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e-adlirez · 6 months ago

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Crystal Fairies (good god)

Soooo in the battle between plans (a doodle for Treasure Seekers and the review for Legend of the Maze) and pure impulse (a deranged rant explaining why Crystal Fairies is bad)

Plans won wait a minute wth--

Well uh this is awkward :D

So Crystal Fairies. I've mentioned it once or twice on this blog. Specifically my crippling disappointment/hatred (? hate's a bit strong but dislike is too mild) towards it. You wanna watch me rant about why it's so painfully mid for thirty-ish minutes? You've come to the right place :D if you wanna peep the insanity yourself (despite my recommendation against it), here's an Archive copy for the mid-ness. Now without further ado, feel free to proceed below the cut to peep my insanity :D

When the book first came out on shelves and I picked it up out of curiosity, this is the first thing I saw on the back of the book:

Where have all the crystals gone?

The Thea Sisters are about to head off on their separate family vacations when they receive a call from Will Mystery. Once again, there is trouble in one of the imaginary kingdoms! A crack has been discovered in a map in the Hall of Roses.

The mouselets head to the Crystal Kingdom, where a dragon has been wreaking havoc all over the land. He has been turning all of the precious gems into stone and leaving a path of destruction wherever he goes. Can the sisters figure out why the dragon is destroying the Crystal Kingdom and stop him before it's too late?

Cool, right? I'm not gonna lie, that summary hits very hard. It slaps, even. Therefore I bought it and read it for myself.

That was truly the choice ever :D I don't regret it (my collector's ass would've regretted not buying it), but it was truly the choice ever :D

I crunched the entire thing in one sitting, and when I finished, I remember 2018!me said/thought, "that's it?"

It's... very underwhelming as a book. Like, underwhelming enough that it's the closest equivalent I have to my Malaysian friends' vitriol towards Rainforest Rescue (or rather, MIDforest MIDscue)(no it wasn't racist or stereotypical, it was just so painfully culturally mid/plain/generic/basic it pissed them off lmao). It's painfully underwhelming, and when you think about the potential and what we could've gotten from it, it would probably piss you off even more :D

An old 2018 post has described the illustrations as "like the DM has had it with the entire thing", but I'd like to argue that the entire book campaign feels like the writer (or DM in this Dungeons and Dragons analogy) ran outa ideas and slapped random stuff together with a rough approximation of assistance from a geology book to make some semblance of a coherent story.

As for the story, that's what the next section is gonna attempt to summarize without dissolving into spite :D

So finals just wrapped up and the girls are ready to go on vacay, when Will calls them through Thea's Seven Roses Unit cell (which she has in the student lounge the girls are in for some reason) to ask for help. Something something, I guess the girls weren't far enough into their vacay plans for this to be an issue because they canceled their flights and stuff almost immediately to get themselves airdropped to Antarctica for a new mission. (Wondering how that works for Violet tho, she was about to go to Europe to ride the Orient Express with her fam--)

What's the situation, you may ask? Well, the Crystal Kingdom's map in the Hall of Seven Roses looks like someone chucked a rock into it, which means shnit's going down :D and the Crystal Kingdom has sent their own SOS to the Unit in the form of a glowy opal that uses colors ✨ to portray its message.

The opal's red and faded so obviously it means things are doing really bad over there. This makes my color theory newbie ass die inside :D

Turns out the Crystal Kingdom (take a shot every time I force myself to type it out /j) is the fantasy world the SRU's database has the least intel about. As clearly evidenced by this sprawling data screen.

Okay fine there are no photos but like, this is still a lot. A lot of info that you don't really need to remember :D

The girls hop on the Magic Schoolbus TARDIS Crystal Elevator and head into the Crystal Kingdom. Their first stop? This island in the middle of bumf%$k nowhere :D

After a bit of trying and failing to roll a Perception and Investigation skill check (and a buncha smol fish T-posing to serve as an invisible barrier at the corners of the world), the squad mopes around a bit until they meet this blue fish that tells them that Joystone Castle is expecting them :0! Soon, he starts leading them down this invisible Wavy Path hidden just under the waves of the Sapphire Sea and leads to the mainland, along the way noting the strong current leading to the Stone of the Deep, a beeg magic gemstone that creates this maelstrom that wrecks things that get close to it but is also feared respectfully as some sort of creator-destroyer force of nature-- oh Violet just popped her nat1

Yeah Vi straight-up falls into the water and ends up being dragged into the current and the girls can't go and get her because duh, that's like swimming into a riptide, they ain't doing that. So the blue fish hurries off to get some help, Will gets impatient after a few minutes and dives in, instantly regrets it but is saved by the Current Carnelians (the only fish in the kingdom that can swim in that current), and soon they ratgrab Violet out of the maelstrom. Great start to the campaign :D

Anyway so first stop is the Emerald Forest, filled with some generic fae ranger McGees-- Iiiii mean Emerald Forest fairies who lead the squad in the direction of Joystone Castle while discussing the current situation. Apparently there's been a dragon flying around causing shenanigans and turning precious gems into stone with his fire, and Queen Tourmaline's been Sleeping Beauty-ed, and so far nothing has been able to wake her up. Speaking of the dragon :D

The dragon's in the east side of the forest wreckin' shnit up and turning trees into stone with fire, and the girls suggest capturing it. Capturing a fire-breathing behemoth with a trap made of flammable tree branches, with the bait being this effervescent emerald from one of the fairies that moisturizes your skin and gives it that glow to reveal your inner beauty-- (/j)

Anyway so that goes about as well as a Grass-type Pokemon trainer challenging a Fire-type gym, and one of the fairies gets KOed from it. Don't worry, she got better. After.... whatever the hell this is.

Moving on, the girls get some directions to the next stop, hear some cues and clues that the dragon "may not be as evil as he seems ✨" before being warned about the Narcissus crystals, or the Rocky Crystal Path. Oh and something about a Blue Topaz and a Lapis Falls or wutever

Anyway so the girls go to the Narcissus crystals, carefully eye Colette-- Vi why did you pop your nat1 again you already did that the first time and you're not even the ones the girls are concerned about for this bit-- make the dumb decision of putting Colette at the back of their line without anyone keeping an eye on her, and thus Colette gets Narcissus-ed and ends up straying from the path. While doing that, Colette bumps into this crazy crystal castle and this knight named Petrus. They strike up a bit of a conversation, Petrus mentions how his knight club (the Knights of the Crystal Rock) are holding down the fort in their area but weren't able to beat the dragon's ass, and then he offers to bring Colette back to the others. Also something about the dragon looking for something--

Meanwhile back with the other girls, everything is in shambles. The girls are frantic, Nicky is distraught because she was right in front of Colette (instead of behind her so I say it's sTILL kinda her fault--), but Colette strolls back over with Petrus's help and everything is fine yippee onto the Blue Topaz

The Blue Topaz has this golden needle up top that works on "no u" rules: you go one way, the needle points the opposite way. That puzzle is dealt with real quick with the help of some seabords flying overhead and onto the Lapis Falls.

The Lapis Falls has the guardian fairies guarding the secret entrance to Joystone Castle, but their gimmick is that they bathe in the falls everyday to stop themselves from "tarnishing", at the cost of losing their memories. The girls deal with that real quick with the glowy opal, and they are soon boated off to the castle's underground entrance at the... Semiprecious Stones Spring.

(You're gonna notice a pattern here, and that pattern is the names being specifically designed to give any dungeon master and fantasy writer a brain aneurysm.)

They pop into the castle, the castle staff welcome them in and explain the whole situation: apparently the dragon's been destroying enough shnit that he's made a whole-ass new biome in the kingdom, the Stone Desert, which has stretched all the way up against the castle's Quartz Wall. As for Tourmaline, none of the wise men from all over the kingdom could figure out a way to wake her up, and the castle staff just found her Peter-Griffined on the throne room floor with her fancy ruby bracelet turned to stone and the center stone of her royal scepter smashed to pieces. Said center stone is an amber "made of pure sunlight", by the way.

The girls peep them clues and think that the dragon must've been there, but uh he too beeg, how the hell did he get into the throne room and out without causing any damage? Anyway so everyone's very lost on what to do-- there's a dragon flying around destroying things and gaining power in its destruction, and the monarch of the kingdom is Peter-Griffined in bed. What do?

Look into a possible solution to wa consult Google.

There is this wise fairy named Amethyst who lives in Light Mountain (it's a big-ass hill of glowing gems) and has this giant Himalayan salt lamp-lookin' ass gem called the Query Crystal, which is basically magical Google, if you could only look up one thing once and you can't use it again. The group is sent out to go to Light Mountain and ask to consult Amethyst's Google Search crystal for advice on the situation.

Oh and if you're wondering why the castle staff couldn't go themselves, every single creature in the Crystal Kingdom has this weird gimmick where they can't leave the place they "guard" or reside in. Like I dunno, I guess they're magically condemned to the life of a couch potato. How did this kingdom survive and drive off an invasion war again--

Also this is the map of the Crystal Kingdom. Beautiful, isn't it? Cartographers in the chat, are your eyes bleeding?

The squad moves out, plays some hopscotch on a Citrine River that seems to be the only line of defense between the girls and Light Mountain, climb Light Mountain without much of a struggle, and consult Google with six questions, one for each person.

Google Search gives its answers, which are:

The dragon's name is Goldfire named after his golden scales (Ebony Dark'ness Dementia Raven Way soundin' ass) and he's under a spell from an evil wizard

Goldfire's looking for a specific gemstone and will not stop hyperfixating until he gets it

Tourmaline's under a spell from the same wizard, and the only thing that can remedy this is the Sweet Awakening Gem

DEAL WITH THE DRAGON FIRST YOU NIMRODS--

You wanna protecc but not attacc? Go to Microsoft Bing the Ancient Amber Tree, it's where the amber made of sunlight is from

You really wanna go to the Ancient Amber Tree in the Eternal Woods to get this goss my guy it's the only place you can get goss this juicy

So the girls head on over down the Night Gems Path to go down this secret tunnel, and they find the Eternal Woods. Which is obviously an enchanted woods with some wack enchanted trees that immediately ratgrab the entire squad, with this GIF to illustrate somewhat accurately what that looked like.

A Golden Elf shows up tho to amend the situation and tells the trees to put the rats down, bad tree

After that little misadventure, the girls are taken to the Golden Elves' ruler Lord Arbor, who turns out to be a (respectful) Tourmaline simp and drops his whole "the Ancient Amber Tree is very sacred I can't let you near it" shtick the moment he hears about Tourmaline's coma, to help the girls deal with the situation and stop the dragon and wake up the queen.

Bing does get some answers that Google didn't: turns out the Sunlight Amber (the royal scepter's centerpiece, remember?) was part of a pair: the Sunlight Amber and the Star Amber (no not Starlight Amber, just Star Amber. Are you crying yet?). These two are very unique... becaaaauuussseee an evil wizard trapped a whole-ass fairy in one of them :D her name is Esmeralda and she's stuck in the Star Amber.

Esmeralda is no ordinary fairy, tho. See, her fiance is Diamond, the Lancelot of the Knights of the Crystal Rock and the right hand of the previous monarch Eliodoro. This evil wizard guy managed to get to him, and Diamond was transformed into the dragon Goldfire and was trapped in the Sunlight Amber. The wizard then set it so the dragon would bust out of his gemstone prison in 200 full moons (approximately 16.1697 years/16 years and 2 days) to wreak havoc on the Crystal Kingdom, slapped it onto a pretty scepter, and gave it to the king while disguised; and the king liked it so much that he basically turned it into part of the royal regalia. And there may or may not be something along the lines of a corruptive influence that made Goldfire do the stuff he did. Maybe. (You're gonna see why I'm unsure later)

Either way, sixteen years after being trapped, Goldfire is now out and searching for the Star Amber so he can reunite with his fiance. He was last seen flying over the Desert of Rocks and Dust, a horribly dangerous place one does not simply go to without a good reason for doing so; so the girls are given a ride to go there. Oh and Will gets loaned this gold dagger that kinda works on... Caliburn/Excalibur? Mjolnir? rules?? It's totally OP and can cut through anything, but you can only use its power by being a big brave boi doing big brave boi things that would airdrop you into the Lawful Good alignment in an instant.

Literally the moment they land in the desert and their rides leave, a sandstorm scoops them up and plops them back down in another spot of the desert: an obsidian Orbeez pool pebble pit that acts like a denser ball pit. Will uses his backpack for the first time in the entire series and pulls out a rope, lassoes a nearby boulder, and gets the group out of the pebble pit.

Except the boulder he used to anchor himself and the girls to get them out was actually a Stone Troll.

The place they drop at is the Stone Trolls' pad actually, and they don't like intruders, sooooooooooooo the squad got captured and taken to their prison in the Stone Circles. (What is this, Stonehenge?)

In the prison, they meet this lil' leprechaun man named Piro, who's been there for uh, I have no idea, and he's given up trying to escape at that point because of how unbreakable these trolls made their damn prison for just in case an intruder strolls up to their pad.

Anyway Piro gives them the goss about the Dark Fairies, these morally ambiguous (cOUGH COUGH THEY'RETOTALLYNOTEVIL) girlypops who wrote too much in their diaries about just how annoying and perfect and beautiful and so damn nice and perfect the good girl fairies are that it turned them evil-ish. Apparently they just captured a dragon with gold scales, and one thing to note about the Dark Fairies is that they and the Stone Trolls feud like they're from Mean Girls.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

So the squad plus Piro come up with a plan: they're gonna pull a prank on the Dark Fairies by casually releasing their most recent catch. Piro casually chats with the troll wardens about the Dark Fairies' recent victory and suggests the idea of the prank to them, and the Stone Trolls respond by being like "okay we're gonna escort you to the Dark Caves to pull off this prank", and take them to the Dark Caves, the Dark Fairies' pad. Then they convince the trolls to hide and let them take care of the prank so they can escape their operation isn't busted right away. The trolls surprisingly comply knowing that they can trust the Dark Fairies to absolutely lose their shnit at this prank, and Piro takes that moment to escape and go back home because y'know, he's bound to his hometown for some reason.

The squad stealth missions their way into the heart of the winding caves and find Goldfire bound in thick iron cables that he can't melt or bite or claw through so he's just left to ">:[" about it. He's initially very "I DON'T NEED NO HELP DAMMIT >:[", but the girls manage to talk him into letting them help after revealing that they know about Esmeralda and the Star Amber. Turns out Goldfire is lucid and sentient, and he retains his memories as Diamond? Why does he have the name Goldfire in the first place? He's even surprised that they know his name Goldfire?? Why does he have the name in the first place??? Why was he destroying the Crystal Kingdom in the first place when he was awake and aware of what's going on and had control over what he was doing????

clears throat ANYWAY the squad needs to get Goldfire out without the Dark Fairies stepping in and potentially capturing the squad too, so the plan is Nicky, Pam and Colette aggro the three Dark Fairies to kite them around their own caves; while Paulina, Violet and Will stick around to put a dent into Goldfire's restraints. Will takes a minute or two to figure out how to use the gold dagger, which he does figure out eventually. Colette, Pam and Nicky do end up getting captured (fr being able to fly as a fairy in general is busted in field coverage </3 /j), but Will manages to get the job done in time for Goldfire to fully bust out. The Dark Fairies lose their shnit, try and fail to re-restrain him, and realize that there're three more rats in their caves that they gotta deal with.

Violet I swear to god these fairies literally have obsidian spears and flails this is a nat1 you can't afford to roll-- Will do something please Vi's about to dieded boi-- Will accidentally trips and drops the gold dagger by accident.

Which turns out to be a good thing, because the moment the Dark Fairies peep the gold dagger, they immediately back down and pledge neutrality (or allegiance, whichever you prefer). Turns out that in Crystal Kingdom politics, Arbor is the gigachad-est of gigachads, and the gold dagger is like, a call card of his almost, so the Dark Fairies are not gonna be messing around with an ally of Arbor that managed to get his gold dagger. The fairies allow them to leave with Goldfire, and the squad flies out on Goldfire's back, yippee!

Goldfire flies the squad over to this white desert where this Circle of Intense Light can supposedly break any and every curse that anyone happens to be unfortunately saddled with. Why didn't he go there right away? Well, he was looking for the Star Amber, where Esmeralda is.

Speaking of which, he has the amber with him. He found it in the Swamp of Forgotten Dreams, the most dangerous and evil place in all of the Crystal Kingdom, and was actually on his way to the Circle when he got dragon-ratgrabbed by the Dark Fairies. Soooooooo he goes into the circle of light with a bit of emotional pep talk from Paulina, and out of the circle emerge Diamond and Esmeralda, uncursed and put back into their normal forms, YIPPEEEEE

So that's the dragon dealt with. Seems like we're all done here, right?

NOPE WE STILL GOTTA GET THAT SWEET AWAKENING GEM FOR THE QUEEN

Now here's the part of the book called "power of friendship incarnate exposed", where Esmeralda proves that she is literally the most overpowered character in the entire series. Need to go to the Jade Jungle and consult the gem's guardian Fang the massive wolf? No worries, Esmeralda actually met him as a smol child and they became close friends! Need to do a trial to prove themselves where they have to go into the Ruby Caves' labyrinth to borrow the fabled Blood Ruby from the Ruby Fairies living in the caves? Don't sweat it, the shy Ruby Fairy they meet and Esmeralda actually have some history together, and the fairy (her name is Rubix btw) decides to help the squad through the labyrinth and get the Blood Ruby to go! Complete with a free ride back to the Jade Jungle! How nice!!

Yeah Esmeralda let them breeze through this last bit of plot.

As for Diamond, man was lowkey angsting about the destruction he caused as Goldfire, and Nicky, Pam and Violet reassure him that it wasn't entirely his fault and he can make things right now.

By climbing a beeg shiny tree to collect an Alabaster Fruit for their trial. Cool redemption arc Diamond, you've got this 👍

The squad plus the lovebirds go back to Fang, and Fang allows them to enter the Jade Village, where the Jade Fairies and their queen Selenite is vibing with the Sweet Awakening Gem. They trade their 1x Alabaster Fruit and 1x Blood Ruby for the 1x Sweet Awakening Gem, and they head on back to Joystone to wake the queen up. The Joystone fairies have a happi reunion with Esmeralda, Diamond is still a little bit ":(" about the whole destruction thing

SO WHY DID HE DESTROY THAT STUFF IN THE FIRST PLA--

Tourmaline wakes up like "what year is it", she gets spedrun through the like, week she was eeping, and after she personally thanks the SRU squad for coming in clutch.

And then cool castle party the squad is invited to yay-- wait how the hell are so many people here from so many different corners of the kingdom didn't you just say that you can't leave your hometowns? Is Joystone the exception here is there something that keeps them perfectly fine at Joystone despite being so far from their homes what the hell is this why aren't you explaining anything book I NEED ANSWERS--

Tourmaline and Arbor get to give the shippers something to raise an eyebrow at, the girls have a good time, and the next day they gotta go home. They get a ride back to the crystal elevator, elevator back to the SRU HQ, get surprised by the little photo album the fairies snuck into Will's bag, and then the girls get a ride home, the end.

Wait what about their vacations is Vi still gonna go to Europe to see her parents--

And that's the book. Oh my god where do I begin :D

Now for the rest of this review I'm gonna be addressing the Crystal Kingdom as Cristallia/Crystallia, the world's original Italian name because if you've seen my Geronimo Stilton 101 guide, you would notice that even in that slideshow where I tried to be as objective as possible, I refused to label the world as "Crystal Kingdom" because of how mid it is in comparison -m-

Anyway so this book has so many plot holes that an old road full of potholes looks pristine in comparison.

First of all, the question I asked at the end of the summary. In the book's second chapter, Vi tells her parents something like "hey uh something came up you might end up having to start without me". Then when she gets back to Whale Island, it's like... they just forgor about the summer vacay thing. They were only in Crystallia for like three days and that's in Crystallia time-- we dunno if time in Crystallia runs at the same pace as the real world's time, so like we can just play by Narnia rules and it'd be perfectly fine! They kinda left out how fantasy-to-reality times work anyway, so they're free to just.... do whatever the hell they want with it! It would've been fine! I bet Crystallia has even less restrictions for its timekeeping since it's not magically attached to a real-world country like Erin and Minwa.

Second, for a world about crystals or gemstones, gemstone and crystal lore are very... underutilized in this one. They mentioned this world dabbles in gemstones, stones, and metallurgy, and those names you saw in the summary are the best they could do?? Yeah there is lore stuff for the Stone of the Deep and the Effervescent Emeralds and the Semiprecious Stones Spring and the Amber Twins and Arbor's dagger, but it's all just a buncha nothing. Just stuff about the gem being [insert thing]'s purest essence, which is... eh.

What does that mean? We never find out :D

Then there's....... everything about the plot. Oh my god.

For one, I dunno if this falls under nitpick or not, but the glowy opal or the "light-emitting opal" as it's officially called is.... I don't like how it's used or portrayed here :D For one, why the hell does red immediately mean "WEEWOOWEEWOOWEEWOOWEEWOO" and having it so its faded immediately makes it "WEEWOOWEEWOOWEEWOO"? It's like saying that blue symbolizes errrrhhhhh the ocean and nothing else. Color versatility, people. Colors can mean different things and even have multiple meanings in the same place. Also it's just used as an excuse for the group to have an actual Crystallia infodump at the start, and boy is it the infodump ever.

The origin of the opal is weird, too-- we know that the opal is from Joystone, but how did it end up in the SRU? The SRU barely knows jackshnit about Crystallia, so it couldn't have been a Land of Flowers situation where both parties know each other and are on good terms. The implication is Crystallia's citizens found the crystal elevator and plopped the gemstone in there to send to the SRU, but how did the citizens find it in the first place? How did they know that the elevator was more than just a weird pavilion in the middle of nowhere? What exactly made them trust the SRU despite not knowing anything about them (presumably, the SRU doesn't know much about Crystallia so it's reasonable to assume vice versa)? Were they expecting someone to answer their call for help? How did they get the opal to the damn elevator in the first place with the whole citizens-being-bound-to-their-guard-posts situation? Did they just pass it along all the way to the elevator? If they did, how did that damn blue fish along the Wavy Path finish the chain and put the gem in the elevator??? Why is this world being so trusting of strangers? Aren't they just recovering from a war?

Then there's the meat of the whole thing: the perpetual fetch quest. The girls are literally just... being Crystallia's errand girls. Joystone's fairies couldn't leave Joystone because of the (INCREDIBLY STUPID) bound-to-their-posts thing, so the girls walk on over to consult magical Google Search for them. Then Google search sends them on more fetch quest stuff-- from going to the Eternal Woods for the extra goss, to looking for Goldfire, to the entire last act of the book, which was literally a fetch quest arc. In the wise words of Alice Liddell from American McGee's Alice: Madness Returns,

"Everyone here has an excuse for doing nothing."

(RIP to Alice Asylum btw, my condolences to those in the fanbase)

I don't like the Query Crystal and the Ancient Amber Tree's gimmick in this story-- this is a mystery-solving plot and you're telling me that your solution to the entire plot is consulting magical Google??? For shame, they didn't even make things vague enough to have a bit of unresolved mystery shenanigans like with the Blue Pearl from Treasure of the Sea -m-

It feels like an excuse to send the girls on their way to where the mystery is-- kinda like the massive plot hooks dungeon masters give to their players-- but bro, this ain't a DND campaign, and we readers like to think that we're not stupid :/

Then there's the obligatory puking screaming and crying at friendship prophet moment when... this

Something something the fairies explained to the girls that that's what their effervescent emeralds are capable of, insert Colette making a remark about the Power of Friendship eugh

Well, at least it's not Violet.

Thinking about it more and come to think of it, this entire plot hinges on plot contrivances. A bajillion plot contrivances.

There just so happens to be a maelstrom Vi falls into that just so happens to have one species of fish that can swim in that super-dangerous maelstrom. There just so happens to be 3(637125) gemstones that have a thing for purity or have some pointless lore to them. There just so happens to be a magical gimmick in the world that conveniently prevents the fairies from solving their problems themselves by consulting magic Google. There just so happens to be a magical Google that exists for some reason-- two of them, actually! There just so happens to be a race of evil-coded fairies that captured the dragon so the girls could find him, and a character that just so happens to be friends with everyone.

You prolly get the picture at this point, the entire plot hinges on plot contrivances that are just way too convenient.

There're probably a lotta other things about the plot that my running-on-6-hours-of-sleep ass forgor to mention, but I think I covered most of the bases I wanted to cover sooooooo there you go gwuh

Might make addendums if I wanna add more, but all in all, Crystal Fairies is wasted potential at its finest, and that pisses me off :D

Like c'mon, this is a fantasy world who dealt with a war in their backstory! You'd think they could've leaned into that more or at least hearkened back to it a little more if they were going to reveal it in the briefing before the girls actually get into the adventure itself!! Maybe a little more lore into the evil wizard who attempted to conquer Crystallia or something!!

But nah, they're just throwaway details that never become relevant in the actual story :/

My spite senses are going off so hard with this one istg--

#geronimo stilton #thea stilton #thea sisters #ramble #book rambles #rambles #ramblings #rant #the urge to rewrite this is insane

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fainthedcherry · 2 months ago

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2024 Human Art VS 2019 Human Art !!!!!

AS PROMISED, HERE'S A POST WITH SOME NEW ART!!!

And also an art comparison, just to see, how much I improved in drawing the 2 bois <3

I'm MEGA tired despite having slept after work, but I WON'T let that deter me from writing a description!! YAPNADO AHEAD;

FINN AND MARCOOO. FINNANMARCO. BEEN A WHILE SINCE I'VE ACOUSTICALLY AND FERALLY YELLED ABOUT MY 2 FICTIONAL MEN WHOM ARE CLOSE TO MY HEART.

I'm SO glad, that in the new drawing, Marco finally looks like the twink he always was, but still enough meat on the bones to look NORMAL lmao, can't say that about the 4 other sketches of me trying to redraw this ref for years. xD (why yes, his wings took forever, why do you ask? /lh)

I'M MEGA SUPER DUPER GLAD, that Finn FINALLY looks like a chubby, wild bastard TOO, OH TOOTHPASTE MAN, HOW MANY HEARTACHES YOU GAVE ME OVER STRUGGLING TO DRAW AN ENDOMORPHIC BODY TYPE. BUT I CAN NOWWWWWWWwwww!!!!!

God this habit of loudly reading out my posts as I type them made me realise what a bad Schwarzenegger impression I do on accident bc I'm overly excited to post something after a month of silence SDKFSKLDG

ONE THING I ALWAYS WANTED TO DO. IS PUT EVERY DETAIL I NEEDED ON A BIG REF. SO I DID! I've drawn closeups of the boys's eyes, I've drawn Finn's tongue so that I don't need to constantly remind myself what his blush and flesh colours were sdfkldsgkl, I FINALLY denoted their heights, so people know that they're tall TALL dudes (and that Finn obviously will struggle w/ his lanky mfing legs, we LOVE giving a middle-aged man heart attacks once he reaches his 40's!!!)

ANNDDD ALSO SOME SIDE VIEWS OF THEM. The last side-view I had of F & M, looked REAL bad. Like, Marco's face looked WAY too stereotypically European (to my fault bc surprise surprise not many African people live in Europe so I had poor frame of reference but I've been fixing it via looking up images online instead, at least it helps but yeah, I have a hard time so far unfortunately💀), Finn's was just... B u c k e t. NOT LIKE HANDSOME BUCKET. BUT JUST BUCKET. IT NEEDED FIXING (fun fact I accidentally made Finn have the most attractive jaw shape for men according to beauty standards and I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW I JUST WANTED THIS MAN TO LOOK S Q U A R E AND THAT'S IT, MINECRAFT STEVE HAS MORE RIZZ THAN MOST MEN OFFICIALLY).

OH YEAH ALSO A CLAW REF AGAIN FOR FINN!!! His old ref looks too cool for me to give up on it tbh even as dated as it is sfjklsdglk, BUT I felt like I needed to redraw them properly.

