#my sleep scientist roommate hated it to no end

[dragons-and-yellow-roses]

When I lived in Philadelphia I had the most fucked sleep schedule and my sleep scientist roommate told me it would kill me in a way I wouldn't understand (stay up all night sleep from like ten am to four pm) which is honestly terrible but I do miss the delight of staying up all night and watching the sun rise. Being awake when no one else was, at least in my apartment. Doing whatever I wanted in those hours. A person living across from me always woke up at 5am, I could tell because I'd always see their light turn on. That was nice. That was nice.

[thegreatyin]

15,22,32,36 for the scoundrel and the scientist plus one I'd like to ask. Do they have a friend group outside of each other.

Does the Scientist hang out with other people in the University and the like, does the Scoundrel still have cards with Fiacre, the Manager, like, do they have people to hang out in general and who?

ooo! a "weird victorian freaks" collection!! my favorite

15 - How big or small is their family? Who did they live with growing up? Do they live with anyone now?

The Scoundrel probably has a decently large family, given their background*. Large enough to be overlooked and overshadowed for most of their life, but small enough to be noticed and recognized by everyone in the area. They likely stayed under their parent's wings for most of their upbringing, though they did run away the first chance they got. Currently, they exclusively live with The Scientist, and bringing up their family is only going to end with you getting chased by a very angry bat-to-be.

The Scientist on the other hand actually has family in the Neath! Well. Sort of. He's the youngest of two older brothers, one of which is still on the surface and the other of which followed him neathwards a few months after he first arrived in London. They have a slightly estranged relationship, but they're still in touch and they still get along pretty well. This enigmatic neath-bound sibling will actually be the subject of my Light Fingers playthrough when I finally get around to it

Similar to the Scoundrel, he lived with his family for most of his upbringing, though he probably moved out and had a normal adult life before The Whole Nemesis Thing Happened. His only roommate at the moment is The Scoundrel. He hates them. He can't stand them. He'd kill anyone who tried to actually seriously kill them. Their relationship is complicated.

*yes, im aware i've never explained or elaborated on this background. we stay silly around here.

-

22 - Do they sleep well at night?

The Scoundrel sleeps just swell, thank you very much. They don't have nightmares. They don't have troubles. They don't lay awake at night staring at a fig for hours. They have no idea what you're talking about. They sleep like a baby. Obviously. Blatantly. There's no other argument to be made or had. Why are you asking. Stop asking. Stop it. Pay no attention to the bat behind the curtain.

In all seriousness, they sleep surprisingly well, all things considered. It's probably mostly because they're an accomplished silverer that guards their dreams with a vengeance. God help you if you head to Parabola and decide to give them night terrors. You'll be dealing with your own for weeks if they're feeling merciful.

As for the Scientist...

Ha. Lol. Lmao even.

No. He's likely a chronic insomniac. He's the type of guy who closes his eyes and even his daydreams are the universe's most horrific god-awful nightmares. That's just the sort of world he lives in.

(The Scoundrel offers him help sometimes. He doesn't always take them up on it. But the few times he's had good dreams? It's always been due to them. Take this as you may.)

-

32 - Do they have any habits that aren't particularly self-destructive, just maybe odd?

The Scoundrel picks at their bandages when they feel nervous. Not enough to take any of them off, just enough to nick some of the gauze with their claws. They can also make like a dozen different high-pitched squeaks depending on the situation, which isn't nearly as noticable to the average Londoner, but it is cute and goofy when it happens.

The Scientist bites at his scarf. A lot. He hides his mouth behind it most of the time, but the fabric is very much worn down and he's very much kind of self-conscious about it. He doesn't even usually realize it's something he's doing, it's just... y'know. An instinct. As one has.

-

35 - Do they ever return home?

Since 36 isn't a question on the prompt list, I'll assume you mean 35. Consider it a freebie.

The Scoundrel is home. They, with full sincerity, consider the Neath to be a better and more comfortable home than they ever used to have on the surface. They wouldn't give up London for the world.

The Scientist...

Well. He doesn't really think of himself as having a home anymore. His home died when his lover did. The Neath is merely a place he happens to reside in, and he doesn't conceptualize it as anything more than that. Maybe, with enough time, he'll find a new home. For now though? He's just cynical and tired and is well-aware he's never going to get that sense of sanctuary back.

-

Bonus question - Do they socialize with literally anyone besides each other?

The Scoundrel has lots of friends! They're buddies with a good chunk of high-society, they're the darling of bohemians everywhere, they're a frequent attendee at the Dilmun Club, they like to say they're friends with their coworkers, they've got a complicated relationship with the Silverer that's been made especially awkward by their recent acquisition of an Irem destiny-

They hang out with tons of people on a daily basis. They're never truly alone. Or so they tell themself, at least. They tend to most frequently socialize with poets and socialites, though they've definitely attracted more than a few devils. I don't have any specific NPC compatriots in mind for them, but there's definitely more than a few they get along amicably with. If it's a pro-establishment person with relatively high importance in society, they're probably at minimum friendly acquaintances.

The Scientist is, unfortunately, quite the opposite. He's not a social person. Like, at all. Ever. Not even remotely. His friend group is pretty much just solely the Scoundrel, the Silverer, and his aforementioned brother currently living in the Neath. And of the three, he's really only actually friends with the Silverer. He's not exactly welcomed with open arms at the University and he's nowhere near well-connected enough to be hanging out with any other factions on more than a case-by-case basis.

Maybe in the future he'll be able to have people he can rely on that aren't "insufferable bat he's literally living with" and "mentor that randomly kidnaps him to hunt crocodiles and go dancing, not always in that order". Maybe. Hopefully. It'd do him a lot of good.

[prinnamon]

@spiderh0rse has been posting some fantastic notes while it makes its way through Freeman's Mind, so i got inspired to do the same for Mind of Ryan today! it's a shorter series, so here's my thoughts on all eight episodes plus extras. was not expecting to sit down and watch it all today but i was overcome by the need to do so. you know how it is.

WIKI

full name: Ryan Harrison Sullivan

date of birth: August 25, 1976

has received HEV training

working in "mechanics & AI development"

EPISODE 1

listening to "Anywhere But Here" from the album The Story Of The Mechanical Man by Behavior at the start of Episode 1, meaning the series must take place after its release in May 2001.

drives to work ("helicopter rides are too expensive," so apparently the employees have to pay out-of-pocket to fly out to the facility)

didn't sleep well the night before. yet another mindverse character who refuses to get good sleep or eat a nice meal

wears his lab coat all the time even outside of work because he thinks it makes him look "cool as fuck" and because it's very comfortable. people think he's weird for this.

he used to live in michigan

one time a raccoon bit into the power lines and this knocked the power out for the entire town he lived in

willing to shrug it off when people start talking like sephiroth in his mentions say concerning shit. very "haha ok whatever you say man"

barney is his roommate. ryan thinks of him as lazy. barney relies on ryan as his alarm but ryan is not above giving the fuck up since barney is a heavy sleeper

excited at the sight of a mechanical keyboard (based)

appreciator of air conditioning. his college (presumably UChicago; see Episode 6.5) had no a/c.

ryan knows barney gets pissed about it when he finds a safety violation like a lack of handrails on a staircase or walkway, but he never reports these violations

just. casually hops over a counter to throw something away in an inaccessible trash can. tells people to get over themselves about it when they react negatively

EPISODE 2

ryan works in sector G as a robotics engineer

wonders if he's "the only young scientist here," so probably either doesn't know Gordon, Felix, Stark, and Ramirez or is only referring to his department

KNOWS COLETTE GREEN. LIKES HER. THINKS SHE'S COOL. (based)

"she is just the right amount of crazy." is a little younger than her

hasn't been late to work often.

could live without his break, but it would suck.

thinks the transit station is "unnecessarily huge"

can get a little mean in a tense situation (calls a guard a "dumbass")

mind goes blank in a crisis ("i just don't even know what to fucking think right now!")

EPISODE 3

his chest hurts when he wakes up. presumably from cpr.

"my brain isn't really registering everything that's happening. i feel like i should be panicking, but i'm not."

hates roaches. does know they're a vital part of the ecosystem and that his hatred is irrational but hates them anyway

"hi, rat."

notices his lab coat is dirty. he's unsure why he's fixated on that when he has bigger problems.

cold and wet and NOT having fun!

illustrated end card shows him holding his flashlight up over his shoulder

EPISODE 4

gets attacked by a headcrab, which presumably gives him the little cut on his right cheek seen in every end card from this episode forward!

uncurious about the aliens. does NOT want to know what they are. just get him outta there

knows everything about the tau cannon. recites facts about it to calm himself down. i think his mental "happy place" is just a rotating 3D model of the tau cannon. which is incredibly real. also he calls it the tau cannon (based)

his plan for today, if he'd actually gotten to work, was to "see if [he] could apply a self-limiter to the alt fire to prevent it from overcharging."

he wishes he was in his lab right now.

his reaction to seeing a dead guard lying next to their equipment is "oh, hey, a bulletproof vest!" and he takes it and puts it on with NO hesitation. he then immediately starts searching the corpse for other useful shit. and this is like. one of the first dead bodies he came across. really just getting right to it. who needs to descend into apathy when you can save time by starting there?

able to recognize that this situation is incredibly fucked-up but not really able to engage with that fact emotionally.

it feels wrong to him to kill the headcrab zombies. he recognizes that they probably used to be his coworkers. after taking out two of them, he resolves not to do it anymore.

EPISODE 5

his black mesa-issued flashlight is a shake-to-charge light.

barnacles are "ceiling tongues."

"man, that thing killed Bob. he was two days from retirement. how could you do that?" i have no idea if he's being serious and he recognized the construction worker who got killed by a barnacle here or if he's making a joke to dispel the horrors—oh. yeah. he flat out says he has no clue who that guy was

his robotics lab is in the biology building! he doesn't understand this, but he also doesn't mind.

ditches the vest for improved mobility.

chuckles in disbelief after managing an impressive feat of acrobatics

says electrical failures and brief power outages were regular occurrences even before the incident

takes a snickers bar off a dead guard

could go for a pizza right now

can't rule out that the facility's haunted

"what the fuck is that? wait. that reaction is not suitable. allow me to rephrase: AAAAAAAAHHH!" hmm. i see. makes another tally mark on my "Ryan's first instinct in this situation is not to panic, and he only really does so because he thinks it's what a reasonable person would do right now" list

EPISODE 6

lived out of a storage unit for a while when he had no other option. he packed all his stuff in a rented storage unit and hid his bed behind the stacks of boxes. it was always miserably cold in there and he did Not have bedding. being in the drainage canal reminds him of what that was like

acknowledges he may have to fight the headcrab zombies eventually but "just can't stand the idea of beating them to death" because of how violent and brutal it feels

really doesn't wanna leave the guard with the broken leg to die but reluctantly accepts his weapon when he says he's "never gonna make it"

even with a gun, he'd rather run from danger. gotta conserve ammo.

"why is it so difficult to leave the building?!"

impressed that the guy in the control room hacked the announcement system. tried to do so for April Fools last year but failed to bypass the firewall

panics and accidentally kills(?) mister control room by shooting the bullsquid attacking him with a shotgun, sending both the bullsquid and the guy flying out the window. feels really truly quite bad about that.

EPISODE 6.5

ryan went to the university of chicago!

ryan drinks squirt (the grapefruit-flavored soda)

in 1995 he spent $1500 on a giant fucking heavy ass laptop while absolutely not having the money to do so. he regrets nothing. he love computer

EPISODE 7

OH RYAN HAS A CUSTOM 3D MODEL. OKAY. SICK. ANIMATED OPENING.

has a cell phone on him

injured his leg pretty bad when the elevator fell but doesn't seem to have lost consciousness at any point. yeowch!

concerned about how the pain in his ears from firing a gun in a vent is significantly less than the pain earlier from the houndeyes' soundwave. wonders if he's sustained permanent hearing damage.

his tune has changed regarding vents. hated being in the first one he had to crawl into. now they're a nice change of pace, because he at least knows larger enemies can't follow him in and chase him.

barnacles ceiling tongues are now "tongue monsters." he addresses one as Chunky the Tongue Monster.

a little sad/guilty watching as guards fight for their lives and he ascends on an elevator towards the surface. "this whole situation is just so fucked, man. you just kinda have to look after yourself, and if anybody gets hurt or dies, you just have to leave them. damn."

his phone is a Nokia 3300B. it is a thing of beauty.

once he gets high enough to have cell service, he gets a call from Tod Arlen, who's been trying to call him for hours. Ryan says Arlen's "the last person [he] expected a call from."

arlen has already escaped with Kate by this point!

arlen warns ryan that he's heard some black ops chatter and they plan to blow the place up. ryan is silent about this until arlen's like "are you there?" and ryan very calmly/dismissively says "yeah. well don't worry about me, man. im almost at the parking garage so i'll be fine :)"

they make plans to meet at the clayton airport when ryan gets out. (and, over the phone with arlen, ryan does seem pretty confident it's a "when" situation, not an "if.")

ryan seems calm and casual throughout the phone call but lets himself freak out about the gravity of the situation as soon as he hangs up. ("i'm going to fucking die.")

EPISODE 8

the wiki suggests that an eighth episode was in production at one point, but there's no such thing on YouTube unless you count an unlisted video called "Shotgun SFX Test - Mind of Ryan Episode 8"

there's an end card for ep8 showing ryan having survived being shot. i don't believe episode 8 got made. i think the illustration is all there is.

there is a speedpaint of the episode 8 end-card tho!

"STARTING OVER."

"the only way mind of ryan will come back is through the form of a reboot, and i don't know when or if that's going to happen."

[xpeachesncream]

how many drinks? | one shot (jjk)

summary: the question is - how many drinks would it take for you to sleep with your bestfriend?

pairing: jjk x reader

genre: (18+) college au, dance group au, bestfriends/bestfriends with some benefits au | fluff, smut, sprinkle of angst

words: ~12.2k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, kind of crack-y, dancer!jk to fulfill my needs, unprotected sex, sprinkle of dirty talk, fingering, sprinkle of a handjob, slight biting, nails digging into skin, oc almost gets taken advantage of/forced into doing things she doesn’t wanna do, rough handling, song kang is in this too because i’m also a hooch for him but he’s an ass here, alcohol consumption, intoxication, mentions of blunts/smoking, house parties, cuddling, kissing/makeout sessions, straddling, breast/nipple play, hickeys, fucking on the edge of the bed, multiple orgasms, fingering, licking/neck kisses, oral (f. receiving)

note: one shot title is taken from miguel's song ‘how many drinks’ + a couple of things--

both hoseok and jimin’s piece mentioned below are inspired by real-life pieces my old dance mentor has choreographed and taught. this is the inspiration behind hoseok’s couple piece; this is the inspiration for jimin’s piece

i’m a hooch for all three of them in this video

enjoy imagining koo and oc dancing part of their couples piece like this 🥺

"Y/N." You picked up Jungkook's call as you sat at your desk in your dorm room. You had been finishing up your bio homework until the interruption came blaring through on your headphones.

"Yes?"

"Can I nap in your room?"

"The fuck I look like? A hotel?" You snorted.

"Yeah, a 5 star at that with how good you take care of me." He tries to butter you up, causing you to roll your eyes.

"You're lucky I like you."

"Yesssssssss!" You hear him faintly exclaim on the other line. "Be there in a sec."

