#it’s my favourite drink but I quit it for the caffeine content in it last month. I think I deserve it today though 🏸

[musiquesduciel]

The speed at which I gulped down my drink at Starbucks after a 2 hour game of badminton this morning

[transmurderbug]

🍂Weekly Tag Wednesday!🍂

Thank you for the tags Evie @energievie, Kat @mybrainismelted, Kaka @stocious, Karen @palepinkgoat, Julia @juliakayyy Deena @suzy-queued, Meg @softmick and Jess @jrooc! So many of you! 💙

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name: Sky

age: *Nosho math*

star sign: Pisces ♓️

your first language: Hungarian

second language: English

favourite lip product: I don't have one. I never use any.

the best food dish you can make without a recipe: Hmm, maybe lasagne?

If you drink tea, what kind? I rarely drink tea, but when I do it's mint.

If you drink coffee, what roast do you usually get? Any decaf. No caffein for me.

favourite thing to watch on youtube right now: I can't remember the last tine I went on YouTube with a purpose, but I enjoy movie content in most forms.

favourite thing to watch on youtube in 2012: Oh WOW. Mostly the same I would now. Anything to do with movies, nature, music or video games.

favourite item of clothing right now: What I do wear: my leather jacket. What I don't wear: My green steel toe boots. I can't walk in them anymore, but I still have them 💚

favourite item of clothing in 2012: As if there's a possibility of me remembering that.

fandom

three movies you recommend: Hair, HTTYD (but all), The Pianist

your favourite concert: I honestly can't choose one.

have you ever unfollowed someone over a fandom opinion? I don't think so. For behavior, maybe. Also "hot takes" that are just sugarcoated bullshit (objectively).

have you ever left a fandom because of the fans? Hmm, nope.

the best tv show you watched last year: (Apart from the obvious) I quite enjoyed This is going to hurt.

do you have a fancasting you just can’t let go of? I can't think of any, really.

a ship you’ve abandoned: I don't think I have.

on a scale of 1-10 how willing are you to share your ao3 history? No. Just... no.

do you have a fandom tattoo? (do you want one?) Not YET.

what fandom do you wish was bigger? I have no idea.

has a finale ever ruined a show for you? Hmm, not ruined, but I hate it when a show gets canceled without a chance of finishing the story properly. So any that had that happen to it.

have you…

swam in an ocean? No, just seas.

ever been vegan/vegetarian? No. I couldn't be anyway.

gone skinny dipping? Nope.

gone skiing? No, and probably never will. Maybe in another universe!

been to a convention? No.

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I can't believe I'm on time with this! 😎

Tagging some cool people to participate if you want. if not, here: 🥨 I have a pretzel for you today.

@ian-galagher @creepkinginc, @transmickey @deathclassic @spacerockwriting, @ms-moonlight-inn, @sam-loves-seb @samantitheos, @dynamic-power @krysmiss @look-i-love-u @sickness-health-all-that-shit, @heymrspatel @michellemisfit @sweetbee78 @grumble-fish @metalheadmickey @rayrayor @crossmydna @thisdivorce @callivich @gardenerian @lupeloto @francesrose3

And anybody else I might have forgotten! If you see this, you are tagged.

[crispmarshmallow]

idk if youre still taking prompts but modern AU Rhaenys and Aegon - Rhaenys has an intervention for Aegon because its finals week and hes drinking 8 cups of coffee a day

Rhaenys plucks her heels off her feet and ventures further into the apartment that Aegon has been staying in while he studies at KU. She takes note of the pieces of paper and obscene amount of coffee cups scattered around.

Ser Oswell had not been exaggerating when he called her to inform her that Aegon has been spiralling into an unhealthy pattern as finals approached. Aegon has never been the most organized of people but Rhaenys knows that he does enjoy some sort of order.

Rhaenys enters the kitchen to find her little brother seated at the kitchen island hunched over some textbook. He looks up as she walks towards him and blinks in surprise. It gives her a moment to study the dark circles under his eyes.

Seven Hells. When was the last time he had some sleep?

“Rhaenys.” He says in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Rhaenys deposits the bags that she brought near the fridge before she leans on the kitchen island and crosses her arms over her chest. “Hello to you too, little brother.”

Her eyes travel to the counter and the number of coffee cups that surround him. She picks up the one that is nearest to her. She takes a whiff of its contents and wrinkles her nose at the bitter scent. Rhaenys has always preferred tea to coffee. “How do you even drink this much coffee?”

“I just do.” Rhaenys sees that he is irritated by her appearance. Aegon deprived of sleep is akin to a dragon awakened from its slumber. “How did you even survive law school without it?”

“I survived it by not overdosing on caffeine.” She begins to gather all the cups into her arms. “People who like coffee confuse me.” Rhaenys spies painkillers on the counter and she bites her lips in worry. She surmises that his hands have begun to hurt again because of the stress. It is something that happens whenever he is overwhelmed with tension.

She is about to ask him about it when he rolls his eyes. “You confuse me. Why are you even here?” He runs his fingers through his silver hair in irritation. “I’m busy.” He points to the book opened in front of him.

She puts the cups into the sink before running her fingers through his hair causing him to slap her hands away and growl in anger. “When was the last time you showered, Aegon? Your hair feels disgusting.” She avoids answering his question. Aegon does not take well to accepting help especially when he needs it desperately.

“None of your business.”

Rhaenys clicks her tongue in disapproval before swiping his textbook away. Aegon shouts in frustration and tries to take it back. She dodges his attempts.

“Rhaenys. Give that back.” He grits out. His lilac eyes are blazing with anger. “Now.”

“I doubt you even remember when was the last time you took shower.” She ignores his request. “I can’t have my brother be like that.”

Aegon lunges for her and she darts out of his reach. “Give that back and get out, Rhaenys.” She shakes her head and puts even more distance between them for safe measure. She smiles sweetly which infuriates him even more.

“I don’t have time for this.” He pinches the bridge of his nose before sighing with exasperation. He does know how persistent she can be. “Fine. Will you leave if I take a shower?”

Rhaenys’ smile widens. She hums and Aegon takes that as a yes. He glares at her and turns on his heels to make his way to his bedroom. “You better be gone when I’m out.”

She lets out her breath when he disappears. She is fortunate that Aegon gave in so easily. It is testimony to how tired he is or he would have put up a much bigger fight.

Rhaenys doesn’t leave as he told her to. She begins to unpack the items she brought with her and warm up some dinner for him. Oswell had told her that Aegon had been living off instant noodles and junk food since finals season started and that would not do.

She has laid out a plate of warm rice and butter chicken on the table for each of them by the time Aegon comes out. His eyes fall on the dining table and Rhaenys swears that she saw him smile.

“You’re supposed to have left.” He says though it lacks any bite.

“I never said I would.” She replies and motions for him to take a seat. He does so without protest and immediately digs into his food.

“You cooked this?”

“Uh-huh.” Rhaenys nods. “Right before I came over.”

“I can never make butter chicken as good as you do.” He comments as he takes another bite.

“I know,” Rhaenys answers smugly. Aegon rolls his eyes at that and sticks his tongue at her. She laughs in response.

“Nevermind.”

Rhaenys surrenders the textbook after dinner. She knows that there is no use in trying to make Aegon go and rest. It will only infuriate him and that would be counterproductive after she has made him relax this much. He retreats to his bedroom to study while she makes camp on the couch. She spends her time scrolling through Instagram and her messages.

She is chatting with Arianne when Aegon comes out of his cave. “Are you going to stay up all night?” He asks.

Rhaenys looks up from her phone and shrugs. “Someone has to protect the coffee machine. You have been abusing it far too much.”

Aegon rolls his eyes and waits a few moments before asking, “When do you have to show up at your office tomorrow?”

“Around 7:30.” She turns back to her phone as she answers.

“You’re a nightmare if you don’t get your beauty sleep. It’s almost 1.”

“I know.” She scoffs and adds, “I am never a nightmare. Thank you very much.”

She hears Aegon chuckle and then silence falls upon the living room. Rhaenys thinks that he has returned to studying and is startled when he speaks up again.

“I’ll go to sleep.”

Rhaenys has to bend her head down to hide a victorious smile. She quickly wipes it off her face and looks back up at him nonchalantly. “If you want to. Your choice.”

His eyes narrow at the almost jubilant tone of her voice. “Uh-huh. Good Night, Rhaenys.”

“Night, Egg.”

He starts back to his bedroom. “Feel free to use the guest room.” He says before Rhaenys hears his bedroom door shut with a click.

She doesn’t go to sleep immediately. She doesn’t trust Aegon enough to follow through with his words. She spends another thirty minutes on her phone before she quietly opens Aegon’s door to check if he did go to sleep.

Rhaenys is quite good at stealth. It had been a necessary skill when she wanted to lure her cat into his bathe. So she is sure that Aegon is not faking it when she sees him fast asleep on his bed. Also, his light snores do sound rather authentic and so she leaves his room and calls it a night.

Rhaenys leaves the apartment around 6:15 in the morning. However, not before pasting a sticky note on the coffee machine threatening him that she will show up again if he doesn’t take it easy on the coffee and eat healthily and rest properly. She adds a You’ve got this! and a smiley at the bottom.

She continues with her day doing her duties as Lady of Summerhall as she usually does when she is interrupted by her Uncle Lewyn marching into her office with a paper cup and brown bag in hand. He deposits it on her table.

“Order for the Princess.” He says with a grin.

Rhaenys’ eyebrows furrow in confusion. “I didn't order anything, Uncle.”

“Yes. I know.”

“Did you order it then?”

Her Uncle shakes his head. “I did not.”

She narrows her eyes at him as she reaches for the cup and bag. “But you do know who did.” He wouldn’t bring it to her otherwise as it would be a security risk.

She opens the bag to find a blueberry muffin - her favourite kind of muffin. “I do though I’m afraid I can’t say who, Princess.”

She puts the muffin down and brings the cup to her lips. She sips on it and savours the taste of tea - warm and ginger just as she likes it.

There are only two people in Westeros that can order Ser Lewyn to withhold information from her and Rhaenys is sure that her father did not send them. She is left with a single possibility and it makes her chuckle.

“That idiot could have just said thank you.”

[plasticnightmaredoll]

Currently, I’m working on a NSFW Alphabet for everyone’s favorite horny geek, Arkham Knight Riddler 😂

Writing these alphabets takes a long fucking time, though, sweet lord of mercy. And unlike Telltale Riddler, Arkham Knight Riddler is quite...complicated. There’s a lot to unpack, so his alphabet is taking a while because the answers to each letter’s question can’t always be simple and straight forward. 

So, being the generous THOT that I am, I’m going to post some samples here from AK!Riddler’s NSFW Alphabet 😏 These may change a little upon finishing the alphabet, and they haven’t been spell-checked, but what you see here is what you can expect in the “final product.”

A little disclaimer before the samples, and I’ll put this disclaimer in the finalized Alphabet, too, because I think it’s important:

I don’t know if a lot of people will agree with some of my h/cs for AK!Riddler, but I do have my reasons. One thing many people may disagree with is that I don’t think AK!Riddler dislikes sex. I know he told Catwoman that the “base nature” of her relationship with Batman was disgusting, but I think there’s a different story here. 

Personally, I think AK!Riddler hasn’t had much sex, let alone actually pleasurable, romantic sex. I can see him having a few flings just to satisfy “urges” for himself and his partners, or perhaps he was curious to see where things would lead but ultimately could not find a meaningful connection with anyone  for numerous reasons. Therefore, sex for him has not been an intimate experience.

However, with the right person, someone who actually respects and cares for him, I think AK!Riddler could find sex to be much more pleasant.

Anyway, NSFT content below the cut!

F = Favourite Position (This goes without saying. Will probably include a visual)

This one was a toss up among three positions, but ultimately, I think he likes his partner on top. He gets to admire them and feel like he must be dreaming because this person actually is attracted to him omg? He’s kind of grabby, so having his partner on top of him makes that easier. He likes to explore their body with his hands.

Also, this position lets his partner set the pace of the sex, which makes him more relaxed in the beginning of the relationship when he’s still internally panicking and trying to figure out how to be the best lover he can be so you won’t leave him.

H = Hair (How well-groomed are they, does the carpet match the drapes, etc.)

Ok, initially, he’s not well-groomed, like, at all. In Arkham Knight, he’s let himself go in a major way, and doesn’t care about his appearance anymore. However, upon meeting you and falling for you, he does make a solid effort to tidy himself up. This would include some simple grooming “downstairs” because he doesn’t want you to find it gross to go down on him.

And again, it’s his insecurities at play. He wants to look his best because he feels like you won’t love him otherwise -- which isn’t true but it will take time to convince him of this.

M = Motivation (What turns them on, gets them going)

Referring to him as “Mr. Nigma” or “Mr. Nigma, Sir” in your “bedroom voice.” Whispering dirty, naughty things in his ear (especially if he’s unaware you’re so close to him). Crawling into his lap when he’s sitting down coding or working on some gadget or whatever. Wearing something green that looks REALLY good on you. 

S = Stamina (How many rounds can they go for, how long do they last…)

He may be scrawny but he’s got plenty of energy. For one, he does drink a lot of caffeine. Secondly, he’s used to pulling all nighters working on his projects, traps, robots, etc. He doesn’t tire easily because he’s always busy, always thinking, so he can’t properly rest most of the time. So, he could go a few rounds with you before becoming exhausted.

[halfway-happyyy]

Love Like This

AN: Basically you’re stuck in quarantine and you’re reflecting on the things that make Alexander who he is. Oh, you’ve also got some pretty fantastic news for him.

Cotton candy clouds of fluff.

“Saturday nights used to look a hell of a lot different than this one, didn't they?”

Where once there were movie premiers to attend, award shows to be embarrassingly proud at, cocktails to be sipped, friends to laugh with… you are at home for the foreseeable future.

Alexander glances up from his phone to beam at you. “Maybe so. But this happens to be one of the better Saturday evenings I've had.”

“Yeah? And why is that?”

Alexander shrugs. “I'm with my best friend.”

It’s currently late into the evening and a soft rain patters gently against the glass kitchen windows. Alexander's just finished his second glass of chardonnay and he's leant over the gleaming marble counter top, phone clutched in his hand. He's tired tonight; keeps squinting down at the content on his phone and letting out long yawns every few minutes. As you take in all six foot four of his frame, from the unkempt quarantine hair and the five o’clock (almost six now) shadow forming on his face, to the worn sweatpants hanging low on his hips… you reflect silently on the things you know to be certain about the elder Swede before you.

The first thing that comes to mind is his complete adoration for his family. It never ceases to make you feel suddenly warm and fuzzy inside just thinking of it. He frequently tells you how excited he is to get the two of you back to Sweden when this is all over- “Just you and I and the rest of the family on our little island.” Last night he spent over two hours happily talking to Gustaf while he nursed a couple of his favourite beers. This morning you both had the pleasure of having facetime pancakes with his mother, the memory of it causes you to smile softly to yourself.

“Whatcha smiling about over there, kid?” Alexander pipes up.

“Your mum,” and your heart sings as you watch the grin bloom across his face.

The next thing is his intense love of coffee. Being someone who travels more than the average person, he has become quite the caffeine connoisseur. There is actually a cupboard in the corner of the kitchen dedicated to bags of exotic beans he's found along his travels and it isn't uncommon for the first thing you hear in the morning to be the muffled whir of his ever-coveted machine in the corner next to the spice rack.

“What on earth is that?”

“What's what, kid?”

You gestured to the pile of expensive looking metal beneath the kitchen window.

“That… thing.”

Alexander scoffed in mild offence. “That thing, is my new baby. That thing roasts coffee beans like hot damn. Starbucks could never,” He hissed under his breath.

You're pretty sure you could write a book of all of things you know to be true about him. That he loves nothing more sometimes than to stroll anonymously around the city. That he'll spend an entire day pouring through a book if it's good enough. That there is a small wooden box next to your bed that is chock-full of hand written love letters from him. Some are written on airplane napkins in his slightly shaky, but still signature scrawl and some are on luxuriously thick paper purchased from a stationery shop in Siena. You know and adore the way his accent thickens when he's had a little too much to drink. (He's definitely been guilty of forgetting that your Swedish is still quite rusty, yet attempting to launch into full-on conversations with you regardless of that fact.) Or the way his cerulean gaze lightens or darkens depending on his mood.

Alexander sighs tiredly and hoists his arms high above his head in a stretch. He yawns and pockets the phone in his pants. “I'm going to start getting ready for bed, kid. You coming?”

His bedtime routine varies from night to night. Some nights he starts out reading; could be a novel someone's suggested to him or a script he's been sent. Whatever it is, his brain has a habit of running away on him from time to time and settling into a good chapter is a sure-fire way to have him sleepy within the hour. Some nights he's intent on making you feel amazing; he'll spend hours between your legs, taking his sweet time. Other nights, particularly if he's just been home after a long shoot, he simply holds you close to him.

“I love you, I love you, I love you kid.”

It's a mantra he only whispers when he's missed you more than he can say.

“Yeah baby. I'll be up in a few minutes.”

You drain what's left of your tea and make sure everything's turned off in the kitchen. Alexander is perched on his side of the bed when you enter the room. You marvel at the way his back muscles ripple and flex in the low lamplight as he stretches before bed. You’ve told him numerous times in the past how beautiful he is, but most of the time he just laughs it off.

“Couldn't hold a candle to you, kid.”

You pad over to the bed to undress, trying in vain to ignore the sudden prickle of nerves in your belly. Alexander is already waiting for you, arms outstretched for you to fall into. You settle into him as you have thousands of times before, and each time never fails to feel like coming home. You know his scent; a heady mix of body wash, cologne and sweat. You have memorized the sound of his heartbeat and the way it makes you feel when it beats against your shoulder blade. “Saturday nights are about to look a lot different than they do now, Alex.”

One thing, and maybe it’s the thing that stands out the most to you, is how much Alexander loves children. He's always had a way with them; they flock to him in droves. Your heart thrums in your chest when you think of the first time he got to meet his baby niece, or the hundreds of facetimes he’s had with his younger brothers. It's possible that this has everything to do with him being the elder brother of seven other siblings, but he's simply just a natural with them. Where his patience often lacks with adults, he never fails to make time for kids and it's never been a secret he's tried to hide. In fact, it was one of the first things he revealed about himself when you first began seeing him.

“I'd love a big family in the future. That seems like the ultimate dream, doesn't it? Waking up every morning to the sound of tiny, barefoot pitter-patters?”

You couldn't deny the way his glassy blue orbs lit up like a Christmas tree at the mere mention of his own family someday.

“I know I'm going to be a father someday. I don't doubt that it's going to be difficult and terrifying beyond all measure but I do know that it’s going to be the most important role of my life… and I really just can't wait for it.”

Alexander somehow knows exactly what you mean without further elaboration. He sits up straight in bed and pats your arm twice so you can follow suit. Instinctively, his large, warm hands travel to the bump that is mere months away from making an appearance in your belly. He swallows hard and clears his throat, you notice the way his lips quiver ever so slightly before he asks, “Are we?”

Your breath catches in your throat as you watch tears brim in the corners of his eyes. “Yeah Alex, we are.”

He tilts his head back and, you doubt you'll ever forget the sound of his laugh or the way the tears roll down his cheeks in unbelievably happy streams. After a while he drops his head to your belly and proceeds to pepper dozens of kisses over the expanse of your exposed skin. He stays like that for what feels like hours; and when he finally gazes back up at you, he's beaming so wide he puts sunshine to shame. 

“Can't wait to tell the family, kid.”

[igotyouniverse]

Breathe Me - Chapter 2 [nct vamp au]

Description: After dropping out of college and coming home for the first time in two years, 22-year-old Ava Lee gets caught up in a mystery surrounding the people she thought she knew for so long. Between friendship, affairs and true love the young women finds herself being pulled into a  nightmare she would never wake up from.

Pairing: Oc x Taeyong , Oc x Johnny [side: markxoc, tenxoc, lucasxoc, jaehyunxoc]

Included Members: Taeyong, Johnny, Mark, Lucas, Ten, Jaehyun, Doyoung, Haechan (maybe more)

Genre: Drama, Romance, Angst, Fantasy

Warnings: some swearing I guess and some umm angst (this chapter)

suggestive content, strong language, violence, blood, death. probably more, not sure yet (later chapters)

a/n: yeah who doesn't like awkward encounters in cafés and bookstores? Plus an awkward party with a big surprise? Sign me up. Anyway, that's the second chapter for this baby. I got carried away a lot, so it turned out a lot longer than expected but I honestly didn't want to split it up. A lot is happening! I'm honestly so excited for the third one as the main plot will start there and let me tell you – it will go WILD, haha. Enjoy ♥

ch. 1 || ch. 3

･.｡*†*｡.･◆･.｡*†*｡.･◆･.｡*†*｡.･◆･.｡*†*｡.･

“Oh, hey Ava. Haven't seen you in forever. How are you? That's exactly what he said.”, Ava told her best friend while savouring her freshly baked croissant.

Yunmi sighed and took another sip form her third coffee. “I mean you actually didn't see him in nearly three years.”

Ava shot her friend a glance and snorted. “Yeah, well, that's not my bad. He decided to completely ignore me for no reason at all.”

“Yeah, because he's a jerk. That's a fact.”, Yunmi said with a smile, trying to comfort her friend.

“Totally.”

“A handsome jerk, tho.”, Ava added and drank a sip of her water, trying to avoid her friend's gaze.

“Yup, we all got eyes. But I still don't get it. I mean you two didn't even hook up, did you?”, she felt Yunmi's eyes staring holes in her body.

“No, I've told you a hundred times. We just kissed. I think I'd remember if I hooked up with fucking Johnny Suh.”, Ava sighed with frustration in her voice. Of course she thought Johnny was attractive. Well, not only attractive. It was like she was just drawn to his simple presence. Not to mention, that he was funny, smart, caring and overall just a good person. Or that's what she thought before he decided to just erase her out of his life.

She just couldn't get a hang of it. The memories she had of that night were just magnificient. The farewell party was fun and chill. Everyone enjoyed themselves while dancing or just having drinks. She wasn't even that buzzed, especially not in the moment she remembered so clearly it even felt a little surreal sometimes. But she could remember so clearly how she talked to Johnny for hours about everything. It wasn't the typical smalltalk they usually had – she told him about her worries for university, her feelings about this god forsaken town and even managed to tell him that he crushed on him for years, not having the balls to ask him out. Him being the best friend of her brother didn't make the whole situation easier, though.

And then, just like in all these movies she binge-watched with Yunmi he actually kissed her. And not like a friend, no, she remembered his lips on hers so clearly. The softness of them and how perfectly fit on hers like they were just meant to be. Yet, it felt like a dream sometimes. She felt how much passion the kiss had, it was breathtaking, like a sweet drug she couldn't get enough from and yes, she absolutely would've slept with him but she knew that he was a gentleman. They just chuckled at each other before he brought her home, promising to call the next day before her flight would take off.

But that never happened.

“Maybe you should try talking to him? Like face-to-face. You won't be able to avoid him forever, especially because of Mark.”, Yunmi said and tried to read her friends emotions but Ava just chuckled.

“Watch me.”

The café Yunmi picked out was next to the bookstore Mark worked at. Ava remembered how the spot was always closed and under construction but apparently it opened a few months ago. The style was simple and comfy. It was a light store with paintings on the walls and different types of plants everywhere. Huge windows allowed a view over the main street and the small park right in the middle. It seemed oddly familiar to Ava, even though she never set a foot in this building. But something just felt like she's been there before but she couldn't figure it out.

“I need more coffee.”, Yunmi said and pouted looking at her empty cup.

“Dude, that was your third coffee.” Ava laughed and looked at her friend, with just a tint of worry in her eyes.

“Happens when you work as a nurse. Night shifts are just so tiring here. Nothing happens anyway but I wasn't able to take a nap because I had to do all these papers.”, she said annoyed and pouted at Ava, holding up her empty cup.

The girl sighed and smiled, standing up to get her friend her needed refill.

Ava went up to the empty counter and looked for the young waiter she saw earlier but to her surprise another young man came out, looking at her with warm eyes.

“Can I get a refill please?”, she asked politely and handed the guy the cup after he nodded. His eyes focused on her for just a second, but for her it felt longer. Did she know him? His hair was dyed in a ashy-blonde color, hair framing his delicate facial features. His eyes looked warm yet they had something deep and maybe even dark about them. The way he moved looked elegant. She eyed him just for a second longer, trying hardly to think why he looked so familiar. She even felt like she somewhat heard his voice before. She squinted her eyes trying to take a look at his name tag but apparently he didn't even wear one.

“Here. Do you need something else?”, he asked.

Ava froze for a split second, realized how impolite it was to stare at a person as bluntly as she did.

“No, thank you. I really like the place, though. It's pretty.”, she smiled lightly and took the cup.

The guy thanked her, his face lightened up, a smile appearing on his face, which made her feel warm all of a sudden. Why did his smile see so familiar?

She hurried back to the table her friend was sitting, giving her her desperately needed caffeine.

“Who's the guy at the counter?”, Ava asked.

Yunmi immediately turned around to take a look at who her friend meant.

“Taeyong. He owns this place.”

After Ava stayed silent, not quite sure if she knew him or not, Yunmi added,

“He lives together with Johnny and Jaehyun in that house. We met him there once, don't you remember?”, Yunmi asked and raised a brow.

“I don't know. I guess? You know how bad my memory is.”, Ava chuckled and stared at her glass of water before giving her friend a smile.

Honestly, she wasn't sure if she remembered. Maybe she did meet him back then. Maybe not.

“He's cute, isn't he? He even makes the pastries himself.”, Yunmi said and took a bit of her sandwich after inhaling her coffee.

“Yeah, he is nice, I guess.”, Ava said, looking over at the counter where Taeyong stood. She saw how his eyes met hers, holding the eye-contact for just a bit before he turned around and went to the back.

Weird.

“There will be a party tonight at their house.” Yunmi said, eyeing her friend once more. After Ava didn't answer right away Yunmi sighed.

“We should go. It will be fun.” she added.

“Since when do you want to go parties?”, Ava asked her friend, raising her brow. As long as she remembered Yunmi and her weren't the type of girls who went to parties. They usually preferred a good movie night with food over drinks and bad music. Even in college, Ava didn't attend many of those famous college parties she heard about.

“Their parties are usually really nice.”, she smiled softly and started to play with a strand of her brown hair.

“Mh-mh. Their parties or just someone at their parties?”, Ava teased her friend, poking her cheek.

Yunmi pouted a light shade of red on her cheeks. She caught her.

“Well, you won't know if you don't join.”, Yunmi poked out her tongue at Ava, laughing softly at her.

“Fine. But if I see Johnny I'll leave.”, Ava said firmly and looked at her hands for a second. She really didn't want to attend another party where he was after the last time, even if it was years ago.

“He lives there, genius. Of course he will be there. But it will be fun, I promise. Maybe you could even use the chance to talk to-”

A glance of Ava cut her friends words off, holding her hands up in defeat.

“Fine. Or ignore him. Just come with me. I'll introduce you to some cool people, okay?”

