#looking forward to next cases to see if it matches because i think i'm onto something here
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fuckthisshitimin · 6 months ago
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About the OIAR's "categories";
What if they tell you what the incident is tied to? Not as in "what entity" but, a place, a person, or an object. Comparing files under the cut. I kindly invite you to
CAT1 "Person"
Episode 1, [5257], "Some of him", dead partner comes back wrong + the subject was contacted by someone who offered her to hear her lost one again.
Episode 6, [4824], "Needles"
Episode 10, [2275], Bonzo's first appearance (let's here consider Bonzo as a person, though it might later be replaced with "agent", "monster" or something else. the important part is that it acts as a subject)
Episode 12, [4728], Bonzo's Bachelor Party Crashing
Episode 14, [4426], Snake salesman taken over by snakes. Would "person/agent" here define said salesman or the snakes? I'd go for the victim, but unsure.
Episode 15, [6451], Lady Mawbrey's hunting party.
Episode 16, [1565], Madam E. aka goth influencer dying of being hated.
KLAUS [2373], the rendez-vous given with the note "Lady M"
KLAUS [5529], incident with note "Mr. B" for Bonzo.
KLAUS [corrupted], the only "Rank S", with note "Mr. B" as previously.
CAT2 "Place":
Episode 1, [1157], "Dolls coma watching"... I don't know, would have made more sense if it was in "object" but we don't know much about this file.
Episode 3, [8175], Tree body horror. The victim is becoming a part of the place he's in.
Episode 5, [2377], "Voyeur needs to be seen to be believed. The scariest movie I've ever seen." Victim is lured into creepy cinema. Tags contain "Invitation".
Episode 7, [3338], Oxford's People Trust, Hilltop Center branch gets invaded by volunteers. The place is burned down by armed people wearing black at the end of the report -- it's Hilltop. The "volunteers" are gathering here, occupying the space, hurting the manager is barely a consequence.
Episode 8, [3366], "Brutal liminality", a paper about how places hurt people's psyche. "You're here" and "Stay awhile" are the only sentences repeated by the crowd.
Episode 17, [1147], Darrien & Other Darrien. The Passage or Crack or whatever he went through, arriving near Oxford's Magnus Institute Outreach Center. Rich Darrien is the horrific part of it, but it's not the supernatural one.
KLAUS [5548], note "Mr. B" -- location "Bland (for Bonzoland) Theme Park, Sommerset"
CAT3 "Objects"
Episode 2, [1567], "The artist becomes the canvas!" Dorian Gray-like case. It seems odd that ink5oul's tattoos wouldn't fall in the same category, but when Madam E.'s tattoo directly attacks her heart, this one transfers power to the painting so it still makes sense to classify it this way. Also, separating subject from canvas stopped any progression, so unlike a CAT1 case even though the tattoo's on her the power isn't within exactly.
Episode 4, [7494], blood-hungry violin. It's the violin.
Episode 9, [3354], the dice.
Episode 13, [4622], Darrien bets against himself on an app. Trickier, but the phone's importance is underlined throughout the story, nothing happens without it. Maybe the app itself counts as an object? I'd bet on the phone.
CAT 23 "Place" AND "Object"
Episode 1, [2155], "Canaries should stay above ground". Place would be the Magnus Institute ruins RedCanary explored, and object the souvenir (empty wooden box with symbols on it) they brought back. They were receiving anonymous DMs (impossible on this forum) calling them a thief.
Episode 11, [5246], "The sea will care for his bones", digging up graves near the sea, weirdly well preserved tattooed corpse. The place is relevant and brought up in many ways, and I'd say the tattoo, or the corpse, are more efficiently filed as "object" than "person".
Additionally, in the KLAUS spreadsheet, two lines have notes saying "Avoid" and they are both CAT2. Seems more likely to write "avoid" about a place than a person, but mayble I'm extrapolating too much.
If you've read this far, thank you. It's nice not to be alone getting a little obsessed with this.
I still don't know what DPHW stands for though. Still staring at the sheet until it gives me answers.
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julienbakerstreet · 4 months ago
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Ranking Sherlock Holmes Adaptations by the Quality of Their Dressing Gowns
First, my qualifications: I'm a flamboyant fashion-forward femme who frequently wears dressing gowns.
Rubric: I am scoring based on color, pattern, textural intrigue, garment construction, and fit. In cases where there are multiple dressing gowns per adaptation, I picked my favorite one.
#12 The Seven-Percent Solution (1976)
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I hate this one. It's so beige, and the corded details + drop waist ultimately make it look like a monk's tunic. The only redeeming value I can find in this is the slight angled detail with the cording on the sleeves.
#11 Mr. Holmes (2015)
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Similar to the last robe with some slight improvements. For one, it has pockets! The pockets have a corded decorative applique, and if you zoom in on a higher-def image you can see that the fabric has an interesting textured weave. I could definitely see it styled well. This robe is ugly, too thin to keep him warm, and fits worse than a burlap sack, but this Holmes is retired and deserves to put comfort and practicality first.
#10 Granada (1984)
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This dressing gown is BAD!!! Before you accuse me of being biased against mouse-colored dressing gowns (I am) let me assure you that color is not my only issue with this dressing gown. It commits the ultimate fashion sin- boring. The texture looks decidedly un-cozy. I even hate the construction! There's no belt, or even belt loops, and the pocket is sewn onto the outside of the gown! Nothing wrong with patch pockets per se, but on this robe it looks shabby. This is made all the more painful by the fact that Watson wears multiple colorful and well-textured dressing gowns in this show. I love Granada, but I can't excuse this.
#9 Cushing Holmes (1968)
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I really wish I liked this dressing gown more, because I think that Cushing is one of the best-dressed Holmeses we've ever seen. But I simply cannot get behind this. I applaud the bold use of color and how on theme this gown is for The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle, but the red cording and blue looks odd together. In other shots, you can see buttons, but I think a dressing gown should have a nice belt, and I think the buttons are just a bit too formal for what should be a comfortable piece. I love that this is a Holmes who's willing to take a fashion risk, but in this case it did not pay off. 
#8 Soviet Holmes (1979)
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While this dressing gown is boring, the fabric looks nice and heavy, perfect for curling up cozily in front of the fire on a cold night. Contrary to the Granada plain brown dressing gown, this one has a belt and pockets sewn into the gown. There’s nothing interesting about this gown, but it isn't offensive.
#7 Ritchie Holmes (2009)
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Agh! This dressing gown is in tatters! As befits action-hero Holmes, I suppose. It might deserve the lowest spot on the list for its condition, but looking beyond that, I really enjoy the colors and the paisley pattern. It reminds me of a nice Persian rug. The hints of blue set off the reds and oranges nicely, and at one point it must have been a very nice robe. I like that the state of the robe tells us something about the personality of the wearer, but points are deducted because the texture looks a tad rough and it's in an unbelievably rough state.
#6 Basil of Baker Street (1986)
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Now we're getting to the good stuff! The magenta dressing gown is set off nicely by the black cuffs, collar, and belt. Extra points for styling it with a green cravat, and because it nearly matches Dr. Dawson's vest. Great character design, and it makes Basil look like a snazzy little rodent.
#5 Rathbone Holmes (1939)
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It's harder to judge in black and white, but I really like this dressing gown! The fabric looks like a thick cotton velvet, and the cording gives it a lovely contrast. It's distinguished, but it still manages to look comfortable for smoking a pipe next to Watson.
#4 The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970)
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Now this is nice! The velvet is very shiny, slightly green, and I love the quilted collar and pocket. However, upon further inspection, it's not quite a dressing gown, but more like a long smoking jacket, for which it loses points. Still, it's the closest he comes to wearing a dressing gown and perfect for this urbane and fashionable Holmes.
#3 Enola Holmes (2020)
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Dare I say fabulous? I love the cerulean on this one! The fabric looks like a soft silk, which isn't exactly the warmest, but very comfortable. The pattern on the collar is very intricate as well. It's definitely not the dressing gown I would pick for a classic Holmes, but it suits this untraditional Holmes perfectly.
#2 William Gillette (1899)
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For the man who popularized the deerstalker/Inverness combo, he can certainly rock a dressing gown. Definitely the most authentic on the list (this picture was taken in 1916), I love the quilted collar, pockets, and cuffs. The silky fabric and decorative pattern make for a very stylish sleuth. I particularly enjoy the shape of the pockets and cuffs. Points deducted for an awkward fit and the lack of a belt.
#1 Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988)
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"But this isn't an adaptation, it's just an episode of Star Trek!" I don't care! It counts in my heart. And Data has my favorite Holmes dressing gown. Let's break it down. This looks like a velvet gown with a classically Victorian damask pattern. The velvet texture contrasts really well with the quilted silk collar. The twisted cord belt even has a tassel at the end! And to top it off, it's fully lined with bright red silk. It looks comfortable for lounging in, the fabric has a nice heft without being stiff, and the aesthetic is perfect. This is, to me, the ultimate Holmes dressing gown.
Let me know which ones I missed and what your favorite dressing gowns are!
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jinnie-ret · 11 months ago
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ep.2: meet the grooms
ratings: fluff
warnings: hinting at cheating
running time: 1.6k words
summary: the husbands to be meet each other for their stag do, before they get married.
Now you know some more info on the husbands to be, I'd love it if you let me know your predictions in who is matched with who! :)
SKZ MAFS EPISODE LIST
MAIN MASTERLIST
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
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"Hi, I'm Chan, or Chris, depends what you wanna call me, haha! I'm 26 and I'm originally from Australia!"
"It's a bit weird isn't it? Coming onto a show like this, but I thought, hey, there's a chance I could find the love of my life on this show," Chan shrugged, before giggling shyly and looking down at his lap. "Someone who just gets me for me would be nice."
"The last time I was in a relationship wow... It was amazing. I'm actually still friends with my ex, which may sound weird, but there was no bad blood, we were just too busy with our own work lives. So that may be something I'm worried about, you could say?"
"I'm a producer, and my ex was a singer, so it seemed like a match made in heaven. But I have to work a lot, and I like getting stuck in, too much I've been told," Chan pulled an 'oops' face as he shared his work habits. "I think it's just shown me how important it is to have that strong connection. When I meet my wife, I'm going to be spending to rest of my life with her. So I'm going to make sure she knows that I'm there for her, and hope the same feeling is returned."
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"I'm Minho and I'm 25."
"I'm kinda here to prove my friends from home wrong. They think that I wouldn't be able to have a stable marriage and I thought, I know I can. The more and more I thought about it, it would be... nice to meet someone, yeah," Minho smiled at the camera bashfully. "As long as they can handle me, I can handle them."
"I did just come out of a 4 year relationship, it was, hard. It feels sort of awkward to say but I do miss having someone there next to me where I can just appreciate the little things," he felt awkward as he said it, "that felt too weird to say. Forget I ever said that."
"I work in a cat cafe, one that I own, which is my dream job. I get to see all the cute cats all day and the people are ok too, haha," Minho chuckled. "They're good at keeping me company, and it's nice having someone there. Did I mention that?"
"I'm hoping that out of this process, when I meet my wife that she'll have a big heart, because mine is open."
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"My name is Changbin and I'm 24," a man with broad shoulders and a toned chest accentuated by a tight shirt sat down in front of the camera.
"I think people think that being a personal trainer, I'd have met a lot of girls and already have a girlfriend by now, but that's not necessarily the case," Changbin grins and scratches the back of his neck.
"Yeah, I love my job but you know... things have to stay professional," he pretended to push his hands away from him as if representing the distance. "I just want someone who is fun and will want to have fun being with me."
"My last relationship hmmm... we were just kids. It was 6 years ago so I've changed a lot since then. It was fun, I can't deny that but there was so much ahead of us that it felt impossible to stay together," Changbin wisely reflected in his past relationship. "I know that maybe if things were different we would have still been together but, the world has a strange way of making things happen."
"It's definitely shaped me into the person I am today," he cheekily flexed his arms before continuing, "but seriously, I really am just looking forward to the process, and of course meeting my wife."
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"Hi, I'm Hyunjin and I'm 23!"
"If I'm being honest, this is really weird... so weird! But it's exciting too, like I could fine 'the one' through this experiment. And I hope whoever walks down that aisle will know that I'm here and willing to give them my all," Hyunjin was confident as he spoke on camera, laughing at first at the absurdity of it all despite him choosing to join the experiment.
"I recently just had a breakup around 6 months ago..." he was almost sheepish in admitting it, "which sounds crazy but I'm at that stage where I feel so ready to settle down and commit to someone. This is the perfect opportunity."
"What I really love doing is working as an artist. I get quite highly paid commissions," Hyunjin winked at the camera as he adjusted his hair. "It's a good way to express what I'm feeling if I can't necessarily say it. But once I meet my wife, I think I'll get a lot better at that. She'll be the most important person in my life, after all."
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"Helllooooo! I'm Jisung and I'm 23!"
"It's about time I found someone, I'm gonna say it just like that," he chuckled, looking away. "I see everyone around me and they've all got partners but I want to find someone too. They've got to be funny, and, it would be nice if they were the life of the party, because sometimes I can feel quite shy and introverted. If they've got the energy then so do I."
"I've not had a relationship before. Sure I've dated but I find it hard to see what the future will hold sometimes. So this will probably help me grow a lot and see sides to myself that I've never seen before. I'm excited," Jisung's eyes squinted as he was so happy of what his marriage would bring him.
"I've written so many love songs recently, you wouldn't believe it. I produce for other people but I hope one day I can get my own music out there," Jisung shared his hopes and dreams to the camera. "I hope my wife is someone who is supportive in that sense. Because I'll back her 100%, no matter what she does. We'll be like this," he crosses his fingers tightly.
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"Hi! I'm Felix and I'm 23," a cute man with delicate features beamed at the camera, his freckles very apparent.
"This is like the perfect thing for me to do. I just love meeting new people, so if I can find someone who is my best friend and likes being affectionate and is someone I can know on a deeper level, that itself would be the ideal experience for me," he waved his hands around slightly as he spoke.
"I've been single for 3 years. The last person I was with... They really had a grip on my heart, but I had to take a look at what was better for me, healthier for me. I wasn't getting that love I needed so it ended for the right reasons. And I'm happier now that I can actually say that to myself," Felix was quieter and more soft spoken as he explained.
"My real passion is baking. I love seeing how people react to what I make for them, I think food is my love language haha," Felix leant forward as he laughed. "If my wife will be willing to try what I bake them that's already gonna make my heart go pitter patter."
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"My name is Seungmin and I'm 23 years old."
"I'm here for love. I'm a busy guy and I haven't had time to form a real strong connection with someone, so I'm hoping this show will do that for me," Seungmin explained it plain and simple. "I don't know if I could be with someone too soft hearted, you've gotta be able to handle my teasing because if you cry... I don't know what to do, haha."
"2 years, it's been, I think? Yeah, 2 years. Not the best thing seeing your girlfriend at the time sneaking around with your boss, but," Seungmin sighed, nodding his head as he got through his last words on the question, "things happen. I moved on eventually and so I'm ready to find someone that will be faithful, at the very least, and will hopefully understand my wariness at the start."
"I work for a big company in the city, don't worry I won't name drop," Seungmin smirks as he looks off camera to the staff operating the interview. "It's a lot to handle, sure, but knowing I'd have someone special in my life to come home to, where we can share now our days went, that's what I want. What I need."
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"I'm 22 and my name is Jeongin."
"If I can meet someone who is the light in my life, I'll be hook, line and sinker for them," he grinned widely. "I want to do all the couple things and go on movie dates and nice dinners, and yeah," he shrugged after, not knowing what else to say.
"My last relationship ended a year ago. It was short but at the end of the day it was better for both of us. We each had our own things going on in our lives that we just couldn't be there for each other anymore," Jeongin bravely admitted that the breakdown of the relationship had happened because of both sides.
"I'm a kindergarten teacher so I'm working with kids all day, they're so sweet though, it's cute. I'm used to high energy all the time so to have someone to destress with, have that safe space at home would bring some comfort," he was happy when talking about his job, it was something he loved doing, working with children. "I think this process will be interesting for sure, but I know that coming out of this I'll meet someone who will change my life for the better."
<-- previous ep watch next ep -->
viewers: @skz-streamer @kiraisastay @hannahhbahng @kpopmenace143 @sakufilms @hanjiquokkaaa @arloo00 @dunno-wut-to-do @splat00z @cheesemonky @his-angell @turtledove824 @2minstan @royal-shinigami @jyu-037 @keen-li @strawberry31 @5starlee
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cupidddd-d · 1 year ago
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fic where spencer & reader are both bi?? i never see bi spencer fics w/ fem reader :))
love your fics sm!! ty <3
hii!! tysm i'm so glad you love my fics!! sorry it took so long to answer, i've js been trying to get out of my writing slump :( but here it is i hope you like it!! so i introduce to you....
hey lol (with rizz)
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maturing was realizing that you were completely infatuated with spencer reid. and maturing was also realizing that helping each other pick up cute guys and girls together was definitely not going to help you rizz him up. which meant, as a whole, that maturing was realizing you needed to find a new way to bond with spencer.
because you had to admit, it was starting to hurt a little bit to watch spencer fall in love with all the men and women you would introduce to him (you were just a little too good at matchmaking).
and you felt a little bad for spencer, who spent most of his free time finding you possible dating candidates all around the country (the man was literally looking for your possible significant others as he was solving murder cases!) he seriously needed a break, especially considering how all of his work was for naught-- you were already in love with him.
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"so...spencer, i was thinking about changing up our location a little bit," you suggested as you gestured around the cafe the two of you frequented.
"i agree. i think broadening our horizons will allow us to widen our possible dating pool." spencer agreed. "perhaps a larger cafe?"
you cleared your throat nervously. "uh, actually...i was thinking maybe a nice restaurant? ju-just you and me, maybe mariano's on 32nd street? i hear they're having a couple's special."
spencer blinked. once. twice. you were getting anxious for him to respond, and frankly, you were ready to dive under the hardwood floors to never be seen again.
"what?" spencer blinked again.
you were internally screaming, crying, throwing up, ripping your hair out, and punching the wall. you really shouldn't have brought this up. you waited all this time for him to respond just for him to say 'what'???
you licked your lips and took a deep breath, steeling your nerves. "i guess i should rephrase that. do you want to just go on a date, you and me?"
you hoped he couldn't see that you were starting to sweat a little bit. was the cafe getting hotter?
"but...i thought we were spending all this time together to find partners for each other. i didn't know you felt this way." spencer said slowly.
what was that supposed to mean?? was he happy about you inviting him out or not?? you were already in too deep to take back your words, so the only way left to go was forward.
"i mean, yes, but during that time, i may have realized that your search was fruitless, because i already um...want...to date you?" you squinted at the end of your sentence,
spencer's cheeks blushed red. he looked pretty like that, and you were happy to have been the one to make him blush. "you....like me?"
you were starting to feel a hot flush start crawling up your cheeks too. "well...yeah. that's the thing i've been trying to tell you about this whole conversation. i want to go out with you. but if you don't want to, that's totally okay too. i don't want to pressure you or anything, but i just want to tell you that i do like you."
and it was then that you felt like you were about to faint. maybe it was just the stress of that whole conversation. or maybe it was the pink flush in spencer's cheeks, the slow smile spreading across his face, and the happiness in his lovely, lovely eyes.
"yes."
it was just that one word that made everything shine so much brighter. "okay, so um...mariano's on 32nd?"
spencer pressed his lips together to force his smile down. "yeah, that sounds great. friday at 5?"
you felt a matching smile creep onto your face. "i'd love that."
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js some fluff for the kids because the next spencer reid fic coming out won't be a happy one :)
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animehouse-moe · 1 year ago
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The Ancient Magus' Bride Season 2 Episode 14: Nothing Venture, Nothing Have II
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Kafka and MahoYome are settling in to this second cour of its second season, as we refocus on the missing book. While the episode stays pretty well in line with expectations for viewers, there's quite a few ambitious and well executed moments within.
The first thing that springs to mind is the use of CGI. Kafka's shown themselves to rely on it to a decent degree for some moments, so I was expecting to see it in this episode regardless.
Two moments stand out though, as rather well done examples: the werewolf opening scene, and Mariel's Harry Potter style brick-removal trick. I think both look surprisingly good, and that they owe it to the darker compositions of the scenes. CGI in bright light can look bad if your detail or compositing isn't really good, but those are both things that can be better hidden with darker and more bleak lighting and colors.
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Let's get into the episode at hand though, mostly because I noticed a mistake (that was pointed out by a comment) with my previous post. That is, that Isaac has a crush (or something of the sort) on Philomela.
That's not the case, those feelings certainly still lie with Rian in some capacity, and we come to understand Isaac's actions through the lens of Rian's past. Here, it's Philomela that he remembers rather than Isaac, which is really interesting. It implies that Philomela and Rian's families were closer before his and Isaac's were, where Philomela originally played the role of Rian's friend/right hand man.
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Isaac doesn't seem to understand or know of the past between Philomela and Rian, but he grasps the feel of their emotions. He discerns that there's a type of bond between her and Rian, and he doesn't like that so he ends up pressuring Rian on Philomela in this episode which I thought was very interesting.
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For reference, it becomes clearer in hindsight now that Isaac's self-deprecation to Philomela was him comparison himself as a match to Rian. Though I'm unsure if it's meant to be in the romantic sense and that that's why we had that shot of Philomela's chest.
Cruising from character to character, I want to visit Alcyone next because this second cour seems to be doing something very curious with them.
Yes, they're continually aware of Alcyone's height in how they frame layouts, but that's not it.
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What I'm more interested in is the piece said by Chise later on in the episode about Alcyone.
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It's a really interesting idea that she brings forward, because Alcyone sort of fits the bill for being a replacement/parallel Elias for Philomela. I'm sure that Alcyone will play a critical role in Philomela breaking free of her cage, similar to how Elias impacted Chise. It does make me wonder though if Elias will appear much alongside Chise through this stretch. I think leaving them separate is a good thing as of right now though, and that in doing so they're able to allow Chise to grow as an individual and use her past experiences with Elias to involve herself with Alcyone and Philomela.
Speaking about Philomela so much though, she absolutely has the scene of the episode. I love it so much for so many different reasons.
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The narrative behind it is just so great. Philomela thinks she's free from her grandmother at the college, that she has a chance to be a normal student thanks to Chise, that having Alcyone by her side she'll be okay.
But then then her old habits kick in and she can't drink the water. She begins to spiral in her isolation, and the iron grip of her grandmother returns in the worst way possible. She uses Alcyone as a vessel for a pre-recorded message to disparage Philomela, to drag her even deeper into the abyss of her own mind. It's an incredibly well put together sequence that shows just how little a thread Philomela has been holding onto as her grandmother threatens to let go of the other end.
And just re-winding a little to the last bit I really want to talk about: the hole in the wall vendor.
One of my favorite things about MahoYome is how consistently it terrifies with the world of magic. How often things are unsightly and uncomfortable, dangerous or menacing. This specific vendor is a great example of that with two things during their interaction with Mariel.
The first is how they search Mariel's mind for the book. In contrast to her way of touching lips, the vendor sticks his hand directly into Mariel's head, which given the physical reaction Mariel has, was not a pleasant experience.
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Following that up is the casual explanation that the vendor would have eaten Mariel had she not paid a reasonable price to them for the information that she's searching for.
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The world of magic and monsters is such on that the name implies. It is certainly not the realm of humans, and I love that distinction so much. It presents such a unique, but at the same time very classic approach to magic, and I really can't get enough of it.
I also can't get enough of these detailed environments. I wish Kafka had more to play with in regards to the design of the college, because the vendor's space looks incredibly good.
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All in all, it's an episode that has a lot of strong points, but can struggle with getting stuck in lulls. Kafka remains a little too ambitious in some scenes as they rely on still images to fill the space. In others though, like the Philomela sequence, they have some really great work being done. I don't think that MahoYome has to be animated perfectly 100% of the time, but I think that the direction and boarding can use some work to promote animation in sequences.
The story remains rock solid though, and I love how much detail and subtle progression there is with the characters here. So so much to love that I essentially forgot about the book that remains lurking on campus. But I suppose there'll be more about that in the next episode.
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wiypt-writes · 3 years ago
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Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
A Frank Adler One Shot.
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Summary: It’s Frank’s wedding night… but you’re not quite ready to let him go just yet.
Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, 18+) allusions to cheating…
Pairings:  Frank Adler x Reader
A/N: Just a little smutty one shot featuring everyone’s favourite Dirty Boat Daddy. Written for @onlyjamesbarnes 1.5k Follower Challenge. Prompt in bold. Congrats babe!!
Lyrics from Fall Out Boy- Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Frank Adler Master list // Main Masterlist
❤️💔♥️💔♥️💔♥️💔♥️💔♥️💔♥️💔
I'm gonna make you bend and break,
Say a prayer, but let the good times roll
In case God doesn't show…
Frank had always been powerless to resist you. He was a moth to your flame, but like always, you play with fire and you get burnt.
But now, you were the one burning, burning hotter than the sun.
With a groan, you ground your hips down as you leaned back, rolling and rocking down onto him. That face, sharp chiselled jawline covered by a slightly nearer than usual scruff looked back at you, his perfect profile silhouetted against the moonlight which drifted through the curtains of the hotel room.
How could something that wrong feel so fucking right?
And I want these words to make things right, But it's the wrongs that make the words come to life.
"Who does he think he is?"
If that's the worst you've got, better put your fingers back to the keys
He shouldn’t have let you in, but you knew he would as soon as he fired you the message with his room number. Your signature knock had sounded across the plush suite he was spending his last night as a ‘single’ man in, and like a sacrificial lamb welcoming its slaughter, he’d opened the door.
“You shouldn’t be here.”
“I wanted to see you.” You blinked up at him. He was still in his slacks and dress shirt, from the rehearsal you’d sat through, tie discarded, collar open. He cut a stark contrast to the boat greased and oil stained, salty air cured man you were used to.
He held the door open for you, stepping back and allowing you in. Without a word you walked over to the grand windows the space provided, offering a look at the shoreline outside and below. The view was breathtaking at night, the moonlight shining off the waves as they lapped at the shore, mere metres away from where tomorrow he would take his vows.
Through the reflection of the window behind you, you could see him just as his hands gripped at your waist. You turned on the ball of your foot, manicured fingers running up his chest from his strong pecs to his collarbones and over his shoulders to around his neck, your lips quickly on his. Your tongue slipped inside, tasting a hint of scotch, a half drunk glass of which sat on the small coffee table to the right. Frank moaned against your mouth while your fingers slipped through the neatly trimmed hair of his neck.
You pushed against him slightly with your body, the back of his legs hitting the chair besides the coffee table and he took a seat, breaking your kiss.
“This shouldn’t-“
“Shhh.” You shook your head. “Just give me tonight, please.”
He stared at you with lust blown eyes, different to the playful glint he normally possessed when he used to look at you, as you thought for a second about your next move, bottom lip already swollen from his kiss between your teeth.
You knew he was a goner.
"Y/N," he managed to croak out as you straddled his lap, seating yourself over his now hard cock, the rough fabric of his dark dress pants constraining him, giving you just enough teasing friction agasint your sensitive inner thighs. His large hands slid up your thighs and under your light coloured, flowy dress as you moved your lips over his again, giving him access to your ass, finger tips grazing the barely there material of your panties.
You ground down against him, your hips rolling in a circular motion as he growled into your mouth, squeezing your cheeks with his hands. You kicked off your sandals, making a thud as they hit the plush carpet. A sound that matched that of your heart. A heart that squeezed in your chest, as if someone had wound and elastic band around its middle knowing that tomorrow you’d watch him takes his vows.
And everything would change.
Frank broke away from your lips, to lick and nip at your jaw and down your neck, tongue rolling against your sternum. His face drilled between your breasts, inhaling your scent.
Your fingers found the buttons of his shirt and plucked them open skillfully, French manicured nails raking across his chest, causing him to shudder and groan. You reached for the buckle of his belt, undoing it with little trouble, lifting your hips slightly, showing a strength in your thighs as you lifted away from him, to undo his flies. You adjusted yourself, pushing up on your knees just a little to allow the room you needed to dip your hand just under his boxers waistline, gently gripping at his dick.
“No, not here.” He growled, teeth nipping at the shell of your ear. “I want you in the bed.”
The bed. Where he would spend his first night as a married man.
It was so wrong.
Yet you happily obliged.
It was a well practiced tango the pair of you had danced over the years, and now here you were, him keening underneath you with a desperation you’d come to know well.
You could feel his cock pulsing against your walls and it gave you the chills. You held the power and control as he struggled to keep his.
With a quick movement, Frank sat up, pulling you flush against his chest, the angle hitting you just at that pleasurable spot he always managed to hit within you. His head dropped, lips and teeth gently teasing your nipple, large hands splayed agains your spine as he lavished you with affection.
You started grinding down harder, looking for that clitoral stimulation you wanted and as you found it, he moaned deeply into your ear.
“I’m close, but I don’t wanna… not yet.” His words were a plea, a plea that he wasn’t ready to end, and you knew he didn’t simply mean tonight.
But it had to. There was no way around it.
One night and one more time, thanks for the memories, even though they weren't so great
"He tastes like you only sweeter"
"Just...let...go," you purred against him.
"Oh fahk," he ground out as his feet planted firmly into the mattress and his hips thrust upward. It didn't take much, a few strong and hard drives and you were crying out his name, your head thrown back in ecstasy as you came around around him.
"Jesus, fahkk, I'm gonna fahking.... Oh fahk," he swore vehemently, his old Boston drawl thick as he drove hard into you for a final time, exploding his load deep into you, spraying your walls with ribbons of white cream.
The pair of you collapsed onto the bed, utterly spent. Frank kept you held to his chest as you both drew ragged, heaving breaths. After a moment, Frank pressed a kiss to the crown of your head, no words needed.
And you blinked back a solitary tear.
*****
I'm looking forward to the future, but my eyesight is going bad.
And this crystal ball, it’s always cloudy except for when you look into the past
One night stand
Frank had fallen asleep with you in his arms, not quite ready to let you go. But you were long gone by the time he woke the next morning, the only evidence you’d been in his room was a scribbled note on the pad on the night stand.
“Here’s to the first day of the rest of your life.”
He’d folded the note up and slipped it into his breast pocket, not quite sure why. Maybe it would keep you close to him in those moments he needed to feel you, who knows.
Who knows why any of this had started in the first place.
He watched Mary walk down the aisle first, her bouquet in her hand had been dropped as she had leapt into his arms for a hug, laughing as she told him how excited she was. He’d kissed her cheek and placed her down and she stood by his side, watching as his bride and her father started towards him.
It was then Frank’s eyes had found yours as you watched him, and he swallowed, his chest contracting.
He could still feel your eyes on him and he couldn’t get the image of you bouncing on top of his cock out of his head. He blinked as someone said his name, and he looked at the officiant, clearing his throat.
“Sorry, little nervous.” He apologised, flashing a cheeky grin before he took a deep breath.
A couple of I-Dos later, he was told to kiss his wife. So he did.
And all he could taste was you.
Man and wife walked hand in hand down the aisle to applause, and at the end they stopped and the new Mrs Adler peered up at Frank, a soft smile on her face.
“You happy?”
“Of course.” He smiled back.
“Good, because choosing me to spend your life with, well, I actually think it’s the second best choice you’ve ever made in your life.”
Frank blinked as he heard the click of the photographer's camera. “Oh? The second? What was the first?”
“Letting me into your room last night.” You grinned, your hand sliding up his tux, the diamond studded band catching the sun, glinting in the bright light.
Frank grinned at you, before he arched his eyebrow. “Time will tell if it really was bad luck to see my wife the night before.”
“Didn’t feel like bad luck to me,” you smirked, you hand gently tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck as he dropped his head to kiss you, the cheers and applause once more chiming in your ears.
One night and one more time, thanks for the memories
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itsthestutterforme · 3 years ago
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Escort 1/2 (Jang Hanseok)
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Summary: You're an escort that Jang Hanseok has had his eyes on for a while. He finally invites you to his house for the night.
--
"What's his name again?" You ask your madame, and she hands you a file in response. You open the file to see a familiar looking man. He was the CEO of Babel, Jang Hanseok.
And for some odd reason, he chose you to be his escort for the night. There were plenty women prettier and more experienced but he chose you. "He paid for the entire night," your madame explains. "But what about my regulars?" "They were pushed until tomorrow,"
"How did they take that?" "They're big boys, they can handle it," she says, making you chuckle. "Make sure to have fun, I've heard he's like a tiger in bed." "What does that mean?" "You'll see,"
**
You smooth your hands over your silk black dress after you ring the door bell, careful not to cross your arms to seem closed off. Your heart was starting to race as you heard footsteps acend towards the door. Pull yourself together, Y/N. He's not your first client.
The door opens to reveal the chiseled face of Jang Hanseok. He's rubbing his hair dry with a towel and standing before you shirtless and wearing gray sweatpants. He definitely hits the iron because every peck and crevice of his chest is solid and defined.
He knows exactly what he's doing. He throws the towel over his shoulder and reaches out to touch your face.
He draws his thumb over your cheek. "Soft," he says to himself before turning away and walking back into his loft. You follow him in and close the door behind you. His loft is like many of your clients, vast and spaceous with minimal decor and life.
Your eyes fall to a small version of the Babel Tower with it's light flashing. "You like it?" "Is it really going to be a hundred floors?" "What's wrong with that?" "Well if you don't see spendung have your time in the elevator as a problem, then no." You say, making him chuckle softly.
"There it is," he says. "There what is?" He grabs your chin and pulling you towards him. "Your smart mouth," he whispers against your lips. "You know, when I first saw you, you put a man in his place because he thought it was okay to touch a woman as she walked by." He adds.
He leans in so close you would practice taste him. "And that was the hottest thing I've ever seen." He sizes you up before pulling away from you. You surpress the whine from the loss of contact.
He sits down on his couch and man spreads as he turns on the TV. Leaving you hot and bothered, you toss you purse on the counter and sat across from him. He just sits there with one hand on his lap and the other clicking through the channels.
"So are we just going to watch TV all night?" He doesn't respond, but glances over at you. You huff with annoyance. Watch him be the type that wants me to beg. Well he has the wrong woman tonight because you don't beg.
He seems patient enough, let's see how far he'll let you go. You stand from you spot on the couch and slowly approach him but he doesn't move a muscle or acknowledge your existence.
You sit in his lap and roll your hips to get comfortable. He clears his throat but you could tell that he was trying to suppress a moan. You take his chin into your hand and sharply turn his face to look at you.
He raises an eyebrow at you which probably means that I was traveling on thin ice. You have his attention alright, the question is what do you plan to do with it? You pull away from his chin and grab his wrists to pin against the back cushions of the couch.
You press your lips to his and gasp when he nips at your bottom lip harshly. He yanks himself out of your grip and pushes your back into the sofa. "You are such a brat, you know that?" He scolds as he wraps his fingers around your throat and uses his other hand to cup your pussy.
"How else was I suppose to get your attention?" You ask, whimpering as he rolls your clit between his index finger and his thumb. "By being a good girl. Now I'm going to have to punish you," he says, grabbing his tie from the table.
He ties your wrists together and places them above your head. He slowly trails his hands from your arms to your chest and cups your breasts before burying his face in them. Humming with satisfaction, he licks up the valley of your breasts, making your entire pussy throb against his hand.
"Do you like that sweetheart?" You moan in response and he bunches your dress at your waist before pull it over your head and out of the way. He unclips your bra and tears it in two since he couldn't take it off regularly with your hands tied.
He takes one of your nipples into his mouth and rubs the other with the pad of his thumb all with sliding his free hand into your panties. He slides two fingers into your slick and curls them hard and slow. You arch your back off of the couch and tried to roll your hips and match the rhythm of his fingers
He stops his movements and you fall back on the couch so he could resume his movements. "Damn it, I'm sorry." You whine but he ignores you and continues to pump his fingers at the painfully slow pace. Your orgasm was slowly acending your belly, but you had to lay back and ignore your want for friction because otherwise, he would stop.
You were on the verge of tears once your first orgamn finally came. "I'm s.. I'm sorry, Hanseok. Please don't," you trail off when he pulls away from your nipple with a satisfying pop. He kisses down your stomach and pulls your underwear down as your legs and leaves kisses on the freshly exposed skin.
He tosses your underwear across the room and holds your swole thighs in his hands. He rolls onto his back and brings your off of the couch all in one motions. You land by straddling his chest and he lifts you up slightly so he could slide himself right underneath your bare pussy.
He draws figure eights with his tongue and you body folds forwards. You rest your joined hands on the arm cushion of the couch. He spreads your legs even further so you are literally sitting on his face. When you try to get up, he digs his nails into your hips, making you cry out.
He flicks his tongue side to side across your clit before dipping inside and dragging it across the top wall. Your stomach grows sore from tensing it for so long. He repeats his motions and your knot grows in your stomach. You find yourself rolling your hips against his mouth and gasps when his tongue finds another gspot deep inside you.
Sinks a finger in and curls that spot over and over again until you came apart in his mouth. Humming in satisfaction, he kept the same pace until you were at the brink of your next orgasm.
Loud knocks on the door makes you yell out in surprise. "Jang Hanseok, this is the police." A man booms from the other side of the door. You climb off of him and stand on wobbly legs.
"What's happening?" You ask with your heart racing. "Please tell me you're not a murderer or something," "Relax, I'll be back by morning. Don't go anywhere." He says, wiping his face with a paper towel. "Wh-" "Don't go anywhere," he repeats and you collapse back on the couch.
He opens the door and converses with the police officers. You covered yourself from the prying eyes of the police officers. He runs upstairs to grab a shirt and shoes before leaving with the police. There you are, sitting on the couch, naked with your wrists tied together, feeling completely humiliated.
Using your teeth, you loosen the tie from your wrists and stare down at your torn up clothes. Your legs trembled as you stand once again from the couch and walk up the stairs to his room. You open his drawers and took out a black shirt and grey sweatpants.
You walk back downstairs and grab your purse before strapping on your heels and walking out the door. If he knows what's good for him, he'll stay the hell away for you.
**
"Absolutely not," "Why would you let one bad experience steer you away. He's a platinum client." "I could care less, he humiliated me." "A boo hoo, a man made me feel like shit so I'm not going to see him again. Please tell me you're not one of those hate all men snobs." Your madame snaps.
Your mouth hangs open with disbelief as heat creeps up the back of your neck. Clenching your jaw, you stand from the chair and anger explodes in your chest. You grab the coffee from her desk and toss the liquid in her face.
She shrieks as she wipes the coffee from her eyes. "In case you're having trouble putting two and two together. I quit, you arrogant, incompetent, man-pleasing pig." You spit. Reaching into your purse, you grab $100k as a termination fee the madame mentioned at the start of your contract and slam it on her desk.
You advance to the door with a wide grin tugging at your lips. For once you finally felt free. Walking to your car, your blood runs cold in your veins when you see Jang Hanseok leaning on your driver's side door.
He could be a criminal. What if you were a witness to something and he needed to get rid of you? You think to yourself. "Now I thought I told you to stay in the loft," "The last I checked, I have a mind and free will of my own." You snap.
"You're angry at me, why?" "If you really have to ask that question, I'm not going to bother explaining it to you. Please move out the way." "Not until we talk," "You're treading on thin ice, Hanseok." He kicks off from where he was leaning and advanced towards you with his hands stuff in his pockets.
"Say it again," "Say what?" "My name. I like how you say it." He tried to reach out and touch your cheek but you slap his hand away. "Wow, I really pissed you off, didn't I?"
"You left me naked and humiliated for those losers to look at. What make you think that's okay? Sex workers are humans too, Hanseok."
"Of course I know that. I just didn't.. I thought that they were proud of their bodies and wanted to show them off. I w-" "Not all of us are the same. Some have more dignity and self respect than to be treated like garbage." You snap. "I didn't know, okay. You.. you were my first one."
You spend a few moments looking at him. You're having a difficult time figuring out if he was geniune or not. "I quit, so if you're still experimenting. You're going to have to find another woman." You state, trying to step around him but he stands in your way again.
"Hanseok," you warn. "I don't want another woman. I want you." He leaned in to touch you again and this time you let him. He lifts your chin up gently with the crook of his finger. His touch the complete opposite of a couple days ago.
"Well that's too bad. If you look hard enough, you'll find a girl that'll do exact what you say. That doesn't have a... what was the word you used? A smart mouth." "I'll buy you anything you want." "Really, bribing? You can't buy your way out of this one, Hanseok."
"Just spend the day with me. The entire day, and I'll prove it to you." He cups your cheeks and maintains eye contact with you. "Prove what?" "That I'm worth it,"
**
Jang Hanseok examines the map of the mall with a perplexed look on his face. You're watching him with a similar expression. He's been.. different since the time you first met. He's more relaxed and serene.
You first went to a hot pot and competed to see who could the spiciest food. You won, naturally, but the entire time he would crack jokes and compliment you.
He really did make you feel special, but of course there was a small voice tucked in the back of your head saying that he could have bad intentions.
So you play along and listen to you gut on this one. "I found it!" He says excitedly. "Found what?" "Jump on my back," he says before crouching down in front of you. "You sure you want the carry me the whole time?"
"If my face can handle you, what makes you think my back can't?" He states and blush creeps onto you cheeks. Rubbing the back of you neck, you bite your lips nervously. "Come on, princess." He encourages and you finally climb onto his back.
You wrap your legs around his waist and your arms around his neck. "Why did you have to call me out like that? Someone could have heard you," you ask embarrassingly. "What? There's nothing to be ashamed of, you taste amazing by the way."
"Hanseok!" You scold, slapping his shoulder roughly. "Ouch, you have a mean swing." "There's plenty more where that came from."
After you left the mall, you had bags fulls of stuffed plushies, sweatshirts, sweatpants, crop tops and shoes. You told that you didn't need any of those things and he asked how many comfortable clothes you had.
When you didn't answer fast enough, he started putting every other thing in the cart. You were in the process of stuffing the bags into the trunk when he holds you from behind and pulls your back against his chest. You yell out in surprise before smacking his hand but he doesn't falter.
He buries his face into your neck and your eyes naturally close in response to his warmth. You lost count how long it's been since you've been held by someone. You unconsciously trail your fingers along the back of his neck and he sighs deeply.
"Tell me that this doesn't feel good. You can't, can you?" He mumbles into your neck. He loosens his arms around you and turns you around to kiss your forehead. What is he trying to prove? Holding the back your neck, he rests his forehead against yours.
"Let's start over,"
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willywonderfan · 2 years ago
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Webs of bloodlust final part
(Sebastian took a few steps forward while Walter took a few steps back with his eyes flooding with tears from seeing that his dead brother was brought back as a monster.)
Walter: Sebastian, what's become of you?
Sebastian: What's wrong brother, aren't you glad to see me again!?
Bernadette: Yeah, didn't you want your brother to come back?
Walter: Not like this!
(Walter then realized that Bernadette knew something very personal about him.)
Walter: How did you know that?
Bernadette: As a head vampire, I am capable of many this...
(Bernadette summons tentacles made of dark energy to hold Walter and the most of the crew in place.)
Bernadette: Including mind reading.
Vampire mouse: Hey Master Bernadette, where did the fly and gnome go?
Bernadette: What!?
(Bernadette turns around and sees that Larry and Sprocket were nowhere to be found.)
Bernadette: Where the fuck did they go!?
Larry and Sprocket: Lerroy Jenkins!!!
(Larry and Sprocket jump into the scene and incapacitate most of the vampires with holy water.)
Larry: Well that's most of them.
Sprocket: And now it's time to defeat you!
Bernadette: Oh I don't think you'll be doing that...
(Before anyone could say anything Sheldon and Anthony come out of nowhere and bite the two would-be saviours.)
Djimmi: Larry, Sprocket, no!!!
(Djimmi manages to break free from the tentacles and tries to escape along side Walter and Lucy, but their friends who were clearly being mind controlled blocked the exit as Larry and Sprocket woke up as mind controlled vampires.)
Sebastian: Just give it up brother, it's 57 against 3, so you're clearly gonna loose here...
Djimmi: You're forgetting that I'm a genie that can turn back time!
Walter: Djimmi, no offense, BUT WHY DIDN'T YOU GO BACK IN TIME TO PREVENT THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!?
Djimmi: Because I usually use my overpowered magic as a last resort.
Bernadette: Yeah about that, I've cursed this mansion so that only vampiric magic works here.
Djimmi, Walter, and Lucy: Oh, shit...
(Bernadette walks up to Walter while holding something behind her back.)
Bernadette: Now that I've got you right where I want you...(she pulls out a wedding ring) I'd like to take your hand in marriage.
(No one says anything for a few moments.)
Walter: Are you serious, that's what this has all been about, you wanted to fucking marry me!?
Bernadette: Yeah, why? Are you saying that I should've just asked?
Walter: No, I'm already married you bitch!!!
Bernadette: Well how was I supposed to know!?
Lucy: Oh I don't know, maybe the fact that he and I have matching wedding rings!?
(Walter and Lucy shows Bernadette their wedding rings.)
Bernadette: Well I fucked up.
Djimmi, Walter, and Lucy: You think!?
Bernadette: Hey to be fair, you two could've saved a lot of time by telling me you were married, any way here's your cure and now I'll be onto the next guy.
(Bernadette breaks everyone out of her mind control and tries to leave the room but is immediately confronted and arrested by the supernatural police for mind control and performing necrovampirisum without a license.)
Walter: Yeah, Lucy and I called the supernatural police on you, because we're not letting you get away with this.
Bernadette: You haven't seen the last of me assholes!!!
Sebastian: Ugh, what happened, why am I alive again?
Walter: Sebastian!
(Sebastian turns around and sees Walter.)
Sebastian: Walter!
(The brothers have a sincere sibling hug.)
Sebastian: How's my little bro.
Walter: Oh, I'm fine, by the way, this is my wife Lucy.
Lucy: Hello Sebastian.
Sebastian: Well look at my bro being a married man, and I must say that you're a lucky lady.
Sheldon: Guys I hate to interrupt, but it's almost sunset, so if you want to be cured, then there's no time to waste.
Sebastian: Well about that...
Walter: What's wrong?
Sebastian: Well since I was brought back through necrovampirisum, I kinda need to stay a vampire, since it's the vampirisum that's keeping me alive.
Walter: Well I that case I'm staying a vampire too.
Lucy: Well then so am I.
Felicity: And I guess I'll also become a permanent vampire.
Sheldon: Really, even after all you guys been through?
Walter: Yeah, besides I don't think it'll be too bad.
Lucy: I feel like I wanna stay a vampire because of what I went through.
Felicity: And I feel more wild and carefree as a vampire.
Sheldon: If you insist, the rest of us on the other hand are eager to be cured.
(The other vampires line up to be cured by Djimmi outside the mansion, eventually everyone got a cup of the antidote.)
Vampire mouse: Drink up, everybody!
(The others vampires drank their cup of antidote and shadowy bat monsters flew out of their bodies, after Collin was cured he walk towards the Walter, Lucy, and Felicity.)
Collin: Come on guys, just please take the antidote, you three still have a minute left.
Felicity: We appreciate your concern, but we're staying as vampires.
Collin: Are you guys sure that you actually want to do this?
(The three look at eachother and replied with yes.)
Collin: Alright then, just make sure not to fall too deep into the darkness.
Felicity: We promise that we won't.
(Reassured, Collin heads back to the group, the bloodmoon rises and Walter, Sebastian, Felicity, and Lucy have the some monsters emerges from their hearts, Walter walks up to them and asks a question.)
Walter: We're not going to regret this, are we?
Bat monster: I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT YOU VAMPLINGS WON'T REGRET THIS DECISION, ESPECIALLY SINCE DEATH IN THIS IS NOT MUCH AS A PERMANENT PARTING SORROW AS IT IN OTHER WORLDS...
Walter: What does that mean?
Bat monster: IT MEANS THAT YOU'RE MORTAL FRIENDS AREN'T GONE FOREVER IF THEY DIE, AND THEY CAN ALWAYS BE CONTACTED THROUGH THE ASTRAL PLAIN OR BROUGHT BACK TO LIFE, SO TRUST ME, TOU GUYS WON'T REGRET THIS DECISION...
(The bat monsters go back into the four's hearts and become vampires permanently, the next day the crew wake up Glumstone from his stone state.)
Glumstone: I'm glad to see everything is back to normal.
Sheldon: Well, for the most part...
Glumstone: Should I be worried?
