almost murdered one another twice. Because he’s an A Song of Ice and Fire fan. He hates Game of Thrones.

(Not) Interested

We're bringing Speed Dating back to Space Battles Bonanza! Register online for one of our special Bonanza sessions of 15 three-minute dates so you’ll no longer have to look for love in a galaxy far far away. Choose from one of seven speed dating sessions, two of which are queer focused. If the Insurgents can blow up the Doom Moon in 11 minutes, let’s see if you can make a love connection in only three.

There’s a history of successful Speed Dating at Space Battles Bonanzas, with long-term couples, engagements and marriages now among the alumni.

--

In which Rey & Kylo meet at their fancon's speed dating.

do or do not (do the do)

In which Ben, in an effort to improve his stamina (look he's making progress, ok?) after reading some articles that he'll never be able to unread, receives some coaching (that he very much did not ask for).

(Very much did not ask for.)

A for... 

Rey’s seeing double by the time there’s food on her plate. Oh. There’s food on her plate. That’s good. That’s unexpected at this point. “Eat,” Ben tells her.

So she does. It tastes good. Very good. She likes this food a lot.

“I’ll make sure she knows,” Ben says.

Oh she’s at that point of drunk where she’s just saying things out loud instead of keeping them in her internal monologue.

“You are,” Ben says, looking very amused.

She hopes she doesn’t say anything embarrassing.

“I promise, you haven’t yet, but oh boy, I’m looking forward to this.”

She shoves food into her mouth to keep herself from thinking out loud about his dick in her ass at his mother’s Passover seder.

The Love Committee 

In which Rey, tired of her bad luck with dating apps and failed relationships, enlists her friends' help in determining who she should date next.

They take it a little too seriously.

💦💦💦💦 

In which Ben accidentally implies that he gets his cardio from having sex on national television.

You, Me, and He

When they say that Kylo's brain is in his groin, they're not far from the truth.

Alternatively,

In which Kylo Ren is his own penis.

and beyond 

“Please?”

For a moment, he thinks it will be like the first time, him begging, her crying and saying no and him not knowing how to protect his crushed heart.

But she doesn’t cry, she doesn’t say, “Please don’t go this way,” she doesn’t look horrified or disgusted. She just grabs him by the front of his shirt and tugs his lips down to hers before reaching down to cup his cock.

we decided not to kill the wolves (we wanted to be wolves)

A pack of wolves lives in the woods to the north of Raddus and as winter looms, they have their eyes set on Leia Organa’s stronghold. Rey may be new to Raddus, but she’s not about to do nothing while it may be in danger. And besides, Poe must be exaggerating about wolves the size of bears. She’s not afraid of monsters.

myosotis 

Ben picked the flowers for their wedding.

The Kitchen

Rey and Ben, hunting for their first house.

Investiture 

In which Ben goes to daven for his father’s yahrtzeit and manages to prove to himself once again that he is both a terrible person and a terrible Jew.

Oh and he sort of falls in love.

The Sweetest Thing 

A post-coital trip to Waffle House.

with you i shall play

And when it's dry and ready, then Ben's dick Rey shall play.

Everything to Prove

“The show,” he says. “It’s probably best if they don’t—if we don’t—”

And Rey follows his line of thought at once. For all the program is one that doesn’t seem melodramatic—the height of drama in previous seasons came from someone’s cake falling over and that was about it—she does not doubt that the producers and cameramen would leap at the opportunity to make there be something out of nothing in their relationship—especially if there was something out of something.

“Yeah,” she agrees. “Yeah, probably. We can pick baking stations that are…” but she doesn’t want to complete the thought. She likes baking next to Ben.

“Or we can just be careful?” he suggests, sounding quite as pained by the prospect as Rey feels.

“Yeah, careful. I can do careful,” Rey says at once and her lips are on his again and he’s laughing now, and she’s laughing, and she didn’t think laughter would be part of all this. She didn’t think it could be. But here she is, laughing and kissing and holding a man who, at some point, she’s going to want to beat.

She does her best not to think of that now.

It’s a friendly competition, after all.

It’s not life and death.

It’s baking.

Brightblades 

In which Rey learns about a startling kink of her new boyfriend, and in which, much later, they roleplay it.

The Knotting Shop 

Ben realizes upon entering the shop that he had gotten the complete wrong impression from the name of it.

What the fuck sort of shop calls itself The Knotting Shop if it’s not about, well, knotting?

The answer, apparently, is a knitter with a sense of humor. An Omega, by the scent that seems to have landed in every colorful ball of yarn in the shop and which hits him right in the groin.

Let Go (Never Let Me Go) 

In which Rey swipes right on Ben, 35. Probably too much of an asshole for you, but my therapist is trying to convince me that assholes deserve love too, so here’s me on Tinder, and it does not proceed as she expects.

crossfade (cursed and blessed)

The Talmud states that on Purim one is to drink to the point of not knowing the difference between “cursed is Haman” and “blessed is Mordechai.” In other words, you’re supposed to get so blitzed you can’t tell your friends from your enemies. Rey and Ben might be taking this a little too literally at Leia’s annual Purim Party.

Kind Stranger

Ben stares at the text for a minute before opening up his computer and typing “+7793 area code” into his web search. Jakku. Of course he wouldn’t have recognized it. He confessed himself surprised to know that Jakku even had an area code. Did people still live in Jakku?

#kylothekiller 

It’s not the first time that Rey has seen Kylo pop up in her Fido stream, but it is the first time she’s clicked on him fast enough to be scheduled for a meet and greet with dog and owner on Saturday.

All Bets Are Off 

“Fake girlfriend. What does that even mean?” Ben asks her.

Rey rests a hand on his arm, feeling the muscles underneath his sleeve. “Babe,” she says, leaning close to him. “It means we pretend we’re madly in love. Think you can pull that off for your office pool?” Ben’s eyes flicker softly between each of hers and he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.

[narika-a]

Never Take Your Eyes Off The Target

Hwang Hyunjin x Reader

Summary: He was here to do to his job, not question what and why. It was all supposed to end tonight but not with the target like you. aka assassination attempt gone wrong 😂

Genre: Mafia AU, angst

Warnings: Mentions of suicide and death, violence, strong language

Word count: 3,340

Hyunjin’s POV

I took a sip of my coffee as I watched the café across the road from my seat near the window. My phone vibrated, and I shifted my attention to it. There was a notification indicating I got an email. Private sender. Again. Not waiting any longer, I opened the app, hoping it won’t be the same request that’s been haunting me the past few months.

But it was. Different client, same target.

I shifted through my papers, the information was the same too, just the pay varied. I couldn’t wrap my head around it no matter how much I thought. Why would four, no, now five, different clients would want to get rid of one and the same person? What made her so special? What did she know? Even after all the investigations, I had no answers. The more I was on this case the less sense it made. It mattered little now. I’m not here to question why. Besides, it’s all going to end tonight. I watched her long enough. Know all the possible patterns.

I typed back a quick reply, telling my client that I’m taking them up on their offer. Can always use the money and what better way to earn it than doing one job for the price of five.

I ripped the papers and threw them into the nearby bin.

I checked my watch. Nine thirty-two. Anytime now. The door of the café opened, and I watched her step out into the night.

She was on the move. Everything was according to schedule. I went outside and loaded my gun. I stuffed it inside my jacket’s pocket and started following her.

I breathed in. The spring’s air was cool and fresh. What a perfect evening to kill somebody.

The further we went from the busy streets, the closer I got. I have seen the route she takes plenty of times before but knowing that today is the last day, it somehow felt different. I looked at her figure ahead of me, just a few more steps and she should be taking a sharp right. I increased my pace. The place where I decided to do it was approaching fast. I withdrew my gun and took a deep breath. Let’s do this precisely and quickly. Just like any other time. Three. Two. One. Now.

I stopped as I turned the corner. My gun raised high, ready to fire. No, this wasn’t part of the plan.

She was looking straight at me. Her hair moving gently in the breeze.

My finger froze on the trigger. I could see her features more clearly now, she couldn’t be that much older than me.

“What? You’re not going to shoot?” she asked, pushing some of the hair behind her ear. I always imagined what her voice would sound like, never thought I will be able to hear it. “Get it over with. Just kill me already.”

I didn’t know what to say. Is this some kind of trick?

She turned fully to me and started walking in my direction and I tensed up immediately. What is she going to do? Attack? With what?

“Isn’t that why you are here?” she asked, as she approached me. “Then do it.”

She set her forehead against my gun barrel. She was so close, I couldn’t take my eyes off her as she stared into mine. We stood there frozen, for what seemed like an hour.

“Pull the trigger,” she said, closing her eyes.

My heart started beating faster. Why am I hesitating? Just do your fucking job, Hyunjin.

I pressed slowly on the trigger, just a bit more and it’s over.

I closed my eyes and fired.

Never take your eyes off the target

A familiar voice echoed in my head. And then I knew, the bullet didn’t reach her. I opened my eyes, only to see that she pushed my hand to the side at the very last second. I could still hear the sound of the gunshot ringing around the buildings.

The push made her step into my embrace. I could feel her heart beating. She was breathing heavily, her eyes scared and confused. It was as if she actually didn’t intend to avoid the shot.

She ducked down quickly and started running in the opposite direction.

“Hey wait!” I shouted after, like she would stop just because I asked her. I aimed my gun at her, but couldn’t get a good shot, she was moving too fast.

“Shit,” I cursed under my breath as I started chasing her. I knew where she was going – to the subway. And if she gets on one before I do, she will be as good as gone. And I can’t let that happen. Not after this.

She was surprisingly fast, but I knew I could outrun her. She crossed the bridge and then there was only a flight of stairs down to reach the train. She jumped over the barrier and I followed.

“Officer that’s him! That’s him right there!” I heard somebody shout behind me. I looked back and saw a few policemen coming my way, somebody probably heard the gunshot and called them over. Just what I needed right now! I should have used a silencer.

“Stop!” one of them yelled.