The girl groaned until she gave in.

“Okay. I will be there. Mark probably wants to go too, anyway.”, Ava said and rummaged in her bag, trying to find her phone.

“Probably.”, Yunmi answered, seemingly uninterested if the boy would join them or not.

“Mh, can't find my phone.”, Ava muttered, unable to find anything in her bag anyway.

“Well, the bookstore is right next-door, I'll just ask him there. I think he's working.”, she looked to her best friend who seemed to have spaced out for a second.

“You join me?”, she asked, touching Yunmis hand for a second. Her best friend shook her head, smiling at her.

“No no, I need to take a nap and a shower before the party. Just, um, say hello from me, will you?”, Yunmi stood up, taking her jacket over her arm, helping to put the empty plates and cups on the empty counter.

“Yeah, sure. See you then.”, Ava said putting the rest of the plates on the counter, a bit surprised about the sudden haste her friend was in.

She sighed taking a look around the café once more before leaving it for the day. Ava tried her best to not overthink the whole situation and slowly walked to the next door on the street, leading into the small bookstore her younger brother worked at.

She strolled through the filled shelves, inhaling the magnificent scent of all the bound books walking up to her most favourite isle – old classics. Her fingers trailed over the spines, feeling their different textures. She used to read a lot, every week a new book in her hand, ready to savour it in just one sitting. Back then, it felt easy to just sit down, a book in her hands and shutting the world out completely, focusing only on the words forming these beautiful pictures inside her head, making all these thoughts haunting her in real life go away just like that. When did she lose this talent? Nowadays, she just couldn't get herself to actually read a book. She continues to buy them, placing them prominently on her nightstand, in hopes for her to just grab it in the evening but the pile of books just grew bigger and bigger over the weeks until she finally stopped to even buy them. She hoped to get back into her once most loved hobby. Even if it was just for a few minutes.

“Hey, didn't expect you to visit me.”, she heard Mark saying and turned around, a big smile on her lips.

“I wanted to surprise you, I've actually met with Yunmi. We had breakfast in the café next door.”, Ava answered and looked at her brother. She chuckled mildly. He looked so grown-up and mature in his plain black shirt with his round glasses on, his dark hair falling into his face. She realized how different he looked from the last time she saw him. Unbelievable that he was already 20 years old.

“Oh-Uh, yeah it opened up a few weeks ago. The owner is Jaehyun and Johnny's roommate.”, Mark said after he scratched the nape of his neck. “H-How's Yunmi? She alright?”, he asked casually while sorting a book from his hand into the shelv.

“Yeah, I guess. She said hello but had to rush home.”, Ava answered, shrugging her shoulders.

She eyed her brother and how he fumbled with the hem of his shirt, he seemed to want to say something but decided not to.

“Anyway.”, he exhaled loudly and cleared his throat before smiling at Ava. “I'm happy you're visiting. Want me to show you around? I mean you technically know it, though.”, her brother chuckled.

But as the good sister she is she nodded and let her brother show her all the different types of book they had and which authors occasionally came to give a reading. Seeing his eyes lighten up just by the name of  these authors made her heart melt. He explained passionately the several differences in their writing techniques and why they were his favourites. He told her how he fell in love with classic literature, especially romance and tragedy.

Ava listened to him swooning over different works and their means to past society, yet he even read modern novels. She looked at all the books, most of them she already read by herself when she was younger. She felt proud seeing him glowing up, doing what he loved without hiding.

“I just hope I'll be half as good as them.”, she heard her brother sighing when he put down the last book.

Ava put a hand on his slim shoulder and smiled at him warmly.

“I’m sure you will be. Trust me, I will be your biggest fan!”, she laughed and ruffled his hair, making him scrunch his nose before trying to fix his hair.

“Please. I appreciate the encouragement but it's still a long way. Plus mom and dad are still not very fond of the idea of me becoming an author. They think it's still a phase and that I will soon realize it's stupid and become a doctor like – well.”, he shrugged his shoulders before speaking out his thoughts.

Ava bit her lip. “I will tell them.”, she said, not believing her answer.

“When will you, though? I mean, I'm not pressuring you. I get it, it's hard but don't you think it will be even harder the longer it lasts? They're not stupid.”, Mark said looking at his sister, his eyes were filled with worry.

“I know. I'm just – imagine their disappointment. I need a plan, you know?”, she muttered, trying to avoid his gaze. She felt guilty for lying but she would feel even worse seeing the disappointment in her parents eyes when they realize she wasn't that perfect daughter they saw her as.

“Promise me you'll figure something out, okay? It's not healthy.”, he said, looking up when he heard the door open.

“Yes, I promise. Just give me some more time, will you?”, she pleaded at him, pouting as best as she possibly could.

“Sure.”, he rolled his eyes, sighing deeply before he put on a smile and waved at the new customer.

Ava turned around and saw two young men walking in.

“Hey guys, what are you doing here?”, Mark said and smiled, walking up to his friends.

Ava just sighed, silently asking the universe why it made life for her that hard.

“Hi.”, she just briefly said, trying not to look directly into Johnny's eyes. She even managed to ignore him and just gave Jaehyun a smile which he joined.

“Long time no see. You look good.”, Jaehyun said and brushed his hand briefly at her arm.

Ava chuckled, putting a strand of hair behind her ear.  “Thanks.”

She felt Johnny looking at her standing next to Jaehyun, eyeing both of them. Just like she wanted him to do.

“We're actually looking for books for the café. Taeyong wants to have some more for visitors to read.”, Johnny said after clearing his throat. Ava's eyes wandered to Johnny's just for a quick second but she already found herself being mesmerized by his presence once again. She liked the way he wore his black hair, the strands falling into his face just perfectly. Her gaze locked at his lips while he spoke with Mark about the books Taeyong wanted and even though the name still rang a bell in the back of her head she couldn't free herself from the way Johnny's lips moved. She knew how soft they felt, recognizing the feeling just too well.

Her thoughts moved back to that night like they always did and the urge to confront him about why he decided to let her hang like that grew stronger. She knew that it would probably was just a kiss for most people but for her it felt so differently. It was romantic and intimate, just how she imagined kissing him over and over again when she was younger. Plus, him declaring his feelings for her made that memory even more perfect. Yet, it all shattered when he ignored her.

She felt a hand on her back and then a breath at her ear, before Jaeyhun whispered

“You good?”

She felt the grin on his face when she rolled her eyes and nodded.

For a split second she saw how Johnny turned his head towards her, looking away just another second later, continuing to talk to Mark.

“Will you be at our place tonight?”, Jaehyun asked, not moving his hand from her back.

“I guess so. Yunmi asked me, too.”, Ava smiled at Jaehyun, wordlessly thanking him.

“Well, you can't say no now. I'd be happy if you came.”, he smiled at her paired with a short wink before laughing with her.

She heard Johnny clearing his throat and looked up to him.

“Anyway, we should head back to the café or Taeyong will be mad at us for leaving him alone for too long.”, he said while taking books off Mark's arms he seemed to have collected for them.

“Sure.”, Jaehyun said and smiled at the others, before looking down at Ava again. “See you tonight then, can't wait.”, he said, stroking her back slightly before leaving behind Johnny.

Ava felt her brother's piercing gaze on her back while she tried to look away, shrugging her shoulders.

“Stop staring at me like that.”, she hissed at Mark and rolled her eyes. She finally looked at him but he just shook his head, wanting to say something but all he did was open his mouth for a second before closing it again, raising both of his hands.

“None of my business.”

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Ava's head felt already heavy without any alcohol in it. She stared at the dark street in front of her, trying to concentrate on driving the car her parents gladly allowed them to use to drive to the party. Of course, she didn't even want to drink. She didn't even want to attend the party at all but she had to admit that she was curious – curious about how the people had changed, curious about how they'd behave and obviously curious about certain of these people whose names she didn't want to think about again.

Even when the last time she visited the house was three years ago she remembered the way so clearly as if she'd just was there yesterday. She took a glance at Mark who was sitting next to hear, looking out of his window, seemingly way up in his own thoughts she wished to read.

Ava sighed quietly, focusing her eyes on the street. She felt anxious about meeting all these people. No one knew about her not so graceful career, still thinking she studied medicine on some ivy league college back in the city everyone dreamed of living.  The thought of them asking all these questions she already had to answer her parents made her shiver. Maybe she should just hide in a closet until Mark wanted to go back home. Would be smarter than awkwardly running into someone again – once a day is enough.

Yet she took hours to get ready, carefully picking out an outfit, lipstick and the way she wore her hair,  trying to look casual but not too casual. The chance of running into him was just too high for her to not try to make herself look presentable.

The street got more narrow, leading into the woods where the house was.

“I still don't get why they're living in the woods.”, she sighed and looked at Mark for a second before driving on the long gateway leading to the house.

“Taeyong inherited it from his grandma or something.”, Mark answered, waking up from his thoughts.

Ava just nodded, already seeing some more cars and people standing outside. She couldn't see enough to look at their faces. The girl quickly parked the vehicle and stretched her arms once she got out, looking around. The late summer air was still warm and comfortable yet one could sense the upcoming autumn as some leaves slowly turned darker.

The siblings walked down the path leading to the entrance, which led to a huge front yard. It was lighted with small paper lamps, showing off some of the landscaping done. She even heard a fountain splashing somewhere. She looked around, not quite sure if she'd remember the place at all. The house was surrounded by a traditional stone fence and she wondered how old it was. Ava could already hear the people enjoying themselves, with loud music pounding in her ear.

From what she saw through the darkness and the sparse light the house itself looked huge enough to  probably fit a hundred people. The door was left open, shoes flooding the entrance area.

After bumping into dozens of people greeting her, smiling and waving she helplessly looked at Mark who was still right behind her looking for someone.

“You made it!”, Ava heard Yunmi screaming in her hear, an arm around her waist, pressing a kiss on her cheek. Ava could smell a note of alcohol in her friend's breath and chuckled.

“How much did you already drink?”, she asked but Yunmi waved her off, her gaze meeting Mark.

“Oh hi Mark. Nice to see you, how are you?”, she asked politely while resting her head on Ava's shoulder.

“Uhm, I'm good thanks. And you?”, he scratched is neck, looking away, probably trying to find his own friends.

“Life's great.”, she answered and laughed, removing her head from her friend's shoulder to take a sip from her cup, shaking it in front of Ava's face.

“Want something? I can totally mix you a drink.”

“No, thanks. I don't drink.”, she answered and smiled apologetic.

“I'm gonna look for Johnny. Hit me up when you want to go home, alright?”, Mark said and disappeared in the moving crowd of people.

“I take it you don't want to look for Johnny?”, Yunmi asked her friend, directly looking at her, rolling her eyes when Ava shook her head.

“Nope. So, who are these cool people you wanted me to get to know?”, Ava smiled.

Yunmi entangled her fingers with hers and dragged her through the crowd, brabbling something about a girl and a boy.

Not long after Ava spotted to semi-familiar people her friend shouted at. A girl with a black long bob smiled warmly and waved.

The boy, a bit shorter than her, with short black hair smiled and greeted her. “Ava, you must remember Ten and Sunhyung, right? We went to Highschool together.”, Yunmi introduced them but Ava wasn't exactly sure who they were. She barely remembered anyone from Highscool, though. At least not their names.

“We were in another class, though.”, Sunhyung chuckled.

“Nice to meet you. So what are you guys doing?”, Ava asked them.

“Well, we're actually officers right now. Ten is my partner.”, Sunhyung explained and smiled at Ten, who just nodded and raised his cup.

“Not on duty tonight, though.”, he winked and exed the rest of the liquid.

“Yunmi told me you're studying medicine? Pretty cool. How's life in the States? This town must bore you to death.”, Sunhyung chuckled and looked at her cup, seemingly disappointed that it was empty.

“I'm actually enjoying it. It's like a vacation.”, Ava answered and hoped no one would ask her to further elaborate on her studies, which weren't even real.

“I'd give everything to travel to a real city. The only “crimescenes” we're looking at are rather boring. It's mostly just noise disturbance or someone's speeding who isn't from here.”, Sunhyung rolled her eyes.

“Hey, last week we had one burglary!”, Ten protested.

“You mean the sixteen-year-old boy who stole some Vodka from the store? How exciting.”, his partner answered sarcastically and laughed.

“I need a refill, you want something?”, Yunmi asked in the group as she apparently spotted something at the bar which needed her attention.

Ten and Sunhyung both nooded eagerly. She didn't bother to look at Yunmi, knowing she'd say no anyway.

Ava's eyes followed her friend to the bar, by which a tall young men stood. She saw how Yunmi straightened her back and smiled at the guy, who she probably knew. Ava noticed how her friend pushed her long hair back and saw how her mouth formed into a laugh after the boy said something. Ava tilted her head, trying to figure out if the knew him or not. She would probably remember a guy like him. He was handsome, yet his face had something sheepish when he talked to Yunmi.

“That's Lucas.”, she heard Sunhyung say and snapped out of her thoughts, “He moved her two years ago. Always hangs out with Johnny and the rest.”, she added and Ava raised her brows. She was pretty sure she never saw or even heard of him before.

“I swear Yunmi has the biggest crush on him. Always swooning over his hands or something.”, Ava heard Sunhyung continue and asked herself why exactly her best friend didn't tell her anything about that guy.

“Well, quite obvious that they're flirting.”, Ten added and nodded.

“Yeah, I'm betting they end hooking up tonight.”, said Sunyhung.

“Never. Both won't make the first moves. They're flirting for months and nothing interesting happened.”, her partner replied.

“Got it in my guts. Tonight is the night.”, Sunhyung nodded with a stern voice.

“Pff, wanna bet? 50 they won't hook up.”, Ten chuckled.

“Make it 100.”, Sunhyung answered, looking at her partner while shaking his hand.

Ava's gaze meanwhile scanned the room for someone else. As if someone read her thoughts, Johnny came down the stairs with Mark right behind him.

Johnny's eyes met Ava's for a moment and she clenched her jaw. She noticed how he was moving towards her and how her heart began to beat faster in her chest.

“I'm gonna get some water or something. Be right back.”, she mumbled and quickly disappeared in the crowd, trying to keep herself as small as possible. Her eyes searched for a kitchen, which she finally found. Gladly, there weren't any people in it. Probably because the whole alcohol was at the bar and no one here wanted to drink something else.

She sighed and looked for a water bottle but all she saw were some empty cups.

“What are you looking for?”, she suddenly heard a way too familiar voice and turned around just to see Johnny standing in the door frame, a small smile on his lips.

“Just some water.”, she answered quietly, trying her best to look away from his dammed face. She saw how he moved next to her and opened a door next to her which apparently belonged to the fridge. Just a second later he handed her a bottle of cool water. Ava looked up and mumbled a quick thank you but it was enough to catch him smiling again, which made her heartbeat increase.

“I'm glad you came.”, Johnny said and leaned with his back against the door, looking down at her.

“Yunmi practically forced me to. It's nice, though.”, she answered, fumbling with the bottle in her hands, not sure what else to do with them.

Silence flooded the room and all the questions burned on her tongue. Taking a deep breath, she managed to look up at him, meeting his gaze. She locked her eyes with his for much longer as initially wanted and already felt how she got lost in his gaze just like everytime he looked at her.

He was handsome. His black hair messily falling into his face, his beautifully shaped lips curling upwards to form a small smile. Johnny's dark eyes seemed to look right through her.

“Can I ask you something?”, Ava finally found her voice and gulped, without breaking of the gaze.

“Anything.”, he answered, his voice unusual quiet.

“I need to know why you ignored me after that night.”

“What exactly do you mean?”, his brows furrowed.

“My last night here. You kissed me. You told me you'd call me the next day but you never did. And when I tried to reach out you simply ignored all my messages.” she sighed loudly, breaking their connection for a second, to gather her thoughts, “Seriously I felt so stupid. I still do.”

“Ava, listen, it's not what you think.”, she heard him answer and looked at his eyes once more.

“Then tell me, Johnny. Seriously. It's driving me insane.”, she pleaded, letting her arms drop in frustration.

Silence came up once more. The girl's frustration grew with any second passing by, not sure what she could say to finally get him to answer properly.

“I really thought about every single reason why you did that.”, she sighed, pain growing inside of her body, “And the only possible reason left is what you never liked me at all.”, she said, her voice just a small whisper, anxious about his answer.

“It's not that I don't like you. It's quite the opposite.”, Johnny said as she looked up at him again.

“I can't believe you.”, she sighed and furrowed her brows, thinking about his reasons why when he liked her.

“Listen, I'm sorry if I had hurt you but it's not that simple.”, he tried to explain but Ava just snorted and chuckled bitterly.

“Seriously just tell me directly into my face that I imagined all of that and that you're not interested. I'm not a kid and you're owing me that.” she answered, pressing her lips together.

“I can't tell you that because it would be a lie.”, now it was Johnny who sighed.

“It's the only possible explanation. Don't you want to tell me that you're not interested because you don't want to hurt me? Honestly, it would've hurt less if you'd just told me instead of ghosting me for years!”, her voice got louder such as her thoughts, which were going crazy inside of her head.

“That's not it.”, now frustration filled his voice as well. Ava looked into his face, seeing how he pushed his hair back, seemingly unsure about what to say.

“God, this is so stupid. I'm just gonna go.”, she dropped her arms in defeat, tired and annoyed. She didn't want to maintain this nonsense conversation when she wouldn't get a proper answer anyway.

Just when she wanted to move out of the door she felt Johnny's hand on her shoulder.

“Just – don't go, please.”, she heard him say and rolled her eyes.

“Then tell me why.”, as soon as she turned around she felt how Johnny laid his arms around her figure, pressing her against his chest softly.

“I'm sorry. I honestly am, please believe me.”, she felt how he buried his head in heir hair and wrapped her arms around his torso, her heart hammering loudly in her chest.

“I want to.”, she mumbled in the material of his black shirt and tightened her grip around him.

It felt unbelievably good to hug him, yet she still didn't get an answer from him, making her anxiety rise inside her body. She still didn't know why and the sudden touch confused her even more.

Ava started to wiggle when she realized her thoughts wouldn't shut up. Reluctantly, she looked up at him, loosening the hug a bit, yet not ready to let him go completely.

“This is confusing. I just want to know what's going on, please.” she pleaded once more, locking her eyes with his, just staring into them, trying to find answers.

She felt how Johnny moved one of his hands up her back, reaching her head, carefully putting one of her strands of hair behind her hear, his hand lingering on her cheek.

Her breath quickened when her eyes wandered over his face, absorbing every inch of it, until she stopped at his just perfectly shaped lips. She licked over hers, memories of how his tasted on hers flooded her mind. Her gaze went up again, meeting his once again that night.

The girl was once again hypnotised by his gaze, unable to look away this time.

Without further thinking about it, she put her hands on his neck and pulled him closer to her, to finally press her lips on his. His lips were just as soft as she memorized them, fitting on hers just as she remembered. The kiss was careful, still anxious about his reaction but when he actually pressed her closer to him, deepening the kiss her mind went completely blank.

Her eyes fell shut, her fingers slightly tightening on the back of his neck, trying to keep him even closer. Their lips moved in perfect sync, just as they belonged on each other. The girl cherished every second of it, how his hands cupped her face while one thumbs caressed her cheek, touching her so softly, as if she could break any second. The taste of his lips were sweet, she couldn't even taste a bit of alcohol, which ensure her that this was what he wanted.

As soft as the kiss was, she knew she wanted more. She needed more. After all these months of anxiety, pain and worry she finally kissed him again. Ava opened her mouth for him, allowing his tongue to play with hers, just like she always wanted to be kissed by him. Her fingers buried in his thick her, while his hands trailed down her body to rest on her hips.

Just before she could press her body closer Johnny pushed himself away, as if he'd burn himself.

Completely puzzled, the girl stared at him, not understanding what was going on.

“I can't. I'm sorry.”, she heard him say, his voice sounding strained, as he quickly ran out of the kitchen, leaving Ava alone once again.

She stared at her hands, her heart still beating fast, trying to catch her own breath. The girl felt how tears formed in the corners of her eyes and how her chest, which felt so light and carefree the other second, now felt like some heavy stone was laying on it, stealing her breath away. She had the sudden urge of fresh air and stumbled out of the kitchen, trying to leave everyone in that house behind her while not being seen. She couldn't manage to explain her situation to anyone. She wanted to be alone.

Ava breathed in the cold air and closed her eyes for a second, trying to get as much distance as possible between her and that house. She took a look at her smartphone to check the time but it wasn't even midnight yet, and she didn't want to be a killjoy and spoil Mark's fun. She made her way out of the garden and looked at the woods behind the property and stopped for a second. She heard how the wind whistled through the branches and how the leftover leaves trailed through the air. Her heart was still pounding in her chest, the latest event flooding her mind. This didn't make any sense to her. Why did he kiss her again? It wasn't just a casual kiss, she could feel that. And this time it wasn't her freaking imagination. The way he hold her and returned her kiss, the way he pressed her against his body – that wasn't imagination.

She actually believed him. She trusted his words yet he was acting like something completely different was on his mind and she just couldn't figure it out. Her thoughts went crazy and she felt how her throat got sore. Why did he stop when it felt so good? Any why did he leave her like that, not explaining his behaviour once again.

Ava kept going towards the trees, sometimes looking up at the sky which wasn't as clear as she thought. Thick black clouds were blocking the moon and stars and she sighed, yet it felt nice to move and properly breathe since the air in the house was muggy and way too hot. Or maybe it just felt like that to her. Her body felt exhausted, yet still full of adrenaline. What did she do wrong? Once again, she went through all the possibilities and couldn't get the hand of it. She didn't want to get hurt again by him, yet there she was. Feeling exactly the same as two years ago. It felt like some kind of absurd Deja Vu.

She flinched when she heard a loud crackle next to her and squinted her eyes, when she couldn't see anything. For a second, she thought someone was here, probably some drunk people enjoying themselves in the woods. She rolled her eyes and continue to stroll when she heard a noise again, but this time it sounded more like a hiss. Ava turned around, trying to see anything but it was too dark. Maybe some brainless jock saw her and tried to scare her.

Another crunching noise, this time right behind her, made her flinch once more, the hairs on her neck standing up. She felt her muscles tighten, when she turned around yet still no one was there. The girl looked a round several times, until she decided to head back to the house which she only saw in some distance thanks to the lights outside. Maybe she could just wait inside the car until Mark wanted to leave the party.

For a few seconds, it was silent again when she heard another noise, this time way closer to her, besides her.

Ava started to run, fear suddenly filling her body as her breath and heartbeat quickened, a feeling of danger flowing her body. The noises got louder, someone was definitely following her. She heard fast footsteps approaching her, whispers and hisses starting to echo inside her head, making her want to scream. She shook her head, trying to leave the voices behind but it was like they were just stuck, burying every other sound under it.

The blood pulsated in her head, breathing loudly. Sweat running down her forehead while her feet tried to run as fast as she could, yet she didn't seem to come any closer to the house.

A dark laugh suddenly appeared as she saw a black figure suddenly standing in front her, which made her stop in her steps, almost falling over.

She couldn't see a face, nor anything else which could possibly explain who it was. The figure took a stop closer to her, making her move backwards until her back met with once of the trees, the tree bark scratching her back uncomfortably.

The girl blinked once and the figure was gone, her blood still pulsating in her veins. She gulped, looking around before continuing to run in the direction she thought was the right one, while still turning her head every other second.

Suddenly she felt a breath on her neck, paired with a deep chuckle, making her stop in her tracks once more. She wanted to ask something, scream, anything but it felt like she suddenly had a lump in her throat. The voices inside her head growing louder and louder with each second passing by.

As soon as she wanted to start running again, a hand grabbed her wrist, forcing her to stand still. The grip was harsh and strong, not moving an inch even when she tried her best to wiggle her wrist free. She grunted and tried to take a look at the person behind her but she couldn't move at all.

“Oh no, you can't look at me. Not now, dear child.”, a voice said. It was more of a whisper than a real voice. The sound seemed hypnotic.

“There, there, hold still. Don't scream now.”, he said as she tried to wiggle herself free until her body stiffened. Suddenly, it was like all the noises she heard a second ago were gone. She didn't hear the whistles of the wind, the arches or their leaves. Nothing. It felt like the was in a vacuum, only the voice echoing in her head, telling her to hold still.

“You see, it's nothing personal.”, he continued and chuckled, sending shivers through her body.

“It's just, you got to understand that you're part of something bigger.”, she felt a hot breath on her neck again, making her want to scream but it felt like she lost her voice.

He heard him click his tongue, followed by a cold finger stroking over her neck.

“Such a  pity. So beautiful. I see what he's found in you, honestly. But, you know, sacrifices must be made. And such a pretty one.”, the voice continued.

Tears started to form in her eyes, rolling down her cheek, burning her skin. She didn't know what was going to happen but she felt afraid. More than that – she feared for her life. Something in his presence made her body fill with this primal fear.

“Oh, so pretty while crying, what a sight.”, a finger wiped one of her tears, chuckling mildly.

“You know, I like it when they scream. And now you need to scream, so he can hear you, you know?”, like a snap, Ava seemed to found her voice and screamed in a high-pitched voice.

Suddenly he let her go, making her stumble over her feet, her knees meeting the cold earth. She coughed while pulling herself up, commanding her body to start running again. When her feet started to move and her thoughts came back, the voices also did. They laughed at her in different tones, from every direction. It felt like a circle was around her, closing closer around her, laughing louder with every step she took.

Another desperate scream fell of her lips as she pressed her hands against her ears, trying to make the voices go but they got even louder, so loud she felt like becoming deaf. She couldn't even hear her own breath anymore, while tears ran down her face.

“It's so much fun to play, don't you think?”, she heard his voice echoing inside her head again, the screams suddenly disappearing.

“You know why? Because I always win.”, a chuckle echoed inside her head, turning into a loud laugh next to her ear.

“Maybe he'll find you, maybe he won't. I hope he does, otherwise it would spoil the fun.”, the voice added and she felt the grip on her wrist again.

“Ah, I'd really want to keep you for myself, such a shame.” he sighed, her body stiffen again, whilst she felt like choking, unable to bring out the slightest sound.

“It's nothing personal against you, my love. You just picked the wrong person to spend your time with, that's all.”

Her eyes widened in fear, her mouth suddenly hanging open without leaving a  sound when the world around her suddenly turned pitch black.

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masterlist

[sleephyjhs]

You Suffer with Anxiety (REACTION)

[ requested / masterlist ]

tw :: talks of anxiety throughout (no anxiety attacks)

KSJ

Whenever you felt unnecessary nerves beginning to build up within you, you took it upon yourself to prepare some tea. When you were diagnosed with anxiety as a teenager, one of the coping methods you discovered for yourself was hot drinks. The warmth from mugs somehow manages to calm you to a certain extent and steady your trembling hands.

Unknowingly to you, your partner Seokjin had easily picked up on your coping method. As you weren’t the biggest fan of caffeine, it always became apparent to him when your anxiety was particularly bad. He figured quickly that each period of anxiety was different from another and that there was no set way to help you. Any support you needed was completely in your control.

