#just this one. finish this one fic and you never have to write again. I promise

[sourkiki]

THE RULES WE BREAK. (TEASER)

SYNOPSIS: When a glitch in the university dorm system pairs you with Sim Jaeyun: a popular and diligent type with a reputation for not letting anyone in, you’re faced with two choices: vacate the room or prove you're a couple. As you spend more time living under the same roof with Jake, you learnt that behind the confident, snarky persona, lies a different person. The real side of him. You didn't expect to fall for him and when he starts pulling away, you're left wondering—was it ever fake for him too?

CONTENT: college+roommate au, sim jaeyun x fem! reader, fluff, fake dating & closed proximity, both reader and jake has issues, depression, insecurity, panic attacks & social anxiety, hurt with no comfort, sad ending and more to be added. . .

NOTE: yes, i'm writing another long fic, based on the results of a poll i did. just wanna point out this is slightly heavier as compared to my other fics, since there's mentions of mental health (depression, insecurity and social anxiety), so please read wth caution when the full fic is out. this is just a teaser, btw. comment on this post or send an ask off-anon if you wish to be tagged, thanks!

You stared at the dorm room before you, your belongings shoved into a large suitcase stood beside you as you contemplated your fate. You knew the universe had been against you from the start—starting from you missing the scheduled free shuttle service to your new campus, resulting in you having to spend money to hail a cab from your home to your destination.

The amount was enough to make an unemployed person have a heart attack but you’d rather pay an insane amount of money than dragging your suitcase across the city. 

“Well, here goes nothing,” you muttered, reading the words imprinted on the piece of paper that shows details about your dormitory. 

You stared at the name, hoping if you stared hard enough, the name would be magically replaced with someone else’s. However, there’s no such thing as magic. It doesn’t exist in the real world. 

Sim Jaeyun. 

You have heard of him before you even arrived. His reputation precedes him and based on what your group of friends had fed you, he’s someone who you shouldn’t be messing with. Unless you’re bold and stupid enough to have your college life ruined, your dreams washed down the drain and never to be seen again.

Jaeyun is the golden boy—a Biomedical Science major, top of his class and cohort, flirty, charming, popular and is always out of reach. He’s a league of his own and no one has the talent or skills to beat him, let alone reach his level. 

Taking a deep breath to calm your nerves, you pulled the door handle down and entered. You mentally braced yourself to enter a messy and untidy room. A room that a typical guy will have, especially guys like him. However, you were greeted with cologne, faint music and a boy sitting cross-legged by the small dining table. A black laptop was situated in the middle with countless papers scattered across the surface. 

Jake looked up, fingers frozen in midair, hovering over his keyboard. His gaze traveled over your frame, pausing at your suitcase. 

“..You’re not the RA,” he said, raising an eyebrow. 

“No,” you replied flatly. “I’m your roommate.”

He blinked once. Twice. 

“No, you’re not.” 

“I wish I wasn’t, but here I am.”

You tugged your suitcase in, grumbling under your breath. In the college you’re attending, mixed genders are not allowed to share a room, due to many…certain incidents happening in the past. However, they had added a new rule: mixed genders are allowed to share a room only when—

You froze. 

Jake cocked his head to the side, reaching the same conclusion as you. “Only when they’re dating,” he finished for you. 

The silence that followed afterward was unbearable and suffocating. Jake stood up, walking towards you and reached for your confirmation slip. You wordlessly handed it to him, your mind still trying to wrap itself around your current situation. 

“Shit,” he muttered. “They really messed this up.”

“I’ll talk to the housing team,” you spoke up, your final spark of hope getting crushed by Jake shaking his head. The action made him look like a puppy but you kept the thought to yourself. 

Jake sighed. “They won’t do anything.”

You looked at him. “What?”

He scratched the back of his neck. “This happened to someone I know last year. They said they couldn’t offer reassignments unless it was an emergency or a violation of policy. Which means...”

You both said at the same time. “We have to pretend we’re dating.”

Your stomach sank, bile rising in your throat but you swallowed it down. “You’re kidding.”

Jake shrugged. “I’m not, unless you wanna live off-campus mid-semester or couch-hop for a few weeks? The rent’s expensive here.” 

You clenched your jaw, frantically trying to come up with solutions but no matter what you thought of, it was futile. There was no way out of this. “This is ridiculous.” 

“Glad we’re on the same boat,” he snorted, but there was no humor in his voice. 

A tense silence settled between you. The idea of fake dating someone you barely knew, someone like Jake—felt like stepping into a fire. One you didn’t know if you could survive. You looked at him again, ready to argue, but his expression stopped you.

His smile had dropped. Just slightly. His posture was too relaxed, like someone used to pretending everything was fine. But there was something else in his eyes that caught your attention—tiredness. It was the kind of tiredness that came from keeping the world out for too long, shutting himself and building walls to prevent people from invading. 

Jake looked away first, clearing his throat and the tiredness you saw was gone. “Let’s just make it believable enough to get through the checks. I’ll handle the RA while you handle your side. We’ll keep it lowkey. No need to be all…lovey dovey,” he muttered the last word to himself, as if it’s something sacred and taboo. 

You crossed your arms. “What about the rules?”

He looked at you sharply, something unreadable glinting in his eyes. You were taken aback, not expecting him to take it seriously. “I’ll make them.”

A pause. 

“Rule One: Don’t ask questions about me.”

You blinked. 

“Rule Two: Don’t fall for me,” he added dryly, like it was a joke—but he didn’t smile. 

“And rule three?’

Jake turned away, returning to his report he was working on before you arrived. “Don’t expect this to be anything more than it has to be.”

tags list: @jun2ki, @emisluvr, @chuhees, @heesmiles, @jakessrealwife, @nyfwyeonjun, @skzenhalove, @miirtilosazuis, @rosepetals09, @radcustoms, @geniejunn, @dolluvsyun,

[ldydeath]

Last Girl | Kang Dae-sung

Summary: Daesung takes interest in you after seeing you at his show and invites you backstage. Word Count: 1.9k Warnings: nsfw, mdni, 18+, Unprotected p in v, maybe a little fluff? That’s about it. Author’s Note: Hello, I’m back…kind of? I’m not going to be posting regularly or anything for awhile, but when the mood strikes I will pop up and try to deliver. I haven’t written a thing in over a month but after a conversation with some friends, the inspo for this little fic struck and here we are. It’s not my best work, and I’m sure I missed some typos (even after proof reading this twice), be gentle with me please, I’m still not in the best life state right now but I had fun writing this one for you all. Okay, I’m gonna stop talking now, enjoy!

The atmosphere was electric. You hadn’t known what to expect when you walked in, having never seen Daesung live before. Sure you’d been to BigBang concerts, but never a solo show. It was hard to not feel as excited as the rest of the crowd, even if you were bummed you’d missed out on VIP seats. It was fine, the venue was smaller, there was still a chance you could make eye contact with your long time bias, right?

You took your seat, quickly throwing some batteries into the very on brand for Daesung light stick you’d purchased a few minutes prior, turning it on just as the lights in the stadium dimmed. Cheering fans took to their feet and you followed suit, a loud cheer escaping your lips. 

Daesung took to the stage singing one of his newest songs. The crowd surprising you and him by screaming along with every word. You’d thought you were his biggest fan and were being shown up by, well, everyone. 

“Wow.” Daesung laughed into the mic as the song finished. “I didn’t think you’d know all the words already.” 

“Of course we did, we love you!” You yelled loudly, not thinking he’d hear you. 

Daesung did hear you though, and every other thing you yelled at him all night. He’d noticed you as soon as he took the stage, the lights illuminating around you perfectly. It was hard not to notice you, you were gorgeous, and funny. If he could’ve he would’ve stopped the entire show just to take you backstage and get to know you better. 

As Daesung made his way backstage to change for the encore, he waved to Youngbae who was about to take the stage and pulled Jiyong aside. He needed some advice, and who better than the leader of Bigbang himself? 

“There’s this girl out in the crowd.” He sighed as he laid down on the couch backstage. 

“Only one?” Jiyong teased as he fixed the ribbon on his hat for the tenth time.

“Only one that I’m interested in. Is that weird?” 

Jiyong shrugged, his eyes looking up at the ceiling as he thought, before he shook his head. “Only weird if you make it weird.” He put the hat on his head, gave Daesung a pat on the back and made his way to the stage.

“Right.” Daesung groaned as he leaned back. So much for that advice. 

Daesung threw on his Are You Ready to Ride shirt, to match Jiyong and Youngbae and made his way to the stage. As the start of Home Sweet Home started it up, he took his spot, a smirk on his lips as he heard the crowd cheer. He could picture you singing along and he couldn’t wait to be back on stage to sneak a glance at you again.

You hadn’t imagined you’d get a full on Bigbang reunion tonight. You should’ve figured but with everyone being so busy you’d just assumed the other two guys wouldn’t be there. You cheered when Daesung hit the stage again, your eyes meeting briefly. You shrugged it off, these things happened all the time, right? 

The show came to an end and Daesung pointed you out to his security, he needed to meet you. He’d never felt this pull towards anyone before and he wasn’t going to let you slip through his fingers. You’d been too busy gathering your things to notice his security detail making their way to you. 

“Miss?” Your head shot up, confusion on your face, “I need you to come with me.” 

“I didn’t steal this.” You clutched the paw light stick in your hand tightly, “I’ll find my receipt.” 

“No.” He chucked, eyes looking around to notice the fans in your row staring, “You have the meet and greet with Daesung. I’m your escort.” 

“Oh?” You nodded, “Right, ok.” You followed him down the steps and into the hallway. “I think you have the wrong person.” You whispered, “I didn’t get any special tickets.” 

“I’m aware, but Daesung wants to meet you. I just couldn’t say that in front of all those fans.” 

“Oh.” Your heart leaped out of your chest. So you hadn’t been imagining the eye contact.

You clutched your ‘are you ready to ride’ bracelet as you headed backstage. The nerves officially set in the closer you got to Daesung’s dressing room. The security guy knocked, faint laughter could be heard as he opened the door. You came face to face with Jiyong who raised a brow before turning back to Daesung and Youngbae. 

“Come on YB, we have places to be.” Jiyong smirked at you before grabbing his friend and heading out. 

“Oh, hi.” Daesung looked up from his spot as his vanity. A towel in hand as he cleared the makeup off his face. 

“Hi?” You took a shy step into the room.

 Daesung smiled at you through the mirror before standing up. He nodded at his team who filed out of the room, the door closing with a soft click. Daesung made his way over to you, stopping in front of you, the soft smile still on his face. 

“I’m sure you’re probably wondering why I brought you back here.” You nodded and he smirked. “I wanted to meet the woman who kept aggressively complementing me all night.” 

“Oh, well hello.” You laughed, your hand finally leaving your arm as you bowed.  Daesung’s eye caught your bracelet and he snorted.

“Nice bracelet.” Your eyes shot up to his and you covered it, a blush covering your face. 

Daesung reached out, moving your hand away from the bracelet and your pulse sped up. How was it possible to be this excited over a brief touch? His hand lingered on yours for a minute longer than it should’ve. He pulled it away but only to cup your cheek, before you could even register what was happening, his lips were on yours. 

You reacted right away, your lips moving against his as your hand reached out to clutch his shirt, pulling him closer. His tongue darted out, licking your bottom lip, begging for entrance. You happily obliged, your tongue meeting his as the massaged together. You let out a soft moan as Daesung pulled you even closer. 

You couldn’t believe this was happening, you’d dreamed of this, sure, who hadn’t? But to be called back here, kissing your bias? This couldn’t be real. Daesung pulled back after what felt like hours, both your lips swollen and he rested forehead against yours. 

“I don’t usually do this.” He whispered his eyes meeting yours. “It’s important to me that you know that.” 

“I know.” You nodded before your lips were back on his. 

You pushed him backward until he was sitting back in the chair. He pulled you down on top of him, straddling his lap. Your lips stayed locked as your hands roamed down his body, stopping at the budge in his pants. You gave him a gentle squeeze through the fabric of his jeans and he groaned into your mouth. 

“Are you ready to ride, then?” He teased and you let out a giggle before nodding your head.

He reached out, unbuttoning your pants and you followed suit, now wasn’t the time for foreplay. Anyone could walk in at any time. You lifted up slightly, pulling down your pants before freeing his cock from his. You licked your lips at the sight of it. You’d heard stories, but never imagined the truth of how big he was. Yeah, you needed him inside of you now. 

Daesung’s hands reached for your hips, helping you position yourself over him and you slid on top of him slowly, taking him inch by inch. You both moaned at the feel of him being inside of you. Once he bottomed out, your eyes locked, your breath hitched at how good he felt, and you didn’t move for awhile, letting your body adjust to him. 