I didn’t even slow down and continued with my chase. A train was arriving at the station, just as I ran into the main hall. I looked around and saw her in the distance, quickly changing my direction to go after her.

“Stop or I will shoot!” the policeman yelled again as people who were still present in the station moved out of the way. Good for me, even though this was supposed to be done completely anonymously.

The door buttons started flashing, reminding that the doors will be closing soon. She was still running, trying to reach the first carriage and I realized I had to do it now.

I stopped and aimed my gun again.

“Drop it! Hands behind your head!”

I closed one of my eyes trying to get a clean shot.

“On your knees now!” the officers shouted, they were right behind me. “I’m counting to three. I will shoot!”

She jumped onto the train just as the door closed, her eyes quickly meeting mine, as the vehicle started to move.

“Tsk,” I clicked my tongue, lowering the gun as I got on my knees. The police came up to me, still yelling for me not to move. But she was the only thing I could think about right now. I can’t believe I lost her.

▲▼▲▼▲

Your POV

You released the breath you didn’t even know you were holding and stumbled a bit backward, hitting the opposite door. You put your hands on your face in an attempt to calm down. You glanced to your right and went to the seats, slumping down in one of them.

“Who was that guy?” you thought, looking out the window. “That assassin?”

There had been plenty of them after you in the past year but somehow this one was different. He was persistent, following you for a long time. He thought you didn’t know. You wanted to see what he will do, you could tell he was good at his job and you were tired. At this point you were in a dead-end and wanted nothing but for somebody to just come and end it, as you could never do it yourself. What’s the point anyway? You don’t remember anything.

But when he closed his eyes before firing and you opened them one last time and saw his figure illuminated by the moonlight, you realized that he’s not the one, he’s not the one who should kill you, or rather nobody should. You didn’t know why but the thought that he’s going to be the one to lead you out of the dead-end crossed your mind and your instincts kicked in.

You don’t know how you did it, but you managed to avoid it. And that scared you. Your thoughts and the realization of what had almost happened scared you.

You looked at your reflection in the window. You were a mess, all sweaty, hair going every which way. You focused your gaze and saw somebody staring at you from behind.

“What?” you snapped, turning around. There was a guy sitting opposite you. You were the only two on the carriage. You were so lost in thoughts, you didn’t notice him at all.

He seemed to be taken aback by your question, or maybe your appearance.

“No, I…” he finally spoke. “It’s just that you’re bleeding,” he said, tapping his finger on his forehead.

You touched your forehead where he was showing. It hurt so you pulled your hand back almost immediately, surprised to see blood on your fingers. The bullet has probably scarped you, as you pushed his gun away. Is the cut deep? Will you need stitches? Will it leave a scar?

“Here,” the guy said, putting his laptop aside and reaching towards you.

“Ah thank you,” you replied, taking the tissue pack from his hands. He smiled at you softly and you could see he had cute freckles, that made him look like a really warm person. You felt kind of bad for being so rude to him before. “I don’t need this many though.”

“Keep them,” he said, sitting down and taking his computer back onto his lap.

You took one of the tissues out and pressed it onto your forehead. It seemed that the blood was already drying up, maybe the cut is not that deep after all.

You looked at the screen with the stations. You already passed two of them. Should be far enough. You glanced at the guy again and he quickly lowered his gaze. You chuckled at the thought of him still staring at you.

You got up from your seat as you reached the station and smiled back at him, before getting off.

Now what?

▲▼▲▼▲

Hyunjin’s POV

I leaned my head on the cold wall of my cell, as the first rays of sunshine hit my face, waiting for somebody to finally come get me.

The door suddenly opened and one of the guards called me to take my stuff and get out of here. I stepped outside and noticed Changbin standing by the entrance. Didn’t think he will come get me himself. He gestured with his head for me to follow and I quickly caught up with him.

“Changbin I…” I somehow felt the need to explain myself.

“Quite big of a fuck up, right?” he laughed, interrupting me. “Didn’t have one like this in years. You’re lucky I still have connections, or you would be in jail by now. Chasing a woman with your gun out when there are other people around? What were you thinking?!”

I didn’t answer because I wasn’t thinking.

“I reckon you didn’t kill her then?” he asked me. “Why?”

“I… I don’t know…” I looked at my hands. “I just couldn’t do it.”

He glanced at me, raising his eyebrow. He didn’t like what he was hearing.

“You’re not becoming soft, are you?” he laughed again, and I nudged him. Thank god he’s in a good mood today or I wouldn’t hear the end of it.

“Oh, by the way,” he stopped, taking something out of his inner pocket. “These came in this morning.”

I took the envelopes from him, recognizing the stamp that is used for job offers. I opened one of them up, taking the picture of the target out.

“Ah!” I gasped. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

“What?” Changbin asked.

“No, it’s nothing…”

Changbin rolled his eyes and snatched the photo from me.

“Her again!? If she’s being requested that often I can’t believe nobody else took her out by now.”

But that wasn’t why I was concerned. Honestly, at this point, it doesn’t surprise me that she’s the target.

“You said these came in this morning?”

“Yeah, so?”

“How is this possible?” I thought. I looked at the picture again, it was really her, but the name is now different. I took out the papers with her information. Not only that, everything except the face was different. Did she switch her identities? But how did she do it so quickly and how did my clients find out about it? Or was she living with multiple identities at the same time? That would explain why I could barely find any previous information about her.

“What are you spacing out for?” Changbin interrupted my trail of thought. “Get in the car, we’re leaving.”

▲▼▲▼▲

Felix’s POV

“She has a scar now,” I said, throwing the photos at him. “On the left side of her forehead.”

“A what?” Chan asked, lowering his feet from the desk and sitting up straight. He picked up the photos, almost choking on the lollipop he was having. “You saw her?!”

“Yeah, this night. On the subway.”

“Why didn’t you take her out?!”

“It’s not my case now, is it?” I shrugged. “Besides, you know that I can’t kill her.”

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He sat there thinking before putting the lollipop back in his mouth, pushing himself away from the table, stretching his legs.

“So she’s back in the city?.. And she didn’t recognize you?”

“Didn’t seem to. Honestly, I was surprised to see her myself. She looked… Different?”

“You think the rumours are true? She doesn’t remember anything?”

“That or she’s a good actress.”

“She used to be…” Chan mumbled under his breath. He pulled himself with his chair to the table and picked the photo again. “Which station did she get off on?”

“You don’t think that she?”

“We won’t know unless we check. So?”

“Near the Olympic Park.”

He scribbled something down on the other side of the photo, nodding to himself.

“Who else knows this?” he suddenly asked.

“At the moment? Just you.” I said.

“Good. Keep it this way. I will tell the others myself.”

I took this as a cue to leave, so I turned around and without saying anything, left his office. I hoped Chan doesn’t find her, or at least not before he does.

▲▼▲▼▲

Hyunjin’s POV

I decided to go back to the café she used to work at in an attempt to get more information that would help me find her again.

“Excuse me!” I said as I stepped near the counter, the café was practically empty.

“Yes? How can I help you?” a young girl, showed up.

“Seoul police,” I said, showing her my fake ID. “Could I ask you a few questions? It’s about Im Nayeon, she works here?”

“Nayeon?” the girl was surprised to hear her name. “She used to work her, yes. Lovely girl. But she was very ill and passed away a few months ago.”

“She’s dead?!” I certainly didn’t expect that. But then it means this name and surname actually belonged to a real person. What was she doing here all this time I watched her, if she didn’t come here to work? I remembered the name I saw on her photo, the one she’s supposedly going by now. “How about Son Chaeyoung? The name rings any bells?”

“Hmm… Not that I could think of.”

I finally took out her photo and set it on the counter.

“How about this girl?” I asked tapping the photo, I was losing my patience. “You seen her?”

“Not really, no,” she replied.

“How can you not have seen her?!” I raised my voice. “She used to come here every day, isn’t she a regular?”

“Now that you mention it, I think I might have spotted her a few times, but she definitely wasn’t a regular.”

This didn’t make any sense at all. Who was I watching then?

“Thank you for your time,” I said, taking the photo and going outside. I ruffled my hair. I didn’t get enough sleep last night and every little thing, especially when it wasn’t going my way, annoyed me.

So Im Nayeon is dead, huh? I took my phone out and texted Woojin, he should be able to help me find out. Is Son Chaeyoung real or just made up? She could also be dead. Maybe that’s the case. Maybe she’s taking the identities of dead people? But why?

- - - - - - -

And here I was at the morgue, waiting to see the body. Turns out Son Chaeyoung died in a car accident last night. But it couldn’t be her, could it? There was only one way to find out.

The medical examiner came up to me and took me to inspect the body. He took of the sheet. Somehow, I was relieved to know it wasn’t her.

“Where did the accident happen?” I asked.

“It was at about eleven in the evening near the Olympic Park.”

“Olympic Park?” I wrote that down in my notes. “Why is the body still here?”

“Well no relatives turned up as of yet. It could be that she doesn’t have any at all or they don’t keep in contact. These things happen.”

I nodded, taking it down. I thanked the examiner and left the building. The visit left me with more questions than answers. If both Im Nayeon and Son Chaeyoung are dead. Then who is she?

I headed down the street. Back to the city centre. I needed some coffee. Clear my head. Figure my thoughts. How did this assassination that was supposed to end yesterday turned into this mess?

I set my cup on the table outside and took a seat. I fumbled with my inner pockets and finally got the cigarette pack out. I don’t even smoke unless it’s a very stressful situation, I don’t know why I carry them around. I looked at the pack and decided to take one out.

I put it in my mouth, searching for something to light it up.

“That’s a disgusting habit. I really hope you’re not actually smoking,” somebody said, taking the cigarette out of my mouth and smudging it in the ashtray.

I looked up. It was her.

I quickly reached for my gun in the holster, but she stopped me, putting her hand over mine.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” she said, as she smiled to the lady passing by. There were too many people around. If anyone where to look at us now, they would probably think we’re a couple. And it seems she wanted for it to stay that way. Nothing suspicious going on here. Move along.

