#look at my cringe idiot man please hes so fucking precious

[the-kipsabian]

[realcube]

i would just like to thank you for crunching out sm stuff for us and blessing us with such good writing!! 💕💗💕💗😩😪 truly *chefs kiss*

also could i request hcs on how tendou, fukunaga, matsukawa, bokuto, and iwaizumi react to their s/o doing this tiktok trend?

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMee9HVe8/

(a/n): 🙏 i should be the one thanking y’all for reading my content tbh! 💕 oh and this request is absolutely adorable!

summary of the video: a person peppers their cat with kisses to the audio of a man saying, ‘i love you. mwah mwah mwah. you set my soul on fire’

content warning: sexual references, choking & dick sizes

satori tendō

♡ he would cackle if you tried to do the accent 

♡ i’d say he knows the trend but he doesn’t look like he uses tiktok and even if he did, he’d be on deep tiktok

♡ anyway, if you don’t do the accent and you just start kissing him while filming, he’ll just smile 

♡ like he just got all warm inside 

♡ he thinks his smile is subtle but when he rewatches the video and notices his foolishly large grin, he insists that you delete it 

♡ but plz don’t- he really appreciates the fact you aren’t ashamed to be dating it and you actually want to show everyone on social media that you love him

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

you propped your phone up against the salt shaker on the dinner table so the camera was angled at you and tendō, then you turned to him with a mischievous grin plastered on your face which made him falter in eating his chicken nugget. 

“are you okay, babe?” he inquired through a mouthful of mcnugget as your eyes seemed fixated on him, though you weren’t doing anything besides stare. 

he was forced to swallow once the sound began and you started peppering his face with kisses to the beat, leaving him sitting like a statue in shock. the only part of his that moved was the corner of his lips twitching up to form a large grin. 

 once the sound finished, you snaked your arms under his and chest your head against his chest for a moment before grabbing your phone to watch the video, allowing tendō to peer over your shoulder and watch it too. then, he realised how insanely wide his smile was, “are you gonna post that?” 

“not if you don’t want me to.” you hummed against his chest, feeling his slender fingers slip through your hair to cradle the back of your head and hold it tight against his chest. 

“eh.” he shrugged. if you were to delete it, at least the world wouldn’t have to see him smiling like an idiot upon getting some sugar but if you were to post it, he’d be beyond flattered that you’d want to share you relationship publicly - it reassured him that you’re not embarrassed to be with him.

hajime iwaizumi

♡ while you do it, he just sits and stares at you like ◉_◉

♡ he has no idea what’s going on UIEFLAERN why are you filming while kissing him and lipsyncing to some guy with a hot accent??????

♡ bc he wants to do it back to you but he’s just frozen in shock for a moment 

♡ but if you lipsync to the words, at the ‘you set my soul on fire’ part, he’d probably make a sarcastic comment like ‘you have one of those?’

♡ anyway, for the most part, he’s paralysed 

♡ like he doesn’t want to do anything embarrassing on camera yet he’s also extremely confused so as soon as you pick up your phone and end the recording, he literally tackles you to the ground 

♡ ‘WHAT THE FUCK?! DELETE THAT RIGHT NOW!! DON’T YOU DARE POST IT!’

♡ and he doesn’t just have hajime iwaizumi body btw- he’s got hajime iwaizumi (27) athletic trainer body 

♡ so don’t expect to escape his grip unless he lets you 

♡ but if you manage to get away with the video, plz don’t send it to any of his friends- they will tease him and use it as blackmail-

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

you set your phone down on the coffee table then hit record, leaning back and shuffling even closer to iwaizumi on the couch. this caught his attention so his eyes momentarily shifted off the tv to look at you with a perplexed expression which became more prominent once he noticed that he was also being filmed.

“wha--” he cut himself off upon feeling your lips press against his forehead, then his cheek, then his chin; basically his whole face had felt your affection by the time the sound finished. 

he was taken aback, to say the least. the whole thing went by in a blur - a pleasant blur, but a blur none the less. he was too busy enjoying the feeling of your soft lips against his skin to realise that his resting expression looked similar to the one he wore when walked in on matsukawa and makki comparing dick sizes in the changing room.

once you pulled away and grabbed your phone to watch the video, he got the opportunity to observe the stupid look he wore and he instinctively tried to snatch the phone from your hand. This resulting in him lying on top of you on the couch, suffocating you with his cologne, trying to grab your phone but the frantic flailing of your arms posed challenge. 

“Gimme that damn phone! Don’t you dare send that to anyone! Did you see my fac--”

“Iwa, get the fuck off me!” you wheezed, your voice muffled from his beefy chest being pushed against your face.

RIP (Y/N). Cause of death: Iwaizumi Hajime’s muscles

kōtarō bokuto 

♡ whenever you start filming him, he immediately goes like :) 

♡ but then when you sit down next to him and film y’all together then he goes like :D

♡ THEN WHEN YOU START COVERING HIS FACE WITH KISSES TO A CUTE-ASS SOUND, HE’S LIKE 🥰

♡ but fr, he melts 

♡ you’re just so damn cute

♡ he doesn’t really question what you are doing, he just enjoys it

♡ he probably wraps his arms around your waist too and tries give you kisses back

♡ oh! and if you repeat what they guy in the audio says (’i love you’ & ‘you set my soul on fire.’), bokuto will say the same back 🥺

♡ pulls you onto his lap if you weren’t already sitting on him

♡ he insists that you post it, no matter how silly either of you look - he wants the world to see how in love you two are 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

you plop yourself down next to him as soon as you hit record on your phone then immediately began placing kisses all over bokuto’s face and if you wasn’t grinning like an idiot before, he sure was now.

“I love you!” you tried to do the accent while desperately stifling a giggle, continuing to peck his cheek, “you set my soul of fire-”

 you were forced to pause as bokuto caught your lips in his own, pressing down on the small of your back to deepen the kiss, “i love you more, baby! you set my soul on fire too - whatever that means.” he exclaimed, all while wearing a wide, toothy grin.

once you finally pull away to grab your phone, you held it in between you and bokuto so he could watch it along with you. he bounced giddily in place, squeezing your other hand tightly, “you’re precious, (y/n).” he muttered before pumping his fists and cheering, “post it! post it! post it! post it!”

issei matsukawa 

♡ you tried this on him while he was studying chemistry and although neither of you thought much of it in the moment, he’ll never forgive you bc he ended up failing his chem test 😭

♡ anyway 

♡ he questions what you are doing at first but when he hears the sound, he realises what trend you’re doing immediately (bc i hc that he lowkey has a social media addiction)

♡ so he just sits there with this cocky ass smirk on his face while you shower him with your love

♡ not bc he’s unappreciative - like he think you’re cute as hell - but if you’re gonna post it, he wants to look cool, yk?

♡ also he wants to just keep up his nonchalant attitude towards all physical touch 

♡ yes, even sex 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

you propped your phone up on the water bottle sat on his desk and stood a seat on his lap, to which he gladly welcomed as he slipped his arm around your waist to hold you in place as you straddled him.

your hands cupped his face so he looked you in the eye, hence he dropped his pencil and slammed the brakes on whatever studying he was doing as nothing was more important to him them tending to your prettyself. 

once you began pecking him along with lipsyncing along to words the guy said, he just stared at you with a smug smirk gracing his features, humming lowly in agreement whenever you’d say anything. of course, he ensured that his head was angled in a way that the camera got the holy sight of his sharp jawline. 

his gazed at you though hooded lips, staying frozen in place until your eventually picked up your phone, swiftly deleting the video with a pouty expression. “hey- whatcha going? why ya deleting it? did you see my jaw?” he asked, clearly offended.

“you’re so boring, issei.” you whined, trying to conceal the fact your pout was slowly becoming a smile. “You were supposed to rail me, that’s the whole point of the trend.” you joked, not expecting for matsukawa’s hand to immediately latch onto your throat, “hah, well, you could’ve just asked nicely, doll.”

shōhei fukunaga 

♡ he kinda just chuckles at first 

♡ but as you continue, he’ll jerk his head around with his lips pursed to try capture your lips with his

♡ he’s honestly not sure what he’s supposed to do so please guide him 

♡ i’d say he seems like the sorta guy to hate being filmed but post-timeskip, he’s a comedian so he’d probably try put on a show for the camera 

♡ maybe subtly massage the back of your head, perhaps he’ll bite his bottom and give you ✨the look✨, or he’ll hold your jaw and longingly gaze at you- who knows?

♡ anything to keep you entertained （づ￣3￣）づ╭❤～

♡ WRUGETG BUT WHATEVER HE DOES, HE’S GONNA CRINGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER AND REGRET IT ><

♡ like you’ll try show him the video but he just turns away and covers his eyes like 😑 ‘no i don’t want to see’

♡ if you try post it though he will go feral

♡ probably tickles you, snatches your phone then deletes it 

♥　♡　♥　♡　♥　♡　♥

you clutched you phone as you looked at fukunaga dreamily while recording yourself. the noticed your odd behaviour but once he realised you were also recording, he just thought, ‘ah, that explains it.’

but what he didn’t expect was for you pounce on him then start covering his face in kisses. at first, he crinkles his nose and chuckled but just as you were about to say the second bit of dialog, an idea hit him. so without thinking, he gripped your throat then flipped y’all over so he was now on top, then he pressed his lips against your forehead while making the ‘mwah’ sound effect.

this took you by surprise so the last frame of the video was of you looking truly shocked and him looking down on your with a suggestive smirk - which was followed up by a sweet kiss but the video cut off before that. 

you both stared at the video as it replayed, neither of you liking what you were seeing. 

fukunaga was the first one to mention it though as he scrambled off you to grab your phone, “gimme that! you’re camera makes me look so weird.” you allowed him to yank your phone from your hands as you folded your hands behind your head, “my camera. sure.”

“sh-”

[honibee-arts]

Hello again 😁 Can I have another Zhuiyi getting together please? (The previous one was soo good!!!). They both think that the other has feeling for someone else (jing ling?) and are pretty sad about it until they (finally!) actually talk to one another. I hope you'll be inspired by it!! And thank you!!

"Who made you sad, A-Yuan?" his Ba asked one night over dinner.

"Ba. Silence during mealtimes." he reminded his Ba, earning an approving nod from his A-Die.

"Is a father not allowed to be concerned for his son?"

"Wei Ying. Sizhui is right. We must not speak during meals."

His Ba frowned and poured more chili oil over his noodles, offering the bottle to Sizhui. He took one glance at his father's burning red plate and his eyes watered, remembering the red congee he had helped cook for the poisoned Juniors in Yi City that made them choke from the smell and intense spice. He remembered rubbing Jingyi’s back as he had tried to force it down, gagging and couching as it burned his throat. 

Sizhui stared off as a sad sigh escaped him.

Jingyi...

No. He shouldn’t think about that. He should support his friends endeavours toward Jin Ling, his cousin. Was Jin Ling his cousin? Jingyi always liked to say Sizhui and Jin Ling both had a complicated family. Ba was born to Cangse Sanren and Wei Changze, but was adopted into the Jiang family. But he was officially exiled from the family and the sect after he had defected to Yiling, when Ba adopted him. They were only cousins through the technicality that Ba was raised as Sect Leader Jiang’s brother and Ba had adopted him as his own son, but Ba’s and Sect Leader Jiang’s relationship was a mess of things  and none of Sizhui’s business and now Sizhui’s head was beginning to hurt.

He blinked, looking up from the sliced radish floating in his bowl of broth and caught his parents sharing a concerned glance. He shook his head and finished his broth at a measured pace, standing and collecting their empty bowls and chopsticks.

“Thank you for the meal, Ba, A-Die. I will take these back to the kitchens and return to the dorms.” He bowed to his parents.

“A-Yuan.” His Ba frowned, unimpressed by his attempt at a quick retreat.

“Ba, I am fine.”

“Lying is forbidden, Sizhui. If something is wrong...” His A-Die trailed off. He was better at quiet expressions of care.

“I...”

“C’mon, A-Yuan, tell us? We won’t be upset. We love you and we’re allowed to worry about you as your parents.”

Sizhui sighed, setting the tray of cutlery down.

“It’s Jingyi...” Sizhui mumbled.

“What did he do? I’ll cut off his hands I swear-”

“Wei Ying.”

“Eh?”

“Do not strain yourself. You are still weakened, Lan Jingyi is a capable young cultivator. If Lan Jingyi must be hunted then I will do it.”

“Don’t hurt him!” Sizhui interjected quickly. “He hasn’t done anything wrong! Why do you guys always jump to maiming and murder?!”

“Okay, okay. Baba’s sorry. What happened?”

“I... I like him.” Sizhui mumbled, feeling his ears burn. 

“Oh?” 

“I said it, okay. I... I like him. A lot. And I... I’m sad when he isn’t here.”

“Lan Zhan! Lan Zhan! Our baby boy has a crush he’s so grown up! I’m getting so old, you won’t want a haggard old man like me anymore, Hanguang Jun.”

“Love Wei Ying. Will always want Wei Ying.” His A-Die said softly, pressing a kiss to his Ba’s temple as he buried his face in his hands.

“Lan Zhan! You can’t just say things like that to me! Warn me!”

Sizhui groaned, rolling his eyes as he picked up the tray again and making to leave.

“Oh no you don’t, sit back down, A-Yuan. We aren’t done here.”

“Ba, I told you what as wrong.”

“Not all of it.” His A-Die replied. 

“Fine. He doesn’t like me back, he likes Jin Ling. And... it hurts but I have to be happy for them, alright.” 

“Oh A-Yuan...” His Ba stood up and wrapped him in a hug. “I know how that feels. When I was younger than you, your Ba and I were sent to the indoctrination camp, and in the cave of the Xuanwu of Slaughter, I save Lady Mianmian. Your A-Die got angry at me because he had a crush on her-”

“Never had feelings for Lady Luo. Only Wei Ying.” His A-Die cut in, pouring himself some tea.

“Really?”

“Mn. Always Wei Ying. Only Wei Ying.”

“So your angry look was you thinking I was an idiot?”

“Assumed Wei Ying could read me as well as Xiongzhang by then. I was wrong.”

"I think Sizhui has a crush on you." Jingyi frowned at the soft ripples of the lotus lake surrounding the pier.

"Are you fucking stupid?" Jin Ling replied, looking at Jingyi like he'd grown another head. "He's my fucking cousin he's smarter than that."

"He is and he isn't. Not by blood. Your family is weird, Young Mistress Jin."

"My mother considered Wei Wuxian her brother as much as she considered jiujiu her brother. Whatever stupid shit my jiujiu needs to sort out with him aside doesn't affect how my mother felt. If Wei Wuxian is her brother, he is my da jiujiu. Don't tell him that, he'll get annoying about it."

"I won't. So by your logic, Sizhui is your cousin because he was Wei-Qianbei's adopted son before Hanguang Jun took him in, and because Wei-Qianbei and Hanguang Jun are married either way Sizhui is still your cousin?"

"Huh" Jin Ling snorted, the gold pendants in his hair tinkling as he through it back. "I guess all that precious Lan education hasn't been totally wasted on your dense ass."

"You!" Jingyi shouted pulling his feet out of the water and grabbing his sword. "You! Me! Let's fight right now!"

"You wanna fight? Let's go then. Sizhui is dense as fuck and so are you!"

Jingyi drew his sword. He knew Jin Ling was taunting him but it was too late. He charged at the Jin sect heir, roaring after him. Jin Ling charged at him, yelling all the same, bare feet thundering against the wood of the pier.

He was lucky to have caught himself just as the violet glow of Zidians purple lighting slashed between them, jumping back as Sect Leader Jiang stepped between them.

"What the fuck is all this damn screaming about?!" The sect leader roared. "I already have a fucking migraine as it is! Running two sects after this mess isn't easy you know! I haven't slept in three days so you brats better have a good reason for all this screaming! If you want to duel do it in the forest or some shit not when I'm trying to work!"

"Sorry jiujiu..." Jin Ling mumbled as Sect Leader Jiang recalled his whip, the spiritual tool coiling back around his wrist.

"It's... Its fine." he replied, taking a deep breath. Jingyi felt bad. The man looked exhausted.

"Jiujiu... Has it really been three days since you last slept?" Jin Ling asked worriedly.

"I...its fine, A-Ling..."

"If you need me to take on some of the paperwork it's fi-"

"No! No. You're too young. I had this shit forced upon me when I was too young. I didn't have anyone to help me. I don't want that for you. You'll take on the responsibility when you're ready for it. And right now, starting what seems like to be a meaningless brawl between another cultivator is not the behaviour of a young man ready to take on the burdens of leadership. I will be fine. Leave me be."

Jin Ling was quiet, crossing his arms and hugging Suihua to his chest as conflicting emotions crossed his face.

Guilt.

Concern.

Sadness.

Anger.

Fear.

Jingyi felt bad for him, but swallowed nervously as the sect leaders sparking violet eyes trained on him.

"Now. What the hell is this about?"

"Lan Sizhui is an idiot. Jingyi thinks he likes me because he hasn't noticed any of his advantaces and acts happy to see me but Sizhui is my cousin and he's not weird like that." Jin Ling butted in as he saw Jingyi's lips part in preparation for a response.

"Lan Sizhui? Kid, this is Wei Wuxian's son. He's going to be romantically oblivious. When it comes to love, that asshole was so stupid it hurt to watch." the sect leader sighed. "I've lost people I wanted, Lan Jingyi. My first loves slipped away from me. One sacrificed herself and owned up to the crimes of many when she was one of the few innocent, the other was wrought by grief and vengance into a man I no longer recognise. A stranger wearing his skin.... Perhaps if I hadn't been such a coward, I could have prevented it."

"Jiujiu is right. If you don't tell him soon you will lose him."

Jingyi frowned and nodded. He was afraid of the consequences, but he had no choice now. He had to talk to Sizhui.

"Jingyi." Sizhui greeted with that same warm smile that made his stomach twist in knots and his tongue turn to rubber. "How was Yunmeng?"

"It was alright. I'm glad to be back here, the Young Mistress was getting on my nerves."

"Ah. I see." Sizhui's bright smile faltered for a moment. "If you'll excuse me-"

"Sizhui. We need to talk." Jingyi cut him off.

"Mn?" Sizhui blinked, confused.

So cute.

Jingyi took his hand and dragged him past the Frost Pavilion, past the library, through the forest and past the cold springs.

"Jingyi, where are you taking me?" he asked, trying not to trip over his robes.

"This is the first place we played together, right?" Jingyi asked as they stopped in the rabbit field on the back hill, looking around. "You asked Hanguang Jun if I could come with you two, and you held my hand while he walked us down here. You taught me how to feed the bunnies and told me they were your brothers and sisters."

"I... Yes? Why are you saying... All of this?"

"You were sweet and kind and I didn't know the sunshine had a human form, but you've made me warm since I..."

"Jingyi..." Sizhui gasped as his friend stepped closer.

"Sizhui. I'm in love with you. I always have been."

"Jingyi... I..." can I kiss you?

"You don't feel the same... Its okay..."

"No no no I do I just... I thought you were in love with Jin Ling."

"Me? In love with that idiot? Sizhui, I have better standards than that." he laughed. "I thought you wanted him anyway."

"Jingyi... Jin Ling is my cousin." he cringed.

"I forgot about that. He called me stupid when I brought him up on it."

Sizhui bit his lip, holding back a laugh.

"You are a bit... Sometimes."

"You!" Jingyi gasped, grabbing his face and pulling him into a kiss.

Sizhui's eyes widened before falling shut, feeling breathless and giddy as his brain registered the feeling of Jingyi's chapped lips on his. His heart sang with joy. His first kiss.

He kissed him back as best he could, embarrassed at his fumbling but he supposed he would get better with time. Jingyi's kisses were gentle, a little awkward and unsure, but sweet as he wrapped his arms around his waist. Sizhui wound his arms around Jingyi's neck and pulled him closer.

They started to fall into a rhythm, getting less shy and awkward as they figured it out. Their kisses became bolder, and with a gasp Sizhui parted his lips-

"Sizhui."

Jingyi leaped back, bright red.

"H-Hanguang Jun!" he snapped into a bow. "We were just talking."

"Lying is forbidden in Cloud Recesses, Lan Jingyi. As are shameless public displays, particularly prior to marriage or courtship."

"Forgive me, Hanguang Jun..."

"Go to the library pavilion and copy our disciplines three times."

"Yes Hanguang Jun."

"You are fortunate it was not Wei Ying who caught you. He would have had less mercy."

Jingyi shot a worried glance at Sizhui. Sizhui looked back apologetically.

"Go."

"Yes Hanguang Jun."

Sizhui felt his cheeks and ears burn as he watched Jingyi's retreating figure briskly walk back up the hill toward the library pavilion.

"Sizhui."

"Yes, A-Die?" Sizhui swallowed thickly, dreading his punishment but squaring his shoulders in acceptance.

"You are aware of Wei Ying's rules about this."

"Yes, A-Die."

He would never forget that conversation at a rare full family dinner.

"A-Yuan, I forbid you from thinking about it until you're 30. You're 17, that's too young."

"Mn. Wei Ying is right."

"If you're going to be courted, it's by the rules of the sect." his Ba warned. "If he so much as thinks of touching your ribbon I will cut his hands of myself."

"And since when did you become so concerned about following the Gusu Lan doctrines, Wei Wuxian?" his grand uncle said sharply.

"Is everyone forgetting we should not be speaking during meals or has that rule been removed since I was last in seclusion?" his uncle sighed, looking between his brother in law and the grandmaster.

"Since I want the best for my son." His Ba snapped back, earning a tired sigh from beside Sizhui. "I made mistakes in my past when I was too young to understand what I was doing. I had no true parental figure to guide me or offer counsel and look where that got me. Forgive me if I want to protect my son from running into something he's too young and inexperienced to understand. "

His grand uncle stroked his beard thoughtfully then fell silent. Sizhui knew he would never admit he agreed with Ba.

"Forgive me, but Wei Ying, you and Wangji began your three bows when you were 15. Why must your son wait until he is as old as 30 to even consider what he wants? You do not know what will happen in the next 13 years. Someone he chooses to love may be gone forever if he is forced to wait so long."

"YOU DID WHAT?!" Lan Qiren roared, glaring at his Ba.

Sizhui sighed and collected everyone's bowls, bowing and making a quick exit before the fighting truly came to a head.

"Wei Ying means well, Sizhui."

"I know..."

"It would be unfair for Lan Jingyi to be punished for his behaviour and not you, Sizhui. Cannot be biased in this."

"I know."

"Copy the disciplines twice in the library, and ensure Lan Jingyi does his work. I trust the two of you will not need supervision."

Sizhui blinked in confusion, feeling his cheeks burn once more.

"Thank you."

[cheseyre]

good news, sluts! my brain's no longer being completely stupid (only mostly), i've seen the new asides and...have some thought-y thot thoughts:

*deep inhale*

Okay, first things first: this art style is soooo fucking cUTE and I'm a jealous, squealing bitch. Anyone who knows who the artist is, could you link me to them, stat? I think Thomas mentioned them at the beginning of the ep, but nYeh, brain hurt, doesn't wanna do wooork-

Okay, I'll admit, I was a little...apprehensive when I first saw the thumbnail and title. Part of it's just me being a bitter Remus Stan, but also...okay, deep breaths, controversial opinion time, get ready:

I don't ship Prinxiety.

Like, at all. 

I can see the appeal, and these dorks were so very, VERY cute in this particular ep, but I was honestly turned off by the ship long ago due to how overwhelmingly popular it is and how some fans characterize these two and treat this relationship as if it's the only valid one, y'know, the works—slight tangent, but that's also why I don't ship Logicality or Remile. I honestly vibe much better with ships like Roceit or Analogical, y'know?

Cutting in for another brief tangent: I'm surprisingly okay with Demus/Dukeceit/Receit/Trashnoodle/Whatever-Their-Ship-Name-Is-Oh-God-Why-Do-They-Have-So-Many-Fucking-Names; maybe it's cause they haven't actually interacted in canon and the fan content gives me such good Gay Disney Villain content, idk man im weird—).

Still, their interactions were both hilarious and sweet and like I said, I see the appeal, it's just not my cup of tea. y'all Prinxiety fans got fucking FED and I'm happy for you nerds. Enjoy ze happy boys!

I guess another factor in my...low-key hesitance when I first saw what the ep was about is that...okay, get ready, another controversial opinion, le gasp: well, I'm not a big Virgil fan. In fact, at times, he swaps places with Patton as my least favorite sides—especially with some of his recent behavior in eps like DWIT (the "prohibit your breathing comment" really triggered me, for example). Sometimes, his attitude, especially around other sides like Roman or Janus, reminds me a little too much of my sister, who I don't have...a very good relationship with. Add to that how the more...intense side of the fandom has a disturbing tendency to turn him into the 'uwu precious woobie emo baby who can do no wrong' while unnecessarily villainizing other CERTAIN sides in the process, and...I think you all see where I'm going with this little rant 😅

However, upon actually watching the ep, he wasn't...that bad? I don't think? I enjoyed watching him be a flustered, disaster-y mess and genuinely excited at the end, his interactions with Roman were nice enough, and him literally pushing Thomas to make a move with Nico despite his obvious panic attack was a nice moment of genuine character development. I like seeing that, that's the good shit right there. And him being all flustered and shit, and smiling so much at the end of the vid was just...well, adorable. This man has no fucking right to be this cute, my god

alsoooo 

pURPLE EYESHADOW

PURPLE EYESHADOW HE LOOKS?? SO GOOD?? WTF?? SLAY EMO, SLAAAAAAAY FUCK, DOES THIS MEAN I HAVE TO CHANGE MY HALLOWEEN COSTUME NOW?

alsoooo 

hAPPY ROMAN

YESSSSS~ MAH BOI MAH SON MAH DUMB BITCH HIMBO PRINCE MAH EXTRA MESSY CINNAMON ROLL

ITS  BEEN SO  LONG

AND HIS LITTLE HEART EYES THROUGHOUT THE VID, OH MY GOD-

IMMA JUST IGNORE THAT "ADDING [MISTAKE] TO THE LIST" COMMENT I AM LOOKING AWAY I DO NOT SEE IT LALALALALA

THOMATHY, SIR, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT MAKING THESE TWO GAY IDIOTS SO BAEBY

Okay, but Virgil not realizing that "cyberstalking in real life" is literally just stalking is both a big ass mood and further proof that, yes, Logan is indeed the only one holding the braincell out of this disaster of a lot. God help them all if he ducks out in the next ep.

👀

And Thomas x Trash Can is my new OTP.  I dub thee ✨ "Trashmas" ✨

we sTAN TRASHMAS

Wait, does that mean Remus actually WAS in the ep? Cause, y'know, trash man?

hmmm

👀 👀 

Okay, okay. 

With how much Virgil and Roman were going off about Thomas constantly lying, I was (understandably) a tad bit disappointed my snek son didn't even make a fucking cameo, but y'know what? In hindsight, I'm okay with this it's fineee~

He was just off playing with shadow puppets and stealing money from us desperate, content-starved peasants with his sheer extra-ness and, honestly? Gotta respect the hustle. 

Get that precious, precious coin, dapper snake! Wring us poor losers dryyyy!

*evil snek laugh*

Also, this is a breather ep and adding Janus in probably would've caused unnecessary drama with the Roceit breakup and the constant antagonism between Virgil and him. It probably would've distracted from the point of the ep (flirting with social anxiety, exactly what it says in the tin)—much like it wasn't really Virgil or Remus's place to show up during POF. Does that make sense? I think it makes sense. Sorry, brain going brr-

Still, I can't believe the "Fuck Janus Sanders" Club is actually canon now 😂

God, first Patton in a skirt and now this. 

Thomas Sanders, you delight in fucking feEDING this gremlin nest of a fanbase, don’t you? You RELISH our screams of joy and pain and suffering, dON’T YOU?

What's next, actual canonical Janus and Remus interaction? Patton saying the fuck word? The Dragon Witch comes back? Janus's bowler hat gains sentience and takes over the world, Doris-style? What do you have planned, Thomas? Joan? WHAT ART THOU PLANNING, I MUST KNOW YOU HEATHENS YOU FIENDS-

And Virgil's little "would it be fair to him" comment, tho.

👀

Like, I get in the context of the ep, he was likely talking about Nico and how it wouldn’t be good for a potential relationship with Tomas to be founded on lies, but still...my anxceit heart aches, man. 

Gimme that sweet, sweet angst with a side of mutual regret and possible future reconciliation and maybe something more wink wink nudge nudge on top, pls

...and fries.

Honestly, tho, that entire bathroom monologue was fucking beautiful, man. And relatable, too—i can't tell you how many times I've talked to myself in public restrooms because I just didn't know how to get the words I wanted to say out. It's...kind of embarrassing, tbh

Speaking of embarrassing, uh, crying stall guy.

Just...

Crying Stall Guy

Like, I was expecting someone to come out the bathroom stall after Thomas stopped talking, but...I honestly wasn't expecting that. God, that whole scene was so cringe worthy and fucking hilarious

Honestly, Thomas in the ep in general was a huge ass mOOD and we collective gay/bi disasters ALL related with him, and if you say you don't, you're either lying to yourself or a demon. 

There is no in between 

sorry I don't make the rules

Like, I get this series is literally a gay disaster talking to himself for thirty minutes or longer, but like- EMPHASIS on the 'disaster' part 😂

Like...Thomas, you're lucky you're such a goddamn bean, because GOD, I cringing so hard when he first started talking to Nico

Although, I too have apologized profusely for genuine mistakes and am a flustered bi mess around my crush sooo

😅

And god, Roman's "thirty = old man" jokes made me feel old...and I literally just turned twenty, like, come on, man!

Maybe that's because I was literally watching this ep after finishing my ACT and had been sitting with a bunch of high schoolers, with their tiny fucking desks and tiny fucking water fountains smeh

*clears throat*

Anyways, uh, we STAN Nico Pintrovert Florés in this house

Like

He gives me such big Carlos from WTNV vibes for some reason and this makes me sooo happy

and YESS, he's a WRITER

And he's??? So sweet?? A pure bean?? Just sits on his laptop at the mall food court all day, like a god-fucking iCON?? A Nightmare Before Christmas fan?? weARS GLASSES??

my hEART

*cries*

The fandom seems torn between "Nicomas" and "Karrot Kings" as a ship name atm—personally speaking, I'm casting my vote for the latter

*crosses fingers* please dont be another janus x remus multiple ship name issue guys, please please please I can't keep track of them all-

*clears throat*

On that note, I'm guess I'm gonna go try and whoo over my crush with carrots now. If THIS disaster can do it and make it actually fucking work, god damnit, so cAN I

Meanwhile, in hell, my brain's just screaming "CANON LOVE INTEREST CANON LOVE INTEREST CANON LOVE INTEREST-"

God, I hope Nico isn't just a one-shot character, he's too pure and Thomas and him are adorable gay Disney fans and I stan

Oh, I wonder how the other sides'll react to him.

Wait.

Oh god.

Oh god.

This ep just unleashed a new fresh hell of potential Nico x Sides ships, hasn't it?

Welp, time to prepare for ze incoming flood of fanfics, I guess. I'll get my umbrella and rain boots.

That last shot of Virgil during the endcard was so fucking ominous oh my god mom im scared can you come pick me up-

Goddammit, Thomas and Joan, I'm NOT fucking ready to be traumatized again, fUCK

I wish I wasn't a broke ass university student so I could contribute to Thomas's gloriously extra Patreon—both so I can support my favorite content creators who make this amazing blessed content and also, to join my boi Janus in fucking  destroying society by giving money to the people who actually deserve it, fuck YOU GOVERNMENT-

Okay. 

Okay. 

New headcanon time as to why Patton, Remus, and Logan weren't in the ep: they were helping Jan film that Patreon promotional video. 

Like

Remus directed it, Logan helped with the lighting and script, and Patton was just there as the cheerleader. 

The reason Janus made a dog with shadow puppets wasn't just to flaunt his deity status and prove how he is truly above us mere wretched mortals 

despite that being the absolute truth and we all know it, don't lie to yourselves

No, it was really him trying to do something cute and silly for Patton, because Moceit rights, daMMIT

*inhales*

noww 

guys, gals, and nonbinary pals

it’s time forr

the most wonderful time of the yearrr

WAITING FOR THE NEXT EPISODE

Step right up, folks! Hear ye, hear ye, my prediction for the next episode: Prinxiety v. Moceit! With special guest stars: Karrot Kings vibing in adorable gay and Intrulogical, bitter at being excluded aGAIN

Who will win? Who will lose? 

here’s a hint: we all will because in this sick twisted game they are no winners only losers-

Place your bets, folks! ✨

Haha im not readyyy~

tl;dr

this episode has cleared my skin, watered my crops, and ended my suffering—an adorable calm before the... angsty fucking shitstorm that’s coming far too soon. Prinxiety stans, enjoy your food. Place an 'F' in the chat for me and my fellow grieving Remus stans. Trashmas is the true OTP, but Karrot Kings is cute too I guess. I've only had Nico Florés for 24 minutes, but if anything happens to him, I'll kill everyone in this room and then myself. Purple eyeshadow Virgil makes me question my sexuality aGAIN, and happy gay disney prince rights y'all. Say a big ole 'fuck you' to capitalism by giving your local dapper snake moneys. Concussion makes brain go brr and imma go buy some carrots and be gay now.

psst hey @quarantinevibes2020​ you wanna join me in being disaster-y? i’ll bring my best gay stare and you bring the wine

Until next time, my lovelies! ~ Ches 🖤

[amphii-writes]

How Nekoma And I would Interact Head cannons

Hey! this is just how I think I would interact with the team because I know myself better than I know you, the reader! so i’m sorry if these are a bit boring :,)

warnings: swearing, mentions of violence(?)

If anything i’d meet kenma through school, he’d be a seatmate of mine and id ask him about videogames and we’d hit it off right away

I feel like we’d have midnight convos about videogame lore and we’d gush about our favorite games to each other and bond over nerdy shit like pokemon

With this, Kuroo would absolutely know about my existence, and god he’d tease kenma about having a “girlfriend” rip kenma

With this, kenma would be tired of kuroo’s bullshit and just ask me if i could go to a practice so he could get kuroo to finally stfu and of course id go because i wanna support a homie

Kuroo would be confused because 1. I am out of kenma’s league and 2. How the fuck did he “bag” me?

