#like. sorry I didn’t bring up stuff I was too busy worrying I was gonna lose some friends to a permanent sleep

[elprupneerg]

I hate when I see a post that maybe has helpful information, but it’s so full of guilt tripping, calling people who don’t know the information stupid, and calling people who haven’t been talking about that particular problem stupid, that I don’t feel comfortable sharing it.

[sodapopwrites]

the first sign of fall chapter six: so start over

college au, the batboys and reader are bartenders, also the guys play hockey

pairings - eris vanserra x reader, azriel x reader

summary - things slowly start to mend after eris talks to his brother, and azriel talks to you.

word count - 3k

a/n - sorry this took me so long to write!!! i was super busy, i just moved and had to get all my voter registration stuff in order before tonight! i hope this brings a little distraction from the dreadful anxiety of election day. it certainly worked a little for me. also guys theyre starting to work towards happiness. i think when the series is done i might write blurbs for it. because her and eris make my heart hurt a little. anyways i hope you enjoy!

read the rest of the series here!

 Eris couldn’t get you out of his head. He had tried, by taking that girl to the halloween party instead of you. But now. The idea of forgetting you was almost laughable. Your words echoing through his ears constantly. 

I miss you. 

You missed him. You had Azriel in the palm of your hand and you missed him. He thought of your flushed cheeks and your tousled hair. The bite mark that had been fading from your skin, the way you had brought your hand up to cover it the second he noticed it. The way Azriel had leaned against the porch rail and nodded at him. A silent bow out. Eris wondered what exactly you had said to him to make him give up the chase. What exactly the two of you had discussed. Whether it was a fight or a teary eyed goodbye. He couldn’t make himself not care. About any of it. About how he wished he could have wiped the tear tracks from your face. About how he wished that he could have smoothed every crease of worry from your skin with a kiss. But he couldn’t. Not then. But now? He didn’t know. 

He was walking to campus now. The leaves almost fully fallen from every branch. The harsh sterility of winter starting it’s approach. It felt like he was retracing steps. Steps he had once taken with you. Like his feet were leading him somewhere that he wasn’t fully aware of until he stopped outside the coffee shop you so often frequented. He looked through the slightly fogged windows. Towards the window booth you and Lucien so often liked to share while you studied. You weren’t there. It’s not like he was surprised, he knew you worked thursday evenings anyway. But his brother was. Lucien sat alone at the table. Flipping absent mindedly through the pages of an all too large book, that he was probably reading for brownie points more than anything else. Eris looked at his feet, as if trying to will them to take him somewhere else, before he sighed and pushed open the door of the coffee shop. 

He made his way to where his brother was sitting and wrapped his knuckles on the table. Lucien sighed and looked up. Shooting his elder brother a nonplussed look before letting his book fall closed before him. He leaned back in his chair, looking Eris up and down, and crossing his arms. 

“You look like shit.” 

“You know for someone that used to copy the way that I dress that’s a wild thing to say to me.” 

Lucien scoffed, “I didn’t copy the way you dressed, I was forced to wear hand me downs for a ridiculously long time….which is funny considering that our family could have afforded to buy me new clothes.” 

Eris smiled and shrugged, “Maybe it’s because you were dad’s least favorite.” 

Lucien frowned a little and shrugged, “I’m gonna let you be rude to me only because you’ve clearly let yourself go.” 

Eris let out a deep sigh and leaned back in his chair, almost perfectly mirroring Lucien’s stance. The brothers studied eachother. Neither of them saying anything. Eris chewing his bottom lip, trying to find a good way to phrase what he wanted to say. A good way to bring you up without making it seem like it was the only reason he was talking to Lucien. As if on cue Lucein let out a small laugh, leaned forward, the legs of his chair clicking loudly against the floor, 

“She’s not doing great either.” 

Eris let out another sigh. He didn’t want you to be doing poorly. He wanted you happy and content. Really he did. But there was some comfort in Lucien’s admittance. Some small relief that maybe you were just as unhappy being apart as he was. But the grimace that rippled across his features was evident nonetheless. Lucien continued at the pained look on his brother’s face, 

“Really. I don’t think she’s brushed her hair in a couple days. I’ve never seen her look this disheveled on purpose. She stopped coming to class.” 

Eris looked up at this, “I don’t want that.” 

“I know you don’t.” Lucien paused and rubbed his hand over his eyes, “Maybe you should talk to her.” 

“And say what Lucien?” 

“Well I heard that she uhm…somewhat bared her soul to you.” 

“She was drunk.” 

“I don’t think she was. I think most of the alcohol was vomitted up before she managed to actually talk to you.” 

He was right. Eris thought about the horrifying clarity behind your eyes when you had spoken to him. Your words soft and quiet, like you were almost ashamed to say them at all. Like you were embarrassed to admit that you had any doubts, any fear, at all. 

“I don’t know if we can go back to the way it was.” 

Lucien shrugged, a real, heavy shouldered shrug, and ran a hand through his hair. He opened his book again and said, without looking up from the pages, “So start over.” 

★ ★ ★

You and Azriel worked in silence. Diligently keeping up with the flow of customers, parrying snarky comments from Cassian, and handling the mountain of dirty glasses Mor would dump on the bar’s doorstep every couple minutes. It was good to be busy. You didn’t have to think about anything when it was busy. You could work steadily and make other people happy, without having to think about any of your own shit. You didn’t have to think about how you were falling behind in your classes, or the pained look in Azriel’s eyes everytime they fell on you, or the general hushed tones your friends were speaking to you in. Like you were a dog that had just come back from living on the street. Like you were something to mend slowly and carefully. Something they were scared to kick while it was down. 

“You wanna take your fifteen?” 

It was the first thing Azriel had said to you all shift. The silence and synchonization you two fell into finally benefiting you. You shook your head and tilted your chin in a motion that said why don’t you take yours. There was a lull in the rush. Finally. So he did. Tucking his apron under the counter and nudging Cassian as he walked towards the door. Cassian followed after shooting you an apprehnsive glace, as if worried that you wouldn’t be able to hold down the fort. A completely unfounded concern. But now? You looked like you hadn’t slept since Halloween and it made him nervous. But he followed Azriel out anyways. Not wanting to ask you if you needed help for fear that you’d bite his head off at the insinutaiton. 

Cassian watched Azriel pace up and down the street. His palms pressing into his eyes as he did so. 

“Why don’t you just talk to her?” 

“Why do you only like me when I’m sad?” Azriel looked to his friend while parroting your words. He had been saying them repeatedly to Cassian for the last week. Cassian refusing to really talk about it, this was something he thought Azriel needed to come to terms with on his own. But now. After eight days of this being the only thing Az was able to talk about…he finally cracked, 

“Well…Why do you only like her when she’s sad?” 

Azriel started at him. His arms dropping to hang limp at his sides. He looked dumbfounded at Cassian’s question. Like he never expected that. He should have. But he didn’t. He hung his head and resumed his pacing. 

“I don’t know.” 

Cassian huffed a breath of complaint and crossed his arms. 

“I think…It’s because, as much as you don’t want to admit it, sometimes you like playing the hero so much that it makes you a villain.” 

And with that Cassian turned on his heel and went back inside. He had been doing that alot lately. Dropping bombs and then leaving before Azriel could really respond. It was driving Az crazy. Cassian of all people should not be the one putting him in place. Their dynamic suddenly switched. Nothing in his life at this moment felt the way that it should. 

He slumped down. Sitting on the curb, pulling a cigarette from his coat pocket and trying to enjoy one small peaceful moment before going back to work. But he heard the door creak open, fully expecting Rhys to come reprimand him now, he didn’t turn to look who was approaching him.

You sat next to him. Curling into yourself slightly. Your arms wrapping around your bent legs to shield you from the cold and from the conversation you had steeled yourself into having. He finally looked towards you, a little surprised that you were there in the first place. You spoke first. Like you always did. 

“I’m sorry. For the other night.” 

He started shaking his head before you could even finish talking. “You don’t have to be sorry. You were right. I have the horrible habit of trying to save you from good things.” 

“Well I know I was right. But I didn’t have to say it like that. Like you were the only one to blame.” 

He sat with the words. Rolling the cigarette between his lips as he thought, 

“I want you to be happy.” 

“I know” you whispered like you didn’t really believe it and he pushed forwards, 

“No. I want you to be happy. I want to see it happen and I want to see it stay.” He paused and heaved in a deep and settling breath, “Because we’re friends.” 

“We’re friends?” 

“I think it’s what we’re best at.” He scrunched his nose a little as he said it. Almost teasing. Like maybe it wasn’t too soon to make jokes. Like they could start to rebuild from here. You didn’t say anything in response. But you smiled, strained and tired, but a smile. So he kept talking. For once he needed to keep talking. 

“The reason I never said anything the first time. After you left. Was because I thought you didn’t want me to. I thought I was saving you from something. Believe it or not…I was also scared. That it didn’t mean anything. And at the time…maybe it did. It probably meant everything. But now? It’s been so long and I..” 

He leaned back, resting his palms on the cold damp concrete of the sidewalk, letting the sting of it set his nerves and solidify his ground, “I wasted my chance and now I think you need to take yours. Don’t stay silent again because you’re scared.” 

“We both wasted our chance. It wasn’t just you.” Again that hushed tone. The hurried flow of your words, like if you didn’t get them out as fast as you could, you wouldn’t get them out again. 

“I think it’s for the better.” 

You stared at eachother now. A silent understanding passing between you. A settling warmth. A forgiveness that’s been long awaited. The silent turmoil of the last two years of your friendship finally starting to ease it’s way back to a steady rhythm. 

“You should talk to him. Again.” 

It was your turn to shake your head in defeat. A motion that seemed to be very popular lately. Something to share with just about everyone you knew. 

“I don’t know if he ever wants to hear from me again. If we can ever go back to the way it was.” 

Azriel let out a huff of laughter and stood up, brushing himself off as he did so. He offered you a hand and hauled you to your feet. He grasped both of your shoulders and said very seriously, 

“So don’t. Start over. Do it better. You can save this one.” 

★ ★ ★

You were walking home from work. Trying not to let Azriel’s words go to your head. You can save this one. You weren’t paying attention to where you were going. Your eyes trained on the lights that illuminated the worn brick of the road. The golden illumination from storefronts and restaurants casting a warm glow over the red cobblestone. You zoned out a little as you passed your favorite coffee shop. Inside the employees were putting chairs on tables and sweeping up. The smell of coffee and baked goods still wafting out the half open door. It wasn’t until you ran directly into someone, your book and phone clattering to the pavement, and your bag swinging off your shoulder that you really started to pay attention. You leaned down to pick up your things. Muttering your apologies. A large freckled hand came to rest over yours as you scrambled to pick up your book before the thin glaze of rain on the sidewalk started to seep into the pages. A hand you knew all to well. Accompanied by a smell that overwhelmed your senses. Vanilla and roasting almonds. Firewood and burnt sage. It was like an assault on your senses. The softness of his skin, interrupted only by the small calluses left there from his hockey stick. The fiery brush of his hair over his forehead, his amber eyes burning their way through yours. 

You rose together. Standing straight wouldn’t stop him from towering over you. His smile soft and tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked good. Tired, dark circles under his eyes, hair out of order, his sweater crumpled and wrinkled more than he’d ever let it be normally. But the warmth of him. That was there. His eyes no longer cold and guarded. They were searching and alight with a strange sort of mischief.  

“You should really watch where your going.” He was quiet as he spoke. Teasing in tone. 

You nodded a little shakily, “Yeah. I uh. I probably should.” 

“I’d hate to see a pretty thing like you run into a lamp post or something.”

A pretty thing like you. Something he hadn’t said to you since he first started hitting on you. Something he hadn’t said since he didn’t really know you. You didn’t know how to respond. So you, almost unconsciously, nodded. God I must look so fucking dumb. It was the only thing you could think. You were surprised he had stopped to help you at all. Surprised he was even here. He only ever came to this coffee shop when he was looking for you. 

“Eris.” He said it so casually. Like it was the most natural thing to do. Reaching out to shake your hand. Without thinking you introduced yourself in return, grasping his hand as he shook it. No questions. Like it was the only thing to say. The only thing to do.  A grin started to spread across his face as he said, 

“You know. You should let me take you out some time. Protect you from any incoming road blocks.” 

He was looking for you. You realized it just as you were hit with a small wave of confusion. He was asking you on a date like he didn’t know you at all. He was starting over. Like something in the universe had given him the same inclination that you were given. Starting over. 

“I uh…I’d like that.” 

He nodded and brushed a strand of hair from your forehead, “Good.” He whispered as that small fox like smile stretched it’s way further across his features. His freckles scrunching slightly with the bridge of his nose. He tucked his hands in his pockets as he started to turn in the direction of his house, the dead opposite direction of yours. He took one step before turning back around, 

“We’ll talk?” 

“We’ll talk.” You answered as fast as you could and with a small affirming nod. He mirrored the movement, pursing his lips as he did so. You looked at eachother briefly before you started to walk away. 

He watched as you did. Watched the way your shoulders relaxed a little and you ran your fingers over the hair he had smoother moments before. 

“I miss you too.” 

He called after you. You shot him a small smile over your shoulder, but didn’t say anything back. 

We’ll talk.

taglist:

@tiredsleepyhead @rosewood-cafe @kristijenner19 @becstersworld

@the-sylver-dragon @scarsandallaz @fairydustblossom 

@lupinswolfsbanes 

@theflowerswillbloom @melsunshine @mad-katsuki @lilylilyyyyyy @blueeeeeshark

@tolietpaperwater @redr0sewrites @acourtofbatboydreams @hextech-bros

[sevcasejay1chicago]

Well in that case.... I’m gonna send you this idea... if it sparks inspo... sweet. If not or you don’t want to take such requests at the moment that’s totally cool too.

What about something where the reader is working a couple jobs like waitressing and bar tending or something while also going to college. During finals she’s working and studying and neglecting sleep and self care. Buck and Eddie start to get worried. So they convince her to come hang out at the station. She ends up collapsing (maybe on the stairs? And gets a minor concussion) due to exhaustion and dehydration. Once she gets home they both insist she just relax and nothing else. Lots of cuddles and bringing her food and water and basically only letting her up to pee. Ooh and maybe they give her a bubble bath... very spa like with candles and they do all the work and wash her hair for her and everything...

Over worked and under paid- Eddie Diaz and Evan Buckley

Authors note: A few things.

1. I’m sorry this took so long. I’ve been so busy and I’ve only been able to write in short periods.

2. I know this isn’t my normal One Chicago content, but I love these boys too and you asked, so I (very lately) delivered.

Warnings: possible wrong medical jargon, passing out, over working, vomiting, concussion, FLUFF

———————————

The boys are nothing short of proud and amazed by you. You are working part time as a barista at the coffee shop down the street from the station and frequently bartend for a friend at the bar that the 118 goes to every now and then. On top of your busy work schedule, you are also going to school online full time, helping take care of Christopher when Buck and Eddie are at the station, and trying to make sure you do your part around the house. If you asked Buck and Eddie, they would say you do too much in the first place and the house is something they can take care of, but you feel obligated to do your part.

Finals week has always been tough for you, but this is the first year that you are working two jobs and going to school full time. Buck and Eddie have been trying to help you as much as they can, including making sure you eat and drink, but they have been having a hard time getting you to slow down and sleep. Your mind just goes and thinks through all the stuff you need to be studying, so you are often sneaking out of bed to do so, much to Buck and Eddie’s dislike.

One day, Chris calls Eddie while he is at the station to express his worry. You had picked Chris up from school and brought him home like normal, but you didn’t get him a snack and sit down to help with his homework like you always do. He always tells you that you don’t have to, but you always do it anyways. With you forgetting this, the parlor of your face, and the bags under your eyes, Chris is worried something is seriously wrong with you.

