#love live sunshine - chapter 06 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

whatsongdoyouwannadieto · 5 days ago

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-ALBUM LISTENING 2024-

Started this page late in the year but I’ve been keeping track of the albums I’ve listened to all throughout. Did the same thing in 2023 though that list was made up of entirely unique albums. This year I decided to track albums I had on repeat alongside unique albums. So if you see the same album here multiple times know that it’s entirely on purpose. What can I say, I like what I like.

-02/01/2024-

1. Meatloaf-Bat Out of Hell

2. Ozzy Osbourne-Blizzard of Ozz

3. +44-When Your Heart Stops Beating

4. Beastie Boys-Licensed to Ill

-03/01/2024-

5. Michael Jackson-Bad

6. Iron Maiden-Iron Maiden

7. David Bowie-The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars

8. Marvin Gaye-Whats Going On?

9. Parliament-Mothership Connection

-04/01/2024

10. Jet-Get Born

11. John Denver-Poems, Prayers and Promises

12. Run-D.M.C-Run DMC

13. Madonna-Like A Prayer

-05/01/2024

14. ABBA-Arrival

15. My Chemical Romance-Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge

16. Foo Fighters-Wasting Light

17. Opeth-Watershed

-08/01/2024

18. Oasis-Whats The Story Morning Glory?

19. Matchbox Twenty-Yourself or Someone Like You

20. Iron Maiden-Killers

21. Keith Urban-Be Here

-09/01/2024

22. Disturbed-Ten Thousand Fists

23. Rihanna-Good Girl Gone Bad Reloaded

24. AC/DC- Back In Black

-10/01/2024

25. Backstreet Boys-Backstreet Boys

26. Polaris-Fatalism

27. Slipknot-We Are Not Your Kind

-11/01/2024

28. Talking Heads-Talking Heads 77 (Deluxe Version)

29. Landmvrks-Lost In A Wave

30. Bad Omens-Finding God Before God Finds Me (Deluxe)

31. The Wonder Years-Burst & Decay Vol. 2

-12/01/2024

32. Petal-Shame

33. She Cries Wolf-Doubt

34. The Wonder Years-Get Stoked On It!

35. The Story So Far-Proper Dose

36. The Devil Wears Prada-Color Decay

-13/01/2024

37. Imagine Dragons-Night Visions

38. The Wonder Years-Burst & Decay Vol 1.

-15/01/2024

39. Iron Maiden-The Number of The Beast

40. Metallica-Load

41. TOOL-Aenima

-16/01/2024

42. Aretha Franklin- I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You

43. Whitney Houston-Whitney

-17/01/2024

44. Grimes-Geidi Primes

45. Iwrestledabearonce-Hail Mary

46. Spiritbox-Spiritbox EP

47. Iron Maiden-Piece of Mind

-21/01/2024

48. Polaris-Fatalism

-22/01/2024

49. The Wonder Years-No Closer To Heaven

50. IDLES-Brutalism

51. Iron Maiden-Powerslave

52. IDLES-Joy As An Act of Resistance

-23/01/2024

53. Karnivool-Themata

54. Karnivool-Sound Awake

55. Karnivool-Asymmetry

-24/01/2024

56. Birds of Tokyo-Birds of Tokyo

57. Birds of Tokyo-March Fires

58. Birds of Tokyo-Brace

-25/01/2024

59. A Day To Remember-And Their Name Was Treason

60. A Day To Remember-For Those Who Have Heart

61. Polaris-Fatalism

30/01/2024

62. A Day To Remember-Homesick

63. A Day To Remember-What Separates Me From You

01/02/2024

64. Architects-Holy Hell

65. Architects-Classic Symptoms of A Broken Spirit

66. The Wonder Years-The Hum Goes on Forever

02/02/2024

67. The Wonder Years-Suburbia Ive Given You All And Now Im Nothing

68. The Wonder Years-The Greatest Generation

69. The Wonder Years-No Closer To Heaven

70. The Wonder Years-Sister Cities

71. The Wonder Years-Burst & Decay Live from New York

05/02/2024

72. Nightwish-Endless Forms Most Beautiful

06/02/2024

73. Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds-Ghosteen

9/02/2024

74. Sleep Token-Take Me Back To Eden

12/02/2024

76. Brand New-The Devil God Are Raging Inside Me

13/02/2024

77. Linkin Park-Minutes to Midnight

78. Slipknot-Slipknot (Tenth Anniversary)

14/02/2024

79. Slipknot-.5 The Gray Chapter

80. Slipknot-Iowa

15/02/2024

81. Slipknot-Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses

82. Slipknot-All Hope Is Gone

16/02/2024

83. Slipknot-We Are Not Your Kind

84. Slipknot-The End So Far

19/02/2024

85. Idles-TANGK

22/02/2024

86. TOOL-10,000 Days

27/02/2024

87. Backstreet Boys-Millenium

88. Backstreet Boys-Black & Blue

29/02/2024

89. Currents-The Death We Seek

90. Architects-All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us

12/03/2024

91. Ariana Grande-Eternal Sunshine

92. Architects-Lost Forever//Lost Together

13/03/2024

93. TOOL-Fear Inoculum

18/03/2024

94. Lorna Shore-Pain Remains

95. Lorna Shore-And I Return To Nothingness EP

96. Softcult-See You In The Dark EP

97. Nirvana-In Utero

19/03/2024

98. Electric Callboy-Tekkno

99. Architects- Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit

22/03/2024

100. Parkway Drive-Reverence

101. The Mayan Factor-In Lake Ch

102. The Mayan Factor-Yesterdays Son

23/03/2024

103. The Mayan Factor-44

24/03/2024

104. Thy Art is Murder-Dear Desolation

105. Parkway Drive- Atlas

27/03/2024

106. The Wonder Years-The Hum Goes on Forever

28/03/2024

107. Polaris-The Mortal Coil

108. Polaris-The Death of Me

109. Polaris-Fatalism

3/04/2024

110. Northlane-Alien

111. While She Sleeps-Self Hell

4/04/2024

112. The Wonder Years-The Greatest Generation

113. Archers-Drag Me Out EP

114. The Amity Affliction-Misery

115. Northland-Obsidian

5/04/2024

116. Currents-The Way it Ends

7/04/2024

117. Electric Callboy-Tekkno

9/04/2024

118. Bring Me The Horizon-Sempiternal

119. Karnivool-Asymmetry

12/04/2024

120. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-In Lieu of Flowers

121. Northlane-Mirrors Edge EP

122. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-We Dont Have Each Other

123. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-Bittersweet EP

124. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-Routine Maintenance

19/04/2024

125. Taylor Swift-TTPD (The Anthology)

126. The Wonder Years-Burst & Decay

22/04/2024

127. Knocked Loose-A Tear In The Fabric of Life EP

128. Slipknot-Iowa

24/04/2024

129. Electric Callboy-Tekkno

25/04/2024

130. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-In Lieu Of Flowers

26/04/2024

131. The Wonder Years-The Hum Goes on Forever

29/04/2024

132. Spiritbox-Eternal Blue

133. Spiritbox-The Fear of Fear EP

3/05/2024

134. Dua Lipa-Radical Optimism

13/05/2024

135. Knocked Loose-You Wont Go Before Youre Supposed To

16/05/2024

136. The Wonder Years-No Closer To Heaven

20/05/2024

137. Billie Eilish-Hit Me Hard and Soft

138. Knocked Loose-You Wont Go Before Youre Supposed To

26/05/2024

149. Bring Me The Horizon-Post Human: Next Gen

28/05/2024

150. Karnivool-Sound Awake

151. Karnivool-Asymmetry

29/05/2024

152. TwentyOnePilots-Clancy

30/05/2024

153. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-In Lieu of Flowers

11/06/2024

154. Bad Omens-Concrete Jungle (OST)

13/06/2024

155. Lorna Shore-Pain Remains

156. Lorna Shore-Immortal (Will Ramos version)

14/06/2024

157. Sworn In-The Death Card

158. Chapelle Roan-The Rise and Fall of A Midwest Princess

17/06/2024

159. The Wonder Years-Sister Cities

28/06/2024

160. Nickelback-All The Right Reasons

5/07/2024

161. Nickelback-The Long Road

6/07/2024

162. The Wonder Years- Burst & Decay: Live From New York

8/07/2024

163. Nickelback-No Fixed Address

9/07/2024

164. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-In Lieu of Flowers

23/07/2024

165. Nickelback- Dark Horse

166. Charli XCX-Brat

01/08/2024

167. Birds of Tokyo-Birds of Tokyo

10/08/2024

168. Knocked Loose-You Wont Go Before Youre Supposed To

14/08/2024

169. Birds of Tokyo-Universes

20/08/2024

170. The Last Dinner Party-Prelude to Ecstacy

171. The Anchor-Breathe

21/08/2024

172. The Amity Affliction-Let The Ocean Take Me

23/08/2024

173. My Chemical Romance-The Black Parade

12/09/2024

174. Linkin Park-A Thousand Suns

25/09/2024

175. Thrown-Excessive Guilt

176. Void of Vision-What Ill Leave Behind

177. Parkway Drive-Darker Still

30/9/2024

178. Parkway Drive-Ire

19/10/2024

179. A Perfect Circle-Eat The Elephant

28/10/2024

180. Halsey- The Great Impersonator

08/11/2024

181. Make Them Suffer-Make Them Suffer

15/11/2024

182. Linkin Park-From Zero

16/11/2024

183. Linkin Park-From Zero

28/11/2024

184. Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties-Routine Maintenance

4/12/2024

185. Knocked Loose- You Wont Go Before Youre Supposed To

14/12/2024

186. Hands Like Houses-MESO EP

187. Dua Lipa-Live At The Royal Albert Hall

188. Kendrick Lamar-GNX

19/12/2024

189. Knocked Loose-Laugh Tracks

21/12/2024

190. Good Tiger-Raised in A Doomsday Cult

22/12/2024

191. Speed-Gang Called Speed EP

192. Speed-Only One Mode

193. Parkway Drive-Killing With A Smile

26/12/2024

194. Electric Callboy-Tekkno

27/12/2024

195. Currents-The Death We Seek

196. Dark Signal-Volume 1

197. Counterparts-Heaven Let Them Die

198. END/Cult Leader- Gather & Mourn

28/12/2024

199.Spiritbox-Spiritbox EP

30/12/2024

200. Stone Sour-The House of Gold & Bones Part One

201. Spiritbox-Rotoscope EP

202. Lorna Shore-And I Return To Nothingness EP

31/12/2024

203. Stone Sour-The House of Gold & Bones Part Two

204. The Wonder Years-The Hum Goes On Forever

#music #music suggestions #albums #now listening #2024

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whatilistenedtoatwork · 2 years ago

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From June 12th to June 16th, 2023

12-06-23

LOU REED “Berlin”; ED ALLEYNE-JOHNSON “Purple Electric Violin Concerto”; WILSON PICKETT “I’m In Love”; THE COUP “Kill My Landlord”; LEONARD COHEN “Songs Of Love & Hate”; DIZZEE RASCAL “Maths & English”; WILSON PICKETT “Hey Jude”; KINKS “Live At The Hippodrome, 1974”; SAM COOKE “Hits Of The 50’s”; NED’S ATOMIC DUSTBIN “Godfodder”

13-06-23

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA “Face The Music”; THE SMITHS “The Queen Is Dead”; THE FALL “Grotesque (After The Gramme)”; SUPER FURRY ANIMALS “Fuzzy Logic”; CAN “Tago Mago”; MARVIN GAYE & KIM WESTON “Take Two”; JUDAS PRIEST “Sad Wings Of Destiny”; JURASSIC�� 5 “Quality Control”; SCARFACE “Mr. Scarface Is Back”; MARTHA REEVES & THE VANDELLAS “Heat Wave”; BOBBY WOMACK & J. J. JOHNSON “Across 110th Street”; SPIN DOCTORS “Turn It Upside Down”; MORRISSEY “Your Arsenal”

14-06-23

JAMIROQUAI “Synkronized”; COLDCUT “What’s That Noise?”; BOBBY WOMACK “Understanding”; THE ROERT CRAY BAND “Bad Influence”; TALKING HEADS “Remain In Light”; OZZY OSBOURNE “Speak Of The Devil”; GARBAGE “Garbage”; SAM & DAVE “Soul Men”; JULIANA HATFIELD “Hey Babe”; NIGHTMARES ON WAX “A Word Of Science: The First And Final Chapter”; RICHARD & LINDA THOMPSON “Shoot Out The Lights”

15-06-23

STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS “Pig Lib”; OTIS REDDING “Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul”; ESTELLE “The 18th Day”; SQUAREPUSHER “Big Loada”; FONTELLA BASS “The New Look”; DINOSAUR JR. “Bug”; AL GREEN “Let’s Stay Together”; JAMES BROWN “Sex Machine”; UNDERWORLD “Second Toughest In The Infants”; NIGHTMARES ON WAX “Carboot Soul”; GORKY’S ZYGOTIC MYNCI “Bwyd Time”; THE JAMES TAYLOR QUARTET “The Money Spyder”; THE ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND “Brothers & Sisters”

16-06-23

BUD POWELL “The Amazing Bud Powell: Vol. 1”; DIANA ROSS & THE SUPREMES “Let The Sunshine In; ROTARY CONNECTION “Aladdin”; DAN FOGELBERG “Souvenirs”; CHARLES MINGUS & HIS JAZZ GROUPS “Mingus Dynasty”; OTIS REDDING “Pain In My Heart”; COUNTING CROWS “This Desert Life”; FUTURE SOUND OF LONDON “ISDN”; DAFT PUNK “Human After All”; COLDCUT “Let Us Play”

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tellerluna-stories · 3 years ago

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episode 03: boss dog to the rescue!

CONTENTS: 01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. m.list!

TW/CW: there is bread and it is eaten, and it is an important part of the plot. idk how to explain it in a way that doesn't sound absurd,,, BASTA MAY TINAPAY DITO HAHAHAHA

A/N: this chapter is dedicated to the stars to my moon, the lovely @byeol-ssi!! hope you enjoy the fluffiness hehe <33. also!!! I probably won't be able to update regularly for a while because some majour stuff came up irl and I don't think I'll be able to write until everything's settled. thank you for understanding~~

“Good morning!”

“Do you need help with that?”

“Oh hey, wanna walk to class together?”

“See you tomorrow!”

For the past few weeks (yes, weeks), your ears had been ringing with the sound of barking— er, the chipper sound of Thoma’s voice as he kept hanging around you. You didn’t know exactly why he was so insistent on going out of his way to talk to you, but he didn’t seem to have any ill intentions or ulterior motives, so you let him do whatever he pleased.

…That, and perhaps he had grown on you a little bit. Just a little.

Anyway, today was a weekend, so you wouldn’t see the puppy-boy. The weekend was a precious, precious time for you, whose social battery was easily drained; it was a time you reserved solely for yourself to recuperate after all the stress that the weekdays brought. So on this fine day, you decided to venture into The Great Outdoors on a great and noble quest to purchase the finest rations that a relaxing weekend would require. In this case, that meant freshly baked bread from a nearby bakery.

There was a lively spring to your step as you walked, mouth watering slightly as you thought about all the warm bread that awaited you; normally you preferred to stay indoors and hide from the light of day, but today was different. It was the perfect weather to walk outside— on days like these, the sun’s rays chose to play hide-and-seek over rooftops and through tree-branches, without scorching everything to death and blinding you for no good reason.

Hey, even someone who normally shunned the light of day would want to go outdoors once in a while, right?

You took a deep breath and savoured the gift of your senses; feeling the pleasant contrast between the faint warmth of asphalt through your shoes and the soft breeze that cooled your face, admiring the vibrant colour of lit by sunshine— and most importantly, smelling the bewitchingly sweet aroma of fresh bread that signalled you were close to your destination.

One step, two steps… just a few more paces before you completed your quest.

"Whoa, Taroumarou, slow down! Don’t tug on the leash like that, you’ll hurt yourself—"

You froze in your tracks, your entire body stiffening at the sound of a voice that was unfortunately all-too-familiar. Coming from just around the corner— no, it couldn’t be. You were hallucinating.

“Taroumarou- ugh, don’t pee in that flower-pot! That’s not your toilet!”

(Okay, maybe you weren't hallucinating, because if you were... was it possible to file a complaint to whatever part of your brain was in charge of creating hallucinations? Could you just ask to have this particular hallucination replaced?)

Your heart hammered against your ribs as you tiptoed to peek around the corner, praying fervently that you were mistaken. But still another part of you fluttered anxiously with hope— as to what you were hoping for, it was still unsure.

Blond hair that shone like gold in the sunlight.

Emerald-green eyes framed with long, sun-kissed lashes.

A pair of strong, slender hands that grasped onto the leash of an absolute unit of a fluffy dog, who was blessed with fur that almost matched the colour of his owner’s hair and was almost as fluffy.

Lips that curved into an exasperated smile, gently reprimanding said dog as his owner tried to persuade him to change his choice of toilet.

It was almost comedic, really— just an ordinary student struggling to walk his dog on a fine afternoon, an ordinary scene that you’d pass by without a second thought. On any other day you'd have ignored him and continued to walk through the world in your own protective bubble so you wouldn’t get invested in the lives of other people... yet here you stood, absolutely spellbound by this stranger.

The puppy-boy laughed and shook his head, leaning down to scratch his dog under the chin, and a strange shudder ran down your spine. It was like scales had fallen from your eyes, revealing the Thoma that you had never seen before— or perhaps never wanted to see until now.

Your heart knocked against your ribs, once, twice, and then paused a beat.

“Thoma?”

His name slipped from your lips before you could catch yourself, and the boy eagerly perked up at the sound of his name, just like when you had first met. “Oh, it’s you! I didn’t expect to run into you here.” Thoma tugged on Taroumarou’s leash lightly, gently nudging the dog forward with his foot. “Taroumarou, say hello to my classmate.”

“Ah… hello, Taroumarou.”

The dog trundled towards you, snuffling around your legs and shoes till it was satisfied and gave an approving woof.

“Looks like he likes you,” Thoma grinned, squatting down to scratch Taroumarou behind his ears. “It’s not that easy to get the approval of Boss Dog over here, so you must be quite extraordinary for him to favour you like this.”

“Is that so?” Squatting down at a carefully calculated distance from Thoma (for decency's sake, you rationalised), you leaned closer to peer at Taroumarou’s dark eyes and fluffy cheeks. “Say, Taroumarou, may I pet you?”

(Now, under normal circumstances you'd have retained your more reserved persona around people you weren't close with, but in this case... what could you do? There was a very cute, fluffy dog just within reach, and if it wasn't obvious enough, you had a particular weakness for puppies.)

Boss Dog yipped, and Thoma leaned closer to listen as if he were the dog’s official interpreter. “What was that, boy? Can my- ew, don’t lick inside my ear! Gross!”

Both puppy-boy and puppy toppled onto the pavement as Taroumarou happily jumped up to lick Thoma’s face, and you couldn’t help it, you really couldn’t— you burst into laughter right then and there.

Not the polite, canned laughter that you used around people, no— it was the roaring, dying wheezes of someone who hadn't laughed this much since grade school, and your stomach muscles sorely paid the price for it. You barely stopped yourself from collapsing onto the pavement and howling like a hyena, but it didn't help one bit that the Boss Dog still kept jumping around Thoma like a little imp intent on eating earwax for a snack. Your lungs pleaded for mercy and your face ached from all the smiling, but all you could do was to laugh even harder.

Meanwhile, the source of your laughter froze rigidly, his brain slowly processing what was going on as Taroumarou frisked around him. It was the first time he’d ever seen you smile, let alone burst into a fit of laughter that had you whacking your palm against the concrete and tears rolling down your face.

Well, technically it wasn’t the first time, but still— the smiling, giggling version of you that stood before him now, it was because of something he (and Taroumarou) did. You were smiling because of him.

