#my childhood best friend who friendship dumped me in public over a year ago and then blocked me on insta eight months later

[liamlawsonlesbian]

.

[cc-tinslebee]

Okay, so, about a month ago, my brain just conjured up probably the most random au possible: Legally Blonde Adam Banks/banksway au.

Believe me, it's as chaotic as it sounds, but lowkey, I'm kind of in love with it.

Adam never joins the Ducks because there aren't any Ducks to join. Bombay never had to do community service with District Five so there was no one to realise that Adam was on the wrong team all along. He continues to play for the Hawks and, eventually, the Eden Hall Warriors, never getting the chance to become the well-rounded individual we know him as because he's never known anything other than his rich privilege and the "win at all costs" mentality. He ends up going to college on a hockey scholarship and not straight to the NHL or the AHL (shocking, I know). While he's unsure of his major and where his life is heading, he finds solace in the fraternity he joins, which, by some sheer twist of fate, Jesse and Guy have also miraculously joined.

And his life is perfect for a while. He's the star player on yet another school's hockey team, all of his fraternity brothers adore him (though, it took a bit for Jesse to warm up to him), and his secret, not-really-official thing with his former teammate is going swimmingly. (Not to slander my boy, but I was picturing Larson for the role of Warner, purely because the alternative seems to be Rick Riley and that's kind of an unsettling image-- though, maybe that's the point?)

But then his secret boyfriend breaks up with him because, with his high aspirations in life, he needs to be "more serious." And dating Adam Banks, a guy in a stereotypical fraternity who only really knows hockey, in 2001 isn't exactly the white-picket-fence life he's looking for if he's going to be a politician.

And since this non-Duck Adam clearly doesn't have the braincells that canon Adam does, in his devastation, he decides it's a brilliant idea to prove that he is serious by applying to Harvard Law. His parents try to talk him out of it, since they want him to pursue his dreams of hockey, but being a lawyer is a respectable career so they can't exactly argue with him.

He gets accepted thanks to Jesse, Guy, and the rest of his fraternity helping him study for the LSAT and keeping him on track. He's trying his darndest when he gets to Harvard, but (despite his struggle not being as significant as Elle Woods'), not a lot of people take him seriously as an aspiring lawyer, considering him a meathead jock who only got in because of daddy's money.

And that's about the time he meets Linda, who he vaguely remembers from his time at Eden Hall. What he doesn't remember is her being so competitive, because she's deliberately beating him at every turn, just trying (and kind of succeeding) at making him look like a fool. To make matters worse, all of the sudden, she's engaged to his ex-boyfriend, who is very adamant about never telling anyone that he and Adam were more than friends (because, you know, early 2000s homophobia and such).

But things get a little brighter for Adam when he meets Charlie, an undergrad teacher's assistant who gives him all sorts of advice about surviving the school. He introduces him to Professor Bombay, who Charlie claims is the only reason he survived his first year and quickly becomes Adam's favourite teacher, and Charlie's childhood friend Connie, who aspires to be a state senator one day. Charlie's charismatic and even if he's not the most well-liked person at Harvard, Adam feels a weight lifted off his shoulders once he becomes friends with him and Connie. Things become a little easier.

Just before he and Charlie start getting really close, Adam meets Casey at a local diner on a day he's feeling particularly upset and alone, and the two start bonding almost immediately. (He bullshits his way into scaring an ex-husband of hers with legal repercussions he has no idea about and she basically adopts him in return.) It takes him an embarrassing amount of time to realise that it's not just a coincidence that Casey and Charlie share the same last name, which results in poor Adam feeling extremely embarrassed for not connecting the dots sooner while Charlie's having the time of his life teasing him for it. Eventually, when the dust of that settles, Charlie and Adam join forces to set Casey and Bombay up, their schemes borderline ridiculous at times, but they'rere not exactly failing.

And after realising he isn't the Warriors moron she thought he was for going on five years, Linda starts warming up to Adam, which is surprisingly nice? She figures out on her own that there used to be something between him and her fiancé, and is more understanding of Adam than she is mad. Linda actually spills to him the lengths Adam's ex had to go through to actually get into Harvard, aligning more with the rumours about Adam's acceptance being bought than having the aptitude for the law that Linda and Adam share. (This may be me saying Linda and Adam friendship rights, what of it-- /lh)

To make things all the better, Bombay chooses Adam, Linda, Connie, Charlie, and Adam's ex to be on his legal team for a murder case he's responsible for (and while he knows about Adam and Charlie's ploys to hook him up with Charlie's mom, they're his favourites, so he doesn't say anything).

And this is just so much better than anything he had before. After all the initial unpleasantness, Linda and Connie become some of the most genuine friends he's ever had. He misses Guy and Jesse, of course, and he'd never take them for granted, but back when he was with them at the fraternity, a part of him was still being as superficial as he had been in middle and high school. Being authentic for once in his life is liberating.

And Charlie's just about the most considerate person Adam's ever met. Adam doesn't even mind when Charlie teases him over his absurd and juvenile insults because he's just this source of light for Adam, supporting him and always pushing him to be the best version of himself. His ex hardly even exists when Charlie's around because his energy is just so contagious that Adam starts falling for him long before he even realises it. (And when Jesse and Guy come to visit, there's a moment where it all clicks and the four of them realise their history together, however brief. I strongly maintain that they'd be that Starkid meme: "Fucking Hawks? We hated you guys!" "We hated ourselves!" But it does make Adam realise how much better off he would've been if he had Charlie and his team when he was little instead of the Hawks, and it just further makes him understand that people like Larson and Rick Riley just aren't worth it.)

But there's also another revelation Adam goes through. Between helping Casey, his rigorous studies, and his position working with/for Bombay, something just clicks for Adam. He likes being able to help people, fighting for the good guys who may not have the resources they need to be properly defended. Practicing law calls to him in the same way hockey did; it's the feeling of knowing this is what he's meant to do. He still loves hockey, he always will, but it helps him finally grasp that there's a world for him outside of it; when hockey ends for him, there's something equally as rewarding that he can pursue, which was something he never thought he would have.

I haven't a single coherent thought about this au past that point except for these little inklings of an ending--

There's absolutely no SA scene like the movie had; Bombay's just Adam and Charlie's favourite teacher and those are his boys, so he's going to make sure they succeed as if his life depends on it.

With that said, Bombay believes in them both enough to let them finish the case because with their joined determination/stubbornness (and Adam's in with the defendant), Adam and Charlie are a force to be reckoned with and he knows it.

After a handful of comedic failures, they do end up succeeding at their attempts to set Casey and Bombay up, and they start living together sometime during the kids' Junior year :) (All I'm asking is for one (1) story with a Casey/Gordon endgame-- I just think they're neat--)

Linda dumps her fiancé (as she should) and goes on to live her best wlw life as a successful lawyer. (If I'm not mistaken, Linda's actress actually is a lawyer, which is a pretty cool fun fact!!)

Adam and Linda's ex gets the Warner ending because, man, screw that guy /lh (rip to Larson if this is him, I'm sure you'll get a nice endgame in some other universe, king)

Honorary mention for Connie, who was going long distance with Guy this entire time to everyone but Jesse's shock, and they get their Game Changers endgame of State Senator Connie Moreau and stay-at-home dad Guy Germaine with their seven -- sorry, three -- children :)

Adam's an absolute bundle of nerves after graduation, which definitely concerns Charlie. So, when he asks if he's okay, Adam starts nervously monologuing about their time together until he runs out of breath. He ends it by proposing to him, and Charlie smiles so surely at him when he says yes. They both become damn good public defenders and stay engaged until the point they can legally get married, but they're practically husbands long before that happens.

Also, if I did my math right (which I should’ve, it’s my entire basis for my Share Your Address series), the Ducks’ would have the same graduating class year as Elle Woods anyway (2004), which is pretty neat!

Thank you once again for listening to me ramble :)

[findmeinpops]

FindMeInPops’ 12 Days of Ficmas: Day Six - A Cynic’s Christmas (Part One of Two)

Part Two is here.

It’s that time of year again where I try to pump out a drabble or one-shot for each of the twelve days leading up to Christmas! I have a couple already written but some of them will be written by prompt and on request - I have a prompt list that I’ll reblog now, if you want to take a look - so bare with for any editing errors! Enjoy, my loves, and have a happy festive season :)

And quick note, if anyone prefers AO3, the link to my 2019 12 Days of Ficmas collection is here. x

Prompts:

No. 40 - “Wait, you’re not going home for Christmas?”

No. 13 - Person A hates Christmas because they’ve never had a good one. So Person B goes all out to make this the best Christmas for them.

Ship(s): totally platonic Sweet Pea x Female!Reader

Rating: T (for swearing, please correct me if I’m wrong)

CW(s): cynicism, making light of deceased family, alcohol, swearing

Reindeer Games: Blitzen - Holidays

A/N: this is going to be a two-parter, folks. It’s going to be a long-un’ and I had not a lot of time to write both parts before this went out. Enjoy x

Y/N sighed, flopping back onto her bed, hands spread wide over her head in despair. Her mother had asked, no, demanded that she come ‘home’ for Christmas like she had done every year for the three years she had been at university. And, like every year, Y/N truly did not want to go but did not have a worthy excuse to give her mother for why she had to stay in the apartment she and Sweet Pea rented near her university campus.

“Just don’t go.” Sweet Pea told her, sat on top of her desk despite there being a perfectly good chair not even one metre away. “You don’t want to go, you never want to go, but you force yourself to go for no other reason than to torture yourself. Just don’t go.” He shrugged, switching his phone off and instead choosing to watch Y/N argue with herself for the tenth time that day, just this time she was surrounded by piles of clothes.

“My mother forces me.” She corrected before releasing another over-dramatic sigh, if only it were as simple as Sweet Pea made it seem.

“Your mother doesn’t force you, she’s not even in the country. What’s she going to do? Fly over here and drag you back to California by your ear?”

“Please, my mother coming to England?” Y/N sat up, knocking a pile of dresses onto the floor. “She would not risk the weather, especially not in December.” She dramatically emphasised ‘December’ - a winter in England was considered the devil by Y/N’s mother. God forbid the temperature gets below ten degrees.

“She’s English.” He stated with his signature emotionless tone and expression.

It had taken a month after he moved in for Y/N to get Sweet Pea to show anything that nearly resembled a smile. Now he did not hold back his emotions much when he was just around her, when they were in public was a different matter, but Y/N learned that emotionless was just his default expression. Just like her default expression was a friendly, approachable smile.

“She is but she took one step into California and never looked back.” Y/N stood up, beginning to pace through the center of the room. “Literally, she had all of her stuff shipped over before the end of the first week.”

“You’re going to wear a hole in the carpet.”

“The floor’s wooden.” Y/N stopped in front of him, an eyebrow raised.

“It got you to stand still didn’t it?” He jibed, raising an eyebrow back.

“Oh shut up.” She began to pace again, her hands clasped and her fingers worrying one another.

“Would you please stop?” Exasperation began to leak into his tone with maybe just a hint of genuine concern.

“I do not want to go. I hate her. I love her but I hate her. I do not want to spend Christmas with her. Y’know,” she stopped again, hands still clasped, “she will expect me to move there by the end of the two weeks. She will be surprised if she does not find my boxes at her front door by the second of January, taking into account holiday shipping delays of course. Y’know...” and she began to pace again.

Having enough of her meltdown, Sweet Pea pushed himself off of the desk, striding over to Y/N and grasping her by the tops of her arms.

“For the love of God, stay fucking still!” He exclaimed, releasing her arms but fixing her with a pointed glare. “I’ve told you so many times, just stay here. We can just get pissed and watch telly.”