Eddie has Buck call you as he calls Carla to come hang out with Chris. Buck calls you an Uber, saying you’ll be staying at the station and they want to help with everything, so you’ll just ride home with them. You cave, thinking that they are all gonna help you study, but not knowing their plan to get you to sleep or rest at the very least.

You arrive with your book bag on your back, still in your jeans and black tee from work earlier. Buck and Eddie hear Hen greet you and go to meet you at the top of the stairs. They both go running down as they watch your eyes roll into the back of your head as you drop with a loud thud, your forehead smacking against the railing as you go down.

“Y/n!!” Buck, Eddie, Hen, and Bobby yell. Buck and Eddie run down to get to you as Hen grabs the kit from the ambo and Cap runs up the stairs, having just come in the side door after getting something out of his personal truck.

Bobby is the first to make it to you and carefully holds your head in one hand while checking your pulse with the other. “She’s tacky and has labored breathing.” Bobby announces to the room. “Hen, give me the collar and then go get the rig ready.” Bobby instructs, passing you off to Eddie to steady you as he calls for Chim. “Chim. I need you on the floor. Y/n’s down. We need to go to the hospital.” He says, then after hearing a quick copy, he switches the radio to the dispatch frequency. “Dispatch, this is Captain Nash with the 118. Do you copy?” Bobby says, waiting for the copy from Maddie at dispatch before continuing. “Maddie, Y/n just collapsed at the 118. We are loading her and taking her to the er. Take the house out of commission.” Bobby says, standing as Buck finishes putting the collar on you and Eddie helps him hoist you into Evan’s arms.

“Copy you. Keep me posted. Dispatch out.” Maddie says.

Buck gently lays you down on the stretcher as Eddie takes a towel from Hen to gently wipe the blood from your face. Your eyes flutter as you groan, trying to swat his hand away. Hen chuckles as Bobby shuts the doors and Chim takes off with sirens blaring.

“Baby. Baby. Shhh. Stop mi amor.” Eddie murmurs, cupping your cheek in his hand as Hen places a pulse ox on your right hand. “It’s okay. We gotcha. You passed out baby.” Eddie explains as Buck clutches your hand and tries to keep his cool next to Eddie.

“Mmmm. Ed-ddie.” You moan, leaning into his touch. “D-don’t f-feel well.” You murmur, trying to push yourself into a sitting position. You don’t even have to express the way your feeling as your face turns ashen and your eyes widen.

Buck immediately pulls a puke bag from the dispenser and puts it around your mouth. “Alright baby. I gotcha. Just do what you gotta do.” Buck says, taking your hand again as you reach for him. It pains him to see you in so much discomfort.

Your breathing gets faster as the nausea builds. You vaguely hear Hen talking to Eddie about you possibly having a concussion as you begin heaving, crying out in pain when you can catch your breath. Your hearing is equivalent to being under water, but you can tell that both Eddie and Buck are trying to sooth you as tears stream down your face. Once you push the bag away, Eddie gets onto the stretcher with you and puts a towel on his neck, allowing you to press your forehead into his neck as much as possible with the collar still on.

Once at the hospital, Eddie ends up having to ride with you into the ER since you won’t let him go. They basically force you to untangle as nurses and a doctor want you moving into a bed to begin assessing you. Buck and Eddie stand at the top of the bed, both lightly touching you somewhere to let you know they are still there, while the doctor examines your head and does a spinal test. After many tests are done, fluids are given, and you get well educated on concussion protocol and the importance of taking care of yourself, you are finally released into the care of Eddie and Buck again.

Bobby was thoughtful enough to grab the guys go bags and drive Buck’s jeep to the hospital. Once you are cleared, the 118 is back in service, but Buck and Eddie are relieved of duty for the time being so that you can be taken care of. Buck drives back home with you curled around Eddie in the back seat. They gave you a sedative in the er and something for the pain, so you are practically knocked out. That is, until you get home.

You sleepily clutch onto Buck as he takes you from Eddie’s arms when you arrive home. You immediately bury your face into his neck to hide from the street lights now that it’s pretty late into the night. Eddie opens the door and disappears into the kitchen as Buck sits down with you on the couch.

“Chris?” You murmur, wondering where your son is.

“Carla has him at her house. Just relax sweet girl.” Buck whispers, kissing you on the forehead.

“Mmm.” You hum, snuggling back into his embrace.

“Alright you.” Eddie says, coming in with a tray of food and drinks. “Toast for you ma’am. I put butter on both, just to help settle your stomach. I also got you your favorite flavored water.” He says, handing you the water first. “Drink.” He says gently, before turning back to the tray. “A sandwich and water for both of us too.” Eddie says, handing Buck his sandwich when his boyfriend makes to grab for it, but you whine at the shift, so Buck settles back down.

You lay on Buck’s chest, nibbling at your toast and drinking your water when prompted. He could care less that you are getting crumbs on him as long as your comfortable and eating. Once everyone is finished, Eddie goes to clean up, leaving you and Buck back on the couch. You yawn, rubbing your face into Evan’s shoulder, causing him to chuckle.

“Alright baby. Bath and bed for you.” Buck says, standing up with you once again. “Eddie! Gonna go get her cleaned up.” Buck calls, nodding as Eddie replies with an okay.

You started to protest, but Buck is quit to shut you down.

“No ma'am. You just chill out. You need to relax and let us take care of you for once.” Buck says, sitting you on the bathroom counter in the master .

“But I-“ you begin to say, but you are cut off by Eddie as he saunters into the bathroom.

“You will relax and let us take care of you.” Eddie says, coming to stand between your legs. “What happened today could have been avoided if we put our foot down. Now, you will allow us to pamper you and give yourself time to rest. Okay?” Eddie says, lightly connecting his forehead with yours.

You close your eyes and sigh gently. “Okay. I’m sorry.” You murmur, bottom lip trembling as you fight back tears.

“Shhh mi amor. It’s okay. We are just worried, that’s all.” Eddie whispered, gently capturing your lips in his.

“Just let us take care of you. Okay?” Buck adds, coming to your side and kissing the side of your head. “Now, let’s get you in the bath while it’s still hot and I’ll even light your favorite candle. Okay love?” Evan says, trying to get you in bed as quickly as possible given that your eyes are having trouble staying open.

You nod and allow Eddie to undress you. It’s definitely not easy to let yourself get taken care of. You’ve grown used to fighting through this rough patch and hiding it the best you can from your boys, but you love them and they love you. Luckily, that just might save your life.

That night, the boys gently wash your hair. Eddie sitting on the edge of the tub behind you, caging you in with his legs as he gently massages your scalp. Buck washes your body, gently rubbing your sore muscles as he goes. They don’t stop until you are practically asleep against Eddie’s knee. Buck scoops you out of the tub while Eddie goes to throw your pjs in the dryer to warm them up. They then both help dry you off, gently brushing and blow drying your hair. Once you are all dry, they put you in your pjs, which consist of one of their fire shirts and your undies. Then, they get dressed themselves before getting in bed with you and settling in for the night, knowing that you are safe and sound in their arms.

————————

Tag list:

@treehouse-mouse

@shadowmeadowsworld

@sorry-i-spaced

@zephyrmonkey

@allisonargent144

@amie134

@lane-rodgers-barnes

@pensfan5871

@dumb-fawkin-bitch

@marvel-and-chicago-fan

@daggersquadphantom

@stellakiddsblog

@100yroldteenagers

@senjoritanana

@celtic-shadow-wolf

@starset21

@mrspeacem1nusone

[alisonsfics]

high school reunion date

pairing: tony dinozzo x reader

summary: last minute, tony ends up as your date to your high school reunion. old foes from high school make you feel bad about yourself, but tony is there to comfort you.

word count: 2.3k

“So, I have some bad news.” Abby said. Her cautious expression told you how nervous she was. She was so worried you’d be mad at her.

“What do you mean? Is everything okay?” You asked her, concerned. She hesitated.

“You know how I said I would go with you to your high school reunion tomorrow? I got a call from my aunt, and she needs me to come over tomorrow night, so I can’t go. I’m so sorry.” She told you.

You calmed down once you realized no one had gotten hurt or anything. “Abby, that’s fine. Family stuff comes first. I get it.” You said, giving her an encouraging smile.

She pulled you into a hug. “Thank you so much for understanding. I was worried to tell you. I hate being a flake so much.” She rambled.

You giggled to yourself, wrapping your arms around her. “It’s okay, Abby. I promise.” You told her.

Gibbs came storming into the room. You looked over your shoulder at him. “Back to work, please. I need to talk to Abby.” He said. You nodded your head and hurried towards the door.

You headed to the break room before your desk. You were only halfway through your work day, and you were already tired. That could only mean one thing. Coffee.

You entered the break room and spotted Tony making himself a cup of coffee. You noticed two cups of coffee in front of him. “One of those days?” You teased him.

You hadn’t even seen Gibbs drink two cups of coffee at once, and he was a next level coffee addict.

“Actually, this one’s for you. I was gonna bring it to your desk. You seemed a little tired.” He said, turning and handing the cup to you.

You instantly felt your lips curve into a smile. It was hard for you to not smile around Tony. He made you feel like a giggly teenage girl.

“Thank you so much. You are a savior.” You said, graciously accepting the cup.

Then, an idea popped into your head.

“Do you have any plans tomorrow night?” You asked him, curiously. He cocked his head to the side. “You asking me on a date?” He teased you with a wink.

You playfully elbowed him. “My high school reunion is tomorrow night. Abby was supposed to go with me, but something came up. I am desperately in need of a date. I need someone I can talk to if it all gets too awkward. Please, Tony? There’ll be a bar, and I’ll pay for your drinks?” You tried to convince him.

Tony didn’t need much convincing.

“Calm down there, sweetheart. I’ll be there. You don’t need to convince me.” He said, stopping you from rambling. You felt your cheeks heat up at the affectionate nickname. He’d never called you sweetheart before.

“You’re the best.” You said, giving him a hug. He chuckled and wrapped his free arm around you.

“And what will you be wearing to this special occasion?” He said, jumping right back into teasingly flirting with you.

“A nice dress, and before you respond to that, remember how good of a right hook I have.” You said, innocently smiling back at him.

He nodded to himself, taking a step back. “Then, I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, smiling at you. He started to walk past you and leaned in towards you as he passed.

“I look forward to seeing you in that dress.” He whispered in your ear and then kept walking.

The butterflies that were in your stomach multiplied. You didn’t know how you were going to survive a whole evening with Tony.

Later the next night, you had just finished getting ready when you heard Tony knock on your door.

You grabbed your purse and headed for the door.

As you swung the door open, you were too busy admiring Tony to see the way his eyes raked down your body.

When your eyes finally met, you noticed that he was standing frozen still. “Wow, you weren’t kidding. It’s a really nice dress.” He said, unashamedly checking you out.

“You like it?” You asked, spinning around for him. If it was possible, his eyes got even wider.

“Let’s just say I’m happy Abby backed out.” He said, smirking at you. He held his arm out for you to grab and led you to his car.

Like a true gentleman, he opened the car door for you and then walked around to the drivers side.

“So what’s the deal tonight? Am I just your friend from work who's tagging along or am I acting as your boyfriend to make someone jealous?” He asked you.

“Just my friend from work. So you’ll have to keep the ogling to a minimum.” You said, letting him know you’d seen him staring.

“That might be a challenge, but I’ll try my best.” He replied.

You both walked into the reception hall at the hotel where the reunion was being held. You immediately started recognizing faces.

Tony looked over at you, waiting to follow your lead. “I’m going to need a drink for this.” You said, taking a deep breath.

As if on cue, the most popular girl in school came over to you. Mindy was the most judgmental and backstabbing person you’d ever met. You avoided her throughout all of high school, and you planned to continue doing that.

“Y/N, it’s good to see you. I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” She said, looking Tony up and down.

“Mindy, this is Tony. He’s just a friend.” You said, introducing the two of them. Tony stuck his hand out and shook hers politely. He immediately noticed the tension between the two of you.

“Oh, you don’t have a boyfriend? I guess nothing’s changed since high school,” she said, hiding behind a fake laugh.

You clenched your jaw and felt your body tense up. Then, you felt Tony’s hand on the small of your back.

“I will go get you that drink.” He leaned in and whispered in your ear.

Mindy watched as Tony walked away. “So, what’s Tony’s deal?” She asked, with a sly smile. You felt your stomach churn.

“Not looking to date,” you lied, protectively. The idea of Mindy hitting on Tony made you feel sick to your stomach.

Mindy picked up on how much it bothered you. “Maybe I’ll just have to convince him.” She mentioned.

“Is divorce number four even finalized yet, Mindy?” You asked, cocking your head to the side.

One way you had changed since high school is now you were used to carrying a gun. That meant that standing up to a high school bully didn’t phase you.

“Always looking for number five though. Tony’s not too bad on the eyes either.” She continued. You dug your nails into the palm of your hand.

“Not sure that rude women are his type,” you said, walking away towards the bar where Tony was.

You saw Tony waiting for your drinks, and he was talking to the man standing next to him. You wondered why the man looked so familiar. You assumed it was some acquaintance from high school.

Tony saw you approaching out of the corner of his eye. He turned to face you. “Speaking of, here’s my date for the evening.” He said, gesturing towards you.

The man turned to look in your direction. You met his gaze, and you realized why you knew him. It was your ex-boyfriend, Derek.

“We actually know each other already. It’s nice to see you.” He said, his eyes raking down your body.

“Ahh, ex-boyfriend?” Tony asked, putting two and two together. You slowly nodded your head.

So far, your evening sucked. You had run into the two people you didn’t want to talk to or ever see again.

Without really thinking it through, you wrapped your arm around Tony’s waist. For once, you wanted to make someone jealous. You wanted to show him how far you had moved on.

Being partners meant Tony knew how to read your mind in any situation. He quickly picked up on what you were doing.

“I guess that makes this a little awkward.” He quipped, grabbing your waist and pulling you in closer to him. He leaned over to you and kissed your temple.

Not knowing what your plan was, Tony started to improvise. “If you don’t mind, I actually love this song,” he excused to the two of you, and started guiding you towards the dance floor.

“I didn’t think he’d be here.” You said, leaning over towards Tony.

“It’s fine. He seemed like an asshole anyway.” He said, rubbing his hand comfortingly on your back.

Tony wrapped his arms around your waist and started dancing with you. As soon as you started to relax in his grip, one of your friends from high school came up to you.

“Hey, it’s so good to see you. I was just talking to Derek. I didn’t know you had a new man in your life.” She said, smiling at you.

You put the fake smile back on your face. “Yep, this is Tony. We work together.” You said, introducing them.

She quickly excused herself because she spotted someone else she wanted to talk to.

You felt tears welling up in your eyes. You dropped Tony’s hand and headed for the exit. He was quickly following behind you, but you weren’t stopping for him.

You had had enough of people from high school being shocked at the idea of you having a boyfriend.

On top of that, you felt mortified that Tony was seeing their reactions. You were embarrassed, and you never wanted to be embarrassed in front of Tony.

You walked out the front doors of the hotel, hoping you had lost Tony in the crowd.

You heard his footsteps as he chased after you.

You wiped some tears off your cheeks. “I’m sorry I made you come to this stupid thing. This whole thing was a bad idea. I just want to go home.” You said, still too embarrassed to face him.

“Hang on, let’s just talk for a second” he said, grabbing your hand and spinning you around to face him.

You could see the worry in his eyes. Tony always did everything in his power to protect you. He had a vague idea as to why you were upset, but he knew there was something more to it.

“I shouldn’t have dragged you to this. This was all a mistake.” You said, looking up at him through tears. He cupped your face and wiped the tears off your cheeks.

“You don’t need to apologize for anything. I just want to know what’s making you upset and how to fix it.” He said, calmly.

Tony had never cared for anyone as much as he cared for you.

“I feel like everyone from high school is so successful. They’ve all gotten married and had kids, and they’re CEOs of companies. I don’t have any of that.” You ranted.