“Ah- I’m sorry.” You wheezed, brushing a stray tear from your eye. “I promise I wasn’t laughing because you fell. It just was so funny to see Taroumarou hopping around like that…”

“Yeah, yeah, I get you there.” Thoma’s face lit up eagerly, his own nonexistent tail wagging behind him. “But he’s not always this crazy, I promise! He’s usually more well-behaved.”

“It’s alright.” Smiling, you scratched Taroumarou behind his ears and reveled in the fluffiness of the Boss Dog. “He seems to be a good boy, whether he’s frisking around or being polite. Aren’t you, Taroumarou?”

Thoma’s furry look-alike rubbed his cheek against your leg and yipped happily. Letting someone from school see you like this was out of character for you, but for some reason you didn’t care anymore.

It suddenly occurred to you that you had no idea on how to proceed from here; you had greeted your classmate, laughed in his face, and from there… what did people even do when they encountered an acquaintance outside of a school or work setting? You didn’t know the standard procedures, but you were pretty sure that it required small talk and some sort of food.

Speaking of food... you'd almost forgotten the reason why you had set out on this journey today.

"Do you like bread?" You suddenly blurted out, realising how stupid the question sounded as soon as it left your mouth (ah, your gift for eloquence was truly unmatched). "There's a good bakery nearby, and they usually bring out the batch for the evening around this time."

Taroumarou perked up at the suggestion, while Thoma's eyebrows shot up in interest. "As a matter of fact, I do like bread. Even more so when it's fresh."

Your mind went completely blank. You had no idea you’d get this far, so now what were you supposed to do?

“That’s good!” Stiffly, you jumped to your feet and marched off in what was hopefully the right direction. "It’s this way.”

Behind you, the dog and his owner exchanged glances before Taroumarou lurched forward. With a strength that could've rivalled King Arthur himself when he pulled out the sword Excalibur, the Boss Dog practically dragged Thoma to follow after you.

“Taroumarou, wait!” Thoma stumbled, just barely catching the leash that nearly slipped out of his hands. “You’re acting really weird today, boy…”

If only you could go back in time and smack your past self. Or say thank you. You no longer knew which one was the more practical option.

For some reason, you had thought it was a great idea to share your closest-guarded secret, the source of all baked goods divine… with a puppy boy. A very nice, friendly puppy-boy who you could admit was not bad-looking, but he was still an outsider.

A piping-hot bag of assorted bread sat on the little portion of bench between you and Thoma, effectively acting as a barrier to prevent your sanity from disintegrating completely. The look the owner had given you when you’d arrived with a pretty boy in tow was embarassing enough as it was.

This was supposed to be a quiet, peaceful afternoon, you lamented as you nibbled on a piece of bread. You could barely taste it.

“Whoa, the bread here is delicious!” Thoma exclaimed, blissfully oblivious to your inner turmoil. He tore off a tiny piece and tossed it to the ground for Taroumarou to taste. “Here boy, let me know what you think.”

Judging from the way the Boss Dog greedily licked up the little chunk of bread, this bakery also had his paw-print of approval.

“Well, uh… I’m glad you like it.“ You felt the eyes of the store-owner lasering in on you from all the way behind the counter— as far as you knew, she was just an excellent baker who gave you discounts for being a regular, but the fact that you could feel the intensity of her gaze from where you sat outside the bakery made you question if she was secretly some sort of superhuman. “Not a lot of people know about this place, so it’s rarely crowded.”

“You’re joking, right? This place is a hidden gem.”

"In a way, it's also a blessing in disguise. No crowds, no long lines..." Sighing in contentment, you slumped against the back of the bench a là shrimp posture. "I kept this place a secret ever since I found it, just so that it would stay that way. Haven't told a soul."

You froze the minute the words left your mouth; saying it like that might imply that you were entrusting some important secret of yours with Thoma. What if he misunderstood your intentions and thought you were flirting with him? That had been an unfortunately common problem among all your advice-seekers, and it would be humiliating to have to clear up the misunderstanding after you'd scolded so many people for doing the exact same thing.

“Yeah, I kinda understand why.” Thoma mused, his attention wholly fixed on his food. If he had misunderstood you, he showed no signs of it. “Seriously, this is amazing— I should take notes for the next time I bake bread.”

“…You can bake?”

“Yep. It’s kind of like my hobby, along with cooking and cleaning.”

The most absurd image come to mind— ‘Everyone’s Thoma’ opening a window while dressed in full housekeeping gear, complete with rubber gloves and a handkerchief to keep his hair out of his face. You briefly wondered if he was the type to wield a feather duster or a broom as his weapon of choice (for cleaning, of course).

Come to think of it, today was the first time you’d seen him outside of school. In school he was always well-behaved and a perfect gentleman, the dreamy student who everyone adored. It was Thoma’s natural disposition to behave the way he did on campus, but… there was something that was just a touch off from his usual self.

"You seem more relaxed today," You remarked, eyeing the boy who sat next to you. Taroumarou eagerly sniffed the ground, tangling his leash around your shins in his search for fallen crumbs.

"Well, I do suppose so. Weekends are a way for me to destress from the weekdays and all the worries that come with it." He replied, munching thoughtfully on the piece of bread. "I don't want to sound ungrateful for the things I have but... there are a lot of people who have expectations for me, and I don't want to let those people down."

Oh.

You'd had the impression that Thoma was just some generic popular boy who all the students swooned and sighed for, like the male love interest straight out of a cheesy high-school romance story— but apparently you had misjudged him.

Similar to your reputation as a relationship counselor, being 'Everyone's Thoma' was a burden, though one laden with good intentions and well-wishes from others. Because he always looked after everyone and brought joy to hearts of people around him, it became something those people began to take for granted and then even expect from him. It never crossed their minds that sometimes, the person who did all of these things might get worn out; in that sense, he wasn't so different from you, except that it was only even further magnified because of how many people looked up to him.

You had the privilege of slinking into the shadows and disappearing unnoticed, while Thoma... didn't.

Shame flushed hot in your face, gnawing at your stomach with pointy little fangs of guilt. "It must be tiring to deal with all of that."

"Ah, well... not most of the time. It only gets particularly draining on my bad days." Thoma popped the last of his bread into his mouth and smiled cheerfully, as if to say ‘don’t worry about it’.

The people who tell you not to worry about how they feel are usually the ones you should worry about most, you incorrigible pup.

Of all the people and relationships you'd seen and encountered, it always was the ones who disregarded their own feelings who suffered the most. You'd seen one too many girls weeping over a foolish lover not worth their time, pushing their feelings of hurt and grief deep down inside just because they thought that that was how it was to be in love. It was the same with friendships, and in Thoma's case too; if one person disregards their own feelings of stress and emotional pain in order to please the other party, then there was a high chance that the relationship wouldn't last unless something was done about those feelings.

"You know, every once in a while you should live your life for yourself. It wouldn't do you any harm to take care of yourself first."

The words were almost the same as what you had told many of the advice-seekers who begged for your assistance. Take care of yourself first, prioritise yourself— you'd said it so many times till the phrase was hollowed out into an empty formality, lingering on the tip of your tongue like a bitter pill. Over time, your advice became a poison that numbed the senses of the one who gave it out.

But for some reason, you had a faint notion that things had changed.

"Well, this is just my opinion, and well... I don't..." You scratched the back of your head, trying to think of the right words to say. "I don't know if I understand your situation entirely, so I may get things wrong."

He smiled as he fished for a new piece of bread, the corners of his eyes crinkling up like freshly-bloomed flower petals in a way that sent an electric shock tingling down your spine. "It's alright, really. I'd like to hear your thoughts on it anyway."

"You're- well... you're kinda like this bread."

Brilliant. Harvard would be begging on their knees for you to attend their university if they heard you now.

All three of you stared at the half-bitten piece of bread in your hand, although the expression on Taroumarou’s face looked more hungry than anything. Judging from the extremely judgemental aura radiating from behind, the owner had also overheard you.

"How…” Thoma blinked uncertainly. “How am I supposed to take that?"

"As a compliment...?" At that moment, you wanted nothing more but to melt through the ground to be absorbed into plant food. That way you could at least contribute to the well-being of any future ecosystems and make something worthwhile out of your embarassing existence.

The Boss Dog nudged Thoma’s ankle and whined softly, giving you a beady side-eye that would’ve made a grown man cry; compared to his master, Taroumarou was certainly not as merciful to your feelings.

"…Uh, would it be too much for me to assume that you're implying I'm a snack?"

"What— no! That's not what I meant." You spluttered furiously, flailing your hands about as you tried to deny any existence of an unintentional pick-up line. "That wasn’t my intention at all, I promise!”

He snorted and turned his face away, using the bread in his hand to act as a shield (like that would have done anything to conceal his laughter.) “No worries, I’m just joking. I figured you didn’t mean it like that… unless you actually did—“

“Don’t remind me!”

“Haha, alright, alright. I’ll let you finish.” Thoma lowered his bread to reveal a lopsided grin, a slightly teasing lilt to his tone of voice. His golden hair floofed up like a little cloud, giving him the illusion of two puppy-dog ears sprouting from the top of his head.

Cute, a small part of you remarked.

Once you realised what you had just dared to think, your plans to become compost were immediately placed at the top of your priority list. That’s it, you were definitely losing it and it was all his fault.

“Anyway, as I was saying.” You cleared your throat and gestured to your piece of bread. “You’re like this bread.”

“How so, prof?” He shifted to face you, crossing his legs and propping his chin on his hands like he was listening to a teacher. Emerald-green eyes sparkled with such attentiveness that it was starting to make you feel embarassed all over again, which was not helpful at all.

“…Do you want the long or short explanation?”

“I’d like the short explanation, please.”

“You- well…” It was somewhat awkward to say it aloud, but you had already dug your grave and now was the time to lie in it. “I don’t know exactly how to phrase it, but you sort of have the aura of fresh-baked bread. Like... when you’re around other people.”

Thoma’s eyebrows shot up in confusion, his nonexistent ears flopping to one side as he tilted his head. Taroumarou followed the example of his master, looking at you with such adorable confusion that you almost lost your cool. The audacity of these puppies to be so cute…

Luckily your counselor side took over before you had another meltdown, allowing you to continue without incident. “I think that’s what makes people gravitate to you so easily. Do you see how everyone swarms to buy bread in the cafeteria when there’s a fresh batch?”

“Oh, yeah. It’s always difficult to buy anything during that time.”

Your brain was running on fumes at this point— just what exactly had been your point here? It had been quite some time since you’d counselled someone and you hadn’t had the time to prepare yourself as you usually did. The expectant look on Thoma’s face as he gazed intently at you… well, needless to say, it was not helping your thinking process.

But you wanted to at least tell him something that would make him feel better; you didn’t know why, or how you would do it, but you just knew that you wanted to do it.

And fine, maybe you were just a bit worried about him. Call it sympathy from one reliable person to another.

“The thing is… you’re not just some object that can just be pushed around and argued over like the cafeteria bread. You have thoughts and needs just like everyone else, and I don’t think it’d be particularly fair to yourself if you kept pushing those aside for what everyone else wants you to be.” You said quietly, lowering your hand. “You may be similar to freshly-baked bread, but that doesn’t mean you always have to keep giving your time and effort to other people."

Thoma didn’t reply, merely continuing to look at you with an odd, melancholic expression on his face. One finger slowly tapped against his cheek, tracing absent-minded circles there as he gazed into your eyes.

“Ah- I’m sorry. I think I overstepped there.” Hastily you shoved your bread into your mouth, focusing all of your effort on chewing and swallowing so that you wouldn’t have to deal with reality. Without even realising it, you’d slipped into complete counselor mode while talking to him— it seemed that your old habits still remained.

“There’s no need to apologise.” One side of his mouth quirked up into a wry grin. “I was just thinking about what you said, that’s all.”

“If anything about what I said was incorrect, I apologise for assuming. Just- I suppose you can forget about it.”

“No, it actually made me really happy to hear that.” Thoma replied, the little smile on his face growing even further. “Just as I thought, I really am in good hands when I’m with you. Thank you for looking out for me.”

Your face burned hotter than an oven; this puppy-boy really was out for your neck, wasn’t he.

“Ah, the bread’s almost gone! Here, have another piece— you’ve barely eaten anything.”

A piece of bread was promptly thrust in your hands, still warm to the touch— though you had to admit that it wasn’t as warm as the feeling spreading in your chest. Thoma crossed his arms with an air of satisfaction, looking like a proud housewife who had just fed her guests with her hard efforts.

It almost made you want to burst out laughing all over again.

This side of him is definitely different, you decided. But it was a nice side to discover, one that made him a little more human than all the achievements and gushing flattery that were attached to him by others.

Unconsciously, you smiled a little as you bit into the bread he had given you. Oddly enough, it seemed to taste better than when you'd sit on this very bench and eat in solitude— perhaps there was some merit to the saying that food tasted better with company.

"Hey, I just thought of something." Thoma said aloud, nudging Taroumarou slightly with his foot in order to stretch his legs.

"What is it?"

"When you explained the sort of aura I have around other people, I started thinking about what kind of feeling you would have. I've come to the conclusion that you're just like this bakery."

"...How am I even supposed to take that?"

"Well, same as yours. It's a compliment." A different facial expression crept on his features— a look that you almost would've described as sly, if it weren't for how angelic his face naturally looked. To you, it was both amusing and unnerving at the same time.

You paused mid-bite to give him an unimpressed stare. “At least I explained why I thought you were like bread. Where’s your explanation?”

Thoma hummed softly, an amused look in his eyes as he rocked back and forth in his seat. “Maybe another time.”

“Well that’s unfair.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely explain it to you. Boss Dog here is our witness.”

Taroumarou barked in agreement, wagging his tail eagerly as he eyed the bread in your hand. You finished off your bread with a resigned sigh, accepting your fate; maybe making you squirm was just another part of Thoma’s personality.

Quietly, you admired Taroumarou for a few moments, running your fingers through his soft fur and savouring the fluffiness against your fingertips; a small part of you wondered if Thoma’s hair was fluffier, but you quickly dismissed the intrusive thought.

Still, your fingers twitched impulsively as you stole glances at Thoma’s loose, fluffy locks, and you decided that perhaps it was best for you to retire before you did anything rash. You already had several close calls today, and you didn't want to create any more memories that would cause you to scream into your pillow at night from sheer embarrassment.

“Sorry, but I can't stay too long. It's already getting late.” You brushed off the crumbs from your clothes and stood up.

“Oh... I see.” He looked almost regretful at the thought of you leaving (or perhaps it was just your wishful thinking). “In that case, don’t let me keep you.”

“It was… nice to see you today.” The words were no empty formality, you realised; you had genuinely enjoyed getting to see him today. And even more strange was the fact that your social battery was still full, perhaps even revitalised after running into Thoma and Taroumarou.

“Likewise.” Taroumarou yipped happily as Thoma did a little salute and grinned, sending your heart skipping like a lovesick school-girl’s. “Boss Dog says it was nice to see you, too.”

"Ah, um... if it's possible, could I see Taroumarou once in a while?"

"Just Taroumarou?"

You turned back and stared at him, completely lost on how to even respond to that question.

"Ah, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to." Thoma leaned back against the wall and gave you an amused smile, a perfect picture of relaxation in the fading sunlight. "I always walk him around this area, so maybe you can see him the next time you go out for bread."

“That- that’s a great idea.” You gave him an awkward thumbs-up in response, cringing at how stiff you sounded. Something in your chest melted into a mushy, gooey puddle as soon as Thoma tilted his head to face you, his sparkly puppy-boy eyes in full effect.

"We should do this again sometime. Taroumarou really seemed to enjoy getting bread with you today." He lightly shook Boss Dog's leash and patted him on the head. "As did I, of course."

His sincerity took you off-guard, as it always did; how could he live like that, with his heart on his sleeve for everyone to see? Yet at the same time, it didn’t seem like such a terrible way to live.

If all he had given you was his honesty, then it was only fair that you pay him back in a like manner— that was how you rationalised it, anyway.

“…Hey, Thoma.” The following words sat heavily on your tongue like a lump of iron; you weren’t sure if you were close enough for you to say something so… brazen.

"Yes?" A soft smile bloomed over his features, his eyes aglow with warmth that made your heart skip in strange ways and filled you with a strange, reckless courage; did Thoma always smile so gently when he looked at you?

"See you on Monday." You finished the outrageous statement with what hopefully passed for a friendly smile, and waved goodbye. Before Thoma could answer, you scampered off, your stomach twisting in knots as your words burned themselves into your auditory memory permanently— oh, you really hoped you didn’t just embarass yourself. “You can have the rest of the bread!”

The Boss Dog wondered why his subordinate sat there for such an extraordinarily long time, an unmoving statue even as Taroumarou wriggled himself into Thoma’s lap. His eyes remained dazed and unfocused despite Taroumarou’s best efforts to rouse Thoma from his stupor— what a strange boy. Was Thoma behaving this way because of the other human?

He tilted his head and sneezed, the scent of bread wafting temptingly in his nostrils; Taroumarou was a dignified dog of noble breeding who scorned to behave in a way that was beneath one of his pedigree, but for the sake of his subordinate he had nobly sacrificed his dignity in order to gain extra time with the strange human. Begging for crumbs, yanking on his leash in an undignified manner, even going so far to stall for time by peeing on a flower-pot when he had smelled the nice human from around the corner. Taroumarou recognised the scent from all the times his subordinate came home from school with a giddy smile on his face, the distinct smell of that particular human still lingering on his uniform.

Everything he had done was all because Thoma had seemed so happy when he saw that person— if his subordinate had been a dog, his tail would’ve been wagging non-stop. But now Thoma was very still, like one of those garishly-painted statues in the garden that Taroumarou had deemed as his sworn enemies.

The Boss Dog thought long and hard, pondering as to what could have brought his subordinate into such a state; could it be that this was Thoma’s first time courting?

Well, that seemed to be the only logical answer; the only other answer that Taroumarou could think of was that Thoma really had become one of those urban nightmares also known as the garden gnome. The Boss Dog whimpered slightly— he didn't like that notion at all.

He nudged Thoma’s arm once more, desperately hoping that his efforts would not be in vain. Finally, just when Taroumarou was about to bring out his genius last resort (which was to pee in Thoma’s lap) in order to save his subordinate from an eternity spent as a statue, Thoma spoke.

“Taroumarou, boy…” A strange, giddy smile curved upwards on Thoma’s face, the thrumming of his heartbeat reverberating through his entire body. “I think I’m in big trouble.”

Taroumarou rolled his eyes in a mixture of relief and disgust, nuzzling his snout into the crook of Thoma’s knee. Humans were strange creatures.

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bebepac · 3 years ago

Text

Six Sentence Sunday 3.06.22 / Mood Music Monday

Real talk: Those who know me very well know how much I’ve been struggling due to the passing of my Riley face claim, Cheslie Kryst. Well things for me haven’t been getting better. In fact, they was getting worse. And then, something random helped. A movie of all things. It popped up on my nextflix the other day, called Just Like Heaven, and it reminded me so much of how I write my Liam and Riley that I decided to start writing a similar take on it. And it’s the first time since all of this happened, that when I thought of Cheslie, my eyes didn’t fill with tears, I actually smiled. So below the cut is a tribute story I’m writing for her. I hope you like the snippet so far. Moodboard credit goes to my dear friend @neotericthemis

Original Post: 03/06/22 at 3:35PM EST.

MOOD MUSIC MONDAY SUBMISSION

Mini Series: A Piece of Heaven On Earth: Part 1

The Book: TRR

Pairing: Liam x Riley

Status: Writing for this chapter is complete

Song Inspiration: I by Yiruma

A/N: I am writing this as a tribute to my Riley FC, the late Cheslie Kryst. In this world, she lives on through my existing Riley stories. I’m really truly excited about writing this, as it feels to be giving me peace. So if you would like to be tagged in this very special release, please let me know.