Sheldon: No, it's just that Walter, Lucy, and Felicity decided to stay vampires while Walter's brother Sebastian had to stay a vampire to stay alive, but they won't hurt you.
Glumstone: That's good to hear.
(That night Walter and Lucy are romantically strolling down the moonlight city streets, they sit down on a bench and share a blood bag together.)
Sebastian: Hey, wait up guys!
(Sebastian and Felicity catch up and sit bedside they two love bugs.)
Walter: (smugly) Nice to see that you haven't changed a bit.
Sebastian: (jokingly) You're just jealous that I'm still cooler than you.
(The four joked together for about an hour, they then looked up at the beautiful night sky, ready for the new adventures the await them now that they're vampires.)
The end.
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swcetnight · 3 years ago
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It’s Definitely You || kth (m.) 1
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synopsis:
Working as a barista in NYC has its perks, but when your ultimate dream of being on the Broadway stage tends to come crumbling down, the only thing that raises your spirits is the comfort of a complete stranger… who seems to have known you for far longer than you thought.
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masterlist here
→ pairing: taehyung x barista!reader (also musical theatre performer cause I had to)
→ genre: fluff, angst, future smut | strangers(ish) to lovers… i won’t give the truth away... gonna have to read and find out for yourself ;))
-> warnings: self doubt, adorable plant names... there's really not many warnings for this chapter!
→ word count: 7,973
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authors note:
alrighty everyone... here we go! (i’m so nervous) this is the first chapter of this series (which it took me 50 years to figure out whether I wanted this to be a series or a two shot... lets just say that it's gonna be a long one, so I think that a series is the best way to go)! this story is really near and dear to my heart, so 1. I really hope you enjoy it and 2. I hope all of you know how hard it was to write this into words... my goodness. now, make sure you look for clues throughout this series... there's a secret in here that won't be revealed for a while ;)) but if any of you have ideas, please be sure to send an ask while we wait to find out together! anyways, I hope you enjoy !!
authors thanks:
a HUGE thank you to @hantaev and @monvante for beta-reading and being so so supportive of me and this little (but not so little) story... y'all truly have no idea how helpful you've been and how thankful I am to be friends with both of you! forreal, y'all are the greatest and I'm sending you all my love!!
also, if you are enjoying this story, please don’t hesitate to send me an ask (on or off anon) and let me know your thoughts, feelings, theories, etc!! i would love to hear from all of you 🤍
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If time-travel existed, you would be on the first time machine and head back to 2 years ago. A time when you had a free schedule and were able to go out on Friday nights. A time when you felt confident in yourself and were raring to pursue theatre. A time when you didn't have this job (cause apparently, theatre is impossible to get into) that forces you awake at 4 in the morning for the opening shift.
You can't say you don't love your Barista job because you do. Still, when your alarm wakes you from the beautiful dream of performing on the big stage, you have to use everything within yourself to crawl out of your sheet cocoon… and that is unacceptable.
What's even more unacceptable is the fact that your co-worker, Jimin, hasn't arrived at the Academia Cafe yet. You have about 30 minutes to prepare for the morning peak; brew coffees, set up the bakery items, clear the boards "coffee of the day," etc. The problem is, it takes up all of the 30 allotted minutes— and you can't start prepping early because Jimin has the keys to the cafe.
You’ve worked at the Academia Cafe for about a year now, taking a break from your endless theatre audition schedule— since that was getting you absolutely nowhere. No matter how badly you want it, nothing seems to work. No matter how many times you practice, it never seems to be good enough. Let’s just say, you took this job at the cafe because you were over the repetitive let downs.
… But here you are, with a “Jimin being late” let down.
[To: Jimin ☕️] hey, you almost here? times ticking, keys!
You stuff your phone into your winter coat pocket, the brown material catching snowflakes as they fall gently from the cloudy sky. You love this weather; it's always been your favorite. When you were little, you used to pretend to be a dragon; running all over your front yard and releasing heavy breaths that chilled in the air and spread like smoke. You don't enjoy the cold, but the entire feel of winter has you cozying up in a blanket with hot cocoa and a good book… nothing could beat that.
A buzz in your pocket catches your attention.
[From: Jimin ☕️] Hey! Look up.
Your eyes immediately lift to see Jimin smiling a few feet away, shuffling through the snow as he drags the keys out of his pocket. He's sporting a heavy blue coat that reaches down to his knees — making his short stature appear even smaller — topped with a matching blue beanie. Despite his tardiness today, you’ve always been fond of Jimin. He's like a ray of sunshine, beaming through the skyscrapers of the city and making everyone around him happy just by flashing a single smile. Honestly, you wish you could sneak some of that happiness from him and lock it somewhere safe... so you can save it for a time when you need it most.
"Your timing is impeccable." He laughs, gently placing the keys into the front door lock. "You texted me right as I was rounding the corner."
"I'm telling you, Jimin; we're always on the same wavelength."  Smirking, you make your way through the doors of the cafe, greeted by the warmth that surrounds you like your sheet cocoon did this morning, but accompanied by the smell of fresh coffee. "Except for the fact that you, my friend, are late, so now we only have twenty-eight minutes until opening."
Old, rustic book pages litter the cafe's dark walls, executing the dark academia theme flawlessly. You have to give the interior designers a hand, what with the black stools and high dark wood counters etched with different story pages. You wonder if anyone took the time to read the stories that covered the cafe; maybe the stories moved them in a personal way. Maybe there was a reason why they read them, a part of the butterfly effect of their life.
With a quick survey of the main room, you shuffle into the back to put your belongings away. "You would think it would be less busy on the streets because of the snow," Jimin calls, already working on the first batch of light roast coffee. "But unfortunately for me, that was not the case, and I nearly lost my life multiple times on the way here because of how slick it is."
A laugh emits from your lips, echoing in the backroom as you throw your apron over your head.
You begin with date labeling all of the pastry items, placing them accordingly onto the pastry cart; croissants, muffins, scones, etc. Then, you move onto organizing syrups and setting toppings along the bar where drinks are made. Bar is your personal favorite position-- since you're able to make the drinks… Plus, you're so busy that your shift goes by way faster. The sooner you're done, the sooner you get to go home and sleep.
“All set?” Jimin questions when you finish setting the steaming pitchers next to the espresso machine, tossing the rag he used to wipe down tables into the sanitizer bin. You give him a nod, taking a quick once over of the bar. “Alright,” he claps, “let's do this.”
This morning runs like every Friday morning, busy and fast. The sounds of coffee glasses clinking and the calling of customer names at the hand-off station echoes through the air.
Ahhhh, the scenery in coffee shops; the quiet hush over the room as soft jazz plays over the speakers. It’s soothing, all encompassing, and extremely helpful for motivation… You used to go to a local cafe for homework when you were still in school.
You take a breath, relaxing against the back counter as you overhear a conversation a group of regulars are having. It’s the usual small talk: the weather, families, sharing pictures of recent events. Coming up with questions of the day for customers becomes easier after knowing their stories, so you subconsciously listen in often.
Because of this, you almost don't notice the man waiting at the register, wholly delved into the neighboring conversation— only looking over when you hear your name called.
"Y/n?"
You turn your head, catching eyes with the stranger behind the counter who holds his credit card ready. The first thing you notice is that he's young, probably around your age, wearing a brown turtleneck and white slacks. His eyes are dark, standing above his perfectly sculpted nose and lips. His hair is dark as well, forehead drowning within the wavy bangs that fall over his eyebrows as he takes you in. To be completely honest, he's probably the most handsome man you've had the pleasure of seeing… is that weird? You don’t know him… maybe that is weird.
The second thing you notice is that he looks completely anxious, hands grasping the edge of the counter like there's a thousand-foot drop below him. Why is he looking straight at you while doing that? Maybe you should call Jimin to take ove-
“Is it really you?” He questions, taking you aback.
"I-" You clear your throat, walking forward to meet him at the register, "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
With an intake of breath, he releases the counter as he studies you. Was he… crying? You swear his eyes were not this bloodshot three seconds ago.
"You-" He pauses, taking another sharp breath and running a hand through his hair. If you thought he couldn't get more attractive, you were wrong. "Do you know me?"
Attractive? Yes. Psycho?...possibly.
You shake your head slightly, “I… I’m sorry. I don't-"
Wait… is he a regular? You swear you haven't seen him come into the cafe before. Shoot.. What if he is? The number one thing your boss has made perfectly clear: remember the regulars, so they come back and feel at home; recognized. Customer connection was the most important thing at the Academia Cafe… He's probably a regular.
“I’m so sorry, there're so many people that come to visit us and sometimes I forget the regulars!” You apologize. “That’s my fault… remind me of your name again?”
He's staring at you. Full-on staring, jaw slacked. Shifting uncomfortably in your keds, you eye beside you to see Jimin working away at a macchiato. You consider changing places, nearly walking over to him before the customer speaks again.
"It's- It's Taehyung."
You force a smile, nodding while he continues to stare at you. He seems a bit more hesitant, his eyes looking in different directions but ultimately falling back onto your own. Even if he tried, he couldn't hide the rosy color that spreads onto his cheeks. What was this guy's problem?
"Taehyung! Awesome, well, what can I get for you today?" You chirp, attempting to brighten up your increasing discomfort. He might have mistook you for someone else, you decide, jumping back into your customer service personality: kind and quick to the point.
Taehyung doesn't move, training his eyes on you. You've never had a man's undivided attention before, since boyfriends were never an option. When you were a teenager, you stayed home most of the time in your hometown, and the boys there were all just in it to take your pants off. You avoided them and never really caught their attention, so you can't help the uncomfortable blush that grows on your cheeks. It’s short lived though, your nerves dissolving as soon as you notice a single tear fall onto the front of his shirt.
Oh. Okay, he’s definitely crying.
"Sir..." You begin, leaning in closer to avoid drawing attention. "Is everything alright?"
"I…" The shake in his voice is evident as he puts his credit card back into his wallet, still refusing to break eye contact. “Excuse me." Without another word, he turns on his heel and rushes towards the exit, clocking a customer in the shoulder in his rush. He apologizes quickly, bowing to them before glancing behind to make eye contact with you once more.
You wish you could read minds, wondering what the hell is going through his brain… but you notice the tiniest gleam of a hopeful smile that hides on his lips.
And then he’s gone.
“I swear it was the strangest thing, Jimin.” You speak nervously, tugging at the strings of your apron and lifting it over your head. It had been busy all day, despite a quick thirty minute break when everyone had left and the cafe was suddenly a deserted island. You appreciated the busyness, it made your shift go by faster. Right now, all you wanted to do was go home, eat a fat bowl of icecream and distract yourself from the events of today with a movie. Thank God your shift was over.
“Maybe he thought you were someone else?” Jimin insists, taking a bite into the extra Blueberry Muffin you’d accidentally heated when you were distracted by the events that occurred earlier.
“Yeah? Well, I must be the spitting image because he was totally freaked out.”
“You never know, y/n. Or, maybe he just used that as an excuse to talk to you.” You could hear the smirk in his voice, throwing your rolled up apron at him harshly before you grab your belongings.
“Ha, ha, you’re hilarious. This guy looked like he had seen his ex… He was crying. I don’t think he was into me.”
“Maybe his eyes were watering from the cold wind?” He offers.
“Enough to cry actual tears?” You scoffed, “C’mon Jimin.”
He shrugs defensively, picking up his things so the two of you can head out a few minutes earlier than usual. Whenever the baristas have a chance to leave early, they take it. “If he comes back, then ask him: hey, dude, what’s your deal?”Jimin works his way through the cafe, throwing an excess chair upside down onto the table with the rest of them.
You hold your hand above your heart, which is still beating at a faster pace due to this discussion. Can hearts even beat this fast? This can’t be healthy… “Oh wow, you have such a way with words. That definitely won’t make him feel uncomfortable!”
Yes. Sarcasm coping mechanism.
“Y/n.” Jimin meets you at the door and puts his hands on your shoulders, making extra sure he has your attention. “Go home. Don’t think too much into it… He was probably high or something and mistook you for his ex that dumped him and now he’s moping through the city and getting into all sorts of trouble and he’ll forget that he even came here tomorrow morning. Okay?”
You nod slowly, exiting the cafe with Jimin on your tail. "Don't worry, y/n." Jimin adds, "He probably won't even come back." He locks the door and gives you one last thumbs up before heading in the opposite direction, calling out at the last second. “See you tomorrow!”
The forced smile on your face appears again (looks like this was a regular occurrence today), waving him goodbye.
Yeah… tomorrow.
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Jimin was right. The handsome crying stranger was probably never coming back.
It has been a few weeks since you met him for the first time. Now, it feels like a distant memory. He hadn’t shown up to the cafe the day after the encounter, or the day after that, or the day after that, and eventually you’d come to the conclusion that he was probably never going to show his face again out of pure embarrassment. You can’t say you blame him. You’d be embarrassed too if you stared at and cried over a random stranger.
Still, you couldn't help but feel a twinge of disappointment... You'd kind of hoped you could figure out what his problem was, maybe ease his mind a little if you really did look like a past lover. You would make sure he knew that it wasn't you. What if he was avoiding the cafe because he literally thought you were someone else? Great… now you just feel bad.
"Y/n? Are you listening?" Jimin beckons over the phone.
"Huh? What?" You bounce back to reality, the soft comforter of your bed lying beneath you as you stare out the window. Thanks to your wonderful apartment search, you have a beautiful view of the city. Jimin had helped you find a place when you first moved here. The two of you had met when you visited to check out the first apartment options; he even took you out for a drink afterward to celebrate the first days' completion. Jimin had immediately clicked with you, as he does with everyone-- he was the kind of person to make friends insanely quickly. He must've been super popular in high school... unlike you.
"Y/n Y/l/n. I am giving you a chance to meet more people, and you're not even listening to me!" He cries, a light smack coming from the other end (probably from him slamming his hand on the table).
"Okay, okay-- I'm sorry. I'm listening now; what's up?"
With a deep sigh, he speaks again. "Party. My house. Tonight. It's not gonna be wild, don't worry... it's just a get-together with some of my friends, and you can have a few drinks if you would like to."
Gnawing at your bottom lip, you look over towards the clock on your nightstand. 5:00. "I don't know..." You begin, the bed shifting as you raise into a seated position. "I have to work tomorrow morn-"
"Already got your shift covered." He deadpans.
"What??"
"I already got your shift covered, so you have no excuse."
This sly guy.
"Who covered it?" You question, setting the audio to speaker-phone as you rummage through old text messages you haven't gone through (to prep for your "thank you for covering my shift" text message).
“Jin.” Noted.
“So…” Jimin continues, “are you coming?”
You can't even remember the last time you met new people, let alone gone to a party. Parties weren't necessarily your thing, especially with your busy schedule of workdays and auditions-- you just never had the time. You should be excited, right?
Well, you aren't.
"Jimin, I don't know… I'm not really a huge fan of parties." You mumble over the phone, picking at the lone string that popped out of its stitch on your comforter.
"Y/n, it's a small get-together, and it's not gonna be that kind of party. Believe me; it'll be really chill. It's just me, you, a few other coworkers, and some friends from my journalism class."
You chew at your bottom lip, looking over at your closet to see a single green cocktail dress that you hadn't worn in years. The memory of the dress was a good one… you had just finished up curtain call for The Addams Family and wore that dress to the after-party. It's a short sleeve, layered green dress that flows just over your knees, the same color sash tying the waist in a floppy bow. You blush at the memory of winning best dressed.
A pause, “Okay.” You conclude. “I’ll go.”
Jimin was honest about how chill it would be; soft music plays in the background as the group sits around the table playing cards. A basketball game is playing on the TV, desperate for attention as a player scores a 3-pointer, but no one is watching. Shuffling of cards is the only sound heard in the room as the game continues.
The atmosphere is calm… quiet…
“BULLSHIT.”
The immediate crumble of everyone’s mood causes the loud “HELL YEAH” that makes you jump in your seat.
"And that is how it's done, Ladies and Gentlemen." Jungkook (your fellow coworker) claps, his smile brighter than the sunset that seeps through the curtains on the opposite side of the room.
"And that's on cheating!" Jimin picks up the cards in the center of the table, gathering them clumsily back into a pile.
"It's called having skill," Jungkook replies, holding his hands up as he smirks at his opponents.
"No, it's called luck." Yoongi finalizes as he puts his hand of cards down on the table with a roll of his eyes. You haven’t met Yoongi before until tonight. He’s one of Jimin's friends from Journalism Class.
When you arrived, you decided to sit out of this round and learn to play before joining the game-- knowing you; you would've been crushed within the first minutes of playing. Card games weren’t exactly a skill of yours— board games on the other hand were where it’s at! That, and charades. For the sake of the party, a card game didn’t sound too bad this time around— so you poke at Jimin to give you the hand as he serves cards for everyone else.
“Wait, wait, wait—“ Jimin pauses, his hand disappearing beneath the table to grab his phone. “Hello?”
“I’m not Irish, so does luck really count?” Jungkook questions in a hushed whisper, nudging Yoongi in the side.
“Oh hey...yeah... it’s apartment 205.” Jimin continues.
“You’re so funny, Jk. Maybe you’ll actually become successful if you choose stand-up comedy rather than becoming a musician.” Yoongi replies nonchalantly, his cat-like eyes staring at the abandoned pile of cards before he seems to come to the decision to shuffle them himself. He gives you a small smile when you hold your hand out to signal that you’re joining in this round.
“Mhm, you can just walk on in! Doors unlocked… okay.. alright, see ya in a minute.” When Jimin's phone is down, Yoongi passes a hand of cards to him.
“Think you can beat me, Y/n?” Jungkook asks,”Since apparently these four can’t?” He motions to Yoongi and Jimin, glancing at the other two players of the game: Hoseok (Jimins other classmate) and his girlfriend, Faith.
“I think I can.” You say, smirking at the determined expression on Jungkooks face. Even if you weren’t very fond of card games, there was one thing you were even less fond of: losing.
“Mmm, might want to rethink that, but okay.” Jungkook replies. The two of you are death staring when the sound of the front door creaking open catches the attention of everyone else at the table. Jimin shoots out of his chair.
“Taehyung!”
You freeze.
"You-" He pauses, taking another sharp breath and running a hand through his hair. If you thought he couldn't get more attractive, you were wrong. "Do you know me?"
Attractive? Yes. Psycho?... possibly.
“I’m so sorry, there're so many people that come to visit us and sometimes I forget the regulars!” You apologize. “That’s my fault… remind me of your name again?”
"It's- It's-."
“Taehyung, you just missed me creaming everyone in bullshit.” Jungkook boasts. Your eyes are glued to the side of Jungkook's head, not daring to make eye contact with the source of your nerves the past few weeks.
“Oh did I?” The familiar, deep voice utters.
Okay.. you can’t help but look…
Holy—it’s actually him.
Immediate regret sinks into your soul when you see him. God, he’s even handsomer than you remember. A white woolen sweater hangs over a pair of his black pants, matched with white sneakers and accenting the head of dark wavy hair you’d been thinking about since you last saw him.
“Yep!” Jungkook continues. “And now Y/n’s about to get shitfaced too.”
The moment his eyes swiftly glance your way is the moment you crumble and turn your head back to Jungkook. You had hoped to make a sly remark, something along the lines of “in your dreams,” but you’re caught breathless from the tension in the room. The tension only the two of you are aware of. He must be tense too, right?
“I wouldn’t underestimate her.” You hear out of Taehyung's mouth, stealing a look at his face once more. He’s smirking at Jungkook, hanging his coat on the hook beside yours, oblivious of the way you’re basically dissecting his every move.
“Have you met Y/n?” Jimin questions, provoking Taehyung's eyes to fall back onto yours. This time, you don’t look away.
He doesn’t answer right away, making you more nervous than you should be— the silence deafening as you make to explain, “We-“
“No.” He states plainly, cutting you off. An innocent smile plays on his lips as he looks at Jimin and places his messenger bag beside the door.
No? Uhhh, was he not the guy who pretended to know who you were and cried in front of you without even explaining why? Nope, it’s definitely him.
“I’m Taehyung.” He calls in your direction, offering you a boxy smile and a small nod, “Don’t let Jungkook fool you. A girl pinched him when we were in grade school. He barely lasted five seconds before running away screaming.” Taehyung moved to the table, sitting beside the man he just brutally embarrassed.
“That girl was terrifying. She was way taller than all the other sixth graders. It was an unfair situation.” Jungkook protested, sinking in his chair as he shuffled the cards he held in his hand.
You couldn’t help but stare dumbly at Taehyung. Was he embarrassed of his outburst at the cafe that he just hopes you forgot about him? You guess you didn’t exactly meet each other, other than a few words exchanged before he disappeared out the door. He probably doesn’t want his friends to know about what happened. Or did he not recognize you and completely forgot about the whole ordeal?
Okay, it’s fine… totally fine.
“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” you laugh, “no more coming in late, Jk. Or I’ll have to pinch you.”
Jungkook merely rolls his eyes, taking a sip of his beer. You see the crinkle in Taehyung's eyes as he laughs, the boxy smile taking root on his face again… a smile you’ve begun to enjoy the look of.
Hey. Snap out of it. This guy is so confusing. That’s a red card.
You straighten up in your seat, catching Jimin's attention when you move towards the kitchen, motioning with your hand to signal that you’re getting another drink. You have a feeling you’re gonna need some more alcohol to get through the evening.
Jimins place is clean, every knick knack placed neatly where it belongs; accompanied by the smell of potted plants that he keeps by his windows. Little name tags are attached to the plant stems: Flo, Sprout, Bob. He names his plants. Sweet.
He, like you, has a great view of the city too, a mid-size window perched above his breakfast nook where a small potted plant (quotabley named “bean”) grows. The city is bustling below as you reach for a beer, shrugging off the fact that you hate beer, but at least the taste will distract you from Tae-
“Hey.” You hear a soft voice call from the kitchen archway. When you turn you nearly drop the bottle out of your hand. Taehyung gives you a soft smile.
“Hey! Uh.. did you want a beer, or are you a wine guy?” You question, cringing at how much higher your voice sounds at his close proximity.
“I— Sorry, neither.” He starts, shoving his hands into his pockets as he makes his way around the island. “I uh- I just wanted to talk to you about something.”
You nod slightly, “Yeah of course… what’s up?”
“Um,” he’s nervous, you notice. “I just wanted to apologize about the whole thing at the cafe a few weeks ago.. I was— not in the right state of mind.” He meets your eyes hesitantly, “you just look like someone I know from a long time ago and it kind of.. took me by surprise, I guess.”
Jimin was right. You offer him a smile, shaking your head in disbelief, “You know what, I truly thought that was the reason… It’s totally fine. I’m not who you think I am, by the way.”
A flicker of something crosses his features at your comment, something you can’t quite pick up, but he changes it quickly to a smirk. “Obviously.” He laughs, “I’m sorry if it made you uncomfortable.. I’m not weird, I swear.”
“Mmm, that’s what they all say.” You tease.
He laughs, a soft sound that you want to hear over and over again. “You’ve got me there.” He takes a pause, placing his hands on the island countertop. “Let’s start over? If that’s okay? I didn’t want to mention it when I came in because I wanted us to have a fresh start.”
You push down the questioning thought of who this woman he mistook you for was, not wanting to overstep any boundaries. “That’s totally okay.. clean slate?”
“Clean slate.” He finalizes.
“Straightforward,” You add, “I like it.”
He gives you a warm smile, the same edge in the way he looks at you dances in his eyes before he breaks it off, sliding the bottle of beer out of your own hand. “Actually, I think I will have a beer. You don’t seem like a beer drinker, anyway.” He turns quickly, smirking at you before striding out of the room. “Thanks, Y/n!”
Protestations die on your lips as he disappears from the room, your beer along with him. How rude. You can’t help the smile tugging at the corners of your lips as you turn back to the cupboard, skipping the beer and pouring yourself a second glass of wine. You weren’t a beer drinker, after all.
Although you weren’t one for parties, you couldn’t help but admit the fact that you were having a good time. No, a great time. All of you are seated in Jimins living room; a plate of chips sits on the coffee table, which was the hot spot of the night (considering there’s hardly any remaining). Others in the group still have a glass of alcohol in their hands, the tipsiness evident by the slurring of their words. You had stopped yourself after half of your second glass, playing it safe since you still have to walk home after the party. You weren’t much of a drinker anyway-- your family history being the root of this decision.