You felt sick. Anxiety never failed to strip you of your appetite. Jin would be home before long, and soon after he would begin to prepare a meal for the two of you. Everything he made in the kitchen always tasted incredible, but you always felt bad breaking it to him that you just weren’t in the mood to eat.

Soon enough, he came through the door and leaned over the armrest of the sofa to kiss your forehead, “What’s with the mugs? You never drink tea.” You shrugged, struggling to find the words, “Alright, what’s going on?”

Seokjin crouched at your head and held contact with your eyes. Only then did it occur to you that he’d figured you out, “My anxiety is pretty bad today. I don’t know why. I feel like I can’t eat, sleep, breathe-“

“Woah, it’s alright! We don’t have to eat or sleep right now. We can talk through some things if you’d like?” You shook your head. Talking about what was wrong made you feel even worse about it, “Well then, all I can offer is to leave you alone, or just.. hold you?”

Physical contact and your anxiety could often be a hit or miss, but that evening, it seemed right to you. You raised your torso from the couch to let Seokjin slide underneath and embrace you on his lap, “You don’t have to tell me anything, but I promise I’ll help you as much as I can, alright?”

MYG

The single most thing you hated about anxiety was its unpredictability. You’d experienced first hand how it easily ruined long-standing plans and disabled you from living the packed lifestyle you once did.

Everyone had different standards for being at their ‘worst’. For you, when the concept of leaving your bed became overwhelming, it signalled to you that perhaps you should take each day a bit slower.

You had felt Yoongi leave the bed early that morning for rehearsals, but as he kissed your cheek as a goodbye, you had pretended to remain asleep. Looking him in the eye would have certainly caused you to burst into tears, and the last thing you wanted to do was make him late.

While Yoongi was gone, you had chosen to stay in bed. All the premonitions you had told you that your legs weren’t strong enough to carry you anywhere else. Collapsing wasn’t on your agenda. You tried music and television, even reading. Nothing helped. You needed company. You needed to know you weren’t alone.

When the clock turned 9pm, you began to count down the minutes. He hadn’t rung to alert you he was staying later, so before long, Yoongi would be home. As you raised yourself from lying down, your stomach growled at the lack of food you had given yourself.

In all honesty, comfort food was what you really needed. Nobody made bulgogi like Yoongi. Mist of your willpower to get through the day was knowing he was treating you to your favourite when he returned home.

As you lost track of minutes, the bedroom door pushed open gently. A blur of black hair and pale skin peeked through the crack, before emerging to reveal a concerned boyfriend, “One of those days?” You nodded sullenly as he paced towards you, “Have you actually gotten out of bed today?”

“Maybe once or twice. I just feel weak.” He folded a wavy piece of hair behind you ear and offered you his hand, glossing over your pale knuckles.

“Would food help?” You nodded before Yoongi could finish his short question, “Come on then, let’s get you sorted out.” He linked your left arm in his right, and held you steadily to guide you downstairs, grasping your hand particularly to let you know he was still there.

JHS

After a year of being with Hoseok, it was finally time for him to embark on another world tour. Because of your job, you were unable to join him as much as he would have liked, which in turn caused you a decent amount of anxiety. Travelling worried you sick, and so the thought of your partner travelling was almost paralysing.

Without realising it, you sat in the artist lounge with Hoseok biting and peeling skin away from the edge of your nail. You couldn’t help it, it was just a nervous habit. As he waited for his turn to record for the new album, all the possibilities of things going wrong on an international trip played through your mind.

It wasn’t your job to mother him, you knew that well. Hoseok didn’t even know about your worries. Your concern stemmed simply from your own anxiety, and you quickly realised there was nothing you could do to stop it.

“Ah, fuck!” In the meanwhile of chewing on your fingers, you forgot to take notice of how hard you clenched your teeth, resulting in you biting more than you had anticipated.

“What happened?” Hoseok asked, drawing his eyes over to you, where you caressed a now bleeding finger, “Oh my god, let me get you a plaster.”

“No, it’s alright. It’s just a nervous habit,” you convinced him, sucking the small droplets from your tiny wound. In his silence, you gazed up to see Hoseok more confused than you ever had before, “Sometimes when I get anxious I bite my nails.”

You dreaded this moment, but after asking you what you were worried about, you confessed your anxieties about his upcoming travels, “I know saying this might not help but you really don’t have to worry, jagi. It’s safe! And you don’t have to worry about being alone either. I can always fly you out if you feel a bit left out.”

KNJ

Namjoon carried through a glass of cold water, watching you and your shaking frame more than the glass itself. After an hour of persistant crying and breathlessness, you had come to a somewhat peaceful state. Although you were calm, you still felt uneasy and unstable, which you were hoping some comfort from your partner might help.

“Just take it easy. There’s no rush for anything right now.” Namjoon urged as he placed the glass on the coffee table. You’d been sat on the hardwood floor for too long, but you couldn’t bring yourself to move. Not even support from another person could make you strong enough.

Sure enough, Namjoon places himself next to you on the floor and slipped an arm around your trembling shoulders. You were thankful that skinship was something you both enjoyed, “You don’t need to tell me what’s wrong. If you want to, we can talk about it if you’d like. Or we could sit here. Or do anything you’d like to do.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong, Joonie. That’s the problem. I don’t know.” You explained, your voice still shaky from the previous troubles, “Nothing’s straightforward-“

“Hey! Hey, it’s okay. It’s okay not to know what’s going on up there. Main point is, you’re safe right now. That’s all that matters.”

You paused in your thoughts for a moment to absorb the gentle comfort Namjoon’s presence gave you. Even his physical warmth made you feel better in one way or another. You didn’t want to turn him away. You needed him.

“Let’s just sit for a while. Is that okay?” Namjoon nodded and nestled his fingers between yours. Without realising, the pair of you began to rock slowly back and forth. In that moment you felt content. Still not fine, but just content.

PJM

As soon as he felt your hand begin to sweat in his, Jimin was unable to resist checking up on you. Walking around the city was something you did together regularly, but often the large morning crowds were enough to overwhelm you.

“Can we sit down for a minute somewhere?” Without needing to ask any more, Jimin led you into the next coffee shop along (which thankfully, was quite drained for the capital’s morning rush) and found you a table in a far corner where music was drowned and company was scarce.

“Usual?” He checked, before strolling to the counter to place your order. Unable to focus on the muffled commotion by the door, you rested your forearms on the table and leaned over your elbows, steadying yourself from your trembling limbs.

Although you hadn’t looked up to witness, Jimin was unable to take his eyes off you. It was endearing how much Jimin cared about you and how much he continued to demonstrate his love. What he wouldn’t tell you is that he also worried about you. A lot more than he’d ever admit to.

Before long, he carried over to you your regular tea and his iced americano and settled it between your still shaking hands, “Take your time. We have time to calm down and sit for a while. Talk to me. Talk to me about anything.”

Only blank thoughts filled your mind. You felt nothing but guilt towards your partner, “I’m sorry. I never mean to do this.”

“You don’t need to apologise, my love. I know crowds aren’t your best friend. You’re okay with me, I promise you.” His words came as a great comfort, but the regret that came woth ruining what was a perfect morning walk was unbearable, “We can chill out here for a while? Karaoke, park, cinema. Today’s all about you, okay?”

KTH

You’d never realised it, but your anxiety had led you to develop some habits that for your partner, Taehyung, had become more like warning signals.

Mental health was a struggle you had opened up to him early in your relationship. You knew that sometimes your behaviour could alert other people, and the last thing you wanted to do was make it seem like he made you uncomfortable or that you didn’t want to be there. Explaining that your expressions or habits were sometimes ahead of you came to be of benefit.

When you entered the dining room, you ignored Tae’s greeting and sat beside him. Withdrawing from conversation was an indicator of your anxiety, and so he turned off his tablet to focus on trying to talk to you, “How is everything?”

You could hear him perfectly well, but talking to him would surely induce your tears. Instead, he laid his hands out on the table. Without hesitation, you grabbed onto him.

Ignoring him was the last thing you wanted to do. In fact, you felt as though you desperately needed him. However, you didn’t want to break down in front of him, he shouldn’t have to see that, “I’ll listen to whatever you want to talk about.”

A few seconds of Tae caressing your hand pulled a tear from your eye, and within seconds, you were deep into his embrace, “I’m sorry. This is so pathetic.” You weeped in between deep breaths.

“No, it isn’t. Let’s go up to bed and get more comfortable, yeah? I’ll keep you company.”

JJK

Jungkook has been stroking your hair for the past half hour as you wound down by watching an animation film. After an anxiety attack, going back to a comfortable memory could help you sometimes. Cuddling with Jungkook only helped you to feel even better.

His gentle hand running through your hair was hypnotic and you were close to falling asleep. Something stopped you. Something was still playing on your mind.

“Jungkook?” You turned your head upwards to search for his brown bambi eyes. His small almond eyes were framed by raised eyebrows. He was listening, “I think I need to get help.”

“What do you mean?” He asked, twirling loose ends of your hair around his fingertips. You readjusted your twisted body to cause less strain on your neck and held eye contact with your partner.

“Like professional help. I can’t go on with this anxiety, it’s too much.” Jungkook nodded along with your narration, “Do you think they’d see me?”

“They can’t turn away somebody who asks for help, surely. And if for whatever reason they do, I’ll make sure we find someone who will work with you.” He moved his thumb over to your cheek, where your dried tears had created a rubber-like layer of skin.

“You don’t have to do that, really.”

“But I want to. I can’t help as much as a professional can, and I want you to feel better in your own skin. I really do, angel.”

[putschki1969]

質問コーナー第２弾！『みんなの質問に答えるよ！〜その②〜』 Question Corner 2! 『Answering everyone’s questions ～ Part 2 ～ 』

Sorry, this is quite late. I was super busy. Either way, here we have another cute as hell and quite informative Q&A video. I am loving these SO MUCH.

❗Please support Wakana❗ ❗Join her Fan Club❗ ❗Read my TUTORIAL here❗

All you need is a proxy service like TENSO and a credit card. PLEASE consider joining! Wakana is providing so much awesome content. It’s totally worth the annual membership fee of 4.000 yen! I want to motivate people to join Wakana’s fan club so I will not share the content publicly. However, I really don’t like withholding content so I will resort to the following plan 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→ 👉LIKE and REBLOG my posts about Wakana’s fan club content 👉Leave a REPLY explaining why you currently cannot join the fan club / If you have already done this, just say you would like to receive a link 👉I will send you a Google Drive link via direct message 👉DO NOT SHARE the link or its content anywhere

Find a detailed summary of the video below the cut 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

This is actually part 2 of her “question corner”. Find part 1 HERE. She couldn’t answer all the questions in her last video and since then she has also received a bunch of new questions so she will be answering a mix of old and new questions in this video. She doubts she will get through all of them but she is gonna do her best and try.

Question 1: What kind of drinks does she drink often? The fan wants to know if she is team!tea or team!coffee etc. Actually, she mostly drinks water and she aims for around 2 litres a day. She even has a big pitcher which she prepares in the morning and she checks at night whether or not she managed to finish it. And she always brings water with her when she goes out. In the morning she will always drink a big cup of hot black coffee. She will take her time drinking it (it usually takes her around an 1 hour to finish). She won’t drink coffee at any other time of the day because she doesn’t think it’s good for her to have so much caffeine. If anything, she will drink some tea during the day with little to no caffeine.

Question 2: What are her favourite/most beloved kitchen utensils? She doesn’t really use a lot of stuff to cook or any special items. However, there is one thing she can’t live without, and that’s her wooden spatula. She got this from her mum. She had always used plastic spatulas in the past but she didn’t feel they were working very well and they always got burned from the heat in the pan so one day her mum recommended a wooden spatula and from then onwards she has never looked back.

Question 3: What is she doing while on the train? Wakana easily gets motion-sickness so for example when she checks her phone, she might start to feel sick. That’s why she always tries to keep her head straight, even when she looks at her phone. That might look a little awkward to some people. Her personal trainer also recommended that she should make sure to look at the things that are right in front of her in her line of sight. It’s very exhausting for the eyes to look down or up so everyone should make sure to look straight ahead most of the time. It’s a little hard for Wakana to do that because obviously she doesn’t want people to think she is staring at them but somehow she manages XD She tries to focus on random items or she looks out of the window at the scenery/sky.

Question 4: What kind of music is being played at her home? She doesn’t really listen to music in her house. She mostly spends her time watching films and TV shows on Netflix and other streaming services. Other than that she doesn’t like to have any background noises in her home. If she checks her recordings or does other work related stuff she will use headphones

Question/Suggestion 5: Why doesn’t she try and carry her portable fan on a belt or something? She has previously talked about her struggles with carrying her fan. She loves it and wants to bring it with her everywhere she goes but it’s quite big and heavy so she never knows what to do with it. That’s why the fan suggests she should try carrying it on a sort of belt. Wakana has actually thought of something that’s quite similar to that idea. Her very own invention so to speak XD. She takes a tiny crossbody back and puts the fan inside so it sticks out a little. This way she can turn it on and the fan can do its work and keep her cool. She could also try putting it in her jeans pocket

Question 6: What is her favourite kind/taste of cup noodle? She doesn’t really eat cup noodles but during the stayhome period she has discovered a cup noodle with a soy-tonkotsu broth that only has half the calories of a normal cup. She couldn’t help but buy it and she actually quite liked it.

Question 7: Among all Ghibli characters, who would she choose as “lover”, “friend”, “senpai” and “idol”? Wakana LOVES this question. She is super excited to answer. Lover = Seiji Amasawa from Whisper of the Heart (she actually has many guys she would like to have as her lover, Ashitaka from Princess Mononoke is one of her faves too); Friend = Kiki from Kiki's Delivery Service; Senpai = Dola from Laputa: Castle in the Sky; Idol = Nausicaä from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Question 8: What does she use to wash her clothes? For her laundry she uses Lavons Le Linge (Floral Chic). And a friend recommended the detergent gel balls from Bold (Platinum Rose) so she is using that as well. She keeps singing/singing the “Bold” commercial slogan. So cute! She puts the ball into the washing machine and then adds all her laundry. One is more than enough for a nice fragrance. However, the smell is quite overpowering so she prefers to use it for towels and such. She would rather not step out of the house or into a train smelling like she bathed in a pot of Bold

Question 9: Which books has she been reading recently? She hasn’t had the time to read actually. Too busy editing all of her videos XD [Note: Poor baby, I hope she is not overdoing it. All this filming and editing must be SUPER hard and tiresome] She has been really into magazines though (like the fashion magazine Gisele). She has been especially passionate about indoor plant magazines (such as Elle Decor) to get inspiration.

That’s it for this video. Once again she wasn’t able to answer all the questions. She will do a part 3 in the future so everyone please be patient. Also, she has set an uploading schedule for herself. She will upload a new video on days with a 7 (so either the 7th, the 17th or the 27th of a month). She likes the number 7 (also, in Japanese 7 = nana => WakaNA). So everyone, please think of Wakana whenever there is a day with a 7 ^_^ Official Wakana Video Day! She will most likely upload a video on that day (there might be some exceptions though).

[rhinoswriting]

A Life On The Road - Part 4 (A Luke Hemmings FanFic)

Overview: Elizabeth and Calum have been best friends since they were 15/14 respectively. Elizabeth is from and lives in the UK, but her family lived in Sydney for a brief 2 year period which is how the two met.

With 5SOS embarking on their biggest and most ambitious world tour to date, Cal has invited Elizabeth along to work as a photographer/content creator for their social media. This is in the hopes that travelling with them will help Elizabeth achieve her dream of becoming a full-time travel writer.

Elizabeth is acquainted with the rest of 5SOS but doesn’t know them tremendously well. Obviously that changes as they are all forced to be in one another’s company for the duration of the tour. As the tour progresses and new friendships blossom, Elizabeth feels the connection between her and Luke grow more and more.

A/N: Picking up in Paris. There’s drinking and swearing in this one.

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

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

“That was genuinely one of the best meals I’ve ever had.” Michael announced as we exited the restaurant.

“It was incredible! I’m still so jealous of your main though, Mikey. Like, mine was good but I should have got the same as you.” I replied.

“So where to next? The night is still young and we have no obligations before tomorrow’s soundcheck.” Ashton asked the group.

A bar was obviously the unanimous decision. But I did convince them to walk aimlessly until we found a bar. That way we could see some of the landmarks lit up and I could get some content both for the band insta and to go alongside any Paris articles of mine that got picked up.

“I’m going to have my work cut out topping these,” I told the guys as I reviewed the short series of photos I had just taken of them by The Louvre, “So I think that counts as me done for the night. Time to find the nearest baaarrrr!”

It didn’t take long to find a bar. It also didn’t take long for us to all have a cocktail glass held in each hand. While the meal was excellent, it was quite a posh place, something none of us were exactly used to. This bar felt much more like our kind of place. It was time to really relax and have fun as nothing more than a group of friends.

In terms of music it was a bit hit and miss as to whether or not we knew the song playing. While that stopped us singing, it never stopped us from dancing. Also, not being familiar with a song was an excellent opportunity to get the next round of drinks in.

“Hurry up! I don’t have a good grip on these! Quick! Take your fucking drinks!” I yelled as I returned from the bar doing my very best to carry five glasses.

“Thanks, EP!” Cal shouted back as he took two glasses from me, passing one on to Michael.

“TO EP FOR ADDING MORE FUN, AND RIGHT NOW DRINKS, TO TOUR AND BEING A STEP CLOSER TO ACHEIVING HER DREAMS!” Ashton called as he raised his glass into the air for a toast.

“TO EP!” The four of them shouted as they clinked their glasses together.

“You guys are too much at times,” I laughed, “But thank you very much none the less.”

With that slightly embarrassing moment of attention out the way we got back to dancing and sipping on our drinks. After a few songs Cal excused himself to the smoking area. Not long after he’d gone Michael went up to the bar as it was his turn to buy the round, leaving just me, Luke and Ash dancing in a little triangle of space. That was until Live In The Moment by Portugal. The Man started playing. 

As soon as we recognised the song Luke gave me a knowing look as I exclaimed ‘As if!’ because only hours ago in that random little coffee shop had we bonded over our mutual current obsession with the song. From that point until the song faded into the next Luke and I were solely focussed on one another as we passionately sang the lyrics at each other and let the beat draw our drunk, dancing bodies closer together in the already small space. 

Without even realising it we became only inches apart, loudly singing into each other’s faces with our drink-free hands moving between air punches, waves and resting on each other (his hand on my waist, mine on his shoulder). And then far too soon the song was over.

“That’s officially made my night,” I declared as I took a step back and downed what remained of my drink, “That was the best coincidence ever.”

“I think that just became our song.” Luke smiled down at me while pushing a few curls back out of his face.

“Are you fucks going to take your drinks now? Because I’m 30 seconds away from drinking them.” Michael somewhat playfully asked, pulling the two of us out of our bubble.

It wasn’t long after taking our drinks from Michael that Mr. Brightside came on and the five of us went mad for it on the dancefloor. And it turned out that, just like a multitude of other clubs I’d been to, Mr Brightside was a subtle signal that closing time was fast approaching. After the two songs that followed, the music stopped and the house lights came on.

“Boooo!” We all declared, clearly not ready for the night to be over just yet.

We collected our jackets from the cloakroom as we were ushered out into the cold Parisian night air with the rest of the crowd. Once out on the street we checked the time for the first time in hours. Realising it was 3:05am and nowhere else was likely to still be open we began our walk back to the tour bus.

It may seem strange to say, but drunk walks home at the end of a night out are one of my favourite things in the world. I get such a feeling of togetherness when I’m laughing and slightly staggering down the street with friends. It always makes me feel like I belong. And semi-lost under the streetlights of Paris I had that feeling of belonging wash its warmth over me. I took two large steps to catch up with Cal and looped my arm through his, 

“I so fucking glad I’m here. Thank you so much for being my best friend. And thank you for having bandmates that are so easy to get along with.” I told Cal as I placed my drunk, sleepy head against his arm as I wasn’t quite tall enough to reach his shoulder.

As Cal and I continued our drunk heart-to-heart we absentmindedly followed the other three in what we hoped was the direction of the tour bus. Seeing as we hadn’t been paying much attention to them and their antics, it was a bit of a surprise to hear Ash shout “Smile!” at us. Thankfully we were quick enough to pose. 

The result was a pretty cool photo of us, arms still linked, pulling tongue-out faces while flipping the camera off. I asked Ash to send it to me, edited it a bit and kept it in my Insta drafts for review and posting in the morning. By the time I’d done this, we’d managed to find our way back to the bus. Once we all piled in we promptly collapsed in our bunks for what remained of the night.

*

The next day was actually quite a relaxed one for me by touring standards.

I was woken up by Michael repeatedly prodding my upper arm. Once I stirred and opened one eye to find him there, he let me know that Ashton had gone and done a coffee run and mine was waiting for me in the kitchen area. Begrudgingly I got up, because I knew the caffeine would do me good, and I also really needed painkillers for my head. As I padded into the bus’ kitchen area in my XXL tee I saw that the guys were looking just as rough as I felt and probably looked too.

“Thanks for the coffee, Ash.” I said as I picked up the cup with my name on, “I don’t suppose there’s any painkillers on this bus?”

“Got some on my coffee run. Here you go.” Ash responded handing me the small rectangular box.

“You lifesaver.” I said taking the box and settling down on the small sofa next to Luke who was barely awake.

As everyone was pretty hungover we didn’t talk much. We just sat in a comfortable silence while we waited for the caffeine to kick in. 

The silence was finally broken by Lou getting onto the bus and letting the four guys know it was soundcheck in 30 minutes. This prompted them to go and change out of their joggers and freshen up a bit. As they did so I dug out my laptop, charger and notebook from my bunk in order to set up a temporary desk at the kitchen booth’s table and get some work done.

After two hours I’d managed to finish, proof read and send off my article on Glasgow to ELLE; as well as flesh out two article ideas for Paris. Pleased with what I had achieved in that time, despite my headache only being dulled slightly by the painkillers, I took a break. 

Predictably, after making some instant mug ramen, I ended up on Instagram; which was when I remembered the photo in my drafts from last night. I clicked onto it and saw drunk me had gone a bit too far when altering the brightness and warmth of the photo. Once I had edited them down and was pleased with how it looked, I tapped out the caption “Two of a kind!” with the emoji of the two dancing girls at the end, tagged Cal and hit ‘Post’. Not quite ready to go back to work, I decided to get dressed and head into the venue to see what the guys were up to.

The guys were just finishing up the meet and greet, so I hopped round to the front of the venue and gave some of the roadies a hand with prepping the t-shirts and hoodies into piles by size at the merch booth. In between pile sorting, Lou appeared to let us know the boys were in Dressing Room 4 doing radio interviews over the phone and to avoid that area of the venue until they were done. Not knowing when exactly that would be, I headed back to the bus once the merch had been sorted and video called Drew.

“Work is so shit without you. Your replacement sucks too.” Drew complained.

“Aww I’m sorry, Drew! Have you heard back from the other firm you applied to?”

“No, not yet. But I should hopefully within the next week. I can’t survive much longer with these people. How’re you surviving on the road?”

“Really well actually! Not to rub it in or anything.” I laughed.

As I was divulging into some of the details and anecdotes I heard someone slapping their hands along the length of the bus as they approached the door.

“Oh. It sounds like I’m going to have to go.” I managed to say before the door opened and Luke stepped onto the bus, “Adios. I’ll call you again soon.”

“Oh shit, sorry, I didn’t realise you were on the phone.” Luke apologised as he caught the tail-end of my conversation, “We’re all just chilling in the main dressing room now, so I said I’d come and find you.”

“Let me grab my camera gear and I’ll be right with you.” I told him while shimmying out of the booth at the front of the bus.

After a few wrong turns backstage, which resulted in a game of Marco Polo between Luke and Michael as a way to guide us the right place, we were back into our comfortable evening routine. They got prepped and hyped up and I documented it with my camera. That evening I took each of them down the hall to a really cool, cobalt blue door I’d spotted for some solo shots. Luke, taking the longest to decide on his stage outfit for the night, was the last of the four I photographed.

“That red silk shirt was such a good choice.” I complemented him as I held my eye up to the viewfinder, “It contrasts this cobalt door so well. And the two together really bring out your eyes.”

“He doesn’t need a bigger head than he’s already got!” Cal called playfully down the corridor.

Luke let out his infectious giggle and I seized the opportunity to grab another photo while chuckling myself. It was a great photo. Such a pure moment captured. I almost didn’t want to share it on their social media, but I knew that was a foolish, and not to mention selfish, thought.

Not long after that the guys were called to the stage. I took my place side of stage and ritualistically fist bumped each of them as they took to the stage for another amazing show. I felt I had already got enough content while in Paris, so I chose to just enjoy the performance instead of worrying about shots and footage. It was the first time I had let myself do so on this tour and I had a blast.

“It looked like you were having a good time tonight.” Cal later remarked when we were all back on the bus and on the road to Brussels. 

“Don’t tell Lou, but I sort of let myself take tonight off shooting to enjoy the gig as I already have so much Paris content.” I confessed as I reclined on the sofa in the lounge at the back of the tour bus.

“Your secret is safe with us.” Cal reassured with a wink, before taking the final swig that remained in his beer bottle, “Right you fucks, I’m off to bed. See you in Brussels.”

Not long after, Mike and Ash made their way to their bunks as well. This left just Luke and I chilling in the back lounge. As he was scrolling through Netflix looking for a film to put on, I asked him, 

“Are you not shattered too?”

“Eh,” He shrugged, “A bit, yeah. But I always have trouble sleeping. Plus after our drunk chat the other night I’d like to hang out with you more, and I seem to only really get the chance at night.”

“I’m not going to argue with that.” I responded while draping a blanket over my shoulders as the opening credits to Groundhog Day began. After a pause I continued, “We can hang out during the day you know. Like take a break and grab lunch or something. Hey, why don’t we do the coffee run together tomorrow? That’ll be an opportunity to hang out.”

“I’d like that,” He smiled, and then tugged a little at the blanket, “Don’t go hogging all the blanket.”

I released my grip on the blanket, allowing Luke to drape it over himself as well. The added warmth of his body next to mine made me feel even cosier and it wasn’t long before I nodded off to sleep.

The tour bus abruptly coming to a stop a few hours later managed to rouse me from my slumber. As my eyes fluttered open, the rest of my body registered that I wasn’t in my bunk, or even laying down, and that the warm thing my head was on smelt very good. Once my eyes were open and no longer fuzzy with sleep I realised that I had fallen asleep during the film, as I was still sat on the lounge’s U-shaped sofa. Luke must have fallen asleep at some point during the film too, as the nice smelling thing my head was resting on was his shoulder, and I could feel his head resting gently on top of mine as he snored softly.

“Wake up. Hey, Luke. Wake up, “I prompted as I gently shook his thigh, “I think we’re in Brussels.”

[silverdaddyrdj]

Imagine: Veteran lawyer Hank Palmer wants to spoil you rotten but you’re unsure about the idea. But, he’s persistent and can put up a very good argument. 