Riley pushed the door open and was met by a blinding light. When her eyes finally adjusted, she was standing on the rooftop of her apartment that had been converted into a garden oasis. It was her garden, and it was absolutely breathtaking. Who did this for her?

“And who the hell is going to take care of all this? I’ve legit got a brown thumb here. Mother Nature and God, y’all are gonna need to handle this!!!!” Riley chuckled to herself, starting to wander through the beautiful sweet smelling flowers.

There was a seat in the middle, and on it sat a white rose. For her? It better be, it’s her damn garden, on top of her damn apartment. She picked up the freshly clipped de-thorned rose, lifting it up to her nose, to breathe it in. She closed her eyes as she sighed contentedly. It was the most fragrant rose, and its lovely scent filled her nostrils. Riley sat in the chair relaxing, basking in the sweet air and the warm sunshine.

And there was a voice… it was barely audible. Who was he? The gentleness of the sultry baritone tone felt familiar though, and put Riley immediately at ease as he began to speak.

“I wrote you a poem. It’s the first one I’ve ever written, because I felt so inspired by your effortless beauty..

Soft, Sweet….

Sensually Smiling

Sighs…. Softly….

Shifting Stares…

Sharing Secrets….

Shhhh…….

Shuffling Silently

My Sweet Star "

Footsteps approached her, and then a hand caressed her shoulder.

She knew it was him, her soulmate, the one she had always been waiting for. Riley immediately turned to gaze at the face of the man that had just made her grin like a giddy school girl in love, and just as she did, her alarm went off.

Of course. And that’s how she ushered in year thirty with a groan.

Flirty, thirty, and thriving, is what I heard this birthday was supposed to be. My birthday began observing the torrential downfall of a hurricane and still my brother and his fiancee wanted to meet for breakfast. We meet every year. It was our tradition. Minus one, my twin sister Taylor was M.I.A.

Of course Jaiden had talked the staff into singing happy birthday to me, whilst bringing a plate of cupcakes Bebe had made special for my day. It was one of the many perks of having a baker in the family or almost family, unlimited cakes, cookies and confectionary sweetness for any situation that warranted it. First birthday serenade of the day? Check.

Sitting quietly for a moment, I was able to take it all in. Thirty felt different to me, not going to lie. The years before, I felt young and carefree. Even year twenty nine felt alright. But this one, even weeks before my birthday, I started becoming introspective.

It made me take a cold hard look at my life as I know it. Was I where I thought I was going to be in my life? Not completely. I had the job well, maybe not the job I wanted, but working in the field I wanted. I wasn’t married, had no current romantic prospects and no children. I had a nice apartment a few miles away from my job, and I had my dream car.

I guess in the grand scheme of things I wasn't doing half bad, and my student loans were more than halfway paid off.

“What’s up Dirty Thirty! Happy Birthday!!!”

“Thanks Nico!”

“You look beautiful. Tell me you’re finally going to let me take you out, so we can celebrate your birthday right?”

Nico was trying to be cool leaning against the counter. The receptionist behind the counter hid the words "don't do it." in a cough.

Riley laughed at the receptionist. Everyone knew Nico had a playboy reputation around the hospital.

MOOD MUSIC MONDAY SUBMISSION

Ice Cream Social

University Student Ellie: Chapter 4

The Book: TRF and beyond!

Pairings: none

Status Still in the writing process

Song Inspiration: Miss Independent by Kelly Clarkson

“Mel what is all this?” Ellie asked as Mel and another guard brought in boxes.

“ WAIT! Is this one of my plants?” Elle inquired, looking at the guard she had never seen before.

“No, Eleanor he’s one of your new guards stationed in America. This is Stephen.”

“Your Highness.” He bowed to her.

“A present from your father, and a letter for you to read.”

Ellie broke the red seal of the letter and began to read her father’s regal neatly scripted handwriting.

Baby Love, I always felt like you and I have always shared a special connection, different from that of you and your mother. I know this transition is going to be difficult but manageable for you, but I thought you should have a little bit more of home with you. The first gift I bequeath to you is a sandbox. I can see your face right with a smirk just like your mother. Because you want to know what the meaning of this is. And now you are touching your face to confirm the smirk. And your smile that you know I’m one hundred percent right.

Her father knew her so well.

When Ellie went to grab the second box, it was heavy and she heard the clinking of bottles. Upon opening it, the box contained her favorite wines.

But there is a reason for this, as with all the things I do. Because this box contains Cordonian soil. We both know only certain laws apply to you when you are on Cordonian Soil. So now go open your second box.

Remember Baby Love, you are allowed to legally drink only on Cordonian soil. So please abide by this rule. Should you not want to drink alone, that box admits two additional guests by royal decree of his royal Majesty King Liam Rys. Two more things. First and foremost, don’t tell your mother. I will never hear the end of it, if you do. Secondly, should you need a replenishment, ask me to send you more Apple Crisps. Your mother won’t be any the wiser.

The last envelope held her father's official Cordonian decree. He had legit passed this little sandbox into law that it was an extension of the Cordonian Embassy, on Hartfeld’s campus.

Ellie laughed. "That's my father."

“Enjoy your present.”

"Thank you Mel."

Unhinged

The Rotten Apple 🍎: Chapter 6

The Book: TRF and Beyond

Pairings: Liam x Riley / Ellie x Nico (Ellie x M!OC)

Status: Still in the Writing process

Several Hours Earlier

Elle had just finished a cup of hot apple tea. She was starting to get morning sickness more often, and it was getting harder to hide it from Nico. All of it was getting harder to hide. She had to tell him tonight and get it over with.

She rubbed her stomach, which was no longer flat. There was a small, very noticeable curve, at least to her.

"You know, you don't have to grow so fast right? Or make me so hungry all the time. You have to give me time to figure this out. What we're going to do. Time so I can tell your father that you exist."

The phone in Elle's hotel room rang.

"Hello?"

"I know your secret."

"What secret?"

There were too many…. way too many of those.

"You and the guard. Meet me at the falls. Come alone."

"When?"

"Thirty minutes. Give the Guard the slip. I mean it, come alone."

"I'll be there."

For the first time ever Father looked concerned and wasn't taunting her.

"Eleanor, that look in your eye, what are you planning on doing?"

Elle pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

"I am going to protect my family."

#bebepac writes #the rotten apple #and drama for the win #a piece of heaven on earth #you will always be my riley #University student ellie #choices fanfiction #six sentence sunday #mood music monday #liam x riley forever #elle x nico #evil ellie rys #Evil Drake

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1uckygold · 4 years ago

Text

Keys to the Magic Door (2)

Summary: The Bangtan boys one night encounter a woman that looks exactly like the animation ARMY from "Magic Door" and "Dream ON." What if it's not a coincidence? What if it's actually the female from the animation video? Except she needs their help... she needs to go back to her universe before it falls apart. BTS agree to do anything to help, but what happens if they all start to fall in love with her? What do they do when...

When it's time to say goodbye?

~Pairing: 방탄소년단 (BTS) | ot7 x f! Reader

~Genre: Fluff & Humor, Alternate Universe - Bangtan Universe

~Word Count: 2.3K

Part: 01 / 03 / 04 / 05 / 06 / 07 / 08 / 09 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18 / 19 / More Chapters Soon...

The seven bangtan brothers led you into the living room where everything started. Hoseok pulling you gently by the hand, as to not frighten you since hesitation was still in your steps. It wasn’t until your eyes caught sight of the laptop did you tug on Hoseok’s sleeve to get his attention.

“What’s wrong?” Hoseok asked, concern dripping from his tone of voice as you pointed at the technology. Hands waving around and making explosive gesturing motions, you were certain that this was the most interesting game of charades ever.

You frowned at the boys, everyone practically shouting answers excitedly but failing when no one got the answer correct. Lightly smacking your forehead, you let Hoseok’s hand go and ran towards the laptop to show them a different way on how to communicate what happened.

Only for a yelp to fly out your mouth, feet tripping over something lumpy as you fell to the hard floor, landing next to the coffee table with a groan.

“Shit, are you okay?” Yoongi’s eyes widen, holding back a laugh and small smile that was trying to break free. Though, him and the rest, didn’t waste any time to help you back up.

“You’re not hurt or anything, are you?” Seokjin examined your palms, checking for any sign of injury that needed to be treated but finding none whatsoever. You nodded in reassurance, dusting yourself off. It wasn’t the first time you fell to the floor clumsily and your hundred percent certain it won’t be the last.

Seokjin sighed in relief, Taehyung checking to see what made you trip in the first place. Curiosity shining in his eyes while picking up a gray backpack off the ground, something that neither of them owned. “Who’s bag is this?”

The sudden comment had you glancing up, eyes widening at the familiar bag, not expecting for that to travel with you. Gently grabbing it out of Taehyung’s hand, you sat on the couch in a crisscross manner. The members sitting around in empty seats, all of them watching with an interest as you stuck a tiny bit of tongue out when searching through the backpack.

Your eyes lit up when feeling a familiar object, glad that whatever the hell was happening left this. Pulling out a pink phone and typing in the password to unlock it, eyes scanning throughout many apps. Finally you found the photo icon, giving the phone to Hoseok.

The sunshine boy gasped in amazement, not believing what he was seeing while scrolling through many pictures. Everyone getting up to huddle around Hoseok, wanting to know what caught his attention so badly.

“That’s… That’s us! —Or a mini version of us at least,” Namjoon shouted, almost falling off the couch in surprise at seeing many photos of tinytan with you in each of them. Every picture containing all of you doing silly things with one another, traveling throughout the city, even some with you designing mini clothes for them and having a fashion show.

You nodded eagerly, getting up and running around the house to find something to write with, coming back after rummaging through drawers with a pen and paper in hand. Scribbling on the notebook, you showed the guys what was written with a soft smile. “That’s tinytan! Also known as RM, J-Hope, Suga, Jungkook, Jimin, Jin, and V. They are practically my whole world!”

“But that means… how is that even possible?” Jimin questioned, not quite believing you were from another world compared to theirs. A glance at the other guys and he didn’t have to be told that they were just as baffled by the news.

“I don’t know, but this is the video,” Jungkook spoke, catching the attention of everyone, including yours. The youngest having grabbed the laptop and wake it up, the page still on the same video.

Video? What video? Your nose scrunched up in confusion, trying to understand what Jungkook meant before a familiar noise echoed in the room. The video replaying of tinytan singing and dancing, only for it to glitch and freeze when your animation figure came into view.

“Is it buffering?” Yoongi asked, raising an eyebrow only for all of them to let out a scream when the laptop screen started to fizzled out. Jungkook rushing to put it down as everyone stepped away from the technology. It wasn’t until the screen turned completely black before turning back on again as if nothing happen did everyone frown.

Namjoon was about to comment on what had happened, but he didn’t… no one did when you kneeled in front of the screen. A sad smile appearing on your face, touching the laptop screen with a longing look before writing something new on the paper. Not wasting time to hand it to the closest member, Namjoon.

“I know this is hard to believe—Hell, it’s hard for me to get my head wrapped around this, but… please. Help me, I want to get back home. No tricks, I promise,” Your eyes pleaded for them to listen and understand even if it sounds crazy. Each one of them looked in their eyes, almost as if they were communicating slightly before turning towards you.

“We’ll help you, uh… I’m Taehyung. Me, that’s me… V,” Taehyung explained with a bright smile, pointing to one of the tinytan on the laptop that had you smiling slightly.

When everyone started to introduce themselves, you didn’t bother telling them that you’d already had known their names.

“How old are you?” Jungkook asked in curiosity, the older members chuckling at how innocent the boy looked when asking such a question. The super bunny looked as if he was going to win the grand prize.

“Twenty-two. You look a lot like my mini Kookie, he was adorable too,” You gave a cheeky smile, writing your reply and giving the youngest the paper. Jungkook’s eyes widen, glancing away shyly as Jimin snatched the paper out of his hands with a huge smile. Teases being passed left and right as Jungkook’s face went slightly red from blushing, a bunny smile breaking out.

A small laugh escaped out of your mouth from his reaction, only for the attention to be pulled away when Seokjin tapped on your shoulder with a smile. “Since you can’t remember your name… we thought about giving you one!”

“We talked it among ourselves earlier, so what do you think of the name Y/N Army? The name just clicks you know, it reminds us so much of army,” Namjoon asked, showing off his dimple smiles as all the boys puffed up proudly at the beautiful name.

Mouthing the name to yourself, no words coming out, but you liked the way it sounds inside your head. Though, your nose scrunched up in confusion on the last part not understanding what he was talking about. “Who’s army?”

“Oh, well… that’s another thing you should know,” Namjoon trailed off sheepishly, looking towards the other members for help. The six boys raising their hands up in surround and shaking their heads, pointing at the leader to tell her. Namjoon could’ve shown it felt like when they needed to give a speech in public.

No one said anything for a long while, your eyes darting back and forth between everyone. Namjoon sighed, rolling his eyes playfully at the childish way the guys were behaving. “Army… is special,” He started to explain, a soft far away look in his eyes.

“See… in our world, we’re idols—Ah, famous. We dance and sing because we love it and want to share our love with the world, especially with army. They’re known as our fanbase, but… they are so much more than that! They’re amazing and I can’t wait for you to meet them!” Namjoon gushed out in excitement, ranting until Seokjin nudge his arm for him to get back on track. “Right sorry, anyways here you are supposed to be an animation version that represents army for tinytan. As well as them chasing their dreams.”

You nodded in understanding, staring off into space to try and process everything that was told. Army, huh? That sounds like a beautiful family… and it seems they mean so much to these seven. A feeling of pride went throughout your body, it was an honor to be represented by something so important. Now that you think about it… there was some sort of pull that you felt to these seven and something else that you couldn’t quite place. Something about them just felt the need to trust them, and you did.

“You can sleep in Jungkook’s room, he can sleep with me tonight,” Seokjin offered with a comforting smile, the comment catching Jungkook’s attention. You were sure if he had bunny ears, they would be standing tall right about now.

However, the offer was nice, you couldn’t take them up on it. They were already being so nice, not believing you were crazy, or calling the cops. Which to be honest, is something you wouldn’t have hesitate to do… maybe even calling a mental hospital as well.

Shaking your head at the offer, you pointed towards the couch and sat down, hugging a pillow closely to your chest.

“Nonsense! It’s not like Jungkook doesn’t from time-to-time sneak into my room to sleep,” Seokjin scoffed, pulling you gently to your feet as Jungkook gave a bunny smile in reassurance.

“It’ll be okay, the room is just right here. Taehyung, Jimin, and I are right next door if you need us, Jungkook’s room is basically the inside of a sandwich between them,” Hoseok smiled brightly, unconsciously hugging you from behind when feeling your hesitation. The sudden affection making you jump before relaxing.

After a little more persuasion, Jungkook showed you the way to his room. Puffing up proudly as you awed at every little thing that caught your attention with fascination. “Make yourself comfortable, Y/N!”

Smiling shyly, you placed a small innocent kiss on Jungkook’s cheek in thanks. The action causing him to become shy and flustered, using Namjoon as a tall shield to hide his blushing cheeks. Everyone letting out a laugh at Jungkook’s reaction before wishing you goodnight one by one. Seokjin and Namjoon the only ones who stayed behind and didn’t leave just yet.

“In the morning, we’ll talk more about this and think of a plan to help you—Maybe Halsey has any advice on helping you. I don’t know how, but… hopefully her comic book knowledge will help. We also need to inform our boss and manager about this situation,” Namjoon stated slightly serious, Seokjin nodding along in agreement as you understood completely. The two saying their goodnights with a smile, closing the door behind them and footsteps fading away the farther they went.

Letting out a deep breath, you looked around Jungkook’s room with a keen interest. The atmosphere feeling nice and warm in here, your nose twitching slightly at the comforting scent. You could have sworn that you smelled a wonderful flowery and vanilla scent, maybe even a tint of mint.

Though, your hands twitched to touch everything in sight, forcing yourself to just grab your backpack and head to the bed. You didn’t want to seem rude or accidently break something that wasn’t yours. Instead, opening your bag and dumping all its contents out on the bed to see what else is inside.

A charger, earphones, music sheets, gum, and… a wallet! Maybe this will tell you more about yourself, opening the black fabric object. Frowning when it was empty with only a few dollars inside. You growled in frustration, practically throwing it across the room.

Then an idea popped in your head, scrambling to grab your phone that you’ve left in the living room. Not wasting time to scroll into the contacts, finding your moms number. Quickly pressing call, you put the phone to your ear, heart pounding before deflating. The words echoing loudly in your ear.

We’re sorry. The number you dialed is not a working number.

Hanging up the phone, you sat on the bed and went through all your photos once more. What if you couldn’t ever go home? What happens then? These thoughts had a single tear falling from your eye, dropping accidently on the phone screen.

What shocked you, however, was when the phone started to glow a brilliant purple color. Your hands instinctively throwing it on the bed, afraid it was going to explode. You shield yourself, clenching eyes such as you waited until the light died down. Taking a quick peak, you were shocked when seeing a small realistic glowing purple whale staring at you.

This… this is just like that day. Smiling brightly, you were about to touch the top of the head but flinching back when it started to fly around. The purple whale looking as if he was happy to see you. Though you didn’t expect for him to head towards you, flying right through your chest where the heart rested. Fading inside as the purple light disappeared.

Blinking in bewilderment, you reached up to touch your chest gently as the same purple light illuminated from your heart. It didn’t burn, it wasn’t cold, it felt… warm. The light slowly traveling to your hand as you stared on in amazement, slowly blowing on it as glowing starlike particles flew around the room in a calm manner. Each one creating tiny images before bursting into sparkles as the light and magic faded away.

Everything having gone back to normal after a while, you had no clue what happened but after everything… it certainly wasn’t the weirdest that happened. You smiled down, stress leaving your body because something in you screamed that it’ll be alright and all of it was going to be okay.

Getting under the covers, a yawn escaping your mouth before everything faded away into darkness. A peaceful dream creating itself inside your mind, taking away any worries or fears.