"You know my doors are always unlocked." Which, it was true. So many of your friends had decided to live off campus that you and your other bestfriend [and beloved suitemate] were probably the only few left on campus. And that meant people were constantly in your room, hanging out or using both of your rooms, [with permission] or the couches in the shared living room space of your suite as a place to nap. College, amirite? Why the fuck would you lose your parking spot to go back to your apartment when you have friends who lived right on campus? You weren't just good for smuggling free food from the cafeteria to your broke ass, struggling off-campus friends.

Sooner or later, you're greeted by a fluffy, black-haired Jungkook, looking like his shit must have air-dried with how wavy and voluminous it was. He swings your door open so aggressively that you jump a bit in your seat, swinging off your headphones like you weren't even expecting him. You watch as he flings himself onto your neatly made bed like he hasn't felt a bed in years.

"Ugh, yes." He moans as he belly flops onto your bed and stays in that position.

"When's your next class, you little baby?"

"In like an hour or so, I don't know." He says sleepily. "Wake me up, please?"

"Sure." You realize it's Wednesday, and he definitely has Ecology lab later at 3:00PM. You figured you'd wake him up by 2:30 just to give him enough time to groggily walk his ass back over to the science building.

You and Jungkook weren't really close before college. It was moreso that you knew of each other since high school because of mutual friends. You'd see him at parties and he'd see you, but it was never more than the casual hi and bye and small talk. Maybe the occasional comments on facebook pages and the likes on pictures on instagram. But foreel, other than that, that's as real as your friendship got for awhile. You didn't mind it though, you were good with your set of friends and he was good with his. A lot of your friends attended the same university as you two and then your groups intertwined even more. 

But, it wasn't until the past couple of months or so where you both unexpectedly got really close - simply just by talking more and being around each other more. You both had similar interests and Jungkook wasn't the most vocal in his group, but with you, he seemed to talk endlessly. He loved comics and he loved raving to you about Marvel and DC superheroes. He loved to draw, and he'd draw you things every now and then - his most recent being you as a scientist superhero saving the world from overgrown malaria-infected mosquito monsters. It was the cutest thing you had ever seen, and you tacked it against your cork board near your desk. Then, small things like that turned to bringing you food or boba, being stuck at the hip where he'd only go to a certain place on campus if you were there; texting each other inside jokes and funny ass tweets all day turned to facetime sleepover calls and then late hangouts eventually turned to actual sleepovers in your bed, where he'd drape his arm around while you both slept but it never escalated into anything more than that in bed. Although he did fucking hate your medium-sized Olaf plushie that took shelter on your bed - he'd always hike it across the room and talk about how annoying he is and how he's always taking his spot. You never understood it, really.

And then soon, it turned to small displays of affection behind closed doors, where Jungkook would hold you close. Hold your hand if you two were in the room watching a show, or movie. Small kisses exchanged. Big kisses exchanged, making out sessions. But, that was literally it. Nothing else. No sex. No pressure. Lots of unspoken feelings, obviously, but you weren't gonna be the one to bring that up. Because you were comfortable, and if anything, you didn't wanna ruin what you guys already had going.

Like, is this a friends with benefits thing? Maybe? Maybe not? It was hard to label it because it's not like you both determined so, it kind of just fell together that way. And there was really no pressure to fuck every single time you got affectionate. It was cute, sweet. And no one really knew it was like that behind doors - possibly your suitemate Kass and her boyfriend, Jimin, but that's only because you shared the dorm suite with her. Jimin was also one of Jungkook's roommates and his really good friend, so whenever they had slept over on the same night, it was pure and utter chaos. But honestly, if Kass and Jimin hadn't been around you two much, they most certainly wouldn't have the idea.

Whatever it was, it was a comfortable closeness that you both experienced and appreciated. However, the both of you were afraid of discussing what this really was, afraid it'll ruin the dynamic. The atmosphere. Having to come to terms of what it might, or might not be. Neither of you can fully admit that you like the other. Although, it got hard. People did lightly tease you two because you both always looked for each other and were stuck by the hip out on campus.

Oh, well. Bottom line is that you liked your relationship where it was at, but it doesn't mean you haven't thought about the what if's. Jungkook was insanely attractive, and it's no lie that girls swarmed him left and right on campus, but he didn't give a shit [either he didn't give a shit or he was dumb as hell?]. Okay, rewind — to be fair, he would have a fling or two, flirt once or twice. He'd tell you so and so was cute and that they've hung out or texted, but that's it. He just wasn't necessarily looking for anything cause he too enjoyed where he was at with everything.

It doesn't take long before Sleeping Beauty is snoring face down on your bed, looking like Patrick Star with the way he's sprawled out. But, you continue to do your work until it was time to wake him. You gently shake him, his puppy eyes looking back at you after being face down all nap.

"Class time."

"No." He groans. "Can't I just stay here with you?"

"No, dude. Get to class." You chuckle. "You already skipped last week."

"Yeah, but this is a new week Y/N."

"Jungkook." You almost say in a scolding manner.

"Fiiiiiiine." He whines as he shoots up and hops off from your bed. "Are you going to our party on Friday?"

"I said I'd think about it right?"

"Yeah, like on Monday. It's Wednesday."

"And I'm still thinking about it." You snort, making him pout.

"Just come for a little bit."

"Why? You know parties aren't my thing and you'll be too drunk anyways. I'll end up wanting to go right the fuck back home as soon as I step outside."

"I'd like to be drunk and have you there. It'll be more fun!" He pouts as he holds your hand and swings it back and forth.

"I mean, to be completely honest, I'll probably end up going because of Kass anyways."

"Because of Kass." He rolls his eyes. "Oooookay. Not because of you, Jungkook, no." He says sarcastically, brows furrowed.

"Ew. You're such a fucking whiner. Leave." You laugh, throwing an empty water bottle at him.

"I'm kidding." He chuckles. "Wanna grab dinner with me after practice?"

"Sure. If you pay." He groans

"Fine. I'll see you later." He puckers up his lips to blow you a kiss, which you automatically reject by giving him a look before turning your attention back to your homework. You were hoping he'd offer to go to In-n-Out because you were craving that #2 with animal fries and a neapolitan shake, plus there was a Target in the same plaza that you wanted to drag him to for new pens and clearance sale shopping. And you wouldn't even warn him about it. He would tag along, no question.

Hoseok stands in front of the mirrors in the studio, pacing back and forth as your dance group learned a couple of 8-counts from this new piece he had been brewing up. Apparently, it was supposed to be a couples piece but he wasn't sure if he was going to keep it that way. He watched to see if this would be better as a group, or if he should stick to his original plans.

Your college dance group was a small group formed by people with pure, genuine interest and love for modern hip hop choreography. Hoseok was the dance lead, with Jimin being the back up lead. The group came together, taught each other pieces, taught workshops for those interested on campus and performed at the various talent shows and productions the school had throughout the year. It was just your group's way of showcasing your talents, something you all purely enjoyed, and it was nice to see the love and support given by the audiences.

"Okay, run that from the top one more time please. We'll take break after, swear." Hoseok chuckles and gives Jimin the cue to start the song back at the starting point. Jungkook makes a funny face at you as he huffs and puffs, trying to catch his breath from the last time you went through the counts.

"Ew." You giggle, slightly pushing him aside. Miguel's How Many Drinks begins to blast through the studio speakers, Jungkook doing his best to sing along and match his tone all while focusing on his steps. Once you're done going through the counts, the music continues to play, Jungkook twirling over to you just to sing—

"Cause I ain't leavin' aloneeee, I feel like I could be honest, babe." He spins to your other side. "We both know that we're grown, that's why I wanna knooooow - how many drinks will it take you to leave with meeeeEEeeeE?"

"You can give me all the drinks in the world and I swear I still wouldn't." You snort, making him frown and click his teeth.

"Too bad that's not really how you act when I ask to sleep over, though." Silence as you stick your tongue out at him. Cause, yeah. You really do tell him to sleep over without hesitation. You loved his company, you can’t lie. "Yeah, fraudulent as hell. I never taught you that." He jokes.

"Shut up, Jungkook—"

"Okay!" Hoseok says, clapping his hands. "This'll be a couple piece. I honestly think it'll work better that way, just like I envisioned it. I'll work with the couple to clean this up before the performance, but to whoever isn't casted for this, Jimin still has a piece to teach the rest of you, so don't feel discouraged!" Hoseok chuckles a bit, giving the rest of the group a small smile. "So with that being said - Y/N, Jungkook, I want you two to do this piece."

"Ouuuuuuuu." Jimin teases you from the sidelines, causing you to put up your middle finger.

"We won’t let you down, cap." Jungkook swings his arm around you.

"I'll teach you the rest of the piece next practice so we can start polishing it up and making it clean before the talent show."

"Sounds good with me." You flatly say, even though 100%, you're pretty excited for many reasons. One, you had been wanting to do a solo or couples piece for awhile, and two, your partner was Jungkook. Your best friend, your ride or die, the dude you've spent so much time with and gave your affection to behind closed doors. It made you giddy just thinking about it, even if you'd blatantly lie to his face later on when he'd tease you. And Jungkook felt the same. You missed the way he subtly bit on his bottom lip when you were named his partner, just so he wouldn't smile too big in front of you.

After practice, you egg him on enough to agree to take you to In-N-Out, without hinting at the plan you had drafted out in your head earlier.  The plan that says you're gonna drag his ass to Target afterwards and he had no choice but to come along.

"Y/N, you liar." He groans. "You said you weren't gonna go to Target." He pouts as you follows behind you anyway.

"Kook, I literally just need to get one thing."

"What's the one thing that you couldn't get on your own time?"

"I don't know, I'll have to find out when we get in there." You giggled, causing him to groan again. "Plus, we're here already. Killing two birds with one stone."

"Ah shit, I suppose I can get some bottles for the party."

"Yeah, make yourself useful Jungkook."

"Yeah, make yourself useful Jungkook, aheh." He mocks your tone and does that really weird and ugly ass laugh that dudes always do when they try to mock girls, however, you ignore it because you've just stepped into Target and bitch, this was Disneyland to you. Heaven. Paradise.

"Hm, what are we drinking on Friday?" He says his text outloud as he follows you around the dollar section where you begin to pick up really unnecessary items that you're probably just gonna store away in or around your desk somewhere.

"Should be holy water because you all need it."

"Mmm, I don't know, I don't think they have that but we can check." He responds ever so seriously, causing you to chuckle.

"How many people are you expecting?"

"Honestly, I don't even know. We said we'd keep it to close friends only. I don't really have any friends, so that's all on them."

"Ah, makes sense as to how the entire class was invited." You fire back sarcastically. "Your upstairs neighbors are really gonna have a blast."

"They're invited too."

"You guys are so dumb." He laughs when you hit him against the chest. After walking a bit, the two of you head towards the alcohol aisle, Jungkook grabbing what his arms will allow him to grab since alcohol is a little cheaper here than other grocery stores. "Isn't there a limit as to how much alcohol you can buy?"

"I don't see anything anywhere." He hauls about 4 big bottles back to the cashiers. "Besides, I'm giving them business compared to Safeway and those other grocery stores."

"Grab the coupon at least, genuis. It could save you some money." You take off the coupons from the three bottles.

He looks down at the coupon attached to the 4th bottle. "Sign up today and get 2% cash back on every bottle you buy." He snorts after reading the coupon outloud. "More like sign up today and get 2% cash back turnt." He looks at you. "This doesn't sound like a coupon, miss. Where's the ‘get 5 dollars off’ bullshit?"

"2% cash back turnt? Really?" You furrow your brows at him and hand the coupons to the cashier. "Here. God, maybe you shouldn't be hosting parties with your roommates."

"Maybe not." He holds his bags, even grabbing onto yours as you both walk out to his car. He turns up the radio, the both of you singing along to the songs coming through. When he pulls up to the lot of Edgehill Village, he parks in someone else's marked spot only because it's technically next to your door and he doesn't anticipate to stay long. But honestly, that never goes as planned. He grabs your bag from the trunk, silently following behind you as you unlock your door to an empty suite - just as you expected. Kass was most likely at Jungkook’s, spending the night with Jimin, and you'd be alone for the night. It didn't matter to you though, the peace and quiet was always nice.

"You sure you're gonna be okay here alone?" You nod.

"Yup. It's kind of nice actually." You lean forward onto your bed since it's raised a little higher than usual with bed risers, and open up your laptop. Jungkook sets your Target bag down and wraps his arms around you from behind, planting a kiss on your cheek and on your jawline.

"You sure you don't want me to sleep over? Cuddles sound nice."

"It sounds like you want to."

"Only if you want me to." He nuzzles his head against your neck, waiting for your response.

"Kook, please." You chuckle. "If you wanna sleepover, then go ahead."

"Yesssss! I do."

"Well you need to find parking, or else the person that owns that parking spot will be highly upset."

"You got it, captain. Pull up a movie!" He says, dashing out of your room to move his car. He's most likely going to come back in another 5 minutes, being that the only free parking at this time of night is probably on the other end in the gym's lot, or somewhere on the streets [if he got lucky].

And so that 5 minutes sure does go by before Jungkook is breathing heavily when he walks into your room, duffle bag swung over his shoulder with a big, dorky ass smile on his face.

"I'm back!"

"I see." You snort, still going through the movies.

"Hey, let's run through what Hobi taught us first."

"Ugh, I'm so tired though."

"Cooooome on, just once." He pulls you by the hand, his body pressed against yours as his his other arm wraps around your waist. "Please." His puppy dog eyes look down at you, causing you to push him away because fucking hell, that shit makes you weak. Makes the pussy throb just a lil, you know? Christ.

"Only if you watch 10 Things I Hate About You."

"Sure, I don't mind." He pulls up the song on your laptop. The both of you face the mirror in front of you, careful not to hit each other since you had such limited space to fully move around. Running through it once was a full blown lie, being that you both are doing it for almost 5-6 times before you're laughing at how out of breath you already are. You're so out of it and winded by the last time around that you accidentally hit Jungkook in the face, causing him to whine and stumble off to the side.

"Oh shit!" You laugh. "I'm so sorry, Kookie!" You run over to cup his face. "Are you okay? You good?"

"Shit, Y/N. You have a heavy hand." He keeps his hand against his cheek.

"I'm sorry." You lean in to plant a kiss on his cheek, but Jungkook being Jungkook, he looks to the side to have his lips meet yours instead. He picks you up in one swift motion, your legs wrapped around his torso as he sits you on your bed, your hands still cupping his face. And honestly, you really wanted him. You've always wanted him since this whole thing started. God, he was attractive to you - every little thing about Jungkook was a fucking weakness, but you weren't gonna let up first. Not tonight. The scar on his cheek, his soft, fluffy hair, his toned body, his muscular ass arms, the way he held onto you when you both slept, the way he kissed you.

Lord, he was truly going to be the death of you.

Before the kiss could get any deeper, you smile into it and back away, keeping your gaze on the small, dazed smile Jungkook has on his face.

"Can we watch now?" You ask, subtly biting onto your bottom lip.

"Yeah, good idea."

"Actually, after all that, I need to shower first."

"Can I join?" His eyes light up.

"Sit your ass down. You can go after." You laugh as you hop off the bed, grabbing your pajamas for a quick shower. You literally take 10 minutes, walking back into your room with wet hair and an oversized shirt and shorts underneath. Although you had been completely comfortable with Jungkook, the both of you have never really seen each other fully naked like that. Whenever he slept over, you were both always fully clothed. You've seen him hop out of the shower and come in shirtless, but that's probably about it. You start to brush your teeth as he rummages through his emergency duffle bag full of shit that he holds in the trunk of his car, grabbing a fresh pair of clothes to change into after his shower. You already know his ass is gonna use your shampoo for everything because he loves the smell of it and always talks about how good your hair smells.