Once you were ready, you rocked your hips back and forth, testing the waters as Daesung’s eyes slid closed at the feel of you. 

“None of that, D-lite. Look at me.” Your voice came out breathy, his eyes shooting back open and you smirked before your raised yourself, slamming yourself back on top of him.

“You’re a fucking goodess.” He whispered before his lips latched onto your throat, kissing down your low cut shirt. 

He ripped the material open, needing to see more of you and groaned as he came face to face with your breasts. He hadn’t calculated that you weren’t wearing a bra. His lips latched onto your breast as his hand moved to your other one, giving it a massage before moving to lightly pinch your nipple. You moaned, your head falling backward as he switched his mouth and hand to give each breast equal attention. 

“None of that.” He mimicked you, reaching up to tilt your chin back down. “I want to see your face when you come. 

Your walls tightened at his words and you moved your hips faster, his hands moved back to your hips, helping guide you has his thrusts matched your own. You could hear voices in the hallway and knew you needed to wrap this up, even if you didn’t want to. 

Your moans got louder as you felt yourself getting closer, Daesung smirked at you, his eyes never leaving yours as you bounced up and down on him quickly. He matched your every movement, his cocky little grin was almost too much for you to take.

“I’m so close.” You whispered, the voices getting closer to the door. 

Daesung’s lips were back on yours, swallowing your moans as you came undone. Daesung held you close as you both reached your climax, him coming inside of you. Your body relaxed against his, your chest heaving against his as you fought to collect yourself. 

You slowly removed yourself from Daesung, you both groaning at the feel of him not being inside of you anymore. You stood, pulling your jeans back up and giggled when you realized you shirt was no longer wearable. 

“Gonna need your shirt.” You teased. It was Daesung’s turn to blush as he stood up, zipping his fly.

He searched around the room until he found his merch pile and held out a shirt for you. You had just slid it over your head and were smoothing out the wrinkles when the door opened. You turned your head, your eyes met Jiyong’s again and he smirked.

“Come on, we have a dinner to get to.” He looked from you to Daesung. 

“Oh right. I’ll be there in a minute.” Jiyong nodded before slipping out of the room with a laugh.

“Well uh, this was fun.” You picked up your bag, making your way to the door.

“Wait.” You stopped, turning to look at him. “I don’t want this to be a one time thing. Can I see you again?”

“I would love that.” You nodded. “Give me your phone.” 

Once you’d exchanged numbers, Daesung kissed you softly before walking you out of the room. He waited to make sure you got escorted to your car before heading off to meet his friends. You’d never done this before either, a quicky with an idol wasn’t really who you were.

As you got in your car your phone buzzed, you couldn’t help but laugh as you read the text. Daesung already. 

Can’t wait to see you again! 🥰

Tomorrow work for you? 

Send me your address and I’ll be there. 

He really was a sweet guy, despite your first encounter being what it was. You couldn’t wait to get to know the real Daesung, and well, if round two happened you weren’t going to complain. You had a feeling you’d never really get enough of him, and little did you know, he felt the same way about you.

tag list: @wcnderlnds @infinetlyforgotten @berfgrimm @ttturnitup, @aizshallnotbefound @loveesiren @tulentiy @petersasteria @flymetothexmoon @mashtatosworld @alosss-blog @sooyasya @dprvivi @mirahyun @breakmeoff @1950schick @sherrayyyyy @bettelaboure @allthoughtsmindfull @sylviavf @makotocrys @lilshu65

[foodsies4me]

*alec walking in the door*

alec: "hi baby! 🥰"

magnus: "hi darling 🥰"

alec while holding chairman: "...."

magnus: "you were talking to the cat werent you?"

alec, still holding chairman: "yes..."

So this ended as a three-times + 1 fic. Also, while it absolutely felt strange to have Alec using pet names, this was too funny not to write. That said, I planned for this to be a short 300 word drabble. That did not happen, so here have 1k5 words of Malec being ridiculous about pet names.

Magnus knew his boyfriend wasn't one for pet names or flowery terms of affection. Alexander, quick as he was to show and share his love, only ever called Magnus by his first name, his title when he was feeling flirty while at work.

It didn't bother him.

Magnus was okay with having the monopoly on all pet names. As long as Alexander allowed him to continue using any and every pet name he could think of under the sun, Magnus was fine with Alexander only ever calling him Magnus. More so, the way Alexander said it never failed to make it sound like a term of endearment in its own way.

Magnus was fine, happy even, with the status quo. He delighted in finding new terms of endearment, whether it was to fluster his boyfriend or to have him roll his eyes in exasperation. It was fun. Delightful. It made them both happy.

And then Alexander comes home one day, and a warm, happy "Hi, baby," slips past his lips.

Magnus couldn't see the expression on his face, his eyes still stuck on the bubbling pot on his stove, but the pure affection in Alexander's voice had his stomach twisting into knots in a way he hadn't experienced in centuries.

Alexander really never stopped surprising him.

"Hi darling," Magnus called back, still keeping his eyes trained on his simmering potion until the cream-colored liquid shifted to orange. He didn't notice the silence that followed, too preoccupied waiting for those last few seconds.

However, he did notice the puzzled expression on Alexander's face when he turned around. As he did Chairman's presence. And location. Which just so happened to be in Alexander's arms.

Magnus wasn't disappointed.

"Everything okay, Magnus?"

He wasn't.

----

The second time went along the same lines as the first one. Magnus was sitting on their couch rather than standing in the kitchen, working on a new manuscript rather than a potion, but his back was still facing the door, his concentration still on his task at hand.

He was editing his manuscript, an introduction to the theory behind portals and how it differed from summoning. The progress had been slow-going, more so than he would have liked. It wasn't that Magnus couldn't explain the theory; he'd given more than one seminar on the subject. However, explaining something without being there to show what he meant was an entirely different beast.

And so, his planned three weeks of writing turned into three months..

He was finally seeing the end of the paper-clad and ink-stained tunnel, which would explain why he didn't register Chairman Meow's excited mewl as more than vague background noise. The same went for the heavy-thud of feet and the rustling of clothes - the two habits Alexander picked up after he'd scared Magnus with his ghost-like silence one too many times.

He registered both sounds, but in that vague way, he registered his wards and the couch he was sitting on. It was background noise, something his ears picked up and then ignored again.

The same couldn't be said for the soft greeting Alexander uttered a few seconds after he'd hung his coat on the coatrack and placed his weapons on the weapon rack.

"Hey, baby. Did you have a good day today?"

"Mh, still trying to finish up the manuscript, but I should be done by tomorrow," Magnus said, putting his pen down to rub his eyes - when did they get this tired? "What about you, darling, everything at the institute?"

Magnus darted a glance over his shoulder to look at Alexander, only to see him blink up at him, his fingers scratching behind Chairman Meow's ears. "What was that, Magnus?"

"...Nothing."

---

The third time it happened, Magnus really should have realized Alexander wasn't speaking to him. However, he'd just spent three days repairing various wards for friends and customers alike, as well as closing seven demon rifts because twenty-year-old warlocks never learn.

All to say he was moderately exhausted and royally annoyed, more so by the customary lack of thanks the fool-brained warlocks greeted him with.

'Everything under control.'

Magnus only had one desire when he came home, and that was to take a bath and cuddle up with his boyfriend. Alexander wasn't home yet when he arrived, though, and he somehow managed to run out of soap, which means both desires had to be postponed.

Thankfully, Magnus always had a base ready to go, which meant he only had to delay his well-deserved soak by ten more minutes. Time he was more than willing to waste if it meant he could use his soap. Or their soap, as Alexander had also taken to using it everywhere.

It feels like taking you with me to work.

Magnus enjoyed his soak a bit longer than he should have, ignoring the passage of time as he let his muscles relax and indulged in one of life's greatest pleasures.

He'd finally dragged himself out of the bathtub when he heard their front door open and close, Alexander's familiar voice ringing through the loft. "I'm home."

Magnus hummed, a sound Alexander would pick up even with the water still being drained. He then started drying himself off, reaching for his bathrobe when he heard the clang of pots reach his ears.

Looked like Alexander would be cooking tonight.

Magnus was just finishing up in the bathroom when a loud mewl rang from the balcony, followed by the familiar sound of small paws tapping on glass.

As usual, Alexander fell for the theatrics, despite knowing Chairman Meow could get in and out of the loft whenever he pleased. Magnus could hear the footsteps leave the kitchen to head to the balcony, the familiar swish of the sliding door sliding open reaching his ears.

Magnus watched as Alexander picked Chairman Meow up, closing the door to the bathroom behind him as he too made his way over to the balcony.

"Hey, baby, finally back home?"

"For now," Magnus agreed, sliding up to him. "I probably would have been home yesterday if those younglings didn't try to get themselves killed again."

Alexander tensed, his eyes going from Chairman Meow to Magnus. "Uh..."

Chairman Meow.

Because that's who Alexander was talking to.

"I realize you were talking to Chairman Meow, forget I said anything. The past few days might have been more tiring than I realized. I think I'd better head off to bed."

"Wait, Magnus - "

---

Magnus swore there wouldn't be a fourth time. Where the first two times had been mortifying enough, the third had been downright painful. Which is why, the next time Alexander came home and greeted the open air with a short, "Hey, babe," Magnus staunchly ignored it.

He continued stirring his silver spatula through his cooking pot, counting down the seconds before he could add the tarantula legs to the green liquid and banish it to one of his pocket dimensions to cool.

He heard Alexander shuffle in the background, placing his coat and weapons in their designated spots. Magnus was waiting for the usual, "Hey, Magnus," to follow, only to startle when two warm hands wrapped around his middle.

"Hey, babe," Alexander repeated, the words soft and drowsy.

Magnus frowned, looking around to see if Chairman Meow had somehow snuck in the apothecary again, only for Alexander to tug him back.

"I was speaking to you, Magnus," Alexander said, pressing a smile into Magnus' shoulder. "I... I'm sorry I upset you yesterday."

"There is nothing to apologize for, darling," Magnus assured, tapping the arms wrapped around his waist to give him some more moving space. "It was merely a misunderstanding."

Alexander hummed in that particular way that meant he disagreed.

"You were upset."

"I was tired," Magnus corrected. "And perhaps the slightest bit concerned for the future of warlockkind - unable to draw a pentagram but somehow convinced they can go around summoning demons."

Alexander hummed. Again, "You're changing the subject." He turned around to sit on the counter, out of range in case the potion were to explode. "Why didn't you tell me you also wanted me to call you something?"

Magnus kept his eyes on the potion, unsure how to respond. He didn't know why the situation had upset him as much as it did, only that it had.

"I didn't know it was something I wanted," he admitted finally. "And I know you don't particularly care for pet names."

"I care for you," Alexander countered, ending with a shrug that said it was as easy as that for him. "So if you want me to call you Magnus, I'll call you Magnus. And if you want me to call you babe, then I'll call you babe or anything else you want."

Magnus bit down a smile, throwing the tarantula legs into the potion and banishing it to some random pocket dimension without much care where it landed. He pressed a quick kiss to Alexander's lips, moving over to stand between his thighs.

"Anything, is it?" he asked, his hands trailing up Alexander's legs to settle on his hips. "And what if I asked you to call me 'pup', pretty boy?"

Alexander pulled a face, an exact match for the one he pulled the first time Magnus used that particular pet name. "Anything but that."

[shuamorollss]

I hate you, in ways I can't even fathom...

✩˖. ˖˙ ❝ As Mingyu sets up a farewell party before his leave for college. He finally gets the courage to have one last chat with the person who he dearly hates and deeply adores. ❝

Established e2l, best friend's brother trope, kinda angst with fluff ending, both of them being an overthinking mess, Gyuri as Mingyu's sister >_< Warnings— confrontation scene is kinda corny but bear w me, Sloppy writing but again, bear with me. + anything else I forgot :P

note — I've written this a year ago and finished it like a few month back portraying another idol(Sunghoon) but I changed it to Mingyu the last minute bc I haven't been updated w Enhypen nowadays and I wanna focus on posting svt-related fics :'( Did some small tweaks here and there since I genuinely really liked how I wrote this fic and thought, "Wow, I should post this." and I did. 😁

note 2 — I'm starting my college year in just a few weeks as psych freshie! Rlly excited for this new fresh of air and I'm already expecting my hectic schedule during this, but since I regained my enjoyment in writing, I might post more from time to time just to relieve my stress after writing countless of essays during my senior year. Actually, I've already been working on a S.coups fic recently and I'm really passionate abt this one! Anyway I'm rambling atp so just... Enjoy this fic! I'm officially back in tumblr nation! :P

© shuamorollss. please do not modify, edit, copy or reproduce any of the works published.

