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bisexual-horror-fan · 3 months ago

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Tentatively Tending To Trauma. Poly!Camping Boys X FEM! AFAB! Reader. Chapter Two. "Fixing It Up."

Hello! So! I know, over a year since I posted the first chapter of this, been working chapter two on and off ever since, hopefully I can get back into a better schedule with this, but I make no promises with how my life has been lately. Regardless, I hope everyone is as excited as I am! I missed Buddy and Sam, and this fic is important to me and deserves some attention. I promise it won't be another year before chapter three, at least! Chapter one is back here if you need a refresher.

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Rating. SFW, for now. Length. 5.7K. Eventual Sam Wescott/Buddy Swanson X FEM! AFAB! Reader. She/Her Pronouns. Warnings: Movie Spoilers. Set After Stage Fright AND You Might Be The Killer. Still Very Light So Far. Mild Alcohol Consumption. Building Of Friendships.

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Your first night sleeping at camp went surprisingly well, a lot of the time you had trouble sleeping in new places, but you think the drive and overall excitement wore you out so much that you became practically comatose once your head hit the pillow. You wake up in the cabin alone, you take some time to lay in bed, enjoying the time to yourself. When the kids get here, sleeping in will be difficult if not impossible, even on some days off, so you decide to soak it up now. You make yourself get up eventually and start getting dressed. T-shirt and shorts today, you would be working outside basically all day, it was going to be hot, hair out of the way, socks on, sneakers, hat and sunscreen smeared, you head out.

It isn’t too bad yet. It’s still early, the sun isn’t high in the sky, the fresh air is nice, there is dew on the grass, and you are ready to face today’s tasks head on. You go to the mess hall and find the serving trays full but the line itself is empty, you must be one of the first people up. You don’t wait around, you serve yourself, eat eggs and bacon and toast quickly, down coffee and juice and with a water bottle filled with ample ice you make your way back out, intent on getting serious work in.

Wanting to get to right to it once at the boathouse and pull the key out of your shorts pocket, and you open the door, you look over everything and start to break down what you need to do and then get to work. First up is cleaning out the boathouse. It’s a little dusty, a little cobwebbed, some garbage about and while working on cleaning you notice there is a loose floorboard. You find a tool box and nails, and you really get into it. Some of the shelving is screwed up, you take to fixing that up too, and when doing that you also rearrange the boathouse to your liking. You figure you might as well since this is going to be your work station for the next three months. The floors had been swept, the window cleaned letting in some of that wonderful summer sunshine, the garbage all bagged up, you press on.

Throughout all this you assess the boats and decide they need some sooner rather than later maintenance, while working on the boathouse you found some still sealed cans of paint, after checking out the colours you made the call that after fixing them up you could even paint them. You make this the new priority, the paint was appropriate for the job, must have been bought for the last time the canoes were painted, but after they are cleaned up they will need a while to cure up properly. Even when the kids arrive you will have some time, all the kids who are going to use the canoes have to pass a swim test as well as being informed of the general safety prior to getting in one. If you are lucky, the first canoe rides will happen before the end of the first week of them being there.

After some asking around to the other counsellors you find out there is a belt sander available, which is perfect because hand sanding this many canoes would be very time-consuming, this is going to speed up the process exponentially. The one thing that eventually pulls you out of the work is realising how hungry you are, not even sure of what time it is, but the sun is much higher, the temperature way hotter. You make the call to go to the mess hall, see if it is lunchtime. When you arrive, the place is empty. You worked through lunch and missed it, judging by the clock on the wall you’d been almost an hour past the allotted window.

Fuck.

What are you going to do? You did bring some snacks and maybe retreating to your cabin to get something to tide you over was the move, you were thinking it over when the doors leading back to the kitchen opened and your eyes were drawn to the sound. Upon seeing Buddy up front, apron on and busing tub in his hands, you gain hope back for a second. He smiles and calls out, ��Oh, there you are.”

You begin to make your way up to the serving line where he is, “Hey Buddy. Hate to be a bother, is there any lunch left?”

He tells you in a light tone with a raise of his eyebrows, “You’re a little late.”

“I know, I know, I got really caught up working, but still, do you have anything?” You asked, and he said, “Of course I do.”

“Wait really?” You asked, and he said, “All the food passes through my hands personally when serving, so when I didn’t see you I knew I should put something aside.”

He gives you a single finger raise, the busing tray is set down, and he comes forward, reaches under the serving line, roots around a bit before pulling out a bag. He gestures for you to come closer, and you come up, he holds the bag out, and you take it. Opening the brown paper to find a wrapped sandwich, a fruit cup, cookies, veggie sticks, cheese and crackers, “Wow, quite a spread.”

“Hey, I know you’re working hard, gotta be well-fed.” You appreciated it, the look in his eyes conveyed that he believed it and that it meant more than just the job he was hired and brought here to do.

“Thanks, it’s really nice of you.” He shrugs and brushes you off, saying it’s no big deal, he also tells you that he intends to stick to this, will always make sure something is put aside and even if you are late at times he encourages you to check the fridge in the back.

You end up sitting at the table and eating the food he made, an easy conversation is struck as he is cleaning up the mess hall around you, since it was just the counsellors so far it was relatively easy, but he wants to keep in the habit of keeping it all cleaned up.

“So, how goes the set-up?” You asked him, and he said, “Oh great, kitchen just needed a good deep clean, I’m basically all done, I just want to reorganize the fridge.”

“I totally get what you mean, I did the same thing with the boathouse.” You tell him and he asked, “Already? You work quick.”

“Well it’s mostly done, right now I’m working on fixing up the canoes.”

“They need much work?” He asks, and you tell him confidently, “Nothing I can’t handle.”

“How foolish of me to doubt your immense talents.” He said easily as he loads another tray into the bin. “Very foolish indeed. I’m glad to hear the work is going well, but what about the assignment I gave you?”

A brow quirks up at that as he questions, “Assignment?”

“Yes, to help you not be an anti-social loner this summer?” The recognition hits, and he says, “Oh, that.”

“Yes. That. Have you made any friends yet?” He has finished picking up the trays and was going to start to walk to the back, and he says, “No, not quite yet-”

“Buddy.” You say his name and that makes him stop. A shared look, and he says your name in kind, and you push, “You promised.”

“I’m going to try, seriously, just been busy so far and also ease up we’ve been here like a day.” You take a bite of your sandwich and squint at him, an unconvinced hum, and he groans, eyes rolling back as he tells you, “I mean it, I’ll try okay?”

You finish chewing, swallow and tell him,“That’s better. You deserve a fun summer, and I am not always gonna be able to be around to make sure that happens.”

“You made the sale, now stop selling.” He says it lightly, and you thank him for listening to you.

He brings the trays to the back and comes back out, he is wiping down tables as you talk, the conversation is good, there is a levity to it that makes you smile, the back and forth you’d already started to develop brings a smile to your face. You are sure he is going to make friends and have a good summer.

Soon enough the food is done, you are giving him another thank you and getting up to head out the door, he calls out, “Once those canoes are ready, you’re still gonna take me for a ride right?”

You turn and call back, “You’ll be the first one I take out on the water, alright?”

A smile is thrown your way along with the call of, “Alright!”

Back out in the sun and back to work you go. The time flies by while you are hard at work under the slowly sinking sun. You know another few hours have gone by when Sam comes by and tells you as such. He comes up with a friendly wave and an apology about how long he has taken to get over to you, you tell him that it’s, “-no trouble, I’ve been busy.”

“So I can see.” he says with a look to the tools and things spread around in the grass. He has a small cooler with him, he opens it and pulls out a water bottle, he holds it out and says, “Take a break?”

You do just that.

You and he sit on the grass, and you ask him how his day has been, “Busy, been getting pulled in every which direction, but I’m managing.”

“Almost like that’s the head counsellor’s job or something.” You tease and he laughs. He has a good laugh, you wish you could hear it more, a kind of laugh that makes you want to laugh too, infectious. You hope after camp is going, and you are all more settled into it, that he would feel more comfortable and relax some more.

“How’d you get into doing this?” He asks, and you tell him, “My favourite activities at camp were the water based ones, swimming and of course canoeing, I loved it a ton. I got to a point of being an unofficial helper at my old camp with all that stuff.”

“Wow, impressive.” He sounds genuine, and you toss him a sideways smile before you take another healthy drink from the water bottle he gave you, it feels so good and needed in the beating down heat of the summer day.

The conversation meanders until you ask him, “So what about this camp, what’s the history of it?”

He opens his mouth to start to tell you when there is a shout of, “Sam?!” You both look to see another one of your fellow counsellors coming towards you both, seeking help, and Sam sighs. He gets up and tells you, “I’ll fill you in on that soon, okay?”

“You better stop running out on me soon, Sammy, or I’ll get the impression you don’t like me.” You call as you watch him go, with another laugh and a promise he’ll improve.

After some more work and a quick shower, you have dinner with the other counsellors, and you are determined today to stay up for the fire. You feel bad about being so tired and bailing, bonding with your fellow staff before camp starts up is important to you, foraging new friendships and relationships is important to you too. Dinner was good, better than yesterday even, and when you were going to return your tray and a few others upfront, you didn’t want to make Buddy have to run around cleaning them all up. You managed to catch him, offering up the trays, he smiled and took them gratefully.

“Hey Buddy, thanks for dinner, it was fucking great.” You praise, and he said with a half-smile, “Thank you, glad you liked it.”

“Just giving credit where it’s due. You coming to the bonfire tonight?” You ask, and he says, “I am and actually about that, it’s s’more night tonight and I could use a hand, mind helping me out?”

You’d be happy to.

Following along, you thought about how you hadn’t been inside the kitchen before tonight, the place looked good considering the fact it was post dinner, but again he just had to worry about feeding the counsellors, you are sure it might be a different story when all the kids are here. He was running the trays through the dishwasher and had gotten a box out while the machinery hummed behind him, he was loading it up with what was needed, graham crackers, marshmallows, chocolate and the rest as you watched him.

“So is this what you always wanted to do?” The question filled the space, even though it didn’t need to be filled. Buddy looked up at you and said, “What?”

“Cooking. Being a cook, is this what you always wanted to do?” You asked and one of his shoulders picked up, a half shrug as he said jokingly, “I think the term you are looking for is chef-”

He gave you a look-out from under his curls and the playfulness found in his blue eyes as well as his soft looking pink lips curled into a smile had quite the effect on you. What he said next was not as humorous, but it was warm, more honest, ”-and kind of. Always wanted to open a restaurant.”

You feel there is more he isn’t saying, but you two are very new to knowing each other, maybe he will tell you more about it another time. Instead of really pushing, you just give a simple, “Really?”

He smiles wider, you see a flash of his teeth, “I mean, everyone needs their raison d’etre, right?” You laugh, “Oh man, busting out the French, hm?”

“I’m Canadian.” He said with a fond roll of his eyes as he picked up the box, adding on, “I’m allowed. Now come on, let’s get down there.”

You and Buddy make your way to where the bonfire is meant to be that night. Starting the fire was easy enough, and soon other people were joining. You and he make s’mores together, toast marshmallows, break apart chocolate squares and assemble the confections together, pile up a plate with the sticky sweet delights you crafted, partially wrapped in tinfoil, both have a drink each during the process. After that, you are walking around with your bounty to share with everyone. Before you know it, you are with Sam again, he is standing alone and looking stressed, you ask him, “You want a s’more?”

He looks over at you and gives you a nervous smile, mumbling, “Thanks.” He takes the s’more but doesn’t take a bite. You quirk a brow at that and ask, “You wanna share with the class or?”

Sam’s eyes move towards you, and he exhales a simple, “What?”

“I can tell something if bugging you, so open your mouth to tell me all about it or to shove that damn s’more into it.” You tell him with a smile before taking a sip from the cool can you have in one hand, the other occupied holding the plate of s’mores.

You see the ghost of a smile pass his lips, head tipping forward a little, before he starts to tell you, “I’m just worried about getting everything ready in time for the camp’s opening. Worried about making this a good summer for the counsellors and kids alike too, honestly.”

You can’t help the laugh that spills out, you have to grip the plate harder for fear it might slip from your grasp. You laugh so hard it takes a moment for your shoulders to stop shaking, and you inhale hard as you catch your breath, Sam asks for the second time tonight, “What?”

“Sorry, sorry! I just-” You giggle before saying, “Sam, that’s fucking ridiculous.”

“Oh gee thanks.” he scoffed, and you jump to say, “No, no, I just mean, I’ve been seeing how hard everyone has been working, the camp will for sure be ready and as for having fun? I mean, come on, I saw the draft of the activities, everyone is going to have a killer time!”

You set the can down on the picnic table you had both been standing next to, you reach out and set your hand on his shoulder, you give a reassuring squeeze and a smile that radiated as much warmth as the camp fire burning a few feet away. The smile seemed to infect him as well, you could feel his shoulder relax under your touch. He asked, “You mean that?”

And you confirmed sincerely, “Course I do! Now loosen up, eat your s’more, have a beer, kids won’t be here for a good long while, get your relaxing in now! It’s not like we can keep working on what needs to get done in the dark anyway, right?”

He exhaled, amused and nodded, “You are very right, and uhm, thank you. I really feel better getting that out, I think I needed to hear that.”

“Anytime, and I mean that, now I am not leaving your side until you get a drink in, you wouldn’t let me drink alone, would you?” A slight pout and he says, “Well, I am supposed to be setting an example to the other counsellors-” He reaches into the nearby cooler and takes out a beer.

You and he drink together, people come by for s’mores and the night wares on. You have a good time, and eventually you and Sam drift apart, and you talk to your other counsellors, and Sam does the same. At one point you look over at him and see him talking animatedly and excitedly, at least three drinks deep, face a little flushed and laughing to some joke, it makes you happy to see.

You go to bed that night much later and wake up the next day much later as a result. You get ready and make your way to the mess hall for a late breakfast, when you are in line getting served Buddy teases you, “Sleep alright?”

A small laugh, “M’ fine, I hydrated before bed, no hangover for me.”

“Smart cookie.” He praises as he heaps scrambled eggs next to your silver dollar pancakes, and you grin, “That’s me.”

The breakfast is great, you eat the food, get some orange juice and coffee in you and fill up your reusable water bottle with ice and water before heading out to get back to work.

Falling back into the rhythm of it is easy, you work hard, work so hard in fact you work right through lunch, again, you shouldn’t make that a habit, but you are finally caught up on everything. You are starving but happy, you make your way to find the head counsellor before going to get some food, too excited and desperate to tell him you are all caught up, you find him after a while, calling out , “Sammy!”

You approach him with a wave, and he looks up from his task, chopping wood, a smile of his own, he waves in return as you walk up to him. “Hey! Missed you at lunch, was going to swing by soon to check on you.”

“Sorry, was busy working, but I had to come tell you, I finished my tasks, so if you need my hands anywhere else I can pick up some slack.”

Sam’s brows lift, and he seems genuinely surprised, he sets the axe down, leaning on it, your eyes linger just a bit, he is missing the flannel, and you can’t help but notice how nice his arms look in his camp branded t-shirt. “Wow! You work quick!”

“Thanks!” You say with a big smile, feeling genuinely happy to hear the praise, Sam tells you, “I appreciate the hustle, seriously, but you worked so hard, you can totally take the rest of the day off. If you want you can help with some of the final clean up in the last few areas tomorrow.”

“Awesome! Totally would be happy to help out, I’ll see you at dinner.” You say, and he stops you, “Just one second. I have a question.”

“Shoot.” You prompt him, and he says, “How did you get the rest of your work done so quick?”

“C’mon, man, I worked through lunch.” You say with a smile before tacking on, “And I’m just that good.”

“Well, you didn’t eat then?” You shake your head and Sam tuts, he leans the axe against the pile of good as he tells you, “That’s no good, dinner is hours off yet, follow me.”

That is the first time you find yourself in Sam Wescott’s office. It’s nice, homey, the windows let in a lot of natural light, his desk is organized. There is a shelf with pictures from summer's previous, you recognize locations from around the camp, Sam was a cute kid. He offers up half of his own sandwich from lunch and a small bag of chips. You grin and take them gratefully, “Oh, thank you so much!”

“Least I can do, you can’t go hungry.” He said easily enough with a nod. “Now go enjoy the rest of your day.”

You turn on your heel with another thank you, and you hear him say after you, “Thank God you joined up this summer.”

The feeling was mutual. You ponder how well fed you were between Buddy and Sam as you munched on turkey on wheat on the way back to your cabin. You caught a power nap and a chapter of your book before dinner.

After another great meal, where you made sure to thank Buddy profusely for the dinner he teased you, “Seriously, I missed you at lunch again, you gotta stop working so hard, you’ll burn out, and we aren’t even a week in!” You told him you appreciated his concern, but that you’d be fine. After dinner, you had nothing going on, tonight there was no set activity, seemed everyone had been working themselves very hard, it was a free night, do whatever. You go to your cabin again, gather your things, and go have your first proper shower since arriving. You really scrub yourself down, much more involved than the quick rinse the other day, the rest of the night is spent relaxing and reading one of the many books you brought along.

You pass out and wake up mid-morning to the sound of knocking on your cabin door. Stumbling out of bed, you make your way to the door and pull it open to find Sam standing outside. “Hey! Oh, my God, I am so sorry, did I wake you up?”

A glance down at yourself still in your tank top and sleep short shorts, you shrug, “Yeah, but no worries, what’s up?”

He nodded and said, “I was just wondering if you could show me around the boat house after breakfast? And then I can show you where else we might need your help?”

“Oh yeah, sounds great!” You tell him with a nod, you try to smile but end up yawning, you cover your mouth slightly embarrassed, and Sam says, “Great, see you post breakfast.”

You wave, “See you then.” You close the door and since you are awake you set to getting dressed and ready. You head out over Buddy serving you French toast and bacon, he greets you with a surprising amount of cheer for it being so early, you suppose you are making an impression.

“What are you doing today?” He inquires, and you ask, “Why do you wanna know?”

“I’m done with my work, wondering if I could get that canoe ride?” He asks, and you tell him, “Sam has to check over my work and I said I would help out some other people, but I can totally make a bit of time for that today.”

“Yeah?” He asked, and you told him, “Absolutely! I’m excited about it, dying to get out on the water already, it’s been too long.”

“Amazing, maybe after lunch?” He asked, and you said genuinely, “I’ll do my best.”

Post breakfast you grab Sam and steer him in the direction of the boat house, you show him everything, walk around pointing out all you did and Sam is very impressed, “You REPAINTED the boats?!”

His mouth was hanging open, he reminds you a bit of a fish, and you laugh, “Well most of them, this one was in surprisingly good shape!” You say, patting the side of it. “They look like new, right? I even redid the camp Clear Vista on the sides.”

“I am speechless.” He had his hands on his hips, shaking his head in disbelief, and you felt very, very proud of yourself, “Where else do you need me?”

“Oh yes! About that-” He clapped his hands together and said, “-I asked around and turns out everyone is all caught up, so everyone gets a free day!”

That IS very good fucking news. You have the whole day to do whatever you want! You ask Sam, “What are you going to do?”

“I am going to finish up some last minute paperwork, look over everyone else's work-” The way he shares his admission is slightly shy, he rushes to tell you next, “-but I will be able to join for the fire tonight!”

Stifling a laugh, telling him, “Sam, you work too hard, you better have some real fun tonight.” You sigh after, and he promises, “I will.”

Satisfied, you wish him well on the remainder of his work, and you make your way back to the mess hall. You head right back to the kitchen, and you push open the door calling out, “Oh Buddy?”

The fridge closes, and you see his curly haired head pop into view, “Surprised to see you here already.”

“I’ve got good news! Sam told me everyone is all caught up, everyone has a free day, so I am ready whenever you are.” You tell him, and he says, “That is very good news! I’ve got some of my own too, today is grab and go for lunch.”

He gestures to the trays on the table, “I am gonna put em out there and people can get whatever they want, I did it, so everyone could grab whatever to finish their work, but now I guess they can grab it and go wherever they want.”

This is wonderful all around. You help Buddy put everything out for anyone to grab before he tells you, “Let me just finish the cleanup, I’ll meet you at the boathouse in a half hour?”

You nod and go off to get some things ready. You love even this, getting everything together to go out on the water, the half hour passes easily and Buddy joins you, he lets you take the lead, and you help him get in the boat, and you are pushing off. Buddy’s curls are hidden from view, wearing a bucket hat, he is wearing some of the sunscreen you brought, he had packed some of the lunch stuff for you guys to enjoy. The conversation flows like the water the boat is in, you talk easily but also share comfortable and companionable silences. You talk a bit about technique, how to maintain balance, steering, and Buddy listens to every word.

He breaks one of the bouts of silences by saying, “You really know your shit.”

A light laugh, the running water and rustling of the trees clear in the backdrop, “I’d hope so after all this time. Can’t tell you how many hours I have spent under the sun and in a boat.”

While you guys are paused, simply floating, eating lunch, he says, “I think I get it.”

You hum questioningly and Buddy says, “Why you like it. S’ real calming.”

Brightening considerably, you tell him, “Yeah it is! Very calming, I love how still and quiet everything can be out here. Gives me a chance to reflect.”

“Could use some of that from time to time?” He asked, and you nodded, taking another bite of your sandwich, “Yup, you?”

He sighed before parroting you, “Yup.”

“Canada that stressful?” You ask, and he laughs, a small startled sound, “No, no, the country is not.”

“How would I know? I’ve never been. Could be a lawless wasteland for all I know.”

“It isn’t that different from America, you know.” He teases, and you say, “Then why’d you leave?”

He shakes his head, “Oh you know, just…Wanted a change of scenery. I’m young, why not get outta the country, see some of the world?”

Fair enough. Can’t fault him for that.

The rest of lunch is nice, you get him back to the shore, and you say, “We should do this again sometime.”

“I would love that, make it a regular thing.” He took off his life jacket and passed it over and told you, “I have to go get a start on dinner, thanks again for the ride.”

“Anytime.” You wave, and he returns it, you watch him go before cleaning up, getting the canoe out of the water and back in place. Back at your cabin, you do some more reading for a while until you feel a little restless.

You want to enjoy the nice weather, take advantage of it, back outside you go and during your walk you come across Sam, finally done with his work. He seems more at peace just from the relaxed expression on his face. You end up sitting on this hill together, you can see most of the camp, the sun is starting to set, dinner will be soon.

Sam says, “This is my favorite place at camp.”

You glance over at him, the orange light playing off his features, the shadows that fall and your eyes follow his lips as they move, “It’s nice up here, the view is great, just the air feels better out here you know? Fills up my lungs in a way that they don’t get filled up anywhere else.”

You let him talk, and he continues, “I am so excited, this place means the world to me, and I am dying to make this even better than it used to be when I was a kid, you know?”

Meeting your eyes, he says, “Thank you for all your help, not to be a total sap, but I’m really grateful.”

It has only been three days, but you already feel closer to Sam, you have a really good feeling about your blossoming friendship.

“I don’t think you are a sap, I can tell this is really important to you. I’m happy to help make it happen.” You said, you stretch before leaning back on your hands, the grass feels cool, you look up at the colourful sky and say, “I want the same things you do, you know. I want to make this the kind of summer I remember having as a kid, and hey, maybe it is a little selfish, but I kinda wanna try and recapture some of that for myself.”

He was a little vulnerable with you, no shame in being a tad vulnerable back.

“I hope you can.” Sam sounded so sincere, it was utterly endearing.

Dinner was a bigger deal tonight, Buddy and Jason poured a ton of effort into it, and there were many thanks all around. You talked excitedly with your fellow counsellors about the busy day ahead tomorrow with the first batch of kids arriving. After dessert, a make your own sundae bar, you had seconds, everyone headed back out to the fire pit.

Alex, one of the other counsellors was going to be song leader, he came out with his guitar, he plays songs and everyone sings along, Buddy is less than impressed, you offer to sit with him and do so at the fringes of the group. You and he are having a drink and that is when Sam comes over.

“Not singing?” Sam asks, and you laugh, a gesture of your head to your brunette and not so musically inclined haired companion, “Buddy isn’t a fan of singing and I didn’t want him to sit alone.”

Sam seemed surprised to hear of this and said, “Nice of you to not leave him lonely.”

Buddy hums and takes a drink, a nod before saying, “Yeah she’s been great at checking in on me, we went out on the water earlier.”

“She took you out in a canoe?” Sam asked slowly, and you said confidently, happiness apparent, “First go of the season! It was so fun, Buddy had never been in a canoe before, can you believe it?”

“I cannot.” Sam laughs, “I do believe about her checking in on you, she’s been doing the same with me.”

“Oh, thanks by the way for showing me that spot on the hill, totally gorgeous, you might bump into me there on my own sometimes.” You say with a cock of your head and a raise of your brows, and Buddy not wanting to be left out, asks, “Spot on the hill?”

“Yeah, there’s this nice place that you can see almost all the camp from, Sam and I sat up there, had a good talk at sunset before dinner.”

“A conversation at sunset.” Buddy mused, can at his lips, “You’re real busy, aren’t you?” He asks with a nudge of your shoulder, and you put your hands up, “Guilty.”

You see it then, a look on Sam’s face at the easy physical contact between you and Buddy, there was something to it, you look over at Buddy and see them both looking at one another, almost considering each other. You look between the pair and the realization starts to sink in, you are starting to like them both and if the way they are looking at each other and reacting to hearing how you have been spending time one on one, they might be beginning to like you too.

Maybe this summer is going to lead to more. But how could you ever pick between them?

#Poly!Camping Boys x reader #Buddy Swanson X reader #Sam Wescott X Reader #BHF Writing #Tentatively Tending To Trauma #TTTT

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snappedsky · 1 year ago

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Borderlands: Skies the Ultimate Treasure Hunter

The crew get into the core, where something terrible happens.

*Links to previous and next chapters in reblog*

The Handsome Jackpot Part 7

“So, you’ve found the tailor, have you?”

Moxxi’s hologram stands before Skies and Timothy as they present The Mayor, everyone now safe and sound back in the hideout.

“This crew has graciously saved Trashlantis from the threat of the compactor,” The Mayor explains, “and as I am a man of my word, I have joined you, for Trashlantis will never be free so long as Pretty Boy is in charge.”

“Well said,” Moxxi agrees, “okay then, what’s next?”

“Now, that we’ve got our crew it’s time to go over the plan,” Skies declares.

The four of them join the Vault Hunters, Ember, and Freddie around the table. Skies rolls out a large piece of paper and uses a marker to write ‘The Heist Plan’ in big letters at the top. “Alright, kiddos, it’s time to take the casino.” “Step one: get a crew. Crew’s here, step one complete. Nice work there. Step two: get into that tower. We gotta take out those death turrets first and to do that we need to get into the casino core. Now, I’m not sure where the core is exactly, so we’re gonna need a blueprint.”

“I know someone with a blueprint of the casino,” The Mayor says, “a gang leader named Tricksy Nick. I can call in a favour with him.”

“Great, then the Vault Hunter’s can go pick it up,” Skies declares, “okay, step three: bypass security. Now, the tower’s got an automatic security system. Once we kill power to the turrets, a big door made of solid tritanium is gonna seal off the entrance. I might be able to blow it up, but it’s gonna take a lotta bombs.”

“No need to risk blowing up the whole tower, as magnifique as that would be,” Ember says, “I can burn through it, however I will need a very rare substance known as Compound 24. Once, I requisitioned it for my act, but I was told it was only available to Hyperion researchers. Highly volatile- which is how I like it. With the compound, I can mix ultra-thermite, which carves through tritanium like a flaming saw blade through a bandit who is also on fire.”

“The Vault Hunters can pick up some of that too from the Market District,” Skies orders, “then we’re onto step four which is Tim time.”

“In order to get into the control core, to shut off the turrets, so Ember can burn through the security door, we gotta go through a one-of-a-kind scanner that only opens for Handsome Jack himself,” she explains, “obviously, Tim looks and sounds like Jack, but we need one of Jack’s hand-tailored suits to really sell the whole deal. Mayor?”

“Fortunately, I hid one away in my shop,” The Mayor replies.

“Great. Then the Vault Hunters will get that too,” Skies orders, “once we’ve got everything we need, we can begin in earnest. Vault Hunters, you got your shopping list. Get to it.”

“Be back in a bit,” Zane says as the four of them leave the hideout.

“While we wait, there’s something else I’d like to discuss,” Moxxi says, “once I’m sitting on top of that tower, I’m gonna need help getting the casino open for business. Ember, honey- I’d put you in charge of revamping the Vice District, if you’re so inclined.”

“May I continue to set things on fire?” Ember asks.

“I certainly hope so.”