This would cause kuroo to be absolutely idiotic towards be and he’d ask me if i need a chem tutor, no i dont but ty for being so kind. This would spark a fucking dellemia in him, im cute, im nice, what the f  uc kckkk

With this, the other members would for sure notice their dumbass of a captain short-circuiting and me standing next to a cringing kenma and investigate

Lev gives me the Im-gonna-run-full-force-and-tackle-hug-you vibe so rip me :,)

Yaku and kenma would flip their shit and scream at lev because he just assulted me what the fuck dude

Man’d be like whoopsies i got excited :b

Inuoka would also be screaming cause it's inuoka, what else would he be doing, Fukunaga would be chillin, just staring at me like 0-0

Now this is where it gets good, yamamoto is late to practice by a little bit and he sees f e m a l e

MAN GOES APESHIT AND JUST “HOLY SHIT WE GET A HOT NEW MANAGER LIKE KARASUNO”

After training camp and everything i feel like the team would be comfortable enough with me to add me into their group chat

Kenma, yaku, and i would absolutely shit-talk everyone and have a mini groupchat where we send memes and talk about dumb shit together

I feel like the name would be like “Bruh moments” while the actual main group chat would be “Nekoma Nekonya” and that- that also pains me tbh

That group chat would be cursed as well, like any teenage group chat is but this one,,, for sure.

Kuroo would send cursed images and yaku would give him a therapists phone number and ask him if he wants to schedule an appointment after he sent a salad fingers meme

Inuoka def sends those like- fuckboy 🥶🥶🥶 cishet boy “I hate women but want pussy” memes and wears highlighter clothing i'm so sorry it hurts me too

I feel like as a reward i jokingly said i would wear a cat-girl maid outfit and these motherfuckers did a mini-fundraser for it and gOT ENOUGH FUCKING MONEY FOR IT

And the catcher is- that id wear it tO A FUCKING GAME AGAINST FUKURODANI

I would indeed cry out of embarrassment before the game but the team would for sure say i look cute as shit and they’d be right, a hoe can pull off some cat ears

I would cause half the team to short circuit

God,, i would walk around and the bells would jingle and im- god i hate that

One doesn’t simply just walk around during a fucking high-school volleyball game like that and not get attentioin

Bokuto would probably yell something about it too and that also brings me pain

Well because of this- nekoma won and asked if i could wear that to all their games

Finally got them to let me just wear the ears and tail so poggers

But here's the kicker, next match is against Nohebi

That means daisho and kuroo get to have their moment of absolute fucking beef 

So I walked in, wearing cat ears and a tail. Daisho is newly single, you get where this is going.

I can just imAGINE HIM BEING ABSOLUTELY DUMBFOUNDED LIKE HUH??? WHY WOMEN WEARING CAT EARS??

Id be with my team and they’d ask me to do the neko pose and i would because i wanna make them excited for the game

dAISHO WOULD WITNESS THIS AND JUST HAVE A MELTDOWN

With this newfound hate and love for nekoma, he has a new objective: fuck the nekoma manager in the cat ears and tail

After the game he’d walk up to me and flirt and id just be so tired like dude,,, im in cat ears and chugging a monster please give me fucking mercy

But of course, Kuroo finds me in time to see him kabedon me, his precious neko manager?? Aha n o .

Fighting ensues and i have to break it up, i give daisho my number so he gets the fuck away from kuroo, and kuroo gets to see me do a new neko pose or whatever

Crisis averted

Well until daisho texts me anyways

Then its “Kenma,,, you gotta help me”

Poor kenma he doesnt wanna deal with that snake bastard

Probably just brushes me off lmfao

After that yaku decided to have me stick by him when they play nohebi because and i quote “YoUR GONNA GET KIDNAPPED BY THE FUCKING SNAKE MAN” and i dont wanna worry yaku

Daisho also has make a rumor about fucking me to his team and they believe it-

Awkward matches after that

[zuffer-weird-girl]

Kai in the beach half naked ? Serously gggiiiirl !!! I would be the one nagging at him to be fully dressed and never show his skin 🤣🤣🤣🤣 definitely the other girls are staring at our husband. Please don't.. kai is not alllwed to show his skin outside his bedroom and for his wife ONLY 🤚🤚🤚🤚. (No wonder kaito is full of jealous if his wife was like that 🤣) but seriosly .. I don't know what is your idea but I support you.

😙👌 its on the table

"No."

"Please! Just this once I swear! Just one day Kai, please!" You begged while your husband tried to stay concentrated at the paper work in front of him.

"Beaches are full of dirt. You can catch a illness with more ease and do you have any idea on what exactly has inside the sea? Not. Happening." He said sternly while he flipped over one of the many pages.

You huffed while pouting, making your way to the couch and crossing your arms in front of your chest.

"Stop acting like a child."

"Am not." You responded.

"You are."

"Am not!" You singed, smiling when you caught him chuckling in disbelief.

"Yes you are. Look at yourself." He pointed at your figurine, but still with his gaze pierced on the papers.

"Fine then." You got up and moved to the front door of his office "This child here is going to the beach anyway. Maybe someone in here is interested."

"You can't be serious." He sighed in irritation, noticing that you haven't give up on this stupid and antigenic idea.

"What? If you're not going, I am. Simple!" You smiled before exiting the room.

He heard you calling for Chrono and immediately tensed.

Oh you fucking little-

~

"I despise you." He growled in pure venom as he approached even more than necessary his mask to his face.

"And you married me anyways!" You giggled while coming down the stairs to get in touch with the beach sand you so craved fir the last week.

Your husband breath in deeply and cringed when he only felt the salt of that dirty ocean. Maybe it was better if he let Chrono go with you instead...

Then he looked at your bare back and thighs moving and immediately reminded why exactly he wouldn't let any other come with you.

He was the only one to blame at his personal hell... honestly.

He was mere inches from the sand as he stared down in disgust at the material in general... why he had to fall in love with you...?

"Come on honey, it doesn't bite!" You joked and only laughed at the hot glare you received from your husband. Whose even with fucking flip flops was hesitant abkut touching the beach sand.

He stepped on it in pure rage and cringed hard when he felt the sand coming in contact slightly with his skin.

"You own me big this time. I hope you have that knowledge." He groaned threateningly at you, not even faced anymore when you grabbed his hand and pulled him near to a spot you had found.

He sitted on the towl and started to scrub furiously his legs and feet as you tried really hard to not burst into laughter whille you sitted next to him.

"Calm down is only sand." You giggled.

"Do you have any idea if what had passed or what was dragged to this place? No right? So shut it." He growled while he scrubbed even more harder on his leg, his skin getting pink from irritation by now.

"Hey" you cooed, slowly bringing your hand closer to his, but not yet touching "You're going to yank your skin out of your body at this point." He softened his furious gazes when you replaced the place where his hands had been and carresed slightly.

He scoffed looking at the huge amount of water in front of him... Luckily there weren't too many people on that disgusting place at least.

He felt that you had moved your hands away from him, cursing himself for even feeling the slightest hint of dissapointment, and looked at his side to see you picking a bottle of sunscreen.

"No sunburns for us. Especially you since you're so pale." He frowed and flipped your forehead in response as you yelped.

After it passed sometime for that thing to have at least some effect on, you got up on your feet and looked down at him with bright (E/C) as you pointed at the water.

"You're asking WAY too much of me now angel." He deadpanned while he closed his eyes in annkyance as he sighed.

"Ok then. Watch me!" You runned towards the water and jumped the waves eargly.

He chuckled underneath his mask as he watched his wife being so happy at the way you came in contact with the water. He was sure that when you two got back he would make you take a hell out of a hot shower, but for now he would let you have your fun.

"Hey hot stuff." A woman's voice manifested as he looked up, with boredom and irritation at noticing tjat she had just kicked some sand at him.

He merely lifted up one of his eyebrows at her as a response.

"What a handsome like you doing around in here?"

"Mostly atturing some undesirable company." He groaned, returning his gaze at your sweet form who had waved at him from afar. He waved back just before he heard the woman's scoff.

"Your friend in there?"

"No." He spoke, clearly not wanting to talk anymore.

He wasn't in the mood of overhauling someone on a day off with his wife... Especially on a public area.

"Tsk. What a idiot right? Playing on the water like some toddler." She dared to sit down close to him.

He darkened his eyes as he slowly turned his face at her.

"Excuse me? Care to repeat that again?" His voice was carrying venom but the woman apparently had no neurons at all to get that he was infuriated at her behavior as she laughed.

"Just look at it! How many years does she think she has? Ten?" She placed her hand on his shoulder which was the last straw for him.

"Don't touch me." He slapped her hand away abruptly as he got up in his feet.

"Geez man. Don't know how to joke around? I can show you some fun." She wiggled her eyebrows while he twitched one of his eye.

He went to take off one of his gloves when be noticed you approaching and subsconciously relaxed at seing your figurine.

Well, your look wasn't pleasant when you noticed the woman.

"Hey..." you said awkwardly while squishing your hair to get some of the water out. "Who is this?" You asked to Chisaki who scoffed in disgust.

The woman got up with a ironic laugh and looked you down, definitely judging you.

"No one in particular for you. But anyway~" she softened her gaze at your husband.

She let out a yelp when you slapped her sunglasses out of her face.

"What's with you bitch?!" She yelled. You had to put your arm in front of your husband chest to prevent a murder.

Not that you didn't want that, but you definitely didn't wanted any problem for your husband...

"What's with me?" You growled "Well you are just speaking to this man's wife..." the woman laughed but got pale at seing Chisaki cold and piercing glare at her as he pushed down his mask to give you a kiss on the cheek as he oicked your hand and showed the glory of your alliance, which even shined at the contact with sunlight.

"Are you just deprived of intelligence or earing...slag?" Chisaki murmured with his lips still on contact with your cheek. The woman gasoed at the insult and immediately went to say something to Chisaki but you only stepped closed to her. Murmuring your words that spilled from your mouth like venom.

"Go ahead... insult the leader of the yakusa wrench. Let's see in how many countries your body will be found." You glared deep in her eyes "Approach my husband or even speak about him ever again, and I swear I will be the one to choose and apply your punishment." The woman trembled in fear as she cursed out how crazy you two were as she made her way out.

Chisaki put his mask up again as he collected your things.

"I am quite stunned at the way you spoke to that scumbag angel." He said while you only huffed.

"You know that you're the only one for my eyes. My precious, glorius little angel." He growled close to your ear, making you shiver.

"I'm not in the mood on being in the beach anymore." You murmured as you saw a bunch of teenagers looking at your husband with hungry eyes.

You grabbed his jaw suddenly and crashed your lips with his after you took eargly off his mask, getting the chance that he had gasoed in shock and just make out with him until you noticed those brats had turned away their eyes.

"... Jealousy?" He asked smirking down at you, feeling a big warm on his chest when you nodded reluctantly and hugged him tight.

He sighed... no one has ever felt... jealous of him before, so for him it was unnecessary since you were his first and ever love... but he just carresed your head and nuzzled his nose in your hair before again lushing his mask up.

"Next time listen to me when I say is not a good idea." He said in false irritation as you both started to walk away fron that place.

"Yeah yeah, no beach no bitches pinning after you." He couldn't help but chuckle at your words.

When you two were finally getting closer to the car, you and him heard a whistle, he turned around and darkned his eyes when he saw a bunch of smug surfist looking hungrily at you.

"Hey what a cutie like you doing on here huh?" You scrunch your face at hearing his voice.

"Im sorry, what?" You said offended as you looked at them in disgust.

"What a nice company would you be if-" one of the guys approached you and Chisaki only saw red after this.

The guys was soon overhauled with a single poke of his uncovered index finger, getting the others to shout in fear. Chisaki just as fast outted him back at place as he glared with fire in his eyes at the bastard.

"Out of my sign verm."

You looked at him in surprise and giggled at the way the surfist had just ran out of there along with his friends.

"Jealousy?" You asked giggling before he pushed you to the car.

"Shut it."

[ryvswb]

@silsir3 Asked: How is the coffee trip going?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Blood Gulch guitar jingle plays, as the camera pans down to Yang and the Reds (minus Sarge and Lopez) all sitting at a booth in a pizza restaurant, laughing over coffee and pizza*

Yang: And he said *in a mocking deep voice* "WHAT DOES SHE EVEN SEE IN YOU!?" then he jumped at me and I GRABBED HIS SWORD.

Donut: Thats my favorite part!

Grif, at Donut: SHHHHH!

Yang, doing a punching motion: Then, when the dust cleared, I punched him RIGHT IN THE RIBS!

Simmons, cringing: Oh that sounds painful.

Grif, snapping: Shut up! Both of you!

Grif, to Yang, excitedly: What happened next!?

Yang, standing up and making wide arm movements: He went FLYING alllll the way across the bridge! Then, when he got up I THREW his sword down into the river and he was all like *in a mocking voice* "NOOO!".

*Everyone laughs*

Yang: And then, the absolute idiot. Instead of running away or shooting us with the GUN he still had, tried to grab Blake's broken weapon...

Simmon, gasping in suspense: Oh no!

Yang, hyping them up: But Blake managed to beat him to it. All the while I grabbed the OTHER piece of Blake's sword and...

Grif, excitedly: AND WHAT!?

Yang, making a stabbing motion: We both stabbed him RIGHT THROUGH THE CHEST!

Simmons, recoiling: Oh jesus!

Grif: Thats so fucking metal.

Donut, enthusiastically: He got double penetrated!

Grif, as Yang laughs loudly: Why did you have to ruin it?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hooded figure, standing ominously in the pizza place's parking lot, watching Yang laughing with the Reds from a distance, talking to himself: Go on. Laugh. Laugh while you still can Xiao Long.

Hooded figure, the camera panning up to his face, revealing him to be Adam, continuing his monologue: But know this. Once you are at your weakest, when Blake isn't there to help you, I WILL have my reven-

Tyrian, drifting dangerously into the parking lot with his stolen car, unknowingly running Adam over in the process: Aaaaaand I have arrived! Wait, did I hit something?

Tyrian, shrugging as he gets out of the car and struts his way toward the pizza place: Eh. Probably just a hobo or something.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yang, as she spots Tyrian entering the restaurant: Oh come the heck on...

Simmons, worried: Huuuuh you know this guy Yang?

Yang, glaring at Tyrian as he casually walks to the counter: Yeah. He's one if our enemi-

Grif, interupting Yang: No.

Yang, confused: Excuse me?

Grif: I said: NO. We are currently having a GOOD TIME, over some tasty pizzas. We are NOT about to get involved in this.

Simmons: But Grif! This guy looks dangerous! Have you seen the way he drove in!? He must've broken like, three street laws! Also that car looks stolen...

Grif: You have no proof of that!

Yang, looking out the window at Tyrian's car: One of the windows is broken.

Yang, squinting at Adam's unconscious body laying face first on the asphalt, not recognizing him: Also I'm pretty sure he ran over a hobo or something...

Grif, loosing his temper: We are NOT, getting involved with the creepy scorpion man!

Tyrian, ignoring Yang and the Reds as he his greeted by the cashier: Helloooooo! Five medium pizzas to go please! Oh wait the toppings...

Tyrian, rummaging through his pockets until he finds and pulls out a crumpled note: Lets seeeee...one Meat lovers, one vegetarian, two all dressed, one with extra black olives annnnnnnnnd one pinapple and ham for me!

Grif, standing up from his seat at the far end of the restaurant: EXCUSE THE FUCK ME!?

Tyrian, turning to Grif, with a smile on his face: Oh? Are you talking to meee?

Grif: Yes I'm talking to you you sick fuck!

Donut: What happened to not getting involed with the creepy scorpion man?

Grif: Shut the fuck up Donut this is important!

Grif, turning back to Tyrian: Someone needs to stop this maniac from soiling this precious pizza with the TAINT of pinapple!

Tyrian, walking towards Grif in a cocky manner: Ooooh? And what are you going to do about it? I already placed the orders, all thats left to do is for me to pick it up once its ready!

Grif, cocking his rifle: You won't live long enough to do that...

Tyrian, smiling devilishly as he takes off his trenchcoat and extends his blades: Well its not like I have anything better to do right now.

Simmons, asking Yang in a worried tone: So uummmmm...how strong is this guy?

Yang, flatly: He's literally a serial killer. How strong is Grif?

Donut: Not very.

Simmons, dryly: He gets exhausted getting out of bed in the morning.

Yang: Oh so he's mega dead. Got it.

Grif, irritated: I CAN HEAR YOU!

Simmons, hiding under the table: IT WAS NICE KNOWING YOU GRIF!

Grif: Wow how nice of you to have faith in me.

Grif, running at Tyrian: FOR PIZZAAAAAAAAAAA!!!

Yang, arming her gauntlets and jumping into the fight as well: *Sigh* I should've just gone with Weiss.

Donut, still casually sat at his spot while bullets and furniture fly all over the place: Are we not going to help them Simmons?

Simmons, fearfully hiding under the table: NOPE. WE'LL ONLY GET IN THE WAY. I'M SURE THEY'LL BE JUUUUUST FINE.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Writer's note: I wanted to include the fight scene in this but it would've made the post way to f-ing long, so I'll put it in the next one!

[squirrel-moose-winchester]

Winner

Title: Winner

Pairing: Dean x Reader (Platonic-ish)

Word Count: 1586

Square Filled: Beer

Summary: Playing cards with friends is one thing. Playing cards with ONLY Dean Winchester is a whole different thing, especially when one of his favorite card games happen to be strip poker. Mix that in with a little beer and nudity, and you have yourself one very entertaining night!

Warning: 18+ ONLY BLOG!

Written for: @spndeanbingo

Disclaimer: Not my gif.

A/N: This was inspired by @covered-byroses’ fic, Poker Night. It’s so good, and you should definitely give it a read! In fact, read all her stuff. It’s all amazing! For my fic, the theme is similar, a line is similar (prompt), but everything is still completely different. I’ve talked to her and asked for permission, also gave her the opportunity to check it out first to see if it was okay, and she gave me the pass! So I’m glad about that. Anyways, read mine then read hers, or vice versa. You won’t regret giving her fic a read! I PROMISE! Happy Reading!

It was that kind of night. Beer and a little poker.

There were empty beer bottles littered atop the war table and it had been hours since Sam had gone to bed, but you and Dean were too competitive to stop now. You were determined to win back your lot, and Dean was just having too much fun taking all your money and giving up all of his chores.

“Three aces,” you displayed your cards on the table, confident in your hand as you took a sip of your beer.

You noticed Dean’s lips tighten, knowing that was a tick of his when he knows he’s lost, but suddenly that twitch turned into the smallest of smirks and you knew you were done. Before he could even show you his cards, you were already groaning in defeat.

“Read it and weep it!” He sang, snagging your beer from in front of you and taking a sip. You and the Winchester’s were best friends, so sharing wasn’t uncommon. In fact, you almost shared everything other than your clothes, toothbrush, and Dean’s pie. When it came to pie, it was always off limits.  

“This is bullshit!” You whined, taking back your drink before falling back on your seat and sinking into it a little. “You’ve got to be cheating!” You pouted as you drank the rest of it.

“Sweetheart… I don’t cheat. I’m just that good,” he smirked. “Anyways… baby needs an oil change tomorrow,” he grinned, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You’re ruthless! First I have to clean the bathroom, dust the archives room, make dinner for a month, do your nasty laundry for a week, and now change Baby’s oil?” Dean couldn’t help but grin at your use of his precious car’s name. “Why couldn’t you come up with something like, a foot massage, or I get the couch on the next hunt? You know something not so laborious. Something simple! Why couldn’t I just buy you a pack of beer?”

“Fine, how about this,” Dean started, “if you can beat me in the next game, I will trade all of the chores in for that foot massage… but if I win, then we play another round however… we’re playing strip poker.” He winked, sending heat to surface all over you body. “Unless you’re too chicken?”

It was lame and immature to be provoked by something as childish as being called a chicken, but you were so adamant on getting your life back that you were willing to do anything. You’ve beaten Dean a handful of times, so it wasn’t impossible. You just hoped that God was on your side for once.

“Game on, Winchester!”

“Atta girl!” He cheered, rubbing his hands together before scooping up the cards and shuffling them several times. When he felt they were properly mixed, he let you cut the deck.

Dean grinned at you the whole time he dealt the cards. You returned his stare with a hard glare of determination. You were going to win this round. You had to win this round other wise, you’d have to do all those chores! And you knew that when it came to that damn Impala, Dean would be breathing down your neck, complaining and constantly telling you how to change the oil in his car, which was incredibly infuriating. You knew how to change oil! You knew how to fully service a car, yet he still insisted on going on and on how to do it. The last time, you threw a wrench at him!

As you rearranged your cards in your hands, you thanked the heavens for the possibility that they were on your side and that you could actually win this. “Full house!” You spread your cards on the table.

“Ooh, damn! Shit, all I got was a… four of a kind!” He cooed, doing a little awkward dance with his arms and hands.

“What?!” You gawked. “Ugh!”

“So… ready for some strip poker?” He teased, his stupid cocky grin plastered across his face.

“I need another beer. No I need two beers. Actually, I need to be shit-faced for this,” you mumbled, getting out of your seat and into the kitchen. You came back out with a full pack to share with your opponent.

The game, like most of all the previous games, was not turning out for you. At this point, you were feeling a slight buzz from the bitter drink. Dean was left in a white shirt and his jeans, while you were down to your crop top shirt and panties, currently wishing you had worn more layers.

This time you dealt the cards, making sure you shuffled the them well enough that Dean wouldn’t be able to get a decent hand. You watched as his face remained stoic. When you saw your cards, you literally had nothing. All you had was one Queen of Spades.

“Alright, shoot,” you told him, anxious to see what his hand was.

“Ladies first.”

“How about we reveal it together?” You bargained.

“Okay. Let’s do this. We’ll both show our cards on three,” Dean suggested.

“Fine,” you agreed.

“One. Two… Three!”

You and Dean counted in unison and then flipped your cards at the exact same time. “Highest card!” The two of you shouted in unison. Scanning over your cards, you noticed that he had beaten you by a higher card. The damn guy had a fucking King of hearts!

“Are you kidding me!” You shouted while Dean laughed, pumping his fists in the air and stomping his feet.

“Go on. Take something off! Take off the shirt!” He chuckled.

You tanked the rest of your beer for some sort of relief, comfort, or maybe some ample amount of confidence, but when nothing changed, you cringed. “I can’t,” you mumbled, wrapping your arms around your chest.

“Oh c’mon. It’s just a bra. I’ve seen you in your bra before,” Dean confessed.

Your eyes widened as you stared at the man incredulously. “When?” You demanded to know.

“Uh… that’s not important. Now, are you gonna take off an article of clothing or are you admitting defeat right here and now? Because if you are, I’d like to throw in a foot massage in addition to everything else.” He taunted, knowing how easily you got riled up. Your competitiveness was too easy to manipulate.

“I don’t have a bra on,” you mumbled, cheeks flaring up.

“What?” Dean asked, unable to understand you clearly.

“I don’t have a bra on!” You annunciated every words a little louder, embarrassed and irritated that you had to say it again. Dean’s forest-green eyes widened as they subconsciously fell to your covered chest. “Dean!” You scolded, shielding your arms over your breasts.

Shaking his head to rid his lewd thoughts, his eyes caught yours again. “How about this; if you show me yours, I’ll show you mine?” he grinned. “But then again, if you’re too chicken, I get it. Not everyone got big enough balls to play and finish strip poker.”

You glared at the green-eyed hunter, snatching the rest of his beer and swallowing it all down. “Bite me, you prick!” Your snarky comment made him chuckle, but his eyes never once left your form. He knew he could get you to do it and without him knowing, you actually kind of wanted to. You wanted him to look at you, drool over you. You wanted him to remember this moment; have it etched into his memory so that he could tuck it away and think about it later, during those lonely, frustrating, nights.

Slowly, you reached for the bottom hem of your shirt, taking a deep breath as you lifted it up. Dean’s mouth went dry, his eyes soaking up every inch of skin that was being revealed to him. He was about to see you topless, which made you both nervous in different ways.

Once the shirt slipped passed your head, hair falling from the neck hole, you noticed the way Dean just stared. He didn’t try to be modest about it. He just stared, mouth slightly hanging open before he licked his lips.

“Now those are nice,” he complimented, his eyes fluttering up to meet yours before winking. “Think I can take a picture for later?” he teased.

“Dean!” You chide, wrapping your arms around your twin mounds. “I thought the deal was if I showed you mine; you’d show me yours. Now get on with it!”

Dean chuckled, lifting his hands up in defense. “Alright, alright! I’ll show you mine. A deal is a deal. But first close your eyes,” he instructed.

“Dean…”

“Just close your eyes. So I’m a little shy, shoot me.” You rolled your eyes before closing them, missing the smile on Dean’s lips. Dean wasn’t shy at all. Seconds later, Dean spoke. “Okay, open your eyes.”

You opened your eyes to see Dean lifting his shirt up over his chest. “What?” You questioned, thoroughly confused.

“You showed me your chest so now I’m showing you mine,” he sputtered, leading into a thunderous roar of laughter.

“DEAN!” You shouted, grabbing your shirt and hitting him with it, while keeping your other arm around your breasts. “You’re an idiot! That’s not how this works! Take off your pants! Take off your pants!”

Dean couldn’t help but let his full body laughter take control. There was no way he would be forgetting this night. And there was no way in hell he’d ever let you live this down. Dean was a winner!

--

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Say Something Nice Here!

[the--blackdahlia]

Too Young to Fall in Love Chapter 30 (Dirt!Nikki x Reader)

Title: Too Young to Fall in Love 30

Summary: Nikki Sixx was a hard partying musician on the strip. He never expected to fall in love with anyone, until a girl knocked on his dressing room door looking for a ride home and took his breath away. Just like everything else Nikki did; the drugs, the money, the music; Nikki went hard with love. (Y/n) Bass never expected the bassist of Motley Crue to be the one to shake her calm and calculated life up. She had a plan. Graduate school, become an epic producer, and watch from behind the scenes as her brother’s band rose to fame. Nikki and (Y/n) were perfect for each other, too bad her brother, Tommy, didn’t think so.

Series warnings:  Smut (18+ Please), drug use, language, referenced miscarriage, drug overdose, mentioned attempted suicide, out of character moments for everyone in the band, the timeline might be a little screwy but it’s fanfiction! I know nothing of music production and my medical knowledge is really screwy, so it won’t be accurate.

Tommy growled when the number to reach his sister didn’t work. Nikki was off in side the sound booth recording a bass line for one of the songs. He could tell Nikki was still hurting but he seemed better. With a growl he dialed Vanessa’s number.

“You’ve reached Vanessa,” she answered.

“Nessa? It’s Tommy.” Tommy told her. “Why is (Y/n)’s phone disconnected? I can’t get a hold of her.”

“She got transferred to New York. Didn’t Heather tell you?” she rubbed her forehead. “You guys were in rehab and she got a promotion.”

“What? She’s in New York?” Tommy asked. That got Mick and Vince’s attention. “Why the hell didn’t anyone tell me? New York!?!”

“Uh oh,” Mick sighed and glanced at Nikki who was still recording the bass line. “Did Tommy say New York?”

“It sounds like it,” Vince breathed. “I need a drink I hate this whole sober stint. Nikki is becoming too much of a perfectionist for my taste.”

“Just don’t do it while he’s looking.” Mick sighed. Tommy hung up the phone and immediately punched a wall.

“Fuck!” He called out.

NIkki took of his headphones and talked into the microphone, “What’s going on? Did the bass line sound bad?”

“Uh, no. Sounds great. I gotta go.” Tommy left the studio, holding his hand.

“Something I should know about?” NIkki looked to MIck and VInce. “Oh and Vince I might need your vocals again man.”

“Sorry, gotta go check on Tommy.” Vince walked out after the drummer. Mick looked at Nikki’s bass, seeing “Without You” taped to it.

“We finally gonna do the song?” Mick asked.

“Should we?” Nikki came into the soundboard room and looked at it and his special bass. “I mean… she’s not going to listen to it anyways so might as well.” Nikki groaned and grabbed a different bass while heading into the recording booth the get the bass line going.  

****

“Vince, I’m fine.” Tommy hissed as the singer looked at his hand.

“Why are you pissed that (Y/n) is in New York?” It didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out who Tommy was mad about going to New York. Vince looked at Tommy’s hand. “You should get it checked out.”

“She just left without telling any of us.” Tommy said. “She just left and didn’t even say goodbye…”

“Did you really expect her too,” VInce sighed. “She spent a good chunk of her life thinking you didn't care about her T-bone. Plus the fact that you kept snipping at Nikki about their relationship every chance you got.”

“I fucked up so bad Vince.” Tommy sighed. “I just wish she would come back. Her and Nikki, they were good for each other.”

“What changed and why now?” VInce sighed looking at Tommy. “Was it rehab?”

“I think I could see things clearly for once. I don’t have booze or drugs in my system for the first time in years. But honestly, it was the night the news reported that Nikki had died. (Y/n) was a mess and I just wanted to fix it.” Tommy explained.

Vince nodded, “Come on lets get your hand checked out.”

Nikki finished the bass line and looked at Mick, “How was that?”

“Fantastic man.” Mick said. “I think this song is gonna be a hit. Should we get dumb and dumber back in here?”

“Yeah, we should… remember it’s about Heather and Tommy ok?” Nikki sighed. He let his fingers graze over the bass (Y/n) gave him. He hadn't picked it up in a long time. He kept it as a reminder that he had to stay sober for her. Even if she didn't come back to him, he would stay alive for her.

“Of course.” Mick nodded. “So, apparently my girlfriend has a sister. She wants to introduce you to her.”

“Uhhhh,” Nikki wasn’t sure what to say. A date with someone else wasn’t something that he had thought about.

“Just dinner with us. If you don’t like her, you don’t have to go back out with her.” Mick told him.

“I guess,” Nikki nodded. Maybe meeting someone new could help him.

“Great! Tomorrow night work for you?” Mick asked.

“Yeah, that sounds good,” Nikki gave him a tight smile. He looked at the clock. Vince and Tommy hadn’t come back in yet. “What are those two clowns doing?”

“Oh, Vince was taking Tommy to the ER to having his hand x-rayed.” A tech told them.

“WHAT!?” Nikki growled. “How the hell did he break his hand?”

“It looked like a sprain to me.” The tech told him. “But he punched the wall pretty hard.”

NIkki ran a hand across his face and looked at MIck. “I guess we can call it a day and come back tomorrow.”

“Guess we should go check on the drummer.” Mick sighed.

“I’m… going to go home… I got something I want to work on.” Nikki sighed. The memory of what (Y/n) said and the baby that never happened gave him a slight idea.

“Okay. I’ll call you when I know if the idiot broke his hand or not.” Mick said. “Night Nik.”

“Night,” he sighed as he got in his car and drove home. Reaching his own studio he began writing. He felt sad and angry. Angry at himself for not being there for her, and sad for losing a precious piece of life. Putting the pen down he looked at the picture from Disneyland and smiled. He genuinely smiled at the happy memory and looked forward to getting better.  

****

“Doc said just to take it easy for a few days, until the bruising goes down.” Tommy told them the next day. “So you can lay down vocals or whatever and I can drum in a few days.”

NIkki sighed, “Yeah lets get the vocals for ‘Without you’, just read over it and get it down.” Nikki sighed and shook his head.

“That’s nasty man.” Vince said, looking at Tommy’s hand. “You’re an idiot.” Tommy shrugged. “Okay, give me the lyrics Nik.”

Nikki handed him the lyrics and stepped back to go into the soundboard room. He had reached the door when Tommy stopped him.

“Yeah?” Nikki asked.

“Who is this about?” he looked to Nikki. “I mean… Nik… this is…”

“It’s about you and Heather T-bone.” Nikki sighed as he shook Tommy off and walked into the soundboard room. Pressing the button he talked into the mic. “Just listen to the bass line and let’s get this track down. Then we can get Micks guitar in and hopefully Tommy tomorrow.”  

“Mick,” Tommy looked to Mick. “Who is this song about? I know it’s not about me and Heather.”

“What makes you think it’s not about you two crazy kids?” Mick shrugged. “We wrote it right before your wedding, but he was too strung out to give it to you and it wasn’t my place to.”

Tommy simply nodded and sighed looking at Nikki in the soundboard room. Grabbing the headphones he put them on and laid down track for the song. Vince thought he had it on the first take, but Nikki kept making him redo it.

“You know, I’m half tempted to send you to New York with (Y/n)!” Vince yelled at him, instantly quieting after he realized what he had said.

“Damn it.” Tommy sighed. No one had told Nikki yet, and he was trying to think of the best way to tell him.

“Oh… she.. Umm… ok,” Nikki nodded. “Just take it from the top Vince.” Nikki looked at his hands and sighed. His hands started to shake and he cleared his throat. “I need air.”

“Nikki, wait…” Vince said, but Nikki went outside. Tommy followed him.

“Nikki…” Tommy told him. “She didn’t even tell me. I found out from Vanessa.”

“I was too strung out when she told me about her miscarriage so I’m not surprised,” he muttered. Pacing around he shook his head. “It’s fine, she gets a fresh start, I get a fresh start… Mick is setting me up on a date. We move on… just like they said in therapy.”

“Wait...her what?” Tommy asked. “Did you...she was…” He closed his eyes.

“I can't remember when it happened, but I was really strung out when she told me… I… I kind of wish I did die in the ambulance.” Nikki closed his eyes and gave a laugh. “I deserve anything that fate throws at me.”

Tommy didn’t know what to say. His sister had had a miscarriage at some point and he didn’t even know. He had screwed her up so bad she didn’t even think she could talk to him like she used to. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, wanting to fix it all.

****

“Nikki, this is Ashley.” Mick said. She almost looked like a girl that would’ve been at the strip back in the way. The type that Nikki would’ve done in a heartbeat before (Y/n) came into his life.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” She laughed. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

NIkki gave her an awkward smile, “Right, so Ashley… what do you do?”

“I’m a tax examiner for the Internal Revenue Service.” She said, her voice getting to him a bit.

NIkki cringed a bit, “You don’t say…” he looked to Mick and raised his eyebrow at him. “I mean it must be… exciting?”

“Well, it’s not as glamorous as a rock star, but we have our fun.” She smiled at him.

“So, any artists that you’re into?” Nikki figured if she was into someone cool they could enjoy a good concert.

“Oh, your basics. Madonna, Michael Jackson, Wham!. But my all time favorite is Olivia Newton-John.” She smiled. “God, she was so good in Grease and I just followed her career from there!”

"Mick can I talk to you man,” Nikki got up and looked to Ashley, “excuse us.” he gave her a tight smile and walked away from the table and ran his hand across his face.

“What the hell is this Mick?” Nikki asked.

“What?” Mick shrugged. “Palate cleanser.” MIck looked at Ashley. “She is hot.”

“I can’t date her Mick! Her favorite artists is Olivia Newton-John! I can’t have that much positivity in my life!”

“Well, you could just, I dunno, wham bam thank you ma’am?” Mick shrugged.

NIkki shook his head, “No… I can finish the date and just...not call her I guess.” Mick sighed.

“I tried to find someone that didn’t look like her…” Mick told him. “And my girl’s sister seemed like a good fit. Sorry man.”

“Thanks Mick, at least you tried,” Nikki sighed. “This tour is going to be fun.” he said as he smiled.

After the date, Nikki found himself once again at the Hollywood sign. Sitting on top of his car, he sighed. She was in New York, he was here. He was miserable, but he was sober, he was clean. The hard part would be staying clean and keeping it that way.

