#is supposed to be angry- this is the last resort- all or nothing- his refusal to relive this nightmare

[ganondoodle]

another WIP, but i can tell im running out of steam here, i still have to finish this one, the second phase and the beast one though .......

(in the second phase he reforms his right arm out of malice and uses it like the player uses links shiekah arm, it stretches like the hookshot to grab you from a distance etc. - beast is mostly typical beast attacks, then theres a cutscene, you think its over and zelda steps up to use her sealing power mimicking the scene from botws end, but he wakes back up and cuts off half her right hand, whichs disables her as a companion for the last and final fight- i want it to be actually extremely challenging; he will now mix up multiple attacks from all previous phases, switching between patterns of a beast to that of the skilled swordsman you fought him as right at the start of it, including dodging your perfect dodges back ..)

(WIP for "botw2" project)

perhaps we are getting somewhere with this ganondorf design after all ............. the patterns have been taking me forever and are far from done, i want to incorporate the colorful flower petal-ish design of the botw gerudo but still make him look different and more practical

[angelicyoongie]

lovesick • yandere profiles

➝  a/n: thank you so much to anon for this commission!! ❤️ this is my first time writing a yandere profile, so it was a fun challenge and nice little side-project to work on. i hope this will give you all a little more insight into the lovesick boys! ➝  word count: 2.6k ➝ content warning: yandere behavior, stalker behavior, mentions of kidnapping, self-harm, murder, etc.

🥀 NAMJOON ➝ yandere type: overprotective, mildly possessive

Namjoon is overprotective to a fault. But how can he not be, when the illness that ripped his family apart left his mother nothing but a memory and his father a shell of what he once was? Losing a soulmate is pure torture and Namjoon refuses to repeat the same history as his parents. You're too precious, his darling, and there's nothing Namjoon won't do to ensure that you stay healthy and happy. Sure, maybe his methods come off as a little more invasive than caring when he books health check-ups in your name without your knowledge, but he doesn't mind your anger as long as it means that you're all right. 

Namjoon is for the most part calm and collected, but even he has his limits. He can't stand it when his advice or orders aren't followed; when you blatantly disregard your health or put yourself in dangerous situations despite his warnings. Those are the only times he truly ever gets angry – well, aside from when his claim on you is challenged, of course. Namjoon's possessive streak rears its head whenever someone tries to pretend like they know you better than he does, after all, you're his soulmate – his to care for and his to protect. He isn't above hurting someone if it means it'll keep you safe. Murder would be the absolute last resort for him but if it had to be done, then so be it. He'll do anything for you.

There's nothing that makes him happier than when you let him care for you without a fuss, allowing him to pamper you to his heart's desire. Namjoon craves to have you close, to feel your warmth in his arms and your steady breaths against his chest. He won't allow anything to jeopardize that – not even the six other people he shares the bond with. 

You're the most perfect soulmate he could ever wish for and the rest of the world can burn as long as it means you'll be safe, healthy, and happy (with him). 

🥀 SEOKJIN ➝ yandere type: obsessive

Seokjin has always been cynical about his soulmark. How was he supposed to find someone through their shared pain when there are so many people in this world? It seemed impossible and unfair, and Seokjin figured that the chances of ever finding you were slim to none. Even so, there was always a little part of him that hoped that the universe would lead him to his soulmate – you – at the right time. And it did. Seokjin swears he was reborn the first time he laid eyes on you, the pain insignificant in comparison to the joy of finally finding his soulmate. 

He has always been level-headed, thinking his actions through before acting on them, but Seokjin found that when he was faced with you, all of that flew out the window. He just couldn't leave you alone, not when he had finally found you. Seokjin likes to take pictures, to capture your every moment so that it can be remembered forever. Every smile, frown, and pout you make is a gift to this world, and Seokjin loves that the pictures all show off the genuine you, unfiltered and real. After all, you can't put on a fake smile if you don't even know that you're being followed. 

Seokjin has lost track of how many hours he's spent fantasizing about your bond and the life you're going to lead together. His obsessive thoughts are only quelled when he gets to see you, to follow you around; pretending he's taking part in your life as he watches it unfold from the shadows. And now that he finally has you, Seokjin is free to let all of his fantasies play out, to be the perfect soulmate that you deserve. He isn't one to raise his voice or get angry, but Seokjin finds his frustration building when you don't respond to his advances the way you were supposed to – the way he imagined you would. Even so, he doesn't dwell on it for long. His fantasies can always be changed, reimagined, to make sure they capture the real you – just like his photos. 

Seokjin loves spending time with you, indulging in your hobbies, and watching you do things that make you happy. Of course, he hopes that one day the only thing you'll need to make your heart sing is him, but he doesn't mind the wait. You have the rest of your lives to figure that out. You were the impossible was made possible, and Seokjin has no intention of ever letting his angel go. 

🥀 JUNGKOOK ➝ yandere type: mild clingy, mild obsessive

Jungkook always hoped that his soulmate would end up being someone like you. Coming from a broken family that pushed him aside the moment he showed signs of weakness, Jungkook only ever wished for his soulmate to accept him – to love him – like he was. His stutter and shyness didn't define him and yet, there were so many who couldn't look past it. You, however, felt like you were heaven-sent with how you only saw him and not his flaws.

He wanted so desperately to approach you when he realized that you were his soulmate but the insecurities his family had instilled in him held him back. So, he instead watched you from the back of the room, memorizing the way your hair moved and how you would tap your pen against your beautiful lips when you were deep in thought. The classes he didn't share with you were torture, but in turn, it made the moments he caught a glimpse of you around campus even sweeter. 

Truly, the only thing Jungkook wants is to be loved by you. His heart feels like it's bursting with happiness whenever you look at him, your touch electrifying his skin in a way he never thought possible. He used to be dependent on his hyungs for affection but it's nothing compared to the way you make him feel, the way you make his soul glow just by being near. His past has left him starved for your attention and Jungkook finds that his emotions get a little too overwhelming whenever you're not around. He relies on you for stability and love, something that only fuels his mildly obsessive tendencies. 

Jungkook would rather hurt himself before ever hurting you. He might not be willing to go to the lengths that his hyungs are to protect you, but that doesn't mean he can't keep you safe. Jungkook would do anything for you, even if it means sacrificing himself. You're everything to him. 

🥀 HOSEOK ➝ yandere type: impulsive

Hoseok believes that the best-laid plans are those that happen on a whim. The choices he's thought the least about are those that have given him the most; he started his business based on a bet, joined a fundraiser because he had nothing better to do that day and somehow all of it led him straight to you – his other half. Hoseok may not believe in fate but he does trust his gut, and he especially listens to it when he's around you.

Compared to your other soulmates, Hoseok comes off as cold and stoic, his true emotions hidden behind a mask. Hoseok was known to be loud and expressive when he was young but the more he got teased for his outbursts and over-the-top reactions, the more he started hiding them away. Now, it takes a lot of coaxing before Hoseok feels comfortable enough to let his mask slip, a burst of genuine laughter from him so rare it stuns you every time you hear it. 

Hoseok's impulsive nature has worked well for him over the years, but it also means that he often acts without thinking much of the after – like how he would ever be able to explain your drugged drink to a room full of people who weren't equally as sick as him. His quick mood changes make him unpredictable and he's quick to anger when something doesn't go his way. Hoseok isn't above giving out punishment, not if it means you'll learn to never disobey him again. He'll never intentionally hurt you but he's more than capable of giving you a good scare.

Although you may be safe from his wrath, other people aren't so lucky. Hoseok will certainly resort to murder if someone ever dares to lay a finger on you and he'll take great joy in removing them from your sight. 

What Hoseok loves the most is seeing your reaction as he gives you new treats he's created especially for you. There's nothing as satisfying as watching your eyes light up and your smile bloom as you bite into them, praising him for his hard work. Even if Hoseok's feelings and actions are a little convoluted, he does mean well. You're his sunshine, the one person that manages to break through the dark clouds in his mind and he'll do whatever it takes to keep you by his side. 

🥀 JIMIN ➝ yandere type: self-indulgent, obsessive

Jimin spends most of the quiet hours at work fantasizing about you. It started innocent – Jimin was just so thrilled that he had found you that he couldn't help but imagine all of the ways he could reveal himself to you – but as time passed and nothing happened, those thoughts turned a little… dirtier. Jimin thought of all the ways he could show you just how long he's been waiting for you, yearning for you. He knows he can make you feel good, that he can make all of your dirtiest dreams come true, and if by satisfying your desires he also satisfies his own, well, that's just an added bonus. 

While Jimin may love to please you, he's also quite selfish. He doesn't hold back when there's something he wants and he doesn't mind pulling a few strings to get his way. Jimin needs you to pamper him; to tell him how much you like him and how much he means to you. It's the only thing that quells that needy voice in his head, the one that constantly thinks of you and only you.  So really, it doesn't take that much to make him happy. He preens under your attention, especially when you ignore the others to solely focus on him. Jimin loves to be touched and kissed, but nothing beats being intimate with you. It makes Jimin feel special, to be able to experience you like that, vulnerable and needy for only him. 

Due to the nature of his job, Jimin keeps a cool head most of the time. The one thing that will set him off, however, is you lying to him. Jimin can smell lies from a mile away, is trained to spot them, and yet you like you think that you can deceive him. Perhaps if it didn't upset him so, he would find the idea of it funny. Even if you may test his patience and temper sometimes, there's still nothing Jimin wouldn't do to keep you safe. He knows how to use his resources well, how to make it seem like someone never even existed. He's willing to do anything for you, his soulmate. 

🥀 TAEHYUNG ➝ yandere type: impulsive, delusional

Taehyung was raised on the belief that the universe would lead him to his soulmate. His family romanticized the soul-system, never doubting that fate would steer them in the direction they needed to go. Taehyung was the same, and those beliefs were only cemented in his mind when he finally met you. He only caught a glimpse of you that day in the coffee shop but it was enough to convince Taehyung that some part of your soul had recognized him too – and you were waiting for him to make a move. 

Using his programming skills, Taehyung easily hacked your phone. He wanted a way to feel close to you, to make sure he always knew where you went in case something happened. It didn't take long before it wasn't enough – before Taehyung had to start following you home after your classes, just to get a peek at your pretty face. The texts you sent your friends about feeling watched on the way home only fueled Taehyung's desire to do it more – it was definitely a code meant for him, a message that you knew he was there. 

The few times you do something that upsets Taehyung or he grows too impatient from holding himself back, his impulsive nature jumps out. There's really no telling what he'll do – Taehyung doesn't give his actions much forethought before carrying them out. One day he may send you bloody roses because you ignored him, the other he may plot to kidnap you because he's grown tired of waiting. Taehyung is a wild card and there's no limit to how far he's willing to go to keep you with him.  Taehyung's reality may not be the same as yours – he believes that you have liked him for much longer than you actually have – but it still makes his heart beat like crazy whenever you express your love for him. Being able to hold you in his arms is the most amazing feeling Taehyung has ever felt. You're his soulmate, his destiny, and nothing will ever drive you apart. Taehyung will make sure of that. 

🥀 YOONGI ➝ yandere type: obsessive, very mild overprotective

Yoongi might have believed that music was his first love, but it all pales in comparison to how he feels about you. He was used to spending most of his time dreaming up narratives and poetry that would flow well with his beats, working tirelessly to create the perfect track again and again. There were days Yoongi didn't even see the outside of his studio, but that all changed when he finally found you. He went from barely being home to leaving work on the dot, hurrying to his apartment in hopes that he might get a new update on you from Taehyung. 

Having a gentle disposition and good self-control, Yoongi is surprised to find how flustered he gets around you, his body suddenly reacting in ways it never has before. He finds that his thoughts keep straying to you constantly, dreaming of the dates he wants to take you on and how your relationship will evolve. All of the sad ballads he's supposed to write turn into bright pop songs whenever he thinks of your smile. He loves seeing you happy, watching your thrilled reaction as he lets you listen to his songs first, love confessions being whispered into your ears repeatedly. 

Yoongi knows that he sometimes gets a little overprotective of you. He never wants to hurt you, but if a small punishment can steer you over on the right path, then Yoongi is willing to look the other way. He cares about you more than anything else and so, he's really just acting in your best interest by making sure nothing bad will happen to you. Yoongi wouldn't hesitate to land a punch if he caught someone looking at you twice, but murder is out of the question for him. Luckily that's not something he needs to worry about, not when you have other soulmates who are more than willing to do that work for him. 

You're the best thing that has ever happened to him. Nothing beats seeing your smile, hearing your laugh, or watching your eyes light up as you let yourself be pulled into his arms. You're Yoongi's soulmate – his love – the only person who can turn his rainy days into endless summer. 

[star-dust-stuf]

Albert Shaw x fem!reader

title: words that would calm me down

warnings: descriptions of misemployment, some pain, angst

a/n: sorry not sorry. I actually love this call me crazy. the people that get it, get it. the people that don’t, don’t. as always this has nothing to do with sex and abuse. sorry for typos. enjoy darlings.

-

Sometimes Albert was just as sweet as any person can be to another and I think that I took it for granted this night. He had strict rules in which I’ve always followed, and I’ve never wanted to break one on purpose to test his patience but this time I think I did it without thinking. I was so consumed with the kindness and didn’t dare to see his dark side until I took too big of a step.

He left the door unlocked, usually to test me, but this time I knew he forgot because he’s been very busy lately, keeping his brother Max out of his home. Albert told me a lot about him and since he’s an addict it wouldn’t be hard for Albert to persuade him out of his home.

I felt a serge of warning in my chest telling me not to but I was too consumed. I went up the steps slowly, my bare feet on the steps. I walked and walked till I stepped up into the kitchen… he wasn’t to be seen. I looked around before actually entering and it was honestly quite comfortable. It was dark outside from what I can see in the kitchen window.

I walked further in the kitchen, the floor was cold on my feet and my hands shook, it was my nerves warning me… warning me to go back down but I just wouldn’t listen. I walked towards the sink, nice and clean. It wasn’t surprising he was quite a busy man. I didn’t really know what I was doing besides breaking the rules but that wasn’t going through my head. Not one bit.

All the sudden a cold, rough hand grabbed my arm. It was Albert. He pulled me roughly to the wall and slammed me against it, both hands on each my arms, he shouted in my face. “WHY THE HELL ARE YOU UP HERE?!”

I shook, there was too much. I didn’t reply and his grip got tighter. He only had his mouth piece on from his mask, it gave me a view of his blue eyes, his long hair and his anger. “Ow, Albert!” I say as he gripped me tightly.

He didn’t even loosen up, he knew the pain he was causing me but didn’t let up. He pulled me back towards the steps, I just let him there was no point to pull back or refuse, it’s where I should be and even if it wasn’t, it hurt too much to fight back.

He pulled me down the steps and put me back to the basement, he threw me on the mattress but not as rough as he handled me. He then shut the door and locked it. I tired to run to him before he locked it but to was too late, my only resort was to cry as an automatic reaction. “ALBERT!”

I tired to open the door as useless as it was, and the screaming was no help either. It’s soundproof. Then all the sudden the lights in the basement switched off, I didn’t know what to do and I knew he was punishing me, he knew I feared the dark especially if I’m crying which he knew I was. “Albert, please!”

There was no use but what else was i supposed to do? I didn’t have him which was all I needed… I cried and cried. I sat by the door for a while, while my face was drenched in tears and I was left gasping for air. I walked weakly to the mattress and cried myself to sleep hoping the morning would only be better.

And when morning did come the sun shined through that little window, my eyes hurt badly from crying most of the night and when I sat up there was a throbbing in my head that made my vision black out. I felt if I just fell back asleep I’d miss my chance if he were to come back in here but I didn’t even know what time it was, he might have already came and I missed him.

But I was wrong. The door unlocked and my first instinct was to back up and put my knees to my chest and when he came in he had a tray of food like always and only his mouthpiece was on from his mask. It gave me a good view of his eyes, less angry than last night. He spoke. “Have you learned your lesson, Bunny?”

I nodded and held my knees close. He put the tray on the floor and walked towards the mattress, he got close and sat near me. He put his hand on my cheek and stroked under my eyes with his thumb. “How are your eyes?” His voice is soft.

“They hurt…”

He sighed a little and moved a lock of hair behind my ear. “The only way you’ll ever listen to me, and when I know you are is when you cry as hard as you did last night. Now you know… the next time you want break a rule you won’t.”

I just looked at him, my soft eyes gazing at his. He sighed a little. “Eat please. I don’t want you to starve yourself because you think I’m mad at you.” He stroked my cheek. “I’m not.”

I still felt the aftermath of last night, I was scared of him. He put his hand down from my cheek and to my arm where he grabbed me. It didn’t look like there was a bruise, nor on the other one but he gently caressed them with both his hands. “You’ll be alright.”

“Albert?” I whispered a little, my voice a little hoarse.

He tilted his head in response. “Oh, you must have cried really hard last night?” He stroked my hair.

“Im sorry… I took you for granted and I made my privileges too far.”

I heard him chuckle a little, his breath getting caught in the mask. “You don’t have to be sorry. Someone as young as you is bound to break rules.”

He stood up, “eat. I’ll be back in a little while.” He finally left. I was hoping that tonight I’d be able to see him in the corner like I sometimes do, the way it comforts me when he’s there. I needed it.

[choghetti]

How I would fix Miguel and Robby's rivalry in Season 2

I feel like Robby and Miguel's rivalry has been underutilized in Season 2. They barely had any interactions and their feud was pushed to the side by Sam and Tory's when I believe they are supposed to be the main teen rivalry since I believe they were set up to be the main teen rivalry of Season 1.

In the actual show, He attacked Robby when he literally heard Tory threatening Sam on the speaker and he saw Robby restraining Tory. Robby's attack on Miguel after he showed mercy also doesn't more sense since he completely forgot about the Miyagi-Do lessons and decided to give into his anger all of a sudden. I think Miguel can be even more of an antagonist to Robby while being one of the deuteragonists in Season 2. He can struggle to comprehend Johnny's lesson of mercy and honor due to his jealousy of Robby being with Sam. He can be aggressive towards Robby, while Robby slowly loses his patience throughout the season. Let's go:

Episode 3: Miguel sees Robby at a skate park and he confronts him over the fact that he knows Robby is Johnny’s son. He accuses Robby of siding with his father’s rival against him. Robby says that his issues with Johnny are none of his business. Miguel then scorns that he has no sympathy for Robby’s issues and tells him if this is how he was going to treat Johnny, he can forget crawling back to Johnny. Robby retorts that he is not surprised since he is just another bully following Johnny’s orders and storms off, not willing to resort to violence.

Episode 5: Miguel goes to the mall and tries to talk to Sam, but Sam wants nothing to do with Miguel. Robby notices and he intervenes. Miguel angrily tells him to stay out of it. Robby tells him to back off before he ends up hurting Sam. Miguel accuses him of being a hypocrite, by saying that he hurt Johnny, who was trying his best to be a better father to him and says that Johnny was right to leave his sorry ass. Robby gets angry but calms down and he and Sam walk off, but his anger towards Miguel’s comment still boils inside. Miguel doesn’t try to fight Robby since they are in the mall, but his anger still boils inside.

Episode 7: Miguel confronts Robby in town and tells him to stop getting in his way with Sam. Robby asks, “Or what? You’re going to fight dirty like last time?" Miguel gets angry, so he challenges him to a fight. Robby refuses, but Miguel would try to make provocative taunts about his father to try to get him to fight. Robby’s face turns tense and his fists are clenched. But then he remembers the Miyagi-Do teachings, so he walks away. Miguel is furious over Robby leaving.  

Episode 8: At the roller rink, Miguel actually tries to get back together with Sam and actually tries to flirt with her, but Sam doesn't give in. Here, Sam doesn't lie and say it wasn't a date. Instead, she angrily states that he should have believed her and that it was his fault that they broke up and leaves with the skates. Robby is then spotted glaring at Miguel and Miguel glares back as Sam walks away with the skates.

Episode 9: At night, Miguel tries another attempt to win Sam back, but Sam is cold to him. Miguel then argues with Sam again about the things that have happened between them. Sam storms off. Aisha tells Miguel that Sam developed a crush on Robby when she looked at her abs at the beach club and that Sam hid her relationship with Miguel from her dad because she was trying to protect their relationship and that she cared about him. Miguel then realizes that he has fucked over his chances with Sam. Miguel goes up to Sam and apologizes for assuming that she was cheating on him. Sam then thanks him for giving her the medal and says that she didn't know he returned it. Miguel then realizes that Robby lied about the medal and hides his anger. Instead of kissing, they hug, which makes Tory jealous, leading to the school fight between her and Sam. Let's be honest, the kiss was not a great look on Miguel and Sam's relationship (despite them being my favorite couple on the show).

Episode 10: The school fight would be more plausible because it is not believable that the fight would go on without security stopping the students before anyone gets injured. That means the fight would last for 2-3 minutes, less students would be involved and there are only three prominent fights, Miguel vs Robby, Sam vs Tory, and Hawk vs Demetri. Tory only confronts Sam in the hallway instead of announcing that she is going to hurt her because let's be honest, security would have come busting in and arrested Tory before she could fight. Sam and Tory fight and Robby tries to get in between them but Miguel gets in his way. He is angry about the fact that Robby lied about the medal and is only trying to get in Sam's good graces. He then attacks Robby and their fight lasts about the same. Their fight goes all the way close to the balcony. Miguel tells Robby that if he knew Sam didn't have feelings from him, he wouldn't have hid the medal of honor. The rest can still play out the same way with a shorter time span since the fight only takes 2-3 minutes.