FUNNILY ENOUGH A PERSON I COMMISSIONED SAID I HAVE SOME REALLY CLEAN AND NICE LINEART. I wish I heard that 5 years ago when I was really insecure about my bad lineart skills xD, I don't use lineart anymore nowadays outside of reference-drawings like these I don't plan to redraw in the next years unless necessary soooo yeah! They're gonna appear much rarer unless I go off and about making more ref sheets of all of my Sonc OC's sfklsdgsdfksdg

This drawing took 5 days to make btw. Not the hours spent on this LOL. 5 days of my life I'll never get back tho bc I care too much about my babies and I feel they deserve proper refs sdfklsdglk

WHAT ELSE SHOULD I MENTION.....HOPEFULLY I PLAN TO DRAW MORE HUMAN REFS IN THE FUTURE INSTEAD OF STAY IN MY COMFORT ZONE OF SONIC OCS ONLY. I for years wasn't confident in my ability to draw humans, but I can do so NOW at least!!!!!!!!!! Even if I'm like...3 years too late to how I wish my art looked back then already dsklfdsg, I have some high standards I need to continue to knock down as my 2024 resolution sdfklsdg

^IT'S BEEN WORKING THOUGH AS YOU CAN TELL BC I'VE BEEN UPLOADING SOME BAD DOODLES AND SKETCHES, BEEN DRAWING MORE GARBAGE AND BECAME MORE INVOLVED IN MY BELOVED FANDOMS. I wanna continue doing so! It was the most fun I've had with art ever. I hope to properly meet more fandoms I left in the past bc I thought it'd be embarrassing to share my passion for a franchise back then. I EMBRACE THE CRINGE NOW AS AN ADULT AT LEAST EVEN IF 7 YEARS TOO LATE ON THAT FRONT TOO. We all age and mature ig but I just become more silly year by year,,, c:

Oh yeah if you also see this btw lemme know, whether the new watermark tiles are subtle enough to not be noticed!!!! I know, watermarks are annoying and nobody likes them, but ever since AI invasions, I REFUSE to put my work online without ANY form of proof that somebody took it from my page. I just want people to stop lying on the internet for cloud and pick up a pencil. It's not that hard smfh. The only time I could excuse AI art is w/ amputees man. That's the only time I could empathise with someone, who wants to be an artist but LITERALLY can't bc they got dealt a bad hand in life. I digress my AI hate can be rambled about some other day, I know I love yapping and writing essays about THAT topic for sure sfklsdklg

I chose to post this ref to my Tumblr first tho, bc I still wanna work on my drawing of Abbacchio,,,, he is quite dear to me and I'd love to put effort into a doodle of him that won't take too long. Like 4 hours or 5 hours tops. I still have yet to figure out, if his cute star shape on his head is a hat or part of his hair. Bc I CAN'T TELL TBH AND I'VE BEEN DRAWING IT AS PART OF HIS HAIR PATTERN BUT I THINK IT'S A HAT NOW EVER SINCE I LOOKED AT MORE ASBR CAPS OF HIM I TOOK FOR REFERENCES. xD

Also another side-note, but I've ofc reduced down the lankiness of the dudes I draw™, but I in result wanted to sliiightly make larger feet/hands bc my Sonic phase will continue to possess me 'til the end of time /hj, if you also wanna lemme know what you think on that, bls do! I am messing about with stylization still. I am finding my footing with stylizing humans sOOO yeah!!!! I hope to some day be satisfied with my artstyle change of '24! So far it's been really rewarding and eye-opening to me and my journey as an artist for my 7 years of existing on the 'net w/ my silly goobers I like to scream about to in the void <3

Once again, tagnado also incoming below bc I dunno how to properly tag my art so lemme throw in things I THINK are relevant to this post sdkldsgkl

See you hopefully tomorrow w/ a lil doodle dump if I get around to it!!!! : D

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waywardangel-wilds · 7 months ago

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Tag Game Tagged by @thesweetnessofspring

Thank you for the tag!

Favourite painter: I actually do have a few there's, of course, Van Gogh -- mostly because I watched many documentaries on his life, and he is depicted as someone truly kind. There's also John William Waterhouse for Circe, as well as all his maiden and knight paintings. Davinci for being unhinged. And, I am ashamed to add, Jean-leon Gerome because his paintings promoted orientalism, which is bad, of course, but I also very much love the colors and the way he painted veils and skin.

Favorite writer: oh, this is impossible because it changes constantly. Right now, I would say Katherine Arden, Suzanne Collins (obviously), Tyson Yunkaporta, and S.A. Chakraborty. Each one of these authors has written one or more books that I've truly loved.

Favourite band: Hm. I actually don't know. I used to listen to specific bands more often, but now I listen to music song-by-song. I think the artist that I listen to the most is Natalia Lafourcade and Los Macorinos. They're not technically a band, Natalia does a lot of solo work, but I love them together.

Favourite meal and drink: OHOHO, okay, this one is easy. I could crush my spicy chicken with potatoes and rice any day. I make it with those canned chipotle peppers and lots of sour cream its soooo good. My favorite drink would probably be either earl grey, matcha, or just mango-guava juice. Let's go for mango-guava 😋

oh! and if you wanna eat something else that's amazing try steak in jalapeño cream. OMG it's the best but it's only good if you go to Latin America and eat it there haha. I have my hands to cook it tho😆

Favourite outfit aesthetic: This one is an extremely specific answer. It's probably best described as seductive vampire meets office-inspired-but-not-appropriate meets early 2000's cooky love interest. Do you know what I mean?

Favourite singer: I can't say Natalia sooo other singers that I love are Mon Laferte and Shakira.

Favourite item I own: I really like my bike rn. It came in from the Netherlands even tho I bought it at a local shop that told me they just had to 'ship in' the one in the color I wanted from a nearby location. Turns out the nearby location was fucking Europe.

Favourite perfume: I have 2 perfumes that I actually wear but my fave is by Bvlgari and its au the blanc a.k.a. white tea.

Favourite possession: does this mean like valuable item? Hm... idk. I don't really own valuables. Oh! I have this miniature replica of a Bernini sculpture, the Rape of Prosepina. I got it off amazon if you can believe it! Someday I want to see it in person. Here's a picture:

tagging:@mollywog @triassictriserratops @tetheredfeathers @everdares @loungemermaid @endlessnightlock @thesmileykate @wistfulweaverwoman and everyone else who would like to join!!

#tag game!

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roseband · 8 months ago

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My VVVIP experience with The Rose (very long):

I did the triple VIP package in Stockholm, Sweden with the boys <3

For the green room tour, they all started with a hug, which was very nice... they're all very short hahaha, but so handsome.

When I first got into the room, Dojoon commented that my top looked like some of the jackets they wear on stage, so I was happy that he noticed that lol (done on purpose!!)

The first thing they asked all of us is if we wanted anything to drink, I asked for a diet coke knowing that Hajoon is a diet coke drinker too, which turned into a conversation with them about how diet coke isn't really sold in that area of Europe cause of the chemicals in it, and how we should probably all.... stop. (I drink like 3-4 a day I have a problem)

They asked why I came all the way from NYC, I mentioned that I had a buttload of unused PTO (which they didn't know what that was, which, honestly... artist problems same reason I didn't use mine, I told them that I finally got a staff graphic artist job (forgot to mention the brand and i wanna kermit cause sammy and their photographer both own a lot of stuff from the brand i work for, and like a ton of other idols lol.... like Eric's whole family is a fan of one of the things I do some art on lol (I should seriously send him one of the toddler outfits I did a bunch on for his nephew lol)), vs the freelance I had been doing for 3 yrs before), asked if I had come to multiple cities or had gone on vacation only, and I told them I was on vacation in Sweden/Denmark.

They don't usually get to tourist when on tour, so mainly just plane/train, hotel, concert venue, maybe one part of the city, which is kinda sad ;_; also it must be so tiring, like Dojoon looked super tired and not the healthiest, so I hope he's okay, he kinda kept his distance from us during parts of the tour and also "brain farted" during Q&A......

But they asked how I got there, mentioned plane ofc, but I made a joke that u could probably take a cruise...?? Hajoon said UBER which made the others all laugh

I kinda froze a bit, it was a loooottt, so Dojoon made a joke that I could just stare at them even and it'd be okay...

I asked them if they were going to ever release the old songs (like photographer, omg, greed, can't let you go) that they used to play on their tours in 2017-19, when I mentioned omg/photographer I told Jae I like his little slap bass solos in them <3 <3 <3 (Jae def still has the most idol'y mannerisms cause he did the classic idol compliment, head turn, heart eyes and hands to chest lol)...

They're planning on releasing them in a special way for broses, and Sammy was thinking some sort of like, scavenger hunt type thing on rosarium. (pls give them to meeeeee <3)

I told them I like those (omg and photographer) the most cause I play a bit of bass guitar, even though it's not my main instrument... and that the VIP package made me want to get out my guitars again,, Sammy asked what it was and if it was guitar, which I was like CLARINET!!!! and Bass Clarinet which is like a super big clarinet that goes up to /here/ *stands and gestures height*.

Sammy and Hajoon both came to the conclusion that it's a "clarinet cello" and "like a cello to a violin" which YES!!!

So when they got the ukulele out to sign, going with the violin joke, Jaehyeong mimed it being like a violin hahaha, and as they went to sign it Sammy kvetched about how sharpies smell lol.

So I was still talking to them about the old tracks, and mentioned I was a predebut fan.... and /used to/ (at least my noggin worked there) run a tumblr page of them, and sammy mentioned he used to be on tumblr and would follow/look into fan accounts, so HELP ME, (now i'm certain they've seen that awful video ;~;) but there's no way that he hasn't seen my acct then and that's big bad energy for my brain now lol.

but for the 4 selfies they first asked who your bias was, and when I said jaehyeong soooo quickly they all made fun of me for how fast it was, but OFC!! bass baby.

Jae and I took the two selfies, plus he almost dropped my phone in the middle, so I have a third really derpy one that wasn't supposed to be taken, and then we had the two with ot4...

Pics:

I wanna know what witchcraft they use to look taller in pics though...

And also... my precious (I have to build my display for it now)

___

So after that we went for the stage tour....

I had initially hung by Jae while going on stage (and he helped me up cause their circle part of the stage was a big step up and i was wearing heels and am a klutz)

But I ended up hanging with Sammy and playing Skylar which <3 <3 <3

So two of the girls who were in my group played piano and were hanging with dojoon, and were both super good at piano btw!! <3

When I first put Skylar on I played a little bit of blackbird by the beatles and Dojoon sang alongggg, and then I played the beginning/chorus of back to me like the melody part (IDK I may slip in the audio that I recorded on my watch later, but not sure, I think I may wanna keep those private for me)

But Sammy asked if I wanted to keep playing (so I didn't get a chance on Juicy w/ Jae but that's okay, next year hopefully) and he showed me the chords to b2m and a little bit of the chords for alive.

It's really hard to play on stage, I'm not a guitar family main, and mostly play by tab/ear, so the delay you get from when you pluck/strum the instrument to when you hear it without the IEMs is really confusing.... so now I totally get why when they had that issue with their sound team with their IEMs they kept having such extreme issues cause it's like off by a half second from you playing and hearing it. (I can really only handle that delay on my reeds lol)

Also, rather than having a pedal board where they can change effects during tracks, they actually have them preprogrammed for each song, so they can change distortion type effects based on which song is in the setlist vs what effects they want at the moment. Which is different than when I went on their stage in 2018, cause they had a typical pedal board setup then.

Also when I took off Skylar, I asked Sammy what's with the heavy relic customs (cause he has two now) and he said that he just likes them..... and I sorta joked that in nerd instrument world that's not ok (even though I know someone who played at carnegie with duct tape on her fucking contrabass clarinet) and he said "well guitar can be a nerd instrument too" and like dude u do not know how weird woodwind players are... u do not get it but ily so much

___

Q&A/Soundcheck/Concert was... normal, waiting for fancams to upload now

___

We had one final group photo with the 5 VVVIPs where they also gave us the signed ukuleles and the posters they were holding backstage for us.

We got to hug them all again and we thanked them for the show.

We technically weren't allowed to give them gifts, but that was the only time we weren't watched as much, so one girl slipped them some black rose pins she ordered thru Dojoon, and I gave the keychains that I drew and had printed/manufactured through Sammy.

Sammy was impressed that I had all them and that the sticker on the back of Brittany is on the back, but when I mentioned I drew them he was like "wait you DREW these" so i'm super happy lol

...and then now i have world's worst post concert depression hahaha

#personal #the rose

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onlyjaeyun · 1 year ago

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anon who said she’d read chapter 3 after the enha concert here!!! once again, the chapter was so good!! i was actually impatient and read it before i started getting ready to go to the concert 😭 yn’s gc with giselle and karina had me deadddd. ALSO jay would talk you through it omggggg 😵‍💫😵‍💫

as for the concert it was AMAZING!!! other than having to rush a little bit to get ready, it was the first concert i’ve been too where everything went smoothly for me. we made it early, got inside super fast as soon as doors opened, got merch fast, and we were able to use the restrooms and eat properly in no rush before the show. even getting home was quick and easy (getting home from nct 127 was an actual mess for me so i have a little bit of trauma) 😭 anyways i think the universe anticipated how much i wanted this so it made sure everything went well.

as for the acc concert, I LUV ENHA SO MUCH ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 our view was right in the middle so we were able to focus on the actual stage too rather than just the big screens and jfc they’re so in sync it amazed me. like even other groups are in sync too but enha’s choreo is so hard and the setlist was so physically demanding it was crazy to me that they’re able to make it seem so easy. THEY WERE SO STABLE TOOOO. enha best performers of 4th gen me thinks!! they’ve really proved their talent since they’ve debuted and i’m so proud!!! sunghoon mentioned some of the members were feeling a little sick cause of all the weather changes 🥺🥺🥺 yet they were all so happy and energetic and cute during their ments 🫶🏽🫶🏽 the production value was also crazy, the coffin shaped screens and stage was so creative tbh even if it’s one little detail. lighting and all went crazy too and made things so fun. you can tell money was put into the tour. i may be biased towards them but definitely my favorite kpop concert so far for sure!! just love enha sm 🥰🥰🥰 i only feel the same way for like two other groups, i’m selective af

as for the members omg HYUNG LINE HAD ME DEADDDD, they’re so fine. as a jay girly i already was screeching everytime he showed up. he just has this attractive aura surrounding him 24/7, oooooh i want him so bad 😫😫 BUT JAKE AND HEESEUNG OOOOOOH. jake was my og enha bias and has been my second bias since jongseong took the number one spot, but i think he’s fighting for number 1 again he’s just sooooo fine i was ready to get on my knees for him. everyone was down bad for him oof. heeseung is so sexy when performing jfc his expressions and energy 😍😍. sunghoon’s face card was crazy and he’d just show up on camera and id just be like how are you able to look like that. i almost passed out during that one move in sacrifice where he runs his hand down his body. jungwon is so cute, i’ve always seen him as my son even tho he’s like only a year younger than me 💀 but he was so cute during the ments especially when speaking english 🥹 sunoo is such a pretty man i cannot believe he’s real. ni-ki’s stage presence is so crazy. a true performer. he got so many cheers during the performances, but he deserves it. that’s my son fr and he deserves the world!!! overall they’re amazing performers, every member really shined through at some point and i’m so grateful i got to see them. i’m actually so close to buying a nosebleed ticket for their second show tn and going to just take in the moment without recording or worrying about what i’m wearing and all. i really hope they go to europe soon so you can see them!!! 🫶🏽🫶🏽❤️‍🔥

another thing i kinda wanna rant about. it’s so annoying that kpop concerts have become about interactions and videos. ik that people already say this on twitter so much but it’s so true!!! everyone on the floor was just recording the whole time. i get it to some extent because enha is soooo close to you and i’m v grateful for those super close up videos at every concert. but even enha said they love it when fans dance along. even tho i recorded most of the concert i kept my phone lower and made sure i was also taking in the concert from my own eyes and dancing alone (basically multitasking lmao). even enha was like we love seeing the fans dancing and having fun, but poor boys cannot see that on the floor (which probably are the only fans they can see clearly with all the lights on them). and when pola love came on and they went down into the crowd you’d just see crowds of people running towards each side of the barricades it was crazy to see from the seated sections fr, i was like uhm 😀😀😀 even girls from the seated sections ran down towards the seated section barricade to see them just a little bit closer, i was like girl….🙄🙄 even on twitter people talk about how it’s always the same ppl at send off and they never move for other people to even just greet enha. when i went to ateez in early 2022 they didn’t have an extended stage and tbh at this time the only fanservice done was during encore. the energy was so much diff and everyone was genuinely having so much fun. i guess it leads to more funny moments and feeds the delusion a little with kpop idols being more interactive with fans now but sometimes it seems as if ppl aren’t there for the actual concert aspect but to get their little moment with the idols. still the energy was amazing during a lot of the songs and i’m still so happy ☺️☺️☺️

sorry for the super long ask, i just had to tell someone and you asked for a concert review so…

love you ❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥❤️‍🔥 can i be 🐥 anon if you don’t have one??

AAAHVDKWNFOENFLE THIS SOUNDS PERFECT BABY!!!!! im honestly so happy and relieved to hear that you had such a great experience, i really hope you get to experience it again asap!!!! you truly deserved that and im pretty sure the boys had just as good of a time as you did 🥺🥺🤍 (and yes (about the anon part) absolutely baby!)

#; mailbox 📬

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ughgoaway · 2 months ago

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https://www.tumblr.com/ughgoaway/762630841639878656/hiiii-acceeee-its-been-a-min-since-ive-checked

LATE to this but omg i have a festival this weekend! my first everrrr. my sweat tour date is coming up soon, supposed to see chappell as well (if she doesn’t cancel🤞🏼), and remi wolf soon as well. and yes, a CAT. i haven’t had her terribly long but i love her sm, she’s so sweet.

OMGGG, FIRST FESTIVAL!!! have the best time!!! I'm assuming it's all things go, and if it is, very sorry for chappell cancelling but honestly I don't blame her with all these stupid fucking people harassing her online. but ANYWAY!! sweat tour, OHHHH IM JEALOUS. I wanna go so bad, I need uk/Europe dates yesterday. and CHAPPELL YESSSS she's insane live, you're gonna have the time of your life. I can't say I know remi wolf, but any live music is gonna be soooo good. also, YAYY CAT, honestly, nothing brings me more joy than cuddling a cat, I'd recommend it to all depressed people.

hope you have the best time ever at all of them love!!

#chatty asks!#anon!#🪼 anon

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wizkiddx · 4 years ago

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...surprise

um okay so here I am trying angst again. this is kind of intended to be open ended bcos might have a part two at some point. im also lazy and has a few time jumps. also if someone could pls explain if you just get pics for the top of these off internet or credit on like gifs or something that’d be appreciated.

Summary: Tom comes home and everything is most definitely not the way he left, nor is it healthy

Warnings: please read with caution esp relationship with food / weightloss, but just generally a person in a bad bad head space, lots of self blame - then next parts will carry different warnings too

************************

Tom had been away for months. Months and months away from his girlfriend, separated entirely by his filming locations in Europe and America; while you were busy slowly and steadily climbing the ranks of your law firm. Being an intense period for the pair, you hadn’t managed to see each other in 2 and a half months. Of course, both go you were used to this - 3 years deep into a relationship between an actor and a wanna-be lawyer- this was the name of the game.

But honestly? You both just kept falling deeper and deeper, making the separation harder to deal with - rather than getting used to it as one might hope.

That's why Tom felt such an incredibly overwhelming wave of relief as he dumped his bags just outside his front door. Even though he was exhausted from the travelling, just the mere act of finally phishing out his housekeys brought a massive grin to his face - caused particularly by the sight of his tacky little keyring from a Moroccan market that you’d bought him. That had been your first holiday. There’s that old saying that before you move in with someone go on holiday first - Tom understood it to mean you supposedly see all the bad and ugly stuff people can hide from each other, a prewiring before committing to living in the same space. However that holiday all he’d learned was incredible you are to him. To his dying day, Tom will never forget the moment he looked over to his left when the two of you were on this night time stargaze in the depth of the Moroccan desert. Y/n had never seen stars like it, the skies so incredibly clear and lit up with an array of magical blues and purples and whites on its sark background. The sight, for no unexplainable reason, had you completely opening up to Tom about things she’d never told a single soul. And in that moment he’d had this sort of realisation. Not about how much he loved her - because that is just the cliche thing everyone says… and also just wasn’t true.

In that moment he’d rather realised the potential. The sort of ‘I’m not there yet but I know you could become the centre of my universe’. The sort of ‘I’m not ready to say this yet, but I want to spend my life with you’. The sort of ‘at some point in my life I’m not sure my heart will be able to beat without yours’.

He still hadn’t quite got to explicitly saying all that yet, by asking you for the ultimate commitment. But he planned to now he was coming back to you.

Even with the chill of the early evening winter air, Tom was almost ecstatic as he unlocked the door and let himself in. He hadn’t told you that he was coming home, you thought he had another two weeks on the job, but Tom was a bit of an old romantic - he loved seeing your eyes fill with wonder as he surprised you in whatever way. Sometimes it was as simple as a note on the fridge, or a small bouquet from behind his back or as fancy as a surprise holiday.

However, this time, though it was only 6 in the evening, all the lights of their house were off making Tom raise an eyebrow as he quietly slipped off his shoes - not wanting to scare Y/n just in case.

Tom had sworn when he’d been on the phone with you the previous day, you didn’t have any plans tonight but perhaps maybe a spontaneous pub trip and been offered with work colleagues. The house felt a little cold as he padded through it, poking his head into every room just to check Y/n wasn’t there. His last port of call was the bedroom.

By this point, Tom was pretty resigned on the fact you were out and he’d maybe cook a meal for when you got back or hide about the house or something. But instead, when he poked his head around this door, he sighed in delight at the sight of a still mound under the plush white sheets. For a brief moment, Tom paused, before tiptoeing steadily round to her bedside. The light was still off but the hallway light illuminated the room enough so he could make out your soft features and the messy ball of hair that had been haphazardly thrown in a bun. Furthermore, he could also notice in the light the packet of painkillers and migraine tablets lying opened on the bedside - which made him freeze. Y/n didn’t get migraines often at all, but when she did Tom knew just how bad they could be. That explained the fact you were spark out at six o’clock, making Tom give a sympathetic smile. He crept back out the room with a little spring in his step, deciding that since he had had a long day travelling he'd grab a snack and join you. Unfortunately though, when he enthusiastically yanked the fridge open the sight was a rather depressing one. He didn’t really know what he was craving but the fridge contents were of almost no use to anyone. The place was bloody baron, apart from a tub of butter and of course his special beers that Y/n would never dare touch. With a small huff though, Tom resigned himself to some bread and butter, before getting ready for bed.

It was probably an hour later when Tom was carefully crawling under the duvet to settle in beside Y/n after the disappointing snack and maybe a solitary ‘welcome home beer’ - it would be rude not to. God was he excited to just have his girlfriend in his arms again though. So, Tom naturally reached over and powerfully yet gently pulled you back towards him - making your back flush with his as you mumbled something incoherent. Chuckling slightly at your apparent annoyance of being disturbed, Tom pressed a kiss to her temple before settling down momentarily.

But something wasn’t quite right, making Tom shuffle about a bit - ever adjusting huis grasp on your waist as he attempted to get comfy. With the migraine medications forcing you into a deep deep sleep you barely stirred and that just made the unease increase for Tom. Because you didn’t feel right. This didn’t feel right. Ever so slowly Tom started to peel back the duvet from your body from his now sitting upright position. Typically, Y/n was wearing one of his hoodies, however more concerningly it seemed to pool and collect around your frame more than normal.

Now, Y/n was never the most petite person in the world - by no means overweight, instead of beautiful curves and muscle. To Tom now though, it was as if someone had literally shrunk you - like a picture on a word document you needed to make narrower to fit the margins. Even in the dim light of the bedroom he know realised you looked pale. Honestly, Tom didn’t know how long he just sat there staring at you, until you sighed a little and pulled the duvet back up to just under your chin.

He didn’t know what to think or do. All he knew was you didn’t look well and that you hadn’t said a thing to him. Feeling so very uncomfortable within himself, Tom climbed out the bed and simultaneously grabbed his phone. He knew he had to call someone, to check that you hadn’t been ill - but then who to call? Someone that wouldn’t judge or instantly worry- your mum was completely off the cards. Also, he hadn’t even given you the chance to explain yet, so really he knew there was only a couple of options who were close enough to him too.

“Hey what’s up?” “Um nothing much, back in the UK though so-“ “Oh shit really! Kept that one quite bro” “Yeh well came back to surprise Y/n” “Oh you're soooo whipped” “Fuck off Haz, have you um… have you seen her recently anyway?” “You're asking me if I’ve seen your girl while you’ve been away?” “I’m being serious. You’re pretty much brother and sister and I’m -I’m a bit worried.” “What? You know she wouldn’t cheat especially with me” Haz’s tone turned less serious, using a goofy accent “ I know too much.” Haz still attempted to lighten the mood, this conversation very unexpected and making him grow more and more concerned himself. “Haz quit it. I’m worried she’s been ill. I’ve come in and she’s asleep with a migraine but there’s no food in the fridge and she’s skinny as hell.” “Fuck er sorry I didn’t realise. But um no she’s been cancelling on us for the past like two weeks cos like…I don’t know said she was just snowed under at the firm so” “But before then?” “No yeh she was fine. Went to the pub a couple times and she always drove so didn’t drink but nothing weird - think she wanted to keep a clear head. What are you thinking?” “I don’t know to be honest mate. She seemed fine on the phone but I swear to god she looks half the size of what she was when I left.” “Just talk to her in the morning? She probably is just stressed if work has been mad busy.” Tom hummed in agreement, half trying to convince himself too. “Yeh yeh, sorry for bothering you.” “Oh shut up mate - I’ll see you both at your parents for the roast tomorrow? Sams got some new recipe I think, he’s been wittering on about it for days.” “Yeh we’ll be there, see you then mate.”

After signing off to Haz, Tom placed his phone on the little table on the upstairs hallway and sighed. He knew he was being over-protective but he couldn’t help it. Y/n was always the one to care for him, in fact to care for everybody int he room and then some.

He’d get to the bottom of whatever this was tomorrow, and so the rest of the evening Tom spent rather unhappily get ready before bed yet again before climbing back in next to you.

///////////////////////////

Tom woke before you, a combination of jet lag and the worry in the pit of his stomach meaning he stirred awake first. Instinctively he pulled you closer and nuzzled his nose into the side of your neck as he slowly began to wake up properly - shrugging off the grogginess. Tom was still really excited for you to realise he was back, predicting you to excitedly hug him ever so tight and then spend the morning between the sheets. He knew you found the distance tough, especially when all your closest friends were coupled off, it meant you just didn’t have ‘your person’. It was almost as if you were single again and instead of pining over an ex, hopelessly and completely in love with someone across the globe. But that just made your time together even more invaluable and precious.

So even with his slight unease at your slimmer silhouette, Tom didn't have any control over the loopy grin that came to his face as you started to stir and mumble something incoherent, all the while (and subconsciously) inching closer towards him. By the slight fluttering under your eyelid, Tom knew you were waking up and so took the moment to tuck your frizzy bed hair behind your ear. Sighing contently Y/n’s eyes fluttered completely open and Tom met your gaze with the most gently of smiles.

However, he then watched moment by moment as your expression morphed for one of peacefulness and content, through confusion, and ending at pure terror. He had barely thought of asking you why, before you yelped, throwing yourself up into a sitting position and backing as far away on the bed as you could from Tom. “TOM... I-you can’t be here! YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE!” “Y/n hey what’s wrong-“ “GET OUT! G-GET THE FUCK OUT! YOU CAN’T BE HERE” you yanked the bedsheets to completely cover your huddled up body, as if trying to protect yourself. At this point, tears were streaming down your face and what truly terrified Tom was the expression of horror in your eyes. He threw his hands in the air and unsteadily stumbled to his feet. “O-okay I’m-“ “GET OUT!!! YOU CAN'T SEE ME GET OUT!” Completely bemused and shocked, Tom just nodded jerkily -already halfway out the door and accidentally slamming it in haste.