Rating: Explicit/18+ (you shouldn’t be on this blog if you’re below 18, anyway)

Request your imagine headcanons and we will write a little something for you. And you get a bonus silver daddy picture to go with it. :)

"Anything you want, sweetheart. And I mean anything."

His voice is silky, playful, and he knows you're caught, like prey, in the carefully spun webs of his charm.

It started three weeks ago at the local café, where you stood waiting for your morning coffee. You checked and rechecked your watch, and willed for the line to move faster, but it didn't budge. If looks could kill, the cashier and the four people in front of you would've died on the spot.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, you picked up your coffee and prepared to dash to your office across the street. If you timed it right, you could slide into the conference room just before the San Francisco office dialled in. You prepared to sprint, but, clearly, fate had other plans. Just as you were about to run out of the café, you bumped into a solid mass of designer suit and expensive cologne that reminded you of spotless sandy beaches and calm, clear ocean hundreds of miles away from the busy morning rush of Chicago. That's when you felt the warm dampness spreading down your front — the content of your cup was mostly on the ground, but it was also staining the beige top you wore, primed and ironed for the meeting.

"Fucking asshole," you said before you could stop yourself, and the hand holding out a silk napkin before you froze.

"I'm so sorry."

You looked up, ready to give the offender a piece of your mind for ruining your morning. But, you caught yourself in time and the words froze at the tip of your tongue. Later that night, you swore to your sister that you had seen the most beautiful pair of eyes ever known to man — and its owner, the apologetic culprit who spoilt the start of your day, wasn't all that bad. After all, he had graciously accepted your apology for the caffeine-deprived outburst and offered to pay for the dry cleaning bill.

That's how you agreed to meet him for a drink. You had gone to the pub intending to make up for your lack of manners and end the encounter on a friendly note because Chicago has an uncanny ability to appear very small sometimes. In your line of work — you’re a corporate lawyer at an investment bank — you deal with jocular finance bros all day, and almost everyone knows everyone else. And judging by the man's outward appearance — hand-cut suit, leather shoes, silver-dotted wavy hair that begged for your fingers — you had assumed he was someone important. But all of your strategic calculations went out the door that night, when, after three drinks, you tumbled into your queen-sized bed with him, your fingers in his hair, his lips on your thighs.

                                                              ***

You shift in bed, a solid mass pressing into your back. He traces a finger along the side of your ear, down the column of your neck, coming to rest on your bare chest. You're pleasantly sore and aching all over, and there are at least a handful of bruises on your skin — he's an attentive lover; last night, he broke down your defenses with methodical precision, tearing away at your sense of propriety as he left you squirming under the firm weight of his body, awash with such overwhelming pleasure that you didn't give a single fuck if your next-door neighbours heard you as you screamed, begged and urged him, your voice straining, to go harder, to push deeper, to take his pleasure from the dripping warmth between your legs. And, he obliged. 

"Well?" he nudges, resting his chin on your shoulder, his hands drawing circles around your navel. "You've gone quiet."

You try to pull away from him, but only half-heartedly, and he doesn't appear to be in a hurry to let you go. The two of you stay entangled in a heap of limbs and skin, in need of a shower and some concealer to cover up the secret you've chosen to keep from your friends.

It's complicated, you've argued, as you debated telling them the truth after he had left at the crack of dawn on your first night together. He's an influential man, you've got your own career ambitions; he's almost twice your age, never married, and avoids the topic of past dalliances. He isn't even interested in your history of failed or mismatched relationships, and yours lean more towards physical gratification. 

You've been meeting him whenever work lets you both escape for a brief time. It’s one of the upsides of having your office be less than a block from his. He takes you to lunch, you flirt with him over texts when you’re back at your desk, you both grab quick dinners from nearby restaurants. The nights end like clockwork: With him in your bed, climbing on top of you, or sometimes you’re straddling him, or he’s bending you over the chaise, pressing you into the wall, taking you against the floor-length window or by the door; he’s all over you, inside you, rocking your world, like clockwork. You enjoy the routine and he's adaptive enough that it doesn't feel monotonous. 

But you've still been wary about where this ends up — as much as the two of you connect physically, you've noticed his aloofness when he isn’t in bed trying to make love to you. Both of you roam in different social circles; he likes rock concerts, you prefer off-Broadway theatre; he plays golf on weekends, you're at Wrigley Field screaming your lungs out; he knows every Michelin star chef in town, you love Chinese takeaway from the shop three blocks from your apartment.

                                                             ***

You sigh. He's waiting for an answer. "I think it's a little weird," you say, finally, and it earns a soft-bellied chuckle from him. He looks cute when he laughs, it brings out the dimples on his cheeks. "Look," you say, gesturing around, "all this is great. The sex is definitely amazing but I can't accept gifts like this. It's too much."

"Can't a man spoil his lover?" he asks, and there's such an infuriating innocence in his tone, you can't bring yourself to call him out on the hint of cockiness in his statement.

Instead, you shake your head and this time, when he leans in for a kiss, you pull away and turn sideways so that you're both facing each other directly. You press a palm against his cheek and say, "As much as anyone in my place would be thrilled to have someone pamper them, I can't just spend your money so recklessly because you're telling me to." You hold up a hand when he looks like he's about to protest. "Let's do a trade-off. I'll let you buy me something nice like you want just this once if you let me take you out to a fancy dinner tomorrow like I’ve been wanting to. It’s only fair I get to spoil you rotten too once in a while."

He considers the proposal and smirks. "Deal."

It takes you another hour to get dressed, after both of you get carried away in the shower, where he has you pressed against the glass, your legs quivering as the pleasure drags on, setting your nerves on fire. He doesn’t stop moving when your body tenses up for the second time and it knocks the breath out of your body; you hold him like both of your lives depend on it. You clench down hard around him and he moans, his thrusts finally faltering and pushing him over the edge.  

                                                             ***

You end up spending the afternoon along the Magnificent Mile and you're impressed — for years, you've walked past the glass facades and fancy storefronts, admiring the catalogue of colourful designer bags, shoes and clothes on display, straight off the runway, sometimes, but you have always known any one of those items can do some serious damage to your bank balance. He seems to know every store attendant by name and they appear almost reverential in his presence. As the afternoon progresses, your resolve starts to crumble and every time you give in, he triumphantly, and with genuine delight, hands over his credit cards.

After your seventh purchase of the day, having spent at least a year's worth of rent in the city, you call it quits. He looks disappointed, like a kid who's just been told no, but at least he offers to put the bags in the car. That evening, you insist on taking him to the best pizzeria in the city. It's dirty, greasy, smelly and exactly why it's a fan-favourite. Watching him, the same man who wines and dines in the country's most elite fine-dining establishments, devour a large slice of pepperoni without a care in the world is perhaps, you think, the greatest present he could’ve ever given you. It makes you grin from ear to ear after as you walk back to the car, your hands entwined.

He looks pleased with himself. "I can't remember the last time I had this much fun," he says as you get in the car and you can see there's a tinge of regret in his eyes. Perhaps with time, you can uncover the mystery behind those brown orbs that look like they have seen the world a hundred times over — if you’re honest with yourself, you’ve fallen for them. Just a bit. You look forward to learning more about him and think, maybe, just maybe you might tell your friends the truth tomorrow. For now, you smirk and unbuckle your seatbelt, climbing over onto his lap, and the shocked look on his face is worth it. The indoor parking lot is pretty empty at this time of the evening. You think back on how he spent the entire week rocking your world, seven ways to Sunday, and, as you reach down for his zipper, you reckon it's time someone shakes up his world a little.

"If you thought that was fun, you're gonna love what I have in mind."

Fortunately for you, and maybe it's the added experience that comes with his age, he catches on quickly and the sudden smoulder in his eyes almost dares you to do your best. Never one to shrink from an honest challenge, you grin and crash your lips together.

[lizzybeth1986]

Quick Thoughts on TRH Book 1, Chapter 13 (One Last Yeehaw)

• It's the chapter everyone's been waiting for! We're pregnant, we get to tell our spouses, we get to tell our friends, we get to tell the courtly ladies, Olivia wears leather, our MCs get to buy a crib for an poppy seed-sized something in their womb that doesn't even know what hands and legs are yet (forget cribs), and the best news of all...WE ARE FINALLLY LEAVING TEXAS!!!!

• If you don't want to see this post on your dash, these are the tags to block: #trh quick thoughts, #trh qts, #trh qt reblogs and #long post.

• Screenshots:

Hana: The Universal Studios 77 YouTube channel

Drake: @thefirstcourtesan and the HIMEME YouTube channel

Maxwell: @itsbrindleybinch

Title: Spreading the Word

Alternative Title: It's a Child, Not the Gospel 🤦🏽‍♀

• Before I start talking about the chapter...storytime!

• Sooo...my first pregnancy was a couple of years ago. And I like telling the story of how I broke it to my husband coz it is pretty damn funny. We'd been trying for two years, and had a couple of times when our tests would be met with a disappointing negative. So by the time I did get pregnant, the hubby was a little wary of hoping too soon.

• I had an inkling just before my periods were expected to arrive, because I found myself flopping down on the bed immediately after work, without even making dinner. No morning sickness, no giddiness initially, just constantly feeling so tired. Anyway, hubby insisted I wait a couple days more before a test because he was too afraid of getting his hopes up, and I agreed.

• I took my test around 4 or 5 that morning? And had to wait a couple minutes for the lines...and THERE WERE TWO. Do you really think I could keep such news to myself for more than ten seconds?? (even that was too much). Of course I was going to shake poor hubby awake and show him the test.

• It took five vigorous shakes to wake the poor guy up, and as soon as he was somewhat awake I shoved the test in his face (I was excited ok! 🙈) forgetting that without his glasses he couldn't see shit (very high power). "I can't see anything," he said sleepily, so I gave him his glasses. Ensuing conversation went as follows.

H: There are two lines.

Me: Yeah...sooooo...? 😀😀

H (sudden realization what two lines are supposed to mean): OMG there are two lines??? *sleepy smile*

Me: YES. I'M PREGNANT.

H (weakly): Yayyyy. (pause)...can I go back to sleep now?

Me: But what will I do???

H: You also sleep.

Me (running on sheer adrenaline now) : I CAN'T SLEEP I JUST FOUND OUT I'M PREGNANT.

H: Oooookay. (is too sleepy at this point to process anything).

Me: (excitedly hops over to Google at 5.20 in the morning and types out "I'm 4 weeks pregnant now what")

LMAO. That first pregnancy was quite something.

• The chapter begins with the MC sending her spouse a text. Depending on whether you mentioned a surprise, mentioned that you need to have a talk or texted emojis instead, the LI will react accordingly.

• With the surprise option, the LI flirts with her. With "we need to talk", they appear tense and believe she's angry with them. The emoji option is the funniest, coz the MC sends a string of emojis with the last one being this: 🍞, and the LIs are confused and referencing the bread (I've seen only two routes of this one - Liam talks about the Cordonian Baker's Festival which will only happen after a couple months, and Hana speaks about a bread course). The MC is puzzled at first, then gets to choose how to tell her spouse the news.

• AAAAAND NOW THEY KNOW.

Liam: Ecstatic and excited at the thought of holding his own child in his arms. Immediately after, he worries over the preparations they will need to make, the childproofing of the throne room and the things they will need to get ready, and it is the MC who calms him down.

I personally love that the narrative makes a mention of Liam "recentering himself" here, because it does show me that this is a rare display of raw emotion, of Liam letting go of his control, and you get a glimpse of what calming down for him looks like. Wish it hasn't taken four books to actually muster up the effort to write that.

Hana: One of the sweetest reactions ever - "We're going to be moms?" and a hearty squeal after that. She then becomes emotional and teary, cries with joy. There's some gentle teasing of each other where they call each other "cute", and then Hana tells her she's so glad she gets to share both this moment and this entire journey of pregnancy with the MC.

Hana doesn't show many signs of her intensive planning in this particular scene, because this - again - calls for raw emotion where the LI basically forgets their "normal" and truly savours that moment, but we do see signs of the same type of planning in other scenes.

Maxwell: WHOOPS with joy and excitement as soon as he realizes. Wants to scream out the news on a mountaintop. He promises the MC that their family will be the most awesome, most fun one that the kingdom has ever seen.

I love how Maxwell's overall vibe in this chapter seems to reflect his family situation - he definitely wants to be the exact opposite to his own child what his father has been to him. It's a pity they don't explore that enough.

Drake: Wild with joy, can't stop grinning. But also worried about whether he is being careless with the MC and is overly concerned for her. Calls her not just by her surname but also her first name. I wonder if that should be added to my Book 1 tallies 😂

• That TRR lullaby music is going to be played so much after this that we'll eventually get sick of it. I know it. I know it already.

• The LIs also get to check in with the MC about how she's feeling, and you as the reader get to decide how she is feeling at the moment (ecstatic, nervous, scared?). We also get the option to decide when to break the news to our friends (at the reception itself, or the next morning at breakfast). I think enough of us had an axe to grind with Savannah and Bertrand for the stunt they pulled (with our help) last book, that most people slammed that "reception" button like their lives depended on it.

• The LIs also act in different ways before their friends find out about the pregnancy:

Liam and Hana both dote on the MC, and Hana specifically keeps the MC's dietary restrictions in mind (gets sparkling water/orange juice in place of champagne/mimosas, asks about caffeine content/salmon during breakfast - this varies depending on when you make the announcement). With Drake, the group figures out that he has something on his mind because he's grinning nonstop, and Maxwell tries really really hard to hint at the MC's pregnancy by using phrases like 'bun in the oven' and 'expecting', and gives up in frustration when no one catches on.

• There are three ways you can tell the news to the group - if you're at the reception, you can leave them to guess, get the LI to announce via loudspeaker or scream it out. If you're at home, the same three options except the second one is simply the LI delivering the news in a more low-key manner.

•

YOU'RE SUCH DORKS ISTG.

• Bertrand is happy for us but Savannah is surprisingly (to my great joy) nowhere to be found.

• CELEBRATORY DIAMOND SCENE. For 30 diamonds, which is usually reserved either for finales or turning-point diamond scenes. Again, these scenes deal with the newness of it all, the jubilation, the end of a (not very long, actually) wait, and the LIs get to talk about family.

•

The sex part is 🔥 🔥 🔥 as usual, but the parts that really justify the 30 diamonds we're spending come before and after that. Each LI, as I've mentioned before, responds differently, but the thread that connects them all is the awe and wonder at this new life, and their plans and worries for the future (Good. You all should be worried if Olivia's diamond scene is anything to go by).

- Liam: In the pre-sex portion, the focus is on celebrating this moment they have alone - as parents - together, because once this news is brought out to the world, both they and their child will be thrown into the spotlight. I have spoken in this essay about the kind of upbringing royal children tend to have and the lessons they unknowingly learn in that environment. Liam has gone through this, he is aware his child will go through it too, but he wants the child to have as normal a life as he as a father can provide. This is clear in the last portion of the scene, where he touches the MC's stomach, marvels at the life they both created and - as per the MC's choice - communicates with said child. My favourite option of course is the lullaby, because it's one that Eleanor used to sing to him - and it is interesting how a lot of Liam's memories of an actual parent, doing actual parent-things, is of his mother.

- Hana: In the pre-sex portion, she speaks about how nervous they've both been over whether this pregnancy would happen and the pressure from the court, and how excited she is that that moment is finally here. When the MC asks her if she is nervous or scared, Hana tells her that even though everything that has led up to this (leaving her parents, having a new life in Cordonia) has been unknown and scary, knowing that they will finally have their own family outweighs "all the worries in the world". In the last portion of the scene, they flirt playfully, leading Hana at some point to wonder about whether they should set ground rules if the child is going to be such a charmer. She's already got a whole range of things prepared - from a pregnancy kit to snacks and drinks appropriate for the MC's condition - but the MC encourages her to relax and not worry too much. You can tell that Hana is already in the zone of wanting to be a better parent for her child than her own.

- Maxwell: I find the Maxwell version of this scene really interesting this time, because it deals with both his struggle to change for his child, and his struggle to NOT be the kind of father Bartie Sr was (finally they address this!). The first part of the scene involves Maxwell being his usual excitable self, wanting to scream the news from the rooftops then realising that it might be too risky for his wife. He speaks of wanting to "rewire" himself into "Good Dad mode". The last portion is especially poignant, because he speaks both of what a life without the MC would have been life (an enjoyable Beaumont Bash, but one where he is forever searching for someone, and feeling constantly lonely, like something is missing in his life), and he also promises his wife that he will be the kind of father who will learn and grow from his mistakes, and who will be there whenever his children need him most, not just drop by on the day of their child's wedding.

- Drake: Drake also falls back into old-habit before getting into father-mode - he mentions celebrating with drinks before realizing the MC cannot have them. The MC gets to choose either a non alcoholic beverage or a massage, and as far as I have seen the massage comes with yet another family story about his father massaging a particular spot in his mother's shoulder that would easily tense up. It astounds me how much effort the writers make into making Drake's scenes and exchanges so much more personal than the others. Like the others have their moments in this scene too - but in their cases such moments are the exception, not the norm. In Drake's it's always the norm.

In the aftermath of the scene, the couple get to discuss how they will bring up their child, even though that child will be heir to Cordonia's throne, and get to choose if they want to bring that child up with a sense of normality, or to appreciate the benefits they get from the royal life. In the end, all Drake wants this child to know at the moment is how much their parents love them.

• We now have brunch, hosted by the newlyweds. If we have not yet announced our pregnancy, Bertrand will simply announce us the way a herald would at a royal event before Savannah teases him for doing so, and if we have, he mentions that we are "celebrating the happy news with them once more". Bertrand speaks of being overly formal when he's very happy, and is even happier to mention the word "wife". That'll last.

• Leona gives Bertrand a cup of bourbon as a reward for the way he stood up to Chuck, claiming that she thought of him as a "pretty boy" who knew nothing, but was impressed by his behaviour on the wedding day. At this point I can only roll my eyes and finally celebrate when Auntie Bitch disappears. We've wasted way too much time than necessary on Drake's shitty family.

• If you haven't announced the news, you announce it after this scene. There are a few slight changes, esp the drinks mentioned in certain cases because the brunch is a more relaxed atmosphere than the reception so the food and drink items mentioned are pretty low-key. But everything else is pretty much as is.

• Bertrand and Savannah have a honeymoon to plan, which means we will finally get a break from them too, and Bianca asks us what we're planning in order to celebrate the news. Maxwell suggests getting a gift for the new arrival (9 months before arriving), and Savannah suggests they go to the general store and get something from there. The MC is nervous, because she wasn't exactly planning to meet Cassidy West again. Thankfully, he isn't at the store, so she's pretty safe 😂

•

All the LIs have items they will check out with their friends/wives, but the scene varies related to who the MC married. Minimally in most cases, quite a bit in just one. As usual.

Maxwell shows us baby socks, and realizes that this child is a "miniature human" who will have small-sized everything. Virtually nothing changes in this scene except for Maxwell calling the child "our baby" instead of "yours" in his own playthrough. Everything else is disappointingly identical.

Hana shows us a toy tea set (it's still early days but Hana tells the MC it will be fun to practice and to think of the treats the child can eat from that). If you are married to her, she gets a single line referencing the childhood scene where she waited in vain for her mother at her own tea party.

Liam's scene is the one wit the diamond option - as the King of Cordonia whose entire country's future rides on this child, he is the one who gets to show the MC (+ LI in their respective playthroughs) the crib. There are two variations in this scene - the ones where Liam speaks about "our heir". Other than that, very little difference (though he does mention Constantine in one line later, so I guess that's a plus).

Drake shows the MC a wooden rocking horse. In his friend playthrough, he speaks of the gift as something the child can have to remember "ol' Uncle Drake" by. But if you're married to him, there is a whole set of dialogues where Drake talks of riding horses being part of the Walker DNA, and there is a reference to the secret wedding (riding off into the sunset), and there is interactive banter between the MC and Drake that you don't see much of in the other playthroughs. I wish I could say I'm surprised.

• I mean...seriously??? Maxwell gets NO OTHER VARIATIONS??? Hana's mention of her mother never coming to her tea parties isn't even followed up by a line expressing comfort from the MC????

• Just as we got there options for our nursery decor, we also get three options for the crib (classic, royal, forest fairytale). The royal option is lavish, all gold and cream, and the fairytale option is whimsical, wood finish and the same patterns of forest animals and flowers and leaves as the walls. The classic option is, like its corresponding decor, "very neutral. very baby".

• We exit the shop as quickly as we can either because Maxwell broke a trampoline (in the Liam, Hana and Drake playthroughs), or Hana dropped some teacups (in Maxwell's playthrough).

• Once we're done shopping, we get a call from Olivia, who is at our estate in Valtoria, asking us for the most precious thing in our room. But before she can ask, we tell her we're either furniture shopping or pregnant. The option the writers want us to be choosing is "pregnant", because there's a scene where Olivia secretly happy-cries for us when she learns the news. We can agree to loan her either some fancy shoes, our engagement ring (in the Maxwell playthrough, apparently, there is a reference to the twig ring he made back at the beginning of Book 3) or the Cordonian Royal Sceptre. She isn't sure if she'll come back alive, so she thanks us in case she doesn't.

• The ensuing Olivia diamond scene comes with a chance to figure out what Olivia is upto, an advantage over Auvernal, and a tiny hint at a Nevrakis name for TRM.

• I must say, the writers never cease to go all out for Olivia. Even over the female LI that should have been treated like a co-protagonist. And it's tiring because yet again I'll have to see half the fandom drag Hana just so they can drool over the white girl (in fact I already have).

• Olivia's sprite on the left side of the screen...is going to take some getting used to. It's disorienting. But it's fine after a second one!

• Anyway. She is now at a casino in Monte Carlo, meeting up with Bradshaw and Isabella. She's clearly in super-spy mode, since she refers to the King and Queen of Auvernal as targets rather than their names or titles. She has a better edge over the two if she is honest about her intentions and doesn't pretend she just bumped into them.

• Bradshaw speaks about King Liam sending his 'attack dog' to them and 'not doing his own dirty work' which is hilarious considering this man is from a militaristic society yet doesn't even know the C of combat training and has never done anything besides strategizing.

• Isabella always delivers her stinky, unwarrented opinion as if it holds any weight or has any relevance. In Olivia's case, she mentions Anton's marriage contract with Olivia and wonders aloud how the Queen/Duchess still trusts her enough to allow Olivia in her inner circle after that. All three options to push back at Izzy are 🔥 but my favourite one is "you look like you know all about poor judgement" (which is true, look at who she married).

• Olivia then gambles with Bradfraud and Stinkybella, with whatever the MC chose to give her as stakes. The best option is to simply call Bardfraud on his bluff, because he folds easily. Depending on whether Olivia wins or loses the game, he either asks the guards to place the item in the penthouse, or to get more funds from there. Olivia takes note.

• She then has to make sure she nicks the key to the penthouse from Stinkybella, either by acting tipsy or by coming closer to her for an "awkward hug". Both do the job.

• She learns the following from the penthouse:

- Bradfraud and Stinkybella stay in separate rooms, which means things "aren't as rosy" between them.

- She finds a letter of rejection, doubtless from another royal couple, and this is an indication that they aren't as popular as they pretend to be.

- She finds a map of a land she doesn't recognize (is it Monterisso? Olivia would recognize a map of her own country...and neighboring countries...but who am I fooling it's not like team TRH concerns themselves with such ridiculous things as logic!), which has troop formations on it. They're planning something called Operation Swan. I've heard of "Black Swans" and "Swanning About" used as military terms, but there's not a lot I understand from this. Perhaps this leans more towards a "black swan" idea - where they will launch a surprise attack with a nation they are allying with? IDK.

- Basically, we have enough leverage to win against these two, thanks to Olivia's work.

• In any case, someone comes to the room, and Olivia is on the verge of getting caught. So she'll need to scale her way down.

• This shows us if you have Olivia pray to her ancestors for wings:

(Theodosia is clearly the Renaissance Nevrakis)

• If you don't choose to scale down, Olivia will land on the pool instead, but even then she makes it out okay. She decides to keep an eye out because Bradfraud and Stinkybella could pose as a problem for Liam and the MC.

• Olivia is operating on her own, as far as she has told Bradfraud, but the possibility that Liam is aware of what she is upto still exists. And the MC has no clue even if she is Liam's wife because:

a. The writers are too lazy to code this for Liam, and

b. It's not like the MC puts any effort into finding things out anyway

• We're now leaving the Walker Ranch, a couple hours later, and saying our goodbyes to Drake's mother and aunt. I heave a sigh of relief at the fact that there's no additional "memories" from Bianca become this family has gobbled up enough of our attention. Seems like their horrible attitude was really about the money they didn't get after all (it's a fair gripe to have, but doesn't exactly warrant the attitude they've been throwing around).

• Leona still acts like she did us a huge fucking favour hosting us, even though she was an awful host and seriously deserves to lose her ranch. Bianca tries to be civil but no apologies from her for allowing her son in law to be treated like crap until his wedding day. Seems like all Walkers have a habit of expecting civility from others while giving none.

• Bianca asks us to keep in touch and I'm pretty sure a huge chunk of the fandom said "no way in Yeehaw Hell".

• Liam continues to be mysterious with regards to what Olivia is up to, and Esther - who I HC'd as inquisitive - seems not to care enough to ask more.

• The LI tells us, as we leave, that Kiara, Penelope and Madeleine will be traveling in the jet with us, and it's up to us to decide how we break the news to them. If you own corgis, that features as an option. Two of the options (writing on a cake and announcement by corgi) come with a simple "Coming Soon...The Royal Heir", but the charade one is my favourite 🤭

• Penelope is that particular Drake/Walker Ranch stan who loved the time we spent at the ranch and Kiara is the rest of the fandom, who would much rather be in Cordonia than cooling her heels in Texas.

•

AAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The MC then tries another charade, one that resembles cradling a baby in her arms, which Kiara takes to mean "American football" (thank God they don't force Cordonians to call it "soccer" anymore), Madeleine takes to mean "a common pirate jig" and Penelope somehow gets the guess right (though Kiara is the one who straight-out says it).

• The ladies are ecstatic, and congratulate us. Penelope calls for drinks, but Kiara has the common sense to add that the drinks should be alcohol-free. Madeleine informs us of the events lined up for us, including the Apple Ball which will doubtless be the ball we will be attending in the finale.

•

There's a small private moment where the LIs dote over the MC more than necessary, wanting to pamper her and keep her in comfort. The MC calms them down, convinces them that they have a very good support system/are a great team together who can achieve anything.

• Mara still finds out about the pregnancy via Maxwell scouring the online shops for corgi-themed onesies even when he is the father. Which makes sense. It's still Good Dad Mode 😁

• In the tiny space of time it took between Madeleine finding out we were pregnant and us talking to people, she managed to schedule a conference for the same day! At least let us confirm the pregnancy with our docs???

• Plus, announcing this early, even if you're not royalty, is pretty risky. You're mostly advised to not disclose it too soon because the first trimester can be a little risky. And there are also cases where your first ultrasound turns out to not be that happy moment where you see that yolk sac and hear its heartbeat, or an ectopic pregnancy 😔. I recall reading about it on pregnancy forums before my first ultrasound (and stressing, but I had to be prepared) and not being satisfied until I confirmed it for myself.

