#it's hard work. (maybe if you started acting like you WOULD take me seriously huh)'

[cnnibalize]

✦ make it worse. | b.e

warnings: smut, oral, strap usage, hair pulling, tit sucking (all !r receiving), degrading, spanking, brat !reader, brat tamer !billie, mentions of safe word (not used), jealosy, billie being sweet at the end.

summary: how you should react to that? some random girl calling your girlfriend ‘mommy’ right in front of you, after weeks that billie hadn’t fucked you properly… well, maybe you ill had to tease her until you get what you want.

“baby please, i have to get ready to enter the stage in a few minutes.” billie said as you two were cuddling on the dressing room couch. your legs crossed on both sides of her waist, holding her sides tightly. “im gonna miss you so much.” you said with your usual whiny dramatic tone, making a pout face.

“is just one show… you will be watching it in your usual vip spot tho, ur already being privileged, my girl.” she says giggling and kissing your forehead softly. her fingers go up to your head, caressing your hair gently. the ‘my girl’ never failed in getting you flushed. “let me be selfish, bills.” you said with a pout face again, she just smiled gently at you. billie loved the way you wanted to be glued with her 24/7. she gave you multiple fast kisses, getting up and entering the box she was transported in.

the show was starting now, you could hear all the fans screaming and shouting at billie while she sang. her voice was almost angelic, she sang all those lines with all her heart. billie couldn’t stop herself of looking at you, no, she looked at the crowd, but at you? she boldly stared. those lines at her song ‘lunch’… she was almost singing them just for you. at many moments you cried, hearing her soft voice sing the most beautiful lines in the world.

but one in specific was your favorite, when the party is over. and it was a big moment in her show too, you felt so proud remembering that you gave her the idea of synching the vocals, she didn’t thought it was going to work because of the silence but it did. and it was fucking beautiful everytime. when she was preparing herself, she started her usual speech.

“guys.. i need you to be quiet right now.” she said and shortly after you could hear a girl screaming from the crowd, and it just made your blood boil. “yes mommy!” the girl said, clearly kidding, but after that billie started giggling. she was fuckin’ laughing at that, in front of you? it wasn’t a big deal, but, your blood just boiled, knowing that other girl called her that, and she fucking thought it was funny.

you would usually think it is funny too, but after she dragged you into a tour and almost refusing to fuck you, you were almost insane. billie didn’t want to take a night off to pay an hotel to be alone with you just because all of you were going to give the first tour break in like, 3 days. you were trying really hard to fight the urge of fucking her every single night, but this? this was too fucking much. as soon as the show ended, she leaded you towards the backstage.

“hi my angel” she said gently, holding your waist and walking with you by her side towards the dressing room. “hi billie.” you answered in an raspy tone. giving a clear hint that something wasn’t okay. “what happened?” she says closing the door behind her, looking at you with true concern. “you tell me, laughing at those fucking stupid things.” you didn’t look directly at her eyes, crossing your arms, you were acting childish, but you couldn’t help it.

“its because of that? seriously?” she said in misbelief, giggling getting closer to you, holding your waist. you still refused to stare at her, those goddam eyes, the smirk you could feel on her face, it was all to much. you took her hands out of you, going towards the other side of the room. sitting on the couch and going through your socialmedia, completely ignoring her.

“ignoring me huh?” she said standing in front of you, grabbing the phone from your hand and lowering herself to make you stare at her. her hair was messy and down now, but her black liner was still perfect. billie’s eyes just drowned you into them, it was some sort of magical power. “js showing you what you should’ve done with that girl.” you said raspy, staring at her with a nonchalant face, trying to hide how bad you wanted to make her take you right there.

“stop bein’ a fucking brat, you know damn well it was a joke.” she said with a serious tone, but you knew her. she wasn’t being serious, she wanted you to misbehave. just with that phrase you knew, she was going to fuck you tonight. “maybe i wouldn’t be if you just fucked me like you usually did, now im here, having to watch other girl call you ‘mommy’ while the ‘mommy’ here is just an lazy bitch.” you said trying so hard to not smirk, it was kind of your game… you would push her to her limits, until she was fucking you brainless.

“you’re such a slut, are you even hearing yourself right now? you can’t stand not being fucked by a week? maybe i will gift you a fucking vibrator if you need to cum that bad all the time.” she said mockingly, smirking at each word. “maybe i wouldn’t need a vibrator if my girlfriend wasn’t so incompetent, why im even dating you if you can’t make me cum properly?” you said getting up, staring at billie, getting closer trying to intimidate her. as she just grabbed your arms tightly. “i can’t make you cum? you are really sayin’ that?” she says with an smirk, you knew that you reached it, you made her mad enough.

billie’s hands were now grabbing your hair, not in a gentle way. she forced you to sit on the couch as she refused to kiss you. “gonna show u what i can do, slut.” she said almost ripping your tank top off, now staring at your exposed tits. “no bra?” she said sliding a hand underneath your skirt, and realizing that you were not wearing nothing underneath. “no underwear? desperate slut almost begging to be fucked.” she said in a low teasing voice. “stop being a fucking bitch and do it.” you said smirking and looking at her eyes, the next thing you felt was a harsh slap across your face, as billie grabbed your chin and pulled your face closer to her.

“fuckin’ behave, this is not going to end well to you, so you might as well don’t make it worse. keep this up and ill edge you all night, not letting you cum even a single fuckin’ time. understood?” she says with a even lower voice. staring deep at your eyes, you knew she was serious, because she already did that. and it was fucking hell on earth. she slapped you like thirty times just because you touched your clit. “yes..” you said giving in, in a more fearful tone.

“already tamed? weak slut, can’t stand the thought of not cumming huh?” she said mocking you, smirking as she layed down, giving her lap gentle pats. you understand the signs and go to sit on it, straddling her sides. billie’s hands quickly find their way to your skirt, lifting it up to exposed your bare ass. you try to kiss her, but she puts you away. “if you act like a slut, you get treated like one.” she says grabbing your ass tightly, feeling your soaked cunt starting to grind on her crotch. “fuckin’ stop that, sit on my face, now.” she demanded you, as you started going up. finally fitting the lower half of her face in the middle of your thighs.

“you’re dripping baby.” she said before entering your needy hole with her tongue, and after that, making her way to suck on your clit. you could feel every way she flicked her tongue on your sensitive spot. you covered your mouth with your own hands, trying not to scream in pleasure right now. it was not a fucking hotel, it was an dressing room, and you knew that all her team was on the room beside this one.

“taste s’ good, mamas.” she was fucking devouring you, like she was a starving beast. you could feel your hips grinding billie’s face as you were almost cumming. she could feel your insides tightening around her tongue, and then, she stopped. “do u really think im goin’ to let u cum this easy? after all you did?” she smirked giggling as she took your hips off her face, getting up of the couch and grabbing her bag.

that fucking bag.

billie took two straps out of the bed, one black and one red, you were used to the red one… but the black? that one was new. your eyes widened as you saw the size of it, it was fucking huge. “what do u wanna take first? huh? the black is 9 inches and the red is 7,5.” you were so fucking screwed, you were sure it wasn’t going to fit inside of you. “9 inches??? bills… i can’t take that.” you said with genuine concern.

she opened an gentle smile. “but you will.” her smile started to turn into a smirk. “ill get you prepared to it, and if it really is too much, you know what do to.” she said refearing to your safe word. you knew she wasn’t ever gonna do something to hurt you, so you trusted her. now she was unbuckling her belt and placing the red strap on her, getting closer to you again. “face down, ass up.” you obeyed her without questions, getting on the position she demanded you to.

"such a good girl." she says placing the faux cock on your folds, teasing you. you kept quiet, whimpering as you were being teased... it turned billie on, but she wanted to hear you. she harshly slapped your ass cheek. "are you behaving because you´re a good girl or a needy slut who got tired of acting up, huh?" she says chuckling, and grabbing a fistfull of your hair, pulling your head back. "don´t get cocky, you know i had to act up. or else you would keep me here insatisfait... then maybe i could write a song just like "over now".." you said giggling, mocking her, she kept quiet, but you still decided to hum the lyrics of her song.

"It's not that complicated"

"I wasn't satiated"

"You weren't that bad, just lazy"

you were so focused on humming the lyrics that you couldn´t realize that she was placing her cock right on entrance with the hand she had free. billie slammed her whole cock into you, making you unable to continue teasing her. she was rough, but she didn´t want to hurt you. after slamming her faux dick on your insides, she kept it there for long seconds, making you get used to it. after that, her pace was brutal. you could tell that she just kept quiet in that moment for you to burn yourself even more, and give her an excuse to be even rougher with you.

"never gonna tease m' like this again, mama." she almost growled as one of her hands holded on your waist as the other slapped your ass in a way that you knew that you´d be all sore. you tried your best to keep quiet, failing miserably. in a stupid attempt you shoved your head into the couch cushion, trying to muffle your moans that were coming out as almost screams of pleasure. "im gonna teach u a fuckin' lesson, cock addicted slut." you just whined, your whimperings being muffled by the cushion. "such a fucking whore, only able to behave with my cock filling you up, huh?" she mocked you, but you were unable to even form a sentence.

billie could feel your insides tightening around her, and then, she pulled it out, not letting you cum. you whined, with your legs trembling. "do you think you deserve to cum that easy huh? pathetic slut." she says as you turn yourself to lay on the couch and stare at her. she walks towards the bag again, taking the 9 inch strap from there and handing it to you. "you want to cum with wich one angel? do you think you can handle that one?" she spoke softly, with genuine concern not wanting to take it too far. "yes... i think i can bills, jus' let me be on top.. okay?" you said looking up at her with your usual sweet eyes. "whatever you want, angel." she said giggling "seems like i fucked the bratiness out of u so easily, huh?" she chuckles, taking the dildo from your hands and strapping it onto her crotch.

billie sat on the other side of the couch, because you made a mess on the other one. "come here angel." she pat her lap, as you crawled towards her, now straddling her sides. she holded you by the waist, pushing your sore body towards her. she gently caressed your cheek, pulling you into a slow and soft kiss, that just turned you on even more. you broke the kiss after she started to play with your neglegted clit, not being able to be quiet anymore. her skilled finger just played with it slowly, it felt like a torture. her half lided eyes just staring at you with a smirk on her face. she stopped, not wanting you to cum just yet... she took her strap and took your hips up, placing it on your entrance and staring at you, with both of her hands.

"whenever you´re ready, angel." she said as you took a deep breath and started to lower yourself in her cock. "so good baby, you´re doing such a good job." you managed to get half of it inside of you, taking another deep breath. "if you want to stop, just say the word, okay?" she says remembering you "i-im okay.." you say with your shaky voice, lowering yourself slowly until your cunt hits the base of it. "such a good girl, taking all of me." she says kissing your neck, and then going down to your exposed tits, sucking on it briefly as you are getting used to the size. "can i see where im at?" she asked and you nodded, allowing her. one of her hands started press a few places on your belly, until she saw the bump that were on your tummy, smiling knowing she was that deep inside of you.

you started moving yourself, riding her, it was slow. she helped you with your moviments, holding your hips and guiding you. "doing so good for me baby, so good." at this point, you were already in a fast pace, riding her cock as you got used to the size, it hit your g spot just right. your moans were increasing, so you took your hand to cover your mouth. she was staring at you, admiring how pretty you were while fucking yourself on her cock, how pretty you sounded being filled with her. "wanna hear you, mamas... don´t worry about them, you can fuckin' scream if u want to." she says grabbing your arm and putting it down, you soon took both of your hands to the sides of the couch, leaning on it to help you move, you were so fucking loud.

the room was filled with sounds, the sound of billie´s cock being shoved into your drooling cunt, of her sucking your tits, or even the wet sound of her playing with your clit... but it was clear that the loudest one was of you moaning, whining, screaming while being filled by her. "you´re so gorgeous fuckin' yourself on my cock, such a angel." your walls tightened around her faux dick as your moviments slowed down due to your now tired hips.. "i-im so close, can you help me.. bills?" you say staring at her with your tired eyes "don´t even need to ask me twice." she grabbed your hips, pulling you up, as she started to pound you in that position. she wasn´t gentle, but she didn´t hurt you. "gonna cum huh? gonna let you cum now, such a good slut." she mocked you, trying to get back to her dominant self. her pace was fast, hitting your g spot over and over again.

but she ended you in the moment that she stopped holding your hips with one hand and started to play with you clit again. in that moment you could feel your orgasm hitting you in one way you never experienced before. your whole body was trembling, as you were almost unable to moan. her pace slowed down, letting you ride through your orgasm in a way that you felt like you were on heaven. "can i pull it out already, babe?" she asked you, bringing you back to earth after pulling you onto the edge of pleasure. you nodded, as she gently took it out of you. holding on your waist gently while she pushed you closer to kiss her.

billie kissed you slowly, letting yourself rest after all she put you throught. "you know that you´re the only one, right my love?" asked you.. "i know." you answered it in a lazy tone. she quickly took her phone, texting someone. "what is it?" you ask "gonna take you to a good hotel tonight okay? gotta take care of you now, prepare yourself, gonna to spoil you all night baby.." she said in a soft tone "really huh?" you said giggling with a wicked smirk "gosh not in that way... you´re so naughty sometimes... can´t be a good girl even after i had railed you?" she says slapping your exposed ass again. "so no naughty spoil?" you said in a playfull sad tone.

"only if you can take it, my love."

taglist: @chrissv4mp @karaeilishh @iluvapplesxh @hkkuugu @bilsdillldough @n0vabug @certifiedwomenlover @dollyvuu

[rkvriki]

PAIRING ! husband!sunghoon x house wife!reader SYNOPSIS ! some domestic moments of your married life with sunghoon.

WARNINGS ! SMUT MDNI!! reader likes to bicker and scold hoonie but its bc they act like a married couple, very brief handjob, hints of shower sex, oral (f. receiving), there's a small argument moments but its like old married couple fighting, nipple sucking lmao, there's no actual sex sorry!! ALSO SORRY IF ITS BAD I WROTE THIS IN ONE SITTING

wc: 3.7K

a/n: happy early valentine's to my baby @pshaven i love you wifey mwah !

��Sunghoon, seriously, I need to leave.” you said with a huff as you tried to break free from your husband’s embrace. “Just a little bit more.” he replied, words muffled as his face was hidden in your neck. “Hoon- You know I have brunch with your mom” you reminded him “And besides that, if I stay here I won’t get out anytime soon.” you felt him smirk in your neck at your words, making you roll your eyes at him. His hands started moving inside your shirt, caressing the skin there. “Hoon! Please, let me go. I need to shower” you insisted trying to push him off. It wasn’t even 11 in the morning and he was already managing to make you annoyed. With a deep sigh he rolled onto the side, letting you go.

You walked towards the bathroom, turning the shower on and undressing yourself. You got in, feeling the warm water on your feet. You let yourself immerse in the warm feeling before getting to your shower routine, letting your muscles relax for a bit. There were very few moments where you could fully relax and take a break from the world. Even though you didn’t actually work and were just a housewife you had a lot to do around the house and you knew people didn’t really take you seriously when you said you felt tired or like you needed a vacation but maybe jealousy speaks louder volumes. It wasn’t your fault your husband chose to give you this lifestyle and the opportunity to not work.

You were in the middle of scrubbing your hair when you heard the shower door open, making you open your eyes to see Sunghoon in all his naked glory, standing there and staring at you with a smirk. “Seriously, Sunghoon?” you said closing your eyes again and returning to washing your hair. “You really aren’t giving up, huh?” You turned your back to him as you rinsed the shampoo off. He didn’t say anything but you felt his hands circle your waist as he pressed himself (and his boner) on your backside. 

“Oh my God! Sunghoon, I seriously can’t be late for your mom!” you said, hands still moving on your hair. “I promise I’ll be quick, yeah?” he said as his hands moved upwards to massage your boobs, making you bite your lip and contain any sounds that tried to come out. “Yeah, no, Hoon. Sorry.” you replied turning around, now facing him. The look he was giving you usually would be enough to have you on your knees but today you swore to yourself you would be on time to meet with his mother. 

“Move! I need my body wash.” you tried to sound unbothered, but the flicker of your eyes between his eyes and his cock showed him you weren’t so unaffected. He chuckled at your behaviour, grabbing you by your waist and pulling you close to connect your lips with his. Your eyes instantly fluttered close as you felt his plush lips move against yours. Your hands moved to his shoulders as you pulled him closer to you, his cock rubbing against your stomach. One of his hands made its way to your cheeks, angling your face to the side to deepen the kiss. His tongue swiped against your bottom lip asking for permission, making you moan as you felt his tongue rub against yours.

Your hand moved from his shoulder down his torso until it reached his already hard cock. You grabbed the base, moving your hand up until it reached the tip, making Sunghoon moan as he pulled away from the kiss. “Acting so hard to get for what, mnh?” he said smirking against your lips. Your hand squeezed his dick, making him hiss at the feeling. “Yeah yeah, whatever, make it quick.” you said turning around, bending over slightly for him. “I need to leave before 11:30.” Sunghoon laughed at your antics. “Wow, so romantic, baby.”

It was around 7 in the afternoon when you started making dinner. Sunghoon still hadn’t come from work and you knew he was gonna be in the office until a little later since he had texted you about an important business meeting or whatever. You decided to make his favourite dish since it has been a while since you’ve made it and you wanted to reward him for working so hard this past month.

Sunghoon’s company has been having a lot of great deals coming up and while that was good it also meant he spent longer in his office. You were worried that he was overworking himself, since you knew how he gets when there’s important stuff going on in the company. Still, Sunhoon always made sure to give you his attention whenever he could, always answering your texts and calling you in his breaks and obviously, when he got home he always gave you more than just his attention so you always try to give him rewards with your domesticity you knew he craved after long days.

The smell of homemade food filled Sunghoon’s senses as soon as he got home. A smile making its way to his lips when he caught a glimpse of you cooking, still not noticing him as your back was turned to him and you were so immersed in preparing the meal. He walked towards the kitchen, being careful not to scare you. The warm light from the top of the stove made the whole scenery look so domestic and Sunghoon wished he could take a picture of you at that moment. You must have felt his presence as you turned to look at him, already smiling up at him. He leaned down to kiss you, a happy sigh leaving his lips when he did so. When you pulled back you noticed how tired and droopy his eyes looked, making you frown a little bit.

“Everything ok, baby?” he asked, hands reaching to caress your cheek. “Yeah, Hoonie. You just look so tired.” you answered as your lips pouted slightly. He let out a deep sigh but smiled at you nonetheless. “Yeah, but it’s nothing being with my sexy wife can’t fix.” he said giving you a wide grin, making you playfully roll your eyes at him. “Shut up, dork.” you replied, turning back to the pot to get back to cooking.

