#it starts off pretty normal but probably turns into a bit of a gossip session not too far in

[canisbeasts-ooc]

whats lykoii and stryss' relationship like

In simplest terms, they’re best friends!

In more complex stuff: both Stryss and Lykoii are very isolated, both physically and somewhat mentally.

Stryss is left in the middle of the woods with only Sheepmom and a ghost for company after things go down with her, Lykoii is left on his own after him leaving his Lusus and the Clurch in one fell swoop.

They depend a bit on one another, both out of necessity, such as for certain items, and a bit for their small amounts of socialization. I think Stryss could probably do fine without Lykoii, but Lykoii would not have done fine without Styrss. He would’ve just gone back if they hadn’t met, for a plethora of reasons.

She’s the reason he has grumblr in the first place, and why he’s willing to branch out again. He’s why she’s willing to branch out too, to be honest. She’s pretty content with things as they are, but was willing to give talking to more people a try to show him it’s not the end of the world.

They fare a lot better than Sphinx and Respit did when they get to their planets, both used to not seeing eachother for fair periods of time. Though I do like to think they call and say how it’s going on their respective planets. Lykoii finally ends up at Styrss’ and is, justifiably, horrified after hearing how nice it’s been over there. (She is genuinely having a pretty grand time.)

They’re just great friends that enjoy each other’s company a lot!

[jayeray-hq]

Sakusa : You Know We’re Meant to Be

JayeRay’s fluff prompts

Post Time Skip/Manga Spoilers!

Warnings: A little but of Hurt/Comfort and bullying but lots of Fluff after

If you like this, please check out the Character Masterlist!

This is part of a collaboration I’m doing with @lilolpotato​ some fluff to counter some of the hate from the Sakusa Hate Night thing that was going around 😊💖 Also a huge huge thank you to the amazingly talented @yuujiscurse​ for the banner! Their work is amazing! 😊💖

You weren’t sure if they simply didn’t know you could hear them whispering or if they simply didn’t care, as you stood waiting for your boyfriend to emerge from the locker rooms. Hopefully you wouldn’t have to wait long, Sakusa was usually the first out due to insisting on showering before the others of the team could infect the space with their germs. Still today you hoped he would hurry, even faster than usual, so you could leave the receptionist and the woman she was talking to, likely someone who worked in the building, far behind you.

“What does he even see in her?” the woman who’d greeted you almost every time you’d entered the building with a saccharine smile that was apparently hiding a mouthful of venom whispered to her blond coworker.

             “I certainly don’t see anything special,” the other woman, a pretty brunette agreed giving you a clear once over a blatantly dismissive look on her face, “She’s probably absolutely hideous behind that mask she wears all the time.”

             Your hands balled into fists in your jacket, as you tried to ignore them, reminding yourself that you wore the mask for a reason. It was for both your comfort, and your boyfriends. Sakusa’s germaphobia was a very real fear, and frankly you didn’t mind doing a few things to accommodate his fear, or make him feel more comfortable where you could, especially since you knew he would and had done the same for you before.

 Wearing a mask out in public was a simple thing, and frankly considering the pollution in Japan, not all that uncommon. The women were clearly being deliberately petty and you sank deeper into the jacket burrowing into it, and taking comfort in the familiar smell and feel of it. It was one of Sakusa’s old Itachiyama jackets, one he’d gifted to you when the two of you had first started dating.

 It was warm and comfortable, and a blatant reminder of how very much your boyfriend cared about you. After all very few people were allowed to touch his things, and even fewer were given gifts, especially sentimental gifts. Komori had teased the two of you for days when Sakusa had first given it to you, exclaiming every time he saw you wearing it that even he had never been allowed to touch Sakusa’s Itachiyama jackets and he was his cousin.

 It smelled like him, clean and crisp from the detergent he preferred to use for all of your clothing, one you’d become quite fond of yourself, and that you associated solely with him. It took your mind off the cruel women in front of you, at least for a little while.

 “Can you believe just the other day he dropped his towel on accident, I tried to hand it to him, and he gave me the most disgusted look and just walked away,” the brunette told the receptionist clearly deeply offended by the incident, “As if I were something dirty he’d found on the bottom of his shoe.”

 “I’ve tried to give him pens to use before,” the receptionist admitted equally huffy as she explained, “He won’t touch them, not until he disinfects them with a wipe first, and even then he’ll only hold them if he’s wearing gloves.”

 You sighed quietly to yourself, a part of you wanting to storm over there and defend your boyfriend and an equal part understanding, just a bit where they were coming from. Sakusa had a fear, one that was very real to him, even if it seemed silly to others, and he had extreme ways of reacting when forced to face that fear. Still even you could admit sometimes his inability to properly interpret social cues could leave him coming off cold, or even cruel even if he didn’t mean to be that way.

 “I bet she’s not even his girlfriend,” the spiteful brunette hissed, “Just an obsessed groupie who follows him around.”

 “He probably treats her like trash,” the receptionist added in a cruel enjoyment to her unkind speculations, “Which is really no less than she deserves honestly.”

 The women were clearly lashing out, and on the only target the had readily available, but that didn’t stop you from feeling hurt or furious on behalf of your boyfriend. How dare they insinuate he treated you badly? The idea was infuriating especially when you knew how very hard he tried for you.

 Sure, your relationship wasn’t all smooth sailing, but then what relationship was? Yes, you’d had to exercise a lot of patience as Sakusa slowly worked himself up to touching you, but it had been completely and utterly worth it. The feeling of being held in his arms, knowing he desperately wanted you to be there, so much so that he fought off his worst fears in order to do so was indescribable. You’d honestly never felt as loved as you did when your germophobic boyfriend reached his hand out to you, assuring you that he wanted to be able to touch you.

 Even several years in you still couldn’t cuddle without a thorough shower beforehand, and some aspects of physical intimacy, including public displays of affection were especially hard, but it was worth it. You were so proud, both of your boyfriend and how very far the two of you had come as a couple, and it infuriated you that these two women, who knew absolutely nothing of his struggles would dare to insinuate such awful things about him.

 Oh, you knew they probably didn’t actually believe them. You’d dealt with jealousy from other women before. Your boyfriend was undeniably incredibly good looking, stunning even, and for some reason a lot of people found his supposedly aloof and cold demeanor cool and enticing. He’d had fans for as long as you’d known him.

 Still it didn’t stop you from wanting to march right up to the women and force them to take it back. They could say what they wanted about you, but in no way shape or form would you allow them to badmouth your secretly dorky and completely socially inept boyfriend. Honestly one more word from them and you might’ve done just that, fortunately or unfortunately your furious thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of your boyfriend.

 “Hey,” the sound of his voice pulled you from your murderous thoughts and turned your attention to Sakusa who had emerged from the locker rooms at last. His hair was still a little damp from his shower, the dark curls not quite as springy as they usually were as they fell across his forehead, and he was fully zipped into his Black Jackals jacket, hands in his pockets the traditional mask covering half his face, “let’s get going before the others come out.”

  “Sure,” you agreed trying to keep your tone as upbeat and normal as possible ready to fall into step with him and head to the store, which was the whole reason you’d agreed to meet him at the Black Jackals usual practice gym in the first place.

 However it seemed you hadn’t done a very good job of concealing the lingering upset from overhearing the women’s gossip session. That or your boyfriend was getting better at reading you, though both honestly were possibilities. He stopped in his tracks, forcing you to come to a halt as well, his brows sitting heavily over his dark eyes as he peered at you intently, clear concern visible in them.

 “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice taking on the clipped edge that let you know he was deeply concerned. Apparently, you’d been more obvious than you’d thought.

 “Nothing,” you tried to assure him, forcing your tone to be upbeat, not wanting to drag him down, “Why would something be wrong?”

 “Don’t lie to me,” he ordered, the words blunt, but the clear care in his tone taking any sting out of them. Honestly he had very little in the way of tact at times like these, something you should probably be annoyed by, but could only find strangely endearing.

 “It really is nothing,” you assured him, your own tone softening at his clear concern for you, “Just overheard people gossiping about us again.”

 “Were you upset by them?” he asked hesitantly, clearly peering into your eyes, his whole body fidgeting with restless energy, a tension to him that reminded you of a rubber band stretched and ready to snap. For all that many read him as uncaring you knew that Sakusa was extremely protective of the few people he allowed close to him, and that you were one of the privileged few. He was clearly ready and willing to tear verbal strips off anyone who’d dared upset you.

 “Yes,” you told him, figuring honesty was probably the best policy at this point, “But only because they were saying untrue things about you, about how you treat me.”

 Some of the tension in his shoulders relaxed at that, and his eyes softened. You couldn’t see his mouth because of the mask, but long familiarity let you know the corners would be curling up in relief,. He clearly didn’t care a bit what people said about him, an attitude you wished rather desperately that you could emulate.

 “Let them say what they want,” he told you firmly, “It’s not something that bothers me, so don’t let it bother you.”

 “If only it were that easy,” you told him your own lips curling into a wry smile.

 Your eyes widened in surprise as he pulled one of his hands from his jacket pockets and gently took hold of your face, the warmth of his shockingly bare fingers on your skin making your heart flip over in your chest  his thumb gently swiping across your cheekbone rendering you completely and utterly speechless.

 “The only opinions about my person that I care about are opinions from people who matter to me,” he told you sincerity dripping from very word, “And the only opinion I care about when it comes to our relationship is yours.”

 Your heart was beating a rapid tattoo against your ribs at his fervent declaration, especially since you knew he meant every word. Your boyfriend was nothing if not completely and utterly honest when it came to you, even brutal at times. He was never one who’d spare your feelings, which was how you knew moments like these were as raw and honest as it was possible to be.

 “I love you Kiyoomi,” you told him a little helplessly, the words falling out of your mouth before you’d had a chance to really think about them.

 “I love you too,” he responded without missing a beat, even if you could see the faintest of pink blushes decorating the tops of his cheekbones over the mask, “And I don’t like seeing you upset. What people say about me doesn’t bother me, so please don’t let it bother you.”

 “But wouldn’t you be upset if people were saying things about me?” you pointed out reasonably, well aware he would be, as he’d proven many times over in the past.

 He clearly couldn’t think of an argument to that and so instead remained silent, so you continued, “You mean so much to me Kiyoomi and it hurts to hear anyone might think poorly of you or insinuate cruel things about you and how you treat me that are blatantly untrue.”

 He watched you with soft eyes, his thumb still gently tracing your cheek as he explained, “So long as those things don’t cause you to doubt me I could care less.”

 “Never,” you assured him fervently, “I like to think that by now I know you pretty well Kiyoomi and I don’t think there’s anything ridiculous petty gossipers could to make me doubt you, to doubt us. Despite the fact that we’ve had our challenges I always felt like we fit well together. Like two pieces of a puzzle.”

 “I’m glad,” he admitted freely, “I’ve always hoped that you’d felt the way I do.”

 “The way you do?” you repeated curiously.

 “Like you know you’re meant to be,” he told you the words stealing the breath from your lungs and you were fairly sure you forgot how to breathe entirely as he leaned forward to press a gentle masked kiss to your forehead.

 Fortunately, or unfortunately you were pulled from your thoughts by raucous sounds from behind the two of you. It turned out you’d been so wrapped up in your conversation with your boyfriend you hadn’t noticed you were blocking the hallway and keeping the rest of the team as a captive audience of sorts. Apparently the private, intimate moment wasn’t nearly as private as you’d thought, and you were suddenly incredibly grateful the mask helped cover your cherry red cheeks.

 Apparently Bokuto was the one who’d interrupted your moment, too moved by it to stay quiet any longer, and now the former Fukurodani Ace was fervently congratulating your poor boyfriend about how smooth he was. Sakusa looked incredibly put upon as the team swept you up with them as they left the building in a small herd, all of them gently teasing or congratulating the two of you on how very cute your relationship was.

 In the midst of all the chaos your boyfriend managed to sneak his hand into yours, his fingers twining together to keep you close and connected to him. You accepted the gesture, feeling warm, and secure and completely and utterly loved, enough to shoot the poisonous receptionist and her bitter friend a blinding smile on your way out the door.

 Sakusa was right. Their opinions, especially on your relationship, shouldn’t matter to you, at the end of the day you knew he loved you and that was more than enough.

[eirist]

Little Bits and Pieces of Heaven

EASY, LOVE

One-shot #: 24

Disclaimer: One Piece (and its characters) belongs to Eiichiro Oda-sensei.

Reminder: I have no beta-reader. Any grammatical and spelling errors are solely mine.

Warning: OOC possible. One shot.

Rating: T

Note: This can be a companion story to Calm Before the Storm. I rarely write one-shots with an ongoing arc timeline but the story’s much better in Wano set-up. I originally tried a different setting but it didn’t work out.

Title is borrowed from the song Easy, Love by Tom West. It has nothing to do with the story plot but when I came across it, I immediately thought it suits this one-shot best.

Summary: Since when did falling for someone been so easy?

Nami silently observed from the upper deck of the Sunny as the samurais of Wano Kuni arrived from their journey from the Ringo region.

If the merrymaking at Kuri beach—where a barbecue celebration (one of the many they had for the last few days)—was already loud and boisterous before… it turned to a total pandemonium once the group dismounted their horses to join the party.

Luffy was hollering from too much excitement; yelling Zoro’s name as he bounded towards the swordsman—who was getting off his own horse—so he could glomp him.

Her lips quirked in amusement. Idiots. Look how happy they both are to see each other.

It’s been days since the green-haired man traveled to the northern region to pay his respects to the samurai Ryuma who gave him Shusui. Few of the red scabbards went with him…

…along with Momo’s sister, Hiyori.

Nami pursed her lips at that. And it immediately turned into a frown when she noticed Zoro assisting the beautiful woman down from her own horse. Even with Luffy still entangled around him, his rubbery arms encircling the taller man’s torso, Zoro was still able to effortlessly lift Hiyori and set her down carefully on the ground.

Hiyori looked absolutely pleased. Her hands lingered on Zoro’s shoulders as Luffy continued cheering right at his ear.

Then Sanji decided to enter the scene to gripe and swear at his rival before taking the now-surprised Hiyori’s hands off Zoro to lead her towards the feasting table in a frenzy of popping hearts, nose bleed and drool.

Nami would’ve blown him some kisses for that. The look Hiyori threw on Zoro’s way didn’t escape her eyes yet the dense man was expectedly was oblivious to it; his attention was completely on his captain as he tried to pry him off his person.

She studied Zoro for a few seconds. He was being unusually nice… if not extra nice to the former oiran. Well… Hiyori was, after all, the reason why he got his hands on a new and more powerful sword.

And apparently, as Brook had gossiped to her and Usopp one drunken evening, it wasn’t just the sword. The musician had caught them in a rather… compromising position when he happened upon them in the hideaway hut back in Ringo.

Her frown deepened. The familiar sensation of something weighing down her chest came back again. Just like that night when she first heard the story.

Her hands twitched involuntarily and she didn’t notice that she was clutching the railing quite hard.

“Nami? Are you alright?”

The navigator whipped her head sharply towards the voice.

Robin was standing a few feet away from her with a questioning look on her face. She just emerge from the library and was holding a book in her hand when she spotted the younger woman so deep in her thoughts as she gaze at party below.

“Sorry,” Nami said in a sheepish tone, feeling weirdly guilty at being caught spacing out. “Got distracted for a second. What was that again Robin?”

The archaeologist smiled as she approached her, not bothering to repeat her question. She peered down below. “Ara, they’re finally back.”

“Yeah…” Nami followed her gaze. “We can now set sail… that is if our captain is finally done with all these feasts.”

Robin giggled. “I doubt that. Now that Zoro’s here, he’ll probably want to celebrate again.”

“Hmmm…” Nami smiled at her. “I don’t know why I bother with that thought when I already know what’s gonna happen.”

“Fufufu… shall we join them?” Robin asked.

Nami brushed back a stray tendril of hair that escaped her pony tail and shook her head. “You go ahead first.”

Robin nodded. She patted Nami’s shoulder lightly before heading down the galley. From the looks of it something was bothering the navigator.

But for now it’s much better to leave Nami to her thoughts. She’ll eventually share whatever was on her mind when she’s ready.

“Oiiii Nami! Namiiiii!” Luffy was shouting from the shore, waving his rubbery arms enthusiastically to get her attention. “Look! Look! Zoro’s finally back!” He started tapping Zoro’s back with enough force to earn a death glare from the surly man as he growled for him to stop.

Nami rolled her eyes at their antics.

Zoro tilted his head to her direction and their eyes met.

They held each other’s gazes. Nami willed her face to remain expressionless as they continued their stare off.

The katana wielder raised an eyebrow at her, wondering why her reception was as cold as the northern region he had just recently came from.

And just like that, Nami tore her gaze away from him and turned on her heel disappearing from his sight.

Zoro was left confused. What just happened? She didn’t even bother to greet him and just stared straight at him like he was someone she didn’t know.

Did he owe her something?

Beside him Luffy stopped his antics and blinked, also baffled by Nami’s odd behavior.

“Ne, Zoro. Did you do something?”

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

“So did you do something?” Usopp queried, raising both eyebrows as he regarded the swordsman beside him suspiciously.

They were sitting on one of the feasting tables, eating and drinking. The former pirate hunter just told him about what happened earlier.

“I just got back!” Zoro hissed at him, slamming the tankard he was holding down the table. “How can I do something when I’m not even here these past few days?!”

Usopp shrugged. “Maybe you did something before you left.” He suggested, stabbing another slab of meat with his fork and taking a hefty bite from it.

“Like what?!”

The sniper shrugged his shoulders again unable to give an answer. He had long ago learned that Nami’s temperament is as unpredictable as the New World weather. Sunny with a high chance of thunderbolts. No use trying to figure it out.

“Oi Robin,” Zoro then turned towards the older woman who was sitting beside him. He nudged his head towards the Sunny’s direction. “What’s with her?”

Robin shifted her eyes towards the empty upper deck. Nami still hasn’t come down to join them and had probably barricaded herself inside the library. She shook her head apologetically. “I honestly do not know Zoro.”

“What did I do now?” Zoro grouchily asked no one in particular and Robin’s lips quirked up at his predictable reaction.

“Ara… Are you saying you did something?”

“No.” Zoro snarled as he eyed her indignantly. “I didn’t!”

“Maybe she’s just in one of her moods?” Usopp interjected. “You know how she is.”

“She probably is.” Robin agreed. “Best to stay clear for now Zoro.”

Clicking his tongue against the roof of his mouth irritably, Zoro reached for a bottle of sake.

They were ok before he left. More than ok to be honest as he recalled their drinking session days before the raid in Onigashima.

So what happened?

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

The sound of the revelry was beginning to increase in volume indicating that it was starting to shift into full swing as cheers and singing filled the air.

Yet everything was lost on the orange-haired woman who was sitting by herself in the ship’s library. Her pretty brown eyes were fixed intently on the window just behind her mapping desk.

Oh she is in a mood alright. Ever since she realized what the heavy feeling that was settling inside her was.

By Kami, she’s jealous.

Yes indeed, she is.

She tipped her head back and groaned. What a nasty feeling.

And to think this was all because of that moronic, directionless swordsman.

She likes him. That she was sure now. That’s the reason why she was so down when she heard Brook’s story about him and Hiyori. And when he set off to Ringo with said woman in tow, not even bothering to ask if any of the Straw Hats wants to go with them.

And she’s not gonna even touch the scene she witnessed earlier when he assisted her down from her horse like he had been a gentleman all his life.

What else could have possibly happened to them? They’ve spent a lot of time together after all.

Zoro never mentioned anything about her that night she was drinking with him. And it’s not like she should be privy to it. What Zoro do or does is his own business.

She banged a fist on her mapping desk to stop the thoughts and winced when she realized that it was a damn rash action.

But the pain in her hand was nothing like the one wrenching her heart.

She smiled wistfully. And here she honestly thought there was something… between them.

Foolish, foolish thought! She chastised herself. How can she let herself be pulled in that moment with him!

And now… here she is.

Never mind that that was not the first time it happened and she realized it will not be the last.

She bit the insides of her cheeks. Now is not the time for this. She better straighten her thoughts and get a hold of herself. Some of her friends are pretty intuitive, they’d know at a glance that something’s up with her. She’s pretty sure Robin’s brilliant mind has already put two and two together.

Squaring her shoulders, she decided she’d come down to join the merriment after five more minutes.

Taking a deep breath to settle her nerves, she closed her eyes and…

The library door suddenly swung open; the heavy foot falls that followed it gave away who just entered.

Damn it! She’s not ready to face him yet!

She steeled herself when he crossed the room. She heard him grab a chair and set it down just beside her with a ‘thud’.

She didn’t even flinched at the sound. Normally she would be bitching about it. Complaining on how crass he is.

Instead she just kept quiet.

“What is it?” Zoro grunted; a bit peeved that she ignored his presence knowing full well why he was there.

“Nothing,” she answered after a few seconds, still not looking at him.

Zoro made a disapproving sound. He knows something is up. Nami cannot lie to him. He knows her too well.

“Spill.”

She remained quiet. And it was so unnerving to him. Whatever it was, he was getting the idea that it was serious. She was usually upfront with whatever she was thinking.

The silence that hovered between them was intolerable. It was pushing him over the edge.

Then Nami turned her head towards him. A determined look was all over her face.

And her lovely, brown eyes.

“I’m jealous.”

Zoro blanked at that. He heard what she just said—loud and clear.

And yet his mind cannot process what she finally decided to divulge.

He opened his mouth to say something… to blurt out an expletive, a retort.

But nothing came out.

Nami was looking at him intently, watching him. She watched as his usually nonchalant expression cracked, his cool composure completely obliterated by that phrase.

His face slowly colored.

There was no other way than to hit him with the truth. She readied herself for his outburst.

Instead he surprised her by stammering and turning into a deeper shade of red.

A chuckle escaped her.

What an adorable idiot he is.

She riveted her gaze back to the window. This is more than what she expected.

Amusing as it may seem, the heavy feeling from earlier still hadn’t left her.

Beside her Zoro continued spluttering.

That should be enough to keep him at bay. Nami thought amusedly.

She heard him took a deep breath before finally muttering a ‘damn it’.

And he suddenly leaned towards her, reaching out to grasp her hand roughly in his.

It drew her attention back to him.

He was grumbling something under his breath. She couldn’t quite catch what it was because her heart was thumping wildly inside her chest and blood was rushing to her head.

Zoro held her hand in his even as he refused to look at her. His face was so red now that steam would probably come out of his ears in a matter of seconds.

For a moment, Nami honestly thought he would combust.

But he still didn’t release her hand. Instead he held it tighter.

Nami chewed on her lower lip fighting the smile that wanted to grace her lips.

Just like that… everything felt better now.

Drat. She’s so screwed.

Nobody said a word. They remained quiet with their hands linked.

“So…” Nami began, deciding to break the silence. “Is this your way of—”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t evenlet me finished!”

“Just shut up.”

A hush fell between them again.

“So… you’re jealous?”

“Ugh. Shut up Zoro!”

[babieateez]

i’ve written and rewritten this about six times, so i really hope it’s enjoyable to read!

even before you were sorted into the house you now reside in at hogwarts, you had been inseparable from yeosang

since you were so nervous on the train ride for your first time ever, and you ended up in the same compartment and he feels bad that you’re so nervous about the upcoming night while he knows exactly what’s gonna happen for him and where he’s gonna end up-

of course he would though, he’s come from a long line of slytherins and it would just be nonsensical of him to be sorted into any other house

so he takes pity on your clearly terrified form and starts a small conversation to keep your mind off the upcoming events, talking about anything that comes to either of your minds

soon you find yourselves laughing loudly, all apprehension gone and now you just feel like you have a friend you’re happy to be around

even as the group of first years gets herded to the great hall, you find yourself sticking to yeosang, and he makes sure that you’re not going to get swallowed by the crowd of first years that engulf the halls

at one point you both realize that there’s a growing gap between the two of you, and you’re forcefully being separated by the masses of excited students

and in desperation you reach out and grab onto yeosang’s hand like a lifeline, pulling you back to his side while still having his fingers interlocked with yours without even realizing

that’s how your story with kang yeosang began

throughout your first year, you and yeosang grew closer and closer, likely aided by the fact that you shared most of your classes

and had more than your fair share of trips to the infirmary together

when you began second year, it’s almost like you were having even more fun spending time with your best friend, and every year was the same after that

until sixth year when you came back from the summer holiday to search for yeosang on the train in the same compartment you manage to snag every year

when you arrive and look inside, you have to do a double take because holy shit-

that can’t be the yeosang you’ve known for six years!!

maybe someone had put some sort of charm on him that caused his stature to have filled out and his hair to no longer just be a mop on the top of his head

and maybe someone else had transfigured his previously rather skinny arms to have some form of muscle hugging them, looking rather attractive

the way his robes fit him this year really was something else and-

he clears his throat with amusement clear on his suddenly unbearably handsome face and you can’t help but blush and look away sharply while getting yourself situated in the compartment

he definitely notices but decides to spare you the teasing in favor of asking how the trip to the train station was

instead of responding to the question, you blab out your own question, asking him what the hell happened to him over the summer??

he laughs now at your clearly flustered reaction to his new look and tells you that he was exercising a lot during the holiday and had been taking care of his appearance more than usual because, as he says

how else is he supposed to find a significant other before graduating any other way?

it’s a valid point, your brain tells you- after all, you had done something similar just the year prior, but at least you didn’t leave yeosang in the dark about it for the whole summer!!

but your stomach isn’t quite sure it agrees with your brain, for it starts churning with some sort of foreign emotion

you dismiss it as the lurching start of the train as you embark on the long journey to the castle and you don’t think about that weird feeling again

until about a week into the term, when one of your classmates approaches you after you’re dismissed

although you’ve never met her before, you still greet her with a friendly voice and ask what’s up and when you hear what she asks you

your smile freezes on your face and you can’t pinpoint why but when she asks you since you’re such good friends with yeosang, if you could put in a good word about her

since she thinks he’s so hot now and she keeps blathering on about how everyone in her year is trying to get a date with him to hogsmeade

you stop listening somewhere around that point to mumble out a “yeah, i’ll talk to him for you” and she smiles even wider at you and claps her hands together while shooting you a “thank you!!” as she leaves the classroom

but once you’re alone (minus the professor still standing in the classroom) you feel that weird feeling in the pit of your stomach again, the same feeling you had on the train and you just pass off the feeling as being hungry, since you hadn’t eaten yet

so you finish packing up your items and meander to the great hall for dinner where your dormmates try to pull you into their conversation about whatever the new gossip in the house was

but you can’t focus on their words, instead choosing to nibble on the corner of the sandwich you had grabbed from one of the platters on the table

when suddenly you hear a voice calling your name, breaking you out of your spaced out state

you look up from your food to spot yeosang sitting right beside you with a look of concern painting his features and you brush off his questions of “are you alright?” and “you look upset, is there anything wrong?” with a shake of your head

and finally, after what seems like half an hour of questioning he decides to drop the subject, instead telling you about how his classes that day were, and asking you about yours once he finished giving you a synopsis of his day

you’re reminded once more about your classmate asking you for that favor- but that is was yeosang wanted after all, it would be a bad move to not try to help out your friend like that

so you plaster the most convincing smile you can on your face while you tell him about the ravenclaw girl who was probably in fifth year asking about going to hogsmeade with him

he cuts you off before you can try to recall her name with a laugh saying that he’s not really interested in her, since he already has someone who’s caught his eye

and this time the feeling you get in your stomach is increased tenfold, and you feel like someone has knocked the wind out of you, or just sent a stupify hurling towards you and it’s crazy how you can almost feel the blood drain out of your face

but once more you tell yourself that you’re excited to see who he has a crush on

so you put on a mischievous smile and nudge him in the side asking him who the lucky person is and you keep ignoring the feeling of bile in your throat rising when you see a delicate blush appear on his cheeks as he refuses to answer you

even though you don’t particularly care to hear his answer, you keep pestering him, even after you both depart from the great hall and go to your common rooms and as you finally say goodnight to him, you let him know that whoever it is he has his eyes on, you hope they make him happy

and without missing a beat, he replies “they do”

you can’t sleep at all that night with your thoughts floating around in your brain, persistently bothering you with “what-ifs” you’d rather ignore

but as you toss and turn in the four-poster bed, one thought sticks with you perhaps a bit too much, asking you if you have a crush on kang yeosang, your best friend of six years

and as much as every rational bone in your body tries to deny it, you can’t dismiss the feeling of your heartbeat speeding up every time you see him and the gross feeling you get when he mentions liking other people, or when other people mention liking him

and oh god the puzzle pieces are coming together and it’s like every fiber of your being is screaming “how did it take you THIS LONG to finally notice that you’re head over heels for yeosang????”