He brushed your hair out of your face. “You have so many successes. You aren’t less successful than any of those people. I’d say you’re more successful than all of them combined.” He tried to reassure you.

It didn’t help. You still felt like the girl that had nothing to say when asked what was new.

“You’re great at your job. You help save people everyday. You’ve saved my life more times than I can count. You’re generous and caring. All of your friends know they can rely on you to be there for them. Forget any of those people. Maybe they have fancy jobs, but they’re assholes. And you’re not, you’re amazing.” He said, grabbing both your hands.

You could feel the butterflies in your stomach as Tony looked at you. He was looking at you so intently you thought he could see into your soul.

You leaned your forehead against his shoulder. “I appreciate that you’re trying to cheer me up, but it just sucks that I can’t even pretend to have a boyfriend. Everyone we talked to looked so shocked at the idea of me having a boyfriend. And they’re right, because I haven’t had a boyfriend in years. I have to resort to making you pretend to be my boyfriend.” You rambled, still feeling self-conscious.

“What do you mean, pretend?” He joked, trying to get you to smile. The comment took you by surprise and a giggle slipped through your lips. “Tony,” you whined, still smirking.

“Just trying to make you smile, sweetheart,” he said, giving your hands a squeeze.

You noticed the twinkle in Tony’s eyes. You were mesmerized by him. You always were.

Tony always knew the right thing to say, and he always made sure you knew how much he cared about you.

“What if it wasn’t pretend?” You asked, your eyes locked on his. You could almost see the gears turning in his head. “What are you saying?” He asked, cautiously.

Before you could chicken out, you cupped Tony’s face and kissed him. He quickly wrapped his arms around your waist and kissed you back.

You could taste the scotch on his lips as he kissed you. He pushed his weight against you and backed you up against the wall.

You let your hands move to cup the back of Tony’s head, tangling your fingers in his hair. Tony was toying with the fabric of your dress.

You felt the butterflies in your stomach. This was the last way you expected this evening to end.

You both pulled out of the kiss. “God, I really like you, which you clearly know now.” He confessed. You held on to the collar of his shirt, keeping him close to you.

“This is how I dreamed this night would go. You as my charming date, getting to show you off to everyone from high school.” You told him, smiling cheesily.

“What do you say we go back in there? Just us? We can dance and drink. We’ll just ignore anyone that you don’t want to talk to?” Tony suggested. You quickly nodded, and he grabbed your hand and pulled you inside.

taglist: @laurakirsten0502 @miraclesoflove @nathaliabakes @millipop18 @azghedaheda @shyinadarkplace @vanteguccir @missroro @guacam011y @sw33t-cupid @ice-dtae @leyannrae @sia2raw @nyx2021 @just-a-littlebit-of-everything @shyconversationalbookworm @shadowhuntyi @visenyaverse @ruzannetheseahorse @superdeath @wandaswifeyforlifey @spookyqueen @mcuswhore @bookwormchick91 @princess-evans-addict @n3ssm0nique @peakascum @cjand10 @namsey1987 @supernaturalstilinski @stephv213 @warriormirkwood @one-sweet-gubler @narliesstuff @bibissparkles @happygirl-0408 @lizthewriter

Let me know if you want to be added to my taglist for all my imagines or for a specific character/fandom!!

[backtothe99]

(18Trip Translation) Tao Kinouchi SSR: The Brave - Beyond the Invitation Lies...

This translation uses the male protagonist’s name (Kaede), but the story doesn’t change regardless of the chosen protagonist

proofread by myuntachis, naginins77, jellyfish_apple and niri_riri

Part 1

Location: HAMA House Living Room

Kaede: (Phew… I’m glad today’s job went smoothly.)

Kaede: (Not only was there interest in my proposal, I was also given an invitation to the pop-up store promoting the game.)

Kaede: (I may be excited, but I don’t actually know anything about this “Final Brave” game…)

Kaede: (Is it okay for someone like me to go there?)

Tao: Did you just get back, Chief?

Kaede: Hi, Tao-kun. Yup, I just got done with work.

Tao: Good work. I was just about to make some coffee. If you’d like, I could make some for you too—

Tao: Is this a ticket to FB’s pop-up store!?

Kaede: (FB… Oh, he’s talking about Final Brave.)

Kaede: It is. Our business client today was a game company, and they gave me an invitation to their upcoming limited-time store.

Tao: Huh, that’s like, some crazy luck!

Tao: This event is so popular right now, it’s been sold out for the next 3 months!

Kaede: I didn’t know that…! Was it really okay for them to give me something so valuable?

Kaede: I know that Final Brave is popular, not only in JPN but also globally, but I’ve never played it…

Tao: You’ve never played Final Brave!? How have you lived up till now!?

Kaede: I-Is that really so strange!?

Tao: Um, no– I’m sorry. That’s not it at all.

Tao: … If anything, I’m the strange one for acting like this over a video game at my age.

Kaede: Huh?

Tao: Uhh, it’s nothing. So… Will you go to that pop-up store?

Kaede: I’d like to go, since I was invited, but… I’m worried about whether I should, since I don’t know much about the game. Besides—

Kaede: You seem more interested in this, Tao-kun. So how about I give you the ticket so you can go, instead?

Tao: What, really!?

Kaede: Really. I don’t know much about it at all, so I think it’d be better if someone who can enjoy it properly goes instead.

Tao: W-Well… I am interested.

Tao: It says “Can bring a plus one” here.

Kaede: Huh? Oh, you’re right. I didn’t notice…

Tao: Then, since we can, how about we go together?

Tao: If I go by myself, you might get in trouble next time you meet with those company people…

Tao: And I’m sure you’ll also be able to talk about it to them next time!

Kaede: … You’re right. This will definitely be a good chance for me to learn more about FB.

Tao: Huh, you want to learn more about FB, Chief?

Kaede: Of course I do, since it’s that strange that I’ve lived up till now without playing it once.

Tao: Uuu… You took what I said to heart, didn’t you… I’m sorry.

Kaede: Hehe, I’m just messing with you. I’m really grateful that someone as knowledgeable as you will be coming with me, Tao-kun.

Kaede: It’s a plan!

Tao: Okay. I’m looking forward to it, too!

Part 2

Location: Anime Store

Kaede: Wow… There’s a lot more merch than I expected there to be.

Tao: I know, right! I didn’t know there’s so much official FB merch out there—

Tao: Is that the Hero’s Sword from II!?

Kaede: Is this life-sized? It looks like you can take photos here.

Tao: There are customers of all ages here, and they seem to be pretty evenly split between men and women. Everyone looks like they’re having fun—

Tao: …

Kaede: Do you want me to take a picture of you, Tao-kun? The line’s a little long, but since we’re here—

Tao: No, I’m good!

Kaede: Huh? But there��s a lot of people having their photo taken…

Tao: Anyway, let’s go look further inside! I’m sure there’s a lot left to discover!

Kaede: O-Okay…

-

Kaede: Wow, the stuff here is cute, too!

Kaede: Little trinkets with monsters printed on them, chopstick rests shaped like castles… They all look like they can be used as normal items, it makes me want to buy them.

Tao: Right. But nothing else’s gonna fit in our basket.

Kaede: Woah, when did you get that basket, Tao-kun!? And it’s filled to the brim, too…

Tao: Well, when I saw them, I couldn’t help but get my hands on ‘em. The coaster with the hero’s crest is sorta cute, and the keychain is an amazing reproduction of a monster from III—

Tao: … That’s only part of it, though. More importantly, I want to get a little something for everyone!

Tao: Like, I think Natsume-san would love this Demon King’s Sword muddler. 

Kaede: (Would he…? It doesn’t really fit the image of Yodaka-san I have in my mind…)

Kaede: (Actually—)

Kaede: … Tao-kun, are you holding back for some reason?

Tao: Huh?

Kaede: I think you like FB a lot more than you let on, Tao-kun.

Kaede: If I’m right, I just wish you’d go on about it as you’d usually do. Unless… is there something bothering you?

Tao: It’s not that something’s bothering me…

Tao: I just figured you’d find it off putting if someone my age was so into a video game…

Kaede: Huh!?

Kaede: I don’t care about something like that at all! Your age has nothing to do with your interests, and I think it’s lovely that you have something you’re so passionate about!

Kaede: Besides, it’s fun hearing you talk so enthusiastically about video games, so I wish you wouldn’t let something like that bother you. 

Tao: Chief…

Tao: Thank you. … I think my attempt to act indifferent was so weird that it kinda backfired.

Tao: Alright! From this point onwards, I’ll be putting my all into having fun! Let’s go look into every nook and cranny of this store!

Kaede: Yup, that’s the spirit! I’d also be really happy if you could tell me lots about the series.

Tao: Of course I will! I’ll keep going until you say you’ve had enough! So–

Tao: I’ll go get another basket, too!

Kaede: Whaaa, you’ve got more you want to buy!?

-

Tao: Hoo… I enjoyed this to the fullest!

Tao: Delivery drones sure are convenient. They carry two full cardboard boxes like it’s nothing.

Kaede: You got two whole cardboard boxes!? … You really bought a lot of stuff.

Tao: Yeah. I kept thinking that I’ll definitely regret it if I don’t buy everything now!

Kaede: Right, a lot of these items are exclusive to this pop-up store.

Kaede: But I’m glad you enjoyed yourself till you were satisfied. Alright, let’s go home for today.

Tao: Oh… Can I say one last thing?

Kaede: Hm?

Tao: I know I said I was good before, but—

Tao: I really want to take a picture with the hero’s sword after all…

Tao: So, could I ask you to take it for me?

Kaede: Tao-kun…

Kaede: … Sure thing. Alright, I’m taking it! Give me a smile!

[Snap]

Kaede: How’s this?

Tao: Thank you so much! Ummm…

Tao: Uh, Chief. Can I actually ask for one more thing?

Kaede: Sure?

Tao: I’d like to take a picture together. Is that alright?

Tao: It’ll be a memento of coming here together.

Kaede: Ah, yeah. That’s fine…

Tao: Let’s take a selfie, then. Chihiro taught me how to take one.

Tao: Uhhh, hold it up like this…

Tao: Sorry, Chief, could you come a little closer?

Kaede: O-Okay!

Tao: And… cheese.

[snap]

Tao: Yup, it came out alright. Thank you so much!

Kaede: (... I’m really glad Tao-kun’s having fun!)

[d3vils-island]

Hi, can you write about reader and Dave where they're in a dinner with her parents, she says sum like "daddy, can you pass me the salt?" or anything like that, and both her father and Dave grab the salt? Thanks!

Sorry for my bad english and if this is very cliche too

Not gonna lie, at first I thought this idea was garbage, but then I actually started writing it and I literally fell in love with it. Anyways, I apologize this is kinda late, I wasnt very moritvated to write recently, but I pushed through!! Also— I wasn’t sure if you wanted it to be a smut… so I made it one just in case… I HOPE YOU LIKE IT!! 🫶🫶😣����

Pass the Salt (82’)

• * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * •

Dave Mustaine x Fem!reader

2,060 words

- - - - -

Description: Your parents are convinced that your boyfriend Dave is a terrible person and he’ll break your heart. To convince them otherwise, you invite Dave over to your parents for dinner to clear the air. That is, until everything just gets worse.

Warnings: PORN W/ PLOT! (as always, I’ll mark with three “^” when the smut starts), daddy kink, rough sex, second hand embarrassment, oral (female receiving) blah blah blah basically all the good shit about sex.

• * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * • * •

Dave and you had been in a relationship ship for years now, and it was no secret. However, despite your passionate love for one another, your parents kept trying to find you someone else since they— to put it lightly,— hated him. You tried your best to convince them otherwise, but their minds were already made up.

To try and convince them Dave was all good and no bad— or at least very little bad— you decided to have him eat dinner with you and your parents.

You showed up to your parents house a bit before Dave so you could help them with the set up, and talk your parents into being kind to Dave despite their hatred towards him.

“He’s not good for you sweetie… he’s an alcoholic-druggie-outcast who will eventually break your heart.” Your father said while your mom nodded her head in agreement. “Is there seriously no one else out there you could date instead of him?” You mother said concerned.

“Look guys, I appreciate your worry… but I love Dave, and he loves me. He would never break my heart.” You responded, continuing to set up the table for dinner. Your mother gave you a look, almost as if she was saying ‘mother knows best’, but in this case, she didn’t know anything when it came to how much you and Dave loved each other.

Once you finished setting up the table, you walked over to your parents. “Please, just… don’t make anything awkward, and Atleast pretend to like him, just for tonight.” You pleaded, and they both nodded their heads.

Suddenly, a knock could be heard at the door. “Coming!” You yelled, running up to the door and opening it.

“Davie!” You squealed, embracing him in a tight hug. You invited him in, but the entire time he was walking next to you, you felt your parent’s eyes on him, looking with disgust.

Dave offered his help, to which your mother kindly took. He started helping out with the cooking while you all chatted.

“So, what do you do for work?” Your father asked. “Well currently, I work at a gas station a few miles from here.” He smiled. “Interesting.” Your father commented, and you could feel his hatred for Dave grow by the second. You just prayed that nothing would happen that would cause them to hate Dave any more than they do now.

A few minutes later, and the food was prepared. You helped bring stuff to the dining room table, and eventually you all sat down, digging in.

Your heart was pounding in your chest, and the awkward silence wasn’t helping. You eyed your parents and they seemed to mind their business, but you were so scared of what they were thinking.

You tried to distract yourself from the situation by paying more attention to the food on your plate. You took a bite, but it wasn’t quite to your satisfaction.

“Daddy, can you pass the salt?” You asked.

Two hands instinctively reached over to the little glass container of salt at the table, bumping into each other before backing away. “Sorry sir.” Dave said, before he quickly grabbed the salt and handed it to you before your ‘actual daddy’ could.

It was like the universe heard your cry for help, the cry for things to not get any worse, and said ‘fuck you’ then did the complete opposite of what you asked.

Dave set the little container next to you on the table as you burried your face in your hands. You peeked an eye out between your fingers and saw Dave, a big smirk plastered over his dumb face. Then you glanced over at your father, who looked like a pot that was about to boil over.

The awkward silence continued, and you eventually took your face out from your hands, putting the salt all over your food.

Dave tried to start up a conversation, but there was no saving what had already been done. God, you just wish this night would be over.

- - - - -

Eventually, you all finished your food. Dave aided in the cleanup, before he finally went off on his way. You chatted with your parents for a bit , but left shortly after before deciding to go over to Dave’s house.

You knocked on the door before coming in, looking over and seeing him in the couch watching TV. He instantly grabbed the remote and muted it, paying attention to you.

“That was a total disaster!” You yelled, walking in front of the couch and sitting next to him as he wrapped one of his arms around you.

“C’mon, it wasn’t that bad… I thought it went well.” He rubbed small circles on your shoulder with his thumb.

“Are you serious? I say ‘pass the salt daddy’ and you reach for it!” Dave just let out a deep laugh, covering his face with his free hand.

“I can’t lie, that was hilarious to see his reaction-” He paused, looking you in the eyes. “-and I technically wasn’t lying, since I am your daddy…just in the bedroom.” God, you wanted to strangle him right here and now so he’d shut up.

“Dave, seriously. Stop it.” You stated, but you couldn’t help but feel a smile start to crawl upon your lips, tugging the corner of your mouth upward.

“You’re right baby…” he took a breath, fixing his posture so he was leaning over you more. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sure everything with your parents will be fine.” He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against yours, moving them in sync softly. You parted for a second.

“I can’t even think of a time I called you ‘daddy’” you giggled. “I can remember a few… but maybe you were just too clouded by the pleasure you were receiving to remember.” Dave smiled smugly as your face heated up.

“Oh hush.” You playfully slapped his chest.

^ ^ ^

He leaned down again to kiss you, this time he grabbed your jaw and pulled you deeper into the kiss. “How bout I make you call me daddy again, and this time you actually remember it.” He chuckled.