“Wait, you’re not going home for Christmas?”

“All my family are dead.”

Y/N rolled her eyes. Sweet Pea always went for shock value, loving to watch the way people squirmed when he emotionlessly announced that his entire family was dead without warning, and it worked for the first three times with Y/N - she wasn’t a sociopath after all. But after two and a half years of living in close proximity with Sweet Pea, she was now completely desensitised to his antics.

“I know that but what about your friends? Or just having Christmas in your hometown?”

“My friends all hate me and my hometown is a dump.” He countered, taking a few steps back before lifting himself onto the desk again - she had given up on reprimanding him for it a while ago.

“Well I know that’s not true,” she paused, “the first bit anyway - goddamn Riverdale is falling apart.” Y/N had visited with him once and, after seeing the photos of how the town used to look, was horrified at how it had been left to run itself into the ground. The local diner was the most heartbreaking, now empty and ripped apart. The trailer park on the outskirts, where Sweet Pea had lived, was one of the only parts still standing, the gang he was born into going strong but simply did not have the funds to rebuild the town to its former glory. Unbeknownst to Sweet Pea, Y/N had every intention of donating a hefty sum of money in a few months when her trust fund finally came through.

He sighed, running his hand through his hair. “It’s fine, Y/N. I’m happy to stay here. Christmas is an awful time where companies milk the world dry, the rich thrive, the poor are miserable and everybody pretends to enjoy themselves whilst Uncle Sam gets completely drunk and vomits all over the Christmas turkey.”

“Well,” Y/N started, used to Sweet Pea’s eternal cynicism, “the rich do that all the time, not just at Christmas, we can try our best to save the world but Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you shouldn’t let that stop you from having an awesome Christmas.” Then she gave him a pointed look. “Plus, you don’t have an Uncle Sam because, as you love to remind everyone, he’s dead.”

‘Touche’ was all that Sweet Pea offered in return, allowing his legs to swing slightly over the edge of the desk.

“So what are you actually doing for Christmas?” Y/N persisted. “Are any of your friends staying back? Can you celebrate with them?”

“I don’t have any friends.”

“You have me.”

“And you’re going back to England.”

Y/N sighed. When Sweet Pea was in one of these moods, getting answers was like trying to get blood from a stone, and he was usually determined to force her into his negative view of the world. Most of the time he would be somewhat of a pessimist, particularly in front of strangers but, as with the expressionless facade, the constant pessimism and cynicism faded somewhat as the pair established a friendship. However, when he was in one of these moods, he would argue black was white and that the world was evil and everyone should die, just to watch you get frustrated.

“Are you seriously not doing anything for Christmas? I can stay, if you want?” She offered.

“If you really don’t want to go, then don’t go, she can’t force you, but don't stay for me. Christmas sucks, it has always sucked and it always will, there’s nothing that can be done about it.” He stated matter-of-factly, shrugging again.

“You hate Christmas?” Y/N asked dumbfounded. She guessed she should have known this already, what with his shitty childhood, she could understand the reasoning but to hear him actually say it seemed to shock her. She herself was an avid Christmas fan, to be best friends with an anti-Christmasser was a bizarre concept.

On the first of December, Y/N had gone to the local Christmas tree farm and bought a six-foot tree to sit in the apartment entranceway. She knew she wasn’t going to spend Christmas in the country but she needed her home to have some element of festiveness, even if she would not be here on the actual day to appreciate it. Sweet Pea had persuaded her not to decorate the entire house as ‘what’s the point in spending so much on decorations when you won’t fucking be here’.

What he had not yet grasped though, is Y/N had too much money; she was one of the lucky ones, or unlucky, depending on how you see it. She came from a long-line of rich, white, upper-classmen and so when her mother gave her a £2500 weekly allowance, on top of paying for necessities and the upkeep of their apartment, she would not struggle to afford to deck out the whole place as she wanted. Half of the allowance already went to local charities but anymore than that and her mother began to ask questions. Her mother looked down on the poor, or anyone who could not afford to have a solid gold toilet; she was a horrible person with no empathy and it was for that reason that Y/N did not want to spend her festive period at her estate in California.

“Yes, I hate Christmas.” He stated. “For all of the reasons I just told you.”

“I’m staying.” She decided.

“Okay.”

“I’m staying and you are going to have the best Christmas ever.” She crossed her arms defiantly whilst her mind was already organising a list of everything she needed to do and get to make this the greatest experience for Sweet Pea. It was the afternoon of the twenty-third, but with her expertise, she was fairly certain she could get it done.

“No, Y/N, plea-” Sweet Pea tried to protest but was already half-defeated.

Anyone who knew Y/N knew that she was a force to be reckoned with once she had her mind set. It would take gale force winds or perhaps the apocalypse to stop her.

The idea was kind of sweet, Sweet Pea supposed, but involved far too much time and money being spent for only his benefit. Plus, he knew how her mother was and she would more than disapprove of her daughter spending so much for no true reason.

“Sorry, I can’t seem to hear you.” Y/N exclaimed as she ran from the room to where her handbag sat on a table beside the tree in the hallway.

“Y/N!” He called, following swiftly after her.

“Still can’t quite hear you!” She cried, pulling open the front door before stopping and turning to shout back to Sweet Pea. “I’m heading out for a while, don’t wait up!” And with that, she was out the door, shutting it with a slam, leaving a very confused Sweet Pea in her wake.

[ionchef]

King of Anything - An Escaflowne Fanfiction

King of Anything

Act 1, Chapter 3

In which Celena curtsies and Allen drinks Martini.

It was quite rare that Fanelia's royals received visitors from the ruling family of other countries, what with the dragon infestation and all. It was also quite rare that the king was anything but thrilled about the attention public treatments of foreign relations would get in his precious free time. Except, maybe when the one visiting was a dear friend he'd known since childhood.

Only a few years his senior, princess Millerna Aston was the youngest of the ruling Asturian king's daughters. A tragic illness had taken the middle sister, Marlene, so the loss of a sibling was something which created an even stronger friendship between them.

Relations between Asturia and Fanelia were to be deepened a few years ago after Folken claimed the throne but then the whole fiasco with the rite of dragon slaying happened, so needless to say that whole plan went poof. It would have been easy enough. Millerna's older sister, Eries, was supposed to be wed to Folken. They would have made such a great pair and no wonder Eries was so completely down in the dumps about his death. Not only had they known each other since they were little, but they actually harbored real feelings for each other. A rare thing with such unions.

The strategy changed after that and Marlene's death. Eries was instead to take the Asturian throne since the laws were progressive enough to let a woman rule alone there, but she was too shook about Folken's death, even now still mourning after all these years. It was unlikely that Eries, although always appearing reserved and seemingly strong on the outside, would ever recover from her broken heart.

What a mood killer to think about it again right as the gates in the wall opened to admit the armored vehicle convoy. They were bringing in the visitors who had landed at the airstrip not far from the city perimeters. Luckily, no dragons had been sighted in the area around that time but just in case, a good number of the melef drones had been sent on patrol. The airstrip was really just a paved area in the woods with a few bunker-like hangars which housed equipment and the royal jet. Staff communicated with, and coordinated flights remotely.

Just like everything else, levi ships had also evolved over time to become aerodynamic, metal pieces of engineered ingenuity. They were still powered by levi stones at their core, but the energy was now being more thoroughly harnessed. Thanks to mechanical designers and progress in technology, they looked less like ships which sailed the oceans and were much, much faster.

If civilians wanted to travel to other countries, there were enough commercial services which overlayed in Fanelia for a short time but none had their home base here- no surprise there. On occasion, dragons could be spotted from high up in the air. Seeing one was kind of cool but only if one didn't consider the havoc they could wreak upon that small, pressurized, metal tube if given the chance.

When Van and Merle stood on the mosaic in the palace square, waiting to officially greet the royal envoy, the king couldn't help but grin a bit when noticing that Merle took special care to chew her gum as discreetly as possible to avoid it being taken from her. She was looking forward to seeing Millerna because they both were party girls at heart. He already dreaded this evening when they would drag him along to the Mystic Moon, Millerna's favorite place to visit when in Fanelia.

Van wasn't fond of the nightclub. Oodles of odd high-society folk liked to dance the night away there, usually several notches too imbibed. In the occasion that he did show his face there, women vied for his attention and men in positions of leadership or high office tried to pander to him without shame, hoping to reach new heights in their careers. As if a whiff of vodka from their mouths would sway Van in their favor.

More than once, he'd wished he could have just given them a firm nudge and watched them fall over to be collected by security but he couldn't be seen doing that. Even though, no doubt, many of them woke up crapulous the next day, memories slowly dawning on them about how they had embarrassed themselves in front of the king. Sadly though, he was the head of his country and required to treat people with respect. Even when they were drunk off their asses, especially if they were related to diplomatic offices from other countries.

But anyway, this was a problem for future Van. Present Van actually cracked a smile when he saw princess Millerna exit the elevators first and confidently make her way towards him as the forefront of the entourage. She hadn't changed much from the last time they'd seen her except that she probably was even more radiant. No wonder her father had her protected so well.

A whole group of guys in navy blue suits along with a younger woman in a white sundress tagged along not too far behind. The princess herself wore light pink, her favorite color, and the dress itself, although proper enough, still hugged her body snugly. With her long, wavy, blonde hair and periwinkle eyes, she was nothing short of stunning. Hey, nobody could blame a guy for noticing those things. She was standing right in front of them by now, after all.

As soon as elaborate greetings between the king, the princesses, and the officials concluded, some pictures were taken from the few press representatives who had been admitted. Then, the group was off towards the palace where everybody finally was able to relax again after the double doors shut tightly behind them. Millerna's high heels click-clacked even through the crimson carpet covering the marble floor before the three royals came to a stop.

Not able to contain her excitement anymore, Merle squealed and both women hugged tightly in a proper greeting which prompted another, rare smile from the usually reserved king. "I'm so excited you're here Millerna!" Merle exclaimed as the other princess hugged her back tightly.

"Me too!" Millerna replied and then held Merle at arm's length. "Wow, your hair is so different I barely recognized you at first glance. You look more mature."

"Oh but wait," Merle laughed and reached into the pockets of her blue etui dress, only to retrieve two rubber bands. While chewing on her gum more shamelessly, she made quick work of the pink tresses and in no time had them back up in a pair of trademark buns on top of her head. "Better?" She asked Millerna.

"Much better. Now you look more like the cute kitten I used to know," Millerna nodded, pearly whites showing through a satisfied smile.

Van snorted a bit with a slightly raised eyebrow at the comment. Sweet kitten? More like a sly fox at times. Oh well. Much love, though.

With so many unfamiliar faces behind Millerna, a few more introductions were in order. On cue, a guy with long, blonde hair and the only other woman in the group approached.

Millerna motioned for them to come closer. "Van, this is Allen. He is my new head of security."

The blonde guy bowed lightly at the waist. "King Van." He greeted politely. "Behind me are our pilot and my second, Gaddess, as well as Reeden, Kio, Ort, Pyle, Katz, and Teo," he introduced the rest of the crew who bowed in greeting.

"…and this lovely lady is his sister Celena," Millerna continued. "She may look innocent but don't let that fool you. She hopes to become a member of Asturian security too. Until then, she's permitted to trail along and shadow Allen and the rest of the guys."

Celena, the young woman in question, offered both Fanelian royals a perfect curtsy. "Your highnesses."