While waiting for him, you slip yourself under your covers and pull the laptop closer to you, scrolling through your phone aimlessly to see what's new on instagram. Which, is absolutely nothing, so you let out a dissatisfied sigh.

"Ready!" He comes in, tossing his towel aside and shutting off the lights to crawl into your bed with you.

"You smell just like me." You chuckle.

"It's great, isn't it?"

"Your hair isn't bothering you?" You run your hand through his incredibly wet hair as he shakes his head.

"No, I'll be good."

"Okay." He wraps his arm around you to pull you onto his body, the movie already off to a start. As the movie goes on, you find yourself getting sleep as both of your bodies sink deeper into the sheets, Jungkook still not letting you go. The laptop rests on his belly, while your head is on his chest, his heartbeat the one thing putting you to sleep pretty quickly. He's comfortable, just as you are. He's warm, you're warm. He's content, you're content. You drift off to sleep while he continues to watch, knowing your bodies will be pressed tightly against each other in the morning.

"Kook there's so many fucking people here. The cops are gonna come and shut this down quick." Jungkook shrugs.

"Oh well, wasn't my idea." He snorts. "Shot?!" He hands you a shot that you take with ease, feeling like you aren't drunk enough for all this shit and all these people. "Atta girl."

"Yuck, though." You slightly make a sour face as you feel the warmth trickle down your throat and into your stomach.

"Heeeey, whyyyyy do you look so FaMiliaR?" This girl asks Jungkook in a weird, flirty tone, where every other consonant goes up and down. She's obviously really fucking drunk and out of her mind because for one, she definitely goes to the same school as you two, and she has definitely been in class with Jungkook before.

"Oh uh, my name's Justin Bieber. I used to sing from time to time." He says nonchalantly with you furrowing your forehead at him because what kind of response did he just give her?! What did he just tell her? You're so embarrassed that you slowly turn on your heel and walk out of the kitchen as you hear him sing One Less Lonely Girl hella out of tune, with the girl completely smitten over his drunk ass.

"Where's Jungkookie?" Kass asks as she sits on Jimin's lap.

"Over there, pretending to be Justin Bieber apparently."

"Oh, nice. You don't come across that often." Jimin says sarcastically. "Are you staying here tonight?"

"Yeah, stay here tonight, with Kookie." Kass wiggles her eyebrows, her cheek resting on top of Jimin's head. "It's not like that's anything new."

"Um, I'd rather much be back in the dorm."

"That cold, lonely place? When you could be here, in such a pretty apartment with such a pretty boy?" You shake your head at her.

"Unbelievable." You mutter. Suddenly, an incredibly tall man walks into the apartment, reaching about 6'1 and almost hitting the ceiling with his tall ass. You've never seen him before, but he walks in with Hoseok and Namjoon and for whatever reason, you can't peel your eyes off of him. "Woah, who's that?"

"Who's what?" Jungkook finally comes to your side after being Justin Bieber for a good minute or so, his eyes following yours. Who was he and why were you looking at him so intensely?

"That's Kang! You've never met him?" Jimin says, doing a slight nod to greet him as he passes by. Kang and his fine self looks up at you, a small smirk creeping up at the corner of his lips as he continues through to the kitchen behind Hoseok and Namjoon. "He's a transfer and on the basketball team."

"He's fiiiiine." You and Kass swoon over him a bit, Jungkook giving you a look.

"He's alriiiight. I've seen better."

"Shut up, no one asked you." You lightly punch him on the side, making him lightly groan while Jimin and Kass laugh. The rest of the party, you suddenly have a goal to find out more about Kang and see what he's about because you and Jungkook weren't official. You both didn't really know what this was, but one thing you knew for sure was that it wasn't anything exclusive. You wouldn't bring it up, so wouldn't Jungkook - so was this really something all that meaningful?

Whatever, you didn't wanna keep going in circles about it.

Jungkook fucking hates it though, and he's honestly really jealous that you're suddenly trying to be all cute and woo the new, tall, handsome [but he's not really that fucking handsome to Jungkook for christ's sake] basketball player. Jungkook almost wants to mock his every move and how suavé he is, almost looking like a try hard with the way he's leaning against the wall and talking to you.

Wait— he's talking to you?! You were literally right next to him 2 seconds ago.

"What the fuck?" He squints, trying to make sure he's actually looking at you.

"You're so full of shit." Jimin laughs.

"What are you talking about?"

"Why don't you just admit that you like her and stop being childish about it?"

"I don't like her. She's just my bestfriend."

"Um, okay?" Jimin snorts. "When you sleep at her place every chance you get and vice versa? When she has a ton of your shirts and hoodies in her own fucking closet? When you always get so affectionate with her in the dorm? Sure, you don't like her."

"How do you know that?"

"I just do, you've done it in front of me and Kass before but you both tried playing it off. I don't understand you two."

"Well, I don't like her. She obviously doesn't either with the way she's trying to be all up on him." Jungkook glares at you, his teeth biting the rim of the cup harshly as he brings it to his lips to take a sip.

"Whatever, I'm just saying dude. Probably better to be straight up about it than not."

"Kaaaaaaay." Jungkook responds sarcastically, trying to play off how butthurt he was right now. Cause yeah, he did fucking like you. He was just scared to admit it though because of reasons like this - the fact that you possibly didn't like him back killed him. The fact that you could possibly be using him to feel wanted, needed. It made his stomach turn.

He just really liked you, and god, did he want to be the one in your bed tonight. Whether or not that ended up in sex, whatever. He just wanted to be the one to touch you, be on you.

Meanwhile, Kang was attractive as hell and ouwee, were you feeling him tonight. You were, you really were - except, you could literally feel the holes Jungkook was burning through you from across the room. You'd occasionally glance over due to how distracting it was, Jungkook literally have no shame with eyeing you, almost glaring at you, from across the apartment.

"Is it too forward if I ask for your number already?" Kang licks his lips, his teeth lightly piercing his bottom lip as he looks down at you.

"No." You smirk at him, taking his phone to put your number in.

"We should kick it soon. I'd love to hang out with you and get to know you better."

"Yeah, just let me know when." You blush, until you're suddenly pulled out of your daze by a loud 'ahem,' the loudest throat-clearing you have ever heard in your life. You turn to see Jungkook making his way back over to the shots, knowing damn well he's calling you over. "See you around?" Kang winks before he tips his cup to you and gives you a single nod.

"Sure thing, cutiepie." You bite onto your bottom lip, making your way over to Jungkook at the shot station, instantly pinching his arm.

"What the fuck?"

"Nobody was calling you over." Jungkook smirks.

"Shut the fuck up, yes you were. I know that was you clearing your throat like that."

"I'm sorry, does it bother you?" He blinks cutely, tilting his head to the side. "Besides, why come over here when you're too busy with your man?"

"Are you jealous?"

"Why in the hell would I be jealous, Y/N? Do you." The words sting you, even though part of you still wants to believe that Jungkook may actually like you. All you can do is sigh and brush it off, placing your cup down in front of him as he pours himself another shot. "You sure?"

"Just give me the damn shot." You say, making it your 7th.

And the 7th turns into 8, 8 turns into 9, 9 turns into 10. And at 10, you're pretty fucking drunk even as the party is starting to die down by the time it's close to 2am. All 10 were a good combination of shots and mixed drinks.

10 drinks.

10 drinks is what it took for you to lay in Jungkook's bed at the end of the night, hands tangled in his fluffy hair as your makeout session intensifies by the minute - all due to this sexual tension, frustration, whatever the hell it was brewing between you two after all this time. The both of you are drunk as hell, and it's pretty evident with the way you can still taste the alcohol on his tongue, both sloppily touching up on each other, kisses getting wetter, clothes coming off like there's no tomorrow.

"Wait, are you sure?" Jungkook says, about to unhook your bra.

"Jungkook, god, just fuck me." You plead drunkily, the room spinning around you. He continues to unhook your bra, tossing it across the room where your other clothes lay, peppering kisses along your neck before licking up a stripe to meet your lips again. He hooks his fingers across the band of your panties, tugging them down and letting them get lost within his sheets. You take this as leverage to tug his boxer briefs down, already stroking his hardened member the moment you come into contact with it. The sad thing is that you both are so fucking drunk, you can't even appreciate the fact that you both are naked in front of each other for the first time ever.

You can't even come to terms with the fact that you both are about to fuck each other and cross that boundary completely.

But, hell, what do you care? You were drunk. You got a cute guy's number. You're getting dick at the end of the night.

"Oh shit, Y/N." He moans into your mouth as he feels you stroking him. "Need to feel you." He quickly runs his finger down your fold, slipping in two digits to pump them in and out, quickly prepping you for his dick.

"Hnnng--Kook." You bite onto your bottom lip as your eyes shut close momentarily, your head digging deeper into the pillow the more he tries to stretch you out. "Want you inside of me."

"I got you." He says. You almost whine at the loss of contact until you feel his tip poking at your entrance. He slowly continues to slip himself inside of you, Kook letting out a small groan while your mouth was left open, a soundless moan releasing before you hiss and take in all of him. He fills you up so well, so completely. He was so big that you felt full, bloated, with him being inside of you the way he was.

"Ohhhhhgod." You whimper as he starts to steady his pace, the lewd noises of his cock slipping in and out of your wet pussy filling his room - god forbid if Jimin or their other roommate Yoongi heard this right now. It would be nothing short of pornographic.

"You're so wet. Is that all for me?" He says, causing your eyes to roll to the back of your head as he begins to aggressively thrust into you.

"Y-yes." You whine.

"Say it again."

"All for you, Kook."

"I fucking thought so." He drunkily responds as one hand grips onto your hips tightly, the other in your hair as he digs his head back into the crook of your neck, his tongue messily licking near your jaw before he nibbles onto your earlobe.

"Hmmmmgggh, Jungkook. Fuck." You moan as you start to work your hips upward into his, your clit rubbing against his pelvis, causing the pleasure to pool quickly within the pit of your stomach. It causes goosebumps to pierce through the surface of your skin, your hands gripping tighter on his hair. "You're-you're gonna make me cum. Faster." You plead. He does just so, hammering into you, the sound of his hips slamming into yours bouncing off of the walls.

"Ahhh—Y/N." He groans.

"Just like that, just like that, just like that!" You repeat, your clit feeling incredibly stimulated by the way it rubs against his skin while he fucks into you. "Oh shit! Jungkook!" You moan loudly, biting his shoulder as you feel yourself trembling hard in his grip, your orgasm taking over your entire body.

"Shit, shit, shit—Y/N, Shiiiit." He says into your neck, followed by more curses and groans as you feel him coat your walls warmly. He stays inside of you until the both of you come back down to normalcy, your breathing becoming more regulated. He slowly slips himself out, plopping next to you on the bed, but doesn't welcome you into his arms.

The night goes on, the both of you sleeping on your own sides of Jungkook's bed, not really saying a word to each other. Because the both of you, although still pretty drunk, are more aware by the time it's over and it's become so clear how fucked up this got.

You were hurt. Completely hurt. Because you didn't expect Jungkook to just fucking ghost you after that night. You wanted to talk about it, maybe come to the conclusion that you two should just distance yourselves from each other to figure this out, even if it would hurt you a lot to do so.

No.

That morning, Jimin and Kass had to take you back to campus because Jungkook had darted out of his room, nowhere to be seen until later that night. The next week or so, there were no texts, no calls. No visiting your dorm, no asking to sleepover.

Nothing.

Just radio silence, white noise, if you will.

The one thing he could come up with was a stupid response to your text when you finally caved and asked what you did wrong mid-week.

Something along the lines of 'what do you want me to say, Y/N? do you want me to force myself to feel a certain way?'

Followed by a 'i'm sorry, fuck. that came out really wrong' even though you thought it came out perfectly fine. You understood loud and clear.

Even though this wasn't really an exclusive thing, or even a 'thing' if we wanna be straight up, you still couldn't help but feel like Jungkook had just dumped your ass with no explanation and you were still waiting for that explanation to come, whether it would or not. And because of this, you started to see Kang, hangout with him more often. He even took you out on a dinner date and you really enjoyed his company. He seemed genuine, caring, supportive - even if a lot of the basketball boys were the complete opposite. He was different, you liked to think.

And so you stand in front of the mirrors in the dance studio, you and Jungkook awkwardly running through the piece with Hoseok watching, confused as to why all of a sudden the two of you have this weird tension going on. It hasn't entirely ruined the couple piece, but it hasn't brought it together, either. The both of you could barely look at each other, barely get into the movements, the emotions behind the motions. Hoseok had to correct a few things, his 'pah pah pah's' echoing in the room constantly with how many times you and Jungkook had to be set straight for your sloppy steps today.

"Okay, I'm not saying it's bad, cause it's not. But can you both please act like you at least like each other or something? What's going on with you two? You aren't normally like this." Hoseok says, coming down to a crouch in front of the mirrors.

"Nothing, we'll do better. Don't worry." You brush off the entire question with your quick response. Jungkook looks at you, his hands on his hips, lightly frowning at how much you're distancing yourself even though he knows its entirely his fault for running from his feelings and not being honest with you.

"Okay, let's do it from the top." The music starts, you getting into the piece without making any eye contact with Jungkook. Even the steps that cause you to be close and near Jungkook, you look anywhere but his eyes, and your touch is light, trying your hardest not to let any feelings pass through the motion. Hoseok is a little more pleased this time around, but it still doesn't sit right with him, so he lets you two take a break while he heads to the other studio to check on Jimin and the rest of the group.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"Jungkook, you don't get to ask me that." He sighs and runs his hand through his hair, not sure if he should continue on or not.

"Y/N—"

"Save it, and let's just get this over with, okay? I don't wanna be here just as much as you." Your words cut him deep because dear, you have gotten him completely misunderstood and yet, he still can't speak. He still can't talk about his feelings. He still can't save this even though he wants to, even though he loathes seeing you the way you are with Kang.

"I never said—"

"Kay, ready? Let's run this full out and make it a good one so we can call it for today." Hoseok says, clapping his hands to hype you two up somehow. The music starts and you're finally able to get into the steps. The emotions. And god, it's only because you're so hurt by your own bestfriend. You're hurt that he fucked you so good, and then dipped. You're hurt that he couldn't even face you the day after. You're hurt that after all this time, he made it seem like you still didn't matter enough - at least enough for an explanation, for some kind of reasoning, conversation, behind what just went down between the both of you. Between what has been going down between the both of you.

Besides the stupid ass responses he gave you through text.

You get so into your feelings that you don't even realize you're tearing up by the time the piece is over, and Jungkook catches it even though you face away from him as soon as the music cuts out.

"Nice, okay! That was so much better! Let's pick it up next session, yeah? We'll keep cleaning it up. Thanks guys!" Hoseok says. You immediately head towards the wall, grabbing your things to avoid any confrontation from Jungkook, but he grabs your arm as soon as you slip through the door.

"Y/N, wait. Stop."

"Let me go." You yank your arm from his grip.

"Why are you crying?" He stops in front of you, his hands placed on your arms to prevent you from moving any further.

"I'm not." You blatantly lie while you aggressively wipe away the stragglers coming down.

"Really? Just gonna lie like that?"

"Why do you care? You haven't said shit to me all week." You snap back, and Jungkook is taken aback from the tone in your voice. You remove his hands from your arms, and take one last look at him before shaking your head and walking off.

Next mistake? He doesn't come after you.