“You can try.” You challenged him.

“Fine by me.” He suddenly picked you up bridal style, carrying you to the bedroom and tossing you roughly on the bed. You couldn’t lie, you loved when he was rough with you.

“Don’t hold back then.” You eyed him as he crawled on top of you.

“Trust me, I wasn’t planning on it.” His hands started roaming your body. Under your shirt, over your neck, across your thighs. Every time he touched you, you felt a fire of lust burn brighter and brighter in your chest. You stared sliding your top off, and he followed along, taking his own clothes off before you two were eventually stripped to your undergarments.

Your bare skin against the cold air made you shiver, just before Dave’s warm hands started groping your body again. He leaned down and kissed you, your tongues tangling together. With each second that passed, you felt a heat between your legs grow. You started rubbing your thighs together to get some sort of friction, hoping Dave wouldn’t notice your eagerness, but he did.

“You’re already so needy and we just started…” he groaned, gripping your knees and spreading your legs apart. His rough hands slid closer to your cunt as he placed his thumb against the soaked fabric that was your panties, rubbing small circles against your heat. The sensation was just enough to cause you to whine, but not enough to make you feel good. “Fuck, I need you…” you whimpered. Dave took his thumb away from the thin fabric before her slid his hand up your shoulders, snapping your bra strap against your sensitive skin. He pinched the fabric and slowly slid it off your shoulders, then he reached behind your back and unclasped your bra, sliding it off and tossing it to the side before he began massaging your breasts. He planted soft kissed on your chest, before they quickly turned into harsh bites; which would definitely leave marks.

His kisses trailed down your stomach as his hand slid to your hips, taking your underwear off before he lifted your thighs on top of his shoulders. His head found its way right between your legs as he began planting kisses on your inner thigh and rubbing circles on it with his thumb. He waisted no time as he began sucking on your clit while his fingers dove into your sopping pussy. The sudden pleasure caused you to nearly suffocate Dave with your legs, but he used his free hand to hold one of your thighs to the side.

You started mumbling nonsense, too clouded by the sudden pleasure to think straight. “Hmm?” Dave questioned your muffled rambling. “Fuck-! Don’t stop…” you whined. “That’s not what I wanted to hear,” he stopped giving attention to your throbbing cunt, looking up at your ecstasy-drunken face.

“Don’t stop… daddy..” you muttered, feeling your heart race and face heat at the nickname.

“That’s my girl.”

Dave immediately started eating you out like you where his last meal, licking and sucking his plate clean. Your body was shaking, and your grip on Dave’s hair only got tighter. However, as soon as he felt your legs tremble too much and your moans get louder, he stopped in his tracks and placed your legs back down on the bed.

“Not yet baby.” He hushed your pleads for release. His hands suddenly gripped your hips and turned around so your head was buried in the pillows with your ass up; just how he liked it. You heard the sound of fabric rustling before something was tossed to the corner of the room.

Dave’s tip teased your entrance as his hands had a harsh grip on your hips, thumb rubbing a circular motion on it. Dave leaned down to your ear, and you felt his hot breath against it.

“Ready?” He cooed, and before you could even respond, you felt his entire cock get slammed into you. Your back arched and your nails dug into the sheets, your loud moans being muffled as your head was buried in the pillows while Dave began fucking you relentlessly. The sounds of the bed creaking, skin slapping against skin, and your moaning filled the room. Each time Dave pounded into you, you felt him go deeper and deeper, kissing that spot inside of you that made your back arch more with every one of his thrusts.

His thrusts were consistent, fast, and hard, just how you liked. Dave moved some of your hair off the back of your neck, leaning down and planting sweet, timid kisses along your spine, in contrast to his rough and powerful thrusts. You never thought you’d scream the name daddy, until tonight, when Dave had your back arched and nails digging into the plush cloth of the bed.

Dave’s caring kisses turned into harsh bites as he sucked and bit at your neck, definitely leaving marks. You suddenly felt a string tighten in your abdomen, signaling that your release was near. You felt Dave’s thrusts get sloppier, his grip on you tightening as his release was also approaching.

“Oh fuck, Daddy!” You whined as Dave’s fingernails dug into your pretty and soft skin, leaving red marks. You felt the string tighten even more, threatening to snap at any second.

The little string inside you finally tore, and you felt a wave of pure ecstasy and pleasure wash over you. Your whole body was trembling and your breath was staggered. Dave slowed his thrusts down and pulled out, stroking himself before you felt a hot liquid spill on your back. Dave muttered something to you, but you were too drowned in pleasure to hear what he said. A minute later, he showed up with a towel in his hands and he began wiping your back down. You hazily looked up at Dave and he had a reassuring smile on his face as he tossed the towel to the side, pulling you under the covers with him.

“I hope I wasn’t too rough.” He whispered to you as he stroked your hair.

“Not at all, if anything, you could have gone a bit rougher.” You both laughed.

“I’ll keep that in mind for next time.”

[emmarobertsslut]

Hiya! Hope you’re doing well. So, I was wondering if I could request a Love Quinn x Fem Reader.

I’m thinking a story with Love and her hot gym trainer, Y/N. Over the months that Love has been training with the reader she comes to see that the reader is actually a huge softie, despite being rough around the edges. Love starts to follow reader around town and watches her interact with others, she then starts to find herself obsessed with reader and wanting to have her rely on herself. Honestly, I can imagine Love using her money to hire some thugs to break into the reader’s place and trash it so that the reader thinks someone’s out to get them, only to slowly start to rely on and fall in love with Love.

Maybe a dom/sub relationship with a service bottom!reader. All other kinks and any smut are up to you!

You can rely on me

Love Quinn x Fem!Reader

Warnings: stalking, breaking and entering, usual ‘you’ stuff. Masturbating in the open, smut, mommy kink, overstim, fisting. Receiving (R), hair pulling, squirting.

Request: Yes

Summary: Love starts falling for her sexy gym trainer, Y/n. She can’t help it when she hires people to break into her home. Only wanting Y/n to be codependent on her.

-

“So we’re gonna start with doing squats. Try and get to 10 reps today.” You state as you look over at Love to make sure she understood what you were saying.

But Love was too busy looking at your glistening abs, all sweaty from your previously shared 5 mile run.

“Love?” She looks back at you, and nods, going on the floor starting push ups. You smirk, “Love. I said squats. Not pushups.”

She glances up at you and stands up, cheeks reddening a bit in embarrassment. “Sorry.”

“Its okay. Try not to stare at me too much next time.” You wink at her and she playfully rolls her eyes.

A few weeks ago, you started warming up to Love, and she hasn’t stopped thinking about you since. You weren’t always the most open book, but Love respected that about you.

So when your blank stares and talk less workouts turned into happy smiles and small turns of flirting (or she thinks) Love couldn’t help but want to be around you more often.

She’d start with the little things first. Like bringing in some small pastries, offering you some before you guy’s do a workout. Then wanting to have more trainings with you.

Which led to your training right now, where she accidentally embarrassed herself, she just couldn’t help it when you flaunted yourself in a sports bra and the tiniest of shorts on your body.

Although you were with her right now, you’d be off to train some other girl or guy who’d also lust over your gorgeous body.

When the training session ended, you both parted ways, well you thought you did. Love ended up following you, wanting to keep track of your daily routines.

Now you were at some random restaurant with another girl, maybe a friend? Possibly more. Either way it didn’t stop her from glaring at the woman sat across from you.

The woman was all over you during the lunch, obviously not just some friend but a threat to Love. Suppose she’d worry about that later though.

You didn’t seem to interested in her, smiling slightly and telling her you have to leave, another training session that started shortly.

Who knew you’d be a liar? Love followed you close behind, watching you walk into your home. She peered into your window, watching you undress and hop into the shower. You cleaned yourself off and got out 10 minutes later.

Love sat down behind god knows what, checking her surroundings, making sure no one was close by. She let her hand creep it’s way into her pants and start making slow antagonizing circles around her clit, staring at your plump breasts, that anyone could see if they just looked at your window.

She imagined it was your fingers that slowly entered her slit, she sped up the pace hurrying to reach climax before you were to get dressed.

Love decided when you two got together she would make sure to get you curtains for the windows.

She moaned loudly as she came all over her fingers, not caring if somebody was near or heard her.

Her hand was shaky from the pleasure, she dialed a number and put the phone up to her ear. “I need you to break into this women's house.”

-

You walked into your home after a quick walk to get coffee and gasped when you saw your place was trashed. Broken plates and ripped up furniture in your house.

You started tearing up and looked at the time seeing you have a training session in 5 minutes with Love. You might have to cancel.

You shot her a quick text saying something came up and you guys would have to reschedule soon.

Love frowned when she received the text, she knew you had just stepped into your house, and probably saw all of the broken things.

She only did this so you would want to be closer to her, not have you start being distant. She texted you back: Everything alright? I can come over.

She didn’t think it was too forward, she considered you both to be friends, of course she wanted more, she just had to be patient.

You replied to her text saying someone had broken into your house, and she could come but she shouldn’t feel obliged to help out with the mess.

Love smirked. You took the bait. Luckily for her, she was already outside of your house, deciding it’d be best to wait a few minutes, not wanting it to seem like she was already at your house.

She ringed on the door bell sometime later, and you opened it, mascara running down your face from tears, yet Love thought you still looked fucking beautiful.

“Hey.” You muttered, rubbing your eyes. You opened the door more and welcomed her in. She fake gasped, acting like she wasn’t expecting this.

“Oh my god. What happened.” She demanded, pulling you into a long hug, breathing in your vanilla scent.

You pulled back after a few minutes, “A break in. I still have to call the police, but I don’t know what I’m gonna say.”

“It’s alright. Maybe you could come over to my place for the rest of the week.” She suggests

“I don’t want to be a bother.” You begin, starting to decline her offer. She cuts you off rather quickly.

“Not a bother at all! I love spending time with you..” You smile at her. “Thank you, Love”.

-

It had been 2 months after your crazy break in and well you and Love have started dating. Love finally got what she wanted. You.

And you are so head over heels in love with her, and she loves it. You guys are always with each other and needless to say, Forty’s been a bit jealous. But, he’s overall happy that his sister finally found someone to love.

You both are always all over each other, so codependent.

Which one thing led to another and now your whimpering under a thirsty Love Quinn.

“Good girl.. keep going, just like that princess.” You slur, high off the feeling of her going down on you. The way her fingers curled in a ‘come hither’ motion inside of you, hit your G spot perfectly.

Love whimpered at the pet names, your praises only keeping her fuel going. Wanting to please you.

“Fuck, making mommy feel so good..” She kisses from your neck all the way down to your clit, giving your sensitive bud small kitten licks.

“Mommy, wanna shove my whole hand in you.” You moan and frantically nod, panting when she adds a fourth finger.

She keeps fingering you with the four fingers, feeling you tighten around her fingers. “Gonna cum for you, doll. All for you.”

She wraps her mouth around your nipple, sucking and biting as hard as she can. You cum all over her, soaking the bed with your wetness.

She doesn’t stop, wanting to get her whole fist in you, like she said. You feel the pain from the overstimulation and her actually getting her whole hand inside you.

You grab her hand, bringing her to a hault before she can start moving, “Give me a minute, hurts.”

She groans in dissatisfaction, waiting 30 seconds before slowly moving in and out of you, her stretching you out so much.

Your already close and she can feel it, you start gasping and moaning louder and louder, you grip Love’s hair and scream her name as you cum, squirting on the sheets.

Love smirks, never seeing this happen before. Your eye sight is hazy and your chest heaving up and down.

“Fuck I love you so much.”

[hsangel64]

𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕪𝕠𝕦 𝕎𝕚𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕥 𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕞

chapter 02: catching up

pairings: ellie williams x childhood bsf! reader

synopsis: you and ellie get some time to catch up

warnings: none!

a/n: i’m back!!! YAYY it feels good to write again i’ve been so busy with school now i’m back home and ready to write again!

“it really feels so good to be back with you ellie” you smiled at ellie from across the table. you and els decided to grab lunch at your favorite spot, it was a mom and pop shop with the best sandwiches that you’d grab almost every day after school. it felt so nostalgic to be there again after years of being away. it felt so refreshing to you.

“i know i’ve missed you so much you don’t even know.”

“i’m sorry i’ve been gone for so long.” you had a slanted frown on your face, you know it’s been hard for ellie with how much shits she’s been through when you were gone. you felt bad for being gone.

“please don’t apologize you were in college that’s a valid reason for you to be gone.” she grabbed your hand from across the table and you smiled up at her as she rubbed her thumb on your hand.

“i can’t help feeling bad! i know how much you’ve needed me..”

“that’s okay what matters is that you’re here now!” she smiled showing her teeth. “no need to be sad right now let’s eat our delicious sandwiches and then go home to get you settled!” you nodded and you both enjoyed the rest of your lunch.

…

you get back to ellie’s place, you’re almost amazed at how it’s stayed completely the same. you two walk in and she informs you that unfortunately joel is not home but will be around dinner time. you walk up to ellie’s room and reminisce on the times you two had in high school in her room and how the room hasn’t changed one bit.

“it looks the same in here!”

“of course i didn’t change much and didn’t have much decor i could put on my walls!” you nodded and walked around the room then found your way to the bed.

“so how was california?”

“it was really good california is great i’ll have to take you one day!”

“i’ve heard it’s really hot…”

“it is! but you’ll have those cool days and then winter isn’t always hot it gets cold!” it was quiet for a second, just a comfortable silence. you both sat there for what felt like forever, until ellie mumbled something.

“what?”

“i’ve missed you so much.”

“i’ve missed you too els, a lot.”

“there was a time where i thought you weren’t even going to come back you looked so happy with your new friends i thought you forgot about me.”

“ellie no no how could i ever forget about you? you’ve been my friend for literally forever. you never have to worry about that anymore i’m staying forever.” she turned to you with tears in her eyes, you moved closer to her and gave her the biggest hug. you both stayed like that for awhile, you both needed this.

….

you guys started to watch a movie together and ellie told you about her friends and how everything’s been.

“do your parents know you’re home?”

“no…but i will visit them tomorrow and bring my stuff home!”

“you didn’t have to see me first you know! those are your parents way more important than me!”

“well-“ she smacked your arm as you both laughed.

“my dads just been an asshole lately i didn’t want to see him yet-“

“i’m gonna punch your dad one day.”

“i’ll hold you to that.” you two spent the rest of her day together, it felt good to be back home.

….

a/n:

a/n: i hope you guys liked this chapter!! it feels good to be back !! i’ll be finally getting more stuff out !

tag list: @gold-dustwomxn @whenlostinthedarkness @trulygnomed @lov3lylotus @elliessgirl

[wooahaeruby]

Chapter 14: Disrespectful

Chapter Word Count: 4,646

Anything in Bold Italics are Korean/Another language.

Master List | Prev | Next

The flight from Jakarta was long and grueling. Everyone was tired, staff included, and Jihoon’s exhaustion was bleeding over from the last two days. You were home for just over a week before everyone would fly out to Thailand. You had work, the group had practice, and it was weighing a little on your mental health. 

While you had traveled here and there for work once and a while, it wasn’t to the taxing extent of traveling with Seventeen. There were many rules everyone needed to follow – luckily, that wasn’t the problem –, you had to be careful with fans so you hovered around security personnel on the ground, but the most taxing was always being on the go. Though New York was a fast paced place, the momentum in which Seventeen and their staff moved was mind boggling. 

They were always busy. Between makeup and hair, they were vlogging, signing things, recording Tik Toks, and already working on or discussing what was coming next. You had heard a few murmurs of Caratland ideas, a new album, even whispers of Vernon working on his solo release. There was so much going on that you didn’t know how to mentally handle it all when Jihoon was telling you things, Seokmin and Mingyu were excited, and Seungkwan was trying to help you understand (thank god). 