• The writers and the readers know she'll be pregnant because that is what the story is, but perhaps if the team hadn't wasted so much time on the Walker Ranch, they'd at least not have to hurry like this.

• Actually...no. "Hurrying" would be the wrong word. Because they're going to stretch the press conference itself to like two chapters, it seems like. Basically they will spend time on everything that isn't important to the story as long as it's important to their pet character.

• The summary of Chapter 15 (CHAPTER FUCKING FIFTEEN. We're stuck at the beginning of all this even by CHAPTER FIFTEEN) speaks of the press conference heating up, so I'm having an inkling that there will be some pretty heavy stuff being asked in between? Maybe with regards to alliances, or a new scandal, or something else. But it's not going to be easy at all, that much is pretty clear. It's going to be frustrating and there's going to be stuff that will anger the LIs I think. I could be wrong, though.

• Overall this chapter does better in terms of variations even though they still do beef up Drake quite a bit over the others. But at least Liam, Hana and Maxwell get the rare opportunity to briefly address the mistakes (too small a word for what they've done) their parents have made. It's still not enough though. Esp considering the last 9 chapters have seen such an overall of Walker history and Drake's memories and the others have barely a handful of chapters to catch up.

• Sometimes I wonder if Olivia's independent investigation is also fueled by her desire to be so different from her parents and aunt as to wipe out the memory of their betrayal through her deeds. I do wonder if she will burn herself out completely in the process. She is made of sterner stuff than that, I know, but the determination she was showing in this scene and in the last few chapters was on another level.

• I wonder if we will get intel on Monterisso as well (I don't fully trust Amalas yet), or whether the narrative plans to establish this country as the underdog we will be supporting. Who knows. But I'm sure we will see more of that country in further chapters as well.

• That's it for this chapter, I think. Until the next one!

[alo-piss-trancy]

hello! do u have any omo hcs for any mha chars? if not, that's okay :) btw some of the stuff u posted from a while back was from homestuck, just wanted to point that out ig- have a good day!!

To answer your other thing first, yeah I know hom/estuck! :D I never got super into the fandom side of it or even finished reading it unfortunately bc it's just SO LONG (I got up to some point in the middle of Act 4 or 5 I think? That was years ago though). I know the 4 kids and the first batch of trolls around their age (K/arkat and all of them) but once it gets to the older ones from that other timeline or whatever I got lost and only really know about D/irk and Ja/ke haha. I've still tried to avoid spoilers about the stuff I didn't read and the ending and such since maybe one day I'll have nothing else to read and finish it lol. The most interaction I really do with it nowadays is reading the occasional omo fic or looking at art because the piss side of that fandom was chock-full of quality content (and in some places still MAKING IT ) that I'm still working my way through.

But you didn't ask about that you asked about SUPERHEROES! SO HERE WE GO! :D

I've posted a few for certain popular chars like De/ku, Baku/gou, and Tod/oroki before (which I will reblog right after answering this in case you'd like to see those), so I'll do a few of my favourites this time!

M/ina (aka pink bae) :

* Pretty big bladder, but not a high tolerance for pain after a certain point. As soon as she feels a nagging urge she usually just goes instead of waiting. She can technically hold a lot/for a long time if need be, but it really bothers her and psyches her out.

* Drinks WAY too much soda. Not that it really affects her bladder, it's just unhealthy lol

* Very whiny and vocal when she needs to go. At first jokingly/to vent her annoyance, then if she's desperate enough it's solely to distract herself because somehow talking about it is easier than struggling in silence. Groans really exaggeratedly to show how annoyed she is.

* Super bouncy, like hopping up and down on her toes or bouncing in her seat in class/on the bus. Tugs the hem of her shirt down to cover or places her hands to the front of her bladder and presses while doubled over/bouncing on toes. You know that kind of stuff.

* Doesn't really grab her actual crotch unless dying. She'll press her knees together/grind her thighs though, or rut against the edge of her chair

* She tends to sweat/get flushed when super desperate/straining, and if she's especially nervous she might lose control of her quirk enough for her feet to slip in a light bit of acid. Usually she can keep the quirk under wraps even while bursting though.

* If she wet in public/in front of important people, she'd be pretty embarrassed and would take a few days to get over it. But if it's in front of friends she doesn't mind as much. It's still an uncomfortable experience but she can usually find a way to turn it into a joke with everyone instead of them laughing at her expense. She has a good sense of humor about it and hey, at least she finally got to pee.

* Will pretty much pee anywhere. Boy's bathroom, outdoors, a bucket, whatever. The only time she'll hesitate or refuse is if it's super gross.

* Has gone in the pool once to see if the rumor was true. Only once though.

* Probably doesn't have an omo kin/k, but is open to experimenting either way.

Toko/yami (birb boi) :

* Tiny bladder (like smaller than De/ku's). Gets squirmy shortly after a single juice box or small soda. Cannot get through drinking a large-sized drink without multiple potty breaks. Mostly sticks to water except for rare treats because caffeine goes through him so fast.

* Very self-conscious and shy because of said tiny bladder. Doesn't like looking weak or seeming baby-ish compared to his peers and def doesn't want to have to ask multiple times on long trips or classes, so he tries his best to monitor his liquid intake and sneak away when everyone is busy. This usually works out okay since he's so good at hiding out in corners/being quiet, but it's becoming harder now that he has /gasp/ friends who want to keep tabs on him or include him in stuff. He would low-key rather die than tell anyone he has to go at all, let alone if he has to go really REALLY badly. Dorm sleepovers will be hell.

* He isn't really pee-shy as far as public bathrooms go, but if he has to take an emergency pee outside or smth he has a hard time going, esp if he has someone with him trying to stand guard. Some people probably like to joke that because he's part animal he can go outside whenever he wants. That is Not The Case and it isn't funny

* Da/rk Shadow, on the other hand, gives no fucks and will try his best to force birdy to say something or blurt it out himself. Mostly at very embarrassing and inconvenient times with crowds, or hollering at everyone to wake up and move out of the way during said sleepover in the middle of the night when To/koyami is trying to sneak past the maze of sleeping bags to get to the bathroom quietly. Da/rk Shadow would be lying if he said he didn't get a bit of amusement from making birdy boi so embarrassed, but at his core he also does it because he's concerned the poor guy's gonna hurt himself testing his limits so often, and he would be even more embarrassed if he wet himself so HE'S DOING HIM A FAVOUR REALLY.

* Mostly fidgets with his legs. Lots of jiggling and partial bouncing and shifting weight from foot-to-foot. Crossed whenever he's sitting. Squeezing and rubbing thighs together, the whole she-bang. If he's alone and it gets this bad you can count on a full-blown potty dance.

* If he really has to keep up a good impression and can't afford to let anyone know, he can stop the fidgeting, but pretty much only by standing stock-still and straight and not really moving. His whole body ends up shaking from the strain though so it isn't actually that much of a cover

* If he's literally about to pee himself/knows he has to hold it for a LONG time with no other options he'll cave and hold himself really tight, but he seriously has to be on the verge of a full blown accident before he'll dare do this. Even around close friends he'd usually rather just try his best to keep his legs together and put up with the few leaks praying they don't notice.

* He leaks a LOT of tiny trickling leaks. He never loses control in one big gush, it just keeps dribbling out and he stops it for like half a minute and then it starts again, rinse and repeat each time more agonizing than the last until he finally loses full control and the rests hisses out.

* He tries to be quiet when desperate but the worse it gets the more he starts to let out little whimpers and moans, which can then devolve into incoherent rambling. By the time he's about to lose it he's basically Izu/ku levels of chatter, albeit much much quieter.

*When he does finally let go completely (whether that's in the bathroom or in his pants lol) he definitely has those fullbody pee shivers. You know the lil shudder all the way up his spine, complete with the softest little moan and his eyes slipping shut? His head feathers floof up for a second when he does it and it's adorable.

* If he wets he's going to be completely mortified. He doesn't cry (openly at least, his eyes will be watery), but he isn't as good at maintaining a stoic facade as Tod/oroki could. He's shaky and his words come off broken, he can't quite calm his breath hitching. Depending on the witness, he might try to BS an excuse to leave immediately and pretend it didn't just happen, not confronting them for several days until he's tracked down. Or he might break down enough to be unsure how to leave/end up staying to be comforted.

* probably doesn't have a ki/nk for it himself but would hold/wet for a partner. I don't care how edgy he looks he's 100% a SUB

* Da/rk Shadow would enjoy being the dom and even have birdy hold for him maybe, using his shadow powers to poke and tease at his bladder

Ts/u (froggy) :

* BIG bladder. Is that friend who never seems to have to pee no matter how long you've been hanging out. She also has a decent pain tolerance and keeps control fairly well. It takes a lot to push her into a state where she's at risk of wetting.

* Always well-hydrated. Always. Mostly water, juice, or tea, she doesn't drink soda very often. Doesn't mind it though and the caffeine doesn't seem to affect her much, but the fizzing's weird.

* She doesn't really give outward signs of desperation. She doesn't bounce around or grab herself. The most she'll do is press her thighs together, or cross legs if she's sitting. Usually she just tries to stand still and focus on keeping control, and will be less talkative. Usually she's very observant of her peers and the situations around her, so her classmates can tell something's up when she gets like this and keeps missing details or not joining conversations.

* Still appears pretty calm, even when bursting. You'd have to know her very well to tell that she's nervous.

* Not shy at all about asking/leaving to go when needed, unless it's an extremely formal or serious situation. Even so, if genuinely close to wetting she'd excuse herself or find a way to take care of it.

* If desperate during an actual hero mission, she would intentionally wet herself as soon as the need started affecting her performance. Pride isn't worth making errors and putting others' lives at risk, and taking time to find a hiding place/get out of her costume wouldn't be an option.

* No problem going outside or in odd receptacles, even around friends. She's not going to go out in the open, but has no problem going while someone keeps watch or asking for a bottle during a long bus ride.

* Pretty chill about going in water, but still has standards. In the shower/further out in the ocean where it doesn't affect people? Perfectly fine. In the pool or a closed lake where people are hanging out? That just makes you a jerk. River? Depends on whether it's a super clean stream or already gross, and where it leads to.

* No omo ki/nk to speak of. Pretty confused about it, but perfectly chill with giving it a try if someone asks.

Kyo/ka (earphone girl) :

* Average bladder. High pain tolerance. Can hold for a while longer if necessary, but she'll struggle/wet eventually.

* Not shy at all about leaving/asking, barring special circumstances. Not a fan about going in weird places/outdoors, but will if she has to. She'll gripe about it though.

* Doesn't get nervous so much as frustrated when desperate. She's the type to bang on the door to snap at someone to hurry up, or yell at the bus driver to pull over before she soaks their seat. Her squirming is mainly just leg crossing or jiggling when seated, foot tapping when standing. Lots of sighing/growling and grumbling to take her mind off of it.

* If she's genuinely close to losing control though or in one of those special circumstances, she won't be nearly as frustrated. Instead she gets unusually shy and quiet, withdrawing to the corner and trying to stay unnoticed while she squirms and whines under her breath.

* Will only grab herself once she's on the verge of losing it. This is when she gets truly nervous and starts to panic.

* Wetting is embarrassing no matter what, but her reaction heavily depends on the circumstances. Close friends can comfort her after some sulking and then she can kind of chuckle about it. Regular peers get some threats not to talk about it, then she'll withdraw for a few days before she can get over it. Strangers she just tries to get out of there ASAP and wants to crawl under a rock

* Probably has a pretty big omo kin/k (mostly seeing others desperate, but sometimes indulges herself), but she's super embarrassed about it. You'd have to work real hard to get her to bring it up/ask you to participate. If she can though, oh boy is she gonna be into it. She gets a real thrill out of the dominant side of it, teasing people and watching them squirm (she's a very affectionate dom so expect some kisses and hugs while she casually straddles your bladder), breaking down their defenses until they lose control just for her. She does love being the sub on occasion though, it's nice to be the one flustered and nervous/having to be coddled for a change since she's usually so chill and tough.

Ko/da (animal whisperer) :

* Average bladder despite his large stature. Not overly weak, not overly strong. Mild pain tolerance. Can force himself to hold on for an exceptionally long time if necessary, but will be much weaker and prone to accidents afterwards.

* Pretty dang shy about asking/leaving, and is also legit bladdershy in public restrooms unless they're completely empty. Usually holds it during classes and then slips back to his dorm room's private restroom during lunch hour. Once he grows comfortable enough around certain friends he can use their dorm/house bathrooms, but that still takes some coaxing and a lot of visits to ease into it.

* He actually has less trouble going outside as long as there's plenty of cover and nobody's around (like a forest or smth). Animals don't judge the way people do. It's definitely not his first choice, but between say, a campground public bathroom and the woods, he'll take the woods.

* While most of his classmates/teachers in 1-A have gotten to know him enough to understand most of his miming communication, when he has to spend time with other classes/teachers or strangers in town, it can be a struggle. He's much more hesitant to 'speak up' about his need in the first place, and even once he does they don't really understand at first and it gets really embarrassing (short of doing an actual potty dance or starting to leak they might not figure it out in time). Sometimes he just writes it down instead/types it on his phone, which helps, but he's so used to charade communication that half the time he forgets that's an option.

* He tries not to be too obvious about his need when desperate, but isn't the best at hiding it. He gets really sweaty and can't quite wipe the nervous expression off his face, and his body posture is really tense and shaky. To be fair, he looks nervous a lot of the time, so most people might not pick up on the exact reason unless they know him well.

* When it gets REALLY bad he starts to squirm a little, pressing his knees together or rocking on his heels, shuffling in his seat, or the classic 'both hands gripping the edge of the chair with legs on either side, but you're not actually grabbing your crotch so it isn't obvious right?'. Any further and he'll do the actual crotch grab and a full potty dance, complete with tears budding in the corners of his eyes and little whining hums and whimpers.

* If he wets, he will be completely humiliated. Horribly ashamed, trying to clean up the mess but with no idea how, crying and on the verge of panic. That's all just alone. Have it happen in front of friends or in public and it's even worse, because now they're all gonna think he's a baby and not cool like them and he doesn't know whether to keep apologizing/crying or run away to hide forever.

* Luckily he's pretty easy to comfort once people try. He won't learn to laugh about it or anything but if people convince him they aren't mad or gonna make fun of him, he can meekly accept the offer to hang out or go back to join whatever group he left once he's cleaned up and had time to decompress.

* Doesn't really have an omo kin/k, but is a big sub with a humiliation kin/k so he could go along with it for his partner. He kinda likes the whole squirmy, blushy side of it and all the comfort and spoiling he gets afterwards uvu

Pi/xie Bob (blonde kitty teacher from the summer camp arc) :

* I actually don't have many for her since she was only in a few episodes, I just think she's really cute and cool

* Probably pretty good bladder capacity and strength to hold. High pain tolerance and endurance

* Would wet during a mission to avoid making mistakes bc she's a professional and isn't that embarrassed in the moment, but she thinks it's kinda gross and will shower ASAP afterwards. Also because her group is kind of idol-esque so there's a reputation on the line.

* Will go outdoors without much fuss if she needs to, but definitely prefers more civilized accommodations. You know she's got a nicer private bathroom than whatever general camp one the others have to use. Pros get privileges.

* Bounces/whines a lot when desperate and kind of paws at her crotch without really grabbing it. Lots of leg crossing and wriggling/hunching over. Only when by herself or with her close friends though. If she's in Pro-Hero mode trying to make good impressions or teaching camps, she can mask her needs remarkably well to focus on the task at hand. She forgets what she's saying periodically or has a shakier smile, but that's about it.

* FYI those giant cat paw gloves make getting a decent grip on her crotch imPAWsible

* Wetting is kind of embarrassing but she's also super relieved so it kind of balances out. Unless it happened live on tv or smth she'd probably be able to get over it pretty quickly. In front of any camper students she'd be embarrassed on the inside, but not let the flustering show. Instead she turns it into a teachable moment.

* Could have an omo kin/k or could not. We don't know a ton about her so I like flexible hcs.

[circe-poetica]

18.A New Gown

 from the RUMI Oracle Card deck, by Alana Fairchild, Artwork by Rassouli

“Weary and consumed by longing, I was caressed by my beloved last night. My wounded soul was set free, when I tasted the sweetness of love.

My spirit was lifted at once I surrendered my life, while overflowing with joy, and my vision was filled with light.

Love said, ‘Don’t feel so hopeless, my weary and gloomy one, for my generosity is beyond forgetting those devoted to me.’

See how boundless divine justice can be Behold my immeasurable kindness! Love embraced my spirit and all my doubts vanished at once. A new and glorious robe of honor was placed on my shoulders.

Love offered me the power of new vision and the transforming touch of divine generosity and placed the chalice of eternal wine in my hand.”

~RUMI

“I have the perfect gift for you. It is a gown of new colours, of colours perfectly suited to you and no other. The colours of this gown will make your eyes sparkle and gleam as though they were more beautiful than the most precious of gems. The colours of this new gown will make your skin seem luminous as if lit from within. For of course it is, beautiful angel, your complexion is radiant with the light of life. Your hair will shine with lustre and your entire being will be complemented by this gown as it enhances your beauty in all ways.

So hold on no longer to that shabby, tattered cloak so unworthy of you. Cast it off! Let me grace your shoulders now with this royal robe instead, that you may shine beautifully as befits a royal child of divine parentage.” “Ah beloved, if you could only see the incredible gift, the symbolic robe, being offered to you now. Your fears would quake and tremble, disappearing more quickly than you could imagine! Your heart would take wings, and become so light that your entire being would lift clean off the ground, and soar like and angel-bird amongst the playground of the Divine Mother’s skies.

Yet like a young one, so much younger than your years and wisdom warrant, you may hold onto your tattered robes as though they were a security blanket. Though you know it is time to let it go, you may take pause and have a moment of doubt. You may wonder if the new robes will descend swiftly enough; or, that without what you have known to cling onto, you will be left stark-naked, exposed and vulnerable! These thoughts are not worthy of your status, but perhaps you are yet to realize you are of the most sublime royal lineage, that you are worthy of a cloak of galaxies, a crown of stars, a body of sacred earth and a voice of stirring music.

You may be craning your neck to see who it is that can bestow permission upon you to receive a gift of such dignity. In whom is such authority vested, that you may no longer be as the beggar, asking for scraps and contenting yourself with stale crumbs? You may simply decide to shed that, stand up to walk with your head held erect and with regal grace, and assume your place at the table of divine feasting. Remember that your royal birth certificate is stamped in your heart. There is no authority required, no permission to be granted. You are what you are already, and always have been thus. All that is required from you is to realize it.

This oracle comes to you with sacred portent. You are fast approaching a moment of a great leap, an evolutionary shift on your spiritual path. Your sens of yourself and your divine identity is about to be revealed and realized in a way more potent than ever before. This is wonderful! It is a divine happening! You must allow it. Do not confuse humility with humiliation. Do not humble yourself excessively. You do not have to battle with false pride either. Simply honour yourself as a living being, worthy of life, worthy of this royal path of divine realization. What a gift it is to cast aside belief in inferiority or superiority, unhelpful as those notions are for you now. What a gift instead to embrace your own path, irrespective of what any other may think, whether they hold it in glory or derision.

Who cares? Not you; nor I. Your royal heritage has been revealed, and in seeing the divinity within yourself, you become blessed to see it in all beings, all beings returning to the realization of royalty within. Crazed searching outside of the heart will come to an end. A simple golden path will be found, as though a river of molten gold flows from your heart back to the  oceanic heart of the Great Beloved, where, united again, you finally ascend your throne and claim your divinity once and for always.

This oracle comes with sacred guidance for you. You are stepping into empowerment in a new way and it is to be honoured. Do not allow yourself to be dragged into dramas or power games. You are worth so much more than that. You are tapping into your inner dignity and others may not know how to respond. Some will respond with love and acknowledgment; others with fear and judgment, calling you “too big for your boots” or “high and mighty.” Those are voices of fear, not truth. Be in your dignity and power nad keep going. It is the Divine that urges you thus, not the ego. Do not doubt the changes happening within you  now – embrace them.”*

~ By Alana Fairchild

Things are moving so rapidly on your transformation that you will find you are actually going to, quite literally, look different. You will see something new in your own eyes in the mirror. You will see it in others too. You will experience a new lightness of Being. A body filled with more light than you have ever had on this physical plane in any lifetime… so far.

There are a few physical health issues to address at this time. Be sure to drink extra water, purified if possible or at least boiled, stay away from plastic containers. Eat more fruit and veggies, organic and non GMO or local. Consider cutting way   back on meats, especially processed meats which are basically poison to your cells. Steer clear from pesticides, chemical, additives, preservatives, food colouring and as much packaged foods as possible. Your body can no longer process these things. Limit alcohol, caffeine and stimulants. Cut out refined sugars. Yes, I know that may sound daunting but give it a month and you will never go back. Your ascension process will be expedited substantially and you will feel amazing. If you need any additional info check out one of my favourite sites on food these days: www.foodbabe.com.

Gone are the days of ignorance. It’s time to take charge. Take charge of your body, your mind, your spirit and recreate your life.

That’s how you make miracles.

Namaste

Dee

~Archangel Oracle

[eabhaalynn]

Your Local A-Level Survival Guide

If you’re reading this, I’m sorry.

It probably means you’re doing a-levels. That is… unfortunate.

Everyone has a different experience of their a-level years. For me, they were the most enjoyable two years of my school career. I found some of the best friends in the world and honestly learned so much, both in and out of school. However even I have to say that the exams were the WORST. There were too many tears, tantrums and existential crisis’ to count.

And yet, I survived them. And I have so many friends who survived them too. And if I can get through them in one piece, anyone can.

So; here’s a little advice on how to survive the stresses of sixth form, both in school and out, and maybe even get a few a-levels along the way. I’ve split them into revision tips, school life and social life because this post is a fairly hefty read. (sorry again!)

STU(DYING) 

1.    Make notes as you go along.

You will LOVE yourself for this in June. A-Level content isn’t anything close to GCSE content, and you simply will not have time to start writing notes and learn them all around exam time.

Try to keep within a day of your class with your own notes and if you fall behind during the week, try to get caught up that weekend.

Find a note-taking style that fits how you learn. I personally realised in my upper sixth year – just a tiny bit late - that I loved making and learning off of summary posters. Trying out different ways of note taking will do no harm.

2.    Ask if you need help

Your teachers and friends are all on your side. You are not a burden for asking them to explain an idea to you again, or to reword something. Your teachers are literally being paid to help you, and your mates are in exactly the same position you are. Ask them for help if you need it, because a-levels really are very hard – and they only get harder if you try to go it alone.

3.    Find somewhere you can bare to study in

In school, if you have a choice of study rooms, spend your free time in ones you like – okay, maybe tolerate – being in. At GCSE we only had one study and I hated it, but at A-Level I had the choice of two, with a definite favourite, and it really makes the difference.

Make friends with your study supervisors, they have the power to make or break your a-level years.

At home, study where you’re comfortable. But not too comfortable. Your leavers hoodie will become your wearable hug over study leave and I also highly recommend investing in comfy tracksuit bottoms. You get used to looking like a tent most of the time

My favourite places to study were the public library and various coffee shops around the town I studied in. They were less strict than school, but still required more discipline than trying to study in my bedroom. Just try not to develop a caffeine dependency over the next two years because I certainly did.

4.  Don’t compare yourself to others.

You are not your friends. You are different people, you probably have different ways of making your tea, and you almost certainly will have different ways of studying.

 I remember around repeat season seeing my friend sit and do a booklet of twelve past papers all day. To her credit, she did them all. I, on the other hand, did a total of one past paper over three repeat exams. We put the same hours in. We got the same grades in the end.

Other peoples work doesn't invalidate your own. Everyone is working with their own skills and capabilities.

5.  Repeat everything you need to.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with repeating modules in upper sixth. There’s also absolutely nothing wrong with repeating upper or lower sixth.

The extended exam period (seven (!!) weeks) is awful; it is genuinely very difficult to avoid burnout, but your understanding of modules is so much better second time around and repeats almost always pay off.

You will meet a whole new group of friends through repeating modules, purely because it is so difficult that you have no choice but to cling on to the people that are going through it with you

6.    Don’t do an unnecessary hard one

All A-Levels are hard. Some a-levels (chemistry and biology for me, also twitter tells me further maths) are very hard. Unless your Uni course requires those traditional, exceptionally hard subjects, don’t do them.

Pick your subjects around your interests, because your whole life is going to revolve around them for two years. Two years of interesting impossible exams beat two years of boring impossible exams any day.

No matter how much you love that fourth subject, don’t take it – and don’t keep it on – unless you absolutely have to. Your grades may suffer, your already limited free time will suffer, and there are very few cases where you will ever need it. I loved AS History with every fibre of my being, but for my course I didn’t need four subjects past AS and so it would have been unsustainable and unnecessary to keep on yet another academically challenging subject

7.  Make use of the resources available to you.

Ask your older friends for their notes, borrow and buy textbooks, read relevant articles online.

 My school was especially good for this, if you like making notes on a certain kind of paper (like A3 or squared for example) ask your teachers to get you some.

Use the free printing credits your school gives you! The internet is full of additional notes and papers and worksheets that are free and quite literally a click away.

SKOOL LIFE

1.    You are the most important

No a-level is more important than you and your wellbeing. Take care of your mental and physical health throughout your studies. Nothing in this world is more important than that.

If you are suffering, tell someone! A-Levels can feel so lonely and sixth form can be a very high-pressure environment, but every adult in your school has a duty of care over you, and there is always someone to help you through it all; be it a friend, family member, teacher or youth worker.

2.    Be nice!

-      Schools are inherently toxic environments. Everyone is loaded with hormones and there are few things in this world scarier than a building full of stressed teenagers.Be nice to everyone you come across, no one loves a levels and most will really struggle through them. You only ever know a tiny bit of what is going on in someones life, so do try not to make anyone’s life any harder.

3.    Take every opportunity that comes to you

-      Take part in any extra curricular you can. You probably will learn more from them than you do in class, and you get the chance to make friends with people you’d never come across otherwise. I did debate, public speaking and the rotary award during my sixth form, and they all helped me so much to develop the soft skills and time management that eventually got me into my degree.

4.    Set aside time for careers/admin

-      It might not be a-level important, but you’ll find yourself with a lot of sorting out of your life to do throughout sixth form – especially if you’re applying to medicine or similar courses that require multi-step application processes.

5.    There’s no right or wrong way to do sixth form

-      A-Levels aren’t a one-way street. You may have to change subjects, you may have to take time out, you may end up sitting your courses at two different schools, over one or two or three years, and that is all okay. No matter what way you do it, you’re doing alright.

6.    UCAS will ruin your life.

-      UCAS is the sixth form version of the wee guy on the bus who would pick on you incessantly, and even though he was never that important, he’d always be there and never do anything worthwhile for your life.

-      It’s not the worst thing in the world, but it is another thing to worry about, when you really don’t need it to be.