************

“Hey man, I can’t believe that Motley Crue went sober man,” a member of the group (Y/n) was representing. “Dude these rock bands are hardcore. And they throw it all away?”

“Dr. Feelgood is still a good album.” (Y/n) said. “Focus on your own music.”

“I heard Nikki Sixx’s real name is Frankie though, I mean man that is such a change.”  The drummer shook his head.

“Frankie? That’s awful. No wonder he changed his name,” the guitarist smiled. “And heavy metal is on it’s way out. Everyone knows that grunge is the way of the future.”  

“Dude, I heard that Nikki Sixx got himself some tattoo artist on the strip. We could be that cool!” The bassist said. “Think of all the free tattoos.”

“Not if your name is Frankie.” The singer sneered. (Y/n) glared at them.

“I think Frankie should shoot himself up again, he’s been going a bit lame,” the guitarist gave the lead singer a high five. “Like, have you heard that new single of theirs? They’re getting soft.”

“Dudes that’s not cool, if it wasn’t for him and Motley Crue rock would be dead,” the bassist sighed.

“Please, I’m sure rock would have survived without Frankie.” the lead singer looked at the drummer.  

“Guys, I’d stop while you were ahead.” A tech warned them. “Don’t you realize who your producer is?”

“Yeah, some broad who noticed we sounded good,” the drummer smiled and winked at her.

“I produced Metallica and Tom Petty.” She hissed, looking him right in the eye. “Tommy Lee is my brother and Nikki Sixx is my boyfriend,” She had dropped the ex without even realizing it. “And his name isn’t Frankie! It’s Nikki!” With that, she punched him in the face, knocking him flat on his ass.

“HA! She told you!” the bassist clapped and smiled at her. “(Y/n), you’re awesome!”

“Go home for the night.” She sighed. “We’ll start up tomorrow.” She headed down to her car, leaving the punks in the studio. She turned it on but just sat there, leaning her head against the steering wheel.

Without you, there's no change

My nights and days are gray

If I reached out and touched the rain

It wouldn't feel the same

She heard Vince’s voice coming through her speakers. Lifting her head, she looked at the radio, listening to the song as it played.

Without you, I'd be lost

I'd slip down from the top

I'd slide down so low

Girl, you'd never, never know

Without you, without you

A sailor lost at sea

Without you, woman

The world comes down on me

The first time she met Nikki as he was taking off his makeup after a show when Athena had abandoned her. She remembered her heart skipping a beat when she looked into his eyes.

“Hey, I’m about to head out myself. I could drop you off somewhere?”

His first way of asking her out giving her a ride home. She smiled at the memory.

“I...sorry. Not being very lady like, am I?”

“Actually, I’m impressed. You are probably the first girl I’ve eaten with that acts human.”

Without you in my life

I'd slowly wilt and die

But with you by my side

You're the reason I'm alive

But with you in my life

You're the reason I'm alive

But without you, without you

Without you, there's no change

My nights and days are gray

If I reached out and touched the rain

It wouldn't feel the same

“Merry Christmas Nikki.” (Y/n) whispered to her boyfriend. “I got you a present.”

“Babe, we said no presents.” Nikki told her. “But I got you one too. Well, more than one…”

“Well, I’m a recently graduated college student, but I saved up all summer and semester for this.” she handed him the case. “I hope you like it.” Nikki unwrapped the case and opened it, staring in awe at the bass inside.

“Babe…”

“I hope it’s the right thing.” She said. “I wanted to get you something you’d like and use, and I…” He cut her off by kissing her.

“It’s perfect.”

“Here,” he whispered giving her a long velvet box with a bow on it. “I hope you like it.”

(Y/n) undid the bow and opened the long black box looking at the necklace inside. “Oh… Nikki.”

“I love you my sweet girl,” he said and caressed her cheek.

“I love you my silly boy.”

Without you, without you

I'm a sailor lost at sea

Without you, woman

The world comes down on me

Without you in my life

I'd slowly wilt and die

But with you by my side

You're the reason I'm alive

But with you in my life

You're the reason I'm alive

But without you, without you

“I love it, but don’t you think it could use some color?” (Y/n) asked, looking at their living room. “And no, black is not an idea unless we only do one wall in black.” She told him with a laugh when he pouted.

“We could do yellow I guess.” He said with a shrug. “Even though one wall of black would be cool. And we can have a pentagram here! And some skulls!” (Y/n) laughed.

“Slow down there Mr. Crowley.” She giggled. “Let’s start with the painting first and see where it goes?”

The next day, (Y/n) came home with paint. An hour later, there was probably more paint on her and Nikki than was used on the wall. He kept flicking it at her, and she’d flick it right back. She was glad she had put a drop cloth down, or the carpet would be ruined.

“We made a mess.” (Y/n) said, looking around.

“Well, I guess we better go get clean.” NIkki said as he grabbed her and carried her to the shower as she shrieked and laughed.

“Nikki! Put me down!”

“Nope sorry! Not letting you go anytime soon!” He told her as they went to try out the shower.

I could face a mountain

But I could never climb alone

I could start another day

But how many, I don't know

You're the reason, the sun shines down

And the nights, they don't grow cold

Only you that I'll hold when I'm young

Only you, as we grow old

“So I have something to ask you,” He said and took a deep breath.

"You ok?" (Y/n) looked over at him.

He took out the velvet box and opened it slowly showing her the ring he got her, “I thought about this alot…” he took a shaky breath. “When i’m not with you it’s like I can’t breath and I… I feel lost without you,” he looked into her eyes. “(Y/n) Bass will you marry me?” She leaned over and kissed him deeply.

"Of course I will marry you!" She said happily. "I love you!"

“I love you too!” he kissed her and placed the ring on her finger. “I can’t wait to make you Mrs. Sixx.”

Without you in my life

I'd slowly wilt and die

But with you by my side

You're the reason I'm alive

(Y/n) wiped her eyes. She wanted nothing more than to go back to LA and be with Nikki, but she had heard those assholes she was producing. She had seen the tabloids. They were all saying that he was with some chick from the strip. And (Y/n) knew she didn’t stand a chance. She headed back to her apartment, empty and quiet. She laid in bed and played with her necklace, wanting nothing more than to be back with the man she loved.

Forever Tags:  @anathewierdo @dekahg @marvel-af-imagines @feelmyroarrrr @nanie5 @imboredsueme @gemini0410 @aiaranradnay @babypink224221 @mogarukes @xxwarhawk @sandlee44 @shatteredabby @caswinchester2000 @supernaturalwincestsblog @lauravic @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @teller258316 @horrorpxnk @tommyleeownsme

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[peremadeleine]

The Empathetic Dog Thief, Episode 1

Alternative titles: “Will: Deer Hunter and Dog Dad,” “Crimes Against Costuming,” “What Year Is It: A Crime Drama”

Armed with a gin & tonic and one sleepy cat, I finally gave the NBC show another shot.

I didn’t know Will had a superpower. Cool...?

How come he’s play-acting the murderer, though? Just because he can think like a killer doesn’t mean he needs to be reenacting it himself. That’s just confusing for the audience?? The way they did it in the Red Dragon movie was still effective without coming off as “aw, Will’s playing serial killer”

“This is my design” what

Plaid shirt and striped tie, truly a costuming sin. I didn’t love Will’s “modern wild west” costume vibes in Red Dragon, but it was better than this.

Don’t pretend that Jack and Will don’t know each other. Hate that.

Do look forward to hearing how many different ways people can pronounce “Graham” though.

Oh boy, why does Crawford push Will’s glasses up on his face while murmuring “hey” softly like a lover?? They’re strangers. That was mighty uncomfortable.

is he just assuming Will is on the spectrum? Right after they met???

and then Will confirms, but wait, he just has an “active imagination”?

STAY IN YOUR LANE

at least in canon Crawford doesn’t take advantage of people on the gd spectrum, and he spins it as being for the good of the victims. jfc.

“based on the characters by Thomas Harris”

Of course all the victims in the first episode are going to be women

“it’s not about all of these girls, it’s about one of them”--seven minutes in and they’re already ripping off Silence.

“he’s like Willy Wonka. every girl he takes is a candy bar.” no. nO.

“I mean, I would. Wouldn’t you?” no Will, Crawford’s a douchebag, not a murderous psychopath.

8 minutes in, me: WHERE’S THE TITLE CHARACTER THIS IS B O R I N G

“Why is it now a crime scene?” Because Will says so and he’s his own forensic team, apparently. Next question.

Also apparently he only owns red plaid-print shirts. Huh.

Lol Will has empathy for everyone but a grieving father confronted with his daughter’s dead body???

I don’t like the way Crawford is speaking to Will one bit. It’s supposed to be sensitive, but it comes off as condescending and mollycoddling. Ew. That is SO not Jack Crawford.

"You wrote the standard monograph on time of death by insect activity"?!?

so Will IS his own forensic team. Weird flex, but okay.

Antler velvet. Christ, HERE WE GO.

“You not real FBI?” Rip-off of Silence #2!

“You unstable?” Stop coming at Will, Jesus!

Will is a serial dognapper. SIX DOGS. Maybe, maybe, people in this neighborhood are missing their gd dogs, you monster.

none of them are even UGLY dogs

Will’s also drinking tho. One point for Gryffindor.

Oh, another plaid shirt. At least this one’s got a nice pattern. And isn’t red.

The bathroom is painted red, tho. What is it with Fuller and red walls?

Hugh Dancy’s American accent slips when he tries to like...emote. Yikes.

Strangulation is neither quick nor merciful.

A forensic specialist who wears her long-ass dark hair loose down her back and shoulders in the lab should be FIRED.

Implied “we covet what we see every day” scene: Silence Rip-Off #3

nineteen minutes in, me: W H E R E  I S  H A N N I B A L this is false marketing

Okay, I actually kind of like the “okay, I can cover him 80%” scene. Crawford’s real good at fucking up people’s lives in order to save lives.

twenty-one minutes in, me: HANNIBAL’S HERE THANK CHRIST

will probably regret this thought later

it’s okay, Hans. I, too, hate the career choices that have led me to this point.

the fact that he has tissues by HIS chair in his office is fuckin’ hilarious, what a douche, I love him

same, tho

The costumes and sets and cars are all screaming 70s/80s. But smartphones!

I’m watching this pretty late so my volume is a bit low and I cannot understand 70% of Hannibal’s dialogue, uh oh

Hannibal is supposed to be short so I don’t think this little “oh Crawford confused the short weepy patient with Hannibal” bit is that cute...I’ve always felt like Mads was poorly cast for that reason, among others. Oh well.

I take it all back:

HIS FACE

“No secretary?” “She was predisposed to romantic whims.” Not sure whether I like this line because Hannibal’s the one acting on whimsy or if it makes me cringe because of the way they’re dismissing Hannibal’s former secretary. Hmm.

“Are these yours, doctor?” a) Duh and b) Silence Rip-Off #4

Why the fuck does Crawford think he can just examine Hannibal’s papers? Like?????????

no wonder he hates your rude ass, Jack

HANNIBAL WHY IS WOUND MAN LYING ON YOUR DESK YOU PRECIOUS IDIOT

“Very interesting, even for a layman” Wow, unexpected Red Dragon rip-off (by the Red Dragon adaptation) #1

this whole scene is made of cringe HELP

why is Hannibal dressed in his Easter Sunday suit

Tattlecrimes.com. I’M SPEECHLESS at the stupidity of that.

tabloids are, in fact, still a thing in the Year of Our Lord 2013

No way is Hannibal fucking Lecter going to drink the swill that probably is Jack Crawford’s coffee, as if.

“Not fond of eye contact, are you?” Yes, Hannibal is the only character who should be canonically coming at anyone like this. (But also poor Will.)

But Will, at least look in his direction while he’s talking to you? I also don’t love eye contact...it’s rude not to even look at a person, though.

Hannibal finally used a contraction! He’s human after all. (This is a common Fanfic-Writing-of-Hannibal problem. I used to have it, too. You think to emulate him you have to write lofty, staid dialogue. But we’re talking about Hannibal the Punmaster General here.)

“This cannibal you have him getting to know” I’m sorry, who said anything about cannibals???

Stop incriminating yourself Hannibal honestly

Wait, is the implication that the victim whose lungs were taken is Hannibal’s? I hope not, because what would he be doing in Minnesota, and since when did Hannibal cut people up alive (Krendler notwithstanding--he’s a special case), especially women????? He’s a Monster(TM), but not a fucking sadist.

Will’s wardrobe also contains gingham!

no really, when did they determine that the serial killer was a cannibal?? did I sleep through that part?

“have Dr. Lecter draw up a psychological profile” bitch, please. Dr. Lecter doesn’t work for Crawford.

I don’t like hearing/watching people eat, especially in quiet moments. That’s going to become a problem in this show, isn’t it?

Will’s dream dear is fucking awful CGI. Wow.

That brown blazer--Hannibal would never.

EVERYTHING about Hannibal that should be black--his clothes and his hair--is brown here. It’s...weird.

to quote @random-emerald-thoughts​, “my homocidal boy aint about that tawny bullshit”

Hannibal Lecter: food snob--that’s canon. 

Don’t like this dialogue, though. And Hannibal bringing anyone he just met food in glorified Tupperware rings very false.

“Uncle Jack” what the fuck

Wow, Fuller jumped directly into the teacup thing right from the start. Yikes. He clearly didn’t understand it. (Clarice isn’t the teacup, bro. The teacup represents time, and disorder, and will it ever be reversed?)

Lots of weird metaphors in this episode overall, though none as bad as the Willy Wonka thing.

Why is Hannibal in Minnesota? Is he a crime-scene investigator now? Is he on the FBI payroll? Doesn’t he have patients with appointments to keep? Social obligations? I HAVE QUESTIONS.

He’s not a priss or a germaphobe. DISLIKE.

Do like the phone call. Just fuckin’ carelessly with people’s lives for the fun of it, that’s our Hannibal.

FBI? Are you FBI, Will?

He shouldn’t have been issued that sidearm if he can’t hold it steady.

One shot would have been plenty. Maybe two. Jfc, the reason Clarice shot Gumb so many times was because he was going to shoot her. Hobbs had a knife, which he dropped, and he was incapacitated by the first/second shot. Silence Rip-Off #5

How the fuck is he still alive and talking?! Will plugged him about eight times!

Call the police, Hannibal, or the ambulance, or take off your jacket and provide first aid to this girl. You’re a doctor!

It really is like he wants to be arrested or something.

And then he gets to ride in the ambulance?? Just Because?

Overall, it was...not very good, imo, poorly paced, very poorly written, with acting that jumped wildly from “very good” to “awful,” sometimes from the same actors. Intense cringe throughout a lot of the script. Ripped off Silence of the Lambs, a superior movie about many of the same characters, way too many times. Will is boring and I don’t care about him, but then I also don’t care about canon Will. And I still think Mads Mikkelsen was poorly cast as Hannibal...the costumes aren’t doing him any favors, either. We’ll see if he can bring me around.

Some moments of genuine humor that I appreciated, though, and some nods to the canon that I grudgingly appreciated, too, including Hannibal being a dick and Jack Crawford fucking up people’s lives.

Hopefully if you made it this far into my observations you got a kick out of them. I probably won’t go into this much detail for every episode, but I do intend to try to watch at least all of Season 1.

Painful as it might be.

[tayegi]

Seven Days Ch. 1 (m)

A series of short smut ficlets detailing every day of Jungkook’s week-long chastity training.

Warning: BDSM themes; sub!Jungkook smut

***

Day 1

"Damn girl, how many guys have you gone through this year alone?" Jungkook asks with amusement as he watches your latest rejected lover bang on the front door from his vantage point leaning against the balcony railing.

You sigh deeply, "He's the third failure… And this one only lasted 10 days this time. How is it getting worse?"

"It's because you don't know how to pick them right," He idly comments as he watches your former boytoy cause a scene yelling your name down below.

"___!" He shouts, "___, I'm sorry! Please give me another chance!"

You wince as you take another deep swig from your glass, "Oh my god… This is so embarrassing. We were together for less than two weeks. How can he be acting like this already?"

"Was the sex really that good?" Jungkook asks with a raised brow as he turns to face you.

"Oh, like you wouldn't believe," you say with a chuckle. "But aren't you just nosy?"

He smirks in response, "I'm just curious as to what would cause a seemingly normal, self-respecting guy to act in such a humiliating way," he says, cringing slightly when the boy on the doorstep suddenly bursts out hysterical wails of your name. "Wow. You must have given him the fuck of his life."

You roll your eyes, "Once again, you prove your extreme ignorance in the realm of BDSM. That's not how it works, babe."

Jungkook is completely unfazed by your correction. In fact, his smirk only grows in size, "Is that so? Well, then I guess you'll just have to teach me…"

You eye your housemate warily, perfectly aware of his intentions. Jungkook has been flirty with you since the day you moved in, and this flirtiness has exponentially increased upon the discovery of your hidden kinky side. You don't run into him often in the huge co-op with dozens of occupants, but every time the two of you have crossed paths in the kitchen or the lounge spaces, he has made his interest painfully obvious… Not that you've ever taken him seriously. He's a fuckboi by every definition of the word, and he'd proposition anything breathing. He's only taken a recent interest to you due to the seemingly exotic and taboo nature of your sexual interests.

And you don't mind it. Although he can be rather sleazy at times, it's lighthearted fun. And besides, who wouldn't welcome attention from the gorgeous brunette?

You lightly push your hair back as you return his smile with a coy one of your own, "Oh, sweetheart. You precious little boy. You wouldn't survive chastity training with me. I would wreck you."

But rather than scaring him off, your warning only increases his interest. Jungkook slowly runs his tongue over his bottom lip, "Mmm. And how is that supposed to be a bad thing?" he asks, taking a long stride forward to encroach in your space.

Slowly, you raise your glass to your lips and take a sip of the rich liquor before responding, "You're very spoiled, Jeon Jungkook," you inform him in a slow drawl, "With your body and that cute little face of yours, I bet you have girls eating out of your hand. You can make girls do whatever you want in bed, huh?"

His lips curl into a shit-eating grin, "Ah, so you've heard the rumors?"

"That's not a compliment," you say with a laugh, "You're so used to getting what you want; to having girls line up to suck your dick at the drop of a hat, that you have absolutely no discipline or self-control. You wouldn't be able to handle a woman like me, baby boy."

He likes the nickname. You can tell by the way his eyes darken and he subconsciously shifts forward until his knees brush the edge of your chair. "How can you be so sure of that, princess?" he asks in a husky voice.

You can't deny the way it sends shivers down your back. Despite your best intentions, you are helpless attracted to your sexy housemate. And you're quickly forgetting why this would be a bad idea. "Damn, Jeon. I didn't know that you were the submissive type."

"I'm not," he chuckles, "I'd much rather be in control. But for you? I'd do anything you want to get at that sweet little pussy of yours. So you gotta tie me up and whip me or whatever, I'm game… Damn, even that sounds hot coming from you."

"I don't know if you're joking or not… But you do realize that in chastity, I wouldn't let you anywhere near my pussy for a very long time?"

"Mmhmm, and that's fine. As long as I get to it at the end."

"Oh my god," you gasp, "Jungkook, are you actually serious about this?!"

"As serious as I've ever been," he says. "Come on, ___. At least I'd be better than that guy."

And right on cue, your former sub screams out your name at that very second, "___! Please give me another chance! I'll be a good boy, mistress!"

Your face fills with heat and you quickly drop your head in shame, "Fuck my life," you groan, "Why does this always happen to me?"

"You know I'd never act like that, no matter what happens," Jungkook points out.

You slowly raise your head to look at him. He's definitely just doing all that he can to get in your pants… But he does have a point… The cocky fuckboi would never cause all this drama, even if you ended things. This might not be such a bad idea… "Oh god, I can't believe I'm actually considering this."

Jungkook's grin spreads from ear to ear, "It's thirty days, right? When do we start?"

"Wait, wait, hold up," you say, waving your hands up in front of him, "A month of chastity training is for experienced subs. I doubt you would even last a week," you snort.

He cocks an eyebrow, "Didn't that screaming idiot downstairs last 10 days?"

"Yeah, but—"

"So you think that I can't even beat that loser?"

Fire burns in his eyes, and you sigh in dismay as you realize that you have unintentionally sparked his competitive side. "Why don't we take a week as a practice trial?" you offer, "If you can last through this week, then I'll admit that I've underestimated you."

"And?" he asks, looking expectant, "Is that it?"

"What do you mean?" you ask with a frown, "What do you want then?"

"Well, it just seems like I deserve a reward for enduring your torture for an entire week," he says with a grin, "So what do I get in return?"

You laugh as you finally catch on, "Anything you want," you easily agree, "If you can last through my chastity training for seven full days, I'll let you do whatever you want to me."

He cocks his head to the side as he considers your offer, "What if what I want is to fuck you until your legs give out?"

A sliver of arousal slides down your back. You lick your lips, "Then I would ask you whether you'd prefer me on my back or on my hands and knees…"

Jungkook's eyes darken so much that the pupil overflows his irises, "Fuck…" he curses, "When do we start? Tomorrow?"

"Why wait?"

And with that, you jump to your feet and snatch his hand to drag him off to your room, both of you immediately forgetting about the hysterical man downstairs.

***

"Here we go. This is all we need," you say as you dump a small plastic contraption on the bed next to Jungkook.

The dark-haired man picks up the translucent device with interest, "Is this the chastity cage? It doesn't look that scary."

"That's because I'm starting you on the easy level since you're new. We'll move to the steel one if you misbehave…"

"Hmm this is fine then… although—wait, did you use this on that loser?!" he asks, eyes popping open with disgust.

"Of course not," you snort, "I've never used this on anyone because I've never been nice enough to use plastic before. You should consider yourself lucky."

"Oh…" he says, "Thanks, I guess?"

You simply shake your head in response, "Let's start with some ground rules, okay? The first and most important rule is the safe word. I need to make sure that what we do together is completely consensual and if you feel uncomfortable at any time, you are more than welcome to use your safe word. I promise that I will stop whatever I'm doing as soon as I hear it, and I will do everything I can to make you feel safe and secure again."

"Damn… That sounds hardcore."

Concerned, you reach over to touch his knee, "It's not too late to back out if you want to. No judgement, I swear."

But he gives you a look as though you're crazy, "Are you serious? Why would I ever back out? No, bring on the hardcore. Give me all you've got."

Your lips twitch with amusement, "Pain and torture isn't all about whips and handcuffs and whatever other dungeon porn you're envisioning," you inform him, "Sometimes the methods can be much subtler… But every bit as torturous."

"I don't care. I'm down for anything."

You bite back the urge to laugh at his foolhardy naivety, "Ok… But don't forget that you asked for it… Although you can back out at anytime. Use colors to indicate how you're feeling. I'll check in with you occasionally, and you should say 'green' if it's okay to proceed, 'yellow' if I should slow down, and 'red' if I need to stop immediately. But you can use these color words at any time when you feel uncomfortable. Do you understand?"

"Of course," he says, "I've always had a safeword with everyone I've slept with, so this is nothing new."

You smile at that, pleased by his thoughtfulness, "That's good to hear. Now this is the chastity cage," you say, pointing to the plastic object still in his grip, "It's set to lock up your flaccid penis so that you can't get an erection. And if you try, it'll be very painful. You are to wear this cage for the entire week, except when I choose to take it off of you or when I am washing it. Do you understand?"

"Sure. That's what I expected."

"Great. Now here is the key to it," you say, reaching under your shirt to pull out a long chain from which a tiny silver key dangles as a pendant. "Only I have the ability to set you free. So don't you even bother trying to tamper with the cage."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Now are you ready to begin?"

"Hell yeah. You gonna put this cage on me now?"

"No," you say with a glimmer of a smile, "First I need to prepare you."

"Prepare me?" he says with an arched eyebrow, "How do you go about doing that?"

"Why, by emptying your balls, of course."

He starts at that, "What?"

Your lips unfurl into a wide smile, "Do you have a problem with that, sweetheart?"

"No of course not. I just didn't expect it so soon—not that I'm complaining or anything. God, that's fucking hot. Yes, princess. Do whatever you want to me."

Your smile grows in size, "I'll make you regret saying that."

He simply scoffs in response, "I'm not one of your weak, feeble-minded boytoys. I know you don't have much experience with a real man, so this might come as a surprise."

You snicker at his boasting. "I'll enjoy making you eat your words," you promise in an ominous tone as you reach over to slide both hands under his hoodie, "Now shut up and strip."

He eagerly obeys, pulling the garment straight off his head before doing the same with his t-shirt. Your eyes widen at the sculpted perfection of his lean torso and the complete confidence with which he undresses. Maybe he is a bit different than your previous lovers…

"Like what you see?" he teases when he catches your hungry gaze.

You quickly snap your eyes up to his face, "Not bad," you quip, "Now take off the rest. I wanna see what you're packing."

He doesn't hesitate to unbuckle his belt and yank his jeans and boxers off in one fell swoop. His cock proudly stands tall at once, so thick and swollen that you would've thought you'd already started the torture. He's the biggest you've ever seen and your mouth goes dry with slight trepidation.

Jungkook catches on at once, "Don't be scared, baby," he purrs, "I'll try not to hurt you."

Your eyes narrow, "You're cute to think you'll get anywhere near my pussy."

"We'll see about that… Now are you going to blow me already or…?"

"What makes you think that you deserve my mouth?" you shoot back as you reach over to lightly encircle his engorged length with two fingers. You're dismayed to find that your fingers can barely touch around his thickness.

"Mmm. Seven days, princess... Just you wait."

You tsk your tongue, "It's a good thing you're so pretty," you say as you lightly run your fingers up and down his length, "I'm really going to enjoy the next week…"

"Pretty?" he spits back in surprise, "Are you fucking high or something?"

It's obvious that the cocky man has never been described with such effeminate terms before. He's probably only had girls beg for his dick and call him 'daddy.'" A smile spreads across your face and you quickly drop to your knees to swipe your tongue across the sensitive ridge of his tip.

Jungkook's breathing falters, "Fuck… I thought you said I didn't deserve your mouth?"

"I'm feeling generous today," you say as you begin to lap at the swollen head of his cock, "Besides, how else will you know what you're missing?" And with that, you sink your mouth down on him as far as you can.

The dark-haired man throws his head back with a hiss of pleasure, both hands planted into the mattress behind him as he leans back for support, "Fuck, that's good… Oh god, I can't believe this is actually happening."

You hum around his length as you begin a harsh pace, swallowing him down and sucking so hard that his head spins.

"Shit!" he curses, hands jerking out to grab at your hair, as though to hold you in place. Later on, you'd punish him for the audacity to touch you without permission, but this time, you'll let it slide. "How are you so good at this?! Fuck, I'm close."

You briefly consider pulling off to tease him, but decide to save that for another day. It's much more fun to lull him into a false sense of security. So you lave your tongue against the base of his cock and reach down to fondle his balls.

Jungkook tips his head back and moans in such a wanton way that heat floods between your legs. God, he's so hot that you don't know who enjoys this more. Every muscle in his ridiculously toned, muscular body is strained, six-pack abs flexing with each breath and biceps bulging from the tight hold he has on your hair. And the sweat that flows across his honey skin and plasters his dark hair to his neck… You'd like nothing more to lick every drop off his tight little body. But first things first…

"Cum for me, Jungkook," you coax so sweetly as you come up for a breath before jerking forward to bury his cock down your throat until your nose is brushing his pelvis.

"Oh my god, ___!" he exclaims, hands tightening on your hair so hard that it hurts. But it's so fucking sexy that you can't help but moan over his dick, determined to suck him dry.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he curses over and over as his eyes roll back in his head and his knuckles turn white, "Your mouth is so fucking hot. I'm gonna. I'm—oh fuck!" he practically bellows as his hips surge forward and he messily spills his seed down your throat.

You patiently massage your tongue over his twitching length until he groans from overstimulation and pulls out. Then, you lick your lips to catch the milky cum that escaped the corners of your mouth.

Jungkook groans at the sight, "Fuck, that's hot."

You laugh and rise to your feet to gather him in your arms, "Good job, baby," you coo as you rub your hands over his broad back and plant little kisses over his sweaty face, "You did so well."

Jungkook is equal parts bemused and confused, "I've never been praised for just cumming before," he pants, trying to catch his breath and slow his still-racing pulse, "This is a new one."

You giggle as you thread your hands through his mussed hair and pet him affectionately, "It's because you're so pretty when you cum," you tell him. "And you taste so good. What a good boy!"

"This is kinda weird... but I can't say I hate it," Jungkook wryly comments as he turns to allow you to nuzzle his neck.

You press your lips against the underside of his jaw to hide a smirk. If only he knew that you were just buttering him up for the slaughter… "Let's get you cleaned up so I can put the chastity cage on, okay?"

"Sure," he easily agrees, flopping over on the bed with a deep sigh of contentment as he watches you shuffle through the contents of your nightstand through bleary eyes.

You find a pack of wipes and take your time in cleaning him up, paying special attention to his soft cock lying across his thigh. Jungkook hisses softly through his teeth when you clean off the excess cum and saliva off his length, then sits up with confusion when he feels a cool sensation against his base.

"Ah, what’s that?" he asks, staring down at the plastic ring sliding down his length with wide eyes.

"This part holds the entire cage in place," you explain as you gently attempt to fold his soft length over as carefully as you can, "Does this hurt?"

"No, it's fine."

"That's good. I was afraid that it wouldn't fit," you say as you carefully slide the head of his cock into the aerated plastic cover. "It's a bit of a tight fit… But this is only more reason not to get hard."

"So I can’t get hard in this thing?" Jungkook asks with a raised brow.

"You can try," you grin, "But it might be a painful experience… I wouldn't recommend it."

"Eh, it's fine," he says with a lazy stretch of his arms over his head, "You sucked me so good, I'm totally satisfied. I won't even want another orgasm for the rest of the week."

Your lips twitch, "Are you sure of that, Jungkook?"

"Yeah. I know you see me as this crazy horndog, but I'm really not like that. I have self-control, babe. And as hot as you are, I'm not gonna lose my shit trying to hump you like a dog or something."

"Alright… Whatever you say," your tone is skeptical as you try not to laugh. He really is just so cute and naïve. "There, all done," you say as you slide the lock around the cage and give it a little kiss. "Like I said before, only I have the key so don't even bother trying to escape."

"All I gotta do is wear this for a week?" Jungkook asks as he touches the device with curiosity, "No big deal."

"I don't think you're understanding, baby boy," you say, voice hardening, "This cage is just a symbol. But your cock now belongs to me. I get to choose what I want to do with you whenever I want. You are mine. Do you understand?"

"Y-yeah," he stammers, eyes as wide as saucers, "Fuck yeah."

"Good boy," you coo as you hug him to your chest and kiss the top of his head, "Now put your clothes back on and get out of my room."

"Wait, what?! ___, I thought—"

You ignore him to gather his clothes and throw them on the bed, "Don't make me repeat myself."

Gulping at the warning in your voice, he hurries to obey, "I just… I don't understand. Don't you want me to reciprocate first or something?" he asks, wincing when the fabric of his pants brushes his caged penis.

"Oh, sweetheart," you sigh as you cup his face in both hands, "I don't think you're fully understanding… So let me explain one more time: I am in control here, understand? I will decide when and if you get to put your filthy hands on my body. You did good today, but not nearly good enough to get a taste of my pussy. If you continue to perform so well, I might feel generous. But I call every shot here, got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," he automatically chirps.

His obedience pleases you, "What a good boy," you gush as you give his cheeks a little squeeze, "I think I'm going to thoroughly enjoy the next week… Now get out of my sight."

Jungkook ogles at you in surprise, even as he rushes to yank on his shirt, "Wait, but ___! When will I see you again?!"

"Sometime tomorrow… Whenever I feel like it."

"But, ___!" he complains, "I—"

But you've already shoved him out the door. What an interesting start to Jungkook's week of chastity… Only, you fear that he might be too comfortable. Next time he leaves your bedroom, you'll have to make sure that he's in tears.

You lick your lips at the image. Oh, this is going to be so much fun.

***

A/N: Please don’t ask me about updates! 

[oriigami]

free to fly

[For @todofammonth Day Two: Failure] [AO3 link] [Inspiration]

“Enji! Enji, please, stop! You’re hurting him!”

“Get out of here, woman, and stop your screeching. He’ll heal.”

“He’s only five years old!”

“He’ll have to learn pain some time. Best it happens early. It’ll teach him. Otherwise, he’ll be nothing but a failure.”

*

Dabi was smiling. It was a sight that always made Hawks’s skin crawl, the way the expression stretched and tugged on the staples buried in his flesh, exposing the flexing muscles where the tattered skin came apart.

It looked like the smile of a zombie, of someone who couldn’t possibly be alive looking like they did. Hawks wondered at it sometimes, how Dabi could still even be functioning with so much skin just gone. It was never something he liked to ponder for long. Every time he thought of how much pain Dabi had to be in, minute-to-minute and hour-to-hour, he cringed away.

There was never any joy in that smile. But sometimes, times like this, there was amusement, in an ugly, twisted sort of way. Hawks felt his blood run cold immediately, turning into paralyzing, icy slush in his veins.

Dabi was holding a phone. Hawks recognized it. It was one of his burners. Ha, burners, that was funny, because he was going to die soon, probably, by burning, judging by the look on Dabi’s face and how he was holding one of his burner phones.

What had happened? When had he gotten it? He’d been careful. He always smashed them when he was done with them, or else threw them in the ocean. But then, those old models could be so stupidly sturdy-

“‘Hawks,’” Dabi read aloud from the small blue screen, lowering his voice into a mocking parody. “‘The Commission expects an update soon from your infiltration of the League of Villains. They’re concerned that you don’t seem to be making any progress in ingratiating yourself to the group.’”

Dabi’s voice changed, pitching up into what Hawks recognized, through several layers of dull horror, as a squeaky mockery of him. “‘Look, I’ve told you, they’re suspicious. Can you blame them? I’m working on it. Shove off.’”

“‘I know that, but the Commission may not be so understanding. You have to understand this is risky for them, Hawks. They’re uncomfortable. It will help us both out if you make some progress soon. I’m trying to be your friend here.’”

“‘Yeah, yeah. I’ve got a meeting with my contact tonight. I’ll see what I can do.’”

Dabi snapped the phone shut with a suddenness that rang like a gunshot, icy blue eyes flicking up to meet Hawks’s for the first time since he’d arrived.

“They’re suspicious,” he repeated again, this time in his normal voice, low and snarling and furiously angry. Blue flames flickered in his clenched fist, and the reek of burning plastic filled the air. He opened his hand, and the phone fell to the ground, reduced to a useless, fused brick. “Can you blame them?”

Hawks swallowed. “Look, Dabi,” he started, and it was just as well he didn’t get any further than that, really, because he had no idea what he’d say next.

“I am looking,” Dabi said, in a voice flat and dangerous. “What I see is a fucking dumbass who thought he could play both sides for the fun of it, and who turned out to be just as full of shit as every other hero.”