Merle immediately liked her, Van could tell. She nodded eagerly, sensing an ally and fellow party girl only waiting for a chance to show it. "You can call me Merle when we're alone. It's totally fine. I can already tell we're going to get along well. Just wait until tonight when you get your first taste of Fanelia out and about. We're all going to the Mystic Moon! It's the best nightclub in town!" Noticing Van's scowl, she elbowed him gently in the ribs. "It's going to be awesome. I'm there with my friends a lot but it's going to be even better with you all."

Van was fully aware of how well she was plowing through his lack of enthusiasm- with the unyielding strength of a pack mule. Really though, it was good to have Millerna and her together. One, because he was hoping that Merle would take on some of Millerna's more mature qualities and two, because having a friend like her around made the palace instantly feel warmer.

The Mystic Moon's location was easily visible from anywhere in the capital because of its sky beam. A solid, blue column of light shone straight up into the inky night sky like a guiding beacon and young Fanelians flocked to it on weekend evenings like moths to a lamp. Likewise, Hitomi, Yukari, and Amano were on the way there.

Being that it was a Saturday night, the streets were livelier still than during the week. Some restaurants had extended seating outside in the pedestrian zone and on sidewalks. Groups of people enjoyed a late dinner and friends sat together for a glass of wine and to talk story. Hitomi would have much preferred to do so too, but Yukari was too excited to see the club for the first time and Hitomi didn't want to be a downer. Even though the prospect of mingling with a crowd of strangers didn't appeal to Hitomi, she at least owed her best friend an attempt at fun.

So there they were, ready to party. While Amano was dressed not much different than usual, in a pair of slacks and polo shirt, the girls had taken the opportunity to wear things bought on a whim during shopping sprees which likely would never fit another occasion. Yukari sported a purple, strapless dress and was proud to have matched it with her favorite heels to ensure maximum dance capability.

Hitomi had, after some persuasion from Yukari, finally given in and cut the tag off a pair of hunter green shorts made from some velvet-like fabric she'd had in the back of her closet for longer than she could remember. They were tighter than she would have liked but now, with the tag off, she'd sort of committed to at least wearing them once. A pair of strappy, black heels in addition had even made her bestie whistle at the sight of her legs. Too bad her usual sneakers really weren't an option. Thankfully, combined with a long-sleeved, ivory, high-collar blouse, the outfit looked more classy than trashy.

The Mystic Moon was located in one of the old, historic mansions in old-town, not far from where they lived. It had been renovated on the inside and some on the outside, thereby keeping the original structure and charm of the building intact.

The line to get in already wrapped around the corner and by the looks of some of those in that line, they'd been waiting for a good while. Some left eventually when it wasn't moving for a long time or were turned away by the hostess for random reasons after finally making it to the front. Few attempted to hide the looks of disappointment as they walked off, apparently too casually dressed or not important-looking enough to be admitted.

All this waiting in line to be let into a club they were barely good enough for. This was starting pretty great already, Hitomi thought while wondering what the night was to bring. There was a separate line for those who were on the guest list. It made Hitomi feel weird to bypass all the other people but Yukari marched up to the hostess with such confidence she had to admire her.

The woman eyed them suspiciously when Yukari announced that they were on the guest list. She scanned their attire, taking her sweet time, then finally clicked her tongue. They probably reeked like peasant but Yukari was calmly smiling at her, imperturbable as always. When the hostess scanned the guest list, her red lips curled in a somewhat dissatisfied manner because she couldn't turn them away.

"Go on," was all she said and motioned for the giant mountain of a bouncer behind her to let them pass. He grunted in acknowledgment and used one of his meaty arms to pull open the nearest one of the brushed steel double doors next to him.

Yukari beamed at him in passing and Hitomi wasn't far behind, followed by Amano. Sound waves of a pumping bass hit them before their eyes adjusted to the visual overload that was the inside of the club.

In front of them, a buzzing mass of people was dancing and drinking, moving through a kaleidoscope of colors. Although the club was mostly dark, light emitted from the inside of glass tables, the structure of the bar areas in different locations throughout the club, and pillars that went all the way up to the tall ceiling made for an otherworldly kind of mood. It looked as if the place had been built with cosmic mortar and pestle. A big disco ball was mounted right in the center of the tall, vaulted ceiling and reflected the colorful lights around the club, casting stars across any surface it could reach.

"Wow," Hitomi allowed herself to say.

Yukari elbowed her, giggling. "This is awesome!"

Hitomi laughed. "Okay, this is pretty cool."

Amano couldn't help but admire the ambient too. While there were small tables to sit or stand by around the sides, the middle was reserved mainly for dancing and busy waitresses dressed in black expertly weaved through the crowd to deliver drinks to thirsty guests.

"Come on! Let's find Allen!" Yukari yelled in Hitomi and Amano's direction while taking her boyfriend's hand and already dragging him along. Hitomi followed them as they made their way around the side of the dancing crowd, dodging a few people who were so immersed in their moves they had strayed from the rest.

Allen had sent a message a few days ago, letting them know that they were on the guest list for this evening and that he'd be near the VIP area, mainly off duty with his second, Gaddess, in charge but still close to the princess just in case. Fanelia was known as extremely safe due to good diplomatic relations but being overly cautious never hurt.

"I see him," Amano announced, pointing to a set of three, wide steps straight towards the back. A long, red carpet was spread across the floor there and leading up the stairs with another hostess desk occupied by a duo much like that at the front door.

Not far behind the thick, velvet rope which separated the VIP area from that of the common people, a man in a dark blue suit with a martini glass stood half facing the crowd back there and half lazily scanning the area down where the three friends were. Although Hitomi knew that Amano and Allen were twins, seeing a nearly identical copy of Amano smile warmly at them was strange. His features were so strikingly similar.

The only difference was the hair. While Amano's was chestnut brown, Allen's was platinum blonde. It was the wildest thing. Hitomi tried to remember if the few times she'd seen Allen in younger years, his hair had already been this shade or if, perhaps, some hydrogen peroxide had been used to help with that.

As they neared the stairs, Allen lifted a hand in greeting. He moved to meet them halfway after the hostess stepped over to unhook the rope for him so he could exit the VIP area. His long hair trailed behind him when descending the stairs; and not without an obvious look of admiration from the hostess, Hitomi noticed. No wonder, Allen was quite the looker in many regards, tall and handsome like his brother but with a different style.

Allen deposited his Martini glass on a tall side table in passing, this one illuminated pink from the inside. The guys wasted no time in greeting each other with a manly hug and slapped each other on the back.

"Hey little brother," Allen greeted Amano.

Amano rolled his eyes. "Don't start that again. By two minutes…," he trailed off, shaking his head lightly, knowing that their never-ending argument already had a longer beard than Emperor Dornkirk of Zaibach.

Yukari looked back and forth between them, obviously a bit overwhelmed by seeing the two next to each other after four years. She snapped out of it when Amano placed his arm around her shoulders, thereby popping any developing phantasy bubbles involving the handsome duo and herself.

Allen took Yukari's hand, bowing over it in a formal gesture that was probably making her blush a bit, but who could be sure in that lighting. "It's been a while, Yukari. I see Amano finally had the guts to follow his heart."

That made Amano pull Yukari a bit closer against himself. "Better late than never."

The three laughed and by now Hitomi felt fairly awkward off on the side, pretending to be busy scanning the crowd during the reunion. She glanced towards the VIP area where Allen had just come from. There was a small but packed dancefloor with a bar on the right but on the left, even further back, bead curtains hung all the way from the ceiling to the floor. They looked like somebody had strung up diamonds but they certainly weren't real, or were they? Hitomi wondered what could be behind them. Probably a seating area to give the high society some privacy when chatting with each other or otherwise…occupied.

Yukari's voice reached Hitomi from the side. "Allen, do you remember…"

"Hitomi," Allen's voice rang clearly over the sound of the music.

She turned her head around and up to lock her eyes with Allen's. They were ocean blue and regarded her with curiosity. Just like with Yukari, he took one of Hitomi's hands but instead of just bowing, he kissed the back of it like he would no doubt for some highborn lady. Despite the absurdity, Hitomi couldn't deny herself some enjoyment out of the formality.

"How could I forget Hitomi. You were one of Amano's best friends, after all. It was my bad for not making enough time to hang out with all of you back when we were younger." Allen held on to Hitomi's hand for just a bit longer than necessary. "I'll be sure to make up for some of that tonight," he finished with a slight wink to emphasize his promise.

"It's good to see you again, Allen," Hitomi responded. It really was, although the sudden interest from his side was unexpected.

More conversation ensued after the four of them ordered drinks at the nearest bar. Yukari immediately wanted to know more about princess Millerna's schedule in Fanelia, of course, to which Allen simply smiled knowingly.

"Well, actually she is here tonight although you can't see her because she's somewhere in the crowd on the dancefloor up there. My crew is strategically placed around the area to ensure her safety. He said all this with aplomb, thereby earning him looks of awe from the girls and a proud nod from his brother.

"Didn't think she'd be here! I thought this was something like your night off," Amano said.

"A bodyguard is never really off duty, but she's cool with it. Underneath it all, she's really just a person like you and I and she has siblings too don't forget that. She insisted that I take the time to see you after I mentioned that my little brother lives in Fanelia." Allen twirled the stem of a new Martini glass between his fingers as he talked.

Amano combed several fingers through his hair. "Here we go again."

Yukari gripped his upper arm in a gesture that left no room for arguments. "You know what? It's way to amazing here to stand around and talk. Plus, I love this song so why don't we give that dancefloor a try?" She didn't wait for an answer and instead pulled Hitomi in front of herself, then pushed her towards Allen. "We even got the right amount of dance partners." Winking, she already had Amano's hand in hers and was on the way to join the crowd.

Hitomi smiled a bit nervously while smoothing her short hair behind her ears. She did like to dance but that was normally done at low-key parties with Yukari and not with a guy like Allen at the hippest nightclub in town.

"Shall we?" Allen asked her, extending his hand expectantly.

Well, she couldn't think of a tangible reason to say no. Not that she wanted to think of one.

While Merle, Millerna, and Celena danced their collective hearts out, Van was content to sulk moodily in their reserved seating area, nursing a glass of neat whiskey. The bass was pumping in his ears and even made the silly bead curtain separating their table and couches from the dancefloor and bar shake. At least he'd be left in peace here unless somebody choose to come looking, of course.

He ran a hand through his hair which was neatly combed and briefly wondered what it'd be like to come here incognito. Would he enjoy it more if nobody knew who he was? If he were to be able to hang out with a group of normal people? Like his…ahem…acquaintance from the coffee shop?

Damn.

He'd done such a good job up to this point to not think about her again. However, the tricky part when trying to not think about something was that he had to think about it to remind himself what not to think about. Considering that, he'd actually done a lousy job because it required him to think about her at least once a day.

Ha. Once a day? If only…

It also didn't help that just at that moment, he spotted a way too familiar face near the bottom of the steps. He could see her between the cracks in the curtain.

Damn. Damn. Damn.

If he hadn't been sure before, he definitely was now because she was staring right at where he was sitting, just she obviously couldn't see him behind the sparkly diamond fringe. Seeing her here was like spotting an island in a vast, wild ocean. She seemed a bit out of place but it wasn't due to her looks because she was by far more tastefully dressed than most of the women he'd fended off earlier this evening. She seemed out of place because this obviously wasn't her natural environment.

He saw Allen greet a guy who looked a whole lot like him, no doubt the brother Millerna had mentioned he was going to meet. And there was the other woman from the coffee shop. The one who'd been in line in front of him the other day, so excited about the upcoming visit to the Mystic Moon.

After some elaborate show of courtesies from Allen's side, the four went further away so Van couldn't see them anymore but now he certainly couldn't stop his thoughts from spinning. And spinning they were, around the image of a certain short-haired, green-eyed woman. Why couldn't he just stop thinking about her? Pondering this for a while, he then waved over a waitress who was only too eager to assist her king.

