#me: no I was minding my own business and swishing

[asleepinawell]

me explaining the rpr rotation: so these are your single swishes and then here are the multi swish swishes and then you can gothify to get cool pink swishes and swish swishes and here's the button I never remember to hit between pulls

[sourvers]

WHEN YOU'RE PRICE'S BELOVED WIFE who exudes class and the fine mist of confidence through the click of your leather boots, the gentle swish of your trench coat and the glimmer in your earings. When you walk into base for the first time- delivering your husbands forgotten paperwork from your office- of course the boys can't help but soak up your velvety voice and candid laugh like the tint of red wine on your pretty lips. No wonder Price said, “My wife is beautiful.”

WHEN YOU'RE PRICE'S BLUNT WIFE who wants nothing more but to ensure a breathing Price walks through you're house doors. Which means you want the 'boys' to be safe too! You chide them firmly, crossing your arms over your chest, your voice that of a captain giving orders or a mother you can't refuse. Price can't help but stifle a laugh; attempting to nod his head while you point your fingers at towering men who could crush you with a flick of their finger. Yet, the three of them remain paralyzed. You shoot a glare at Price. Best not anger the missus...

WHEN YOU'RE PRICE'S HARD WORKING WIFE who stands firm in your opinions and speaks cut, clear and concise. When the boys find out you're a university professor: an academic of considerable standard, their not entirely shaken. They learn how hard you fucking worked for your position. While their out in the fields, you're teaching the next generation; plunging yourself into the heart of ignorance and rooting it out, lifting it up to the heat of the sun, watching it melt in palm of your tender hands. Price says its a relief you're so strong, just in case things go south.

WHEN YOU'RE PRICE'S KINDHEARTED WIFE who has the imagination of child and the freedom of a bird. You lift kids up in the air, make snow angels, bake cookies at 12 in the morning and laugh until the rest of the world can hear you. While your face may be riddled with acute angles and sharp turns- the curve of your smile shines like a star. You invited them over to your place for a night, cooking Price's favourite for all to share. That was when they saw you, really saw how much love was swelling in your big heart as you danced and sang with no care; pressing a kiss on Price’s cheek with each new song.

WHEN YOU'RE PRICE'S SECRETLY SAD WIFE who wishes life didn't have to be this way. Who wishes you didn't have to be so 'strong' all the time. Who questions if you were even strong from the start. Who desperately desires a stable life as the years go by— maybe your own kids in your arms and not your coworkers. You didn't think Soap would hear you that night in the backyard, crouched down drying your tears while muttering words he couldn't understand except the single phrase, “I wish my husband wasn’t a fucking captain.”

WHEN YOU’RE PRICE’S LONELY WIFE who thinks it’s best if you stopped visiting him at work— “I think I’m distracting you love.” Inviting the boys for dinner— “I’m afraid I’m busy as of late.” Or even talking to Laswell— “Best not disturb her!” Because the void of your home feels even deeper now despite all the years.

YOU’RE PRICE’S WIFE. You wake up and trace girlish hearts over your husband’s face— muscle memory. He pretends to sleep. You giggle. He brings you closer to his chest. You close your eyes and burry yourself in the tenderness of his heart: fighting the dread at the back of your mind. He whispers to you through a smile, “I can’t believe you’re my wife you know?”

Your lips form a tight smile, “Me too.”

cod masterlist. / similar posts

⤷ it honestly wasn’t meant to be this angsty. oh well. reblog and comments are highly appreciated!

[catscidr]

// taking care of your dogboy (hsr edition!) //

i. note — sry i havent been posting yall i got a job + ive been working on three cosplays at the same time bc my local con is coming up lmao (´ཀ`」 ∠) however the brainrot never stops. it only takes a break. a little break of approximatively. a month. ish. ......... anyways dog hybrid hsr boys brainrot !!! lmk if we want more of this with more boys •ᴗ• comments and asks are appreciated hehe ii. includes — blade, gepard, boothill and gn!reader iii. cw — slice of life stuff turning into smut, possessive behaviour, overstim, slight dom/sub dynamics, real messy stuff, manhandling. use of the word "hole" to keep reader gender neutral iv. wc — 1,9k

blade is a mutt riddled in scars and dirty bandages from living on the streets and fighting to survive.

you think he might be some german shepherd mix, but he refuses to let you swab his teeth n gums for a dna test (last time you tried you narrowly avoided a punch to the face. he apologized in his own way afterwards), so whenever people ask, just say he’s a rescue to avoid revealing that you actually just… don’t really know what breed he is. they usually drop the subject and simply go on their merry way, seeing as he wasn’t the type of pup to appreciate affection from strangers anyways– it’s rare for you to leave the house in the first place, though.

you had to switch to a remote job because blade is just so persistent when it comes to you. although possessive is a much better descriptor, because he doesn’t let anyone near you. whenever you leave to get groceries he ends up practically breathing down your neck from how close he gets— acting as if he were your literal shadow— glaring at everyone that gets too close to you. you’ve made it a habit to always go to self-checkout lane so blade doesn’t scare off the cashiers.

the second you get home he’s all over you, determined to rid you of that outside stench and replace it with his own. you started packing your grocery bags in a way that nothing will break if (read: when) you suddenly drop them on the floor, all because you’re so familiar with blade’s impatience.

he holds you still by engulfing your body with his, knees caging your hips as he grinds into you, shallow and deep. blade’s growls and huffs fill your ears just as much as his cock fills your hole, his knot kissing your tightness from the outside.

“do you like this? like how i have to fuck you every time you decide to go outside again when you could stay here,” with me blade omits, his tail swishing back and forth on the bedsheets behind him, the sound just barely grounding you to reality.

your grocery bags were long forgotten on the foor (as they usually are), your mind too foggy to function. clawing at the sheets, you try to crawl away from blade’s grip— to no avail.

he tuts, craning his head to bite down onto the skin where your shoulder meets your neck. “i might just need to mark you for extra precaution,” he bucks into you, knocking the air out of your lungs. you hear squelching, the constant plap! plap! plap! from his thighs smacking against your ass and whine, broken babbles leaving your kiss-bruised lips.

“b-blade, y’can’t- ah,” he shushes you by plugging you full of his lengthy cock, his knot almost threatening to press inside of you. you whimper, feeling lightheaded from a mix of both nervousness and arousal.

he soothes the hickey he left on your neck, licking it languidly as he stills to bask into the way your hole throbs around him. warm and tight and oh so tempting.

“shit, wanna fill you. wanna… have everyone know they can’t have you. you’re mine, mine to love ‘n mine to fuck,” you’re not lucid enough to process his thinly veiled confession, too busy writhing your ass back against him in a feeble attempt to get him to continue moving.

you might want to invest into some good concealer or into those skin coloured tattoo patches to cover the bruises and bite marks blade’ll leave on you if you want to continue being a functioning member of society. you can’t really be walking around in public as if a dog had just mauled you right before you left the house, can you?

gepard is a golden retriever because of COURSE he is. similarly to blade, he likes to invade your personal space a lot— not because he’s possessive, but because he’s extremely protective of you.

the random bruises you used to randomly notice on your body faded as soon as he came into your life. gepard’s soft, lingering touches healed them; gently placing a hand on your hip before you bump into sharp furniture so it doesn’t hit you, redirecting your head to his shoulder as you nod-off in the train before you bang your head, and so on.

it’s a full-time job and he’s working 24/7, always on the lookout for anything that could possibly hurt you as you saunter off… wherever, without a care in the world— because he took care of everything!

he would clean the apartment for you, cook (though you usually insist you do the cooking; a human doesn’t have the same taste in food as a hybrid), and even act as your own personal alarm clock. gone were the days of being woken up by loud, blaring beeping. gepard woke you up with forehead kisses instead, making your mornings much more pleasant.

but poor geppie, he’s always taking care of you; so take care of him, won’t you?

every so often you’ll sit in his lap to help him get rid of whatever stress he held in his body. your hands will knead at the muscles in his broad shoulders, all while you simultaneously kiss away the strain in his face. his brows are furrowed as you do your best to soothe his muscles; you never forget to smooch his cheek, nose and the corner of his lips.

though the attention and gentle acts of affection always ends with your hands lower than they should be.

“ah ah, no touching, remember?” you murmur in his ear playfully. you had been at it for what felt like hours; gepard’s cock and abdomen was smeared with the remnants of his cum, skin tacky from his previous loads. your hand shows no sign of stopping, not even when he begged oh so sweetly.

“c-come onn. just… jus’ wanna kiss…” and who were you to deny your sweet boy? your lips find his in a heartbeat, his tongue swiping over your own sloppily as he breathes you in like a depraved man.

the only condition you had when you did this was for him to keep his hands to himself— at least until you both decide to move on to something else. until then, his fists clench the sheets beneath the both of you, and his ears stay flat on his fluffy head.

“i’m… i’m close again, g- aah, please, please…!” he begs, cock weeping precum as you continuously jerk him off. you smile, absentmindedly rocking your hips to the rhythm you held him prisoner to— gepard was too engulfed in the warmth of your hand to notice, anyways. “cum whenever you want sweet boy,” you purr, and he keens as he buries his face in your neck, his hips lifting off the bed ever so slightly as they meet your hand and he thrusts, riding the high of his orgasm.

sticky cum coats your hand for the nth time; you relent your grip on his cock for his sake, instead choosing to shower him with chaste kisses all over his face. gepard whines, taking ahold of your waist weakly as he breathes into the crook of your neck.

“geppie, your han-“ he cuts you off, swiftly switching positions so you’re now laying on your back as he hovers over you, chest rising and falling quickly, catching his breath from the intensity of his orgasm. gepard’s tail wags slowly behind him as his hands creep up from your waist to your chest just as slowly- you feel his cock harden against your pelvis, precum spilling from his pinky tip.

“‘ts my turn now,” he huffs, leaning down to nip at your neck.

boothill is the most obnoxious dalmatian hybrid you’ve ever seen (not that you’ve seen many, or at all). but he’s made your life so fun so you can’t be too mad at him

he’s always dragging you out of bed to go do something— could be going to the park nearby or sit in the living room playing video games on your dusty console, it doesn’t matter because he’ll MAKE you step out of your cozy nest!!

you’re glad he’s friendly, because you’re not sure how you would handle such an excited hybrid when you left the house. people come up to the both of you to chat and he indulges their questions, essentially leading the conversation (while you stand there awkwardly, not knowing what to say).

boothill is also great with kids, unexpectedly. 9 times out of 10 when you go to the park he ends up playing with someone’s child, bright smile on his face as he messes up their hair with a rough hand. they’ll throw a frisbee for him to go catch and he’ll do it happily, or he’ll even… teach them how to beat people up.

(you stare mortified as he teaches a little girl how to throw a proper punch only for her to then punch her parent when she leaves boothill’s side. you go up to them and apologize profusely, forcing boothill to bow with you.)

he also loves to help you out, even though he’s not the greatest at household chores— but he definitely tries! though he is a stellar cook, which never fails to surprise you whenever he’s on dinner duty. he just… really sucks at everything else.

it’s… mostly because he just has so much energy. he sweeps the floor? nope, he’s picking off the pieces of the broom off of the floor because he accidentally broke it. he’s fixing your bed? nuh uh, you’re throwing out the ruined bedsheets because he accidentally tore them to shreds somehow.

so, with all of these accidents happening because he’s just brimming with energy 24/7, you started purposely exhausting him. or, rather, gave him the green light to exhaust you until he tires himself out.

“booth-aah, w-wait, you’re being too…!” you fall over on top of his hard chest, keening at the new angle his cock reached inside of you. he repeated his assault on the spot that made you see stars as your jaw gaped, broken moans leaving your lips.

“don’t tell me y’re tapping out.. haa, already!” boothill grunts, his grip on your hips tightening. he throws his head back with a loud moan, abs tensing as he nears yet another climax— the 5th one of the night. maybe, maybe not. you lost count after the third one.

you bury your face into the crook of his neck, focusing on the feeling of his cock plugging you full instead of the soreness, the burn in your muscles that came from your knees holding you up on his lap.

watching you riding him will always be his favourite thing in the world, even if he always ends up fucking up into you and taking back control at the end of the night.

“gonna cu-uum…” you whine, clenching around his length almost painfully tightly, hearing his breathing hitch as an orgasm is ripped out of him in consequence to yours. boothill’s fingers dig into your ass, his hips lifting off the bed as he cums deep inside of your sloppy hole again, sticky fluid building up beneath the sheets.

you collapse on top of him fully, chest heaving against his own as you come back to your senses, slowly but surely. boothill’s ears perk up, hearing how your breathing had evening out.

“so… got another round in ya?”

[balletfilmss]

BUT DADDY, I LOVE HIM!

✸ pairing: jason grace x daughter of poseidon! reader

✸ synopsis: no, you’re not coming to your senses. even if it’s your father who’s telling you to

✸ warnings: none!

✸ notes: writing’s so weird…like it took me weeks to do my last work & i cranked this out in TWENTY minutes

idea from this post by @percabething!!

“what?”

“you heard me, yn,” said your father firmly, ready for you to take your leave and quit bothering.

as if you were the issue here. you’d been minding your own damn business when he just appeared at the lakefront, disturbing your date planning.

your boyfriend would be here any minute, and here poseidon was suddenly deciding to parent. and not only to parent, but to have the audacity to try and tell you who you could and couldn’t date, trying to slam the door on your whole world.

“this doesn’t make any sense!” you protested. “jason and i have been together for months, why is it now a problem?”

“i was hoping that your little summer fling would die out, but it seems that you’re persistent with this one,” your father said.

this one? as if you’d dated more than one other boy before him.

“now, like i said, it’s time for you to stop entertaining this relationship with zeus’s boy. i know you don’t think so, but i’m looking out for you. think about what this could do to your name! end it already, yn.”

at that, he began to walk back towards the water, trampling over your beautiful picnic spread and narrowly missing crushing your basket.

you ran after him, the sides of your unbuttoned cardigan blowing in the summer breeze as you followed him into the water, willing your dress to stay dry as you cried out, “my name? i don’t care about what it could do! jason’s the one i want, dad, you can’t do this!”

poseidon stopped in his tracks, turning to you. “i am the god of the seas and your father, yn, i can do whatever it is that i please. so do enlighten me, why, may i ask, do you think i can’t do this?”

before you could even think to stop yourself, you shouted the words at him,

“because, dad, i love him!”

at the confession, something in your father’s stormy blue eyes seemed to clear up. his face softened as he looked at you for a moment, wondering how the little girl he remembered had gotten so old in such little time.

you began to grow antsy at the silence that followed your words, suddenly aware of the swishing of the lake against your calves as time seemed to still.

finally, poseidon sighed, “very well then.”

you perked up immediately, eyes bright as you squealed, “really?!”

the god nodded his head, though hesitantly and said, “yes. make sure he doesn’t make me regret it. and make sure he knows that.”

your father pointed over your shoulder, his tone suddenly shifted from how it’d been just about three minutes ago. you turned to find jason standing on the bank of the lake with colored cheeks and his hands behind his back, waiting for you to return and not wanting to interrupt your discussion with your father.

from the look on his face, he had definitely heard you.

blood rushed to your face as you realized that your first “i love you” for your boyfriend had been screamed at your father, of all people. when you turned back to your dad, he was gone with the waves.

tilting your head back as you dramatically rolled your eyes at the theatrics, you tentatively spun back round to look at jason, a sheepish smile on your face.

without missing a beat, he joined you in the water, splashing up to his ankles and sending water flying everywhere as he giddily made his way to you.

immediately upon arrival, he placed both hands on your face and pulled you in, catching your lips in a hasty kiss he’d been waiting to give you ever since he accidentally overheard your conversation.

you pressed your lips against his as your head swam as much as the creatures in the water below, winding your arms around his neck and pressing your body flush against his.

when you only separated because of lack of oxygen, neither of you strayed far.

“you heard me?” you asked with a breathe, forehead pressed against jason’s.

he was wearing what might’ve been the widest grin you’d ever seen.

“i did,” he said, pushing a tendril of hair behind your ear. “and i love you too.”

smiling hard, you pushed your lips against his once more.

[bloodibambiidoll]

What if someone who had a massive crush on rafe started dressing and acting like weird girl reader in an attempt to get his attention

I think she wouldn’t live to see another day !! Just kidding… but it wouldn’t be good for her… Possessiveness, talks of weird!girl getting bullied in the past, use of a butterfly knife (no breaking skin), Barry banter, weird!girl gets just a lil crazy here, she’s at her limit what can I say !! 18+MNDI!!

You don’t who the fuck this bitch thinks she is, who she thinks you are but she is about to get a reality check real quick. You’ve been watching it slowly progress. First you saw her at one of Topper’s parties wearing fuzzy demonias and a frilly mini dress and it just got worse from there. This girl whose name you haven’t thought of in years, Brittany. She treated you like shit all through school and she spent that same amount of time begging for Rafe’s attention. Which he never gave to her. And now? She’s dressing like you and posting pictures on her Instagram story of her in the middle of the woods. You even saw she had a sonny angel on the back of her phone in one of her selfies. Just like you. She’s been showing up at parties more and she’s somehow always at the country club when you and Rafe are. She’s never caught him alone though. Not until now.

You decided to stay home tonight, Rafe was going to a party with Barry and a few of their other dealer friends and you were tired. But when you got a text from Barry that you needed to come rescue your man because some girl wouldn’t leave him alone no matter how many times he turned her down? You knew who he meant and you were out of bed putting on a quick beat and a cute little outfit immediately. You called an uber and were there in less than an hour.

When you rolled up there was music blaring and lights flashing from inside so you pushed your way through the sweaty, weed and beer smelling living room while scanning for your man in every corner. It didn’t take you long to find him. He’s sitting out on the back porch on a bench, counting money on the small table in front of him, surrounded by his guys, and fucking Brittney. Barry is in between her and Rafe but she might as well be in his fucking lap from the way she’s leaning over him to fawn over your fiancé. She’s wearing a little lace corset top and a black mini skirt which wouldn’t be that abnormal for a basic kook bitch like her but she’s wearing the same platform boots you had on last week, a studded choker, and a chunky belt to match. It makes you see red immediately.

You stomp out the back door and across the patio with tunnel vision. Your white platform Mary Jane’s clank against the ground and your little pink mini skirt swishes with every step. You walk right over to Rafe and plop down in his lap, interrupting his money counting.

“Hey, baby.” You throw your arms around his neck and smile at him sweetly, which he returns.

“Hey princess. Thought you weren’t coming. Just gimme a second to finish this up and I’m all yours, Kay?” Rafe kisses your cheek all sloppy before going back to business. Which you don’t mind because you have some business of your own to take care of. You turn sideways in his lap to see Brittany glaring over at you with her mouth agape, like she’s shocked to see you sitting in your man’s lap.

“Oh, hey, Brit! Fancy seeing you here! I didn’t know you were seeing Barry!” You smile at her sickly sweet, gesturing to the way she was splayed across his thighs. “And I love the outfit, didn’t know dressing like a weird little fucking freak was in now!!” You giggle as you throw her words that she’s spewed to you a thousand times back in her face.

“What? I’m not seeing him. What are you talking about?” She scoffs and rolls her eyes, throwing her thin mousy brown hair over her shoulder. “And this? This is what everyone is wearing now. Do you live under a rock?”

“No, I don’t. I live in my fiancés big, nice house were he fucks me so good everyday.” Her blue eyes that she sloppily applied a large eyeliner wing to blow wide as her hand flies to her chest like you just hit her. It just makes you smirk as you lean across Barry’s lap so you can get in her face.

“Well, we will see how long it takes him to get bored of you. He is Rafe Cameron after all, you never know when someone shiny and new is gonna come around.” She says it quiet enough that you don’t think in his state of focus Rafe hears her but Barry suddenly looks very scared for her. And he should. You peer over your shoulder to make sure no one is looking your way and pull the butterfly knife tucked in your garter from its place all in one move. You stare into her eyes as you flick it open, finally putting those tricks you spent hours in your room teaching yourself to good use. You lace your finger into the loop of her cheap, wannabe choker and pull her face close to yours, holding the blade to her throat.

“Shiny and new?” You chuckle darkly. “Honey, you’re so fucking ran through Rafe is probably the only man on this island that hasn’t touched you. And he never will. So ditch the act. Go back to your lulu lemon’s and stay the fuck away from my man. Before I make you.” Your voice is calm and collected but the smile on your face and the underlying tone of it, mixed with the knife you have to her throat has her shaking with fear.

“You’re fucking crazy.” She gasps and tries to pull away but you only pull her closer, not enough to cut her, but enough to threaten it. You lean in so your lips brush her ear, letting out a manic giggle.

“You don’t even know the half of it. Stay away from him. Or you’re fucked.” You give her a condescending sticky lip gloss kiss on the cheek before pulling back and flicking your knife shut. She gasps and grabs her throat like you actually slit it and it sends you into a fit of laughter as she runs off with tears streaming down her face.

“Damn girl, I didn’t know you played like that.” Barry chuckles and he looks over at you with a proud smile.

“Yo, are you flirting with my girl again?” You look over your shoulder to see Rafe tucking a wad of cash into his pocket before you feel his arm lace around your waist so he can pull you against his chest.

“Nah, I mean, maybe a little bit.” Barry sends you a smirk and a wink that has Rafe groaning into the crook of your neck. “But don’t tell me you didn’t hear alla that…”

“Oh, no, I heard it.” You feel Rafe’s lips curve into a smile on your neck. “You feelin’ a little territorial bats?”

“Oh, absolutely. Not just over you, but over being the island's resident weird girl. You don’t get to jump on the train after shitting on it.” Your face sets into a glare that sends Barry and Rafe both into a fit of laughter. “Hey! Fuck you guys! That bitch made my life a living hell, she had it coming to her!”

“Yeah? You don’t think holding a knife to her throat was a little excessive?” Rafe squeezes your sides and you try to push off of him but he just pulls you closer.

“Honestly, country club is right. It probably would’ve been less crazy if you just hit her ass.” Barry rubs his fingers over his chin, the smirk on his lips causing the grill on his teeth to glint in the low light.

“That’s rich coming from you two!!” You scoff out a laugh that has them both laughing along with you.

“But honestly though? That was so fuckin’ hot, baby. Lemme take you home and show you who I belong to, yeah?” Rafe runs his nose along your throat before placing a few kisses there that have you throwing your head back against his chest with a sigh.

“Aye, unless you’re gonna let me in on it, I suggest you get a fuckin’ room.” Rafe sends Barry a glare that he returns with a smug smile. “What? Just sayin’.”

“Bro. It’s never gonna happen. Stop trying.” Rafe leans over you to shove Barry’s shoulder playfully before scooping you up carrying your ass out of there so he can take you home and fuck you until you can’t take it anymore.

Tagging some mooties: @babygorewhore @cxrrodedcoffin @starkeysprincess @cameronsprincess @rafeinterlude @nemesyaaa @bunnies-p1tst0p @eddiesxangel

All things Rafe & his weird!girl here

Divider by @anitalenia

[a-simple-imagine]

Too Cute to be Angry

Synopsis: A night spent talking to politicians and alt right superheroes is enough to drive anyone crazy but it's sister sage that puts you over the edge

Pairing: Victoria Neuman x fem!supe!reader (feline shifter)

Words: 3k+

A/N - self ingulgent little cat girl fic with my favourite supe written entirely for myself :)

WARNINGS - swearing, brief mention of murder and homophobia

Victoria Neuman was the busiest woman you know. if she wasn't spending her days in meetings or on Zoom calls, she was attending interviews or making speeches. she was a very driven woman. had big goals. ones you could hardly even fathom but not from lack of trying. you wanted to be part of her world but at the same time, it was so difficult to comprehend. it's not as simple as black and white. the people she surrounded herself with weren't always the best and for the most part, it's clear she tries to keep you out of it. possibly some misguided attempt to protect you.

it was a rare afternoon that was cleared just for you. nobody else around. no work calls or meetings. just the two of you sharing a quiet moment. laying on the couch with your head in her lap.A delicate hand scratches behind the feline ears that live upon your head. it feels good; and calming.a sluggish but continuous rhythm that was drawing you to drowsiness. She wouldn't mind. it wouldn't be the first time nor the last that you fell asleep on her.

"babe,"

"yeah?"

"how would you feel about going out tonight?" the answer was no. it was always going to be no. you were too content with a quiet evening to suddenly have plans thrust upon you.

"Where?" you question anyway and her hand slows.

"Tek knights." a mumbled answer that your ears pick up loud and clear. she couldn't be serious right now. there is absolutely zero reason why she would be going to see Tek Knight for anything but business and she already promised you no business tonight. it was just gonna be the two of you.

"Are you... serious?"

"some fancy party."

"no," replied snappily. "dude is creepy."

"When have you ever met tek knight?"

"once actually," you state, moving yourself up to look at her. "and he was fucking weird- asked inappropriate questions about my tail." you swish your tail, gently grazing it against her cheek.

"Well, you can just avoid him all night," Victoria insists, shoving your tail away. "I'd really like you to come."

"no thank you, can you go back to scratching behind my ears now." you lay back down.

"no,"

a heavy sigh. "Victoria," whined softly, as you nuzzled into her lap. you're tempted to gently bite her thigh but you don't. that would not help your case right now. "please?"

"if you agree to come I'll give you all the ear scratches you want."

"that's not fair."

"I need a buffer for when I can't take it anymore and that's you," she gives your side a firm pat. "I got you something pretty to wear."

"how pretty," mumbled against her legs.

"very," that meant expensive. you groan, stretching your arms and legs before sitting up. she raises a curious brow that makes you roll your eyes. She wasn't going to let this go.

"fine but you owe me," she places her hand on your head, ruffling your hair, making sure to get behind the ears. you naturally lean into her touch. this was gonna be a very long night.

Tek Knight lives in a mansion. like an actual massive mansion that's old and creepy but also kind of cool. gothic in nature and not an ounce of homeliness to its name. Victoria annoyingly leaves you alone pretty quickly and you're forced to find your own source of amusement. music plays as background noise and there really isn't anything to do here other than touch ornaments or talk with Republicans. She didn't tell you this was gonna be a party filled with right-wing nuts but here you are anyway. conversing with old white men about reproductive rights and how gay people are fine but need to stop shoving their lifestyle down Americans' throats. you observe the party from the corner of the room. helping yourself to the hors d'oeuvres as trays rush by. It's always a wonder why they don't just have actual food at these events or at least something a little less fancy. something actually tasty.

"you're Neuman's girl, right?" it's not inherently wrong so you allow the nickname especially when you realise who it comes from. she has never tried to hide your relationship but she hardly advertised it either. can't scare off the voters or whatever. you don't mind. you're not exactly in a rush to be hounded by the general public. Homelander stands beside you; strong and tall in his red, white and blue super suit. You've never been next to such a powerful supe before excluding Neuman. he was intimidating in real life.

"homelander," you declare obviously. you're not sure what else to say here. Victoria speaks about him a lot. he's also in the news all the time. you very recently watched him on TV. "I saw your trial," blurted out before you thought of the consequences. he probably didn't like to talk about him murdering a man.

"so you saw that I was found innocent,"

you nod a little. he'd been found not guilty despite the overwhelming evidence which was kind of insane but also expected. "Vicky says you should have been locked up," you agreed.

"and what do you think?" he turns his whole body towards you and you do the same. such intense eyes it's almost like he's looking right through you. you may be a supe but you were hardly on his level. Victoria says he's kinda unstable these days and anything can set him off so you try to think of something safe to say.

"I think... your eyes are really fucking blue- no wonder fascists love you," he smiles. you don't know if it's amusement or menacing but surely he understands you're joking. and if not, he likely won't attack at this fancy little party.

"calm down, I'm not going to hurt you."

"What makes you think I'm worried." he wasn't a mind reader that you knew for sure.

"your heartbeat," he replies. "but mostly the ears," the blonde points to the cat ears on the top of your head. "anyone else would call it cute," and with that, he walks away. he was a... confusing man. even from that short interaction, you can tell he can be elusive. alone once more you decide to go in search of a drink but it isn't long before Victoria is at your side.

"hi baby," you're happy to see her. you hope it means you can go home soon.

"hey,"

"What did he want?"

"Who? homelander?" why did she care? "just chatting about his trial and how cute I am."

"how cute you are?" she repeats back slowly.

"Hmm it's no surprise- everyone is obsessed with me so."

"you are adorable,"

a very bright exaggerated smile, showing your canines before your face immediately falls. "can we go yet?"