[moremaybank]

hello can you do some headcanons where yandere klaus and his girlfriend had a fight and she ignores him for days and klaus is desperate and will do anything to reconcile with her

klaus trying to reconcile with you after a fight...

a/n: kinda long, sorry lmao. gf!reader. also didn't realize it said yandere!klaus until after i finished writing so let me know if you want me to do another one with yandere!klaus

klaus masterlist

to say klaus was losing his mind was a gross understatement

you two had a fight

a huge one

you stormed out of the compound, barely being able to look him in the eye

and that has remained true over the past week

any time klaus even laid eyes on you - when you walked past him in rousseau's, when rebekah invited you over to the compound for drinks and a girl's night, even when you came to babysit hope - you couldn't look at him

or rather you wouldn't

as far as you were concerned, you had nothing to say to klaus

you felt bad for ignoring him, but not quite bad enough

klaus on the other hand felt like he had everything to say to you

and lord did he try

he left you nearly a hundred voicemails, all of which were ignored

he had come to realize that you weren't gonna sit and listen to what he had to say, so he tried to come up with other ways to at least convince you to be in the same room as him

you were sitting on a couch in the compound, holding baby hope in your arms as you pressed kisses all over her face, making her babble with an adorable toothless grin

klaus entered the room, a bouquet of roses in hand, along with beingnets from the pastry shop he introduced you to

he knew they were your favourite and even if it wouldn't fix everything, he thought it'd be a start

klaus stepped in front of you, "how are my two favourite girls doing?"

refusing to give in, you kept your gaze on hope

"did you hear something, babygirl? no? neither did i," you cooed as you stood up and walked out of the room, leaving klaus alone with a defeated look on his face

okay, back to the drawing board

he sees you getting ready for a night out with rebekah, hayley and freya

body clad in a gorgeous mini dress, makeup and hair done flawlessly

you look gorgeous, and he can't help himself

"you look beautiful. are you sure you won't need me to fight off the idiots that try to pursue you?"

he gives you his signature smirk, hoping his joke will at least get you to crack a smile, but he is sorely disappointed when you roll your eyes, grabbing your purse and walking out of the bathroom without a word

everything he tries seems to fail and it stings

you're his favourite person in the world (barring his daughter, of course) and you won't speak to him

he feels like he's dying, and for an immortal original hybrid, that's saying something

what the hell are you supposed to do when the love of your life can't even handle being in the same room as you?

he's run out of options

so when you come home, he opts to go for his last resort

you walk into the compound, heels clicking against the ground but coming to a halt when you see klaus sitting on the couch with a drink in his hand

you're ready to walk off so you can get ready for bed, but his voice stops you

"i can't do this anymore"

you furrow your brows, turning to look at him

he stands up and walks right up to you, silently hoping you won't step away or run off

"i understand that you're angry with me, i do. but i can't stand the idea of you hating me"

you sigh, "i don't hate you, klaus. i could never hate you"

"you can barely look at me. you won't talk to me, you can't even be in the same room as me without running away. listen, it's not that i don't think you can take care of yourself, love, and it's not that i don't trust you. you're the woman i've been waiting for my entire life. you're extraordinary, and you're everything to me. i can't live without you. so yeah, i'm going to be overprotective, and maybe a tad paranoid—"

"a tad?"

"alright, fine. extremely paranoid. the point is, i'll do whatever it takes to keep you alive and breathing. i love you, y/n. i love you, and i can't let anything happen to you"

you want to stay mad, you really do

but looking into his puppy dog eyes, the pout on his lips

you just can't resist

you exhale deeply, "you're gonna have to make it up to me"

klaus finally cracks a grin, pressing a kiss to your knuckles after grabbing your hand

"whatever you want, my love"

~

klaus mikaelson tag list (join here!): @princess-charming-01 @maybankslover @kittyqrt @trenchmaniac @techlipse @the-kaya-aa @catmikaelson20 @hopesdadswife @amournoir @skydisneylover

[harrysgoldenline]

When In Italy - Part 2

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: um not sure, I think there are bad words so sorry? also again not proofread bc I am lazy. 

Note: PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINKING ABOUT ME DOING PERSONALIZED IMAGINES/BLURBS! PLEASE TALK TO ME ABOUT THEM!

Part 1

There will be a part 3!!! All comments/feedback is encouraged :)

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You didn’t dare to turn your back, hands shaking as you felt his presence behind you, his footsteps approaching closer as you desperately tried to make it into the guest room as quickly as possible. 

“I’m sorry.” you barely get out, trying to keep your voice strong, “I-I’ll pack and clean up the glass and I’ll get out of your way.”

“Can you look at me so we can talk about this?”

“No” You say with an exhale, shaking your head as your knuckles turned white with your tight grip you had on a pair of sweats you were throwing into your bed, “no, I can’t.”

You just hear him sigh, knowing him well enough to picture how he ran his hair through his hair and pinched the bridge of his nose, something he always did when he was frustrated. You wondered if she knew that too, wondered how he could just be with someone so quickly after everything you’ve been through together. 

“You’re staying. This is your home as much as it’s mine.” He said, getting closer to you and pulling the suitcase back, “we can just… I don’t know, we’ll figure something out, you stay and we can maybe just stay in the main-”

“Are you serious?” You snap, interrupting him with angry eyes, gripping a shirt between your hands tighter as your hands shake, “you want me to stay in this house that we bought together, while you are down the hall sharing a bed with another woman? How could you even… are you insane?”

“You’re right.” He sighed, running his hands along his face, “You’re right, I’m sorry… I just, I don’t know.”

Your eyes were glued to the bed, trying to not look at him as you felt your bottom lip start to shake, seeing him in his peripheral vision and you wished nothing more than to just disappear, or wake up from this nightmare.

“Please…” he whispered, “y/n… I-I, can we please talk?”

“About what, Harry?” 

“I don't know… us? I haven’t seen you since…”

“Us?” You scoffed, bottom lip beginning to wobble again before you bit down hard on it, “haven’t seen me since we broke up. We were together for years and now you’re already with someone else? I just… I think I’m gonna go find a hotel.”

Harry quickly chases after you, coming up behind you and reaching up, arm brushing against your shoulder as he reaches in front of you and closes the door, leaving you trapped between it and his body, eyes falling to the floor, refusing to turn around and face him. 

“Please, just let me go, Harry.” 

He stood silently behind you, hand still against the door and when you looked up you instantly noticed he was still wearing the ring you got for him on your two year anniversary. You could remember the way he looked at you, a wide smile as he instantly slid it on his finger and you could feel it as he held your cheek, pressing a hard kiss on your lips. 

You wondered how much she knew about you, if the ring was from you, if she knew the house belonged to both of you. You didn’t want to hate her, you didn’t even know her but you couldn’t help but feel angry at her, angry at her for having him. 

Harry's hand fell from the door, his fingers brushing yours as he pulled the handle of the suitcase from your hands as you still stood frozen and he put it on the bed, unzipping and pulling a few things out before you could hear the soft creak of the bed falling under his weight and you two sat in silence for a few moments as you still stood frozen at the door, wishing you could just disappear. 

“I’ll get out of your way, y/n, but please don’t feel like you have to leave.” He softly spoke, “…know how much ya love it here, so please don’t feel like you have to leave because of me. The drivers on the way back and I’m already getting a room at a hotel. You stay, okay?”

You slowly nodded, looking down at your hands, picking at you nails before slowly turning around, meeting his eyes instantly as he was already looking at you and offered you a soft smile.You let out a shaky sigh, making your way to the balcony and quickly walking past him, figuring he would just walk straight out of the room now that you weren’t standing in the way. 

Yet, he sat still. Sitting on the bed as you stood against the railing on the balcony, closing your eyes and feeling your muscles relax as the cool, soft breeze hits your skin, the smell of the ocean making you sigh, wondering if you’ll wake up on the beach where you were sat a few hours prior, but you were met with the bittersweetness of the beautiful view in front of you, with the burning presence of your ex-boyfriend still behind you. 

You shivered in the presence of another, stronger breeze, your hair still slightly wet from the bath not helping keep your body any warmer. Pushing through, you stood your ground, still not hearing the sound of footsteps or the door opening you didn’t dare to risk looking over your shoulder to even see if he had left, you knew he was there.

What you didn’t know though, was he was approaching, stealthily walking up behind you and placing a warm, knit blanket over your shoulders causing you to jump, the sudden contact of the seafoam material coming around your shoulders and large hands giving them a squeeze before leaving your skin. 

“The car is here.” He spoke softly, coming up and standing next to you against the railing as he knew you weren’t going to turn and look at him, “I would love to see you tomorrow if that’s somethin’ you’re comfortable with, I’d love to catch up.” 

“I don’t know, Harry.” You retorted, voice soft as you hugged the blanket closer to your body, hoping he will sense your thanks without having to say it, “Maybe, I’m just not sure if it’s a good idea for me to actually catch up with you for the first time with her, I’m sorry I just don’t know if I’m read-“ 

“It would just be us two, I just want to talk.” He spoke, seeing him turn his head and look at you in your peripheral vision, “We haven’t spoken in so long, used to talk everyday. I’d like to know how you’re doing, what you’ve been up to if that’s okay.”

“Okay.” 

“Breakfast tomorrow? I can have someone come pick you up at 10? Know you don’t like waking up early.” 

You let out a soft laugh and you slowly looked over at him, your smile growing slightly when you saw him let out a soft laugh too and you felt like you were transported back in time, a better time. Your eyes met, staring into each other's eyes probably a few moments too long before you turned the other way, looking back towards the view and nodded.

“Okay.”

Harry nodded, leaning against the railing before pushing himself back and shoving his hands deep in his pockets. He stepped closer to you for a moment and you saw him stutter step back just as quick and his hand came up to scratch the back of his neck. 

“Okay, um, well I’m gonna head out.” He spoke, “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

And just like that, he was gone all over again and you could hear the muffled sound of him explaining what was happening and you were thankful you couldn’t hear whatever kind of response she gave him. Shivering again, you walked back into the bedroom and collapsed onto the bed, looking at your phone on the nightstand and wondering if you should call (y/bff/n) and ask her if you should go to breakfast, ask her if you should stay in Italy or just go home. 

But you decided against it and just stared up at the ceiling, wondering how in the hell you got in this situation. Wondered how long he knew the woman that he was with, wondered what the status of their relationship was.

You tossed and turned in bed for what felt like hours and you couldn’t help but to pull that seafoam blanket closer to you as you cuddle it into your chest, hating yourself for wishing it smelt like him and you even thought about walking into the master bathroom, seeing if Harry still had that extra bottle of cologne stored in the cabinet but you didn’t let yourself give in.

Instead, you swung your legs over the side of the bed and went to go get yourself a glass of water, hoping it would clear your head long enough for you to fall asleep. Your feet padding softly against the floor was the only sound, thankful that they weren’t staying there but you couldn’t help the nausea that hit you when you thought about them staying at a romantic resort. 

You downed the glass as soon as you filled it up, standing by the fridge as you downed its contents before filling it up again, breathing slightly heavy as you focused on the water filling it back up and when you turned around you were met with a familiar photo, fingers running softly over the photo of Harry and his mom on the private beach, a bright smile covering their faces.

You then looked over at the hallway, seeing all that Harry had cleaned up the glass and frame you had knocked over.

 *** 

You hardly slept that night, tossing and turning all night, waking up every few hours and honestly a lot of just laying there, thinking over every single possibility. 

Now, you were trying on about your eighth outfit, trying different combinations and looks, not sure what to end up wearing. You’d hate to show up looking too nice for breakfast, but you also didn’t want to look too casual, or of course looking like a complete mess. 

What the hell are you supposed to wear to meet an ex boyfriend? 

You finally found the perfect outfit, something that made you feel cute but was still casual, making you also feel comfortable that it wasn’t going to look like you were trying too hard. That was the last thing you wanted. 

The knock on the door caused you to jump, glancing over at the clock and seeing that the driver was right on time and you quickly rushed over to the mirror, looking over your appearance quickly before grabbing your purse and rushing to the door with shaking hands. 

Swinging the door open your breath catches in your throat, body freezing and your eyes flash wildly to take in your surroundings, seeing Harry stand before you instead of the driver like you had expected. 

“Hey,” He said, giving you a quick smile, “I, uh, actually decided to pick up the car this morning so I thought I could come pick you up… if that's okay?” 

“Yeah” You squeak out and hesitantly nod, “yeah- um of course, that’s fine! Let me just, um, lock up.” 

He nodded and stepped back, giving you enough room to step outside and turn around to lock the door. You hopped down the steps, shoving the keys into your bed and headed to the car, eyes widening slightly as you saw Harry open up the passenger door for you, giving a soft thank you before sliding into the car, looking up at him through the window as he shut it and jogged over to the other side of the car and slide in next to you.

“You wanna go to Ristorante Principessa?” He asked with a wide smile, bringing up the breakfast place you two would go to almost everyday.

“I would love to.”

[hxseok-honee]

sundress || part 7

written portion under the cut!

sundress [part 7] || she needs him.

previous || masterlist || next

a/n : [tell me how good it feels to be needed] needy x ariana grande

taglist [open] :

@deepseavibez @thetrueghostqueen @reddeathraven @dingzerenistall @skyrro @unadulteratedlyunique @ramyagovindraj @itismochirice @wwhseokjin @drpepperobsessed @monamone @thekookiecorner @army-moa75 @burningupp-replies @lele-bb @pb-n-juju @red-kebab @heonsbebe @peachyyoongs @superloverpielamp @marifujioka @butterflylion @heyitsgigi @lochness-butmakeitsexy @miki-chi @cahowlkook @worshiphoseok @lilacdreams-00 @bongsbeforebibles @miriamxsworld @oasiswithmyg @peonyplace @annewrighthglc @calling-dips-on-j-hope @yoongiofmine @loveyoongles @instantspot @missmadwoman @x-xjaeminx-x @luvtaeha @vanillxangxl @renhold-nightspear @taeshuworld @lvrseok @supahumbreon

__________________________

Friday, 17 September, 9:50pm

The moment Yoongi and Y/n are stepping into Gryffindor common room, having come down the stairs from her room hand in hand, Jungkook is on his feet. His eyes are trained solely on Yoongi, and there’s a kind of burning anger there that has the rest of their friends tensing, especially when the Gryffindor heads right for them. Yoongi wonders with brief amusement if Jungkook’s going to hit him.

And he does try -- rather, he tries to grab at Yoongi’s shirt. But Y/n’s stepping in the way just as Jungkook’s reaching out for the Slytherin, and he has to raise his arms and stop short, his sneakers slipping on the rug beneath his feet as he struggles to avoid making contact with her instead. He looks like an idiot, and he knows it, but the thought of almost having put his hands on Y/n sobers Jungkook quickly.

They stand there in silence for a moment, their friends watching with bated breath as Jungkook looks at Y/n with wide eyes, shocked that she’s looking at him so coldly. He barely notices that Yoongi’s looking at her, too, his gaze examining her fondly. Because somehow, even though he knows her better than she knows herself, she always manages to surprise him.

“I think… maybe we should all sit down and talk like real people.” Jin speaks from one of the loveseats, Jimin perched next to him. Y/n doesn’t move when Jungkook doesn’t, refusing to step out of the way until her ex is backing down. And he eventually does, lowering his eyes and moving to one of the armchairs. He’s acutely aware of Y/n pulling Yoongi to the other loveseat, directly across from Jungkook.

“Okay… not totally sure what we’re supposed to talk about, since it’s not like anything’s going to change…” Namjoon speaks from where he half-sits on the ledge of an open window, a joint in his hand. Tae’s standing behind him, leaning on the wall, Namjoon’s back pressed into his chest. The Gryffindor sighs lightly, pinching at the bridge of his nose, and Y/n feels distinctly bad for him -- he’s the one that has to live with Jungkook, and she knows all too well how annoying he can get.

“Look, let’s just start with the facts so that I don’t have to listen to Jungkook theorizing and scheming all night.” Tae’s roommate turns to him, clearly offended, but the bookworm puts a hand up, silencing him before he can even say anything. He looks at the pair on the couch. “How did this happen?” He gestures vaguely to Yoongi and Y/n when he says this, not wanting to outright call them a couple, considering the ticking time bomb sitting in the armchair.

Y/n looks to Yoongi in slight alarm, careful to mask her expression because she knows Jungkook’s watching closely. But they hadn’t had a chance to discuss a backstory, and she doesn’t want them to say any conflicting information. It seems Yoongi has it handled, though, his face perfectly composed as he makes something up.

“Over the summer -- just a drunk night. We decided to forget it happened because it was better for our friendship, but… I guess I just couldn’t.” He looks to her when he says it, almost smirking when he sees the surprise in her eyes -- surprise that he’d made it sound like he was the one who’d caught feelings. She makes a mental note to talk to him about it later, but Jungkook’s already talking, unable to resist taking a jab at the boy.

“That’s bullshit. Y/n wouldn’t just sleep with you and let it go. She’s not a whore like you.” Yoongi finds it funny, if he’s honest, but he knows by the way that Y/n tenses next to him that she very much does not. So he pulls his hand from hers and slides it over her leg, squeezing at her thigh and letting it rest there, his thumb tracing circles of comfort into her skin. Jungkook’s eyes flick down to watch it happen, and when he raises his gaze again, there’s renewed irritation there. Yoongi almost feels bad that he finds the Gryffindor’s anger amusing. Almost.

“Well, I don’t know, Jeon. Maybe if you hadn’t fucked up and dumped her, she wouldn’t have spent the summer with me. Then that drunk night wouldn’t have happened. So… should I say thank you?” Y/n purses her lips and hides her face in Yoongi’s shoulder, somehow both exasperated and deeply amused by his words. Jimin whistles from the couch, not even bothering to mask how entertained he is by what’s happening here. Y/n lifts her head, figuring she should try to ease the tension somehow.

“Look, Jungkook. There’s nothing you can do about this, okay? Yoongi and I are together now, so I would just… appreciate it if you’d let this go so we can rebuild our friendship.” The group nods, finding her words reasonable. It’s the truth -- what’s done is done, so they might as well all move on and find a way to return to normalcy.

“I don’t believe you.” Namjoon throws his head back and groans loudly when Jungkook refuses to cooperate, Jin dropping his head to his hands because they’re really never going to get anywhere like this. Jungkook doesn’t even notice. “You want me to let it go, huh? Almost like you’re just pretending to date so that I will.”

“I feel like that says more about the fact that you won’t leave her alone than anything it says about Yoongi and Y/n.” It comes from Tae, who is clearly getting very frustrated. He’s a man of knowledge, fact. He puts weight in words and sees the world for what it is. So he’s very annoyed at Jungkook’s delusions -- at the fact that he won’t just accept the situation. That, even in a world where he might be right, he’s not seeing that Yoongi and Y/n would only pretend because he’s being relentless and they’ve had to turn to a drastic last resort.

“Prove it. Prove you’re dating. You two hold hands and shit all the time, this doesn’t prove a thing.” Jungkook all but ignores Tae, hyper-focusing on Yoongi and Y/n across from him. Yoongi turns to Y/n with a knowing look, one that says ‘What’d I tell you? Cringey TV shit’. It makes her smile widely, even as she’s reaching to place her hand on the side of Yoongi’s neck, pulling him in. He slides his hand from her thigh to her waist when his lips fall to hers, the action already easier than it’d been less than hour ago.

They can hear the various noises of reaction from their friends -- Jin hums in contemplation as Jimin quite literally starts to laugh, and Namjoon is choking on the hit he’d just taken, Tae whispering ‘oh, okay then’ behind him.

Yoongi presses one last kiss to Y/n’s mouth before pulling away with an obnoxious smack of his lips, winking discreetly at her and smiling when she rolls her eyes. They turn to the group, Yoongi taking her hand in his and pulling it into his lap as he threads his fingers through hers. Their friends seem relatively unaffected, if only amused or intrigued by them, but Jungkook.

Jungkook’s looking at them with hardened rage, because there’s really no way he can explain that one without ending up at a romantic relationship between them. That fact clearly bothers him enough that he’s leaning forward, elbows on his knees as he looks at them, and Y/n can see the childish malice flashing in his eyes. And she knows he’s about to say something bad.

“Tell me, Yoongi -- are you enjoying my sloppy seconds?” The entire room is standing immediately -- Yoongi because he’s perfectly certain he’s about to put Jungkook in the Hospital Wing, and everyone else because they have to make sure Yoongi doesn’t do exactly that.

Y/n had seen it coming -- had seen the way Jungkook had shut down just before saying it, because she knows what that looks like -- so she’s able to react the fastest out of everyone. Latching onto the back of Yoongi’s shirt before he’s able to get too close to Jungkook, she yanks him back to her, slipping her arms around her waist and holding tight. Jin and Namjoon have moved to Jungkook’s side, hands on his chest to stop him from moving -- because at the end of the day, Jungkook’s the athlete here. He could easily knock someone back if he wants to, so they know they need more than one person to stop him from acting rash.

Y/n slides her hand over Yoongi’s mouth, knowing he completely lacks a filter and not wanting him to make things worse because he’s angry. She pulls him backwards toward the stairs to her room, turning when she gets there and urging him up the steps before waving at the rest of the room.

“Well, this has been great -- goodnight!” And then she’s taking the steps two at a time to catch up to Yoongi, who’s stomping angrily up to her door. He makes his way inside, pacing the room as Y/n shuts her door behind her, and then he’s turning to her, his eyes alight.

“After that, you still won’t let me kick his ass?!” She knows that, if all their friends are still downstairs, then they can definitely hear him yelling. The whole house can probably hear him yelling. She rushes forward, taking his face in her hands and shushing him, because she really needs him to calm down.

“Yoongi, it’s fine. I don’t care, it doesn’t bother me--”

“It should!” He’s ripping his face from her hold, going back to pacing as he pulls at his hair in frustration. She sighs, moving to him again and wrapping a hand around his wrist. He tries to pull that free, too, but she holds tight, so he turns to her with annoyance. “How can you just be okay with what he said?!”

“I’m not. I’m not okay with what he said.” He stops, breathing deeply to calm down when he sees how serious she is. Turning so he’s facing her properly, he waits for her to continue. “I’m not okay with it, Yoongi, but right now I’m more concerned about you.”

“Why? I’m not the one he was insulting--”

“It’s not about him, Yoongi. I will deal with what he said later. Let’s just… go to bed? Hm?” It hurts, what Jungkook had said to her. That he’d called her a cheater over text and then blatantly insulted her to her face. That he’d let his pride get so in the way of his head that he couldn’t see how terrible he was being.

But it’s Yoongi that worries her. Because he’s fiercely protective, whether he’s aware of it or not. Because she knows how quickly his mouth can get him in trouble when he’s seeing red. Because her problems with Jungkook are hers, and she doesn’t want Yoongi burning a bridge with Jungkook over this, no matter how hard her ex is trying to start the fire himself.

So she’s pulling him to her bed, shuffling toward him once they’re both under the comforter. Taking his face in her hands again -- and smiling when he doesn’t pull away this time -- she’s squishing his cheeks, glad to see the way he rolls his eyes. It means he’s calming down, however reluctantly.

“You okay?” He sighs when she asks, sliding his arm around her waist and pulling her close. Her fingers move to his ears, where she plays with his piercings, an unconscious habit. Pushing his nose against hers, he doesn’t respond, only searching her eyes.