They were all out of breath when they ordered a new round of drinks at the bar. Despite everything, Hitomi had to admit that she was having a great time. Allen was a good enough dancer to make up for her level of ineptitude with his confident moves. A few gulps of water and more potent drinks later they were nothing short of stunned when the VIP hostess appeared beside them and told them that they had been invited to enter that area.

"Wait but who…," Yukari began to ask but the hostess interrupted her.

"Look, do you want to come back there or not? I don't have time for this," the woman said over her shoulder while already on the way back to her post.

Amano chuckled, "now that's a pure-bred Rottweiler. She hardly even needs the bouncer's help."

Shrugging, the quartet made their way towards the VIP area, albeit a bit weary still. The hostess stood and looked them up and down, much like her colleague outside while unhooking the thick, red piece of rope to allow them passage. She was clearly not in favor of having any of them except Allen in this area but couldn't do anything about it despite her position as a gatekeeper. Some higher power had overwritten her authority.

To Hitomi, the grass wasn't much greener on the other side. Except that people here were perhaps dressed even fancier, looked more self-important, and the drinks they held looked more expensive too. Half-full bottles of Champaign and liquor had been carelessly left on tables littered with overturned glasses and crumpled bills, including traces of white powder which looked a lot like cocaine. It instantly gave the term high-society a whole new meaning.

They stood there for a few minutes, looking around to take it all in again, minus Allen who was already used to it. Nobody paid attention to them and even Yukari was still a bit taken aback. She probably couldn't believe her luck about having the chance to come all the way to the heart of the club on her first visit.

They were still standing at the edge of the dancefloor when Hitomi looked behind herself and saw somebody she didn't expect to see again in real life. All the tumult receded and everything around her grew hazy like standing in a dark tunnel with him at the end. Aw crap.

Dressed in a black suit with the royal crest embroidered on the breast pocket, sans sunglasses and with his hair combed back, the king of Fanelia could hardly be mistaken for anybody else. A few people who'd been busy dancing in that area took a moment to stare and exchange some hushed words which were easily lost in the sound around them. Yukari, Amano, and Allen were still looking the other way, pointing at the bar, when he came to a stop in front of Hitomi.

Neither of them said anything until Van offered a "hello."

"Hi…," Hitomi answered in an equally awkward way.

Cue for the others to finally notice the person who'd joined them. That seeing the king of this very country suddenly stand a mere few feet away shocked them would have been an understatement. Well, everyone except Allen again, of course, who was merely surprised to see Van approach them.

"King Van," Allen acknowledged him. "Was there anything you needed from me?"

Van looked at Hitomi for another moment before shaking his head. "No." He then proceeded to kick himself mentally. He'd thought about what exactly to say but now it was all gone. Smooth. Real smooth. Distraction! Now! "Is this your brother?" He asked although it was quite obvious that the guy next to Allen couldn't be anybody but an identical twin.

Allen was taken aback that the king had decided to not only venture out into the open but now also showed interest in his family life. "Indeed, your majesty. This is Amano, his girlfriend Yukari, and their friend Hitomi." Allen introduced them all. "We all grew up together in Asturia."

Van didn't crack so much as smile, one hand clutching his glass of whiskey like a lifeline. Meanwhile, Yukari's eyes were still as big as saucers, words having failed her. Was this a dream? The awkwardness of the situation was completely lost on her. Hitomi, on the other hand, was close to bursting out in hysterical laughter. How was it that she kept stumbling into him?

Van nodded at the group as a collective greeting. "I saw you with them and thought it would be better to keep everybody together."

Amano was the first of the others to say something, shaking his girlfriend out of her stupor. "Thank you for the invitation, your majesty. Would you excuse us for a moment though? I think my girlfriend is thirsty." That said, he took her hand and coaxed her out of the semi-circle.

Hitomi could hear her protest a bit.

"Amano, why are you pulling me away? It's the king for Pete's sake…," Yukari huffed when they were out of earshot.

"Because you've been staring at him since the very first second," Amano laughed. "Calm down and we'll go back over there eventually, okay?" A mere warm, loving gaze from him usually did wonders in cooling her down.

Yukari rolled her eyes and nodded. "Fine. You're right. Thanks for making sure I don't say anything weird."

"Not a bad idea that with the drink," Allen said. "Hitomi, can I get you anything too?"

"Uh…sure," she answered.

"Your majesty? Anything?" Allen asked Van too.

"No. I'm alright," he answered and lifted his whiskey glass.

After Allen made his way towards the bar, it was just Van and Hitomi continuing their stare-off.

Hitomi finally laughed, but it was more because she was at a loss for what to say and do than actual amusement. It wasn't like this could get any more awkward. Enough shilly shallies.

The few drinks she'd had and the extravagant, overpowering atmosphere made her bold. "What now? Are we going to pass the time dancing? We know each other well enough after all." The absurdity of it all.

"No…I hadn't planned on it," he responded ruefully while taking in the sight of her in the party outfit. Although she looked glammy with the velvet shorts and high heels, the blouse gave her an aristocratic look and only underlined her natural beauty.

Even if he wanted to dance with her in a place like this, he couldn't. Not in a club where more than half the people were drunk, on drugs, or both. The possibility of somebody snapping a picture of him doing anything that would shame the royal house was too big. If was different when his little sister was spotted on the dancefloor. She was known as a party girl, a bit younger, and the darling of the media but he needed to be taken seriously at all times.

"Then…what am I supposed to be doing while we wait? Pretend to converse with you?" Hitomi asked him. "Like we just met for the first time?"

She was becoming impatient. Not many people would usually get away with talking to Van in such a way- it was quite sobering.

This was going absolutely not excellent. If only he could remember what he'd planned on saying earlier to smooth out the wrinkles.

Van scowled at her. She was testier than he remembered and his cheek tingled in remembrance.

Finally, another person saved them from their own stubbornness.

"Van! Look at you coming out of your hiding place!" A melodic voice proclaimed from the side.

"Millerna," Van said a bit gratefully.

"Who is this? Hi, I'm Millerna," she introduced herself, not even waiting for Van to do it.

The blonde was almost as tall as Van in her heels and shook Hitomi's hand eagerly. "Are you a friend of Allen's? I saw him here just a moment ago."

Allen was still not back and a quick look around confirmed what he had told them earlier. That Millerna's security detail was positioned at various places in the club. A guy in a navy blue suit was close by but still far enough away to give them privacy.

"Y-yes, your majesty," Hitomi said, the title feeling strange in her mouth.

"You don't have to call me that. At least not when it's just us. Call me Millerna," she offered.

"Uhm…alright…Millerna," Hitomi said.

By the gods. She was standing in the middle of the Mystic Moon's VIP area, talking to not just one but two royals, which doubled the number of royals she had ever talked to in her life.

"How do you know Allen? We haven't been to Fanelia in years, and even then it was before he became head of my security detail." Millerna asked curiously.

Hitomi felt a bit more at ease. The princess was clearly more laid back than she would have expected. "I'm actually from Asturia too. So is my friend Yukari. She is Amano's girlfriend. The three of us share an apartment here in town."

"What a crazy coincidence!" Millerna exclaimed. "Why'd you leave Asturia? Too boring because no dragons?" She joked.

Van stood next to them as the two women fell into an easy conversation. He was really quite relieved that Millerna had shown up. It gave him an excuse to look at Hitomi without the need to say anything at all. So far, he had only gotten himself in trouble or been a nuisance when alone with her. Not a great track record. Maybe it was better if there were other people and no disguises.

When Hitomi and Millerna arrived at another topic which they could bond over, both their eyes lit up. While Hitomi was nearing the end of her nursing education, Millerna was on her way to become a physician. She'd taken up medical studies despite her father's vehement protests and continued them even after Eries had threatened to abdicate after Folken's death, thereby making Millerna the only eligible heir in the event that she'd make her threat a reality.

Allen eventually came and delivered a drink to Hitomi but Millerna insisted that he re-join his brother and Yukari at the bar, which he did, albeit reluctantly. Hitomi had a feeling that Amano was keeping Yukari away on purpose still, to make sure the alcohol wouldn't prompt her to say things in front of the king and princess she'd later on regret. Millerna assured Allen that Hitomi and she were now best friends and that they had important things to talk about. The only reason Van was allowed to stick around was, well, who would tell a king to butt off? It of course also helped that he didn't say a word while the women were talking.

On the other end of the long bar, a guy with silver hair was playing absentmindedly with the ice in his empty glass. His eyes scanned the crowd without aim, watching people dance, laugh, and yell at each other over the loud music. Those fools.

Dilandau Albatou came solely for the people-watching and drink. Definitely not for the dancing and horrible music. Clad in a merlot shirt and black jeans, he was one of the more casually dressed people here. However, as a member of the Zaibach attaché corps, he never had trouble getting into the Mystic Moon no matter how he was dressed.

Reaching into a pocket, he retrieved a small plastic bag containing a single, white pill. Drugs weren't anything too uncommon here and the effects some of the stuff had on others was too entertaining to not sit back and watch. Sometimes, people did downright cringe-worthy stuff when high.

After ordering another round, he slipped the pill into one of two drinks in front of him before taking a sip from his own gin and tonic. He waited until one of the waitresses he knew well came by to load her tray with new orders.

Dilandau stopped the woman with the wavy, teal hair as she picked up drinks from the bartender. "Sylphy. I'm feeling generous tonight. Would you bring this to someone for me?"

"Sure. Who do you want me to bring it to?" Sylphy asked with a facial expression that suggested mild indifference.

Dilandau was regarded as a weirdo in certain circles. As an albino, his outward appearance was unusual. Pale skin, eyes the color of rosé, and nearly white hair weren't exactly what women would list as top desirable features. Although money had, more often than not, helped make them forget about that. It wasn't like he ever felt like wasting time with pleasantries in a woman's company anyway.

In his position, he enjoyed all the honors of a noble but was content to remain mostly antisocial. When he came to the Mystic Moon, he rarely left his favorite seat at the bar. The reason he was still a favorite among the staff was that at least he tipped well.

"Dealer's choice," Dilandau answered with a lazy grin. "Bring it to whoever looks like they could use it."

Shrugging, the waitress tossed her long hair over one shoulder before placing the glass on the tray, grabbing it and walking off into the crowd, weaving through it carefully.

Taking a big swig of his drink, he nearly choked on it when, very unexpectedly, a single finger poked his shoulder. Who the hell was dumb enough to approach him?

"Hey," a female voice demanded his attention.

"What?" Dilandau asked, obviously annoyed and not even turning around because he was trying to not lose track of Sylphy in the crowd. She was moving fast, doing her job well so he didn't want to miss who she'd deliver the drink to. Then, when he saw her finally zoom in on someone and hand the glass over, he was finally ready to deal with whoever had intruded his personal space.

"Did you just spike someone's drink?" The female voice prodded.

Even though many people in the crowd were on some sort of drug, they took them with intent. Dilandau whirled around and immediately backed away a bit because the young woman's face was closer to his than expected. Two pale blue orbs stared at him so accusingly that it made him feel naked on the spot. It was as if she was trying to read his thoughts.

When focusing on her more closely, he realized that she was around his age. He should be able to deal with that easily, or not? "No," he still answered calmly. "I spiked a drink. Not someone's. There's a difference." Dilandau regarded the young woman lazily, challenging her.

Her hair was cut the same way as his, although with natural waves. She wore a pair of thin, black palazzo pants and a lavender, silk, crop top. Where a lot of women liked to take the opportunity here to dress up to the nines, she looked like she was on her way to Sunday brunch. It gave her an air of sophistication and that made him a little curious.