He had absolutely zero clue what that was about. But what he knew for a fact? He’d never ever seen you like that… you looked so completely terrified… of him? Tom couldn’t for the life of him work out what the hell was going on, as he paced from the shut door to the hallway wall and back again, running his hand through his hair throughout. He could hear you sobbing and whisper yelling - presumably at yourself. It felt as though his heart was being torn out, seeing you that upset and it appearing as his fault? He was acting on pure instinct and adrenalin because your pain hurt him too. He had no control of the physiological response in his body, making his hands shake and breathing increase in speed as it inversely got shallower too.

And so he took a short inhalation, biting his bottom lip as he knocked on the door. “Y/n?….” He got no response after waiting a couple of seconds so tried again - because he could hear you trying to stifle your sobs. After another two failed attempts he opted for a different approach. “Y/n… I’m worried about you… look, I know your upset right now but I need you to let me know your okay… or I’ll have to come in and…and I don’t want to spook you” “Don’t come in.” It was a sharp reply, with a voice that was cracked and clearly trying to keep It together. “Okay… I-I’m sorry if my surprise of coming home was a dumb idea…I-I’ve missed you.” Tom tried speaking softly, as he knelt down and sat with this back against the wall while nervously fiddling with his watch strap that he’d forgot to take off last night. Again he waited for a response but got nothing, again having to warn you he needed to know you were okay. He heard movements from the other side of the door, making him turn his head to the left, pressing his ear on the cool gloss paint. “I-I’m sorry” You barely were whispering, but Tom could sense you were now sitting in a position mirroring his “You don’t meed to apologise love” Returning her tone, Tom sighed at the end - trying to get his brain to process what was going on.

Y/n wasn’t one to overreact and Tom could count on one hand the number of serious fights they’d had in the three year romance. And even then, he was the one to raise his voice - when she argued it was more reasoned, slow and controlled. Actually it was one of the things that in those moments infuriated him even more - you were just so level headed and sensible. Scratch that, sensible purely in this context - everywhere else you were just as loopy as him. So this situation felt so very alien. He didn’t know how to help you and he bloody hated feeling useless.

After a few moments, you replied to apologise once again, for shouting specifically, and Tom nodded - not that you could see. But that was one of the things Y/n had taught him, sometimes you just have accept things - no matter the context. Accept he wasn’t actually a superhero and couldn’t do everything, accept that sometimes he could be a dick and out of line or accept an apology.

“Can you.. can you try and tell me why your upset? I want to help.” He was trying to be gentle, non-confrontational. But he knew something was so wrong. He needed to know so he could try and help out. “I…”Y/n began, but quickly trailed off, as if trying to formulate the words properly. “I’ve just been ill and” again another pause “and I haven’t been looking after myself very well. I just planned to be umm- to be better when you got back.”

It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t really the truth either, at least not the whole truth. But it wasn’t a lie.

“I’m not sure I understand why your so worried about what I think though?” Tom inquired, as he started to fiddle with the door handle in his left hand - as if easing the idea of coming into his girlfriend without scaring you. In reply, you sighed again trying to put the words together without explicitly spelling it out to him. “I don’t- I thought you’d just be disappointed or-or think I’m reliant on you. I’m not and I can handle myself I just…. I don’t know.” “I love you, you idiot.”Tom chuckled at that, while standing up. “Can I come in now please? I promise I’m not disappointed just want to help you feel better.”

The door opened and no sooner could Tom take a step forward than Y/n ran into his chest, wrapping herself tightly around him in apology. He knew that he didn’t have the full story but really didn’t want to push her, more preferring to just love her. So that’s what they spent the rest of the morning doing, in their pyjamas and watching TV. Quite obviously, she wasn’t really making a lot of conversation, Tom filled some gaps with talking about filming - to which she’d hum in agreement or chuckle along. But for the most part Y/n was concentrating on something else.

The all-consuming guilt. That was what was eating away at her.

part 2?

#tom holland #tom holland x reader #Tom Holland angst

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irondad-not-ironsad · 4 years ago

Text

WandaVision Episode 1 Reaction

Spoilers below!!

I enjoy the music over the marvel logo

But also a 43 second logo feels kinda long for a 29 minute episode- is it just for the premier or is this gonna happen before each ep?

Also I’m pretty sure I’ve heard that there is a title sequence, which will probably be similar in length. Combine that with the lengthy credits people have been complaining about, it seems that the percentage of the thirty minutes that is actually the story is lower than it should be

not that I don’t love a good title sequence! But I’ll take a well fleshed out episode over fancy logos, title sequences and credits any day

now that I’ve got that of my chest, on to the actual show

I like how they have the frame shaped like that of an old timey tv, combined with the black and white it really adds to the old timey sit come vibe

I like these bells

Ok I know I complained about to much time being wasted with logos and such, but i LOVE how cheesy this theme song is and I love them showing vision and Wanda driving tp there house in wedding attire

“A regular husband and wife” 2 seconds late *vision disappears into a cloud of sparkles*.... 1 minute 8 seconds in and I love this

Even there acting is reminiscent of an old timey sit com this is amazing

feel like I should note he title sequence ends at the 1.36 mark approximately, which may not seem like a lot but again the show is less than thirty minutes so it adds up

Wanda talks with a fifties accent: I already love this show

Also I wish I had magic I could use to clean, I’m moving back into my dorm right now and Wanda’s powers would be SO helpful

Also I LOVE the laugh track

Also Wanda’s short curly hair is so cute

I love how neither of them knows what the heart means so they play it off by being like “yeah of course I know what it means, how could I forget? Do YOU remember what it means

Also Vision is literally part computer shouldn’t he have a photographic memory?

Also how old is Wanda? I could have sworn someone said she was 19 in civil war, which would make her like 21 here? I think?? Idk tho, as a 19 year old I don’t think she has ever looked 19 in the movies, even back in Ultron she looked at least in her mid twenties

The face Vision makes when he makes himself human is so funny

Also Vision blowing Wanda a kiss and her reaching back to grab it is the perfect amount of corny that makes it still cute

Also I wonder what vision’s job is

The backing music is so funny

I can already tell Agnes is going to be some great comic relief in a show that’s already hilarious

“I assure you, I’m married. To a man. A HUMAN one!” I know I’ve said before that I was never the biggest fan of Wanda or Vision but I love Wanda in this show

Obv there is something clearly off here, but I feel like I need to mention that it’s clear this is some warped reality. If I had never seen any of the MCU before, I may believe it was just witch and her robot husband living in the fifties, but the little details really make it clear to the audience (the majority of whom I am sure are familiar with the mcu) that something is off. This scene is one of those, where Wanda cannot seem to recall how long her and Vision have been together and plays it off by saying “It feels like we always have been together”

Is Agnes giving Wanda advice for the bedroom? is this really what I’m watching? Or have I wildly misinterpreted this?

Love the old timey lingo

Vision working a desk job is so funny

Love that vision doesn’t even know what they do at his job, I know it’s part of the false reality thing but also lowkey relatable

“you’re like a walking computer” “I most certainly am not! I’m a regular carbon-based employee made entirely of organic matter”

I started this like twenty minutes ago and have only gotten 7 minutes in because I keep stopping to type my reactions. I am going to try to shut up and watch, and stop screaming about every little detail for a bit 😂

Real quick though does Vision just go by Vision at work?

Ope apparently he does.

I wonder if Vision took Wanda’s last name

Or is he Vision Stark-Banner since it was Tony and Bruce who made him??

He probably isn’t called that but I think it would be funny if he was

Love that instead of writing “dinner with boss” or “Dinner w/ Harts” or even just “Harts” he drew a freaking heart like im dying

if my lack of emojis seems weird I’m typing this on a computer which I never normally do and I’m to lazy to pull up the emoji keyboard, so basically imagine there’s a cry laughing emoji after everything funny

“No skeletons in the closet?’ “I don’t have a skeleton sir.”

Yup I was right, Agnes is giving her sexy time advice

“you should stumble when you walk in a room so he can catch you. It’s romantic!” that is the only way I will be flirting from now on

Also I got to say, I'm guessing it’s a fifties thing but those pointy bras don’t look comfortable

So she answers the phone “Vision Residence” Is Vision also their last name now? Does he go by Vision Vision??

They make the best facial expressions

This phone conversation where Wanda think they’re having a date night whereas Vision is talking about his boss coming for dinner is comedy GOLD

also I love the fact that they’re giving us stereotypical sitcom drama while keeping it clear that there are bigger problems than dinner with the boss

Fake commercial break is at 9.56 (these time stamps are for myself I want to calculate how much of the episode is actually the story)

I do love the fake commercials tho! And I suppose in a way they ARE part of the show

They missed the chance to make it the toastmate three thousand and make every ironman fan cry

The beeping toaster sounds like a ticking bomb..... also the little red light is the only color we’ve seen this episode I think

Commercial ends at 10.46

Also love that it was an SI toaster, still wish they had made it 3000 instead of 2000

How did Wanda confuse Mr. Hart with her husband? Not that I’m complaining, her coming out in a robe and covering Vis’ Boss’ eyes is HILARIOUS

“This is the traditional Sokovian greeting? Didn’t I tell you my wife is from Europe?” “How exotic!” “We don’t break bread with Bolsheviks”

Visions pants are SO high waisted

“It’s our anniversary!” “Our anniversary of WHAT?” “WELL IF YOU DON”T KNOW I”M NOT GONNA TELL YOU”

Poor Vision is trying to figure out what kind of company he works for this is sooo funny

Agnes coming in clutch with a full meal

So Wanda needs the ingredients in order to magic a meal she can’t just make one appear

Vision breaking into song was amazing

How did one chicken turn into like 30 eggs

Vision is singing old McDonald with his bosses wife this is great

“Diane!” “That must be my wife summoning me!” “She calls you Diane?” “Yes... it’s her pet name for me” “I’m coming... Fred”

So many clichés in this show but it’s done in such a purposeful way that it’s still funny

Also we have only seen three rooms: the kitchen, the living room and Vision’s workplace

“Well I think tonight’s going SWIMMINGLY”

Mrs. Hart is SO NOSY

But I love that they don’t know the answers

Wanda looks SO disturbed when Mr. Hart is demanding her and visions story, you can tell her mind is fighting itself and it’s so sad

Mr. Hart is choking, is it bad that I think he deserves it?

Mrs. Hart keeps cheerily repeating stop it, and gone is the stereotypical sitcom camera angles and and the backing music is switched for something eery

This is lowkey scary, Mr. Hart Dying while his wife keeps cheerily saying Stop It and it just feels creepier the more she repeats

Wanda looks distressed and vision is just looking to her for what to do, her old timey accent is gone and she sounds nearly robotic as she tells Vision to help

Poor Wanda, she is so clearly going through it mentally right now

Laugh track is back, and just like that the Harts are leaving, despite only having one bite of food

And somehow Mr. Hart is impressed? Was Wanda rewriting reality to make them so?

I know that this is clearly some alternate reality and nothing is right, but wanda and vision deciding to choose that day as there anniversary and this little convo here is soooooo cute

Aw her making them rings and them both saying I do is soooo cute

And vision saying “and they lived happily ever after’ is so sweet but also so sad in context

What is that little remote vision is holding meant to be?

And love the hexagon closing in on them with the cute music playing to end the episode

Are the people in these credits real? Because it lists the start as Wanda Maximoff and Vision but are the rest actual people?

So there is some sketchy dude watching the maybe fake credits so there's something going on there

The actual credits start with 7.13 left and I’ve been told there's no mid or post credits scene. I’ll let them play while I finish this up anyways

8 minutes and 49 seconds of this show is the logo, title sequence and credits. Out of 29.36 total this means only 20 minutes and 47 seconds is the show, which I suppose is standard for a sitcom but I think I felt deceived by it showing as 29 minutes

Also 50 seconds of “commercial takes the show time down to 19.57 if anyone was wondering

I swear tho I’m not all that bothered by the length, just did the math in case anyone was curious like I am.

I thought I was going to really enjoy this going it, but it still really surpassed my expectations and I can’t wait for episode 2!

This is my raw reactions, but I’m sure that as I mull it over more I’ll be posting more about the show

This is somehow a perfect combo of lighthearted comedy and mild horror

I wanna let this episode stew for a while, so I prob won’t watch episode 2 for at least a day

Also what are your guys’ thoughts on this format of reaction? Did I write to much?

Also what did y’all think of this episode? Feel free to let me know what you think of my reaction, and whether you agree or disagree. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

#anna reacts to wandavision #anna reacts #wandavision #mcu #marvel #avengers #scarlet witch #vision #wanda maximoff #disney plus #wandavision spoilers #wv spoilers #mcu spoilers #marvel spoilers

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siramay-the-showgun-dragon · 3 years ago

Text

Nothing changes

https://archiveofourown.org/works/28144008/chapters/77507987

Just to make things clear... (go on) Last night, I was attacked by someone wearing a mask... (yep) And whoever that was--now they're... I don't know why, but now they're laying dead in front of me... (I can neither confirm nor deny this query)

Makoto: what is that supposed to mean.

Siramay: I can neither confirm nor deny this query sorry you’re on your own.

So after seeing the corpse they began to investigate what could possibly have happened and then they tried to tell who it was and take of her mask and then

*KABOOOOOOM*

Siramay: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOOK AT HOW THEY MASSACRED MY GIRL WHY MUST YOU BE SO CRULE UNIVERES

...there was a blinding light, and a deafening roar. The body...blew up. It blew up it blew up it blew up it blew up it blew up it blew up it blew up it blew up!

Needless to say the survivor gang tried to put out the fire, but the damage was done WAS HER DEATH NOT ENOUGH FOR YOU! YOU GO AND DAMAGE HER BEAUTY TO!? Well even so may she still be an angel at first they all thought it kyoko, but they did bring up the possibility of it being the mastermind.

Makoto: Is it the teenage girl Kyoko told me about? The Ultimate Destrawberry...?

Siramay: you still doing that?

Makoto: you can never be to sure, also its funny

Siramay: true

Then makoto told the others about mukuro ikusaba the ultimate des-…. I’m running out of food… destarfruit.

Byakuya: There's another student here, and it's a female? That *would* match the body's characteristic...

Aoi: And that phrase, the Ultimate Des-

Siramay: NOOOO!!

magic

Aoi: Desblackberry--it sounds super mastermind-y, doesn't it?

Makoto: what did you do this time siramay?

Siramay: now no one can say desboysenberry MAHAHAHAHHA.

IT WAS THE ONLY THING SHE HAD LEFT WHAT DID SHE DO TO DESERVE THIS!? …do I even need to answer that?

yasuhiro: Okay, so...the mastermind is this girl Mukuro? And she's a student here? And she's the Ultimate Desdragonfruit? But if she's been hiding here in the school like some teenage Bigfoot...how'd she wind up burnt to a crisp!?

Well needless to say they went to investigate the body, also toko is ok what makoto saw was a strange key on the ground, then bayakuya kicked makoto out to look for the door the key opens.

Siramay: it opens the data center.

And makoto immediately went to tell them, REALY NO CHECKING!? then when they went they forced makoto to open the door incase it blew up, rude and so he opened it.

Siramay: behold…. THE MASTERMIND LAYER!!

Dramatic pose Epic thunder sounds

Makoto: where that come from?

Siramay: where do you think.

So yeah they saw all the cameras and such the mastermind uses to watch everyone.

So they all think mukuro was the mastermind BASELESS SLANDER and that shes dead, eh I don’t care I got a David bowie stash to find and steal then they wanted to investigate the data lab to find out secrets since they think zetsu was murdered.

Byakuya: Naturally. The state of the corpse makes it plain as day. There is absolutely no doubt the mastermind was murdered.

Siramay: ah not clearly they laid down put their coat on top of them and stabbed themselves in the stomach.

Makoto: really?

Siramay: no!

Well anyway they began to investigate the room like how the monodoor was locked and oh look a tv antenna witch they had yasuhiro use to connect to the tv which showed them and on every channel to how confusing oh and look monokuma was here.

Siramay: HES ALLLIIVVVEEE

They also said he’s acting different, but I don’t get that they seem the same to me, must be the madness of isolation.

Makoto: Oh yeah, that's it. Puhuhu... The look on your faces right now is sublime!

Siramay: it is kinda funny.

Monokuma: That's what I wanted to see--the moment you went from hope to despair.. I can say it myself naegi!

Siramay: OH NO I FORGOT MY MAGIC DOSENT WORK ON THEM AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH

Then siramay jumped away in a portal in fear

monokuma: Well, it's almost time to cut off your past so full of hope and begin to DESPAIR at the future ahead of you! I want you to all have way more fun in this killing game!

Then monokuma said other things

This life isn't all bad ya know! I mean, there's stuff you won't like about life no matter where you are!

Siramay pops his head out of a tiny portal.

Siramay: that’s fair

Toko: Are you s-serious? This place is the w-worst...!

Monokuma: If it's the worst, does that mean you're in...despair? Ahh-hahahahaha!

Siramay: man you’re running millage on that word guess it makes sense its all you have left.

I say holding the secret stash of David bowie music I could burn this all right now in their face… no I shouldn’t I could use this later anyway also as a music man the songs are indeed quite good so anyway monokuma talks about how the tvs a clue.

Monokuma: Everything has a meaning, you know... All those hints I gave you, all those tantalizing tidbits about the school's mysteries... Even me luring you here right now... Why would I do any of that without a reason?

Siramay: ah so you admit it!

Monokuma: It was all for my captive audience--to show them true despair like they'd never seen it before!

Siramay: riiiiiggghhtt all right keep your secrets and ignore me not like I care!

Monokuma: I became the director of a despair-based production! This is the ultimate reality show! The best in despair entertainment!

A single tear sheds from siramays eye from being ignored.

Course monokuma went on and on about there evil but then he stopped cause after all if there still alive that means there not the body and if there not the body that means there’s another murder a foot and if there’s another murder a foot that means A TRIAL SHALL SOON COMENCE BUM BUM BUUUUMM

And then...he was gone. Reality was incomprehensible, the truth hopelessly out of reach. All we were left with...was despair. (monokuma: GOT IT! New ringtone!) We stood there for I don't know how long, frozen in place. I couldn't think- AW I COULD HAVE SAID DESPUMPKN GOSH DARNIT! (monokuma: you lose!) (it’s not over till the despair lady sings!). It took everything I had just to keep myself standing upright.

Yasuhiro: I don't understand any of this... What's "deswatermelon entertainment"? (monokuma: don’t start this again!) (to bad!) And...how is he still alive!?

Also byakyua thinks kyoko is dead cause his blatant and disrespectful slander of saying mukuro is the mastermind SLANDER I SAY! Course makoto refuses to believe it WITCH IS FAIR AS ITS AS FALSE AS ZETSUS HAIR COLOR and so the investigation begun, and so makoto went back to the garden, he saw fragments a knife, also makoto got all worried about murdering them awe no baby boi you didn’t do that then they checked the chickens.

Siramay: THERES NOT FIVE ANYMORE

I count four chickens.

Siramay: HINA YOU ATE A CHIKEN AND DIDN’T SHARE

Makoto: really?

Siramay: no

Then he recalled how the body looked before the boom, then they talked about the body was found, and byakua was suspicious about makoto thinking he’s the killer witch is not true at all, though I will admit it’s a fair point BUT MAKOTO IS AN ANGEL HE’D NEVER KILL and then makoto looked closer at the body..neeeeeerrr

Siramay: sad dragon noises

Makoto: … yes?

Siramay: look at those fake nails shed never where them she was forced to she couldn’t even have the honor of dyeing as herself what sick twisted monster would do that to a girl sob.

Makoto also noticed the wolf tattoo.

Siramay: yee I say she liked wolfys makoto but uh it had a more bisunessy reason but can’t say but shes a good girl she deserved head pats and love I hope she gets all the love in heaven, because she never got it here sob.

The upper half of the body got set on fire in the explosion, so it's totally blackened... Also, the top half of the body is wet.

SOB

Siramay just kinda stayed looking at the body in sadness.

Makoto also saw a tarp in the toolshed, then makoto wanted to investigate kyokos room, but first he realized the thing about the bomb but then they were allowed to go to kyokos room saw a woodblock key, then after talking to byakuya he recalled kyokos last will and testament sadly instead of giving makoto money or at least a boot to the head all it said was “under the sheets” in which makoto found a note about mukuro.

Siramay: aaayyy that’s my giiirrllll.

“Name: Mukuro Ikusaba

Sex: Female

The Ultimate Soldier (so coooool)

Although small for her age, she was a military specialist trained in every weapon type imaginable. (she could crush your skull with her thighs!) She showed an interest in the military from childhood and soon found herself completely absorbed in it. In elementary school, she won a survival game tournament and began writing for military magazines. (soooo cooool oh I already said that…well its true)

Just before entering middle school, while she and her family were on vacation in Europe (Ireland specifically shes half Irish don’t ya know makoto)...she disappeared. The story of a young Japanese girl being kidnapped quickly took over Japanese media outlets (her grandfather died! But he had it coming). An intense international investigation turned up no information, and she was never found. (she must be smart to stay hidden or at least I think so clever girl but never appreciated)

However, she reappeared in Japan three years later (could have sworn it was 4), alone and completely unannounced. She revealed that she had joined a mercenary group known as Fenrir for those three years. She insisted that she hadn't been kidnapped, that she'd received battle training of her own volition. However, she never revealed why she decided to return home when she did.” (…its complicated you know hard to explain with parents dying and your father figure telling you not to give up on family and siblings who may or may not have turned super evil while you where gone….. I don’t wanna talk about it)

Then byakua said how he recognized Fenrir

Siramay: oh yeah I know about it to!

Makoto: can you say anything about it.

Siramay: awe yeah its multiverseal! I’ve heard in many words I traveled to of the infamies Lycan family and there gang of fighters who follow the wolf loving war and all that heard about them all the way back in the 1800s with the great vvulf from the DD dimension though maybe they are older then even that and of course I can’t forget that cunning Worriz and the twisted gang in the 1980-2000s nearly killed a good friend of mine that guy did, though in your time in this world it was run by a Mr. Wayne Lycan he was cool a bit on the scrawny side though that’s why he worked twice as hard to prove the worth to his father that he could leady the business named ATM to Fenrir how fancy oh he was like the father mukuro never had and always wanted though I do have to question how sensible the man was to just allow a 10-11 year old into a mercenary gang but he did care about her he cared about her greatly he was so proud to see her fight and be victorious in battlefield… he must be just as sad as I about her death and what that cruel excuse for a sister did to her he said it himself he said “if anything happens to mukuro I’ll kill everyone on the battlefield then myself” so if he wasn’t already dead I assure he’s dead now

Makoto: how do you know all this

Siramay: I know everything makoto and also nothing at all.

And then monokuma showed up and was all mad about rule breaking and making a fuss about it.

Monokuma: Of course I am! A proper school life is built on the dedication to organization and order! Which is why even I, as the school headmaster, have to follow the regulations myself!

Byakuya: Oh? So you're saying you have to follow your own rules, as well?

Monokuma: Absolutely! I can't have you complaining about how unfair it all is, now can I?

Siramay: riiiigggghhhttt

Makoto: ?

Siramay: I’m just saying makoto there are two types of villains, villains who will literally kill themselves when their world order is broken and villains who will fuss about it but when the time comes will break the rules as easily as they made them, now just look at monokuma and everything he’s done and ask yourself which type he looks like

Then monokuma admitted how there where 16 students and he is one of them then he also revealed kyokos secret about her KFH (kyoko fried hands)

Monokuma: You know how she wears those stupid gloves day in, day out, all the time? Well, don't tell anyone I told you, but... She wears them to cover a bunch of hideous scars that she doesn't want anyone to see!

Makoto: ...What?

Monokuma: Puhuhu. Okay, NOW that's all you get! Ahh-hahahahaha!

And then they left

Siramay: how rude talking about kyokos hand scars I bet you wouldn’t like it if I talked about your back scars.

Makoto: they have scars?

Siramay: yeah but it aint like kyokos that come from burning hers come from FLAELLATION!!

Siramay pulls out said tool above you know classic family abuse I would talk about it, but I feel its cliche, so I don’t wanna be rude.

Makoto: they used that!?

Siramay: oh no her parents used more a basic stuff like riding crops and their fist though he did have big fist like bigger than a mug I think, there was this one tool, but I can’t recall the name OH WAIT!

THE SJAMBOK! these things hurt like death…. but as I was saying oh yeah that old whip was more used by good old grandpa damian, he was the old Irish one I was talking about he was a flagellant and a sado-masochist, so he was delusional but still she was just 10.

Makoto: TEN- makoto covered his mouth as not to react deeply.

Siramay: at least he never got to use the metal ones like this thing!

makoto almost fainted at the thought of what siramay brought up but siramay with a portal grew another hand to catch makoto.

eh its ok makoto whats a little mental damage between friends eh? After all scars may be forever (unless you get scar removal surgery witch they possibly did) but psychological damage will last even longer

anyway with monokumas info makoto realized the corpse can’t be kyoko, cause clearly me constantly calling the course mukuro was totally not valid proof…. Then again mukuro does mean corpse in Japanese maybe makoto just though I was being weird again, but no he would know her name yes! eh I digress anyway byakuya talked about mukuro and kyoko honestly it was pretty confusing.

Byakuya: We thought Mukuro, the Ultimate Despair, was the mastermind's true identity.

Makoto: don’t say that word!

Byakuya: why?

Monokuma getting aroused in the background.

Byakuya: But if that's true, Monokuma's behavior makes no sense. Why would the mastermind go out of their way to reveal themselves to us?

Makoto: That's a good point...

Well anyway they went to investigate the dojo to look at the locker and there where arrows and tape then they went to the archive to learn more about mukuro.

Yaaahhh more mukuro lore

Byakuya: "Fenrir is an elite fighting unit base out of the Middle East (it’s always the middle east why can’t they spice it up by fighting somewhere like Canada) (makoto: Canada really?) (I couldn’t think of anything but man that’s far from Europe don’t yah think. I think they were on draft world tour you know how it is). Unlike military contractors, they are a fierce group of soldiers who engage in direct combat. (fierce wolfy woos) They claim that a single member is equivalent to an entire company of regular soldiers. Just like Fenrir, the Wolf of Ragnarok, their mere presence is enough to strike fear into any enemy. They have been involved in countless military battles and operations, most of which are highly classified. (ou like the great battle of the heart of darkness a literal Eldredge abomination… wait that wasn’t them they were just commissioned by the cultist who found it oh, but they were defeated by the team who did defeat it I can still remember how they sliced vvulf in half)

"However, some time ago, they completely ceased all activity. At present, their continued existence cannot be confirmed. There are unconfirmed reports that the key members of the group were all neutralized. Rumors indicate they were killed to keep them from revealing the many state secrets they'd acquired. Some, however, believe there was mounting internal tension within the group, and they simply imploded." (WAYNE NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) ……(PLEASE DON’T BE WHAT I THINK HAPPENED) (makoto: what do you-) (IM NOT SAYING!! As long as I don’t think it happened it didn’t happen, no no… oh no I can see nonononononoon! MAKOTO DISTRACT ME)

Makoto: ...

Siramay: at least Wayne and mukuro can reunite in heaven…

Byakuya: ...What is it?

Makoto: This all just sounds like some kind of...alternate reality.

Byakuya: Well, it isn't. This is *our* reality, the *only* reality (that’s not exactly true!). These people are part of our world. Their battlefields aren't much different from our lives here. An unpredictable, unimaginable world...

Also makoto realized the Fenrir people getting tattoos and that mukuro had a wolf tattoo and then it was time for the class trial, so as makoto went to the red doors siramay…started to beat box.

Siramay: bum bum bum bum bum bum bum a body’s been discovered a person has been murdered one of your fellow students is dead there’s a giant pool of blood and your names dragged through the mud gotta prove who is messed up in the head.