Yeah, it was going to be just fine.

~~~~

Welcome to the second chapter of Keys to the Magic Door!

Likes, Comments, Reblogs, and Follows are very much appreciated if you enjoy the story, its always exciting to know that you like my writing and gives me more motivation to update faster!

See you all soon, Stay Gold! <3

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ryqoshay · 3 years ago

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Unstable World: Message in a Bottle

Primary Pairing: YohaRiko N/A Words: 494 Rating: G Fandom: Love Live Sunshine, Love Live, Love Live Nijigasaki AU: A dimension other than ours Time Frame: ??? Event: step! zero to one! Event Source: Idol Fanfic Heaven channel on Discord Content Warning: Mentions of war

---------

Author’s Note: This is the first chapter of the story I am writing for a new event on the Idol Fanfic Heaven Discord channel. This is merely a teaser trailer of sorts and I am not entirely sure when and how I will post the rest, although it will have to be on or before 06:00 UTC on the 17th, per the rules.

Summary: You are not sure what prompted you to pick up the strange device, but somehow, you knew it was safe, though you know not why. As you inspect it, some internal mechanism begins to whir and a green light appears on its surface. A moment later, the images of three young woman appear before you. Then, they begin to speak.

---------

“Hello? Is this thing on? Test. Test.”

“Yes, I already turned it on.”

“I didn’t even see you do that, Rina-chan.”

“This light indicated that it is powered on. This light indicates that it is recording.”

“Mirai, zura…”

“Go ahead and start, Hanamaru-chan.”

“Are you sure, Kotori-chan? You’re a better speaker than I am.”

“This was your idea. Rina-chan and I only helped build it.”

“Yes, but you don’t have a verb…”

“Also, Hanamaru-chan is the best archivist of all of us. You collected and compiled all of the data we are storing in these devices.”

“I agree with Kotori-san. You should have the honor of doing this, Hanamaru-chan.”

“… Alright. I will do my best. … ahem… Greetings, denizen of <Earth> … Oh, I hope the translation program works.”

“We’ve done the best we can with the knowledge we have.”

“Right, uhm… Let me try that again… Greetings, denizen of <Earth>, or whatever you call your version of this planet. The device you have found is one of many that we have sent to other dimensions. It contains records of the peoples of our world. Our history. Our art. Our accomplishments. Our hopes. Our dreams.

“And our wars.

“For over a century and a half, our world has been under attack by

Ktzzssssss

[Data Corrupted]

suffered many losses, but we continue to fight. And

Ktzss

[Data Corrupted]

finally found something that could turn the tides of war in our favor. We do not know with certainty if Yoshi… ahem… Emperor Tsushima’s plan will work, but we cannot stay on the defensive forever. The last few decades have proven they will eventually outlast us in our increasingly desperate battle of attrition. Going on the offense may give us the advantage we need. Or doom us that much quicker.

“In the face of such uncertainty, we have sent these archive units, massive messages in magically enhanced technological bottles, into the vast sea of the void between dimensions. They are programed to seek out worlds that have not been invaded…

“Oh, but do not worry, as we have designed these devices to be undetectable, even by us, until they reach their destination. They will not act as beacons to attract any individuals not native to your dimension. Only individuals such as yourself will be able to find and use these devices once they have tuned themselves to your world

“Please bear in mind, this is not requests for aid. We have no way of knowing if your world even possesses the magicks or technologies necessary to traverse dimensions, much less the resources to provide such aid. Also, there is no reason for you or your world to attract the attention of

Ktzzzsss

[Data Corrupted]

we ask is that you explore the information within this device. Share our stories. Tell others that we existed. Thus, even should we fail, we might at least live on in the minds of others. Thank you.”

“Hanamaru-chan, that was

[Recording Ended]

---------

Author’s Note Continued: I originally wanted to use this whole thing as the Summary for the overall fic. But the more I wrote, the more I became concerned that it would not fit in the character limit of AO3′s Summary window. So I guess it became a sort of Preface chapter, or the like.

Anyway, despite them not appearing in this chapter, other than a brief mention of Yohane, UW as a whole will focus mainly on YohaRiko. Other ships in my primary fleet arangement will undoubtedly make appearances, though I know not entirely how. I’ve assigned ranks and roles to everyone except Kanata - or rather, I had her assigned, but then ended up giving hers to Lanzhu instead, and haven’t reassigned her yet - and am still working out the finer details; I only made a spreadsheet and loose outline before the official start of the event, as allowed.

I chose Tier 2 in this event, which gives me a target window of a 10 - 12k word count, so I am honestly curious how much padding I may need to add, or if I already have more ideas than I can fit and will need to leave some stuff on the cutting room floor.

And finally, gods have mercy on me, I’ve created yet another fic universe... This event is supposed to encourage the creation of a one-shot, but I’ve tried to do that very thing several times, and failed. How to Handle a Nico, Putting on Hairs and Melody Air were all supposed to be one-shots, and look where they are now. Not complaining, mind. But I think I will treat Unstable World as I did with MA and intend to eventually do with PoH, insofar as I write a complete, core story that stands well enough on its own, then create a collection where I can write all of the other ideas I have for the world; MA - Fly High and PoH - Post Production so far, so UW will eventually get a similar thing.

#step! zero to one!#Love Live Sunshine #Unstable World #fanfic

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julyarchives · 4 years ago

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Don’t You Hear Me Howling ||(M)|| 02

Finding out you are a female Alpha sparkled some rivalry inside your pack, and resulted in you losing your best friend and your life turning upsidedown, so leaving for college was the fresh start you needed. Years later, you are about to finish your degree and suddenly this past comes back to mess with your head

→ Pairing: Yeo One x Female Reader | Kino x Female Reader

→ Genre: Smut; A/B/O AU; Omegaverse; College AU.

→ Words: 3K

→ Contains: Oral Female receiving; Riding; Hair pulling; Semi-Public touching.

→ Index: 01 • 02 • 03 • 04 • 05 • 06 • 07

→ A/n: Here’s chapter 2 for you guys! I hope you enjoy it and look forward to the next chapter :)

You enjoyed the rest of your night with Kino, dancing very closely, learning that he was a dance major for a reason. Each roll of his hips against your making you want to rush back to that room and not leaving any time soon, but you knew he couldn’t handle it. You shared kisses and drinks and had fun talks, but none of this distracted you from the pair of eyes roaming around you all night. Wherever you looked, Changgu was there, staring with that same pissed-off face.

At the end of the night, Kino said he had to go.

“You can go ahead, I’ll stay back to say goodbye to Wooseok before I go.” you said to him.

“Alright,” he answered with a smile. “We’ll keep in touch then.” He winked at you.

You laced your hands on his waist and pulled him in for a goodbye kiss. Kino was one of the favorite omegas you’ve ever been with, you would definitely not lose touch with him when kissing feels this good.

“We will” you finally said, giving him one last peck before he turned around and left.

You watched him leave through the door, before turning around to see the owner of the smell invading your nostrils.

“Can’t get away from me, can you?” you said to the blond man now in front of you “Why are you chasing my tail all night long?”

“Fuck, y/n, do you really have to ask? It’s not like I’m enjoying this” he said, sounding mad still “I know you are getting your heat. I am your beta, my every instinct is telling me to back you up against that wall and not leave until I’m done with you”

The boy had the talent to get you angry.

“Oh, so you get close to me just because of instinct, Changgu?” you scoffed, he squinted his eyes, trying to understand what you meant. “You threw our friendship down the garbage, ignored my existence for years, and now you pop a boner because we’re in the same room expecting that I will let you get in my pants just to relieve your tension? You must really think low of me.”

Changgu opened his mouth to answer, but you threw him a look that got him closing it in no time.

“Do me a favor and go back to pretending I don’t exist. I was better off that way.” you ended the talk right there.

You swallowed the knot on your throat and stomped your way out.

The next morning you faced your first class of the day with a minor hangover, nothing a good cup of coffee wouldn’t fix. But your attentively note-taking had to be sacrificed, given that your mind was on something else entirely. You sneaked your cellphone during the lecture, quickly typing a text “good morning, baby boy~ are u free after lunch?”. You tried to redirect your attention back to the professor, but not even 5 minutes later, your phone vibrated in your lap. There were two messages.

“Morning, sunshine! Wooseok invited me over for a movie marathon he will have with some of his friends.”, “You can come with me and maybe we can find that room down the hall again ;)”

You bit your lip in excitement before texting a quick “it’s a date” with a kiss emoji.

Your focus went to hell. Even on suppressants that you usually take for class, you couldn’t help but feel horny all day long. The images of last night kept coming to you unexpectedly, and the only relief you could get right now was rubbing your thighs together. The clock was ticking slower than usual, you felt like you were going to explode.

Finally, lunchtime arrived and you headed to the cafeteria for your usual spot, and as soon as you arrived, Wooseok saw you and waved, patting the seat by his side for you to take it.

“Hey! Sorry for leaving without saying goodbye yesterday” you said after sitting with him

“S’alright” he shrugged “so, I heard you and Kino got pretty close, huh? He just texted me saying you are coming for the movie session later.”

“Oh, yeah, that” you giggled “thanks for hooking us up, really, you’re the best” You hugged him sideways

“You’re crushing me, y/n.” he said with a weak voice, mid-laugh.

“Sorry” you quickly released him, joining the laugh

“What about you and Changgu? Are you two alright? I saw you two talking at some point”

“Oh” you tensed up hearing his name, remember the bad part about yesterday “yeah, no, we’re not good. Don’t worry, though. Nothing out of the usual.”

Wooseok’s expression cast down. You understand his disappointment since the three of you used to hang out together all the time in high school, and honestly, sometimes you too wish those times back.

“I’m sorry, y/n” he hugged you this time, sensing your longines. “But don’t worry, he won’t be home today, he has classes all afternoon”

“Right,” you felt surprised “forgot he lives with you now. Glad to hear I won't stumble onto him today then.”

“Yes, it will be just you and your lover boy” he teased you

“Shut up!” you bumped shoulders with him. “that’s your fault.”

“Can’t say that I didn’t see it coming”

“Yeah, you do know how I like my boys” you winked “all sub and…”

“Okaaay, that’s TMI right there, please stop” he covered his ears with his hands, making you laugh out loud

You grabbed his wrist, making him listen to you before you left

“See you later” you smiled brightly.

You found yourself in the doorway of Wooseok’s house, after going to your house to refresh before meeting Kino. You texted him and soon he was opening the door for you. The strawberry smell once more invading your nostrils made you smile widely, his lips mirroring yours.

He didn't say a word before pulling you into a long peck. Oh boy, did he know how to hold you strongly.

“It’s good to see you.” He grinned, stepping aside for you to come in, reaching his hand for you to take it. “The movie has already started, c’mon”

He guided you to the living room, where you quietly waved at everyone, careful to not disturb them with loud noises, then got yourself comfortable under the blankets on the couch with Kino. He extended his arm around your shoulder and you snuggled closer to him.

The movie was interesting, sure, but after half an hour it wasn’t enough to hold your attention anymore. Especially because Kino’s other hand was currently squeezing teasingly your thigh, going slightly up your skirt each time, all of that combined with occasional kisses he kept planting on the corner of your mouth. Finally, he got up enough that his finger started grazing against your underwear. You took a deep breath, biting your lips to not gasp out loud. Kino smirked at you.

He began to press harder and subtly motion circularly, becoming harder for you to keep quiet.

“I think now it’s the time for us to go find that room again” You whispered to him, teasing a soft kiss.

You quietly got up, holding him by the hand and taking you both back to that corridor, quickly finding that same door and locking you both behind it.

It was quick that he pressed you against the door, kissing you hungrily

“Been thinking about you all day” He said between kisses.

You pulled his shirt off while not breaking contact.

“Me too, baby. Missing those pretty lips” you said, throwing his shirt somewhere on the floor.

“I wanna have them all over you, y/n” he said before kissing you deeper

Still not breaking it, you pushed him until you reached the bed, throwing yourself down so he fell on top of you. You worked your hands on his belt, throwing away carelessly.

Kino kneeled up and you took the chance to admire his pale toned torso, the small waist of a dancer with his jeans hanging low on his hips. It was something beautiful to admire. He noticed your staring and smirked.

“Like what you see?” he inflated his chest

“I’ll like it better when I see you buried between my legs”

“Yes, ma’am” Kino licked his lips before leaning down on you

He gave you a strong kiss, rolling his pelvis against yours, allowing you to have some friction as you felt the bulge grow in his pants. Your nails dug into his back, coping with the heat-powered lust. He then trailed kisses down your body, following the path as he opened the buttons of your blouse one by one. He took his time, teasing you with hot wet kisses. When he got to your skirt, He looked at you and grinned before yanking your skirt off in one swift motion, getting a surprised yelp out of you, followed by giggles of excitement.

Kino buried his face on your still clothed core, taking a long sniff, your pheromones probably driving him insane as his pupil blew wide.

“I wonder if you taste as good as you smell, y/n” he almost purred

“What are you waiting for, baby boy? I’m all yours to taste” you quickly replied

That same cocky smirk still splattered across his face, he tore off the weak lacy of your panties like a piece of paper and wasted no time giving your clit a long slow lick, earning a moan from you.

“Hmm, so sweet” He hummed, sending vibrations against your core.

“Fuck, Kino, don’t tease” You tugged his hair, guiding him to flicker his tongue on your pussy.

The harder you tugged, the more he gasped and moaned, and you just loved to hear him being pleasured at your mercy like that. His hands wrapped around your thighs, pressing his fingers hard against your skin that you were sure would leave bruises.

He licked around your folds steadily, the slurping sounds being such a turn-on for you. When he sucked in your clit you bucked your hips against his mouth. Kino reacted with a long moan, which you took the cue to start rocking your hips and fucking his face.

With the hand on his hair, you control him like you wanted while your hips do the speed working, now his tongue circling your clit, sending jolts of pleasure all over your body.

“Shit, baby, your mouth feels so good on me,” you said in between pants and he hummed in response “such a good boy eating me out”

Kino then took one of his hands away from your thighs, and slowly teased your entrance with two fingers.

“Oh, fuck, do it, baby boy” is all you had to say before he inserted his fingers in you, getting you growling out of pleasure.

Now every time you rocked your hips you pushed yourself against his fingers and also his tongue flickered on your clit. The double stimulation taking you to the edge quicker than you expect.

“Don’t stop, Kino, I’m gonna cum” you warned and he started moving his hand to meet the movement of your hips, now his fingers hitting your g-spot.

You tugged his hair harder, moving faster while the other hand tugged the sheets. Today, though, there was no loud music to cover for your noises, so you bit your lip hard enough to taste a little blood, limiting yourself to pants and low groans. Kino, however, moaned as he pleased, sending extra vibrations against your core.

You came hard, your juices coating his chin the more you moved against his face but he didn’t stop moving his tongue skillfully.

When you finished riding your orgasm, you pulled him up quickly for a kiss, using your tongue to clean your cum from his face, tasting yourself in him sensually. He hissed slowly. His noises will be the end of you, you concluded.

“You were such a good boy.” You said sitting up, pushing him lightly so he stopped on his knees “I’ll let you fuck my pussy as you please.” You grazed your nails down his torso, reaching for his jeans’ button.

While he worked his way off his pants, you pulled off your bra, leaving you both fully naked now, kneeling face to face. He took a long look up and down before saying

“Can you turn around for me?” he gently grabbed your hips as you obeyed his wish.

Still kneeling, he aligned your hips and gave his length three long strokes before pulling you down so you slowly sank on him while you spread your knees wider to fit him.

“Ride me, princess” He said boldly, the pet name actually pleasing you.

You began to move your hips up and down, easily done due to your juices from the recent orgasm. One of his hands snaked up your body, grabbing your breast and holding you back against his chest. The other wrapped around your hair, repeating the action of the last time you were together. He cautiously tugged it lightly, asking for permission, which you promptly nodded to it.

“Remember just how I like it, huh, baby?” you praised him and he pulled it harder. “Just like that” you mewled

He began to move his hips to meet yours, your sensitive core reacting to every inch he got deeper. He squeezed your breast and rolled your nipple between his finger, all of the stimulation taking you to heaven. You two were moving so fast and hard the bed started to move around slightly, but you couldn’t be bothered. If you knew that letting Kino have some control would get him to go this hard, you would have done it sooner.

“You look so good filled with my cock, princess” he praised you this time and promptly sucked a spot on your neck that you were sure it would mark for days. You reached behind your head, grazing lightly your nails against the skin of his neck, running softly your fingers through his hair.

You used your free hand to work in your already sensitive clit, and Kino pulled your hair a little harder, the pleasure sting bringing you closer to your second high that night.

He fucks up into you viciously, his hips slapping hard against your ass and filling up the quiet room with slapping sounds. Your juices messily covered both of your thighs, making it easier for you to sway your hips on him. Your walls clenched tighter around his dick making him shake against your body, and you just knew he wouldn’t last much longer.

You sped up your hand on your clit, and while your moans got louder and you clenched harder, Kino was brought to his edge, thrusting slower but deeper inside you, filling you with his cum as it was mixed with your own as you reached climax altogether.

You two laid down, this time you nesting on his chest, catching your breath and calming down from your high.

“I hope we weren’t too loud” You looked up at him and giggle, for which he opened the sweetest smile

He kissed the top of your head before answering,

“Even if we weren’t loud, which I’m pretty sure we were, everyone can feel your heat.”

“Oh… Yeah,” you laughed. “Well, not my fault”

“I don’t think they will complain, they will just find someone to let go of the pent up energy”

“I just hope Wooseok forgive us for ruining his movie party”

Kino laughed with you, and for a second he looked very precious, not the guy who was growling and panting under you 5 minutes ago. Guess you were growing fonder of having him around.

After cooling down and leaving the room fairly neat after all the mess, you both went back to the living room, where thankfully everyone was watching the movie entertainingly. The only one who side-eyed you was Wooseok, to which he quickly texted you explaining that you shouldn’t worry, he slipped suppressors for everyone so they don’t feel your pheromones.

“Thank you” you mouthed to him from a distance.

The afternoon was quite pleasant. You enjoyed the movie and Kino’s cuddles under the blankets, and later all of you played video games and had tons of fun. In the end, Kino and you stood behind to help Wooseok clean the place around. You were almost done with the dirty dishes when someone burst into the kitchen

“You better not be trying to cook again, you remember how the last time wen…”

Changgu was shouting but stopped in his tracks when he saw you “Oh, y/n, you’re here. I thought it was Wooseok.”

You two just stared at each other, both awkwardly quiet. You were not mad at him for yesterday anymore, but still, you didn’t know what to say.

“I’m done with the living room, y/n, do you need any help?” Kino entered the room, so focused on you that only noticed Changgu when you didn’t answer him.

Changgu’s eyes changed color. He was bothered. Of course, he was.

“I’m ok, here, I’m just finishing these.” You finally answered the younger. “Baby, you can go home, I have to talk to Changgu.”

“Are you sure?” He stared at you intensely, his instinct getting alarmed as he snaked one possessive arm around your waist.

“Yeah, it’s ok, baby, I’ll be fine. I’ll text you later” You said calmly, trying to soothe him back to normal. It was just your duty as an alpha to ease everyone when they felt tense.

“Alright, then I’ll get going” He lingered a peck on your lips.

Such a showoff, you chuckled to yourself.

He left, walking his way off staring at Changgu and smirking, the latter snarls almost inaudible, but it was impossible for you to miss it.

You two were left in silence until you heard Kino closing the door behind himself. It was then that Changgu broke the silence.

“Can we talk?.”

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softzhongli · 3 years ago