“Are you?” A small smile, a nod. But he doesn’t find the reassurance he’s looking for in her eyes, so he knows she’s lying. But he lets it go for now, scooting around until he can tuck her into his chest, his chin coming to rest on her head as they drift off to sleep, trying to put this day behind them.

--

Saturday, 18 September, 3:48am

It’s the shaking that wakes Yoongi up. Not the gasped sob that precedes it, muffled into a hand desperate to keep her quiet. Not the sniffling that follows, tearful and devastated. It’s the shaking — the pure force of the cry that tears its way through her body, jostling the mattress and pulling Yoongi out of his slumber.

Y/n keeps her curtains drawn at night, blocking any moonlight that would have filtered in through her window, so he can’t see her in the dark — not until he’s blinked enough times that silhouettes start to take shape around him. When he notices the shadow sitting at the edge of the bed, he’s sliding his hand across the sheet next to him, almost as if to check that she’s not there, sleeping peacefully beside him. She’s not.

Scooting his way along the mattress until he’s close enough to touch her, he’s sitting up, the comforter falling off of him as he goes.

“Hey…” Yoongi puts his hand on her back to draw her attention, his palm flat against the curve of her spine as he leans over to try to see her face. Y/n jumps, clearly not having noticed that he was awake.

“Shit— did I wake you?” She gives one last sniffle, and he can see her wiping frantically at her face. He doesn’t respond, only moving closer until he can press his chest to her left shoulder, trying to make as much physical contact as possible so she knows she can lean on him.

“Talk to me… please?” He doesn’t need to see when she shakes her head. He can feel it, the way her whole body moves to say no — to shut him out. It leaves a dreadfully bad taste in his mouth, guilt crawling up the back of his neck.

“I’m just gonna... I need to shower.” Yoongi furrows a brow at her sudden remark, pressing his chest closer to her, his face coming to rest on her shoulder.

“Now? It’s the middle of the night…” Y/n moves to stand, Yoongi’s fingers clinging to the back of her shirt until she’s too far away for him to keep holding on. She heads to the bathroom, the sudden flick of the light blinding him for a few seconds. He blinks it away, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and perching there, just as she had. He hears the shower turn on, and his heart aches at the thought that Y/n’s only doing this so she can cry beneath the sound of running water again. The guilt that had been dancing along the edges of his skin flows into his chest now, settling there like a ton of bricks.

He’s so busy staring down at the floor, trying to figure out how to make this better, that he doesn’t notice Y/n’s slowly making her way back to him until she’s standing over him.

“Yoongi?” The Slytherin blinks, lifting his head in surprise at the call of his name. Y/n stares down at him, taking in the way the pale yellow light from the bathroom washes over his features — it shows her the darkness in his eyes, the turmoil sitting there. She reaches out to him, wiggling her fingers slowly until he’s taking her hand in his, waiting for her to tell him what’s on her mind.

“Come with me?” Eyes widening, he stares up at her silently, unsure why she’s asking him this. But he finds himself nodding, knowing that, whatever it is, she needs him. She needs him there with her, so he’s rising from the bed and following her to the bathroom, because — right now, in this moment — he needs her to need him. He’s too scared to think of the alternative — that he’s caused this pain in her eyes, that it’s his fault.

Compared to the bedroom, it’s uncomfortably bright here in the bathroom, so much so that they just stand in the middle of the room for a few seconds, unsure how to proceed. Finally, as if coming to his senses, Yoongi’s looking toward the door, finding the light switch easily. With an apprehensive glance in Y/n’s direction, he moves toward it, setting his fingers on the switch and flicking it down.

They’re bathed in darkness immediately, but there’s a small window on the far wall, one that lets in just enough moonlight that they won’t hurt themselves trying to navigate the room.

Yoongi steps slowly back to where he’d been before, hovering in front of Y/n and waiting for her to tell him what to do. After a moment of nothing, she’s reaching out to him, taking his fingers in her own and guiding his hands to the hem of her t-shirt. She leaves them there, looking to him to continue.

With a nervous breath, Yoongi grasps at the material, lifting the shirt up and off her body as gingerly as he can, his eyes on the wall behind her head. He only glances at her once he can see her crossing her arms in front of her chest, covering herself.

He steps in just enough that he can set his hands on her hips and push at the waistband of her pajama pants, turning away and giving her privacy once she’s able to kick them the rest of the way off, working slowly at his own clothes while he waits.

When his shorts and shirt are pooled on the floor beneath his feet, he’s glancing over his shoulder at her. He can see out of the corner of his eye that there’s no break in the expanse of her skin where her panties should be — she’d removed them while his back was turned. For some reason — and although they’ve been in this situation before — the idea of that makes his face uncomfortably warm.

They make eye contact as he hooks his thumbs into the elastic of his boxers experimentally, but when he sees how her eyes widen just slightly in panic at the idea of him being fully naked — never mind the fact that she’s fully naked — Yoongi pulls his thumbs free, deciding it’s best that he leaves them on.

He waits until she’s stepped past the shower curtain to follow, giving her time to curl into herself again because this is objectively the weirdest thing they’ve ever done, and he’s not sure either of them is ready for him to pretend he’s completely comfortable seeing her naked. She pokes her head out after a moment, hair and face wet, and he knows he can join her.

He’s not exactly sure what he’s supposed to be doing here — if he should be standing on the far end of the shower like he had been the only other time they’d done this, or if he’s supposed to be showering, too. After all, it hadn’t been his idea this time.

He’s just about decided to keep his distance from her when he sees her silhouette moving toward him. It’s a lot darker behind the shower curtain, which he’s partially glad for because he really can’t see any part of Y/n that he’s not supposed to, but the other part of him is stressed because he isn’t really in the mood to slip and die tonight.

Y/n’s wet hands find his forearms, pulling him slowly toward her and into the stream of hot water. They’re close enough now that they can see each other’s faces, but she’s dropping her forehead to his shoulder soon enough, arms slipping around his waist loosely.

“Can you help me?” As if running on autopilot, Yoongi’s moving, hands fumbling for the bottle of shampoo on the shelf to their left. Squirting some on top of her head — admittedly difficult since she’s got her face buried in the crook of his neck — he scrubs gently at her hair. Knowing she likes having her head scratched when she’s having a bad day, he rubs the pads of his fingertips against her scalp, feeling both accomplished and like he’s just made a terrible mistake when she shivers and unintentionally pulls him closer, almost no space left between them.

Lowering an arm to the small of her back so she doesn’t fall, Yoongi walks her backwards until she’s fully under the water, where he rinses her hair for her. He’s about to reach for the conditioner when Y/n lifts her head, grabbing the shampoo herself. Pouring some into her palm and setting the bottle down, she meets his eyes before letting her eyes drift up to his hair, now wet from standing under the water with her.

Wordlessly, Yoongi lowers his face to her shoulder just as she had, giving her permission to wash his hair for him and sighing when she drags her nails through his hair. With his eyes shut and the soothing feeling of Y/n breathing against him, he’s left with his thoughts. It’s not long before the guilt is rearing its ugly head again.

“I’m sorry…” Things had been quiet between them, Y/n working at rinsing the soap from his roots, when he’d whispered it. She hears him perfectly, and, although he doesn’t lift his eyes to look at her, she knows he’s waiting to see if she’ll respond. When she doesn’t — only slowing her movements in his hair — he continues. “If I hadn’t started all of this — if I had just talked to you before telling him we were together — then he wouldn’t have…” He doesn’t finish, but he doesn’t have to.

Then he wouldn’t have said those things about you. Then you wouldn’t be hurting right now.

“If you’re mad at me—“

“I’m not mad at you, Yoongi.” Yoongi lifts his head now, searching her eyes for any sign of a lie. There isn’t one — he only finds hints of amusement, a smile dancing on the edges of her lips. “I’m not mad at you. I know why you did it — I get why you did it. I’m okay with it — with this.”

Yoongi’s not sure he’s ever felt as much relief as he does now, his body almost deflating from the pent up stress leaving him. Y/n grins when she sees how his entire being untenses, his shoulders dropping as he sighs. Reaching up, she pushes his hair out of his face, almost laughing when she sees how his eyes twinkle with renewed energy. She hums, pretending to think about what she’s going to say next, because there is one thing she’s decided in the last few minutes — in the span of time it’d taken her to see how the guilt of potentially being responsible for her pain had torn at Yoongi. At the only boy in the world who would do anything in his power to never hurt her.

“There is one person I’m mad at, though.” Yoongi raises an eyebrow, knowing what she’s going to say but still waiting for the name to leave her lips. “Jeon Jungkook.”

Yoongi feels himself swell with something akin to pride when he sees how the sadness that had been in her eyes turns to anger, almost mischievous in the glint of the moonlight. She continues, eyeing him with an evil grin.

“I think that, no matter how dumb and ill-prepared your plan had been… you really might have done something there, Yoongi.” The Slytherin beams, loving the way revenge looks on her as she stands there in his arms at damn near 4 o’clock in the morning.

“Yeah? You got something in mind?” Y/n hums conspiratorially, a bubble of laughter escaping her as she loops her arms around his shoulders and pulls him closer, because they’re really standing in her shower scheming about how to get back at her horrible ex, like this is normal for them.

“I mean, I just think we could really make this work… We’d just have to work out the logistics of the ‘relationship’, but nothing between us will really change since we’re already so close.” She gestures vaguely down at their current state for emphasis, and Yoongi throws his head back to laugh at how incredibly strange this entire situation is. He nods when he’s done, running his hands up and down her back, hot water flowing over his arms as he wraps them tighter around her waist.

“Well, I know that being naked with someone might not be the most obvious act of affection to you, but to me, there’s nothing better.” Y/n rolls her eyes at his playful smirk when he says it, because at the end of the day, Min Yoongi’s still an idiot.

”So… since we’re clearly in quite the romantic situation here, I think this is the perfect place to ask.” Yoongi smiles when he says it, shockingly sweet given the teasing lilt of his voice. “Y/n, would you do me the honor of pretending to be my girlfriend so that we can tear your dumbass ex-boyfriend apart from the inside out with how perfect we are together?” Y/n snorts, nodding once.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” With a toothy smile, Yoongi lifts his right hand to her hair, playing with the ends of it as he hums contemplatively.

“Should we make it official?” Y/n eyes at him suspiciously.

“Listen buddy, I might be naked right now, but I’m not having sex with you.” With an annoyed huff and a mumbled 'you're an idiot', Yoongi rolls his eyes, grabbing a fistful of her hair and tugging until it’s pulled taut, giving him full control of her head. Leaning in, he angles her so he can slot his lips against hers comfortably, almost smiling when she reciprocates right away.

Yeah. This is definitely getting easier.

Y/n’s arms tighten around Yoongi’s neck as her hand lifts to card her fingers through the hair on the back of his head. She barely notices that the arm he has around her waist is pulling her in, only registering it when she feels her chest press flush to his. She doesn’t even have time to feel embarrassed, though, because Yoongi’s tilting his head, the pressure of his lips on hers suddenly changing.

She isn’t ready for the wet swipe against the seam of her lips, and she hates that she gasps because she knows it’s given him a chance to push his tongue into her mouth -- he’s brushing against her tongue roughly, almost challenging her to fight back. Feeling him smirk against her lips at the victory when she doesn’t, she tries to resist him now, nipping sharply at his bottom lip and snickering into his mouth when he groans.

The laugh in her throat is drowned out by a whimper when Yoongi tightens his hold on her hair until it’s bordering on painful. She doesn’t mind the sting, and she’s wondering if he can tell. That thought goes quickly out the window, because he’s already testing it again, tugging harshly and taking note of the way her breath catches. It had been a game before, push and pull -- but now she just can't think straight.

The fog in her mind masking every form of smart decision-making that she knows, Y/n’s sliding her arms off of his shoulders. Scratching her nails lightly down the expanse of Yoongi’s chest and torso, she smirks when his muscles are jumping under her touch, his breath shaky as he rubs his tongue against hers. And then her two pointer fingers are hooking into the waistband of his wet boxers, and Yoongi’s whining low into her mouth.

He can feel her pulling the elastic away from his skin, and he’s shuffling toward her to close the distance, mostly because he’s afraid she’s going to purposely let go and snap the band painfully back to him -- but also because there’s only one thing Yoongi’s sure of right now, and it’s that his boxers have to stay on. But her fingers are still hooked into the band -- because apparently she’s decided that that’s a good place to rest her hands -- and she keeps accidentally tugging the material down, so if he doesn’t keep up with her, they’re both gonna be in trouble.

Dropping his hands to Y/n’s waist, Yoongi turns her slowly toward the shower wall, his thumbs rubbing heated circles into her skin as he nudges her backward. His brain feels like mush, especially when he accidentally pushes his hips against hers, because she’s sighing into his mouth, and he finds himself wanting to do it again -- so he does. The white noise in his head only gets louder, because she’s whimpering when he stumbles forward, pinning her roughly to the wall as his hips rock into hers. But then she’s gasping suddenly and his heart is dropping, because it doesn’t sound the same as the others.

Yoongi pulls back right away, searching her face in the dark to see if she’s hurt -- if he’s made her uncomfortable. But she only seems shocked, her eyes wide and confused.

Shocked is exactly what she is. Because when Yoongi had guided her backwards into the wall, the cold tile against her skin had made her jump. And just like that, the haze had cleared, the reality of what they were doing -- what they might have kept doing if not for the shock to her system -- setting in. She looks him over, taking in his confusion and only offering a single sentence.

“You’re Yoongi.” Eyebrows disappearing into his hair, the boy’s nodding slowly, like he’s worried about her current mental state. She offers one more line, and this one does the trick.

“I’m Y/n.” Almost like a switch had been turned off, wiping Yoongi’s brain free of his own fog, he’s grimacing immediately, a noise of discomfort leaving him. Because she hadn’t filled in the gaps, but he had.

He’s him, and she’s her. And they… they don’t do things like this. They don’t lose themselves in each other like this. Because there’s nothing there between them, so much so that even the thought of continuing what they’d been doing is bringing a frown to both of their faces. Yoongi swallows hard, smacking his lips in slight disgust.

“Way to kill a boner, loser.” He hisses when she lands a well-aimed smack to his bicep, fully aware that he deserved that. Planting her hand on his chest, Y/n’s pushing him away -- slowly, because the last thing they need is him slipping and trying to explain to Pomfrey how they’d gotten here when he ends up in the Hospital Wing. Once there’s distance between them, Y/n’s crossing her arms over her chest, like that really will do much considering the last five minutes of their lives. She does it anyway, grateful that he has the decency to look away instead of making a snide remark about the futility of hiding from him now. She clears her throat, drawing his attention from where he leans against the wall.

“So -- making out in the shower at 4am was a bad idea.” Yoongi laughs loudly, and the tension between them is immediately dissipating with his nod.

“100%. Cross it off the bucket list, but let’s never do that again.”

--

Saturday, 18 September, 10:05am

“…ke up… Y/n… come on, wake up… Y/n!” Jumping from the sudden yell of her name, Y/n’s eyes fly open, startled. She turns her head toward the voice that had called her, finding that Yoongi’s hovering right over her. He’s got his lips pressed to the shell of her ear, clearly having decided that yelling right into her eardrum would wake her, because of course it would.

“What?” He pulls away when she snaps at him, looking down at her with a sleepy grin. He’s got an arm around her waist, his body having been curled tightly around hers the whole night. After they’d finished their shower, she’d sat on her bed in her towel for a few minutes, too lazy to get dressed, and Yoongi had thrown one of his baggy t-shirts and a pair of her panties at her face in irritation because he’d really wanted to go to sleep. It’s all she’s wearing, something that had made cuddling much easier since she gets cold at night -- he’s not happy about having his body heat stolen, but it’s only a minor inconvenience if he’s honest.

He sets his chin on her shoulder now, breathing in the scent of her shampoo mixed with the smell of him, all over his t-shirt. He wonders briefly if she’s going to start smelling like this new hybrid scent from now on -- if she’d be wearing his clothes more often now. It doesn’t elicit any particular reaction out of him, only a curious hum leaving him. He makes eye contact with her again, seeing that she’s giving him an irritated look, probably because he’d woken her. With an innocent smile, he says--

“‘m hungry.” She shoots him a look, rolling back over onto her side and shutting him out.

“Then go eat.” He pulls at her shoulder right away, forcing her to lean against him again and give him her attention.

“Go with me -- I don’t wanna sit alone in the Great Hall, and we’re supposed to do shit together now! Couple-y shit!” Y/n groans angrily, because now all the sleepiness she’d felt is fading away, leaving her awake and annoyed.

“Dude, it’s a Saturday at 10am, and we just went to bed like 5 hours ago! Go without me!” She’s about to turn away again, but Yoongi’s scooting impossibly closer, pressing his face into her neck and whining loudly -- it’s really obnoxious, and he knows that. It works, though, because she’s sighing loudly, about to give in. But--

“Min Yoongi.” His whining stops, replaced by a confused hum because her voice has an edge to it that makes him feel like he’s in trouble.

“Get your fucking morning wood away from my ass. Before I push you out the window.” Yoongi stills, pursing his lips and shutting his eyes in embarrassment, because he hadn’t even noticed that he’d been pushing the front of his shorts against her backside while he was complaining. Hiding his face in her neck, he’s about to apologize and move away, maybe even resign himself to going to breakfast alone after all -- but then a snort of amusement is leaving him, and he’s staying right where he is.

“Maybe if you get out of bed, you won’t have to feel it anymore. Unless… you want to?” It’s definitely the wrong thing to say, and he knows it, already rolling away from Y/n in a panic because she’s turning to him, her hands curling into fists as she locates her target.

For no less than five minutes, Y/n chases Yoongi around her room, flinging clothes, shoes, heavy objects -- anything she can get her hands on. Finally, she latches onto the front of his shirt, wrapping her legs around his waist and pulling angrily on his hair. He yelps, snaking one arm around her and using his other hand to break his fall against her bedroom door, because they’re both about to topple over.

His back slams heavily into the wood, and Y/n can’t tell if he’s crying or laughing, but either way, he’s yelling -- and it’s very unlikely that anyone in the vicinity of her room can’t hear him.

“I had you naked up against a wall last night, and you’re mad about my morning wood?!” Y/n pulls on his hair extra hard, enraged, and he yelps again, losing his footing -- they crash to the ground in a pile of limbs, both groaning loudly. It becomes laughter almost immediately, exhausted and full of disbelief that they’d just spent all that time trashing her room. After a moment of heavy breathing and pained complaints, Yoongi turns to her, an obnoxious grin on his face.

“‘m still hungry.”

--

“Oh my God, would you hurry up? If we miss last call for breakfast and have to eat in the kitchens, I’m gonna be so pissed--”

“I told you to go alone--”

“And I told you that I wanted you to go with me--”

“We coulda been there already if you hadn’t been all up on me and pissed me off--”

“I’m sure you’ll get used to it, babe--”

“Min Yoongi--”

“Ow! Okay, I’m sorry!”

After cleaning up the mess in Y/n’s room, she and Yoongi had gotten ready together, because there would have been no way for her to go back to sleep after that. He had rummaged through the part of her wardrobe designated for his belongings -- it had become convenient for them to keep clothes in each others’ rooms after a couple years, clearly serving its purpose now that Yoongi’d needed a clean outfit.

Still, even with fresh clothes on, it’s obvious that Yoongi had stayed the night -- rather, it’s obvious to Taehyung and Namjoon, who are sitting in the Gryffindor common room doing work when Yoongi and Y/n stumble down the stairs, on the edge of laughter even though they’re bickering. And it’s especially obvious to Jungkook, who’s reaching the bottom of the stairs to the boys’ dorm at the same time -- because he’s stopped at a close enough distance to Yoongi that he can smell the scent of Y/n’s body wash all over him. A smell he’s very personally familiar with.

Y/n chokes on her spit, realizing with a reddening face not only that her friends had heard the conversation she and Yoongi had just been having, but that they had definitely also heard what had happened upstairs -- what Yoongi had said about having her naked up against a wall. Y/n wants to hide in a corner and never make eye contact with them ever again, but they don’t mention it, Taehyung only waving with an amused smile as Namjoon hides his laughter behind a hand. She points at the door to the common room awkwardly.

“We’re… going to breakfast… if anyone wants to come.” The pair of boyfriends shake their heads simultaneously, and Y/n turns her head to where she knows Jungkook is when she sees Namjoon glancing in slight concern over to the boys standing beside her. When she looks, she sees why he might be worried.

Yoongi and Jungkook have yet to say a word or even acknowledge that Y/n had spoken, too busy staring each other down. It’s obvious that Jungkook’s angry, but Yoongi would never back down from a challenge. Y/n reaches out, sliding her hand down Yoongi’s forearm and threading her fingers through his.

“Come on… we’re gonna miss last call…” Jungkook doesn’t tear his eyes away from Yoongi’s when she grabs the Slytherin’s hand, but he’s definitely seen it out of the corner of his eye, his gaze hardening. It brings a smirk to Yoongi’s lips, knowing Y/n’s affection had gotten under his skin. Looking Jungkook up and down with that infuriating curl of his lips, Yoongi only cocks an eyebrow at the Gryffindor before turning to Y/n, pulling her toward the door as he responds, his voice carrying through the silent common room with distinct clarity.

“I don’t mind if we eat in the kitchens, babygirl -- I like being alone with you.” Y/n rolls her eyes internally at how obnoxious Yoongi is, but she can hear Jungkook letting out a restrained sigh behind them, and she can’t help the smug satisfaction that fills her. And when Yoongi glances at her as they step out into the corridor, his eyes dancing with amusement, she knows he feels the same.

Well, this should be fun.

[toomanyrobins2]

Those Four Words Pt. 1

Summary: an escalating fight between Jason and his girlfriend leads to a tense two weeks in Wayne Manor

Pairing: Jason Todd x Reader

Word count: 2.1k

Warnings: language, mentions of sex and excessive drinking, mentions of character death

masterlist // next part

Jason Todd was in a terrible mood, having just got into an argument with Bruce. He decided to go up to his girlfriend’s studio to get away. She had been hard at work the past couple of days and he was getting needy. He came up behind her on the floor and pulled her into his lap. She tried to wiggle out of his arms. “Jay, I'm trying to do something right now.

He tried to snuggle closer to his girlfriend, “I deserve some of your time too.