It isn’t the games that made the night this enjoyable, or the food, or the movie that is currently playing over Jimin's television (which, by the way, is Moulin Rouge, because half of the room enjoys musicals, and the other half enjoys regular movies. So, you decided to settle on a movie musical). None of that matters, except the fact that you’ve never felt this carefree in a long time.
For one night, you can put aside your cafe job, auditions, and never-ending to-do lists and just have fun. Real fun. Even in the audition rooms, it has never been fun for you. It’s been nerve-wracking to a fault and always ends with a “thank you for taking the time, but we’ve decided not to accept you this time around,” or a callback, which ultimately concludes with the same grueling fate.
But this is different.
This is a group of people who genuinely want to spend time with you and get to know you… with no “not this time’s” or open-ended questions.
Especially with Taehyung. You’re surprised at how quickly the two of you seemed to hit it off, despite the awkward introduction. Now, it feels like he’s known you for years… in the best way. You’re comfortable talking to him, chatting together during the movie about the plot points or songs you find specifically endearing. You had initially planned to sit next to Jimin… but ended up next to Taehyung on the couch.
It just happened.
He enjoys musicals as well, you learn. Maybe not as much as you do, but at least he doesn’t despise them. He’s one of Jimin’s friends from their shared art class. He loves the color brown. His favorite food is watermelon. He does illustrations for Jimins journalism projects (which, in your opinion, are exceptional from the photos he showed you during the movie while the others were engulfed in the film). He wishes to pursue traveling journalism, where he draws what he sees rather than taking pictures. His whole aura is warm… like a heated blanket that envelopes you whole when you feel him shift beside you on the sofa. A small reminder that he’s still there.
Okay, you’re liking his presence way too much.
He finds romance movies corny but a guilty pleasure nonetheless. This, the reason why he agreed to watch Moulin Rouge despite the cheesiness in the beginning. In the end, it was anything but cheesy.
"Well, that was stupid." Jungkook scoffs, slamming the remote onto the neighboring loveseats' armrest. The once loud room filled with music is now quiet from the after-effects of the movie.
“I told you it was sad!” Jimin exclaims. The two of you had seen this movie before in theatres… and this was nothing compared to how the ending hit the first time. “Y/N was nearly choking. She was crying so hard when we saw it.”
An immediate blush rises onto your cheeks as you shake your head in defiance, trying to hide the tears that had been stinging your eyes for the last thirty minutes. “Who wouldn’t cry at that??”
“Taehyung probably didn’t. He never cries.” Hoseok deadpans. Ha. You can’t help but remember the tear that ran down his face in the cafe… He never cries?
With a quick look over your shoulder, you find that Taehyung is no longer seated on the couch. When did he get up? You attempt to shrug off your curiosity, pivoting back towards the chip table where only sad little crumbs remain. You were worrying way too much over a man you quite literally just met tonight… even if it felt like you’ve known him for much longer.
Taehyung eventually reappeared, stating that he had to use the bathroom— you ignored the fact that it took him a solid 30 minutes to get back to the party. It wasn’t your place to ask any questions, especially since he lifted a smile onto his face the second he reentered the room. See, y/n… nothing to worry about.
It wasn’t long before you insisted you head home, knowing that you’d curse yourself in the morning if you stayed out past the sunrise. If you did, you’d sleep through tomorrow, and that would be awful. You’ve done this a few times… and every time, you felt like you had wasted an entire year of your life.
You move to grab your purse and jacket, which are hanging comfortably on the hook beside the front door. With a small smile, you bid everyone goodnight— smiling as they resume a card game around the table at one o’clock in the morning. It’s nice to know that the group of you hit it off… now; you can look forward to plenty of get-togethers in the future.
Your mind is bustling with all kinds of ideas: picnics in central park, late-night broadway shows, hangouts at the caf-
“Y/n!” The soft calling of Taehyung's voice causes you to halt near the exit, turning on your heel to see him jogging towards you. He had haphazardly thrown his jacket over him since it’s still being tugged onto his body as he runs. His hair becomes even more chaotic in his haste… Why do you want to run your hands through it?
“Hey!” You squeak, interrupting your thoughts before they trudged down a guilty road. “What are you doing? Weren’t you going to play another round?”
He gives you a smirk, catching his breath as he holds out your house keys. “You forgot these! You were really moving fast… sick of us already?”
“Wh— oh my god, thank you!” With a quick swipe of your hand, you’re stuffing your keys into your pocket with a grateful smile. “Also, hardly.”
You admire the way his eyes light up at your confession. “Well.. since you don’t want to leave us so quickly.. how about I walk you home?” He seems almost hesitant asking, but you can’t help but applaud him for actually taking the initiative to inquire.
You shake your head, pulling the strap of your purse farther up your shoulder. “You don’t have t-“
“I want to!” He cuts you off quickly, catching you by surprise as he moves past you to open the door. He glances back, taking in your reluctant expression, “It’s not safe this time of night Y/n… You shouldn’t be alone.“
You know he didn't mean anything by that statement… But the idea of someone genuinely caring and not wanting you to be alone makes your heart swell. Jimin cares about your safety of course, but this feels… Different.
This is the reason why you allow him to walk you home.
The snow crunches beneath your feet, like a symphony that beckons you home. You’ve been feeling exhaustion seeping into your bones for the last ten minutes, but Taehyung's occasional brush of his arm as he walks beside you keeps you wide awake. He doesn’t think to apologize for accidentally touching you, but you blame it on the time of night. Delusion.
“How long have you lived in New York?” You question, wrapping your coat tighter around you to kick out the nipping air.
“About a year now,” He responds, shuffling his feet, “though it feels like way longer. You?”
“Three years.”
Taehyung turns his head towards you, eyes wide. “Wow, way to one up me.” With a teasing smile he continues, “You must know this city like the back of your hand.”
The truth is… you don’t. You came here for the sole purpose of making it on Broadway... you never really took the time to focus on anything else. Part of you wishes you had learned more, craved more, wanted more with your life—then you wouldn’t be so miserable when the one thing you do want doesn’t work out. “Yeah… kind of.”
If he hears the somber tone of your voice, he ignores it, turning against the wind as he walks backwards down the sidewalk. “It’s overrated in my opinion.”
You raise your head at this, “Why is that?”
“Everyone here has dreams… and those dreams get crushed more often than not.” He shrugs, “No one cares if you want to succeed, only if you already have.”
You stare at him for a moment, awestruck by the weight of his words. “But,” he adds, turning back towards the wind, “the ones who never give up and continue to chase that dream can become successful. Despite all of the no’s they might face, they always hold on till they hear a yes. That sounds like true success to me.”
Turning your head, you stare at the side of his face— admiring the way his hair tosses back a bit against the harsh winter winds. His words hit you way deeper than he probably realized, sinking into your chest with an overwhelming sense of accomplishment. You’ve been contemplating recently on whether or not to give up on your dream… that maybe it just wasn’t going to work out for you. You have been trying for so long, and have repeatedly been let down. There was no way Taehyung could have known, which is why his words hit you as hard as they did. Despite the hardships, you’ve been here for three years and you’ve never given up or stopped trying to chase your dream.
That was an achievement, right?
“To be honest… I've heard a lot of no’s in my three years of being here.” You speak softly, tucking a fallen strand of hair behind your ear. “Sometimes it feels like there will never be a yes… but here I am. At least I'm still working— at a coffee shop, not on the stage.”
“It’s admirable that you keep going.” Taehyung glances at you over his shoulder. “It makes you different from a lot of people who have left the city when they faced failure. It’s something to be proud of. Plus, coffee shop or big stage, you’re in New York City and pursuing your gift. It’s special.”
When your eyes meet, you smile at him, feeling a sense of victory the longer you hold his gaze.
“Don’t give up, Y/n. No matter what.” He speaks genuinely, leaning towards you to nudge you gently on your shoulder. You can’t help but laugh at his playfulness, giving him a nudge in return before your eyes downcast to your winter boots. The snow on the ground is fresh, powdery and sticking to the toes of your shoes. “Plus,” He adds, sucking in the chilly air, “you've got what others don’t have…”
This time when you meet his eye he has a serious expression, making sure he has your full attention as you round the corner towards your apartment building. His gaze is genuine, captivating… and a part of you hopes that the close proximity of your apartment wouldn’t cut this moment short. Finally, he speaks.
“You have passion.”
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Taehyung's words weigh on you for the rest of your night. It started off as something simple, looking up audition songs for an upcoming off-broadway show your agent was telling you about. Then, you went to learning it. After that, putting on makeup. And finally, completely forgetting about your sleep schedule and filming an entire audition tape in your room at 2 in the morning (and you were belting… your poor neighbors). It wasn’t until four that you finally turned in for the night, not bothering to take off your makeup or get changed-- simply falling onto your pillow and blacking out the moment you hit it. You were definitely sleeping the next day away… but at that moment, you didn’t mind. Having a day off from your busy schedule wouldn’t be so bad.
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“I sent in an audition tape two nights ago.” You speak confidently, wiping down the back counter that’s littered with coffee grounds. They stick to the rag like glue, tiny dots scattered along its white surface. If it weren’t for your apron,
and your expertly rolled up white turtleneck sweater, you would look alot like this rag right now.
“Did you?” Jimin questions from the bar, sleeving the cup before placing it on the handoff counter.
“Christopher! Medium cappuccino!” He calls, multitasking while he cranes his neck to still hear you.
“I did. I feel really good about this one..” You add, meeting him beside the bar as he lifts the pitcher up and down to create the latte-art of a flower in the center of the mug. You have tried sooooo many times to make latte art… and every time it ended up looking like a glob. A big, distorted snowball. Jimin was the master of latte art, always finishing it off beautifully with a whip of his wrist. The foam atop telling a story. “It was so late-- I was totally out of it… and yet I actually enjoyed myself while filming it. I just imagined being there.. In center stage.”
“I’m happy for you, Y/n!” He smiles, turning to place the hot mug next to the cappuccino.
“Caleb! Medium caramel latte!”
He was only half listening to you. The cafe was bustling, so it truly wasn’t Jimin's fault that he was sidetracked— but nothing could hold back the small smile that played at the edge of your lips. You had actually enjoyed singing for the first time in a while.. all because of Taehyung's Academy Award winning pep talk. Who knew that all you needed was for someone to tell you like it is. With a minuscule smile, you turn back towards the counter and lift the latte you’d whipped up this morning to your lips. Your distorted snowball is fully on display at the top.
Despite the busyness, the front register is deserted, giving you time to think for a moment about the pep talk... or rather, the person who gave you it.
“I think Taehyung likes you.” Jimin deadpans.
Uhhh… You nearly spit out your snowball at that— clearing your throat as you set it down slowly onto the wooden countertop. He speaks as if this is a natural conversation starter… it’s not.
“I’m sorry?” You croak.
“Taehyung.” He repeats, turning his head in your direction with a knowing smirk. “I think he likes you.”
You give him a scoff of disbelief, watching as yet another group of regulars enter through the door. “That’s not true, he just doesn’t know me… so he made an effort to talk to me.” If you weren’t studying the group, you would've seen Jimin giving you a scrutinized look.
So, now you have his attention.
“Y/n. It’s so obvious… He spent the entire night talking to you, he left moments after you did to give you your keys and he never came back. If that isn’t someone who’s interested, I don’t know what is.” Jimin is an expert at multitasking, finishing off two drinks at the same time and calling them out.
“Well, Jimin, when people don’t know each other, they get to know each other. It’s this thing called talking and becoming friends.” The sentence hangs in the air as the doorbell chimes, signaling that yet another customer has entered the cafe and into the swarm of regulars, but the two of you disregard the sound and continue on through your bickering.
“I’m just saying, Taehyung doesn’t usually talk to girls.” Jimin adds, wiping his hands off on the white rag seated beneath his espresso machine. “Even if they wanted his attention, he didn’t give it to them. I mean— he’s nice to girls, don’t get me wrong.. but he’s never talked to them like he did with you on game night. I don’t think he’s dated anyone since he got here.”
“He’s career driven.” You say quickly.
If you thought his smirk couldn’t get any wider, you were wrong. “Yeah, girls don’t know that about him— meaning he told you, and not other girls.” Jimin deadpans.
You stare blankly at him. There’s no way. No way that a guy as attractive as Taehyung would even think about looking at you like that. There’s just no way. You’ve never had a boyfriend... or even a guy friend, until Jimin. Eventually, you’d accepted the fact that maybe you just weren’t that interesting. Maybe you weren’t pretty enough. Maybe you couldn’t flirt…. okay, you definitely couldn’t flirt— but that’s besides the point.
“He’s not interested in me.” You conclude.
“He is.” Jimin counters.
“He’s not.”
“He so is.”
“He’s so not.”
“Y/n. I swear to you. He’s interested and you need to shoot your shot.” He whisper-screams, throwing the rag in his hand onto the bar.
“Taehyung is not-“
A clearing of someone’s throat from beyond the register cuts your argument short, nearly making you lose your balance when you see who the source was.
You’re fairly certain you’ve turned pale.
Taehyung stands in front of you, eyeing between the two of you with an awkward expression. God, how long has he been standing there? “I figured I should step in before the two of you start fist fighting.”
“Hey!” The shrill of your voice causes you to wince.
“Hey.” He says with a smile, folding his arms in front of him and raising his eyes to the menu above your head. You can’t help the glare you send towards Jimin, who's notably holding back his laughter as he moves to the blender, the station farthest from the register. Ridiculous.
“What can we get for you?” You ask routinely, trying not to make it obvious that you were just talking about him… and praying that he wasn’t there to hear what the two of you were talking about.
“Hmm…” He looks especially good today, wearing a brown, long coat and a brown plaid scarf around his neck. He wasn’t kidding when he said his favorite color was brown, that’s for sure. It suits him. His hair is wavy, flowing to a point just under his eyebrows with a split off center, giving you the tiniest glimpse of his forehead. “How about an americano with hazelnut, and some cream?”
“We can do that for ya!” You have to force yourself to stop looking at him, pressing the buttons to ring up his order before you forget. You nearly overlook ringing up the hazelnut syrup. Why were you so dazed? He’s already placed his credit card into the chip reader, but your foggy brain asks anyway. “Anything else?”
“Yes, actually.” He speaks as you move towards the bar beside the register. Grabbing an empty pitcher, you pour the milk inside and reach for the steamer. He drops a dollar into the tip jar, not giving you enough time to thank him for the unnecessary effort before he speaks again. “Are you free later?”
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NEXT CHAPTER
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nakachuchu · 4 years ago
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Love Language | Itadori Yuuji
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SYNOPSIS: You like paying for things.
READER: female
WORDS: 1563
WRITTEN: 03/09/2021
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"I never went to your middle school!" Yuuji shouted as he ran across the rooftops of Jujutsu Tech.
"Brother!" Todo shouted.
Yuuji grabbed the gutter and flipped into an open window, glancing up at Todo's approaching figure before slamming into something.
"Oof—"
The air was knocked from your chest and your back slammed against the floor. Yuuji held himself up by his hands, which were on both sides of your head.
"Senpai!" he exclaimed.
You chuckled. "You're in a rush."
"Sorry!"
He quickly got off you and got on his knees, placing his head against the floor in a bow. You laughed and got up from the floor, brushing the dust off your skirt.
"Something wrong?" you asked.
"Ah—"
"Brother!"
"Gah—"
Yuuji quickly got up as Todo flipped into the room, landing on his feet in front of you.
"Hey, Todo," you greeted.
Todo's previous rampant behavior died down as he saw you. He stood up straight and cleared his throat.
"Y/N, you're as beautiful as ever."
You snorted. "Thank you. Why are you chasing my kouhai?"
Yuuji slowly scooted toward you and hid behind you, even though he was much taller than you.
"He's my brother," said Todo.
"Are you two playing tag?" you asked.
"Precisely!" he exclaimed.
"Can I play?" you asked.
"Of course," said Todo.
"I'm assuming you're 'it,' so that means Yuuji and I are the ones who have to run, right? So—"
You grabbed Yuuji's hand and ran toward the door, flinging it open before running down the hallway.
You laughed out loud as you dragged Yuuji around campus in hopes of evading Todo. Yuuji seemed to be enjoying himself as well, laughing along with you and even occasionally picking you up bridal style to hop over an obstacle.
"I think," you panted, "we're safe."
He nodded and sat down on the ground, leaning against a tree. You sat next to him and let out a breath.
"So, how did you end up being Todo's brother?" you asked.
"I don't... It was in the moment, I swear."
You laughed. "A lot of things are in the moment for you, huh? I mean, that's how you became Sukuna's vessel."
He scratched his cheek awkwardly. "I guess it's a bad habit."
"Don't apologize. It's just who you are," you said as you took out your phone. "Oh. Gojo's calling us over. Come on, Yuuji."
You stood up and held your hand out to him. He grabbed it and let you help him onto his feet. He expected you to let go, so he was pleasantly surprised when you started walking, holding his hand and swinging your arm around.
The two of you rendezvoused with the other students and Gojo to pick the day two activity. Baseball was picked and you were surprised since you only ever participated in one versus one battles in the exchange event.
Yuuji was surprised as well since this was his first year at Jujutsu Tech, but he was mainly surprised at how good you looked in a baseball uniform.
No wonder Todo was interested in you. The pants did wonders for your ass. Yuuji swore he could see it bouncing as you ran. His eyes bulged a bit when you leaned down and slid, foot touching the home plate as your ass smacked against the dirt.
He wasn't even surprised that Todo immediately got up when you walked over to check on him after Maki hit him in the face.
You took your cap off and fanned yourself. Sweat dripped down your neck as your ponytail came loose, strands sticking to the base of your neck.
Yuuji couldn't help but stare.
"At least we won this year," you muttered. "I got my ass handed to me last year because of Noritoshi."
"You did great last year," Maki reassured.
"Salmon."
"What they said," said Panda.
You laughed. "Thanks. I'll see you guys later. I need a shower."
You placed your cap on top of Yuuji's head, pulling it down before walking away. He raised his head and readjusted the cap as he stared at your back.
"Hmm. Do you like Y/N?" Panda asked. "No chance. She's too pretty."
"Agreed," said Nobara.
"I second that," said Maki.
"Salmon."
"You guys are horrible," Yuuji retorted.
You weren't any different from the other students at Jujutsu Tech. You could use cursed energy, so you enrolled. You wore the same uniform as everyone else and participated in the same things as them.
But yes, he was interested in you. You fit his type, for one, but you were easily outgoing and not afraid to speak out.
He had only known you since the exchange event started, but you left an impression on him.
The next day, you texted Yuuji and asked him to go out with you. That was all you said, and he wasn't sure if you meant on a date or go out, as in leave campus.
"Hey, thanks for coming," you said as you held out your hand.
He looked around before slowly placing his hand in your hand. You smiled and turned around to begin walking.
He noticed you liked to take charge, but he didn't mind—especially when he didn't know what your plans for today were.
"Senpai, where are we going?" he asked.
You glanced over your shoulder. "You can just call me by my first name. We're going out, remember?"
"But what are we doing?"
"Getting lunch. Aren't you hungry?" you asked.
"I didn't bring my wallet."
"That's okay," you reassured. "I'm rich."
Throughout the day, you paid for everything. It was supposed to be a simple lunch, but it turned into a small shopping spree. You bought him some new clothes and the two of you ate a lot. Yuuji seemed to have a black hole as a stomach, but you didn't mind.
Once you were finished, the two of you walked back to Jujutsu Tech, hand in hand.
"I'll see you later, Yuuji," you said. "Take care not to die, all right?"
He nodded. "Thanks, Y/N."
You smiled and waved goodbye as you walked away. He stared after you for a while before turning around. He was carrying loads of shopping bags, which were all his.
"Where have you been, idiot?" Nobara asked, smacking Yuuji on the head.
He pouted. "Y/N took me out. I don't know why."
"Y/N does that," said Megumi. "She likes to spoil other people. She did that with me when I first came to Jujutsu Tech. She went out with Nobara when you were supposedly dead, too."
Nobara sighed wistfully. "She bought me a lot of brand names. I'd marry her if she was into girls."
Yuuji and Megumi blinked. "Wait—"
"Come on, let's go already!" Nobara shouted, already walking away from them.
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Since then, you would always take Yuuji out. The others said you'd always pay for their things when they went out together in groups, but you never invited them out alone to go out more than once.
Yuuji was a special case and he was confused as to why. He found himself lying awake in the middle of the night, thinking about you.
Whenever it was really late and his thoughts got the best of him, he'd find his briefs pulled down to his knees while he fisted his cock, imagining your hand around it.
He was completely whipped for you, and you didn't even know it.
"I'm going to do it," said Yuuji, hyping himself up.
"You're really going to ask her out?" asked Nobara. "Usually I'd make fun of you, but it actually seems like Y/N likes you too. The world must be ending."
"You just made fun of him," said Megumi.
"There she is!" Yuuji exclaimed, leavings his friends and jogging over to you. "Hi, Y/N."
You smiled. "Hi, Yuuji. Where are we going today?"
He stuck out his hand. "Everywhere."
You placed your hand into his and he pulled you forward. Now, you were the one following Yuuji as he took you out for lunch, dessert, and a bit of shopping.
He paid for everything as well, always beating you to the punch. You stopped by a cellphone accessory stand and the two of you picked out matching keychains.
The two of you created chaos everywhere you went. Yuuji dropped every food item he was eating and would choke on his food when you made him laugh too much.
"I had a lot of time today," you said. "You didn't have to pay for everything."
"I wanted to," he said. "Listen, Y/N."
"Hmm?"
He squeezed your hand and stopped walking, grabbing both of your hands to hold them in his.
You looked up at him curiously.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.
You smiled. "Yeah!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, I was wondering how long it would take for you to ask me out. I like you too," you said.
"Really?"
Yuuji couldn't believe you liked him too. It was really bad timing, but all he could think about was dating you and what the two of you could get up to.
You glanced down. "You okay, Yuuji?"
He quickly released your hands and turned around. "Um—Yes. I'm okay. I—What should we do now?"
You laughed and wrapped your hands around his arm, pressing it to your chest. "Let's hang out in your room."
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bumblebear30 · 3 years ago
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Oops
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Rita Calhoun x Casey Novak, Established Calvak
A wee comfort fic for these two as I totally love them.
Warnings: mentions of Casey's office attack, migraine / mild medical concern. Side effects of getting older. No smut but alluded to. Happy ending.
Please let me know if you have any other prompts or requests for these two. Happy to try write more for them.
Oops
"You did it again."
The accusing tone made Casey's head snap up from where she was nestled on the couch. She could feel the light crust of dried drool on her cheek where she'd pretty much passed out into the pillow and rubbed at it with the cuff the sweater she was wearing in the hopes that her always immaculately dressed girlfriend wouldn't notice,
"Did what again?" she finally mumbled in response, a heavy pout in place as she scrunched her eyes against the bright light streaming in the apartment windows.
Rita sighed huffily as she perched on the back of the couch and busied herself with finishing taking off her earrings for the day. From there she finally caught sight of the sleep befuddled Casey - the creases of the pillow evidently pressed into her cheek, hair all mussed and cocooned in softest of old sweaters that Rita owned as the redhead obviously tried to drag her lagging brain through what it was she had done wrong this time.
Her expression immediately switched from frustration to concern as she reached out to card her fingers through Casey's hair, the younger woman automatically leaning into it and shifting closer to where Rita was sat,
"You left files that I shouldn't see on the breakfast bar again. We got a place with room for two separate offices for a reason darling."
Casey winced and opened one eye to finally look up at Rita as she apologised,
"Oops, m'sorry babe, I genuinely didn't mean to. I just needed different light. "
Rita tilted her head and gave a small sympathic noise as Casey burrowed her head against the back of the couch,
"Migraine again sweetheart?" Casey nodded groggily where she lay, loathe to commit to any movements that required further effort. Seeing her so forlorn pulled at Rita's heartstrings and she quickly got up and shed her shoes and jacket onto a nearby chair as she came round to the front of the couch to join Casey, "That's the third bad one this month..."
Hearing the familiar sound of Rita settling next to her Casey shifted to lay her head in her girlfriend's lap, wordlessly requesting for the attorney's always slightly cool hand to run across her forehead and circle at her temple as she'd done before by simply tipping her chin just so.