A comfortable silence sat in the air and it was just you cooking and Sunghoon leaning back on the counter as he observed you carefully, unconsciously smiling to himself. “I can feel you staring at me, dude.” you told you as you kept on with the cooking. “And you had to ruin the moment.” he said rolling his eyes “And so what? Can’t I look at my beautiful wife?” he said as he moved to hold your waist from behind. “Whatever, Hoonie. Let me cook.” you said wanting your space to cook. “I’m letting you!” he said as his face moved to your neck to start peppering kisses on the area. “Sunhoon, I’m serious!” you warned but still rolled your head slightly to the side to give him more access to your neck, making him smile as he bit on the skin softly.

“If the food burns you’re paying for take-out!” you said in a warning tone but Sunghoon knew you were enjoying the attention he was giving you. “You should take a break baby.” he said grabbing you to turn around. “Sunghoon, let me fin-” you were cut off by your own squeal as he pulled you to sit on the counter. He reached to turn the stove off so the food wouldn’t actually burn and you were left staring at him dumbfounded. “Sunghoon, the food-” he cut you off by giving you a peck on the lips. “Relax, baby.” He said getting on his knees in front of you, your eyes following his every move. “Just need to taste one thing right now.” his hands reached for the hem of your sweatpants. “Can I?” he asked looking at you with his puppy eyes, making you nod eagerly at him. He pulled your pants down along with your underwear, not wasting any second to bury his face in your warm cunt.

When things weren’t so busy in the company Sunghoon would take some days to work from home. Normally, for any wife who has a busy husband, this would sound like heaven, but not to you. At least not today. Unfortunately for Sunghoon (and for you), it was cleaning day, which meant you were gonna go through all the rooms including his home office and make some noise with the vacuum cleaner which also meant it was gonna bother Sunghoon during his online meetings or distract him from work overall.

You were in the middle of vacuuming the hall which had access to his office when his door burst open, making you look at him, still vacuuming. His face sported a deep annoyed frown, making you raise a brow at him. “May I help you?” you said turning the electronic off. “Actually, yes.” he said in a very annoyed tone. “Could you not vacuum when I’m working?” you looked at him shocked that he was asking such question. “Um, no I actually can’t!” you answered starting to get just as annoyed as he was. “Y/n, I’m literally working right now and I can’t focus at all.” he said, complaining as if you weren’t working as well. “Oh! And what am I doing? Playing house? Jeez, Sunghoon, you can be quite the asshole sometimes.” you rolled your eyes at him and walked off to the living room, leaving him standing there as he watched you disappear in the corner.

Sunghoon was back in his office and it had been some good thirty minutes since your small argument and even though he was annoyed at the time he knew it wasn’t your fault and you were just doing your work. He was starting to feel bad and as much as he wanted to keep working, the heavy feeling in his chest kept reminding him to go apologise. Sighing, he rolled his chair back and leaned back, rubbing his eyes with his hands. He got up and left the office quietly, looking for you in the living room.

When he reached the room he saw you sitting on the couch as you surfed through the different TV channels, rolling his eyes and biting back a scoff when he saw you stopping on the stupid reality show you loved so much. He walked to the couch, making you look at him just for a very quick second before getting your attention back on the show. He sat next to you, thighs touching yours. His hand landed on your legs, rubbing it up and down in a comforting manner. Your eyes flickered from his face to the TV, waiting for him to say something.

 “Baby…” he started “What?” you said, eyes not moving from the big screen in front of you. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. I know you were working just as much as me. I’m sorry, baby.” he said, moving closer to you. “You were a little mean, not gonna lie, Sunghoon.” You said playing with a loose string in your old shirt you usually wore to clean the house. “I know I was, baby. This client was annoying me, and even though this isn’t an excuse I want you to know I didn’t mean to let it out on you.” he said as he brushed hairs that came out of your bun away from your face. “It’s ok. I forgive you, Hoonie.” you smiled up at him, curling yourself on him. His arms instantly wrapped around you, pulling you closer to his chest as he leaned down to kiss your cheek, lingering there for a while. “Stay here for a little bit?” you asked, looking up at him. “Of course, baby.”

You swore you loved Sunghoon very dearly and if there was a bad thing about marrying him it would be your inability to sleep properly without him beside you. While, yes, that was true it was also a curse because of Sunghoon’s little sleeping problem. Sunghoon snored very loudly when he was really tired which consequently pulled you out of your sweet sleep. You tried all you could think of. You covered your head with a spare pillow, you covered your ears with your hands, you elbowed him in the ribs but he wouldn’t even budge.

Annoyed you sat up on the bed and shook his arm, making him let out a hum and look at you. “Turn to the other side, you’re snoring.” you told him with furrowed brows. He let out mumbled words you couldn’t even understand, probably annoyed you interrupted his sleep but still turned around, his back now facing you. Sighing, you laid back on the bed, your head hitting the fresh silky pillow. 

You felt bad for waking him up just to stop him from snoring since you knew he was probably tired from a long day at work but your sleep was also important! Your eyes fluttered shut as you felt sleep take over your body again. Just as you were about to fall asleep again a loud snore followed by a sigh made your eyes open wide.

Your hands gripped the sheets as you let out an annoyed sigh. “For fuck’s sake.” You whisper-yelled as you sat on the bed, feet blindly looking for your slippers. You grabbed your pillow and walked towards the living room to try and get some quiet sleep. Your feet dragged on the floor as you tiredly made your way to the couch. You threw your pillow on the couch and grabbed the blanket that you always threw on the armrest. You laid back down, sighing happily when you felt instantly take over you.

Sunghoon looked at the clock on his bedside table, seeing it was still a little past six. He sighed softly as he turned to your side of the bed but felt nothing but the cold of your sheets. He forced his eyes open and lifted his head when he saw you weren’t lying beside him. He rubbed the sleep off his eyes and got up to go look for you. First, he looked in your in-suite bathroom but you weren’t there. He walked barefoot through the halls until he reached the living room. There he saw you laying, curled in the white fluffy blanket you usually shared on movie nights.

Sunghoon smiled softly as he walked towards your sleeping figure. He shook your arm slightly, making you shake a little bit as you woke up. “Why aren’t you in bed, baby?” he asked when you were finally looking properly at him. “Maybe because someone was snoring like an ogre and I couldn’t sleep.” you answered in a groggy voice, making him chuckle at your response. 

“What time is it?” you asked laying your head back on the pillow. “Just a little past six.” he answered “Come back to bed, yeah?” you groaned feeling comfy and warm on your couch. “Carry me?” you asked, smiling and extending your arms towards him. He smiled and shook his head but still crouched to grab you and carry you to bed, kissing your head in the process as you both made your way to your shared room.

The weekend had finally arrived and you and Sunghoon had been waiting for a day like this since forever. You both woke up late and had homemade brunch and were now lying on your shared bed watching movies and just talking with each other. You were cuddled on his chest and he had his arm wrapped around you as you both seemed to be immersed in a random romcom playing on the screen in front of you. Both of you had been quiet for a while, the only thing heard was the movie playing. 

You were starting to get bored of the same rom-com plot playing over and over in each movie. You rolled your head back against Sunghoon’s shoulder and just stared at him, admiring his perfect features. He was so into the movie he probably didn’t even notice you staring. It was in moments like this that you wondered how could have you bagged a husband and man like him. Your eyes moved from his plump lips to his perfect straight nose that you loved to sit on so much.

You were getting needy for his attention so you started to leave love bites on his neck, making him look at you with a surprised look. You smiled up at him, making him mirror your expression as you kissed the spots you previously bit, soothing the red marks. “‘M bored, Hoonie.” you whined as you pressed your face in his chest. “You want to change the movie?” he asked, grabbing the controller. “No!” you said sitting up “I’m bored.” you said again but emphasizing the bored with a suggestive tone. His eyes widened in realization but his expression quickly changed to a playful one.

Sunghoon said nothing as he laid you against the many pillows displayed on your bed, making you let out a squeal. “And what does Miss wanna do, mnh?” he asked, biting his lip as his hands slipped inside your shirt, caressing your stomach. “I don’t know, Hoonie…” you said giggling as you spread your legs further so he could fit in between them. “Then I don’t think there’s anything I can do, baby.” He said sitting on his knees, making you whine at him. “Hoon, please!” you begged not really sure for what. “Tell me, baby. What do you want, mnh?” he said hovering over you again. “Just do anything! Please!” You said grabbing him by his nape. 

He pulled your shirt up, letting it rest just above your breasts. The sight was enough to make him feel himself become hard in his sweats. He took one of your nipples in his mouth as his hand played with the other. You moaned at the delicious feeling, your fingers tangling themselves in his hair as you squirmed against the bed. “Hoon…” you moaned when you felt him graze his teeth on your sensitive nub. He pulled away to suck on the other nipple, giving it the same treatment as the other, a string of his spit falling on the valley of your breasts. 

“Please, Hoonie, need more!” you whined softly, grinding your clothed pussy against his stomach. Sunghoon pulled away from your breasts to look at you. Cheeks blushed, eyes shiny and lips parted. Even though you have been married for almost three years now, you never failed to impress him with your beauty. He smiled at you, leaning down to peck your lips multiple times as he giggled like a fool in love (exactly what he was). You felt your cheeks warm up at his antics, giggling at the feeling of his lips on yours. “Whatever my baby wants.” he said moving south.

Thankfully you hadn’t worn any pants underneath your shirt so he had easier access to your panties. He buried his nose in your clothed cunt, giving it a lick through your panties, making you moan and grind against his face. “H-hoon!” you moaned quietly. His hands caressed your thighs, moving upwards as he reached for the hem of your underwear. “Can I, angel?” he asked for your consent, making you nod at him. He pulled your panties off of you, revealing your glistening cunt to him. He let out a shaky sigh at the sight of your bare cunt on display wet just for him. 

He used his thumbs to spread your folds, revealing you fully to him and lowered himself on you, moaning when your sweet juices hit his taste buds. His tongue licked a stripe from your hole to your clit, sucking on the little bundle of nerves, making you let out a breathy moan as you grinded against his face, smothering him in your essence. “Hoon, fuck!” you moaned loudly as you felt his tongue flickering your clit. “Shit! So good. Hoon!” He moaned in satisfaction, grinding against the mattress, trying to get some relief of his own. His tongue moved to your hole, slurping on your wetness. 

Sunghoon felt like he was ascending to heaven as he inserted his tongue in your hole, feeling more of you. You kept moaning and grinding on him, fingers pulling him closer to your cunt. Slurping sounds along with your moans and whines were all that was heard in the quiet room as he immersed himself in your pussy. His tongue alternated from sucking to flicking on your clit when he felt your hole clench repeatedly, meaning you were about to cum. “Hoon! Please, don’t stop!” you moaned out loud. He could also feel himself come close to his own release as he kept grinding himself against your sheets.

His hands moved from your folds to embrace your thighs to pull himself even closer to your cunt. His tongue started moving faster on your now sensitive nub. “Shit, Hoon! S-So close!” you screamed as you felt your body twitch. He seemed to suck even harder on your clit, motivated to bring you your sweet release. With a couple more flicks of his tongue, you felt the oxygen being knocked out of your lungs as your body stilled and your vision turned white. “F-Fuck, Hoon!” You moaned as you came on his tongue, hole clenching uncontrollably as his tongue now moved to your hole to slurp at the juices that were starting to drip out of you.

It also didn’t take him long to cum as he felt your hole clench around his tongue, his body shaking as he felt his sticky release stain his underwear. With a final suck, he pulled away from your pussy to not overstimulate you. You lay there, panting as you came down from your high. His face was covered in your slick and a smile adorned his lips, making you giggle at the way he looked like a lovesick puppy. “Thank you, Hoonie.” you said, pulling him down to peck his lips. “Everything for my princess.” he replied as he kissed you again before getting up to prepare you a bath.

[evilminji]

SVSSS

So! A thought that's been stuck in my head with your SI-OC series is "What if they took being made a Wife seriously?"

Like, wouldn't it calm Binghe down a bit if he had one of his wives hanging on his arm telling him "[X action] will make [Y wife] sad/happy".

Now there's a thought >.>

Someone working off modern "how to make a marriage work" play sheet instead of ancient Chinese? Far more "spend time together, share interests, bids of affection, open communication" etc?

Trying to treat the harem as a polycule. It would have to be early on. Before he got too disillusioned and the harem grew too large... but? It would be doable?

Like? Before the fall of the Sects, the realms merge. When he's still a raw wound of a man. After he's dropped his Seduction Mask. Hunt over, you've seen the ugly in him, he's started ignoring you for the next hit of dopamine he's so desperately chasing.

Do you still love him? Or do you get offended. Pout. Upset that you're not the center of his universe anymore?

Wife-Oc? Would have to treat him like the heavily abused animal he acts like. Not LESS then human, mind you, but something wary of them. Would need to be very, very patient. In the face of a man who's brain chemistry is not only deeply fucked up? But who's actively suffering under the effects of a legendary cursed sword.

He's NOT okay.

Trying to control him? Get things from him? Will only feed into his "they don't REALLY love me. They're using me." Complexe.

What he needs? Is consistency. Boundaries and positive reinforcement. Support and affection. Someone making HIM meals. Soft, platonic touch. Genuine interest in his day. Someone who both remembers and avoids his triggers.

(Maybe someone who researchs OTHER Legendary blades. Non-cursed varieties.)

It would build. Slowly, then all at once. First she'd just... be there. One of the wives. Bit more persistent the usual, but maybe she's just needy? Wants to gain his favor? Only... no. She's getting along with his other wives. Respecting his boundaries. Remembering what he does and doesn't like. Being... kind to him.

There are "welcome backs". Ones that don't flaunt bits of neckline or hints of curve. Just... warm smiles. Hugs. There are meals that match his mood. Medicine sent when he's hurt, even though most people think he doesn't need it. Offers to brush his hair. Talk about his day. Do things he's interested in. None of them an excuse for sex.

He is treated softly. With kindness.

When was the last time THAT happened?

Obsession quickly follows. Of course it does. He is not well. Sealed as a kid, cursed during the most traumatic event of his life, has his demonic blood EVER had a chance to settle? Yes, there is good in him. But he is both ill and unspeakably powerful.

It would be her life's mission to get rid of that damn sword.

Xin Mo is driving him insane. Killing him with ten thousand little cuts to the soul.

It would grow like a cancer, Xin Mo's influence. Dispite the United forces of the Wives trying to push it back. Not enough of them would truely care. There would be divisions, within the harem. Those that care about Binghe and those that are using him, in his mind altered state.

The Loyal wives? Would probably conspire? To free the one person who could Get Rid Of That Damn Sword. Their honored father in law. Tianlang-jun. Especially? Since the old Palace Master is a CREEP and they don't like how he stares at their husband. Wasn't even hard, to find out what the fucker did to their poor, honorable, deceased First-Mother-In-Law Su Xiyan. (The absolute BASTARD)

So like... a squad of ladies rolling up on Tianlang-jun? Huh... not his birthday, but he'll take it.

Oh? *gets an exposition dump* ......Oh?

You don't say.

So now Father-in-law's free. And pissed. Old fucker is soon to be VERY dead. And Father-in-law has agreed to, in the grand Demon Tradition, kick his son's ass. Lovingly. Then steal his Cursed as fuck sword and break it into itty bitty pieces. Maybe scold him a bit. Be a general asshole. You know, as one does.

He certainly can't be assed to take back the throne. It was tedious as FUCK.

So you do it, Jr. Your problem now~! But! Dear ol daddy's here to beat some sense into you~☆ then eat your food and laze about. It's what your mother would have wanted. (Lies. She would have done the beating her self. Then dragged him out by the ear. But let him have this. He's lonely.)

@babbling-babull @legitimatesatanspawn @mayfay @hdgnj

[daisynik7]

OMG I love your party idea it's so cool!! how about "slow down baby" by Christina Aguilar for Eren Yeager 💓💓 one of my favs

Slow Down Baby

Slow down baby and don't act crazy, don't you know you can look all you want but you just can't touch

Pairing: Eren Jaeger x f!reader

Rating: Explicit – MINORS DO NOT INTERACT

Word Count: ~2.4k

cw: modern-day au, mutual masturbation, voyeurism, implications of cheating, cheating, sex toy use (vibrator), dirty talk, pet names (good girl, princess)

Summary: Your boyfriend Jean is working late again, and you can’t help but be suspicious that there’s something nefarious happening behind your back. Pent up from not seeing him this whole week, you take this alone time to treat yourself to some much-needed self-care. 

Eren Jaeger knows that his friend is cheating on you, and he hates it. You don’t deserve it, not one bit. When Jean asks him to do a favor to try to cover up his infidelity, Eren seriously considers telling you the truth, ultimately deciding against it because of “bro code”. But what happens when he walks in on you taking all your sexual frustrations out on a little toy? Can he really keep his mouth shut?

Author’s Note: Thank you for this request @shepnicolo! Love me some Xtina, great song for the y2k karaoke party! This was a fun one for me, so I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Likes, reblogs, and/or comments are always appreciated, thank you for reading everyone! MDNI banner designed by @/cafekitsune. Header image from Pinterest.

“Hey babe. Sorry, but I’m going to be at work late again tonight.” It’s already past nine in the evening when Jean calls you, informing you of this last-minute change of plans.

“Again?” He’s had overtime every day since last week. He’s also been leaving early in the mornings so by the time you wake up, he’s gone. It feels like you’ve barely seen him at all. “How about dinner?”

“Yeah, yeah. I already ate.” There’s shuffling in the background. And maybe it’s just your paranoia, but you swear you hear a woman giggling quietly beside him.

You swallow hard, asking, “Is someone with you?”

“Huh?” His tone shifts, as if you’re asking the most ridiculous question. “What do you mean?”

Immediately regretting it, you rephrase, not wanting to sound accusatory. “I was just wondering if anyone else is working overtime with you. That’s all. Didn’t want you to be lonely there.” The last statement is a lie; you sincerely hope he’s alone and not doing what you’re suspicious of.

He clears his throat nervously. “Oh. Well, yeah, there are a few people here with me, so you have nothing to worry about.” 

Too late for that, you think, listening carefully for any more clues. When you can’t hear anything else, you sigh into the phone. “Okay, sweetie. I’ll see you later then.” You wait for him to respond, but he doesn’t. Quickly, you add, “I love you – ” 

He hangs up before you can get it out completely. 

Jean had been pulling away from you for a while now. It didn’t just start with the overtime. It began over a month ago, when you noticed how glued to the phone he was while the two of you watched TV together. When you asked who he was texting, he answered, “It’s my new coworker. She’s asking some questions about work.” At the time, it didn’t raise any alarms in your head, so you dropped it. Every day, he was immersed to the screen, sometimes excusing himself to take a call outside on your balcony. You resisted every urge, every temptation to eavesdrop on his conversations, look through his text messages, interrogate him further. 