-      Try to keep on top of it and get your application over with early. The emails from track will keep giving you the fear forever, even after you’ve had 3 straight up rejections, missed an offer, declined two different offers and confirmed your place.

SOCIAL LIFE (trust me it does exist)

1.    Balance is everything

It is not normal to have your life be so centred around one place as much as it is during a-levels. As well as this, being 16 – 18 is literally the best time to be alive and make memories in your whole life. Spend lots of time on schoolwork, but not all of it.

2. You’re not going out too much

You work so unbelievably hard all week. You do deserve to go out sometimes.

My upper sixth was framed by panicking and feeling wracked with guilt every time I left my house or went on any night out. This is no way to feel There is more to life than a-levels and upper sixth is the last time in your life where all your school mates will be all together all the time. Make the most of it! (Just, also make notes)

3.    Take a day off

Like literally, take a day off a week

I took Sundays off schoolwork in upper sixth, when I usually worked in the afternoon, had the morning to myself and the evening as a time to rest. This will keep you sane.

4.    Make time for the friends you don’t see everyday

You won’t have a lot of free time, but if you make a conscious effort to see your far away friends every couple of weeks it always gives you something to look forward to.

5.    Don’t give in to peer pressure

I promise it is so much fun to go out and not drink excessively. Don’t do hard drugs, don’t drink more than you can handle, especially not over term time. It’s just not worth it. Showing up to school hungover is not a good look, or any fun at all – no matter what your mates say. A-Levels are a stressful enough two years without losing all this extra time to hangovers and come downs.

6.    Make good habits

 If you have a spare evening during the week, go for a walk. Take the bus and walk one day a week instead of driving. Maybe even join a gym. As well as a distraction, exercise and a generally healthy lifestyle will get your endorphins flowing and you will notice a huge difference to your stress levels within a few weeks.

You’re going to need comfort food – trust me on that one. But if you’re going to substitute a healthy lunch for a chicken box and squashies, at least have a banana for breakfast. And never skip breakfast, it will make you a hangry, hanxious, horrible person.

Congratulations! You made it to the end. I really hope you’ve found at least some of this advice helpful, and that you get through sixth form with all of your sanity intact. 

(I’d like to thank Julia Anusiak, Alexandra Rosbotham, Aoife Donaghy, Maeve Denver, Gabrielle Carland, Caitriona Fitzpatrick, Grace Craig and Jack Worrall for their contributions to this blog post)

[jincherie]

Periapt | Jungkook [M]

pairing: jungkook x reader genre: exorcist!au, demon!au, incubus!jungkook words: 15k+ rating: nsfw warnings: demon summoning, smut: explicit sexual content, oral (recieving), sex, lots of cum, incubus jk, fingering, light dirty talk, if you squint jk has nipple piercings notes: dont fuck demons, also was this a fucken trip or w h a t

✦ periapt : n. an item worn as a charm or amulet 

You were an exorcist-in-training, and for a final assessment you were tasked with summoning a Lesser Demon, and then binding that lesser demon to you in servitude. It was no biggie-- you were a good student, and you knew your stuff. But even you didn’t know what to do when a mistake in ingredients lead you to summon the wrong demon into your very living room. Luckily, as you were quick to find out, incubi are very understanding.

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“To conclude this module on Lesser Demons, we’re collaborating with your Charms and Rituals professors and giving a joint assessment.”

The low, gravelly tone of your demonology professor suddenly pierced the thick film of the daydream you’d been immersed in and immediately you perked up in your seat in interest. You weren’t always such a bad student, but this class was last on a Friday afternoon and in all honestly you were just waiting until you could go home. You could feel your friend Seokjin grinning at you from his seat beside you, but you ignored him in favour of listening to your professor for the first time in the two hours you’d been sitting here.

Demonology was one of your favourite classes, second only to Charms and Rituals— and to hear that your assessments for both were being joined into one? You could hardly believe it, and were instantly alert and awake, excited almost to hear what was going to be happening.

“Yes, for your final assessment of the semester you will be using your knowledge of lesser demons, as well as the rituals for summoning and binding that you’ve been learning in my class,” your head whipped over at the smooth tone of your Charms and Rituals professor, a youthful woman that went by the name Seulgi and had inky hair that fell pin-straight down her back. In all honesty, you had no idea when she’d entered the room and as a result had been extremely startled by her presence— you could hear Seokjin snickering at your reaction.

“You all have learnt extensively about the summoning ritual in previous years, and even more so this year, along with the binding ritual we covered in the first half of the semester,” Seulgi’s dark eyes flitted over the large room of her pupils, your demonology professor standing to her side behind the desk. “For this assessment, you will be summoning a Lesser Demon, commanding it successfully to complete a minor task for you, and then binding it into servitude to you. We will be inspecting the symbol of binding that results as proof of your completion of the assessment.”

At once you were filled with excitement and apprehension. You’d never attempted the summoning ritual before, despite learning the theory behind it extensively over your time at the academy. As exorcists-in-training, the two rituals that were hammered into you from the very beginning were the summoning ritual, and the exorcism ritual. There were other tips and tricks learnt along the way, but the academy focused heavily on those. You were a year or so from graduation, and so weren’t entirely surprised that they were finally asking you to put the theory into practice yourselves. You’d watched others perform it, had learnt the intricacies and reasoning behind each aspect of the ritual, but never had to do it yourself. In all honesty, as exciting as it was, it was a little daunting. Just the slightest misstep in anything and it could change the entire ritual, and the end results would likely be something you weren’t prepared for in the least.

Your demonology professor picked up where Seulgi had left off, leaning on the desk slightly as he spoke to the room of buzzing students. “Exorcists in the real world don’t have the luxury of time, and so to keep this assessment as realistic as possible and prepare you to the best of our ability, you will have a week to gather the necessary ingredients and then perform the ritual. You will be expected to show us your bound item by time of this class next Friday. You are free to show us before then, of course, but we advise you not to rush this.”

The room burst into a louder buzz, students understandably both excited and worried about such a short time frame. You understood the reasoning, and were still excited, but the deadline only contributed to the nerves beginning to amass in your stomach. Realistically, you knew you could do it. You’d trained long enough that it was something you were expected to be able to complete, and as a good student you should be able to pull it off without a problem. Still… there was something in your tummy, a thought pressing against the back of your mind, and you couldn’t quite place your finger on what it was. Would you really be able to pull it off?

Before you could sink any further into your gruelling inner monologue, there was a nudge from your side and you turned to see a grinning Seokjin once more. At once, your worries and concerns eased. Seokjin always had that effect on you, always managed to soothe your fears and anxieties with just a sweet, beaming smile. You thought it was a pretty admirable quality, if you were being honest. Seokjin had a habit of lighting up the room when he entered, his smile lightening the moods of all basking in its rays. Such a feeling usually lasted about as long as he could keep his mouth shut and the terrible jokes to himself, but honestly you loved him for it. Even if they made others cringe, the jokes made your day. Your personalities and humour meshed well, and it was probably how you’d managed to stay such good friends for so long.

“I know a place,” he stage-whispered, voice nearly lost in the small cacophony that was rising within the lecture room while the professors waited for their students to settle. “Where we can get all the ingredients really cheap.”

Your interest was instantly piqued. The student life was not one that came easy with an abundance of income, and you were eager to pounce on whatever bargain you could to secure yourself some extra weight in your pockets. You wagged your brows at the blonde male.

“Hook us up, my dude,” you returned the stage-whisper, grinning all the while. Seokjin snorted, returning the grin, but your demonology professor spoke up before he had a chance to respond further.

“Alright, alright. We know it’s exciting, but surely you can all settle down now…”

The remainder of the lecture was spent providing a few more details about the assessment, as well as some relevant resources that could prove helpful for those wishing to read more on the subject before they performed the rituals. While you weren’t exactly confident enough in your abilities to say that you absolutely didn’t need to do that, you were also sure that the second this lecture was over half of the cohort was going to be bolting to the libraries and all of the aforementioned resources would be gone within minutes.

The lecture concluded, and sure enough the second your demonology professor finished speaking half of the room was raising from their seats and rushing down the stairs. You stayed seated, watching in amusement as people stumbled and passive-aggressively huffed behind someone that was going too slow and holding up the flow of people streaming from the room.

Seokjin’s voice sounded from beside you, “Hey, you wanna go to that gelato place near my apartment? I just got an email that says they have some really good two-for-one deals going on right now.”

You spun to deliver the male with a borderline incredulous look. “Do you know me? Hell yes, let’s fucken go Jinnie.”

Seokjin snorted, thoroughly amused, and with that you were both rising from your seats and bolting to join the pushing mass of students. Choosing gelato over academic gain… you didn’t know if there was anything that had ever described you better.

x     x     x     x     x   x     x     x  

“Your iced mocha, y/n.”

You looked up at the familiar, smooth tone, a smile finding its way to your lips of its own accord.

“Thanks, Minhyuk,” you said, feeling the saliva gather in your mouth at the sight of your drink, whipped cream swirled over the top and sprinkled with cocoa. You could see the chocolate syrup along the inside of the glass and were almost ashamed at how excited you got. It was one large glass of nothing but pure, unadulterated sugar and caffeine, and you were going to thoroughly enjoy every drop of it. If Seokjin were here he’d tease you for ogling a drink instead of the cute barista, but honestly when the drink was as good as this one you couldn’t even bring yourself to care— and you knew as thirsty as the blonde was, food would always have priority for him too. It was another cornerstone in your lasting friendship— a mutual and quite honestly excessive love for food.

The treats from this establishment were a particular favourite of yours. Soft Corner Café was a cute little coffeeshop that happened to lie happily in the middle of your apartment and campus. As a result, you and Seokjin often found yourselves nestled inside, curled into the comfy booths and sipping sweet drinks that were probably in the long run not very good for your health.

Minhyuk beamed at you, flicking strands of recently-died crimson hair from his face. You always had to stop and admire his face for a moment every time you saw him, because the boy had honestly won the genetic lottery in more ways than you could count. He changed his hair often, and you honestly didn’t think there had been one throughout them all that didn’t suit him. Boy had been blessed by Aphrodite herself.

“I put extra syrup in there for you,” he said, and while you were thrilled to hear it you were also mildly concerned that he knew your terrible eating habits so well. “Is Seokjin coming today? I can start making his drink so it’s ready for when he gets here.”

In all honesty, you were surprised you’d gotten this far into the conversation without Minhyuk mentioning the other cute barista they’d recently hired. You checked the time, affirming that Seokjin was actually late for your food date, and gave the tall male another smile. “That would be awesome, actually. Do you want me to pay now, or…?”

Minhyuk let out a light laugh, waving his hand nonchalantly in the air. “Nah, I trust you. Besides…”

His eyes flitted over to the counter and you sensed at once where the conversation was going. You felt your cheeks heat in advance. Minhyuk returned his gaze to you, smile sly and cheeky. “Who would I be to deny you an interaction with your current crush?”

“It’s not a crush!” you rushed to defend yourself, pointing a finger at the male who already looked like he was dangerously close to laughing. “Listen, you little gremlin, that was one time. One! He just caught me off-guard. I blushed because I was embarrassed, not because I like him—”

“I have to say, y/n, you have a good eye,” Minhyuk let out a wistful sigh. “You should have seen him the other day. He wore this white t-shirt to his shift, but it had been raining, so by the time he got here you could see everything— and oh my god y/n he’s so fucking ri—”

“Stop that! Go away, demon! No!” you cried, planting your hands over your ears as the heat in your cheeks increased. “Not listening! La la la la la!”

Minhyuk cackled and, satisfied with the embarrassment and mischief he’d caused, turned to go back to the counter and make Seokjin’s drink. “I’ll be back with Seokjin’s drink soon, y/n, you can’t keep your hands over your ears all afternoon!”

You grumbled, cursing the entirely too-amused male with your eyes. You didn’t know whether or not he actually thought you had a crush on the new barista, Wonho, but he enjoyed teasing you about it nonetheless, especially since the event that sparked it all was so embarrassing for you. You groaned. You never wanted to relive the memory, but every time you came in here it happened anyway. Stupid Minhyuk.

Deciding you’d thought enough about the embarrassment that was still somewhat fresh in your mind, you turned your gaze to your phone once more and blinked at the time. Wow, Seokjin really was late. You mean, he was late before, but now he was late. As someone who usually prided himself on being fashionably on-time or perhaps fashionably five minutes past time, the fact that it had now been fifteen minutes since you were meant to meet was almost cause for concern. Should you be getting ready to man a search party? Or should you wait a bit? You hadn’t ever had to deal with something like this, you didn’t know what usually happened.

Before you could throw yourself in some sort of unnecessary mess that would no doubt be hard to clean up, a tall figure burst through the front door and made a beeline towards the booth where you were currently seated. Seokjin, the man of the hour, threw himself into the seat, breathing heavily and sweating lightly along his forehead. You raised your eyebrows at him, nose wrinkling.

“Ew, is today’s theme sweat?” you teased, grinning when Seokjin shot you a half-hearted glare. He adjusted the strap of the bag over his shoulder and dropped it onto the seat next to him as you spoke, “I can’t believe you were late. Tsk tsk, Jinnie. You had such a solid track record before today.”

Seokjin groaned at that. “I know,” he lamented, shoulders sagging slightly. “I was going to be on time but you would not believe the amount of people on the buses coming from the herb corner of town. I guess a lot of students need ingredients right about now.”

You nodded, understanding. You even felt a little bad for him— no experience on a crowded bus was a good one. “Did you have to stand?”

Seokjin nodded and the pain in his eyes spoke more than anything else he could have said. You lowered your head in respect. “I will pray for the muscles of your legs, my man.”

He laughed lightly, sweeping back the light blonde locks from his forehead, strands slightly damp with sweat. “Much appreciated, nerd. So, where’s my drink?”

With scarily accurate timing, as though he’d been waiting for those very words to leave Seokjin’s mouth, Minhyuk popped up beside the table and plopped the drink in question down in front of the blonde male. Caramel iced coffee came dangerously close to sloshing out of the glass, the whipped cream riding precariously atop the surface, dipping and tilting. “Your drink, sir!”

Seokjin seemed impressed, if a bit alarmed. “Ah, Minhyuk. Always an outstanding barista, a true inspiration to us all.”

Minhyuk beamed, uncaring whether the praise was sincere or not. He took what he could get, and you had to respect that. “But of course! Only the best service is saved for our best, most favourite regulars.”

Seokjin hummed, stabbing through the whipped cream atop his drink with a straw. “We are indeed lucky, although it is a shame y/n doesn’t get to interact with her cr—”

“Already gone there today!” you cut the blonde off pointedly, Minhyuk doing his best not to laugh. “Let’s not revisit that for a second time!”

The blonde’s lips curved into a devious grin, but he remained silent, taking a smug sip of his drink instead. Minhyuk took the table number that you’d been given out of habit despite the fact literally every member of the staff probably at least new your face if not your name by this point.

“She’s right, I already teased her about it,” Minhyuk pouted. “I want to tease her some more, but she still has those screenshots…”

Seokjin made a face, sympathy pouring from his features. “You texted her while drunk too?”

The redhead nodded, regret crossing his face. “I’m never getting shitfaced at Changkyun’s again.”

You grinned, knowing that while he said that now, he’d probably be over at said second-year’s apartment anyway come Saturday, getting drunk once more. You could take the boy from the fun, but you could never take the fun from the boy. You made a note to check in with him on Sunday and see if he made it through the night without embarrassing himself again. Damn, you were a good friend.

“Sure you won’t,” you smiled, ignoring Minhyuk’s glare. The barista huffed, turning on his heel.

“Ingrate,” he muttered, shooting you another look that had you stifling giggles. You could see the barest hints of a smile fighting to tug his lips. “Come pay when you’re done, you dusty bitch.”

He left then, strutting back over to the counter and making such a show of it you couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled forth. Seokjin snickered from across from you, barely concealing it with his straw. You both calmed before you turned to him, suddenly remembering the whole reason he was across town in the Herb Corner in the first place.

“Oh right, did you get the ingredients?” you asked, shuffling forward on your seat eagerly. It had been three days since you were issued the assessment on Friday, and as both you and Seokjin had predicted, the usual ingredient stores had been suddenly inundated and the stocks for what you needed had been exhausted. Even the obscure place Seokjin claimed to know about had gotten a fair amount more business than usual, from what you were gathering.

Seokjin’s face lit up, and he beamed as he pulled a large paper bag from his satchel. “I did!”

He pulled out another paper bag from inside the one he’d just withdrawn, handing it to you. His expression shifted and he made a sort of shrug. “Well,” he amended, “They had everything but one of the ingredients— but I already placed an order for it and it should arrive in two days!”

You took the bag, easing it open and peeping inside. True to what he was saying, everything but one ingredient was accounted for. You hummed. “They were out of ground nightshade?”

Seokjin hummed, nodding. “So it would seem. They were out of pretty much every form of atropa belladonna. Apparently hallucinogenic potions are the latest craze among the magic community.”

You snorted, rolling your eyes playfully at the blonde. “Atropa belladonna, oh my god I can’t believe I almost forgot what a nerd you are—”

“I can take the ingredients back?” Seokjin said, reaching for the bag he’d so graciously handed you before. You yelped, pulling it back and away from his outstretched hand. “Since you don’t seem like you want them…?”

“Of course I want them, don’t touch the bag it’s mine,” you said quickly, holding the paper close to your chest and slapping his offending hand away.

Seokjin chortled, grinning. “Then don’t be such a fucken ingrate.”

You made an expression that one could probably call ‘offended’, except couldn’t be bothered putting any real heart in it. You took your drink in hand, condensation wetting your palm as you brought it to your lips. “Excuse me? Dusty ass? I went ahead and got you a drink, I think you’re the ingrate here.”

Seokjin’s eyebrows shot up. “You know, there’s one way to settle this.”

There was a beat of silence, both of you staring the other down for several tense moments as you tried to assess whether he was actually going to do what he was silently threatening to do. He blinked, then he was opening his mouth to call loudly, “MINHY—KKCKS—”

You shoved several sugar packets into his mouth, abruptly cutting off his cry. The damage had been done, and some patrons were now looking over at your booth with dirty expressions, but at least Minhyuk hadn’t heard him. You couldn’t actually see the barista, but if you had to hazard a guess you’d probably say he was in the kitchen, bothering the pastry chef. It was a favourite pastime of his, along with teasing you about crushes that didn’t exist of course.

You removed your hand from Seokjin’s mouth once you were sure he’d admitted defeat with his eyes, and he simply sat and allowed his jaw to drop open. The damp sugar packets fell from his mouth, dropping onto the table with wet thumps, and you tried not to laugh at the visual before you.

“Paper,” Seokjin says, tongue moving weirdly as he tries to remove the taste and feeling of the packets. “Tastes disgusting. God, it’s not coming off my tongue— don’t do that to me again or I’ll sleep with a witch and get her to turn you into a frog or something.”

You laughed loudly, pushing the gross packets to the side and shooting Seokjin a smile. “Human transfiguration is forbidden to novice witches, so I think I’m safe.”

Seokjin squawked, offended. “Are you saying I wouldn’t be able to get a senior witch?!”

You remained silent, making a face and lifting your hands as you shrugged. The blonde slapped his palm on the table, outraged.

“I could! I could totally get a senior witch if I wanted! They love cute exorcists-in-training like me!” he pointed at you, eyes narrowing. “This is character assassination, defamation— I’m suing you.”

“You’d need a character for me to assassinate first,” you retorted, cackling when Seokjin retaliated by throwing the damp sugar packets at you.

“Unbelievable!” he cried, crossing his arms and resembling a child mid-tantrum. “I share my gelato place with you, I hook you up with cheap ingredients, I put up with the slander— and this is the thanks I get?”

You took a loud, obnoxious sip of your drink, the straw making all sorts of noise, and he threw his hands in the air, turning his gaze heavenward in what you could only assume was a plea for help.

You continued bickering for a while, until you’d both made decent dents in your drinks, and eventually cooled down into your usual relaxed dynamic. You discussed the rituals, when you were going to do them and whether you remembered everything. You were both decent students, and so realistically shouldn’t have much issue.

When you parted ways an hour later to go and work on your own respective assessments, you knew he was going to do his summoning in two days’ time, and you’d agreed to do yours around then too. Summoning rituals, after you set them up and began the process, had an expiry time. If the summoning wasn’t completed within a certain time frame, everything would become dud. The ingredients would no longer work, and you’d even have to find another place to perform the ritual. The process gathered and charged the energy in the area wherever it took place, and if left to expire instead of using that energy for the ritual, then it completely drained the area and the ingredients of their magic and energetic potential. They couldn’t be used again, wouldn’t work— similar to how a helmet wouldn’t protect you the same if it had already absorbed a large amount of shock from an impact.

The expiry time for each ritual was a little different. For summoning rituals, it was around twenty-four hours. So you were going to set up your ritual and begin the process the day you picked up the final ingredient. You honestly couldn’t afford for the ingredients to go to waste, so you had to organise your time wisely.

When you got home, you began to clear the space where you planned to perform the ritual. You needed a relatively large area, so you chose your living room. You pushed some furniture back, leaving others for your own convenience. At a loss for what to do after that, you retreated to your room for a quick nap. You’d probably do some studying after that, or something.

You fell asleep quickly, as per usual, your mind caught on thoughts of what your first time summoning would be like. You slipped into unconsciousness, dreams smooth and unremarkable, the darkness broken only by a lilac set of eyes and a curling sensation in your abdomen you’d never remember when you woke up.

x     x     x     x     x     x     x

Two days later found you sitting cross-legged in your living room, going over some of the resources you’d dredged from the recesses of your closet. You’d been taking demonology courses for pretty much the entire time you’d been attending the academy, and so had a fair amount of notes and textbooks amassed in your collection. You shifted your legs when you felt the beginnings of pins and needles, foot coming dangerously close to knocking over a white candle you’d sat firmly on the floor.

Today was the day you were set to collect the final ingredient for the summoning ritual, and therefore it was also the day you were planning to perform the ritual. Understandably, some nerves had gathered and were now swirling within the confines of your stomach. This was the first time ever you would be performing a ritual by yourself. You’d watched people perform it— in person and in videos used in lectures. You’d seen diagrams, picture booklets depicting the process. But this… doing it in person was so starkly different it had taken you the better part of the morning to cool your nerves. You’d set up the ritual already as much as you could, had turned to it as something to focus on instead of worrying uselessly and pacing your apartment in a fit of nervous energy.

The sigils decorating your wooden floors in white chalk stood out against the dark timber colouring, the candles remaining unlit for now but still standing proud in the required points around the markings. Table salt drew a thick circle around the symbols, there for your own protection. Since it was only a Lesser Demon you would be summoning, you wouldn’t need anything stronger to keep it at bay. They weren’t powerful enough to even pose a threat of negating the salt, so you weren’t too worried about that aspect at least. Everything was set up and ready, and the second you’d connected the final line of the sigils the ritual had been pushed into motion, the energy in the area beginning to charge. You had twenty-four hours— well, twenty-two now— to complete the ritual.

You were planning on heading out to the store soon to pick up the final ingredient. Seokjin had told you at the café the other day that they would have stocked up on ground nightshade and would have your ingredient ready in two days, which was today. The only reason you hadn’t already gone was because you wanted to miss the rest of the late-morning traffic that seemed to find its way to bus stops near you. It was pretty much all students, rushing to attend classes they’d chosen to be later in the day. You weren’t a fan of standing on the bus, especially when your stop was on the other side of town.

But, if you were being completely honest with yourself, that wasn’t the only reason. Admittedly, there was a part of you, a reasonably sized part, that was procrastinating the trip because you were scared. Well, scared may have been a bit strong… nervous? Either way, the sooner you got the ingredient, the sooner you would have no excuse but to perform the ritual. You knew logically, realistically, you were working it up to be bigger than it was, but still… something in your tummy protested, like your intuition was trying to tell you something.

Frankly, you knew there was nothing to be warned about, and so you were ignoring it. Probably not something that you should get into a habit of doing, but focusing on it only made you more anxious so you were trying to forget about it. Hence, the return to your reading materials. You were going over all the information you had on Lesser Demons, since you figured it would help you a bit if you cemented a good mental image of what to expect when you performed the ritual.

It was helping, in a way. You already knew all of this information, of course, but refreshing your knowledge was always a good idea. You picked up your next textbook, observing the red cover and black lettering. Exorcists, if nothing else, were truly a dramatic bunch. Smiling slightly to yourself, you flicked it open to the contents page. It displayed all the chapters, one being dedicated to each rank and type of demon. There was even a small portion on the back pertaining to specific ingredients needed to summon each type. You didn’t bother looking at that, since you already knew by heart what you needed and had most of the ingredients already.

Fuelled by your slightly unreasonable urge to procrastinate just a little longer, you opened the book to the first section on Lesser Demons.

Lesser Demons were, you could say, the lowest in rank and power among Hell’s plane— hence the name. It didn’t actually refer to only one type of demon, but rather was a blanket term for all demons that were of low rank and power. Because of this, not all Lesser Demons looked the same.

One subtype, you recalled as your eyes skimmed the page, was less like the traditional demons and more like what you would see in tales about maleficent fae. They resembled little creatures usually referred to as redcaps, but weren’t as strikingly malevolent. That was another trait of lesser demons— they weren’t inherently good, and were prone to mischief, but they weren’t intelligent enough to seek true evil. It was probably why they were featured in your first summoning task as students.

Another subtype, one that you personally thought was one of the coolest, were often referred to as shadies. They were small, hovering balls of smoky, shimmering darkness, broken only by a small mask that you assumed acted as a point of reference for a face. They were otherwise shapeless and had no real body to speak of, but a lot of literature spoke for their ability to follow instructions and complete tasks well. You held a certain fondness for them because they couldn’t talk, and therefore couldn’t spit curses at you, but also because they were just… cute, in a strange way that you wouldn’t expect a hovering blob of darkness to be. You knew they had eyes, could see them beaming at you from behind the mask, and they weren’t particularly adorable, but still… there was something about them that was just endearing to you. You were personally hoping for once of these, when you performed the ritual.

Probably one of the most common Lesser Demons, second only to the goblin-esque redcap look-alikes, were the sockets. The reason for such a peculiar name lay in the fact that they often appeared resembling small forest animals to the very last detail, except for one small difference— they had no eyes, and the entire socket was filled with a thick, swirling abyss. These were the more mischievous of the Lesser Demons, and if you didn’t end up getting a shadie you definitely were hoping for a socket. Beggars couldn’t be choosers though, and inevitably you’d just have to accept whatever you got.

You were about to turn to the next section in the textbook, one that detailed a more uncommon type of Lesser Demon you’d learned about, when a sudden violent vibrating broke you from your thoughts. You turned, catching sight of your phone on the floor next to you ringing away, and quickly answered before it could knock over a candle in its fit.

“Hello, y/n speaking,” you answered, remembering it had been an unfamiliar number that had displayed across your screen.

“Ah, hello miss. This is Herb Encyclopedia on West— there was an order placed here under your name a couple of days ago, I believe, for ground nightshade?” It was a woman���s voice that greeted you, low and rough with age but kind and soft in its tone.

