#i was just trying to cast message to gossip during class

[take-me-away-to-paradise]

wild magic surge incident 1 man covered in grease 1 man heavily embarrassed

[petalsmooth]

Ok.

Let’s talk Lili.

First off we only know what stars put out about themselves or other people say about them. We are not friends with these people. We are not in their homes. We don’t usually hear what they say in unguarded conversation. What we know is what is out on social media with some highly distorted soundbites from chats or DM’s with her mother that were exposed.

We were initially presented a portrait pushed by her and her family no less of a middle class family with the standard girl next door hit it big narrative. Down to earth, relatable, somewhat quirky. Strong two parent supportive household. All that was missing were the apron and pearls.

This girl came out of the gates talking about a modernized Riverdale with two girls who would be actually close and not vying for the same redhead. Feel free to add/or correct along the way of course...especially early on when not following as closely.

We got very little in the way of insight into Cole and Lili because they were trying to keep it quiet even if there were hints together. Mostly during this period what fans were fed was that she was slightly awkward socially, maybe not the most intellectual but nice and harmless. She spoke of empowering women, independence, she constantly shut down the idea of Barchie and praised Bughead. Along through the year’s she would speak to social bullying or bullying in general. She would openly talk about struggles with mental health. She’d talk and show her cystic acne and share photos not all airbrushed in ode to body positivity. She’d talk about not having an hourglass figure, and cellulite and often go out in ratty shorts and a bun sans makeup. You see she’d talk about it then follow through by showing lived the walk or calling out photoshops done of her.

Again this is “relatable girl next door quirky Lili” we told was the REAL Lili.

She would frequently talk and post about her family and dogs at home and how much she loved and missed them...though oddly not so much her older sister.

At a certain point it became undeniable Cole and Lili were together to even the hardest deniers. Of course also the Met gala eventually made official for media.

We get have her liking posts such as Miley’s about how lucky she was to have a man who checked off all the boxes. But at times there were glimpses all wasn’t kosher. People have mentioned various cons where she’d be caught flirting somewhere else, or she’d be in a bad mood giving Cole a cold shoulder. We recently saw an old video of them walking and her basically demanding he drop the fans and attend her. We have the con were Camilla is sexually harassing Cole everywhere and Lili doesn’t shut it down until Camilla tries to grind on him. It was so bad even Mads intervened. We have the interview where she is talking over him or rolling her eyes and basically being the unprofessional brat her fans claim she is not. Even though it’s ON CAMERA. Snapping at your co worker/boyfriend and rolling your eyes during a professional interview is not deniable.

Flashforward to the trip to Italy because for me there was always something off about that. That trip was obviously planned far in advance. Clearly Lili was supposed to be there. Her fans quickly blamed Cole because Lili was working. Lili didn’t have to work. It wasn’t a career changing move to do that film. It did not do well. I’m not entirely sure what was happening around that time but I have the sense Cole was disappointed/a  little angry she prioritized it over him accepting very likely the offer AFTER the trip was planned.

Lili spirals during this time. Cole comes back to clean up mess. They are quiet on social media for a long time then slowly emerge again and eventually get the photo booth shots, the wedding and her mingling with NY friends for once. Turns out close to the end for them.

I don’t want to make this a Sprousehart post though although some relevance to bring part of it up. The point is Lili put her career over her relationship. It was a calculated decision. It was also the wrong decision. Her fans talk about her being this warm giving person but that was a cynical call and a pretty lousy thing to do to your boyfriend of several year’s. I’m all for supportive partners but there are time’s where you make sacrifices if you really care for someone and this was a special trip planned long in advance. She blew it off. If I’m the partner she does this too, I question why I’m putting in the effort if it doesn’t mean to them what it means to me. 

TBH I think the bad choices she made there is why tried to make it up by meeting with his friends, the wedding etc...

Something than clearly happened because by January they were done. Not sure we’ll ever know but it looked like they were trying to fix things given the happiness hadn’t seen on Cole’s faces in a long time in those booth pics and then...it was done. We didn’t know at the time, but this is timeline Cole gave. There was a brief attempt at reconciliation where she babysits him at a photo shoot and posts a photo of them in bed and then shortly after...Cole calls it off. 

He heads to LA, she follows him there but not without making sure to shove Casey’s face into her chest to post and rent a place close to where he is staying. She posts weepy messages about the world ending etc....and weird new photos mimicking old shoots with him so naturally people think this means whatever happened they worked through. Around same time she and hers manipulated her fans to try to cancel him earlier because she misunderstood a picture of Kaia....although flat out if he had been with Kaia he was SINGLE and it was no longer her business.

She tries to walk back the firestorm she unleashed on him by “defending” him from a lesser twitter trend after realizing misconstrued the Kaia picture, All summer she weirdly seems to be trying to avoid the topic if they are together or not despite saying once if they weren’t she’d tell people. She finally puts her foot in her mouth one two many times' and Cole confirms they broke up which she doesn’t acknowledge. Because she doesn’t want to be broken up.

As we know know it wasn’t all rainbows on the set even before all this happened as in the musical she’d launched an object at him hard enough to have the crew concerned. Lili fans keep saying Cole is abusive but the only evidence we have of abuse is her towards him. We also had her suddenly doing a 180 from past 4 year’s and excusing cheating with Archie and promoting everyone in her live recaps except Cole/Jughead.

Back to the events following Cole’s post....then we get a sudden string of interviews taking shots at Cole, doxxing him, implying he could have strayed (just to resurrect hate against him) but can’t say he actually did because she has no proof. We know this because in those chats admit it was just suspicion and paranoia and never did have any names.

We learn that Lili has been funneling news and gossip and photos to keep her mother’s hold on the fandom in check and her mother in turn has been bullying people who would stand on Cole’s side. They sought to ruin him. This is not debatable.

For year’s people had made fun and called Bree out for being an obsessive stalker unable to let a relationship go, then Lili starts doing the same. We know she has tried to copy Ari’s style, her mother made a snide comment about breast size, Lili tried to taunt Ari from on set and Ari shut her down. A girl who almost never was in the line of sight of paps suddenly is snapped everyday following break up even before the public new. That doesn’t just happen. She wanted the attention.

I’m not going to go into all of it, you all know it. Suffice to say revealing she has a bitter vindictive attitude she has submersed herself in ever since Cole made it clear no reunion. She won’t even broach the topic of Bughead/Jughead unless forced. You can spin all you like but the split screens was not an artistic choice by RD. It was spurred by need to keep them apart.

Lili last summer was doing precious little other than a post or two of Black Lives matter and then when Cole gets arrested suddenly she jumps on the me too and sets up impulsive lives. Maybe she meant well but a part of me thinks she did it to attract his attention. Notice once she got praise for it and the initial protests faded she more or less doesn’t bring it up anymore. Cole never intended to get attention, it just happened because he’s a star and got taken in to a jail cell. He never put himself on camera for notice. 

Lili also co-opts the murder of a girl to flaunt she thinks she looks good naked. Completely tone deaf. 

Lili very rarely is seen in fan photos, only usually when she’s getting flack for it online. She, a girl who talks about bullying, went on a  midnight tirade against a guy who dares to critique or poetry setting her fans on him. Then deleted it probably because publicist in her ear.

She first said poems not about Cole, than said you could read into what you wanted to sell them. Now she doesn’t want to talk poetry or sequels because it flopped and was critically panned.

There are constant rumors about Lili on sets of productions to point they even had someone on her newer movie try to downplay. Yet we see in a video the cast barely talking and looking tense on a boat. 

The girl who used to talk about body positivity now lets them airbrush abs onto her.

The girl who used to talk of therapy and mental illness now promotes OTC supplements for $ and cults.

If she mentions cellulite she uses other tik toks of people showing not her own. 

She said she would never be on tik tok, yet now has her own and post old videos that aren’t funny.

Lili once tired to attack Cole by talking about losing yourself in drugs or alcohol or sex yet we’ve seen her drug paraphernalia because she advertises. Her friends post and laugh over her being drunk. She was in an off and on relationship with Wallis that doesn’t seem to be about anything but sex.

We were told Coles friends are bad influences but Taylor is out there solicitating questionable clients and making videos slamming LILI’S COWORKER as a bad actor and his brother,

The majority of Lili’s posts no longer feature Sunny or her family/Addy. 

She insulted Vancouver, compared to a prison, and made it clear her creature comforts were of more importance than a pandemic. Not quite the attitude of an empath. Which she claims she is with intention to be a master which require sucking more gullible people into the cult.

She brags about being a “rich man” without understand the context. She went from artistic photos to modeling pinups to fuel her lack of self esteem.

She’s in her mid 20′s, claims she had grown and matured in the last year but there is no evidence of it. Still can’t work with her ex without buffers which still influences show direction though her fans deny.. Still lives off junk food and hangovers. Those glasses aren’t just for sun. Her timeline is mostly an ode to her vanity with pictures of herself and then her dog. She doesn’t seem to have any causes she’s deeply involved in on the side apart from her cult. She’s still stalking Cole as her impulsive makeup tutorial showed. She said she cut out of her life anyone who doesn��t service her. I highly doubt she is receiving quality therapy on the regular right now. She still does not seem to possess the ability to own her mistakes and apologize when warranted, rather deflects or erases when heat becomes too hot.

The content she puts out about herself post break up is very different than the bill of goods fans were sold before. She is a far cry from that quirky girl next door that stood FOR something more than vanity and shallow affirmation. So no, I don’t see what you see in her stans. Everything that once seemed to distinguish her from other spoilt princesses has long faded. 

[candlelight27]

Chapter 2: Reach For My Hand

Summary: Sylvain has been ignoring you since you met him. You had been in love with him since you met him. College is about to offer you a fresh start. New academic year, new life. You were ready to forget him. But fate seems to have other plans… (COLLEGE AU)

Series: Seeking Your Warmth If Only For A Day

Warnings: Objetification (?), anxiety attack, curse words

Pairings: Sylvain Jose Gautier x Female Reader

Word Count: 4562

AO3: Reach For My Hand

A/N:  Sorry it took too long. My writing process is unpredictable. Besides, it was a boring chapter at first and I think I managed to make it interesting? Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter!  If you have suggestions, requests, theories or whatever leave a comment of come talk to me on tumblr - same username.

Your first week of university had passed all at once. Time flew between jotting down notes, going back and forth, meeting all your new teachers and, overall, trying to survive. Thankfully, Lysithea had shared all her notes with you, so you weren’t that lost – since Claude was keen on gossiping with you in the middle of lessons…

…And since Sylvain proved himself to be a huge distraction. And an active one, in fact.

The ominous day Byleth paired you with him, Sylvain had approached you after class. Hands in his pockets, his chest a little puffed and a glamorous grin on his face, he had the perfect pose to be on the cover of a teenage magazine. And with his casual tone, he nonchalantly asked you for your number..  

“We better stay in touch to finish the project”, he added. Your heart skipped a beat – or two or three – and you nodded. You hoped that excitement would go unnoticed. There was the slightest shyness in his voice, but you discarded the thought. It was absurd to consider you’d awaken even the smallest amount of insecurity in him, regarding the fact that he was the embodiment of confidence.

“Sure”, you smiled and grabbed a pen. Sylvain stopped you muttering a ‘wait’ and took out his phone. He opened a tab for a new contact.

“Here, write your number.” You took it and started writing. Then, it hit you that Sylvain actually knew how you were called. He had edited the blank space, where you saw all the letters that spelt your name standing triumphantly. He even had added a heart emoji next to it. So, even if he had never acknowledged your existence, he was aware of it.  

“Write me whenever you feel like it,” he said with a wink. Your name rolling out of his lips was the most beautiful sound you had ever heard.

As he went away and followed Mercedes out of the classroom, Claude rose his eyebrows.

“Well, that went better than expected. Our plan is running smoothly,” he hit you with his elbow.

“Your plan, Claude. I never agreed to it,” you sighed, while he just chuckled and let it be.

But that wasn’t the end of the phone matter. Not at all.

The next day you met your new teacher, Catherine. She was interesting, and she made her lessons about the Evolution of Warfare quite enjoyable – which was itself a great deed, in your opinion. However, there was a downside, and it was that the blonde woman talked your ears off with her millions of tales that weren’t that interesting and definitely not exam material.

It was early and you were barely awake when you felt the light vibration of a message on your mobile phone. Who could be at that hour? You looked next to you. Marianne was as still as a corpse, Claude was probably asleep and Lysithea was fiercely taking notes, so it was not any of them trying to be discreet. Ingrid would never use her phone during a lesson, so she was ruled out too.

With caution, you unlocked the screen of your phone and placed it on your lap.

Unknown 09:45: Are you bored too?

Did Dorothea change her number again?

You 09:46: Who are you?

Unknown 09:46: Look right 😊

You did. And you came across Sylvain waving at you. You saved his number quicker than you’d like to admit.

You 09:48: Good morning, Sylvain

You 09:48: And yes, I’m bored to death

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw a smile gracing Sylvain’s countenance, and you felt like a schoolgirl all over again.

Sylvain 09:49: Is Claude asleep? For real?

You 09:50: Most likely…

And that was the beginning of your academic doom.

It turned out that Sylvain was a compulsive text-writer. He wasn’t shy about sending you millions of messages at any time. And you, foolish as always, responded every last one of them. Against your will, as you typed on your phone, butterflies flied around your stomach.

The first days, he limited your interactions strictly to Catherine’s lessons and breaks. But as the week progressed, you found yourself going to sleep a little later just to share a few more words with the infamous flirter.

You two didn’t have meaningful conversations at all. You talked about high school, books, films, you shared jokes and silly occurrences… Yet it made you feel that an already existing connection tying you with Sylvain was awakening. It was absurd, to think there was a bond that had been formed before between both of you, but you couldn’t cast aside that sensation. Like a distant memory of a dream you once had. Like the primal needs our bodies feel. You felt there was something that linked you with him, and it was ancient and significant.

When Claude discovered what you and Sylvain were up, he was delighted.

“Don’t you realize that’s just what we needed for our plan?”, he opened his eyes and leaned in closer, so your classmates wouldn’t hear him.

“Again, your plan, Claude”, you shook your head. “And you seem to be making it up as it goes.”

“Well, that’s my charm, darling,” he laughed, and went on playing with his phone. You threw him your best deadpan look.

With so many distractions, the weekend arrived in the blink of an eye. It was rather cloudy when you woke up, and late, because it was Saturday and you didn’t have any obligation. You rolled in bed, throwing away your blanket and yawning.

Then, you heard a thud next to you. It was your phone. You remembered you had been talking with Sylvain when you fell asleep. You deliberated if maybe it wasn’t better to ignore him for a day. You were starting to get your hopes up, and you wanted to avoid another disappointment. But as if your hands moved on their own, you opened the conversation to see what you had missed.

Sylvain 01:13: What do you mean you HAVEN’T seen Loog and the Maiden of Wind???

You 01:15: ??

You 01:15: What’s wrong?

Sylvain 01:17: It’s Ingrid’s favourite film!

Sylvain 01:18: More like, she loved complaining about how they got all the scenes from the book wrong

Sylvain 01:18: Still she made me watch it like 1819341973 times

You 01:19: She wanted me to watch it

You 01:20: I just happen to have really good excuses 😉

Sylvain 01:25: Well you are going to watch it with me

You 01:26: Why would I?

Sylvain 01:27: It’s called solidarity

You 01:27: I don’t have that

(Unread) Sylvain 01:31: ☹

(Unread) Sylvain 01:31: Please, suffer with me

(Unread) Sylvain 01:33: C’mon I promise I’ll be good, I won’t bite you

(Unread) Sylvain 01:33: Unless you ask me 😉😉😉

(Unread) Sylvain 01:35: So I’m going to believe that you’re asleep and are not in fact ignoring me

(Unread) Sylvain 01:34: Good night, princess <3

You sighed and got up. What were you getting yourself into? And what were you trying to achieve? ‘Don’t implicate yourself too much’, has said Claude, but you were already in too deep. But your friend probably knew as much and was plotting something entirely different.

Ignoring your best judgment, you started typing.

You 09:53: Good morning!

Goddess, you felt stupid.

“Good morning”, greeted Ingrid when you left your room. “I got some pastries for breakfast.”

“Nice.”

You sat next to her and started to munch on the first sweet piece you found. The television filled the room with a comforting background noise. You were half listening the weather and the news. Your phone suddenly beeped, indicating you had a new text message. You looked at the screen with discretion and unlocked it with an unbothered appearance, trusting Ingrid wouldn’t ask questions.

Sylvain 10:01: I unilaterally decided we’re watching the film today, princess

You couldn’t hide your expression, and Ingrid looked your way.

“Who are you texting?”, she tried to use a teasing tone. “I’ve never seen you so hooked on your phone. Is it Claude?”

There was no use in lying, so you’d answer thruthfully. You could even get some intel about Sylvain without revealing your game if you played your cards well.

“Oh, no. It’s Sylvain?” You feigned disinterest.

“Is he bothering you? I could scare him off,” she offered, with her eyebrows furrowed.

“What? Don’t do it.” A small and nervous laughter escaped your mouth at the idea.

“Don’t tell me he’s done it”, Ingrid said, and she rested her head on her hands, her attention focused on you.

“What has he done?”

“Charming you!”, she replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Ingrid, I was paired with him for some project. That’s all,” you assured her.

“Well, just don’t fall for him. He can be very disgusting sometimes. He’s a good friend, but he’s not a good boyfriend.” She hummed. “As far as I know, of course.”

“Don’t worry,” you smiled, appeasing, “I’ll be fine.”

“It’s weird, though. He never texts anyone on his own accord. He always says it’s a waste of time.”

“It’s for the project. No biggie,” you affirmed, yet you knew you’d have to keep in mind that fact.

“Ah, that must be it,” Ingrid shrugged. “He may be always chasing skirts, but he’s very diligent with academic matters.”

You 10:15: I have a better idea

You 10:16: Let’s go to the library and start Byleth’s project

You weren’t ready for watching a film with him. In the best-case scenario, you’d faint like Bernadetta on your high school days.

Sylvain 10:17: The library? In this era of technology?

You 10:17: Yes.

Sylvain 10:18: Okay, fine

Sylvain 10:19: You are right, old-fashioned university professors love their bibliographies filled with books :/

Sylvain 10:19: But you owe me one film

You 10:19: … we’ll see.

You 10:19: Let’s meet at the library at 6 p.m.

“I’m going to the library with Sylvain today,” you commented to Ingrid.

“Do you mind if I invite Ashe over?”

Well, you weren’t expecting that. You noted mentally to compare notes with Dorothea, because now you didn’t have any doubt that there was something going on between her and Ashe. Never ever had she invited a guy before that wasn’t Felix, Sylvain, or Dimitri.

“Oh, yeah, go ahead, I don’t mind,” you encouraged her.

“Cool!”

 You were getting ready, mulling over what you were going to wear. You didn’t want to try too hard, this wasn’t a date, but nevertheless you wanted to look good – despite the fact that if anyone ever asked you, you’d completely refuse that thought had crossed your mind. It was absurd, but denial helped you to keep going.  

As you struggled to decide, you heard Ingrid biding you goodbye and the door being closed. You supposed she was going to meet Ashe and bring him to your place. You grinned to yourself. Immediately after, your phone started ringing. It was Dorothea. She had a distinctive melody that she sang herself for you. What on earth could have made her call you? She was the queen of voice messages.

“Yes?”, you began.

“You better tell me what the fuck is happening!”, she yelled with her usual dramatic twist.

“What is happening?” You were quite confused and tried to go over all the things she could be referring to.

“Don’t play dumb. First, Ingrid is all starry-eyed when she talks about Ashe and now you have a date with Sylvain? Is the water in your apartment poisoned?” You wondered how she found out, but Dorothea had a sixth sense for love affairs.

“Well, Ingrid is the one with an actual date,” you pointed to divert her attention. “I’m just going to the library because-”

“Because a project? Why does it sound so familiar? Ah, yes, it’s what I told my parents when I was going to make out with a classmate in high school. And don’t distract me throwing Ingrid to the wolves.”

“What do you want of me?”, you exclaimed out of frustration.

“A confession!”

“Who are you? Seteth?” You could hear Dorothea’s sweet laugh at your joke.

“How could I be so stupid? Your crush has been Sylvain all these years!”, she was creating a fuss on the other side of the phone. “I’m not going to lie, I didn’t expect that, not in the least.”

“You are assuming way too much.”

“Shut up! I guess Sylvain is a whole reason himself to keep it a secret, but you should have told me.” Dorothea made a pause. “My poor baby suffering all those years in silence! Aunty Dorothea is here to comfort you!”

“Quit the joking. Now tell me what I should wear for my not-a-date”, you said indignantly.

“Oh, right. Do you recall the Red Canyon? You definitely should put on that thing you wore. It will catch his eye, but it doesn’t seem way too elaborated.”

“Thank you, Dorothea, you are a genius. Are you reading my mind?”

“Really? I can see right through you”, she giggled. “You haven’t changed. And I would you why you are so worried about your clothes when it’s not a date, but you’d just mutter any excuse and ignore me altogether.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Now, inform me of you not-a-date with Sylvain when you’re finished right away, okay?”, she finished with her motherly intonation.

“Fine, fine! Goodbye, I have to go now!” You saw the time and it was really late.

You got dressed in a hurry and grabbed your laptop, some notebooks and a couple of pens.

 By the time you arrived at the library, Sylvain was already there. He was looking around, his bag grabbed laid causally on his back, hold by the handle with his strong fist. His other hand was resting in his pocket.

While his appearance was laid back, you were a bundle of nerves. As soon as your gaze found him, you felt a knot form in your gut. You denied that the young man could have that kind of effect on you, but the evidence was overwhelming. Why did it have to be so difficult in person? It had been so easy when you didn’t have to see his face – so handsome it was unnerving. You were the opposite you had been on your telematic conversations, far from your calm, charming and charismatic charade.

He was wearing a simple long-sleeved t-shirt and jeans. It was a mystery for you why he didn’t opt for a modelling career. You forcibly reminded yourself that despite his beauty, he was a Don Juan, totally uninterested in you. You chanted Claude’s words ‘see what happens, don’t implicate yourself too much’ as you approached him.

Suddenly, his tan eyes focused on you as he recognized your figure, so you composed yourself the best you could. His lovely lips displayed a soft smile.

“Hey, Sylvain”, you greeted with an affected amiability. Still, you were tense.

“Hello there, princess.” He winked at you. “It’s nice to see you outside the classroom.”

“Yes, it’s refreshing,” you nodded.

You entered the big building with Sylvain at your side. Neither of you said anything, justifying yourself in the mandatory silence of a library. Some girls giggled as you walked past them, pointing at you two. And you noticed Sylvain looked a bit annoyed. The next thing you noticed was your teacher Catherine distracting the black-haired librarian with her nonstop chatter.

You turned your head to comment something to him, but he grinned, and you forgot your words. You simpered back, and he seemed content with that.

At last, you were in the ‘working-group’ area. The library itself was almost empty – but Dorothea told you it would be filled to the brim during finals week. There were some students chatting and taking notes, but not too many since most of the would be probably going to bars, pubs, and discos. And it was right then when it hit you that Sylvain was not in some sort of date or in a quest to gain the favours of a pretty girl.

So far, you had detected two oddities in his behaviour. Texting and spending a Saturday evening in the library. And the common factor was you.

“Where should we start?”, asked Sylvain as he took a seat, startling you since you were absorbed in your thoughts. You mimicked him and made up your mind.

“Let me thing”, you said. At the same time, you took your laptop from your bag and turned it on. “Since we have to talk about the early history of Faerghus… maybe we can cover the foundation first?”, you suggested. Sylvain had a notebook and a pencil and started scribbling an outline of the project. “We’ll need… a biography of Loog. Or two. And a history book about the 8th century.” You peeked his handwriting. It was neat, with small letters. His S’s had an characteristic flourish.