“Deserve? You’re especially demanding today. What did you do?” Jason scoffed and pulled away. “What has crawled up your ass?”

“You did.”

She managed to escape and turned to look at her boyfriend, “I did? Huh, I think I would’ve remembered such a disgusting journey into your body.

“Dammit, Y/N! Enough with the sarcasm! You know what I’m saying.”

She sighed at Jason’s attitude, “I don’t understand what you’re doing right now, but you are starting a fight just for the sake of an argument. I’m sorry, but I can’t give you what you want right now.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Jason was standing over his girlfriend, his whole body tense, “From any of you.”

“Why are you being like this? What happened?”

“What? You thought the minute we started dating all of our problems would magically disappear? Are you really that naive?”

Y/N put her brushes down and stood. She tried to walk closer, but he matched each step, moving away from her. “Jason, where the hell is this coming from? I thought we had got past this. Even you and Bruce are in a better place.”

“You think I'll ever forget you abandoned me. You all did!”

“Abandon you! What have you been smoking? We thought you died!”

“You replaced me!”

Now, Y/N was angry too and it was rare that anyone saw her this way. She was deadly calm, but the fire was roaring in her eyes, “I did not replace you.”

“That’s right, you were too busy whoring yourself around Gotham to even think about me.”

“That is not fair and you know it. I mourned you. We all mourned your arrogant ass. I never stopped missing you.”

“I saw the articles, Y/N! Don’t pretend you were mourning me. You were too busy whoring yourself around Gotham.”

Her mind went back to three years ago. Jason had died in an explosion set up by the Joker. She was sixteen and her best friend had died, and she hadn’t handled it well. What started as a way to get out of the house with friends, had led to this wild, secret life. Y/N had snuck out at night and used Bruce’s name to get into clubs. She drank anything she could get her hands on and had gone home with multiple men, trying to forget her pain. Once, Bruce had found out, her world had imploded. He sent her away and finally got her the help she should have received when her parents had passed. The only reason Y/N had moved back to the manor was that Jason had been found. She couldn’t believe that he was trying to use her moments of weakness against her, “How dare you throw that back on me. I was just trying to numb the pain. It wasn’t like I was celebrating the fact that you were gone.”

“Yeah, it really looked like you missed me.”

“God Dammit, Jay!” she stamped her foot, knowing it was childish, “If you would just listen to me!”

“Oh fuck off, Y/N! If I had known I was ever going to be stuck with you and your nagging, I wouldn’t have come back.”

“I wish you hadn’t!” The minute the words left Y/N’s mouth, she gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth. Jason’s emotionless mask slammed into place, and suddenly he was as blank as the day Bruce had found him. He turned to walk out and Y/N chased after him, “Jay, wait! I’m sorry!” He jumped onto his motorcycle and was out the door before she could stop him. She slammed her fist into the wall and cursed in frustration and pain. No one would see either of them for the rest of the day. Y/N stayed in her studio, wondering how they got to the point of shouting such hurtful things at each other.

The next day, they had both shown up for Friday night dinner, as was expected of them. Neither spoke, and the tension was too thick to be cut with a knife. Y/N had tried to pull him aside and apologize after dinner, but he had shot her with a cutting glare and stalked away. The other could tell that something had happened, but no one had the details. Tim wandered into the library after patrol that night, to find her in a chair tucked into the corner. “What are you doing here (Y/N/N)? Isn’t it a movie night with Todd?” He noted the tear tracks down her face but knew she hated showing weakness, so he said nothing about them.

“I wasn’t feeling up to it, so I canceled. I think I’ll head to bed now. Night, Timmy.” Y/N went to her room and cried herself to sleep, the guilt overwhelming her as she played the argument over in her head. If only she had just taken a break, maybe the whole situation could have been avoided. She woke up multiple times in the night, crying out Jason’s name after seeing him and the Joker over and over again. Finally, around 3 in the morning, she gave up on sleep and went to the kitchen to pour herself coffee. She decided to keep busy and started making breakfast for the family.

Alfred was the first to appear in the morning, as usual. Y/N tried to pretend that everything was normal, but nothing could be hidden from the family’s butler. He noted the dark circles under her eyes and the tremors in her hands from over-caffeination. The boys slowly started to emerge, and Alfred started to bring out all the food she had made. She made two plates out of habit and headed for the dining room. Y/N started to hand Jason his breakfast as she had every morning for a year, but suddenly she remembered and pulled her hand away. Jason didn’t even bother to look at her, and her heart clenched. She placed the plate on the table and walked back into the kitchen. “Sorry, Alfred, I’m not hungry. I think I’ll go paint.” She placed the plate she had made for herself on the counter and left.

Y/N’s studio had been a safe space since she had first moved into the manor. She had hidden away when she first arrived at Wayne Manor, unused to such an active family. Bruce had called workers to the manor and redid the room when she had told him she liked art. Now, after years of work, canvasses filled the room on all sides. Some paintings, others photos, she had accumulated in the three years. They hung on the walls and were laid across the floor. She flooded the room with Swan Lake, her sad music, and started to mix her colors. The music she played had become an easy way for the others to discern her moods since she hadn’t spoken to anyone except Fallon, Bruce’s wife, when she first came. Bruce and Dick had installed a speaker system in her studio to drown out the noise when she was overwhelmed, and everyone in the Manor could hear it if she turned it on loud enough. When the first notes hit their ears, all eyes in the dining room turned to Jason. He refused to look up and make eye contact, instead, he stared at the breakfast that had been abandoned on the table. Once everyone had averted their gaze, he pushed away from the table and disappeared.

This led to one of the most uncomfortable weeks in the Manor ever. Y/N barely left her studio and no one saw Jason for three days before he returned. When he did, he started to act as if nothing had happened. The music had eventually stopped playing altogether, so they had no idea what kind of mood she was in. Finally, Damian was the one to gather everyone else together, “Y/N/N has not come out of her studio in a week. Since Buckethead has just decided to pretend nothing has happened. We need to fix this.”

Bruce spoke up first, “Jason and Y/N are both adults. They are both being immature, and it will eventually work itself out.

“How can we fix this when we don’t even know what happened?” Tim looked up from his laptop, “I’ve been checking in on Y/N on the cameras. All she does is paint, and the most she’s slept in days is when she falls asleep accidentally. That never lasts long, and she cries. A lot.”

“Why did Fallon have to leave! We need to fix this, or the family vacation is going to be the worst!” Dick collapsed on the couch. Fallon had finally convinced Bruce that the family needed a vacation, but two weeks before they were supposed to leave, her sister had had a baby. She decided to go help her out and just meet them at the resort. They now had a week left, and it was not looking good. No one wanted to bother their mother since she very rarely took time for herself and was enjoying time with her family. They decided Alfred would be the one to try and convince Y/N to leave the studio at least and eat something.

He appeared in the doorway and watched silently as Y/N worked on a large canvas. He walked over and saw that it was a portrait of the family. “This is beautiful, Miss Y/L/N.”

“Thank you, Alfred,” her voice was hoarse from disuse.

“What is the plan for this one?” Alfred sat down next to her on the floor.

“Everyone hates photos, but Fallon wanted a family portrait for the sitting room. Since no one can sit still long enough I decided to paint one and give it to her for her birthday,” she slowly sucked in a breath, “Plus they only have the old one, and J--some people-- are missing from it.” Tears started to well up again in her eyes. Alfred wrapped an arm around Y/N and just sat with her for a moment.

“I’ve kicked the boys out of the kitchen. Do you think you could come down and eat something? For me?” She only nodded and they both stood. Y/N sat on a stool and silently ate the soup Alfred had laid out for her. She barely tasted anything, and she was starting to feel dizzy. Her vision started to blur, and the next thing she knew, she was waking up on the floor and had five heads floating above her.

“Hi, guys. Thought the floor looked lonely.” She tried to sit up but was cut off.

“That is it,” Bruce spoke firmly, “You are going to bed, and you are sleeping. I thought you were mature enough to deal with this but I see I was wrong.” He picked Y/N up and noticed she had lost weight. He carried her up the stairs and before he had reached her bedroom, she was already asleep again. Bruce turned to the boys. “At least one of you is staying in here with her and making sure she sleeps.”

Tim volunteered for the first shift and settled into her desk with his laptop. Y/N had barely been asleep an hour before she woke up from a nightmare of Jason dying. She shot up and shouted out his name, before bursting into tears. Tim -- being the awkward person he is -- was ill-prepared to deal with the crying Y/N. The only solution he could think of was to climb into bed with her and pull up a movie. She slowly fell asleep again and clung to Tim like a starfish. When Dick came to relieve Tim and saw that he was unable to leave, he climbed into bed with the duo. Anytime Y/N would start to become distressed, they would calm her down. Eventually, Damian and Titus joined the cuddle pile, the former somewhat reluctantly, grumbling about how he was only doing this for Y/N. Little did the Bat-Family know, Alfred had called Fallon and told her about the situation and she had rushed home.

[robininthelabyrinth]

Prompt - Nie Mingjue's temper is already not great at the Phoenix hunt, so when they haul out men and women, some who look a great deal more like frightened peasants than cultivators he snaps, this is not how you treat POWs, it turns into a riot/battle and Jiang Cheng has had enough of kowtowing to the Jin and he and the new Jiang sect members and Wei Wuxian all rally to Nie Mingjue, does anyone else? Where to the Lan fall? Was nie mingjue's snap directly at jgy or more in general?

ao3

Nie Mingjue was, probably for the first time in his life, tired of fighting.

He’d fought in secret against the Wen sect for years, thanklessly defending the other sects that had refused to even acknowledge Wen Ruohan’s actions for years on end, and yet it had not prepared him for the brutality that was open warfare, for the difficulty of being the general of the entire Sunshot Campaign, for the burden of knowing that so many lives depended on him and him alone. He’d fought battle after battle, won tremendous victories, and yet the last hope had seemed out of reach – he’d eventually resorted to a desperate stratagem that had gone wrong – he had been tortured, mocked, his men killed – and at the moment of when all seemed lost, he was saved.

Saved…only to realize that it was Meng Yao being credited with it, with being their spy, and Lan Xichen had not told him.

He’d limped back to his camp, but they’d chased after him, and the news of what Meng Yao had done got out – not really a surprise; given the man’s ambitions, if someone else hadn’t spread it he would have done it himself – and in the end, politics had meant that there really hadn’t been much of a choice about swearing sworn brotherhood with the two of them, binding them together in life and death, not unless he wanted to risk another war.

Nie Mingjue very, very much did not want another war.

He had still not fully recovered from his injuries by the time the Jin sect had set up a celebration in the Nightless City, with Jin Guangshan using Nie Mingjue’s refusal to take on any of Wen Ruohan’s ridiculous trappings as an excuse to all but name himself Chief Cultivator in the man’s place. Nie Mingjue knew he should have protested then, but he was tired, his sect in need of rebuilding – they had been the ones bearing the brunt of the war, as they always had, and the only reason they were not the worst off of the Great Sects was because of what the Wens had done to the Cloud Recesses and the Lotus Pier – and he’d never really wanted personal advancement, anyway.

After what had happened with his father, he’d had a lifetime’s worth of being promoted.

Besides, as part and parcel of their self-granted promotion, the Jin sect had promised to take care of the worst of the clean-up, including dealing with the prisoners of war, and that had seemed fine, even a good result. After spending half his life doing things for other people, Nie Mingjue would return home to focus on that which matter most to him, and for once someone else would take the lead in caring for the rest of the world.

It wasn’t like the Jin sect couldn’t afford a few more mouths to feed. 

It wasn’t like their coffers were anywhere near empty, or that they needed to rebuild; it wasn’t as though they’d ever stopped trade with Qishan or actually led in a major battle or - he should stop thinking about it before he became angry. 

He’d been angry for so long. It would be nice to stop for a while.

Of course, it felt as though he’d barely settled in back at home before he was being summoned for yet another celebration hosted by the Jin sect, this time at Phoenix Mountain. A hunt, no less, and it was so pointedly designed as the sort of thing that the Nie sect favored that it would have been impossible to turn down the invitation. Not to mention, the invitation had oh-so-casually mentioned that Jin Guangyao, his sworn brother, would be the one in charge of setting up the hunt, meaning that any disruption or failure cause damage not only to his own reputation but to Nie Mingjue and Lan Xichen’s, for having sworn with him.

Jin Guangshan would either have his day in the sun or a reason to tear everyone else down - a win-win situation for him, lose-lose for everyone else.

Fucking politics.

Still, there wasn’t anything for it. They had to go, so they went.

Nie Mingjue felt himself drifting back into that disconnected state that had allowed him to survive years of discussion conferences hosted by his father’s murderer. It was a strange sort of state, that allowed him to do the things he had to do to support his sect while feeling as though the world was separated from him by a window through which he watched everything happen. Anything that occurred beyond that window – all sounds and sights and even emotional reactions – was dulled or even muted; he could look Wen Ruohan right in the eye and think to himself of how much he longed to slaughter the man where he stood for his crimes, look at Jiang Fengmian smiling quite sincerely at Wen Ruohan and Lan Qiren bowing to him as if he was a man worthy of respect, as if they weren’t hypocrites that took Wen Ruohan’s money in trade and said apologetically that there wasn’t anything anyone could prove about Nie Mingjue’s father’s death, and yet, no matter how much he hated them all, his body would do nothing. 

He would drink tea, and nod, and he would not breach etiquette, he would not bring war down on his sect’s head, he would do nothing.

Sitting in a place of honor at Phoenix Mountain felt much the same: yet another burden to bear, a torment that he could only hope passed quickly.

(It wasn’t healthy, but then again, what was? His entire life was grist for the mill that was his sect’s well-being, shortened by excessive cultivation and stress and endless rage, and knowing it didn’t change anything.)

He saw in the corner of his eye the way his little brother’s eyes flickered to him and then frown – he’d never liked it when Nie Mingjue went quiet and passive, knowing how alien the feeling was to him, knowing through fellow-feeling what it felt like, though perhaps he was wondering why the state had come upon him now again when Wen Ruohan was already dead and gone, even though it had never really just been about Wen Ruohan. 

Perhaps because of that fellow-feeling, Nie Huaisang found a conversational interlude hat allowed him to slide over a little closer than politeness dictated, casually putting a hand on Nie Mingjue’s arm as if to beg for something. He knew that Nie Mingjue took comfort in the touch, in the reminder that with his saber at his side and his brother within arms’ reach, Nie Mingjue felt as thought he had everything he valued most in this rotten world close enough that he could try to protect it.

And then the Jin sect – using Jin Guangyao as their mouthpiece, though whether it was because of his skillful silver tongue or simply because they didn’t think he was worth anything more than that, only he would know – announced that they would kick off the hunt with some entertainment.

Nie Mingjue lifted his cup of tea to his lips, feeling pained, and his eyes briefly met with Lan Qiren’s across the hall, no longer in the place of the sect leader but slightly behind, his expression making clear that the same thought was on both their minds – anything but the prostitutes again.

(Surely Jin Guangyao had a bit more self-respect than that…?)

When a bunch of people in chains were marched out, Nie Mingjue had only enough presence of mind to be briefly relieved that the presence of mixed genders meant that they were probably not prostitutes – Lanling Jin abided by rules relating to birth gender and sexuality that seemed nearly as strict as the rules they were always criticizing Gusu Lan over, and according to them no one ever switched or was misaligned or deviated at all, which frankly seemed more than a little bizarre and unbelievable – and then uncomfortable because, well, they were in chains. Weren’t they supposed to be done with war?

And then Jin Guangyao started announcing the rules of some sort of ridiculous archery contest that the younger generation would engage in, and for a moment that seemed almost a relief as well – as a sect leader, Nie Mingjue was excluded from the younger generation despite being only a few years older than the rest of them, and of course there was no point in expecting his brother to participate in any competition of martial skill, and so for a moment it seemed as though this could be another part of this torturous endless experience that he could just tune out.

Indeed, that he was obligated to tune out. No matter how idiotic it was, whatever it was, whatever he thought about it (and he wouldn’t like it, he knew he wouldn’t like it, he’d never liked anything Wen Ruohan – no, that Jin Guangshan, insofar as there was that much of a difference – he’d never liked anything Jin Guangshan had set up in nearly ten years of working together, and odds were good that he wouldn’t like this), Nie Mingjue still had to think first of his sect and the consequences of making a fuss, and that meant he didn’t. He didn’t want a war, and so he had to be polite, restrained, quiet, no matter what he thought.

It wasn’t that hard to simply pull back even further. Nie Mingjue had been suppressing righteousness in favor of etiquette at these horrible conferences for such a long time that it came naturally to him, the way all bad habits did.

Only this time he’d brought Nie Huaisang with him, which he’d always resisted before, and his brother’s hand tightened on his arm to the point of pain.

Nie Mingjue’s first thought, stupidly enough, was to be pleased by the discovery that Nie Huaisang actually had some arm muscle underneath all those prissy frills he favored. His second was concern that Nie Huaisang had suddenly taken ill – with admittedly a bit of hopefulness that perhaps it would be something they could use as an excuse to leave early, as long as it wasn’t that serious – but when he turned to look at him his brother didn’t seem sick.

He seemed – angry?

Not Huaisang, Nie Mingjue thought, heart abruptly seized with an ancient fear. He knew perfectly well what he’d gotten himself into when it came to the saber spirits, had accepted years ago that he would die young, die early, die horribly and alone with nothing but his rage, but that was not going to be Nie Huaisang’s fate, not if he had anything to say about it. 

The fear curdled in his chest, and it felt as though a crack appeared on the window that shielded him from all sensation, all pain and desperation forced far away.

No one was talking, other than Jin Guangyao droning on and on about whatever the new entertainment was – Nie Mingjue had stopped paying attention long ago – and so he couldn’t ask Nie Huaisang what was wrong, but he looked at him and furrowed his brow, trying to convey the question silence.

Nie Huaisang caught the glance and understood, and his mouth moved, shaping silent sounds – it’s an execution, they’re going to kill them –

What?

Baxia, lying by his side as she always did during these meetings, shifted a little, her rage nudging against Nie Mingjue’s mind as it always did – sometimes he thought she hated these meetings as much as he did, other times he was sure of it – and the crack in the window got a little wider, let in a little more light and color and sound, and Nie Mingjue found a thread of willpower to force himself to listen to what the entertainment Jin Guangyao was proposing actually was.

He replayed the words in his mind, turned to look at the people in chains – Wen sect, apparently, and though he couldn’t tell on sight whether they were civilians or cultivators, that didn’t matter. Not even criminals were executed like this, by standing at a distance and waiting to die, not even able to hope for an expert aiming to kill quickly and cleanly, but through a misplaced arrow that could strike them anywhere, cause them a lingering and painful death…this was supposed to be a game?

This was meant to be their entertainment?

The window between Nie Mingjue and the world shattered.

And suddenly all he felt was rage.

“What,” Nie Mingjue said, even as Jin Zixuan got up with a set expression on his face to accept a bow from his servant, “are you doing?”

Jin Zixuan paused, looking puzzled – and no surprise, since Nie Mingjue hadn’t said anything beyond the most mundane greetings when he first arrived. “Sect Leader Nie..?”

Nie Mingjue rose to his feet, his brother’s hand falling off of his arm as if he’d shaken him off like a dog. “What are you doing?” he demanded, louder this time. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”

“Da-ge –” Jin Guangyao said, an obvious hint, a reminder of their relationship – Nie Mingjue was the one bound by it, the older brother responsible for setting a good example, and for all that Jin Guangyao was supposed to listen to him and follow his lead Nie Mingjue had never seen a hint that he’d ever planned to do so – but Nie Mingjue didn’t listen to him.

He was angry.

It felt good to be angry – a clean anger, a righteous anger, anger at injustice being perpetrated right before his eyes.

(Something so poisonous as rage shouldn’t feel this good.)

“This is an abomination,” he said, a touch of the battlefield in his voice so that it would be audible throughout the hall, would spread far and wide for all to hear. “Those are people you’re putting on the line.”

There was a moment of awkward silence.

Jin Zixun, Jin Guangshan’s nephew, broke it with an abrupt laugh. “Sect Leader Nie,” he said, pretending to smile, “surely you don’t think so little of us to suggest that my cousin would miss –”

“I don’t care even if he does strike true,” Nie Mingjue snapped. “You do not play with the lives of men.”

“Hardly men,” a minor sect leader, closely affiliated with the Jin sect, said. Sect Leader Qin, if Nie Mingjue placed him right. “Perhaps you did not hear, Chifeng-zun –” It was always his title they used when they wanted to avoid calling him sect leader, when they were trying to make a point about how young and angry and foolish they thought he was. “– but those are Wen-dogs.”

“I don’t care who or what they are,” Nie Mingjue shouted, and now he had fallen back into his body, back into the battlefield, because this was a battlefield; it was only that he had allowed himself – through tiredness or shock or a desire for peace – to forget it for a moment. “Is this not a celebration of peace, the end of war? If they are criminals, sentence them; if they are condemned, execute them with a sword. Even a rabid beast deserves to be put down cleanly, not to be used as target practice by children for the entertainment of others!”

There was movement in the crowd, multiple people shifting from one side to the other, the audience abruptly uncomfortable when faced not only with a gory spectacle but their own complicity in it.

“Sect Leader Nie, calm yourself,” Jin Guangshan said. His voice was stern, irritatingly condescending – as if he thought that styling himself as Chief Cultivator gave him the right to act as if he were Nie Mingjue’s father. “You go too far for proper etiquette; will you not give any face to me, as your host? Naturally, if you have a complaint, I will hear it –”

“I don’t recall the moment I yielded to your authority in matters of ethics, Sect Leader Jin,” Nie Mingjue snapped. “Please, feel free to remind me – the last I recall it, you were the one begging me for assistance.”

“Sect Leader Nie!” Jin Guangshan shouted, rising to his feet with his face starting to purple.

Nie Mingjue saw the furious glance he sent at a frantic Jin Guangyao – control him already! – and it makes his own rage surge even higher. It was not that he didn’t know that his sworn brother was being used as leverage against him, but to have it shoved right into his face like that, to think that they thought that etiquette and brotherhood would be sufficient to make him complaisant – to allow Jin Guangyao to run roughshod over his morality – to think that it had nearly worked –

“Sect Leaders, please.” That was Lan Xichen, standing up as well, his hands outstretched. “Is this not meant to be a celebration of peace?”