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summary: a closer look at the most exclusive group chat in all teyvat. we have two oblivious idiots in love, two horny bastards afraid of their feelings, a grumpy cat and his sunshine boyfriend and one very single and tired girl... among many many others warnings: swearing, probably some angst info: crack fic, multi-chaptered, social media au, not much difference they just have phones lmao pairings: childe x kaeya // xiao x venti // zhongli x diluc + lumine and other characters requests: open posted: 06/03/2022 a/n: not me making myself cry while writing this chapter loool SO! with the big bad angsty drama behind us (*sad kinga noises*) zhongluc’s next in line and then there have to be some xiaoven moment, obvi and then i think that’s gonna be it for the big plot points so i’d say we’re slowly nearing the end of this fic 🥺

>> if you wanna talk or sth hmu here on tumblr or on discord (itskxnga#8629) or in genshin (eu // uid: 736495790)

PREV II MASTERLIST II NEXT

Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Breath in. Breath out. Bre-

“Kaeya” Childe should’ve known that this little exercise wouldn’t work. He could feel his breath catch in his throat as soon as he laid his eyes on Kaeya.

It’s been so long...

Not really but it did feel like an eternity for Childe. He knew he missed Kaeya but when he saw him that day it felt like he was suddenly punched in the gut with how much he actually missed him. And yes, Childe liked to be dramatic sometimes but that time the feeling truly almost made him sink to his knees from the intensity.

“Kaeya.” He said again. Still whispering but this time a bit louder, loud enough for Kaeya to hear and turn around to face him.

Childe definitely wasn’t ready to see what he saw. His heart broke a little with every thing he noticed. For example the dark circle under Kaeya’s eye and overall how sad that beautiful vibrant eye was in that moment. He hated how small Kaeya seemed, like there was this massive weight just crushing his spirit. He never wanted to see that sight ever again in his life.

They were now both standing a few meters away from each other. Neither of them seemed to know what do say or do any further. So they didn’t move even a little, just looking with the same level of longing, fear and so much love.

And then it seemed like Childe managed to only blink and the next thing he knew Kaeya was right there. His arms wrapped tightly around Childe, so tight he could feel Kaeya’s hammering heart. He could feel Kaeya trembling. And all of it made his head spin. He wanted to cry. He wanted to laugh. He wanted to kiss him. He wanted to never again let him go. He wanted to stay like this for the rest of their lives. With Kaeya’s palms gripping his shirt so tight he was sure it would rip if he moved even a little.

All he craved to do was to hug him back. But he couldn’t move. Somehow his body was frozen with fear. What if he’s dreaming? What if all of this disappear the second he moves a finger. Childe didn’t know if he’d be able to stand it. All he could do was looking at his unmoving hands. And they were shaking so much he almost got concerned.

“Childe.” He was snapped back to reality by Kaeya’s voice.

That’s all it took. The second he heard his name, it was like a switch was flipped somewhere inside him and he could move again. His arms came crushing around Kaeya, pulling his impossibly close to his chest, his face buried deep in Kaeya’s shoulder and tears streaming down Childe’s face.

He had no idea why he was crying. There were too many emotions swirling inside him. He couldn’t jus pinpoint one, responsible for the tears. It was too much and still not enough. He hated it and loved it at the same time. He was a complete mess.

A second? An hour? A year has passed as they stayed like that? Childe wouldn’t be able to tell even if his life depended on it. There was nothing, other than Kaeya in his mind and it was still too much to think straight. He had no idea at what point they sunk to the ground. All he knew was that somehow Kaeya was sitting with his back leaning against a tree and Childe was straddling him while still firmly embracing him.

Childe truly didn’t know if he’d be able to ever let go of Kaeya now. Both figuratively and literally. Nor did he know if the tears would stop falling someday.

“Kaeya, I love you.” He had to say it. It was physically impossible for Childe to hold it in any longer. He might’ve exploded if the words wouldn’t be let out. And he was pressed so close to Kaeya, his face still nestled in the crook of his shoulder, he could both hear and feel Kaeya’s breath catch. But he was still too scared to hear Kaeya’s answer so he kept on repeating the words. “I love you.” He whispered again and his breath made Kaeya shiver slightly. Or maybe it was his words? He wasn’t sure. “I love you so much.” He said yet again and before he could even think about stopping himself his lips were peppering Kaeya’s neck with little feather-like kisses.

“Childe.” Oh how much he missed it. No words could describe how he missed the way Kaeya was saying his name in that moment, how one of his hands went straight to his hair, how he involuntarily leaned his head back for Childe to explore more of his skin.

He knew they should talk, that they needed to talk. It was the reason he asked Kaeya to meet him there. Right now they still didn’t resolve anything. All that happened was Childe confessing and he was yet again running away from Kaeya’s answer. It was childish behaviour at this point. Some part of him begged him to just enjoy this. If there was a possibility this was the last time he had the chance to be this close to Kaeya, why not cherish it as much as he could? It was tempting, oh so tempting, and Childe had to gather all of his strength to pull himself away from Kaeya.

He rested his forehead on Kaeya’s shoulder for a few seconds to take some deep breaths and calm himself down. There was no escaping and if there was even the smallest chance to make this right he had to do it.

With one last, deep breath Childe raised his head. Their faces were still millimeters apart. Childe reached both of his still shaking hands to gently cup Kaeya’s face. His thumb gently traced Kaeya’s bottom lip and Childe wanted nothing more than to once more throw caution to the wind and just kiss him but he restrained himself and looked him straight in the eye.

“Kaeya, I love you.” He said clearly. “I’m so very much in love with you.” He added.

Now the ball was in Kaeya’s court.

There was a moment of silence. Long enough for Kaeya to let the tears loose while his gaze was searching Childe’s, probably for any hint of regret but there was none. Childe knew there was none because never in his life was he more sure of something than what he felt for Kaeya and Kaeya must’ve noticed it himself because his furrowed brows relaxed and some kind of realization dawned on him. Then one of Kaeya’s hand cupped Childe’s and the most beautiful smile Childe has ever seen formed on Kaeya’s face. It actually did took Childe’s breath away.

“I love you, too, Childe.” Kaeya finally said and Childe was sure he didn’t hear it right.

“Say that again.” He pleaded, completely breathless.

“I love you.”

“Again.”

“I love you.” Kaeya chuckled through the tears. “I’ve loved you for a long time now. I’m sorry it took me this long to realize it.” Their foreheads were now touching and Childe had no idea what to do with all the happiness blooming inside of him.

“Well, I literally had a panic attack when I figured it out myself.” Childe laughed. It wasn’t that funny but he just had to laugh he had to release it all somehow.

“What?” Kaeya’s eyes widened.

“Yeah, it was a whole thing.” Childe snorted in response. “It was when Lumine and Diluc went to Liyue. She was actually the one who found me and she’s the first person I told I was in love with you.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever get bored of hearing that.” Kaeya whispered with that gorgeous smile on his face.

“Good. Because I don’t plan on stopping, both saying that and loving you. You’re stuck with me forever now”

“Is that a threat or a promise?” Kaeya winked and somehow Childe fell in love with him even more.

“It’s whatever you want it to be.” Childe knew Kaeya was teasing him but it seemed he couldn’t stop himself from just speaking whatever’s in his heart. He was holding back for way too long. And yeah, all the flirting and teasing was great and he loved it all but now he wanted to have all the cheesy and romantic stuff as well. He just wanted to have it all with Kaeya.

#genshin impact #childe x kaeya #chaeya #childe genshin impact #kaeya genshin impact #genshin fanfic #kinga writes #groupchat.doc

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bffsoobin · 4 years ago

Text

Windflower

01|02|03|04|05|06

↳ after a heartbreak you find yourself in a small town looking for purpose. you find employment with Choi Soobin and his impressive ancestral home. when you start to fall in love again, there’s no way for you to predict what you find in the depths of the home and Soobin’s mind.

➤ hanahaki au, fluff, angst

Word Count:3,945

Warnings: swearing, mentions of an injury (nothing serious), I didn’t proof read (surprise!)

A/N: here’s the long awaited (by some) part 4 of Windflower! I’m getting really excited about this as we’re reaching somewhat of a turning point. I cannot wait to see your reactions to the twists in the coming chapters hehe. Anyway I hope you enjoy & leave feedback if you want to!

•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:•☾☼☽•:•.•:•.•:•:•:•:•:•:•:••:•.•

If you had thought the humidity the day you arrived in town was bad, you definitely were not ready for the sweltering heat that permeated the air today. You had awoken surprisingly early and found that the sun was shining in vibrant rays into your room. In your drowsy state you had enjoyed the heat, even curling deeper under your covers as your body surfaced back into reality. If you listened close enough, you could hear birds chirping outside through the closed windows and you briefly wondered if you should spend the whole day cuddled up with your pillow. The silk sheets could only shield you from the radiating heat for so long, though. Soon enough, the gentle heat that had caressed you awake settled into your skin and made you feel suffocated. Flinging your sheets off only gave you a bit of relief as you realized that there was almost no cool air in your room. Upon peeking outside, you noticed no evidence of the gentle summer breeze you had come to love. Every single plant in the yard stood still as the sun beat down on them. Sweat was beading on your forehead and the back of your neck in uncomfortable patches as you headed for the bathroom. Thankfully, the tiles were cold under your feet, and the small relief washed through your entire body.

You started the water for a cold shower, hoping to drive away the heat that the day had already provided as early as 8am. As small droplets of water splashed onto your skin, you couldn’t help but wonder if this was the kind of weather you should come to expect from the tiny town. You decided you’d have to ask Soobin once he got up.

After the shower expelled the sweat off of your skin, you dressed and bounded down the steps toward the kitchen. At this point, you had been living and working with Soobin for several weeks. The two of you had a comfortable routine that included a healthy mix of time spent both together and alone. You rose before him almost every morning and took it upon yourself to make him an omelet after watering all of the houseplants littered around the living spaces. Many times he had insisted that there was no reason for you to make him breakfast; and this morning was no exception. Just as you finished watering an impressively sized aloe plant, Soobin had begun his grumbling.

“Y/N! How many times do I have to tell you that you have no obligation to make me breakfast every day?” His voice was still thick with sleep and upon examining him you noticed he still had some gunk in the corner of his eyes. The corners of your mouth twitched upwards at his helplessly soft nature.

“You can tell me every day, Soobin. I don’t care,” you pulled a bottle of orange juice from the fridge and poured both of you a glass, “it’s the least I can do. Plus, I know you love breakfast but you’d burn it all if you tried to do it yourself.” He grumbled at that through a mouthful of food but didn’t protest as he knew you were right. As Soobin sipped at his drink, he hummed thoughtfully as if he suddenly remembered something.

“I think we need to water the flowers today. We aren’t supposed to get rain for a long time and it’s getting to be really hot. I don’t want any of them to die.” For some reason, the thought of manually caring for Soobin’s beloved garden put fear in your stomach. Of course you had done some work on the garden but nothing more than adding some mulch and chasing away the occasional bunny looking for a place to burrow. But caring for the house and garden was why you were here to begin with, so you nodded in agreement.

Soobin stood to his full height, stretching his arms above his body to work out all of the aches from his sleep. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t bring yourself to look away from the strip of smooth skin that became exposed in the process. You hoped he hadn’t noticed your staring or the light pink dusting on your cheeks as he passed by you to drop his dishes into the sink. With your mind whirling, you desperately tried to steer your thoughts away from the way they were running with the imagine of Soobin’s exposed stomach.

“I’m going to go,” you coughed awkwardly when Soobin whirled around with his plate still in hand to make eye contact with you, “upstairs to change and then we can go out to work on the garden.” You took his moment of comprehension to haul yourself up the creaking maplewood staircase and into the safety of your room as your palms began to sweat.

----

As soon as the two of you stepped onto the back porch you felt like you had walked into a brick wall. The heat was so oppressive that you felt physical weight on your shoulders as you groaned. Soobin bounded ahead of you as if he hadn’t even registered the unmovable force of heat encasing your whole being. You audibly gagged, earning a snorted laugh from Soobin as he made his way toward the sea of flowers. Their colors seemed to shine even brighter underneath the intense sunlight and you swore you could almost see some of them sparkling with an otherworldly quality. Upon further inspection you noticed just how dry the soil was and felt concern digging at your heart. Soobin seemed similarly worried as he stooped over a section of jasmine plants, cooing over a weed he had found in the ground alongside them. You shook your head at his antics and caught wind of him apologizing to the plant as you retrieved the hose coiled up alongside the house.

For a while the two of you worked in a comfortable harmony. Soobin had put himself in charge of weeding while you were responsible for making sure the soil was thoroughly wet to avoid any damage to the coveted flowers. As far as jobs go, this one wasn’t half bad. Despite the massive area of the garden, the hose reached as far as you ever would need it to. After you finished watering a rather large patch of roses you could no longer resist the urge to stick your entire head underneath the hose. With all of the sun beating down you began to understand how Soobin had achieved his impeccable tan so early into the summer.

“Soobin,” you whined his name to tear his attention away from the pesky weeds that had rooted themselves within his beloved garden.

“Yeah?” his answer was punctuated by a grunt of exertion that you could only assume was his attempt at yanking out the weed. You grimaced at the knowledge that he wasn’t wearing any gardening gloves and worried for the sensitive skin of his palms.

“I’m too hot. It’s disgusting out here,” you pulled the fabric of your shirt away from your stomach before waving it back and forth to prove just how sweaty the combination of heat and manual labor had made you. Soobin said nothing for a second but you could hear the sound of roots ripping out of the ground before he finally replied.

“I forget that you’re not from here,” he laughed as if the oppressive heat was something you should have expected the day you rode in on the winding road with your whole life packed in the back seat. “Why don’t you just go inside for a bit? I’ll be fine dealing with this alone for a while. Plus, I can’t afford to take you to the hospital if you pass out. And imagine how much damage you’d do to the flowers!” He gasped as if absolutely scandalized at the idea of your body crashing into the delicate fauna.

You grumbled under your breath, making sure to turn away so there was no chance he could see the quirking corners of your mouth. “Fine,” you sighed, equally as dramatic as he had just been, “I’ll stay inside and watch you from the living room like a widow.”

Upon entering the house, you knew something was off. Your eyebrows scrunched in confusion as you stood just inside of the closed doorway. Why the fuck was it just as hot inside as it was outside? Heat still crawled over every inch of your body, making strands of hair stick disgustingly to the back of your neck. You wandered through the living room, kitchen and library in the hope that the heat you felt upon entering was just due to your location. Unfortunately, every section of the grand home was equally as steamy as the direct sunshine outside. The dream of taking a break in the wonderful air conditioning was crushed.

Stomping like a toddler, you made your way back down to the garden. Soobin had taken over your watering job and he seemed shocked to see you back so early. His shirt showed small hints of sweat building on his lower back and around the collar, but it was nothing compared to the absolute mess you had become. If it wasn’t for how much you liked him, you would have been annoyed at his tolerance.

“Back already? Did you miss me that much, bub?” Your heart stuttered at the use of your occasional nickname.

“No. You give yourself too much credit. The AC is broken,” the steady stream of water sprouting from the hose ceased as Soobin loosened his grip on the handle.

“The house AC?” He asked dumbly, blinking at you in disbelief. His lips were parted wide as you rolled your eyes.

“No, the AC for the shower. Yes, the house AC!” Knowing you had no easy escape from the heat made your nerves fray even more.

“Oh. Well,” he turns the hose back on, “I can call the mechanic.” You stared at him blankly for a while before he felt your burning gaze.

“What?” Rounded eyes opened even wider than you thought were possible as he stared you down.

“It’s Sunday. What are we going to do until the mechanic gets here tomorrow?” The point makes his eyebrows scrunch together as the hose clicks off again. It hangs loosely in his hand for a few moments before he springs back into action.

“Okay, you’re right. I’ll go into town and see if I can find one of those portable ones? That way we can at least keep one room cooler.” He nodded to himself as if he were speaking to his reflection and handed you the hose. Cold water dripped from his fingertips onto your arm and you shivered at the feeling. You chose to believe the water was the only reason for your reaction. Soobin ran into the house, lean body disappearing for a few seconds before he reemerged with his car keys. He said his goodbyes and left to find a solution for your personal hell.

For a bit, you went back to watering the flowers. And then you turned the hose on yourself and let the frigid water run down your back. Although it was a shock to your system, you knew it was the only way you could keep yourself from actually melting into a gummy pile before Soobin got back. The idea of simply staying outside until he came back bounced around your mind until an even better one cropped up. Maybe you could fix the AC on your own! That way you wouldn’t have to deal with the hassle of waiting for a mechanic. You were sure that you could locate the unit and find a tutorial to fix the thing. Maybe a special switch just needed flipped. With renewed vigor you shuffled back into the house, making a strategic pit stop at the kitchen to fill a metal water bottle with ice cold water. Your clothing dripped loudly against the wooden floors but you ignored it. You figured it was so hot that the water would probably evaporate immediately.

Although you had a clear mission in mind you had to admit that you were totally unsure of where the AC unit would be. Soobin had never pointed it out to you and the stately home boasted so many doors that you weren’t sure you would have remembered if he showed you anyway. You wandered into the laundry room, wondering if you had missed something on the walls. When you had no success there, you moved on to opening almost every dark wooded sleek door you could find. By some kind of miracle, your body had finally adjusted to the pressing heat as you searched. Despite that, you could still feel sweat beading on your forehead as you rooted through a storage room in the hopes of finding something that you assumed would be the AC.

Eventually, you had exhausted the entire first floor. Every heavy door only lead you to disappointment and some mild confusion over why the old home had so many unused rooms. Perhaps the house got much more use in the old days when the large family painted on the canvas just to the left of Soobin’s room was still alive. The thought of the haunting oil painting encouraged you to make the walk up the steps. Your legs felt heavy from the exhaustion that heat and your search had made settle into your bones.

A heavy sigh left your parted lips as you finally rounded the corner of the staircase and were faced with the familiar upper landing. You skipped past yours and Soobin’s room immediately. The AC unit was obviously not residing in your room, and while you had never fully been inside of Soobin’s room, you doubted that the house was designed that oddly. Three more identical doors stood further down the hallway. Weeks ago when you had taken your initial tour of the home, Soobin had glossed right over them in favor of showing off your new home for the summer.

Something about his easy dismissal of the rooms unsettled you. You trusted Soobin, but there was no way to ignore the disparity between the way he had so eagerly toured you through the house against the way he barely even acknowledged these doors. You’re being ridiculous, you thought. What could Soobin possibly be hiding behind these three non descript doors? Shaking off the unsettling knot in your stomach you pushed the door closest to your room open. It creaked loudly from disuse and you cringed as you felt along the wall for a lightswitch. When you finally found one, a light crackled on in the center of the room and shone a brilliant vibrance all around. It was so intense that you had to squint your eyes until they no longer hurt. The room was oddly clean compared to the rooms you scoured downstairs. There was no layer of dust that you would have expected and a faint scent of lemon cleaner permeated the air. Innocuous dressers and bookshelves were pushed up against all of the walls. None of them quite matched but you recalled in the back of your mind that Soobin’s cousin was an interior designer; which would explain the disconnection of styles. This must have been the place he stored old projects and pieces he shuffled through the home.

