#kind of annoyed it's ANOTHER charger i have to keep track of though
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Finally trying a (cheap) nail grinder on Tassie since she's become so avoidant to the clippers, and while there are some things I don't like about it (good GOD it takes forever) the fact that she's not as avoidant is already a huge plus. Graduated to doing both front paws tonight before stopping and it seemed to be an overall positive experience. Biggest complaint is again, the time it takes to grind a nail down (two weeks since last trimming, did not get close to the quick tonight to make sure I didn't cause any negative associations), and the dust buildup makes it difficult to see if I am getting to the gel cap.
If she continues to sit for it though it'll be worth the money I spent on it. She has a few nails that are getting super thick despite regular trimmings and the clippers do not trim them cleanly and probably with significant discomfort. Plus those three claws that have the super long quicks for no reason that I constantly forget what nails they're in and accidentally snag her. Definitely hoping this ends up being the secret ingredient.
#tassie#german shepherd dog#gsd#puppy stories#she will sit nicely for nail trimmings#but the last few she's been trying to tug her foot out of my hands and it's made me quick her by mistake#this grinder was on sale for pretty cheap so i figured i'd try it#hatchet's a later project he's still good for the clippers#once i get tassie sorted we'll work on him#kind of annoyed it's ANOTHER charger i have to keep track of though
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Weevo P2
Media - Star Wars Original Trilogy Character - Luke Skywalker (Original Trilogy) Couple - Luke X Reader Reader - Y/n Rating - 18 + cuddling / nudity / kissing / grinding / undressing / spanking / fingering / love bites / orgasm / Word Count -2336
once inside his room under the sand, she set up the charger for the droid having to bend over in her jumpsuit to do so just as like walked in
Luke slowly walked into the room and his eyes immediately went to Y/n and he stopped in his tracks, admiring the view of her bent over. He watched her as she set up the charger for Weevo and he let out a very quiet hum as he approached her from behind, he didn’t reach out to touch her yet, he just got close enough so she could feel the heat of his body behind her
she picked up the little droid giving him pets and cuddles "okay weevo sleepy time" she cooed an the little droid happily whistled at the cuddles
Luke smiled as he watched her pet the droid and speak to it in a kind voice. He found it a little strange, he would never be so kind and cuddly with droids, but he found it cute when she did it "Are you sure he's gonna charge and not just start whistling at us again?"
"he goes into standby when he changes so until he's fully charged no noises" she answered setting weevo in his charger he let out one more happy whistle before turning into standby mode
Luke sighed in relief when he didn’t start making any noises or sounds. He was glad that the little guy would be quiet for now, hopefully long enough for him to have a little alone time with Y/n "Good, I’ll take your word for it. That little guy can be quite annoying sometimes"
Luke walked over to sit on the edge of his bed
"I think he's sweet and I'm sure he'll give you lots of attention and company next time I'm gone" She smiled,
Luke’s expression softened a bit, she was most likely right. Weevo would probably make good company for him when she was gone, he’d never admit it out loud though
As she began to unzip her jumpsuit, he immediately perked up once he saw purple lace. He looked up at her body as she began to peel off the jumpsuit before she let her hair down, he took in the sight of her almost naked body and he let out a small hum of approval
"Gods... you look so sexy in lace" He couldn’t keep his eyes off of her and he reached out to grab her hand and pull her towards him. He wanted her on his lap and he pulled her until she was standing between his thighs “Come here” he spoke softly, he slowly slid his hands up her bare thighs and rested them against her hips, his thumb tracing the lace around her body
she giggled sitting in his lap and pulling him for another kiss "ohh someone missed me" she smiled shifting her hips
Luke let out a small huff of a laugh at her words and pulled her in close so she was straddling his lap. He wrapped his arms around her waist as she shifted her hips against his “Of course I missed you. I always miss you when you’re gone” he said against her lips before kissing her again. He pulled away for a beat and looked up at her with a pouty face “It’s really hard when you’re gone”
"it seems hard when I'm back too" she smirked shifting her hips harder
Luke’s face flared up red at her words and he groaned as she shifted her hips again against his. The smirk on her face was definitely cheeky, she was doing this on purpose. He shifted his hips up in response and moved his hands to grip her ass “You are doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”
"maybe" she smiled
Luke let out a frustrated sigh with a playful huff and he began to slowly push her down onto the bed. He hovered over her and leaned down to whisper in her ear “Teasing me like this when we haven’t seen each other in six months… naughty girl”
she giggled as she ended up laid on her stomach on his bed playfully squirming her hips
Luke immediately noticed her squirming hips from his place hovering above her and he quickly grabbed her hips to stop her from moving like that. He pressed his body down against hers to keep her still as he leaned up to whisper into her ear again “Stop moving like that. You know what it does to me.”
"oh? Enlighten me" she smirked arching her back to press her ass against his hips
The feeling of her ass against his hips, even through the fabric of his pants made him groan against her ear and he gave her a frustrated huff, he knew she was doing it on purpose again. “You know exactly what you’re doing when you move like that. You want me to get worked up, don’t you?”
she chuckled "maybe" she smirked unclipping her bra
Seeing her begin to take off her bra, Luke couldn’t help but to give her butt a little swat,“Definitely doing this on purpose.” He let out a huff of a laugh before he leaned his head down to place little kisses and bites at the back of her neck
she gasped at the swat shifting herself more squirming under him as she tossed her bra to the floor With her bra now tossed to the floor and no longer being obstructed, he began to kiss down her back, slowly trailing lower and lower, nibbling at her skin as he went. He wanted to mark her with little love bites. She’d be away again soon, he wanted to make sure she had something to remember him by
While he continued to kiss and mark her back, his hands began to slowly wander, slowly trailing over her skin, before he paused for a moment. His fingers found her lace panties and he paused for a minute, before slowly running his hands over the lacy fabric
she gasped and whined at his touching already squirming and whining
Luke chuckled at her squirming and whining at his touch. He loved how desperate she was already, and he’d only been touching her for a few minutes. He continued to slowly move his hands over her lacy panties, rubbing against her skin through the fabric “Gods, you’re so sensitive. It’s like you’ve been craving my touch”
"I've been away six months, I can't help missing... Parts of you"
Luke smiled against her skin, gently nipping at her shoulder as he heard her words. He paused his touching and leaned up to speak into her ear “I can tell. You’re already so needy for me, and I’ve barely touched you.” He chuckled softly as he moved back to gently kiss and nibble at her neck again As he shifted on the bed, he slowly began to slide his hand underneath the lace of her panties until his fingers were touching her skin. He kept his touch slow and teasing, just barely hovering over her. ”Is this the part of me you’ve been craving?”
she squealed and moaned in agreement
Luke smiled at her squealed moan of agreement and he slowly began to tease his fingers over her, still being slow and gentle as he wanted to tease her even more. “You’re so sensitive… it’s so cute. I love how fast you start to whimper for me” He took his time to tease and explore with his fingers, listening to the little noises she made as he touched her in all the right places. He continued to place kisses and bites on her skin, making sure to leave visible marks in his way as he continued. ”Gods… I missed this. Missed touching you and making you moan for me”
Y/n arched her back hard purposely raising her hips as she squealed for attention
Luke chuckled as he noticed her arch her back and raise her hips to him. He could tell she was getting impatient, and he couldn’t help but be a little smug. “Impatient are we? You’re such a needy girl. Always demanding for my attention, aren’t you?” He continued to keep his touch slow and gentle, he wanted to tease and rile her up just a little more. He loved listening to her needy noises and seeing her move her hips. He wanted her to be begging for him. “I want you to be whining and begging for me before we can get to the best part”
she screamed biting on the pillow as she began to have her need physically dripping down her legs
Luke heard her screams muffled against the pillow and he chuckled as he continued to touch her. He noticed the wetness between her legs and he let out a low groan, knowing she was already so wet just for him “Oh gods… you’re so wet and needy right now. I haven’t even started” He continued to touch her, applying a little more pressure as he listened to her moans and whines, getting more and more impatient by the second “Tell me what you want, baby. I want to hear you beg for me”
"Luke please... I've missed you so much, please, please" she begged
Luke hummed softly at her words, and smiled at the sound of her begging. He loved hearing the desperation in her voice as she pleaded and pleaded for him “You’re so desperate aren’t you baby? So needy for me. How badly do you want me?”
she squealed already getting close
Luke chuckled as she squealed, he knew she was getting close and he was going to continue to tease her until she couldn’t take it anymore “You’re right on the edge, aren’t you baby? Just need a little bit more friction to push you over the edge?”
she nodded as she desperately gasps her fingers clawing the sheets
He smiled, noticing her nodding desperately and how her fingers were clawing at the sheets of the bed. He began to apply a little more pressure and friction against her, listening to her little gasps and whines “You’re so close, baby. Just let go and let me make you feel good. I want to feel you fall apart in my hands”
she squealed and screamed "Luke please im-"
Luke smiled as he heard her little squeals and screams, he knew exactly what she was trying to say and he wanted to hear her say it in full “Please what? Baby, use your words. Tell me what you need”
"to come." She begged
Luke hummed and gave her a smile, satisfied to finally hear her say the words out loud ”Then come for me, baby” He began to increase the speed and pressure of his fingers, wanting to push her over the edge and listen to her fall apart
she screamed her voice breaking, her body trembling against the bed, his hand immediately was soaked as was her panties and his bed, her thighs clamp around his hand and she immediately became breathless
Luke watched as she screamed and gasped and trembled against his bed, body shaking and thighs clamping down against his hand. He continued to touch her, continuing to help her ride out her climax as she came undone in his hands. Once she began to settle, he slowly removed his hand from her and sat up on the bed to look at her “Gods… you’re a mess”
she gasped desperately "screw... You... I- I've been on a ship for six months... And I can't even do it myself... In case of emergencies... You've been here in the sand with nothing to do..."
He chuckled as he looked down at her panting form, he couldn’t help but feel smug as he spoke “Well I guess that’s true. I’ve been here alone all this time, while you’ve been out in space traveling. I’ve had a lot of time to… take care of myself. I’ve thought about you a lot”
"you did?"
He smiled down at her, noticing the look of surprise on her face. “Of course I did. How could I not? I’m always thinking about you when you’re away”
she smiled and nuzzled onto his chest "I think about you all the time too."
He smiled and wrapped his arms around her, holding her against his chest. He loved having her in his arms again, after being away for so long. He placed a light kiss on the top of her head before he spoke again, ”And trust me, I’ve done my fair share of thinking and taking care of myself while you were gone”
"I'm sure you have," she chuckled "... I wish... You could come with me"
He smiled at her words but a small pang of disappointment and frustration struck him as well. Of course he wanted to go with her, and it was hard to be away from her and not being able to go wherever she was going “…I wish I could too. But you know I have to stay here, take care of the farm and all this stuff. Uncle Owen’s counting on me”
"but... I need you too" she pouted "you really going to stay on this farm forever?"
His expression softened as he looked down at her pouting face. Of course she needed him, just as much as he needed her, and she was always so needy and clingy with him when they were together. It was hard to part ways each time, and he also wishes he could go with her “I know you need me, baby. You’re so clingy with me always”
He chuckled at her pout and sighed before he spoke again “You know I want to leave this place with you more than anything. It’s just… not the right time yet”
she nodded sadly
He noticed her sadness and he frowned at seeing how sad she looked. He didn’t like seeing her sad, and he wrapped his arms tighter around her to try and comfort her, holding her body close to his ”Hey… don’t look so sad. It’ll happen someday, and when it does, I’ll run off with you. No one’s gonna stop us. It just… has to wait a little longer, that’s all. For now, we just have to deal with the separation”
#starwars#star wars#star wars original trilogy#luke skywalker#lukeskywalker#youngluke#originalseriesluke#lukeskywalker x reader#luke skywalker x reader
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An interview during self-isolation with Zane Lowe (Harry Styles x fem!Reader)
Word Count: 2.2k
Author’s Note: I’ve gotten a ton of asks to the tune of this scenario - about what a quarantine video with Harry and his family would look like. I put as many of them together as I could for you all! Hope you enjoy and it’s not too confusing, as this isn’t my typical writing style, but I tried my best to make it worth your while! Take care and TPWK.
“Harry, can ye’ hear me alright?” Harry heard Zane Lowe’s voice fill his right ear as he readjusted his headphones.
“Yeah, I can hear ya,” he responded, running his fingers through his hair once everything was situated and his laptop was balanced perfectly on his knee.
“I’ve just been video calling and chatting it up with everyone on how they’re navigating the pandemic, so I’m very thankful you’ve agreed to join in.”
“‘S no problem. Thank you f’ having me.”
“Oh!” Zane interjected his own strain of thought, “I see you’ve brought a special guest for us today,” he said when Harry’s screen finally focused and he was able to see everything on Harry’s end.
Harry chuckled, the dimples on either corner of his mouth growing wider at the mention of the sleeping body on his chest that’s got a fuzzy blanket tucked into their sides and draped over Harry’s upper half.
“I have,” Harry agreed, “Though he’s not gonna be worth much. Being a two-year-old is exhausting apparently.”
He gave the toddler a few gentle pats on the back and continued to look at Zane through the webcam.
“This is your son, right?” Zane asked.
“Who? Him?” Harry asked, nodding his head in the direction of his child, “Nah. Found him on the street.”
Both men laughed, but Harry tried to lower his volume as to not wake up his son.
“Well, he looks an awful bit like you t’ be a stray, don’t ye’ think?”
“I suppose the curls are quite convincing, aren’t they?” Harry sighed, playfully rolling his eyes.
“What’s brought your bubs along with you for this interview?”
“Erm,” Harry thought, wondering if he should be talking this much about his personal life but ultimately deciding it wasn’t too invasive, “Y/N’s been pretty tired lately, so I’m just trying to keep him out of her hair so she can rest. He’s going through a phase where he’s very clingy right now so he’d probably be crying f’ me at some point if I left him in his room.”
“Oh, that’s right!” it suddenly dawned on Zane, “You two are expecting again, aren’t you?
“We are,” Harry smiled softly yet proudly into the screen, “‘s kinda scary for us right now, but we’re hoping everything is cleared up before it’s time.”
“Yeah, yeah. I was just about to say right now’s probably not the greatest time to be havin’ a baby.”
“Well, the baby’s not due for a few more months so I think everything’ll be alright, but it’s still just kinda nerve-wracking ye’ know?”
“Absolutely,” Zane added, “This has all got t’ be tough on your guys; having to self-isolate with a toddler plus having one on the way.”
“Ehh, it’s not so bad,” Harry countered, rubbing his eyes with his knuckles as he spoke. “We’ve been spending a lot of time t’gether, which is pretty great. I just got done with all of the album promo, so I’d already been gone for a while. Plus, I was about to leave for tour for like a month so we were kinda sad about having to say goodbye before, but now I don’t have to. We talk to our families a lot and keep in touch with everyone pretty regularly so we don’t feel like we’re going too crazy.”
“Good! That’s good.”
Harry nodded in agreement.
“I was going to ask you about tour actually. You’ve pushed the European leg of your Love on Tour to next year, is that correct?”
“Correct.”
“That must be hard for you, I’m sure. I bet you were so ready to get back on the road and to have it all pulled out from under ye’ was probably not the greatest feeling.”
“I mean, it’s obviously disappointing, but like, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not the most important thing in the world. But I think everyone kinda understands that there’s not anything you can do about it and ye’ have to do what you can to keep everyone safe, ya know?”
“For sure,” Zane nodded, readjusting the hat on his head.
“Plus, it gives you time to practice doesn’t it?”
Harry’s belly shook as he laughed softly.
“Definitely gives us plenty of time to be prepar-”
Harry stopped in his tracks and looked down at his son who was still napping away, lifting his hand up from where it had been rested on his tiny bum.
“Everything alright?” Zane asked Harry after he was still quiet for a few seconds and his eyes were as wide as saucers.
“Uhh, yeah,” Harry stuttered as a noticeable heat climbed to his cheeks, “Think m’ son’s just farted on me in his sleep.”
This made Zane laugh even harder than he had before, clutching his chest while Harry remained embarrassed that his son had just passed gas on him during his first interview.
The commotion seemed to stir Harry’s son from his sleep. His pudgy legs began to stretch against Harry’s chest and his balled-up fists reached up to rub at his closed eyes. Harry seemed to sense some trepidation, like his son was going to start fussing at any given moment, so he quickly began bouncing his small body against his knee to soothe him and shushed him quietly in his ear. Zane didn’t draw much attention to it, but he couldn’t help but swoon over how easily Harry’s son settled back down.
Harry whispered, “’s alright, bubby. You’re alright,” before kissing the top of his curls gently, no doubt making the viewers lose their minds at home with how gentle he was being towards his boy.
“So your boy farts himself awake, huh?” Zane joked.
“Wouldn’t be the first time. He’s an absolute mess,” Harry added.
“Does he take after you or Y/N?”
Clearly, neither of them were interested in talking about music or tour anymore. Harry’s son had stolen the show, and he wasn’t even conscious.
“A little bit of both I’d say. He’s extremely kind and caring like Y/N, but loves to mess around like me. Can’t really say he got any of Y/N’s looks, though.”
“Absolutely not,” Zane chuckled into his mic, “That one’s all you.”
Harry laughed again, rubbing the tip of his nose with the palm of his hand out of habit.
“Is he excited to be a big brother?”
“Ehh, I think he kinda gets the idea, but not really,” Harry tilted his hand back and forth to symbolize the fact that his toddler could just barely come to grips with there being another baby in his mum’s belly.
“He knows there’s ‘something in mummy’s tummy,’“ Harry noted using air quotes, “And he like, gives Y/N’s stomach kisses all of the time because we tell him to and he sees me do it, but I don’t really think he’s come to grips with it.”
“Well, that makes sense,” Zane responded, “He’s only two.”
“Right, right,” Harry agreed, “But he’s, like, super cuddly and loves his stuffed animals and stuff, so I don’t think he’s gonna have a hard time at all really.”
Just when Zane was going to try to get back on topic with his prepared list of questions he had written up for Harry that didn’t involve his son, there was a commotion on Harry’s end that occurred somewhere beyond the view of the camera.
It was the sound of a door shutting a feet padding against hardwood steps.
“Harry!” a voice called out.
“Have you seen my laptop charger? I’m trying to FaceTime Gem- Oh,” the voice stopped.
“Sorry, baby,” Harry spoke above the laptop screen to whoever had just walked into the room, “Couldn’t find mine and I had t’ talk t’ Zane.”
“Which Zane?”
“Is that Y/N I hear?” Zane asked Harry.
Harry laughed at his wife’s words, quickly specifying that it was Zane Lowe and not his former bandmate.
“Yes, it is Y/N. She’s awoken from her beauty sleep it appears.”
The camera wasn’t able to pick up the way Y/N rolled her eyes at Harry.
“Gimme one of those,” Y/N demanded, holding her hand out for the other earbud that Harry wasn’t wearing so she could join in on his conversation with Zane.
Harry swung the free earbud around his chest with his free hand as to not disturb their son, smiling smugly at his wife while she settled onto the sofa next to him and cuddled into his side.
“Hello, gorgeous,” Zane greeted her.
“Hello, handsome,” Y/N responded, “How come you never call to talk to me anymore? Why do you only care about this nobhead?”
She playfully shoved Harry’s shoulder, but not hard enough to actually knock him sideways.
“He does have the number one album in the country right now. Kinda makes sense to check in on him now, dunnit?”
“And I’m his baby mama, so where’s my praise for carrying his little spawns?”
“You truly are a saint for tha’ one. I won’t lie.”
Harry feigned offense but failed to hide the smile that tugged on the corners of his lips.
“I’m sitting right here!” he scoffed.
“We know, love,” Y/N cooed him as she looked over at him and brushed his curls that had fallen onto his forehead back into his mess of hair.
“How are you doing, though, Y/N? We talked a bit about you while you were away. Harry said you’re strugglin’ a bit?”
“Umm, I mean, it’s just normal pregnancy stuff,” she dismissed his qualms as she absentmindedly stroked her protruding belly that was just barely in the frame, “I’m at the point where everything hurts all of the time and everything Harry does annoys the piss out of me, but other than that I’m pretty much normal.”
“Goodness. He didn’t tell me that part,” Zane chuckled, “Please elaborate.”
“Okay, well first of all-,” Y/N started.
“Why are you acting like you were just waiting f’ someone to ask you that question?” Harry forced through laughter.
“Because I’ve got a lot to say!” she exclaimed.
“You don’t pick up your dirty clothes, you leave your tea mugs all around the house, and you and your son eat all of my bread!”
“I do not eat all of the bread!” Harry started to playfully argue with his wife.
“I caught you sneaking into the pantry at midnight eating bread right out of the bag, Harold.”
“Well, what were you doin’ awake in the kitchen at midnight anyway, hmm?”
“I’m pregnant. I’m allowed to be hungry every twenty minutes. You’ve got no excuse.”
Harry sighed in defeat, meanwhile, Zane sat back and enjoyed listening to the two of them bickering like children.
“Sounds like the quarantine might getting t’ the both of you, huh?”
“Oh, no,” Y/N dismissed Zane, “We’re always like this.”
Just then, Harry felt the weight distribution on his chest shift, and saw a pair of emerald green eyes identical to his open and look back and forth between him and Y/N. His pudgy cheeks were flushed a warm, crimson color and the t-shirt he had taken a nap in was tugged over to the side from how well he had slept.
“Well, hello there, bubby. Nice of you t’ join us,” Harry spoke calmly to his son that was in the middle of waking up, gently brushing his fingers along the side of his face.
“Dear god. He looks just like you, Harry,” Zane said in disbelief.
This made Harry blush and hide his face in his son’s plush blanket, and Y/N looked lovingly down at her two boys.
“I know he does,” Harry confirmed, “Poor thing.”
Y/N rolled her eyes at Harry’s comment. As if that was meant to be an insult.
“Hung-y,” the three of them heard the toddler mumble.
“What’s that, lovie?” Y/N perked up.
“I hung-y” he repeated, his arms outstretched for his mother to which she happily accepted.
The boy crawled right over Harry towards Y/N, his foot sinking deep into Harry’s gut and making him grunt in reaction.
“You’re hungry?” Y/N asked, “You want some lunch, bubs?”
He nodded into Y/N’s shoulder where he had tucked himself away, clearly still in the mood to be loved on and cuddled.
“Well, let’s go make you something to eat then. What do you want? A banana?”
“Bread!” cheered the two-year-old, which earned a laugh from everyone in the room and an eye-roll from Y/N.
“Of course, you want bread. Wouldn’t expect anything less from your father’s child.”
“Why are you bullying me?” Harry fired back.
“Because you’re eating all of my damn bread!” Y/N yelled before scooping their son up from the couch and teetering out of frame into the kitchen.
“Alright,” started Zane, “Seems like it’s time for me to leave you three alone. Thanks for stopping in t’ chat.”
Harry chortled, readjusting his headphone one last time to sign off.
“Thanks again f’ havin’ me. Sorry my family crashed your interview.”
“It’s no bother at all, mate. ‘S actually quite refreshing seeing ye’ like this. I’m sure everyone watching would agree. Reminds us all that you’re human and not some robot with perfect hair and the voice of an angel.”
Harry hid his face in his hands, blushing for what felt like the thousandth time during this video call.
“I hope you lot continue to stay safe and healthy through all of this.”
“Thank you so much. You as well,” Harry added.
“Of course. Tell Y/N I’ll ring her up soon.”
“Will do,” Harry nodded, “If she doesn’t kill me f’ asking her t’ make me some toast first.”
#harry styles x reader#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles imagine#harry styles one shot#harry styles x pregnant!reader#dad!harry#dad!harry x reader#dad!harry x pregnant!reader
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vertigo
a snippet of a dnf fic i’m kinda working on. 1.8k, canon-ish
Isn’t it strange, how sometimes, certain smells can inspire old feelings, can awaken memories that seemed to be forgotten? The delicate pathways in our brains weaved together in unintended ways, so tight and durable, and yet completely slipping past our radar.
For example, love, to George, smells like oranges.
It’s one of his first ever memories: a Christmas morning two decades ago, the faint tickle of his wool sweater, the subtle warmth of the sun spilling down his back. And his mother’s hands, skin soft and unmarred, neat, rounded nails digging into the orange, carefully peeling it and then splitting its tender flesh. It’s hazy at best, but the smile on her face, his father’s laughter, the sweet juice spilling past his lips—they’re as clear as day still.
He thinks there’s no amount of time that could fade the memory of that warmth from his chest.
So, perhaps George should’ve known his fate since the day Dream told him his shampoo is orange scented.
But then again, who's to say he would've wanted to change a single thing?
“I’ll wear the brightest blue clothes I have,” Dream promises, and George can hear the grin in his voice. He always can, whenever the topic of George’s approaching visit comes up. “So much blue, you’ll want to vomit when you see me.”
“That seems counter-productive,” George answers, giggling when Dream sighs dramatically.
“Fine,” he relents when George quiets down. “It’ll be a mild headache. I’m sure you can deal with that.”
I think I could deal with anything, as long as I get to meet you, George thinks, and despite his fluttering heart and shaking hands, he doesn’t say it.
“I hate you both. This is unfair,” Sapnap speaks up after staying silent for five solid minutes while they talked about the upcoming trip. George practically jumps and starts giggling again. “It is so unfair, you both suck, and I’ll fucking block you. Try me.”
“Oh no,” Dream wheezes out, and the sound of both his and George’s laughter easily conceals Sapnap’s muttered insults and protests.
“C’mon,” George says eventually. “At least you know how he looks like. I’m crossing the ocean to meet a fucking stranger.”
“...fair enough,” Sapnap agrees, and Dream just wheezes harder.
George bites his lip before letting his grin fully unfurl as he stares down at his fidgeting fingers.
I’m meeting him.
He wants to scream. Instead George just gently smacks his forehead on his desk.
Ever since the plans get made, the ticket bought (Dream insists on paying, despite George’s half-assed protests), time seems to move both incredibly fast and insanely slow.
Still, soon enough there’s only a week left to his flight. And yet... George feels like every waking hour takes three more to pass. And it’s not like he can waste the hours away by sleeping, like before.
Now every time he lays down and closes his eyes, all George can think of are warm arms around him. All he can see in his mind is that still blurry face and a mess of dark blonde hair. That wheezy laugh in his ear, the Hello, George that Dream will inevitably whisper, so close that his breath will brush past his skin and set George alight from inside out.
It's already driving George crazy, and he's still almost 7 thousand kilometres away.
He packs his bag, and then pulls it apart while looking for a charger, and packs again, and again, and again, in a seemingly never-ending cycle of anxious fidgeting.
He starts planning three different videos at once and scrapes two of them once he's almost done.
He turns Twitter notifications off, and tries to keep his phone face down on the desk, but as the date creeps closer, it's getting harder and harder. Somehow, he seems to spend even more time talking to Dream, even if before it seemed almost impossible.
Despite his big words, Sapnap isn't actually upset. In fact, he's possibly just as excited as George, which he finds hilarious and annoying at once. And though Dream seems to agree with George, he doesn't try to calm neither of them down, instead just feeding the flames.
Surprisingly, the trio manage to keep the meetup plans from fans; that’s not to say that they don’t sense a new kind of tension between them. Every worried, questioning donation and tweet is hard to ignore, with the way George’s tongue itches with impatience.
For now, it feels too fragile, too private to share, at least until he plants his feet on the Florida soil, until he hears Dream laugh in real life and watches the way his face lights up in real time.
And then, as if no time at all has passed, it's here.
Tomorrow, Dream texts in lieu of goodnight. George flops over in his bed a few times, legs uncomfortably tangled in the sheets, bottom lip between his teeth.
Tomorrow, he answers, and it feels like a promise.
George curls his fingers around his phone, pushing it under the pillow, and then buries his face under it too, cheeks hot from the force of his smile.
That night is full of fitful, anxious sleep, and when George wakes, it’s with a start. He jumps up and stumbles out of bed in panic.
It's so quiet in the apartment—too quiet, too still, like the world itself has paused. His heart is racing as he scrambles through the sheets for his phone.
Did he oversleep? Did he miss the alarm? Did he even set an alarm? The memories of last night are hazy, and George thinks his heart will push out into his throat when his fingers finally brush against glass.
All breath rushes out of him when the screen turns on, a clear 6:41 AM on his lockscreen.
He's fine. The anxiety pulls back, leaving George's muscles weak and sleep-tired, so he slumps on the ruffled sheets.
Thought I overslept, almost had a heart attack, he sends to Dream, fully expecting him to laugh at his expense when he finally wakes up.
To George's surprise, the message gets read immediately.
I would’ve called you :), comes through, and before George can answer, Dream writes again.
I’ll have to call a cab for us. Haven’t slept since yesterday.
George huffs out an amused breath.
Would be a shame to kick the bucket right after meeting you, he replies and closes his eyes, placing the phone on his chest.
Now that the panic from before has subsided, another takes its place, slowly rising up and overtaking his pliant body like a tide.
There it is, the final dance, the last conversation where George can’t imagine the face behind the words; it’s just as frightening as it is thrilling. It’s bittersweet on his tongue, a piece of rotten fruit in his mouth.
He can’t help but wonder—what if it changes everything? What if it’s nothing like he expects? What if Dream realizes he can’t stand George when he can’t just leave the call?
George’s not a kid, he’s not all that naïve, and he’s well aware that people who work perfectly when there’s an ocean between them, can clash horribly once they share personal space. Life isn’t a fairy tale where everything works out perfectly, with a happy ending for everyone tied up in a neat bow.
His phone vibrates, scattering the restless thoughts, and George opens his eyes, pausing for a moment before finally lifting it.
At least I’d die a happy man.
He stares at his phone for a while, heart fluttering so hard, George barely manages to breathe in.
Perhaps he’s stupid enough to believe in good endings anyway.
//
Anxiety, however, smells like sweat and gasoline.
It didn’t always, but now George doesn’t think he could ever be in an airplane and not remember this day. Sitting in a packed airplane, left leg jumping up and down, fingers tightly gripping his elbows, as George stares through the window and waits for the plane to take off. Begging, pleading his mind to change gears, think of anything else but the upcoming moment.
A child whines behind him, some lady argues with the flight attendant, the doors close, the engine starts, and then UK is just a smear of colours underneath him.