“Then it would be my pleasure.”

“Mr. Mayor, what’s your fee?” Moxxi asks.

“Your word that Trashlantis will retain it’s autonomy under your new management,” he replies.

“Trashlantis ain’t my kind of dirt, but I don’t judge,” she says, “I’ll deactivate the compactor so that your people can continue living without the excess of capitalist consumption, let alone basic hygiene.”

“You got anything for Freddie?” Freddie asks excitedly.

“The casino’s seen better days,” Moxxi replies, “I’ll need some help fixing up the place. How’s Head of Reconstruction and Maintenance sound?”

“I’ll get those loaders hummin’ along for ya, Miss. Believe in Freddie!”

“And, Skies, we’ve already discussed your fee,” Moxxi says.

“Whatever treasure Jack has stashed away in his vault,” she nods, “can’t wait to get my hands on all that misbegotten gold.”

“And you, Timothy?” Moxxi asks, “what do you want?”

“Wha-me? Well, I-I mean...maybe I could...I mean you and I...” he stammers nervously before sighing. “Aw, you know what, I don’t need anything. I’m happy just to help.”

“Mm, how gallant of you,” she comments.

“Alright, as soon as the Vault Hunters get back, we can take the tower,” Skies says.

The Vault Hunters return soon after with the casino blueprint, the Compound 24, and Jack’s suit.

“Nice work, kids,” Skies remarks as she passes out the items. “Right, Ember, you get to work on your weapon. Tim, you get changed. Moxxi and I will look for the entrance to the control core.”

As everyone gets to work, Skies rolls out the blueprints on the table and she and Moxxi take a look.

“There’s the control core,” Moxxi says.

“Right, so if that connects to here, and that to here, then it looks like we go in near the subway,” Skies muses.

“Looks like there’s a high security wing in that area,” Moxxi adds, “it’ll be tough to break through, but I’m comfortable putting that job in your capable hands.”

“Oh, Mox, you flatterer,” Skies grins as she rolls up the blueprint and sticks it in her jacket. “We ready to roll?”

“Ready,” Timothy replies as he steps out of the corner, dressed to the nines in Handsome Jack’s classic outfit, with his hair neatly coiffed and everything.

“Wow, Tim, look at you,” Skies remarks, “if I didn’t know any better, I’d almost be panicking right now.”

“Yeah, same,” he grunts.

“Alright, Vault Hunters, let’s roll,” she orders and the group starts to leave.

“Uh, Mayor, should I worry about damaging the suit or anything?” Timothy asks before he goes.

“Don’t worry about that,” The Mayor replies, “I designed it to be resistant to all bodily fluids. Jack was very insistent on that point.”

“Gross,” Timothy comments and catches up to the others.

The crew heads through the Spendopticon, back down to the subway. When they reach the right area, security bots immediately digistruct in.

“Alright, this is the door,” Skies says as she starts firing her rifle. “We just gotta clear the area.”

“Easy,” FL4K remarks as the others join in.

They quickly clear out the security bots and open the door to head down a set of stairs. On the bottom floor is a large, full body scanner in front of a doorway blocked by a dangerously red force field.

“Alright, Tim Tams,” Skies says, “this whole operation hinges on you being able to fool this security scanner. So, no pressure.”

“Heh, easy,” he croaks unconvincingly.

“Oh, wait, almost forgot!” she exclaims and grabs from her coat Handsome Jack’s mask. “One final touch.”

Timothy sighs as she clamps the mask onto his face. “There, you’re perfect,” she says.

“Yeah, perfectly horrid,” he groans then clears his throat. “Okay, gotta be Jack. ‘Heya...kiddo...’ Ugh, just...gimme a second to warm up here. It’s been a long time since I’ve played Jack for anything other than a parody.”

He shakes off his nerves and pats his face before straightening his back and pointing up his nose. “Hey, you. The one making this place smell like poor. If you don’t get me a sandwich, I’ll feed your organs to starving puppies. Yes! There it is. Alright, let’s do it.”

Timothy takes a deep breath and smooths back his hair before stepping into the scanner.

“Please confirm identity,” an automated voice says.

“Hey there, baby doll. Jack here,” Timothy replies, “I need you to go ahead and let me in.”

“Scanning bio-metric data.”

“Yeah, that’s some high-quality helix shiznat right there. I’m handsome down to the cell, baby! Ugh, I disgust myself.”

“Confirmed. Scanning facial recognition.”

“Sure, doll, you go ahead and get a nice gander at this handsome face.”

“Confirmed. Scanning personal style.”

“Yeah, totally, check out these threads.”

“Confirmed.”

“Damn right.”

“Identity confirmed. Looking good, Jack.”

“Yeah, don’t I know it,” Timothy replies as he steps out of the scanner. “Alright, pumpkin, chop chop. Move those toothpick legs. Agh, I’m so sorry- you know, I sorta got lost in the role there for a little bit.”

“Nice job, Tim,” Skies replies, grinning with amusement. “Let’s go.”

“Can I take this stupid thing off now?” Timothy asks, pointing at the mask.

“Oh, yeah, you shouldn’t need it anymore,” she agrees as she takes the mask off his face and sticks it back in her coat.

With the force field down, the way forward is clear, and the crew head down to the control core.

They enter into maintenance shafts with large fans in the walls and big wires running up into the ceiling. As they continue along, Pretty Boy’s voice shouts from Skies’ ECHO communicator.

“How the hell did you get into the core?! Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Just stay outta there! It’s uh secret, yeah. And uh don’t go poking around in my secrets if you know what’s good for ya. Final warning!”

“Pretty Boy must know something we don’t,” Timothy muses.

“Probably,” Skies agrees, “he’s been living in that tower for seven years. He must’ve found some of Jack’s old secrets.”

The crew continue through the corridors until they arrive to a large chamber, filled with ratch nests.

“Ewwww, ratch,” Skies spits in disgust. “I hate ratch. Let’s clear them out.” “At least they’re good target practice,” Amara remarks as everyone starts killing the ratches. But once they’ve cleared the place out, they find the way forward is blocked by a batch of nests.

“How do we get past this?” Timothy asks.

“I can blow it up,” Skies suggests.

“You risk collapsing the whole chamber on top of us,” FL4K points out.

“Oh, come on, I use bombs all the time and I barely blow myself up,” she argues.

“Perhaps, if you find the right chemicals, you can melt through the ratch nests,” Ember suggests from Skies’ ECHO. “Chemicals can burn like fire.” “Ugh, fine, we’ll just burn it then,” Skies groans, “there’s probably some chemicals around here in all the trash. Everyone looks around.”

They split up to explore the chamber and look through the trash for some kind of chemical. As they do so, the Vault Hunters wander over to Skies, who looks at them inquisitively.

“You guys not sure what chemicals look like?” she questions.

“We’ve been wondering something for a while now and just wanna ask you a question,” Moze replies.

“But we don’t wanna offend ya,” Zane adds.

“Ah, I’m not that easily offended,” Skies argues and they glare at her incredulously. “Fine. What do you wanna know?”

“Considering the bad memories you seem to have about Handsome Jack, we’ve been wondering how you can be so close to a clone of him,” Amara says.

“It is my experience with humans that you rely heavily on your senses,” FL4K adds, “and yet you do not seem to associate Timothy with Jack except on the most basic level.”

“Ah, yeah, well, Tim may look and sound like Jack, but that’s it,” Skies explains, “when I first met him, I was a little freaked out- this was after Jack’s death- but uh...I quickly realized he isn’t like Jack at all. He doesn’t...feel like Jack, you know? And he’s like my closest friend. I don’t even see Jack when I look at him anymore. I just see Tim.” “I think I get it...kind of,” Zane replies.

“He has proven himself a trusted ally,” Moze agrees.

“We weren’t having doubts about him, by the way,” Amara quickly adds, “we were just curious.”

“Don’t sweat it, guys,” Skies smiles, “it’s a fair thing to wonder. Jack...I have mixed feelings about my time with Jack. But none of that comes through with Tim.”

“Hey, guys!” Timothy calls as he comes running up to them. “What are you all doing just standing around? I found a chemical we can use to burn through the nests.”

“Nicely done, Tim,” Skies says, “let’s get going.”

The crew head up to the main doorway and Timothy places a large canister next to the mound of nests. He shoots it and the nests go up in flames.

“Oh, you just don’t know when to quit, do ya?” Pretty Boy snaps from Skies’ ECHO. “Guess I’m gonna have to pull out the big guns.”

“What big guns?” Timothy asks.

“Don’t listen to him,” Skies orders, “he talks a lot of shit but there’s nothing he’s got that we can’t handle.”

The crew steps through the now clear door into a short hall that leads to a force field blocking the way forward. Skies raps her knuckles against it and it’s solid as a wall, but Timothy’s hand passes through like it’s not even there.

“Tim, you’re gonna have to go that console and turn off this force field manually,” Skies commands.

“No problem,” he replies and walks through into the next room, to a console nearby. “Okay, shuttin’ her down...”

As he types on the keyboard, an automated voice says, “beginning force field shutdown procedure.”

“Yeah, looks like this is gonna take a second,” Timothy mutters.

Skies and the Vault Hunters wait patiently on the other side of the force field, watching Timothy, when they notice something behind him- a constructor rising up out of the floor. Before anyone can point it out, the constructor grabs Timothy in a tractor beam.

“Tim!” Skies exclaims.

“Hey, whoa whoa whoa! What the hell?!” he cries in shock. “Skies? Vault Hunters? A little help?!”

They slam against the force field, but it doesn’t give. Then suddenly, Freddie saunters out from around the corner.

“Freddie! Help! Hack this thing or something!” Timothy begs.

“Oh, but I already did, Timothy,” Freddie replies, “and you’re going straight to Pretty Boy, pretty boy!”

“Tim, no!” Skies cries, pounding on the force field as the constructor lowers back into the floor, Timothy in tow.

“Skies!” he shouts back before he disappears.

“Freddie!” she snarls as he faces them.

“Pretty Boy made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. No hard feelings?” Freddie laughs. “Who am I kidding? Of course hard feelings! But I did tell ya, only a fool trusts a human. And I’m a human. Which makes you, a friggin’ fool! Freddie’s out.”

He jumps onto the top of the constructor and flips off the crew as he lowers into the floor.

“Freddie!” Skies shouts after him. “When I get my hands on you, I’ll scalp that stupid mullet!”

The force field finally drops and Skies dives into the room and punches the floor where the constructor disappeared to. As she tries to find a way to follow them, loader bots start digistructing into the room. She snarls like a beast and tackles the nearest one, tearing it apart with her hands.

“Moxxi! Moxxi, can you hear me?” Moze yells into her ECHO.

“It’s a little choppy, but I can hear you,” Moxxi replies, her voice punctuated by static. “What’s going on?”

“Freddie betrayed us,” FL4K replies.

“He’s taking Timothy to Pretty Boy,” Amara adds.

“And Skies is losing it,” Zane concludes, as Skies rips apart the loader bots like a monster. “Well, better them than us.”

“Son of a bitch,” Moxxi hisses. “Okay. It sounds heartless, but Tim did what we needed him for. All we can do now is proceed with the plan. Find the power source for the tower and shut it down.”

“We’ll stick to the plan,” Moze replies, “but uh you wanna try telling that to Skies? I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to get too close right now.”

Loader bot parts litter the floor around Skies as she finishes the last them off and collapses to her knees, exhausted. She twitches angrily as Moxxi’s voice comes through her ECHO.

“Skies, listen to me. I know you’re angry, but we have to stick to the plan,” she insists. “You can save Tim when you can get into the tower. Focus on that.”

“What if we can’t...” Skies mutters bitterly. “With Tim, Pretty Boy can access all of Jack’s old protocols. He could shut us out. He could probably kill us with a push of a button. And Tim will be Pretty Boy’s prisoner, his slave. And I promised to keep him safe...”

“Skies, stay calm,” Moxxi orders, “think about this rationally. You can’t do anything for Tim now. You made the plan. It’s a good plan. Stick to the pla-.”

Skies shuts off her ECHO and remains seated on the floor, coldly calm. Somehow, this makes the Vault Hunters more nervous than when she was raging.

“Kids,” she says, and they flinch. “You guys stick to the plan. Get into the tower and take the casino.”

“Uh, what about you?” Zane asks.

“I’m going after Freddie.”

She plants a bomb in the middle of the floor and blows it up, making a big hole where the constructor disappeared. It descends deep into darkness, seemingly endless.

“Don’t bother trying to call me,” Skies says, “I’ll be radio silent. I’m on the hunt.”

With that, she’s jumps into the hole, leaving the Vault Hunters to stare after her.

#borderlands #borderlands 3 #borderlands fanfiction #borderlands au #borderlands oc #myocs #myart

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chukpzo · 2 months ago

Text

How I Naturally Boost My Metabolism: 10 Science-Backed Tips You Can Try

Have you ever wondered why some people can eat whatever they want and still stay slim, while you’re left counting every calorie and struggling to shed even a few pounds? If you’ve been battling with stubborn weight, low energy, or feeling sluggish, you’re not alone. Many of us know the frustration of putting in the effort — hitting the gym, dieting, and watching what we eat — only to see little to no results. But what if I told you the secret to unlocking your body’s fat-burning potential isn’t about working harder, but smarter?

Your metabolism is the engine that drives how your body burns calories and uses energy. A fast metabolism means more calories burned at rest, leading to easier weight loss and maintenance. If you’ve ever felt like your metabolism is working against you, it’s time to turn the tables. In this article, we’ll explore 10 science-backed ways to boost your metabolism and introduce some game-changing products that can support your journey. Ready to kickstart your metabolic engine? Let’s dive in!

Eat Enough Protein

Eating enough protein is one of the most effective ways to boost your metabolism. Protein has a high thermic effect, meaning your body burns more calories digesting it compared to fats or carbohydrates. This process not only helps you feel fuller for longer but also supports muscle repair and growth, which can further elevate your metabolic rate. Research (1) has shown that dietary protein has a higher thermic effect than carbohydrates and fats, leading to an increased metabolic rate after meals. This can help with weight loss and maintenance by promoting a higher calorie burn throughout the day.

Drink More Cold Water

Water is essential for nearly every bodily function, including metabolism. Even mild dehydration can slow down your metabolism and impair your body’s ability to burn fat. Drinking enough water, especially cold water, can temporarily boost your metabolism by making your body work harder to warm the water to body temperature. Studies (2) have demonstrated that drinking water can temporarily boost metabolism by 24–30%, particularly when cold water is consumed, as the body expends energy to warm it up to body temperature

Engage in High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

HIIT workouts involve short bursts of intense exercise followed by rest or low-intensity periods. This workout method is incredibly effective at burning fat and boosting metabolism, even after the workout is finished, thanks to the afterburn effect, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). Research has found that HIIT can significantly increase the metabolic rate for hours after exercise, promoting greater fat oxidation and calorie burn compared to moderate-intensity exercise(3).

Lift Weights

Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, even when you’re at rest. Incorporating strength training into your routine can help you build muscle mass, which in turn increases your resting metabolic rate, allowing you to burn more calories throughout the day. Strength training has been shown to increase muscle mass (4), which boosts resting metabolic rate and promotes a higher calorie burn throughout the day, aiding in weight management.

Drink Green Tea or Oolong Tea

Green tea is loaded with antioxidants and has been shown to increase fat oxidation. The catechins found in green tea can enhance the body’s ability to burn fat, particularly during exercise, making it a powerful tool for boosting metabolism. Studies (5) have indicated that catechins, especially epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) found in green tea, can increase fat oxidation during exercise and resting energy expenditure, contributing to a higher metabolic rate.

Eat Small, Frequent Meals

Eating small, frequent meals throughout the day can help keep your metabolism active. Each time you eat, your body expends energy to digest and absorb food. By eating more often, you can keep your metabolism elevated and prevent it from slowing down. Research (6) suggests that eating frequent, smaller meals can help increase metabolism and improve weight management by reducing hunger and promoting a steady energy expenditure throughout the day

Get Enough Sleep

Sleep is often overlooked but plays a critical role in maintaining a healthy metabolism. Lack of sleep can disrupt your hormones, particularly those that regulate hunger and metabolism, leading to increased cravings and a slower metabolism. Research has shown that sleep deprivation can negatively impact metabolic function and glucose metabolism (7), leading to increased hunger and reduced energy expenditure

Spice Up Your Meals

Spicy foods, particularly those containing capsaicin, can temporarily boost your metabolism by increasing your heart rate and causing your body to burn more calories. This effect, known as thermogenesis, can help with fat loss and weight management.: Capsaicin, found in spicy foods, has been shown to increase energy expenditure and fat oxidation, contributing to weight loss and a boost in metabolic rate (8).

Manage Stress Levels

Chronic stress can lead to hormonal imbalances, particularly an increase in cortisol levels, which can slow down your metabolism and lead to weight gain, especially around the belly. Managing stress is essential for maintaining a healthy metabolism. Studies (9) have shown that chronic stress and elevated cortisol levels can negatively impact metabolism and lead to increased abdominal fat and weight gain

Take Metabolism-Boosting Supplements

Supplements can play a significant role in boosting your metabolism, especially when combined with a healthy diet and regular exercise. Some supplements contain ingredients that are scientifically proven to enhance metabolic function and promote fat loss. Certain ingredients in metabolism-boosting supplements, such as caffeine and green tea extract, have been shown to enhance fat oxidation, increase thermogenesis, and improve exercise performance, contributing to a higher metabolic rate and better weight management

Final Thoughts

Boosting your metabolism doesn’t have to be a daunting task. By making a few simple changes to your daily routine, you can enhance your metabolic rate and support your overall health and wellness. Start by incorporating more protein into your meals, staying hydrated with cold water, and adding some spicy foods to your diet. Engage in regular physical activity like HIIT and weight lifting, and don’t forget the importance of getting enough sleep and managing stress.

Staying active throughout the day and eating smaller, more frequent meals can also help keep your metabolism running efficiently. And if you enjoy drinking tea, consider adding green tea or oolong tea to your daily routine for an extra metabolic boost. Remember, everyone’s metabolism is different, so it’s essential to find what works best for you and stick with it.

By adopting these science-backed strategies, you can give your metabolism the boost it needs, helping you feel more energetic, burn more calories, and reach your health and fitness goals. So, take the first step today and start making these metabolism-boosting habits a part of your everyday life!

#fitness #health and wellness #weight loss #healthy lifestyle #wellness #abs workout #workout #lifestyle #weightloss tips

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sagau-my-beloved · 2 years ago

Note

Can we get more of venti coming to our world

I'm invested 😻‼️

Headcanons about sagau Venti with reader in the real world:

Absolutely! I'll go ahead and post those headcanons I said I was going to do under here, but I'll probably be posting another actual continuation of the work soon, hope you all enjoy!

Warnings: general Sagau, minor codependency, mentions of alcohol consumption, that's about it folks

• You are now the owner of a very high maintenance but devoted God

• Congratulations

• He can do tricks, so that might make up for some of it

• The first month or two you completely confined him to the house

• If he's going to go out there and make an idiot of himself, he might as well not seem like he's from another planet while doing so

• Wants to know about everything, really an unsatable amount of curiosity

• "But how exactly can television content be turned into 'waves' and travel through the air in particles? How do they know what to reform as??"

• After answering about a thousand questions, you finally just get him his own phone so he can look them up himself while you're not there

• Big mistake

• You now can't get peace no matter where you go

• He's the type to call and text you over every little tiny thing

• "My lovveee, I saw a bird today :D!" *sends attachment*

• "Uhh, are you sure that's not a leaf?"

• "..."

• "My lovveeee, I saw a leaf that looked like a bird today :D!"

• At the end of the day, you're going to have about 100 messages and over 50 calls

• Also constantly steals your phone to take pictures of himself and change what you have him set as in your contacts

• "Ok why did you change your contact name 'most beloved and devoted follower'?"

• "... Am I not your most beloved and devoted follower?"

• You're going to have to take him to a few clothes stores too, he gets weird enough looks just on his behavior alone, no need to add to that

• Keeps the signature green color though, and he could never part with the braids

• Since you wouldn't let him go outside, he decides to take an interest in plant keeping

• Says that it's stifling to be surrounded by no life all the time, kinda uses that line to guilt you into staying home with him more too

• You're going to have to reel him back a bit though, otherwise your entire house is going to be covered in greenery

• "Just one more? Look how sad it looks here."

• He always gives you that heartbreakingly sad face and you really just can't deny him, as much as it's putting a dent in your wallet

• Speaking of money, that's another thing he's particularly curious about

• He's only ever had Mora, so he likes learning about the history of your type of money and how it didn't come from a God

• Was also very confused about the lack of Gods and supernatural things

• Teach him about organized religious, do it, I dare you

• If he thought it was weird still having a decent following after not appearing for a couple hundred years, boy oh boy, watch him as he tries to grapple with Christianity

• He tries very hard to help out during the day when you're not home

• All the modern appliances are kind of confusing at first, you certainly have come home to a mess a few times before

• But after a few weekends that you spend dedicated to teaching him how to use the things around your house, he gets the hang of it

• Likes to spend his time cooking and cleaning and making things

• You once joked about how it felt like the nineteen fifties when you walked in and he excitedly greeted you, rambling on about the various things he did all day which included making dinner and trying his hand at various fiber arts

• He didn't get the joke

• I honestly think he would be pretty good at crocheting or knitting if he could develop the patience for it

• He does feel like this mundane housekeeping stuff is the least he can do for you though, not having a lot of modern day money making talents

• He snuck into a bar once to try playing for money (and get a few drinks) as he usually did, got kicked out almost immediately

• Still indulges though, you're going to have to drop a couple hundred on wine each month

• Almost cried when he learned that dandelion wine wasn't really a thing here

• You did take him to an alcohol store and let him pick out what he wanted after that incident, then practically forced him out of the building while you paid, otherwise he would have definitely be carded and you both would have had to leave with nothing

• Clings to you the rest of the day after that, going on and on about how much he loves and appreciates you, and that gets more intense the more he drinks

• One of the earlier problems was where he would be sleeping

• He spent the first week on the couch, allowing you to have your space

• For the next three weeks he acted as though he was going to sleep on the couch, and then crawled into your bed when you fell asleep

• You eventually just gave in and let him sleep there, he was much happier to be openly affectionate when he knew you weren't going to kick him out immediately (you still had your limits)

• Always wakes up first, the only caveat to that was when he drank heavily the night before

• So I guess he only woke up first about 50℅ of the time

• But insist heavily on making you something in the mornings, coffee, tea, breakfast if you'd let him

• "Oh good morning my love! Would you like something to eat? I made it just for you~"

• There are times where you can't sit down with him to eat, having to be somewhere early

• He always plays it off, but is super upset after you leave

• The food just doesn't taste nearly as good without you there

• Oh, and good luck if you have a cat

• He doesn't tell you that he has an allergy for the first couple of days, just internally dealing with the discomfort of it

• He has already resigned himself to the fact that this is going to be his fate from now on, he's come to terms with it

• You do catch on, ask him why he didn't tell you sooner that he was allergic, then offer to buy him some over the counter medication for it

• "That's possible!?"

• Small existential crisis, it's fine, don't worry about it, this happens a lot

• Eventually you do finally have to let him out, it's in his nature to wonder

• And honestly, he's kind of horrified over the current state of your world

• The political climate, the ecological climate, all of it

• It reinforces his believe that he's running his city correctly by not running it at all

• It also strengthens his resolve to eventually bring you back to Teyvat with him, it's so much nicer there, and it isn't nearly as hot, and the world isn't falling apart

• Looking past that though, he does really like going to different places, hikes and trails and beaches

• His powers do still work as well, there's just as much elemental energy in this world as in his, it's just no one knows how to use it here

• You do scold him every time he does something like that in public though

• Also he's absolutely guilty of pda

• Can't help himself

• Tries really hard to avoid phrases like "your grace" or "divine creator"

• But sometimes they slip out, and then people give you both weird looks, and you glare at him, and he looks at you apologetically

• He'll make it up to you later

• Is actually coming up with tons of new ways to make things up to you, because of how good you are to him

• He should really be the one providing for you, in all ways, and it frustrates him to no end

• He always feels like he's in debt in one way or another, but that's fine, that's the way it's always been

• As soon as you both get to Teyvat he's going to make up for it all, give you anything you want

• If you do ever end up getting there, he's gonna have some habits he might have a hard time breaking

• "Why is the Anemo God cooking for the creator?? Aren't there like 50 other people that can do that???"

• He'll find himself missing the convenience of your world sometimes

• Also, the sudden lack of one on one attention is going to completely eat at him

• If it's particularly bad, he's going to take you on a vacation back in your world for a few weeks

• (which translates to like two years there oh no—)

• Eventually you do have to tell him about the game, how you're not really "the creator", but just the person who guides the player, how there are hundreds of other people worldwide that know about him and all the others, play the game no different than you

• It takes a while for him to really come to terms with it

• Still justifies you being better than everyone else because you actually have an active religion surrounding you in the game, you're the one he came for

• And even if you didn't "make the game" you're still the reason why so many people in it are happy

• And he's still 100℅ convinced that you are a reincarnation of the creator

• Game or not, that universe is real to him and all that live in it, there are a lot of things that happened there that aren't shown in game, so that must mean it exists outside of the game too right?

• But he has an absolute day going through people posting about it

• You are kind of looking over his shoulder, doing your best to limit his exposure to some of the really horrible Internet stuff

• He prefers reading, creating, and singing your praises in his spare time anyway, which works out well for both of you

#genshin impact #sagau #yandere genshin x reader #genshin x reader #genshin venti #yandere genshin au #headcannons #venti x reader

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butterflyyeo · 3 years ago

Text

drunk in love

pairing - yeosang x fem reader

genre - fluff, angst (?)

tw - lots of alcohol consumption, swearing

wc - 10k

side ships - seongjoong, yungi

a/n -- was meant to be angst but turned into fluff... im trying my best to get better at writing angst aaaah. but please enjoy this for now <3 thanks for letting me tag you @iminchaosnow !!

------------------------------------------- you had known kang yeosang for nearly two years now. two, dreadfully slow and exhausting years.it was your final year of high school when he transferred to your school, he was a close family friend of wooyoung's. his parents had spoken highly of the school, insisting that yeosang transfers in order to excel for his last year of schooling. as far as you were concerned, he had decent grades, but he preferred to spend his time hanging around the skatepark after dark, when everyone else had left.

and in all the two years you'd known him, you had never once had a full conversation with him, despite being in your group of friends. his side of the 'conversation' usually consisted of monotonous 'yeahs' and 'mhms'. wooyoung constantly assured you it was because he's shy and that he'd eventually open up. but you weren't convinced. you tried so hard for him to like you, but your efforts were fruitless. it was infuriating, feeling like you were constantly doing something wrong whenever you were around him.

you currently found yourself in the backseat of yeosang's car, wedged between a drunken yunho and mingi while a chaotic wooyoung was singing along to his chosen playlist. (though, it sounded more like wailing.)

you and the eight boys had all decided to take a gap year, spend every last cent you earned on adventure and alcohol to make lifelong memories, before your careers became a blockade in your friendship. but the year was coming to an end soon, it was already mid november. on the bright side, that meant your favourite holidays were just weeks away.

yeosang was always the designated driver. that was something you had noticed about him over the last few years. to be honest, you weren't sure just how he coped with a screeching wooyoung, because you sure as hell weren't dealing very well with yunho and mingi who were playing a very intense game of rock paper scissors to decide who would be crashing on the couch in your apartment.

"i win!" mingi cheered, waving his hands excitedly. "you're on the couch, man."

yunho frowned, "damn."

you laughed, "it's okay, yunho. you can share the bed with me if you'd like."

"hey! that's not fair y/n! you said i could this time." wooyoung whined from the front seat.

"sorry, woo. you know i keep my promises, but you're going back to your apartment. remember?" you tried to reason.

wooyoung looked as though someone had switched a lightbulb on behind his eyes, "oh yeah! i forgot."

the four of you burst into laughter, mainly caused by the alcohol and partially because of wooyoung's realisation. and still, yeosang didn't crack a smile, hands just gripping the steering wheel tighter as his knuckles turned white.

soon, you arrived outside your apartment block, quickly stepping out the car after yunho. wooyoung wound his window down and you poked your head in, attempting to hug him goodbye.

"bye woo!" you said, giggling at your faltered farewell.

"good night y/n, thanks for the drinks!" he shouted, exclaiming a bit too loudly next to your ear.

"thanks for the lift as always, yeosang!" you yelled, pulling away from wooyoung's tight hug.

he nodded, "no problem." before putting the window up and driving away.

you pouted, turning around to face the two boys. "i just don't understand what i'm doing wrong." you buried your face into your hands, "why doesn't he like me?" you groaned.