This was a waste of fucking time. If he truly cared about you, he wouldn't let you hurt like this.

You let out a deep sigh before clutching onto your things and walking back to your dorm. The walk from the gym/fitness center was damn near on the other end of campus compared to your dorm. It would be a good 10 minute walk if you really took your time. A good 10 minutes to ponder on your thoughts.

Yes, you liked Jungkook. You really liked him. Having sex with him solidified those feelings even more. How could you not have feelings for your bestfriend after all the moments you've shared? Was it your fault for assuming that? Was it your fault for walking through that door when it seemed to be completely open for you?

"Sup." Kang comes out of nowhere, pulling you out of your thoughts. He swings his arm around your shoulder, gently pulling you closer to his body.  "Just got out of practice?"

"Sure did." You give him a toothless smile. Yes, he was attractive as hell. He always will be. But, even with the time you spent together, the date he took you on, he still couldn't make you feel the way Jungkook has been able to make you feel.

"How was it?"

"Um, it was alright. Nothing new really, just cleaning up the piece before the show. You're going right?"

"Why wouldn't I?" He smiles down at you. "Listen, I don't know if you've heard, but there's another party tonight."

"A party? It's Wednesday." You snort.

"Yeah, I mean, one of the boys on the Lacrosse team is throwing it at his family house because his parents will be gone. Wanna come? I'll pick you up. We don't have to stay for long." You looked at your watch.

"What time is it at?"

"Like 9ish?" Enough time for you to shower and get a quick dinner in your belly. Why the hell not? You were caught up for the week. You didn't have any pressing assignments that were due asap.

"Sure. I'll come."

"Cool. See you later then?" He says, about to part ways with you. You simply give him a nod before walking deeper into Edgehill village. You hoped you wouldn't regret this tonight, and you really hoped he meant it when he said you two didn't have to stay for long. You drag yourself into your room, seeing Kass' door wide open, revealing her packing up her duffle bag.

"Hey, where are you headed during the middle of the week?"

"My two classes got cancelled for tomorrow so me and Jiminie are heading out for a mini getaway for our anniversary." You cross your arms and smile. "He's just gonna catch up on shit when we get back I guess." She laughs.

"That sounds cute. I hope you have loads of fun this weekend, babe."

"What are you gonna do?" Kass and Jimin were obviously aware of everything happening between you and Jungkook being that they had to be the ones to take you home. They never pressed on it though, knowing you both were still pretty upset about how things were playing out. They figured you two would eventually work it out, but until then, they would just sit back and keep their mouths shut. You two were being completely stubborn, but it wasn't their relationship to fix.

"Well, there's this party Kang wants to take me to tonight."

"The Lacrosse party? Messy." She laughs. "Be careful, but also have fun, yeah? I still don’t know if I trust him.”

"Yeah I know."

"Tell me how it goes!"

"I will." You wave her off as you head into your room and shut the door. You figured you would just grab dinner on campus to avoid spending more money than you should; after all, dinner seemed to be pretty bomb tonight. You didn't mind going alone, sometimes Namjoon would join you, asking for you to bring him a plate of food while he does the hard job of sneaking inside the cafeteria through the back door. He usually waits for you at a free table and ends up staying there to have dinner with you, updating you on how life has been, how school has been. Sometimes Hoseok would join you, too. Either way, you didn't mind if no one joined. It was nice to have dinner by yourself from time to time.

You get there on time to be able to grab some food, eat quietly and head out before the cafeteria gets way too busy for your liking. You slip into the shower and throw on a mini skirt, a crop top and a denim jacket, lightly fluffing your hair in the mirror and adding a dab of lip gloss to your lips before Kang is calling you to tell you he's outside your dorm. He's wearing something similar to your color palette, however, you don't make much out of it since this also wasn't really an exclusive thing and you sure as hell weren't going around telling people you and Kang had a thing going on.

To him, you two might be a thing. You've definitely overheard people talking about you two in passing.

To you though, you two definitely weren't. And it was a big fuck you to Jungkook for that.

The house is packed from end to end already, and you're surprised being that it has barely hit 10 minutes since the party was expected to take off. Kang is having to park down the hill, allowing you to hop onto his back for a quick piggy back ride up until you reach the front of the house. There's people already fucked up out on the lawn [you figured they fucked themselves over during their pre-game session cause that shit really happens from time to time], either laying there drunkily or yacking on a free patch of grass.

Gross.

Messy, indeed.

Some people are posted, smoking blunts and offering it to people who were passing by. You and Kang both pass up on it, the idea of not knowing where it has been not sitting right with you. You both head straight to the bottles, taking shots and downing mixed drinks to chase it with so that you can catch up with majority of the crowd. Kang has his arm around your shoulder throughout the night, keeping you close to him, even when he's getting pretty drunk. You realize he's a little more handsy than usual, a little more touchy than you expected him to be. It doesn't bother you for a minute, until he really tries to hike up your skirt while you sit on his lap. You gently shoo his hand away, playing it off while he nuzzles his head against your neck.

"Let's go upstairs, babe." He says, the pet name sounding incredibly off coming from him. Maybe you were drunk, maybe you really just weren't in the mood. It just didn't sound cute, if that even makes sense?

"Okay." You respond stupidly, not wanting to cause a scene at a lacrosse party. You intertwine your fingers with his as he leads the way up the stairs, eyeing the doors as they come into view. He leans forward towards each door, making sure it's clear before opening it. You assume he finally finds one that he's satisfied with when you catch the small smirk that grows at the corner of his lips when he turns the door knob and brings you inside. He pulls you into a deep, rough kiss, one that doesn't even allow you to breathe and process what the fuck is even going on. You can't get into it for the life of you, no matter how hard you try to back away. "Wait, wait."

"What's wrong, baby? Isn't this what you wanted?" He says, kissing down your neck as he drops his jacket to the floor. He gently pushes you onto the bed, his hands traveling up your skirt as you lay there trying to push him off.

"Wait, stop." He doesn't listen. He continues until his hands are literally hooking onto your panties, his finger swiping down your clothed folds. You try fighting him off, but he's way stronger than you. He continues to be aggressive, forcefully trying to shove your panties down until you muster up all the energy you have to finally push him off of you completely. "Stop!"

"What the fuck? I thought you wanted this?"

"Who the hell said that?"

"Are you serious? The way that you're dressed and the way that you look at me. The way you approached me at your friend's party - isn't it all because of this? Because you wanted me? Why are you backing out now?"

"Jesus, get over yourself." You stand, fixing your skirt back down. He furrows his brows at you before his hand grips your arm tightly, shoving you against the wall.

"The fuck, you can't just leave without giving me anything. I brought you here to this party."

"Let me go! You're fucking sick. No one even told you I wanted this to go down. I don't know who you think you are, but you need to get yourself together and stop assuming every pussy is yours to take." He attempts to pin you, his hand holding up both of your hands against the wall while the other tries to pull up your skirt. Someone accidentally opens the door, distracting him and giving you leverage to shove him off and get the fuck away. You dart down the steps, fixing your skirt as you head outside and away from the house.

Fuck, you're far from campus. And Kass and Jimin aren't around.

God.

You groan and run your hand through your hair as you continue to walk down the hill and into the neighborhood to get as far away as possible from that house and that gross ass dude. He was literally just like the rest of the basketball team. You've heard stories and they weren't nice. Looks like he was trained well already, and that shit was sad. What a waste. A beautiful human being with such a nasty, sick mindset. You hoped other girls hadn't fallen for his shit.

Ugh, it sends shivers down your spine. Bad shivers.

"Hello? Y/N?"

"Kook, can you come pick me up please?"

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. Where are you?"

"I'll drop my location. Please hurry." You say, looking back to make sure your coast was clear. You drop the pin into your text thread with Jungkook and sit on the curb until his arrival. It's getting pretty chilly out, and the denim jacket you're wearing fails to provide you with the warmth you're looking for. Sooner or later, Jungkook is pulling up, damn near hopping out before he can shift the gear into park.

"You okay? What happened?" He says, opening the door for you before rushing over to the driver's seat.

"Nothing, can we just go back to your place?" He nods silently, and doesn't press any further after hearing your tone. He watches from his peripherals how you fiddle with your fingers and constantly reach to pull your skirt down even though he doesn't think there's any other way you could pull it down even more. He watches as he parks the car on the curb in front of his apartment how you simply undo your seatbelt and hop out to walk straight into his apartment. He watches as you welcome yourself into his closet and pick out some clothes for you to change in.

You were hurt, and his blood boils thinking about who could've done this and what they could have possibly done.

I mean, no. He knows who did this, but the question was what exactly did he try?

He hears the shower turn on, then quickly get turned off after a good 5 minutes. You had stepped in for a quick body shower, using Jungkook's bodywash just to rid yourself of feeling gross. Feeling gross from being shoulder to shoulder all night long, people breathing down your neck. Kang touching you inappropriately. You slip into Jungkook's clothes, his scent wrapping around you entirely. When you head back into the room, Jungkook has his headset back on as he faces his computer, logging back onto his game of League of Legends. You silently toss your dirty clothes to the side of his room, making a mental note to grab it tomorrow morning and toss it straight into the laundry.

Straight into a fire, perhaps. But you loved those clothes so much, it was unfortunate it'd have such a horrible memory to go with it.

Jungkook slowly removes his headset again and removes himself from his game before he heads over and sits on the edge of his bed. You simply look at him, pursing your lips tightly together to prevent yourself from crying.

But he can tell.

"What happened Y/N?" The question triggers you, making you cry into your hands as he sits there, dumbfounded and worried at how he can fix this and make you feel better. "Look, you don't have to tell me all the details but please tell me how I can help. At least tell me if I need to beat Kang's ass." He says, pulling you into his arms.

"He tried to fucking take advantage of me." You mumble as you remove your face from your hands.

"He did what?" He manages to ask even though he has a hard time swallowing the lump that formed in his throat. He already assumed you had placed him in the same category as Kang even though he never intended to take advantage of you. He really took that night as something special [even drunk], and he never meant to make you feel like you were a used object. Not like Kang.

"He-he," You sniffed. "He tried to force me into having sex with him. He took me upstairs at that lacrosse guy's party or whoever the hell it even was, and he started to aggressively kiss me. And then he tried to force my panties down and touch me there, and—"

"Okay, please don't go on or else I'll literally go over there and tear his ass apart right now. I promise you." He says sternly, his jaw clenching tightly. "God, fuck. I'm so sorry Y/N. I can't apologize on his behalf but fuck, you didn't deserve that." He uses his sweater to wipe your tears.

"I don't even know why I'm crying, this shit isn't even worth it." You groaned. "It's just overwhelming to process, I guess."

"That's okay." He says, letting out a sigh as he brushes his hand through your hair and continues to wipe the stragglers falling from your eyes. "Anything I can get you right now?"

"No, I'm probably just gonna go to bed." He nods. "Thank you for picking me up."

"Of course. You know I'll always be there." He says. You slip yourself into his sheets, watching as he makes his way back to his desk. But fuck, the only thing you needed right now was him. You didn't want this distance anymore, and you just wanted to be comforted in true Jungkook fashion.

"Wait."

"Hm?" He hums as he has a hand placed on the  head of his chair while he turns to you.

"Can you just lay with me?"

"Yeah." He says, shutting off his computer before making his way over to you in the dark. You feel him slip in next to you, his arm snaking around your shoulders so he can pull you close and onto his chest. "Better?"

"Yeah." You say, shutting your eyes as you listen to his heart beat.

"Y/N."

"Yeah?"

"I never meant to take advantage of you, or make you feel like I used you that one night." Silence. "It was dumb of me, but I just— I had trouble coming to terms with my feelings. I was scared that you wouldn't feel the same way, but I thought fuck it, at least you would know, right?"

"What are you talking about, Kook?" You ask, close to a whisper.

"I'm saying that I really fucking like you, Y/N. No, that's not right." He curses himself. "I-I uh, I'm in love with you. And I don't know if I messed this up already with the way I acted, god I hope not, but you at least deserve to know that I truly do value you and that you mean alot to me. That night, even though we were pretty plastered, it meant a lot to me. It was more than just sex and I'm sure you felt that too." He waits for your response as his fingers rake through your hair. "Please say something, anything."

"I feel the same way, Jungkook. You're an idiot for running off, but I couldn't even stay mad at you. You just know how to hit my soft spots and I can never say no to it. Can never turn my back on it." He presses a kiss against the top of your head.

"Fuck, I'm really glad to hear that cause I don't know what I would have done besides cry if you rejected me." You playfully hit his chest.

"You're annoying." You jokingly say as you chuckle.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I never wanted to hurt you."

"It's okay." You look up to press your lips against his before laying back down.

"And Kang better be fucking glad you're pressed against my body right now because I'm still looking to beat his ass."

"He's not even worth it." Is the last thing you say before you find yourself drifting into a deep sleep, in the comfort of Jungkook's arms.

"You two feeling okay? Nervous?" You and Jungkook shake your heads. "Good, you guys got this. You've been looking amazing during practice, the audience will love you two, no doubt. Just remember to show emotions through expressions and hit every beat sharply." Hoseok nods in unison with the both of you.

"Got it, thanks Hobi." You smile at him toothlessly. You and Jungkook patiently waited for your turn backstage, the talent show already off to a wild and fun start. So many students came by to showcase their talents - from beatboxing, open mic, freestyling [like Yoongi did], dancing, singing, you name it. It was always a fun time at the talent show, and it was always nice to see people getting love for the shit they loved to do.

"You're up next." Hoseok says. "I'll be in the front row. Kick ass and have fun!" He says as he rushes off towards the opposite end to head back out to his seat in the theater.

"Ready?" Jungkook holds out his hand for you to take.

"I think so." You playfully respond as the backstage crew is rushing out the previous talent and rushing you two in to take your places on stage. The lights pick up as soon as the music starts, Kang's big ass head already in full view for you. He's definitely not smiling, no, he has a look of pure disgust because he simply couldn't get what he wanted from you.

And boy, who's fault was that? Not yours, no sir. It was his fault for thinking he had it like that.

But anyways, you're feeling the music, you're feeling the piece because you're dancing with your bestfriend and there wasn't this grey area anymore. It was easier to get into the motions, to get into the feeling, especially when things felt right between the two of you.

And God, what else is more attractive than Jeon Jungkook hitting his 8 counts so smoothly, with just enough umph to make it pop but make it pop cleanly.

Yo, please. I beg. Send some help. You could literally melt on stage.

The moments where Jungkook has to be close to you, where he has to touch you - you let him, and you touch him with meaning. You don't stray away this time because you have no reason to. The crowd is cheering, lots of 'ou's' and 'aw's' erupting from various places in the theater.

"Pretty lady." Jungkook whispers in your ear as the move requires his hands to be placed on your hips for a quick moment. You hear him slightly singing along to the song as he parts from you, causing you to blush.

Sooner or later, the couple piece is over and the song is transitioning to Jimin's piece, you and Jungkook rushing off the stage so the next group can take their positions. Jimin wanted to test his limits, creating a piece a little different than his usual taste - Chris Brown's Came to Do begins blaring through the theater speakers. You immediately jump into Jungkook's arms once you both reach backstage, the both of you immensely happy and pumped that you got through the piece without messing up one step or beat. It went so smoothly that Hoseok was standing in the front row, clapping and cheering in typical Hoseok fashion. You intertwine your fingers with his, slipping through the side door to catch Jimin's piece on stage. You and Jungkook are cheering them on, always impressed by the shit your friends can come up with. You both loved dancing, but you couldn't even imagine coming up with your own pieces to teach people.