You continue to give him the benefit of the doubt. There’s no way Jean would ever cheat on you. While you haven’t been together for that long, you like to think that you know him well enough to be sure he’s a faithful boyfriend. You don’t even have proof of his infidelity. It would be unfair to accuse him of such atrocities over some silly speculation, right?

Since he’s been in the office late this entire week, the two of you haven’t had sex in what seems like forever. Pent up and frustrated, you take this time to care for yourself, since Jean’s not around to do it. It starts with a serving of your favorite dessert, then a warm bath, soothing the tense muscles in your body. You surround yourself in a comfy robe, brushing your teeth with the full intention of falling asleep as soon as you do the one thing you need to make yourself feel better tonight. 

With all the lights off, except for the dim glow of the lampshade on the nightstand, you snuggle into your bed, untying the robe so it’s splayed beneath you. Inside the drawer, you retrieve your favorite vibrator and a small bottle of lube, pouring a tiny bead on the tip. Spreading your legs wide, you smear it on yourself. Using your free hand, you navigate to your favorite dirty audio, playing it out loud. 

~~~

Eren hates this. Absolutely hates it. 

He’s driving towards your apartment with a set of keys in his pocket and a bouquet of roses sitting in the passenger seat. All because your friend is a piece of shit. 

Eren’s known for a while now that Jean is cheating on you. It started with a not-so-subtle comment in the group chat. My new coworker is fucking hot. That alone disgusted him. Connie, of course, laughed it off. Armin didn’t say anything, probably unsure how to respond at such a statement. It only went downhill from there. 

She’s got the best body omg.

 I’m in trouble now.

This is bad guys lol. 

Don’t tell the girls okay? 

Jean has always rubbed Eren the wrong way, ever since they were kids. But at least he respected him. Now, not so much. Not at all, actually. You don’t deserve this, not one bit. No one does, but especially you. And maybe the reason he can’t completely berate Jean is because Eren’s harboring a secret of his own: He’s head-over-heels for you. 

Of course, he’s never acted on it. Bro code, right? Thou shall not hook up with another bro’s girl, or whatever the unofficial rule is. But what if said bro is acting like a total asshole? And what if this bro would treat you the way you deserve and more? Then what?

It’s because of this stupid code that he finds himself in the most ridiculous, aggravating situation. Earlier in the night, Jean texted the group chat. SOS SOS SOS. Armin and Connie were both busy, so didn’t respond, leaving Eren to answer the cry for help.

Jean explains it quickly through the phone, voice all panicky and guilty. “Dude, I need you to do me the hugest favor right now. I would you owe big time if you could help me out.” Basically, he needs Eren to buy a big bouquet of roses and deliver them to your apartment, where you can see them first thing in the morning. 

“Why?” he asks, irritated by this request.

“I think she’s suspicious. So I need to do something to throw her off the scent,” he explains. Eren can already see the cocky, shit-eating grin on his face. Why is he friends with this douchebag? And why did he agree to do this? He’s complicit in this mess now, not only for keeping his friend’s infidelity a secret, but for helping him continue it. He wants so badly to tell you the truth so you can escape this relationship. At the same time, he’s supposed to have his friend’s back no matter what, even if he is being a massive prick. 

So, he decides to help his buddy out, no matter how much it’s killing him. He meets Jean at an unknown address, most likely his side chick’s place. “Dude, seriously. I owe you one,” he says, patting him on the shoulder.

Eren nods silently, not wanting to speak in case he lets his true feelings slip. Jean hands him the spare keys to your apartment. “Just sneak in and set the flowers on the kitchen counter. She won’t suspect a thing.” It takes all of Eren’s willpower not to punch him in the face, so he quickly turns around to get into his car and drive off. 

It’s almost midnight by the time he arrives to your apartment. Surely, you’re asleep by now, still completely unaware that your bastard boyfriend is cheating on you. Still, he shouldn’t meddle in your relationship, even though he wants what’s best for you, which is not Jean.

He unlocks the door quietly, tip-toeing into the kitchen to set the flowers down, as instructed. He notices your bedroom door is ajar, a faint streak of light coming from the inside, and the undeniable sounds of a man growling expletives like, Come for me, slut. Yeah, give it all to me.

His eyes widen, surprised that you’re still awake, even more so that you’re listening to something like this. Curiosity gets the best of him; he stealthily makes his way beside your door, peering through the tiny opening to get a glimpse of you. 

You’re laid out on the bed, bare and exposed, gripping a vibrator to your pussy. The sight alone is enough to put him into a frenzy. Hearing your soft whimpers from your mouth along with the electric buzz from the toy fluttering on your clit sends him into a trance that he can’t snap out of. Before he can think logically, he’s pushing against the door, making his presence known. 

~~~

“Eren!” You sit up in bed, flinging the toy off to the side, covering yourself with your robe. “What are you doing here?”

He stands before you, a crazed look in his eyes, an obvious bulge protruding from his pants. He stutters, “I’m sorry.”

“What are you doing here?” you repeat, glaring at him. 

His mouth is agape, unable to get the words out. You’re losing patience, watching him struggle to explain why he’s here, inside your home, watching you masturbate. You grab your phone, making sure to exit out of whatever filthy audio that’s still playing, fingers ready to dial your boyfriend’s number when he blurts out, “Jean is cheating on you.”

You freeze on the spot, heart sinking from having your worst fear confirmed. 

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs, staring down at his feet. “I’m so sorry.”

There are no tears in your eyes, surprisingly. Instead, your throat is heavy with emotion as you repeat for a third time, “So, what are you doing here?”

Still avoiding your gaze, he answers, “Jean thought you were catching on to him, so he asked me to bring you flowers to throw you off.” 

You can’t help but laugh, shaking your head. “Unbelievable.” Crossing your arms over your chest, you ask, “How long have you known about it?”

“A few weeks.” He looks up at you, saying your name this time. “I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

After a deep breath, you sigh, relaxing against the headboard. “I’m sorry you’re involved in it.” You smile at him. “And I’m sorry you had to see me…you know.” Embarrassment catches up to you, heat rushing into your cheeks, aware that you’ve just been caught touching yourself with your vibrator, which is still in plain view beside you. 

He steps forward, inching closer towards the end of the bed. “Don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. Jean is a fucking asshole. You don’t deserve this.”

“What do I deserve, Eren?” You peer at him, tears welling in your eyes now, desperate for any ounce of comfort he can give to you in this moment. 

He sits near you on the edge of the bed, keeping his distance. “You deserve to be loved by someone who’s always going to treat you right. Someone who’s going to love you from head to toe.” 

“Someone like you?”

A gentle smile forms on his face. “Yeah. Someone like me.”

No matter how badly you want to close the distance between you, want to feel the love he says he can give to you, guilt holds you back. Sensing your hesitation, he scooches nearer. “Let me help you. Tell me what you want.”

Eren has always been sweet to you. Too sweet, in fact. You’ve always gotten the sense that he cares more for you than he lets on. And maybe it’s because you’re hurt right now, fragile, heartbroken, even a little scornful towards Jean. Whatever it is, it makes you realize you’ve been too busy with the wrong man to notice the right one has been here all along. However, two wrongs don’t make a right. Even with the confirmation of Jean’s adulterous behavior, you’re still his girlfriend until you officially end it, which will be soon. 

In the meantime, you manage to come up with something you can do to take advantage of this moment. 

You let go of your robe, letting it fall to your sides, displaying your nude body to him, arousal wet between your legs from earlier. He watches you carefully, cock straining against his sweatpants, breathing heavily.

“I’m not a cheater like Jean,” you mutter, spreading yourself wider, showing off your glistening cunt.

“I know you’re not,” he whispers, scooting forward, hand drifting to his lap.

Reaching for your vibrator, maintaining your gaze on him, you say, “I’m a good girl.” 

He swallows hard, palming his erection through the fabric. “Fuck. You’re a good girl. Such a good girl.”

“You can look, but you can’t touch. Understand?” Your finger hovers over the button, tip pressed to your throbbing clit.  

He nods erratically, licking his lips. “Yes.”

“Good,” you smirk, turning the toy on, ready to give him a show. “Tell me all the things you want to do to me.”

He shoves his boxers down, cock sprung stiff against his abdomen, the slit shiny with precum, veins bulging on his shaft. It’s the prettiest cock you’ve ever seen, better than what’s-his-face by a longshot, though you might be biased now, given the circumstances. Eren wraps his fist around it, jerking himself off while he watches you tease the tip on your swollen bud. “I want to fuck you into this mattress,” he moans. “Pound this pussy until we break the bed.”

“Yeah?” you purr, pressing the fluttering tip deeper into your clit. “What else?”

“Want to bounce you on this cock, watch you cream all over me,” he huffs, stroking himself faster. “God, this is hot. So fucking hot.”

Pleasure ripples through your body, toes curled from the sensation, so close to your climax with his soothing voice spitting his nasty fantasies at you. “I wish you could fuck me right now,” you confess, limbs quivering from ecstasy, pussy fluttering around nothing, aching to be filled. 

“Me too, princess. Me too. But you’re a good girl. And good girls don’t cheat.” He readjusts himself onto the bed, kneeling in front of you, stroking his hard dick. “I can give you this cum, though. That’s not cheating, right?”

You blindly agree with him, approaching your climax. “Yeah, give it to me. Give it to me, Eren.”

He swears loudly, shooting his load onto you, spilling over your clit, dripping down your pussy. “Fuck,” he groans, marveling at how pretty you look covered in his seed. 

You smile at him, relaxing against your pillows, dipping the tip of your vibrator in his mess. His mouth hangs open, eyes half lidded, watching as you stuff it inside your cunt. 

“Holy fuck,” he whispers, stroking his cock again, eyes fixated on your pussy. 

Do technicalities even matter anymore? All you know is that you want to be loved from head to toe by Eren Jaeger. You set aside the toy, sitting up to close the gap between you, pressing your lips to his. He hesitates before deepening the kiss, tongue slipping inside your mouth, sloppy and eager for more.

When you break apart to catch your breaths, he leans his forehead against yours, whispering, “Are you going to be a bad girl now and take this cock?”

Grinning, you nod, pulling him in for another kiss. 

[joaosnovia]

Toni is actually so pretty like wth so how about reader doing makeup on him?

❦ - painted pretty.

summary:: despite all his protests, you do your boyfriends makeup.

warnings:: i wrote this at school.

writers notes:: i’m so sorry this took ages to put out my babies 💔. ALSO I PROMISE I HAVE LIKE 5 FINISHED FICS IN NY DRAFTS THAT NEED FORMATTING IM SORRY.

tags:: @barcapix @n0vazsq @httpsdana @paucubarsisimp @universefcb @nngkay

‘why am i doing this again?’

toni was sitting stiffly in front of you, his arms crossed over his chest, watching with narrowed eyes as you laid out your makeup products on the desk. he was clearly trying to act like he wasn’t into this, but the way he kept sneaking glances at the different brushes told you otherwise.

‘because i asked nicely,’ you said sweetly, picking up a beauty blender. ‘and because you love me.’

he rolled his eyes. ‘i don’t remember agreeing to this.’

‘well, you didn’t say no either, soooo…’ you trailed off, smiling.

he sighed, rubbing his temple like you were giving him a headache. ‘you better not make me look stupid.’

you gasped, clutching your chest in fake offense. ‘excuse me? when have i ever made you look stupid?’

toni gave you a look. ‘do you want me to list examples?’

‘shut up and let me do your makeup.’

he huffed but sat up straighter, finally relenting. you straddled his lap, cupping his face between your hands.

‘okay, first of all, you have great skin,’ you said, smoothing some primer over his cheeks. ‘this is almost unfair.’

he smirked. ‘good genetics.’

‘whatever.’ you rolled your eyes but couldn’t help smiling.

as you started blending foundation onto his face, he sat incredibly still, his jaw tense like he was concentrating hard.

‘toni, you can relax,’ you giggled.

‘this requires focus,’ he said seriously.

you snorted. ‘it’s literally just makeup. you act like i’m giving you stitches.’

‘you’re holding something very close to my eye. i need to be prepared.’

he was being so dramatic, but you loved it.

you worked quickly, adding concealer under his eyes, setting everything with a light dusting of powder. his sharp cheekbones made contouring a dream, and when you brushed highlighter onto the high points of his face, he blinked in surprise.

‘it’s shiny,’ he murmured, turning his face slightly.

‘yes, baby, that’s the point.’

his brows furrowed, but he didn’t argue.

when you got to the eyeshadow, you hummed, tilting your head. ‘i think a soft brown would look good on you.’

toni raised an eyebrow. ‘you sound like you’ve been waiting to do this for a long time.’

you grinned sheepishly. ‘maybe.’

he sighed, but there was no real annoyance behind it. ‘just don’t make me look like a clown.’

‘trust me, i’m making you look pretty.’

he muttered something under his breath, but let you continue.

by the time you finished blending the eyeshadow and adding a tiny wing to the corner of his eye, you were practically bouncing with excitement.

‘okay, you literally have the perfect face for this. you look so good.’

toni turned to the mirror, studying his reflection. his brows lifted slightly, his lips parting in surprise.

‘huh.’

‘see? i told you!’

he tilted his head, his fingers ghosting over his cheekbone. ‘i look… kinda cool.’

‘kind of?’ you scoffed. ‘you look incredible.’

he turned back to you, the corner of his mouth twitching. ‘alright, fine. you did a good job.’

‘thank you,’ you said smugly. ‘now, let me take a picture—’

toni’s expression immediately dropped. ‘no evidence.’

‘but—’

‘no.’

you pouted. ‘but you look so pretty!’

he sighed, shaking his head. ‘fine. one picture. just for you.’

you grinned, quickly snapping a photo before he could change his mind.

but later that night, when he thought you weren’t looking, you caught him staring at his reflection again, tilting his head side to side, admiring the soft glow on his skin.

‘do you want me to do it again sometime?’ you asked, biting back a smile.

toni cleared his throat, looking away. ‘i don’t care.’

but the way his ears turned pink told you everything you needed to know.

[cirilla-fiona-riannon]

𝗜 𝗪𝗼𝗻’𝘁 𝗚𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗨𝗽 𝗺𝘆 𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗦𝗶𝗱𝗲 (𝗣𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝟮)

Translations may not always capture the exact nuances or tone of the original text. Expect grammatical errors and inaccuracies. Not Proofread.

Story Summary: Drake and Galileo suddenly switched bodies. Seeing Galileo pretend to be him and interact with Mitsuki at the party, Drake felt a pang of jealousy.

(Drake's POV)

Drake: "Galileo, I need a favor. My buddy's wedding party is in three days—think you can go instead of me?"

Galileo: "No."

Without hesitation, Galileo flatly rejected my request, even as I pressed my hands together in a pleading gesture.

Drake: "Come on, it's no big deal. You just have to be there."

Galileo: "You're the one who should think this through. This isn't the time for such things."

He sighed, exasperated, but I didn't give up, bowing my head even deeper.

Drake: "I get what you're saying. But please, just this once."

Drake: "I owe Nathan—big time."

Drake: "He helped me so much when I started working, and I really want to celebrate with him. Please!"

Galileo: "………"

For once, my persistence seemed to make him hesitate.

Then, Mitsuki joined in, bowing her head beside me.

Mitsuki: "Please, Galileo. Could you help us out?"

Drake: "I'll be there too, so if anything happens, I'll step in. Okay?"

With both of us pleading, Galileo took a long pause before finally letting out a reluctant sigh.

Galileo: "Fine. I'm not thrilled about it, but I'll do it."

Drake: "For real!?"

Galileo: "Unless you'd rather I take back my word?"

Drake: "Nope! I'll gladly take you up on that!"

Mitsuki let out a small sigh of relief while I firmly grasped Galileo's hand.

Drake: "But if we're doing this, we need to practice."

Galileo: "Practice?"

Drake: "Yeah, you're gonna be me in front of everyone."

Drake: "You should at least learn to act like me to avoid suspicion."

As soon as I said that, the expression on 'my' face twisted into something incredibly reluctant.

Galileo: "I suppose you're right. Since I agreed, I won't do it half-heartedly."

Drake: "That's the spirit. Mitsuki, you know me best, so mind helping us out?"

Mitsuki: "Of course! Leave it to me!"

Galileo: "Then let's begin immediately."

(Looks like he's motivated. Now, let's see how this plays out.)

Galileo: "Haha! I'm really happy for you! Here's to my brother finding the best treasure of all!"

Galileo: "Make sure you don't let anyone steal it, okay?"

Galileo: "How was it? Sound convincing enough?"

Mitsuki: "Wow! You sound just like Drake!"

After a full day of practice, Galileo practically nailed being me.

Drake: "Damn! Who knew you had such a talent? Maybe you should be an actor instead of a scientist."

Galileo: "And who do you think forced me into this in the first place?"

Drake: "Haha, my bad, my bad. I really do appreciate it."

Mitsuki: "Looks like the party will go off without a hitch now!"

But then, Galileo shook his head.

Galileo: "No. There's one more important thing left."

Galileo: "I need to practice how to interact with you, Mitsuki."

Mitsuki: "Huh? Me?"

(I had a feeling this would happen.)

I silently grumbled to myself as Mitsuki looked confused while Galileo spoke seriously.

Galileo: "We gotta make sure things seem natural since it'll be hard for you to act normal knowing I'm not Drake."

Mitsuki: "You have a point."

She glanced up at me hesitantly.

Mitsuki: "Drake, I think I should practice too. What do you think?"

(I hadn't really thought this far ahead, but…)

Drake: "Yeah, it's probably a good idea. I'm counting on you, little fawn."

So, the practice continued, with Mitsuki and Galileo rehearsing their interactions.

Galileo and Mitsuki walked side by side through the street, and I followed a step behind, observing.

Mitsuki: "Um, when I walk with Drake, we usually stay a little closer."

Galileo: "What? That would make walking more difficult."

Drake: "Hah? Don't say something so boring. A guy always wants to stay close to the woman he likes. That's just how it is."

Galileo: "I fail to see the logic in that."

Mitsuki: "Hehe… Ah!"

Suddenly, Mitsuki stumbled on the cobblestone street, losing her balance.

Without hesitation, Galileo reached out and caught her.

(........)

Galileo: "Be careful."

Mitsuki: "T-Thank you."

(Looks like he's managing just fine without my help.)

I quietly lowered the hand I had instinctively reached out and shifted my gaze to a nearby restaurant to clear my head.

Drake: "Looks like a cool new place just opened up. Why don't we grab a bite there?"

We stepped into the restaurant, and to make sure everything looked natural, I had Mitsuki and Galileo sit together while I took the seat across from them.

Waiter: "Welcome. Our restaurant specializes in regional French cuisine."

Just as he said, the menu was full of unfamiliar dishes.

Drake: "Everything looks good. I think I'll go with the Colombo. What about you, lil' fawn?"

Mitsuki: "I… um… I can't decide."

Glancing at the menu in front of her, Galileo raised his hand and called for the waiter.