Hawks blinked, momentarily caught off guard. “Are you mad- because I lied?” he asked, too surprised to remember to be terrified. There was something about the way those last few words had been fairly spitten out-

“Fucking obviously!” Dabi snapped. “Fucking pissed at myself for falling for your act, too. Here I was, thinking, man, if even the Number Two is having doubts, thinking for himself, maybe we’re really getting somewhere, but no, turns out you’re just a puppet for the bastards who run this fucked up society. When you said you had doubts, all that shit about not ever having a choice-”

Dabi shoved him hard, sending him stumbling backwards. He caught himself with a flap of his wings and flinched, braced himself for the rush of heat. It never came. When he opened his eyes, Dabi was looking down at him disdainfully, scarred and ruined face distorted even further by an expression of disgust.

“Have you ever even had a thought of your own?” Dabi hissed. “Or are you just fucking empty?”

Hawks’s face darkened. What the fuck, he was probably about to die anyways, right? “What the fuck would you know about it?” he snapped back. “All you do is murder people for a laugh. At least I help people. At least I actually accomplish something.”

Blue sparks rained down from Dabi’s fists with incongruous laziness, fizzling out on contact with the pavement. “Yeah, sure, you’ve accomplished so much, which is why you’re standing in a warehouse, alone, with a wanted villain, because your precious handlers hung you out to dry,” Dabi snarled. “You dumb fuck. Did you even volunteer for this, or did you just do it because it was what you’re told, like a good little hero?”

Dabi always, always, said ‘hero’ like it was a curse word, but there was special vitriol behind it this time.

“Don’t talk about me like I’m some, what, some soldier. That’s not what I am. That’s not who I am.”

Dabi raised an eyebrow. “You haven’t done much to dissuade me, feathers. From where I’m standing, you’re a brainless, gutless idiot who’s never done anything but what he’s told.”

He opened one hand, and a ball of blue fire ignited. Hawks had seen Dabi fight enough times to know he never held onto his fire for long. There were only seconds before he was ashes.

He was willing to bet the warehouse windows had been welded shut with blue fire ahead of time.

“It wasn’t all lies!” he shouted. Dabi drew up slightly, eyes narrowing in interest, a wordless ‘go on.’ Hawks’s chest was heaving, his heart pounding in his throat, and he had one chance to survive this, and.

And he was going to take it, and deal with the consequences if he was alive for them later.

He didn’t want to die here.

“Everything I told you about me, about where I came from and how I ended up a hero, that was true! And about how I feel about it, that was true too. So you know what, you don’t have a right to be pissed! It’s not like you’ve ever told me anything true about yourself!”

Dabi’s eyes narrowed dangerously, but Hawks couldn’t backtrack now. “Are you arguing I should have trusted you more?” he demanded, stomping on the melted phone to punctuate the point. It crunched against the concrete.

“I’m saying you can’t be mad at me when this was an unfair partnership from the start,” Hawks snapped back.

“You’re the one who came to me, if you’re forgetting. You’re the one who wanted shit from me! ‘Let me join the league! Let me meet your boss!’ I don’t owe you shit,” Dabi ground out. “You make me sick. You know, if all that shit about your sad backstory or whatever is true, then it’s even worse. Heroes did all that to you and you’re still an utter fucking sellout.”

Hawks opened his mouth. Closed it again.

All at once, he had no words.

Dabi watched him a moment, eyes narrowed, before snorting derisively. “Got nothing to say to that, huh? God, you’re pathetic. What are you even gonna do now?”

Hawks blinked, too surprised by the sudden question to lie. “To be honest, I mostly figured you were going to kill me next.”

“Yeah, probably,” Dabi said with a wave of his hand. “But, like, on the off chance I didn’t, where would that even leave you? Would your bastard bosses take you back, after you got caught on such a stupid mistake?”

He kicked the melted lump of phone, sending it skittering across the concrete. Hawks watched it, his throat dry. Dabi… wasn’t wrong. He wasn’t right, either, he didn’t know what the Commission would do, but… he wasn’t wrong. He could keep his Number Two spot, but…

Where had Dabi gotten that phone? It was what his mind kept lodging on, skipping like a scratched record. Had he really fished it out of the trash or the bay, or had someone given it to him? Hung you out to dry, he’d said. He couldn’t have meant… they wouldn’t have…

…but he wasn’t sure if they wouldn’t have, was he. Would they sacrifice him like that, if they thought he was being disappointing, not doing his job well enough, if he was too high-profile and unreliable?

Yeah. He thought they would. And as soon as he had the thought, he was lost. He knew, factually, they hadn't. There was no way the Commission could even set him up like that, but he knew they would, if they stood to gain. And as soon as he'd thought that, it was all he could think about, filling his head and scratching at the inside of his skull. What was he doing?

“That’s what I thought,” Dabi said, sounding satisfied. “Welcome to the trash heap, feathers. You’re a failure just like the rest of us now.” There was something old and bitter and personal in those words.

Dabi hooked his thumbs into his pockets, rocked back on his heels. Hawks didn’t know if he’d ever seen him look happier. It wasn’t a nice kind of happy, though. It was the ‘cat that ate the canary’ kind.

“So the way I see it, you’ve got three options,” Dabi continued. “I can snap my fingers and you can go up in flames here and now, or maybe you beat me to it and get me with your feathers after all, and then you can crawl back and beg forgiveness from your bastard bosses. Or…”

He grinned. It was an ugly look.

“...or you can join the rest of us failures in the dark, and get away from the Commission and the stress and all the fucking heroes, and finally have some real fun.”

Dabi was still grinning, and it was all teeth. He held out a scarred and mangled hand.

“What do you say?”

[kellykadesperate]

Mr Photographer

the prequel to ‘my model man’: (https://littlelooneyluna.tumblr.com/post/176438329207/my-proposal-week-ficlet-exchange-fic-for-the)

He’s late. He’s running around the streets of London trying to find this obscure little studio whilst carrying all this heavy material on his back. All he can do is pray that the camera doesn’t slip, fall, crash against the floor because that would be even more of a nightmare and he doesn’t have the time. 

The fact that it starts raining just for the sake of raining as well is enough to make him sort his shit out as much as he can and eventually he finds the place. It’s all white walls and fancy lightning and yeah he’s grateful for the opportunity to shoot with some well known models or whatever but he’s quickly starting to realise he doesn’t fit in here.

There’s some woman waving over towards him, all pink suits and sharp hair and a hand extended out towards him. “Oh you must be the photographer.” She looks him up and down, eyes slightly wider than what he suspects is normal for her. 

He nods, extends his hand and shakes hers. “Yeah. Aaron. I’m sorry I’m —“

“You’re not blond, tallish and a girl.” Her face falls slightly like she’s not sure what she should do and yeah, Holly was supposed to here. He was only supposed to shadow her but she got a better offer and now he’s here, alone, not knowing what the fuck to do. 

He explains and she fusses. 

“You sort of look the part.” She says, like she’s psyching herself up just a little and then she shakes her head and flashes a smile. “I’m Leyla by the way. The stylist consultant/model advisory consultant/overall director-ish.”

And just the words make Aaron cringe and feel pretty fucking pathetic. He’s been given this opportunity of a lifetime or whatever and he’s really pleased with himself but he knows fuck all about working with models or being in the fashion industry and this is not what he expected to happen.

“Look, I don’t want to make ya pull that fade again but, I don’t know anything about —“ Aaron waves a hand out across to a rack in the corner of the room, there’s suits lined up there and beaded dresses draped over the sides. He crinkles his nose slightly and Leyla just laughs at him and shakes her head.

“Yeah, you just click the camera and tell them where to move alright? We’ll do everything else. You have had experience right?”

Aaron nods, he’s landscape and cool breeze and no one but him and his lens. This is completely different.

Leyla nods. “Good. Well, your friend could have given us the next Bruce Weber.” It flys so far over Aaron’s head that he nearly wishes the ground swallows him up. 

Then she starts laughing and sighs.

“Just click the camera button and everything should be good.”

She makes it sound easy but it’s not really. The first bloke up looks like he’d rather be sleeping in a bus shelter than be here and it shouldn’t even be Aaron’s problem but the fact that he takes almost no direction when he tells him to you know, move the fuck about is enough to make Aaron bite down hard on his lip and forget all he knows. 

The angles are good, well they’re not hideous and that’s what he keeps up until another girl walks in. She’s fancy. She knows exactly what she’s doing and there’s an air of elegance about her as she tells Aaron the way she likes to be shot.

“Right well, just look right at the camera and lift your dress high and then — then we can do some over the shoulder shots if ya want.” 

Aaron obviously gives the wrong bloody answer because she sniffs him out as new blood almost instantly and looks less than impressed. 

“Whatever you say.” She says, and she’s stiff with her movements until the camera is back on her and she knows how to get a good picture. Her shoot doesn’t last nearly as long as it feels and she’s gone without even a polite thank you for Aaron to wordlessly nod at.

He feels a weight dissolve in his chest when her heels disappear from sight but then another prick is walking in and he has to hold his breath for a second. He doesn’t even know why but —

Leyla is practically like some little dog running in between his legs. She’s got him a coffee and a pastry and Aaron is fucked right off as soon as he realises that he’s just been given a bottle of water since he’s been here. It’s been nearly two hours. 

“Right, so we’ve only got the one evening wear for you. Then you can be off again yeah?” Aaron can almost see the eggshells she’s walking over and he physically cringes as he watches her and the way everyone else seems to be staring at the man in awe.

Aaron rolls his eyes and decides to clean his equipment whilst he waits for the man to get into the outfit, ignoring the rounds of muttering around him is harder than he thinks but then it suddenly goes all quiet and he has to lift his head.

Time has clearly gone by because the man is standing in front of him in some three piece suit looking like God’s gift and —

Aaron suddenly finds that he has to hold in a breath again and it won’t budge. He’s just staring at the idiot standing in front of him, clearly trying to be intimidating or whatever but he isn’t. He’s all sharp jaw and blond hair and these eyes that seem to only want to stare straight into Aaron’s soul.

And yeah, Aaron turns red from it, has to clear his throat and gulp hard and keep his shit together as the man raises his eyebrow and looks like he’s getting ready to say something. Aaron hopes he doesn’t, he sort of doesn’t even want to look at the man because he keeps getting reader and his chest doesn’t want to stop thudding does it?

“I’m Robert.” The bloke says, and Aaron looks over his shoulder to see Leyla with her mouth open. She looks shocked and Aaron just frowns at her before looking back at Robert. “I’ve never seen you before?”

Aaron fails miserably in explaining that he’s new, that he hasn’t done this before and Leyla rushes over to stop anymore damage taken place as Robert starts scowling.

“Are ya kiddin’ me?” Robert says, all boomy and loud and enough to make Aaron want to wallop him one for being so dramatic. “Leyla I didn’t come here for some stupid kid’s uni project.” 

And oh, the thudding in Aaron’s chest starts to die down as he realises what a twat this model is. One who seems to be looking at Aaron in his black jeans and black top and black hoodie like he’s a fucking reckless youth. He wants to slap him as he goes on about it like Aaron isn’t standing right there.

“Oi. I don’t know who you think you are but —“

“He thinks he’s Robert flipping Sugden.” Leyla hisses, she’s got this false smile on her face as she leans in towards Aaron and looks like she wants to rip him apart. 

Aaron just blinks as Robert looks smugly at him. He supposes he’s probably meant to be aware of who he is, what that gets to mean but he just shrugs.

“Yeah. Because I know all about him.” Aaron shrugs and there’s an echo of laugher around the room that gets Robert’s jaw on edge, tight and looming.

“How about you just take a decent picture and then you can run along back to your rock.”

And oh yeah, that’s funny for a single second and then Aaron’s back to wanting to absolutely flatten Robert for being the most stupid, cocky little weasel he’s ever met. He fits all the stereotypes for a male model of his age doesn’t he? He’s standing here being absolutely everything that Aaron didn’t think models still were and he wants nothing else than to be done with it all.

He won’t be coming back, that’s all he knows.

He ends up taking the pictures of him though and it’s even worse than it was with the other models. Robert is that sort of model that demands that absolute best on shoots and Aaron has to wait for him to drink some green muck of a smoothie half way through whilst everyone fawns over him.

He sees girls taking pictures with him and he seethes. He doesn’t even get it, well he does, he’s not blind but —

His personality is fucking shocking.

“The lighting is coming in better from this window.” Robert acts like he’s he photographer and it’s naturally the last straw. “Stand on a box, or two, you can catch the —“

“Oh fuck off.” Aaron says, and it’s not to himself either, it’s to the whole room and all the stylists look as though a bomb has just exploded in the middle of the room. 

“Sorry?” Robert says, he’s unbuttoned the waistcoat part and he’s still oozing all this fucking charm that’s coming from the pictures and it’s not fair. It’s also really annoying.

“Yeah you should be mate.” Aaron mumbles, “I’m done here.” He says, looks towards Leyla. “I’ll send the photos over and —“

“You’ll never work here again.”

“Like I’d want to be surrounded with poxy arrogant models like you ever again.” Aaron’s breathlessly cocky himself, big smile on his face and almost laughing about how stupid Robert is. Then he has to look away again because he’s a good looking idiot and that isn’t helping anything.

He turns away before Robert gets to say anything else, he walks towards the small little room where all his equipment has been kept and sees that his hands are shaking a little. He’s tries to keep it cool, tried to act like Robert isn’t the biggest twat he’s ever clapped eyes on but —

He’s managed to get right under his skin for some reason.

Aaron packs away as quickly as he can, tries in vain to fit everything in nice and neatly and disappear before Leyla can shout in his face about ruining the precious Robert’s day with his mouth and then the door goes.

Aaron has his back towards it and winces just slightly before he starts speaking. “Look before you have a go, he’s an arsehole and —“

He makes the mistake of turning and looks right at Robert standing there. He’s not wearing the suit anymore, he’s got this other one on, blue and checkered. 

“What do you want?” Aaron says nervously, keeping the scowl on his face and wanting to just push past the idiot but he almost can’t? He’s stuck here, firm against the floor and unable to be his usual cocky self. He’d push past Robert if he was any other bloke. He really would.

“To see my photos.” Robert leans against the door, half a smile on his face and then he leans towards Aaron and then away again like he’s playing a game.

Aaron doesn’t expect it. He doesn’t want to show him either because he hasn’t ever taken pictures of models let alone hot shot ones like Robert is supposed to be.

“No.” Aaron says, crossing his arms over. 

“No?” Robert clearly doesn’t hear that very often because he acts like Aaron’s just told him that he’s going to die any second now. 

Aaron half nods and Robert looks like he’s backing away until he’s leaning over and holding at Aaron’s camera.

“Oi.” Aaron says, elbows and arms pushing up as he tries to get the camera back and Robert pushes him against the wall. The camera hangs in Robert’s hand and he holds Aaron back as he goes through the pictures on the little screen.

Aaron’s stunned into this state of shock as he stands closer towards the prick, feels his weight against him, strong and heavy and not what he expected. He’s close enough to hear his fucking breath and he shouldn’t be but he listens and then he watches his face turn from surprise into —

“Yeah yeah, they probably won’t be even published ‘cause they’re so bad so —“

“They’re good.” Robert says, almost emotionless but he shrugs and Aaron tells him to piss off. “Yeah?” He says, pulls the camera down onto the desk and looks at Aaron. “You need to watch how you speak to me you know?”

“Do I?” Aaron says, almost can’t meet Robert’s eyes and he expects that the older man wants to punch him in the face, “Why? What are you going to do about —“

He really doesn’t expect to be smacked across the face with a kiss. 

It’s all tongues and banging against the door and hands through hair over and over again and Robert only pulls away to ask Aaron to lock the fucking door.

Aaron’s blushed bright red, eyes wide and gulping hard as he doesn’t think twice. He sort of doesn’t have to does he?

••

“So, that was —“ Aaron ended up on his knees and then Robert was collapsing against his shoulder in pleasure and it was definitely an experience.

Robert licks his lips almost shyly and then brushes them against Aaron’s. “Yeah.” He says, “It was.”

Aaron stares at him for a second, unsure of what had just happened and what the fuck it is supposed to mean. He’s never felt so strongly about a mindless fuck before.

“Yeah.” He says, because he doesn’t have anything else to say. “I won’t tell anyone about this, if you’re wondering.”

“I wasn’t.” Robert says, chest puffed and eyes smiling and he’s fit isn’t he?

Shit.

He’s still fit and Aaron’s already had his seedy little way with him. He shouldn’t still be looking at him like this. Aaron manages to trip over his words as he pulls his trousers up and gathers his equipment again.

“Just for the record, you’re still an arsehole.” Aaron says as he watches Robert looking at himself even the mirror. It catches Robert off guard and the half smiles which makes Aaron look away. 

“Whatever you say Mr Photographer.” He says and Aaron bites his lip as he thinks about it before offering an awkward wave and leaving.

••

Holly catches him being a stalker, he’s hunched over his laptop with his mouth open because he’s finally understanding what all the fuss was about.

There’s endless images of Robert looking fit and Aaron has to shuffle about a little on his seat to stop him from getting too excited. He sort of hates himself for even allowing it to happen.

But then he gets distracted by all the images of Robert staring up at him. There’s no denying that the camera loves him a way that most models envy and it explains his success.

And he is, very successful. 

Aaron feels like a twat for not knowing him, because if he did, if he knew that he’s a celebrity model, known for his craft, then he would have never got on his fucking knees.

“Oh, he’s fit.” Holly says, she makes Aaron jump and slam his laptop down because she’s just standing in his flat without even knowing. “Door was open.” She explains, passes him and offers out the biscuits she’s eating.

He half smiles at her and tries to act like he’s pleased to see his mate when in reality he’s freaking the fuck out inside. She’s the whole reason he was in this mess wasn’t she? It was her who gave him the opportunity, using her on photography artsy connections to get Aaron something decent. And now he’s sitting here sweating over Robert Sugden. 

“How comes you’re looking him —“

“I photographed him today.” Aaron has a hand against the table and drums his fingers a little before hearing Holly gasp. 

“What? The thing I set up for you?” It was the thing she was supposed to be at, she seems to keep forgetting this is all her fault. “Shit that’s a big deal.“

Aaron nods weakly. “Yeah. It was.” He says, “It was different,” yeah it was different, it was so different that I ended up getting off with the first model who I hated because you know, that makes sense. “Don’t think I’ll be going back.”

Holly arches an eyebrow. “I’m surprised they even let ya considering you’ve not had experience.” She eats a jammy dodger all in one and he wants to tell her to piss off back to her hippie art friends and stop bothering him. But it’s been like this for years, Holly being stupidly endearing and thawing how grumpy Aaron can be.

“Yeah well, Robert wasn’t pleased about that.” 

He wasn’t, that’s the thing, and then he saw his work and he ended up telling him to lock the door so who knows.

“Maybe you had a lucky escape, I heard he’s a bit of a dick despite being a heartthrob or whatever.”

And Aaron, he just laughs nervously.

••

He sees his face plastered in a magazine a week later and he’s got this other model on his arm.

He remembers her face from the shoot, the one who was unnerved about his lack of experience slightly less than Robert was. Chrissie White. Pristine. Fucking gorgeous and he doesn’t want to care.

He doesn’t even know why he even reads her name, or the fact that they were spotted out together after weeks of rumoured dating.

He doesn’t read the rest, he sighs and huffs and turns the page.

••

He gets woken up at half one in the morning by the sound of someone at his door and naturally he decides not to answer it until it persists.

He psyches himself up enough to answer it and suddenly he sees Robert Sugden standing there with a smile on his face.

“What are you —“

He was going to ask what he was doing but then Robert shows him, plants a kiss to his mouth and want stop until Aaron’s being stripped in his hallway by a famous male model.

“Anyone in?” Robert breathes out and Aaron doesn’t have the strength to do anything else but shake his head.

••

So Robert stays.

He sort of just chucks Aaron onto the bed and fucks the life out of him for a few hours until Aaron gets his breath back and asks what the fuck he thinks he’s doing here.

“How do you even know where I live?” Aaron whispers, pulls the covers up towards him and frowns slightly as Robert lays flat against his back and smirks. 

“I found your card on the floor of the dressing room we were in. Figured the mailing address was —“ he stops and raises in the bed. “I can go if you want?”

He says it like he means it and Aaron doesn’t want him to, but he needs to get a few things straight. No fucking pun intended.

“You’re straight?” Aaron says, punches out as Robert’s eyes flicker like he’s actually affected by what he’s saying.

“Is that a question or just another assumption.” He’s quick and Aaron waits, holds back for a second. “I’m bisexual.” He says. “Maybe don’t trust everything you read.” He shrugs.

Aaron nods slowly, it’s new, it’s a relief, it’s not what he expected.

“Any other questions?”

“I thought you hated me.” Aaron says, because yeah the first time was clearly just a passionate haze but to come back again now seems like —

Robert licks his lips again and Aaron finds it difficult to breathe. “You don’t seem to care about the whole model thing, it’s — refreshing.”

“I’m refreshing?”

“Well now you’re just annoying but yeah.” Robert says, and Aaron still sort of wants to slap him. He doesn’t want he feeling to go. 

••

Robert crashes into his flat late at night for a reason apparently. It’s because he doesn’t want people knowing that he’s spending nights having sex with Aaron.

“It’s not fair on you.” Robert shrugs, “I know I seem heartless or whatever but —“

Aaron watches Robert pull his hands up and the younger man straddles him a little. 

“You want to protect me?” Aaron snorts and Robert tenses a little. “Hey I’m joking?” He says, “I just don’t understand, what with you and Chrissie being all over the magazines.”

It stings. It’s genuinely getting worse.

Robert rolls his eyes. “We’re mates. If that. It’s ‘cause we used to do shoots together, they think we’re at it.”

“And you’re not?” Aaron says. 

Robert blinks. “We’re not.”

Aaron smiles a little, and Robert looks almost ready to bolt because of how obvious he’s being. “Well, I mean you could, if you wanted to. This is just sex. Good, nice sex.”

“Nice?”

Aaron’s eyes flicker gently. “Shut up.”

“You’re going red.”

And Aaron can’t stop himself.

••

“How long have you been modelling for then?” Robert’s at his on a weeknight, it’s nine instead of one, it’s progress or whatever.

He’s drinking a can of beer, wearing one of Aaron’s jumpers like he can and Aaron’s dishing up their Chinese whilst making small talk which is new.

“Since I was nineteen.” He says, “Got lucky after leaving home.” Robert doesn’t say anything more than that, in fact his eye seems to twitch like he’s a little uncomfortable about it and Aaron doesn’t push.

“Saw that face and snapped you up did they?” 

He’s joking, only Robert takes it in his stride.

“Of course. One look at this beautiful face and —“

“Piss off.”

“I’m fit Aaron. Give me that at least.” But Aaron’s silent, focusing on the noddles in front of him and smiling to himself. “You’re good at taking pictures and being a decent bloke and I’m —“

“Am I?” Aaron likes catching him off guard. 

Robert squirms underneath it something rotten and Aaron feels his chest explode.

“Yeah, you are.”

Aaron kisses him, gently. 

It sort of says it all.

••

“You know, you can stay the night if you want.” Aaron shrugs, only with one shoulder, something in his voice that steers on the side of sounding almost desperate.

He casually hates himself as Robert sits on his bed and stares down at his phone. He hasn’t even heard him and it’s so embarrassing that Aaron wants to hide in the bathroom until he’s gone.

But then Robert raises his head silently, a sly smirk forming. “For after sex cuddles?”

Aaron’s face twitches and Robert takes the piss way too often, it’s why he’s flying out the room before Robert can make him feel even more soft.

Only Robert follows him, slowly comes up behind the younger man and gulps hard. “I’d love to stay the night Mr Photographer.” He says, a kiss presses to Aaron’s neck and he melts causally.

He hitches his breath weakly and Robert has an arm around his waist.

“You’re really great at being a dick you know?” Aaron mumbles as Robert attempts to pull him closer. He spins around and Robert frowns slightly, he looks sorry and Aaron decides almost instantly that it would be easier to hate him. 

“Yeah. And you’re good at photography.” Robert looks over Aaron’s shoulder and up towards a framed photo of what looks like some deserted beach. “Is that one of yours then?”

Aaron clears his throat. “One of my first.” It means a lot, makes him proud. 

He suddenly wants Robert to like it.

“It’s great.” Robert shrugs slowly and then turns towards Aaron and smiles. “Bit artsy but ... you’re good at what you do.” Aaron blinks quickly and he sort of can’t take it. 

“Yeah well, you don’t know anything about this sort of photography do ya?” 

It’s a guard, but Robert makes it slip as soon as he huffs out a laugh and smiles.

“You’re really impossible.” Robert says, eyes flowing up and down Aaron’s body before he stops and Aaron nods slowly.

“And you’re still staying.”

“Yeah. I am.”

••

The thing is, Robert is still very much a dick because he doesn’t understand how Aaron feels. 

They’re in Aaron’s bed, and they’ve just had sex, and Robert goes and says he’s amazing. He says it with a soft smile and kind eyes and there’s all this beauty about it that’s almost instantaneously crushed by the way Aaron tells him to stop.

“Why say that?” 

Robert rubs at his eyes a little. “I didn’t realise it was a crime.”

“You don’t say things like that.” Aaron says and Robert laughs at him, eyes wider now.

“Are you serious?” He stops himself and Aaron is. He is serious because he was speaking to Holly only earlier about diving head first into situations and realised that he was doing it himself. “I don’t even know what I’ve —“

“I’m not some stupid girl you get to call beautiful and then fuck over.” It sort of explodes out of him and yeah they’ve been happy these past few weeks. Robert has somehow not got on his nerves nearly as much as he thought. He’s discovered that he’s kind and smart and brilliant but —

Now he’s petrified.

“Cheers.” Robert says. And he doesn’t get to be upset. It’s weird, seeing Robert hurt or whatever. He bends over and reaches for his clothes, hands reaching out everywhere he can to get his top on. “I’m glad I know where we stand.”

“Says you.” Aaron bites. “I have no idea what you’re thinking or —“

“So when I tell you, you tell me to piss off.” Robert shouts back, and Aaron bites down on his gum hard to stop himself from getting emotional.

“Rob.” He says, small, frail and Robert backs away.

“Maybe I shouldn’t come back.”

“Why? Just be honest with me.” 

“Because you wouldn’t believe me even if I’m being honest.” Robert snaps, and shouts and they haven’t had a proper argument about anything really except for that very first day. Now it hurts. It’s ten time worse actually. “You want to believe I’m some sleazy cocky model who was born into all this wealth and I treat people like scum but —“

“Yeah well maybe you are. I wouldn’t know.”

“Maybe you don’t want to know.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Aaron’s scared, so he shouts louder and Robert pulls his hands in front of him and waves them about in frustration.

“It’s easier for you to see a prick than the real me because you’re —“

“The real you?” Aaron huffs, heart thudding. 

It hurts a nerve and Robert gulps hard. “I’m so sick of this.”

“Yeah, well I’m sick of your face.”

“Well then I’ll go yeah?” Robert is taller, yet smaller at the same time and Aaron freezes before shouting his mouth again.

“Yeah!”

It’s a petty argument over absolutely nothing, something that could be resolved in a matter of seconds if Aaron could only ask Robert how he felt. If Robert could do the same.

But Robert heads towards the door. 

“What are you going?” Aaron panics, hopes it doesn’t show in his voice but Robert doesn’t seem to care as he bolts down the hallway.

“Leaving.” 

“Because I don’t know where your head is at?” Aaron feels himself vibrating with emotion, eyes wide and alert and then Robert sighs. 

“Because you don’t trust that I’m being genuine.” And Aaron doesn’t say anything. “You know, you expect the worst and that’s what you get.”

••

Aaron calls a couple of times but he doesn’t get anything back. He doesn’t sleep either and it’s half four in the morning by the time Aaron works out that Robert’s been out making a fool of himself.

It’s all over Twitter, there’s a picture of a few girls parading around Robert and he looks like he’s in his element. It leads Aaron cold, makes him sorry for ever panicking over a fucking comment in the first place and letting it escalate. 

He decides to just stare at the picture and torture himself until he hears his phone go and it’s Robert’s number. He hovers and waits and then decides to answer because he’s a joke.

“It’s four in the mornin’.”

“Can you open your door.” Robert slurs a little and Aaron tells him to go home. “You’re the one — who upset me, let me in, please.”

So he does and Robert ends up sitting on his sofa with a glass of water towards his chin because he can’t hold it up. Aaron hasn’t seen him like this before. He doesn’t like it.

“There were girls everywhere you know.” Robert says, “Some lads too. But I wanted you. I want you.” He goes to stand and drag Aaron down for a kiss but Aaron holds a hand against Robert’s waist and frowns.

“You’re drunk.”

“Not like that.” Robert says suddenly, sobering almost and Aaron hates how much it’s music to his ears. “I know I’m a dick. I’m a proper dick but you really are amazing for puttin’ up with me.”

And Aaron wants to scoff, so he does. “You’re the model, I’m just -“

“I feel like I’ve met my match Aaron.” Robert whispers, and there’s a lightness about him that Aaron wasn’t ever expecting. He adores it. 

He sort of really adores him too.

“Come here.” Aaron says, pulls Robert towards him and kisses him softly before he’s pulling him towards the bedroom and stripping him down to his pants. “Go to sleep.” He bosses him about and Robert lets him, shuffles towards Aaron’s chest and smiles faintly.

And then he’s sleeping and Aaron admired him a little more. He’s such a model that it almost makes Aaron roll his eyes against it. Against the fact that he’s got some famous model in his bed who likes him, who think he’s amazing, who he has somehow made stay. 

He traces a hand across Robert’s back, feels him moving up and down as he sleeps and he bites his lip against just how much likes him. It’s slowly becoming embarrassing, becoming all encompassing too.

He traces exactly what he feels over Robert’s back.

Three stupid words.

••

Robert has a sore head in the morning and Aaron’s anxious about him not remembering anything. 

“Mornin’.” Aaron says, bites his lip like always and Robert smiles with his eyes closed and lifts his head up a little. Aaron passes him a mug of coffee and nearly drops it.

“Thought I was the one who was hungover.” Robert mumbles as he takes it and then opens his eyes a little more. “You look nervous.” He says.

Aaron blows out a breath. “You came back last night and said things.” He says anxiously. “About wanting me and —“

“I do.” Robert shrugs. “I know it’s — me being known,” he’s more than known, he’s a celebrity, his face just so happens to be all over every social media platform after last night. “It’s going to be hard but, you’re different.”

“Different?”

“You’re just you, and you like me for some reason so.” Robert stops himself, pauses slightly and then smiles. “And it’s not the money or the fame.”

“Of course not.” Aaron says indignantly, bright red and Robert holds his hands and laughs. 

“I believe ya.” Robert says, “It’s just weird.” He whispers, and Aaron almost knows that Robert’s been hurt in the past. He doesn’t want to hurt him.

“I know.” Aaron strokes Robert’s cheek softly and then hears the door go. He scrambles to his feet to see Holly there yapping away about the bloke Aaron clearly has a massive stalker crush on being all over Twitter.

And Robert just steps the fuck out of the room half naked and waves.

“Robert!”

“What? She’s bound to see me.” Robert says, cool as anything. 

Holly’s face is a picture, eyes wide and she shakes her head. “But — you were with all those —“

“Yeah well he ended up with me last night okay?” Aaron gets all defensive and then blows out a breath. “You can’t - can’t tell anyone okay?” 

Aaron watches Holly’s mind working overtime and then she nods eagerly. Promises. Looks like she wants to take a picture but instead she turns and leaves and Robert rubs at Aaron’s shoulder as the door shuts.

“It’s alright.” Robert pushes out, shrugs slightly. “It’s not like the whole world knows that we’re together.”

“Together, together?” Aaron whispers, like a year eight kid. Robert nods slightly, hides his face. “Yeah?”

He kisses Robert then, a proper little jump up on the older man.

He catches him. 

••

For a few days everything is soft and then the news breaks and Aaron’s face is on the front of the magazines too.

“This is — Aaron I didn’t mean for this to happen!” Robert says, hands over his face as he sits on his bed and watches Aaron walking up and down. 

He called Aaron, made him come round to his house for once because of the security or whatever and he should be getting a house tour but he’s getting this.

Robert is losing his shit.

“It’s okay.” Aaron half lies, because although Holly swears it wasn’t her, they’re all swarming around his flat this morning like he had found the cure for cancer or something. 

“This could effect your career?” Robert pulls his palms down against his thighs and rubs up and down. “You don’t seem to get that.”

“I get that I want you.” Aaron shrugs. “I get that I — I’ve fallen for you.” He feels his eyes widening a little because it’s just flopped right out and now he feels goosebumps on his skin. 

“Fallen for more?” Robert stops losing his head to be a cocky shit. “I made the grumpy photographer fall for me?”

Aaron rolls his eyes and holds back for a second before Robert drags him to the bed. 

“I feel the same.” He says, and for a second it’s all hearts and flowers until Robert sighs. “They’re going to have their opinions you know, you’re going to get sick of it.”

And Aaron knows that he’s reserved, not in the public eye, the list goes on but —

He doesn’t want to let this go.

“I’ll handle it.” He says simply, and the whole handling it comes into play when he hears Robert on the phone to his manager. He realises pretty quickly that his name is Clive.

“That was Clive.” Robert says, jumpy, quick as he sits on his bed still in the exact same position that he was in hours ago. “There’s some catwalk show in London tonight, I forgot I’d even been invited but —“

“You want me to come with ya?”

Aaron’s heart thuds against the idea that it could smooth it all over, get the confusion and the secrecy all out in the open. 

“They’ll be other photographers there as well.” Robert says like he’s trying to put Aaron at ease, like he doesn’t already do that by just smiling. It’s enough to make Aaron agree, step into some suit and make Robert catch his breath as he stands by the door.

“You look —“ Robert struggles and Aaron tells him to piss off. “You should wear a suit more often.”

“Yeah?” Aaron flattens the blazer he’s wearing and smiles faintly. “You look pretty decent yourself.” And when he means decent he means —

Robert still sort of has that ability to take Aaron’s breath away.

••

There’s paparazzi everywhere and Aaron hides away from most of it until Robert has a hand on his back and he strokes slowly. It’s a sign, it’s telling him that he should relax.

So Aaron looks up at him and forgets they’re there. He keeps forgetting and focuses on pissing about with Robert for most of the night, laughing at the shit Robert has to wear when he’s on the flipping runway.

“Oh come on, if I had to wear what looks like a sack of potatoes I’d have summat to say.” Aaron has Robert to himself in the corner of the room, there’s well over a hundred people here and they hide in plain sight and be themselves for a while.

Robert snorts, he’s happy, it fizzles through Aaron. “That’s why you’re behind the camera and I’m in front of it.” He says, head tilted a little and a smirk on his face. 

“Is this the part where I tell you that it’s ‘cause you’re hot as well?” Because he is, because he really is.