That night after the show, everyone heads to a nearby restaurant for dinner with everyone. You all take up almost an entire section of the restaurant, splitting two long tables to accommodate the entire group with doubled the waitresses to take your orders. You settle for water, splitting an abnormally huge and filled deep dish pizza with Jimin, Kass and Jungkook. It was a good day, a good night, everyone at the table happily eating and chatting it up over dinner. You turn down any drinks because to be honest, drinks lowkey make you queasy just from the thought of how much you drank at Jungkook's apartment, plus the added bonus of that party Kang took you to. Jungkook declines as well, knowing he has to drive you back safely.

Jimin and Kass head back to the apartment because Yoongi says he's gonna hang out with Joon And Hoseok for a bit, and they warn you and Jungkook that things may get loud so the both of you decide to really stick to the plan of bringing you back to the dorm. Jungkook does his usual routine of dropping you off first before finding parking around campus. You hop in the shower and come out in Jungkook's oversized crewneck that he left in your closet, forgoing the shorts because you certainly thing that at this point, he'd love to see you in his sweater and panties.

And he does. He smiles as he pulls you close, his hands traveling up your sweater, only to find out that you literally don't have shit on besides some cute little boyshorts. He feels himself hardening in his pants quick because he's incredibly attracted to you and everything about you, always has been, always will be.

"You did amazing tonight." He says, gently kissing your forehead.

"You did too, partner." He gives you a slightly shocked look.

"Is that all I am to you? Your dance partner?"

"Yeah, why? Were you expecting more?" You joke as you smile up at him.

"Yeah, I was."

"Oh?" He gently swoops you up into his arms, your legs wrapped tightly around his torso as he sits you on the bed, his hands resting on your thighs while you continued to hold him around the neck. "Care to tell me what you were expecting?"

"Well, you know, my best friend—" He presses a kiss against your lips, thumbs gently rubbing circles against your hips. "My girlfriend."

"Hm, say that again?" Your fingers are gently playing with the ends of his hair, your lips barely grazing his.

"My girlfriend." He says closed to a whisper, kissing you softly. The kiss deepens quick, Jungkook's tongue lining your bottom lip as his way of asking for permission to take it further. You gladly take it and let him in, your tongues instantly fighting for dominance. Your fingers travel up his hair, tugging ever so slightly just to let him know you want more. That you need more.

And he gets that.

His fingers hook onto the band of your boyshorts, tugging them down and letting them fall down your legs and onto the floor. He breaks the kiss momentarily, his brown, puppy dog eyes looking straight into yours.

"Hey." He says, brushing the hair out of your face.

"Hm?"

"I know I said the last time was special, and it was. It is." He corrects himself. "But, I wanna do right by you this time around. So, is it okay if I keep going? Are you comfortable?" He asks properly, since the two of you are both sober and perfectly coherent, aware of your surroundings and the fact that you'll be seeing each other fully naked in a few minutes.

"Yes." You respond. "Yes, I want you to keep going. I want you. This." He simply nods, bringing his lips back onto yours. His hands climb up your sweater and gently gives your breasts a good squeeze, earning a small moan from the both of you. His other hand begins to travel down to your pussy, two long fingers slowly probing your entrance and causing your breathing to hitch.

"You okay?" He asks lowly. You nod, biting onto your bottom lip as you tilt your head back and rest on your hands, no longer able to keep up with the kiss due to all the pleasure starting to pile up deep in your core. Jungkook starts of slow, his head now buried into the crook of your neck as he works his digits upward, tickling at the right spot.

"Ohhhh, Kook." You mewl as his tongue swipes across the surface of your neck, biting gently beneath your jaw. He begins to pick up the pace, the sounds of him finger fucking you filling up the room entirely.

"Fuck, you're so wet baby." He groans into your neck.

"I'm gonna cum." You whine, teeth almost piercing through your bottom lip in between your whimpers.

"Need to taste you." He removes his fingers and sinks down in between your thighs, gripping onto them and pulling you just a teensy bit more off the edge of the bed so he can get a good angle. The sight of his eyes looking up at you in between your legs is to die for, and the sight alone is enough to make you cum. But, you hold on, you ride out for a little longer - feeling Jungkook's tongue swipe in and out of your folds before he's sucking endlessly on your clit.

"Ahhh, fuck, wait, Jungkook!" He slightly smiles while eating you out, signaling that he's not stopping even if you beg him to. "Hnnng—shit!" You moan loudly as you feel yourself toppling over the edge, your body shaking in Jungkook's grip. You twitch every time he continues to suck gently on your sensitive nub, letting you ride out the rest of your high. He comes back up to your lips, the taste of your own cum lingering on it as you kiss him deeply.

"You taste so good." He says, back to twirling your nipples in between his fingers.

"Wanna feel you." You fiddle with his jeans, undoing his belt and sliding the rest down as much as you could. Jungkook gets out of his shirt and tosses it aside before helping get the sweater above your head. His eyes glow at the sight of your bare body in front of him, wanting to do nothing but please you and please you well.

"God, you're so perfect." He places kisses down your collarbone, to the surface of your breasts before quickly swirling his tongue around your perked buds. You moan as you tug down onto his boxer briefs, immediately stroking his hardened member while he tended to you. Jungkook was a fucking beauty himself - his soft hair, his perfectly toned body, his long 'thick in all the right places' dick.

"Please." You plead. "I want you inside of me." You whimper, causing Jungkook's breathing to hitch when you slightly tighten your grip at the base of his shaft. He gently pushes your hand aside to take over, lining himself up at your entrance. He inserts the tip, watching your eyes roll to the back of the head as he slowly sinks into you.

"Mmmmmgod." He moans. "So tight for me, baby. So fucking wet and tight." He repeats, close to a growl. Your moaning begins to pick up, matching the pace of his thrusting. You're still on the edge of the bed, Jungkook keeping you steady by gripping your thighs tightly. He marvels at the sight of your titties bouncing up and down with every thrust, hissing and shutting his eyes momentarily to keep himself grounded and to prevent himself from coming too quickly. Cause god, he can literally blow any second now.

"Jungggggkooook, yessssss!" You moan loudly, whining even at this point with how good he feels fucking into you at such a fast pace. You're feeling slightly sore already from him hammering into you, but nonetheless, it builds more pleasure for you and you want nothing but to reach your high again. "I-I'm coming!" Jungkook moans in unison with you when he feels your walls pulsating against his cock.

"Such a good girl for me." He says, slowing his pace. The creamy sounds of Jungkook's cock slipping inside and out is music to the both of your ears. He finally gains the courage to remove himself, sitting next to your spot on the edge of the bed and pulling you onto his lap. You swing a leg over, your hands resting on the nape of his neck while you sink yourself lower onto his length. Your mouth opens to let out a moan, but the best you can do is let out a hiss. It feels too fucking good that you can't even process it thoroughly. Jungkook pushes your lips down onto his by grabbing your neck, his other hand guiding the movement of your hips as you roll into him.

"Mmmggg—Jungkook." You whimper in between kisses. "You feel so fucking good, god. You're gonna make me cum again."

"Yeah, cum for me. Cum all over me. It's yours." He grunts, his hands guiding you to work him faster. Your movements are getting sloppier, and you feel your wetness starting to coat his pelvis. He doesn't give a fuck though, and neither do you. This shit feels too good for you to worry about the mess you're making on him.

"Cum with me please." He moans at the sound of you whispering into his ear.

"Faster, baby." He says, almost making you cry at how awfully close you are to unraveling. You tug onto his hair, your head buried deep into his neck as you try and suck onto the surface, trying to find an outlet, some kind of release, until you let go. You suck harshly as you coat his cock with your cum, leaving a purple mark right at the base of his neck. You continue to ride out your high, rolling your hips sloppily as Jungkook finally lets himself go, his moan bouncing off of your walls as his seed fills you up warmly.

You stay in your position, slowly raising your head to cup his cheeks and kiss him deeply once more.

"Fuck, I love you." He says slightly pulling away.

"I love you too." You giggle.

"Didn't actually need any drinks to do this now, did we?" Jungkook jokes, softly pinching your hip.

"Shut up."

"Damn, you both couldn't even at least try to be quiet?!" Jimin yells from outside the door.

[allwaswell16]

This is a fic rec of One Direction fics that have cold weather settings as requested in this ask. You can find all my other fic recs here. If you enjoy the fics please leave kudos and comments for the writers. Happy reading!

-Larry-

❄️ Cold Little Heart by seducedbycurls

(T, 194k, a/b/o, alpha Harry, omega Louis, kid fic, domestic abuse from past partner, divorced Louis, single parent Louis, fluff, mating, mpreg Louis, hurt/comfort, eventual smut)

Louis is a soft omega with an abusive past and an alpha child

❄️ Tired, Tired Sea, @mediawhorefics​ / MediaWhore

(M, 113k, famous/not famous au, popstar Harry, B&B owner Louis, Scotland, recovering addict Harry, isolation, loneliness, hurt/comfort, pining, slow burn)

As a B&B owner on the most remote of all the British Isles, Louis Tomlinson is used to spending the coldest half of the year in complete isolation, with his dog and the sea as sole companions.

❄️ Emperor’s New Clothes by @magicalrocketships / sunsetmog

(E, 92k, exes to lovers au, famous Harry, popstar Harry, secret relationship, public outing, money troubles, tabloids, harassment, pet cat, angst with a happy ending)

Harry’s a pop star and Louis isn’t, and there’s a non-disclosure agreement where there used to be a relationship.

❄️ Yet in Thy Dark Streets Shineth by @juliusschmidt​

(T, 57k, Advent fic, pastor Harry, drama teacher Louis, Christmas, church, religious themes, winter)

Advent arrives three months into Harry’s first call as associate pastor at St. Andrews. Life is… not perfect.

❄️ On the Edge by @zanniscaramouche / zanni_scaramouche

(E, 47k, Olympics au, figure skater Louis, hockey player Harry, athletes, fluff, angst, Canada, smut)

Figure skating is as vital to Louis’ identity as his DNA, so when his skates go missing right before the last Olympics of his career there may be a meltdown only vanilla bath salts can fix.

❄️ The Haunting of Louis Tomlinson by @helloamhere

(T, 31k, magical realism, ghosts, ghost Harry, supernatural elements, haunted house, Zouis friendship, humor)

Louis is a plucky Gothic Heroine, Harry is a Mournful Spirit, and Big Country Houses are full of mystery and suspense, as Big Country Houses ever are!

❄️ When the Sun Won't Let You Sleep by @allwaswell16

(E, 30k, Antarctica au, scientist Louis, scientist Harry, enemies to lovers, research station, sexual tension, light angst, smut)

Four years ago, Louis Tomlinson left the UK to live on an Antarctic research station for reasons best left in the past.

❄️ On This Winter’s Night by @reminiscingintherain

(T, 27k, Christmas, meet cute, bus, London, baker Harry, comic book shop, fluff)

When a random bloke offers his lap for a seat on a busy bus in December, Louis' Christmas ends up being much different, and far less lonely than he was expecting.

❄️ Take Me Down Slow (Don't Let Me Go) by @jacaranda-bloom / jacaranda_bloom

(E, 26k, a/b/o, omega Louis, omega Harry, jealous Harry, skiing, fluff, smut)

the one where Louis wants to find the right kind of partner to love, Niall hates snowboarding, Liam wants to settle down, Harry is really good with his hands, and mother nature could be the thing that changes everything.

❄️ the sanctity of patience by @scrunchyharry

(T, 22k, royal au, King Louis, historical, arranged marriage, disabled character, mountains, snow)

When young Lord Harry was chosen by King Louis of Bavaria to become his husband and prince consort, Harry thought all of his dreams had come through.

❄️ The Aurora Zone by @mizzhydes / MsHydeStylinson

(E, 19k, enemies to lovers au, accidental roommates, bed sharing, Finland, Northern Lights, igloo hotel, smut)

the one where Harry is busy crossing off his bucket list while Louis is busy falling for the guy he's supposed to hate.

❄️ This Winter's Day by @becomeawendybird / QuickedWeen

(M, 14k, Regency au, Christmas, fluff, party, Viscount Harry, stablemaster Louis, fever, smut)

Louis is Harry's stablemaster, and when he falls ill and his mother turns to Harry to help her try and find someone he can settle down with, it's only natural that Harry suggests himself.

❄️ In a sky full of stars, be my Northern lights by @so-why-let-your-voice-be-tamed / we_are_the_same

(T, 13k, strangers to lovers au, Norway, Northern Lights, nature, no angst, first date, bed sharing, fluff)

It's one of those nights there's nothing on the telly that Louis absently scrolls through Tinder.

❄️ Let Me Be Your Everlasting Light by @laynefaire / Layne Faire

(M, 11k, established relationship au, Norway, Northern Lights, fluff, humor, proposal, snow, reindeer)

Harry arranges a trip to Norway as a gift for Louis, but little does Louis know Harry is also hoping to make his own dream come true, too.

❄️ A Long Way From The Top by @jaerie

(E, 11k, vampire au, mountaineering, Mount Everest, climber Louis, vampire Harry, blood, death, blood drinking, masturbation)

Harry needed to find a purpose in life. Mount Everest wasn't the place he'd expected to find it, but he'd take what he could get.

❄️ the hope that warbles in my fluttering breast by @afterglowslouis / tomlinvelvet

(M, 9k, hybrid au, cat hybrid Louis, human Harry, winter, established relationship, mpreg Louis, body worship, home birth)

The winter growls loud and mean outside as Harry Styles comes home to his precious Louis.

❄️ Snow One Like You by @beelou / cherrylarry

(G, 3k, girl direction au, ski resort, skiing, strangers to lovers, pining, first kiss, first meeting, New Year's Eve, fluff)

The strangers to lovers stuck on a ski lift au

-Tomlinshaw-

❄️ Press My Face Against the Clouds by Jiksa / @jiksax

(E, 7k, Louis/Nick Grimshaw, canon, Norway, cabin, bed sharing, Northern Lights, angst with a happy ending, smut)

Norway has a polar bear population, Nick has a broken heart, and Louis Tomlinson is, unsurprisingly, still a complete fucking wanker.

-Ziam-

❄️ If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home by equallydestructive

(M, 28k, Zayn/Liam, lumberjack Liam, friends to lovers, humor, pining, fluff,

Lumberjack!Liam finds Zayn buried underneath a foot of snow, nearly frozen to death. Fluff, among other things, follows soon after.

-Zouis-

❄️ driver's license by @quelsentiment / wordsnnotes

(T, 6k, Zayn/Louis, enemies to lovers, driving examiner Zayn, Canada, snow storm, humor, banter, demisexuality, bed sharing, no smut)

Louis is taking the exam to get his driver’s licence for the 3rd time (okay, sue him), and the examiner keeps getting under his skin, until they suddenly get stranded in the middle of a snow storm, and have to learn to cooperate.

[pianjeong]

stemverse aka the expanded earth sci zuko au

brought to u by ur local earth sci major; ty to the crime fam for supporting me in making this post and @itszukkatime for coming up w like half of these​

zuko is an earth science major

- bitchfather ozai (business dude) is one of those ppl who devalue the humanities and made zuko do a stem major. zuko hates this but ozai kinda...pays for school so he has no choice. this goes on UNTIL he discovers earth science and his visual learner brain goes !!!!