Jamie and Kazuki were there for you but it was getting harder to talk with them on the phone with the time zone change. Mimi and Papa always called you at the perfect times since they were up early, however they didn’t really understand the degree in which stuff was bothering you.

It was only the second day back in Seoul when Jihoon shuffled into your apartment mid-afternoon (you gave him the code over text because you were too comfortably curled up in the corner of the couch). He had been feeling uneasy all morning. When you tried to text him if he was okay, all he replied back was that he’d be over in a couple hours and you could talk about it. 

“Hi.” You peaked out from your bundle of blankets, only doom scrolling on your phone since you finished your work for the day. 

“Hey.” He said in English, near tossing himself down on the couch, head resting against some of the blankets at your feet. 

“ You okay?” 

Jihoon sighed, pulling the hat he wore over his face and groaning. “ You are gonna hate it.” 

“What- What am I going to hate?” 

“My parents are coming into town tomorrow to meet you.” 

Yeah…yeah you were going to hate that. 

Jihoon removed his hat to look up at you, watching the once relaxed look on your face turn into something closer to stressed out. Quickly he sat up and scrunched his nose up in distaste as he faced you, sighing heavily. “ I’m sorry. My mom called me this morning and said they already have a hotel booked not that far from here and wanted to meet you, more specifically her.” 

You swallowed down the lump in your throat, hiding your slightly trembling hands in the blanket around you. The uneasiness Jihoon had been feeling since earlier was still there but now he was worried and a little irritated. By the look on his face, he was able to feel the stress and dread that was growing in the pit of your stomach. 

“ Ruby-ah, it will be okay.” He reached out, placing his hand on your cheek and letting his thumb run over your skin, the buzzing of the bond trying to calm you. “ They just want to meet you.” 

“I’m meeting you parents, ‘Hoon-ah, they aren’t just normal people.” You frowned, unwrapping the cocoon you created to let him in, bundling the two of you back up. He shifted to better hold you now, bringing your head towards his shoulder and letting his arms wrap around you. Gently he placed his chin on the top of your head. 

“ I know, but I’m sure they will like you. If it helps, I’m terrified to meet your grandparents.” The small rumble of laughter he tried to push out had his shoulders shaking. “ And they are the ones that will have jet lag.” 

“ Do we have to meet them…?” 

He snorted, “ Mom would be knocking on everyone’s door and trying to contact my manager if we try to hide.” 

“Mama Bear.” 

That had both of you laughing quietly. You leaned further into Jihoon’s embrace, listening to the calm, rhythmic beating of his heart. 

“ I’m sure they will like you, Ruby-ah.” 

Jihoon was out of your apartment early the next morning, saying he wanted to hit the gym and shower before you were to meet up with his parents at noon. You could feel he was nervous but there was an unspoken agreement that it was nerve wracking for the both of you. He was still calm under the jittery feeling, working out probably was a good idea if it helped diminish his worries. 

For yourself, you did what you did best. You cleaned your apartment up despite them not even coming to your place, reviewed any paperwork needing to be handled for work, and took a shower to get yourself ready. Best impressions were in order so you put on a nice pair of slacks and a not too oversized t-shirt. You styled your hair to look more presentable and shuffled about the apartment to gather anything you need. 

When you sit down for the first time in a couple hours, you don’t know what to do. Everything was clean, you were ready to head out, nothing needed to be done. Your leg started to bounce with jittery energy, drumming your fingers against the top of your thighs. A check of the time on your phone had you still an hour away until you were to meet at a restaurant his mother wanted to visit. 

The buzz under your skin of Jihoon getting close had you springing up and hurrying to the door. Before he got a chance to tap in the keycode, you were already opening the door for him. His eyes were wide as his hand hovering where the keypad was and he looked at you with confusion. Then his expression shifted into sympathy, stepping in and closing the door. 

“ Ruby-ah, everything will be okay.” He placed both hands on your arms, “ Everything will be fine, nothing to worry about.” 

His reassurance was needed but it didn’t reach every nervous crevice of your mind. There were so many worst case scenarios racing through your head. 

“But what if they hate me?” You groaned, turning and stomping towards the couch and face planted, words coming out muffled now. “ They are going to hate me.” 

“Now you are being dramatic.” You could hear his footsteps getting closer before he sat beside your head, patting your back. “ They aren’t going to hate you.” 

That’s how you found yourself sitting beside Jihoon, waiting for his parents, at a popular Korean restaurant. Even with you holding Jihoon’s hand under the table, your heart was beating out of your chest. At his suggestion, you both went and arrived early to secure a more secluded table but the silence that followed after only heightened the uneasiness passing back and forth between the bond. You were glad you weren’t the only one feeling tense. 

Jihoon flinched and released your hand, moving to stand. Quickly you followed, straightening your shirt, following his line of sight to come face to face with his parents. To say he looked like his parents was an understatement. His father greeted you both with a smile, pulling his son close for a hug, patting him on the back. Her mother seemed much more subdued, her smile small, not fully reaching her eyes as she hugged Jihoon. 

When they turned to you, you gave a proper, deeper bow, greeting them formally in Korean, stating your name and taking a few moments pause before standing straight. His father was smiling at you but his mother…she was analyzing you. The smile was gone from her face and her eyes roamed your person, taking in everything and anything she could about you. 

“ It’s very nice to meet you, Y/N-ah.” Mr. Lee reached out and you shook his hand with both of your own. 

Mrs. Lee…she was still quiet and it was unsettling. 

“ It’s an honor to meet the both of you. I apologize that we couldn’t get together sooner between the tour schedule.” You gave them another bow, still deep but not like the previous one. With a small motion of your hand, you gestured towards the empty seats for them. “ Please sit, I’m sure the trip here was long.” 

You and Jihoon stayed standing until both of his parents sat down. When you did sit, you tried your hardest not to let your leg bounce or fidget with anything. Jihoon, thankfully, told them to order whatever they’d like, and a period of quiet fell over the table. Both his mother and father didn’t hesitate to get different dishes once the waitress arrived. 

“ How has the tour been, Jihoon-ah?” 

Jihoon cleared his throat at his father’s question, puffing his cheeks and tilted his head as he thought. “ It’s going well. It’s just tiring with all the traveling and little rest, but it’s overall satisfactory. ” 

“ Has it been hard on you, Y/N-ah?” 

You blinked at him but shook your head slightly. “ Aside from all the traveling, it hasn’t been too rough on me, but I do try my best between the schedules to help Jihoon-ah the best I can.” You wanted to say more but you didn’t know how much you probably should talk… 

His father nodded along. “I’m sure he doesn’t make it easy, knowing my son.” 

Jihoon bulked at that a bit, huffing. “ What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You are difficult.” His father shot back, still smiling, which had you covering your mouth to laugh. 

“ No- Jihoon-ah has been fine, I mainly make sure he is eating and sleeping enough. Despite my efforts to stop him, he has been helping me a lot.” You glanced beside you and Jihoon was trying to suppress a smirk, sitting back in his chair. Looking back at his parents, you smile. “ You’ve both raised a very caring man.” 

“ What do you do for work?” His mother spoke up, her hands folded neatly on the table, raising a brow at you. 

“Oh- I do translation and international communication between my head company in America and Korea, however I also work with Japan and, occasionally, Spain.” The explanation was a little forced under her watchful eyes. “ When I was back in America, I would go into the office, but I work remotely so I can travel with Jihoon and the group.”

“Did you go to college?” 

“Yes, Ma’am. I acquired my Masters in Business Administration and International Relations. I’m hoping to move up the managerial chain of the office we have here in Seoul the longer I work here.” 

She didn’t look impressed, not that you were trying to impress her, but you were hoping she’d like that you weren’t just using Jihoon for money or anything. That was the last time you wanted from this…relationship thing you have going on. 

The waitress had returned in time to give the table a breather, placing down dish after dish with another member of staff until the table was full. Thanking them once they were finished, you and Jihoon waited until his parents took food before grabbing any for yourself. In relative silence, the four of you ate, not knowing what to ask, what to say, nothing like that. You felt completely out of your element. 

“ I’m curious, Y/N-ah,” Mrs. Lee didn’t look up from the food in front of her. “ What can you contribute to my son’s life that makes you believe you can be something outside of a soulmate?” 

Jihoon stilled and you stopped chewing. 

“ Mom-” 

“Dear-” 

“What can you contribute to my son’s life?” She repeated and lifted her head, meeting your trembling eyes. 

“ I- ” You didn’t break the gaze between you, taking in a deep breath to calm your anxiety. “ I’d like to believe that the relationship Jihoon-ah and I have can be meaningful.” 

“I didn’t ask if your relationship can be meaningful,” Mrs. Lee placed her chopsticks down and once more folded her hands neatly. “ To be frank, you don’t seem fit to help him succeed.” 

“Fit to-” You were thrown off, furrowing your brow in confusion. Your heart was in your throat and you wanted to escape but knew you couldn’t.  

“ You seem…immature. I can’t see you contributing more to Jihoon’s life than providing the necessary things for a soulmate to live.” 

There was anger starting to rise within you. The confusion you wore easier flattened into a stony expression. Jihoon whipped his head to look at you then towards his mom. 

“ That’s enough.” Jihoon spoke up but his mother was staring you down. 

“ Lee-nim,” You kept your anger at bay, keeping your tone even. “ I don’t appreciate you assuming things about who I am based on this first meeting.”

The air surrounding you was so thick you could cut through it with a knife. Both Jihoon and his father were stunned silent, neither sure of what to do at the moment. The staring contest between you and his mother was deadly. 

“ I wonder what type of people raised you seeing as your parents didn’t raise you with any respect for your elders.” 

Your heart stopped. All the anger that once built up within was heightened. Around you, things moved in slow motion. Jihoon raised his voice but everything was muffled as if cotton was shoved in your ears. 

“Whether you like it or not, I’m Jihoon’s soulmate. I’ve worked my ass off to get to where I am by myself and I won’t let you determine the type of person I am or how I can help him succeed in life when he has already done so much for himself. You speak about respect for elders but my grandparents taught me to only respect those who show me respect and currently I see none.” You stood from your seat, three sets of eyes staring at you in shock. “ Now if you will excuse me, I will not let myself be disrespected by someone who doesn’t even know me, nor seem willing to get to know me. Enjoy your time with Jihoon. I’m no longer hungry. I’m done.” 

You took your card out of your wallet and handed it to Jihoon before giving a curt bow to his mother and father. 

“ Ruby-ah-” Jihoon looked panicked and you felt the alarm flow between you. 

“It’s fine. Enjoy the food.” 

And with slow, heavy steps, you left the building and walked aimlessly through the busy city streets. 

He was…He didn’t even know how he felt. 

Watching as they left the restaurant, the outrage they felt, it was surreal. 

Never had he imagined that his mother would treat someone so harshly, let alone with such little respect. She was usually composed and kind but now she was down right nasty. 

“ What is wrong with you?” He bulked in disbelief, furrowing his brow. “ What the hell is wrong with you?” 

His mother scoffed and frowned at him. “ What is wrong with me? What is wrong with them!? Disrespectful and immature are an understatement of what they are!” 

“The only person here that is disrespectful is you! You just met them and you are telling them that they can’t be more than my soulmate? Someone that is keeping me alive?” Now he was getting angry. 

“ They aren’t. They will hold you back every step of the way.” Her words were frigid. 

“Hold me back- Mom, you don’t know them!” 

“Clearly I don’t have to, Jihoon-ah.” 

“ Enough. Both of you.” His father placed his hand firmly on the table, causing both his mother and him to shut their mouths. He turned his direction to his wife, “ I’m disappointed in you. You didn’t give them a single chance. You judged them based on whatever you read online from horrible fans.” 

His mother scoffed once more. “ Unlike you, I’m trying to watch out for our son and make sure his future will hold success.” 

Jihoon let out a groan of frustration. “ I’m not a child anymore! I’m twenty-six this year! I don’t need you vetting my soulmate when fate has already picked them!”

“Just because they are your soulmate, doesn’t mean they are perfect for you, Jihoon-ah-” 

“They are perfect.” Jihoon stood, exasperated and annoyed. He couldn’t believe that he was hearing. “ Ruby-ah is perfect to me and that’s all that matters.” 

He held his mother’s gaze, eyes narrowed in a pointed glare. She raised her chin higher, probably thinking she was right. He hated when she let her pride get the better of her. 

“ Think what you want, Jihoon-ah. I’m disappointed fate picked an ill-fit person to be tied to you for the rest of your life.” 

“ The only disappointment here is you for being a judgemental and hateful person. You raised me better than that.” 

She gasped, he didn’t know what brought him to even think those words, let alone say them, but in that moment, he meant it. 

“ Jihoon-ah.” His father started sternly but Jihoon shook his head. 

“ No, dad. The disrespect she showed Ruby-ah was too far. Neither of you raised me like that.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and pulled out a handful of bills, placing them on the table in front of his father. “ This should cover everything. Only call me when mom is ready to apologize.” 

Jihoon grabbed his jacket and walked out the door, looking either way down the street, trying to figure out which way they went. Ruby didn’t know the city well and he didn’t know if they were heading home- 

Pulling his phone out, he quickly called them, walking down the sidewalk in the direction of the dorms. The blaring ringing went on once, twice, and he continued down the street, picking up his pace. 

“Come on-” He muttered in English when the call went to voicemail after a few moments. He hung up and sent a text message, hoping to get any sort of response. 

Waiting at a crosswalk, Jihoon bounced on his feet, still feeling their anger, but it was calmer than what they felt earlier. To his current displeasure, there were a few people – who he assumed were fans – taking pictures of him on their phones. He pulled a mask from his jacket pocket and slid it on, keeping his head down. While Carats were part of his love for his career, right now he wasn’t in the mood to be gawked at. 

When the street was clear to cross, a text came in and he was bolting down the street in the opposite direction. Ruby had sent a message of their location in the other direction along the Han River. Though he didn’t get out much, he at least knew the basis from all the years of living in the city. 

As he neared the approximate location, the hum that coursed under his skin was comforting. The subconscious pull led him directly to where they sat under a tree, staring out on the still green grass and the flowing water of the river. 

“I blew it.” They said, not looking up as he slid to a squat beside them. “ I’m sorry.” 

“ Why are you sorry? My mom was rude and judgemental.” He shifted to sit, letting his legs splat out on the grass and leaned back on his hands. “ It was uncalled for.” 

It was music to his ears hearing Ruby snort and try to cover up their laugh. “ She is still your mom, Jihoon-ah.” 

“And moms can be overbearing and unaccepting of their kids growing up. I’m sure your grandmother can relate to that.” 

“Yeah. I guess she can…” Ruby sighed, running a hand through their hair before laughing under their breath. “ When I was in my first semester of college, Mimi drove all the way from upstate New York to the city to see me every month. She kept saying that she needed someone to take care of outside of Papa. It took her a while to realize that I was an adult after that.” 

“I’m sorry about what she said about your parents.” 

“ You don’t need to apologize for her, she can do that for herself if she throws her pride aside.” Their voice was laced with a hint of anger, that same feeling was still in the bond. 

“ Say what’s on your mind before I have to deal with you sulking for hours on end.” Jihoon rolled his eyes. 

Ruby huffed, criss-crossing their legs and crossing their arms. “ I know she is your mom and all, but who does she think she is judging me!? I’m not here for your money, I’m not here to use you in any way, and I’m definitely better than some of the people in this world for who your soulmate could have been.” 

He snorted but said nothing, letting them continue. “And learning a shit ton of languages is hard! It came earlier to me than math. Let alone getting my Masters in a double major. And asking me what I contribute to your life? Are we still in the fifties? No offense but you don’t know how to really cook! She should be happy I’m feeding you whenever you come over! And I make you sleep at a reasonable time!” 

That had him bursting out in laughter, face scrunching up and shoulders shaking. They weren’t wrong. Even in just a month, Ruby has been helpful in the caring for himself aspect of everything. And…And Ruby can cook pretty well so he wasn’t going to complain. 