Galileo: "We'll have the Colombo, the Rougail Saucisse, and a Ficelle Picarde."

Mitsuki: "Oh…"

He placed the order smoothly, then turned to her.

Galileo: "The Rougail Saucisse is a spiced tomato stew, and the Ficelle Picarde is a ham and mushroom crepe gratin."

Galileo: "If you're unsure, seeing the dishes might help you decide."

Mitsuki: "Thank you. The names alone didn't give me much of an idea, so that really helps."

(Damn. If I were sitting next to her, I could've helped her pick too.)

Just then, Mitsuki let out a small, relieved laugh.

Mitsuki: "Even in Drake's body, you're still very much Galileo."

Galileo: "What's the difference between me and Drake?"

Mitsuki: "Drake is always more lively when choosing food."

Mitsuki: "While you stay calm and casually look out for others."

Drake: "Hey little fawn, don't go falling for him just because he looks like me."

I grinned and teased her, but her face immediately flushed red.

Mitsuki: "I-It's not like that!"

(Why is she blushing?)

Drake: "Anyway, since we're here, how about a drink?"

Drake: "Didn't you say yesterday that you wanted to try drinking as much as you liked?"

Galileo: "I don't mind, but don't get too carried away in my body."

Wanting to shake off the odd feeling in my chest, I ordered some drinks.

Drake: "Well then, cheers to this strange night!"

I downed my glass in one go, only to feel the alcohol hit me way too fast.

(What the hell? This body gets drunk way too easily!)

As I struggled with the unfamiliar sensation, Galileo sipped his wine with a strangely satisfied look.

Galileo: "Since we're at it, I'll have another."

Mitsuki: "You seem to be enjoying yourself, Galileo."

Galileo: "I thought this whole situation was a disaster, but getting to savor a drink like this isn't so bad."

Mitsuki: "Hehe."

Drake: "Can you two not create this nice little atmosphere right in front of me?"

Galileo: "What are you talking about? I'm only fulfilling your requests, nothing more."

Drake: "Yeah, well, I mean, that's true, but still…"

I was about to pour myself another drink but hesitated, remembering that this wasn't my body.

(Damn. This is messing with my head. I can't even relax properly.)

(At this rate, I need to hurry up and switch back.)

But before I could figure things out, the day of the party arrived—with us still stuck in each other's bodies.

Part 1 ╎ Part 2 ╎ Premium ╎ Epilogue

[crispy-kiss]

EVE OF DESTINY: KÖZI & HARUHIKO ASH - Special project talk for Co Chamber Psycho!

I've been terribly bored lately, so I thought it would be fun to translate one of the interviews from közi's old fc ^_^ Special thanks to @/cherdememoire and @/futaritaboo on twitter for helping me with this 3 page long conversation between these two. I apologize in advance for any mistakes I may have committed while translating it.

Thank you for waiting! We have covered most of the people involved with Közi’s solo, but have you noticed that there are still some areas that have not been covered yet? This time, we finally entered that uncharted territory! You may think you know Eve of Destiny, but surprisingly, you don't! We are pleased to have Haruhiko Ash (hereafter referred to as "H"), the solitary vocalist of the mysterious unit E.O.D., who mainly works overseas, will be appearing this time, this is the first interview in the magazine of Darkness! I thought that if I asked him for an interview, I would be sunk in Tokyo Bay. I was hesitant to do so, but I acted like it wasn't a big deal and asked him to do it - he said OK. Maybe he is more friendly than I thought? What is he really like? Enjoy!

◆ It’s kind of embarrassing to talk formally. Let’s order beer first! ◆

K: Well then, shall we make a toast first?

H: Good job.

K: Thank you for your hard work.

H: “Happy new year” was it?

K:  That’s not it. On New Year’s Holiday, we went to Tsukishima to eat Monjayaki together, right?

H: Ah! That was it.

K: With today’s rough feeling, I'm thinking of talking about unknown things about E.O.D and how I met Haruhiko-san, so please take a look...

H: Is it okay to do it randomly? 

K:  It’s completely fine.

H: By the way, have you been listening to music recently?

K: I might not have been listening to it much.

H: Kaela Kimura (singer) is good.

K: Huh?! Kaela Kimura? Haruhiko-san?! Seriously?!

H: I like aiko (singer) too though.

K: aiko? Haruhiko-san?! Really?! (Laughs)

H: Seriously. But I've only heard of Kaela Kimura in the last few years. Kimura Kaela’s CD is the only one I bought to listen to recently.

K: (Surprised) Did you buy some recently released albums?

H: The first limited edition comes with a DVD. You'd better buy it too.

K: (Laughs) That kind of talk... Is it okay in terms of image?

H: Image? I don't care about that (Laughs).

◆ In the first place, when did you two meet? ◆

H: How many years ago was it? I don't know, but I think you were still a teenager when we first met.

K: That’s right. I was 18 or 19 years old

H: It had been only around one year since you had came to Tokyo, right?

K: That’s about it. It was before I started Malice Mizer.

H: We didn't meet through music activities or anything like that, you simply applied for something like "looking for people who want to play baseball," right?

K: I joined the baseball team called "Takadanobabas" due to various circumstances.. Of course, I knew about "Haruhiko Ash” from "ZOLGE." At the time, I had a very scary image of Haruhiko-san.

H: You used to come to pick me up at home when you played baseball.

K: I did.

H: For some reason, he parked his car in front of my house the night before, slept in it, and waited for me.

K: It was in the neighborhood of <NOA> in Baba, right? (laughs)

H: I was wondering "Why did he park his car in front of my house the night before?" I asked him "What are you doing?" and he replied "I'm picking you up tomorrow." Like, Wow!

K: At that time, Being standby to pick-up since the day before was a trend wasn’t it?

H: Yes, it was. I couldn't get up even if they told me to pick them up at 5:00 a.m.

K: But that baseball team took it very seriously. Like morning practice for club activities.

H: That was abnormal. Even though it was a weekday, practice was from 6 a.m. I thought it was healthy because I was playing baseball, but it was very unhealthy. Most people had been coming from the night before without sleeping.

K: Haruhiko-san is a baseball kid, isn’t he?

H: Well, yeah. I was from Little League.

K: I've been using hard balls since I was little. I was in the elementary and middle school baseball club, but my position was pliers. Haruhiko-san , for example, is a vigorous baseball boy. “Takadanobabas" were playing a lot of games, right?.

H: I was in the Shinjuku Ward league. Wasn't it rather strong? You were a pretty nice player too, right?

K: I was okay.

H: I get the impression that you were hitting it somehow.

K: At that time, I also went to the bathing center. Have you ever been there with me?

H: Well, I don't remember. Don't you go there these days?

K: I go there occasionally. It occurred to me, there are times when I feel like going to the bathing center.

H: Let's go together sometime. Oh, come to think of it, is my glove at yours?

K: Oh! That strange glove is Haruhiko-san’s!

H: I knew it was at your place after all.

◆About E.O.D◆

K: E.O.D didn’t make any moves last year. Haruhiko-san went overseas a lot except for E.O.D.

H: I went to Saipan with a gravure idol.

K: It's a mystery, right, Haruhiko-san’s work. Isn't that off-the-record?

H: That's fine, nothing special. Gravure idols usually write things like "For some reason, Haruhiko Ash is on the beach in Saipan~!"  on their blogs.

K: You’ve been caught (Laughs) I wonder if there are pictures of you on the beach uploaded all over the Internet without your knowledge. A picture of a very carefree smiling face.

H: …

K: E.O.D hasn't performed since the fall of last year.

H: It’s been that long already? It was around Halloween.

K: It was, right.

H: Was Australia the last time?

K: That’s right. If I don't tell you why Haruhiko-san and I decided to work together in the first place, I don't think you will understand much about it.

H: I remember. When I was at a club event in Osaka, you suddenly came to see me. I don't remember who you were with.

K: With KAI of Art Marju.

H: Oh yes, I remember now. I hadn't seen you in a few years.

K: It had been quite a while since we last met.

H: If I may explain to the readers of the newsletter, Eve Of Destiny is the name I used when I was active overseas, and it can be a band, solo, unit, or whatever. I once participated in an exaggerated 4-disc compilation of gothic history called "Black Bible" released in the U.S., which led to various offers from overseas. At that time, I had an offer from a German festival called "Wave Gothic," and I was thinking that I could participate in Wave Gothic, too, and Közi just happened to show up.

K: The timing was good.

H: We only talked about it at that point, but I called Közi because I had received several invitations from abroad in addition to Wave Gothic. I said something like, "If you are willing, I will accept an offer from abroad."

K: I remember that phone call well.

H: Wave Gothic in Germany is a big event that everyone who loves Gothic in Europe knows about. When I first appeared, I performed at the main stage alongside people like The Sex Gang Children and SIOUXSIE SIOUX.

K: I saw that on BURST.  I thought, "Oh! Haruhiko-san is awesome!"

H: However, just because you've been on the main stage once, it doesn't necessarily mean you'll be the main stage again this time... I told you that I was going to go over there with that intention, but it turned out to be the main stage, didn't it?

K: That is right. I was told that you would accept the offer from such a huge festival if I wanted to do it, so I said, "I want to do it!" I've never had a chance to perform abroad before.

H: Well, I had always loved Közi, and as one of my juniors, I had always thought of him as important. I have always wanted to work with such kid, as I do with other kids, if I had the chance to do something with them. It just so happens that the timing was exquisite, and this is what happened.

K: It was fate (laughs) Just four months after that phone call, I was already heading to the Philippines...

H: The Philippines was the first Gothic event in Asia and Oceania. It was like a warm-up to perform in Germany, right? From your point of view.

K: Well, the Philippines was like a quick rehearsal. But my world debut was in the Philippines, after all.

H: You keep getting offers from the Philippines after that, but you keep turning them down.

K: Even Haruhiko-san said, "Well, I'll never come again"! You were so angry (Laughs).

H: Do you think the Filipino fans will see this newsletter translated?

K: No, there is no possibility of that. (*LOL...sure, Közi)

H: I have to explain this so that there will be no misunderstanding, but on the first day in the Philippines, the organizers went overboard and brought in smoke, strobes, and other equipment that they had never used before, and the power supply went down due to lack of power. Still I was like “It’s okay, don’t worry” but you were angry.

K: Because we were interrupted and stayed for about 10 minutes in the dark! We were sitting on the floor with the audience (Laughs).

H: The second day was a mess too. The second day was a different place, but there was a lot going on again. By the second song, this guy's (Közi) identity was about to be destroyed.

K: It can't be helped, right? because it's Asia.

H: Whaaat? Are you talking about an unequal society?

K: Wasn't your mic in your chest? I put it in the mic support. (*I think because of the lights going off, they couldn't see their mics properly. so ash put his mic on his chest, probably, and then kozi's was on the pedestal). The Haruhiko I know has always been such a intense person. But at that time, I think that the ups and downs of the day before and the day after had built up, and that's why it turned out like that. I was like, "The hotel shower has no hot water!" or something (Laughs).

H: The only room that didn't had hot water was yours. But it's a five-star hotel, isn't it?

K: yeah, my room was the only one that didn't had hot water. Moreover, I was also the only one who didn't have any toppings in my morning sandwich (Laughs).

H: There was ham and cheese and all kinds of toppings on it, and you chose this one yourself...

K: There were no toppings! Only butter! (Laughs).

H: It was a 5-star hotel, I saw a polyethylene bucket in the hallway and wondered what it was, but they said it was a leak. Filipinos laugh out loud a lot. When I left Japan, I joked that I would be called “Mr. President” when I went to the Philippines, but I was actually called “Shiyaccho-san!" (*I think here he was playing with the way people pronounce Ash, since president in japanese is "shachō.")

K: You suddenly called me “Mr. President," Haruhiko-sa.

H: That's because it's a a very welcoming term in the Philippines!

K: Haruhiko didn't leave the hotel at all, but I did explore. I was surrounded by kids because "japanese people with tattoos'' seemed to be quite rare.

(*Here Közi was probably telling Haruhiko that he wasn’t gonna be called honorifics since he didn’t leave his hotel room, but he thought about it so much that he ended up accidentally using the honorific with Közi).

H: You went there. Do you remember? On the way home, you bought me a lot of sweets, beer and snacks. He delivered it all to my room and said, "Take these Haruhiko-san." It was a huge amount of food, so I asked him "How much was it? I'll pay you." and he said "Nah, it's fine." When I said, "No, I'll pay for it,'' he replied, "It's okay, really. Budweiser costs about 20 yen here. It costed about 300 yen in total.'' (laughs) and I thought, "Really!?''

K: You can spend a lot in the Philippines, the prices are so low.

H: It's amazing. But, remember? There was a Starbucks near the venue on the second day, right?

K: There was, indeed.

H: So, I asked the staff to get me a Starbucks coffee. I was told that the price of a Starbucks coffee was about the same as two weeks' salary of the people there.

K: Starbucks was the only place where the price was the same as in Japan.

H: I heard that only tourists go there. Also, it seems like one E.O.D T-shirt cost as much as an annual income for the people over there.

K: Sigh~ It's unequal society, after all.

◆ E.O.D, theft victim!? ◆

H: How was Germany after the Philippines? Didn't we go on a mission?

K: The Sex Gang Children and SOFT CELL were performing the day before. It was like a dream coming true to me to stand on the same stage as the artists who influenced me in the past. The festival itself was huge and I had a lot of fun looking around. I wanted to take a picture with Wayne Hussey (the vocalist of THE MISSION U.K.) at that concert, but I didn't said anything because I thought Haruhiko would get mad at me if I did that (Laughs).

H: Oh, that's right (laughing).

K: And speaking of Germany, the food at the club where I was often taken care of during the gigs in Berlin was delicious!

H: They assume that since we're Japanese, we naturally like rice, so rice was served every time. I was sick of it, but you seem to like it.

K: Oh no, it was delicious!

H: There was butter rice with some kind of stew on it.

K: It was made by a punk girl with a mohawk who looked like machamacha (a japanese comedian), "This girl can cook!?" I thought, "How can someone like this cook?!'' But I guess appearances can be deceiving (Laughs).

H: But it was rice every time...

K:Also, there were bears all over the Berlin, right? Not live bears, though.

H: An object. Isn't it a symbol character? By the way, which place is the best place you've been to so far?

K: Well, I hardly did anything touristy in any of the countries I visited. So, I wished I had visited more in Bern, Switzerland, or Stockholm. The town itself is austere and a World Heritage site. I was also impressed when I saw Cologne Cathedral from the train window during the train ride.

H: You slept most of the time when we were on the move.

K: I was awake.

H: No, i'm always surprised at how much you sleep. Aren't you sleeping more than you do in Tokyo? You are either sleeping or eating sweets.

K: I guess my body clock go haywire when I go abroad.

H: I'm pretty much looking at the city on the move.

K: When I glance at him, Haruhiko-san is usually asleep (Laughs).

H: I ain't sleeping.

K: (Laughs) Ah, right. When my passport was stolen in France....

H: Well, it was actually mine being stolen.

K: Along with mine.

H: To elaborate, the venue for the Paris concert was Pigalle, a downtown area with a slightly seedy atmosphere, like Kabukicho in Tokyo. A few years ago, it was such an unsafe place that Japanese tourist guides would say, "stay away from Pigalle.'' It's located at the foot of the Sacré-Coeur Basilica, but behind it there seem to be a row of brothels. So, the organizers were considerate and arranged for a hotel near the venue. Anyway, the welcoming atmosphere around the venue was amazing, there were a lot of people and policemen were standing around. It wasn't a bad hotel by any means, but the organizers took care of us and gave us a room on the first floor because we had a lot of equipment and other luggage. Probably the biggest consideration was that my room was very nice, facing the courtyard. After the show, there was a launch party in the staff room, we were served champagne and other drinks, so we ended the show in a really good mood. When I returned to my room, the window was open for some reason. Then, the passports and money that I had put away were all stolen. The money and passports were for both Közi and me. The reason for this is that Közi is a kid that easily loses important stuff, so I always had to carry Közi's passport and valuables with me. It would be dangerous to let this guy have it.

K: Yes, it's dangerous (Laughs) The money was also stolen.

H: I don't usually hold the money. The staff usually manages all the payroll. And yet, for some reason, I was the one holding it all together at the time. All of that was taken away. And of course I went to the police.

K: We went there. It was tough to stay until morning.

H: And it happened to fall on Easter. Over there, embassies are closed on Easter. But we had a live show scheduled for the next day in the Netherlands, so I was wondering what should I do. Anyway, I ran to the police and they said something like, "There's no way someone like that is coming out." At any rate, I was told not to leave France until Easter was over and the embassy returned to normal operations. But the Netherlands were also a very important gig and we couldn't cancel this one. So what should we do? Fortunately, the EU is now integrated, so inspections are not as strict as they used to be when traveling over land.

K: In that case, we had no choice but to enter the country illegally.

H: But as for the Japanese embassy, they told me that they couldn't be held responsible for anything that might happen to us if we moved from one country to another without a passport. We were planning to travel by train from France to Belgium and then to the Netherlands, but I heard that sometimes they come to check your passport when you cross the border, and sometimes they don't. And of course, if an official comes and finds that you don't have your passport, you are sure to be in trouble, the same happens if you are leaving the country illegally. But in the end, we decided to force our way to the Netherlands, thinking that the chances of that happening were low.

K: Once on the train, a station staff member came over, didn't he? What did you do then?

H: You were sleeping, right?

K: No, no, I was awake!

H: My fluent English got us through it, didn't it? You were fine sleeping with your puffy nose, but I was sitting next to you as we headed to the Netherlands, with my nerves constantly tingling.

K: I didn't had a puffy nose!

H: (laughs) Well, luckily, we arrived safely in the Netherlands and the concert went off without a hitch. So, since it was the last day of the European tour at that time, the staff said, "I am going to return from the Netherlands to Japan as scheduled." Well, They got tickets and probably have plans after that, so I can't help it. We...

K: We couldn't go home.

H: We don't have a passport, and our air ticket was stolen along with it. As for the money, I have a paycheck from Netherlands, and an American Express card, so we managed to get by. We decided to return to Paris anyway.

K: Thinking about it now, it was only because my passport was stolen there that I was able to make precious memories of Paris.

H: You may sound all innocent like that, but if I didn't have a family in Paris, we would have been in trouble.

K: You're right, it was all thanks to Haruhiko's personal connections. You used to live in Paris, right? I was so surprised. On the train back to Paris, Haruhiko suddenly called an acquaintance.

H: It was Carol. Carol is Stiv Bator's wife, who was the vocalist for Dead Boys. A long time ago, I stayed in their house for quite some time. So of course, I told Carol that I was performing in Paris, she came to visit me in the dressing room and said "I hope you're doing well,'' then we parted ways, but I didn't expected that we would meet again two days later.

K: We met again very soon, didn't we?