Despite her seemingly nice disposition, dread was beginning to fill your stomach. This must have been the store Seokjin ordered the ingredients from, but why were they calling you?

“Ah, yes. That’s right,” you said, fingers fiddling with the flimsy paper of the textbook. “Can I ask why you’re calling?”

The lady chuckled, a nervous sound, and began to explain. “Ah, of course. I’m calling to let you know that, unfortunately, there has been a delay with your shipment. It was meant to arrive today, but we have been informed that will no longer be the case.”

You could have sworn your heart stopped as her words caught up to you. It wasn’t there, so you wouldn’t be able to get it today— fuck. You’d already set up the ritual, and it had already begun charging the energy in your apartment.

“Fuck,” you muttered softly, unaware it had even escaped you until the lady made another nervous sound that seemed like a giggle. “I… oh shit. Fuck, sorry for my language— do you know when the shipment will come in? I need it very urgently.”

The lady hummed in understanding, and you heard the faint sound of paper rustling before she spoke again. “It’s due to come in tomorrow morning. It was only a short delay, but a delay nonetheless. I apologise for the inconvenience.”

You took a deep breath, trying to manage the cluster of nerves and anxiety that had amassed in your stomach once more. “Okay, I see. Thank you for telling me. What time do you open tomorrow? I’ll need it very early.”

“We open at eight-thirty,” the lady said, tone softening once more. “I’ll make sure your package is on the counter and ready for you to pick up first thing tomorrow.”

An audible sound of relief passed your lips, and you were sure she heard it. “Okay, alright. Thank you. Uh…”

The lady seemed to sense you didn’t quite know what else to say, and graciously provided an opening for you to finish the call. “Again, we apologise for the inconvenience. Is there anything else you will need today, miss?”

You shuffled on the floor, just barely missing the candle with your foot once more. “Ah, no thank you. I’m good. Thank you for calling.”

“Of course,” the lady spoke, a shuffling sound coming down the line. “Take care of yourself, sweetheart. Have a lovely day now.”

You returned the sentiment, lowering your phone as soon as you heard the click that signified she’d hung up. Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Oh shit. Okay, this was fine. By the time you went in tomorrow, retrieved the ingredient, and made it back home, you’d still be within the twenty-four hour time frame— barely.

You let your head fall back against the couch and groaned. Of course this would happen to you.

x    x    x    x    x   x

“I finally got them, oh my god Seokjin what if it expires early? Oh my god I’m so fucked.”

Seokjin’s only attempt at reassurance came in the form of a sympathetic hum. “I don’t think they can expire early, but on the off chance it does— yeah, you’re fucked.”

You resisted the urge to throw your phone, knowing it was an impulse that was only present because you were already stressed and Seokjin wasn’t helping. Not like you really expected him to in the first place, why had you called him again?

“Kim Seokjin, you dusty ass bitch,” you hissed as you ran along the cement pathway, growing closer and closer to your apartment with each hurried step. It was just within view on the horizon, building peeking tauntingly at you through trees and brick housing. “That is not comforting me at all. You’re a terrible friend.”

The male snorted, and you could vividly imagine the expression that would be on his face as he did so. A peculiar cross between incredulous and amused. “It’s not the end of the world, y/n. There’s still time to do the ritual before it expires. I’m not sure what you want from me—”

“It was your store that the ingredient was delayed at!” you retorted, almost very out of breath as you approached the front of your apartment building. You almost missed what the male said in response as you unlocked the front doors with your keycard and let yourself in, darting for the elevator.

“Okay, that’s fair, I’ll wear that,” Seokjin said, tone probably the exact opposite of apologetic. “But you did still get everything cheaper, so I stand by my recommendation.”

You shook your head despite the fact he couldn’t see it, your foot tapping as the elevator shuttled up the floors. A ding alerted you that you’d arrived at your destination, and you were bolting down the hall as soon as the doors opened.

“You prick,” you panted, almost dropping the package under your arm as you fumbled to let yourself into your apartment. “I’m not shouting gelato for a whole month.”

Seokjin gasped, horrified, and quickly went to protest. “What? No! You bitch we have a deal—!”

“Sorry, you’re cutting out, I’ll have to call you back later,” you said, not even pretending to make the complimentary static noises and make it semi-believable. “Bye, Jinnie!”

There was another noise of protest before you hung up, dropping your phone on the couch and the package you’d picked up along with it. The gods had been smiling upon you today, as there had been hardly any traffic or people on the buses this morning, and by the time you got to the shop the attendant was in the back room, saving you the social interaction, and your package had been sitting nicely on the counter, ready for you to take. It had been lined up along with a couple of other packages, but you’d paid them no heed and grabbed yours before darting off and back down the street.

Seokjin had called you when you’d been on the bus home, wanting to check in since you’d texted him the situation yesterday and he’d laughed at you before realising you were serious. He’d then proceeded to make fun of you once more, this time for the fact that it had happened to you of all people. Apparently there was something about you that just attracted unusual circumstances. It was a pretty big inconvenience, especially when Seokjin was your best friend and a strong element of said friendship was taking the shit out of each other.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, you were currently trying to remove your ingredient from its packaging as delicately as possible. The plan was to perform the summoning ritual before you let any more time pass and ran the risk of the ritual expiring. Your fingers struggled to be steady as the grasped the packaging. If you ripped the wrong thing there was going to be fine dust everywhere and not only would you have wasted the ingredients you paid and then waited for, but you’d also have to clean it, and that would probably be more humiliating than you could handle.

The ground nightshade smelt a little different than you remembered as you gingerly opened the packet, but didn’t really have time to mull over it. You chalked it up to the fact that you hadn’t really seen nor smelt it in a good while, and the memory you had of it was probably a bit skewed by now.

Taking a deep breath, you moved over to the circle of salt and the runes and sigils drawn inside. The candles were still in their place from yesterday, the matches to the side, and everything else was as you’d left it this morning. You’d since tidied up— the books were no longer spread across the floor but instead were in a neat pile on the coffee table to the side, save for the one you actually needed to read from for the ritual. You shrugged out of your jacket, throwing it on the couch, and patted down your jeans in nervous habit more than anything. Okay, you could do this. You were about to do this.

Grasping the final ingredient to your mix, you began to sprinkle the ground nightshade alongside the salt, creating another circle within it. You allowed the fine dust to fall in a reasonably thick line, surprised to find even after completing the second circle and connecting the line that there was some left. Oh well, you wouldn’t be caught complaining.

You set the remainder of the ground nightshade away, exhaling shakily from the nerves flicking inside your stomach. Okay. You had this. You reached for the matches, lighting the candles and blinking as with the last one the room began to thrum with energy, a strange  sensation settling over your limbs and raising the hairs on your skin. It felt a little different than you expected, than you remembered, but you didn’t bother looking into it. You were just a student after all, this was your first ever solo summoning. You had little to no experience to go off, really.

You stood, taking the book that held the incantation you needed with you and trying to ignore the slight shake to your legs. When you were standing and had a good view of the circle a couple of feet before you, you took a moment to just breathe, an attempt to steel your nerves. You were stressing over nothing, it was just summoning a Lesser Demon. It wouldn’t be able to cross the line of salt you made— you were the one with the power here, the exorcist. You had this.

Your eyes opened once more, blinking at the dimness of the room. You had forgotten to open your curtains in your rush earlier. Shrugging it off, you opened the book in your hold and turned to the relevant page. Deep breath, throat cleared. You began the incantation.

The room seemed to shiver the second the words of the summoning spell graced your lips, energy fluctuating and pulsing. If you ever had any doubts it would work, these sensations surely would have squashed them. You focused on reading the lines— the last thing you needed was to stuff up the words —and completed the first line of the ritual with no trouble.

The room seemed to dim as you continued, voice surprisingly smooth as it caressed the latin words written in bold across the page of your textbook. You didn’t dare look up, but knew at this point that the demon being summoned was probably slipping through dimensions. The summoning ritual weakened the borders, you could say, and allowed a demon to be pulled from the Hellscape and into the mortal realm. Second line done, you started on the third and final line of the summoning incantation.

Something felt different. As the last word of the line slipped from your tongue and graced the air, something felt different than it should have. You didn’t remember a Lesser Demon ever exuding such pressure into the air with its presence. You were almost urged into a submissive cower by your instincts, something you were understandably jaded by. Why the hell was your body reacting this way? You were much stronger than some weak ass Lesser Demon that couldn’t even talk—

“Why do you dare summon me, human?”

You froze, your heart stopping instantly and your blood freezing in your veins. Your brain took a split-second to catch up. What. What.

Your head whipped up, mouth dropping as you were met with the sight of a tall male in your living room, his arms crossed and hip cocked as he rested his weight on one leg. His expression, at first glance, seemed wildly unimpressed, but there was a glimmer in his dark eyes that betrayed something almost akin to amusement. Two onyx horns curved from the top of his head, polished in the low light, and silver metal adorned his smooth, honeyed skin.

“Fuck,” it escaped before you could even think to filter it, your eyes shooting wide. The book dropped from your grasp, landing on the floor with a heavy, dismaying thunk, and you watched as the demon’s eyes followed it down, expression neutral. His eyes flicked over the page the book landed open on, the page you’d just been reading from, and an interesting combination of curiosity and amusement swirled in his gaze.

“’Lesser Demons’… oh, honey,” his voice was low, deep against your ears, and you had to fight a shiver as his gaze swept back up your form to trap your own. His words were honeyed, humour curling around each syllable and sound as it left his mouth and fell from soft, petal lips. He found you amusing. “You’re a little out of your depth, aren’t you? You probably have no idea what you just summoned, huh.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out something had gone wrong, and this wasn’t, in fact, a Lesser Demon standing in your living room. You rattled your brain for what could have possibly lead to this, quickly narrowing in on the only variable in the situation— your gaze flicked down to the circle ground nightshade in horror.

“The nightshade…” you muttered, dread and anxiety mixing into one large, precarious cocktail in your abdomen. The demon seemed delighted you’d caught on so quickly, humming in response.

“Not nightshade, sweetheart,” his tone dipped as he tilted his head, adjusting his stance, and your attention was drawn for the first time to the rest of his body— heat flushed across your cheeks instantly. He was dressed in nothing but loose, silken pants that hung from his hips almost sinfully and exposed the entirety of his toned abdomen to your eyes. Silver bands wrapped around his arms, breaking up the dark, tattoo-like markings that decorated the skin, and a silver choker wound around his throat enticingly. More metal glimmered from ears that were a far cry from human, the ends long and pointed. His eyes seemed to gleam in response to your gaze as it took in his form, arousal beginning to swirl within you at his presence and appearance despite your fear. “Valerian root.”

Your eyes tore from the curve of his waist where his back and chest tapered into slim hips, and said hips into large, strong thighs. His words took a second to register but once they did you quickly realised how you’d gotten yourself into this situation. You hadn’t checked the package this morning, so sure that the one you’d picked up was right since it looks similar enough, and your foolish mistake had now caused you to summon something you were not in any way prepared for.

You weren’t by any means weak in the subject of herbology, you knew some of the qualities of valerian root, but you didn’t know what demon it would summon when used in the ritual. Fear began to curl within you as the reality of the situation began to sink in. God, you were fucked.

The demon continued to speak when he realised you were too shocked to do so, a smirk curving his lips. His head tilted and he took a step forward in the circle, sending your heartrate spiking. Fuck, fuck, fuck—

“Oh, little exorcist, what a bind you’ve gotten yourself into,” he cooed, a hand coming to rest on his cocked hip. Your eyes caught on the silver glimmering from his chest and you nearly choked, heart hammering away faster than you’d ever thought. It was so inappropriate for you to be as attracted to him as you were right now, but it was inexplicable how drawn you were to him, how much that pull increased with each second that passed. Something wasn’t right, something hadn’t been right ever since you’d started the ritual. The demon purred, “You’re too young to have graduated, so you must still be a fledgling. How endearing.”

Your blood simmered at his words, but you refused to acknowledge why. “Who are you?” you managed to ask, throat dry. “What are you?”

The male grinned, large doe-eyes crinkling in a youthful look that was entirely too innocent for a creature born deep in the bowels of hell.

“I’m surprised you don’t know already,” he said, eyes meeting yours and flaring the most peculiar shade of lilac. Your heart skipped a beat. “I’ve been visiting your dreams long enough, little exorcist.”

Fear, mixed with something else, something scorching, shot along your spine. You fought the urge to take a step back, to increase the distance between you— you couldn’t afford to look weak, and besides, there was a line of salt between him and yourself.

“What do you mean?” you demanded, bravado all you really had left. The demon’s eyebrows shot up, amusement glimmering in the dark hues that now held traces of glowing lilac.

“You’re a regular of mine,” he said simply, turning to glance about the room. His eyes fixed on your books to the side on the coffee table. “It can get awful boring in the dreamscape, you know. I look forward to visiting your dreams.”

You blinked, opening your mouth to respond when he shifted his body and move. Your heart instantly dropped, eyes watching in horror as he lifted his leg and stepped over the salt line without a problem, walking nonchalantly over to your coffee table. The candles burned, lonely, around the runes in the absence of the creature they’d summoned. Anxiety and fear welled within you despite the opposing wave of arousal at the sight of his sculpted back and plush ass.

“Dream demon,” you murmured, voice rising as you connected the dots and realised what exactly was in your living room. “You’re an incubus?”

The demon of sex and dreams turned from where he was gazing over your books, a devious gleam in his eyes as they burned lilac into your own. Your heart hammered against your ribcage anxiously, driven by a strange mix of adrenaline and other hormones his very presence had awoken. It registered suddenly that a dream demon had been visiting your dreams for god knows how long, and you hadn’t known about it until you’d accidentally summoned the offending demon in your living room. Heat scorched across your cheeks once more at the realisation as well as the sheer intensity of the gaze currently boring into you.

“You don’t disappoint,” he said, turning on his heel and making his way back towards the circle, but never stepping in. Stepping back inside would give you the power to banish or exorcise him, if you knew how. “Smart and beautiful, I’ve always been drawn to your soul. So bright, your energy so pure… it’s a shame the charms you wear to bed never let me taste it.”

Your breath hitched in your throat as he took a step closer. All students were provided with charms that protected them while they slept from possession and other demonic forces. From the dreamscape, from hell, he would never have been able to delve deep enough into your sleeping mind to touch your essence, but now…

Now he was here in the mortal realm, unrestricted and unbound because you’d accidentally brought him here and had no way of sending him back. God, your first ever summoning and you’d managed to fuck it up this bad— you were a terrible exorcist.

“Tell me, little exorcist,” he queried, taking another step closer. The reduced distance between you had your heartrate skyrocketing. “Why were you trying to summon a Lesser Demon?”

In all honesty, you saw no point in trying to deceive him. Your plans had gone this far off the rails, you may as well throw yourself further off-course.

“An assessment, due tomorrow,” you answered lowly, tilting your chin up slightly so you didn’t cower from the powerful aura he emitted. “We had to summon and bind a Lesser Demon, not that it matters anymore.”

The incubus was amused. “Oh, you need the binding symbol don’t you. Poor little exorcist, without a Lesser Demon you’re going to fail, aren’t you?”

You glared, annoyed even through the haze beginning to gather in the back of your mind that he was making a mockery of you. You hadn’t come this far in your schooling to fail now, but at the same time… you didn’t have an option anymore. There was no way you could gather all the ingredients and summon again in time for tomorrow. You were fucked.

“Aw, don’t get too down, sweetheart,” his voice curled in your ear, enticing and addictive, and your gaze remained trapped in his as he stepped closer still. He lifted a hand, fingertips brushing over your cheek. “I can help you out, although… it will be for a price.”

The second his skin brushed yours it was like electricity sparked beneath the surface, a shudder rolling down your spine. His close proximity was doing things to you, throwing a mist over your mind as two parts of you fought over what to do next. You could hear him out, or you could throw him out— although was it really a contest? You had no way to throw him out, no way to force him away.

“What price?” you asked, voice softer than you intended. Try as you might you could not free your eyes from the intensity, the magnetic draw of his swirling lilac gaze. He held you captive and you had no idea how to escape, let alone if you really wanted to. This was dangerous, so dangerous— you were losing your head before you even had a chance to realise it was shifting from its place.

The demon tilted his head, strong jaw flexing for a moment before he grinned, revealing regular pearly whites broken only by four sharp teeth. “It’s nothing too much. I will give you an item of binding, and you won’t fail. In return, I have something I desire. You can give it to me.”

Hesitation held your tongue in place as you weighed his words in your mind. It was harder to think with the scent of him so close, so cloying as it brushed your senses. Sweet but musky, it elicited a peculiar cocktail of sensations and emotions within you that you weren’t quite ready to analyse just yet. You forced your mind back to the current problem— what did you do?

At this current point in time, you were going to fail an assessment in an important, must-pass course. You didn’t have the time nor the resources to perform the ritual again, and even if you did you had no way to get rid of the current demon pressing himself further into your personal space. You had an inkling as to what he wanted from you, and in all honesty weren’t as opposed to the idea as you should have been. And if it meant you’d pass, something you currently had no other hope of doing��

“What is it you want?” you asked, gut swirling with a feeling that told you the answer before he ever could.

The incubus grinned, sharp teeth flashing once more and ears flicking, metal glimmering. “That’s simple,” he purred, eyes positively burning and eliciting a shiver that rolled delectably down your spine. Your gut churned, but not in a bad way. “I want you.”

Your breath hitched, eyes wide. He continued, fingers caressing the side of your face once more while his other hand shifted from his side to brush along your arm, your back, to the curve of your waist.

“Your essence, your soul, your body…” his eyes freed you momentarily to sweep over your form, heat flushing over your face and legs trembling ever so slightly. You cursed the barest traces of slick beginning to gather between your thighs. “I want to taste it all. We’re ravenous creatures you know, y/n.”

As if the shock of hearing your name fall from his lips wasn’t enough, the words he was uttering so lowly to you were doing more than a number on your resolve and your mind. His grip tightened on your hip, fingers digging in, and the softest gasp fell from your lips.

“How do you…” you couldn’t finish the question, your voice failing you, too caught in the feel of him so close, too close, you could hardly form a coherent thought anymore.

“Of course I would know the name of the little human that has drawn me in so,” the incubus hummed, brushing hair from the side of your face. His thighs and chest just barely brushed yours, he was so close. The devious gleam in his dark eyes as they glimmered between chocolate and lilac hues told you to keep your defences up, but the curve of his lips as he smirked softly hooked beneath your skin, piercing your ribcage, and tugged you closer. “So what do you say, hm? Will you let me taste you for a favour?”

You must have lost your head much longer ago than you thought, because you found yourself nodding, overcome with the desire for him that had been building within you ever since his presence graced your living room. “Okay.”

The soft whisper of confirmation that escaped you was all he needed, as a large, devilish grin overtook his features before he dove down, lips capturing your own in the blink of an eye and sending a rush of heat and electricity over the surface of your skin. You gasped against his lips, back curving into him as desire curled enticingly within your abdomen, hands coming to clutch his broad shoulders. The way his mouth moved against your own had your head spinning, skin flushing and legs trembling slightly. You didn’t have words to adequately describe how your body was reacting, responding to him. He was the allure, the abyss of a black hole and he already had his claws so deep in you that you didn’t stand a chance— he was consuming you.

His teeth took your bottom lip between them and you were gasping as he sucked it into his mouth, fingers curling, pressing into your flesh so deliciously you were sure you’d wake to find the marks they left tomorrow. Your chest pressed eagerly into his, a shiver rolling down your spin as you felt the metal piercings on his chest rub against your own nipples through your own thin shirt and bra. He did something to you, to your body— you’d never been so sensitive before, so yearning for the touch of another.

A soft noise escaped him as your fingers dug into his skin, one hand winding into the raven hair at the back of his neck, and you swallowed it down. You didn’t even register that you’d moved before the backs of your knees were hitting the familiar edge of your couch and you were being pushed down. The demon slipped easily between your legs, parting from your lips to press kisses along your jaw and down the column of your throat, hips grinding a prominent bulge against your core. A moan, soft and gasping, fell from your lips at the shot of pleasure that sparked along your spine, your core throbbing with need.

The incubus shifted, changing tactics and beginning to suckle the sensitive skin of your neck, marking you over, and over, and over with blossom pink and lilac blooms across your flesh to match the burning hue of his eyes. Soft noises escaped you at the pleasurable sensations, a whine tumbling from your throat whenever he scraped his teeth along your skin. His hips rolled leisurely, playfully almost, and it wasn’t until you shifted your hips and pressed back into him that a low moan escaped him too.

He pulled back, violet hues capturing yours for a moment before his gaze dipped to your chest and he frowned at the obstacle your shirt presented. Muttering something about ‘accursed human clothes’, the demon grasped your shirt at the low neckline and tore it and the bra beneath in half like nothing more than wet paper. Your heart was racing, stomach dipping and flipping excitedly as it registered just how much stronger he was than you, how much more powerful. The second your skin was bared to him he dove down once more, eager to suck, lick and taste more of you, as much of your as he could. His hand found your breast, fingers kneading the flesh in a way that had a sharp moan pulling from your throat, and his lips left a wet trail down over your collarbones, over your sternum, before he reached your nipple and promptly sucked it harshly into the wet, velvety heat of his mouth.

Each second more he toyed with you, playing you like a well-tuned instrument, was a second that the desire within you welled more and more, a second that you grew wetter, hotter, all for him.

“A-ah, f-fuck,” you cursed as he nipped the sensitive nub, the slight pain mixing with the pleasure of his hips against yours and his mouth and hand against you to create something heady and addictive.

The demon seemed pleased at the noises escaping you, promptly switching his attention to the other breast and relishing the sharp cry you let pass your lips. His other hand shifted, kneading your chest a moment longer before it was travelling further down, caressing the curve of your ribs and the swell of your hips and tummy. He reached your jeans, a low noise of impatience escaping him as he unbuttoned them and zipped them down, before he was yanking them down your legs. He parted from your chest then, leaving you breathless and gasping as cool air met your legs and your jeans were thrown to the side. The incubus didn’t waste any time, grasping your hips and yanking you to the edge of the couch so that your ass just barely sat on the edge.

You didn’t expect it, for whatever reason, when he lowered to the floor and began pressing licks and kisses to the soft skin of your inner thighs. You shifted, whining as a finger came to caress your slit over your underwear, nowhere near enough pressure to be as pleasurable as you wanted but just enough to tease you. His lips dipped close to where you wanted them, but never closed the distance.

“Please,” you gasped as he nipped your thigh, sharp teeth grazing the skin playfully. His eyes were dark, so dark, with desire, the pupils blown wide and drawing you into the pure abyss they held. “Please—”

“Jungkook,” the demon supplied, eyes meeting yours with a dangerous gleam that had breath catching in your throat. “My name is Jungkook.”

“Jungkook,” you breathed, enjoying the way the name rolled off your tongue. The demon shuddered slightly as your voice graced the air, returning his attention immediately to his previous ministrations. His lips lowered down your thigh, closer and closer to where you longed for him to be, and after what felt like an eternity he finally pressed his lips over your core, suckling your clit into his mouth through your thin panties. Your body jerked, a high-pitched cry leaving your lips in surprise. Your body flushed once more with pleasure, spine curving at the just-barely-enough sensations.

His tongue teased your clit, pleasure tingling along your limbs as his arms wound under your thighs and his hands gripped your hips, fingers slipping beneath the waistband of your panties. He continued teasing you, suckling, licking and nipping and drinking in each soft whine and moan that fell from your lips. It didn’t take long for him to want more, however, and you weren’t going to protest. Soon your panties were discarded much in the same manner as the rest of your clothes had been and you were bare before him, thighs trembling lightly and fingers digging into the material of the couch.

You could have sworn you heard the demon mutter something like ‘finally’ before he was diving down and delivering a swift, broad lick along your slit. A gasping moan fell from your lips, breath hitching as he continued lapping at the wetness trickling steadily from your core, teasing you with quick flicks of his tongue against your clit. One of your hands left the cushion of the couch to wind in his hair once more, brushing one of the ebony horns protruding from his skull and curving into the air.

He gasped at the contact, moaning against your core and sending another tremor of pleasure over your form. Jungkook ceased teasing you, opting instead to do as you wanted him so badly to do and move his mouth over your clit, latching his lips around the sensitive bud and suckling. One hand left your hips, fingers finding your slit and his index sliding in as you keened, hips straining to move. The velvety heat of your walls took his finger easily, the wetness drenching your folds more than enough to ease the way. Jungkook began fucking into you with his finger, curling it with each thrust as his fingertips searched for the one spot that would have you crying out.

You were more than ready to take another finger, and it was something the demon quickly caught onto, adding his middle finger into the mix and pumping them into you with a quicker, harder pace. The soft noises tumbling from your lips turned into louder, sharper moans as he found your g-spot and began pressing firmly against it with each thrust and curve of his fingers inside you.

“F-fuck, Jungkook,” you whined, thighs beginning to tremble as the heat in your abdomen melded into something bigger, something that wound tighter and tighter with each thrust into you and each suck of your sensitive nub into his welcoming mouth. The demon seemed pleased that you’d used his name, burying his face happily between your thighs and increasing his efforts. You whined, spine beginning to curve as he changed tactics and worked your most sensitive areas, pressing again and again into that spot inside you as he licked and sucked your clit. The tension grew rapidly in your abdomen now, limbs trembling, until finally you let out a cry and your body tensed up, walls sucking his fingers in greedily as they clenched around them, your eyes screwing shut as your orgasm washed over you and you came harder than you had in a while.

It took you a while to come down from your high, the pleasure still tingling over your limbs and sparking beneath your skin with each leisurely pump of the demons fingers into you as he rode you through your orgasm. You were panting lightly, body thrumming, and you struggled to sit up.

Jungkook rose from his position on the floor, lips glistening with the remnants of your juices, and you realised he’d diligently lapped up each and every drop that gushed forth from your orgasm. Heat crossed your cheeks once more, but before you could say anything the demon was leaning down and capturing your lips with his. Your mind fuzzed over pleasantly, desire reigniting in your abdomen as your tongue moved to brush his lips, tasting your own release and letting out a soft moan in response.

Jungkook’s tongue came to tangle with your own, lips still moving against your own as he did so. Your mind swam in a pleasant daze by the time he released you, irises lilac once more around his dilated pupils. He shifted forward, hips rolling against your own as they had before and you whined, gasping, “Jungkook!”

The male almost purred against your lips, pulling back to deliver you with a smouldering gaze. His hips ground against yours, pleasure sparking from the contact of his large bulge against your clit. You didn’t doubt you were wetting the crotch of his silken pants with your arousal, couldn’t even bring yourself to care when the sensations he was sending through you were so damn good.

“Can you feel how hard I am, little exorcist?” his voice was thick as he murmured against your ear. Your back arched slightly, hips rolling to meet his. He chuckled, holding them down with ease. “Do you want me to fuck you now? Fuck you so hard and so good you won’t be able to walk tomorrow?”