I took my hand from under her palm, but she still kept hers on my leg, drawing circles with her fingers. I watched her. I noticed she had a scar on her forehead now. Was this from last night?

She finally looked at me.

“I quite like you Hyunjin,” she said. I was surprised to find out she knows my name, but I didn’t show it. “It would be nice if you stopped going after me… Before it’s too late,” she added. “Or I might just need to take you out.”

My eyes widened. I couldn’t help but laugh at her threat.

“Take me out? And how are you going to do that?”

She didn’t say anything and just stood up. She clearly had the upper hand and I hated that. I wondered how much she knew about me, when I don’t even know her real name.

As she stood up, she brushed her hair to the left and I swear I saw a tattoo on the back of her ear. Some letters. It couldn’t be, could it?

She turned and started walking towards the exit.

“Y/N,” I called her. Startled, she stopped in her tracks, putting her hand on her neck. “That’s your real name isn’t it?”

She smirked at me and I knew I was right.

“Try me,” I told her. I always liked a good challenge.

[meganshinsou-tm]

Shared Walls. (m)

↳ chapter three: enji todoroki

❧ genre: pro-hero shouto, coworkers to lovers, happy ending

❧ chapter warnings: none

[multi-chap masterlist] [previous chapter - next chapter]

You groaned and huddled more under the covers trying to escape the ear piercing sound of the alarm clock. Even after a few days the sound never got easier to wake up to, maybe a few more months and you'd get into a routine.

After two minutes of the constant sound you finally crawled out from your warm shelter and banged a fist on the electronic clock, making the noise cease to exist, at least until the next work day. Sitting up in bed, covers draped around your body like you were an Eskimo trying the escape the cold wind,  you smacked your dry lips and yawned.

"I wonder if I'll meet Mr. Enji today."

It was Friday and Endeavor still hadn't made it back in from his trip which put you at ease but also kept you on edge at the same time, anxious to meet the #1 hero any day now. But Friday also meant that at five, you were off until Monday morning. You had to admit your schedule was pretty lax, Monday through Friday, eight to five. You had weekends off but at the end of each month you were required to go in on a Saturday or Sunday to gather up all the heroes monthly reports and file them away and prepare for the new month. Not to mention you got paid extremely well with benefits, plus you got to work with genuinely friendly heroes.

Your feet finally touched the cool plush rug on the floor and you decided it was time to get ready for the day. Shower first, hair and makeup, clothes and a quick breakfast. Before leaving your apartment you did one final check to make sure you had everything you needed before heading out the door. 

In the quiet hall of the building you looked at the apartment door next to yours while locking the door. It was almost two – maybe three weeks now since you've moved in and still you had yet to meet your neighbor. Whoever it was you figured they just must be extremely busy. Shrugging your shoulders you danced down the stairs and towards the station. Soon you were sitting comfortably on the train, scrolling through different app and quirked a brow when a text message popped up. 

It was from cute little Haru, working with him the majority of your week at the agency had you quickly becaming friends and you found out that the guy was extremely gay when he commented on how "fucking delicious" one of the heroes looked one day.

➥ Haru-Boo: Hey, I won't be coming into work today, I've got major food poisoning. So if you need anything, please feel free to call or text! Have a good day, Miss Todoroki! (;

You cackled and rolled your eyes at the text and went back to scrolling. 

The black haired male had this ongoing joke about you and Shouto being star crossed lovers destined for each other. It was a dumb thing really, just because he would notice certain looks the two of you exchanged and how you seemed to be the only person who could legit make the half and half hero crack a smile or laugh. You'd be lying if you said you weren't crushing on Shouto but you didn't worry about it, you were a go with the flow type of girl now, whatever happens, happens. Plus you weren't sure if you were even the mans type, you were quirkless and plain, he was powerful and breathtaking, his father owned one of the most successful hero agencies in Tokyo, whoever Endeavors son brought home probably would have to be a real catch!

Shouto sighed as he poured himself a cup of tea and walked about the agency, waving and greeting all the heroes who were arriving for their jobs one at a time. It was almost eight, meaning that one certain set of (h/c) locks should be bouncing through the main offices doors any second now. 

Over the past week Todoroki had grown rather fond of you, he looked forward to seeing your bright and smiling face in the office before he had to go out on patrol. When he'd come in for a break or lunch he'd find you either in the lounge or break-room, eating or running around the office doing things for the other heroes. Sometimes he'd even walk into his fathers office to find you sitting in front of the large window you seemed to adore so much. He found it cute actually, always asking what you'd do once his father got back and took his office back as well. "I'll just butter him up and get on his good side, then maybe he'll let me sit in here whenever I want to,"  you told him.

Todoroki liked your determination to win his father over, despite how you seemed to tremble in your skin at the sound of his name, he figured it was just you wanting so desperately to be accepted by him. Shouto knew his father wasn't really a big softy, sure he's made improvements personality wise since getting and holding his #1 hero ranking, he's become more social and like-able towards the public, so maybe if anyone could 'butter him up', it would be you. Either way he was excited to see where your journey at his agency would take you.

The heroes thoughts were interrupted when the phone in his pocket started to go off, he took it out and answered. 

"Good morning father, everything okay?"

"Shouto, I'm just calling to let you know that I'll finally be back in the office today. How are things there?" Endeavors deep voice spoke on the other end, genuinely curious as to how his agency was running.

"Everything here is running smoothly, we even hired that extra help for the office, she's adapting very well to her tasks, she's definitely what the agency needed," Shouto answered with a sort of ring to his voice once he talked about you.

He swore he could hear a hum on the other end and a possible smirk from his old man.

"She huh? Hmm, so are you going to tell me more about this young lady that seems to have caught your eye?"

"Good morning Shouto,"  you called out walking into the locker room of the agency to put your bag and items into your assigned locker.

The hero jumped in place as he turned around to look at you, he faced the other way again, mumbling a few words before hanging up his phone and turning back around.

A chuckle left your lips and you opened the locker, "Sorry to scare you, I didn't mean to interrupt your call."

Shouto shook his head and placed his phone back into his pocket. He was already dressed in his hero getup, making you blush at the sight of him. You had to admit, you loved seeing him in his suit, it was simple but so good looking on him. Your favorite part was the clasp that connected the ends of his collar, looking like he wore a choker.

"I wasn't scared, just startled," the hero replied as he walked over to you and leaned against the lockers and sipped his tea.

"Is there a difference," you asked while closing the door to the locker and looking up at the tall man, squinting an eye and half smiling.

Shouto smirked and crossed his arms, "Slightly, scared is to be fearful or frightened. Startled is to be shocked or alarmed."

You rolled your eyes and placed a hand on his cheek giving him a look that displayed you weren't really buying the bullshit.

"You're really reaching with that one Shouto, but I'll let it slide!"

A puff of steam escaped from the males mouth as he exhaled a chuckle, you laughed at his quirk acting up like it always does when you touched him and pinched his cute little chubby cheek making him blush.

"Hey can I ask you something?"

Shouto hummed and quirked his white brow at you.

"What are these," you asked and reached for the little objects that hung from his belt and tugged on it, pulling his hips forward.

The male seemed taken back at your complete lack of personal space with your hand being so close to his crotch. A light blush crossed his cheeks and he struggled for a bit to find his words as you didn't let go and inspected the object, leaning down to get a closer look.

"Uh – they're just random containers that hold vials of water, painkillers, disinfectants or other medicines that I have on hand. You know for rescue situations."

You let the container fall from your grasp and stood straight up again with a smile, this guy really was thoughtful and sort of 'mom like', it was really cute.

"That's really cool of you to have Shouto, its very admirable how seriously you take your job and are always thinking ahead."

The half and half man nodded with a smile at your compliment. "You know, one time I had a kid call me 'Five Pee-Pee Man', he said these looked like ... well you know."

You bit down hard on your lip and crossed your arms, one hand covering your mouth as you tried your hardest not to die laughing. Todoroki could see the struggle you were going through and let you know it was okay to laugh, so you did. It was a hearty laugh making the corners of your cheeks rise high and crinkle the corners of your eyes. Shouto hadn't seen you laugh like this before but he enjoyed it, and wouldn't mind making you laugh like this often.

He chuckled in response and looked at his watch to see the time, internally he groaned knowing he really needed to head out but not wanting to leave the sight before him.

You noticed him looking at the device and wiped the tears from your eyes, "I'm sorry I'm keeping you from work Shouto, I really should get going myself, I'm alone today so I have double the work."

Todoroki nodded and uncrossed his arms and walked out of the locker room with you until you both came to the end of the hall that split, one way going back towards the main lobby and the other going towards where the heroes would exit from. You faced each other and smiled, looking at his face you noticed an eyelash about to fall into his vision.

"Hey Shouto, lean down for me, you have an eyelash about to impale your eyeball."

He did as instructed, one hand cupped his cheek and the other brushed his hair out of his face, your fingers threading through his soft and fluffy bangs making you giggle and making him look at you with question.

"Sorry, I've just always wanted to touch your hair, don't mind me. I'm gonna lightly hold open your eyelids, can you look up for me please?"

Your fingertips held apart his top and bottom lids as he looked up and you very lightly blew air into his eye, causing the lash to move out of his vision and under his eyeball. You removed the rouge lash from its place then released him, he blinked rapidly and looked at you, both hands cupped his face now and your thumbs brushed his soft and pale cheeks as you looked back into the beautiful light grey and ocean blue eyes.

Your breathing hitched as he stayed there, staring back at you and letting you touch him so intimately. You were able to take in the sight of his burned flesh that you honestly never even noticed. Your fingers brushed above his red brow and felt the scare tissue left behind, a puff of cold air came out from Todoroki's lips and made you realize what you were doing.

"Oh, Shouto I'm - I'm sorry, I shouldn't,"  you went to retract your hands but his own grabbed your wrists and held them in place.

"Please, it's okay, this is actually rather ... comforting."