Well despair starts coming and it don’t stop coming don’t break the rules or you better get running dosent make sense why you’re trapped in here not what you expected from a new school year.

you’ve called it quits you’ve had enough so whats wrong with picking the knife up you’ll never leave if you don’t kill you’re gonna die if you just chill.

hey now! you’re the blackened! time for trial how sad!

Hey now! look what happened you got found out to bad.

And not its punishment tiiimmmee killers have to pay for their criimme.

Eh? Eh?

Makoto: …that was actually pretty good.

Siramay: YEAAHHH

Well when makoto got in the elevator everyone assumed him and byakuya where being gay (NO THEY WENRT) yes they were makoto, and so they where waiting for the elevator to go down… but go down it did not, it was a little over ten minutes, then monokuma showed up to explain the predicament, and then, like a hero in the climax of the movie, like a great explosion in a mine KYOKO WAS HERE ALLLIIIIVVVVEEEE even if yasuhiro thought she was a ghost so the others went to the elevator but makoto had a heart to heart with kyoko first, where makoto ask what kyoko was doing and she says how she was on the second floor dorms revealing that the key she had was a master key that could open any door in the school but they didn’t have much time to go further as they had to go to the trial, then kyoko sounded suspect but that ok cause it was trial time

Being the last one left, I stepped into the elevator. And the doors slid shut... This time, the clunking was loud enough to hurt my ears, and the dread began to consume me once again... I can't imagine ever getting used to the mental pressure that comes with preparing for an execution. In that dusky darkness, nobody said a word. We just stood there, silent, and still. After an immeasurable period of time, the doors opened without warning... A dazzling light penetrated every depth of my eyes. But it wasn't the illuminating light of hope... It was the blinding light of descarrot.

Makoto: OH SNAP NO IT WAS THE BLINDING LIGHT OF A FASHION DISASTER OH KODAKA! WHO DID YOUR HOME DECORATING? MY WORD IVE SEEN ANIMACROSSING HOUSES BY PEOPLE WITH BLINDFOLDS ON THAT LOOK BETTER THEN THIS

Siramay: I’ve heard of eyestrain but my word.

Monokuma: …rude Ahh, I've been waiting for this! I feel like it's been forever since we got together like this... The time for pointless jokes and jabs has passed. Let's get on with the show!

And so, the curtain opened for the fifth time... A deadly judgment... A deadly deception... A deadly betrayal. A deadly riddle, a deadly defense, and deadly faith... A deadly...class trial...!

SOOO COOOLL so the trial started.

Started with hagakure saying kyoko was dead and the one on podium was a GHOOOOOSSSTTT hahahahahahah thankfully makoto proved that argument wrong as they now needed to identify the real body victim …not thinking about it I guess that’s why he needed other not me proof to prover her identity he can’t just say “its mukuro cause the magic dragon only I can see told me so” hahahah they think he’s crazy so they talk about her tattoo.

Toko: Her master m-must have made her get it...to be like, "You're my *censored* ."

Crying cause shes not entirely wrong in a sense

But yeah so they all realized the corpse is mukuro.

Monokuma: Ah-ha-ha-ha! You sound surprised! But you're absolutely right! Yes, indeed! The trial this time is to solve the murder of Mukuro Ikusaba!

Siramay: SHE WAS TOO GOOD FOR THIS WOOOORRLLLDDD

Anyway

Aoi: But I mean...being the Ultimate Des-

Makoto: HINA NO!

Aoi: uh des…lettuce seems like a pretty mastermind-y title to me... sorry we’ve been out of fruits we have to go with vegetables now.

Monokuma: I don’t like this idea that’s spreading…

Byakuya: : Maybe we shouldn't have been thinking of her as the Ultimate Despair (makoto: EGGPLANT) in the first place.

Monokuma: I heard it~

Needless to say as they were talking about masterminds and all that and how mukuro wasn’t the big bad monokuma wanted to avoid the subject and move on to the fact the only 2 subjects that could have killed mukuro are kyoko and makoto, despite neither doing it but I digress so makoto had to clear his name so he explained cause the body’s dry (besides the water outage) that it had to have happened during 7:30-9 course that leaves kyoko without an alibi but kyoko wants to live to solve the school mystery says it’s a trap by monokuma (witch it is) but byakuya does state she had a motive

Byakuya: She thought Mukuro was the Ultimate Des-(makoto: GOARD). In other words, the mastermind behind everything... So she killed her to try and put a stop to all this. Isn't that right, Kyoko? But you made one catastrophic mistake--Mukuro wasn't the mastermind at all.

So in this scenario kyoko opts to bunk makotos alibi unintentionally pining blame on him

And thus began the game OF BLACNKED TENIS where makoto and kyoko kept throwing the title of blackened back to one another stating why they went the killer framing the other in the process crazy right?

Like saying the blood on the body was actually chicken blood to make it look wet when it could have been dry

Makoto: wait why did they have to stab a chicken for the blood couldn’t they just stab the body?

Siramay: blood coagulates sometime after the body dies though.

Makoto: well how long?

Siramay: uhhh I donno, OH like at least 10 hours or so

Makoto: that would have been plenty of time!

Siramay: … cringing cause he knows mukuro was dead for over a month so her blood would be long past coagulated but unable to tell makoto cause if he revealed that he would be spoiled for knowing something is suspicious about the trial right.

So they continued with this argument and then kyoko brings up the ultimatum that they couldn’t have had the dojo key cause the dojo key was in their room and they couldn’t get in their room cause byakua took their key, but makoto knew otherwise since she had the master key and so makoto was left with a huge choice call kyoko out or keep it to himself.

Makoto: siramay what should I do

Siramay: well I can’t say due to the universe but what I can tell you is to follow your heart for you are an angel and your word will always be divine even if not at first glance.

Makoto: what does that mean.

Siramay: you’ll soon find out.

...I've made my decision. I have to believe in Kyoko. There's no way she would kill someone! There has to be some secret here, something that has to do with the mastermind's trap that Kyoko mentioned.

But sadly by holding that info the suspicion crashed down finally on him and stayed there despite makotos please that something is wrong but monokuma wouldn’t have it and ended the trial.

Monokuma: Now, who will be chosen as the blackened? Will you make the right choice, or the dreadfully wrong one?

Makoto: Hey, hold on! siramay! Is this supposed to happen?

Siramay: …

Siramay just sat in silence looking at makoto.

Monokuma: What's it gonna be? What's it gonna beeee!?

And so makoto was deemed guilty.

Makoto: What...? You think *I'm* the killer...?

Yasuhiro: Sorry, man...

Aoi: Yeah, s-sorry...

Toko: It's all your f-fault...!

Byakuya: ...

Makoto: Everyone...you're wrong...! You've got it all wrong! I didn't do it!

Monokuma: Good job, everyone!

Makoto: G-Good job...?

Monokuma: Yeah. They got it right!

Makoto: N-No, I know that's not true... None of this makes any sense... This whole trial doesn't make any sense!

Monokuma: It makes perfect seeeeEEEENNNSSSSSEEE!!! It's the same as always! It's just like all the other class trials! And I'm gonna end it the same way! It's time for your heart pounding, positively thrilling punishment!

Makoto: W-Wait! Why do I--!? siramay!

But siramay just looked at him and started to sing.

[SIRAMAY] Poor, poor Makoto, what'cha gonna do? Things look bad for you, hey, what'cha gonna do? Poor, poor Makoto, what'cha gonna do? Things look bad for you, hey, what'cha gonna do?

Makoto: ... Kyoko--!

Kyoko: I don't expect you to forgive me. I know this is all my fault...

Makoto: Kyoko...?

Monokuma: Let's give it everything we've got! It's...PUNISHMENT TIIIME!

And so he was dragged off to his execution and I could hear him beg.

SIRAMAY! SIRAMAY PLEASE HELP ME SIRAMY? SIRAMAY!!

…

youtube

[SIRAMAY] Why the struggle, why the strain? Why make trouble, why make scenes? Why go against the grain, why swim upstream? It ain't, it ain't, it ain't no use You're bound, you're bound, you're bound to lose What's done, what's done, what's done is done That's the way the river runs

So why get wet? Why break a sweat? Why waste your precious breath? Why beat your handsome brow?

Nothing changes.

Nothing changes, nothing changes Anyhow…

And at the final moment when it seemed all hope was lost for makoto alter ego showed up and opened the trash shoot saving makoto just as expected thank goodness its still sad to see though did have to scream it truly scared me to death I’m glad he’s safe though.

[SIRAMAY] Oh now survivors, how low can you stoop? You make a sordid group, hey, how low can you stoop? Poor, poor makoto, sent off to his grave Situation's stay, hey, sent off to his grave.

And so siramay jumped down after him.

#danganronpa #the tale of depravity #siramay #makoto naegi #monokuma #mukuro ikusaba

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villanellefc · 4 years ago

Note

Love ur blog for KE and soccer. PLEASE info dump to be about this super league shit I wanna knowwwww

this is soooo funny i’m sorry i haven’t posted abt ke in years but i’ll give u the same ted talk i gave some of my mutuals ❤️ also bare with me this is a pretty informal and lazy description and also a day old and i haven’t read over it. in the end tho the main takeaways are capitalism is evil and billionaires should be hunted for sport. oh and also important: most clubs r actually all pulling out now so lmao

so for u to know what’s going on u need like some background knowledge of how football works in europe

in the usa there are the top leagues for the different sports. mls, nba, mlb, nfl, nhl, etc. and the same teams play in those leagues every single year. sometimes u get expansion teams and sometimes teams go under. but it doesn’t work like that with soccer anywhere else in the world

in the rest of the world, each country has its own leagues (domestic league) and it works like a pyramid. for example, in england the top flight is the Premier League and the league below it is the championship and below that is league 1 and then below that is league 2 etc. and this is the same for every country, even the small ones.

another feature of these domestic leagues that is different from the usa is the relegation and promotion system. so if u finish in the bottom 3 of the premier league, u move down to the lower league the next season (relegation) and if you finish in the top of the lower league, u move up a league the next season (promotion). this means that it’s not always the same teams in the same league every year. this stresses out owners cause if your team does bad for a season, you drop a league and you’ll make significantly less money if you drop down a league. but it’s also great cause it means every team has a chance to play in the biggest league if they do well enough, like there’s always the possibility of going up a league, there’s always something to strive for.

aside from domestic football, there’s also a continental tournament that goes on all year for the teams that do the best in their domestic leagues. that’s the champions league. the winner of the champions league each year is basically referred to as the best team in europe. there’s also the europa league which is like the champions league but for the teams that just didn’t quite make the champions league or have dropped out early in the competition (like man united lol). this competition is run by UEFA (the european football governing body).

this isn’t too important but to qualify for the champions league, it depends on your placement in your domestic league the previous season and countries with bigger leagues get more qualifying spots. so the top 4 in the premier league go to the cl but if u finish first in bulgaria, you might still have to go thru a lot of qualifying rounds first before making it to the group stage

so what happened was the owners of 12 of the biggest (not best) teams in europe (6 from england, 3 from italy, 3 from spain) decided to break away and form their own super league like the leagues for sports in the usa. this is bad for many reasons

so first of all it was fully done with the idea of making more profit. none of the staff or fans of any of the clubs were consulted on it before, and it was rlly secretive it was just the billionaire owners who decided on it

it would make them more money cause sponsorships would go up, and they wouldn’t be threatened with relegation, and it’d be a “big match” every match

originally the teams said they would continue to play in the domestic leagues but there was so much backlash that the 12 teams r banned from playing in their domestic leagues, uefa banned them from the champions league, and fifa banned the players playing in it from representing their national team. so players couldn’t play in world cups

also this means that other teams in the domestic leagues couldn’t have the chance to play in the biggest league no matter how well they do. it was always if u do well domestically, you have the option to play in the champions league in europe and against the best teams and that can’t happen anymore

#look i could talk abt it for longer but here u go #asks

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hockeybabestars · 5 years ago

Text

New Year, Same Us - Auston Matthews - Eight

a/n: im going out of town for a football game/visiting friends this weekend and i’m not bringing my computer so i thought i would post this early for yall!! thank you to every person who has been keeping up with this story and liking or reblogging! you mean so much to me! i hope yall enjoy the longest chapter of new year same us, to make up for the shortest in chapter seven (yikes!) we’re almost through with this story yall! we have a lil flashback in this chapter! (in italics) and finally have the prompt that started it all! (in bold)

September 18, 2018

Austons P.O.V

“Aus?!” She yelled from her room. “Are you almost ready?”

I had been ready for 20 minutes and was sitting on our couch waiting for her to finish up. “Yeah I’m ready now!” I rolled up my sleeve to get a better look at my watch, “are you almost ready? It would look really bad if my plus one made us late.” I snicker as I heard her heels clack, the light to the hallway going off simultaneously.

I got up from the sofa as she entered, and boy, was I going to have to keep an eye on her tonight. She looked stunning. The light pink dress cinched her curves in all the right places, and her hair was in waves. She was like something out of a dream. She didn’t bat an eye as she went to the kitchen looking for the keys. I came up behind her and dangled them in her face, and before she could snatch them I pulled them away. She reached for them again but I held them behind my head, and suddenly she was all too close to my face. I glanced down at her lips, wanting to kiss them badly but then I quickly diverted back up to her eyes. “You look stunning (Y/N).”

I could feel her breath hitch against my own lips and the minty flavor of her gum hit my nose before she smiled genuinely, her signature smile where her lips tilted a little crooked at the corners, and it made my heart flutter. “Thanks Aus, you don’t look too bad yourself.”

She stepped away and we did a once over of our apartment, making sure we didn’t forget anything. I grinned and opened our front door for her, watching her walk as she went. I locked the door and we went down the hall towards the elevator, “just out of curiosity,” she toyed with a strand of her hair, eyes flicking up to me through long lashes, “how much did your suit cost?” She was smirking at me and I couldn’t resist really. “Wanna bet on it?” The elevator dinged for us to get on and she rolled her eyes, “do I even have a choice?”

“No use fighting at this point babydoll.” I flashed her my signature smirk as the floor indicator ticked down.

“Does that really work on girls?” She played.

“Apparently not on you.” I laughed but deep down I kinda hoped it did.

“It’s because I know you better than you know you.” She stated matter of factly. She did though. That was the scary part. We hit the first level and strolled out, before she added thoughtfully, “did you want it to work on me?”

I felt my cheeks flame, and was thankful she was walking slightly ahead of me, “uhh,” I faltered before gaining my confidence back, “depends on if you wanted it too.”

She stopped for a split second, giving me a chance to catch up before she continued walking, this time leaning into me a little bit, “maybe.”

My heart jumped at that, “Still wanna make that bet?” I opened the car door for her. She thanked me and I hopped in the drivers side.

“Am I betting high or low.” She gave me side eye as she buckled her seat belt and we were off.

“What do you think?” I grinned. There’s no way she gets this. “Do you know your suits? What brand am I even wearing?” I smiled.

I could feel her eyes on me as mine were on the road, and she reached over and ran her finger down the lapel of it, feeling the fabric. I tried to concentrate on the road but she was leaned over the console examining the details of my suit, looking for anything that would give away the designer or price. I needed to think fast, I could tell this would be a long night already and it hadn’t really even begun.

I swatted her hand away, “hey stop it! that’s cheating.” I smiled and looked over at her as we hit a light. She placed her palm flat against my chest as she mocked me, pulling her lower lip into a pout. I could feel my heartbeat pick up and surely she could too.

“Just seeing what I have to work with Aus.” The nickname melted off her tongue like butter and really I only like it when she says it anyway. The light flashed green and I grabbed her hand off my chest, entwining our fingers together and resting them over the middle console. “I’m betting high, what like $7,000? Is that too much for a suit? What is it Gucci? Aren’t you like their poster boy or something?”

I laughed at her accusations and she squeezed my hand a little too hard. “Ow! Jeez woman that hurt. Those are my money makers!”

She swatted at me again, “sorry not sorry. Isn’t like half your closet Gucci or something. I feel like I should know this but I’m really drawing a blank here.”

A smile crept up onto my face. She’s cute when she’s thinking too hard. She always over thinks or over-analyzes everything. It’s like it’s written in her DNA or something.

She looked over at me and I attempted to keep a straight face, “it’s Gucci isn’t it.” I nodded. “$7000 close?”

I kept a tight lip. She turned towards me, “it’s fuckin higher isn’t it!!!” Her voice raised towards the end and I burst out laughing.

“$10,000.” Her jaw dropped, “what do I get since you couldn’t guess it?”

“I can’t believe you spent $10,000 on a suit.” She was in awe, “that’s like a trip to Europe, or a down payment on a car, what are you psycho?”

“Are you really belittling me right now?” I chuckled, “you guessed $7,000 that’s just as high!!!”

“Yeah but-“

“But what? $7000 okay to drop but $10 is too much?” Her face went blank as she tried to process it and I howled as her eyebrows knit together. She was something else.

“I hate you.” She fought to keep the smile off her face.

“Your mouth says otherwise.” She covered her lips with her hands as we pulled up to the venue, she finally pulled them off as we valeted the car. And as we walked into the rustic barn I elbowed her a bit, grinning wildly, “seriously though, what’s my prize since you didn’t guess right?”

She linked our arms as we tried to figure out where we were sitting and smirked at me, “Bragging rights.”

“I bet we could make it a little more interesting.”

“Oh of course you bet huh.”

“You owe me a dance.”

She pouted. “Aus-“

“Nuh-Uh. We’re dancing later, it’s the least you can do.”

I can tell she wanted to press me further but instead she just nodded, “Okay.”

“Wow, I didn’t think that would be this easy. I need to win bets more often.” I knew how much she hated dancing. It was because she had two left feet and literally tripped over herself on any normal day. She didn’t like to embarrass herself. The truth was, she wasn’t a bad dancer at all. She could dance fine by herself, especially after a drink or two. But she was clumsy enough that partner dancing wasn’t really her thing. I always try to get her to at weddings and events but she doesn’t budge. She's stubborn as hell, but it’s why I love her. She doesn’t change for anyone. Not even me. I always ended up finding some random bridesmaid to dance with at these things, but tonight she was mine.

We wandered further into the barn stopping for a few pictures together before the ceremony as Paige snapped away on her phone and a film camera as well. Mitch and Steph found their way to us too and soon enough we had group pictures with the six of us, then guys, girls, and finally as we finished up it was about time to find our seats.

The Tavares wedding was really going to be something. Greenery was everywhere and there was a modern feel to their set up even with the more natural elements. I put a hand on (Y/N)’s lower back and guided her to our seats on the grooms side. We were in the middle back and slid into the refurbished white bench with ease, the rest of our group following suit, filing into the row after us. I wrapped an arm around the back of (Y/N)’s seat as she crossed her ankles, leaning into me while we waited for the ceremony to start. A comfortable silence settled over us and somehow both our free hands found each other on their own accord. Soon enough she was playing with my fingers, clasping and unclasping them, tracing the outline of my hand and holding our palms up to watch our hands align. It was something we had done plenty of times before. Whenever we got bored or were watching Netflix or at family events. It was inevitable that our hands would meet. Her hand was a lot smaller than mine, and we quietly played a game of thumb wars before the loud chattering settled down. I could hear the preacher say to rise, so I gently grabbed her hand in mine and lead her up. She was still leaning into me as we waited for the bride to make her way down the aisle.

John and Aryne chose to say their own vows although short and sweet. It was nice. Being here, celebrating them. (Y/N) was the perfect wedding date. She was classy and reserved when needed but could definitely open up and make conversation with anyone who approached her. And soooo many people approached her. Which was crazy because she was the plus one. But that’s just (Y/N), stealing everyone’s heart the way she stole mine.

It had to be obvious at this point. I thought my incessant flirting and annoying her every chance I got would be enough to give her the hint, but apparently not. I thought that living together was another sign that maybe I was kind of into her but she just took it at face value since it was the most logical option. I think I really realized how I've felt this past May. I mean, it was there all along, but I didn’t admit it to myself until then. She started hooking up with some random guy at college, and when I walked into some kid in our apartment it made my stomach lurch. I don’t think I’ve ever felt that sick in my life.

I had talked to her earlier in the day. We were on a long road trip in the west and I was excited to get back and see her.

It felt like maybe things had been changing between us lately, and I wanted to get back and test the waters a little just to see if she even felt a tiny bit the same. It was easy with her. I missed her like crazy, constantly texting to see what she was up to, and sending snapchat updates of what the boys and I were doing, just because I knew she would send a picture back and I could see that gorgeous face again.

Our flight was delayed because weather in Toronto was pretty bad. And we didn’t end up landing till pretty late. I texted her when we landed at 12 that I would be home soon. I never got a response so I figured she was asleep.

What I didn’t expect, when I came home at 1am on a Saturday, was some random guy going through the cupboards in our kitchen with just his boxers on.

“Uh who are you?” I had a sour taste in my mouth.

The guy looked up from his position on the floor, going through the bottom cabinets and I swear almost shit himself. “Oh my god you’re Auston Matthews.” I frowned. Oh jeez a hockey fan, how rare in this city! He shook his head in disbelief and stood up, walking over to me and put his hand out for me to shake. I took it, begrudgingly. “I’m Reese, it’s really nice to meet you, although I never thought it would be like this.”

I scoffed, but he didn’t seem to notice. He found (Y/N)’s post it notes on the kitchen island and pulled one off handing it to me, “do you think you could sign this for me?”

“What the hell is going on here? Reese I thought-” (Y/N) ‘s voice sounded a little groggy, like she might’ve been sleeping, but when she came out of her room, only clad in black lace underwear and a t-shirt I presumed to be his, my breath caught in my throat. One because she looked damn good. And two because she was wearing his clothes and practically nothing else. I felt a fire in my chest. I swallowed hard and tried to remain neutral.

When she finally realized I was home her eyes went wide. “Oh, uh, hey Aus.”

“(Y/N) you didn’t tell me your roommate was the Auston Matthews.” This guy was still here?

She uncomfortably glanced over at me. Yeah me too. “Uh roommate? Try best friend.” I said smugly.

“I didn't see a reason to bring it up.” She said. Ouch that hurt.

“Sorry Reese bro, but I’m gonna have to ask you to leave, I really need to get to bed and I’m sure your friend (Y/N) here can fill you in on all the dirty details later. Have a great night.” I walked past them and into my room, shutting the door. Trying to get ready for bed without my head exploding from everything that just happened. I waited until I could hear him leave before I went and knocked on her door.

“What Matthews?” I opened it slightly and peered in, leaning on the door frame and watching her fix her bedding a bit, now in another old t-shirt.

“Matthews huh? Can I come in?” She nodded and crawled under the white comforter patting the spot next to her. I sat down on top of it before rethinking this whole situation. “Actually can we go to my room?” I wasn’t really comfortable that they just fucked in here and wasn’t too keen on sitting in the bed that someone else got to touch her in.

She nodded and as I grabbed her hand, I felt tingles. I didn’t dare to look behind me as I lead her to my room. We crawled under the covers and sat against the headboard.

We stared up at the ceiling a bit before she turned to me. “You’re so dramatic.”

I looked over to her and I could tell she was slightly upset. “But I know that’s not exactly the most fun thing to come home to and I’m sorry.”

“S’okay. Were you ever gonna tell me you were kinda seeing someone?” My jealousy got the best of me, and I couldn’t help but let it seep into my voice a little as I ask.

“No not really, you never tell me when you do...So.” She shrugged, and I tilted my head back a little, groaning.

“You don’t tell people we’re friends either?” It sucked knowing that maybe she was ashamed of me for whatever reason. I always told everyone about her. I loved to talk about her and how proud I am of her for working hard in college and her internship which she officially secured, and just being the amazing, kind hearted person that she is.

“It’s different… I- I don’t tell strangers or people I just met or at least until I have a grasp on their personality. I stopped doing that a long time ago. I can never tell if they want to be friends with me, or have a relationship with me, for me or to get to you.”

“Oh.” It sucks, but it makes sense.

“Oh. Is right. Also I don’t want people to be up either of our asses if they're just clout chasers.” She smiled, shaking her head as I laughed, “Just not how I want to spend my time.”

I sighed, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to kick him out, that was just weird and I wasn’t expecting you to have company and-“

“Auston. It’s okay. I should’ve warned you in some way, or gone to his place. Maybe this whole thing could’ve been prevented. I’m the one who’s sorry. That situation was pretty awkward.” I don’t want her at some guys place. I want her with me.

I grabbed her hand and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. My stomach churning as I did so, “Stop worrying. Don’t be sorry either. We good?” She nodded and entwined our pinky’s. “Always.” And with that she slipped out of the darkness of my room and back down the hallway to hers. And my heart ached with every step.

Maybe I wasn’t doing enough, maybe I just needed to be upfront.

I took a swig of the beer I was drinking and set it back on the table as I watched her converse with Steph, Paige, and Aryne, Probably complementing the bride on her gown and the allure of the wedding.

Pretty soon we were eating steak, mashed potatoes and wedding cake, and my stomach was all too full when the bride and groom shared their first dance. I looked to (Y/N) to see her swooning at John and Aryne adoringly. She was facing the back of her chair, hands resting on the back of it, and chin resting on her hands. “Don’t you just love those two together?” Her nose crinkled. It was really cute.

I stood and held my hand out to her as other couples started to join in on the dance floor. She looked up to me, eyes slightly glazed from her glasses of champagne, but I knew she was at a good level. Sober enough to make good decisions, buzzed enough to have a good time. “Are you gonna dance with me?” My heart felt like it was racing as I waited for her answer.

She took my hand so I took it as a yes. I lead her out to the dance floor, Kiss Me by Ed Sheeran coming on as we stopped in the middle. She wrapped her arms around my neck and my hands settled on her waist, pulling her close. My stomach churned with nerves and a little bit of excitement. I looked down at her, her head on a swivel, looking everywhere but me. Other people are looking at us and her brow knit in confusion. Her hand was burning a hole where it was placed flat against my chest.

“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” I touched her forehead lightly, then bringing my hand back down and wrapping it around her waist securely.

She looked back to me, eyes widening, “It’s nothing.”

“You know you can tell me anything right?” I tried, pulling her back into me as she slowly tried to pull herself away. “That’s what friends are for. And hey, quit trying to leave me!” I laugh, grinning. “Were kind of in the middle of that dance you owe me.”

She smiles back softly but glances around the room again, this time almost self consciously. “It’s just that… I don’t know- I don’t really know how to say it without sounding weird.”

“Are you okay? Is something wrong? You know nothing you say will ever sound weird to me? I’m pretty sure we’ve been through it all.” I leaned my forehead against hers and try to ease her mind but she seems so off. I don’t know what happened because everything seemed normal when we first got here.

She took a breath and pulled back a little looking right at me, “Everyone thinks we’re a couple.” I could see the nerves riddling her features and it made me curious as to why. It’s not what I was expecting, but it made me grin, “I know.”

“You know? It doesn’t bother you?” Her nose scrunched again.

“Should it? Does it bother you? I mean, personally I think I could do worse as far as fake lovers go, but…” She playfully shoved me and we fell right back into place, swaying as the song went on melodically.

“It really doesn’t bother you?” She seemed unsure, but avoided my question nonetheless, looking up at me as if the only answer I could give would be yes. That it does bother me. And that couldn’t be further from the truth.

I shrugged trying to play it cool, “why would it bother me?”

“I don’t know…” She looked away, back to the surrounding crowd as the song changed. “You’re Auston Matthews.” She huffed. “You can get any girl you want. Wouldn’t people believing that… we’re an item… wouldn’t that get in the way?”

I grabbed her hands in mine, looking down at them. She instinctively clasped them together and my heart warmed as I glanced back up at her. “That’s just the thing.” We had stopped dancing at this point, and I’m pretty sure we were in the way of people trying to dance, but I didn’t mind. “You don’t see me as the Auston Matthews. You never did. You just see me as Auston Matthews, your extremely good looking and talented best friend.” I smirked.

“Way to ruin it.” She laughed.