“ I’m serious! She doesn’t know me, she assumes that because I’m ' disrespectful' and 'immature' that I’m not a responsible person. I pay bills, I work a full time job, and I have to deal with you and all of Seventeen! Especially ‘97 line, maybe minus Minghao-ah because they are up my ass!” 

“They will never leave you alone. You’ve signed the figurative contract and now Mingyu-ah and Seokminie will forever be your problem.” He gasped for air, watching them throw their arms up in defeat. 

Ruby pouted, rolling their head back and to the side to look at him. Jihoon easily looked back, but saw their eyes looking over his shoulder. 

“ Are they recording us?” He asked and they nodded. He wasn’t surprised fans followed him or noticed him in general. “ Come on.” 

Lazily he stood, holding his hand out to help them up and patted off their back. Jihoon slid his hand properly into Ruby’s, pulling out his phone to order a taxi. Ruby stepped close, seemingly hiding him the best they could. The fans did keep their distance, but the chorus of loud whispers and phones being held up to videos or pictures were making Ruby uncomfortable, he could feel it. He turned his back to the fans that looked upon them, facing his soulmate and waited for the notification that the car he ordered arrived. 

“ Are we going home?” They whispered, keeping their head down. 

“ Yeah, I’m gonna get us home.” 

“ ...I’m never going to get used to that.” 

“Do you see why I’m a homebody?” He followed their hushed voice, pouting his lips as he looked down at his phone. “ Sleep, exercise, work, sleep, that is my life.” 

Ruby snorted and a small smile spread on their face, “Don’t remind me, loser.” He only rolled his eyes, running his thumb over their knuckles as a small distraction.

Without too long of a wait, the taxi came and Jihoon pulled Ruby along towards the road, matching the car’s plate to the app, and opened the door for them to get in. The ride back to the doors wasn’t long and Jihoon was already receiving messages from Seungcheol asking ‘ why Carats are posting about him and Ruby on twitter when they were supposed to be at lunch with his parents?’ 

“ Wah, he really does work fast.” Ruby leaned against his side, looking down at his phone to better see Cheol’s texts. “ It’s kinda terrifying.”

“ Well, your name has been added to his roster of ‘people I can look up on twitter now when I’m bored’. Congratulations.” 

“I will never know peace between knowing all of you.” 

“Welcome to my life.” 

“No no!” Mingyu whined, throwing himself helplessly to the floor across from you. “ Tell us what happened!” 

“Yeah!” Seokmin tossed a crumpled up napkin at you which you dodged. “ We’ve met Jihoon-hyung’s mom, she wasn’t mean to us.” 

“You aren’t his soulmate.” Minghao pointed out, taking another bite of his takeout. “Ruby-ah isn’t a normal person in the eyes of a mother.” 

“ For example, Jihoonie’s mom loves me.” Soonyoung spoke up and everyone told him to shut up which caused him to pout. “ Mean…”  

“ I’ve never heard her so critical before.” Jihoon spoke up, pushing his food around with his chopsticks. “ She wasn’t even this bad when I told her I was going to be a trainee.” 

“Ruby-ah~ Tell us~” Seokmin said in a sing-song tone, using one of his chopsticks as if it was a wand, pointing it at you and twirling it happily. 

“She like-” You puffed out air, fidgeting side to side as you thought. “ She first asked about my education and my job so I explained all that. Then she asked me something about how I can 'contribute more to his life than just being his soulmate'. Then she called me disrespectful and immature and this mother f-” 

You stopped yourself, getting angry, similar to how you were earlier. “ Sorry, didn’t mean for that to slip…Then she brought up my parents not teaching me respect.” 

The air surrounding the group of you tensed and you sighed. They all knew vaguely (except for Jihoon who got to hear the whole story) of your family with how much time you’ve spent with them. You shrugged, shoveling some food into your mouth, not wanting to get too heated as of now.

“ Sorry Jihoonie, but your mom was a bitch.” Soonyoung said it so casually that you nearly choked on your food. 

“Thank god someone said it.” You threw your head back in laughter, falling over onto Jihoon who was trying not to laugh at it while Soonyoung smirked to himself. The rest of 97 line was in different extents of laughter, Mingyu on the floor and Minghao giggling with shaking shoulders. “I was going to say…Mother fucker but that would have been mean.” 

That made them roar up again and Jihoon followed by throwing his head back, face scrunched up in a wide smile. Seokmin and Mingyu were laying on their backs on the floor, Soonyoung was keeled over on the couch, holding his stomach as he gasped for air. Minghao sat beside you with his back to the couch, shoulders raised and curling in on himself as he laughed. 

You were glad you became friends with Seventeen. They were just the company you needed to deal with this. It was nice to have them as friends when Jamie and Kazuki were halfway around the world.

[salty-croissants]

would Rayman/Ramon ask Y/N in marriage? If yes, how would it be??

Thank you for the request ! 

Let me tell you , I was really excited to start working on this one : it’s just such a neat and wholesome scenario ://D 

Hope it turned out okay !

Details : use of gender neutral reader ;

established relationships ; 

no warnings needed 

Rayman 🧡

Now that the two of you have been together for quite a while , the idea of making your relationship something even more by asking you to marry him has crossed Rayman’s mind multiple times : 

he just loves you more than anything , and since he knows that the feeling is definitely mutual the probability that you’d say yes to the proposal is pretty high …

However , something seems to be successfully stopping him from bringing up the topic . 

You see , if there is one thing that Rayman is terrified of is rejection , which isn’t surprising considering that he’s been dealing with that ever since he left Dimension X … and immediately after there is the fear of making you uncomfortable in any way .

He ends up being very anxious about the whole thing , overthinking every little detail to make sure that the day he’ll eventually decide to propose to you he is going to have a plan prepared to make it special … 

Tough you can tell something is up . 

< Hmm … maybe that’s not the right place … they said that they feel more at ease when there isn’t too much noise , so it might be a bit too crowded … 

Then again , we could always just … > 

< Hey Ray , here’s some coffee , you’ve been here for a long time and - 

Hey , what’s that you’re writing ? > 

< Oh - y/n  — 

It’s nothing love , don’t worry about it , just … business stuff , y’know ? 

Thanks for the coffee by the way … sorry , I should’ve said that first , heh … > 

After lots and lots of planning and doubting weather or not you’ll say yes , Rayman ends up choosing a day in which the two of you are mostly free to then ask you to come with him somewhere for a “surprise” …

< Ohh , what’s it gonna be ? I love a good mystery ! >

< Heh , trust me honey , I’m pretty sure you’re going to be very surprised … I’ve been working on it for some time now . > 

< Really ? All for me ? 

Darling , you shouldn’t have … you’re always so sweet ~ > 

Despite trying to seem calm and confident like always , Rayman is … honestly freaking out inside : maybe a date on the very top of a skyscraper wasn’t that good of an idea … what if you didn’t like it ? What if you found it too much ?

But his worries immediately disappear when he sees the look on your face after reaching the place : he had decorated it with flowers and pretty candles , their gentle flame illuminating the darkness of the night …

< Ray … ! This is so beautiful ! > 

He smiles in response , reaching for something hidden in a corner and taking out his trusty guitar .

The surprise was indeed not over , and the moment you hear him start singing a song he wrote for you you can’t help but blush : your boyfriend was right when he said you weren’t going to expect what was going to happen that night …

As soon as he finishes you lock Rayman in a tight embrace , peppering his face with affectionate little kisses .

< Heh … I take it you like what I came up with ? > 

< Like it ? I love it ! Everything about this is amazing ! > 

You pause for a moment to give him a curious look .

< Tell me tough … was this all really just to surprise me ? 

I don’t know , it just feels like you’ve been wanting to tell me something ever since we got here . > 

< *sigh* … yeah … you got me . > 

As you watch Rayman kneel before you and search for something in his pocket , your eyes widen : 

could this really be … ? 

< y/n , my angel , my ray of hope … ever since you became part of my life , you’ve made it so much better : you have filled a crater in my soul that I’ve been carrying with me for years and that no amount of fame and fans could fill … 

You’re just wonderful , wonderful in every way , and … > 

He takes a deep breath , revealing a ring in his hand .

< … I honestly want nothing more than to spend every moment with you , forever .

y/n , will … will you marry me ? > 

Hearing him ask you that question leaves you speechless for a moment , and right when Rayman is about to tell himself that this whole thing was a terrible idea you smile at him lovingly while kneeling in front of him .

< Of course , Rayman … > 

He is simply overjoyed by your answer , and after placing the ring on your finger he leans closer to kiss you …

< Oh y/n … I love you so much , I’m … mm … so happy … > 

His words make your heart skip a bit , while you gladly reciprocate his passionate displays of affection … 

This truly is a new beginning for the both of you . 

Ramon 🖤

If he was anxious about proposing to you before , now that he rebelled against Eden there has been a significant change : 

Ramon feels like something terrible could happen any minute given that you two are constantly on the run , so he just wants to come clean with his true feelings for you before that … 

However , since coming to terms with the dark truths of the many awful things he indirectly played a part in has crushed his already fragile self esteem , Ramon is already unsure about the current state of your relationship … so asking you to marry him ? 

Would that really be okay ? Did he really have the right to do such a thing after all he put you through … ?

You noticed right away that something had been troubling Ramon during the past few days , something other than the fear of getting found by Eden’s allies , so you take every opportunity to try and help him out …

< Ram , honey … you know you can tell me anything , right ? > 

< Yeah … I know … > 

< If something is worrying you , I’d be more than happy to list - >

< y/n I’m fine , really , I just … have a lot on my mind . > 

< I get it … still , please don’t be afraid to talk to me , okay ? 

I love you , and I want to be there for you always . > 

Your kindness and care for him always manage to bring him some peace : 

maybe he was wrong to feel like he didn’t deserve you … maybe … maybe you were going to accept his wish to deepen your relationship … 

He thinks about it a lot after you have those types of conversations . 

Finally one day he decides that he can’t look away from what he truly wants anymore , and while you two might not be able to do anything outside your house to avoid attracting any unwanted attentions Ramon is definitely going to try and make the place look a bit nicer for when you return …

< *gasp* woah - Ram , what’s all this ? > 

< Oh , I … decided to finally hang those star-shaped ceiling lights we had in the drawer , the ones that you bought a few months ago .

Do you … like them … ? > 

< Are you kidding ? They look so pretty ! Thank you so much ! > 

Your bright smile Ramon feel a lot more at ease , and he lets out a light chuckle in front of your sheer excitement . 

< I gotta ask though , is this for some special occasion ? 

I mean , it was really sweet of you to surprise me , but … > 

< Yeah , actually … I’ve been thinking a lot about this , and I think that there is something you should know . > 

You follow your boyfriend in the living room , a bit curious about what could be warranting such a special treatment , and the two of you end up sitting next to each other on the couch . 

After a few minutes , Ramon takes a deep breath , his eyes never leaving yours as he holds your hands in his .

< y/n … I know this is probably not the right time or the right place : so much shit has been going on lately , and I understand if it’s weird of me to bring this up now , but … > 

You can hear his voice trembling slightly , almost like the anxiety of telling you what he wants to say is suffocating him , and you give his hands a gentle squeeze to encourage him . 

Ramon gives you a thankful little smile before carrying on .

< Okay … okay , let’s just get to the point :

you’re the best partner I could’ve ever asked for , you even decided to help me out now that I’m a criminal , risking everything to be by my side … 

That’s something that I’ll never be able to properly thank you for , and while I have no clue what the future has in store for us I just know that I want you to be a part of it . > 

You can’t help but blush during his speech , overwhelmed by the sheer love of his words , and the moment Ramon reveals a little hand made ring in his pocket you finally realize what he’s trying to say …

And you couldn’t be happier .

< So , y/n … will you marry me ? > 

< Oh Ramon , yes , yes ! > 

You reach out for him to hold him in your arms , and after a moment of surprise you can hear him laugh , all his tension fading away as of it was never there …

< y/n … > 

He caresses your cheek , and before you know it you can feel his warm lips on yours , giving you a demonstration of how much you mean to him … 

You sigh softly , getting lost in that moment of sweet intimacy , and when you eventually pull away to catch your breath you both stare into each other’s eyes .

< … sorry for not being able to get you an actual ring by the way , I couldn’t really walk around and buy one with all those Eden assholes all over the place , but - > 

< Ram  , it looks absolutely perfect , the fact that you made it for me makes it even more special …

I love you so much ~ > 

< Heh … I love you too , angel ~ > 

[jujumin-translates]

★ Main Story | Act 13 - Budding Spring | Chapter 15 - Ketchuped To Hell

Company Employee A: I’m so sorry to bother you.

Company Employee A: We’ve been able to handle English-speaking and Asian countries just fine, but this region is a little more difficult for us and there aren’t many people in the company who would be able to help…

Company Employee A: I’ve been considering outsourcing, but I haven’t gotten approval yet. Please, can you at least make sure there aren’t any parts that could be misunderstood in the machine translation?

Chikage: That I can do easily.

Chikage: …

*Typing*

Chikage: (So this is the final document.)

Chikage: --.

Chikage: (...Same last name and everything. I still hate myself for reacting to it out of reflex.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Tsumugi: It’s been quite a while since the voting period for the final selection started, and yet the notices of debut performances aren’t showing any signs of stopping.

Kazunari: And there are still just as many new troupe and troupe member recruitment notices too~.

Kumon: That reminds me, there was a kid in one of my classes that said they were thinking about starting to do theater.

Tsumugi: It seems like the more people are exposed to the opportunity, the more people become interested in it.

Tenma: And because of the SNS Votes, more and more theater companies are shifting their focus to streaming.

Omi: While working on a photoshoot the other day, I met someone who works in the film industry and they said they’ve suddenly been really busy lately.

Yuki: A lot of people’s impressions from overseas are starting to pop up online.

Tasuku: The new Fleur Award really is helping to bring life to the world of theater, just like they said at the first press conference.

Azuma: It’s especially amazing considering things have only just begun.

Sakyo: Yukio-san is the type of guy to be in the eye of the storm when it comes to theater.

Guy: With the increased attention on it, he and Kamikizaka must be very busy doing various interviews.

Sakyo: Well, I’m sure Reni-san’s handling it just fine.

Yuki: The number of reviews on the theater forums has gone through the roof, but a good chunk of them are pretty scathing.

Yuki: Even performances done by famous theater companies and playwrights are getting stuff like, “I couldn’t understand the dialogue because they talked too fast, but the costumes were cute, I guess.”

Yuki: And “It suddenly turned into a contemporary dance thing and I had no clue what it was supposed to mean, but overall it was interesting.”

Azami: Honest but harsh, I guess.

Sakyo: They probably didn’t understand the stylistic beauty of that troupe, so it’s likely just them being candid on their first time seeing them perform.

Tsuzuru: They’re interesting to read, but I fear the day they come after us.

Sakuya: I wonder what they’re gonna say about us…

Izumi: Let’s not overthink things and start catastrophizing. We’ll be fine as long as we be ourselves.

Itaru: Right. If we worry about it too much and disappoint our existing fans, we’ll become the harbingers of our own doom.

Yuki: Well, it’s probably best that we all limit ourselves when it comes to reading reviews.

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

*Door opens*

Yuzo: Mornin’.

Tsuzuru: Good morning.

Sakuya: Good morning! We’ll do our best today!

Izumi: Sorry to do this when you’re busy preparing things for your own troupe, Yuzo-san.

Yuzo: It ain’t a problem.

Itaru: Have you figured your attack plan for the Fleur Award on your end, Yuzo-san?

Yuzo: We’re just gonna do what we always do. That said, we got our asses kicked durin’ the pre-votin’.

Izumi: MANKAI Company placed 70th.

Yuzo: We were 103rd.

Sakuya: Furinkazan was!?