"you promised you'd hold out a couple of hours," and it was starting to feel like a lifetime.

"and I have," you groan dramatically.

"It's barely been an hour,"

"y'know, I literally got told women have too many rights," you reply. "too. many. rights- what does that even mean?"

Victoria sighs softly. "I know they can be... opinionated but just suck it up for me okay? it'll be over before you know it,"

"I wanna go now,"

"I know," she runs a gentle hand along your back. "but this is important."

"why is it so important?"

"I- I can't tell you that right now," Victoria replies. She never told you anything. it was always just important calls or important meetings or important parties. it made you want to roll your eyes. "just please behave for me," you put on a pout. "and I'll take you to the nice restaurant with the fancy cakes you love,"

"Really?" said cautiously. when in doubt she'll bribe you. not because she doubts you'll do it for free but rather as an insurance policy. better safe than sorry.

"Always so easy," she chuckles. "you gotta work on keeping your ears in check. perked right up when I said that,"

you frown a little, reaching up to cover your ears with your hands. "stupid ears."

"It's cute," she hums softly, a kiss placed against your temple.

"I hate you," said sharply.

"Just... mingle or something." Victoria pats your shoulder before leaving you alone again. you follow her with your eyes as she walks up to some old man. you decide to go for a walk and find that drink you were after.

"you arrived with Neuman," stated matter of factly. sister sage walks up from behind you. you cover your mouth as you finish the little pastry you stole off a tray.

"Sister Sage," mumbled through a mouthful before you swallowed. "newest member of the seven- I heard you're like the smartest woman ever."

"smartest person," she corrected.

"smartest person," you repeat. "what's someone so smart doing in a place like this?"

"we're surrounded by some of the most powerful people in the United States of America right now," Sage explains. you know on some level that should mean something to you but you hardly feel excited or proud. quite the opposite. you were in a room with some of the worst people in the United States of America. Almost all of them are against the very things you are.

"but not the nicest," you grab a champagne flute as it passes by, taking a long-needed sip of bubbly liquid.

"nice only gets you so far," she continues. "you're probably the nicest person here but also the least important."

wow. okay. rude. "I wouldn't call myself the least important."

"I would," she replies. "even the waiters are of more value right now. you're just Neuman's basically pet, cute but useless."

you're not sure what to say to that. is that why Victoria never shared anything with you? didn't think you were important? just a pet to be paraded about like some cute little mascot in her parade for power? "I'm not her pet."

"how do your ears and tail work? they're biological right?" the question catches you a little off guard. such a change.

"uhhhh shouldn't the smartest person alive be able to figure that out?"

"you're a shifter but only into a feline," her eyes trail over you like this was some sort of interview or examination. "do you keep the ears for aesthetic purposes? surely, you can get rid of the cat ears and tail."

"you'd think," you shrug. "but no, I'm cursed to be every nerdy incels wet fantasy." the cat ears and tail were considered cute by many, disgusting by others and a fetish by too many. for a long time, vought used you in a lot of advertisements and commercials until you quit. you still occasionally do some ads and stuff for extra cash. Not often do people see a real-life cat girl. a hand snakes across your back and you instinctively jerk away before realising it's Victoria. "hey,"

"Can we talk?" she wears the fakest smile ever.

"hmm," sage hums. you quirk your brow.

"What?"

"Nothing," she insists. "you have the exact dynamic I would expect. don't mind me." you'd ask what she meant but she is already walking away and Victoria is leading you in the opposite direction.

"what's up?" you wonder.

"I don't want you talking to sister sage."

"why?".

"Can you listen to me for once?"

"for once?" all you do is listen to her. this whole night was for her. "I'm here listening to old men tell me I deserve to go to hell for you. this is worse than that political banquet where that man followed me around the whole night and kept trying to pet me." you huff.

"you don't think I haven't thought about popping my own head every time one of these rich idiots tries to talk to me about reproductive health?" her voice is quiet but stern. she's trying not to cause a scene. "but I put up with it so just suck up. it's important."

"oh really? never would have guessed." you roll your eyes. "I'll just go sit in the corner and stare at the wall since I'm not important enough."

"That's not what I said,"

"no I get it, don't worry," you force a smile and brush past her. "I'll be a good kitty."

it's a quiet ride home. silent even. staring out the window as bright lights zoom past. you can hear Victoria chatting on the phone. much too busy to take note of your angry brow or vacant stare. you're angry at her. Sage's words weren't helping either. playing over and over in your mind. cute but useless. you couldn't necessarily disagree. Even Vought just wanted you because of how you looked. sure you had enhanced strength and senses but that was only compared to humans. there were plenty of much stronger supes. there were even more useful shifters. you just became a cat. agile. sneaky. but ultimately just a common house pet.

"Are you gonna pout all night?" Victoria eventually asks as you pull up outside her home. it pissed you off more.

"I'm sorry, I thought I wasn't allowed to speak." replies sharply as you exit the vehicle; a quick slam of the door. you hear her get out the other side and follow behind.

"I didn't say you couldn't speak,"

"semantics," you huff back. maybe she didn't say you couldn't talk but she did try to control every conversation. who you could and couldn't speak to. always checking in to make sure you weren't saying the wrong thing. "I don't feel like talking."

"We need to."

you just ignore her. That was much better than an argument right now. all you wanted was a hot shower and to go to bed. As soon as you get inside, you march upstairs. She doesn't follow, instead heading towards the kitchen.

the hot water was a welcomed distraction from your otherwise terrible evening. it was supposed to just be about you too and she just couldn't help but make it all about herself. propping herself up to important people. sneaking off for private meetings that you weren't allowed to attend. you go to bed alone. she was probably downstairs working like always. you don't know how long it is before she joins you.

"you have to talk to me eventually," Victoria hums. "can't sulk in your other form forever."

whenever you fought you liked to shift. being a cat was simpler. nobody had any expectations for cats. it was like the perfect excuse to not have difficult conversations. She couldn't understand you after all but you could understand her. loud and clear. "just tell me what's wrong."

you stretch out. fluffy kitty paws morph into human hands and legs sprawled out in the darkness. you sigh softly following on to your back. Victoria is sitting on the edge, looking down at you. "I'm not your pet," growled quietly.

"I never said you were,"

"that's all anyone sees me as," you reply. "Neuman's girl. neuman's pet. cute but useless/ that's what sage said."

"that is why I didn't want you talking to her," she replies.

"but she's right," you express. "you don't treat me like we're equals. you hide stuff from me. tell me it's too important and I won't understand. I'm not a fucking child or your silly little house cat, Victoria."

"Baby," a gentle hand moves to your arm but you shake her off. Moving onto your side and away from her.

"don't."

"Okay," she retracts her hands slowly. there's a moment of silence before she continues. "I don't see you as a child or some silly cat."

"Sure you do,"

"I don't," she insists. "I'm a politician there are some things I just can't share with you-"

"but you don't tell me anything," you interrupt

"but I admit I could share with you more," she proceeds with. "I just... I try to keep you out of all that bullshit. not because I think you're stupid or useless but because it's just easier. I don't want them tearing you down to get to me,"

"But I'm willing to take it,"

"you shouldn't have to. I don't want that for you- for us." she urges. "Sage can say whatever she wants but I don't believe those things about you. You're smart, beautiful and adorable sure but you're not useless. I'm so lucky to have someone as caring and wonderful as you."

"gross," said playfully after a moment. a small smile tugs at your lips though. "Victoria?"

"mhmm?"

"I'm sorry for acting like a spoilt brat tonight,"

"I'm sorry I made you spend an evening with all those awful people," you chuckle lightly as you roll over to look at her. they really were awful people. and maybe you weren't one of the most important people in America but you were a good person. a nice person. and that was much more interesting.

"World's worst and most boring party," you voice. "how did your private meeting go?"

she hesitates. probably a debate on whether to tell you or not. "...pretty well I think."

"Vice President Neuman has a nice ring to it," you tease. smiling up at her in the darkness. a strip of moonlight crosses her face. twinkling in her pretty eyes. it was a wild thought. one day soon you could be dating the vice president of America.

"how do you feel knowing you'll be the second lady?"

"oooh so official. so important."

"you're already so important,"

"to you maybe." you huff.

"does anyone else matter?"

"you of all people saying that is crazy," you semi-tease. it was kinda true. she cared a lot about her image. about how the world saw her. "let's just go to sleep."

Victoria doesn't answer but she does lie down, shuffling up behind you. there's a slight hesitation like she's not sure if you've truly forgiven her. you move closer to her, resting your head against her chest. listening to the way her heart thumped in her chest "night."

"good night," you hum softly as you let your eyes flutter closed. "I'm gonna get so many fancy cakes tomorrow."

[woofwoofwolf]

PURRING FOXES

Genshin masterlist: [link]

Summary:

Your relationship with Tighnari has been nothing but a blessing. You've always seemed to be in perfect sync, helped by the fact that you're the same species. ... But, is it really okay to leave that undiscussed? OR reader and Tighnari talk about what it means for their relationship to be Valuka Shuna.

Notes: Reader is Not Traveler, this is some real furry shit ngl, Fluff, reader is the same race as Tighnari, Established Relationship, Animal Traits, Hurt/Comfort, I tried my best but this is prob OOC, like. racism against animal hybrid people?, Communication Issues, GN reader,

Word count: 3,324

Shiny black fox ears stood tall on top of Tighnari’s head, twitching occasionally as the man paused to think. You could sense how focussed he was from watching his tail swish, your own tail and ears unconsciously shifting in call and response to his. Being both Valuka Shuna, you understood each other well like that. 

Your tail accidentally hit the door of his study and it creaked. The feverish scratching of Tighnari’s pen came to a halt and he turned around with a jolt. 

“(Y/N)!” His eyes darted towards the small clock placed on his desk. “I'm afraid I lost track of time, else I'd have some tea ready for your arrival.”

He moved to stand, but then halted briefly, the notes in his journal earning a couple more hesitant glances. Ultimately, however, he decided he wanted to focus his attention on you instead. Something you deeply appreciated, since you knew how dedicated he was to his work. Tighnari was always mindful about the fact that the two of you could only spend limited time together since you lived all the way at Caravan Ribat, your life as a merchant keeping you just as busy as the forest kept him. Every now and then, you’d plan a weekend where you’d come and stay in one of the vacant houses in Gandharva Ville so you could spend some time together.

His chair creaked as he made his way over to you. Unprepared to shift your quiet admiration into interaction, you put down your weekend bag instead of giving him the hug he expected. Looking back at him, you saw that his fond smile had faltered, in all likelihood caused by the downcast aura you were emitting. Despite this, he gently but resolutely placed his hand on your shoulder.

“Rough day?” He asked with a smile, his thumb rubbing at your tense muscles. You shook your head, but didn’t have anything to add.

“Oh well, rough week then?”  You let out a breathy laugh and finally allowed yourself to ebb into his frame. Tighnari returned the embrace, offering great comfort.

“Just tired…” You mumbled, avoiding eye contact.

This earned you a hum in response and a tentative kiss in between your ears. “Take it slow this weekend. If you want to stay inside instead of accompanying me on patrols then please tell me. Anything you need, just let me know, alright?”

Anything, huh...

“Tighnari..?”

“Hmm?”

“Could we- Instead of tea, could we cuddle..?”

Your ears warmed from your own question. Surely, you had been together for long enough to be more blunt in asking for his attention? In the beginning Tighnari really seemed to struggle with giving physical affection, but you always craved to hold his hand, to hug him goodbye, or to kiss him on the cheek when he rambled about his work to you. Even though he seemed to have warmed up to your touch, you were scared that directly asking him for it would be too much.

To your relief, Tighnari stepped back with an affirming smile and wordlessly led you to his bedroom. It was a bit awkward shuffling around to find a comfortable position, but finally you ended up with your head on his chest and your legs tangled up together. After only a minute Tighnari's breathing calmed and he started brushing his hand through your hair. Meanwhile, you silently tried to calm your heart rate as you listened to his steady beat. This loving side of Tighnari, without all the sarcastic comments or nagging felt very special to you and you were nearly certain he’d never show it to anybody else. You tried to enjoy this special moment, but it was hard to settle down. The earthy and floral tones of his scent invaded your sensitive nose, fresh and herbal from his body and deep and sleepy from the neatly made up covers beneath you. 

Eventually his hand stilled. You moved your head to meet the pouty frown painted on his face. “If you're going to toss around like a spinokrok with a fever, I don't see any point in lying down like this.”

Ah, oops...

After having known him for a few years, you knew this comment was meant to convey concern, rather than annoyance. Well, he was still annoyed of course.... And although it would be nice to shake off all your anxieties and just enjoy your time together, it seemed like you couldn’t just relax after all.

You sighed. “Tighnari…”

“Yes?” He sounded alarmed at your exasperated tone.

“What are we?”

Silence. Well, that attempt to breach the subject was a bust. Too direct maybe? It clearly wasn't what he was expecting to hear.

“You didn’t eat a conic, pink and white striped striped mushroom on your way here did you? You’ve been acting strange tonight.”

“Tighnari, I'm serious…”

The sheets rustled as Tighnari shifted so he could look you in the eye, his arm still around your back. His cheeks looked a little rosy.

“Well, I for one was under the impression we were dating… I thought I had communicated my intentions quite clearly.” The slight pout on his face squeezed at your heart, temporarily emptying your head of all thoughts. He jolted as you suddenly pulled your hands up to his ears and softly stroked the soft appendage between your finger and thumb, desperate to find a way to act on the boiling affection you felt for him. Like yours, his ears were warm, the skin almost as soft as the furred side. The pulse softly thumping underneath your fingers sped up ever so slightly. 

Ahh.. this is nice… Never before had you touched his ears and although you obviously knew what Valuka Shuna ears felt like, touching his was… different.

When your gaze moved down from his ears to his face you were surprised to find his eyes tightly shut, face completely red. You were about to ask if he was okay when he let out a nearly inaudible whimper.

“Did you just whine?” You laughed. In a flash your hand was snatched away from his ears. His expression was annoyed, but not angry, so you continued your teasing. “Don't you offer people to touch them all the time?”

“N-no! It's because it’s- You- Y-You're making it sound as if I go around asking people to fondle me on a daily basis-”

Tighnari’s ears shifted back in annoyance at your giggles. Oh, he was so much fun to tease.

“Hmm, Sorry,” you whispered. You brought your other thumb back up and softly stroked his warm cheek.

“You're awfully affectionate today…” Tighnari grumbled, avoiding eye contact, though he did move his grip from your wrist down to hold your hand.

“You don't like it..?”

When his eyes shifted back to yours, they had a serious glimmer to them. “No, I adore you…” You, rather than it, you noted. “(Y/N) talk to me, I can see you struggling, you know.”

Alright, here goes nothing… Let’s not avoid this any longer.

“I, ehm, don’t really know how to start...” You confessed. Tighnari gave your hand a squeeze. Now that you started talking he seemed… relieved? “I-I’ve been feeling- I eh.. It’s kind of embarrassing, really.”

“Did anything happen to incite these feelings?” If it was a different topic you would probably have laughed. It was like he was trying to find the cause of a weird rash. It was the most logical place to start, however.

“Oh well… Do you remember what I said about Affnu..?” Judging by Tighnari’s sour face, he did remember.

“That one lady that compared you to her dog?”

“That’s the one…” Sometimes you’d encounter these people that are weirdly biased against human hybrids, but this lady in particular had some very odd assumptions about you. She was an old widow living in Caravan Ribat and according to some of the other merchants you worked with, she had always had a few screws loose.

Tighnari rolled his eyes. “What did she say this time?”

Your stomach churned. “S-someone must have told her I had a boyfriend. And ehm, well she came up to ask me about it, I guess. She was weirdly mad about it?”

“Mad?” You didn’t blame him for his incredulous tone.

“Maybe mad isn’t the right word, b-but she said because I’m a fox I shouldn’t just ehm. Date whomever and that I should stick to my own sort-” That wasn’t really what she had said, but you’d rather not repeat her exact words, Tighnari’s already seemed angry enough. “Don’t worry this time people intervened, so I didn’t have to deal with it for long.”

“When did this happen?”

“About a week ago,”

Tighnari took a sharp breath. You could tell he was trying to control his anger. And although you knew it wasn’t directed at you, you still desperately hoped he wouldn’t judge you for what you would say next. 

“Honestly, I’ve been feeling a bit.. weird?”

“Archons, I’d be weirded out too if I had to deal with that.”

That hadn’t been what you meant. “At first I was angry, but recently I’ve been thinking, ehm you know…” Tighnari patiently waited for you to continue, but the words you were hoping to come up with still wouldn’t come, so he spoke instead.

“You don’t need to give this lady any thought (y/n). I think you should report her to the matra for harassment.”

You nodded slowly. “Right. Eh. She got arrested actually,” 

“Good,” Tighnari pulled you closer. “Should she try anything else I might just ask Cyno to intervene. The nerve of some people.”

“I heard her yelling things about King Deshret as she was taken away. I don’t think she cares that the rebellion was disbanded. Not that she was part of them to begin with, she’s just like that, I think.”

Tiighnari seemed to be in thought. It made you wonder if you should’ve bothered him with the full story after all. You were kind of veering away from what you needed to talk about in the first place, so you felt frustrated. And that after you build up all that courage.

“Unforunately, this can happen with age. If she doesn’t have the right support system it can be hard to keep these sort of aggressive episodes unchecked.” There he went again, looking at things from an analytical angle.

“Tighnari!” His name came out in a yell. Well, that shut him up. More aggressively than you would have liked, however.

“I.. I’ve been so. So frustrated!" You confessed in between gasps of air. You sat up on your knees, leaving behind a perplexed Tighnari. You didn’t mean to, but the tears came regardless. “D-did you know that- that Valuka Shuna lovers purr when they’re together, and ehm, did you know they intertwine tails when they sit next to each other? That they let their, erm, their ears touch. That they- that they scent each other?”

Tighnari's eyes were blown wide open, the redness returning to his face in full force. He sat up on his elbows to face you. “(Y/N) I- I don't know what to say.”

A sob left your lips. That was so embarrassing, why did it have to come out like that? You shook his arm off and moved away from him. He was always so patient in hearing you out, why couldn’t you find the patience to be heard?

“I'm sorry, forget I said anything- I didn't mean it like that,” You swung your legs over the edge of the bed, but before you could stand up, a hand grabbed at your shoulder. 

“N-no wait,” He said. “I’m sorry, it’s just- I guess I’m just new to this. The whole relationship thing I mean. You surprised me, is all.”

You didn’t relax in his grip and let out a few more sobs, tears flowing down your face. Tighnari’s mouth opened and closed a few times like a fish before he found his words. “I guess.. you’re not wrong. These are things I have observed in my parents when I was young. W-what’s this about, so suddenly?”

“You never treat me like that. Even though I thought I could finally have someone to connect to.” 

You knew. You knew what kind of man he was. Reserved and although seemingly confident standoffish, he really was quite awkward and tender hearted. It wasn’t enough to stop you from leaving him a babbling mess. The selfish part of yourself wanted him to, despite all the guilt. God what was wrong with you.

“(Y/N), (Y/N), I’m sorry- Talk to me please,” He sounded so hurt… 

Finally, you had to admit you were self-destructing. You slumped down, the tension leaving your body.

“You know… Since my dad died when I was 8,” You scrambled for anything to explain how you felt, even though you had told him before about your father. “And with my mom being fully human, I just never felt connected to that part of me. When Affnu said all these things I couldn’t help but wonder, why are we together? Does it matter what we are? Does it make us more special? A-and afterwards when I looked it up in a book about our biology, I realised, you and I weren’t like the book at all. That… That made me think that maybe I had misunderstood our relationship entirely.” Your voice had gotten smaller as you went on, fizzling out as you finished speaking. That was it. That is what you were struggling to convey. The guilt from your tantrum was hitting you full force the second you stopped talking. Your eyes hadn’t moved up from your hands while you were speaking, but now that it was silent, you didn’t even want to imagine the look on Tighnari’s face.

“(Y/N).” His voice was firm. “Can I hold you again?” You couldn’t detect any anger from him, as patient as ever.

“Oh Tighnari,” You sobbed. “Please hold me.”

Instead of circling his arms around you like you had expected, he moved to sit next to you, and placed his arm around your middle, pulling you down to rest your head on his shoulder. You gasped as you felt his tail brush up to yours, trying to curl around it. You let him.

“I-is this okay?” He asked, sounding very unsure of himself. You gave a bewildered nod. 

“I-I’m sorry Tighnari. Sorry for getting angry.” You were sure he would be equally as cross with you, but he wasn’t. The tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

“It’s okay... Don’t think I’ve got this figured out, okay? I can deal with the trials and tribulations of the rainforest much more easily, but truth is, I’m really awkward when it comes to these things.”

You snorted through the tears, his clumsy wording catching you off guard. “Gee, really?”

Tighnari sighed, relief making its way onto his face. “You will never miss an opportunity to make fun of me, will you?”

“Never,” you laughed weakly. You tried not to jump as Tighnari brought up his hand to dry off your tears, but you couldn't help the twitch in your tail. He didn’t let go. You didn’t want him to either. It was silent for a bit and you felt yourself being calmed by his scent, your sniffling slowly dying down. 

“To answer your question,” he suddenly said, enunciating clearly like he always did. “I think it DOES matter. That we’re both Valuka Shuna, I mean. Not that that weighed heavily in deciding on this partnership, but I think it is always nice to have something to share.”

This evening had been such a storm of emotions. And right now you were soaring above the clouds. All because of this dork of a man.

“I want to apologize if it felt like I was purposely avoiding certain aspects of your identity. I guess I was, really, I just didn't want to make you uncomfortable. But now I see I shouldn’t have left this unspoken.”

You nodded, feeling a bit surprised at his confession. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“Of course, I'll answer to the best of my ability.”

“You seem so confident about it all. Whenever people ask me questions, I feel so awkward, but you have no problems answering them at all. How does it not bother you?”

He let out a dramatic sigh. “Dealing with these people, it’s kind of part of my job, unfortunately.” You had to deal with stupid clients too, you wanted to object, but you didn’t want to start the ‘Who has to deal with the most annoying people in their job’ argument again, because Tighnari would always insist there were more idiots that crossed his path compared to yours. Although, maybe he’d let you win now you had told him about Affnu. “Besides, if people want to judge me on superficial factors such as my tail and ears, then that’s their problem, not mine.”

“Are they superficial to you? Your ears and tail?” You felt like a curious child, asking all these questions.

“Well, not to me. But my hybrid status is none of their business.” Tighnari's left ear tilted down until it was touching yours. Was he going down a checklist of actions you had just talked about? It was a little clumsy, but it endeared you. “For us… For us it can be as important as we make it to be.”

 “I guess that makes sense… You know, I rarely get the opportunity to interact with other hybrids. I feel like I'm faking being exactly like them all the time. The humans, I mean...”

“This is actually not uncommon in mammals,” Tighnari interjected. “The ability to adapt to one's surroundings is an important skill for survival after all.”

“You're such a nerd,” You said. “I love you, Tighnari.”

He laughed. “I guess I love you too.”

Wow. It felt nice to have finally said that.

You moved your head off of his shoulder and looked at him properly. His eyes shifted around for a second before he held your gaze, and you felt a light spark tickling your spine. Next, you felt a wave of comforting joy wash over you when your lips touched. The kiss was noncommittal and careful, but the most loving one you’d ever had.

“How do we know if we’re forever?” You whispered. Tighnari’s ears shifted back in surprise, and the lovely eye contact you two were sharing was broken.

“W-well, ahum. The mating for life thing technically doesn’t start until.., well you know-”

“Oh. Oh hm.” you both sat up straight. “I eh. Let’s leave that conversation for another day, shall we?”

Tighnari cleared his throat. “Let’s. Until that time, let’s keep up the open communication. How are you feeling?” He moved to stand up from the bed, examining you up and down to make sure things were properly talked out.

“...A bit hungry. I eh, might or might not have had anything to eat since this morning?” Tighnari’s face fell.

“What? Why didn’t you say so earlier! What have I told you about eating properly?” There was the full return of the nag master.

“Why’d you think I’ve been so emotional tonight, I’m starving!” You held out your arms for Tighnari to pull you up from the bed. He left you hanging, both hands on his hips.

“Really now, sometimes I wonder how you manage to survive out there in the desert.”

“Caravan Ribat isn’t in the desert!”

“It’s more than close enough!” He argued before finally pulling you up. You moved in as close as you could.

“Hmm, and too far away from you?” You asked with a smirk on your face. Tighnari pushed you back down to your feet with an unamused look on his face.

“Enough with you, you can have some of the food I prepared for tomorrow.”

You let yourself be pulled towards the kitchen. “Whatever you say darling!”

-----------

IT'S FINALLY DONE! I've been working on this for a while actually,, well, longer than I usually do for this amount of words. It's not perfect, but I am happy enough with it.

PLEASE PLEASE let me know what you think if you have something to say, it is always very encouraging to get comments. Especially for 'less popular' characters. (life would be so much easier had I been a Gojo stan or smth)

On that note, I'm pretty sure there are no gendered terms used for reader in this fic,, but I don't usually actively make an effort for that. I write these for myself and I'm a cis woman, so there might be some slip ups. If there is a part that isn't gender neutral let me know and I'll remove the tag.

Also, important note: I know that Tighnari’s race is “Tighnarian” but that is such a stupid writing decision that I’m overruling it. We’re going by Valuka Shuna, which is what his ancestors were called.

Now that we’re talking about lore anyways, apparently “Valuka” means desert in Aranara language, which is kind of funny considering Tighnari blames his dark fur for not being able to handle the desert? I imagine others in the same species or at least their ancestors probably had a colouring similar to the foxes you can see in the desert. That being said, one of his voice lines is about how his father is currently researching beetles in the desert, and he has dark hair and ears, so… I’m at a loss.

Writing for Tighnari is hard because I admire him so much but he's also an asshole and a huge nerd,, and I think he would be super awkward when it comes to communication? But at the same time he's pretty emotionally intelligent so I hope this isn't super OOC or anything.

Cross posted to AO3

[blackhairedjjun]

second chance encounters

pairing: choi yeonjun x gn!reader | genre / tropes: slight fluff, acquaintances to ???, university -> working adult au, nostalgia & slice of life vibes | word count: 3.6k | warnings: alcohol, some profanity, work-related burnout

summary: it's been a year since you graduated from university, and it always seemed like life had different plans for you and for the resident dance crew heartthrob, choi yeonjun. that is, until you run into him by chance after work.

author's notes: hello! this is one part of a fic idea that has been stirring in my brain for the LONGEST time - i wanted a very slice of life fic about adult life and growing up, and for the longest time i tried over and over to write it. but it was hard especially since it involved such personal feelings and experiences and i wanted to capture it just right. but i managed to get this part out, and once i'm less busy i want to try writing a part 2 too. so here it is, i hope you enjoy!

(support by reblogging banner by @/cafekitsune)

It was nearly midnight when you were finally let go from overtime duties at your job. You walked out of your building and, exhausted from staying up for so long, you plopped down on the curb in front of the entrance. At this hour you should try to get a cab home, but you wanted a moment to rest and regain your bearings first.

Despite the late hour, it wasn’t too dark outside; the streetlamps illuminated the sidewalks, and plenty of other office buildings still had windows with the lights on. Next to your building, a 24-hour convenience store was flooded in fluorescent lighting. Maybe you were lucky to have gotten out before midnight when plenty of others were still staying up. But with your eyelids drooping and your whole body feeling heavier than a slab of rock, calling yourself “lucky” felt like a stretch.

You spent the next few moments letting your attention drift, your eyes fluttering shut. You could still see the spreadsheets swimming in front of your vision, and you could still hear your boss’s voice urging you to keep up with the pace. “We won’t go easy on you just because you’re a junior. In fact, you should be working harder if you want to prove yourself.” 

Work harder... prove myself... The words were in your mind constantly, even when your body protested.

Your eyes snapped open for a moment and you spotted a tall man in a hoodie exiting the convenience store, plastic bag in hand, headed for a nearby parked car. Perhaps it was just your fatigue making you see things, but he looked familiar.

He turned his head in your direction and your eyes met. You watched his own eyes widen in recognition.

“Uh, excuse me一” he approached you, scratching his head, “did you perhaps go to...?”

He mentioned your university’s name.

You blinked and studied his face.

Of course. 

You had spoken to him only a handful of times before, but you still recognized the former captain of your university’s dance crew. Everyone at your major had known him.

“Choi Yeonjun...?”