I gently pulled her closer, “you see me as the dumb kid who broke his arm at your eighth birthday party, and the horrible friend who spilled punch on your prom dress, and the annoying son of bitch who always tries to force you to dance. You never see me as someone who’s untouchable,” I grab her hand and place it over my heart, “you always touch me.” She looked as if she lost her breath, eyes swirling with emotions. She carefully removed the hand that was over my heart and stood still for a second. She looked back up to me meticulously, “let’s get some air yeah?” I let my hand rest on the small of her back and nodded as she lead the way out, one step ahead of me. My heart was pounding in my chest.

I couldn’t be more grateful for the little piece of privacy that we had out here. The air had turned slightly cooler, and I could see her shiver a little, although she would never admit she’s cold. I shrugged my suit jacket off anyway as we walked along the outside of the barn. The sun was starting to go down and the chill in the air picked up. I wrapped my jacket around her shoulders, and used it to pull her in closer to me.

She muttered a thanks and I sucked in a breath. Now or never Matt’s.

But she turned to me sharply, beating me to the punch, “you can’t just say stuff like that you know?”

“Why not?” Her eyes met mine and the wary look on her face told me what I needed to know. I know what she’s thinking. And she means more to me than anyone. She must know that. She has too.

“You could never get in the way of anything (Y/N).” I tucked a lone strand of hair behind her ear as her eyes sparkled and flickered up to mine. “It doesn’t bother me because I don’t want just any girl.” I toe around the subject, hoping she can figure it out before I have to say it outright.

“Well, what do you want Aus?” I want you. Don’t make me say it. Don’t make me ruin a good thing (Y/N). I don’t want to lose us.

My eyes flicker down to her lips. I close my eyes and lean in a little, nudging her nose with my own. Slowly but surely closing the gap between us. I could feel the electricity radiating off her, our lips barely touching before I heard a voice coming from the door. We broke apart, wide eyed, hearts racing, both looking to see who joined us outside.

Kappy looked drunk. And Paige looked like she was dying from laughter. They spotted us and made their way over. I looked back at (Y/N), her cheeks flushed and managing to look anywhere but me, although my arm was still wrapped around her. She leaned into my touch as they approached.

“Youuuuu guyssss.” Kap slurred and Paige just seemed to notice the position we were in.

“Uh Kappy needed some air, but I see you guys did too.” She grabbed his hand and tried to lean him into her for leverage. “We’ll just let you guys have some privacy.”

(Y/N) turned her face into my shoulder as Paige tried to shove Kappy back into the reception. I looked down to her and laughed. She did too, bringing her face out of my shoulder. I would’ve tried to recreate the moment but it seemed like it was lost as she grabbed my hand and tugged me back inside. “C’mon Aus, we should get back.” And I had no choice but to follow.

#auston matthews #auston matthews imagine #new year same us #nysu fic #toronto maple leafs #hbsimagine #hockeybabestars #friends to lovers #friends to more

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uzumaki-rebellion · 5 years ago

Text

“Wet Sugar” [Part 10 of 30]

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Summary: Being together again isn’t easy for Erik and Yani...

"I keep rubbin' 'til your body start to tweak, ahh When you push up on it, put that thang on me boy What's popping, baby? Can you put me to sleep, yeah Every time you see me, do me dirty, yeah I'll be back, I talk that, I want that shit bad I can't wait 'til midnight, baby come see me

Softly, tell me would you stay baby You know I give you more than she I know just where you wanna be, yeah Hair-do wild, make-up on your favorite pillow, baby Louder than the TV, knockin' boots We rockin' to grindin' music playin' I wish you could see what I see, baby Comin' for you boy, don't you say a thing…"

Missy Elliott—"DripDemeanor"

The man in charge of the mobile D.J. stage perched atop the semi-truck trailer told Yani and Kendall they were not allowed to curse or say anything offensive while performing. Yani stared at Kendall because the song he planned to perform, one of the most popular songs on Junior's compilation album, had a line in it with the word "nigga" as part of the chorus that Yani repeated throughout. Along with other profanity. It was actually a positive song called "Fiyahbun" and was about their ancestor Mary Thomas.

Queen Mary.

She of the Three Queens from the Virgin Islands. It was a song about the strength of Black women who took no shit from no one. The single was being streamed and downloaded like crazy, especially in the States and Europe and Kendall really wanted to show it off live to his people.

"I'll cut the song if I hear any cursing. Seen?"

"Yeah," Kendall grumbled, "What do we do with your part, Yani?" Kendall asked.

"Let the audience say it, we can't be penalized for something they do. I'll just point the mic at them and see what happens," she said.

The truck D.J. cued up the track and Yani stood next to Kendall as he fussed with another performer who complained about the sound system cutting in certain places.

Yani could see her younger sister Anika squirting their friends with her super soaker and she felt the restless spirit of the revelers as they waited for Kendall to perform to get the celebration back on track.

Twyla shouted out Yani's name and Kendall took over. Once the music kicked in and Yani let the audience do a call and response, things went well. Kendall even seemed over-hyped, almost angry that he couldn't use profanity to punctuate his bars. But the song was still a hit, and the crowd went off with them.

Kemba's friend Conrad helped Yani down from the stage and she played jab-jab with her relatives. Conrad was a nice young man with lofty goals, and he took a liking to her, but he seemed a bit miffed that she kept getting requests to take pictures from fans of the album. She took as many pictures as people wanted because she knew it would help Kendall. She tried to explain this to Conrad, but his face showed irritation.

Most of the fans wanting pictures were clearly clout chasing to get next to her, especially knowing she was Chez's Ex, and many were just thirsty niggas trying to cop a feel on her ass while their hands held her waist. A lot of the women clamoring for selfies too were trying to get next to Kendall. Conrad stood there like a scorned lover and Yani thought he was being ridiculous. They weren't on a date. It was a meet and greet and thus far, he was just a nice guy. No chemistry.

"Anika!" she shouted when her sister painted her chest with blue water. She snatched packets of pink powder from her jean pockets, ripped them open and tossed them at Anika. Music blared from the massive stage speakers and Yani danced around ignoring the prune face of Conrad. She left him standing in a cloud of green powder.

"There's a big nigga lookin' for you, Cuz," Twyla said, her lips pressed up near Yani's ear.

"Oh, yeah? Who?" she said throwing her ass back. Twyla smacked her bum and held up her cell phone. She swiped the screen and held up a picture.

Yani's mouth went dry and she grabbed the cell.

The scars. The hair. The muscles in the arms.

"Where did you see him?!" she blurted out and Twyla's face gave her a questioning look when she took back her phone.

"He headed over toward the drink carts—"

Yani pushed through the bodies, her eyes darting around searching for Killmonger. Stomach fluttering with excited nerves, her legs rubbery, and her mind racing, she felt like she wanted to pass out for a second and had to stop and catch her breath with her hands on her knees.

She thought for sure he was gone forever, had just gotten accustomed to making it through a whole day without him being on her mind, and yet one little photo had her running around frantically looking for his ass—

She came to a complete stop when she saw him sipping from a plastic cup and watching the parade of people move past him. His hair looked longer. His tight white tank made his scars look like art. A thick Cuban link gold chain draped around his neck, the bright gold on rich golden-brown skin made him dazzling to look at.

She slipped behind a barricade and snuck behind him, taking the place of a white woman who jumped down from the small bench he stood in front of. At first, she thought she would grab his arms and shake him with surprise, but then it hit her. He was back on the island. He came back for her. He saw Twyla and asked for her. Those thoughts made her think of his last words to her. Him asking to have her. In that way. She wanted that more than anything standing behind him, taking in the shape of his back, the curve of his ass in his joggers, those biceps that were strong enough to hold her up in mid-air for a long ass time.

Her fingers reached out and slid around his neck—

"I told you once already—"

She closed her eyes and kissed the back of his neck, the coolness of his Cuban link touching her warm arms, his cologne stirring her senses. She felt his chest shudder and when he turned to look at her, she thought she saw water in his eyes. Perhaps it was the liquor he had been sipping that made his Henny-colored eyes well up. He pressed his forehead against hers and tremors cascaded through him. She held him tighter as his arms wrapped around her waist, the paint and chalk on her clothes staining his white tank.

"Killmonger, why are you shaking? I scare you?"

His lips were ferocious on hers as he cradled her face. She moaned into his mouth as his tongue curled around hers. He lifted her from the bench and she wrapped her legs around his waist, neither giving a damn about the people swarming around them.

She came up for air.

"When did you get back?"

"It don't matter," he said crashing his mouth back over hers demanding that she submit to his plundering tongue, and she did. She felt his dick growing against her mound and pulled back.

"We should go somewhere else," she panted, her lips itching to be back on his.

He put her down and tugged on his shirt to cover his erection. Clasping her hand in his, he pulled her away from the surge of bodies. She tried to keep up with him but his long strides seemed desperate, his urgency spiking her excitement at being with him again.

They walked far and in the opposite direction of the revelers.

"Killmonger!" she huffed, her feet and legs suddenly feeling tired. Trying to keep up with him was proving difficult. He looked back at her and his eyes were so bright in the sunlight. He slowed down for her and she let her other hand hug onto his arm as they walked.

They crossed over two parking lots and Yani recognized the S.U.V. parked near a corner market as one of Klaue's. Erik opened the backseat door.

"I'll get this paint and powder everywhere," she said.

"Don't worry about it," he said, helping her get into the vehicle.

Erik hopped in the back from the other side and for a moment they just stared at each other. His eyes took her in. She reached out and touched his necklace.

"This is nice," she said trying to make conversation.

He took it from around his neck and put it around hers. It was heavy. Real fucking gold. Probably five to eight thousand dollars-worth from her calculations. It hung down and rested on her breasts. He twisted the chain and pulled her neck toward him and kissed her again, their tongues out in the open sliding against each other. She felt him twist the chain tighter and she gasped, releasing his tongue as his slid up her neck and nibbled on her ear before it was back in her mouth again, her face tilted to reach his.

Fuck.

She never kissed like this before.

They were at it for soooo long. He vacillated from obscenely wide open to closed mouth tongue kissing in long intervals that made her mouth water. There was a sticky puddle in her panties and squirming in the backseat didn't stop him from sucking on her lips and licking the seam of her mouth making her pant like she was in heat.

"My pussy…" she gasped. She wanted his calloused fingers down there…everywhere.

"Baby," he whispered and his voice hitched a bit as he sank his tongue deeper into her mouth. Her pussy was throbbing just from his tongue delving into her throat, dipping in and out like he was fucking the shit out of her neck. He didn't touch her or stroke her or pet her body in any way. Just his mouth overpowering hers, tugging on the Cuban link to choke her a bit to make sure she was obedient to his lips. And she was.

His mouth went to her left ear and that hot heavenly tongue snaked in and out then did the same to her right ear. Jesus, he was fucking her ears! Her left leg started shaking.

"I still gotta work hard for you, girl?" he whispered.

"Not too hard, man, for real," she whimpered when his hot mouth plunged back into her right ear again.

Her eyes drifted down to look at his waist as he made her ears tingle with intense pleasure. Her lips parted staring at the big tent in his pants. The weight of that print had her full attention.

"I want to suck your dick, Killmonger."

He groaned in her ear.

"You want Daddy's dick in your mouth?"

"Yes!"

"You want Daddy to fuck the shit outta your throat, baby?"

"Yessss! Nigga, please!"

He chuckled in her ear at the sound of her voice pleading with him and dripping full of lust. He still wouldn't touch her anywhere else and she was ready to pull her clothes off and crawl on his lap to get closer to him.

"I want you to fuck me."

"Damn, Yani."

Her skin was on fire and she was frustrated beyond belief. He pulled on his chain forcing her face close to his.

"You been a good girl for me?"

"I'm always a good girl."

"I dunno, summa them pictures you posted online didn't make me happy."

She sucked her teeth and he pulled her in closer and choked a little tighter.

"I didn't like that orange swimsuit."

"Why not?"

"I could see that fat puss sticking out."

"So?"

Yani could feel her body tingle when he mentioned her swimsuit. She wore that one on purpose just for him, hoping he was still watching her from far away. She had played with her pussy right before taking that particular selfie so that her pussy lips were nice and puffy for him. The fact that it was the exact picture that had him riled up right now was scrumptious. She was thinking of his dick in that photo, her clit rubbing against the bikini bottom like a hard diamond.

"Whatchu mean, so? If I could see it, all them bitch niggas out there could see it too. That's too much, Ma."

He brought his face closer, his eyes real serious now.

"You been with anyone since I've been gone?"

"You?"

His eyes darted away and she felt her heart sink.

Could she really be surprised? She wanted to be the one to replenish him, welcome him back to the island with her name in his warm mouth, but a man like this didn't wait. That's what Tahir said. He used women whenever he wanted to satisfy that itch. But now she had an itch that she wanted this bad man to scratch.

"Then I guess we're even," she said.

She hadn't been with anyone. Not really. A few lame dates the month previous out of boredom. A peck on the lips here. A booty rub at the club there. Gave a hurried handjob for the fun of it. That's it. A part of her was really trying to save it all for him. She wanted to cum and cry out his name in his ear. Only his ear. Be only his. This man sitting here before her, dropping out from the big world back onto her island, a stranger who was easily leading her astray. She hated that and wanted it too.

But the way Erik's nostrils flared and his eyes got tight, she had pushed a button. A big one. He expected her to wait. How typical of men. She smirked and pulled back from him. Wiping her wet lips her eyes challenged him. He had the next move. She waited. His eyes studied her face and he still kept his fist twisting his chain.

"You fucked someone else?"

The link was so tight. Tighter now, pressing into her throat, able to leave a bruise if he kept at it. She liked it. Liked being forced to look up at him. Liked his breath on her face. Liked the crease in his forehead as his eyes seemed to let her watch his mind cook up all kinds of scenarios with her and other men. Liked that dark beard that could never hide his dimples. Liked those big sharp gold canines gleaming at her in the false safety of his other bright white teeth. Jealous much Killmonger? Good.

She squirmed in the black leather seat and his eyes looked down at her breasts, thighs, and hips. His breathing was more pronounced. It was none of his business if she fucked anyone. He could ask if she was seeing anyone, to get a sense of where their boundaries laid as a potential couple, but she wasn't going to let him know about her sex life while he was away. No matter how bland it was. Just sitting next to him had her climbing the walls and she was trying her best not to come off like a desperate woman suffering from dick drought, but he brought it out of her.

His mouth attacked hers with a ferocity of kisses that made her weak. The heat from his skin ignited hers again and she was a wet mess all over that backseat: the blue and pink paint and sweat on her body, and the slick heat between her thighs.

When he finally pushed back from her, his eyes looked different, humble even…

"Killmonger?"

"I've been here for a week, Yani."

"A week? Why didn't—"

"I wasn't ready to see you. I had too much in my head to get rid of from this work I do. I wanted to see you…I wanted to drive right to your Aunt's house the moment I got off the plane…I just…"

"You're here with me now. That's all that matters to me. I don't need to know what you do for Klaue. If you needed to get your mind right, then you did what you had to do. I'm not complaining. I missed you…"

His eyes dropped from her face and he bit his lower lip. His eyes welled up and his big body leaned forward and he rested his head on her lap.

"Hey," she whispered. Stroking his hair, she felt his chest heave a little. She kept giving him tender strokes from his forehead to his back until his breathing evened out and became less shaky.

"I…ah man…," he whispered.

"Tell me," she gently cooed in his ear.

"I had a moment out there when I thought I wasn't going to make it. Straight up die, girl. I've been in some fucked up situations before, but this time…I wasn't so sure. I don't know if I was dreaming, or hallucinating or if my mind was just trying to get me over…but…I had this image of you and I swear to God, it saved my life. I just wanted to see you again, even if it was just for a little while, Yani. I'm tired and I just…I just want to be with you. When you say you miss me… I feel like I can rest."

For true?

Yani leaned her head back on the car seat and kept her hand on him, touching him, making sure he knew she was right there with him.

How quickly the moment had turned. Hot and heavy kissing morphed into her giving nurturing caresses to his scalp.

He slept on her lap and she sat there quietly for him. She was so happy to have him back. Allowing her eyes to close, she rested against the headrest as she listened to people walk, shout, dance, and flow past the S.U.V. She dozed off for a bit until she felt her cell vibrate in her back pocket. She shifted her body carefully, letting Erik sleep while she answered her phone.

"Yeah?"

"Where you at?"

Twyla's voice was loud as she tried to talk over the music in the background.

"I found him."

"Him? The bad man on the hill?"

"Yeah. What time is it…ah man," she said. She had been in the car with Erik for over two hours.

"Auntie is looking for you. She has Sydette and Bam with her. We can't find Cee Cee or Sonya."

"Where Auntie now?"

Yani heard a ping on her phone. Twyla gave her a map flag for her Aunt.

"They over by my conch place."

"She want us to take the babies? I'm still a little loopy."

"She wants the kids to see you. You bringing that big nigga with you? Where you at? What yuh doin' with him, gyal?"

"I'm going to head over now. Give me a little time. We're way on the other side. Take about fifteen minutes."

"Sluttin' it up with his fine ass, yeah?" Twyla cackled.

"You so wrong for that—"

"We'll see you in a few minutes," Erik said, holding her phone up to his ear as he sat up from her lap.

Yani took her cell back.

"Bye!"

Erik rubbed his eyes then looked over at her.

"I was out for a minute," he said.

"Yeah, you were. You really are tired."

"Aren't you?"

"Pacing is everything."

She touched his face.

"You ready to see Sydette?"

"Sweet Pea? Hell yeah."

###

Erik held Yani's hand openly, not even caring who saw them together. She actually looked like she was proud to walk around with him. A shit load of male eyes watched Erik warily. A few times Yani was stopped to take selfies again and when they walked on, she pulled him along. His eyes kept glancing at her backside and her thighs, her black fishnets putting dirty thoughts in his mind. She had that extra juicy juicy peach and he had no shame watching all that cake bounce when she walked. The roll of her hips could start wars. He savored being with her, having his fingers entwined with hers, letting her lead him wherever she wanted to go.

A tiny sliver of anxiety entered his body as they approached Leona and the children.

The older woman stood with a stroller in front of her as she stood next to another older woman who held the hand of a chubby toddler. The little boy's eyes stared at Erik with suspicion.

"Aye. Mr. Killmonger!" Leona shouted. She lifted up her sun hat to see his face.

Stepping from the stroller she gave him a big hug.

The woman standing next to her eyed him with quiet suspicion too. He held out his hand.

"Hi, I'm Erik," he said trying to make things seem normal.

The woman took his hand and he felt her eyes stare at his scars.

"Sydette, look who it is," Yani said.

Erik looked down into the stroller.

Children grew too damn fast.

Still plump, Sydette's legs were out in a pair of white baby sneakers, pink shorts and an orange t-shirt with the same words that Yani had on hers. Little red and yellow beads kissed the ends of her braids, and her solid onyx eyes gazed up at him.

Yani picked her up and held her on her hip. She pointed at Erik.

"Remember Killmonger? Yeah?"

Sydette turned her head away when Erik moved closer to her, and he had to admit, it made his heart hurt when she did that.

"Sweet Pea," he said and the baby turned her head to face him, but rested her cheek on Yani's shoulder. He held out his hands for her and she turned her head away again.

"You want to hold her?" Yani asked.

"No, don't force kids to go to people when they don't want to."

Yani smiled at him and rocked Sydette in her arms. They were both wearing the earrings he sent them. Yani took his hand again. Leona didn't even bat an eyelash at how close they were acting.

"You want me to take Sydette now, Auntie?"

"Not unless you want to take her. We just wanted to come out for a little bit and see the fun. Everything go well? People behave?"

"Yeah, it was great. You want to hang out longer, Killmonger? How are you feeling?" Yani asked.

It was already past one in the afternoon. He could feel himself needing a serious nap. Lying on Yani's lap made him want to curl up on her again.

"I do feel worn out."

"You okay to drive?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Finally!" Twyla said. She licked at a snow cone as she sauntered over to Leona. Behind her two of Yani's other female cousins joined her. Talk about a bad bitch brigade. Fuck.

"Found her, yeah?" Twyla said to Erik.

"Yep."

"Where that monster chain come from?" Twyla said, her eyes wide staring at the Cuban link on Yani's neck.

"Killmonger's. It's heavy too," Yani said.

Twyla's eyes dusted over him. Sydette's hands reached out for Twyla's snow cone.

"You don't get none lil bit," Twyla said.

"Mama!" Sydette yelled out and Erik started laughing. Twyla stuck her face close to Sydette's.

"Your Mama can't help you. This is my snow cone. Get a job begger!" Twyla said. Sydette babbled and her fingers pointed to the snow cone. Twyla took a big slurpy bite and walked away. Sydette's face crumbled and she cried.

"Spoiled!" Twyla teased ignoring her baby cousin.

"Hey, Sweet Pea," Yani said trying to soothe the girl but to no avail.

Erik stepped closer.

"You want a snow cone?" he asked.

Sydette's eyes went to his face and she pointed to Twyla and babbled to Erik. He held out his arms to her as she squirmed against Yani's chest, the chalk and paint from Yani's clothes smearing a bit onto Sydette's shirt and shorts. The baby gurgled more and tears squeezed from her eyes.

"It's okay,' he said.

Sydette leaned over toward him and he lifted her away from Yani. Her left hand pointed at Twyla.

"She's not sharing, huh? I'll get you one," he said.

Twyla stared at him then glanced over at Yani.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

"Just over there," Twyla said pointing to a vendor behind them.

"What flavor is that?" he asked.

"Blueberry and raspberry mixed," Twyla said.

"You all taking the children?" Leona asked.

Bam's mother already had his hand and Yani took Sydette's stroller.

"Oh, kiss mi neck. We rode on the bus. You don't have the car seats," Leona said.

"We'll be fine," Bam's mother said letting her son have some of her snow cone.

"I'm going to Miss Kerry's house. Have a good time. Mr. Killmonger, it is good seeing you again. I owe you an oxtail dinner. Remind me soon!"

"I'll come pick you up later, Auntie," Twyla called as they older women moved along in the opposite direction.

"I'll take you home," Erik said after the older women left and he found himself being stared at by all of Yani's cousins.

The windows to the S.U.V. were tinted, so it would be hard to see Sydette on Yani's lap. The baby's fingers grabbed hold of his left ear, touching the big diamond there. The babbling began again.

"We better get her that snow cone before she cusses me out some more," Erik joked.

"Bye," Yani said to her relatives as she pushed the stroller.

"Not even going to tell us about this man, Yani?"

The mother of the toddler stared at Erik.

"That's her new man," Twyla said winking at Erik. "Where he come from?" the other cousin asked a look of shock on her face as she took in Erik's entire appearance.

"Bye ladies," Yani said.

Erik followed her and he bought Sydette a small snow cone that he shared with her. Yani didn't want one. The cold shocked Sydette, and Erik could see that her two front teeth were coming in nicely, no longer little grains of rice from when he last saw her online.

Easy.

He felt easy with the two of them as he fed the baby the syrupy sweet treat, her lips curling each time she mouthed the frozen ice. The cone melted faster than they could eat it and he threw the rest away.

They walked toward the S.U.V. and Sydette leaned into him, her head cradled in his neck but her eyes taking in the sights and sounds. The street party was winding down and they would probably get stuck in a bit of traffic, but he didn't care. He just wanted to be with them.

"Auntie is leaving for Virginia in a few days," Yani said.

"Oh yeah?"

"My other Aunt lives there and she's going to stay there for her vacation. You won't need her while you're at the compound will you?"

"Nah, I can cook and clean myself…but…"

"But what?"

Her eyes watched him as they moved closer to their transportation. She looked so cute with all the colors on her skin and hair.

"I might need a walk-through of some things. I don't know everything about the houses."

"Which one are you staying in?"

"Klaue's main house."

Yani looked surprised.

Erik took a chance.

"Are you busy for the next hour or so? I could really use your help going over the place. Klaue left me some instructions, but I bet you know that place like the back of your hand."

Yani smiled.

"You have to work tonight?" he asked.

"No. I have the next two days off."

"Can you help me?"

He wanted her with him.

"Lucky for you I have Sydette's diaper bag with me. I can show you the ropes," she said.

"I'll fix you a late lunch for your services."

"Is this a date, Killmonger? Wining and dining me?"

"I'm trying to earn my time with you."

"I see. You hear that, Sweet Pea? This man is trying to woo your Mama."

Yani reached over and tugged on Sydette's shoe.

More stares from people as he opened the car door for Yani. He folded up the stroller and placed it in the trunk.

"You can take a shower and wash your clothes while you're there," he said.

"I'll clean the car up too," she said.

"I got that."

He started up the S.U.V. She held Sydette tight, the seat belt securing them both. He sat there watching them, drinking in their faces. He was really there with them. No one could've told him three months previous that his greatest desire outside of going to Wakanda was spending time with a single mother. He didn't want children. He couldn't handle the responsibility of a serious relationship because of his work and lost an amazing woman in Massachusetts because of it, but here he was giddy about cooking for this girl and holding her baby. It didn't make no goddamn sense.

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said.

###

Yani found some clothes in her Aunt's apartment at the compound that she could wear as her clothes were washed and dried. After he cleaned up himself, he watched her feed Sydette some strained peas and baby chicken and dumplings that were stored in her baby bag. He was surprised to see her lift up the borrowed t-shirt to breastfeed Sydette. He turned his eyes away respectfully while she nursed and fired up the outdoor grill of Klaue's main house. He cooked up some lemon chicken and made a grilled chicken salad with a strawberry vinaigrette for them.

The baby fell asleep and Yani placed her in the stroller to snooze as they ate in the dining room together. He had been tired earlier but felt energized while they ate. Yani had a healthy appetite and he was glad that she enjoyed what he cooked.

They walked around the compound as Yani pushed the baby stroller. She pointed out things that weren't on Klaue's list, things that the man never had to think of because Leona and Yani handled it over the years.

"You don't have to do much for Jerome. He can look after himself, but if you want to keep him on your good side, leave a little bowl of water on the pool wall. It'll keep him from drinking pool water. It's a saltwater pool, but he will use it and shit everywhere. The pool guy will come as many times as you want, his number is on the fridge in the front house. George is his name."

Erik took in all the information she gave him, but after a while, he stopped listening and just watched her. The tension of worrying about seeing her had left, and in its place, that strong yearning to be near her. It was already nearing five in the evening and he was dreading having to take her home.

They made their way back to the front house and she ran down to the apartment to change back into her clothes. She wore everything except the fishnet stockings. Sydette was still in a deep slumber, the day clearly wore her out.

Yani checked her cell phone and Erik felt himself tensing up again. She was ready to leave and he didn't want her to go. Not yet.

"Is it okay if I put Sydette on the bed? She should stretch out and relax," he said.

"We should probably get back to the house—"

"Stay for dinner…I mean…would you stay for dinner? I can take you both home later. I just want to hang with you a little more."

"You might want to sleep since you were tired—" "That was earlier. I'm fine now."

She nodded and he felt his chest ease up. Yani lifted Sydette from the stroller.

"Put her in the big bedroom, we can hear her if she wakes up," he said.

Even though she knew where that master bedroom was, she waited for him to take her there. Watching her place the baby on the bed, he stood in the doorway, and a million thoughts raced through his head. He had three months. Three months to be on the island with her. Could he live a lifetime in three months? What about her? He wanted her, but did he have the right to start something he knew he could never finish? He remembered his mother's friends when he was a child back in Oakland. The ones who were single mothers and dating. He remembered the complaints about men who started relationships, bonded with children and then bounced. It didn't just hurt the women, but the children as well. He didn't want that to happen, but his life with Klaue wouldn't permit him to stay. Erik's endgame was on the horizon and he was surprised at how transparent he was being with Yani. Being so upfront about what he wanted.

He wanted her, not just for sex, but for a taste of something else. Normalcy? A chance to pretend to have a normal life? One that he could easily let go of because St. Thomas wasn't the real world. It was a fantasy. Like that old tv show his great-grandmother loved, Fantasy Island, a place where people could delude themselves with a pretend life until it was time to board a plane again and go back to reality.