after this thought you only have one more, telling you that you have to get over him, no matter what

it’s a stupid, impulsive, irrational thought but you only want the best for him and if he’s happy, then you’re happy

so you set yourself to making a plan consisting of finding someone else to fill the yeosang-shaped space in your heart

after about three weeks, that “someone else” comes in the form of park seonghwa, one of the seventh year slytherin boys whose sly looks and sexy smirks entice you just enough to find yourself frequenting empty classrooms after curfew with him

with your body pressed against his and his hands on your waist and your lips against each other’s and you try to convince yourself that you could fall in love with him

but you both know that these are mindless sessions of teenage lust and nothing more than self indulgence but you still can’t help but fall into the trap of seonghwa’s pretty words falling from his pretty lips

and the way his eyes linger on your form slightly longer than normal in the hallways or during classes

they almost convince you that you’re over yeosang- that is, until yeosang opens up the doors to the abandoned classroom where you and seonghwa are making out past curfew

you catch the gleam of the prefect badge on yeosang’s robes as you and seonghwa jump apart from each other, and yeosang’s eye immediately go to yours, the shock evident on his face as he addresses the two of you

telling you that you’re not allowed out after curfew, and he’ll need to take house points away if it happens again to which seonghwa nods, but you just move your gaze to the floor

too ashamed to keep looking at yeosang until he grabs you by the arm, and you look up to notice that seonghwa has left, presumably after yeosang told him to

and he begins leading you back to your dorm and the first few minutes progress in silence but after a bit, yeosang slows to a stop, asking you what was going on between you and seonghwa

you can’t just tell him that you’re so in love with your best friend that you’re doing everything in your power to forget about it

so you shrug, saying it’s nothing but yeosang doesn’t buy it- he knows the look on your face means you’re lying so you tell him about as much of the truth as you can muster without crying

telling him that the guy you’re basically in love with is interested in someone else and since you wish them happiness, you’re doing your best to move on

he feels the raw emotion in your voice and he knows how you feel, he knows because he just walked in on the person he fancies making out with another man so he just lets it go for the rest of the night

until the first hogsmeade trip of the year comes up and you’re complaining vaguely about not having a date

one of your dormmates points out that she’s seen the looks seonghwa had been giving you until she suddenly shuts her mouth while looking over your shoulder

you turn and see yeosang standing behind you and he grabs you by the arm and you hardly have time to notice how disheveled his hair is and how his button up isn't quite tucked as neatly as usual into his pants and how there seem to be bags under his eyes but you do catch it, and just attribute it to him being tired from his prefect rounds the night before

but when he pulls you to a corner of the courtyard where you’re waiting for the carriages and his voice is husky when he admits quietly to you that he was hoping that you’d be his date to hogsmeade

but if you wanted to go to hogsmeade with seonghwa instead, he would understand

your heart starts racing because yeosang is admitting that he wants to go on a date with you to hogsmeade???????

it almost seems unreal and you have to gape at him until you remember how to speak, at which point you manage to get out the question of “what about the person you like?”

his face gets more red than you’ve ever seen it, and if salazar slytherin were able to see yeosang right now, he’d sneer at the sheer amount of emotion on the boy’s face

and yeosang is now the one gaping at you before he remembers he can speak

this time he’s the one to splutter out “i mean, i was kind of talking about you”

you’re not even able to process exactly what’s going on except for how your face feels like it’s burst out into flames and your tongue feels like it’s three times heavier than it should be

but when yeosang tells you once more that he was talking about you and he’s totally infatuated with you, it feels like every positive emotion ever felt has flooded into your system

so powerful that without even thinking, you launch yourself at yeosang and into his arms and you’ve both hugged before but now you feel even more at home than usual-

it feels like a warm blanket of happiness is draped on top of you, protecting you from the falling snow and the cold settling in your bones is blasted away with the amount of affection you feel for yeosang

there are so many thoughts going through your head about him that you can hardly feel how his arms have wrapped tightly around you and are gently swaying you from side to side and you feel his warm breath against your ear as he whispers gently into your ear “so does this mean you want to go with me to hogsmeade?”

you can hear the smirk in his voice, one of the most annoyingly endearing things about the sly slytherin so you glare up at him with an expression of fake exasperation and roll your eyes

responding by telling him that you were gonna say yes, but if he keeps being a pain, you might consider going with seonghwa instead

and he knows you’re teasing but he can’t help but feel a tug in his chest telling him to not let you even look at anyone else the way you look at him

so he pulls you closer against his chest and grumbles that he’d hex seonghwa if you went to hogsmeade with him and the protectiveness in his voice makes you smile

but eventually you have to pull away from him and he sighs at the lack of contact but you’re quick to entwine your fingers with him and pull him to the carriages so you don’t miss the opportunity to go to the beautiful village with yeosang

you find the carriage with your friends in it who think nothing of the way you’re holding yeosang’s hand but do think something of the way you’re leaning extra into his side and the quick kiss he plants on your temple

so they giggle and ask if you two lovebirds finally got together and it’s obvious by the way your faces start burning

because you thought your touches were slick but nobody’s missing it when you finally arrive at hogsmeade, you break away from your friends to enjoy your time with your date

(mostly consisting of finding empty alleyways to shyly hold each other)

and you can say with certainty that no date you’ve ever gone on has felt as right as that one did and yeosang feels the same way

his chest filled with nervous butterflies every time you snuggle your face into the crook of his neck or his hair or every time he feels your fingers curl around his or every time you pout at him and your lips look so enticing but he’s a gentleman (and also maybe a little shy about kissing you)

but at the end of the day, you’re both tuckered out from the day’s activities and you fall asleep on his shoulder on the way back to the castle

he’s so endeared by the way your mouth hangs open slightly and how your fingers are still grasping onto his and after what feels like not enough time, you’re back at the castle

he gently shakes you awake and you whine about being so sleepy and he brushes any stray hairs that may fallen in your face out of the way and tells you that he could leave you to sleep all night in the carriage

but you protest with sleep still in your voice and who is he to leave you alone so he gently helps you out of the carriage and walks you to the dungeons where the slytherin dorms are

and tells you that you can sleep in his bed tonight, which you’ve both done before, but only when you were best friends and this is new territory

before you can think about it too much, yeosang’s soft voice interrupts your train of thought, asking you sweetly if you’d like to be his, and he could be yours and without a second of hesitation, you’re nodding your head, saying yes, of course and leaning into him once more for a hug

he pulls back after a few seconds and asks you one more thing-

if you would be okay with him kissing you now and who are you to tell him no when you’ve been enticed by his lips every waking second of the day

once more you nod your head with hearts in your eyes and it feels like the yeosang shaped hole in your heart has finally been entirely filled, feeling the way his lips are against yours and you swear you can feel your heart beating out of your chest because this is nothing like other kisses you’ve had

it’s one of pure adoration and affection and love and you think you’d like to live the rest of your life kissing yeosang

until you hear a voice in the hallway saying “i can’t believe they’re finally together” and you all but leap away from yeosang in surprise to see two of his dormmates, mingi and san, standing right outside of the common room

as they laugh at your reactions, they turn to walk away and you swear you hear mingi saying to san “you owe me ten galleons” and san cussing at the boy but still begrudgingly handing over the money

that’s when yeosang decides to whisk you away to his dorm, his weary body feeling heavier and heavier with every step he takes to his bed, and you both curl up on the four-poster

but this time, yeosang holds you as close to his body as you can get, flicking the curtains around the bed closed as he presses what feels like ten million kisses gently into your skin

with each one getting softer and softer until he’s drifted off to sleep and everything feels so right, everything feels like it was never supposed to be otherwise

you both almost convince yourselves that it was just a really elaborate dream until you wake up to the gentle shuffling of yeosang’s dormmates waking up

and the warm chest you feel pressed against your back reminds you that it wasn’t a dream, it’s real and it will stay real and

so you turn in yeosang’s hold and gently pepper kisses across his face like freckles and when he finally wakes you can see the look of recognition in his eyes

but you don’t stop littering his face with kisses, basking in the feeling of loving and being loved until it seems that yeosang has had enough and captures your lips against his in a sleepy kiss that tells you “good morning” and “i love you” and “i’m so glad you’re mine”

and you hope that he’s able to feel the same thing from you which he totally does and he thinks he’s addicted to the feeling of you being in his arms and his lips being against your skin and the hushed words of affection you were sharing with him

he decides that he’s just addicted to you, the one person who will always make him weak at the knees with the slightest smile and you’re both basking in the feeling of each other

until the curtains are ripped open by san, that asshole, laughing heartily at finding you and yeosang being so affectionate so early in the morning

so you make the executive decision that day that unless the dorm is empty, you won’t be kissing yeosang in there anymore

but with the sly boy being as deviously smart as he is, he uses his prefect privileges to go out after curfew and find an abandoned classroom to kiss you in without getting into trouble

you can’t even say you’re surprised that he thought of that (after all, he’s found his fair share of students during his rounds, you included, doing the same thing)

however you are shocked at how bold he is with his touches and kisses in public, making sure others know you’re his, but you’re pretty sure everyone knows from the cold glares he sends towards anyone approaching you

and from the way that you’ll sometimes have a hickey peeking out from the collar of your shirt that you forgot to conceal

but from the way your friends mimic some of the sickly sweet words you and yeosang have been caught sharing, you’re not sure anyone is convinced that yeosang is actually a mean, bad slytherin

you’re definitely never going to think he is, in fact you firmly believe that he’s the softest man ever, sometimes waking up next to you in the middle of the night just to whisper into your temple that he loves you so much that sometimes he feels like his heart is going to burst

even after the summer holiday begins and you won’t be able to see your boyfriend every day, he uses the floo network to travel to your house regularly

and go on sweet dates with you and sometimes he’ll stay the night (much to the displeasure of your father, who insists that your boyfriend should absolutely not be staying the night in your room)

when you arrive back at hogwarts with yeosang as head boy, you think your father would have a heart attack since you sleep in the head boy’s single room almost every night but he doesn’t have to know-

after all, the only things you’d be able to inform him about are the whispered words of love and enchantment between the two of you during the nights and the way that you wake up wrapped in each other

you swear that yeosang is the best blanket and pillow ever and with the way he wakes you up with kisses and sweet nothings murmured into your ears and love in your heart, you’d also have to say that he’s the best alarm clock and the best boyfriend anyone could ever have

[jeromevalseka]

coming back from my hiatus to inflict a fic i wrote 2 years ago on all of you :) i found it while sorting through old wips and was like...huh, i may have been on to something..........

Jonathan was at Bruce's house because apparently that was something they were doing now. He didn't mind, not really, but—and he would never admit this, even on pain of death—he wasn't the best at making friends. Or keeping them. He usually just hung around with Jerome or Jervis, hiding out under the bleachers to smoke stolen Camels, perpetually trapped in a play-act of high school delinquency. Which was—whatever. He was beyond caring about things like that. 

Bruce Wayne, though—

Bruce Wayne wasn't the type of person that Jonathan would have ever imagined himself becoming friends with. Study partners. Co-dependent acquaintances. 

Jonathan was not the usual type of person to be swept into his orbit. They were not—and he could not emphasize this point enough—in similar social groups. On every level, except physical, they did not even exist in the same world. 

And that was fine.

Bruce surrounded himself with the Tommy Elliot’s and Silver St. Cloud’s of the world. Pretty, vapid things that probably considered visiting a trap house an adventure and drove to school in Tesla’s. (There was no probably about it, actually. Jonathan knew Silver St. Cloud drove a Tesla because earlier in the year she ran over his bike with her shitty, energy-efficient, crime against humanity of a car.)

Bruce got along with his teachers. He had a special handshake with Principal Essen. He was inevitably going to end up being Prom King when the time came. He was an honor-roll student with enough extracurriculars to make Jonathan's head spin and, as far as he could tell, he had enough admirers at his beck-and-call that there was no reason he had to stoop to inviting Jonathan over to his mega-mcmansion to watch a movie.

It wasn't like they hung out. They were partners on a chemistry project once, and their study session had quickly been derailed by an impromptu lesson in shotgunning—which was a completely normal and natural thing to happen. Like, sure. Maybe Jonathan had been a teensy bit curious as to whether straight-laced golden boy Bruce Wayne would actually smoke with him, and maybe he was in over his head before he’d even grabbed his zippo, but, c’mon. He was only human. 

It wasn’t like anything world-shaking had happened.

(He tried, valiantly, not to think about how cold Bruce’s hands had been or the weight of him sitting on his legs or the way he looked, breathing out smoke: eyes lidded, pupils blown. He tried, most of all, not to think about how soft his mouth was. It was a losing battle.) 

So, they'd been partners once. Months ago. And then, again, in Leob's English class when they had to write a paper together a few weeks after the chemistry project. And, okay, maybe Bruce had started smiling at him in the hallways as if that was something he was allowed to do. And, maybe, Bruce had started spending a few days out of each week hanging around in Jonathan's threadbare bedroom pretending like he was charmed; pretending like he couldn’t buy everything to Jonathan’s name three-times over with just his lunch money. 

They were friendly. That was all. 

(Only that didn't really feel right to him. Something about the idea of it—of them—being nothing but a series of stomach-twisting accidents make his mouth go dry and ashy. He wasn't superstitious. He’d long given up the urge to want things; long resigned himself to the kind of disappointment that blooms ugly and rotten, and sinks like a stone in a stomach; disappointment that clings and chafes and oozes open like a burst blister with each little hurt—but every moment he spent with Bruce—every eye roll and bumped knee and shared song—made his chest well up with—with wanting. Bruce Wayne made Jonathan want. He made him burn-up. He made him dream. It was terrible—pinpricks beneath his nails—it ate away at him. He hated it. He hated it, and—)

He broke out of his thoughts, then. Bruce had a way of catching his attention.

Case in point:

A throw pillow worth more than his college savings slammed into his cheek.

It lacked Bruce’s usual subtlety. When he turned, instinctively, towards the direction of the throw, he found Bruce already wrapped tightly in a garish orange-and-blue quilt, lounging on his sofa with the air of a world-weary prince. He was too much—Bruce was—in ever conceivable way, by every possible count. Looking at him set his teeth on edge. His fingers twitched, hidden by ratty sleeves. Little prince, little prince...

Jonathan moved to sit beside him. He swung the throw pillow at his head in retribution. He felt like he was having a sugar rush. 

Jonathan was never a fan of sweet things. He elbowed Bruce in the side: sharp, straight to the ribs. Jonathan was never a sweet thing, himself. 

Neither was Bruce. He reached out and yanked down on a clump of Jonathan’s hair. “Don’t be an asshole.”

“Don’t pull my hair,” Jonathan said, twisting away, aiming for Bruce’s ribs once again. Bruce let go, only to pinch at his cheek instead, pressing the skin hard between his thumb and forefinger. He hissed, “What are you? Five?”

“You’re such a baby,” Bruce said, letting go of his cheek, smoothing his thumb over the space he’d pinched. “An asshole baby.”

"Can't help what I am," Jonathan said, barely resisting the urge pass his thumb over the spot Bruce had just touched. "What’s the problem? You want me to change? Be nicer? That’s a slippery slope, you know. First, it’s don’t be an asshole, Jonny, then it’s cut your hair, Jonny; donate to the orphans, Jonny. Where does it end?”

Bruce kicked at his shin. “I’d hate to speak for every orphan, but I think most of us could care less about your charity.”

“You say that now—”

“And I’d never ask you to cut your hair. It suits you.”

They suddenly felt too close, sitting on the couch as they were. “Spend a lot of time thinking about what suits me, baby?”

"Ha,” Bruce said, his expression odd. ”I spend more time thinking about what doesn't, hotshot.” 

That wasn’t a denial. That was, probably, as close to the opposite of a denial as Bruce would give. Something rabbited nervously in his chest. "Well you can’t leave me hanging, now. You gotta tell me what else you like about me or I’ll think your just making shit up." 

"I like,” Bruce stressed the word, “to think back to when you were too nervous to be this annoying.” There wasn’t any real bite to it, but whatever strange, tenuous thing hung between them fizzled away. Jonathan couldn’t tell if he was disappointed or not. "Tommy's half-convinced that you're secretly mute, you know? You just—loom around without saying anything. And Ivy thinks that you’re the brains behind all the shit that Jerome stirs."

Jonathan hadn't known that Bruce and Ivy Pepper were close enough to warrant them gossiping about him. Though, to be fair, he also hadn’t known that Bruce was talking to people about him, at all. Which. Huh. Bruce was talking to people about him. His sugar rush came back, full force. He felt dizzy with it. 

"As if I could convince Jerome to do anything.” His mouth felt very dry. "Remember when he filled all of Strange's desk drawers with fish?"

Bruce made a face, but laughed anyways. "The lab room smelled like something died in it for weeks. You're telling me that wasn't your idea?"

"Disappointed?"

"Mm," he hummed, eyes crinkled up at the sides, looking cozy and warm and a world away. "Any chance you’ll give me Jerome’s number? Want to put a good word in for me?"

And there it was. So it went. Give and take. Push and pull. Push until the air fissured, pull until Bruce drew his line in the proverbial sand. Every time. 

Speech seemed to have suddenly fled him. He elbowed Bruce instead, hard enough for Bruce to roll his eyes and nudge his thigh with his foot, a lazy smile settling on his face.

"I'm kidding." He said, and his voice was warm. He shifted a bit in his cocoon of blankets so that his legs were suddenly in Jonathan’s lap and their shoulder’s were pressed against each other; Bruce a solid, warm line against him. His hair brushed over Jonathan’s cheek while he settled down, and if Jonathan moved his arm just so he could feel his heartbeat. This was the reason Jonathan kept wanting. This was the reason Bruce was too much—as a concept, as a person, as the sliver of whatever that he cast off to jab into Jonathan— 

 He felt as if he’d touched a live-wire, though he imagined that might have hurt less. Bruce was still talking, “I already have his number, anyways.”

“You want to date Jerome?” Jonathan asked, stomach turning inexplicably. 

Bruce choked, coughed, and then, in a hoarse, panicked voice, asked, “What? Date Jerome? No. What the—No. Just—no.” 

His teeth still hurt. His hands were shaking, hidden in his sleeves. He wished he was back home, wrapped in his own ratty comforter. He wished...Well. It didn’t matter what he wished, in the end. “Sorry for asking.”

He could feel Bruce staring at him, something doe-soft about the look his eyes, but he couldn’t face him—could only bear to keep him in his peripherals. “I don’t want to date Jerome,” he said, after a long moment, steady and firm. “I want...” He could see him wet his lips, take a breath, and continue, “I want to watch this movie. With you.”

"Good thing I'm here then," Jonathan said, something ugly welling up in his chest. He held it. He let it go. 

"Yeah," Bruce said, grabbing the remote with a frown. "Good thing." 

[lieutenantcharleslorem]

It is finished! This is a commission for @datalaur​! It was fun to go outside my comfort zone, since I do not actively ship Data/Geordi, but I hope I did it justice. 

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Star Trek: The Next Generation Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Data/Geordi La Forge Summary: The Enterprise is transporting some dignitaries, and one of them has the hots for Data. This inspires Geordi to say something he probably should've said a long time ago.

The Junior Minister was a plump woman. Certainly wide in appearance especially when standing next to Counselor Troi, but not unattractively so. Her short navy hair emphasized strength while drawing attention to her soft features and light eyes. And those eyes were so thoroughly and obviously fixed on Data, Geordi thought he could have seen it without his visor.

Having feelings for a dear friend was a strange thing, because part of Geordi wanted to tell Data to go for it; he deserved an alien fling once in a while just as much as anyone else on the crew. But of course, part of him wanted to tell the Junior Minister to take a hike.

“They’ll, uh… They’ll catch you staring, Sir. At least, someone always does me…” said Barclay, sitting down next to Geordi at the bar. He practically winced as he sat, not really knowing if he was welcome.

“No one ever accuses a blind man of staring, Reg.”

“But you are. St-staring, I mean… Aren’t you?”

“I’m having a drink, and looking in the general direction of our guests.”

“Yeah, he’s been staring at them for 20 minutes,” interjected Guinan. “But how you doing, Reg? You want some fruit punch?”

“I-Well, er, yes please.”

Geordi smiled, thinking for a moment that Guinan could make just about anyone feel at home, but his eyes never left Data and the Junior Minister.

While the Junior Minister sat with the officers in the middle of the room, fully immersing herself, the High Minister, a tall man whose dark blue hair was greying on the sides, stood at the end of Ten Forward having a muted conversation with the Captain and Commander Riker. * Ten Forward was fuller than Geordi had ever seen it. The Ministers had 6 other dignitaries with them, 2 lawyers, and 17 trackers which as far as the crew could tell meant some sort of assistant, and all 27 people were mingling jovially with Starfleet officers. Their people had been in the process of joining the Federation for 7 years and according to some gossip from one of the trackers, it was still a few years off.

“Though we’re a warp capable species with a one world government, it’s obvious the Federation disapproves of our bartering system,” one of the trackers had mentioned to Ensign Velor that morning. The ensign was meant to be leading each of them to their quarters; Geordi just happened to overhear the chatting.

The Enterprise was transporting them to some sort of negotiation and cultural exchange. No one really knew the details.

“Care to join us?” asked the Junior Minister, looking straight at Geordi. Her voice carried over the crowd with ease, without her yelling or disrupting the other sounds of the bar. It was a little unsettling, in fact.

“I told you,” Barclay whispered.

“Mmm, forgive me if I’m resistant to trust your assessment of social situations,” said Geordi lowly, while shooting the Junior Minister an apologetic smile. Barclay sank a little further inside himself. Geordi took a swig of his drink, left it on the bar, and stood to approach the group.

Halfway there, he said, “Come on, Reg.”

Barclay stood suddenly, smoothing his uniform. He started to follow but Guinan whispered, “Reggie, take your drink with you,” and pushed his glass toward him. He raised an eyebrow and she added, “Something to do with your hands.” He nodded and took his drink with him.

“Geordi La Forge is the Chief Engineer, of the Enterprise,” Data introduced him, adding, “He’s also my best friend.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. La Forge.”

“Right, I just wanted to apologize. I didn’t mean to leer. I was just, thinking about something. It’s an honor, Junior Minister.”

“Oh please, like I told your friend, call me Tuviece. And who is this?” asked the Junior Minister looking squarely at Reg. He tried and failed to look her in the eye.

“Is there something wrong with my face?” she asked. Counselor Troi opened her mouth to cut in, but Data beat her too it.

“Lieutenant Barclay interacts somewhat differently than other humans. He means no disrespect, just as I would not were I to do something considered socially unacceptable by your people.”

Tuviece smiled, eying Data. “You care very much your crewmates, hm?”

“I… They are my family,” said Data, not wishing to bog Tuviece down with a more technical explanation of how an android forms attachments.

Geordi and the Junior Minister melted. Deanna would have too, normally the first to call Data cute, but she had to take a subtle step back from the group instead, overwhelmed by Tuviece and Geordi’s internalized reactions. She blinked and fanned herself with her hand. She made eye contact momentarily with Barclay, and his eyes widened as he tried to figure out what the look on her face meant.

“That must be magical to be so close with your coworkers.”

“Magical?” asked Data, “I do not understand.”

“She just means good, Data,” said Geordi, “Very good.”

“Yes, it is a common expression in my language. When something feels so special it is as if it was caused by an impossible magical force.”

“O-ours too. Our language I mean,” said Barclay.

“Ah, so you can speak!” replied Tuviece.

“Do you have many relationships you would consider magical?” asked Data.

“Mm, no I suppose not… But that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like one.”

The Junior Minister was a very passionate woman, and with her feelings, Geordi’s responses, and Barclay’s embarrassment, Deanna could only handle being in the conversation so long.

“I hate to run, but I think I’ll go check on the captain if you don’t mind,” said Troi.

“Oh, of course, dear,” she grabbed Deanna’s hand suddenly. “If I don’t see you again this evening, have a pleasant night. It was a pleasure to meet you.”

“Of course, a pleasure,” the counselor replied, moving away.

“Now, boys!” continued the Junior Minister, “Tell me what made each of you decide you wanted to serve on a starship?”

The night wound down gradually. The High Minister had already gone to bed, as had Reg, both admitting they needed some time alone. No one knew when the captain had disappeared, only that he was probably the first. The Junior Minister was afraid she wouldn’t be able to remember where her quarters were, so Data had offered to guide her.

“Such a gentleman,” she had called him.

Riker, Troi, La Forge, and Worf meandered slowly down the hall, heading for their own beds.

“Geordi, I’m sensing some discomfort,” said Troi.

“Hm? Oh, you know… big parties.”

“Oh, come on, you’re the life of the party,” said Riker with a smirk.

“I understand the feeling,” said Worf. “I too find parties exhausting.”

“Don’t Klingons have rather wild parties?” asked Riker.

“Our celebrations can be a bit much for humans, but the requirements of the socializing are different. Less pretense.”

“Sure,” said Troi, trying not to sound sarcastic.

“Though I will admit, even Klingon social events are sometimes tiring and disconcerting for me.”

“Well, everyone needs their space,” said Troi, “but that wasn’t the type of discomfort Geordi was feeling, was it Geordi?”

They stopped as they reached Geordi’s quarters. They formed a casual circle, Geordi’s back to his door. “… I didn’t ask for a group therapy session,” he said.

“If you need to share your feelings, Commander, we will listen without judgment,” said Worf.

The three of them turned their heads to look at Worf.

“What?” he asked. “Why do you stare?”

No one answered, and Worf huffed.

Troi cleared her throat, “I’m only worried that you’re sabotaging yourself again, Geordi.”

“Again?” La Forge replied incredulously. When he looked at the others, he realized they agreed with that assessment, and was suddenly quite self-conscious. “What is it exactly you think I’m doing on purpose?”

“Not on purpose,” said Riker, “But subconscious. Because of… well, hmm…”

“Out of fear,” finished Troi. “But there’s nothing to be afraid of—”

“Deanna—” interrupted Geordi, but Troi didn’t stop.

“I don’t think honesty will hurt you in this situation.”

“Yes,” Worf cut in, “do not dishonor yourself with lies.”

Geordi raised an eyebrow at Worf, wondering why he cared about this.

“It’s not fear… It’s… I just don’t know if it’s fair to put that kind of pressure on him.”

“I don’t know, I think our android friend is pretty good at taking things in stride,” said Riker with a smirk.

“I just don’t know if he is in a position to be made to make those kinds of decisions.”

 “Well what if something happened with the Junior Minister?��� asked Troi.

“That’s different… She’ll be gone soon enough. There’s no long-term decision to be made.”

“Listen, I know Data is a little awkward when it comes to dating but—”

“Is that what we’re talking about?” asked Worf. “Commander La Forge having a romantic interest in Data?”