For a moment, Nie Mingjue thought he was standing up for his sake, supporting him in decrying what was happening in front of them – something he despised as much as Nie Mingjue did, that much was obvious from his stance – but then his eyes flicked from Nie Mingjue to Jin Guangyao as well, silently beseeching Nie Mingjue to remember how his actions could hurt Jin Guangyao’s standing, and Nie Mingjue felt cold.

So much for brotherhood, it seemed. How much was he supposed to bear on behalf of Jin Guangyao without receiving anything in return?

He turned his face away.

If the Nie sect had to make this stand alone, so be it. Even if it meant war, war against the rest of the cultivation world, war that would be ruinous to his sect...

There was no choice. The Nie sect stood for refusing to tolerate evil; to do any less would be to throw off the traditions of his ancestors more wholly than Nie Huaisang’s refusal to train the saber had ever been. Even on a personal level, he had long criticized others who stood quiet when evil was happening, and he  would not let himself become the hypocrite that so many others had been. 

Nie Mingjue had never before willingly backed away from doing the right thing, the righteous thing, simply because it was hard to do – he would not start now.

“It seems strange that a celebration of peace would begin with death.” That was Jiang Cheng standing up as well, the fourth of the Great Sects. His sister had once been engaged to Jin Zixuan, and she had been invited to the hunt as Madame Jin’s special guest – popular thought had it that the Jin sect would snap her up soon enough, allying with the last remaining sect, and leaving anyone who opposed them to stand alone. But even if that was the plan, it hadn’t happened yet, and Jiang Cheng was putting his voice on Nie Mingjue’s side – Nie Mingjue would have to find a way to repay him for his support later. “Weren’t the Wen sect supposed to be resettled somewhere peaceful? Or was the news I received incorrect?”

“The innocent branch members and civilians were of course resettled,” Jin Guangyao said, and his smile was strained – or was it? Was it actual concern, or some sort of show? Nie Mingjue could never tell with him, not now that he knew how easily the snake changed its skin. “These however are war criminals, sentenced to execution in the manner of our choosing. I hope you all understand: their deaths are in no way comparable to their crimes –”

You would know, having participated in so many of them, Nie Mingjue thought, and levelled a glare at his youngest sworn brother to remind him of that fact. It briefly interrupted the smooth flow of words, making them catch in Jin Guangyao’s throat; at least he had that much shame.

“Can I see?” Nie Huaisang asked in the brief interval, his high voice just as carrying as Nie Mingjue’s shouting – all those music and singing lessons had clearly been worth something.

“See what?” Jin Zixun sneered, stepping forward – and interesting that it was him that did so, while Jin Zixuan, the heir, remained still and silent. His expression was frosty, but he hadn’t yet spoken up in his own father’s defense; hardly filial, but given such a father it was difficult to see what else he could do. “See their crimes? Do you want a list, or for us to drag out their victims to testify? Is this how little your Nie sect thinks of our Jin sect?”

A strong effort on Jin Zixun’s part – it put the burden on them to prove that these were not evildoers and criminals who deserved what was coming to them, made the issue their rudeness and lack of etiquette, made it seem as if they were the ones looking down on everyone.

But for all that Nie Mingjue despaired of Nie Huaisang’s skill at arms, he had never doubted his skill with words.

“You misunderstand me,” Nie Huaisang laughed nervously, hiding his face behind his fan in a gesture of shyness – he made it look as though he were being bullied by Jin Zixun, rather than debating him. “I just meant, well, they’re criminals, right? They must be truly impressive cultivators to fight against the brave soldiers of our Sunshot Campaign…could we see their strength?”

Nie Mingjue knew a cue when he heard one. “Such strength must be considerable to deserve such a fate,” he said scornfully. “Even Wen Ruohan, who killed hundreds, was merely cut down, rather than tormented in the same manner he tortured so many of our cultivators…Or do you think to emulate him in this manner as well?”

“How dare you?!” Jin Guangshan was florid with rage – as if rage would ever stop a Nie. “You come to my home and accuse me with no basis –”

“I do accuse you!” Nie Mingjue shouted, letting his voice trample down Jin Guangshan’s. “But by your own acts you are condemned, by your own callousness and indifference. So much Nie blood was shed to stop Wen Ruohan from running rampant over us all – I would die rather than have spent that blood to buy us nothing more than the same dominion in a different color!”

And then everyone was talking at once, shouting, yelling, and Nie Mingjue took the opportunity to turn on his heel and stride over to Lan Xichen, standing there looking lost. Lan Wangji was beside him, only a step behind, and he caught Nie Mingjue’s eyes as he came over and nodded – he, at least, was with Nie Mingjue in this, and his support gave Nie Mingjue more confidence in what he was about to do. What he had to do.

“Will you abide by your Lan sect’s values and stand with me in this?” he asked Lan Xichen in a low, clipped tone. “Or was my oath of brotherhood only worth the benefits it could get for Meng Yao?”

“Da-ge!” Lan Xichen exclaimed, looking horrified. “Don’t think that, please. Of course I stand with you in this – what they were planning for the Wen sect members goes beyond bad taste and into the horrific.”

He hadn’t meant it the way Nie Mingjue had taken it, then. It must have only been Jin Guangyao’s pleading looks that had led him to take a stand the wrong way, seeking peace and friendship over justice.

“One should not look away from righteousness simply because it would be easier,” Lan Wangji added smoothly, sounding almost as though he were agreeing with his brother and not subtly scolding him. He saluted Nie Mingjue. “You have our full support, regardless of who is on the other side.”

Nie Mingjue continued to look at Lan Xichen who hesitated – no doubt thinking of the tough position they’d just put Jin Guangyao into – but in the end he nodded.

That was fine. Okay, no, it wasn’t fine, but right now he needed Lan Xichen’s support, regardless of his level of enthusiasm; the rest could be dealt with later.

He turned again and went to Jiang Cheng – Wei Wuxian was there as well, having appeared at some point, and he was vociferously yelling at some minor sect leaders. In Nie Mingjue’s favor, at least.

“Sect Leader Nie,” Wei Wuxian said, turning to him before Nie Mingjue could say anything to Jiang Cheng – not that he really need to confirm his support, given the public display from earlier, but it was only polite to come convey his thanks. “There’s something else you should know. I’ve heard some things about the innocent members Wen sect that were supposedly ‘resettled’ – and what’s been happening to them…”

Nie Mingjue glanced at Jin Guangshan, still shouting, and did a quick calculation. “Take Lan Wangji and go check it out at once,” he ordered. “They were supposed to be resettled by the Qiongqi Path. If Sect Leader Jin has been treating these ones so cruelly as this…I’m willing to believe anything right now. But whatever it is, make sure it’s both of you that see it with your own eyes, to make it harder to doubt your words.”

Wei Wuxian saluted him and headed towards Lan Wangji without even seeking approval from his sect leader. Nie Mingjue abruptly felt awkward and looked at Jiang Cheng, but the other man nodded his agreement before he could apologize for commandeering Wei Wuxian as if the other man was still his subordinate.

“At least he listens to you,” Jiang Cheng said, a rueful smile on this face. “Can I convince you to talk some sense into him when all this is done..? I must admit I wasn’t expecting another war so soon.”

“I had hoped we wouldn’t see one for another generation,” Nie Mingjue admitted. “I still hope we can avoid it – it depends on how the smaller sects fall out, and how determined the Jin sect is to dominate the rest, rather than willing to accept equality. But no matter how it goes, we can’t turn our faces away from injustice.”

“Agreed,” Jiang Cheng said with a sigh. “I think we have the better of the argument, and hopefully it sways the rest of them. But have you considered what happens if we win?”

“What do you mean?”

“Sect Leader Jin has been setting himself up as Chief Cultivator. After something like this, even if there’s no actual fighting, that’ll be impossible. You need respect to lead. So who will it be?”

Nie Mingjue experienced a brief moment of horror at the thought of having to take it himself – but no. It was a reasonable solution, of course, but it would also taint the whole thing. It would make his decision to stand up into a tawdry political play, designed to increase his power, rather than a genuine outburst of offended principle.

He might have proposed Lan Xichen as a compromise – he would have, even a shichen earlier. But after that display of weakness from earlier, however brief, he feared that it would somehow end up with Jin Guangyao (and Jin Guangshan behind him) pulling the strings from behind the scenes, using Lan virtue as a cover for their iniquity…no, that wouldn’t do at all.

The only other option was –

Well.

Nie Mingjue had thought to himself that he needed to do something to pay Jiang Cheng back for his support earlier, hadn’t he?

(And at worst, he’d owe him yet another favor.)

Nie Mingjue put his hand on Jiang Cheng’s shoulder. “You have my full support,” he said solemnly, and ignored the sudden look of panic on Jiang Cheng’s face. “Think it over before you say no.”

Being Chief Cultivator would do more to restore the Jiang sect to prosperity than anything else Jiang Cheng might do, and he’d put that together himself sooner or later even if the idea of that much responsibility had to be fairly terrible. But before they could decide things like that, they needed to win.

One more fight.

He could do that much.

[kirislut]

Hiiii, it is me 😎✌️ I had this request in my mind for a while, and when I found ur page I was like, I feel like you’d write it perfectly!!!! The request: Bakugou or Todoroki having a very tough day, then when their S/O tries to bring them like soup or smth, they throw it on the floor, and the glass cuts the S/Os hands and they try to hide it while picking up everything, and when the boy sees their hand w a bandage later on in the day, they feel SO GUILTY!! Also, w fluff at the end pls! Thank u!

a/n: heyyy 😎✌️, first, thanks for this request! second, i don’t know if i can write it perfectly but i hope you like it absksj. definitely don’t feel any pressure 😳 (i got too excited and wrote a lot....whoops)

warnings: bakugou(swearing), mention of getting cut, mention of blood

Katsuki Bakugou

bakugou is an angry guy, everyone knows that. but today he was especially pissed off. he had gotten into a heated argument with kirishima after training. usually he didn’t care but this time he knew he was wrong but was too damn stubborn and prideful ever admit it.

so instead of working it out with his best friend he was just extra pissed off today. which was unfortunate for you.

when he came back to the shared dorms, you were busy cooking some spicy ramen for the both of you. luckily you had finished training earlier that day, so you and time to surprise your boyfriend!

stomping feet could be heard as you dished yourself and bakugou up, and hearing the stomping meant you knew he was close by. lucky for you he was actually sitting at a nearby table, grumbling to himself about something. you didn’t know what however.

excited to surprise your lover, you practically skip over to the angry blonde. “katsuki! i made some spicy for you~” when you set the bowl in front of him he just grunted and swiped it off the table. “leave me the fuck alone.”

he didn’t even spare you a glance as you just gawked at him, what had you done wrong? gulping nervously you’re just turned to start cleaning up. you used napkins to pick up and wipe up the spilled ramen then started to pick up the broken ceramic.

you didn’t notice that a particular piece was sharp, grabbing it caused you to feel a stinging situation in your palm. so when you pulled away it dragged, creating a now bleeding gash in your palm.

a whimper escaped from you, quickly applying pressure to the wound to delay the bleeding. you moved to the kitchen and used paper towels to clean up your bloody palm, all while bakugou sat there blissfully unaware.

as you cleaned yourself up, the still extra angry male got up from the table and stomped off to his room. he scolded you to leave him alone, because he was actuallt considering apologizing. that thought was pissing him off, and not to mention thinking about how to be kind for once was a slight challenge. only because he was stubborn in this matter.

by the time bakugou was in his dorm room, you had finished up cleaning and were now wrapping up your hand with some gauze because a bandaid wouldn’t suffice. even if bakugou didn’t eat the ramen, didn’t mean you would let it go to waste.

but as your began to ate, you were replaying the situation to try and figure out what went wrong. sure bakugou has a bad temper but this was a different kind of anger which you haven’t seen before. you were absolutely certain you didn’t do anything wrong, so why was bakugou upset?

quickly finishing up your meal and putting away your dishes, you went to bakugou’s room because you were worried about him. it was honestly kinda crazy on how you weren’t even angry or upset with the male, just worried for him because you loved him that much.

everyone has their moments and slip ups were they release their anger on to someone else unintentionally, and you knew that very well. because of a certain boy.

standing in front of your boyfriends door, you knocked. when he didn’t respond after a few seconds you just opened the door and proceeded.

“oi! who said you— oh.” his angry expression faltered when he saw you standing there. lucky for you he was able to calm down after thinking it through and developing a plan. a perfect plan to be precise. nothing less from the ambitious guy himself.

“about earlier, are you okay? you haven’t eaten yet and i know you’re angry.” you shut the door behind you and join bakugou on his bed. bakugou lets out a sigh, leaning back against his headboard and staring at the ceiling.

“you a stalker or something? how can you always read me so well.” bakugou let out another sigh, this time more of a huff as he patted the space beside him. signaling you to sit by him.

as you scooted over to place yourself by him you responded, “i’m your lover katsuki, i think it would be bad if i didn’t know you well wouldn’t it?” the blonde glanced at you then did a little nod. he knew you knew him well, and he kinda loved how sometimes you could practically read his mind.

“i got into a fight with shittyhair, i don’t want to say more because i know i’ll get mad again.” as the spiky blonde explained, he noticed the gauze around your hand. he immediately grabbed your wrist, being gentle, and brought you hand up. “what happened.”

hearing bakugou’s stern tone made you gulp, “i cut myself that’s all! just need to be more careful.” even though you were playing cool bakugou also knew you too well as well. he thought back to when he spotted you in the kitchen, you didn’t have this before. even if you thought bakugou didn’t spare you a glance, he would always look at you once. whether you notice it or not.

his jaw clenched when he realized that he was the cause of this, great today he fucked up twice with two of the people he valued deeply. his silence was definitely worrying you, was he going to yell? you weren’t sure what to expect for once.

his next move you did give you a bit of a surprise. your boyfriend leaned forward and pressed such a soft kiss against your forward. you never knew his kisses could feel so gentle yet loving. “i’m sorry.”

even if his apology was simple, it was all he needed to say. the rest was communicated with his actions. you smiled brightly at bakugou, reciprocating his actions, you pressed a loving kiss against his lips.

the rest of the night was filled with lots of kisses and a plethora of cuddles.

Shouto Todoroki

there is no beating around the bush here, todoroki was having an absolutely terrible day. he was supposed to visit his mother but his father visited him instead. he lectured his son about how he needs to focus on becoming the number one hero, not messing around with a lover. this led to an agruement which also stopped him from seeing his mother because visiting hours had ended by the time he got there.

so when he came back to the dorm, after an entire day basically going garage. he was not happy, in fact he was quite pissed. he didn’t even try to hide his scowl as he passed by you.

“sho? hey sho what’s wrong?” your boyfriend stopped to look back at you. “(y/n) i’m fine. just a little tired.” todoroki went to turn, but you grabbed his hand.

“are you sure? you should eat dinner before going to bed at least. i even have some left over cold soba!” before he could reject you you dragged him off into the kitchen and served him the left over soba you made for yourself not to long ago.

“(y/n) i’m not hungry.” he replied simply. but you weren’t going to let him get off that easily. “sho please eat.” you insisted.

this turned into a banter of back and forth between you two. you kept insisting he ate, whike todoroki kept refusing. he was losing his patience with each time.

as a last cause resort and grabbed his hand and placed the bowl in it, “shouto you need to eat!” your tone was raised and more stern this time. you weren’t angry but just concerned and worried.

but this pushed todoroki over the edge. his hands trembled for a moment before he chucked the bowl at the ground, “(y/n), you don’t need to act like a parent. i can do whatever i want.”

the fact that todoroki didn’t even raise his voice at you, yet it held so much anger, made you tremble in fear. you stood there frozen in shock as your boyfriend proceeded to walk away.

your fists clenched at your sides, now you were getting upset like todoroki was. how could he just throw the food on the ground? besides he was never one to act like this. sure he got angry, as everyone does, but it was another level.

you crouched down and started to pick up the broken pieces of the bowl. trying your best to be careful. but as you reached for a piece of ceramic, another piece of the broken bowl dragged along your finger. immediately you pulled your hand back, cringing at the stinging sensation. there was another piece of bowl beside the one you were reaching, which had a sharp edge sticking up towards you.

you swore under your breath as bleed started to leak from the wound, getting up to take care of it before you finished cleaning up.

on the other hand, todoroki was cooling off in his room. and now starting to feel guilty for what he had said and done. he knew he shouldn’t have been so harsh with you. but you just happened to push him over the edge.

he wasn’t angry with you, no, mostly at himself. he knew he should’ve informed his father himself that he started dating you, but he never got around to it. which led him to finding out on his own and the previous agruement to occur.

but even if his father disagreed, there was no way he was going to lose you. he would prove that you were no distraction, and in fact motivation. before he could prove that, he need to apologize to you first.

leaving his room, he went back down to see if you were still in the kitchen area. but you weren’t, so he went back up to the dorm rooms.

when he got to your room, he didn’t bother knock and just opened the door. “(y/n)?” hearing todoroki’s voice made you look up from your phone. you were just scrolling on social media to take your mind off you little fight with your boyfriend

“shouto, do you need something?” you watched as he came into your room, shutting the door behind him, and going straight to you. he sat himself down across from you, looking at his lap as he thought of how to say what he wanted.

“i’m sorry for throwing your soba. i’m sure it was amazing, but i was just angry. before i was able to visit my mother, my father stopped me give me a scolding about how he disagrees with our relationship.” todoroki looked up at you as he finished, surprised to see how sad you looked.

“but (y/n) don’t worry, i’m not letting him stop our relationship. i can never give you up, please remember that i always love you.” he reached out and gently held your face in his hands, not wanting you to think that he would ever let someone like his father get in the way of you both.

your frown was soon replaced with a smile, honestly you were slightly embarrassed to let yourself think that todoroki would give up on your relationship just because of his own dad.

nuzzling you’re face into his touch, you reached up and covered his hands with your own. but as you did so, todoroki was quick to notice that your finger was covered up by a large bandage.

“was that from me?” todoroki asked as he frowned, letting go of your face and carefully taking your hand so that he could look at your finger.

“no sho! it was my fault, i was careless.” you watched as todoroki lightly shook his head. “no it’s my fault my love, i’m sorry again.” he brought your hand up to his face and placed a warm kiss against your bandaged finger.

watching him made your heart flutter, how did you end up with such a caring boy? todoroki didn’t stop kissing just your finger. he kissed the back of your palm then moved forward to kiss your forehead, then your cheek, then finally your lips.

you smiled happily against his lips. you just so happy to know that nothing could get between you and your beloved. not even his father. and not even a bowl of soba.

[ivy-d00dles]

Secret of the Sundrop VS Cassandra's Revenge Analysis

Alright, I'm going to get into this and why it makes me so frustrated because it points out the favoritism is the show so SO clearly.

First let's outline the similarities between the episodes: hostage situation, awesome Jeremy Jordan song, Rapunzel magic hair-ing her way out of the problem, climax is triggered when someone Rapunzel loves is threatened.... And I think that's it and even in those things, there are differences.

This is going to have some Anti-Ranpuzel and Anti-Cass stuff in it too so if you don't want to interact with that stop right here.

Hostage Treatment.

Okay so let's start with SotS. Varian uses a sleeping gas to incapacitate an enabler in his abuse, Queen Arianna. He doesn't restrain her other than rope around her wrists and eventually a chain on hey ankle. Until he threatens to encase her in a magical cage, there's no evidence that Varian hurt her any further until the climax (more on that later)

Now with CR, it's a very different case. Cass is implied to have assaulted a 15/16 year old who had nothing to do with her grievances except he had information she wanted, in order to get him unconscious. Then in order to the get the information she wanted, she forcefed a liquid that's been proven to be volatile down his throat and it is framed as a torture session. Even further, when the 15/16 year old tries to reach out to Cass, she throws him across the room with a bunch of blunt unbreakable rocks to get body multiple times and actually encases him in a magical cage and dangles him out of a window.

Reasoning for the Adult/Kidnapping

For Varian, it was motivation for Rapunzel to actually keep her promise and help him. He's asked for her help a total of three times previous (QfaD, QfV, RotA), the last one ending in Rapunzel proving that she'd rather not upset her father than help him. It was a last resort driven by desperation, anger and grief to free his only family.

For Cassandra, it's uhhhh.... Complicated? First it was for the translation of the demanitus scroll to further her own power and then, um? I'm not quite sure? Is it to draw Rapunzel in to fight her and show she's stronger? Then why wouldn't she let her in right away? I have no idea why she would hang onto him and tell him to wait for her to come for him and then not let Rapunzel into her tower. I'm so confused.

How the Main Characters Treat the Situation

In the Secret of the Sundrop, in hearing about how Varian had kidnapped Arianna in order to get Rapunzel to help him; everyone treats it very seriously. Strategizing, forming mobs and sharpening weapons are all happening while Varian prepares to defend himself against an entire kingdom coming to fight him for taking their queen. It's nerve wracking, it's dramatic, and the atmosphere is very very serious.

In Cassandra's Revenge, it's so different it frustrates me so much. Rapunzel is more worried about how Varian being kidnapped might ruin her proposal to Eugene and the rest of them are joking and teasing each other. There's so strategy planning, they didn't seem to take any weapons or defense mechanisms with them and the slapstick humor outweighs any kind of serious atmosphere from such a scary situation. Even upon finding the hostage trapped, Eugene and Rapunzel are too occupied with the rings they were going to propose to each other with than the kid who relied on them to save him.

Before, During, and After Climax

Varian figures out their plan. There's no reasoning involved, no trying to get Varian to back down or just talking to him just an exchange of threats. In order to give Rapunzel the ultimatum it would take to get her to help him, he threatens to magically imprison her mom. Rapunzel gives in and let's him use her hair to try and free his dad. It hurts Rapunzel and it's not working, so he stops and has a mental breakdown. There's a kingdom on his doorstep prepared to kill him. His father isn't free. Rapunzel and her family are reunited and the king made it very clear what he would do to him. He's devasted, angry, in denial, grieving and has literally nothing else to lose; he's already a dead kid in the eyes of the kingdom. He crawls into his Mecha and rages against his abusers, trying to take out everyone he can to make them feel what he's feeling. Once Rapunzel does her magic hair thing, Varian's arrested and Rapunzel puts his safety in her father's hands.