Feeling a bit more at ease, you continued to look around for any hint of the unit you were hunting for. Circling the round table serving as a centerpiece of the room changed your perspective and you caught a glimpse of something peaking out from behind what seemed to be a bunch of heavy furniture. The edge you could see looked promisingly similar to the AC unit that had been within your home growing up. With renewed vigor you began to push at a small dresser that felt much heavier than it looked. A grunt of exertion slipped from your lips as you finally pushed the furniture over far enough to get to the table located behind it. While it was much easier to move, it was also much louder than the dresser had been. The legs screeched against the floors and you shrieked in concern at the idea of the probably original hardwood being scratched in the midst of your desperation for cool air. As you crouched down to examine the floor, you heard stomping footsteps enter the room behind you.

Reflexively you jumped back at the sound and subsequently bounced your head off of the underside of the table.

“Ouch, fuck!” you clutched at the back of your head as you bit into your tongue to try and manage the throbbing pain. Your vision was blurry but you could vaguely make out Soobin’s figure and his distinct scent as he crouched down beside you. Gentle hands grasped at you, one cupping your head and the other resting firmly on your forearm as he ushered you out from under the table. Your head was still spinning; the combination of heat and pain making you feel sick to your stomach as Soobin guided you all the way out of the room.

“What were you doing?” Soobin’s voice was assertive and laced with a concern you hadn’t quite expected.

“I was-” you cut yourself off with a whine as a flash of pain shot behind your eyes and felt large hands grab at you once again. The next time you opened your eyes was when you felt the silky texture of your bedsheets underneath your knees. While Soobin rushed away from the bed, you fought to open your eyes as you grasped at the flesh of your knees to ground yourself. Although your vision was less shaky, there was no denying the extreme headache that originated from the back of your head.

“Here,” you saw Soobin’s form coming your way before he pushed a cold washcloth onto your forehead. Although that wasn’t the origin of your pain, the cool sensation helped the throbbing in your mind calm down. Soobin shuffled nervously between his feet as he waited for some kind of sign that you were alright. Eventually, you were able to actually focus on the way his eyes were crinkled with concern, lips downturned in a serious frown that you hadn’t even seen him wear when he found he was overwatering his ivy plant. The persistent sunlight of the summer day shone in through your windows and casted him in a glow that made him look as if he had just descended from Heaven to check on you. Golden strips of light casted over his t-shirt in such a way that you were almost envious of the way the rays were able to wrap around his body.

And then you remembered it was the same damn sun that got you into this mess.

“I was trying to find the AC unit,” your voice was gravely and quiet but Soobin still heard you.

“What were you thinking? You can’t just wander around the house like that! You could’ve-” he waved his hands toward where you pressed the washcloth to your forehead, “well you did! You got hurt! There’s a reason I didn’t bother to tell you what was in that room. There’s no reason for you to be poking around like that in a house that isn’t yours!”

The corners of your eyes burned with unshed tears as you registered the raw emotion in his tone. Although some of his words made you feel like a child being berated, you understood where he was coming from. You could easily recognize the genuine concern for your wellbeing.

“I’m sorry, Soobin,” he plopped down on the bed next to you, “you’re right. This isn’t my house. It’s my fault that I got hurt, really. I was just trying to help with the AC issue and I couldn’t find the unit anywhere else so I started looking in rooms I’d never been in before,” you stole a quick glance his way only to see his intense gaze locked onto your form. “Please don’t feel bad about me getting hurt. And I’m sorry about the room, I can help you move all the furniture back!” Something deep inside of you felt the need to do as much as you can to make up for the hurt you seem to have caused Soobin. He grinned at you softly before reaching up and encircling your wrist with his slender fingers. The feeling of his fingertips grazing the soft skin of your wrist made your insides ignite in a nervous fire. Gently, he coaxed your hand away from your forehead and you instinctively dropped the now room temperature washcloth into your lap. It landed with a wet plop but you didn’t have time to pay it any mind as Soobin slowly laced his fingers right between yours.

He gave you all the time in the world to pull away from his touch but instead you just stared dumbly at your hand while he finally latched onto you fully. Your breath hitched violently in your throat at the warm contact and you were sure Soobin had heard it. For a second you worried that he would pull away or make fun of you for your reactions but he simply gave your hand a short squeeze.

“It’s okay, don’t worry about the room,” his voice was so smooth and quiet that you could almost fall asleep right there. An instinct you didn’t know you had caused you to lean closer into his side. “Just don’t go in there again, okay? I mean it. There’s nothing worth looking at in there,” his voice hardened unexpectedly and you couldn’t help but laugh at him a bit.

“Okay, okay! I’ll stay away, but you do know that I just bumped into the table, right? It didn’t hurt me on purpose.” The teasing seemed to lift a small weight from his shoulders as he visibly brightened. There was no way you could miss the firm weight of his hand pressing further into yours as he leaned into your side the same way you were on him. Using his free hand, he tentatively cupped the back of your head where you had originally hurt yourself. The pain had begun to subside, but a new type of anxiety ran through your body as you noticed just how close your faces had become. You could nearly count every single eyelash framing his rich brown eyes.

“Please,” his warm breath fanned over your already clammy skin, “don’t ever go in that room again. I’m already beside myself that you got hurt and it’s not even a bad injury. If you do anything for me, at least do this.”

“Of course, Soobin.” You finally mustered the courage to return one of his reassuring squeezes; causing his dimples pop out from the smooth plains of his cheeks. Your heart stuttered in your chest before a dull, persistent pain permeated through it. You swallowed it down, successfully tricking Soobin into thinking you were fine as he rattled on about the fans and portable AC units he managed to buy at the local hardware store.

The inside of your mouth went dry. You hoped that you were horribly off base, but you knew that ache. You’d felt it before. A part of you wanted to ignore the obvious and pretend that you were simply overreacting to a pulled muscle. Unfortunately, a larger, more rational part of you knew exactly what the feeling was. You were growing flowers. Again.

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kbstories · 4 years ago

Text

impression//expression

“It’s not like Kirishima had come all this way to U.A. to immediately break the promise he made to himself upon arrival.

It’s just that Bakugou is as feral as they come, and the moment Kirishima recognizes it’s fear he felt crawling up his spine that day, he makes it his personal mission to face it head-on until it’s gone.”

(Or: Being friends with Bakugou Katsuki is anything but a linear experience. Kirishima Eijirou would have it no other way.)

Tags: Kirishima POV, Developing Friendships, Kamino Arc, Kidnapping & Aftermath, Hurt/Comfort, Bakugou Gets A Hug

Chapter 1. Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Content warning for kidnapping, aftermath of violence. Chapter 5. Chapter 6. Chapter 7. Chapter 8. Chapter 9.

***

Nitro!! (Baku 💣💥)

i’m gonna die (sent 19:08)

no seriously i’m this 👌🏻 close to losing it bro (sent 19:08)

aizawa’s voice is so zzzz and it’s like sir,, i’m begging,,,, (sent 19:09)

a little bit of energy. just a little bit (sent 19:09)

A nudge to his side, somewhat urgent.

shit brb (sent 19:10)

“Dude.”

Kirishima keeps his voice down to a hiss, shooting a glance at Aizawa’s turned back just in case. Hidden behind his pencil case, his phone shows Bakugou has read his messages – near-immediately, as always – before Kirishima locks the screen. His own face is reflected on sleek, innocent black.

Next to him, Kaminari is looking at him like he’s lost his mind. “Don’t dude me, dude”, he whispers back. “Texting in Aizawa’s class? D’you have a death wish?”

Next to Kaminari, Mina leans over her desk, clearly curious and uncaring of her notes crinkling quietly under her elbows. “You? Kiri, paragon of wholesomeness and sunshine, breaking the rules? Lemme guess, it’s because of Bakugou.”

Next to Mina, Sero joins the fray with a muted headshake. “So brave yet so reckless. Truly inspiring.”

“You can say that again. That guy’s scary, man.” That’s Kaminari again. He leans in conspiratorially, nodding at Kirishima’s phone. “You got Blasty’s number? How? He almost bit my head off when I invited him to the 1-A chat.”

“Uh, yeah? We’re besties. But guys…”

If they were anywhere else, Kirishima would let out a whine. All he wanted to do was keep himself awake by texting his bro, is that such a crime? Especially since Bakugou’s the only one of ‘em who is actually allowed out there, where the fun stuff is happening. It’s downright cruel to have a new challenge dangled in front of their eyes like the juiciest steak only to be dragged away to the equivalent of plain steamed broccoli. Or something.

Point is: Kirishima’s bored enough he could cry and Aizawa, bless his insomnia-plagued soul, is making it about a thousand times worse with his monotone mumbling while he continues to write whatever-the-fuck in chalk to illustrate his point.

Three mouths open simultaneously in what Kirishima knows will be a too-loud bout of teasing – a frantic gesture of his hand to shut up, shut up, shut up has identical grins bursting on his friends’ faces.

Grins that disappear the instant the familiar sense of Aizawa’s quirk washes over them. Uh oh.

Aizawa doesn’t even have to say anything. Not even a brief pause registers in his lecture yet Kirishima snaps to attention so hard his buttcheeks clench as he furiously scribbles down what’s on the board. Some sort of… diagram? (It’ll make sense later, Kirishima hopes. And if it doesn’t, there’s always his equally draconic tutor-slash-best-friend he can poke into helping him eventually.)

After a semester at U.A., everyone in 1-A is whipped enough that not a single word is breathed between them for a good fifteen minutes. Aizawa talks, they take notes.

Then the adrenaline wears off and Kirishima finds himself drifting once more, fingers automatically flicking the home button. There, over Crimson Riot’s confident grin, three new messages.

Nitro!! (Baku 💣💥)

pay attention (received 19:14)

ffs (received 19:14)

hope aizawa murdered your ass (received 19:16)

No surprises there. Well, the fact that Bakugou has deigned to reply just before a training exercise kind of is, and he even triple-texted which makes a sappy part of Kirishima’s brain think he must’ve rubbed off on him over the past months. The day Bakugou Katsuki discovers emojis can’t be far off now and it will be Kirishima’s greatest achievement to date.

He bites his lip to suppress an amused noise at that. Ignoring the incredulous stare from Kaminari to his right, Kirishima types.

Nitro!! (Baku 💣💥)

haha! i lived bitch (sent 19:32)

minus the bitch askdjfhsk sry (sent 19:32)

i’m just tired af lol (sent 19:32)

how’s things on ur end tho? (sent 19:34)

no asses left unkicked i’m sure (sent 19:34)

👊🏻💥💥 (sent 19:35)

Kirishima gets about a solid second to feel good about furthering his pro-emoji agenda before his phone is snatched away by rigid, white cloth. Wide-eyed, his gaze is met by a flat expression that exudes more exhaustion than any human should rightfully have to feel.

“Kirishima”, Aizawa says, as calm as ever. “How kind of you to lend me your attention.”

Lord have mercy. Whichever hell Aizawa is about to unleash on him, Kirishima will be in it for a while. And when that’s over, it’ll be Bakugou’s turn to have a field day with it.

Somehow, Kirishima is actually looking forward to that last part.

Then, a voice rings out in their heads. Aizawa jumps into motion. The villains strike.

Afterwards, all Kirishima can do is stand there and watch the forest burn. His phone is silent, held between fingers that won’t stop trembling no matter what he does. He unlocks, checks, locks, only to do it all over again a few minutes or seconds later.

Around him, everything is spinning out of control. Reality is too loud, too bright, already overwhelming where it waits to be acknowledged beyond the soothing green interface of his chat with Bakugou.

The messages are still there. Marked read until they aren’t, and Kirishima stares at that subtle difference like it’s the last thing tethering him to the ground. Blue tick, his best friend is fine. Grey tick–

Bakugou let Kirishima take a photo of him, once. Kirishima had complained about his profile picture being that creepy default silhouette, especially once they started texting on a daily basis. So Bakugou sighed and leaned over the tiny table of the café, his chin propped on one hand and his coffee in the other. He’d kept still just long enough for the shutter to go off and called him a clingy bastard right after.

In the soft morning light, there’d been something warm in his typical glare. It’s still there, tucked away in the top left corner of the screen. Fond, red eyes, looking straight at Kirishima ever since.

Higher and higher, the flames reach for the sky with greedy, cobalt fingers, bright enough to take the stars with them. And Bakugou?

Bakugou is gone.

Nitro!! (Baku 💣💥)

hey (sent 23:01)

it’s a long shot but (sent 23:03)

are u there? (sent 23:03)

these are going thru so ur phone is on and i thought (sent 23:08)

idk (sent 23:08)

please respond man (sent 23:37)

please (sent 23:58)

katsuki? (sent 00:40)

Nitro!! (Baku 💣💥)

fuck (sent 3:24)

Bakugou Katsuki

um (sent 6:13)

the pros asked for ur number to track it and stuff so i gave it to them (sent 6:13)

turns out almost nobody has it?? so like (sent 6:20)

if u want a new one after all this it’s on me (sent 6:21)

pls don’t be mad haha (sent 6:21)

fuck that actually (sent 7:05)

be as mad as u want baku (sent 7:06)

u can do whatever ok? when u come back (sent 7:09)

free pass. i won’t guard this time (sent 7:09)

just come back (sent 8:00)

they’re looking for u so u gotta come back (sent 8:02)

Baku 💣💥

sry i just (sent 19:55)

ok still going thru (sent 19:55)

that’s good right? (sent 19:57)

i need it to be good (sent 20:05)

yeah (sent 20:06)

Baku 💣💥

it’s saturday (sent 2:33)

please be ok (sent 4:46)

i miss u (sent 5:00)

Baku 💣💥

we’re on our way katsuki (sent 12:45)

just hold on we’re coming for u (sending…)

wait (sending…)

oh (sending…)

Bakugou is quiet.

When all is said and done, injuries patched up and police statements given, Kirishima waits and Bakugou looks… tired. Small. Glancing back at the precinct with eyes a little too wide, a little too hesitant to truly belong to him.

Whatever he’s searching, if he finds it or not – Kirishima can only guess as Bakugou’s shoulders slump further and he mutters, “Let’s just go.”

In retrospect, he was probably talking to his parents. The Bakugous came for their son in a car as expensive as they come, white with chrome highlights and an interior clad entirely in tasteful, beige leather; it’s an aesthetic that’s the antithesis to Katsuki’s. Their expressions are full of love, though, brows drawn in concern carefully left unspoken. His father opens the back door for him first, going for his own in the front, while his mother ruffles Bakugou’s hair within the one-second-window he allows for the touch before shrugging it off.

“Welcome back, brat. We missed ya.”

Familiar phrases laden with far too much weight. From the outside in, it’s just that: Mildly exasperated parents picking up their kid after some school thing that dragged on into the night, or perhaps a late hangout with a friend. No one acknowledges the nightmare-ish three days they’ve left behind by the merit of time passing and the world spinning on and nothing else – the countless people injured or dead, an entire district torn asunder in a conflict much bigger than any of them, especially Bakugou.

Bakugou, who shuffles onto the backseat without saying much of anything. It’s only after Kirishima trails after him and Bakugou’s eyes meet his own over his shoulder that Kirishima realizes that’s what he’s doing.

Then Bakugou’s gaze softens and he kicks the door of the car open wider. “Um”, Kirishima pipes up, the noise of keys clinking together drawing his attention to one Bakugou Mitsuki. “Is it okay if I…?”

She snorts and ruffles his hair, too. “Kid, after what you did tonight, a ride home is the least I can do for ya. C’mon.”

Kirishima bows politely, a mumble of “Thanks, ma’am” waved away immediately. A moment later, Kirishima’s hand is being grabbed and he’s dragged inside. “Get a move on”, Bakugou mumbles, staring pointedly until Kirishima rights himself and digs for the seatbelt with his free hand. The click of the clasp snapping in is oddly loud in the ensuing silence.

It doesn’t last. The moment the engine purrs to life and the lights go off, a heavy guitar riff screeches from cleverly hidden speakers in perfect surround sound and Kirishima jumps. He’s the only one in the car to do so.

“Whoops, my bad”, says Bakugou’s mom as she turns the music down the slightest amount, her smirk – so familiar and yet not – clearly visible in the rear-view mirror. Next to her, Bakugou’s dad chuckles and shakes his head.

Bakugou himself is turned towards the window, the hand against his chin barely hiding the tiny smirk there. Kirishima lets him have it. Anything that’ll replace that lost expression from earlier is good in his books.

“So. Eijirou, right? Nice to finally meet ya.” Mrs. Bakugou checks in with him via the mirror. Her hand rests on the gear selector. “Where to? We’ll bring you home first. I’m sure your parents are worried.”

And oh fuck, Kirishima hasn’t even thought that far ahead yet. When he snuck out of the house a lifetime ago, all his mind was able to process was getting to Bakugou, saving Bakugou, bringing Bakugou back. As much as both his mothers are angels in their own right, they’re also easily worried and twice as buff as him. There haven’t been many occasions which called for them to throw down for their son but they totally would if given half the chance.

If they catch wind of even a fraction of what Kirishima got up to tonight, someone will have to pay. Kirishima’s willing to bet his most prized, limited-edition Crimson Riot figurine that that someone will end up being all of U.A., nationally famous pro heroes or not.

Before any of that can make it out of his mouth, Kirishima’s hand is squeezed and… Oh. Bakugou’s still holding it. Their skin isn’t touching; Kirishima’s sleeve has been pulled down to prevent that.

(It’s one of those things Bakugou does, tracking who and what gets in direct contact with his sweat and how to neutralize it in time. It makes Kirishima’s chest ache that, despite everything that happened, he is still aware of small things like that.)

“He’s crashing at ours tonight”, Bakugou tells his parents rather gruffly. Still looking out the window like there’s nothing unusual about that at all, and Kirishima gapes at him in complete and utter surprise. Bakugou’s grip only tightens.

“Got a problem with that?”

Just like that, Kirishima finds himself able to process speech. “Nope! Not at all. Uh, that is– Mrs. Bakugou, Mr. Bakugou, can I?”

Bakugou’s parents look similarly caught off-guard. To their credit, they merely blink and look at each other, shrugging. Again, it’s the mother who speaks. “That’s Mitsuki and Masaru to you, kid. Let’s go home, then.”

And that’s that. They set off, the car’s movement a quiet thrum that’s drowned out by complicated drum solos and vocals barely scraping past outright growling. Any other day, Kirishima would’ve been ecstatic to finally get to meet the Bakugous. He’d hoard bits and pieces of knowledge about them – such as the fact that Katsuki’s taste in music runs in the family, what the hell – like a dragon does gold coins. The notion that Bakugou invited him to their first sleep-over ever would be the biggest treasure on that pile, for sure.

Because Bakugou Katsuki is anything if not cautious: with his quirk, with his time, with his trust. Because, after days of pacing his room and worrying himself sick and crying until exhaustion took him out, their plan worked.

They pulled it off, Bakugou is back and alive, and Kirishima’s allowed to stay by his side a little bit longer.

He’s here because Bakugou wants him to be and that… feels better than Kirishima can properly put into words. So, no, he doesn’t boast about it, he doesn’t have the energy to – but Kirishima notes and appreciates it nonetheless, relief forming a ball of warmth and light that radiates within him like a tiny sun got stuck between his lungs and his heart. Bit by bit, it melts the tension off Kirishima’s bones until all he can grasp is the steady presence of Bakugou’s hand in his and how heavy his eyelids feel.

Kirishima could sleep for a week straight and still crave a nap afterwards. Probably.

There’s something he has to do before he crashes, though. With a gentle squeeze, he frees his hand to grab his phone and winces at the dozens of unread messages and missed calls that greet him. Both the group he has with his family as well as the one for 1-A have been running hot most of the night, reducing his battery to a pitiful 12%.

Opening up the chat with his moms, Kirishima scrolls to the bottom of the increasingly worried barrage of texts and hesitates, his fingers hovering over the keypad. Once he starts typing, he’ll have about a minute before shit really hits the fan.

💪🏻Kirishima Power 💪🏻

guys i’m so sorry!!! (sent 21:58)

i know ur worried and stuff and i swear i’ll explain later ok?? (sent 21:58)

just wanna let u know i’m safe!! staying over at baku’s tonight (sent 21:58)

he’s here and safe too (sent 21:58)

🙏🏻🙏🏻 (sent 21:59)

He pauses then, reading that last part over and over again. Safe. Safe, safe, safe. A smile cracks Kirishima’s lips apart and it remains there, steadfast through the flood of new messages rolling in.

Bakugou’s room is both everything Kirishima expected it to be and at the same time… not.

It’s huge, for one, the typical bed-wardrobe-desk setup expanded by a couch and a beanbag, a TV with a variety of game systems hooked up to it, a handful of shelves filled to the brim with books and manga and oh, a whole freaking drum set taking up a corner by itself. The walls are plastered with band posters and signed set lists and – less blatant but still there – the odd All Might merch Kirishima knows Bakugou would strangle him for mentioning, so he doesn’t.