- bitchfather disapproves bc he’s a climate change denier but cannot say anything bc it is stem

- zuko also double majors in literature bc fuck u dad and he has very strong disaster theatre gay energy: he does not sleep and sees no problem with this; also subsists on ramen and asian snacks even tho he can cook perfectly well

sokka is an engineering/lit double major

- he meets zuko in intro to american lit (why did i do that i hate american lit) and bond over the things they carried (the vietnam war novel) and shared family trauma aka hakoda being/having been deployed and zuko having the worst home life/no friends

- originally they both lived in single rooms but then one dorm flooded and a bunch of the assignments had to get shuffled around so eventually they become roommates

katara is a computer science major

- she will physically fight anyone who says women shouldn’t be in cs/stem. zuko joins her even tho she’s told him a hundred times that she’s fine; he just wants to beat ppl up

- she also joins zuko and aang (environ sci major/environmental activist) in committing minor acts of ecoterrorism

suki is a political science major and is in a sorority

- ty lee (psych major) hangs out with a really toxic sorority bc all her sisters were in it but Hates It There...but once she meets suki she ends up joining her sorority and havin a great time. she also plays the sousaphone in marching band bc just imagine the image

- azula is a business major and captain of the division 1 volleyball team

- mai plays the piccolo yall just need to know this.

piandao is zuko’s mineralogy professor and also advisor for his major

- he also teaches swordfighting at his studio a little off campus which zuko and sokka both go to (and don’t KNOW that they both go to and piandao sets them up by giving them both spare keys and after hours permission)

- he’s the local iconic gay professor (based heavily on MY iconic gay professor) he owns a shirt that says “queer scientist” and is dating jeong jeong, who is a chaotic dirt gremlin who somehow got tenure (he’s a field geologist who was forced to teach a class by the department)

-- toph is also a chaotic dirt gremlin who decided that jeong jeong would be her advisor and did not look back. their combined energy can and probably will bring a building to the ground

iroh owns the local boba tea shop

- literally everyone goes there to hang out and do schoolwork

- zuko works there bc he needs money and loves his uncle the only thing he doesn’t like is that ppl who know him (not the gaang obvi but just random folks) see him there

[generalchelseamayhem]

1-123

Age: 29

Sexuality: Straight as a very straight thing

Pronouns: Let's see... I, me, my, mine, you, your, yours, he, him, his, and we, our, ours, they, them, theirs if I'm with other people.

Are you in school?: Not for a long time.

Nationality: Australian with English heritage

Sun sign: Aries

Rising sign: Capricorn

Moon sign: Leo

Myers briggs type: ISJE

Do you have siblings?: Two half siblings who are much older than me.

Hogwarts house: Pukwudgie

Godly parent: My parents, not being religious, did not give me a godparent

Dream job: Very cool and sexy lab scientist

If you could live anywhere, where would you live?: I like living close to my friends, that's what is most important to me in life. Since I can't be in multiple places at once, Australia is good enough for that purpose.

Do you have any pets? I am renting, and most landlords in Australia don't allow pets.

Who do you live with?: One roommate, whom I'm fortunately good friends with.

What's your favourite piece of clothing you own?: The puffy jacket I found in my wardrobe earlier this year just as the weather was turning cold. Now I don't leave the house without it.

Relationship status: Single and probably staying that way for a while.

Favourite book?: I don't really have one favourite, but I will read anything by Terry Pratchett or Yahtzee Croshaw.

Last movie you watched?: Everything Everywhere All At Once.

Last song you listened to?: Star Trek Picard Main Theme.

How many hours of sleep did you get last night?: About 5 or 6.

How long have you had tumblr?: Since 2013, although I was lurking since 2012.

Do you play any instruments?: Piano, but I'm out of practice.

What was the last video game you played?: Pokemon SoulSilver.

Whats your favourite album?: All You Need Is Now by Duran Duran

How many languages can you speak?: One (English). I also have some experience with French, and I have the barest passing familiarity with Latin, German, and Bosnian/Serbian/Croatian.

Do you like chewing gum?: Not really.

Coffee, tea, or hot chocolate?: Hot chocolate.

White, milk or dark chocolate?: White

Whats your favourite type of cake?: Red velvet.

Whats your 3rd favourite animal?: Crested pigeon.

How long can you hold your breath? (please don't suffocate trying to find out): Not especially long, I don't think. I don't think I have any particular breathing difficulties, and yet my breath control just kinda sucks.

What's a fun fact to tell at parties?: My parents are using me as their own personal retirement fund. That's not a fun fact, but it does occupy my mind a lot these days, and maybe that's why I'm not invited to parties anymore.

Do you want to have children?: Nah, I would be a terrible dad.

Would you rather live near the mountians or near the beach?: Mountains.

Do you regret quitting any hobbies?: D&D, for sure. I lost a lot of both friends and hobbies during the pandemic.

Favourite video game?: Pokemon SoulSilver and/or Age of Empires II.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Let's not go there.

Do you want to go to university /are at university /have been to university?: I graduated at the end of 2020.

What would you say has been your best year so far?: 2014.

Whats your favourite physical feature about yourself?: My hair.

What do you think is your best talent?: None.

Can you drive?: I used to know how, but I haven't actually done it for years because I don't like it.

Can you ride a bike?: Yes. Again, haven't done it for years, but I don't hate it as much as driving

Can you swim?: Yes, but really slowly

Do you believe in astrology?: No! And since you've read this far down, I'll let you in on a little secret: All the answers I gave to the earlier astrology questions, including Hogwarts house, were joke answers. My REAL star sign is Saggitarius.

What is your weirdest childhood crush?: Siiiigh... Lady Campanula Tottington from Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Describe your favourite jumper?: Warm, blue, and large but also not overwhelmingly heavy.

How many houses have you lived in?: Umm... seven.

How many different schools have you been to?: Four.

What is the furthest you've ever travelled?: Definitely from Australia to the UK. One time I had to carry on back south to France (CDG) from LHR, and that's probably the absolute furthest I've travelled in a single journey.

What time do you usually go to sleep?: About 11PM these days.

What plans do you have for tomorrow?: The weather seems awful and trains are unreliable, so probably staying home and vegging out.

Are you scared of space?: Yes.

Can you knit?: No.

What's the fanciest restaurant youve ever been too?: I feel like that's a question for a) someone whose parents didn't drag him to the OPERA on a regular basis, and b) someone who actually has a set of criteria for determining the relative fanciness of restaurants.

What's the longest flight you have ever been on?: 13 hour leg from Bangkok to London.

Have you ever been on a cruise?: Nope.

Is the ocean or space scarier?: Space. Death is more immediate and much more certain.

Do you support any sports teams?: Leeds United. Occasionally the Sydney Swans. My favourite national team is the Australian cricket team when they aren't rubbing sandpaper on the ball.

Have you ever played sports competitively?: Not out of mandatory high school events. The one I was best at was probably tennis.

What's your best friend's favourite sport?: My best friends don't like many sports. There's two criteria for the question and no one person perfectly fills them both. Out of my really close friends, one has a family tradition of following professional cycling. Out of actual engagement in the sport, I've never met @adhoption in real life but he really does like football.

Name a sport you would like to have a go at?: If I didn't have Cerebral Palsy I think I'd like to at least give football a go.

What was the last film you watched?: Didn't we have this question already?

What was the last film you watched at a cinema?: Yeah, I'm sure I've already answered this one.

What's your favourite Christmas film?: This'll throw some people for a loop. James Bond: On Her Majesty's Secret Service.

Name a film you watch for the soundtrack?: Baby Driver

What's the worst thing you've ever been dared to do?: I don't play games involving dares.

What's the most illegal thing you've ever done?: What are you, a cop?

What's the reason for the last friendship you ended?: I'd rather not go into it.

Who is your newest friend?: I met some people at the local game shop yesterday. They seem nice.

What time did you wake up today?: Somewhere between 6 and 7.

What time did you go to bed last night?: 11:40

How many spoons can you balance on your face?: Maybe one?

What colour is your hair?: Dark brown

What colour do you want your hair to be?: I'd like it to be a lighter brown, maybe even a bit blond?

How many times have you left your house today?: Zero. Probably one by the time most people read this.

When was the last time you downloaded a film or music illegally?: Look, you may not be legally required to read me my Miranda rights anymore,

What was it?: but I still don't have to answer these questions.

How much charge does your phone have?: 63% and rising.

How many hours have you been on tumblr today?: 2ish.

What colour is your top? Grey.

What was the last lie you told?: Not a chance, officer.

Are you or have you ever been vegan?: Nope.

Can you drive?: Yes.

How many capital cities can you name?: That seems like a very American question. I can name all my state capitals, the national capital, and if you asked me what most European national capitals were I could probably name them after some thought. The capital of Hungary is Budapest, I think. The capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina is Sarajevo. The capital of Belgium is Brussels.

Your opinion on pineapple on pizza?: Pineapple does go on pizza!

Your opinion on the beach?: Overrated but still a good place to go in the summer if you prepare enough and you're not sick of the sun yet.

How is 'oreo' pronounced?: Aw-ree-oh.

How is 'data' pronounced?: Dah-ta. And it's plural.

How is 'caramel' pronounced?: Like cat-rat-melt if you took away all the 't's.

What's the ideal temperature?: Warmer than it is right now.

Were you good at video games as a kid?: Hell no, I just enjoyed them. One of the many deaths of my childhood was finding out that Pokemon had a Serious Competitive Scene which has slowly but surely been banning absolutely everything luck-based about the game since about 2007.

What's the first book you remember reading?: I'm bad at remembering the timeline of my early childhood. Anything from The Secret Seven by Enid Blyton, In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie The Pooh and Some Bees and the Stories Begin by A.A. Milne, Old Bear or Little Bear's Trousers by Jane Hissey, or The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter.

What's the worst book you've ever read? Artemis Fowl and the Last Guardian by Eoin Colfer.

What TV show would you recommend to everyone?: Unironically, tastes vary, nothing is perfect, but everyone needs a little bit of Phineas and Ferb in their lives.

Is your room tidy?: Heeeell no.

How many people do you follow?: Like 80-something?

Have you ever tried dating apps?: No, and if I do then you know I'm truly desperate.

Who's birthday is next out of your family and friends?: @lucifer-is-a-bag-of-dicks !

Do you drink energy drinks? Nope.

Do you drink coffee?: Nooope.

What's your opinion on fish?: That's an awful lot of variety for one opinion! Uh... Slimy.

Do you like hosting events?: Not for huge amounts of people, but for close friends absolutely yes.

Do you like being on aux? No, even if that means what I think it does.

Are you good at maths?: No. Mental arithmetic, yes.

How many phone numbers have you memorised?: Back when we all had landlines I had a lot more memorised, now I only have about 3-5 useful ones left.

Can you do a handstand?: Nnno.

Jelly or ice cream?: Ice cream.

Have you ever been to a birthday party for children? I was actually once a child with a healthy social life, yes.

Have you ever seen a Broadway show?: No! In fact I have never been to Broadway.

What's your favourite type of jewellery?: Necklace.

Savoury or sweet?: Sweet.

Do you like McDonald's?: Nah.

What do you call carbonated beverages?: By their individual brand names: Sprite, Solo, Lift, Fanta, and so on.

Do you have a favourite word? Petrichor.

What is something dumb you believed as a child?: That my mum had better social skills than I did.

What height do you wish you were?: Maybe like 3 or 4 centimetres taller?

Do you have or want tattoos?: No, I have a terrific fear of needles.

Can you code?: I know only the most basic and rudimentary things about coding.

Did you watch Glee?: No. That show isn't still going is it??

Can you fit your fist in your mouth?: Not even close.

[idontblushsrry]

Inuyasha Characters As Roomates

In honor of yashahime’s release i’ve decided to post this for no real reason.Can you tell who my bias is lmao. Lmk if I should do a Part 2 with the people I missed. Also I apologize I haven’t updated in like a year I have a post addressing this coming up soon. Thank you for your continued support despite the fact that I’ve been updating infrequently, I really appreciate it. Without further ado:

Warnings: Some swear words oop

Word Count: 1632

Inuyasha

You want Inuyasha as your roommate???Chile anyways...

No but fr tho in general Inuyasha isn’t an awful roommate, he pays his bills on time(ususally), doesn’t make too big of a mess but that’s just because he owns like 3 things and 2 outfits.

No, the real problem with Inuyasha is that he is LOUD

You walk outside to throw the trash away and he’s in his room screaming about a video game or something and the WHOLE neighborhood can hear him. 

People pokin they head out in concern and everything

Another time he was watching a horror movie and you guess the characters did something stupid because you hear a scream from the character and then Inuyasha screaming “WHAT THE FUCK, WHY WOULD YOU GO THAT WAY DUMBASS! THAT’S WHY YOU’RE DEAD NOW!”

Shit woke you up out of your sleep

After that incident you knew you’d have to ask him to be a bit more considerate of your eardrums.

So, you ask him to quiet down and he pouts like a child and huffs and puffs.

He does quiet down tho...for about 2 minutes until he stubs his toe on the end of the couch

God bless you and your patience but god bless his girlfriend Kagome

She’s a saint

If it were up to Inuyasha your groceries would consist of a cabinet of ramen like the man has the budget for ramen and paying his share of he bills why would he spend money on things like fruit???

This is where Kagome comes in, she comes by pretty regularly and she brings food or groceries because she of all people knows how terrible Inuyasha’s shopping habits are.

Bless her soul truly and every time she does this you thank her lmaoo

Inuyasha eventually does move out with Kagome but he does apologize for being loud before he leaves, you aren’t sure if he did that on his own or if Kagome made him do that

Kagome

She’s so sweet

Fair share of chores, groceries, she cooks for yall sometimes, truly a saint

Only 2 problems:

Ms. Girl has no moneyyy

Poor Kagome, she always tries to pay her bills on time but between trying to feed Inuyasha, helping out her family, and school the paycheck only spreads so thin(She does eventually quit school to start working more but)

Nothing wrong with this but you do end up having to cover for her sometimes.

She of course thank you and you don’t usually mind and your routine was functional for you two, until you meet problem number 2 

The loudest mf on the planet Earth, her boyfriend, Inuyasha

One day you’re in he kitchen grabbing something to eat and you hear pounding on the door like the police showed up.

You proceed cautiously because...what the fuck and you almost reach the door before you hear 

“I’ll get it!”

You’ve never seen Kagome run faster

She opens the door and you see this 5′5 mf who was banging on the door like he paid the bills

Inuyasha just has rbf but you don't know that so you think he’s making faces at you

Immediately you have a problem with him

“Hey Kagome, who’s this?”

She looks between you two before immediately rushing to introduce you to each other

“Oh, I forgot my purse be right back guys.”, Kagome left not knowing that yall were about 2 seconds from fighting

You didn’t like Inuyasha for banging on the door and glaring and he didn’t like you for glaring at him

After that you just avoided talking to inuyasha for the sake of keeping the peace

When he came over you exited stage left 

Eventually Kagome does move out with Inuyasha and she asks why you and Iuyasha had never spoken to each other

“Are you kidding me the first day we met he was already glaring at me?!”

“Ohhh, that’s just his face, he’s really sweet promise :D”

You doubted that

You liked Kagome as a roommate but you were glad she was moving out so you could find someone who could pay the bills on time.