一

Three years earlier

You swished around the beer in your plastic cup, watching the party scene unfold in front of you. The music blared from someone’s speakers, competing with the loud voices of your fellow university students shouting and laughing over each other, and tipsy students nearly stumbled into one another as they tried to reach the cooler for more drinks. All the while you leaned against the far wall of the common room, taking small sips of your beer, glancing around now and then for a sign of your roommate.

Still nowhere.

She’s probably playing a drinking game with one of her friends, you thought, or in another room making out with that guy from the dance crew. You sighed and drained the last of your beer, but made no move to refill it. The room was full of people you didn’t know or barely knew, their faces vaguely familiar from some common classes you shared with them, and you didn’t have the courage to talk to them. None of them paid you any notice either, instead staying close by the friends they already knew.

You had hoped that your roommate would at least be polite and introduce you to some friends you could stay with, but she had left your side as soon as you both entered the party. You sighed.

Just them a tall man in a baseball cap blocked your view.

He was clearly drunk, from the way his face was flushed red, and blinked a few times at you. You recognized him as a classmate from your literature elective, though you couldn’t remember his name.

“Do I... know you?” he slurred, blinking again. A small spark of hope rose in your chest.

“Yeah, we’re actually一”

He threw his head back and started laughing, nearly dropping the beer bottle he was holding. You tried to speak but he only laughed more. “Ah, what am I saying... who are you... hah...”

Your heart sank.

“Hey, you’re bother 一 you’re bothering them... that’s not nice...”

Another man appeared at your classmate’s side, nudging him. You could he that he was also tipsy from his pink-tinted cheeks and the way he stumbled over his words, but he seemed to have enough sense to stop his friend. He too looked familiar, but you weren’t not sure from where.

“I’m not boooothering,” your drunk classmate whined.

“Heh, okay you’re not... let’s just hang somewhere else...”

He squeezed his drunk friend’s shoulder, which seemed to divert his attention; he turned around to leave the room. The man then turned to look at you and you swore that he was properly looking, not just staring with his eyes glazed over from the alcohol.

“Hi...” He let out a little giggle. Cute. 

“Um... hi?”

“Sorry ‘bout that... we won’t bother you... have fun.”

“It’s okay...”

He stood there for a few moments, smiling at you. It was just a lopsided smile from tipsiness, but you couldn’t help the flutter you felt in your chest.

Then, as if awakened out of nowhere, he snapped to his senses. He waved at you, letting out a shy “bye!”, then turned around to follow his friend. You watched his back as he nearly stumbled over the couch and disappeared into a room at the side, and for the first time that night, you smiled.

It took a few moments, but you finally remembered why that man was so familiar: He was a prodigy member of the dance crew, the one that had won countless competitions against other dance crews from different universities. He was only a sophomore and already he was turning heads. Of all the members of that award-winning roster, he was said to be the best one.

His name, you recalled, was Choi Yeonjun.

一

You sat in the passenger seat of Yeonjun’s car with your hands folded on your lap. A jazz-pop playlist was playing from the car stereo, and you glanced over at your driver, who was humming along and drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. His posture was relaxed and he steered with one hand. As the song reached its final chorus, he broke out into full song, singing with such passion that his eyes and nose scrunched up.

Maybe it was a bad idea to accept a car ride from someone you barely knew, but it was certainly a better option than remaining seated and half-asleep on the curb in front of your office building. Besides, you had heard nothing but good things about Yeonjun during your stay in university. You had been classmates with a few dance crew members and they always spoke of him with a tone of admiration.

The song came to an end just as the car stopped at a red light. At this hour, there were hardly any cars on the intersection. Yeonjun turned towards you and smiled.

“I haven’t seen you in ages,” he said.

“Me too.” You fought your tiredness to manage a smile.

“It’s so good to see a familiar face. I just moved here a few weeks ago.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He tilted his head at you and licked his lips, thinking of what to say. “I actually got back from visiting my parents... I had to pick up some of my stuff there to move to my new studio. Then I ended up having dinner with them, walking around, catching up, and well... I was hoping to be home by ten.” 

Your tired smile turned genuine at his story. “That sounds really nice, though. I visited my parents last month, so I get what you mean.”

“Mm, I miss them already.” The traffic light turned green and Yeonjun turned to face the road again; the car cruised past the buildings of the business district, the lights in some of their windows still on. “Hey, how long have you lived here?”

“Less than a year ago, I guess? Pretty much right after graduation. I got a good job offer so I moved here so that the commute would be a bit easier.”

“Yeah, that makes sense... hold on, the building I found you at...”

“Uh-huh?”

“You work at StarOne?”

You sighed. When you had first gotten the job offer, everyone around you had oohed and aahed, throwing compliments and congratulations your way 一 you had gotten a job at one of the biggest, most prestigious companies in the country. You had blushed and beamed at them and replied with Thank you and Oh my god, I’m so excited too. But it hadn’t even been a year since then, and now all you knew were hours of overtime and unhappy clients, rush projects and evaluations where your boss and his boss peeled back your pride layer by layer. You’re doing good, but we didn’t hire you for ‘good’, they would say. We’ve got dozens of other junior officers and even more applicants standing outside our doors, clamoring for the job that you have.

You took a deep breath and prepared yourself for the canned responses you had developed when asked about your job: Yes, I work at StarOne. The pay is fine. The hours are pretty long, I guess. It’s challenging. But at least I work at a good company.

But instead the car reached another red light and Yeonjun turned to look at you and his eyes softened, as if he had seen the exasperation you so often hid. “Oh... overtime?”

You nodded.

“Ah, sorry. You’re probably too tired to talk about work, huh?”

You nodded again.

He blushed and turned away for a moment. Then he reached to the passenger seat behind him, picked up a thick dark blue blanket, and handed it to you. “Ah, my bad, I shouldn’t have asked... Do you want to rest for a bit? You can sleep for the rest of the ride if you want. Don’t worry, the blanket’s clean.”

Your memory stirred and brought forth a moment three years ago, when you had first run into Yeonjun at a party. In your mind you saw the way he had squeezed your old classmate’s shoulder, keeping him from bothering you too much, and the way he had looked at you right after. You remembered feeling seen, as if he regarded you as an old friend.

The way Yeonjun looked at you now, blanket in hand, felt exactly the same.

“Oh... you didn’t have to.”

“Keep it in case you get sleepy.”

You took the blanket from him, his fingertips brushing yours as he handed it over, and unfolded it on your lap. When you looked back at him you couldn’t help the small smile forming on your lips.

“Thank you.”

He made sure to drive a little more slowly after that, but you could still hear him softly humming along to the songs on his playlist. The sound of his voice wrapped around you even more comfortably than the blanket. 

You closed your eyes to let your mind wander. Sleep didn’t come to you, but new thoughts did 一 thoughts of Yeonjun and what you had known about him from university. Though you had barely spoken to him, your social circles did overlap somewhat; you had been classmates with a few dance crew members, and a few of his friends had been in the same major as you. Every time his name was brought up, it was always in a positive light, whether it was him helping out a new dance recruit or inspiring the rest of the dance crew to work harder. Not once had you heard anyone speak ill of him.

Now you understood why.

一

Two years earlier

You watched the rain from the entrance of the campus arts building, its extended roof keeping you and several other students dry. Today the downpour was much better compared to previous days 一 you could actually see ahead of you, for one 一 but it was still bad enough that the endless drumming of the rain on rooftops filled your ears, and the pathway leading out of the building was a blur.

Still, you had a class in ten minutes and Professor Im had not made any announcement of cancellation. The sciences building was a short walk away but you needed all the time you could to get there and dry yourself off. Sighing, you fished your umbrella out of your bag and silently thanked your past self for remembering to pack it this time. With the push of a button (good thing you got one of those automatic ones) the umbrella opened, you held it up, and you hugged your bag more closely around your body to keep it dry. Here you go.

You had barely taken two steps out of the building when someone bumped against your side. Your umbrella shook, causing a few rain droplets to land on your head, but you barely felt them. Not while you were too busy staring in horror at the student who had bumped into you and was now running through the rain, not caring that they were getting soaked to the bone.

“HEY!”

You chased after them, your umbrella swaying as you ran through the pathway, shouting at the student to wait. You were no match for their pace 一 you could see that they had long legs 一 but they finally heard your shouts, slowed down, and turned to look at you.

Oh. Choi Yeonjun.

His hair was wet, with his bangs clinging to his forehead, and his hoodie was so drenched that it had turned from light grey to dark. He was still panting from his sprint and the dampness on his face was a mixture of rainfall and sweat.

You felt your face grow hot. Somehow offering to share an umbrella with someone you kind of knew was more embarrassing than doing it with a total stranger. But you were already here anyway and it seemed rude not to say anything.

“Uh, we can... share...”

You held the umbrella up above your head to accommodate his height and he laughed.

“You don’t have to,” he said. “I’m headed to the gym for dance practice, it might be too far.”

“It’s okay! I’ll take you!”

That was a lie. The gym was in the opposite direction from the science building. But you had perfect attendance in class so far, so you figured that one late mark wasn’t too much of a cost.

Yeonjun giggled and took the umbrella from you. His hands were soft as they brushed against yours. Your whole body felt warm despite the chill from the rain. “I’ll hold it for us then,” he said.

You smiled and moved closer to him. “Thank you.”

“Nah, I should be thanking you. Coach would’ve embarrassed me in front of the whole team for being late. And I told the new members last week not to be late! I would’ve looked like a dummy in front of them.”

He laughed again and you couldn’t help but laugh too. His walking pace was brisk but you didn’t mind, keeping up with him and listening to him talk about his dance practice. A whole other world within the university campus seemed to open up in front of you, one of competitions and prizes and prestige and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Yet there was an unmistakable gleam in Yeonjun’s eyes as he talked about the team’s new routine and the higher challenge level for it.

“We’ve only got a week left so we really can’t waste any time,” he said. “So... thank you. This helps a lot, really.”

The two of you were standing in front of the gym entrance. The rain had died down to a drizzle, and he lowered your umbrella. The walk from the arts building had felt like both an eternity and a moment.

You took the umbrella from him and his hands lingered on the handle before he let go.

“See you around,” he said. “Good luck with class.”

“Yeah, see you... good luck with practice.”

Yeonjun turned and sprinted into the gym, and you headed back to find the path to the science building. Not a single worry about being late bothered you, and you couldn’t help yourself from smiling.

一

Yeonjun’s GPS led him to a boxy apartment building. It was painted completely white, reflecting the light of a nearby streetlamp, which gave it a sterile glow. He pursed his lips; not the most homey place to live, he mused, but at least it looked well-kept.

He turned to you and found you asleep in the passenger seat, his blanked draped over your shoulders. Your chest rose and fell ever so slightly from your breaths, and your expression was completely calm. There was no trace of the undertones of stress he’d sensed when he had approached you; whatever worries you had about your job seemed to disappear in your dreams. 

Yeonjun lifted a hand to tap your shoulder awake, but he hesitated. A wave of relief overcame him, and for a moment he couldn’t help but admire your serene expression as you slept. You looked so... content. Had he ever seen you look that way? While he had crossed paths with you only a few times, you had always looked as if something was on your mind. He could still see it all in his memories: the loneliness in your posture when he approached you at the party, the nervousness in your eyes when you had offered your umbrella to him. He wondered what worries were always plaguing you, and if anything could be done to keep them away.

At least he had returned the favor for the umbrella incident, he thought. And it only took him two years.

His hand was still hovering over your shoulder when you awoke. You blinked a few times to chase the sleepiness away before turning your head to look at him. A small smile spread across your face and Yeonjun felt a flutter stirring in his chest.

“Are we home...?” Your voice was still hoarse with sleep.

“Just got here.” He smiled. “I can walk you to your door...”

“Mm, okay...”

Your apartment door wasn’t far up, only on the third floor. You had his blanket draped around you like a scarf, and Yeonjun carried your bag for you. He set it down beside your door, its black paint finish contrasting with the white walls, and waited for you to unlock it.

It was only when you pushed the door open that you noticed his blanket around your shoulders. You tugged it off and handed it to him.

“Oh, sorry, I forgot一”

“Keep it.” Then, feeling a little bold, he continued: “You can give it to me the next time we see each other.”

“Next time...?”

His smile faltered. Did you not want to see him again? Was he being too forward? Did he overestimate how much you remembered him? Why did he feel so keen on seeing you again in the first place?

“You don’t 一 you don’t have to.” He reached a hand to take the blanket. “Sorry, I was, I was just...”

But you regained your senses from your nap and beamed at him. The sight of it sent another fluttering feeling through Yeonjun’s chest.

“No, I mean... I was just surprised that you’d want to catch up, that’s all.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I... um. I do want to catch up with you, Yeonjun.”

“Great! Oh shit一” He clasped his hands over his mouth. His voice had come out a little too loud. “I mean, let’s work something out. I can give you my number...”

一

You had been lying in bed for fifteen minutes and you were still awake. You should be trying to sleep for another day of overtime tomorrow, but all you could think about was your drive home with Yeonjun.

You reached for your phone on your nightstand and looked at his contact for the fourth or fifth time since you’d shut the door behind you. He had saved his contact name as “jjunie” with a little fox next to it, and the sight of it made you chuckle.

Did this really happen? You thought of the few times you had run into each other, seemingly at random: his cute little “bye” as he clutched a beer, or his damp hair sticking to his forehead as he held onto your umbrella. His life felt tangential to yours, always passing by you, but never with you. And yet you were holding on to your phone with his number in it and an offer to see each other again.

You laughed again and set the phone down on the bed, on top of the blanket that he had lent you, and rolled to your side. It didn’t matter now, you mused. Old memories gave way to newer ones: his smile as he opened the passenger side of his car for you, his humming to a jazz tune as he waited at the intersection, his soft hands placing the blanket in yours. 

No matter how things had been back then, they were different now. Yeonjun would stick around in your life for a little while. You might even have a friend, and the thought consoled you as you finally drifted off to sleep.

[pinkeos]

AFAB! Neuvillette x AMAB!Reader || 18+ MDNI

Warning/s: SMUT, they have seggs in a lake

Notes: *drops this and scampers back to play swarm cause ive been procrastinating*

In a secluded lake, somewhere in Fontaine only known to two, was the Chief Justice. His horns glowed a translucent blue, tail swishing in the water as he relaxed his body.

Neuvillette seldom took breaks, often drowning himself with piles of papers, working tirelessly for the sake of his nation. However, he needed a break. He deserved a break.

And being a good partner, you decided to take him out for a late night swim, knowing well it would help him clear his mind off of his troubles. That, and you also wanted to finally spend time together outside of the very quick lunches you shared.

The surface of the water rippled when you entered, the man turning to face you with the softest smile on his face. The moon was bright and high up in the sky tonight, the way its light shone down upon your lover only made him even more ethereal than he already was.

You returned his smile, leaning forward to press a soft kiss on his forehead while he instinctively wrapped his arms loosely around your neck. You felt him shiver in your arms at the way your fingertips gently traced his spine, going down until your hand settled on the fat of his ass, earning a gasp from your beloved.

“You look so perfect.” You murmured against his cheek, placing kisses against his cheekbone, adding with a chuckle, “As you always do.”

Neuvillette smiled, “You flatter me, my love.”

Your kisses on his cheek traveled downwards, reaching his jaw and then his neck. In compliance, the white haired man tilted his head to the side, giving you more room to place loving kisses on his skin.

He could feel your hands roaming his body, groping, caressing with adoration. You’d been intimate with him a number of times, but nowadays, with the sudden rise in the number of cases he had to deal with, you could only sneak in a few kisses and sometimes make out that would ultimately be cut short due to his busy schedule. He sighed in pleasure, slowly feeling his knees grow weak at your affectionate touches.

Your naked bodies pressed against each other when you pulled him closer to you, the water flowing softly at the sudden action as his tail wrapped around your waist. It was quiet, with nothing but the sound of nature surrounding the both of you, coupled with Neuvillette's whines when you nipped on a sensitive spot on his neck.

“It’s been so long. I need you, sweetheart.” You groaned into his neck, snaking a hand between the both of you to take a hold of the base of your cock, inserting it in between his plush thighs to rub against his throbbing pussy.

The Chief Justice whined, hand coming up to hold onto your bicep as you continued grinding, your length rubbing against his folds, the veins stimulating his clit just right, “Then— ahh!— t-take me.”

You didn't need to be told twice, really. Your hands immediately grasping his thighs, mouth devouring his own with a sense of urgency, so thirsty and deprived of him. His tongue danced with your own, his hand running through your hair while the other held onto your shoulder as you wrapped his legs around your waist.

“Mm!” He whined into the kiss, feeling your fingers rub his nipple, twisting and pulling. The stimulation along with your tip pressing and teasing against his clit drove him nuts.

You pulled away from the kiss, panting as you caught your breath, staring lovingly into his eyes while your hand guided your dick near his entrance, pressing into him slowly. The man’s lips parted, forming a small ‘o’ at the sensation of the stretch.

He could feel your eyes linger on his face, intently watching to see if he was in pain. It was a simple action, but it did make his heart flutter with how attentive you are. As much as you wanted to pound into him with everything you have, especially with how good he felt around you, you still prioritized his comfort and feelings first. You weren't going to lie, though, taking the hydro dragon in a secluded lake was hot.

“You feel so tight.” You grunted, slowly grinding your hips against him as you waited for him to fully adjust.

With red cheeks, Neuvillette buried his face against the crook of your neck, “I-It’s been a while…”

A smile spread across your lips before you drew your hips back until only the tip was left, and thrusting back into him. You kept a steady pace, eyes closing and eyebrows furrowing as his warmth clouded your head, feeling nothing but his walls clenching around your cock.

“Mmm-ahh! Aaahh! F-faster… go faster…” He whispered through pants, gritting his teeth as you placed your hands on his hips, bringing him to meet your every thrust. He could feel your tip kissing his cervix, tears gathering in his eyes at the immense pleasure.

“Keep clenching around me and I might just come inside you.” You groaned, speeding up your thrusts, your movement creating waves and splashes.

His sharp nails scratched your back, desperately trying to ground himself from the overwhelming ecstasy brought by your onslaught of pumps into his pussy, pulling at the knot in his stomach to cause it to tighten and tighten.

From the way he only tightened even more at your words, you could tell he wanted it. He wanted your cum to paint his insides white, for you to breed him without a care in the world.

Neuvillette tilted his head upward, hearts in his eyes and tongue lolling out. He looked adorable like this, all dumb on your cock.

Without warning, his eyes widened, a loud gasp falling from his parted lips as his legs shook, hold on you loosening as his climax tore through him, his pussy spasming. You had to hold him tighter, making him lean against your figure as you continued to chase your climax.

“Cum… inside me.” He panted, biting his lower lip, “Breed me. Please, please…”

Who could refuse when he chanted and whined in your ear, meeting your thrusts and coaxing you to do as he told you.

“Fuck, that's so hot.” You grinned, finally stopping still, groaning into his neck as you spilled your semen inside of him, directly into his cervix.

He whined, ignoring the cool water the both of you were in, instead focusing on the warmth of your seed inside him.

You held him against you still, rubbing his back and placing soft kisses on his shoulder, whispering how good he was for you. He remained silent, however, and before you could ask what was wrong, you felt a drip of water against your cheek.

Slowly, droplets fell from the sky, clouds now blocking the full moon as rain took over. With wide eyes, you pulled back just enough to show him your worried face.

“My love, are you alright? Were you hurt—”

Neuvillette shook his head, nuzzling closer towards you, “It just… it felt too good.”

You worry dissipated, instead chuckling softly as you cupped his cheek, “You’re adorable.”

Ending note: i love neuvillette sm (totally didn't skip his rerun for a 4* in 4.7🤡)

[luluia]

New Years With One Piece Men

Includes-Monster Trio and Ace

Warnings-Make outs, Kissing, and suggestive towards the end

A/n-Second work. PLEASE IM RUSHING THIS

Luffy

It was New Years Eve and every was getting ready. Whether it was Sanji preparing the food, Brook practicing his music for tonight, or Usopp and Franky touching up an extra special surprise for midnight. You and Robin happened to be in charge of all the decorations since Usopp was busy.

“We did it!” You said as all the New Years lights you and Robin set up turned on as you high fived Sanji brought you girls some drinks before delivering one to Nami

“I’m not really in the mood for a beverage right now,” You said yawning “Don’t fall… asleep…” You heard Chopper say to himself barely able to keep his eyes open you were glad you weren’t the only one.

Eventually once it was around 10 pm you guys started to have fun as Zoro was drinking, Franky and Usopp were doing a dance as Chopper joined in, Brook was playing music, Robin and Nami were talking, Jimbei was eating having the time of his life as he gave his thanks to Sanji for the food, And Luffy? He was shoving his mouth full

You decided to step out for some fresh air as you leaned against the balcony staring into the ocean. “Y/n. Why are you out here?” You heard a familiar voice say as you turned around to see your beloved Captain

“Just needed some fresh air. Shouldn’t you be inside having fun with everyone Pirate King?” You asked he wrapped his arms around you “It isn’t fun without you” He said as you felt your cheeks get red you immediately looked away

“I-I’ll go back inside in a few minutes so you should go-“ You said until you felt his head shake back and forth he didn’t seem to want to leave you

“Wanna hangout and talk for a bit?” You asked he nodded as you both sat down on the deck, Luffy’s head resting in the crook of your neck you smiled as he was falling asleep

“Love you. Happy New Year” You kissed his head

“Love you too, Y/n. Happy New…” He snored as you smiled

Zoro

It was New Year’s Eve as you and the other Straw Hats were at a small island celebrating the new year.

“Mind pouring me some?” You said talking to your best friend on board the notorious Roronoa Zoro he didn’t say anything and just poured some do his drink into your cup with a tiny growl

It seemed pretty clear you had a thing for the marimo but you knew he wasn’t one for romance so you never tried anything.

“You didn’t have to if you didn’t want too” You said he rolled his eyes as it was 10 minutes to midnight as some people starting clinking their glasses

“To a new beginning!” You heard some people say as it was now 5 minutes to midnight some people started making out you gagged a bit

“I don’t get the point of a New Years kiss” You heard Roronoa say

“Maybe I could show you” You flirted he scoffed as the clock struck 12 you both clinked your glasses and took a shot and right as you were about to swallow you felt a pair of lips on yours as the wine swished around between both of your mouths

You were shocked before slowly easing into it your arms making it’s way around his neck as his rested on your waist before you both pulled away to catch your breath

“You did show me the point” He said tucking your hair behind your ear as you both continued

Sanji

It was New Years Eve and as tradition you and Sanji always prepared the food together. Much to Sanji’s dismay every year.

You guys have been inseparable ever since you met on the Baratie. Whether it’d be you serving tables or making some food you guys always seemed to be together it was kind of a known thing.

“Hey pass me the onions!” You said as he handed you some you started chopping them into mini squares

“Of course Y/n my sweet!” He said helping you in anyway he can while he prepared his own dishes you two were working hard for the feast later tonight as Sanji also made drinks for Nami, Robin, and of course you

“Sanji can you test the Pasta I can’t tell if it needs more sauce” You said as he took one and bit it

“This is amazing sweetheart!” He said you smiled he had given you that nickname a while back when you two were still at the Baratie.

“I think besides the pastries in the oven we’re good to go” You said washing some plates and Sanji dried them he nodded with a cigarette lit in his mouth you took it and put it in yours

“Been needing a quick smoke” You said finishing washing the dishes but not before the cook’s nose was bleeding like a fountain as he passed out “Chopper! I accidentally did it again!” You yelled as Chopper came running in

Ace

It was New Year’s on Whitebeards crew as everyone celebrated Ace had other plans on how to celebrate…

“Happy New Year Marco!” You said he bowed his head slightly “Happy New Years to you too N/n” He said as everyone was giving hugs so did you until Ace was your last hug of the night

You two hugged “I wanted to be your first but everyone held me back” He whispered into your ear as you blushed a bit he smiled before leaning in to kiss you.

As both your lips connected like a puzzle piece everyone seemed to be celebrating the moment but you could barely hear them. You could sense anything it seemed as if you two were the only ones on Earth at that very moment.

As you both pulled away for air Whitebeard raised his cup “To a new year. And a new couple!” He said as everyone yelled celebrating congratulating you two

“I hate you sometimes” You weren’t too fond of parties so he smiled nuzzling into your neck tired and hung over you sighed before he started kissing your neck sucking on it

“A-Ace. We’re in public-“ You said as he stopped taking your hand and leading you to his room as you both sat on the bed

“I don’t know whether I hate or love you for doing that” You said as he wrapped around your waist “Mmh I’m fine with that if it means getting to have you to myself for the rest of New Year’s” He said you shrugged agreeing as he slowly undid your blouse

[deathworlders-of-e24]

Jane, Medical Technician

Part 3

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

“Okay, I get you’re the head of the science department here, but your rehab falls under my supervision you know,” Jane said, a little exhausted. She couldn’t believe it had only taken a few weeks for someone on the crew to get seriously injured, although it was completely believable that it was one of her fellow humans.

“I know, I know,” Liz said, waving her new augmented arm. “I thought I could speed it up if I overclocked the neural activity algorithm, but that didn’t work, it just gave me headaches.”

“This isn’t something you can speed up Collins, you can’t just skip parts of your recovery because they’re inconvenient.” Jane sighed.

“Liz, you lost a huge part of yourself, a very necessary part. And you lost it in probably the most traumatic way I can even imagine. You’ve got to let your body and mind heal at their own pace, alright?”

“Fine, okay, alright,” Liz said. “You’re right, I know that, I just want to go back to normal, not adjust to a new normal.” She leaned her head back against the cushioned chair.

“It’s like, part of my nature, to fix problems, improve things, see how they tick,” Liz said. “I clearly have a problem that I can’t solve and my brain won’t let me back burner it ‘till I have something else to focus on.” She brought her head back up.

“Let’s talk about something else! Give me something, anything, so long as it keeps my brain busy.”

Jane just stared at her a moment, thinking. It wasn’t exactly conventional therapy, but neither of their lives were considered conventional these days. What the hell?

“Like what?” She asked.

“Like I heard you pulled a tracheotomy in the mess hall the other day. Used a steak knife and a bendy straw of all things. You could ask me to make you a whole first aid kid with all the latest tech and it’d fit on your belt, I swear. Actually don’t even ask, I’m already doing it,” Liz stopped to breathe, “it’ll be great for emergency surgeries.”

“Well hopefully we won’t have any more emergency surgeries, but if you’re serious and you think it’ll help, by all means, build me something cool.” Jane smiled.

Jane liked Elizabeth, or Liz as she wanted to be called, and as her only Human patient so far, she wanted to be accommodating. Jane had asked if Doctor Huhuma had wanted to run the sessions herself, but Huhuma thought that another human would be better for the patient to speak with. They’d also heard about how interested Liz Collins was in aliens biology and figured she’d be less distracted this way.

She’d lose it if I told her I have lunch with all the Indoprime on board some days, Jane thought, a little smugly.

As if on cue, the door opened and Doctor Huhuma walked in, lab coat on as always, striped tail swishing as she walked to her office. She waved politely as she passed, and Jane waved back smiling.

“Doctor.”

“Doctor.”

Jane looked back to Liz Collins, who as she figured, was staring, but at her and not the alien monkey woman. And she was grinning.

“Oh yeah, this is a problem I can work with,” Liz said.

“What do you mean?”

“Dilated pupils, mirroring, tensing in the shoulders, the way you leaned ever so slightly towards her as she passed by, you’re blushing so hard as I say this, are you alright?” Liz was trying so hard to keep from laughing. “I’m a trained biologist too hon, and you got some awesome brain chemistry going on right now, don’t you?”

“Okay, times up for today, same time in two days right?” Jane said hurriedly, standing up from her chair.

“Look look look, I’m not gonna say anything alright? And this could be part of my therapy, keeping my mind off the arm while the two get acquainted,” Liz said in a hushed tone, standing as well.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, you have no idea what you’re saying, and your mandated therapy hour… still has… 45 minutes. Damnit.” Jane slapped her hands against her thighs. “Okay, but this is strictly therapy, you start getting weird on me and I’m withholding drugs in the future.”

“Hahaha! YES!“ Liz said, cackling.

“Here,” Jane said, handing her a small rubber ball. “Stress toy, but we are going to use it rehab your hand. Squeeze while we talk.”

Liz put the ball in her new bionic hand and tried squeezing. The hand whirred and and twitched, but didn’t really do more than cup its fingers and hold the stress toy.