"y/n." mingi began, "its nearly 1am, its way too late for this 'why does yeosang hate me?' crap." he shook your shoulders, literally trying to shake some sense into you.

"yeah, mingi's right. we've had this discussion a thousand times." yunho said grasping your wrist and pulling you up the stairs, stumbling along the way. (because lets be real, stairs are difficult enough as it is, let alone when drunk.) "now, let us into your apartment so we can eat your food and crash on your couch!" he joked, nudging mingi in a playful manner.

you reached into your pocket and fumbled around with they key for a moment before unlocking the door. the boys practically pushed you inside and made a beeline for the fridge.

"help yourselves! i'm going to shower." you called, dragging yourself to your bedroom.

once you'd finished showering you went back to the living room to check on yunho and mingi. not so much to your surprise, they had fallen asleep on your couch already, cuddled up into each other. it was cute, even picture worthy to show their sober selves. you reached for your phone which typically lived in your pocket, though you began to panic when it wasn't there. hurrying around the apartment, you searched every possible nook and cranny for your phone, but it was nowhere to be found. you collapsed onto your bed, snuggling into the soft sheets, too tired to worry about your phone anymore and content with the assumption that you'd left it in yeosang's car.

shortly, your heavy eyes fell shut and you began to sleep away the tequila.

————————

the next morning you awoke to mingi and yunho's deep, hungover voices, discussing their plans for the next week.

you reluctantly pulled yourself out of bed and dawdled down the hallway.

"ah! there's our favourite karaoke partner!" yunho greeted, jokingly.

you laughed, "shh, don't let wooyoung hear you say that."

"she's right, man. he'd be so offended." mingi said, stretching out his sore limbs. "how are you feeling today, y/n?" he asked.

"not the worst hangover i've had. what about you guys? you're welcome to stay here as long as you'd like, until you feel better." you replied, knowing them well enough to know that they'd need at least a few painkillers and a good meal before they went home.

yunho chuckled, "i feel like crap, but nothing a sandwich and glass of water can't solve."

"i second that." mingi said, raising a hand.

"okay, well in that case, i'll go to the store and get something for breakfast. sound good?" you reasoned, running a hand through your hair. you loved these boys, and making them breakfast was just a nice way of showing you cared. drunk or not, they knew how to make you smile and laugh, which they loved to see.

"sounds amazing!" yunho said, breaking into a sincere smile.

you quickly changed out of your pyjamas and slipped some shoes on.

"i might be a bit longer, i need to stop by yeosang's. i think i left my phone in his car." you explained, picking your keys up from the kitchen counter. "see you guys soon! feel free to take a shower if you want." you said, waving goodbye and heading out the door.

"okay, bye y/n!" the boys called from behind you.

the first stop was yeosang's apartment, he only lived about ten minutes away with wooyoung and san, in the same building as jongho. both yunho and mingi lived on the other side of town, which is why they so often crashed at your place after parties. seonghwa and hongjoong were fortunate enough to live in a house, just outside town, they had actually been the hosts of last night's party.

it didn't take long to get there. you pushed open the lobby door and made your way over to the elevator, disappointed to see that it was out of order for maintenance. instead, you took the stairs and began spiralling upwards. less than a minute later you looked up, only to bump into the man you came looking for.

"oh, yeosang! i'm so sorry, i didn't mean to." you quickly apologised, worried about creating another reason for him to dislike you.

"it's fine." he shrugged.

you both began to talk again at the same time, "ah, sorry, you go."

"i was just gonna say, you left your phone in my car. actually, i was about to bring it back." he pulled your phone from the pocket of his jacket, handing it to you. as he did, your fingers brushed against his. he spun around suddenly and began to walk away, "i'll see you around."

he had left before you even had a chance to thank him. slightly confused and frustrated, you turned back around and traipsed down the stairs.

you gathered what you needed for a hearty breakfast at the local convenience store before heading home and spending the rest of the day in the enjoyable company of yunho and mingi.

yeosang had entered back into his apartment and sat down on the couch.

"back already?" wooyoung asked, rummaging through the fridge.

"she was coming to get her phone and i ran into her on the staircase."

wooyoung sighed, "when are you gonna stop hating her?"

"i don't hate her." yeosang said, not looking up from his phone.

"then why do you act like you do?"

yeosang pretended to not hear that question and continued to scroll through his phone. see, he'd rather not dwell on things that he couldn't understand.

————————

to fill up your weekdays during your gap year, you had picked up a job at a hotel in town as a receptionist. to your dismay, your boss had asked you to work night shift all week, which is how you found yourself here on thursday night, sitting alert and waiting for the slight chance that someone might check in at this time of night. it was a pretty fancy hotel, and the job payed well enough, so really, you had nothing to complain about.

the nights seemed to drag on for an eternity. to keep yourself busy, you often wasted time counting the cars that drove past, or tried to count the number of crystals that hung from the chandelier. so far, only a few people had checked in during your shift, having come from overseas and recently arriving at the airport. honestly, whenever someone walked through the front door, lugging a suitcase behind them, you got excited as it gave you something to do.

the clock was creeping up to 4am and you let out a quiet yawn, feeling drowsy as your body clock hadn't yet adjusted to the change of sleeping patterns on such short notice. taking a sip of water, you shook your head, trying to stay awake. your head suddenly jolted up at the sound of the front door opening.

a man stumbled forward, and you'd seen enough zombie movies to become instantly paranoid. you quickly pushed the thought out of your head, feeling ridiculous for even considering it. but as the man got closer, you could smell the cheap, potent alcohol lingering on his body.

he leant against the desk, peering down at you. "i need a room for the night." he grumbled. "my stupid wife kicked me out." he said under his breath.

you forced a friendly smile, despite feeling uneasy, "of course! i just need you to fill in this form with some simple details." you said, sliding across a clipboard and a pen.

he huffed, picking up the pen and scribbling onto the sheet of paper before pushing it back to you. "can i go now?"

"just a moment, sir." you replied, eyes skimming over the form as you copied the information into the computer in front of you.

the man was growing impatient, stepping from foot to foot with his arms crossed.

"uh, sir, you missed a part of the form. could you please provide your phone number here." you pointed to the empty space on the sheet.

"for fucks sake." he muttered, "i don't have my phone on me and i don't know my phone number." he said, annoyedly tapping on the desk.

"i'm really sorry, sir, but—"

"can't you just find me a fucking room?" he snapped, hands balled into fists and slamming against the desk, making you jump in fright.

before you had time to try and reason with him, he continued to shout.

"you're as stupid as my wife! i'll just find a different fucking hotel." he yelled, swiping the clipboard and pen off the desk. "useless bitch." he mumbled as he kicked over a chair on his way out.

you chewed your bottom lip, trying to fight back the tears. with shaky hands, you picked up your phone and dialled the first place that came to mind. after a few rings, the phone answered.

"woo?" you croaked, trying hard to not cry.

"he's asleep. this is yeosang." he replied, evidently having just woken up by the sound of his voice.

"oh." you began, instantly feeling guilty for waking him up, "i'm sorry i didn't mean to disturb you."

"did you need something?" he asked.

"i just, i was..." you let out a sob, wiping at a tear falling from your eye.

this didn't go unnoticed by yeosang, "are you crying? what are you doing awake right now anyway?"

"i'm at work." you managed to choke out.

"at 4am?"

"i'm on night shift."

"why are you crying then?" he asked, feeling something slightly tug at his heart, but choosing to ignore it.

you began to ramble, "a man came in and he was really drunk and complaining about his wife and then he yelled at me because i asked him to give his phone number and—"

"i'm on my way." yeosang cut you off.

"what?"

"i'll be there in ten." with that, he hung up the phone.

exactly ten minutes later, you were sat in the passenger seat of yeosang's car. he was dressed in sweats, clearly having come straight from bed. you'd left a note on the desk, explaining to your coworker why you wouldn't be there when she arrived to take over your shift. a silence filled the car, and you felt the need to talk, but chose not to, worried about giving yeosang another reason to hate you.

once you arrived outside your apartment building, you were surprised that yeosang got out the car too and trailed closely behind you up the stairs to your apartment. when you reached the door you spun around to face him.

"thank you for bringing me home." you said, voice quiet and still rather shaken up.

"it's no problem. good night, y/n." he replied, sensing that you were still upset. he suddenly felt this overwhelming urge to wrap his arms around you tightly and not let go until you stopped crying. he wanted to protect you from every drunk idiot on the planet. he wanted to make you feel safe.

but instead, he watched as you closed the door behind you and locked it from inside.

————————

you arrived at work the next morning, instantly feeling more comfortable with cleaners, employees and people coming and going. immediately, you headed for your boss's office.

"good morning, sir. i just wanted to come and apologise for leaving my shift early last night. i can assure you it won't happen again." you said, feeling nervous as to what your boss might say.

he shook his head, "i should be the one apologising, a man came in this morning and spoke very sternly about the safety problems here. i realise now how stupid it was of me to make you work night shift, alone, at such a young age. we've hired security guards and have also made sure that two people will be on desk at all times. i'm sorry that you had to deal with that."

you were at a loss for words, you didn't think that there would be such drastic changes just from the once incident. "thank you so much." you replied.

"for now, take the rest of the day off. you'll only be working day shifts for next week and can return to doing night shifts whenever you feel ready to do so." your boss said, motioning for the door.

the rest of the day you spent in deep sleep, catching up on some much overdue rest.

———————

weeks passed and you found that work was much more enjoyable. you still hadn't returned to working night shifts, but at least now you had someone to run the front desk with you and keep you company.

this weekend, you were going to visit hongjoong and seonghwa. hongjoong was sick and so you decided to go help out since seonghwa couldn't always be there to look after him.

you knocked on their front door and was surprised to be greeted by san.

"good afternoon! come in." he gave you a hug before ushering you inside.

"what are you doing here?" you said, following him down the hall.

in the living room, you saw all eight of the boys gathered around a couch-ridden hongjoong.

"jongho was already here when me, yeosang and woo arrived." san explained.

"yeah, and then mingi and yunho turned up." wooyoung continued.

"y/n! i have never been more glad to see you! you gotta save me from them." hongjoong laughed, arms open, signalling for a hug.

you went over and embraced him in a hug, "good thing i brought an excessive amount of cookies." you said, placing the box of cookies on the coffee table next to the couch. the table was covered in empty mugs and bowls, you could tell seonghwa had been busy and hadn't had the chance to clean up. you opened up the box and handed him a cookie before offering them around to the rest of the boys.

"you're the best cook ever." mingi said, taking a big bite.

"i made you spaghetti last night!" yunho countered, feeling offended that his roommate didn't think he was the better cook. mingi just laughed and took another bite.

"jongho get off the counter, please." seonghwa said, coming through the front door. "don't be so comfortable, you were throwing up in my toilet like a month ago." he joked.

yeosang glanced your way, his eyebrows furrowed like he was contemplating something.

"lets head off and give these two some space." yunho said, dragging mingi behind him.

wooyoung stood up, "yeah, lets get going."

yeosang pulled his keys from his pocket, "okay, bye guys." he said, heading down the hallway.

"can we get some food on the way home?" you heard san call as they left.

"bye hongjoong! i hope you're feeling better soon." jongho said, "bye seonghwa, i promise i won't throw up in your toilet any time soon." he joked, leaving through the front door.

"seonghwa, how are you? don't forget to take some time for yourself as well." you frowned.

"i'm tired, but i'll be okay. i just gotta clean up and—"

"why don't you go rest a while? i can keep hongjoong company for a few hours." you reasoned, wanting to help as much as possible. there was nothing you hated more than seeing you friends in distress and upset.

he looked between hongjoong and yourself, "i couldn't."

hongjoong let out an audible huff, "hwa! will you just let her help please, she clearly wants to."

you grinned, "exactly, now go read or sleep or watch some tv or something." you said, gently pushing him towards their shared bedroom.

you spent the afternoon tidying up and talking with hongjoong. you managed to do all the dishes and put them away before scouring their kitchen, deciding on what you could use for dinner. you found everything you needed for a decent meal and began cooking it up. hongjoong had dozed off mid conversation, surrounded in a pile of tissues, you chose to let him sleep so he would recover quicker.

about an hour later, you placed two steamy hot meals onto their dining table next to two full glasses of water. you quietly knocked on their bedroom door, finding seonghwa asleep amongst the covers.

you gently shook him awake, "hwa, i made dinner for you guys. you can wake joong up, i'll head off now." you said with a smile.

leaving the two of them to enjoy their dinner, you headed home and cooked yourself something to eat. it was nice having some time to yourself, but saturday nights were becoming more and more empty as winter grew closer. december was only days away and the year would soon come to an end. you reached for the phone, suddenly desperately missing your friends despite only seeing them hours ago.

"hey woo, are you free next weekend?" you asked.

he paused a moment, "i think so, why?"

"you wanna go out with the others? it's been a while since we have all caught up for drinks."

"count me in!" wooyoung cheered.

you called everyone else up and they all agreed, even hongjoong promised to come if he was feeling better.

————————

you found yourself surrounded by wooyoung, san, yunho and mingi as the music blared. it was a less popular club on the far side of town but it was a comfortable place for you all. you often came here for drinks and the staff members knew you, quite well, a little too well. san grabbed your hand and spun you around a few times with the music.

you laughed, leaning against him, "maybe spinning around isn't the best idea right after two shots of vodka."

"what?" san yelled into your ear, struggling to hear you over the music.

you laughed louder, pulling him closer to you, "i said, spinning is not a good idea after drinking vodka!"

"oh!" he joined you in laughing before trying to twirl you around once more.

hongjoong and seonghwa sat at the bar, holding hands and being intimate as always. yeosang was sat next to jongho at a booth, quietly talking with him, but from the corner of your eye, you saw jongho stand up and walk away. your eyes watched him worriedly and you couldn't help but run after him. you followed him as best you could, stumbling every now and then. he'd gone to the bathroom so you patiently waited outside until he came back, looking slightly pale.

you practically leapt at him, doing a quick scan to make sure he was okay, "jongho? are you alright?"

he smiled at your overwhelming concern, "yeah, i just drank too much as usual. i'll be alright, you can go back to dancing."

"let me just get you some water first. i'll be right back okay?" you patted his shoulder. "don't go anywhere i'll be back in a second."

you made your way back to where jongho had been sitting with yeosang. as you approached, yeosang eyed you up and down, taking in your drunken state, though, it wasn't the first time he'd seen you this way. you nearly tripped as you reached the table, struggling to walk in heels.

"i need a glass of water, do you have a glass of water? jongho needs a glass of water." you mumbled to yourself, reaching for the jug in the center of the table.

"are you okay?" yeosang asked, quickly pushing your hand away from the jug.

"i'm okay, but jongho needs water. can i take this cup? he's waiting for me, i told him not to go anywhere, i need to get back to jongho—" you tried to pick up a glass but yeosang pressed your hand back down once more.

"i'll take it to him, you stay here." he said, filling the cup full with water and heading towards the bathrooms.

your brain suddenly felt fuzzy and your eyes became blurry, it was like the alcohol hit your system all at once. your head spun round and round and you leaned forward, resting your hands on your head. you'd never felt this sick from drinking, maybe you'd had too much too quickly, maybe it was the spinning. there was no way to tell, all you knew was that you felt like you were about to fall from the top of a very high roller coaster.

your eyes felt increasingly heavy, you allowed them to slip shut, head falling to the table with a not so gentle thud.

"y/n?" someone shook you, "y/n wake up!" it was wooyoung.

"shit, is she okay? should we call an ambulance?" jongho said, reaching for his phone.

"is she breathing? has anyone checked?" seonghwa gently lifted your shoulders and sat you upright, relieved to see the rise and fall of your chest. "we should call a taxi and get her home."

"are you crazy? she's unconscious, she won't be able to get up the stairs to her apartment! what if the driver is dodgy? she's already had to deal with shitty men while working night shift, imagine if something happened while she's drunk!" yeosang blurted out. the boys were shocked over his sudden concern for you. yeosang had never once shown any interest or care for you in the presence of them.

"well, what should we do then?" mingi asked, worriedly running a hand through his hair.

"i'll take her, you've all been drinking." yeosang concluded. "she'll be fine, don't worry. enjoy the rest of your night, okay? i've dealt with woo passing out before remember?"

"that's true." san said, throwing a light hearted glare in wooyoung's direction, who showed a rather sheepish expression.

the boys went back to their drinks, taking it a little slower now and yeosang carried you to his car. it wasn't easy, but he managed to sit you upright in the back seat of his car with his rear view mirror aimed directly at you so he could make sure you were okay.

he was able to lift you up the stairs and get your house key from the pocket of your jacket, which would've looked questionable to anyone else, but he had the best intentions. he sat you down in a dining chair, watching as your head lolled forward and your body slumped. he quickly filled a glass of water and came back to you.

"y/n." he whispered, resting a hand on your shoulder. "y/n." he said again, louder this time.

the last thing he wanted to do was hurt you, but you weren't waking up and that was becoming concerning. he shook your shoulder, as gently as he possible could in a moment like this, and to his relief, your eyes hesitantly opened.

your head felt like a bowling ball and you groaned quietly. "yeosang?"

"here." he said holding the cup to your lips, allowing you to take a small sip.

"how did we get here?" you mumbled, head rolling to the side.

he caught your head and carefully pushed you back upright, "i drove you, this is your apartment."

"oh." you said, eyes drooping shut again. "oh." you repeated.

"y/n, i really need you to stay awake right now." he said, bringing the cup to your mouth again. "lets talk."

"we never talk!" you exclaimed. "this is the longest conversation we've ever had!"

"i know." he said, pulling up a chair to sit directly in front of you. yeosang felt that slight tug at his heart again tonight, the way you sounded so excited just to talk with him.

"no, no, no." you whined, "this is so bad!"

"what is it?"

you pouted before nervously biting your lip, "i'm really sorry."

"for what?" he questioned, leaning back in his chair.

"for ruining your night and making you stay here with me! now you just have another reason to hate me." you sighed, letting your head fall into your hands.

"i could never hate you." he said, voice barely above a whisper.

but you had fallen back asleep, so yeosang sat you upright once more and monitored you closely all night. with every minute that passed, he wished more and more that it was easier for him to show his emotions, to you especially. he wondered if maybe he wasn't so closed off that things would be different between the two of you. but it was hard for him, to let people in, he was afraid. afraid of people judging the real him, afraid of what might happen if he lets himself become vulnerable, afraid of facing his feelings about you.

you awoke hours later with a raging headache and extreme nausea. you headed straight for the bathroom and hunched over the toilet, feeling the sickest you'd ever felt. yeosang waited patiently outside the bathroom door with a glass of water and painkillers.

when you came out, he held his hand out, "take this."

you looked down at his hand and then up at him, slightly confused, "what are you doing here?"

"you passed out last night, and i drove you home because everyone else had been drinking." he said, passing the glass of water.

"oh my god." you ran a hand through your hair, "yeosang, i'm so sorry. i didn't mean to be any trouble! you must of been here all night, i promise it won't happen again, that was so stupid of me—"

"it's fine, don't worry about it." he said, shrugging, "i'll get going now, but make sure you take it easy and drink enough water." his eyes carefully scanned your body one last time, making sure you were really okay. he headed for the door and you followed.

"i'm really sorry." you frowned, feeling as though no amount of apologies would make it up to him.

he let out a slight chuckle, "it's okay, seriously y/n." he said before leaving. you heard the all too familiar jingle of his keys as the door closed behind him.

he'd stayed with you all night, eyes watching over you closely. ready at your side whenever you stirred in your sleep. he'd been there in the morning prepared with water and painkillers. this was never how it was, usually this was your job, taking care of the boys. it was your way of showing you cared, helping out wherever possible.

this wasn't like yeosang. at all.

————————

as soon as yeosang got home he was greeted by a very concerned san and wooyoung.

"is she okay?"

"are you tired?"

"did she wake up?"

he was bombarded by questions.

"she's okay, she fell asleep after a while and i made her take some painkillers when she woke up." yeosang said, collapsing onto the couch.

"so you really don't hate her then." wooyoung thought aloud.

"he can't, he spent the whole night looking after her!" san said, hitting wooyoung like it was obvious.

"owww," wooyoung rubbed his arm, "even she thinks you don't like her!"

"i know, she said last night. but she probably won't remember saying that." yeosang said, feeling increasingly drowsy from his lack of sleep.

"maybe you guys should like, talk things out?" san suggested, taking a seat next to him.

"maybe." yeosang said, drifting off into sleep.

you had spent the day curled up in bed, wondering how you could make it up to yeosang, and there was nothing more you wanted than to get to know him better, but what would he want? you called up san on that thought.

"hey sannie," you said, "i need your help, actually, is woo there as well?"

"oh my god she's alive!" you heard wooyoung call from beside san.

"what do you need help with?" san asked.

you paused a moment, "is yeosang there?"

"well yes, but he's asleep."

you groaned, "i feel so bad that he stayed up all night looking after me. i really wanna make it up to him but i don't know how. plus, it's not like he's that fond of me. maybe i should just thank him by staying out of his space."

"i don't think he'd like that." wooyoung interjected. "i still think he just needs time before opening up to you."

"i think its just me." you sighed, worriedly chewing on your bottom lip.

"hey! don't be like that! there's no reason to not like you." san scolded you for down talking yourself as he always does.

"agreed." wooyoung said, chiming in.

"i'm sure i'll work something out. thanks guys! enjoy the rest of your day!" you said.

"good luck!"

"bye y/n!"

————————

you had been staring at your phone for at least an hour, typing and retyping the message to yeosang. wooyoung gave you his number so that you could contact him when you'd finally worked out how to make it up to him. in the end, you decided that you would let him decide.

you drew in a sharp breath and squeezed your eyes tightly shut as you pressed send.

you: hey yeosang, i still feel really bad about the other day, i wanna know how i can make it up to you !!

yeosang: did wooyoung give you my number? T~T

you: yes he did.. i hope thats okay !

yeosang: of course yeosang: how about you make it up to me over a cup of coffee? >.<

you: that sounds great !! you: when are you free ?

yeosang: does tomorrow morning work for you ? i can pick you up ^_^

you: of course ! i'll see you tomorrow :)

yeosang sat in his room, facepalming. why was it so easy to be more open over text?

you on the other hand, felt your heart swell in a bizarre way. maybe it was the way you hadn't expected him to use such cute little emoticons. maybe it was the way that you'd be able to have a full conversation with him. whatever it was, excitement had taken over you.

————————

a knock pounded at your door and you rushed to open it.

"ready to go?" he asked, leaning against the door frame coolly.

"yes, lets go!" you said, sounding a little too excited.

the two of you made your way down the stairs and into yeosang's car. you found yourself smiling as you looked out the window.

your excitement hadn't gone unnoticed, "you seem awfully excited."

"i really wanted to make it up to you," you beamed. "it must've been boring to watch over me all night."

"i didn't mind so much." he said, shrugging.

you frowned, "you shouldn't of done it."

"and leave you passed out in the club?" he quirked an eyebrow up at you.

"well..."

"exactly." he said, parking the car outside a small cafe nearby his apartment. "come on, lets go inside."

you followed him in and took a seat across from him at a table close to the window. you both ordered coffees and resumed conversation.

"so, where were we?" you smiled, taking a sip of coffee.

"talking about how you wanted me to leave you passed out in the club." he said. you were almost convinced you saw a teasing smile pulling at his lips.

"right. i'm so sorry about that."

this time he actually chuckled, and you were taken aback. it was like the wall yeosang had surrounding himself was crumbling before your eyes.

"you need to apologise less." he laughed, bringing his coffee cup to his mouth for a sip. "half of the time we talk its just you saying sorry to me."

"i'm so—"

"hey!" the two of you broke into laughter.

his laugh was loud but warm and you couldn't help but notice the way his nose scrunched up cutely, the way his eyes looked full of stars and the way he brushed his hair out of his eyes after, revealing his beautiful birthmark. from that point on, you wanted to be the one to make him laugh every day.

he felt that familiar tug at his heart, the one he'd been feeling every moment he spent alone with you. the one he felt when he first met you. the one he couldn't make any sense of. it was as though his heart was a violin and you were the one playing it. (which would explain the tugging feeling.) but you were playing the sweetest song and he never wanted it to end.

the two of you laughed the morning away, gradually making up for what you'd missed over two years in a matter of two hours.

you'd discovered that even after getting him to open up more, he wasn't one for words. you found yourself talking his ear off while he listened intently, occasionally sharing his opinions and stories. in all his honesty, he didn't mind listening to you talk. he could've sat there all day, drinking countless cups of coffee, watching the way you bit your bottom lip whenever you paused to think or the way your eyes filled with sparkles when you talked about something that made you happy.

you insisted on paying for the infinite cups of coffee, as it was your way of making it up to him. he reluctantly agreed, but promised that he would pay if there ever was a next time, which he secretly hoped there would be. he'd finally had the chance to let his walls down. (it was actually more like you'd climbed the walls and torn them down with your bare hands.) but he was thankful for it.

he drove you back to your apartment, even after you persisted on walking home, seeing as it wasn't that far. he refused, insisting that he drive you. he even followed you up the stairs to the door of your apartment.

you turned around to face him, "you know, you're not so bad when you actually wanna talk to me."

"you know, you're not so bad when you're not drunk." he countered, his lips breaking into a playful grin.

you glared jokingly, "hey! don't make me apologise again."

"okay, okay. i won't." he said, raising his hands in defence.

you smiled, resting against the door, "alright, well, i've really enjoyed hanging out with you today. maybe we should catch up more often."

"maybe we should." he said, bearing a coy smile, "bye, y/n. i'll see you around."

————————

it was only about a week later he showed up at your work, at the end of your shift. you were pleasantly surprised to see him, and at first thought he was just someone coming to book a room.

"hello, are you looking for a r— yeosang?"

"when do you get off work?" he asked, glancing over to the clock.

"five minutes."

"i'll be waiting in the car, okay?" he said, turning on his heel and heading for the door.

on his way out, you saw as he ran into your boss, the two of them beginning conversation.

"it's good to see you've made those security changes." yeosang said as he nodded, extending his arm for a friendly handshake. "i'm very thankful."

your boss shook his hand, "and i'm thankful that you suggested them."

just over five minutes later you got into the passenger seat of yeosang's car.

"it was you who told my boss about the safety problems." you said, in near disbelief.

"hello, to you too." he joked sarcastically. "well, i would hate to think that the situation could happen again, so i just suggested some possible improvements. thats all." he shrugged like it was nothing.

"suddenly, i feel the need to make it up to you again." you smiled shyly.

"you can do that by accompanying me to the skate park." he said, motioning to his skateboard on the back seat.

"ah, so thats why you came."

"well yeah, i wanted to bring you to the skate park."

your heart swelled once again, feeling joyed that he wanted to share one of his favourite places with you. (despite him never telling you directly, you knew he loved the skate park as he spent majority of his high school time there when he wasn't studying.)

when you arrived, the sun was beginning to slip behind the horizon, causing the sky to glow a rosy pink. there were still a few kids, probably high schoolers, hanging around the park. you took a seat at a bench and waited for yeosang to come over, who was getting his skateboard out the car. you felt oddly out of place since you were still in your neat work uniform and didn't know the first thing about skateboarding.

yeosang rolled over with a grin plastered onto his face, you'd never seen him so happy, and it made you happy to see him this way. it was strange how all it took was a few cups of coffee for him to become a completely different person around you.

he didn't need to ask you to watch as your eyes were already glued to him as he dropped into the bowl, showing countless tricks and flips.

the truth was in fact that yeosang was grateful for you 'making it up to him'. he'd never been able to comprehend his feelings for you, if they were even feelings at all. he hated the confusion and decided it was easier to ignore it, and to an extent, ignore you, to make it go away. it had been working for the most part, until every time the two of you were alone together, he couldn't ignore the slight tug at his heart, that was becoming more of a pull over the last few weeks.

"you're amazing!" you cheered as he sat down next to you, out of breath.

"thanks." he smiled shyly, running a hand through his hair and out of his face. he leaned back, looking up at the sky. "do you sometimes wish you could see the stars from within the city? hongjoong and seonghwa are so lucky they can see them from their house."

you pondered a moment, thinking about the last time you actually saw stars in the sky. "i see stars in your eyes sometimes." you said, absent minded.

he felt warmth burning in his cheeks, "you do?"