Sango

She a baddie ngl

Aside from that, Sango is the perfect roommate

However, I hope you aren’t allergic to cats or Miroku because they’re pretty much a package deal

Also hopefully you don’t hate children because she does have Kohaku to worry about

But she makes pretty good money at her job so expenses aren’t a issue

She also isn’t home too often between her job, taking care of Kohaku and Kirara, and her relationship

She ends up spending more and more time at Miroku’s place anyways

Sango finally moves in with Miroku when she gets pregnant, yall still keep in touch tho because you’ve become good friends

And thus you say goodbye to the best roommate to ever grace this Earth lmao

Miroku

Miroku is the shortest lasting roommate on this list

Mans is a little creeper pervert and that shit gets annoying after a while

You’ll be walking out the shower and Miroku’s standing there like “hey lil mama lemme whisper in ya ear”

Needless to say you smacked the taste outta his mouth and he stopped with that real quick

He stops but you’re surprised when you see Sango come over 

Your hand starts itching with the urge to slap him again...

You meet Sango and what she sees in him is... baffling, scientists to this day still don’t understand 

Baby girl, you’re Sango do better, self love

Anyways, Miroku moves out eventually and he takes his nasty ass ways with him

Later you find out that Sango moved in with him and sje’s gon have a baby by him

But you know that’s none of your business 

Koga

If you thought Inuyasha was loud...

Inuyasha doesn’t have any friends, Koga has a wolf pack...

Parties all the time good luck homie

If you were tryna study, sleep, do work, etc. best wishes lmao

You come home and mans got 2 random people over like how ya doin   O-O

“Hello”

“Where’s Koga?”

They point to the kitchen and you head here ready to just “talk” with Koga

He turns around and gives you the cutest smile known to man and you immediately lose your will to argue

Can’t argue with a man that beautiful sorry...

Anyways besides being loud af, Koga is HYPER

Mans is up at 5 am knocking on your door like “hey you wanna jog to the gym”

“No Koga, goodnight”

‘No problem, it’s the morning btw!”

He’s actually a decent roommate and he moves into a bigger house with his friends and calls it the ‘pack house’

He actually invites you to come move in w him and his buddies 

You tell him you’ll think about it

Sesshomaru

The king of “I’m better than you”

He has his life so well together and you’ve gotta give him props

Mans is basically Caspar the Friendly Ghost of roommates 

Does he actually live here? the lights stay on and his name is on the deed so... I guess

Seriously tho, Sesshomaru doesn’t need a roommate but he does need someone to mind Rin

You might ask, what about Jaken, Jaken is busy (following Sesshomaru) or so he claims

Sesshomaru isn’t too bad honestly he covers the majority of the expenses in exchange for you watching Rin and feeding Ah-Un

So you’re basically Rin’s stay at home nanny

But you don’t mind because she is a SWEETHEART

Ah-Un isn’t too bad, just feed 2 lizards

(Although depending on who you are feeding them bugs might be your worst nightmare)

Jaken and you buttheads all the time, it’s almost comical

The times you interact with him mainly consist of you telling him to leave Rin alone or him telling you something Sesshomaru said

Speaking of Sesshomaru you don’t see him often and the only times you hear from him are in the form of notes he leaves around the house to the degree of ‘I fed Ah-Un this morning’ or ‘Make sure Rin takes her vitamins’ 

The other times you “hear” from him are when Jaken comes by saying things like ‘Lord Sesshomaru has requested that you prepare Rin to go out’

And for a while you were like who tf does he think he is because like yea he pays most of the rent but like he isn’t paying you for this so why does he think he can order you around indirectly

The first time you see Sesshomaru, it’s late and Rin’s been asleep for hours.

You walked into the kitchen and didn’t bother with turning the lights on but then you heard the smallest shuffle and a groan

And the moonlight comes through the window at the perfect angle and it reflects so beautifully off his silver hair

He turs some and you see his face and immediately take back all the times you’ve cussed him out mentally

And the you realize you’re in your pajamas staring at this man you’ve never met before that’s sleeping on the couch. For all you know he could be some random guy who broke in

He looks so peaceful that you loathe to disturb it but you poke at him w a stick and he groans out something to the tune of “Go away Jaken”

“I’m not Jaken”

He immediately sat up and stared at you like he was trying to figure out who you were in his head for a moment 

“Don’t you want to sleep in your room?” you asked him. He stood up and begun to walk towards his room in response 

You just watched him walk away but before he turned the corner into the hallway you swear you heard him say “You should get some sleep too.”

[miskatonique]

HERBERT WEST CHEAT SHEET !

since my muses are not super well known in the contemporary rpc ( and i’m too lazy to do a full about page at this very moment ) i decided to put together little posts for them that give their general backgrounds, vibes, and plot possibilities !

this is a mix of canon and headcanon, and these are subject to change / adapt as i get more used to writing the characters

BACKGROUND:

Films: Re-Animator 1985, Bride of Re-Animator 1990, Beyond Re-Animator 2003

We don’t talk about Beyond Re-Animator......

Dr. Herbert West, 24 in the first movie, 27 in the second movie, idk like 40 in the third movie. Mad scientist to the MAX. In the novelization Herbert is an orphan who gets passed around in foster homes before eventually going to undergrad at NYU and pursuing his theory about the re-animation of dead tissue. Mostly people think he’s sort of crazy until one of his articles catches the eye of Dr. Hans Gruber at a university in Switzerland, and he invites Herbert to come work alongside him. Herbert eventually grows to respect Gruber as both a mentor and father-figure.

Herbert and Gruber develop a reagent that affects re-animation in dead animal tissue but they know that for their results to be taken seriously they need to do a human trial. Dr. Gruber volunteers but the dosage of the reagent is too large, and though it brings Gruber back to life it quickly overwhelms his system and he dies again. Herbert is taken into psychiatric custody in Switzerland but is eventually released.

Herbert returns to America and specifically sets his sights on Miskatonic Medical School in Arkham, Massachusetts because one of the staff, Dr. Carl Hill, used to work with Gruber years ago, and even went on to plagiarize some of Gruber’s work and publish it in America. Herbert makes it his secondary goal to absolutely terrorize Dr. Hill, and because he’s a chaotic gremlin in human form he’s very good at it.

Herbert continues working on perfecting the reagent, rooming with Dan Cain and eventually pulling Dan into the experiments as well when Dan’s cat dies and Herbert is able to prove his research by reanimating it. Herbert isn’t perturbed when Dan’s talk with Dean Halsey goes south, and just digs his heels in and insists that the only way to truly prove that the reagent works is to reanimate a human cadaver.

Results are just as bad as you’d expect. Sure, the cadaver reanimates but it also wrecks the morgue and kills Dean Halsey. RIP. Herbert insists that they reanimate him and the dean comes back less like himself and more animalistic, trying to kill both Herbert and Dan before his daughter Meg shows up and stops him. Despite it all, Herbert manages to wriggle his and Dan out of any suspicion from the police but Dr. Hill takes an interest in Herbert’s work once he does exploratory surgery of Dean Halsey and finds out he’s technically dead.

Dr. Hill confronts Herbert in his laboratory and threatens to steal Herbert’s work and take it for his own, offering Herbert the meager honour of being his assistant. Herbert promptly murders Hill via decapitation but decides not to let his fresh corpse go to waste and reanimates both Hill’s head and his body, which come back to life and knock Herbert out and steal all of his work.

Yada yada, Herbert gets Dan to help him go after Hill, the big climax happens. Herbert is able to prove his theory about overdose by shooting up Dr. Hill’s headless body with a bunch of reagent, which backfires and Herbert is left for dead all tangled up in Hill’s intestines, but not after he ensures that his research is safe with Dan.

They never explain how Herbert survives the first movie but he sure is alive in the second movie! It’s roughly 3ish years after the first film, so he’s got his doctorate now and he’s drug Dan all the way to Peru so they can be volunteer medics in a civil war. This obviously gives Herbert an unprecedented access to fresh bodies for his experiments.

Eventually he and Dan head back to Miskatonic Hospital, where they’re able to get jobs and a creepy cute little house that used to be a mortuary so they can continue the work. Herbert is now obsessed with the reanimation of separate parts and convinces Dan to help him build an entirely new life from parts. Dan’s not on board until Herbert shows him Megan Halsey’s heart and promises that they’ll build the body around it.

Dr. Hill’s head also somehow survived the first movie and it tries to terrorize Herbert, along with a cop who’s investigating Herbert for stealing corpses. Herbert eventually kills and reanimates the cop, and then gets into even more trouble when all of the other strange creatures he’s been reanimating start coming after him because they’re being mind controlled by Dr. Hill’s nasty head ( don’t ask me okay, this script was written in literally 6 weeks it makes no sense )

Anyway Herbert and Dan successfully bring their creation to life right before getting attacked by Dr. Hill and his army of weirdos, all while Dan is having a mental breakdown because he thinks the creation is his dead girlfriend Meg. In the chaos Dan and the creation escape separately while Herbert and Hill and co. get trapped under buried rubble and are left for dead ( AGAIN ).

But surprise! Herbert isn’t dead! We don’t know how he survived but we do know that at some point in time Dan turned over evidence to the authorities that led to Herbert’s arrest and imprisonment. The third movie picks up with Herbert who’s been in prison for 13 years and the dumbass new hospital doctor is a fanboy of Herbert and brings in some of his reagent. Herbert basically starts a prison riot, chaos ensues, this movie is Not Good, but the important thing is that Herbert escapes prison with his work and gets to walk off free and definitely alive into the night <3

VIBES / PERSONALITY:

His work is EVERYTHING to him -- there have been multiple times where Herbert has put his work above his own bodily safety or chance of survival, and I guarantee he would do it again, too. Herbert is mostly focused on being able to do the impossible simply because it’s “impossible.” He’s able to convince Dan to help him because he reasons the practical applications of his reagent, like saving lives by aiding in surgeries or helping with amputations, but at the end of the day Herbert is only concerned with discovery, acclaim, and giving classical science a big ‘ole middle finger.

He can be incredibly manipulative when looking for a specific action or behavior in the people close to him. This mostly is seen in how he treats Dan, often reeling him back in with promise of how much good their work will do in the world when Dan starts to get squeamish. Herbert is also really good at finding the sorest spots in someone and pressing on them, but usually only does this when he wants to prove a point or if he really hates someone.

He gains a lot of power by seeming like the more “level-headed” person in an altercation, but he can get extremely excitable or aggressive, especially when something goes well with his research or if it’s being threatened.

He’s genuinely a good doctor, doesn’t freak out under pressure, has neutral-good bedside manner, is very decisive and isn’t afraid to make difficult decisions when it comes to a patient’s life. However, Herbert considers himself a scientist first and a doctor second. The work on reanimation will always come before anything else.

He’s a HUGE fucking nerd, he loves making puns or little zingers whenever he can fit them into a conversation. He also likes playing practical jokes, though he doesn’t do it often. He’s got a great evil giggle.

Oh he’s terrible at taking care of himself. There’s a deleted scene from the first movie where Herbert is shown to be injecting himself with a weakened version of the reanimating reagent because it helps keep his brain sharp and makes it to where he doesn’t have to sleep. What a NUT. I think he probably weans off this habit, by force or choice. His sleeping and eating habits are still pretty bad, though. Definitely the kind of person who doesn’t eat/sleep/rest unless he’s genuinely about to collapse because of it.

Oh he’s also sooooooooooo gay. gay gay gay homo sexual.

There are very few people he outright respects or enjoys spending time around, and with everyone else he is absolutely so bitchy and rude. He doesn’t give a single shit about being polite. Also ACAB.

PLOT POSSIBILITIES:

Got any canonically dead muses? Want them to be alive again? Herbert can help with that! He’ll definitely want to make sure they stick around and observe them to see why the reagent worked so well, maybe do some extra tests, so he can also double as a really annoying, creepy roommate. Score!

Med student muses? I have a new classmate for you

Ever wondered what your muse would do if they saw someone graverobbing, or smuggling body parts into their house in the middle of the night? Do they stop him? Ask questions? Offer to help? Now’s the chance to find out!

He could always use a new assistant since Dan keeps abandoning him after every movie, jfc, loyalty is so hard to find these days

Meet-cute where one of his reanimated creations tries to murder you and he saves you from it <3

[cinnaminsvga]

La Douleur Exquise Pt 6 | Incubus!Yoongi AU

➵ summary: in which you accidentally summon an incubus in the middle of your shitty apartment and he won’t leave until you agree to have sex with him. until then, min yoongi, incubus extraordinaire, is now your sexually promiscuous and grumpy roommate. aka, the incubus au no one fucking asked for. ➵ warnings: some blood/gore but no actual violence ➵ genre: angst, humor adjacent ➵ words: 8.2K ➵ a/n: HAPPY 6TH ANNIVERSARY BANGTAN!! zee?? writing lde?? sometimes miracles do happen 😌🤟(one more chapter to go let’s get it)

➵  part 1 // part 2 // part 3 // part 4 // part 5 // part 6 // part 7

The sound of birds chirping outside your window are what rouses you from your slumber. You don’t quite remember falling asleep, but you do recall the events of last night despite the fog currently residing in your sleep-addled brain. With your eyes still closed, you hesitantly pat the empty space beside you––a pillow meets your palm instead of the warm body you had foolishly hoped would still find there. You clench your fist around the offending fabric, incredibly saddened by its coldness.

Even though you had expected it, you can’t help but be heartbroken to discover that Yoongi has long since gone. He must have left sometime in the night, maybe even minutes after your breathing had settled for sleep. Despite the ache that you feel, you know that it is for the best that he had left sooner than later. After all, his safety and happiness are what matter in the end, and you are assured that after fulfilling his end of the bargain, he is now free of his contract––

––and free to seek other people to make him happier than you ever could.

There is a bitterness on your tongue that you can’t quite remove, even after you had brushed your teeth for the third time. When you head to class that morning, you know that the bitterness has nothing to do with your dental hygiene.

Your professor drones on about a topic you had long since lost interest in, his sonorous voice filling the large auditorium and lulling his students to sleep. Your pen scratches indecipherable phrases on your notebook, neither taking notes nor writing anything in particular. Occasionally, something that looks awfully a lot like “Yoongi” finds its way into your scribbles, but no one is watching hard enough to verify if this is true.

No one ever needs to know, anyway.

There are only ten minutes left before the lecture ends, and you already have half a mind to start packing up when a knock is heard from the front of the hall. Your elderly professor stops, mid-phrase, hands still up in the air in the middle of wildly gesticulating about some obscure ancient scientist. Everyone’s heads turn to watch as your professor starts mumbling profanity under his breath, probably unaware that his mic was still on. He slams open the door, ready to give the poor student who decided to arrive just before the class was about to end when the intruder pops his head in, ignoring your professor entirely.

The bespectacled young boy glances around the auditorium, scanning the room until they land plainly on you. You squint back; why do his dimples look incredibly familiar?

“Y/N? I need to speak with you right now,” the boy says, before slinking out of the room just as quickly as he had entered.

Everyone switches their attention to you, your mouth agape in confusion. Who was that boy? You are sure you had never met him before, so perhaps he was just a messenger from someone else? Were you in trouble? Was someone hurt? (You hate that your stupid brain immediately goes to an image of an injured Yoongi, but it’s ridiculous to think that, right? After all, no one else knows about him existing in the first place.)

It feels like an eternity by the time you had stuffed all your things into your backpack and made your way outside the lecture hall. You pointedly disregard the stares of your professor and classmates as you quietly close the door. You feel like you should apologize, but you’re sure a remorsefully worded e-mail at the end of the day should suffice.

Exiting the lecture hall, you find that the boy is no longer in the hallway. Instead, a gentleman in a nice crisp suit wearing the same glasses as the young boy stands there, waiting patiently for you. The dimples make a lot more sense now.