He leans back and lets time and space run its course.
The Orlando airport is a mess of sounds and lights that grate on George’s groggy mind as he slowly makes his way to the baggage claim. His phone is quiet, and he can’t help but keep glancing at it, knowing full well there’s no answer to his short I’m here.
Fear firmly grips his throat in a fist, a cruel voice whispering dreadful forecast, no matter how hard George tries to not listen.
He’ll take one look at you, and he’ll see, it promises as George waits for his suitcase to show up. He’ll figure it out, now that there’s no screen to hide behind. And he’ll be disgusted. He’ll ask you to leave.
Dream wouldn’t, George wants to argue; but then again. Just how well does he know Dream?
This is the first time he’ll see him, and they’ve known each other for years now. There could be a stranger behind the screen, one not as kind and wonderful as the Dream he’s used to. One that would—
“George?”
The all-too-familiar voice stops George in his tracks, and his muscles lock up, brain painfully blank as he worries his bottom lip.
Eventually, perhaps after way too long, George turns around.
And there he is.
He’s wearing a navy t-shirt and blue jeans, just as promised, and his smile is so wide it takes up half of his face, and George can’t tear his gaze away from it. He knows he should be exploring the face that’s brand new to him, committing all the features to memory so even weeks later, they’d be perfect and fresh.
And yet, it’s those peach-pink lips he can’t stop staring at, like some stereotypical fool.
“Dream?” he whispers, though his feet don’t dare to move.
“I knew I should’ve worn something brighter,” Dream says. His voice is light, and happy, and he’s coming closer, and George can’t quite breathe in, his chest seized in an iron grip.
He wants to answer with a quip, a joke, the way he could when it was just the two of them in a Discord call, but he realizes any words would be followed by tears; and that’s just not the way to make a first impression.
So, George stays quiet and lets his suitcase drop when Dream wraps his arms around him.
Dream is so warm. The cotton of his shirt is soft underneath George’s palms. He smells like summer, like citrus fruit and the ocean, and George almost instinctively buries his nose in his shoulder.
Dream’s breath stutters near George’s ear.
“I’m so glad you’re here,” he whispers, lips brushing over George’s skin and sending waves of heat and cold down to his toes.
“Me too,” he answers, and pulls his best friend even closer, feeling complete and safe for the first time in a long, long while. “Me too.”
#dreamnotfound#dnf#dnf fic#boy idk i kinda have ideas for more but im just#v bad at actually sitting down and writing lately#anyway posting this after some wine so whoops hope yall like it#dreamwastaken#georgenotfound#dtblrt#mcytblr#prsnl.txt#my fic#also idk if ill keep this title or nah kinda into one word titles but kinda wanna go back to my dumb poetry quotes so we'll see how itll#turn out#my writing
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intermission • v | moonshine
→ summary: When the love letter you wrote and submitted as an assignment is leaked to the entirety of your university, it becomes a race against time to dispel rumours and convince the seven suspected muses of the poem that they aren’t the subject before anyone realises that you are the author. Easy, right? Well… maybe not as easy as you think.
→ pairing: bts x reader (feat. jihope + seokjin) → genre: college!au, crack, fluff, angst → warnings: homoerotic tension (?), delulu shippers, seokjin is a nosy motherfucker (as per usual) → words: 7.3K → a/n: it’s been,, ten million years,, sorry to my fox rain readers but let’s just say my brain has been a smoothie for a while but now!! it is still a smoothie but perhaps a little chunkier ;w; anyway, we love jihope in this household,, and seokjin,, is seokjin,, we love him too
— • masterlist | prev | intermission v | next • —
In a small studio apartment somewhere close to your university campus, notoriously handsome and oh-so-talented Kim Seokjin wakes up in cold sweat, his heart beating a mile a second and a chill running down his spine. “There’s been a disturbance in the force,” he mutters lowly to himself, a drop of sweat making its way down his razor-sharp jaw.
He had been in the midst of a wondrous dream wherein he, the universe’s protagonist, was being showered with praise and adoration after the sensational debut of his autobiographical documentary. Men and women alike were at his feet, peppering his heaven-sent toesies with the worship that he deserves. Everyone was there, even you had been there, his self-declared rival! But just as you were about to reach the head of the line, lips puckered and ready to go, Seokjin was ripped away from his kissies without warning.
You, of course, were not the reason for his mind-bending, earth-shattering, cock-jizzing premature arousal from his slumber. No –– Kim Seokjin does not wake up prematurely, for every moment of his life is a beacon of perfection. Only events of the most catastrophic order were able to wake him up from his slumber, so whatever cosmic force caused him to awaken must’ve been no joke. He had to take this seriously, as it might mean thousands of lives were at stake.
Seokjin jumps to his feet with a flourish, his entire body oozing grace, so much so that it would make any grown ballerina cry. He rushes to unplug his phone from its charger, unlocking it and immediately going to search through his social media accounts. As he scans through the tweets and posts, his well-trained eye sifts through the dreary and the mundane, his only intent to find whatever it is that might forewarn him of a natural disaster.
His follower count is stable. His engagement graphs show that his posts are at an all-time high. To any other novice, this might have been a sign that his gut feeling had been nothing but a fluke. Surely, nothing is wrong in the universe? But no, Seokjin is not some mere amateur! He wouldn’t be as successful at being a prick celebrity social media influencer if he didn’t have the reflexes that he did. He has to keep searching and pick out any little thing that might indicate that something was amiss.
It takes a hot minute (three hours to be exact) for Seokjin to find it, but he does. And oh, his intuition had been right: this was a level nine catastrophe. To give you an understanding of what that might mean, then here’s some context to scale: a level eight catastrophe would be if you ever found that he might have had a crush on you when you first met each other; a level ten catastrophe would be if Kim Seokjin lost all his followers overnight and was forced to relinquish his title as an Instagram baddie. So yes, level nine was dire, if not almost life-threatening.
The evidence?
...
...
To the untrained eye, it might look like nothing. But to a delulu devoted JiHope stan? This was a living nightmare.
Oh god, the signs are all there! The context, the timestamps, the emojis… They all made sense in Seokjin’s complicated maze of a mind. Like a seasoned detective, he’s able to connect all the dots to make a valid hypothesis that yes, JiHope is in danger of breaking up*.
[Addendum: Please note that JiHope has never dated before. Kim Seokjin is a lunatic and the constraints of reality do not apply to those of his kind. Please read the rest of this report with that in mind. Noted by: Min Yoongi.]
“FUCK!” he exclaims (with feeling), dropping to his knees as he cries (with feeling). The signs are all there: something is causing a rift between his two favorite homos* from staying together and he, as the chosen one, must do something to save them before it’s too late.
[Addendum: Well, technically he’s right, but Jimin is bisexual at the very least, but that’s a matter of semantics… But that’s pretty much as “factual” as Kim Seokjin is ever going to get, so let’s take that as a blessing. Noted by: Min Yoongi (again).]
He can’t jump headfirst into this madness, however. He needs a plan; not only did it need to be foolproof, but it also had to be undeniably fabulous and downright heinous. Seokjin never did see himself as the morally right hero from those dreary Marvel comic books despite the allure of their skintight spandex and ostentatious capes. No–– Seokjin is of a higher calling, one where the hero needs to pull his dirtiest tricks in order to save the day.
Which is why Seokjin finds no error in his ways when he decides to stalk Jimin and Hoseok throughout their day, trying to pinpoint which clogs in his JiHope machine need oiling and lubing.
Nothing is ever too much for Kim Seokjin. In fact, he’ll go out of his way to follow them to their homes if he has to, but luckily (for Jimin and Hoseok), he doesn’t need to go that far. In fact, it’s a downright fucking miracle that his intuition from this morning had been correct, made apparent by hour ten (10) of his stalking misadventures:
It’s nearing five in the afternoon. Kim Seokjin’s patience and determination has been put to the test before, but never like this. He could never ever imagine himself setting foot in this damned place, what with its overflowing abundance of knowledge, nerds, and public displays of integrity. He nearly gagged the moment he took one step in the library, and not even the thought of seeing Jimin and Hoseok together was enough to settle the bile climbing up his throat.
To make matters worse, you were there too. Not that Seokjin particularly cares (he does) that you are, but there is something… annoying about seeing you just sitting there, teaching Hoseok like it was normal*.
[Addendum: It is fucking normal. As per usual, Kim Seokjin is a dipshit who has never worked a day in his life and does not understand the notion of helping others study for their courses. To this day, I can’t understand how he’s passing his classes, though I’m kind of afraid of finding out how. Some things are better left… unsolved. Noted by: Min “I’m-not-paid-enough-for-this” Yoongi.]
He had been busy following Jimin around before this, but he was forced to change targets when one of his adoring fans had distracted him while asking for an autograph, causing him to lose track of Jimin entirely. It was of little consequence, however, given that he knows that Jimin was also going to be tutored by you later on anyway, so he just hopes that Jimin doesn’t do something stupid while he’s out of sight for the time being.
Normally, he’d try to find out where Jimin was going next, but the hardest part about following Jimin is that he didn’t have a fixed schedule like Hoseok did. Even Seokjin didn’t quite understand what Jimin was majoring in, and he prides himself in knowing every single detail of both their lives. But for now, it didn’t matter; at least Seokjin was left with one schedule to follow, so it made sense to just let Jimin be and go to wherever Hoseok was probably at the moment.
When Seokjin had finally located him walking out of his last class, Hoseok hadn’t appeared all that different from his usual demeanor. A bit dazed maybe, but that could be brushed off due to the essay he had to cram for that morning (a fact that Seokjin had learned through various connections). He walks lazily to the nearby library where he would be meeting you, and with a heavy heart, Seokjin follows suit.
You were already there when the two of them arrive. Seokjin is lucky when your eyes train automatically on Hoseok, ignoring him completely. In any other scenario, Seokjin would’ve felt incredibly scorned by this. He would’ve immediately stomped over to where you sat, making sure to announce his presence to you and everyone else within a fifty-foot radius. But today was not an ordinary day, so Seokjin is forced to hold his tongue and save his bitchin’ for another day. And so, he quietly slinks away to a seat a few tables away, his contemptuous aura causing all the previously seated students to vacate the table in a rush.
Much to his chagrin, it feels like Seokjin has just wasted an hour as he watches the two of you being productive (Seokjin lets out a shudder), not even bothering to film your tutoring session due to how little information he was getting. The only point of interest is how pissed off you seem, though it’s not like Seokjin has ever witnessed you in any other state anyway. He watches as Hoseok’s sunny disposition slowly chips away at your foul mood, and to his awe and surprise, sees you crack a smile just as the hour was about to pass.
It isn’t like that was important to Seokjin, though. So what if he noticed that you were happier with Hoseok around? It’s not every day that Seokjin catches you in a good mood (and he reluctantly admits that it’s always nice to see you smiling, even if his presence unfailingly causes a deep-set frown to appear on your lips.)
That was of little importance, he told himself.
Seokjin had hoped that when Hoseok’s tutoring session would end that he might manage to see him and Jimin cross paths. Unfortunately, it seems like Hoseok has other plans as he quickly shuffles his things into his bag, looking apologetic as he waves a hasty goodbye to you. You and Seokjin gaze at the empty spot he has left in his wake, both of you knowing even without Hoseok’s admittance that this rift between him and Jimin was far deeper than either of you had imagined.
Seeing Hoseok so skittish has a terrible effect on one’s psyche, and Seokjin feels despair growing in the pit of his stomach at what might be an unsalvageable situation for the JiHope community.
“Nonsense!” his inner-voice (that suspiciously sounds like you) chastises, whacking him with a proverbial rolled-up newspaper. “There is no such thing as unsalvageable when it comes to the magnificent Kim Seokjin!”
“You’re right,” Seokjin says (out loud), slamming his fists on the table. The jittery librarian’s assistant by the front desk jumps up in surprise, but Seokjin pays him no mind.
Seokjin is so immersed by his own internal monologue that he doesn’t notice the aforementioned librarian’s assistant leave his station with a small handwritten note clutched tightly in his hand. Seokjin also doesn’t notice when he speaks to you with pink dusting the apples of his cheeks before returning to his desk, sans note*.
[Addendum: I’M SO MAD WHY DOESN’T ANYONE NOTICE FUCKING JUNGKOOK??? NEXT TIME I SEE SEOKJIN IT’S ON FUCKING SIGHT HOW DARE HE NOT SEE MY LIL BABY WALK TO HIS ***** AND FULFIL ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS? I’M GONNA KILL YOU KIM SEOKJIN! (Angrily) Noted by: Min Yoongi.]
It doesn’t take long for Jimin to arrive, and he’s kind of hard to miss with how loud his entrance is. Seokjin nods in approval as the younger enters the drab library with an astounding flourish, complete with his hair gently flowing in the (nonexistent) wind and hips swaying to the (nonexistent) beat.
None of this out of the ordinary, especially with how unfazed the general library populace was to Jimin’s commotion. What is a little different, however, is the beaming, oversaturated, downright diabetic smile on his face, complete with his signature eyes creased into their cute little crescents.
It isn’t that Jimin wasn’t a naturally sunny person; on the contrary, his kind and gregarious personality is what drew Seokjin into shipping him with Hoseok in the first place. But there was something about this level of overflowing giddiness that is a bit… disconcerting, for lack of a better word.
Even you appeared to be dumbstruck by Jimin’s odd mood. You squint curiously at Jimin, taking his worksheets from his hands without another word. Seokjin covertly takes out his phone to pretend to take a selfie, but proceeds to tape the whole tutoring session for him to review later that night. He strains his ears to try and catch the bits and pieces of your conversation with Jimin, but he’s left high and dry when he realizes that you were the type who actually liked to whisper at the library, further foiling his plans.
“Dammit,” he mutters to himself, hastily shoving his “textbooks” into his sling bag as he moves to a table slightly closer to the two of you. He doesn’t bother unpacking them again on the table, foregoing the pretense that he was actually there to “study” when in fact he had goals much loftier than those of an ordinary university student.
He carefully adjusts his camera, trying his best to stay out of your and Jimin’s view. He cranes his head forward as far as he can, face crumpling (handsomely) from the strain.
Seokjin had missed it when he was busy relocating to his better position, but it seems like you had finally gotten fed up with Jimin’s strange behavior. He only sees Jimin look shocked by your irritability, but that quickly fades away as his previously dopey smile comes back at full force. Knowing you, your eye is probably twitching right now, but Seokjin attributes that to the stick permanently stuck up your ass.
“It’s, umm…” Jimin looks extremely bashful all of a sudden, and Seokjin makes sure to zoom in on his face for better analysis later. There’s a slight pause, and both you and Seokjin wait for Jimin to continue. “Do you know… uh…” He takes a deep breath, blushing all the while. “Y/N, you know Lee Sera, right?”
Since you’re faced away from Seokjin, he doesn’t get to see what type of reaction you might be sporting on your face. He has a guess though, and that’s mostly because he already knows what Lee Sera means to you.
Seokjin only just saw the forum post this morning when he was going through his social media. Since he was one of the only people who actually knew you were the author, he’d known from the get-go that Lee Sera had probably written that post revealing herself as the author as a way to get easy clout. Nothing annoyed Seokjin more than people getting more famous than him, so he was honestly a strongly-worded call-out post away from revealing the truth to the masses, but was eventually stopped by the thought of your desperate face from days ago.
As much as Seokjin was a slut for drama, even he isn’t that mean. He can be mean in other ways, such as by putting an ugly filter on your face as he continues to videotape you without your consent. Case in point:
“What?” you say, almost shouting. Unbeknownst to you, there is a pooping baby currently superimposed on your forehead. The film looks shaky at best, but that’s all because of how hard Seokjin is shaking from trying not to laugh.
“Do you know if she likes anyone?” he replies, still dreamy. The AR pooping baby is also on his head, but Jimin manages to pull the look off.
Seokjin waits for your explosion to come, but he underestimates your self-control because he completely misses the next few words you say from how calmly and quietly you speak, though he only imagines that you must be on the way to a mental breakdown soon enough.
The calm before the storm, Seokjin thinks giddily to himself. He could always post your mental breakdown on Youtube for a couple thousand views. C’mon… let’s go viral, baby!
Jimin watches you eagerly from the sides and waits for your response, but you’re too busy short-circuiting right in front of him to give one. Seokjin almost feels sorry for you, but he’s too busy trying not to burst into laughter as it is. God, you’re such a fucking sad mess.
Lucky for you, your timer goes off to signal the end of your tutoring session, and Seokjin notices the way your shoulders slacken with relief. And Jimin seems to have forgotten all about his query because he’s started to pack his things already, humming softly to himself. Once he finishes, he pulls out his phone to read something on his screen, tapping away through his social media as he waits for you to say goodbye.
You’re too busy packing away your own things that you don’t notice when Jimin’s eyes begin to bug out, his mouth dropping and his nostrils flaring with the intensity of his breathing. When he scrolls a little bit further down, he lets out a sharp gasp, catching you and Seokjin off guard.
Jimin has just seen the post, didn’t he? Either that, or he saw porn on his timeline, though Seokjin doesn’t think that would excite Jimin as much as the former would. You seem to guess the same, judging by how stiff you become at his exclamation.
“Y/N! Y/N, she–– she’s––!”
Your fight or flight instincts activate, and Seokjin has to scramble after you as you powerwalk out of the library, desperate to get away from Jimin and his revelation. Unfortunately, you’re not entirely in your best shape right now, so it would be an absolute miracle if you were ever to outpace Park “abs of steel” Jimin. Jimin continues to titter beside you, unaware of the waves of tension running rivers down your form.
“She’s amazing, isn’t she? And she’s so humble to have kept quiet about the whole thing, too. Wah, she’s so…” Seokjin hears Jimin say, and he has to stop himself from snorting at how blatantly love blind Jimin seems to be. Seokjin isn’t anywhere near as good as you when it comes to writing (though he hates to admit it), but even he knows that Lee Sera isn’t as capable as you are. Jimin must really be a sucker for bitches in tight skirts and basic nude pumps because honestly… Why have the knock-off when you can have real Gucci?*
[Addendum: Hey it’s me again… Just wanted to say… Why is Seokjin lowkey kinda making me wanna ship him with Y/N… This is for real weird… Stop this… I’m scared… Noted by: Confused Min Yoongi.]
“I never really paid it much attention, but now that I’m rereading the poem… she’s so talented.” Jimin continues to gush, and you look half a second away from painting the walls with your vomit. Your head is bowed, so you don’t notice when the library doors open and a student in a loose white shirt and flowy black pants enters, looking as far removed from the environment as Seokjin did. “It’s no wonder it blew up so much, she’s such a gifted––”
“Who’s such a gifted what?” the new intruder asks. Kim Taehyung stops right in front of you in all his indie glory, and the sudden apparition of another of one of your “muses” must have frayed your unraveling mind even further. Seokjin is already turning his camera to your face with a dramatic pan left zoom, the pooping baby filter still on your head. It slips a turd onto your grimacing face.
Jimin, ever the sweet himbo, has already forgotten about you and instead rushes over to Taehyung with the news. “Tae! The author of that poem you’re always raging about––”
Seokjin watches with interest as Taehyung elbows Jimin strongly in the gut, a strong blush coating his cheeks.
Jimin continues, undeterred. “The author of the poem, it’s Lee Sera! I know I always ignored you when you talked about it, but now…” Seokjin has already stopped listening in favor of watching the way Taehyung’s expression slowly morphs from bashful embarrassment to careful indifference. His eyebrows raise even further when Taehyung’s gaze sweeps towards you, unwavering despite the animated prattlings of his best friend beside him.
Inch-resting… Inch-resting indeed…
Seokjin leaves then, not wanting to be caught by any of you as he slinks away unseen. He stops his recording, an array of thoughts swimming through his head as he tries to piece together the puzzle in front of him. He’ll need to follow you, Jimin, and Hoseok again, and he knows in the pit of his stomach that the tsunami is fast approaching.
x x x x x
And so, Seokjin follows the three of you around like a parasite, waiting for any of you to drop the ball on him. It’s the next Monday now, and he’s still not any closer to witnessing the “climax” of his JiHope prophecy. While he is aware that Lee Sera is undoubtedly going to be the catalyst for breaking his ult ship, he can’t exactly fix the problem unless something wrong happens first.
Of course, he could always slip a laxative into Sera’s disgusting tummy tea when she isn’t looking, but Seokjin finished using all of them up when he slipped them into your breakfast a few weeks ago. Plus, drinking tummy tea is punishment enough, so he’ll hold his punches for now.
Seokjin has a strong feeling that today is going to be the day where something finally shifts. He doesn’t know why he thinks this, though he likes to tell himself it’s a God-given gift of JiHope senses, but he digresses.
He’s starting to lose hope in his trusty JiHope senses, however, when he watches another fruitless tutoring session between you and Hoseok. Man, if not for the fact that Seokjin was a delulu JiHope shipper, he’d totally be the type to shove Hoseok down the toilet in middle school. That dude… he’s too smart and studious for him, and Seokjin is always threatened by anyone who can get a score above 4 in an exam.
Hoseok leaves in a rush as per usual, and Seokjin has since figured out that it wasn’t because the English major was keen on rushing back home to jack off. Hoseok’s eyes search around frantically as he exits the library, like he’s afraid of running into a certain someone. It causes Seokjin’s grip on his pencil prop to tighten, so much so that he snaps it in half when he sees it happen for the third session in a row.
The situation in the JiHope fandom is much worse than he can ever imagine, and Seokjin resolves himself to fix it no matter what. He’ll even ask you for help, if worst comes to worst.
Hoseok practically leaves a dust trail in his wake, hurriedly vacating the premises just as you say goodbye. Just as Hoseok leaves, Jimin enters the scene with his signature bubbly laughter echoing through the rows of shelves. Seokjin turns his head towards the sound, but he can feel something is amiss already. There’s… someone with him.
I can smell the cheap drug store perfume all the way from here. Seokjin sneers to himself, crinkling his nose as the sound of another pair of footfalls confirms his suspicions right away. When he turns to look at you, the look of utter rage and disbelief on your face is almost enough to make him forget about the horrendous stench of Lee Sera.
Sera tears herself away from Jimin when she catches sight of you, and Seokjin’s heart clenches when he sees the utter look of confusion replacing the grin on Jimin’s face. She was just draped over Jimin’s arm a few seconds ago, but the complete 180 definitely must have bewildered the poor lovesick fool.
It didn’t take a genius to figure out that Lee Sera craved the attention she was being given after coming out as the “author” of the poem, though Seokjin finds her neediness distasteful. As someone who loved being in the limelight, Seokjin didn’t go around taking other people’s credit for his success! Clearly, he was the better one (as he always is in any situation).
Anyway, point stands: you look like you’re about to shit yourself from anger. Seokjin isn’t really listening to the conversation between the two of you, instead focusing on both of your body languages. Sera is playing the role of the remorseful peasant, begging for reconciliation from you, the ireful landlady who refuses to watch another second of her quivering lip.
It’s all very dramatic. Even though Seokjin is mostly recording the fight for analysis purposes, he’s probably going to keep the video for archival purposes as well. The rage, the hurt, the chaos… Seokjin could turn this entire narrative into its own wildly popular musical! He would obviously play himself as the omnipotent, all-seeing jack-of-all-trades, and you’d probably be played by some hag he can cast from the street. Seokjin can almost feel the Tony award jutting up his ass.
Slap! Seokjin jerks to attention and his dreams of his musical fade as he watches, slack-jawed, at the aftermath of your rage. The sound reverberates so loudly that Seokjin feels his ears ringing. In his surprise, he instinctively turns off his camera, ready to go and join stop the fight. Before he can take a step forward, however, a whirlwind shoves past him in a blur, but Seokjin already knows from his lean form that Hoseok had come to intervene. Seokjin hadn’t even noticed the lilac-haired boy was still around the library, but it doesn’t matter now that he’s here to save the day like the bishounen protagonist that he is.
Hoseok holds you back, but it does nothing to quell your anger. “How could you say that to him!” you cry, arms struggling to free themselves from Hoseok to throttle Sera. You look a bit like a rabid animal, teeth bared as you squirm in Hoseok’s hold.
To the side, Jimin chokes up in silence. He’s begun to regain his senses, limbs shifting as he prepares to escape. Seokjin doesn’t miss the shine in his eyes, tears forming and threatening to fall. He turns on his feel, high-tailing out of there without another word.
Hoseok says something into your ear and you nod mindlessly in response. He lets you go, watches as you chase after Jimin. His jaw is set, fists clenched by his sides, but he doesn’t make a move to follow. He takes one last look at Sera’s bamboozled expression, tuts angrily to himself, and walks away in the opposite direction.
Seokjin is speechless.
What the fuck was that? Seokjin isn’t a stranger to the current happenings of your sad love heptagon, or whatever the fuck you want to call it. It probably could have been solved much sooner if you just confessed to him already, but he can’t say he doesn’t enjoy the drama*.
[Addendum: She literally does not have a crush on Seokjin. If she did, I’d block her immediately. I didn’t raise Y/N for her to fall in love with this psychopath. PLEASE. Signed: Min Yoongi.]
No, Seokjin isn’t confused about the whole Sera thing. What he’s more confused about is why Hoseok isn’t going to comfort his boyfriend lover homie like he’s supposed to! Something must have caused a rift in their friendship, and Seokjin is determined to find out and fix this mess once and for all! There’s no need to fear for Seokjin is here!*
[Addendum: “Hallelujah!” said no one ever. I hate this dude. Noted by: Min Yoongi.]
x x x x x
After spending an inexcusable amount of time planning and plotting later that night, Seokjin comes to campus early the next day to put his incredibly profound plan into motion. Lucky for Seokjin, he’s equipped with a myriad of skills that go beyond that of acting and being a nuisance, so it comes as no surprise that he’s quite handy with Photoshop. He uses his Amazing Incredible Fantastic Photoshop skillz to their limits to print out a dozen or so fake posters for a new dance exhibition on Saturday.
Why? Because Seokjin is a genius of course! He knows for certain that Jimin will want to attend the exhibition to cheer himself up after the whole Sera debacle. He always did like watching the university’s dance club from the windows, always wistfully looking but never joining even though he COULD dance if he WANTED to but of course he wouldn’t! Because his beloved Hoseokie-hyung wouldn’t be there to be his partner and it’s all very sad and romantic, yadayadayada… Long story short, Seokjin is whipped for this BL trope and he will die on this hill if he has to!
However, Hoseok is going to be a bit harder to bait... He’d never be caught dead attending a dance exhibition, so Seokjin has to scavenge the last remaining brain cells he has to think of an event that Hoseok would want to go to. He settles on making a fake poster for a book signing by Pi Ness Hughman that is “mandatory” for all English Literature majors to attend. He even goes the whole way and makes a spoof e-mail to send to Hoseok, and no, Seokjin will not be explaining how he did that because he might be bordering on being a criminal, but that doesn’t mean he wants other people to be criminals too. That’s just how great of a person he is!
And what does any of this have to do with anything? Well… He’s going to lock them together inside a classroom and hope that they solve their differences there. Is Seokjin certain that his plan is going to work? Not at all. Is it more likely to use this as an excuse to get inspiration for his upcoming 100K slow burn enemies to lover fic that he’s been planning on starting? Absolutely.
Point of the matter is that Team Kim Seokjin never loses, and he’ll still end up on top even if everything goes to shit, and that is honestly all that matters.
Seokjin proceeds with his plan, going as smoothly as he can. He places the posters around areas that he is sure the duo would pass by. He also makes sure to accidentally “misplace” other posters and advertisements on the cork board that might serve as distractions, but you didn’t hear that from him. He watches stealthily from the shadows, carefully keeping track of their movements to make sure that they see the posters and that everything goes according to keikaku*.
[Addendum: Hey, it’s Yoongi again. I just wanted to say that I saw Seokjin when he was doing this because I caught him taking down some of the ads near my residence, and let me just say that his version of “making sure they see his fake posters” is literally just shoving the papers in their faces and then running away as soon as he can. So, I guess he did succeed on what he aimed to do, but was it moral? Was it just? Well, dear reader… I’m leaving that judgment up to you. (Tiredly) Noted by: Min Yoongi.]
It’s Saturday afternoon and Seokjin has just finished setting up his “trap” when he hears footsteps approaching where he was. He quickly jumps inside a nearby utility closet, keeping the door ajar to observe the upcoming interaction. Seokjin doesn’t even need to look to know that it’s Hoseok who has arrived first, always notoriously strict when it comes to scheduled meetings. He begins to worry, realizing belatedly that Jimin is the exact opposite of Hoseok when it comes to things like this, and while that makes for a good fanfic couple trope, it doesn’t really help Seokjin in this case.
He watches Hoseok peek into the classroom, brows scrunched in confusion as he must wonder why nobody seems to be at the supposed book signing. He snatches the poster from inside his satchel, squinting at the meeting details that should say that his class was supposed to meet at this very much abandoned classroom in the Law building. For how smart Hoseok is, he certainly didn’t question the sketchiness of the venue that Seokjin had chosen.
Hoseok taps his shoes against the linoleum floor, lips pursed as he debates on what to do. Just as Seokjin is about to blow his cover and just shove Hoseok into the classroom himself, a loud bang resounds from the end of the hall. They both flinch, looking over to see a head of red hair zooming towards them.
Jimin is dressed haphazardly in a ripped jean jacket and comically short shorts – you wouldn’t be able to tell what season it was based on his clothes alone. He looks like he’d just jumped out of bed, what with the noticeable drool stain still caked around his chin. He grinds to a halt in front of the classroom, breathing heavily through his mouth and still not yet aware of the company he has found himself with.
“Jimin? What the fuck?” Hoseok exclaims, staring incredulously at him. Jimin finally looks up, pausing in his heavy breathing to stare back.
He straightens up, pointing an accusing finger at the elder. “GASP! What are you doing here?”
Hoseok points his own finger. “Did you just say ‘gasp’ in real life?”
“I asked you first!”
“I asked you second!”
“Well,” Hoseok coughs awkwardly, gesturing to the empty classroom mindlessly. “I’m supposed to be here for a book signing, but I feel like I got a fake ad by accident.”
“Hah! Foolish of you,” Jimin snorts, nose high in the air. He procures his own fake poster from his short pockets, presenting it to Hoseok. “You must be Miss Steak Anne, because this classroom is supposed to be where a dance exhibition is being held. I knew you wanted to watch them dance! You’re just trying to cover up your embarrassment!”