Of course Rita automatically took up the action, also using her free hand to run her nails in soothing circles across Casey's lower back.
The redhead let herself just bask in the attention and comfort. She'd felt instantly a bit better as soon as the scent of Rita's expensive perfume had reached her - always accompanied by the faint smell of coffee, ink and paper, a lawyerly smell if ever there was such a thing. That and the almost pavlovian way her body responded to Rita's touch, practically commanding her to relax with the lightest of pressures, also helped ease the residual pulsating ache at the front of her brain.
Afterwards she'd been sulky for days, which had drawn further unimpressed looks and rolled eyes from Rita. Eventually she'd pulled her head out of her ass and apologised with a gorgeous bouquet and an evening of pampering - cooking Rita's favourites for dinner, making the effort to use the good china and having candles on the table followed by a super indulgent bubble bath for the brunette (the rose petals may have been overboard but she knew Rita secretly adored them.)
She knew where Rita's comment was leading though. They'd had this argument discussion the last time too and she was not wanting a repeat of that general fiasco and to ultimately wallow in her own grumpiness yet again. It was worse because she knew Rita was right, and was only concerned and fussing simply because she loved her. But she had still been in residual pain and exhaustion from the migraine in question as well as licking her wounds from losing the most recent case to her lover too.
All that had only been a week ago, meaning it was less than fourteen days since she'd last had to abandon her work to lie in a darkened room with a cold compress across her eyes and an ice pack wrapped up at the base of her neck. It wasn't sustainable, and she hated being sick all the more because she knew Rita was always more worried than she let on.
She sighed lightly and wriggled her head back so she was pressed more closely into Rita's ridiculously soft silk blouse. The brunette had lifted her hands away as Casey moved but seeing her settle let them resume the gentle caresses. Noting that Casey hadn't immediately started arguing with her Rita decided to press her case once more,
"I just think given that you have such a bad head injury in your past, " Casey couldn't suppress the fearful shiver that ran down her spine at the memories - and lack of them - of her office attack, "that it would be sensible to get a doctor to run some tests and check what is going on."
At still receiving no response from Casey Rita tried to push just that little bit more. She gently ran a finger down the elegant slope of Casey's nose, booping the tip of it which made Casey start and turn onto her back to smile softly up at Rita. Holding her gaze Rita matched her with an indulgent look as she tucked some hair back behind Casey's ear,
"It's just that I'm rather fond of that brain of yours sweetheart, I'd hate to think anything might be wrong." She finished her plea by cupping Casey's chin and running the pad of her thumb over her lips as their positioning meant she couldn't reach to kiss them.
Once again Casey closed her eyes and leaned into the touch,
"And here I thought you were with me for my 'cracking bod', " she grinned as she felt Rita's entire body move as she laughed, "But I know. You're right. As usual." Her admission made Rita smile in victory, Casey's quip pulling another knowing chuckle that rumbled through her,
"Good, I have the number of an excellent neurologist, I'm sure he'll be able to see you by the end of the week."
Casey shot her a look that screamed incredulity,
"He wasn't a client was he? I'm not sure how comfortable I would be with that."
The experienced attorney did laugh at that,
"No, no," she continued to play with Casey's hair, "although he has maybe been an expert witness on several occasions but he's only ever been the utmost professional." she paused for a moment as Casey considered her options. "So what do you say darling, let me call and set up an appointment for you?"
With one last resigned sigh Casey nodded,
"Okay," honestly she was prepared to go through nearly anything if she could stop feeling so accutely crappy whenever these migraines came along, or stop them from happening in the first place.
"But," the smallness of her voice and demeanour, so unlike the usual strong confident persona of the prosecutor, brought out Rita's overprotective side even more, "But what if there is something wrong? Like-"
Deciding to quickly end any spiralling Rita pressed her finger over Casey's lip to hush her,
"Shh, then its better to know and we'll deal with whatever it may be together as best we can."
Suitably mollified, Casey rolled once more so her nose was buried against Rita's stomach, so much so her voice was muffled when she finally spoke,
"I'm sorry, I'm just worried."
"I know darling, but it may just be that you need glasses or something like that now, you know?"
The scandalised and affronted noise that escaped Casey made Rita laugh once again,
"I've always thought you'd look very sexy in glasses you know..."
The low purr of her voice drew an instant reaction from Casey, it always did. Like a siren's call she opened her eyes, feeling better enough to shoot a flirtatious look up at her love as she arched her eyebrow as seductively as she could manage in her prone position,
"Is that so?"
"Hmm hmm," Rita's affirmative humm came as she matched Casey's expression with one of her own, "You could totally pull off the sexy librarian look darling."
"Librarian!?!"
In her offense Casey finally sat up to lightly glare at Rita on a more equal footing. She lightly trailed her hand up Rita's thigh, so overly unsubtle Rita knew she was just winding her up. Still she enjoyed the attention nonetheless. "What if I wanted to go for the sexy lawyer in glasses look? Could I pull that one off too?"
Rita tipped her head to the side as she squinted at Casey, umming and awwing for extra effect,
"I'm sorry love but I think Cabot has got that niche locked down tight."
Casey couldn't help but gasp at the teasing and swat at Rita's thigh in retribution,
"Rude!"
Rita kept cackling with laughter, simply relieved to see Casey's usual firey playfulness was returning,
"Well if you get glasses you can work extra hard to prove me wrong, no?"
With a knowing smile Casey leant forward to press an adoring but chaste kiss to Rita's lips,
"Sounds good to me, thank you for helping me feel better."
Reaching up Rita cupped Casey's chin and drew her face back to her for another kiss. Or two. Maybe three. She just loved how they felt against her own.
"I'm glad I could help. Now do you want to go lock those files away whilst I give the doctor a call? We can then get an order from Chengs if you'd like?"
Casey was already making the effort to stand, holding herself still for several moments to ensure her balance was set after feeling so woozy earlier. Finding herself steady she smiled at Rita once more as she started heading for the kitchen,
"As long as there is lo mein I don't mind!"
A couple of days later Rita answered her ringing cell automatically, not even looking away from her inbox as she barked her usual response,
"Calhoun, who's speaking."
"Hey sweet thing," instantly Rita's entire posture melted, Casey's voice and determination to use ridiculous pet names totally always got her,
"Darling, how'd the appointment go." she'd swung her chair away from the computer screen, her entire focus now on Casey,
"Well you were right."
"I usually am, remind me what I was right about this time?"
"Scans and everything came back clear but I've got glasses to wear now... " Casey paused long enough for Rita to both sigh in relief and laugh,
"Oh is that all?"
"Well, he advised I change to a different type fo light bulb where possible, and definitely to wear glasses when looking at screens as they'll filter that blue light thing? But that and some proper rest and it should all help."
"That's great news sweetheart, I'm so relieved." Truly Rita felt like a knot she hadn't known was there had been released in her chest,
"Yeah, so in the spirit of medical necessity, I think we should schedule a trip up to the house in the Hampton's." Sometimes Casey still would catch herself after saying such a thing. A house in the Hampton's. Their house in the Hamptons. Quite ridiculous.
Rita chuckled but instantly swept round to open their shared calendar to look for potential timings,
"An excellent idea darling, I could even ask Danielle to get the boat ready for us? I know you love to play at being Captain."
"Please, you just want to lounge about in your bikini in front of me don't you."
"Well with your new glasses we'll have to test how much better you can see me. I do love putting on a show for you."
The flirtation made Casey gulp, images of Rita enjoying herself nearly overwhelming her,
"You always do have the best ideas, I propose we do lots of testing."
"For medical necessity?" Rita's smirk was clear even though Casey couldn't see her face,
"Exactly, you always know how to take the best care of me baby..."
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eryiss · 3 years ago
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Ship: Freed x Laxus
Rating: Teen
Prompt: Soulmates
Summary: THE S0U1MATE SYSTEM. A week-long experience guaranteed to find you your soulmate. Laxus had dismissed it as nothing but crap, and brought himself a ticket to prove it. It would have gone well, if it weren’t for the handsome guy running the program who kept catching his eye.
Notes: This was written as part of Fraxus Week 2021, as always hosted by @fuckyeahfraxus. Check out their blog to see all the other content.
Links: Event Masterlist ||| Archive of Our Own, Fanfiction
THE S0U1MATE SYSTEM
Year: 2055
Location: Tokyo, Japan
"Laxus Dreyar," A robotically cheerful voice echoed through the room. "Please step into the preparation area."
Rising quickly, Laxus strode through the reception room and towards the door that had lit up. The animated emoticon projected onto the wall followed him as he walked, and the glass door shimmered out of existence as he approached. Once through the archway, the glass flickered back into place, and the emoticon went back to its unanimated state. So far, Laxus had yet to be impressed by THE S0U1MATE SYSTEM.
It claimed to be an experience that will end up matching an attendee with their soulmate. You paid your fee, gave up a week of your life, trusted in the system that it would work, and supposedly you'd end up meeting the love of your life. Laxus was only there to disprove it.
Well, also because Ever had paid for it, and he knew how much it costed. But mainly he went to disprove it.
So far, he'd undergone a full body scan, had his social media accounts interrogated, and submitted a completed questionnaire that covered everything from best first date ideas to how he dealt with the inevitability of death. This was apparently so the algorithm could create a profile for him, and was not reflective of how the program would be. According to the guidebook Laxus had absently flicked through, the morning of the first day was slightly tedious, so to better match him with potential lovers. It all seemed stupid – as far as Laxus was concerned, romance was born out of coincidence and chemistry, not a list of things you liked and didn't like – but he was willing to undergo it all just to prove how it was a waste of money.
Each day, he would go on an 'Experience' with a match. It was a simulation of a first date, purpose built to the two people's shared interests. Some people went on candle lit dinners, some people went into an escape room, some people were stranded in the middle of the ocean with only each other for company. Every experience was tailored to the participants.
At least it would be interesting.
Laxus walked down the corridor, following the neon arrows that pointed him to another shimmering glass door. The pretentious modernism of the building was obvious, and it showed off every ridiculous advancement in technology in the most frivolous ways. It couldn't be a more obvious money-making scheme if it tried.
As he walked through the door, he saw a man standing at a podium. His date, perhaps.
Well, if that was the case, they at least knew his type.
Tall, long legs with some obvious lean bulk to them. Well dressed, in clothing that clearly was trying to highlight his physique but not in an obvious way. His face, looking down at the tablet attached to the podium, was sharp and angular, with high cheek bones and a slightly jutting chin. A mole rested below one of his vibrant eyes, and a long main of flowing green hair hung down to his waist. He was hot and Laxus grinned; at least he would spend a bit of time with a sexy guy.
As Laxus approached, the man looked up with a polite smile. He didn't make a move towards him, as Laxus expected, and continued to tap on the tablet before him. The lights gained a bright blue and the small room illuminated itself.
"You must be mister Dreyar," The man said in lieu of a greeting.
"Yeah, nice to meet ya," Laxus nodded, stepping forward and offering the man a hand to shake. He took it; he had a good grip on him. "Guess you're my date for the evening."
"Ah, I'm afraid not," The man denied, and Laxus frowned a little. "I work here, I'll be overseeing your simulations throughout the week as part of a quality control test. You'll meet the man who you've been set up with in the simulation itself."
"Thought the system was supposed to be automated?" Laxus asked, retracting his hand, and taking a step back.
"It is. A few times a year someone is called to watch over, to make sure it's as streamlined as possible," The man looked back down to his tablet again and began typing, and a small bubbling of curiosity grew in Laxus. Nothing he'd act on, but the face of concentration on the man was an attractive one. "I'm surprised you weren't informed beforehand; I must admit. It's in the contract you signed that this could happen, but the company does like to warn people before things begin."
"It ain't a big deal," Laxus shrugged, looking around the small room. "I ain't really sure how this part of the process works, so maybe you could help. I didn't catch yer name, either."
"Freed Justine," The man introduced himself, smirking ever so slightly. "In a moment you'll walk through those doors," he motioned to the aforementioned doors, "and the simulation will begin. Your date will walk through another set of doors, and you'll meet then. We like to have dates meet for the first time mid-way through a simulation, as it feels more natural than meeting beforehand. Once you've spoken for a while, the activity of the simulation can begin."
"How do I know what the 'activity' is?"
"It's normally fairly obvious. If you were, for example, white water rafting, you'd be placed on a dock with a boat already attached to the rapids," Freed explained, looking up from the tablet again. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."
Laxus would have rather known what he was getting into before it happened, he felt like it would give him an advantage. He couldn't dwell on that, though, as the floor below him lit up. Pulses of light seemed to guide him to a corner of the room, where an odd glass cylinder stood. Clearly they were informing him that he was to get inside the cylinder and, after a nod from Freed, he did as he was instructed.
The cylinder closed as he stepped in, and a flicker of nervousness dwelled inside of him as the glass seemed to seal itself shut. He glanced towards Freed, who gave him a short smile, before a flash of light erupted from above. It only lasted a moment, and Laxus took a second to understand what had happened.
His clothing had changed. Where once he wore an outfit he saw as worthy for a date, he now wore a tee-shirt, shorts, and sneakers.
"The hell?" He murmured under his breath.
"That's the outfit that best fits what kind of date you'll be having," Freed explained as the glass unsealed and Laxus could step out. "Partly it's to better round out the simulation, but I think it's mainly so we don't get sued for property damage should your actual clothes get stained or damaged."
"How romantic," Laxus murmured, before looking down at himself. "Am I having a date in a gym or something?"
"Yes, actually. One of your shared interests is combat sports, so you'll be placed in a boxing arena," Freed said after looking towards the tablet. He thought for a moment, then frowned. "I probably shouldn't have told you that."
"Glad you did, I like being prepared," Laxus shrugged. "Boxing's hardly romantic, though."
"For the right person, it is," Freed retorted. The lights around the simulation door lit up green, and Freed smiled. "Speaking of the right person, the simulation is ready, so when you're ready please step through. I hope you enjoy your date."
"I'll certainly try," Laxus nodded. "And if I don't, I get to punch the guy."
Freed laughed, and Laxus approached the door and refocused his attention on his goal on disproving the systems worth. He knew that the guy in the simulation wouldn't be his soulmate. If the company was worth it's price, then they would have understood that Freed was a better match for him than some random guy who happened to like to box. Still, once this was over and he'd disproven their complete success claim, he might get Freed's number. It wouldn't be a waste of time.
---
"So he wasn't the love of your life, then?"
That was what greeted Laxus as he walked into the preparation area outside of the simulation. It had been a day since his first date, and Freed stood before his tablet again as if he'd been waiting for Laxus to approach. He probably had.
"Wouldn't be here if he was," Laxus shrugged. "You saw how it went. Hardly compatible."
"I suppose not."
The date itself wasn't awful, in fact it was pretty fun. As Freed had stated, he'd been taken into a simulation of an old-fashioned boxing gymnasium, where he'd met the guy. He wasn't bad looking, and in pretty damn good shape, but they hadn't been destined for a relationship and they both knew it. Though Laxus couldn't say it was time wasted, as they'd exchanged information and said they'd workout together at some point. Laxus had always found it hard to find a spotter who could match his weight, and the guy could certainly do that and more.
"The first dates don't typically be where people settle," Freed continued, tapping at his tablet, perhaps setting up the next simulation. "The first half of the week has a low success rate, honestly. I believe it's mainly collecting information to better inform the matches later in the week, so don't be disheartened."
"I wasn't," Laxus shrugged. "If I'm honest, I don't believe this is real."
"I thought as much," Freed chuckled. "Though you probably shouldn't have told a member of staff that. It might taint my view of you."
"What are you gonna do. Throw me into a simulated volcano?"
"I could," Freed grinned, and it was a pretty nice look on the man. "But the real danger is that you say it to a member of staff who's gone through the program and who met their partner through it. They can get somewhat defensive, and they'll do whatever they can to make you believe it will work, and they'll be rather annoying while doing so. It's something I know from experience."
"You ain't been through it?"
"No, I'm hardly in a rush to find someone," Freed shrugged a little. "I believe that these things will happen when they're meant to, so why force them? And yes, before you point it out, it's hypocritical of me to say that while working here."
"Never been tempted?" Laxus asked.
"Of course. I know you don't believe it but I've yet to see someone leave the program without meeting someone they eventually fell in love with."
Freed didn't seem like the kind of guy to say bullshit like that for no reason, and the honesty in his tone didn't feel as though he was parroting a line from a corporate memo, so maybe he did believe it. Admittedly Laxus hardly knew Freed, so he couldn't make too many judgments about his person, but the fact he seemed to believe that this could find him true love was a little intimidating. A pragmatist like Freed – that's what Laxus thought him to be, anyway – wouldn't say that if he didn't believe it.
A horrible thought suddenly hit Laxus. He might actually find someone who he might fall in love with. That was… worrying.
"You won't need to change clothes today, your date won't require it," Freed said, looking up from his tablet again.
"Good to know," Laxus nodded, trying to ignore the nervousness that was filling him. "You gonna tell me what I'm doing?"
"No," Freed shook his head. "For all we know, if I didn't tell you yesterday, the date might have been entirely different."
"Nah, I don't think so," Laxus chuckled, walking towards the podium Freed was standing behind and leaning on it. He grinned at the man, who looked up at him for a moment before averting his eyes. "Tell me, I'll complain about you to yer manager if you don't."
"What a horrible threat," Freed said sardonically, though he did look down at his tablet again. "It's a fairground with a circus performance at the end. And apparently your date is something of a gymnast, and so there's a high chance that he'll get on stage and perform for you."
"Is that gonna be impressive or is it gonna make me wanna claw my eyes out?" Laxus laughed.
"He's a professional athlete, so I suspect the former," Freed grinned a little.
They chatted for a few minutes more, and eventually the lights around the door lit up again and guided him towards his second date. Laxus pushed off from the podium he was still leaning on, ignoring the teasing comment that he should adjust his posture if he wanted to impress his future husband, and walked through the door and into the simulation of an outdoor fairground. As he crossed the threshold, he didn't notice how his nerves had disappeared completely.
---
"I'm startin' to think your program ain't as good as you're saying it is."
Laxus spoke as he walked into the preparation area, and Freed looked up with a small grin on his face as he approached. Laxus had the slightest falter in his step as he saw that Freed had his hair tied up in a high ponytail, rather than using the low band he'd had on the two previous days. Seriously, the simulation had matched him with two random men and not the beauty before him and yet still claimed to be the best matchmaking system in history. Ha.
His second date hadn't been bad, exactly. The guy was hot in his own way – and someone with a scene/punk interest would have been all over him – and he was entertaining the entire time. But he was a little too much for Laxus. Constantly wiggling eyebrows and euphemisms. Good for the right guy, but not for Laxus.
"We're still collecting data, every date is an improvement on the last," Freed waved off the complaint. "For example, you seemed to enjoy the games you were playing, so a bit of friendly competition is something you'll like in a relationship," Laxus had to admit, someone who could challenge him was a turn on, so the system had gotten that right about him. "That's certainly been taken into account for this date."
The way he'd said the last sentence, with a hint of amusement and restrained laughter, made Laxus nervous. He didn't push the topic, partially out of fear.
"We'll see how confident you are when the week's over and I've turned everyone down," Laxus shrugged.
"You're determined for this to fail for you, aren't you?" Freed asked with amusement, and Laxus didn't deny it, instead choosing to shrug. "Is that why you're here, do you see yourself as the man to take the system down and prove how much of a scam it is? Because we've had literally hundreds of people try that and we've yet to have an unsatisfied customer."
"How do I know they've not been silenced?" Laxus joked, grinning as he walked closer to Freed. "Or worse, you killed 'em, blended their bodies up and sold it as a health drink or something?"
"Because we're not in a poorly written young adult novel?" Freed chuckled. "We actually just burn the corpses, it's much less messy."
"Knew it," Laxus laughed. "You gonna tell me what you're gonna put me through today?"
"Absolutely not," Freed grinned. "And I won't move on that today. Because nothing is going to please me more than seeing your reaction to it."
"Why, it's not weird is it?" Laxus frowned, looking concerned now.
"It depends on your definition of weird, I suppose," Freed smirked, and if it weren't such an attractive expression on the man then Laxus might have taken issue with it. "I'll simply say, I expect it's weighted slightly more towards what your date will enjoy rather than what you're going to enjoy."
"Or you could just tell me what's gonna happen," Laxus prompted, and Freed shook his head.
"You'll require an outfit change."
Laxus sighed a little, apparently the topic was to be dropped. He walked to the glass pod in the corner of the room and allowed it to close behind him, and he turned to look at Freed in expectation. Freed pressed something on the tablet and the light flash of light filled the cylinder a moment later, the same chill running over him as his clothing was replaced.
When he saw his reflection, Laxus found himself more confused than anything. He was only wearing swimming trunks and a large life-preserver. He could swim fine, so didn't know what the hell the point of that thing was, and turned to Freed again in confusion.
Freed, who had apparently been looking at him, immediately turned away, and Laxus could see his cheeks redden.
Huh. Had Freed been checking him out.
"You really not gonna let me know why I need to wear this?" Laxus asked, stepping out of the pod, and lifting one side of the life-preserver. Freed looked back to him, pointedly looking only at his face, cheeks still covered with the slightest dusting of a blush. Laxus wanted to focus on that, and maybe flex his abs to see if he got a reaction, but instead spoke again in a jovial tone. "You know if I drown in a simulation, I'm gonna get a lawyer right?"
"I doubt that will happen," Freed said, seemingly forcing himself to shake off the blush. "It's just a precaution."
"You wanna tell me what it's a precaution against?" Laxus probed.
"No," Freed grinned again. The lights above the door lit up, and Freed's grin widened. "And it seems you'll be finding out now."
Laxus wanted to push the topic more and find out what he was going to endure, and he very nearly ignored the flashing green lights and did just that. He almost did, if it weren't for the fact that he also wanted to take off the life preserver and give Freed an unhindered view of his chest to see what happened, so he clearly wasn't in the right mind to be making decisions. He was trying to disprove love could be found in this place, flirting with the guy was hardly helping his argument.
As he had the previous two times, Freed wished him luck as he approached the door. Thie time, though, it was tinged with amusement, and Laxus felt a swell of anticipation as he walked through the door.
The simulation was… interesting. It took Laxus a moment to realise he recognised what he was seeing, and a further moment to remember what it was. When he was a kid, his grandfather had watched old reruns of a gameshow: Wipeout. It was a ridiculous set of obstacle courses, where idiot contestants tried to win money but usually ended up looking like assholes, falling into water after being hit by giant mechanisms covered in foam cladding. It was cheap entertainment where the contestants were there to be laughed at, and apparently Laxus was going to be enduring the damn thing.
He turned around quickly, watching as the doors flickered out of existence, Freed's smirk being the last thing he saw.
---
The moment Laxus walked into the preparation room, he was met with a bursting of laughter. He crossed his arms, watching as Freed tried and failed to retain his laughter. It took longer than it should have, and it was tempting to shake the bastard. He would deserve it if he was laughing at what Laxus thought he was laughing at.
"It ain't that funny."
"Oh it truly was."
Laxus grit his teeth. His third date had been the most interesting, that was for sure, but it had also been ridiculous. He'd been forced to go through three stupidly weird obstacle courses, competing against his date, who was a loud-mouthed idiot with stupidly pink hair.
Multiple times, he'd been pushed from the course and into the unnecessarily cold water. The loud cackling from his date seemed to be shot straight into his ears the moment he broke the surface of the water, and the man's amusement at Laxus failing seemed to double each time it happened. During the last round, when he'd been knocked down a slope of gushing water by a barrel of all things, Laxus had to stop himself from swimming over to the man and clocking him on the nose. He'd probably be kicked from the system, so he talked himself out of it and instead put his focus onto winning the game. He had, and the brat annoyingly wasn't bothered at all.
"He was fucking annoying," Laxus muttered as he walked closer to Freed. He leant against the podium again, closing his eyes in exasperation. "Good luck finding him a guy to match with."
"Actually he's on his fifth day here, and everyone other than you said they wanted to match with him," Freed informed him, looking over the tablet. He was being cagey in letting Laxus see the screen surely the next date wouldn't be as bad as the last. "So you're the outlier in the set. He's remarkably easy compared to you."
"Honestly, kinda offended by that," Laxus muttered.
Freed breathed out a laugh, before placing the tablet back onto the podium. Laxus didn't spare it a glance, and instead looked towards the clothes-changing pod to see if he would need a new outfit. Seemingly knowing that, the pod lit up and directed Laxus to enter. With a small sigh, he did.