"do what?" you turned to him, "did i say that out loud?" you gasped, covering your face in embarrassment. "i'm sorry, i didn't mean to say that it was just a thought and—"

"what did i say about apologising?" he laughed. "it's getting cold, right? you ready to head home?" he asked.

you smiled, "if you are."

he drove you home and said goodbye, feeling happy about spending time alone with you once again. he couldn't stop thinking about what you said and you couldn't stop feeling like a fool for saying it.

————————

the weather got colder and colder and soon it began to snow as the days of december passed. you had spent the day helping jongho move some new furniture into his apartment. it was a difficult job, but easier with the two of you, even san and wooyoung came to help. you couldn't resist wondering where yeosang was and why he didn't come, seeing as they lived in the same building. maybe he was busy, you thought.

"hey, where's yeosang?" you asked, lifting a box and placing it on the kitchen counter.

"at home, i think he's been feeling sick or something, he hardly comes out of his room lately." wooyoung shrugged, assuming it was all good.

"if he's sick i'll bring him over some food and painkillers, maybe keep him some company." you explained, not wanting yeosang to be unwell.

"i think he'd rather be left alone, to be honest." san said, giving wooyoung a side glance that you couldn't miss.

you pulled out your phone and sent yeosang a quick message.

you: are you feeling okay? san and woo said you were sick :((

he didn't respond right away and you just figured he was asleep. but as you finished helping out at jongho's house a few hours later, he still hadn't responded. when you were sitting down to eat dinner at home, he still hadn't respond. just before you were going to turn the lights out and go to bed, he still hadn't responded.

something was up. this wasn't like yeosang, not anymore. not since the two of you had been spending so much time together. maybe it was like the boys said, and he was truly very sick, but in that case, why wouldn't they let you help?

————————

days passed and you went to work as usual, repeating the same few lines, asking people if they want a room, asking them to fill in a form, then directing them to the right room. days passed and you still hadn't heard back from yeosang, you wondered if he was still sick. days passed and you began to think maybe you should go over there to see if he's okay.

but if there was one thing you'd learnt about yeosang recently, it was that he was the quieter type, and probably wouldn't appreciate you going over there to keep him company and would rather be alone. so that evening when you got off work, you didn't go visit him like you so desperately wanted to, instead, you went straight home.

you cooked and ate dinner for yourself, before picking up your phone, only to see still no messages from yeosang.

you: hey woo you: is yeosang feeling better ?

wooyoung: yeah he is

you: well then can i come visit tomorrow ?

wooyoung: i think he's busy wooyoung: sorry

you: its okay woo you: its not your fault !!

you switched your phone off and headed for the shower, trying to wash away the stress and worry for yeosang that had built up over the last few weeks. you had really grown to like him and there was still so much about him you wanted to learn, like when he learned to skateboard or how he got the small scar on the back of his hand, that you'd noticed when ever he brushes his hair out of his eyes.

two years he'd spent, not interested in holding conversation with you and two years you'd spent, wondering what you'd did so wrong. but lately, you felt like you were doing something right around him, getting him to smile and laugh, share his own stories.

you couldn't shake the feeling that maybe he still didn't like you, and had just been trying for wooyoung's sake.

or maybe he was genuinely starting to like you, but you went and fucked it up by weirding him out and telling him about his starry eyes.

or maybe he'd just had enough of you already. decided that a few weeks was enough time spent trying to change things between the two of you.

as you finished showering and changed into comfortable clothes, you glanced at the clock which read 10:56pm. you switched on the television to watch some youtube before going to bed. as you felt yourself dozing off, a faint knock sounded at your door, so quiet you almost missed it.

when you opened the door, you were shocked to see yeosang standing there, leaning against the door frame for support. he looked up at you, his normally starry eyes were dulled with tears.

you rushed forward to him, smelling the alcohol as you got closer, "yeosang are you okay? what are you doing here? i thought you were sick. are you drunk? you never drink, come inside." you gently pulled him inside, closing the door behind you. when you turned to face him, he was staring at you, tears about to spill over the brim of his eyes.

"i hate you." he breathed out, voice barely louder than a whisper. he didn't seem angry though, he looked fragile, like a glass vase balancing on the edge of a table.

you felt the urge to cry, finally hearing those three words that confirmed your biggest concern, yeosang disliking you. "yeosang, i'm so sorry. i never meant to—"

"i hate you." he said, louder this time before running a hand through his hair hastily. he let out a frustrated groan, dragging his hands down his face. "i hate the tugging feeling in my heart whenever we're alone. i hate the way you put yourself before others. i hate the way you ramble on when you're nervous. i hate the way your eyes sparkle when you laugh. i hate the way i don't drink around you because i feel the need to protect you and make sure you're safe. i hate the way i tried to ignore you for two years because i was scared and confused about my own feelings. i hate how it only took one cup of coffee with you for my walls to come crashing down!" he paced from side to side, waving his hands around crazily.

yeosang looked scared and lost, like he'd never felt this way about anyone before, and that was the truth. he didn't know how to comprehend these feelings and it terrified him.

you watched as he spiralled, seeming as though it would never stop. you weren't sure what to do, so you just listened to that swelling feeling in your heart once again, the one that had led you to develop feelings for yeosang, and you pulled him close into your arms. he clung onto you tightly, scared to let go, like if he did then he'd lose you forever. you ran your fingers through his hair briefly, trying your best to comfort him.

"i'm sorry." you repeatedly whispered to him. you'd never meant to upset him or confuse him.

yeosang let out a quiet sob into your chest, "i hate the way i've fallen in love with you." he croaked out.

he didn't hate you. never did. never will. your heart swelled completely in your chest, feeling as though it would burst through. but it couldn't be true. he's totally drunk out of his mind.

"you're not in your right mind, yeosang, you need to get home. you're drunk and talking nonsense." you embraced him tightly one more time, and you could've sworn you felt the beat of his heart through the hug. "come on," you urged, steering him towards the door, "wooyoung and san are probably worried and waiting up for you."

with much effort, you led him down the stairs of your apartment block and walked him home. the street lamps led you in the freezing city night air. you held his wrist lightly, guiding him up the stairs to his own apartment. he didn't speak a single word the whole time, instead, sniffling and wiping at his eyes. it hurt you so much to see him this broken, but you knew he wasn't saying the truth under control of the alcohol in his veins.

you knocked at his apartment door, hoping that one of the boys were still awake. luckily, they both were and quickly they flung the door open.

"y/n? yeosang?" san questioned, his eyes wide open with disbelief.

"we've been so worried about you!" wooyoung said, pulling yeosang away from you. "hang on, are you drunk?"

san had noticed his tired, tear stained eyes, "you look like you've been crying! are you okay?"

you let out a quiet sigh, knowing you didn't need to be here anymore. you gave a small wave goodbye and headed home, utterly exhausted.

and though you were so drained, you couldn't seem to fall asleep. those words yeosang said to you kept running through your mind busily.

did he mean any of it?

————————

yeosang felt bad. he felt terrible. like he wanted to vanish into thin air and float away with the breeze. though he couldn't, no, he desperately wanted to apologise to you. but he didn't know how, he wasn't good with words or expressing his feelings, and you wished he knew that was something you loved about him.

wooyoung and san tried to ask him what happened the night he drunkenly confessed to you, but he couldn't have them know that he'd been harbouring feelings for you for all this time, they'd never let him live it down. he could imagine the continuous teasing they'd give him, nudging him whenever you were together or giving him side glances after talking to you.

yeosang gave it lots of thought. he mulled it over in his head repeatedly. it was only after hours spent hidden away in his room that he decided to go back to where it all started, a text. a text that said how much he wanted to make it up to you for having to deal with him drunk, just like the one you'd sent initially.

yeosang: hey y/n, i feel really bad about the other day, i wanna know how i can make it up to you! T^T

your heart leapt a mile seeing his name appear on your phone. you grinned upon reading his message, realising it was scarily similar to the message you had first sent him.

you: hmmm you: that sounds familiar

yeosang: >.< yeosang: seriously though, how does dinner at my place tomorrow night sound? i'll cook

you: you can cook?

yeosang: there's a lot you don't know about me x_x

you: okay, i'll be there !!

————————

yeosang wasn't lying when he said he can cook. as you traipsed up the stairs of his apartment block you could smell something delicious laced in the air.

the usual swelling in your heart had instead fell to the pit of your stomach, you were feeling slightly nervous as to what would happen when you entered yeosang's apartment. you inhaled deeply before knocking at the door of his apartment.

"hey y/n, come in." yeosang greeted, holding an arm out, signalling for you to come inside.

"you must've been working hard cooking! it smells delicious." you said, feeling a sense of comfort just from the smell of food.

"yeah, lucky i sent wooyoung and san over to jongho's place, otherwise i doubt there would be any pasta to serve." he joked. "you can take a seat, i've just gotta serve up."

you sat down in front of a neatly laid table, it had somewhat surprised you how much effort yeosang had put into this dinner tonight. he placed a steamy hot plate of pasta in front of you and one where he would sit.

"so." he began.

"so." you copied, teasingly.

"i guess, i really just wanted to say i'm sorry for how i behaved the other night when i was drunk. you shouldn't of had to deal with that." he frowned, poking at his dinner.

you furrowed your brows, "it's seriously fine yeosang." you took a bite of pasta, "i was just surprised to see you drunk, since you never drink."

he chuckled, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth, "actually, i do. i just never drink when you're there."

"really? why?" you questioned, eating another mouthful of pasta.

"because..." he paused. "no, it sounds dumb out loud."

"it's okay, you don't have to explain yourself." you smiled warmly, "but that does remind me to ask... do you remember anything you said to me while you were drunk?" you leant forward, genuinely curious.

he sighed, "i remember.. enough."

"you don't really hate me, right?" you asked, playing with the food on your plate.

"of course not! that's why i invited you here tonight. to show you that i don't, and to make it up to you." he had to refrain from reaching across to hold your hand, just to show how much he cared that little bit more.

you nodded, "well, thats good. i was kinda worried that we'd gone back to square one."

comfort settled within you. it was relieving to know you weren't hated by the one person whose love you wanted most. a tiny thought crept into your mind, maybe, just maybe, now would be the right time to tell him about your blossoming feelings for him. or would that confuse him more? now you were the one feeling conflicted.

"are you finished eating?" he asked, reaching for your empty plate.

"yes, thank you! it was delicious. you're a good cook, y'know."

"ah, thanks y/n." he turned away to hide the blush appearing on his cheeks.

"would you like me to do the dishes? since you cooked." you offered, standing up. but he quickly opposed.

"don't be ridiculous." he shooed you back to your seat. "can i get you a coffee? water? wine?"

"a coffee sounds good, i think you and i have had too many drunken situations lately." you laughed.

yeosang pulled out two mugs and put the kettle on. he felt your eyes carefully watching him. once again, he hated the feeling that was pulling at his heart. the way you could say nothing, yet he felt everything.

"can i tell you something?" you asked, voice now quieter and more hesitant.

"sure, what is it?" he said, placing a warm cup of coffee in front of you.

you took a sip, humming in delight. it was exactly the way you liked it. when the two of you went out for coffee, he had unintentionally remembered just the way you like it.

"well," you began cautiously, in case you brought this situation into flames again. "i just... i always wondered why you didn't like me. if i was doing something wrong, if i said something once that really upset you. and then after we started spending time together, i finally felt like i was doing the right thing." you groaned, frustrated with yourself for not getting to the point quicker. "what i'm trying to say is that i have feelings for you. it's okay if you don't feel the same way. i wouldn't expect you to, i just thought you should know—"

yeosang basically choked on his coffee, eyes widening in shock. "it's okay, y/n! in case you hadn't noticed, i'm crazy about you."

you had continued to ramble nervously before hearing what he said.

"wait. you are?"

"basically ever since you said that thing about stars in my eyes, yes."

you cringed, remembering how you had said that so absent minded. "yeah, sorry about that."

"it's okay, it was cute. and what did i say about apologising?"

you shook your head and smiled, "i know."

————————

ever since the two of you confessed to each other, you had been almost inseparable, except of course when you had work. but he dropped you home most nights, even though you insisted it was okay and that you could walk. he came over every weekend just to spend time with you, even if the two of you just sat and talked, enjoying each other's company. you'd been dating for a few weeks now, but kept it undercover, not wanting to suffer the incessant questioning that would come if you told your friends.

it didn't go unnoticed either, wooyoung and san were constantly nagging yeosang about why the two of you spent so much time together, and each time he just shrugged it off.

christmas was just around the corner, so you were spending the evening at seonghwa's and hongjoong's house, who of course, were throwing an unnecessarily large house party to celebrate.

you were sat between a very drunk yunho and mingi, who were trying to talk to an also very drunk jongho. you eyed your boyfriend from across the room, as if asking for a way out and he just laughed at the situation you were stuck in.

after at least ten minutes more of having your ear talked off, yeosang came to pull you away to the dance floor.

"care to dance?" he asked, extending his hand to you.

you immediately jumped up, latching onto his hand, "i would love to!"

he chuckled, pulling you close to his side and leading you to the makeshift dance floor that seonghwa and hongjoong created.

the two of you laughed at the boys' reaction. they were completely shocked to see the two of you so close together and yeosang being friendly.

he twirled you around a few times with the music, before settling his arms around your waist. he brought you near to him as you placed your arms behind his neck. you swayed back and forth, engulfed in your own little bubble of comfort in each other's arms, completely out of time with the loud thumping music that blared around you.

you felt content, and yeosang no longer felt confused. he found his home in your arms and his happiness.

you reached up to place your lips on his, capturing the moment surrounding you. yeosang melted into the kiss, discovering that your lips were soft and sweet against his, just as he had imagined, which caused his knees to feel weak and his heart to skip more than just one beat. he never wanted to let you go, he wanted to compensate for every second that he didn't spend with you since the two of you met.

he leaned forward and whispered softly, just so you could hear above all the music and singing, "lets stay like this forever."

292 notes · View notes

inklore · 3 years ago

Text

roadside attraction.

premise: when your car breaks down on the side of the road leaving you stranded and alone, your only hope is to try to flag someone down to help. but when no one stops and you’re left to walk alongside the dark and abandoned road, that’s when your luck seems to change, possibly for the worse.

pairing: ransom drysdale x (f)reader

warnings: starts off noncon but then slightly turns into dubcon, boss x employee, rough blowjob, ransom being an asshole and guilt trippy, coercion, manipulation, a bit of gaslighting, dirty talk, threats, the reader doesn’t call him ‘hugh’ because that name is not sexy and he’s asshole enough in this lmao. reminder: you are in control of your reading consumption so if you don’t vibe with any of the above please do not go on. 18+ only.

word count: 4.3k

etc: i’ve never written dubconish things before so uhh, if this is the worst or needs more warnings please let me know! i feel like this isn’t the best for it being my first time writing such topics, besides the whole blowie to a boss, i’m amazing at writing that it seems lmaosksk. but PLEASE reblog and comment if you enjoyed xoxo

♱ kinktober 03.

It had been just your luck that your car had broken down miles from any forms of civilization. It had also been the cherry on top when every towing service in the area was closed for the night, and no one else was picking up their phone either.

At least the night air had not been too chilly or sweltering as you dreadfully walked the side of the road in the direction you knew civilization was bound to be found. Several cars passing by you only to blind you with their lights and ignore your hollers of beggings to ‘please stop’.

So when eventually another car zooms past you, you bother to try and get it to stop; your phone in hand, flashlight shining on the ground in front of you as you walk, keeping your head down as continue your walk. But when you hear the screeching wheels of the car stopping, doing a quick and sharp u-turn and pulling up beside you, you definitely don’t expect to see Ransom, your boss, grinning at you from the rolled down window.

Thus why you were currently sat in the passenger seat of his BMW, some pretentious jazz song playing softly from the speakers. Silence spreading between the two of you as he drove in the direction of your place.

“Shit luck,” Ransom breaks the quiet between the two of you. His eyes still on the road an–almost–mocking smile on his face.

“Yeah.” You try to sound nonchalant, sufficing a small chuckle. Though the Drysdale family had been your employers and you their housekeeper, you didn’t see much of Ransom, or when you did he was in and out of the house or locked away in one of the rooms, or avoiding the help at all costs, so the two of you had barely spoke before this moment.

Which is why when he stopped and offered you a ride you were shocked he even recognized you, having only ever acknowledged you when he needed you to ‘specially’ clean something. His high maintenance not needing any interaction between the two of you to show itself.

For never really speaking to Ransom you knew him pretty well. You had seen, or rather heard, him yell at a few other maids. Show the colors that only a rich asshole could display. So you never had felt too upset that the two of you didn’t interact. You found yourself almost grateful for it.

But it seemed that would change tonight. Though you hope the three words spoke between the two of you would die right then and there, and not continue on. Knowing it would be more a chore than anything to come up with something to talk to him about.

“It’s a good thing I saw you when I did.” Ransom looks over at you, what seems like a genuine smile on his face. “Never know what kind of person would have stopped, picked you up, done to you.” The last words have a hint of a smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Making a weird feeling lay heavy in the pit of your stomach, your fingers tapping on your knees nervously. “Seriously, you should be grateful.” He says it nonchalantly but the undertones of the notion makes your skin prick and your stomach churn, a slight almost guilt and regret surfacing within you.

“I am, truly.” You give him a smile. “Thank you, Ransom, really.” The nicety feels more pressured and forced than anything, but you really mean it. You even sound sincere, feel it. He wasn’t wrong, anyone could of picked you up and you don’t know what would of happened. You were happy at least someone you knew had come across. Even if it was him. You were grateful it was him–you try to convince yourself, tell yourself that he could of left you in the street but didn’t—it was nice of him to stop. “I mean it, thank you, you’re right.” You chuckle softly, “I doubt anyone else would of stopped, but riding in a strangers car not knowing their true intentions, doesn’t sound too fun.”

Ransom gives you a side glance, smiles, goes back to the road. A weird feeling of stupidity bubbles up in you when he doesn’t say you’re welcome or acknowledge what you said more than he. But you chalk it up to that just being Ransom. It’s not like the two of you were even on a first name basis let alone knew each other enough to joke around. He didn’t owe you anything.

The rest of the ride is silent for the most part, except for the music and hum of the car. Neither of you going out of your way to start a conversation. A silence–not that comfortable–spreading between the two of you. Sometimes you catching Ransom glancing in your direction, it only setting you weirdly on edge, so you keep your eyes ahead. You only daring to peak him a glance when you hear the sound of the steering wheel being gripped a little tighter by his hand, not allowing yourself to delve too much into its possible hidden meaning.

When you finally pull up outside of your small duplex, you find a strange embarrassment being swallowed down when you see Ransom bend to look up at the very standard housing. It was nothing compared to his place, or his parents’. And they certainly didn’t pay you enough to afford a house such as their luxurious ones.

But, you were sure the Drysdale’s didn’t hire you for your money or lack there of. They hired you to clean their house and that’s all. So the thought Ransom found it hysterical that you lived in such a dump–compared to his place–shouldn’t have made your cheeks burn or have you quickly undoing your seatbelt and trying to rush out of his car so he wouldn’t have to look at the place you called home any longer.

No, that shouldn’t of been the reason you were trying to exit his car in such a haste.

The way he grabbed your wrist as your other hand reached for the door handle, the way there was a deceivingly nice smile on his lips, or when he locks the car doors. Turns the car off and just stares at you, his thumb tapping on the steering wheel; should of been the reason for your haste.

“You’re so lucky my plans got canceled tonight.” He laughs under his breath, shakes his head to himself and looks out into the darkness of the street in front. “I should be fucking some coked up model,” he is smirking when he turns to look at you, “but instead I’m here saving you.”

Your mouth hangs open in shock, his words filling you with disgust and a dozen other emotions you can’t grasp on to as his words replay in your head. As his stare is intensely burning into you making your heartbeat faster in your chest, a white hot heat settling over your entire body–one that has your hands shaking a bit, your body instinctively moving closer to the door.

“I’m sorry, Ransom, really.” You try to smile, but all you can let out are heavy puffs. “I said thank you and I do mean it. I do.” You sure you sound like a pathetic mess as you try not to stammer on your words, slow your breathing, and not freak out.

But the way he’s looking at you, the reminder that the door is locked and the reminder that Ransom Drysdale really is not a good person–something you already knew from stories, hearing his screams from other rooms, and his lack of being a remotely friendly employer.

“I believe you, I do.” Ransom’s tone is mocking, his smirk growing when he see’s how it makes you react. The tension in the car nipping and biting at you. “I’m a damn good boss, aren’t I?”

“Y-yes,” your voice is shaky, you’re stammering and you take a deep breath in to try and compose yourself, to lie, to say whatever you need to to get out of his fucking car. “Yes. You are a great boss. Working for you and your family is-“

“No, no,” He stops you, shakes his head. “You don’t work for my family. You work for me. They just…” He shrugs, cheshire grins as if this were some very humorous joke to him. “Borrow you sometimes. You work for me, and for me alone.” He smiles, reaches out and places his hand atop your knee. Your instincts making you flinch, you try to hide it as if you were just shifting and not your body going completely rigid under the warmth of his sudden touch. “In some ways I guess you could say I. . .own you.” His smile is now tight lipped and his thumb is rubbing the inside of your knee, your heart rattling in your chest, your breath making your chest heave. The heat in your body turning into a cold invisible sweat. “Wouldn’t you say?”

“I-you-“ your instincts are telling you to scream in his face. To push him away, tell him fuck you, grab your phone and call anyone to get this asshole as far away from you as possible. But when his grip tightens on your knee as you stammer, look at him with the beginnings of a smile and wide eyed look of a scared animal, you know it’s not the right card to play. Ransom could do more damage to you with one phone call to whoever, than he could with his simple words and gestures of being an entitled prick. Because while that were true, he is an entitled prick, he was also a rich entitled prick who could stop you from working anywhere. And picking up and moving to another town or possible state was not something you wanted to give too much thought right now, at the hands of this rich asshole.

But that didn’t mean you also had to play his game the way he wanted you to. You could be honest, you were sure Ransom Drysdale could appreciate that.

“You can’t own a person. Let alone someone who works for you that I doubt you even know the name of.” You give him a fake playful grin. The raise in his brows at your daring comment making him let out a breathy laugh.

“I don’t have to know someone’s name to own them.” He states, his smile gone. “That would defeat the fun in owning someone, and business, sweetie.” The scowl on his face makes regret burn in your throat as you swallow. Maybe it would of been easier to just go along with his little rich-asshole-game. It would settle the fear making your body involuntarily shake, or the massive lump in your stomach stop growing, and your nerves itching an ache for you to scream. Your resolve to play his game, to be honest and just as rude as him dying faster than it started.

You could act as fake brave as you wanted, but it didn’t deny the fact that you wished you never got into Ransom’s car. You wished you politely declined and kept walking. Wished your car never broke down. Wished your shit luck didn’t put you in this situation at all.

“I also don’t need to know your name to know working for me is the best it’s going to get for you. Girls like you don’t have silver platters of opportunities they can eat off of. The only thing girls like you have are nice guys like me who offer you great jobs, decent pay, and a taste of what it’s like to have money without having anything to your name. That’s what makes me a good boss. That’s why I picked you up tonight, saved you.” He’s smiling again, “I’m a good person, didn’t want to see you get into trouble. You should be grateful. You say you’re grateful, have thanked me a dozen times now.” He laughs, it dying out sooner than it starts when he goes back to scowling at you. “But you haven’t shown me how grateful you are. Haven’t shown me any real thankfulness. Especially when I’m such a good guy for picking you up, such a great boss for giving you a ride.”

You’ve pressed yourself completely to the passenger door, your body squished into it almost in a mold. His grip on your knee aches and your hands clench and unclench. Your eyes flashing from his blown out dark pupils to the darkness outside. Hoping maybe someone might walk by, come out of their house, anything to give you a chance to signal for help. To get this asshole away from you.

But there’s nothing and there’s no one.

You are alone in the car with Ransom, your burning fear and guilt that’s gripping your lungs making it harder to breathe.

“So, what are you going to do to repay me?”

“I-don’t have much money but-“

His laugh is loud and makes you jump. Your cheeks burn. “You can’t honestly think I’d want money from you? You? My employee? Someone who has nothing and I have everything?” He continues to laugh, his head bent back. “That’s funny.” When he finally stops his mocking laughter, your eyes burn slightly from tears of fear? Embarrassment? You’re not sure what. “You know what I want.”

You shake your head, try for the door handle of the car again and whimper slightly when you realize it’s no use at all. Your body going back to its rigid state when you feel Ransom reach over and grab your wrists in his hands; his touch hot, tight, searing.

“You’re acting ridiculous. I’m not asking for much, barley anything. I told you I was supposed to be getting my cock wet tonight, did I not?” His smile is sadistic and perverse. Him moving your wrists into one of his palms while his other hand moves to your face, his thumb against your cheek. “But my plans were canceled and I was lucky enough to find you, pick you up, help you, be a good person. Show you kindness.” You shiver under his touch, his thumb rubbing along your jaw.

If this were any other circumstance, a different time, a different place. You might find the action sweet, kind. You might find it almost intimate.

Ransom wasn’t an ugly guy, far from it. You had seen him walk around his house enough times in the morning with his shirt off, caught him working out a couple times, and watched him wade in his pool enough to know that there was no ugliness about him. At least on the outside surface. On the inside the ugliness was more than apparent.

If this had been a different time you might actually enjoy his advances, if they weren’t so intense, so crude, so terrifying. You might even. . .want it.

Scenarios of possible different circumstances playing throughout your mind; secret touches in passing, having you stay longer so he could spend time with you, stolen glances and kisses behind closed doors, muffled moans–that you’ve heard come from his room before–now your own.

It makes a low ache burn below that makes your stomach churn in disgust. Your mind and anatomy betraying you to feel something other than pure anger and resentment towards this man.

“It’s only right that you repay me in the way I deserve.” His thumb runs along your jaw, to your bottom lip, the pad of it running along it. “Show me how thankful you are, Y/N.” You’re surprise at him knowing your name makes him chuckle as he stares at your mouth. “It’s either that or find a new job, don’t be unkind to me, don’t make me do that, I don’t want to do that, not to you.” He gives a sympathetic smile. Moves his hands from your body and into his lap.

He situates himself in the drivers seat a bit before his fingers come to the button on his pants, undoes them, unzips and pulls his half hard cock out.

You expect to feel bile rise up in the back of your throat, expect to turn and scream and frantically beat on the car window to get the fuck out of the overly expensive automobile. You expect to feel some sort of fight or flight but you don’t. Those feelings never come. Those actions don’t surface. The only thing you feel is your cheeks heat to–what you assume–is a bright flush. You feel your breath continue to vibrate your chest, your heartbeat slow to a nervous beat rather than a scared one. Your eyes jump from Ransom’s cock to his face, his look calm and cool, daring, smug.

You hated Ransom, that much was made clear tonight. Every whim of bad and ill being the other maids gossiped about all being apparently true. Every stereotype of rich asshole embedded in his dna. These were facts. Things shown to you tonight that you could not and would not deny.

But you also could not deny that sucking his dick didn’t seem like the worst outcome. It was absolutely barbaric for that thought to be your reasoning to not feel fearful anymore. Or just punch him and try to make your escape. And maybe it was the slight guilt you felt for even getting in the car, for troubling him, for your car breaking down and putting you here. Or maybe it had been your earlier thoughts of a different kind of lust and desire coming from the man. Maybe you had given your body another thing to go into a frenzy about, the fear turned into something you shouldn’t be feeling. Something ridiculous and manipulative and wrong.

And part of you didn’t want to do this. You could feel it. The lump in your stomach growing. The pull and churning. The building upon the regret you already had there in the top of your mind. It wasn’t right for Ransom to ask this of you. It wasn’t okay under any circumstances. He was a piece of work who didn’t deserve kindness, let alone this type of kindness. And you didn’t want to give it to him.

But the reality was no matter how much convincing you could give yourself, no matter the guilt that burned at your eyes, the sickness of this all searing you like a brand, or the good feelings you tried to dredge up of false rationalization: you weren’t getting out of this without Ransom Drysdale’s cock ending up in your mouth.

He reaches over and grips the back of your neck, his palm making your body radiate heat even more, burn hotter. Your hands go out to grab onto the, barley there, center console to stop him from pulling you forward. His scowl intensifying, his breath coming out in annoyed, or frustrated, puffs clear by the rise and fall of his chest.

You suspect he’s going to say something, going to let more crude words fall from his mouth, before you move your hands to your thighs, moving your body in a better position. Let him pull you by your neck so you’re leaned over the console, your knees coming to rest where your ass once was. Your chest pressed to one of Ransom’s thighs. As you open your mouth and let his cock slip inside; a deep groan vibrating through his chest.