“What?” Hoseok splutters, snatching the poster from his hands. He reads it, narrowing his eyes at Seokjin’s masterpiece of deception. “Dude. The poster is fake too. They spelled ‘dance’ like ‘dunce.’”
Jimin takes it back, slack-jawed when he sees that Hoseok was right. “What the fuck,” he says. He groans, smacking himself in the face. “I’m the foolish one now!”
Before Hoseok can retort, Seokjin chooses that moment to burst forth from his hiding place. “Hello, boys!” he greets, not waiting for a response. The two boys jump in surprise, but they don’t even have time to scream before Seokjin promptly shoves them into the classroom. He clicks the lock in place, grateful that he scouted this place during his first year in case he’d ever need somewhere to lock his unsuspecting classmates in*.
[Addendum: Me. It was me. He locked me in there when I told him JiHope was the worst ship on campus. Y/NKook for life! Noted by: Min Yoongi.]
“Hey! Let us out!” Jimin yells from behind the door, his tiny fists banging uselessly against the door. Seokjin cackles maniacally from the outside, doing a funny dance through the frosted glass window.
“Not until you guys fix whatever angst bullshit you have going on! I’ll be back in an hour. Until then, homos!” Seokjin singsongs, skipping away from the mess he created. But not to worry, dear readers, for Seokjin had planted microphones all over the classroom in advance so that we may all be privy to the ensuing drama/hotness courtesy of JiHope! Oh, how incredibly big-brained of him! The following is a transcript of the aforementioned recording because, as you know, Seokjin always wins.
Transcript by Min Yoongi:*
[Addendum: Paid-slash-blackmailed, by the way. I would never do this willingly. He knows too much about me… It’s sickening but also he offered to buy me chicken nuggets and I’d be an idiot to decline that. Anyway, here’s this pile of shit. Noted by: Min Yoongi.]
[0:00] *heavy banging from Jimin’s tiny baby fists*
[0:10] Jimin: Ugh, this shit BLOWS! *proceeds to stomp around like a baby before sliding to the ground with a thud*
[0:20] Hoseok: Well, it could be worse. We could have been kidnapped by a serial killer.
[0:25] Jimin: I’m pretty sure Kim Seokjin categorizes as one, but go off.
[0:30] Hoseok: *grumbling* I’m just trying to lighten the mood.
[0:35] Jimin: Oh wow, thanks soooo much. This is all your fault, by the way. Can’t believe your dumbass got bamboozled by Seokjin.
[0:40] Hoseok: How the fuck is this my fault? You were fooled too! And will you stop sitting like that? I can see everything with how short your shorts are.
[0:45] Jimin: Oh, and now you’re going to police how I dress? Bitch, people would be honored to see my nuts! They’re prized nuts!
[0:50] Hoseok: *snorts* Sure, if you say so.
[0:55] *there is a short pause and you can hear Jimin’s heavy breathing* Jimin, mumbling: Taehyung says my nuts are great…
[1:00] Hoseok: Well, Taehyung is an idiot. He probably says that shit to everybody.
[1:05] Jimin: *gasps* TAKE THAT BACK! HE’S MY FUCKING SOULMATE!”
[1:10] Hoseok: Oh, he’s your soulmate, is he? Guess you like throwing that word around to just about anybody, huh? Because last time, I remember you calling me your soulmate!”
[1:15-6:15] *literally just five minutes of silence* *you can hear Jimin crying a little bit but it’s obvious he’s trying to hold it in* *Hoseok (?) or maybe Jimin is pacing around*
[6:20] Hoseok: I, uhh... *hesitates some more* I didn’t... Mean to say that.
[6:25] Jimin: *starts to laugh hysterically* Fuck…
[6:30] Jimin: *slams his tiny baby hand against the wall again* Fuck!
[6:35] Jimin, choking up: You didn’t mean to say what? That we really were soulmates? That we used to be best friends?
[6:40] Hoseok, quietly: Jimin... No, I meant––
[6:45] Jimin: What do you mean, huh? I can never understand you. You never explain yourself. It’s always a guessing game with you and I just end up getting my feelings hurt because I always make the wrong assumptions, isn’t that right?
[7:00] Hoseok, choking up: Of course not. You’re right, I’m stupid and––
[7:05] Jimin, yelling: That’s right! You are fucking stupid! You’ve been stupid since day one and I can’t believe I wanted to be friends with you! *sniffles loudly* And I’m even stupider for still wanting to be friends with you.
[7:20-7:30] *there is a long silence except for the sound of Jimin’s heavy sniffling*
[7:35] Hoseok, sighing: I know that I don’t deserve to be your friend. I’m ashamed. I’m so fucking ashamed. There isn’t a day where I don’t regret not telling you about giving up dance all those years ago. I should’ve been more open with you.
[7:50] *Jimin stops sniffling* Jimin: Yeah. You should’ve. You should be. Asshole.
[8:00] Hoseok: And every time I try telling myself that I should apologize, I’d just get cold feet. It got even worse when you started hanging around Taehyung more... And I just... Lost it.
[8:10] Jimin, laughing harshly: Oh? So you were fucking jealous? Please.
[8:15] Hoseok: It sounds childish, but yea. I was.
[8:20] Jimin, quietly: Oh.
[8:30] Hoseok: And then when I saw you hanging off of Sera’s stupid little finger like a lovesick fool, it... It really fucking messed me up.
[8:40] Jimin: Oh my god. Was that why you’ve been so moody these past few days? Holy shit.
[8:45] Hoseok: When you put it that way... Ugh, this is so embarrassing. I’m really not a feelings guy, you know? I’m always just supposed to be the happy-go-lucky sunshine guy.
[9:00] Jimin: You’re allowed to feel, you know? Get rid of that toxic masculinity bullshit you have going on. This is why we fucking drifted in the first place!
[9:10] Hoseok, laughing hoarsely: Yeah... You’re right. *sound of a body sliding down to the floor... Hoseok must have sat beside Jimin*
[9:30] Jimin: We are literally so stupid. Do you realize how dumb our arguments sound? We’re being so childish, and for what?
[9:40] Hoseok: *sighing* I know… I’m the asshole here. I know what I did and I’m the reason why our friendship shifted. I’ve never been considerate to you and now…
[9:50] Hoseok: You probably hate me. And I used to tell myself that it’s better that you moved on but I know the reason why you never applied for the dance program is because of me.
[10:00] Jimin: I mean, yeah. That’s true.
[10:05] Hoseok: Wait, the asshole part or…
[10:10] Jimin: Pretty much everything. Yes, you’re the asshole. Yes, you ruined our friendship. Yes, I didn’t apply for the dance program because of you.
[10:15] Hoseok: *sighing* And you probably hate me, right?
[10:20] Jimin, softer: No, of course not. I could never hate you, hyung. Hell, I thought you hated me! You never hang out with me anymore! I literally only started taking those tutoring lessons from Y/N so that I would have an excuse to see you sometimes.
[10:35] Hoseok: ...oh. I didn’t know… I guess I’ve been a little bit too self-absorbed.
[10:45] Jimin: Understatement of the century, hyung. I just fucking miss you, okay? *sniffles loudly* God, I am so sick of crying all the time! First that shit with Sera, and now this…
[10:55] Hoseok: *panicking* Shit! Jimin-ah, please don’t cry… I’m such a fuck up! Why do you even want to hang around me?
[11:05] Jimin: Don’t you get it? You’re my best friend! How could I just erase years of friendship over what? Just because you don’t wanna dance anymore? Listen, I know I always pester you to go dance with me again, but I’d be more than happy just having you as my friend. I don’t care about that shit anymore! I just want you to look at me without looking so fucking guilty all the time.
[11:35] Hoseok: Well… I still want to dance. All the time, believe me. But… I can’t go around wasting my time when I made a promise to my dad.
[11:45] Jimin, hesitantly: Your… your dad?
[11:50] Hoseok: Yeah. He told me it was his greatest wish if I followed in his footsteps and became a teacher… I’m sorry, Jimin. I couldn’t just let my old man down like that. I…
[12:00] Jimin: Oh my god. You idiot. You fucking dunce. You dick for brains.
[12:05] Hoseok: What the fuck? What did I do now?
[12:10] Jimin: Have you ever considered… that you could teach shit other than English? Huh?
[12:15] *Hoseok.exe has stopped working*
[12:20] Jimin: Oh my god! I have a fucking feeling your dad meant he just wanted to see you teach kids, not necessarily become an English teacher like he was! You fucking stupid piece of shit!
[12:30] Hoseok: I… literally didn’t think. How the fuck..?
[12:35] Jimin: Are you literally just telling me right now that we could’ve escaped 3 years of stupid misunderstanding if you just hadn’t been an idiot? Give me a break! How the hell do you think you’d ever become a teacher?!
[12:50] *there is a pause before the two of them start laughing loudly*
[13:00] Hoseok: Jesus. Guess I really am the asshole, huh?
[13:05] Jimin: You think? Ugh, maybe getting locked in a classroom with you isn’t so bad after all…
[13:10] Hoseok: Speaking of… When do you think Seokjin is gonna let us out of here? I kinda need to piss and as happy as I am to be your friend again, I don’t think I wanna relive our toddler years together either.
[13:20] Jimin: *snorts* Gross. *shuffling* Hyung! Stand here! I’m gonna climb you and try to open the latch to the window over there. Shouldn’t be that far of a jump. Then I’ll just open the door for you.
[13:40] Hoseok: Jimin, are you insane? That could be dangerous! Let me do it.
[13:50] Jimin: You and what? Your skinny ass? Please! Do you see the gloriousness of this ass? I can get us out of here in no time.
[14:00] Hoseok, whispering: Assuming you can even squeeze through the window…
[14:05] Jimin, yelling: EXCUSE ME? I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT THIS ASS HAS WON ME MANY FREE MCDONALD’S HAPPY MEALS IN MY DAY––
End of Audio
x x x x x
Yoongi pauses from his typing to recheck the file, making sure he hadn’t accidentally paused the recording. When he sees that the audio does end there, he leans back into his chair, letting his headphones fall back to settle around his neck. He fishes his phone out of his pocket, sending a quick text to Seokjin to ask what happened to the two stupid lovebirds.
#btsghostie#btsguild#bangtanarmynet#bts scenarios#bts x reader#bts fanfiction#bts reader insert#bts#bts fluff#bts angst#jimin scenarios#jimin imagines#hoseok scenarios#hoseok imagines#seokjin scenarios#seokjin imagines#bangtan#bts fanfic#LMAOOOOO this..... was a shit show#anyway next chapter is gonna be angst city and idk about yall but its gonna be Ruff From Now On
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Empty Handed {Cole Sprouse x Reader One Shot}
Requested by: Anonymous Wordcount: 3631 Summary: While you’re feeling a bit lost, you run into Cole. Old memories are brought up and things move forward.
You always seemed to be lost in your own head these days. As much as you wanted to just shut down your social media pages, you just couldn’t. The negativity on there was astounding, and the little bit of positivity you saw from your friends postings, where they were happy and beautiful and successful, wasn’t really seeming worth it anymore. It had been a struggle to leave your phone at home and go out and try to enjoy doing something, but you somehow managed it, leaving it on the charger. Though this meant that you couldn’t obsess over the comments left under your pictures, it also meant that you had no distractions from the thoughts in your head. No music to accompany you on your late evening stroll, no review sites for you to find somewhere good to pick up dinner - only your instincts and the mind-numbing repetitiveness of your own in-securities. Your feet seized the control, and led you on your way tonight, rather than an app that tracked your steps or showed you the least busy streets.
The blue hour came, the time when everything looked a bit cold and bleak. When the sky was truly a brilliant blue, before the black settled in. The street lights and the neon signs on the windows of shop-fronts, restaurants and clubs stood out more now than they did during the day. How many times have you stopped to admire this time of night? Never once because you were locked in the asylum that was called Your Phone.
You looked into the windows to keep yourself company, looking at couples eating in the fancy restaurants, the stores shutting down for the night. The blaring music of a gay dance club hit your ears and you were almost tempted to go in - just because the sound was so nice, not because you were looking for anyone. But you kept walking and found it strange how much you were enjoying the night. You could feel the air in your lungs more than you had before, you could appreciate the atmosphere. On the corner of the street ahead was a diner, the lights looking inviting. It wasn’t the destination that you had in mind, but once you caught sight of it, it was the destination that you were going to.
It seemed like it was just emptying out. There were a couple of booths still cluttered with dirty dishes, and the waitresses and waiters working hard on getting them clean before another rush. By the looks of the place, and the 24/7 sign on the door, they were awaiting the drunk club crowd. But there was still quite a while to go before that would happen, so you felt comfortable walking inside.
“Be with you in a sec, hun,” A pretty waitress said with a wink. You smiled back and picked out a booth in her section, close by to where she was cleaning. When she came by, you ordered your favorite hot drink and then decided that a late night sandwich was in order, and got one of those as well. It was a rather nice place, not kitschy like other diners out there. You’d have to remember it when you decided to be social once more. You were slowly getting back to that point - building up trust is hard, especially when people are cruel.
“We gotta stop meeting up like this,” A familiar voice said. You didn’t have to look up to see who it was, you’d heard the voice plenty of times coming from your TV screen. But you looked up anyways, tucking your hair behind your ear for a better view. Cole Sprouse, with his dyed hair pushed behind a baseball cap, since his most popular character was well known for a beanie. The actor got into the booth across from you, picked up the small specials menu that was on each table and perused it.
“Are you stalking me?” You asked, looking around to see if anyone else noticed who was in here. If they saw him as anyone other than a young man come in to be a customer, they must not have cared. The waitress came back around with your drink, started off by offering Cole a drink and then took his order. Work as usual, nothing out of the ordinary.
“Normally I’m one having to ask that question,” Cole said with a grin. “I saw you from the window while I was walking by. And I realized that it’s been a little while.”
“Well, thanks for remembering me,” You laughed, but then quieted down a little. “Do I put out those desperate and lonely vibes so much that you noticed them from outside?”
“Not at all,” He shook his head. “Okay, maybe a little bit of the lonely vibes. I saw you order and figured you were here alone.”
“So you were watching me?”
“It’s a nice change to watch someone for once, rather than have everyone watch me,” He winked cryptically. You were reminded of the first time that you two had met, and how he had been this charming even then.
“Riverdale, right,” You nodded. “KJ Apa coming by anytime soon? You gotta introduce me, I only really watch the show for him.”
“Oh, ha ha.” Cole laughed sarcastically. The waitress came back around with his coffee and he started to pour the sugar in. “Just like how you auditioned for Suite Life because of Dylan?”
“Obviously.”
-
This was not how you wanted to spend a Saturday morning. Sure, being on the set of a Disney show was a little bit cool, but auditioning was something that you hated. The whole process of it was annoying - but it was something that you were good at, apparently. You were in the top five for a guest spot on The Suite Life on Deck. You were here to do your last audition with the actual Sprouse twins. You had to keep your impulse of squealing under control. That was another reason why you didn’t want to be here - you had a major crush on Cole Sprouse and knew you were going to fudge up the audition with him being there. It was going to be a major embarrassment - so much so that you didn’t even tell your friends you were going to be here. You tried to back out of it because you would rather them not know you exist rather than humiliate yourself, but your parents had marched you through those doors this morning and were standing guard to make sure you didn’t make a run for it.
In the middle of your audition, you did it. You messed up. You ended up combining two of your lines in a way that didn’t make sense, and you found it impossible to make eye contact with either twin. The cast director called for a cut, thanked you for your time, then announced a fifteen minute break for everyone. Feeling overwhelmingly warm, you retired over to the catering area, at the very least taking advantage of the free snacks and beverages that were put out.
“You seem like you don’t want to be here,” A voice said from behind you. Thinking that it was a set of the crew come to yell at you for stealing snacks, you shoved a couple more cookies into your pocket before turning around, getting ready to apologize. But it wasn’t a crew member - it was Cole Sprouse. You wiped your mouth with the back of your hand to make sure there were no crumbs there, first and foremost.
“It’s not that,” You told them. “Well, it’s partly that, but you and your brother just make me.. I don’t know, nervous.”
“No offense but it’s going to be hard to become an actor if you get nervous around celebrities,” He grinned and walked up beside you, picking up a couple of cookies for himself.
“Good thing I don’t really want to become an actor then,” You laughed hollowly. “It’s my parents dream, not mine. And I just kind of wanted to meet Dylan.”
“Oh,” Cole said, frowning. Perhaps he wasn’t impressed by you trying to play it cool? God, you were such an awkward dork. “Well here, don’t leave empty handed anyway.”
He passed you a small stack of papers. You furrowed your eyebrows and slowly took them, reading over the front. It was the script that you had just read from, and Cole had not only signed it but put his email address on the cover in sharpie. “I was going to tell you to email me so I can give you some tips but...”
“Oh, I see.” You licked your lips, feeling like an even bigger dork now. “If I decide to get into acting, I’ll do that.”
“Cool,” The blonde boy said with a grin and a nod.
-
You did email him after that, and he did email you back. You carried on a secret correspondence for a couple of years, getting a message about once a month. You never told any of your friends about it though, even as they gushed on about how cute Cole and Dylan were. You didn’t tell them that you auditioned for the show either. They would have gotten mad at you for messing up your audition.
“I’ve heard the rumors about you and Betty,” You said, raising an eyebrow. You made a fist as if you were holding an invisible microphone and held it to his face. “Come on, the world wants to know!”
Cole cracked up at that, chuckling then leaned into it. “You all should know better than to listen to stupid celebrity gossip.”
“You’ve heard it here first folks,” You brought the microphone back to yourself. “Cole Sprouse is still on the market.”
“You’ve got your own audience now?” Cole asked, resting his elbow on the table then leaned his head against his hand, looking bored and oh so perfectly disheveled.
“Eh - the government spies on everyone, I might as well make it entertaining,” You shrugged. “You look a little down, though. Why are you out tonight?”
“Just felt a bit cooped up lately,” He said, yawning. He raised his coffee to his lips and took a big slurp of it, making you smile at the sound. “Sick of everyone I know.”
“Wow, thanks.” You snorted. He laughed back at your sound, setting the cup back down. The two of you were just full of unappealing noises tonight.
“Not you, obviously. Never you.”
“Well - actually thanks. I guess I needed that.” You looked out the window, seeing a couple of people pass by. You could hear them laughing at talking at the same time, just enjoying themselves. Nothing at all like you and the miserable actor sitting in this restaurant. “Do you want to come over or something tonight?”
The question came out of you before you really realized that it was what you were thinking. Being out in public like this probably wasn’t ideal for him. Another reason you dropped out of the acting life.
“Are you throwing a party or something?” He asked.
“God no. You know I hate parties.”
-
Everybody was going to be there, so of course, you had to be there. That was the reasoning that your dorm-mate at NYU claimed as she she helped you to do your hair and pick out an outfit. You would much rather have stayed in and studied, but then again, you didn’t have all that many friends here and this was a good opportunity to make more. So you agreed.
It was just like parties always seemed in the movies - full of trust fund kids, alcohol and sex. You weren’t all that interested in any of the three, but your roommate put a bottle of beer in your hand and disappeared to go off with her own friends, leaving you on your own. You didn’t even know exactly where you were, or how to get back to your dorm from here, but hey - the University experience right? You left the kitchen area of the fraternity house and ventured into the living room to see - even more sex. The couch was being treated as a bed, and you felt bad for whoever was going to have to clean this up.
You kept walking until you found the door to the outside. It was lively out here, but at least you felt like you could breathe without the air being filled with alcohol and weed fumes.
“Where’s the table of snacks when you need it?” A voice said. You couldn’t tell if it was talking to you or to someone else, so you stood still, watching the action of idiots pushing each other into the pool. “That is you, y/n right? Or this is really embarrassing.”
Since your name was brought up, you looked at where the voice was coming from and saw Cole there. You still emailed about once a month, and you both knew that each other went here but it never went further than that. This is the first time that you laid eyes on him as an actual person since that audition years ago.
“Whoa, hey!” You said, a little surprised. “Yeah, I could use a handful of cookies right now, that’s for sure.”
“We should go try and raid the kitchen, you in?” He asked, giving you a devilish grin. He almost reminded you of Peter Pan with that particular look.
“Anything is better than this,” You said, setting the unopened beer onto the closest table. You weren’t much of a drinker, and you wanted to be able to coordinate your way back to your dorm after this, so the beer wasn’t appealing tonight.
You two got split up in the kitchen though, due to the crowds. Cole had some friends who managed to pull him away from you without the chance to say goodbye. Instead you just waved awkwardly and tried to find your dorm-mate to tell her that you were leaving. You found her, and had a hard time convincing her to come back with you. “I only just got here, come on,” She whined.
“You can come back after! I just need you to show me the way.” You pouted, and she finally agreed, linking her arm with you and taking you out front.
“Hey, are you taking off?” Cole caught up with you once you were close to the street. Your roommate stopped in her tracks, unable to believe what she was seeing.
“Yeah, I’m not that into parties,” You shrugged.
“Don’t leave empty handed,” He said, tossing you a box of cookies that he had found in the kitchen.
-
Cole agreed to come to your place when you finished your drinks and your food. You took half of your sandwich to go, and carried the styrofoam packet in your hand as you two walked down the street. It was dark now, the street lights all turned on, lighting up the city almost as much as it was during the day. The two of you remained quiet as you walked, your steps aligning almost perfectly, keeping the same rhythm.
“This is me,” You said, stopping at your place. You unlocked all the doors then let him in, turning on the lights as you went. You were glad that you kept the place tidy, or else you really might have regretted this.
“I like it,” Cole said, looking around your place without the slightest bit of shame. He went through the knick-knacks, the bookshelf, even peeked into your fridge.
“Help yourself to a drink or something. Or I can put the coffee on,” You offered.
“I’ll just have some water,” He said, grabbing the water filter out of the fridge and poured himself some into a glass. You sat down on your couch as he did that, and started up Netflix. You didn’t know if you were going to watch something or not, but you enjoyed having background noise.
“Any preference?” You called out.
“Anything that has nothing to do with me,” He said from the kitchen. You laughed and went through the action section, deciding on one of the many Fast and the Furious movies. At the very least, the driving scenes were good times for conversation.
Cole eventually joined you on the couch, plopping himself down with a bag of baby carrots and his water. He really had gone through your fridge and helped himself, but you didn’t mind. Being a single person living in an apartment, sometimes food went to waste because you couldn’t eat it fast enough.
“If you keep that up, I might just have to kiss you,” Cole said, snapping you out of your thoughts. You tilted your head in confusion. That was very out of the blue. “You keep staring at my lips,” He stated.
“Actually, I was noticing you helping yourself to my vegetables, but whatever helps you sleep at night,” You grabbed a pillow and wrapped your arms around it as a sort of safety measure. Was he going to kiss you? Did he say that because he wanted to?
“You’re more than welcome to come back to mine and eat whatever you want,” Cole said, apparently not sensing your mood since he kept it casual. You looked over at him and watched as he threw a carrot into the air, then caught it between his teeth. You separated yourself from the pillow for fifteen seconds to give him applause. “We live pretty close to each other.”
“Does that mean I’ll be having to deal with you more often?” You joked, hoping it wasn’t too mean. He shrugged, and threw up another carrot - this one he missed and it ended up hitting his chin then sliding down his shirt.
“Yeah, probably,” He said, making the idiotic move of putting his hand down the neckline of his shirt to try to dig it out. You rolled your eyes before just making the move to lift his shirt up at the bottom to see it was stuck on his belly button. “This is why you almost made valedictorian.”
“Yeah, understanding gravity definitely had a hand in that,” You giggled. “So what was it that you were saying about kissing?”
“I don’t know, sounds like something a cool character would say.”
“So not one of yours then?” You teased, since he didn’t seem to mind it. He got a good laugh out of that, scooping the carrot off of his belly and popped it into his mouth. “Since when do you try to be like made up characters? You’ve been pretty good at sticking to who you are.”
“I guess,” He said, looking back towards the television so you could take in the full sight of his profile. “Did you really never realize that I had a crush on you for years? I take back the valedictorian comment.”
“Oh ha ha, we’re such jokers,” You said sarcastically. That one was a bit too personal for your tastes.
“No, really. You think I just gave my email out to everyone who auditioned?”
“I thought I was just so bad that you really felt the need to give me tips,” You pointed out.
“I only said that because I thought you liked Dylan.”
“I’ve literally never spoken to your brother,” You said, continuing to look at him. You were waiting for a telltale grin or smirk. “I only said that because some teen magazine told me to make guys jealous by liking their friend or brother or something.”
“And then I snuck out of the party with my friends to get a box of cookies for you at a party...” Cole reminded.
“You bought those? I thought you stole them from the kitchen...”
“You really are clueless.”
The two of you remained silent for a while. You clutched the pillow close to your chest, Cole stared forward, absent-mindedly shoveling carrots into his mouth, and the movie went on with it’s girls in bikinis, fast cars and horrible one-liners.
“So you’re just going to leave me here empty-handed?” You asked after a couple more minutes of that. Cole looked like he was deep in thought about something, and had suddenly remembered that you really were there. He turned to look at you, and you felt like he really was looking. Your messy hair, your casual street clothes, your lack of make up. But you didn’t feel ashamed about any of that, since there wasn’t any judgment in his gaze.
“Do I ever?” He asked finally.
“No, you’ve been pretty consistent,” You said, licking your lips in anticipation. His hand found its way to your cheek, where you could feel how cold it was from what he had been eating. It sent a little shiver down your spine but it was a good feeling. You liked it. He didn’t move the pillow away from you in an effort to get closer, he respected your space, which was also a nice change from the grabby guys you have dated before.
The first kiss between you and Cole, the first of many, was very sweet, and very soft. It was quick, but it lingered, his lower lip just slightly touching your upper as you both inhaled.
“By tradition, one of us should be leaving now,” He breathed out.
“Don’t you dare, Sprouse.”
#Cole Sprouse#Cole Sprouse x reader#Cole Sprouse oneshot#celebrity oneshot#celebrity oneshots#celebrities#celebrities oneshots#request#oneshot#oneshots#x reader#coles
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Map of the Soul, Chapter Two
For the @btswritingcafe‘s Map of the Soul: 7 Workshop
Pairings: OT7 x reader (kinda); Taehyung x reader
Series Summary: If you give a piece of yourself to everyone you love, at some point, there will be nothing left for yourself. While feeling lost and alone in your adult life, a strange box falls onto your head in your own closet, and you take an unexpected walk down memory lane wondering where everything went wrong. Was it the romances that fizzled out, the friends & loved ones you left behind, the “what could’ve been” moments, the brush with Fate that never quite connected? Could the strange map you find have the answers you are looking for? Determined to feel complete once again, you embark on a journey to reclaim the missing pieces of your soul.
Genre: Angst, Fluff, Smut (references to previous)
Word Count: 8k+
Warnings: cursing & vulgar language, accidental flashing, mentions of kinks and other sexual content, sexual innuendos, mentions of previous sexual encounters, nerdy soulmate things, bisexuality
Chapter Two: Soulmates are a Forever Kind of Thing
March 18th, 11:37am
The sound of an incessant car alarm outside tore you away from the breezy dreamscape you were enjoying with a scantily clad Jungkook. You pried your eyes open and groaned at the never-ending beeps and boops below your window.
SHUT UP ALREADY, YOU PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A MACHINE!
You grumbled angrily as you slid out of bed and made your way to the bathroom. The soreness between your legs made you smile, and you flirted with the idea of texting Jungkook.
Hmmm, too soon. Better give it a day or two.
It was a lazy Sunday for you, so you spent the next hour lounging and snacking while Oberyn curled up next to you on the couch. You were starting to submit to an afternoon of mindless YouTube streaming when a notification dinged on your phone.
Jungkook?!
You scrambled across the couch to take your phone off of the charger. The notification wasn’t from your messaging app though, it was from your Instagram. Your old friend Taehyung sent you a message and you smiled when you saw his profile picture. Your heart warmed as you thought about the first time you met Kim Taehyung.
↸ᶠˡᵃˢʰᵇᵃᶜᵏ
Several Decades Earlier
You met Kim Taehyung in kindergarten when you fell off the monkey bars and he unknowingly broke your fall. You couldn’t figure out how to soothe the sobbing mess he was, so you kissed him on the cheek like your mother would whenever you got hurt.
“Better?” you hoped. “Did I make the hurt go away?”
He sniffled slightly and looked up at your face with tears streaming down his face. He pouted and shook his head emphatically, then pointed to the top of his head. You simply nodded and planted a soft kiss to the top of his chocolate locks.
“How about now?” you tried. “All gone?”
He pouted again and then pointed to his forehead. You pulled his head closer and placed another kiss on his forehead. His tears stopped, but he was still hiccuping as a result of his earlier crying fit.
“What’s wrong?” You asked gently, still holding his head. “Are you still hurt?”
His pout deepened and he nodded slightly. He tried to look you in the eye, but he kept hiccuping and closing his eyes in protest.
“Where?” you pleaded. “I’ll make it better.”
He lifted his shining puppy dog eyes to meet your concerned face. Slowly, he lifted his finger and placed it on his own pouty lips. You gasped slightly and widened your eyes.
“There?” you asked. “I hit you there?”
I guess that makes sense. I probably kicked him when I fell.
New tears formed in his big brown eyes and your heart sank at the sight. You sighed and gathered up your strength. With a huff, you leaned forward quickly and placed the softest little peck on his lips and then pulled away. However, before you could escape, the boy reached up and grabbed your wrist. You panicked for a moment, but then realized he just needed help standing up.
You helped him stand and as soon as you dusted the dirt from the fall, he enveloped you in a crushing bear hug.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “I feel much better now.”
He pulled away and wiped at his eyes. You offered him a small smile and grinned at the adorable sight. A sudden realization hit you and you gasped loudly, which captured his attention.
“Hey,” you cried. “Your hiccups are gone!”
The boy froze and looked around, as though hiccups were tangible things he could track with his vision. A wide grin blossomed across his face and you noted the cute boxy shape. As troubled as this first encounter was, you still felt drawn to the silly boy with the rosy cheeks and fluffy hair.
“What’s your name?” you asked sweetly. “Want to be friends?”