"Killmonger?"

Her voice.

He needed her. He was going to break her heart and his own, but he would do whatever it took to keep her close.

He held his hand out to her and she took it, threading her fingers with his. He tapped a small screen near the bedroom door turning it on, an intercom system that would allow them to hear the baby when she woke up.

Guiding Yani back into the main living room, Erik turned on the wall screen viewer and found a music station that gave them some nice background tunes. They sat on the couch, their knees touching, and Yani filled him in on what had been going on in her life the last couple of months. She was eager to begin school and he was excited for her. He couldn't reveal much to her, so he talked about a short trip he had to visit his relatives in Brazil without naming the country. They discussed the compilation album and Erik was honest, he didn't like too many of the songs on it, but he did fuck with Kendall's single.

"Fiyahbun slaps hard. Is that the family history you were going to tell me about? I'm back now, so spill it."

"How about I show it to you?"

"When?"

"Tomorrow. I will take you on a food tour and show you the Three Queens."

"Bet."

Her eyes watched him with a tenderness he thought he didn't deserve.

"I can't believe you are really here," she said. Her fingers toyed with the Cuban link she still had around her neck. All that gold on her brown. He reached out for it and tugged her closer to him. Her chest heaved a bit and it was hard not to notice how voluptuous she looked in her newly cleaned black top.

"It wasn't easy getting back, but I'm going to make the best of it."

"Will Klaue come back soon?"

Erik's eyes looked away from her. Her hand touched his shoulder.

"Sorry. I won't ask about him."

"I don't want to think about him when I'm with you, okay?"

"Okay."

"C'mere."

She grabbed his hand and he pulled her against him.

"Tell me you missed me again," he said.

"I missed you."

She stroked his locs and her fingernails grazed the back of his neck making him tremble.

"Say it agai—"

Her lips took his and he held onto her, letting her control the pace. Until she crawled on his lap.

Her eyes were soft brown pools of comfort, and her lips plush and warm as she gave him kisses on his cheeks and forehead. Her body was rising heat and his fingers slid up her sides and rested on her breasts. He pushed them together and her fingers rose up and pulled the straps of her bra and top down.

Shit.

Her breasts were still full and her nipples jutted out and he didn't waste a second as his tongue circled each one before he was sucking them, the sound of her moans melting any reservations he had about claiming her for himself.

Pinching her tips, he watched her face take on pure unadulterated pleasure. He felt a tightening in his pants and shifted so she could feel all of him. Her sighs had him turning into putty and when her breasts leaked a bit with milk, he licked her nipples and squeezed them hard, his suckling making his nerves calm down. She was back with him, so he didn't have to rush or worry about someone walking in on them.

She ground her bottom on his lap trying to let his length feel all that hard friction. Her hands clawed the back of the couch as she lifted and dropped herself on his dick. She wanted his heavy print sticking out to hit her mound just right. Watching her bounce on him fired him up even more. All that ass slapping his thighs had his tongue out. He couldn't stop groaning each time all that full weight came down on him.

He sought out her lips again and didn't give her a second to breathe. There was no reprieve from his urgent tongue or from his soft lips.

He tugged on her shorts.

"Take these off," he said.

For a second, Yani's eyes looked concerned. She wanted him. He knew that for sure. But maybe she was having second thoughts about moving so fast. It was obvious that their bodies ignited quickly when they were together, but he didn't want her rushed, didn't want her thinking he just wanted to hump her and then drop her off for the night.

"Baby, I just want to taste that sugar between your legs. I've been dreaming about it…lemme kiss you there the way I want to."

She nodded and shimmied out of her underwear and shorts. He pushed her back down on the couch and opened up her legs. She was limber enough to keep them wide open with her bare heels digging into the couch. He wanted to take his pants off but changed his mind when he saw her face. Nervous desire. They were still new to one another. Something was blossoming between them. It hung in the air. She was so beautiful like that, wide open for him, her hands resting on her abundant thighs, her breasts shiny with his saliva all over them.

"Damn," he sighed when he saw her vulva. No wonder she could get away with those skimpy bikini pictures, she was hairless down there, and her inner labia sat wide open, the crinkly softness so ready for him. Her clit was a swollen jewel and he gripped his erection through his pants to see how hard he was for her.

He reached down and pinched her nipples again and he saw her vulva throb because of his touch and a bit of her clear natural lubricant spilled out from her vagina. He let his thumb glide around her plump clit.

"Yani…damn girl. Pussy tryna get ready for Daddy's dick?"

"Ooohh."

Yani's eyes closed and her lips puckered. His fingers strummed around her clit, teasing, pinching, circling it with deliberate hard pressure until she was moaning for him, her eyes fluttering under her lids.

"Been dreamin' 'bout this pussy, girl."

Her opening throbbed hard again from the sound of his voice and more of her natural lubricant pooled out in a thick stream that dripped down her ass cheeks. Erik let his thumb rub up and down her wet slit and trace down to her anus.

"Killmonger," she whimpered and her fingers circled her clit, those short rounded pink nails of hers so pretty against her glossy folds.

"Play with Daddy's pussy, baby. Do that shit for me," he said.

He pulled on his dick as her fingers flicked her clit. Her pink insides glistened and he finally made the decision to pull his pants off all the way. Her eyes were glued to his shaft. He stroked it a bit just for her to see it grow harder and lift up higher.

"Look how you got my shit," he said.

His slit spilled pre-cum onto his fingers and she saw it, her lips curling up from the sight of it.

"Is that how you played with your pussy while I was gone?"

"Yeah," she gasped.

"You were being so nasty with it," he said, his eyes on her fingers that were now gently sinking into her slit.

She pulled open the fleshy inner lips wider for him.

"Fuck," he said.

He knelt down and pressed his mouth into her center and drank up all the sweetness there. His tongue didn't waste time teasing her too much. He kissed and licked her thighs and tongued down her entire vulva before he even let himself suckle her clit into submission. Her thighs jerked and her hands grabbed his hair.

"Soak this beard baby."

Yani's legs shot up above them and she pressed his face harder into her core. He lifted up and stared down at her. Those big wide eyes were on his face as he slow spit onto her folds. She watched the stringy saliva fall from his lips and land on her clit. Mixing his saliva with her wetness, his fingers traced and pressed her inner folds together, the soft scalloped wings sensitive to the touch as she pulled her knees up to her chest. He shook his beard between her legs drenching himself in her essence. She was close to letting go, her voice raw from calling out his nickname.

His tongue danced around her clit and he felt her breathing become uneven as his tongue swipes purposely missed direct pressure with her nub.

"Want me to lick it again, baby?"

"YES!"

He chuckled at the veracity of her tone. He licked then nibbled her inner labia instead and heard the irritation in her throat as she sucked her teeth.

"You don't like it when I don't give you what you want, huh?"

His tongue tip flicked just under the bud, right near the opening of her urethra and she sucked in a breath. He licked her opening.

"You taste so good. Come taste your pussy, girl."

He rose above her and forced her to raise up to kiss his lips. Her tongue swiped across his lips first and then he stuck out his wide tongue so she could lick and suck it.

"You got a sweet tongue, baby. Will you lick my dick like that?"

A throaty whine fell from her lips and Yani sucked on his tongue like she was giving him head and he groaned with delight over it. Pushing her back down he returned to the apex of her thighs.

He couldn't get over all the pussy throbbing he was seeing, it had his dick bobbing like crazy. He pried her thighs back down to her sides so he could see her face as he ate her pussy nice and proper. He got down to business with her clit and her eyes rolled back in her head. He felt comfortable enough now and let his tongue finally slip inside of her. Her hands shot behind her head and pushed against the couch as her midsection jerked up. He plucked and scissored her clit as his tongue delved inside her core with repetitive and concise thrusts.

"Killmonger…ohmigod…ohmigod…oh…!"

Flicking his tongue in and out of her, he kept his gaze right on her face, and when her eyes met his, she screamed out his name. He felt a bit of clear fluid squirt from her urethra, and her uneven breath punctuated the tight pulling he felt on his tongue as he allowed it to sit in her pussy as her orgasm rolled out from her. The sweet aroma of her folds had him in a daze.

He reached up and squeezed her breasts and there was a release from her nipples too and his tongue popped out of her pussy as he gripped his dick. Her eyes were on him, sweat falling from her face, stomach, and thighs as he lifted up from her body.

What does one do when a Goddess orgasms in front of you? You make an offering of course, and Erik fisted his dick until he was shouting her name out loud and spraying hot semen across her shiny dripping folds, her soft belly, and her heavy wet breasts. Looking down he stared at the picture of her milk rolling over his milky semen coating her brown body once more and she was beautiful. Truly divine.

His hands gripped her thighs as he tried to gather himself, perspiration dripping down his face and falling on her.

"Fu-u-cckk," he gasped and they both laughed.

"Your tongue is dangerous, man," she said stretching her arms out toward him. He pulled her up and gave his mouth to her.

"Your pussy is dangerous. I can see that right now."

"It's yours," she said.

Erik closed his eyes when he heard that and he squeezed her body against his.

"This is my pussy?" he said slipping two fingers into her sticky folds.

"Yes! All yours," she yelped, her eyes squeezing shut as his fingers curled and tapped along her walls making so much noise.

"Listen to all that," he said.

"Killmonger!"

Yani bit on her lips as he wiggled his digits inside of her.

"What?" he teased.

Her head fell back and he held her waist with his free hand, keeping her close as he worked her gushy slit.

"Can your pussy take all this dick?"

Her eyes popped open and she could see that his shaft was plumping up again. His thumb tickled her clit and he played with her folds until she was begging him for his dick.

"I be in that shit deep girl. Can you handle that?"

Her eyes were watery, his finger strokes in complete control of her body. He wanted to be in her so bad. Boxes of ultra-thin condoms sat in the master bedroom. He regretted putting Sydette in that room instead of the other guest bedroom.

"Killmonger…I'm cumming—"

He gasped when he felt her walls clench his fingers and he rode the orgasm out with her as she wailed in his ear all the pleasure she was feeling from his hand.

"Ah, dammit, Yani!"

His mouth covered hers and he circled his fingers gently as he pulled them from her quivering inner muscles. His digits were dripping with her release and he slipped his fingers in his mouth to lick them clean.

Crawling up on the couch he fell back exhausted, his release and hers draining him. If that's how he felt from just eating and playing in her pussy, he worried about how he would handle cumming inside of her. He felt like he had run a damn marathon.

Her head rested on his shoulder and her rapid breathing kept up his non-diminishing excitement. He twisted his gold chain around his hand and pulled her neck toward him.

"Tell me you're mine," he said.

She nodded her head and he shook his.

"I need to hear you say it, Yani."

Her hands cradled his face and he released the chain and leaned into her touch.

"What about you?" she asked.

He leaned back.

"What about me?"

Her piercing eyes held his gaze.

"Are you mine?" she said.

"You don't even have to ask that—" "Yes, I do. You not a one-woman person."

"I can be. For you, I can be."

"I told you I'm not easy. My life ain't easy, Killmonger. I'm a package deal. Understand? I'm no wham-bam jump off. If you just wanna fuck, then say that. We can have fun and then let mi be on mi way."

Her eyes were somber. Serious.

"You plan on fucking other women while you're here? If you are, then I don't want this."

"I just want you."

"For true?"

Questioning eyes stared back at him. How many men told her this? And then lied?

He was no liar.

"You are the only one I want. For as long as I am on this island…you it girl."

"Don't say that unless you really mean it, man…"

Her eyes fell away and she wiped her lids quickly, but he saw the wetness drop from her face.

"Yani…don't cry. C'mon—"

"People use me. Men…they say all the sweet things I want to hear, and then I fall for it until they realize that I'm not here for just a good lay. I have a brain. Opinions. I have a baby who needs me all the time. That's when problems come up—"

"I'm not that dude, Yani. I promise—"

"You can't make me no promises that I can trust. Not yet."

"Then let me prove it to you. I got three, maybe four months here. That's the truth. My life ain't easy either, Ma. On God. I try not to get fully involved with people because I know I won't be around long enough. So yeah, I fuck a lot of women when I can. But this is different. And I shouldn't get involved with you because you have a kid and I've seen how that scenario plays out. I should leave you alone. I know that's what I should absolutely do. I wish I had never met you."

Her eyes shot to his face when he said that.

"I've got issues I struggle with and I do some dirty ass shit out in the world. You already know this. You also know you ain't got no goddamn business messing around with me. You probably wish you never met me either. That's cuz we're in a no-win situation. I know it, and you know it. But we want to play this game anyway—"

"It's not a game to me, Killmonger."

Her lips trembled. He stroked her back.

"What do you want to do then? I don't want to hurt you, but I'm going to be miserable here without you. Straight up."

"What will happen to you in three or four months?"

"I don't know. I work for Klaue and he is unpredictable. It's the nature of our work."

"Why live that kind of life? Can't you do something else? You are so smart, and you must have money because you spent a lot on all of this jewelry…"

Her eyes pleaded with him for an answer that could change their fate.

"There are some things I have to do before I can retire from this life."

"How long?"

"I can't say for sure. That's real talk, Yani."

She leaned away from him and cradled her arms around her waist. He felt his stomach tense with unease. This was the same conversation he'd had before in another life. Without any screaming or throwing of things this time around. It was a rational conversation. It always was. Until feelings got real thick and they were deep into the relationship. He could see the writing on the wall, recognized the same thought patterns coming from Yani, and he still couldn't let go of her. He'd read this book before and the ending was always the same. Anger. Tears. Silence.

"I'll leave it up to you. You can think about it if you want," he said.

"It would just be a waste of time," she said.

Her words stabbed him in the gut. His eyes shut while he silently collected his thoughts on how to move forward.

She crawled back on his lap and he looked at her with surprise on his face.

"I've already wasted three months on your ass thinking about you. Might as well use these next three months being with you."

His face lit up and he grabbed her waist and pulled her in for a hug.

"We are so stupid," she whispered in his ear.

"Yes, we are."

"Just you and me, right?" she asked.

"I told you—"

He let his lips finish the rest of what he wanted to say.

"Mama!"

They laughed when they heard Sydette's voice echo out from the intercom in the room.

"Of course, she would wake up now!" Yani said.

She threw her arms around him and he kissed her, drinking in her mouth deeply. He was breathless and let her go, his knees gone weak.

"MAMA!"

"I'm a mess!" Yani said as she scrambled to pick up her clothes.

Erik slipped on his underwear and pants.

"Go clean up real quick in the master bathroom. I'll entertain her while you wipe up," he said.

They both went to the master bedroom. The light sensors already on the moment the baby moved.

"Hey, Sweet Pea!"

Erik made his voiced excited as Yani rushed past her daughter with her clothes and ran a fast shower. He sat on the edge of the bed and watched Sydette rub her eyes as she sat up. Her big dark eyes gazed at him and she gurgled a few baby words. She crawled over to him and used his arm to lift herself up, grabbing for his earring again.

"Sweet Pea!"

Yani rushed back out, her body still damp despite being clothed again. She lifted Sydette from the bed.

"I better change her, she's wet," she said.

"I'll wash up and start dinner. You are staying for dinner still, right?"

God, please. He didn't want to be alone.

"Yeah. We'll stay for dinner."

He practically ran to the bathroom.

###

Yani found the dinner Erik cooked delicious.

They sat around the dining table talking about the best rice they ever had, island rice versus Gullah rice, as they both ate the curried rice and shrimp he cooked. Sydette sat on her lap sucking down a few grains of rice that Yani mashed up for her and mixed into her strained peas.

She loved that Erik was an attentive listener. She found herself dominating the conversation and revealed some things about herself that she thought was a little too personal, but he wanted to know. She went into full detail of the breakdown of her relationship with Chez and confessed to him about the lackluster dates she'd had since he was gone. He seemed happy to know that she hadn't had intercourse with anyone. She still felt disappointed that he'd been with someone. She didn't ask how many. She didn't want to know that.

They spoke of serious things concerning them having full-on sex. She was on birth control. They agreed to get tested within the next few days and she gave him the name of the clinic she went to. It was all so responsible, uninhibited, and adult. Nothing like when she was with Chez. They spoke of their likes and dislikes in the bedroom, and she let him know that she used anal plugs. His eyes gave her a look that made her body shiver.

He wanted her to stay the night. She knew it for a fact even though he didn't ask her outright. But when dinner was over, and it soon got late from talking again, she asked for them to be taken home.

She needed time away from him to think about and process his return.

Twyla spent the night at Cee Cee's house and she had the bedroom at Leona's to herself. When Sydette was fast asleep, Yani masturbated like crazy. Thinking of Erik's big wide tongue on her private parts made her cum so many times. The way he talked her through orgasms sent her fingers in overdrive. She had to take another shower before she could go to bed properly.

She was nervous, thrilled, anxious, worried, and all so many other emotions while lying there all night. She couldn't sleep. There was also chatter on her social media feed about her and Erik already. A few pictures popped up on her TL and Kendall's feed with her walking with Erik. At least he had his dark shades on, but they made a striking pair holding hands. She worried that Chez would act out again because he was always scouring her feed to see what she was up to. She avoided him since their last encounter, but it was inevitable, as always, that word would get to him about Erik once more. It would probably be best to keep her relationship on the low low. She kept expecting Chez to blow up her phone, or God forbid, show up at the apartment.

When she woke for breakfast, Leona watched her like a hawk.

"You came back late. You were with Mr. Killmonger the whole time?"

"Yes. He made us lunch and dinner. We talked about my schooling and stuff."

Yani tried to keep it platonic sounding, but her Aunt could see the faint markings on her neck from Erik's chain and his teeth.

"What you plan on doing with that man?"

Yani thought her eyes would fall out of her head.

"I thought you liked him, Auntie."

"I do. But I know what he is. Do you?"

"You don't think I should see him?"

"You uh big woman now. Not a child or a teenager. You know what you should or shouldn't do."

"He won't be here long, so it don't matter anyway—"

"It does matter."

"What are you saying to me?"

Yani sat with her spoon in her cereal and Sydette sitting in her high chair right next to her. Leona sipped at her coffee.

"What are you trying to do with him?"

"Nothing."

Leona chuckled, her eyes glancing at Yani's neck.

"Nothing? Okay. You say so, that's how it is. Just be careful. Don't get careless and bring no more babies home—" "Auntie!"

"You heard me. You don't see how he was looking at you? Like him can't wait to plant him seed in you."

"Ohmigod. Really now? I'm not making that mistake again."

"Then you make sure him wrap up tight. He probably got babies all over. Women look at him and want to breed—"

"Please! Auntie! Too early in the relationship for alla that talk."

"Say that with them love bites on your neck, gyal…"

Yani felt her jaw go lax and she ate her cereal full of embarrassment.

"Him really like Sydette," Leona said.

Yani grinned.

"He does."

Leona cleaned her cup and stared at Yani.

"Be careful, Yani."

"I will. Trust."

Leona went into the living room and Yani let out an anxious breath. Her cell buzzed on the table.

Erik.

She answered.

"When can I see you?" he said.

"Can I call you right back?"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, I just need to find a sitter for the baby—"

"Bring her—"

"No, it'll be too much trying to do the walk with her. I'll call you back in five minutes."

Her face was tight from smiling so hard. It was eight in the morning and he was already calling for her time. They had only been separated by nine hours.

"Auntie…"

"Hmmm."

Leona sat on her couch watching her stories on TV.

Yani stood near the couch, her fingers touching a throw pillow.

"Can I have a favor from you-?"

"How long will you be gone?"

Leona's eyes were playful. "Not too long. I'm taking Killmonger to see Twyla on her food tour, and then I want to show him Queen Mary."

Leona sat back in her seat.

"Showing him family stuff?"

"Yeah. Him curious about mi tattoo. He likes food too, so Twyla will give him a good time. Let him see the town…stuff like that. Maybe gone two or three hours."

"Hmmm."

"What that mean, huh?"

"Two or three hours?"

"If you can't, I'll ask Anika or Monice—" "I can watch her. But it won't be for two or three hours. That man been gone a long time. That not enough time for him—"

"Stop. For real, Auntie—"

"I'm just saying. You were gone a long long time yesterday."

"Three hours."

"You say so—"

"I say so!" Yani said tossing a small pillow at her Aunt, "I'll watch Bam for you tonight to make up for your time today."

"Okay, fair trade."

"Why are you looking at me like that."

"You got that look on your face."

"What look?"

"You know what I'm talkin' about. Don't act cute. And don't suck your teeth at me. Have fun."

Yani took a long shower and also cleaned up her daughter. She prepped two bottles in case Sydette was fussy about the jars of baby food Yani was weaning her on. The little girl was holding on to breast milk for as long as possible. Yani was beginning to think it was out of comfort and not nutritional need. Yani had been under stress with her car, keeping Chez at bay and worrying about her finances. It was influencing Sydette's behavior with her.

"You be sweet as pie with Auntie little girl. Hear me? Mama is going to be with Killmonger for a little while, then I come home. Alright?"

"Juice!" Sydette said pointing to her mouth.

"No more juice until dinner. Too much sugar."

Sydette fretted and bent her body back and Yani pulled her forward.

"Stop that. Don't act like Bam. I tell you no, and it's for your own good. You nuh spoiled."

She carried the baby back into the living room and put her on the carpet next to a pile of dolls and a stuffed puppy. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket and she checked it. A notification from Kendall. She swiped the link and it was a reblogging of a photo of her and Killmonger on an island gossip site.

"Baby Mama Drama!"

The headline was in large red print under the picture of Killmonger carrying Sydette a big dimpled smile on his face with Yani clutching his arm with a grin on her face. Sydette's face was blurred out.

You see this shit? What are you doing Cuz?

Kendall's text made her feel ill.

Yani scanned through the gossip rag and the main take was the open questioning of Sydette's paternity. She read the comments under the screed and trolls were already claiming that Yani had been using Chez for his rap career, but the real father of her child was the mysterious man in the dark shades.

Ignore this shit.

She texted Kendall with more shaky conviction.

I won't respond to any of this.

She felt nervous now. Chez was always checking for that site. He already saw that photo. She was sure of it.

"Auntie, tell Sonya I will watch Bam at her house tonight."

"Why?"

"Give you a break from having kids here all the time."

Leona gave her a strange look as Yani tidied up the apartment.

She did a load of laundry before she called Erik back leaving the house.

"Thought you forgot about me," he said when she drove to the compound in her car.

"I'm on my way to the compound."

"I thought I was picking you up."

"I have to babysit my cousin's son tonight, so I'll need to drive to her house later."

"I could've taken you."

"It's ok, I'll see you in five minutes."

Erik was waiting for her in the driveway as she pulled in and parked. It felt odd coming into Klaue's sphere and not feel guarded. Erik allowed Sydette on the grounds freely, and she herself could walk around like she owned everything. It was interesting to see how Erik's sole presence made the compound feel…welcoming. Open.

He had the S.U.V. ready for them.

"Do I need anything else?" he asked holding bottles of water for them.

"Nope. You're good."

She gave him directions into Havensight and they parked near the tour guide office Twyla worked for. They could see twelve other people standing near the office. Twyla swept out wearing a teal polo shirt with the Tour Company's logo on it and crisp new khaki walking shorts. A pair of tan Birkenstocks covered her feet.

"Hello everyone! It looks like our last two guests have arrived. We will be getting started. If anyone needs to use the restroom now, you can right inside the office. This tour will run for two hours with lunch and drinks included. Please take plenty of photographs and feel free to use me as your model because I am very cute!'

The tour group laughed and it was fun for Yani to see her cousin act so professional.

No one needed the restroom so Twyla started the tour giving a thorough history lesson about the island, the people, and the culture.

There were stops to taste local drinks at several bars where bartenders spoke to the group and Twyla gave facts about the buildings and other architecture influenced by the Dutch and English and Spanish.

She was so good at her job, and Yani felt proud when Erik had several questions for her cousin that Twyla answered with joyous aplomb, even surprising Yani at some facts she herself didn't know.

The time flew by fast and they ended the tour inside of a restaurant that specialized in fried conch. Everyone ate and enjoyed the food, especially Erik, who ate so much conch that he was belching while he drank his beer.

"You have fun?" she asked.

His arm was around her chair and he leaned over and kissed her cheek.

"This was great, but when are you going to tell me about this?"

His fingers stroked the back of her neck, touching her tattoos.

"What you want to know about these?" Twyla said, holding her left wrist up. Inked on her dark sienna skin were the exact same torch and cane blade on Yani's neck.

"She said she would show me," Erik said.

Twyla let a sly smile paint her lips. She glanced at the watch on her arm and stood up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes the Havensight Walking Food & Drink Tour. You are free to remain here and continue your merry-making, the tour office is right next door if you would like to check out our other tour offers. Thank you for being a wonderful group, and I am so happy that I made all of your photos so much better with my presence in them!"

Twyla gave a dramatic bow and eased Yani and Erik out of the restaurant.

"I am done until seven when I do the evening Bar Crawl. Should we head over to Blackbeard's Castle?"

"Yeah," Yani said.

She held onto Erik's hand as they walked through tourists.

The castle really wasn't a castle and Twyla explained to Erik that the tower was really a watchtower built by the Danes to spot enemy ships in the Harbor. Erik was not interested in hearing about Danes or any other European history once he spotted the Three Queens Fountain right below the tower.

Riveted by the statues, Erik walked around it staring at the three women depicted holding torches, their backs to one another facing out onto the world. Twyla proudly walked next to Erik.

"Meet Queen Agnes Salomon, Queen Mathilda McBean, and this baddie right here…this is our great-great-great-extra great Grandmother, Queen Mary Thomas, she was from Antigua originally, but came to St. Croix to work on a plantation…"

Yani stood back as Erik stared at the statue of Queen Mary. Each woman wore a dress with an apron over it, head kerchiefs tied over their hair, feet bare, and eyes looking forward and beyond the island. Twyla reverted back to her tour guide voice.

"On the island of St. Croix, October 1, 1878…our Great Gran right here was part of a labor revolt known as the "Fireburn". Our ancestors fought for fair wages and when the White man acted a fool, as he is known to do, the three Queens rose up with their torches and their sugar cane blades and led the Black masses to burn it all down…"

Twyla laughed and Yani looked at Erik whose eyes were shiny with respect.

"Fireburn," Erik said.

"Fiyahbun!" Twyla shouted, startling a few tourists who had wandered down to take pictures of the fountain.

"Where you gon' go burn, Queen?" Yani sang to Twyla.

"She gon' burn it all!" Twyla responded back.

"Respect," Erik whispered, his eyes looking at the statue of Queen Mary.

"The revolt ended after a few days. They burned and tore up what they could to make those Danes understand some new rules. Buildings were burned down, fifty plantations lit up….some lootin' too—"

"Aye, reclamation, Cuz. People collect fair wages that were not given to them," Yani corrected.

"They were takin' shit, man," Twyla chuckled to Erik, "slavery had ended there in 1848, but they treated niggas like sharecroppers in the States, basically making them slaves all over again. People got tired. These women set it off. Life was not good for them and if they couldn't live well, nobody was, burn the whole fucking town down…"

"So the sugar cane blade and the torch…that's your family crest, like a coat of arms even—"

"But we carry it in our skin. For her memory. Remind us what we made of," Yani said.

Twyla nodded.

"Our Mary was sent to Amsterdam and she did jail time. She could've been hung. Thank God she already had her babies before then or else none of us would be here. She was sentenced for arson and lootin', but her death sentence was commuted to life imprisonment," Twyla said.

"What happened to her?"

"She was sent to Copenhagen to do her time but ended up sent back to St. Croix for the remainder of her sentence. Stories and myths surround that part. Some say she escaped the jail, some say she was released. No matter though. We here."

"Yeah," Yani said wiping her eye when she felt a tear start up. Thinking about Queen Mary always made her feel emotional. She wouldn't be alive if it weren't for that woman.

"You can look online and see another statue dedicated to her in Denmark. Twenty-three feet tall. Have our Queen sitting on a throne holding her torch and cane blade. Powerful. They call the statue there 'I Am Queen Mary'," Twyla said.