“Come on, come on, tell me what’s going on here in this daytime soap you call a med bay,” Liz said, staring at her hand and focusing.

“Nothing really. She’s technically my boss, the most that goes on in here is we have lunch together.”

“Scandalous,” Liz said sarcastically.

“I don’t know what to tell you, nothing is happening between me and Doctor Huhuma.”

“But you want something to happen, right?”

Jane didn’t say anything… but she did blush.

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

The session continued in that manner for the remaining time, and when Liz left med bay she turned back at the door.

“Okay, call me later, we’ll get Coco in on this too, we’ll get you a date by the weekend.” She left laughing.

The science nerd and her talking tree associate were about as useful as those teen romance novels her cousin was always reading.

Did she want something to happen with the good doctor? Dating a coworker, her boss no less, had to be a terrible idea, right? Of course it was, and that was if she even liked her, which of course she couldn’t.

Jane forced the thought to the back of her mind. She had work to do, a paper to write on the cellular structure of the Zilgrat people and their similarities to Earth ferrets. Much like Huhuma’s people the Indoprime, the Zilgrats were so similar to the Terran species that it was believed by some that they might have a common genetic ancestry.

There was a rapidly growing field of thought back on Earth that many alien species had come to the planet in the infant years of their space exploration, like the Galley, and had left behind objects or hybrids, or some other mark of their presence, hence why so many species seemed to have the same qualities as the Earthling varieties. Personally, Jane was more a fan of evolutionary truths, the idea that certain branches of evolution are more adaptable across the universe, like certain species of birds on Earth that keep ‘reevolving’ despite going extinct, or that every form of life eventually turns into crabs.

Just as the thought crossed her mind, Jane heard the med bay door open. She turned, and saw the Scrib man, Ensign Mirn, standing there with his hands clasped together.

“Hello, Doctor,” he said, bowing his head. “I’m here for my check up? Doctor Huhuma said I’d need to be treated for possible infections or complications if any arose.”

“Right, of course. Hop up on the table.”

Mirn bowed again, then crossed the room and climbed up on the exam table. He was about Jane’s height, give or take 5’4, which was normal for the Scrib. While they resembled humans physically, the whole race was on average much smaller than the Earthlings, with light pink skin and almost zero body hair to speak of.

“Are you feeling alright? Any fever or anything?” Jane asked.

“Not really, perhaps my throat is a bit sore, but I wanted someone to examine me just to be safe. I understand there was a used drinking tool inserted into my trachea?”

“Yeah, sorry about that, it’s all I had at the time.”

“Don’t misunderstand Doctor, you are not to blame. You saved my life, something an entire room of officers failed to accomplish. To the Scrib, to perpetuate life is of the highest priority, so I hold you only in the highest regard.”

“Oh,” Jane said, a little surprised, “well thank you Mirn. I was really just doing my job, you know.”

“That is irrelevant, Doctor. On Scribbin, medical professionals are something akin to religious officials. To the Scrib on board the Noah, and this is especially true of myself, it is a matter of course that the Medical Staff are to be shown the highest order of respect and admiration.”

“That’s actually a nice change of pace, Mirn. On Earth, doctors are usually the ones overworked and underpaid.”

Mirn looked aghast.

“Why would such a thing be? Are you not keeping your people healthy?”

“No, it’s just… humans have a tendency to be suspicious of things they don’t really understand, especially other humans who are probably smarter than them. Some bad things happened in our past, so it’s understandable people are still skeptic.” Jane patted him on the shoulder. “We’re getting better though. Science has come a long way back home, so people are relaxing a little bit more these days.”

“That is… most welcome to hear,” Mirn said.

“Okay, open wide and say ‘ahh’ for me.”

Mirn opened his mouth and tilted his head back, making the sound. The inside of his mouth was reddish, same as a human’s.

“Hmm. Your throat looks a little inflamed. Probably a small infection. I’m gonna prescribe you a broad range antibiotic to be on the safe side, okay?”

“Thank you, Doctor Shaw.”

Jane tapped a few keys in her data pad. She went to the medicine locker up and entered her code, pulling the pills. She handed them to Mirn.

“You know the drill right? Follow the directions on the bottle, and you have to take all of them, even if you’re feeling fine towards the end.”

“Of course, Doctor. Thank you.”

Mirn stood up and headed for the door, but stopped when he was halfway out into the hall.

“Doctor Shaw, if I might ask you something?”

“Something else bothering you?” Jane asked.

“No, no, nothing like that. I wanted to ask something of the Medical Staff, if I may?” Mirn said, bowing again.

“Sure, but what is it?”

“Well, we Scrib have a perpetual reservation time for the GRID simulator. It allows us to recreate a ceremonial space from our home planet, something I believe humans would call a… church service? We give thanks to the Spirit Lord, the bringer of life and medicine, and we would be most honored if the other doctors and yourself could attend it with us. There would be food and drink there, a way for us to repay you for what you have done for us.”

“Well that’s sounds very interesting Mirn, I’ll bring it up to Doctor Huhuma later and I’ll send you a message on your comm-link.”

“Thank you, Doctor Shaw. We would be very pleased for you to attend. I’ll take my leave now, let you return to work.”

Mirn bowed again and stepped out into the hall, letting the door hiss shut behind him.

A race of intelligent people who worship doctors, Jane thought. How about that?

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

Huhuma had agreed, fairly easily, saying it’d be fun seeing another culture on the ship. The nurses had declined, however, saying they were either too busy or didn’t have much interest, which Mirn had said was perfectly alright. The Scrib had no desire to distract the Med Bay staff if they were otherwise occupied. Jane had said she’d go as well, jokingly saying that if for nothing else that she’d feel awkward if she didn’t at that point. When asked what was the dress code for such an occasion, Mirn had said that their medical uniforms were more than enough. Jane had still done up her make-up at least a bit, and ran a brush through her dark hair before giving up and putting it back up in a bun.

Jane stood outside the simulator, clicking on and off a data pad with Scrib customs loaded on it, when Doctor Huhuma stepped off the lift. As usual, she was in her green medical uniform with her lab coat over it, her hair down around her face in a shaggy pixie cut look. Still no shoes. Jane had asked her before, and the doctor had looked at her confused. ‘Why would I wear those things? How would I walk that way?’ she’d replied, laughing that deep hearty laugh. The only thing that was different was her uniform was open, showing a simple woven shirt underneath, showing off a more casual look, Jane guessed.

She must’ve been staring because Huhuma laughed.

“Something the matter, Jane?”

“Nope, no, not at all,” she stammered.

Smooth.

Jane composed herself, or tried to anyway, and they knocked on the door. It opened to show Mirn, smiling, wearing what looked like a sort of toga clasped at his shoulder and tied at the waist with a belt. He was also not wearing shoes.

“Doctors, you honor us with your presence! Please come in, join us, sit anywhere you please,” he said. He pushed them into the room, which had been simulated to look like a Scribbin temple chamber. A wall of stained glass, glowing with dim golden light, behind a tall statue of a humanoid man with a staff wearing a flowing robe, holding a basket full of herbs and other plants. The statue was circled with low tables covered in platters of food and goblets, surrounded by cushions and rugs taken up by the other 3 Scrib. They stood up and bowed to the doctors as well.

“Doctors, this is Lark, she’s in the communications division with myself, and these are Karu and Meli, they work on the engineering deck with the other Human, Thomas.”

“It’s lovely to meet you all,” Huhuma said, bowing her head slightly.

“Yeah, hi everyone,” Jane said, a little sheepishly.

“Now that you are here, we can begin. Sit, sit,” said Mirn, motioning them to the bigger of the cushions. Jane looked to Huhuma, then sat down. Huhuma sat to her left, striped tail swishing.

“Is there anything we need to do, or…?” Jane let the question hang.

“No, no, all you need to do is eat and drink your fill once the food is blessed. The two of you saved my life, therefore you are my guests here,” Mirn said, sitting across from them.

Jane watched as the 4 Scrib held hands and closed their eyes. Mirn began to chant softly, which was taken up by the others a beat later. When she didn’t understand what they were saying, Jane’s translator beeped quietly in her ear, alerting her to an error. The damn things weren’t great at picking up singing. Thankfully the Scrib all had lovely voices, so Jane didn’t mind. Kind of like turning the radio on in a foreign country. You get to hear something nice, even if you have no idea what they’re saying.

Jane looked around at Huhuma, who seemed entranced, smiling and humming along to the chant the Scrib were carrying. She swayed gently, tail swishing, and Jane found she couldn’t take her eyes off her. Huhuma once again caught her, and she smiled all the way up to her eyes. The Scrib reached their hands out to include them in the circle. Jane took the hand to her right, and jumped a little when Huhuma took her left in hers. Jane felt a heat deep in her cheeks and knew a blush was coming, but this time she didn’t care. The moment seemed to last, magically, as if in all the universe this one single passing blip of time belonged solely to her.

Oh crap… I’ve got a crush, Jane thought.

When the chant was finished and the Scrib let their hands drop, Jane held onto Huhuma’s hand for just a beat longer before letting go.

“That was lovely, Mirn,” Huhuma said.

“Thank you, Doctor.”

“I have to say though, what did it mean?” Huhuma continued. “I’m afraid my translator wasn’t able to distinguish any of it.”

“Oh, it was simply a prayer song, praising the Spirit Lord for the bounty of knowledge he’s bestowed on us, as well as for a world of healthy people and the resources to help our fellow lifeforms.”

“What a nice sentiment,” Huhuma said.

“I heard that Scribbin was a haven for medical technology,” Jane spoke up. “Your planet has some of the best teaching hospitals in the GAIL. I’d love to visit one day, attend a lecture or two.”

“All are welcome,” Lark informed them. “Spreading the medical information we have discovered is a tenet of our people.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Jane said hesitantly, “if your people are so inclined to medicine, why aren’t you all doctors yourselves?”

“Some just do not have the temperament for it, nor the inclination,” Mirn said.

“Nor sometimes the stomach,” Lark laughed. “You should have seen Mirn during his first aid training on Scribbin. He was trembling like a newborn at the sight of blood.”

“I was merely too… inexperienced,” Mirn said, with some side eye that made Jane chuckle. “Now before any more of someone’s soon to be former friends bring up the past, we should enjoy the feast.”

Lark laughed as the Scrib stood and began bringing over plates and platters of food. Cups and goblets were handed out, large pitchers of something that smelled sweet yet oddly medicinal were set out, and they began to eat.

Jane grabbed a little of everything, wanting to explore more alien cuisine. Huhuma piled on what appears to be several different vegetables and fruits. She poured some the medicinal drink into a glass and held it out to Jane.

“Thank you,” Jane said.

“Of course, dear.”

Jane felt something swish against her back and saw it was the Doctor’s tail, a totally involuntary action she was sure. Jane hid her face in the cup anyway, swigging down the drink. It tasted sweet, with an odd tannin on the end, still with that medicine taste, but it was also very refreshing.

“What is this drink? It’s good,” Jane said.

“It’s a medicinal wine we brought from our home planet. We only drink during ceremonies like this once a month, so we found a way to enjoy it more,” Lark said, smiling as she took a sip.

“Can I have some more?” Jane asked.

“Of course,” Mirn said, sliding over the pitcher. Huhuma steadied the cup in Jane’s hand and refilled hers before pouring herself another glass. Her fur tickled Jane’s wrist.

“It’s alcoholic?” Huhuma asked.

“A very small percentage, we assure you.”

Whatever the drink was, it was good, in Jane’s opinion. The whole spread was delicious. While she was reaching for something, Huhuma took it upon herself to split a fruit on her plate and place the second half in front of Jane. Jane thanked her, particularly conscious of the way her tail kept swishing against her back behind them. She tried to make small talk with the Scrib, asking various questions about their beliefs and their planet, perhaps she could get a tour of one of their hospitals one day?

All the while, blindingly aware of the delightful presence to her left.

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

When Jane opened her eyes the next morning, it wasn’t her ceiling she was looking at.

Oh no, nononononono no, this isn’t happening, Jane thought sluggishly. Her head was pounding, her mouth was dry, and her clothes

-thank you space Jesus-

were still on, if wrinkled. And then she realized she did recognize the ceiling, and the room for that matter. She was in the Med Bay, in the head office, wrapped up in Doctor Huhuma’s hammock. Jane groaned.

“Well good morning to you too.”

Damn you space Jesus, don’t do this to me when I’m this hungover.

Jane looked up and saw the good doctor sitting in her office chair, a hot cup of something in one hand and a data pad in the other. She was smiling, and looking as pristine as ever.

“I’m… my god I’m so sorry Huhuma,” Jane stammered.

“For what? Hogging my hammock all night? I slept in my spare, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

Jane couldn’t remember a thing after dinner with the Scrib last night. She rubbed her eyes and tried unsuccessfully to get her feet under her in a way that didn’t relay how out of it she was.

“So when I ask what happened… I didn’t… we weren’t… what happened?”

“Well,” Huhuma said, smiling so wide, “dinner was great. Mirn and Lark and the rest loved us. We had some lovely conversations about med tech and I believe we have a standing invitation to attend another ceremony with them if we wanted.”

“So how did…?” Jane gestured to herself.

“That happened afterwards. You held yourself together very well during the dinner, and afterwards you said you wanted to go have a ‘girls night’ with me. I think that medicinal wine of theirs was a little stronger than they thought. We got drinks in the mess hall, which got a little…” she gestured to Jane. “I didn’t feel like carrying you all the way to your quarters, and I didn’t think you’d mind. And I got to see your reaction, so it was undeniably worth it. You humans are just so cute. Indoprime eat fermented fruits pretty young, so our tolerances to alcohol are high, but you humans… just so cute.”

Jane closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn’t done anything too overtly stupid. Thank god Huhuma was there to take care of her.

“Well, I’m glad we amuse you,” Jane said, finally getting her legs freed and on the ground. “And… thank you, for taking care of me. I don’t drink a lot, so… yeah. I’m going to go to my quarters and get changed.”

Jane headed for the door.

“Well, I mean, you did give me a kiss though,” Huhuma said. “Remember that?”

Jane froze at the door. She stood stock still, like her body had been frozen in place, except everything felt hot, her face especially. Slowly, slowly, she turned around, and her embarrassment slipped to confusion. Huhuma was standing there with a piece of chocolate in her hand.

“Yeah, you said you wanted to give me kisses, but the Vending Machines you humans installed only made you one at a time, so you got impatient with it and just gave me the first one.”

Huhuma walked over and slipped the piece of chocolate into Jane’s hand.

“I can’t really eat the stuff, so I guess I have to give you a kiss back.” Huhuma was smiling. She was so close to Jane’s face, and she smelled so good… and the she was turning back around and walking back to her desk, tail swishing back and forth.

Jane was speechless. Brain not functioning. Retreat to safe location. She said nothing and just stumbled out the door and practically sprinted to her quarters.

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

“Oh my god, you useless lesbian,” Liz Collins said.

“I don’t have genitalia, does it still count as a ‘girl talk’ if I am present?” Coco asked.

“Why did I bother asking you two for your help?” Jane sighed, face in her hands.

She didn’t know what else to do. She’d sat in her quarters for an hour before sending a communication to the science department asking for a ‘consult’. Liz had shown up 5 minutes later with several bottles of water and enough chocolate to feed an army, but Jane was told that was just Coco’s breakfast. She’d stared at the small confectionery pieces for a while as the two let themselves get comfortable in her room, thinking of a kiss…

“So she just…” Liz asked, hanging the question in the air.

“Yup”.

“After all that…”

“Yup.”

“And you didn’t try to…”

“Nope.”

“You should’ve gone for it.”

“Gone for what?” Jane asked impatiently.

“I don’t know, something!” Liz said. “I’ve never exactly been in your shoes before, or anyone else’s really, but this is basic chemistry right? You have it with the cute doctor monkey lady, right?”

“If I knew if I had chemistry with someone, do you think I’d be asking the person who brought their best friend the tree here for tips?”

Coco sat quietly eating chocolate.

“I have no idea what I’m supposed to do here,” Jane groaned. “Being a human is awful, Coco, we got all this weird biology and chemicals in our brains, you’re much better off as a plant.”

“I can see that,” Coco said. “If you are worried about being mates with the Indoprime doctor, is it not… appropriate to see what they want first?”

“Honestly? Probably. It’s been a while since I dated, and that ended poorly, to say the least. But I don’t have any clue how to… approach this. Besides, this is just a crush, on my boss, who I don’t even know how exactly they feel in the first place.”

“I mean, you spent the morning getting wound up like a spring, I’d say it’s pretty clear, right?” Liz said. Jane chugged another bottle of water.

“Yeah you’d think right? If this was a human, or even just a guy, this would be easier. But she’s so… put together, and mature, and pretty, and…”

“Noah to Jane, reel it back girl, you’re lost out in Huhuma space, hon,” Liz said. “You could check her medical records for a start, check if she has a spouse or something back home, see if anyone is playing goalie,” Liz said, tossing back some chocolate.

“You sound like a guy,” said Jane.

“Still, though.”

“I still do not see why the two just do not mate and spread their pollen-” Coco started.

“Okay, you sweet summer child, that’s not how non-botanical lifeforms do that,” Liz cut her off. Jane was about to burst a blood vessel from embarrassment.

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in?” Jane said, confused.

Marrin was in the room before the door was even all the way open.

“What happened? Are you okay? Did she do anything weird to you?” Marrin asked rapidly.

“Woah, woah, what’s up?” Jane asked startled.

“I heard about last night from cousin Huhuma, I came as quickly as I could. You’re okay, right?”

“Yes, yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”

Liz and Coco sat on the bed watching events unfold. Coco handed her counterpart a piece of chocolate.

“Okay, I wasn’t going to tell you this, but back on Indos, she had a… reputation.” Marrin looked at Jane, and the doctor’s heart sank.

“Whenever anyone was even remotely interested in her, she’d basically ruin their lives for a few weeks.”

Huh?

“Wait, you knew I was into her?” Jane asked incredulously.

“You’re not subtle,” Marrin explained.

Damn it.

“What do you mean ‘ruin their lives’, what the hell does she do?” Jane asked.

“Just… violently and publicly rejects them. She makes sure everyone knows it. There was one time when we were younger and this one male wouldn’t take no for an answer, kept coming around and bothering her… they found him the next day tied to a post by our tribe Elder’s home, shaved from head to tail. I love my cousin, dearly, but she is a devil woman.”

“Well… fuck, that’s pretty funny actually,” Jane admitted. “But she hasn’t done anything like that to me, she took care of me while I was… a little sick, last night, and she’s only ever been nice to me.”

“Yeah, nice,” Liz said snorting. “Wrapped you around her fingers, but sure, nice.”

“Oh fuck you,” Jane said, and Liz burst out into laughter, followed by Marrin. Coco didn’t get it, but she made similar sounds, or tried to with her lack of lungs.

Great. Totally confused by my feelings for the pretty space doctor lady, and the only help I’m gonna get is from the tree hugging virgin and possibly the lady-in-question’s cousin. Juuust great.

Well at least there wasn’t a goalie. Jane felt a rush a relief knowing she wasn’t going to, should she make the attempt, home wreck anyone.

“Hey Marrin, what’s the general view on same gender relationships on Indos?” Liz asked.

“It isn’t of any consequence,” Marrin informed. “To go through life with another is a blessing, unrestricted.”

“Well at least you don’t have to worry about that, right Jane?”

“I’ve heard you humans have weird hang ups,” Marrin said.

“The humans are odd in general,” Coco stated. “I believe we are all late for our duties.”

“Coco is right, we gotta get to the lab,” Liz said, heading for the door. “Good luck hon!”

Marrin left as well, saying she’d… stay out of her way, in so many words.

Jane groaned and fell back flat on her bed.

Why was being human so hard?

[lou-struck]

Last Minute Costume

Tamaki Amajiki x reader

Flufftober Day 5: Last Minute Costume

W.C. 1.6k

~ The Agency Halloween party is only an hour away, and Tamaki doesn't have a costume, or does he?

Today's the day.

Tamaki's Agency is hosting their annual Halloween party and you have been planning out your costume all year. The day passes by slowly, like a watched pot of water on the stove.

All day long, your eagerness has been boiling to the surface leading up to this very moment. 

Hidden in the back of your shared closet lies your costume, a slightly promiscuous Sun Eater outfit that you were able to procure from your boyfriend's very own costume designer for the occasion. 

You latch the large white cape around your neck with child-like enthusiasm. You have kept this little surprise a secret from Tamaki for so long; it's been killing you. 

Tamaki has always been an observant one; he knows you well, and hiding things from him is a near-impossible task. You have been so afraid that he would notice your lackluster poker face you haven't dared to mention the party, or costumes, or anything about Halloween in general, so you didn't give anything away. 

You look at your clock. The pointy-eared Pro Hero should be home any minute now. He had a morning patrol and spent the rest of the work day filling out paperwork in the undisturbed quiet of his office, where he could unwind and hide from the prying eyes of the public. 

You add the finishing touches to your costume just as you hear the front door open; the tired steps of your hero echo through the home as you creep across the carpet to hide in the bathroom so you can hide your costumed form for just a bit longer.

"Y/n? Are you in here?" he asks, his voice growing louder with each step he takes.

"In the bathroom getting ready," you respond, fiddling with the silver lock on the door handle, "I'll be out in a minute."

You hear his heavy steps come into the bedroom until the mattress springs creak as he flops down on the plush duvet and lets out a tired little groan. At first, you open the door just a sliver, but when you see him sprawled out on the bed, his handsome face hidden in one of the decorative pillows, you open it fully.

"Tired Tama?" you ask, sitting down on the edge of the mattress and softly playing gently with the indigo hairs on the back of his neck. 

"Yeah, it was a long day, and people kept talking to me when I was trying to get stuff done," he mumbles. "How long till we have to leave for the party?"

"You still want to go?" you ask bewilderedly. You know his tendencies well, and if he really wasn't feeling it, you were going to leave it there and have a wonderfully comfortable night in with him.

Through the pillow, he snorts sarcastically. "You know I never want to go to a party, but-" he lifts his head and catches a glimpse of you in your costume. His eyes widen, and his cheeks turn a flushed crimson. "I-is that my costume?" 

His flustered stuttering fills you with confidence as you get to your feet to show him the whole piece. "Surprise, how do you like it?"

"L-love it," he says, deep indigo eyes never leave your form as he gets to his feet on shaky legs.

"Now I want to see your costume," you giggle, swishing your cape around.

All the lovestruck color drains from his face as his now panicked eyes dart around the room nervously. "I never got a costume."

"What do you mean you don't have a costume?" you ask as the reality of the situation hits you like one of those stupid tech trucks that have been blowing up your social media pages. 

"I-I guess I forgot; things have been so busy that buying a costume never crossed my mind." He slouches down onto the edge of the bed and puts his head in his hands. "If I show up to the party without a costume, I'll be putting a target on my back at work."

"What about last year's costume?" you muse; although you may only be dressed as a hero, tonight you will have to be one for Tamaki.

He pales, "I had to toss it after Kirishima got sick on it after he beat the keg stand record." What are we going to do?"

"Let me think, uhhh." your brain is going a million miles a second as you try to think of something, anything in your house, that Tamaki can use for a Halloween costume. "What about your hero suit? It's basic but at least we could be matching."

"Can't; I had to chase a villain into the sewers this morning, and it reeks." he wrinkles his nose in disgust. "I'm screwed; I just wanna curl up into a ball and cry."

"We don't have to go," you say, sitting down next to him. "We could just stay in tonight, get all cozy, order some takoyaki from that place you like." In all honesty, staying in wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. Tamaki is getting really good at doing tricks with the tentacles he's been manifesting. The last time he tried, he nearly completed Rubik's Cube until the section cups started pulling all the stickers off. 

Wait…

"What about using your quirk?" You ask, thinking of all the possibilities at his disposal. With his quirk, he can manifest just about anything he consumes and he always has a few extra 'snacks' stored away for emergencies.

"My quirk?" he asks confused.

"Yeah, you could use it to make yourself an eleventh-hour costume," you say thoughtfully; frankly, you have no clue what kind of snacks he has, but something will be better than nothing. "You could be a centaur; that would be really cool."

He shakes his head. "A costume like that would attract too much attention for me. Not to mention, I would have to eat a lot before the party to keep it up for that long."

"I see; then, what do you have that you could keep up for a few hours that isn't too big?"

He walks over to where he keeps his dried food stores and removes a few pouches from the box, each one is marked with little metal charms on the drawstrings. "Here's what I have, but I don't want to do anything too embarrassing."

"What's that one?" you ask, pointing to a little pouch with a charm you cannot quite make out in the light. He opens it hesitantly and breaks off a small piece of the jerky, popping it into his mouth. 

"Snake jerky," he says as vermillion scales begin to materialize around his face as he activates his quirk. "I think it looks pretty cool sometimes."

"You always look cool, Tama," you say, gently touching the smooth scales; the contrast in temperature between them and his flushed skin tingles your fingertips. "You could dress as a snake…guy…thing…" you try your best to sound convincing, but your inspiration has run dry when facing the ticking clock.

"Maybe I should try something else," he muses, reaching out for another bag. He holds this one up to the light. "Venison."

Ripping off a piece of the dried meat he put it in his mouth and chews. Two large bourbon-colored antlers sprout from his rich indigo-colored hair. The points growing every which way making him look magnificent, almost mythical.

"That's amazing," you say, reaching out to touch the end of the antler. The velvet tickles your fingers, but the sharp point pricks your finger, and you pull it away. 

"What's wrong? Did I hurt you?" he asks worriedly. 

"No, it was just sharper than I thought it would be," you say, glancing down at the scratch.

"I-it's too dangerous," he says with a deep blush on his face. "I can't go out like this, I can't go out like this, I'll take someone's eye out."

The antlers disappear, and you look down at the other bags. "What else do you have?"

He reaches over and grabs another bag, and you see the intention in his eyes, "this would work," he murmurs,  giving you an almost excited smile. "Stay there, I think I know what I can do for a costume tonight."

He takes the pouch and disappears into the very bathroom you had been hiding in just minutes ago. "Tama, what did you grab?" you ask

"It's a surprise," he says back, and you cross your arms and pout like a hypocrite. Your costume may have been a secret, but in your experience, procrastination should not allow secrecy.

A moment later, he emerges from the bathroom, dressed quite dapperly in black dress pants and a black undershirt. As good as he looks, you scan his face for any sign of his quirk but see nothing. "What's your costume?" 

He grins and steps into the room; suddenly, two black horns emerge from his head. They're small, but the intentional placement clues you in on his costume, a suave demon. But judging by his closed posture and unconfident gate, he needs a bit of convincing.

"How do I look?" he asks, looking at you hopefully. "Do you think this would work?"

"It's perfect, Tama," you smile, "You make a very handsome demon, but if we don't get a move on, I'll be the only one who gets to appreciate it."

Your reassurance is what he needs to relax a bit as he gives you a grin worthy of a demon. "Would that really be so bad?" 

Tagging: @pixelcafe-network @ambiguouslady42

[neteyamssyulang]

❀ Whispers of Seduction ❀

❀ Pairing: So’lek x Fem sarentu reader x Teylan ❀

❀ Summary: Teylan’s first rut had finally approached, but it does not go as you planned.

❀ Warnings: Dom So’lek, Switch reader, Subby Teylan (even in rut), MxFxM, Edging (T & R), Semi whiny Teylan, P in V, Blowjob (S receiving), Fingering (R receiving), Handjob (T receiving), Mommy kink, Double penatration (Same hole), Creampie.

❀ Word count: 1,979 ❀

❀ Translation(s): Paskalin -> Honey, Yawne -> Beloved, Syulang -> Flower, Rutxe -> Please, Sevin -> Pretty, Oe tìyawn nga pxeyä nìftxan nìtxan -> I love you both so much.

❀ A/N: The most I’ve written in awhile🥲, But I do have more ideas aswell with these two🤭🤭

The sun finally rose on pandora in a pool of crimson gold, spilling light all over the land and the white clouds. Normally you would awake to Teylan still curled up ontop of you while So'lek had already left to go hunt but strangely the tent was empty.

Rubbing the sleep out of your eyes you move to stand up, before walking out the tent heading for the base. The walk there is not that long, maybe only taking like 5 or 6ish minutes.

Upon reaching the resistance base, the doors hiss while opening, allowing you to enter then closing behind you. The second doors now open revealing everyone working inside.

Easily, you make your way to where Priya is, her and a few other tawtutes discussing a plan for the next RDA attack that was bound to happen. The annoying pests have been so close to finding out the location of the resistance base.