Tsuzuru: Even though you’re so popular your tickets sell out every show and you have a pretty solid fan base…

Yuzo: That’s ‘cause most of our fans are older.

Yuzo: So most of ‘em didn’t even know the pre-votin’ existed or if they did know, they didn’t know how to do it.

Yuzo: It’s gonna be a tough battle, but we’ve gotta fight in it in our own way.

Yuzo: Well, this ain’t the end of things, so we’re gonna take it at our own pace and not try to rush it.

Yuzo: But that’s just Yukio-san throwin’ us curveballs in the same way he always does. The things that guy comes up with never fails to amaze me.

Izumi: Haha… that’s him, alright.

Yuzo: Well then, if you’re all ready, then let’s get things started.

Sakuya: Okay! We’ll do our best!

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Yuzo: …

Izumi: What do you think…?

Izumi: (I haven’t felt this kind of nervousness in a long while…)

Yuzo: Haaah… You’re as stiff as ever.

Yuzo: Given it’s a sequel to your debut performance, there ain’t any problems with the way you’re interpretin’ the roles, but overall, you’re fightin’ spirit just ain’t there.

Yuzo: Tsuzuru, you’re still havin’ your doubts about the script, and that’s why you’re not fully focused on the play, ain’t it?

Tsuzuru: …Yes.

Yuzo: And the rest of ya are too focused on wantin’ to put on a good performance to get the results ya need for the rankings.

Yuzo: ‘Course, puttin’ on a good performance does matter, but you guys should damn well know that by now.

Yuzo: Above all, you should think about what ya wanna convey and accomplish with this performance again.

Yuzo: Do ya wanna earn your spot in the rankings or do you wanna show off your growth…

Sakuya: --.

Yuzo: ‘Course, there’s nothin’ wrong with wantin’ recognition. But if that’s all you’re doin’ it for, then you’re just earnin’ points.

Yuzo: You’ll end up bein’ consumed by thoughts like, “If we do this, we’ll be more popular and get more points” or “If we do that, we can get some extra points”-- But what we’re doin’ is theater. It ain’t a competition.

Yuzo: What is a Spring Troupe play to you guys? What are you doin’ this for? Who’re you doin’ this for?

Yuzo: You’re doin’ a sequel of your debut play. What did that play mean to all of you back then?

Yuzo: If you’re gonna do a sequel to your debut performance, maybe it’s best ya go back to those origins and give ‘em a look over again.

Yuzo: …But do it with some caution, yeah?

Izumi: (I wonder if Yuzo-san is also pretty worried about the new Fleur Award.)

Izumi: (No, I’m sure companies other than Yuzo-san’s are worried too… We’re not alone in this.)

Izumi: (What place does our troupe have in the rapidly changing world of theater…)

Izumi: (Maybe we need to rethink the path we’re going to take.)

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Citron: It has been a long time since we have been ketchuped to hell like that~.

Masumi: Criticized to hell?

Itaru: His kindness stat has been upped since back then, though.

Chikage: Isn’t that because of how much he approves of us?

Masumi: But that just makes fixing the parts he doesn’t approve of that much harder.

Sakuya: There… really is no easy answer, huh? Our Spring Troupe’s acting… our origin…

Tsuzuru: Who would’ve thought it’d be so hard just to be ourselves?

Chikage: Because sometimes you’re not the one to understand yourself the best.

Izumi: We decided to do this sequel in order to go back to our roots and remember where we started…

Izumi: So, what do you all think was the best part about Spring Troupe back during the first RomiJuli?

Sakuya: To be entirely honest with myself, my acting skills were horrible. All I had back then was my desire to act.

Tsuzuru: But you’ve still got that desire even now.

Sakuya: Yeah! If anything, I love and cherish theater even more than I did back then.

Masumi: So I wonder what we’re “lacking” now.

Itaru: I mean, I’m pretty sure I’m way more absorbed into theater than I was back then, at least.

Chikage: Our bonds as Spring Troupe have deepened and we’ve all improved too.

Citron: I do not feel like we are lacking anything~…

Masumi: But I get what Yuzo was saying.

Tsuzuru: Same here… He was right about me not being able to shake my hesitation about the script, too.

Chikage: Differences from our debut performance, huh…? For better or worse, this is no longer our “first time” on stage.

Itaru: You mean like our freshness is gone, or something? Well, there is a certain something about an author’s debut work, I guess.

Sakuya: You can only have one “first time”, so it’s not something you can do again, huh…

Tsuzuru: So, does that mean that, in a way, we’ll never be able to surpass our debut performance…?

Itaru: Sad, but true.

Masumi: Something that can’t be surpassed despite our improvement, huh…

Itaru: The impact of a first time and a blissfully unaware, reckless drive do have a certain power to them.

Sakuya: Hmm…

Izumi: …

Izumi: (Everyone seems gloomy now.)

Izumi: Let’s let this problem sit for a bit and each think about it more individually. We’ll have another meeting about it some other day.

Tsuzuru: Gotcha.

Itaru: …Yeah.

*Phone buzzes*

Sakuya: Ah--.

Izumi: The meeting’s over, so you’re okay to go and take that.

Sakuya: Sorry, excuse me, then.

*Footsteps*

Sakuya: --Hello, Sakuma speaking. I appreciate your call.

Sakuya: Um, I’m so sorry. About that…

*Door closes*

· • —– ٠ ✤ ٠ —– • ·

Iv: maintenance’s been extended

shiki: I have more exams tomorrow, so I probably won’t be able to play much today.

Iv: our’s start on thurs

Kar: Good luck

Iv: don’t you got em too?

Kar: Started the day before yesterday

Iv: oh, so you’ve already started

shiki: Cool about it as ever.

momo has entered the chat.

Kar: Yo

shiki: You’re late today.

Iv: you got exams too, momo?

momo: Ran away from home

Kar: Way to change the mood lmao

[ ⇠ Previous Part ] • [ Next Part ⇢ ]

[verdantcrimson]

Gourmand Fragrance / Wagashi Revolution - 5

(Unproofread)

Prev | Chapter List | Next

[The next day]

Nazuna: —So yesterday, me and Keito-chin did some research to figure out what kind of wagashi to make for Valentine’s day.

Nazuna: Kuro-chin, you should have a look at the recipe too.

Kuro: Yup. Already heard about what we’ll be makin’ from Hasumi danna.

Kuro: What was it… We were gonna make a kind of wagashi called ‘nejikiri’, right?¹

Nazuna: You meant to say ‘nerikiri’, right? Saying we’re going to make screw cutters is scary, Kuro-chin!

Kuro: Sorry. Didn’t really check exactly what the name was. So, what kind of wagashi are nerikiri, exactly?

Nazuna: It’d be quicker to just show you on my phone. Nerikiri is a kind of wagashi made with bean paste that’s also fun to look at.²

Kuro: Ahh, I’ve seen those. Kanzaki brings them to me sometimes.

Kuro: I get it. Now that you mention it being fun to look at, I can see how cute they are.

Kuro: When Kanzaki gave ‘em to me, I ate ‘em without really lookin’ too close. I feel kind of sorry about that now.

Nazuna: Ahaha, well I’d feel good eating something delicious too.

Kuro: So, why’d ya decide on nerikiri?

Nazuna: After our market research, we realized that people like cutesy stuff for Valentine’s day.

Kuro: Ah, s’pose that’s true. Girls love cute things, after all.

Kuro: Recently my little sister’s started preppin’ to make chocolate. I’m lookin’ forward to what kind of chocolate I’m gonna get. ♪

Nazuna: Ahaha, Kuro-chin, you’re on good terms with your little sister as usual~.

Nazuna: On Valentine’s day I’ll bet we’ll get to see you looking all smug because you got chocolate from your little sister. ♪

Kuro: I don’t plan on showin’ that side of myself so easily. Besides, it’s gonna be busy that day thanks to the Chocolat Festival.

Nazuna: You really think so~? You tend to slip up a lot when it comes to your little sister.

Nazuna: Well, we’ll save that fun for the day of. For now, let’s focus on wagashi!

Nazuna: Since you can shape nerikiri however you’d like, I thought we might be able to create a cute design for Valentine’s day!

Nazuna: Making the nerikiri paste is pretty time-consuming, but there’s nothing you can’t do at home! What do you think?

Kuro: Right. If we leave the cute design work to you, Nito, there won’t be much to worry about.

Nazuna: Yup! When it comes to cute stuff, leave it to us Ra*bits!

Nazuna: … Is what I would really like to say, but I’m not great at cooking.

Nazuna: So that’s why we’ll be relying on you, Kuro-chin!

Nazuna: Kuro-chin, you’re great with your hands, so I’m sure you’ll be able to make the cutest nerikiri of them all!

Kuro: M’not sure if I can live up to those expectations, but I’ll do what I can.

Kuro: Anyways, Hasumi danna and co. are runnin’ late. Are they not back yet?

Nazuna: They’re taking more time than you normally would to buy ingredients, aren’t they? I haven’t heard from them, so I’m a little worried.

Keito: Sorry, did we keep you waiting?

Nazuna: Woah, speak of the devil. Welcome back, Keito-chin and Rei-chin.

Kuro: Ya took your sweet time comin’ back, didja get into some sorta trouble?

Keito: No, we just stopped by the office to drop off a proposal.

Nazuna: A proposal? Well, it’s fine if you happened to find the time while out shopping, but I wish you’d tell us beforehand.

Keito: I’m sorry, the proposal was put together in a hurry after some discussion with Sakuma.

Keito: At the time I left, it hadn’t been completed yet, so I was unsure if we’d be able to submit it.

Kuro: A proposal that you finished in that much of a hurry? What kind is it?

Rei: It’s a plan for Valentine’s day wagashi. We went to the agency and proposed a cooking show with the theme of ‘Wagashi as the star of Valentine’s day’.

Nazuna: Wh- What!? Why’d you go and do that!?

Keito: I apologize for not asking you first. In retrospect, it wasn’t a good idea to put off having a proper discussion about it in our frantic rush to create a proposal.

Kuro: I don’t really care. I’m used to bein’ pushed around by you, danna, and it’s not like I can’t think for myself at all, right?

Nazuna: I don’t mind either, but could you at least explain why you made that plan?

Keito: The reason is quite simple. It’s to solve the problem that we encountered during our research yesterday.

Nazuna: It was the fact that the fancy, formal image of wagashi didn’t match people’s preferences for Valentine’s day sweets, right?

Keito: Indeed. Though that isn’t the case in actuality.

Keito: We will remedy this by appearing on a cooking show to promote them. We’ll introduce and make all sorts of cute looking wagashi.

Keito: Let’s spread the word that “wagashi can be the star of Valentine’s day too!”

Nazuna: Keito-chin, I didn’t think you would go that far……

Rei: It just so happened that the agency was looking for a Valentine’s day project aside from the Chocolat Festival.

Rei: Little lady Anzu is helping out too, so as long as things proceed smoothly, the plan should go through.

Nazuna: I-Is it really going to happen so fast?! Actually, that’s concerning…

Keito: I feel that way too. The fact that the agency is looking for additional Valentine’s day projects alongside the Chocolat Festival sounds too good to be true.

Keito: It feels like someone conveniently suggested it to them in advance, doesn’t it?

Rei: Goodness gracious, whatever are you suggesting? I haven’t got a clue myself.

Keito: … Well, it’s fine. I’ll let this odd coincidence slide for now, since it’s working in our favor.

Keito: Kiryu and Nito, I’m sorry for getting you involved without asking you first. Like I said before, if you can’t do it, feel free to turn me down right now.

Keito: In which case, Sakuma and I will simply film an introductory program by ourselves.

Nazuna: Don’t start talking like a stranger, Keito-chin! Since we’ve come this far together, I’ll definitely join in!

Kuro: Yeah, danna. It’d be worse if ya decided to have us be the only ones left out.

Keito: … I see. Thank you, both of you.

Rei: Fufu. Now that we’ve decided on this, we ought to start our practice in making the wagashi that will be introduced on the cooking show.

Rei: We can’t be making concrete chocolate on filming day, now can we? ♪

Keito: Hmph. Even if you hadn’t said that, I’m well aware that I’m the weakest link of the bunch.

Keito: However, you have no reason to worry. I’ll make them perfectly on the day of.

Keito: I’ll prove that wagashi can be the star of Valentine’s day too!

Prev | Chapter List | Next

Translation Notes

Nejikiri is, well, a screwcutter. I couldn't translate the pun, so I did my best.

Nerikiri are small, detailed sweets made of sweetened white bean paste and rice flour. They come in a variety of designs and shapes. I happened to stumble across an artist's Valentine's nerikiri. Have a look!

[xbl00dy-r0s3x]

Hi lovely, hope you're doing alright!! May I request Hobie x reader who's having a rough time mentally ( I call em bad brain days) and they're having a rough time with school (college finals), crazy bs at the day job (customer service fucking blows lmao), and in their dimension they have a shitty guardian ALONG with dealing with being a spidey. After patrol Hobie swings into his place and finds them having a really bad panic attack (and he's freaking out cuz he's never seen them like this before). They're trembling like crazy, hyperventilating, really warm and crying and it just sets his Spidey sense OFF. He talks them down and comforts them from a distance then when they ok it, he comes closer to provide physical comfort...letting them touch his accessories (he hands them one of his bracelets for sensory purposes to help bring them down), play with his rings, etc. He just cuddles them to his chest, providing words of comfort.

Sorry if this is too specific, I may have gotten a lil carried away lmfao.

Anyway stay freaky, have good vagina, I love ya!!

(honey anon)

A lil mental health awareness story, I like it(I hope I do good man, it’s been a minute since I’ve written) Let’s see how this goesssss(I might’ve went off script a lil, apology in advance if I did)

Bad Brain Day

“These finals are gonna be the death…” you sighed while studying for your math final. You barely got through AP Literature review packet(that was on stuff the teacher regrettably didn’t cover😒😒) and you hoped to god(or whatever you believe in) that you passed your 3 other finals. The past two weeks working at the little cafe a block from your college wasn’t any better.

Some customers were nice enough to realize you were sleep deprived and not ready to deal with bullshit, but apart from them, the rest were hell. It went from getting yelled at constantly, to being tripped by a group of high school girls and spilling hot coffee all over their uniform, to even someone random dude being racist and spitting in your face before throwing his money and his coffee at you.

It didn’t help that most of your friends were all busy, two or three actually checked on you from time to time to make sure you were doing okay mentally(you tend to have bad things happen around finals week) and the one person you tried to talk to about the “debts” that you owed them for raising you was unreachable. You tried texting, calling, hell you even tried zoom calls and e-mails, but to no avail, you wouldn’t be surprised if the motherfucker withdrew a couple hundred dollars(that you didn’t have) as his payment this month(like he usually did).

And the countless times of having to disappear from class and work to go deal with some bad guys in not only your dimension, but Miles and Pavitr’s dimensions as well hadn’t helped the stress that was starting to build up, even Miguel started to worry when you’d show up more sleep deprived then the last time you were there. Eventually he told you to take a break from the spider society so you didn’t get hurt and you were thankful, but it wasn’t like the bad guys in your dimension would ever let you catch a break.

Which leads to today as you were studying for your last final, you started to feel your chest close up and your eyes started to water. “No, not again,” you groaned internally as you went into another panic attack that started with you in your little spinning gamer chair to being on the floor in the corner of your room. You were violently shaking, trying breathing exercises to calm yourself down, but to no avail. As you were starting to calm down from the attack, your anxiety spiked as you heard a knock at your window.

‘F-fuck. Who is it? I-I can’t deal with this and another person right now,’ you thought as the person knocked again. “Y/n? Y’kno is rude to leave company waitin’,” said Hobie as he opened your window and saw you in the corner. ‘Oh shit,’ he thought when he saw your state. Your hair was messy, you were crying, but it didn’t hide the eye bags that you had from the lack of proper sleep, and your clothes made you look more bummy then you thought it did.