You were shocked but didn't complain, your heart was beating so fast and you could hear it in your ears. You honestly wanted to stay this way forever, looking into those gorgeous hues and running your fingers through his soft locks, until you realized the two of you really needed to get back to work. Smiling, you started raising his head in your hands to make him stand straight again, both of your hands sliding from his face and to his chest, his own hands never leaving your wrists. Todoroki's thumbs brushed your soft and delicate skin in his grasp as he looked down and searched your eyes before looking down at your plump and soft lips that you seemed to lick before giving him a soft smile.

"Be careful out there okay! I'll see you at lunch," you asked somewhat sure and somewhat unsure.

Shouto smirked and brushed your cheek, "I'll see you at lunch!"

➥ You: OH MY GOD! I just like held RokiRoki's face in my hands!!! 0_0

➥ Haru-Boo: *gasps* Was it a magical moment? :0

➥ You: It was something, I'll call you when I get home, we may need to get drinks!

It was now around ten in the afternoon, the agency was quiet and pretty much dead. Heroes on break or on lunch flooded in and out. All your major tasks were done for the moment so you went to the break-room to get coffee. It was pouring outside and chilly in the building, so a cup a two seemed fitting. You placed a cup in front of the air pot and went to press the pump down, groaning when nothing came out. You grabbed the pot and walked to the kitchen to make another fresh batch. While waiting for it to brew, you went and got a box of chocolate Pocky from your bag, walking around while snacking on it and checking the place out for any messes or things that needed to be tended to. After about five minutes the coffee should've been done so you walked back to the kitchen, as you got closer you could hear something that sounded like water running.

"That's weird I didn't – oh my god, holy shit!" 

You screamed upon walking in and seeing the coffee pot overflowing as more just kept pouring out from the spout of the machine.

Freaking out you didn't know what to do, dropping the box of Pocky in your hand and scrambling for paper towels and dish towels to cover the soaked floor. Next you tried to locate where the problem was coming from and just completely unplugged the machine in order to turn off the water source, making you get on your hands and knees and reach underneath the table it was on in order to do so. Growls and profanities dripped from your mouth as you cleaned up the floor with the now dark brown towels.

"What on earth is going on here?"

Your body stiffened under the table at a loud and booming voice, craning your neck to turn and see who it was. All you could see was dark dress shoes and khaki pants, so you crawled backwards out from under the table and went to sit up, bumping your head in the process and crying out.

"Oh sh - here, let me help you that sounded like it hurt!"

Massive hands picked you up effortlessly by the waist and placed you on your feet.

You rubbed the back of your head wincing with eyes screwed shut, "Oh man, yeah I'm gonna be feeling that for a good bit, thank you tho – ngh!"

You stood in shock as your eyes opened and laid upon the one and only Enji Todoroki. Swallowing harshly you looked up, he towered over you like the very building you were standing in. The man was built like the damn Hulk.

His fierce ocean blue eyes looked down at you with curiosity as he raised a brow. His quirk was deactivated, making him look a tad bit less intimidating but he was still a big and scary dude, but he was also very handsome which made you notice you were staring for far too long at the hero.

Quickly your frame backed up and bowed before him, "Endeavor! Uh – I'm sorry, Mr. Todoroki!" you sputtered and looked around at the mess in the kitchen, hoping the floor would open up and swallow you whole. "I'm so sorry you had to return to this mess, I honestly don't know why this is happening!"

Enji seemed to look around himself and groaned. 

"I told them to order a new coffee maker weeks ago and I see it hasn't been done, it does this sometimes. Don't blame yourself, it's just a simple malfunctioning machine."

Your body immediately went back to cleaning up the mess as you became a mess yourself. "Mr. Todoroki, I'm so sorry! If you want I can order a new one immediately once I get this cleaned up."

Enji smirked and grabbed a mop from the corner of the kitchen and handed it to you, "Here, I'll lift this table and you should be able to clean the floor easier."

Shocked by his urge to help, you nodded and did as instructed when he lifted the heavy table with ease.

"Teamwork makes the dream work sir," you blurted out before being able to stop it, wanting to die of embarrassment from your word vomit.

You were surprised though to hear a hearty chuckle escape from the scary hero though.

"You're funny, who are you by the way, you know me but I haven't seen you around here."

You finished mopping and moved out of the way so the man could sit the table back down. "I'm sorry Mr. Todoroki, I'm (Y/N) (L/N), I just started working here Monday."

A light-bulb went off in Enji's head and his mouth parted into a silent "oh".

"So you're the one my Shouto hired! Well it's nice to finally meet you, I've heard a lot about you! Please you can drop the honorifics and just call me Enji."

[ethereallchan]

Cloudburst - Chan

Genre: fluff, angst

Word count: 4.4k

Warning: none! unless you have a problem with rain, that is.

Chan has never been the one that took a liking on the rainy weather, but somehow he found a new reason to hate it even more now.

Chan never liked rain.

He thought that it was annoying, how their sounds hit the window's glass of his room and left him awake in the night where sleep already becoming a rare occasion.

The thunder and lightning didn't scare him, obviously. But one couldn't resist to get shocked whenever the deafening sound of electricity that seems like it ripped the dark sky came out of nowhere even when the spark of light before it already warned him. It still caught him off guard, and he hated the feeling.

Also let's not talk at how the rain almost ruined his precious laptop that contained the songs that he has been diligently working on when he decided to grab a quick drink near the dorm. He brought it just in case the sound of people bustling around the cafe could be his next base or effect in his next song (it didn't, the cafe was empty when he walked in) but ended up regretting his choice when the grey, ugly clouds accumulated above him as he wait for his drink, moreover hating his decision when the droplets of water trickled down the glass of the cafe's entrance.

That day, he ran back to the dorm with laptop inside his grey hoodie and a banana milkshake on his hand, which proved to be a hindrance as the rain slowly poured down at him. The sweet drink was filled with rain and he was forced to throw it away (into the garbage bin, obviously he's very aware of the environment condition within the earth) before he could even taste it.

Chan's hoodie wasn't as soaked as he thought it would be, but still his heart rate wasn't calming down until he checked that his laptop along with his music was fine. Since then, he despised the weather. Not to the point of hating it, but still a frown would be created when he saw the signs of rain.

These series of experiences, however, changed his whole perspective towards it.

The very first time Chan met you was when it was raining lightly. He was stuck on the bus stop, waiting for the next bus to arrive since he was too busy on working on his newest track that he forgot about going home. It was a brief ten minutes of him standing alone before the rain started to fall. 

Within the very first drop of water that hit the pavement beside him, he cursed. The boy was lucky the bus stop had a roof so he could protect himself from getting soaked before entering the dorm.

He was too caught up on his own world of despising the weather that he didn't acknowledge you running to the bus stop to shelter yourself from the weather. It was then until he realized that you struggle on reading the words on the bus schedule aloud to yourself that he spoke, "do you need help?" in Korean.

You turned at him, eyes blown wide as you didn't understand anything that this mysterious boy has spoken at you. The expression of horror on your face brought Chan upon the realization that you didn't understand Korean, but before he could repeat his question in English, your voice came out in a staggered, but still coherent "No. Um. Speak Korean" in a broken Korean.

He was smiling by the time you continue, "Next bus. When?" With English mixed in the simple sentence and hand gestures.

'cute', he thought to himself.

"In fifteen minutes" Chan replied in English, his smile hasn't worn off his face. "Where are you going?"

You breathed out a sigh of relief when you heard his accent, indicating that he was able to speak in a language that you would understand. "Oh my God, I thought that the last bus has already passed. I came from there" you pointed out on the only bus stop other than this one in the area, and a quite far one.  "And my translation app told me that the last bus has passed already so I ran here and apparently it started to rain as well" a frown was formed on your face but Chan thought that it fits you. He would want to see it more often.

"I'm glad that you're here, though. My phone was dead so I couldn't use it to translate" you smiled at him, "thank you very much"

Scratch that, Chan wanted to see your smile a lot more often.

"No problem," he shrugged, trying hard to hide the fact that his heart was rapidly beating against his chest, "but really, where are you going though?"

A blush crept up at your cheeks when you realized that you hasn't answered his question. Sheepishly, you explained that you were there for a trip with your family, but decided to explore the city on your own when it's nighttime. Your naive mind thought that you would survive with only a handful of cash and a translation app until you realized that your money wasn't enough to get you a cab and your phone battery gave out on you. 

The hotel that you were staying was where you would wanted to go, with the bus luckily would pass it. However it was proven to be difficult as you couldn't understand the language.

You rambled on with your frustration on your Korean skills, at how you could read the words but not understanding what you were reading. Chan couldn't contain his smile (he honestly felt like a creep for smiling too much at whatever words that you were saying) but he couldn't help it. At that time, the only thing that he wanted to hear was your voice. There was also the urge within him that wanted to pinch your cheek and gushed at how you were so cute at that moment, but he was able to contain himself.

The conversation flowed through with mostly him asking you about your trip in Seoul and how you were enjoying it, and him telling you more places to visit once he heard you talk about your mainstream destination. The bus rolled in when you asked him the best place to eat, in which he replied to his secret places.

Inside the bus was empty, as you would expect in the last buses. Both of you sat down side by side, with yours on the window's. Before you could even ask about more recommendations of places, the night view of Seoul got you speechless. Your mouth was agape as you silently adore the city lit up at night and how it was still alive in the far hours of night. You fished your bag for your Polaroid camera before realizing that you only have one stock of photo left.

Chan obviously noticed this, as he noticed everything from your widening eyes as soon as you saw the view from the windows, to your frown again once the dilemma of taking the last photo hits you. "Want me to take a picture of you?" He asked, "I'm not good at selfies but my shots of others are quite decent."

You laughed at his statement before giving him your camera. "Okay, I trust you, then." A smile tugged its way to your lips and he found it hard to not reciprocate it.

"I won't make you regret it." Somehow, deep within his heart he believed that he would've said the same thing if you actually trust him with your heart and not only your camera.