What comes out of his mouth is: “Dude! I didn’t know you played drums. That’s so cool!”

Everything is kept in the triad of black-orange-green Kirishima recognizes from a certain hero costume. A few discarded shirts aside, it’s really tidy. So much so that Kirishima feels ashamed of the state of his own room just by seeing this.

The feeling is compounded by Bakugou picking up those shirts and throwing them in the hamper first thing, a quiet tch indicating he’s annoyed by it. Kirishima isn’t up to outing himself as an unrepentant walking mess in comparison – instead, he makes a beeline for the bookshelf with the manga, eyes drawn to a row of covers he’d recognize in a heartbeat.

“Wha– I’ve been looking for these for ages! They’re sold out every time I try to catch up on ‘em.”

A short glance at Bakugou is answered with a shrug and an eye-roll: It’s Bakugou-speak for do whatever the hell you want. Kirishima pulls out the volume he stopped at and leafs through it.

It’s meant as a distraction for Bakugou, a space for him to drop the put-together façade and breathe without people constantly fussing over him. It’s honestly what Kirishima would rather be doing right now (exploring his best bro’s room be damned) but it’s not what Bakugou needs. Well, what Kirishima thinks he needs.

It’s hard to get a read on him without the constant snark and pointed glares. With some dinner in their bellies and Bakugou’s parents now safely downstairs, the expression that fits nowhere on the Angry Bakugou Face catalogue is back. Kind of uncomfortable and so… absent.

Kirishima is really starting to hate that expression.

It’s entirely accidental that Kirishima actually gets into reading. One chapter turns to three, turns to five, and the troubles and worries whirling ever-tighter in his chest ease for a bit until–

Woosh. A soft, balled-up something knocks against the back of his head. Kirishima startles and almost drops the manga, a vaguely alarmed noise stopped short by the sight of Bakugou in sweats and a well-worn, black shirt. His hair is wet. Wild as ever. At Kirishima’s feet: A similar outfit including a towel.

“Bathroom’s that way. Leave your clothes out by the door, I got special detergent for the nitro. Shampoo and shit’s in the shower, there’s a toothbrush for you by the sink. Use it.”

Kirishima opens his mouth.

Bakugou sighs. “It’s just a fucking toothbrush, Kiri. Wreck it for all I care.”

Kirishima closes his mouth. He nods. His phone is quickly dug out of his pocket and set aside, then he slips out to shower.

A good fifteen minutes later, he opens the door to let out a gust of steam and sees his clothes are gone. The hallway is empty, half-lit by the light coming from downstairs. The Bakugous have been as nonchalant about their spontaneous guest as Bakugou himself; even so, Kirishima tries not to linger or make too much noise as he sneaks back to Bakugou’s room.

“Baku. I’m back.”

Bakugou gives him a grunt of acknowledgement from where he’s fitting some sheets over the couch, folded out to provide a decently sized bed. There’s a pillow and a pile of blankets next to him, wrapped in fresh linen as well. It’s unlikely he’s stopped doing stuff since Kirishima left and if he is about ready to crash in five to ten minutes, he can’t imagine how Bakugou is doing right now.

Y’know, the guy who just survived being kidnapped by Japan’s newest and most notorious villain menace. No amount of pretense can make that simple fact undone.

Kirishima pads over to help, the offer to take over already on his lips but– Too late. The last corner is already being tucked in and laid flat with grim-faced efficiency. Left with nothing else to do, Kirishima sits down on the very edge, eyes downcast and fingers fiddling with the hem of his borrowed shirt. There’s some sort of band logo on it, an English word written in that typical death-metal-font that looks like someone dumped a bunch of white sticks in a pile and called it a day.

It’s soft. A little loose and frayed around the edges.

“Hey, Baku?”

Taking the blankets, Bakugou dumps them in Kirishima’s lap. “Mh?” He makes to step away and Kirishima doesn’t think, just reaches out and catches the back of his shirt.

“Dude, seriously. Just… sit down for a minute. Please?”

And Bakugou… listens. He stops, he frowns at Kirishima for a moment like he’s trying to figure out what his deal is, he sighs like he’s been presented with the world’s most aggravating puzzle – and then he tells Kirishima to scooch. “What? I’m not gonna sit on the fucking floor”, he says.

Kirishima can’t keep the relief off his face as he gladly makes room on the couch, leaning against its arm and tucking his legs in. Once Bakugou has settled, cross-legged with an elbow propped on the backrest, Kirishima throws the blanket over both of ‘em. Might as well get comfortable while they still can.

“Okay.” He steels himself with a long, slow breath. “I know you hate this kinda thing and we’re both tired and… stuff. Still, though: Are you okay?”

Bakugou gives him a look, which– Okay, fair. It’s a dumb question with an obvious answer. Kirishima doesn’t back down, though, humming to buy himself some time to rephrase.

“Like… It’s fine if you’re not. Okay, I mean. And if you’d rather go the fuck to bed and not think about this for a while that’s fine, too. But that was pretty rough and you’ve been, um, quiet. And stuff. So, I’m kinda worried. Y’know?”

Kirishima pauses. A bit lower, he mumbles: “And I missed you. So yeah.”

At some point, he dropped his gaze to his hands, limp and useless in his lap. Kirishima swore not to be a coward anymore but it’s hard, to speak and ask about things in full awareness he has no fucking clue what he’s doing.

All he wants is for Bakugou to be okay. That’s all that matters, at the end of a day like this.

“I’m not”, Bakugou says, tentatively. Like he’s making up his mind as he goes. “I’m not gonna waste your time with ‘I’m fine’. I’m not. This shit’s fucked up.” And again he sighs, sounding so fucking tired Kirishima’s heart squeezes in sympathy.

“I haven’t slept in three fucking days; my shoulders are killing me from using my quirk and sitting chained to that stupid chair and whatever the fuck else. The League scouted me specifically because they thought I’d make a good villain and fuck them for that. Fuck them. But it’s just… It’s whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

Whatever Kirishima expected, it’s not that. He looks up and into Bakugou’s eyes and–

He can’t mean that, can he? Kirishima searches his face for evidence to the contrary, traces the tension around Bakugou’s mouth and the exhaustion smudged under his eyes and the line between his brows, growing deeper under Kirishima’s scrutiny. It all reads defeat. It hurts.

They won, right? A childish voice within Kirishima can’t help but cling to that even as he looks back down. They won, and things are supposed to get better when you win.

“People got hurt. People died, Kiri. Heroes, too.” Bakugou takes a shaky breath, a hand going to his hair and rubbing it roughly. “Fucking… Best Jeanist was there and nobody at the precinct wanted to tell me if he’s alive or dead or what. All of Kamino Ward is fucking gone and All Might–”

Bakugou’s voice cracks right down the middle and it hurts. Like there’s a beast tearing through Kirishima’s chest to rip out his heart and throw it to the floor, stubbornly beating as it bleeds out.

Kirishima wants to say something. Anything. All he can hear is Bakugou’s breathing but it’s all wrong, off-rhythm and thread-bare and upset, and any doubt what that means is erased as Bakugou’s hand clenches on the sheets and he sniffs, wet on the exhale.

“Baku–”

“Don’t. Kiri, don’t–”

He’s always been like that, ordering him around and demanding things when politeness dictates to ask for them instead. His tone is as close to pleading as Kirishima’s ever heard from Bakugou, though, and it twists him up inside to the point he feels distantly nauseous.

“Don’t look.” Bakugou isn’t supposed to sound like that. Not now, not ever. “Okay? Don’t f-fucking– Don’t look at me right now.”

“Okay”, Kirishima says. “I won’t.” His own voice is a mess as well, trembling all over the place. “I won’t, Nitro. I won’t.”

You’re safe, is what he wants to tell him. It’s okay, you’re safe now. That’s not what Bakugou is asking of him. Kirishima can’t stop himself from crying because it’s always been hard not to when the people he loves are doing it, but… He tries. For Bakugou, he’ll always try.

Through eyes heavily clouded by tears, he sees Bakugou’s hand tighten, knuckles going white and bloodless. Painfully tense, and Kirishima can’t stand the sight of that, either.

He shuffles a little closer to place his hand over that fist, careful to only touch the back of Bakugou’s hand. Kirishima whispers, “I’m here”, and Bakugou audibly swallows. He lets him slip his fingers in-between his own.

Holding on, just as he did in the car and when they met in mid-air, that desperate instance that decided whether he would make it out alive or not.

Bakugou holds on even as he breaks for good and his shoulders shake with his sobs. As he continues to breathe in gulps of air that sound strangled and desperate, through tears that leave a pattern of uneven dots on the blanket. By morning they will be gone without a trace: The sun will come up, the world will continue to travel around it, and time will reveal the road they walk on as they walk it, step by step by step.

Just because it’s meant to pass doesn’t make this moment any less real. Any less important. Kirishima sits there and listens to his best friend cry. He remembers days spent without him and the mad dash to save him. He thinks of dumb questions and obvious answers.

It’s hard to tell if this is one of them, so he gathers all his courage and asks: “Katsuki. Can I hug you?”

Just like last time, Bakugou doesn’t say anything. He laughs, a watery, humorless thing – and he pulls at Kirishima’s shirt to crush him to his chest. His arms wind around Kirishima’s neck, Bakugou’s face pressing against his hair where Kirishima won’t be able to see him.

It’s fine. Kirishima’s great at hugs; he can totally work with that. Clenching his eyes shut, he adjusts his grip around Bakugou’s waist so he can rub his back, following the bumps of his spine. Up and down, over and over. Bakugou goes boneless in their embrace, not about to let go anytime soon and neither will Kirishima.

Eventually, Kirishima tucks his head against Bakugou’s shoulder, blinking sleep from his eyes. Safe. He doesn’t fight the sharp-toothed smile on his lips. Bakugou mumbles, “Fucking sap”, nearly drowned out by their collective sniffling.

It sounds a whole lot like thank you. Kirishima’s smile only grows.

>>Chapter 5

#my hero academia #boku no hero academia #bnha #mha #bakugou katsuki #kirishima eijirou #kiribaku #bnha fanfiction #hi kamino still makes me emo: the manifesto #this fic is also on AO3!!#reblogs appreciated c:#my stuff

42 notes · View notes

justanotherblonde · 3 years ago

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cuz blonde is a total data nerd... here ya go!

I posted 733 times in 2021

88 posts created (12%)

645 posts reblogged (88%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 7.3 posts.

I added 740 tags in 2021

#sasori - 215 posts

#deidara - 160 posts

#sasodei - 123 posts

#justanotherblonde - 62 posts

#sasori mini bang 2021 - 41 posts

#konan - 30 posts

#itachi - 29 posts

#sasori mini bang - 28 posts

#sethmmd - 28 posts

#akatsuki - 24 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#instead i have 7 weeks to cram as much about education policies in east asia as i can into my head then artfully create some sort of essay

My Top Posts in 2021

i find it kinda weird that the ItaDei stuff is so popular??? but cool, i guess!! ItaDei and Deidara's origin stories seem to be the Tumblr crowd-pleasers... i've chopped out the full text of story posts, so if you want to read them, click the links...

blonde presents: a random cracked ItaDei thingy

i dunno, this scene popped into my head a while back when i was writing this ItaDei kiss, and it won’t leave me alone. thought i’d share it...

tags and such: Itachi/Deidara, canon-verse, crack-fic, Akatsuki, swearing (lol always), implied KakuHida, everyone is sassy, for some reason i used present tense instead of past tense?, actually a rather soft moment~

read and show me some love if you are so inclined~

26 notes • Posted 2021-06-24 14:17:39 GMT

HERE IT IS, MY LOVES

All Things Must End (AO3)

my take on how Deidara stole his kinjutsu from Iwagakure, featuring an OC that i've grown very fond of, Kōseki-sensei. additional tags and warnings below the cut.

Summary:

"One day I’m gonna fly away from this dark fucking pile of fucking rocks. I’ll live in the sunshine and do what I want..."

Kōseki-sensei had taught Deidara to see the beauty in every moment and understand that all things, good or bad, would eventually pass, depart, leave, disappear, break, end.

Was this where his dream ended? He ground his teeth. It couldn’t be. He just had to work harder. He would prove himself worthy of Kōseki-sensei’s kinjutsu. Whatever it took.

Rating: Mature (for swearing and violence)

Warnings: Major Character Death

Relationships: Deidara (Naruto) & Original Character(s) Characters: Deidara (Naruto), Original Characters, Original Non-Binary Character

Additional Tags: Canon Universe, Original Character(s), Deidara-centric, Deidara "origin story", Deidara is 12, but he swears like a fucking sailor, Non-binary OC(s), Iwa OCs, Kumo OCs, Canon-Typical Violence, Mild Gore, Blood and Injury, Caves, Rock-climbing, Original Character Death(s), won’t claim it’s one-hundred-percent canon-compliant but i’d like to think it works

29 notes • Posted 2021-08-31 15:41:34 GMT

Hallo there! Can I have a ItaDei #3 A breathy demand: “Kiss me” - and what the other person does to respond? Would that be possible?

yayy ItaDei!!!

i'd like to apologize to the anon who asked for a SasoDei #3 before this ItaDei #3 request...... fear not, friend, it's coming! i'm trying to balance writing and Master's and my job right now, so i gotta work where the inspiration is... and the plot for this breathy ItaDei demand came to me before the SasoDei one... sorry 🥺

anyway, if you want some canon-verse ItaDei, read on!

rating: Mature

tags: canon-verse, kissin'! (obviously), but first fist fights, fighting, brief mention of SasoDei feelings... and ItaDei confessions!

30 notes • Posted 2021-06-06 19:06:33 GMT

SASORI MINI-BANG 2021 - DAY 2

Summer / Desert Flowers / Sunrise

@sasori-mini-bang

Watercolored, Chapter 1: Desert Flowers (AO3)

modern AU, artist AU, Sasori/Sai, SMUT and DRAMA (more drama coming in chapter 2 tho)

also!! check out this amazing line-drawing of my boys by @uintuva !! posted with permission.

30 notes • Posted 2021-07-28 05:33:30 GMT

happy birthday, deidara!

to celebrate my fav blond bombshell’s birthday, i WANTED to have this really cool origin story piece finished. but i ran out of time. still, i’d like to share what i’ve got so far! i’m still playing around with this story, so let me know what you think, suggestions, what you want more of... :)

story is below the cut because Deidara is a VERY SWEARY twelve-year-old.

tag-type things: canon-verse, introducing an OC sensei, heavy swearing (lol), caving, caves, rock-climbing, creepy crawlies

word count: 1653

it’s still untitled!!

42 notes • Posted 2021-05-05 14:49:39 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

#my 2021 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review #justanotherblonde #sasori #deidara #itachi #sasodei posts are oddly missing from my top five???#itadei #sasosai #i feel like the story this year in review tells is that my biggest achievement of 2021 was finishing the deidara origin story...

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shatteringsivan · 4 years ago

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Harry Styles, dream with me, transcript

(0:00) Hello, I'm Harry Styles. And tonight, I'm going to help you drift off to sleep, with some soothing words and calming music. A sleep story, just for you. (0:24)

(0:28) With all the business of your day, I know how hard it can be to get to sleep. So thank you for choosing this story, and me, to help you. I wish you a wonderful night's sleep. So, make yourself comfortable. Take a deep breath in, and then out. In, and then out. And when you're ready, close your eyes. (1:20)

(1:28) Have you ever wondered, what happens when you sleep? Where you go, and what you feel? The places that you seek. When you start to drift away, your mind becomes a book. That writes itself then fades away, before you awake to look. (2:02)

(2:11) Tonight we’re going to think about, anything you’d like. So first, let’s visualize some scenes to see us through the night. Settle back and clear your mind. We’re heading somewhere special. Beyond the world of consciousness, to somewhere more celestial. (2:44)

(2:55) I'd like you to imagine now, you're there beneath the stars. Which, when you pause to think about it, actually you are. As you focus on the darkness right before your eyes, fill the scene with glinting lights, to emulate night skies. (3:29)

(4:13) Think about the things you cherish most, and those you love. And then, allow yourself to be embraced from up above. The power of the universe, meanders through your mind. So, come with me and let’s see, what the two of us can find. (4:48)

(4:58) Lets travel now, to moonlit valleys, blanketed with heather. The kind of landscape you and I, could dream about forever. Imagine lazing on the ground, succumbing to the charms, of blades of grass. We now caress with fingertips, and palms.(5:32)

(5:41) A gentle scent of cedar wood, is floating on the breeze. A gift from mother nature, and her nearby cedar trees. We’re gazing at the night sky now, marveling at infinity. So allow your mind to wander, to a peaceful new vicinity. (6:15)

(7:00) Picture this, a rich green forest. Damp with morning dew. Inhale the morning air, as we explore, just me, and you. Leaves create mosques, in every shade of green. As gentle birdsong mingles, with the babbling of a stream. (7:33)

(7:44) Dappled sepia sunlight, cuts through branches overhead. As dew drops fall from leaf to leaf. Like glistening strands of thread. The dew drops finally coalesce, forming satin beads. Occasionally, they kiss our chicks.small pleasures, quenching needs. (8:17)

(8:26) Holding hands, we stroll. Until we chance upon a brook. Its cool, clear, water, mirroring our faces as we look. The shimmering reflection, show us smiling from above. The word we think, but dare not speak, is L-O-V-E, love. (9:01)

(9:45) Now, we snuggle on a raft. And drift for endless hours. As willow trees sway in the breeze, and blossoms fall in showers. Gently swaying to and fro, we look up at the sky. And watch the clouds above us, forming shapes, as they pass by. (10:19)

(10:28) The wisps of cloud, swirl slowly, tinged with tangerine and pink. And as they fade, the sunset, gives us cause to muse and think. Of places we should visit. and oceans we could cross. For some who wander through this world, there’s grace in being lost. (11:02)

(11:11) Passing by a waterfall, our thoughts sway two and fro. And time begins to fade and blur. beneath the moons pale glow, a symphony of tumbling water lulls and mesmerizes, nature’s soundtrack to our dreams, assumes so many guises. (11:46)

(12:31) Strolling on a sidewalk now, as rain begins to fall. Its gentle, pitter patter, holds us deep within its thrall. The raindrops’ rhythm briefly slows, then, intensifies. Peaceful and benevolent, a gift from moonlit skies. (13:04)

(12:14) The fragrance that the rain creates, upon the concrete surface, inspires yet relaxes us. And focuses our purpose, to shift our minds to neutral. And allow our thoughts to drift. And recognize the rainfall, as a mesmerizing gift. (13:48)

(13:59) Sheltering beneath a porch, we watch the rain pour down. Though now the time has come, to leave this dreamy moonlit town. A gentle breeze wafts through the trees, it causes leaves to stir. And then, the rain relents and fades. As time begins to blur. (13:31)

(15:17) We find ourselves upon a shore line, lounging by a lake. While crickets chirp in nearby reeds, it’s hard to stay awake. The scene feels like a watercolor. Soft, diluted tones, as looking down, we see each other. Laughing, skimming stones. (15:51)

(16:00 ) The stones skip on the gleaming lake, and ripples start to form. And though the sun has dipped from view, we feel content and warm. Herons drift on thermals(?) high upon a sun bleached pier. And in the trees beyond the lake, we glimpse a passing deer. (16:34)

(16:44) Strands of cloud unfurl like ribbons in the orange sky. Mirrored on the lake now, like a painted butterfly. In the distance, mountains beckon. Kept with pristine snow. The kind of sight that dreams evoke, when hearts and minds let go. (17:18)

(18:02) Contemplating nothingness, a scene take shape before us. And as it sharpens in our thoughts, we hear a distant chorus. The dampened sound of silence, that only snow can bring, surrounds us with its calming vibes, and touches us within. (18:35)

(18:48) Glistening snowflakes fall in flurries. mountain rivers freeze. The powdery slopes look beautiful. And fresh snow dusts the trees. Somehow now, we’re in a cabin, taking in this view. As a fire crackles in the corner, just for me and you. (19:24)

(19:32) We linger for a moment. Or maybe it’s been hours. For when we blink and look again, our vistas waft(?) in flowers. Another destination lures us. Closer now it seems. Perhaps its real, or just another chapter in our dreams. (20:04)

(20:50) Drifting in and out of sleep, our thoughts take us elsewhere. To an island fringed by swaying palms, lush beyond compare. A path winds through the mangroves, towards a distance beach. That underlines the turquoise ocean. now, within our reach. (21:23)

(21:32) Eventually, we feel the powdery sand, right beneath our feet. The sun above now blessing us, with gentle, soothing heat. We hear the lilting sound of surf, breaking up ahead. While spiral shells and pearly shards, determine where we tread. (22:07)

(22:16) Finally, a lapping wave, engulfs our sandy feet. It seems to pause and ruminate, then gradually retreat. We dig our toes, in cool, wet sand. Then sit and face the sea. And let the sand wash over us. Alone just you, and me. (22:51)

(23:50) Staring at the nothingness, that stretches on forever. Our thoughts dovetail and unify. In tune, two minds together. As minutes turn to hours, we drift off somewhere new. And visualize a stairway. To a door, we now walk through (24:08)

(24:18) Imagine now, a meadow, on a balmy afternoon. Birds, and bees, and rustling trees. Create a summer tune. Flanked by fields of sunflowers, hand in hand we walk. As the gentle sound of nature, surrounds us while we talk. (24:52)

(25:02) Sunflowers give the scenery a warm, and golden hue. While hazy sunshine softens, our idyllic, rustic view. As we roam past hedgerows, a farmhouse sits alone. Its open shutters pressed against, uneven walls of stone. (25:36)

(26:21) A garden winds around the house, and daisies poke through grass. A bench thats lived through countless summers, creaks as we walk past. We wonder if the house is empty. Once loved, but no longer. The thought of passing times inspires, a feeling that grows stronger. (26:54)