“Oh Worf…” said Deanna. Riker started laughing. La Forge delicately lifted his visor from his face so that he could rub the bridge of his nose.

Replacing it, he said, “It’s like a teenager. They think they know what they want. And when it comes down to it, you can’t stop them from having their own experiences, but… but you can’t expect…”

Geordi drifted off and there was a pause as they all let his point sink in.

“La Forge, if I may?” asked Worf.

“What is it, Worf?” asked Geordi, trying not to sound exasperated.

“Now that I understand the premise of this conversation, am I to infer that you are insinuating Commander Data should be deemed incapable of giving consent?”

“I… well not in so many words—”

“Because from what I know of Data, though he wishes to be a part of humanity, he also values his autonomy, and I believe he would be offended by a denial of his right to make his own choices.”

Worf’s surprisingly aware statement rattled around in Geordi’s head the rest of the evening. He was right. It was up to Data to make his own choices. That didn’t mean Geordi would automatically get whatever he wanted, but not everything was about him.

Data helped him with some maintenance in engineering for most of the next day. Reg was in and out providing assistance. The Junior Minister came around to observe. Normally La Forge didn’t appreciate outsiders sticking their nose in his warp core, but the maintenance wasn’t urgent, and Tuviece asked questions with a friendly curiosity that showed she didn’t mean to get in the way. Plus since Data didn’t mentally tire, or struggle with how to answer a technical question, he was happy to entertain all of her inquiries. Sometimes Reg would translate to layman’s terms when he got the courage.

Around midday Tuviece asked if they ever took breaks.

“Ha! Sometimes. But oh so rarely,” Geordi had joked from his place on the floor.

“ I was so hoping to have a spot of lunch with you…” She said it like she meant all three of them, but she looked at Data out of the corner of her eye. Geordi figured he shouldn’t third-wheel, so he made up some excuse about not leaving this panel open.

Data immediately began explaining that he neither requires breaks or food, and Geordi could almost hear the disappointment on her breath.

“Well then… What about you, Reginald? Care to join me?”

“Me?” he asked.

“Of course. I promise you don’t have to look me in the eye if you don’t want to.”

Reg let out a half laugh, and led her back to Ten Forward.

“Data, you eat sometimes,” La Forge said once they were gone.

“Yes, but I do not need to.”

“…Buddy, are you blowing off Tuviece on purpose?”

“Blowing her off? You mean to avoid? No. Should I have gone to lunch with her?”

“Only if you wanted to.”

“I… I have no specific desire. No desire to stay or to go.”

“Oh.”

Geordi knew he should talk to him, but he also knew he wouldn’t be able to focus on work afterward.

Reg and Tuviece returned after about an hour. It wasn’t their fault, but by the end of the day Geordi was sick of them both. Or maybe it was of Data being oblivious.

When Tuviece asked if someone might walk her back to her quarters, Data volunteered Reg for the job. Geordi raised his brows and mouthed why at him but Data only looked confused in return.

After Reg and Tuviece had disappeared, Data and Geordi chatted idly as they made their way toward Data’s quarters.

“Data, what’s the matter? You don’t like the Junior Minister?”

“I like her very much. She is fascinating.”

“Then why’d you send Reg to walk her back to her quarters?”

“His quarters are closer to hers.”

“Sure, I guess that’s logical.”

“Have I turned down another invitation, Geordi?”

“Well… Yeah, actually.”

“But why would she prefer me to walk with her?”

“Data…” whispered Geordi as they came up to the door to Data’s quarters. He turned and leaned against the bulkhead, crossing his arms and pulling up a leg to press his foot into the metal behind him.

Data came close, anticipating Geordi continuing to speak quietly.

“She likes you, Data.”

“And I like her too, but—”

“No, she’s interested in you. Romantically.”

“Oh.”

“And if you don’t want to engage with her in that way, that’s obviously up to you. But I just thought you should know so that you have the choice.”

“Oh,” Data repeated.

“I mean, because I have feelings for you too,” Geordi blurted out before he could lose his nerve. “And you don’t have to acknowledge that either. But I just wanted you to know all your options, because if you don’t know—”

“Do you believe I have offended the Junior Minister?”

“Oh… I… maybe a little, but not detrimentally so.”

“So you do not think that I should interact with her on a romantic level in order to maintain diplomacy?”

“Oh, no, Data she’s not going to be angry if you don’t like her. Only go for it if you want to. It’s about what you want.”

“I see no reason to. I’ve already attempted to have a relationship once and it failed.”

“You—Data, that was like three days.”

“It was nine.”

“Okay, but Data, that’s not how it works. Relationships aren’t pass or fail, and you’re supposed to keep trying until you find the right fit for you. I mean, that is, unless you don’t want to.”

“Would explaining this to me require lying about having these types of feelings for me?”

“Lying? I wasn’t lying.”

“Then why would you choose now to tell me?”

“When do you think the best time would have been?”

“Whenever it first became true, which I’m assuming wasn’t during this conversation.”

“Well… that’s easier said than done, Data.”

“Why, if you have these feelings, would you push me toward someone else?”

“I’m not pushing you. I just wanted you to know the opportunities. I just want you to be—” he almost said happy but stopped himself. “Satisfied,” he finished, “I want you to have what you want.”

“I like challenges, but most humans I have observed seem to enjoy relationships more when they are less challenging. A familiarity seems to help in anticipating and preventing challenges. I would also personally prefer a relationship that lasted a significant amount of time, as I haven’t experienced that yet. And since I don’t have a sex drive, there’s nothing pulling me toward the momentary interlude I would have with Junior Minister Tuviece.”

“I see.”

Geordi was so resistant to getting his hopes up that he almost looked sad, and Data put a hand on his shoulder with a look of concern.

“So, you are the obvious choice,” said Data.

“Excuse me?”

“You are the obvious choice for me to be in a relationship with.”

“But you can choose no one. You don’t have to be in a relationship.”

“I’m… unsure why you keep repeating the same point. But you have presented me with an opportunity and I am taking it. Unless you are taking back what you have said.”

“No! No, I’m not taking it back.”

“Excellent,” Data said moving forward and kissing Geordi with little grace.

“Data, Data,” mumbled Geordi, “You’re pressing on my visor.”

“I apologize.”

“Maybe we should go inside.”

“Your quarters are more comfortable,” said Data.

“You’re incapable of physical discomfort.”

“I would like you to be comfortable.”

“If you insist,” Geordi said pushing off the bulkhead and starting off for his own quarters.

“Geordi?” Data asked.

“Yes, Data?”

“There are several things that, due to my lack of time in relationships, I have yet to experience… that I would like to.”

“Let’s… let’s wait until we get into my quarters, and then… you can tell me all about them.”

 As this particular mission came to an end the captain, his chief engineer, his first officer, his second officer, and… Reg, walked with their multitude of guests to transporter room 1.

“It was a pleasure meeting you, High Minister Bieve,” said the Captain Picard.

“The feeling is mutual, Captain,” he replied as he joined several others on the transporter pad. One of the trackers blew Riker a kiss, and then the group was gone.

The Junior Minister was the last to leave, and as she turned back toward them on the transporter pad, she told them how much she’d enjoyed spending time with all of them.

Just before she disappeared, she said, “I’ll write to you, Reginald,” and winked.

Reg blushed.

“Barclay!” said Geordi once she was gone, “Did you—?”

“It’s none of your business,” he replied without missing a beat.

“Reg!” Geordi shouted, clapping him on the back.

Speaking for the first time, Riker said, “I guess everybody got laid this weekend.”

The Captain pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed, but admittedly, he did it with a smile.

[imagineimaginethat]

Hi! I really love your HC's. If you don't mind can I also ask for one? Recently, I've been obsessed with a CEO nobu... If you don't mind can I please request MC and CEO nobu's relationship? Like how they met and how their love progressed?

Hi! I'm so glad you like them, I would be happy to take a request!

Edit- I’m stupid and didn’t realize I never actually copied and pasted the HC’s before answering whoops!

Here we go!

 MC applied for a job under a company that had just opened up a new location that was conveniently close to her home, and after working really hard on samples and compiling her portfolio she landed the job

What she did not know, however, was the company she would be working for was under an even bigger corporation, no big deal right?

The building was still having some cosmetic finishing touches when she had started working, but her office was just about perfect, it had a nice view, wasn’t too far away from the elevator, a perfect swivel chair, the whole nine yards

Everything is going perfect and she gets along with all of her co-workers, her supervisor is a man named Mitsuhide who she thought strangely knew a lot about her, almost to a creepy extent, until she realized he was in fact the hiring manager

One day, Mitsuhide advises everyone to be prepared to greet the CEO of the company and casually slips in the fact that the new building would be where the CEO would permanently work from

Everyone assumes they have a bunch of time to prepare, but nope, because not even a full five minutes later did none other than the CEO of the company, Nobunaga walks through the door 

  Something about his energy, just says CEO, maybe it was the way he was walking, or the way he greeted everyone just before going into his office, maybe it was that one off glance he seemed to spare 

But, there was still work to be done, and the CEO being in the same building wouldn’t make too much of a difference, right?

It starts of with small things, Nobunaga would say good morning and then ask about any of MC’s upcoming projects

Then he would invite her to pick up lunch for the office with him when he felt like treating everyone, “quality nutrition leads to better productivity.”

He says that, but in reality she finds he’s just a really nice guy and really understanding 

Some days he would come into the office with Mitsuhide just to mess around in her office, he even took Bearsace back to his office and told her he would be investing in the teddy bear industry

Some nights she would stay a bit late to finish the last  touches on a project or make sure everything was set up for the following day 

Nobunaga often stayed in his office to get all of his work done for the day, no matter how long it takes, so sometimes he would see her leave just before him, or even leave at the same time

MC normally takes a bus home, but one particular night she stayed at work a little too late and missed the last bus of the evening, it isn’t too long of a walk, and the streets are lit enough

Nobunaga notices that she isn’t at her normal bus stop and instead are walking down the street, just as he’s about to get into his car to drive home for the evening 

He zooms over to where she is walking and offers her a ride, to which she hesitates, not wanting to put him out, but he insists and says if she doesn’t he would worry about her safety all night

So, she agreed

Surprisingly the ride home wasn’t awkward, Nobunaga spent most of it talking about his ambitions for the company which boiled down to making goods affordable and accessible for people 

After that they talk more often, she even makes tea so they can have time to talk during their breaks, as it turns out Nobunaga had put Bearsace in a mini office chair he’d found that sat right on his desk

She couldn’t bring herself to take it back after seeing that

One day, Nobunaga has an out of town conference that takes him away from the office for about a week and MC realizes how attached she has grown to him, she really misses him, and they email each other during the time that they normally have their breaks

Nobunaga asks her about upcoming projects, she asks him about the conference and if there is anything else she could be doing

It isn’t until she hears a few people gossiping in the lounge about how nice it would be to have an office romance and how she and Nobunaga seem really close, naturally this conversations stops when she enters, but it gave her something to think about

Did she have feelings for Nobunaga? And if she did when did they start? She thinks about the look he gets in his eye when he talks about her ambitions and realizes it wasn’t one moment with Nobunaga that made her like him- but every moment with him that did it

She wasn’t sure how to go about confronting this, or even if she should, Nobunaga was her boss, so she shouldn’t 

But it would eat away at her if she doesn’t 

When it doubt- ask the man that seems to know everything 

Mitsuhide seemed eager to help when she posed, a “hypothetical situation”

“I think your friend, should decide if she thinks she can maintain their professional relationship while at work and balance it with a romantic one with her boss, and if she can’t do either of those things she could possibly resign to pursue the relationship to avoid some of the issues that can arise with workplace relationships. Also, would this be a good time to tell you, Nobunaga has returned from his trip early?”

Damn the snake realized she was talking about herself. 

She thanked Mitsuhide and went to go see Nobunaga, thankfully she still had most of her break left, so she could go now

After welcoming back, she went on, “there is something I need to talk to you about, I-mph”

Nobunaga puts a piece of candy in her mouth then smirks, “it’s a treat I picked up while away, and old fashioned candy, it is good, isn’t it?”

And it was, but now she was more flustered by his sudden closeness 

“Now, what is it you wanted to talk to me about?”

Oh, right

She let out a big sigh before going forward, “I like you- I know you’re the company CEO and that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea for us to date. But while you were gone I got some thinking done, and I wanted to tell you. If my feelings are unrequited that’s fine and I’ll continue to do my best work here since I really do like working here, and- mm” this time instead of candy on her lips, but another pair of lips

“I was wondering when you’d fall for me.”

After that Nobunaga assures her that they work out how to remain professional while still being a couple at the same workplace, although some times they do admittedly push the envelope with what is safe for work and what is not so safe

Nobunaga also insists lunches and breaks aren’t company time, so therefore it is perfectly acceptable for them to have makeout sessions during that time

They have their ups and downs, but overall find a comfortable balance that seems to keep the peace in the building, and makes them both pretty happy

[nobodies-png]

HC: Xemnas and the other Xehanorts love playing Animal Crossing.

Just because ACNH has been such a fuckin BEACON OF JOY in my life since it came out (even though I have no means of playing lol) i’m adding some general animal crossing Nort headcanons 

Master Xenahort :

He’d be a snooty goat, pretty obvious. All of his letters sound vaguely threatening and pretty creepy, but he also sends super rare furniture so it’s not like you can complain that much.  Whenever he’s in your town, all of your flowers are bound to turn black for some weird fucking reason. - no one knows if this is a feature or a glitch You have more chances of getting him to show up if you have a heart shaped pond for him to lurk around.

As for Xenahort playing Animal Crossing, weLL. Good luck getting this old boomer figure out how the controls and everything else works. He seems to like Isabelle a lot because “she’s efficient and a cute dog” but he ALSO likes Apollo and his litte “PAH !” catchphrase.  Xenahort could have a pretty gothic and aesthetic world if it weren’t for the fact that he struggles with technology. Also also the guy who’d listen to all teh fun facts Blathers has.

Ansem (Heartless) :

A jock/cranky boar maybe. The kind of villager you wouldn’t really give much thought about, he looks a little funky and emo but eh, it’s not a big deal - until you get into his house and see that it’s pretty much chaos. There’s furniture you’ve never seen and are those fucking GLOWING EYES in the background ? You don’t think you wanna know. Exclusively comes out at night when there’s literally no other villager awake and he’s never present during holidays or events.

Ansem wouldn’t even play Animal Crossing, ngl. He has 0 interest in the game and would most likely drop it after 10 minutes. Also why can he only call like ONE person in the attic ? Fucking whack, that’s not how phones work. Spends the entire time complaining about little things he doesn’t understand. Like come on, man they’re just funky talking animals, let them live.

Xemnas : 

A lazy wolf. More quiet and lethargic than actually lazy. The guy is pretty quiet the first days UNTIL you start befriending them, then you’ll discover that he’s actually a fucking chatterbox. You can find Xemnas on the beach at sunset just vibing most of the time or at the museum. After having him around for a while, you notice that he’s the only fucking villager in your town that hasn’t celebrated nor told you when his birthday is. His house is pretty minimalist and monochrome.

Xemnas doesn’t exactly “play” the game - he mostly just roams around, doing absolutely nothing or just talking with people while going “Hmmm” Ohhh” “I see. . .” and other noises to himself. Couldn’t figure out how to give Isabelle a seashell on the first days so he just dropped that shit on the town hall pavement and it’s been there since then. Xemnas also never learns the real names of the villagers in his town, he just names them after people he knows and calls it a day.

Vanitas :

Definitely a jock cat, but like, the mean kind. He’s just too childish and energetic to be a cranky villager lol - his catchphrase is probably some shit like “idiot”. Not even a nickname, he just adds that at the end of sentences. Vanitas (or Catnitas :punch: :pensive) runs through the flowers but ONLY when you’re watching, orders the weirdest and most complex coffee just to see if you can make it - and then when you show him that you can, he’s impressed but also angry cause now he has to drink that shit. If you get Vanitas on your town, there’s a high chance that Ventus also moves in right next to him and viceversa.

Vanitas claims that he doesn’t give a shit about Animal Crossing, but his town is impeccable and he WILL kill for the villagers he loves - even if he’d also just try to straight up kill the ones he hates lol. The type of guy who carries around an axe 24/7 for no reason other than aesthetics and to make a Statement (tm). His house is pretty ugly though and he gets mad because he just doesn’t know how to properly decorate it to get a good grade.

Young Xenahort :

Smug goat. Smug goat. SMUG GOAT. The 100% definition of smug bastard - old Xenahort at least had the decency to SEND you rare furniture, but this guy just DISPLAYS it all on his house and MAKES SURE you know how pitiful it is that you can’t have the same things as he does. His house is chess themed and he has a picture of Eraqus somewhere. All of his letters sound condescending and he tries to use really long words to sound cooler, but we all know the truth. 

Young Xenahort shares a switch with Young Eraqus so naturally they  share islands in ACNH. Eraqus didn’t really mind but Xenahort REALLY wanted to divide the island in half so that they could have their own territory. IRONICALLY, he spends most of the time on Eraqus’ side tidying shit up - because he just can’t help getting mad whenever he sees how messy everything is, with all the fucking fish just laying around because Blathers isn’t there yet. Young Xenahort also insists on only having white roses and is very hellbent on keeping a strict aesthetic.

Terranort : 

The snooty lion she tells you not to worry about. Also a bit smug, but not as bad as the actual Xenahort - he’s actually pretty tolerable, when he’s not giving you the cold shoulder. The villager that takes you 207456 years to actually befriend and who only likes super specific and rare items as gifts. It’s really funny to bully him around because he only gets angry and just stomps around all day after that.

Another sad lad who wouldn’t play AC BUT if he DID he’d have some intense lore and one man larping sessions with the villagers. Like, those people who get WAY too into it. And sadly that’s all I got on him because I wasted all of my juice on writing for the other guys who are all technically the same guy. 

Dark Riku : 

Stereotypical jock wolf - head empty no thoughts, only muscles, sports and a deep seated inferiority complex. If you send him fruit, he’ll send you garbage in return. The only villager who wil SMACK you back with a net if you hit him, but his letters are oddly ??? Pretty nice and normal too ??? Unlike all of his regular dialogue about beating you up at every single game and sport possible in this entire world. Like, calm down, bro. Calm down and have a caprisun. Brags a lot about his “friend Kairi” from another town, which is sad cause she doesn’t. Actually know him. At all.

 Like Vanitas, e-boy Riku says he “doesn’t give a shit about some animal AI from a kids game” but he actually does. Sable is BEST girl in his eyes and getting her to open up and share her story with him was a magical moment. The game is super soothing and it calms him down, he’d even listen to those Lo-Fi AC 24/7 streams on youtube whenever he needs to c h i l l.

Xigbar : 

Peppy panther, I don’t even have to tell y’all what his catchphrase is. Constantly breaks the fourth wall with little jokes, known to “teleport” - he kinda ends up showing up on every single store and building you enter, as if nothing happened. Sends you VERY specific letters describing shit he shouldn’t knowor stupid jokes and puns. LOVES to gossip about other villagers and gives you that Extra Lore and trivia about them - but whenever you ask others about him, they just Dont Know Anything About Xigbar. Are you SURE he’s in your town, mayor ? 

Xigbar would mostly play Pocket Camp because it’s easier than carrying around a fuckin ds or a switch. It’s also less work and it’s a nice distraction from all the drama going around in the real organization. To play ACNH or ACNL he probably leeches off someone else’s console and he’d exclusively visit others’ towns just to fuck with them or annoy them to death by surrounding their houses with pitfalls.

[allie1804-fan]

New Beginnings (Chapter 10)

1  2 3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

New Beginnings Baby Drabble

New Beginnings Baby Drabble No2

Warnings: Mentions of babyloss

Emily sat at an outside table at the Jinya Ramen bar, waiting for Keanu to join her for lunch. Afterwards they would have an appointment with the counsellor. She stretched her legs out, resting her hand on her large bump  - she was now 33 weeks along.

She sipped on a mineral water and sighed, reflecting on the last 4 months, wondering how it had come to pass that this appointment felt like it was going to be more geared to relationship counselling than to helping them cope with the trauma of their difficult journey to and through pregnancy.

She had felt so happy after the 12 week scan.  After they’d made love again for the first time since finding out they were pregnant, their sex life had got back to pretty much normal though he was always that bit more gentle with her than before.  He had seemed more relaxed and confident too. He’d come to the first appointment with the midwife where they were able to hear the heartbeat  - he was as thrilled as her to hear the rapid sound, kind of like a galloping horse, through the doppler machine.

For the next few weeks after that, at the weekly check in he’d try to be there but if he couldn’t, she would ring him or record the sound if he couldn’t break out from what he was doing. They had both felt so tempted to buy a doppler machine to monitor the heartbeat at home but decided that might mean she’d just be wired up to it 24/7 and the midwife cautioned against it since finding the heartbeat could sometimes be tricky and that would only cause unwarranted anxiety.

Not long after that was when the press had found out - was that when things had started to change she mused? By 16 weeks, so few of her clothes still fit that she had  decided to go on a shopping trip  with Chloe as she didn’t want to order everything online and she loved clothes shopping with Chloe.

They weren’t trying to be conspicuous but they’d gone somewhere quite fancy for lunch and a paparazzo had seen them there and followed them to a store afterwards, taking long range shots of them through the window in the maternity section of one store. With her growing bump on show there was no hiding now and the news got out. They themselves hadn’t participated particularly – Cheryl had just released a brief statement  confirming the pregnancy and “the following summer” as the due date. Her Fellow writers from the show she was working on had congratulated her at work and her and Keanu’s phones were constantly bleeping  for a few days with congratulations messages. Cheryl fended off numerous interview requests as neither of them felt ready nor that it should really be public business.

Each subsequent milestone had passed without a problem for the next 3 months.  At 20 weeks the baby was healthy and on track developmentally. They decided to wait until it was born to find out the sex. Why spoil one of life’s only remaining surprises just because you could?

Probably the biggest thrill so far was when she’d felt the baby move for the first time – it was at around At 22 weeks and had felt like flutters of a butterfly’s wings or bubbles of gas in her tummy. A couple of weeks later it was what they had termed “somersault city” when at last he could feel it too. The weird feeling of the baby turning inside was so dramatic it had woken her up in the early hours and she’d woken him to share it, certain that it could be felt by him now too. His favourite thing after that was to sit on a chair when she had a bath and watch her belly wriggle as she lay in the warm water. And throughout the pregnancy, even during these recent rockier times, he’d continued to talk to the baby every day, loving how he got a reaction each time.

She first remembered Keanu seeming a little down and distracted at around 28 weeks. They had made a trip to a store to look at furniture and equipment for the nursery. She’d been contented to browse different styles of crib, nursing chairs and changing stations but he’d wanted to make quick decisions. She didn’t know if it was because he’d been recognised a couple of times outside in the mall or something else. Then once they’d made decisions, they’d almost had a row in the shop when the store assistant had asked for delivery details. She assumed it could all  be delivered now while he said it could wait till when the baby had arrived or if not that long, could be stored at his mother’s home. She’d given in to the latter plan, determined to try and get on with setting up the nursery before too long  - she wanted things ready well in advance of delivery.

At 30 weeks, childbirth classes had started - there were some nice couples there who Emily thought might even become friends but Keanu was standoffish. If she didn’t know him, she’d have said he was being stuck up! Again she gave him the benefit of the doubt – maybe he was shy or nervous of them because they might be weird given his ‘celebrity’ status.

The next thing that had made her start to think about seeing the counsellor again had happened just the week before.  Keanu was due to do some press for a new film being released and Cheryl had come over to the house to talk to them together.  They needed to decide whether to talk about the baby at all and if he did what to say.  He’d very quickly cut off the conversation saying that he wanted Cheryl to inform all press that he only wanted to talk about the project or Arch. Emily had looked at him questioningly

“I just can’t” he’d said getting up and walking away out onto the patio.

Emily’s eyes had filled with tears. Cheryl saw and tried to reassure her

“I guess he knows he might get tongue tied or emotional and he’s on safe ground with the movie - and he wants the story to be the movie I guess”

Later that same week Keanu had met Autumn (an old friend and an old flame) for coffee  and a photo of him hugging her and kissing her on the cheek had been posted on an online gossip site along with snide comments about him cheating - Chloe shared it with Emily, feeling she shouldn’t be kept in the dark even if it was probably all nonsense. When Emily showed him, he said he’d just run into Autumn by chance when stopping for a coffee and  that she should know better than to read anything on such shitty websites.

Em had burst into tears at his harsh outburst. It was the last straw building on his recent sullen mood, his unwillingness to bring home the things for the baby’s room and reluctance to talk about it and her to the press.

“I’m sorry baby” he said putting his arm around her. I didn’t mean to snap, it’s just ……….. “

“Just what?” she sniffed

At his continuing silence, she made a decision

“Please can we go back to see the counsellor?, I feel like we’re drifting apart just when we should be the closest we’ve ever been”

Keanu’s shoulders slumped and he nodded. “OK I’ll set it up”

Emily looked up from her musings as Keanu greeted her, arriving from another press interview about the new film release

“Did it go OK?” she asked.

“Yup, it was fine. There seems to be positive buzz around it so fingers crossed. You OK?, you looked a million miles away when I arrived!”

“Did I?” she sighed “just thinking over the past few months, thinking about what the counsellor is going to ask”

He nodded, taking hold of her hand and leaning in to give her a kiss “you know I love you don’t you?”

Emily blushed hoping they weren’t drawing unwelcome attention with his public display of affection. It was unlike him to do something like that and it gave her a little reassurance.

“and how’s the munchkin?”

“Bit quieter today. It’s getting kind of tight for space in there I think”

She caught the trace of a shadow crossing Keanu’s face but then she yelped in surprise

“you OK?” he asked immediately

She burst out laughing

“Yes, I just got kicked right up here” she pointed quite high up by her rib-cage “I think they want to make their presence felt”

His grin was wide

“that’s my boy ……. or girl” he said happily “let’s eat”

Their meal was relaxed and Keanu seemed happier than he had in a few weeks.

At the counselling session she asked what had prompted the need to come back.

Emily was wondering where to begin when Keanu took a deep breath and spoke.

“It’s my fault” he began. “Even after everything we discussed before, about communicating our feelings and not believing that being positive can only lead to disaster, I’ve fallen back to my old ways”

“How so exactly?” she probed and he went onto explain directing his words to Emily more than the counsellor.

“I guess as things have gone on, instead of being more confident, I’m back to being shit scared ALL the time Em and I mean ALL the time and you’ve been so happy and excited, I didn’t want to spoil that with my dark thoughts. That’s why I didn’t want to bring home stuff for the nursery or talk to the press or make friends with other couples at the birthing class. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you”

He ran his hand through his hair in frustration with himself roughing it up as usual but his shoulders relaxed and it looked like a great weight had lifted off them now that he’d acknowledged his fears. Em reached out for his hand.

“I didn’t know what was bothering you and I didn’t ask either, I’m so sorry, this must be so hard on you after Ava”

“Have you talked to Emily about what happened with Ava Keanu?”

“Not really” he admitted “how would sharing that horror help?”

“Because then she can better understand why you feel the way you do. Talking about it won’t make it happen to this baby, remember. Denial and bottling up are not good coping mechanisms. Talking and being open are”

Later that night, as agreed in the session, they sat together on the sofa and Keanu had shared the details of the loss of Ava, starting with the frantic phone call to him on the set of “The Watcher” in New York after Jen had been told there was no heartbeat.

“God, she was just screaming and wailing down the phone, begging me to come home”

“God” was all Emily could say, the horror of it sinking in just a little.