Throughout the entire episode Varian and Rapunzel both try to reason with her, talk to her about not having to do this because she has other options. Cass refuses both times and attempts to instigate Rapunzel to fight her. Unlike with Varian, she 'doesn't want to justify her hate' and refuses to fight. Which Cass then begins to crush Eugene with black rocks to inspire Rapunzel to fight her. And she does and wins, after which she expresses concern for the friend she lost (not the one they were supposed to be saving who had just fallen out of the tower during their magic fight) but the one who had hurt them throughout the entire episode.

Conclusion

The similarities and differences between these episodes paints a very uncomfortable and ugly picture: Varian was a big bad monster that needed to be stopped at all costs and Cass was just a lost friend who needed to be reached. This is what happens when the favoritism in the show messes with the character arcs and tone, messages are confusing, character's actions are confusing, and even more so does it make the show less tolerable to watch without throwing something at the screen.

[justkending]

The Number One Rule. Chapter 17.

Summary: Y/N has always been seen as “Steve’s rambunctious sister.” However, she grew up, graduated, and moved to London to study abroad for 4 years and get her bachelor's degree. The girl that returns looks nothing like the teenager that left, but don’t worry the attitude is still there and stronger than ever. What’s to come of the two grown adults that used to push each other's buttons, but now have a lot more in common than they’ve ever realized.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Y/N Rogers (Steve’s little sister)

Word Count: 4700+

A/N: Ah yes... It’s time to trap an angry brother...

Chapter Seventeen:

“Steven Rogers, you are not canceling on me again. I’ve seen you a total of 3 times in the past two week,” Sarah scolded into the phone. 

There was a pause as Steve talked on the other line. Y/N watching from the side. Her teeth nervously biting her thumb nail waiting to see if their plan would work. 

“No, your sister has something planned. Something about going up to see Wanda and helping her with nursery decorating,” Sarah lied effortlessly. She really had planned this all out. Turning to her daughter she saw her nervous nail biting, and swiped at her hand, giving her an eye. 

Y/N frowned at the movement and moved to cross her arms tightly around her. 

“Ok, good. I’ll be seeing you at six tonight then. Don’t be late,” the older blonde nodded. “Hm mm, I love you too, sweetheart… Ok, bye.” Pressing the red button, ending the call, she turned to her daughter. “He’s not getting out of this one. We’re fixing this mess.”

“I hope so…” Y/N sighed. 

A wave of relief came over at finally being able to talk this out with Steve, but with it a wave of anxiety hit too. As much as she was upset with Steve for acting the way he was, she understood that in the end, they had hurt his feelings. He was upset and disheartened that two of the closest people in his life, hid such a big thing from him and didn’t feel comfortable enough to tell him first hand. 

“Hey, don’t overthink it. You two are family. Family that has been through thick and thin. If he isn’t ok with you being happy, then I’ll give him a nice smack on the back of the head to knock some sense into him,” Sarah reassured, placing a hand on Y/N’s shoulder. “I raised him better than to act like this.”

“I know… It’s just,” she paused. 

“You feel bad,” Sarah finished for her. “And in a sense you should.”

“Mom!”

“Hey, I never said I was picking sides. The way I see it, you both didn’t handle this situation well,” she shrugged, moving to the kitchen to make some tea. Y/N following slowly behind her. “You and Bucky should have just talked with Steve about things to begin with.”

“But-”

“I wasn’t done,” she stopped raising a finger. Y/N sighing and nodded her on as she sat at the kitchen table. “But, I understand where both of you were coming from. You were worried about his reaction, and from what I heard how it did end up playing out, I understand why you were worried. However,” she continued, pouring the water from the kettle into two ceramic mugs with tea bags. “I think if you brought it up and had an actual sit down conversation, things wouldn’t have escalated how they did.”

“We were worried that if things didn’t work out with us, then Steve would have that weird gap to work between us and it would just make things more awkward in the future. We thought it better to leave him out of it until we were further into the relationship ourselves,” Y/N defended. 

“And I see your reasoning there. Which is what you need to tell Steve. He needs to realize what you thought you guys were doing, was to keep him safe and not that you didn’t trust him,” Sarah nodded, bringing the two mugs over to the table and giving Y/N one. “But you know Steve. He has a big heart just like your father. One that holds a lot of love for those around him, and given what’s happened, that heart that sits on his sleeve was wounded.”

“I know, Ma. I’m not happy with myself either. Bucky and I both feel shitty,” she sighed stirring some honey into the tea, but never actually taking a sip. 

“Have you told Bucky about our little plan?”

“Um, to an extent. I just let him know that I was going to talk to him. Bucky asked if I wanted him to join because he wanted to talk to Steve too, but I think I need to talk to him first as his sister.”

“Probably a good idea,” Sarah nodded. 

They stayed in silence for a second. Y/N never stopped stirring her tea as she looked off in the distance, no doubt playing the night out in her head. Sarah knew that her daughter just needed to have a second to think. 

“I should probably start cooking dinner though. He said he’ll be here at 6 and it’s already 4,” her mom noted looking at the clock. “What are you going to do?”

“Uh, I was just going to hang out in my room and do some work until he got here, but I actually need to run an errand. I’ll try and get back before he gets here so I don’t scare him off,” Y/N sighed standing and wrapping her arms back around herself. 

“Ok,” Sarah nodded going to the fridge to start on the meal. “Park your car in the garage when you get back.”

“Got it,” Y/N nodded, grabbing her keys and  heading out. 

__________

Y/N went about her errands, running to the pharmacy for a prescription, a quick run to work to grab some books she forgot, and a quick stop at the grocery store to get one last special thing…

But as the fates would have it, she pulled around the corner just as Steve was parking. He was a whole 30 minutes early. 

And the attempt to drive away, in hopes he didn’t notice and circle back around, was pointless. Because they made awkward eye contact and Steve became stiff immediately. 

“Shit,” Y/N groaned, stopping her car right in front of the driveway. 

They had a quick stare off. For a second just blank faces and the next Steve looked full on infuriated and started marching back to his car. 

Not letting it be that easy for him to have a clean getaway, and being the petty little sister she was, she quickly went to park behind him. She stepped out of the driver side immediately. 

“Move your car, Y/N,” he groaned, sending her a glare. 

“No,” she said stubbornly. 

“Y/N, I’m not messing around. Move your car or else I will,” he said straightening his pose and walking to her car. But she matched his step. Was he forgetting that she had learned all her stubbornness from him. The two were two stubborn mules going head to head, and these jackasses weren't letting up on the other. 

“I’m bigger and stronger than you,” he countered.

“Oh, wow. Great point there Captain obvious,” she jeered. “But not going to happen. We need to talk,” she said, standing her ground and crossing her arms with a straight face. 

“I don’t want to talk,” Steve said, moving closer to her. 

The two were now mere inches from being chest to chest, Y/N staring straight up at him and Steve looking down. If it had been anyone else under each of their stares, the person would have melted to the floor or ran the opposite direction and never stopped. 

These two had been doing this since the dawn of time though, and neither was even close to relenting. 

“Sucks because we’re going to,” she shrugged. 

“Key’s Y/N. Now,” he commanded. Almost as if he was a Captain and she was a soldier beneath him. 

“It’s funny you think that voice works on me. You should know I’ve become immune to it over the years by now,” she said with a smirk only making him more angry. 

“Give me the-,” he resorted to grabbing her arms and trying to pry the keys out of her hands. 

“No!” she shouted fighting back and turning her back to him to keep him from grabbing anything from her. 

“Y/N, I swear to God,” he groaned as she elbowed him in the stomach and he started to pull her arms back in an attempt to pin them behind her and snag the keys. But she folded over, burrowing her hands toward her stomach and making it harder to get to them. 

“You’re not supposed to swear to God! That’s bad juju, Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes,” she mocked. 

The two were in a full on wrestling match that was somehow moving to the lawn as Y/N kept trying to run off, and Steve followed eventually grabbing her around the waist and picking her off the ground.

“I’m not playing Y/N! This isn’t a joke!” he groaned just as she started kicking wildly to get him to release her.

“I’m not laughing, am I?” she screamed as he became close to winning. “No!” Y/N shouted. Her arms now pinned to her side, but the death grip she had on the keys in her hand was all she was worried about. 

“Y/N Josephine Rogers! Steven Grant Rogers! Stop it right now!” 

The two froze in their fight. Steve was holding Y/N around her middle about 2 feet off the ground. Y/N knees still trying to tuck into her chest to form herself into a ball and keep the treasure away. She was completely engulfed by him still as she turned to the sound of her name. 

“I will not have you making a scene on my lawn. You two are not children anymore. Get your grown adult asses inside! Now.” 

If Sarah Roger’s was cussing, you know you’re in deep shit. And the tone she had, matched with the deadly stare she wore, was terrifying enough to make a thief go back and apologize for robbing a bank. 

“Yes ma’am,” they both said quietly. 

Their mom gave them one last hard stare before stomping back inside in complete frustration and disappointment. 

“Look what you did,” Y/N groaned when Steve finally put her down. “If she still has the wooden spoon from back in the day, we aren’t going to be able to sit down for the next week,” she said, brushing herself off. 

Steve looked down at her not amused and rolled his eyes before he stomped up the porch himself. 

“Geez, you try to lighten the mood a little,” she scoffed before following slowly after. 

Once the two were inside, Steve refused to get within a 6 foot radius of Y/N. The brooding stare he had plastered on him was only furthering his intentions of showing how unhappy he was. 

“Mom, he won’t stop staring at me like I kicked a puppy,” Y/N said in an irritated tone as she stayed by the threshold of the kitchen and Steve leaned back on the sink across the room. 

“Y/N, sit down,” Sarah instructed, pointing the wooden spoon in hand toward the table. The ire in her voice was very clear and very scary. 

Y/N didn’t hesitate to follow instructions. That wooden spoon meant business. 

When she sat and looked back at Steve, he had a cocky grin on his lips at her being scolded like a child. But before he could get too comfortable, Sarah turned to him.

“You too. Don’t think for a second you’re in the clear, mister.”

Y/N choked back a laugh at the terror in his eyes as he watched the spoon carefully like the weapon it was when being wielded in her hands. He sent her a quick glare before begrudgingly sitting in the seat in front of her. 

“Now, I’m going to make a plate and we’re going to sit down and have a nice family dinner. Understand?” she asked without looking back. 

“Yes ma’am,” they both sighed. 

“Good,” she nodded, grabbing plates. 

“Uh, ma?”

“Yes?”

“I have some things in the car I need to get or…” Y/N paused looking at Steve who had switched to avoiding eye-contact with her. “Well, it can’t sit out in the car.”

“You’re excused,” Sarah nodded. “But don’t piddle around.”

“Ok,” Y/N nodded before quickly going back to her car and putting the things she needed into the fridge out in the garage. 

“You set me up,” Steve said once she was out of the room and he heard the front door shut.

“Yes. And?” 

“Really, Ma? Why’d you lie and tell me she wasn’t going to be here?” he groaned with an irked attitude. 

“Watch your tone,” she warned. “And I lied because apparently you don’t remember what I taught you about having an adult discussion when you’re upset instead of pouting. Especially with your family.”

Steve caught on quickly seeing his mother knew more of the situation than he figured. “You know?”

“I’m not blind, Steven.”

“And you’re not upset?” he asked, confused. 

Sarah stopped placing the food on her plate and turned to him. She saw the pain in his eyes. The hurt from the whole situation. She let out a sigh and dropped the hard act just a tad. 

“Steven, I haven’t seen your sister this kind of happy since her junior year,” she answered, looking around the corner to make sure Y/N wasn’t back in yet. “I know she had a great time overseas and with college, but this is a different kind of happiness. One that I’m not going to question.”

“Did she tell you?” he asked, wanting to know if he was just the odd one out. 

“No, I just have a mother’s intuition,” she smiled, walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder. “But we have talked and I’ve heard her reasoning. All I’m asking for tonight is that you do that same. You can’t be mad at someone or judge another if you don’t know their side of the story. I’ve taught you better than that,” she said with a raised eyebrow. “Am I wrong?”

He didn’t answer immediately. He was slipping from angry back to upset and defeated. Eventually he nodded and relaxed more in his chair. 

Y/N came back in and the two looked up at her. She slowly walked back to her chair, but paused before sitting down. 

“Need help with anything mom?” she asked in the weird silence.

“No, dear. I’m ok. I’ll actually take my plate to the study, you guys stay here,” she instructed, grabbing utensils for herself and a napkin with her plate.

“Wait-” Y/N said, all of a sudden nervous being left alone with her brother. 

“This is not my conversation to be had. This is between you two,” she pointed before walking out of the room. “I will say this,” she turned back. “No one’s leaving until this is resolved. I’m not going to have my children hate each other or act like their still in middle school, you hear me?” she pointed to them both. 

They looked at each other for a second, silently communicating before turning back to their mom.

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. I’ll be in the other room if you need me,” she smiled softly before finally disappearing. 

Awkward tension almost instantly filled the atmosphere. No one was making eye contact with the other, Steve’s shoulders were rigid, and Y/N was gripping the back of the chair she was standing behind so hard that her knuckles were turning white. 

Eventually, she spoke up. 

“So, I have some explaining to do,” she said softly. 

Steve finally looked up, but she couldn't read his emotions. After a second, he stood up and walked over to the plates their mom had set out and started placing his own meal on it. 

“Right. I have a feeling I’ll be doing a good chunk of the talking then…” she caught on watching him move around the stove with his back toward her. “Steve, I don’t know where to start, ok? I don’t know what to tell you other than we thought we were protecting you.”

“Protecting me?” he said in a harsh laugh as he turned around. 

“Yes.” Her answer was solid and showed no doubt behind it. 

“Please, explain to me then how you and my best friend hiding such a big secret behind my back was protecting me,” he scoffed, grabbing a fork and walking back to the table. Slightly aggressively he moved the vegetables around on his plate before stabbing a piece of broccoli and biting into it without looking away from her. 

“I will,” she said matter of factly sitting across from him, forgetting the food and interlacing her fingers in front of her as she leaned forward. Her eye contact was strong so he could see just how much she meant what she was about to say. 

“Once we figured out there were feelings between us,” she paused seeing how weird this conversation was to have now. Steve even tensed more at the mention as well. “We sat down and talked. First, Bucky said he wasn’t going to follow through with it.” Steve’s eyes furrowed at that. “He wasn’t willing to lose your friendship and jeopardize ruining a life long relationship.” 

Steve eased up some at the news. Bucky never said that… 

“And at first, I was upset,” Y/N continued. “I was angry that he was going to let you depict how we went about life. So we walked away from the discussion and acted as if anything that had happened between us was pushed to the side and forgotten.”

“What changed?” Steve spoke up quietly, now lightly picking at the food on his plate. 

“Well…” she thought back. “I had gone ahead and accepted that fact. I figured it would be awkward for a little, but if he didn’t want to do anything about it, then I wasn’t going to push. But then, later the day of my interview, I went to Becca’s for a wine night. When I showed up, Becca wasn’t alone. Bucky had come over and wanted to talk again.”

Steve was listening intently, but played with his food not wanting to show his interest since he was angry. 

“He, uh… I guess he came to the conclusion that he didn’t want to regret not seeing where it went. And at that moment, I saw his perspective from the beginning. I didn’t want to be the reason you two had a falling out. I wasn’t going to be the person who took away your best friend if things didn’t work the way we wanted,” she said sadly, looking down at her hands as she picked at her nails. 

Steve looked up and his face softened. No one had told him that both had tried pushing their feelings aside just to preserve him. They didn’t want to hurt him in the end, and they had been trying to prevent that from the beginning. 

“But Bucky made a good point. We as well have been friends for a while and hopefully, if things didn’t work out between us, we could be civil. Hell, we even made a pact that if we did start a relationship and it ended up falling apart, we would stay civil and stay friends no matter what. We didn’t want it to be awkward for anyone else or ourselves. We’ve been a part of each other's lives too long to let that hurt us, hopefully.”

“So what made you guys decide to…” This was weird coming out of his mouth. “Start dating?”

Y/N chuckled softly at how awkward Steve looked saying that. 

“We realized that what we felt for each other wasn’t something that could be ignored. We enjoyed each other's company, we clearly had romantic feelings for each other, and we’ve had a past that made us almost just as close friends as you guys are. I mean, Becca will always be my own Bucky, but he was there just as much in my life. He’s always looked out for me, and I’ve always tried to do the same for him…” She hadn’t realized she was smiling thinking back on it and when she finally came out of her thoughts, she looked up at Steve who was staring at her. “I don’t know how to explain it, Stevie. There’s a pull. A connection that’s just there. It just… It just made sense.” 

Steve was no longer as tight in his body language as he was earlier. If anything, he looked deep in thought as if realization had hit him. She let him sit there and sift through all the new information. She knew he needed time to process, so she gave it to him. 

Eventually he spoke up in just barely a whisper. 

“How long have you guys-?” He didn’t finish the sentence as if he was still trying to find where it was going. 

Y/N figured he knew what he was trying to say, so she answered. 

“We’ve been dating for almost two months.”

“No,” he shook his head as he stared, unblinking at the table in front of him. “How long have you loved him?”

Shocked by the comment, Y/N widened her eyes when she turned to him.

“What?”

He finally broke his gaze from the table and looked at her. She could have swore she saw the slightest hint of a smile on his face. Vague and barely visible, but she could see something. 

“Come on, Y/N. How long?” he pushed.

She had to think. She hadn’t really put into words that she loved him yet. Had she felt it? Now that she thought about it, yeah… She had always felt love for Bucky. It had changed in the last few months, but after her conversation with her mom the night before, she had realized maybe she was just as blind as Bucky was back in the day. 

“I don’t think I could put a set date to it,” she answered. “I think it’s almost always been there and it took me growing up to know what that feeling was.”

Practically the same answer that Bucky had told him, just worded slightly different. 

“Are you happy?” he asked, leaning forward some. The question and look he was giving her begging for an honest answer. 

She didn’t hold back the smile that came to her lips. A genuine, pure, and blissful smile. 

“Very. I’m very happy, Steve.”

He watched her for a second longer as if waiting for any tell that she was lying, but there was nothing. Nothing apprehensive about it. 

“Ok,” he nodded sitting back in his chair.

“Ok?” she asked, shocked and confused. 

“Yes. Ok,” he repeated, and that small hint of a smile from earlier grew some. 

“Is that an, ‘Ok, whatever,’ or an ‘Ok, good,’ because those are two very different types of okays, believe it or not,” she asked, leaning forward with a raised eyebrow. 

He let out a short, but real laugh. “Ok, as in I’m glad you’re happy. End of the day, that’s all I want for you… And Buck.”

“You’re not mad anymore?” 

“Should I be? Cause I can flip the switch back it you wa-” 

“No! No! We’re happy! We like that answer,” she was quick to cut him off. 

“Ok then,” he laughed, going back to pick at his food. Y/N smiled with him and finally had an appetite to go and grab her own plate. “Almost two months?” he asked eventually. 

Turning from the stove she looked back at him. 

“Yeah, two months in like a week I’m pretty sure,” she calculated as she went back to making her plate and coming back to sit down. 

“So that means, you’re the girl he’s been dating and not telling me anything about?”

“What?”

“Classical Mythology; A-Z encyclopedia? I should have noticed right then and there,” Steve laughed fully now. 

“Oh God. I almost forgot about that,” Y/N laughed, running a hand through her hair. “That was an interesting night…”

“Ew, I don’t want the details,” Steve said, getting grossed out. “I’m trying to eat.”

“Oh, shut up. Nothing like that’s happened, and even if it did, I wouldn’t be telling you. That was just the night of our real first date,” she said, throwing a carrot at him that he deflected. “A night you were supposed to be at home and he could come pick me up without issues, but you had us thinking on our feet.”

He shook his head realizing just how oblivious he had been. Well, not fully oblivious. 

“You know, thinking about it, he’s been a lot more peppy the last couple months,” Steve nodded more seriously now. “At first I thought it was just a change in pace, then he was sneaking out for dates with this mystery girl who I just assumed was someone he wanted to keep a secret because he wasn’t ready to share. Now, I’m starting to realize that I’m just a bad detective…” The last comment was a joke to himself. 

“You’re not a bad detective. You didn’t even know you were supposed to be investigating us. We’re good like that,” she winked and he shook his head at her with a smile. “But in all realness, we were trying to look out for you. Like I said, if things didn’t go our way and we didn’t work out, we didn’t want everyone around us to have to endure that weird process with us.”

“I understand now,” he nodded. “I mean I wish you guys would have just talked to me, but I understand where you’re coming from.”

“I’m glad you get it. We really didn’t want to hurt you Stevie,” she said reaching across and grabbing his hand. “We love you too much to bring you down with us.”

“I love you guys too,” he said squeezing her hand. 

A sweet sibling's silent conversation was had with their eyes before they went back to eating and laughing as they caught up.

“Is it safe to come back into the war zone again?” Their mom asked, coming back into the room. Her plate halfway done, but still pretty full.

“Yes, we’re brother and sister again,” Y/N joked. 

“Good. I was getting bored in the study. The TV’s cable box isn’t working,” she said sitting down with them and going back to eating. “Speaking of. Steve can you-?”

“I’ll look at it for ya, Mom,” he laughed. 

“Thank you sweetheart,” she said pinching his cheek. “Ok, so family movie night since we all love each other again?”

“Only if I get to pick,” Y/N interjected. 

“You’re going to pick another murder mystery and I’m pretty sure we’ve already watched all the one’s Netflix has to offer,” Steve deadpanned. 

“Ok, and? We have Hulu too,” she said, making a ‘psh’ sound as she stabbed a piece of food on her plate and filled her cheeks in a very unlady-like way.

“No. No more murder shows,” Sarah spoke up. 

“I agree. I already see enough crime scenes at my job as it is,” Steve added pointing his fork at her. 

“Fine, one of you guys can pick,” she relented. “Oh! That reminds me!” They both looked at her as she didn’t finish her sentence. 

“Reminds you of…?”

“I got ice cream and Root Beer,” she smiled. “That’s what I had to get out of my car earlier.”

“Root beer floats?” Steve asked excitedly. “God, I don’t remember the last time I’ve had one of those. Those were dad’s favorite…” he smiled, but in fondness. 

“I know. And anytime we had an argument, he would make us sit down and talk,” Y/N said with knowing eyes to their mom. “Then after we would make root beer floats.”

“He said it made everything better after a bad day,” Steve said in reminiscence. 

“Joseph always knew how to fix a bad day with something so simple,” Sarah smiled with a sentimental grin. 