Mingyu delightfully chatters with the guests, his eyes couldn't stop darting your way as you talk to his sister. The curves of your lips senses the enjoyment of your current conversation, the way your eyes sparkled at whatever his sister was saying, and the way how gentle you sip your drink as your eyes never left on his sister's talky figure. This observation felt odd to him since why would he take notice of you, sipping your drink? And why isn't he paying attention to what his mom's friend has to say?

Even if Mingyu’s eyes are forcing itself to glue onto the nice woman in front of him, the one who stuck mostly is you, in his mind.

He felt devastated, to say the least. The thought of not teasing and annoying you for a long time, and most importantly,

not seeing you for a very... long time.

As the thought progresses in his head, the more his heart sinks at every ounce of your presence dissipating into his life.

Despite that, what he fears right at this moment is you forgetting that very presence of him in your life.

As much as him slowly forgetting you haunts him (which is impossible now considering you have forever been engraved in this man's mind and soul), what trickles him more to despair is that if you forget him, he becomes a nobody into your vision. Possibly his life.

So how? How would he be able to tell you that he doesn't want you to forget him, and that you should be aware that he cherishes you, so much. Maybe even too much.

As the conversation came to its end, relieved that the woman didn't suspect the man's uninterest towards her blabber. Mingyu finally came to an impulsive courage to look for you, tell him how he feels, and probably start a relationship with you? Who knows? He'll make sure to maintain a long distance relationship with you even if things get busy.

As long as he's doing it for you, he won't hesitate for anything.

However, as minutes passed, he looked back to where he last saw you.

You were gone.

Mingyu's house isn't huge, so he might be able to spot you at some corner in no time.

Although he looked everywhere and every corner inside the home.

Still no sign of you.

Where are you? Did you go home?

…

..

.

Did he miss his chance?

Not even daring himself to ask anyone about your whereabouts, his emotions quickly transformed into a gloomy blob, in an attempt to remain wobbled down and never move for the rest of the event too much to his dismay of finally losing you from his life.

Though he couldn't stand the embarrassment of his emotions overcoming his actions.

So, he kept it in.

He explored everything within these house walls without receiving concern on the guests' ends. He knew every room and place by heart from childhood, yet he still had the initial thought that you must've gone home already.

As he felt his heart dripping tears, he made his way outside his house, in hopes to see you outside at the very least, if you left, just leaving, or you might be outside right at this moment. He would wonder if he would make it out in the same nick of time as yours, not wanting to expect your figure already gone so early in the evening.

When Mingyu twisted the knob and pushed the door, he was met with your gasp, "Huh!—” turning your head in a panic from the tense creak of their front door.

Mingyu's heart immediately quickens, a feel of an arrow penetrating his chest as he lays his eyes down on your intense state, sitting down on a stair.

A noise that quickly makes his heart leap. Thank goodness, really.

"I thought you left?" Mingyu calmly, yet his cheeky smile never seemed to fade.

"I was just about to.." You responded, eyes shifting to the other house across the street.

"Oh."

His eyes followed yours as it landed on the same house you were still looking at. Thus, creating dead silence within your bubble area..

The silence didn't seem welcoming to you, as if Mingyu was fed up with your presence. You have always felt that his uninterest for you was always evident. They all felt real, and the way his eyes look at you with pure intimidation gets off with barely ease.

Yes, the silly banters still happen. Yet as time passes by you feel convinced that he progressively decreases his fondness of you.

You only came to realize this when you started to notice every bit of his actions and demeanors.

The way he avoids you, the way his eyes barely look into your way anymore when you tell him a snarky comeback you feel proudest to even say…

And the way he barely even talks to you in general.

Which was already odd to say the least, you would never observe someone this close before.

Yet here you are.

These observations you had discovered within Mingyu completely changed how you were around him. Sure the bickering and playful hatred stayed, yet those times couldn't stop you from overthinking that maybe you have gone too far with your words? Gradually being aware about the peculiar feelings for the man.

You’re still aware, of course. However, you have no idea what you want to be for him.

In some certain aspects, you crave for his attention...maybe a lot. As humiliating as it sounds.

Subconsciously imagining holding his warm hands similar to what happened back to the day you exactly started to overthink how you see your dearest best friend's obnoxious brother.

It's scary. It's dreamy.

It's everything you wish you never wanted.

Despite all this, you figured that anything close to being equals would be impossible to happen now. Since Mingyu seemed to not seek your presence around anymore. Even for just one small talk that consists of nothing but insults.

He was starting to avoid you for weeks, not even saying a word when you attempted to say hello.

It left an unhealed wound inside your heart. Even with this. You still attended his farewell party in hopes to see him one last time, even from afar(Also his sister invited you).

Seeing him again after weeks, makes you feel somewhat… humiliated.

As if every time you land a gaze at his way, you felt like falling to a pit once more. Rock bottom.

"We...Well, I...I should go now." You quickly stood up to your feet with anxious heaves of breaths, not wanting to prolong the awkward air.

He watches you, perplexed. "Huh— what? Already?" Mingyu stutters, his eyes shifting his gaze onto you with faint disbelief.

As he watches you about to take a step out of their porch, Mingyu mutters a word that you hear inaudibly.

You turn around subconsciously to see the man's figure startled as your eyes meet his, as if you had heard him mutter something about you.

"I'm sorry..."

"Huh? What do you mean?" you raised a brow.

"I said that you should go if you want but I also said I didn't want you to go and that—"

"You told me not to go?"

"Kinda..? I thought... you heard me say that…"

Your lips fight to plaster a small smile, still awkward, but still warm. "I didn't."

Mingyu inhales sharply, his heart thudding from the inside, "Well, don't go... just yet. We should talk."

Your body shifted to his direction, endeared by his bashful demeanor despite his body looking utterly intimidating to an outer view. Your chest feels relaxed at the thought of Mingyu finally having the means to talk to you even after his unexplained ghosting.

You joined him, your best friend, who's leaning forward onto their porch ramp beside him.

"Congratulations, by the way." You started, following his gaze into the nowhere streets of the neighborhood.

Mingyu felt the temperature rising in his cheeks, the genuine smile he shows at your greeting sets your heart at bay. Mirroring his sweet smile you always do enjoy and engraved.

"Thank you." He beamed, blinking onto your view beside him, then darting his vision in front.

Silence bloomed over once more. Subtly queasing over the small twists and turns your stomach was doing being just a few meters beside Mingyu.

"Congratulations to you too." he adds, finally dissipating the awkward feeling in your stomach and for what it seemed to be for the both of you. Receiving a questioning look shifting onto him.

"For what?" You laughed anxiously.

"You won't get to see this handsomely infuriating face anymore,"

You rolled your eyes and scoffed at his response. It was typical of him to have thought about it anyway. Though, you’ll miss it. Miss these moments with him.

You fix your composure as you feel your back slightly aching now, maybe the posture wasn't that daring to see when Mingyu went out through the door and met with your figure. But oh well.

“Wow.” You sneak out a short chuckle. You didn't know why but something about reliving the banters with Mingyu just made this whole lighthearted talk quite upsetting.

Mingyu was quick to catch the light flickering out of your tone, just by the forced chuckle alone. It made him… visibly concerned.

He shifts his gaze onto you once more, all while you were set to check up on the cutes-y house down by the road. Watching Mingyu’s beam slowly falter from your peripheral vision.

“Something on your mind?” He asks, sounding genuinely worried that got you feeling all the more gloomy.

You whip your head to look at him with widened eyes. You clearly didn't want to set off that vibe but you did, and the man read that all too well.

“No… I mean, No.” You clarify, laughing off with a slight curve on your lips to disregard the small crack in your heart.

Mingyu scoffed, unconvinced and skeptical, “I know that tone of yours. You're not fine.” He said.

Since when did he know that? You ask yourself, furrowing a brow at him.

You were silent, the air between you was silent, and it only confirmed Mingyu’s assumption.

He heaves out a sigh, darting his gaze to the house across the street, relaxing his shoulders and elbows as he leaned comfortable by the ramp.

“Look, I don't know if you're sad that I’m leaving and all… Since we never really haven't been in talking for awh—”

“I’m sorry.”

“Huh?” Mingyu blinked,

“I’m just, sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“Cause you're like that!” You exclaimed, raising your brows in defense. You felt a bit of heat rising through your temper for absolutely no reason. You were upset, yes, but in no way was it valid for you to let it all out on the guy who barely did anything to you.

If ever, you should be putting all this anger to yourself. On how long it took for you to realize that you might actually… I miss him too much.

“You hate me, right?” you asked, but the man knew that was a rhetorical question. “You don't like me. In fact, you hate me. You didn't like it when I'm within the walls of your comforting space. You hate it when I’m closer to your sister than you are with her. You hate me because I’m considered as someone who’d only give nothing but bad things to your sister who’s so pure and innocent.”

“And you know, I hate you too. For being so protective and always pulling me down a slippery slope. Calling me names to convince Sophia that I’m nothing but a pot of bad luck. I fucking hated it whenever you steal my favorite spot at my favorite café.”

“And you know… our reasons aren't all that bad. It’s nothing big, you don't hate me cause I made a huge mistake, and vice versa. And then we have our moments when we got along, shared a laugh, and worked together.” She scoffs out a laugh, it seemed sarcastic and demeaning that Mingyu sensed understandably.

“And then after actually getting along. You’d take a step back and pretend nothing happened. Like we’re back to square one of heated arguments and bickering.”

“I should hate you, I really should, but I couldn't. Not when I see your presence and feel myself fumbling through the clouds with a thudding chest. I hate you, but why? Is it because you see me as a bad influence? Is it because of your intended stealing of my favorite seat? Or is it that you made me feel things I don't wanna feel?”

There was another silence. Mingyu couldn't really speak out about his thoughts. It was all too sudden. You were all too sudden.

“And—And now we're here. I’m attending your farewell party and then we’re talking like old pals again.” Your lips curved into a forcing smile, at least you were finding a bright side in all of this. Yet… it still cost nothing.

Mingyu was just there, standing. His eyes staring with confusion alongside a plethora of questions. He understood your outburst well, but his mind is utterly conflicted whether or not you were implying something he hoped you were trying to imply.

“What are you trying to say right now?” Was all the man could muster. He was just as baffled as you are quite frankly.

You knew that quite well, since you also didn't expect those thoughts to become verbal. All for him to hear.

You took a deep breath. “What I'm trying to say is, I like you. I like you so much.” You pause, now keeping the time to gather your thoughts.

“And it kills me slightly that you’ll never see me that way, because all I am to you is that I’m your sister’s annoying best friend.”

Mingyu stares, opens his mouth and closes it once more. He didn't know what to say. The thoughts in his mind were scribbling elsewhere with jumbled letters he couldn't muster anymore.

All he knew was his heart was beating. Fast.

You look down to the wooden floor, then darting up to take a look on his face. A face that’ll confirm your rejection. A face that shows so much confusement and annoyance.

“Do you hate me?”

All that took was for Mingyu to finally hit himself in his own senses by the words left from your mouth. Your breath hitched, eyes glistening with worry and hope.

Mingyu was all the more baffled to have heard such things from you. Your doubts, your fears, your feelings.

It’s new to him. All of this was new to him. He swore to himself that you hated him, and that's what kept himself away.

And now you're here, telling him how you feel, telling him things you wish to have just kept to yourself if you just went home, or just not attend at all—

“I do.”

Crack.

“What?” You mutter, your breath shaking. Startled through his cold answer.

“I hate you. We both know that.” He says, removing the contact of his elbows through the wooden ramp of their porch. His stance facing you as you look at him with curiosity.

“I hate you because you’re always clinging to my sister. You’re always letting her do things she wouldn't normally do. For getting out of her comfort zone." He says, seeping the assumption of him telling a whole list of why he hates you.

It’s only going to shatter you right here, right now.

“I hate you because you're such a know-it-all. You know how annoying you are when you’re like that?” He chatters, taking small steps closer towards you. His eyes pierced through you with intention.

“I hate you because you know how to fight back. Ways so snarky and defensive. Your complaints are pretentious and deafening.” He scoffs. Taking another step closer.

Bit by bit, his words start to dig into your heart. Feeling all walls crash to you each step he has taken.

It’s suffocating, it's baffling.

Though, you couldn't be expecting a good outcome from the man who you never once deemed a friend.

…

..

.

“And honestly, that made me realize how cool you actually are. And that got me jealous.” Another creak on the wooden floor.