"Y/N! You finally made it!" Priya squealed as you walked closer "Yeah, sorry if im late" you chuckled nervously "Where's Teylan?", Priya avoided your gaze looking away "He is uh, well.."

Your hairless brows furrowed slightly "Priya, where is my mate?" Your words were soft but they made the small tawtute visibly gulp "He is with your other, I saw So'lek take him into the forest, but he moved too fast for me to ask where they were going."

Sighing you thanked her before heading back outside trudging through the thick forest, Priya’s words still heavy on your mind, making you even more confused as to what was going on.

Minutes turned into an hour, an hour turned into two hours of waking through the forest trying to locate your mates with unfortunately no luck.

You were about to give up when your ears twitched, picking up the faint sound of whines and groans in the distance. Cautiously, you made your way over to where the sounds where coming from, stumbling through bushes before coming across a clearing.

Looking around you finally spot the creators of those beautiful sounds, the sight making a wet patch in your loincloth.

So'lek was sitting with his back against a tree, his arms placed around a shaking Teylan who whimpered as he grinded against So'lek in dire need of release, both enveloped in a heated make out session.

Teylan's floral scent drifted towards you and your eyes widened, now you understood, this..this is why So'lek had taken him, Teylan's rut had came.

The males were too busy with each other that they did not even notice you, slowly making your way towards them, your tail swishing behind you in excitement.

So'lek was the first to pull back panting heavily while Teylan chased his mates lips "Ma'lek please.." the boy whined, his tail curling around the other males thigh, his face flushed with a pink hue.

The male was about to respond when he looked behind Teylan locking eyes with you, his own face now having the same pink hue as Teylan. "Care to explain paskalin?" You spoke softly crossing your arms.

Teylan whined "Ma-mama, please do not be mad at him.." his hips still moving, now harder against his mate. Low growls would rumble through him but were quickly replaced with whimpers as So'lek nipped at the boys neck.

"I am simply helping out our sweet boy" So'lek murmured licking a stripe along Teylan's neck coaxing out more beautiful moans from him.

It was true though, that morning when So'lek woke to go out hunting, he noticed that Teylan's scent had changed, his face that normally rested on your breasts was pressed into the crook of your neck, completely drunk off of your scent.

Luckily you were a deep sleeper so that didn't wake you, neither did Teylan's desperate whines as So'lek pulled him off you carrying him to a secluded spot in the forest. Of course Priya had to have seen them coming here.

A hiss escaped So'lek when Teylan tugged on his kuru harshy "W-want.. now!.." he mumbled tugging again.

So'lek's eyes narrowed slightly as he moved one of his hands to Teylan's own kuru wrapping it around his hand before tugging on it. Teylan's back arched slightly as his head was forced up to look at his mate,"Listen here baby boy, you do not get to demand things, got it? We know what you need and will help you but only if you behave." His tone held a warning behind it, Teylan mumbled out a "Yes sir" to which he let his kuru go. "Good boy" You praised.

Teylan's tail wagged at the praise making both you and So'lek chuckle softly, the males gaze turned to you and a smirk pulled at his lips "Come here yawne" patting the soft moss beside him.

You obliged moving closer sitting next to him, turning his head So'lek leaned in capturing your lips with his. His tongue swiped along your bottom lip requesting entry which you happily granted.

So'lek groaned into the kiss not even noticing that Teylan had untied both their loincloths throwing them to the side, his vision grew hazey and just as he was about to position So'lek at his hole, his back was suddenly pushed against the mossy ground with an angry looking So'lek hovering ontop of him.

Shaking your head, you grinned as you moved once again over to them "Poor baby" you cooed looking down at the boy, "Did you forget the rules?". Teylan hissed at you earning himself a harsh smack on his thigh "Keep it up and you will get no release little one" So'lek grit out.

Teylan whimpered bucking his hips up, he was so desperate to cum and knew he broke the rules but fuck he needed his mates, now. His cock was painfully hard, oozing beads of bioluminescent pre-cum. "Sorry.. sorry mommy.." he managed to speak looking up at you with his adorable puppy eyes.

Smiling you leaned down placing a kiss on the flat of his nose "Sorry will not give you that sweet release you need baby" So'lek muttered watching the both of you.

Quirking a non existent eyebrow, you moved your gaze to your other mate "Ma'Lek-" he cut you off with a hiss "Do not "Ma'Lek" me y/n, you always let him off easy without giving a punishment."

Your eyes narrowed at him "I do not, look at our precious boy" you spoke gesturing down to Teylan who now had tears spilling from his eyes, "He needs a rel-" "What he needs, is to be taught a lesson first syulang."

Teylan muttered out sorry's and pleas not wanting a punishment, he just wanted that itch to finally be gone inside of him.

"He can be punished later Ma'Lek" you hissed trying to push him off Teylan, "I guess you both need a punishment then" he spoke with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

Before you can even process anything, So'lek had practically ripped off your top and loincloth tossing them then layed you down next to Teylan. "My two beautiful mates.." he cooed "Both who can not seem to listen."

You were about to speak when two of So'leks fingers thrusted harshly into your wet heat coaxing out a scream from you, with his other hand, he wrapped it around Teylan's cock pumping him at a steady pace.

Teylan groaned in relief, finally being touched, his hand met yours intertwining your fingers together "Rutxe Ma'Lek.." you mewled feeling your orgasm draw near.

So'lek smirked feeling you clench around his fingers while Teylan's cock twitched in his hand, just as you both were about to cum, So'lek pulled away. "Brats do not get to cum" he simply said, licking your sweet slick from his fingers.

Glancing over to Teylan you both grinned before moving to sit up, Teylan moved to So'leks right while you moved to his left. "What are you two doing?" The male questioned.

Teylan was the first to lean in, his lips trailing along So'lek's neck. You were next, starting from his collar bone, you trailed slow, sloppy, kisses all the way down to his raging hard on.

"Ah,'I see, you both think you can seduce me into giving you what you want? Not going to happen" His chuckle soon turned into a low hiss as he felt your lips around his cock, slowly you began bobbing your head, your cheeks hallowing to take more of him down your throat.

The other male worked quick, nipping and sucking at So'leks neck, pretty purple hickeys begun appearing all over him.

So'lek moaned throwing his head back, his eyes fluttering closed and his hips began moving. The male was embarrassed by how fast his orgasm was approaching but eywa it felt so good.

You felt his cock twitch in your mouth before he spilled his hot seed down your throat, a low growl rumbled through So'leks chest, watching as his pearly bioluminescent cum leaked out out his cock, dribbling down your chin.

Suddenly you were pulled off of So'leks cock by your hair and placed onto Teylan who's back was once again against the mossy ground.

So'lek adjusted you so that Teylan's tip prodded against your dripping entrance "Wh-what are you- Shit!" Teylan had slammed himself inside you in one swift movement not caring anymore, he needed to cum.

He moaned at the feeling of your tight walls sucking him in, "S-sorry..sorry mama.." he whined, the boy had pulled you down till your chest was against his, his arms wrapping around you as he started thrusting harshy up into you.

Your eyes rolled back and you struggled to speak, only managing out a small "Tis fine..take what you need.." the boy nodded picking up his pace, the only sounds to be heard were the squelching noises from each thrust he delivered along with both your moans.

So'lek watched in amusement before moving to hover above you, his tip poking at your entrance, Teylan slowed down just enough for So'lek to push inside stretching you out more to accommodate both their sizes.

Your eyes widened as your mouth opened in a silent scream, the stretch burned deliciously and that's all you needed for your orgasm to wash over you.

Both men groaned at the feeling of your walls convulsing around them "Fuuuck sevin.." So'lek hissed "Swear your little pussy was just made for us"

Without warning they started moving pushing deeper into you, your ears pinned against your skull, drool dribbling from your mouth onto Teylan's chest.

"Go-gonna cum! M-ma'lek can I?" The boy whimpered increasing his pace. Panting So'lek looked down at his mate nodding "Cum yawne"

Teylan's eyes squeezed shut as the feeling of So'lek's cock brushing against his, along with your walls clenching around him became too much, forcing him to let go painting your velvety walls white. The boy whined digging his nails into your back, leaving small crescent marks.

You screamed as you came with him gushing around both their cocks, tears streaming down your face. That was enough to trigger So'lek's own orgasm, spilling his seed into you aswell, both men stilled themselves before So'lek maneuvered all three of you.

The three of you now lay on your sides, So'lek behind you while Teylan was infront with your leg hiked up onto his thigh, both still hadn't pulled out.

"Mm thank you mama" Teylan muttered shuffling closer to you, So'lek huffed "Do I not get a thank you sweet one?"

Both you and Teylan giggled "Thank you ma'lek" , a pleased purr rumbled through So'lek "You both did so good f'me" he praised. Yawning, a small "Oe tìyawn nga pxeyä nìftxan nìtxan" left Teylan's lips as he drifted off to sleep.

"We love you too" you smiled, relaxing now in both of your mates embraces.

[starrysvn]

place in me | jung wooyoung

pairing: chef!wooyoung x chef!gn reader

genre: angst, slow burn, fluff, ex2l

word count: 17k

warnings: angsty af, kinda toxic workplace, food, drinking, i know jackshit about cooking apart from hell's kitchen, masterchef and google searches, one (1) sex joke, reader is kinda dumb.

a/n: this has been in the works since march. i gotta stop procrastinating. anyhoww, i cited "m. butterfly" by david henry hwang and reworked one of my favorite quotes ever from "jane eyre" by charlotte brontë bc i luv her. hope u guys enjoy it <3

networks: @cromernet 🫶🏻

playlist: beside you by 5sos, finally // beautiful stranger by halsey, sparks fly by taylor swift, sorry by halsey, back to december by taylor swift, right where you left me by taylor swift, the winner takes it all by abba, haunted by taylor swift, amnesia by 5sos, place in me by luke hemmings

masterlist | navi

During quiet nights you worked best. It had always been that way ever since you were a student and you didn’t think things would change. Not when the kitchen was completely silent except for the slow rumbling of whatever you had on the stove and the swift swish of your chopping knife against the cutting board. You loved listening to music while cooking, but on nights like these, you preferred the muffled sounds of the city coming in from the cracked open window and the occasional humming that left your mouth. 

It was peaceful enough to remember why you loved cooking so much. Not that you ever forgot but, lately, it was hard to find joy in your job. The hustle and bustle of the kitchen kept you busy enough to render your work almost mechanical, punctuated by the quick rhythm of orders coming in. All the loud noises around you sent you into a frenzy more often than not. 

It was on nights like these - in the kitchen of your own apartment, off duty for the evening - immersed in the mellow atmosphere you created, that you wondered if it had all been worth it. The studying, the getting yelled at, Paris… If it had all brought you to this - working in a Michelin star restaurant you had only ever dreamed of setting foot in -  but could never get you anywhere past it. If this was your final dream, your last ambition, then why did it all feel so heavy? 

It was a question you could never answer. You took great pride in your work and in yourself for getting you where you were. You liked some of your fellow chefs, and the reaction your answer got out of people when they asked you where you worked. It lit a match in you, it felt like a pat on the shoulder to your younger self. But when you got home exhausted and so not ready to face it all again the next morning, doubt clung heavily to your mind. 

You turned off the burner with a sour taste in your mouth you knew only your cooking could melt away. Sat down in front of your gamjatang, you took a big breath before diving in. You had avoided the dish like the plague ever since then, but somehow tonight your hands moved for you when reaching for the ingredients. The circumstances couldn’t have been more different than when you last cooked it; you weren’t hungover, it wasn’t four in the morning, and you weren’t halfway across the world with him. 

A memory pushed and shoved to come to the forefront of your mind, one about warmth and love and understanding all washing over you in the tiny kitchenette of a Paris apartment where, with him, you tipsily laughed and slow danced to the music of your hearts beating at the same time.

It wasn’t surprising that it just didn’t taste the same. Recipe and execution-wise it was perfect, you couldn’t count the amount of times you cooked the soup. But it tasted off, somehow. And right now you didn’t have the mental capacity to analyze why. So you just ate in silence, a slight frown on your lips with every spoonful, grateful you only had to load the washing machine before going to bed, disappointed your peaceful night of cooking had been ruined. 

–

“What’s got your panties in a twist today?” 

Park Seonghwa was your favorite coworker. You two started working at Hwang’s at the same time and bonded pretty quickly. He was quiet and focused, a perfectionist when it came to his job and never really contributed to the migraine-inducing bustling crowd of chefs around you. He also would never dare to speak like this when you both were in earshot of the sous chef. You sighed. Apparently, you had woken up on the wrong side of the bed this morning and proceeded to grill your junior chef Jongho with more bite than usual. 

“Please don’t say that when Seo’s so close to us,” you flashed him a warning look which was met with a mischievous smirk. 

“We all know you’re aiming for his spot, with the scolding you just did he can only be proud,” the sous chef in your kitchen had the reputation of being even worse than head chef Lee, truly the bane of everyone’s existence. You didn’t want to be like him. 

“Oh, lord,” you shook your head, slowing down your chopping the slightest bit. You’d woken up with a headache after a fitful night of sleep, already frustrated with the world before even facing it. Missing the bus and clocking in late didn’t help either, not when you were greeted with a murderous glare from the head chef. You didn’t mean to be snappy with your junior, but things had inevitably piled up. 

“I don’t even know if I want the position anymore,” you grunted under your breath, earning a soft giggle from Seonghwa.

“Careful saying that out loud, or the vultures will try even harder to take you down,” he knew better than to bump his shoulder with yours, lest he interrupted your furious chopping and ended up being the reason you lost a finger, but did it anyway. The sweet gesture comforted you, surprisingly you didn’t feel the urge to bite his head off. 

“Let them,” you meant the words to sound a little less disheartened than they did, but all of last night’s thinking had seemingly gotten to you. Seonghwa gave you a confused look but could say little before being interrupted. 

“Executive Chef Kim needs to speak to you,” the eyes of the whole kitchen were on you as a sort of stillness descended upon everyone. Even Seonghwa beside you looked surprised, even if less than everyone else. You knew in his head he was probably cooking up some joke about you being the next tyrant sous. 

There were two ways this encounter could go: either fire you or promote you. A conviction that grew stronger when you entered the still-empty restaurant and sat at a table were not only the executive chef, but also the owner and manager, waiting for you. Why would they do this hours before opening? 

“Thank you for joining us,” manager Na said as soon as you sat down in front of them. “As you may be aware, chef Kim and chef Lee have had their eyes on you as a possible candidate to replace chef Seo once he retires.” Her piercing eyes stared deep into your soul. You nodded, almost afraid to speak, wondering why in the world you chose to work for such intimidating people. 

“I’m afraid you will not be taking that spot.” 

A low blow. Somehow, even when you were neither too hopeful nor too enthusiastic about becoming sous chef, the rejection still hurt. It still sent a jolt of disappointment and self-doubt shooting through you. Were you not doing a good job? Were you not up to their standards? 

“However,” you looked up again, your eyes now on executive chef Kim. “Mr. Hwang is opening up another restaurant.”

“I’m not sure I follow,” you mumbled, wheels slowly turning in your head. Manager Na smiled knowingly. 

“I would like to give you the opportunity to become head chef in my new restaurant,” Mr. Hwang said. “I’m told by chef Kim and chef Lee that you would fit the position better than the one of sous chef. I trust their judgment.” 

It took all you had not to let your jaw hang in front of them. Head chef? Had they lost their minds? Never had your mind taken the decision for you before you could even rationalize your thoughts. 

“Could I think about it?” 

“Time ticks fast here, you know that chef Y/L/N,” Manager Na’s intimidating eyes were on you again. “We’d like to have an answer in two days at most.” 

With a curt nod, they dismissed you. You didn’t think you had ever made a beeline for the bathroom so fast in your entire life. Surely, you couldn’t go back into the kitchen looking like your cat just died. Everybody would know something was wrong, they would know that the position as sous was still free and you had been shot down. And there was little they could do better than kicking a man when he was down. 

So you sat in the cubicle, trying to calm your shaking hands and regain composure. Act like nothing happened. Betray no emotion. Go back to dicing potatoes exactly one centimeter by one centimeter. Not a millimeter more, not one less. 

Assholes. All of them. They couldn’t have chosen a better moment to tell you this than the most hectic night of the week. And now you’d have to work through it. Through the eyes trailed on you, holding questions and spite and jealousy. Through chef Lee’s and chef Seo’s yelled reprimanding, making sure everything was just perfect for the critic coming in.

Just one more night.

Never had you held on so tightly to such meager consolation. 

–

“You look like you need a beer.” 

Seonghwa’s voice broke the silence of the back alley. After closing, you decided to stick around instead of fleeing home like you usually would. It had been a while since the last time you sat outside the back entrance of the kitchen, alone with your thoughts after hours of noise. 

“I need vodka,” you voiced, not looking up as he took a spot beside you.

“That’s stooping so low, what’s wrong?”

You knew the question would come. Somehow he had not asked anything when you entered the kitchen again with a blank face. A murmur had slithered past as you took your place and started working again. But Seonghwa had just shot you a look, resuming his work as well. 

“They want to make me head chef at Hwang’s new restaurant.” 

“But that’s great!” He was looking at you with those big, wide, excited eyes of his and a genuine smile on his lips. One would think the offer was made to him. You were almost sorry you had to wipe that happiness away. 

“I don’t know if I want that…”

“What do you mean?” He looked puzzled, but not surprised. You sighed. How did you explain this without sounding crazy? 

“I mean… I-” you grunted, hands in your hair. “When’s the last time you felt like cooking?” 

Seonghwa stared back with a slight frown in his brow, eyes bouncing around your face in an effort to understand. 

“Like, really cooking. Without walking into the kitchen and wanting to throw up, or dreading opening time and all the yelling. I know it’s how it is when you work for such big names but fuck. Everything’s too fast and I… it feels like I don’t care anymore, Hwa. They took my passion and stomped all over it.” 

“Didn’t you want to be a high end, gourmet restaurant chef?” 

You stared, mouth hanging open. Of course, you did. It was your biggest dream, your one ambition. It was excruciating that all the pressure was making you break, making you think that you weren’t cut out for this and you had wasted your time. 

“I did, I do.”

“But?” 

“But this isn’t it. This feels like a survival show, where everyone’s out for blood. I understand competitiveness, but I can hardly breathe when we start cooking. Chef Seo is a literal nightmare and I don’t think I can do it anymore in a place like this.” 

“I see…”

“You think I lost my mind,” you let your head tilt back, eyes on the starless night sky.

“Maybe you did,” Seonghwa said. “That doesn’t mean you’re wrong.” 

“I’ll be honest, I never thought I’d hear you like this,” he continued. “You hold such pride for what you do and how you do it. I think Seo might yell at you just because he’s irritated he’s got nothing on you. Half of the people hate you for how well you manage.”

“Gee, thanks,” you scoffed.

“My point is,” he bumped his shoulder with yours. “That it’s indicative of how much this place fucking sucks if they got you breaking. A Michelin kitchen, or any kitchen for that matter, shouldn’t burn out their best chefs.” 

“Jongho is so brave for junioring here,” you deflected, allowing his words to soothe your burning wounds. 

“Hey, we did that too!”

“Yeah, and look at where it got us,” you giggled, smiling for the first time tonight. Seonghwa huffed out a laugh. 

A beat of silence passed. You were glad for Seonghwa. Even though you often joked he was just your favorite coworker, you considered him a dear friend. One of your only friends for the matter. 

“What are you gonna do?” 

“I’ll quit,” you heard his surprised gasp and chuckled. “And I’ll refuse the position. I know head chef sounds better but I know them. Manager Na and Mr. Hwang will only hire straight up assholes and I’d have to deal with it, and not even as executive chef.”

“We’re not assholes!” his hand sat on his chest in mock offense, you giggled.

“We look like assholes and do our job quietly and damn near perfectly, that’s why we’re here.” 

Mumbling something along the lines of I guess so, Seonghwa accepted the heavy truth. In the quiet alley, sitting with your friend, you felt okay. The murmur of the busy city filled your heart as you quietly giggled and remembered your first days working at Hwang’s. Goodbyes were always hard on you, but not this time. You expected gut-wrenching pain and tears and the heavy burden of failure on your shoulders as you accepted your decision. But none of it manifested, not when Seonghwa had snuck one of the most expensive bottles of wine out of the kitchen and launched himself in a perfect rendition of Chef Seo’s latest meltdown. Maybe taking a step back didn’t mean failing, something you never would’ve believed mere months ago. 

-

The sound of freedom equated to the one of your blaring alarms each morning. It had been two weeks since you had quit your job, but you still refused to get a good night’s sleep. Well, except the night you told Seonghwa and you ended up drunk off your faces. 

You rolled over, turning off the annoying alarm, ready to start another day of not knowing what to do. There were few things you enjoyed doing, apart from cooking, when all you were left with was free time and silence. It was nice getting out of the house in the early spring morning to buy groceries, go for walks, and swing by your friend’s flower shop, but it got old quickly. Mostly, you didn’t like how sometimes, while cooking, memories you tried to never think of seemed to resurface on their own. 

When you finally got to the kitchen and there was nothing but eggs in the fridge – it was shopping day – you settled on an omelette for breakfast. Only, halfway through cooking, your mind wandered back there. 

When Chef Berrien asked you to make an omelette you wanted to laugh. You didn’t though, not when you saw the serious frown he was sporting. He was being serious? The absurdity of the situation made you question if dropping everything you had back at home just to fly to Paris to master your craft had been worth it. Maybe your mother was right, maybe you were crazy. 

“Omelettes are the easiest thing to spoil,” he stood resolutely in front of you all. “Only good chefs make good omelettes.” 

Oh god, your mother was right. 

“Good luck,” a smug voice sounded from beside you. 

If there was someone who could push you over the edge Chef Berrien shoved you to, it was Jung Wooyoung. In just two weeks of sharing your working station with him, you discovered that his bubbly personality clashed with your silent brooding. You preferred to work in silence and, apparently, he thrived in chaos. 

“You too,” you grumbled, getting your few ingredients ready. How in the world were you supposed to prove your worth with a fucking omelette? You closed your eyes and sighed, getting to work. 

“That definitely looks… simple,” Wooyoung mumbled as Berrien walked through the cooking stations, pulling faces at every dish. You looked down at yours - a plain, french omelette - then at his - all prettily plated and definitely cheese filled - and bit your tongue.

“He asked for an omelette, not a Michelin star worthy breakfast,” you hastily whispered, wishing he would just shut up for once.

“Aren’t we training to be Michelin star worthy chefs?” came his rebuttal, getting on your last nerve with that pretty smirk of his. 

Pretty? 

You scoffed and shook your head, straightening your back and clearing your throat as Berrien came close to your station. When the chef’s eyes landed on your omelette, a slight frown pulled his lips downwards. As he walked away, you did your best to ignore Wooyoung’s silent snicker and the burning in your cheeks. After the evaluation, you kept quiet for the rest of the day. 

It sometimes happened that you would close off to the rest of the world, and focused only on what you were thinking and the task at hand. Most often when you were cooking, which both helped and hindered your work. As much as you needed to focus on what you were doing, you also needed to listen to orders while doing it. You hoped to get better at managing it, it was why you were here, after all. Though, for now, after a full day surrounded by people, you were happy sitting alone with your back resting against the backdoor to the kitchen. 

“Is the silent treatment payback for beating you today?”

The door flew open, making you lose balance for a second, then came his question. 

“You didn’t beat me, Wooyoung, this is not a competition,” you sighed, keeping your eyes set on the wall in front of you rather than on his figure sitting down beside you. 

“Sounds like something a sore loser would say,” he bumped his shoulder with yours, no doubt with a shit-eating grin on his lips. That did it.

“Just because your omelette got a nod and mine got a frown, it doesn’t mean yours was better!” You all but exploded, finally looking at him. Indeed, he was wearing a smug grin. 

“Well, Chef Berrien would disagree,” you scoffed as he looked at you with shiny, distracting, eyes. Was it the light from the lamppost reflected in them or had the lack of sleep finally got to your brain? You shook your head, ridding yourself of the thought.

“Fuck you too, I guess,” you finally said, turning back around, earning a laugh from him. 

You didn’t want to stop and think about why his laugh pulled a snicker out of you, making you feel so light and at ease. 

“Does this mean you’ll go back to talking to me then?” He asked, sounding a little small. “You’re not mad?” 

Something pulled at your heartstrings, hearing him ask something like that. Did he really think you were mad at him? You probably looked like an asshole for the rest of the day after Berrien barely passed your omelette. 

“I’m not,” you said much faster than you anticipated. “I never was.” 

“That’s good,” he smiled, and you weren’t sure you liked the warmth that blossomed in your chest. 

You avoided thinking of your training in Paris with all your might, and he was the reason why. But it seemed that now that your whole world had turned upside down, your brain could do nothing but. Add that to the list of things you hated about unemployment. A funny smell pulled you from your thoughts, eyes focusing back on the almost burned omelette in front of you. Mumbling curses under your breath, you turned off the heat and plated it. This was why you never let your thoughts take over. 

You ate your spoiled breakfast in silence, deciding to get started with your day and your grocery shopping, mentally listing all the food you’d need. Anything, really, at this point to keep your mind occupied with something that wasn’t him.

It was still hard for you to wrap your head around what Jung Wooyoung meant to you. Or rather, you knew perfectly well and tried to avoid it like the plague. He was a closed chapter you didn’t want to revisit simply because it hurt. Because there was a point in time where he meant the whole world to you, where he was your whole world, and you decided to burn it all down only to choke on the ashes of what it used to be. 

You left wondering if he was still writing pages or considered the story closed and done as you did. Like you had to not to drown in guilt. 

While walking down the street, warm sunlight caressing your face, you asked yourself why it was all coming back to you now. A hollow of confusion had opened up in your chest, and of its own volition your heart chose to fill it with such memories. When Wooyoung came into your life, he did so by taking it by storm; randomly, upsetting all you had ever known, and maybe at the wrong time. That didn’t mean he didn’t leave a sign, a permanent one, on your heart. And now that you were crawling in confusion, he was barging in once more.

Wooyoung was late. It was teamwork evaluation day and your project partner was nowhere to be seen. Chef Berrien had sent daggers flying your way upon seeing the empty side of your workstation, not waiting a second longer to start the class. You wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole and also to strangle Wooyoung on sight. There must’ve been a logical reason why he still hadn’t shown up when you were supposed to finish your three-day project. If the fucker left you alone to finish cooking lièvre à la royale, you were seriously going to give him the scolding of a lifetime.

Anxiety started to claw at your stomach, twisting it in knots and tugging at them in a way that made it harder to breathe. Under the chef’s pointed gaze you could only stay as still as possible, hoping he’d prolong his very unsubtle speech about tardiness until Wooyoung got here, praying he would, and yet cursing him in your head. 

He still hadn’t shown up when he gave the class permission to start working. You sighed in frustration, walking to the fridge to retrieve the hare you’d cooked the day before with trembling hands. Back at your station, you realized that working while checking the door every three seconds would get you nowhere, and you weren’t about to fail the assignment even if half of your team was missing. 

When the meat was finally cleaned of the jellied liquid it had sat in overnight, and you were preparing to cut it into exactly eighty grams slices - not one more, not one less, Berrien's voice sounded in your head -  the door to the kitchen burst open.

In came a panting Wooyoung, his white chef jacket buttoned up a little crooked, who tried to make his way to your station unseen. It didn’t work.

“Jung,” Berrien’s voice resonated in the hot hair of the kitchen, making everyone stop working for a beat. Too bad no one had time to spare. You started slicing. “I don’t appreciate tardiness.”

“I’m very sorry, Chef-” he held his hand up next to his face, shutting up your partner. 

“You may start cooking,” you let out a breath you didn’t know you’d been holding the whole time, shoulders almost sagging in relief. “But don’t think I won’t keep this in mind during evaluation.” 

The frustration you’d tried to keep at bay so far flared up once more, and your grip on the knife tightened. Wooyoung silently made his way next to you, washing his hands carefully and using the time to assess how far you’d gotten into the process. You didn’t utter a single word, fuming quietly as you focused on your task and he picked up on his. 

You couldn’t afford to lose time bickering now, and for the first time in a while, you cooked in complete silence, the air around you tense and devoid of the usual jokes he would throw around to lift your spirits. No banter, just instructions and cooking for the next five hours. 

Despite everything, Chef Berrien couldn’t hide how pleased he was with your dish, which didn’t end up at the top of the class only because of Wooyoung’s mishap. As soon as the chef dismissed you, you fled the kitchen.