H: Carol welcomed us and let we stay until our passports were reissued, so you felt completely at ease and were very happy to go sightseeing in Paris.

K: Every day Carol's mom invited friends and held a party at her house. And since we didn't speak the same language, we played a drawing game and it was quite fun.

H: what kind of game?

K: It's a game where one person folds a long piece of paper, this person draws a picture on the first fold, the second person continues the drawing on the next fold, and so on, until finally, when the paper is unfolded, it looks like a strange picture.

H: That was it? Well, it's in the 1st arrondissement, so to speak, and its bourgeois. It is located in the heart of Paris, just a 10-minute walk to Notre Dame. Her father is a celebrity, Carol herself is a former model, and her husband is Stiv Bators of THE LORDS OF NEW CHURCH (ex Dead Boys). The Dead Boys are a legendary band known as America's Sex Pistols, and Stiv has always been a mentor to me. Unfortunately, he passed away in an accident, but Stiv loved Haruhiko Ash and Michael Monroe, so Stiv's family has been very kind to me, giving me his belongings and other things after his death. There's a history of them letting me stay there for way longer before.

K: Even I was indebted to him, I'm grateful for all the help.

H: No no, since the Haruhiko Ash that Stiv liked also liked Ash’s friend, Közi, you were also part of the Stiv Bators family.

K: Seriously. I was treated very well. But I thought Haruhiko-san seems to know more about the city than I do in Tokyo, he was walking around without checking any guidebooks.

H: Paris is small. Probably about the size of Setagaya Ward.

K: You can just walk around, right? Thinking about it now, I was surprised to see police officers in Paris wearing roller skates. Like Hikaru Genji (Hikaru Genji were a boy band that performed on roller skates). They were moving around the cobblestone streets on roller skates.

H: My passport, which is issued to me as a good and honest taxpayer, was issued without any problems, but Közi's passport wasn't smoothly issued. I had to go back and forth with the Japanese Embassy and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

K: Why?

H: I don't know!

K: Maybe it was my face? Or the japanese sociability? (*in the sense that it is difficult to talk with more formal people).

H: When I finally got my passport reissued, the quickest ticket to return home was via Italy. I was tired...

K: But my days in Paris were fun! I did have some regrets though, like when I went to the Catacomb and it was closed, or when I went to Notre Dame and the gargoyles were under construction and I didn't get to see them properly. Carol's family also gave me some pocket money.

H: Even though I'm telling them I'm an adult now, they I'll always think of me as a kid.

◆ E.O.D Traveling Overseas ◆

H: Basically, Eve of Destiny has a single manager who handles everything from ticket arrangements, accommodation arrangements, live show bookings, negotiations, etc. She even follow us overseas. But even though she's a girl, Közi gives her great challenges, saying things like "Pick up the guitar" and "Your feet stink" and suddenly, in a small European town where there's not even a convenience store, “You, go buy me some socks."

K: I didn't treat her like that! I didn't even tell her to go buy it! (panicking) Haruhiko-san, you're dramatizing it too much!

H: (laughs) She does everything for us, so I go abroad as if I were just moving around the country, but for some reason, there was one time when we had to go to Poland alone.

K: It was quite difficult, wasn't it? I didn't even know how to buy a ticket, and I was called to a separate room at customs.

H: About that, well, the problem was that our passports were being reissued.

K: Was that so!?

H: The point is that our passports are issued by the Japanese embassy in France despite our Japanese nationality. It's usually issued by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, right? So the track record of once stolen is clear. In other words, the person with our passports is either us or someone with stolen property, so they are people to watch out for. There's the possibility that we are the ones who stole it. That's why we were called into separate rooms to confirm this.

K: That's right.

H: No, that's not what I meant. What I wanted to say is that when our manager isn't around, you're 100% dependent on me.

K: I totally rely on Haruhiko-san

H: What do you think of that?

K: It's a problem (laughs).

H: If you're in an English-speaking country, it's fine. But if you are in a non-English speaking area and not in a big city, you won't even see English signs. There's only information in the local language. For example, a place usually referred to as “Vienna (ウィーン)” in Japan is sometimes called “Vienna (ヴィエナ),” isn't it? In the same way, the name of a city you heard in Japan may be completely different from the actual name. I can read in English, but I can't understand it at all if it's in the local language of the non-English speaking countries. That's exactly what happened in the Netherlands. I didn't even had a guidebook.

K: I sometimes bring a guidebook with me.

H: There's no point in bringing anything if it's already in your suitcase. You've never brought a guidebook with you that was actually useful, right?

K: I was like "Where did I put it!?" (laughs)

H: Anyway, since we're going abroad together, I'd like to help you absorb more knowledge in order to broaden your horizons, but you're sleeping. All, all the time!

K: That's not true! But someday I would like to say, "I'll go buy you a ticket." In the meantime, I studied by taking a look at NHK's German language courses. I just want to be able to speak it! I'm not trying hard, though!

H: Make an effort.

K: Having been abroad so many times, where would you prefer to live?

H: I guess Paris after all. My passport was stolen there, though. It's the place I've stayed the longest outside of Tokyo.

K: And the food was delicious too.

H: You're all about food memories, aren't you? Talking about food, remember when we played a show in Sweden and the organizers had a huge catering service backstage for us? We were in Scandinavia, so all the seafood was fresh, but it was in colors and shapes we had never seen before, so it was uncomfortable that neither of us touch it at all.

K: Yeah, that's right.

H: The organizers were worried, saying "Is there something you guys don't like?"

K: We only ate things we were familiar with, like ham and bread.

H: When they asked, "What would you like to have for dinner? I would say “pizza” or “hamburger." Also, the salmon I had at the restaurant I went to the day before the gig in Stockholm was amazing.

K: Norwegian salmon. It was really tasty.

H: Ah, I don't remember where it happened, but there was the time you got really pissed off when we were rehearsing and they were letting the audience in.

K: Ah~! Open rehearsal (Laughs) For some reason, the word “angel (天使)” was written in kanji on the wall of the venue, but the character for “messenger (使)” in the word "angel" had a “dot (点)” on it by mistake.

H: Where was it?

K: I can't remember at all. I wonder why.

H: we've gone too far and it's a mess now. (*In the sense that it is difficult to remember details after going to so many places in a short period) Because I go to about a dozen places every year.

K: Also, Slovakia left a deep impression on me. I couldn't even read the letters in any of the cafes I went to. When I went to a sandwich shop, I couldn't read what kind of sandwich it was, so I guessed it would probably have something meaty on it, bought it, and when I tried it, it was actually sweet. Everyone in town was looking at me. Perhaps Asians themselves are rare there.

H: Bratislava, Slovakia. But it's the capital, in case you're wondering. The place we stayed was a bit far from the center of the city, so there were no oriental people at all. That's why our looks (including our faces and outfits) were so rare. We got a lot of looks.

K: Wasn't there a girl who worked really hard for you?

H: I can't remember. (Laughs) But, you know, we only moved between the airport, the hotel, and the concert venue. I didn't even take my time to look through the city. That's why you were so excited about the souvenir shop at the airport.

K: You too, Haruhiko-san! But really, the most relaxing place to shop is the souvenir shop at the airport. Whenever I invite him to go out with me, he always says "Nah, it's too much trouble" and never goes out!

H: The time before the flight was the only time I had to shop, right?

K: (Laughs) Before I tried performing abroad, I thought that Japanese people like us wouldn't get much of a reaction when we performed, but we got a great response, and I was like, "Whaaat? Hey, this is pretty good, isn't it?"

H: Overseas, the way people relate to music is overwhelmingly different from Japan. This could never be possible in Japan, but I mean, there's no concept of "graduation'' over there. Japanese people can be into punk, visual, gothic, etc, but they're not afraid of changing their whole lifestyle when they get a job or get married, for example. They're settling down. As if that meant growing up.But overseas, people who like Gothic still love Gothic even when they're in their 40s, 50s, and 60s, old men regularly participate in events. I don't mean to speak for the live music club system in Japan, but overseas live houses and clubs are places where you have to be an adult to enter, not a place for teenagers to play. In other words, it's a culture where adults enjoy live music. But in Japan, going to concerts is something kids do, and live music venues are like playgrounds for teenagers. If you want to continue to exist in the Japanese music scene, but you let a year go by without doing anything, the fans who have been following you up to that point might have grown up and “graduated” from the scene. But about overseas fans, for example, last year E.O.D. didn't perform at all, and even if it has been a few years since we went over there, people who were happy to see us before will come back and say "Oh, E.O.D. is playing again after a long time!" So once you have established a track record, you can crush it as many times as you like. That is not the case in Japan. If you blank out, you're screwed.

K: That may be so.

H: So, you don't have to go all the way overseas to do live performances, you know? Just make the music available.

K: Eh!?

H: It's a pain in the ass (Laughs).

K: There it is! Haruhiko-san (Laughs) It's such a pain in the ass for you, isn't?

H: That said, I will definitely work harder than you once we get there.

K: Is that so? Haruhiko-san, there are a lot of songs where you don't even have the lyrics properly written.

H: Even if I sing in Japanese, no one will understand. Why don't just sing according to your mood that day?

K: Well, that is typical of Haruhiko-san.

◆ What will happen to E.O.D in the future? ◆

H: If Közi says he wants to do a gig in Paris next month or in Germany in X month, we have the soil to do it right away.

K: Let's do it!

H: If you feel like it.

K: I'm in the mood, totally!

H: If you're so sure, why don't you go to Berlin or somewhere else for the first time this year? I'm ready to go, yes!

K: That's right. I also want to go to America. I want to work with Razed In Black!

H: I'm not sure if this is a good thing to say, but Japanese culture overseas is currently being dominated by anime and games, as well as J-POP and J-ROCK. There are a lot of Japanese subculture conventions being held, mainly in Europe, and we keep getting offers from those places asking, "Will you come? Will you do a live show?'' However, from the beginning, the significance of playing live overseas was to  establish a track record of performing on the same field and in the same stance as bands from other countries. But when people who like Japanese subculture invite us to events, their attitude is, "We want you to come because you're a Japanese band.'' It's great to see the Japanese boom picking up, but for us it's been a bit of a disaster. Thanks to this trend, there's an aspect of being drawn away from the stage agents that we should be aiming for, only because we are a Japanese band. That's very frustrating. This is because Japanese otakus overseas who support Japanese subculture only listen to Japanese bands, I mean, if you ask them if they listen to Bauhaus, they don't! They're kind of maniacs who only listen to bands if they are Japanese. That would be the same as only being active in Japan. If you're going to go overseas, I don't think it's worth it unless you find a way to break into the overseas music scene. No matter how many gigs you do overseas, if it's only in the context of anime, games, and J-ROCK, I don't think it can be said to have been successful overseas.

K: They are people who are fine with anything if it's Japanese culture, right? There's many different ways to view it, but it may be difficult to say whether or not we are competing in the true sense of the word.

H: However, what cannot be ignored is the fact that the capacity of events where these Japanese otaku gather is growing tremendously.

K: Indeed. In a way, I think it's great because it means that something Japanese has permeated the world that much.

H: Even so, I don't want to change our stance of aiming for people who love The Sisters of Mercy to listen to Eve of Destiny and see our live shows.

K: I share that stance, and I understand that Haruhiko-san is very particular about that.

H: So that's the stance you're taking this year?

K: Yes. Let's go for it! Let's play!

H: Germany and... around Vienna?

K: That's right.

H: Let's move on to that. Whatever, when did you become such a phony showman?

K: (Laughs) Phony showman!?

H: Doesn't you look even more suspicious? That face.

K: Eeeh~

[julietasgf]

okay so my easter break finishes today and I wasn't able to write a full work, but I didn't want to go back to my daily stuff without writing anything. since I'm really fixated on the euphoria au me and ika created together, here's a little random scene I wrote abt strabo and casca (bc I thought it was too random and short for ao3):

[warnings: mentions of substance and alcohol abuse by minors]

The sky was cloudy, and Casca had a feeling it would rain soon. He felt a few drops hit his face but didn’t think much of it. If it rained, they could be back inside Strabo’s house in minutes. For now, the hood of Casca’s car felt comfortable enough.

He and Crassus never really had the habit of doing this, at least not on the hood of the car, and certainly not when the sky was so overcast it could rain any minute. Crassus had always cared much more about the rules of Corso high society than Casca ever did. Still, he’d never been the kind of person to change his behavior based on what others thought, even if it was his best friend. Casca had gotten tired of afternoons spent staring at the sky, high, while Crassus did whatever the fuck he did standing beside the car.

Except now, Casca wasn’t high. He hadn’t gotten high in quite a while.

"How long has it been?"

"Since what?"

"Since you’ve been sober."

The late afternoon was quiet, and even without looking to the sides, or anywhere else besides the gray sky, he could hear the sound of the twins playing and laughing in a language that didn’t sound familiar to his ears. Casca felt embarrassed just remembering the first time he visited the house and asked Strabo if they had invented a language, like some twins tend to do. All Strabo did was stare into his eyes and say they were just speaking Spanish.

"I don’t know," Casca muttered, taking the cigarette out of his mouth. "A month. Maybe two."

The question had been unexpected, but Casca knew what Strabo was doing. Checking. Making sure he wouldn’t show up at his door again unable to stand straight, needing him to hold his hair back while he threw up in the toilet.

"Relax," Casca said, putting an arm over his eyes to block the light. "I was gonna have to sober up sooner or later. College starts next year."

"And I’m supposed to trust that you’ll stay sober without me around at your fancy Ivy League?" It was always hard to tell when Strabo was joking or being serious, but Casca decided to assume it was the former this time.

"Why don’t you come to the same college with me, then? Keep an eye on me and make sure I don’t die before the semester’s over."

It was meant to be lighthearted. Just a joke in response to another. But Casca noticed how the silence grew heavy. Noticed how Strabo shifted beside him, seeming uncomfortable.

"I’m serious," Casca continued the conversation that should’ve ended right there. "You’re the smartest person I’ve ever met. Maybe not the same college, but somewhere nearby, who knows."

Strabo went quiet again, and Casca should’ve taken that as a warning that he should’ve shut up right then. But maybe the nicotine had hit him harder than he’d like to admit, because he just kept talking:

"You never talk about college. You never talk about next year. And when high school’s finally over? What are you gonna do, huh? Just throw your whole future away like it means nothing?"

"Why don’t you shut the fuck up?"

"Because I just don’t get it."

"Of course you don’t get it, you idiot."

The last word came out so full of anger that Casca sat up on the car hood, brow furrowed, seeing that Strabo had stood up and put his feet back on the ground.

"I think you should leave," Strabo said, expression serious, hands in the pockets of his coat.

"Seriously?" Casca was tired of when he acted like this, when his mood would shift so suddenly, and all because Casca had said the wrong word at the wrong time, even if it was still the truth. "You’re gonna act like this just because I said that maybe, just maybe, getting a fucking degree might be a good idea?"

"You should go before I stop being your friend."

And even though Casca was usually the kind of guy who didn’t give up in an argument, he had no counterargument. Not when Strabo’s look made it very clear that if he didn’t leave now, he might regret it.

So that’s what Casca did, even though he muttered to himself the whole way. He got back in the car, waved to the twins before starting the engine, and drove off.

The next day, they talked like nothing had happened.

That’s what they usually did, anyway.

[gachawolfiebloom]

Two Hearts In The City of Love

Chapter 3: Hanging Along The Seine

Tags: Love, Love Confession, Romance

BANG BANG BANG

Three's eyelids slowly went open as he turned around to look at the door.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

He groaned and threw the covers over him, hoping that whoever was doing that would get the hint to get lost. Unfortunately, it wasn't working because the pounding on the door got louder and a muffled voice came from behind.

"Smg3! Smg4! Oppeeennnn upppp!"

Three knew exactly who that voice belonged too. "Go away Mario!"

"But Marioooo's hunnngggrrryyyy!"

He sighed in defeat and got up to open the door. Mario was already dressed and in high alert while Three still had messy hair and was standing in his pajamas. "We don't have any food here fatso! Screw off!"

"Mario knows that! Luigi said that he reserved a table for us at the breakfast buffet downstairs!" Three raised an eyebrow. "And did he say what time the reservation was for?"

"9:00 AM!"

"Seriously? It's 6:08 in the morning idiot."

"Well Mario can't tell time and he's hungry soooooo..."

Taking in another long breath, he gave in and said "Fine. Just give us some time to get ready." Mario nodded and went right next door to the girls's room, banging on their door as well. "Meeegggyyy! Oppeeennnn upppp!"

Three slammed his door and went to the bathroom to take a shower. Maybe the faucet would drown out the constant whining. Four was still sound asleep through all the noise. Three came out with his hair neatly brushed and his clothes on. He went to put on his cap and gloves, then went over to the bed and glared at Four for a few seconds.

"Wake up scrub! Mario wants us downstairs for breakfast." Four was taking such a slower approach to waking up that it urged Three to go and dump a bucket of water on his head. Luckily, the blue eyed man was already sitting up before he could go grab it.

"Huh? Isn't it like six in the morning...?"

"Yes, but Mario's just going to keep pestering us until we're up."

Four rolled his eyes and laid back down, covering himself with the blankets. "Yeah...I'm not doing that. Wake me up at a decent time."

Three then lunged his hands to strongly grip the end of the bed and he yanked the covers off Four. "Oi! I did not just spend all that time getting ready to watch you be lazy!" Four rubbed his eyes and stuck out his hands while sitting up again.

"Alright. Alright. I'm up." He slowly stood up, grabbed his clothes and went to the bathroom. Three looked over the state of the bed and walked away. He wasn't fixing that. These places had room service for a reason. Four soon came out to put on his gloves and hat like Three did.

While he was doing that, Three's sternness softened as he remembered what had happened between them yesterday. "I'm sorry for snapping at you..." Four blinked and turned around to face him.

"Who are you and what have you done with Three?"

"I'm being serious!"

Four started laughing and said "Sorry. Sorry. I know. I was just teasing you." Three crossed his arms when he heard Four reply back "I wasn't really acting like myself yesterday either. No hard feelings?" He stuck his hand out for Three as he placed his hand in Four's and they slowly intertwined fingers. It made Three blush a little.

"Is Mario interrupting something?"

The two men turned to find Mario leaning against the doorway with a smug grin on his face. "GET OUT OF HERE IDIOT!" Three screamed, letting go of Four's hand in the process. It disappointed the blue man a little. Mario giggled as he ran down the hallway as the two boys watched from leaving their room. "Can he not be himself for 5 minutes!" Three complained.

Four remembered noticing the lounge area in the hotel lobby. "Hey. How about we go chill in the lounge while we wait for everyone to come down to breakfast?" Three nodded and they both headed toward the elevator. It was actually pretty quiet in the lounge. Barely any people were around and they had the couches all to themselves.

Four watched some memes while Three checked in with Karen to see if Eggdog was doing alright, which he was. Soon enough, everyone came downstairs for breakfast and they all went over to the restaurant. The waiter asked Luigi "Good morning sir. How many?"