“It made me reasonably look up to you.”

One last step. As if you're completely towered by him.

“and worse of all. I hate you,”

and Silence. You couldn't ponder for a more rational approach. Hell, you couldn't even think of anything at this point. All the things grazing in your mind were countless blurs and just incoherence. You couldn't get yourself to speak up and spit a genius counter. All you could do against him was stay silent as he took a deep breath before continuing his words.

“Because it took years for me to finally tell you that I love you. For the longest time.”

That, you didn't expect.

Your eyes whip up to meet his mellowed eyes, staring directly at you. With intentions and wants.

He wants for himself to be closer…and more closer to you.

You could feel your chest pumping rapidly, your breath hitching at the overwhelming feelings stirring up in your stomach. Your mind was fully blurry at this point, nothing in it but him, Kim Mingyu. The menace he is.

You kept your gaze onto him, freezing your expression as he gently held your hand. The contact of his warmth sends shivers down your spine. Slowly holding it up as his head lowers down, his soft lips fervently pressing on the dropped down temperature of her hand.

“Telling you that I love you…the same time I have to say goodbye.” He whispered, adding to his previous confession.

This is where you processed it. The entirety of it. His words, his intentions, his own wants match to your needs.

The need to have him this close, that's what you need right now.

Because after all this time, he wanted you just as much as you wanted him.

And that is enough for you to know that whatever this is between you, isn't one-sided anymore. Or never at all at this point.

He holds onto your hand for dear life as he leans closer. His eyes drop down to gaze at your plump lips with fervent need.

“I want you, Y/N.” He whispers. Filled with honeys and sweets and your heart makes mellow beats while you perk up a grin with evident anticipation.

“Please…” He adds, his voice lowering in tone. Shaking almost. Transferring your soft hands to cup the side of his face with ease. Slowly pulling him closer to your embrace.

“Mingyu…” You whisper mellowly, eyes meeting him, desperately seizing you in this distance.

“I have wanted you for the longest time.” He blurts out, interrupting your words for a few seconds until he couldn't get the right capacity in his brain to process any more words of longing as he lunges in and breaks the distance. “More than you think.” His lips have finally met yours in a passionate kiss.

Both mouths mold to each other in complete unison. He moves his hands up to your hips and pulls her even closer to him, pressing his whole body against yours too in order to feel her skin to skin contact.

He pulls back slightly, just so he can get a few words out in between his kisses on her lips. "I need you to be mine." he whispers softly, a slight desperation in his tone as he pulls you close again, kissing you once more. His tongue makes a leeway to explore your own as you feel your mind and stomach daze into wondrous bliss. Body suddenly feeling as if it fell from the clouds landing onto a pile of soft petals of daisies and tulips sending you into utter euphoria.

This is what you wanted. This is what you needed.

Now, feeling breathless under his grasp. You finally managed to inhale sharply, taking the initiative to pull yourself back from the contact with the close distance still intact. Panting from the pressure and brain cloudy from that whole instance. You felt your stomach churning and twisting as you took each breath to process that you really just kissed Kim Mingyu.

There was silence between the two of you. The only noise being the chatter and laughter happening inside Mingyus’ abode as the both of you stare into consciousness.

All you could play in your head were his soft whispers of being yours. He wants you, and you, and you, and you—

“Y/N.”

You snap out of your imaginative trance as your eyes dart up onto his face, looking down at you in another crave to taste your lips once more.

But he refused to dig it himself. Instead, he just held your face. Carefully. His thumbs rubbing your cheeks with soft grace.

“I want you. I love you. I don't wanna leave you.” He chanted almost everything he felt, causing your heart to mellow at his honeydew words. The edges of your lips creeping up into a smile, leaning close to him to have your foreheads touching.

“I don't want you to leave either,” you start, your smile slowly faltering. “But…we both know you have to.” You retort. Your tone lingering with disappointment, kicking back to the reality of it all. “This is huge for you.”

His thumbs began to rub extremely slowly as he muttered the words, “I’ll take you with me.” Causing you to slightly widen your eyes at him, startled.

“Mingyu, you can’t—”

“I know I can't.” He huffs, “Just please, stay with me for now. I’ll leave tomorrow, and I all I want to be with you right now…fuck.” He hissed by the end, transferring his hands as it held your waist. Pulling you into his embrace.

This is the first time you have felt Mingyu’s need.

And it’s solely for you.

Though you have known before that after this, and for the days leading on, you will have to endure the moments without his presence. He’s going to a prestigious university and you are left here with your best friend, who’s also his beloved sister.

One more year wouldn't be that bad.

“I'll come to you after I graduate,” You mumble through the fabric of his shirt, causing him to perk up a smile as he tightens the embrace.

“I promise you that.” You finish with a smile.

…

You and Mingyu finally made amends and had a passionate talk about your own futures and plans with mutual bonds and respect. Both of you finally decided to get back inside the party, with him opening the door for you. Taking a step foot into his home with giggles and smiles then immediately stopping at the sight that welcomed them.

Mingyu raises a brow at his sister alongside almost every guest within the party looking at their way with sly smirks and teasing grins.

“Uhm… Gyuri?”

Sophia widens her eyes, acting clueless. “What?”

“What's going on?” He questions once more. His hand lightly grazed up to hold yours at his back, wanting the people at front to see the contact.

But they already knew what's up.

“Well…” Gyuri widens a beam as she inhales before continuing. “Not only did you get into Harvard… But you also got yourself a girlfriend?!” She broadcasts with evident ecstasy. Causing almost all of his relatives, friends, and family to celebrate and cheer that caused the both of you and Mingyu to stare in confusion.

“Wait, what are—”

“Oh don't worry dear brother.” She grinned slyly, reaching ear to ear.

“I heard everything.”

[pez-zeroni]

Oh my gosh these criticisms were amazing! They were clearly well thought out, and genuine, and omfg you are SO right, man

I wrote this fic out in like a week of pure, non-stop hyper-fixation and I didn't think through her character at all. I even remember when I read this to my friend, thinking that maybe the arguments were a little repetitive, so you're totally valid with that one, too! I think I could cut some of that out- or at least cut it shorter a bit- and it probably wouldn't take away from the story. You're so correct man

Spoiler for the future of this fic, if I ever manage to finish it lol:

I never planned to write this at all, originally, actually, this was just a prelude for the fic I actually wanted to write. Arial was just meant to start out dead- killed by giving birth to Papyrus, so I didn't plan a thing for her or about her. This ended up being something I wrote because I realized that there was a chunk of plot-holes in the fic I was trying to write because I hadn't thought through the time pre-Papyrus at all. This was my quick attempt to rectify that

She was literally written with the intention and end goal of not making it to the end, and I didn't even notice that I had created such a flat character because- as I knew she was going to be killed off- I didn't bother to entirely think her through. My main goal was simply to get across the message that, while she loves her family, Arial is first and foremost a manipulative narcissist that sees mainly through her own point of view. Which, while I may have gotten that across, I failed to genuinely consider her thoroughly as a character and mostly focused on her effects on Gaster and Sans. Her motivations rely entirely on her image and the fact that she needs to be the hero of the underground and Sans and Gaster's hero, and I honestly don't know that I've portrayed that well enough haha

Point being, bro you aren't an a/hole at all my guy you're just totally right lol, you're absolutely speaking facts

Preach, my guy, your critique is literally top tier. Type shit mate

Also, your compliments are so sweet I could literally keel over omllll. I'm so glad that you enjoyed the rest of the story and that you liked my art! It's so heartening to hear that even if I fell short a bit with Arial, Gaster and Sans still had plenty of personality, and I at least got that one right yayay huzzah! Tis nice to know you enjoyed the story, and I genuinely appreciate your ideas and your in depth thought about this! It's encouraging as a writer to get both compliments and to be told where I can improve, and your suggestions and the things you noticed just genuinely made me take a step back and look at my own work in a new light, so thank you!

I'm always down to discuss my writing with the people that read it, so once again, don't worry at all :) you were super nice and respectful

Art dump from my Undertale fic! It's mainly little Sans and Gaster so far, exploring Sans' origins and what his childhood was like :)

NOT A SHIP ^ And if you wanna read it, here it is :)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/64457266/chapters/165508870

[canirove]

Can you write a pedri fic about helping him through all his injuries and he feels that it was because of reader he had such a good and injury free season please 🤍

Pedri Imagine | four

Author’s note: Hope you like it, and thank you for reading! 💜

Masterlist

“I just finished making my suitcase, so I'm ready for… Pedri!” I say, quickly sitting on the sofa next to him. “What happened? Is everything ok?”

“Yeah.”

“Then why are you crying?”

“Oh” he says, touching his face. “These aren't sad tears, don't worry. It's just that my phone showed me an old photo and I've gone down a rabbit hole” he chuckles. “Do you remember this?” he says, showing me his phone. 

“I do, yes. It's one of the first photos you sent me when we started talking.”

“And do you remember when I took it?”

“You were… Pedri, please tell me your rabbit hole doesn't have to do with your injuries.”

“Maybe” he shrugs. “But it isn't what you think.”

“Isn't it?”

“It isn't, you'll see. I took this photo after the Barça doctors confirmed one of my injuries and for how long I was going to be away from the pitch, and to make me stop thinking about it, you started telling me about this tv show you were watching, one that was driving you crazy but not in a bad way.”

“That show was my whole personality for a while” I chuckle.

“It was” Pedri smiles. “The thing is that after you told me about it I got interested in it too, watched an episode, and I also got hooked. And while I was doing my recovery sessions, my head would not be thinking about how much I missed playing football, the pain or my bad luck. I would be thinking about what could happen next, making my own theories and reading the ones other people had. It made me look forward to going home and watching a new episode and then discussing it with you.” 

“Remember how we stayed up until 3 a.m. talking about one of the season finales? Going to class the next day was the worst, but it was worth it” I smile.

“It was” he replies, also smiling. “Now, this other photo” he says after scrolling on his phone. “Do you remember it?”

“Of course I do! How to forget that you chose to grow your beard while I was studying abroad and couldn't enjoy it” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Sorry” he says, kissing my cheek as if that would make me forget about his treason. “But do you remember when I sent it to you?”

“I think it was after one of our dinner dates, wasn't it? You sent it to me to tell me goodnight and hopefully dream about you” I chuckle.

“Did you? You never told me.”

“I can't remember.”

“Liar” Pedri laughs. “Anyway, this day actually was our first date. Barça was playing and it was the first game I was going to miss because I was injured again, so you called me, noticed how down I felt because I couldn't be there with the boys, and decided to organise a date to watch the game together over facetime while having dinner.”

“And after that, we had a date during each game until you recovered, and basically every night.”

“We did” he smiles. “It was another thing I was looking forward to during those days when I couldn't play. Going home, making something nice for dinner, and then hearing you tell me all about your day.”

“I still don't know how you get tired of hearing me complain about the weather and my teachers” I laugh.

“I could never get tired of you.”

“Aww, Pedri” I say, now being the one who kisses his cheek.

“Now, what about… this one” he says, showing me another photo.

“Oh, that's a funny one” I smile. “Your first pilates class.”

“I hated it so much… Not the class itself, but going to it. Some people started calling me a pilates princess and… yeah. I didn't like it. But then you told me they were just a bunch of idiots…”

“I'm pretty sure I call them something different” I interrupt him.

“Yes. You were less nicer” he chuckles. “But you told me they had no idea what they were talking about because pilates is a lot more difficult than what it looks like and that it isn't just a girl's thing, which I completely agree with, then joined me in my next class so I would not feel so self conscious, kicked my ass while also making me feel better about having to train like this because it was good for me… And here we are now. I've never felt as good in my body as I do now, and I get to enjoy how amazing and sweaty you look while doing it since we've become a pilates couple. The joint showers after our workouts also are a plus” he smirks. “And don't look at me like that.”

“How?”

“As if I was horny 24/7. These showers were your idea.”

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

“Sure” Pedri laughs again. “And last but not least…” he says, scrolling on his phone again. “Do you remember this photo?”

“I will never forget your face in that photo, Pedri. Seeing it still hurts, to be honest.”

“Well, it shouldn't” he says, taking my hand on his. “Because seeing it doesn't hurt me anymore.”

“But you sent it to me after the game against Germany. After you were told you were going to miss the rest of the Euros.”

“I know” he says, giving my hand a little squeeze. “And even though that day brings lots of bad memories, it also brings really good ones too.”

“Because we won?”

“I mean, technically you didn't win” he says with a teasing smile, making me roll my eyes. “But yes, winning the Euros is one of the reasons why looking at this pic doesn't hurt anymore.”