“So I flew home straight away and on fucking Christmas Eve she had to deliver the baby naturally. You could hear the cries of other babies being born down the corridor but when Ava came out, all warm and beautiful it was just deafening silence”

“come  ‘ere” Em said pulling him down so he could lean his head in her lap  and let the tears out, great wracking sobs shaking his chest.

When he sat up he looked over at her, his expression wretched

“why? Why does it still hurt so much – it’s been fucking 21 years”

“it hurts because it was so awful and pain like that never goes away, you just cushion it and hide it I guess with the life and relationships that come after it”

“wow  that’s deep

“what can I say?” she said smiling “I am a writer you know “I’m supposed to understand the human condition – just sorry I didn’t use those skills to see what was going on with you”

“And  I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I just didn’t want you to get scared of losing this little one” he said stroking her belly.

“You can’t stop me being scared hun, I am scared and maybe a little more each day as we get closer. It still feels like it could get taken away but every time they give me a kick or jump on my bladder and stop me sleeping then I feel OK. Maybe that makes it easier for me as well as the fact I didn’t go through what you did.”

He hugged her close and they went to bed feeling so much better for sharing their hopes and fears.

1  2 3  4  5  6  7  8  9  10  11  12

New Beginnings Baby Drabble

New Beginnings Baby Drabble No2

[emilenn]

D, H, K, and W for your OCs please ❤️

D reams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Maggie- She's not sure how her future with Lucio is gonna turn out, but she knows it'll be full of laughter. Ideally, she'd like to get a physical store for her candle business and move in there with Lucio and the girls. It'd be a good bit smaller than he's used to, so there'd be a lot of whining from him, but she thinks he could come to love the lifestyle she has in mind for them. She wants a home where they could grow old together without all the hassle of taking care of the palace.

Panya- She wants to travel the world, see as many places as she can with Asra and Muriel. There's no kids in her future; she can't even take care of herself sometimes, much less a whole other human life. She'll live an exciting life, full of adventure and probably danger, though not quite on the same level as the devil, but it'll be fun nonetheless.

Kimoni- He wants to start a school (funded by Nadia, most likely) and become a teacher, probably literature, and create opportunities for the kids of Vesuvia through clubs and fundraisers. If he managed to convince Julian to teach, he would teach biology, history, or geography (maybe all 3) and he and Kimoni would be the sort of couple that come into each others classrooms during their breaks and give each other little kisses just to gross out the students. They might adopt a kid, maybe one of their students who comes from an abusive family, Matilda style, and live out the rest of their lives in stability and calm.

H onesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Maggie- She doesn't have much to hide from Lucio. Then again, how much can you hide from someone you've known since you were 6? These two tell each other everything, and it feels nice for both of them to be able to let down their walls and just vent and gossip.

Panya- She's so honest it hurts sometimes. She doesn't have secrets but she's pretty emotionally detached when it comes to anything other than being happy. She's the person that acts super happy and boisterous all the time to hide the fact that she doesn't know how to handle emotional depth.

Kimoni- It's not that he keeps secrets, he just doesn't tell people things unless they ask about them. He sucks at starting conversations because he's so blunt, but things do eventually get said.

K iss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Maggie- She doesn't think that she's a very good kisser. She tends to go all out as soon as it starts, tongue and everything (because she's so starved of affection), and she thinks it's a little off-putting. Lucio loves it, though, because it contrasts her demeanor so much, and it's a side of her that only he gets to see.

Their first kiss was very out of character for both of them, very soft and tender and nervous. At first it was little pecks, but then Maggie grabbed the reins his collar and pulled him in for a full on make-out session.

Panya- She doesn't kiss as much as you'd expect. She'll kiss Asra's forehead or Muriel's chest as much as possible, but mouth-on-mouth is.. strange to her. It feels too special for someone like her (homegirl's got self-worth issues out the wazoo), and she tends to shy away from it.

She doesn't remember the first time she kissed either of her partners, but if she had to guess it was probably during one of their numerous cuddle sessions. Very sleepy little smooches to whatever skin she could find.

Kimoni- He's a very slow kisser, much to Julian's delight (delayed gratification hhhhh). He doesn't go for the mouth straight away. He'll run his lips along Julian's jaw, with little nips of teeth here and there, taking as long as he can to get to his mouth. Once he's there, though, it's heavenly.

Their first kiss was just as sensual and soft as you'd expect, complete with little mumbles of "I love you" and fingers in each other's hair. It wasn't the kind of kiss that leaves you panting, it was the kind that leaves you breathless.

W ild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon

Maggie- Whenever there's a big storm and Mitzi gets scared, Maggie sneaks her into one of the guest rooms and sleeps next to her. She can never hide it well, though; muddy hoofprints bigger than the average human hand don't come out of carpet very easily.

Panya- Not really fluff, but she loves to climb things. Not just buildings and trees, she'll climb people, too. Specifically Muriel. He'll be standing at the counter of the shop organizing ngf something and she'll just.. climb onto his shoulder. Like a cat. The first time she did it, he got so scared he fell over, but now it's just a normal thing. He'll walk around with her on his shoulder reading or smthn. Sometimes she hits her head on the rafters, sometimes she falls off, but she always ends up okay.

Kimoni- Julian loves to trace the edges of his vitiligo. It's a grounding thing whenever he's under a lot of stress, and Kimoni likes that he thinks it's pretty. He even has a splotch on his throat in the shape of a heart. Julian loves to kiss that one.

[alltherestisdrag]

FLUFF oh my god, did you just say that out loud? + you’re in love with her BRANJIE

Ok but I actually (love) this one even if it’s pretty short

2. Oh my god, did you just say that out loud? and 22. You’re in love with her. | Branjie

Vanessa was probably packing her 50th menu for the drive through that day, shifting on a busy Sunday was probably the worst thing could happen to her, since she was literally worn to the bone after her classes during the day.

“Have a good day,” she mumbled and gave the customer their milkshake, praying for a long break while they leaves. Normally, she would be all loud an cheerful but it was almost 11 PM, and she would die to have a little, just a bit of rest. So even her coworkers were encouraging her to leave a little bit earlier but the next shifter didn’t seem to arrive soon, so she had to wait a little bit more.

“The line is gone?” A’keria asked, tapped the front of Vanessa’s sun visor, and made her wrinkle her nose with dissatisfaction.

“Thanks god,” she answered, and rubbed her sleepy eyes slightly. “Who’s taking the next shift? I’ma whoop her ass if they won’t be here on time, seriously.”

As A’keria checks the board, she poured herself some cold water and chugged that, her eyes sneakily looking at her friend’s expressions. “Oh, it’s Brooke,” A’keria suddenly turned to her, and made Vanessa gulp and blink lazily.

The shifts had changed, she thought, Brooke would never be there on Saturdays. She knew that she had some extra time on the strip club nearby, so she couldn’t run over all of them at the same time.

She had seen her performing a couple times though, even tipped more than she could afford. She was so good, maybe too good for that lazy old neighborhood, she was definitely paying it away.

Doesn’t matter where, Vanessa had always failed at staying calm against her aura and even the think of seeing her was enough to send a dozen of butterflies right to her stomach. “Broo- what?”

“Yeah,” A’keria said after getting back to her work, “Silky or Nina won’t be able to get here tonight, so I guess they needed to do a little replacement.”

Vanessa was feeling all sweaty and messy at the last hour of her shift so if she knew, at least she would’ve been prepared, but she was on the lucky day as always.

She knew that Brooke was gonna be so beautiful though. Even if when she comes right back from the club with her messily worn outfits and slightly smudged makeup, with that last minute messy bun, god, she was always looking so beautiful.

That was when Vanessa’d gotten that she was completely fucked.

“Yvie!” She called her friend working on the fries at the back. “Can you please look at here for me for a sec? Don’t think we’ll have any customers for a while, it’s getting late.”

Yvie appeared with a little relieved smile on her face. “Yeah, babe, I’d be thankful,” she said and threw the towel over her shoulder. “That fucking fryer literally melted my whole makeup, Jesus, I need some fresh air.”

Vanessa gently caressed her shoulder and left to get in the locker room. At least there was a damn mirror, and she was gonna be able to check herself.

When she get to the door of the room, she immediately heard some soft chuckles.

She knew them, she would recognize that melodic sound everywhere.

Normally, she wouldn’t mind a couple of coworkers gossiping around and interrupt them without giving a fuck, but right at that moment, she wanted to get a little bit more of that ethereal whispers. She wouldn’t hear Brooke so goofy, she was so formal and sexy during the job or completely worn out when she arrives to the shop, lazily trying to make people laugh with her little jokes.

She would only see her so relevant like she was talking to a baby, during their own precious small talks, but they wouldn’t last long, so listening seemed good even if it was a little bit psychotic.

“Oh god,” she laughed. “The last two guys were so drunk, I’m so sure they didn’t even know when they paid two hundred for a private dance. It wasn’t that tiring anyways, mentally at least.”

She heard a cabinet door closure sound, so the chance of her getting stupidly caught was getting higher, she immediately took a position that wasn’t gonna get her in trouble, at least she had thought.

“Good for you babe,” Detox said. Vanessa knew that they were so close because their main two jobs. “I could only get one. She was pretty and shy though. It was her birthday or something. Believe me, you would love to do for her.”

“Nah,” Brooke said. “Not today. ‘M getting enough of my dessert tonight. She’s here, right?”

When Vanessa heard her last words, she suddenly inclined her ears better. The possibility of that dessert being her was making her stomach hurt with excitement.

“Yeah bitch,” Detox laughed nastily. “But she was about to sneak out while I was doing the dishes. She said she was pretty tired because of her classes in the morning.” After that moment, she knew that they were talking about her. And her heart was about to burst out off her damn chest. “She is a law student right? Good for that a pretty, talkative little thing.”

Brooke chuckled softly, like she does when she feels satisfied or interested. Just like Vanessa had noted in her mind. “Yeah,” she almost whispered, but lucky for her, Vanessa could hear even between the rattling going through inside. “She’s so young and fragile, sometimes I shy away from even looking at her.” The rest of the sentence was so invisible, only Detox could’ve hear them. Vanessa bit her lips with wonder. “Almost like she was gonna break under my seasoned eyes.”

But she was probably saying something so funny, when Vanessa could clearly hear Detox’s laughter rebounding all around the hall. “Oh my god, did you just say that out loud?” She could hardly spit it out between her chuckles. “If you go ‘this’ far with your words, you’re definetely fucked, dumbie.”

Vanessa was slightly shaking with excitement, the little knowledge about Brooke liking her was spreaded into her like a seed, and now she was feeling like there was a huge flower growing inside her chest. That was so stupid, so naive yet so relieving.

“Yeah, Miss I-Know-Every-Shit, you wish. But I’m not gonna go and open up or something as you think because I ‘do’ think she deserves much better.” She tried to slur over, but every word was hitting Vanessa like a huge wave. “But I can give her a little session at the club if she would pay me a hundred.”

“Come on Brooke,” Detox’s voice was getting more serious when she hit the cabinet door. “You’re fucking in love with her.”

Vanessa’s ears started to ring with pressure and excitement, she suddenly lost the notion of the time and place. Only thing she could hear was the angelic voice getting closer to her.

“Maybe. But you know what, I hate you.” Brooke mocked with a laughter, and hustled with her friend a little bit more.

Vanessa was still repeating the words as if they were not real. You’re in love with her. Maybe. You’re in love with her. Maybe...

Her mind was working so poorly, she forgot that her existence in there wasn’t wanted and she didn’t mean to be there, right at that time. She completely forgot that she had to disappear before Brooke showed up right in front of her. She completely forgot she had to act like she just came in there and wipe the shocked face off her face.

When she came through a them and us situation, Brooke knew that she heard, she heard every single word.

“My my,” Brooke chuckled, and tried to hide her shock and embarrassment. But a little blush appearing on her cheeks were blowing the whistle. “D, we have a little self invited guest over here.”

Vanessa bit her lower lip with the sour excitement of being caught, and wished that she wasn’t looking like a complete mess.

“I just came- I didn’t mean to-“

Everything else happened in a second when Detox passed them with a smirk like nothing had happened, and Brooke fixed her disrupted shirt collar. As Vanessa’s blood pressure went down, the blondie leaned closer to her ear and whispered.

“Tomorrow, 10 PM, pick me up from the club.”

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [7]

masterlist

Words: 8.2k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: some bullying

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: oof this turned out so much longer than I was planning but oh well! engoy everyone! 😊

You sat next to Tae and Jimin, with Hobi directly across from you, as you all ate dinner. Much to your pleasant surprise, Jin had let you help prep the evening’s meal, though he still didn’t let you actually cook. But you didn’t mind, you were just happy to help.

You released a contentful sigh as you swallowed a big bite; closing your eyes and relishing in the taste, the breeze, and the lingering light of the setting sun through the leaves. As you reopened your lids, you stole a glance to your right to where Jungkook was having a serious conversation with his leader. You wouldn’t lie and say that you weren’t curious as to what they were speaking about. It sort of looked like Namjoon was lecturing the younger Saeni, but with your normal hearing, you couldn’t tell for sure. A part of you wanted to ask the boys sitting next to you if they could listen in, but you held yourself back. It wasn’t your place to pry. You squinted in the low light while taking in Jungkook’s demeanor. You could only see his back, but you still managed to catch sight of his hand twitching as if it was aching to clutch the handle of his dagger. You hummed and pursed your lips, wondering what exactly was agitating the male this time. For a change, it shouldn’t have been you. After your rather loud outburst that morning, Jungkook had not spoken to you. You don’t think he had even looked at you since.

That’s a good thing, dumbo. You reminded yourself.

But for some reason, you felt a little off that he hadn’t sent you a single glare since you had stormed away. You couldn’t pinpoint which was weirder for you: not getting multitudes of scowls from the asshat or that you almost missed them. It wasn’t like you enjoyed them, per say, but they were basically a routine by now. As uninviting as they were, they were a permanent fixture in the crazy, unpredictable days of Illain. But that coconut head had to go and throw a wrench into your already turned upside-down world. Your hum transitioned into a grumble. The little asshat was avoiding you and you didn’t like it.

You forced yourself to take a deep breath and consider that he was probably just doing what you had oh so kindly “asked” him to do. If he needed to completely ignore you for a while to figure out his shit toward you, then he should ignore to his heart’s content.

“Y/N?” You heard Hobi call to you.

You brought your eyes back to your dinner group.

“Yeah?”  You purposefully didn’t comment on Tae and Jimin sending each other smirks and focused solely on the dimpled Saeni across from you.

“So, how was your first morning of training? You seemed a little, um, agitated when you came back this morning.” He sounded innocent enough, but you knew a nosy lad sniffing for some drama when you saw one.

Too bad you didn’t feel like providing him with any juicy tid-bits.

You huffed and explained that it had actually gone quite well for the most part. You told him that you had just gotten a wee bit frustrated at the end. Out of your peripherals you saw both the Saeni next to you roll their eyes. Of course they would. They both knew what had happened. Well, besides the whole getting turned on by their brother part. But, they did not need to know about that. Regardless, when you had finally stomped back into camp sans asshat, they had seen your fuming expression and had immediately pulled you aside to question you. Unfortunately for Hobi, you weren’t in the mood to relay it all again, so you decided to just leave it at that. You figured that if he really wanted to know, he could talk to Tae about it since that boy loved to gossip.

Eyeing the others’ reactions, Hobi took out a knife to toy with as he replied, “Something tells me that’s not the whole story… but you don’t have to explain it if you don’t want to, little scorja. Just know that I’m always willing to listen.”

You gave the Saeni a grateful smile and changed the topic to express how you were going to focus on learning archery and hand to hand combat. All three males perked up and started spouting out how they would love to help teach you and to seek them out if you ever needed assistance.

You couldn’t suppress your laughter at their eager reactions. “Okay, okay, okay. Jeesh. I’ll be sure to let you know. But I’m always going to go to Coco first since he is my official teacher and all.”

After your giggles died down you started to bring a big scoop of food to your mouth, but a sudden, stern cough from behind you made you jump in surprise. The action damn near made you spill your plate.

“Ah! I almost dropped my croissant, you heathen!”

You turned and saw a tiny looking Jungkook simultaneously seeming unsure and baffled.

“Um… hi.” He finally said, fingers tapping against his thigh restlessly.

Tae tapped you on the shoulder. “What’s a croissant?”

Just as you went to bestow your knowledge upon your friend, Jimin said, “Don’t worry about it, Tae.”

While you crossed your arms and pouted, Jungkook hesitantly asked, “Hobi hyung? Tae hyung? Can I… um… talk to you?” His eyes darted over to you and Jimin before quickly looking away. “Alone, please?”

Standing up, Hobi clapped the younger Saeni on the shoulder. “Of course, Kook.”

“Come on,” Tae added, setting his plate aside and rising to his feet as well.

Jungkook pointed to the trees, as if silently asking his brothers if they could converse further away. The other two nodded in agreement and they all began making their way into the darkness cast by the dying daylight.

“Wonder what that was about…” You thought out loud as the three walked away.

“I have a pretty good idea.”

You smacked Jimin lightly on the arm. “Well, of course you do, Mr. Half-Saeni with better hearing than a weaselly human! And let me guess, you’re not going to tell me.”

“Nope!” He popped the ‘p’ and raised an arm to rest on your shoulders.

You made a miffed, but understanding, noise in the back of your throat and leaned back against him, watching as the trio slowly disappeared into the shadows of the forest.

The next morning began the same way the previous had: Tae waking you up, the popping of petal pills, and a kiss to your alarm’s cheek as he sent you off to two hours of training. The only difference was Jungkook. You weren’t greeted by a glare, grumble, or condescending comment as you saddled up beside him to walk further into the trees. He only nodded in response to your “good morning.” Throughout stretching he didn’t utter a word, only hummed to notify you that it was time to move to the next position. He continued being quiet during the entire session, unless he was giving you instructions or correcting your form.

Well… at least he was looking at you today.

The two hours were filled primarily with physical training that focused on strengthening your core and arms. In addition to that, you once again went over how to correctly punch as well as the best way to draw and aim a bow. When time was up, you went to give Jungkook the bow and quiver, but he shook his head. Giving him a quizzical look and cocking your head to the right, you wondered why he didn’t take them back.

“They’re yours now, which means you’re in charge of taking care of them. Plus, it’ll be a good way to become more comfortable with them.”

You made a noise in agreement and slipped both items over your shoulder. You began to contemplate what would be the best way to carry them. It would need to be both comfortable, efficient, and easily accessible. You were brought out of your thoughts by the sound of Jungkook clearing his throat.

He rubbed the back of his neck and looked over your head. “Y-you, uh, did good today.”

You lightly laughed at his awkwardness, but still gave him a warm smile in appreciation of his words.

“Thanks Coco. I’ll… see you later, I guess.” You sent him a small salute and skipped away to find your friends.

The same morning routine, only today, you caught sight of Jungkook’s mouth twitching after you kissed Tae’s cheek.

You gave the male a sly grin as you sauntered up to him. “Aw, do you want a kissie too, Coco?”

He snorted, but not in a mean way. Instead, he seemed to be playing along with your teasing.

“I already told you that I don’t want your mouth anywhere near me, little human.” He had a smirk on his face and a playful look in his eyes.

“Your loss.” You shrugged. “I’ve been told my lips are quite pillowy, you know.”

Jungkook whistled. “I’ve never heard a gremlin’s lips be described as ‘pillowy’ before, but maybe you humans have different standards.”

You gasped and clutched at your heart in mock devastation. ”And here I thought we were starting to get along.”

“In your dreams,” he shot back but in a light tone.

After getting through your prep for the training session, you showed Jungkook your new and improved punching technique that you had practiced with Tae and Hobi. He closely inspected your form until he finally consented to allowing you to practice on him. The rest of the session consisted of basic fighting techniques and more physical training. Once the two hours were up, you grabbed your bow and quiver from where you had rested them against a tree and gave the burgundy-haired Saeni a salute goodbye.

“Hey, Y/N!” He spoke up before you left.

“Mhmm?”

“Um, make sure you eat something when you get back, okay?”

“You got it. See ya later!”

As you were roused from sleep and stood up with a yawn, you were surprised when you noticed that Yoongi was up too. You pursed your lips, curious why he was awake.

“You and your spastic alarm have woken me up every damn day, so I figured I might as well come help Kookie this morning.”

You winced knowing how much the magic user valued his rest. “Sorry… we’ll try not to be as loud from now on.”

He grumbled, pleased you had the decency to look guilty for disrupting his sleep.

While he was looking away, you rushed up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Good morning Mr. Sparkle Hands!”

He hastily pushed at your body, but you knew his tsundere ass liked the affection. The tiny upturn of his mouth gave him away.

You giggled at the pink-eyed Saeni but was quick to turn to Tae to give him his good morning kiss and hug when his whining reached your ears. Chuckling, you pulled back and raised a brow at your teacher who was watching from the sidelines.

“Are you sure you don’t want one too?”

Jungkook just rolled his green eyes at you before walking into the trees and ordering you to follow him over his shoulder.

You complied, but not before messing with him a bit. “Of course, Coco. You know how I always do what you want because I’m such a good girl for you!”

He sucked in a breath and shakily released it. “Just hurry up and start stretching, sweetheart.”

“What in the fuck did I get myself into?” Yoongi mumbled to himself as he trailed after the two of you.

You felt your diaphragm spasm as the air in your lungs was forced out. Jungkook had sent his fist into your stomach, effectively making you gasp for oxygen. There hadn’t been much power behind the hit, and it also wasn’t an effective spot to incapacitate an opponent, but the male was being more cautious so there wasn’t another accident.

You internally groaned in frustration. Yet another round of Jungkook winning and you not landing a single hit on him. Placing your hands on your knees, you took several deep breaths to calm your body and regain your mental composure.

“What did you do wrong?”

You looked into Jungkook’s light green eyes and panted, “I… got… impatient. Left myself… open.”

He hummed in acknowledgement, then pointed to your feet. “You also got sloppy with your stance and didn’t stay light on your feet. You let yourself get unstable.” He considered his next sentence. “I expected more from a dancer.”

You shut your eyes and focused on your breathing, doing your best to not lose yourself in his words. You knew what he was doing. He was baiting you. Trying to make your emotions control your actions.

With one final, deep inhale, you gave him a determined look. “Then let’s go again, so I can get it right.”

His lips extended into a smile, and he didn’t bother to say “go” before immediately launching after you. Preoccupied with dodging his fist, you failed to see the approval shinning in his eyes.

You snickered as you listened to Tae ramble to Jungkook as you neared the end of your stretching. With Tae joining you today, you had a feeling Coco was going to be at his wits end. You wondered how long it would be before the male was grasping for his dagger as you shifted your feet together and folded your body to touch your toes.

You were in the process of mentally counting up to thirty when you heard Tae say something rather… interesting.

“Does Y/N have something on her pants that I can’t see or are you just staring at her ass?”

You straightened and looked behind you. Tae had a genuinely curious expression on his face as his eyes traveled over your pants while Jungkook cursed and looked down to intently investigate a plant by his feet.

Good lord, Tae truly has a habit of exposing people when they’re checking someone out. But why the HECK was Coco checking me out!? Unless…

“So…”

“Hm?” The male in question bent down to further “look” at the plant.

“You like gremlin booties don’t you, Coco?” You wiggled your eyebrows at him.

He jerked his face up to look at yours, abandoning his vegetal inspection.

You could see that he was flushed from embarrassment, but the bugger still managed to snort. “More like judging how flabby it is.”

“Mhmm. Sure.”

He huffed and looked to his brother, who was watching the two of you with fascination. “Whatever. Can you just start your archery lesson already, hyung?”

Tae beamed his big, boxy grin. “Sure thing. Come here, Y/N.”

You briefly paused your steps to listen to the forest. You would be arriving at the palace by the afternoon, and you weren’t sure what to expect. Would the forest be cleared for a massive castle? Would there be pathways and structures built up in the trees like the Lothlórien elves? You really had no idea what it was going to be like, but you refused to inquire the kiela about it. You wanted it to be a surprise. But still… in the slight chance that you would no longer be surrounded by the calming symphony of rustling leaves, singing birds, and the creaking of wood, you wanted to cherish the sounds as much as you could.

“Y/N, you coming?”

You snapped out of your daze to see Jimin calling back to you with an amused smile. His eyes were squished closed, which made your chest grow warm. You yelled back a “coming!” and returned his smile while jogging to catch up with him.

Another hour or so passed of hiking alongside your best friend, discussing random things and coming up with dumb games to pass the time. You giggled when Jimin failed to correctly execute a tongue twister. Laughing, you turned your head to the side to avoid his pleas and excuses. Now that you weren’t looking ahead or at your friend, you were able to check in with the other Saeni and you threw a hand over your mouth in disbelief at what you saw.

Tae was riding on Jungkook’s back and yelling at him to go faster. The latter was cracking up and indulging his brother’s wishes by running and weaving through the trees. Tae cried out in delight, making Jungkook laugh even harder. It was such a childish thing to do, but in all honesty… it looked like fucking fun! A stream of laughter escaped past your hand, which caused Jimin to look over at what new thing had caught your attention.

“Aish, there they go again.” He let out his own chuckle at his brothers’ antics.

You looked at him with a gleam in your eyes. “You know that you’re a dear friend to me, right? My best friend, in fact! So… would you-”

Catching on to what you were wanting, he was fast to interrupt. “Oh, no. Not a damn chance.” He shook his head at you, but his eyes slowly widened as you began to sulk and walk away like a wilted flower. “Wait! Y/N, wait! Please don’t be sad.”

You lowered your head and sniffled how he wasn’t a real friend.

“FINE! We can do it.”

You immediately brightened and squealed in excitement, rushing back to your friend who was cursing himself for being weak for you yet again. Internally, you were snickering at your clever manipulation.

A few minutes later, you watched Jungkook’s legs momentarily pause as he saw you and Jimin copying him and Tae. But instead of shooting a glare your way, he only smiled even wider and continued running about.

It was definitely a weird thing to get accustomed to. Not being a target of the male’s animosity, that is. You didn’t know if Jungkook was only disguising his dislike for you now, or if he had decided to alter his initial opinion of you. No matter the reason, you had a feeling that the change was influenced by whatever he had discussed with Namjoon, Tae, and Hobi several days prior. You had to admit, though. This version of Jungkook was one you hoped would stick around. It seemed like his genuine personality. He was playful, sarcastic, and teasing, but he knew when to be serious and mature. It actually reminded you of… yourself.

“You doing alright up there?” Jimin asked.

You tightened your arms around him and grinned to nobody in particular. “I’m alright. Great, actually.”

Hours later, Namjoon stopped the group and gathered everyone together. He explained that you would be at the palace within the next twenty minutes, so Yoongi needed to release their glamours. He looked directly at you for his next statement. He told you that it was very important that you stayed in the middle of the group. The guards knew the kiela, but you were a stranger, an unknown variable, and he didn’t want them attacking you by mistake. You nodded to the leader and Hobi and Tae moved to your side, saying that they would stick next to you just in case. You smiled at the duo gratefully.

Once Yoongi officially removed your glamours and Namjoon was satisfied with your position, he gave the order to start moving again. Unlike the past, however, the kiela was no longer spread out. Now, they were in a tight, organized formation as you advanced through the forest.

After approximately twelve minutes, a voice suddenly yelled out. “Stop! Don’t move or we will shoot!”

Immediately, you all did as you were told, but you could hear Yoongi grumbling ahead of you. “Why do they always do this? They know it’s just us.”

Geez, it’s like I can hear his eye roll.

“Be quiet, hyung.” Namjoon sternly told him. “You know they have to do this with everyone. Plus, it’s not ‘just us’ this time.”

A small group of Saeni materialized out of the trees, approaching your group with caution, weapons at the ready.