"8 please. I made a reservation." The waiter found his name and seated them all at a long table with a white tablecloth and plates in front of them. Mario began searching around for a menu, but none were available. "Where's the food? Mario wants spaghetti!" Meggy told him "Mario, this is a buffet. All the food is served over there." She pointed to a bunch of tables with drinks, pastries, and wide assortments of fruit and toppings.

"I wouldn't do that Meggy. Mario's just gonna-" Before Four could say another word, the fat Italian dashed off towards the buffet and started shoving random things into his mouth. "...eat everything." He sighed and got up to keep his best friend under control. "Oops..." Meggy shyly said, rubbing her head.

"Whatever. I'm getting a coffee." Three mumbled as he went over to the line of drinks at a table. Four started pulling Mario away from the table as he begged and screamed like a child. "Mario quit it! You're going to get us kicked out!"

"But Smg4! Mario has never seen so much food in one place!" It was embarrassing for him to have to keep his best friend under control like this so he said "Then use your plate like a normal person and don't hog the food." Mario sprung up and said "Okey dokey!" then went back to grab his plate.

Tari admired the assortments of delicious pastries. There were croissants, macaroons, muffins, cinnamon buns, and decorated tarts that were filled with jams. "Wow! These all looked delicious." She picked a few to sample and got some juice. Meggy noticed the wide variety as well. "This is really high standard. I wonder how Luigi had this in the budget."

"Oh! Bob look at all this! Doesn't it look yummy." Boopkins was licking his lips while Bob was gathering a whole bunch of stuff on his plate. "HELL YEAH! FREE FOOD!" Boopkins stared at him in confusion. "It's not free. Luigi is paying for it." Bob scoffed back and said "IF I'M NOT PAYING FOR IT THEN IT'S FREE!" He went to grab a drink and was outraged with what he saw. "WHAT!? WHERE'S THE BEER!?" It was all just regular assortments like juice, tea, and coffee. "THIS SERVICE IS CRAP! I'M RATING IT 0 STARS!"

Mario was grabbing one of everything the buffet had to offer while Four kept a close eye on him. Soon the plumber realized that his plate was full, but there was still many things he wanted to try. "Hey Smg4! Can Mario use your plate?"

"What? What for?"

"Mario ran out of space on his and he wants more!"

"Can't you just eat what you have and come back for seconds?"

"But what if they run out?"

"Mario..."

"Pleeeaaaasssseeee!"

Mario pleaded with his best puppy dog eyes that rendered Four into surrender. "Alright. Just make it quick." Mario cheered and rushed back to the table to set down his first plate and grab Four's plate. Everyone had gotten their food and sat back down to eat when Three noticed Four had no plate in front of him. "What happened?"

"Mario wanted my plate for extras."

"And you're fine with that?"

"I'm not that hungry anyways."

Three felt kinda bad for him. He slowly slid his plate closer and said "Here. We can share." Four was taken aback by Three's sudden kind act. His eyes then sparkled when he saw that Three had  gotten some pancakes. He grabbed a fork and happily tucked in as they were really good. The bearded man smiled at his partner's enthusiasm for the light, fluffy food and tried some himself.

Not after a few bites of food, Bob complained "THREE'S CAFE IS MUCH BETTER THAN THIS!" Three smirked and said "You're darn right it is!" Meggy shifted her gaze to the one who had organized all of this. "Hey Luigi?"

"Hm?" He looked up from his plate as she asked "Where did you find the money for all of this?" Mario soon came back with a pile of food on the plate that was even bigger than the first. "Are you really going to eat all of that Mario?" Tari inquired with curiosity. "A buffet means all you can eat!"

"Oh, well actually. I was going to share that with you guys." Everyone adverted their attention to Luigi as he shared some big news with them. "While I was getting everything ready for our trip, I found a job opportunity here at a flower shop and they accepted me!" Meggy's perplexed look changed into excitement. "That's great Luigi! Congratulations!"

Tari clapped for her friend while Bob and Mario shared weird glances with each other. "WHY WOULD YOU WANT TO GET A JOB AT SOME TACKY FLOWER SHOP?" Mario, with a mouth full of pastries, said "Wry wouff Luigi wamt somf fowefs?"

"With the money, we can see all the popular sights of Paris and stay in this grand hotel."

"MY HOTEL IS BETTER!" Bob said, crossing his arms.

~After Breakfast~

Since Luigi had to go to work, the others decided to go down to the Le Marais, located by the Seine. There was many stores to go shopping at and tons of cuisine to try in bakeries. They all went back to their rooms to pack some stuff for the trip and then they set off towards the neighborhood. When they got to a pier by the edge of the river, Luigi waved goodbye to head off for work.

Meggy pulled up a map on her phone and said "Well how about we all split up and meet back here by sundown." Before anyone could agree, Bob started dashing down the street. "Bob! Where are you going?"

"I'M GOING TO PARTY AT A BAR!" It was true that there were some bars scattered around. Boopkins chased after him, calling out "Bob! Wait! You promised to help me find some new anime for my collection!" The two disappeared around the corner so the others probably weren't going to find those two anytime soon. Not long after, Mario began tugging on Four's sleeve. "Come on Smg4! Mario wants to go to a bakery!"

"Now!? We just had breakfast!"

Mario started getting grumpy. He lifted Smg4 up and started running off in another direction down the street. Three looked back at the girls for a moment and then walked off. "Well you have fun. I better stop him before he destroys something."

It was just the two of them now. "Well, there's lots of shops around here. Want to go check some out." Tari quickly approved and told Meggy "There's this one store I would really like to look at!" Meggy smiled and said "Alright. Lead the way Tari." She grabbed Meggy's hand and led her down town.

Bob burst through the door of a bar and yelled "BRING ON THE DRINKS!" Boopkins came barreling through. "Bob that isn't good for you!" He sat up on a chair and said "GET ME A SHOT OF WHISKEY!" The bartender nodded and slid a glass to him. Boopkins tugged on his arm and said "We should go! You promised me-" Bob pulled his arm out of Boopkins's hands and gulped down the entire drink. "GIVE ME ANOTHER!"

Mario kept running with Smg4 until he finally put him down. "Mario! You can't just-" A sweet smell piped his interest as freshly baked goods were sitting in display cases. And when the chefs opened the ovens, it made Mario lick his lips. Four was now under the spell of those delicious treats as the two pressed their hands against the glass to look closer.

Three soon stumbled in himself and found the two boys drooling over the food. "Don't tell me your hooked on this too..." Four looked up at him with an innocent face and spoke in a soft voice. "Please can we get some." Mario quickly followed Four's lead as he dropped to his knees and cupped his hands. "Please give some money for Mario to buy something."

"NO! Now let's go!" Mario's face turned into annoyance as he planted his feet firmly and protested "NEVER! YOU'LL WON'T TAKE MARIO ALIVE!" Three gritted his teeth. "Mario. Don't make me drag your butt out of here!"

"Mario triple dog dares you!"

"THAT'S IT!"

Three threw Mario over the shoulder, but he clung onto the counter. Three quickly noticed and started tugging his legs. "LET GO MARIO! YOU'RE MAKING A SCENE!" Four watched in horror and tried to pretend like he didn't know them when people started staring. Eventually, one of the chefs came over and said "Sir, if you're not going to order anything, please leave."

"I'M TRYING BUT THIS FATSO WON'T LET GO!"

Four dug through his bag and pulled out his wallet, giving him an idea. "Three! Mario! Stop! I'll pay for the treats with my own money!" Mario's eyelids flickered open. "Really!?" He instantly let go of the counter, sending him and Three to collapse on the floor. "GET OFF ME!" Mario quickly stood up and ran into the line. "Yippee!" Four went over and helped Three up. When he noticed that Three was still upset, he waved his wallet around in a hypnotizing kind of way.

"Fine. But you're paying and I don't want anything." He marched over to an empty table, sat down, and tipped his hat over his eyes. Four squealed in excitement and went over to join Mario in line. "What would you like to order?" Four looked at the menu and said "Can I have some chocolate macaroons and a croissant please?" The chef grabbed a bag and took the food out of the display case with some tongs. "What do you want Mario?"

He narrowed his eyes and pointed to a delicious looking slice of chocolate cake. The chef took out a small box to put the cake in and handed the treats to the boys. "Anything else for you today?" Four shook his head. "Alright, your total will be-"

"Get me a tart and a coffee." Four spun around to see Three, holding his head in his hands with a smirk. "I though you didn't want anything." He shrugged and said "I changed my mind."

Four sighed and told the chef "A tart and a coffee for him." He took out his credit card and paid the total. Once they got their food, the two men went to go sit down at the table with Three. "You owe me for this." Three chuckled and said "Next time it's on me." Four bit into his croissant and said "Wow! This is good." Three bit into his tart and was struck under its captivating flavor. "Yeah. I should try to make something like this back home."

Mario was enjoying his slice of cake very much, getting chocolate all over his face. "Thats-a so nice!" Four giggled, but then noticed that Three stopped eating. Upon closer inspection, he had a disappointed look on his face. "Three? What's wrong?"

He looked up at Four for a second and then shifted his gaze back down. "It's just...Maybe my cafe isn't good enough. I mean, business was struggling a few months ago..." Four remembered that time when Three let out his emotions. How he felt like...the worst version of Four.

"I know how you feel. I've had those same doubts about myself." He lifted Three's head up so he could see that Four was being genuine. "But we've both helped each other through it. Right?" He gave a caring smile to Three and he returned it back. "Yeah."

They felt splashes of chocolate hit their checks as Three wiped it off with his sleeve in disgust. "Mario! Chew with your mouth closed." Mario was licking the contents off his plate with chocolate staining his face and clothes. "Mario can't help it! It's so yummy!" Four took another bite of his pastry and said "We better finish before Mario tries to eat our food as well."

"Here it is!" Tari presented a luxurious store to Meggy that was called "Soi Paris Boutique." The outside was decorated with pink and the windows showed dresses on mannequins that had different types of patterns and designs. Meggy rubbed her arm and winced. The idea of trying on all those itchy dresses didn't sound appealing to her. They walked inside and Meggy laughed nervously. "So what do you want to get Tari?"

"Well I heard that there's this really cute hoodie with ducks on it. I just had to try it on." Meggy sighed in relief. "Oh that sounds nice. I was worried we were going to be trying on those uncomfortable dresses I saw in the window." Tari chuckled and said "Oh don't worry Meggy. I won't force you to try on anything you don't want to."

"Thanks!" Meggy gave her a thumbs up and then stuck a confident pose. "Now let's go find that hoodie!" The girls split up to look through racks of clothing. "I didn't realize how many pieces of clothing this place can hold. It looked a lot smaller from the outside."

Meggy then spotted an interesting shirt. It had a squid pattern on it and was at a nice length for training and exercise. "This actually looks like something I might wear. I'm sure Tari wouldn't mind if I tried it on for a quick minute." She zipped off to the dressing room and not three seconds later, Tari cried out "HERE IT IS! Meggy?" The orange haired girl was nowhere to be seen.

Tari did want to try on the hoodie so she called out "I found the hoodie Meggy! I'm just going to quickly try it on! Be right back!" Meggy was doing a bunch of cool poses in the mirror with the shirt. Not restricting or itchy at all. She went out of the changing room and looked around. "Tari?" She heard a curtain swing open and looked in awe as Tari admired her hoodie.

"What do you think Meggy?"

"Tari...you're beautiful..."

"Really? Thank you! So do you!"

Meggy shielded her bright red cheeks with her eyes and whispered "Did I say that out loud..." Tari giggled and asked "You tried something on too?" Meggy looked down at the shirt and said "Yeah! I thought I'd give it a try since it seemed consistent."

"I think you would look really nice training in that! You should get it!"

Meggy felt a little embarrassed. She was into training and Splatfest, not girly shopping. Tari could sense this and told her "Nothing to be ashamed of. You can still like being athletic and like shopping as well. No one will judge you."

"Thanks Tari..." The girls changed and went over to the checkout. The cashier asked Meggy "Would you like to purchase this ma'am?" Meggy shared a glance with Tari, who was smiling at her. She looked down at the shirt and said "Yes. Yes I would."

~A While Later~

It was now sundown. Everyone had gathered back at the pier. The boys noticed the girls coming with some bags in their hands. "You went shopping? I didn't take for you to do this sort of thing Meggy." She shot back to Three "And I thought you didn't want to spend time with Four."

He was stunned as his face turned red yet again. "I..I DON'T! SHUT UP SQUID!" She laughed when suddenly someone hobbled toward them. "WHO ARE YOU PEOPLE!?" Bob was swaying back and forth with beer bottles in hand, flat out drunk. "And what the hell happened to you!?" Three questioned. Boopkins popped up behind him and said "Sorry! He had a lot to drink at the bar."

"I DID NOT! SHUT UP GREEN CABBAGE!"

Boopkins looked up, concerned for his friend. "I think we should head back." Meggy nodded and said "Yeah! I'll text Luigi that he can meet us back at the hotel." They all started heading back before Four stopped Three and said "We'll catch up with you guys in a second!"

Three stared blankly at him. "Four. It's late." He covered his eyes with his palms. "I know. I know. Can we just...take a walk along the pier." Mario stopped and said "Oooo Mario wants to join them!" Meggy grabbed him and said sternly "No Mario. They need some alone time."

"But that's why Mario wants to go! He wants to see them making out!"

"WE'RE NOT GOING TO MAKE OUT!" Meggy lightly touched his shoulder and said "Let's just give them some privacy. Alright?" Mario sighed sadly. "Okey dokey..." They followed the rest of the crew back to the hotel, leaving Four and Three by themselves.

Four offered out his hand and said "I want to talk to you about something." Three slowly inched his hand closer to his ex rival's, but flinched. "Don't tell me we're bringing the plane up again."

"No. Something else."

Three grabbed Four's hand and they slowly walked along the streets by the seine. "So what is it then? The conversation at the bakery?"

"No."

"The nightmare you had?"

"No."

"We're finally putting Mario out of misery so he'll stop interfering with us?"

"NO!"

The two stopped and said nothing. Only the soothing sounds of rushing water and twinkling stars in the sky to comfort them. "Three...I..." He noticed that their eyes were locked onto each other which made him shut his mouth.

"I...I'm sorry..."

"What? You dragged me out here for some stupid apology!?"

"That's not all I just..."

"I know you didn't want to come here and I can tell we're making it harder for you so...I'm sorry."

He saw that Three was lost in thoughts. Looking like this apology had just made it worse. "I'll go now..." He started to walk off before Three said "Wait." Four turned around in surprise as Three pulled him closer. "I never said I didn't want to be here. And I never said I didn't want to hang out with you guys."

"Then what did you want?"

"Okay. I wasn't ecstatic about it at first. But this is something I actually enjoy with my friends."

Four, truth be told, was glad to hear that. Things had been quite rocky with them since the trip started, but after today, they actually realized that spending time with each other wasn't so bad. Then his playful antics kicked in.

"You're such a tsundere Three."

"I AM NOT! SHUT UP YOU BAKA!"

He pushed him away as Four laughed. They figured it was time to head back so they walked to the hotel, hand in hand once again. Three still looked grumpy so Four tried to lift his spirits. "I understand if you want to switch rooms. I won't be offended." Three looked back at him and shook his head.

"Nah. I'm fine where I am."

Chapter 4: For Your Amusement

[problematicbots]

Sentijazz OneShot: Realx

A bit suggestive

Sentinel grumped as he constantly shifted around in his seat uncomfortably: who would have known the hardest part of getting off the planet was sitting down, and for what?

To improve relations with that organic rock that he would rather stay 30 million miles away from?

Whatever the end, it was not his choice in the end anyhow since as much as he hated visiting that planet and its dumb liquid falling from the sky, this was a direct order that he needed to follow whether he liked it or not.

So once again, he tried to find a comfortable position in his seat, only to be uncomfortable as a pile of scrap.

Jazz noticed Sentinel's struggles and decided to approach the prime with a raised non-existent eyebrow.

“Huh, you ok there, SP’ asked Jazz approaching behind the prime's seat .”

Sentinel grumbled under his breath as puff his chest plate out defensively, acting like he was just struggling for a few seconds in his chair.

“Pft, well, I have you know, Jazz, that's I’m perfectly fine; however, this chair on the other servo Is outdated,” huffed Sentinel, “and It seriously needs an update. “

Jazz started at Sentinel's chair: it was completely fine with no rust or any uncomfortable sport on it, however, he did notice Sentinel's shoulders were tense and so was his whole body.. no wonder he couldn't sit still he was stressed and he couldn't help but feel kind of bad for him

“Well SP maybe It isn't the chair that is the problem” suggested Jazz. “maybe you just need to relax “

Relax? Really, how did Jazz expect him to relax when they were able to visit his least third favorite planet?

“And how do you expect me to do that?” huffed Sentinel, crossing his arms, clearly not amused.

“Just lay back, SP, and take a deep breath,” suggested Jazz, hoping this would work.

Sentinel wanting to get in and out of earth as fast as possible decided to take Jazz's suggestions with a little optics rolled despite his skepticism as lay back in the chair taking a deep breath in the progress

“It is not working” spoked Sentinel bluntly while still shifting around his seat still tense as ever

Jazz rolled his optics and sighed a bit, knowing it was going to take a lot to get Sentinel to relax, yet at that moment a weird Idea popped into Jazz’s hard drive that could relieve some of that tension on Sentinel’s shoulders.

“Hold up, let me try something that could help” spoked Jazz, although a bit hesitant, as he placed his servos on Sentinel's shoulders, making the prime jump a bit.

“What do you think you're-” Before Sentinel could protest, Jazz softly used his servoes to his shoulders, which, surprisingly, felt great. “D-doing…”

Sentinel let out a gasp and satisfied sigh as his frustrated faceplate turned to relaxation with a forming smile as he leaned deeper into the massage

“See Sp, doesn't that feel better” asked Jazz working up the prime’s shoulders while Sentinel for the time ever looked calm and at ease

“Y-yes,.. oh, that's the spot, “ sighed Sentinel, enjoying this way too much. Let his Let’s Jazz servos sink into him. “Keep going”

At any moment Jazz expected Sentinel to tell him to quit it yet the prime didn't instead Sentinel ushered for the cyber ninja to come closer and he agreed to move to the side to get a better angle on him

Jazz kept massaging making Sentinel let out many sighs getting way into it however he wasn't the only one as Jazz leaned his chin onto Sentinel's shoulders as servos massaged downward towards his arms

“All better now?” asked Jazz, unintentionally breathing against Sentinel’s neck, slowly making the prime shiver in pleasure.

“Y-yes I'm ohhh~” moaned out Sentinel as his faceplate turned into one of pleasure as a blush spread across his face

The moan caught Jazz off guard, a little blush across his faceplate as his optics widened behind his shades as he watched Sentinel lean his faceplate closer to Jazz's faceplate; however Jazz, for some reason, didn't pull away almost as if he was frozen in shock.