“My name is Taehyung,” he replied while grabbing your hand. “I would love to be your friend!”
ᵉⁿᵈ ᶠˡᵃˢʰᵇᵃᶜᵏ⇲
A soft smile spread across your face at the memory. A lifelong friendship started from that first tumble, and you never regretted giving your first kiss away to the cute boy you’d crushed when you fell from those monkey bars.
Sigh.
You opened up your Instagram app and searched for the message Taehyung sent. Your eyes widened and you laughed maniacally when you saw the picture he sent.
You were laughing so hard, you nearly fell off the couch. Oberyn scuffled away angrily, clearly annoyed that your outburst of laughter disturbed his nap time.
When the giggle fit finally died down to a manageable sense of amusement, you looked at the message again. Taehyung always did have a way of saying just the right thing at just the right time. Your amusement quickly shifted into longing and nostalgia, and you could almost feel your soul aching for its mate.
I miss him so much.
Over seven years had passed since you last saw Taehyung in person. The summer before you were going to start high school, his parents had to move to another state. You were both happy that his dad was finally getting the promotion he worked so hard for, but it was devastating to think that you would be going through high school without your best friend and soulmate.
Throughout high school, you kept in touch (thank the gods for the internet and smartphones), but you both went to different colleges and were only able to meet up during breaks. Once you both graduated, you took jobs in different states and your communication dwindled to random messages and the occasional phone call or video chat.
It wasn’t enough. You needed him as a permanent physical fixture in your life, but there wasn’t much either of you could do about it. You both loved your jobs and you were comfortable in your current living situations. However, if an opportunity to change that ever revealed itself, you were positive that you would both jump at it like feral cats.
You briefly considered messaging him on Instagram, but your lingering nostalgia convinced you to call him instead. It was so long since you’d heard his resonant baritone voice purring into your ear. Honestly, that voice alone could wreck someone to pieces. Luckily, you knew the man connected to the voice so it didn’t affect you nearly as much.
You quickly scrolled through your contacts and hit the “Call” button. After three rings, the man himself answered with a long sigh.
“You couldn’t give me a few minutes to dry myself off before calling?” he whined cutely. “I had to rush through my shower just to answer the phone.”
“No one told you to do that, Tae,” you countered. “You could always let it go to voicemail and then just call me back.”
“Yeah, right,” he scoffed playfully. “You know better than anyone that I am the worst when it comes to returning phone calls. You’re lucky I still remember to send you messages on social media.”
“Fair point, sir,” you giggled. “The only reason I haven’t kicked your forgetful ass to the curb is because you’re my best friend and I love your stupid ass.”
“Ummm, I think you mean soulmate,” Taehyung argued. “Remember, we decided that the term “best friend” wasn’t strong enough to accurately describe our relationship.”
“Ah, yes,” you concurred. “How could I possibly forget the Great Soulmate Debate of 5th grade? You almost got us into detention with that speech of yours, Tae.”
“It’s your fault,” he shot back. “If you had just accepted the term soulmate when I first suggested it, everything would have been fine. But, noooooooo, someone just had to argue with me and keep us in the hallway until we were officially skipping class.”
“Don’t complain, Tae-Bear, you love it when I argue with you,” you reminded him. “It’s part of the dynamic of our relationship. If we just gave in to each other all the time, it wouldn’t be any fun.”
“Exactly,” he chuckled. “You’re the ice to my fire, the sweet to my sour, the jelly to my peanut butter.”
“Why do you get to be the peanut butter?” you challenged. “Why do I have to be the jelly in this metaphor?”
“Because I’m smooth and you’re cool, remember?” Taehyung responded. “Don’t tell me your memory is slipping, babe.”
“No,” you sighed sadly. “I think it’s just been too long since we’ve actually seen each other in person. I miss you, Tae-Bear.”
The video call feature started ringing in your ear and you almost squealed in excitement. You swiped a finger across the screen and adjusted the phone on the coffee table. A shirtless Taehyung with wet hair greeted you with the boxiest of smiles, and you couldn’t help waving and squealing like a ridiculous fangirl.
“My Tae-Tae,” you cooed. “Baby, I miss you so much!”
He chuckled and pulled a scarf headband on to push his dark curling locks away from his eyes. You smiled at his golden skin glistening in his after shower glow, and shook your head at how many women despise you for being so close to this delicious morsel. It was a blessing and a curse, but you carried that burden with pride because you just loved him so much.
“Ok, now, let’s do the math, babe,” Taehyung ordered while pulling on a flowy button down with a wild print. “I know you hate math, but try to work with me, ok? When was the last time we were actually together in person?”
“Well, this is my eighth year teaching at the university,” you recalled. “I think it was that first Christmas after I started working here. We went home and had sleepovers every night until after New Year’s. You had just gotten your job at the marketing firm, and we were upset that we wouldn’t be able to see each other as much.”
“Shit,” he gaped at you. “Has it really been that long? That doesn’t seem right.”
“A little over seven years,” you calculated grimly. “We’ve tried to meet up almost every year, but something always comes up either with you or me.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, babe,” Taehyung apologized. “I didn’t even realize that much time passed. How are we even surviving?”
“Barely,” you pouted. “Whenever I’m off from school, you’re busy, and whenever you get vacation time, I have school. The cycle never ends.”
There was a few seconds of reluctant silence and then Taehyung had a visual epiphany.
“Actually,” Taehyung grinned. “I do have some vacation time I can take. I have a full week that I need to take this year or else I lose it. Aren’t you on Spring Break right now?”
You popped up in your seat and nodded quickly.
Was this really happening?!
“Kim Elizabeth Taehyung!” you scolded. “Don’t you dare play with my emotions right now. Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”
Taehyung giggled and angled the phone so you could see that he was on one knee. He comically cleared his throat and gave you his best pouty face.
“My beautiful darling soulmate,” he purred in a purely saccharine voice. “Can I stay at your place while I take my vacation? I don’t want to stay in a lame Airbnb again.”
“Of course you can!” you exclaimed. “I could never say no to that adorable face.”
He jumped up and started breaking out into his signature celebration dance, but you quickly noted that he was just wearing a towel from the waist down. Before you could comment on his lack of clothing, the towel unraveled and you got an eyeful of Taehyung that men and women alike would kill to have.
“TAEHYUNG!” you screeched. “Cover your shame!”
He dropped the phone on the bed and you could hear his cute laughter filling the room. He was nearly gasping for air when he finally picked up the phone. You noted the reddened ears and rosy cheeks showering his boxy grin like a halo. The man was far from an angel, but at least he had the decency to be embarrassed by his accidental flashing.
“I never took you for a cam-boy, Tae,” you teased. “Is that how you’re earning extra money these days?”
He rolled his eyes and shot you a look over the phone. It’s not like you’d never seen Taehyung naked, but you had to admit, it had been a while.
“You know that isn’t one of my kinks, babe,” he reprimanded. “I am not an exhibitionist. I would never make it as a cam-boy.”
You leaned forward and glanced down and then back at his face and lifted your eyebrows suggestively.
“From what I could see,” you mused. “You are more than qualified to have a big, long successful career as a cam-boy. You could be rolling in some thick money stacks, if you know what I mean.”
He tried so hard to resist your perverse innuendo, but the scowl he threw at you quickly morphed into unadulterated amusement. He fell back on his bed and clutched at his stomach with a major case of the giggles. From your slanted angle on the bed, you could see him gasping for air with tears forming in his eyes. Once he regained his composure, he wiped away his tears and wagged his finger at you.
“Naughty, naughty,” he scolded. “I may have to punish you when I get there.”
You rolled your eyes at his insinuation, but quickly brightened at the prospect of his arrival. It was time to make plans for your Tae-bear’s trip.
“Ok, let’s get serious for a minute,” you stated. “I need dates, times, number of checked bags, everything. When should I expect you to get here, TaeTae?”
“Let me check with the office and I’ll get back to you, babe,” he replied. “I just finished off a big account, so I do have a little down time coming my way. I will get everything cleared at work and then book my flight. As soon as I know, you’ll know.”
“Ah, I’m so excited to see you!” you squealed with delight. “It’s been way too long. I’ll set up the guest room for you.”
“Umm, guest room?” Taehyung queried with a smirk. “Yeah, that isn’t going to work for me. I’m going to need the left side of your mattress, babe.”
“Tae, that’s my side of the bed,” you growled. “You know that.”
“I know,” he winked cheekily. “But as your guest of honor, I get first dibs. You could always sleep on top of me, if you so choose.”
“Absolutely not, Kim Taehyung,” you spat. “Soulmate or not, you know how crucial my sleep cycle is. Any disturbance hitherto is a recipe for disaster.”
“Meh,” he shrugged. “I’ll risk it.”
The sound of an alien space gun text tone went off and his brow furrowed slightly.
“Hey, babe, I gotta go,” Taehyung announced. “Duty calls.”
“Ok, baby,” you pouted. “Text me later!”
You both blew kisses at the camera and ended the video call. You plopped back onto the couch and took a deep breath. If the Universe was feeling generous, you would soon be enjoying a full week of soulmate time. It felt like a dream.
Please let this happen. I need some Tae-time to recharge my soul.
Oberyn randomly popped up by your side and pawed at your arm with a pathetic whine.
“Ok, ok,” you relented. “Let me get my shoes on and I will take you for a walk.”
As you slipped on your favorite pair of rainbow Crocs, you reached up to grab his harness and leash. Oberyn danced around you in circles and it took a few tries to get him situated and out the door. By the time you returned to the apartment, you decided it was time to grab some lunch and start planning your vacation week.
So much to do, so little time.
March 18th, 7:47pm
You were just starting up another load of laundry when you received a Snapchat notification from Taehyung. You unlocked your phone in a flash and opened your Snapchat app. You clicked on his name in your messages with your breath held hostage.
Oh no! I’m not ready for the disappointment yet.
You were just about to fall into your familiar pit of despair when another message popped onto the screen.
Your shrill cheers and exclamations scared Oberyn right out of the laundry room and into the safety of the living room. You almost felt bad for scaring the daylights out of your dog, but turnabout is always fair play in this house. He scared you half to death on multiple occasions. A little payback was definitely in order.
You immediately started a video call to Taehyung, bouncing with glee all over your apartment. He answered after only a few seconds, and thankfully, was fully dressed.
“Well, hello, beautiful,” Taehyung quipped. “Feels like I just saw you hours ago. Couldn’t get enough of me earlier?”
“I think you showed me plenty this morning,” you joked. “Now, dish out the deets, Kim. Will you be here by this weekend?”
“How does tomorrow sound?” he replied with a smirk. “I was able to cash in my miles to book an early flight tomorrow morning. I’m packing as we speak.”
“Are you kidding me?” you nearly shrieked. “You’re really going to be here tomorrow?!”
“Yup yup,” Taehyung chirped. “If you pick me up at the airport, I’ll buy you lunch. How does that sound?”
“It sounds perfect, Tae-Bear,” you sighed happily. “I can’t wait to see you.”
“Same here, babe,” he smiled softly at you. “I’m going to finish packing and then I have to go drop off Tannie at my sister’s. She’s going to dog sit for me while I’m gone.”
“Awwww,” you cooed. “Bring him with you! You know Obie misses his little brother. You already have him cleared as your emotional support dog. Why don’t you just bring my precious Yeontan to see his favorite aunt?”
“You really don’t mind?” Taehyung questioned. “You know he’s just chaos disguised as a ball of fluff.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” you retorted. “Tannie is an angel. I’ll start clearing out a space for him. I have an extra bed for him and everything. The boys still eat the same food, right? Just bring his bowls and a blanket for the bed.”
Taehyung considered your proposal carefully, and then pursed his lips.
“I think you need to ask him yourself,” Taehyung suggested. “Maybe you can convince him to come with me.”
Taehyung switched the perspective on the phone so you could see into his apartment. He walked down the hallway calling for Yeontan. Curled up on an elaborate dog bed and surrounded by a plethora of dog toys sat the fluffiest dog known to man. Yeontan lifted his head and yawned cutely into the camera.
“Tannie!” you cooed at him. “What are you doing, sweetheart? Are you napping?”
Yeontan’s fluffy tail wagged in excitement and he stood up and shook the sleepiness out of his fur. You reached over to lift Oberyn from his spot on the couch and put him in view of the camera.
“Look, Obie,” you instructed. “It’s your little brother. Say hi.”
Both dogs tried to sniff at the other dog in the frame, and their eyes lit up in recognition.
“Tannie, do you want to come and visit your big brother Obie?” you asked the animated pup on the phone. “Tell your daddy that you want to come over to stay with us.”
Oberyn barked at the screen and wagged his tail, and Yeontan followed suit. The yips and growls from both dogs made you and Taehyung giggle profusely. You released your wiggly pup and sat forward on the couch to grin at your soulmate as he switched the perspective back to his handsome face.
“Ok, I guess you win,” Taehyung relented with a smirk. “I’ll pack Tannie’s things as well. Let me call my sister and cancel the sitter. I will forward you my travel itinerary as soon as that’s done. I love you, I miss you, and I will see you tomorrow, babe.”
“Same,” you replied joyfully. “Please be careful and get some rest. I know how cranky you get when you don’t get enough sleep.”
Taehyung stuck his tongue out at you like a petulant child and then made a goofy face into the camera. You made an equally funny face and then you both blew each other kisses and ended the call. He had a lot of packing to do, and you had to prepare for his arrival.
This is unbelievably wonderful. I never would have expected my break to go as well as this.
March 19th, 6:17am
You parked your car and dashed inside the airport lobby. You were supposed to meet Taehyung in Baggage Claim to help him with his bags and with Yeontan. The little fur ball was pint sized, but he was also fierce.
You spotted Taehyung’s silky waves under a hunter green beret near the middle of the baggage claim area. Once you were close enough, you noticed he was struggling to keep Yeontan calm and quiet as the carousel started moving.
“Sir, you need to control your dog,” you chided in a nasally pretentious voice. “Don’t make me call security.”
“I’m sorry,” Taehyung sputtered, not looking up. “I promise he’s actually really sweet, but he’s just really excited right now. He’s seeing his aunt for the first time in years.”
Taehyung spun around abruptly and shoved an ecstatic yapping Yeontan into your arms and then leaned in to place a fat kiss on your cheek. You gaped at his playful grin and shot him a knowing smile while Yeontan placed numerous kisses to your face.
“You knew it was me, huh?” you giggled, giving Yeontan a few kisses in return. “Sneaky Tae-Bear.”
He shrugged and wandered off to grab his bags from the carousel. You placated Yeontan and waited patiently as Taehyung rolled three suitcases over to you. Once you got everything packed into the car, including Yeontan strapped into the dog car seat, Taehyung lifted you around your waist and spun you around joyfully. Once he lowered your feet to the ground, you stayed wrapped in his bear hug on the verge of tears.
“Tae,” you breathed out shakily. “I really missed you.”
His arms tightened around your waist and he nuzzled his face into your neck.
“I missed you too,” Taehyung sighed sadly. “Let’s never let this much time pass without seeing each other. I didn’t realize how empty I felt, darling, until I held you in my arms.”
You chuckled at his dramatics and pulled away to look at his face. His mischievous smirk was fully loaded complete with a lifted eyebrow and you shook your head at his antics.
“Drama queen,” you joked.
“Hey,” he shrugged. “It’s the reason you gave me the middle name Elizabeth.”
You hurried home to get Yeontan settled in with Oberyn and Taehyung situated in your guest room. Once everything was unpacked and set, you ordered Thai food delivery for lunch so you and Taehyung could catch up while the boys played around the apartment.
“I really like your place,” Taehyung commented with a mouthful of Pad Thai. “It’s smaller than mine, but the setup is so much better.”
“How do you do that?” you asked in a pout. “How is it possible for you to compliment and insult my apartment in the same sentence?”
“Just talented, I guess,” he grinned while stealing a spoonful of your Tom Yum soup. “Speaking of talent, what hot stud did you have over recently, you little minx?”
You felt a rush of blood creep across your cheeks and ears at that last comment.
How the fuck does he know?
“What are you talking about, Tae?” you muttered nonchalantly while clearing your throat. “What makes you think that I had anyone over?”
“Well, I happened to notice the condom wrapper and used condom in the trash can in your bathroom,” Taehyung mused. “Someone had a big guest to entertain, didn’t they?”?”
You nearly choked on the Thai tea you were drinking, and Taehyung was damned lucky you didn’t do a spit take all over his expensive looking vintage clothes. After you recovered from your near death experience, you glared at the smug look on his face. He was chomping away happily on yet another spring roll and he paused to waggle his eyebrows at you and grin.
“Sooooo,” he drawled. “Who was it? Anyone special or just a rando from the bar?”
You hesitated. Taehyung would remember Jungkook. How could he not? You were constantly raving about Jungkook’s adorable bunny smile, his rippling muscles, the beautiful mole under his lip that you wanted to kiss every time you saw him. As you were debating the issue in your head, Taehyung picked up on your hesitation and scooted closer to you on the couch.
“It’s someone I know, isn’t it?” he assumed correctly. “C’mon, soulmate, dish me them dirty deets. I won’t judge.”
“Uh, yeah, you will,” you shot back in defiance. “You always judge, Tae.”
“Well, yeah, ok,” he admitted. “But I promise it will stay between us. Pinky promise!”
He stuck out his pinky and your heart fluttered with elation.
The pinky promise…
After the Great Soulmate Debate of 5th grade, you and Taehyung developed a signature “Ultimate Soulmate Handshake” that started with a linking of your pinkies. You lifted your eyes to meet his challenging gaze and you knew that he was testing the true strength of your relationship with his little gesture. You smirked at him and linked your pinky with his own, and you both stood up to do the proper handshake.
What followed was an overly complicated ballet of fingers, palms, and ridiculously dated dance moves ending with you jumping into his arms and you both striking a pose. Almost a decade had passed since you’d both completed these actions, yet it seemed like only yesterday you were sealing some kind of deal or promise with the Ultimate Soulmate Handshake.
Taehyung wrapped his arms around you once again and twirled you around the living room. Both of you were giggling like idiots, and you could not remember when you ever felt so happy. Taehyung truly was the other half of your soul, and you didn’t realize how much you missed him until that exact moment. Your giggles morphed into a quiet sob, and Taehyung quickly lowered you when he felt the atmosphere between you shift.
“Awww, babe, don’t cry,” he pleaded while wiping away your tears. “Why are you crying?”
“I just realized how much I’ve missed you, Tae-bear,” you sniffled. “It’s been too long.”
“Oh, honey,” he cooed while pulling you closer. “I know, believe me. I feel it too. I definitely feel like you were the thing that was missing in my life. Come here, baby, let’s dry those tears.”
Taehyung pulled you into the kitchen and grabbed a paper towel from the counter. He dabbed at your tears until you pulled the napkin away to clean up your face and blow your nose unceremoniously into it. He grimaced playfully at your actions and then pulled you close so he could kiss your forehead. You walked around the counter to toss the used paper towel in the trash and turned to find Taehyung looking curiously at the box you’d left on the counter.
“What’s this?” he asked in wonder. “It’s beautiful. Look at the embellishments on the feet and the resin lacquered over the collage. Did you make this, babe?”
“No, I found it in my closet,” you said. “I don’t know where it came from. It’s not mine.”
“You could’ve fooled me,” he quipped. “This totally screams your name. Look at those stickers, these colors, and that handwriting. How is this not your box?”
“I don’t know,” you shrugged. “I think I would remember making something like this, Tae. I honestly have no idea what it is.”
“What’s inside?” he asked while lifting the lid. “Hey! My hamburger!”
Taehyung lifted out the small plastic hamburger toy and his boxy smile made a sudden appearance on his glowing face. As bright as his smile was, your confusion was matching it in intensity.
“What do you mean your hamburger?'' you questioned carefully.
Taehyung’s smile dropped and transformed into utter disbelief.
“You don’t remember?!” he shrieked. “Are you fucking kidding me?! How dare you?!”
Taehyung stomped off in the direction of your bedroom and you followed him, still perplexed by this mystery hamburger toy that brought both joy and anger to your soulmate.
You walked into your room and found Taehyung digging into the bowels of his suitcase. A few perfectly folded articles of clothing flew over his shoulders and you caught them in midair. You were just setting them on the bed when Taehyung screeched and startled you into a sitting position. He rounded on you and held up the hamburger toy and another small toy resembling a strawberry milkshake.
“딸기/ttalgi (strawberry),” he stated simply. “That was what I started calling you after you spilled that milkshake on my head after our first fight, remember? I said it was superior to apple, even though you refuse to accept it. In fact, I’m bringing it back because it totally suits you.``
The confusion on your face evaporated as the memory came hurtling back to you. You brought your hands up to cover your mouth and your eyes widened at the revelation.
“Holy shit,” you murmured. “I haven’t thought about that in years. What was that fight even about anyway?”
“It was over that Japanese girl we both wanted to date in 4th grade,” he reminded you. “The one who had the bright red hair, what was her name?”
“Oh yeah,” you drawled. “Asuka. She was beautiful, just like a cherry blossom petal falling from the sky.”
“A little cliche, but ok,” Taehyung chuckled. “But yes, her. We were at that burger place and we saw her. You told me you were going to ask her out and I got mad because I wanted to ask her out. We fought and ended up throwing food at each other.”
You blushed at the memory and tried to hide your face. It was so embarrassing to think about how immature you used to be.
“Sorry, Tae-bear,” you apologized. “I don’t even remember what you said that made me so angry.”
It was Taehyung’s turn to flush awkwardly. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously and huffed out a sigh.
“I, uh,” he stuttered. “I said that you couldn’t ask Asuka out because you were a girl.”
“Oh snap,” you gasped. “You did say that, didn’t you?”
“Yeah,” he admitted sheepishly. “We were in 4th grade, babe. We didn’t know shit about sexuality back then. You just knew you liked both genders and I refused to believe that was possible.”
“That was until senior year when you met that percussion guy from marching band,” you scoffed. “What was his name? Kai?”
“Oh, Kai,” Taehyung reminisced fondly. “The pretty one who got away. He was adorable.”
Taehyung shook the memory away and lifted the toys again, determined to finish his story. He kneeled in front of you, leaning his forearms on your thighs for balance.
“After Asuka turned us both down, we were left filthy and heartbroken,” he continued. “Your shirt stained from the hamburger I threw at you and me covered in sticky strawberry milkshake. We made up in the parking lot and bought each other prizes from the bubble machine inside the lobby. Ironically, these were the prizes we got. I kept the burger and you kept the milkshake.”
He handed you the toys and you cradled them against your chest.
That was such a long time ago. My, how things have changed.
“Before we moved, we swapped toys,” he murmured, his voice thick with melancholy. “It was like our special soulmate talisman. I was you and you were me.”
You both looked at each other with misty eyes and failed to stifle the sniffles coming from your noses. The memory of your first real separation haunted both of you still. That day was agonizing for both of you, realizing that you may never be close to each other again. Almost two decades had passed and the wounds still felt so fresh. It only worsened when his parents moved back into town the year you and Taehyung left for college.
Oh, the irony…
“Oh, Tae,” you croaked. “I’m so sorry.”
You lurched forward and encircled his neck with your arms. He held you in his tender embrace and you both rode out the outpouring of emotion leaking from your faces. It dawned on you that neither of you ever really dealt with the separation, choosing to remain mute about the whole thing and pretend it never existed. In reality, it did exist, and it almost broke the both of you. Through carefully placed visits and outreach, you’d managed to keep the friendship bound haphazardly with metaphorical glue and tape, but it was never the same. You both had some real damage control to conduct, and maybe this was your opportunity to do so.
You pulled back and brushed your fingertips along Taehyung’s tear streaked cheeks and planted a fat kiss on his lips. Displays of affection were completely natural for the two of you, and it was established long ago that any emotional baggage that came along with it was just another piece of your soulmate bond.
“We’re both idiots,” you laughed against his lips. “You know that, right?”
Taehyung returned your laughter and your kiss, palming your cheeks to squish your face playfully.
“Come on,” he sighed. “Let’s get off the floor. I didn’t fly all the way over here to cry on the floor with my soulmate.”
You both huffed out a little laugh as you got up off the floor. You wandered back into the kitchen hand in hand after cleaning your faces with makeup wipes. Once you made it back to the box, Taehyung placed both hamburger and milkshake toys on the counter next to the box and proceeded to investigate the other items in the box. He lined up the other items next to your toys and then pulled out the folded piece of parchment. His interest was definitely piqued because you saw his eyes light up like flying saucers in the night sky.
“Whoa,” he breathed out in amazement. “What is this?”
He carefully unfolded the paper and spread it across the counter. You sat on one of your bar stools next to him and leaned on the counter. You hadn’t spent much time investigating the paper since the first day you discovered it.
“This is incredible,” he said, his voice heavy with excitement. “The parchment is well worn, which means it’s pretty old. Look at these colors, this calligraphy is amazing, and the brushstrokes are gorgeous. Where did you find this map, babe?”
“I already told you,” you repeated. “I don’t know where it came from. I found it in my closet. How do you know it’s a map?”
“It has all the characteristics of a map, the checkpoints, the layout, the design,” Taehyung explained. “Don’t you remember when I was collecting all those maps in junior high?”
“Oh yeah,” you drawled. “You became obsessed after we watched The Goonies and you were convinced that we would find treasure somehow.”
“Hey,” he insisted. “We found some really cool stuff with my Dad’s metal detector, remember?”
“Yeah,” you admitted. “We also found out about trespassing on private property and that it’s illegal to dig holes on government property and-.”
“Regardless,” Taehyung cut you off. “I know what I’m talking about and this map is really fucking cool. How are you not excited about this?”
“Honestly,” you sighed. “It kinda freaks me out. I don’t know who made it or where it came from and that bothers me.”
“Well, that’s why you have me, your own personal map expert and detective,” Taehyung bragged. “So, all of this random stuff was inside that box? There wasn’t anything else?”
“Well, almost everything,” you began. “There was a banana key chain USB, but it was Jungkook’s. He traded this four leaf clover necklace for it.”
You immediately regretted the words as soon as they left your lips. Taehyung’s face registered the name “Jungkook” as familiar, and you knew the instant he connected the dots.
“Oh shit,” he teased. “Jeon fucking Jungkook, that hot guy you tutored in college? That’s the stud you had over?! Damn, boy must be packing some heat!”
You buried your face in your arms and tried to hide from his incessant mockery.
Of course, he would remember.
“Stop,” you pleaded. “It was totally random and unplanned. I went out with Gina for St. Patty’s and I bumped into him at the bar. One thing lead to another and, well-“
“You had a midnight snack of Kookie and milk?” Taehyung suggested, lifting the clover. “You got lucky?”
You smacked his arm and he winced from the impact. You tried to stay mad at him, but his lips dropped to a pout and he started fake crying.
This boy…
“That isn’t going to work on me, Tae,” you said sternly. “Not gonna happen.”
His fake sobbing increased and he kept giving you the sad puppy dog look. When you saw an actual tear gloss over his cheek, you sighed and walked over to kiss his arm. He kept pouting until you finally gave in and kissed his lips. You both smiled at each other, and you rolled your eyes at your overly dramatic soulmate.
“Why does that always work on me?” you whined. “It isn’t fair.”
“What isn’t fair is that you traded a USB drive for this cheap plastic clover necklace,” Taehyung argued. “I mean it does light up, but it probably wasn’t an even exchange. Was the sex just that good?”
“If we’re factoring that into the equation,” you blushed fiercely. “Yes, it was most definitely an even exchange. In fact, I may owe him.”
“I am going to need a full detailed report later, babe,” Taehyung announced. “But for now, I want to talk about this map. Tell me what you know about it.”
“Not much,” you admitted. “I just know that there are seven smudges with words next to them and then there’s that big swirly heart thing connecting everything together.”
“Six smudges,” Taehyung corrected. “And why are some of these lines darker than the others?”
“What are you talking about?” you huffed. “I counted them. There are seven smudges.”
You finally took a closer look at the map and you gawked at the absence of one of the previous smudges from your earlier inspection.
What the hell?
“That can’t be right,” you whispered. “I know I counted seven.”
You pointed at the space where the first smudge had been. In its place was another block of text connected to the first block of text with a flourish of swirled ink. The text now read:
Were you wandering around looking for an erased dream too? It’s different from the typical definition of destiny. Your pained eyes are looking at the same place as me. Won't you please stay in dreams?
One time for the present, two time for the past, Happy that we met each other, now til’ the very end.
You traced your fingers over the new block of text and your brows furrowed in confusion.
That definitely wasn’t there before.
You also noticed the darkened line of ink running between the blocks of text. You traced its path across the page to the next block of text. This block read:
The heart no longer races when hearing the music play, Seems like time has stopped. Oh, that would be my first death I been always afraid of. If this can no longer resonate, No longer make my heart vibrate, Then like this may be how I die my first death, But what if that moment's right now?
The charcoal smudge was on the other side of the line, which abruptly faded as it neared the cryptic verse. You continued to trace the line across the page while Taehyung examined the lacquered box again.
“Hey, ttalgi,” Taehyung asked. “Why does this word have glitter around it but the others don’t?”
You looked up at him and focused on the word Time he was pointing out on the box. There was indeed a double line of purple glitter surrounding the letters that certainly wasn’t there before. You sighed in exasperation at this new information.
What the hell am I getting myself into with this box and this map?
“I don’t know, Tae,” you sulked. “It probably doesn’t mean anything.”
“How can you say that when something belonging to Jungkook and something belonging to me came out of it?” Tae quirked. “You’re doing that thing where something gets complicated and you just want to walk away, aren’t you? This is the Chinese puzzle box all over again.”
“Tae,” you whined. “Please don’t bring that up again. I was tortured enough with you hovering over me until I opened the stupid thing.”
“It was worth it though, right?” he insisted. “What was inside the puzzle box, baby?”
“This,” you pouted, holding up your right hand. “My soulmate promise ring and I’ve worn it every day since then.”
“Maybe this map is going to lead to something amazing,” Taehyung suggested. “I’m already invested in solving this mystery. I just need a trusty sidekick to help me along the way. What do you say, soulmate? Want to help your Tae-bear solve the Legendary Spring Break Map Mystery?”
“Why does everything you name have to be named like that?” you scoffed. “Naming something Great or Legendary doesn’t automatically make it awesome, y’know?”