It doesn’t take long for his cock to get completely hard. It also doesn’t take long for you to swallow down your regret and just let it all happen, really happen. Let Ransom’s nails dig into your scalp as he grips your hair, pushing your head up and down his shaft.

Not caring when you choke and sputter on his cock, spit running down your chin. Your nails digging into his cloth covered thigh to hold yourself up, to keep yourself steady to not fall completely in his lap. To keep you grounded and present as his cock continuously assaults the back of your throat; raw and irritated already.

“Mmm, didn’t think you’d give in so easily.” You can’t see him from your position but know he’s smirking, head resting against the seat, breaths heavy. “Thought you had a little bit more fight in you,” his laugh is low. “But all you girls are the same. Doesn’t take much convincing to have you choking around my cock, does it, sweetie?”

As if to prove his point, Ransom thrusts his hips up in time with him pushing your head down, making you choke and cough and sputter around his cock. Surprisingly letting you pull off to swallow and catch your breath, your throat hoarse and burning. Your eyes filled with tears clouding your vision as you turn to shoot him a glare.

Him making a sympathetic sound as he wipes a stray tear from your cheek, “Don’t give me that look.” He smiles, “you know you love it, were probably just waiting for the right time, this very moment. To have me ask you to suck my cock. You’re a good girl,” His thumb and forefinger grab your chin, bring you in closer to his face. Your arms shake, your wrists aching. You can’t catch your breath and you feel a disgusting pounding between your legs at his words. “You listen. You know when to fight, when not to. When to do what your boss says, when to thank him for being such a good employer.” His mouth is dangerously close to yours and you think he might kiss you, but his devilish smirk makes your stomach plummet and mind whirl with anger and disgust, and you know he’s not going to, he’s to just playing with you. “Makes me wonder how easy it would of been to fuck one of your other holes. Would you have let me in those as easily? Let me pick you up from the side of the road and fuck you on the hood of my car as a thanks? Maybe even fuck that tight little ass of yours as an even bigger treat? Is that the kind of girl you are, Y/N? The kind I think you are? A giving employee? A slut. . .”

You scowl at him and he laughs, words to shoot back at him dying in the back of your throat as he pushes you back down on his spit coated cock. His movements never letting up, his grip ever tightening in your hair. The filthy words continuing to fall from his mouth, “should have you suck my cock from now on, no more cleaning, just my cock filling your holes.” He groans low and deep and harsh.

The spit from your mouth now making a home on your neck, the constant sputter of saliva finding it’s way there as you continue to gag on Ransom’s cock. Tears spilling as you try to blink them away, the loud noises of wetness and sputtering from your mouth filling the car as he fuck your mouth.

“Fuck, this is way better than the plans I had tonight.” His chuckle is low and swallowed down. “S’good, real good, baby. Fuck.”

You can feel your jaw begin to ache, the sting of being fucked up into and held open for too long making you groan. Which Ransom takes as a moan, “knew you liked it,” coming from him as his fingers pull your roots and move you faster on his cock. You holding your body back from pushing off of him to catch your breath, your eyes clenched shut as you just let him use your mouth like a fuck toy. Let him take, and have control over your body to the point where the thought of resisting is far from your mind. Your muscles working over time to stay in place for him, to angle your tongue a certain way to maybe make this go faster–definitely not to hear that low throaty groan that Ransom does each time you do it. Your throat numbing to the raw assault that is Ransom’s throbbing cock.

“Wish I could make this last longer,” he groans. “Wouldn’t mind fucking this pretty mouth all night.” Your scalp continues to burn from his continued tightened grip, his breaths are coming out faster and shallower, his hips snapping up quicker. The taste of precum burning your abused throat. “But, fuck, baby. I’m so close. Your fucking mouth..” And when he groans this time it’s more of a whimpering moan that has your pussy clenching around nothing. Your body shaking, your throat waiting, anticipating. Your tastebuds coming to attention, as if excited to know what Ransom tastes like, the thought of him filling your mouth after you worked to make you cum; to thank him–making that swirl of disgust make you gag one more time before his hips thrust up, his palm pressed to the back of your head holding you in place, as his hot cum fills the back of your throat.

The warmth of his seed seeming to calm the burn in your throat as you swallow it down.

And after he’s pushed your mouth off of him, you back in your seat, mouth clean and full of the aftertaste of him. Ransom’s clothes and demeanor back to normal, that same sickly grin there. He’s unlocked the car doors and you’re stepping out, the cool air of the night stinging your body, bringing up back to the reality of what just happened. Your throat sore as you swallow. Your legs wobbly as you move to close the door behind you.

“Thank you, Ransom.” You say hoarsely, softly, glancing at him sheepishly through the now open window.

“Of course, Y/N.” His tone is anything but thankful or welcoming for you having just sucked his cock, for him having just used you. “That’s what bosses are for.“ Ransom smirks and then he’s pulling off from where you stand and driving into the night.

#ransom drysdale #ransom drysdale x reader #kinktober #ransom drysdale smut #ransom drysdale imagine #ransom drysdale one shot #ransom drysdale x you #ransom drysdale fic #ransom drysdale fanfiction #*heat leveled*#*trigger check*#**#kinktober ‘21 #𖤐 kinktober 𖤐

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djarrex · 4 years ago

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Just For Kicks

Kix needs more love tbh so here’s a Kix oneshot ;)

| masterlist |

Pairing: Kix x Fem!Reader

Rating: Explicit. 18+ 100%

Word Count: about 4.1k (GAH I didn’t mean for it to be this long oops)

Warnings: mentions of alcohol consumption, vaginal fingering, oral (f receiving), piv, cumshot, aftercare, lil but of fluff

Summary: You frequent 79′s, and you usually turn away advances from the clones. Kix tries his luck, and you indulge him. He excuses himself to the ‘fresher, and when he comes back, things take a happy turn.

***

A night at 79′s was always the same. There were soldiers dancing with twi’leks to the steady thumping of the blaring music; the vibrations of the bass hummed deep in your chest. There were always rounds of Sabacc being played in the corner, and arm wrestling matches to showcase who was stronger (even though they’re all clones of the same man?). You always sat at the bar when you came alone, enjoying shots of your favorite whiskey. You weren't one for those neon fruity drinks that your friends always ordered.

You tilted your head back to down your first shot, then not-so-gently set the glass on the counter. The droid manning the bar swiftly exchanged your empty glass for another full one. You were a regular, and these bar droids might as well have had your usual drink of choice ingrained in their programming.

“Her next shot is on me.” A familiar voice, one that you’ve heard hundreds of times, came from your right. Downing yet another shot of your favorite golden liquid, you set the empty glass on the counter and signaled the bar droid for another. You’ve deflected advances from the clones quite a few times tonight already, but hey, what was one more? It never really annoyed you - getting hit on by these attractive soldiers - because you were the one who frequented their go-to hangout spot. It was expected, quite honestly. You pretty much ignored them - especially if they started off with a cliché pick-up line.

Realizing he was still in proximity even though you hadn’t looked over at him yet, you sighed, and decided to indulge him a little - you weren't one to turn down a free shot. What you didn't expect to find was him. Sure, his face was literally exactly like the hundred or so others that were crammed in 79′s, but there was something about him that caught you off guard. He had a genuine, sweet smile on his face that went straight to his eyes.

You let your eyes scan his face. His head was shaved, but into zig zags that went off in different directions, resembling lighting bolts. The neon lights hit the left side of his head just right to where you could make out a phrase tattooed on his temple, extending a little further horizontally into the side of his head.

“A good droid is a dead one, huh? Clever.” He was leaned on the bar on one elbow, his sincere smile grew and his eyebrows raised, almost like your response was one he was not expecting.

“You like that? Yeah... got it when I was just a shiny. Felt appropriate at the time.” He broke his leaning stance to pull out the barstool and sat down facing you. You downed the shot and let out an amused snort from your nostrils, keeping your eyes on his as you tried to get a reading on him. The soldier lifted his hand up to signal the droid while his eyes remained focused on yours. Out of your peripherals you saw the bar droid set two more shots down on the counter in front of your person. You glanced over and the two glasses of golden liquid, grabbed one, and handed it to him. He hesitated for a moment with a raised brow, but you nodded to him to take it. He obliged, and you grabbed the second shot for yourself. You looked down at the liquid.

“Y’know, I’ve already turned down a few of your brothers tonight,” you said with a teasing tone, still looking down at the whiskey, swirling the shot around in the glass.

“Oh yeah? What makes me so lucky then?” It had to be the sparkle he had in his eyes. It was unlike any of his twins. You finally looked back up at him, and lifted your glass.

“I’m not sure.” You lied, but you definitely weren’t going to tell him. He copied your movement, raising up his glass. “Cheers.” Your glasses clinked, followed by the simultaneous downing of the warm liquid.

You crinkled your nose as it trickled down your throat. “Thanks for the shot - uh, what’s your name, soldier?” You felt a tad bit guilty - he bought you a drink and you hadn’t even asked for him name before guzzling it down.

“They call me Kix.” Short, simple, and to the point - better than some of these other troopers’ names. One time, you were hit on by a soldier whose name you swore had like five syllables in it. Couldn’t remember it if your life depended on it.

“Just for kicks, huh?” You poked at him. Kix’s hand flew behind his head, a sheepish smile crept on his lips.

“Ha... somethin’ like that.” You grinned, and countered with your own name.

Kix got the attention of the bar droid and ordered a drink you’d never heard of. When it was set down on the counter, you were glad to see it wasn't those neon fruity drinks you despised. You had never heard of that liquor before, but the color of it looked enticing. Kix seemed to have gotten a whiff of your curiosity, and ordered another one for yourself. Before you could tell him not to worry about it, a glass filled to the rim with identical dark liquid was set in front of you. You smiled and thanked him. Bringing the very full glass up to your lips, you took a nervous sip but was presently surprised by the taste. It didn’t burn as much as the whiskey, which could prove to be very dangerous if too much was consumed.

You both sat in silence for a couple minutes, sipping your identical beverages, enjoying each others company. You eventually let your eyes wander to scan his whole figure; his armor was painted with that shade of blue you’ve seen on other troopers who’ve hit on you in the past - the same ones that sat in a booth behind him in the corner. You noticed a couple times that they were all looking in your direction, so you assumed Kix was with them and they were only checking to see how their brother was doing. You continued to scan his armor, trying not to be too obvious. You weren’t sure how you didn’t notice it before, but he sported a familiar red insignia that was painted on his left pauldron.

"So you're a medic, huh? Must be a rough job.” He looked up from his drink with a half smile, nodding with confirmation, followed by a sigh.

“Actually, it must not be too rough of a gig if you have time to maintain all that,” you chuckled, your hands waving over your head, gesturing to the patterns shaved on his own.

“It’s not too much maintenance.” He laughed, “I have my brothers’ help.” You nodded with understanding with the grin still plastered on your face.

“You talkin’ about them over there?” You tilted your head in the direction behind Kix; he turned around and caught the eyes of his brothers in the booth behind him. You jokingly waved at them, one of them with a dark goatee waved right back with a big smile on his face. Before Kix could ask, “I noticed they kept looking over here, and you all have the same shade of blue painted on your armor. Took an educated guess.”

Kix began to tell you a few short stories of things that happened while in the field. You sat back and listened, the alcohol warming your ears. Some of the events he reminisced on were happy, successful missions - he also told you of a few close calls and how he had to hold his brothers as the light left their eyes, because there was nothing more he could do for them. He eventually apologized for talking only about him, but you waved it off; you were genuinely interested in his war stories. You were too busy shutting down other soldiers’ advances towards you that you never really heard of what they go through. Tomorrow isn’t promised for these soldiers.

He downed the last of his drink, and excused himself to the ‘fresher, promising to be right back. “Don’t go anywhere.” He teased. You watched him walk away; he purposefully took the route that was further away from booth were his lads sat and drank. At this point, you were totally drawn to him - there was definitely no threat of you going anywhere. The way he carried himself, that sparkle in his eyes, his sense of humor, the way he was so much more genuine than any of the other clones that came your way...

***

You absolutely were not expecting your night at 79′s to go in the direction that it did.

You invited Kix back to your apartment - you never thought you’d be bringing a clone back to your place, but crazier things have happened.

At 79′s, while he was in the ‘fresher, you decided what you wanted. When he sat back down, you told him just that. His reaction was sweet, “I’d like that very much.”

So, here you both are, making out by your front door, having just closed it behind you. You acted first, throwing yourself at him as soon as you locked the door. He in no way minded, but he eventually took control and slammed you against the front door and let his hands trail all over you. You wished you could do the same, but he was still covered in all that damn plastoid.

“Kix? Do you think you can take all this off?” Knocking on his armored chest like it was a door, you broke from his mouth, batting your eyelashes at him, hot breaths mingling with one another. He quickly obliged, and shed the plastoid pieces in no time, tossing them haphazardly to the left.

Your mouths met again. Kix started licking along your bottom lip, requesting access inside your hot mouth. You gladly let him in, your breaths turned into quiet moans quicker than you could stop them. He tasted like your favorite whiskey; the taste somehow adding to your arousal and made you wetter than you were before. You had first felt the arousal flood to your lower half in the cab ride on the way to your place, when Kix’s gloved hand gently grazed along your thigh. The dress you were wearing had ridden up when you slid into the seat, but you didn’t bother fixing it. He wasn’t even looking at you; he was looking out the cab’s dusty window at all the nightlife Coruscant had to offer as the cab whisked along. His fingers tickled along your exposed skin, dancing over the goosebumps that had formed. Him not looking at you while he teased you sent warmth all throughout your body - a different warmth than what you were already feeling from the whiskey and whatever drink he was drinking.

Eventually you both had moved from leaning against the front door and clumsily meandered over to the sofa. You pushed him down to sit on the sofa and stood over him; noting how dark his eyes had gotten, taking over the sparkle that had drawn you to him in the first place. His dark cheeks were flushed, lips slightly swollen. He was quite the sight. He was so... pretty.

“What are you lookin’ at?” He raised a quizzical brow and flashed a cheesy grin; you realized you were just standing there staring at him silently. Just as you felt a blush come on your face, his hands shot up to grab at your hips, pulling you down on top of him. You were never really were a graceful person, so you sort of tripped on nothing as he pulled you towards him. That earned a laugh from him, but it was a sincere one - he wasn't making fun of you, that much you knew.

You were straddled on his lap at this point, knees pressed into the sofa on either side of him. The kisses you shared were tender... not at all how your other hookups kissed you. His palms - now bare - rested on your lower back as he applied a small amount of pressure, effectively pushing you closer into him. Your hands rested on his pauldron-less shoulders.

You were comfortable with him, and you had only just met him a couple hours ago.

And though you were enjoying his tender kisses and warm hands resting still on your back, you were hungry for more. Taking matters in your own hands to speed things up, you broke away from his mouth and lifted off him slightly to slide your dress up and over your head, tossing it off to the side out of sight. You nestled back down on top of him when you finally realized how hard he was underneath his skin-tight under-armor pants. You gave your hips an experimental wiggle across his clothed member, his head tilted back with shut eyes, and the deep moan he conjured up his chest set off fireworks in your gut.

You reached for the hem of his shirt, motioning for him to shed his clothing as well. His undershirt flew off in one swift motion and joined your dress somewhere across your tiny apartment. With a smirk, you leaned back a little to get access to the waistband of his pants. Kix lifted his hips and helped to slide his pants down, underwear coming off with them. His fully-erect cock sprang free, smacking gently against the happy trail below his naval.

“Fuck, Kix.” You gawked at him. “Are all you clones like this? I can’t believe I spent all that time shooing away your brothers when I could’ve had th-” You yelped as you were cut off when Kix jolted up, taking you with him. Your legs wrapped around his hips tightly, arms snug around his neck in fear of falling.

Kix laughed, walking you over to your bedroom. He sat you down at the foot of your bed. “Lay back.”

Butterflies flew around in your stomach because you could only imagine what was going to happen next. You lay back with your legs hanging off the foot of the bed, waiting anxiously for his next move.

“You know...” he started, his fingertips ghosting around the band of your underwear, “I have quite the extensive knowledge when it comes to the human body - being medically trained, and all.” He took his time sliding your underwear down; you propped yourself up on your elbows to watch his movements. He was crouched down in between your dangling legs with a huge smirk on his face.

The butterflies flew away, and the fireworks returned. Your entire lower half was on fire.

You watched Kix closely as his lips ghosted along your inner thigh, starting at your knee and slowly making his way up to where you absolutely needed him most. His eyes flickered up to meet your gaze, letting out a quiet chuckle as he nipped the thin skin of your inner thigh. His hands trailed up your thighs and then to your waist, blatantly going around your exposed heat.

His mouth went to your other thigh, kissing his way up, starting at your knee. “I know all the pressure points in the human body...” *kiss* “I know where all the sensitive spots are on a woman...” *kiss* He was finally getting to where you needed him. It was too much to keep yourself propped on your elbows, so you laid back down as he chuckled against your sensitive and flushed skin. His kisses were slow and agonizing, but he was making progress. He was going up and up, closer and closer -

“I know that I can get you to scream.” That was it. His hot breath was right there. You needed him now.

“Kix -” He cut you off for the second time tonight with his tongue, slowly licking a long stripe up your glistening lips to your clit. You yelped at the warm and wet muscle making contact at last, earning a low chuckle from the man who’s mouth was buried in your pussy, the vibrations sending shockwaves up your body.

“Holy f- fuck.” Your hand was gripping tightly at the sheets by your side, while you brought your other hand up to your mouth, shoving a knuckle inside in an attempt to muffle your moans. Kix kept up his brutal attack with his tongue, making out with your pussy the same way he made out with you on the couch - slow and passionate.

You were unable to control the way your back arched up off the sheets. Kix’s hands moved from your thighs to your hips, long and dark fingers splayed over your stomach, pinning you down to keep you flat against the bed. His grip was bruising and you were for sure going to have marks there in the morning - that thought alone created a deep moan in your chest the escaped out your mouth before you could muffle it.

It was coming - you felt it, and you were sure he could sense it, too. You were completely unable to suppress your moans now; both your hands were occupied with clinging to the sheets for dear life. Your entire body was on fire when it hit you like a speeder. Thighs shaking on either side of him, your orgasm hit hard. You clamped your eyes shut and let it come over you, the white light bright behind your eyelids. Kix didn’t stop. He lapped you up through the entire thing, now adding in a single digit as he pumped it in and out of your clenching pussy, his tongue flicking at the sensitive bud.

“Stars,” you managed to breathe out. It was impossible to come off from your high at this point as he added in a second digit, curing them up and hitting that sweet spot inside you.

“What did I tell you?” He sounded all too cocky, but he was right. This soldier - this medic - knew what the fuck he was doing, and it was wrecking you.

‘You taste so kriffin’ good and make the prettiest noises when you cum.” His tongue left your sensitive clit; his head left its place buried in your pussy so he could get a better look at your reactions. “I wanna see you...” He pumped his fingers faster, “Give me another.” The way his voice sounded sent you over the edge once again, your second orgasm hitting before you even came down all the way from your first. Your whimpers and groans were echoing in your small apartment, but you didn’t care.

He removed his fingers and lifted them up to his mouth, sucking your juices off of them. Fuck. You were trembling beneath him, watching him lick his fingers clean - that image alone made you moan.

He was standing now, his cock in hand, locking eyes with yours. Your body was tired - oversensitive and shaky - but you knew the night wasn’t over, and you did not mind in the slightest.

You watched him through hooded eyes, biting your lower lip as he stood at the edge of the bed slowly stroking himself. It almost looked like he was pondering what to do next - thinking about what exactly he wanted to do to you.

Seconds later, he grabbed your ankles and brought them back to meet the back on your thighs. You were nearly folded like a lawn chair when he met the edge of the bed as far as his legs could go, and teased your oversensitive cunt with the bulbous head of his cock. You let your head fall back and eyes close, waiting for him to push in, but he pauses. You yank your head back up and see him with his head tilted slightly to the side and a smile on his face.

“What is it?” You breathed out, wiggling your hips a little to the best of your ability, promoting him to proceed.

“Nothing. You’re just beautiful, that’s all.” You blushed and leaned your head back down to the bed. Not even a second later you were filled to the brim with one swift motion. Kix stilled again; this time when you shot your head back to look at him, his own was tilted back with his eyes clamped shut. Your heavy breaths were the only sound in the quiet room for the moment; he was letting you get adjusted to him while he relished in the way you felt around his cock.

Your ankles were still sat against the backs of your thighs; his hands came up to press into your shins as he slowly began to thrust.

Slow, gentle thrusts quickly turned to hard and deep ones, his grip on your shins transferred to bruising grips on your hips as he pounded you into the bed. The position he had you in gave his cock the ability to hit further inside you than you ever thought possible. You were a whimpering mess - completely at his mercy. Between grunts coming from Kix you were able to make out words like “tight” and “warm”. You couldn't focus on anything other than how he was pretty much splitting you open.

You didn’t think you could cum as many times as you already had, but your third orgasm came out of nowhere, white hot and burning in your gut. To add liquid tibanna to the fire, Kix worked your clit with expert fingers as he coaxed you to give him “just one more.”

Well, one more is what you gave him, because your fourth orgasm hit you just seconds after your third. You didn’t even know that was possible, yet here you were, completely wrecked by this soldier hammering in and out of you while working your oversensitive bundle of nerves with his fingers.

The squelching sounds coming from his cock moving in and out of your very well-lubricated cunt made your face burn. Kix was close; his thrusts were becoming sloppy and losing their rhythm while his grunts were getting louder as your walls clenched unforgivingly around him.

He quickly pulled out, working himself with a shaky hand as he shot out his release. His sticky cum spurted in warm ropes, splattering on your lower stomach and the apex of your thighs. You couldn't help but smile up at him as his finished - not minding the mess he made all over you - noticing that the signature sparkle in his eyes returned as worked the last of his release from his spent, softening cock. Kix flopped down on the bed next to you; you both panted in unison, trying to catch your breaths. He turned his head to you and you turned your head to him, watching him as his chest movements became slower, returning to the steady rise and fall of normal breathing. He let out a long sigh followed by a smirk, his arms folded above his head.

“Stars. That was... was - ”

“Amazing,” you finished for him. He nodded in agreement, raising his hand to wipe a bead of sweat of your brow. “Some medical training you had there, Kix.”

It felt like an hour went by as you both came down from your highs, laying in silence. You sat up, nearly forgetting you were coated in his sticky release. You looked over your shoulder at him with a sheepish smile. Kix instantly shot up and stepped into the ‘fresher, coming back with a damp towel, “Allow me.” What a gentleman. You blushed at the sweet gesture - which, to be totally honest, seemed silly since he had just spit you open and completely wrecked you.

After he had cleaned you up, you flopped back down on the bed, not putting the energy in to get dressed. Kix had his bottoms back on when he sat down on the bed next to you, his hand coming up to tuck loose hair behind your ears. You were completely lost in his kind eyes; you felt a ridiculous smile plastered on your face as you started into them.

“I’m a regular at 79′s y’know,” you informed him, your smile turning into a mischievous grin.

His one brow raised, “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“Looks like I know where to find you, beautiful.”

***

* If you want to be added to the taglist for our clone bois, please let me know in the replies! Thank you kindly <3 *

Tags: @bvcketfvcker

#djarrex writes #clone medic kix #clone trooper kix #kix x reader #kix x you #clone medic kix smut #clone trooper kix smut #the clone wars smut #clone medic kix x reader #clone medic kix x you #kix smut #kix oneshot #clone medic kix oneshot

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lepusrufus · 3 years ago

Text

Double edged scalpel ch. 3

Ch.1 Ch.2

Summary: "it matches your eyes"

----

Cleaning Cassandra’s study became routine. Once a week, her chores were swapped for a two way -for now- trip to the dungeons. Despite every other maid looking at her with utter pity in their eyes, the redhead was not really complaining. She would take Cassandra’s mock autopsies and weird collection of specimens over dusting an ancient opera hall any day. It gave her an odd sense of nostalgia, almost as if she was back with her classmates studying forensic pathology and a friend threatening to throw a severed hand at her.

She also got to see glimpses of Cassandra. Not that they talked, oh no, the brunette would simply observe her and come up with the occasional task to get a raise out of Nicole and, when it failed to do so, she would grumpily go back to whatever she was doing prior. Her study, however, was an open book. While cleaning the shelves by the desk, Nicole took her time to read the title on each and every worn spine of her books. A lot of them more or less outdated medical books, some relatively modern looking textbooks, even an occasional novel tucked in between its more science oriented siblings. The adjacent wall was full of what looked like hand drawn diagrams, messy notes pinned by tape or even sticky notes. Nicole even noticed a family photo taped to that same wall. It was black and white, with the castle’s courtyard in the background, the three sisters standing in front of their mother.

Cassandra was sitting in her chair, occupying herself with her sickle when all of a sudden she stilled. She pulled out her pocket watch, softly cursed under her breath and pushed herself out of the chair. She was about to exit the room when she probably realized that Nicole was not supposed to be there by herself.

“Ugh...Follow me. I can’t leave you here alone and I need to get something.”

With the mop abandoned by a wall, Nicole followed the brunette’s hurried steps through the main hallways of the castle, occasionally crossing paths with another staff member. It took no more than five minutes to get to their destination. Bela and Daniela could be heard from inside a room near the castle’s main entrance when Cassandra pushed open its ornate door and stepped inside. Nicole took two steps behind her when a familiar voice called out.

“Ah, Nicole darling! I see you’ve settled in,” Duke said in his usual cheerful tone.

It did little to stop her stomach from sinking a little when three sets of golden eyes snapped in her direction. He either didn’t notice or didn’t care when he went on. “I hope my favorite clients here are treating you well.” Oh god please shut up. “Lady Cassandra! Your package is also here.”

She wordlessly took a wrapped box from him and, with a thanks, went out the door. Not wanting to fall behind, Nicole gave Duke a small wave and a smile before turning around to follow. She had to almost jog to keep up with her long strides. Damn you short legs.

“How on earth do you know him?” Cassandra’s question was accompanied by narrowed eyes.

Was there any point in lying? Lady Dimitrescu already knew so her ever so nice middle daughter could always find out too.

“He’s the one that brought me here.”

“From the village?”

Nicole rubbed her temples. “From a hotel bar in the nearest big city.” She was beyond done with this conversation.

Cassandra stopped in her tracks, grabbing the other girl's shoulders when she almost crashed into her. Was that a genuine trace of concern in her eyes?

“You mean you’re not from here? Does mother know?”

Nicole nodded, but before she had time to add anything else, another voice called out for the brunette from behind the pair. It was Bela, the sound of heels on the marble floors echoing around them as she approached.

“Cassandra, dinner is in two hours.”

“And?”

“And you said you would take care of the meat. Did you?”

The blonde scoffed at her sister’s widened eyes, then hooked a finger around the chain connected to Cassandra’s watch and clicked her tongue when she saw the time.

“If you insist on carrying this around at all times, you could at least start making use of it. You have around twenty minutes.” Her voice was icy cold, as opposed to Cassandra’s stammered reply.

“Wait, can you stall the cook for a bit, there’s no way I can do two bodies in twenty minutes!”

“Sorry Cassandra, that’s out of my hands.” And with that, the blonde turned on her heels and left the two of them at the entrance of the dungeons, Cassandra damn near seething.

The two wasted no time in hastily descending the stony dungeon steps, Nicole going back to the study while Cassandra went towards the cells. After no more than two minutes, she came in and haphazardly threw a body on each table.

The most logical thing to do would be to go about her chores and not risk attracting the brunette's wrath upon herself. But logic was out the window the moment she stepped foot into the Duke's caravan to come to this place. Besides, staying on Cassandra's good side was far better than mopping the floor in hopes she wouldn't snap one day and throw her in one of the moldy cells.

"Would you like some help with those?" Nicole asked tentatively.

"Can you help?" Cassandra didn't even look in her direction, only throwing a hand in the air and taking out what looked like freezer safe bags from a cupboard.

"...Yeah."

Golden eyes turned to her and the brunette stilled for a second. Skepticism and confusion both obvious on her face at the idea of this small meek maid offering to help out in chopping up a human body. She realized however that the alternative wasn't much better so with a raised eyebrow she put a scalpel and a pair of gloves on the table closest to Nicole.

"Suit yourself. And don't make a mess." Oh you're to talk.

Now, admittedly, performing an autopsy wasn't exactly the same as straight up butchering a human body for consumption. How different would it be though? The organs just needed to be separated and the limbs cut. She tried not to look at the face while making the first incision.

---

It took 17 minutes for both of them to finish. All the bits and pieces were separated and secured in bags just in time for a knock on the door. Cassandra threw her gloves in the sink and went to open it, letting an older woman only vaguely familiar to Nicole inside.