“I have a good book on the Crescent Moon War, which is also a theme featured in our project”, he said, staring at his sheet. “Well... it’s Miklan’s”, Sylvain grimaced as he added that part, “but I can borrow it.”

“That’d be great.”

“Do you know what’d be great?”, he looked at you. “Watching Loog and the Maiden of Wind! I don’t know what you have against films. It would have been a perfect way to spend our Saturday.”

“Again?”, you laughed.

“It’s for research purposes. No fishy business here.” He placed the palm of his hand over his chest. “Scout’s honour.”

“If I accept will you focus on out project?”, you bit your lip.

“Yes! I promise.”

“Okay. How about we watch it once we’re finished?”

“It’s a deal.” He winked again, looking satisfied with himself. Then, he stood up. “I’ll look for the books we need. In the meantime, you can search on the Internet some good articles on the controversies of Loog’s biography.”

At the moment he vanished, you breathed deeply to calm your heart, since you could almost hear it thudding in your chest. This meeting had been more awkward than you had expected, at least on your part. You wondered if Sylvain was feeling it too, the rusty mechanism of two people who knew each other but had never held a whole conversation in real life.

And all the same… It didn’t feel bad, being next to Sylvain. It was great, even if you were on edge. If you didn’t know it was impossible, you’d describe that sensation as familiar. A déjà vu of some sort, as though you had gone over this stage with Sylvain a million of times and every time your pulse shot up.

You tried to concentrate on looking for articles. You found a couple of them that could be useful, singed under big names of the field that would increase the credibility of your work.

You were absentminded during the rest of your search, trying to figure out how to be natural in your next conversation with Sylvain. You were a little insecure, even when Sylvain seemed to be comfortable with you. Your head was full of what ifs.  

“I got our books!”, Sylvain announced cheerful, interrupting your worry.

He sat again next to you. And you swore he was closer than he was before. You could feel the heat emanating from him, warming your arm. And you could hear him breathing. His scent reached you. He had used just deodorant, which along with his natural smell was intoxicating. His shoulder bumped into yours in what looked like a premeditated manner.

“We could split the work. Maybe we could work together on the main structure and the final draft, and work on the information on our own…”, you said as you tried to concentrate on the pile of history volumes rather than any matter related to Sylvain. Otherwise you’d forget how to speak.

“That seems fair.”

Sylvain made himself comfortable, resting his chin on the hand opposite to you. This way he had a perfect view of what you were writing on your computer – and your face, but you refused to believe he was that interested in you. He was invading your personal space in every way and he didn’t care.

“What do you prefer?”, you asked, all professional. You weren’t going to move away.

“I don’t mind, love,” he shrugged. “What do you prefer?”

“Sylvain, we are a team. You should give your opinion.” He remained silent and you dared to turn your head away from the screen of your laptop. He was smiling, but his eyes were half-close, as if figuring out what you were thinking. “Sylvain?”

“Ah, yes.” He blinked. “We’re a team.” He stopped, savouring the word. “I’ll take the Crescent War Moon in that case.”

He then wrote a couple of lines on his notebook. You could see he was writing down a list of ideas on bullet points. You did the same on a sheet of paper you had on you. After a couple of seconds, he talked again.

“Thanks for taking into consideration my preferences,” he placed his arm around the back of your chair.

“Why wouldn’t I?”, you questioned seriously. You were at total lost with him, so you leant in closer. You couldn’t care less, you were just playing his game. He acknowledged it, because you could see him narrowing his eyes at your movement.

“Let’s say some people is not as nice.”

You didn’t answer. What could have you said? It was not what you were expecting him to reply.

Breaking the bubble that you both had formed around you, two girls appeared out of nowhere. They were the ones you had seen before when you entered the building. Instinctively, you distanced yourself from the redhead.

“Sylvain?”, one of them started. They both were wearing fake grins.

“Do I know you?”, Sylvain asked, showing a bit of discomfort.

“Of course? We had a date in summer!”, the girl continued. She hadn’t taken the hint. “So, my friend and I were wondering if you wanted to hang out tonight, go to a bar, then you could come to our apartment, you know…”

You opened your eyes in surprise at the girl’s forwardness. And judging by Sylvain’s astonishment, he wasn’t expecting either such a direct and shameless offer. Did Sylvain have to deal with that too often? It made you feel uneasy. Of course, Ingrid would say he’d deserve it, because he had cultivated his reputation himself, but every part was so wrong. The way they talked to him as if he was a piece of meat, they way they looked at him.

“I’m afraid I must decline your offer, darling,” he talked in his most conciliatory voice.

“What? Really?”, said the other friend, huffing. “You said he’d agree.”

“Well, I’m working on a project with my friend, so… I’m quite busy.”

“I can’t believe you are rejecting us, Sylvain,” she made a disgusted face. “Anyways, your choice. Enjoy your new girlfriend, but I guess it will last like one week before you can find someone better.” Then, they turned around, looking behind a few times and gossiping.

“What the hell?”, you wondered, bewildered.

“Just my routine”, he sighed.

“We can continue another day, Sylvain”, you tested the waters. You sensed something was wrong and that he wanted to go home, and you had the feeling that he wouldn’t admit it by himself. “It’s getting late anyways.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re right. Let’s go” He put the piece of paper inside one of the pages of a volume he was going to take. “We can meet other day to put everything together.”

“Of course.” You started putting away your things back in your bag. Sylvain was no longer smiling.

“Can you pass me that book?”, he pointed at the red one you had on your side.

You took it and offered it to him. He extended his hand, and when he placed his fingers around it, they brushed yours. Your heart started to beat fast.

Yet before you could make sense of the occurrence, a stabbing pain stroke you. It felt like a spear had pierced through you, right below your chest. It was so real, so shocking, tears started to form on your eyes. You felt blood coming out, but when you looked for it, there was nothing there. The pain was beginning to expand, a wildfire burning your torso.

You put your palm where you felt the pain, unable to breathe. Suddenly, Sylvain realised something was wrong. You were opening your mouth to take in oxygen, but it was in vain.

“What’s happening?”, he could be shouting your name, but you couldn’t listen because the only thing you heard was a rush on your ears.

He grabbed your arm, but it only made it worse. It made all those strange phenomena more sharp and real. You whispered a faint ‘let me go’, and Sylvain moved away immediately. His steps were so fast he hit the chair and it fell down.

All of a sudden, when his skin wasn’t in contact with yours, everything subsided.

“Are you okay?”, Sylvain asked, alarmed. You hadn’t seen him that serious in all your life.

“Yes. I…”, you didn’t finish the sentence. Instead you recovered your breath slowly.

“Stop making so much noise! And don’t break the furniture!”, a kid appeared from behind one of the bookcases. His hair was dark brown, and he wielded a broom that he used to threaten. You felt a little embarrassed, so you muttered an apology before grabbing your things and almost running to the exit. Sylvain followed you closely.

“Are you okay?”, Sylvain repeated once you were on the street. As far as you could tell, he was concerned, but more than worry, his eyes displayed suspicion and curiosity.

“Yes. It’s nothing, I just had a problem breathing… maybe it was the dust”, you brushed it off.

“It might have been an anxiety attack. Some people have a lot during their first year at university”, he noted. His smile came back, reassuring. It was incredible how his demeanour could change so quickly. “What a day, huh?”, he laughed. “We should meet again soon. I had fun despite everything.”

“Despite the awkwardness too?”, you replied, both playful and too exhausted from the experience to second-guess your interactions with him.

“What do you mean? That was the best part!”

“C’mon Sylvain!” You denied with your head.

“I don’t know, okay? It just felt nice. You make good company.” He was staring off inro space, and you hoped in the most obscure part of your heart that he was being honest.

“Oh, and you realize that now?”, you teased.

“Better late than never,” your classmate added.

“I suppose.”

Step by step you started walking in the same direction. You were in silence. Each of you had much to make sense of. You weren’t paying attention to the time, until you reached a familiar crossing.

“I’m going this way”, you said as you signalled your direction.

“I’m happy we got paired up in class,” he stated. He was just as handsome as when you met him, but he had a sadder air.

“Me too. See you later, Sylvain.”

“See you.” He stood there, watching you disappear into a corner. Then, he talked to himself. “What a day…”

[pythonees]

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Three’s a Crowd - XI - Embry Call & Paul Lahote

POSTED: March 2nd, 2020

WORD COUNT: 1,368

REQUESTED: Anon

A/N: I have rewritten this part SO many times. It got to the point that I had to walk away because I was getting frustrated when it didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. I feel so bad for how long it takes for me to get chapters out now, but I want to put out my best, so, unfortunately, that means it'll take a lot of time.

 I hope you guys enjoy this part, it's longer than the last few that have come out. If you haven't picked up on this already, it's going to be a bit of a slow burn fic. Not too slow though! I don't think I can make myself suffer through that, let alone all of y’all.

PS, if anyone wants to be added to the tags list, or I have missed you, PLEASE send in that request as an ask, so I can have it kept as a record, and so it won't be lost in my activity feed.

By the time Y/N gets to school, the sun is shining brighter than ever, not a cloud in sight. Many students are lingering around outside when Y/N gets off the bus, the parking lot alive with conversation. She weaves around the many groups heading straight for the front door. As her hands wrap around the sun-warmed handle, a voice calls out to her. It's quiet, one she hasn't heard in a long while, but recognized instantly.

Y/N turned around to watch Bella Swan as she quickly walked after her. Her old group of friends watch her curiously as she too weaves in and out of students. Their surprise is justified since they haven't heard her speak much since the vanishing of the Cullens. She seems to be doing better, however, since Y/N remembers seeing her sitting with them at lunch the day before.

"Hey, Bella," Y/N said, not knowing what else to say to the girl. They've never spoken in the short time she had returned to Forks, besides in class, when they had to hand something to each other. Or, more commonly, when Bella would trip and knock something off her desk, since in most of her classes, Bella was seated next to or near Y/N.

"Can I talk to you? For a minute?" Bella replies, slightly out of breath. From this close-up, Y/N can see the ever-growing bags under Bella's eyes, making her look sickly when paired with her pale skin. Y/N agrees, following after Bella as she leads her towards the tree line, away from their gossip-hungry classmates.

"You're friends with Jake, right? He talks about you a lot," Bella starts, looking expectantly at Y/N for a response. The shade cast by the trees worsens the look of Bella's bags, making her eyes look almost sunken into her head.

"Yeah, we grew up together," Y/N replies, though she didn't have to. From the way Bella sounded when she asked, she already knew the answer, "why?"

Bella shifts slightly, her awkward nature winning over her determination slightly. She takes a breath before pushing forward, "Then you must know what's going on with him."

Y/N lets out a sigh, cursing Bella for her never-ending curiosity, "I don't know-"

"I know you do," Bella cuts in, far more assertive than Y/N thought she was capable, "before we went to the movies Jake was complaining about you hanging out with Embry after he abandoned you guys for the 'cult.'"

"Bella-"

"And then!" Bella rushes to continue, once again cutting Y/N off so she couldn't stop her, "he disappears. Just like Embry and the others did. And I know you know where he is. And why he's not picking up my calls, and claiming to have mono."

Bella stares Y/N down, fire burning behind her tired eyes. Y/N knows where this is coming from, having been so freshly abandoned by Edward and his family, Bella is trying to hold onto whatever she had left. With a sigh, Y/N tries to cover the packs' tracks.

"Jake hasn't been talking to me since Embry started talking to me again." Not completely a lie, which Y/N hopes is enough to convince Bella, who is starting her down, "I haven't seen him at all. I'm sorry, Bella, but I can't help you."

Knowing this wasn't the end, Y/N quickly makes her escape, walking as fast as she can to the school while trying to not look like she's running away. Bella doesn't follow after her, just watches as Y/N turns the corner towards the main building of the school.

Once she's out of view, she pulls out her phone to send a quick warning to Paul and Embry. She gets responses almost immediately but doesn't have time to respond as she pushes her way through the front doors of the school. Many students have moved inside and are standing around their lockers. The large groups leave barely enough room to get to the stairway at the end of the hall.

Right next to the stairwell is her first class of the day. A supply teacher is standing at the front of the class, looking disinterested by the students already in the room. In front of her is a large stack of papers. The teacher calls out to Y/N as she walks by, her hand held out expectantly."No phones allowed during the test," she adds on, and Y/N can barely contain her eye roll as she hands it over, the phone lighting up with another text as she does so. The class is nearly half full as she walks down the middle aisle to her desk towards the back. Some have their notes open and are cramming in a bit of last-minute studying, while the others are goofing off with their friends.

The substitute doesn't seem to care much about what the students are doing and is instead sorting through the notes that were left for her. The first bell rings, and slowly, students start to file into the classroom.

The substitute puts the notes left for her aside to hand out tests and take phones as the last of the class arrives. She exchanges with the last student just as the second bell rings, signalling the start of first period. Everyone quiets as the teacher explains what's needed on the test, writing down equations on the board for them to refer back to. With that, she tells them to begin, settling back in her chair.

Y/N stares down at the three-page test, cute little beakers and test tubes around the title. With a long-suffering sigh, Y/N grabs her pencil and starts on the first question.

Surprisingly, Y/N was able to avoid Bella for the rest of the day. The boys were messaging her between classes after she was stopped that morning by Bella. At first, it was about what Bella wanted, and then it was little things, like how Y/N's day was going and vice versa. Or random questions that Y/N and Paul would ask each other to get to know each other better.

Her phone has been going off for the last couple of minutes. She was finishing up the last of her work in her free time before school ends. The phone vibrates against her leg again, and with a sigh, Y/N puts aside her work to check her phone. From what she sees from the most recent message, she didn't have to scroll up to see what story Embry was telling.

[Embry]: and then she tried to tackle Jake off of Quil, knocking them both over and down the hill

[Embry]: Jake broke his arm. Y/N broke her ankle

[Y/N]: I don't know why you love that story so much, my mom kept me locked in the house for days after

She sends the message off quickly so that she can cram in as much work as possible before the final bell rings. Her phone goes off again, but she ignores it as she punches in her equation into her calculator. She jots down the answer with a relieved sigh, scanning the sheet to make sure she got every question before putting everything away. The library is relatively empty when Y/N takes a look around, spotting Angela sitting off int the corner with Jessica, huddled close and whispering to each other.

The final bell rings just as Bella wonders into the library, walking over to her friends. Thankfully, she doesn't notice Y/N sitting by her self, letting her slip away unnoticed. Y/N makes a pit stop to her locker, trading her math homework for her English assignment. Following the flow of students out the doors towards the busses, Y/N loads onto the bus to make her way home.

As the bus leaves the school parking lot, Y/N watches Bella come out of the front doors of the school alone. She's digging through her orange backpack but can't seem to find what she's looking for. As the bus turns onto the main road, Y/N turns her attention to the trees lining the side of the road. There, in trees, is a face covered in shadow, and all Y/N can make out are the deep, red eyes staring right back at her.

a strikethrough means it’s not working

Twilight Tag: @wh1sp3r1ng-impala – @rabeccablake

Three’s Tag: @00girly-tomboy00  – @werewitchling  – @falling-stars-never-cry​ – @basicallyacullen​ – @truthdaze​ -- @vxidnik

[siriusmuch]

Friday I’m In Love | Chapter Three

series masterlist here

word count: about 2.7k

warnings: this chapter will be rather triggering, so please keep yourself safe. a bit of obvious verbal abuse. a lot of fucking angst. hints of major depression. it’s not a happy chapter.

taglist: @interestingthingsthings @siriuslysirius1107 @scaredofvscogirls @lizlil @themihala @mainstreambitchlife @phenylethyllamine @jellyfishbeansontoast​ @accio-rogers​ @blackpinkdolan​  please message me or send an ask if you’d like to be added to the taglist! if you didn’t receive a notification, it’s because i can’t tag you.

a/n: i’m a bit nervous that i’m moving the story too fast, but again, thank you for all your support! :) as of current, it’s about close to halloween in the year! i just wanted to clarify that in case anyone was confused/wondering.

-

A week had gone by without any disruption to your everyday life. You still met up with Remus after school for tutoring, you didn’t talk to the Marauders, and you talked to Regulus and Snape almost daily. Your life couldn’t be better — at least, for your terms.

“Are you going to keep staring at my idiot brother and his friends or are you going to eat your sausages? Because if you’re not, I’ll take them.” Regulus sat beside you and commented, reaching out for your plate as you moved it away.

“I’m not staring at anyone, I’m just... eating. Very slowly.”

“As if I believe that,” He scoffed, “You’re getting attached, (Y/N).”

You looked over at Regulus, your eyes softening as they met his. Regulus was a somewhat stoic person — he knew how to keep his emotions in check, and he was the perfect son. You knew how much he tried to appease his parents. You knew how much he was struggling without his brother, and you knew what he was going through.

Except he wasn’t aware of your problems.

Well, sure, he knew about what happened over the Summer, but he didn’t know all of it. No one knew all of it. And no matter how much you’ve eased in Remus’ presence, you couldn’t burden him with that information.

“Letters are here,” Regulus said, bringing you back to reality. A flood of owls started coming in, and you looked around for yours. Looking back down at your plate, you decided to finish eating your sausages quickly before any feathers happened to get in your food.

“I don’t want to alarm you, (Y/N), but...” Regulus whispered. He placed his hand on your shoulder as an attempt to comfort you.

You looked up. There, Owlbert Einstein hovered, a red-letter in his clutches. You paled, and murmurs started going around the Great Hall. They noticed your misfortune, and there was no doubt that people were going to talk about this all day.

“You should open it. Get it over with.”

You locked eyes with Regulus again, and you knew he was right. It was better now than never, and despite that everyone was staring at you. You took hold of the howler, the heat of it slightly burning your hands, and opened it without hesitation. Letting go, it floated up, and your father’s voice rang through the hall.

“(Y/N) (L/N),” It started, voice surprisingly quiet for a howler, “You’ve continued to disappoint me. I thought my, lessons, over the summer, would’ve helped tame you a bit... It was bad enough that I didn’t find out that you were skipping classes immediately, but I also find out that you’ve been hanging with bloody GRYFFINDORS.”

Your father’s voice shook the hall as it got louder, and you could hear every murmur in the hall. No one wanted to miss out on this — The great (Y/N) who had next to no friends in Slytherin was getting a howler.

“WHO TOLD YOU THAT YOU COULD BE TUTORED BY THEM? YOU STUPID GOOD-FOR-NOTHING DAUGHTER, I SEND YOU TO HOGWARTS EVERY YEAR SO YOU COULD MAKE ME PROUD AND CONTINUE THE SACRED LINE, BUT YOU CONTINUE TO DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO FAIL ME. WERE MY LESSONS NOT ENOUGH? WAS EVERYTHING AT STAKE NOT ENOUGH? DO YOU NEED MORE DISCIPLINE?” 

You looked down at your empty plate, regretting having eaten so much. You felt like you could puke any moment, and you didn’t want to even think about home anymore.

“YOU KNOW I’M WATCHING YOU. YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR SISTER. ONE MORE STEP OUT OF LINE, AND YOU’RE NEXT,” Your eyes darkened at the mention of your sister, “If you keep doing what you’re doing, you’re going to end up being a failure to this family. We won’t hesitate to do what’s right. If you continue to be like this, you’re going to end up being nothing but an obstacle. Don’t be a fucking mistake to this bloodline.”

You prayed to Merlin it was over. You were embarrassed and reminded of your sister — and there was no doubt that everyone would either stare at you with pity or mock you. And all you wanted to do was go back to the Slytherin dungeons, curl up with some sleeping tea and cookies, and never come out of your bed.

“Bye, (Y/N). Your mother and I love you.”

The howler disappeared in ashes, and you grimaced. The audacity of your parents to yell at you and tarnish what little reputation you had, to make you feel so small, to even mention your sister and still end the letter telling you how much they “loved” you. Standing up abruptly, you turned to face Regulus.

“I’m going to go get ready for class. I’ll talk to you later.”

Your voice was stone cold, and Regulus couldn’t help but look at your back with a sad smile on his face.

-

You arrived early for your first class. Waiting was an absolute bore, but you couldn’t skip, no matter how much you wanted to. The rumor mills were circulating, and there wasn’t any escaping it. If you tried hiding, there would just be more information to add to it.

“Did you hear?”

“Hear what?”

You rolled your eyes. Even in the classroom, you couldn’t escape the gossip. At least the two girls were outside; if they were inside, you might’ve had the gut to punch them. Maybe that’d get them to shut up. 

“The Black siblings got into a fight!”

Your eyes widened as you sat straight up, trying to listen in on what they were saying.

“Really? When?”

“After (L/N) left. Apparently, Sirius was shit-talking her and Regulus overheard. Ugh, I wish I got their attention too.”

You rolled your eyes at the last comment, but your heart slightly fluttered. You weren’t expecting Regulus to do anything. Did he really care that much?

The chatter of the girls grew quiet as they started walking again, and you knew that classes were going to start anytime soon. Students rushed into class, looking relieved that they weren’t late. You could feel some of them stare at you, but you weren’t going to let their eyes get to you. 

You watched students enter the classroom, waiting for Regulus’ arrival, only for him never to come. Instead, your eyes met Snape’s, and he took a seat next to you.

“Eventful breakfast,” He commented, and you nodded, “I told you that you had to be careful. This was bound to happen with how you’ve been acting.”

You sighed. “It was bound to happen even if I didn’t act this way. Did Regulus really fight Sirius?” You changed the topic, not wanting to think about what had happened earlier.

“He did. He went to Madame Pomfrey, along with Sirius. I think the rest of their little gang,” Snape sneered, “might’ve gone along. I doubt Madame Pomfrey would let them stay. They wouldn’t know to be quiet even if someone cast a silencing charm on them.”

Your mouth twitched into a small smile.

“Regulus is going to get in trouble for this, isn’t he?” You sighed, “I feel bad that he’s going to be. I never thought that he would do anything so... rash.”

“Regulus has always been different when it comes to his brother. And when you’re involved too. You understand him like no other, so it’s only natural for him to have a soft spot for you. That’s his weakness.”

You wanted to scoff at Snape’s word choice, but you knew it was true. The war was coming soon, and Regulus would die if he made such reckless moves. If Voldemort happened to insult you and he tried defending you, he would be dead in an instant, no matter his loyalty.

“Don’t think too much about it. Go visit during lunch. You can bring him some of the ice cream he really likes.”

You nodded, looking down at your textbook before looking towards the front of the classroom where Professor Kettleburn was settling in. You couldn’t wait to talk to Regulus.

-

“What were you thinking-” You started the moment you entered hospital wing, heading straight for Regulus’ bed. You weren’t paying attention to anyone else in the room. Instead, you were trying to get all of your thoughts out. “You fought your own brother? It doesn’t matter what he was saying about me! Do you know how much trouble you’re going to get in? You stupid, ugh! Stupid jerk! You should’ve just left it all alone! I don’t want you to have to deal with your bloody parents over this,” You stared down at Regulus, “And. I brought you your stupid pistachio ice cream. Who even likes pistachio ice cream?! You! You’re such an idiot and I can’t believe you did that but thank you so much.”

Regulus snorted, “I’m not the only person in the room, (Y/N). Thanks for the ice cream, though.”

You took a moment to process his words as your face started flushing red. You forgot that Sirius was also in the room and that his friends might be too. Looking away from Regulus, you saw that the next bed over had Sirius and his friends staring at you.

“Dear Merlin, I’m an idiot,” You groaned, taking a seat next to Regulus and putting your head on his legs. He chuckled, but you were relieved — he didn’t seem too tense, even though his brother was in the room. You decided to ignore the Marauders, instead looking at Regulus. “How are you feeling?”

“Well, I was feeling like shit earlier, but now I have ice cream so...” You stifled a laugh, “Besides, since my hand hurts, you’ll do my homework for me.”