Once inside, the flash went off and his clothes were replaced by the appropriate outfit. Thankfully, this time he'd been replaced by an actual normal outfit. A dinner suit, perfectly tailored for his body. It was entirely black and white and, while he definitely looked good in it, it wasn't exactly what he would have chosen for himself. He liked his clothes to have at least a splash of colour, and suits could have that in a tasteful way when done right.
"Before you ask, you'll be having dinner today," Freed informed him as he stepped out of the pod. "Fairly simple, but I think that's more than earned. Most people only have one peculiar simulation, you've had nothing but."
"Lucky me," Laxus murmured. "Wanna tell me about the guy?"
"No," Freed shook his head. "Though I should say, it's at this point in the program where the system starts to understand what you're looking for. So it's entirely possible that he might be the person you end up with."
"I doubt it," He rebuffed, glancing at his reflection in the pod.
"Just go in with an open mind, that's all I ask," Freed said, typing on the tablet again. "The gentleman you've been set up with supposedly has a ninety two percent match with the data on you we currently have. There's a good chance that this might go well if you let it."
"You know I wanna disprove this, right?" Laxus grinned. "I ain't gonna help you."
"Well, lets make a deal," Freed smirked. "If you go into your date with an open mind, I'll promise not to put this on YouTube."
Laxus went to ask what, but the lights lowered, and a projection appeared on one of the blank walls. Watching the video, Laxus felt his blood run cold and his body tense, and a glare was soon aimed at Freed for what he'd done. The grin, which could only be described as shit-eating, he got in return only went to further annoy him.
The video was of Laxus' previous date. All the instances of him falling off the course, and into the water, had been put into a montage, with ridiculously obnoxious circus music blaring behind it. Laxus looked like a damn asshole. When the footage slowed down, showing him getting punched in the face by a foam-covered fist, only to lose grip of the handholds and fall face first into a pool of mud, Laxus openly growled.
"Delete this."
"Absolutely not," Freed smirked. "You heard my terms. Give your date a chance and I'll make it disappear. If not, the whole world gets to see you looking like this."
"Yer an asshole, you know that?" Laxus asked, though he couldn't help fighting a grin.
"I do," Freed nodded, and Laxus barked out a laugh. "And your date is ready for you. Have fun."
Laxus waved a hand towards him, walking towards the door and adjusting his jacket as he did so. He supposed he would give this date a chance, just to avoid the humiliation of that stupid video being leaked onto the internet. If it went well, then he'd meet a guy he might be interested in. if it didn't go well, then he could spend the entirety of the next day planning some kind of revenge on Freed for forcing him to endure such a night. That would be fun.
---
The date had been… interesting. Freed was right, the guy had certainly been the closest to someone Laxus would consider getting into a long-term relationship with, and that had somewhat spooked him after the date had ended. He'd been completely certain that he wouldn't meet anyone even close to what he wanted, and hadn't allowed for any deviation from that mindset. Having that belief challenged was worrying.
The guy was smart, silver tongued, and pretty sexy. He wore a suit to perfection, knew all the right things to say, and was flirtatious by nature. Which was all good, and certainly wasn't a turn off, but it wasn't enough for Laxus. He was all too focused on flirting, and didn't show off the other facets of his personality, which Laxus had wanted.
But if he had done that, what then? What if he had a good sense of humour, or was passionate about random things and would happily speak of them for hours? Laxus liked men like that, and his date had been dangerously close to that.
What if he'd gotten Laxus to match with him? What would happen then?
Those thoughts were plaguing his mind as he walked into the preparation room. He hadn't prepared himself for actually meeting someone, certainly not someone he wanted to get serious with. Laxus didn't get serious with guys, he was more of a love them and leave them kind of guy. It was part of the reason he wanted to disprove this place; not everyone was looking to find a guy to settle down with, and Laxus saw himself as one of those people. But the entire selling point of THE S0U1MATE SYSTEM was that it matched people together in relationships that would last.
Who even was he when he was in a relationship? Would he be one of those people who obsessively cleaned their home to impress their partner? Would he have to constantly be thinking about dates and things to do? Would he have to buy the guy flowers? He didn't know how to do that shit. He didn't think he even wanted to do that shit.
"Laxus," Freed asked, cutting through Laxus' growing panic. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, sorry, fine," Laxus lied. He didn't say anything else.
Freed didn't push conversation, apparently noticing that Laxus wasn't in the mood for their conversations. Laxus walked to the small sofa that he'd previously ignored, sat down, and listened to the gentle tapping of Freed's fingers against the tablet. He closed his eyes and tried to drown out his thoughts.
He wasn't ready for the date this time, because if they were meant to get better each day, then the guy he'd be matched with next might one day become someone important to him. What if he fucked the date up and the guy didn't wanna match with him? What if the guy was perfect for him and he didn't feel anything? Maybe he'd spent years sleeping around, never being with the same guy for longer than a month, and it'd fucked him up somehow.
"If you'd like to enter the pod," Freed prompted, and Laxus looked up to see the clothing pod lit up.
Doing as he was told, he walked into the pod and waited for his clothes to change. After it happened, he felt that his pants had been replaced by something uncomfortably clingy, and he frowned a little. The frown turned to a grimace when he saw his reflection.
"The fuck?" He demanded.
He was dressed in all green, wearing tights and a slightly sparkling tunic. He looked fucking stupid; even more stupid that he had on the damn Wipeout video. He gaped at his own reflection, not entirely sure what to say. The whiplash from emotional turmoil to embarrassed confusion was overwhelming.
"The fuck!" He repeated.
"You'll apparently be performing as Peter Pan for your next date," Freed informed him, and something close to dread built inside of Laxus' stomach. What the fuck? What the fuck! How the fuck had anyone thought that was something he'd enjoy? Who could think he'd wanna be with someone who wanted him to… to perform on stage while looking like an asshole?
"I fucking am not." He snapped.
"The system states that you'll have a very high matching rate with her," Freed replied, before frowning. Laxus also turned to look at him. "You only wanted to be matched with men, didn't you?"
"That's right," Laxus nodded, voice low. It had set him up with a woman?
Freed looked down at his tablet, face scrunching slightly for a moment as he swiped and tapped at the glass, and Laxus tried not to enjoy the sight. He seemed to understand something, flicked on the screen a few more times, and the pod Laxus had left lit up again. Laxus frowned, looking towards it in confusion before turning his gaze back onto Freed.
"There was a blip in the system. Apparently your date and another man's date were mixed up. If you'd like to step into the pod again it'll give you your actual outfit."
Relief flooded through Laxus. There were certain things that he would have outright refused to do, and making an ass out of himself on a stage, dressed like a glorified pixie was certainly one of them. But the contract he had signed said he was obligated to undergo all simulations if he didn't find a match, as not doing so would harm the reputation of the company unfairly. Would Freed had forced him to do it if he hadn't noticed? Laxus hoped not, but he couldn't be sure.
The new outfit was a lot more simple. It was normal clothing, with a large winter coat and, he realised a moment before he tripped, his shoes had been replaced by ice-skates. He knew how to skate, so it wasn't a problem, and compared to what he'd nearly had to undergo, this was perfect.
"Would I have had to do the fucking performance if you didn't notice it?" He asked.
"I'm sure the system would have picked up the mistake before you went in," Freed dismissed, tapping on the tablet, and lighting the door to the simulation room. "You should go now. Don't want to keep him waiting."
Laxus glanced towards Freed, not commenting on how obvious Freed was being in his dismissal. He walked through the door to see an ice rink empty of everything but one man, who was skating towards him. As Laxus skated towards his date, all he could seem to think of was how much better this was than Peter-Fucking-Pan.
His previous nerves about the date were the last thing on his mind.
---
"So here's the thing," Laxus said as he walked into the prep room. "I think you lied to me yesterday."
"Lied about what?" Freed asked.
"This is supposed to be the most successful, most advanced matchmaking system in the whole world, right? It's unmatched and has years of coding and advancements in technology inside of it, right?" He asked, and Freed nodded. "So it kinda seems a little bit bullshit that it wouldn't understand that a guy who's gay would only wanna go on a date with other guys. Feels like that's one of the basic things it should get right?"
"That would be a fair assumption."
"So, if that's right, then it seems unlikely that it'd just happen to me. Seems even weirder that it'd happen conveniently when there's a guy watching over the sessions to pick up the mistake," Laxus walked towards Freed, maintaining eye contact. "All seems coincidental."
"I suppose it does."
"Yeah, it does," Laxus nodded. "So why don't you admit that you're the reason it happened."
"If you already know, what would me admitting to it do?"
Laxus laughed. He didn't know what he had been expecting when he decided to confront Freed with his realisation, which had happened half way through the date with the guy, but he hadn't thought he'd get an honest admission without a moment's guilt.
He wasn't angry about what Freed had done. If he'd gone on the date wearing the costume then he'd certainly be pissed off, but in reality he'd only worn the stupid clothes for a minute or two, and Freed had quickly replaced them with what he was actually meant to wear. In reality it was just a weird thing that Freed had decided to do for a reason Laxus didn't quite understand.
"You really just wanted me to look like a jackass?"
"No, that was coincidental," Freed admitted. "A happy coincidence, mind you, but not the reason I did it. You clearly had gotten overwhelmed by the possibility that the system might actually work, and you were getting in your own head about it. You needed to be shocked out of your own self-doubts, and it was the easiest way to do it. A simple ice-skating date is hardly a challenge when you've just avoided something ridiculous that you'd never enjoy."
Oh, that was actually kinda nice. Weird, but nice. Not what he expected. It was almost flattering, in a way, that Freed had chosen to help him at all.
Of course he couldn't actually say that. He'd entered the room with a build-up of energy, having expected he would need to force the truth out of him by repeatedly asking him. He had been so certain that it would take their entire time together, and it would end with Freed laughing and Laxus trying to salvage his own pride back. He'd half thought that his costumed self would be edited into the fucking Wipeout video to further add to his embarrassment. A kind, if not slightly odd, action was hardly what he expected.
"So, is it actually automated?" He asked, instead of voicing his thanks because it was the only thing he could think of saying. "Or have you just been saying it is while doing everything yourself."
"No, it's automated, but I can override anything should I want to, which is what I did."
"Show me," Laxus demanded.
Freed nodded, moving slightly so Laxus could stand beside him in front of the tablet. Laxus stood behind him, trying to ignore the fact that this was the closest he'd been to Freed, and he could almost feel the heat radiating off him. It was hardly an appropriate thing to think, particularly when he was going to be on a date with another man damn soon.
He focused on the interface. He saw a quick flash of what his date would be – another meal with a guy – before Freed overrode the system. He pressed a few buttons and ended up controlling the clothing pod. He loaded the program up, and was given a large interface of different outfits, all with pictures to show what they'd look like.
"It's surprisingly user friendly," Freed said, pressing a random outfit and loading it into the system. "Now if you went inside, you'd be wearing that."
"So even I could do it, then?" Laxus asked with a grin, and Freed faltered beside him.
"I suppose."
"What you did for me was pretty nice of ya, but I still ended up like an idiot in a costume because you made me wear it," Laxus mused aloud, and Freed audibly sighed beside him. "So if you think you're getting away without me turning the tables on ya, you're an idiot."
"I probably should have expected that," Freed murmured to himself, and Laxus laughed, placing a hand on his shoulder, and gently guiding him towards the pod. Freed didn't fight him.
"You should have," Laxus agreed, pushing him into the pod before Freed could second guess anything.
He stood at the tablet a moment later, knowing Freed was watching him. He swiped down the hundreds of outfits before inspiration struck him. He pressed the button for the search bar, typed in his idea, looked over the ten or so options before picking the one that looked the most ridiculous. He added it into the system, pressed the apply button, and grinned as the pod flashed with light. A moment later, Freed was revealed, and Laxus burst into laughter.
Freed looked ridiculous. Dressed entirely in an old-fashioned jester's outfit, purple and yellow, with a stupid hat covered in golden bells. He looked at himself in the mirror, crossing his arms unimpressed as Laxus guffawed at him.
"Holy shit," Laxus cackled. "What kinda date would need you to be dressed like that?"
"The system needs to cover all bases," Freed grunted, expression showing annoyance, but Laxus felt like a smile wanted to break through when the bells on his hat jingled. "Can I have my own clothes back, please?"
"We've got a couple minutes before the sim starts, that's enough time to have fun," Laxus grinned, scrolling through the recommended costumes. He found one, applied it to the pod and activated it.
A moment later, Freed was dressed as a circus clown, and Laxus spluttered into laughter all over again.
"Very mature," Freed mumbled sarcastically, though his words were slightly nasally because of the large red nose he wore. "I'm glad you're having fun."
"I am," Laxus grinned, holding back sniggers as he took in Freed for a moment before he began scrolling again.
This was an opportunity that he couldn't waste, and he'd get the man in as many stupid costumes he could before the date began. He quickly settled on a vampire costume that looked equal parts cheap and ridiculous. Once he applied it, he was slightly disappointed to see that Freed managed to pull it off with startlingly good looks. It was twenty-fifty-five, nobody should be able to look good while wearing a cape.
"The fact you're not complaining about this kind of takes the fun out of it," Laxus teased. "You like dressing up or something?"
"Not particularly, but I'd rather you be doing this than stressing about your date," Freed shrugged, seemingly all too comfortable dressed like a vampire. "Night six has the highest success rate. I thought you'd be panicking, this is better."
Laxus paused for a moment, but didn't say anything. He instead found another costume, and grinned when he saw how little it suited Freed. A clean-cut man like Freed didn't make a good caveman.
He fiddled with the tablet for a little while longer, flicking between costumes. Freed managed to make them look better than he had any right to do, but some of them looked ridiculous and Laxus decided to enjoy those as much as he could. A small timer at the bottom of the screen told him the simulation would be ready within the minute, and in a scramble to further annoy Freed, Laxus quickly picked a random outfit from the selection of superhero costumes. He had applied it before the lights to the simulation lit up, and smirked.
The smirk fell when he looked towards Freed. He'd expected it to be a cheap thing covered in cushioned muscles. The reality was… snug. Too snug for Laxus sanity, truly. He'd expected that Freed was hot as well as handsome, but having it clarified wasn't helping things. The guy was muscular, had a tight body, and biceps that strained against the fabric. Laxus pointedly didn't look down. That would be too much.
And he managed to pull off a bright red cape too. How? Capes were stupid. Not hot.
"You've had your fun," Freed said, and Laxus found solace in looking at his face rather than his very, very visible body. "May I have my own clothes back before you start your date?"
"Why?" Laxus asked as he stepped away from the podium. "Can't you do it yourself while I'm in there?"
"No, I can't," Freed muttered, and Laxus grinned.
"That kinda sounds like a you problem," He smirked, and Freed's face darkened for a moment as he stepped out of the pod. His cape billowed behind him and Laxus smirked. He patted the man on the shoulder. "I don't wanna leave my date waiting, after all," Without any reason to, he actually winked at Freed. "Enjoy your walk home, Superman."
As he entered the sim, he was fairly certain those few seconds of seeing Freed blushing unabashedly would be better than any date the system had in store for him.
---
"Is there something wrong with me?"
The high of messing with Freed hadn't lasted throughout the date, and the feelings had been replaced with a maudlin sense of nothingness. That was a feeling Laxus couldn't seem to get rid of throughout the day, and had persisted as he walked into the preparation room for the last time.
On paper, his date was his perfect man. He was intelligent and suave, well lived and happy to talk about his passions. He was hot, had the long hair that Laxus had always favoured on men, and had been pretty good company. He knew the guy was into him, and he felt like he should have reciprocated the attraction. This man should have been ideal for him, and yet Laxus had felt like he was going through the motions. It made him wonder, if that man wasn't right for him, then who the hell would be?
"What makes you say that?" Freed asked, who had been hunched over his table, furiously tapping at it before he'd entered.
"You said most people match with their sixth date. The guy was nice, good looking, we had interests in common," Laxus muttered. "Didn't feel anything for him."
"That doesn't mean there's something wrong with you."
"Maybe," Laxus didn't believe it.
He'd wanted to be the person who ruined THE S0U1MATES SYSTEM'S reputation. He'd wanted to be the person who proved that soulmates were pointless because they didn't exist, and even if they did, a computer program wouldn't be the way to find them. He just hadn't realised that, if he did prove that to be true, it would feel like a punch to the gut.
The system had a complete success rate! Everyone who had ever been involved found love. It was fact. Laxus was apparently going to be the exception to that. He was the first unlovable person to enter the program, and he would be the idiot who couldn't get a boyfriend no matter what.
It was shit. It was just fucking shit.
"Laxus, they're just dates," Freed said softly, placing a hand on Laxus shoulder in a comforting gesture. It felt like fire against him. "We dress them up with fancy technology, and we can explain the science in a way that makes it sound impressive, but a date is just a date. When you get two people together, they can fall in love within a moment, but they could also hate one another. That can happen to anyone, no matter what the statistics say."
"The statistics ain't got it wrong with anyone else."
"And you don't know that they have with you. People wait for the seventh night, and it works out for them," Freed assured him, the hand now gently massaging him. It was electric, and Laxus could almost allow himself to be thrilled by it. "And even if the man isn't the person you end up with, you'll find someone at some point. Don't put this on some kind of pedestal, all you'll be doing is meeting a man for the first time."
"The guy's meant to be my soulmate," Laxus scoffed. "It ain't exactly like meeting for coffee."
"It is what you make it, Laxus," Freed placated him. "Not matching with him isn't a failure of personality. It's just a thing that has happened, and it doesn't shape you."
"I guess," Laxus muttered, not exactly confident in his own words.
"You will find someone Laxus," Freed said firmly. "You're fun, intelligent, confident, good looking. A man is out there, and he will find you. Just give him time."
Freed didn't say anything else, and instead patted Laxus on the shoulder and returned to his tablet to do whatever it was he did. Laxus looked down at the floor, his nerves and self-pity only slightly at bay as he tried to agree with what Freed had said. He had come into the program wanting to prove that it was false, and he should have known this would be the outcome.
Focusing on his own problems, he didn't notice the slight change in posture from Freed. His eyes had widened, and he was tapping somewhat manically at the tablet. His teeth were gritting together and his heart hammering. A moment later, he stood up, and Laxus frowned when he saw how tense he looked.
"Don't overreact to this," Freed demanded, voice too calm. "This is a glitch, nothing else. The system has flaws, this is apparently one of them."
"What?"
He took a moment before speaking again. "Apparently you haven't been matched with someone tonight," Freed spoke quietly, almost under his breath, and Laxus felt as though he had been shot. Freed was quick to speak before Laxus could spiral. "This is the program not being able to work as intended. It is not a reflection of you. Do you understand me?"
"Fucks sake," Laxus growled, running a hand through his hair. "Fuck!"
"It's not you, Laxus," Freed tried to tell him, but Laxus was walking towards the door. He needed to leave, to get out of this damn place as quickly as he could. Why the hell had he gone there? He was an idiot. He shouldn't have gone. "Wait. Laxus, don't leave."
"Why the hell shouldn't I?"
"Because I don't want you to," Freed said quickly. "I don't want you to feel like you're… whatever it is your feeling. Because whatever it is, whatever you're telling yourself, is false."
"How the hell do you know?"
"I've watched every date of yours, Laxus. I know you, and you are a good man, and anyone would be happy to have you," He insisted, stepping towards Laxus, and placing a hand on his forearm. "If I'm honest, I found myself somewhat jealous that those men got to be with you. I'm sure I could find hundreds of men who would feel exactly the same. Truth be told, I had to stop watching you talking with that little blonde ass last night. It's unprofessional, I know, but it must be said. You are a man who, one day, will be adored and you will deserve it."
Laxus scoffed. "Sure."
"You're incredible, Laxus," Freed stepped closer, placing a hand on Laxus' cheek. Laxus blushed at the action despite himself. "And if this program has made you think otherwise, even for a moment, then it is pointless. Do you understand me?"
"You think I'm incredible?" Laxus asked, voice a little raspy as he looked down at Freed.
"I do."
"Then do something about it," Laxus whispered because he needed Freed to do this.
And he did.
Freed leant forward without hesitation, tilting up his head and slowly, cautiously pushed his lips against Laxus'. His hand remained on Laxus' cheek, and slowly he started to move his lips in tandem with Laxus', opening his mouth slightly as he pushed himself up against him. Laxus wrapped an arm around Freed's waist, and felt himself clinging to the man as if he were a lifeline.
The kiss could only last a moment, and when Laxus pulled away and was met with the slightly flushed, kiss swollen expression of Freed in his arms, all of his doubts seemed to flow away. This was more important.
"Damn," He whispered, and Freed breathed out a laugh.
"Yes," He agreed. "Damn."
"Wanted to do that from when I first saw ya," Laxus admitted.
"And I you," Freed confessed, smiling. "I must admit, watching you with those men became somewhat torturous by the end."
"Would've stopped if you told me," Laxus shrugged.
"Then you might not have come back, and I didn't want that any more than I wanted to see you match with someone," Freed chuckled.
They stayed in their embrace for a moment, Laxus gently stroking Freed's lower back with his fingers in a slow and comforting gesture. Freed was still cupping his cheek, and it was a delightful sensation that Laxus didn't want to break. He would have to at some point, and he found himself at a loss of what to do next. For a moment he considered asking Freed to set up some kind of simulation for them both, but he felt he'd had enough of the damn place for now.
"You wanna maybe go somewhere and get something to eat?" He asked, and Freed pulled back slightly with a smile.
"That'd be nice," Freed agreed, though then smirked. "Though are you sure it's not too boring? Wouldn't you rather ice skating? Or maybe a boxing match? Or an obstacle course that you keep failing at?"
"Don't be a dick," Laxus laughed, pulling himself off of Freed. "Or I'll drag you back to the pod and you'll have to go to dinner dressed as batman. Dunno how happy a restaurant is gonna be with the Dark Night's cape falling in the soup."
"I'd rather avoid that. My roommate already thinks me odd after what you did yesterday, I don't need anyone else agreeing with him," Freed laughed, and Laxus grinned at the confession. He wrapped an arm around Freed's waist as they began to leave the room. "Though, if I could get you in the Peter Pan costume again I couldn't complain. Those tights were rather flattering."
"Didn't realise you were lookin'," Laxus smirked.
"I was more subtle than you were, then," Freed grinned, and Laxus laughed.
As they left the room, the simulation unused, neither man noticed the screen of the table lighting up with an updated message.
Laxus Dreyar.
Profile = Matched.
Soulmate Level = 100%
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Text
Chapter II: Overhelming city, just because of you!
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Thank you @flowers-in-your-hayr​, you are a moodboard-goddess, this is stunning!
a/n: I hope you enjoy it, as much I did while writing it. English ist not my first language, so sorry for mistakes.
Pairing: ALEX x Reader
Spotify: Kiana Ledé & Jacquees - Only Fan
Words: 1875
Warnings: NSFW and smut, a bit fluff
Summary:  The day with Alex was perfect, but in the end you got an even bigger surprise.
Chapter I
,,Are you ready for breakfast?" She shook your shoulder. "Hey Y/N, wake up, we're late. I wrote Marco that we are going be in the lobby at 10 AM.’’ You never saw her so nervous, it was almost contagious. You only had an hour to get ready and eat.
,,You got his number?’’ You were surprised and start thinking if you’re going too slowly, just because Marco got Ana's number but Alex not yours.
You ran through the hotel room, searching for approppiate clothes and shoes. The light pink/red lipstick looked stunning on you.
~~·······~~
Ana and you left the breakfast buffet and stood now in the lobby. You got impatient. Janina woke you up for nothing, nobody was waiting there. She even asked at the reception, but they didn't know anything.
You were annoyed. It was beautiful sunny weather and you didn't want to waste any time waiting. "Come on let's go, we can do this on our own. They won't come." You went backwards and waited for her to come with you.
,,I hope you like red roses’’ Suddenly you heard this familiar voice behind you. 
,,We are late and I don’t want you get angry, so I brought you this rose. I hope you are not mad.’’ He was visibly happy to see you again. His bright blue shirt matched exactly with his eyes, he looked amazing.
He lifted you up so that only the tips of your toes touched the ground. You hugged him tight, like he did.