"Lady Cassandra, I didn't know you had help," she raised an eyebrow at the redhead awkwardly standing by the table she had worked at, scalpel still in hand.

Cassandra only grimaced and with mock cheerfulness in her voice said, "Surprise."

The older woman, presumably the cook, motioned for the maids that came with her to take the bags and, with a slight bow of the head to Cassandra, they were gone, only the bloody mess on the tables left behind. The brunette let a sigh escape past her lips and turned to Nicole. Her yellow gaze examined the now bloody uniform for a moment.

"A shame this got dirty," she said, approaching the redhead.

Tiredness and holding her tongue never mixed well within Nicole, so at the obviously fake apologetic tone she allowed an edge of snark into her reply.

"Oh don't worry, the maids are all quite good at washing out blood stains. It's part of the job requirements."

Cassandra just chuckled and rolled her eyes at the sass.

"Just ask the head chambermaid for a replacement. This is seriously ruined," she said toying with the hem of Nicole's white blouse, now soaked in crimson. "Your face however, we can still salvage that."

Nicole furrowed her brows and brought a hand to her cheek, cursing herself under her breath upon realizing that she was still wearing the bloody gloves and had just smeared even more on her face. She took them off and threw them on a cleaner spot on the table to be retrieved later. Meanwhile, the brunette moved to the sink and returned shortly with a damp handkerchief.

She grabbed Nicole's chin between two slender fingers and tilted her head upward. Nicole could feel the metal of the table's edge against her lower back when she instinctively tried taking a step back. She had no way of escaping. Not that escaping even as much as grazed the surface of her mind when she locked eyes with Cassandra, an uncharacteristic sort of softness in her gaze. She took her sweet time passing the damp fabric over the blood stained skin. Then, after she seemed content with her handywork, she dragged her fingers over Nicole's cheek in a caress that sent a small shiver down the redhead's spine.

"There. Good as new," the brunette hummed.

It was a complete lie and they both knew it. The blush now present on Nicole's cheeks was probably just as bad as the crimson stains she was sporting mere moments ago, she was quite sure of that. By some mercy of the crow woman these people worshipped though, Cassandra didn't acknowledge it and simply moved back to her desk, leaving Nicole frozen in place.

After a few seconds of silence, Cassandra chuckled and, without turning from whatever she was scribbling in a notebook, said:

"Those tables won't clean themselves darling."

Oh shut the fuck up.

---

Most staff members preferred to spend their free time in the gardens, be it the inner courtyard or the fenced in garden at the back of the estate. Nicole was no exception to that. When she had time, she liked to grab a hot cup of tea and sit down in this small nook of the garden where a small, almost knee high bench was overshadowed by large rose bushes. Nobody else seemed to come there if the old cracked wood of the small seat was anything to go by, except maybe the gardener for occasional maintenance but she was nowhere to be seen most times.

The quiet was interrupted by a distant set of heavy steps. Steps that Nicole ignored. She wasn't in any off limits area and this was her day off. She wasn't doing anything wrong and, therefore, had no reason to believe whoever was walking around was there for her. Until the steps became louder and the sound of heels clear on the stony path.

"There you are," Cassandra's voice almost made Nicole spit out the tea she was currently drinking.

The brunette laughed at that, in an oddly good mood and stopped to stand in front of the redhead. Cassandra's "good mood" made Nicole highly suspicious given past experience. She set her cup down and, with a cough to clear out her offended airways, stood and addressed the brunette.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, my lady?" Aside from having my one free day interrupted. Again.

She saw Cassandra pout for a brief moment but it was quickly replaced by her ever so characteristic smirk. A smirk that Nicole would never admit was awfully attractive paired with the sharp features of her face. At least not out loud.

"I have wonderful news for you," she said, tilting Nicole's head up with a hand, thumb distractingly close to her lips. "Cynthia, our cook, said she really appreciated the way you sectioned that body last week. So mother decided to give you a ...promotion so to speak."

Nicole had yet to decide whether this was indeed wonderful news or not, but the part of her brain that was seeking some kind of thrill made that decision for her when Cassandra leaned in close to her ear, lips tantalizingly close to the skin.

"Congratulations, from now on you're only working with me in the dungeons."

Cassandra didn't want to kill her did she? She did say that Nicole was intriguing to her and therefore the redhead was somewhat safe from ending up on one of the autopsy tables herself. At least that's what she told that part of her mind still somewhat concerned about self preservation that was screaming at how risky her next move was.

She gingerly placed her hands on the brunette's hips, tilting her head in a way not unlike Cassandra did mere moments ago.

"Does that mean I get to teach you proper autopsy technique?"

Thankfully that got a chuckle out of her, moving back just enough to be able to look into Nicole's green eyes. "Assuming you manage to keep your tongue long enough."

She couldn't do much more than let out a soft laugh at the absurdity of her situation. There she was, in the garden of a castle in the middle of nowhere with the Lady's sadistic daughter mere inches from her. She decided that at that point in her life if she was going to die, she may as well go out in style, and what on earth could top falling for one of the most dangerous women in a village full of horrors. She shifted her hand slightly, bumping into the handle of the sickle strapped to Cassandra's waist.

"May I?" She said barely above a whisper, fingers wrapping loosely around the weapon.

Cassandra gave her an incredulous look, trying to understand what on earth she could want with the weapon. She was aware she couldn't hurt her right?

A small shrug was all the permission Nicole needed. She undid the leather strap that kept the sickle in place and moved back only a bit. Enough to step on the small bench and lift herself. She felt Cassandra's hands placed on her waist for support, almost mimicking the gentleness of Nicole's touch from earlier, when she raised herself on her tiptoes. She took hold of one of the roses above them -a yellow one- and with a quick swipe she cut the stem. The brunette watched her take her sweet time scraping off any thorns before her hood was taken off and that same rose was now placed in her dark wavy hair, right above her left ear.

"Mm… it matches your eyes. And necklace," Nicole added, bending down to return the sickle to its rightful place.

Cassandra crashed their lips the next second, her hands pulling Nicole closer from where they were placed on her hips. After a second of shocked stillness, the kiss was returned, their lips tentatively sliding against each other. "Tentatively" didn't last long however, as Cassandra pushed forward, pressing the her against the stone wall behind them eliciting a small moan from Nicole, who's hand ended up tangled in black locks. She tugged on them slightly once she finally needed to breathe and Cassandra pulled back only a bit. She let their foreheads rest against each other and felt Nicole's soft laugh on her lips.

"Do you even need to breathe?"

"No," the brunette answered simply.

Nicole blinked in confusion, not expecting her half joke to turn out truthful but before she could speak, Cassandra took a hand off her waist and pulled something out of a pocket.

"Here," she pushed a familiar looking object into the redhead's hands.

"Y...Your key to the dungeons?" She was still trying to get her thoughts organized into some sort of coherence when Cassandra rolled her eyes.

"It's a copy. So I don't have to escort you every time you come down there, which," she added with a gloved finger brushing against her lower lip, "is gonna be more frequent now."

Nicole nodded, not really trusting her words. She didn't need any though, as Cassandra simply pushed herself off the wall and turned on her heels to leave.

"See you tomorrow at dawn."

And with a smirk, she broke into a swarm of flies and disappeared down the stony path.

#youre either gonna love this or despise it bc of the pacing #hey i never said i was a GOOD writer #cassandra dimitrescu x maiden #cassandra dimitrescu #bela dimitrescu #unhinged maiden™ my beloved #double edged scalpel #fanfic

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sigmaleph · 3 years ago

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@serinemolecule asked me for hot takes on this 2006 article on Argentinian food, which I am now reorganising into a proper post for y'all's consumption. you're welcome.

First of all: the titular thesis that you should eat two steaks a day. I am forced to clarify that as 'should's go you should eat zero steaks a day, but this is ethical rather dietary advice and I don't follow it as well as I should, so, y'know. I would engage with this on the level it was stated, but I actually have no opinion on it. Moving on...

Argentine beef really is extraordinary. Almost all of this has to do with how the cows are raised. There are no factory feedlots in Argentina; the animals still eat pampas grass their whole lives, in open pasture, and not the chicken droppings and feathers mixed with corn that pass for animal feed in the United States.

This is, as it happens, completely false. There absolutely is plenty of feedlot beef being eaten in Argentina, and this was also the case back when this article was written. There's grass-fed beef too, and maybe the writer structured their life around only eating those, but the claim that there are no feedlots is just not true.

if you let them make the call, you get a two-inch thick of meat[...]The Argentine steak stands alone, towering three inches over the plate,[...]This gorgeous specimen is called a lomito; it's a standard lunchtime steak, clearly so thin that the Argentines are embarrassed to send it out into the world without a protective wrapping of ham and cheese

I have no idea what their obsession with steak thickness is; meat exists at various levels of thick and thin to suit various tastes. If you like yours thick that's fine but quit the projecting, y'know.

As you might expect, vegetarians will have a somewhat rough time here. For most people in Argentina, a vegetarian is something you eat. One's diet will accordingly lean heavily on pastas, gnocchi, salads, and (for the less squeamish ) fish. Vegans will not survive in Argentina.

This is, unfortunately, true (well, hyperbole, but). Rinna had a rather bad time trying to find vegan food when fae came over for visits. The situation is improving slowly, at least.

The homemade cookies bought in the minimarket downstairs taste of steak. [picture of alfajores de maicena[

Jesus. Find somewhere better to buy your snacks.

It should be no surprise that the land of beef also has excellent milk and butter. The milk comes in plastic bags that would give any American marketing department a heart attack. They proudly advertise "GUARANTEED 100% BRUCELLOSIS AND HOOF-AND-MOUTH FREE". One brand even brags that its bacteria count never exceeds 100,000 per mL, and prints daily statistics to prove it (only 82,000 bacteria/mL on Monday! mmm!).

Are you under the impression American milk doesn't contain bacteria and that when it spoils it's because of the molecules' sheer willpower? Or do you just object to the reminder that they exist?

This menu is delicious, but with rare exceptions it is all you are going to get. People coming for more than a few weeks are advised to bring a discreet bottle of Tabasco sauce.

Eat at better restaurants.

With any order from the master menu comes the Bread Basket, which should be treated as you would treat a basket of wax fruit, that is, as a purely decorative ornament. It is considered bad form to actually eat anything from Bread Basket

What are you talking about. Do all your dining companions just suck, eat some bread.

Dulce de leche is a culinary cry for help. It says "save us, we are baffled and alone in the kitchen, we don't know what to do for dessert and we're going to boil condensed milk and sugar together until help arrives". This cloying dessert tar is so impossibly sweet that you wish you were ten years old again, just so you could actually enjoy it. It is everywhere. There is a special dulce de leche shelf in the supermarket dairy case, and the containers go up to a liter in size. Even the churros are stuffed with it - the churros, Montresor!

It is rare that I feel insulted for the sake of my country, but this? How dare you.

Yes, of course we fill churros with dulce de leche; the real question is why anyone doesn't, short of dietary restrictions. Finding out that people do otherwise was like learning that in other countries, "sandwich" just means two slices of bread. Live a little. Eat a real godsdamned churro.

I spent a considerable amount of time trying to figure out how meals work in Argentina, and they remain a mystery to me. Dinner is clear enough: people tend to go to restaurants beginning at ten o'clock (for those with small children), with the main rush around eleven, and dinner is pretty much over at one or so in the morning. And breakfast - or rather, its absence - follows as a logical consequence of eating a steak the size of a beagle at midnight. But I have yet to figure out whether people eat some kind of meal in the afternoon, and if so, when.

At... noon? Like. We eat lunch. Usually somewhere around 12:00. I am eating lunch right now, and I have done so essentially every day of my life. This is just baffling.

I've come to think the culprit in the missing Argentine lunch scene is yerba mate.

how.

Where the ignorant foreigner may see just another kind of herbal tea (yerba mate is a very unassuming shrub that grows in the northern parts of the country) the Argentine sees a taste treat of unimaginable subtlety, and a tonic for all his problems. The Wikipedia article on proper mate preparation should give you a warning of the level of obsessiveness attainable here (the Urugayans are even worse). To the virgin palate, mate tastes like green tea mixed with grass clippings. The beverage is traditionally drunk out of a little gourd, through a metal straw called a bombilla, with hot (but not boiling!!) water poured into it (without wetting the surface!! clockwise!!) from a thermos.

Yeah, this is accurate. Well, not the clockwise part, never heard anyone complain about that and I can't imagine it mattering.

What distinguishes mate from coffee and tea is the social context - two or more people share a gourd, with a designated pourer in charge of refilling it with hot water after each turn. The ritual is low-fuss but indispensible. You can buy mate gourds and thermoses in any grocery store, and get your thermos filled with hot water at any convenience store or gas station, but you will never see mate served in restaurants or sold in little disposable paper gourds, to go. it's not that people refuse to drink mate alone - anyone working a solitary shift will have a gourd in hand - but that the concept of being served mate by someone who does not share it with you seems impossible.

This is also true. Attempts have been made to sell to-go mate but it's never very popular, the social ritual is important. Also unfortunately a disease vector, I haven't had any mate in a year and a half.

Mate aficionados will tell you that mate contains a special compound, mateine, that serves as a tonic and mild stimulant, promoting alertness without making it hard to sleep, reducing fatigue and appetite, helping the digestion and serving as a mild diuretic. Scientists will tell you that mateine bears a suspicious resemblance to a chemical called caffeine. Mate aficionados will then grow indignant, explaining that mateine is really a stereoisomer (mirror image) of caffeine, with different effects, which will in turn irritate the scientists, who will snap that caffeine doesn't have a chiral center, so it can't have a distinguishable mirror image, and why don't the mate aficionados just put a sock in it.

The first part of this is true; some people definitely think "mateine" is different from caffeine and it absolutely isn't. Never heard the stereoisomer claim before but googling it does confirm some people say so.

still have no idea what any of this has to do with lunch, though. I promise you nobody skips lunch because mate is just too filling.

The wine here is very good (something has to stand up to that steak), but Argentina has no liquor to call its own, relying on whiskies like Old Smuggler and the low-maintenance Don Juan cognac to carry the flag.

There's a fundamental omission from this list and it's called fernet.

Beer is ubiquitous and comes in a bewildering variety of sizes, although there is a skittishness about the full-on liter. Things level off at 970 mL. In my case, it means I end up drinking 1940 mL of beer as a kind of personal protest, and all is well with the world. To make up for the abundance of sizes, beer comes in only one variety, Quilmes, which inevitably comes served with a tripartite platter of snacks - nuts, salty cylinders, and aged potato chips.

I never had trouble buying beer by the litre, but I confess I never tried to do so in 2006 on account of being under 18 at the time.

Anyway, beer comes in a lot more varieties today, thankfully, because Quilmes sucks. I'll never be a beer person, but at least these days there's options I tolerate.

[original post]

#dreamwidth crosspost

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 4 years ago

Text

Ad Libitum I

Warnings: nonconsensual sex (series, to be warned later on)

This is dark!Loki and explicit. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: You are face with the opportunity of a lifetime, however you might have told a rather big lie to get there.

Note: I promise my other series are still going. I have half chapters I’m chipping away at every day! For now I’ll post the intro to my first Victorian AU.

Thank you. Love you guys!

As always, if you can, please leave some feedback, like and reblog <3

‘For the consideration of one, Mister Everet Ede.

After a close and contented reading of your recent piece ‘The Oyster’s Wealth’ in Cornhill Magazine, I write you to present an offer upon your skills.

Your work does show potential and I believe, as an editor and an author myself, it would benefit both parties should I aid you in refining such talent. While your writing does prove adequate and at times, provoking, there is much a young writer might learn from one as esteemed and experienced as myself.

Under the marquee of my own publication, The Asp’s Tongue, and my name, I would extend to you an offer of residence and should it prove productive, a place upon my list of regular authors.

It was only two years ago that my journal opted to discontinue our bursary for writers but it is in my own purview, aside from those of my investors, that young minds require honing and it is upon my own coffers that I do make this offer of sponsorship for your development as an author.

Should you choose to accept, I would expect your arrival upon the first Sunday of June at my estate of Emerald Hills. You will come with all that is required for your education; nibs, ink, paper, et cetera, as well as any personal possessions required for daily existence. Your board will be allotted by manor throughout your residency. Aside from that, you would require only your wit and basic literary competency.

I expect confirmation of your acceptance by the last day of April so that I may have the manor prepared for your arrival. Tardiness in all matters will not be tolerated.

I anticipate a valuable and vibrant professional accord,

Lord Loki Laufeyson, Duke of Wynselm

Founder and Operator of Laufey’s Publishing’

You read the letter once more. The folds of the paper were deep and fragile, the corners curling from your repeated reviews. In the months since its delivery, you had memorised ever curlicue of its script. It was better than any letter of acceptance you’d ever received. The only flaw was the pseudonym across the top. One day, you hoped, it would be your true name that greeted you.

The coach rocked and you caught yourself against the side, jostled atop the hard wooden seat. You shifted in your stiff skirts and peeked out the window. There was still doubt. Still anxiety. You’d accepted the offer without a thought and without much explanation.

What would the great lord publisher think of you? A woman masquerading as a writer? Well, you hoped that he might overcome the shock and uphold his integrity. It was your work he had read. It was your words which had driven him to write. So why should your sex change the merit of your skill?

There was a sinking feeling in your stomach. It was a slim hope you had, truly. You expected him to laugh you back to your measly London apartment like all the other editors you had ever dared face beyond the stain of your inkwell. Had this all been for not? Another prospect dissolved by that feminine curse?

Besides, even if you were a man, the Duke was infamously misanthropic. It was reported in the papers that he hadn’t left Emerald Hills in several years. That he had grown cynical of society, not so much as submitting a sentence to his very own periodicals. So it was with great surprise that you’d received his letter and with greater hesitation. His reputation was not one of a fond patron but rather a unyielding despot.

Yet it was an opportunity you did not expect to ever occur again, so you leapt, without thinking, and now your fear bubbled in your chest. To have come all this way and to be told what you’d always been told. To be denied again. In the flesh, you could not be Everet Ede, you could not hide behind your pen. Perhaps his own penchant for artifice might soften his rigid spine.

The manor stood on the highest hill in Wynselm. The gates were locked and a solemn doorman appeared from a small shed to open them. You pulled the curtain shut, afraid you would be found out before even breaking the threshold. The coach rumbled up the winding and steep path and stopped just before the broad stone steps.

You peeked out as the driver stepped down from his perch. You waited a moment, watching the front doors of the manor. It seemed as if the entire place was dead. Abandoned, even. The driver opened your door and offered his hand to help you down. Though his service was the cheapest you could acquire, his manners suggested otherwise.

He unloaded your trunk as you clutched your valise. You thanked him as he set the heavy luggage beside your dark skirts and you offered him a coin from your purse. He accepted with a toothy smile.

“Should I wait and help you carry it in?” He asked.

You considered the offer. It might be best if he tarried in case you were swiftly dismissed. What would you do if you were stranded here? And yet, you were determined not to be turned away. Your best option might be to force your presence upon this man.

“No,” You answered staunchly and pushed your shoulders back. “You’ve been a great help, sir. You should hurry back to the city.”

“Miss,” He removed his hat. “Good day to you.”

“And you,” You nodded and watched him climb back up onto his seat.

He snapped the horse into action and their hooves clopped around and down the path until you could no longer see them. You gripped your valise even tighter and turned to the manor. The doors suddenly shifted and a man in a plain grey suit appeared. He pushed both open and stood aside as he waited silently.

You heard footsteps from within, the tap of leather sols upon the wood. A lithe figure emerged from the shadows and the sunlight lit his pale skin. His dark hair was pushed back so that his curls gathered behind his head and his high, starched collar made his features seem even sharper.

He stopped sharply at the top of the stairs and blinked at you. He peered around and squinted, slowly stepping forward to descend the steps. He stood straight across from you, a brow arched as he stared you down.

“Are you lost? I fear you sent away your valet much too soon, madam.” He said.

“My lord, Mr. Laufeyson?” You ventured.

He frowned. “Everet is a rather odd name for… a woman.”

“My apologies for my deception but you must understand as an editor yourself, a woman’s name doesn’t sell stories, does it?” You let out a shaky breath. “Not that I think it should matter when my physical attributes have little bearing on my writing.”

“Even so, I do value honesty in my writers. Foremost. A lack of such in life might reflect deceit on paper.” He challenged. “And I am not equipped to house… a woman.”

“Women hardly require more than a man. Often less.” You countered. “You made an offer on the grounds of my work, I accepted on the same. I see no reason why it should be an issue. I am determined, would have to be to have a story published, devoted to say the least, and by your own words, a competent writer.”

“I did not… I was not aware…” He sighed. “You can’t expect-- After being so underhanded… How could… I cannot…”

He cleared his throat and glanced over his shoulder at the man in the grey suit.

“I’ve taken two coaches and train. I’ve packed up my livelihood in this trunk, I’ve been nothing but honest other than… my true name. You cannot claim my work as ingenuine nor my intentions. I’ve come here to write.” You declared. “I see not how my sex should preclude me from these matters. Would you argue inadequacy based upon my physical stature after proclaiming me capable previously? Sir, I would argue that should suggest a lack of honesty on your part. Not mine.”

He tilted his head and his chin jutted out in irritation. His slender fingers ran the length of his jacket and fiddled with the button.

“Well, you certainly speak like a writer.” He said. “Very well. We shall see what we can mold out of you.” He gestured to the man in the grey suit. “Horace.” He nodded to the trunk. “But do not think my standards shall bend upon your favour, madam.” He warned as the man came down to lift your trunk, barely able to drag it up the steps. “Oh, and your real name, to begin with.”

You recited your name and he spun without acknowledgement. He preceded the man he called Horace through the doors and you hurried forward to grab the other end of your trunk, your valise clutched in your other hand.

Inside, the large foyer was barely lit by the candelabras in the corners. The chandelier above was dark and dusty. You struggled to keep hold of the trunk as you followed Horace. He set down his end and bid you to do the same.

“Madam, please, I will get proper help,” He waved to the lord of manor, already halfway up the staircase. “You might leave your valise and both will be deposited in your rooms.”

“Thank you, sir,” You said before you turned to hurry up behind Lord Laufeyson.

“Your rooms are in the north wing, mine in the south. You needn’t venture very far from your own. I have a maid in the kitchen who will set out meals and Horace oversees our maintenance and the cleaning servants when they are present.” He began. “You will only be required in the bureau where you will take your lessons.”

“Yes, my lord,” You felt completely out of place. You weren’t used to such an immense house, let alone such a prestigious host.

“Sir will do just fine,” He corrected. “Do you type, madam?”

“No.” You admitted. “I hand write my stories and they are often transcribed by the journals.”

“Mmm, well, then we should add that to the schedule.” He remarked. “I have written out your daily itinerary as you will find in your rooms. “You will wake at six, take your breakfast by the next hour as you will be expected at seven for your first lesson. Lunch will be at noon, you will be permitted recreation at three, tea the following hour, and we shall add typing practice to your evening exercises.”

“Sir,” You said as you followed him.

“This is the bureau where your lessons will be,” He opened a single door. “That…” He looked to the pair of doors at the end of the hall. “Is the library. It will be unlocked during your recreational hour though you might visit the gardens if you choose.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Did you attend college, madam? I understand they offer schooling for women now.”

“No,” You answered plainly. “I finished public schooling and the rest I did upon my own.”

His eyes strayed in his thoughts and he hummed.

“Well, that sort of discipline is promising, I suppose,” He said. “And you are… unmarried?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, to be expected. A husband shouldn’t allow a wife to live unaccompanied with another man. And yet, an unmarried woman should not allow herself the same discrepancy,” He remanded. “There are proprieties which must be attained. You understand?”

“Sir, I am not wholly unaware of our social bounds. I’ve travelled to write. I haven’t any interest in men to this point and I highly doubt this circumstance should change that.”

He gave a half-chuckle before he caught himself.

“I always found you urban poor had trite mouths,” He sneered. “The factories do allow for unfortunately low association. You lot do sell your morals for a penny.”

“I see no immorality in work,” You argued. “In fact, the poor can rarely afford immorality.”

He looked at you, sternly.

“Let me show you your rooms and you might accommodate yourself to the arrangements,” He gestured you back down the corridor.

Again, you trailed behind him. The walls were lined with portraits, their frames powdered with dust and canvas washed out with age. He must’ve lived a rather small existence in this immense place.

He stopped before another door, his fingers wrapped around the handle then he recoiled. He reached into his jacket and slipped out a key with a black ribbon threaded through its loop. He held it out to you.

“These are your rooms. Keep the time. It is late. At four I expect you to take tea in the dining room. The cook should have it upon the table by then.” He watched as you reached to take the key. “When you are finished, our first lesson shall commence in the bureau. Come prepared with a manuscript in hand. I trust you did not come without forethought, especially considering… well, I shall excuse you to acquaint yourself with your quarters.”

He bowed his head, his spine rigid and straight. He sidestepped you and you listened to his hard soles on the wooden floors. You turned as his silhouette disappeared around the sparsely lit corner, the glow of candles flickering along the columns of the rails that overlooked the foyer.

You unlocked the door, your hands unsteady as your nerves remained riled. You’d overcome the first obstacle but this man seemed greater than any challenge you’d known before. Stiff-lipped editors, boastful male writers, dismissive reviewers; you’d faced every kind of foe.

You shut the door softly behind you, the click made you jump. You were pleasantly surprised to find it the room with the least dust. The windows were open and the curtains were freshly pressed and hung. The bed matched in its tidiness and the roll top desk against the wall was faced with a leather-cushioned chair.

The afternoon sun streamed in enough to light much of the room. Tall candelabras stood on four feet in the corners opposite of the bed. An oil lamp sat on the desk and a smaller candle holder sat on the table beside the bed. A small stool with an embroidered cushion was nestled in the corner and a chair in the French style peered out the far window.

You turned and faced the vast portrait of a man and woman. The former was silver-haired and staunch in his bearing, the woman was seated and gold waves were confined atop her head as a few ringlets framed her face in a style favoured by the previous generations. You tilted your head as you admired the artistry. It was almost as if the elegant couple was truly there before you.

A knock came at the door and you went to it. Horace was there with the man who had opened the gates. They dragged in your trunk and placed your valise at top with overly cordial ‘my lady’s’ in your direction. You wanted to snicker at the undeserved address. You thanked them and they refused a coin from your purse. You were thankful for that as you hadn’t many left.

You took your valise to the bed then returned to the trunk. You unbuckled the straps that held your trunk closed and tossed the lid open. The monstrosity was older than you. You’d bought it used. The lining was torn and most of it gone. You took out the stacks of paper sheathed in leather and rolled up the lid of the desk. You left them there and unpacked your pens and inkwell.

You sat and allowed yourself a breath. You tried to calm yourself. You slowly unwound the strap of the first folder and shuffled through the leaves. There was the story you’d written about the widow left homeless by her dead husband’s gambling debts. The other about the officer who finds himself by a foreign people.

Then there was that one which you had yet to show any. The one which told the story of a woman; a fraud; a liar. She pretends to be a true lady but is found out. She is tried before the county though she never stole nor harmed anyone. Tried upon her birth and nothing more. You tucked that one away and set aside the one about the widow. Nothing so novel but good enough, you supposed.

You reached to your belt and checked the watch that dangled from it. Like the trunk, it was previously owned by another. It made you want to write a story, a fantasy of its former owner. Of how the initials etched into its back had come to be near indiscernible beneath a series of frantic scratches.

3:37. You recalled Lord Laufeyson had said tea was at four. Not much longer. Barely enough time to ready yourself for his frigidity. Oh yes, he was the very modicum of Victorian temperance. How very dull.

#loki #dark loki #dark!loki #loki x reader #dark loki x reader #dark!loki x reader #victorian au #au #fic #series #ad libitum #marvel #MCU #dark fic #dark!fic

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adamfoolcry · 4 years ago

Text

Troublesome (Part III)

part I, part II, part III (2) - coming soon

pairings: Maneater/Partygirl!Reader x BoyfriendMaterial!Jungwoo, Maneater/Partygirl!Reader x FirstLove!Hendery, BestCousin!Sicheng, Bestfriend!Lucas

pairings: 18+

warnings: consumption of alcohol, swearing, explicit language

genre: comedy maybe even a crackfic, smut, fluff, and a teeny tiny pinch of angst

summary: Your relationship with Jungwoo is moving fast except for one part, your sex life. You didn’t know you signed up for the nunnery when you agreed to dating him. Oh, and Lucas your best friend is transferring to Korea.

word count: 3,438

chinese slang: meimei = little sister, gege = older brother, baobei = baby

a/n: I always forgot I have this in my drafts nyways there is no smut here and jungwoo barely appears. Here is the third installment of my crackfic:Troublesome.