“I’d like to think so. He is a model you know.” They’re interrupted and Aaron jumps back as he sees Chrissie standing there with a smirk on her face. She looks beautiful, golden fabrics and the light catching her eyes and —

Aaron pales in comparison to it all.

“Chris?” Robert says, like they’re mates. Robert has a hand on her waist as he kisses her cheek and then he moves away and looks at Aaron with a smile on his face. “This is —“

“The lucky landscape photographer.” Chrissie eyes him, up and down and up and down before faking this smile. “I heard you were a bit difficult at the shoot after I left, didn’t expect to see you two here together.” She makes it sound like the weirdest thing in the world and yeah okay they didn’t exactly hit off but they were practically dry humping each other only an hour later.

They had spark. Plenty of fucking spark so Chrissie can just take that. 

Robert laughs almost nervously. “Yeah well, we hit it off don’t worry.”

“That’s professional.” Chrissie mumbles, and Robert shoots his back up straighter. 

“Yeah well, you and that photographer Donny didn’t keep it strictly professional either.” He snipes a little with it and Aaron’s eyes widen, he almost scoffs into his hand and then Robert is dragging them over towards the edge of the catwalk just before the show starts.

“She doesn’t like us together.” Aaron says simply and Robert just stares at him, doesn’t say anything until he blows out a breath and kisses Aaron. 

He kisses him until the show starts and Aaron rests his head against Robert’s shoulder for just a second. 

It’s soft and gentle and unlike everything else.

He still doesn’t understand why everything is still so bloody expensive though.

••

Robert’s outside waiting for the car with some work friend of his that Aaron actually doesn’t mind. He thinks her name is Kate.

Aaron’s busy by the bar, one last drink and the promise to ring his mum back because she’s gone and lost it over the fact that he’s dating Robert Sugden — or so the papers say. By this time tomorrow it should be as official as it can be in Robert’s world.

“Look, I’m happy okay? We didn’t expect, no, yeah I wouldn’t be with him if he was just a cocky bastard. Yeah. Just. No I’m joking, he’s actually pretty amaz—“ 

Aaron spins and sees Chrissie standing there with a scowl on her face hidden in a smile. “Can I help you?” He says, straight back and everything after telling his mum he’ll have to call her back.

“Robert’s not really known for being all out and proud.” Chrissie says and Aaron supposes she means he hasn’t been out publicly with a bloke before. 

Aaron frowns slightly. “But he’s always been bi, that was never a secret.” He shrugs and Chrissie smirks like she knows she’s been caught off guard and can’t do anything else. 

“You know being with you could have an impact on his cliental?” 

Aaron knows what she’s doing but it doesn’t stop the way it hurts, the way it seems to be the most honest thing to say in the world. 

“He’s already out about —“

“Well you should know that an abstract idea is a lot different to something presented. Something evidential. Like the pair of you, on the front of some trashy magazine tomorrow.” There’s a piano playing in the background of her fancy words and Aaron can’t speak. “He’ll lose clients alright.” 

She cements it and Aaron’s forced to say the first thing he can think of.

“Robert’s a big boy, he knows what he wants.”

He wants you, he wants to say, like it somehow will be true if he wills it into existence. If he says that Robert Sugden wants him.

Chrissie huffs. “And that’s a low rent photographer who knows not a thing about fashion or his world at all?” 

‘His world.

The thing is that’s true as well. 

Aaron hides his face from her.

“Why don’t you just do him a favour and quit whilst you’re ahead.” 

The thought makes him boil over in anger, snap his head up towards her. “And you’d love that wouldn’t you?”

“I’d like that, yeah.” Chrissie says, half a smile and Aaron thinks about the fact that it was her and Robert in the papers months ago. 

“You want him to yourself?”

She doesn’t speak for too long and aaron knows something collapses in his chest before she finally puts him out of his misery. “We help each other, getting publicised together makes us —“

“Attractive?” Aaron raises an eyebrow, raises higher. “You sound crazy.”

Chrissie rolls her eyes and yeah, she’s back on top. “Look around you Aaron. I don’t think I’m the crazy one.” She says his name and he sinks a little. “You don’t belong here. Different worlds and all that rings true doesn’t it? Come on, admit it.”

Aaron’s eyes flicker, and he thinks of their bubble being burst.

••

They go back to Robert’s and tries to fuck his insecurities away until he submits to the fact that he isn’t in the mood. Instead he’s subtly dropping hints about how incompatible they are until Robert gives him this sorry look and is concerned.

“What did she say to you?” He guesses because of course he does, and Aaron caves in a little with a frown on his face like he can’t help it.

“We’re different people.” Aaron admits, looking around at the place and thinking about his own flat. “You have to admit that at least.”

Robert doesn’t say anything, just nods his head slowly and then pulls Aaron into the hallway. There’s pictures of him when he was younger, he looks adorable, blond hair and those eyes and a goofy grin.

“That was my dad.” Robert points, and then Aaron squints a little closer and sees that they’re on a farm. “Yep, I was destined to be a farmhand until I was kicked out.” 

There’s a moment, just between them both, and it seems to settle in the air with Aaron holding Robert’s waist. Kicked out is a lot different to leaving and he wants to hug him suddenly. 

“We’re not that dissimilar you know?” Robert says, looks up at the pictures again. “I just got lucky I suppose. Still don’t feel like any of it really makes a lot of sense.”

Aaron sees human Robert poke out again and he can’t breathe for a second until he’s holding a hand against Robert’s chest and then cupping his face. “Maybe because you’re handsome.” He offers, and there’s this honesty in his eyes and the drinks piling up in his brain. “Did you see the way everyone was lookin’ at you?” He says, eyes wide and mad with the memory of jealousy he felt as soon as they walked in together.

“Looking at you more like.”

Aaron scoffs and then shudders as Robert kisses him hard and fast.

“Take me to bed.” Aaron says, and Robert does, gladly.

••

“You know they’ll see we don’t fit together.” Robert leans over Aaron’s naked body and kisses his back. “But I know that we do.” He says. 

Aaron turns towards him and his eyes flutter. “Chrissie said, being with me, a bloke, it could affect —“

“Yeah it could. It probably will.” Robert acts as if it isn’t a big deal and Aaron jumps up from the bed, sits up straight and shakes the idiot. “Oi. I know what I’m gettin’ into.” He says seriously. “I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t.”

He’s got it all worked out then and Aaron tries not to feel guilty.

“All for the bloke who called me an arsehole.” Robert teases, a firm shake of the head and Aaron turns bright red at the memory.

“You were.” Aaron says.

“Only because I fancied you.” Robert hides his face, and shy Robert is the Robert that Aaron —

“I’m in love you.”

It’s rushed, it’s almost like word vomit and the fact that Robert just stares at him almost vacantly seems to add to the way Aaron literally wants to be sick.

But then Robert comes closer, until he’s practically on Aaron’s lap. “With this arsehole?” He says, like he’s not shaking like a leaf.

“Yeah.” Aaron says, because he’s been in love before but not like this, not this quickly, not this openly and —

“Well.” Robert looks like he’s going to be calm and cool and then he runs a hand through Aaron’s hair and smiles faintly, gives the game away. “I love you.” He says, and it’s so dramatically simple that Aaron slaps his chest and sighs hard.

“You’re a dick.” Aaron says, and he’s not felt this happy in a long time, a very long time actually.

Robert smiles shyly. “Who you happen to love. After two months.” He says, and Aaron punches his side and squeals as Robert hooks him closer. “This is mental.” 

“What?” Aaron whispers, “You loving me? Or everyone knowing.”

Robert blinks quickly and doesn’t say anything for a little while. “No.” He whispers. “Someone loving me, for me.” And not the cocky bastard with all the money, that’s what he means. Aaron knows. 

Aaron ruffles Robert’s hair. “Well get used to it.”

He isn’t going anywhere.

••

The papers snap up the pictures of them and Aaron wakes up to it right in front of his face as Robert brings him some coffee. 

“Hey.” Robert says, and Aaron sees the picture of them, Robert’s got a hand on Aaron’s back and Aaron’s looking up at him and yeah —

If Aaron hadn’t already told Robert he loved him last night, he’d be forced to this morning basically.

“Have you seen the headline?” Robert says, and Aaron looks right down and sees it staring up at him.

‘Mr Photographer’

“Wow. Original that.” Aaron scratches at his eyebrow and reads the article clearly written by a teenage bloody girl. It’s all ‘who is this romantic stranger?’ and ‘low brow photographer aaron dingle seems to be robert sugden’s latest...’

Robert lands on the bed and smiles. 

“Which reminds me, I have a shoot later.” Aaron says, and Robert offers to drop him there, plays this sweet boyfriend that makes Aaron’s heart thud in his chest. “You don’t have to do that, don’t you have a job or something.”

“Work’s being a bit slow.” He doesn’t meet Aaron’s eye and it sucks. “Not because of —“

“Of course because of me.” Aaron says, and Robert raises his chin and winks at him slightly. 

“I’m just going to have to be your model for a few days.” Robert shrugs, half naked and beautiful and Aaron’s.

“Yeah?” Aaron says as Robert lowers over him and takes the coffee from him. “Oi.” He says suddenly and then he’s flat out onto the bed with a smile on his face.

“I’ve just woke up.” He says, like he’s not in the mood.

He’s a flipping liar.

“Get your camera out then.” Robert teases, kisses Aaron’s neck deeply until Aaron pushes him off with a smile on his face and pins him towards the bed. They’re breathless for a second until Robert holds Aaron’s hand. “You know I’m serious about ya? Properly.” 

Aaron nods slowly. “I know you are.”

“I know I’m a dick and everything but — I’m really lucky you love me.” Robert says stuff like that a lot. He acts all cocky and confident but there’s pain there and Aaron knows it. He kisses Robert’s hand and smiles faintly at him because he’s the lucky one.

Somehow this happened, somehow they fucked each other into this love.

Aaron bites his lip as he hangs over Robert. “Where’s that come from?”

“You didn’t even react to the papers? They’re all talkin’ and you don’t give a shit.”

Aaron shakes his head slightly because they’re talking about the Robert that shows up and smiles for the camera, not this one, not the one with bed hair and half naked and croaky throat. 

Aaron gets him, and it’s all he honestly wants.

“I love you, I don’t care about anything else.”

Robert clearly hasn’t heard that before. He nods slightly as Aaron starts kissing him, and strokes Aaron’s arms slowly until the younger one pulls away.

“Yeah?” He says, blinking quickly and holding his breath as Robert nods and accepts it.

“Whatever you say Mr Photographer.” Robert whispers, gentle, kind and hands everywhere on Aaron like he can’t get enough of him.

Aaron could really get used to this, trashy tabloids talking about him and Robert snogging weekly, and all the rest of it.  

[yoosungimagines]

Omg I'm so glad you made this tumblr! Uuuuh. I've got a request: imagine Yoosung finding out that the MC is a few years older than him (either before they have even met and he's developing feelings or when they're already a couple)? Hope it's not too much I'm asking for ;-;

took way too long to finish I’m sorry!! This is fairly long cause well, oops? i’m dramatic haha

also i made it so they’ve met but they’re not a couple i’m sorry if that’s not what you want aaaaa

this is actual trash i’m sorry

Rating: PG13

“Say, Seven, I’m not what they call a…”

Your voice was sheepish as you spoke into the phone, your eyes resolutely trained onto the ceiling and away from Seven’s picture displayed on your phone. There was an expression of defeat mixed with pure embarrassment on your face and your grimace would’ve made for a fun blackmail picture for the redhead.

“A what?”, he drawls teasingly, and you can practically feel the mischievous smirk on his stupid face. “Spit it out ______. I won’t know what you’re trying to say until you say it clearly.”

You wanted to slap him, but alas, his cheek was too far from the palm of your hand. “A-A,” you take a deep breath. Your next words come out in a high-pitched squeak, your fingers clenching around the fabric of your shirt. “A c-cougar!” Your eyes squeeze tightly and your hands fly up to cover your reddened face, a loud stuttering groan of embarrassment leaving your lips.

Seven’s hysterical laughter fills the room, making your ears bleed; you knew putting him on speakerphone was a bad idea! “Oh my god!”, he spits through his giggles. “I can’t believe- haha! A-A cougar- HAHAHA!” You groan again and the urge to hide yourself under the sheets have never been stronger.

“Shut up Seven!”, you cry, his laughs growing in volume at the sound of your suffering. After what feels like forever, his laughter slowly starts to subside, but you can still hear his small giggles between his panting breaths.

“Wh-Why do you ask? What makes you think you’re a c-cou-”, he snorts and you can hear a loud BANG. “C-Cougar-HAHA!” You roll your eyes in exasperation and you consider hanging up on the redhead. He obviously isn’t much help now. Laughing at you isn’t going to do anything for your crippling sanity.

“If you’d just stop laughing, I’d actually tell you.”

“O-Okay, okay, lemme just,” he pants, chuckling under his breath. “Calm myself down… Hooooo~ I can’t breathe.”

“I wish you’d stop breathing.”, you mutter bitterly and he snorts again.

“So cruel ______! I thought we were friends!”, his dramatic yell does nothing but annoy you even further and you tell him so, resulting in another heartbreaking shout.

“Seriously Seven, am I one or not?” His pondering hum makes you nervous and you pull the fabric of your bedsheets taut between your fingers. “You’re gonna have to explain to me why you think you’re a cougar first ______,” he says. Your mouth twists, displeased. “Because personally, I haven’t seen you do anything ‘cougar-like’ in the chatroom.”

You muster up the loudest, most tired sounding sigh you could make and you hear him chortle in amusement. “My friends joke around a lot. About me being a cougar and all,” you explain reluctantly, letting the silk in your grasp fall from your fingers. You instead pick at the stitches in your shirt, a worried lilt in your voice as you speak. “You know how I’m one of the oldest members in the RFA? I told my friends that and well, yeah…” The way your voice trails off is suspicious to say the least, as if you were hiding something from Seven.

“That still doesn’t explain why they think you’re a cougar. You do know what that word means, don’t you? It means to be sexually interested in younger men,” he rattles off, so casually that you wonder if anything can embarrass Seven. Then, his voice turns into something mischievous. “So? Who’s the lucky guy?”

Your flustered sputtering confirms his accusation. Mortified, you turn your body and bury your face into a pillow, your shrill screaming muffled. “______?”, you hear. “______, c’mon it’s not bad to be interested in someone younger than you. And knowing you, you’re probably not interested in just sex, right?” You squeal at the lewd word, pulling another chuckle from him.

Eventually, you turn your head away from the pillow, inhaling to calm your nerves. “Yoosung…”, you breathe out.

“What about Yoosung?”

“Th-The guy I’m interested in… It’s Yoosung.”

“…”

Your teeth snags onto your bottom lip when a lengthy silence comes from the other end. “S-Seven? You there?”, you ask, voice shaky. “I know it’s weird bu-”

“HOLY SHIT!”, you wince from the scream Seven emits. “HAHAHAHAHA YOU LIKE YOOSUNG?! DAMN ______! I DIDN’T KNOW YOU WERE INTO COLLEGE BOYS! HAHAHAHAHA!”

“I hate you, I hate you so much,” you hiss into the phone. “Laugh one more time and I’m keying your cars!”

He chokes on his laughs, struggling to plead with you through hacking coughs. “W-Wait ______! Let’s be reasonable here!” Seven’s frantic tone in his hoarse voice brings a smug smile on your face. “My babies don’t deserve this! Take me instead! Please!”

You haven’t your rolled your eyes this hard since… Well, ever. “Will you just-! Help me?!”, you huff, the desperation clear even through the annoyance in your voice. “I… I really like him and I don’t want him to be creeped out when he finds out that I’m like 6 years older than him.” You cringe at the thought, heart aching at the image of Yoosung’s face twisting in disgust.

“You mean you haven’t even told him your age?”, Seven asks softly. He sighs, clearly disappointed in you. “______… Yoosung won’t be creeped out.”

“How do you know that?”

“Have you not figured out what type of stuff this boy’s into? Trust me, you’re fine ______. Just tell him. It won’t change his feelings for you at all.”

“His feelings? For me?”

His chuckle feels more reassuring now, the slightest bit of confidence seeping into you from the deep sound.

“He likes you too ______. Probably way more than you think he does.”

-

“And then he shouts at me for not getting the item in time! Like, how was I supposed to get it when I was literally carrying his sorry butt?!”

Yoosung’s whiny rants were nothing but adorable to you. Admittedly, you were a little disappointed that the only reason he invited you over was to vent, but Yoosung is Yoosung and you’re weak.

You sink into the comfy couch, head lolling to the side to watch as he talks animatedly about his LOLOL raids, hands flailing about and lilac eyes alight with passion.

It’s been a week since your… Enlightening conversation with Seven and it’d be a lie to say it hasn’t been crossing your mind ever since. In fact, it’s concerning just how much you keep thinking about it. Every waking hour - in the shower, while you eat, while you work - it refuses to leave your head.

“He likes you too ______. Probably way more than you think he does.”

If what Seven had said was true, then…

You wet your lips nervously as Yoosung stops his babbling, your silence concerning him. “______? Are you okay?” His eyes peer deep into yours, worry shining in his hues. His pretty pink lips were pulled into a frown. You want to kiss it off of him.

‘He likes you too…’

‘Just tell him.’

‘It won’t change his feelings for you at all.’

.

.

.

“I’m 27!”, you blurt.

Oh.

Oh shit.

“Wait- Shit! Fuck! I didn’t mean to-!” With a loud, excruciatingly painful groan, you bury your flaming red face into your hands. You hadn’t meant to admit it so abruptly! Stupid Seven!

You can hear Yoosung shift next to you, his movements making you even more anxious. “Uhm,” he finally says. “Well, I’m 21…?” You can hear the question in his voice and you groan even more in embarrassment. Great, now you confused him…

“______? C’mon, tell me what’s wrong!” Yoosung’s hands reach out to grip at your wrists, his touch sending electric shocks up your spine. His thumb rubs soothing circles into your skin, each stroke shooting an arrow through your heart. “You know you can tell me anything right?”

You quiver under his stare, teeth latching onto and chewing your bottom lip to shreds. “My friends,” you manage to choke out, averting your gaze. His wide violet eyes were not good for your sanity. “My friends were teasing me… A-About how I’m a cougar.”

“A cougar?” He cocks his head in confusion. “What’s that?”

You want to D I E.

“Well you see Yoosung, when a woman loves a young man very very much…”

His eyebrows furrow. “So you’re telling me, you love someone and your friends are teasing you about it?”

“W-Well yeah, but the thing is he’s… He’s way younger than me and they just like to joke about that.” Yoosung looks strangely conflicted now, eyes downcast and mouth a thin line; it’s worrying. “Yoosung…?”

“Who is it?”, he asks, painfully hushed.

You could only stare at the blonde, confusion clear in your eyes. “What do you mean?”

“Who’s the guy?” He looks as if someone had stabbed him, betrayal and sadness embedded in his violet hues. “Who’s the guy you… you l-love?”, he practically spat out the word.

A sudden, dawning realization falls upon you and wow holy shit I’m an idiot. Yoosung was jealous. Kim Yoosung was JEALOUS.

You couldn’t help the smile that split across your face and you shake your head at the ridiculousness of it all. “Yoosung,” you laugh, reaching out to cup his face in your hands, pressing your foreheads together. “His name’s Kim Yoosung.”

You watch his expression transition from hopeless to shock to finally, glee. “M-Me?”, he sputters, his cheeks a beautiful red. “You love me?”

Your nod had him beaming up at you, your heart stuttering at the sight. He places his hands atop of yours, staring into your eyes with adoration. “I love you too.” he sighs, pretty lips curved into a dopey smile. He leans in to press a kiss to your nose and you nearly cried from how precious he was.

“Kiss me properly.” You grin when you see how flustered he’s become, puckering your lips to tease him even more. Warm lips capture your own in a tender kiss and you hum, pleased with his boldness.

He pulls away to kiss your cheek, then along your jaw and up to your ear, your little gasps fueling his actions. His warm breath against your skin send shivers down your spine, your ears a bright red.

“You know,” he sighs, his hands sliding down to take ahold of your hips, tugging you closer. “If you were a cougar, I wouldn’t mind if you pounced on me.”

[hopeassassin]

Lucid

Lol, ok, so...

It’s been 2 years almost since my last feeble attempt to write. And I wrote this one for @spitfiring, because we had a bit of a chat on personal messages here and she said she would love to read something in this vein or at least in the vein of what this was originally planned as... so here ya’ll have it! Finally finished, zomg. A character study gone way out of control.

WARNING: It’s a slow burner and a behemoth. Approach at your own risk.

Title: Lucid

Word Count: 20 772. fuck me

Summary: Those first days back in Teikou—even before Kise joined—were like a wonderful dream. 

That was why when the cracks in their idyll started appearing, everyone tried to ignore them as long as possible.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

lucid /ˈluːsɪd/

-          (psychology)

-          (of a dream) experienced with the dreamer feeling awake, aware of dreaming, and able to control events consciously.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 Those first days back in Teikou—even before Kise joined—were like a wonderful dream to Daiki.

 He had felt like he was soaring every single day.

 He went to bed happy and giddy about the upcoming practice the next day. At night he dreamt of facing off against strong opponents that pushed him and the rest of the soon-to-be-dubbed Generation of Miracles to their limits.

 He would wake up before his alarm went off and get ready for school in record time.

 During classes the whole day he’d pretty much space out and tune out everything his teachers were trying to teach him. He would bounce on the balls of his feet all day just for those precious hours after school.

 During those times he would get to play with the people who infallibly made basketball even more fun.

 Something he’d thought physically impossible. Yet there it had been.

 And Satsuki would watch in awe of how quickly he’d improve his game—beyond her wildest expectations. There was little doubt in her mind that this improvement was owing largely to the fact that Daiki had finally found people matching his talent. Not only that, he had found friends who potentiated his plays and style.

 She had loved watching them—watching Dai-chan play with his friends in the first string—to a degree she would never be able to express with words.

 It had felt like a dream to them both—one that was incomparable to anything else. A wonderful dream where everyone was happy and smiling and one.

 That was why when the cracks in their idyll started appearing, everyone tried to ignore them as long as possible.

 Regardless of the fact they were only fourteen years old, they realized well that nothing lasted forever in life. There was no such thing as forever. No matter how great something was, eventually it would start to fall apart.

 But for the sake of their fragile selves—for the sake of that happiness they’d won with difficulty—they pretended like they didn’t see it all coming apart at the seams.

 However, it did. Slowly but surely it started coming undone.

 It had all been a very painful affair for everyone concerned… yet Satsuki felt like the people most deeply affected by the ordeal were the ones whose hearts were the most vested in the Generation of Miracles utopia.

 Namely Tetsu-kun and Dai-chan.

 She could never pretend to understand how Tetsu-kun must’ve felt during those days. When he started feeling that something was off. When winning games no longer brought those blinding smiles to everyone’s faces.

 No longer brought a smile to their ace’s face.

 When the faces they showed during quarters and breaks in matches turned into grimaces.

 When they no longer bore expressions shown by normal boys enjoying a sport they loved in one another’s company.

 She adored Tetsu-kun and that was perhaps the furthest one could get from understanding another.

 Nevertheless, from having watched him and interacted with him, she knew enough to be certain that slowly losing his closest friend on the court to his unfair amount of budding talent couldn’t have been easy.

 Especially when it was at a sport that Tetsu-kun was almost talentless at, regardless how much he loved it.

 But the finishing blow had been dealt personally by none other than Dai-chan, she knew.

 She knew because she saw Dai-chan that day.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 As if it wasn’t enough that he just up and left practice that day. Out of nowhere, he just took his things and ran off.

 Satsuki heard from the coach that the head coach ran into him and didn’t even grill the idiot into coming back to practice.

 Then that… weird showdown between Mukkun and Akashi-kun happened. It felt like something in Akashi-kun snapped in that moment.

 To top it all off, despite having won the power struggle, Akashi-kun said some outrageous stuff about everyone from the recently dubbed Generation of Miracles being free to do as they pleased as long as they won their games. Something he had been more than reluctant to allow now even ten minutes earlier.

 What would become of their team if they stopped trying to work together? Somehow, she couldn’t imagine a favorable outcome of that scenario.

 After it was all said and done, Satsuki headed home that day with an unsettling feeling in the pit of her stomach.

 That’s when she saw Dai-chan, listlessly dragging his feet on the wet sidewalk, no umbrella or anything to shield him from the pouring rain.

 She rushed over to him, holding her umbrella up over him and starting to dutifully chew him out for disappearing in a hissy fit earlier.

 When he fixed his eyes on her, her words died on her tongue. His expression and the look in his cobalt eyes worked as though someone had driven a stake through her heart.

 She didn���t know why but it was suddenly hard to breathe.

 “Ah… Satsuki…” he’d muttered eloquently, blinking slowly at her. The short spikes of hair were sticking to his forehead because of the rain. There were droplets of water in his eyelashes from having been out in the downpour too long. “Where did you come from?”

 Satsuki swallowed hard around the lump in her throat.

 “Practice, of course!” she said without any fervor in her reproach. Nevertheless, she felt it a small victory to have been able to compose herself as to say that much. “The same place you should’ve come back from!”

 At this, Daiki’s eyes shifted away from her, pinning to their feet and the small rivers running along the streets of the city. He was so listless that he could best be described as lifeless.

 She shuddered.

 The shiver that raked her being had nothing to do with the chill from the cold rain.

 “Look at you, all soaked to the bone.” She huffed to herself and started fishing in her pocket with her free hand. When she found what she was looking for—a handkerchief—she turned her attention back to Daiki to see him just as emotionlessly surveying her without having moved a muscle. “Come here, Dai-chan. Let’s undo at least some of the damage that pesky rain did, eh?”

 She started dabbing at his face and neck and then soaked up as much of the water in his hair as she could with the small piece of cloth.

 It unnerved her that he never complained once during the whole two minutes she busied herself with that task. He didn’t say anything, for that matter. He didn’t even move. It caused her uneasiness to intensify.

 “Come on, Dai-chan. Let’s go home.”

 Satsuki didn’t know why, but she had a feeling that hearing her call him by the same nickname she had for over ten years (until they entered Teikou) seemed to have some kind of jump-start effect on him.

 If even a tiny one.

 If even just enough to get him out of his catatonia enough to do as she asked.

 He started trudging down the road with her, his soaked shoes and practice slacks making a sloppy sound that made her cringe. She could only imagine how it felt to be walking in shoes full of water and having a second—freezing­—skin.

 She tried to strike a conversation with him clumsily as they headed home. But Dai-chan wouldn’t respond to anything she asked. Not regarding what he’d been up to, not about why he’d stormed off like that. Not even whether he’d been out in the rain the entire time, or if he’d met with Tetsu-kun.

 It was all starting to become very unsettling until they finally arrived at their houses.

 Seeing as Satsuki was the person with the umbrella, she escorted Daiki to his place.

 “We’re back, Auntie!” she called out loudly when it seemed like her childhood friend wouldn’t.

 They had been standing at the entrance to the Aomine’s house for a good minute in complete silence until she had decided to take it upon herself to announce their arrival.

 She swallowed thickly again when Daiki just stared at nothing in particular while toeing off his ridiculously wet shoes. He was just in the process of dumping his equally wet school bag near the entrance when his mother poked her head from the living room.

 “Welcome back, you two! You sure are late today—did you have some fun after practice?” the woman started cheerily. That was when the sight of her son drenched from the rain registered with her and she let out horrified shriek when he made to enter the house. “Good lord, Daiki! What the hell happened to you?!”

 It set Satsuki even more on edge that he didn’t even utter a word of explanation to his mother.

 “Sacchan, what is this?!” The woman who was like a second mother to her demanded of Satsuki next. It was a tactic that she often opted for through the years whenever her son was too pouty or moody to give her the time of day.

 Before Satsuki could explain, Daiki finally opened his mouth.

 “I forgot my umbrella, mother.”

 This piece of information made his parent’s eye twitch spastically. This tells me nothing, young man! It was conveyed loud and clear to Satsuki, even if the older woman hadn’t breathed a word.

 “I offered to take him home with my umbrella but he was already soaked when we met up, so…” Satsuki offered in an attempt to assuage the possible clash that could occur lest she intervened.

 Somehow, she knew that it was the last thing Dai-chan needed that day. To get in an argument with his mother over this.

 It seemed enough to placate the Aomine female to let the matter go, but not enough to let go of another.

 She crossed her arms as she surveyed her offspring at the entrance.

 “Well, whatever, but you’re not getting inside my house like that!” She huffed loudly as she turned around and headed for the cupboard where Satsuki knew they kept clean towels. “Take off your soaked clothes at the entrance and go take a shower.”

 Daiki took a moment, then two to process the information. He proceeded to unceremoniously peel off his t-shirt from himself, dropping the cloth with a wet plop next to his feet—atop the tiles of the entrance.

 Satsuki watched him with that same nervous tension as he went on to do the same with his slacks.

 Then there was a towel shoved under his nose by his unamused mother.

 “Dry your feet and legs. Oh, and your hair.” She basically ordered him when he took the proffered object.

 The blue haired youth proceeded to mechanically do as told, until he received his mother’s nod of approval.

 He was clad only in his wet underwear that still stuck to him in an obscene way, but he was no longer dripping rivers of rainwater on the wooden floorboards of the house.

 “Okay then. Into the bathroom with you—chop chop!”

 His mother shoved the boy with a testy huff. He shuffled his feet in the designated direction without a word.

 “Make it a long and hot shower, Daiki!” his mother called after him.

 Neither woman at the entrance understood whether he’d heard or not, because he gave no response—verbal or otherwise.

 Satsuki watched him with a worried lip as he disappeared around the corner.

 “Seriously, what’s got into that boy? He’s like a walking corpse.” The Aomine matron huffed in annoyance, placing her hands on her hips. Then she turned her attention to Satsuki. “Sacchan, did you guys have a fight or something?”

 The pink-haired girl simply shook her head in response.

 “He was like this already when we met up after practice.”

 Her auntie let out a loud and long sigh.

 “Jeez. What goes on in the head of that boy…”

 After a brief interaction, Satsuki bowed and excused herself to go home.

 It wasn’t like Dai-chan would be out of the bathroom anytime too soon.

 Not if his mother had anything to say about it.

 Yet even as she ate dinner with her parents, she still couldn’t focus on the conversation over supper thanks to the sickening feeling that had nested itself deeply in her heart that day.

 The unease itself wasn’t news. It had been steadily growing over the last few weeks. The first time she’d felt it was when she realized that the cracks had started forming. It was the same time as their ace noticing it himself.

 The first time when his opponents stopped even trying to play against him in that qualifier game for the nationals.

 Teikou had been winning by a landslide and Daiki had been on fire. Something that she always looked forward to in a game. Yet, instead of that driving his opponents to try harder in order to stop him, instead those boys had simply adopted that deadened look and stopped trying altogether.

 That was the day that the ace’s talents had started to blossom. And what that unease signified for Satsuki was just that it had been the tip of the iceberg.

 The events from practice today were simply proof for exactly that. What was worse, now it wasn’t only Dai-chan whose growth she feared.

 There was now Mukkun, too.

 Not to mention the change that Akashi-kun had gone through during that short showdown with the tall center.

 Just thinking about the situation made Satsuki’s skin crawl.

 She couldn’t shake the notion that she shouldn’t leave Daiki alone that day.

 So, after quickly scuffling down her dinner, she told her parents she’d be at Dai-chan’s and raced off towards the neighboring house.

 Thankfully, the rain had stopped.

 But the lack of rain did nothing to disperse the murky feeling Satsuki was drowning in.

 She found her childhood friend sitting on the couch, watching his favorite comedy show. When she maneuvered herself so that she could sit on the couch next to him, her worst suspicions were confirmed.

 Saying he was “watching” anything on TV was a stretch. From the listless expression on his face and the deadened look in his eyes, she could tell he was seeing right through the television set.

Satsuki exhaled slowly through her nose. Even though she liked this show normally as well, she couldn’t focus at all on any of the jokes.

 She opened her mouth to say something but no words came forth. She’d already asked him everything she could think of on the trek home and none of it had earned her an answer from him.

 Making small talk didn’t seem right either.

 Trying to cheer him up when she had no clue what got him in this state to begin with was just stupid. It would just be empty words.

 She was sure it had something to do with Tetsu-kun because he seemed to stiffen whenever Satsuki mentioned him. But everything beyond that was simply conjecture on her part. Seeing as Daiki refused to give her any information to work with.

 She wished she could help, but she had no idea how.

 So she clamped her mouth shut and curled her fingers into fists on the couch.

 “Where are Auntie and Uncle?” she thought to ask at last, when the show ended. Neither of Dai-chan’s parents was in sight, which was rare in itself.

 A long moment of silence stretched between them, filled only with the nonsensical music and plots of the TV commercials.

 “No clue,” Dai-chan finally said.

 It was the first time she had heard him speak since coming back to him that night. She disliked how his voice was scratchy and quiet.

 They stayed like that, not breathing a word to each other for a good fifteen minutes or more. Just sitting next to one another without even acknowledging the other’s presence for what felt like an eternity.

 The equilibrium was broken when Daiki keeled sideways without any preamble. His head fell right across Satsuki’s thighs.

 She stiffened at once. Her immediate instinct was to smack him or push him off—or both—and demand what in the world he thought he was up to.

 But then, during her moment of indecision, she saw that he still had that stony, listless look. She could only half of his face but his profile was still set in that worrisome expression. She realized it was definitely no ploy that he had read in any of his idiotic magazines. He probably hadn’t even done it on purpose.

 This realization made her edginess syphon right out of her system and instead she relaxed back into the couch, allowing Dai-chan to use her lap as a pillow without complaint.

 The next show started—some kind of history drama. She found herself unwittingly following what the characters on screen were doing for lack of anything else to busy herself with.

 She was loath to admit it, but feeling Dai-chan physically closer did make her clenched heart ease up a bit.

 When she shifted her magenta eyes to study his profile from above, Satsuki let out another long sigh. She had never seen Dai-chan like this and it was tearing her apart. She had no clue what had happened but she could bet it had something to do with Tetsu-kun and whatever had made Daiki snap during practice.

 She had been feeling this unease about the team for a while now. With Dai-chan’s steep improvement, that anxiety had deepened exponentially. She saw earlier that day that this tension had not been something she imagined. Not when the normally docile Mukkun had ended up talking back and even challenged Akashi-kun.

 Satsuki hated to think that it was possible that Dai-chan and Tetsu-kun had had a falling out. Yet all the facts pointed to it. Tetsu-kun had taken off in search for Dai-chan and then he hadn’t come back for a long time. That’s why she had rushed off to look for both of them after practice was over.

 The pink-haired girl bit her lip hard to keep any more disconcerting thoughts at bay. She could only imagine how hard a blow it would be for Dai-chan—having a falling out with Tetsu-kun at a time that was already hard for him.

 Before she could start pondering if it was a good or bad idea to allow Dai-chan to continue using her lap as a pillow, her left hand acted as though with a mind of its own.

 It unclenched from her side and set itself gently upon Daiki’s freshly washed hair.