“Regulus Black, are you trying to make me do your work? After I kindly brought you ice cream?” You pretended to glare at him, moving away as if you didn’t want to sit with him anymore, “I can’t believe this. I know how much my friendship means to you now. All you wanted was ice cream and homework.”

The two of you met eyes and burst into laughs. You didn’t get the chance to talk to Regulus like this often, but you were relieved. Relieved that things weren’t so tense, and even though the two of you were in the hospital wing, you realized that you could relax. Right now, there wasn’t anyone watching. Right now, you were safe.

On the other bed, Remus watched you. He’s seen your smile more than anyone else in the school has, save for Sirius, Snape, and Regulus. But this was the first time you looked like you had nothing on your shoulders. The first time you looked so carefree. For a slight moment, he wished that your smile was on your face all the time.

After you calmed down a bit, you looked over at Sirius’ bed. “Rem,” You started, feeling a bit awkward saying this in front of everyone, but now was a better time to clear misunderstandings than ever, “I hope you weren’t offended by what my parents said. I don’t care that you’re a Gryffindor and I appreciate all the help you’ve been giving me.” You fidgeted in your seat, looking away from him.

“You aren’t your parents, (Y/N),” Remus glanced over to Sirius, who was sitting really still, “Besides, I’m happy to help.”

You nodded, turning your attention back on Regulus. The mood had shifted a little since then, and you didn’t really know what to say. He gave you a reassuring smile, and you guys slipped into comfortable conversation.

By the time lunch was almost over, you felt yourself not wanting to leave. You usually hated hospitals, but this time, you found relief in being there. There weren’t any expectations for you, there were no rumors, and no eyes were watching you.

“I should probably get ready to go to class, I have herbology next...” You trailed off as you stood up.

“Oh, I should probably go to class too. James, Peter, you too. You missed morning classes earlier.” Remus stated. You weren’t talking as a group, but it was a rather small room. He nodded at you as he left the room, James and Peter following behind after their internal debate on whether they should go or not.

“I’ll take your notes, Regulus. And I’ll help you with homework tonight, alright?” You smiled at him, and just as you were about to leave, you heard your name.

“(L/N).” You tensed up. You knew that Sirius heard everything that was talked about today, and you knew he heard the howler. You were hurt that he insulted you after you received it, but you couldn’t continue to forgive him mentally and constantly dwell on what could’ve been. “Come here for a second, okay? I want to talk to you.”

“I have classes soon, Black.” But even as you said that, you found yourself walking towards his bedside. Regulus looked away, pretending he wasn’t interested in the conversation. “What do you want? Make this quick.”

“What happened to your sister?”

You froze. Out of anything you expected him to say, that was one of the last things you thought he’d ask. Your fists clenched as your mood dampened, and it took all of your will to not curse him out right there.

“You have some balls asking me that after you abandoned me and insulted me for years. And the nerve of you to ask me that after you compared me to your parents. Black, I’ve tried so hard these past few years to get over you, friendship wise and romance wise. I did everything I possibly could to somehow make you forgive me when I did nothing wrong. I wrote you letters that I watched you tear up and even spit on, I sent you presents that you set on fire, and I’ve apologized endlessly for something that I didn’t even do. And you dare ask me what happened to my sister after not giving a shit about me for years? You think you’re all mighty because you’re finally rebelling against your parents. You think you’re all amazing and on top of the world because you got better friends than I ever was to you. You think you’re all that, but you know what you truly are?”

You took a step forward, shoving your finger at his chest, “You’re exactly like your parents. Assholes who judge people based on something they can’t control. What makes you so different from them, huh? They’re against muggles and muggleborns. They think the blood of muggles is filthy. But you think anyone even associated with Slytherin is bad. You think I’m so gross and I’m the scum of the Earth because I got into Slytherin.”

You took a shaky breath, your anger finally starting to subside, “And I’m not going to continue to chase after you. I’m not going to keep on allowing myself to wish for your companionship. I’m not going to continue hating myself because you were ashamed of me. I’m not going to beat myself up over memories of you and wishing that maybe I could’ve been born someone else just so you could finally see me for who I am, not just judging me because I’m in Slytherin. I’m not allowing myself to mope over you. I’m not allowing myself to continue wishing that maybe what happened to my sister happened to me instead just so I wouldn’t have to deal with the pain that you’ve caused me.”

Your eyes watered, but you didn’t allow yourself to cry. You could tell that Sirius wanted to say something, but you didn’t let him. “I’m done with you, Sirius Black. I’m done.” With a bitter smile, you left the hospital wing, leaving Sirius to his own thoughts, and Regulus with just the tiniest of grins.

[justhereforseverus]

A Rose by any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet

Miserable_toad

Chapter 10: I will wear my heart upon my sleeve

Summary:

You wake up in Severus quarters and can't get your head around last night's events. You find an open ear for your thoughts with Minerva and Remus. In the end, you decide to play open cards.

Notes:

Not much to say about this one. Life sucks some times and I really needed a portion of fluff to cheer me up so I wrote this. Hope you all like it. Sorry about grammar mistakes. Also I realised there's an awful lot of tea drinking in my work. So go ahead and make yourself some tea to set the right mood! Tea's awesome and I mean that unironically.

Comments always appreciated. Thank you SO much for reading this! It means the world to me!

Chapter Text

I woke up on his couch, covered with a green velvet blanket. After a short feeling of disorientation, I remembered where I was and how I got here. It still felt unreal though. Did last night really happen? Did I really fall asleep on him? And he let me just do that without complaint? He held my hand….I looked around: On the table next to me were tea, some scones and croissants on plates as well as a butter knife next to a jar of marmelade. There was also a small roll of parchment put into the empty teacup. I sat up and read:

“Good Morning [y/n]

Unfortunately, I have some important appointments to attend and thus can’t personally talk to you right now. As it is Saturday, I knew you didn’t have any classes to attend, so I reckoned it was fine to let you sleep in. Feel free to have breakfast before you head out.

Best regards,

Severus.”

As short and non-revealing as it could be. The breakfast looked amazing, so I didn’t hesitate to dive in. Meanwhile I looked around at his room and it was now illuminated by the sun coming from the enchanted windows. It was breathtaking and you really had the impression they’d lead outside just like the roof in the Ravenclaw tower. I hope I can be a guest here any time soon again.

I headed out to the teacher’s common room to find anyone to talk to about last night. It’s true, I didn’t have any appointments and it was Saturday. The teacher’s room is usually quite deserted at the weekend but one or two people were almost always around. To my disappointment, Remus wasn’t there but Minerva sat in one of the chairs with her coffee, reading the newspaper. When she saw me, she put it hastily away, stood up and greeted me with a long and tight hug. Petting my arm she said:

“I’m so sorry about yesterday, dear. How are you? Do you have time for a cup of tea in my office? I’d really want to talk to you about what happened in a more private place.”

I took up the invitation and nodded thankfully. We went to the Gryffindor quarters, where she let me inside her office. She offered me some biscuits and a nice and warm Darjeeling tea before saying the following:

“Now that we can’t be interrupted… I just wanted to say I’m sorry. When I told my house about the events, they all seemed to be very shocked. The ones who are in your class assured me they will continue their activity in the drama group. So, you see, they are very committed to you and your class. Never think, we won’t support you. I really can’t imagine anyone in my house holding these antiquated views of the arts but I’m old enough to not be a fool. Just because they are Gryffindors doesn’t mean they are all perfect little angels. I made clear to them that I stand by your side no matter what. If anyone has a problem with this, they are free to discuss it with me and I will make sure they soon know why they’re utterly wrong.” Her tone was sincere and resolute. I was deeply touched to have the support of such a strong and wonderful woman. She might be a bit stubborn at times but gosh, I admired her so much.

I replied: “Thanks Minerva. That really means a lot to me. I feel so much better knowing you all stand by my side. You’ve all been so kind to me last night. I’m not scared anymore.”

“Right you are. I’m sure Remus will help you with any precautious. Don’t you worry.” – she said and tapped my hand. “I have to admit, I’m looking forward to your play. Shakespeare is very entertaining after all and some of my students have been cast in very interesting roles by you.” – she smirked lovingly and took up another biscuit.

“Oh, you won’t be disappointed. The students really want to put up a high-class performance despite having little or no experience. We still need a solid number of rehearsals, but they will give a splendid performance at the end of the year. I’m sure of it.” - I said this with way more confidence than I actually had but hey, we gotta advertise us well.

After finishing her biscuit, Minerva folded her hands on the desk and said with an elevated eyebrow: “Now… do you want to talk about the other thing, too?”

“What other thing?” – I replied.

“You didn’t return to your quarters last night. My owl came back with her message. I was a bit worried at first but then I thought it’ll be alright after I checked in with some of the portraits.”

“Oh...” – ok, how do I get out of this. I wasn’t ready to share my silly feelings to other colleagues than Remus that soon….

Minerva just smiled and tipped my head lightly with one of her fingers: “You don’t need to hide behind the bush, dear. I know you and Professor Snape have spent quite a lot of time together lately.”

I exclaimed: “He just gave me another refill of my sleeping potion”, which was the truth. Though that wasn’t what put me to sleep in the end..

Minerva shook her head: “But that’s not it, isn’t it?” I was a bit of lost for words at that. After some seconds of silence, she continued: “Come on now. We’re grown-ups and you’d be surprised to know how much flirting and seduction is going on within the staff departments. Now, Severus is usually never involved in things like this so it’s certainly something else.” Ok, I need to come back to her at some point to hear her elaborate on that. Swee, sweet gossip. Yet, let’s stick to my thing at first. It’s interesting how everyone I talk to about Severus is basically saying the same thing, so I said: “That’s what everyone is saying actually. That it’s unusual for him to be so friendly with someone.”

She replied: “Because it’s true. You get along well?”

“Yes, we do.”

“Can I be frank?” – she said, while looking sternly into my eyes.

“Of course.”

“Where do you think this is going? What do you feel for him?”

“I…. “and here I swallowed hard. Because vaguely telling it to Remus is fine but openly admitting it to someone new is difficult. I’m also not entirely sure of my concrete feelings, yet. I said: “I don’t know but… I think I’ve definitely fallen for him and would love to connect .. on a deeper level with him.”

“That’s a relief to hear.” – she replied quickly, taking another sip of tea. “Why?” - I asked with a puzzling face. She continued: “Because my dear, he’s head over heels for you.”

Finally, I could get a hold of Remus and we decided to watch the Gryffindor team during their training. It’s convenient because no one takes note of us in the stands. They’re way too focused on their training. The Hufflepuff team also isn’t interested in bullying their next game’s opponents during trainings. So, we were safe in that regard.

“Ok. That’s.. Minerva is very good in reading people and she certainly never holds back putting things bluntly.” – he said while watching some of the students trying to shoot a goal. “I guess we can take her word for it and he does have a sincere interest in you. We also have to take into account, of course, the fact that you were holding hands” -he said in a teasing tone, putting up his hand in a melodramatic gesture.

“Shut up, jerk.” – I pushed him slightly in jest. He continued: “For real, if that’s how a Professor Snape looks like being head over heels in love… that’s kind of disappointing. Though no, now that I think of it, I can’t see him doing lovey dovey talk or flirting with anyone. Still.. do you.... do you want to have a relationship with him? I’m not judging, really! In the end I wished he’d finally found someone to make him chill a bit. He's so goddamn tense.”

“I don’t know.. yes? Like we’ve just spent a couple of months working together, I don’t want to push this too fast. I only know, I want to pursue this further and be closer to him. But what if he just felt sorry for me yesterday. Or maybe he wanted me to calm down so I don’t ruin his couch with my snot or whatever.” – I said and put my head in my hands. UGH the whole thing shouldn’t be so complicated. I feel like a teenager..

Remus sighed and said: “I don’t think he’s the type for that. Once, I saw him give additional homework to a crying and clearly stressed out student without blinking an eye.” – Remus took up a stone and threw over the stands. He has a point, I thought. In the end, he could’ve just ordered me to leave. That reminds me.. “Minerva also told me I shouldn’t let his insecurities destroy anything good in his life again. She fears that he’ll try to get himself in the way of happiness. What do you make of this?”

“I agree. I think many people, me included, are responsible that he truly believes he’s the villain and he just sticked with it. I don’t think that’ll change much even with the prospect of love. I think in its core there is a self-manipulating tendency that comes from a deep feeling of insecurity. It doesn’t mean he can’t change. It also doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t have or deserves a fulfilling relationship. You might have to convince him of that fact though. If it ever gets too… intense.. don’t be a fool. Come to me, talk to me and we make sure you’re safe. Your past doesn’t give you a free ticket to being a dick.”

Bad memories came back to me. Of me being too patient, too naive, too.. compliant, not seeing that a person is abusive, manipulative and cruel. All the thoughts of ‘I don’t deserve any better’ come back to me. Maybe Severus is not the right choice.. what if it becomes similarly… nightmarish? But I can’t stop my heart and so far he didn’t show any red flags. He self-reflects. He apparently wants to change. And I can’t stop thinking about him and wanting to be with him. He has been nothing but kind. Harsh sometimes, but kind and caring. Honest with his flaws. Finally, I said to Remus: “I guess, I should just do the reasonable and grown up thing: be open, see where it goes, and talk to him?”

I returned to my quarters to do some reading in preparation for the upcoming week. Remus assured me he’ll come on Monday to put some new spells on the walls to guarantee protection. It was difficult concentrating though. My mind kept going back to last night’s event. The good and the bad parts of it. I sat on my balcony for a while to order my thoughts. It was a foggy afternoon and you could barely see the woods through the misty clouds. It was so peaceful. I’m surprised about my own calmness, considering that someone broke into my classroom, destroyed it and hasn’t been caught, yet. The overwhelming support here helps. I’m really lucky to be here and not.. in that other place.

I heard my doorbell ring and walked to the door to see who it was. I didn’t expect visitors and I don’t hold office hours on the weekend. Let’s hope that doesn’t mean bad news. Yet, the enchanted mirror next to the door, which serves kinda like a camera, showed me instead a tall, gaunt man in front of my door: Severus. I opened: “Hey” – I said. “Good Afternoon, [y/n].” – he replied. “I’m finished with my appointments today and wanted to tell you that I’ve found a potion that could help securing our classroom. I just checked with Pomfrey and Sprout and we indeed have all the ingredients for it. I think I could brew it until Monday.”

“Oh my God, that’s great!” – I replied. “Ehm.. would you like to come in? You can tell me more about it then. I’m intrigued. Thank you so much. Everyone supports me here, it’s overwhelming.. in a good way.” With that, I went back to my quarters and signalled him to follow me. He took a seat on the couch and I got some biscuits and drinks from the kitchen and put them on the table. After I sat down, he handed me an open book and pointed to the illustration of a potion on it. He explained to me how it works and how it leaves a trace on the perpetrator when he walks through it, which is invisible and can only be lifted by a spell. This spell can be modified during the creation of the potion and thus can only be used by its creator. It’s ingenious really. Complicated to make but I had full trust in Severus, who would surely have no difficulty brewing it.

After we agreed on the details on where and how to use it in my classroom, he told me more of his exchange with the Slytherin house last night. He told me, that some of them didn’t seem to be particularly shocked about the events but these were the students he knew to have a rather negative opinion about theatre. However, knowing that their own headteacher was on my side made them reluctant to give any rude comments. We talked a bit more about the beautiful edition of the potion book he had with him and did some more small talk about literature and the life of a teacher at Hogwarts. It felt so natural to talk to him. It was so easy and made so much fun. I decided it would be a good moment to ask about last night:

“I wanted to thank you again for yesterday. For the kind words and the delicious breakfast. May I ask you something though?”

“Speak your mind. No need for formalities.”

Ok, now comes the hard part. I sighed. “Were you nice to me only because you felt sorry? I mean, I fell asleep on you and you just let me without any complaints and you.. did take my..?”

He interjected suddenly: “I’m not sorry for anything and I certainly don’t feel the need to be friendly to anyone out of pity. I’d argue I didn’t give you any hints that this might be the case”

“But.. I mean, you were right. I was just.. the events of the day came all down on me in that moment. I realised how naïve I was to think that it wouldn’t happen here. I was also sad that I doubted myself so much after something like this. I will fight this. I will go on and hold my composure but it’s still.. difficult, you know? I didn’t have the right to load everything on you.”

“I offered you my ear, so it’s fine. I told you not to apologise for things that have been initiated and consented by me. And yes, it is difficult and it is frustrating. Yet, I’d rather have you here doing your work trying than simply giving in.”

“Thank you…” – I was really touched by this. No, don’t start crying again,don't be too emotional again. I still have questions to ask: “So, holding my hand wasn’t just an empty gesture out of the ‘How to comfort other people’ book?”

He sighed and slightly shook his head: “First of all, I wouldn’t read such a book and I doubt it exists. Second, I don’t need a handbook to know what people want or need to be comforted. I just often choose to ignore it for their sake. Third, I don’t hold hands with anyone as a purely performative gesture.”

“But does that mean you would hold my hand even if I wasn’t crying like a baby?”

“You weren’t crying like a baby. You were almost crying like a baby. But yes, Sherlock your deductive skills led to the right conclusion here: It would indeed ‘mean that’.”

“So………. you’d do it again?” – I asked curiously and looked at him way too happily.

“You’re insufferable do you know that? Are you not capable of asking directly if you want something specific?”

“And are you not capable of replying directly?”

“I don’t feel the need to spell out what is obvious. I don’t reward stupid questions.” - and with this he sighed, shook his head and took my hand again. This time was different. I wasn’t in a mood of despair; I didn’t need someone to get me grounded again. It was purely for pleasure. He looked down at the table but I could recognise the faintest blush on his face. His fingers were closely intertwined with mine. I could hear my heart beating up again and recognised him breathing slightly faster.

“This is nice.” – I said after a while.

“What a thoughtful observation.” - he said.

“Stop ruining the mood, Hamlet.” – and I sat closer to him. Once again, he let go of my hand and put his arm around me. He pulled me close, drawing circles on my shoulders. After some time, he took my other hand into his, looked at me and said quietly:

“You know. I’m not.. I didn’t join your group because I wanted anything of a superior motive. I truly want to support your cause, and these were always my intentions.”

“I know. Don’t worry about it.”

“In addition, I know I’m theoretically a perfect man.” – I rolled my eyes at this. “Yet, I don’t know if I... I’m not the best of keeping close relationships. I’m not the easiest man to be around. I don’t want to fool you.”

“I didn’t think so. It’s fine. To be honest, me neither. But I think we should just communicate, be honest with each other and see where it goes.” – I paused for a bit in thought. “Of course, if that’s what you also want...” Yes, just ruin anything brain. “Have you… had other relationships?”

He played a bit with my fingers and touched my hand softly: “Yes, I’m not a virgin if you mean that. But my former relationships either failed because I was.. frankly, a bit of an asshole, so there are on me. I don’t want to make these mistakes again. Others were nothing serious. My recent ones were more of a.. practical nature than an emotional one. They also have been some time ago, too. I assure you my intentions are not in that direction here. If I ever try again there should be more.”

“Same. My last relationship was very abusive. He didn’t respect me and I was too stupid to realise it sooner. Then I was alone for many years until I came here. Fiction is an escape for me in that regard. Drama, too. I thought when I leave my last working place, my home, my town.. I’d escape it all. In addition, I kind of gave up on love and dating and stuff.” – I sighed, realising I was sitting here with arms around me, holding hands with a man, which can definitely be identified as ‘love, dating’ and stuff’. The irony. I chuckled to myself.

“What’s so amusing?” – he asked.

“Well, guess at the moment I’m not really behaving like I might have given up on love.”

“I know that feeling.” – he said quietly and turned his head to my side. I could feel his breath on my hair and I wondered if he wanted to kiss me right now. Because damn I’d love to do that. For now though, this was perfect.

[wren-bishop]

Bishop Gameroom // The boys

Wren, Stevie, Jesse, and Chase get together to go over some text messages. 

@stevie-summers @jessekxller @chase-stephens​

Wren: Wren was sitting with his phone plugged into the TV to cast, "Seriously, look at these" he said, happy they were having a moment away from Jonah. He felt bad about it all.

Jesse: Jesse watched as the text messages played came up on the tv. "Oh my god." He said speachless

Wren: "Also! I posted this instagram story at [insert time] and she tweeted, hear me out at [insert time]. Am I crazy??? She's tweeting about me, right?" said Wren feeling like a maniac.

Stevie: Stevie couldn't help but laugh, "This girl is really a piece of work."

Jesse: Jesse's eyes went wide. "Oh yeah thats def about you, but you could chill with the grey. My poor eyes can't unsee that."

Wren: "I wasn't thinking about that" said Wren, "I was just tryna be confident, gimme a break. Also trying to catch a new honey" he added.

Chase: Chase rolled up, "hey guys, she has strep so I'm here and why is Wren's gray sweatpants thirst trap just chillin on the tv?" said Chase as he sat down on the couch, Wren caught him up to speed and showed the texts. "So is anyone gonna tell Jonah?" he asked.

Stevie: "You look dude. Nothing wrong with showing off a bit." Stevie told Wren with a smile before turning her attention to Chase. "Not it! I got nothing to do with this. This one's on you guys."

Chase: "Can't someone just tell Juliette? I feel like she gives him bad news all the time" said Chase, hoping to god it wouldn't be him. But lets be honest, it was totally going to be him.

Jesse: Jesse shook his head "I would... but Me + Jonah + devyn = a bad discussio"

Jesse: "I just..... I can't believe she called you daddy right up in there.."

Wren: "Right? At first I was kinda into getting even with Jonah, but she kept mentioning him and then hitting on me? Like I'm usually not good with this stuff ... but even I noticed" said Wren

Jesse: "And people look at me sideways when I say she plays them mind games. The 'I only think of you' meanwhile she trynna slide down my pants and yours"

Wren: "In my defense, I am horny and weak ... and she's so hot" said Wren with a wince, "but I think she might legit be nuts, also did you see that thing about how she said I'm friends with nerds?? The audacity when she's wanted like half of us"

Stevie: "You think she would've learned after screwing you over." Stevie motioned her head towards Jesse. "I guess Chase is next." she patted the boy's back.

Chase: "I mean, she called me a perv ... so I think that I'm safe for now" said Chase, "also two out of three of these conspiracies are traaaaaaaaaaaash. Riley not being blind? That's a low blow" he added, kinda annoyed.

Jesse: "Yeah, shes hot be let me be real. Her head game is weak and the sex is kinda boring." Jesse said with a shrug. "Bro. I heard that the car accident she was in was like.. really bad. She told me she was in the hospital for months."

Stevie: "Couldn't be me." Stevie shook her head. "But yeah, I'm not really sure why she would think Riley would lie about something like that."

Jesse: "She said its because shes good at cheer." Jesse said pulling out his phone and pulluing up her instagram and scrolling. "Whats a worlds champion?" He said before watching some videos from before her accident. "Oh my god how does someone do flips like that????" He said a bit shook. "I don't think shes lying. I've witnessed her walk into a door once"

Chase: "Riley was the best on the team before the accident, and she definitely still kicks ass" said Chase.

Wren: "The sex was boring? Not doing that again" said Wren with an eyeroll.

Jesse: "And shes hot." Jesse pointed out. "Go griffin, hot and flexiable" He said with a laugh. "Was Val boring in bed too? God I got lucky with Olivia."

Wren: "We only fucked once" said Wren, "didn't even get my dick sucked" admitted Wren.

Stevie: "So hot." Stevie smiled to herself. "Cut these girls some slack, at least you all get off by the end of it." she teased them. "But seriously dude, get your dick sucked. Have fun."

Wren: "People keep playing me, do I just look like I enjoy used by girls with no perks?" asked Wren, half joking.