"Mèimei no you're not moving in with Jungwoo. Don't even try I won't ever allow you to." Sicheng's eyes were hard he was already set to stone. Yes, it is nice that you have finally decided to pursue a serious relationship since your first one but isn't living together too much of a stretch.

"As if that will stop me Gege. Go worry about your relationship I heard Jiwon is complaining about your lack of sex drive." You are already packing your things at your dorm when Sicheng stormed in with angry livid eyes going on and on about that moving in this early in a relationship is too fast. You have been dating Jungwoo for three months now and everything is going smoothly. Your ears are ringing from his sermon and Sicheng won't shut up.

"Shut your yap Sicheng gege! I know you care about me but if you won't support my decisions then get the fuck out of here." You shouted at him. Sicheng was so astonished it has been a while since you raised your voice at him. Jungwoo entered the room unaware of what's happening.

"Princess you finished? Oh Sicheng hyung why are you here?" Jungwoo looked at Sicheng confused. You would have never guessed what will happen next Sicheng have never been a person capable of hurting any living creature but he leaped at Jungwoo punching the other boy's cheek.

"How dare you Jungwoo! How can you tell her our boy talk? We swore an oath!" They both stumbled down to the ground Sicheng straddling Jungwoo's waist pulling his fist back for another punch aiming for Jungwoo's jaw.

"You don't know how powerful she is hyung." Jungwoo made a makeshift shield using his arms attempting to block Sicheng's upcoming punch.

"No gege! Not my baby's face don't ruin his face!" You shouted at Sicheng. Sicheng slowly put his fist down and got off Jungwoo's waist.

"Whatever do what you want to do mèimei. I am tired of taking care of you." Sicheng said resigned knowing he can never stop you because of how stubborn you are.

You quickly rushed to hug Sicheng from behind proclaiming your undying love for him. "I love you so much gege you know that right." Jungwoo stood up from where he is situated on the floor and joined the group hug, hugging Sicheng from the front.

"Get off me man." Sicheng said irritated. Jungwoo pried Sicheng out of your embrace and replace Sicheng's position circling his arms around you. You giggled at how silly Jungwoo is. He looked down at you and asked. "Why didn't you help me when Sicheng Hyung is beating me up?"

You looked at Jungwoo your eyes glinting with menace. "You two looked like the main characters of a BL series it's so hot."

Both men exclaimed mortified.

"Princess!"

"Mèimei!"

In the end, it was Sicheng and Jungwoo who did all the work packing up your things and moving it to Jungwoo's apartment while you order them left and right. Jungwoo was so tired that after setting up everything he fell to the bed out of exhaustion straight out of the shower. You pout beside him you have prepped yourself with your high-end lotion and even waxed your coochie one week prior to the move for the most-awaited sexy time but ever since Jungwoo asked you out, you two have never done it and he won't even let you see his dick. Yes, he was superb in fingering and eating you out but you're really high maintenance. Before this relationship, you go around the town thrice a week with different flavors. How can he neglect you like this? You shook his arm timidly.

He opened one of his eyes and turned his face sideways to smile at you. "What is it, Princess? Why are you grumpy?"

"Jungwoo why do you deprive me of your allegedly self-proclaimed big dick?" You pouted at him.

"Good things to those who wait Princess. Come here hug your baby. I am so tired we have to convert the other room into your walk-in closet because you own too many clothes." You snuggled beside him wrapping your arms around his chest.

"Why do you own so many Halloween costumes?" Jungwoo asked you confused.

"That's for roleplaying stupid." You rolled your eyes at him.

"Then why is there a guadatema onesie I don't think my dick will react to that." Jungwoo announced incredulously.

"That's my pajamas!" You slapped his chest.

Today is your fourth month anniversary and you are getting tired of Jungwoo not initiating sex. You can't take this anymore you have been practicing celibacy for four months now you didn't know you signed up for the nunnery when you got into this relationship. Jungwoo always looked so hot especially when shirtless yes he doesn't have a six-pack but he's lean and well-muscled and holy shit his v line coupled with his height. Every time you see him shirtless you are sure you like a dog with rabies salivating at the sight of him. You don't know if he is teasing or he is that oblivious. Sicheng called you and waved his hands up your face seeing that you are not listening to him anymore.

"Mèimei did you understand what I said?" Sicheng asked you.

"Yeah yeah." You brushed him off. "We will fetch Lucas at the airport next week. He will be transferring next sem at our university and will be staying at your apartment." It's not that you are not excited to see your bestfriend again but there are more pressing matters like you going crazy because of your nonexistent sex life.

"Gege did I gain weight?" You asked Sicheng to which he answered with a shake of his head.

"Did I become less attractive?" You asked him again.

"Mèimei what is this about? This is the first time you have been insecure." Sicheng asked you seriously.

"It-has-been-four-months-since-Jungwoo-and-I-started-dating-and-he-never-initiated-to-have-sex-with-me." You let it all out in one breath embarrassed that you are confiding to your older cousin. Sicheng laughed so hard that he was clutching his stomach.

"So ironic that you a man-eater choose a monk for a boyfriend." Sicheng continued laughing even clapping his hands looking like an overexcited seal.

The three of you are standing at the airport waiting for Lucas. You even prepared a poster for him your arms are getting tired of holding it up but you decided to endure it. Jungwoo hugged you from behind placing his head on your shoulder most likely bored from waiting for 45 minutes.

"Princess so tell me something about Lucas." Jungwoo asked out of curiosity.

"He is our giant baby. For context, he's taller than you. He is always full of energy and is such a sensitive soul despite his appearance." You look at Jungwoo listing Lucas' good points.

"Should I be worried it sounds like he's an old flame?" Jungwoo replied scrunching his eyebrows.

"Yeah he is but it didn't work out." Jungwoo looked at you shocked. You snickered he's so cute. You can't help but press a kiss on his cheek.

"You should actually be worried Jungwoo there was a time that even I feel like a third wheel whenever the three of us go out and that was after they decided to be just friends. The two of them are so alike.” Sicheng fueled Jungwoo's worries. Just as Sicheng finished his sentence you saw Lucas running towards the three of you leaving his luggage and sprinting in your direction.

"Baobei!" Lucas shouted opening his arms. You rushed towards him breaking free of Jungwoo's hug and letting your poster fall to the floor. You leaped onto his arms and he lifted you into the air, spinning you around your joyous laughter filling the place. To everyone else watching it's like a scene taken out of romance movies where the two lovers reunited again after having been separated for a long time even the crowd was taking pictures and videos because of the sweet encounter. Jungwoo's jaw almost fell to the floor. This gorgeous man is your bestfriend and also your ex-boyfriend he didn't know he signed up for more trouble when he asked you out.

Sicheng sighed "See what I mean. Don't even try to separate them tonight." Sicheng then proceeded to fetch Lucas' luggage pushing it towards the parking lot.

"Come on you three it's getting close to midnight." Sicheng shouted. Needless to say, Jungwoo went home to your shared apartment alone you decided to spend the night at Sicheng's he wanted to stay with you but you told him that you will be not sleeping and most likely visit a club or two with Lucas.

It was just like the old times when you and Lucas are younger after visiting a club, you two will drive around at the wee hours of the morning grabbing fast food and talking just about everything. It feels comfortable with him but this time neither of you are trying to fill a gap in each other’s hearts. Lucas parked Sicheng's car at a secluded parking lot with a beautiful view of the night sky. The two of you sitting on the hood of the car eating burgers and fries.

"So I heard from Winwin ge that you are in a serious relationship now with that guy Jungwoo." Lucas broke the comfortable silence looking at you his stare questioning.

"Yeah Yukhei can you believe it? and I am so happy. I like him a lot like a lot, a lot." You smiled at him and Lucas smiled back at you. This is Lucas' genuine smile, not the one he throws at potential one night stands he reserves it for his most cherished persons and that includes you.

"I see baobei then there are no questions needed." Lucas reached out and held your hand in his. You are so lucky to have Lucas who supports you unconditionally.

"What about you Yukhei? Tell me do you still pursue casual relationships?" You asked him.

"I actually stopped when you left me in Beijing to study here. With you and Sicheng gone I was so lost and sad. Sleeping with girls didn't help in fact it made me feel crappier so I decided to stop it altogether." Lucas confessed looking down as if he was ashamed of himself. You tried to comfort him leaning your head on his shoulder and drawing circles with your thumb at the back of his hand.

"Don't worry you're here now whenever you feel sad or disheartened just call me and I'll cross the high heavens and lowest depths of hell just to get to you." You poked his belly with your index finger.

"Don't make me cry baobei." You heard Lucas sniffling his tears.

"Even now you're still a big baby Yukhei." You laughed at him. The night sky is so beautiful and you have never felt this happy in a long time.

The next day Sicheng arranged a welcome dinner on behalf of Lucas of course the two of you are fashionably late. Sicheng, Jiwon, and Jungwoo are already at the restaurant waiting for you and Lucas to arrive. You made your entrance at the restaurant your arm looped with Lucas' facing each other talking animatedly and laughing. It was as if the two of you are in your own little bubble. When the two of you reached the table you went to where Jungwoo is and sat beside him. His arm automatically circling your waist as he press a kiss on the side of your head.

"Awww so sweet." Lucas teased you and Jungwoo. He was sitting on the opposite side besides Jiwon.

"You're just jelly Yukhei." You stuck your tongue out at him. Everyone laughed at your retort. The food arrived and the conversation was flowing steadily there was a continuous stream of laughter. Lucas using his charms threw a joke one after another paired with his comical facial expressions and broken english phrases. Sicheng and Jiwon bid goodbye first and left earlier the three of you stayed at the restaurant.

"By the way man did I tell you how I met ________?" Lucas started rubbing his palms together his lips forming an evil grin. You kicked Lucas under the table trying to stop him.

"So it goes like this I met _______ at a club she was having a catfight with another girl who is accusing _______ of sleeping with her boyfriend. They were clawing each other’s' face off basically it was chaos the crowd even formed a circle around them as if it was a live wrestling match betting on who's gonna win. Then-" Lucas stopped his narration and started laughing so hard wiping tears from the corner of his eyes. You started kicking him harder under the table.

"She puked at the other girl I swear everyone was so mortified. I even recorded it on my phone. _______ went viral and was banned at that club." Lucas continued laughing you quickly got of your seat and placed your hands around Lucas' neck intending to choke him. Jungwoo had to pry you off Lucas to make you stop. Lucas was coughing so hard.

"What was that for baobei?" Lucas started rubbing the part where you nearly asphyxiated him a handprint evident on the skin of his neck."Seriously man how do you deal with her?" Lucas asked Jungwoo while trying to clear his throat. Jungwoo just shrugged and looked at you lovingly.

You decided that if Jungwoo won't take matters into his hand you will have to seduce him. You pampered yourself with your one hour self-care routine and wore your white off-shoulder dress showing just the right amount of cleavage that makes you look like a greek goddess.

Jungwoo just got off work from where he was interning at and he just wants to end the day by cuddling you on the bed before going to sleep. When he entered the apartment door he was surprised to see you waiting for him, dressed up so prettily. He smiled he was so lucky to have you.

"Princess you look like an angel." Jungwoo said admiring you.

"You look like a CEO, who fucks his secretary." Did he hear you right? Jungwoo was shocked as you made your way to him like a predator hunting its prey. He was in trance it was as if someone glued him to that spot as he watches the subtle sway of your hips as walk you towards him.

"I can be your secretary." You look up at him sultrily, pushing him against the closed apartment door as you kiss him deeply. You got so impatient to touch his bare skin so you work on untucking his white polo from his slacks. Your greedy little hands roaming under his shirt heating up his skin. Jungwoo pulled your bare thighs around his waist carrying you to the kitchen. He placed you on top of the counter and you pulled him closer wanting to feel his growing bulge against your core. Jungwoo broke the kiss placing his forehead on yours.

"Princess, what brought this on?" He asked breathless tucking some stray strands of hair behind your ears.

"Just because. Do I need a reason to kiss my boyfriend?" You asked him as you press a short kiss to his lips. You started pressing kisses on his jaw at the same time palming his hardening cock. "I want you to fuck me Jungwoo." You stated boldly and Jungwoo moaned closing his eyes in pleasure.

"Princess stop please." Jungwoo placed his forehead on your shoulder trying to control his desire. Your body instantly went cold you can't believe what you have heard. You slid down the counter and Jungwoo reached out to hold your wrist but you moved your hand away.

"Are you disgusted with me Jungwoo? Is that why you don't want to have sex with me? Cause I've been sleeping around before our relationship." You accused him livid; hurt pouring out with every syllable.

"Princess I would never be dis-" You didn't let him finish you turned and walked away from him heading towards the door.

"Princess don't leave let me-" That was the last word you heard from him slamming the door closed at your shared apartment. You ran as fast as you can to the elevator. You drove to Sicheng's place where he and Lucas were having a movie marathon. You stormed to the sofa where they are sitting. Sicheng and Lucas already know that you are in a bad mood just by the sour look on your face.

"Oh oww someone's in her period." Lucas teased you.

"You two go get dressed we're gonna fvcking drink our ass off." They were left with no choice knowing not to oppose you when you get into one of these moods or else you will throw the biggest tantrum that will be the cause of complaint filed by Sicheng's neighbors against him.

Three Jack Daniel's later and an assortment of cocktail drinks littered on the table you are occupying the three of you are utterly and devastatingly wasted. Even Sicheng who has the highest alcohol tolerance is starting to giggle at every little thing you and Lucas are saying.

"Jungwooss thinkss thad I have STDs he dont wanna banggg mee someboddy hang me." You say in a slur. "I am the most top one pretty." Sicheng just giggled again in response.

"Nahhhh you using condomms right? We the advocates of safe sexxx." Lucas shouted the last sentence catching the attention of other bar-goers. Sicheng dialed Jiwon's cell.

"Babbbbyyy I am soo drunkk!" Sicheng can't help but giggle on the phone. Jiwon asked where he is concerned about Sicheng's state of drunkness. After making fun of yourselves for another fifteen minutes Jungwoo came to the rescue before the three of you could make any more scene. Jungwoo attended to you first kneeling so that he'll be at your eye level trying to gauge how far off drunk are you. Your vision is blurry but still seeing him concerned for you makes you forget about the fight you had earlier.

"Hey Handsome why are you here?" You smiled and proceeded to caress his cheek with your fingers.

"I am looking for my girlfriend. She's mad at me -" Jungwoo seized your hand with his pressing his cheek further into your palms looking at you pleading eyes." and I already miss her."

"Take me away then." You throw your arms at Jungwoo's shoulders.

Jungwoo started carrying you in a bridal position. You circled your arms around his neck and leaned all your weight to him causing Jungwoo to almost lose his balance. "Princess don't do that we'll fall if you do that again." You burrowed your head deeper to his neck littering kisses at the juncture where it meets his collarbone. Lucas who was mostly talking to himself and shouting at no one saw that you are being taken away. In his drunkness he didn't recognized that it was Jungwoo and thought you are being kidnapped. He forced himself to catch up with Jungwoo walking in long strides almost slipping a few times due to his dizziness he pulled at Jungwoo's shoulder strong enough to make Jungwoo face him with you slumping in Jungwoo's arms.

"Hey Pervert! Where are you taking Baobei? You have to go through me first." Lucas took a deep breath dramatically as if gathering strength and got into a fighting stance like Bruce lee boucing on the balls of his feet, flinging his arms periodically jabbing into nothing.

"Yukhei my luvvvvv save me from this godawful creature." You dramatically put the back of your hand at your forehead speaking in a theatrical voice playing along with Lucas' delusions.

"Baobei I am coming I'll-" Lucas shouted attracting the crowd's attention. Jungwoo interrupted him before he makes an even bigger scene. "Lucas man, it's Jungwoo. _________'s boyfriend."

"Oh" Lucas was suddenly dumbfounded. "Hi, man nice to meet you I am Yukhei but you can call me Lucas. I am _______'s bestfriend." Lucas scratched his head and smiled sheepishly before passing out on the floor. Jungwoo sighed with Sicheng giggling by himself at the table like he was exposed to some substance to Lucas passed out on the floor he didn't know that liking you would be so troublesome. Jungwoo looked at you in his arms as you scrunch your nose in drunken slumber. Even when you reek of alcohol he found you endearing.

"You're so lucky Princess that I like you a lot." He said as he kissed your scrunched up nose

a/n: Check out my other works for NCT here:masterlist.

part III (2): It was a peaceful morning until someone shrieked so loud that even the neighbors occupying the other units was startled. It was Sicheng who produced that godawful noise finding that he is naked in bed with none other than Lucas who was equally as naked as him sprawled at the other half of the bed. Lucas drowsily opened his eyes seeing Sicheng on the other side of the bed clutching the bed sheets at his chest looking as if someone has harrased him. He looked down and saw that he was only in his underwear and also screamed his lungs out despite having a deeper voice it was as if some girls were having a screaming contest. "What did you to me Winwin ge?" Lucas asked horrified. "What do you mean? I should ask you that I woke up with no clothes on?" Sicheng pointed at him accusingly. "Did we-" Lucas swallowed and looked at everywhere but at Sicheng.

#nctcreations #kpopscape #jungwoo smut #jungwoo fluff #jungwoo nct127 #lucas fluff #lucas wayv #winwin fluff #jungwoo x reader #jungwoo scenarios #jungwoo nct fanfic #jungwoo imagines

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caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma · 5 years ago

Text

Map of the Soul, Chapter One

For the @btswritingcafe‘s Map of the Soul: 7 Workshop

Author’s Note: This story pulled me into long range territory, so I had to split it into 7 chapters to make it more manageable on Tumblr. Here is the first installment of this journey through the soul. I hope you like it!

Pairings: OT7 x reader (kinda); Jungkook 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

Word Count: 8K+

Warnings: NSFW 18+ cursing/profanity, alcohol consumption, sexual tension, one night stand, sexual content, protected sex, oral sex (female receiving)

Chapter One: There’s Always Time for Euphoria

March 15th - 5:45pm

Done.

That was the singular thought pulsating in your brain as you parked the car. The day was only halfway over and you were way past the breaking point of your own sanity.

From the moment you’d stepped out of bed and into your urine soaked house slippers, you should’ve known that the day was going to be beyond disastrous. Even as you washed them in the tub and left them hanging to dry, you just knew the rest of the day would be a downhill slide.

You didn’t know why your dog Oberyn was upset, but apparently, it was enough to prompt his indiscretion on your only pair of house slippers. He’d even had the audacity to sit in his bed and glare at you while you hurled your anger and frustration at him as you got dressed for your day.

I don’t know what crawled up his butt this morning, but I hope he’s in a better mood. I’m in no condition to deal with his bullshit right now.

After almost tripping up the stairs to your apartment entrance and dropping your keys into the bushes on the way up, you finally made it across the threshold. You quickly changed out your work shoes for sneakers and got Oberyn ready for his walk. Fifteen minutes later, you were cleaning the bottom of your shoe after a happy little accident found your foot at the dog park. Oberyn seemed to smirk at your misfortune, but you couldn’t even muster the energy to care.

Once you both returned to the apartment, you put his harness and leash away and reached over to grab his after-walk treats. You noticed one was already out on top of the container and the morning’s havoc immediately made sense. Oberyn wagged his tail and waited patiently for his treats and a well deserved apology.

“I’m sorry, buddy,” you sighed, handing him both treats. “I didn’t realize I’d forgotten to give this to you.”

He accepted your apology and head pats, then happily grabbed both snacks and ran to eat them on his bed. You shook your head and smiled at the easily appeased creature.

If only everything worked like that. You get something you were missing and it suddenly solves all your problems. The Universe finally makes sense again. What a life!

You quickly changed into comfy clothes and collapsed unceremoniously onto the couch. The random assortment of unfortunate events of the day replayed like a blooper reel in your mind and you groaned at the stacks of embarrassment and humiliation you’d endured.

You’d locked yourself out of your office and the university maintenance guy took forever to unlock it for you, which made you late to your first class. You had to dismiss the class and reschedule the quiz since all the copies were sitting on your desk in your locked office.

You’d torn your favorite black slacks and had to patch them with bright green thread from your emergency sewing kit.

You’d sustained several injuries including three paper cuts, a stubbed toe, your knee knocking the underside of a table, and a staple stabbing underneath your fingernail.

You’d spilled coffee down the front of your blouse when a fly unexpectedly dove into your face.

You’d even lost one of your favorite earrings while taking off your scarf outside the Humanities building. It was now lost among the clumps of mud by the front door.

Why does the Universe hate me so much today?

RIIIIINNGGG!!

You swiveled your head over to your cell phone screeching at you from the side table. The comical picture of your mother flashing on the screen drew a groan of exasperation from your throat.

I can’t deal with her right now.

The phone ceased its machinations and you turned into the couch seeking an escape from the tragedies of the day.

RIIIIINNGGG!!

“Argh!” You wailed. “What could she possibly need from me right now?!”

After taking a deep breath, you picked up the offending device and swiped the screen to answer the call.

“Hello, mother,” you grumbled. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Oh, sweetheart,” she sighed. “Don’t talk to your mother like that. It’s undignified.”

“I apologize,” you corrected with fake cheerfulness. “Hi, Mommy! I missed the sound of your voice. How was your day?”

“We really need to work on your phone etiquette, honey,” your mother groaned. “You’ll never meet anyone with that attitude.”

“Yes, mother,” you replied snarkily. “My goal in life is to trap someone in my love nest with only my wit and wisdom as weapons.”

“Anyway,” she drawled. “The reason I’m calling is because I’m looking for something. Do you remember that stole you wore for your college graduation? The one your grandmother made?”

“Yeah, I remember,” you responded. “It has all the graduate names from our family embroidered on it. It’s in my memory box in the closet. Why?”

“Your cousin Sana is graduating from college in about a week,” she announced happily. “I need that stole so we can get it embroidered before the graduation ceremony. Can you overnight it to me, darling?”

You leaned back on the couch and released a sigh of defeat.

Of course other people are doing great things in their life. I’m the only dumbass stuck in a rut right now.

“I’ll dig it out of the closet and send it to you tomorrow,” you replied. “Let me know when and where the graduation will be so I can make plans to head down.”

“Splendid,” your mom chirped. “I’m sure everyone will be happy to see you. Get some rest, honey. You sound tired. Love you!”

Without giving you a chance to respond, your mom ended the call. You looked at the screen and rolled your eyes.

She gets what she needs and then she’s gone. Typical.

Knowing you would probably forget to do it later, you wandered over to your spare closet, grabbing the stepladder along the way.

Might as well get this over with.

You climbed up on the ladder and pulled on the chain for the light above your head. You couldn’t stifle the groan from escaping when you spied the piles of plastic containers and boxes on the upper shelf.

Why is my life such a hot mess?

You started pulling down boxes one by one to avoid an accidental avalanche. The collection of dust and crumpled cardboard left you sneezing and gagging on stuffy air and a faint smell of mothballs.

After clearing your throat and taking a sip of water, you looked up and spotted the box you’d been looking for.

Just one more box to move.

The box in question had shifted slightly and was wedged against the ceiling at an odd angle. Try as you might, you couldn’t get it to budge. With a huff of annoyance, you balanced yourself on the top of the stepladder and pushed up to get closer to the box. You heaved your palms against the side of the box and it gave away before you could regain your balance. You crashed into an uncomfortable heap on the floor and whined loudly as you felt the painful throb on your ankle.

After a quick assessment, you discover no other injuries except for a slightly swollen ankle and a sizable knot on the top of your head.

What the hell hit my head?

You glanced around and saw three different boxes scattered around you. One was the memory box you’d been trying to get, one was the previously wedged prisoner box, and the other was completely foreign. You stood up and walked over to lift it from among the clatter on the floor.

This isn’t mine. Is it?

You brushed off the subtle cobwebs and dust and revealed a collection of stickers and decals that were strikingly familiar. Most depicted the many fandoms you followed, but others appeared to be nothing more than artfully scribbled words in elegant script.

Time. Destiny. Passion. Happiness. Faith. Friendship. Love.

You turned the box over in your hands and furrowed your brows quizzically. You didn’t remember ever seeing the box before and it certainly wasn’t there when you originally packed the closet full of your crap.

A loud text message tone pulled you out of your reverie and you abandoned the box on the counter in search of your phone.

Ah yes, we have to keep the tradition going.

Your grandmother and her sentimentality were time consuming, but also adorable. She wanted to stress the importance of education in the family, but also find a way to keep everyone connected from generation to generation. It was her insistence that solidified this current graduation tradition.

You opened the memory box and lifted the neatly folded stole in its plastic bag and the small scrapbook decorated with graduation memorabilia. You took a moment to reminisce about your prior accomplishments and then placed the items on the counter. After cleaning up the mess on the floor and carefully returning everything to the closet, you limped over to the kitchen and poured yourself another glass of water.

On your third gulp, your eyes landed on the mysterious box again. It was no bigger than a shoe box, but was definitely sturdier. Curiosity got the better of you and you inspected it a little more closely.

There was a tarnished metal knob that needed to be turned in order to lift the lid. The glossy surface appeared to be varnished or glazed so that the stickers and words would remain fixed. There was no lock, so you decided to open it.

You didn’t know what to expect when you opened the lid, but it certainly wasn’t what you found.

Laying on top of a folded piece of paper were seven items: a rubber banana keychain, a cute little hamburger toy, a metallic purple kazoo, a gold sequined bow tie on an elastic band, a red beanie dragon plush, a spoon with a floral design, and a thin metal disc with an assortment of holes. You tentatively inspected each item and placed it on the counter.

What the hell is all this?

You lifted the folded paper out of the box and looked underneath. All that was left at the bottom of the box was a quote etched into the surface.

My life and yours are an equal sign, So my remedy is your remedy.

You read the phrase over a few times and couldn’t make sense of it. It seemed familiar, but you couldn’t place it. You turned the folded paper over in your hands a few times and then unfolded it. It’s a fairly large sheet and it resembled parchment. At first glance, the image on the paper looked like an intricate abstract drawing. There were large lines of ink brushed across in elaborate swirls resembling a disjointed heart.

The swirling lines were connected by smudges of charcoal across from blocks of text in colorful ink. There were seven smudges with lines of text to the left of each smudge. You couldn’t make sense of it, but there did seem to be some type of pattern implied. The lines flowed from left to right increasing in width and each successive line grew wider as it progressed to the other side of the page.

You studied the lightest portion of the drawing and read the lines of text next to this first smudge.

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?

The words were certainly poetic, but you didn’t understand their significance. You glanced at the other phrases and they seemed just as cryptic.

What the hell am I looking at? Why would something like this be in my closet?

You were too exhausted to think too much on it, so you shrugged your shoulders and folded the paper and placed it back in the box. You left everything else on the counter and decided that it was time for a shower and then bedtime. As you lay in bed, you exhaled heavily and focused on the hope that tomorrow would be better than today.

March 17th - St. Patrick’s Day - 4:27pm

Oh no...please don’t let her find me in here.

“Ok, no arguments,” Gina chirped in excitement as she pranced through your office door. “It’s time for green beer and dancing!”

Damn, she’s quick!

You lowered your head to your desk and groaned out slightly and silently scolded yourself for not leaving the office earlier to avoid her completely. It was much easier to avoid Gina if you were already out of the office, but once she had you cornered, it was almost impossible to tell her no. She was your favorite faculty member and the only person at work that you would consider hanging out with outside of the university.

Gina had been trying to get you to go out for months, and after a long week of midterm exams, you couldn’t find the energy to counter her offer. Besides, you were now, technically, on Spring Break.

“Come on, girl,” she pleaded. “You know I’m leaving for Acapulco the day after tomorrow with my sisters. If I can get you out of your stuffy apartment and into an Irish bar for a little St. Patty’s Day fun, then I can truly enjoy my vacation. You know how I worry about my work-bestie when I’m not around.”

She pouted at you and batted her long eyelashes, and you almost cackled at her adorable puppy dog look. You half expected her to start whining at you like Oberyn would when he wanted something. Maybe that image in your head that weakened your resolve against her proposal for a St. Patrick’s Day outing.

“Fine,” you acquiesced. “Where are we going, Gina?”

She squealed in excitement and twirled around with glee. You tried to resist the growing enthusiasm, but you quickly gave in with a sigh and a smile.

“Fine. Let me finish up here and we can go to my apartment,” you suggested. “I guess I’ll need you to help me pick out an outfit for tonight.”