“Well, not with that attitude,” Taehyung argued. “If you want, I can lay everything out so it isn’t so scary for you. It’ll be just like the detectives on TV with the boards and the Post-Its and stuff. You don’t have to set anything up, I’ll do it and then you can decide whether you are in or not.”
You briefly weighed your options and decided that any adventure with Taehyung was worth exploring. It wasn’t like you had anything else to do during this break, and you couldn’t deny that the map wasn’t igniting your curiosity. Apparently, Taehyung’s enthusiasm was taking root in your mind.
“Fine,” you sighed out dramatically. “But if this ends up going badly, I’m going to beat your ass.”
Taehyung squeaked enthusiastically and started setting up an investigation station on your coffee table. After he procured paper, pencils, and other office supplies from your desk, he laid everything out and started marking items of interest with colorful Post-It notes.
“What am I supposed to do while you’re playing Detective, Tae?” you asked indignantly. “Just sit here and look pretty?”
Taehyung looked up with a marker and a stack of purple Post-Its in his hands. He grinned and wrote something on the Post-It and walked over to place it on your forehead.
“There,” he beamed. “Now, you’re officially part of the investigation. Now, make yourself useful, dollface, and get me something to drink.”
You removed the paper from your forehead and read what he’d written and immediately scowled. You crumpled the paper and threw it at his retreating figure.
“I’m not your secretary, Taehyung,” you growled. “And call me dollface again and not only will I make you a pot of tea, I’ll pour it in your lap.”
Taehyung giggled and scrunched his nose at you while he attached the map to the wall with thumbtacks. You watched him scurry back and forth, continuously making notes and labeling portions of the map, and you shook your head and sighed heavily.
What am I getting myself into?
March 19th, 3:27pm
“Ok, it’s ready,” Taehyung announced. “Come check it out, babe!”
Taehyung swept his hand across the living room and presented a color coordinated layout of seven different investigation stations. You tried to track his organization, but got a little lost as your eyes scanned the living room.
“Ummm,” you began. “What exactly am I looking at here, Tae? You need to explain the method behind this madness I see.”
“It starts over here,” Taehyung proceeded to explain, pulling you to the far left of the room to a purple hued collection of Post-It notes. “I’ve divided up the map into seven distinct sections and separated them by color. I think the items you found correspond to these sections, but I don’t know how yet.”
“What makes you think they have any connection at all?” you queried. “Did you find something else?”
“No,” Taehyung continued. “But there are seven different sections on the map, seven different items, and seven different words on that box. That has to mean something. The words also seem to coordinate somehow. That section with two blocks of text mentions time and the word Time on the box is the only word with glitter. That seems to be a connection.”
“Ok, but what about the items?” you challenged. “How are they connected?”
Taehyung lifted a finger and started to speak, but then deflated. He put one hand on his hip and blew out a breath. He was stuck.
“I haven’t figured that out yet,” he admitted. “I was hoping you could help me with that.”
“How?” you wondered aloud. “I know about as much as you do about this stuff.”
“Well,” he began. “You said that the only item missing from the original collection was that banana USB, right?”
“Yeah, but it was Jungkook’s,” you reminded him. “He took it and gave me that shamrock necklace. What about it?”
“I think that’s a clue,” he decided. “I also found my hamburger toy in there, and I’m trading back for the milkshake toy. That’s two items from the original set that are being traded out for something in return.”
You rolled that around your brain and found that it surprisingly made sense, even if it was a little far-fetched.
It can’t just be a coincidence.
“Say they are connected somehow,” you relented. “What would be the connection?”
“I have a theory,” Taehyung expressed with a smirk. “But I need you to go along with it because it sounds a little nuts.”
“You know I always give in to your crazy schemes, Tae,” you chuckled. “Why would this be any different?”
“Good point,” he grinned. “Ok, so, here’s the thing. I think you are the key to all of this. The box, the map, the items, everything.”
You stare at him without blinking and slowly digest his statement.
That’s impossible.
“How could I be the connection?” you probed. “I didn’t make this box or the map and none of this stuff belongs to me.”
“Exactly,” Taehyung reiterated. “They don’t belong to you, but they are connected to something that does belong to you.”
“What do you mean?” you continued. “Is this about the hamburger toy?”
“Yes,” he exclaimed. “And also the USB you found. You said it belonged to Jungkook, right? He gave you the shamrock necklace in trade and now that’s part of the collection, but it actually belongs to you now.”
“Yeah,” you assented. “But what does that mean, Tae?”
“Maybe it’s symbolic?” Taehyung suggested. “Like you two had to make the exchange so it could be complete?”
“What exchange?” you asked. “You mean the banana or the sex?”
“Both,” Taehyung insisted. “Two things could be true. You guys traded information and bodily fluids. Bet you’d both been thinking about doing that since college, huh?”
“Yeah, actually,” you giggled. “We just never found the right time.”
“Time!” Taehyung screeched suddenly. “That’s it!”
He reached over to grab the box and he pointed out the word Time on the box surrounded by purple glitter.
“Time,” you echoed softly. “You’re right. Jungkook and I even talked about how often we kept missing opportunities because the timing was never in our favor.”
“Well, time was absolutely in your favor when you ran into each other at the bar,” Taehyung insisted. “You said it yourself: unplanned and random, almost like it was-“
“Destiny,” you cut him off, moving to reread the text in question. “We had been dreaming about each other, looking at the same things, all those unanswered questions finally answered.”
“You told me that this wasn’t here earlier,” Taehyung stated, pointing at the second block of text he’d marked with a purple Post-It marked with a JK. “It’s here now. I think this text, this word on the box, and the shamrock-banana exchange are all connected to you and Jungkook. It all makes sense.”
“But why?” you murmured softly. “For what reason?”
“Let me ask you something,” Taehyung said, sitting you both down on the couch. “After all of this happened with Jungkook, how do you feel?”
“I don’t know,” you admitted. “I mean, I thought it might lead somewhere, but he said he’s not ready for anything serious right now.”
“Not the right time?” Taehyung smirked. “And yet, you aren’t crushed by this shocking news. Why do you think that is?”
“I get it,” you explained. “I’ve been there before. Remember when I was dating Hoseok? I felt the same way, I wasn’t ready for something that serious even though he was. That’s why we ended it.”
“Oh yeah, Hobi-hyung,” Taehyung remembered fondly. “I liked that guy. It’s too bad that didn’t work out. You were so happy with him.”
“I was,” you sighed. “But I was young and selfish. I wasn’t ready to share my life with anyone yet.”
“And neither is Jungkook,” Taehyung pressed on. “Do you still have any lingering doubts about what might have been with him? I know that’s been bothering you for years. Don’t think I didn’t notice all those wispy sighs and pouts whenever his name entered the conversation. I don’t see any of that now though. Maybe you finally got the closure you needed with Jungkook.”
“Yeah, I did,” you smiled softly, grabbing the shamrock necklace labeled Exhibit A from the table. “I just got lucky, I guess.”
“In more ways than one, you minx,” Taehyung teased. “But you can tell me all about that later because I have another theory to toss at you.”
Taehyung pulled you over to a collection of green Post-Its and pointed out the hamburger and milkshake toys labeled “Exhibits B & C.” You nearly choked on the giggle threatening to escape from your lips, but you offered your soulmate a reassuring smile instead.
“If the purple section is Jungkook,” Taehyung began. “Then this green section is all about you and me. The toys fit into that theory, but I don’t know which word and block of text connect to them.”
“Assuming that’s true,” you retorted. “What unfinished business could you and I possibly have? I mean, we literally share everything with one another. We don’t have any secrets, Tae-bear.”
“That’s true,” he agreed. “But maybe we’re overlooking something. I’m trying to figure out which block of text would best describe us, and I can’t figure it out. It certainly isn’t the next one on the path.”
He pointed out the second block of text following the section he’d labeled JK. The words “music” and “death” kept swirling in your vision, and you felt a creeping tingle down your spine.
There’s only one person that could be.
Your phone dinged across the room, and you snapped out of your reverie momentarily. Leaving Taehyung to ruminate over the cryptic clues laid out before him, you picked up your phone and read the email notification you’d just received from work. As soon as you read the Subject line, you gasped and dropped your phone on the floor. The clatter captured Taehyung’s attention and he glanced up at your face and noticed the drain of color on your paled expression.
“Ttalgi?” he worried. “Is everything ok?”
You shook your head and tried to keep the tears from slipping from your eyes. Taehyung quickly made his way across the room and pulled you into his arms, trying to soothe the unknown pain away. He didn’t know what was going on, but he instinctively knew that you needed someone to hold you together.
“What happened?” he whispered against your hair. “What’s wrong?”
“I know who it is,” you croaked out. “I know who that block of text is talking about.”
You leaned down to pick up your phone and you showed him the email you’d just received. Taehyung’s eyes widened and then darkened considerably when he read it. He couldn’t control the growl which clawed its way out of his throat.
“Min fucking Yoongi.”
Author’s Note: The plot is thickening, y’all. What do you guys think of my Tae-bear? Isn’t he something else? The story is really going to take off from here, so I hope everyone is ready for an adventure. Please fee free to ask me any questions or leave any comments. I’d love to hear what you think of the story so far.
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Chapter One: There’s Always Time for Euphoria
NEXT:
Chapter Three: The Beautiful Music We Used to Make
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Silver Lining: Chapter 2
In which you and George decide to make the most of life after meeting up at the wrong place at just the right time...
w/c: 3k
a/n: Thanks for such lovely feedback, already! This has been so much fun to write and we’re just getting started y’all! Please let me know if I forgot to tag you or if ya want to be added ♡
taglist: @etherealallure @maria-josefin @shelbygirlsclubx @loulouloueh @clarkewithameme
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Seen yesterday 11:12 am
Of course, he hadn't responded to the shared google doc, you laughed to yourself in the car park of the airport. What were you thinking, inviting a stranger on holiday? You were nearly full of more regret than excitement for your pending adventure. But here you were, double-checking all the things in your handbag.
A pair of sunglasses, your plane tickets, and passport all accounted for, you unplugged the charger from the console and double-checked the time on your phone screen.
Right on time. You locked your phone, sliding it into your bag as a wave of nerves swept through you. Was this even going to be any fun? What was the point of going on some big romantic getaway if-
Your phone buzzed in your hand before you had let go all the way. When you pulled it into view a single notification lit up your screen... from George.
Wait up for me? ;)
Oh. Oh? You found yourself staring between the text message and his name in the corner of the screen. Was he really coming? Or was the cheeky emoji his way of sardonically letting you down easy?
You clutched your phone, trying to read between the lines as you collected your luggage from the back seat. You glanced at the message again as you locked your car and made your way inside the bright airport. Would lingering around the lobby make you look like a loon when you were inevitably left all alone? Would checking into your flight summon George, but all too late?
You glanced down to your phone one last time, decidedly turning it off along with your useless worries. You slid the device into your bag, reaching for your tickets and passports in exchange. And right when you turned your heels, you stopped in your tracks.
"Good morning!"
It was him. George Mackay was stood there, in some high-end joggers, sporting perfectly messy hair and a smile that made you wonder what he had to be so damn happy about.
"You're here." You realized, looking him up and down like taking notice of the laces of his shoes would solidify his existence.
"For some reason, I am." George nodded, shifting his weight as you stood staring. You wondered for a beat, what exactly you'd gotten yourself into. But all at once, a family of four rushed by in a hurry to the tune of their father chanting, "We're gonna be late!"
"Shall we?" You decide, remembering you were on a clock. You extended one of the plane tickets to George, whose already pleasant grin grew during the exchange.
You moved together, checking your bags, shifting through security and strolling amongst the slew of fellow travelers.
As you walked through the airport alongside George, crept into a conversation about how you’d both ended up here. About your recent ex’s, how for a dozen different reasons you should have seen it coming. How it was still sort of hilarious the way it all came to an explosive head. As George laughed along with you over the shitty situation, you felt more like you’d been catching up with an old friend than getting to know a new one.
Sure there was an air of elusiveness between the two of you, but it didn’t seem George had anything to hide. He took his time forming most of his responses, knowing there was a certain level of trust being built as you marched toward spending a handful of days together. But even though his quips were quiet and maybe even coy, he spoke in a manner that was confident and sure. You found yourself in a bit of a daze, studying his face as he spoke. He wore a hint of a smile and an almost furrowed brow. His sparkly blue eyes glancing at you every now and again, as if to check you were still listening.
All these factors added up to dampen your worries over if this was a good idea. George hadn’t given you a single reason to feel unsure of his company. He even asked somewhere back at the baggage claim if you were sure about his tagging along. By the time you wound up at the waiting gate, it seemed you’d found fast friends in one another.
“Are you sad about the wedding?” George wondered, sitting on a stool at your side. You rested your purse at a low risen bar, spinning on the stool to face him.
“I guess a little. I’d spent so long planning.” You shrugged. Funny how you really didn’t miss Colin, though. You explained to George how you met Colin in high school, before he got a big fancy job and fell in love with the money and power he gained. How you’d already settled into the role of doting on him, and you stopped feeling anything for the guy a while back, but only realized after it ended. You explained how you were glad for it now, but how it scared you a little to have been so blind.
“What about Chloe? Do you miss her?” You wondered, propping your elbow on the table at your side, and resting your head in your hand.
George gave you a lifeless grin, casting his eyes off in the distance as he explained how she was hardly ever around. How he wasted more breath begging for her to pay attention to him than ever actually spending much time together. How he felt silly for trying to make it work, after realizing all the signs it never would, were there from the beginning.
“I wish her the best, though, I suppose.” George sighed as if he wanted to hate Chole for what she did, but his purely kind soul wouldn’t allow it.
“I found her Instagram last night and scrolled through. I wanted to be mad at her, but I wasn’t. I mean, lots of her posts were pretty annoying, but I digress.” You gave a light chuckle. The girl had thousands of posts and saved stories, most of which were emoji saturated over-filtered bullshit. But she was studying to be a nurse and she had a family and friends who cared for her. She was just a normal girl who fucked up.
George hummed in a sort of agreement but the way his brow drew together made you toss him a look that demanded he speak his mind.
“Social media really isn’t my thing,” George informed matter of factly. Ah, so that explained why you hadn’t been able to find any accounts of his, last night.
“But you’re famous. Isn’t that like the prime place to advertise or whatever?” You chuckled, sitting up a little, stretching to shift positions.
“I’m not famous,” George stated, plain as day, that same perplexing micro expression lacing his features together. You huffed a laugh as his expression remained,
“Well, I recognized you and I'm nobody. We live in different worlds." You pointed out, playing along.
“That’s not true, is it? Look at us now.” George rose a coy brow as if to prove a point. A montage of muddle memories of the past couple days flashed across your brain as you looked to George, realizing this was really truly happening.
“Why’d you decide to come anyway?” You wondered all of a sudden. Shouldn’t he be off charming a few news anchors or something?
George sat up a little from where he’d been slumped against the counter space, giving a small slow nod as if he knew this question was coming sooner or later.
"Well... I've got some time to enjoy myself before I start my next film. The last one I worked on was, well it was intense. Made my head spin a bit, if I'm honest. The next one will probably do the same, so I figured a bit of spontaneous fun was in order."
"How could you possibly enjoy work like that?"
"I like bringing these stories to life, even if they're hard to tell. Besides, not all of my roles are quite so intense." George explained, drumming his fingers on his knee for a beat. "Ah, but you should know, I'm apparently quite famous."
He cast you a blank look, waiting for you to crack a smile before he did. With a shake of your head, you let out a laugh and stopped marveling over how you ended up here long enough to appreciate the fact that this was happening at all.
And then, it was time to board the plane. You found your seats, watching the last of the passengers cram their belongings overhead.
"Why Rome and Barcelona?" George asked as he settled by your side once more.
"Colin wanted Barcelona. I wanted Rome so he booked it first to get it 'out of the way'" You mocked your ex, feeling more grateful by the minute to be rid of him.
"You really scored with that charmer." George snickered, relaxing back against his seat.
"And now I have a masochistic actor taking his place. I'm so lucky." You shot back withholding a massive grin. You did feel pretty damn fortunate.
"You literally asked for it." George pointed a finger your way.
"You literally offered." You countered. His lips were upturned, and parted as if he wanted to respond but only a defeated breathy laugh escaped. It caused you to wonder if he was regretting making the strange offer. If he'd suddenly realized what he was doing and wished he'd never agreed to it.
That's about the time the plane started to jet down the runway. When the wheels lifted off the ground, the small worry in your stomach spread to your chest and everything seemed so insanely wrong all at once.
"I've never flown before." You admitted quietly, gripping onto either armrest and hoping the feeling of dread would pass if you alluded to it out loud. George glanced to you, sitting up a little straighter, and speaking up in that tone of his that was calm yet demanding all at once.
"It's just like a roller coaster, just at first. Then it's like nothing."
"I threw up on Splash Mountain." You fretted, the one and only ride you ever had the experience to draw from.
"Gives a new meaning to the name aye?" George joked, but you could find it in yourself to laugh along.
You knew George was only trying to keep up the banter you'd picked up somewhere back at the airport, but you were far too freaked out to join in. You hoped the sorry look in your eyes was enough of an apology before you screwed them shut, trying to ignore the invisible vice around your throat.
"Okay, it's alright, you've just gotta breathe." George shifted beside you, leaning in a little closer to gently relay his message.
"My heart's beating so fast I can't even feel it," You admitted. It felt like the buzz from the broken air conditioner vent overhead, with a flap vibrating against cold air. George followed your gaze to the thing but shook his head as your focus remained.
Then, without a word, George gently tore your grasp away from the armrest. He decidedly pressed the back of your hand to his chest, holding it there as he said,
"Focus on that beat and try to match it."
His heartbeat was unmistakable and strong. His concentration was on you, and you were almost lost taking note of the exact color of his eyes. They were sodalite, the color of a world you could have easily lost yourself in.
"Thanks." You mewled, daring to keep your focus on George, forgetting for just a split second, what you were so anxious about.
After you'd gained composure, and there was no reason for your hand to be intertwined with Georges any longer, there was still a nervous flutter in your chest.
George eased into a conversation about his favorite books, asking you to list off yours, joking that you needed to find something in common besides the grim reality of being recently dumped. He made you laugh, and he listened when you spoke. You'd almost forgotten where you were headed, and why, entirely too lost in the fun you were having on the ride there.
By the time the plane landed, it was as if you'd planned for this trip together all along, with George rambling about the things you'd organized in the google doc you shared.
In the blink of an eye, Rome was alive all around you, at long last. You passed through colorful markets and waved to musicians in the streets as you took a short journey to a hotel just outside of the city.
When you ended up in the bustling sunlight saturated lobby, the very kind and tired looking woman behind the front desk let you know that the room you'd reserved wasn't quite ready. She very kindly offered to stow away your bags until then, while you decided to take to the streets.
All the while, George was always somewhere right behind you, charming the lady at the front desk and making a cab driver laugh so hard he cried. You realized you were in the presence of someone very special, George wasn't like anyone you'd ever known. And strange as it was to sit by him in these sudden change of plans, it was oddly familiar. It was as if it was always meant to be this way.
The cab dropped you off in the heart of the city where you pointed out sights and ordered some coffees from a vendor to fuel your stroll through town. You were finally in the place you'd longed to end up, even having only just gotten there, there was so much beauty to spin around and soak up. The sun was low in the sky, peeking through a dusty alley in a quiet part of the city you'd wandered to. When you took to a bench to rest a beat, you checked your notifications and found your phone was full of missed phone calls from your mother. You couldn't help but wonder if you'd made some kind of mistake.
But then there was George, lingering a few feet away, snapping photos of a street sign like a dad on vacation. The golden sun highlighted his charming features as he turned to you with a smile.
"I see why you choose this place. It's like nothing bad can happen here." He spoke, sauntering your way with that same dopey smile he'd been sporting all afternoon.
"What about in the '80s when that girl got kidnapped by the police and the church covered it up?" You spoke up, crossing your arms as he approached you with the shake of his head.
"You're a real ray of sunshine, huh?" George laughed, shifting his weight to stand right in front of you. "There are bright sides to every story too, ya know?"
"Says the guy who keeps auditioning for horrific films." You shrug with a grin. This was what you'd been doing all day, trying to uncover each other's layers between the deepest level of small talk imaginable.
"Okay, first of that's just a lie," George pointed, "And who says I'm not looking for the bright side in those stories? Why not try and make the most of the bad part of life?" So that's why he was here, you figured. But you had to counter him.
"Sometimes life is just shitty ya know?" You shrugged as a breeze blew past.
"Yeah, well not now. Come on, let's go get some dinner." George held out his hand for you to take, pulling you from where you sat on the bench. You couldn't help but chuckle as you followed his lead. Your shared laughter echoed through the empty streets as George directed you to an eatery where tiny tables were packed into a vine-covered stone patio. He'd found his way there without fault, leaving you to wonder if he'd been here before. And if he hadn't, George's assuredness was admirable.
The crowded restaurant was full of smiling faces, yours included. Everyone vendor and passerby you'd interacted with thus far was incredibly kind. Rome was everything you'd imagined and more, and you'd only been for a couple of hours.
As you ordered food and ate, you and George went on slyly getting to know each other. He mentioned his family, comparing the dinner he ordered to his grandmother's best recipes. You admitted your mother had phoned a dozen times throughout the day. George insisted you call her back right away, recalling a time he ran off as a boy, almost giving his mother a heart attack and still felt guilty to this day.
So to cease his pestering, you called her right in the middle of your meal. The conversation with her wasn't very long, as you informed her you'd taken off on the trip you planned for and that you'd call to tell her the rest of the story later, only ringing now to let her know you were safe and fine.
And by the time you finished eating, George refused to let you pay for any of it.
"You've planned and paid for most of this trip. I can't just tag along with nothing to offer" George laughed, but swatted your hand away from the bill all the same. "So it's either I pay for dinner or I force you into some spectacular plan and blow all my savings on it, your choice."
"You're impossible." You nodded, slumping back allowing him to pick up the check, just this once.
Back at the hotel, the lobby was just as full of people as it had been early in the day. You almost reached out to George as you pushed through the crowd, just so you wouldn't lose him, but you didn't.
After collecting your room key and luggage, you were greeted with your first issue. It was inevitable for something to have gone wrong, but the stakes were a little higher now, in the company of a man you just met. You didn't even know his middle name.
But now you were stuck in Rome together, in a teeny tiny hotel room with one small bed and a wooden chair in the corner.
"I'll go see if they can switch rooms." You sleepily sighed, spinning to head back down the couple flights of stairs you'd just trudged up.
The same sweet woman at the front desk looked even more exhausted when you reached her again and you almost felt bad for asking, but you had to.
When the lady regretfully informed you that they were entirely booked, pointing to a walk-in who opted to sleep in the waiting lounge, you wished her a goodnight and worried all the way back upstairs.
"We could take shifts like they did in the war." You shrugged, informing George that your trip down to change things proved unsuccessful.
"I don't think that's a viable option." George chuckled. He was sitting in the rickety wooden chair, thumbing through a paperback that rested on the desk beside him. Before you could speak up again, he shut the book and stood, announcing that he was going to get cleaned up for the night.
You sorted through a few of your belongings as George occupied the bathroom, pacing at the end of the tiny bed. The room was quaint and warm and held all the charms you'd longed to be surrounded by. But what the hell were you supposed to do now?
You kept on trying to brainstorm when it was your turn to clean up, but you'd had far too much to still try and process about today, that your mind went blank.
Back in the room, You found George settled below the paint chipped window, leaning back against the desk. His legs kicked across the floor, that old ratty paperback in his lap.
"George, get up you're not sleeping on the floor." You sat on the edge of the bed, turning back the covers. He twisted to gaze up at you, confused.
"Come on, we're grown-ups and we're only here two nights." You gestured for him to occupy the bed space beside you, easing toward the edge best you could. You could practically hear him thinking from all the way across the very small room.
"Don't make me count to three." You threatened, giving George a look. He let himself smile as he rolled his eyes and stood with a sigh. He turned off the light and somehow after you'd both situated under the covers, there was a miraculous sliver of space between you.
Worn out from all the travel you were nearly asleep when your head hit the pillow. Tomorrow was a tour of the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican. It was the day you'd planned for a million little things you'd always dream of doing, but now, you felt guilty.
"George..." You spoke out, quiet as you could, gazing out of the window you faced. "If you got to spend a day in Rome what would you want to do most of all?" He offered to tag along on your trip, but you wanted him to have fun, too.
A beat passed in the still of the night and you figured the guy on the opposite side of the small but arguably cozy bed, had fallen asleep. But then in a low gentle whisper, George replied...
"Do as Romans do."
When in Rome, you thought... It was a saying used as an excuse to indulge but you'd forgotten it really meant to adapt to your situation, to roll with the punches and not get hung up in trying to fight or figure out the natural flow of things.
With that, you fell asleep, dreaming of waking up to another adventure
───※ ·❆· ※───
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About Duke Cadash, part 2
okay so I know that this is supposed to be like an ask thing from here! butI only have like 3 followers on here, I just finished my second playthrough of Inquisition and I really really wanna talk about my Inquisitor :’)) so we’re doing this
what is your inquisitor’s name & race? - Duke Cadash, surface dwarf
what is their sexual orientation? - bisexual <3
what do they look like? (add screenshots, drawings, descriptions!) - he's a freckly ginger and has bright blue eyes, a very well groomed beard (he at least tries to redo the braids every morning), undercut on on the left side of his head but otherwise longish hair, scarring underneath his right eye and between his brows; he's like muscular and thick at the same time, I don't know a good word for it? but yea :) he's prettyy
how did they feel about being called “the herald of andraste”? - he uses it to his advantage. he doesn't outright deny it to people he doesn't really trust, only those closest to him know his real stance on it. he just takes being called the Herald in stride, doesn't hate it but isn't the biggest fan either
what are their religious beliefs, if they have any? - believes in the Stone because his parents had been cast out from Orzammar and they passed on their beliefs to him as well. he's not super into it though, more like a casual believer.
what is their opinion on the mage/templar war? - supports the mages and even though he can get along with templars if necessary, he often calls them out for their prejudices and bullshit. he believes that the war was inevitable and kind of necessary as well because in his eyes big change usually comes by, sadly, using harsher tactics.
who is your inquisitor’s best friend? - he was suuper close with Blackwall in the beginning because their humor was pretty similar, he was one of the first people he recruited on his own, and they're both pretty close in terms of age as well. however, as Duke grew closer to Dorian, they became best friends instead (and then eventually lovers). I'd say his real best friend is either Cassandra or Solas? because even though he disagrees with both of them quite a lot, they still somehow manage to get on pretty well <33 and they both have been there from the very beginning of this entire journey!! so it makes sense :) also, Duke is suuuuuper loyal, so when he found out about Blackwall :)) he fucking flipped and completely shunned him and never again took him into his party.
who is their rival? - uhhh among the companions? I don't think he really has one...
who is their love interest, if they chose one? do you ship them with anyone else/non-romanceable options? - DORIAN!! <333
warrior, rogue, or mage? - rogue, archer
how do they feel about the dalish? - he feels for them and wants to support them and work together as much as possible. he can see that a lot of them seem arrogant and standoffish on the outside, but he gets why that is, so he just lets them be and tries to work with it.
how do they feel about the qun? - he does not like the qun, to him it seems like a cult. he can also see many similarities between it and the chantry so.
how do they feel about the chantry? - he doesn't like the chantry BUT he does not shun them out loud because he knows that having them support him makes him look good to those who believe in Andraste and such, but also he doesn't wanna take away hope from those who find it in him during such a difficult time (even though he doesn't believe he's chosen in any way)
which demon is most frightening to them? - definitely the nightmare. Duke doesn’t get rattled very easily but that whole thing managed to get underneath his skin. plus! he’s incredibly scared of spiders and the nightmare created to many of them to freak him out, so the entire fade thingy was very hard on my poor Master Cadash :((
did they choose the qun or the chargers in iron bull’s personal quest? why? - the chargers. he didn’t trust the whole thing from the beginning and basically went along with it because he wanted to support the Iron Bull and because he could feel that something fishy was going on. also, even before the whole thing Duke got along with Krem really well, because he has this habit of taking younger people under his wing (exhibit A: Cole) so that’s also what kinda happened with Krem. ALSO! another thing is that Duke id very much against sacrificing lives in order to get something, so even if he hadn’t cared about any of the chargers personally, it would’ve just went against everything he stood for.
when are they the happiest? - when he's exploring the wilderness with his party, probably picking elfroot or iron lol
how do they feel about the mark/the anchor? - it doesn’t really cause him very much pain so he sees it mostly as something that’s just there and helps him deal with this whole mess.
upon first meeting cole, were they afraid of him? - not really? he could tell that he was different but Thedas is full of so much surreal and nonsensical shit that this kid who acts a bit outside of the established rules of the society didn't really faze him. when he first met Cole during the attack on Haven, his first reaction was that “why is this young kid out here??? get him to safety!!!!” but yknow in a way where he could still see that Cole was perfectly capable of pulling his own weight, Duke just worries.
did they use the templars or the mages to close the breach? - mages
what was their court approval like at the winter palace? did they have any fun at all? - the only things that Duke liked during the whole charade was seeing Josephine and Leliana enjoying the whole thing AND getting to dance with Dorian. he got 100 court approval but he hated that everybody kept shitting on him for being a dwarf etc. also dealing with Gaspard, Celene, and Breala was frecking frustrating.
someone is encroaching on their love interest. how do they respond? - idk how to answer this. he knows that Dorian can handle himself but if the situation requires his help then he will get supper angry and protective
what is their favourite weapon? - Duke’s Bayard!! :D this really great bow that he got made
are there any creatures in the wild that they refuse to/are reluctant to kill? why? - nugs because to him they look like a rabbit and an old wrinkly man merged into one. so yea, no. he also doesn’t like killing dragons. the only proper dragon he and his party ever killed was the big one in the hinterlands but Duke didn't feel right about it afterwards so he never went after another again
what is their opinion on blood magic? would they ever use it, if given the chance? - to him blood magic is just a type of magic really but I don't think he'd use it if he were able to
what is their favourite place within playable regions? - interestingly, the hinterlands. it's because he grew up in fereldan is used to that kind of nature
did they feel suspicious of dorian upon first meeting him, because of his tevinter heritage? - a bit, yes, but it quickly faded
as a whole, how do they feel about tevinter + the imperium? - he hates the whole slavery business that they've got going on over there but Dorian manages to convince him that the imperium could be changed so he has hope for it. he doesn't blindly hate every vint he meets.
did they encourage cullen to continue taking lyrium, or to stop? for what reasons? - to stop because even though he’s not very close to Cullen and he has his issues with him, he didn't want him to be dependent of lyrium in order to work to the best of his abilities. because Cullen is in charge of such a huge part of the Inquisition, he needs him to be dependable
does it bother them to sleep in tents when on the road with the inquisition? - nope! Duke loves tracking and yknow finding and looking for stuff out in the wilds so he’s used to that sort of thing since he grew up in a naturey place. he had to spend a lot of nights in similar situations while he was part of the Carta too
are they an optimist, a pessimist, or neutral? - i guess something between an optimist and a neutral? I guess you could call him an optimistic realist. he rarely veers towards pessimism
if varric wrote a book about your inquisitor, how would they feel about that? - he would actively encourage it because it would be fucking hilarious to read
do they get along with vivienne? - nope, he doesn’t even recruit her.
are they afraid of anything specifically? - spiders
what was their reaction to the destruction of haven?
how do they feel about “the game”? - a bunch of nugcrap
are they especially protective of certain inquisition members, even those capable of defending themselves? - even though he knows that all three of them can take care of themselves and he trusts them to do so, he still worries about them the most. Cole, Krem , and scout Harding.
do they like their skyhold pajamas? - he hates the pajamas. but the outfits that he usually wears look superrr fly so he doesn’t mind those one bit
are there any insults they find to be especially offensive? (i.e. “knife ear”/”rabbit” for elves, “oxmen” for qunari, ect.) - I am not sure what insults a dwarf would get in terms of specific words. the fact that people keep making comments about the Inquisitor surprisingly being a dwarf does annoy him though
if varric gave them a nickname, what would it be? - either cherry because of his red hair OR the Archduke :P
do they enjoy being the inquisitor? - yes!! at the beginning, he's more wary of it, which of course makes sense, but even then he's just ready to take on the role of the leader because no one else will do it and he does have the mark so it makes sense for him to do it. as time moves on he grows to really like it! he makes a great leader and he knows it.