Contrastingly, the girl was holding a fresh bottle of beer by the neck, apparently having stood not far away to order a fresh round for herself. Beer wasn't really the choice beverage of high-society girls. She was pretty and interesting so far, he had to give her that.

What he said made her frown. "Well," she said innocently. " Why would you spike a random drink?"

Dilandau chuckled. "Just sharing some Intensified Luck in hopes it will make someone's evening."

Brow slightly furrowed, the girl slowly said, "right. Because let me guess, you're a generous guy?"

Celena looked at him with an expression that was completely unfamiliar to him. Not outright disapproval about doing something fucked up like drugging a random person but instead bypassing the outrage and going straight about finding his motivation for it. That, in combination with her confidence about approaching a guy who was a stranger to her in a bar, made his skin prickle uncomfortably.

"Shit. You won't believe how many snappy one-liners I just forgot and because of that, I need to go." Dilandau said while getting to his feet and downing his drink in one large gulp while simultaneously grabbing a black sports coat from the back of his barstool.

In any other situation, he'd never be the one to back down. Who was he, to be scared of some naïve girl getting under his skin by merely looking at him? Even as he pushed past her, moving her out of the way with his elbow carefully but deliberately, she didn't make any attempts to follow him. At least, she knew what was good for her. The dancing crowd swallowed him in the blink of an eye.

Fuming, Dilandau ducked into the men's room. His evening entertainment was ruined for the time being. The audacity of this blonde bitch. He was so mad he kicked the silver trashcan sitting in the corner which earned him an annoyed glance from the guy at the urinal.

"What the fuck are you staring at?" Dilandau challenged him.

The guy shook his head, finished his business, and left the bathroom without washing his hands. Pig.

Dilandau walked up to the sink and braced his hands onto the marble washbasin. His own reflection stared back at him. Of course, he'd taken some of the Intensified Luck himself too but he already knew what it'd make him feel like. Like he was actually in control for once. Weird, because normally people took drugs for the exact opposite reason, to be able to let go.

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the marble surface harder and focused on his mirror image. The more he looked at himself, the more the resurfacing images of his surreal nightmares threatened to swallow him again. Hissing at his own image, he tore himself away and strode into the far-off stall, banging the door closed before locking it.

The smoke detector in the closed-off room was still damaged from the last time he'd broken it. He leaned his back against the side wall and reached for the pack of cigarettes in one of his pockets. After lighting one up, he inhaled greedily and then rolled up the sleeves of his jacket to be more comfortable. At least here he'd be safe from the curious, little inquisitor for a while.

Hitomi had lost track of time. At some point, a waitress stopped by and handed her a drink.

"But I didn't order anything," Hitomi protested while the waitress thrust the gin and tonic into her hand.

"It's from this guy at the bar," she explained and gesticulated vaguely towards it.

Over the woman's shoulder, Hitomi could make out Allen, Yukari, and Amano. Allen smiled at her from across the distance and she raised the glass in a toast before tasting it. It had obviously been sent by him- how nice. She was actually having a good time now even though the dark king was still next to Millerna and her, hanging out there like a soggy raincloud. After two more sips, she was glad about the refreshment even though she'd already had a few drinks up to this point.

Van was pretending to look as much interested as a guy could reasonably be expected to be when two women were conversing animatedly, not including him. But that was just fine with him. It gave him all the time in the world to glance at Hitomi whenever appropriate, drinking in the sight of her cheerful face more eagerly than the whiskey. Her genuine nature made him feel more at ease in the usually dreaded environment.

More time passed as the women talked about similar classes they'd had and shared stories of training rotations with obnoxious patients and shocking diagnoses. It was Millerna's turn to tell a story about a guy she'd treated in the ER who had thought it a splendid idea to mend a wound on his leg with superglue, which then necessitated them to soak the affected area in acetone.

Hitomi wobbled a bit and smothered a laugh with her free hand when Millerna talked. It wasn't actually that funny but an unfamiliar feeling in her head stole away her ability to keep it together. "'Scuse me for a moment please," Hitomi said and stepped away as gracefully as possible. What in the hell was wrong with her. She hadn't had that much to drink, or did she?

She stumbled into the VIP restroom where the sound of music was more muffled and the light was brighter, aiming for the sinks. Two other women were in there, fixing their flawless warpaint and giggling amongst themselves. "…sooo hot in that black suit and I can't believe he's here tonight."

Hitomi stifled a groan as she put down her drink and turned on the faucet to splash cold water onto her face, not caring if it would smudge her own, much less elaborate makeup. The cool water helped her focus again better. As far as she could tell from her reflection staring back at her, she looked fairly normal. Phew. At least she wouldn't embarrass herself completely if she went back out there to let her friends know that she would be leaving.

The two high-society girls brushed past her with envious looks on their faces, one whispering something into the other's ear without Hitomi even taking note. Right. Good. So that was the way out. Kind of hard to tell with all the light and glitz in there. All she had to do was follow them. Back out into the cosmic darkness of the Mystic Moon. The difference in lighting and intensity in sound after the brief stop in the restroom hit her like a brick wall against the head. She was feeling worse and worse by the minute and the refreshing effect of the cold water had worn off fast.

She wobbled again, looking around but everything appeared strange. It was as if she had fallen through a rabbit hole and been spit out in another dimension. Faces were blurry and bodies moved too fast for her to follow. Walking felt like having to wade through molasses. She stumbled to the other side and reached the area across from the bathroom doors where a polished shelf along the whole length of the wall was meant to hold drinks for those whose hands were otherwise occupied. Only a few steps away, a couple made use of just that and had abandoned their champagne glasses while thoroughly exploring each other with hands and mouths.

Hitomi reached out to place her half-empty glass onto the shelf but, in her delirium, misjudged the distance. Only halfway on the secure surface before she let go, the glass fell and shattered, sending shards of expensive crystal, ice, and booze flying. Some splashed on her toes, some on the couple's legs and ice went sliding across the floor. They only spared a moment to shoot her an annoyed glance before stepping away further and resuming their previous activities.

In the meantime, Hitomi could do nothing but stare at the floor, dumbfounded and utterly at a loss for what had just happened. As if hypnotized, she stood in the same spot for what felt like an eternity before she, even despite the blaring music, heard glass crunch under the soles of, no doubt, expensive shoes and felt a firm hand on her shoulder.

Tbc...soonish.

A/N: Really, I had nearly 19 pages written already but decided to cut it off sooner for my own sanity. That said, ch 4 (or rather chapter 3, part 2) shouldn't be as long as this update. Alas, real life often gets in the way.

Thank you to everybody who's taken the time to review. It's motivating, as you can imagine. Keep it up!

Until next time!

[theelvenreader-blog]

Character Profiles

Today, and for the past few weeks, I have been working on my character profiles, world-building, and thought dumping my fantasy novel. Since I could write books about all three topics, I’ve decided to talk about them in different posts as a series. Today will be character profiles, Wednesday will be thought dumping, and Friday will be world-building. As you’ve noticed, Monday’s post is   late (that would be today’s). I was busy yesterday and didn’t get around to finishing the post so it’ll just be today.

When I first started writing I thought you had to know everything about your world and characters right off the bat. I thought you were somehow a “bad writer” if you had to sit and think at all about your character’s personalities or your world’s government. Over time, however, I’ve realized it’s totally normal to have to sit and think about characters or worlds. 

Now, one of my favorite parts of writing are world building and outlining. I love researching themes and the insertion of “easter eggs” for readers to find. In order to do this, I have to do tons of research and thinking. They don’t just come to me as I’m character or world building. 

More of my favorite parts of the outlining phase are building complex characters (mainly going through my character profile template) and building rich cultures and parts of it like religions, politics, and since my college degree is in history, histories. 

Today’s post is in character profiles. I’ve built myself a pretty good process for myself (it’s nothing special but it get’s the job done): 

First thing I do is make a list of all my characters in my cast so far. If as I’m outlining or brain dumping I realize another character that is necessary for the plot I add them in immediately and do a character profile of them. Since I write fantasy I tend to sort this list into races of beings such as elves, dwarves, merpeople, humans, etc. I have a template on my computer that I can just open a copy of any time I need. This makes the process a lot easier for me. 

The goal is to get to know your characters like they’re people you know in real life, so you want to ask yourself a variety of questions to help you in that process. Try to think of as many questions as you can that you might ask someone you were trying to get to know. You can also look at other blogs or just online and get some ideas from other writers’ character profiles. Keep in mind many can get pretty detailed and pretty long. Some questions I ask myself are:

o  “What was their childhood like?”

o  “What is their romantic history?”

o  “What is their sexual history?”

o  “What Is their sexual orientation?”

o  “What is their sex?” Meaning their biology, not their gender.

o  “What is their gender?” This means what do they identify as. For instance, one of my character’s biology is male, but they identify as female or feminine.

o  “What are their hobbies. This involves something they enjoy doing outside the main plot of the story. For instance, they could be a warrior, but really like to knit in their free time.

o  If the story involves magical or supernatural elements, I ask myself what these powers entail and what their limits are (power’s limits are very important, but we’ll talk about this in another post)

o  I also ask myself what they look like, and either try to draw them myself or find an image on google for reference. I also do a drawing of a few pieces of clothing they would wear and some of their favorite objects

It’s also important that you aren’t afraid to make your characters quirky or enjoy strange activities. You want your characters memorable and original to themselves so if a quirky or different hobby is what makes sense for the character, go for it. Brown eyes and hair are common, so you might want to include a bit in your story. Especially amongst fantasy writers, it’s really popular for many characters to have lavender eyes, blue eyes, green eyes, ANYTHING but brown eyes. Be realistic here. 

As an example, here is an example of one of my own character profiles. This is for my protagonist in my current WIP, which used to be called Freedom Bringer but is now unnamed because I didn’t think the name suit the fantasy genre or story the way I wanted it to. I’ve omitted/deleted some parts that are spoilers for the book.

You’ll notice that I based this character profile closely on Jenna Moreci’s on her blog. You should check both her and her blog and youtube channel out and definitely her character profile. Her writing is great and a great deal of what I know I learned from her.

Character Profile: Fäel (pronounced like fay-EL)

Based on the example given by Jenna Moreci on her blog: count blogula

CATEGORY #1: BASIC STATISTICS

Sex: Male

Gender: He identifies as masculine, but he’s not an alpha male. He’s actually quite small. If he was in public school in our world, he would probably be teased for being “puny”.

Age: 250 years old, but if I had to compare this to a human age it would be somewhere between 19 and 21 years old.

Race, Ethnicity, Culture: Feräan (a race of elves that usually has brown hair and the ability to control fire. The most common race of elves)

Height: 5’ 7”

Body Type: Thin build. Think adolescent boy. You would never guess that he is fully grown if you took a good look at him. Though this is probably mostly due to malnutrition.

Appearance: Short, Straight as a board Almond colored hair

He is fairly short for an elf. Around 5’7” in American human measurements. Slightly darker tan complexion. Elves do not normally get acne, so his skin is very clear. Narrow face with defined rounded jawline, cheekbones not high but not super low eitherSmall hands with narrow, feminine fingers, which have been hardened and callused from heavy slave labor. Though he is normally given very demanding labor, he still isn’t muscular. He can definitely lift a bit more than before, but elves don’t grow muscle or muscle mass very easily, so he stays relatively small in stature.Thin build, not much muscle mass but fairly strong as well.Lips a light coral color, nothing special. Shape of lips resemble a heart at the cupid’s bow.Fairly large round forehead.Full eyebrows with a few strands in the middle where a unibrow would be (not a full unibrow, just a couple of hairs)

Where are they from? Fael was born in the elven realm but since he was 50 years old (a toddler) he has been in the Kingdom of Türmé because of the elven slavery. Because of this, he doesn’t remember the elven realm at all.