“He sure did,” Y/N agreed, and they all shared a moment leading them to stories here and there about their memories as a family. The topic of their father was one that could tend to be touchy, but this time all it did was bring joy and that sense of nostalgia they needed.

(Tags for this series will be closing soon as it is getting pretty full, please send an ask if you want to be added:)

I’ll post on whatever chapter I decided to close it down here.

The Number One Rule (TNOR) Taglist:

@shadowolf993 @hello-i-am-daydreaming @jessyballet  @emmabarnes @kmuir1  @beautifulrare4leafclover @thefallenbibliophilequote @l0ve-0f-my-life  @shawnie--jo  @asoftie4bucky @katiaw2 @sheeple @sznri @bxtchboy69 @taliarosej00 @bakugouswh0r3 @stopjustlovethemcu @babemendesxz @jenniereiji @taliarosej00 @loveyou5everr @natdrunk @im-a-light-child @stucky-my-ship

My Lovelies forever:

@natura1phenomenon @lauravicente @kakakatey @traceyaudette @notyourtypicalrose  @laneygthememequeen @awesome-badass-cafeteria-sauce @sandlee44 @thorne93 @thefaithfulwriter @marvelfansworld @essie1876 @greyeyedsmile14 @capsiclehan  @xostephanie @averyrogers83 @awesomenursingstudent @gh0stgurl @cs-please @carls1022 @jjlevin @rainbowkisses31 @carls1022 @anise-d-castle6 @deannotmoose @their-bibliophile @kitkatd7 @willowbleedsonpaper @mariaenchanted @snffbeebee @couldabeenamermaid @rebekahdawkins @alyispunk​

Bucky Barnes Tags:

@chloe-skywalker​ @charmedbysarge​ @jbarness​

@bellamy-barnes​

Marvel Tags:

@thejourneyneverendsx​ @death-unbecomes-you​ @heyiamthatbitch​ @lizzymacy555​ @iheartsebastianstan @srrymydood​ @xa-dia​ @redhairedfeistynerd​ @morganclaire4​ @connie326​ @captain-asguard​ @mollygetssherlockcoffee​ @teenagedreams-bucky​

[fandomsnfluff]

May I request 8 (scenarios) with Diavolo? It can be with anyone it just seems like something he would do (●´ω｀●)

OMG U KNOW I HAD TO DO THIS ONE WITH LUCIFER 😭

tickle prompts/scenarios

8: tickle hugs

◦◦,`°.✽✦✽.◦.✽✦✽.°`,◦◦

Diavolo never came off as a particularly needy person. Except in this instance, when for some reason he just couldn’t stop bugging Lucifer.

The two of them were in a meeting in a room of the prince’s castle, and it was only supposed to last for about half an hour. However, a heated debate had started and never really ceased between two leaders of clubs at RAD about how the extracurriculars were going to get more resources, and the two of them had wasted at least forty-five more minutes of other speakers’ times by chiding in and interrupting each other when they proposed their own ideas.

At this point, Lucifer knew Diavolo well enough to be able to almost read his mind. It was clear that the demon prince was becoming restless; every few minutes or so he would kick at Lucifer’s foot or squeeze or prod at his knees and thighs, even leaning over to press his shoulder or even his face against the side of his arm. It took every once of energy for Lucifer to hold back from snapping at him in the middle of the meeting, but he couldn’t bring himself to do that anyway; he could never imagine getting angry at his closest friend. Frustrated and annoyed with him, yes, but never outwardly angry.

After a few more moments, finally, the near two-hour-turned meeting ended.

Once he left the room, Lucifer grabbed his things and prepared to head back to the house; he only told Mammon that he would be gone for a little more than half an hour, and his skin crawled at the prospect of him getting into any kind of trouble.

A hand grabbed his forearm, and he whipped around to meet the soft golden gaze of the demon prince.

“Lucifer?” Diavolo’s voice came out small, almost shy. “Would you...would you like to come up to my room, just for a moment?”

Lucifer was so, so close to denying the offer; he really didn’t want to see the shit that Mammon had gotten up to when he was away. However, seeing that endearing, desperate look in the demon prince’s usually harsh golden stare sparked something within him, and he found himself smiling softly at him.

“Oh, all right. But let’s make it quick.”

With that, Diavolo instantly took his hand and nearly pulled him up the stairs to his room, the speed at which he was moving surprising Lucifer quite a bit. As soon as they arrived in the demon prince’s room, he closed the door and sat on his bed.

“Okay, what’s this thing that you wanted to show me?” Lucifer asked.

Instead of pulling out a shiny crown or a new article of clothing, Diavolo stood up and began approaching the black-haired demon, a serious look on his face. Lucifer blinked, wondering if he should stay put or back away; he had never seen such an expression directed at him and only him from the demon prince. Was he in trouble for something? Was it something that he said or did recently or during the meeting? He couldn’t stop himself from swallowing, feeling the sweat form on his forehead.

But the demon prince didn’t do quite what he was expecting. Instead of leaning down to stare him in the face, pin him against the wall, or even strike him, he had reached forward and enveloped him in one of the softest, most comforting hugs he had ever received in his 5000+ years of living. Of course, he would never, ever admit this verbally, not even to Diavolo, his closest friend.

“You looked like you needed one of these,” Diavolo mumbled, his voice muffled by Lucifer’s clothing as he pressed his face into his shoulder.

“Are you sure it wasn’t just because you wanted my attention?” Lucifer asked, recalling how touchy the demon prince had been during the meeting.

“Maybe.” That was the only response he got. Lucifer awkwardly wrapped his arms around the other’s shoulders and gave a slight squeeze, but after a few moments he began to feel a bit awkward from all the contact.

“O-okay, Diavolo, that’s enough,” Lucifer commented after a few moments. But the demon prince didn’t respond, and it didn’t feel like he was letting up, not even a little bit. In fact, it felt like his grip was becoming a bit...firmer, as time went on.

Then Lucifer had to bite back a gasp as Diavolo straight up squeezed him, feeling a stab of alarm. He tried to squirm away, but Diavolo was faster and stronger, so Lucifer could only really resort to begging at this point. “Okay, Diavolo, that’s en-- mMMPFH!!”

There really was nothing Lucifer could do to bite back that horribly embarrassing half-squeal kept back just enough by his sealed lips as he suddenly felt fingers jabbing and poking at his sides. A fresh wave of alarm made its way through Lucifer’s body, accompanied by goosebumps and a tingly sensation at the contact, and it only rose as the touches continued. He fought with all of his being not to laugh at the tickles, but it was becoming increasingly harder as he was almost being forcibly pressed against Diavolo’s chest.

However, he lost the fight, the dam breaking as soon as the demon prince playfully nibbled at the side of his neck. The Avatar of Pride quickly lost his composure and broke into breathy giggles, squirming as much as he could in Diavolo’s arms as he fought for breath through his laughter. It wasn’t fair; Diavolo knew how sensitive his neck was! But this was the Diavolo, the demon prince who, despite his upbringing as the future ruler of the Devildom, loved to have his cake and eat it, too, poking fun at his closest friends whenever it was appropriate. And, of course, Lucifer was no exception. Perhaps he was his favorite target because of his strict, unforgiving, intimidating stature?

But he couldn’t think about that now. All Lucifer wanted to do was get away from the relentless demon prince and his tickly fingers. He gasped and let out a sudden squeal of alarm when Diavolo’s hands moved from his sides to his hips, squeezing at the bone and allowing his fingers to trace the curvatures of his pelvis. He really couldn’t do this for much longer; why did he have to be so sensitive to Diavolo’s touch? Why hadn’t he known he was this ticklish before? He could do nothing but laugh and squeal with mirth as the demon prince trapped him against his chest, torturing two of his most sensitive spots mercilessly as he refused to let Lucifer go.

“Dihihiahahaha!” Lucifer cried, his voice coming out as an embarrassingly high-pitched squeal of mirth. “Lehehet gohoho!”

“What’s the magic word?” Diavolo teased, bringing one of his hands up to spider his fingernails against the side of Lucifer’s neck, making him outright shriek and jerk so hard that he crashed into Diavolo’s chest, nearly bowling him over onto the ground.

“Plehehehease!” There was no hesitation in the plea; there were little things that tickled more than those torturous fingernails the bare skin of Lucifer’s neck. As the incessant fingers finally eased up, he could finally pant and sigh in relief. Lucifer wasn’t the kind of person to exaggerate; he genuinely felt like he was going to die during that.

“You all right?” Diavolo asked, but there was an uncanny note of laughter in his voice.

“No.” There was no hesitation in Lucifer’s response. “It was all torture.”

“Was it, though?” Diavolo cocked his head to the side. “I don’t even remember the last time I hugged you. You sure you didn’t enjoy it just a little bit?”

“The hug was fine. I do not, however, appreciate being mercilessly tickled like that.”

“Then why don’t I just hug you without any tickles?” Diavolo offered.

Lucifer glared at him. “You’re planning something, I know it.”

“No I’m not!” the demon prince protested, opening his arms wide. “I promise you.”

Lucifer hesitated for a moment, unsure if he should trust Diavolo. Unsure if he should trust Diavolo. Shame washed over him as the thought echoed back to him. This was the person he had bestowed his undying loyalty to in perhaps one of the most desperate and devastating times of his entire life. Of course he trusted Diavolo; he promised him to do so in every move he made.

So that was what influenced his decision. Walking towards the demon prince to meet him, he was embraced by not only a warm, comforting, soft hug around the shoulders, as if Diavolo wasn’t going to let go of him, but also of any internal warmth that spread all throughout his body and made his heart expand to fill his entire chest. Was this what true, undying loyalty felt like? Was that what Diavolo was trying to convey to him in this very moment?

Lucifer couldn’t tell outright what the demon prince’s motivation was in that moment. But what he did know was that the two of them would be inseparable, bound by their undying loyalty to one another, until the very end.

[guqin-and-flute]

Are You Here to Stop Me?--Chapter 4

[Chapter 1] [Chapter 2] [Chapter 3] [First post in Peony to Lotus Verse]

[Ao3 Series]

[I had the hardest time shaking this man and making plot fall out, he was wholly uncooperative.]

This was all such fucking disaster.

A-jie was sick, the Jiang were once again yanked into a political fiasco that they had to pay for with their own reputation, there was a fierce corpse puppet in his home--a home that, apparently, had already been invaded by the Jin Clan demanding answers to said political fiasco while its master wasn’t even there. In a few days time, it would be invaded again by strange Wens he didn’t know or want.

If his mother were alive, she would kill him. He would probably deserve it. He didn’t know what his father would think. He would probably be disappointed--either that he didn’t think of it in the first place or for his resentment.

He stood frozen by the door, anxiously watching Wen Qing treat a barely conscious A-jie. It wasn't like he had never seen his sister feverish and weak before, but it scared him the same every single time. To know that she was in pain and he couldn’t do anything about it. To know that this could be the illness that would take her from him. That this could be the last time that….He gnawed on the inside of his cheek and folded his arms tight across his chest to keep them from fidgeting at his sides.

Jin Guangyao seemed to think everything was under control--at least, that’s what he had said. It would have been far more comforting if it hadn’t been in such a distant voice while being unable to look away from A-jie. Clutching her hand in a white knuckled grip. Expression all strained and pale with badly concealed terror.

This is your plan! Jiang Cheng wanted to scream as he clenched his aching fists. I did this because you said it would work! You’re the one that’s supposed to know what you’re doing!

What he wouldn’t give to actually know what the hell he was doing. Being an adult couldn’t just be this, right? Just guessing and grasping around in the dark, tripping like you’re wearing your father’s too big robes? Every other person he met seemed to be controlled and mature, while he was barely treading water--hell, even Wei Wuxian did the things he did with confidence. It had to get better at some point, because, right now, this mess was embarrassing--enraging. But most of all, it was terrifying.

What the hell should he do? What was right?

A-jie kept breathlessly trying to tell them all that she was alright, that they should rest and continue preparing. But she could barely keep her eyes open. Her head lolled around like a floppy doll. Every once in a while, she was wracked with violent, hacking coughs that shook her and left her gasping.

When she whispered Jiang Cheng’s name and raised a trembling hand as Wen Qing stepped away to prepare something, he practically dove to her side, his knees slamming painfully into the floor in his haste. Clasping her hand in both of his, he found it freezing, so he chafed it gently between his palms. “A-jie?”

“You...must be...so tired.” She smiled weakly, eyes slurring to the Wen child who had fallen asleep on the other pillow, leaving grubby little smudges all over the bedding. “All of you. I’m fine. Go. Sleep.” Even this short speech left her breathless, then coughing, wet and harsh. She trembled as Jin Guangyao helped her sit up and held her close, stroking her back.

Jiang Cheng hated everything about this. He was going to kill Wei Wuxian.

She wasn’t wrong, though. His limbs felt like practice weights, his overworked core throbbed like a pulled muscle within him. (His core? Wei Wuxian’s core? The core? This reminder burrowed in him like a barbed arrow every time he remembered again, further and further since the night he had learned it. Regret and anger and nausea, swimming and hot, every day, every fucking day. A stranger inside himself, but not. Another thing he was helpless to.)

When A-Jie finally dropped into unconsciousness not long after, Wen Qing announced that under no circumstances should she be allowed to exert herself for the next few days, until she could sit up on her own and breathe without wheezing. “The fluid in her lungs has worsened,” she told the two of them, voice still hoarse. “But since I have access to the supplies here, her fever should hopefully break sometime tonight. She shouldn’t be in any immediate danger but she will have to take her medicine on a strict schedule.”

“She will,” Jin Guangyao agreed immediately, thumb smoothing repeatedly over the back of A-jie’s limp hand. “Just tell me when and I’ll do it.”

When Jiang Cheng finally stood to leave, just about every muscle from the base of his skull to the tendons at his heels screamed and gods, he wanted a bath and sleep and for this to not be happening. Wen Qing collected the still sleeping boy, and Jin Guangyao rose, seeing them all out into the hall before bowing, sharp and deep. “Thank you, Wen-guniang.”

Damn. Jiang Cheng hastily followed suit and bowed. You tactless asshole. She watched them both with weary eyes, expression as closed as it had been for days, but she inclined her head to accept. “Come get me immediately if anything changes.”

Straightening, Jin Guangyao nodded, his habitual smile nowhere to be seen, drained and serious. “I will. I’m going to stay up to watch her.”

Her eyes narrowed warily. But she only nodded.

The entire trip leading her through Lotus Pier to her prepared room was silent.

Jiang Cheng knew he should say something. He wanted to say something--to thank her more personally for A-jie’s care or tell her that she would be safe here, that when he made a promise, he kept it (unlike some people.) Maybe reassure her that this wasn’t a ploy by him to corner her, that this was honestly a waking nightmare he kept wishing he would wake up from.

That this wasn’t how he had imagined marrying her. As a last resort. As a trap.

Instead, he was silent. Nothing he had to say would come out right and he would either sound like an ass or an idiot. Or both.

She was just as quiet, anyway, drifting behind him like some sort of mourning wraith, carrying the limp child. The only sounds were their footsteps, distant murmurs, and the frogs droning from their intermittent little ponds and from the lake beyond. Chill from the young evening settled into their still damp, days old clothes. The clean, living scent of the water was comforting, so at least there was that.

He wondered if it just smelled like mud to her.

When they came to the room, he saw that the lanterns and the incense burner were already lit, and a while ago, judging by how thickly the scent of jasmine and musk lay over everything. It was one of the nicest guest suites, with a wide bed, wispy purple wall hangings, and intricate lotus blossoms crawling up in carvings on the screens. It occurred to him suddenly that it might seem horribly insensitive to remind her exactly where she was and why. Tacky. He ground his teeth.

Wen Qing staggered right by him into the room without a glance, practically collapsing across the bed to lay the boy down. Angry? Disgusted? Done with him, whichever it was. But Jiang Cheng stayed by the door, fingers worrying at the thick fabric of his robe, running the edge of his nail along the weave as she tucked the blanket up to the boy’s chin. The need to say something--anything--was becoming too much to bear. “I’m sorry it isn’t very big.”

Her voice was dull and she didn’t even turn around. “It’s fine, Jiang-zongzhu.”

Fuck.

“You don’t have to...you can call me Jiang Wanyin,” he said, because he was apparently very stupid. The slow, disbelieving look she gave him over her shoulder was well deserved. “You don’t have to,” he added, because he apparently was not done being stupid. I mean, you’ve literally cut me open before, so I figured….

“...Alright.”

Jiang Cheng wanted to melt into the floor. Or possibly die. His mouth worked around his grimace of self disgust and he managed, “I’ll have the servants send in a bath.”

She sagged back on her heels beside the bed, still looking over at him. “Where is A-Ning?”

Oh. Right. “Probably….” Actually, he had no idea where Wei Wuxian had taken him. His room? The idea of that puppet leaking black resentful energy and lying on his childhood bed seemed ridiculous. “With Wei Wuxian,” he finished, lamely. “I’ll find out.”

Her gaze transferred to the floor, eyes unseeing and darkened by smudges of dirt and exhaustion. She was still quite pretty, but it was a gaunt, unkempt sort of beauty. The silence stretched, uncomfortable. He should have let a servant show her to the room. She was waiting for him to leave, she didn’t want to be anywhere near him.

“Thank you,” she said, suddenly, just as he turned around to simply leave, saving them both the agony. “For doing this.”

His jaw tightened and he kept his eyes locked on the light wood of the column right outside her door. Instead of anything helpful or comforting, what came out was a low, unplanned, “Why didn’t you come to me.” She had the comb. She had to. It had been gone when he came back to check and he had thought...hoped….

Skin on fabric. She was probably looking at him, and so kept his shoulders rigid, back straight.

“I didn’t know if you would help.” Her voice was quiet, not angry or accusatory. But his fists clenched as heat flooded his face, his head throbbing. ‘You're untrustworthy and selfish and immature. Why the hell would I trust you?’

He was fucking this up. Again. Useless.

Jiang Cheng refused to dig himself a deeper hole. About 10 minutes too late. Without a word, he stopped darkening her door. Instead of going to his room and ordering a bath like he should have, he looked for Wei Wuxian, blood pulsing in his ears. Stalking through the halls, he scattered several anxious servants in his wake like ripples behind him.

When he found him, he actually was in his room, though the puppet was on an extra mattress on the floor instead of on the bed like Jiang Cheng had imagined. The room reeked of resentful energy--sour, burning, metallic. Old bile and blood and worse. Wei Wuxian himself was hunched over it with a brush and seemed to be adding to the fluttering layer of talismans that already festooned the prone form. It even took a minute for him to realize Jiang Cheng was in the doorway, but when he did, he leapt to his feet, haggard face anxious. “Shijie?”

“...Sleeping.”

“What did Wen Qing say? Will she be alright?”

“No thanks to you.”

Wei Wuxian’s shoulders sagged and he blew out a breath. Then, he perked up, coming over to gently shake Jiang Cheng by the shoulders with a reproachful smile. “Ah, Jiang Cheng, lead with that next time, will you? You appear at my door looking like you’re about to avenge someone, what am I supposed to think?”

Smacking Wei Wuxian’s hands off his shoulders didn’t do anything to change his attitude. He just grimaced playfully and said, “Ow, careful! Now be nice, we’ll all be in trouble if you damage these hands,” while wiggling his fingers. It made the sharp rage in Jiang Cheng’s chest flare. It made him want to punch his stupid face.

“This is your fault.”

At this point, it was like they pulled out a script book for some overdone play, a rulebook outlining the steps to their fight. The brush off. Wei Wuxian looked past him, craning his head to peer out the door. “Where’s Wen Qing and A-Yuan? I wanted to tell her how Wen Ning is doing.”

The jab. “Are you even listening to me?”

Wei Wuxian rolled his eyes at him, shrugging his shoulders as if letting the words just slide off of him with a stretch of his arms. The dismissal. “Ah, you’re always scolding me, so what’s the point in listening to you when you’re just saying the same things you have been for days? I’ll pay attention when you say something new. You’re so predictable.”

The snap; Jiang Cheng snarled, “How’s this, then? It’s your fault that A-jie is so sick.” He jabbed Wei Wuxian in the chest with his finger, knocking him back a step, pursuing. “It’s your fault if the Jin decide to wipe us all out again.” Another jab, another step. The insouciant air slid from Wei Wuxian’s face--instead, it was tight, the beginning of regret.

“Listen--”

“This is your fault and you’re not even sorry.”

A deep breath. “Jiang Cheng--”

He needed him mad. He needed him to stop moving away. “You weren’t thinking of anyone but yourself, like you always do. You’re making me take in and marry the people who killed my parents to protect you.” He could see Wei Wuxian bristle--because he knew it wasn’t quite true, it wasn’t really fair but Jiang Cheng didn’t care.

“What are you even saying? They’ve both saved us a hundred times over! These people are innocent, they were being brutalized, I had no choice--!”

“You always have a choice!” Jiang Cheng was shouting, now. “You just choose the one that causes the biggest scene! First you embarrass me in front of all the other Clan Leaders, then you kill Jin disciples and steal their prisoners--!”

“What right did they have to treat them that way? What crime did they commit?! I’m supposed to just leave them?!”

His outrage just fed the fury burning through Jiang Cheng, roaring in his ears, and he wanted to take his brother by the throat and shake him. He wanted him to be just as hurt and terrified as he was. He wanted him to stop acting so fucking noble, like it meant anything anymore after everything they had been through. His lungs burned from the resentful energy hanging in the air. Zidian sparked once, sizzling. “You always need to be the center of attention. Well congratulations, everyone’s looking at us, now! Aren’t you such a fucking hero? Isn’t it nice to have a shield that will rise up against every stupid thing you decide to do? When will it be enough?”

Wei Wuxian’s swallowed hard, jaw tight, eyes shining. “Do you think I wanted this?” He asked quietly, and Jiang Cheng had to bark a laugh that tasted bitter.

“No. I don’t think you thought at all. You just did whatever you wanted and expected the Jiang Clan to clean up after you.”

At this, Wei Wuxian looked away at the wall, shoulders bunched up, hands in fists at his side. “I wasn't...” he said tightly. “I was going to go. To take them--”

“Where?”

“I don’t know!” He snapped. “Somewhere I could keep them safe! I thought...maybe the Burial Mounds.”

A chill flooded through Jiang Cheng and he stared. “Are you insane? That hellhole?”

Wei Wuxian was still looking at the wall, though he swallowed again. “I could...control the resentful energy. Make it safe.” He clenched his jaw. “It doesn’t matter.”