And your choice of believing him was proven to be a great choice when he took a picture of you right after calling you with a 'hey'. The shutter button was pressed when your eyes were wide out of shock of him calling you, and since the glass were behind you, the flash were reflected through it, making the night view wasn't visible at all.

Despite all that, you still thanked him when the photo came out. How it would be a memory of a night of Seoul etched on the back of your mind, inside the bus with the boy you didn't even know his name. Chan obviously felt bad, but you assured him that the moments leading up to this photo to be produced was a lot more better than the photo itself, and that you appreciated it much more. Like a token of this time, the memory that only the both of you would know and understand.

Soon the speaker inside the bus mentioned the name of the bus stop that was supposed to be your stop. Both of your smile faltered as you clearly enjoyed each other company, but it would be hard for him to exchange contacts knowing the fact that it would mess his training time, and you weren't sure that telling a stranger in another country your personal info would be a good idea despite his nice actions.

So none of you actually said anything about it. An acknowledgement of your situations were formed as a small silence before you thanked him for everything that he has done. The boy obviously shrugged it off, saying that it's nothing but both of you knew that this act of kindness was not something to be deemed as nothing. You could've walked by yourself to your hotel again, which wasn't a wise choice considering the time of the night.

He stood up to make a way for you to the door before you stop him, "at least, could you tell me your name?"

Chan knew that telling his name wouldn't be such a big deal since you didn't know that he was a trainee and it was not like his name was his most private information. However, the words that came out next shocked both himself and you as he said, "Let's put it to fate to find that out. If we meet again, let's tell each other our names."

It was shocking to hear, as you were not an avid believer of such things as fate and its red strings. However you found yourself smirking at him, "Okay, I'll believe in fate this time." And you did. There was a sliver of hope within your heart that believed that it would happen. That the both of you would meet again within your limited span of time that you would spend in this city. You actually wished that you would be given a chance to meet this mysterious boy that took the last Polaroid picture of the night.

And he believed it, too. As you found your way to the bus stop and turned around to wave at him, his realization of saying something so stupid that could cost him the huge disappointment of his young adult life hit him hard. Putting something as simple as names to the hand of something so unpredictable as fate was a risky decision that he didn't even know he would be brave enough to take.

Either he was brave or stupid, he didn't know. But what he did know was that he got down from the bus, and he didn't find himself hating the rain that started to soak by his sweater.

Instead, he looked up to the sky, squinting his eyes as he wouldn't want his eyes to be pierced by the rain. A grin on his face.

"Heh, you're not so bad." He said, before walking back to his dorm with the grin remained.

---

Chan would be lying if he said that he tried to went home at the same hour every night since the first encounter with you. In the next few nights, despite his usual tendency to went home very late at night to the point where he would walk to the dorm instead of taking the bus because the last bus already passed, he found himself checking the hour repeatedly in order to not miss the last one.

Maybe fate would be kind enough and let him meet the you again, he thought to himself. Maybe he would be able to finally say his name and finally finding out yours. The trainee sometimes would try and guess out your name whenever a girl's name was mentioned. Whether it was right or wrong, he did not care. It wasn't until Changbin pointed out that Chan's wasn't like himself that he didn't realize just how much you were clouding his mind.

It happened when the younger boy came to the practice room in order to deliver his rap part and a new beat when both of them realized that Chan hasn't been working on his part yet. Which was very odd in his part, when usually the thing that would happen is him asking them about their work.

"Are you okay?" The leader of the trio could hear concern evident on the voice of his junior, and he felt guilty for it. "Was something on your mind?"

He couldn't say that the reason was you, obviously. It would mean that he was slacking off to the point of him not doing his best when it was crucial that he should be working hard in order to be able to debut. He was always the one that told others that they need to focus, that they couldn't let anything stray them away from their ultimate goal as it would only going to be achieved when they put all their mind and soul into it. Chan had absentmindedly broke all of the rules with the mere meeting with you. And that was just once. He realized how bad his situation was if it continued, and how your influence could be an impact huge enough to fail his (and his juniors) goal.

He let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Sorry, I'll finish the track by tonight."

A determination was set and that was to keep him in his track, to stay in his lane and not let anything else distract him, even if it means staying away from you. After all, it was not like he was going to sacrifice his entire trainee life for one girl he might not even meet again.

Changbin and Jisung got treated by Chan that night, much to the youngest surprise. When being asked about the motive to do it, the leader just shrugged it off and convinced them that he just felt like it. There was  a slight pang on his heart when he saw the two discussing about their music while munching away the chicken he has bought. He felt sorry for them, and he promised himself to work even harder. That night, he walked by himself to the dorm after finishing the track and started a new one.

And the night afterwards. Never did he wait for the last bus again.

But fate always had its own plan. On ways that a mere human being couldn't wrap it's own head around it. Fate that brought you to him, and was apparently also a fate kind enough to let you two meet again before you left the city.

It was the chilly night of Wednesday when almost all trainees of jyp went home early because they were given a day off the next day because of a national holiday. Of course, Chan was the last one to go (after the teacher scold him for staying too long when he's supposed to use the time to rest) it was on time for him to take the 2nd to last bus when he remembered that it was your last night in Seoul.

A conflict inside his mind was formed. Whether he left and basically gave up on the idea of meeting you for the last time, or at the very least, waited for you to come even if the odds were small. He decided that there's nothing to lose if he waited, and if he didn't get the chance to at least say goodbye then at least he tried.

One bus has passed and now he was waiting for the last bus to arrive or you to come. Either way, he waited. His left earphone was plugged in his ear as he stared to the street in front of him. The sound of the bustling city and traffic with the sound of music combined on his hearing brought him into a peaceful state of mind. He only checked his watch to see how many minutes that he needed to wait when you tap him on the shoulder.

"Hey, it's you." You couldn't help but smile upon seeing him, hands fumbled with the end of your jacket. "I thought I'd never be able to see you again."

Chan's jaw slightly dropped before mirroring your smile. He took off his earphone before saying, "Honestly, me too."

It was a small silence of both of you looking at each other when you blurted out, "Are you going to wait for the bus or do you want to walk me to my hotel?" If only Chan could hear the rapid beating of your chest and the constant convincing within yourself that you need to do in order to say it, he wouldn't think that you were that brave.

But he didn't, so he really thought that you were a very fearless person. He didn't find anything against it, too.

Chan looked around to make sure that no one he knew was near before wearing his black mask and nodded. "Let's go, then. This way you could tell me more about your trip."

In mention of your trip, you were ecstatic. Walking side by side, your Seoul experiences flowed as a main topic. And again, just like the first encounter that you two had, he didn't want to stop hearing your voice. The boy would constantly steal glances to look at you from time to time.

The conversation once abruptly stopped when the accidental meet of both of your eyes (with both parties constantly stealing glances) was inevitable. It was then that he could see you getting flustered now that you thought that you were getting caught for staring. Shades of red crept its way to your apple cheeks, your lips bitten to suppress the embarrassment and how your eyes darted to avoid his stares.

At that point he almost forgot  that he was a trainee whose future could be ruined if he's not careful. He felt like he was a normal boy who was having a date with his girlfriend as he was struggling to hold the urge to just hold your face between his hands and just kiss you slowly there. Right beneath the street lamps of the city. He wondered if your lips would feel as soft as it would look like. Or how would it feel to tug your bottom lip between his.

His self control and logic was his strong suit, fortunately. The boy simply smirked before asking you another question to continue the conversation.

"Did you went to the meat place I told you?"

"Yes! It was really delicious and we went there a couple of times!"

Soon they were approaching the hotel that you were staying in. Chan could see the disappointment that swam in your eyes when he told you that the destination was close. He was also bummed about it too and before he knew it, he pointed to the convenience store across the street, "Do you want to eat some ramen?"

Your stomach was full after eating a whole portion of meat that you felt it could explode by the tiniest bit of food added. But still, you nodded. Anything to buy more time with this boy.

It was Chan that ate the ramen, while you were simply watching him eating. He managed to persuade you to eat some of it with him with the reason of him not wanting to be fat.

"This is your idea!" You laughed when he pushed you his cup across the table.

He fake-frowned, "I did it to spend more time with you."

Heat crept back to your cheeks before it was his turn to laugh and wink playfully.

Quickly you shoved the noodle in your mouth, ignoring how his actions has accelerated the beat of your heart.

By the time he finished eating, the atmosphere changed. It felt a lot more heavy and thick with the smell of goodbyes. The walk by to the hotel took less than a minute but the way both of you dragged your feet onto the concrete stated that neither of you wanted this to end this quick.

"I can't let fate decide again whether I could know your name or not." You whispered when you arrive in front of the hotel. A whisper small enough for others (if there was any to begin with) to think that you were talking to yourself, but loud enough for Chan to know that it was directed to him.

Both of you didn't notice that the wind had become a lot more stronger with the night sky turning a lot darker because of the clouds. 'it's going to rain,' Chan thought, but he couldn't bring himself to hate on the weather just yet.

He wanted to tell you. He really did. But he was so scared and afraid of the effect that it could cause in the future. The image of him failing to debut alongside with Changbin and Jisung were the first thing that he thought of. How he might fail as a leader. Or the fact that his efforts were all thrown to vain because of his name being spoken to a stranger.

His instinct told him that you were someone that he could trust. That there wold be no way that you would make fake rumor or hoaxes about him that could potentially hurt him. But he didn't want to take the risk.

It felt like his heart was taking a jab, and despite it aching, he still said, "I'm sorry."

You didn't seem surprised, or even putting out any visible emotion at all, he noted. So he took it as his cue to explain, "I had time to think about it and I--I think it's not a really bad idea that you would remember me as a boy from Seoul without knowing my name."

He sighed, "Let me be a story that you could tell to others, a story of a boy that you met in Korea but didn't got the chance to ask for his name."

He felt that the silence that came afterwards choked him. It was painful to wait for your response and absentmindedly, he avoided your gaze.