“Hands up!” A male with bleach-blonde hair called out.

You and the others did as he demanded. Your eyes were darting around, taking in these new Saeni. Trying to remain calm, you focused on your breathing and not doing anything to make yourself suspicious.

“Jackson.” Namjoon greeted the blonde male.

“Hey Namjoon… who you got there?” He tilted his chin toward you.

Subtly, both Tae and Hobi shifted closer to you when he did so.

“She’s a friend of Chim’s. She’ll be no trouble. I vouch for her.”

It was quite annoying that you couldn’t speak for yourself, but you knew you shouldn’t start yapping in this situation. It was in your best interest to keep your mouth shut.

Jackson took you in, narrowing his eyes at you and scanning your body in an assessing way. You met his gaze straight on but maintained a nice, trouble-free face. After a few moments, he finally relented, shrugging and saying that if anyone could be trusted in vouching for another it was Namjoon.

You sent Hobi a questioning glance. “It’s all good? Just like that?”

You received a dimpled grin in response. “Yup! Just like that. We know Jackson from our trainee days, so he knows we wouldn’t try to pull anything.” He tugged on your arm to get you moving as the group of guards waved you forward.

Not wanting to question it, you gave the guards a small smile as you moved past them.

As you continued past what must have been the palace perimeter, you noticed that the ground was becoming more worn. It was no longer wild and undisturbed. It was still the same, earthy ground, but it was beaten down and resembled a pathway. You could see that the path broke off into branches that went in various directions. Perplexed, you began to notice other differences in the scenery. The plants and flowers were now growing in a more uniformed, organized fashion. There were ornate lanterns hanging from the branches high above your heads. And the farther you progressed, the more you saw other Saeni, only many of them were not dressed in warrior garb. Instead, they wore a material that was light, flowy, and almost transparent. Majority of the clothes were in natural shades, but there was still a plethora in vibrant colors too. But the thing that took the cake, though, was the giant mass of trees that were woven together to form one big, beautiful sculpture. The thing was seriously so massive it could probably fit three damn Costco’s inside.

Your jaw dropped when you watched a trio of Saeni approach the structure, causing some of the smaller tree trunks to unravel and form an opening. Then, the Saeni proceeded to enter the thing.

Tae and Hobi, amused at your astounded wonder, informed you that you were looking at the palace. Hobi went on to explain that it had been constructed by magic users who weaved the forest together to create the massive structure.

“H-holy shit.” You stammered out in awe.

Minutes later, you were still stupefied by the sheer awesomeness of the palace as you passed through the doorway and entered its depths. A pair of guards greeted you inside and instructed you to follow them to the throne room. After making your way through the maze that was the palace, ogling at the architecture and art, you reached a large doorway with more guards posted outside of it. They opened the doors at your approach without a word. Crossing through the entryway, you saw that you had walked into a long, open room that was filled with gorgeous flower arrangements. The walls were a continuation of the trees that made up the entire structure, but these were more spaced out, allowing the outside world to flicker in and out as you stepped further in. Looking up, you saw that the roof was simply the plump, leafy tops of the trees that formed the space.

It’s so beautiful… but what do they do during the winter or when it rains?

“My King.” The guards that had escorted you bowed and left the room.

You glanced to the side and your eyes bugged out when you saw the kiela kneeling. You squeaked and hastily followed suit. You really did not need to be beheaded for “insulting” the king of Illain.

You heard an exasperated sigh come from the opposite end of the room. “Must you really do that? For Exia’s sake, you know how I feel about the whole bow down and praise me thing.”

You raised your head in confusion. There was no way that was the king. What you had just heard was so… not king like. When your eyes reached where the throne sat, you saw who must have been the king and his… queen? She had long, lilac-colored hair and pale blue eyes. She had a delicate, regal air to her and you blinked at how stunning she was. She appeared to be around your age, which seemed a little young to be married to the king, who looked like he was in his fifties or sixties. You didn’t want to judge, because you didn’t know their story, though, as you remembered that Jimin’s father had been in an arranged marriage. Plus, if they loved each other, then you definitely had no place to have your own opinions on the matter. Transferring your gaze to the king, you registered that he had dark hair and dark eyes. He also wore armor as he casually relaxed on his throne. His eyebrows were raised at the kiela as they rose to their feet while murmuring apologies. You scrambled up after them.

At your ascent, the king shifted his attention to send a warm smile in your direction. “Well, hello there, miss. You can probably tell that I am Illain’s ruler, but who might you be?”

“Y-Y/N.”

His dark eyes lit up in recognition. “So, you’re the Y/N I’ve heard so much about over the years!”

Before you could ask how he’s heard of you, he waved a hand dismissively. “I know all about Chim’s situation, dear. I’ve known him since before he was born, after all.”

At his words, you recalled how one of Jimin’s father’s friends had helped his mother escape and then brought Jimin to Illain when he was younger to train. You hadn’t realized that that friend was the one who had become the new king.

“It’s nice to finally have a face to your name, dear.” He then gestured to the girl standing next to him. “This is my daughter, Jiae.”

She smiled at you before daintily curtseying.

Oh gosh. Am… am I supposed to curtsey back? That’s not really my thing.

A couple of seconds of internal panic passed before you settled on just giving her a small wave back. Then what the king had said registered.

So, she’s a princess, NOT the queen. Duly noted.

“It’s lovely to meet you.” Jiae then turned to the kiela. “And to see you all again.”

When she met Jimin’s gaze, she blushed and reached up to tuck some of her lilac hair behind an ear. “And it’s… really nice to see you again, Chim.”

Your best friend coughed and ran a hand through his hair in an attempt to distract everyone from the heat creeping up his face, but he still smiled toward her. “It’s nice to see you too, Jiae. It’s been a while, huh?”

Your eyes widened as you watched their interaction. Did… did he like her?

You weren’t able to dwell on the disappointing thought long, though.

The king rubbed a hand down his face. “I know you’re all probably tired and want to rest, so I’ll try to keep this short.”

He went on to express that the reason he needed Jimin was because the threat of the draikensu was getting out of hand. Not only was it getting too dangerous for Jimin, but for all of Illain as well. As a result, the king needed Jimin to utilize the “key” within him. After years of researching what the draikensu meant by that, the king had figured out what this unknown key was. Essentially, Jimin’s family had been entrusted by Illai herself to safeguard a secret within their draeva for centuries. Only those in Jimin’s family had access to this secret and it was passed to every first-born of the next generation. However, it was never passed to Jimin since his father had died before the transfer was possible. Yet, being the blood of the previous holder, Jimin should be able to unlock the secret if he can find his father’s draeva. The only kicker was that nobody knew where it was.

Once the king was finished speaking, everyone in the room was silent. It was a lot of information to absorb, and no doubt it would be dangerous with the draikensu becoming more aggressive and larger in numbers.

Unable to take the agonizing quiet any longer, you raised your hand timidly as if you were in a classroom. “So, when do we leave?”

“Y/N.” Jimin’s voice was filled with warning and he shook his head at you.

“Oh, shit right. When do we leave… your majesty? Your highness? Mr. King Sir?” You gave the king an apologetic smile while he looked at you with an amused twinkle in his eyes. “Sorry, I’m not sure what’s really appropriate.”

Someone in the room snorted at your fumbling as Jimin turned to you with an incredulous face. “No, Y/N. You’re not coming with us.”

Oh boy, this is just like the park all over again.

You raised a daring brow at Jimin. “You can’t be serious. What else am I gonna do? Just lounge around here?” You scoffed at the ridiculous thought and crossed your arms.

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw the king’s lips twerk upward and Jiae’s head tilt to the side in curiosity. On the other hand, the other members of the kiela looked uncertain as to which side they felt was right.

“Yes! That is exactly what you’re going to do!” Jimin ran a hand through his orange hair. “You’re going to stay right here where it’ll be safe.”

“Mmmmmm, no.”

“Y/N, please.” His brown eyes looked to Namjoon, thinking that his leader could back him up.

“Whoa, okay, hell no. Don’t look at Namjoon. He may be your leader, but he isn’t mine.” You softly smiled at the yellow-eyed male. “Sorry, Joonie.”

He only raised his hands and shrugged, not taking any offense since it was true.

At the same time, the king let out a loud ruckus of laughter.

Slapping his hand against the armrest of his throne, he addressed Jimin through his chortles. “You got quite the stubborn, but loyal, friend there. She’s the type you want to keep close.”

Jimin clenched his hands, but before he could respond Tae sauntered up next to you and threw an arm over your shoulders. “I’ve told you before, Chim. You’re not going to win an argument against a female like our little scorja.”

You looked at Jimin defiantly, feeling even more determined to come now that you had some people supporting you. You didn’t say anything else, though. Jimin knew where you stood on the matter.

You felt another member step up behind you. You expected it to be Hobi, so you were thoroughly shocked when the person spoke up.

“Hyung, if she wants to come, then she can. It’s her decision.”

Coco!?

You peeked over your shoulder to gape at the male, but he kept his eyes locked onto his apricot-haired brother, a serious expression on his face. As you stared at him in astonishment, the rest of the kiela voiced their agreement.

Realizing that he was the only one trying to dissuade you from coming, Jimin ran yet another hand through his locks and turned back to the king. He had a painful look on his face as he quickly excused himself and walked out of the room.

You couldn’t believe him. Yes, you understood his stance, but like Jungkook has said, it was your decision.

The princess’ eyes followed Jimin as he retreated and hesitantly spoke up. “I-I should probably make sure he’s okay. Ex-excuse me, father.”

Watching his daughter exit the room as well, the king sighed. “Well, to answer your question, Y/N, five days should be enough to prepare. And please, there’s no need for formalities with me. Just call me Bang.”

The courtyard was bustling with Saeni. Some were absentimindly walking while they admired the nice weather. Others were hastily making their way along one of the numerous paths, carrying a variety of objects as they ran their errands. You even saw one poor fellow truly embodying the phrase as he actually ran by with a scroll in hand and a sweaty, panicked look plastered to his face. You really hoped he wouldn’t trip and fall as he rushed past.  Beyond the male’s footsteps, you could also hear the dribble of water cascading down the natural waterfalls of the creeks and ponds as well as the murmuring of the many other conversations in your vicinity.

You and Tae were on your way back to the palace after your daily training session. Jungkook had needed to tend to another matter this morning, so he had Tae fill in for him. As the two of you trudged along the worn paths, you massaged your sore muscles and wiped your sweaty hair out of your eyes.

Currently, you were in the middle of one of your standard rants, this one was about why eating popcorn with chopsticks was the ultimate power move.

No buttery hands AND you don’t inhale half the bag within the first two minutes. It’s genius!

Boisterous laughter erupted from farther down the path, interrupting your description of the pros of your eating technique. At the sound, you felt Tae flinch, but you didn’t think much of it. The sudden sound might’ve just scared him a bit. But when Tae didn’t respond after a minute, you gave him a side glance. His eyes were trained ahead, and his face was clear of emotion.

Well, that’s weird…

A flash of movement brought your eyes downward to where his hands were toying with one of the buckles on his armor. Gently, you placed your hand over his fidgeting ones and slowed your pace until you were both standing still.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

His face was still empty of emotion; however, when his blue eyes met yours, you were stunned to see that they were filled with anguish.

“What the fuck? Okay, you better tell me what’s going on with you. Right. Now.”

He attempted to avert his eyes, but you were having none of that. This handsome, adorable Saeni with grey hair and lack of respect for personal space had grown to be one of your most cherished friends and there was no way you were about to just let him stew in… whatever it was that he was stewing in! Before he could fully face away from you, your hand darted out to grab ahold of his chin and you forced him to look at you. His face and shoulders sagged in defeat.

“I…” His eyes became glassy. “Can we please leave befo-”

“Taehyung!”

Both your heads swiveled to the voice that yelled out his name. You squinted through the disorienting combination of morning light and lingering shadows, and you were able to make out a group of five Saeni walking toward you. As they drew closer, you dropped Tae’s chin from your grasp, but kept a firm grip on his hand.

You watched as one of the approaching group shoved another. “I told you it was him!”

Giving Tae’s hand a squeeze, you asked, “Do you know them?”

“Yes.” He spit the word out, his face once again devoid of emotion.

From the way he’d said it, it was apparent that they were not friends. You had never seen the Saeni act this way and it made your heart ache for him.

When the group finally reached you, you noted that there were two males and three females, all with the same camouflaged armor that the kiela wore. They also had various weapons strapped to their bodies, so it was fairly obvious as to what they were: warriors. But with Tae’s reaction to them, you decided not to greet them with a smile and instead only regarded them with a raised eyebrow.

Petty? Yes.

Did you care? No.

Not that it really mattered because they flat out ignored your presence.

One of the males with light red hair threw an arm around a green-haired female, who snuggled into him. “So, tell me Taehyung, what’s it like to be rootless?”

Uh. What?

Tae squeezed your hand tighter and he sharply inhaled but didn’t respond.

The second female, who had on bright pink lipstick that seriously clashed with her yellow hair, laughed.

But honestly, who the fuck bothers to put on lipstick this early!?

“Aw, look. I think you upset him, Roric.” She fake-pouted and flipped her long hair over her shoulder.

You could feel Tae start to shake. Whether it was from being angry or upset, you had no idea. You didn’t know exactly why he would be upset, apart from these people being dicks. But whatever they were talking about must have been a sensitive topic for him. All you knew was that you were picking up on some major bitchy vibes from the group across from you as you began to alternate between looking at Tae and the five strangers. You whipped your head back and forth to try to understand what in the heck was going on.

It was a situation you increasingly found yourself in ever since learning Jimin’s secret and coming to Illain.

“Oh, he’s fine.” The second male with a close buzz-cut rolled his beady eyes. “He’s probably just lost a few brain cells since he’s a stump now.”

The third and final female, who had a large axe strapped to her back, snickered at her buddy’s comment.

Looking back to Tae, you saw that his head was down, and he was biting his lip. He looked ashamed. It was an emotion you never would have imagined seeing on the care-free and aloof Saeni. As you took in your friend’s meek posture, you felt a wave of unprocessed, grade-A fury rush through you. Narrowing your eyes, you glared at those responsible for his disposition.

Bitchy vibes: confirmed. Targets: acquired.

“Excuse me!” You piped up in an innocent voice and widened your eyes to match your tone. “Hi there. I’m new and was wondering what your names were?”

Six pairs of eyes were suddenly on you. One pair was silently pleading with you to leave it be while the others eyed you with distate.

“Ugh. Who are you?” Pink Lipstick crinkled her upturned nose.

You waved your hand dismissively. “Oh, I’m Y/N, I’m not… from around here, but don’t worry about that! I’m more interested in who you are.”

Before even one of them could open their mouths to reply, you snapped your fingers and spoke up again, still in a sickly-sweet voice.

“That’s right, I’ve heard of you… Let’s see, you must be Mike and Ike.” You pointedly looked at both males.

“What in Exia’s name is she talking about?”

Ignoring the comment, you turned to the females. “And you three! Obviously, you must be Kourtney, Khloe, and Kim!” You sighed as you took in the group, placing your free hand under your chin to gaze at them with false amazement. “What fitting names for two assholes with miniscule dicks and three bitches for penchants for unnecessary drama.”

You smiled in satisfaction as you watched their faces transform from bored confusion to angered confusion. They might not have understood where the names came from, but they definitely understood your ending remark.

“What the fuck did you just say!?” The green-haired female you had ordained “Khloe” screeched.

You chuckled bitterly, releasing Tae’s hand and stepping forward while crossing your arms. “Do you really need me to repeat myself? Or did you just lose a few brain cells?”

The male, who you had deemed “Ike,” threatened, “I would watch your tone, bitch.”

“And I would watch what you say to her, Beomwoo.” You felt Tae step up beside you, his voice slightly shaky, but serious. “Or, should I say… Ike?”

You smirked at the group before turning to check in on Tae. He looked angry as hell and his blue eyes were focused menacingly on the other Saeni.

All three males were puffed up, ready for if, or more likely when, with how the situation was progressing, there was a physical altercation. Though, honestly, you and other females were doing no better with your postures.

Cocking your head to the side, you pursed your lips. “What’s wrong? Don’t tell me you can only dish it out but not take it yourself? Because, if so, the Weenie Hut Juniors will be down the path and to the left.” You gestured behind you with your thumb.

Miss. Axe, aka Kourtney, hissed. “You better control your bitch, stump.”

Tae growled while you barked out a laugh, eyes darkening with wild adrenaline. You were too caught up in the moment to even register that this was the first time you were seeing, or hearing, your friend be super aggressive like this.

Mike made a low noise and went to grab your wrist, but you easily stepped aside and raised your fists to guard your face.

The male scoffed. “Like you could take me, girl.”

He obviously underestimated you because he left himself wide open as he raised his own arms. You doubt you would have been able to touch him with your meager training if not for his incredibly too-high opinion of himself. But, after ducking below his right hook that was all power and no finesse, you quickly threw two jabs into his side. You made sure to make contact with your first two knuckles, to keep your wrist straight, and properly throw your weight behind the attack. You felt a surge of joy when he keeled over, but the whole shebang wasn’t over yet. You shoved him back with your foot, causing him to stumble onto his ass. Then, you straightened and raised a brow at the other Saeni, who stared at you with barely-controlled anger.

“It’s not polite to touch things without consent, isn’t that right, little scorja?” Tae addressed you but maintained his gaze on the Saeni in front of him.

You couldn’t see it, but his blue eyes were flickering with pride at your actions.

“You… you bitch!” Mike gasped out while the others shrieked other non-creative insults.

You rolled your eyes. “Fucking hell, you guys really need a thesaurus.”

Kim pulled Mike back up and all five of them lined up and looked like they were going to throw the biggest temper tantrum of 2019. You fell back into a defensive stance and felt Tae do the same beside you. Taking a deep breath, you prepared yourself for the first strike when you heard a familiar voice calling out.

“Hyung? Y/N?”

You furrowed your brows but didn’t relax as you whispered, “Coco?”

Tae copied you, not taking his eyes off the other Saeni. “Jungkook?”

At the sound of his name, the others’ eyes widened in disbelief and their stances faltered.

“Ju-Jungkook? Like Jeon Jungkook?”

“N-no way… It can’t be him!”

As if on cue, a “what the fuck” echoed off the trees. You craned your neck to see over your “targets’” shoulders and saw a very pissed off looking Jungkook. His hand was griping the handle of his dagger, his eyes narrowed, and his jaw was clenched tightly. He expelled an energy that was so intimidating, it reminded you of the day he had yelled at you right before Jimin got kidnapped. You momentarily flinched at the memory.

As Jungkook stalked over, the five Saeni fell out of their aggressive postures and began blubbering about how much they looked up to him, how in awe they were of his skills, and how nobody has yet to come close to matching his abilities.

He has a fucking fanclub? Seriously?

The burgundy-haired male didn’t even bat an eyelash at them as he made his way over to you and Tae. He still looked like an angry wasp, but his expression lightened a bit when he reached the two of you. He asked if you were okay, to which you nodded. He placed a fingertip gently on your forearm and asked again, his concerned green eyes searching you for any falter. You gave him a soft nudge with your own finger and reassured him that you were good, but before he could turn away, you grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

His eyes widened while you whispered into his ear. “They were calling Tae something like ‘rootless’ and ‘stump?’ I don’t know what that means, but it made him really upset.”

As you leaned back, you saw Jungkook’s face darken. The boy looked super pissed off now. His eyes darted over to his brother and demanded to know if what you said was true.

“Kookie, just-”

“Hyung! Is. It. True?” Jungkook spoke through his teeth as his chest heaved up and down.

Tae looked down and started fidgeting with his hands again. “Y-yeah…”

You quickly walked around the seething Saeni and grabbed Tae’s hand again, trying to offer him as much comfort as you could in the moment.

You had almost forgotten about the Saeni responsible for this shit show. Almost. One of them must have either been blind to The Jeon Jungkook’s obvious rage or he was a fucking idiot because he decided to snicker at Tae’s submissive demeanor.

The raging burgundy head ever so slowly pivoted on his heel until he faced the group of offenders. They shuddered when they saw the borderline murderous expression on his face.

“You say you look up to me… but you fucking dare to insult a member of my kiela?” His incredulous chuckle was almost sinister, and you felt a shiver run up your spine.

You knew first hand what it was like to be on the receiving end of those sounds. Knew how they made you feel utterly helpless and tiny and stole your breath away. This time, it still managed to take you breath away, but it was not in fear. This one made heat rush up to your cheeks and another feeling (that you tried to blatantly ignore) spread throughout your body.

The group blubbered even worse than they had at Jungkook’s arrival, their eyes now containing panic. It was a far cry from the admiration they had held before. They tripped over their words and each other as they tried to politely, but quickly, get away.

“Yeah, whatever.” Jungkook snarled and crossed his arms over his broad chest. “Just get the fuck out of here and I swear to Exia if I ever hear you doing this again…

“You’ll answer to me.”

The five Saeni yelped and scrambled away, spouting off “yes sirs” and similar respectful answers. You scoffed at their retreat and squeezed Tae’s hand.

“What a lovely bunch of fake assholes,” you said loudly, knowing that their better senses would ensure that they heard you.

You snickered and sent a little teasing wave to Mike as he glared at you until he disappeared behind a tree. Suddenly, and much to your confusion, the two next to you stiffened before whipping their heads to look in the direction the Saeni had gone. Jungkook even let out hostile noise that made your cheeks heat up once again. He briefly glanced at his brother, who gave him a subtle nod, then returned his gaze ahead.

Good lord, what’s happening now?

Without looking back at you, Jungkook said in a restrained voice, “The reason I came to find you is because you’ll be attending the trainees’ fighting seminar in one hour, Y/N.”

“Wait, what!? But, I don’t-I can’t-where even-”

“You’ll be fine, and hyung can show you where you need to be.” He still didn’t look away from those trees ahead and his voice and body were stiff.

You hesitantly agreed and grunted as Tae grabbed your hand and started pulling you away, muttering about how you needed to eat something beforehand. As you let yourself be dragged to the kitchens, you glanced behind you and saw that Jungkook was now jogging down the same path the bitchass Saeni had left on.

Maybe he’s going to give them his autograph or something?

You made a judgmental face. He wasn’t a celeb for Exia’s sake! So what if he had a small fanclub? He was still an asshat. Sometimes.

Your judgmental expression shifted to shocked as you realized that you had used the Saeni phrase “for Exia’s sake.” The boys were really starting to rub off on you. It was definitely a surprise, but it had you smiling.

Tae gave your hand a squeeze and asked what you were grinning at.

You just shifted your toothy smile to him and shook your head. “It’s nothing, Tae Tae. Come on, let’s go get some foods!”

previous [6] — next [8.1]

[shooter-nobunagun]

Quarantine UST 7

//About to reach the climax (hah)...Apologies for the delay (gasp) but I took some time off and then when I came back work piled up so...this chapter took longer. Also, it went very differently than what I’d originally planned, so...I’m not sure if I’m 100% satisfied with the direction, but when the muses want something, there’s not much I can do about that. I think it turned out all right, I hope it feels natural and not too...’perfect fantasy’ scenario.

Warning, some mature content this chapter (masturbation) but not super explicit.

She stared at the text on her screen, debating if she really wanted to send the message, or simply relegate it to her ‘unsent drafts’; where it would join the hundreds of other ramblings that never made it to Asao.

[Sio]: I’m screwed; I seriously think I’ve got more than just a ‘crush’ on Adam...like, I literally spend all my time obsessing over whether or not he LIKE likes me ??? and even if he does, what if we get in trouble? >__<||||

“Ugh...mendoukusai...why do I always make things more complicated than they need to be...” Sighing, the sniper looked mournfully at the message, wondering if it was a good idea to spill the beans. Even though Asao was her best friend and had been a godsend this entire time, somehow just declaring it—even in text form—seemed to cement it somehow, instead of remaining this nebulous fantasy that she could always dismiss if things got too tricky.

For sure though, as the third week passed through, Sio noticed a definite change in Adam’s attitude towards her. He rarely made sarcastic or snide remarks anymore, and even his quips about her inexperience felt more like gentle teasing instead. No, there was something there, for sure...the real question now was whether it was a cozy, platonic friendship, or the stirrings of something deeper and more passionate. Shaking her head, she took one last look at the message, then hit ‘send’ before she could change her mind. She half-hoped Asao wouldn’t see it until the next day; if she responded now, Sio wasn’t sure she could sleep without another all-night rant session.

In the meantime, if she needed a way to wind down and get sleepy... Sio glanced at the phone one more time, before turning off the lights and pulling the covers up. With a practiced hand she casually slipped off her panties, preferring to touch herself directly. If she was feeling particularly horny and wanted to spend a little extra time stretching it out, then she kept them on, teasing herself through the fabric until she couldn’t stand it anymore and then plunged her fingers straight into her core. This time though, it was more a nightly habit than anything else; a little ‘me time’ and a good way to relax before bed.

She sighed as her fingers slipped through her curls, reaching that warm, secret spot. It usually took a bit of friction to coax her sensitive little pearl out from its hiding place, but that could definitely be helped along by just thinking about a certain tall, white-haired e-gene holder. “Mmn...A-Adam...I bet, your hands would feel pretty good, t, touching me down there...” Just the other day he’d put his hand over hers while helping her lift correctly, and the difference in size, along with those calloused, but gentle fingers, did not go unnoticed. Her own slim digits rubbed the outer hood, Sio shivering as she felt her folds getting moist from the stimulation.

‘Seriously, I don’t know how much longer I can keep it a secret...’ There was only about another week left on their quarantine, and Sio was simultaneously excited and depressed about it. On one hand, she couldn’t wait to return to some semblance of normalcy, but on the other, what if they went back to acting as if this time never happened? Boring as it was (save for a minor skirmish that did occur, and where Adam actually admitted her aim had vastly improved), a part of her was genuinely sad that there might never be another time where they would all be like this: acting like close friends and maybe even a family.

But most of all, what if these feelings she was developing for Adam never went anywhere? Or what if they faded, after things went back to normal? The twinge in her heart hit harder than expected, and her arousal dropped a little, to Sio’s frustration. ‘Ugh, just stop overthinking things, Sio...now’s not the time for it, anyway.’

She focused on her fingers instead, on the physical sensations this time rather than her mental fantasies. It was surprising how quickly she’d become familiar with her own body, and where it felt good for her. Her breasts, for instance, weren’t as sensitive, but it was still nice to massage them gently, and when she got really horny her nipples were nice to tweak with. Given that she was masturbating on a near-daily basis (and sometimes more than once a day), it was easy to experiment with different areas and techniques. After a while, she’d even worked up the courage to stick a finger inside, which wasn’t nearly as difficult or even painful, unlike most of the gossip she heard. It just felt a little weird, except the few times her fingers managed to brush a particular spot—though it hadn’t happened very often. Mostly she just like rubbing her clit, and it usually only took her a couple minutes to reach a satisfying climax.

“Nng...” Sio bit her lips; for some reason it seemed like she wasn’t really in the mood today. It was taking her longer than usual to reach an orgasm, and despite her fingers it felt like she was stuck at the plateau phase. ‘Maybe I should just call it quits and go to sleep...but argh, I’m already more than halfway there...’ She couldn’t decide which was worse: working towards a half-hearted orgasm, or trying to sleep while still tense and aroused. Taking a break she laid on the cool sheets, running a hand up and down her thigh, enjoying how smooth and soft the skin felt. 

Funny how she couldn’t really remember when or what cause her feelings for Adam to change. Since the beginning, they’d always had this weird, almost love/hate thing going on, possibly since their first encounter in Taiwan. Sio knew she respected his skills on the battlefield, though his manners towards her could’ve used a lot of work. Even then, even back when he was all sorts of abrasive and prickly at her, she still couldn’t outright hate him. Be annoyed and upset, sure, but there was always a part of her that wished she could know him better, to find out what kind of a person he really was.