Marco and Alex rented bikes, so you could change quickly the places. You were impressed by the beauty of this colorful city.
~~·��·····~~
You stopped at a park. They prepared a picnic for lunch. It was so cozy to lay on that blanket; you closed your eyes to feel the sunbeams warming your face. You felt Alex searching for your hand. His thumb stroking the back of your hand. Your hand squeezed his, signaling that you liked his touch.
You turned your head to the other side looking for Ana. Marco was lying on the top of her, kissing her slowly. They were hidden behind a tree, so you couldn’t see what they exactly were doing. You looked at Alex again in the hope he also saw that, so he maybe would kiss you too, but he didn't.
You broke the silence ,,I want to go up there’’ And pointed with the other hand to Tivoli’s ferris wheel.
,,The view up there is beautiful. Good idea." He sat up and glanced down at you. It was a perfect situation to kiss you, so you took a deep breath.
But Alex got up and went to Marco. "Marco!’’ He yelled.
"Hey, Marco! He yelled again. He was too busy, kissing her neck.
,,Hey lovebirds, you can continue at home, let’s go to the ferris wheel’’. Marco seemed a little bit annoyed, that you disturbed them, but after a minute he was laughing and smiling again.
You got on the ferris wheel and were a bit nervous. The sun was slowly going down, so the view turned out to be much better than expected. The wheel started to move, and you reached for his hand. To be on the highest point of the wheel was a magical moment.
You looked at Alex and said quietly, 
,,Thank you…this is an overwhelming city, but just because you’re by my side’. He touched your chin so lightly that you barely felt it, like he was afraid to hurt you.
His bottom lip touched yours, he was so nervous that he wasn’t even breathing. You closed your eyes, to feel the kiss more intense. Your knees were shaking, you felt the kiss all over your body, that you almost got dizzy.
It got cold as soon as the sun went away. Alex and Marco had a surprise for Ana and you, so couldn’t go straight to their apartment, they said, so you went to the hotel first to take a shower and then to their home for dinner. Ana had the address, because you didn't still have Alex's number.
The building looked from outside discreet and a little bit old fashioned. Their apartment was in the top floor, so you took the elevator. You checked your make-up and hair in the mirror for the last time. Marco and Alex were leaning against the door frame as you walked out.
Ana directly jumped into Marco's arms and kissed him. Your shyness prevented you from taking the first step. You weren't sure whether you could kiss him or not and especially because he was the one who kissed you. Alex took you by the hip and pulled you to him. His lips awakened your feelings again.
He stopped kissing you abruptly. "Come in, our neighbors are too curious, I don't want to be their evening show".
The apartment was modern and decorated in a minimalist way. You could see hole Copenhagen through those huge windows. Alex did a room tour; you liked his grey bedsheets and the colossal jacuzzi in his bathroom. You imagined how hot it would be seeing Alex naked in there.
,, Why do you need a mirror above your bed?" You noticed how he thought about what to say.
"Hm, what do you think?" He grabbed your hips. You put your arms around his neck.
"Tell me." He nibbled on your lip before kissing your neck.
,,Because I want to look at your ass while you're riding me." He whispered in your left ear. You became goosebumps all over your body and you felt a cool wave running over your back.
His hand slipped over your ass. "You can also see yourself cumming while I please you with my tongue." He kissed him so rough that your back hit against the door frame.
"I would like to keep watching you guys, but we should eat dinner first, I'm so hungry!" Marco stared at you with a little smirk in his face. You nodded. Alex squeezed your ass before you let go of him and clapped it as you turned away.
You had absolutely no idea what Danish dish this was, but it smelled so good and the taste was even better. Marco was telling a funny story, but you noticed that Alex did not pay attention at all. He was staring at at your breasts. You were wearing a top with deep V-neck, the fabric was thin so he could see the pattern of your bra throught it. You leaned forward, to let him see more of your body and of course to provoke him. You ran your wet tongue over your lip and smirked. He took a sip from his glass, but his gaze remained on your decollete. You liked that game.
,,So how can you have so much time for us? We have already Tuesday and none of you went to work." commented Ana.
It seemed as Marco either Alex wanted to answer the question. 
Marco answered after a while. ,,We are actors, we play in the same series and finished shooting last Friday."
"Oh really, I hope you are not disappointed, if I never saw you on TV’’ you said ashamed.
Alex told you everything about it, how long they we’re acting and what the series is about.
,,To be honest, I’m really happy about that. I want you to love me Alex and not this character Ivar. Yesterday in the pub, we noticed that you didn’t know who we really are, so we decided to keep it secret for the moment.’’ He hoped you didn’t get mad. Even if you wanted to, you couldn't. You felt so attracted to him.
,,Should we give them our present now?’’ Marco whispered to Alex. They stand up and came back with two big golden gift boxes.
You thanked and opened it carefully to not damage this beautiful loop. 
,,Oh wow, is this a dress? How I deserve this?’’. It was a beautiful dark blue shimmering dress with the matching high heels, it overwhelmed you. You took the dress out of the box and discovered a second little box.
,,I want you to come with me to a charity event tomorrow, you will repent.’’ Alex said and took the diamond chain out of the little box, to put it on you.
"But Alex, I can't" You pressed the dress against your chest you to feel the soft fabric.
"No, why? Don't you like the dress?" He couldn't hide the disappointment.
,Yes, of course...I’d be glad to, but I do not necessarily wish to be on TV."
"I'll do my best to keep you out of the public eye, I promise."
"So if that is the case, I will be in the background, if you are ok with it.’’
,,Of course, there will be no cameras at the afterparty, don’t worry.’’ 
He hugged you and kissed you. ,,More wine? Let’s celebrate!’’ He raised his glass.
Marco and Ana had a lot more wine than you and were already pretty drunk. Marco ran to music player and started a playlist. The first song was Only Fan-Kiana Ledé and Jacquees. Ana and he went to the balcony and rocked gently in their own rhythm.
You loved that song. ,,I want to dance’’. You pulled him by the hand and pushed him onto the sofa. 
,,Keep your hands next to you’’ you said in a stern voice. Your hips moved according to the rhythm of the music. Your butt brushed his crotch and you heard a low moan. You went on your knees, your face passed his crotch again. You pulled with your teeth his zipper down, his dick nudged your jaw. The wine made disappear your shyness. You sat on his lap and moved slowly feeling his dick on your ass. Your hips did circles, up and down, side to side. His hands slid slowly under your shirt and grabbed you by the waist. They felled down, he squeezed your ass and pressed his lips against yours. You were already horny before the lap dance, but he didn’t know it.
You noticed Marco's eyes watching you through the balcony window, at the same time kissing Ana's neck. He smirked when your eyes met.
Alex stood up and walked into his bedroom. Your legs were around his waist, holding you tight so you couldn’t fall. He started to kiss your neck, his tongue traced over your breasts without touching the nipples and passed your navel. He teased you.
Alex forgot to close the door completely, so Marco heard your loud moan, when Alex finally reached your clit. Alex looked up to you and smirked. You took his head away from pussy, jumped on him and thrusted his thick dick into you, without warning him first. One short moan escaped his mouth. He glanced down at his cock and watched it disappear into your pussy again and again.
He let his head fall back and mumbled. "You're crazy"
,,Do you like what you see in the ceiling mirror, huh?’’ you asked him while making him a hickey on his neck. 
,,I could watch you for hours, elskede’’. You jumped harder and faster, hearing your buttcheeks clapping against his hips.
"Uh, yes." He groaned and smacked your ass with both hands.
He loved this roughness and couldn’t prolong his orgasm. You keeped the pace. Feeling his warm seed running out your pussy triggered yours.
He grabbed your chin and pulled you down. "Stick out your tongue" He bit into it and you whined. "Hush and kiss me!"
~~·······~~
Alex was still sleeping, when you stood up the next morning. You had to put his shirt on, because you didn't have any clothes with you. The shirt covered your ass and you didn’t wear underwear. Everyone was sleeping anyway so it didn't matter.
,,Do you want a cup of coffee?" You were frightened.
"What are you doing awake Marco?" Your nipples shimmered through the light fabric, so you tried to cover your breasts with your hands.
"I could ask you that as well" He poured himself a cup.
"I made too much and Ana is still sleeping. So do you want or not?’’ You took your cup and sat on the couch and saw Alex's belt laying on the floor.
Your shirt slipped up as exposing your butt cheeks unintentionally as you leaned forwards to pick it up.
,,I saw you having sex yesterday, he satisfied you well’’ He said in a jealous tone.
,,Weren’t you with Ana?’’
,,Ana was so drunk. She felled asleep little later."
You were so shocked that you didn't comment on it.
"I’m sorry, a gap was open and...-"
"and what?!" Your tone became brisk.
"- you were so sexy." You blushed.
"I won't tell anyone, don't worry.’’ He added.
You were confused. Did you like it or not?
Alex interrupted your thoughts. ,,Are you grabbing my girlfriend? Maybe you should ask for permission first.’’ He laughed.
Chapter III: I kissed you and you don’t even know
31 notes · View notes
haikyuu-philia · 5 years ago
Note
Can we have a Tsukki scenario where the reader is just as sarcastic as him? I mostly see the reader being overly sensitive and stuff. Also, I'm new here and look forward to reading your works
This ended up being longer than it was supposed to, but now it’s too late anyways XD
As in introverted and overly polite person, I had my struggles writing two sarcastic people at the same time. Yet, here we are, with this piece filled with not-so classical romance!
Also a very late welcome to the blog - I’m happy to have you here :3
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Another Love Language | A Tsukishima x fem! Reader Scenario
Words: 1336
-----
People were gathered all over the place. Even though this hall had been reserved for participating teams only, there was nearly no empty spot to be found. Boys and girls wearing jerseys in all colours of the rainbow had taken over, creating a noise by simply talking to each other that could be compared to an earthquake. 
As most of his own teammates had been awake way too early this morning, Tsukishima was now able to call himself one of the few lucky ones with an actual corner to sit at. He taped his fingers in advance while Yamaguchi tried not to stare at the crowd, which would sent his heart rate up to unknown heights.
Nishinoya and Tanaka had left several minutes ago to meet some friend from a girls’ team. With every announcement Asahi seemed more pale, Kageyama fiddled with his fingers to properly stretch them. The trio of Daichi, Sugawara and Ennoshita was casually chatting with each other. And Hinata was absolutely nowhere to be seen, probably causing a ruckus at the toilettes as usual. 
What a time to be a member of Karasuno.
A glance at his phone told Tsukishima that the first match would start in an hour. So the warm-up would be due in about thirty minutes. Actually he had been checking his messages, but nothing new popped up in his inbox. 
Positively speaking this meant that Akiteru had found his way to Tokyo without any issues and was most likely sitting at his assigned seat by now. Tsukishima rested his back against the wall as he starred at his feet. 
The room might be crowded and loud, but he still managed to understand many parts of different conversations. Some people were standing pretty close to the area of his team anyways, closer than he appreciated. He rolled his eyes at their behaviour. 
„Aren’t these boys from Karasuno? The team that was known as the fallen crows?“ He heard a boy whisper from a few meters away.
Not only had this guy attracted Tsukishima’s attention, seemingly the rest of his teammates was listening as well. No one made eye contact as the stranger continued to speak without noticing that the victims of his theories were already planning their comeback. 
„Do you really think that they are strong enough to beat someone here?“
In absolute sync all member of Karasuno present were looking up to stare at the culprit with a blank expression on their faces. Once he had understood that their eyes were directed towards him, he froze immediately. He broke out of his paralysis by jumping when another person approached him from behind.
„Yeah, because I would totally think of the team that kicked Shiratorizawa, the current champion, out off the competition as weak," a female voice commented on his question from earlier. 
Yamaguchi and Tsukishima changed their mimics by the time the sarcastic remarks had reached their ears. The latter couldn’t decide whether to sigh or to hold his breath, though a smirk appeared on his face nevertheless. Of course he would recognise the voice of his own girlfriend from miles away or in the middle of a thousand people. 
Supporting his upper body with his hand he rose from his place, becoming the target of his team members’ curiosity.
In the meantime the boy, who had been called out by you, had retreated into the ocean of unknown faces. Obviously yours stood out even more to him. On the contrary spotting a tall blond guy in a black-orange jersey hadn’t been the hardest task for you to fulfil either.
When Tsukishima and you walked towards each other, the eyes of the other Karasuno players were practically pinned to your boyfriend’s back. Only Yamaguchi happened to know what exactly they were witnessing. For the rest it looked like the first-year approached a random girl who had just roasted someone for them.
„I thought I told you that you didn’t have to come,“ he said with one of his eyebrows raised. „What are you doing here?“
„Playing soccer, of course,“ you shot back with a grin wrinkling your cheeks.
So far you had only seen him in his volleyball attire on pictures, not in reality. On the ride to the stadium his older brother Akiteru had shown you plenty of them and had been blabbering endlessly about Kei’s career as a middle blocker. 
But nothing could have prepared you for the moment when you actually got to see him in his jersey. Number 11 of Karasuno, a regular. 
„Hellooooooo Tsukishima! Would you mind to introduce us to this lovely girl you are talking to?“
Suddenly Sugawara had popped up next to the two of you, starling your boyfriend for the minority of a second. Not much to Tsukishima’s surprise Daichi stood right behind the setter, eyeing you with an innocent smile. 
„Ah, you must be Kei's teammates. Nice to meet you! I won’t occupy him for long, just making sure that he is in usually high spirits.“ You proceeded with telling them your name, school and grade. 
After that you looked at your boyfriend to finish your introduction as you certainly didn’t know how much his team was involved in his love life. 
„She is my stalker in disguise of a fan," he responded to your nonverbal plea.
A chuckle left your mouth while you crossed your arms in front of your chest and leaned onto your lamppost of a significant other. Even with your body putting weight on him, he didn’t move in inch. So you stood securely.
„Nah, I am more of his personal reminder that his heart of stone is able to feel love.“
Sugawara and Daichi introduced themselves, exchanging glances with one another in between sending approving looks your way. Together with you Tsukishima returned to his former resting spot where Yamaguchi greeted you as well. Out of the Karasuno bunch he had been the only person to officially have been told about the change of his best friend’s relationship status.
Though, Sugawara had to admit that he had indeed had a suspicions until today. 
Sitting next to each other with your backs facing the wall, you more or less leaning onto him again, the missing boys of the team returned one by one.
At first Nishinoya and Tanaka did not believe their eyes that a third girl had found their way to them before Tsukishima clicked his tongue at them. They went on with jumping up and down, probably attracting Hinata in the end. 
Not less excited, the orange-haired boy had sparkles in his eyes as he cooed, „I didn’t know you had a girlfriend, Tsukishima! Please teach me your methods, please, PLEASE!“ 
Time went by in the speed of a spiked volleyball, so the announcement to prepare for the first match came faster than expected. Several parts of the crowd inside the room started moving, gathering or walking out to the gym already. 
Tsukishima put on his sports glasses, you did your best to distract Yamaguchi from the upcoming adrenaline. Not that it really worked, but internally he was glad to have someone that was talking to him about something else than facing strong teams. In this case how your boyfriend would look stunning in glasses with a pink frame.
„You should go back to your seat. Akiteru is probably waiting for you,“ he advised you once Coach Ukai had told the team to get together. 
Now was your moment to leave - In the battles he was about to fight on court you couldn’t do anything but watch from afar. For sure you were intending to clap and scream until your hands and throat would be sore, maybe annoying a specific middle blocker of Karasuno in the process.
One last time Tsukishima turned around to send you off.
„Break a finger, Kei!“
He gave you a thumbs up, the corners of his lips slightly poking towards the ceiling. Then he switched back to his serious mode in order to crush their opponents. 
-----
Posted: April 9th 2020 | Requests: Open | Match-ups: Closed
180 notes · View notes
wreckofawriter · 5 years ago
Text
Smelling Sweet
Pairing: Fred Weasley x reader
Word Count: 1,693
Warnings: None
Request: Can you do 8 with Fred Weasley x Reader? (And use someone other than George to make Fred confused?) lol
#8: "Sorry, I thought you were someone else."
A/n: This one was fun to write, feel free to request more!
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The truth was you couldn't wait to get back to Hogwarts. You had never been more excited to get to school. You haven't seen your best friend all summer. He had gone to America to see his grandparents, so you were waiting to see him. The two of you had been inseparable since you met 1st year and not being with him for months was quite difficult.
You glanced around platform 9 ¾ anxiously. Where was he? You craned your head to see above the other faces with no luck. You groaned in frustration lugging your suitcase behind you. He had to be here somewhere. You heard your cat hiss behind you.
"Shut it Church." You murmured.trying to catch a glimpse of the boy you missed so dearly. You were about to give up when you caught a glance of his fiery red hair.
You shrieked with glee and ran towards him. When you were about 3 meters behind him you dropped your suitcase and jumped onto the boys back. "I've missed you so much!!" You yelled as you did so.
The first thing you noticed was that he was taller, he also smelled different, less like his usual pine sent and more like sweets and chocolate.
Only when you heard a yell of surprise did you realize, this wasn't Blake.
You quickly removed your arms from their neck and leept off their back stumbling and almost falling before a hand wrapped around your wrist yanking you towards them before you fell.
So now you were face to face with an extremely attractive boy you recognized as one of the Weasley twins.
Your face washed a deep red as he smiled down at you.
"Hello." He said sweetly, god his voice was smooth.
"I-i’m so s-sorry" you managed to stutter out your face growing increasingly red, "Sorry, I thought you were someone else"
"My brother I'm guessing?" He smirked, making you flush impossibly more.
"U-uh no actually my friend." You stuttered out trying to get away from the striking boy a quickly as possible.
"Oh." He seemed surprised, "I'm Fred by the way."
"I'm really sorry Fred," you said trying not to stare at his deep brown eyes. He on the other hand was taking no such courtesy. His eyes were roaming over your body and he still hand grasped in his large one.
"It's no problem, we should do it again some time." He winked still with that intoxicating smirk plastered on his soft pink lips.
"U-u-uh" you felt your heart begin to beat faster as you tried to untangle your tongue.
"Cat got your tongue?" A voice behind you asked.
You spun around to face another Fred Weasley who was of course George.
"Shove off George." The older twin hissed at his reflection.
"What? I can't talk to the pretty girl?" George asked his brother over your head. And you swear you were the replica of a tomato.
Fred sighed and rolled his eyes he was about to open his mouth to say something when you saw your escape. You yelled startling both boys and sprinting towards a different red-headed boy.
"BLAKE!" You screeched as he dropped his trunks and opened his arms to engulf you in a hug. You smiled into his pine sent not seeing the ugly glare thrown your way or more specifically Blake's way, by a certain twin.
"Oh my god you have no idea!" You yelled filling your mouth with jelly slugs. "Stop laughing! It was really embarrassing." You said smiling while slapping his arm lightly.
Blake continued his laughter despite your protests. "You jumped on him!?" He squeaked out before doubling over in a fresh wave of laughter.
"Yeah, yeah i jumped on him." You said rolling your eyes playfully.
"Come on it's funny!" He giggled, snatching a chocolate frog from its case.
"It was so not! I jumped on him hugged him from behind and then he had to catch me because I almost fell jumping off him!" You yelled trying to be mad at him and failing when he spit out his chocolate frog in laughter.
When Blake finally pulled himself together, he asked, "I'm kinda mad you didn't recognize me."
You gasped, "That is not fair! You both have red hair!"
"So!" Blake was now playfully yelling q tooth grin plastered on his face, "he is way taller than me!"
"I thought you grew, but turns out you're still short!" Now you were laughing tears pricking at your eyes.
"How long did it take you to figure out it wasn't me?" He asked searching though your pile of candy.
"Pretty quickly, he smells...," you paused, Blake had stopped looking through the pile of mostly wrappers and was now looking up at you an unreadable expression placed on his face.
"You were going to say better weren't you."
"What! No!" You gasped, "he just smelted different." You shrugged trying to hold back the blush on your face.
"Well what did he smell like?" He asked. You scoffed thinking he was joking but looking up at him he wasn't smiling or joking he was serious.
"Umm I don't know." You were definitely blushing now. Blake raised his eyebrows waiting for you continue.
"I guess he smelt sweet," you finished looking down at your box of Berries Every Flavored Beans placed in your lap. "like chocolate and candy." You finished your face hot.
"And what do I smell like?" He asked. Yous started laughing, then when he didn't join you looked back at him. "I'm serious."
"Oh, umm" you closed your eyes for a second envisioning Blake's scent. "I guess you smell like a forest, pine scent, like sap."
Blake paused for a moment, "Oh." And for the first time in years the two of you rested into an awkward silence.
You looked up at him trying to see what was different or restart the conversation but you were interrupted by a loud knock. Your head snapped to the glass door where you could see a pair of red headed twins standing there. You stood up opening the door.
"Hello?" You said in a questioning voice.
"Hi," the twin you were assuming was Fred smirked.
You waited for him to say more but no such thing happen, instead after a few seconds of Fred just looking at you, his brother stepped forward and explained,
"Sorry but we need a place to sit, we sort of pranked Crabbe and his Gyole so we needed to go somewhere they won't find us. Can we sit here?"
You paused for a second before saying, "I don't see why not."  You moved away from the doorway to see Blake glaring at the twins.
"Ahh, you must be the lucky bloke who she was planning on jumping on." Fred joked, you flashed bright red and Blake's hair began to match his face.
"I'm Blake Summers." He said sticking out his hand.
"Fred Weasley." Fred answered grabbing his hand and shaking it firmly, "and that's my brother George."
With that you all sat down in the cabin, Blake to your right and Fred across from you next to the window.
"So your from Ravenclaw right?" George asked.
"Yeah." Blake answered and with that the conversation went on.
For the rest of the ride the four of you talked of various topics from the new DADA teacher to pranks the twins have constructed. The whole time you could feel Fred's eyes locked on you. It was quite uncomfortable and you squirmed under his gaze.
Finally, the train came to a stop. You had by that time changed into your robes and was ready to leave. You grabbed your trunks and Church, who had been sleeping most of the ride. You all stood up, Blake and George who were in a deep argument about the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, exited while Blake was saying, "Come on, if we were allowed to use magic at any age a six year old would accidentally kill someone."
You were about to continue forward as well when a smooth hand incased your wrist a delicate yet firm hold.
You turned around and were face to face with those big brown eyes you had been trying to avoid for the past 2 hours. Now that they were straight in front of you, your knees went weak and you almost stumbled and fell. You face was washed with crimson and you gulped harshly trying to breath properly.
Fred saw what he did to you immediately, he bit the bottom of his lip to keep from laughing at your flustered form and it sure didn't help, he was unfairly handsome.
"Hi." He said his ginger hair falling in his face as he looked down at you.
"H-hi" you responded tightening the grip you had on your trunk and cat carrier.
"So I was wondering if you wanted to go to the first Hogsmeade trip with me?" He asked playing with the ends of his robes as he did.
You gasped a bit before nodding, "Sure." You told yourself to keep your cool as you answered the boy in front of you, when you really felt like whooping with joy.
His face lit up at your answer. "Really?!" He smiled.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I?" You questioned.
"I thought you like that Blake kid for a while and I got real scared"
"Oh no," you blushed, "Blake and I are just friends."
"Great, I'll see you later?" Fred asked.
"Yeah, see ya later." You said smiling. You turned to leave but before you could your wrist was caught again.
"Wait y/n" Fred stopped you whipping him to face him.
"What's up Fred?" You asked.
You were answered by his lips on yours. Your eyes widened in surprise before slipping shut and enjoying the feeling of his soft lips. You dropped your trunk and cat carrier with a protest from Church and brought your hands up to his neck as his found your waist. He tasted how he smelled; sweet.
When you finally broke away you gasped for air.
"Sorry." Fred smiled apologetically, "I just couldn't wait."
Masterlist
4K notes · View notes
n-ctarinenga · 4 years ago
Text
Flower Boy [ boxer!calum ]
flower boy series | pt.1 | word count: 5,659 | masterlist
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"Thank you so much! I'll have these to you as soon as possible. Goodbye!"
Talia grins, as she farewells the family whos portraits she had just finished shooting.
As much as she loves photography, there were only so many matching outfits and unhappy children a person could handle in a day, and with the family that had just left her studio, Talia had reached her limit.
Draining days were something she had gotten used to, business booming lately thanks to the kind words of a handful of past clients. With doors only opening just under a year ago, Valentine Studios didn't exactly have the longest history in town, but Talia liked to believe her dedication and skill made up for lack of experience.