Jesse: "stop!" Jesse said shaking his head. "You deserve it all, wrenny." Jesse added on. "Okay but like, If imma go down on her, she should at least return the favor." Jesse pointed out. "What if you gave all the head and didn't get any back?" he asked Stevie

Stevie: "That's gotta be someone's kink." Stevie said as a joke. "I'm sure you'll get your dick sucked soon." she gave Wren a thumbs up. "Well that's just being inconsiderate. I like to hookup with nice people that care about making me feel good as well." she said, placing her hand over her heart.

Wren: "I swear to god, cone of silence ... looking at you Chase. But I've never gotten head, only given it" said Wren, kind of embarrassed.

Jesse: "Wren, baby. You have to be more assertive." Jesse pointed out. "But Devyn would prob do it if you asked her, but like I said. It was weak." He added in. "But we can't deny shes a simp for simp nation"

Wren: "Girls just aren't into me. Maybe I should just take Asher up on his offer" joked Wren, well about the second half. "She is! That's what makes no sense" he replied.

Stevie: "Dude, how many times do I have to tell you? Girls are into you. I wouldn't lie to you." Stevie shook her head. "I mean I heard Asher already made himself quite comfortable in your room at the party so..."

Jesse: "Careful. Make sure that boy gets tested before you even look at him." He said with a laugh. "There are plenty of single hot girls in this school that would love you blow you." Jesse took out his phone again. "You guys should see the texts between me and devyn"

Chase: Chase kept his damn mouth shut about the fact that it did not happen.

Wren: Wren passed the connector to Jesse, "Feel free to demonstrate to the class" he said.

Stevie: "God there's more?" Stevie asked after laughing

Jesse: Jssse plugged in his phone. “This is the text message saying she thinks about me and my dick when she is in bed alone” he said before scrolling a big more up. “This is her telling me how much she likes my dick and then throws in a hope it runs in the family comment. Like gross.” He said before scrolling to the bottom “and this is her apologizing for it because I actually stood up for myself and let’s not forget how she tweeted the world that I was small.”

Wren: "Yeah calling a man small, not cool" said Chase, war flashbacks to the gossip blog anons.

Jesse: “I’m not even small and hate to share I’m not even average.” He said with a shrug. “She just trying to make all the girls think I am so they stay away but jokes on her because Olivia loves me and not just for my dick size”

Wren: "Not to shit on her sexuality and stuff, but what's with the dick obsession? And voicing it that much? Like if I tweeted about boobs like that, I would be absolutely cancelled" said Wren.

Jesse: “I heard she made out with that blond girl, Kelly’s sister. Maybe she’s gay.AND and. During spin the bottle she made out with Riley.”

Stevie: Stevie tried holding in her laugh when she read his response saying he was hard. Men. So weak. "So uh, did you ever tell Olivia about these?" she asked with raised brows.

Jesse: “I told her” he said simply. He didn’t want to say that he kissed her but they probably knew since devyn also tweeted that he was a cheater. “Told her how she was all over me and begging. Also told Jonah that but I’d love to hear how she is twisting that around even when she asked me to go back to her house with her.”

Wren: "So someone needs to tell Jonah" said Wren, kinda worried about him, "He shoulda just stayed with my sister"

Stevie: Stevie let out a sigh, "This shit is such a mess." she said as if she wasn't dealing with her own mess with girls. "Yeah like soon." she agreed. "How is she by the way?" she asked Wren.

Jesse: “Well it won’t be me. I don’t want him to think I’m doing it out of jealousy or some shit. But I also don’t want to see him hurt but like... I don’t want to give him another reason to hate me and is not talk again,”

Wren: "She's vulnerable and will hurt anyone" said Wren, "so don't try anything. Just talk to your little internet girlfriend"

Jesse: Jesse gave wren a look before pulling up rorys Instagram which presented into the tv.

Stevie: Stevie looked over at Wren with wide eyes before hitting his arm, "I wasn't going to try anything, and she's not my girlfriend."

Wren: "Guys, we're twins. Can we not do this?" said Wren with an exaggerated sigh.

Jesse: “Oh don’t worry. We are going to your page next.” He said before switching to wrens.  “Devyn was right. You are hot.” He said playfully

Stevie: "Sooo hot." Stevie nodded her head and winked at Wren.

Wren: "I haven't managed to post enough to get the pictures of Chanel down on my page" said Wren, "or Valerie" he said realizing he should have probably said that first.

Jesse: “That’s what the delete button is for” he said pointing out. “Or the acrhive feature so it doesn’t delete them but they are hidden”

Stevie: "His heart couldn't handle deleting them." Stevie said, nudging Wren.

Wren: "I like the pictures, it's just ... they don't need to be at the top of my feed" said the boy, "haha very funny Steve"

Stevie: "They do look good in these pictures." Stevie looked through the pictures he had with the girls. "We can do like a whole photoshoot and get some sweet pics. It'll be fun. My parents have one nice ass camera we can use."

Jesse: "We can take some thirst traps and put them all up. Some snazzy captions abou how we are not all losers." Jesse pointed out as well

Wren: "Turtlenecks?" said Wren half joking, his sister had put him in one and he rather liked it. He'd never lived anywhere cold before, and he knew Stevie always commented on them.

Jesse: "I should invest in some turtle necks, i think people are tired of seeing me in plain long sleeves." He said playfully, thats really all he wore. "Are they really comfortable?"

Stevie: "Ah you know I just love the turtlenecks." Stevie teased her friend. "I think they are. We can all wear one and have one festive ass photoshoot. I'll make some corny family Christmas cards with the pictures. It'll be great." she said jokingly.

Wren: “Sounds like a plan to me” said Wren putting in a game. “But enough of that, let’s blow off some steam, boys and Steve” he said tossing each of them a controller.

[war-sword]

red caps

anonymous said: Ahhhh what should I request! Ehh... could you write something about a girl, who isn’t vulnerable or unable to handle herself, but who gets into some sort of danger which Draco then protects her/saves her. Possibly at the end she gets upset and he comforts her?

pairing: draco x female reader (unspecified house) words: 2.6k a/n: this is set in fourth year, during the time of the triwizard tournament, but it’s honestly only important to some aspects because i don’t mention the other schools. mostly just context. hope it’s not too short for you all! taglist: @accio-rogers @diademofdraco @mayorofzillyhoo @clockworkherondale(please comment on this post or send a message to be added to my overall taglist!) read the rest of my masterlist here

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“… And one last warning students, please be careful as you venture to outdoor classes such as Herbology and Care of Magical Creatures this year. Teachers will be waiting to escort students to these classes in an effort to lessen incidents, but I must ask that no one venture to unpaved areas when getting some fresh air. Our groundskeeper is working to fix the problem, but until that time, please exercise extreme caution. That is all!” Dumbledore clapped his hands together, dismissing everyone from the first feast of the school year.

You stepped up from the table with the rest of your housemates and made your way to the dormitories, gossiping about the unnamed threat Dumbledore had mentioned.

“This happens every year! We get here, first day, and get told ‘Don’t go on the third floor west corridor— you’ll be slaughtered!’ ‘Watch your step on the moving staircases, students, portable volcanoes sprouted up over the summer and we’ve yet to remove them. Sorry!’ Honestly, dad never told me it was this bad in his day,” your housemate, Evan, laments.

“We don’t even know what’s outside!” Your best friend Vivian adds. “If we knew, maybe we could be more prepared.”

“True,” you say. “I hope they take care of whatever it is soon. I don’t want to spend all my free periods in the stone courtyard.”

“What’d ya think it is?” Evan asks, poking you with his elbow. “Erklings? Chupacabras?”

“Oh shut up, Evan,” You say, poking him back. “Chupacabras don’t even live in Europe. They’re native to Puerto Rico–“ you trail off as your throat catches, due to your first sight of pale blonde hair.

Evan follows the line of your stare over to Draco and laughs. Vivian just groans. “Please Y/N, I thought you were over this!”

“Sorry!” You huff, crossing your arms as your face heats up. “Not my fault he gets more attractive each summer.”

“Well, don’t get your hopes up, I think Malfoy’s nose is too high in the air for him to see you,” Evan jokes. “Didn’t you hex him last year outside Charms? Whatever happened to that?”

“Yes,” you grumble. “Believe me, I’m well aware how annoying he is. I just wish he wasn’t so hot.”

Vivian feigns throwing up. “Please, quit while you’re ahead, Y/N.”

◈◈◈

As it turns out, Erklings end up in your Defense classroom as opposed to the sprawling lawns outside. Professor Moody has a taste for the hands-on that Professor Lupin did, but with a slightly more dangerous twist. Not that you mind, of course. When Professor Moody drops the cage onto the floor of the DADA classroom and asks for a volunteer, your hand is the first one up.

“As usual, Ms. Y/L/N is the only one of you who wants to participate!” His good eye focuses on you in almost a sympathetic way. “Let’s have someone else. Longbottom!”

Poor Neville. He was never ready, Professor Moody should know that by now. You wait patiently as he calls on several other students. Hermione is the most successful with the Erkling so far, using the Melofors jinx to encase it’s head in a pumpkin.

“Well done, Ms. Granger,” Moody says, using the Impirus curse to make the Erkling walk back into its cage. You shiver a bit— you’ve still not gotten used to seeing the former auor use unforgivable curses in classroom settings. “However, if this Erkling were larger, more powerful, it would still be able to sing loud enough to affect you even with its head covered.” His beady eyes scanned the group of you again, fixing on you at last. “Y/L/N, I assume you know the spell I’m looking for?”

You jump to your feet eagerly and head to the center of the classroom. Professor Moody opens the cage again, and out comes the Erkling, singing it’s eerie and hypnotizing song. The Erkling you’re working with is small and you’re old enough that the creature’s voice doesn’t affect you as much as it would a young child, but you feel your thoughts become a bit muffled anyway. You fight the feeling of passing out and put all your energy into casting.

“Pullus!” You whip your wand in an ark and the Erkling transfigures in a pouf of feathers. The cloudiness in your head fades, and you find yourself standing before an ordinary chicken instead of a child-eating elf. You smile as Professor Moody leads the class in hearty applause.

“Well done! You see, Erklings are very susceptible to the Pullus transfiguration. Even if an adult Erkling has a teenager such as yourselves under it’s spell, even a weaker version of the charm will be enough to allow you to gain the upper hand,” Moody explains.

You head back to your seat and ignore Hermione’s calculating stare. Instead you notice Draco watching you with interest. You glow anew, and take your seat next to Vivian. Everyone then takes turns transfiguring the Erkling with the Pullus charm. As Draco walks back to his seat after successfully transfiguring the creature, he catches your eye again. You turn to Evan behind you and tell him maybe Malfoy’s nose isn’t too high to notice you yet.

◈◈◈

In early December, cold rain is pelting the castle walls. The school is abuzz with talk of the Yule Ball, but you were more interested in the baby Kappas that Hagrid had mentioned you would be studying today. The rain was the perfect day for them to be observed swimming in puddles.

You’d almost made it to the alcove where your Creatures class met when you realized you’d left your outdoor rain cloak in your last class. “Bollocks,” you mumble. “Vivi, cover for me? I’ll be back as quick as I can.”

“But you can’t go down the path to the forest alone, Y/N!” Vivian argued. “It’s pouring, you’ll hardly be able to see as it is!”

“I’ll be fine, nothing bad has happened to anyone all term anyway. I’ll be okay walking to one class unsupervised, ” you insist, and sprint back up the stairs two at a time to the Charms classroom.

When you return to the alcove, your class is already gone. You secure your bag and slip your rain cloak on, fastening it tight, then venture out into the torrential rain.

You hate to admit it, but maybe Vivian was a little right. It’s hard to see ahead through the wall of grey the rain creates.  Water keeps getting in your eyes despite your hood. You pull your wand from inside your robes and prepare to cast the umbrella charm when something slams into your thigh, knocking you to the ground.

You scramble on the wet grass, trying to right yourself. The next blow lands on your upper back, and you cry out in pain. Your hood falls off and rain flows freely into your eyes, but you squint against it and let out a small growl of determination. Before the next hit can come, you roll to the side and raise your wand, only to feel instantly frozen in fear.

A very wet, and absolutely murderous Red Cap glares down at you, bone club raised and at the ready. You stare helplessly back at it, rain running straight into your wide eyes without you even noticing. You can only look at it’s dark and dirty hat, and think about how your blood is going to saturate it next.

“Titillando!”

The Red Cap collapses into a fit of laughter and falls to the ground, clutching its sides as it’s hit by the tickling hex. You hear another spell cast, and the Red Cap goes flying away from you in the opposite direction. As soon as it’s out of sight, you flop back onto the wet ground, still in shock. Someone comes running from the direction of the castle, and you didn’t think you could feel more surprised than when you see Draco Malfoy’s face hovering over your own.

“Y/N? Are you alright?” The hood of his own rain cloak has fallen back, presumably when he was running. His fine hair is getting soaked and sticking to his forehead, and his hand is on your upper arm, trying to get your attention. “Y/N? Are you listening? Can you stand?"

Instead of answering, you burst into sobs.

“Oh no,” Draco says. He puts his own wand back into his robes and grabs your shoulders to pull you into an upright position. “Y/N, come on, let’s get you back to the castle.”

“B-but the Kappas…” You sniff.

Through your tears and the rain, you barely make out his tiny smile. “The Kappas can wait. I think you’d better skip this class.” Draco finally is able to get you standing, and you lean against him as you continue to sob all the way back inside.

“It’s a good thing I was running late, too. You were the last person I’d expect would need help, though.” Draco says as he sits you on the first bench you come across.  “Do you need the hospital wing?”

You shake your head, finally calming down. “No, it only got me twice. Just a bad bruise, I’m guessing.” You pull off your rain cloak and take in your soaked clothes. You take out your wand, intending to charm all the water off, but your hand is shaking too badly. Your hand drops into your lap helplessly, and you sigh.

“Let me,” Draco says gently. He waves his own wand and you feel the water pull off both of your robes, and it collects into a ball that hovers in front of the two of you. Draco flicks his wand and it flows under the crack of the door and back outside.

“Thank you,” you say, suddenly becoming aware of your embarrassing situation.

“Anytime,” Draco replies. “What happened? You’re never one to freeze up in the face of danger.”

You play with the edge of your uniform skirt nervously. “Red Caps are my one fear. They killed my only sister when she was just a baby, while my family was on a camping trip.” You rub your nose. “I was too young to know any magic, and by the time my parents came it was too late to save her.”

“I’m so sorry,” Draco says after a beat. “That must have been very traumatic."

You give a small shrug. “I don’t remember much about her. I always tell myself I can take down any Red Cap I come across, because I can, but the times it’s happened since that day I always get scared and can’t move. It’s just frustrating.”

Draco scoots a little closer to you on the bench as a few more tears roll down your cheeks. “For someone as talented as you in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I’m sure you just need some practice.” He places a warm hand on your bare knee, causing your own palms to start sweating.

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to go wandering around our Red Cap-infested school grounds after what just happened,” you manage, despite your sudden breathlessness.

“As if I’d let you go alone,” Draco says with a hint of smugness.

Your jaw goes slack. “You’d go with me?”

“Sure,” Draco shrugs. “The two of us should be able to manage with no problem.”

“Um, you are aware even small Red Caps can kill you, right?” You scoff.

“So? I’ve already gotten rid of one with no problem.”

You bite your lip to keep from laughing. Draco had turned your mood around. “Alright. We can go out and hunt the Red Caps if you really think it will help.”

Draco beams a perfect pearly smile. “Wonderful.”

◈◈◈

Two days later, you sprint down the staircase to meet Draco for… whatever you’re doing. This is not how you had imagined finally getting to spend time with Draco, but you’d take what you were handed. Besides, this was a two birds with one stone sort of deal: conquering your worst fear, and hanging out with your crush. Normal stuff.

Today the sun is shining during your shared free afternoon block, and you feel a blush heat your cheeks when Draco takes your hand and leads your outside. After you make sure no teachers have seen you slip out, the two of you head to an open spot of grass.

“I don’t see any,” you observe, scanning the hills. “I can’t see any of their holes, either.”

“Do you reckon they live in the maze?” Draco suggests. “Maybe they’re part of that particular challenge.”

“But then wouldn’t they be magically contained inside the shrub?” You counter. “If the entire grounds are infested so bad we can’t go to classes, they can’t be part of the Tournament. Unless it’s something we don’t know about.” You add.

As you both look out across the empty landscape, the small knot of nervousness that was in your stomach starts to subside. Perhaps there were fewer Red Caps than you had been led to believe, and your attack on the way to Magical Creatures class had just been an unfortunate accident.

Draco suddenly grabs your arm. “There! Look! One is coming now!”

From far down the hill, a tiny red dot emerges from a tuft of grass. It’s lumbering up the slope towards the two of you, and almost instantly the ball of nerves returns. You feel like you’re going to throw up. No, you’re not going to do that in front of Draco. He’s right there, he’ll help you if anything goes wrong.

“I’m ready,” you say, trying to muster up some confidence by readjusting your grip on your wand and taking a deep breath.

The Red Cap disappears behind the curve of the hill. When it comes back into your line of sight, it’s much closer. And there’s about eight more with it, all looking deadly with their bone clubs and dirty clothes.

“Um, Y/N? Maybe we should go…” Draco whispers, his grip on your arm suddenly tighter. “Nine is a lot for just the two of us.”

But while Draco was faltering, you only felt more determined. “Nope, I’m doing it.” You pull free from his grasp and take an offensive stance at the oncoming wave of Red Caps.

“Merlin,” Draco mutters, but he pulls out his own wand and stands beside you.

The first Red Cap starts running, and you hit it with a stun jinx. Draco follows by casting Expelliarmus, and the creature and its club go flying in opposite directions. Once the first Red Cap is down, the others start to charge. You and Draco take down a few more, but there’s still five left and they’re closing in fast.

“Run for it!” Draco drags you away, and together you sprint back towards the castle. You keep looking behind you, throwing jinxes at the remaining Red Caps running after the two of you. One throws it’s club, which narrowly misses Draco’s head.

You stumble up the steps towards the entrance back to the castle, but your toe catches on a wonky stone and sends you flying down the corridor, taking Draco with you. You both land in a heap. As you scramble across the floor to get further away from the grass, you spare a glance over your shoulder. The remaining Red Caps have stopped where the lawn ends, and just stare angrily back.

“Draco, look, they’ve stopped,” you pant.

Draco follows your line of sight, and you watch the Red Caps disperse before collapsing onto the floor on your backs.

“I did it.” You smile to yourself as you stare at the stone arch above you.

Draco turns his head to look at you and you do the same. He gives you that same breathtaking smile from two days ago. “You did! Wasn’t so bad, was it?”

You can’t help but giggle, and Draco joins you. “Honestly, it really could have gone much worse!” You admit.

“Do you feel better?” Draco asks.

You think on it for a moment, lost in his pale blue eyes. “Yeah, I think I do.”

[cottonblush]

stained glass | kth (1)

❧ word count: 8,488

❧ genre: fluff, angst-ish with a happy ending

❧ notes: love when my laptop always autocorrects namjoon to bamboo when i swear i’ve hit ‘add to dictionary’ at least 600 times. anyway this is a little more serious than my other fics but i really wanted to write about this trope/au! please accept my unedited garbage! idk how many parts it’ll be split into or if there will be a spinoff or not.. we’ll just have to see

❧ warnings: mentions of underage sex, sexual harassment, and sexist behavior in the office

You can feel the dull pain in your neck and the knots starting to form in your hunched back as you type out the last few statements of your assigned report. The bright red of the Jeon Corp. logo on the top of the document casts a subtle glow upon your small, yet well decorated cubicle that was assigned to you when you first began your internship at the company.

A large palm finds its way to your shoulder, effectively startling you enough for you to release a small yelp. Moments later, a familiar voice fills your ears, "Did you get the email too?"

"Jesus, Namjoon! Don't scare me like that. And what email?"

"This one," your fellow intern/friend says as he shoves your swivel chair to the side with his hips, taking over your spot in front of your computer. He uses the mouse to navigate to the company mail application, ignoring your protests as his wide chocolate orbs comb through each message. He stops at an email titled, 'IMPORTANT: Meeting @ 2.30, ALL Interns Requested to Attend.'

Your eyes rake through the words, dread filling your senses as each registers in your brain.

"Another pointless meeting? It’s not like they ever acknowledge us anyway. We just have to sit there and take notes for the dumb higher-ups who'll probably just toss them in the trash right after," you bemoan.

"Yeah," Namjoon agrees, "but you have to admit it's better than sitting on these crappy chairs all day. They're so uncomfortable I swear they're giving me scoliosis after just a month. And besides, I'll save you a seat so we can just gossip the whole time."

Reluctantly, you concede, knowing there's nothing you'd rather be doing than picking up dirt on the snobby people several floors above you, and tell your friend to sneak you a Chocolate Chip Cliff Bar if he happens make a stop at the break room.

As Namjoon saunters back to his own cubicle in another room, you crack your knuckles and quickly type out the appropriate title for your report before sending it off. You grab your favorite stress ball from one of your shelves, a small squish toy in the shape of Rilakkuma, giving it a few squeezes while you spin around in your swivel chair. A heavy sigh leaves your mouth, the air escaping your body causing your form to deflate like an old balloon.

Your life has been quite monotonous lately, and if you're being honest with yourself, you'd like nothing more than to skip all of your tiresome college classes and set all of your office paperwork ablaze. A nice, relaxing vacation by a beach somewhere would be a nice touch.

Unfortunately, reality isn't quite so kind for you as you're snapped out of your reverie by the sound of your fellow interns shuffling out of their seats in order to head to the meeting. Picking yourself up out of your seat, you grab your company notebook and a pen just in case you're required to take notes once again.

Finding a place next to Namjoon just as promised, the corners of your lips tilt upwards in a soft smile when you hear the crinkling of a familiar wrapper coming from the man's pocket.

"That'll be a million bucks, Miss Y/n," he says, mirth lacing his voice as he offers you a smile of his own.

"Hey, my parents might be rich but since the so called daddy's girl isn't taking over the business, she's not getting any inheritance."

Namjoon blanches at your statement, "Seriously?! What are they gonna do with all that money?"

"I don't know. Probably bury it somewhere so no one can get their hands on it."

You clear throat as the meeting begins, the main source of light transitioning from the lightbulbs overhead to the large projector screen on one of the walls.

The meeting is nothing new, nothing important. You and Namjoon whisper back and forth for the first half and during the second half, you begin to daydream. When your boss announces all of the interns can take their leave, you almost jump out of your seat. You're walking alongside one of your other coworkers, a new intern named Jaehyun, when something catches your eye from the corner of your peripheral vision.

"I'll catch up, okay? Give me a second, Jae," you say as you stop in your tracks and look around to see if anyone is watching you. He does as told and offers a small wave, walking back to the dark and gloomy second floor intern cubicles.

You think the big, bold 'confidential' sprawled across the first page of the document could be a sign from above telling you to just go back to your own desk, but you can't ignore the burning curiosity rooted deep within you. Plus, whoever decided to leave a confidential document open on their computer for everyone to see is a real dumbass who probably has it coming anyway.

You take your time revealing the other parts of the document, the clicks of the scroll wheel on the mouse reverberating through your hand and doing nothing to stop the anticipation that has captured your breath.

What really takes your breath away is the contents of the document, your sockets widening and a sharp gasp passing through your lips.

"Hybrid experiments? I thought this company didn't test on hybrids. That's practically their whole catch."

The sounds of more people leaving the conference room causes you to abruptly snap upright, but not before restoring the document to how you first found it. You brush the imaginary dust off your outfit, doing your best to act natural and as not-suspicious as possible as you walk stiffly towards the staircase.

You descend the stairs with a sense of urgency, closing the door behind you quickly yet softly as to not draw any attention to yourself.

"Namjoon! Jaehyun!"