‘Adam...’ Just thinking about him, whether it was his physique or his interactions with her, filled her heart with a sense of longing. What kind of person was he like before DOGOO? Who were his friends? Was his ‘tsundere’ attitude just a facade to protect his true self? She wished she could just work up the courage and confess her feelings, consequences be damned, but she knew it’d probably never happen in a million years. But oh, how strong those feelings were, sometimes...to know him beyond his e-gene and touch his true soul... Slowly, her finger gently prodded her insides, Sio imagining what it would be like if he held her tight in those strong arms; whispering sweet nothings into her ear while brushing her hair soothingly, telling her how much he cared about her and admired her, how cute she was...

“Hnn...! Oh!” To her surprise her body started jerking, Sio so caught up in her romantic fantasies that she didn’t notice her orgasm until it literally shook her out of her reverie. “Hah, hah...A-Adam...I wish, I wish we were real...” Suddenly reality came back, and the sniper remembered where she was: in her own room in a borrowed house, in the middle of a foreign city, waiting out a quarantine with her teammates in the hopes that they wouldn’t get infected and die. Panting, she pulled her sticky fingers out, wiping them down before putting her panties back on again. Now that the euphoria was fading, she felt an almost crushing sense of defeat. 

‘Hah, who am I kidding; there’s no way I can ever tell him...I just can’t! Not to mention, what if he...really doesn’t feel the same way? I don’t wanna make him feel awkward, not when we’ve finally established some kind of friendship...’ Yet the thought of taking this secret to the grave made her heart feel even heavier, and despite being physically exhausted, Sio sensed the beginnings of insomnia—and groaned.

Suddenly her phone lit up. She must’ve forgotten to silence it—but the sniper immediately snatched it up, scanned Asao’s reply, and hit ‘call’ without even bothering to text first.

“Moshi moshi? Sio-chan? Is everything alright?”

“Asao-san! I’m sorry for calling you so suddenly, but...I really need to talk to you!” Sio half-wailed into the phone, trying to keep her voice down.

“Oh my, of course Sio-chan. But calm down first, what’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be asleep now?”

“Well, I was...but I just can’t fall asleep.” She heaved a sigh. “It’s about...Adam. And well, you probably already saw my text, but...” her friend hummed in understanding on the other end, “and well, you know! I just don’t know...what to do about this!”

“I see...” Her friend replied seriously, Sio so worked up she was on the verge of tears at this point. “How do you know it’s forbidden? Do you know for sure that fraternization among DOGOO members is illegal?”

“W-Well, no...I mean, I don’t know for sure...if it is, then I haven’t heard of it,” Sio admitted, “b-but even then, like, what if...what if he, doesn’t like me back...!”

“Okay, let’s take this one at a time,” said Asao gently, trying to get Sio to calm down. “Let’s not worry about whether or not it’s against the rules or whatever— I’m pretty sure even if it is, it wouldn’t stop your feelings.” Sio grunted in response. “As for whether or not Adam feels the same...I mean, what do you think? What’s your instinct tell you? I’m not there, so I can’t say anything aside from what I’ve heard from you—but it doesn’t seem like it’s completely impossible, right?”

“I...well, I mean...” Her instincts, huh? More than once the others had pointed out how Sio sometimes just seemed to know things, yet be unable to explain how she knew afterwards—except that it just came to her, like an instinctive pull. “I...feel like he’s aware that there’s something more than just, friendly camaraderie between us...I-I mean for sure, I’ve noticed he’s changed how he acts towards me and speaks to me...s, so, that’s a positive sign, I guess...”

“Mm hmm, that’s good.” Asao encouraged from the other end. “So he’s definitely not avoiding you or anything.”

Sio shook her head. “No, if anything we’ve actually been spending a lot of time together, lately...heh, who would’ve guessed,” she gave a small laugh. “But, I guess it’s just...I just can’t be sure, right? Who knows if he likes me like, that, or what if it turns out he’s just a really nice guy, underneath all that Jack the Ripper e-gene crap?”

“...Well, that wouldn’t be so bad, would it? At least you know he’s a decent guy then,” offered Asao, but that didn’t seem to console the sniper much, if at all.

“I know, but that’s not what I want!” She lamented, even though she knew how lame it sounded. “I know I know, at least he is a good person, and for sure, I am really glad that he’s not the asshole I thought he was. Trust me, if all we did end up becoming was just good friends, then I guess I’ll accept it, but...” Sio sighed heavily, scrunching up on the sheets.

“...I really like him. Like, I...want to be with him, for real,” she whispered, surprised at the sudden wave of emotions it triggered in her. “I-I mean, maybe it’s too early to say this, but...i-is this, what it means to...fall in love?”

“Ah...Sio-chan...” Even Asao seemed to be at a loss for words, Sio clutching the pillow to her chest as she tried to get rid of this heavy ache. “...If you have such strong feelings for him, then, I think there’s really only one thing to do.”

“What?”

“You should tell him,” was Asao’s response, Sio having frozen at the blunt suggestion. “I’m serious, Sio-chan. I know you, and the longer you keep holding it in, the worse you’ll feel.”

“B-But, but...what if he—argh—doesn’t...like me back?!” The poor girl nearly sobbed into the phone, still caught up in her emotions. “I just don’t know if I could handle that kind of rejection...”

“Now Sio-chan, you’re stronger than that,” her friend’s voice took on a stern tone. “Even if he rejects you, so what? Life goes on; trust me, if that happens it won’t be the end of the world. You’ll encounter a lot more challenges later on, after this. You can’t let this one thing dictate the rest of your life.”

Sio sniffed and wiped her tears, knowing Asao was right. “...I, I know... You’re right, Asao-san...I-I mean, I’m already half-resigned to just remaining friends anyway, so...” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “...You’re right. The worst part about this is just not knowing the truth. If he really isn’t interested in me, then fine; at least I can say I tried, and hopefully we’ll still be friends.”

“Sasuga, Shio-chan. I know you can do it.” Sio smiled at her friend’s encouragement. “Now you should be getting some rest. Tomorrow’ll look a lot better through fresh eyes.”

“Hai...oyasumi, Asao-san.”

“Oyasumi nasai, Shio-chan.” --------- “Mornin’ Ogura. You sleep alright?” Adam greeted the girl as she came down the stairs, a huge yawn tearing from her mouth. 

“Hnn...ohayou, Adam-san...” She rubbed her eyes, Asao’s words from last night still turning themselves over in her mind. Tell him... hah, as if she could just blurt it out. If only she could plan it out beforehand, but no; experience told her that whenever it involved her and Adam, nothing ever went according to plan.

“Sunny-side up eggs alright with you?” The sniper nodded in thanks, before wandering over to the cupboards to fix herself some tea. “...Everything alright?”

“H-Huh? Wh, what do you mean...” She nearly dropped the cup, but caught it just in time. “I’m just, tired...stayed up too late talking to Asao-san again...” Adam’s perception was incredibly sharp; she’d have to watch herself to make sure she didn’t give anything away.

“...I see. How’s she doing, by the way?”

“Eh. Same as usual...from the sound of it, Japan’s doing okay, except they’re not in school right now so she says it’s kind of boring staying inside all day.” Before she knew it, she had somehow automatically made two cups of tea, even though Adam usually drank coffee in the morning. “Oh, ah...I forgot, you usually drink coffee, don’t you, Adam-san?”

He glanced over at the mugs just as the eggs finished and he slid them onto a plate, alongside the bacon, toast, and other trimmings. “Sure, but I don’t mind tea, either. Remember, I’m British,” he winked at her, “and we take tea very seriously.”

Sio found herself blushing at that playful wink, and before she knew it her lips curled into a small smile. Every time he did one of those little quirks towards her, she felt herself growing warm. As they ate their breakfast in a now-comfortable silence, she thought back to what she’d told Asao last night. About how she was resigned to just remaining friends, and accepting it, if he didn’t feel the same...

‘...But is that really true? Could I really be satisfied with just staying friends?’ That was what she’d claimed, but thinking on it now, and especially with the two of them like this already... Biting her fork, Sio was beginning to think she wouldn’t be able to settle for anything less than going all in. If she was rejected, then fine--that would be something out of her control, but to not even try...

“Say. You got any plans today?” She looked up with a start at Adam’s question. Why would he be asking her this now... Pretending everything was fine (when it was definitely not), she gave a casual shrug.

“Not really. I-I mean, aside from the usual stuff...was probably just gonna try and finish my FF7 file, since we’ve only got like, a week left...”

He nodded. “Yeh; seems like time was slow and fast all at the same time, didn’t it?”

“Heh, yeah it did; oh man, I remember when we first got here, and I was complaining about how I was gonna survive a month with everyone...but, now that we’re almost at the end, I’m actually gonna miss it...” She gave a melancholy smile, stirring the leftover bits of eggs.

“Well, I was thinking of just going for a drive along the shoreline. Maybe get out and walk along the beach...” For a few seconds there was only the sound of forks scraping the plates, as Sio’s heart started to pound in nervous anticipation, while Adam turned away so she couldn’t see his blush.

“...Is it, just...you?”

“...Well, that depends; you wanna come with?”

Their eyes met for a second, and Sio was sure she was probably redder than a tomato—but the strange thing was, Adam was also oddly pink, with an expression she’d never seen before. Later on, she would realize it was a sign that he’d been just as nervous as her, but in the heat of the moment, all she could think of was how to not make a fool of herself.

“U-Uh, I—I um, I...I’d like that,” she heard herself saying, though the voice seemed to come from somewhere outside her body. “If it’s...okay...”

“Of course; it’s definitely more than ‘okay’.” He got up to clear their plates, Sio grateful he couldn’t see her smile. 

‘He’s actually taking me somewhere...just the two of us...! Wait, is this like a...date?!’ Her excitement was suddenly replaced with a bolt of fear, as Sio’s mind finally realized the possible implications of this. ‘Oh no, what do I do...! Maybe I should change—but into what? It’s not like I packed anything nice since all we’d be doing was lounging, not going out—’

Luckily she was saved from indecision by Adam announcing that he’d already written a note for the other two, and it would be easier if they left now before they woke up. They packed some water and of course, the usual masks and hand sanitizer; then Adam was easing them out of the driveway and onto the hilly streets, Sio finally sitting shotgun for once.

The car was awkwardly silent, Sio wrestling internally with wanting to start a conversation but not knowing what to talk about. In the end, she simply turned on the radio, and the two listened to whatever the latest hits were as the car wound its way out to the coast. At least the breeze was nice, Sio enjoying the fresh air while she subtly watched Adam shifting the gears; somehow, just watching his fluid actions, and trying to understand how everything worked, was quite interesting.

“Huh...so you have to shift in order...” she muttered to herself, unaware of actually speaking it out loud.

“Eh? You interested in drivin’, squirt?”

‘Ah! I did it again...speaking my thoughts...!’ The sniper tried not to panic, instead pointedly looking out the window.

“N, No, it’s just...I’m curious as to how you, uh, drive. Y’know, with the gears and all.”

Adam shrugged, navigating with one hand as they drove along the highway. “Mm, you learn it with practice, like everything else. Why, you want a driving lesson before this is all over?” He teased, shooting the girl a small grin. “Personally I’d recommend starting with an automatic, if you’ve never driven before...”

“No no, it’s fine; I highly doubt I’d need to right now, anyway...” Sio commented dryly. “...By the way, is it true? What Jess-san said...”

“About what?”

“That, you...also owned a motorcycle.”

So. She remembered. “...Yeh, it’s true. I do have a bike; it’s not here right now, though DOGOO has offered to ship it to one of their bases...” The sniper’s maroons grew wide at this piece of news, and inwardly Adam cursed at not having the foresight to having it shipped over. ‘Perhaps we could’ve gone for a ride on that instead...’

“Whoa...that’s so cool...” Sio mumbled, cheeks flushing. “Man, you’re like, perfect...you can do so many things, like—how do you even know all this stuff? And be good at them?”

To her surprise Adam started laughing. “Oh ho, perfect now, am I? That is definitely not the case...and if I really were perfect, then how come I still have trouble with speaking my mind or not being an arse?” He eyed her with a glance and the sniper’s cheeks turned pink, to his pleasure. “Besides, I’m pretty sure that was not your impression of me when we first met.”

“W, Well, still...I just feel so...I dunno, useless next to you—and everyone else, for that matter, sometimes...”

Adam didn’t respond, instead pulling the car into a space as they finally made it to their destination. Sio wasn’t sure if he was exasperated at her whining, or something else.

“C’mon Ogura, let’s go for a walk, yeh? Think that’ll clear your head a bit.”

“Ah...” She put her mask and silently followed him, right along the waves crashing against the rocks. The day had been cloudy for a change, and Sio shivered slightly, even with a jacket. It seemed San Francisco’s weather changed as often as her moods; sunny one day, and chilly with fog the next, sometimes in the same day. 

“Brr...it sure is cold here,” she rubbed her arms, the wind piercing through her thin sweater. “Isn’t it supposed to almost be summer?”

“Hmm, reminds me a lot of home, actually. Well, granted it’s not nearly as cool, but, the overcast fog...” Before she could say anything else, Adam was shedding his jacket and gently laying it across her shoulders. “Here, this better?”

“Ah, uh...th-thanks...” There wasn’t much she could say, without revealing her true feelings—instead Sio simply nodded, hugging herself as she slipped her arms through, the fabric still warm from his heat. ‘Mmm...of course it smells like him...it’s comforting, somehow...’

“Don’t worry about me, squirt,” Adam answered before she could even ask. “The cold doesn’t bother me much; in fact, I find it rather refreshing.”

“O-Oh...w, well, if you say so...” She didn’t even need a mirror to know her cheeks were pink at this point—in fact her entire head felt like it was on fire as they walked in silence along the trail, despite the sea breeze. In an effort to distract herself, Sio took in the sights: the grey-tinged clouds, waves that broke along the rocks, and the occasional seagull brave enough to dive into the water. The air smelled briny and cold, similar to Tokyo Bay—but again different. It was mesmerizing to stare out at the waves, how they grew, then crashed, receded and then it started all over again. A few joggers and bikers were out, but it seemed most folks chose to stay indoors when the weather turned.

They hiked to an outlook with a few benches, Sio taking a water break as Adam leaned over the railing, taking in the view himself. She desperately wanted to break the silence, but at the same time, she didn’t know what to say. Even if Adam had other reasons for asking her to come with, somehow, it felt wrong to force the question.

“You doin’ alright, Ogura?” Adam turned around, nodding at her newly-acquired jacket. “Let me know if you’d rather head back. Wouldn’t want you t’ get sick.”

“I’m okay, thanks to you...” She hugged herself again, as if to remind herself this was real. “U-Um, A-Adam...” he turned around slightly, and Sio felt her heart rate speed up, but she couldn’t stop now. “Th, this place...um, s-so...why did you ask me to...come with you...”

“...Hn. That is a good question.” He wasn’t looking at her directly, but she knew he was paying close attention. “I can’t say I really know why, myself...just, I thought you might like some fresh air, for a change.” He shrugged casually, and Sio felt her heart drop a bit, even though a part of her was also relieved.

“And, well...truthfully it’s because, I guess I’ve come to enjoy spending time with you, is all.”

The sniper froze again, at that comment. ‘No way...it can’t be, is he really serious...is he, really saying what I think he is...!’ She wasn’t even sure what to respond, how to respond—to anybody else perhaps, it would’ve been plain as day that Adam was admitting he liked her, and yet, her insecurities wouldn’t let her believe it.

“A-Ah, y-yeah...um, I, I do...like being out of the house, once in a while...” She was stuttering and trembling, all limbs going numb because there was just no way this could be real, it couldn’t be what she’d really wanted, all along...

“Well, that’s...good to know.” He was coming over now, hands tucked inside his pockets as he sat down next to her. “By the way, I apologise for being blunt, but...I hope I’m not botherin’ you, dragging you out like this. It’s just...well, you often seem so glum about your inexperience and such, I...wanted to see if I could take your mind off that. Y’know, you’re doing quite well, for a rookie. ”

“Eh? N, no, not at all...” Sio wasn’t quite sure what to make of his words; of how he wanted to try and cheer her up, and to know she wasn’t doing as poorly as she constantly thought... “I’m, glad to hear that...b-but, if I’m doing so well, then how come you’re still teasing me about messing stuff up? And don’t even get me started on before...you used to yell at me all the time, or complain about this or that...”

To her surprise he began to laugh slightly, Sio feeling her cheeks burning in a mix of indignation and embarrassment. “Heh, you aren’t wrong; I admit communication isn’t exactly one of my better skills...and here you were saying how I was perfect,” he turned towards her at last, a small smile on his face. “But spending time with you, like this...has changed my mind.”

“Um...” Her voice quivered before she knew it, Adam quirking a brow at her sudden nervousness. “U-Um, I, y, you...” There was no way she could weasel out of this one, now. They were literally sitting next to each other, Adam had all but confirmed that he liked her and didn’t think she was a mere ‘half-baked squirt’; so why was she still trying to deny it?

“Y, You...probably shouldn’t say things like that,” she uttered quietly, picking at the sleeves of her borrowed jacket. “You don’t have to baby me, you know...I can handle the truth...”

Now it was Adam’s turn to look astonished. “...Beg pardon? You think I’m just buttering you up for something?” There was slight cough, as if he couldn’t quite grasp her logic. “I meant what I said, Ogura. I wasn’t joking around or talking shit just to make you feel better,” she winced slightly at his words. “If there is one thing I wish you would improve, it’s your confidence. And I’ll admit, I haven’t been conducive to that, especially in the beginning...but surely you don’t have that low of an opinion of yourself? After all you’ve accomplished in such a short time?”

“B, But, I...it can’t...” The sniper shook her head, frustrated because she knew Adam was right. Even before DOGOO, speaking up for herself and having self-confidence was always hard for her. Even if it caused her loneliness, it was easier than stepping out of her comfort zone, dealing with those awkward looks and moments where people never seemed to know what to do with her. “I...how, how can someone like you see that in me?”

“...What exactly do you mean by that?” His gaze was piercing, but not cruel. “What do you mean, ‘someone like me’?”

“Y-You, you’re...you’re the leader of the Second Platoon, you can do pretty much anything you want—cooking, cleaning, killing EIOs without breaking a sweat, driving, riding a bike, video games, keeping us on track...” She was rambling now, she knew, but Sio couldn’t stop. “How can I...possibly be good enough?”

“‘Good enough?’ For what? To be a part of this platoon?” She didn’t need to see his face to know Adam was upset. “That’s certainly not the case—you really think you’d still be here if you weren’t good enough—”

“—I know that! That’s...not what I’m talking about...” How was it that someone who was so smart could also be so dense? Did she really have to spell it out for him...!

“Then what are you talking about?” Adam sighed, starting to become irritated with her half-answers and nonsensical words. “Can you not just say it straight, Ogura, for once?

“—How can a hanninmae like me possibly be good enough for you?!” She burst out at last, not even thinking about anything else other than what she had to say, at the moment. She felt the man next to her instantly stiffen at her words, the sniper herself too emotional to look. 

There was a seemingly endless stretch of silence after that, Sio squirming with embarrassment but knew she couldn’t turn away, not after all those words. It seemed like forever before the man next to her moved, Sio staying frozen in her spot.

“...Y’know, you really are something else, Ogura Sio.” She didn’t dare look at him in the face, not yet. “It’s funny that you say that...feeling that you’re not good enough for me...when I’ve...been wonderin’ the same about myself.”

“Eh...?” In one moment she forgot she was supposed to be avoiding his eyes and turned around, only to be met with a strangely bashful and...nervous Adam? “What, you...about me?”

Huh? Huuuh? The sniper’s mind flew into a frenzy, suddenly overwhelmed by the revelations—namely that Adam actually ‘like’ liked her, and he was insecure about himself? “A-Ano...wha, but you, I...”

“Need me to spell it out for you, squirt? Alright then, I’ll just say it straight: I like you, Ogura; a lot. And it’s not just friendship. You’re no fool, you know what I’m talking about. But I don’t want to force you into something if you don’t feel the same way. Least of all if you’re uncomfortable with the fact that we’ll be continuing to work together after all this.”

He was right. Technically, as members of DOGOO they still had a duty to work together, professionally. Rules aside, she knew that if they committed to a relationship with each other, it could potentially make things very messy. And yet...

“...I, I...don’t care about that. I-I mean, yes, I know it’s probably not the smartest or most logical idea, but...” She finally glanced up, trying not to let her tears fall. “I can’t change my feelings...heh, I think even if there were some kind of rule in place...it wouldn’t change my heart. ‘Cause I, I...really like you, Adam...a lot...”

“...Well, let’s be real, since when were either of us good about following the rules, anyway?” With that one statement, the tension seemed to crack, and Sio couldn’t help but burst into giggles, Adam following suit as the two just laughed.

“You’re pretty when you smile, you know that?” 

“Ah—I, uh, mmm...” She blushed as Adam wiped her tears with a tissue. “Y, You should smile more, too...you’re much less scary when you do...”

Adam quirked a white eyebrow.  “Oh? You found me to be intimidating? Well, I guess that’s another thing I’ll have to work on, huh?” 

“We should both work on it. How to smile better.” The sniper screwed her mouth into a smile-grimace, which only caused the white-haired holder to laugh harder. “H-Hey, I’m trying...!” But she couldn’t help but laugh, too.

It felt like forever since they’d come here for their original purpose of hiking, but as Sio checked her watch, in reality it’d only been about half an hour. And yet everything before that point was now completely different; her feelings, perspective, and most of all what she and Adam were to each other, now...

“U-Uh...Adam-san...? Does, does this mean...well, what are we, now? Does this mean we’re...going out? Like dating?” Her face still flushed as she stumbled over those words, unused to saying them out loud.

He smiled at her, before gently taking her hand for the first time, Sio squeaking in surprise as his fingers closed around hers. “Sure, I suppose...I mean, I don’t really know much myself...but if that’s what you want, then I’m fine with it. Which means...guess I’ll be your boyfriend, from now on. Or lover, partner...” Those fingers brushed against her palm and she shivered; at last she could feel him in an intimate manner, but when it actually happened suddenly she felt very shy, even though it was nothing close to what she fantasized about.

“Mmm...I, I want that. Th-then, I’m...your girl...friend, now,” she nodded to reassure herself, squeezing his hand tightly in return. “Though, I’m not sure I want to tell everybody about it, yet...you know, like Newton and Gandhi...I, I’m sure eventually I’ll be okay, but just, for now...”

Adam nodded, rubbing her shoulder in a reassuring manner. “Same; frankly, it’s none of their business, and knowing what gossips those two are...” He rolled his eyes. “I’m sure it’s bound to come up, sooner or later...but for now, let’s just have this be our little secret, yeh?”

Sio couldn’t help but smile as they walked back to the car. “Hai! Oh, and uh, one last thing...” Adam gave a quizzical look as they got in. “U-Um, it’s okay to call me...’Sio’ now. Just ‘Sio’.” 

Something warm bloomed inside her chest as she said that, more so when Adam’s cheeks turned pink (he was so cute when he blushed), before he nodded. “Of course...Sio. But that means, from now on...I’m just ‘Adam’, too.”

“Okay...Adam.”

[kdreamscenario]

The Boss’ Girl Ch. 11

Lee Minwoo (Shinhwa) X Reader X Jeon Jungkook (BTS)

Office!AU

Rated: M sub!Jungkook, switch!reader, dom!Minwoo 

Word Count: 6955 Ch.10

Jungkook puts your stamina boosting advice to good use.  When he’s got the time he edges himself nearly to tears.  At first he tried not to reimagine you touching him.  The humiliation of that day is still bitter and raw but apparently in the best way possible.  It didn’t take long until he accepted the kink and caved.  He can admit he’d let you do that to him again and again.  

The little make out sessions he has with Mina go farther and farther.  He can tell she’s less endeared by his holding off.  If he wasn’t such a perfect boyfriend besides that she would’ve dumped him.  It doesn’t help that he often has dreams about you or Mina.  One particularly disturbing dream of you treating him like an actual baby he would like to wipe clear from his memory forever.

He hopes that finally sleeping with Mina will let him forget you and this whole mess.  Once Mina finally gets a taste of Jungkook in bed she is insatiable.  He was right about learning fast.  He also tries incredibly hard to please and perform at his absolute best.  Pair that with his charming good looks and his perfect chiseled body, there’s no comparing to anyone Mina had been with previously.  

She’s extremely vocal about this at every girls night.  All the other girls are understandably jealous.  Frankly you’re getting annoyed with her repetitive bragging.  It’s not tactful to tell your sex life so openly.  You can’t imagine Jungkook would be appreciative of her airing their private business to anyone who will listen.  

When the next Friday comes you consider just going home and waiting for Minwoo to call you.  He has a business dinner to attend and expects to be out quite late.  They’re a long time partner of the company.  It’s been a long week and you do need a drink but having to listen to Mina constantly slip in comments about Jungkook is really getting on your nerves.  

The office is set up perfectly for Monday morning and you’re picking up your bag to leave.  You check your phone one last time to see if anyone else happened to cancel on going out so you wouldn’t be the only one.  To you delight, Mina left a message saying she’s headed home.  She says she’s been having bad cramps all day and wants to go lie down.  Not to be mean but that instantly brightens your mood.  It’s very likely she would have Jungkook stay at home with her to treat her like a princess.  You could finally enjoy a night out with no problems.

The ding of the elevator doors opening dampens your celebration.  It’s completely put out when Jungkook walks into the room.  “Jungkook what are you doing here?”  You snap a little meaner than you meant to be.  He stops and looks surprised by your tone.  “Am I not supposed to be here?”  He asks looking around at the empty room.  “No. Sorry. I didn’t mean to sound that way.  I just got a message that Mina isn’t feeling well.  I expected you would be with her.”  

Jungkook smiles now that he knows you’re not mad.  “Yeah.  She said she wanted to rest by herself and would probably sleep early.”  You figure Mina likely started her period.  Knowing her, she wouldn’t want Jungkook to see her in comfy old clothes, eating way too much chocolate, and lounging around with a heating pad.  Girls in early relationships have an image to uphold.  

“So why are you here then?”  You ask in a nicer tone.  Jungkook rubs the back of his neck.  “Well I’m going out to the bar again with the other interns.  I figured you’re also going out with the secretaries.  I thought it would be nice of me to walk you there so you weren’t alone.”  You can’t help but smile.  He’s really such a sweet guy.  

“Thank you Jungkook.  I appreciate the offer.  Though I worry what others will think to see you with me the first time you’re not with Mina.”  You say this casting a glance at the security camera wondering if Minwoo is watching you now.  Jungkook’s smile drops.  “Oh.  I hadn’t really thought about that.”  He replies sadly.  “I’m sure you didn’t.  Unfortunately it’s something you need to always think about in this office.”  You add annoyed.  

“I could at least ride the elevator down with you?  I’ll get off on the fourth floor and catch up with Namjoon.”  Jungkook suggests.  That sounds harmless enough.  It’s very unlikely anyone would get on at any of the floors in between.  “Sure.  We could do that.”  You nod and walk toward the elevator.  Jungkook follows quickly behind.  

Once the metal doors close with the two of you inside, Jungkook clears his throat.  “Can I ask you something?”  He asks nervously.  You look at him eyebrows raised.  “I suppose.”  “Does Mina talk a lot about our personal life to you ladies?”  “Yes she does. Unbearably often and in great detail.”  You answer frankly.  Jungkook blushes.  He’s not sure if he wants to ask just how much you know.  