Gina nodded happily and ran upstairs to collect her things. Once you finished packing everything away, she was hopping around in anticipation at your office door. Her bunny antics made you giggle.

Such funny friends I have.

March 17th - St. Patrick’s Day - 10:37pm

After a quick dinner of sushi, you were pushing your way through the crowded Irish bar back to the booth where Gina was entertaining her latest acquisition. The guy was certainly handsome, but he only had eyes for Gina. You had another set of drinks for the two of you, but upon discovering the entwined couple making out in the booth, you decided to retreat to give them some privacy.

Typical. She invites me out and then she ditches me for a pretty face.

You wandered back toward the bar and gazed at the writhing mass of bodies under the flashing lights on the dance floor. Desperate to lose yourself in the moment, you downed the two drinks and relished the flavor of Guiness and Bailey’s on your tongue. If Gina was going to have fun, then so were you. You motioned the bartender over and ordered a Jameson & Ginger Ale.

“A whiskey girl, huh?” exclaimed a sultry voice behind you. “Much better than those Appletini chicks.”

Ah, yes, the pick up line. At least his voice is sexy. Let’s hope the rest of him matches.

You couldn’t decide whether to be amused or annoyed, so you decided to let his face make the decision for you. You turned around prepared to give him your best smirk, but lost your nerve once you saw who it was.

“Jungkook?” you replied in squeak. “What are you doing here?!”

Pure amusement filled his doe eyes and he huffed out a laugh. You were floored that your secret hopes of your mystery man being handsome were completely dashed. In fact, he didn’t just have a sexy voice, he was also drop dead gorgeous. You hadn’t seen Jeon Jungkook in almost 7 years, and he hadn’t aged a day. Back when you were both still working on your undergraduate degrees, you’d been his writing tutor on campus, spending countless hours pouring over research papers and essays that needed serious revision and editing.

So many late nights spent at each other’s apartments, so many long hours in the private study rooms, so many casual touches, missed opportunities, awkward moments, and those long nights alone in your bed where you wished his strong arms were holding you. There was no denying the sexual tension you’d felt back then, and there was certainly no denying it now.

Now, here he was leaning on the bar in his billowy shirt and dark ripped jeans looking like some kind of Greek god holding a glass of bourbon. You quickly cleared the inebriation out of your brain and tried to appear sober and sane while you smoothed out your ruffled hair.

“So,” Jungkook smirked while pulling you closer. “I’m guessing you weren’t expecting to see me here, huh?”

“Ummm, no,” you admitted sheepishly. “I didn’t even know you were back in town. I haven’t seen you in years. What are you doing here?”

“I just took a job here,” Jungkook stated simply. “Just hanging out with my new coworkers for the night. I saw you and thought I’d say hi, but I wasn’t expecting you to look so enticing though. You’re not here with your boyfriend or husband, are you?”

“Is that your subtle way of asking if I’m still single?” you popped your eyebrow at him. “And enticing, really? Still trying to pick me up, Kookie?”

He smiled a bright bunny grin at his old nickname. You were the only one who would ever call him that and he would never admit just how much he loved it.

“Oh, did you want me to try?,” he continued while reaching up to run his hands up and down your arms. “Hmmmm, where should I begin, babygirl?”

He pulled his lip between his lips and shot you a smoldering look while flipping his hair slightly. You tried to look disinterested, but you lost your composure when he reached up to push a lock up hair behind your ear. Your breath caught in your throat as he moved in between your legs.

“I mean it, you know?” Jungkook insisted while locking eyes with you. “You still look incredible.”

The bartender returned with your drink at that moment. Thankful for a little distraction, you lifted the glass of liquid courage to your lips. You swallowed a large gulp of swirling heady sweetness and smiled at Jungkook. He was watching you with stars in his eyes and you were enjoying every minute of it.

“So what are you doing these days, Kookie?” you asked, trying to shift his gaze elsewhere. “Are you still playing with your camera and crayons?”

Jungkook laughed and rolled his eyes at your insinuation. As an art major, Jungkook dabbled in several mediums including painting, sculpture, photography, graphic design, and drawing. The boy was insanely talented, so you were actually curious about where he’d ended up career-wise.

“I just took a job at an advertising agency,” he replied with a cocked eyebrow. “And no, I’m not playing with crayons, smartass. I’m their new Assistant Art Director, so I’m mostly working on graphic designs and managing their photography department.”

“Look at you,” you grinned. “Little Kookie all grown up and making big bucks as an actual adult.”

“I was always an adult,” he corrected. “Someone just always chose to treat me like a little kid.”

“Not always,” you shot back. “It’s not my fault you had a tendency to act like an idiot teenager sometimes.”

“Fair point,” he conceded. “But we all have to grow up sometimes, right? Except you, I guess. Looking at you, I could never guess that so much time has passed since I last saw you. You honestly look amazing.”

He leaned in and ran his nose along your neck up to your ear, inhaling deeply as he grazed your skin. He hummed happily as the intoxicating scent of your perfume hit his nostrils.

“You smell amazing too,” he sighed against your ear. “I bet you haven’t thought about me once since I last saw you.”

“Well, that’s a lie,” you smirked. “I’ve thought about you quite a lot actually. You, sir, are one of my big regrets from college.”

“Oh yeah?” Jungkook chuckled lightly while nipping at your earlobe. “Why is that, babygirl?”

You nearly purred at his touch and you hissed lightly when you felt Jungkook’s lips attached themselves to your neck.

“Oh, you’re such a fucking tease, Kookie.” you whined. “How am I supposed to think clearly when you’re doing that?”

“What?” he mused. “I’m not doing anything you don’t want me to, am I?”

You pushed on his chest slightly and he pulled away just enough to rub his nose along your own. You felt his breath ghost across your face and you allowed the smell of bourbon to mix in with his fresh scent.

“Kookie,” you sighed. “How much have you had to drink?”

He wrinkled his brow in confusion and stepped back to look at your face, searching for some explanation for your implied accusation. You weren’t trying to sound like you were chastising him for drinking, but you couldn’t shake the insecurity itching under your skin. It was entirely possible that Jungkook was just feeling a little tipsy from the evening and his familiarity with you was the cause of his brazen behavior. It wouldn’t be the first time, but you weren’t about to let a longtime crush be ruined because of a questionable drunken daze. Jungkook picked up on your train of thought and placed his drink on the bar.

“I hope you’re not insinuating that I’m only hitting on you because I’ve been drinking,” he scowled. “You should know better than that. I’ve been hitting on you since before I was able to buy my own alcohol, remember?”

“Yeah,” you giggled. “I remember having to sneak you into a few clubs back in the day.”

“Exactly,” he bragged. “So don’t try to make it sound like I’m just some random drunken idiot trying to get into your pants. I’m the same Jungkook who would look down your shirt or pull you into his lap in the hopes of making out with you. I mean, I’m still trying to get into your pants, but at least it’s not something new.”

“Still, huh?” you prompted after downing the rest of your drink. “Well, it’s going to take more than a little flirting to get into my pants, Kookie. You want to dance? I want to see if you still got those sexy moves, Kookie.”

He giggled and then finished his own drink with haste. He grabbed your hand to help you off the barstool and you pulled him toward the chaotic dance floor.

You shook off your previous nerves and worked your way into the pulsating mass of dancers. The music was thumping out a steady bass line and you swayed your hips back and forth to the beat. You weren’t sure if Jungkook noticed your attempt at seduction, but within moments, a pair of strong hands attached themselves to your gyrating hips. Given your vaguely inebriated state, you had no problem relinquishing a little control to your sexy suitor.

You encouraged Jungkook’s boldness by pushing your ass back into his crotch, grinding onto his growing erection. He leaned into your body and pulled you closer. His lips ghosted a kiss on your exposed shoulder and then nipped at your neck playfully. The pleased sigh that left your lips prompted a dark chuckle from him.

“So naughty,” he murmured into your ear. “If you keep on grinding onto my dick like that, I’ll have to take action, babygirl.”

You leaned your head back onto his shoulder and reached up to grip his wavy hair. He groaned softly as you tugged on the roots and his hips thrusted against your ass. You quickly calculated how long it had been since you’d had sex and decided that it was time to update your calendar.

“Oh yeah?” you taunted. “I’ll accept that challenge.”

You turned in his grasp and locked onto his lips with your own. He hesitated for a moment, but pushed back with his own lips in seconds. They were unbelievably soft and his fervent kisses ignited an inferno in your center. You decided to take it a bit further and you swiped your tongue across the seam of his lips. He moaned slightly in response and dove into your mouth with his own tongue. Once you bit down on his bottom lip, you both decided it was time to move to a more secure location.

He turned away from the crowd and pulled you behind him toward the bar. You both quickly closed out your tabs and made your way to the exit. Once you were both outside, you pounced on him and pushed him into the brick exterior, unable to contain your lust any longer. Jungkook appeared flustered by your eagerness and took a moment to gather his bearings.

“As much I would love to lose myself in this moment,” Jungkook huffed while pulling away from your hungry lips. “Maybe we should decide on a place with softer surfaces.”

You glanced at the vacant alleyway next to you and the brightly lit city street and frowned.

“Sorry,” you apologized. “Kinda forgot where I was for a second there.”

“Really?” Jungkook grinned and kissed your forehead. “You could’ve fooled me.”

“Let me call an Uber,” you volunteered. “My place isn’t too far from here.”

Once you were both in the Uber, you couldn’t stop touching and smiling at each other. The driver commented on the “happy couple,” and you didn’t have to heart to correct the old man.

Once you were both inside your apartment, Jungkook pushed you against your front door and started nipping lazily along your jaw.

Jungkook stroked his thumbs along your sides and leaned in to kiss your flushed cheeks. You sighed happily in response and ran your hands up his firm chest and rested them on his shoulders.

“Jungkook,” you began. “I didn’t think I’d ever run into you again. I haven’t seen you since my undergraduate graduation party.”

“I tried to see more of you that night,” Jungkook admitted while stroking your hair. “But someone disappeared in the middle of the party with their friend, Jimin.”

You flushed further at his words, remembering that night a little more clearly now that he’d brought it up. You and your former friend with benefits had indeed disappeared that night to have a little undergraduate graduation celebration of your own. By the time the two of you rejoined the party, Jungkook was long gone.

“Sorry about that,” you muttered. “I honestly didn’t think you’d be interested. You always had so many girls pining for you, I never thought you’d give me a second glance.”

“Are you kidding?” Jungkook scoffed. “I’ve wanted you since our first tutoring session. I could barely concentrate with you wearing that tank top and those little shorts. What kind of tutor shows up wearing something like that?”

“It was summer,” you countered. “It was over 100 degrees. What was I supposed to wear? A parka?”

You both giggled at that, and it broke the tension that was building since you recognized him. Feeling encouraged, you started lightly scratching his shoulders and chest, noting the stiff pebbles you grazed down the front of his shirt.

“So what now?” you asked. “Do we just keep reminiscing about old times until the sun comes up?”

You gently popped the top button from his shirt to reveal more of his deliciously tanned skin. Jungkook bit his lip and lifted an eyebrow suggestively.

“I think we’ve talked enough,” he grinned wickedly. “There are better ways to spend our time.”

Your eyes locked and you could almost feel the searing arousal growing between you. You gently pushed him away from you and then started walking toward your bedroom, tossing your shoes aside along the way. At the edge of the living room, you lifted your dress over your head and tossed it on the couch. Jungkook smirked and continued to unbutton his shirt while walking toward you. His taut muscles caused your thighs to clench in anticipation.

“Are you enjoying the view, baby?” Jungkook purred while looking you up and down. “I know I am.”

He unbuckled his belt and tugged at the buttons on his jeans. You stepped forward to help him, but got too caught up in touching his bare skin to be of any use. You pulled Jungkook’s lips to your own just as he leaned forward to pull his pants down. He was caught off balance, but quickly recovered after using his feet to pull the troublesome fabric from his legs.

After flinging his shirt behind him, you were both left in your underwear and no inch of exposed skin was left unexplored. Your dominant personalities were at war as you made your way down the hallway, and the aggression became tangible, especially after you practically slammed his back into the wall by your bedroom door. Jungkook squealed happily when you started climbing onto his chest and he reached down and pulled your legs up and around his waist.

Even though his hands were already busy holding you up, he still managed to slip a few fingers in between your legs from behind. The soaked fabric of your underwear pulled a sultry groan from his kiss bitten lips.

“Holy shit, baby,” he said in a breathy tone. “You’re so fucking wet already.”

You moaned softly into his ear as he trailed your arousal back and forth across your slit. He walked across the threshold of your bedroom door and sat down on the bed. You quickly pushed him on his back, but he sat back up and tried to still your frantic hands.

“Baby, baby,” he implored. “You can slow down a bit. I’m not going anywhere.”

“But,” you pouted. “You have no idea how many times I fantasized about this. I’m just excited that it’s actually happening.”

He reached up with one hand and unsnapped your bra with unbelievable precision. He smirked at your awed expression, tossed your bra to the floor, and then leaned up to kiss you sweetly.

“I feel the same way,” he confessed. “I just want to take my time with this. There’s no rush.”

Jungkook continued kissing along your jawline and proceeded to your neck. He pulled on your nipples slightly and then slipped his fingers around your waist to toy with the band of your underwear. You took a deep breath and smiled. Maybe you were a little eager, but it wasn’t often that a legit snack was delivered unto you by the Universe. The restraint was a real struggle.

Jungkook nipped at a sweet spot just below your ear and you hissed and clutched desperately at his back in response.

“Kookie,” you whined. “Don’t tease me.”

“Oh yeah?” he chuckled darkly. “I’d say you deserve a little payback for all the times you teased me, don’t you think?”

“What?” you scoffed. “When?”

Jungkook turned and tossed you onto the bed. He reached up and pulled your hands above your head and held them in place with one hand.

“Every time I saw you,” he reiterated while kissing down your chest. “Your flirty smiles, your sexy winks, your playful jokes, you sat in my lap on more than one occasion when we cuddled on the couch.”

“You never reacted to any of that,” you breathed out in a gasp. “I just assumed you wanted to be friends.”

“I didn’t want to assume anything either,” he admitted. “But I definitely wanted to be more than just friends.”

He leaned in and pulled you into another intoxicating kiss, and you leaned forward to slip your tongue into his mouth, needing to satiate your overwhelming lust. He pushed his own tongue against yours and then pulled away from your lips completely.

He smirked at your needy whine and trailed his free hand across your cheeks then down onto your breast. He leaned in to capture one nipple with his lips and stimulate the other with his fingers. You writhed in desperation, but he only hummed in response.

“Something wrong, babygirl?” He mused. “You seem a little agitated.”

“Gee,” you huffed. “I wonder why.”

Pure amusement played across Jungkook’s beautiful face as he released one nipple from his mouth with a loud popping sound. He licked the valley between your breasts and shifted his body between your legs. You could feel his thick clothed erection brushing across the top of your thighs. He leaned up to kiss your lips and lingered for a moment before releasing your hands.

“Keep your hands where they are, babygirl,” he instructed. “Don’t move them until I tell you to, ok?”

“What happens if I move them?” you challenged. “Will I get in trouble, Kookie?”

“Oh yeah,” he glared. “Big trouble.”

To send his comment further into your mind, Jungkook rubbed his girthy length gently across your clit and grinned wickedly as you moaned wantonly in response. He placed another kiss on your lips and began crawling down your torso. You released a flustered exhale and wiggled your hips beneath him in anticipation.

His hands continued to explore as he kissed a trail down your body. Jungkook paused and adjusted his position when he reached your dripping center. He nuzzled his nose into the thin fabric of your panties and gave the wet spot he found a lick.

Your hips tried to snap forward with the sensation, but Jungkook held you firmly in place. He slid your underwear down your legs and flung them on the floor with the other discarded articles of clothing. He then situated himself firmly between your legs and slid his strong arms under your thighs.

Intent on prolonging his sensual torture, Jungkook ran his tongue delicately along your juicy folds and the blew a cool stream of air onto your exposed nub. The sensation triggered a shiver to erupt across your skin, and you latched onto the pillow above you to anchor your hands in place. Before you could unleash another whine of displeasure, Jungkook dipped the tip of his tongue into your dripping center and swirled it to collect your juices. He released a satisfied hum when he swallowed and got his first real taste of you

“Oh, fuck me,” Jungkook groaned into your upper thigh. “Your pussy is delicious, baby. I may be down here for a while. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Ah,” you squeaked as he licked another stripe through your folds. “Go right ahead, Kookie. I won’t stop you.”

Jungkook nearly growled as he dove into your sopping wet slit, slurping up every drop of slick he could find. You moaned and twitched uncontrollably and he sent you into a tempest of pure pleasure. Every flick of his tongue, every bit of suction against your clit, and every grasp of Jungkook’s hands on your skin jolted your nerve endings into a full blown orgasm careening from your center and spreading all the way across your extremities. He was certainly taking his sweet time and enjoying every minute of it.

Once the climax shifted into overstimulation, you reached down and pulled on Jungkook’s hair and begged him to stop. The little bunny grin he flashed you was completely at odds with the sinful actions of his fingers in between your legs. He planted one last lingering kiss on your throbbing bundle of nerves and crawled off the bed.

You were about to protest his absence from the bed, but then he left you slack jawed when he pulled his boxer briefs off and kicked them aside. The sight of his quivering length made your mouth water, even more so when he gave it a few purposeful strokes. The swollen pink tip was already weeping with precum and you licked your lips, wondering about the taste.

“Ah, you can’t do that to me,” Jungkook blushed. “You’re looking at me like you want to eat me up.”

“Maybe I do,” you teased. “Can you blame me when you’re looking so damn tasty?”

Jungkook chuckled wickedly as he mounted the bed again and hovered over your tantalizing naked figure. He licked his lips, still tasting your essence on his tongue, and raked his eyes up and down your body.

“Are you ready for me, babygirl?” he mused. “Do you think you can take all of me?”

Glancing down at his sizable girth, you popped an eyebrow and tilted your head pensively. You reached over to your side table and opened a drawer to pull out a condom, handing it to Jungkook with a smile.

That’s a damn good question. Can I?

“I guess it’s time to find out,” you teased. “How long are you going to keep me waiting, Kookie?”

That was all the encouragement Jungkook needed to act upon his voracious hunger. He quickly rolled the condom onto his dick and leaned forward to give you a passionate kiss. He released your swollen lips and you gasped as you felt him rubbing his tip along your damp slit.

“I’ve been waiting for this for so long,” Jungkook murmured. “Just know that you’re in for a long night, baby. I’m not going to stop until we’ve made up for all that time we lost.”

With that being said, Jungkook plunged his throbbing cock into you and released a ravenous groan above you. You both remained still for a few moments and you squirmed in his hold hoping to increase the friction you craved. After the tension in Jungkook’s shoulders subsided, his hips burrowed deeper and deeper into your soaking heat. He relished the deluge of your juices dampening his thighs, the melodic moans of his name you uttered over and over again, and most of all, the profound elation of finally reaching the state of euphoria he’d been dreaming about since you were both in college.

The night raged on with your ardent love-making, and after hours of unbridled bliss, you were sprawled across Jungkook’s chest, buzzing with contentment. Both of your glistening chests heaved from exertion, but the fucked out looks on your faces didn’t reveal any hints of exhaustion.

“That was unbelievable, Kookie,” you panted. “Why didn’t we do that sooner?”

“Because we were both idiots?” Jungkook suggested. “Whatever it was, I’m glad we finally found the time to do it.”

He kissed the top of your head and smacked your ass playfully. You hissed at the contact and pursed your lips at him in a pout. He giggled at your cuteness and wrapped his arms around you.

“What was that for?” you whined. “You’re so mean, Kookie.”

“Hey,” he protested hotly. “I told you to keep your hands in place earlier, but you just had to pull on my hair. I owed you at least one good spank.”

“I think you spanked me enough tonight,” you replied cheekily. “Among other things.”

You both smiled at each other as you replayed the events of the evening in your minds. You leaned over to pull him into another lingering kiss. He chuckled and stopped you from deepening the kiss.

“We should probably clean up,” he argued. “We are a hot steaming mess right now.”

“Speak for yourself,” you shot back. “I’m not a mess.”

He lifted his eyebrows and then reached between your legs to drag his fingers across the stickiness clinging to your legs. You mewled in protest and shot him a dirty look for calling you out.

“Ok, fine,” you agreed. “I’m a mess, but so are you. How about a shower before I change the sheets?”

He nodded in agreement and helped you off the bed and into the bathroom. Your legs were still a little wobbly after so much physical activity.

It’s been a while since I put my thighs to good use.

The intimacy carried on in the shower, but neither of you had enough energy to initiate another round of passion. The most you were able to do was kiss each other lazily after helping each other clean up. After the shower, Jungkook was an absolute gentleman and helped you change your sheets.

“You don’t have to leave, you know,” you suggested. “You could just stay. It’s after 5am anyway.”

“I know,” he replied coolly while buttoning his shirt. “But I’m not really in the habit of staying the night.”

“Oh, really?” you teased while popping an eyebrow. “Then can I get you a drink before you leave?”

Jungkook smiled at your hospitality and nodded in response. You were quick to get him a glass of cold water and set it on the counter. A now fully dressed Jungkook walked over and pulled you into another kiss before grabbing the glass and taking a drink. You nuzzled against his chest and sighed. Jungkook set the glass aside, wrapped his arms around you, and kissed the top of your head sweetly.

“Hey,” he exclaimed suddenly. “Where did you find that?”

He reached over and picked up the banana keychain still sitting on your counter. You totally forgot about the small collection of random objects you found in the closet, but now that Jungkook was examining the keychain, your thoughts revisited the mysterious items once again.

“It was in a box I found in my closet,” you confirmed. “Why? Do you recognize that keychain?”

“Of course I do,” Jungkook murmured. “It’s mine, and it isn’t just a keychain, it’s a USB drive.”

He pulled the banana apart at the center and it revealed a USB connector bearing the lettering 512GB. Your jaw dropped at the sudden revelation.

“What the-” you queried. “Why would I have it?”

“Maybe I left it at your place or something?” Jungkook said. “But the point is, I looked everywhere for this thing. I have so many layouts and artwork on here, and this will be incredibly useful at my new job. You are literally saving me weeks of work with this thing.”

“You’re asking me to just give you this flash drive that I found in my apartment mixed in with my stuff?” you reasoned. “How do I know this is actually yours?”

“Because I recognized it,” Jungkook argued. “And I also knew what it was. You obviously didn’t.”

“Hmmmm,” you mused. “I don’t know. What’ll you give me in return?”

Jungkook patted himself down and reached into his pants pocket to pull out a green shamrock on a beaded necklace with the word “Lucky” emblazoned across the front. The look on his face gave off the impression that he was confused, but then it transformed into amusement. He grinned and flipped a switch on the button, causing it to erupt into a barrage of green LED lights.

“I will give you this limited edition, LED powered four leaf clover necklace,” Jungkook proposed. “It’s the perfect good luck charm, and so much better than a horseshoe or a rabbit’s foot. What do you say?”

You eyed the glowing button and burst into a giggle fit. Jungkook was presenting it to you as though it were some kind of grand prize on a game show.

“Where did you even get that?” you asked. “Do you just hide random holiday necklaces in your pants?”

“No,” Jungkook chuckled. “They gave it to me at the bar. I almost left it on the table, but I couldn’t put it down. When I saw you by the bartender, I guess I just put it in my pocket. It’s weird, I usually don’t keep stuff like this. But it’s yours, if you want it.”

“Well,” you grinned. “With a sales pitch like that, how can I resist?”

He joyfully handed you the flashy plastic bauble and pressed another delightful kiss on your lips. You set the shamrock necklace aside on the counter and wrapped your arms around Jungkook’s neck to continue pressing sweet kisses on his soft pink lips. Before things got too heated again, Jungkook pulled away and kissed your forehead. He exhaled a deep breath as you buried your face into his firm chest.

The night had been phenomenal and this thing between you and Jungkook was heating up so well. Maybe there was a possibility for more than just a one night stand? It was a risky proposal to bring up, but your history with Jungkook gave you a sliver of hope.

“So when do I get to see you again, Kookie?” you breathed out while looking up at him. “Now that you’re in town again, maybe we can see each other more often?”

“Uh, well,” Jungkook sighed nervously. “I’m not sure. I just started the job and I’m going to be pretty busy, so I’ll have to let you know.”

“Oh,” you replied while gently releasing your hold on him. “That’s fine, whatever.”

“Hey,” he began while pulling you back into his embrace. “It’s not what you’re thinking. I had an amazing time with you tonight, but I’m not sure I can give anything more than something casual. I wish I could give you more than that, but I’m not really in a good place for anything serious right now.”

You pouted slightly and nodded your head in understanding. Having been in that exact same head space before, you could understand his apprehension. There were easily five years between you and Jungkook, so it was natural that you would be at different places in your life. It would be unfair to expect more of him if he wasn’t ready for it yet.

“I understand,” you murmured knowingly. “I don’t want you to feel obligated or anything like that.”

“I’m sorry I can’t offer you more than that,” he admitted. “Believe me. If ever I’m ready for something long-term, I’m going to be looking for you.”

“If I’m still available,” you mocked him playfully. “You never know. Some other gorgeous man might snap me up before then.”

“Well,” he growled while sinking his hand into your hair. “If that’s the case, then he better be ten times better than me and willing to give you the world on a silver platter. You shouldn’t settle for anything less, babygirl. You deserve to be treated like the goddess you are.”

You rolled your eyes at him and pursed your lips. He shot you an adorable bunny smile and eagerly kissed your lips once again. He took a moment to brush his thumbs across the apples of your cheeks and then shook his head with a goofy smile.

“Ah, I better go,” he announced in a huff. “If I spend any more time here, I’ll never leave.”

“That isn’t necessarily a bad thing,” you shot back teasingly. “I’d definitely make it worth your while.”

“I know you would,” he snickered. “But I really do have a lot of work to do. I’m going to need the rest of the day to recover from tonight before I have to be at work on Monday. Someone gave me a hell of a workout.”

You winked at him and leaned up to kiss him once more before he pulled away toward the front door. You shared one last hug and kiss at the open door after exchanging phone numbers.

“Thank you again for giving this USB back to me.” he expressed with gratitude. “You have no idea how much time you’re going to save me. I’ll try to call you later this week. Maybe we can meet up and do something, if you’re not busy?”

“We’ll see,” you smirked. “I’ll let you know.”

Jungkook flicked your chin and shot you an impish grin. You watched him disappear behind the elevator doors before closing the door to your apartment. Once you were back in your kitchen, you sipped at the water you’d poured for Jungkook and looked at the scattered items on the counter. The absence of the banana keychain was noted, but the glowing shamrock was a welcome replacement. You decided to send Gina a little update before you went to bed.

You put your phone on the counter and let out a loud yawn, the evening and all of its activities finally catching up with you. The mess on the counter annoyed you, so you placed everything back in the box on top of the paper map and switched off the lights.

“I’ll take another look at this tomorrow,” you yawned. “Time for sleep.”

As you walked back to your room, you turned off all the lights and got settled into your comfy bed with fresh sheets. There was still a faint scent of Jungkook floating in the air and it calmed your senses. You started drifting off to Dreamland with visions of Jungkook prancing across your brain.

At least I can stop wondering about Jungkook and what might have been. I’d been obsessing over that for so long. Now, I can move on if I need to.

Reassuring visions danced across your brain and all of them resembled Jungkook. He kept tossing four leaf clovers at your feet, and you giggled in your sleep as he continued showering you in lucky charms.

Jungkook made a good point. Four leaf clovers were much better than other good luck charms. Your bunny boy bestowed a bounty of luck upon you, all while blessing you with a rabbit’s foot of his own.

Well maybe a few inches less than a foot, but size isn’t everything.

With a smile on your face and your heart full of possibilities, you coasted on fumes to the final mile into a deep sleep, knowing that tomorrow would be brighter without the added weight of your past insecurities pulling at your nerves.

It’s funny. I almost feel like I’ve regained something I didn’t know was missing. Maybe Oberyn is on to something after all. The Universe definitely makes more sense than it did yesterday.

That couldn’t just be a coincidence.

Could it?

Your mind continued its existential ramblings throughout the wonders of Dreamland, and in your kitchen, something inexplicable was happening. Only Oberyn was awake to witness the subtle purple glow and sparkle emanating from the counter top. It was over in a flash, but Oberyn still sniffed at the air in the kitchen trying to locate the origin of the unexplained phenomenon.

Chapter Two: Soulmates are a Forever Kind of Thing

MAP OF THE SOUL MASTERLIST

@caught-in-a-seesaw-stigma‘s MASTERLIST

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