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Time to celebrate. Alexa, play baby shark
You can find the Wattpad version here
Warnings: Mild cursing, mentions of strict parents, Maths.
Words: Almost 3k words (I know, I snapped)
Meghana
August 28th, 2020; 1:30pm
Manama, Bahrain.
Meghana was bored. Physics was a confusing subject as it is, and her teacher was not making it any better. To top all of this off, she needed to ace this class to keep taking her honours classes. So yeah, she was grumpy. The only thing keeping her going was that the weekend was nearing.
Her phone was vibrating wildly and she took a look at the conversation happening in the group. It seemed like the spontaneous road trip plan was still under heavy discussion. She smiled for a second, but faltered when she realised that the possibility of her going to this trip was little to none.
‘Don’t get you hopes high,’ She thought to herself, heaving a heavy sigh as she thought over on how she could ask her parents, and more importantly; how they’d react to it. She was so immersed in her thoughts that she completely missed out on the last lesson for the week.
"Thank you, children, and have a happy weekend!" Her teacher ended the meeting.
Meghana closed the laptop and started grumbling under her breath, getting started on one of the 10 worksheets she had due this week.
"Happy weekend, my ass. You gave us so much homework, I'd die by the time I'm done with it," She muttered under her breath and caught up with the conversation in the group chat. The road trip was still under heavy discussion. She unlocked her phone and read the texts.
'Fuck! I did not think this through,' Meghana started panicking. There was absolutely NO way her parents would let her go at this time of the year. Only someone like the Prime Minister of India inviting her could only persuade them.
Meghana tossed her phone aside and made her way to the dining hall.
"Oh you're here; your dad's coming in a few minutes, so just wait here. we have something to tell you," Her mother went back to the kitchen to get some cutlery. Meghana made a face and sat in her seat.
'ugh, its going to be another party right,' She tilted her head back and groaned loudly.
Her parents had a very concerning track record of attending stupid parties, the kind of ones where people invite each other to:
a) boast about their new promotion
b) boast about their children's grades or achievements.
Meghana had no doubt it was the latter, and almost cried. The parties in question were extremely uncomfortable and downright annoying. And that wasn't even the worst part. These 'parties', if she could call it, are hosted at the end of every week.
EVERY. FUCKING. WEEK.
And the only person she had for company-- also the only one who wasn't a snob-- was her brother's best friend, Mark Woo.
"How many times have I told you not to groan and stretch in front of food?" She jumped as her father put his briefcase down and sat at the dining table.
"Yeah, yeah," She dismissed him and served herself some food. Throughout the entirety of lunch, Meghana was thinking over the topics her parents could use to brag this time. Is it going to be her exam grades, or is it the results of the IMUN she participated in?
"Ok so," Meghana's dad suddenly put his spoon down- "Your mom and I have something to tell you," Your brother looked up from his food at the serious tone your father was using.
"I have something to ask you as well," Meghana swallowed her food and took a big gulp of water.
"Go ahead, we're listening."
"So a couple of my friends were planning a road trip to Europe," She looked up to see their reactions and continued, "Basically, we land in Germany and then drive from there," Again, no reaction. "And I was wondering if I could go...?" Meghana looked at them with a hopeful glance.
"A road trip sounds cool," Her elder brother finally spoke.
"It does, but I'm going to need more details. For starters, is there going to be an adult there? If so, I want to speak to them, and the supplies, money, and obviously accommodation, all of that. After then we can come to a decision," Her father concluded.
Meghana was elated. This may not sound like much, but at least her father had given this trip a chance. And that made all the difference.
"Well coming back to what your dad and I wanted to tell you; we're going to India for a few months," Her mother stated, finishing up her meal.
"Yes, we have some business there; some bank-related stuff and all." Her father stood up to put his plate back in the sink.
"Wait," Meghana sat up again, "So we're not going to the weekend party?"
"Of course not, don't be silly. The Mehra's never host a party on the last Saturday of the month, did you not get the memo in the group?" Bold of them to assume she read the messages in that stupid group.
"Now we are sure your brother will manage--" You rolled your eyes 'of course he will' "Your trip proposal, however, I have to think about. In the meantime, you will ask one of the adults to speak with me."
"Yes dad," Meghana dragged herself back to her room and texted the 'adults' in the group and requested them to talk with her father.
Meghana plugged her phone in the charger and spent the rest of her day finishing up her homework. It was exhausting to have to finish more than 10 assignments in one day, but she knew she had to do it. 'For the grades' she thought, filing her work after it was completed. She then sat for a while in complete silence, before slapping herself a few times and getting back to her writing.
"You do know dad will question them like they are wanted criminals before he makes a decision, right?" Her brother barged in her room and flopped on her bed.
"I am aware. Could you kindly show yourself out?"
"Wow, there's no need to be so nice to me today." He joked, pulling her hair and leaning down to see what progress she made.
"Did I ever mention you suck at maths?"
"Yes. Please get out. I need to finish this and submit it today."
"Let's make a deal. I'll help you with your assignments and you give me ladies advice." He brought one of his palms to shake. Meghana looked at him warily.
"Why? And who is this lady?" She gasped in realisation at his silence. "It's Priya, isn't it? What do you plan on doing, huh?" She punched him hardly.
"OuCH NOthiNG LADY. Oof; I just want to take her out sometime," She stared at him as he rubbed his arm.
"I don't trust you," She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I give you full rights to assassinate me if I do anything inappropriate."
"..."
"Please?" He pouted. Meghana wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I'm your brother, you have to trust me..., at least a little."
"Look, its not that I don't trust you or anything, but I just don't want her to get her hopes up and be hurt later," Meghana's brother looked downcast.
Guilt was eating Meghana up and eventually reached the part of her brain where she made all her rational decisions. "How do I know whether you're telling the truth or not?"
"What, you want me to write up a contract that I should sign on to swear my secrecy?" That actually seemed like a pretty good idea.
"Yes. I want you to sign a document in which you swear not to misuse any information I might give you." Her brother thought she was joking.
"You know what? I will. I will write that document if it means that I can potentially ask Priya out." To Meghana's surprise, her brother actually wrote a fairly decent document that he later signed on.
"Now are you satisfied?" He asked her, after calling her a sadist, (which she never responded to).
"Ugh, fine. But only because you deadass wrote a contract." Her brother laughed annoyingly. "Will you still help me with maths?" She asked shamelessly, running a hand through her hair.
"Yeah, wouldn't want mom and dad to be embarrassed at those stupid end of the week parties,"
Her brother just shook his head and sat down to help her with her assignments; and soon enough she was almost done! She did have her huge democratic politics paper to write, but she chose to help her brother with ladies advice instead.
"So I shouldn't make sex jokes?"
"I'm not saying that," Meghana's brother frowned in confusion.
"Then what are you implying, woman?"
"I just asked you to keep it respectful. I didn't ask you to stop; even the principal knows Priya likes your weird sex jokes," For the first time in her 16 years of living, Meghana saw her brother blush.
"I never make disrespectful jokes. I make small penis jokes, yes; but nothing more than that,"
"I'm sorry. I just assumed college boys were like, you know,,,"
"Yeah," He began, frowning again at the assumption, "But I really want Priya to like me you know?" He flopped back on her bed, acting like a lovesick puppy.
"I can see that. I think this is the first time I saw you blush that much when I mentioned a girl's name," She laughed, clearly amused. "And that is why I have decided to support your relationship, even though I am extremely suspicious of you." She nodded her head determinedly.
Meghana's brother laughed. "Ok you idiot,"
She still had the determined look on her face, "Tell me what you want to know."
True to their words, the siblings helped each other out; although not pleasant, but the effort is what counts, right?
"I think someone sent you a message, your phone is almost ready to become a Bollywood dancer," Her brother unplugged her phone from the charger and handed it to her. "I'll be in my room if you need anything."
"Believe me, I won't." Meghana scoffed jokingly, taking her her phone from her brother's hands.
"Rude," he scoffed and left her room, only to poke his head back in. "Best of luck my dude. Dad's gonna murder you if you don't let him talk to those 'adults' soon. Here's to hoping I don't become an only child." Her brother saluted her mockingly. She flipped him off and read the texts she's received, hoping with all her might that they'd agree to talk to her dad.
She quickly responded to her friend and opened the texts she'd received from Kavya.
'Oh thank god!' Relieved that Kavya had responded, Meghana quickly ran to the hall and called Kayva's number.
"Hello, Meghana? This you?"
"Yeah, thank you so much for calling"
"No worries, is your father there?" Meghana said yes and handed her phone to her father, exiting the hall as he made shooing motions towards her.
"Tensed?" Her brother annoyingly asked her again.
"Don't even get me started. I was so tensed, I didn't even read the new chapters of my Sukka fan fiction!" Her brother shook his head.
"I will never understand your obsession with Zuko and Sokka,"
"You watch the series and you'll get it too, like Zuko is absolutely--"
"Please stop. I'm in no moods for your 'Why Zuko is an amazing character' rants again." Meghana was highkey offended.
"Fine then, don't blame me if step-1 of your 'asking Priya out' plan fails then," She walked back in her room with a smug grin on her face.
"Wait, you can't do that!"
"Watch me bitch," Meghana was enjoying her brother beg for something when her father called her from the hall.
"Meghana!"
"Yes, papa?"
"I talked to your friend,"
"...And?"
"I'm still thinking." Meghana frowned slightly.
"That's ok... thinking is good..?" She was always awkward with her father, but this conversation deserved an award of its own.
"...Yes, yes it is. Although, I was under the impression that I was going to speak to 2 people?" Meghana was about to reply when her phone ping-ed loudly. She excused herself for a minute and opened the texts.
She thanked the stars for Hadi's impeccable timing and told her father that the 'other friend' was also ready to speak to him. This time, however; she left the hall without her father shooing away.
'It seemed obvious he was going to do it anyways, so what's the point in staying there?' She thought to herself, entering her brother's room to try and see what he was up to.
"....I don't know, dude. Maybe we should ask your sister, she knows this kind of stuff way better than us..." Meghana heard someone speaking as she sat on her brother's messy bed.
"Ask me what?" The two men in question jumped at her voice.
"GOoDNEsS womAN! Don't sneak up on us like that!" Her brother patted his chest, almost having a heart attack at her sudden presence.
"Sorry," She said sheepishly, and smiled at the person next to her brother. "Hey Mark!"
"Hey," He smiled and gave her a small wave. She wanted to ask him how he'd come in, considering that the intercom didn't ring even one; but she looked around the room, and sure enough, she spotted his shoes below the window.
"So what did you want to ask me?" She walked over to the desk where her brother and Mark were seated. Meghana's brother was very hesitant to answer her question and instead, nudged Mark slightly, who seemed a bit taken aback.
"Huh, oh... erm... Madhav wanted me to help him with the editing for his thumbnail, but as you can clearly see, his editing sucks," Mark winced as Meghana's brother elbowed him sharply. "So I suggested asking you, since you can do it much better than him," He continued, rubbing his side.
"Only if you want to, of course." Meghana thought about it for a moment and looked at the edit to see whether it was really that bad.
"Fuck, this is disastrous," She frowned, examining the edit. "What happened to Dennis?" She asked, referring to her brother's friend; the one that she did not have a crush on, and most importantly, the one who edited the thumbnails for her brother's videos.
"He's down with the flu, so he has to rest for at least 3 weeks." Mark explained, frowning.
"That really sucks, but fine, I'll help you." Meghana couldn't stop feeling that she dug herself a hole deep enough to bury the entire country in, but it was all worth it when she saw that stupid grin on Mark's face.
"Really!? Thank you so much!" Oh, right. Her brother was there too.
"Damn I'm feeling really generous today. I helped you two times? That's gotta be a new record." she blew on her nails. "Let's just hope dad says yes to the whole road trip thing,"
"Wait, road trip?" Mark looked extremely confused.
"Yeah, some of my friends were planning on going on a road trip across Europe." She explained.
"That seems really cool!"
"It is, and I hope dad lets me go--" And because of what seemed like amazing timing, (but is actually poorly structured plot convenience), her father walked in.
"What are you doing in Madhav's room?" Her father looked surprised. "Oh, and hello Mark," He acknowledged Mark's presence, nodding in his direction.
"Oh I was just helping Mark and Madhav with some professional-level editing, why?"
"Could you come to the hall for a minute?" Meghana nodded and followed her father out of the room, not before sharing a knowing glance with her brother.
"If I die, please play dynamite during my funeral," She whispered to him.
"I don't want to risk you coming back alive, sorry." If Meghana could, she would respond, but she had to follow her dad to the hall to hear his final verdict.
She mentally played the Battle of Hogwarts background music.
'This is it.' She thought. 'It all comes down to this. Either he says yes, or no. And don't be disappointed if he says no.' Meghana was prepared for the worst.
"I talked with your friends and I've made a decision," Her father's voice brought her back to reality.
"You can go." He sighed deeply, "But," Meghana stopped her internal celebration. "You will not do anything that you shouldn't be doing, is that clear?" She nodded vigorously.
"I've never been the one to do irresponsible things, you know that, right?" Her father sighed and nodded.
"I know, but it's my duty as a father to tell you this," He patted Meghana on her shoulder. "The outside world is a messed up place, and I don't want you to make any rash decisions. But you've earned this one. Truly." He smiled at her. "Think of it as a late 'good job on your exams' present. But all said and done, start packing now, you'll be leaving on the 31st."
_______
A/N:
Me when I thought I could finish this chapter in midst my exams and assignments: 🤡
But I'm glad this one's finally over, so now I can focus on the next turtles, and I promise I'll be consistent with the updates 🤡✌🏽
I hope you enjoy this chapter, (please do. I was severely sleep deprived writing this)
Until next time, though
M ❤️.
#road trip#travel#fandom#zukka#sokka#zuko#atla#gay chat#gay chaos#eurotrip#multichapter#europe#multiple pov#student#author#strict parents#maths sucks#friendship#smau#French fries#camping#bonfire#billionaire#ceo#airport#flying#coming of age#crossroads#harry potter#chaotic turtles
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Survey #285
"do you have the time to listen to me whine about nothing and everything all at once?”
What does your car smell like? You assume I have a car. Would you ever let anybody else drive your car? ^ Have you ever met someone in person who you first met on the internet? Do you have plans to do that anytime soon? Yes, Sara. I want to visit her again, but right now I have no clue when that will happen. I have another friend that wants me to shoot her wedding that was planned for this year, but it was delayed to an unknown date, so. What was the last thing you used a blender for? A margarita. Have you ever got into an argument with a stranger on social media? Do you remember what it was about? Yep. There's been a couple. Has COVID had any impact on your Christmas plans this year? What’s going to change or be different to normal? Yes. Mom and I aren't coming while Ashley's inlaws are there at her house, and then I think we're going to my other sister's since she wants to cook? I've only really overheard Mom over the phone, I'm not 100%. I'm just. Going with it. What’s your favourite flavor of cake? Are you any good at making that kind of cake? Probably red velvet, or just double chocolate. I dunno. I love cake. I don't cook, though. Are you currently under any COVID-related restrictions where you live? Are people generally following the rules? Well, you're SUPPOSED to wear a fucking mask, but "it's a hoax" and "you can't make me" fuckheads don't listen, and it's poorly-enforced. You see people without them all the time. Do you still watch cartoons? I'm not opposed, I just don't watch television. Is anyone else in the same room as you right now? What is that person up to? No. Do you use Pinterest? Ha, I get most of my (unedited) avatars from there. It also gives me some pose ideas for photography. Are you wearing earrings? Ugh, no. I absolutely hate how the first holes stretched from heavy earrings. I need to get a proper tapering set if I want to actually use gauges (mind you, very small) so they look even semi-good again. I don't wear any in the second/upper holes because I think it just looks weird with nothing in the first. Do you know any sign language? Not anymore. In elementary school, we did do a play however where in one of the songs, we signed the lyrics. I remember zero. Have you ever gone on a service trip to an underprivileged country? No. Which breed of dog do you find most scary? None. Ever been to a pottery class? Not particularly, no. I've made pottery in normal art classes multiple times, though. When you were young, did you ever pretend to “marry” somebody? I have no idea. I don't have a specific memory. Don’t you just find it annoying when people get too much plastic surgery? Oh, fuck off. Is it your body? Is it there to boost YOUR confidence? Then your opinion doesn't fuckin matter. Are you the type who usually plays it safe? Yep. Who do you think about most? It's certainly not willingly, but Jason. PTSD kinda engraved his presence in my brain. How’s your grandmother? Both are dead. What’s your favourite type of cloud? Big, tall, and poofy cumulonimbus ones. Do you have a birthmark? Where? Does it look like anything? Yeah, a slightly darker brown blotch on the side of my right forearm, near the elbow. If you were blind for the rest of your life… what would you miss seeing the most? Probably people smiling. My nieces' and nephew's came to mind first. What is your most disappointing moment in life? I've been living it for years now. I'm not who I wanted or thought I would be at all. What is the best reward anyone can give you? Validation lmao. What is your favorite animal? List three adjectives to explain your choice. Meerkats, always. God, I can barely boil it down to three words. Loyal, complex, and brave will have to do. What is your favorite color? List three adjectives to explain your choice. Pink. Soft, pretty, gentle. What do you consider to be the most valuable thing you own: when you were a child/teenager/now? As a child, my big plastic crocodile named Marlin (yes, after the Finding Nemo character) that was the "main character" in my games of make-believe. As a teen, probably Rebel, the stuffed meerkat Jason gave me. Now, it's absolutely the pebble I got upon "graduation" from my partial hospitalization program. What’s the kindest act you have ever seen done? I'm not sure; I've seen a good deal. Thinking of only the ones I've seen in-person, uhhhh... wait. A couple days before my overdose, in desperation, I called Jason's house in the middle of the night wanting to talk to him. His mom answered, and she talked to me for hours with such patience and kindness to try and calm me down. I miss her a lot. Is Frozen one of your favorite Disney movies? No, I never really liked it. If you were an explorer, would you rather explore the Arctic Circle, Antarctica, or Alaska? Ohhh, Alaska. It's gorgeous and at least not absolutely frigid everywhere. How many blankets do you sleep with in the winter? I usually just have my usual thick comforter, but if I'm seriously cold, I'll grab another smaller one to wrap myself in underneath the big one. Do you know of anyone who was in labor or gave birth to a baby during a major snowstorm? HAHA my mama w/ me. Do you enjoy eggnog during the winter - with or without alcohol? EW. Do you dress any of your pets in seasonal/holiday apparel? No; I really dislike the concept of dressing your animals unless it's truly for their own benefit/warmth. Who was the last person to give you a gift? What was the reason for it? Uhhhhh. I have no idea. Are you a good cook? If so, who taught you? What’s your favourite thing to cook? NOOOOOOO. When was the last time something in your house broke? Did you manage to fix it or did you need to buy a replacement? Ugh, my laptop is fucked up. It's either the charger port, charger itself, or Mom thinks perhaps the battery. Her friend's husband is gonna look at it after Christmas. Is any part of your body hurting right now? What caused that pain? For once my legs aren't hurting. They almost always do from either muscle atrophy or them having been still for too long. The last time you made a sandwich, what did you put in there? It was just a normal 'ole peanut butter sandwich. What’s your favorite time of day? What’s your favorite thing to do at that time? First thing in the morning, because it feels like a new start. I like watching the sky change from pinkish to blue while I'm just sitting in bed checking everything. Where did you go the last time you left your house? I rode with Mom to her doctor's appointment. I didn't go in w/ her for obvious reasons, I just wanted to go on a ride and listen to music. If you eat steak, how do you like it cooked? What sauces or sides do you like to go with it? It has to be medium well. Idk what sauces are cooked into it that I like, because I don't make it. I like fries with steak, and probably Sara's mom's mashed potatoes would go well, haha. Do you prefer sweet or savory pancakes? What toppings do you have on them? I can't imagine me liking savory pancakes... I just like the usual: butter (not mandatory tho) and syrup. Are you someone who cracks their joints a lot? Which one(s) do you tend to crack and click the most? NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO NO NO NO, I HATE THE NOISE SO MUCH. My lower spine pops a lot, though. Some fingers occasionally, too. Have you ever taken medication or tablets to help you sleep? Is this something you do on a regular basis? Yeah, I was taking Melatonin to fight insomnia for quite a while. I only stopped it because my mom was theorizing that it may have been making my nightmares worse, because her dad had AWFUL nightmares on it. I don't know if it did or didn't foor me, honestly. For you, what’s the worst thing about getting up in the morning? What about the worst thing about going to bed tonight? Knowing in the back of my mind that despite my hope, today's going to be the same as yesterday. I dread most nights the process of lying down and actually falling asleep, because it can take hours. Do you prefer regular or diet soft drinks? Not only do I think diet sodas taste bad, but the artificial sweetener gives me awful headaches, anyway. What do you tend to wear if you’re just hanging about the house for the day? I'm only always in my pjs. When was the last time you dyed your hair? Did you do it yourself or get it done at a hairdresser? Ugh... it's been a very, very long time. It was done by a hairdresser, but per usual, the color didn't stick well. I am DYING to bleach my hair so I can dye it pastel pink, light silver, or like a creamsicle orange. I edited some pictures of myself to "try" these colors on, and omg I loved them all. Does having to wear a mask stop you doing things? Is this because you struggle wearing one or you just don’t like it? Not really, no. I barely go anywhere at all though, so I have Have you ever witnessed a car accident? Or have you perhaps been involved in one yourself? Were you at fault? Yes; yes; no. How many books do you read in a year? Do you enjoy reading or do you have to really force yourself to sit down and read? VERY few. I've only just gotten back into semi-regularly reading since Sara got me into Wings of Fire. I have one friend though that is an INCREDIBLE bookworm; she keeps track of how many books she's read in a year, and she's already beyond one a day. It's incredible. If you have pets, where did they come from? A breeder, a rescue or maybe a friend who bred their pet? Roman came from Ashley's inlaws'. They have like an infestation of cats needing to be spayed, so they didn't at all mind letting me have one because I'd been wanting a cat for a long time. I love my baby boy so much. Venus came from The Gourmet Rodent, a snake breeding (and F/T rat provider, as the name suggests) business from Florida. I highly recommend them. Their customer service was fantastic when I was worried about Venus not eating. They even checked up with me a few months following my emails to ensure she was doing well. Have you ever seen an episode of My 600lb Life? No. I absolutely NEVER could. As an obese person who's been fighting her fucking ass off to lose weight for years, I don't want to be further depressed. Do you feel bad when someone asks you to hang out and you say no? Oh yes I do. Ngl, if I don't want to hang for whatever reason, I'm the kind that makes up an excuse to not seem *as* "rude" (quotations bc it's technically not rude at all, anxiety just tells me it is). When was the last time you turned down plans with someone? What did you decide to do instead? Ummmm I'm not sure. Have you ever had any “unusual” or exotic pets? If you could own any animal, what would it be and why? Do you consider iguanas or Chinese water dragons as "exotic/unusual?" Nothing stranger than that, really. I would never, ever own a truly exotic animal that wouldn't do well in captivity. I do however pretty desperately want to rescue an opposum one day, though. I positively adore them; they're my second-favorite animal. How often do you wash your hair? I don't even have a regular schedule for that anymore, honestly... I have to every time I shower because my hair gets oily FAST, but I try to put off showers as long as I can handle now because of how bad my selfcare has been for multiple reasons... What have you found the hardest about the current pandemic? Not seeing an end in sight because people are fucking dumb. Shit's not going to get better unless things drastically change. And what about the easiest? Has anything improved in your life because of what’s happened? Certainly nothing has improved. Not much has changed for me, considering I barely ever left the house to begin with. If you have multiple pets, do they get along with each other? Are they related or even the same species? They ignore each other, really. Surprisingly, even. Roman will sit on my bed and watch Venus slither about occasionally if she's out, even meerkat pose haha, and playful as he is, it's unexpected that he *does* mostly ignore her. What was the last meal you ate? Did you have anything good? Breakfast; I had Special K cereal. I've finally started to get back on track with eating okay. Do you live somewhere where strangers say hi to you in the street? Would you like to live somewhere like that? Where we live now, if you pass someone outside in the car, it's normal and really expected to give a little wave. That's very normal here in the South though, really; you don't just have to be in your own neighborhood. Have you ever tried any of those meal replacement shakes? The chocolate Equate ones are normal in my diet, actually. They're really not bad at all and played a big role in me losing ~60lbs before. Funnily enough, I haven't found a popular name brand I like, though. Cheap stuff isn't always bad. Do you make up silly nicknames for your pets or family members? "Silly" ones, not really, besides Roman. I call him "weirdo" and "crazy" a lot, but nothing truly unique. What’s your favorite thing to take photographs of? Are you actually any good at photography? Nature or boudoir (only shot it once, but I love it and the confidence it gives people). Being as modest as possible, I honestly do think I'm pretty good at it. Do you have anything interesting planned for the rest of the day? How about for tomorrow or the weekend? I haven't had anything interesting planned in eons, it seems like. Are you going to take the vaccine for COVID once it becomes available? Once it proves to be reliable and safe, hell yes. I'm doing my goddamn part in ending this shit. How much housework have you done lately? Is this more or less than usual? A bit more than usual since I haven't finished decorating my room since moving... I've been doing it very slowly and gradually. I need to just finish it already, I'm just so unmotivated. What gifts are you hoping to get for your next birthday (or Christmas, whichever one is coming up next)? I'm fucking dying to get my tat redone/improved. Been waiting since LAST Christmas when I didn't get to use my own gifted money. Do you suffer from any form of motion sickness? No. Do you contribute regularly to any Facebook groups at all? "I’m a member of plenty, but hardly ever post." <<<< Same. I react to posts a lot, though. Just don't really make my own. When was the last time you weighed yourself? Were you happy with the numbers you saw? Ugh... when I went to the doctor I think last week. I knew it'd be bad, but the verification fucking sucked. Since moving, I've gained ~30lbs. Have you got any chronic health issues? What do you do to try and manage them as best you can? YIKES I am a CATASTROPHE. I've got a dictionary of mental health issues that I'm not gonna go through individually, but I deal with them via prescription medications and therapy and sheer will. Who taught you how to drive? My driver's ed teacher. It was mandatory in HS. What was your high school mascot? A firebird. Did you go to your senior prom? Yes. What did you do after graduation? I very briefly went to a community college. What was your first job? GameStop sales associate. If my social anxiety wasn't fucking shit, I probably would have liked it. What did you want to be when you grew up? Somewhat in order: paleontologist, vet, movie director, game designer, animal biologist, video editor (VERY brief), and photographer. Writer, poet, and artist were always something I wanted to do in my free time OR full time if I was lucky. Do you remember the first time you drank a beer? I've never tried beer and don't want to. It smells fucking awful, and because my dad is a recovered alcoholic who was addicted to that in specific, I just want nothing to do with it. Did you ever try cigarettes? No. I have absolutely never understood the appeal, but with a very addictive personality and wild anxiety, I never wanted to risk it, anyway. How did you spend your summers growing up? LOADS of swimming in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, and just playing outside in general. If you could change anything from your teenage years, would you? I'd absolutely change how I found happiness only in Jason. Do you remember your first time? No, because at that time, I didn't really realize it was sex. I know that sounds weird, like "how would you not know?", but just trust me. I don't feel like retrospecting on it. I do remember our first *kiss*-kiss, though. How much did you make per hour at your first job? I don't recall. Favorite home-cooked meal growing up? I looooved spaghetti. Favorite place to eat out growing up? McDonald's, duh, lol. Did your parents live in a different country before you were born? No. They were from different states, though. Do you have a preferred coffee brand? Don't like coffee. Have you ever dated someone who was terrible with money? No. How often do you paint your nails? Never. Do you know anyone who's related to a current or former world leader? Not that I know of. Do you do your own taxes, or do you hire a professional? I don't pay taxes because I'm unemployed. What is something you don't have any natural talent for? Speaking. At all. What is something you frequently forget? "Numbers." <<<< BIG fat same. How do you feel about your body? How much I hate it is on my mind literally every waking moment of my life to some degree. Who is someone you would like to get to know better? So I have this Facebook friend Courtlynn who seems very similar to me, and I'd love to get to know her better. We interact via posts here and there, but have never seriously talked. What's your opinion on assisted suicide? I am very much for it when a person is in serious pain and recovery is not possible. Like one of my greatest nightmares is being paralyzed from the neck down, and I stg I would spite whichever fucker had jurisdiction over me living. That would be absolute torture for me. At what point do you consider a relationship to be "long-term?" A year, so long as you were consistently together. Stable. What jobs did your parents have when you were growing up? My dad's been a mailman my entire life, and he had a second job at Lowe's for a while as a carpenter. He hated it. Mom worked with computer data at the hospital when I was very young, and then she was an assitant and special needs teacher for a long time. Do they still have these jobs? Or different jobs? Or have they retired? ^ about Dad. It's his only job now. Mom is currently on disability. Do you have a cell contract plan, or are you on a pre-paid plan? Would you believe me if I said I'm unsure? Haha. I use a Tracfone, and my mom takes care of whatever plan comes with that, so idk. Would your parents be okay with you dating someone of another race? Mom, absolutely. I'm unsure about Dad. I mean he wouldn't *seriously* care so long as they were good to me, but I think he might still be kinda racist. Or he just jokes about it a lot (which should not be joked about, btw). Do you like when friends stop by unexpectedly? "No way lol. I’m very much of a loner and want to be “prepared” to spend time with people." <<<< Absolutely this. How strong are your feelings for the last person you kissed? I love her very, very much. What was the last thing someone else bought for you? Food, I'm sure. Are you attracted to the last person you exchanged numbers with? I haven't seen a picture of her in years, so I have no idea. I remember she was beautiful, though. Is music a daily part of your life? Not daily, no. Some days I only watch YT videos instead of listen to music. What do you think of country music? Not a fan at all. It's ironic considering it was my favorite genre as a little kid. There's the occasional country song I like (mostly ones from my childhood, though), but those are few and far between. Tim McGraw, now, I love. Did you go to your high school’s graduation? Yeah, even though I didn't want to. I didn't care enough about the actual ceremony. Who was the last person to message you on Facebook? What would you do if that person told you they have feelings for you? That would be the woman I took family pictures for. She's married and we barely know each other, so I can assure you she doesn't. When you apply your make-up, do you do it in a specific order? On the very rare occasion I wore makeup, yes. Eyeliner, usually eyeshadow, mascara, and most rarely, black lipstick. Does it matter to you if your significant other smokes? Yes. Who was the last person you had a deep conversation with? Mom, I think. Do you like where you are in life right now? HA. Is your mom overbearing? No.