 She turned her attention back to the show on the TV, content to just pet Dai-chan’s hair while he lay on her lap. Like an overgrown pet cat. Or a small worrisome child.

 When the commercial break came around, she heard him speak for the second time since dinner.

 “I was very cruel earlier.”

 It was an admission.

 Whether to her or to himself, Satsuki didn’t know. All she did know was that she had never heard Dai-chan speak in such a voice before. Ever. And she’d spent almost every waking moment with him for over ten years.

 “But that’s okay,” he murmured forlornly. “Because that guy was cruel to me before that. So I just…” The navy-haired boy’s voice trailed off slowly, never finishing the thought.

 Satsuki held her tongue, forcing herself to keep her innate curiosity at bay. She wanted to know what happened between them, but more than that, she wanted Dai-chan to get over whatever it was.

 So she just hummed in agreement and continued petting Dai-chan’s spiky hair until he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 That was how the dream came to an end.

 It was abrupt, and painful. Like a car crash or a train wreck.

 It wasn’t something anyone had wished for, but it came all the same.

 Their bonds grew cold and then slowly began to unwind. The basketball that they had so loved playing together turned into a vile competition thanks to all the swirling twisted emotions of the first stringers.

 It was painful to even look at.

 Satsuki was sure that it was even more painful to be in the middle of it.

 She couldn’t even imagine how the fall out had hurt Tetsu-kun, because she saw him more and more rarely after that.

 Perhaps he got even better at his misdirection if he was under the weather—or he was simply avoiding her. She wasn’t sure which of those it was… nor which was worse.

 Dai-chan, however—Dai-chan she knew and she could see how this all was twisting him beyond belief. She hated seeing him like this—hurt and broody, standoffish and listless all the time.

 He dropped the catatonic thing the very next day but in exchange, there was zero luster in everything he did. No spirit. No fire. Not even a spark.

 What was even worse was that it felt like Daiki started avoiding her, too. They started to very rarely spend any time together anymore—something she would’ve never wished for.

 The shittiest part was that sometimes, she felt relieved to be away from him. She did, because on the rare occasions they headed home at the same time, or accidentally met up at Maji Burger after school, she was at a loss what to talk to him about. The atmosphere between them was strained and stifling. Something that had never happened to them before—or, at least, not to this extent.

 Satsuki was a smart girl, so she could come up with plenty of neutral topics to talk about. Non-painful ones. Non-taboo ones.

 However, that was beside the point when her childhood friend wasn’t even paying attention to the conversation. He was always wistfully staring at some patch of nothing in the distance, refusing to meet her eye.

 Once, he even told her that it was enough. That she didn’t need to try so hard. Not when he couldn’t reciprocate the effort.

 That was the last time she could remember heading home with him in the past month or longer.

 He didn’t attend even a single practice after that, yet infallibly showed to all the games. He played and he steamrolled through his opponents as though they weren’t even there. He won without cracking even a single smirk, not to mention the blinding smile that he used to wear permanently when he played before.

 The basketball that he had so loved for years became something of a mundane chore.

 It was unbelievable. It was excruciating to witness.

 Yet just like the good times they had enjoyed, Satsuki convinced herself that the bad times would pass as well.

 She just had to brave through it. As long as it took. She would brave through it and pray that both Dai-chan and their friendship would make it through this trial in one piece as well.

 She was starting to worry that the sarcastic lackluster was beginning to get ingrained into her childhood friend’s character.

 Worse still, she had a sinking feeling that both of them were starting to get used to being away from one another.

 That would be all fine and dandy with Satsuki if either of them was the better for it, but that was not the case. Daiki was becoming increasingly listless at school and playing hooky more often as a result of that. She felt like she hadn’t heard him laugh in ages.

 She, on the other hand, felt like her whole being was clenched twenty-four seven. Like she was bracing for an impact that was yet to come. Like she couldn’t relax for even a second.

 Seeing him the way he was pained Satsuki greatly. So she stuck with his plan of avoiding her for her own sake as well.

 Yet nothing about school was fun anymore. Not classes, not gathering basketball data that she seemed to have a penchant for. Daiki always arrived just before a game started so he never cared to listen to her strategies. He claimed he didn’t need an additional edge against opponents who were already too weak for him to begin with.

 It hurt her, but she understood. And although she could understand his reasoning, that didn’t make it any less painful. She couldn’t share her own blossoming talent with the person she most cared to share it with. It felt like yet another large gash in their already bleeding bond.

 Every day at Teikou after the second year nationals felt to Satsuki like she was drowning in tar. Heavy, sticky, disgusting, yet weighing you down and making it impossible to surface.

 The only positive thing about the situation was that Auntie didn’t seem remotely as worried about her son as the pink-haired girl was.

 The elder female dismissed it simply as Dai-chan hitting his “rebellious age” and didn’t fret over it further.

 Of course, that didn’t stop the woman from loudly lamenting in her son’s presence how un-cute he had become with this permanent chip on his shoulder and eternally wrinkled brow.

 Something that never failed to elicit an angry reaction from said teen.

 When it did, Satsuki almost felt they would all be okay, regardless how grim things seemed in the moment.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 lucid

/ˈluːsɪd/

showing or having the ability to think clearly, especially in intervals between periods of confusion or insanity.

 In wake of the heartbreak that was Teikou basketball—and the rift it opened between Satsuki and her closest friend—the pink-haired manager ended up with too much time to herself.

 This granted her the perfect opportunity to observe anything and everything that she so pleased. She could see how many scouts came from schools all over the country, striving to grab one of the graduating Miracles for themselves and their own teams.

 And although they were competing for the boys, the scouts all approached different players.

 She was impressed with how meticulous they were, especially with how several of the schools had come to know that Mukkun and Akashi-kun were moving out of Tokyo to different locations. Only the Akita schools approached Mukkun, while only the Kyoto-situated ones approached their captain.

 She could also see the myriad of schools that tried to nab her childhood friend—yet somehow never managed to.

 The pink-haired teen researched a lot of them even before their coaches dropped by Teikou to speak to Dai-chan. She had considered joining some of those schools herself for reasons other than basketball.

 The girl was always endlessly surprised when all the scouts infallibly went home with sour expressions conveying their failure to accomplish the goal of their trip to Teikou.

 When the tenth set of scouts left in a tiff after talking to the ace, Satsuki couldn’t help herself anymore. She sought him out and—with some relief at how quickly she’d managed it—found him in his favorite spot: the school rooftop.

 Where students were normally not allowed to be loitering.

 Not that that had ever stopped her troublemaking companion.

 She asked him why he had denied yet another set of scouts, only to be taken aback by his response.

 It wasn’t that he had said no. He had simply posed a condition that no team in its right mind would agree to.

 He told every single scout so far that he would follow the current Teikou policy. In other words, he’d attend games, but not practice. Something that Akashi and the rest of the management condoned. Something that was perhaps okay in the world of middle school basketball.

 Yet Satsuki couldn’t imagine how it could ever be acceptable in high school.

 Thus, choosing a school became the last of her priorities for much longer than it should have.

 What with graduation being in just over a month worth of time and Satsuki not having selected any schools that were worth her trouble.

 “So, Sacchan, have you decided what school you’re going to attend?” her mother asked her over dinner one day, about a month before graduation.

 Satsuki sucked on her chopsticks thoughtfully.

 “I’ve been considering it, but there haven’t been any contenders that caught my eye yet.” She tapped the sticks to her bottom lip, momentarily reminded of said schools. All of them were basketball powerhouses that were yet to reject Dai-chan’s stupid condition.

 Nevertheless, it wasn’t like she had all that much time to make her choice.

 “Hmmm, really?” her mother pondered. The older woman’s retort grabbed her daughter’s attention anew. “I’m just surprised because I thought you guys had come up with this together.”

 Satsuki cocked a confused brow at that. Her head tilted sideways with the effort of understanding what was being said.

 “I’m sorry, mom—I don’t think I follow this conversation at all,” the pink-haired girl admitted at length.

 “I heard from the Aomines that Dai-chan is going on to Touou Academy,” her mother explained.

 This surprised Satsuki.

 “What?” She hadn’t heard anything about this from the guy himself.

 Not overly surprising considering how little time they spent together nowadays. But still. This was the kind of thing you shared with your friend of a lifetime who is a lifetime, wasn’t it?!

 “Who said that?” she demanded—only slightly defensively.

 “Dai-chan told his mother himself, a week ago,” the elder Momoi elaborated, placing her chin atop her hand. She leant her weight into her elbow propped upon the dining table. “Apparently he met with the coach and the current captain of the basketball team. It’s some kind of ambitious soon-to-be powerhouse for basketball or something. They scouted him personally because of how well you guys are doing in Teikou.”

 Her mother waved her other hand as though dismissing the matter.

 “Anyway, apparently they want him in their team and Dai-chan decided he’d accept their offer. It’s pretty nice, since Touou is closer to us than Teikou. I was just wondering if you’d go to the same school again.”

 For some reason, Satsuki’s blood was pumping in her ears. Her heart was thrumming uncomfortably in her chest. Her vision was blurring and things weren’t making sense anymore.

 She was hearing about Daiki’s high school of choice from her mother.

 Who had heard about it from Daiki’s mother.

 …What the hell?

 Was he even planning of telling her himself?

 How big had the rift between them become without her knowledge?

 Was he perhaps thinking of shunning her and going on to school on his own for the next three years?

 What the hell was this?

 Any team that would agree to her friend’s ludicrous demand would be clinically insane. Satsuki was convinced that no such team existed.

 If anything, she had believed that after he ran all of the scouts off with his idiocy, he would have to face the truth of the matter. Perhaps even get set straight by a stronger, better, team-oriented school club in high school.

 When he ran out of schools to get scouted by, he would have to apply himself.

 And then he wouldn’t be able to choose because he would be left with nothing of worth.

 He would have to realize that what was going on at Teikou was abnormal and intolerable by any other school.

 So where the hell did that Touou Academy come from? And how exactly were they okay with Daiki’s complete disinterest in becoming part of a team?

 No matter how good he got, basketball was still a team-oriented sport.

 A team was something that he would never be able to become part of if he never attended practice.

 It was mind-boggling.

 And why in the world had the navy-haired ace not told her about his decision himself? Damn it! He had had an entire week to come out with it.

 And she had had to learn it from her mother.

 Satsuki realized that she was acting weirdly when her parent lifted her brows at her, urging the girl for a response to her earlier question.

 “No, this is the first I hear about this,” Satsuki confessed, setting her rice bowl and chopsticks down. Her appetite had suddenly disappeared. “So, no, we haven’t discussed it.”

 They hadn’t discussed anything for the past two weeks, which was when she’d asked him about the scouts last.

 The realization that the gulf between them may have been significantly larger than Satsuki believed initially chilled the girl to the bone. She had believed this to have been merely an unpleasant phase that their friendship was undergoing—something they would shake off by the time graduation rolled about.

 Now, the pink-haired youth had to face the fact that perhaps she was mistaken.

 Perhaps what her friend of a lifetime wanted was something else altogether.

 Satsuki was no fool. She had never been able to lie to her mother, nor mislead her about her emotional state. In fact, on too many occasions in the past year she had cried herself to sleep in her mother’s embrace because of the stupid shit happening in Teikou.

 Thus there was no way that the woman was oblivious to the play of emotions on her offspring’s face. Nor was she blind to the taut line her lips had become.

 And, like a true Momoi woman, Mrs. Momoi pressed right to the heart of the matter.

 “Do you not want to go to the same school as Daiki anymore, dear?”

 This made Satsuki’s father look up from the TV he was watching across the dining table to fix his child with a level look.

 The pink-haired girl pondered her answer—did she want to go to a different school?

 Did she no longer want to go to the same school as Dai-chan?

 If she wasn’t there every day, she wouldn’t have to feel this pain. If she didn’t see him as much, she wouldn’t have to feel so hurt all the time. She could put some more distance between them and find something other than basketball to fill her time with.

 She wouldn’t have to be avoided and to avoid somebody for weeks on end. She wouldn’t have this stifling feeling that something was fundamentally wrong with the world because of what happened to her on a daily basis.

 She wouldn’t have to keep nagging a certain someone to keep doing his duties. She wouldn’t have to explain to the new people around them why he called her familiarly by just her given name without any honorifics. She wouldn’t have to keep clearing misunderstandings all the time.

 She would be able to enjoy just a normal high school life on her own.

 On her own… Did she really want that though?

 Satsuki wasn’t sure anymore.

 These past couple of years had taken their toll on her, too. If you had asked her when she started attending Teikou, she would’ve answered without hesitation that she wanted to be together with everyone: with Dai-chan, and Tetsu-kun, and Midorin, and Mukkun, and Akashi-kun, and Ki-chan…

 But now… Now she wasn’t certain if she wanted to be together with any of them.

 The more staggering realization was that she was no longer sure if the person she had shared her school life with for the past nine years wanted her to be in his any longer or not.

 Attending the same school as Tetsu-kun did hold a certain appeal though. Was he also going to Touou, she wondered. That would really be awesome. Maybe in high school those two would be able to reconcile their issues, whatever they were.

 Yet, somehow, that seemed unlikely. Both the idea of the boys working out their differences, and that Tetsu-kun would go to the same high school as Dai-chan.

 Not after that rainy afternoon when everything fell apart.

 Not after the dream ended.

 “I don’t know,” Satsuki said out loud after some careful deliberation. “I have to think about it.” She got up from her chair. It made a screeching sound as it slid against the floor. “And I’m angry that he didn’t tell me about it himself.”

 She bowed and excused herself from the dinner table under her parents’ understanding gazes.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 “Satsuki,” her best friend drawled as they arrived at the destination he had had in mind when he fetched her from class.

 The rooftop, where he spent most of his time over the past year.

 “What?” she retorted sharply.

 “I’m gonna go to Touou Academy in spring.” He said it evenly, in a monotone that betrayed nothing. His expression did much the same. “I got scouted. The coach and the captain agreed to my conditions. So I’ve decided to enroll there.”

 She gave him an even stare, not yet saying a word.

 “From what I hear, all of the Generation of Miracles are getting picked up by different schools.” His gaze broke from hers then. His azure eyes rolled to the side, pinning to a particularly uninteresting cloud to the right. “I’m sure Tetsu is going a separate way as well.”

 Not that he would know for certain. He hadn’t spoken—or even tried to—with Tetsu-kun in weeks.

 The cretin!

 Not that for all her trying to get a hold of the elusive boy, Satsuki had had much success.

 If the phantom sixth man wanted to not be found, he wouldn’t be found.

 She’d discovered that the hard way.

 “So, I guess, what I’m saying is,” the navy-haired ace started again as he folded his arms behind his head, “you should also choose what school you want to go to.”

 This made her raise her eyebrows in surprise.

 She couldn’t gauge his expression any further, though, because the next moment he laid on his back on the rooftop again, returning to his cloud gazing.

 It pissed Satsuki right off.

 Who the hell died and made Dai-chan king, huh?

 Where did he get off playing it like he was so cool as all that?!

 So, was this how it was: what he was saying was that everyone was going their way, and she should choose her own. Right?!

 And since all of the Generation of Miracles were going all over the place, as their little “satellite”, she should, too?

 Right?!

 That was what he was saying here, wasn’t he?

 It was like he was deliberately trying to push her away.

 The little ingrate!

 As if he would have the faintest chance of getting through high school he kept up his present act. If she wasn’t there to pull him through the classes, no matter how good of a ball player he was, should he get expelled from school it would be over.

 Not to mention how hopeless he was at the motions of actually showing up for classes or practice.

 Or matches.

 Who did he think he was?!

 He was just idiot Dai-chan, who couldn’t do a damn thing for himself lately when it came to school and the like!

 And now he had the gall to all but tell her to hit the road.

 Ungrateful bastard!

 “Ahhh, is that so? Everyone is going wherever, so I should do the same, ehh?” she ground out between her clenched teeth. The pink-haired manager stomped over to where Daiki was laying and she glared down at him with her arms still crossed under her chest. “The Generation of Miracles is breaking apart, so I should take the hint and run for the woods, too. Is that it?”

 Her closest friend blinked a few times in confusion at her, then shrugged.

 “Not really. Just do whatever you want. That’s what we’re all doing, so why shouldn’t you?”

 The listlessness in his eyes was what got to her. It was both like a cry for help and a shove on her back towards the door.

 It confused the shit out of her.

 And it rendered her incapable of being angry anymore.

 “Is that why you didn’t tell me about the Touou scout?” she demanded, anger still lacing her voice. “So I could decide for myself?”

 He merely shrugged and refused to elaborate any further.

 She didn’t know where this attitude was coming from, but she wasn’t caring for it. If this was some elaborate scheme to push her away, it wasn’t working now that she could see through it.

 But other than the cynicism and pretend carelessness, she could see in his face that he meant it. She could do what she pleased, without any account for anybody else.

 She was free. Free of him, free from basketball, free to choose whatever her heart desired. He wouldn’t hold it against her if she decided to walk away now.

 Not after all they’d been through these past couple of years.

 Satsuki sucked on a breath and held it in for a long time.

 She was free to do as she wanted.

 But would going to a school where no one knew her and she knew nobody something that she wanted? Did she want to start going out on a limb now?

 No longer even a satellite of any of the Generation of Miracles? No longer part of a childhood duo that did everything together.

 She wouldn’t have to make regimens and plan the improvement of high school boys’ basketball capabilities. Not unless she decided she wanted to join a basketball club in high school that did not feature Dai-chan, for once. Not unless she wanted to be making regimens and improvement plans for boys who would play against her childhood friend, eventually.

 A chilling idea.

 A school without Dai-chan.

 She’d no longer see him slouching in his seat that would fit him less and less the older and sturdier he got. She would no longer have to drag him to class every morning. She’d no longer hunt through the entire school building to find where he had hidden from her in order not to go to practice.

 She’d no longer get to see him in the corridor if they got thrown in separate classes.

 She’d no longer get to see him play his own kind of basketball that she’d grown attached to over the years. Even if it had become deformed in the past two years at Teikou.

 She’d no longer know if he had been crying on his own in the rain for hours next time.

 Because she wouldn’t know where to find him, nor would she know whether he’s going through some kind of painful experience in Touou Academy, should she choose to go elsewhere.

 She would grow apart from him, no longer knowing the secret places he went to hide from the rest of the world. No longer needing to be there for him when he was down.

 No longer needing to worry if he was down at all.

 It would no longer be her concern.

 But would it become anyone else’s? Or would Daiki end up crying on his own all afternoon next time, with no one finding him? Without anyone to pick him up in rain?

 Without a soul at school caring if he was carrying a heavy burden or not?

 She exhaled the air she had been holding on to as she pictured that mental scape.

 A school without Dai-chan in it.

 A school where Dai-chan would be without her, too.

 What fun would that ever be?

 Daiki opened one eye to glimpse at her when she said nothing for the longest time. She righted her posture and turned her face away from him. The navy-haired boy on the concrete cocked an eyebrow at her.

 Not that she saw his quizzical look.

 “I see then,” she allowed slowly, cryptically. “I am free to do as I please then. That’s great.”

 She pointedly ignored the searching glance of her childhood friend from her side.

 “Thank you so much for your consideration. I shall proceed to do just that!” she announced before waltzing off towards the door that led back inside the school.

 If Daiki wanted to know what her decision had been, he didn’t ask.

 And if he wouldn’t ask, she wasn’t going to tell him.

 Let him roast a bit, the idiot, she thought to herself with a petty huff.

 She didn’t have time to deal with her troublesome childhood friend right now anyway. She had a lot of research and data compilation to do. So it was a good thing he didn’t ask.

 Right then, Satsuki had a rising basketball powerhouse to impress!

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 The next day offered a very rare experience to Satsuki.

 For once, she was the one sought out by her childhood friend during lunch break.

 He was leaning against the wall just outside the girls’ bathroom in school when she came out from it.

 “Hey, Satsuki?” Daiki piped up when she came out.

 She eyed him indifferently, smoothing down her skirt.

 “What is it, Aomine-kun?” she humored him with a reply, striding off in direction of their classroom without pause.

 He followed after her, hands in his pockets and loose posture. He was the picture of nonchalance itself.

 But he wasn’t fooling her.

 She was certain—without room for any doubt—that it was gnawing at him.

 She had specifically instructed both of her parents to not tell Auntie or Uncle so the information wouldn’t leak back to him.

 All Dai-chan knew was that she’d gone to an interview with some high school.

 He was none the wiser which one it was.

 She smirked to herself. Serves you right. Roast some more!

 “So where are you going to go for high school?” he asked, his tone sounding uninterested. It wasn’t going to work, though. “You must’ve decided already, right? There’s less than a month to graduation.”

 Satsuki was a proper and diligent student. There was no way that she hadn’t made arrangements for her next step in education.

 She gave him a saccharine smile.

 “Of course I have, Aomine-kun! Not having taken steps by now would be irresponsible of me!”

 “So where are you going?” he urged her on, his façade of nonchalance slipping slightly.

 The pink-haired girl’s smile widened until she was grinning like a Cheshire cat.

 “Well, you’ll just have to find out when the time comes, won’t you?”

 Daiki stopped in his tracks, staring at her back in disbelief.

 “You won’t tell me?”

 “And ruin the surprise? Why in the world would I do that?” Satsuki shot back without pausing her step.

 The sliding door to their third year class room opened to the befuddled face of one Aomine Daiki. The latter looked like a mystical creature had just smacked him in the face.

 And then the sliding door closed with an air of finality.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 The clapping filled the entire gymnasium. There were a lot of girls crying.

 Among them were Satsuki’s two fellow managers of the basketball club—the second and third string managers.

 She understood why for them it was a sad thing to be graduating from Teikou. Yet she had a hard time sharing the sentiment.

 If anything, she felt a bit of relief.

 Starting next semester, she wouldn’t have to live within the suffocating atmosphere of this school.

 The pink-haired girl looked around quickly to locate Dai-chan in the crowd of students lining up to leave the gymnasium.

 “Congratulations on graduating, Aomine-kun!” she chirped merrily, saluting him with her rolled up diploma case.

 “Yeah, yeah. Congratulations, I guess,” her childhood friend agreed, rubbing his neck with a wide yawn. “I thought I’d die from the principle’s long ass speech.”

 Satsuki laughed. She could relate, but she would never say so to him.

 “He has a tendency to go off on tangents, doesn’t he?” She grinned at her taller friend in a sly manner. “However, when I say congratulations to you, it’s not just common courtesy.” When she was met with the questioning look on Dai-chan’s face, she couldn’t stop herself from giggling. “After all, you played hooky so many times I started wondering if they won’t hold you back a year. I was starting to plan what to do if you ended up being my underclassman in two years at Touou.”

 This earned her a hardened glare from her companion.

 “Stop mouthing off however you please, idiot!” he reprimanded her as she merrily tittered to herself.

 She ran ahead of him before he could swat at her with his diploma case.

 “If you were going to go to Touou, too, you should’ve just said so from the start!” Dai-chan all but whined from behind her, making her stop running from him. Instead, she turned around and gave him the widest grin she could.

 “No way. This was so much more fun!”

 “Kise-kun! I want to take a parting photo with you!”

 “Me too!”

 Satsuki’s attention was briefly derailed as she looked at the mob of girls surrounding Ki-chan.

 “Oh wow…” was all she could manage.

 “Jeez…” Dai-chan said with a sigh next to her, not pausing his stride as he walked past the scene.

 She could only imagine that this mob of girls would only continue to expand in Kaijou. After all, Ki-chan wasn’t even done growing yet and he was already this handsome. She’d seen him on several covers of fashion magazines over the past year. And the more he matured, the more magazines would want to have a piece of him.

 His fan base, surely, would grow exponentially to reflect that.

 Thinking of the Generation of Miracles, she remembered with relief something from the graduation ceremony.

 “By the way… He came, didn’t he,” she started. She knew full well that Dai-chan would follow her train of thought perfectly even if she didn’t say whom she meant. “I was wondering what I’d do if he didn’t show up to graduation either…” she muttered, throwing a cursory glance at Dai-chan’s profile. “I’m so glad…”

 “Huh…” was the only thing Dai-chan said in response as he kept trudging away from the gymnasium and the mad throngs of girls surrounding Kise and several other of the “popular boys and girls” from their school.

 He had indeed seen Kuroko’s teal-haired head sticking out in the rows of boys in front of him.

 Daiki refused to admit to feeling relieved, though.

 “Y’know, I thought for sure you’d go to the same school as Tetsu,” he said loudly as he picked up the pace of his strides. “Cause it’s you, Satsuki.”

 His pink-haired companion seemed to falter in her step behind him a bit before jogging to catch up with him.

 “W-what?! I couldn’t, because I couldn’t leave my idiotic childhood friend on his own!” she all but shrieked at him in her embarrassment.

 In being unable to catch up with his pace, the former Teikou manager missed the sincere smile that stretched on the ex-ace’s face.

 “Yeah, yeah,” he grumbled, waving off her mother hen act.

 Stifling the grin that threatened to erupt on his face proved one of the hardest things Daiki had had to do in a while.

 After all, Satsuki had chosen to continue her school life alongside him, not Tetsu. If that wasn’t the best victory all year, he didn’t know what was.

 Nevertheless, he still had to get back at her for grilling him with suspense until the last moment.

 He’d be damned before he allowed her to see him celebrate the fact they’d be classmates next year (and the two after them), too.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 lucid

/ˈluːsɪd/

expressed clearly; easy to understand.

 Daiki honestly couldn’t understand why his mother and Satsuki’s mother loved doing this.

 Every single time.

 Every time they joined a new school, the two women would just keep pestering them to take pictures at the front gate after the entrance ceremony ended.

 They would always arrange the picture in the same way, positioning both him and Satsuki in the same manner next to the school nameplate. They would keep taking picture after picture, until he stopped making a grimace and just went along with their nonsense.

 Until he “stopped spoiling their fun”, as they would say.

 Daiki huffed as he took his rehearsed position to Satsuki’s right and to the left of the school nameplate. He was amazed how his childhood friend didn’t find this bothersome to no end as well. It seemed terribly stupid to him.

 Yet… Daiki felt incredibly grateful to be able to do this again with her and her family this year.

 He’d come so close to being unable to share this moment—and the next three years’ worth of any moments—with her that even the stupid nonsense their mothers did seemed like a great initiative to him now.

 So they managed to take the picture properly on the first try, without any grumbling and complaining on his part.

 “Oh? Dai-chan seems to be in an agreeable mood today!” Mrs. Momoi enthused with a wide smile after taking the picture.

 Mrs. Aomine chuckled next to her.

 “Maybe he just learned the futility of his efforts,” she suggested evilly, sharing a mean little giggle with her friend.

 Daiki eyed them dispassionately, wishing he could silence them with just a look and lamenting his inability to do so.

 “Wow, so this is the school we’re going to be attending from tomorrow on, huh?” Satsuki said reverently, pulling Daiki out of his daydream.

 He looked towards the building that had her undivided attention. Then he shifted his cerulean gaze to her face instead.

 There was a small breeze, which ruffled her hair and made it billow around her like she was some sort of spring mirage. The cherry blossom petals fell like snow around them. Some of them got stuck in her hair, which in turn framed her face beautifully. She didn’t mind any of those details while she looked on towards a future he could not picture.

 Daiki had known that his childhood friend was an exquisite girl in more ways than one. He’d known that for a long time.

 Yet, standing next to her amidst the cherry blossoms in spring, he couldn’t help but realize anew how much she had grown.

 How she’d matured from a cute kid to a dashingly pretty girl.

 This was not some great epiphany for Daiki. Neither was it the first time he’d caught himself thinking of his childhood friend as something more than that.

 No. He’d known it for years.

 He was in love with her and there wasn’t anything he could do about it.

 He’d gone through some awkward phases in his day—back in elementary school when he realized it first—but since then he’d learnt to accept the fact.

 He was in love with his best friend and it wasn’t something he could consciously change.

 Not while she continued being herself. Not when they continued to be inseparable.

 This didn’t cause Daiki any heartache. Neither did the fact he was aware she didn’t feel the same way.

 Nor that she likely never would.

 It was something he had always known. Satsuki was in love with Tetsu—or she would finally realize it was pointless, and fall in love with someone else—while he would continue to sport his one-sided feelings for her.

 It was the inevitable truth of the matter. But it was fine – he’d long since made his peace with it. He no longer attempted to fight it.

 So what if she didn’t return his feelings? So what if she would grow to love someone else soon enough?

 He wasn’t going to fight it, nor suffer because of it. He refused to.

 Instead he lived with what he got.

 A girl too good for him, who—by some insane luck—somehow still wanted to stay with him.

 Even if she didn’t feel the same, it didn’t matter. Because she stayed with him.

 Not with her crush, Tetsu.

 Not with any of her friends from Teikou.

 She chose him.

 For that, he would always be grateful to her.

 He wished he could feel happy about it, but his soul felt too blackened.

 She deserved better, but she still stayed.

 And that was all that mattered to him.

 Even if he could no longer laugh with her the way he used to. Even if he would never allow to breathe a word of his feelings to her—not when he had become this ugly, twisted version of himself that he hated in wake of Teikou.

 Even if he was empty inside, he could always find her within himself.

 She defined him in a way that he would never be able to put into words.

 And for that, he was grateful.

 Satsuki turned her face to him, noticing he was staring at her whilst she had been lost in thought. Her expression softened, her head tilting to the side a bit.

 “What is it?” she asked him. “Is there something on my face?” she queried with mirth bubbling in her voice.

 Daiki shook his head.

 “No.” He then continued after a heartbeat of pause, “In your hair.”

 “Oh,” Satsuki reached a hand up to her hair to shake off whatever it was. “Did I get it out?”

 Daiki threw a quick sideways glance to see his parents and Satsuki’s huddled over their cameras and phones. Knowing the lot of them, they were probably debating where all six of them should go in order to celebrate the kids’ formal entry into Touou.

 “No, you didn’t,” he said truthfully, moving to reach around her. “Let me.”

 His arm circled around her shoulders and his fingers detangled the cherry blossom petals with care and gentleness that Satsuki had not expected to receive. The way his arm was angled it almost felt like an embrace rather than him just doing her a simple favor.

 She looked up into Daiki’s face which was suddenly very close to her own. She blinked her keen magenta eyes at him as he studiously removed all the wayward petals that had woven themselves in her hair.

 The pink-haired girl wondered how an action so mundane and ordinary could suddenly feel so strangely intimate. Especially between them, who had known each other forever.

 “There,” Dai-chan then said, pulling her attention back to present time. “All gone.”

 “Thanks, Dai-chan,” she retorted softly with a smile.

 Instead of retrieving his arm, he placed his palm atop her head in a tender pat.

 He proceeded to pull her closer, until her forehead was all but pressed against the shoulder of the arm that was keeping her to him. He bowed his head to bring his mouth as close to her ear as he could without actually touching his lips to her lobe.

 “Thank you, Satsuki.”

 He said it quietly, so that no one could overhear. He said it like a sacred prayer, meant only for her ears to behold.

 “Thank you,” he repeated in the same disarming way before relinquishing his hold on her.

 She would’ve laughed and asked him what he was being so polite for. She would’ve asked what was with him, being so random all of a sudden and creeping her out with it.

 But the look in his eyes when he let go of her prevented her from acting like her usual self.

 There was something so tender in his expression that she couldn’t bring herself to dismiss what had just happened.

 Whatever it was.

 She wasn’t sure what she’d done to warrant his thanks—especially since he had been the one doing something for her not even a minute prior.

 But she couldn’t find her words in order to ask.

 Just as quickly as it had come, the inscrutable moment and Dai-chan’s uncharacteristic expression were gone. He pivoted on his heel, turning his back to her and stalking off in direction of their parents.

 “I’ll be in your care this year as well,” he called out loudly over his shoulder, lifting his hand in idle greeting. “Thanks in advance.”

 It took Satsuki a moment longer to shake off the disorientation from… whatever happened between them just then. She grinned and ran after him.

 “Looking forward to being in your care this year as well!”

 If only Dai-chan could continue to be in such a good mood the whole year, she thought, that would be truly grand.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 Of course, as Satsuki’s rotten luck would have it, there was no way that navy-haired boy’s good mood could stretch enough to cover his basketball activities.

 True to their word, Touou’s team didn’t force him to attend practice if he didn’t want to. They had attached a nonsensical “you can skip practice if you have a good reason” rule, but that was less than pointless.

 Not when Dai-chan kept coming up with idiotic ways to dodge by claiming he was sick, or needing to run errands for his family, or whatever.

 He was still prancing around the court, undefeated. He acted all high and mighty and did as he pleased, because no one could really talk back to him as long as he won them games. That had been the agreement, after all. He was holding up his end of the deal, so there was no need to Touou to lay down the law as long as things went smoothly.

 No matter how many practices he skipped out on, his performance on the court didn’t suffer for it. Or rather, even if it did, there was no opponent for which Dai-chan couldn’t take his sweet time, getting into gear for one or two quarters.

 And once he did get up to speed, he’d plough through any and all opponents. No defense would be able to stop him from taking point after point from them until Touou ended with an overwhelming, crushing victory.

 He still kept spouting that bullshit about being the only one who could defeat himself.

 Did he even listen to himself before he said shit like that? Satsuki couldn’t help but wonder. He probably didn’t, she surmised, because if he did, he would realize how he was embarrassing himself with lines like that.

 What an idiot.

 Couldn’t someone please save him from himself instead?

 Satsuki pleaded for that every day.

 She didn’t know in what form salvation could possibly come.

 A lifetime together had proven that having people talk sense into Dai-chan was physically impossible. Knocking sense into him physically would only result in a brawl that—she was loath to admit—Dai-chan would probably win. (On top of which nothing productive would result, because he would get suspended from club activities—something that he probably would love.)

 So Satsuki couldn’t help but think that the only way to knock sense into the idiot was to actually beat him in a game.

 Then again it was hard to imagine anyone being able to do so.

 This, of course, didn’t stop her from praying.

 Praying that Tetsu-kun’s new team could beat Dai-chan.

 Praying that Ki-chan’s new team could beat Dai-chan.

 Praying that if all else failed, Akashi-kun crushing them in a final or semi-final would wake him up.

 Praying that any of them could beat him, yet coming up empty-handed time and time again. For almost an entire year.

 Until the Winter Cup official games came around… and her wishes got granted.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 After their loss at the Winter Cup, it was truly amazing how quickly that affected Dai-chan.

 What Satsuki meant, of course, was his desire to practice and the once before compulsive need to buy new basketball shoes.

 Two lines she hadn’t heard for years and which, for a very long time, had very much defined her childhood friend.

 Of course, the fact that he felt the need to practice didn’t mean that he actually came to school basketball practice all the time.

 In fact, Satsuki wasn’t quite sure what practice he had meant, because his appearances to club practice were just as sparse after their loss at the Winter Cup official games as before that. It made her feel cheated and more disappointed than she would ever let on.

 That had been before she found out that Dai-chan had been unable to sleep for a week after their loss to Seirin.