"So you don't want to know mine?" You carefully asked, and he was to quick to answer with a rush.

"No, it isn't like that at all." He looked into your eyes and found that both of them were glossy because of the accumulating tears. "It's the only knowledge that I need right now but it's not fair for me to know yours and you not knowing mine."

You nodded your head in the end of his answer with a smile and he thought that you somehow already had the worst case scenario planned beforehand so it didn't caught you off guard.

He also thought that despite already being prepared of it, he knew that it didn't hurt any less.

"Okay, Seoul boy." Your smile didn't faltered, but it was almost painful to watch as a single tear slipped out from your eye. "If that's what you really want, there's nothing I could do about it."

The first drop of rain fell down.

"I just want to say thank you for everything. Your help, your recommendations." You paused, "The Polaroid."

Another one fell simultaneously with your tears.

"And thank you for becoming a memory kept within it. An 'almost' that would never happen, a story of my life that I wouldn't dare to forget. That very specific night will forever be embedded in my heart."

"Along with this moment, too." It was a faint whisper and he could feel himself almost breaking apart.

Chan quickly scanned his surroundings for any signs of people that might recognize him. He was not an asshole, he knew that it was painful and he hoped that you knew that it was really hard for him, too. The coast was clear, as it was midnight and it was almost impossible that people would notice what he's about to be doing.

So he stepped closer to you, mask taken off that you could feel his hot breath fanned your face. Both of his hands shot up to cup your cheeks before tilting it slightly upwards, his thumb softly wiped your tears from your face.

Brown eyes staring back at you ever so intently, he leaned in and you closed your eyes until you felt his lips on your forehead. He stayed still for a few heartbeat before pulling out, lips still lingered there. "I'm very sorry that this is the only thing I could do to say goodbye." Chan whispered.

You shook your head lightly, your hands went to his arms and squeezed it a little. "Don't worry, this story has a nice ending to it."

Chan looked down at you to find you already staring at him, your lips curved into a thin smile, your tears evident. "Goodbye, Seoul boy." You whispered for the nth time that night.

He closed his eyes and leaned in again, letting his heart took over. There was no hesitation when his lips touched yours, and it served as a small peck. But still, his lips lingered there that you could feel it brushing against yours when he whispered an equally heartbroken, "Goodbye."

---

It was raining quite heavily later onto the night. There were no deafening thunder nor a startling lightning. It seemed like even the weather itself knew that it shouldn't mess with Chan in this time.

Beneath the rain, he thought hard at how fate brought you back to him, and yet it's not kind enough to let you be kept by him. If he knew that it'd hurt him this bad, he almost wished that he didn't have to meet you at all.

Chan hated the rain even more now that the rain would forever be his token of memory that you were not meant to stay as his. But for now it was the only thing that hides his tears, and to that, he was grateful.

Please look forward to my future works and don’t hesitate to send me messages/asks!

-mee-nay (mine)

[nightkitchentarot]

68 Bits of Unsolicited Advice

From Kevin Kelly, editor of Wired Magazine...

It’s my birthday. I’m 68. I feel like pulling up a rocking chair and dispensing advice to the young ‘uns. Here are 68 pithy bits of unsolicited advice which I offer as my birthday present to all of you.

• Learn how to learn from those you disagree with, or even offend you. See if you can find the truth in what they believe.

• Being enthusiastic is worth 25 IQ points.

• Always demand a deadline. A deadline weeds out the extraneous and the ordinary. It prevents you from trying to make it perfect, so you have to make it different. Different is better.

• Don’t be afraid to ask a question that may sound stupid because 99% of the time everyone else is thinking of the same question and is too embarrassed to ask it.

• Being able to listen well is a superpower. While listening to someone you love keep asking them “Is there more?”, until there is no more.

• A worthy goal for a year is to learn enough about a subject so that you can’t believe how ignorant you were a year earlier.

• Gratitude will unlock all other virtues and is something you can get better at.

• Treating a person to a meal never fails, and is so easy to do. It’s powerful with old friends and a great way to make new friends.

• Don’t trust all-purpose glue.

• Reading to your children regularly will bond you together and kickstart their imaginations.

• Never use a credit card for credit. The only kind of credit, or debt, that is acceptable is debt to acquire something whose exchange value is extremely likely to increase, like in a home. The exchange value of most things diminishes or vanishes the moment you purchase them. Don’t be in debt to losers.

• Pros are just amateurs who know how to gracefully recover from their mistakes.

• Extraordinary claims should require extraordinary evidence to be believed.

• Don’t be the smartest person in the room. Hangout with, and learn from, people smarter than yourself. Even better, find smart people who will disagree with you.

• Rule of 3 in conversation. To get to the real reason, ask a person to go deeper than what they just said. Then again, and once more. The third time’s answer is close to the truth.

• Don’t be the best. Be the only.

• Everyone is shy. Other people are waiting for you to introduce yourself to them, they are waiting for you to send them an email, they are waiting for you to ask them on a date. Go ahead.

• Don’t take it personally when someone turns you down. Assume they are like you: busy, occupied, distracted. Try again later. It’s amazing how often a second try works.

• The purpose of a habit is to remove that action from self-negotiation. You no longer expend energy deciding whether to do it. You just do it. Good habits can range from telling the truth, to flossing.

• Promptness is a sign of respect.

• When you are young spend at least 6 months to one year living as poor as you can, owning as little as you possibly can, eating beans and rice in a tiny room or tent, to experience what your “worst” lifestyle might be. That way any time you have to risk something in the future you won’t be afraid of the worst case scenario.

• Trust me: There is no “them”.

• The more you are interested in others, the more interesting they find you. To be interesting, be interested.

• Optimize your generosity. No one on their deathbed has ever regretted giving too much away.

• To make something good, just do it. To make something great, just re-do it, re-do it, re-do it. The secret to making fine things is in remaking them.

• The Golden Rule will never fail you. It is the foundation of all other virtues.

• If you are looking for something in your house, and you finally find it, when you’re done with it, don’t put it back where you found it. Put it back where you first looked for it.

• Saving money and investing money are both good habits. Small amounts of money invested regularly for many decades without deliberation is one path to wealth.

• To make mistakes is human. To own your mistakes is divine. Nothing elevates a person higher than quickly admitting and taking personal responsibility for the mistakes you make and then fixing them fairly. If you mess up, fess up. It’s astounding how powerful this ownership is.

• Never get involved in a land war in Asia.

• You can obsess about serving your customers/audience/clients, or you can obsess about beating the competition. Both work, but of the two, obsessing about your customers will take you further.

• Show up. Keep showing up. Somebody successful said: 99% of success is just showing up.

• Separate the processes of creation from improving. You can’t write and edit, or sculpt and polish, or make and analyze at the same time. If you do, the editor stops the creator. While you invent, don’t select. While you sketch, don’t inspect. While you write the first draft, don’t reflect. At the start, the creator mind must be unleashed from judgement.

• If you are not falling down occasionally, you are just coasting.

• Perhaps the most counter-intuitive truth of the universe is that the more you give to others, the more you’ll get. Understanding this is the beginning of wisdom.

• Friends are better than money. Almost anything money can do, friends can do better. In so many ways a friend with a boat is better than owning a boat.

• This is true: It’s hard to cheat an honest man.

• When an object is lost, 95% of the time it is hiding within arm’s reach of where it was last seen. Search in all possible locations in that radius and you’ll find it.

• You are what you do. Not what you say, not what you believe, not how you vote, but what you spend your time on.

• If you lose or forget to bring a cable, adapter or charger, check with your hotel. Most hotels now have a drawer full of cables, adapters and chargers others have left behind, and probably have the one you are missing. You can often claim it after borrowing it.

• Hatred is a curse that does not affect the hated. It only poisons the hater. Release a grudge as if it was a poison.

• There is no limit on better. Talent is distributed unfairly, but there is no limit on how much we can improve what we start with.

• Be prepared: When you are 90% done any large project (a house, a film, an event, an app) the rest of the myriad details will take a second 90% to complete.

• When you die you take absolutely nothing with you except your reputation.

• Before you are old, attend as many funerals as you can bear, and listen. Nobody talks about the departed’s achievements. The only thing people will remember is what kind of person you were while you were achieving.

• For every dollar you spend purchasing something substantial, expect to pay a dollar in repairs, maintenance, or disposal by the end of its life.

•Anything real begins with the fiction of what could be. Imagination is therefore the most potent force in the universe, and a skill you can get better at. It’s the one skill in life that benefits from ignoring what everyone else knows.

• When crisis and disaster strike, don’t waste them. No problems, no progress.

• On vacation go to the most remote place on your itinerary first, bypassing the cities. You’ll maximize the shock of otherness in the remote, and then later you’ll welcome the familiar comforts of a city on the way back.

• When you get an invitation to do something in the future, ask yourself: would you accept this if it was scheduled for tomorrow? Not too many promises will pass that immediacy filter.

• Don’t say anything about someone in email you would not be comfortable saying to them directly, because eventually they will read it.

• If you desperately need a job, you are just another problem for a boss; if you can solve many of the problems the boss has right now, you are hired. To be hired, think like your boss.

• Art is in what you leave out.

• Acquiring things will rarely bring you deep satisfaction. But acquiring experiences will.

• Rule of 7 in research. You can find out anything if you are willing to go seven levels. If the first source you ask doesn’t know, ask them who you should ask next, and so on down the line. If you are willing to go to the 7th source, you’ll almost always get your answer.

• How to apologize: Quickly, specifically, sincerely.

• Don’t ever respond to a solicitation or a proposal on the phone. The urgency is a disguise.

• When someone is nasty, rude, hateful, or mean with you, pretend they have a disease. That makes it easier to have empathy toward them which can soften the conflict.

• Eliminating clutter makes room for your true treasures.

• You really don’t want to be famous. Read the biography of any famous person.

• Experience is overrated. When hiring, hire for aptitude, train for skills. Most really amazing or great things are done by people doing them for the first time.