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Thank you for the request! Sorry for taking so long to post it. Hope you’ll like it.
Genre: fluff
Words: 2,6K
Mark stood outside of the haunted house with a couple of his friends, staring at the ominous looking structure, hearing screams from the inside.
"I-I don't know guys. Maybe this isn't the best idea. What if we just went to eat some pizza or something, I mean who knows... Maybe it's gonna be disappointing and we'll just waste our time..."
"Mark, are you scared?"
"No!" The boy got defensive, scoffing at the accusation. "I'm just saying it's probably going to be disappointing..."
His friends shared a look amongst each other, smiling since they knew Mark was lying.
Mark was sure it could be seen but he still tried to hide it. If anyone asked if he was asked, he would deny it instantly.
He was a little sensitive to such a thing as a haunted house. Maybe any other time he would have been down to visit one for fun but he had recently watched a horror movie that was exceptionally scary to him. He had yet to get over it.
"Come on, Mark. It'll be fine. It's not like ghosts exist anyway," Jaehyun patted Mark's back comfortingly. He was still smiling, though. He couldn't help but be amused by how freaked out Mark had gotten over such things.
"Yeah, Mark. Let's go!" Haechan grasped on Mark's arm and started pulling him towards the haunted house.
"Yeah, Mark. You can do it!" Taeil encouraged the younger boy, also giving him a pat on the back before all four of them went in.
The second they stepped in, they could hear the faint scary music being played. Mark grimaced, reminded of the movie he had seen. He really felt like he was in a horror movie.
Haechan began beatboxing to the music, showing just how relaxed he was to be there. Taeil joined in, popping his head to the beat as they began walking. Mark and Jaehyun stayed behind, Jaehyun laughing over what his friends were up to while Mark was looking around anxiously, waiting for something to jump out from every direction.
As Haechan and Taeil kept fooling around, they failed to realize that someone was waiting for them around the corner. A person jumped out, scaring the two and making them jump and scream. Jaehyun laughed harder, finding the sight very amusing while Mark hid behind the laughing man, wincing at the sudden scare.
Taeil and Haechan began laughing, Taeil began even talking with the person before they went back into the corner, waiting for their next scare victim.
Another scare happened soon after, making all of them jump for once but again the other three found it rather amusing, which Mark could not quite relate to.
He was whispering to himself, telling himself he could do this, he would just have to walk a bit more, just stay calm and he'll be done in no time.
But the scares kept coming, each one seeming to get a little worse than the last. He endured it until one certain scare where he was distracted by his younger friend's taunting. Mark kept walking while the other three stayed slightly behind and Mark walked right into one of the people working at the haunted house, causing him to scream out and head right back.
He was running back, away from the scare, just needing to get out as fast as possible. He hid behind a corner, holding his head in his hands and trying to calm himself down before mustering up some courage to go back. When he began walking though, he realized his friends were gone.
He began frantically looking around, realizing he really couldn't see them anywhere. He cursed under his breath and began walking forward again, now very aware that there was going to be someone jumping out from the corner and scare him again.
"I'm not gonna get scared," he whispered to himself. "I'm not gonna get scared. Nope. Not at all. You don't scare me. No, I'm not gonna—AAH!"
Mark still got startled, though he thought he was ready. He clutched his chest, cursing under his breath again, annoyed for being such a scaredy-cat on this particular day.
He still tried to assure himself he wasn't scared. He could get through this, he would just have to walk a bit more to find his friends.
He walked and walked, going for quite a while without anyone scaring him. He was starting to get suspicious. Where were all the people working at the haunted house? Why could he barely hear any screams anymore? How far had his friends gotten without him?
As he began digging for his phone to text his friends and ask where they were, he got so immersed that he didn't see a hand coming through the lower part of the curtain beside him.
He felt a cold hand wrap around his ankle and he jumped, nearly dropping his phone. The hand yanked him slightly but he quickly got free, beginning to run as fast as he could.
On his way he spotted a door that had some sign on it. Without thinking about it much further, he ran to the door, yanked it open and got in. He closed the door and leaned against it while calming himself down again. He had his eyes closed, he was inhaling and exhaling slowly until his breathing was almost back to normal. Once he opened his eyes though, he noticed someone sitting on the floor to his side with a greyish pale face and eyes intimidatingly red.
Mark got startled again.
But so did the person sitting on the floor.
They both stared at each other with wide eyes, not saying a word for a couple of seconds.
"What are you doing here?" The person on the floor asked.
Mark was taken aback by the sudden question. He began looking around the room, realizing it looked like some sort of a break room. There was a fridge and some counter space with a microwave, along with a small table and chairs.
He then turned to look at the person on the ground again, taking in the costume and makeup they were wearing. And in a second, it's as if a light bulb was lit above Mark's head.
"Oh, do you work here?" He asked.
The person nodded, still expecting Mark to answer their earlier question. "Yes, I do. This is a staff room. What are you doing here?"
Mark suddenly realized he may have, or definitely had, entered a room he was not supposed to be in. He did not work in the haunted house, did not have granted access to the staff room, he had just stumbled upon it while running away in fear.
"Oh, uhh, you see..." He began, scratching the back of his neck in nervousness as he tried to think of a way to explain the situation to the stranger sitting on the ground.
Though, he did not have to try and explain, since a scream sounding from the other side of the door made Mark jump in surprise and take a step away from the door.
"Ah, I see," the person figured it all out. "You're scared."
"I'm not scared," Mark tried to deny, though anyone could see that he indeed was afraid.
"It's okay. I'm not judging you. Some people are more scared than others. But why are you here alone if you're so scared? Did you lose a bet or something?"
"No, I came with friends, they kind of dragged me in here. I ended up losing track of them so... they're out there somewhere and I'm... not really in the mood to try and find them."
"Not really in the mood, huh?" The person asked, smiling, knowing fully well Mark was just too scared to go back in. They found it kind of adorable. "Well, you can just stay here for a while and wait for your friends."
"Really?" Mark asked, surprised and very relieved that he didn't have to go back out there alone.
"Yeah, make yourself at home."
"Oh, thank you," Mark replied, deciding to take a seat at the small table. He checked his phone only to realize it was nearly out of battery. "Do you have a charger?"
"Yeah, wait up."
Mark watched the person go to their bag and fish out a charger and toss it to Mark. Mark looked around for a power outlet and put it in before turning to his phone, realizing the charger was for an iPhone.
Mark sighed, giving the charger back.
"Oh... An android user?"
Mark only nodded, crossing his arms. "It's like I'm the only one left. All of my friends have iPhones."
The person chuckled, putting the charger away.
"Do you want to watch something with me? I don't know how much longer you'll have to wait. Wouldn't want you to die out of boredom, you know?"
Mark hesitated but quickly accepted the offer. The person made their way to the table, pulled a chair right next to Mark and sat down. Surprised by the sudden closeness, Mark pulled back a bit but he quickly relaxed, turning to the phone that was now set on the table with some YouTube video playing on the screen.
Mark sneaked many glances at the person while they were supposed to be watching the video, realizing his heart thumping in his chest whenever the person shifted on their chair, making their elbow or thigh graze his.
Mark also felt butterflies in his stomach every time the friendly stranger laughed at something that was said or done in the video. He was about to give up on actually watching the video and just focus on the person instead.
After watching a couple of videos, the person gestured to the phone and turned to Mark. "I need to go wash off all of this makeup. You can keep watching whatever you want. I'll be right back."
"Oh, okay, thanks," Mark replied, taking the phone in his hand and looking through the recommended page, scrolling through until a video that caught his eye came up. He pressed play and began watching.
A couple of minutes passed by and the person came back to the room, announcing their presence. Mark looked up for a second to greet them but ended up staring at the person, surprised by how they looked without all that strange makeup. He was in awe.
The person minded their own business, packing up their stuff, getting ready to leave. They asked Mark for the time only to get nothing but silence in return. They looked up, brow raised as they saw Mark's bewildered expression. "Hey," they laughed, snapping their fingers to get Mark to wake up from his trance. "You okay?"
Mark almost comically shook awake, back to the present. "Huh?"
"You okay? What are you staring at?"
"Oh, uhh... You just... look very different without all that makeup, that's all."
This made the person quiet down for a second before they let out the smallest laugh, a smile spreading on their face. "Thanks? I guess." They shook their head, clearly amused by Mark's comment.
Mark on the other hand shook his head but not for the same reason as the other person. Obviously they would look different... But what he really meant was that he actually found them rather attractive. He could never say that out loud, though.
The person kept on packing while Mark tried to get back to the video only for his eyes to find the friendly stranger every once in a while. Just as he was staring at them, his phone rang in his pocket. He quickly took it in hand, seeing the caller ID reading "Jaehyun". He answered it immediately.
"Mark! Where are you? Did you get lost?"
"Not really," Mark replied, looking back at the person who was now looking back at him too, silently asking if it was his friends calling him. "Why? Did you get out of the haunted house already?"
"Yeah, we've been waiting for you for nearly half an hour now."
"Oh, sorry, I'll be right there. You're outside, right?"
"Yeah... But where are you again?"
"I'll be right down, bye," Mark ended the call quickly, not really wanting to explain the whole situation right at this moment. He figured he'd have time later, or time to avoid the topic as much as possible, knowing he was going to get teased.
"My friends are outside," he announced.
"Oh, good. I'm just about to leave too. Let's go," they smiled, heading towards the exit, revealing a narrow stairwell leading towards a door leading outside. They walked out, coming down to behind the building before they began circling it to meet with Mark's friends.
"Mark! Long time no see," Haechan joked, seeing Mark coming from a couple feet away. He then noticed another person walking beside him and turned to Taeil and Jaehyun, giving a sign with his eyes as if to tell them to check this out.
"Yeah, sorry to keep him from you," the person next to Mark joked, patting his shoulder. "He's safe and sound, no need to worry. But, I've got to go now."
"Oh, yeah, of course..." Mark said, a bit of disappointment clear in his voice.
"It was nice to see you, Mark," the person said, smiling at the name that they had just heard Haechan yell out not more than a few seconds before. "Bye everyone, hope you enjoyed the haunted house."
A chorus of thank yous could be heard before another set of goodbyes came out. As the person waved at Mark once more, the boys turned to each other, immediately bombarding Mark with questions.
"Who was that?"
"That was... uh.... Oh no, I didn't ask for their name." Mark raised a hand to his forehead, realizing he never found out the name of the incredibly friendly stranger. "How did I not think to ask for their name? Anyway... They work here, they--"
"Hey! You! Mark's friend!" Taeil yelled out after the person. They turned around, surprised to be called out after.
Mark turned to Taeil with panic in his eyes, noticing Haechan suppressing a smile, a plan in mind.
"No, don't--"
"Mark wants to know your name! And probably your number too!" He yelled out, ducking out of Mark's way just as the older boy was about to reach out to him. Haechan ran behind Jaehyun, using him like a human shield. Jaehyun only smiled at the situation Mark was put in, enjoying how it all was unfolding.
The person didn't respond, leading Mark to feeling very embarrassed and turning away, thinking of possible ways to hide and escape this situation.
Just as he was seriously considering just bolting away, he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to be met with the person he was just about to run away from. They held their hand out, smiling. "Give me your phone."
He did, hesitantly, watching the person go into his contacts and creating a new one. They typed in their number, finishing off with their name that Mark didn't quite catch. They also sent a message to their phone, not only giving Mark their phone number but also getting his in return.
"I've really got to go now. I'm going to miss the buss. Bye, everyone!" They said before jogging away.
Mark earned congratulations from his friends who once again began bombarding him with questions but all he was focused on was the new contact open on his phone.
"Y/N," he said quietly to himself, smiling at the name appearing on the screen. It took a couple of seconds for him to put his phone away and turn to his friends but the smile didn't go away. He had come to the haunted house with not such a good mood but left with a much better and that continued for the rest of the night. His day really had turned out much better than he thought it would.
#mark#mark lee#lee mark#nct#nct 127#nct u#superm#mark x reader#mark lee x reader#nct mark#nct x reader#mark imagine#mark lee imagine#nct imagine#nct fanfiction#fluff#halloween#haunted house#gender neutral!reader#mark fanfiction#mark lee fanfiction
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Title: Camera Ready WC: 1100
She has a rough night. Not the fun kind. She’s not exactly sleepless. She nods off in that utterly exhausted sort of way and jerks awake every few minutes. And every time, she feels like she’s in the middle of running a marathon—a naked marathon, and her hair is wet, and that’s a huge, terrifying problem. And she’s on a mud track that’s also a down escalator, when she needs to go up, and her phone won’t dial, and anyway, she has no idea who it is she’s supposed to be calling.
In other words, she’s riddled with anxiety dreams.
She rolls over and punches the pillow, hard, at the very thought. He stirs beside her and there’s some hope for a brief moment that she can turn this rough night around, as it were, but he abandons her. He simply grabs a fistful of blankets, hikes them up defensively to his chin, and huffs as he rolls on to his side, away from her restless shenanigans.
Anxiety dreams. It’s ridiculous. She doesn’t do those. She does full-on, soul-excavating, wake-up-howling nightmares about her mom, about the shooting. A cast of characters rotates through those scenarios—her dad murdered, Castle shot, Ryan, Lanie, Esposito, all of them dead one way or another, ultimately at Bracken’s hand, and the bastard smiles smugly out at her on a live Oval Office broadcast. So yeah, she does nightmares, and she does deep, dreamless sleep. She does not do anxiety dreams.
Except tonight, she does. Nudity features prominently. Her own, certainly—and once again, not the fun kind—but everyone else’s too. Butterly is freezing on the tundra in her ratty bra and panties and she—Kate—can’t find the horse she needs to save the poor young woman. Esposito’s shirt keeps dissolving, or stretching into shreds, Hulk style. He keeps asking everyone why the Hulk can’t be brown. Lanie’s revealing top reveals all, mid-autopsy, and absolutely no one should operate a bone saw in a push-up bra.
It cycles like that all damned night. When she runs out of fingers and toes are going fast, she stops counting the number of times she’s started awake with a shout caught in her throat. It finally hits the tipping point where it’s not even worth trying again.
She tears the blankets from her body and hisses at the cold air of her bedroom. She slams her hand against the clock to cancel the alarm and rips her phone from the charger roughly enough that she’s probably bent the cord.
She goes to the kitchen for coffee and there’s no coffee. There will be coffee . . . sometime that is not now. It’s set to auto brew and the stupid machine is about as complex as the Large Hadron Collider to operate, and no amount of button mashing will make it brew now, or even reveal to her the mystical time he has it set to brew so that her feet never hit the floor before the steaming mug is safely in her grasp.
She snarls something nonsensical at the damned machine and stomps off toward he shower instead. She shuts the bathroom door tight and cranks the hot water on. She wants it steamy. She’s still shivering, and now that she thinks about it, that’s his fault, too. He had one of those stupid “smart” thermostats installed, so the heat won’t kick on until . . . whenever she usually gets up? She stands, holding the towel bar, almost literally unable to summon the energy to step into the stream of water that’s just the pleasant side of scalding.
She finally musters the will to swing her leg over the tall edge of the tub, but she shrinks back from the water. She’s suddenly seized with the memory of wet hair provoking a horrible sense of dread. She manages to get a hold of herself, though. She manages to shower like a normal person.
She whisks the shower curtain back and he’s there—he’s right there—with his hair sticking up every which way and her coffee in his hand.
“Up early,” he yawns.
He’s still too heavy with sleep to have much of a reaction to the Whitney Houston–range scream that exits her body. It’s a good thing, considering the coffee, but it annoys her. The obviously solid night of sleep he’d managed to get annoys her.
He waits patiently for her to wrap the towel around herself, then presses the mug into her hand,
“Preening?” He asks with a waggle of his eyebrows. He crowds up behind her in the mirror. “Ready for your close-up, Detective Beckett?”
She’s downing coffee too quickly for it to be sensible at that temperature. She’s yanking the brush through her wet hair with brutal force, and he is definitely not reading the room. She slams the mug down hard enough on the vanity that she fully expects her life’s blood to start seeping out through hairline cracks. She whirls to face him.
“No. I am not ready for my close up.” She gestures with the brush, violently and close enough to his face that he staggers back a step or two. “I am not pulling out my extra low-cut top or my three-sizes-too-small henley. I’m not going to strip down to my underwear and lock myself in a closet so a camera crew can find me. I am not preening for some VH-1 Behind the Music wannabes.”
Her pitch, her intensity, her volume, climb and and climb until it’s all gone. The rage is gone and she just feels anxious, and she hates it. He blinks at her for what feels like a full half minute. She can hear the wheels churning through images her rant has called up. A dreamy expression flits across his face and she knows—she knows—he’s thinking about Lanie’s top.
She’s going to kill him. She is just about to spring into action and kill him, when he has her suddenly around the waist.
“Definitely not preening,” he says, his voice low and seductive. With some deceptively simple flick of his fingers, her towel falls away. “But you know what’ll really show those wannabes?” He backs her into the vanity. He hooks a hand under each of her thighs and hoists her up on to it with a move that ought to be incompatible with how sleepy he still looks. “If you show up downright . . . disheveled.”
“Disheveled,” she repeats faintly. He’s already on the job and it’s hard to think. “That’ll show ‘em.”
A/N: Wardrobes are objects, right? Hmmm.
images via homeofthenutty
#Castle#Caskett#Castle: Season 5#Castle: Swan Song#Kate Beckett#Richard Castle#Javier Esposito#Lanie Parish#Fic#Fanfic#Fanfiction#Fan Fic#Fan Fiction#Writing#Hmmm
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Seven Point Star
A/N GUESS WHOS BACK!!! IS ME BITCHES! Ah this took so so so long to write and get out. I’m sorry. But, I’m having a grand ole time writing, and I’m already working out the third chapter.
Pairings: OT7 x Female OC
Genre: Lowkey crack, lowkey fluff.
Warnings: None right now!
Word count: 2500+
Chapter Two: Meeting Them
Two days after my audition, I was sitting in a café with my best friend, Jennie. She sat back in her chair, a smug smile playing on her lips. All I could do was groan at her.
"Seriously, Yuna. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. You'll be fine, I promise!" her voice conveyed an amusement I wasn't happy about. I glared at her slightly, annoyed that she didn't understand my concerns.
"Look, I'm just concerned. What if-" my sentence was cut short by my ringtone. I looked down and saw BigHit flashing across my screen. Immediately, I answered. "This is Park Yuna," I said, professionalism lacing my words. The woman on the other end of the line told me that I have officially been offered the job, and to look at my email for the paperwork and see when my first day was. After a brief conversation, the call ended.
"Told you so," Jennie's smug response made me roll my eyes. She was insufferable when she was right about something. I simply ignored her and looked out the window. A face caught my eye, and for a brief moment, I thought it was my mom.
"Oh my god," my voice was barely above a whisper, and by the time Jennie turned to see what had caught my attention, the woman was gone. I brushed it off and we continued our conversation.
"So? You never did tell me if you met any of the idols," she said to me, leaning forward as if we were talking about some big secret. I shrugged in response.
"Yeah, I met Namjoon and Hoseok, so what? They're people too, you know," I pretended to be disinterested, obviously to mess with her. She always got so excited by meeting new idols. She worked with them on a daily basis, so how she was always so excited was beyond me.
"And your point is, exactly?" she sassed back, her left eyebrow raised in a 'try me' way. I simply giggled.
"They're nice. I mostly spent the time teaching, you know, trying to get a job and all?" I let my snarky attitude come out in full affect. She simple scoffed and pouted my way.
"You're no fun," she said. If one could speak in tiny font, she would be. I just smiled at her, raising my cup in agreement. “Anyway, I’m proud of you. When’s your first day?” She then asked, subtly asking when I would see those men again.
“Monday. I’m teaching them choreo for their new song. They’re getting ready for a comeback,” I said, drinking the last of my coffee. I noticed a younger girl watching me, so I leaned in to Jennie to whisper, “We should probably talk about this in private.” I glanced back at the girl, noticing she was still watching.
“Yeah, so, let’s grab some more coffee and head home, how’s that sound?” She asked, making sure it looked like we were done having a conversation and just leaving.
“Honestly, I’m ready to get out of these, clothes. Let’s do it,” I said, standing with her to go to the counter. When I glanced back at the kid, she was whispering to her friend, point at Jennie and me. As soon as our drinks were up, we left the shop and walked to our shared apartment.
“Anyway, I got asked out, again. Like, can’t these guys realize I’m not the dating type? I like being able to just go out and have fun, and,” Jennie looked over at me, realizing I wasn’t listening, “sleep with whatever dumb guy looks at me for three seconds to long? Getting wasted every night. You’re not listening anymore.” She crossed her arms over her chest, sending a soft glare my way.
“Oh! Sorry, sorry, I zoned out. I should be getting the track shortly after my forms are completed, so I was working through some things in my head. I’m all ears now, though!” I smiled and nudged her gently, guiding her back to her story.
Once we both made it home, we got comfy and put on a Netflix show, mostly for background noise as I worked on my paperwork. Shortly after I emailed it back to the company, I got sent the new albums completed track list. Much to Jennie’s disappointment, I couldn’t share it with her at all. I downloaded the files onto my phone and plugged my headphones in, getting right to work. Writing down counts, moves, positions for each of the seven men, transitions, and everything else took nearly two and a half hours. That was only one song. I spent the rest of the night working on other songs before I caved and went to sleep.
I woke up the next day, getting right back to work, finishing up the choreographies for the last few songs through breakfast and the first half of the day. After I ate lunch, I went to the dance studio I practiced at, and worked out the kinks in as many songs as I could get through. Then my phone rang. “Hey, Jennie. What’s up?” I answered my phone, chugging down some water after a particularly difficult dance sequence.
“Hey, it’s almost six-thirty. Want me to bring dinner to the studio?” She asked, obviously cooking. If it was already six-thirty and I got through two and a half songs, I could probably go home for the day.
“No, I’ll come home. I’m done for the day I think. I got a lot done,” I said, starting to pack my stuff. By the time the call ended, I was already out of the studio, walking to the apartment. Then, my phone rang again, this time and unknown number. Not knowing who it could be, I sent it to voicemail. Thirty seconds later, the same number called again.
“Hello?” I said, answering it this time. I tried to stay as neutral as possible, not knowing if it could be a fellow staff member or not.
“Hi, is this Park Yuna?” the person on the other end asked. I thought I recognized the voice, but I wasn’t sure.
“Yes, may I ask who’s calling?” I responded, keeping my voice respectful. I felt myself walking quicker due to nerves.
“Ah, sorry, it’s Kim Namjoon. I was wondering, have you been working on the choreography? I know it was all kind of quick, but seriously, you are the best we had seen. You even taught me a lyrical piece,” he quickly explained. I laughed softly, shaking my head.
“Yes, I’ve been working on it. I have the title track down, and another one finished. We can get started right away tomorrow morning,” I said, keeping my confidence high. “Why did you call me about that, though? Wouldn’t it be better left to managers or something?” I asked, coming to a stop outside my apartment. A soft laugh came from the other side, as I rested against the door frame.
“Well, yeah. But as the leader of this group, I like to know all the people we work closely with,” he said with a sigh. I felt like he was hiding something, but I decided not to push my luck.
“That makes sense. I’ll see you in the morning, Mr. Kim,” I said, getting ready to hang up the phone call.
“In the morning then, Miss Park,” He said, ending the call. I smiled softly at my phone, slightly amused by the leader.
I entered my apartment, wrapping my tail around my calf. “Jennie? I’m home,” I called out as I took off my shoes and put my bag down.
“Ah! Yuna, I’m in here. I’m almost done,” Jennie yelled from the kitchen. I smiled, walking in that direction. “I made a stir fry, babes. How did it go at the studio?” She was putting food onto plates for us when I stepped into the room.
“It went great, I got two done. The title track and an extra one just in case they want to work on something else tomorrow,” I said as I sat down at the kitchen island. Jennie sat across from me and smiled.
“So, are you excited?” she leaned forward slightly, her eyes shining with interest. The way she sat, staring at me was making it known we were having this conversation even if I didn’t like it.
“I’m really excited actually. Maybe a little nervous,” I started, taking a bite into my food. “This is really good! Thank you,” I immediately started shoveling food into my mouth, having not realized how hungry I was.
“Jeez, lady, breath!” Jennie laughed out loud at me, obviously amused by my antics. “Anyway, did anything interesting happen today?” She asked me, trying to pry some sort of gossip from me. Her face was easy to read, having known her most of my life.
“Uhm, nothing much, I think? I’ve just been, you know, working?” I giggled at her softly, my natural snark coming through.
“Yeah, okay. But seriously, did you get to meet anyone new? Make any friends?” She asked, quickly finishing up her food. All I could do was shake my head.
“No, I locked myself in the sound proof dance studio and just focused,” I said, getting up to help with the dishes that needed to be done. Just leaving them out would stress me out. After the small chore was done, Jennie and I sat on the couch, watching some show on Netflix. A few hours had passed, and I was getting tired, so I stood up. “Alright, it’s late, so I’m going to bed, babes,” I told her. I gave her a hug and went to my room to crawl into bed.
The next morning, I woke up to my alarm blaring my favorite song. I knew Jennie was already gone, so I loaded up my Spotify and started to get ready for my day. I threw on my favorite work out leggings and paired them with my favorite long-sleeved shirt. I pulled my dark brown hair up into a messy bun. I ate a quick breakfast, and then collected my dance book, phone charger, water bottle, and a change of socks. I threw it all into a small back pack, and then grabbed my lanyard with my keys and wallet. Pulling on my sneakers, I headed to the building. I had to get a badge for being able to get deeper into the building without having to get a security escort if I was going to continue to work there full time.
It was nine when I arrived at the BigHit building, which was just enough time to get all settled in before the group was scheduled to arrive. From the moment I stepped foot in the building, it was a whirl wind of chaos getting me in their employee system and my security badge. Before I knew it, I was in the practice room, reading over my notes. Five minutes later, BTS started to stream in through the door. Once they all had arrived, I smiled softly and shook my head. This was it. Time to prove my worth.
“Alright! Let’s get started,” I clapped my hands to get their attention. I suddenly felt a little over whelmed with all seven pairs of eyes on me. Nevertheless, I continued on. “I’m Yuna, your new choreographer. J-Hope, I’ll probably work closely with you. Anything I need to know about you all before we get started?” I asked, looking around the small circle. Immediately, J-Hope stepped toward me and smiled brightly.
“Nice to see you again, Yuna. Welcome to the team. You did really well, and I’m glad the company decided to choose you. Let me know if and how I can help. Again, please call me by my real name, not my stage name,” he said, gently patting my shoulder.
“You’re not Korean? Where are you from?” Taehyung, the ever curious guy he is, asked me. I looked at him shocked, not used to being asked that so directly. However, before I could reply, Yoongi stepped in.
“Taehyung, you can’t just be so blunt with people. It sets them on edge,” He scolded softly. I just shook my head and laughed.
“Well, it’s okay. I’m from America. I moved here to work for companies like BigHit, because they best options in America was ballet companies, and that just wasn’t for me,” I explained to them. They all looked at me with wide eyes.
“Wait, so you just left your home country and moved somewhere different… for a job?” Jeongguk asked me, looking amazed. I simply nodded in response. “Whoa, noona, you’re so cool!” He clapped slightly, his bright smile making me smile.
“Actually, you all are older than me,” I said softly, suddenly unsure if they’d be so happy to have me here if they knew I was young. There was a collective gasp throughout the room.
“Really?? What year were you born? I can’t believe you’re younger than me,” the overly excited youngest asked me, nearly bouncing with joy.