(27:04) This feeling washes over us, lost between a sigh. And as the sun begins to set, we stop and wonder why. Gravity caresses us, it pulls you close to me. Then the scene begins to fade, our new reality. (27:37)

(27:48) Deeper, gradually deeper. We drift and now, transcend. To unfamiliar places, too surreal to comprehend. Slowly, we capitulate as sleep begins to call. Entwined in dreams, and shifting scenes, we drift and gently fall. (28:22)

(29:06) Friendly faces, glorious places. Things we hope to do, intertwine with snapshots. Some of me, and some of you. Moonlit valleys, verdant forests, gazing at the ocean. Summer meadows, tranquil sunsets, Steeped in pure emotion. (29:39)

(29:48) The tenderness we feel when we are close, two minds as one. Surrounds us, and connects us. But we’ve only just begun. For now, we dream together. Of all that is to follow. And know that sleep will keep us safe. From now, until tomorrow. (30:23)

(30:34) Maybe all the memories that we’ve gathered here tonight, are all dreams now remembered, or wishes in plain sight. No matter what, they're with us now. For this night and forever. And every time we close our eyes, they’re yours and mine to treasure. Goodnight, and sleep well. (31:15)

#harrystyles #onedirection #dreamwithme #styles #harry #calm #1D #directioner #dream with harry #harry styles #dreamwithharry #dream with me #one direction

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mythologyfolklore · 5 years ago

Text

Ares and Athena through the years - Ch. 06

Chapter six: Grief and reconciliation

The Olympians had now got a new member: Dionysos, the new god of wine, madness, theatre, parties, vegetation and the afterlife.

But it wasn't celebrated as much as it would have normally. The young god didn't mind; he knew why and he understood, that this was no time for a party.

They would have been thirteen now, but Hestia had given up her place in favour of him, thus they stayed twelve. Athena found, that the round looked kind of … incomplete without Hestia.

But her chair wasn't the only empty one.

Two other deities, who were still here, but hardly showed their faces these days, were leaving their places at the table vacant. Yet, when they did show up, they often killed the mood in the room, just by looking like the Algea¹ themselves. Zeus tolerated it, as he could relate to their grief.

Ares and Aphrodite looked strange in mourning attire.

Crushed, far less alive, mere shadows of their former selves.

Clad in black from head to toe, no jewellery or armour, they even were wearing ashes.

Aphrodite's lovely hair had been shorn, the way mortal women did, when mourning. It was odd to see the bright love goddess wear nothing but black. Her duties no longer delighted her, nor did the other Olympians ever hear her bell-like laughter these days.

Ares was neglecting his job entirely and never looked anything but weary, broken and defeated. He had dark rims under his eyes and always seemed close to either tears or a fit of anger. And he had taken to wearing a brooch with Harmonia's face engraved on it.

Dear, blameless Harmonia, Ares' and Aphrodite's beloved daughter and sunshine, who was gone, gone forever, who would never come back, who had forsaken divinity … who was dead.

It was still so hard to believe for everyone.

Goddesses didn't die.

Only once had Athena seen a goddess die: her first friend, whose name she had adopted to honour her. Except that Pallas had simply become one with Pontos² again.

She was, in a way, still there.

Not so Harmonia; she was really, truly dead and nothing would ever bring her back.

Ares knew, that the rest of the family had trouble stomaching this too.

Even for him and Aphrodite it was hard to believe, and even harder, if not impossible, to bear.

My lovely daughter, my little sunshine, my joy and pride, my sweet child, she is gone, gone, she will never come back, she is dead, dead, dead-

Both parents had fallen silent.

They rarely spoke anymore and if they did, it was always about Harmonia. They didn't know how else to cope with their grief.

For their divine children it was the same.

Once they'd had a fight with their youngest sons Phobos and Deimos, who had confronted them and doubted, that if one of them would die, their parents would be remotely as affected. The fight had escalated into screaming, shattered earthenware and broken furniture, but had ended in tears and a group hug.

Ares could understand and relate to this, his children's worry, still he didn't want to hear such an accusation ever again.

There were moments, when the pain got too overwhelming, that Aphrodite would randomly burst into tears or wails and Ares would clench every muscle in his body, trying to suppress his emotions.

They both knew why things had come to this.

Ares had known before Aphrodite had.

The necklace … the necklace Hephaistos had once given Aphrodite (after their divorce, after the incident had happened), who in turn had given it to her daughter as a wedding gift.

That cursed piece of jewellery that, as Ares soon had found out, had been made with malicious intent.

Dionysos (this boy, who was both his half-brother, his nephew and his daughter's grandson, this god of madness, who had caused part of the trouble) had been the one to point it out.

And once Ares had actually taken a look at the necklace of Harmonia, it had dawned on him.

The necklace had been made by Hephaistos, obviously, but he had also recognised the handiwork of Eris, the baleful essence of her and her children. Whatever way the blacksmith had persuaded her and the Kakodaimones to help him was beyond Ares, but that wasn't the point. It was oozing with misfortune and woe.

And then he remembered overhearing a conversation between the smith and his new wife, Aglaia.

The thing was fucking cursed.

The maker had wanted her to suffer for her parents' crime.

My Harmonia, my child, he wanted her to suffer for something that was mine and Aphrodite's fault, he wanted to hurt her, because she reminded him of the incident.

The realisation had made Ares burst into dreadful laughter, terrifying every living being within a hundred mile radius.

Of course.

How could he ever have assumed, that his brother would possibly gift something to the daughter of Ares and Aphrodite, to the girl who had been conceived on that disgraceful day.

How could he ever have hoped that Hephaistos would forgive them?

Of course Hephaistos hadn't forgiven them.

He hadn't forgiven Ares and Aphrodite for betraying him, so how could he have forgiven their daughter to come from it?

At first he had wanted to take his wrath out on them directly, but had quickly noticed, that they themselves left no opening for the curse to work (then again, Ares was friends with Eris and her brood of evil, so he was probably completely immune to their vibes).

Aphrodite giving the accursed necklace to her daughter had just been a stroke of luck; Harmonia, a third generation goddess with a mortal husband and children, had been a lot more vulnerable to the baleful curse of her wedding gift.

Deep down, the smith had felt sorry for his niece, even though under his friendly facade he had always loathed her for being spawned under such circumstances. Still there had been no denying, that she had been sweet and innocent and hadn't deserved to suffer.

Yet, his pity had been drowned out by the grim satisfaction of seeing her parents heartbroken over their daughter's misfortune and subsequent death.

Maybe one day he would regret, what he had done, but that day was yet to come. For now his heart was flint.

As Athena followed Aglaia through the smithery, the Kharis seemed to be far more sober than usual.

“Approach him with care”, she warned the wisdom goddess, “He's in a really bad mood today.”

“I can imagine”, the taller woman muttered. “Don't worry. I can handle this, I know what to do.”

Aglaia nodded in acknowledgement, but whispered: “Alright. Just don't say their names. And don't mention the incident.”

She bowed courteously and saw herself out.

Athena took a deep breath, before going deeper into the workshop.

Don't say their names … that would be impossible, because she was here on their behalf.

“Hey, Athena. I know you and I hate each other, but can you do me a favour …?”

Once Ares had told her, she hadn't been able to refuse.

The blue-eyed goddess needed to look for a while, until she spied Hephaistos hunched over a desk, doing precision work. His face was stone and he was currently burning brightly, not bothering to keep his flames inside his body.

In a really bad mood, Aglaia had said – what an understatement! If the normally composed smith was on fire, that could only mean that he was on the verge of exploding!

It was only when his hands were free, that Athena knocked on the door frame to make herself known.

He turned his head.

Holy Khaos, if looks could kill even gods, she would have dropped dead on the spot!

“Your shield isn't done yet!”, he snapped at her and sparks fell out of his hair.

She swallowed her agitation and replied: “I'm not here because of that. I'm here, because someone asked me to give you a letter and didn't trust Hermes to do it.”

Hephaistos stared at her and his flames died down.

After muttering an apology for his rudeness, he pushed his wheelchair around the desk and offered her a stool.

“Do you want some nectar?”

“No, thank you. As I said, I'm only here because of the letter.”

The smith was obviously still extremely pissed off, but he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before speaking.

“Athena, if this is a letter from Ares, give it back to him and tell him to shove it up his-”

“Listen to me!”, she interrupted him. “I didn't read this, but he came to me, even though he hates me, and asked me for help. So this has to be important!”

“… Fine.”

“When he gave me this, he mentioned another letter he sent you before.”

Hephaistos scowled and confirmed, that he had indeed received a letter – more than a millennium after the incident.

Athena lifted an eyebrow. “You didn't read it, did you? He suspected it too. Said, that this time he wants you to read it in my presence. I hate to admit it, but sometimes he does use the single-digit number of braincells he has.”

The smith snorted at the jab, but told her to wait here, rolled out of the room and came back with another, seemingly far older scroll of papyrus.

“You are both right, I didn't read it”, he admitted. “But for some reason I couldn't bring myself to burn it either.” A sigh. “After all, no one has ever gone through remotely as much trouble as to write me a letter.”

“Maybe you want to read that one first”, she proposed.

Hephaistos scowled down at the scroll in his lap. But after unrolling it, he blinked.

“Huh. The prick sure has clean handwriting.”

Oh. That really was unexpected. However, it didn't matter right now.

“What are you waiting for?”, Athena urged.

He puffed his cheeks. “I still don't see a point in reading it. It's probably something really offensive about me stealing his girl or some shit.”

She chuckled. Yes, that sounded like something Ares would have written after the incident.

“Well, can he make you any angrier than you already are at him?”

“I guess not.”

“Then read it anyway. And if it pisses you off, burn it. But at least you'll have read it.”

The blacksmith rolled his eyes, but gave in. “Alright.”

Clearing his throat, he began to read:

“Dear little brother,

since that golden net incident, you have never given me the chance to tell you, how I feel. And because you won't listen to me, I'm sending you this letter. I beg you, read all of it. When you've finished, you can burn it, if you want, just … hear me out …”

Athena looked over his shoulders, as he read it to her.

She was actually impressed.

Never ever would she have pinned Ares to write something even remotely as deep.

If she hadn't known better, she would have thought it was Aphrodite's hand – but it obviously wasn't; her writing was cursive and ornate, as opposed to Ares' clean, but plain hand.

Except that what he had written was so genuine and candid … alright, it was definitely Ares.

Hephaistos read everything, but his voice grew shakier with every paragraph.

By the end, he was full-on crying.

“Fucking arsehole!”, he choked and burned the letter in his hands, “First he gives me a lesson about love, rubs his relationship with Aphrodite in my face and then he tells me, that he loves me?! Of all the things he could have written, this …”

Gently Athena stroked his back, as he sobbed into his hands.

It took him a while to compose himself.

The goddess of wisdom had left, after reading the second letter to him, as he had asked.

Hephaistos just needed some time alone.

He … he didn't know how to deal with this.

Everything was way too much and too confusing and he needed distance.

The other gods could wait for their stuff. Or they could just ask his assistants to finish the crap.

He would go on a holiday trip.

Far away from Olympos.

Preferably even away from Hellas.

Sicilia?

That was the place.

He hadn't seen Vulcanus in a while.

“… And that's basically, what happened.”

“Hm …”

Vulcanus peeked at his Greek colleague from behind his cup.

“Let me check, if I got this right”, he spoke, “You avenged yourself on the adulterers by placing a curse on their innocent daughter. A girl, who never did anything to you aside from that one flaw she can't help – that she was conceived through adultery – which, as I just said, really isn't her fault, who was pretty much as pure as the rays of the sun above”, the Italian god commented. “Well, I'm not going to question your motives. But do tell me: are you proud of yourself and of what you have done to Harmonia?”

Hephaistos didn't answer immediately. He was just stubbornly staring into the fire.

Alone, Vulcanus already knew the answer, long before the older god spoke.

They didn't meet often, but knew each other oddly well – as if they were brothers.

Perhaps in a sense they were.

Finally Hephaistos admitted: “No, I'm not.”

The Italian god cleared his throat: “Y'know, I have found, that time can fix that kind of shit. Revenge isn't always needed. Besides, you already exposed and publicly embarrassed them and divorced Aphrodite, it was not necessary to get back at her. Why make a cruel and complicated revenge plan, when you can just … let it go? I know it's easy to say and hard to do, but it's true. Think about it; is she that important to you, that you cannot forgive their betrayal, even after thousands of years? Trust me. Revenge isn't always the right thing. It doesn't make you a good person in any way.”

The Greek god sighed in obvious frustration.

But his facial features gradually softened into a pensive expression.

Eventually his face became determined, he muttered a begrudging “Ugh, fine”, rolled his wheelchair around and bid his colleague goodbye.

“What will you do now?”, Vulcanus wanted to know, as he stepped aside to let his colleague out.

Hephaistos turned around and was (surprisingly) smiling.

“Travel to Illyria. I'm going to meet with an old friend.��

“Thank you for the ride, Helios”, Hephaistos thanked his driver.

The sun Titan laughed merrily: “Hey, anything for my best buddy! Besides, I understand what you're up to, man. You sort things out and if you need a ride back to Olympos, just call me up, 'kay?”

The blacksmith god smiled: “Sure.”

“Alright!”, the Titan exclaimed and jumped back onto his chariot, “I'll continue my trip across the sky, before your king gets the vapours.”

The younger deity could only giggle.

The Titan grinned, before spurring his horses and riding off.

With a fond smile Hephaistos looked after Helios. The gods could say about that guy what they wanted, but he was a really good and reliable friend.

But his smile faded immediately, as he turned to the temple that contained the petrified remains of his niece and her husband.

This would be incredibly hard and he wasn't sure, if he actually knew what to say.

But he wasn't a coward and he definitely was no quitter.

He wasn't sure, if Harmonia could hear him, but he definitely owed her an apology – even, if he had to give it to a rock, since her and Kadmos' remains had turned to stone through Zeus' will.

That's my fault … it's all my fault …

“Alright”, he murmured to himself. “Time to finally man up and face the shit I've done.”

He entered the building and to his relief found, that it was empty.

Good.

It would be Tartaros to explain to a mortal priest or visitor, what a tan, young-looking man with long black hair and a wheelchair (it wasn't like the mortals knew those yet) was doing inside a funerary temple with an offering of incense, cinnamon, holy water and a bouquet of white roses. Bringing flowers was silly; the goddess turned mortal was now dwelling in Elysion, where the flowers grew fairest, but she would have been happy either way, he knew.

She was a real sweetheart … I have to give it to her parents, they raised her well.

He looked around the interior.

It was a plain, almost minimalistic temple and behind a simplistic altar, on an elevated pedestal stood a statue of two medium-sized Drakones³, entwined in eternal embrace. Thus the couple had passed on and thenceforth their petrified bodies had remained this way. It was both romantic and tragic.

He sighed: “Hello, Harmonia. It's been a while. The last time we saw each other was at your wedding, I believe?”

He set his offerings on the altar with some effort.

“I'm sorry I took so long. Well, for that and a lot of other things. This is kind of stupid, because I'm here talking to a rock, when I should be saying this to your face. But I can't, so this will have to do. I don't know, how much you knew. Or if you can hear me, for that matter. Still I owe you an explanation … and an apology.”

Suddenly he was startled by a gust of wind, but when he looked around, no one was there.

After looking around cautiously, he just assumed, that it had been the draft and turned back to the stone.

“Well, there really are no words to make up for what I have done to you to get back at your parents, but I will try anyway.”

He began with an explanation, then a confession, before attempting to apologise.

Eventually he said: “So … that's it. That's kinda how I ruined your entire family out of petty revenge. I know that a sorry won't cut it. But I'll try anyway. I'm sorry. I had no right to do what I did. Because of my grudge against your parents, I destroyed your every chance at happiness. Because of the circumstances you were conceived in, I hated you, even though you never did anything to warrant it. Back then I did it to make them suffer and didn't care about how you would handle all of this. Today I know, that I was in the wrong. I should have just let it go and instead I made an innocent woman suffer out of selfish spite. What I have done is unforgivable and I do not ask for your forgiveness, that I don't deserve. Still I want you to know, that I regret what I did. So I hope that you can hear this. If you hate me now, that's fine (you have all reason to), but if you can find it in your heart to believe me, that would be more than I could already ask for. Please believe me, when I say … I'm sorry. I deeply, truly am.”

Finishing his apology, he took a deep breath.

There. It had been done.

Suddenly he felt a lot lighter, even though he had been talking to a rock.

For a moment the temple was quiet.

Then a voice made him almost yelp.

“That was a beautiful apology. Would've been better, if you had said it to her face, though.”

Hephaistos turned his wheelchair around as quickly as he could.

“How long have you been here?”, he gasped.

Ares shrugged: “I saw Helios drop you off here, when I came, so I think it's safe to say: the entire time.”

The smith frowned; so that had been the gust of wind from earlier!

The war god shook his head and approached.

He too was carrying offerings in his hands and arms; a giant, quite colourful bouquet of exquisite flowers, a bottle of perfume, a peplos, incense and a bowl with fruit.

Ares set his rich offerings down on the altar, next to the one Hephaistos had put there earlier.

Then he crouched down next to the younger god's wheelchair with a sigh.

For a few minutes, they sat in awkward silence, before Hephaistos cleared his throat.

“Ares, maybe you should fold your wings away, before-”

“May they see 'em”, the older cut him off. “They already have before. They know the father of their late queen.”

Hephaistos could see the other's wings tense up and the fingers claw at the stone floor, before Ares composed himself.

“You have some nerve, showing your face here.”

“I know.”

“Was about fucking time though.”

“Yes, it was.”

“I've read your letters.”

“Have you?”, Ares muttered.

“Yes. In Athena's presence, like you wanted.”

“Good.”

“I've burned them thereupon.”

The war god's mouth quirked upward. “Figured you would.”

“Those letters were crap.”

“Sure, whatever you say. And still you cried, before you burned them. Daddy's Owl told me. If you really had thought they were crap, you wouldn't have shed a tear.”

Hephaistos couldn't help but be surprised, that the red-eyed god knew him so well, but he didn't voice it.

Apprehensively he watched his older brother.

Ares was grinning lopsidedly, but his red wings rustled and twitched in irritation, giving away that he wasn't remotely as casual or amused as he was pretending to be.

To be fair, neither was the younger.

“I still think that you're a prick, Ares.”

“I know. And you're right. But I'm gonna level with you, brother – you've been an arse too.”

Hephaistos smiled bitterly: “Yes, there's no denying I was.”

“Ya know, when Aphrodite and I first realised it … that thing with the necklace … we were really mad at you, both of us.”

“I don't blame you.”

“Good.”

Ares craned his neck to look his brother directly in the eyes.

“Why did you do this to Harmonia? How could you? Why to her? She … she …”

His toneless voice wavered and he quickly looked away again.

“It wasn't my intention at first”, the smith whispered. “The necklace was meant for her mother.”

Ares didn't respond. He didn't have to.

Hephaistos knew, what he would have said, if he'd had the words to say it. He also knew why he still wouldn't have said anything, even if he could have.

“I'm sorry”, he finally whispered.

Ironic, really; never would he have imagined, that he would apologise to Ares of all gods.

The red-eyed god didn't answer beyond a heavy sigh.

The blacksmith god didn't know how long they sat in silence hereafter.

But at some point Ares placed his left hand onto the armrest of his brother's wheelchair – cautiously, as if to give the other the option to just slap it away, if he didn't want it there.

Hephaistos' brown eyes widened.

That was a rather tentative and gentle gesture from the abrasive, warlike madman that was Ares.

Then again, who was he to complain?

With a tiny smile he took the hesitant hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

---

1) Algea: the Greek Daimones (spirits) of pain, suffering and grief, bringers of weeping and tears, daughters of Eris, the goddess of strife. 2) Pontos: the primordial personification of the sea, a son of Gaia. 3) Drakones: serpentine dragons (mostly just enormous snakes)

#Greek Mythology #roman mythology #ares #Aphrodite #ares and aphrodite #athena #hephaistos #harmonia #helios #tw: character death #grief #mourning #reconciliation #harmony never truly dies

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