Said men raise their heads in curiosity when they see you scurrying towards them as fast as your patent pumps can carry you.

"You'll never guess what I just found," you mutter, chest heaving up and down as you pull the two of them closer by the backs of their chairs. They sit next to each other and you're about to complain about how you don't have any fun people around to keep you company when your brain reminds you that you have bigger fish to fry.

Jaehyun, being the angel he is, offers you a water bottle from his desk, and you take a considerably large gulp before returning it to him with a sheepish expression crossing your visage.

"So," you start when finally catch your breath, "Remember how I told you to go ahead? I saw this thing open on someone's computer that said confidential. And like, if you don't want me reading it, don't leave it out for me to see, right? So I checked what it was about and I found all of these results from experiments; experiments that they're doing on hybrids!"

You're practically shaking at this point, your demeanor a sharp contrast to the quiet tone you've managed to maintain.

"Maybe you're delirious from all that time in front of your computer," Jaehyun offers, trying to be the voice of reason in the situation.

On the other hand, Namjoon's curiosity has also been piqued seeing as his own girlfriend, Hana, is a hybrid herself and he knows she'd be livid if it were true.

He asks carefully, "Are you sure about this? That's a big accusation."

"I know what I saw," you say with a huff and hints of a pout tugging at your lips. "I have to get to the bottom of this. And I think I know just how to do it."

Jaehyun warns you to be careful, a pensive look crossing his face as he places a hand on your shoulder. However, deep in his eyes, you can tell he wants to know too. He wants to know if the company he's decided to dedicate a large amount of his time to is practicing such things that are completely against his moral compass.

You shrug off the hand on your shoulder and pull up a chair, explaining in hushed tones of how you're planning to dig into the matter. You happen to know the CEO personally, a family friend going back decades, and you're sure to cross paths at one of the many dinner parties you're always being forced to attend. You plan on approaching him under the guise of wanting research experience to go towards your degree as a hybrid veterinarian.

Just days after the discovery, you find yourself standing in front of the full length mirror in your apartment. A silk dress the color of the night sky adorns your figure, cutting off just a couple inches above the knee. Laying itself atop your collarbone is a delicate diamond pendant attached to a white gold chain. You give yourself a once over, fingers brushing through your hair and wiping away at a bit of smudged eyeliner.

A knock on your front door signals you to grab your clutch and get ready to leave. You swing the large door open to reveal your childhood friend, Jihyo. She looks just as dolled up as you, but unlike you, she looks quite uncomfortable in her fancy getup. Her family isn't as well off as yours so she isn't quite used to all of the glitz and glamour. She wasn't officially invited to the gathering but you begged her to come along because you dread having to sit alone in a room while all the other people your age brag about all they have.

"You look gorgeous," you say, crimson painted lips twisting into a pleasant smile. You don't allow her to deny your comment, instead linking your arm with hers and closing the door behind you.

Of course, you told Jihyo your plan as soon as you could and she is 100% on board. She's volunteered herself to be your backup in case anything goes wrong.

"You remember the plan, right?"

"Of course. You get the CEO alone and if things start to get ugly, I'll bust in and say my babysitter called telling me my cat had a stroke."

"Perfect!"

The sound of champagne glasses clinking against each other cuts through the smooth sound of the jazz band playing one of its many ambient songs. Men and women are dressed to the nines, mingling with each other through small talk that no party is likely to remember. As a waiter passes by, you pick up two glasses of liquid courage for yourself and Jihyo.

"Cheers," you mutter as you down the contents of the elegant glass in one shot and part ways with your friend in order to look for the CEO.

Like you expected, he's surrounded by many significantly younger women, unable to resist their youthful charms, yet not making any public moves due to the obvious gold band wrapped around his finger. His wife, your godmother, happens to be away on a business trip of her own.

"Mr. Jeon," you call out to the older man, making your presence known to him and his posse and at the same time trying to keep the bile from erupting from your stomach. He always liked younger women, you knew that, but never in your life did you expect to find yourself here trying to catch his attention through such a petty manner.

When Jeon Junghoon notices you, your entire figure almost shivers. In just a few seconds, it seems like he manages to take you apart with his eyes alone. His pitch black orbs flash with something cold and raw before switching to his regular amiable gaze.

"Y/n, how wonderful it is to see you! Come sit and tell me how you've been," the man says, indirectly shooing away the other ladies sitting with him on the long velvet sofa. As you take your place beside him, he wraps an arm around you and reminds you, "I told you to call me-"

"I have something to ask you about, Mr. Jeon," you cut him off concisely. Even though your parents are friends with him, it does not mean you're willing to get buddy-buddy with the man. "I really didn't mean to pry, but while I was at the office the other day, I happened to notice a document about hybrid testing."

"Oh, you must be mistaken. We don't experiment on hybrids, sweetheart," the CEO says in a sickly sweet tone.

"That's a shame, then, because I was actually about to ask if I could take part in the research. As you know, it's my dream to become a hybrid veterinarian. I could use any research opportunities I can get, whether I'm able to officially document hours or not. Oh well. It sure is unfortunate."

"Wait," Mr. Jeon calls out to you, grasping your arm with one of his clammy hands as you get up to leave. You smirk and internally rejoice as he takes the bait. "Come to my office on Monday. I'll be there to personally show you around."

He can't see it, but the face your making when he all but purrs at you is so full of disgust that Jihyo notices it from her place at the bar. She hops out of her stool and scurries over to you, missing how the bartender calls her name and holds out a glass of sparkling water.

"Y/n, we have to go! My cat just had a stroke!"

You really want to thank Jihyo for her impeccable timing, but for now, you put on your best worried expression and run towards her, encasing her in a tight hug. You enunciate, not forgetting to throw a look to Mr. Jeon over your shoulder, "Oh no! That's awful. Sorry, Mr. Jeon, but I have to go. Jihyo's had Mittens since her mom passed. He was her last gift to her."

As the two of you open the doors to the mansion that this get together is taking place in, you're met with a gust of cool wind. You hurry over to the main gates of the property, politely asking one of the guards to call you an Uber.

"Mittens, my ass," Jihyo says. "Sometimes it stuns me how easily you can come up with those stories."

You laugh heartily at that, pointing out to her, "Hey, it's not all made up. I used to have a stuffed animal named Mittens that my favorite nanny gave me."

You and Jihyo are especially giggly, whether it be from the alcohol or the fact that you fooled such an experienced man, and you can barely make it into the car that pulls up, both wobbly and struggling to walk.

The driver is a young man named Chris and he tells you that he's actually a student at the same university as you, but he's an Uber driver at nights so that he can cover the expensive cost. He's a sweet guy, offering to help you both up to your apartment, but you assure him that you can make it to the elevator.

Jihyo groans as you support each other and walk towards the towering building, "Ugh, Y/n, why'd you send him away?"

"You're telling me you wanna invite a guy over to my house? Are we all supposed to share the bed? I know it's a king size but it'll be cramped."

"Like you would even mind, Y/n. He was hot."

Stepping into the elevator and pressing the button for the seventh floor, you tell your now drowsy friend, "Well, it's too late not but maybe you'll see him around campus. Ask him out then."

Unfortunately, Jihyo is already passed out and drooling on your shoulder, so you tell yourself to remind her when she comes to.

The weekend is over in what feels like a matter of seconds. You think the time flew by due to your anticipation. Before you know it, your last class for the day is finished and you're already heading over to your division of the Jeon Corp. buildings.

You let out a shaky breath as you enter the elevator leading to the top floor. You can do nothing but stare at your shoes until you hear the familiar ding and the doors opening to reveal a private office spanning the space of an entire floor.

Much to your surprise (and chagrin), Mr. Jeon greets you just steps away from the elevator, a hand snaking around to your lower back as he guides you to his desk.

"Have a seat, my dear," he expresses with a tone that you think he thinks is appealing, but sounds to you like a beached whale. "Is there anything you want? To drink, I mean."

You honestly can't comprehend how this man possibly thinks he's the least bit attractive, but you swallow your crude opinions and force a smile on your face.

"No, I'm fine," you express, though his assistant is already placing a small glass of water in front of you.

The man in front of you explains that the lab only operates during the day and should be closing up any minute now, seeing as the minute hand on his watch is quickly approaching five o'clock. In just a few minutes, he says he'll take you down to the lab and give you a tour. In the meantime, he explains your assigned position. You simply have to collect vitals for each of the subjects and make sure each of them is in top condition, a task that seems easy enough.

The two of you head down to the underground levels a little after five. When the elevator doors open, you're greeted by the sight of an all white room. There are smaller rooms with glass walls, each containing two to three bunk beds, a water fountain, and a room you assume to be a restroom. On another side of the floor is the computer and research lab. All kinds of medical equipment is stored in cabinets that line the walls from floor to ceiling.

You insist on a quick tour so you can take the time for yourself to get acquainted with the area, and luckily enough, the CEO's phone rings at the same time, calling him in for an urgent board meeting.

As you observe the rooms where the hybrids are, you notice that most of them are quiet and reserved, almost like they've acknowledged that this is just how life will be for them. However, there are two particular hybrids that stand out to you, each in separate rooms. One is a cat hybrid, though you could probably call him a kitten since he looks so young. His eyes are wide and untrusting as he sits up straight on one of the lower bunks. Dark circles surround his chocolate colored eyes, sleep dragging his eyelids down, but fear keeping them open. You think to yourself that he must be new.

The other hybrid is an older cat hybrid, though it acts more like a dog, tail practically wagging behind him as he looks at you with curiosity through the thick glass walls.

You decide to visit the younger hybrid first, quickly typing in your newly acquired code into the keypad next to the door and watching as it slowly opens and closes once you step in.

The young kitten is extremely shy, curling in on himself when he notices you approaching. The others in the room either look on with mild curiosity or are busy sleeping.

"Hi," you greet, sitting criss-cross-applesauce on the floor as to not threaten the hybrid. "My name's Y/n. Can you tell me your name?"

"J-Jisung. Are you going to hurt me, miss?"

"No, of course not! I just want to get to know you, that's all. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"My birthday is February 5th. I'm s-sixteen years old."

"Okay, that's great, Jisung! How about some stuff that you like?"

"Um, my favorite color is green. And I like the number seven. I think it's lucky."

"That's so cool! Green's my favorite color too. And did you know I actually live on the seventh floor of my apartment building? I'd have to say this meeting was destined."

This sort of light conversation continues for a while. You try to get Jisung to come out of his metaphorical shell and he does, just a bit. By the time you're saying goodbye, he's waving at you with a small smile, tail sitting calmly on his bed.

You make it your mission to visit every single room and introduce yourself, seeing as you'll be working with the hybrids very soon. Some of them give you smiles and waves, some offer you a disinterested glance or two, and others you don’t get to introduce yourself to since they're already asleep.

Finally, you find yourself in front of the room at the very end, the room that houses the energetic cat hybrid that you first noticed.

You don't even get to say a single word before the aforementioned hybrid is bounding up to you.

"I'm Taehyung! What's your name, pretty lady?"

You don't know if it's because of the close proximity or the fact that this man has to be the most breathtaking person you've ever seen, but your cheeks begin to flush and the room starts to feel a couple degrees hotter. You can't help but notice how his ears blend in perfectly with the soft and fluffy brown hair atop his head. And the way his eyes don't just reflect the fluorescent lights above, but turn them into gleaming diamonds.

Clearing your throat, you say, "My name's Y/n. I'll be working here starting in a couple days so hopefully we'll see each other pretty often."

You want to ask how Taehyung manages to keep himself busy, seeing as the other hybrids don't seem like the types that can keep up with his boundless energy. However, it seems Taehyung has a multitude of questions of his own, ranging from how old you are and what your dreams are to how you like your eggs in the morning.

Of course, you're glad to answer all of his questions, laughing lightly when he jumps in glee after you say you like your eggs scrambled with a bunch of vegetables.

Taehyung isn't afraid to talk about his dreams either. He wants to be a photographer. He wants to see the world and all it has to offer. The way he talks about the world is with such passion and excitement that you can't help but swear to yourself that in some way, shape, or form, you will bring the world to Taehyung. His eyes that light up at almost every word you say are definitely captivating, but you find yourself drawn to his personality like a kindred spirit.

As much as you love the lighthearted conversation you're having with Taehyung, you have to bring up the real reason you came down to the lab. Carefully, cautiously, in a hushed tone, you ask what kinds of experiments are run here. What are they testing for?

The cat hybrid pulls you to his bed and sits you down before plopping down and scratching his head in deep thought. After a while, he explains that the testing only began fairly recently, so that would probably explain why people are so tight-lipped. They do all kinds of experiments such as how hybrids respond to certain drugs and products, much like animal testing. However, since Jeon Corp. has recently entered the market of hybrid products as well, they also have the hybrids try different food and treat formulas and review products in development.

All of this confirms your suspicions. You would be fine if they were just conducting an experiment to see what different hybrids like, similar to a test study or a survey (it's not uncommon as the hybrid market is rapidly growing). However, not only are they doing more harmful experiments, they also advertise to the public that they are an experiment free company.

Other hybrids start to pitch in too, offering their experiences with the researchers that poke and prod at them from time to time. What truly shocks you, though, is how they admit to it so naturally, as if that's all they've ever known.

The sinking feeling in your stomach reminds you of your true mission and you sadly have to say goodbye. Making sure no one sees, you whip out your phone and open it to the camera app. Discreetly, you swipe over to the video option and click the red record button, placing the phone by your ear so it looks like you’re on a phone call.

You try to avoid the prying eyes of the security cameras as you walk around the lab, making sure to capture each and every part. You only stop recording once you've returned to the floor you usually work at and the elevator doors close behind you.

Heaving out a large sigh, you press your eyelids closed for a moment, allowing your mind some time to take in all of the new information you just learned. Your suspicions are correct and though you feel some pride in being right, you're overcome by sadness for the poor hybrids stuck in those rooms.

"I told you it was real," you drawl out, sliding your phone across the table that you, Jaehyun, Namjoon, and Hana are sitting at. You let the couple watch the video (you already showed Jaehyun as he'd arrived first), getting up to get your drink when the Starbucks barista calls out a butchered version of your name.

You sip on your mango dragonfruit refresher quietly, allowing all the focus to be on the low quality video you captured on your phone. It's blurry and you can see strands of your hair in the corners since the phone was up against your ear, but anyone can tell that there's a lab several floors beneath the office.

"So," Hana starts, "what's next?" The furry ears nestled in her dyed red hair are twitching in anticipation.

Taking on a more serious disposition and handing the rest of your drink to Jaehyun, who's been asking to try since you got it, you explain, "First, I have to get them to trust me. Right now, they're just going to have me collect vitals, so I won't be around for the actual testing part. Hopefully, in some time and with some persuasion, I'll be able to watch. And that's where you come in, Hana. You're a journalism major, so I'm assuming you can get your hands on some pretty high quality film equipment. But for this, I'm going to need something small and portable; something that won't be easy to detect. Like one of those spy camera pens but actually decent. Don't worry, I can cover the cost on my own since I'm the one bringing you into all this.

"Jaehyun, if there's ever any trouble, I'm going to need you and your gorgeous biceps to punch a few dudes for me. If I'm lucky, it won't have to come to that. And Namjoon, well, you can just sit tight and try not to break anything. Sound good, sweetheart?"

Jaehyun tries not to laugh at that, not-so-discretely muffling a giggle and instead focusing on flexing his arms that you complimented moments ago. On the other hand, Hana is practically howling of laughter (which is to be expected since she is a Siberian Husky hybrid after all).

"Aw, Joon, don't be discouraged," she coos to her downtrodden companion. "At least you have something to do."

To be fair, Namjoon does take his job very seriously. Whenever you come in to work, you notice he seems to be walking on eggshells, but you've heard that he's yet to drop a stack of papers or break a coffee mug. You have a bet going with Jaehyun on when he'll finally lose his streak (Jaehyun thinks Namjoon won't last a week, but you have faith in the guy).

Other than that, there isn't really a change in the office. Other than the face that you now visit a top secret underground lab twice a week in which everything seems to be going surprisingly smooth.

You've started taking out small groups of hybrids, though they're only allowed out for so long, and you're only allowed to do so because you promised it will 'help with their mental health.' You already start to see a change in the hybrids. They're excited to see you now. Ears twitch and tails wag whenever you come to visit. Even the quiet recluse of a goldfish hybrid, Nayoung, offers a meek smile now and then.

On your little adventures, you take them to places you would normally go like the library and different coffee shops. But the hybrids' absolute favorite place is the park. It's quite large, so the dog hybrids have plenty of space to run, there are various species of butterflies that the cat hybrids love to chase around, and there's even a pond that Nayoung likes to dip her feet in.

There is one anomaly, though. The only thing Taehyung seems to want to do is spend time with you. You find it awfully endearing, the way he stares at you like you're the literal sun. You no longer flush under his inquisitive gaze, but you do get a little shiver every time he grabs your hand, which is pretty often.

It's another week before you get your very own employee badge that grants access to the lab, but when you do, the first thing you do is sneak Taehyung out after hours.

The two of you always talk about the things you want to see and the places you want to go. Taehyung wants to see the Aurora Borealis, but you doubt you could get him far enough north and back without anyone noticing, even with the use of your family's private jet. Instead, you settle for the ice rink. It's late September and the last place you'd likely find people is at the ice rink, but it's opening week and you can't think of a better time to visit.

Swiping your season pass against the scanner at the entrance—Jihyo made you buy one with her when the rink opened two days prior since she's a competitive skater and drags you to her practices often—you skip up to the counter where a kind older woman asks you for your shoe sizes. After telling her yours and Taehyung's, she hands you two pairs of skates.

You're quick to sit down and start putting your skates on, figure hunched over as your fingers easily maneuver the laces into the hooks. You're almost finished with your first foot when out of the corner of your eye, you notice Taehyung staring blankly at the shoes in his hands, not knowing where to start.

You giggle at this, sliding off your skate so that you can comfortably sit on the ground in front of the abashed hybrid, and reassure, "Don't worry, Taehyung! It took me weeks to learn how to tie laces on my own. You can be Cinderella and let me put on your shoes for you." That causes him to brighten up, tail upright with excitement as he nods along.

Within minutes, both of you have your shoes securely on your feet and Taehyung is wobbling all over the place, not used to balancing on thin blades. You try not to laugh at him, but offer your hand as a means to get some form of balance. Taehyung (unsurprisingly at this point) grabs your whole arm instead, form hunched over from the height difference between the two of you.

As soon as you step on the ice, the mild discomfort in your arm and the fact that you have a man significantly heavier than you using you as an anchor seem to dissipate, outshined by the gleaming sight that is Taehyung's smile.

The cat hybrid exclaims, "This is the coolest thing ever! Hey, Y/n. Do you think the person who invented ice skating decided to just tie knives to their feet and go out onto a frozen pond?"

An airy laugh escapes you as you respond, "No. I don't think that's exactly how it went down."

"Then how was ice skating invented?"

"I'm not quite sure, actually."

"Well, how do you know I'm wrong? My idea totally could've happened."

You don't respond to that, instead choosing take both of the hybrid's abnormally large hands in your own and lead him slowly into the center of the rink. When you offer to teach him how to skate properly, he jumps in excitement, momentarily forgetting his surroundings and falling flat on his butt. Another round of giggles fills the otherwise empty building as you try to help Taehyung up without falling over yourself. When you finally manage to get him upright, he's eager to learn, following each of your commands without complaint.

Within about half an hour, he's got the hang of it. At least, he can skate around the outside of the ice with one hand on the walls alone. Getting back to the walls without your help? That was a bit of a struggle.

Time flies by and as you casually glance down at the thin rose gold plated watch on your wrist. your eyes widen by a fraction. Almost three hours have passed since you arrived, meaning it's almost midnight. It's almost midnight and you have an 8 A.M. lab in the morning.

You sadly inform Taehyung that it’s time to go, and even though his lips contorting into a sad pout almost have you giving in, you exit the rink and slip off your skates, waiting for him to follow suit.

Returning both pairs of skates to the lady at the counter, you give her an extra tip for letting you stay late when closing time is at 11.

The lady flashes a jovial smile, assuring, "It's fine, dear. I remember what it felt like to be young and in love. I hope the two of you have a wonderful evening!"

You feel your cheeks heat up just a bit at her sentiment but brush it off as you drag your companion away from the rink.

Once you return the young man to the lab and make your way back to your apartment, you release a tired sigh. Yeah, you're dead tired and it may or may not affect your performance in your lab in the morning, but you can't wipe the wide grin off your face.

Fortunately for you, you have some friends in the class that are willing to cover for you—that is, after you tell them about your late night and they thoroughly question you to see if the ever so elusive Y/n finally has a man in her life.

You manage to hurry back to your apartment that's quite close to most of your classes and squeeze in a quick power nap before your afternoon lecture, waking up feeling at least a little bit more refreshed. The last thing you do before heading back to the campus is unplug your phone. About to toss it in your bag, you notice the screen light up with notifications, one of them being from Hana. Your eyes quickly scan the text that says the older girl managed to find someone with the type of equipment you're looking for and wants to meet up. You quickly type out a reply saying that anytime after your lecture ends should be fine before grabbing a granola bar and closing your apartment door behind you.

Unfortunately for you, time could not go by any slower. You can feel your eyes start to droop as you listen to your Greco-Roman history professor move on to what seems like the thousandth topic for the day. You try to do anything to stay awake, poking your cheek with the end of your pen and focusing on the sound of the spring inside slowly coiling tighter. The professor eventually wraps up the lesson by assigning a reading for the next class and mentioning that there may or not be a quiz over the material, raising her brows at all the students when they grumble in response.

You're one of the first students out the door, muttering apologies to the people you shove past. To be fair, you're not running on much and all you want to do is chug six shots of espresso.

"Hana," you call out, seeing your friend already waiting for you at one of the campus' less popular Starbucks cafés (which doesn’t mean much since it's pretty much packed).

Sitting beside the hybrid is another girl who looks to be around the same age. You wave at the two of them before taking your place in line and perusing through the drink menu.

Once you have your drink, you take a seat across from the two ladies, introducing yourself to the unfamiliar face. In return, she says her name is Soyeon and that she's also part of the journalism department.

Formalities aside, you don't hesitate to get right down to business, "Hana tells me you can get your hands on the type of camera I need. If you don't mind me asking, do you think I could do a test run? I just want everything to run smoothly and to make sure audio can be heard clearly enough."

"That's fine," Soyeon assures. "It's actually not my camera. It belongs to my friend, but he's cool with you using it. You can stop by his dorm room any day at around 3-ish since he only has morning and evening classes. Here, if you give me your phone, I can add his contact info."

You unlock your phone and place it in Soyeon's awaiting hand, watching as she quickly types in a name, number, and address into your notes app. Taking back the phone and looking over the note, your eyes widen in recognition.

The note reads, 'Chris, +**********, Room 406 Bluebell Hall.' The number looks similar enough to that of the Uber driver that picked you up a while back, so you really hope Chris is short for Christopher.

You spend the rest of the hour chatting away, each taking turns to complain about the trivial problems in life. When the sky begins to darken, the three of you say your goodbyes and head off.

"Please, Jihyo," you beg, "I need you to pick up the camera for me! I'll owe you for like forever. I really can't go today but I already promised I would."

Your best friend narrows her eyes at you, scrutinizing gaze giving you a once over as she perks an eyebrow and says, "And just why can't you go?"

"I, um… I tore my ACL."

"Do you even know what that means?"

"Duh, it means I tore my ACL."

"Ok, you tore it doing what exactly? Whenever you're not in class or at your internship, you're on your bed or a couch."

"Hey! I do stuff. I just took up competitive squirrel watching. You'd be surprised at how much parkour skill it requires."

Jihyo rolls her eyes at your incredulous behavior, agreeing exasperatedly, much to your delight.