“Hey love, you doin’ okay?” he said in a softer tone than before as he sat on the windowsill. You slightly shook your head no. “Y’kno… I’m not the best with words so is it ok if I play my guitar a little?”

You thought he might play some of his punk music he’s been practicing, so you were a little off put by the request, but you slowly nodded yes, wiping tears that wouldn’t let up as you hoped you didn’t make the wrong decision. To your surprise, he strummed his guitar strings softly and it was one of the songs he’s heard you have playing when your really stressed out that helps prevent these attacks from happening as often.

As time went on, you felt more and more relaxed, eventually letting him come sit next to you and gave you one of his bracelets to mess with. After a bit, you ended up between his legs and had started messing with both of his hands, admiring how the rings complimented his skin and his surprisingly nice nails that he’d let you paint from time to time. While you were in your own world of mind fog from the panic attack, his voice brought you comfort as he mumbled some words of comfort that sounded a little jumbled by his accent, but you loved it nonetheless.

You laid back against him while opting to mess with just one of his hands, his other wrapping around your waist and pulling you in closer to him, letting you know you were loved. Soon enough, you both fell asleep, with him leaning his back against the wall and you leaning in to him. Little did he know, he was gonna have a crock in his back for a while, but he’ll think it’s worth it after what he accomplished the night before.

I WAS NOT EXPECTING IT TO END THIS SWEETLY BUT YKNOW WHAT, I LOVE IT AND HOPE YOU DO TO, Much love and light, have a great rest of your day, my lovelies (I did try to capture hobie’s accent/slang and his pronunciation of words, I hope I did well)

[hmtaxidermy]

Howdy! I’m a fellow taxidermist from Texas! I went to lone star state school of taxidermy and have been working in a small shop for the past year. I hope to start my own shop one day- do you have any tips or tricks? What was it like to start your own taxidermy business? What’s been the hardest part? 🦌🖤

Hello!!

First of all, I’m so sorry for taking so long to answer this! I promise I wasn’t ignoring your ask. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how busy it’s been. That being said:

Welcome to the club!

(Loooooong post ahead)

Fair warning, I’m just gonna ramble. I also am still in the infancy of running my own business, so I can’t give you anything with too much meaning, but I’ll try.

It’s been a slow start, but every day my business gets bigger! I think having faith and patience truly is the toughest part. It’s so easy to go a couple weeks with no phone calls and start to worry. Rome wasn’t built in a day.

Keep your job at that shop while you build up your business. Only leave when you have consistent work rolling in. I’m not even at that point yet myself! You won’t get a lot of work in under your own business for your first year or two. Take what you can and produce good mounts. The quality will bring in more customers. Never sacrifice it. I’ve gotten a lot of my customers from word-of-mouth alone.

You will need to work on your business’ mounts on your days off. It’s hard juggling your own projects and your day job’s, but you will gain so much needed hands-on experience from your day job that will fast-track the quality of your mounts. Lone Star is great at providing a solid foundation, but I’ve personally found that the repetition of working at an already-successful shop is what’s refined my mounts. That being said, don’t be afraid to look into how the world champions go about their mounts and see if any of their tactics work better for you! (This applies to your business’ mounts only. Mount any work at your job how your boss wants you to.)

No hate to Brian at Lone Star, but there are easier and more effective ways to mount birds than what he teaches. I highly recommend looking into Shane Smith’s tutorials and materials. I personally use Smith’s line of mannequins for all my birds. I think you’ll also find using an artificial beak so much easier than the real one. (Assuming you even took the course that included birds/you even want to offer bird services.)

Not necessary, but I recommend Breakthrough Magazine for tips and tricks from award winning taxidermists. It’s also just nice to look at the competition mounts.

Make a good website for your business that includes a gallery! People are only going to go with you if they like how your mounts look. You can check my website as an example. (Shameless plug: harvestmoontaxidermy.com)

Another hard thing for me, personally, is price-setting. When I first opened HM, I was too scared to price too highly, afraid I’d scare off customers. Don’t do this. Yes, you may scare away some folks, but you’ll find that people are willing to pay your prices. Don’t shortchange yourself, especially with how much work some of this stuff takes! Look up other taxidermy shops in your area and see what they charge as a reference. I can’t tell you exactly what everything should cost because it varies from area to area. My euros may be more or less expensive than the euros in your county.

—

On the more legal side of things:

Go to your city hall and register your business/business’ name. Look up your business’ name ahead of time to make sure no one else has it or something similar in your area.

Use Wildlife Resource Documents (can be found for free on the Fish & Game website) when you intake customers to legally transfer the ownership of harvested game from the hunter to you.

If you plan to work on birds, get a Migratory Bird Permit to be able to legally store and mount them. Do this months ahead of offering bird services. I submitted for mine and didn’t get it back for, like, 5 months.

I like to fill out a WRD when a customer comes in and fill out a “mount desired” form on the back of it. Have your customer sign both sides, agreeing to the WRD and to the mount/price. (Pic attached)

Get a Sales and Use Tax permit. All businesses in Texas (small or otherwise) are required to collect and pay sales tax. Look up what your sales tax rate is in your area. Texas has a flat 6.25% rate, but some cities will add an additional percentage on top of that.

Pay your taxes. You’ll most likely have to pay your sales tax quarterly. You can do so very easily on the Comptroller’s website. You still have to pay income tax at the end of the fiscal year just like everyone else, but you get to deduct your sales tax payments from it!

Open a business checking account with your bank. I don’t remember if it’s illegal to conduct business via a personal checking account, but last I heard it’s at least highly discouraged. It’s also nice to keep it separate either way.

—

Other than that, look into getting catalogs from supply companies! McKenzie, Van Dyke’s, Matuska, Jetz, and Headquarters are all great for mannequins and general supplies. I’ve also got catalogs from TASCO, Joe Coombs, Payer Eyes, and Woodland’s Scenes-n-Nature just in case. I also love using The Taxidermist’s Woodshop for all my euro plaques.

You’ll mainly be using McKenzie for your supplies, but it never hurts to have back-ups. Sometimes a customer prefers a mannequin only Jetz sells, or sometimes you prefer how one company sculpts mannequins for a certain species over another. The more mounts you do under your own business, the more you’ll figure out which product lines suit you best. It’s all trial and error.

—

I believe this should be the majority of it?? Please feel free to reach back out if you’ve got a question over something I haven’t covered.

TLDR; Register your business, get Sales Tax permit and Migratory Bird permit (if mounting birds), Look up your local sales tax rate, Pay your taxes, keep your day job for a while, and most importantly, have faith in yourself.

You’re going to do some amazing things ♥️

[shinagawa-division]

ARB Birthday Special: Sumire Shinomiya

~~ November 6th ~~

“Your pretty empire took so long to build, now, with a snap of history’s fingers, down it goes.”

Login Lines:

“Wha-? Eh? Oh, what the hell, did I fall asleep? Shit, I didn’t think I was that tired. Hah, I need to get back on my schedule, I’ve let Malphas convince me to sleep in more way too many times. So? What do you want?”

“Oh…it’s that time again, fucking yippee-no, no, I need to be positive, I promised Aiko that I would genuinely try to enjoy my birthday this year. Thanks for the gift.”

Voice Lines:

“I don’t get what the big deal is about, so I’m 21 now, am I supposed to be happy? I’ve been doing the same adult shit I’ve always been doing when I was younger and I’m still gonna continue to do it now that I’m actually “of age”.

“If there’s one thing I’m looking forward to, it’s always whatever the Den has planned for my birthday. They get so excited around this time of year and they’re so…loving towards me even though I haven’t done anything to deserve it. Still, who am I to ruin their fun? Nothing makes me happier than to see my family happy and enjoying themselves.”

“Speaking of, I should pay a visit to Yosuke, it’s been a while and I’m starting to run low on Zenith, the nightmares are starting to come back.”

“A-AHHHHH!!! I GOTTA GET READY! Why am I freaking out?! Jiro’s taking me on a fucking date! That’s why I’m freaking out! Hnngh, I can’t mess this up, do I dress cute? But it’s fucking cold outside, what if we go to the park or something?! But I don’t want to over bundle, he’d think that I’m not interested! Ughhh-“

“Aiko and Seizou wished me a happy birthday earlier, Aiko is as excitable as always, it’s always a pleasure seeing her so happy and not only that but Seizou seemed to be a tad bit livelier, he even gave me a present. Hard to believe that this is his first time celebrating my birthday…well, first time celebrating a birthday in general, he seems to be in the spirit, I’m proud of him.”

“Heyyyy Ritsuko, weird seeing you out of your lab, I’d say you were out and smelling the roses but you don’t strike me as a flower kind of woman. Haha, I’m joking I’m joking, hm, thanks for the mini lesson, I’ll keep that in mind next time when I suffer from deadlines. Oh, thanks, I keep forgetting about that, no, it’s fine, I don’t necessarily hate it, I just…don’t care for it. Ha, I knew you’d understand. Aww, thanks Teach! Now I’m curious about what you got me…”

“Oh sweet! You actually did it! This? Well, I’m afraid it’s another stop secret project of mine~ Hehehe, well, I couldn’t take all the credit but what’s done is done and now I can finally fucking breathe again, I’m sure Miho will bounce back from that, she’s already been diving into her work as usual, besides this is actually for her, I made one comment and Aiko’s really been taking her “matchmaking business” seriously, I tried to get her to tell me what she needed this for but she’s tight lipped, but thanks again.”

“Oh, hey Miho, how’s it going? You seemed to be in good spirits? Ohh, work stuff, of course, well it’s good to see you out and about, not to bring up any unwanted memories but I was worried that you wouldn’t leave your room. Pffft! Haha, yeah, I guess you're right, you get what you give! Oh sweet, what is it?"

"Oh cool! These are really cute, thanks Miho! Look, I'm not a huge fashion buff but as long as it's creepy yet cute and in black and purple, I'll wear it. Thanks again, oh, you're heading out? Ah, well good luck, thanks again for the gift!"

"Malicious! Feels like I haven't seen you in forever! Seems like you're going out more everyday, I missed you, my spider! Hm? No, I'm not mad, in fact, I'm glad you're getting out more, you used to be so antisocial and broody back then...well, you still kinda are. Hey! Don't throw my gift away! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Now give it here!"

"Aw, Mal, this is so nice! And so us, haha, black and purple all the way! Eh? There's more? Inside...oh! OH! Awww! This is so cute! Look at us, the whole family all together! Yeah, I had a lot of fun that day, this...this is really sweet, Mal. Thank you so much."

Ritsuko Lines:

“Hello Sumire, a good day to you. Yes, amusing, but even I like to clear my mind from time to time, nothing productive can be done if your mind is in every which way all at once, you’d be best to remember that. Anyways, I’ve came to wish you a happy birthday, I know you typically don’t care for things like this, not that I blame you, but as my most precious and important apprentice, it is my duty as your mentor to reward you for your hard work, as such, I have come with a present.”

“I’ll admit, I was caught off guard with your request, I was wondering what was going on in that dark little head of yours until I remembered the scandal that took the country by storm, don’t give me that, I know it was your doing and as much as I wished Miho didn’t take so much damage from it, I am certainly impressed with your work not to mention relieved that we won’t be seeing that insignificant worm anymore. Aiko, hm? Who only knows what she had planned, happy birthday, Sumire.”

Miho Lines:

“Happy Birthday, Sumire. Yes? Pray tell, why would I not be? Ah. Right. That. Well, that's old news, you know I don't like dwelling on past matters when there is always work to be done. Besides, I believe that man has bigger fish to fry what with that 'Dead Pool' still circulating about, but enough about that, I wanted to give you your present, here you go."

"I'm glad you like them, I made sure they were made with great quality. I absolutely refused to buy anything from that harlot now that she's starting her own fashion brand but that's neither here or there, I noticed that it was your style so I got it for you. Now if you excuse me, I have a meeting to get to, have a good day."

Bonus! Malphas Lines:

"Oof! Well, hey there to you too, c'mon Sumire, I wasn't gone for that long. Yeah, well, I'm finally starting to live life more as "Masuzō" than "Malphas", is that...wrong? Are you angry? Oh, good. Look, if you're gonna act like a brat then I might as well throw your birthday gift away, yeah, that's what I thought."

"I thought you'd like it. Can't go wrong with good ol' black and purple, the family colors. That's not all, it's a locket, open it, I put something inside. Neat, yeah? This was from when we all went on that picnic Aiko forced us to have, it...was a good day, I enjoyed it. Happy Birthday, Sumire."

[pompous-puffed-up-penguin]

A fic of Ozzie looking after you when your sick would be so cute ♥!

AN: Ok, before people come after with torches and pitchforks, I had a serious case of writer’s block. I’m gonna try to get warmed up again, but I appreciate everyone for your patience!

CW: this is pure fluff, baby

Word count: ~600

“What the hell are you doing?”

You pause, turning around as you hear Oz enter the kitchen. When you came down with a fever last night during your shift, you had tried to tell him that you were fine, that you could finish your shift with no problem. Five minutes later, you had fallen asleep at the bar (an impressive feat considering how loud the club always is). When you woke up in fresh linen sheets and saw sunlight peek through silk curtains, you quickly put the pieces together. Your boss must have brought you back to his penthouse while you were passed out. Why he didn’t bring you back to your apartment is a mystery, but you were distracted by snot clogging up your nose and a pounding headache.

Still feeling groggy, you still managed to drag your feet to the kitchen, weighing your options of what to snack on when the front door opened. Oz walked in, scowling as he put a bag on the counter. Although with your lingering drowsiness, it was hard to concentrate as he said something, raising the back of his hand to your forehead.

“Jesus, kid,” he mumbles, “you’re burning up. You should be in bed, why are you up?”

Come on, you were hungry. You just wanted to see about making something to eat.

“You couldn’t wait five more minutes for me to come back, could you?” He scoffs, not out of contempt, as he begins unpacking his things. God, it’s like he bought a whole drug store. Throat lozenges, cough medicines, menthol, along with ibuprofen and other pain relievers.

“Better to have too much than not enough, sweetheart,” Oz says as he notices your shocked expression.

You appreciate the thought (even if this was overkill), but he’s not going to stuff you full of drugs, is he?

“Sorry, these ain’t the fun kind,” he says with a smirk. “Now as much as I want to play nurse, I do have some business to take care of in a couple hours. But I’ll make you a little something before I head out.”

Oh, now your curiosity is peaked.

“My ma made a killer chicken noodle soup when I was sick, so get back in bed, and I’ll make you a bowl.”

You never pegged him as a decent cook.

“Doesn’t come up a lot in my line of work.”

As you head back to bed, resting your eyes for a few minutes, the smell of a fresh meal wafts to your nose and wakens your senses. Drool builds in your mouth as a piping hot bowl is brought before you, nicely centered on a tray. Even his kitchenware looks like it would cost a month’s salary. You’re almost ashamed to touch it, let alone eat from it. But the sight of roasted carrots and celery throws any hesitation aside as you take your first bite.

And immediately regret it as it burns on your tongue like lava.

“Hey, hold your horses!” Oz grabs the spoon from you as he watches your face wince with pain, overwhelmed by the heat of the broth. “It just came from the pot, you need to wait a minute!”

But you have to admit, as the pain subsides and you can feel your tongue again, it does taste good. You can already feel your nose and throat begin to clear up, even just a bit.

As you thank Oz, his worried expression lightens up. “Yeah, of course. You got any taste buds left?”

Yeah, you’re fine.

“Good.” Just then, you notice a glimmer in his eyes. “Might as well stick around so you don’t burn yourself again.”

You raise an eyebrow at this. Didn’t he have work to get to?

“Ah, it can wait. Don’t know if you should be by yourself since you’re obviously…not in the right head space.”

You smile as you realize his game. Alright, but you expect him to blow on every spoonful before he feeds it to you.

“How old are you again? Ah, fine. Give it here.”