• A vacation + a disaster = an adventure.

• Buying tools: Start by buying the absolute cheapest tools you can find. Upgrade the ones you use a lot. If you wind up using some tool for a job, buy the very best you can afford.

• Learn how to take a 20-minute power nap without embarrassment.

• Following your bliss is a recipe for paralysis if you don’t know what you are passionate about. A better motto for most youth is “master something, anything”. Through mastery of one thing, you can drift towards extensions of that mastery that bring you more joy, and eventually discover where your bliss is.

• I’m positive that in 100 years much of what I take to be true today will be proved to be wrong, maybe even embarrassingly wrong, and I try really hard to identify what it is that I am wrong about today.

• Over the long term, the future is decided by optimists. To be an optimist you don’t have to ignore all the many problems we create; you just have to imagine improving our capacity to solve problems.

• The universe is conspiring behind your back to make you a success. This will be much easier to do if you embrace this pronoia.

[memesiders]

Part 3

Death x OC Office AU

(Idk if you guys are even still interested in this but it's helping me get back into writing so imma keep posting it until y'all tell me "STOP!!!" Also I'm on mobile so I can't do a "keep reading" thing I'm so sorry I know it must be annoying)

“Do these leggings make my ass look to big?” I stood sideways in front of the mirror, studying my butt. Today was my first official day on the job, and I was nervous as hell.

“Everything makes your butt look big,” Neema answered, giggling. I scowled at her and stuck my tongue out, turning back to the mirror.

“Seriously, is this okay? Professional enough?”

“Ugh, it’s fine!” She joined me in front of the mirror and grabbed the hem of my baby pink top, pulling it down over my butt. “You look great, alright? It’s not like you’re gonna go to meetings or anything, right? No need for stuffy clothes.” I smiled a little and nodded. She was right, but I still felt uneasy. Maybe my outfit was too casual. “You don’t have time to change anyways, it’s almost eight thirty.”

“Shit!” I grabbed my phone and bag, running out of the room. “Love you, don’t answer the door for strangers!” Neema had gotten a three-day suspension from school after the incident, not that she minded. I hated leaving her alone, but she was sixteen and I had to stop babying her at some point, even if I didn’t like it.

“Go kick ass at work!” she called after me. I picked up my small box of things next to the door and said one last goodbye before running out.

I barely made it in time to catch the bus. I paid the two-dollar fee and searched for a seat, weaving through people. A demon standing in the aisle moved forward as much as he could to allow me to pass, his leathery wings barely missing my face as I squeezed by. Getting hit by wings wasn’t fun, I knew that from personal experience. I ducked behind an angel who was preoccupied on her cellphone and spotted an empty seat, breathing a sigh of relief. I plopped down and set the box next to me, checking the time. Eight forty.

It should only take me ten minutes to reach the office if traffic is light. I mentally cursed myself for not leaving sooner; arriving late would not be a good look for me. Amber had emailed me on Thursday to let me know my schedule and tell me who would be there to show me around. She also informed me that this was a trial run. At the end of three months, Death would decide whether or not I really could be useful. I was hellbent on proving myself, though my mission had gotten off to a late start.

I sighed and checked my email but I had nothing but spam and notifications telling me that my favorite items were on sale. Too bad I didn’t have money to burn, otherwise I’d have been excited by the news. I closed the app and checked another site, my mood not getting any better. All I saw were pictures of friends and families having the time of their lives, vacationing in the Caribbean or announcing their engagement. Apparently, my cousin was pregnant with a baby boy, oh joy. I groaned to myself as I continued to look through my timeline, feeling worse about my situation. I wanted to be able to take my sisters on vacation; hell, I wanted to be able to afford to buy them lunch one day.

I wanted to be able to buy Neema all the manga she could ever want, and make enough so Safiya never had to work another double shift again. I wanted to be able to take care of them for once.

I logged off and threw my phone in my bag, trying to ignore my pathetic self. I had a job, and that was good enough for now. I’d be able to help buy groceries and pay bills; the fun stuff could wait. My stop came up and I gathered my things, making my way back to the front. The angel from earlier was still on the phone and hadn’t noticed me. She turned to get off as I was trying to get past her and smacked me right in the face with her large wings. I fell back into one of the seats, my face stinging and mouth full of feathers.

The person in that seat shoved me forward and I stumbled to the exit, getting off as fast as I could. I set my box down and spat out the feathers in my mouth, plucking a few out of my hair. Today was definitely not starting out the best. I grabbed my things and started down the street, attempting to hold myself high. Nothing was going to ruin this, not even what had just happened.

I crossed the street and arrived at the large black building, my heart leaping into my throat. The last time I’d been here, I’d been forcibly removed. Now I was coming back as an employee. Well, temporary employee, for now. I exhaled the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding and pulled open one of the glass doors, walking in. The lobby didn’t look any different than it had the last time I saw it; black leather sofas and chairs pressed against the walls, magazines stacked neatly on glass coffee tables. The floor and walls were made of black marble, as was the front desk. There was a waterfall on one of the walls with a small pool filled with pennies. I’d tossed one in yesterday, wishing for the job I was now about to officially begin. I smiled and felt a weight lift off of my shoulders; this was a new beginning.

“You’re late.” I flinched and sucked in a sharp breath, twirling around. Leaning against the wall was Death, a frown plastered on his face and an eyebrow arched.

“You scared the shit out of me,” I hissed, taking one hand off of the box to place over my heart. “Do you get your rocks off by sneaking up on people?” He cocked his head slightly and I bit my tongue. That probably wasn’t the smartest thing to say to my new boss. “I, uh, I mean…” He stared at me silently, the quiet between us growing awkward, at least on my part. I shook myself. “I’m not late.”

“It’s nine o’ two.” I snorted. Shit, bad idea again. “I told you nine sharp.”

“I know, I’m sorry. There was a problem at home and then the bus-” He put his hand up, cutting me off, and pushed off the wall.

“Come,” he said, crooking a finger. I refrained from rolling my eyes and followed him. He looked at me for a moment and reached out, touching my hair. I jerked back a little and his hand returned with an angel feather in hand. I blushed. “Run in with an angel?”

“An inconsiderate one,” I replied. He hummed in amusement and nodded, turning back around and walking. My eyes wandered his body as I walked behind him, gaze settling on his ass. Nice. I was so caught up in appreciating him I nearly ran right into him when he stopped. “This is Nora.” I quickly looked up as he turned and gestured to the red-haired woman behind the front desk. “She’ll be your coworker and mentor. If you have any questions, ask her.” I smiled at the woman and shook her hand. “Now, I trust I won’t be hearing any complaints about you? After all, you can take whatever I throw at you, right?” I squinted my eyes a little, giving him a sickeningly sweet smile.

“I won’t be any problem at all, Death, you have my word.”

“Sir.”

“Hmm?”

“At work, you will address me as "Sir.” I held back another snort.

“Kinky,” I muttered under my breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, Sir.” He stared at me for a few seconds, a strange glint in his eye.

“Don’t make me regret hiring you, Miss Banks,” he said. He sounded as though he was already regretting it.

“I won’t let you down, Sir.” He let out a breath that almost sounded like a chuckle and said goodbye to both Nora and I before leaving. I stared after him, a small smile on my face; that man was something else.

“I’m glad he finally found someone,” Nora said. I snapped my head back to her.

“What?”

“To fill the job,” she explained. “I thought I’d never be able to cut back my hours.” Warmth spread through my cheeks and I nodded, smiling politely.

“I didn’t think he’d hire me to be honest,” I laughed. “He must love me.” She laughed and pulled up a chair for me, sitting in her own. I gladly sat down, setting my box in my lap.

“The only love the boss has is for his siblings, I’m afraid.” I frowned slightly.

“Really? I saw him with his brother during my interview and he seemed like he’d have thrown him through the window if he had the chance.” Nora laughed.

“Which one? Strife?” I nodded. “Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen those two get along, though they might behind closed doors; I’ve only ever interacted with them at work.” I nodded slowly. I wondered how people saw me and my sisters. We loved each other to eternity, but in public it could definitely seem like we didn’t care for each other.

Maybe that was how Death and his siblings were?

“Anyways, I’m glad you’re here,” Nora said, breaking me out of my thoughts. “That means I can spend less time at work and more time with my little one.”

“You have a kid?” I asked. Her smile widened and she nodded, grabbing her phone and showing me her wallpaper. It was her, a bald man, and a tiny baby. It looked cute, I guess; a button nose, big green eyes and a head of black hair. I wasn’t particularly into kids. Maybe if I had a more stable life and the right person, but I never really saw the appeal. “Cute, how old are they?”

“Ten weeks,” she cooed, staring lovingly at the photo. “She’s a bit of a troublemaker but I couldn’t imagine life without her. I just want to spend every moment I can with her.” I nodded and she put her phone away, still looking like she was on cloud nine. “I’m lucky to work here. Death was very accommodating and gave me more time off than I deserved, really. When I asked to cut back my hours, he didn’t even flinch; just gave me the time I wanted and told me I’d have to train whoever he hired next.”

I smiled; that was really kind of him. Way kinder than I thought he was capable of; perhaps we’d just gotten off on the wrong foot? “Anyways, enough about me! We should probably get a crack on, shouldn’t we? There’s a busy day ahead of us.”

“Yes, we probably should,” I agreed.

****

The week flew by faster than I was expecting. Nora had showed me around the building and explained to me all of my duties. Faxing, taking calls, making calls, scheduling appointments, emailing reminders and updates, making sure visitors were checked in and given passes, keeping the lobby clean, collect and sort mail, deliver mail on some occasions, and so much more my head was spinning. The fact that she had done so much by herself for so long was baffling. No one person should’ve been able to do all she had. It almost made me regret taking the job. The paycheck coming up was the only thing keeping me sane.

“Just three more days,” I muttered, doodling on my notepad. My stomach rumbled loudly, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I winced and curled over a little, nausea washing over me like a wave. We were scrambling to save food at home, which meant eating less than was good for us. It had been messing with me lately and today way no different. I felt like throwing up, but I knew nothing would come out if I did. There was nothing in there to vomit up.