“Uhm, ninety-nine,” I said, suddenly overwhelmed by his energy. “Alright, we should get started. Which song do you guys want to start with?” After a brief discussion on the best place to start, we decided to go with the chorus of the title song. I jumped right in to blocking making sure the boys knew which direction they were going to be coming from as well. “Now, you, Hoseok, you’ll come center for twenty counts. Okay, good. Now you have this move,” I said, demonstrating the arm movement with the foot work I decided on.
“Wow, you’re really a great teacher, Yuna-ssi,” Seokjin said, grabbing my shoulder gently. I flushed under the praise, although it was completely innocent. We continued through with learning the transition into the chorus, out of the chorus formation, and the dance during. After about an hour of hard work, I decided on a break.
“Yah! Don’t touch that, you brat. You’ll break it,” Yoongi said to Namjoon, unsurprisingly. I turned around to see him trying to mess with the speakers and sound system in the room. I giggled and went back to looking over my notes, taking long drinks of my water.
“Yuna! Watch this! I turned to see Jeongguk goofing around with Jimin. I shook my head at their antics. All of a sudden a familiar song started to blast through the speakers. My phone had started to ring. When I looked down at the caller ID, I almost stopped breathing. On my screen, in bold lettering, was my mother’s name. With shaking hands, I disconnected my Bluetooth and answered it.
#wildly written seven point star#wildly written fanfics#bts x oc#bts x female oc#bts fanfic#kim namjoon#kim seokjin#min yoongi#jung hoseok#park jimin#kim taehyung#jeon jungguk#jeon jungkook#bts fic
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13 or 34 (or both!) for peraltiago prompts!!!! 💕
congrats siân, your prompt was the first one to make it to a longer piece (or like, 1.3k) instead of staying the short little piece these were supposed to be but it got very sweet so i’m not too mad about it.
13. “Sorry I’m late.”
A quick glance at her watch confirms it - Jake should have been here seventeen minutes ago.
There is no trace of him.
Amy sighs, channeling all her self-discipline to resist the urge to send another follow-up text, asking about his current location and why he’s finding it amusing to let his girlfriend of three months sit and wait on the steps outside of his apartment, when really, he should have been there to meet her long ago.
It’s not even him she’s most disappointed in. She’s worked with him for five years, knows clear as day he could probably find a way to be late for his own funeral, but he’s made a point of arriving on perfect time for each of their scheduled dates so far and somehow, she got used to it. So used to it she went ahead and assumed the trend would continue, would allow for her to decide a time with him over text and be able to go straight to his apartment after spending a weekend at her parents house. She was acting like a straight-up optimist, which feels strange and unnatural and clearly doesn’t serve her well.
Nineteen minutes late.
Amy supposes it could have been worse. If she has to be stuck waiting outside a boyfriend’s apartment, she’d much rather it’d be a pleasantly warm evening towards the end of summer, the kind of weather where even she’s given up on wearing an extra coat, than a freezing January afternoon with her exhales creating clouds of white vapor. Outside of the fact that the chill of the stone steps seeps through the fabric of her floral summer dress, she’s not too uncomfortable. She’s still annoyed, though.
Her phone vibrates in her hand, but it’s just a Facebook notification, reminding her she’s invited to Floorgasm’s dance show at a birthday party tomorrow. Still nothing from Jake.
She wants to put down the phone in her purse to keep from looking at the time, but holds onto it for some inexplicable reason anyway.
Twenty-two minutes.
She should dig out her book, her laptop, do some work, anything but keep wasting her time staring at the customers entering and exiting the bodega across the street. Hell, she should go home to her own apartment, text her boyfriend to drag his ass over there when he next remembers to look at the time and then act extra bitter for the entire night when he shows up. That was her method for any time Teddy was late and it worked perfectly to give him a bad conscience each time, yet she lacks all temptation to do something similar now.
Jake’s not doing it on purpose. She knows that, knows he fits an abundance of criteria for an ADHD diagnosis - including poor sense of time - but keeps putting off speaking to a professional about it. He’s not intentionally making himself late, but rather is just not wired for keeping track of time. She knows. She wishes her growing impatience knew it, too.
Twenty-five.
Nearly half an hour. Half an hour is a long time, half an hour is allowed-to-be-pissed time, half an hour means she could call his phone and demand to know where he’s at. She still doesn’t. She keeps turning the phone in her hands instead, waiting for a text, a call, an explanation. In place of anger, worry is growing. Maybe something happened, maybe he managed to get himself kidnapped again or he’s going undercover and Captain Holt forgot to tell her about it, maybe he was the victim of a street shooting and is bleeding to death on the concrete.
She googles recent shootings Brooklyn, but sees nothing that could be her boyfriend and draws a tentative breath of relief. She texts him instead, a neutral Where are you?, but the reply won’t come.
Twenty-seven minutes.
At this point, she’s barely even angry. She just misses him, misses her boyfriend after spending a weekend answering too many questions from her parents and all seven of her brothers about him, misses his laugh and the way he scrunches his forehead when he’s not sure she’s right about something. She misses the smell of his aftershave when she presses kisses to his neck, misses the way he hums and draws her closer in the mornings after she’s stayed over at his place on his new and dreamy mattress, misses untimely Die Hard-references and him insisting on helping her clean up even though she’s way more efficient on her own. She’s spent four days without him and it’s not a lot, she spent six months without him when he was undercover with the FBI and she couldn’t for the life of her figure out how she felt about him and that was unquestionably worse than the four days she’s had now with texting and phone calls and a FaceTime session to keep her stable, but she still missed him. She missed him enough to have felt jittery for the entirety of today, her heart fluttering and smile inevitable whenever she’s thought about seeing him tonight.
She just wants to see him.
Twenty-nine minutes late.
Her back is hurting from her less than ideal posture on these steps, and she stands up to stretch her arms over and then behind her head, drawing her shoulder blades together and apart, tilting her head side to side.
That’s when she sees him.
He’s running towards her, face all red from exertion like he’s sprinted the entire way from the precinct, and he’s panting like he just completed a marathon when he reaches her.
“Oh my god”, he gets out between gasps for air, “Ames, shit. Sorry I’m late.”
“It’s okay”, she says robotically, then remembers her annoyance and adds, “Kind of.”
“It’s not okay, it’s a dick move and you deserved better.” Jake sits down on the steps right where she was sitting a minute ago, putting his head in his hands. “I walked to the precinct today, because it was nice out and you’re always telling me I should get more fresh air. So I forgot I didn’t have my car.”
“You could have called.”
“My phone died”, he says, holding up his phone and pressing the power button to reveal the Apple picture of an empty battery and blinking charger. “Out of nowhere. Or I guess not out of nowhere. I forgot how much battery FaceTime takes, and we were talking for a long time yesterday.”
“Oh.” She’s blushing now, starting to regret all her previous judgement.
“So I ran. From the precinct to here. Like a crazy person.”
“For me?”
He rolls his eyes. “No, because I love exercise and especially running so much, I constantly go on 5k runs in plaid, jeans and leather jacket while carrying a bag just for fun - yes, Ames, obviously for you.”
“Wow.” She sits down next to him, putting her head on his shoulder. “And here I was thinking you were just ignoring me.”
“I could literally never ignore you. It’s my most fatal flaw.” He looks straight at her, a gravity to the warm brown eyes she’s also missed so much. “If I ever ignore you, that’s definite proof I’ve been taken over by an evil identical twin or a super smart evil robot.”
“Well”, she smiles, heart much warmer now than before. “That’s good to know. And no offense, but I think you might need a shower after your run.”
“Will you share it with me?”
“Only because you’re the cheesiest, sweetest boyfriend ever.”
“Aww”, he grins. “Santiago thinks I’m swee-eet - ow, don’t punch my shoulder!”
Forty-two minutes after their originally scheduled meeting time, he’s trailing kisses along her wet skin and she can tell exactly where it’s going.
Yeah, she missed him alright.
#sian-jpg#johanna does prompts#my writing#b99 fic#brooklyn 99 fic#brooklyn nine-nine fic#b99#jake x amy#peraltiago#once again a reminder these are being written in random order!!
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01 | My Life With Bangtan
⇢ pairing: female reader x OT7
⇢ genre: slice of life, slight angst, luckyfan!au
⇢ rating: SFW
⇢ warnings: very minimal uses of profanity, some depressive behavior
⇢ word count: 5.5k
⇢ A/N: This is a rewrite of the original chapter. I made a few changes here and there and overall am very satisfied with how this turned out. I do hope you enjoy this version as well. Happy Reading~
Chapters 01 || 02 || 03 || 04 || 05
»»———— CHAPTER ONE ————-««
My life for the longest had been such a drag.
It was as if nothing ever seemed to go right. Or at least in the way, I would have hoped for. I was already in my mid-20s, college dropout, working at a dead end job, barely able to make ends meet. I felt like I should have been so much further ahead but because of the choices I made, these were my consequences. It was something that I had to deal with. Or at least try to make changes, but being the stubborn person I was, that was never going to happen.
I had just made it home from work, a worn out look on my face as I dragged myself up the three flights of steps I had encountered. Working in retail was pretty rough. In some cases physically but more so emotionally. The local supermarket I worked at was pretty busy in the evening time, up until we closed at 10:00 PM. Tonight was one of the more busier nights and someone had called out of work, leaving us understaffed. I was so glad to have been out of that place. So glad to be able to return to my bubble which was my studio apartment.
As I made it to my front door, I fumbled around in my bag trying to get ahold of my keys. As I pulled them out, about to insert it into the lock, I dropped them on the ground causing me to groan in annoyance. My body felt completely drained and I was not in the mood to bend over and pick them up. But I did so anyways in a swift motion, having them in my hands once more and successfully putting them in the lock, turning it to the side and unlocking my door finally.
Walking into my small place, I dropped my bag at the entrance, kicking my shoes off in the process. It didn’t matter to me where they landed. It didn’t matter to me where anything was. All I wanted to do was go into the shower and let the water run on me for a bit.
“Geez...what a long freaking day.” My shoulders slumping down as I talked to myself.
I began walking towards the bathroom but would halt in place as I winced from the pain coming from the balls of my feet. They must have become sore from all the standing I did at my register while at work. Not to mention there were points where I had to help a few elderly people carry out their groceries due to being understaffed. Days like these always had its toll on my body, but it seemed like tonight was more severe than others.
“Is this job even worth it anymore?!” Frustration clearly could be heard in my voice as I resumed my way to the bathroom.
Flicking the light on, I took the sight of the small area that was my bathroom. The place that was my residence was all entirely compact, despite the recent renovations that were made to it. I was in no right to complain about it though, this was adulting at its finest. There were times where you had to settle for what you could get or in this case afford. Surprisingly enough, this little home that I called mine had really grown on me. It was my shelter from the outside world, a place where I could shield myself from my depressing reality. Where I didn’t have to worry about anything once I made it past the front door.
It was what I called my sanctuary.
I opened the glass door and turned the shower head on. While waiting for it to heat up, I stripped myself of my clothes, tossing them into a laundry hamper I kept in the corner. Reaching my hand into the shower, the temperature was at my preference, I nearly fell hopping into what was now a steamy paradise. As soon as my body came in contact with the hot water, I felt my tired muscles thanking me. The water felt so amazing that all I could get out was a long “Ah” as I continued to allow myself to stand there, opting to keep my eyes closed tightly. I began to heavily think about the day I had gone through, the first step in what was my decompressing process.
I had come to terms that I wasn’t the happiest that many others my age were already experiencing. If time travel were something possibly, I would have done so in a heartbeat. My resolution for this year was to try and be as positive as I could be. I was off to a good start but then life happened. Things were being thrown at me full force that it was super hard for me to have that mindset, ultimately giving up on it. Trying to remain positive was a lot harder than it was made out to be.
In an attempt to shake off the negative thoughts that were forming in my head, I opened my eyes and grabbed my loofah, squeezing a good amount of body wash onto it before proceeding to bathe myself. Paying close attention to the soapy lather spreading across my body did help keep my mind off things for a bit.
Twenty minutes later, I made my way from the bathroom and over to the living space of my studio, the largest part of the whole place. I somehow was able to make these living arrangements work, keeping the bare minimum as far as decor. On one side was my full sized bed, on the other was a couch, and I was lucky enough to have enough room to include a small television that was mounted to the wall and a small desk that I rarely used and was mostly for show.
I sat down on the couch, pulling my favorite blanket over me as I reached for my laptop that was still on its charger. Something that I did as part of my nightly routine was to watch videos over on YouTube. Particularly K-Pop videos and if we went further into the specifics, of the BTS variety. Whenever I was in a crappy mood, which was pretty much all the time, I found comfort in their music as well as their seven personalities. Which was the reasoning as to why I didn’t have a bias in the group. I loved them all equally and to be honest it would have been such a hard task for me to do if I only had to choose one of them. So I chose to remain ot7.
Once getting situated on the couch, the video I decided to begin watching was a live performance of ‘Spring Day’. Something about the song always seemed to put my mind at ease. From the jaw-dropping vocals to the beautiful choreography, this song was simply put...a work of art. I found myself staring attentively at the screen on my lap and as I watched them perform I couldn’t contain from fangirling over it, over them.
“They’re absolutely perfect!” I squealed as I shook my head in excitement.
The excitement I was feeling was growing immensely. Even if it was for those few minutes, it felt so good to have a positive reaction to something. Those seven seriously brought so much joy and happiness into my life when I immersed myself in them. How could seven men whom I never met have this kind of effect on me? What kind of sorcery were they using?
Not paying attention to the time, hours flew by. Several at that. Whenever I watched BTS I would lose track of time. It was a little after 2:00 AM and I finally decided to close my laptop and make my way over to the bed. My body definitely needed some rest. I flopped onto the bed, feeling my body bounce up as I stared a bit at the ceiling above me. I felt one of my goofy grins spread across my lips, those negative thoughts that had been clouding my head were now pushed to the back. Bangtan really made me happy. They really meant that much to me. Still looking up at the bare ceiling, a random thought came to mind as I thought of BTS.
I hope one day I can thank you.
Exhaustion began to overtake my body as I climbed up under the comfy sheets, resting my head on the two pillows I had stacked on another. My bed felt extremely amazing underneath me, causing my eyes to find themselves shut as I dozed off into a peaceful slumber.
That night I had a dream about the seven men I was so fond of.
Beep, Beep, Beep
I tossed around as I faintly heard the annoying sound of my alarm go off, thinking that the noise would stop. That wasn’t the case as it seemed to only get louder from my protests of waking up. I was nearly close to throwing my phone against the wall but instead let out a raspy groan as reached for it and turned it off.
“Ughhhhh”
I pulled the sheets over my head, not wanting to wake up in the slightest. As I placed the phone to the side of me, hitting the lock button and was soon blinded by the light coming off of the screen. My eyes burning from the light taking a bit of time to adjust to it and the time that was displayed across the top.
9:00 AM
I hated the fact that “AM” followed those digits, a low snarl coming out of my mouth as I pushed the phone further away from me. I was the type of person who enjoyed their sleep very much. On days where I didn’t need to be up early for work or had the day off, I prefered to sleep in as much as I could. Which got me to question why I had an alarm set in the first place? Today was my day off so why did it go off?
I rolled back and forth a bit, my body clearly wanted to be awake despite my resistance not to. Finally laying on my back, I pushed the sheets off of me letting out a series of huffs and puffs like a child that was throwing a tantrum. After laying there for a few minutes thinking to myself, I was able to come to the conclusion as to why my stupid alarm had went off. I smacked myself on the forehead, eyes were now open and adjusting to the sunlight that was peeking in through the windows.
“Duh Y/N”
A recent goal of mine was to become a slight more productive on my days off. I had found myself to be asleep until the afternoon, times when there a lot of people out and about. Being the introvert I was, I always chose to remain inside since I had never liked to be around a crowd of people. Which is why I decided on days off that I would try to wake up at a morning hour that way I could run errands if needed and not have to worry about being surrounded by many people. The only time I would put that way of thinking aside was if I had a shift.
I found myself laying in my bed laughing at the behavior I had just displayed. It was a tad immature on my end which made my chuckles come out louder, echoing against the walls of my apartment. Now that I was fully awake I reached to the side of me and grabbed my phone once more, this time holding it above me as I unlocked the screen and proceeded to open up the Twitter app. As part of my routine, whenever I would wake up I would check my social media. I followed my favorite K-Pop groups and a few other people who posted witty posts that I enjoyed seeing on the daily.
As soon as I opened the app, I was greeted by a new tweet that was from Bangtan’s account. I scrolled down a tiny bit to see a very cute selfie that Jimin had posted, his signature finger heart was present as well as his adorable grin. I found myself recreating that goofy grin from last night, squealing a bit from how handsome Jimin looked. The fangirl in me was ready to come out, even this early in the morning.
“JIMIN! I swear you are so freaking adorable for me to handle!”
As I would like to say, my eyes had truly been blessed with the image that was in front of me. I absolutely loved whenever I saw updates from the boys. It truly felt like they wanted to include A.R.M.Y in everything they did. And with me being an international fan, I appreciated this so much! I knew that they lived busy lifestyles with promoting their new album and such so something as simple as tweeting a picture, really made my heart melt.
I was indeed very soft for these seven.
Setting my phone aside, I decided to get up and get a head start to the day ahead of me. There wasn’t much that I needed to do but I wanted to get everything done before the afternoon, leaving me with the rest of the evening to relax and get ready for the work week that would be starting over soon. All that was needed to get done was some minimal grocery shopping and for me to message my mother and check in with her. Looking at the time, thirty minutes had passed so it was still pretty early that I wouldn’t have to encounter many people grocery shopping as well as long lines. I stretched my arms above my head, allowing a yawn to come out. I shook my head in approval. Waking up early was sounding more appealing to me by the second. For my next day off I made a mental note not to fight it one bit.
A few hours had passed by as I made my way up the fight of steps, the last few bags of groceries in hand. I seriously questioned my choice in living on the top floor. At the time I must have done so to avoid my neighbors as much as possible. But days when I had to carry things up these stairs alone was killing me. Living on the third floor had it perks but this was surely not one of them. It was also a fairly warm day out, the heat causing small trickles of sweat to fall down my neck. I had only been back and forth carrying things in and I felt that at any moment my body would just give out.
“Damn, it’s pretty hot out now. Good thing I decided to go out early.” I wiped the sweat on my forehand with the back of my free hand.
The weather that was present today was pretty unusual for this time of year. This type of weather wasn’t around until the summertime, which had been long gone. Shitty weather like this was another thing on the list of as to why I never liked going out. I quickly shut the door behind me, returning to my cool air conditioned home. Making my way into the kitchen I had all the bags sorted out into designated areas they would be going. I’d like to say I was a organized person. Everything had its own home. If the order was to be disturbed, I would quickly fix it. I liked to keep my place in tip top shape, making sure it stayed that way. I was putting away a box of macaroni when I heard my phone buzzing on the counter top. I set the box down in exchange for my phone and unlocked it to see a string of messages from my mother.
MOM: Sweetie…
MOM: You said you were going to message me
MOM: And I haven’t heard from you
After reading her last message, she gave me no time in trying to respond, three dots popped up signalling she was typing out yet another one.
MOM: IS EVERYTHING OKAY????
A sigh escaped from my mouth as I read her last message, shaking my head in the process. My mother was truly something else. She had always been so paranoid with me for as long as I could remember. She was the type of mom who needed to know my whereabouts at all times, if not then all hell would break loose. It was really smothering growing up but as I got older she seemed to tone down a little. Though she still continued to freak out over the smallest things, me forgetting to message her was a prime example. I hurried to respond to her, not wanting her to worry herself too much.
Y/N: Mom, everything is more than okay. Sorry I forgot to message you. I was out grocery shopping and just got back.
MOM: Phew! I can be at ease now. You know how worried I get when I don’t hear from you.
MOM: I know it’s your day off so I will let you go so you can relax some more. Call me when you can okay?
Y/N: Of course! I’ll call you on my next day off so we can catch up more.
MOM: Sounds good. I look forward to it. I love you sweetie.
Y/N: Love you too mom.
My phone found its way back onto the counter as I set it down. Though I know worrying my mother wasn’t a funny matter, I couldn’t help but let out a small giggle. Somethings never change when it came to her. Doesn’t matter the distance, my mother would always be well my mother. Moments like these I missed her dearly. But if I hadn’t gone out into the world the way I did, I wouldn’t have been able to learn what I knew to this day. She would always be there whenever I needed her but I had to try fly out on my own wings
After being in thought for those few moments, I went back to the task at hand and that was to finish putting up the rest of the groceries so I could enjoy the rest of my day.
After putting everything away, I plopped down onto the couch. Though I didn’t do much today I felt a sense of satisfaction. I surely felt productive, I was taking baby steps. If I continued at this rate I knew that I could be able to accomplish more on my days off and even better if I ever needed to run errands before or after a shift. Thinking about baby steps, I thought about my current social life. Pretty nonexistent but if I really wanted to I was sure I could begin to network with other people and even eventually make some friends. Of the physical variety.
Maybe I’ll have the courage to put myself out there once again.
Having graduated from high school years back, I distanced myself from the small group I once was able to call my friends. We all went our separate ways to pursue different things in life, I heard a few of them stayed in touch but no one really seemed to reach out to me after I became silent from them. Even the people I worked with had a hard time approaching me, so I rarely had any conversations while on the clock. I thought of myself to be a genuinely nice person once approached but I was said to have what was called “resting bitch face”. Was I really that intimidating?
Taking a look around the place while placing my feet on the ottoman in front of me, I couldn’t figure out what to do. I was for one of the few times in my life...bored. My surroundings were all clean, I already ate dinner, and for some reason I was not in the mood to play any video games. Looking up at the television mounted on the wall collected dust I thought that I would have watched something but the question was what exactly? It didn’t take long for me to scrap that idea and continue to search for something, anything to do. My eyes continued to scan the room suddenly stopping at my desk. There was a poster of BTS hanging right above it and as my eyes lowered themselves to the contents laying on my desk, an idea struck me.
I got up and walked over to it, pulling the chair out and placing my bottom firmly in it. My eyes were now lingering on a notebook that my mother gave to me when I first moved out. It was intended to be a diary but I never got around to using it, not wanting to scribble the pages with negative thoughts. I carefully opened it and tore a few pages out of the binding, making sure not to rip the pages. This was something that I had been wanting to do for a very long time. I had always been a bit nervous to do something of this nature but now was a perfect time to do so. I was going to write a letter to my beloved BTS.
I grabbed a few pens and markers from the cup that sat a top of my desk, trying to figure out how the header of this letter would look. I watched a lot of K-Pop pen-pal videos as well as heavily took inspiration from the beautiful letters they would create. Writing in a gorgeous calligraphy font I had recently learned, the top of my page read “Bangtan Sonyeondan” in English. I took my time with it, making sure my down strokes were near perfect. Placing the marker in my hand down, I examined the page before me and felt a sense of satisfaction. Everything looked just as I envisioned it, but now I would move onto the crucial part: the actual letter itself.
Knowing me and since this was going to be addressed to the boys, I was a hundred percent sure this would become an essay. Even more so since I had been taking Korean lessons for a few years now and this would be the first time I would put it to use aside from the classroom. I was pretty advanced when it came to my speaking skills but I sort of lacked when it came to writing out Hangul. It would always come out a bit sloppy so I made sure this time around I would take my time with my strokes. As I grabbed a black pen, I began writing what any fan would write to their favorite idols:
Your music is amazing!
Keep doing what you guys are doing.
Please stay healthy and get plenty of rest. Make sure you’re eating and drinking plenty of water.
But after getting all the cliche stuff out of the way, my letter became more of a vent. My pen scribbling back and forth across the page, my heart going into every word that was written. I had completely lost track of time as I went about writing to them. Not even noticing that the sun was beginning to set and my room was growing darker from the lack of light. I finally took notice of it, turning on the desk lamp with the hand I didn’t use to write and I continued putting my entire being into this letter. I took in the sight of the completed pages scrambled on the side. I so far had written five pages worth, impressing myself. Though I could continue to go on and on about my life, I decided that I would soon close it, allowing my hand to rest from the constant writing.
I seriously cannot thank you seven enough. Without your music, I don’t know where I would be. Though I can be a bit harsh on myself, your music is the only positive thing I have going for me right now. Though we may never meet, just know that I will always be rooting you guys on.
Fighting~
Sincerely,
Y/N
Folded the paper neatly in thirds, I stuffed it into an envelope I had lying around followed by placing three stamps in the right hand corner. Thinking to myself a bit I added a fourth one just to be on the safe side. I had never mailed anything internationally and wanted to make sure that it would reach its destination. I was feeling extremely happy. Who would have thought that something as simple as writing fan mail would be so rewarding? Leaning back as far as I could, I stretched my arms feeling a slight yawn forming in my mouth. Taking a look at the time it was still pretty early for going to bed but I took it upon myself to begin my nightly routine a bit early. This time with a different approach, there was no need for me to decompress.
I was feeling extremely positive, a truly rare occasion. That goofy grin could once again be found across my face.
TWO MONTHS LATER
It had been a few months since I sent that letter and with that my life went back to being the shithole that it was. That positivity that surged in me only lasted for a few days, work becoming extremely hectic since someone quit and I was the lucky one who had to work extra hours. Now I necessarily wouldn’t complain about the paychecks I had been receiving but my body was becoming the most worn out it had ever been. It felt like lately I didn’t even know what sleep was. I barely had gotten any over the course of two months.
It was nearing the end of my shift and for whatever reason today I dealt with nothing but rude and obnoxious customers. Back to back. On any other given day I would have the tolerance for this type of thing, due to the nature of my job, but it was a little hard for me to do so today. I was a hair away from snapping. I was currently ringing up this middle aged woman who refused to acknowledge my existence. I got to scanning her last item and looked up to make eye contact with her, keeping a “customer service” type of smile on my face.
“Okay, that brings your total to $72.96” Holding the fake smile that was plastered across my face, hoping she was buying my bubbliness. The one thing about customer service was that you had to bullshit from time to time, it was sometimes key in keeping the happy customer.
To my surprise, she actually bought it, reaching into her purse to pull out a crisp one hundred dollar bill and handing it over to me. As I do with any customer who hands me anything over a twenty dollars, I reached for my counterfeit marker and striking a quick line across it. But as I did so I could tell that I was making this woman upset as I heard her huff in annoyance.
“I have you know that I work VERY hard for my money. I just got that from the bank so why do you feel the need to check it? Tch. Bitch.” she snarked at me, trying to mumble the last bit to herself but I heard it.
Loud and clear.
My eyebrow was rapidly twitching as I bit down so hard on my tongue, fighting the things I wanted to say to her but was not about to lose my job over. The little bit of sanity that I had was already out the door, but I had to do my very best to restrain myself from jumping over this counter and pinning this lady down. Regaining control, I sighed heavily and silently before I responded back to her. I needed this woman to hurry up and get out of my checkout lane.
“I do apologize ma’am it was never my intent to upset you. I’m simply following our store’s policy and have to check anything over a twenty.”
Not wanting to look at this customer anymore, I hurried to enter the amount she handed me on my cash register. The till popped open and I wasted no time in grabbing her change out the drawer as well as the receipt that printed alongside with it. Still holding back with every being in my body, I continued to bite my tongue, my smile more fake than it was during the duration of this interaction.
“$27.04 will be your change back and here is your receipt. We truly appreciate you taking the time to shop with us today, enjoy the rest of you evening~” There was definitely sarcasm in my voice with the entirety of that sentence.
All the woman did in response to my “cheerfulness” was roll her eyes, snatched her change and receipt from my hand and pushed her cart away. Not even a goodbye from her. If one thing was sure, I was so glad that that was over. She was literally the icing on the cake and I was so fed up at this point. Checking the time on my register, I noticed that it was a few minutes passed the end of my shift. I immediately flicked my checkout light off so I wouldn’t be bothered with any customers.
I just wanted to curl into bed and sulk in my misery.
A slight migraine was beginning to bother me as I brought my hand up to my forehead, closing my eyes to try and relieve the pain a bit. I tried to tune the world out for a few moments, listening to the sounds that made up the supermarket. Lots of people shuffling around and scanner beeps that I grew very accustomed to.
Once I get home, I’m looking for a new job. Screw this place.
That thought that always lingered in my head. I was officially done with this place. I could probably find something relatively quick and once I did, I would hand in my two weeks notice, scratch that I would hand in my immediate resignation. I had it all planned out. Just was never sure on the timing.
But that was a no longer a question up in the air. Now was the time.
“Excuse me..”
My thoughts would soon be interrupted by a man’s voice, hearing his accent right away. I blew out a bit of hot air as I was unsure if I had the patience to even politely steer this customer into the next lane over. It baffles me how people would always come into my lane when it was clearly stated I was closed. I brought my hand down, ready to put on my persona one last time before I got the hell out of this place.
“Sorry Sir, my lane is actually closed. If you need to checkout you can do so in the next lane ov-”
Bringing my attention upwards towards him I found myself lost in mid sentence. My eyes grew in size to not only seeing one man standing there but seven! Not just any seven, a very very specific seven that I could never forget how they looked. It felt like my jaw dropped to floor over the shock of the men standing before me. Was I dreaming?
I pinched my cheek a bit, they were still there. I closed my eyes a few times thinking I was hallucinating but they were still there. I even slapped my cheek a bit harsh only to find them still standing there, some of their eyebrows raising up in question. They were all taller than me, and extremely attractive. It was just like how I saw them in my dreams but ten times amplified. I stood there, unsure of what to think of the event that just unfolded.
Bangtan Sonyeondan was literally on the opposite side of me.
My head couldn’t process what my eyes were seeing. I was completely at a blank. What would I even say in this situation? I noticed a few of them smiling at me, waiting it looked like for me to say something to them. To know I was aware of their presence. In situations like this where I am not one with my mind, I always was what others would say unfiltered. Speaking whatever was floating around in my head. And though I would regret it, I did exactly just that. I said the first three words that came to me, the most classiest thing I could ever say:
“No fucking way.”
[TO BE CONTINUED]
A/N: Oh, Y/N you have such a potty mouth haha Phew! I’m so glad I rewrote this because I really do like this version much better than the first. Since I do work full time, I won’t be able to pump out these chapters in the way I would want to. But please feel free to check out my other works in the meantime.
♡ masterlist
#bangtanwriters-net#bangtanbuds#bangtanarmynet#thebtstown#BTS FF#ot7 x reader#slice of life#some angst#luckyfan!au
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