“And the others?”

“The love from my teammates and from the fans. How supported I felt. But also you.”

“Me?”

“You are the one who convinced me to ask them if I could stay. The one who listened to me every time I felt like shit and who would text me random photos and video call me while you were doing touristy things around Germany to keep me entertained. The one who made me look at my new situation as if I just happened to be on the bench like some of my other teammates were, helping the others and supporting everyone, being there for them. The one who made me feel less injured than I was, something that especially happened that day when you sneaked into the hotel” he smirks.

“Please don't remind me of it. I still don't know how they didn't catch me.”

“Yeah… you were quite loud when we were alone in my room.”

“Idiot” I say, giving him a little push and making him laugh.

“I have a really good memory of that night. Don't you? Because I think you do. Look at the colour of your cheeks” he says, poking at one of them with his finger and earning himself a slap in the hand, one that only manages to make him laugh again. “Anyway, what I wanted to tell you by showing you these photos and remembering these days, it's that I think you are the reason why this season has been my best and the only game I missed was because I was glued to the toilet.”

“Yeah” I chuckle. “But me? How am I going to be the reason why you didn't get injured this season? That should be you, your hard work, and the physios and doctors you work with.”

“Yes, they also are an important part in this… success. But so are you. Because you changed something in me that they couldn't.”

“I… I don't understand.”

“Before meeting you, every time I got injured I started to see everything in the most negative way you could think of, blaming myself for what had happened because I was too weak and not enough. But then you came into my life, and you changed that mentality. You made me see things in a more positive light and showed me that there was more out there than just playing football. You made me start enjoying the little things in life while still supporting me and being there when I felt down, and I think that made me relax and stop putting so much pressure on myself. And by relaxing here” he says, touching his temple. “So did the rest of my body and especially my muscles. So if this season has been my best one yet and I am this happy, it's because of you.”

“Pedri, I… I…”

“These better not be sad tears” he says, caressing my cheek and wiping them away.

“They aren't, no. It's just that I… I…”

“You?”

“I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too” he smiles. “And I can't wait to spend this summer with you. The first one where I'm going to be able to properly relax and enjoy you and your company. Though especially you” he smirks.

“And then he isn't horny 24/7” I reply, rolling my eyes.

“I'm not” he replies, sticking out his tongue and making me laugh. “But you know…” I say, moving so I can hug him and be closer to him. “If you want to spend this summer the way you say, you should finish making your suitcase.”

“Urgh” he groans.

“C'mon” I chuckle, giving him a quick peck. “I'll help you finish it.”

“See how you are the best?” he smiles.

“You could let your beard grow during our holidays to thank me.”

“My mum isn't going to like it” he says. “So what if I do this instead?”

“This?”

“This” he says before kissing me. “I love you” he whispers against my lips.

“I love you too” I reply before we kiss again, completely forgetting about making his suitcase.

[vidrkness]

Where Wildflowers Meet the Stars ✨🪻

Pairing: Agatha Harkness x Rio Vidal

Summary: Agatha hosts a science podcast that blends storytelling and chaos theory. Rio stumbles upon it late one night and becomes enchanted , first by the voice, then by the mind and then by the woman behind it all.

AO3

Word count: 6,5k

Warnings: some light smut

A/N: hi guys! So I managed to write this idea I posted here a couple weeks ago. I'm expecting to make this a short fic with longer chapters and just go with the flow. Thanks for reading and let me know if you like it! Quick disclaimer: I don’t have a beta and english is not my first language (in case of some typos or things that don’t make sense, sorry! lol)

Chapter 1: The sound of obsession

Rio never gave a single damn about podcasts. For real, who had the fucking patience to sit there and listen to some rando talk at you for an hour straight? Not her. She didn’t have the attention span, the interest, or honestly, the will to pretend she cared. But it was 1:43 in the goddamn morning, and her apartment was so quiet it felt like it was swallowing her whole.

Carol, her girlfriend, her sanity, her ride-or-die was out of town for the weekend. And no, she wasn’t trying to be a clingy bitch about it, but holy hell, Rio didn’t do alone. Not well, anyway.

Growing up in Puerto Rico with her entire damn family up in her business 24/7 kinda messed her up for solo living. Like, she couldn’t even think about skipping class without her cousin spilling the tea to abuela before she even had the chance to open her mouth.

So yeah.

Being here just her and Victoria, her chunky-ass tuxedo cat sucked so bad.

Alone.

Deadass alone.

No Carol. No cousins. No nosy-ass neighbor to complain about. Just the soul-crushing silence and her thoughts being loud as shit in her skull.

“Fuck this” she muttered, grabbing her phone. If she couldn’t sleep, might as well drown out the void with some bullshit audio content, right? She thumbed through Spotify like it owed her money and finally picked the first podcast that didn’t have some man explaining the world like she was five.

“Want some background noise Vic?” she asked, reaching for her cat like some needy girlfriend. Victoria gave her the middle finger in feline, darting out of reach like the dramatic diva she was.

“Whatever, you uncultured gremlin”

She got comfortable resting her back on the headboard and clicked finally on the podcast. It was called The Curious Constant and it was about science. She debated a little bit about playing that one because she wasn’t going to lie to herself. She was reeeeally bad at it back in school.

The episode was titled: Time, Touch, and the Color Blue.

Weird. Intriguing. Play.

And then it hit her.

The voice.

Low. Smooth. A little raspy, like the woman had either just woken up or just finished yelling at someone. There was a kind of melody, half lecture, half lullaby. Like if bedtime stories came with citations.

“There’s a theory that if you stare at the color blue long enough, you’ll start to remember things that never happened”

Rio blinked.

“Not real memories. Not hallucinations either. More like… impressions. The emotional residue of something your brain never got to experience. Blue as a kind of psychological ghost”

The speaker chuckled, soft and amused with herself.

“But then again, color is just light. Memory is just electricity. And time? Time’s the real scam”

It was the kind of shit Rio would usually make fun of. Pretentious, poetic science-nerd stuff.

But this?

This made her stomach do flips like she was in a parkour competition.

She didn’t know why. Maybe it was the voice, maybe it was the way the woman seemed to know the universe personally.

Like she had coffee with Einstein on Thursdays.

Rio lay there in the dark, just staring at the ceiling. Her heartbeat had slowed, but her brain had not. Something had cracked open inside her, and the only way to close it was to keep listening.

She binged five episodes in a row.

By 4 am, she discovered (and by discovering means deep dive into a rabbit hole of mild stalking) that the host’s name was Agatha Harkness, that she had a PhD in astrophysics, was married, sadly. And that she was a teacher at Yale.

When the sun was already peeking through her windows, she was scrolling through old faculty headshots on the Yale website like a stalker.

Found her.

Jesus.

Agatha had that ‘sexy in a terrifying way’ thing going on. Sharp cheekbones, blue-green eyes, the kind of mouth that probably didn’t smile unless it was sarcastic. Forty-something, maybe older.

Hot.

Dark hair streaked with silver. She looked like she knew every secret in the goddamn universe and would never tell you unless you earned it.

Rio closed her laptop and stared at the ceiling again.

Yup, she was screwed.

But maybe in a good way, right?

After her little break down she finally moved from her bed and started her day. She always felt a little down when Carol was away, it’s been three years since they were together and their mornings were usually better than sleepwalking around her apartment until her stomach demands food.

She took a shower and involuntarily hummed the catchy podcast opening. Grabbed a toast, a gatorade and headed to her shop.

She was the proud owner of ‘Flores raras’ a bright and cozy flower shop tucked into a corner of Venice Beach, where she sells bouquets with names like green witch and saint’s regret. Her arrangements are more poetry than product, and she talks to her flowers like they’re old friends.

“Good morning Al, you are early” she said while trying to balance a tray of iced coffee

Alice took one of the cups and immediately sipped like it was fuel.

“Someone has to actually act as a responsible person here” she joked

Alice was probably Rio’s oldest and realest friend, they met back when they were ten, Rio’s family just moved from Puerto Rico and Alice was the only one who dared to speak to her during classes. They instantly bonded and since then they haven’t left each other’s side.

Blood didn’t matter, they were sisters.

“You said that as if you didn’t just checked in like five minutes ago”

“True, but I was here before you”

Rio crumpled a napkin and threw it at her

“Bitch” she laughed, watching the napkin bounce off Alice’s forehead and land right in the pile of peonies they were supposed to sort through.

Alice flicked her middle finger up, still sipping “Don’t hate me ‘cause I’m punctual and pretty”

Rio rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fly out her skull. She slid the tray onto the front counter, already pulling her hair into a messy bun with a practiced flick of her wrist.

“More like punctual and annoying.”

Alice grinned “Yeah, well, you’re lucky I’m both. You’d be drowning in dahlia drama without me”

“You say that like it hasn’t happened multiple times with you around”

They shared a smirk. The shop was still quiet, soft light filtering through the big front windows and casting everything in a golden glow. It smelled like eucalyptus, roses, and whatever Rio had burning in the back.

Probably that cinnamon candle she swore brought in good vibes and hot lesbians.

It didn’t, she was definitely scammed by that tote bag girl at downtown. It was just an overpriced candle more for her collection.

Rio grabbed the clipboard from under the register and started flipping through the orders “Okay, we got three bouquets for pickup, one funeral arrangement for tha old lady from Echo Park, and a bridal shower thing at eleven”

“Ugh, bridal people are always so fucking intense” Alice groaned, dragging herself dramatically over to the cooler “You think they’ll cry if we put in, like, one too many white roses?”

“Last time you did that, the maid of honor tried to physically fight you”

“She came at me with a heel, Rio”

“A kitten heel” Rio snorted, snatching a sharpie from behind her ear “You’re fine. You lived. You complained about the ‘emotional trauma’ for three days and made me buy you donuts”

“Trauma deserves carbs”

“I always deserve carbs”

“You deserve a nap, actually” Alice said, squinting at her “Did you sleep?”

Rio shrugged, eyes fixed on the delivery schedule but hands fidgeting with the string tied around a bouquet “Kinda”

“Kinda like… ‘I passed crying because my girlfriend is in another state’ kinda?”

Rio looked up, sharp “Mind your business and no”

Alice raised both brows “Then why the hell do you look like straight outta the walking dead?”

“Please, promise you won't make fun of me” she looked at Alice.

“Come on, Ri. You know I definitely will”

This deadass.

“Okay, I stayed up until 5 am listening to a science podcast” she said deadpan.

Alice stayed silent for a second then burst into laughter.

Rio elbowed her and walked away from the counter “God,I hate you so much!”

“No! I’m messing with you, sorry” but she kept laughing anyway.

“I mean, why would you do that? you hated and pretty much sucked at sciences back at school”

Rio tried to hide her very obvious reason, even when Alice knew her deepest shit she was kinda embarrassed she was literally living the ‘Her’ movie plot in real time, even when Dr. Harkness was a real person behind the computer.

“I don’t know, it seemed something fun and different to listen, I can’t stuck always on that playlist I have since high school”

“Bullshit, you love that playlist”

It definitely was.

That playlist was her life, her whole personality. Going from paramore to taylor swift back to slipknot and mitski. Those were her good years.

“And didn’t you pour tomato sauce on Lizz Olsen’s volcano at the science fair in 8th grade?” Alice said

Oh, she remembers that very well. Lizz was being mean to Alice because her self given bangs and Rio did what every best friend should have done, ruin her stupid science project.

“Ugh okay, fine. It was because the hostess voice” Rio said under her breath, so low only ants could understand what she was saying

Alice looked at her in confusion “Sorry what? Didn’t catch that one”

“Because the hostess voice” she repeated

“Rio, come on don’t fuck with me and speak louder, you are not five”

She did feel like she was five and had stolen a candy from the store and her abuela found out and made her recite the whole bible one afternoon.

“God, this is so fucking embarrasing. I binge a science podcast because I fell for the hostess voice”

Alice looked at her amused, one of her brows constantly raising and falling in place again “That’s it? That’s the big revelation?”

“Yeah?”

Alice laughed again, louder this time.

“Bitch you have done absolutely worse and this is making you shy? I mean it's kinda weird but-”

“It’s not weird!” Rio mumbled, scribbling something that wasn’t legible on the schedule “It’s hot. There’s a difference”

Alice made a face “You’re gonna fall in love with a podcast host who doesn't even know you exist”

Rio glanced up, deadpan “Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve fallen in love with someone who doesn’t know I exist”

Alice blinked “Damn”

“Too real?”

“Way too real. We need music”

She slapped her phone onto the Bluetooth speaker and, in seconds, the shop was filled with Bad Bunny and drums that shook the flower petals. Rio rolled her eyes, but her lips curled up. Alice was dancing like a gremlin in the corner, iced coffee still in hand, bumping her hip into a stack of pots.