Her mother hadn't really approved of the move, her ideals for her daughter being stuck a few decades in the past.
With the thought of her mother flashing through her mind, Talia couldn't help but sigh as she moved to pack up her camera for the night.
After the great disbandment of the Alisley family, it was nearly impossible for either of the Alisley children to communicate with their mother, but that didn't stop Yvonne from making her annual call to her kids, mostly about the percentage paid out to them every couple weeks from their father's estate royalties, which in Talia's case, was this morning.
From that point onward, it felt like the universe had decided to torment Talia today.
Starting off with the phone call, and most recently manifesting as a set of twins who refused to do any form of posing with their parents, Talia couldn't wait to go home and sleep so she could start the next day fresh and away from the negative vibes of the current day.
Once her backdrops had been rolled up,  and her camera was safely stored in its bag, Talia finally had time to let down her dark brown hair, the two bright streaks of red framing her face. She took great pleasure in turning all the lights off, and locking the door of the studio behind her.
Taking a second to relax in her car, Talia looks at her phone, scrolling through til she reaches the contact of her brother, Brandon.
The Alisley family were estranged from each other these days, but that didn't mean that Talia and Brandon had stopped being lifelong best friends.
The two had always been close, only a couple years between the siblings. Growing up in a world surrounded by adults until they themselves were well into their teens, they were practically a package deal until they had both moved into their own apartments a few years ago.
As of late, while Talia was diving head first into Valentine, Brandon was knee deep in The Vault, the gym he had started not long before Talia opened her own business.
Sitting in her car, Talia contemplated calling him for a moment, her finger hovering over the call button as she thought.
With both of them being so busy, they had barely had time to catch up over the last couple months, and after the day she had had today, Talia needed a bit of chill time with the only other person in the world who could understand her situation.
Their father always joked they could communicate telepathically, and after not seeing him for so long, Talia missed speaking her native tongue.
Deciding to make her way over to the gym, Brandon always telling her he was there any Friday night she would try to make plans with him lately, Talia constructed a plan for what she would do once she finally had convinced her brother to stop throwing himself into his work every Friday night.
With The Vault situated downtown, it was a bit of a drive in Los Angeles traffic, but with the thought of the Thai food just up the street from the gym in her mind, Talia couldn't find it in herself to care about the lengthy journey.
The radio softly played one of the many playlists made on Talia's phone as she drove along, windows down and the breeze lightly whipping her hair around as she did her best to relax while she had the chance.
While most people were finishing their work week, Talia, being the head photographer at Valentine, was still one day away from her own weekend, working every Saturday since the studio opened. This made it easier for families to get together for their shoots, not having to worry about getting back to work and getting the kids back to school, and Talia could tell her clients appreciated it, which made the extra day of work worth it to her.
Propping her head up, with her left elbow resting on the top of the door, Talia can't help the frown that flashes onto her face as she approaches the gym.
Expecting to see only Brandon's car and maybe another employee's, the full parking lot beside the building confuses her. How many people would be at a gym after hours?
The confused frown on Talia's face lingers as she parks her car next one she definitely recognised as Brandon's, climbing out and locking it before pocketing her keys and approaching a man who looked slightly familiar, noticing he was one of Brandon's employees as she got closer.
"Johnny," Talia smiles politely, the man turning to her with wide eyes as he recognizes her, "what's happening here?" She asks.
Johnny stutters for a moment, looking around like he rather be anywhere else in the world at this exact moment.
"Oh, here? Just some regulars here for a get together. Your brother left a few hours back though." He says quickly, tripping over his words slightly, almost like he was making a story up as he went along.
Suspicion courses through Talia at the deflective words of the man much taller than she is, and if she didn't already know him, she probably would have been intimidated by his size alone.
"I just parked next to his car though, and it's kinda odd for Brandon to leave the gym open." Talia laughs awkwardly, not trusting of the excuse she was being given when she knew her brother better than to leave not only his business open, but also his car unlocked outside it.
"I think I'll just check things out for myself thanks Johnny." Talia states, before taking a step forward towards the entrance.
Sensing her disbelief, and his face turning to one of panic, Johnny takes a step sideways, blocking the door from Talia's path.
"Brandon said that you were banned from Friday nights. I'm sorry Talia." He finally says, and Talia can't help the look of surprise that covers her face.
"Me? Banned from the Vault? I hardly think so mate." She laughs, taking advantage of the height difference between them to duck under Johnny's arm, easily pushing the door open into the gym.
Immediately, Talia is met with a wall of noise.
A crowd, some seated, some not, surround the central boxing ring at the center of the building. The usual smell of cleaning supplies and sweat is amplified by the stench of beer radiating through the whole building, but even then, the thing that grabs Talia's attention isn't the crowd or their behavior, but instead, what they're watching.
In the center of the ring, two large, well built men circle each other. Talia watches on in horror for only a moment before one man launches his fist forward towards the others stomach, and it's in this moment she realizes that the men aren't wearing gloves, but thin bloodied wraps.
The crowd roar with a wave of life as the punch connects, the second man doubling over and leaving himself exposed to an onslaught the first delivers without hesitation.
Even with the presence of Johnny behind her, the only thing Talia can see is the pure violence playing out in front of her, realization growing by the second as her eyes finally break away from the ring to where her brother stands at the back of the crowd.
She can't help but think her father might have been right about the telepathy, because almost as if he could sense her eyes on him, Brandon's own find her.
All of the colour drains from Brandon's face as he excuses himself from the black haired man he's talking to, running around the outside of the crowd to reach his sister, who stands frozen in place.
He says nothing as he grabs Talia's hand, pulling her sideways into the office room to the right of the building, easily tugging her past the back of the crowd that still stare focused into the ring.
The clinical white lights above them come to life as Brandon flicks the switch beside the door, shutting it behind him quickly before he turns back to Talia.
"What are you doing here?" He asks quickly, inspecting her as if she was a wounded animal ready to pounce.
Fighting her disbelief at the situation and his question, Talia's eyes go wide as a wave of anger washes over her at his question.
"What am I doing here? What the fuck is that shit, Brandon?!" She throws back at him, her voice louder and stronger than she expected it to come out of her.
Waving his hands panicked, trying to get her to lower her voice, Brandon tries to shush her, which only makes her more ticked off.
"Look you weren't supposed to see that-"
"Answer my fucking question or I'll start screamin' it." She threatens, cutting him off mid sentence.
An angry and frustrated expression settles on his face as Brandon let's out a huff, not knowing how to word his explanation and remaining silent while he tries to find the right words.
"Is this why you've been blowing me off for months? You got some fucking fight club bullshit going on here instead?" She questions further, her voice breaking slightly with stress.
"I can't tell you all the fucking details in one breath, Talia. I wasn't exactly expecting you to find out like this."
Brandon argues, throwing his hand up in annoyance, which only confuses her more.
"What makes you think you have the right to be angry at me when you're the one that has the explaining to do?"
"Fuck! Alright! I get it!" He whisper yells harshly, face twisting in anger and making the siblings look even more alike than usual, Talia taking a step back at his sudden outburst, "look, the money is gonna get cut off one day, I'm thinking about my future, OUR futures here. That's what this shit is about."
"And what exactly is this shit, Brandon?" Talia asks, aggressively pointing towards the door that barely separated them from the crowd.
"It's boxing. Same shit you see on TV, just, not as commercial."
"This isn't the same shit as on TV! Those guys aren't even wearing gloves!" She argues, smacking the back of her hand as she speaks.
"Bare knuckle and wraps get better bets, the guys make their own decisions on if they do it or not." Brandon defends as he crosses his arms.
Talia shakes her head in annoyance, her face twisting. Everything was happening so quickly, meaning she barely had enough time to process all the information being thrown at her.
"You're scared of mommy cutting off the royalties so this is what you do instead?" She asks.
"The money is gonna get cut off and it's gonna be sooner rather than later. Do you expect me to suck up forever? To hide Sam til she dies too? Mom hates both of us now and you know it just as well as I do."
Talia feels her throat tighten at his words. Her stomach felt like it was close to emptying its content as the gut punch of his words hit her at a hundred miles per hour.
"Shut the fuck up. You know I love Sam and you know I don't want to do it just as much as you don't want to. But you're right, it will be sooner if she finds out about this." She spits back.
Taking a step towards him, arms crossed, Talia holds steady eye contact as she looks up to her brother.
"You're not the only one she can fuck over. When she finds out and cuts me off too, what the fuck are we gonna do, huh?" She whispers harshly as the crowd outside the room bursts into life again, the next round starting.
Brandon breaks the eye contact between them as he stares at the ground, fists clenched at his sides as the obvious stress of the situation flashes across his face.
"She won't, not yet."
Talia rolls her eyes as her arms uncross, leaning back against his desk.
"Mom always finds out."
"She won't this ti-"
Brandon is interrupted by the office door swinging open, a tall man with blonde hair and a panicked look on his face ignoring Talia to address Brandon the second his eyes land on him.
"Hood's broken Knight's nose." He says in a rush, causing Brandon to groan, following the man out the door before turning back to Talia.
"Don't leave this office, I'll be back soon."
Talia throws her brother a sarcastic thumbs up before he rushes off, the door clicking shut behind him.
Talia felt like her mind was in the worst spin she'd ever experienced. Finally the late nights, the astronomical bills being excused as gym costs, the secrets, they all made sense.
As angry as she was with her brother, she was more worried about him than anything.
Seeing the crowd, the action in the ring, it was more than just the sparring she would see from time to time as she made the rounds to check in on things. These people were out for blood, and would throw as much money as they needed at it to make it happen. This wasn't the kind of thing she ever expected Brandon to be involved in, and it shocked her that he's involved in that world obviously as more than just a spectator.
Sitting down in the office chair, Talia rests her elbows on the desk in front of her, covering her face with her hands as she tries to take a deep breath to calm her nerves, but jumping as the crowd outside roars again.
This wasn't something she was familiar with, and the uncharted territory this laid out in front of her felt like a minefield. Both her brother's lies, and the violence they were hiding.
With her anxiety peaking as she sits deep in her thoughts, she nearly yelps as the office door flies open, a tall man coming in and looking around for someone, before their eyes finally land on Talia.
If the sharp jawline, dark eyes and deadly look on his face didn't take her breath away, the ripped and bruised skin under his eye sure did.
A seemingly permanent scowl was set on the man's face, and his height and all black outfit just added to the intimidating stance he has as he lets the door swing shut behind him.
Talia couldn't help but notice that the man is attractive, even with blood dripping down his face, noticing his hair closely cropped to his head, apart from the wild bleached curls that fell onto his forehead.
For a brief moment, the angry look on the man's face softens upon seeing the smaller woman sitting behind his boss's desk, but it's instantly replaced by a look of confusion.
"Who the fuck are you?" He asks, his voice deeper than she expected with an unfamiliar accent laced into his words.
Slightly taken back, Talia frowns, withdrawing from the desk and standing up behind it, her defensive nature quickly taking over.
"I'm Talia Alisley, who the fuck are you?"
This time it's the man that's taken back, his eyebrows shooting up as he scoffs, arrogance in spades and tension building by the second as Talia crosses her arms in front of herself.
"I'm Calum Hood," He says, and Talia freezes.
Hood. Was he the Hood that the blonde man was talking about? The one who apparently had broken the nose of the guy Brandon was checking on?
"and I'm guessing you're the precious little sister." He comments, and this time it's Talia that raises her eyebrow. Did Brandon mention her to these guys?
"Too right I am, so don't fuck with me and we should be fine. Brandon said he'd be back soon." She replies, sitting back down with her arms still crossed and the scowl on her face settling in while in his presence.
Deep down, Talia knew it was probably a bad idea to piss off the guy who was not only bleeding, but the cause of a broke nose two rooms over, but her pride and defensive nature was far more powerful than the anxiety swirling in her stomach.
"No need to worry about that, princess." Calum rolls his eyes in annoyance. If Brandon was gonna send him to his office, he could at least show up instead of wasting his time, and give him a warning.
Talia was thankful in that moment for the low light of the room on account of the desk lamp being off, hiding the blush that made her ears burn. Yeah, he might be a dickhead, but he was still an attractive dickhead.
Slumping down into the chair opposite Talia with a huff, Calum shakes his head, while Talia stays stone faced across from him.
"You alright?" She asks after a moment, referring to where blood still sits on his cheekbone.
Calum frowns at her attitude change, not aware of the injury that he sustained from Knight's ringed hand landing a right hook before Calum landed his own.
In his defense, Knight should have known better than to touch his gear.
With the confused look flashing across his face for a longer period this time, Talia can't help but roll her eyes.
"You're bleeding under your eye, bro." She points out.
As Calum reaches up to touch his cheek, the door opens, the blonde man from before walking in with Brandon in toe as Talia thanks her lucky stars.
"Not gonna lie I thought you would have left by now." Brandon says, looking at Talia first while her eyes stay on the actions of the blonde man opening a medical kit on the desk.
"Oh don't worry, I want to." She comments.
"So do I, can I go now?" Calum directs towards Brandon as the blonde man touches an alcohol wipe to his cheek, making his aggressive expression falter slightly.
"Once Luke says you're okay and once I've dealt with you, yes." He sighs, rubbing a hand over his face.
"Look," Talia says, standing up and holding her hands up in surrender, "obviously you've got a lot of shit going on here right now so we'll deal with this tomorrow." She gestures between them, walking around the desk and past the three men.
Letting out a sigh, Brandon sends her a look of appreciation.
"Thanks T, text me when you get home." He replies, to which she sends him a short nod.
"Luke, can you walk her out?" He asks, turning to the man getting up from kneeling in front of Calum.
"Yeah, no worries." He smiles, taking his gloves off and throwing them in the bin.
Walking out the door with Luke, Talia winces at the loudness of the crowd, thankful for the taller, now calm, man standing between them and herself.
"I'm Luke, by the way." He smiles kindly, holding his hand out for Talia to shake as they make it to the door.
"Talia. Gotta be honest, I wish this was under better circumstances." She smiles tightly back at him, shaking his hand.
"Yeah," he laughs, "me too."
As they make it outside, Talia leads Luke around the building to where her car sits, right next to Brandon's.
"Well, this is me."  She says, signalling to her car with the keys in her hand. "Thanks for walking me past all of that."
"No problem. Drive safe." Luke says with a small wave to her, and she gives him an appreciative smile.
"You too. See you 'round, Luke."
Climbing into her car, Talia sighs, relaxing only slightly in the familiar surroundings.
As she pulls away from the curb, Luke sends her a final wave before walking back into the gym.
Driving away, the adrenaline of the situation starts to wear off, and the reality of the situation starts to sink in.
"God, I'm gonna fucking kill him." Talia mutters to herself, turning the radio up and going over the night's events in her head as she drives back to her apartment.
The next morning, Talia awakes with a rock of dread weighing down her stomach.
Her mind immediately flashes back to the events of the night before, and as she showers, gets dressed and locks her apartment door, it almost felt like she wore the dread of the impending conversation she needed to have with her brother as a scarf tied too tightly around her neck.
Instead of heading straight to the studio and editing the photos of the last few days as usual, Talia instead took a deep breath as she started heading back towards Vault, having a couple hours to hopefully get answers before her first clients for the day were set to arrive at eleven.
The parking lot beside Vault sat a lot emptier today. Only a handful of cars sprinkled around, and just like last night, Talia pulls into the space beside Brandon's car.
Taking a moment before walking in, Talia leans back in her seat, closing her eyes.
She was scared. Of Brandon's explanation, of possibly having to accept whatever the fuck she had witnessed last night, of walking out more confused than she was about to walk in.
Her and Brandon had grown up play fighting, and catching an odd round or two when their dad decided to watch Friday Fight Night, but violence had never really been part of their lives in a physical form. Apart from a questionable wrestling phase when she was 14, Talia couldn't even remember the last time she saw two people in a ring together that wasn't casual sparring when she would frequent the gym in its early days.
None of it compared to what she saw last night.
With what happened still fresh in her mind, Talia climbs out of her car, pushing the door shut behind her.
Johnny doesn't stand by the entrance this morning, meaning Talia easily walks into the gym, the door squeaking slightly in protest as she pushes it open.
It's almost like nothing had even happened. All the equipment that was pushed against a wall last night now sits in its normal place, the shelves of alcohol behind the check in desk now stocked with protein powders like less than twelve hours ago the counter wasn't a very convincing bar.
Hearing her come in the door, a couple people look up from what they're doing, sending Talia a polite smile before returning to their work.
Calum Hood is not one of these people.
Almost like the universe had put a glowing neon sign over his head, Talia's eyes instantly wander towards where Calum stands next to the black haired man she recognized as the same person Brandon was talking to last night when she arrived.
Noticing her too, Calum’s encouragement of his best friend is interrupted by his eyes catching a flash of blue hair in his peripheral vision.
While he knew any animosity towards the woman who could probably have him fired with a few fake tears was a bad idea to hold onto, he couldn't help but feel annoyed upon seeing her in what he thought of as his domain.
Face settling into a frown as she looks across the room to the man who easily got on her nerves last night, Talia almost doesn't notice Brandon coming up behind her.
"Hey." He greets quietly, holding a takeaway cup of coffee out to his sister. "Time for that talk, huh?"
"Yeah. Think so." She takes the coffee with a nod of thanks, and hesitantly follows him to his office.
Talia couldn't tell if Brandon was trying to suck up to her with free coffee, but after sitting down at the chair in front of his desk and taking a sip, tasting vanilla latte, she knows he is.
"So, where should we start?" He asks, settling into his seat with a heavy sigh.
Talia scoffs lightly, raising her eyebrow.
"The beginning would be good."
Brandon nods, looking down at his desk to avoid meeting her eyes.
"The fights started around one, maybe two months after we opened, so we've been hosting them for about fourteen months now."
Talia's eyes go wide, disbelief covering her face as she places her cup on his desk forcefully.
"You're telling me you've been hiding this shit for over a year?" She asks, anger already starting to build.
"Yeah, and if you haven't fucking noticed, it's not been the easiest thing to do." He snaps, before holding his hands up, taking a deep breath and rolling his seat back slightly to calm himself, too much tension already in the air.
Talia bites her tongue, looking down at her hands before she signals to him to continue.
"A friend of mine, Ashton, he was part of an illegal boxing league running out of a rundown place up in Hollywood. I saw him fight there a couple times, saw the conditions myself. The guy running the show was a complete asshole to his guys, but they all needed the money, so they stuck around." He explains, voice quieter than before.
"One night we got to talking. I asked Ash if  he thought we might be able to make our own ring, give people a safer place to earn their money. Then we figured out how much we could earn from it, and with shit going so wrong with mom, I figured that if she pulled the rug out from under me, I could use the league as a safety net."
Piecing together the timeline in her head, and doing the best to absorb the information given to her, Talia remains silent and slowly nods along when needed.
"Him and I have built this thing from the ground up, and it's working for us. I manage the books, he manages the guys, and we take care of the admin together. With my connections to the rich assholes who have more money than they know what to do with, and with Ashton's connection to the guys who need that money and want to do it, we're doing really, really well, Talia."
This time it's Talia who avoids eye contact, looking down to her shoes as she curses the logical side of her brain for seeing sense in his story.
"How many people do you have fighting for you?" She asks.
Brandon let's out a heavy breath, waving his hand slightly.
"Around twenty, twenty five. We keep the doors open for the more occasional guy who needs the cash that week."
"And how often are the nights like last night happening?"
"Weekly. Every Friday, normally."
Seeing the hesitation on her face, bottom lip pulled between her teeth, Brandon sits forward to bring her attention to him, her eyes flicking up to meet his.
"I know this is a lot, and I don't expect you to be okay with it, but I do want you to know I'm being smart about this."
Talia sighs, taking a sip of her drink before speaking.
"I know you, so I don't doubt it. It's just so dangerous, Brandon. You can't expect me not to be worried about you."
Brandon laughs lightly, trying to lift the mood slightly.
"I would never expect you not to worry. It's not in your nature."
A small smile tugs at the corners of Talia's lips, and it's enough to ease his mind.
"Anything you want to know about the ring, the business, any of it, I'll answer as best as I can. I trust you more than anyone and I want to do everything I can to make you feel okay with this, and make up for holding it from you."
Talia hazards a look to her brother, seeing on his face that he's been open and honest with her.
"You know I always ask too many questions." She smiles, joking lightly as she referenced something she would hear almost daily from her mother growing up.
Brandon shakes his head as he laughs, taking a sip of his own drink.
"If you get too much for me, I'll just pass you on to Ashton. It's what normally happens around here." He shrugs slightly, before tilting his head.
"Actually, do you want to meet him? He should be around out there." He asks, and Talia mulls the idea over for a moment before agreeing. After all, it would probably be best to know who she would castrate if something happened to Brandon.
"Sure, might as well." She agrees, downing the last of her drink and tossing her cup into the small recycling bin under his desk.
Standing up and following Brandon out of his office, Talia can feel her nerves already starting to act up, and does her best to shove them down as she follows him towards the bench press where the black haired man who she now assumed was Ashton, and Calum stood.
"Hey, guys. I got someone for you to meet." Brandon says, catching their attention as they approach.
Ashton sends her a warm smile as she steps out from behind Brandon, which is a nice contrast from the cold glare Calum sends her way, which she ignores to return the smile instead.
"Ashton, Calum, this is my sister, Talia. Talia, this is the demon on my shoulder Ash, and my blue rock em sock em man Calum."
"We've met." Calum says bluntly, while Ashton raises his eyebrow.
"And we haven't. Nice to meet you, I assure you Brandon's told us nothing but good things." Ashton grins, holding his hand out for her to shake.
Talia takes his hand and can't help but notice how strong his grip is without what looks like any effort, and laughs lightly.
"I'd hope so, but I can't promise my staff have heard the same about him. It's nice to meet you too." She returns, letting her hand drop to her side before she acknowledges the man beside him.
"And yeah, charmed." Talia prods lightly, seeing Calum trying to hide the roll of his eyes from Brandon.
"Talia is gonna be spending more time around, getting to know the workings when she can. I said if she annoys me too much I'm gonna pass her on to you, so fair warning." Brandon informs them, tapping Ashton's arm as he directs his sentence to him.
"Fantastic." Talia hears Calum mutter, not loud enough for the other two to hear it, but just enough that she does.
This time, it's Talia that rolls her eyes at Calum.
As conversation is made, Calum can't help but feel hyper aware of Talia, and the sun shining in from the high windows casting sunbeams through the few red hairs that fell out of her bun and framed her face delicately. He would admit that Talia was pretty, beautiful even, but not audibly, especially not in front of the girl who felt no hesitation in sending him a death glare every few minutes.
The small group spend ten or so minutes talking with each other before Talia's phone rings, letting her know she should start making her way to the studio.
"Looks like I should be getting to work." Talia says, slipping her phone back into her pocket.
"What do you do, if you don't mind me asking?" Ashton inquiries, genuine interest in his tone, making her see why Brandon was such a fan of him.
Talia believed she could read people well, and from her first impression of Ashton, she got nothing but good vibes.
"I'm a photographer, I own my own studio called Valentine." She smiles proudly, and Ashton nods his head in approval.
"My girlfriend works just down the road from you I think! It's not far from Dominion Books, right?"
Pleasant surprise spreads across Talia's face as she nods, happy to have found a common link.
"Yeah! I think I might have seen you there in passing now I think about it." She smiles.
Brandon watches on with joy as he sees both Talia and Ashton getting along, so happy about it in fact that he didn't even notice Calum looking like he would rather be anywhere else in the world.
Talia says her goodbyes to the men before turning to leave, her attention being called back before she makes it too far.
"If you ever need a fill in hunk for a photo shoot, you know who to call." Ashton jokes, sending a wink in her direction.
"Yeah, you can get your brother to pass you my number any time." Calum says sarcastically, surprising her but also making her scoff as she takes a few steps backwards before turning around.
"In your dreams, darlin'." She calls over her shoulder.
As the door swings shut behind her, Calum feels like his feet are glued to the floor, the eyes of his best friend burning into him as Brandon excuses himself to mock throw up against the wall.
"What's that all about between you two?" Ashton asks Calum quietly, picking up his water bottle as Calum picks up his own, holding it up and speaking casually before taking a sip.
"No idea what you're talking about mate."
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