“Wait!” Wooyoung’s voice called after you, who were already outside and determined to escape to your apartment to avoid cussing him out in front of your fellow chefs, who had already thrown confused glances at you the whole day. 

“Hey, hold up!” He caught you by the wrist, spinning you around. If he wanted to do this here, who were you to deny him? 

“What.” Wooyoung almost flinched at the harshness of your voice. 

“I’m sorry I was late, I really am, I just-”

“Save it,” you cut him off. “Day’s over, damage is done, and we ended up with an alright grade. I don’t want to fight.” 

It was true. For how mad you’d been, you didn’t want to make it worse. You could tell he was sorry by the way he’d cooked in silence, waltzing around you as if you were a bomb ready to go off at any minute. It had taken all your strength not to. You made to turn around and walk away, but he was determined to make you listen to what he had to say. 

“Can you come with me?” He sounded defeated despite the determination in his eyes. All you really wanted was to go home, wash up and rot in bed. You were tired, physically and mentally drained by the day. But your friend – because how could you deny that Wooyoung had become more than a simple classmate in the last month? He’d quietly snuck up on you, surprising you with his cheerful smile and awful jokes, and slowly but steadily carved his own spot into your heart, now beating to the rhythm of his screechy laughter and kind words – was pleading you with his brown, burning eyes and how could you say no? 

Sighing in defeat, you nodded, readjusting the strap of your backpack on your shoulder and watching as his frown turned into a soft smile. Wooyoung took your hand in his, going back into the building, and guided you up the stairs. Transfixed, you stared at your hands; his felt slightly rough from all the cooking but still soft. You ignored the warmth the simple gesture sparked in your heart and followed quietly; you could only hope he wouldn’t get the two of you expelled. 

Finally, you got to the last flight of stairs, legs burning and chest heaving. You hoped he had a good reason to be dragging you up six flights of stairs and potentially getting you in trouble for trespassing. He ushered you to the small balcony, apparently mostly used for storage, and nodded to a shaky ladder perched onto its wall, leading to the roof. You often did this at your apartment too, the one perk of living on the last floor, but suddenly your mouth went dry.

“How did you even have the time to find out about this-'' you climbed the small way up, thanking your lucky star that the building at least had a flatter roof compared to yours. But the words died in your mouth when you finally got your bearings and looked around.

Wooyoung emerged as well, now leaning against one of the chimneys. You sat down, amazed at the view all around you; as the sun set in the West, tinging the bluish sky with hues of warm orange and golden light, you spotted the Sacre Coeur sitting North and the Eiffel Tower immersed in a pink blush down South. A light breeze passed by, blowing a strand of dark hair into Wooyoung’s eyes, taking your breath away. Paris was quite the show from up there. 

“I really am sorry,” slowly, he made his way over, sitting down next to you as he cast his eyes onto the breathtaking view in front of you. “I overslept, couldn’t find my keys, then had to rush here and… I’m sorry.” 

You scoffed, not believing he almost failed the both of you because he didn’t hear his alarm in the morning. Actually, you could believe it, because it was such a Wooyoung thing to do. You couldn’t stay mad for long though, not when you turned to look at him and simply seeing his face bathing in the golden sun made your heart stutter in your chest. Not when his sorry eyes were melting like honey in the light. 

“I wanted to punch you in the face when you came in late,” overwhelmed by his gaze, you looked away. Faintly, you heard him scoff beside you. “But I was also relieved. I didn’t think Berrien would let you cook.”

“I was ready to beg on my knees,” you snickered, Wooyoung elbowed your side. “No, really, lièvre à la royale is a bitch, I wouldn’t have let you cook it alone.”

“Then why did you sleep through your alarm? I was seeing red and had a knife in my hand, do you have a death wish?” You joked, heart singing when you made him laugh. 

“Hey, I had trouble sleeping last night,” he defended himself, hands up as his laughter died down. With a furrowed brow and inquisitive eyes, you finally looked back at him, studying his face. Only then you noticed the purplish circles under his eyes, just a bit darker than usual.

“Why?” You asked, trying to sound less worried than how you felt. It was Wooyoung’s turn to avoid your eyes and look out at the Parisian skyline, starting to twinkle in the fast-approaching night. 

“I- well,” he sighed as you kept looking, feeling the air around you shift. The way Wooyoung was struggling to come up with an answer had you feeling like you were standing at the edge of a cliff, buzzing with expectation, hanging onto his every word. You didn’t ponder too long on why your heart was racing or why you felt like you could barely breathe. Finally, he looked at you.

“I like you.” 

Now you truly did find it hard to breathe. 

“I like you so much I can barely focus when we cook, and it’s never happened to me before because I love cooking and I always pay close attention to what I’m doing. I also don’t want to lose a finger, you know? But now you’re around and it’s like I can’t help but look at you. You’re so bright and so passionate, and when you’re chopping vegetables you scrunch your nose a little and it’s one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen-”

In seconds you had your lips on his, pulling him closer with a delicate hand on the back of his neck. Wooyoung froze for only a millisecond before kissing you back. His lips were so pillowy and soft, you kissed him slowly, like you had all the time in the world. Lightly, his hand traveled up to rest on yours, which had moved onto his cheek. Kissing him felt like coming home after a long day. Warm and pleasant like the flame that swallowed your heart, chasing away the menacing grip fear had on it. 

Wooyoung pulled away first if only to plant a small peck onto your lips before smiling. 

“I was speaking,” he said.

“You were rambling.” 

You both started laughing, hearts singing. 

“What I wanted to say is that you shine in your own light and I can’t help but bask in it.” 

The way he was looking at you, in ways no one ever could, could have melted you right then and there. You felt the flush rise to your cheeks, the hand that still rested on his cheek trembling lightly.

“I like you too, Jung Wooyoung,” you smiled. “More than I think I should.”

The quaint flower shop came into view, dispelling the memory, and a soft smile opened up on your lips. It didn’t look like there were any customers, so you stepped in. The colors of the pretty flowers that covered every inch of the walls always managed to put you in a better mood. You walked up to the counter, ringing the bell.

“Coming!” You heard from behind it, somewhere in the back, with a little shuffling and a loud thump. You jumped on your spot, giggling.

“You okay, Sang?” You asked, trying to peep. Your friend emerged a second later, clad in a white shirt, jeans, and his green apron, blowing a piece of his black fringe out of his eyes, a vase full of sunflowers in his hands. 

“Oh, hey, what brings you ‘round?” He smiled, setting the vase on the counter. 

“Just dropping by before going grocery shopping,” you shrugged, smiling back before you started playing softly with the leaves of the flowers near you. “How are you doing?” 

“I’m good, I should be asking how you are,” he raised a brow, crossing his arms over his chest, “it’s the fourth time you visit this week.” 

You rolled your eyes, used to his antics, standing to help when he nodded at you to follow him. The quietness of the shop eased your thoughts more often than not, plus, you enjoyed the company of your friend. Yeosang lived in your same apartment building and opened up his shop early in the morning, around the same time you had to leave for work. Oftentimes you shared a coffee before your obligations called. He complained about horrible customers and you complained about your horrible coworkers. 

“I actually wanted to talk to you about something,” busy with an arrangement, he nodded you to the water lilies to his right. You reached for them with an arched brow, passing them. “A restaurant is opening down the street, if you’re interested in paying rent this month.” 

You huffed a laugh, pretending to be offended. 

“I’ll have you know I save my money, thank you very much.” He stood again, having finished his composition, watching you with an amused expression. “But I appreciate it,” you conceded. Yeosang smiled now, going back behind the counter as you followed.

“You should really check it out, even if it’s just temporary. It’d do you good,” a customer walked in, interrupting your chat. You nodded, leaving him to his work, shooting him one last smile before walking out. His cheerful Have a good day followed you out of the shop and into the now busier street.

Yeosang was right, you knew that much, but you still hesitated as you left the flower shop. There was uncertainty in your steps as you dared to walk down the street, looking ahead to spot the restaurant. Maybe you could go later that day, you could start with something easy like the grocery shopping you needed to do, to ease your nerves. 

That was better, you decided, easing yourself into the day with your routine before upsetting it by facing something new. With newfound vigor, you resumed your walking, headed to your favorite greengrocer. A walk that lasted barely five steps, before you collided against another passerby. 

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t-” 

“Sorry! I didn’t mean to-”

As apologies spilled past your lips, your eyes finally caught sight of the person you so rudely slammed into. When you did, you stopped talking, just as your lungs stopped breathing for a long second.

His dark hair looked a little longer, and his smile was just as you remembered, if not a little softer. Breathtakingly dashing like the first time you saw him, even in his worst moments. Because the last time you saw him, things weren’t pretty. You threw around words you didn’t mean only to disappear from his life. Both of you were crying, eyes red and puffy, voice broken as you spoke. You thought you’d never see him again.

To your dismay, you realized right then and there that you weren’t ready to face him yet. You never prepared for the moment it would all come back, simply because you never thought it would. 

“Thought I’d never see you again,” Wooyoung huffed, his polite smile falling in seconds.

“Yeah, me too,” you croaked, still in shock. 

The moment stretched on for what felt like minutes, and was only probably seconds, as you desperately tried to come up with something to say, something that’d make sense. But your brain came up empty-handed, because what if he hated you? He should hate you. What if he just told you to fuck off and left? Just like you did years ago. 

“So, what are you up to?” 

And yet, here he was again, taking your life by storm. There was no way he was standing there, in front of you in the middle of a busy sidewalk, asking what was of your life. You blanked, producing a sort of confused and surprised noise. He had to be joking. You watched as a little amusement flashed in his eyes, the corner of his lips twitching upwards. 

“Would you like to catch up over coffee?” 

Your eyes must’ve been wide as saucers, not a single second of this was making sense to you. 

“U-uh… Sure,” you shrugged, despite yourself. 

Was this his way of showing you he was unbothered and had moved on? His long-awaited chance to brag about where he was in life? You didn’t know him as someone who would do that, but perhaps you deserved it. Maybe this was karma. 

Awkward. It was all so painfully awkward: walking in tense silence beside him to the coffee shop down the street, trying to make small talk about the weather, stumbling over your words when ordering coffee, waiting for him to join you at the table near the exit. Just in case. 

“You’re back home?” You finally asked as he sat down in front of you, desperate to find something, anything, to talk about and fill the silence that hung menacingly over your heads. After all, he wanted to catch up. Wooyoung nodded, slowly sipping his drink.

“Oh, you’ve been traveling then,” you mumbled, playing with your coffee cup, not daring to look up at him again.

“I was, yes.” It was hard to wrap your head around what was happening. In another life, this would all have been familiar. It could have been. Sharing a cup of coffee on a Thursday morning, talking about whatever, sharing cool recipes, and planning how or when to try them out. His presence wouldn’t make you want to simultaneously vomit and run and hide. Dug your own grave, huh? 

“Only big names I imagine,” you forced a smile. He shrugged with a huff, a little bashful perhaps. It was all you needed to know you’d guessed right.

“What about you? What brings you here?” Wooyoung asked, pulling you out of your reverie. Despite the small, polite smile on his lips, his eyes were unreadable. Though, deep down, you knew the answer he wanted to hear. That you traveled all around the world and did big things - still were - and worked for big names. Achieved your dreams at the expense of his. The lump in your throat made it hard to swallow, to speak. 

“Worked at Hwang’s for a while…” you managed to say through the bitterness. Wooyoung’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, jaw hanging open.

“Really? Wow, that’s… amazing! Doesn’t it have two Michelin stars?” Some of your guilt evaporated at the surprise and excitement in his voice, a lightness that was quickly crushed by your own disappointment. 

“How’s it there?” There it was, the million-dollar question. You scoffed, bitter, looking at him, watching his face fall a little. 

“I quit.” You shrugged. 

“You? Quitting? What happened to the Y/N I knew?” Wooyoung was surprised, that much you could tell, but there was something else brewing in his brown eyes. 

“Dead, gone and buried, apparently.” 

Your words were nothing but bleak, with a little bitterness still in them. Sure, you did what was best for you and you were proud, but you couldn’t help but feel like you had let him down. And wasn’t that absolutely, wildly foolish? 

“They offered me a job as head chef in their new restaurant, but I turned that down as well,” you rushed to explain, feeling like you had to, missing his furrowed brow. 

“That’s…” 

“Crazy?” You offered, cutting him off. Wooyoung scoffed. 

“Well, yeah, but there must’ve been a good reason,” he shrugged. “You don’t have to justify your choices to me, Y/N.” 

Your breathing faltered at his words and the fragility they held. Wooyoung had muttered them so softly, you could’ve lost them in the bustling atmosphere around you, and somehow both stabbed and healed your heart’s wounds. 

A moment passed before he cleared his throat, speaking again.

“So, you’re unemployed,” you almost couldn’t fathom how quickly he got back to bubbly and upbeat. You nodded, still stunned.

“Great, me too.” Wooyoung smiled while you blinked repeatedly. Was he… happy? 

“My friend told me about this one restaurant opening down the street-”

“They’re not opening,” he said, watching as your face fell. “Not yet at least.” 

You furrowed a brow, confused, about to ask what he meant when he cut you off again.

“I still need to find a co-owner.”

For a moment, you didn’t hear the car, just outside, honking at a group of teenagers crossing the street despite the redlight. You missed the way a barista made a glass fall and shatter eliciting surprised gasps around the shop. You only saw Wooyoung in front of you, his expression between smug and daring to hope, eyes shining with a little fear. All you heard were the words that left his mouth and what they implied, along with your heart ringing in your ears.

“What do you want to do? Why did you decline the head chef position?” You blanched, head spinning, brain scrambling to form coherent words. His eyes burned with a fire in them that screamed determination, one you were used to seeing as he challenged a dish he was afraid to ruin. A fire you used to love so much and that, you found, still made your breath hitch. 

“I-I just want to make good food and not run a kitchen of overworked, stressed, miserable and spiteful people,” you settled on, not daring to look away, not even when he leaned back in his seat, a smirk on his lips.

“How’d you like it to open a restaurant?” 

“Let’s open our own restaurant,” you laughed at his words, turning your head to catch his enthusiastic smile and bed hair all over the place. He was so beautiful, bathing in the morning light of your room, that your heart jumped and hurt and sang all at once. 

“What?! Is this post-nut clarity?” Wooyoung laughed, pulling you with him.

“Way to ruin the moment, love,” he quieted down. “I’m serious, though,” he was looking at you with amusement dancing in his eyes, and such adoration that sometimes it was hard to fathom it was directed at you.

“Mixing feelings with work is the recipe for disaster, Jung,” you found yourself saying, giggling when he pulled you into him, his hands leaving goosebumps in their wake. It was quiet for a while and you reveled in the warmth of the moment. Wooyoung often made you feel like anything was possible, like right now, huddled in a tangled mess of limbs and sheets despite the impending class you needed to leave for. 

“I think we’d make it,” he whispered, quite believing the words he was saying. “And if it all starts falling apart we can hire chefs to cook and be the owners. Live somewhere tropical, rebuild our relationship…” 

“That’s so sad, we wouldn’t be cooking at all!” you laughed, hiding in his chest and hearing a fake offended hey! from him. “You dream too big, Woo.”

“And you dream too small, my love.” He guided your face in front of his with gentle hands, bumping his nose with yours before kissing you until you were left breathless. When you pulled away, you finally saw the stars dancing in his eyes.

“I do have dreams,” you almost whispered, treading lightly on your own aspirations, opening up your heart for someone else to see. Someone who would understand and not call you crazy. Wooyoung nudged you, an expectant smile on his lips. “I want to travel all around the world and learn from the best of the best. Life’s a classroom, I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop.”

“Never?” he asked, not quite surprised, but more like impressed. He understood. You let out an elated giggle, almost cursing yourself for behaving like a schoolgirl. 

“Never.” unable to resist, you pecked his lips once. 

“That’s a wonderful dream, love.” 

One of his hands came up to rest on your cheek, cradling it gently, looking at you as if you were the most prized possession of his. All over, warmth wrapped you up, and rose to your cheeks that he was still grazing his thumb over, light as a feather.

“I want to open a restaurant someday, ” he whispered, so close to you, looking into your eyes and sending sparks flying in your chest. “But I think I might just follow you to the ends of the world.”

His lips crashed on yours once more, sending your heart racing more than his words had. This might’ve been the closest you’d ever felt to heaven, with Wooyoung wrapped around you, canceling any and everything else. You knew, right then and there, that the fall was going to hurt like nothing had ever before. 

Consommé was the most devilish dish you’d ever had the displeasure of cooking. And yet, its intricate cooking process demanded every last bit of your undivided attention. That was why you were sweating away in the kitchen, trying to achieve the perfect result through your rusty memory of the process, although you had no need for it. Well, except not thinking of your morning. You’d rather remember Chef Berrien’s voice as he dictated the recipe and the endless ways you could ruin it, than your encounter with Wooyoung. 

A shiver ran down your spine, tingling all the way, when his words, the ones from earlier and the ones from back then, echoed in your mind; clashing, fighting, and leaving behind scorched earth. 

You could hardly believe this was your life right now. Accepting would mean tying yourself down to this place, to Wooyoung. You let the thought simmer in your head, waiting for the familiar claustrophobia to bloom in your chest, suggesting you to run and never come back.  

It didn’t come. 

Instead, the thought of leaving pulled at your heartstrings. You liked it here. You liked your morning coffee shit-talking sessions with Yeosang, you liked meeting up with Seonghwa on his days off, you liked your greengrocers and the walk back through the park near home. You liked your apartment, you finally liked the disposition of your tools in your kitchen. You liked the thought of working with Wooyoung. 

You dropped the ladle, splashing your skin with the hot soup. You hissed in pain, clutching your hand to your chest before assessing the damage. You walked the short distance to the sink, running your hand under cold water.

Well, you thought, there goes the clarification process. 

-

You skipped breakfast with Yeosang that morning. For one, you were late despite the alarms, and, most importantly, you needed to talk yourself into actually meeting Wooyoung at the restaurant. The day before you’d left him with the promise of letting him know about the offer. You preferred not to think about how, for just a moment, you could see the determination falter in his eyes. Again. Wooyoung saved his number in your phone before letting you go. 

After taking care of your slightly burned hand, you stared at your phone for all of twenty minutes before finally crafting the perfect text saying you’d meet him at the restaurant at ten. 

And now, five minutes to ten, you were running down the street, dodging people left and right, trying to get to the closed-down restaurant. You couldn’t count the amount of sorry’s you’d thrown around when accidentally running into someone. Finally, the sign came into view, and so did Wooyoung. 

“You made it,” he sounded vaguely surprised and you tried not to let it get to you, or to let it show on your face. 

“So,” you cleared your voice after nodding. “How’d you find out about this?” He gestured for you to follow towards the entrance, producing the key from the back pocket of his black jeans. 

“I used to like this place,” he easily opened the door, leading you inside the empty restaurant. From the outside the restaurant didn’t look like much more than a hole in the wall, but the inside was spacious enough. A small restaurant, fitting maybe twenty tables at best, but you liked the idea. By the looks of it, it must had been recently renovated. Wooyoung switched the lights on, allowing you to see better. “When I got back the owner told me he was thinking of closing, and I asked if he wanted to sell. He made a pretty good offer.” 

“Huh,” you were still looking at the anonymous white walls and the few sleek black tables left behind, making your way to what you knew to be the kitchen. Stepping in, you gasped. It was perfect; an island kitchen slightly bigger than you’d imagined. Almost gleaming in its silver glory it stared back at you, inviting you in. You didn’t even mind the checkered floor as you walked across the space and took it in. Wooyoung stood by the door, leaning against its frame with his hands in his pockets, watching. It looked like he was holding his breath, and you knew why. 

“What do you think?” his voice was just a little bit hesitant. You turned around with a smile. 

“I love it,” you offered, noticing how he seemed to ease up the slightest bit. 

“Ah, I knew you’d fall for the island kitchen,” Wooyoung scoffed, walking into the space as well.

“Not my fault it’s the best type of kitchen,” you raised your hands, hearing him snort.

“Debatable,” he muttered, now standing in front of you. There was amusement dancing in his eyes, a spark you realized just then how much you’d missed. 

It hit you then, square in the chest, how much you really just missed him. He still seemed to know what you wanted even before you knew yourself. It happened then and it was happening now. Being in the kitchen with him felt electrifying, your hands itched to start cooking. You looked around once more, seeing yourself bustling around in this kitchen, Wooyoung at your side.

Never once did you regret the choices you’d made; your love for food had brought you all around the world, learning and cooking in the most beautiful kitchens, earning your praise felt like the biggest reward. Believing in yourself and your skill, your craft, and being able to perfect it was all you really needed. Maybe it was time to stop and breathe for a while, and put your experience to use. Because, no, you never regretted where your choices took you, except losing Wooyoung. Your compass, the one who never lost sight of your heart. 

“Let’s do it.”

Wooyoung looked at you as if you’d grown a second head, letting out a surprised sound.

“I saved quite a bit in the last few years and we could ask for a loan. Quite frankly, I’ve always wanted to run a kitchen on my own terms,” you could hear it in your voice, the ambition faintly coming back to it, something you hadn’t heard in a while. You smiled seeing Wooyoung straighten up. 

“We’d be running it together,” he lifted a brow, crossing his arms over his chest. You mirrored his stance.

“That’s good with me,” Wooyoung smirked. 

“Then let’s do it.”

-

Oftentimes you asked yourself how you ended up here. You believed it almost impossible that you were, once again, sitting in front of Jung Wooyoung at an ungodly hour of the night, eating food you’d made as the radio softly played in the background. What was even less credible to you was how you were sitting in your restaurant, yours, discussing menu plans. 

A month strong into the planning and designing, you were proud to say that you and Wooyoung were… friendly. Like coworkers were. Almost like long-lost friends would be. But it was fine because you got to stress Yeosang nearly every morning about how sometimes you both would slip into old habits and bicker like you used to and how that would confuse you. Then you’d talk Seonghwa’s ear off one night a week in front of your drinks, rambling on and on about how you’d catch yourself staring at him, blushing like an idiot, stumbling over your words. 

Safe to say that your friends were tired, but deep down it surprised and comforted them to see you come back to life bit by bit. 

It was all hard to wrap your head around because the last time you saw him still burned in the back of your mind. It was the giant elephant in the room you could never address, you could never pretend to not see. But Wooyoung was great at turning a blind eye, you realized. And you couldn’t really blame him either. You never expected to be in this sort of situation, you had quite literally run from it. 

But you were afraid of misstepping, of crossing a line.

So, now, there you stood, at a crossroads; talk about it and watch this newfound truce crash and burn, or pretend like everything was fine. For now, discussing the menu with your co-owner would have to do. 

“I think we should add that!” Wooyoung all but yelled, slamming his chopsticks down. 

“And I’m telling you that I know the area!” You rebutted, swallowing your bite, before carrying on with your point. “There’s at least three other restaurants that do that, what’s missing is a gourmet place.”

“Will you let it go?” He sighed, throwing his hands up in the air. “If we get there, we get there, if we don’t, then we’re still making fantastic food!” 

Wooyoung had a point, you knew he did. A valid one at that. 

“You’re insufferable,” you conceded, rolling your eyes and resuming your eating, trying to hide the smile pulling at your lips. 

“You love it,” he winked, picking up his chopsticks. 

And just like that, he threw you back into your loop. How could you simply let it go when this felt so familiar? When it reminded you so much of how you were? Light and carefree. Happy. You hadn’t noticed your eyes roaming around his figure, taking in his long dark hair pulled back by a ponytail, the way his eyes seemed to shine in the dull light coming from the stupid lamp he’d insisted on bringing in. 

This was his dream, wasn’t it? You remembered, because how could you forget the endless hours he’d spend talking about his own restaurant, managing his own kitchen, creating dishes, and cooking his favorites? You could tell by the small smile he sported as he ate, looking around the room with star-filled eyes. 

You didn’t know quite how you fit into this. You never amounted that one conversation, years ago in your Paris apartment, up to anything more than daydreaming. Though, right now, the moment felt tangible, you could grasp it in your hands if you wanted to. He'd given you a new dream to chase right when you thought you were over. 

“You’re looking at me weird,” Wooyoung waved his chopsticks in a circle around your face, eyebrows furrowed.

“Sorry,” your eyes fell back to the almost empty plate, moving the last bites of food around. 

“I didn’t say it was bothering me,” his voice was lower, almost a whisper, and you felt your heart drop. When you looked up, you didn’t know what to make of his expression. It looked like he was contemplating his following words, and you were all but hanging from his lips. He stayed quiet, eyes downcast on his plate, and shot you a short smile. 

You let the radio fill the silence between you, allowing the thoughts to pester your mind. Though, like a cup overflowing, there was little you could do to cage them and push them down.

“Wooyoung, were you-” his eyes rose to meet yours, and you stopped for a second, mulling the question over, savoring its bitter taste in your mouth before spitting it out as if it were a seed that ruined your bite. “Who were you going to open the restaurant with?”

His wide eyes told you all you needed to know, and yet his stunned silence pulled another set of words out of your lips.

“You said you needed a co-owner first…” you rasped, almost shocked you were still talking through the cotton in your mouth. Wooyoung set his chopsticks down, trying to hide the way his hands started trembling, sighing.

“We made a good team, didn’t we?” his voice was quieter, wondering. He shot you an uneasy smile, so short and so small you almost missed it. “I know you’re a great chef and we want this to be a great restaurant.”

“Yeah…” you whispered, feeling the weight of memories unloading on both your shoulders, their presence demanding the unwanted plunging into deep, murky waters. “Does it have, uhm… does it have anything to do with-”

“Let’s not open that can of worms, mh?” He cut you off immediately, sounding a tad harsher than he had before, rubbing salt into your matching wounds. 

“I just-” It felt like you were gasping for air, grasping at any lifeline you were afforded, lost in the swirling sea that were his pained eyes. 

“I know.” 

A mangled victory, or a loss, the way his voice sounded resolute. It allowed no space for you to counterattack, to try and pry any other thought out of him. And you accepted it, simple and plain, with no complaints. You had no right to. Nodding, you averted your eyes, affording him space. 

“I-” Wooyoung sighed, running a hand through his hair. The conflict in his mind was reflected on his face clear as day. Before his eyes were back on you, they looked around the room. “I missed you.”

Bearing his heart, that was what he was doing. It felt like, despite everything, he was still offering you a small piece of it. Your breath caught in your throat. Three words that held huge implications and a heavy past. One right answer, a truthful one, that could sound highly hypocritical of you. But you had to say it.

“I missed you, too.”

Wooyoung smiled, small and tentative, but still as warm as sunshine. You smiled back. 

The night was as cold as you felt despite having his arms wrapped around you, offering you shelter from the biting wind. Tonight the twinkling lights of the city below you couldn’t offer their usual comfort. You knew what was going to happen as soon as you opened your mouth to speak; you’d be breaking his heart along with yours. But you had to, hadn’t you? Wooyoung would understand. 

“Don’t you want to stay here forever?” He mumbled in your ear, his warm breath making you shiver. You kept staring out at the Parisian lights, heart sinking with every beat. 

“I-” you sighed, squeezing your eyes shut, wishing there was a way to prevent the hurt you were about to put him through. Never mind about yourself, all you cared about was him. Always him. Then why are you doing this? Sounded something in the recess of your mind. You shushed it. The lump in your throat formed out of the blue, making it hard to utter the next words.

“I wish I could,” you whispered, hoping your words would get lost in the wind, bracing for impact when you felt him tense and pull away from you. A gust blew by, chilling you to the bone now that he wasn’t holding you anymore. The look in his eyes sparked burning regret in your heart, setting it aflame.

“What do you mean?” 

He had taken a step back, confused eyes searching for yours. You couldn’t bear to look at him, not when you were about to break all the promises you’d made right along with his heart. What a coward.

“I was offered a job in New York,” you began, hearing his sharp intake of breath. “I took it… I leave next week.”

When you finally mustered enough courage to look back at him, you saw betrayal shining clear in his eyes, swirling in disbelief, his mouth slightly parted in surprise. It was almost as if you could hear his thoughts, and each of them cut a deeper wound. 

How could you? Why didn’t you tell me? I would've been happy for you. We could’ve made other plans. 

“Were you just going to disappear from my life forever, then?” He spat, a little angry, a little sad. 

“No, Wooyoung, I-” you tried to reason, knowing very well that no excuse would hold. He scoffed bitterly, hiding his hands in the pockets of his jacket like a hurt kid. Already hard to talk through the burning in your throat, the tears springing in your eyes didn’t make the task any easier.