“You’re gonna break shit”

“I’m gonna manifest good vibes and lesbians. Just like that candle of yours”

Rio let out a laugh, loud and honest “You’re fucking unhinged”

Alice winked “That’s why you love me”

And yeah, she did. More than anyone, honestly. Even if Alice was loud and chaotic and spilled water on the new shipment of carnations every damn week. They’d been through hell together. Breakups, queer crises, dead pets.

Family drama and one very illegal road trip to Arizona.

Sisters. Always.

Even when Rio was spiraling about a voice on a podcast.

Especially then.

The days were blurring together, and Rio? She was deep in it. Addicted. Hooked. She had fucking notifications on everywhere, phone, laptop, even the goddamn shop’s computer just so she wouldn’t miss a single second of her favorite podcast dropping a new episode.

Carol was back home, sure, but that didn’t stop Rio from falling headfirst into that nerdy spiral.

“Again with that damn podcast?” Carol leaned on the doorway, raising an eyebrow as she spotted Rio at the stove making her signature box mac and cheese. Barefoot, Carol’s hoodie on, headphones in, eyes glazed over like she was in some quantum physics trance.

Carol slid behind her like it was second nature, wrapping her arms low around Rio’s waist and planting a kiss right on her neck. Rio didn’t even turn, just smiled and tilted her head a little, returning the affection like a reflex.

“New episode, babe. She’s going off about relativity or black holes or some shit. My brain is melting and I love it”

Carol snorted, already reaching over Rio’s shoulder to sneak a bite of the half-done noodles. “You’re obsessed. Should I be jealous? Or should I just start my own podcast? My students say I sound like a mermaid, you know”

That got Rio to finally turn around. She leaned back just enough to peck Carol on the cheek, grinning.

“You did lure me in with that siren voice. I was doomed from the first ‘hey, are you lost?’ on the beach that day”

Carol rolled her eyes “God, you’re such an idiot”

“Yeah, but I’m your idiot”

Rio kissed her again, harder this time. Her hand curled into Carol’s hoodie as she nipped her lower lip, tasting that stupidly addictive pineapple chapstick. The mac and cheese? Burning.

Neither of them gave a single shit.

Rio pushed her until Carol’s thighs were pressed on the counter, she lifted her effortlessly and found place between her legs.

Carol kept leaving tiny kisses all over her face “Is doctor…what was her name again?”

“Agatha” Rio replayed instantly.

Carol stopped and pulled back to look at her, brow raising teasingly.

“Is doctor Agatha involuntary stealing my girlfriend, should I be worried she crawls out of your computer one day like the ring girl and takes you away?”

Rio laughed biting her lip.

Now that thought was planted in her brain for the rest of her life and she wouldn’t mind, to be honest. She loved that movie.

“Are you jealous over something impossible? That’s hot” she said sliding her hands under girlfriend’s hoodie

Her skin was warm and soft, nipples already hardened by Rio’s touch.

Carol let out a quiet moan and rolled her eyes “Probably, but I can give you many reasons to not run away with her”

Rio continued touching her, massaging her belly and running her hands up to cup her breasts squeezing them slowly, feeling how Carol responded to her touch.

“Really, care to elaborate?” Rio said

Carol didn’t responded, instead she kissed her, hard and wet. Her tongue slid into Rio’s mouth so easily, like the other thousand times she has done it.

Rio gave in, she could feel the heat growing between her legs. Her fingers digging hard into Carol's hips.

"Fuck, I've missed this" Carol growled against Rio's lips "Missed tasting you, touching you"

Carol nipped at her bottom lip before trailing hot, open mouthed kisses along her jawline and down her throat.

Rio gasped and tilted her head back, giving Carol better access "Shit, baby...I need you so bad. Please"

Carol smirked against her skin "Patience, gorgeous. Let me taste you first"

She continued sucking and biting Rio's sensitive neck, no doubt leaving behind marks tha would have Rio blushing later. Her hands slid up under Rio's shirt, fingers splaying across her toned stomach.

Rio’s abs never fail to make her go feral.

Rio squirmed against her touch, her nipples hardening against the thin fabric of her sports bra.

“Please, I want to feel your skin" she panted out without an ounce of shame. Tugging at Carol's hoodie impatiently.

Yes, she was very needy for her girlfriend.

Sue her.

Carol chuckled lowly and hopped down the countertop, helped Rio strip off her own before shrugging out of hers.

“Much better" Rio sighed as she ran her hands over Carol's toned torso, admiring the ink covering her fair skin.

Carol shivered at her touch and captured her lips again in a hungry kiss. Their bare breasts pressed together, the sensation making them both groan.

“Your little scientist crush might have a pretty good voice and all-” she said as she slid her hand between Rio’s thighs.

Carol's hands found their way into Rio's shorts, pushing them down along with her panties feeling how fucking wet Rio was.

“But she’s not here right now, feeling how wet you are, touching you, kissing you and-“

Carol took her finger out of Rio with the glistening evidence of her need. She hold them between their faces and then licked them painfully slowly.

“Tasting you”

Rio’s pupils dilated in one second at the sight of that filthy image. She gasped and kissed her again, harder, reckless.

Tasting herself in her girlfriend’s mouth.

“Bedroom. Now" Rio demanded, scooping carol up easily in her strong arms.

She wrapped her legs around Rio’s waist as she carried her out of the kitchen,

“Wait” Rio said, pausing in the middle of the living room.

She went back to the kitchen to turn the stove off “safety first”

Carol laughed and hid her face in Rio’s neck.

They finally pulled themselves away from each other after long enough, took a shower together and headed to get dressed.

Rio in her chill denim shorts, oversized Taylor Swift shirt she bought at a thrift shop just because it had the lyrics from “ivy” , green apron already secured in her bag. Carol in a red wetsuit half-zipped down with a hoodie over it, because apparently she refused to wear normal clothes like a normal person.

“Come on, I’ll drop you off” Carol said, keys jingling in hand “Gotta swing by the shop anyway. The lilies come in today”

“You’re an angel” Rio murmured, grabbing her iced coffee like it was a lifeline and dragging herself out the door behind her.

They piled into Carol’s baby blue Jeep, windows down, wind tangling Rio’s hair the second they hit the road.

“Okay, hear me out” Carol said, tapping the wheel like she was trying to remember something “What if we did something Friday? Just us. No podcast, no waves, no last-minute bouquet orders”

Rio looked over, raising a brow “You asking me on a date, Ms. Flower-Surf-Goddess?”

“I’m proposing an experience, thank you very much”

Rio laughed “I’m in. Just promise me you’ll wear something besides a wetsuit”

“No promises. Wetsuits are a lifestyle”

They pulled up outside Rio’s shop, and Rio leaned over to kiss her again, soft this time, like the morning was just getting started and they had all the time in the world.

“Love you. You hot, crazy mermaid goddess” Rio said as she hopped out.

“Love you more, nerd. Don’t burn the shop down thinking about quantum physics”

“No guarantees!”

**

It took Rio two more episodes to write an email.

The email.

She deleted at least seventeen drafts. Some were too professional , some were way too intense and one of the drafts was justa simple ‘Hi, I think you rewired my brain. Is that normal?’ very gay, very chaotic, just like her.

In the end, sleep deprived and over caffeinated, she hit send.

Subject: Your voice messed me up (in a good way?)

Hi.

Sorry if this is weird. Scratch that, it is weird. But I figured if anyone appreciates weird things, it’s probably you.

I found your podcast by accident and now I’m... hooked? Obsessed? Enchanted? All of the above? You talked about blue light and false memories and now I can’t look at the sky without thinking about ghost thoughts.

I don't know what I expected when I clicked, but I definitely didn’t expect you. The way you explain things it’s like listening to someone cast spells. But instead of Latin and candles, it’s quantum theory and sarcasm.

I’m not a scientist. I’m barely a functioning adult (though I own a flower shop in LA, anyways) But I can’t stop thinking about your voice. Not in a creepy way. Seriously, it’s like warm thunder. (Okay, maybe a little in a creepy way)

Anyway, I just wanted to say thank you. You made my insomnia... weirder, but better. That feels important somehow.

I was wondering if you could recommend any books for someone like me? Someone who wants to know more, but gets overwhelmed by words like ‘quantum’ and ‘thermodynamics’ and can’t spell ‘photosynthesis’ without autocorrect.

Thank you for making me feel curious again. That’s rare, and I don’t take it for granted.

Yours in respectful fascination,

—Rio Vidal

(not a stalker, probably)

Then she did what any self respecting lunatic would do, she slammed her laptop shut, buried her face in her pillow, and screamed into it.

“WHY DID I SEND THAT?”

Because she couldn’t not.

Because she needed Agatha Harkness to know that someone out there was listening too hard, feeling too much, and falling maybe a little bit in love with someone they’d never met.

And somehow, even as embarrassment bloomed in her chest, she hoped Agatha would write back.

Just once.

Even if it was to say ‘Stop romanticizing my podcast, you weirdo’

Because even that would mean Agatha had read it. Had noticed her. Even for a second.

Meanwhile 4,615.1 km away

On the other side of the country Agatha Harkness’ morning routine was as precise as the orbital mechanics she lectured on.

Up at 6:30. French press coffee , feed her bunny Señor Scratchy who waited by his ceramic bowl like a judgmental little goblin at 6:50. Cross-reference lecture notes and update her reading list by 7:30. Podcast recording at 8, if scheduled. Then Ralph.

Ralph came in, as he always did, with the Times tucked under one arm and a small kiss tucked under the other. A ritual of smiles and paper and the creak of hardwood floors in their sunlit kitchen.

He leaned over her shoulder, peering at her screen. “Another hate email from flat earthers?”

“No” Agatha said with mild surprise “Actually… this one’s lovely”

Ralph, reading over her shoulder, gave a low whistle “She’s flirting with your atoms, love”

“Don’t be absurd” Agatha said, though her lips twitched “She’s just-she sounds sincere. Curious”

“Mmhm” Ralph said, sipping his tea “She also thinks your voice is warm thunder. Which, by the way, is extremely accurate”

Agatha swatted him gently “It’s a sweet note. That’s all”

Señor Scratchy thumped a foot dramatically and flopped onto his side like the little drama queen he was.

“Oh, alright” Agatha muttered, pushing back from her desk “Breakfast for all of you, apparently”

After feeding her fluffy demon she finally sat and opened the email again, this time writing her answer.

Subject: RE: Your voice messed me up (in a good way?)

Hi Rio,

I almost didn’t open this. Your subject line made me think it was either fan mail or a threat. Turns out it’s a little of both.

You’re right—it is weird. But I don’t mind weird. Weird is more honest than most people manage to be.

Thank you for listening. And for writing. I don’t usually respond to these kinds of emails (I’m allergic to flattery and people in general), but something about yours… lingered.

I read it at 4 am, which felt appropriate. I’d just finished editing an episode then I opened my inbox and there you were, a florist in Los Angeles, talking about ghost thoughts and insomnia.

Entanglement’s a funny thing, isn’t it?

As for the books recs I would suggest starting with Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, if you haven’t already. It’s poetic, accessible, and full of wonder. Mary Roach’s books ,especially ‘Packing for Mars’ are both humorous and scientifically rigorous. And if you want something more personal, Lab Girl by Hope Jahren is a beautiful account of life in science.

Anyway. If you’re ever in Connecticut, let me know. I’ll take you to the planetarium. It’s one of the few places here that still feels like the universe gives a damn.

Take care,

—Agatha H.

P.S. Your line about not being a stalker was exactly what a stalker would say.

It would be strange to say that this email left Agatha a bit puzzled. She was used to receiving them every day, but why was this one different?

Rio had written like she already knew her, not in the creepy way, despite the stalker joke, but like someone who’d spent enough late nights with her voice in their ears that it became part of the wallpaper of their life. Familiar. Background. Essential.

Agatha leaned back in her chair letting out a long sigh.

“Ready to leave?” Ralph took her out of her concentration.

She stood up and planted a kiss on his cheek “Yes, let me just pack this and I catch you outside”

Friday mornings at Yale were a predictable chaos, over caffeinated undergrads arguing about Aristotle or thermodynamics while tripping over their own egos. The air smelled like mulch and ambition, and the sun filtered lazily through gothic archways like it hadn’t made up its mind about showing up yet.

Agatha walked effortlessly chic across the quad, dark sunglasses on, black trench fluttering behind her like some sort of science noir anti-heroine. Ralph lagged half a step behind her, sipping from his stainless steel mug like a man deeply at peace with not being on time.