“Az, are you okay,” Nora asked, hanging up her phone. I straightened out and gave her a reassuring smile.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I lied, ignoring the pain in my stomach. “Just a little hungry is all.”

“Well, lunch is coming up, so don’t worry; we’ll get some food in ya then.” I nodded at her, appreciative of her kindness. I really wanted to tell her “I don’t have money for lunch! My next meal is probably gonna come out of a trashcan!” but I didn’t. I really didn’t want anyone knowing how pathetic I was that I couldn’t even afford lunch.

“Sounds great,” was all I said. She smiled at me and picked up another call. She was only on the phone for about a minute. “Looks like the boss wants to see you.” I frowned. What had I done? I hadn’t caused trouble; at least, not enough to warrant attention. I blew out an exhausted breath and pushed away from my desk, standing.

“Alright, I guess I’ll be seeing you in a bit.” She nodded and turned back to her computer screen, typing away at an email. I went to the elevators and pushed the up button, resting my hands on my hips. I was confused, to say the least. I hadn’t raised trouble at all. Well, that wasn’t entirely true; some guy had decided to try and get handsy with me while I was delivering some mail. He’d gotten his nose broken.

I’d had to file a report about it but I hadn’t been reprimanded, nor had I heard anything about it since then. Maybe it was just now getting around to Death. I frowned a little; he better not have called me up to his office to punish me. That would piss me off more than anything else he’s done since our first meeting.

The elevator dinged, the doors opening up, and I stepped in. I smashed the top floor button and leaned back against the metal handlebar, blowing a few strands of hair out of my face. I couldn’t help but be nervous. “Maybe it’s not anything bad,” I said to myself. “Maybe he’s just curious about how you’re doing? Or he wants you to do something for him? Something that Amber can’t do? Fuck…” I shook my head and straightened up as the elevator once again dinged. I breathed deeply as the doors opened, and stepped out.

Amber didn’t even look up when I walked out, gave me the go ahead to enter Death’s office. I thanked her and quietly opened one of the doors, slipping in. Death was against his desk, half sitting and half standing, with his office phone pressed to his ear. His face was contorted into a scowl, his jaw clenched tightly and the vein in his neck popping.

“I’m not going,” he growled into the phone, thrumming his fingers against the desk. “I have no need!” The person on the other end was shouting back at him, I could hear it from my position in front of the now closed door. “I don’t care what they want, they have you, War, and Strife; that should be enough for them!" The person they were talking to got even louder, and I could hear it was a woman’s voice. “Don’t threaten me, Fury.” His face was getting red, his eyes burning brightly.

Suddenly he pushed away from the desk and threw his hand up. “As I said, I have no need to-” Fury cut him off. Death still hadn’t noticed me, so I cleared my throat loudly enough to grab his attention. He looked at me and snapped his fingers, pointing to a chair. Without thinking, I obeyed, hurrying over and plopping myself down into the seat; I had no doubt he was angry enough to fire me right then and there if I didn’t listen. I could hear a few of Fury’s words now that I was closer.

Words like “council,” and “party,” and “pull up your big boy pants before I come down there and beat you senseless.” There was also the threat of dragging him by the ear to whatever party they were all supposed to be at. I nearly laughed; this must’ve been his sister, because there was no way anyone else would’ve been able to get away with saying the things she was. After a few more minutes of fighting, Death conceded. “Fine,” he huffed, falling into his chair. “I’ll be there, but don’t expect me to play nice with others.” Fury had calmed down now too, I couldn’t hear her anymore, but I was sure she was satisfied and probably had a smug look on her face. Death said his goodbyes and hung up the phone, muttering curses under his breath. He sighed and rubbed his temples slowly, running a hand through his hair. I shifted awkwardly.

“Are you okay, Sir,” I asked softly, unsure of whether or not I should say anything. He grunted and looked at me, straightening in his seat.

“I’m fine, thank you.” I nodded, tugging at the hem of my skirt.

“Nora said you wanted me up here? Is this about that asshole on the third floor? I won’t apologize for breaking his nose, you know.” Death snorted and shook his head, his demeanor changing. He looked less annoyed than he had just a moment ago.

“Don’t worry, it’s not about that,” he assured me. “He deserved it, and has been properly removed from the company.” My eyes widened slightly; I hadn’t expected that. I thought he’d just get a slap on the wrist or something. Death clasped his hands together and cocked his head slightly. “No, I called you up here to ask how you were settling in. Anything too much for you?” I frowned a little and shrugged.

“Not really,” I explained. “It’s a little difficult having to remember everything but Nora’s been a big help. I’m worried that I might be annoying her with all of my questions.” I laughed a little and the corner of his lips turned up slightly.

“Don’t apologize; I’d rather have you ask a lot of questions and be prepared than ask none and mess things up. I’m sure Nora feels the same way.” I nodded appreciatively. My stomach rumbled loudly and I blushed.

“I’m so sorry.”

“No need. Have you had lunch yet?” I shook my head. “I should probably let you get to it then. It’s around your break time, I believe.” I nodded and thanked him, standing. The world started to swim and I felt my heart leap into my throat, my vision blurring further. My legs gave out without warning and I fell back into my seat, breathing heavily. Death was by my side almost immediately. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I said, rubbing my throbbing head. “I just haven’t been able to eat much lately.” I bit my tongue after the last word came out and silently cursed myself.

“What?” he asked, concern lacing his words. “What do you mean?”

“It’s nothing, really. I’m sorry for worrying you.” I tried to stand but Death sat me back down. I couldn’t really put up much of a fight.

“What do you mean, Aziza?” I looked up at him, my heart pounding. Again, with the reaction? Why did it make me feel so strange whenever he said my name? I stared into his eyes, my face growing warm, and shrugged.

“There’s not much food in the house so I’ve had to skip a few meals. It’s no big deal, I just have to wait a few days for my paycheck.” He frowned at my words and I gave him a small smile. “I’ll be fine, I just felt a little faint. It won’t affect my work, I promise.” He scoffed.

“Stay here,” he ordered, leaving me. He went to the doors and opened one of them, sticking his head out and talking to Amber. He came back a minute later and sat down behind his desk. “I had Amber order some food for you.” My eyes widened.

“You what?” I squeaked.

“I had her order a cheeseburger. Unless you’re a vegetarian?”

“I’m not, but-”

“Good, then you can wait here until the food arrives.” I stared at him, my mouth open slightly. Had he really just ordered me food? Why? I couldn’t afford to pay him back. Was he gonna take it out of my paycheck? I felt an odd sensation at the thought of him doing something like that for me; a sensation I didn’t know if I liked or not.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I said, trying not to sound too defensive. “I’m fine, and it’s not like you owe me anything. I need to get back to work anyways.” He rested his chin on his clasped hands, studying me carefully. My face grew warm again and I stared back at him.

“Yes, I did have to,” he said coolly. “You work in my building, which means I’m responsible for you. If you collapse on the job then I’ll have to give you time off to recover; time neither of us can afford. Nora will have to keep on full time until you recover and by the time you come back, you’ll have forgotten how everything works. Besides, I can’t have a starving receptionist; your hunger will make you forget things and then I’d have to fire you, and then where would you be? You’d be starving… Again.” I blinked, thinking over his words. He wasn’t doing this out of the kindness of his heart, which reassured me a little, but I was still uncomfortable. Even though it all made rational sense, I still felt uneasy about it.

“Okay, you’ll take it out of my pay, right?”

“No.” I sat up straighter.

“What? You have to; I don’t feel comfortable just letting you-”

“Is it that much of a deal?” He sounded amused. His lips had formed a small smirk.

“Yes, it is. You’re my boss and you’re just buying me food like I’m your girlfriend or something.” He hummed a little and leaned back in his seat, shrugging his shoulders.

“Fine, if it means that much to you, then there is something I’d like you to do.”

“Anything,” I quickly replied, feeling a bit of relief. “As long as I can do something to pay you back.” He cocked his head, a fang peeking out from his upper lip. A shiver ran down my spine.

“The company is hosting a party tomorrow night and my presence has been demanded,” he explained, rolling his eyes. “I need a date.” My eyes nearly popped out of my head. “It’s not a real date, but my sister insists I bring someone; something about she doesn’t want me embarrassing her.” I started to ask why he didn’t take Amber, but he beat me to it. “My brothers will be there, and Amber and Strife are not friendly with each other. Also, she has plans for that night.” I nodded, my stomach twisting into knots. My palms started to sweat and I clenched my hands into fists. I couldn’t exactly say no, not after he bought me food. I didn’t even know why he was asking me; we weren’t exactly friendly with one another. In fact, this was the first time since I’d began working here that we’d seen each other.

“Why ask me?”

“Why not?” I frowned, cocking my head like he’d done not long ago. That wasn’t really the answer I wanted, but it looked like that was the only one I was getting.

“I don’t exactly have the clothing for a party, and I don’t know how I should act.”

“You don’t have to act any way, just be yourself. As for clothes, I’ll have something picked up for you.” This was too weird to get my head wrapped around. “You don’t have to come with me, Aziza.” I flicked my eyes back to his. “I can face my sister’s wrath, don’t worry. I only asked because you seem bent on repaying me.”

“I’ll do it,” I quickly replied. “I’m just worried I’ll embarrass you or something.” That wasn’t exactly a lie. I was worried about doing something embarrassing, I just wasn’t worried about it affecting him.

“Strife will be the embarrassing one, don’t worry about that.” I scoffed playfully and leaned back in my seat. “I’m serious, Aziza, you don’t have to come.”

“I said I’ll do it and I’ll do it.” My words were final. I wasn’t going to back out because I was a little uncomfortable, even though that’s exactly what I wanted to do. Death hummed softly and stared at me, an almost soft look in his eyes. “Just know that I have a hard time keeping a filter on myself.” Death chuckled.

“Perfect.”