"Make sure to get a thorough demonstration," you call out just before she slams the front door shut.

You finally let go of your fake pained expression, an evil grin overtaking your face as you rub your hands together. You jump off your bed and walk to your kitchen, pulling out a packet of ramen and boiling some water.

You've slurped on all the noodles and are taking your first sip of the cloudy soup in your bowl when your phone lights up with a call.

You swipe the button right and answer in a muffled tone, mouth still slurping down the hot liquid, "Hello?"

"I don't know whether to hit you or thank you right now," comes Jihyo's voice on the other end of the line.

"Look, I didn't actually know it was him. I mean, I did, but I wasn't sure."

"Yeah, yeah. But I didn't even get a warning. I showed up looking like a slob."

"Shut up. You're literally always cute. If that's all, I'm hanging up. The ad break is over and Beyblade is back on. See you in a bit!"

"Wait, Y/n-"

You almost feel bad for the girl, but then you remember you just possibly set her up with a really cute guy and that one of your favorite shows is on the screen in front of you. You plop your phone on the couch beside you and place the ramen bowl back in your lap, waiting for Jihyo to come back to your apartment.

When she finally shows up, she's out of breath, tiny beads of sweat appearing on her otherwise clear forehead.

"The elevator," she practically wheezes, "is broken."

You feel bad for her, you really do. So many surprises in a day can't be good for her stress levels. However, she doesn't give you a chance to speak.

She sits down next to you (you want to tell her she's sitting on your phone but you aren't given the opportunity) and asks in a way that makes the situation feel somewhat akin to an interrogation, "I was going to say before I was so rudely hung up on, how come you never told me you're seeing someone new?"

You ask what she means and she explains that when she went in to practice at the ice rink, the old lady at the counter, Younghee, asked about you and your new beau, a cute hybrid.

You’re hesitant to explain, telling your friend that Taehyung is one of the hybrids from the research lab that you get to take out.

"Are you going out that late at night with all the hybrids? C'mon, this is dangerous enough."

"I swear this isn’t some Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side situation. I just- These hybrids need to see the world, Jihyo. I take the other hybrids on adventures too. But Taehyung? I swear, if you saw his smile when he first stepped on the ice or when he learned how to skate without holding onto the walls, you'd do anything in your power to see it again. He's… something special."

"Oh my god. Do you like him, Y/n?"

"I honestly don't know. I've only known him for a little bit. But I want to get to know him more. I-Is that wrong?"

"No! God, no! I just want you to be safe, that’s all. Promise me you'll be careful from now on?"

"Pinky promise."

The two of you wrap your tiny appendages around the other's, looking into each others eyes with soft smiles adorning your faces. You spend the rest of the evening binge watching Beyblade: Metal Fusion until you can barely keep your eyes open. You're too tired to send Jihyo off and you wouldn't want her walking all the way down the stairs and going home alone at night, so you reach over to the love seat on the other side of your coffee table and grab two throw blankets. You cover her in the thicker one before turning off the TV and tucking yourself in.

The two of you sleep like babies and it shows because you wake up with more than a little pep in your step. Sure, there's a little tension in your neck since you rolled on to the floor some time during the night, but it does nothing to stop you from humming all of your favorite tunes as you heat up a griddle to make pancakes for Jihyo and yourself.

The energy carries on throughout your day and by the time you're walking into the Jeon Corp. building, you're greeting every single person you pass with a smile.

When you pass Jaehyun in the break room, he inquires, "Did something happen? You seem extra perky today."

You tell him you're like this every day and skip back to your desk, his eyes trailing after you with a curious gaze. He soon snaps out of it and goes back to stirring creamer into his cup of coffee.

Swiping your lab badge from your purse, you head toward the elevator and press the appropriate button. As the each floor passes, you get increasingly excited to see all of your new friends.

The next couple hours progress smoothly and you begin to wait for something bad to happen because you can't remember the last time you had a 100% good day. However, luck seems to be on your side and once all the employees leave, you sneak back in.

Taehyung is already waiting for you, tying up the laces on his shoes. He asks enthusiastically, "Where to this time?"

"I'm thinking of taking you to my favorite ice cream place. We can even pick up a little snack for the others!"

Your favorite hybrid instantly agrees, following behind you as you lead him back up the elevator.

You've been going to the same ice cream place, Ivan's on Main, since you were a freshman. It's small and has a quaint atmosphere, fairy lights hanging on the walls casting a soft yellow glow on the cream colored walls. It was quite a popular place over the summer, people finally taking notice of the cute way they serve shakes in mason jars or bubble tea in lightbulb jars, but the buzz has died down now that the weather has cooled.

There's a jingle of a bell as you push the heavy door open and a gust of warm air washes over, contrasting from the cool air of the night.

"Hi, Gemma," you greet the wife of the owner who's in charge of manning the register. "I'd like a plain vanilla in a chocolate covered cone and he'll have… Taehyung, what would you like?"

"I kinda wanna try the cake batter and brownie chunk mix."

"He'll have one of those in the same kind of cone. How much will it be?"

After Gemma prepares your cones and rings you up, you take a seat in your favorite spot: a worn leather booth by the large window up front. Your eyes are trained on Taehyung's figure as he merrily licks away at his cone, eyes reflecting all of the pureness, innocence, and goodness in the world. The glow of the fairy lights makes the whole setting seem like that of a movie, too perfect to be real.

Taehyung is halfway through his own icy treat when he notices you haven't even started eating yours, melted cream dribbling down the side of the cone and onto your hand. He turns his curious eyes to your face, wrinkling his nose and asking if there's something wrong.

You're deep in thought and almost don't hear the hybrid's question, but you quickly trade in your all too serious face for a happier expression.

"No, not really," you say, though your gaze seems far away. "I guess I was wondering why you're stuck in that stupid lab when you have so much potential and hope."

Taehyung stops to look down at his hands for a while before clearing his throat.

"It's not really something I like to divulge."

You immediately sit up and insist, "You don't have to tell me! Especially if it makes you uncomfortable. I'm sorry for bringing it up."

He shakes his head and says, "It's ok. I trust you, Y/n. It's just a little painful to remember. I actually had a family before this. The daughter, Yoona, and I, we had this forbidden love since her parents didn't approve of those kinds of relationships. But when I was with her, I felt like I could do anything, be anything. She made me feel whole. It was one of the happiest times in my life. But then Yoona's dad lost his job, and her mom was already a stay at home mom. They were about to get evicted when they found out about this opportunity: give your hybrid away for hybrid testing and receive a huge amount of money. I guess the temptation was too much because they signed the agreement without hesitation.

"The worst part is that on my last day with them, I told Yoona I loved her and would wait to see her again. And she laughed at me, told me she was just using me for sex and stuff like that. She told me I was naïve to believe that someone like me could ever be with someone like her."

At this point, your deep orbs are brimming with salty tears. You let out a sniffle and express, "I'm so sorry that happened to you, Taehyung. No one deserves to be treated that way."

"It's okay, it was years ago."

"Your owner was using you for sex years ago?! How old were you, Taehyung?"

"O-Oh, I think it started when I was thirteen and she was sixteen."

"Thirteen? That's crazy! You were just a kid. When I was thirteen, I thought having the biggest Silly Bandz collection was the only thing that mattered. Oh my god, our society is so dumb. If you weren't a hybrid, you could sue them."

Taehyung places a large, warm hand over yours, assuring you that it's all in the past. However, that statement only makes the feeling in your gut worse. He doesn't even seem to realize how unfairly he's been treated because he views himself that lowly. It's how he was raised to think.

Seeing you wiping tears from your cheeks, the light in your eyes slowly beginning to dim, Taehyung decides to change the subject. He asks about what Silly Bandz are and you let out a weak giggle. You tell him about how they're rubber bands in different shapes, nothing really special about them, but they were basically a form of currency back in middle school.

You end the evening with Taehyung's reassuring arm around your shoulders, steadying you as you walk back to the Jeon Corp. building. Once at his designated room, you turn to face him.

"I'm sorry, Taehyung, This was supposed to be my treat but you ended up taking care of me," you say with a pout.

"It's fine, really. I'm actually glad I could get that off my chest. You're the first person I've ever told that story."

"I'm honored you feel like you can trust me with that. I promise I'll never try to use you like they did."

Taehyung looks like he wants to add something else, words dancing on the tip of his tongue, but he settles for a 'goodnight' before shutting the door to his room.

[ambrvsel]

hey there demons! it’s me, sam ( she / her, 22, est timezone ) aaaand here’s a fourth char, which i’ve never had here but we started accepting older muses and daniel sharman is one of my fave fcs ever so here we are. pls bear with me but ok let’s hop into this! character info under the cut and as always please message me here or @ellvie​​ if you’d like to plot!

╰��╮ DANIEL SHARMAN ─ AMBROSE LANCASTER identifies as CIS MALE and uses HE/HIM pronouns. they’re a POET/ACTOR, and they’re only TWENTY-EIGHT ! they’re said to be INGENIOUS, but also BROODING. i guess that’s why they’re known as THE WORDSMITH in the tabloids. *mia's older brother wc!

so, this is...ambrosius cyril lancaster. we just don’t know why the lancaster parents gave him such a mouthful of a name and then looked at their second kid and went nah just one ( 1 ) syllable for this one, but it happened and now here we are! he tends to go by ambrose, which is just the simplified version of his actual name and takes less than five fuckin hours to say

anyway, as you might have guessed ambrose is mia’s older brother! they’re about seven years apart which is obviously a significant age gap, but it never really stopped them from being v close!

he was born and raised in los angeles, california where he experienced your typical upper middle class sort of lifestyle during his childhood. his parents divorced when he was a teenager, but it was amicable so he was able to kinda just accept it and move on with his life. he and mia lived with their mother most of the time, but both of their parents are cool and he really doesn’t have any issues with them or any serious childhood tragedies at all really

so growing up he was always kinda quiet and timid, but not painfully so. as his interests in the arts developed, his parents kinda nudged him into doing things like joining the drama club, which helped him to come out of his shell a bit

yes, he was a Theater Kid™ i’m so sorry everyone

he was...v v good at acting to the point where he wound up going to hollywood arts a special performing arts high school in hollywood on an acting scholarship. he starred in many of the school plays which usually had a lot of talent agents and casting directors and producers in the audience so he got noticed without really trying tbh

did a couple small tv appearances when he was 16 - 17 in all of the basic af teen drama shows of the time like pll & tvd & gossip girl. so, nothing special or groundbreaking buuuut it got him noticed by a lot of studios and hollywood people who were offering him much bigger roles in tv and film but he was like nah and went to college instead.

so he took a small break from acting in order to study poetry at columbia university in nyc, but he got bored bc it felt kinda easy to him oops. so he quickly went back to acting on the side while continuing his studies and got himself a steady recurring role on yet another basic teen drama to keep him entertained while he went through school.

he got his mfa in poetry from columbia a few years ago and he’s v proud of it aw i love that for him :’)

however after graduating he really didn’t do much with his writing bc he accidentally bit off more than he could chew by taking on a couple more acting roles bc he figured he’d be able to manage it and still work on his poetry but...nah. as a result his writing has kinda fallen by the wayside but he’s still really passionate about it!

was engaged to torrance keynes for a time and it wound up being v...Messy. she got pregnant more than once, but unfortunately miscarried each time. it was obvs difficult on both of them and it turned out to be too much and so they eventually broke things off. he’s still kind of a wreck over everything but like how could he not be? it’s still a very sore subject for him but like what are you gonna do! he basically just refuses to talk about it and pretends everything is fine haha yikes

he’s kinda been switching between la and nyc ever since he started college bc of school and work and going to see his fam ( especially mia! ) and he’s never really settled in one place or the other? but he’s really fallen in love with nyc and it’s where he spends most of his free time!

might have dipped to la for a little longer than usual after his last break up with torrance, buuuut he’s obvs returned and i think he’s planning to stay put for now

extra fun facts! probs a good thing to read if you’re looking for a tl;dr tbh

he’s probs on a tv show right now. think like american horror story or the walking dead or something? i feel like he gets typecast as a dark/brooding/sarcastic type of character in a lot of ~edgy~ type of shows. lmk if you’ve got any suggestions for a specific role bc rn i’ve got nothing

critics and management and even fans often complain that he’s wasting his immense acting talent on all of these smaller roles, but ambrose is happy with his career rn. he loves acting and he doesn’t want it to start feeling like a chore and he wants freedom and flexibility so that he can finally start focusing on his poetry.

“are you mad?” no that’s just his face

hobbies include boxing, throwing knives, surfing, taking walks, watching pretentious films, hanging out in record stores, and some dabbling in drawing.

loves to read, always carrying a book around and sticking his nose in it if he has a few minutes of free time & it’s not uncommon to see him with a new book every single day, or even more than one book in a single day

he’s kind of a hipster i’m sorry

also just kinda...slightly...a little...very Dramatic™

might do music on the side but like……...very far on the side. he’s probs a drummer?? in some arctic monkeys type of shitty indie rock band but he enjoys it so whatever

a total gentleman and a romantic, but also most likely a Disaster in the relationships department so...watch out for that too ig!

personality: ambrose is quiet, perceptive, intelligent, eloquent, creative, pensive, sarcastic, dramatic, tumultuous, and passionate. he can come across as standoffish but it’s just Resting Bitch Face and the fact that he’s an introvert working against him. just start talking about film or books or something and he’ll warm right up. he’s a v loyal and protective friend, nice and polite to strangers, but noticeably a bit closed off ( especially after the miscarriages and failed engagement ). basically - all you need to know about ambrose is that if someone told you that he was secretly a 500 year old british vampire who likes to surf in his spare time then you would probably believe them.

here are a few lame connection ideas that you should not feel limited by whatsoever!

best friend

friends

frenemies

former costars

enemies

romantic - exes, crushes, pr relationships maybe? & all that stuff

people he attended school with - either in la or at columbia

college roommates?

other members of his little side project indie band?

ok that’s it for now! feel free to message me if you’d like to plot and as always, i’m super excited to write with you all!

[elleiam]

My Teachers ~

I’ve been sick in bed for quite a few days now, but I'm finally mentally better enough to start doing things. First on the list, a blog post. (Actually first on the list was double check that I have everything done for Infusion that I need to do. Check. More on that in another post probably). I'm so many blog posts behind in my mind, with so much I want to talk about and so little motivation to actually talk about it. Even as I type this my eyes are closing and my brain is thinking… maybe I'm too sick to be doing this NO LAUREN. KEEP TYPING.

I want to write about some people at my school I'm thankful for, so, introducing some lovely angel souls of my life, I present this cast of characters that brighten up my days at Gakri Middle School when the kids are just too much to handle. (Also names are hidden because I'm shy and what if someone finds this!)

The English Teacher

My saving grace at school. She is always willing to make conversation with me, sharing with me dilemmas in her home life, problems with Korean culture, and always being curious about America. Her English is incredible, but honestly I think even if her English was not as good she'd still have reached out. Sometimes I feel like she's a mom taking care of me, making sure I have somewhere to sit at lunch, making sure I don't even go to lunch alone. She's always watching out for how comfortable I feel and that makes my heart so warm and happy. Sometimes when I was still in college I just wanted to be independent and live my own life, but now that I've come to this super unfamiliar environment with a new job, it is amazing to always feel taken care of. So I'm so thankful for her, for being my friend but also for watching my back. It must be tiring to keep putting in that effort, but truly her good mornings to me at the start of each school day really does remind me why I love working here. Plus, might I add that she is the most helpful co-teacher I have and I always look forward to my classes with her because though still equally chaotic, they're just more fun.

The Science Teacher

We say pretty much no words to each other, but she's one of my favorites. Our "conversations" are just her pointing to the ceiling, saying "dirty," and the us laughing for many minutes about our crazy students who like to throw their shoes up at the ceiling. Our interactions are always so brief, but it's the little things she does that really make me smile, like dropping off a handful of candy at my desk every time I leave the cafeteria in tears because the lunch was too darn spicy, or slowly and "sneakily" stealing my key chain from my pocket to ask "what is this" in Korean, or just sharing a smile with me when we just have nothing to say. I even ventured a Korean question at her once and it was so sweet to see her think really hard to try and respond in English.

The Music Teacher

At first I thought she didn't like me, not didn't like me but at least did not have the energy to try with me. Day one she said I was cute but she can't talk to me because I don't speak Korean. I remember thinking LAUREN learn Korean faster! But obviously I can't become conversational overnight and I could tell she got tired of waiting. We live in the same apartment complex and finally one day we got stuck walking home together. In broken Korean, I asked her if she had plans for the weekend. In broken English, she responded! We had a good laugh and now she actually smiles at me. We'll walk to school or home together, exchanging maybe two sentences before just walking in silence. But she is such nice company and I love how our friendship is based pretty much solely on pointing and awkward laughs. It's the small moments too, the two clementines on my desk, her coming up behind me and nudging my shoulder before saying hi, meeting her beautifully awkward sons at Daiso, the fact that she didn't just ignore me at Daiso and actually came up to me to introduce her sons.

The Fulbright Co-Teacher

Even if we are not the closest of friends, I'm really thankful that she always does her job. Every now and then she tells me to signs this or that, or I hear her on the phone mentioning my name. It makes me realize just how much work it takes to have an ETA at your school and I really appreciate her always being on top of things. Though she's not required to tell me any of this, she'll always mention an event that's going on at school I could attend, or tell me about time schedule changes, picture days, other things that get sent to me via the messenger system I still can't understand. Recently we've been sharing more laughs together. She'll drop by my classroom during the cleaning time and give me all the latest gossip about the students or just talk about the previous ETA (and how much more organized I am haha). It's nice that our bond is growing, and maybe I should try to be less intimidated by her.

The Third Grade English Teacher

One of my faves, she hosted a welcoming lunch party for me and another English teacher during one of the first few weeks of school. She's just always there to talk and hang out after class to tell me about her weekend or how her husband wants me to meet his mother?? It's a really great time and I'm really lucky to have her in my life. Her baby daughter is so incredibly cute (even though she causes her so much stress)! I haven't been able to talk to her as much recently because the third-graders have been having their exams, but this coming week I'm really excited to see her again and find out what she has been up to.

The Special Education Teacher

She has quickly become one of my favorite people. She is so outgoing and extroverted, constantly wanting to talk even though her English level is not great and my Korean is awful. She never gives up, and I can tell she actually wants to get to know me as a person and for me to get to know her. She has already taught me so much about being a special education teachers, the bureaucracy she needs to put up with and the struggles of her students; it is so wonderful to learn about her life and to have someone to hang out with outside of school. I can't believe she reached out the first time and continues to reach out.

The Home Economics Teacher

She is so shy but I love her! Our friendship started when she messaged me to review her English composition. I loved reading those because they told me so much about her. Once she came into my office but didn't talk to me because she was too shy - she messaged me after saying when she saw all those people she got nervous! Recently she’s been thinking about giving up on English, which is a shame because she is actually quite advanced, but I understand the frustration of hitting a bottleneck. I hope she will still be willing to talk with me though... guess I’ll just have to learn more Korean! I love hanging out with her and laughing with her too much not to.

The Nurse

We've only ever had one true interaction but she is still so kind to me, giving me an over- exaggerated wave every time we see each other, occasionally coming to my desk to whisper a nice message. She's the youngest at the school at 27 years old so naturally I feel a bit closer to her. She came to chat in my office one day and asked me for an English name, which she actually now uses! I listed a bunch of options but she liked Miley the best. I think it suits her and actually sounds a lot like her Korean name!

The Teachers Whose Names I Know Not

There are teachers I still haven't met yet, and teachers who don't really look my way. That's cool. There's 70 of us and I'm glad to you I'm maybe just one of you. But there are some teachers who consistently send a smile my way, or give me a cute insa before deciding nah I'll just wave at her. I wish I knew your names so I could give you a proper hello, but just know I am so thankful for your kindness, for not giving up on me and still giving me your positivity every time we run into each other in the halls. It's these kind nods and laughs, the mutual understanding that we'll only ever nod and laugh but that it's great anyway, that makes my days at Gakri really quite wonderful (even if the kids wear me out).

[laughingpinecone]

TP request for Every Woman Exchange because an “or” matching signup with 10 characters or groups is bound to be a wordy business!

Doris Truman

Group: Audrey Horne & Laura Palmer

Group: Laura Palmer & Donna Hayward

Group: Laura Palmer & Sarah Palmer

Group: Norma Jennings & Shelly Johnson & Heidi & Miriam Sullivan

Denise “fuck you AO3 canonical” Bryson

Diane Evans

Laura Palmer

Lucy Moran

Margaret "The Log Lady" Lanterman

Tamara "Tammy" Preston

Feel free to mix and match these characters, anything from Tammy interviewing Doris to Denise getting Lucy a drink would be amazing. I also love all their usual cohorts, so Doris and Harry in the woods or Diane and Albert - or heck, Diane and Phil, unanimously voted Philadelphia's Most Glamorous - or Tammy and her FBI dads is all cool as long as the focus remains on the girls. Tammy regrets in TFD that she couldn't meet Margaret? Let Tammy meet Margaret somehow, by golly! You can't really go wrong with gen combinations if you get any cool idea you want to explore. All these prompts are just suggestions. I like magical realism and American Gothic and flat-out surrealism so anything canon-like is great, but also a sitcom take on any group of colleagues, or a smarmy moment played teeth-rottingly straight (which is also canon-like, hah), some found family feels, you name it.

(the order is just me copypasting the tagset)

Doris: I wish her the best and hope that she'll find a way to amicably divorce Frank, or take a deep breath away from each other, heal through other people... there was also a message on Hastings' website from a regular reader that was just signed "Doris" so I headcanon her as an UFO enthusiast, if you want to play with that. I like to think that Albert will drop everything and stay in town after TPTR, and I swear by the fact that both he and Doris need a lot of cathartic shouting, for opposite reasons (she has a lot of pain and frustration to let out, he needs to stop being dead inside). So a good, cathartic shouting match could be a fun fic or art if you like the idea.

Laura & Donna: post-canon meetup post-canon meetup post-canon meetup!! Somehow. Dreams, shifted realities, straight-up 'Carrie' driving up to Vermont to find her Donna again. Shippy or not, I just want closure for them. Or any kind of Laura&Donna fic is great, I've loooved basically everything I've read for them.

Norma&Shelly&Heidi&Miriam: I love the RR microcosm! Sweet and supportive and just so /good/. Good for Norma for snatching the ever-so-rare happy ending and I'm glad Heidi got painted in a much more positive light this time round! And our heroic Miriam! My first thoughts go to either Shelly working through her Red problem with the help of the other girls, or Miriam triumphantly getting the pie Shelly and Heidi wanted to get her. But anything RR-centric is great. idk, a collection of drabbles with different customers (established characters or otherwise) coming in? Or something else still!

Denise: she was FBI all along so she can be friends with all the rest of the FBI cast! What a wonderful retcon. So tell me everything about Denise and Diane, Denise and Albert, Denise and Tammy... Denise and Cooper in the hopefully-not-so-distant future... she's so warm and charming, she just lights up any scene. Denise in Twin Peaks during s2 or Denise back in Twin Peaks years later for whatever reason is also great!

Diane: putting herself back together? I'd love a post-finale journey of self-discovery (or an episode thereof, for shorter fic or single pieces of fanart), slipping out of the Linda identity (whatever that's about), accepting/reclaiming her tulpa, and even that split self we saw outside the motel... or! Fun times with Janey-E! Why can't they stand each other? Is it because they're both kind of complicated people to be around? Is it because Janey was the only one who figured something was wrong when Diane got tulpa'd? Diane and Albert's frendship warms my heart, and it's fun to imagine Tammy trying to connect with her even after she got barked at. Or Void Club with Annie and Audrey, where they're not gonna talk about Dale Cooper, in fact they're not gonna talk about Dale Cooper at all...