“Jesus, Ags” he muttered, adjusting the strap on his battered satchel “you walk like you're trying to outpace a war crime”

“Maybe I am” she shot back “Have you seen the first years’ physics essays this week? Some of them think gravity is a government hoax”

“You say that like it’s worse than the time someone turned in a lab report written entirely in emojis”

Agatha groaned “That girl’s now in pre-med. God help her future patients”

They reached the stone steps of the Physics and Astronomy Building. Ralph held the door for her with a flourishing bow.

“Weekend plans?” he asked as they stepped into the cool, marble-lined hall.

“I was thinking… bookstore run saturday, maybe finally reorganize the disaster that is our guest room?”

He made a sound like a dying man “You promised we’d go see that terrible 80s sci-fi movie. You made me swear, Agatha”

“Oh, right. Shit. I did” She paused, mouth quirking “Fine. I’ll buy the popcorn. You can bring your existential dread”

They kissed and parted ways near the staff lounge, Ralph to his Creative Writing seminar, Agatha to inflict reality on her unsuspecting undergrads.

Later, she stood at the front of the lecture hall, scrawling equations on the blackboard like she was trying to summon a very elegant demon. Her handwriting was precise, slanted, sharp enough to cut.

“…and that, dear masochists, is why Newton was both a genius and a petty bastard”

Laughter rippled through the room. Even the dead eyed ones in the back cracked a smile.

“Your problem sets are due Monday. No excuses. If your grandma dies again, she’d better rise from the grave and submit it herself”

There was some nervous chuckling. One student raised a tentative hand.

Of course it was Billy.

Tall, skinny, looked like he hadn’t seen sunlight since 2007. Emo as fuck, eyeliner smudged just right, like he'd rolled out of a Evanescence music video and decided class was the next stop on his emotional spiral.

And her best friends son, her godson.

“Dr. Harkness, is it true you once taught a seminar entirely in Latin?”

Wanda, her mom, had told him that and expected him to brought it up in the most random moment.

“Only because a student dared me,” she said without turning around “He dropped the class after week two. Coward”

Her students laughed and she finally dismissed them. She headed to the faculty lounge to grab a bite before her next class.

“Someone’s brooding” Wanda said as she slid into the chair across from Agatha, two coffees in hand.

Beloved history teacher, redhead menace and best friend.

Agatha glanced up, deadpan “Wanda, I love you, but I will pour that hot espresso in your shoes”

“Threats, already? It’s not even lunch”

Wanda shoved one of the coffees toward her and sat, tugging off her crimson scarf with the casual glamour of a woman who once led a student protest that turned into a small riot.

She taught European history, specialized in revolution, so that tracks.

“So what’s got your lab coat in a twist?” Wanda asked “Ralph being too charming? Department meeting from hell?”

Agatha hesitated for a moment to answer, she wasn't sure if she wanted to share this email thing, having Ralph teasing her was enough. But she knew Wanda wouldn’t give her a minute of peace if she didn't speak quickly.

“I got an email, at four in the morning, a girl…from LA”

Wanda grinned wickedly “Another nerd gruppie, scandalous”

“You’re an actual pain in the ass” Agatha muttered, but she couldn’t keep the small smile off her face.

“I mean, maybe. But she’s…just another one, she is curious about things and kinda funny and asked for book recommendations, but she was sincere”

Wanda nodded a little bit unsure that it wasn’t nothing because Agatha's cheeks were visibly growing pink.

“She also complimented on my voice, she said it was like a storm”

“Sounds like she might have a crush, on you”

“It’s not a—I don’t think that”

“Oh honey” Wanda interrupted, sipping her drink “That’s some gay shit over there, and you know that I know about that”

And she was right, Wanda was a heartbreaker back at college, still a little bit of a loser but she knew her game with both, men and women.

I mean, she had just pulled a redhead (yes, another redhead added to the trouble) russian girl she met at a bookstore and sparks fly the moment they look at each other.

Agatha didn’t answer. Just stared down at her coffee, then out the window to the green campus below. Students passed by in groups, life just going on.

“I think I want to meet her. It would be really nice to talk, you know?” Agatha said quietly.

Wanda blinked “What, like…fly to L.A. and surprise her with a telescope? You Have a whole husband right here, remember?”

“No, like… if she ever comes here. Maybe I will show her the observatory, and I know that, it's not like I’m going to run away with her ”

Wanda reached across the table and squeezed her hand “When you know, you know. And you, my dear, are long overdue for a little chaos”

Agatha smiled “Oh dear god, shut up. Don’t tell Ralph, he’s already a pain in the ass teasing me with this”

“I won’t, maybe ” Wanda joked “I’ll tell Señor Scratchy. He’s the real keeper of secrets anyway”

***

Three days passed.

No reply.

Rio told herself it was fine, normal.

Professors were busy.

Podcast hosts were probably inundated with emails from weirdos who fell in love with their voices. She wasn’t special just because she put her heart in an email and sent it across the country like a paper airplane.

Still, every time her phone buzzed, her stomach flipped.

It was a Friday when it finally happened.

Alice was halfway through arranging a bouquet of wildflowers, something soft and chaotic for a bride who claimed she didn’t believe in romance when she heard Rio scream from the shop downstairs.

“YOU WROTE BACK? YOU—OH MY GOD—”

Then, a loud thud.

Alice sighed, paused her music and went downstairs to the basement. She found Rio lying facedown on the floor in the middle of the flower cooler, surrounded by wilted sweet peas and what looked like one of her signature ‘mourning bouquets’

“You okay?” Alice asked, nudging her side with a boot.

Rio just groaned into the concrete “She wrote back. Agatha. Fucking. Harkness”

Alice rolled her eyes “The podcast lady with the sexy librarian voice?”

“Yes”

“The one you said you’d let rearrange your atoms?”

“Yes”

Alice dropped down beside her, legs stretched out in front of her, hoodie sleeves covered in stray glitter from the theater department’s last disaster.

“Show me, unless she sent nudes. Then I require a dramatic reenactment”

Rio shoved her phone at Alice.

Alice read in silence, occasionally raising an eyebrow, until she reached the end.

“Okay” She handed the phone back “You’re either gonna marry her or get a restraining order”

Rio sat up slowly “She invited me to the planetarium”

Alice’s eyes narrowed “That’s gay”

“Right?”

“That’s like queer grad student first base”

Rio laughed, bright and breathless “She said she read my email at 4 am and thought about entanglement. Entanglement, Alice”

Alice flopped dramatically onto the floor again “Ugh. The only thing I get entangled with at 4 am is my mic cables and my anxiety”

Rio looked like she might float off the ground.

She read the email five times.

Then again, almost printed it.

Agatha Harkness.

Agatha fucking Harkness.

Professor, podcaster, verbal sorceress had written back. Not just some generic thank you, not a copy and paste response.

She’d read it.

She’d felt it.

She made a joke. She invited her to the goddamn planetarium.

Somewhere in Connecticut , a woman Rio had never met had read her email at 4 in the fucking morning and thought of her.

“I should go there” she said suddenly “Not right away. Not like... creepy soon. But eventually. She said if I was ever there”

Alice sat up, frowning “You really gonna cross the country for a woman you’ve never met?”

Rio blinked “You literally moved in with a bassist from Portland because she wrote you a love song called ‘Coffin Cutie’ ”

“That song slaps, and you know it”

They sat in silence, surrounded by the scent of eucalyptus and damp hope.

Suddenly, the front doorbell dragged them back to reality like a bucket of cold water to the face.

“Any gay home?” Carol’s voice rang out, sugar-sweet and loud as hell.

“Basement!” Alice screamed, still half-cracking up.

Carol poked her head into the cooler a second later, eyebrows already doing the thing.

“Why the fuck are you losers hanging out in here? You think standing next to peonies is gonna make you one?”

Alice smirked “She got a reply from Dr. McHottie and had a gay little meltdown”

Rio let out a mortified groan and covered her bright-pink face with both hands like she was trying to disappear into the goddamn floor.

“Oh my god, for real?!” Carol gasped, eyes sparkling with way too much delight “What’d she say? Read it. Read it now. I wanna swoon with you”

Rio, still dying slowly, lifted her phone with shaky hands and reread the email like it was a spell she couldn’t break out of. She tried not to choke on her own breath, but every fucking word felt like a punch to the chest, in a good way. A really hot, terrifying, sexy way.

“Dear Ms. Vidal” she started, immediately gagging “Kill me. She called me miss Vidal, like I’m a real person”

Carol snorted “That’s literally your last name, babe”

“Shut up” Rio hissed, waving her phone.

“Babe, this is so fucking cute. Your sexy ass science professor knows you exist”

Rio buried her face in Carol’s shoulder and let out a muffled scream “I’m never writing another email again”

“Nope, too late” Carol said, grinning “Now you have to respond. Something hot. Like, ‘Dear Dr. Harkness, I am free on tuesdays and emotionally vulnerable always’”

“I hate you”

“You love me. Now lemme see that email again. I wanna overanalyze every punctuation mark and pretend I’m not lowkey shipping this”

“Bitch, how are you not jealous?” Alice teased, clearly making fun of her friends

“You are about to become a divorced surfist because a hot professor from the other side of the country is about to steal your very chaotic gremlin”

Carol just grinned wider “A little. But like… if it becomes a whole thing, I kill you okay?”

Rio chuckled and kissed her cheek “Yes ma’am”

Alice stood up “Alright, I think it’s time we get back to work, unless Dr. Science plans on covering our rent, we still have a business to run”

Rio, still pink-faced and vibrating, slumped against a shelf with a half-sigh, half-squeal “I think I’m in love with a voice”

Carol kissed her cheek “You’re such a nerd. It’s hot”

Alice had just turned to go back upstairs when Rio stopped her with a sudden, sharp inhale.

“I’m gonna write back”

Carol’s brows shot up “Now?”

“Yeah. Why not? She said I could let her know if I was ever in Connecticut. I could say something chill. Cool. Totally non unhinged. Like, ‘Sounds nice, I’ll keep it in mind’ you know? Something a person with a functioning nervous system would say”

“Okay, baby. You are now just into a full blown gay spiral”

“No no no, I got this. I’m gonna be breezy. Casual. Cool girl energy. I’m gonna be so fucking smooth it’s gonna be like I’m made of aloe vera”

“Jesus Christ” Carol plucked a tulip from a nearby bucket and handed it to Rio like it was a mic “You got this, champ”

Rio stared at her phone for a long moment, then began typing. Slowly. Carefully. With the energy of someone walking a tightrope suspended over a pit of very gay sharks.

Subject: RE: RE: Your voice messed me up (in a good way?)

Hi Dr. Harkness,

This made my whole week. Possibly my whole month. Okay fine, my whole existence.

Thanks for writing back. I promise I’m not actually a stalker, though that’s probably also what a stalker would say. Touché.

Entanglement is weird and beautiful and a little spooky, which is exactly my vibe. And 4 am is exactly the right time to read confessions from strangers with flower shops and abandonment issues.

Connecticut sounds terrifying, but the planetarium? That sounds like a place I’d actually like to meet the universe halfway.

Anyway, thank you for the book recs! And if I ever find myself over there, I’ll let you know.(Or I’ll chicken out and just send you more weird emails at 4am. Who’s to say.)

Take care,

—Rio

P.S. If this turns into a restraining order situation, please at least make it poetic. Something like “Entangled Beyond Consent”

She stared at it. Then let Carol read it. Then made Alice read it. Then read it out loud one more time.

“Should I send it?”

“Obviously” Alice said.

“Do it, you coward” Carol added.

Rio squeezed her eyes shut… and hit send.

Then immediately hurled her phone into the counter like it was on fire.

“Okay” she whispered to herself, smiling like an idiot “Now we wait again”

Carol leaned over and kissed her on the lips “You’re completely fucked”

“Yup”

“And it’s kinda beautiful”

Rio closed her eyes and let her thoughts fly. Somewhere out there Agatha Harkness was real.

She existed.

She answered.

And now, she was waiting too.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

The fandom can't make up its mind on what's supposed to be a joke and what's supposed to be serious because the show can't either half the time. It's a tonally disjointed mess that wants to have absurd over-the-top humor as well as a plot and moments of drama, romance, and angst that demand you see the characters as people and feel for what they're going through. Except you can't do that without also treating the dumb bullshit in a somewhat grounded way. Like, you're still dealing with the same characters. You can't just go "Oh, that? Let's ignore that!" the moment it's no longer convenient to you. You've opened this can of worms and now you have to sleep in it. So, every character flip-flops between two different versions of themselves depending on what the writers need in any particular scene.