Describe their Childhood: His parents, the king and queen of the elven people (and therefore all magical creatures) died in battle during the first Elven-Mankind war 235 years ago. Since then, his people have been enslaved by the humans. The human king has a way of making sure he is completely miserable. For example, he gives him the hardest labor and insists he stands in the front of every whipping and execution.

CATEGORY #2: RELATIONSHIPS

Family: Fäel’s biological family is dead. However, he has many elves he considers family, and therefore so do I. Baelym, for instance, is his caretaker. Fäel sees him as an older brother. Not quite a father, even though Baelym does tend to act like his father at times.

Friends: Mäikash is Fael’s best friend. You could say these two are so close they are like brothers, but the extent of their relationship is that of a friendship, not family. Fäel doesn’t have any other friends at the beginning of the book but gains more as he grows as an individual and gains knowledge of the outside world.

CATEGORY #3: THE SEXY STUFF

Sexual Orientation: Bisexual

What are they Attracted to? Fäel is attracted to both men and women who have their own sense of responsibility. They know what they must do and do it. Even if this means they give up what they want. Normally the physical aspects he is attracted to is strength. He also tends to be attracted to lighter colored hair and chiseled facial features. He likes the look of facial hair, but doesn’t like the feeling when he kisses someone with it. In terms of women, he’s attracted to women with medium sized breasts and strong shoulders.

Sexual Experience: Fael is a complete virgin. He hadn’t even thought of the idea of sex until he and Mäikash had their conversation about sexuality.  

Romantic Experience: Like his sexual experience, Fael hadn’t thought much about romance until later in the book. He had thought about having a wife and he in the beginning of the book has a dream about his future with a wife and son. He never really becomes completely in tune with the sexual side of him like Mäikash, but becomes much more comfortable. CATEGORY #4: SKILLS

Skills: Fäel is really good at working with his Magic. He can handle it with more stress than others can and it is more powerful than usual.  He’s also not bad at all in sword fighting (though not as good as his Magic). He takes this from his grandfather, Sälavel. Who died in battle thousands of years ago.

Occupation/Schooling: Elven Prince, Slave to the Royal Kingdom of the Türmé. Later King of Ferä. Elves are forbidden from learning the elven language, though they learn to speak it anyway, very few know how to write or read. Fael can write a little, but he definitely couldn’t write an academic paper or even full sentences.

Hobbies: Practicing sword fighting and magic is one of his favorite things to do. He hides himself in the forest from anyone else and will practice setting things on fire and hitting trees with a sword. Türmé will go out to the forest and wonder why everything looks burnt and slashed, but they have never been able to find out who it was. Even after many searches of elves and tents. If he had access to books or even literature he would be a very avid reader.

Magical/Supernatural Abilities: Like any other Ferä, he has the ability to manifest fire. This means he can do anything from lighting a fireplace to making fire appear in thin air (if it’s directly above his hand or protruding from it like a flamethrower). He cannot, however, do this if he feels pressured or over stressed, or if his magic is taken away from him 

CATEGORY #5: PERSONALITY & CHARACTER

Introvert or Extrovert? Though he is an introvert, he’s very good at hiding this when he is around other elves that don’t know him as anything other than a prince. He doesn’t have anxiety toward crowds or company, he just prefers to be alone or with a very small amount of people at once.

Right-Brained or Left-Brained? Fael is very, very left brained. He thinks about everything very logically and doesn’t cling to his emotions. He has been trained by his caretaker to follow his duties as a prince and he refuses to rebel from this, rather following his path and accepting anything that is given to him. He thinks through every problem as if it is a puzzle with one correct, logical solution he needs to follow.

Strengths: Fael can easily separate emotions from duties or actions. Even if he feels emotional or vulnerable he can completely hide that until it is completely safe to show it. He can hide his weaknesses very well to the point that everyone thinks he has no weaknesses. Because of this, he comes across as very charismatic, which isn’t completely wrong. He just prefers not to be around large groups. Weaknesses:Fael can, however, have problems finding when he needs help and asking when he needs it. He is in the mindset at first that he needs to do everything on his own, which he later learns isn’t necessarily the case. He also has quite a bit of physical weaknesses but these are more obvious because of his small stature. He’s still stronger than a human adult. But compared to an elven adult of his age he is fairly weak.

Goals/Dreams/Aspirations: As a child he would dream of becoming a king and freeing the elves. As he became older these dreams would fade and he would seek to accept the hard lifestyle he leads as an elven slave. By the inciting incident he starts to grow a new goal.

Beliefs/Affiliations: Most elven races follow a polytheistic religious belief that believes that there are 8 gods that control each element of the universe that establishes balance. These elements are Light, Fire, Earth (for instance dirt, trees, rocks), Water, Darkness, Beauty, Power, and Knowledge.

Fears: He has an extreme fear of death. He does learn to deal with this fear over time, but he initially does have panic attacks over the idea of dying and this drives his motivation to make the decision to run away with Mäikash and convince Baelym to come with. Fael also has some other fears, such as his obscure fear of chickens.  

Insecurities: He knows he is very small for his age and race, but this doesn’t bother him until someone says that they would be worried if he were the Ferä king because he wouldn’t be very powerful. After this he starts to pay attention to how small he is and this continues to be an insecurity of his throughout his adventure. What would he Die for? His best friend and caretaker. Eventually his wife and child.

[littlemisskookie]

Sound the Alarms

Sound the Alarms: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 Ship: Jungkook | Reader ~ Jungkook | Seulgi Description: You were in love with Jeon Jungkook since you were 14, but made the mistake of introducing him to your best friend at 16. Now you’ve slept with him at 19, and it appears that fate isn’t done screwing you over when it comes to your two best friends. Warning: Hella Angst, Blowjob, Intercourse, Oral, Fingering, Cheating, Dirty Talk, Slight Cumplay? Word Count: 5,041

Sorry.

What a simple, yet complex word.

A word that can mean either nothing or everything, depending on the context. Depending on the buildup. Depending on the crime.

The word isn't able to fix the past. It can't grab onto the hands of time and force them to go backward, undoing mistakes and mending hearts, friendships, and memories.

But it can help stitch a big part of the past. It can help people move forward, and it can help lead to forgiveness or to closure. It can help you look back on happy memories a bit more fondly, and it can help people know that they aren't completely hated.

It can mean nothing. You can say it on a whim, softly stuttering it if you so much as bump shoulders with someone, and you throw the word carelessly.

Or the apology could save a relationship when raw emotion and heartfelt sincereness that can lead to a new start, or perhaps to a bit of maturing.

But there was one situation where you weren't exactly sure what you were sorry for.

You were in love with Jungkook since you were fourteen. Five full years. That meant for half a decade you were in love with one man, and no one else. Sure, you dated around, tried desperately to distract yourself with another man, hoping he could let your mind wander from the friend you desperately wished to be with. None quite captivated you the way he unknowingly did. Not one man made your heart drum in such a fast pace you'd never get over, pumping blood throughout you, and your heart fluttering wildly when he looked at you with those star filled eyes, the ones that told you he could see right through you.

But he couldn't. As much as he thought he knew, and as much as you wished, he couldn't see past you for shit. How could he, when he didn't even know how madly in love you were with him?

You were his closest friend, and he was yours. Well, second closest.

Your childhood and family friend was a girl by the name of Seulgi. You knew her since you were practically in diapers, and she seemed to know you like the palm of her hand. Most of your secrets were kept in her hands, as were hers. You'd trust her with your life, which is why you ended up trusting her with your sun and stars.

You had never meant to introduce Seulgi and Jungkook. Sure, you were close to both, but you liked the fact you kept your lives with them a bit separate. It was like two versions of you, and both seemed to adore you in a way that made you glow. You were different people to both, and both combined to make you, in a sense. Though you bantered with Seulgi constantly and felt constantly insecure when she'd 'accidentally' point out your flaws, you two were inseparable, and you liked to believe she loved you as much as you loved her. Jungkook, on the other hand, would see you as someone who was strong and fierce, who could face anyone and everything. When Seulgi made you feel insecure, Jungkook would build you back up again unknowingly, and when Jungkook accidentally looked another way, or you were reminded once again of the fact he'd be nothing more than a friend, Seulgi's arms were the ones that embraced you.

Jungkook didn't know of your crush, nor did Seulgi. Though most would go to their friends about their deepest crushes, about the ones that caused their tears and their smiles when they're alone in the dark, you didn't. You liked keeping Jungkook your little secret, and though Seulgi pried on and on begging you to tell who was your mystery man, you'd simply feed her crumbs in order to sate her.

Seulgi went to a private school since her parents were a bit more prestigious and privileged than your own, which left you to attend public school with Jungkook.

Jungkook might've thought of you as the one who could face any challenge and be unable to turn down any dare, but in reality, you were a coward. You were a sniveling coward and you knew it. Because you were burdened with a secret you knew you could never tell, because in all the years you knew Jungkook, you knew he would never feel the same.

It seemed as though every few months he'd have a new girl on his arm, though not without your help. Through pained smiles and gritted teeth, you whispered advice for him to get the new girl of his dreams that he only noticed that day. But you knew it never lasted long, and that he was never interested for more than two months.

Except for one girl, and you only had yourself to blame.

You were sixteen, able to drive at last, and Jungkook was planning to spend the night at your place, as usual. But Seulgi ended up calling you to ask for a favor to pick her up from dance lessons. You agreed, and though you wanted to keep Jungkook at home, insisting that you'd only be gone for fifteen minutes and be right back, he insisted on tagging along.

Biggest mistake of your life.

Seulgi had hopped into the vehicle, and within seconds she was awestruck by Jungkook's charming features, and you couldn't lie and say the feelings weren't mutual for your male friend. They chatted up a storm in the car, and you felt like an awkward third wheel, tapping at the steering wheel as you tried desperately to get Seulgi home.

Didn't work out so great either.

Seulgi ended up inviting you two over, and Jungkook seemed to be ecstatic to go into her fancy, large house, you couldn't turn down his puppy eyes. You ended up eating popcorn, your eyes glued to the screen as you tried desperately not to let your eyes linger to your two friends in the kitchen, chatting and flirting, and leaving you out.

There was a pit at the bottom of your stomach that you chose to ignore, though you feared what you suspected would become true. You remembered when the two finally returned to the couch, albeit giggly as they were, and they couldn't keep their hands off each other to swat one another playfully or other things that made you want to throw up. At some point, Jungkook was tickling Seulgi, and you had to jump off the couch to avoid her shrieking and kicking self.

Somewhere in the middle of the movie, you went to the kitchen to get a refreshment, and Seulgi came in, hopping after you, beaming brightly. "Oh my God, Y/N, how could you have never introduced me to Jungkook? Or mentioned him? He's like, the most amazing guy I've ever met! How dare you keep him all to yourself," she giggled, swatting your arm playfully.

You cock up a sideways smirk, trying to ignore the heavy feeling in your heart. "Must've slipped my mind."

She scoffed in disbelief, grinning widely as she rolled her eyes. "Very funny. Seriously though, how have you never made a move?"

You shrugged, licking your lips nervously. "We're just friends. He's like a brother to me."

Seulgi's grin stretched across her features. "I gave him my number earlier. I know I sound cheesy, but I felt...  something. Like sparks? I don't know, but I definitely want him in my life. I want to be with him, and I know I do. I haven't known him for long, and I feel ridiculous telling you this, especially since there's not one loving bone in your body, but I just... I feel the tug, you know?"