 Once he started getting some sleep, he did show up to practice more often.

 After Seirin won the championship, though, (regardless of the fact she had had to twist his arm into it once or twice) Dai-chan started to attend almost every practice.

 She wondered if his realization about the true Zone had anything to do with it. Or if he simply had finally settled back into a comfortable state of wanting to improve once again.

 Satsuki didn’t particularly blame him. She had expected a loss—especially one at the hands of Tetsu-kun—to work well, but not as if it were a magic trick. She had believed it would take time for habits that had become second nature to be uprooted and turned on their head. This was why she didn’t begrudge Dai-chan the times he was late for practice or went up to the roof on instinct.

 However, after the captain told him to just show up to practice, even if he didn’t play, things started changing very rapidly.

 It was just like Dai-chan to be unable to help himself whenever there were so many basketballs dribbling and flying about.

 It was just like Dai-chan to stay away from the gym on habit but then be unable to keep himself from playing on instinct.

 If he had had qualms about practicing before, those quickly melted away with all of the captain’s quips about Kagami and a second loss at the hands of Seirin.

 Satsuki had been a bit worried about Wakamatsu-san taking over leadership—what with his Dai-chan hate and all.

 It came as a huge relief for the manager to see that the blonde had discovered the perfect way to manage their team’s whimsical ace.

 She hadn’t expected too much immediately after the Winter Cup, yet the results were apparent.

 By the time January came and went, the changes in Dai-chan were so vast and so rapid, she felt like her heart would burst with joy.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 As if it wasn’t enough that Satsuki got what she had been praying for so fast, even greater changes came about with their second year of high school.

 More specifically, with the addition of new recruits to the ranks of the Touou basketball team.

 Everyone who came to Touou’s basketball club that following spring knew of the legend of Aomine Daiki.

 The unstoppable scorer, the best ace the team had ever had. Aomine Daiki and his formless shooting, infallibly scoring from incredible positions. Aomine Daiki and his immense agility and indomitable drive to always win. Aomine Daiki, who hadn’t needed to practice to win in order to get his team in second place at the Inter High.

 Aomine Daiki and the permanently bored and/or exasperated expression on his face as he did attend every single practice in second year. Aomine Daiki and his disinterest in listening to his captain’s orders, which in turn would become insubordination in carrying out those same. Which, subsequently, would become a shouting match for Wakamatsu-san, who believed that Dai-chan was simply doing these things to spite him.

 Satsuki had been worried when the first years joined them that Dai-chan’s insubordination and penchant for truancy and mischief might put him on the freshmen’s bad side. What with his ability to get himself special treatment and get away with doing things that were inexcusable for any other player…

 Let’s just say she could see how people who didn’t know the ace well enough might find him something of an eyesore.

 And at first it did seem like her premonition had been spot on.

 The first years did look weirdly at Daiki and strayed from having to team up with him for stretches and team exercises. They seemed to be intimidated both by stories of his exploits and unwilling to be subjected to his behavior, lest they start catching onto it as well.

 At least that’s how it seemed in the beginning.

 Only with the addition of enough encounters between the freshmen and Dai-chan did Satsuki come to realize that the boys looked up to her childhood friend like some kind of deity. They knew better than to try to talk back to coach Harasawa or the captain the way Dai-chan did, but they admired him for it all the same.

 Once they got over their self-consciousness around him, they even started looking Dai-chan up for some basketball advice as well. Like how to improve their scoring ratio when shooting. Or how to become faster runners. Or better jumpers.

 Satsuki giggled against her hand, which was currently holding her chopsticks. Daiki lazily opened up one eye and threw her a confused look.

 “What are you laughing at like a crazy person for?” he drawled out, making his childhood friend face fault at once with his rude query.

 “Don’t be an ass, Dai-chan,” she reprimanded him levelly, digging into her lunch box with renewed determination.

 Her companion, who lay on the floor of the school roof next to her seated form, scoffed demonstratively and closed his eyes again.

 “I’m not the one who just stands there and then bursts out laughing out of the blue,” he grumbled aloud before deciding to ignore the pink-haired girl.

 His team’s manager glared at him from above and opted for giving him a slight shove in the shoulder with her foot as punishment.

 “I didn’t just ‘burst out laughing out of the blue’, for your information.” Satsuki huffed to herself and popped an octopus-shaped wiener in her mouth. God bless her mother, an amazing cook—a talent Satsuki had (sadly) not inherited even a little. “I just remembered the look on the freshmen’s faces yesterday when they asked you to show them how to shoot better at the basket.”

 She shook her head to herself in mirth as she once again gazed upon that scene in her mind’s eye.

 “You’re a terrible teacher, Dai-chan!”

 “Hey!” Daiki opened his eyes and threw his childhood friend an affronted glare. “It’s not my fault they can’t understand what I’m trying to teach them.”

 “I guess you and basketball are proof of the proverb that a genius doesn’t understand how the incompetent feel.” She chuckled to herself again upon recalling the flabbergasted expressions on the freshmen’s faces when Daiki had attempted to show them the best ways to aim at the basket.

 …A small lecture from which they seemed to have understood nothing.

 Instead of trying to refute her in vain, the navy-haired teen simply grumbled back that if they manage to see any improvement in the boys’ scoring, then that would mean that he’s not as bad a teacher as she was making him out to be.

 It took the freshmen another two meetings with Daiki after practice hours were over in order to improve their scoring ratios.

 But when the improvement became evident, it was already drastic.

 And from the fact that Dai-chan had been doggedly determined to help the boys out in their endeavor, it had only resulted in additional points in his favor in their eyes.

 So they started looking him up for advice on non-basketball related matters as well. At first only during practice or breaks during practice.

 Then it was during any recess that they cared to venture to the sophomores’ floor.

 …Which was almost every recess, as long as they didn’t have other duties.

 The boys asked his help, and sought out his opinion on all sorts of matters. From what kind of bread was best at their cafeteria, through what kind of underwear was most comfortable to wear, to what kind of gravure models they liked.

 The fact they had Dai-chan mentoring their basketball growth meant that, of course, results were rife for the boys’ playstyles and improvement on the court.

 But a by-product that came from them idolizing the ace and not letting him be ostracized by their class was that Dai-chan himself, in turn, started opening up more during practice towards team play.

 Even though he has realized by the end of the last Winter Cup that there was no way to win some teams on his own, that hadn’t made it any easier for Daiki to work with the current Touou lineup. He felt awkward and possibly a bit repentant. He had promised Imayoshi-san that he was ready to become the best when he had joined Touou but the weakness in his heart had paved the way for the team’s loss at the very beginning of the Winter Cup games.

 Knowing he had to restyle his basketball play in order to make it possible to incorporate into a team effort didn’t mean that it felt easy for the ace to finally start working with the players wearing the same jersey as him.

 If anything, he had felt slightly self-conscious playing along with the second-years who had the potential of filling in the vacated positions by Susa-san and Imayoshi-san in the Touou starting lineup. This made for some clunky attempts at team play on Daiki’s side, which was awkward to witness.

 Thus, when she saw the ace easily passing the ball back and forth between Sakurai-kun, Wakamatsu-san and the freshmen that were on his team during the five on five scramble, Satsuki’s eyes welled up with tears without warning.

 Coach Harasawa, who was right next to her at the time, was quick to panic when the droplets started trailing down her cheeks unchecked. The pink-haired manager was even quicker to hush the man and wipe away the tears. The last thing she needed was for Dai-chan to see her fussing over him or crying over this inconsequential skirmish of theirs.

 However, that was not why Satsuki was crying.

 She was crying because she could see the last vestiges of his middle school trauma coming free—like shackles coming undone at her childhood friend’s hands and feet, making him even more lithe and quick on the court.

 She could see him enjoying the team play that school basketball was supposed to entail for the first time in 3 years.

 She could see him laughing and running around with his teammates who were striving hard to meet his expectations and surpass him—to be his equal on the court and show him that he’d taught them well.

 Satsuki was crying because it had been years since she herself had enjoyed their high school basketball as much.

 It was the first time in 3 years that she could see an immeasurable amount of potential blooming before her eyes.

 If Dai-chan became a team player again, with a team not so much forced into having him at its center—but with teammates who revered him and wanted to maximize his potential for all their sakes…!

 There was nothing that would be able to stop Touou from winning the Inter High by a landslide.

 The possibilities were so enormous and off the charts that she couldn’t even wrap her mind around them at first.

 But she definitely looked forward to seeing how Dai-chan and his teammates employed this newfound strength to their advantage.

 And Satsuki would have the best seat in the house to witness it all – right next to Daiki, through it all.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 The most unforeseen side effect of Daiki starting to enjoy school and basketball again came in the form of his newfound friendships with his teammates.

 She was a fool for not having put two and two together to begin with. It wasn’t anything that should have caught her unawares. After all, the biggest reason for Dai-chan spending his every waking moment with her and only her was because he was in a very fragile place emotionally and she was his best friend.

 His only friend at Touou.

 The only person he’d let inside his heart. The only one he listened to and respected in any way. However miniscule it looked whenever he felt especially rebellious and stubborn.

 He had treated everyone else like an enemy for the good part of a year. Now he was only just starting to learn how to act like a normal person, so of course he was clumsy at the beginning.

 But his teammates around him – the people who wanted to bond with him – were durable and forgiving. They didn’t mind Dai-chan’s clumsiness when it came to forging new bonds. They didn’t mind his brashness or unexpected crudeness every now and then. Instead, they found it charming in the same way that the team’s manager did.

 Subsequently, this led to Daiki having less opportunity to have his lunch alone with Satsuki atop the school roof—something they had done since sixth grade together. Something that had been their adventure to partake in while at school.

 Instead, he was now frequently ambushed by the freshmen boys from the basketball club whenever the bell rang signaling the start of their lunch break. The three new additions to their team seemed to make a sport of racing to Daiki and Satsuki’s classroom, competing to see who got to convince her childhood friend to join them for lunch.

 At first, all four of the boys had begun this tradition by asking Satsuki along with them. All five of them eating lunch together in the courtyard.

 A wonderful sentiment, she had thought, yet decided against taking them up on it. She had wanted to let Dai-chan connect with the boys better – to be able to say anything he wanted to them and, what was more important, for the boys to be able to talk to him freely as well.

 Something which, she realized very clearly, they wouldn’t be able to with her standing there among them.

 That was how, more often than not, during the larger part of the first semester of second year, Satsuki ended up having lunch separately of Daiki and her teammates.

 Granted, this led to the girls in her class to open up more toward her. Perhaps they had been too intimidated to approach Satsuki when she’d been spending all her time with her overlarge dark-skinned childhood friend. Or perhaps they found her more interesting now that she spent more time around the classroom than she had the entire first year of high school.

 Satsuki wasn’t entirely sure which of those it was, but she was grateful for the female company for once in her life nonetheless.

 It was a breath of fresh air to be able to discuss more feminine matters with fellow classmates for once. It was engaging to be able to bond with other girls about her other interests besides basketball.

 The novelty of the experience started wearing off, though, around the middle of June. She did appreciate all the positive changes in their day to day lives for the small miracles that they were, but it wasn’t like she had ever wished for everything to change completely.

 It took her yet another failed attempt in order to realize her true feelings with the changes that had taken place.

 The shift had been so gradual that even she hadn’t been able to wrap her mind around it.

 “Dai-chan,” she started in a chipper mood, tapping her best friend on his shoulder. She had sauntered over to him the minute the lunch break bell rang, trying to shake him awake from his nap induced by the monotone voice of their teacher. “Wake up, Dai-chan!”

 She gave him a firm shake that helped rouse him from his (impressively deep, considering the circumstances of them being at school) sleep.

 “Stop shaking me, Satsuki!” Daiki complained dispassionately, swatting her hand away from his shoulder. “You’re making my brain rattle in my head with that.”

 He stretched his arms and legs out like a gigantic cat, making Satsuki giggle to his side.

 “You damn sadist,” the navy-haired ace added as an afterthought.

 “Never mind that, Dai-chan!” Satsuki enthused, ignoring Daiki’s indignant squawk in response to her last statement. “Let’s go have lunch on the roof together, like we used to! Weather is supposed to be great and I got up extra early to prepare these lunch boxes for us today!”

 The pink-haired youth procured the aforementioned offensive objects from under her desk, placing them upon Daiki’s desk. The latter swallowed thickly at the sight of them, a thin sheen of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

 “Aomine-senpai!” a familiar voice called from the direction of the classroom entrance. Satsuki’s heart sank at the sound of it. “Let’s have lunch, Aomine-senpai!” the first boy said before the other two chimed in merrily as well.

 Before Daiki could open his mouth to turn them down, Satsuki patted his shoulder again.

 “On second thought, you should go have lunch with the boys. I have some information I’d like to go over before practice with the Inter High nearly knocking on the door, so you guys have fun while I do that.”

 Her navy-haired companion gave her an odd look.

 “What? I thought you wanted to have lunch together today.”

 Satsuki shook her head.

 “It’s fine. They came here especially for you, so it would be rude to send them off.” Daiki made a face at her that conveyed exactly how disinterested he was with how rude he’d be to their underclassmen. Satsuki gave him a smile that was more reassuring than she felt, and waved him off. “Don’t worry about it—maybe some other time. Oh!” She suddenly remembered and gave Daiki his own boxed lunch. “Here you go! I wish we could eat them together, but I still did my best with this for you, so enjoy!”

 She didn’t miss the deadened look on his face upon gingerly receiving her gifted lunch for him. Dutifully, she punched his shoulder none too gently.

 “Shut up!”

 “I didn’t say anything!” Daiki protested loudly, massaging his shoulder.

 “You didn’t have to! It was written all over your face!” Satsuki all but shouted at him. “I’ve gotten better – you’ll see!” she promised before shooing the ace off towards the freshmen boys who were starting to get antsy from waiting for him.

 As he lumbered off in their direction, the pink-haired girl couldn’t quite quell the sharp stab of disappointment that speared her heart.

 This was going to be yet another lunch break that she would be spending with people other than the one she came to the school to spend her time with.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 A month later the preliminaries for the Inter High would begin.

 That did not seem to impress Daiki in the least, though, because he continued doggedly pestering Kagami for one-on-one games despite the fact that they had had a practice match not even a couple of weeks earlier.

 Satsuki suspected that Wakamatsu-san’s constant teasing had hit a nerve for Daiki. Now he felt more paranoid about the possibility of the blond being right. All things considered, the Touou ace did not want to suffer another loss from Seirin. Not if he could help it any.

 Checking on the redhead’s growth from time to time, thus, was almost imperative.

 The navy-haired boy was so simple it was endearing at times like these, Satsuki thought with a secretive smile.

 Still, being easily goaded (or tricked) into things, Kagami ended up agreeing to Dai-chan’s propositions more often than not.

 Which was why two weeks later on a nice, sunny Sunday in the beginning of July, found the two lights of Touou and Seirin playing one another on a street court. Their two closest companions were just outside the court, keeping a close, doting eye on them as they scuffled for the ball and scored against each other at the sole basket they used.

 “Aomine-kun seems to be in great form,” Kuroko surveyed with something akin to pride in his quiet voice. Satsuki couldn’t help grinning back at him at that.

 “He’s at his best ever!” she confirmed and turned her attention back to the two lights steadily entering into the zone as they played.

 …Despite both of them agreeing beforehand that it was tiresome and they wouldn’t do any zone play that day.

 The teal-headed phantom sixth man chuckled to himself before he noticed how Satsuki’s smile slowly slid off her face to be replaced with a much tenser expression. Clear cerulean eyes fixed upon her worriedly.

 “Why does this seem to bring unhappiness to you, Momoi-san?” Kuroko asked evenly, his expression open and encouraging.

 Satsuki shook her head in response.

 “That’s ridiculous, Tetsu-kun!” she denied vehemently, turning away from her junior high crush. Try as she might, she couldn’t fool him, and the fact she avoided eye contact with him only proved his suspicions. “It’s not like Dai-chan being at his best ever is making me unhappy. Quite the contrary! I’m happy for him!”

 While he had no doubt of the fact that Aomine-kun’s happiness was Momoi-san’s happiness, Kuroko Tetsuya couldn’t quite place the sudden contradiction on his former manager’s face.

 His two Teikou friends were his closest people from back in those days that were much like a wonderful dream.

 Usually, they were also the most self-sufficient ones out of the entire gang – what with Momoi-san being the voice of reason while Aomine-kun being the solid and never-changing one among them. (At least as far as personality and interests were concerned.)

 Thus, this kind of hesitation coming from either of them regarding their long-standing bond made Kuroko rather wary.

 “Are you concerned what will happen if no one manages to win against Touou this year?” Tetsuya queried knowingly, believing to have hit the nail on the head.

 His guess was a very good one.

 After all, the one thing that had perturbed Satsuki the most for the past three years had been the way Dai-chan had completely lost himself due to how unattainable heights his basketball play had reached.

 Was there a risk of him relapsing into that again should he go on long enough undefeated? If Satsuki had to be honest, she would say yes. Yes, there was. But did she think it could possibly be any time before the end of third year’s Winter Cup?

 No. Certainly not.

 After failing to win the last Winter Cup, Satsuki was sure that Daiki would do everything in his power to make sure that Touou would be standing at the top. He would do what he could with all his impressive might to make that happen. Be it the Inter High or the Winter Cup this year, he would want to take them both.

 As repentance for breaking his promise to Imayoshi-san in their first year.

 Besides, it hadn’t been the fact that he was constantly winning that had slain Dai-chan’s spirit before. It was the fact that no one ever seemed to give a damn to compete with him anymore.

 That was not something she could see happening with Ki-chan, Midorin or Kagamin. Not to mention Akashi-kun who may have somewhat recovered from the temporary lapse of sanity he had suffered for a few years, but that didn’t make him any less victory-starved.

 So at least for the next two years, Satsuki wouldn’t have any need to worry about her childhood friend relapsing to his previous state of mind.

 In wake of this thorough contemplation, Satsuki shook her head with a small curve of her lips.

 “No, I think Dai-chan will be fine for the time being.” She turned to give Tetsu a brilliant smile. “After all, he has you and Kagamin, if all else fails!”

 Kuroko reciprocated her smile with a demure one of his own.

 “I think you underestimate your importance for Aomine-kun, Momoi-san,” he told her quietly, causing Satsuki to give a complacent little giggle in return. The upturned corners of his mouth slowly settled back into the taut line from earlier. “If that’s not it, then what’s bothering you, Momoi-san?”

 “Nothing’s bothering me, Tetsu-kun!” she insisted without much gusto. “You are such a worrywart sometimes.”

 It was not an untrue statement by any means, but Kuroko was certain there was more to the situation than Momoi-san was willing to let on.

 Instead of pressuring her into answering – because perhaps she didn’t want to share, or disliked the thought of sharing whatever it was with him. He couldn’t be sure but he hated the thought of imposing himself on his former teammate so he stopped asking her.

 He focused on the couple of idiots on the court, whose one on one had taken on ridiculous speed and proportions. They were supposed to have played only up to twenty-one points for one side. Nevertheless, seeing how hard it was for either of them to score—what with being constantly blocked while shooting, dribbling and trying to dodge one another for minutes at a time, zapping around the small area of half the court all the time—it was no wonder that their little showdown was taking longer than usual.

 Kuroko wouldn’t be surprised if they were still stuck in the single digits.

 “It’s not that… Dai-chan being at his best ever is making me unhappy or anything…” she mumbled at last. Her magenta gaze pinned to the pair duking it out at the court. Her fingers closed around the metal wires of the fence and she held onto it as though for dear life. “I’m just… feeling a bit lonely, I guess.”

 “How come?” Kuroko cocked a puzzled eyebrow. “I thought you guys got to be in the same class again this year.”

 He put a thoughtful hand to his chin, pondering if he was remembering incorrectly. Satsuki shook her head.

 “We are. It’s just that…” She shrugged noncommittally, her whole being seeming to shrink with the movement. “I feel like we’re slowly drifting apart.”

 Kuroko’s eyes widened a fraction at that.

 “I find that really hard to picture,” he confessed at length.

 Satsuki snorted.

 “Well, it’s true.” She turned around and slumped back-first into the wire fence. “We don’t go out together as much anymore. We don’t have lunch together anymore. He doesn’t play hooky from practice anymore so I don’t have to go looking for him. Which is great!” she enthused, but it sounded hollow. “It’s a relief… yet at the same time I feel like I’m losing something much more important than a few minutes every day from having to hunt him down to get him to come to practice.”

 Kuroko surveyed her calmly with his deep cerulean gaze that had the quality of making everything better.

 But this time it wasn’t working.

 Satsuki didn’t feel better.

 So she continued talking, in hopes that vocalizing these feelings would help get the load off her chest.

 “I’m happy that he made friends with the Touou team – I really am!” she insisted but her voice broke mid-sentence. “I’m really glad that the underclassmen started seeing Dai-chan for who he is – a charming idiot who’s a lot of fun to have around. Someone to learn from. Someone to lean on. I’m really happy for them and I’m even happier for Dai-chan because he deserves to have some friends again, just like back in elementary and junior high.”

 Satsuki slid down against the wire fence until she was sitting on the asphalt with her back facing the two aces playing on the court.

 “I’m glad but at the same time it hurts.”

 She pulled her legs up to her chest and embraced them with both arms, burying her face in her knees.

 “It hurts because it feels like it’s been an eternity since the last time I had lunch with Dai-chan. It feels like forever since we were last going home just the two of us, without all the freshman hanging off him every step of the way. It hurts because I want to go back and smack myself for agreeing to let them have lunch on their own that first time, because now it feels awkward to ask to eat with them, too. They’ll think I’m weird—and it is weird. But I was the first one to know that Dai-chan is someone you can count on. I was the first one who was leaning on him.”

 Kuroko listened to Momoi’s tirade patiently, allowing her to say everything she wanted before he could speak his mind on the topic.

 “He finally started acting like a normal human being and started getting up for school on time. I don’t have to kick him out of bed every morning. Sometimes he even comes to pick me up first whenever I start running late. And that’s great but it’s also horrifying—you know, Tetsu-kun?” She sought out his face for the first time since she started spilling his guts. What she saw in his expression, Tetsuya didn’t know, but whatever it was, it caused her to look away quickly.

 Instead of burying her face in her knees as she had before, she merely fixed her dark stare in the distance, her face tense.

 “He also doesn’t need to be forced in order to attend practice. More often than not, I don’t even need to mention it in order for him to immediately head to the gym. And that’s just amazing, you know? He hasn’t been like this for three years, so it should be a blessing!”

 Kuroko was starting to believe that Momoi was nearing hysterics. At least that’s what the sharp edge of her voice was telling him.

 “But it doesn’t feel like a blessing. It feels like… I’m no longer needed. He has friends, he has people who recognize him and appreciate him. He’s content enough to go to school without being told. He’s happy enough to want to play basketball again and to want to improve. He smiles when he plays with the boys who adore him, and his basketball style is changing to accommodate their addition to his life. And that’s fantastic, but it means he no longer needs a caretaker. Now that he no longer needs one, it feels like there’s no space for me in his everyday life anymore.”

 She buried her face in her knees again at that.

 “I hate that. I hate thinking like this. I hate feeling like this. But I feel so lonely and powerless to change the direction where things are heading. I just… don’t know what to do with myself anymore.”

 Her voice became smaller and smaller until it felt like she herself would disappear. From the way her shoulders were shaking, Kuroko feared that she may have broken down crying—a situation that he’d rather avoid.

 Especially with Aomine-kun less than 20 meters away and his penchant to misunderstand whenever Momoi-san was involved.

 However, what had drawn his attention the most was the meaning behind what his former teammate had rambled about.

 A small smile spread on his face. It was about time that both of them started to be more conscious of the other’s importance in their life. And their stance on the matter.

 “I am sad to hear that you have come to feel like this, Momoi-san,” Kuroko said with a lamenting lilt to his voice. “Have you tried talking to Aomine-kun about this?” He couldn’t help but ponder.

 Satsuki lifted her face and shook her head. The corners of Tetsuya’s mouth curved upwards at this nonverbal admission.

 That explained everything for him.

 “Since you’re feeling like your back’s pressed against the wall, I think your best course of action is to talk to Aomine-kun about all these things that bother you.” He laughed quietly at the comically appalled expression that seized his companion’s face. “There’s no need to dread it so much, I believe. Aomine-kun has potential to be more understanding than you give him credit.”

 “When it comes to such complex matters?” Satsuki sniffed testily and pulled herself up to a standing position again. “I deeply doubt it.”

 Tetsuya allowed himself a private grin at that.

 “You’d be surprised.” He turned to Satsuki with a serene expression. “Besides, you guys have been together through that nightmare that was Teikou—taking on this small hurdle should be a piece of cake. You shouldn’t allow this rift you feel between you to widen.”

 Satsuki smiled earnestly in response. This was why whenever she needed some good advice, she came to Tetsu-kun. He always knew the best way to convey his thoughts and the right words she needed to hear. He always knew how to convince her of the best course of action.

 He was so painfully right she couldn’t believe she hadn’t come to this obvious conclusion herself. Of course she had to speak up. Dai-chan was an idiot, and he was denser than most. He probably didn’t even know she was feeling this way. He was just having the time of his life while she wallowed in her self-induced misery.

 Instead, she should have put her foot down and laid down the facts. She should’ve told him the minute she started feeling this way that she hated the way things stood between them. She should’ve told him that it was ridiculous how the freshmen couldn’t seem to get enough of him to the point that she barely got to spend any time with him.

 She would let him know first thing after they parted ways with Kagamin and Tetsu-kun.

 “I see you have found your answer,” Tetsuya said with a small smile. Satsuki beamed back at him before giving a vigorous nod. “I just want to add one last thing.”

 This piqued the pink-haired Touou student’s attention and she turned to raptly listen to what Tetsu-kun would tell her.

 “You said you believe that Aomine-kun no longer needs a caretaker. However, I don’t think he ever considered you such. That’s a role that you decided for yourself in regards to him. This is why I firmly believe Aomine-kun sees you in a different capacity altogether. After all, when we go out to play, you are the one who he tells and brings along, Momoi-san. Not any of his new friends or admirers. If you really believe us to be as important to Aomine-kun as you mentioned earlier, that should speak plenty of what he thinks about you as well. Please consider that.”

 Consider it she did. Quietly, determinedly, until Dai-chan triumphed over Kagamin in their one on one.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 Half an hour later, on their way home from the basketball court, Daiki threw a cursory glance at the girl walking beside him.

 “Satsuki?”

 “Mm?” The addressed hummed in return to show she was listening.

 A helpful cue, seeing as how her nose was buried in her phone, fiddling with her data as always after he played a game with someone.

 “What were you talking to Tetsu about?”

 She may have believed him terribly dense throughout their lives, but Daiki was not an idiot. He saw her still completely at his question. Even her fingers stopped their rhythmical tapping on the touch screen.

 “I can’t recall,” she retorted breezily. An obvious attempt to deflect if he ever saw one. “Why do you ask?”

 He shrugged with one shoulder, turning his gaze away from her searching one.

 “It just looked like you were pretty upset at one point. So I was wondering if Tetsu needed to be taught a lesson maybe.”

 This earned him a harsh smack in the shoulder. He yelped and complained at her immediate choice to resort to violence.

 “You are doing no such thing, Dai-chan!” Satsuki hissed back at him, outraged that he could even utter such blasphemous words. “Tetsu-kun was just being helpful earlier. There’s no need to start threatening him like that!”

 “If you say so,” Daiki grumbled his assent. “Not like I could hurt Tetsu ever. I was just asking…” he continued mumbling to himself as he trudged along towards his house.

 Satsuki peered at him out of the corner of her eye as they walked in brief silence.

 “I’m surprised that you even noticed. You and Kagamin seemed to be very engrossed in your game. I thought you were in the zone,” she pointed out curiously.

 Her navy-haired companion shrugged casually again.

 “I don’t know about Kagami but I was kind of in the zone. I wasn’t so far gone not to notice you going emo mode outside the court.”

 His phrasing gave Satsuki pause. She wasn’t certain how to interpret what he had said without misunderstanding what he had meant. Did seeing her distraught have such importance to him that it could even distract him from an ongoing match (however inconsequential of a match it may be)? Or was he simply not as focused on his game with Kagami as she and Kuroko had believed?

 She decided not to dwell on this minute detail and instead nip her problem in the bud.

 Dai-chan had done her the service of bringing up the topic and all – it would be rude not to take this chance to have her say.

 And have her say she did.

 She shared with him everything that bothered her with their current situation.

 She told him how she felt that there was a gulf opening between them that she didn’t understand. She told him how she thought he no longer needed her and how this wounded her. She told him how disappointing it was that they no longer could have their lunch together—even if it was just so he could mock her latest attempt at cooking something.

 She told him how their dwindling time together made her feel like she was lost at sea. She told him how she was incredibly happy for him finding other friends but how she felt her position as his best friend threatened.

 She told him how she was glad he spent more time with other people, but wished he would spend some time with just her, too.

 Throughout her entire soliloquy, Daiki had this dumbfounded look on his face that made her want to smack him. Slap the idiot, and herself too, for trusting Tetsu on this one.

 Tetsu-kun was wrong to believe that her telling everything to Dai-chan was a good idea. All she had achieved was to completely confuse him, without a doubt.

 After a heartbeat though, the navy-haired ace came out of his stupor and his usually stoic features twisted into a pensive look instead.

 “If this had been bothering you for weeks… why not say something earlier, Satsuki? I don’t get you.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Why wait until the feeling festers to take action against it? Doesn’t sound like you at all.”

 Only when he said it like that did she realize he was completely right.

 It wasn’t like her at all.

 Why had she allowed it? She didn’t know. She had acted completely out of character. She didn’t understand her own behavior and that didn’t sit well with her. She had never had trouble understanding herself before, so starting now was nothing short of disconcerting.

 Before she could go into full blown analysis mode, Dai-chan adopted a wolfish grin.

 “But wow, that really was quite the confession, Satsuki. From where I stand, it really sounded like you don’t like the idea of sharing me with others.”

 He gave a short guffaw of a laugh before taking a step closer to her. Once his mirth subsided, he graced her with his widest and sliest grin ever.

 “If I didn’t know better, I would say it was almost like you were telling me you love me and want me to pay more attention only to you.”

 He fixed her with a wide grin while his eyes had mischief dancing in them. Even if it hadn’t been for what he’d said, his mere countenance would’ve made her sputter for a rebuttal.

 “It’s not like that—That’s not what I was saying—!” she started grappling for the right thing to say in a way that was almost adorable.

 Before she could get any more embarrassed, Daiki quelled her panic with the way his expression softened—waned—and the soft set of his large hand atop her shoulder.

 “Relax, Satsuki—I was just kidding you. There’s no need to explain.”

 Try as she might, the pink-haired manager couldn’t bring herself to look away from her much taller companion at this. Craning her neck from so close to him was painful, but the look on his face was just so impossible to place she couldn’t turn away from it.

 The smile was still securely in place, but there was a forlorn twist in it. It felt slightly forced and not at all belonging on Dai-chan’s idiotically confident persona.

 It was heart-wrenching and beautiful at the same time.

 She wished she could understand what had caused that look to steal across his face. She wanted to understand because she had no clue what had brought it on.

 One moment he was teasing her, laughing at her expense, then the next he was looking like he was slowly dying inside but pretending it was all in good humor.

 Since when was Dai-chan capable of such complex emotion? She felt mind-boggled.

 “I know that’s not what you meant. Don’t worry. I know that your heart is set on someone, and I’m rooting for you to find your happiness with him. Or, you know, the next best guy. My dad says a woman’s heart is as fickle as the autumn sky, so who knows. Maybe Tetsu won’t be the lucky guy after all.”

 His hand slid down her shoulder until he was holding her hand in his own. That inexplicable smile was still on his face when he started leading her away.

 “Until you do, I would be grateful to be the one standing next to you.”

 They walked on in a brief silence while Satsuki was still in shock over what she had just heard from her childhood friend.

 She had never had him openly encouraging her feelings for Tetsu-kun. Nor had he ever spoken to her of her love life or her interests in general. It wasn’t like they didn’t talk about matters of the heart on principle, but… they just didn’t talk about these things.

 She would be hard pressed to say why that was. She didn’t feel awkward talking to Dai-chan about her love life—or lack thereof, despite her most fervent prayers. But perhaps he felt self-conscious to share, which was why they never openly discussed the matter.

 They didn’t talk about these things. If they did, it was always Satsuki one-sidedly oversharing about her latest mishap when she attempted to woo Tetsu-kun or some such.

 Daiki always astutely kept quiet.

 She had been grateful, because she believed that if he were to share, it would be some kind of lewd comment about Horikita Mai-chan or something – his favorite gravure model. She was one hundred percent certain that if he were to overshare regarding his thoughts on Mai-chan, it would be details she did not want to have knowledge of.

 But now Satsuki couldn’t help but wonder—did Dai-chan also have interests like a normal person?

 The thought felt foreign in her mind. The idea of a girl Dai-chan could be pining after ridiculous. Was there even a human female in existence that could possibly sway that alien’s fancy? She was hard pressed to imagine what kind of girl that could be. Her mind reeled at the thought.

 She chose to push that notion out of her mind at once. Thinking about Daiki holding interest in girls made something clench in her gut and twist in the most revolting way. It was an abhorrent feeling and she would rather not pay it any heed lest she discover something she didn’t want the answer to.

 Still.

 “Wow, Dai-chan.” Her voice sounded as awe-struck as she felt while they walked home, her hand still limply in his hold. “Where did that come from?”

 He turned his head partially to throw her a smirk she could only describe as disarming. An expression that most certainly did not belong on the face of someone you had known your whole life.

 An expression she had never witnessed before on a face more familiar than her own.

 “From the heart, of course.”

 There it was again. She knew that this feeling was familiar, and she had finally placed it.

 It was the same feeling she had had from him as when they took their first pictures in front of Touou Academy.

 He had thanked her then, too.

 And he had given her that cryptic smile that held so many more layers of meaning to it than she believed him capable of.

 Her lips parted in order to say something—a thought that hadn’t properly formed yet—but before she had a chance to do so, he interjected.

 “And, before you say it, yes, I do have one.”

 And just like that, the moment was gone. His well-intentioned joke dashing whatever atmosphere they had been unwittingly sharing. She blinked profusely, suddenly disoriented from the rapid change in her train of thought.

 “You know? A heart,” Dai-chan clarified with a small chuckle. “I am still human, regardless what some people are claiming around here.”

 Satsuki had to exert considerable effort to stomp out the feeling of profound disappointment that bled through her being. It had risen in response to his denial of allowing her to study whatever that moment had been about, what it meant or how it had come about.

 But once she had squashed it out, she reciprocated her navy-haired companion’s mischievous smile.