“huh, S-Sp,” gulped Jazz, burning bright blue, feeling as his spark skipped a beat and his glossa was inches away from coming in contact.

“Y-yeah” breathed Sentinel placing his servos on Jazz's shoulder as both of their spark leap in the air

Neither of them knew which one made the next move but the next thing they knew Jazz was on Sentinel's lap with the prime softly caressing under his chin with his sevro while Jazz kept massaging his shoulder

For a moment, they stay like that, breathing and panting on each other before falling into a sobby kiss that sends sparks across the room.

During this, a door across from the two kissing mechs suddenly opens revealing Jetfire and Jetstorm on the other side shocked at the sight in front of them

“Holy scrap!” screeched Jetstorm flapping his arms around in shock while Jetfire’s surprised faceplate turned into one of smugness

Jazz and Sentinel quickly separate from each other when they see the twins entering; both of them try to act as if nothing happened. Sentinel, meanwhile, Jazz is just covering his frustrated and embarrassed faceplate with his servos.

“Thi-this isn't what it's like. We were just huh, well- we were just practicing CPR,” yelped Sentinel, making up every excuse from his helm.

This excuse, of course, didn't convince either of the twins as they both raised their non-existent eyebrows at Sentinel's oblivious lie since they saw the obvious shade of blush on both of the older mechs faceplates.

“Right because you two are definitely underwater right now” chuckled Jetfire sarcastically while Jetstorm tried to hold back a bit of giggle yet failed to laugh out loud like a hyena

Sentinel didn't appreciate Jetfire and Jetstorm laughing at his face at all as smoke came out of pipes creating a storm cloud

“DON'T YOU TWO COGHEADS HAVE ANYTHING BETTER TO DO? GO BACK TO WORK BEFORE I KICK BOTH OF YOU TO THE CURB, “ shouted Sentinel into the twins’ faces.

The shouting caught Jetfire and Jetstorm off guard; however they both quietly nodded and followed Sentinel's order as they began to leave the room. Yet Jetfire couldn't help but make one last remark before shutting the door.

“Whatever you say, Kisstinel Prime, “giggles Jetfire before disappearing with Jetstorm into a hallway

Sentinel growled a bit as he sweared to the all spark that those twins almost destroyed his nerves almost as much as Optimus.

The prime just shook his head before turning his helm awkwardly towards Jazz, who was still covering his faceplate with his servos.

“Huh..let never speak this ever again..” gulped Sentinel red in the faceplate from embarrassment

“Agree,” grumped Jazz, not believing he has the worst taste in mechs ever.

End

[aliensunflower-fics]

CHANGING FACES Chapter 6: Arrival

[ Prefer to read on Archive of Our Own? Link HERE! ]

[ Previous Chapter - Next Chapter ]

After years of dealing with each other Lila Rossi win’s when she  convinces Hawkmoth that Marinette is Ladybug. In order to throw off  suspicion and keep the Miracle Box safe Marinette and her supportive parents leave Paris and head to Gotham of all places. In this new place  away from her friends and her unhealthy routines Marinette is forced to  confront herself and change for the better. Helping her on her journey  is a surprising new friend and potential ally. When Alya missing her  friend learns about the chance to win a free trip to Gotham she  convinces the class to work hard to qualify. When her new life clashes  with her old one will Marinette be able to hold on strong to her new  confidence or will she crumble under the pressure?

( This fic will be for the most part comedic, fluffy, and sweet, with only a bit of seriousness to tie it together. With only the mildest salt  because I don’t think the class or Adrien are bad people just that they  can be naive and selfish thanks to the canon writing. I hope you enjoy  reading this work and have fun with me on this journey. )

CHAPTER 6:

Arrival

Marinette had never been so happy to be on solid ground. The plane ride had been… Turbulent to say the least not to mention long leaving Marinette to agonize and worry the entire time that maybe while she was busy up in the sky Hawkmoth would strike luckily the freak of a villain seemed busy and so the flight passed without the need to use Kaalki which was a great thing as Marinette was unsure just how precise the power of voyage was. 

As the small family of 3 disembarked from the plane with their meager belongings Marinette breathed in the fresh air with relief it was chilly and barely light out … She was tired, yes, but she was also giddy and a strange sense of freedom was filling her with every step she took. There was no Hawkmoth here, no purple butterflies no constant need to lock her own emotions into vault, no more need to lie to her parents, no more Bustier telling her to be the classes shining example, no more Lila whispering lies behind her back, no more Adrien too shoot her longing puppy dog stares as he waited for her to ‘forgive him’ when he had never bothered to apologize. 

She was free. She was safe? … Well as safe as one could be moving to a city known for its killer clowns and freaks in masks. Not that Marinette wasn’t prepared for that, her training with her own mother and the Amazon’s of Themyscira for the last few years had transformed her small unassuming body into a weapon. Not to mention the new magical training the Kwamis were giving her, Tikki especially pushed for more training once she started learning just how awful some of the villains of Gotham were and she made Marinette promise that if the Joker so much as even looked at her she would not hesitate to transform him into a cockroach. Technically it wasn’t murder so she figured Batman would be fine with it.

As they moved through the airport presenting their documentation to the necessary people Marinette’s excitement only grew with her fingers twitching with anticipation as the polite woman welcomed them to their new home and they exited the security clearance area into the wider airport. Her eyes scanned the crowd eagerly until they landed on the group of 3 men chatting amongst themselves. She let out a squeal and started running, catching the men’s attention as she flung herself at them in joy. Jason however acted fast and caught her first wrapping her into a tight brotherly hug and lifting her off the ground and away from Dick and Alfred.

“Woah there jelly bean you trying to take the old man out? Lucky I caught you huh!” 

Marinette snorted and rolled her eyes trying to squirm out of Jason’s grasp so she could hug Alfred and Dick who was looking rather put out.

“Oh please Alfred’s not frail he’s like Grandma Gina he will live forever at this rate and be healthier then all of us.” 

Tom and Sabine chuckled at the scene as they walked over with their meager bags and proceeded to hug Alfred and catch up while Dick tried to pry Marinette free from Jason in order to get his hug that Jason had so rudely stolen. Marinette meanwhile dangled from Jason’s arms with an amused and exasperated look on her face. She’d missed her ‘brothers’ greatly and was happy to see them again. There was just one thing, one tiny little thing…

“When did you freaks get so tall!”

The sudden comment had both boys stopping as they seemingly for the first time paused to take in Marinette’s appearance. Sure they had seen pictures of her and video chatted plenty of times but this was the first time in years where they had physically been around her and now that they were… 

“I think the better question here is why are you so short.” Marinette gasped in faux offense squirmed out of Jason’s grasp clutching her heart in mock betrayal. 

“How could you say such a thing… Dick is my favorite now.”

The oldest Wayne grinned and accepted his hug while sticking his tongue out at Jason who was playing the part of the dramatically betrayed. 

However now that Dick was hugging his little sister he could not help but blurt out. “God you really are short.” 

Marinette squawked indignantly at the comment. “What no! I’m normal it's you two who are the-” She gestured at them with waving arms. “Alfred! What have you been feeding them and where can I get some!” 

Alfred chuckled and opened his arms calmly to accept the warm hug of his god daughter. “I’m afraid I haven’t been feeding them anything unusual; they simply sprung up like weeds.”

Marinette huffed and puffed up her cheeks. Stupid genetics.

“Ah don’t feel too bad jelly bean Dickie here isn’t even THAT tall, just wait till you meet Kori in the flesh now that's tall.” 

As the group moved its way out of the airport Marinette recalled the measurements she’d received when designing Kori’s wedding dress, not to mention the pictures that showed the beautiful tan woman towering a full head over Dick at the altar. Maybe it was something in the water of Gotham that made people tall. Considering all the supervillains she would not doubt it.

“When will I finally get to meet Kori and Mar’i face to face anyway? I wanna hug my cute little niece already!!!”

“Why? Because she’s the only one not taller than you?” Jason snickered before letting out a surprised yelp as Marinette playfully punched him in his side with a pout. She had some surprising strength in that arm of hers.

“Later in the week, they wanted to come pick you up with us but it was so early and your parents told us your new school was giving you a week off to adjust to the new timezone before classes start.” Honestly it had been a hectic night with Mar’i refusing to sleep determined to go with Dick to the airport but eventually she fell asleep clutching Silkie and so Dick had left alone.

“What school are you going to anyway, jelly bean? Maybe I can come pick you up sometime after school for some lessons in self defense at my gym.” Mostly he wanted to see her flatten some of the men twice her size; he knew Sabine had been training Marinette since she was young and he was eager to see what his little sis was capable of.

Marinette smiled at the thought. “That sounds nice, as for my new school mom and Alfred arranged it for me, I think it's called Gotham Academy.”

Marinette missed the way Dick and Jason whipped their heads around to glare at Alfred. Gotham Academy wasn’t a bad school, in fact one could easily say the opposite: it had great staff, good facilities, and it had accepted Marinette on a full ride scholarship thanks to her high grades and many achievements. The problem was the school was also full of a bunch of rich leeches, but worst of all it had Damian. Now both older Wayne’s could admit they loved there little brother even if Jason would deny it to keep his cool reputation but Damian had a bit of a bad track record with first impressions. Not to mention the fact that the 3 Wayne’s had already discussed how best to introduce the Dupain-Chengs to the rest of the family so they could all be one bigger happier family and they had agreed to wait and while and let them settle in before dropping the bomb that was the Wayne family and more specifically BRUCE on to them but if Marinette met Damian at school and got a bad idea of him… Things would get complicated.

Alfred however unlike the younger two Wayne men was not worried. He had a feeling that Marinette and Damian were just what the other needed right now. Yes, he’d heard many things about Marinette’s situation from her parents. What she needed now was someone to bring out that bold Marinette he knew was waiting for a chance to shine. And as for his youngest grandson while he had been doing much better and had made friends he was still hostile and wary Marinette however might be just what he needed. The old man chuckled with a warm smile. 

“I think you will like Gotham Academy very much, Marinette.”

—-----------------------------------

Damian Wayne had a reputation. Since his first ever day at school at the age of 10 after he’d moved in with his father the young heir had… Problems with other students. His personality was icey and his training too deeply ingrained that school and him had not gone well. Yet his father refused to let him skip or be homeschooled, determined that with time school would help him develop his social skills. For the first few years Damian was alone he shoved people away and did only what was required waiting for the day when finally his father would see that school was beneath him and he could achieve so much more without it.

At 13 that reputation evolved. And not for the better. Damian had been so sure of his own intelligence and his own superiority that he failed to notice that viper slinking through the grass. A girl, the same age as him, unlike other girls who had failed to approach him due to the obvious attempts, Lila had been more subtle. Instead of acting interested in him she acted unfazed she even began dating Jon the only person his age Damian was close to. He’d let his guard down thinking that she was nothing but a simple sweet girl. But he had never been more wrong. 

Somehow the viper had found his weakness, somehow she knew that deep down under all his posturing he felt insecure, unloved, unwanted, and she prayed on it. She made him feel strong, she made him feel special, she made him feel wanted, she used lies to paint Jon the villain and herself the victim so that Damian would save her and fall deeper into the strange infatuation that clouded his mind. She was a snake. And worst of all he had not even discovered her lies himself; it had been sheer dumb luck overhearing her plot her schemes that had revealed the truth to him.

But by that point it was too late. The vipers poison had already spread and Damian Wayne’s reputation fell from just ‘ice king’ to ‘monster’ even after the lawsuit even after proving her lies and sending the snakes father to jail. Even after he had proven himself innocent… The reputation clung to him. It was a stain that would not wash off, even after Dick convinced him to go to therapy and his attitude improved, even after he fixed the broken relationship with his family, even after he broke out of his shell and made friends in his school, the stain was still there and every action he did and didn’t take only made it worse.

It's not that Damian wasn’t trying, because he was really. He tried to be polite and courteous; he tried to make a good impression. But somehow someway it often seemed to go wrong, though it did not help that his peers were a bunch of rich kids who tended to be overly sensitive, at least in Damian’s eyes. It did not help that Damian was self admittedly a little… Overly blunt and honest not to mention how sensitive he was about girls flirting with him, he knew he’d not fully recovered from the Vipers poison and so even now 3 years after she was gone he was on high alert constantly on the lookout for lies and manipulation. And this… alertness of his had led to again more then a few terrible first impressions. 

To put it simply, Damian was aware that whenever a new student was joining the school bets were made on how fast Damian Wayne would manage to offend them. So when the teacher announced that come next Monday a new student would be joining the class a young girl all the way from France no less a ripple of excitement went through the class as once more bets were being made. This time however Damian Wayne was determined to make them all lose. He would be polite, and courteous he would not snap, not say anything un-intentionally mean, he would be normal, he would simply ignore the new girl and all would be well.

Which is why of course his Teachers asked him to give the new girl the school tour. He was one of the few who spoke French and they were unsure how good the girl's English was so they wanted to play it safe and coincidentally all the other students who could speak French just so happened to be too busy to help the new student. Damian seethed he knew it was a lie, they just wanted to force him to interact with her for their little bets. Fine then! A Wayne is not so easily defeated. He would be a perfect gentleman, he would not offend the girl, it would be fine. He would prove to himself and everyone else that Damian Wayne might be the Ice Prince of Gotham but he was no brute. Bring it on Monday Damian Wayne was ready to meet the new girl.

( Thank you again for all the patience and support! I tend to update slowly due to well... The need to keep food on the table and my finances have been especially tight lately so I was struggling but things are getting better now so hopefully I can write more often in the near future. This first chapter was more to establish some stuff I know its a little short but it felt good to get back into this fic with something a little neater sweeter and smaller. Hopefully I have more up soon! )

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[goodluckclove]

clove will you release an audiobook version of the songbird elegies in the future ? i saw cassander do it for her book and i would LOVE to hear you read your story aloud one day there's so much potential

Huh.

I mean like everyone else in the world I feel weird about my voice. My wife seems to like it but a slight French accent is a little more appealing than my vague pseudo-Bostonian thing.

On the other hand, I am a lapsed theater kid and I do like an opportunity to act. I'm getting more into marketing for Blind Trust (book one of Songbird Elegies) next month since it comes out June 20th, and I might upload some recordings of some key scenes to Entice People With My Femme Wahlberg Vocalizations, but I don't think I could do the whole thing since I do get kind of experimental in my formatting in a way that I don't think would translate to audio.

The only way it would work in my mind is to add like sound editing to represent when the flashbacks start mid-sentence (I do that a lot), or when the internal manifestations start conversing with Scott through the prose. Something like an audio play. But like...that's way down the line. i do not know how to do that on my own.

I don't even know how to introduce me reading something out loud. It'd be hard to take it seriously. But maybe I'll try that out in a few weeks and see what people think!

[chaitantei-ao3]

11.

Dennis scrolls through the page on his phone, looking at the male model wearing a white coat and stethoscope. There’s a chocolate lab by the table standing next to him and he’s holding its paw.

Mac sighs, “Okay. New plan! We have to do something about this, Dennis. We need customers. It’s an hour to closing and we hardly had any.”

You’ve got to be fucking kidding with me.

“I wonder why.” Dennis says, his throat feeling like the Sahara and glances at Mac. Ridiculous . All of this was beyond fucking ridiculous. The bigoted fool was turning away perfectly good customers and then crying over the fact that no one was here. Dennis slams his phone down. Why… why did he ever decide to run a business with this thick headed, pea brained, goddamn delusional, self-lying-

“Charlie, Hey.” Mac says, picking the frays of his sleeve.

Charlie ignores him and sets down a box marked with a large T over the other boxes. “Dennis, I cleaned up.”

“At least someone is doing their job.” Dennis says, glaring daggers at Mac. Why... this fool was going to sink their boat while he sailed on his fucking wooden plank thinking it’s the fucking Ark. This, this is another one of things he can’t stand. The day they started the bar, Mac would tell him things. Things yet to come. Look Dennis, we’re gonna rock all day, serve some drinks, hook up and yeah. It’s going to be amazing! So amazing!

Mac looks between them, “Den nis , what do you mean?!”

“What you heard.” Dennis takes the crate filled with empty bottles, seeing cracks at its edges. Slamming it down, he kicks it for good measure.

Charlie puts another box over the T. “Hey, Dennis. You’re done with that one?”

“Yeah, throw it.” Dennis says, picking up his car keys. Know what? He’s not going to waste his time here anymore.

“Hey-” Mac stops him, “Where are you going? We have to figure this out, if you and me put our minds together Den, we’re gonna come out of this in no time.” Dennis ignores him. Minds together , Dennis internally scoffs. Have to have a mind for that.

“I feel like you’re mad at me, Den.” Mac puts his fingers together as Dennis rounds the bar counter.

“Woah, you figured it out. You’re a fucking genius.” Dennis says rounding the counter. He’s done, seriously. Frank’s disgusting face flashes in his mind, followed with Mac biting his lip and looking at him, completely clueless.

Every time that he’s tried to get this bar running, he’s stymied by the couple of idiots he began this with.

“Now you’ve done that. I’m sure you’ll be able to get out of this mess too.” Dennis taps his head. “ Doh! Why are the customers leaving when I’m the moron who’s kicking them out. Who will solve that mystery?!” Dennis keeps the crate down and flings his hands out.

“Hey! Watch out!” Charlie shouts as he piles another crate on top of it, “Do you how much time it’s taken me to collect all the-”

“Just shut up and do your work. Dennis and me-” Mac says, taking a step toward Dennis who’s turned toward the door, he grabs his shoulder. “Can you stop leaving?!” Mac cries, biting his lip hard, his eyes rimmed red.

Dennis feels Mac’s eyes on him and pointedly looks down, shrugging Mac’s hand off his shoulders.

Frank looks at him and scoffs, “I’m done! It’s time to cut loose.”

“What do you mean you’re done?” Mac says, looking at Frank then at Dennis.

Frank shakes his head, pressing the rim of his glasses on his cheeks. “They’ve got their hands on the paper trail. It’s over. I knew the IRS was watergating me.”

“The paper trail?” Mac scrunches his nose.

“The accounts, you fool.”

“Goddamn it, Frank. You lost Paddy’s accounts?!”

“Not this shit house.” Frank waves a hand, “The actual money making shit. I’ve lost track of all the fakes. Weren’t you listening to thing I was talkin’ about yesterday.”

“I honestly just heard you rambling a bunch of random words.” Mac says.

“Maybe it was you huh.” Frank whips out his gun, “You’ve been insider trading with the Feds?”

“What?!”

“Frank, put that down. You’re acting paranoid.”

Frank tilts his gun at Dennis, “So it’s you. Run out of toilet paper and used-”

“It’s not me, Frank. But I think I might… know who is responsible.” Dennis says, looking at Charlie dumping paper in a crate and sealing it.