You winced, knowing exactly what she meant. The moment you saw Jungkook, it was as though you knew you were going to fall hard. You were immediately attracted to him, and you were practically zapped by the jolts of electricity flowing between the two when they first met, but an hour or two ago.

"Good for you," you smiled, though it didn't meet your eyes. Seulgi didn't notice, though. "But warning, he typically only gets in brief relationships. Like, only for two months, and then dumps the girl."

Seulgi's eyes narrowed, and she eyed you carefully. "Are you trying to keep me from making a move on him or something?"

Your eyes widened, and though a part of you wanted to prevent all of this, you know you couldn't actually admit to it. "What? No! Nonsense, I just don't want you getting hurt, that's all. He's my best friend, even if he's a player, and you're also my best friend. I just... don't want to be caught in the middle."

She nodded in understanding and smiled. "So I have your blessing?"

There was a lump in your throat. You briefly had a little daydream of getting her family shotgun that hung over one of the fireplaces to shoot her in the head, two brief shots of pew pew. "Of course."

From then on, Jungkook and Seulgi seemed to be dating. You assumed it would only last a few months, and Seulgi would come crying in your arms once Jungkook finally had his fun and left, like what he did with all the other love interests. But two months turned into six, and six turned into twelve until it had been three years.

Three years of nonstop swooning and gushing from Seulgi, who went on about how passionately he'd kiss her in the car, or what a good lover he was. How romantic he was, and how each night he'd text her goodnight. She'd show off the texts of them sending hearts and lovey-dovey text messages to each other, and she was bursting with happiness the first time he said he loved her, which was five months after they got together. Each time you pulled up a fake smile for her, telling her you were so happy you introduced the two, and you'd tease how if it wasn't for you, neither would be aware of the other's presence. But secretly, you'd cry to yourself, thinking about how desperately you wanted to be in your friend's place, and how each snippet and sneak peek into the life of Junkook's love made you crumble a bit more.

It wasn't so easy with Jungkook either. Each time you tried to hang out with him alone, it was difficult, because he spent most of his time with Seulgi. And when you were finally alone with him, he'd be Facetiming Seulgi or sending her texts. He'd go on, asking you questions about her, never shutting up about a funny story involving her, or for advice regarding a surprise he held in store. Each time your heart seemed to sink a little bit more.

Anytime you three would hang out, you would be the third wheel. Jungkook occasionally tried to give you attention and include you, but it would slip past him eventually as the day went on, and you were the person walking awkwardly behind them on a sidewalk as they held hands, their swinging arms taunting you.

But you couldn't jeopardize your friendship with the two of them like that. You couldn't. You couldn't choose between the two of them because that would mean losing the other, and you loved both equally, though in different ways. You had known Seulgi since you were small, and Jungkook was with you through some of your hardest times. But it wasn't like you could let them go either because that would mean losing them both.

You considered distancing yourself from the situation, ignoring texts and calls. Well, mainly Jungkook's, because you were typically the one who had to call Seulgi to meet up or hang out. But Jungkook showed up at your house unexpectantly, asking if you were alright and desperately asking why you were ignoring him, and you did your best not to break down from the heartache you've been suffering through as he hugged you tightly in his embrace.

You couldn't tell them. You couldn't let them live with the guilt they didn't deserve, not when their smiles were so bright with each other. Though your heart was breaking piece by piece, you tried to convince yourself it was worth it, seeing your most treasured friends so happy.

But there was one night that seemed to change seemingly everything.

Seulgi was away on vacation with a few friends, and Jungkook decided to invite you to go out drinking, especially since he hadn't seen you as often as the past few days, especially because of Seulgi keeping him busy.

You didn't bother dressing nice, mainly in a casual dress instead of a sexy one you would've worn. For one, what would be the point if the only boy worth seducing was madly in love with your best friend? Secondly, if Seulgi were there, she'd most likely remind you that it wouldn't be a good idea for you to show off your legs in such a revealing dress. Even when she wasn't there, she was in the back of your head, and that was the part about Seulgi that no one could shake. She was always there, even if she wasn't in the flesh.

You were on your first shot, trying to numb the pain of being with your friend. It felt wrong, even if he was your friend and you had every right to be with him, but a part of you felt like you were betraying your friend. You didn't want to lose her or disappoint her, and if she only knew of the harbored feelings you felt for her boyfriend, you were sure you'd never get to see him again. Each time you looked into his eyes that held a certain innocence that was completely unaware of your sin of coveting for another, you were reminded that he wasn't yours.

But you got better. At hiding it. At dealing with it. With numbing the pain and suppressing it, pulling up your brightest smile that Jungkook claimed shone more each passing day. If only he knew. You laughed the hardest, you smiled the brightest, and you tried to make them smile more, all in pathetic feeble attempts to mask your cowardice.

"I'm sorry I haven't been seeing you so much lately," Jungkook mentions, watching you down another shot, the burning liquid sliding down your throat at an agonizingly slow pace. "I guess I've just been busy with Seulgi lately, that's all."

More like the last three years. You waved your hand, dismissing it. "Don't worry, I've been busy lately too."

"I, uh, I've got something to confess," Jungkook murmurs.

You cock a brow at him, confused, your hand tapping on the third shot glass and tapping your nail against it. "And what is that?" You didn't want to get your hopes up.

"I think I want to propose to her," Jungkook confesses, his smile growing by the second. "I know, we're young, and we're still in college. But I love her, and I want to spend the rest of my life with her, y'know? And we've been dating for three years."

You were about to let your jaw drop, and if you were drinking water you would've spit it out immediately. The familiar lump in your throat was forming again, and your heart was sinking all the way down to your stomach. "What? Now? Jungkook... I don't think that's the best idea," you blurted.

His face fell. "You don't?"

Your eyes were wide. "Well, you guys are meant for each other! You're not going anywhere, you two love each other, but you've also got student loans and college to worry about... you should probably wait a bit later. I'm just thinking logically, now."

Jungkook nods. "Yeah, if you think it's a bad idea, you're probably right. I trust your opinion, and I trust you more than anyone," Jungkook admits. "To be honest, things between me and Seulgi haven't been peachy lately anyways. I love her to death, trust me, and... oh, she probably either told you this already or wouldn't want me to..."

"You can tell me," you assured him, surprised that something wrong was happening. Usually, when Seulgi complained, it was about something ridiculous, where Jungkook was doing basically nothing wrong and she was too prideful to admit her wrongdoings. But that was a Seulgi thing.

"Well, we haven't had sex in like... over a month," Jungkook admits. "I mean, it's no big deal, but she's been so busy and every time I make an offer she's too tired or busy. I don't know, I'm probably acting stupid, but it's a bit difficult, you know? I try to talk to her, you know, but she just-"

"-shuts you out?" you finish for him. "Yeah, I get that."

"Yeah," Jungkook murmurs. "I guess I've been thinking about proposing so much because I'm rushing, or I'm worried, you know?"

You nodded, quickly turning to another glass and downing it. You needed to be drunk for this conversation, most definitely, and the alcohol wasn't taking the desired effect yet. "Yeah. I know what you mean. I wouldn't fret about it. Try to sit down with her and talk about it, don't give her an opportunity to run away. And whatever you do, don't let her make you feel guilty and pin the blame on you when confrontation finally happens."

"Does that happen to you a lot?" Jungkook asks, surprised by your slip of the tongue.

You wave your hand dismissively, taking another shot glass and handing another to him. "C'mon, it's not often we hang out without your girlfriend Facetiming or other stuff," you murmur, pushing the glass in his hand, ignoring his previous question. "Get drunk with me. Like that time we were fifteen and snuck my dad's liquor, remember?"

Jungkook chuckled. "You were a babbling mess that day, and we got into so much trouble."

You remembered you almost confessed to him that day, in your drunken self, but luckily your small frame couldn't handle alcohol as well as you could now, and you passed out before you could let the secret slip.

For the rest of the night, you pushed glass after glass into Jungkook's hand, downing more yourself until you were both laughing, sputtering messes. You weren't drunk, surprisingly enough. Though your frame was smaller than Jungkook's, your nights of getting drunk made your liver somewhat more tolerable, and Jungkook was the definition of lightweight. Within three shots he was drunk, but you were still aware of everything with four. You nudged Jungkook's laughing form, that was babbling nonsense.

Your drunken self was able to text an Uber, and you were trying hard not to drop Jungkook as you draped his arm over your shoulder, making your way to the car you ordered to come by. You'd crash at your own place, and once you hobbled back to your apartment and into your bedroom you quickly shoved Jungkook's form on the mattress, hearing him let out wild chuckles and giggle to himself. Jungkook was always like this when he was drunk, a laughing mess. Though whatever was damn funny, you'd never know.

You were smashed, and everything was hitting you harder than before, your vision turning blurry and your arms feeling loose and silky. You turned to leave and wash up, but Jungkook grabbed your wrist, yanking you down on the bed with him as your body slammed against the mattress. You didn't know how it happened, but before long his body was crushing your own, and your lips were flushed and kissing wildly against his.

You knew this was wrong, but the usual pit of guilt and dread seemed to disappear for those drunken moments, and the lump in your throat that usually formed from those nights of endless crying evaporated, and his lips were a flurry against your own. Your arms snaked around his neck, pulling him in, wanting to call and mark him as your own. His lips attached to your neck and his hands rode up your dress skirt, his hands traveling to fondle with your breasts under your bra.

It was escalating so fast, and though it should, you didn't want it to stop.

"Fuck," Jungkook murmured against your neck. "I love you, I love you so fucking much."

Your heart fluttered, and you moaned out as he sucked and nipped at your neck, his hands were rough as he kneaded your breasts, the fabric of your dress riding up along his arms. He was yours, for tonight he was yours and yours alone, and that's what you wanted so desperately to believe.

"I love you so much, Seulgi," he groaned out her name, his lips flying back to yours.

Your heart shattered, knowing that even his drunken self thought of her, and only her. But you could be her. You always wanted to be her perfect self, with her classy family, and her perfect boyfriend. You'd be her for one night, for him. Your drunken self ignored his murmurs of her name against your skin and replaced it with your own, and you were wishing so desperately for it to be true, it fragmented a twisted illusion.

"I want to taste you," he groaned, his fingers pulling and tugging at your nipples underneath the dress. "I want to taste how wet you are for me, princess."

Princess. That's his pet name for Seulgi.

You mewled at his words, letting your fingers untangle from his locks to slip to your panties, tugging them off until you could kick them down your legs. He groaned in delight, descending down your body to hitch your dress up, his movements quick and rushed as he yanked you closer, diving into your heat, his nose nuzzling with your clit. You gasped at the sensation, your hands twisting into his hair, threading through and pulling him deeper as his tongue lapped tentatively at your folds. "You're so wet for me," Jungkook groaned. "Fuck."

"J-Jungkook," you whispered out, screwing your eyes shut. "Don't stop."

He kept licking at your folds, and your high was approaching. You were confused when he came up, as though for air, but when he immediately plunged into your heat, brushing against your walls, and his palm digging into your clit to rub it sensually, making you grind into his palm in response. He chuckled darkly at your ministrations, pumping his fingers into you as you bucked into his hand.

"Mm, you like my dirty fingers in your dirty pussy?" He laughed, adding a third. You could hear how wet you were, the sounds from his fingers causing you to grimace. The lewd sounds turned you on more than you wanted to admit, though it slightly embarrassed. Your cheeks were still glowing red from the alcohol, but now they burned with each pump and curl of Jungkook's fingers.

"Yes," you moaned out. "I do, fuck."