“Save it,” he cut you off, shaking his head. “I should’ve known. I hope you’ll find what you’re looking for there,” he made to go, but you couldn’t let him, not yet. 

“Wouldn’t you have done the same?” He stopped dead in his tracks; you’d said the wrong thing. But you couldn’t hide your hand now that you’d thrown the stone. “Is it not our dream to learn and travel when all of this is done?”

Wooyoung shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it, and to some extent, you couldn’t either. 

“No, I wouldn’t have, Y/N. It may be your dream but it isn’t mine. Not anymore, not since I met you. So, yeah, I would’ve given it all up,” he all but yelled, each word was like a punch in the gut. Despite the noise of the city below, the beat of silence that lingered sounded louder than any of it. 

“Go to New York, love. It’s your dream after all,” he conceded, voice dying down and broken, softer, like some sort of realization had dawned upon him. He blinked away his tears, still, you refused to let yours fall. 

In a second he was close to you again, his smell and warmth engulfing you once more. A sob broke through you when you felt his arms wrapping around you tight, and another was pulled from you when one of his hands came to softly rake through your hair. Wooyoung surrounded you with all he was, holding you tight, almost as if he loved you. Almost, you thought, because you knew the difference, for you had felt what it was to be loved – truly loved – by him. But you went and broke it. Now, you had to put love out of the question, and think only of duty. You had made your choice, after all, and he knew it too. 

“Goodbye,” in an instant you were left on your own, cold, and watched as he walked away from you, his whisper resonating in your soul, breaking it with each echo.

If you chose to follow your dream, then why did it hurt so much?

-

Sundays used to be your day off. You’d wake up at midday, usually to a ray of sunlight harshly shining into your face until you could no longer bear its warmth. You’d roll out of bed and lazily proceed to tidy your apartment and rot on the couch for the remainder of the day. Now, though, you were a restaurant owner and Wooyoung insisted you should stay open on Sundays because two out of three of the restaurants in your area were closed. So, you rolled out of bed, taking just one second to admire the first rays of sunlight shining through the fading, dark night sky. You sped through your routine and breakfast, having sacrificed that slot of time in favor of five more minutes of sleep. 

Despite the fast-approaching summer, the morning air was still rather chilly, and much quieter than the rumbling of cars and city rustle that you were used to. You didn’t have to squeeze past sleepy teenagers and angry old ladies on the bus and got to choose which seat to sit in. You didn’t mind early Sundays. 

In no time you’d open the restaurant. Today you’d convinced Seonghwa and Yeosang to drop by for lunch; you needed them to test out the menu you and Wooyoung had carefully crafted. Of course, at the mention of free food, both of them agreed, so there wasn’t much convincing involved after all. A sort of test run before the grand opening. 

The restaurant stood before you in the quiet street, looking close to the eye. You smiled proudly, producing the key from your bag, opening the door, and closing it behind you after walking in. The room was quiet, the only indication of someone being in there was the rustle and faint light coming from the kitchen. 

“Hey, Woo,” he was already there, setting out pans and pots. You walked in, reaching for your jacket. 

“Hi!” Although his head was hidden in a cupboard, you could hear his cheery voice loud and clear. “Are you ready?” 

When he emerged, he was sporting a happy smile, contagious enough to make you chuckle.

“As I’ll ever be.” 

Wooyoung smiled at you, beckoning you over to the station where a copy of the menu lay. You sure had your work cut out for the day. Up until then, between the furnishing and taking care of the more bureaucratic aspect of opening a restaurant, cooking together hadn't been common. You were thrilled to finally share the kitchen with him again. 

“Hey! The rolling pin is there to keep you off my half of the counter,” you huffed, trying your best not to let your irritation show. Not while you were trying to close dumplings perfectly. 

“Oh, come on!” He protested, “I can’t believe you’d still do that, look at how much space we have!”

“Yeah, and somehow, you’re still taking up most of it,” Wooyoung grumbled under his breath, finally moving a few of his bowls and pans to make space for you. 

“Gee, thanks,” although you weren’t trying to rile him up, you still ended up falling back into old habits.

“Oh my-” he rolled his eyes at your sarcasm, moving a couple more things, “You’re the bane of my existence.”

“You literally asked me to be your co-worker!” You laughed, shocked, but amused.

“And there’s not a day I don’t regret it,” with his nose in the air, trying and failing to hide a smile, Wooyoung resumed his meat slicing. You scoffed, not really offended. It was so easy to breathe when things felt as light as they did. A smile threatened to open up on your face, but you had an act to keep up. 

Silence used to be rare between the two of you, yet you liked it now. There was no awkward space to fill anymore, not a single word to be wasted. You worked in tandem, like a well-oiled machine, chuckling at Wooyoung’s occasional jokes and exchanging instructions. It felt good. It felt like it used to. 

“Are you nervous?” You asked him as you finalized the prepping for the second course. Wooyoung looked up, flashing that smile of his that could rival the sun.

“Not really,” he shrugged. “Are you?”

You nodded, avoiding his eyes and focusing on the bowl under your nose. The sauce you prepared to marinate the fish had a pungent note it shouldn’t have had. You didn’t notice him slipping closer to you, right at your side. Wooyoung was leaning on the counter, facing you. 

“You’ve got nothing to be worried about,” his voice aimed to soothe, and it did, sweet like honey. “Are you or are you not one of the best chefs in town?” 

You looked up at him, scoffing, ignoring the heat on your face that his closeness brought along. 

“See, now you’re exaggerating!”

“I’m not.” 

“Are, too!” A soft laugh escaped the two of you, and when he looked at you, eyes so full of hope and happiness, your breathing stopped for just a second. “But you’re right, it’s gonna be okay, I’m just… I don’t know, I want them to like what we made.”

“They’re gonna,” he shrugged. Only when you gave him a questioning look he answered. “Because we made it.” 

It looked like Wooyoung still knew what to say and when to say it to put your nerves at ease.

-

“Can I have some more?” 

“Me too!”

“You can’t ask that!”

“Says who?” 

“Alright, we’ll make it,” Wooyoung quelled the discussion that was about to start quickly, coming back into the kitchen with empty plates.

Two of his friends had joined yours for lunch, not that the food was lacking, but it seemed that Yeosang and San had promptly bonded over their love for one particular dish. Gamjatang, which wasn’t even on the menu, the two were just bottomless pits, apparently. The only one coming to your aid with restaurant etiquette was Seonghwa, whose reprimanding went unheard. Hongjoong stuck to silent side-eyeing, which barely helped. 

“Should we consider adding it to the menu?” Wooyoung joked, coming over to the stove where you stood, already heating up what was left of the broth from the previous batch. You thanked your lucky star you had some ready, or else they’d had to wait hours to eat.

“Let’s make it available only after eleven, though.”

He laughed, reminding you how you closed at midnight while washing and cutting up the mung bean sprouts, crown daisy leaves, perilla leaves, and green chilies you needed to add later on. You went for the pork bones, potatoes, and cabbage leaves.

Wooyoung set his bowl of vegetables close to the stove, ready for you whenever.

“Do you need more seasoning base?” He asked as you put your portion of ingredients into the pot. 

“Yeah, there’s not much left,” you looked at him, waiting for your word to start. “Thanks.” 

He smiled, getting to work quick.

As everything simmered and cooked, the two of you stood in front of the stove, silent, side to side. Outside, you heard your friends all talk and laugh, but they sounded miles away. Once again, you thought you knew what was running through his head. The night when he taught you how to cook the dish, the way he followed your every step with an encouraging smile. How your heart fluttered when he kissed your lips right after his first bite, saying that there was no way he was ever going to cook it again if yours tasted much better. How one night you tipsily tried to cook it together, almost spilling the batch of broth you saved in the fridge and ruining it all, but could only laugh until your stomachs hurt because somehow it was the funniest thing ever. After all, they plagued your thoughts as well. 

When the timer went off and he looked at you like a deer caught in headlights, you smiled, trying to ease away the tension that had bubbled up, going to kill the flame and plate the dish. 

You passed him a full bowl with shaking hands, praying he didn’t hear the way your heart was hammering in your chest.

“Maybe you should take away the wine,” Seonghwa sported a light frown on his lips when you made your way to the table with the other bowl in your hands. You furrowed a brow, noticing the way San and Yeosang were giggling a little too loudly, and how the former was particularly flushed, only after setting the dish in front of him. 

“Good idea,” Wooyoung snickered, scurrying back into the kitchen with the bottle. You watched him go, debating if to follow or give him space. You decided to stay, asking your guests how they liked the food. 

Seonghwa ended up giving you precious input and feedback, over the laughter coming from the opposite end of the table. It made you smile. Despite how interested you were in your friend’s recap of the things he appreciated the most about appetizers, you couldn’t help but glance a little worriedly at the kitchen doors from time to time. Wooyoung was still in there.

“Alright, we should go,” Hongjoong, who had simply complimented your cooking with a polite smile, spoke up after a while. San protested a little but stopped his efforts to stay pretty quickly when his friend said he was going to have no ride home. 

The two made their way to say their goodbyes to Wooyoung in the kitchen, leaving you with your friends. 

“We should go, too,” Yeosang stood, walking over to the doors with you and Seonghwa. 

“Thank you guys for coming,” you quickly hugged them both. “Drop by whenever.”

“You know I will,” Yeosang giggled, making you smile. 

“Keep it up!” Seonghwa said, walking out first. You waved them both off, and when you turned around, you were faced with San and Hongjoong. The former complimented your food, saying he’d bring over friends and family, rambling a bit. You giggled as he spoke, thanking him. 

“Thank you for having us, the food was delicious,” Hongjoong watched over San making his way out of the restaurant after saying his goodbyes, turning to you with a small smile. “Can I ask one thing of you?”

Your brow furrowed, but you nodded quickly. He sighed.

“I know you two have a complicated past,” he started, sending a jolt of anxiety through you. “And I see you’re doing great despite it, so, please, just… don’t hurt him again.” 

“I would never,” you were furiously nodding, suddenly your throat felt a little dry, hands all clammy. 

“Thank you,” Hongjoong smiled, walking out as well, leaving you dumbfounded and staring at their disappearing figures. 

You waited in silence for a while, mulling his words over in your head. When you turned around and saw Wooyoung leaning against the kitchen door’s frame with a bright, wide smile adorning his lips, the sight almost gave you a heart attack. He laughed loudly seeing your spooked reaction, making a smile appear on your face. His laughter only served to make your heart stutter like butterfly wings, having barely recovered from the surprise, making you giggle as well. 

Wooyoung looked so happy that you felt you could burst at the seams. 

“They liked it!” You could barely contain your excitement as you locked up and started to make your way over to him, almost with a skip in your step.

“They did,” he smiled back, eyes scanning your figure until you were right up in front of him. Not even thinking twice, you let your arms sneak around his shoulders, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. You even swayed side to side. Wooyoung laughed happily, his own arms around your waist to pull you closer.

“I’m so happy,” you murmured when your excitement quelled. Your chin was resting atop his shoulder, and his on yours. When he spoke, quietly, you could hear the smile on his lips right against your ear.

“I’m glad,” he said. “Me too.” 

It was quiet. For the first time since that morning there were no friends laughing at the table, no bickering in the kitchen along with the sizzling of the pans, chopping on the cutting board, and rumbling of the pots. 

Just you and him. 

Your heart was still racing, over the moon for the success of your menu, but also quickened by his close proximity. Once realization struck that you’d pulled him into you, you were quick to let go, though his arms around your waist wouldn’t let you wander far.

“Sorry, I-”

“It’s okay,” the look in his eyes was enough to send your heart to your feet, air stuck in your lungs, and take you back in time, just for a second. It was all it took for you to want to pull away from him as if you’d gotten shocked. You found that you couldn’t. Not when Wooyoung held you a little tighter, searching for anything in your eyes that would prompt him to stop leaning even a breath closer. 

Frozen in time, in your spot, your grip on his kitchen jacket grew impossibly strong. 

When his nose softly brushed against yours, as if he’d sensed your mind wandering far and wide and wanted to bring you back to him, and you saw how his half-lidded eyes were holding a simple question, you pulled back.

“Should we get to cleaning up?” 

Wooyoung’s eyes closed, for a fleeting second, before he started nodding.

“Yeah, we’re gonna be here all night,” he cleared his voice, arms falling from around you. He offered a smile so small that it barely showed, the moment gone as soon as it came. You watched as he disappeared behind the kitchen doors, shoulders dropping and eyes falling close. 

You gave yourself a moment, just one, to relish in his closeness. The closest he’d ever been to you in years, something that used to be so familiar and still sparked the same goosebumps, the same erratic heartbeat. You sighed, following after him. 

-

You couldn’t sleep. You hadn’t for a good week. 

Between the imminent opening of the restaurant and the newfound awkwardness between you and Wooyoung, your head was so full of swirling thoughts that, as soon as you closed your eyes, it prevented you from enjoying one singular night of rest. They just kept going, growing into a never-ending spiral of what-ifs and exploding into a hurricane of beating yourself up. 

By now you’d given up on trying to make sense of your feelings. All you knew was that you wanted to keep Wooyoung to your side, co-worker, friend, or lover, it didn't matter. Now that he was back into your life, you didn’t want to risk losing him again. Though, it got increasingly hard to ignore how you wished he would stay with you once you closed the restaurant. How you wanted him to hold you like he used to, how you wanted to tell him every day just much of your love and devotion he had. 

It was still dark outside when you closed the door to your apartment behind you. Almost without thinking, you’d thrown the covers off of yourself and gotten out of bed, put on the first clean clothes you found, and got out of the house. The cold, crisp air of the night hit you right in the face, waking you up like an icy splash of water would have. You pulled your jacket closer around your body, starting the walk to the restaurant. The keys jiggled in your hand, one of the few sounds in the lonesome streets. 

Your heart had decided the way for you before your mind could catch up.

You’d always found solace in cooking. It allowed your mind to relax, and think about what was right in front of your nose, slicing through all your doubts and worries like a knife. With each step you followed, each accomplished passage towards the perfect result, you felt lighter and lighter. Then Wooyoung came along. Never could you have predicted that something else in your life would’ve been able to bring you the same comfort and brightness as cooking. 

Whatever peace and happiness you’d found in your passion, you’d also found in him. He set you alight. You’d been dumb and wrong enough to think that the feeling that came along with him could be replaced. 

But how could it? Once you let go if it, of him, Wooyoung had haunted all of your what-ifs. All of your darkest nights could only brighten up if you thought of his infectious laugh, his soft kisses, and his kind words. 

Reaching the restaurant brought you back out of your thoughts. You were here now, by some fateful design, with him again. You’d do anything not to lose your brightest star again. 

“Couldn’t sleep?”

You closed the backdoor behind you with a jolt, not expecting Wooyoung to be sitting at a table, illuminated only by the light coming from his beloved lamp. 

“What’re you doing here?” 

Ever so slowly, you made your way to him, trying to calm your racing heart. He raised his shoulders, avoiding your eyes a second later, shrugging as if he had no answer to your question. You sat with him, noticing just then the few papers scattered on the wood. 

“What’s on your mind?” The question fell from your lips in a quiet whisper, almost afraid to disturb the silence hanging in the air. You still knew him, after all, maybe even more than you gave yourself credit for. He sported that furrow in his brow, the one that lightly creased his smooth skin, that only showed up when something had been bothering him. 

“I-” he sighed, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, they didn’t waste a single second to find yours. Your mouth went dry. 

“You know what I hate most? That sometimes I hate you, sometimes I hate myself, but always I miss you. And I never stopped torturing myself with the same questions over and over, why would you go? Did our dreams mean nothing to you? Did I mean nothing to you?” A bitter, void laugh fell from his lips. “But you’ve gotta move on, right?”

Oh.

Oh.

Heart in your throat, you were left speechless in front of his innermost thoughts. Thoughts you never imagined could be plaguing his mind still. But how could you miss it now? His eyes were begging for answers, after all this time, as if the dam had finally broken. You couldn’t bear to see them be so pleading, so misty. 

“That’s not true, I,” the words died in your mouth as you choked on them. “You must know it,” reduced to a whisper by the weight of truth, you tried to salvage what you’d so carefully rebuilt.

“Do I?” He sounded so helpless, your brain scrambled in all directions to find a way to convey how so untrue it all was. “You left me, Y/N, and sometimes I'm still there.” 

A gasp left your lips, his words squeezing the air out of your lungs. 

“We’re doing it now, isn’t it enough?”

Wooyoung shook his head, shoulders dropping in disbelief as he scoffed. Despite the dim light, from across the table, you could see his red-rimmed eyes begging you to catch on. You did, you had the second he started speaking, but you’d still said the wrong thing. 

“You’re so dense,” head thrown back, hands on his face, you waited for him to speak again. “Tell me why did you go.”

Not a question. Up against the wall, you felt the way your heart fell to your stomach, how nerves were tugging at it painfully. He needed this, and you were willing to give answers.

“I didn’t think,” you started, feeling so small under his gaze. “The only thing on my mind was that I’d made it. Selfishly, I thought you’d understand. I… I never meant to hurt you, and I know it sounds like bullshit, but it’s true. And when you told me to go, for a split second, I thought we could make it. I realize now how stupid I was. How there were at least ten ways in which I could’ve handled it better. I wish I’d fought for us,”

“I’m sorry. I really am, I-” Unshed tears started to run down your cheeks, wetting your mouth with salt. “There’s nothing I regret more than letting you go.” 

“We were meant to be, love,” his broken whisper was a sinking stone in your chest. Lifting your eyes to meet his, you saw the tear tracks on his desperate face matching yours. 

“But we were not meant to last,” there were few ways you could describe how your heart was hurting as you muttered the words, hand reaching forwards on the table. You didn’t think Wooyoung would hold on to it until he did. Fingers intertwined, you both held on painfully tight as if by letting go you’d get lost in the current the sea of your words had provoked. Each other’s buoy in a storm of unsaid words and unresolved, muddy feelings, so strong that with nothing they could tear you apart. 

You cried immersed in the dark silence of the restaurant hall, the place that crowned your dreams, listening to the other’s quiet sobs. 

“I’m sorry, forgive me,” you choked out again, trying to find his face past your tears. Wooyoung reached out to brush them away, his hands just as soft as you remembered, if not more careful. The moment his skin grazed yours, a shiver ran down your spine, electrified by such simple contact. His hand lingered for a long second, cradling your cheek before all you felt was its cold absence.

He stood up first, only to walk around the table and stamp a kiss on the crown of your head, his hand holding your shoulder. You froze, barely hearing how he murmured something about seeing you in the morning, barely breathing. What you did hear was the closing door, a sign you’d been left alone with your thoughts in the dimly lit room, knowing your ignorance had broken his heart again.

-

You didn’t know how to fix it. 

Standing and cooking side by side felt off again. You were walking on eggshells, treading on a fine line to avoid ticking off another bomb. If the weight of apologizing had been lifted off your chest, something much heavier now resided upon it. Knowing something had changed yet again, all because of how you’d acted. What you’d said. 

“You want to make ramen noodles? From scratch?” 

In the middle of cleaning up part of the station, you couldn’t help but let surprise seep into your voice. Wooyoung stared, nodding. 

“I thought we already made enough to last us at least two days…” You let your words fade out, not wanting to start an argument. His jaw set and you realized your efforts had been in vain.

“I’d rather be safe than sorry, at least until our new hires come in,” he shrugged, going to preheat the oven. He really was serious. 

You wondered why he was going through with this; you ran out of kansui, which was already hard enough to find, let alone expensive. In its absence, you’d need to prepare a substitute for it: baking soda that had to be baked in the oven for at least an hour to act properly instead of the kansui. It was such a waste of time when you had more pressing matters to attend to. Ones that didn’t need the help of your brigade. 

Breathing in deeply and deciding that keeping peace was essential, you assessed how Wooyoung was just lining the baking sheet with parchment paper and spreading the baking soda over it. You went to retrieve the whole wheat and bread flours you’d need in an hour, trying to keep frustration at bay. You’d think about the salt and riboflavin later. When you came back with the sacks, Wooyoung was already cleaning the rolling pins and pasta machine. With a grunt, you set them down on the counter, watching as he jolted in surprise.

“I’ll go call our supplier while we wait on the oven,” you really didn’t mean for your voice to sound so clipped. He seemed not to care, simply giving you a nod and going on with his task.

You left the kitchen almost stomping your feet in frustration, sitting down at the table furthermost from it. Whatever game Wooyoung was playing, it needed to stop now. You had tried time and time again, in the last few days, to get anything out of him. To try and patch things up and salvage them as best as you could. But you guessed he needed time, and with the opening just around the corner, you decided it was best to let him be. As long as you could work well together, everything would be fine.

Except the wall he’d put up was so high that you felt it was impossible to climb it or break through. 

The sound of the door opening brought you back to reality, reminding you that you needed to find the supplier’s contact and call, murmuring something about being closed to whoever had just come in. 

“I figured,” the voice made every hair on your skin stand, plunging you back into prickly, cold, anxious times. As you looked up, you could barely believe your eyes.

“Mr. Hwang,” his name left your lips in an incredulous whisper. 

“It’s been a while,” he looked around, coming in. His eyes were inspecting thoroughly everything they could lay themselves on, scrutinizing all that might be out of place, or all that wasn’t, and had the ability to spark envy in an enviable man. “Nice place.”

“How may I help you?” 

“I have an offer to make you.”

Wooyoung nearly stumbled on his feet. When he’d walked out of the kitchen to see if anything had come of your call with the supplier, the last thing he’d expected was seeing you sat at a table with your old boss, having a chat, exchanging laughter. He’d quickly retreated, leaving you to it, seeing red. He didn’t need to know what was going on, nor did he want to. Or at least that’s what he kept telling himself as he stared, unable to do anything else, at the timer of the oven ticking by. Every second you sat out there, was a second he needed to reason with himself and find out what the menacing grip that held his heart was. All Wooyoung knew was that he wished you’d walk through the kitchen doors, a bright smile on your face, ready to get back to work. 

And when you did, he couldn’t quite figure out the look on your face. He was dying to ask what Hwang wanted, no matter what it was, he needed whatever words you’d utter to soothe his burning curiosity. But you never spoke, keeping up your diligent work even past the timer dinging, through the kneading of the dough, its thirty-minute rest, and the several compressions through the pasta machine. He observed you carefully, like he always had, as you used a long knife to cut the noodles by hand as he was occupying the noodle cutter of the machine. Were you slipping through his fingertips again? His eyes on you had always felt like an encouraging, gentle caress. Always looking after and out for you. Wooyoung never noticed or wasn’t fully aware, that sometimes they still did. More often than not you felt the need to step away, or look away, under his gaze, caving in under his affection. 

You felt that you didn’t deserve to be looked at so tenderly, not anymore. 

He searched for words to say as the several pieces of dough were turned into noodles, but nothing came to mind. Nothing sounded right, not even in his head. Wooyoung let silence win this battle, preferring to let the whirring of the machine and the slicing of your knife talk, trying to work out all the tangled threads that were his thoughts. It was easy to mess up the noodles and have them stick together in an unsalvageable way; then you’d have to make them into dough again and put it through the machine, compressing it until it was ready to be cut up. He tried to treat his thoughts with the same care as noodles to avoid starting over. But Wooyoung wasn’t having the same luck. 

Your muttering from the other side of the kitchen prompted him to look your way, struggling to find some space in the refrigerator for your sheet-pans. He hid his smirk, tossing the last of his noodles with cornstarch.

“Why?” You turned around, hands on your hips, irritation barely at bay. Wooyoung raised a brow, doing his very best at pushing your buttons.

“Why did we make so many fucking noodles when we are stocked full?” 

“Because we need them,” he shrugged. “They’re tedious to make from scratch, it’ll make our lives easier.”

“Then you make space for them,” you huffed, hastily walking over to the dishwasher to start filling it with the utensils you’d just finished using. 

“What did Hwang want?” 

Wooyoung bit his tongue, watching how your back straightened at his question. He’d tried to sound casual, but the question turned out to be anything but. He couldn’t keep it in anymore, the longer he did, the more his nerves tested his peace of mind. Wooyoung watched as you froze, halting your movements, before turning to face him again. The furrow of your brow as you raked your eyes over him accelerated his heartbeat in mysterious ways, waiting with bated breath for your answer.

“Nothing important,” but it was to him. Wooyoung’s thoughts had taken him places he didn’t want to revisit. His heart had been swallowed with an all-consuming and unkindly familiar pain at the idea of you leaving him behind. Hwang had offered you a lot in the past, afforded you to realize your dreams, he knew that much. What could he give you, then?

“Then why did you take so long talking to him?” One way or the other, Wooyoung had to exorcize the sinking feeling in his chest along with the overpowering green monster resurfacing with all its might. The only way afforded to him now was to venomously spit his words to you.

“I’m not trying to put us in a hard place with our number one competitor,” you closed the loaded dishwasher behind you, coming closer to him, clouding his senses. He scoffed with a roll of his eyes and you lifted a brow, crossing your arms. 

“Fine, be that way,” you carelessly threw the towel that was resting on your shoulder upon the counter. “He came back to try and persuade me to work for him again.” 

And there they were, the words Wooyoung had feared the most. Someone who would whisk you away from him again as he watched helplessly, feeding into his fears. 

“I said no, Woo…” your voice put a halt to every thought drowning him, your eyes full of the same softness your voice was. Giving up the fight, extinguishing the fire of his worries, at the cost of your disappointment. You swallowed the bitter bite. “Did you really think I’d go back, that I’d leave this? That I’d leave you?”

His silence was answer enough. You nodded, pressing your lips together.

“Well, I wouldn’t.” 

You weren’t going to let him think like that, not now. 

“I wasn’t happy there, and there’s not a single thing he could offer that would make me as happy as you do.”

Wooyoung watched, stunned into silence, while you got rid of your jacket and murmured something about still having to call the supplier. The timid smile you gave him, eyes full of warm hope, moved something inside him that had been slowly waking up ever since you bumped into him down the street months ago. 

-

For so long, he’d tried to move on. In the end, it turned out that you wanted different things from him, and he had to accept that. Wooyoung couldn’t convince you to stay if you wanted to leave. So, with his heart aching and bursting at the seams with the hope that eventually you’d be back, he let you go. There was no way he could describe how he felt when he saw you again. Surprise struck him, leaving him disoriented for a long moment before his mouth spoke for him. As if his body had reacted to the presence of yours, remembering what it felt like to have you close. 

No, Wooyoung wasn’t surprised that he so readily welcomed you back into his life. You were trying, that much he could see, but he was, too. There was a battle going on inside his head that left him frustrated and confused when it came to you, to his feelings for you. His thoughts laid their armor down only in your presence. His heart knew you were the only one he’d ever truly loved. A love that bloomed at the wrong time, a fragile flower that didn’t survive the winter. Wilted and withered, you’d left him to mend the gashes. 

He did, only if it meant learning how to be without you, burning with the hope that one day, if the time was right, together you could grow flowers anew.

The chance was right there for him to take, and yet. It had taken him just a couple of hours after closing the kitchen to decide he needed to see you, and set things straight once and for all. 

“What are you doing here?” 

The sun was just about to set, gilded light flowing into your apartment from the window, bathing you in its gold. Wooyoung’s breath caught. For a fleeting instant, nothing else existed besides your confused pout and his erratic heartbeat. 

“Can we talk?” 

You nodded, opening the door wider to let him in, gesturing for him to follow to the kitchen. The sweet aroma hit him first, enveloping him, and he saw the cutting board in the sink after. It didn’t take him long to figure out you were making blackberry jam. 

“You’re stressed,” the words left his lips before he could realize he’d spoken them, your head jerking in his direction as you kept stirring the pot, only to nod right after. 

“Well, yeah, the opening’s just around the corner now and we-” your eyes fell back on the stove, briefly avoiding his. “What did you want to talk about?”

Wooyoung hesitated. He didn’t know. Rather, he was sure he needed to make things right. Clean the suffocating air of uncertainty when it came to you and what you were to him. What he was to you. You two were always good at dancing in the dark but now, in the light of day, it was hard to fall back into rhythm.  

“I’m sorry about the noodles,” he bit his tongue. Way to start. 

How could he say what he wanted to when his head was on fire? Still, you were there, waiting, occasionally stirring your jam, making his heart skip. Wooyoung sighed.

“I couldn’t stand the thought of you leaving.” 

Your hand halted its gentle movements, he saw your knuckles turning white. 