“Bullshit.” Frank says, “You want to get rid of me. You want me to sell my share so you both-”

“Where’s your evidence?” Mac asks.

“You must've digested it already.” Frank looks at him.

Charlie places the final crate and Dennis looks at a grin spread on his face as he whips out his lighter. “Guys, stop shouting. We’ll have the smoky smell in here and everything’s gonna be al-”

Read more

[chubbybubby]

Idea 🔞(kink with plot) 18+🔞

Sad Jack, bitchy Rhys, a little spoonful of fat shaming, then fat adoring, then Zane being the comic relief.

Rhys and Jack break up after being together for almost a year. It all comes crumbling down because Rhys wants more and Jack's still keeping a guard up, not opening up enough for Rhys to feel like he's committed to their relationship. Jack's never even said "I love you" unprompted. Rhys will say it and Jack will tease him playfully, or throw him a "well how could I not love a dumb-dumb like you", but he hasn't straight up said "I love you".

Jack acts like he doesn't care but he really does. He really really does. He can't stop thinking about Rhys, constantly wanting to rope him back in, sending him gifts or dumb notes, but Rhys is stubborn. If Jack won't take him seriously, then he won't give him the time if day.

Rhys stops even speaking to Jack for a few months outside of work. He doesn't reply to messages, doesn't respond to anything he says if it's not work, he straight up blanks him if their paths cross. It drives Jack insane, he misses Rhys like crazy, actually feeling sick that he's not in his life anymore, that he might be moving on and Jack will officially lose him forever...

The only thing that comforts him after that is junk food and carbonated drinks. Yeah, he eats his feelings, and of course, he gains weight. It's not egregious - he was already kind of chubby, classic beginner "dad bod" - but his bad habits become diabolical and the weight piles on more than he even realises (his best friend, Zayn, makes comments about it, teasing him, but Jack's in major denial).

Then there's a big fancy Hyperion party. Jack's squeezed into a new suit (because yeah all his old suits "shrunk"), and he's schmoozing with other boring high level executives, before seeing Rhys across the room, looking absolutely gorgeous with his slim fit suit and long legs and fresh face and-

It hurts Jack's heart, and having a hurt heart makes him angry.

So he excuses himself. He rounds the table of free food and grabs a plate of cupcakes and brownies and whatever else, and storms off out the party to some private room tucked away (like a board meeting room or something - somewhere unoccupied, you know). He pulls a chair out and collapsed and starts stuffing his face, wanting to replace his hurt feelings with yummy food...

"Seems weird for the CEO not to attend his own party."

Jack looks round to see Rhys standing at the door, arms crossed, face neutral. Jack jumps out of his chair and clears his throat, stunned that Rhys is talking to him; even if his tone is cold.

"Needed a break from all the ass kissing, you know how it is, pumpkin," he laughs, trying to come of suave and nonchalant, but Rhys just scowls, rolling his eyes, which (upsets) annoys Jack. "Why you even here if just being around me disgusts you so much?"

"God you're still so dense. Maybe I was hoping you'd finally changed after more than 6 months apart and realised what matters more than you're stupid ego, but I was wrong."

"Oh how would you even know if I've changed, huh?! You haven't freakin' spoken to me in God knows how long!"

"I can tell just from the last 2 minutes that the only thing that's changed about you is your damn waistline."

Rhys has always been catty, bitchy, and it was one of the things Jack loved about him...even when he was on the recieving end of it.

Jack scoffs and turns away. "Whatever. Least I'm not a stuck up pencil pushing twink-"

Jack suddenly cuts himself off when Rhys throws himself at him, slipping his hands under his suit jacket and grabbing his love handles. He pins Jack against the long table in the centre of the room. Jack gasps, his own hands landing on Rhys' shoulders instinctively, and a fast fiery blush bleeds across his face, thankfully hidden by his mask. Rhys leans in close, lips so temptingly close Jack can almost taste him.

"You got real fat." Rhys practically growls, squeezing hard at the fat deposits spilling over his hips. Jack can't help but curl his toes in his shoes; was this really turning him on right now, being fat shamed, or did he just miss Rhys that much?! "Did you miss me that much you had to comfort yourself with food?"

Abso-fucking-lutely. "No! Fuck you-"

"Awe, c'mon Jackie, be honest with me," Rhys smirks as his hand slides over to his midsection, rubbing wide circles into his belly before grabbing a roll of his fat, making Jack involuntarily buck his hips. "Without me around, you couldn't help but succumb to your own gluttony. Just admit you missed me."

Jack can't tell if the humiliation is a good or a bad thing. His dick knows, sure, but those walls that he hides behind, that he needs to keep his vulnerability safe and sound, it makes him want to run. He's frozen, staring at Rhys, letting him manhandle the fat belly he's been denying exists.

God, he's missed Rhys...he's missed those hands touching him, he's missed that face up close and beautiful, he's missed the smell of his cologne, the gentle brush of his breath, his everything. He's been trying to deny that too, that he's missed him, that he needs him, and having him here, being in his arms, being so fucking close to his lips...

He starts to tear up.

And Rhys' face drops. The smug, pissed off expression vanishes into concern, and that's Jack's Rhys, the sweet, kind, perfect man who loves being bitchy but wants those he cares about to be happy and wears his heart on his sleeve. Jack's missed him so fucking much, he can't handle it anymore, he can't stand being without him, and Jesus Christ the water works just start flooding his face.

"J-Jack? Oh, I-I'm sorry, I, uh...I should go-" but as he stars to pull away, Jack grabs him by the collar of his shirt and forces him into a deep kiss, and Rhys barely even needs a second to comprehend before he's kissing back, hands roaming Jack's body greedily.

They start undressing each other feverishly, before they're both left in just their boxers and open shirts. Jack's panting, staring at Rhys, eyes still watery, his expression so tender, like nothing Rhys has ever seen before. With his shirt open, Rhys can admire his body properly, and he really likes what he sees...yeah, Jack was chubby, and Rhys liked it, but now, his belly is so round and doughy and begging to be squeezed, accessorised by fiery raw red stretch marks, and it folds over from the way he leans, and Rhys wants nothing more than to cover it in deep love bites. Everything is bigger, his chest is fuller, his thighs are wider- God he wants to turn him over just to get a good look at how fat his ass must have gotten. Rhys is rediculously turned on, it's almost painful how hard he is.

Jack swallows down. "Rhys, I..." He chokes on his voice and clears his throat. Rhys steps in closer, cupping Jack's face, and Jack finally managed to muster up the courage. "I love you. I always have. I love you so much."

Rhys' face breaks out into a wide goofy smile. He laughs under his breath and shakes his head, tears pricking behind his eyes. "You do?" And Jack nods frantically, grabbing Rhys' arms, nuzzling into his palm.

"I've never loved anyone like I love you. I can't get you outta my mind, I think about you every freakin' day, missing you, wishing I was with you. I was so stupid, I was scared - scared of losing you, and even when I did, I still couldn't get over my own shit, but...but I don't care anymore, I can't live without you, Rhys, I can't a life without you. I love you. I love you, I love you, I love-"

He's cut off when Rhys kisses him, squeezing his face between his hands. "I love you too, Jack, you big dumb-dumb."

They laugh together, still crying, faces hurting from smiling so much. Jack lifts his hands to brush through Rhys' hair.

"It's getting long. You growing it out?"

"A little." Rhys looks down. He playfully pokes Jack's belly. "You gonna keep this?"

Jack rolls his eyes. "Yeah alright, I got fat. I'll start going to the gym ASAP-" Rhys slaps his hand over Jack's mouth, grinning mischievously as he shakes his head.

"Uh, I don't think so. I'll only agree to getting back together if you promise this doesn't go anywhere."

Jack's eyes bulge out. He moves Rhys' hand away. "You actually like the belly?"

"God, you really are an idiot sometimes, Jack. I always liked the belly. Now?" He moves his hands to slide over Jack's midsection, tenderly rubbing and squeezing at the soft flesh, making Jack inhale suddenly. "Now I love the belly. I bet it would jiggle real nice if I fucked you."

Jack can't help the pathetic whine that escapes him, squeezing his thighs together as his dick twitches. Rhys notices, biting his lip, which just makes Jack even more needy.

"I'm gonna cum my pants like a horny teenager if you keep talking like that, cupcake." But the admission doesn't stop Rhys from groping him more so, leaning in against his throat to kiss softly. Rhys glances over Jack's shoulder to notice the plate of goodies he'd snuck away with.

"You barely even touched your plate, big guy. I bet this belly of yours is so hungry." Rhys pulls a hand back to slap Jack's belly and chuckles when the older man actually moans through clenched teeth. He returns to squeezing his fat fondly, hard enough he'll leave nail bites. "I've got a proposal for you...why don't I fuck you hard over this desk while you eat? Make this cute tummy of yours happy and fatter?"

Jack's eyes involuntarily cross into the middle for a split second before he's nodding. "Please, Rhysie. Please."

And so Rhys throws Jack over the desk and gets him prepped before fucking him nice and slow, cradling his belly and whispering words of encouragement as Jack shoves the cupcakes into his mouth. By the time they're done, Jack's collapsed lazily on the table, face covered in frosting, while Rhys is kneading his plush fat ass cheeks, watching as his cum dribbles out between his cheeks. He helps get Jack's pants back on, then hikes him up with great effort to get the rest of his suit on. Jack's limbs are loose and lazy, and his face the epitome of dopey, and as watches Rhys' hands fiddle with the buttons of Jack's shirt.

When they're both dressed, Rhys gives Jack a quick kiss. "So you and me?"

Jack hums happily. "You and me, kiddo, forever." He wraps his arms around Rhys' neck. "I ain't ever letting you out my sight again."

Rhys rolls his eyes. "C'mon, let's get you to bed and into some pajamas."

As Rhys pulls Jack to his feet, the room's door is suddenly opened. The pair freeze as they're met with a new pair of eyes.

"Ah, I fucking knew you two were shagging somewhere," Zane laughs smugly, crossing his arms. "About time, too." Then he notices the icing smeared over Jack's face. "Jack, buddy, your sweet tooth is getting outta hand if you're scoffing down while Rhys plows you."

Jack sighs, much to Rhys' amusement. "Always appreciate the support, Zane."

Zane salutes theatrically. "You need a hand escorting fatty over here, boy-o?"

Despite Jack's offence, Rhys nods. "If you could. He is kinda heavy-"

"Oh so much for liking me getting fat!"

Rhys places a kiss to Jack's cheek. "I love you getting fat."

Jack raises a brow but can't help smiling. "Yeah...I love you too, kiddo."

..........

(WOW THIS ENDED UP BEING SO MUCH FUCKING LONGER THAN I PLANNED, ITS NOT A "FIC" BUT THIS IS A BIT MORE THAN JUST AN IDEA, HUH!!!!!!!)

[twilightmalachite]

Hermitage - Wednesday 2

Author: Nishioka Maiko (with Akira)

Characters: Mika, Shu

Translator: Mika Enstars

"Delicious coffee accompanied by a first-class croissant. This is the very definition of a blissful breakfast. I’m sure today will be a blessed one."

[Read on my blog for the best viewing experience with Oi~ssu ♪]

Season: Winter

Location: Starmony Dorms Kitchen

Shu: … *chomp*

(Oh-ho. The moment it’s put in your mouth, the mellow aroma tickles your nostrils. The croissants from this bakery are truly exquisite…!)

(I cannot start my day without these whenever I return to Japan!)

(Just what is it that makes these so different? The flour… The salt…? Perhaps maybe the water?)

(If possible, I’d like to figure out the recipe for these so I can take it back with me. That way, I can enjoy this bread every day.)

(I cannot stand the overbearing taste that the breads overseas have. Of course, not all of them are bad, but…)

(I suppose it is no exaggeration to say that Japanese bread, pan, is tailored to the Japanese people.

(But even aside from that, I do believe the bread here is a cut above all the rest.)

Ah, phew~. Delicious coffee accompanied by a first-class croissant. This is the very definition of a blissful breakfast. I’m sure today will be a blessed one.

Mika: ……

Shu: Gh?! Ka-Kagehira?! Don’t just stand there silently in the doorway! You surprised me there!

Mika: ……

Shu: …Kagehira? Are you half-asleep again? Get it together, when did you get so frail in the mornings? You’re not Rei, you know.

Shu: You’re not staying up late messing around, are you?

Mika: ……

Shu: Kagehira…? Are you listening? Seriously, what’s going on with you?

Mika: ! Uwah?!

Shu: Gyah?! W-What is it?! Don’t just suddenly yell like that!

Mika: H-Huh?! What’s wrong, Oshi-san? What’re you doing here?

Shu: What are you talking about! What’s so strange about me enjoying breakfast in the kitchen?

Mika: Huh? Kitchen…?

Ah, yer right! This is the kitchen! Why am I in a place like this?

Shu: ……

Mika: Huh? Why’re you makin’ such a scary face, Oshi-san?

Shu: Kagehira! So you were half-asleep! Really shows how much you’re slacking off, even though it’s a very vital time to perfect the quality of our new song.

Mika: Ehh~? But I didn’t mean that at all! I only jus’ noticed I’m here!

Shu: That’s what people call being “half-asleep”.

Mika: Nnah~… I guess I really was half-asleep. Though it doesn’t feel like I was…

Shu: Non! My goodness… Focus more on Valkyrie, and be more careful from hereon.

You best prepare yourself for today’s practice as I’m going to make it particularly tough. We’ll be fixing this before it gets out of control.

We’ve got no time to waste. We’re heading straight to the ES building to begin practice, now.

Location: Dance Room

Mika: ♪~ ♪~—

Shu: ……

Mika: …Finished.

Shu: A-Absolutely spectacular! Kagehira! To think you have improved so much just in the span between yesterday and today…!

Shu: It was as if you were actually a doll. You’re more like a doll than you were in Valkyrie one year ago! Very well done!

Hmm. It’d be no good if the set would hinder Kagehira’s choreography however… In that case, how could the set be changed to better suit him here…

Ah, yes. If we implement that idea I struggled to include during the conceptual stage, then… *mumble mumble*

Mika: ……

Shu: Hm? Ah, my apologies. I’d accidentally gotten stuck in my own world there.

Acanthe is of your creation as well, Kagehira. Therefore, it only makes sense that we discuss this together.

I’d like to modify the set to better suit your acting ability. Is that okay with you?

Mika: …Okay.

Shu: Then, leave the set to me! Alongside my direction, I shall make it more splendid than ever before!

Mika: ……

Shu: ? Kagehira?

You’ve been looking rather drained since a bit ago… Are you tired, perhaps?

Well, you must have been working very hard outside of practice in order to show results of this degree.

Don’t worry. How about we end today’s practice here? I’d like to begin working on improving the set right away, so it works out.

Kagehira. Return to your room and take it easy.

Mika: ……

Shu: ? This really is quite the strange state to see Kagehira in. I’ve never seen him so quiet before.

Well… After I finish up my work, I suppose I’ll go check on him.

Now then. I’ll return to my room and think over the set and direction—Ah, that’s right, I also must begin drafting a concept for our outfit as well…

Then in that case, it’d be best for me to head to the ES costume room. That place gives me a great peace of mind.

[ ☆ ]

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[casspurrjoybell-26]

💖Sweet Revenge💖 - Chapter 3

*Warning Adult Content*

Aaron Keene

Blake is looking at me and I can tell he's doing his best to turn on the charm.

If he was anyone else, it would totally be working.

His eyes are a mesmerizing hazel, green shot with gold and the toasted amber of Fall leaves and his James Dean jawline and chin make me wonder what the scratch of his stubble would feel like against my... I give myself a hard mental kick.

'He's the enemy, Aaron,' I tell myself. 'He's the reason you keep your heart in a steel box.'

I notice that his upper lip catches on a slightly crooked tooth when he smiles and I hate how cute it makes him look.

When he says he doesn't remember me, I'm not sure whether to be relieved or furious.

Then again, maybe the thing that almost destroyed my life was just another laugh to him.

A moment of amusement, not even worth a thought after the fact.

While my brain tries to decide whether I want to laugh or die, I answer his question.

Leaning over the counter, I look down at the day's creations.

"What do I recommend? Well, what kind of flavors do you like?" I ask.

He shrugs and I notice his eyes are still on me and not the candy.

"I like sweet but I like bitter, too. Sometimes I just want the smoothness of milk chocolate. Other times I want something a little more... adventurous."

"Here... try this."

He takes it and eyes still locked on mine... pops it into this mouth.

You know how they say you'll know porn when you see it?

Well, I swear if someone made a film of this guy eating chocolate, people would think it was porn.

His eyes roll back in his head and he lets out a moan that makes me really glad that Mrs. Garcia and her little girls are gone already.

I can see him rolling the truffle around on his tongue, sucking on it until he finally bites down and gets to the spicy center.

His eyes slide open and they have this weird, unfocused look.

He's literally breathing hard and when he swallows I can't deny that my pants are feeling a little tighter than they were before.

"Oh... my... God... That was amazing," he gasps.

"What was that?"

"Um... a South American inspired... hot truffle," I say and hate myself for the blush I feel spreading over my cheeks.

I can't help it.

Suddenly 'hot truffle' sounds like some sort of dirty sex act and I think I'm going to have to re-think the name.

"Wow. That's, like, my new favorite thing. I don't think I can handle another right now though."

He looks a little dazed, to be honest.

"What do I owe you?" he asks, pulling money from his wallet like a drunk guy at a strip club.

"For the truffle? Nothing. It was a sample."

"Seriously? Well... at least let me buy another toffee then," he says, searching the case.

"Oh no... are you all out?"

"Of what?"

"The... the toffees with the pistachios," he says, looking like a kid who lost his puppy.

"Huh?"Oh no. I only make those on Mondays. Do you like nuts?" I ask and then give myself another mental kick.

He nods.

"I love nuts."

God, kill me now.

"Okay, try this."

I hand him a chocolate-caramel-pecan cluster.

"Oh, better put it in a bag," he says.

"I only eat one a day."

I raise a skeptical brow at him.

"Really?"

"Yep. One treat a day."

"Okay," I say and put the nut-cluster in a little wax paper bag.

"Dollar-fifty," I say and he gives me a five.

"Keep the change," he says.

Then he grabs the bag and practically runs from the store.

'What. The. Actual. Fuck.'

~♡~

When he's gone, I turn the sign, pull down the blinds and close the store.

There's a half-hour left until closing time but the end of the day is always slow and I just can't handle anything more right now.

I grab a rag and start cleaning the finger-prints off the display case but after a few swipes, I stop.

I let the rag fall from my hand and sink to the floor.

There's a pain in my heart I haven't felt in years.

It's something I thought I'd buried so deep I'd felt sure I'd never feel it again.

When I was sixteen, Blake Welling broke my heart and almost destroyed me and apparently he doesn't even remember who I am.