“Do you not like that she talks about it?”  You’re genuinely concerned.  Jungkook hums and takes a minute to think.  “I guess I don’t mind?  A lot of the other guys started cheering me right after it first happened and I was wondering how they found out.  They don’t really tease me much anymore now so it’s fine.”  That answer doesn’t sound very convincing to you.  “If you don’t like her talking about it then say something to her.  Honestly, please say something to her.  We’re all getting a little tired of hearing about it.”  

The elevator stops at the fourth floor as you finish saying this.  Jungkook nods.  “Thanks for the advice.  See you at the bar.”  He smiles and steps out of the opening doors.  You hope he does say something and your Friday nights can go back to normal.  

The bar was really just what you needed.  The interns, secretaries, and a few others all sit together at a few big tables.  There’s lots of good junk food shared around, pleasant conversation, and plenty of drinks.  Jungkook sits almost on the other side of the room from you and barely looks in your direction.  You almost forget he’s there all together.  Mostly you drink your wine and soak in the atmosphere.  

By your third glass it’s nearing 10pm.  Minwoo sent you a message a few minutes ago saying he’d likely be out at least another hour.  Everyone else has started to suggest heading home or going out to another place.  There’s the risk of falling asleep, but going home to wait for Minwoo is the best option to you.  Maybe you could get a head start on the fun and be ready with something special.  

With there being more than just the girls together there wasn’t much gossip or stories to tell so you all paid your own bills.  Most of your group is all piled outside at the same time.  The sidewalk is a bit crowded before you’re all parting different ways.  You’re close to the curb to hail a cab after you’ve said goodbye to everyone.  

Two overly drunk guys trying to pass through your group end up knocking into someone.  It causes a chain reaction of people getting pushed.  You get pushed in the end.  When you step you have nowhere to go but over the edge of the curb.  Yoona and Sooji manage to grab you before you end up falling face first into the street, but you end up awkwardly turning your ankle.  When they pull you back you yelp out in pain stepping with the twisted ankle.  

Everyone nearby who saw what happened or heard your shout start asking if you’re okay and what happened.  Yoona and a lot of the guys are arguing with the drunkards.  You lean most of your weight on Sooji and hold up your hurt leg.  You try but you can’t put any weight on it.  Namjoon kneels down and takes a look at it.  He gently pushes down around the area making you hiss in pain.  

“Good news is I don’t think anything’s broken but I’m sure it will be a pretty bad sprain.  Do you want us to take you to the hospital?”  Namjoon tells you straightening back up.  You shake your head.  You really don’t want to deal with the hospital right now.  “No.  It’s late and I know how to treat a sprain.  I can see my doctor in the morning for it.”  “Alright.  Well let’s get you a cab then.”  Namjoon calls for a taxi to come.  

“Can you put any weight on it?”  JaeHee asks you.  You try to take a step even with Sooji helping you but even setting your foot down hurts.  “I don’t know if any of us can carry you.”  Yoona says.  Jungkook steps in then waiting for a way he could help.  “I’m sure I could carry her.”  He states gesturing to take Sooji’s place as your crutch.  

You’re passed off and Jungkook carefully picks you up bridal style.  “Oh, wow.”  One of the girls audibly swoons.  You’re just as surprised.  He’s not even straining at all to hold you up.  “Jungkook you don’t mind taking her home for us?”  Namjoon asks.  “Of course not.”  The younger answers.  You’re just glad no one is teasing or making jabs about him taking you home.  

The taxi arrives not too much later.  You both say your goodbyes and promises to update when you’ve arrived safely.  Jungkook gently sets you in the seat and jogs around to the other side.  He asks you if you’re comfortable enough right away.  There’s not much you can do about the cramped back seat of car beside take off your high heel.  Besides giving directions to the driver the ride is quiet.  You have to heavily insist on paying for the ride against Jungkook’s insisting.  

He carries you into your building.  While he steadily holds you in the elevator you both pointedly avoid making any eye contact.  You’re definitely not thinking about how strong and solid he feels.  The last time you felt his toned chest was the awkwardly intimate moment with the vibrator.  Both of you are pointedly trying not to think about that.  

Jungkook has no problem getting the two of you through your door, kicking off his shoes and setting you down on your couch.  He’s amazed at how spacious and neat your apartment is.  It’s obviously an expensive place.  “Wow.  Your place is really nice.”  He comments looking around.  “Thanks.  Can you put these over there for me?”  You ask holding out your shoes.  

He takes them over and puts them in the empty spot on your shoe rack and brings over your slippers.  “This is embarrassing to ask but could you help me over to the bathroom?”  “Sure!”  He picks you right back up and carries you over to the bathroom.  It’s a little difficult to do without hurting yourself but you manage to use the restroom.  There’s no way you’re getting your stockings back on so they get kicked over to your laundry basket.

You open the door but Jungkook’s not there.  “Jungkook?”  You call out for him.  He comes over in an instant and picks you right back up.  He carries you over to the couch again and settles you among the cushions.  “You should keep your foot elevated for a little while.”  He helps you put a pillow under your legs.  “I hope you don’t mind me going into your fridge.” He says pulling a bag of ice wrapped in a towel off your coffee table.  

“No, thank you so much Jungkook.  You’re doing so much.”  The ice feels so nice on the already swollen joint.  “I got you some water too if you want.”  He says holding out the glass.  You take it gratefully.  “Wow what service.  Mina might actually be lucky to have you.”  You regret saying that when you see Jungkook’s stunned reaction.  You look away from him and drink your water.  

Jungkook asks you if he could use your bathroom.  That gives you time to check your phone and settle in.  Minwoo hasn’t said anything since his last text.  It’s now around 10:40 and you figure he’ll likely be done around 11.  You send him a text to let him know you got hurt.  He’ll likely come home as soon as he reads it and come to take care of you.

Jungkook comes back and goes right down to the end of your couch by your feet.  He lifts the ice bag and sets it on the coffee table.  He gently presses around the swollen tissue.  You pull your foot back in pain.  “Sorry I just want to check again to be sure nothing’s torn or broken.”  You let him take back your leg and examine the painful area.  “I don’t think it’s anything serious but you should go to the doctor tomorrow.”  

He moves his hands up higher to massage the upper part of your ankle into your calf.  You stop flinching in pain and enjoy the good feeling.  Jungkook takes his time rubbing the muscles.  He carefully passes over your sprain and starts massaging your foot.  You hum in enjoyment.  It’s the worst possible moment for him to remember this is the same foot you got him off with.  He tries to put his thoughts into just the massage but it’s difficult when you close your eyes and moan softly.  

He takes one hand away from the massage to adjust himself in his pants while you have your eyes closed.  The movement makes you open your eyes and you catch him.  He stops when you do, so embarrassed at being caught.  “You really must have a foot fetish.”  You tease.  Jungkook goes red to the ears.  “No! Of course I don’t.  That’s so gross.”  He whines.  You laugh.  “What’s got you all excited then?  Still can’t massage a girl without getting hard?  Thought you’d be a little better about that by now.”  

Jungkook stops touching you all together and stands up.  “Sorry.  I forgot we established it as a noona kink and maybe some masochism.  But there’s no way you actually enjoyed that or want to go through the humiliation again.”  You ask seriously.  Jungkook steps closer and looks you right in the eyes.  “It’s nothing like that at all okay?  Isn’t this how any normal man reacts to being alone with a woman he’s attracted to?  You want me to act like a stone with you moaning like that?  After the things we’ve done before?”  

You’re surprised by his outburst.  He’s never talked back like this before.  The intensity burning in his gaze is unfairly hot.  For once he doesn’t look like such an innocent sweet boy.  He looks like a man and that’s just not right.  He’s not allowed to look that way.  

“I’m sorry for offending you Jungkook-ie.  I was only teasing.  No need to get all worked up.”  You break the eye contact and sip your water.  Jungkook clicks his tongue in annoyance.  He knows you’re doing this to get a rise out of him.  You’ve always got the upper hand on him.  The way you called him Jungkook-ie in that mocking tone should annoy him the most but of course he loves it.  

“Whatever.  I just wish you wouldn’t treat me like some little kid.  I’m a normal adult.  Sorry I’m not up to your standards.”  Jungkook huffs.  “Cumming in your pants like a teenager sure doesn’t help your case much.”  You know you’re plucking at sensitive strings but you can’t help yourself.      

Jungkook can't believe you brought that up.  Being a little tipsy in the comfort of your home has changed you.  You're smiling and teasing him so much.  Jungkook laughs and shakes his head.  “I've had a lot of practice since then, Noona.”   He purposely stresses the title.  “I've heard plenty about your practice.  Sounds like you had a lot of self practice before you got the real thing.”  

Jungkook can feel his ears warming but manages to keep his eye contact.  “Yes.  I put your advice to good use.  I told you I'm a fast learner.”  

“Well practice makes perfect.  Why don't you be a good boy and show me what you practiced.”  You smile and set down your glass.  Jungkook's brain short circuits.  He must have imagined you saying that.

“Show- show you how I built my stamina?”  He asks to be sure that's what you really want.  “Yes.  I want to see for myself how much you've improved.  The teacher should grade the student.”  

Jungkook stands there like a statue.  What exactly do you want him to do?  Should he drop his pants and start jacking off like that?  Do you want to be touched at all?

You giggle watching the boy panic.  “Poor Jungkook-ie.  You need me to give you all the directions again?  Why don't you start by getting into position for me? Come here and kneel on the rug by me.”  You point at the spot just by your elbow.  

Goodness knows why but, Jungkook obeys quickly.  He knows he's going to regret this later.  You reach your hand out and place it gently on his chest.  All the alarm bells going off in his brain quiet once you're touching him.  You run the back of your fingers up the center of his chest and stop at the top button.  The button pops open with a practiced flick of your fingers.  

"Tell me.  Do you watch porn when you practice?"  You ask.  "No!" Jungkook whines.  You smirk.  "Then what do you think about?"  His cheeks flush a little and he looks down to your hand smoothing down further.  The second button goes just as easily.  "I bet you thought about me didn't you? It's written all over your face.  You could have easily thought of your girlfriends naked body but, you thought of me fully clothed getting you off in your pants."  Jungkook blushes up to his ears.  

"Be a dear and hand me that book will you?"  The question is so jarring.  Jungkook looks up and has to process what you asked.  You're pointing to an old-looking leather bound book on the coffee table.  "That one there."  

Jungkook turns and hands it to you.  He notices that something feels off about it.  It doesn't feel solid and heavy like a book that thick should.  You set it in your lap and look back to him.  "Now be a good boy and take your bottoms off for me."  

Jungkook feels a second round of whiplash.  He doesn't move, only opens his mouth to ask about the book.  "What's wrong?  Got stage fright?"  You tease.  "No, just wh-"  "Then do as your told." You interrupt and look at him pointedly.  

The boy swallows and starts to undo his belt.  He gets everything undone and realises there's no way he can get them off in this position.  "Am I allowed to stand, your highness?"  He quips.  You narrow your eyes.  "Don't you talk to me that way.  You know how to address me properly."

If you didn't look so serious he would think you were teasing.  He's ashamed to say he's a little frightened you'll tell him to leave.  He's so weak for you.  "Sorry Noona.  May I stand?"  Your face stays cold and serious.  "No.  For punishment you can just pull them down as far as they go and be uncomfortable."  

He quickly follows your instructions.  Pushes his pants and boxers down to his knees.  It's just enough for his cock to be freed.  Seeing it bare puts your earlier suspicions to rest. He's very well endowed.  "Go ahead and show me your improvement."  

The start is awkward for Jungkook.  Sure he's kind of hard but how's he supposed to get in the mood with you just sitting there staring at him?  He starts by running a shaking hand over his whole length then going into some light strokes.  Once he starts a bit of a rhythm you reach for the book.  With a pull on the sewn in bookmark the cover pops up a little.  You open the lid and Jungkook now understands that it's a hollow book for storing things.  

His curiosity gets the best of him and his hand has stopped.  You give him a pointed look.  "Nevermind what I'm doing.  You just keep going."  You stare at him until he gets back into his slow steady rhythm.   There’s no pleasure in his touch now.  Not when you’re watching him so intently and he’s so curious about what’s in the book.  

Once you’re pleased enough with his actions you focus back on the book.  “Since you thought about me while you practice, why don’t I give you something similar to look at.”  Jungkook furrows his brow in confusion until you open the book.  You pull out a massage wand just big enough to fit diagonally in the box.  Beside it are a small stack of condoms and some lube.  

The boys eyes go wide and his hand stops again.  You tisk at this.  “You’re really bad at listening today aren’t you?”  Jungkook swallows hard but is still entranced by the toy in your hand.  “I think you need a little punishment.  Here put this on so you don’t make a mess.”  With your other hand you toss a condom at his chest.  

Jungkook tries to keep his hands from shaking as he fiddles with the little foil and rolls the rubber on.  “Now I expect you to keep stroking yourself no matter what, until I tell you to stop or I’ll really have to punish you.”  

The extra glide from the lubed surface of the condom finally makes this start to feel good for Jungkook.  His brain goes on a tangent of how this could be a punishment.  Where would you have let him finish before this?  That train of thought is wiped as soon as the buzz from your toy starts up.  It startles him a bit.  His gaze snaps back to you.  

At first you’re just holding the toy up, judging Jungkook’s initial reaction.  His hand doesn’t stop this time so you get yourself comfortable.  You bring the wand up to your neck and shoulders, using it for it’s more innocent purpose.  You take your time giving your tense muscles a little massage.  

Jungkook’s brain overthinks this too.  Maybe you really do just use this as a body massager.  Maybe his dirty mind automatically assumed it was for something else.  No.  Given the circumstances he’s sure it must be for other pleasures as well.  You’re just teasing him as well.  “I know how excited you get from massaging me.  Does watching me do it give the same effect?”  You tease.  Yeah he’s sure you’re messing with him.  

“I’d rather be giving it to you.”  He quips.  You smirk, pleased he can still play along.  “Too bad you don’t deserve to.  Your hands are quite talented.”  From the corner of your eye you notice the stutter in Jungkook’s stroke.  “I’ll just have to please myself until you learn some control.”  

Without breaking eye contact you move the massager down to your breasts.  You can barely feel it through your shirt and bra but it still feels nice.  Jungkook’s eyes glance at your chest and come right back to your face.  You smile.  “You can look.  That’s what I’m doing it for.  I’m trying to make your practice as accurate as possible.”  He looks back and forth between your breasts and your face before settling on the toy.  He wishes he could see your breasts bare and jiggling from the vibrations.  His cock twitches just from the thought.  

You would love to take off your bra and get the full effect but that would be too much of a treat for the boy who doesn’t deserve it.  Instead you turn the wand up one setting and take your time pressing it into any sore spots.  You spend extra time on your nipples, feeling them peak into your bra.  Jungkook won’t be able to see it through your clothes but, he does a fine job imagining it.

Once your breasts are nicely stimulated it’s time to move on.  Jungkook watches intently as you move it down.  You stop and rub it over the inside of your thighs.  Goosebumps rise from how it tickles you.  It takes a bit of readjusting but you keep moving down to massage your sore ankle.  Jungkook doesn’t realize he huffs out a breath until you give him a questioning look.  

After making sure that he’s still moving his hand you smirk and get back to your massage.  The massager bumps a little too strong into the painful area.  You wince and move it away quickly.  “Careful, Noona.”  Jungkook says softly, still not stopping his strokes.  He’s looking much less fazed.  That’s your cue to move on.  

You bring the toy back up between your thighs and right to your center.  There’s not much feeling through your tight skirt and underwear.  You can just barely get it over the top of your slit.  That’s just not going to do.  You press your hardest for a minute or so, more to tease Jungkook.  You give him a quick glance to make sure he’s watching you. His eyes are glued to the toy.  

He gives the smallest whine when you click off the massager and set it down beside you.  “Don’t you worry baby.”  You chuckle. He’d be more upset at your teasing if he weren’t so drawn in by your fingertips pulling up the hem of your skirt.  You stop just before the end of your butt and bring your hands under the fabric.  With a little wiggling you adjust your panties to be more flush with your clit.  

It’s not what Jungkook was hoping for, but once you turn the toy back on and tuck it underneath your skirt, he drops his disappointment.  You hum at finally getting the vibrations right where you want them.  One hand holds the toy handle and the other keeps your skirt in place.  

You let your head fall back on the pillow behind you and close your eyes.  It lets you concentrate on the feelings and sounds.  You keep your ears perked to Jungkook’s sounds.  His slightly uneven breathing, the slick slide of his hand over the rubber in an even rhythm, and the slight hum of your toy.  They make it easy to lose yourself in the moment.

Jungkook doesn’t have to know that you’re imagining him using a vibe on himself.  You’ll definitely have to add that when he gets better stamina.  Well that is if you continue to do this, but you won’t.  You can only imagine what you’d do to him if this became a regular thing but it won’t, it can’t.  The wrongness of these encounters turns you on much more than it should.  It’s dangerous how easily this man breaks your resolve.  

Your clit throbs and without thinking you let out a small moan.  Jungkook sucks in a breath and moans with you.  Ready to scold him, you open your eyes to look at him.  You’re caught off guard but how hot he looks.  He’s flicking his wrist in earnest, the veins in his forearm standing out against his skin.  Even his biceps are stretching the rolled up sleeves of his button down.  What really throws you off is his intense stare.  Knowing that he’s watching your face makes your cheeks redden.  It’s difficult but you manage to keep eye contact with him.  

“Are you close?”  You try to keep your voice strong.  “I could be.  What about you?”  Jungkook answers nearly as straight.  You click your tongue at his attitude.  “I could be.”  You throw right back at him.  “Noona, let me fuck you.  It would be so much better for both of us.”  Jungkook offers all too easily.  You hate the shiver you get.  It’s an incredibly tempting offer but that’s a line you do not want to cross with him.  “I don’t think you deserve to touch me.  Besides that’s not what this training is about.”  You reply.  “Isn’t it though?  I thought the final point was that I could please a girl before finishing myself?”  He argues.  You hate that he makes a good point.  “Such a brat.  You definitely don’t deserve it.  Just for that I want you to go faster.  I think you’ve been holding back a little too much.”  You command.  

Jungkook wants to fight back but he knows he can’t.  You’ll send him home still hard without feeling a bit of remorse.  He obeys and moves his hand faster.  A groan slips past his lips when you follow along and click the massager up one level.  You move it down over your entrance a bit feeling how wet you’ve gotten.  It brings up how empty you feel.  It would be perfect if you had another toy to fill you up.  Too bad you’ll have to do for now with bringing the vibe back to your clit.  The increased speed brings you close much faster.  You can tell it’s got the same effect on Jungkook.  His breathing is heavy and stuttering.  Every so often his strokes lose rhythm and he’s fighting not to moan or stop.  He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth and furrows his brow.  

“Don’t bite your lip.  I want to hear you.”  You tell him.  He releases his lip with a soft moan.  He’s afraid he’ll be crossing a line but this may be a chance to push you over the edge.  “Fuck, Noona.  I’m so close.  You look so hot.  I bet you’re so wet right now.  Wish I could feel you.”   Jungkook moans.  His plan works.  His words push you right before your peak.  You hold long enough to let him off.  “You bad boy.  I’m close.  Go ahead and finish with me.”  You pant out and let yourself go.  That familiar wave of warmth washes over you, enhanced greatly by the long moans Jungkook lets out as he spills into the condom.  

The both of you take your time to come down from your highs.  Out of spite and embarrassment you turn your arm to push the massager right to the sensitive tip of Jungkook’s cock.  He shouts and tries to roll his hips away.  “Sit still.”  You scold.  It’s difficult but he holds his cock up to the toy.  He’s never felt anything like it.  In no time he feels a second wave of cum spurting out in the longest orgasm he’s ever had.  You’d really planned to push him through overstimulation to a second orgasm but the sound of your phone ringing surprises you both.  

Instantly you click off the toy and grab the device.  You look at the screen briefly before answering.  “Hello?”  “Y/N dear did I wake you?”  Minwoo’s voice comes over the line.  “No I’m still awake.”  You answer and look at Jungkook.  He’s still panting but sits pretty in position.  “Good.  Are you okay?  Do you need my help? I’m almost home.”  “Yes.  I’d like some help getting ready for bed if you don’t mind.”  Jungkook’s eyes widen in disbelief.  There’s no way you just told Minwoo to come over.  He starts to shift his weight to stand but you throw him a stern look and point for him to stay still.  He must be crazy to obey.  “Sure darling.  I’ll be there in about 10 minutes.”  Minwoo replies.  “Sounds good.  See you soon.”  With that you both hang up.  

“Sorry but it’s time to say goodnight.  Go ahead and get yourself cleaned up.”  You tell Jungkook.  He sits there for a moment just in shock still of how you can break this off so easily.  If he weren’t terrified of his boss finding him here like this he might have stayed and given you a piece of his mind.  Or at least that’s what he tells himself.  He feels pathetic, slowly getting to his feet, pulling off the filled condom, and wrapping it in a few tissues from the coffee table.  He quickly gets himself cleaned up and redressed.  

“You did pretty good.  I can tell you’ve practiced.  Keep it up.”  Your praise is annoyingly good to hear.  He doesn’t bother to acknowledge it.  He only double checks his pockets for his phone and wallet.  “See you Monday, Secretary.  I hope you heal quickly.”  He bows coldly and lets himself out.  You think to yourself that this is exactly why you can keep playing with the boy.  He’s smart enough to know his place.  So many others would have tried to stay and fight about this or purposely waited for Minwoo to make an argument.

Not long after your doorbell rings and Minwoo is putting in the code to open your door.  He kicks off his shoes and comes right over to you.  “Hello pretty.  Doing okay?  What happened?”  He shuffles the ice pack that you had tossed back on.  “I’ll be fine.  Just some stupid drunk pushed me off the side walk and made me twist my ankle.”  Minwoo gently brushes over the still swollen skin.  

“How did you get home?”  “Jeon Jungkook carried me here.”  Minwoo looks at you with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.  “Oh he did?  That was very kind of him.  I really owe him a dinner now.”  You hum.  “I suppose so.  The others offered him up since he’s the only one who could carry me so far.”  

“Still it was such a gentlemanly thing for him to do.  I’ll have to thank him for taking care of the most important person in the company.”  You smile and nod in response.  Minwoo could very well be hinting at taking care of you in another way.  “He was very attentive until I sent him home.”    

“Well let’s get you up to the bedroom first.  How does that sound?”  “That would be nice.”  Minwoo has you hold the ice pack.  He comes to the side and puts his arms under you.  In one smooth lift he picks you up to his chest and you wrap your arms around his neck.  You feel much more at home in this pair of strong arms.  The two of you share a smile while he carries you to the bedroom.  

With steady careful moves he sets you on the edge of the bed.  “Let’s get these work clothes off you first.  You start on your blouse and I’ll help you with your skirt.”  He reaches his hands around you to unzip it and you try your best to lift your hips for him to pull it off.  You pull off your blouse and reach around to unhook your bra.  Minwoo starts to slowly pull your panties down your hips but stops when he notices how soaked they are in the center.  The wet fabric sticks completely to your core and he pushes a finger right at your entrance.  You jump in surprise.

“My, my.  What’s got you so wet like this darling?”  He asks running his finger up and down.  “I’m sorry.  I was bad and played with myself while I was waiting for you.”  You answer coyly.  Minwoo usually has no problem with you pleasuring yourself unless he’s specifically told you not to.  He looks you right in the eye as though trying to read if there’s more to it.  “You must’ve been needy if you couldn’t wait for me.”  “To be fair it started as a regular massage for my ankle.”  That makes Minwoo laugh.

“Can’t help yourself can you?  Naughty girl.  Do you think you should get a punishment?”  He asks.  Your eyes widen a little.  There’s that hidden meaning hanging in the air again, like he knows you’ve been bad.  You nod slowly.  “Well since you’ve already had your fun, how about if you let me get off and you don’t.  I think that sounds fair don’t you?”  You pout but still nod.  “Yes, sir.  I think that’s fair.”

Minwoo starts unbuttoning his own shirt quickly and undoing his belt.  “Be a good girl and take those off for me.”  He nods toward the panties still clinging to you.  By the time you’ve carefully got them off he’s already stripped bare.  He comes close and pulls your hips right to the edge of the bed.  

With a gentle touch he lifts both your legs.  “You need to keep your foot elevated.  Can you hold your legs for me?”  You follow his direction, tucking your hands behind your knees to hold them.  His hands run back down the inside of your thighs right to their apex then slip off.  In one swift motion he brings his right hand back up to smack over your clit. You jolt in surprise.

He watches just to be sure you stay in position before swatting his hand at you again.  He gives a few more in quick succession a bit harder than the others.  “Can you hear how wet you still are?”  He asks rubbing his fingers to soothe the sting of the smacks then right down the middle.  “Yes, sir.”  You can clearly hear the wet sounds of his fingers.  

“You’re only wet like this for me, right?”  He asks and immediately pushes two fingers into your entrance.  You moan out a yes.  “That’s right it is.”  Yes is what he wants to hear, but he knows it’s not the truth.  You know he knows.  You’re not sure how, but he does.  So when he pulls his fingers out and gives your clit four more smacks you can’t complain.  You both know you deserve it.  

His touch disappears altogether but is soon replaced.  With it gripped in his hand, he rubs the end of his cock over your slick cunt.  “Be a good girl now and let me take what’s mine.  Don’t you dare cum.”  He commands lowly, teasing at your entrance.  He waits for your reply of ‘yes, sir’ before pushing in.  

He doesn’t give you time to enjoy the first feeling but does start slow.  He takes his time stroking in and out slowly, fully enjoying your heat wrapped around him.  You spread your legs a little wider to make room for him to lean forward.  He breaths over one of your perked nipples but never actually touches.  Only teases the touches your wish you could get.

Gradually he picks up the pace.  He angles the thrust to hit just where it’s best for you every few times on purpose.  Just enough to get you riled up.  His lips ghost higher to just below your ear.  “You’re lucky I’m too tired tonight for toys.  I feel like I ought to leave you strapped to your vibrator for a while.  Not sure why I get the feeling you deserve it.”  He growls.  You’re not sure what to say.  He continues on in your silence.  

“Maybe I’m just paranoid because you were alone again with that young intern?  He’s such a nice young man.  It’s a shame he’s taken such a liking to you.”  You feel like he really means that.  Jungkook is a good worker after all.  “Do you wish this were him fucking you to bed?  Hm?”  “No.  Of course not.  Only you can touch me.  I sent him away.”  You pant.  

Minwoo has it in mind to ask if you sent him away before or after you had your fun with him but he doesn’t.  You could have very easily told him not to come tonight and besides your panties being wet you seemed untouched.  “Yes you did.  Good girl.”  He kisses your neck softly then stands back up straight.

He replaces his hands for your on your legs.  “You can touch yourself if you want as a reward, but you still can’t cum.”  He offers.  It’s a double edged sword.  You know he actually means for you to touch yourself in some way to make this more difficult.  As a middle ground you decide to play with your breasts.  

Minwoo smirks and starts really pounding into in earnest.  He’s hitting your spot more and more often and it’s driving you crazy.  You try to get the most and the least pleasure out of playing with your nipples.  It feels like forever before Minwoo’s thrusts start to falter.  All of a sudden he pulls out completely and jacks himself off to completion all over your stomach.  Your pussy throbs from the loss.  To make it worse, Minwoo leaves the last bit of cum on the tip and rubs it into your clit.  

He watches you squirm and moan.  He’s got you right on the edge and pushing.  Just when you think you might not hold it, he pulls away.  It takes a ton of will power not to close your legs and rub them together.  Your walls are fluttering in anticipation and tears are coming to your eyes in frustration.  By the time you finally start to settle, Minwoo comes to wipe the cooling cum off of your stomach.  