Laura: finding her angels again please? Or in any situation - in the Lodge or in whatever sort of surreal road trip she and Cooper ended up in - that's closer to the Laura in Between Two Worlds, the woman who's walked through fire and made it to the other side, Laura with her eyes sparkling and that impossible Mona Lisa smile. Any moment where she gets to shine and tower over everything and everyone else. As an aside: I did not request Laura&Audrey because I figured that anyone offering it would ship it, and I very much do not, and I didn't want to inconvenience anyone who hoped to match on them because of the ship. BUT I came to the realization that I am in fact pretty invested in s gen reading of what Audrey saw in Laura, how she resented her but also idolized her and tried to follow in her footsteps until she got burned at One-Eyed Jack's. So what if they met after canon, how would a grown-up Audrey confront her old idea of Laura, would she see the real person behind that image, and would it help her come to terms with some of her own crap?

Lucy: Kimmy Robertson said she would like to be the color blue in Lynch's palette, if the prompt works for you. I love Lucy taking her time to understand and organize the world around her, I love her with Andy, with Wally, with Maggie Brown and the rest of the new sheriff's station cast, and I love it when people who don't usually appreciate her (both sheriffs and Albert come to mind) have to come to terms with the fact that she's amazing. I also like that Hawk is a first-class gossip, apparently, and so is Lucy, so if THAT prompts works for you...

Margaret: Margaret and the woods, Margaret and Hawk, Margaret and Laura always... Margaret and Shelly, Margaret and Audrey!, Margaret trying to impress Norma as per that one Log Lady intro... young Margaret and the Truman boys, or an older Margaret still with the Trumans, and sometimes maybe there's only one Truman and sometimes they are very distinct, oh well c'est la vie.

Tammy: I like to take the difference between her book self and show self as a straight-up character trait, that she's way more reserved in person than she is in writing. Any fic based on this duality would be great for me. Other than that, throw her at literally any character and I'll be thrilled to read it. I love how she looks up to Albert and just kind of follows him around like a baby duckling, I love the possibilities of Denise mentoring her, I love how she's the next generation of Blue Rose and hopefully the first one that won't fuck up majestically and I wonder if Gordon realizes it as he lets her learn the ropes at her own pace, I love possible "passing of the torch" scenarios with Cooper where he's so proud of her, or Laura sharing her secrets. Or let her be lace buddies with Shelly or look into a supernatural case with Cynthia or find Audrey or whatever! Yay Tammy!

Ship-wise, my big ships are Laura/Donna, Laura/Ronette and the Brennans. I also ship Shelly and Bobby and hope they can sort it out. And I'm curious to explore Tammy/Cynthia, /Audrey, /Candie, and/or getting a supernatural smooch from Laura. And while it's got zilch to do with this exchange, for the sake of full disclosure, all sides of Dale/Albert/Harry.

DNWs: unrequested ships, especially my NOTPs (Coop with Audrey, Annie - she’s a bit more complicated than NOTP but for the sake of a clear signup let’s just veto it..., Janey-E, Diane and Laura. Shelly/Gordon, Tammy/the rest of her coworkers twice her age), character bashing, s3 negativity

[headcanonsandmore]

‘A bond between us’ A Linny fanfiction.

Ginny Weasley had a problem. A blonde-haired problem called Luna Lovegood.

Ginny was close friends with the Ravenclaw girl, and had been for several years. They hung out in shared classes, chatted during break-time, and did their homework together.

Luna was…unusual. She seemed uninterested in mundane things like the newest hit song on the Wizarding Wireless Network, and the latest dating gossip about who was dating whom. Instead, she devoted her time to discovering new magical creatures which Ginny wasn’t sure even existed, sprouting random facts about things like the stars, and making her own jewellery out of butterbeer corks.

Ginny liked this.

Ginny liked Luna.

It had happened slowly over time. She wasn’t sure when, but over-time, she had found herself staring at Luna, gazing at the long dirty-blonde hair, the enormous grey eyes, and the way she bit her lip when she was nervous about something.

As was the case now, as two large Ravenclaw fifth-years stood in front of her, their arms crossed, and their eyes glinting maliciously. Luna’s head was bowed slightly, and her hands clamped nervously around her bag.  

‘What’s wrong, Loony?’ one of them crowed. ‘Cat got your tongue?’

Ginny, who had been walking across the entrance hall to meet Luna before their shared Charms class, felt her hair bristle with anger.

‘Oy- leave her alone!’ she yelled, marching in between them and Luna, and glaring furiously at them, her hands balled into fists. ‘Push off!’

The two Ravenclaws looked down at the short Gryffindor.

‘What’s it got to do with you, Weasley?’ one of them drawled, crossing their arms. ‘Some bodyguard you are. Well, I suppose, if are you hanging out with Loony Love—’

‘And just what do you think you are saying to my sister and her friend?’

The two Ravenclaws turned. The tall freckled face of Ron Weasley was glaring down at them, his prefect badge glinting in the morning sun breaking through the enormous doorway behind him. Normally, Ginny wouldn’t have wanted his help, but having a protective older brother who could dock points from bullies did have its advantages.

‘Come on’ one of the fifth-years muttered to the other, and the two of them beat a hasty retreat up the staircase. Ron continued to glare after them, before turning his attention back to Ginny, who had put a supportive arm round Luna’s shoulders.

‘You okay, Gin?’

‘Yeah,’ she muttered, now patting Luna softly on the shoulder. ‘Those twerps were just being rude to Luna. Again.’

Ron gave Luna a friendly smile, which Luna returned weakly.

‘Should I chase them down and give them detentions?’

‘Ron…’

‘Or maybe ask Hermione about the school’s policy towards bullying?’

‘Ron.’

‘Or maybe me and Hermione should speak to Flitwick about it—’

‘Ron!’

Ginny was now glaring slightly at him, not entirely sure why she was so angry all of a sudden.

‘Oh,’ Ron mumbled, looking awkward. ‘Sorry- I’m just trying to help.’

‘You’ve already done that!’ she spat. ‘I’m got this!’

Ron’s eyes lingered slightly on Ginny’s hand, wrapped softly around Luna’s shoulder.

‘I see you have,’ he said, shrugging. ‘Sorry about that all, Luna. Those two are horrible. Hope you feel better soon.’

He wandered away back into the Great Hall with his hands in his pockets, looking a little hurt.

Ginny let out a little sigh of frustration. She hadn’t meant to be so rude. Oh well, he’d survive.

‘Thank you, Ginny,’ murmured Luna, turning her enormous grey eyes to Ginny. ‘You’re very nice.’

Ginny felt her stomach give a little flip in her stomach. She realised that her hand was still wrapped around Luna’s shoulder and was stroking her arm gently- Luna’s skin felt soft under her robes, and her a few strands of her blonde hair was gently touching Ginny’s arm.  

‘No- no problem,’ she said, taking her hand off Luna’s shoulder hurriedly. ‘Hey, shall we start heading over to Charms?’

‘Oh, yes,’ said Luna dreamily, as they began to climb the stairs. Was it just Ginny’s imagination, or did Luna look a little flushed? Ginny guessed it was the nerves from when those two bullies were being rude to her. ‘How have you been getting on with your practice for the separation charm?’

‘Oh, er, well…’

‘Oh, Ginny,’ Luna sighed. Ginny tried not to let her wander off to a daydream she’d had of Luna sighing Ginny’s name in very different circumstances. ‘You didn’t forget, did you?’

Ginny grinned at the blonde. Actually, she had practiced, but she liked Luna helping her with her spell-work, especially when Luna guided Ginny’s hand for the spell.  

Luna sighed again, sounding a little amused. Ginny’s heart gave a little flutter.

‘Well, I guess I’ll have to help you out,’ Luna smiled, dimples forming in her pale cheeks.

Ginny returned the smile.

Oh, this was bad, she thought to herself, this is so bad…

 ‘Now, class,’ Professor Flitwick instructed to the class, standing on a large stack of books. ‘I hope you’ve all been practising those separating charms for today!’

There was a general murmur of assent from the class, many of whom looked like they hadn’t quite woken up just yet.

Professor Flitwick gave a little exasperated sigh under his breath. First-period lessons were almost the most difficult to teach, especially on a Monday morning.

‘Well,’ he continued brightly to the room at large. ‘Let’s get started then! And don’t forget to be very careful with the wand-movement!’

The class, sprawled out over several long benches, divided off into pairs. Ginny turned to Luna, who was sat at the end of their bench.

‘Ready to roll?’ she asked, tying her long red hair into a ponytail so it wouldn’t get in the way of her spell-work.

Luna nodded.

Next to them, Colin Creevey was attempting to remember the exact wand movement, much to the irritation of his partner, a Ravenclaw girl who Ginny could never remember the name of.

‘It’s a twirl, and then a sharp jab downwards, Colin!’

‘I’m sorry!’ the small Gryffindor exclaimed, embarrassed. Ginny tried not to chuckle as she looked round at them. Colin was a sweet guy, even if his spell-work was somewhat erratic. He was like a cute little brother, which was ironic considering that Ginny had six older brothers and did think of any of them as cute (well, Ron had his moments when he was staring longingly after Hermione Granger).  

‘Miss Weasley, are you with us?’

Ginny was pulled out of her mental recollection (of all the times Ron had behaved like a lovesick goof around Hermione in the past two years) by the voice of Flitwick, who had chosen that moment to peek over the desk.

Ginny cleared her throat hurriedly.  

‘Sorry, Professor,’ she said, picking up her wand. ‘We’ve starting now.’

Ginny began to move her wand  in a large hoop, and was about to perform the sharp jab when, with a loud bang, Colin’s shoulder knocked into her back, making her fall off her stool and into Luna’s arms.

There was a great flash of light, and Ginny found herself staring into Luna’s startled face. One of Luna’s arms was wrapped protectively around Ginny’s back, and the other hand was softly holding Ginny’s hand.

‘Good grief- Miss Weasley, are you alright?’ squeaked Professor Flitwick, looking concerned. The whole class swivelled their heads to stare at Ginny and Luna.

‘Er- I think so,’ Ginny muttered, trying to ignore the fact that Luna’s beautifully soft hand was intertwined with hers, and that Luna’s face was so close that she could count the lashes on both of Luna’s luminous grey eyes. She disentangled herself, and stood up. ‘Just fell off my stool—’

Luna let out a slight gasp. Ginny turned.

Luna’s hand was still holding hers, and a soft glowing pink thread was wrapped around their intertwined hands, keeping them together.

Ginny’s eyes widened.

‘Oh dear,’ said Professor Flitwick, tapping the thread with his wand worriedly. ‘It appears you accidentally casted the conjoining charm.’

Conjoining charm?

Flitwick pointed his wand at the two girls’ interlocking hands and performed the separating charm. But the thread did not disappear. The head of Ravenclaw house widened his eyes, looking baffled.

‘P-professor…’Ginny stuttered, her stomach giving a funny lurch. ‘Can you not remove it?’

‘By the looks of it, Miss Weasley,’ Flitwick continued, stroking his chin thoughtfully. ‘You might have casted a semi-permanent charm. As it wasn’t the correct wand-motion, this would fall under the banner of an experimental spell. There isn’t much we can do but wait until it disappears.’

‘Semi p-permanent?’ Ginny stuttered, her eyes growing wider in shock. ‘How long do you think it will take to wear off?’

‘Oh- I’d say just under a day.’ Flitwick said, matter-of-factly.

‘A day?!’

‘Oh well,’ said Luna, brightly. ‘I guess we’ll have to wait for it to disappear.’

Ginny looked round at her. Luna was smiling sweetly, and not looking remotely embarrassed to have their hands joined the way they were.

‘I’ll pass on the message to your other classes today, so you can take the rest of the day off,’ said Flitwick. ‘Obviously, you won’t be able to write anything down if your hands are tied together.’

Ginny nodded nervously.

‘Are you okay, Ginny?’ Luna asked, as Professor Flitwick moved back to his desk, and the class resumed their practice of their charm.

Ginny’s felt her heart give a heavy thud.

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

This is really bad, she thought, this is really bad…

 The two of them left Charms class at the back of the class. Thankfully, the thread was loose enough for their hands to move around, so that it appeared like they were walking hand-in-hand.

Something that Ginny began to notice very quickly. She could the confused stares of other students as they walked along the corridor. Ginny didn’t normally hold hands with her female friends (that was more of a Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil thing), so she felt somewhat self-conscious.

‘So, I was thinking,’ chirped Luna, her eyes wide and cheerful. ‘Maybe we should have a look over what we’ll be missing in the lessons we’re not going to.’

‘Er, yeah,’ said Ginny, rubbing her neck with her free hand. It felt rather warm. ‘That sounds good.’

She continued to feel self-conscious as they made their way to the library to look over their textbooks. Madam Pince gave them a searching look as they entered, and Ginny felt the stares of other students as the two of them sat pouring over their transfiguration books. Luna seemed largely oblivious to those around them, and kept whispering to Ginny about how best they could do their homework for the day. Ginny didn’t trust herself to reply, but nodded occasionally. She prayed that Luna didn’t think she was being rude, but Ginny’s heart felt like it was in her mouth, and her stomach kept squirming uncomfortably whenever she looked at Luna’s hand wrapped softly around hers.

Several hours later (it felt far longer to Ginny), the two of them left the library. The sun was sinking low in the sky. The two of them grabbed some food from the kitchens. Ginny suggested this, not wanting to attract more stares in Great Hall. Holding hands was one thing, but either of them sitting at each-others house tables would have gained even more attention.

They decided it was best that they go to the Gryffindor common-room. Technically, members of other houses weren’t allowed in, but Ginny wanted to escape the stares of the other students. At least in the common-room, she would only have to contend with other Gryffindors staring at them, instead of the whole school.

‘Ginny, I was just wondering,’ Luna said thoughtfully, breaking Ginny’s reverie as they climbed through a secret passageway behind a false tapestry. ‘If this thread is going to stay on our hands for an entire day, does that mean we’ll be sleeping together?’

Ginny spun round, her eyes wide in shock. Unfortunately, one of her feet collided with Luna’s, and their legs tangled together. All Ginny saw was Luna’s surprised face as Ginny slammed into her.

There was an almighty crash.

Ginny opened her eyes. With dawning terror, she realised that she had fallen on top of Luna, and their faces were barely inches from each-other. Ginny could feel Luna’s stomach touching her own, and she could smell Luna’s vanilla scent.

‘I’m-I’m so sorry!’ Ginny stuttered, feeling her face flush. ‘Luna, are you okay?’

Luna nodded, not quite meeting Ginny’s eyes. Was Luna slightly red in the face? No, it must have been Ginny’s imagination.

Ginny awkwardly climbed to her feet, and helped Luna up.

Fanning her face slightly, Ginny tried to ignore the growing sense of trepidation in her stomach.

Sleeping together…

Ginny bit her lip nervously. Of course, she knew that they would probably have to sleep in the same bed, but Luna had said it so…casually that it shocked her.

Was Luna really not as bothered by that as Ginny was?

Of course she isn’t bothered, Ginny told herself sternly, she’s not the one in love with her friend…

Ginny felt her heart give a sad little thud inside her chest as they walked up the corridor towards the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.

 The Fat Lady raised an eyebrow as they approached. Her friend Violet (who was sat next to her) pursed her lips thoughtfully.

‘Is that a Ravenclaw?’ The Fat Lady asked, suspiciously. ‘You know that’s against the rules!’

Ginny let out a groan. She had been worried about this.

‘Come on,’ she urged imploringly. ‘It’s unavoidable!’

‘Rules are rules!’ The Fat Lady exclaimed. ‘I’m sorry, but I can’t let non-Gryffindors into—’

Violet leaned in and whispered something into the Fat Lady’s ear. Her eyebrows’ contracted slightly as she listened, and a shrewd, mischievous look formed in her eyes.

Ginny looked round, puzzled, at Luna, who shrugged.

‘On second thoughts,’ The Fat Lady continued, addressing both Ginny and Luna this time. ‘I will allow the Ravenclaw into the tower.’

‘But what about rules being—’

‘Do I need to repeat myself?’ The Fat Lady asked, somewhat haughtily, as she swung open. ‘Now enter before I change my mind again!’

Ginny raised an eyebrow, but walked forward towards the portrait hole. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Violet give her and Luna a surreptitious wink.

Ginny’s felt her neck turn slightly red.

 ‘No. Way.’

B*gg*r, thought Ginny.

Fred and George had risen out of seats in the common-room, and were standing in the common-room on the other side of the portrait hole. Their mouths had fallen open in apparent shock.

‘Okay,’ Ginny began, raising a hand to call for calm. ‘Before you all start going off the handle, there’s a very reasonable explanation for—’

‘You and Luna- holding hands? Are you two—?’

Ginny felt her face burning. She hoped Luna wouldn’t see.

‘No, you pr*ts!’ Ginny yelled, feeling very self-conscious. ‘Our hands got stuck together in Charms! Accidental experimental spell…’

She trailed off, feeling very self-conscious. The whole of the surprisingly-full common-room had turned to look at the two girls; with many students’ eyes lingering on Ginny’s hand gripping Luna’s.

‘Really?’ asked George, looking a little skeptical.

‘Sounds a little suspicious to me,’ said Fred, moving forward and staring at Ginny suspiciously. ‘Especially since it’s Luna we’re talking about. Weren’t you staring at her over breakfast this morning—’

‘THAT’S ENOUGH!’

Ron strode forward, looking irritable, and stood in between Ginny and Fred, facing his older brother.

‘What’s it to you, ickle prefect?’ sniggered Fred, mischievously. ‘I didn’t have you down as Ginny’s bodyguard.’

Ron’s ears turned red. Always a danger sign.

‘It’s their own business,’ he said forcefully, glaring at Fred with his eyes narrowed. ‘You need to back off.’

‘Come on, Fred,’ said George, nudging his twin with his elbow. ‘He’s right. Look- you’re embarrassing her.’

Fred looked round at Ginny’s blushing face, and his features softened.

‘Sorry, Gin,’ he said, looking a little sorry for himself. He turned to Luna. ‘Er, welcome to Gryffindor Tower, Luna- hope you have a…good time.’

Luna’s eyes widened slightly.

Fred and George sat back down, and began to talk to Lee Jordan.

Ron turned round to face Ginny and Luna.

‘I swear, I’m not trying to make a habit of this,’ he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

Ginny chuckled.

‘It’s okay, Ron,’ she said, and she meant it. ‘Thanks.’

Ron smiled.  

‘Listen,’ he said, scratching his long nose. ‘About what Fred was saying...’

Ginny felt her face burn again. Was her crush on Luna really that obvious?

‘None of us mind, if that’s what you’re worried about,’ Ron continued, looking a little embarrassed. ‘Whatever the case is, we just want you to be happy.’

Ginny felt her head spinning. How on earth did Ron possibly know that she loved Luna? He was usually as dense as anything.

‘Er- okay.’

Ron’s eyes lingered for a second on Luna and Ginny’s intertwined hands. He gave Ginny a small encouraging grin, and walked off across the common-room to a table where Hermione and Harry were sitting. Ginny saw Hermione give Ron a glowing look, and Ron’s ears turned red. Ginny couldn’t help but smile.

Luna squeezed Ginny’s hand softly.

‘Ginny- shall we head up to your room, then?’

Ginny’s stomach gave another lurch.

‘Okay, Luna,’ she said, praying that her face wasn’t blushing.  

 They climbed the stairs to the girls’ dormitory. Ginny was glad that they were out of the common-room, and away from the startled stares of her fellow Gryffindors.

Before Ginny knew it, they were inside her dormitory. Thankfully, her room-mates had not come up to bed yet.

‘Er, shall we—?’ Ginny offered, pointing awkwardly at her bed. Luna nodded.

They sat down on Ginny’s bed, and kicked off their shoes. Luna wasn’t wearing socks underneath, and Ginny tried not to stare at how beautiful Luna’s feet looked in the warm candlelight of the dormitory.

Luna began to take off her robes, using a severing charm to undo the seams on the arm attached to Ginny. Ginny couldn’t help but feel her heart beat faster as the robes fell away to reveal a simple blouse and dark trousers underneath.

‘Ginny- is everything okay?’

Ginny felt her face burn. She had been staring at Luna with her mouth hanging slightly open.

‘S-sorry,’ she stuttered, looking down at her feet. ‘I just thought…you-you look really pretty.’

‘Thank you, Ginny!’ Luna beamed, dimples appearing in her cheeks. Ginny’s heart gave a heavy thud.

Luna reached over and used the same severing charm on Ginny’s robes, and the dark material fell away. Ginny tried not to feel self-conscious- she was just wearing on old Weasley jumper and a pair of frayed jeans underneath.

‘You look very pretty too, Ginny!’ Luna chirped, as she hung their robes on a wall-hook nearby. Butterflies exploded in Ginny’s stomach, and she tried not to grin like an idiot. Luna had called her pretty…

‘Time to sleep, then,’ Luna said. Ginny pulled back the covers, and the two of them climbed under. The thread between their hands meant that they would have to sleep facing each-other. Ginny extinguished the candles with her wand, and swung the curtains around the four-poster closed. It felt like they were in a little word of their own. Ginny could smell Luna’s sweet breath as she lay down next to her.

Luna curled her legs up underneath her body, and closed her eyes. Within a few moments, her breathing had slowed. Her chest rose and fell quietly as she slept.

Ginny stared at her, unable to sleep.

Luna was so…unusual. She didn’t seem to have minded all that had happened to the two of them today, and Ginny appreciated that she was making the best of the situation.

But still, it made Ginny’s heart beat sadly that Luna was so…relaxed around her.

Of course she isn’t, Ginny scolded herself, she’s not in love with you…

The thought did little to make her feel better.

 Ginny must have fallen asleep at some point, because when she next came to, sunlight was shining softly into the dormitory. It couldn’t have been any earlier than daybreak.

Luna was still sleeping, breathing softly next to Ginny. The thread was still entwined around their hands.

Ginny eased herself quietly onto her elbow, and stared at the blonde Ravenclaw girl. There couldn’t have been much more than a few inches between their two bodies, but it felt like a million miles to Ginny.

‘Oh, Luna,’ Ginny murmured to herself, keeping her voice low so as not to wake her dorm-mates. ‘Why did I have to fall in love with you? It makes everything so complicated.’

Luna’s eyes flickered slightly, but she continued to sleep.

Ginny let out a sad little sigh.

Carefully, she leaned over, cupped Luna’s face softly in her hands, and pressed her lips to Luna’s. Her lips were soft against Ginny’s.

‘Oy- Ginny!’

It was one of Ginny’s dorm-mates. Ginny pulled away from Luna, her heart in her mouth.

‘W-what?’ she squeaked, sitting up.

‘We’re going down to breakfast now.’

Ginny breathed a sigh of relief.

‘O-okay,’ she said. ‘I’ll meet you down there.’

She heard the door slam shut behind them.

‘Oh- morning, Ginny,’

Ginny whipped round. Luna had opened her eyes, and was peering up at Ginny.

‘M-morning,’ Ginny stammered, trying to compose her face. ‘Good sleep?’

Luna sat up, so that her face was level with Ginny.

‘Oh, yes,’ she said, smiling slightly. ‘But waking up to you kissing me was even better.’

 Ginny felt her mouth fall open, and her face burn.  

‘You- you were awake?’ she squealed, terrified. ‘Luna, I’m-I’m so sorry!’

Luna inclined her head to the side, looking puzzled.

‘What would you be sorry about?’ she asked, still smiling. ‘It was very nice, Ginny. I’ve never been kissed by a friend before.’

Ginny’s stomach felt like it was melting into her legs.

‘Although,’ Luna continued, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. ‘I suppose we’re more than just friends now, considering that you’re….in love with me.’ ’

Ginny’s heart flew into her mouth, and her stomach gave an enormous lurch. Luna had heard her confession- she’s hadn’t been asleep.