Yani blinked her eyes to get them focused again and she noticed a few tourists were standing near them listening to Twyla. Always ready to finesse a situation Twyla stood back from the fountain and faced the eavesdroppers.

"If you'd like to learn more about Island history, please go to Havensight Walking Food & Drink Tours!"

She waved her hand at Erik and Yani and they followed her away from the fountain, heading back to the tourist office.

Erik held her hand again. As they waited to cross a street, he leaned over and kissed the back of her neck, his lips covering her tattoos. Her skin prickled with goosebumps.

"Thank you," he said.

"For what?"

"For sharing. Will you let Sydette get the tattoo?"

"Of course. The moment she turns eighteen. It's a rite of passage. We all get one."

"That's dope," he said.

"Well, that's not exactly true, we all don't get one. Some of the family don't believe in marking the body. Mainly the older people," Twyla said.

"My parents didn't want me to get the tattoo, and they won't let my other sisters get them, even when they turn eighteen. We also have a few cousins on our Grandmother's side who don't believe in that—"

"Ridiculous," Twyla said.

"They just don't think we should be doing that. They think it sends the wrong message—"

"The message is clear. Either you are a fighter or you are a sell-out. It doesn't even have to be a big tattoo. Look at me and Yani, discreet, yeah? They can put it places where no one can see it…" Twyla waved her hands at the thought.

"You bitch!"

Yani and the others were barely passing by two buildings not too far from where Erik was parked when a silver car came to a halt right as it started to pull out from a parking spot on the street.

They all stopped wondering who was yelling out the window when Ursula jumped out of the car and ran across the street right up to Yani's face.

Ursula shoved Yani in the arm and Twyla immediately jumped in front of her pushing the woman back.

"Fuck you want?!" Yani shouted, trying to get past Twyla. Erik separated them all.

"Trying to fuck my man in my house, now?!"

"What?!"

"Don't play dumb Yani!"

"I didn't do anything like that!"

Ursula held up her cell.

"So this isn't you on my fucking couch?"

Twyla and Yani stared at the picture.

Sure enough, it was a picture of her sitting on Chez's couch in his house, her skirt looking way too short because of the angle Chez took the photo. Thigh meat just all out.

"Yeah, that's me—"

"In my house!"

"I was only there to get my child support. Chez wanted the kids to play together…"

Twyla glared at Yani like she had lost her mind. Yani felt her face get hot and her voice flustered.

"Nothing happened—"

"Chez said you offered to fuck him for more money!"

Ursula stared at Yani's neck.

"You even have marks on your neck!" she yelled.

"You need to get your man in check! I wouldn't fuck him for no amount of money. I came to get my baby's support and he said Star was asleep and he couldn't come bring me my cash. I went to get it and your baby woke up. He wanted the girls to be together and I sat on your couch so they could. But he tried to blackmail me with the money. He didn't want to give it to me unless I gave him some. But I didn't."

"He tried to force you?" Erik asked. His eyes were heated.

"He don't want you!" Ursula shouted.

Yani felt eyes from people watching the circus they were displaying. She wanted to fall into the ocean.

Twyla stepped up.

"That nigga been wanting Yani back! That's why he tried to beat her ass when he saw her with this nigga right here-!"

"Yani, he put hands on you?" Erik pulled her aside.

"He was waiting for me at Auntie's. I told you people would talk at the restaurant. Somebody told him about you."

Yani's voice began to crack. She felt mortified that this was happening in such a public way.

"You wanted to have sex with him," Ursula insisted.

"No, I didn't."

"Oh, so you didn't ask him what you needed to do to get the money?"

Ursula dialed a number and put her phone on speaker.

"Yeah?"

They all heard Chez's voice.

"I got that bitch right in front of me. Did she or did she not ask you what you wanted her to do in our house?"

"Ursula, get me off the fucking phone!"

"No, the slut is right here denying everything. We're gonna clear up the whole thing right now!"

"I'm not a slut!"

Yani slapped Ursula and when the other woman rushed forward, Erik held her back from Yani.

"Where this nigga live?" Erik asked. His voice was calm but tight.

"I can show you exactly where he lives!" Twyla said.

"Erik, don't, I don't want this…." Yani said tugging on his arm, pulling him away from Ursula.

"Who are you with?!" Chez shouted on the speaker.

"Her real baby faddah. This trick is using you. She's out here with that guy from the pictures online."

It was too much.

Twyla ready to throw hands and Erik with smoke nearly coming out of his ears. The cacophony of arguing voices wore Yani down.

"Come on!" Twyla yelled grabbing Yani's arm and pulling her toward the parking lot.

When they buckled into the S.U.V., Yani tried to dissuade Erik. Twyla yelled out Chez's address and Erik tore out of the parking lot.

"How come you didn't tell me he hurt you?"

Erik's raised voice was chilling to hear.

"He slammed her on Auntie's car. Had Yani by the throat. If I hadn't heard them and come outside, she might be dead—"

"Don't say that! He wouldn't kill me—"

"Yani, he had you in a chokehold! I saw him slam you on the fucking hood!"

Her cousin's fingers reached from the backseat to wipe Yani's face.

"Stop crying," Twyla said in a softer tone.

"This nigga tried to choke you out and he held Sydette's money over your head? Yani…"

Erik couldn't even finish his sentence. He leaned into the wheel as they sped toward Red Hook.

"Turn up here, man," Twyla said.

"Which house is it?" Erik asked.

"The white one, right there. Park over there," Twyla said.

Snatching the keys from the ignition, Erik stepped out from the S.U.V. and slammed the door.

"Y'all wait out here—"

"Nah, I'm coming to see this."

Twyla followed behind Erik. Yani jumped out and ran up to Erik pulling on his arm.

"Yani, stop!" Erik barked, yanking his arm away from her.

Banging on the front door, the moment Chez opened it, topless and in baggy jeans trying to zip up his fly, Erik snatched him by his throat and man-handled him back inside the house.

"Nigga what?!" Twyla shouted barging in.

Yani ran in and was shocked to see another woman in the house half-dressed on the couch.

"You fucking put hands on her?!"

Erik pressed his face close to Chez. Slamming him against the farthest wall in the living room, he took his right hand and continually bitch-slapped Chez.

"Fuck!" Chez kept yelling as Erik busted his lip. The slaps kept coming.

The woman on the couch tried to jump up.

"Sit your ass down!" Twyla yelled standing over her. The woman sat back and they all watched Erik's hand brutalize Chez's face.

"If you ever in your natural Black life touch her again, I will put you in the fucking ground. If you try to force her to have sex for money, I will put you in the fucking ground. From now on you will take her child support and give it to her Aunt one hour before she leaves for church on Sundays. If you are late, I will fuck you up. You won't talk to her, stalk her, or bother her for anything. If you want your daughters to have playtime, they will have it at her Aunt's house when she is not there and there is supervision watching you—"

"I can do that!" Twyla volunteered.

Yani's hand went to her mouth. She heard feet running to the front door and Ursula burst in. Twyla was on her fast.

"Don't move or you will catch hands too," Twyla said.

Yani watched Erik shake Chez like a rag doll before he slammed him one last time against the wall. Chez's pants had slipped off of his hips. He didn't have underwear on and they could see his pubic hairs and the root of his dick.

"Don't even look her way, nigga!"

Erik threw Chez down on the floor. Ursula rushed over, but her eyes finally noticed the half-naked woman on her couch.

"Who the fuck is this? Chez?!"

"How you get 'em is how you lose 'em, bitch!" Twyla screeched.

She grabbed Yani's hand and pulled her toward the front door.

Chez yanked up his pants and tried to fight back, but Erik kicked him in the balls sending him squat on his ass. Reaching for the table lamp he fell near, Chez threw it at Erik who ducked. The lamp shattered against the coffee table and Ursula screamed when Erik punched Chez square in the jaw. A sickening crack was heard.

"Erik! Stop! Please!" Yani shouted. She ran to him and threw her arms around his waist pulling him back, "He's still Sweet Pea's faddah."

For some reason, her Auntie's words from months back fell from her lips. Chez was a terrible person. But he still was the father of her only child. Erik would kill him for her and not even blink an eye doing it. Too much.

"He won't do anything ever again. I swear. Him learn his lesson, yeah? I don't want you to go to jail. Killmonger—"

She burst into tears, her eyes glancing at Chez, his face looking worse than when he beat up her last boyfriend Zachary. She buried her face in Erik's back.

"Okay…baby…it's over…"

Erik turned around, wiped his right hand on the back of his pants and threw his arms around her.

"I'll take you home," he whispered and kissed her forehead.

Everyone else in the room was quiet, the only sound was Chez gasping. Twyla opened the front door for them and Erik turned toward Ursula.

"Your man is a liar, a woman beater, and a cheat. Always will be," he said.

The other woman gathered her things and ran out past them, not even looking back.

"Better not be any cops called on us," Twyla spat as she followed them out of the house.

Yani wiped her face with her hand.

"I wish you didn't do that," she said with a shaky voice.

"I had to. Men like him brutalize women because they can. Now he knows he can't do that to you anymore."

"What if he doesn't pay his money? What if he blames me for his ass getting kicked—"

"That nigga is going to pay. Trust me on that. I'll be back over here again if he tries to be funny with Sydette's money."

"I'm scared."

Erik stopped.

"Why? I'm here."

"There's a picture of us floating around a gossip site and it's telling people that you are Sydette's Dad and that I used Chez. He might have people come after me because of that."

"Gyal, ain't nobody coming after you. Not after that ass whopping in there. Even Ursula scared of him," Twyla said waiting for Erik to open up the S.U.V. for them. He unlocked the car but stood next to Yani. Twyla climbed into the back seat and waited for them.

"I wanted you to stay in the car so you wouldn't have to see that."

"I didn't want you to kill him."

"I wouldn't kill him."

But he would do it. If she asked him to. She was sure of that. And if Chez had forced himself on her, he would be a dead man right now. As it stood he probably had a broken jaw for his fuckery.

Erik was a force of nature and he frightened her.

But he excited her also.

A little too much.

###

Part 11

Tag List:

@fd-writes @soufcakmistress @cherrystainedlipsbaby @tclaybon @thadelightfulone

@allhailqueennel @bartierbakarimobisson @cpwtwot @shookmcgookqueen @yoyolovesbucky

@raysunshine78 @the-illllest @terrablaze514 @l-auteuse @amirra88 @jimizwidow @janelledarling

@chaneajoyyy @sweetestdream92 @purple-apricots @blackpinup22 @hennessystevens-udaku

@scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @bugngiz @stariamrry @honeytoffee @meilintheempressofdreams

#wet sugar #killmonger #erik stevens #n'jadaka #killmonger fanfiction #killmonger smut #klaue #black panther fanfiction

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greasygyeom · 6 years ago

Text

Title: Northern Lights

By: GreasyGyeom

Summary: It’s a surprise!

Yugyeom x Noona / Fluff (for the most part)

Warnings: Dirty talk / Innuendos / Handjob

Author’s Note: (i) The Ice Forest is a free inline skating rink inside the Incheon Airport. (ii) I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to get another fic out, but thank you for being so patient with me. I hope you enjoy it!

“Can you not be so vague?”

“I’m not being vague Yugyeom, just wait at the airport for half an hour more; what do you have to lose in that.”

“What are you up to?” he asked, sounding just a bit annoyed.

“Oh my god just wait for half an hour, I’ll tell you?”

“I’m really tired, noona, I wanna go home.”

“Please, baby, I promise it’s gonna be worth it. I know you just landed and you wanna go home, but just wait ….okay, just wait.”

“You’re going to ask me to get on a plane again. I know it”

“I’ll tell you when I see you. Can you please wait. Is Jackson with you?”

“Yeah, he’s here. Hyung knows what all this is about?”

“No, he doesn’t.”

“I bet he does. I’m gonna pester him. Fine I’ll wait, find me when you get here.”

“Okay okay” you rolled your eyes, sliding your phone back into your bag. You had been eager to cut the call since the moment it had begun - it totally had nothing to do with you hating attending phone calls at all, even if they were from your boyfriend.

You kind of felt bad for keeping him in the dark, because he spent so much time travelling already, yet you were about to drag his tiny non-existent arse to the opposite side of the world. But, arguably so, what you had planned was a lot different to what his work life demanded from him, which ultimately made your cause somewhat more noble-or so you liked to believe anyway.

You were worried though, of course. There was a solid chance he’d get so irritated at the thought of travelling for another 16+ hours that he might just go home. Yugyeom wasn’t known for his temper, but it did flare, on rare, special occasions. You just hoped this wasn’t going to become one of them.

Gosh. Planning a surprise was so far turning out to be worse than receiving one.

You called Jackson to find out where they were, while getting your bag out of the car; your teeth clattering ever so slightly because of the low, February temperatures.

You met them outside the arrival gates and thanked Jackson profusely for coming to the airport, instead of you, just to keep Yugyeom company. Judging by Yugyeom’s body language, you knew he wasn’t too pleased.

“It’s okay, don’t stress it.” Jackson smiled kindly — almost as if asking you to not get disheartened by your boyfriend’s behaviour— before giving you a tight hug. “I’ll see you in a week?”

“Hyung, I’ll see you at your place after gym.” Yugyeom suddenly replied, speaking over you.

“No, you won’t. Stop being a dick.”

“How am I being a dick? I’m telling you what my plan is. I don’t know what her plan is, because she’s not telling me anything.”

“I was going to tell you” you replied, almost teary-eyed because of his standoffish behaviour. You promised yourself you would handle it without getting anxious, but that pep-talk was failing right now.

“That’s how surprises work, idiot. Look now you’re making her cry.”

“I’m not crying, I’m fine.” you assured Jackson, and then turned to Yugyeom, “Look, I didn’t want to piss you off or anything. But if that is how it turned out then, it’s still okay.”

You knew there was always a chance of things going south very fast, because, while usually he had the patience of a buddhist monk, air travel and sickness brought out the worst in him. And when Yugyeom got in this mood, it was always imminent defeat for you. You were the older one in the relationship, but emotionally you were submissive, you couldn’t deal well with being his source of anger. That was the power he held over you; that you made sure he never was made fully aware of.

But since getting him disgruntled had not been the objective of your agenda, you decided there and then to simply comply with his wishes.

Softening your tone you continued, “But you know what, you’re right. I’m sorry, I should have asked you before planning it. I just wanted to spend a week away from everything, but it was out of selfishness. I’ll cancel everything and meet you later?”

You were hurting a bit inside, obviously, but you felt you should have asked him beforehand if he was okay to travel for another day. Besides the fact that you couldn’t stand the idea of Yugyeom being angry at you, you didn’t want Grumpy McGrumpson to ruin the trip either.

Giving him a weak smile, you started walking away from them but, to your surprise, Yugyeom pulled you back.

“I have one condition.”

You looked up at him, shivering for a millisecond as a cold gust of wind blew past.

He glanced at your tiny red button nose and his heart melted. He didn’t want to be mad at you just as much as he didn’t want to board another flight, which he knew he was going to have to.

However, the suffering had to be equal.

“You will ice skate with me first.”

You hated ice skating - any skating really - but ice skating specifically because apart from being convinced that you couldn’t stand on the skates for more than two seconds before getting disbalanced and falling, it was always unbearably cold inside.

“Fine.”

“Really?” He was quite surprised at how you didn’t put a fight at all. He was expecting some negotiations.

“Yeah, I’ll do it. You can’t show me this attitude after having your way though.”

“Shit, I should have asked you call me oppa for a day instead. You would have totally done it.”

“Don’t push it”, you warned, as he took your hand in his and gripped it tightly.

“Kim Yugyeom, that is extremely unreasonable” Jackson pointed out, knowing your standing on the idea of sports, “And really mean. She’s your girlfriend.”

“Yeah you wanna ice skate in noona’s place then? And get late for your workout?” Yugyeom mocked, reminding him of the session he had in an hour that he couldn’t afford to miss.

“You little brat. Don’t give her a hard time, okay?” He said, giving the both of you one last hug, “Give me a call if he’s acting like an asshole.”

“Okay Jackson, but I think I can deal with that on my own.”

“By letting him have his way?” I don’t think so. Call me.”

And then he blended into a sea of people rushing to get into cabs. You chuckled, but in actuality, watching him leave was like watching your security blanket get shredded into pieces. Now it really was just you and Grumpy McGrumpson.

“Soooo… where are we going exactly?” He asked, as you both walked into the airport, dragging your suitcases.

“Uhh…. I’ll tell you, but you absolutely cannot get annoyed.”

“Okay, I will try not to.”

“Iceland”

His eyes nearly popped out of their socket. He wasn’t annoyed, just very very shocked.

“Why? Iceland? You hate the cold. You’re dying inside right now because of the cold! Oh wait, do you have tickets to see Sigur Rós?”

“What? No, I wish we were that lucky; but I actually have a meeting there at the end of the week. I’d have had to leave in three days. So, I thought, since we barely get to spend time alone for more than some hours, it would be a good idea to take you with me.”

“You were leaving on Wednesday? I’d have been so mad.”

“You have been mad at me all day anyway! How does it matter what day you’re getting mad on!”

“Yeah ok but that was when I thought we were going to chill at home the whole week. I didn’t know you were going to leave me alone after just three days. What is this meeting about?”

Obviously you had to lie now because there was no meeting. “It’s with a client. Boring stuff.” You dismissed, not knowing how to continue the story, but he kept looking at you with his inquisitive eyes.

He loved listening to you talk. “Tell me more?”

“She has a chain of luxury hotels in Europe and my team handles the account. She couldn’t fly to us, so I’m being made to fly to her. There’s some new expansions that need to be sorted out.”

“She could live anywhere in Europe and she chose Iceland?”

“It’s her hometown, Yugyeom.”

“Why couldn’t she fly to you?”

“She usually does, but there was a family priority, I think.”

“I’m presuming we’re staying at her hotel?”

“Yeah. She was really nice about it too. She insisted on us staying there the whole week.”

“I don’t think we have clothes for the cold though.”

“It’s alright, I packed two of your coats. If we go out, we’ll survive. If.”

“Noona, I will survive. I don’t think you will.”

“I’ll find a way, Gyeom. You promise you’re not mad anymore? It’s like a 16 hour flight. We really don’t have to go, if you don’t want to. I’ll just reschedule my flight to Wednesday.”

“One week in a hotel, just us, with you freezing and clinging to me the whole time? Sounds pretty perfect to me.”

You hit him lightly on his shoulder for poking fun at you, but you could live with that.

“Jeez... did you have to give me a hard time all this while.”

“I’m really sick of planes and you weren’t telling me anything!”

“I know baby, you whiny baby, I’m sorry.” You tiptoed and gave him a little peck on his cheek. “Let’s check-in and then you can watch me embarrass myself on the rink, okay?”

An evil smile spread on his face at the thought of that. He had no intentions of agonising you, but seeing you bothered by it gave him a little sadistic pleasure. He actually could hardly wait to teach you how to ice skate; he’d been wanting to do that for so long. He’d tried so many times to get you to skate with him but it almost always led to a fight. That’s how much you hated it. This time felt like a golden ticket and he intended to use it fully.

You got your boarding passes within minutes, considering you had arrived two hours ahead of the advised time and headed towards the rink that was inside the airport.

“Wait a second, have you eaten anything at all?” He asked, prematurely skeptical about your answer.

“I’m not eating before your ice skating shtick.”

He laughed. You always felt this slight elation when something you’d say would make his bones tickle. You were convinced that you were fulfilling at least a quarter part of your life’s purpose.

Yugyeom wasted no time in heading towards the reception, to rent the paraphernalia for the rink. The worst thing about Ice Forest, for you, was that it wasn’t an enclosed area. So, while it solved the ‘exceptionally cold inside an ice skating rink’ problem, anybody passing by could see you fail and that made matters worse; because not only were you shy and self conscious, you had a considerable amount of social anxiety that made you fearful of how people would laugh when you couldn’t do something a 9 year old child could do.

“It’ll be fine, noona, you’re with me.” He tried to ease your nerves, pulling you towards one of the pillar benches and handing you the items.

You’d been on a rink just once in your life before, when you were 15, and you had managed to fall and become the butt of every joke at school. That incident was etched in your mind as one of the most embarrassing, traumatic moments that you never wanted to relive again. Yet here you were, twelve years later, waiting for history to repeat itself.

You weren’t even going to acknowledge how ridiculous you looked with the helmet and knee pads.

Unwillingly, as Yugyeom took your hands in his, you got up.

You knew you had the worst expression on your face because you were terrified.

Most of the times, you refused to participate in anything remotely related to sports and games, even video games because multitasking was not your forté and because you were afraid of being judged for how terrible you would be at it.

“What are you so scared of, noona?” he asked, looking deeply into your eyes, trying to comfort you. “I won’t let you get hurt.”

“You’re gonna be the first one to laugh at me when I fall”, you sulked

“I won’t let you fall. Trust me.”

He looked at you sincerely, with his soft, brown eyes and nudged you to move on the ice after letting go of your hands. “Hold out your arms in line with your chest, keep them straight and take a tiny step forward. But push your knees inwards” he repeated, “Keep your body straight, and turn your knees just a little towards each other.”

Then he got closer and spoke in this low, sultry voice you knew all too well. “You remember that time I got frisky with you at the restaurant while we were out with everyone? And you had your thighs closed but your legs were far apart, to keep my hands from reaching… you know….. inside? Kinda like that.”

“Oh my god, Yugyeom, shut up.” You blushed, not expecting to be reminded of that night so unceremoniously. “I got the point the first time!”

He laughed, basking in the glory of how red his words had just made you.

“You’re awful.” You wanted to beat the crap out of him.

“Am I?” He winked and glided away from you, smoothly. “I know you wanna kill me, but you’re gonna have to get a hold of me.”

You had no option except to do as he instructed. Your breathing was short and your heart beat drummed loudly in your ears. Luckily for you, there weren’t many people in the vicinity, so even if you did fall, it wouldn’t be that embarrassing. You could deal with four people you’d never see again, as opposed to twenty who’d think of you as the scaredy-cat who couldn’t stand still on ice.

He taught you how to walk with the skates first and you had mixed feelings about the endeavour. However, you were fascinated with how much information he had stored in his brain on the subject. While you were struggling with keeping your balance, it wasn’t as difficult a task as you had expected it to be. You’d take your left foot forward and bring your right foot at the same level as your left foot. Then take your right foot forward and bring your left foot at the same level and repeat the process.

“You wanna try skating?” He asked, after feeling confident that you could at least go a few paces without falling . “You can take support of the railing when you give it a try. Though i don’t think you need it.”

“You want me to walk to the railing?”

“Seems like the only option here?”

“Goddammit” you cursed, centering yourself and going through everything he’d told you to keep in mind. In your head you repeated ‘you can do it’, almost like a mantra. Really, you had no other option but to, because, even though you joked about it, you did not want to fall on the face ice while wearing jeans in front of the one guy you wanted to actually impress. That level of embarrassment was too much for you to be a part of.

He watched you breath in heavily as you took the first step towards the edge of the rink. You looked like a kid learning to take their first steps and all he wanted to do was pull your cheeks. You looked way too adorable. He orbited really closely around you, so that if you did lose balance, he’d be nearby to break your fall.

“Waaah noona!!!” He excitedly clapped when your hands grabbed the steel. “You did so well! See, it’s not that bad!”

“It was….awful.”

He pouted. “It wasn’t bad, you just don’t wanna admit it.”

He was right, in a way. In spite of all the anxiety this was causing you, you felt quite accomplished for having walked that distance without falling. But did you want to push your luck? That was still up for debate.

“Just….. try okay? He showed you the technique and stood some paces away, in front of you. “Skate towards me. You’ll fall on me, if you do. Push yourself forward and keep your knees bent.”

You could feel the sweat accumulating in your palms, but you did as he instructed. With every stride you took forward, he went a little away; like baiting a cat with tuna.

There was a massive grin on his face, watching you skate like that. He’d always had that faith in you that you seemed to have lost in yourself.

“You’re so good at this, noona. See, I told you, you could do it. There was nothing to be scared of, at all.”

You couldn’t help but feel happy, even though your body was cold and sweaty at the same time; and you wanted nothing more than to just collapse on a bed and hide under your blankets for ten months.

“I think I pushed my luck enough for today.” You finally spoke, suddenly feeling extremely aware of your surroundings. “And I’m really hungry now.”

The minute he heard you say you wanted food, he sprung to action, skating towards the exit so he could take off all the gear. “You’re going to have to actually leave the rink by yourself”, he grinned victoriously, making you spend a couple extra minutes on the ice.

There had been a few times, since you started dating Yugyeom 5 months ago, that you really just wanted to deck him in the face. And while this was one of them, the only reason he got lucky was because you needed to focus on not falling and that was obviously more important.

When you finally made it out, and removed your helmet, he hugged you tightly, almost lifting you in the air and gave you a kiss. “I am so proud of you. You got through an hour of that and didn’t fall once! I fell down like 10 times the first time I started learning. Easy-peasy you got this.”

“You know, if I knew planning this surprise would cost me an hour of….my worst nightmare, I would not have done it.”

He rolled his eyes at you for being dramatic. “Would you rather have called me oppa for a day?”

“No I’d rather a Boeing 747 flattened me on the runway.”

“Wow, mean. Okay, I’m going to return these” he gestured at the mess that was on the floor besides you, “and then we’re going to put some food in that tiny stomach of yours.”

You spent a good hour and a half at Yugyeom’s go-to cafe, inside the airport and in spite of it, were left with more time to goof around at the arcades. But even that adrenaline rush was not enough to counter the jitteriness of the vacation ahead.

You’d never had a whole week with Yugyeom, without other people always being around. Mostly because work demanded so much of time that sometimes when his schedule was open, yours wasn’t and vice versa; so instead of splitting between all the people he wanted to spend time with, he found it more conducive to chill with everyone in one place.

The celebratory thing was that you got along well with all of them. At least well enough that 70% of the times you would be surrounded by someone or the other and while you loved that, every once in a while you wished you could cuddle with him without the sound of BamBam ewing in the background. You were really looking forward to just being with him and so was he, but he was a lot more nervous than he’d let on.

His friends had unintentionally served as a buffer between you and him, never allowing space for any awkward silences, in a relatively new relationship.

2 months of friendship and 5 months of dating felt like a long time, yes, but not long enough. He’d had casual flings last longer than the amount of time he’d been committed to you. Yes, he was your boyfriend but he couldn’t remember a time when it had just been the two of you with no activity involved, unless you were sleeping. Of course you went on the few dates in the beginning, but your mutually hectic schedules either begged for peaceful night-ins, where you’d watch something on Netflix together and fall asleep or walk into either one’s house at half past 1 in the morning and quietly slide into the bed without waking the other person up. Not to say that you couldn’t spend time alone with each other—if the past 2 hours were to be taken into consideration—but you can sit in a café and eat food only for so long before one of you realises how big a mistake you’d made.

So, safe to say he was lowkey stressed about the what ifs of the week long vacation. Admittedly, it was a baseless musing- you’d never gotten bored in each other’s company- but seven days just suddenly felt like a lot.

“What world are you lost in, babe?” You nudged, when he didn’t reply to your question about going towards the departure gate.

He looked so focused on his chain of thought, it made you curious.

“I was just thinking, I won’t have to wear any clothes all week and more importantly, you won’t either.” Even though he pretended to be joking, that was one of the biggest pros running around in his head trying to combat the not-so-positive what ifs.

“Excuse me?”

“You know it’s true.”

“Speak for yourself, lad.” You retorted, digging your elbow into his flesh.

“You’re making me travel for an extra day, you can’t say no to me.”

“I already gave up an hour of my life in exchange for your silence. Don’t make fight you. I will fist fight you.”

“Sure, try me, noona.” He laughed, grabbing hold of your waist and pulling you into a tight back hug. “You can’t even wiggle out of my arms.”

“That’s only because I don’t want to”

But then he did the one thing you absolutely hated the most — wet kisses on your cheeks.