The thought alone had him reeling. Wei Wuxian really had been going to do it. He really would have left, after everything. After promising to rebuild Lotus Pier with him, to support him. After Jiang Cheng had fought so hard to find him the 3 months when he had been missing. After Jiang Cheng had stood by him when the war ended and everyone had started whispering about sinister ulterior motives--did Wei Wuxian have no concept of how this looked? “And do what? Establish your own Sect? Build your own empire? Should I call you Wei-zongzhu from now on?”

Wei Wuxian recoiled, face screwed up in disbelief as he finally faced him again. “No! What? No! Jiang Cheng, don’t be an idiot. I was going...I was going to take care of it myself. I wasn’t going to ask or involve you. I didn’t--I was going to handle it.”

That rage condensed and dropped sourly into his gut like sick. That was worse. That was so much worse. ‘I didn’t know if you would help.’ He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. He wanted that cleansing fury back. “Nice fucking job.”

Wei Wuxian vented a short, mirthless chuckle, shaking his head. “Shut up.”

“You don’t get to tell me to shut up.”

“I just d--” Wei Wuxian stopped himself, jaw working. When he spoke again, it was with careful containment. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“What a stupid thing to say, of course I did,” Jiang Cheng snapped back. “What other choice did I have?”

“You could have just let me go. I would have been fine. You didn’t need to…you don’t need to put yourself out on my account.”

He would have preferred he had just fucking stabbed him. Honestly. Then who the fuck was he? Some acquaintance? Some stranger? To not ‘put himself out’--

He was really that easy to leave behind? Just that unremarkable, unneeded, unwanted? That every option, even the Burial Mounds where he had been trapped was preferable to staying with him in the home he had rebuilt with blood and sweat, plank by plank for them--for them, the only family he had left in this world.

What was so broken about Jiang Cheng that no one could possibly just love him as he was? What did he have to do to stop people from leaving him?

He wanted to stab Sandu through the corpse that used to be Wen Ning’s chest, tear off the talismans and throw him in the lake for the fish to take out of sight. To seize Wei Wuxian and scream; Stop letting go of me!

“Well, aren’t you so brave. Aren’t you so noble,” gritted out, all dark and vile, and Wei Wuxian flinched and Jiang Cheng would have felt triumphant if he didn’t feel so fucking awful instead.

“I had to.”

“You had to.”

Wei Wuxian said nothing. But he didn’t look ashamed. He just looked tired.

“Right. Because you’re so strong and powerful and right, always, and I’m the asshole who doesn’t care enough.”

“You know I never said that.”

“But that’s what you think. You still think that I didn’t do enough. That I didn’t do the right thing.”

Instead of fighting back--instead of denying it--Wei Wuxian let out a loud breath, shook his head and turned away to drop himself heavily beside the mattress on the floor. This retreat left Jiang Cheng completely empty. His nails cut into his palm and he was shaking all over, staring down at Wei Wuxian as he picked up another talisman, not looking at him. They had had this conversation already, in fits and starts on the race back to Lotus Pier, but hadn’t been able to fully say any of this around A-jie or the Wen’s and so had just jabbed at each other for days. But here, it was all unraveling at once like too tight bandages coming off. He craved a conclusion--the give and take of a shouting match or the clarity of a split lip and Wei Wuxian wasn’t giving it to him.

Couldn't. If it came to blows, Jiang Cheng would just hurt him.

And why was that, again?

His brother's face was gaunt as he ignored him, eyes shadowed, fingers raw and red with blood and cinnabar. Still working. Giving. He was always giving of himself to everyone. His protection, his trust, his love, his time.

His core.

Just more proof that he was better; kinder, more generous, better in every way. Well. Not every way, now. The overworked core gave an untimely twinge. But that even bore his fingerprints, didn’t it? His sacrifice. (He had tried so hard, so fucking hard to give Wei Wuxian something that only he could give, the only protection, the only apology Jiang Cheng had left for what he had blamed him for. And he had shoved it right back like an unwanted gift.)

Jiang Cheng wasn't special, though. That knowledge bristled in his throat like knives, now. What he had done for Jiang Cheng wasn't because he loved him--apparently, it was because it was the right thing to do.

And Wei Wuxian always did the right thing. He would have done it for anyone.

Jiang Cheng's eyes went to the talismans fluttering in the dark breeze. It was the Cloud Recesses, the Yin Iron, the oh-so-perfect-and-peerless-and-interesting-Lan-Wangji all over again. Leaving Jiang Cheng behind to go be a hero because he just didn’t fucking matter enough to keep around. Because Wei Wuxian thought he was pathetic and selfish.

Jiang Cheng’s eyes were burning, his voice shaking when he spat, “Great. Then just keep trying to make yourself a better shidi out of that thing. I’m sure it will never stop kissing your ass.”

On his way back to his room, he snapped at a young servant girl to order a bath for Wen Qing. She practically ran.

Nice fucking job, idiot.

Crashing face first onto his bed, he fell into unconsciousness immediately.

[leftonraed]

The Night We Met - Prologue

pairing : Taehyung x OC   genre : bodyguard!au, singleparent!au, idol!au   word count : 1.7k Prologue | ep.1 | ep.2 | ep.3 | ep.4 | ep.5 | ep.6 | ep.7 

The show was a great success. A chant of his name resonates in the huge stadium, crowded out as he’s bowing a second time to the thousands of lightsticks shaking in the darkness like fireflies dancing and set to burn down the starry night they composed.

Moved, he raises his arm to wave to those luminous spots so precious to him, making sure not to miss any while his heart is swelling with pure bliss and his throat grows tight. He reluctantly ends up walking towards the back of the stage and positions himself on a squared shape platform which slowly takes him down at the same time the lights dimmed one last time tonight.

Members of the crew who’ve been waiting for him begin surrounding him as soon as he steps off the small platform and heads to the dressing room. Signs of fatigue are showing but he doesn’t forget to give smiles and thank yous when they congratulate him while removing his microphone set, handing him a water bottle and wiping his sweat.

He blindly reaches the hall leading to his backstage room secured by a couple of bodyguards present, it isn’t his first time in this concert venue but he’s obliged to halt when he notices his manager staring back, displaying not the slightest sign of pride or gladness.

He picks up his march towards her with a hint of confusion. Her frowning is looking less threatening now that he’s a few inches from her but her body seems to tense when he reaches for the handle.

“What’s wrong?” He drops first, eying her back while she uncrosses her arms.

“There’s a woman inside with a child who’s been begging the whole staff to get to talk to you.”

“What?” Not quite the reception he was expecting from her to say the least.

Her brow twitches at his lighthearted tone. He instantly grasps she’s not messing with him and doing her best to keep her voice low. “If you have something to tell me, I suggest you do it now, Taehyung.”

“Hwiin, I-” He chuckles not believing what he’s hearing. His frowning deepens when she still doesn’t flinch. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And I really don’t have the energy to argue right now. Did you talk to her?” He suggests, trying to reason.

“No, I don’t want to have anything to do with her.” She spits, offended. “How can you not- recall her when she clearly claims to know you?” She snaps gesturing towards the door. “Now’s not the time for a scandal of any type. Far too many people know about the issue she caused already.”

People are busy around them, coming and going to get everything cleaned up while they both seem stuck in this silent staring game. He remains awfully quiet, not having quite a clue as to what to say back to have her not doubting him or assuaging her and it makes her this close to losing it.

“Maybe we should go inside?” He offers in a soft voice, clueless about the reason she’s so adamant to stew over it. She rolls up her eyes while brushing past him to get inside the room first.

He barely has had the time to catch sight of the said woman that Hwiin reminds him of her presence and even more so of her annoyance.

His puzzlement is all the more unmistakable, especially after he’s noted the toddler’s likeness to someone close to him. His gaze returns to the female stranger. She surely isn’t past her mid-twenties. She looks lost and her eyes are filled with so much hopelessness, it becomes disturbing.

“Hi,” he smiles invitingly, not allowing any tension to build. “I’m Taehyung. I heard you were looking for me?”

She nods carefully, not moving an inch on the couch where she’s sitting as if not to hinder the child in her arms while looking back and forth between him and his manager’s dark look.

“How can I help you?”

“I-I’m sorry I disturbed you and caused so much trouble,” she eventually says. “But-,” she fetches for something in her bag at her feet and the little girl stirs in her slumber, revealing her face.

“Hina?” Taehyung feels his heartbeat picking up and any previous sign of fatigue that has seemed to gain him are now long forgotten at her sight. He walks closer to her.

Hwiin furrows her brows at his back. The woman displays relief upon hearing the girl’s name, satisfied to finally see one thing go right.

“Whe- where’re her parents?” His eyes can’t look away from her tiny face nestled against her chest.

The stranger opens her hand to show a piece of paper. “They went out earlier in the evening. They should have been home an hour ago. I was asked to call this number in case they wouldn’t answer their phone, and or go to these addresses.”

He takes it from her and Hwiin shortens the space between her and them to peek past his shoulder. There are his personal phone number, the concert venue and his penthouse addresses.

Her gaze moves to study the child’s face and her expression shifts to a worried one. After a few seconds, she looks up at him. “Who is she, Taehyung?”

The last bits of euphoria have vanished in the blink of an eye and left behind, instead, heavy presumptions.

“My niece,” he answers gravely.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The pleasant purring of the black range rover running is the sole disruption in the quietness of the empty streets. Inside, the drive back home is uncomfortably silent for Hwiin. She feels terrible about her outburst. She knows he’d never be angry with her for that. She still wants to apologize but everytime she glances in the rear-view mirror, Taehyung still looks lost in thought.

As much as Hwiin values family bonds, she’d rather do without. Everything has been going perfectly great for her artist and now it all seems uncertain. How could he combine a demanding career and a very young child? How is she supposed to support him? She’d never ask him directly to somehow resolve this issue because she knows what he’d do. If he were to choose between the two, he’d opt for his niece in a heartbeat as painful as that reality comes off. The past seven years they spent together wouldn’t stand a chance when it comes to Taehyung.

His stare is glued on the night scenery. He doesn’t know what to think. His life’s just been shaken up by the tiny being cradled in his arms. That woman, who claimed to be Hina’s babysitter, had resorted to him as her solution like her employer, his brother, had instructed her to. His heart which has just been full of sheer happiness and gratefulness is now weighed down by so many questions and an unsettling foreboding.

He feels his shirt bunching and being pulled on; he looks down, weary.

“Dad-dy...”

Prickly tears blur his vision at the innocent call Hina makes in her sleep, unaware. He tightens his hold around her as a way to comfort himself.

“We’re here,” his manager softly announces while turning the wheel in the building parking lot. She pulls over near the elevator. Taehyung does his best to open the door, grab his back while safely carrying his niece before getting out. Hwiin hurries to give him a hand only to be politely refused.

She observes him quietly with mixed feelings as he simply stands there, gently brushing the little girl’s strands out of her face. She’s never taken the time before imagining what he’d look like as a father. It hasn’t been part of her plan. His greasy hair falls in his eyes, hiding his face. The man facing her seems somewhat unfamiliar.

She feels guilt creeping within her chest. “Taehyung I-”

“Don’t bother coming here unless I say so,” he cuts off looking at her with a weak smile. “I think I need some time to sort it all out.”

“Of course,” she pauses, fleeing his gaze. He’s always trying to lighten up the mood, she thinks. “I was wondering if you’d need me up there.”

“Go home. You should rest.”

She pouts a little, she’s already got her hooks into him and she hasn’t even awakened yet. Taehyung rarely rejected her for anything in the past. She innately feels the need to argue but relinquishes. It’s different now, she accepts.

He’s appreciative of her comprehension. He doesn’t like telling her he prefers to be alone for now. He’ll need every bit of his energy.

“You know you just have to call.”

They quietly pull apart. He gets in the elevator and she starts the engine once the doors come together.

His mind is empty the whole time it takes for the elevator to bring him to his apartment. He drops his bag on the floor, biting his lip when a curse wants to slip out because of the noise it makes. He suddenly realizes he doesn’t have somewhere appropriate for her to sleep in. Taehyung naturally settles for his bedroom and wonders how he should arrange the beddings to make it as safe and comfortable as possible for a two year-old.

He manages to undo the sheets and grab a pillow with one hand before he gently lays her in. it’s a miracle she hasn’t woken up already. Standing still beside the bed, Taehyung stares at her in the darkness; he wants to do more when he’s done what is needed. He wonders whether he should get her nearer the middle of the mattress, he can’t think of anything to keep her from falling off.

After long minutes, he eventually thinks there’s nothing more left to do and leaves to shower. He lets the door open and makes it as quick as possible. He comes back to find her curled up on herself. It’s only once he’s under the sheets, right next to her side that he remembers his phone. The thought of joining the outside world again seems unappealing and he thinks it would only make him anxious.

He brings his focus back on Hina, blinking slowly until he gets pulled in a dreamless sleep as well.

////////////////////!\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

Feedback greatly appreciated :B  Reblog if you wish to read more

[pinkjiminssi]

So.. About That Hickey..

I think I’m still processing all of this and reminding myself I’m not dreaming 🤣 I seriously only got 3 hours of sleep last night and when I woke up the first thing I did was check twitter to be sure this “drunk bridal-style spinning hickey neck biting proudly showing off” moment actually happened!! 

.. I hate the way my brain works though. I was so happy that it took me forever to fall asleep, spent all day on cloud 9 despite being tired, .. and then my old nemesis, anxiety, stepped in. Well kind of. TBH if all of the MOTS ON:E Jikook moments we got happened with Jimin/anyone else or Jungkook/anyone else.. I would seriously be sitting here saying “well fuck.. I believe they WERE a couple, but looking at all of this it seems they are no longer together.” So really, this just confirmed what I already knew about Jimin and Jungkook: they’re a couple. My anxiety is over.. why? Why show us this? If they can cover all of JK’s tattoos, a hickey/bite mark/whatever we’re calling it should be super easy to hide. Sure it was just rehearsal.. but it was rehearsal with cameras rolling with every intention of releasing what was being filmed as future content. It could have (and some might argue should have) been covered.

Guys... I’m confused. And concerned. ❗❗❗ TW for drama, hate, homophobia, the usual anti issues

That “official” explanation.. again.. why? I’m assuming Jimin and Jungkook were asked and allowed to explain because of the chance of it being spotted and armys freaking out, so BH (or possibly even Jikook) thought to get ahead of the speculation by just being up front about it all.. but THAT explanation? I suppose it works for covering up the army panic of “Jungkook has a girlfriend?! *insert fangirl sobbing*” .. but that’s literally all it does (and only barely if you go looking at some of the anti’s reactions to it all). Really, all it did was draw even more attention and speculation. I mean.. this is, essentially, what we were told: Jimin and Jungkook were together the night before drinking, apparently without the other members as they didn’t seem to know all of this already (and they would have if they had been there), somehow hanging out and having drinks turns into Jungkook picking Jimin up bridal style (random but some of the k-army reactions on twitter were translating through google into “princess style” and I just think that’s so cute 🥰), spinning ensues, Jimin gets dizzy and wants Jungkook to put him down, ... and so he proceeds to do the only logical thing that any of us would have done in that situation... biting Jungkook’s neck? And hard enough to leave a mark the next day?? And instead of being peeved about it (like most of us would have been if our friend bit the crap out of us), Jungkook looks happy?? proud even??? 

And they arrived together the next day and continue to be cute and playful? 

I just.. I mean.. come on. First of all.. that’s a hickey. A bite leaves teeth marks. And one would assume a wild, drunken “let me down” chomp would be something that happens suddenly and ends very quickly. I know I for sure would drop someone on their ass if they decided to take a bite out of my neck (assuming I was even picking up and spinning around with one of my friends like that to begin with.. but let’s not even get into why that was going on at this point) .. but the way this bruised? Yeah. There were no teeth involved (at least not hard enough to leave indentations) and this took more than a couple of seconds of mouth-to-neck contact to still be that visible the next day. So.. in short. Jungkook arrives with a hickey, JK decides to not cover it up (or he would have shown up with it hidden and we see him get out of the car that morning with it clearly visible), BH staff sees it and also decides to not have it covered up and actually have it explained... and the explanation is “oh yeah Jimin just bit him, you know.. no big deal hehehe isn’t that funny?” 🤯 WHAT?! Yeah.. that’s totally normal, platonic behavior between adults...

I’m not saying Jimin and Jungkook are lying btw. I have no doubt it played out more or less exactly as they said with the exception of what they’re calling the end result. Jimin and Jungkook are fine.. I mean, what were they supposed to say? They’re not going to show up saying Jimin was sucking on Jungkook’s neck the night before. We’ll probably never know why Jungkook decided to not cover it up before arriving, but it’s his body and he gets to decide. It’s BH that has me so puzzled. Other than antis and people who refuse to see what’s literally right in front of their faces when it comes to Jikook.. who were BH expecting to believe the bite thing? Just among staff and the other members, it’s a laughable but safe “oh of course *wink wink*” explanation that allows everyone to carry on like normal. But to the public who don’t know them personally, don’t know their usual behavior and patterns, and who don’t have something like a non-disclosure agreement or professional courtesy preventing them from openly speculating.. it doesn’t fly. Pretty much everyone teen and up knows what a hickey looks like (either from having gotten/given one or at least seeing one on someone else in person or online). It’s immediately obvious what it is. And even if there was some uncertainty.. that it’s on his neck (instead of other easily accessible and less sensitive/stimulating locations) and just so happens to be right near his mole as it Jimin were aiming for it? Just another “too many coincidences” thing when it comes to Jikook.

Even antis on twitter couldn’t deny what it was and, so, had to resort to the “well I do that with my sibling and my uncle’s pet raccoon all the time it’s just family things” excuse and/or the “yeah well someone ELSE in the group (or a girlfriend) gave him that and they’re just covering by saying it was Jimin.” Oh. And the same old “it’s just fan service” excuse (as if Jungkook would let someone bruise his neck for the purposes of fanservice which, again, BTS has never done or needed to do. Forever pissed off that so many in this fandom act like Jungkook is a puppet doing whatever the “evil company” tells him to do regardless of his personal feelings or boundaries. The man has tattoos covering nearly every inch of his arm despite that being looked down on in Korea. At this point he can do whatever the fuck he wants). So.. why?? Seriously, why? This all could have easily been avoided with simple makeup.

When they’re doing official content they’re all literally followed around by a flurry of staff fixing hair, dabbing sweat, touching up makeup, etc. Even though it was rehearsal, staff were everywhere in the footage that’s made its way online. If they were worried that it would be seen in the background and “taken the wrong way,” just have the staff occasionally touch up the makeup. “Easy peasy lemon squeezy.” But instead of doing the obvious, BH decides to: not cover it, draw attention to it by asking about it and letting them continue to talk about it, go out of their way to get a camera on it, and then include it in the final cut of the content they sent out?

BTS is literally the most popular group in the world right now and BH has become a behemoth of a company that runs like a well-oiled machine. They’re not stupid; this was not a mistake. For some reason they wanted us to see this and, one would assume based on the lack of a more believable explanation, they wanted us to come to the conclusion that we all have: Jimin gave Jungkook a hickey. You know they have teams dedicated to monitoring reactions to content on social media. You know they know the dialog surrounding Rosebowl, Black Swan MMA, the Memories 2020 “almost kiss,” etc. etc. All of this got “jikook,” “hickey” and variations of their names trending for HOURS (in multiple countries and worldwide). 

Out of curiosity, I decided to check the trends at the time of writing this. As of 3 AM CST (about 24 hours AFTER the clips started showing up online), there was still a hashtag trending related to all of this: #FREEJUNGKOOK.. and the tweets being directed toward BH are.. disturbing to say the least:

While I agree that the boys should trend more often based on their talents and music.. what’s going on right now is a homophobic 💩 show accusing BH of “scripting” interactions (rather than.. you know.. Jungkook interacting with whoever he wants however he wants.. the usual “mindless puppet JK” narrative), trying to coordinate the mass sending of angry emails, trying to get people to stop buying paid content, accusing BH of taking advantage of the members.. I mean it goes on and on. And BH know what’s going on right now. They’re seeing the reactions... the good and the extremely negative. And still they let this out. And this is all not even CONSIDERING the mountain of other moments that made the cut on MOTS ON:E. 

(side note, the above pic just oozes happiness and it’s so cute I love it!! 😭)

So.. even though I’ve said it dozens of times already... WHY? W H Y? I’m an anxious person by nature and not very trusting. I believe Jimin and Jungkook and I don’t think they’ve been lying and pretending for “fanservice” all of these years. I respect them both too much as individuals and artists to believe that they would stoop to such tactics just to generate a little more “interest” and revenue. I’m suspicious of BH. BTS doesn’t need fanservice to get attention; literally all of 2020 and 2021 so far has proven that beyond a doubt. Even if they suddenly made the decision to do fs.. why not go with the most popular ship (taekook) or at least one that isn’t so hotly debated on social media (remove Jimin, Jungkook and Tae from the equation and you still have four members to “play” with who have much less potential to have fs devolve into a toxic crap show all over the internet). Showing us this will do nothing to help BTS as a group or Jimin and Jungkook at this point. In fact.. all it can do is hurt. Hurt BH, hurt the group, and hurt the individual members, heck.. even potentially hurt other BH/HYBE groups. I’ve already seen people on twitter saying they’re “done” spending money on anything BH or BTS puts out because they’re “sick of jikook in their faces and just two of the seven hogging all of the screen time.” Whether or not that “spending freeze” actually materializes into anything noticeable remains to be seen of course.. but the threat is there and always has been. What is the motive? And why now? As much as my “hopeless romantic” heart would like to believe they’re preparing us for Jikook to be “out” .. I seriously don’t think that is ever going to happen. Certainly not now at the height of the group’s fame, with them being given Presidential honors and ambassador status, and with military service still looming over them all. And let’s not forget... Korea is NOT a safe place for a queer couple. Letting us see and know what they did through what was released has the potential to put Jimin and Jungkook (and the other members by proxy) in danger. Sure.. BTS has never been hardline rule followers and have been breaking molds and shattering norms from the start, so “officially” having an openly gay couple in the group wouldn’t be impossible.. just... highly highly improbable. Especially right now... and I’m concerned. I don’t want to sound like the creeps I posted a screenshot of above throwing blame at the company. The boys chose to renew their contracts with the for a reason so we have to trust their judgement as a group... but still, I’m worried and I’m questioning what the purpose was here.