"You always do," Jungkook remarks, taking his fingers out and sucking on them, and you were getting so turned on by how his tongue twirled around his cum-soaked digits, lapping up the juices.

"Jungkook," you gasped out, looking into his half-lidded eyes. "I need you inside me."

"Why should I, when you've been acting like a bitch these past few weeks?" he grumbles absentmindedly, his words slurred. "Fine. Get me ready then."

You didn't hesitate to get on your knees, sinking before him and undoing his jeans, until you finally had his cock in your hand. It was flushed and angry, half-hard and ready for your hot cavern. You heard Seulgi brag about it multiple times, describing it in great detail as though to show you up compared to your multiple and empty hookups, but frankly, she didn't do it glory. It was marvelous in your opinion, but perhaps that was because you've wanted to see it for so long.

You eagerly sunk down on him, taking a deep breath before letting your nose plunge all the way down to nuzzle into his fine hair. Jungkook yelped, his hands forcing you down, the tip of the head hitting the back of your throat and causing you to gag and spasm around his dick.

"Shit, shit, fuck," Jungkook whimpers out. "Since when did you give head? God, we should've done this a long time ago."

You squeezed your eyes shut, beginning to bob your head up and down, hallowing your cheeks as you eagerly sucked along the shaft. Your hand flew up to move along the base, moving with your head as you sunk down on him time and time again. The drunken moans and shudders you received from the boy made it worth it, absolute music to your ears. He was a heavy breather, and you looked innocently back up at him, batting your lashes as he threw his head back, his Adam's apple traveling up and down the column of his throat as he swallowed.

You popped off finally, taking in greedy breaths of air, marveling at how his cock glistened with precum and your spit. You looked up to Jungkook, letting a small whine escape your lips in neediness.

Jungkook looked down to you, and his hand pets your hair affectionately, as though telling you you did a good job. "Alright, baby, you've earned it. Especially after that," he murmured, a light smile on his face. "Get on the bed now, princess."

You practically jumped on top of the bed, and there was no finer sight than Jungkook peeling off his shirt, crawling on top of you to meet your lips. You wondered if he could taste himself, though you were sure that you could still taste the slight flavor of yourself against his tongue. His skin was warm against yours. Warm. That's what Jungkook always was, your small, golden candlelight that lead you through the darkness. The small flame of warmth that offered the tiniest bit of comfort and warmth in the coldest of days.

Jungkook took your legs up to drape over his shoulder, your foot dangling by his head as he pushed into you. Never before had you felt so satisfied, and even the alcohol couldn't fake that. Jungkook wasn't the type to let you adjust, and within seconds he was pounding into you, his hips slamming repeatedly against your own.

The sounds of skin slapping against skin and moans filled the room, bouncing off the corners of the bedroom as a crime was performed, but neither of you was worried about the consequences. You were too drunk to care. Not now. You couldn't think about what you always worry about, not at this time.

"I love you, I love you, I love you," Jungkook repeated in a mantra, thrusting harder into you with each time he repeated the phrase. No matter how much you wished the words were for you, you knew it'd always be for her. It was always her. Never you. Jungkook reached around your leg to reach your clit, letting your bucking hips reach his fingers, giving some friction to your nub.

The pressure in your lower stomach started to intensify. The coil was stretching further and further, threatening to snap, and your moans were getting louder by the second as your orgasm approached. "J-Jungkook, I'm going to cum," you gasped aloud.

"You're going to cum, princess?" he grunted, snapping his hips more, using more pressure against your clit in the way that sent your eyes rolling back. "Cum for me, Seulgi."

You had no idea why, but that seemed to be the thing that sent you over the edge. As fucked up as it sounds, the moment the words escaped his lips your legs were shaking, and you were repeating a mantra of his name as your orgasm washed over.

Jungkook pulled out, pumping his cock eagerly as you sat up, eagerly opening your mouth to him. You swatted his hand away, sucking his dick again until you felt the hot seed spill past your lips and onto your awaiting tongue, and you eagerly swallowed every drop. It tumbled down, and you broke away, watching as his cock slowly turned soft.

The both of you were absolutely sweaty and panting messes, and a question lingered in the back of your head that you did it this time. You fucked up.

With Jungkook's arms wrapped tightly around your waist, and tears slowly dripping from the corner of your eye to the pillow, your blurry and hazed mind was beginning to clear the slightest bit, though sleep was threatening to consume you.

You glanced at the boy you wanted so desperately to be yours, in your arms, though he suspected he was in another's. He was sleeping so softly, his nose whistling slightly. Your friend, and what would you tell Seulgi? She'd be livid, she'd be furious. She'd hate you. She'd hate Jungkook. Jungkook would hate you. Jungkook would hate himself. You'd get the blame, because you were the best friend. You harbored your feelings, but neither of them knew about that, did they? It wasn't their fault for that.

You used him. Your drunken self used his intoxicated one, and you committed one of the most horrible crimes in girl code. You felt absolutely awful.

And yet.

And yet something deep in the most sickening, twisted, selfish part of you felt so content, so happy to have the boy you love by your side.

You were a horrible human being.

You reached to Jungkook's face, moving a delicate strand of hair from his perfect, angelic face.

"I love you," you whispered, tears in your eyes.

"Oh no, oh no no no!" Jungkook yelled out, scrambling to a sitting position. You immediately woke up, the hangover and memories crashing into you like a tidal wave.

He didn't- you didn't- oh no.

"Jungkook, I'm so sorry-" you stammered out, reaching an arm out to him.

"Don't touch me," Jungkook said, "not now. No, this can't be happening. I wouldn't- no, it's impossible-"

"I'm so sorry," you cried out, tears swimming in your eyes. "I'm sorry, I-I- we were drunk- you- I'm so sorr-"

"No, don't," Jungkook recoiled, snapping away. He searched frantically around the floor of your room, finding his clothes. You watched in helplessness as he gathered his clothes, yanking them on, with the most horrified and guilt-stricken look on his face.

You were outright holding back tears, seeing him go back to her again, and Jungkook looked at you one last time as he opened the door, his eyes pooled with guilt, shock, and confusion. Your lower lip was quivering, though you clasped your hand over your mouth, trying to hide the fear in your wide eyes.

With that, he slammed the door behind him.

[the-cryptographer]

001: Mai/Zuko

Thank you anon!! :D

when I started shipping it if I did:

There were things I liked about their relationship ahead oftime, but I didn’t really ship it until Boiling Rock.

(And I feel like it might be an important point of reference thatI marathoned A:tLA after the series was already over? There wasn’t a lot oftime for me to start speculating and let my opinions ferment between episodes.)

my thoughts:

I wonder if canon romances tend to fall flatter for me the more they attempt to justify themselves? Mai and Zuko happened like wham-bam. It felt impulsive and, in some ways, shallow. It was something I could see two teenagers being drawn to in the ugly, emotional aftermath of Ba Sing Se, and it was something I could see them sticking with because, at the heart of it, there was something genuine.

What makes me happy about them:

I don’t think Zuko had a crush on Mai when they were little,the way Mai did on him – but I feel like the delayed way he warms up to her isalmost more cute and more important. It makes me happy that Mai’s childhoodcrush worked out, I think, which I wouldn’t usually place importance on, but-For Mai, who’s been taught repeatedly not to express her emotions, to have thatvery quiet, soft feeling that she felt towards Zuko as a child bear fruit – Ithink that’s cute~

And for Zuko, I like that there was someone left for him inthe Fire Nation that he was more happy to see than not. I think in some waysMai feels like all the best parts about coming home – what made coming homeworthwhile not in the grand scheme of the world, but just for him.

And kind of directly rooted in canon, I like how Mai isblisteringly angry with Zuko (and very much doesnot understand Zuko’s moral compulsion to help the Avatar stop the war)when she saves his life. I think the question of whether personal interestshould trump somebody’s political opinions and philosophy is more complicated –it’s definitely a point of interest with me in Mai’s character – but the factthat she could be angry and ‘fuck you for leaving me and then locking me in aroom, Zuko’ and still realise that came second to the fact that she cared forhim and was willing to put herself on the line to not see him dead – I thinkthat’s pretty incredible. She didn’t even have to sublimate her feelings tojustify it~ I believe she said she was ‘saving the jerk who dumped me’.

What makes me sad about them:

Less about Mai and Zuko and more about Azula. It makes mesad that Mai and Zuko’s relationship comes at the expense of Mai and Azula’s,and that Azula might never have had any real friends at all. I mean- Azulaabsolutely created her own downfall. I think she absolutely treated Mai and TyLee as tools instead of people. But I feel kind of bad for her anyhow. I tendto like fics where Azula recovers some and manages to treat Ty Lee and Maibetter and the Fire Nation Ladies Trio manages to make a glorious return! But,tbh, I think it might be a little indulgent. For canon, I lean towards aninterpretation where, although there are complicated and even tender feelingsinvolved, Mai and Ty Lee generally understood their ‘friendship’ with Azula assomething that was forced upon them via politics and threats, and wouldn’t wantmuch to do with her post canon. Depressing.

things done in fanfic that annoy me:

This seems kind of bizarre tosay, but Mai can be really… sueish… in some fics. It feels bad to throw thatterm around (maybe I should just say there seems to be an issue with melding myinterpretation of Mai with other people’s). I can’t quite put my finger on it,but when I attempt to- she takes unnaturally well to every responsibility ofbeing Fire Lady… her chilly personality doesn’t only make her well-inclinedtowards professionalism, but also towards close personal relationships… she’ssuddenly firmly on the side of peace and justice… she’s just very good ateverything and is universally well liked (haha) – yeah, that’s kind of sueish.

things I look for in fanfic:

My favourite types of A:tLA fic tend to revel in theirworldbuilding. I like canon divergent AUs and things that delve into thespiritual aspects of the series.

Who I’d be comfortable them ending up with, if not each other:

I’m not entirely caught up with all the postcanon comicsthat have been released for the series but my kind of general thoughtsregarding these two are, although I wish Mai had a bigger presence in them, Ifound their breakup pretty believable. I mean- I’d like them to get backtogether, heh~ But it’d make sense to me if they didn’t.

For Zuko – it seems my favourite other ships to ponder are LieutenantJee/Zuko and Song/Zuko. I don’t usually see them ending in happily ever after,but they could I suppose. I really like Aang/Zuko and think that could be reallyadorable, if a bit of a political mess. I’m open to most Zuko ships. I mean- I havea kind of wariness about approaching Zutara because of the Mai-bashing, but Ifeel like Zutara is an interesting relationship that could be an interestingromance too.

For Mai – I’m not sure I have any other ships. I think theidea of Mai/Ty Lee is a nice one, but I don’t see them as more than allies and sometimes-friendsin canon. Aang/Mai is such a strange idea and it could be really cute and hilarious.Katara/Mai could be a really delightful mess – they just don’t understand eachother, lol. And I really like Mai & Toph as a BrOTP, but I haven’t gottento the point of seeing the potential for romance there… not yet.

My happily ever after for them:

They are super stern Fire Lord & Fire Lady in public,and everyone thinks they had a falling out years ago and they only staytogether for political interest, but they’re actually really schmoopy inprivate.

Also, of course, super secret agent Mai who weeds out politicalproblems in the shadows.

who is the big spoon/little spoon:

Zuko’s little spoon~

(He’s too warm to be big spoon.)

what is their favorite non-sexual activity:

They both are often occupied planning and scheming andmaking diplomatic visits and the like – they definitely work together on thatkind of thing, but whether or not it’s fun probably depends a lot on thecircumstances and what’s being asked of them. In terms of their down timethough, I think they just like sharing meals together on the terrace and such.The orange sunsets look awful and all~