“Ew ew ew ew ew, stop it!” you whined, now trying to run away from him.

“No, it’s because you can’t.”

In spite of his take on the situation five minutes ago, he was still quite excited to annoy you more. He’d been slow to reach the realisation, but there literally was going to be no one to disturb him. He was worried about being alone with you but he didn’t fully process that he was going to be….. alone with you. He could do as he pleased. He could sleep in all day, if he wanted to; eat whatever and, more importantly, whenever; wrap himself around you if he wanted to; maybe agonise you with his dancing, like he sometimes did—nothing, absolutely nothing, was off-limits. And just like that a big smile spread on his face. While the nervousness didn’t miraculously vanish, he did feel slightly better.

That last thought and lots of sleep were going to get him through the long hours of airtime.

“Wait, what? This says business class.” Yugyeom looked at you worriedly as you pulled out the passes, ready to board the flight. How had he missed that detail?

“I…. know?”

“Who paid for this?”

“The company.” What a load of bullshit.

“Noona, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying! I told you they’re flying me out.”

“Why would they pay for my ticket?”

“Because I’m the boss. They do whatever I ask them to do.” you reassured him. “Don’t worry about the money, Gyeomie, please?”

He didn’t continue the conversation, but wasn’t convinced one bit.

Once inside the massive plane, it didn’t take too long to get settled in — considering you only had two small handbags to take care of; and with your book and drawing pad already tucked in at an arm's length, for easy access, you waited patiently for the flight to take off. Yugyeom didn’t waste any time in utilising your shoulder as his pillow, only till he could lower his seat and finally sleep. He needed the damn plane to cross the stratosphere as soon as possible.

You ran your fingers through his hair, gently, making his body tingle. He loved that sensation, it made him drowsy immediately.

By the time the plane took off, he was sound asleep; and so was your shoulder.

He was a big boy and you were half his size. It was only natural that his body weight would be a bit much for you to deal with, for a long time, but you couldn’t have disturbed him; he looked so peaceful.

Some hours later, unexpected turbulence jolted him out of his slumber and it confused him thoroughly. It was that weird category of unsettling naps that left him more disoriented than relaxed.

The commotion he caused made you unplug your earphones.

“You okay, baby? Need anything?”

He looked at you, drowsiness written all over his face, and shook his head.

“You want to lower the seat and sleep properly?”

He nodded.

He looked so cute and pouty when you got up to sort him out. Honestly, all you wanted to do was to be on top of him and keep kissing his lips until they were red and swollen.

In those movies you’d watched as a young-adult, you never bought that image they sold, of people looking perfect and beautiful right after waking up, but you still believed it existed. As you grew up, you began to recognise the unrealistic standard mass media widely propagated and that “real people” weren’t like this. You’d dated enough and woken up next to enough of them to fully believe that everyone, including you, looked like a used wet wipe after waking up.

And then you met Yugyeom. You couldn’t decide if he didn’t fall under the category of real people or was he just that beautiful that even with his untamed black locks and drool marks running down the side of his lips, he was the most endearing sight you’d ever laid your eyes on.

You wiped off the semi-dry trail of saliva off his face, and gave him a small peck on his cheek.

As soon as his seat lowered and the backrest lay flat at a slight angle, he adjusted his 6ft body to fit comfortably into the makeshift bed. It was a feat achieved with much tossing and turning, but achieved nonetheless. You handed him the pillow and resisted tucking him fully, under the soft blanket and the only thought in your mind was how you couldn’t wait to snuggle up with him everyday.

Somewhere between admiring his face and reading a book, your ability to sleep anywhere, anytime triumphantly took over and you dozed off in your seat, resting your head by the window.

When you woke up— a little bit bamboozled about when you’d fallen asleep in the first place — your book had already been tucked into the little pocket next to your seat and there was an extra blanket wrapped around you, packing you like a burrito. Yugyeom was already awake.

It took you thirty seconds to remember why you were on the plane.

“Noona, you feeling hungry? They got the food when you were knocked out and I didn’t want to wake you up.” He asked, gently stroking your cheeks. You snuggled and yawned, looking at him blankly, pouting for not knowing what you wanted to do.

He wanted to bite your nose, you looked like a little sleepy bunny, but instead, settled for a second question.

“Wanna watch a movie with me?”

Tilting your head to see what was playing on the screen, you shifted your weight onto his chest and shoulder. He flung his arm around you and pulled you toward him the best he could, with the hand rest separating the two of you. You watched him lazily, as he attached the second pair of headphones to the iPad – bless him for carrying the two-pin outlet.

It didn’t seem like much, but he felt really content in the moment.

You dozed off again after eating some food and he absentmindedly played with your hair until sleep caught up with him as well, for a third time.

He’d been on long flights before, they’d always bored him, but in spite of having spent 10 out of the fifteen hours already, he’d not actually felt the time pass by slowly, like he was used to. It eased up his doubts a bit more, because if just holding your hand made time go by at such speed, 7 days might just fly by.

His eyes fluttered open an hour later, to you drinking black coffee and reading the book he’d pried out if your hold at the beginning.

He didn’t know what timezone he was in yet and he was a tad bit cranky because this time he’d woken up with an unwarranted boner.

“Good morning, sleepy baby”

He scrunched his nose at the sound of your voice. “When do I get to crush you under me.”

“So impatient?”

He nodded, pouting like a little lost five year old, who just wanted his candy.

“I woke up with a problem.” He explained, but the tone he took sent a shiver down your spine.

“Aww” you chuckled, “Just some hours more, then you can do as you please.”

You didn’t look up from your book. You knew you could get him even more riled up if you ignored him, but also, you didn’t want to get tempted by his needy expressions.

“But… I want you now.”

“Jeez, Yugyeom, keep it in your pants.”

“What if I don’t wanna?”

“Then go take care of it yourself?”

“You won’t help?” He asked, evidently betrayed.

You bit your lower lip seductively and this time, held his gaze. “You want help?” you asked deviously, “Okay, I’ll help. but I won’t let you finish.”

He was taken aback by the demand. Not like it was the first time - you were a little freak when you wanted to be - he just wasn’t expecting it right at that moment.

“That’s ridiculous, noona. What do you mean you won’t let me.”

“I mean, I won’t let you.”

“I can just do it myself later?”

“No, that’s not how it works. You’re going to sit here and I’m going to have my way with you, until you wish you’d never asked for my help.”

He whined because you were serious. “You know boners hurt if we don’t jack off.”

You bent over closer to him and bit his earlobe, while slipping your hand discreetly under his blanket, resting it on the belt of his jeans, “I know. Still want my help?”

He took in a deep breath, tempted to challenge you. “What if I don’t listen to you?”

“You’re alone with me for seven days, baby. You really wanna try that? You don’t know what all I have in my bag.”

Your hand moved to his crotch, over his jeans, making him gasp.

“Tell me, you still want it?”

After stealing a glance around, to see if anyone was particularly interested in the shallow gasps Yugyeom was exhaling, you unzipped him.

“Oh fuck, noona.”

“Yeah baby?”

He gave you his best bedroom eyes, hoping you’d give in, tracing your jawline with his long, slender fingers. “Please get me off” he begged.

You pecked him on his lips, “No” and proceeded to stroke him over his boxers.

He didn’t want you to stop, but he was already dangerously close to hitting his limit because your casual teasing had escalated to firm gripping. Slipping in his hand under the blanket, he interlocked his fingers with yours, so you could no longer touch him.

“You’re awful.”

“Am I?”

“We will settle this once we have our room.

You smirked, knowing you had won, because while he couldn’t resist you, he also gave in to your unreasonable demand. Sighing, he let go of your hand and got up to go sort himself out in the tiny washroom. Getting anywhere with the conversation was going to be a futile process; he knew that, because you wouldn’t cave. He wondered maybe if he could will it away, he wouldn’t have to get his hands dirty. You infuriated him, when you controlled him like that, but it also got him feeling way hotter than it should. He wasn’t used to women saying no to him; that too with such an arrogant expression on their face. Usually they dropped to their knees whenever he asked them to. But you knew how to get your way with him every time, like you‘d cast a spell on him.

When he got back to his seat, after an agonising 15 minutes where he had to think of car crashes and math problems to get flaccid, you were engrossed in your book like nothing had transpired between you at all. You were unperturbed by his return, but clung onto his arm as soon as he was settled.

“Noo, after what you just did, you don’t get any cuddles.”

“Pretty please” you pouted.

He was so weak for your pout, he couldn’t say no to you resting your head on his shoulder.

The last few hours on the flight were dragging, because all that the two of you wanted, was to feel earth beneath your feet. Two more movies later, the flight attendant finally made the announcement you’d been dying to hear.

Your instinct was to look outside the window and the beauty of the view left you in awe. The mountains and glaciers were so close, yet so far out of reach, you wished you could free fall into the seamless white that seemed to cover the island like a blanket.

“Wait how are we getting to the hotel?” Yugyeom interrupted your stream of thought.

“By car. It’s all been taken care of.”

“Wow you must have really got them some serious business. I have never seen anyone’s client treat them this nice?”

“That’s because I’m not ‘anyone’ and she’s a really good person who happens to like me.”

He rolled his eyes and put on his, and for some reason your seatbelt for you, as well.

“Gee, thanks dad.”

“You mean daddy?”

“No.”

“Someday we are going to fight and the only way I will listen to you is if you call me daddy.”

Your whole body cringed at the thought of that. “Ew. First of all, decide. Is it daddy or oppa and second of all, never, not a chance in hell”, you emphasised, as he looked more and more amused.

When the plane began its descent, the butterflies in your stomach intensified. You were anxious about coming across hoardings of guided walks for the northern lights as soon as you touched land, which was a little worrisome - they could potentially ruin the whole surprise element to this whole trip and expose your roose pretty fast.

Even though your brain was riddled with this weird feeling, to him, you were the only woman to exist, ever. He couldn’t stop admiring you; at how your eyes lit up at the scenic beauty, or the little smile that settled on your face.

“Omg” he saw you gasp, “that whole area looks like a face!” You made him giggle with the things that excited you and he wanted to listen to you for as long as he could. He struggled a little, when you urgently smacked his arms and pulled him to look through the window.

“I can’t see” he whined, trapped by the seat belt.

“Aw, it’s okay. Our room has the best view, I’ll find a face there somewhere too.”

“How do you know?”

“I booked it, of course I know?”

“I thought you said this was a work thing? They let you book your own room?”

“Yes, Sherlock. To be more specific my client called me to ask if I wanted the same room I had stayed in, once before. And I said yes.”

“Aww, she said yes.”

You rolled your eyes at how childish he was being, while the announcement for having arrived at the Reykjavík airport went off inside. It was a smooth landing, surprisingly. You'd never experienced smooth landings; it was the one part of flying that gave you the most amount of jitters.

He handed you your giant coat, as you made your way out of the plane; after thanking the flight crew for making it such a pleasant experience.

Heading straight towards the baggage claim, it didn’t take as long as you had expected, to get done with getting your bags and dealing with immigration. It worked in your favour because you wanted to get out of there as soon as possible, because you feared he’d read something related to the aurora borealis. Hurrying towards the exit gates to head out, you shivered every time the automated doors flung open.

“You’re not going to be fine in the cold.” Yugyeom sighed, ready to open the bag to cover you in more warm clothes.

“I’ll be fine, we just have to sit in a car after this, come on” you pushed him outside and asked him to look for a sign with your name on it, to keep him occupied.

“This is like proper vip treatment, huh.” He said, after your chauffeur for the day spotted you in the crowd and led you to the limousine.

The hotel was a little on the outskirts of the city; so it was a long 1 hour drive, which Yugyeom spent looking into his phone with his pods plugged in. This way he missed out on a lot of giant guided-tour hoardings throughout the journey. The thought of seeing the northern lights hadn’t crossed him yet and you just clung onto the little hope you had that the situation would stay in your favour until he actually saw them.

When the car took a sharp right, he looked up and let out an audible gasp. He was expecting a well maintained, humble building and instead was greeted by a magnificent piece of architecture.

Wait, is this where we’re staying?” He asked, visibly shocked.

“Uhhh….. yeah? Why?”

“I- just was expecting something else. Wow the owner of this hotel is your client? I thought it’d be some cute airbnb style place. This is intense.”

You chuckled at his innocence, “You thought a cute, airbnb-style chain of hotel will use us for marketing and PR?” and stepped into the atrium. Yugyeom followed suit, like a lost puppy, now admiring the rustic building from inside.

“Oh! You’re here!” Someone exclaimed from behind the heavy curtains of the reception. “Why didn’t you call me?”

A smile made its way to your face. “I didn’t want to disturb you, Marie” The 30-something lady had a sweet voice and an accent Yugyeom had never heard before. He watched this interaction with much interest, but barely any understanding, until she got introduced to him as the owner.

“Nice to meet you” he greeted, politely.

“Very nice to meet you too, Mr. Kim.”

“Oh no, please call me Yugyeom.”

She smiled, kindly. “I hope you both enjoy your stay and if you need anything, you know how to reach me. Do not hesitate to call, at all.”

“I’m sure I won’t have to, for anything else other than to meet you”, you responded, “Thank you so much for arranging everything”.

“Of course, it’s the least I could do.” she replied in a hurry. “I have a meeting, I should have been on the road for already. Please forgive me I will have to catch up with you later, if you have some spare time. I have a few ideas.”

Yugyeom found what Marie said particularly interesting. He was under the impression that you had the meeting set up, already. He didn’t say anything about it, but if your expression was anything of a giveaway, his hunch was probably right.

“Aron will take care of everything for you,” Marie suggested before heading outdoors. On cue, Aron escorted you to the east wing of the property, where your home for the next week was situated. He was an extremely, young, kind gentleman and explained the amenities as concisely as he possibly could, while showing you around the rooms. He poured you a glass of champagne each, and took his leave after re-checking every detail, so you could be completely comfortable.

Yugyeom contained his composure in front of the stranger, but his jaw fell open as soon as you were alone.

“Why do we have a lounge room and a garden? And a jacuzzi in the garden? Noona, this place is excessive. You said room…. this is a whole house!” he exclaimed feeling a sudden burst of energy as he took in his current surroundings.

It was a beautifully situated lodge. Since the hotel was not in the main city, it was surrounded by a vast expanse of green land, that was also hotel property. The main hotel, a 10-storey structure, was in the centre, surrounded by luxury lodges scattered and well spaced out all over the property - some facing the hills, some facing the bay and a lucky few getting the best of both worlds. You had managed to snag the one that had the hills in your peripheral vision on the left and straight ahead, the ocean line. It was a breathtaking view. Especially since it was all currently snow clad.

You wanted to sit in the garden and enjoy the uninterrupted view, in spite of the chill; but you chugged your champagne and fell flat on the soft bed instead. It made you realise just how exhausted the travel had left you. More than anything, your limbs felt sore from being in the same position for such an elongated period of time.

The room was unbelievably spacious, but so cozy you could fall asleep again, especially with your body clock now realising the time difference. Yugyeom took the opportunity to lay on top of you and began to give you soft kisses on your cheeks. You wrapped your arms around him, letting out a sigh of contentment.

“Hmmm……this is nice. It feels like a massage of sorts.”

“I can give you a massage, if you want, noona.”

“No, just stay like this. I like this.”

He giggled and continued showering you with kisses, until you spoke again.

I have a confession to make.” you began but he continued for you.

“There’s no meeting? I know.”

You looked at him sheepishly. “You figured it out, huh.”

“It wasn’t too tough.”

“Sorry I lied about it.”

“It’s alright, baby. Why did you do all this? You didn’t have to”, he replied.

“I know I didn’t have to…. but, I wanted to.”

“You spent so much on it. We could have done this on your bed.”

“I really didn’t spend much, I just got the tickets.”

“So you did get the tickets.”

“Yeah sorry I lied about that too”, you bit your tongue.

He pulled the comforter over you both and hugged you tightly, nuzzling his face in the crook of your neck. “I’ll let it slide if you spoon me right now.”

“No, I don’t wanna sleep again.” You complained, fighting to stay awake, but pulled him closer into a tighter hug.

“Just for two minutes” he whispered, constantly pecking your neck, softly.

It felt peaceful, just being there with him, and there was no other place you’d rather be.

Yugyeom’s rhythmic breathing, on your skin, made you drowsy pretty quickly, absolutely against your will. Apart from hurting in odd places, you weren’t used to not being awake at that hour, since according to KST it was probably post midnight. And even though it felt like you’d spent the last twenty four hours just sleeping, you couldn’t help but give in to the cozy sheets and Yugyeom’s warm embrace.

When you finally came to, it felt like you’d lost 10 hours of your life to the unwarranted nap. Even the purpose of it was somewhat defeated. Because not only did you wake up absolutely hungry, but also with a bouldering headache. You snuggled a little with your boyfriend, who was still passed out like a light, hoping sleep would find its way back to you, but the hammering inside your brain wouldn’t allow it. Your only remaining option was to get up and order food and an Advil.

Careful to not disturb him, you made your way outside, into the garden, which was also an exceptionally bad idea, as you hadn’t worn your coat. Your dumb brain chose to shiver and almost freeze, instead of taking 10 extra steps.

It was already the onset of nighttime when it dawned on you that maybe in a few hours, if you were blessed enough, the sky would shine on you. You sent Marie a text, just to ask about your chances; and she suggested not to get your hopes up high for the first day, because of the unpredictability of the phenomenon. Basically you needed your rotten luck to go on a vacation for just one week so that life could turn out to be perfect.

Yugyeom woke up when the room service rolled in, making your suite smell like an assortment of breads, Italian spices and tomato sauce.

After scanning the room for traces of you and not finding any, he sent a text. “Did you order pepperoni pizza?” He sleepily typed, stretching his long body.

His locked screen popped up with an “Of course I did.” in response and he smiled. You knew his food palette much better than he’d expected. Even the pre-booked flight meal was the one he preferred and it surprised him when you said you’d remembered it from a conversation you had before you started dating . The fact that you had paid attention to what he liked, all these months, gave him a fuzzy feeling in his body, making him want to envelope you in his arms.

He found you sunken into the couch, in the living area, watching videos on youtube and wriggled in to rest his head on your lap.

“Baby, don’t fall asleep again” you said, your attention still on the video. “You’ll stay up the whole night then.”

“I do plan to keep you up the whole night, so maybe you should be the one getting some extra sleep?”

“Ugh don’t talk about sleep. I did that thing where I sleep too much and get a headache”, you groaned.

“I can distract you from your headache by giving you other pains?”, he laughed as you smacked him on the chest for that, followed by an intense, mind-numbing kiss. He was so annoying and so cute, at the same time, you just couldn’t help it. His smile always melted you in seconds, which wasn’t great for all those times he’d piss you off. He’d say sorry, flash a smile and you’d be done for.

“Don’t be cheeky or you won’t get any at all tonight.”

“Is that a challenge? I can get you out of your clothes without even trying, noona.”

You eyed him with a smirk on your face but didn’t retaliate.

“Why aren’t you eating?” he asked, stuffing his face with pizza.

“I’m thinking of maybe taking a shower. I feel filthy.”

“Already? We haven’t even done anything.”

“Shut up. I meant actual germs. But my head is aching which is why I ordered the food — to eat the medicine. But now I’m confused.”

“What am I going to do with you”, he sighed, handing you one slice. “Eat this and then take the medicine and hand me your phone.”

“Why?”

“So that you don’t go back to watching youtubers on that tiny screen.”

“Let me watch my youtubers in peace, okay.” you scoffed, trying to keep your phone out of his reach. Why you were even trying was beyond him, because all he had to do was stretch his hands a little bit more and your face was completely squished against his chest, with the phone out of your grasp.

“You’re going to eat the pizza or pasta, whichever, and the medicine. Until then, you’re not allowed back inside nor are you getting your phone. Okay?’

“Fine.” You weren’t too happy about this, but it was cute when he took care of you. He always took care of you.

“Good girl”, he replied, giving a kiss on your forehead and then locked the door behind him.

“You don’t actually have to lock me out of the bedroom, Yugyeom” he heard you yell.

“It’s staying shut till you’re done eating your food”, he yelled back, walking into the garden. His real purpose was to get the jacuzzi working.

It’s the least he could do for you. Besides, it was his chance to settle the score and he was planning on making it very difficult for you to say no to him this time.

The night sky greeted him with a pitch black canvas decorated with chilly winds. For a moment he really considered calling Aron to set up the bath, just to avoid touching the freezing faucets, but it was already dangerously close to midnight and he didn’t want to be a wuss.

He remembered what you’d said about the view being phenomenal. He’d seen it briefly earlier, but even in the darkness, it really was. The faint silhouette of the mountains gave him strength to persevere with his endeavour.

After getting the water flow working, he went back, to find you still slumped on the couch. Luckily, the medicine was gone.

“Wanna go skinny dipping?”

“Skinny dipping? Where?” You asked him, confused. If he was about to suggest the pool anywhere in the hotel you were ready to launch a spoon at him.

“I got the jacuzzi working.”

You got up immediately, with a bright smile on your face and sped past him, already undressing. “Last one in the tub has to do all the packing when we leave.”

“Hey! No fair!” he followed, almost tumbling over his own feet.

He obviously lost the bet, because you were already grinning and enjoying the warm bubbling water, while he was still trying to get out of his black skinny jeans.

“You’re the worst.” he shivered in the cold, before settling in next to you.

“You know this technically isn’t skinny dipping, right?”

“You want to talk about technicalities or focus on the fact that I got you naked in a bathtub?”

“You got me naked in a bathtub, now what?” you asked, changing positions to sit on top of him.

Your hair was tied up in a messy bun, to avoid getting it wet and he simply couldn’t resist kissing your exposed neck.

When his teeth tugged at your skin, it made you hum with pleasure. With your eyes now shut and your hands already tracing his bare skin, you knew his body like it was the route to your home. You knew where to go to make him giggle and what spot to find to make him squirm.

“Depends”, he replied, finally letting go of the skin he’d been ravaging, which was now a different shade. “We could fuck.”

“Yeah?”

“Or we could count the stars.”

“Count the stars? On your face? Yeah I could do that.” You nodded, giving a peck on the mole near his lips.

“You silly baby.” He laughed, wrapping his arms tighter around you.

“Whaaaaat? Why am I silly?”

“Because stars are in the sky.”

“But... my whole universe is in front of me.”

“Waaah noona, I thought you hated being cheesy.”

“Shut up”, you rolled your eyes, but you noticed he was no longer paying attention to you. Something in the sky had caught him by surprise.

“Woah what the fuck!” he exclaimed excitedly, “is that…. what i think it is?”

You looked up, hoping and praying that the sky was painted with introductory streaks of green that had rendered your boyfriend absolutely speechless.

Yugyeom was too distracted to notice you slide off his thighs. It was quite unexplainable really, the feeling that you got from staring at the aurora borealis. You felt this budding excitement, within you, as the earth’s magnetic shield created magic in the pitch black sky.

But you didn’t know if the warmth in your heart was because of the northern lights or the happiness on Yugyeom’s face. He had this wondrous grin, full of intrigue and amazement; as he stared at the countless little bursts of light for, while you gazed at him.

It was a miracle in itself that you had somehow managed to avoid all the potential spoilers Ryejavík could have given you, about viewing the one thing it was most famous for. But it was even more astonishing that this thought never occurred to Yugyeom on its own either.

You weren’t complaining at all though, because now you could actually relax and not worry about something accidentally ruining the ‘surprise’. You’d known there always was a chance of stumbling across something that mentioned the aurora, but you’d really really prayed on a falling star to let that not happen.

Twenty minutes after giving the green sky his full attention, he finally caught you looking at him and his brain, on cue, connected all the dots.

“Noona…. is this why we’re here? So that I could see the northern lights?” He spoke softly, his voice wavering.

Leaning in, you nodded, removing a stray strand of hair from his line of vision. To say that he was overwhelmed by your gesture, would have been an understatement. Because he’d been surprised before - birthday parties, weekend trips - the whole shabang; but they were never things that he truly wanted to do. He did them because they were fun and he got to hang out with his friends, of course, but they were never tailor-made for him. This too, he had presumed, would be one such trip. Where you’d do fun stuff and have a great time and he would have loved and appreciated it just as much. However, seeing the aurora borealis had been on his bucket list for the longest time and you had planned for it to happen meticulously, for no one else but him. No one had ever done anything this intense for him.

He felt teary-eyed so quickly, he broke off the eye contact he’d held with you and looked up.

You slipped your arm around him and took in the ethereal display of coloured lights, shimmering across the night sky.

Even though Yugyeom was completely silent, he was experiencing an emotional avalanche he couldn’t quite explain.

“Thank you.” He managed to say, after a long while, when the spectacle had gotten over and the sky had reverted to its original status of being a blank slate.

“For what, baby?”

“For all of this, for everything. I gave you such a hard time yesterday. You were ready to cancel the plan because I was being a dick.” He pouted sadly, wanting to kick his own arse for having behaved like that.

“It’s okay, you were tired. I’d have been mad too.”

“No, you wouldn’t. You never get mad at anything I do.”

That’s not true, I was really mad about the ice skating.”

“You were?”

“Yeah, of course I was. You knew I was.”

“I don’t know, I was hoping you were bluffing it.”

“Babe, you know I hate skating.”

“Yeah and you still did it without putting up a fight. Why?”

“Because…… you were so annoyed. I didn’t want you to be mad at me!”

“See, this is what I mean. You drive me insane. Sometimes, I really can’t figure you out.” He sighed, pulling you back into his chest, so he could hold you, and possibly never let you go. “And...I’m really sorry.”

“Actually, you are the silly baby”, you teased, kissing his cheek to make him feel better. “You know, I was so scared you’d realise that you could chase the aurora borealis in Iceland and like….. ruin the surprise.”

“I never realised this is what you were up to. I’d always thought I’d see it if I ever get to go to Alaska, so it never crossed my mind. I do feel really dumb.”

“Well…”

“Don’t say it.” He warned.

“You are kinda dumb, so….” you said anyway and he caught you in a playful chokehold.

“You’re lucky I love you, noona and let you get away with it when you say all this.”

Since his chain of thought so unceremoniously slipped out of his consciousness, for a fraction of a second, he was little taken aback with his own words. He always assumed he’d be very aware for a good period of time before telling his significant other that he loved them. But here, there was no overthinking it, no special effort, no big gestures to confess either. It was a spontaneous display of his natural, authentic, unadulterated emotion - something he’d never experienced before.

“What?” You turned around to face him.

He’d never told you he loved you, so it came as a tiny 60 Watts shock when he said it so matter-of-factly.

“What?” he asked.

“You….. said you love me?”, you confirmed, “Do you know you said you love me?”

“I know I said I love you. Because I love you.”

You were caught unaware, by his nonchalant confession of love. And even though you reciprocated the emotion, of course you did, still, hearing it so unexpectedly filled your heart with such a wild frenzy you thought it might burst out of your chest.

“I love you too. I love you so so much but, I’m gonna keep calling you dumb so you’re gonna have to just let me get away with it.” you replied, playing with his hair.

“I can live with that.” he smiled, following it with a long, desperate kiss-the kind where he wanted to make you feel so much pleasure you’d be left without any breaths to spare. You sat back in his lap, willing to lose yourself in the faint vanilla scent lingering on his neck. His fingers danced dangerously close to your inner thighs,

“Let’s take this inside”, he breathed, barely audibly. “I wanna do things this jacuzzi won’t allow”

You giggled, nipping his nose cutely, “Okay”.

You got out of the warm water and struggled with the freezing temperature for 5 seconds before wearing the robe, that he’d kept out, which also was freezing, before running inside. He couldn’t help but laugh, as you wobbled across the deck while he took care of the jacuzzi.

In that moment, watching you wait for him inside, he felt foolish for ever being so terrified of spending week alone with you. In that moment, as you took off your robe rather seductively, he was willing to spend an eternity by your side. In that moment, when he locked eyes with you, he couldn’t wait to make you the happiest woman in the universe.

And you couldn’t wait to make him the happiest man in the universe either.

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