 “Oh, I’m still not quite sure. Maybe at some point the Dai-chan I knew in kindergarten got replaced by this alien who simply looks like Dai-chan.” He threw her a sardonic look over his shoulder. She shrugged innocently in return. This made him hasten his pace until she had to jog after him in order not to trip over her feet. He was still holding her hand captive after all. “What? How could I be sure? The scientists still haven’t disproven that theory, so it’s as good as yours.”

 As they relapsed into their familiar playful banter the closer they got to their houses, Satsuki curled her fingers around his to make the hold more comfortable.

 She told herself she would have plenty of time later on to analyze what had transpired today. She would have all the time in the world to consider all the things said—and those that had not been voiced aloud—when she was in the company of her own thoughts later.

 For now, Dai-chan had a shower to take and she had basketball data to analyze.

 Considering that Imayoshi-san and the third years weren’t around for this year’s Inter High, the stakes would be high. The importance of her counterplans for their opposing teams all the more crucial.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 The very next day—and the week that followed—saw a substantial change in Satsuki’s day to day life at school.

 The first came in the form of her childhood friend insisting on her having lunch with him and the freshmen. He potentiated her ease in settling among all the boys, and kept steering the conversation to topics in which she could offer her spot-on input.

 This brought about a newfound sense of reverence among the new small forward and point guard in regard to Satsuki. They had known that their manager was not only very clever and mastered in intelligence gathering, but to get to spend time in her presence and share in her knowledge was something else altogether.

 Only after speaking with them for a few days over lunch did Satsuki realize that she had been placed on a pedestal similar to Daiki’s in the freshman boys’ minds. Or perhaps it differed slightly, seeing as how she was a girl with the assets that Mother Nature had given Satsuki generously.

 Other days still, Daiki would stay to play with the boys three-on-three (with the addition of Sakurai-kun and Wakamatsu-san or another third year) after practice was over while Satsuki fiddled with her data for the Inter High. Once she was finished, he would tell the guys they were heading home, only to grab the pink-haired manager’s hand and run off with her alone before the boys could catch up.

 The first time he did that, he dashed into a corner where the light from the setting sun didn’t hit, dragging Satsuki after himself with enviable determination.

 His innate agility allowed him to go from sprint to standstill without issue. However, the pink-haired girl did not boast such skill. She was sure she was going to be run face-first into the wall to Daiki’s side and break her nose much to his great amusement.

 Instead of that, she ran into his larger figure, which he placed between her and the wall, cushioning her sudden deceleration. He grabbed her by the sides and pulled her further into the shadowy niche before their pursuers could notice them.

 To keep Satsuki from making any noise of protest or disgruntlement at being manhandled like that, Daiki put his hand over her mouth and pulled her further into his embrace until she was practically enveloped by his being in the dark niche.

 The unexpected closeness made the girl’s skin burn wherever it was in contact with her friend’s. She reasoned with herself that being pulled into a sprint was the fault for that. But as she listened more raptly to his slightly erratic breath rather than whether their pursuers were close, Satsuki realized she was enjoying this game more than she should.

 “Come on, they missed us,” Daiki reassured her with a chuckle right next to her ear. The vibration of the sound transferred into her ribcage in a not at all displeasing way. “Let’s go, before they come back!”

 He pulled Satsuki into another run, this time a quieter, stealthier one.

 “Dai-chan, you’re such a kid!” Satsuki reprimanded with no real bite as they sneaked out of the school building.

 They could see the boys running around the sophomore floor from just outside their vantage point at the school gate.

Daiki laughed raucously in response.

 “You’re one to talk. You’re having just as much of a blast as I am with pulling their leg.”

 She couldn’t deny the truth of his statement as she laughed happily, her heart feeling full and content as they slipped unnoticed by their pursuers.

 After doing this a few times, predictably, the boys started complaining to Dai-chan.

 “Aomine-senpai!” the new small forward of Touou started with a whine in his voice. “Why did you ditch us again yesterday?”

 The boy slouched over Daiki’s desk like a limp noodle. His body conveyed perfectly all the disdain he felt.

 “I thought we were going to eat at Maji burger yesterday so you could tell us more about the other Generation of Miracles guys we will fight in the official games in the Inter High.”

 The team’s ace laughed mercilessly at the younger boys’ misery.

 “It’s not my fault you guys suck at catching me. Maybe if you get better at this game, next time we will eat together at Maji before going home,” Daiki teased them with a wide grin.

 “If you don’t want to go home with us, you just have to say so!” the new point guard exclaimed vehemently, tears of indignation prickling the corners of his eyes. “We will understand! But baiting us like that and then bailing is not nice, Aomine-senpai! You are a cruel man! Cruel indeed!”

 Satsuki was returning from the bathroom around the same time as the boys’ passionate banter was reaching ridiculous heights. She could tell that someone was being rowdy in the classroom even before she was in earshot to hear what was being said.

 “Nonsense. I didn’t bail. We were playing cops and robbers, and you guys failed miserably at catching your robbers. We should all be grateful none of you are planning to go on to do police work. You’d suck terribly at it.” The navy-haired youth sniggered at the thought.

 The new small forward of Touou slammed his hands on Daiki’s desk and stood up to his full impressive height. The action made the chair he was sitting on screech in protest as it slid back to accommodate the movement.

 “Why do you always choose Momoi-san over us, senpai! Shouldn’t the philosophy here be bros over hoes?” he boy implored loudly enough for Satsuki to hear him through the closed sliding door of the classroom.

 His question made her hand hang in front of the door without touching it.

 Her childhood friend’s response came smoothly and easily.

 “Do you have to ask? I’ll choose Satsuki over anyone else every time.”

 “But why?!” the point guard demanded, outrage lacing his tone.

 “Because she stayed and believed in me when no one else did.”

 As true and frank as Dai-chan’s response was, Satsuki couldn’t help feeling a bit self-conscious at the way he had put it.

 It seemed that the boys beyond the door had similar reactions to the reply, because no one said anything for almost a full minute afterwards.

 “Uh…” the small forward started, sounding awkward. “I was just making fun, but this suddenly got a bit too real for me.”

 “Ditto,” the point guard agreed.

 Daiki laughed at them.

 “Don’t ask questions if you’re not ready to hear the answers.” His tone took on a smug quality next. “Here’s a better question though. When will you guys finally start landing your three pointers?”

 The boys blanched at this. Daiki burst into laughter at their reactions.

 “That’s the real question. One might even call it one of the mysteries of Touou Academy.”

 Satsuki smiled to herself and slid the door to her classroom open, making to join their fun just as Dai-chan pulled Sakurai-kun into the conversation.

 Something about teaching the freshmen how it’s done properly.

 x.x.x.x.x.x

 lucid

/ˈluːsɪd/

shining or bright; luminous.

 In first year of high school—during his first encounter face to face with Kagami, Daiki had told the redhead that his light was dim.

 As it had been indeed.

 However, only once he had completely shaken off the shackles of Teikou basketball did the Touou ace realize how dim his own light had become over the years.

 Of course, not in the sense he had vested in the words when saying them to Kagami.

 As an absolute quality, Daiki’s light shone brighter than any other on the court. He outshined almost every other Miracle on the court whenever he matched up against them.

 Nevertheless, Daiki’s light had become dim in comparison to what it should have been by the time he was a second year in high school—if only Teikou hadn’t broken his spirit, that is.

 But thanks to the Miracles disbanding and scattering all over the country, and thanks to Kagami’s appearance, the navy-haired teen had finally rediscovered himself in the sport he loved.

 By the time the Inter High official games came around in second year, Daiki’s basketball style had been completely reworked.

 Now it didn’t simply accommodate the fact he had teammates, but he shaped it in particular ways exactly because of his teammates’ strengths and weaknesses. It was thanks to his lightning-fast reflexes and quick decision making in the split second that made it possible for Touou to play their best possible game against anyone, with Daiki at the core of the team.

 That was one aspect.

 Another aspect was that the ace possessed a very peculiar skillset outside of his basketball prowess. One he had reacquired over the past half year, so to say.

 A very charming quality about Daiki before Teikou had been his ability to make friends quickly with just about anyone.

 This helped him greatly in getting to know his new teammates and shaping his play around them, and around his blossoming talents.

 He had never understood how people were so easily opening up to him, but he wasn’t going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 Satsuki, on the other hand, didn’t need to ponder to understand how come those first years were so drawn to him and so profoundly affected by him.

 Dai-chan shone brighter than the sun on the court, dazzling any and all who bothered to look. He had always worn his heart on his sleeve, being the simpleton that he was.

 It was just that Teikou had crushed and stomped on said heart, and given it back to him in shambles. It had made it impossible for him to be himself for a long while.

 But now, half a year after his first defeat in what felt like forever, Daiki was back to his normal self, playing the game he adored alongside teammates he trusted and who trusted him even more. He was playing equals, against whom he had to be careful and not let his guard down at any point in time.

 His light shone brighter than any other while he zipped back and forth the lengths of the court, his fakes and formless shots five times more effective with the addition of the possibility he could pass the ball at any point as well.

 His stealthy passes were nothing like Tetsu-kun’s because they did not disappear through the merits of misdirection.

 If she had to compare them, Dai-chan’s passes were the exact opposite of Tetsu’s. Since all the eyes of everyone on the court—and around it—were always pinned on him whenever he had the ball, following his every movement, every action, it was impossible to direct the attention away from himself.

 Yet Dai-chan’s passes were unseen by his opponents all the same.

 He passed the ball masterfully during speedy crossovers, or when he dribbled the ball behind his back, or when he pretended to shoot for the hoop but instead passed it over to Sakurai-kun. He passed when the opposing team thought he would go for scoring himself, because it caught them unawares when the points were taken by another member of Touou instead.

 The best part of all was that high school basketball was nothing like middle school basketball.

 Even when he triumphed over his opponents in an overwhelming victory, none of the boys on the court ever lost hope until the final buzzer. They struggled and struggled, and if Daiki or his team let up, they caught up, one basket at a time, until Touou’s dominance was not as well asserted anymore.

 High school boys were not as mentally fragile as middle school ones. They did not lose heart as easily, and they did not get so crushed even if they did lose.

 If anything, losses made them doubly more ferocious in subsequent matches—something Touou’s basketball team had found out the hard way.

 That thought alone fueled Daiki’s fire and made him burn brighter than a star when hustling with them on the court.

 Of course, having a good fight with anyone was pointless unless he won.

 Having already had a taste of defeat recently, Daiki was not thrilled at the thought of repeating the experience.

 Plus, as long as he was around, he was unwilling to let his first year friends be subjected to the bitterness of sleepless nights and restlessness that infallibly came with losing a great match.

 Daiki had adopted a somewhat guardian-esque mentality when it came to his underclassmen after learning why they had enrolled to Touou. And that was because they’d watched his every game in first year of high school and decided they wanted to play alongside the force of nature that was Aomine Daiki for the next couple of years of their lives.

 So he attended practice dutifully, sometimes just watching for half an hour before idling about made him too antsy—or seeing his teammates repeating the same stupid mistakes over and over tired him out and he just had to set them straight.

 This led to his gameplay improving massively—in a way that riveted the attention of almost any audience entirely on his form and his fluid play.

 Sometimes Satsuki wondered if he even realized how close the proverbial spotlight always followed him whenever he played in any game. Then she came to think that he probably didn’t even give a damn if it was or not, because it didn’t change at all the way he played.

 It wouldn’t be for half year or so that Satsuki would come to realize that her eyes were instinctively following his every move—not just on the court but off it, too—in a manner that had nothing to do with basketball.

 She couldn’t be blamed for becoming enthralled by him, though.

 That was just the effect his lucidity had on everyone.

x.x.x.x.x.x.x

Additional notes: If you read the entire thing, I commend you! You finished all 48 Word pages!

Also, please forgive any typos and mistakes left over because I read this 3827589 times and it still might be flawed, because I reworked it for what felt a gazillion times over. 

That said, if you did enjoy reading this accidental behemoth and leave a thought or two, I wouldn’t be more grateful. This fandom is tragically dead and inspiration is next to nonexistent anymore.

[biolacis-blog]

[S] Jailbreak

| Nepeta Maryam |

Eridan Pyrope's guards run their routes once every thirty minutes. He has them work in pairs: if one is incapacitated, the other can call for backup. Both carry a state-of-the-art communication device, hooked into a network that can sound an alarm through the entire complex. In under a minute, the closest reinforcements can arrive and overpower any infiltrators, while the others lock down each building, starting with the most sensitive centers first. There's a hierarchy, a numerical list, there are drills and alarms and routines and computers... Pyrope's base is the best-secured building on the planet. Anyone would be impressed. 

It's really too bad, you think, that their boss is the proudest blabbermouth you've ever met. 

It's a matter of timing: when you enter from an escape hatch in the west wing, you're about ten minutes ahead of the closest passing guards. If you put down a signal jammer, you have about thirty seconds before they notice it. They'll be twenty-five seconds too slow to react. If you're really lucky, you have five minutes before those guards fail to report in - they're getting some much-needed rest, unfortunately - and that's just enough time to get down the hall, around the corner, in and out of the room's alarms and right through the single, heavily-armored door. 

You cut through plating, undo hinges, hook your climbing rope into an exposed side of the door and rig up enough leverage to sent it to the floor with a SLAM. Admittedly not your best work, but it's not like you're known for your physical strength. You collect your tools in three precious seconds and lift your eye-covering mask just long enough to peer into the room. Most people don't react well to masked intruders. The least you can do is give him a semi-friendly face, if you're going to be wrecking the room he's apparently called home for the past three sweeps. 

"Are you coming or what?"

| Sollux Peixes |

You've been told that you have a bad habit of staying up too late. It's not something that you can help -- there's always too much going on in your mind, too many thoughts racing to be the one at the forefront of your attention. As a wriggler, you remember watching Trollian handles blink out like snuffed flames as one by one, your distant friends logged offline for the day, until you were the only one left. 

You've barely touched a physical keyboard in sweeps. Not to say you haven't tried -- you've been reprimanded many a time for breaking into Eridan's office and trying to hack into his grubtop. At some point they learned not to leave you unsupervised so often, and added a few stronger locks to the outside of your door to boot. 

Safe to say, these days, when the light of the sun just starts to glint off the grime-streaked skyscraper windows that tile the view outside your own barred window, you don't spend much of your time watching pixels blink out to a faded grey. You've found better ways to spend your alone time up until recently, but for now? 

You spend your time waiting. 

Waiting and listening, so it's no coincidence that hear the pitter patter of unusually light footsteps right outside your door in the moments before you hear metallic scraping, like a really pissed purrbeast trying to claw it's way in.

You furrow your eyebrows, turning around in the desk chair you had been perched in. Quickly, you scramble to rip the thin screwdriver you had lifted from one of the rebels and taped to the underside of the desk, readying yourself beside the door. To your utter surprise, the door opens outwards -- falling directly off it's hinges like an oversized domino with a cringing thump, dim light drifting into the room from the empty frame left behind. One hand raised, you take a deep breath -- 

A head pops in, and a pair of jade green eyes glint in your direction. You drop your hand, brows furrowed even further. 

"Who the fuck are you?"

| Nepeta Maryam |

"The person who's getting your ass out of here?" 

Subject: Sollux Peixes. 5'7", double horns, heir apparent to the throne of Alternia and, to boot, the only surviving heir since His Tyrannical Technopath issued the order for all future heirs to be killed. Rescued by the treachery of a royal, saved by the mercy of a jade. He is more than a troll, more than himself: he is the hope for your people, your planet, your empire and everyone in it. 

And he's a fucking idiot, apparently. 

You don't have time for this. There's a clock ticking in the back of your brain and every muscle in your body wants to move. You answer one question and he'll have five more, he'll hold you here until he gets what he wants because he thinks it's what he needs and it's not. But if you say that, what then? Will he throw a royal shitfit? 

"Listen, I know this isn't routine, but somebody heard that door and we have four -" you scowl "- three minutes before someone gets here to kill me and take you, so can we like? Walk and talk? Please?"

| Sollux Peixes |

You stare at her flatly, then down at the screwdriver in your hand, then back up at her. 

What the hell. This is the moment you've been waiting for, apparently, and your curiosity can wait. 

You pocket the screwdriver, brushing by her and out into the hallway. "Three minutes? Sounds like an overestimate, these jackasses run a tight ship around here. You can't so much as take a piss without someone interrogating you as to the force and viscosity of your own piss stream." You look up and down the hall, fins perked as they strain for the sounds of clattering boots, mind racing as you try to remember hallways and locked doors. "Which way are we going? I'm assuming you have a specific escape route in mind."

| Nepeta Maryam |

You almost laugh. Wow, that was a close call. Nepeta Maryam, laughing? You haven't laughed in three sweeps, you're not about to start now. 

You lower your mask as you leave the room, keeping him in your peripheral vision. "Trust me - I know this place like the back of my hands. Three minutes is just slightly an underestimate. And now it's wrong, because time has passed." You walk briskly, as fast as your long, honed legs can carry you, your eyes and ears swiveling to scan every inch of the surrounding area. Two doors down, there's a gym, with doors to the other side - no one will check there. You can cut across and miss the incoming guard patrols, who will either find the guard duo you dispatched, or the wrecked door, whichever comes first. 

You're going to get an earful about that damn door. God. You are not looking forward to that. 

"The systems are effective, but they do have defects. You're a smart guy, I'm sure you've figured that out by now. I just have a little more means to exploit those defects, and a couple less eyes on me." 

You push open the door, taking him into the tall, open space, and point across the shining gym floor to the opposite side. "Run there, wait for me." As soon as he's out of range, you throw a smokebomb into the hall, and dash after him.

| Sollux Peixes |

You catch yourself wondering how this perfect stranger apparently knows so much about the place, despite the fact that you've never seen hide nor hair of her before. After the mask falls, you catch glimpses of her profile as you jog to keep up with her; a heart-shaped face, flushed lightly viridian, two pointed horns curving slightly in a feline-esque silhouette to match the pair of dangerous looking fangs protruding over her bottom lip. The side of her head is shaved, and you catch a few strips of faintly-glowing tech starting at the temple and getting lost as they trail underneath the short, thick locks of her hair. She has such a distinct visage, and yet you can't place her anywhere -- if you weren't so busy trying to high-tail your ass out of here, you would stop to get a better look, but as it is, you're already booking it across the newly-waxed floor. 

You wait for her on the other side, ear pressed up to the door to listen for voices. You don't hear anything, and you cautiously take a peak outside.

"Hallway's all clear." You step on out, letting her take the lead. You lower your voice. "We're still in the residential area, but there's a set of stairs around here somewhere that should get us a straight shot to ground level. If I'm remembering right, most people take the elevator, so it should be pretty clear."

| Nepeta Maryam |

You open your mouth to speak, but you're both so rudely interrupted by the sound of alarms going off. You mutter "shit," just loud enough to be heard over the blaring wail, and point him to the stairwell, with a very clear look of "Move." It's a risk, but it's a risk you'll have to take: He is right, you know this, and it's the most direct route out of this hellhole. 

"The most important thing is getting you out of here alive and unharmed. I can fend for myself. These staff aren't trained in a few of the kinds of combat I know, so I can keep them at bay and, ideally, get them to a point where they won't bother us. I don't want to kill anyone if I can help it. I just may not be able to help it." 

You leap over the end of a railing to shave a few seconds off your running time - and because it looks cool, obviously. "There's a lot to explain. I know you have questions. You'll get answers, just not -" 

You skid to a stop, looking straight ahead. 

"... Now." 

Eridan Pyrope: The man himself. It seems that your luck just ran out.

| Eridan Pyrope |

Today was supposed to be your day off. Today was supposed to be your goddamn day off and yet it seems like everything has to go to shit the second you take a break. Only proves to you further that you were right about everyone being completely and utterly helpless without you. For now you give your security the benefit of the doubt - maybe it was just a false alarm. 

Either way you give up on having a calm evening for now, because it won't take long until at least somebody of these useless idiots comes crawling to you to make a report and update you on the situation and just beg for you to not let them get executed on the spot. Guess you won't even have the time to change into something that isn't just your bathrobe and even if you did you wouldn't, just to signal once again you did not want to be bothered today. 

With the alarm going off the elevators stopped working too so you suppose you'll even have to use the stairs and so you start walking towards them with a sigh, bracing yourself for a sleepless night. And as if all of that wasn't already enough to ruin your mood, you have to discover that the alarm definitely was justified after all, as you catch sight of two familiar faces in front of you.  Except what isn't familiar to you is seeing them together. 

And no really, they really seem to be having their lucky day, because as you quickly assess the situation you come to the conclusion there's nothing you can do about your loss as of now. You're alone and unarmed, except for a hidden knife you have on your body at all times but you know Maryam's excessive know-how in fighting all too well, having experienced it a few times firsthand. The fact she would be the one insidious enough to free your most prized possession sends a grin to your face. What a fucking bitch.

"Well then," You start off and extend your arms to show you're without any weapons, "Guess I should've seen it coming." You scoff and give a short laugh and really all the laugh does is hide how you're boiling with rage, already quietly plotting revenge. 

You look around with a little sigh, while that disgusting smirk of yours is still plastered across your face. "Looks like it's only a matter of seconds until my people find you so if I were you I'd hurry. But don't worry-" Your gaze is now locked onto your favourite toy, Sollux Peixes, "even if you do manage to make it out here alive, this isn't the last time we see each other. You could say I'm even looking forward to it."

| Sollux Peixes |

You look from Eridan to your new acquaintance, and then back at Eridan.

You deck him full-force, grab her hand, and run past Eridan down the stairwell.

| Nepeta Maryam |

You have never wanted to straight-up disappear more than this exact moment. 

It takes a couple quick redirections to dodge guards and make it out of Eridan's hell maze. You know it all by heart. And the minute you do get out, you head for the most forested area on the property, jump down into the bed of the creek, and rip off your mask, emitting a low, threatening growl at no one in particular as you begin your trudge through the creek. 

Your hair is curly, and it would be much worse if it were longer. You don't let it get that far. You keep it in a neat undercut, your shaved side exposing glowing, jade lines of tech in the side of your head. At 11 sweeps old, your face has seen more sun than most jadebloods see in their lives, but your blood grants you blessedly few sunburns to show for it. Your ears come to sharp points, but your protruding fangs do them one better, hanging over your lip and glinting in the low, dappled light like something out of a cheesy vampire novel - which you wouldn't know, because you have absolutely never read them, no matter what anyone says. 

 "Maryam," you say, by way of introduction. It's so curt and so brief it might have been mistaken for a curse, and you can't quite keep the bite out of your voice. You gesture down the creek. "Start moving. He's not going easy on us.”

| Sollux Peixes |

You don't think you've ever run this fast in your life. Adrenaline courses through you as you sprint into the woods, not even hesitating to jump in up to your shins in freezing cold water -- not that it bothers you much, considering that you spent the majority of your life breathing the stuff. 

"Peixes, but you already knew that." You keep your voice low as you wade after her, looking over your shoulder every couple of seconds for the first signs of voices, waiting tensely for flashlights to start cutting up trees behind you. In the distance, you can hear the alarm still going off; it creates a foreboding ambiance as it grows more and more faint. 

 "Where are we heading to? We're not going to get anywhere fast if we stay on foot, not with Douche Canoe's Dick Parade running around." As you're walking, you take off your glasses, fiddling with them as you trudge through the water. "Not to mention, it's going to be light soon. We're going to need to get under cover."

| Nepeta Maryam |

There's only a moment's hesitation to give away your thoughts. Your face remains largely expressionless, jaw set, facing forwards. 

"They can't track us in the water, so we follow this until we get outside his boundaries. After that, his guards are going to need a lot more help to find us. I have a stash hidden outside his property - We're going there first, then we're visiting someone who owes me a favor. We're getting you a disguise, and then we can move. It won't be long before something gets out about your escape, so every moment you remain in plain sight is another day's travel for us." 

You pause. That sounds a little too mean. "... I have clothing to protect you from the sun. It may be a little loose, though. I wasn't exactly expecting an heir this... scrawny."

| Sollux Peixes |

You quirk an eyebrow her way. "Something tells me you must be a real delight at parties." She's right, of course -- you are pretty scrawny, barely gracing five-foot-seven and thin enough to snap like a twig under the foot of a really determined grubling. The last few sweeps in captivity have softened what used to be toughened, lean muscle from all the time spent swimming, but neither state has ever done to hide how much of a scrawny nerd you are.

Rolling your eyes, you settle your glasses back on your face. "Anyways, I've got part of all that covered." The lenses of your glasses are now glowing ever so slightly, one lens a light translucent blue -- the other, a bright green. "I haven't been able to try it out yet, but if I did everything right..." 

You scroll through prompt commands, trying not to losing your footing on the slippery creek bed as you do so. You take a deep breath. "Alright, check this shit out." 

You select a prompt, and in the blink of an eye, your image stutters. Where once you stood a huge pink target for anyone giving you even a cursory glance over, the conspicuous color scheme has been washed out with a dull teal. Your smaller horns, as well the smaller set of your double fangs, have disappeared entirely; your fins have been replaced with long, land-dwelling ears, magenta freckles scrubbed clean from your face. Your skin is now an unassuming cool-toned grey to match the lake-water viridity of your eyes; all in all, to someone who's never met you, you could be an entirely different troll. 

Holding out your arms, you gesture at yourself. "What do you think?"

| Nepeta Maryam |

You actually emote. For a moment, your face is pure confusion and shock. Your brows furrow, your pretty lips part, your eyes widen, aaaaaaand it's gone. 

"Impressive," you say, the last of those emotions tainting the word. And then you give him a nudge, urging him to keep walking. 

“Is this an illusion, then? Or have you actually changed your form? I need to know how daring we can get. We're going to be covering a lot of ground and if I need to reroute us to avoid certain places, knowing now is preferable to finding out later." 

You cast your eyes behind you every once in a while, watching as bright white beams cast menacing shadows on the trees you just left. You took too many risks. You almost got him hurt. Something could have happened. You were just slightly too slow, just a little too talkative... 

You duck under a stone bridge, and try not to feel like you're praying. You're not scared. Being scared is a luxury you can no longer afford.

| Sollux Peixes |

You reach up and grab onto the nothingness where your smaller horn had disappeared, giving your skull a shake to make your point. "Cullmeleon technology. You can find this shit all over the black market from what I've seen; it can't change your biology, but it can put up a pretty good mask depending on the quality." 

Ducking in front of her, you keep up the pace. "Unfortunately, my shit is pretty bootleg, and I had to recreate it in a guarded broom closet from half-finished, half-remembered schematics I saw on the Internet sweeps ago, so I couldn't really go all out with facial reconstruction. Shit would glitch out all to hell the second I tried to move my jaw. Couldn't do much about the clothes, either."

You scowl as you look down, tugging at the pink in your clothes. Pyrope really tried to hammer it hive to everyone by having you dress up as a "proper" successor to the throne, decked out in pink, white, and fake gold. You drew the line at the fake tiara he probably bought from Troll Claire's. 

You're talking a mile a minute, you realize, but that could be attributed to the nerves -- the farther you get away, the more time there is to sink in what's happening. You're breaking out. You're breaking free. You have no idea where you're going, what's going to happen next, and you're with a complete stranger with unknown intentions.

| Nepeta Maryam |

You don't mind - if anything, it helps you keep an eye on him. The sound of his voice keeps him a constant presence in your mental lay of the land. You'll commit to memorizing it later. You let him talk, paying attention to everything he says, until you suddenly stop, grabbing him, silencing him and moving with your back flat to the steep, root-ridden side of the creek. 

 Lights pass first, then footsteps. Twigs snap. Leaves crunch. Heavy boots: Either Eridan's got them wearing steel-toed shoes, or this guard is rather large. Possibly both. You hold your breath... 

"No sign of 'em." "Commander Pyrope isn't going to be happy." "He's never happy. Call back the guard. I'll break the news..." 

 You can hear them turning back. Their flashlight beams swivel, cutting across trunk after trunk until they lay on the ground above, reflecting a soft blue-white glow into the tops of the trees. You let out a breath in the garbled sound of the guards radioing in, and motion silently for Sollux to follow you. 

You lead him to the mouth of a drainage pipe. You duck inside, then re-emerge with a pack in hand, from which you produce a grey-white scarf and cape. "We're safe, but let's keep going. Put these on. Sun-up is in..." You check the shadows on the side of the creek. "One hour. Is there any way we can get rid of the most obvious signifiers of your color?"

| Sollux Peixes |

There's an awful moment where you're pressed up against the dirt wall, damp soil chilling you through the thin cotton of your shirt as Maryam keeps one hand clapped firmly over your mouth in bated silence. As you quickly order your glasses to shut down --  your disguise disappearing with the glow of the lenses -- you can feel your pumpbiscuit beating as loud as drums in your ears. 

Seconds pass, they leave, and Maryam is urging you forward again. 

You take the cape and scarf from her, setting them aside as you strip off your shirt to turn it inside out. "I'll look stupid, but it's better than nothing." You slip the shirt back on, content enough that no will look past the black material to view the dull fuchsia stitching. You secretly thank god that your pants happen to be black -- you don't think your compatriot has the light-hearted attitude to find humor in you suggesting to continue this journey in your wriggling day suit. 

Throwing on the cape, you take a look at the sky, then at her. As your disguise blinks back into existence, you pause to ask, "Who really are you?"

| Nepeta Maryam |

Another hesitation. Another moment of silence. You don't look at him. The pattern of your pulse runs through the dull, slumbering glow of the implants in your head. 

What do you say? Do you tell him your name? With only the whispered tale of a shadow attached to your sign, does that name mean anything at all? When your whole life has been devoted to someone and something else, so much bigger than you, do you mean anything at all? 

"... No one important," you say, very quietly. It's the closest thing to the truth. You swing your pack over your shoulders, grip the sides of the creek, and pull yourself up. "All you need to know is that I want you alive, and out of the hands of anyone like Dan for as long as you live. If you ran away from me now, I wouldn't try to keep you here, but you and I both know you're a hot target. I'm untrackable, and I've trained and tracked you for five sweeps, specifically to help you do what you need to do." 

When you reach the top, you lay on your stomach, offering your hands down to him. 

"Danny would love to have you back, but you and I both know you don't want to go. You wanted out. I got you out. I'm asking you to trust me. Are you in?"

| Sollux Peixes |

You look up at her from below, the offered hands reaching in wait between you. Behind her, you can see the sky beginning to lighten, and it casts her entire frame in shadow from where you stand. 

There are so many questions that have been raised that you don't even know where to start in looking for answers. Who the hell is she? Why did she save you? What's her apparent deal with Eridan? What's in this for her that she's willing to go through all this trouble to protect you?  You mull it over, meeting her gaze. 

Finally, you settle on, "If you've gone through all of that work to save my ass, you're definitely not 'no one important'." You clasp her hands in yours, brace one foot against the wall, and let her help you climb up beside her. "Everybody's got a story, and if you apparently already know all about mine, there has to be a reason for that. For god's sake, you just saved me from a god damn hostage situation, I think that warrants us getting to know each other a little better."

| Nepeta Maryam |

"My story isn't really mine." 

You say it so casually, as if you're speculating on the weather. Maybe it will rain soon, maybe there will be thunder, maybe you'll have an existential crisis... Meteorology! It works in strange ways. 

As you walk, you tell him what you mean: the story of his ancestor, Karkat's ancestor, and yours. You tell him of the mission she was given, a careful plan from the turncoat Stalwart. How, silent and safe as the night, she left the only home she'd known for the wild unknown to commit high treason, and save the future heir. You tell him that when she died, she left you three things: A knife, a letter, and a destiny, charging you with protecting the heir - or, if you failed, to ensure the next one escaped the caverns alive. 

"You won't find any records on her." You wrap a black scarf over your shoulders, pulling it up to cover your head and horns. "No one ever knew her name, and they won't know mine, if I do my job. I started training at five sweeps, dropped off the radar at eight, and searched for you from the moment you disappeared. You bought me time to hone my skills... I'm just sorry I didn't find you sooner. It seemed like every time I thought I had a lead, Dan was always one step ahead of me."

| Sollux Peixes |

You listen to her story carefully, hanging on her every word with brow furrowed as you begin to fill in the gaps of your beginnings. Of course you knew about the Stalwart-- Karkat used to go on hours-long rants about the disgrace of his bloodline to the point where you almost got sick of hearing the name (there's a surprised softening in your features at first when the Ampora name is mentioned, a long-sustained ache in your chest for the old friend you haven't seen in sweeps.) The Proditor you knew about, but Maryam's ancestor? You never knew. You had no idea how it was you came to live past larval stage, only ever quietly thanked some power above that it happened.

It's a lot to take in. You find yourself watching her as she speaks, taking in the controlled inflection of her voice, the resolve with which she speaks -- the odd finality to her tone. There's something else there, too, but you can't quite put your finger on it. When she's done, you stare on straight ahead, pushing forward as you hear the distant din of the city somewhere beyond the brush.

"That's. I'm not going to lie, that's a lot." A deep breath. "You've been training your entire life just to keep me safe, and here I was, running around like a cluckbeast with it's head cut off right into a sociopathic status climber's den. I don't fucking blame you for not being able to find me." You rub at your face, adjusting your hood a little more to block out the risen sun. "I can't believe you've been tracking me for five sweeps, either. I would have thought I did a better job at hiding my identity before, but I guess that wasn't really my strong suit." 

You come upon a break in the forest, and you can start to see buildings from here. Needlepoint buildings tall enough to pierce the sky, looking illuminated and rather lonely as dawn has set over the city. Before you go any further though, you stop and turn to your partner. You open your mouth to say something, but quickly snap it shut as you're unsure how to proceed. 

"Listen, I don't...really know what to say," You look up to meet her in the eye in earnest. "Thanks. For getting me out of there, I mean, and. Apparently everything else you've gone through."

| Nepeta Maryam |

Now here's the thing about training to make your body into a finely-tuned, stealthy weapon: You don't talk to a lot of people. You spend a lot of time on your own or in rigorous training sessions with masters of your craft, who would rather give instruction and bark orders than actually converse. You knew enough to give and get information, but you didn't know much beyond that, and it showed: Your lack of expression, your blunt, grim manner, and so on, and so forth. 

 All of this means that when he looks you in the eye and expresses genuine thanks, you are, for once in a very long time, genuinely shaken. 

You don't say anything at first. You're trying to think of what to say, scrabbling at any words that come to mind. How do you respond to this? "You're welcome?" "Thank you?" "Don't mention it?" It's kind of a big deal, mentioning it is pretty warranted. 

"It's okay," is what you settle on. Again, very quiet. Then, at normal volume: "It's my job. Let's... keep moving." 

Another pause. "You'll get sunburned." 

Not that you care about him or anything.

| Sollux Peixes |

She walks ahead of you, and you spend a moment looking after her before you follow. You're not sure what the fuck that's all about, but hey. Who are you to be picky about the disposition of your...body guard? Wow, no, absolutely not, you already hate the sound of that. Scrap that. 

You follow your acquaintance out of the forested area, saying so long to the property you've been kept captive in for three entire sweeps and hello as you traipse back into city limits. You peer up at the glowing towers rising above you, and wonder where you both go from here.