This is not to say surreal humor can't be used right alongside characters you're supposed to empathize with, Teen Titans (not Go) did that and it worked. It's just that the absurdity can only come from the setting (Mad Mod, Mother Mae-Eye, pretty much anything Control Freak is in) or from designated joke characters (Date With Destiny). Teen Titans never had the main characters acting in clearly absurd ways as the butt of a joke unless those characters were brainwashed somehow, because the writers knew that would ruin any of the more grounded moments they wanted to write. The writers of Miraculous missed the memo on that one.

I don't disagree. A perfect example is Derision where the show takes all of the bad jokes about Marinette's crush and decides to take them seriously as if you can possible take them seriously without making Marinette come across as unhinged and dangerous. You can't, which brings us to the topic at hand: how do you even begin to understand these characters when the show is constantly making character-breaking choices?

My approach - and the approach I recommend others take if they're going to keep watching the show - is to focus on the characters' cores and reject anything canon does to violate those cores. I don't argue for this stance because I love the characters so much that I only want the good things to count. I take this stance because, if you don't, then the characters fall apart. There is no way to make them work as fully realized characters while embracing every choice canon has made. Miraculous has massive characterization issues that go well beyond the humor.

For example, Adrien has multiple moments of terrible behavior that are played in a serious manner such as the moment in the episode Frozer where he tries to start a fight with Ladybug in the middle of an akuma attack because she wouldn't accept a rose from him earlier:

Setup

Ladybug: I can't accept this rose from you. I told you already. I'm in love with someone else. Cat Noir: I know, M'lady. But if he weren't here, would things be different between us? Ladybug: Well, you know, I can't even begin to imagine him not being here. I'm sorry, Cat Noir. I really gotta get going, and you better do the same. (Swings her yo-yo to head back home; Cat Noir is sad, looking downwards, with one petal of the rose falling.)

Payoff

Ladyice: Cat Noir. We need to set up a trap for whoever turned the city into a giant ice rink. (throws yo-yo) Icecat: (bitterly) My feline instincts prefer to track and observe before I attack. You go your way, I'll go mine. Ladyice: Please don't tell me you're mad at me about the rose. Icecat: There may be a certain chill now between us. Ladyice: I get it, but we should really focus on saving Paris right now. Icecat: We don't always have to do everything together, after all. It's not like we're a couple. (skates away)

There's no way to argue this off as a bad joke. While Adrien has every right to feel hurt, those feelings don't excuse him acting like a pouting child in the middle of an akuma fight. It doesn't excuse him acting like this at any point! Ladybug is not a villain for telling him no. She wasn't even mean about it!

I clearly fully agree that Adrien looks awful and selfish here, but I'd still argue that it's not something that should be used to define Adrien's character if your goal is to tell the "ideal" version of Miraculous. "Ideal" being the version that canon seems to be going for based on the overall picture we can sort of make out if we back way, way, way up and look at the extremely abstract picture canon is clumsily painting.

Unless canon is going to do something monumentally stupid, Adrien is Marinette's endgame romantic interest. It's also clear that there is no plan to cut him from the team. He's going to be Chat Noir for the rest of his life or at least well into his adulthood. This means that he is supposed to be a good hero who deserves his miraculous just like he's supposed to be a charming and cute romantic lead. These are the two things I keep in mind when trying to shift through canon to figure out what writing choices I should fully embrace and what writing choices I have to either ignore or treat as true flaws that get an actual character arc. In my book, either approach is fine because most of the characters are deeply flawed at this point and you can't give them all arcs without bloating the story to nonsense levels.

My goal with this approach is never to say, "oh, that moment shouldn't count in terms of how people feel about the character." It's more, "that moment goes so hard against who this character is very clearly supposed to be that I can't take it into account if I want to tell the kind of story that Miraculous is trying (and clearly failing) to tell."

As an example, let's list off Adrien's worst behaviors. The things that make him look terrible:

He sucks at communicating his needs and feelings, leading to multiple moments where he gets mad at Ladybug for things she's totally unaware of

He has quit or considered quitting without warning multiple times and only one of those was because of something he did "wrong" (NYC Special)

He puts his feelings before the safety of Paris on multiple occasions, even going so far to purposely miss akuma fights to see what happens

He is incredibly pushy about his crush, often ignoring Ladybug's feelings on the topic by continuing to bring it up even after she asked him to stop

There have been multiple instances where he almost cataclysmed multiple people in a fit of anger

His love for Ladynette isn't strong enough to let him break free of things like akumas and nightmare dust even when he's looking her in the eyes making him a pretty crappy romantic lead

People will argue that some of this behavior makes sense for his character because of the abuse that canon has technically introduced, but that the writers seem blissfully unaware of. I don't disagree with that argument, but that doesn't change the fact that none of this is acceptable behavior for a hero and Adrien is a hero who keeps doing these things. A sad backstory doesn't give you the right to behave poorly without consequences.

At the same time, if I fully embrace these elements of canon, what I get is an Adrien salt fic where he loses his miraculous for good while Marinette finds her real true love or even just a non-salty fic where Adrien leaves for his own meatal health and gets replaced by someone who can handle being a hero right now. Canon's not writing either of those, so the only way to engage with these flaws while enjoying canon or aiming for the same end goals as canon is to say, "I guess this doesn't count" or "I guess I need to tone this way down and work through it via a character arc" or even "I guess that was just a bad joke maybe?"

That is the essence of what I mean when I call myself a writing salt, character sugar blog. It comes from looking at canon and seeing that there's simply no way to embrace the worst moments and the best at the same time. We're not dealing with a coherent plot and/or complex characters. We're dealing with a nonsense plot that will warp the characters to bizarre shapes to make random ideas work even if those idea go wildly against canon's end goals.

As an example, Glaciator and Frozer should not exist in the same universe or, at the very least, something should explain why Chat Noir randomly changed his stance on Ladybug's crush from acceptance to pushiness. As is, the pieces don't fit together. The behavior is too contradictory. Remember, this is how Glaciator ends:

Perhaps Ladybug will love me someday. I mean, like, I love her. I have to believe. In the meantime, her friendship is the best gift of all.

Where did this version of Adrien go? Why did he regress in Frozer? There's no in-universe reason. It happened because the writers weren't ready to let the love square date or grow close, but they also wanted the love square to cause drama, so Adrien ends up looking terrible just like Marinette ends up looking terrible when it's her turn to cause love square drama. Her terribleness takes a different flavor so it can be hard to realize that this is a systemic issue, but that's what it is. It's deeply frustrating, but it also clearly stems from cheap writing and not quality characterization.

This is also why my stance is that canon as a whole only supports my Doyalistic core-character analysis style of approach. The writing is too poor quality to do Watsonian analysis where you embrace the full picture and try to put it all together. The closest I'll get to Watsonian analysis is pointing out how much the writing botches a Watsonian take by showing you all the way the writing contradicts itself, twisting into a nonsense pretzel of frustration where the payoffs never satisfy! (See the season four rant for an example or anything where I talked about Chloe's supposed damnation arc.)

There are even characters where canon is such a total mess that you can Doyalistically argue for two separate takes! Gabriel is a perfect example. He is all over the place and his ending was so poorly handled that you can make strong arguments for writing him as a cold-hearted villain or a sympathetic villain without the end result feeling like it spits in the face of canon because both takes maintain his one core element: villain.

That's the big thing I keep in mind when I look at the characters and the lore and the plots and try to come up with versions that the average fan would like. I don't think that there's one true version of any of these things, but I do feel comfortable saying that there are versions that will very clearly only appeal to people who are salty about a specific thing that canon did poorly. That's not who I want to appeal to in my adaptions, so while I'm not going to argue that those takes have no backing in canon, I will argue that those takes are not supported by canon as a whole. Embracing them requires you to take the worst parts of canon at face value while ignoring what canon is clearly trying to do with the overall story.

I get the appeal of that, but it's not fun for me because that approach feels like rolling around in the mud with the pigs. I don't want to sink to canon's level! I want to have fun! That's why I talk about how to make canon into its best self, not its worst self. If you want its worst self, just go watch the actual show. I will be shocked it if disappoints you.

[mbirnsings-71]

"I will fall in love with you, over and over again."

"'Would you fall in love with me again?' The question is spoken quietly, even though there's no need for quiet, but something about how gently it's asked shakes Eddie. 'You ask that as if I would ever fall out of love with you, Buck.' 'Haha very funny, now humor me. Would you fall in love with me again?'" -------------------------------------- Basically Buck asks Eddie a question and Eddie answers it as best as he can for him.

Fandom: 9-1-1 (TV)

Pairing: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)

Tags: Cuddling & Snuggling, Evan "Buck" Buckley Has Abandonment Issues, Evan "Buck" Buckley Has Self-Worth Issues, if you squint cause like it's just a throw away sentence but yeah, Eddie Diaz Loves Evan "Buck" Buckley, Evan "Buck" Buckley Loves Eddie Diaz, they just love each other basically, that's it that's the whole fic they just love each other, and reassure each other that they would always love each other, No Beta We Die Like Buck did for three minutes and 17 seconds, or how Bobby did for like 15 minutes, Post-Episode: s08e08 Wannabes (9-1-1 TV), cause I mention it soooooo yeah gotta tag that appropriately, Canon Compliant, Kissing, just one kiss but it should be tagged, One Shot, Praying they aren't super OOC! We will see, first published work in this fandom so please be nice!

Complete | 1,714 words | Read on Ao3

[not-so-innocent-bi-sander]

.

[eggs-can-draw]

Broooooo these fics in my google docs are so banger can’t wait for them to update

[astrolotte]

Genuinely intrigued by the potential of Peri and Irep's dynamic but only in a platonic way so I end up not vibing with the fandom's portrayal of it 😔😔😔

(No but listen LISTEN they were kinda-almost-friends when we last saw them in FOP, yeah? Now they're enemies, with both actively fighting each other, and Irep going so far as to try and kill Peri's parents. What happened? When? What influenced it? Did they ever become friends, or did it nosedive the moment the cameras turned off? What about Sammy? How do Irep's parents factor into this? Could it ever be fixed? There's just so much we haven't seen, and romance just feels like too easy a solution to me. Let their friendship be easy to break, fragile. Let them have to work to keep the connection. Fairies and Anti-Fairies are literally made to be opposites, so what happens when two genuinely and truly become friends?)

((and yeah I guess a lot of this could factor into a romantic angle but ALAS the fandom seems to be leaning heavily into the funny toxic yaoi angle 😔 I don't mind it! By all means, please have your very harmless fun! But it ain't my jam :P Perhaps I'll have to write a oneshot myself...))

(((see tags for more rambles i guess. whoops a bitch spoke too much in there as he always does)))

[dervampireprince]

when you read your own than/ares fic and remember how much you love ares unexpectedly being soft and insecure and he's afraid of hurting than, whereas than's just been staring at ares arms all day and can't stop thinking about getting fisted and how full he'd feel and asks ares and ares is so concerned that he's going to hurt thanatos but they prepare thanatos well and he takes ares fist and ares just watching in awe that someone trusts him this much to want and have his hands that have wrought so much inside of them. so yeah just those thoughts going around in my head while I'm sick.

[dni minors, dni blogs that have no 18+ age listed in their bio]

[dsntwrk]

help me i've gotten so deep into the steddie rabbit hole i haven't gotten this stuck on something since destiel

this really isn't good for my health

THESE ARE THE FICS THAT I SUBSCRIBED TO / LIKED READING (I'VE BASICALLY READ 1/5 WORTH OF STEDDIE FICS COMPARED TO DESTIEL FICS - I GOT INTO DESTIEL 4 YRS AGO, I ONLY STARTED READING STEDDIE FICS SOME TIME LAST MONTH WTF)

tbf, i have taken breaks from destiel to read other fandoms/fics so, ig the timing works out? if you think about it?

[seiwas]

counting today as a small win bc it’s the most i’ve written in a while 🥺

[rearranging-deck-chairs]

13/15 is fun right bc he needs to be touched so so so bad bc she basically touch starved herself to death and she neeeeeeeeeeeds his body she Needs his body but no way in a million years do they have the framework to interpret that need as what it is so they assume it's sexual, right? it's gotta be. i need to be inside you bc i need to be touched bc im my own type bc the trust issues are Dire so just fuck me until ive forgotten im a person or remembered how to be one. right?

until one day like weeks months way longer than it should be into this self-destructive self-actualisation self-care routine theyre lying on the floor of the console room catching their breath and she goes "do you think.....do you think pythia's curse is still in effect or is this gonna be a problem"

and hes like "fuck! susan"