“You did good.”  He kisses your forehead.  It’s a poor consolation but you’re a good girl.  You don’t whine or pout.  You’re getting just what you deserve.  “Let’s get you washed up for bed.  Think you can handle that?”  Minwoo asks getting ready to pick you up from the bed.  “Yeah, especially if you wash me.”  You flutter your lashes at him and he smiles.  “Sure.  I can do that.”

-E.최 

[lonely-bored-writer]

Is Everything Okay? Ch. 4

"Does it still look real?" Danny questioned, anxiety filling him as he looked at his friends. "Will it rub off? Do you think anyone will notice? What am I going to do? I have Lancer today!"

"Danny! Calm down." Sam snapped, rubbing her temple.

"Yea dude, she has a point." Tucker piped in. "Sam knows her makeup and ignore Lancer. He should expect you to be pissed."

"I know…" Danny sighed, rubbing the non-makeup side of his face. "I just, what if someone finds out that the bruised healed? What if Vlad kills me for this?!"

"He's not going to do anything" Sam placed a soft hand on her distressed friends shoulder. "It would be stupid for him to disappear, and if you suddenly showed up dead, I'm pretty sure people would blame him." The trio stopped a little ways away from the school, noticing Daniel's face paling. Sam and Tucker shared a sad look.

"Do you think they know?" Danny questioned. He knew they knew, it was all over the news. Vlad Masters after all is the Mayor of Amity Park. The sullen looks his friends gave him told him there wasn't a chance that gossip wasn't going around the school about it.

"Don't worry Danny." Sam and Tucker positioned themselves on either side of the teen. "We'll keep the vultures away." Sam gave a small smile, motioning to her steel toed boots. Her smile grew when a chuckle left her friend.

"Where did you stay last night?" Tucker asked, as the trio began walking to school was surprised to be showing on school on time for once, no ghost had bother him since CPS showed up and it's just adding to his anxiety, but he's going to try and enjoy it.

"A holding home." Danny sighed, running a hand through his unruly hair. "I still can't stay with my parents. Smith and Anderson think there's more going on then I am letting on…"

"Are they going to move you to another house?" Sam asked, sending her infamous death glare to everyone who stared and gossiped. "You should see if they'll let you stay at Tuckers. I'd say mine, but my parents hate you." Danny nodded, keeping his eyes downcasted to keep from seeing everyone's eyes on him.

"Their probably going to look for a third party." Danny opened his locker,shoving his face inside to hide for the moment. "Smith said they'll try to find a student's parent who wouldn't mind taking me. Can you imagine if they send me to Dash, or Kwan?"

"Aw man dude." Tucker sympathized. "I doubt they would, or you could tell them they bully you?"

"Nah, I'd rather stay with one of those two then another night at that house." Danny pulled away from his locker with a shiver, seeing his friends shocked faces. "I know. I think the guy who runs the house is a pedophile honestly" Danny shook his head, turning to his friends. "Sadly, this isn't Freshman year and we don't have all the same classes. Don't worry guys, I'll be fine."

The two teens shared a look before threatening Daniel that if he didn't come to them if something does happen then he was going to have a personal meeting with Sam's boots. Danny agreed, preferring who ever messed with him to be kicked then himself. Hey, his hero complex doesn't always apply.

Danny's day was relatively okay. Aside from the stares, and mumbles around him, and the teacher's constant concerned looks. Some even stopped him on the way out of class to tell him if he needed anything they were there. Danny would just smile, thank them, and leave. It pissed him off that now when they heard something 'tragic' happened are they 'worrying about him'.

Yes, he was mad at Lancer. Lancer shouldn't have called unless Daniel told him he could, but Danny also knew that he was just worried and cared. It touched Danny through the fog of vexation, that someone (aside from Sam and Tucker) cared enough to make sure he was okay.

Regardless of that, Danny could still feel the growing anxiety as he walked his way to the last class of the day… Lancer's English class. Danny popped into the bathroom, texting Sam and Tuck to meet him at the door. All he did was stand in front of the sink, he had originally planned to splash water on his face but froze when he remembered the makeup bruise, leaving the water running instead.

He didn't get it. Something that the ghosts are doing is reducing the healing for those wounds. The one on his face seemed to be the only one that healed faster than normal, and he got that from being thrown head first into the ground. He needed to figure out what it is, but right now he can't risk his healing going back to normal. Who knows if they want to take a look at it all again.

The sound of the bathroom door opened, caused Danny to shove his hand into the sink, trying not to look like he was just standing there. He felt eyes on him and in the mirror, what he saw caused his whole body to tense, dropping his gaze back to the sink. It was none other than Dash Baxter. What unnerved him more was that the football player just stood by the door and watched him.

He quickly dried off his hands, and started walking out, keeping his gaze down. He figured if he ignored Dash, he wouldn't have to deal with anything. He just wasn't in the mood. Again, life just couldn't go his way for once. Dash had shoot out and grabbed Danny's arm before he could leave.

"Dash, I-"

"Listen." Dash cut him off, turning to try and look into the tense teen's eyes. "Can you meet me at the park later tonight?'

"I don't know…"

"I just want to talk." Dash's sudden out of characterness only helped to fuel Daniel's anxiety. "Can you just meet me there, around 10? Please…" Dash never said please, shocked Danny met eyes with the Jock. Before he nodded, Dash's eyes held nothing but pleading and honesty. Dash offered a smile before letting go of Danny who rushed to his class.

That wasn't any better than the incident in the bathroom. Taking his friends advice, Danny just walked in and sat down, not sparing a glance at Lancer. Class didn't start for another two minutes. Not long after Danny, Dash entered, sparing a look and smile at Danny. That didn't go unnoticed by his friends.

"Danny, what was that?" Sam whispered, leaning closer, as did Tucker.

"Dash ran into me in the bathroom…"Danny sighed. "He wants to meet up at the park to talk."

"You said no right?" The look Danny gave Sam caused her to scowl. "Danny he's your bully! Who knows what he has planned!"

"Yea man." Tucker chimed, sparing a glance to the group of Jocks and cheerleaders. "It could be a trap."

"Guy don't worry. I'll be fine." Danny spoke, his word was finally because the bell rang,signaling the start of class.

Class was not fun. Danny wasn't as clueless as people thought, well not anymore after all the ghosts he has dealt with. He could feel Lancer's eyes on him. He could hear the whispers that still fluttered around the room, half of which mentioned Danny or Vlad. It was getting too much, Danny didn't like this attention. He just wanted to run. Luckily, his prays received an answer.

In the middle of reading yet another excerpt from the book, the phone rang out. Lancer stood, facing away from the class, and spoke into the phone. No one could really make out what he was saying beside Danny who tensed and paled.

"Dude?" Tucker questioned, poking his friend's arm.

"Fenton, please report to the front office." Lancer spoke, after placing his phone back down, a grim look on his face. "You may take your things."

Danny nodded, and quickly got up, swinging his bag over his shoulders. He usually brought it with him to last class so he wouldn't have to stop by his locker afterwards. The moment he heard Vlad's and Danny's name in the same sentence, he stopped listening, mind reeling with all the possible things that they could want. When he entered the Principal's office, only the two CPS agents were there, they too had grim looks across their features.

"Hey Danny." Smith attempted to smile, but it came out more of a grimace. She shared a look with Anderson before releasing a sigh. "Vlad was able to talk the judge, and our superior into allowing him to talk to you." Danny's face paled, his palms became clammy.

"In a private session…" Anderson added, the remorse clear on his features. When he noticed Danny's hands shake, he continued. "He will be handcuffed to the table, he won't be able to hurt you."

Daniel felt tears prick at his eyes, his vision blurring slightly. God knows why Vlad wanted to see him, but he wouldn't be surprised if Vlad beat the living crap out of him. Danny bit the inside of his cheek to keep the tears and questions at bay.

"If it gets too much, you can leave the room. I will be unlock, and we'll be just a shout away with a few officers." Anderson gave a small smile and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know it's going to be hard, and if you absolutely can't do it, than we can see if we could arrange it for another time."

"Now?" Danny asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "He wants to meet now?"

"School is almost over, we figured we'd let him have the half hour meeting and then you can spend the day how'd you like." Smith responded. "You'll be staying at the group home again tonight. We haven't found a student's whose parents are willing to take you in yet."

"O-okay…" Danny nodded, following the two agents to the car. "I still can't stay with Tucker… or Sam?" He asked again. He knew he couldn't stay with Sam, but Tucker's parents didn't hate him.

"Not yet, I'm sorry." Anderson glanced over at Danny from the passenger seat. "We need to make sure we clear all our bases." Danny nodded, picking at the brace around his fractured wrist.

Danny was lost in thought, wonder just how much things went downhill in only a few days. It all started because he couldn't stay awake in class. He need to be a whole lot more careful now, he needed to stay awake, and do his work. Act like everything was better, so people leave him alone… But what about Vlad? Vlad did beat the crap out of him on an almost weekly basis, so the abuse allegations weren't a complete lie. But how was he going to prove all this without revealing his and Vlad's secret? Did he even want them to even take this to trial? Vlad could easily escape, why not go through with it?

There were so many questions and things Danny needed to figure out but he couldn't think. The emotions he's been pushing down since he became Phantom were all resurfacing. It increased with the knowledge that Danny can't have his breakdown, he can't cry or throw a fit because who know knows what would surface from that. So, he'll suck it up. He'll hold back the tears until he's alone, or never release them.

He had to show people he was strong, needed Sam and Tucker to believe him when he says he's fine. Even if he was breaking on the inside, he wasn't going to let people know. He couldn't… He wasn't sure why, but he knew no one could really know how he felt,

"Here you go." Anderson smiled, handing Danny a can of coke. Daniel offered him a smile, taking opened can. "They'll prep the room, and then you'll go in. You don't have to do the whole thirty minutes if it's too much, okay?" Danny nodded, taking a gulp of the pop.

"I didn't know we had a build for you guys here." Danny changed the topic of conversation, not wanting to think too much about anything that can happen. "It's hard to think that something like that would happen here."

"Really? It happened to you." Anderson spoke, a look crossed his face that Danny couldn't quite make out what is meant. A soft blush filled Danny's features as he turned to stare the can in his hands.

"You know what I mean." Danny grumbled. Before Anderson could respond, Smith walked over.

"It's time." Smith gave Danny a melancholy smile. "After this, you won't have to do this again." Danny nodded, swallowing thickly around the lump in his throat. He followed Smith to a plain black door without a window.

"No one will know what happens in there, you don't have to tell us if you don't want to." Smith informed, her hand grasping the doorknob but not opening it. "Just know, if things become too much you can walk out. If anything, Anderson and I will be right over there, just a shout away with officer Brady and Jackson, Okay?"

"Yea, thanks" Danny mumbled numbly, missing the worried look on Smith's face as he stared at the door. When it pushed open, Danny bit his lip to stop any words from leaving him. He slowly walked in, eyes trained on the man handcuffed to the table, the door closed behind with a soft click as he sat down.

"What happened." Vlad Masters demanded, his hard eyes trained on the obviously distressed teen before him.

"I panicked…" Danny sighed, shaking his head. "Mr. Lancer called them, I couldn't let them blame it on my parents. I figured…"

"You figured what Daniel!" Vlad snapped. "That I would just go to jail to help you? Or I would disappear and live my life on the run?"

"It's not like I lied!" Danny respond with just as much venom as Vlad spoke with. "You attack me on a weekly basis! You try to kill my dad on a monthly one! You were the first person I can think of that actually does hurt me. I wasn't just going to let them serve me to you on a silver platter."

"I will not tarnish my reputation for you, Daniel" Vlad's glare intensified. "Retract your statement. Tell them you called me out because you dislike me."

"No." Danny shook his head, eyes flashing a green for a moment from the storm of emotions he felt. "All the heat will fall onto my parents. I'm not doing that."

"I'll tell them your father helped." A malicious smirk laced his lips, he thought he had Danny in a corner. "I go down, so does that oaf." Daniel froze for a moment, fear gripping at his stomach. Vlad's smirk falter when Danny had one of his own, arms crossing in front of his chest.

"I'll tell them our secret." Danny threatened, the fear of Vlad beginning to diminish. Daniel realized it was irrational, he had people who would come running in at a yell. "I'll be okay, after all I am the town hero. But you're the wisconsin ghost, you're evil. The GIW would be on you immediately, I have the town to back me up." Danny was right, and Vlad knew it. Vlad's face hardened, a silence lapped between the two. Each staring at the other, challenging each other.

Danny jumped when his the handcuffs clinked onto the table. The anxiety and fear he felt before entering slowly trickled back in. He kept his eyes on the man before him, as Vlad rubbed his slightly red wrists. Vlad smoothed the silver hair on the top of his head, smirking slightly at the way Danny tensed.

"Are you ready for the world to know you're a freak of nature?" Vlad questioned, folding his hands on the table. "Your parents to know that you are the thing that they hate? Let's say they do accept you, do you realize how much it's going to tear them apart knowing that they have been hurting their own son for this long?" Danny clinched his teeth, wrappings his arm around his midriff.

"Don't test me." Danny's word didn't come out as hard as he wanted them too. A slight quiver in his voice on the word 'test' gave Vlad all the ammunition he needed. A sly smirk making its way back onto his aging features.

"Don't make empty threats, little Badger." Vlad cocked his head. "I suggest you retract your statement."

Before Vlad even finished his sentence, Danny was already rushing out the door. Anger, anxiety, fear, self hatred filling him to the brim. Where were ghosts when he needed them?

"Danny?" Smith stopped him before he made it out of the building, her eyes gleaming with concern. "What happened?" Anderson helped her keep the boy still as Danny tried to walk past him. Daniel gave up, keeping his eyes on the floor as silent tears slid from his eyes.

"Danny?" Anderson tried, leaning down to make eye contact with the crying teen. Smith walked off to see the room the meeting had taken place in. "Talk to me, I just want to help." Danny shook his head, swallowing.

"Can I please just go…" Danny's voice was shaky and unsteady. "Can we just talk later?" Anderson paused for a moment, searching the teen's features before releasing a defeated sigh and nodded. Danny immediately made it out of the building, jumping behind to an area that didn't have any cameras and flew off.

He couldn't retract his statement, but he also couldn't let Vlad try to drag his dad through the dirt. Slowly the tears stopped, Danny taking a seat on the roof of the nasty burger, out of sight. He was going to meet Sam and Tuck there, but he needed to calm down first. Dropping his head into his head , he sighed. When did things have to get so complicated? Why can't things just work out for him in the end?

[fruitful-blogger]

BITES of Spider Life!

Inspired by the BEAUTIFUL Sanders Sides/Spiderverse AU by @ask-spiderverse-virgil and @sugarglider9603!

Summary:

When you're bitten by a genetically-altered and probably radioactive spider, things in life tend to get a little complicated. Follow Virgil Storm, Roman Marigold, Logan Quinn, Patton Foster, and a whole slew of other spider-people and spider-related people as they deal with life, love, and the occasional robot army trying to take over New York.

Just another Tuesday for our teenage Spiderlings.

(Fluff and Slices of Life!)

Chapter 1: Grandma’s Old Friend (Ao3)

           Virgil tumbled out of bed that morning, yawning up a storm as he rubbed his eyes. He had yet to do his make-up even as his favorite P!ATD shirt and black jeans were on his body. His suit sleeves peaked out, and his Spidey hood hung out, but it didn’t really matter because it was just Grandma and him today. His dad had headed to Tallahassee for the weekend for a business conference, so his parents were using it as a bit of a break for the two of them. Grandma Storm had long ago figured out that Virgil was Spidergale, and it was confirmed after he’d passed out post panic attack while in suit. Thomas had brought him home, and that’s when everything had been confirmed.

           Today was Saturday, and, even if Virgil had slept in, he was still tired. He and Patton had been on the patrol schedule last night, and what should have been a normal Friday night of purse snatchers and minor theft, of course the Mysterio had to cause all sorts of chaos. Thomas had been out of town, across the country even for a Youtube thing, so it was all hands on deck for the Spiderlings. After dismantling his army of robot monsters (worthy of the Hollywood big screen) and disarming hallucinatory gas bombs all across the city, they’d finally webbed up Mysterio and handed him over to the police around 2 am. They’d stuck around long enough to get the police there, and then there was a LONG ride home. Of course, webbing had run out and Logan’s legs were damaged, so, all around, they were just done. They took the subway home, and, thankfully, most people were just used to weird things like people in hero costumes late at night on a Friday. Virgil had climbed through his bedroom window around 3 am, taking long enough to toss off his costume and grab a make-up wipe to get rid of the last bits from his face before crashing hard.

           He flung himself into the chair that still held his favorite hoodie from yesterday as Grandma Storm pat his head before handing him a bowl of Pho and a cup of coffee. Virgil’s head floated up at the smell. Grandma didn’t always make Pho, but, when she did, it was to die for. “Waited up a while with the news on last night. Last I checked in, you and the boys were fighting a dinosaur?”

           “Yup. That happened.” Virgil noted as he sipped the coffee first. “We beat it and got Mysterio in the end. Sorry for keeping you up, Grandma.”

           She waved her hand. “No worries, một chút. I was your age at one point, and I had plenty of adventures.” Virgil nodded. Grandma had some crazy stories from her younger years, and Virgil was sure it was only half the story. After all, she had pieced together Virgil and his friends’ alter egos within a few months of them going public. “You’re ok?”

           Virgil shrugged. “A little bruised, but I’m already half-healed. Nothing too bad.”

           “You should get more sleep.” She waved her finger at him. “And eat something. You’re as thin as a grass blade, and you look tired.”

           “Gee, thanks Grandma.” Virgil threw as he rolled his eyes, finally eating his Pho. “I have to meet my project group at the library at one, and, no, it’s not Patton and Roman. Logan and I have a group project with some kids over a history PowerPoint.”

           As if being summoned, there was a knock at the door. Before Virgil could even get up, Grandma was up and walking towards the door. When she opened it, Logan was standing there, looking mostly put together. Mostly, because, if you knew the kid, you could pick out that he was as tired as Virgil. His tie was missing, even as he wore a polo and cardigan, his jeans clean but not neatly pressed as normal. A few hairs fell from their neat comb.

           “Good day, Grandma Storm.” Logan greeted. Logan and Virgil had grown up together, so it was easy for the teen to adopt the other grandma as his own. “Is Virgil ready to go? If we are to make the bus, then we must get going.”

           “No, I think not.” Grandma stated as she guided Logan in. Even as he tried to protest, she was quite strong for age and, of course, stubborn. “I’ll give you money for a cab. You need a break and some food as well.” She chided as she somehow got Logan’s backpack away from him and wiggling him into his seat. “I’ll get you coffee and food. You need it.”

           “Grandma, please…”

           “No, listen to Grandma and eat.” She insisted.

           Logan sighed as he accepted defeat. He removed his glasses to rub his eyes, and, honestly, it was somewhat of a relief as he got to rest his bones and smell the homey food of a loving grandma.

           While the two boys were eating, Grandma moved around the apartment with an ease of a woman half her age, cooking up some sweets and began to brew her special tea. She pulled out a nice blouse as she went to the laundry room, the iron plugged in.

           When Virgil woke up enough, he looked to his grandmother. “Grandma, what are you up to?”

           She looked back at her grandson and smiled. “Oh! I guess in the excitement, I forgot to mention that an old friend of mine managed to make time to come over today. He’s very busy most days, and he owes me some tea and gossip. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen him.”

           Virgil nodded. He’d met plenty of Grandma’s friends before. Some were downright odd, but most were cool. They’d share some crazy stories that Virgil was sure were exaggerated, but he would nod at the right points before slipping away to ‘do homework’ or something. Grandma understood that he got anxious around new people.

           Soon enough the two finished eating, and Grandma Storm stuffed a twenty into Virgil’s hands before shooing them off with a few extra sweets to their project time.

           Logan and Virgil had gotten to the library, where they found their group mates of Brittney, Janet, and Robert. Robert was a bit of a douche the whole time, dragging his feet and trying to flirt with Janet. Janet, meanwhile, was getting annoyed with him, wanting to focus on the project. Eventually, Brittney told Robert to shove it, because Janet was too nice to say so, and Logan offered to swap with Janet so that Virgil was between her and Robert. Virgil offered to let her listen to his music, what with the Panic! At the Disco and MCR patches on her backpack.

           Robert THEN tried to start shit with Virgil, but Virgil just reminded him that he was dating Roman, something Robert had completely forgotten.

           It was really ridiculous, and Virgil and Logan were almost happy when the library shook, sirens off outside as a supervillain was attacking their city once more.

           The study session was cut short. Logan had managed to patch his legs, and web fluid was replenished. The Fantastic Four were dealing with Doom once again, so most of the heroes on scene were at street level, helping people out of collapsing buildings and making sure everyone was safe. Arachne and Spidergale kept their sector of the city safe until Doom was foiled.

           After that, the other teens had called it, but Patton, worrying as much as Virgil, had asked if they could meet up after. Since Thomas had taken MJ with him to California, they opted instead to meet at a midway point – Logan and Virgil’s apartment building.

           They met on the roof, hugging the hell out of one another just because, before they threw on some normal clothes. Cutting through the rooftop door that Logan had long picked open for them, they took a few levels down, Roman clutching Virgil’s arm as Logan and Patton’s hands swung between them. When Virgil wiggled his keys into the lock and popped the door open.

           The four took off their shoes as they entered, but Roman noticed something odd. “Wow, I didn’t know I was rubbing off on you. This is so retro.” Roman threw to Virgil as he spotted the leather jacket in the closet. It was old and worn with age and love.

           Virgil blinked as he nudged next to Roman. “Dude, that’s not mine. I’m pretty sure two of me could fit in it.”

           Roman pulled it out, holding it up. Compared to the lithe Virgil, it was very large. “Yeah… Can I have it?” Roman shrugged the jacket on, which was still too big on him (but not as large as it would have been on Virgil). “Think it fits my look?”

           “It’s very nice!” Patton agreed.

           “Didn’t your grandmother mention that she was having guests today?” Logan reminded. “I bet that belongs to her friend.”

           “Her friend has taste.” Roman threw as he put the jacket back on the hook. “Where is my second favorite Storm, anyway?”

           “She’s gotta be around here somewhere.” Virgil noted. He entered the house proper with his friends when the door behind them wiggled. “Oh, maybe she went to check on the…” Virgil began when the door opened.

           In the doorway was a young, fit man, no older than his mid-thirties, but he was built like a god. Blond hair was gently tussled as the blue and red of his plaid shirt was doused with some dust from concrete. His sleeves were rolled, arms chiseled and lightly sheened in sweat. His jeans didn’t leave much to the imagination, curved gluts and strong legs all about. His face was a work of art, and it was a work of art that all of the boys knew.

           “Cap-Captain America?” Patton stuttered. Roman’s mouth was moving, his brain having come to a complete halt as the Gay was too much. Virgil, meanwhile, was clutching his boyfriend’s arm, worried that the hero had somehow pieced together their identities and was there to turn them over to SHIELD or tell them to stop or SOMETHING. Patton was also having some Pan panic at the site of the man, while Logan’s brain was running through different facts and figures and generally having an error noise because two plus two was not equaling four.

           “Ah, glad you could make it back so fast, Stevie.” Grandma Storm rounded the corner with a tray of sweets. “Boys, I want you to meet my old army buddy, Steve Rodgers. Steve, this is my grandson, Virgil, and his little friends, Roman, Patton, and Logan.”

           “Hey kids.” Steve rubbed the back of his neck before offering a hand to shake. “Virgil, right? Your grandmother was just telling me about you.”

           “Uh.” Virgil raised his hand, setting it in the other man’s hand and shaking it. “I hope it was, uh, good?”

           “Holy shit.” Roman shook Virgil as he got his hand back. “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me that your grandma knew Steve Rodgers. THE STEVE RODGERS! You are the WORST boyfriend EVER!”

           Virgil blinked before swatting at Roman. “I just found out, too, you idiot!”

           “I like your sweater, kid.” Steve complimented to Patton. “Admittedly, I’m more of a dog person.” He noted, the sweater having been cat themed.

           “I LOVE puppies!” Patton cheered. “But I love kitties, too. And all the baby animals! They’re just so CUTE!”

           Logan rolled his eyes. “Never mind that he is ALLERGIC to cats.” Logan offered a hand. “Pleasure to meet you, Captain Rodgers. I am Logan Quinn.”

           Logan shook the man’s hand, and, even though the thought was purely illogical, he momentarily entertained never washing that hand ever again.

           “I’m Patton!” Patton said but, before he could offer a hand, he pulled Steve into a tight hug.

           Steve felt the air nearly knocked out of him at the boy’s strength, but the hug was… actually very pleasant. He couldn’t actually remember the last time he got a really strong, good hug that just made him feel comforted, protected. He was usually the strong one, so he had to reel it in. “Woah.” Steve laughed as he hugged the kid back, being careful not to squish him (though he entertained that it would probably do little damage). “I’m guessing you’re a hugger.”

           “Mm-hm! Oh, sorry!” Patton released the man. “I should have asked, first, but I just got so excited! You’ve saved the day, like, a bunch of times! You’re like my third favorite hero!”

           “Third, hm?” Steve smirked. “Who’s one and two?”

           “Logan and Rainbow Weaver.”

           Logan blushed brightly. “We get it.” Logan clapped, even as his face was beat red. “You’re ad-or-a-ble.”

           Steve laughed, throwing back his head. He turned back to the emo boy and the excitable teen shaking him. “Roman, yes?”

           Roman stopped, staring at the man. “Yes! I am Marigold. Roman! Roman Marigold! Actor extraordinaire, future Broadway star…”

           “Sir Sings-a-lot.”

           “Virgil I love that nickname and I am KEEPING IT!”

           “That sweat pea is my grandson’s boyfriend.” Grandma said as she set the sweets down. “Since you all seem so excitable, I’m guessing that you all are fine from that rumble.”

           “Doctor Doom was at it, Grandma.” Patton nodded. “Do you need any help with the tea or sweets? I have a new recipe that I could whip up in a jiff!”

           Patton made sweets as the four boys ended up listening to the two older folks talk about old stories back from the early 20thcentury, Virgil once again wondering how old EXACTLY his grandma was (she was always so vague). Logan, of course, asked a ton of questions, but none were about super heroics or the like, but instead he was just curious about life back then. Patton offered to make some cookies for Steve to take on the road, and Roman was honestly the biggest Gay disaster the whole time. When Steve, somewhat embarrassed, mentioned his time as a stage performer, Roman snapped out of it and wanted to reenact parts. Roman’s enthusiasm proved to Steve that he wasn’t doing it for shits and giggles but was honestly awed by something Steve thought was so silly. Virgil was mostly an avid listener to the people around him, fully relaxed in the presence of his friends, family, and one of the world’s greatest heroes.

           Of course, once Roman had snapped from his panic, he’d ALSO wanted pictures, which Patton enthusiastically agreed with. Of these pictures, one goofy one in a hand-made frame found itself sent to a certain hero via snail mail, which he hung on his wall and smiled at when he passed. Another wound up on a certain Princey’s Instagram, instantly going gangbuster and gaining him about 100 followers in the span of an hour. Another found its way to the cellphone of a Youtuber about to get on a flight home, which gained, of course, confusion and also some similar gay fawning from the recipient and his boyfriend.

           Grandma Storm had Virgil print them all off so she could put them in a box with all her old war photos, many showing the Howling Commandos at their peak, her and Grandpa amongst their ranks. She’d let slip to Virgil someday about how and why she was there, but, for now, that was a story for another time.

           One thing was for sure, though – Steve was in love with Patton’s cookies and couldn’t wait to visit the Storm household again.