Desire and arousal swirled in your abdomen, flushes of both causing heat to brush over your skin. You did, you wanted him so badly you didn’t know what to do with yourself. You body called for him, longed to feel his touch once more even in the hazy remnants of your high. Each brush against your skin set your nerves alight, a dangerous, intoxicating sensation that filled you to the brim. At this stage you couldn’t have refused him, even if you wanted to.

“Y-yes,” you voice barely worked enough to sound the word out, breath stuttering as the demon held your gaze unwaveringly. “Fuck, please, fuck me.”

A low, pleased growl escaped the incubus as his hands gripped your hips once more and he flipped you over, adjusting your position on the couch as you fell onto your hands and knees. Your previous orgasm had left you so weak your arms almost gave out straight away before you forced them straight, knees digging into the plush cushioning of the couch. Your skin, glistening with a light sheen of sweat, stuck slightly to the leather as you shifted.

Your breath hitched as he moved a hand from your hip to knead the supple flesh of your ass, a low moan catching in your throat. You could almost feel his grin, the predatory gleam in his gaze that was causing your limbs to tremble and the small hairs over your skin to raise in anticipation. Your hole ached for him, walls clenching around nothing as your body yearned for him to fuck you like he promised, the idea alone sending a delicious shiver rolling down your spine.

Your thoughts were broken by a harsh smack on your behind, a loud cry passing your lips as sharp pain sparked from your ass. His palm remained in place, cool against the skin that was now throbbing with heat. You couldn’t help the way your behind shifted further into his touch, breath coming quickly.

Jungkook’s hips pressed insistently into your ass as he soothed the area he’d just hit, his length impossibly hard and hot even through his silken pants. He took a piece of you with each touch, his free hand shifting from your hips to slide down your spine. “You’re so wet, so eager for my cock,” he hummed, fingers digging in and eliciting a soft moan. “How much do you want my cock, little exorcist?”

Any semblance of shame was long gone by this point as you shifted back, pressing your behind into his crotch. “So much, I want it so much,” you nearly whined, fingers clutching the couch desperately. “Please fuck me, Jungkook, please—”

The demon groaned at the action, holding you tighter for a second before he was pulling back momentarily. You felt silken material shift against your thighs, caressing them like smooth liquid, before his hips returned and his length was hot and throbbing against your heat. You gasped, and he relished in the small noises that fell from your kiss-swollen lips as he ground against you.

You almost couldn’t take the wait anymore when he finally shifted and the tip of his cock rested against your entrance, your walls aching for the stretch you knew was going to come. The incubus dragged the swollen tip over your slit, gathering the slick still soaking your folds from your prolonged, all-consuming arousal. You were so worked up, so sensitive and attuned to each and every brush of his skin against yours, that you were almost moaning with each slight touch of his length against your tip, behind wriggling when he still hadn’t done what you wanted him to do. “Jungkook…”

You didn’t need to see him to know he was smiling, you could hear it curling dangerously around the words as they left his mouth, voice alarmingly close to your ear and so low your stomach was forced into flips, “I’m going to claim you now, little exorcist. Stuff you so full of my cock my cum overflows from that tight little pussy and makes a mess of you. I’m going to fuck you so hard and so good you won’t ever want another man— and you won’t ever want another demon, either.”

A thrill raced down your spine, pleasure tingling along your skin and arousal flooding your mind at the promise in his tone. God, you weren’t even ashamed of how much you wanted him right now. At the soft, breathy moan that escaped you the demon grinned, leaning down until his lips brushed your ear and you shivered. His voice was thick with need, low and laced with promise, “You like the sound of that, hm? I’m going to ruin you, sweetheart. After all this time, you’re going to be mine.”

You didn’t even have time to register the words before he was moving once more, teeth grazing the back of your neck as he leant back, and his hips shifted. The tip of his cock aligned with your entrance and you didn’t even get to breathe before he was pressing in, bulbous head already stretching you open more than you had anticipated. The burn as your walls strained to accommodate his large girth was tantalising, addictive almost as it tingled up your spine. Lewd noises spilt forth from your mouth as it dropped open, arms quivering with the strain of holding yourself up as he inched further and further in, aided by the generous amount of slick that was gushing from your core.

“F-fuck,” you barely managed to articulate the word, a gasping moan tearing from your throat as your walls fluttered and clenched around the intrusion. The demon let loose a long, drawn moan, hips twitching and long, thick cock sliding the rest of the way home in a sudden slam. You yelped, the noise melting into a loud moan, as the accompanying burn merged into pleasure, pussy throbbing with your need.

The slight quiver in the incubus’ breath was almost unnoticeable as he stilled within you momentarily, allowing you a short second to adjust. Your limbs trembled, quivering with the extent of the lust and desire currently flooding your being. You’d never felt so full, so utterly complete before. His fingers dug into the giving flesh of your hip and behind, sure to leave behind bruises you would find tomorrow. Placing a hand on the small of your back, he rolled his hips back and you moaned loudly as his cock dragged back against your walls.

You already lacked the words to properly articulate the sensations swarming within you, the utter desire and ebb of pleasure that was consuming you bit by bit, and when Jungkook snapped his hips and the entirety of his thick, swollen length slammed back into you, you almost saw stars. You very quickly lost track of how many noises were tumbling from your mouth, too busy trying to make sure your body didn’t give out beneath the weight of the punishing thrusts Jungkook was beginning to deliver into you. It was a brutal pace that he set up, and it wasn’t long before he was pounding you into the cushioning, reaching so deep with each slam into you that your breath hitched in your lungs and pleasure shot from your core.

“Oh m-my fu-uck,” you cursed, the demon growling behind you as his cock almost split you open with each hard thrust, his pelvis meeting the soft flesh of your ass. Maintaining your breath was almost impossible, as was keeping up with the punishing pace the demon had set.

Your abdomen tightened, thighs trembling and arms quivering. It felt so good it almost hurt, tears budding in your eyes and a loud cry tearing from your throat as the incubus changed the angle of his thrusts and the tip of his cock slammed into your g-spot with each snap of his hips.

“F-fuck, Jungkook, oh my g—ah!” your head was pulled back lightly as the incubus leaned forward and wound his fingers into the hair at the base of your neck, your back arching and his cock slamming even deeper into you as a result of the new angle.

“Fucking hell,” the demon cursed, fingers digging into your hip as he fucked you into the couch, each drag of his cock against your walls causing your abdomen to tighten more and pleasure to flush over your body. “You’re so tight.”

You didn’t know how much longer you were going to last, drowning in the scent, the sound, the feel of him. He was the most intoxicating of drugs, his very presence igniting desire that ran deep in your veins. You almost didn’t want it to end, but at the same time didn’t know how much more you could handle. He was too much and just enough all at once, addictive in the most dangerous of ways. He was right, you weren’t ever going to want anyone but him after this.

The grip on your hair eased, a particularly hard slam of his cock into you causing your arms to buckle and your upper body to fall forward, face burying in the couch and muffling your loud, wanton moan. The demon’s hips stuttered as your walls clenched around him, velvet heat sucking him back in greedily each time his swollen length withdrew from your pussy.

The coil in your abdomen was wound tight and you were close, so close, pussy throbbing and clit aching to be touched. As though he was exactly in tune with your body and what it wanted, what it yearned for, Jungkook’s hand slid down your back and around your side, caressing your stomach gently before the pads of his fingertips found your clit and your back was arching further. Soft cries tumbled from your lips only to be muffled by the cushion.

Close, you were so close, and as Jungkook began to work your clit you were hurdling rapidly towards the edge. His fingers rolled the bundle of nerves, slick from your juices, and he pinched it lightly between them. A sharp whine tore from your throat— god, almost—

The incubus leant down, thrusts never faltering, and allowed his sharp teeth to graze your ear before he murmured, voice low and commanding, “Come on, sweetheart, cum for me like a good little girl.”

One more slam of his cock into your sensitive, aching core and you were pushed from the precipice, a jumbled, incoherent mix of loud, keening moans and the demon’s own name tumbling from your lips as your body quaked and you came, hard. Your second orgasm was even more powerful than the last, your head swimming and stars dancing behind your eyes for a moment as waves of pleasure washed over you, mind numb. Your walls clenched, pussy tightening impossibly around him and it was more than the incubus could take. He cursed loudly, managing a few more thrusts to ride you through your high before his hips stuttered and he slammed into you one last time. A loud groan tore from deep in his chest, his grip tightening on you as he leaned down and sunk his teeth into your neck, spilling his release inside your throbbing core. The pain only added to the sensations within you, and where his hand lay over your hip, the skin tingled and burned.

His cum splashed hotly against your walls, filling you to the brim even as you thought there couldn’t possibly be more. As you started to come down from your high you barely registered the feeling of his seed leaking out around his cock and dribbling down your thighs. A soft moan escaped you, a noise that increased in volume as the demon began to return to his senses and removed his teeth from your neck, pulling his softening length from your core.

Exhaustion ebbed at your senses, one of the first things you barely managed to register as your high receded to a pleasant tingle and ache in your limbs and a fuzz in your mind. The incubus moved to grasp you, grip gentler than before as he rolled you over onto your back. You could feel your combined releases gushing forth from your entrance and dribbling all over your thighs and down your ass, but couldn’t muster the energy to feel embarrassed. Sleepily, you blinked, almost missing it as the demon disappeared from view and returned bearing a cloth. God, you were so tired all of a sudden— where had this come from?

He cleaned you up, discarding the cloth somewhere you couldn’t see when he was done. It was so hard to keep your eyes open, you struggled to focus on Jungkook as he moved you more comfortably onto the couch and then hovered above you, watching as you curled into the leather. His gaze swept over your form appraisingly, fingers brushing your neck and hip, and you couldn’t help but notice that contrary to yourself, he looked positively glowing.

“You did so well, sweetheart,” his voice was softer but no less rich or deep. Lilac hues met your own as your eyelids drooped dangerously. He held up his hand, closing it into a fist, and you watched as light beamed from between his fingers before they opened up once more. There in his palm was a jewel, roughly the size of a pebble and a deeper violet than amethyst and swirling inside with the glimmering beauty of the galaxy. Silver metal curled delicately around the edges, and in the haze clouding your thoughts you were easily entranced by its beauty. Blearily, distantly, you realised this was the symbol of binding he was giving you. He shifted, placing the jewel in your palm and curling your fingers around it.

“Sleep now, y/n,” his voice melded into the background as your eyelids began to flutter. Even as you started to succumb to the tempting lure of sleep, you didn’t miss the gleam in his eyes. In your last coherent moment, you thought that he looked just like the cat that ate the canary. Your eyes finally closed, and you were already long on your way to sleep as his final words brushed your consciousness.

“I’ll see you in your dreams, little exorcist.”

x     x     x     x     x     x     x    

You were wrought with nerves as you stood in line outside the lecture room where you usually had your Demonology lectures, your mind a mess of thoughts that stemmed from perhaps one too many worries. You were close to the start of the line, next to enter the room in fact, and standing against the wall as you tried to look a lot calmer than you felt. You shouldn’t be this nervous— all they wanted was the symbol of binding to prove you’d completed the assessment, and even if… you’d gotten it by somewhat questionable means, you still had it. You risked a glance down the line, eyes searching for a certain face out of habit despite the fact you knew you wouldn’t see it. Seokjin, the ass, had gotten here early and had already completed his assessment. You hadn’t spoken to him since yesterday— yesterday...

Yesterday you’d woken up on the couch, stark naked and covered only by a knitted blanket, at six in the evening. You’d sat there blearily for a while, wondering what the hell had happened and how you were missing memories of a whole day, before you eyes fell upon the runes and circles still drawn over your floor and you balked in realisation. Oh, right. How could you have forgotten? You’d accidentally summoned an incubus and let him have his way with you for some object, just so you wouldn’t fail your stupid course. Sure, you’d enjoyed it every second of it, and would probably jump at the opportunity should it arise again, but in the meantime you had the presence of mind to be a little peeved at yourself. If you ever saw that damn incubus again, you were going to give him a piece of your mind for propositioning you in your moment of weakness.

You vaguely remembered seeing him before you passed out on the couch, but he hadn’t been around when you woke. A part of you, a very small part that you were currently in the process of squashing, had twinged at that. You’d ignored it though, grasping the jewel that symbolised your success in the assessment and hopping from the couch to go shower. The demon had cleaned you up but the second you stood there was release sliding down your thigh and you shivered at the delicious ache he’d left all over your body in his wake.

You’d then proceeded to pretend to the best of your ability that the events of the day hadn’t actually happened, and that you’d actually managed to successfully complete your task as expected. It was hard, especially when the ghost of his touch lingered on your skin, his marks across your chest and neck, and the scent of him was still so thick in the air of your apartment. It was hard, but you managed to live in denial at least for the night. You’d crashed just as easily as you had earlier, and when you awoke it was to a fresher mind and two fuzzy marks blossoming over your hip and neck, where his hand and teeth had been respectively.

Not wanting to look into it for fear of what you’d find out, you’d ignored that too, gone about your morning as usual and now here you were— a bundle of nerves outside your Demonology lecture room, your professors on the other side of the door ready to asses you as soon as they were done with the girl that had gone in before you. You were nervous, despite the fact you knew you shouldn’t be— what was there to be nervous for? You had the symbol of binding, although you had no idea how since you most definitely hadn’t been coherent enough to perform the ritual, and that was all they needed to see to pass you. Still, those mental reassurances did nothing to soothe the prominent feeling in your stomach.

You didn’t have any more time to dwell on it before the door was swinging open and suddenly the girl from before was emerging, face drawn into a look of relief. That worked to soothe your nerves a bit, but the sharp call of your professors did not.

“Miss y/n? You may come in now.”

Gulping, you grasped the jewel tighter in your hand and turned on your heel, barely managing to catch the door before it shut, and entered the room. It felt much larger than usual, the only people present being your two professors and an unfamiliar third party that came in the form of a tall male with amber eyes so light they bordered on golden, who sat off slightly to the side. He was handsome, but there was something off about him that you couldn’t place. He seemed, however,  like he couldn’t possibly be less interested in whatever you were doing, let alone whatever was going on in the room, and so you let him slip from your mind. Your eyes fell upon your two professors, a nervous smile tugging your lips.

“Good afternoon,” you greeted as you grew closer, your teachers returning the sentiment. The second you came within five feet of them, the third male’s head whipped around, eyes finding you immediately and gleaming in something you couldn’t decipher, but attributed to curiosity. He stared at you intensely for a moment, eyes breaking only to flit to your neck, and you could almost see the gears whirring in his head, before realisation seemed to dawn in his gaze and the slyest of smiles began to curve his lips. He looked very much like he knew something the others didn’t, and was relishing in that fact. It made you nervous.

“Alright, miss y/n, let’s cut to the chase,” your demonology professor said, offering a small smile. You nodded as he continued. “We just need to see your item of binding, and we’ll mark you as a pass. If we have any qualms about it, we’ll see where to go from there. Does that sound good?”

When you nodded, he smiled, a little wider this time. “Excellent. Then, if you wouldn’t mind, your item, please?”

The nervousness in your abdomen peaked as you swallowed and lifted your hand, uncurling your fingers to reveal the purple jewel you’d received from the incubus yesterday. Your two professors seemed surprised, perplexed even, at the sight, but the third male seemed like he’d never been more amused in his life. Gazing into his eyes made you deeply unsettled for reasons you couldn’t explain, his devious, knowing grin making your stomach swirl, and so you returned your attention to your professors.

They remained silent for a few moments more as they stared at the object, your demonology professor taking it into his hands to inspect it further. You began to grow worried.

“I can tell it’s genuine, I can feel the energy it emanates, but…” your professor squinted at the jewel, turning it in his grasp, before his shifted his gaze to you. “I’m afraid I don’t recognise it.”

Your Charms and Rituals professor, Seulgi, nodded, expression bemused The male to the side was grinning so widely you were worried his face would hurt. “Me neither,” she said, meeting your eyes. “I’m sorry Miss y/n, but we’re going to have to ask you to summon your demon for us to clarify.”

You froze, eyes shooting wide and heart stopping in your chest. The male to the side laughed, eyes glowing gold. Fuck.

You were so fucked.

↼masterlist | next

[vampiricalthorns]

Piercings and Pastels pt 2

Yo, so it’s finally here! Just ... 17 months too late. This is a continuation of Piercings and Pastels one-shot that I posted ages ago. There will maybe be a part 3 to this if I can be bothered to write it. I really do spend a lot of time on creating content, and even though I don’t post original stuff as often as I probably should... anyway, there’s a link to my ko-fi in my blog description if you want to support my content.

“And therefore, the sum of this equation will be …”

Will sighed, looking down at the notes he had so nicely drawn in red and black. Math class had never been of his favourites, but he was well aware that it was a subject he wanted to be good at. He did care a lot about school, even if he happened to be punk as fuck and wasn’t hesitant to have slightly questionable style choices. Will knew that his sister Kayla wanted him to have the best shot at life possible, and that was why she kept criticising his clothing.

“Mr Solace, are you paying attention?”

Will looked up sheepishly. “What?”

“I asked you if you could be so nice to tell us the answer on the blackboard.” The teacher was glaring down on him, and Will could have a fair guess that he was not too happy with Will’s inattention.

Will looked at him, and then to the board. Realising he had not solved the equation, he caught Nico’s look and peeked into his notebook for the answer. “X is 8, and Y is 4.5.”

The teacher looked at him for a minute before nodding. “That’s correct Mr Solace, but please refrain from spacing out in my classes in the future.”

Will ruffled his hair and looked up at the big Starbucks symbol hanging over the entrance door. He took a deep breath and walked inside, being ambushed by the warm, coffee-scented air as opposed to the slightly chillier outside weather that did not smell like coffee. He had agreed earlier that week to meet Nico at the Starbucks so that they could work through their ridiculous amounts of math homework. Will was taking a fair guess that their teacher was not terribly happy with how inattentive his class actually was to his teaching.

“Hi, Will! Over here!” Will heard someone call from further inside the store. He looked around for the black mop of wavy hair that belonged to his now best friend. Today, Nico was dressed in pastel galaxy leggings, the same brown boots as he had worn the last couple weeks and an oversized pink knit sweater.

He slung himself into the chair opposite Nico. “What’s up?”

Nico smiled- the type of smile where he closed his eyes and held his hands up to his chest as if he was about to flap them. Will thought that was oddly cute. “Not much. Work’s drowning us as usual, but at least that’s an excuse to be productive.”

Will nodded. “Should I go get something to drink while you figure out exactly what we should do today and what we can wait with for later in the week?”

Having Nico’s nod of approval, Will put his bag down and got up. Placing himself at the back of the line, he looked over at where Nico was reading in his planner while pushing a strand of hair behind his ear. The purple hair clips didn’t look like they were there for anything than decoration. Cute.

He had only known Nico for a little under two weeks now, but it felt like they had been friends for way longer than that. He was like a missing childhood friend Will had only just met again, but he knew that was impossible. Will let a small smile slip as he looked up at the menu for what to get. Nico seemed like a hot chocolate person. Or maybe a Frappuccino.

“One Coffee Mocha and one Hot Chocolate please,” he told the barista, who nodded and then told him the sum of what he had to pay. After paying, he stepped to the side and looked out of the window.

They were just a couple weeks into the school year, but Will didn’t feel overworked like he usually did. Will had easily fallen into the routine of working along with Nico, who had surprisingly good control of schoolwork and when stuff was due.

“What did you get me?” Nico asked curiously when Will came back to the table and put down two cups. Will looked at him, suddenly slightly anxious that he had gotten the wrong thing for his friend. “You didn’t specify what you wanted, so I just got you hot chocolate. Was that okay?”

Nico looked surprised for the fraction of a second before grabbing the cup with both of his hands and smiling up at Will- the same adorable scrunched-up eyes smile that made Will’s legs just the tiniest bit weaker. No, we will not fall for this person now, William, even though you already did, you dumb fuck.

“Thank you, Will,” Nico said earnestly. “I thought you were going to get me coffee, but hot chocolate is just as okay. Really. I enjoy hot chocolate too.”

Will sat down again and thought for a moment before pushing his cup of coffee over to where Nico was sitting. “You can have a sip or two if you need caffeine. That’s really okay. I don’t mind sharing at all.”

“It’s a nice apartment you got,” Nico commented after Will had locked himself into his and Kayla’s apartment. It was later in the day, and Will had invited Nico over for food and video games- if Nico was up to video games of course. In the back of his mind, Will was very well aware of all the boxes still unpacked in their apartment.

“Thanks,” Will replied, throwing his keys into the bowl on the small table they kept in the hallway. It was filled with what looked like Kayla’s asthma medication (Will knew she kept one in her bag too, so she was good, a pack of chewing gum and what looked like post:it notes and pens. “It’s a bit messy since we only moved in here like three weeks ago.”

Nico shrugged. “It doesn’t bother me. It’s not like my home is pristine at all times too. We’re all human, Will.”

Will snorted and flashed Nico a creepy grin, one that made his lip piercing glint in the hallway light. “Are you sure about that, di Angelo? For all you know, I could be a demon preparing to steal and devour your soul.”

Feeling accomplished that he had made Nico laugh, Will made his way into the kitchen to get a glass of water. He hadn’t had enough to drink that day, and to be entirely honest, he was aware that his head was not too happy about that. “Do you want a glass of water too, Nico?”

He turned around when he heard the sound of soft socks moving over the laminate floor. There was Nico, hands hidden inside the oversized sweater and dragging his feet across the floor. His feet- clad with soft purple socks. What an adorable person.

He didn’t hear Nico’s answer. “What did you say again?”

Nico laughed again. “No, it’s okay, Will. Yes, I would like a glass of water, thank you.”

Will turned around again and grabbed a glass, filling it with water from the tap, trying his best to hide his blush. He was sure that the water was safe to drink.

“Thank you for helping me out with homework today,” Will mentioned as he handed Nico the glass. “I’m a horrible procrastinator unless someone kicks my butt the entire time I’m working.”

He put down his glass next to the sink and looked at Nico. “I need to go to the bathroom, but I will be right back. If you want, you can wait in my room. Second to the right down the hallway.”

Having Nico’s nod of approval, he left the kitchen, walked down the hallway and into the bathroom, sinking down against the wall with a sigh. He was falling. Hard.

Why am I doing this to myself? Will thought desperately, staring at himself in the mirror. Staring back at him was a teenager with faded red-dyed hair, piercings and a black band merch hoodie. It had been through the wash so many times that it was impossible to read exactly which band it was. He knew though, and somehow Nico had too. My Chemical Romance was always recognisable.

Deciding that he had stayed long enough in the bathroom for it to be convincing that he hadn’t just contemplated 666 ways of isolating himself from the world because he was an emotional little shit, Will flushed the toilet and left the room. He took yet another deep breath before walking into his bedroom, where Nico was sitting on his office chair. “You look like a child when you swing your legs back and forth like that.”

Nico rummaged through his pockets and dug out a lollipop, ripping off the wrapper before sticking it into his mouth. “Do you mind that?” The look he sent Will made Will’s heart skip a beat. How dare you be so adorable you little shit. This is unfair because I really want to kiss you but what if you don’t want to kiss me. This is kinda awkward.

“Not really no,” Will admitted, slumping down on his bed, shielding his eyes from the harsh bedroom ceiling light. “I can’t handle all the light. Nico, protect me!”

Nico sighed, kicking Will’s shin with one of his floofy-socks-clad feet. “Oi, you’ll survive. Get over it. It’s not like the ceiling light will give you a sunburn or anything like that.”

Will looked at him through the curly dark red fringe. “Are you honestly sure about that? Don’t test me here, I can manage everything if I try hard enough.”

“Sure, because you can fly. I’ll believe it when I see it, Solace,” Nico said, not quite able to hide the smile and giggles.

Will didn’t even reply to that as he stared at Nico, wondering what he was supposed to do with himself if Nico continued to act like the cutest person alive. God damn it, he wasn’t supposed to deal with complicated feelings like this. Love really was a weird thing.

He coughed, trying to clear his throat, although there was nothing to clear. “Is there anything, in particular, you want to eat? I can order pizza.”

Nico nodded. “No, pizza sounds good. I don’t eat it a lot, but pizza is always good.”

After discussing back and forth for a couple minutes trying to find something they both liked, they settled for something along the lines of ham and mushrooms (neither of them liked the mushrooms, but they were always peel-off-able so it wasn’t an issue.)

They ate the pizza discussing different tv shows they had watched recently, but it quickly turned into a heavy debate and rant about the shitty teachers at school.

“The English teacher, Mr Reynolds, is shit,” Nico argued. “He’s always mean to me because my English isn’t perfect and he hates Italians for a reason I don’t even understand. I think his life goal is to see me fail, although I wish him good luck with that since I manage to score well on every single test.”

“He’s not the best, no,” Will agreed. “But the history teacher is worse. Or, the worst, Blackwell, math. He’s the nightmare of nightmares. I don’t like him at all. Especially with the amount of homework he sent us home with this week.”

Nico nodded, a piece of cheese hanging out from the side of his mouth. Will had to fight the urge to remove it. “That was ridiculous. He can’t expect that much of us this early in the term.”

“Well, apparently he doesn’t care that we have to sit an hour longer every night solving equations and trig questions,” Will muttered, staring towards his backpack that was on the couch, containing the damned math homework they had barely made a dent in. “I need to go buy more paper Monday afternoon. I’m out of grid loose leaf paper after all the homework.”

“I can give you some if you remind me tomorrow night to put some more in my backpack,” Nico offered around a giant piece of pizza. “Should last you through Monday at least so that you can go after school and get more. I can come with you if you want to. I need to get more whiteout anyways so I might as well get it done then so I can stop borrowing yours all the time.”

Secretly, Will hadn’t minded that Nico had borrowed his whiteout, even though he was running low too. It wasn’t like both of them wrote everything perfectly on the first try.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Will! We-el! I’m here! Behind you!” Nico shoved his way through the school corridor calling for Will. “Will! You big emo oaf, stop so I can catch up to you!”

Will turned and looked down, where he saw a pastel figure fight his way through the sea of navy and beige trying to get to him. He motioned towards the door in the gesture of “I will meet you outside so I don’t get killed by the rest of year 10 for causing a clot in the school circulatory system.

Will quickly got out of the door and closed the flap on his bag while waiting for Nico. He had barely lasted through the day, being out of whiteout (he had given the very rest to Nico and resorted to writing with pencil most of the day which he typically didn’t like but it was worth it), but he had somehow managed. He had remembered to bring his wallet (a personal achievement in his opinion, considering how forgetful he usually was) and his crush on Nico was (as always) very present.

He looked at Nico fighting his way out of the mob of students either getting to a new class or leaving and smirked.

“Are you okay there, Nic?” Will said, teasingly bending down to the same height as Nico’s offended face. He knew that Nico was sensitive about his height, and truth be told, Will loved teasing him about it.

Nico scoffed and crossed his arms. “Don’t call me that.”

Will just laughed and ran his hand through his hair before staring in the general direction of the bus stop. “So, do you wanna go to the tiny bookstore around here somewhere and get paper and whiteout or do you wanna go to the city and get what we need and some coffee afterwards?”

Nico smiled up at him. “That sounds nice.”

And Will melted slightly inside.