‘W-wait!’ she stuttered, her head spinning. ‘Luna, people don’t just become more than friends because one is in love with the other. That usually only happens when…when….’

She trailed off. Luna moved her face closer, so that Ginny could count the eyelashes on each of Luna’s grey eyes.

‘When both fall in love with each-other?’ Luna finished, looking happier than Ginny had ever seen her. ‘Yes. I love you, Ginny Weasley.’

Luna cupped Ginny’s startled face in her free hand, and tenderly brought her lips to Ginny’s.

Ginny’s brain seemed to malfunction. All she could think about was Luna’s sweet lips against hers, and the sweet vanilla scent of her hair, and how soft her skin of her palm was against Ginny’s face.

After what felt like several glorious hours, their lips parted. Ginny was breathing heavily, and she could feel her heart pounding in her ears. Her hair was probably a mess, and her palms were sweaty, but she found it hard to care.

‘D-do you really mean it?’ Ginny asked, taking Luna’s free hand in hers.

Luna nodded, her eyes sparkling.

Ginny leaned in towards Luna, and the two of them eased backwards onto the bed, so that Ginny was lying atop of Luna. Their hands were clasped together, and Ginny could feel Luna’s body pressed against hers.

Ginny pressed her lips to Luna’s again, and Luna moaned slightly. As one, their free hands disconnected and found each-others hair; Luna’s pale fingers stroking Ginny’s tangled red knots, and Ginny’s hand losing itself in Luna’s dirty-blonde locks.

Unbeknownst to both of them, the magical thread began to dissolve, leaving only their two entwined hands, which continued to hold each-other tenderly.

Thanks for reading, everyone- hope you liked it! This is one of my first time writing using a trope (in this case, a spell going wrong and forcing people together). I love writing Linny, so this was really enjoyable to write.  

[staystrange]

it’s worth it | spierfeld week day 2

"Can I sit here?”

Ding.

Simon glanced first at the numbers on his wrist, all zeroes, before looking at the source of the voice, his soulmate. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

It was the boy who saved him from humiliation that day in English class.

“It’s you,” Simon said, his breath catching. “You’re Blue.”

-or-

Simon and Bram + The Soulmate Timer

Title: "Worth It" by Sam Tsui

Spierfeld Week Day 2: Soulmate AUs

read on ao3

The numbers on Simon’s wrist counted down as they had for as long as he could remember. He sat in English class, staring at the faintly glowing numbers to distract himself from whatever Mr. Wise was talking about at the front of the classroom. He wondered, not for the first time, who would be waiting for him when the numbers finally reached zero. It wasn’t like he had a type or anything, after all, as sure as he was that he was gay, he’d never had a crush on a boy before. At least, not until Blue.

A smile bloomed on his face as his thoughts returned to the boy he’d been emailing since the summer. It had all started with a post on Creeksecrets, ground zero for Creekwood High School gossip, as he liked to call it. Although, it couldn’t be that bad if it led him to Blue. He rested his chin on his hand, Mr. Wise’s voice only background noise. But that was the thing that confused Simon so much. Since he’d first started talking to Blue, they’d gotten to know each other so well, and Simon had fallen in love with him. Like, hard. Blue was perfect for him, and he would even go far to say that they could be soulmates. Yet the numbers on his wrist still ticked, which they wouldn’t if he’d truly met his soulmate.

Maybe I have to meet Blue in person for the timer to hit zero, he thought suddenly. He glanced around the room, wondering if any of the people there could possibly be Blue.

“Simon?” Mr. Wise’s voice filtered into his thoughts, snapping him back to reality. “Would you like to tell us what symbolism you found on page 37?”

“Uhhhhhh,” His face burned. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

A boy in the front row raised his hand, answering to Mr. Wise’s satisfaction in the softest, gentlest voice Simon had ever heard. Simon sighed with relief as the bell rang, spared from any more humiliation. The boy smiled at him as they walked out of the classroom, turning down the opposite hallway from the one Simon had to use for his next class.

If he wasn’t in love with Blue, he would definitely have fallen for him.

———

As time went on, Simon talked to Blue more and more and felt closer to him than ever. He’d suggested meeting in person and revealing their identities, but Blue wasn’t ready for that yet. And then there was the constant fear of Martin. Martin, who had found his emails and blackmailed him into making Abby fall in love with him, even though anyone could see that would never happen. Still, it was worth playing along to keep his relationship with Blue secret.

Outside of all of that, rehearsals for Oliver were going well, and despite his small part, he loved every single second of being in theater. The songs, the people he worked with in Creekwood’s theater company, the jokes they made, all of it made the torture of high school that much easier to deal with. Their opening night was coming up, so putting his full focus into rehearsals helped him keep his mind off of everything. Still, between scenes and costume changes, he kept glancing at his wrist, hoping that it would magically switch to zeros.

During one of their Saturday rehearsals, the cast took a break for pizza, and Simon found himself sitting next to Cal Price. They’d never talked much before, but he was really nice and, if Simon was being honest, really, really cute. He couldn’t help staring at Cal’s eyes. They were the most vibrant blue-green he’d ever seen. And then it hit him. Blue-green eyes. Blue’s email address.

Cal was Blue. He had to be. There was no other explanation.

So that must mean… Simon thought, pulling up his sleeve to look once again at the numbers on his wrist. Yet, somehow, every number was decidedly not a zero. He sighed. Either Cal wasn’t Blue, which didn’t make any sense, or the timer wasn’t counting down to the moment he met his soulmate. Simon really liked Cal and really wanted him to be Blue, so it had to be the timer. At least, he hoped.

———

It was Christmas when the delicate balance Simon was living in collapsed. Martin was fed up with Abby not liking him back, so he took it out on Simon, outing him on Creeksecrets. Blue was away in Savannah, but he still had internet, so it was only a matter of time before Blue found out who he was. Then, a flicker of hope stood out from the despair: maybe then the counter would hit zero. He glanced at it again. Thirty-one days. Thirty-one days until the timer finally hit zero and he’d find out what those stupid numbers meant, and hopefully he’d learn who Blue was, too.

A few days later, Blue emailed him, and Simon’s heart sunk like a stone before he even opened it. This was it. Blue was going to tell him that he couldn’t do this anymore and never email him again. He held his breath as he read, slowly letting it out as he realized that Blue wasn’t saying goodbye at all and everything was fine. He was so relieved that a smile grew on his face, falling once more when he read the last sentence: Jacques, I’m almost positive I know who you are.

It was now or never. This was his chance to see if Blue really was who Simon thought he was. He typed out a reply and set his phone aside, returning to his homework for as long as he could. A couple hours later, his phone lit up with a notification. Blue had sent a reply. Simon held his breath again as he unlocked his phone.

When he let it out this time, it was more of a sob than a breath. Cal wasn’t Blue. Blue wasn’t Cal. And he’d ruined everything between him and Blue. His hands shook as he replied, hoping against hope that they wouldn’t lose what they had between them.

Oh, and to make it all even better, Blue was right about who he was. He knew that Simon was Jaques. Which wasn’t a bad thing, it was just different now.

———

Simon still thought he might have a chance with Blue, that is, until the day Cal told him he was bi and casually mentioned that they should hang out sometime. His heart beat loudly as his love for Blue and his somewhat-of-a-crush on Cal fought in his mind, and he blushed without saying anything.

The truth was, Simon would pick Blue over Cal any day. He was just caught a little off guard.

When he saw Blue’s email later that day, though, he didn’t even know how to react. For some reason, Blue thought everything was working out for him, but nothing was, not even close. And underneath it all, those damn numbers still weren’t at zero. He sent Blue a whole bunch of emails, hoping against hope that he’d receive a response, but it was to no avail. Their relationship, one of love and trust and Oreos, was over.

Simon wondered if he’d rather it never have happened at all than for it to end like this.

He decided he wouldn’t.

If only there was some way to save it now.

Thirteen days until it’s all behind him, for better or for worse.

———

Finally, finally, finally, the big day arrived.

Simon glanced at the numbers on his wrist, the “days” spot already at zero. He didn’t know whether he was excited or terrified. But right then, he had more important things to think about because that night was opening night for Oliver.

As he drove to school, he noticed flyers hanging up around Shady Creek advertising a carnival that night. Simon’s mind immediately went to Blue and his aversion to tilt-a-whirls, and he got an idea.

As soon as he had a break, he logged on to his email account, Jaques’s email account, on his phone and poured his heart out to Blue, his soulmate, ending the message with an invitation to find him at the carnival after the opening performance was over. All that was left to do now was wait, hope for the best, and not totally screw up during the performance.

Only a few hours to go.

The performance was great, and Simon had a blast, but he couldn’t get out of his costume fast enough once it was over. He ran out to his car and drove to the carnival, wandering around and riding various rides, keeping an eye out for people who could potentially be Blue and trying not to worry about what would happen when the timer hit zero. It was definitely happening during the carnival; it didn’t close for another two hours and the timer had a little less than two hours to tick away.

Simon tried not to worry about it all too much, but once the timer had only ten minutes left, he couldn’t focus anymore. With three minutes to go, he decided to ride the only attraction he hadn’t gone near: the tilt-a-whirl.

All hopes of his timer having anything to do with Blue were pretty much gone. At that point, Simon figured the only possible explanation was that his soulmate was the guy operating the ride. Then again, he really hoped not.

Just as the ride’s operator was about to start the last ride of the night (Simon’s timer still hadn’t reached zero, so it wasn’t him, thank goodness), Simon heard someone say, “Can I sit here?”

Ding.

Simon glanced first at the numbers on his wrist, all zeroes, before looking at the source of the voice, his soulmate. He almost couldn’t believe his eyes.

It was the boy who saved him from humiliation that day in English class.

“It’s you,” Simon said, his breath catching. “You’re Blue.”

“I’m sorry I’m late,” the boy replied. “I’m Bram, and I think this makes us soulmates.” He rolled back the cuff of his jacket to reveal a matching set of zeroes. Simon showed Bram his in response and grinned.

Simon was so glad that he was right about Blue, and even more glad that he didn’t take Cal up on that hangout offer.

———

As Simon drifted off to sleep that night, he had only one thought in his mind.

Everything he’d been through was worth it for this.

[what-if-rpg]

Welcome to the family, DEX! Your application to JESSE ST. JAMES was accepted. I am really happy to have you around! Make sure to read the beginners checklist, and remember, have fun! I can’t wait to roleplay with you! Have fun!

IN CHARACTER

CHARACTER NAME: Jesse St. James CHARACTER AGE & DATE OF BIRTH: June 30th 1990, 29 OCCUPATION: Broadway Actor & Director FACE CLAIM: Jonathan Groff HOMETOWN: Lima, Ohio. CITY WHERE LIVES NOW: New York and Los Angeles. SEXUAL ORIENTATION & GENDER: Bisexual Cis-Male. RELATIONSHIP STATUS: Engaged to Cooper Anderson. POSITIVE TRAITS: + dedicated, + expressive, + imaginative NEGATIVE TRAITS: - arrogant, - bossy, - harsh CHARACTER QUOTE/LYRIC: “I remember when I used to be nervous.”

HEADCANONS

Jesse tries to be a good dad. However, he gets too caught up in his work. He is largely absent from Moriah’s life, but he cares about her more than anything. He will always make her Birthday, always send her a card during Hanukkah and tries to remember whatever she’s currently into. More recently he’s had a change of heart, he’s growing into his role as a father and wants to be active in her life. For her future, he wants her to go on and be a Broadway star; Jesse can sometimes be a bit pushy towards that.

During his marriage, Jesse fell for a charming nitwit on Broadway, Cooper Anderson. The two were in a show together and it was celebrating their cast party that they kissed, and Jesse realised he had feelings for men as well as women. He started dating Cooper in secret, he tried to ignore the situation rather than confront it to ease his thoughts on cheating. It became tricky trying to convince the eagle=eyed theatre fans when they noticed the flirty chemistry..After his divorce, Jesse officially started dating Cooper.

He never knew his real father and his mother never spoke of him. From what he can remember, his relationship with his mom was rough. She was always working and whenever he got to see her, she would be sleeping. Leaving him to find ways to entertain himself. The main escape he had was Disney movies. He adored Disney as a child as it was his main dependency. He loved pretending to be Tarzan, Hercules and Captain Hook. Sure, Hook was a villain, but he was a damn fun villain. And, what? Was he going to be Simba? No thanks, way too much fur.

Complications happened with his birth mother when Jesse was four years old and he was placed into a Foster Home. It took a year before he would come to learn he would not be seeing his birth mother again and was placed with the St. James family. They were wealthy and always encouraged Jesse to pursue what made him happy.

His love for acting formed from the movies he loved to watch. Originally, he wanted to play Captain Hook at Disneyland. This was before he learnt he was talented and had a decent chance of making it within the theatre world.

Jesse and Cooper became a Broadway tag team, the two seemed to always end up in the same shows and rumours began that the two were dating. He wasn’t sure how or why, but the people loved the idea of him and Cooper being a thing. While the two never really saw the appeal and interest they soon realised it was better for their careers to feed into this fantasy. From then on they were known as The Broadway Couple.

CONNECTIONS

PARENTS: Francesca and Gordon St. James: The two fostered Jesse when he was five years old. They have always supported their son in everything he has ever done. He is definitely closer to Fran as he always enjoyed cuddling up with her and watching Disney; even when he was probably too old to be having Disney marathons with his Mom. He respects his dad but they are distant. BROTHER: Jasper St. James: His younger brother seemed to grow up idolising his older brother. Jesse loved the attention but definitely didn’t always return it as maybe he should have. He learnt, when he was seventeen, that his brother had an addiction. Jesse started to try to take a more active part in his brother’s life, but found he was often pushed away or wasn’t prepared to handle the effects of a sibling with a drug problem. SISTER: Chelsea St. James: Chelsea has always been closer to Jesse than their brother Jasper. He adored having a younger sister and would often help her with her career. He wants her to have a good relationship with his loved ones. FIANCE: Cooper Anderson: The two have always had an interesting relationship. From the moment that little nitwit, in dire need of direction and pointers, joined their Les Miserables cast, Jesse found a new project to work on. They went on to spend performance night after performance night with one another but eventually, Jesse found himself having feelings for Cooper. Those feelings didn’t materialise and deepen until they shared a drunken kiss at a cast party. Before long he was looking at the man who shared his dressing room in a new light. It was confusing at first but soon they found themselves lost in stolen nights and hidden kisses. Jesse was conflicted when it came to his marriage so he pretended to ignore the situation. It wasn’t until Rachel confronted him about her own affair that he confessed he was doing the same. Then, did Jesse immediately move into Cooper’s apartment. The two can bicker and get on each other’s nerves but deep down, Jesse does love Cooper. From then on, the two began their own life, pursuing their careers in each coast of America. A few months after Jesse proposed to Cooper did he suggest they start a new chapter in fostering. Jesse wanted to better himself as a father and begin to start a family with this man he called home. He got used to the teenage attitude and Jesse does have a love for the girl, maybe he’s not so bad at this father thing after all. Things weren’t all happy sailing. Since their engagement in September, Jesse and Cooper have faced constant bombardment from press and gossip-seekers alike. The constant comments, withheld callers and general harassment led to early nights and distant feelings. He regrets taking out the frustration on their relationship. Troubles tested them and it became real when he saw the same look behind Cooper’s smile, they both knew; no matter how much they tried to be strong for their foster-child. He hated seeing them depart for New York and it’s been hard adjusting to life on his own. Jesse doesn’t know where things stand, he doesn’t know where they stand. Calls and texts are the sticky-tape that holds their relationship together but Jesse fears the “what’s next..” He doesn’t know how he can cope with a relationship that spans fifty states. EX-WIFE: Rachel Berry: Jesse and Rachel lived a very beautiful love story. After being high school sweethearts for a couple of months, Rachel and Jesse met again and decided it was time to really get together, and maybe try to live their Romeo and Juliette love story. But like those star crossed lovers, Jesse and Rachel’s happily ever after was not to be. Their marriage came to an end after Rachel confessed her feelings for (an affair with) Quinn and ironically, Jesse came clean about his affair with Cooper. The two are currently working together for the sake of their daughter, Moriah. DAUGHTER: Moriah James Berry: Jesse wasn’t ready for fatherhood. He thought he was but when Moriah was born, he couldn’t help but feel vulnerable, unprepared and a failure. He loves her with all of his heart and would do anything to make her happy, but he has a tendency to put his work before anything else. Jesse wants to be a better father for her, but he has a lot to work on with himself first. He has never been one to try and fix other people, he just prays he will never have to try and fix Moriah. As of recent months Jesse has noticed a change in himself. He catches himself looking forward to Moriah’s visits more and more. He feels like he’s come on in his role as a father to both of his daughters, foster and biological. Jesse wants to make more of an effort to be in her life; to give her the father he knows she deserves. FRIEND: Quinn Fabray: Jesse respects Quinn. While he was unemployed in Los Angeles, he took up culinary classes and learned how to bake and cook various meals. He often messages Quinn for new ideas on recipes. When he comes to visit, he brings cookies or other baked goods for Moriah and takes suggestions too. Since relocating to LA, he has taken a new role as a show choir director. The kids are lazy and their lack of interest frustrates Jesse. He is planning on asking Quinn to stop by one of their rehearsals to try and motivate them as a past glee club member. Other than that, Jesse and Quinn like to discuss directing techniques together.

[artemviswrites-blog]

hello! i’m hannah, and i’m back into the rp world after a monster hiatus away. i’ve got a decent amount of free time these days, so i’m hoping to find a couple of people to 1x1 with! under the cut are a bunch of plot ideas, including some fandom related things. if you’re interested in anything you see feel free to send me a message or like this post! and, if you’d like to know more about me, my about me and guidelines pages can definitely help.

i play males and females, and i do m/f and f/f. only rpers over 18, pls find the plots and ideas after the read more!

GENERAL IDEAS

i’m a sucker for anything related to spies and espionage. give me spies working for rival organizations, or agents working for an organization that isn’t what they thought it is (a la alias), or spies that are assigned on missions together but hate each other and have to work together. there is really no way to go wrong with this so long as there is lots of angst and conflict!

one of my all time favorite plots is art thieves. a pair of high profile thieves stealing art and jewelry and other expensive things from all over the world. maybe they’re a team? maybe they’re rivals? or maybe one is retired and the other comes to find them and bring them back into the ring because there’s trouble afoot?

ohhh and royalty, a modern royalty plot would be amazing. it could be any of the classic tropes -- two people betrothed to be married but they hate each other. or maybe one is betrothed to another person? secret romances are my jam.

i’m myth trash which means i’m always down for mythology-based plots that are retelling of stories or personifications of mythic figures in present day. favorites include zeus + hera, odysseus + penelope, orpheus + eurydice, artemis + athena, aeneas + dido, cassandra + helen of troy. but lbr there are so many possibilities and dynamics.

ok but i’m also fairy tale trash so plots involving retellings of fairy tales or personification of fairy tales are right up my alley. they could be the originals or the disney versions, i’m not picky. some of my favorites are peter pan, lady and the tramp, sleeping beauty, snow white and rose red, and the snow queen.

historical plots are great and one of my favorite eras is the roaring 20′s -- so a great gatsby inspired plot would be fun. give me socialites causing trouble, rich millionares throwing extravagant parties, or a journalist trying to dig up all the secrets of the upper class. soooo many options here!

old hollywood plots, tho -- actors and actresses caught up in the glamour of the film world. give me studio drama and set up romances and elaborate films with the cast having affairs. i’m all about anything related to the studio era of hollywood and beyond. think like 1930′s-1960′s.

who remember’s the iconic the wedding planner with jlo? give me something where the wedding planner falls in love with the bride or groom. OR maybe it’s something like this where it’s someone who believes in love and someone else who thinks it’s a farce?

this is always posted about but tbh i want one of my own, so something based around a mystery-solving duo/group a la nancy drew or scooby doo gang plS? two childhood rivals who both liked to solve mysteries and go off to college only to return home after being away for awhile and find themselves sucked back into the mystery business. or maybe it’s two private detectives who get stuck on a case together?

this modern retelling of tangled sounds like fun tbh. 

HP RELATED

founder’s era

rowena/helga  —  two women who are at the heart of creating a school for magic and also having to deal with godric and salazar at odds with each other? two women who end up spending so much time together that they wonder what it’d be like to be together always? i can play rowena or helga, but tbh i just really love the idea of them being in love and telling godric and salazar to fuck off. 

first war

james/lily + sirius/oc   — yeah, yeah, i know. this is a long shot, but it’s been eons since i was able to play my oc against sirius, and i’m dying to try it again. i’d really like to double up and play all four of these guys together -- i will happily play james! i can give you the full rundown of my oc as well...just ask!

frank/alice  — these TWO I SWEAR. they’re so cute i love them and i’m 100% willing to play frank or alice. give me their auror adventures and them having neville and we can au if you’d like where they don’t lose their minds or we can keep their heartbreaking ending it’s all up to you!

au’s + etc’s  — i’m pretty much open to any au’s and ships (no sirius/remus pls ty) and would be interested in playing any of these characters, so if something interests you let me know: marlene mckinnon, dorcas meadows, amelia bones, alastor moody, alecto carrow, and fabian prewett.

trio era

pansy/harry  — this ship gives me life? like they’re so polar opposites in so many ways and pansy flat out was willing to give harry up to the dark lord, but like, pansy was also the victim of jk rowling’s hate so she deserves better than that storyline. i’d love to play these two out after the war when harry and ginny are falling apart and pansy is still trying to figure her life out and feels like the outcast. (i could really only see myself playing pansy here)

viktor/hermione  — i would LOVE to see these two run into each other after the war and hit it off and end up falling for each other again. krum is still a quidditch star and hermione has a badass career and they’re just trying to navigate everything and idk I JUST LOVE THESE TWO.

cho/ginny  — IMAGINE THIS: two gals who go pro after the war and play on rival teams but whoops fall in love and become a power couple in the wizarding world. i can play cho or ginny just pls give me quidditch babes.

crackships + other  — there are so many other ships i love in this gen (alicia/charlie + penelope/oliver are the two biggest tbh yes they’re crack but INDULGE ME OK)  that i’d be willing to play, so just throw them out there. some other characters i’d be interested in playing: alicia spinnet, oliver wood, penelope clearwater, luna lovegood, daphne greengrass, astoria greengrass, blaise zabini, and charlie weasley

miscellaneous

quidditch  — this could be set during any era, any time. give me quidditch players and rivalries and falling in love and friendships. there’s so much potential here!

pureblood society  — this has always been an interest of mine: exploring the pureblood culture pre-first war. give me arranged marriages, feuding families, lavish parties, and soooo much gossip.

cursebreakers  — we don’t know terribly much about cursebreakers, but it’s such a cool job and there’s so much potential so i’d love to have a duo that travels the world tackling magic from centuries past.

original characters  — i mean, there’s so much possibility in this world that we can definitely do anything and everything. just toss out an idea!

OTHER FANDOMS

pokemon  — i have NEVER NOT WANTED a couple pkmn lines. original characters -- trainers, gym leaders, coordinators, etc. give me EVERYTHING we can make just about anything work tbh. we can even come up with a new region (just no new pkmn pls my brain couldn’t take it).

riverdale  — yes this show i loved it i love all the garbage characters and i’d love to rp some of them? we could au it or focus on what happened immediately following the season one finale. i’d love to do archie/betty, jughead/veronica, or cheryl/veronica, and i’d happily play archie, veronica, or cheryl!

gossip girl  — yes ok it’s an old fandom i’m old i get it. but consider this: ignore everything after season two. we could play chuck and blair how they should’ve been done. we could au it and have blair go to yale. my favorite ships are chuck/blair, dan/serena, and nate/blair. i’d prefer to play blair, serena, or nate!