“Wooyoung-”

“No, let me say this,” he was pretty sure his lungs almost failed him when you turned to look at him, wide eyed, hanging onto his words. “I don’t really know how to act around you. At first, I wanted to be mad. Just a little bit, but found out quickly that after the anger was gone, there wasn’t much left. Just the part of me that wondered if you’d ever come back, if you missed me like I missed you. And if I push all the confusion back, it’s as easy as breathing. I never expected to want you with me as much as I do.” 

You turned off the flame, walking closer. 

“I never meant you any harm,” you were picking at your fingers, almost subconsciously, just like Wooyoung’s hand reached out to twine with yours, halting your nervous motions. “I‘m sorry that I let you down, and that I hurt you.”

“I know,” he squeezed your hand with a small sigh, eyes cast on them. “We weren’t meant to last.”

The words bitterly echo in the quiet kitchen, almost lost in the burbling coming from the stove. Wooyoung was tempted to let go of your hand and walk out the door, fragile like a house of cards, as if it cost him his whole heart to tell you the truth. To expose his confusion in fear it may be an imposition.  

“No, Woo, not when I was so confused and only put my dreams first. Not when we had so much that we would’ve held each other from,” your watery smile hit him square in the chest, your words feeding his worries. “But I think we were always meant to be. I still… I’ve always held so much love for you.” 

Wooyoung stopped breathing, letting the sweet taste of your words wash over him.

“Can we start over?” you asked, tentative, searching his face for any sign that you may have crossed a line. “I want to be by your side, at your pace, we’ll be whatever you want us to be. I wasn't ready then but I am now, and I know it'll take time but I want you to know that I'll be there. No matter how long, I'll always be there.”

The unruled hope, that he’d been fighting to keep at bay, finally broke free and sparked a fire in his chest that swallowed up his heart, holding it in a fierce grip, burning. Your hopeful, misty eyes told him more than words could, more than he could ever dare to imagine. He had longed to see them from this close again. 

“Didn’t you say that mixing feelings with work is the recipe for disaster?” 

Behind the carelessly amused shrug of your shoulders, your untamed smile shined with bright happiness. The hand that wasn’t holding his tentatively rose to cup his cheek and Wooyoung wasted no time in leaning in and basking in its warmth.

“I think we’d make it.” 

Your promise was enough for him. Wooyoung rested his forehead against yours, finding home in your sweet perfume once again. You were finally back into his arms, to hold and to love. Once your lips met his hesitantly, almost afraid at first but feverishly at last, the sweet and pleasantly tart taste of your kiss assured his head and heart that everything would be alright.

[terminallybrainrot]

Perhaps some M! Reader and Sebastian somewhere risky?

Part 2 of my HuffleSmut series.

Part 1 Part 3

M/M 18+ 3.3k

Risky Business

Sebastian had been making eyes at you across the table for an hour now, the soft noise of shuffling books and the smell of parchment being all that was keeping you grounded. After what had happened in the hidden Herbology Corridor, things had been a bit awkward the past few days. To ease the tension, you two had decided to study together for a, rather important mind you, Herbology exam tomorrow. But it seemed Sallow was preoccupied.

His shoe tapped against yours for the third time, and you finally lifted your eyes from your textbook, looking at him through your lashes.

"If you plan on continuing to pester m-"

"You're torturing me."

Sebastians' words caught you off guard, not sure what he meant, or why the pink on his cheeks was so alluring in contrast with his dark hair.

"W-what?" You asked, confused as your eyes found his hands. They were tapping his wand against his leg repeatedly, his eyes locked on your features. His face cracked in a smirk at your question and he rolled his eyes, the tapping on his leg wavering momentarily.

"In the halls. In classes." Sebastian lowered his voice, cocking his head to the side. "The way you look at me, the way you…" he trailed off, looking down at your neck, then to your shoulder. "It's almost as if you're avoiding me."

You felt your face heat up immensely, your breath getting caught in your throat at the heavy look and words from the Slytherin across from you. You hadn't talked about what had happened since it did, the memory of the other boy's body pressed against your own making you feel like your stomach was doing summersaults.

"Are you avoiding me?" He asked, kicking your shoe once again, pulling your eyes away from his lips to meet his gaze.

"No! No, not at all, Sebastian- I just-" you stammered, bringing a hand up from your quill to run it through your hair. "I've been busy, and I haven't seen you much except in the halls like you said and-"

Sebastian smiled softly as he stared at you, watching you struggle.

You shifted under his gaze, readjusting in your seat as the heat on your cheeks deepened. "I wanted to.. to ask you if you were free this weekend someti-"

The sudden noise of Sebastian's chair sliding against wood, and the image of him standing startled you slightly, watching him walk over to your side of the table and lean down. His face was very close to yours, and you could smell the smoke that clung to his hair; he must have been to Crossed Wands earlier that day.

"Come with me." Sebastian whispered, breath against your ear as his hands that were on the table in front of you found your shoulder. The contact with the bruise that he had left day's previous was still present, and it made you shudder, a jolt going through you.

Without hesitation, you stood, fumbling with your wand to send all of your books and parchment up to your dorm. Sebastian leaned against the nearest bookshelf, eyes dancing between you, and the rest of the library. Luckily, there weren't many other students, just a few small groups in the open space beneath you.

Sebastian tapped his shoe impatiently, a soft sigh leaving him. "This year, please." He demanded, voice quiet and deep. You turned to look at him over your shoulder, fumbling a book at the look on his face; he was staring at you through hooded eyes, his jaw set and arms crossed. Feeling your face turn scarlet, you quickly turned back around and hastily flicked your wand, all of your belongings apparating to your dorm in an instant.

As you turned back to face Sebastian again, you were greeted with the sight of him walking away and down the spiral staircase. You cocked your head to the side but followed at his heels, your yellow gold tie swishing in your face from the wind as you did so.

"Sebastian, where a-"

"Hush."

You closed your mouth and stared at the back of his head, tracing the curls as you followed him down and around a few bookcases, nearing the back of the library. Looking around, you were becoming more and more confused. The tables with students at them were a mere fifteen feet away, their soft whispers not audible. Going to protest again, you looked over at Sebastian, but saw him with a key in his hand, unlocking the restricted section of the library.

Starting at the sight, you quickly stepped in front of him, blocking the rest of the library's view of him as his hands worked. "What are you doing?!" You whisper yelled, your palms becoming sweaty as you glanced over at Scribner, her desk empty. "Sebastian, please tell me you have a note from a Professor allowing you t-"

"If you don't shut up, I'm going to cast a sealing charm on your mouth." Sebastian looked up at you from his crouched position, brown eyes staring at you through his lashes. "And I do not want to do that." His voice was so low even you could barely hear it, but you caught his drift, and it immediately went to your core. Heat filled your cheeks and you looked away, worried what would happen if you held the gaze any longer.

Hearing the clinking sound of the lock opening, you looked back at the gate, which was now slightly ajar. Sebastian looked down at you as he stood and began to usher you through, his hand lingering on your waist painfully. You bit the inside of your cheek as you slipped through the opening, nervously looking back at the students, praying you weren't seen. "Just go, we're fine." Sebastian reassuringly whispered close behind you, and you let out a little huff of exasperation, hurriedly walking through the small room and over to the staircase.

You walked down it a few steps, just enough for the top of your head not to be seen by anyone looking in through the caged slates, and looked up at Sebastian. "Sebastian, where are you taking me?" You asked, eyebrows upturned in a plea, but a smile finding your lips at the situation he had put you in. He looked down at you and cocked his head, his normally bright and warm brown eyes having something of an edge to them now, and it made your stomach tighten.

Sebastian walked down a few steps, grabbing your hand and leading you down further into the room below. "What? Never been into the restricted section without permission? Don't tell me you're scared, Hufflepuff." The tease washed over you, and you felt your ears heat up next, embarrassment at not only the feeling of his hand on yours but also the mocking of your house. A twisting in your stomach made you feel like you were going to be sick, your eyes darting from the hand holding your own, then to Sebastian's shoulders, almost tripping over your shoes at the last step of the stairs.

Suddenly, the grip on your hand got tighter, and you felt your back be pushed against a wall. You let out a soft noise of confusion, but all words died in your mouth at the feeling of Sebastian's lips being pressed against yours. Your eyes were wide, searching the freckled face of the boy so close to you, smelling the scent of his aftershave as your eyes fluttered closed. He hummed happily at the contact as if your lips were the only thing he had wanted all day, and you melted into the feeling of him against you, his frame pushing you further against the wall. Only noticing that your hands had found their way up to Sebastian's hair when your fingers were tugging at his curls, receiving a pleased noise from the Slytherin at the tension.

You could've stayed like that forever, feeling the heat radiating off of his body, his hand on your hip, drawing you closer against his thigh. God- his thigh. The way his fingers were digging into your hip, attempting to stop you from squirming, was just driving you down, his thigh positioned right between your legs. All you could do was try to wiggle away from the friction, but it was no good. Your lips parted as he moved his leg, your cock straining against your trousers, and Sebastian took the invitation inside your mouth gladly. He dipped his tongue between your lips and through your teeth as he pressed it against your own, his hum of satisfaction vibrating against your mouth.

A shuddered breath left you as he jerked his leg up, your thigh now positioned between his legs as well. You could feel how hard he was through his trousers, a tiny hint of pride swelling in your chest as you lifted your hips, wanting to feel it pressed against you more. However, your eyes opened at the feeling of his mouth leaving yours, barely catching a glimpse of Sebastian's face before he dipped down to lick at your neck. His face was flush, bright red covering his freckles, and his curls sticking to his forehead from the heat of your bodies pressing together.

At the feeling of his tongue on your neck, dragging down to the curve of your collarbone, you weren't able to contain the noises that Sebastian's mouth had muffled. A breathy curse escaped your lips as he bit down and sucked at the dip in your shoulder, your fingers tangling in his curls and breathing in the scent of him. "Ow- not so ha-" you started, but it lasted into a long moan as he bit down harder, teeth sinking deeper as he pressed his knee up to give your cock some attention. You almost came at that, not expecting the attention to detail of your body that the Slytherin was already seemingly in tune with, but he pulled away again.

"What-" you managed, looking up at him with lust-blown pupils. Sebastian was looking around the corner, his eyes narrowed. Your own eyes widened, fear shooting through you as you remembered you weren't supposed to be down here at all, let alone having an all-out snog fest. "Is there someone com-" Sebastian slapped a hand over your mouth, silencing you at once. Your cock twitched, to utter embarrassment, and it seemed Sebastian noticed because his eyes flicked down to between you, then back around the corner.

Without speaking, he brought his free hand away from your hip and began to paw at you through your pants, a jolt shooting through your spine at the contact. He stopped and brought a finger up to his lips, eyes never leaving whatever he was watching across the hallway, then placed his hand back on you. It was torture. Your fingers gripped at the fabric of his trousers around his thighs, then at his shirt, then back down to his thighs, not being able to keep still as it took every cell in your being to not rock your hips up and keep the noises in your throat down.

"Is someone there?"

The airy, wispy voice of a woman drifted through the air, sending a chill through you in fear, but Sebastian didn't stop. His hand continued to paw at your painfully hard cock, and he even began to rock his hips forward to connect with your thigh, his lips parting in a silent moan as he watched around the corner. You could've died from anxiety, but the image of him above you, pressing against you, his hand unlacing your trousers sloppily; it was terrifying, and it made you want to cum in your pants right then and there.

He suddenly shot you a look, his eyes locking on yours for just a moment. "You better not cum." He whispered, just audible enough for you to read his lips and piece together the words. You practically whimpered, your state of desperation becoming more and more dire as he finally got your laces undone, his hand finally, finally, touching you just through your underclothes. Sebastian stopped and squeezed, a threat in his eyes as he looked back around the corner. You couldn't help but let out a noise at the grip, then the relief as he continued to stroke you softly.

"Someone… down here…?"

The voice of the woman said again, this time it sounded closer, but it didn't seem like Sebastian was worried, his hips having found a rhythm, and his chest starting to heave with effort. You felt a heat in your core, your breathing catching in your throat, and you knew if he didn't stop you were going to ruin your uniform. You grabbed his hand with your own shaking one, and Sebastian looked away from the corner and down at you. He was gorgeous. His face was pink, lips parted, eyes blown with lust. He looked at you questioningly, but you mustered all the courage you had in yourself and took a deep breath.

You brought your hands down to the buttons on his trousers, undoing them quickly and freeing Sebastian from his, probably painful, constraints. He let out a soft hum of encouragement and pleasure despite himself, his eyes fluttering at the feeling of your fingers wrapping around him. You drank in the sight, eyes wide as you began to move your hand up and down, slow at first, just watching as his brow became upturned and his jaw clenched.

His eyes opened, looking down at you, and you shrank away, your hand stuttering in its movements. "Don't stop now, 'Puff." He purred, almost growled, as he dipped back to where he had been licking at your neck previously. You grit your teeth as you continued, trying desperately to not make any noise, the fear of getting caught and the feeling of Sebastian's tongue making your legs turn to jelly. A curse left Sebastian's mouth as your fingers drug over the tip of his cock, smearing precum down the base and speeding up your movements.

"Fuck-" Sebastian's voice was deep and low in your ear, the noise sending shivers down your spine and directly to your cock. "Hold on." Feeling Sebastian pull back slightly, you halted your movements, listening to the way he sounded in your ear. And then suddenly, his fingers were taking you out of your underclothes, your cock pressed against Sebastians. You made a noise of surprise, partially out of not expecting him to do that, and also at being able to properly compare with the Slytherin. Not only was he girthier than you, but he also had an inch on your length, a slightly embarrassed look crossing your face.

However, it was replaced with a look of sheer pleasure as you watched Sebastian spit in his palm, then bring your cocks together, his hand working you in rhythm. Your head fell back against the wood of the wall, your hand coming up to muffle your mouth. "Mm- I felt you twitch. I didn't know you were into risky places." Sebastian teased, but his voice was strained, and you could tell he was the one to be more excited about your situation than you were. His face was back in the crook of your neck, and you had to move your hand, instead deciding to nuzzle your own face into Sebastian's hair.

He smelled like sweat and smoke, the combination making your head spin. Through the haze of pleasure and the fog in your mind, you did something you wouldn't have normally done unless explicitly asked. Tilting your head slightly, you let your tongue lap against Sebastian's neck, the taste of salt filling your mouth. A surprised hum came from the boy against you, as if in encouragement, and you took it in full stride. You licked again, this time receiving a shudder, Sebastian's hand speeding up. A moan came from deep in your throat, not being able to control it, and Sebastian shushed you.

Not wanting to make any noise, and knowing you were close, you took inspiration from what Sallow had done day's previous. Opening your mouth, you sunk your teeth deep into the curve of Sebastian's neck, letting yourself revel in the taste of him. And, to your complete surprise, Sebastian let out a low, deep groan, his hips rocking up in a stuttering rhythm. "Oh fuck-" he praised, pressing his neck closer to you, your teeth digging in deeper, definitely leaving an impression. Not a moment later, you felt the warm splash of cum soaking into your uniform, the incredible sound of Sebastian stuttering out a string of curses as he came all over your stomach.

As Sebastian rode out his high, his palm tightened around you both, his movements sloppy and fast. The mix of his noises, scent, and hands' desperate motion sent you over the edge just after, not feeling the need to hold back as Sallow had commanded earlier. Your fingers gripped at his hair and shirt fabric, squeezing your eyes closed as you felt your hips stutter as you rocked into Sebastian's palm, a moan coming from you despite your efforts. You felt yourself mutter his name as you painted his forearm, not being able to stop yourself in your string of noises, all of your senses solely focused on him.

Both of you stood there for a moment, heavy breaths hanging in the air between you, Sebastian's hand slowly coming away and releasing you. Your face was on fire, and your neck ached where Sebastian had been abusing it, again.

"Students?"

The voice made you yelp, and you shoved yourself into your trousers at lightning speed. You could just make out the shape of a blurred woman, her wispy blue figure letting you know you had been spotted by a ghost. Just barely being able to tell Sebastian had made himself decent, he grabbed your wrist and the two of you began running, the ghost woman calling after you in an accusatory manner. You felt like your heart was going to explode out of your chest, your face scarlet with fear and embarrassment and afterglow.

Seeing Sebastian fumble to grab his wand from his trousers, he opened the gate to the restricted section, the two of you bursting through it quickly, leaving it wide open as you darted and zigzagged through the bookshelves. Sebastian looked back at you, his face was red and smiling, bright white teeth flashing in a mischievous grin as he tugged you through the door, leaving the library.

You continued to run, not wanting to be anywhere near the library when the ghost came up to tell Scribner of your… activities. Still holding Sebastian's hand, you reached the corridor that you would need to split to go to your respective common rooms. You stopped running and looked up at Sebastian, his curls falling into his face and holding a stitch in his side. An airy laugh escaped you as you looked back the way you came, making sure you weren't being followed.

"'Puff." Sebastian was looking at you now, his smile still present, but it had intention behind it. "Don't keep me waiting like that again, yeah?"

You felt your chest burst into flames and you just nodded as Sebastian squeezed your hand. "Tomorrow?" He asked, mischief glinting behind his big brown eyes, a hint of something there that you didn't understand yet. You nodded again and he brought your hand up, kissed your knuckles, then turned and started to jog towards his common room.

You stood there for a moment, watching him leave, looked down at your hand, smiled, then turned and left as well. "Tomorrow." You muttered to yourself, bringing your cloak up around your neck further, your shoes tapping against the polished floor as you made your way to the kitchens.

[bellysoupset]

Some palate cleanser after the previous story 😭

------------------------------

"What was her name again?"

"Allison," Luke answered without missing a beat, his cheeks tinted pink, maybe from the wine. Bella leaned back uneasily as she watched her husband swirl the remaining bit of his drink and finish it off, catching her eyes.

Lucas was all smiles tonight. That one million buck smile that turned her off more than anything, a brilliant reminder that in another life he'd be a Forbes cover.

They were having dinner with Sylvie, Luke's boss, as well as the mayor Mr. Joshua Till and his twenty years too young wife, Marylin. It was taking all of Bella's willpower to pretend she was even mildly interested in all the polite small talking.

The mayor's eyes had sparked her eye, ambition written all over his face, and since then he hadn't bothered to talk with her. His child-bride, Bella thought viciously, was nicer and she had attempted to start up conversation twice, in a tiny voice that could not be heard by anyone other than their table and at the moment they were too busy measuring dicks to pay attention.

"What do you do, Bella?...Oh, backend developer... Sounds so scary, what's that?... My god, Joshie, you gotta hear-" Marylin tugged at her husband's sleeve and he brushed her off easily, causing Bella to cringe in sympathy.

"Don't worry," she leaned in to whisper innocently, "people don't give much thought about backend dev, not until they need an app working. I'm used to it."

Marylin's eyes sparkled at the friendly interaction, clearly the poor woman was feeling as out of place as Bell herself.

Bella's mood was quickly tanking. She didn't feel well, there was a heavy sensation in her stomach and she was glad that the rich people's restaurant served those minuscule portions, because there was no way she could eat much more than those two forkfuls she had.

Luke was busy and tonight her role was simply to play the loving, smiley wife, who didn't mind the mayor's mildly sexist jokes, like when he had first seen her and said "now I know why Luke was rushing to get married."

"You alright?" Luke whispered, leaning in, snapping Bella out of her thoughts, squeezing her knee inconspicuously. Bella nodded, opening a small smile as he planted a kiss on her cheek and whispered, "we'll leave soon."

Soon ended up being nearly three hours later. Bella was feeling clammy and queasy, she wanted nothing more than her bed.

"One closing drink and then we'll go," the mayor said, ordering liquor for the whole table. Bella bit the inside of her cheek not to grimace, she couldn't say no to the mayor, not when Luke and his boss had spent the whole night charming the man, but goddamn if she didn't want to.

The waiter came back with mini liquor glasses, tiny flutes filled with amber liquid.

Joshua raised his glass, urging them all to mimic him, "to a long lasting partnership," he cheered, before gulping it down.

Yeah, right, until the election, Bella thought sourly, before gulping her own drink down. Her already unsettled stomach flipped at the burning liquid and she hiccupped, loud and suddenly enough that Luke and Marylin both chuckled.

"Oh, that was cute-" Luke grinned, leaning her way, he was slightly tipsy, the lightweight that he was, and Bella glared at him.

"Excuse me..." she mumbled, standing up and grabbing on the back of Lucas' chair to steady herself, when the ground swam around her. Bell took a deep breath, ignoring Luke's confused glance, then marched to the bathroom.

As soon as she got inside, Bella braced against the sink and groaned as she saw her reflection. The natural golden tone of her skin had become muted thanks to her paleness and no amount of makeup could cover up how lousy she felt.

She swished some water and spat it back out, splashing her nape and neck, trying to cool down and taking measured breaths to fight the nauseous feeling starting to take over her.

The bathroom door opened as Bella was patting her cheeks with some humid paper towels, trying to wipe the clamminess without removing her makeup.

Marylin walked in, then paused on her way to the bathroom stall, perking up, "it was really nice that you were here, Bella."

Bell couldn't figure out why, considering her mood had been less than stellar for most of the night.

"Thanks...?"

Marylin offered her a soft smile, walking inside the stall. Bella was about to leave when she heard the lady's voice, louder so she could be heard, "these dinners are always so boring."

Bell cringed, she wanted nothing more than to leave, but politeness now required her to stay put while the other woman peed, "they're alright," she lied through her teeth and heard a little scoff.

"Please. Josh cannot stop talking, we're basically here as scenery. It's even worse when it's one of his committee parties," she flushed, then stepped out, smoothing her beige dress and walking towards the sink, "it's like I'm a very pretty plant he drags around."

Bella raised her eyebrows, queasy feeling in the backburner as she collected the gossip, "really? I thought you two were- Picture perfect," no, she didn't.

Marylin rolled her eyes, grabbing some paper towels, "no, you didn't. You look just as bored as I am, you're just not as good pretending. Resting bitch face case?"

A cackle slipped out and Bella rushed to cover her mouth, suddenly amused, "oh shit- I mean, sorry, sorry-"

The other woman smiled fondly, leaning against the sink slightly, "your husband's sweet," she said after a minute, "he actually listens when you speak."

"I mean," Bella frowned, "that's the bare minimum. Wouldn't have married him otherwise."

The First Lady shrugged, balling up the paper towels and throwing it in the trash, "is it?" she said in a calm voice, stepping around Bella, "how long have you two been together?"

"Six years in September," Bella followed her out, letting out a small sigh of relief as she saw Luke was standing at the door already, holding her coat.

"I've only been with Josh for three," Marylin threw her a serious glance, "we should go out for coffee some other day. I'll get your number with Joshua."

Did the mayor have her number?

"Uhm- Okay-" Bella barely finished her sentence, before the other woman was walking away, whole demeanor changing as she entered her unassuming role.

"You're pouty," Luke said, as they finally got to the parking lot, after many thank-yous and goodbyes. He had an around her back and Bella was quietly walking alongside him.

"No, I'm not," Bella grabbed the car door handle, climbing in, "I'm fine."

"Uhm..." Luke leaned in, slotting himself between her legs, his nose nearly touching hers, "don't believe you."

"Too bad," Bella planted her index on his forehead, pushing him back, "I just wanna go home, tonight was exhausting."

"Have I said thank you for putting up with it?" Luke didn't pull back despite her pushing, turning his face so he could catch her finger and nibbling at it, "thank you. I know it was boring as hell, but you being here meant a lot."

"Oh yeah, I'm sure the night would've been ruined without me," Bella rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smile as he wrinkled his nose and pressed a kiss to her palm.

"Mine would've," Luke pushed a curl that had escaped from her hairstyle back behind her ear, "thank you."

Her cheeks burned and Bella shrugged, unsure of how to take the honest thankfulness, "let's go home, I don't feel so good." She cringed as soon as she said it and caused Luke's eyes to widen, sobering him up immediately.

"You're not feeling well? What's wrong?"

Bella sighed, pulling her hand from his hold and rubbing her stomach lightly, "just feeling a little gross, it's not a big deal. I think I just miss my bed."

Luke opened a small smile at that, then leaned in and stole a kiss, "let's go home, grandma."

"Real weird calling me that right after kissing me," Bella grinned, but she happily kissed him back.

The drive home was uneventful, although Bella was muffling little burps against her fist for pretty much all of it. She couldn't get rid of that queasy sensation, not strong enough to make her pukey, not faint enough to let her forget it.

"I think the First Lady wants to be my friend," Bella said, once they got out of the car and she started stripping at their front door, using Luke's shoulder as support as she unclasped her heels.

"She's our age, I wouldn't be surprised," Luke shrugged, unlocking the door and stepping aside so she'd go in first. These little spontaneous bursts of chivalry never ceased to make Bella all melty inside. "Besides, you're like... The coolest girl."

"Aw, I'm flattered, babe," Bella teased him, draping herself over his back and letting out a sigh when Luke planted his hands over hers in his chest, keeping her put, "you think I'm the coolest girl?"

"Yep," Luke turned his head to smile at her, "you got that mysterious-dont-really-wanna-be-here thing going on. Got me smitten on the spot, I don't see why it'd be different with anyone else."

"Marylin called it a resting bitch face, but I love the way you see me," she muffled a little burp against his shoulder blades, stepping in rhythm with him as they waddled to the bedroom.

"What's the point of a hot woman if she doesn't look a little mean?" Luke smiled, grabbing at her forearms and throwing Bell in the bed. She fell with a pleased noise, sinking against the pillows, and squirmed as Luke promptly crawled over her.

"Don't- Luke," she shoved at his arm, "don't lie on top of me, my stomach hurts-" she rolled her eyes as Luke slid down on the bed, rolling her black dress up, "what part of my belly's hurting was an invitation to eat me- Oh."

"Yeah, oh," Luke snorted, placing a kiss against her belly, as he pushed her dress up enough, and starting to rub it gently, "doesn't feel bloated to me."

"It's not gas," Bella blushed and used this moment to pull her dress up and out, balling it up and throwing it across the room. She started removing the pins in her hair, "it's just bleh."

"Bleh," Luke repeated, smiling and pressing another kiss near her navel, "like you're gonna be sick?"

"Sorta," Bella tilted her hip, so Luke's next kiss was to the side of her belly, near her ribcage, "not really pukey, but I guess? I don't know, I just feel gross."

"You're a gift with words," he mumbled against her skin and Bella flicked at his ear. Her stomach churned once more and she groaned, turning her face to muffle a sickly burp against the pillow.

"Dinner's messing with you, uh?" Luke said quietly, resting an elbow on the bed and continuing to rub her stomach in soothing circles, seeming completely hypnotized.

"No," Bella's mouth started to get a sticky quality and she gulped down the weird sour taste, "felt like this all day."

"What?" he glanced up, surprised, "why didn't you say anything! Isabella! I wouldn't have-"

"It was a important dinner," Bell shrugged, poking his knuckles to get Luke to start the belly rub back again, "I almost threw up at lunch, but I persevered."

"You're impossible, Bell," Luke pouted, putting a bit more pressure in the slow circular motions, his thumb pressing on her side, "we could've rescheduled."

"With the mayor? Yeah, right," Bella sat up slowly, feeling a weird pressure in her throat. She pressed her lips in a line and Lucas raised an eyebrow.

"Bell? Do you need the trashcan?"

Maybe. Bella shook her head, letting the nausea wash over her and gulping down, goosebumps springing all over her.

"You're really pal-"

She hastily shoved him off of her and leaned over the side of the bed, but instead of vomit, only a small wet burp came up. Bella groaned, head hanging, as Luke went to hold her hair back and let out a small scoff.

"You're always so dramatic when you need to burp," he planted a kiss to her temple, "are you gonna puke?"

"No," Bella gulped down, collapsing on the pillow once more, "but can you get in bed and rub my belly?"

"Aw, pooOor baby," Luke teased her, pressing a kiss to her cheek, "yeah, let me just change first."

Bella was feeling more than a little drowsy by the time Luke slipped under the blankets, promptly pulling her closer to him and burying his nose in her hair, "are you sleepy?"

"Took you forever," she mumbled, grabbing his hand and moving it to her stomach, draping herself on his side, "Lu?"

"Yeah?" his mouth was pressed to her temple and his breath tickled the top of her ear, causing Bella to smile.

"Thank you for not treating me like a very pretty plant."

Lucas let out a cackle, throwing his head back and causing the bed to shake, "you're welcome?"

Bella smiled, pressing her nose to his neck and tangling their legs together, "I'd be a venus flytrap."