Your eyes widen in recognition. “Namjoon?” you ask, confused. Your gaze darts all around the hallway, afraid that someone will catch you speaking with the right-hand man of Satan himself. Although, he does look fairly human, so you suppose everyone would be none the wiser anyway.

Namjoon seems to have caught on to your apprehension. “Sorry for pulling you out of class. And don’t worry, no one will disturb us. We need to hurry now, actually.” His voice sounds controlled and collected, but his body language said otherwise. His hands are picking at his pant seams like they’re unsure of what to do, and there are droplets of sweat dripping down the sides of his temples. He appears as if he had rushed all the way here, even though you know he could have easily transported himself.

“Why? Is something wrong? Is Yoongi okay?” The words slip out of your mouth easily, the worry that had unknowingly been building up in your system suddenly bursting at the sight of his boss. You are not stupid enough to hope that Namjoon’s reappearance was just a matter of simply catching up with the powerful demon.

Namjoon’s lips purse uncomfortably, his figure hunched like he’s holding up an invisible weight on his shoulders. He starts walking out of the building, and you instantly hurry to follow after him. “He’s not dead, but I need you to come with me right now. His trial is about to start, and we need you to stand as his witness.”

Not dead. The “yet” hangs in the air, waiting for its turn.

You try to swallow down the fear, but all the saliva in your mouth has dried up and you find yourself shaking a little. The anxiety builds up to its climax as an image of Yoongi being punished and tortured fills your mind’s eye. It isn’t possible for that to happen, right? Everything should have been sorted out the moment you had sex with one another. That had been the whole point of baring yourself to him––what else could you have done? An echo of his words from that argument you had days ago suddenly flits through your head, and you remember him saying something about sabotaging his mission.

Sabotage… what on earth would cause them to accuse him of sabotage? Why would he purposefully botch his mission? Unless...

You remember the way he had run away the moment you told him you wanted him. You remember how hard he had tried to stay away, right up until the moment you had pretended to be at the edge of danger. He had risked safety for you, you realize. He had risked a lot of things, that night. All because he lo––

You shake your head of those thoughts. No––it’s too dangerous to even think about. If what you’re thinking is correct, then you can’t allow anyone to know about it. Not even Namjoon, despite his obvious care for Yoongi.

“The trial… It should be fine, right? He fulfilled his contract with me, hasn’t he?”

“Yes, but…” Namjoon hesitates, scratching the back of his head as if he isn’t sure on what to say. His trepidation only causes your own to increase tenfold, and you have to stop yourself from grabbing the man by the lapels to demand him to tell you everything he knows.

“Well? Spit it out!”

“I… think it’s better for you to see for yourself. Hurry, take my hand. We might not have much time.”

Just as he is about to place his hand in yours, a flash of light from out of nowhere blinds you momentarily. You yelp, shielding yourself against the dazzling gleam. Beside you, you vaguely register Namjoon crying out as well. The light dissipates, and once the stars have left your vision, you find that the angel who had been supposedly “protecting” you has suddenly manifested by your side.

Seokjin wraps a protective arm around you, and in your dazed state, you are frozen under his hold. When you squint to look at him properly, you are surprised to find that his gaze is cold and unwelcoming––entirely different from the easy-going and senseless demeanor that he usually has. Coupled with the fact that Namjoon is wincing at his brother’s arrival, everything that has happened from the last ten minutes has given you a serious migraine.

“Namjoon-ah, I am not allowing you to bring my charge to hell.” Seokjin cocks a hip, tilting his nose up at his brother. Namjoon snorts at his dramatics, as always.

“I was unable to interfere when she was still bound by your people’s contract, but that is no longer the case. She is staying here, where she belongs,” Seokjin announces, his tone edged with finality. It allows you to snap out of your trance just enough to squirm under his weight.

“Seokjin, let me go!” Despite his lanky body, his grasp on you was stronger than you expected. It is only when he notices that you are having trouble maneuvering yourself in an upright position does he loosen his hold, if only slightly. He still keeps a firm hand on yours, unwilling for you to touch Namjoon in any way.

“Y/N, don’t argue with me on this. You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into,” he says, forcing you to make eye contact with him. Petulantly, you slant your gaze towards Namjoon instead, who is looking more and more anxious by the second. He fretfully looks at the watch on his wrist, and you know that there must not be a lot of time left to lose. For all you know, Yoongi could be sentenced to whatever punishment they dole out to demons in hell. What types of punishment do the citizens of hell give to their own kind, you wonder? Nothing you would like Yoongi to experience, no doubt.

“Hyung, I won’t allow any harm to befall Y/N. I swear on my own blood,” Namjoon says, taking the courage to step tentatively towards Seokjin. In an instant, Seokjin releases his brilliant light once more, and while it only blinded you momentarily, it seems to be agonizing for Namjoon, who lets out another blood-curdling scream. You paw at Seokjin’s arm blindly, begging him to stop.

“Seokjin! Please let me go! I need to save Yoongi,” you cry out, tears from both the pain of his angelic light and worry for your beloved incubi start to flow down your cheeks. Hearing your anguished tone, Seokjin stops, wiping your tears away with concern.

“Oh, I forgot. My holy light must hurt you slightly because you had intercourse with that wretched demon,” he mutters, caressing your face gently. It takes seconds for his touch to sooth the pain under your eyelids. Blinking rapidly and squinting around at your surroundings, you are surprised that Namjoon had mysteriously disappeared.

“Wait, where’s Namjoon––” you start, but the angel starts pulling you away, deaf to your loud protests. Students from the previous class start piling out of the lecture hall, but none of them seem to notice that there was a suspiciously handsome and tall man with an unearthly glow around his body. When the two you reach the outside of the building, he finally lets you wrench yourself out of his hold.

“Didn’t I fucking tell you to stop interfering? Of all the times you could have butted in, why must you be a hindrance at the exact moment I did not need you?” You seethe, jabbing a finger at his chest. His face hardens, and if your insides had not been coiling with worry and anger, you might have flinched under his judgment.

“This isn’t like the other times, Y/N. You have no idea what you’re going to get yourself into. Going to hell isn’t just like walking inside your local supermarket,” he says, voice dark. He heaves a sigh, collecting himself as he tries to explain the danger you’d be putting yourself in. “Hell… Isn’t for people like you, Y/N. I was basically born to protect you from ever setting foot in that place, do you understand? Being locked in that covenant with Yoongi was bad enough––why must you constantly put yourself in danger for him?”

Of course you know the reason. Hell, Seokjin probably knows the reason as well. The pain of the words that you cannot speak are lodged inside your throat, suffocating you with the truth of why you cared so much for him.

Yoongi was supposed to just be a demon––a demon you had no intention of ever worrying for. He was never supposed to be an important person in your life. He was never supposed to take so much damn space in your heart.

But most of all, he was never supposed to have been yours to call your own.

“Tell me this, then,” you whisper, lips wobbling already. You might have imagined it, but Seokjin’s stare softens, if only infinitesimally. “Remember when you said you couldn’t deal with my internal problems? Well, Yoongi is my problem now. He’s been my problem for a long time now,” you finish, breathing shallow as the weight of your confession lies heavily in your stomach.

Seokjin stands still as he appraises you, his lips pursing but giving nothing away as you wait for him to say something. When you feel like the silence has stretched on long enough, you give him one last pleading look.

“Please. I’ll stay away from all things damned after this. Just… let me save him, and I’ll do whatever you say.” You ignore the way your voice breaks at the end, and you ignore the way your eyes burn as more tears already start to well up.

There isn’t any reason for Seokjin to agree with you. After all, he is only doing his job, and despite what you might think of the angel, he is only doing what he thinks is best for you. You are at his complete mercy, and the realization hits you like freight train––he’ll never let you save Yoongi. Your beloved is out there, left under the judgment of his peers for a crime that he did not commit alone. Your own guilt consumes you, but there is nothing you can do.

Except.

Except Seokjin’s face has softened. His lips have unpursed, and there is a glint of something residing in his eyes that you immediately latch onto, hope surging through your veins. You clasp his hands, squeezing it so you can show just how much it would mean to you, if he would just let you go.

Minutes pass. Maybe hours. A lifetime. His irises jump as he calculates the odds of you getting hurt. Of him getting in trouble. You dare not breathe, not even for a moment.

And then, his warm hands squeeze back. He groans loudly, tipping his head forward as if in prayer. For all you know, he could very well be apologizing to his Boss already.

“Fine. Let’s go. But I’m coming with you,” Seokjin murmurs, a defeated look on his face. Somewhere along the annoyed lines along his brow, you can see a speck of endearment floating there. You send him a wry smile, nodding in agreement.

“Thank you. I owe you one,” you whisper. He just snorts, rolling his eyes with a grimace.

“Oh, you owe me more than you can imagine. Well, let’s get going then before that stupid incubus gets his ass served,” Seokjin says. He grasps your hand in his, but pauses just as he’s about to transport the two of you. “I forgot. We have to find Namjoon first. I might have accidentally banished him to a parallel dimension a while ago, and I don’t know where the trial is being held, so…”

You give him an exasperated glare. “That’s a bit extra, isn’t it? He hadn’t even been hurting me when you got here!”

“Yeah, but. He’s annoying and he’s my brother. Sue me,” he smirks, and the two of you disappear from your university, as if you had never been there at all.

xxx

After you had located Namjoon floating around in a dimension comprised completely only with lesbians (“Wow, hyung. You really shouldn’t even have bothered picking me up––it’s wonderful here!” he exclaims, before promptly being whacked in the head by Seokjin), the three of you finally make your way to hell.

When you had agreed to coming there, you did not know what exactly to expect. All the imagery you had of hell were from shitty teen angst tv shows and paintings made by horny Italian dudes. You could have at least expected some hellfire, right? Maybe some demons fucking in a corner? Or perhaps there would be some screaming mortals begging for salvation?

You really had not been expecting a dull office building with interns scuttling around cubicles and a broken water cooler beside a wilted potted plant. Well, maybe you expected the wilted potted plant, but everything else?

“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” you question, staring incredulously as a (hu?)man in chunky black glasses clacked monotonously on a keyboard. When you try to take a peek at what he was typing, you are surprised to see that he is actually playing a video game with the volume turned down. “These people look to be very… human, if I do say so myself.”

“What?” Seokjin scoffs, pulling you along despite wanting to observe the office workers a little bit longer. Namjoon has already walked ahead of the two of you, but it seems like Seokjin knew his way around the place just as well as he did. Strange, you think. Then again, when has that so-called angel seemed anything but?

“When I imagined hell, I was thinking more… uhh…”

“Hellfire? Destruction? Suffering? Please,” Seokjin laughs, gesturing towards the dead-eyed crowd of white collars. “Does this not seem like suffering to you? That dude over there is fucking playing Fortnite to try and soften the boredom of doing a desk job for all eternity. How much more sadistic can you get?”

“The air-conditioner is broken too,” Namjoon calls out from up ahead, turning to smirk smugly at the cubicle rats. The office workers groan in unison at his blatant violation of human rights, but none of them seem to be bothered enough to protest or something. Then again, you can imagine what type of punishments that Namjoon can come up with if pushed––after all, he is Seokjin’s brother.

Another thing you never thought to consider is how large Hell is. You can only remember so many twists and turns before everything starts to blur together; the dark grey walls run endlessly around you, with smatterings of dark mahogany doors that look almost as if they were only painted on. The two brothers do not pause at all in their journey, however, and all you can do is try your best to keep up with their long-legged strides.

Finally, the corridor widens into a full-fledged room, with a ceiling so tall that you can’t even begin to see the end of it. There seems to be more doorways just ahead of you, towards another hallway where no ends seem to be in sight, but the two men stop in front of the double doors to the right before you could go any further. Unlike the other doors, this one is painted pure white, almost illuminant among the drab grey walls. Namjoon and Seokjin stare ahead at the door, neither one of them going to turn the knob just yet.

“Well. This is it,” Namjoon murmurs, his quiet voice sounding loud amidst the silence. He casts a sidelong glance at Seokjin, who swallows thickly as he makes a point to look away from his brother. He fidgets beside you, shoulders rolling back as if he feels something crawling up his spine. You should know; you can feel the anxiety begin to make its way up to your throat.

“It’s the same courtroom…” Seokjin mutters. You want to ask what he means, but there are other things to worry about.

“Has the trial already begun?” you ask, though you already know the answer. It’s more to stall for time, afraid of what is to come. You try to think back about every single thing you did with Yoongi, what sort of conversations and interactions you had with him that might incriminate him. The steady throb of fear reminds you of the three words you had spoken aloud that fated night, and though Yoongi had not said it back, you wonder if your foolishness is what brought him to this predicament in the first place.

Namjoon watches you, sees the way your hands are clenched by your sides, dots of sweat lining your neck, and yet he does not mention your state of mind. Instead, he answers, “It started just a while ago. They’ve kept him in a holding cell while they waited for me to fetch you. We must hurry, or else…” Namjoon trails off, biting his lip. If you knew him better, you might hazard a guess and say that he was scared, too.

A demon who was afraid… You don’t know what that could mean.

“Wait, Namjoon. I have a question.” You have to make sure that this isn’t a lost cause. If what you were guessing is true, then…

For whatever reason, Namjoon doesn’t need you to state it explicitly. He sends you a weak smirk, head shaking as he goes to turn the doorknob. “No need to worry, Y/N. They can’t hear conversations when incubi are on missions. You’re safe.”

You flinch, foot melded to the floor. “H-how did you..?”

“Y/N, let’s hurry.” Seokjin interrupts, his sudden comment making you unfreeze long enough to allow him to tug you through the door. He had been so still and so quiet that you had almost forgotten that he was there. His grip on your arm is tight, unbelievably so, and you can feel it shaking slightly.

You glance at him, his usual expressive face empty of all emotion. He stares resolutely ahead of him, and when you follow his line of sight, you see that he is looking right at the imposing man behind the judge’s podium.

The judge is a slim man with dark red irises that seem to follow you wherever you go. His face is smooth like ivory, clear of any indication as to what age he may be. His black hair is slicked back neatly, showcasing his stiff widow’s peak like an arrow pointing straight towards his angular nose. Everything about him screams sharp. Impenetrable. What surprises you the most, however, are the deep set dimples permanently etched onto his cheeks even though he does not smile.

“Nice of you to finally join us, Kim Namjoon.” The man says, the timbre of his voice almost edging towards a growl. At his greeting, the quiet chatter around the room reaches a standstill as hundreds of eyes lock onto you and your angelic companion.

The courtroom is large, far larger than any you’ve ever seen in the surface. The circular shape of it makes you feel confined, like you’re trapped inside a toddler’s goldfish bowl. There are hundreds of rows filled with demons of all shapes and sizes, though most appeared quite humanoid. To your far right, you notice a crowd of winged women with unhinged jaws, their talons long enough that they graze the floor. Right beside the judge, there are a group of the most beautiful looking men that you have ever seen, their dark horns the only indication that they aren’t as human as they seem. One of them waves shyly at you, a small smile gracing his heart shaped lips. For whatever reason, you feel compelled to return the gesture.

“I am terribly sorry for the wait, your Honor. I had a bit of a misunderstanding on the way here,” Namjoon says. He bows deeply, his forehead almost reaching his knees with how low he goes.

The judge peers at Seokjin, brows raised with amusement. “I’m guessing it has something to do with our little guest, is it not?”

“Judge Kim.” Seokjin says, brittle. His ears have turned pink, though his expression is as blank as ever.

Judge Kim tuts, breaking the eye contact when he shuffles a pile of papers together. He flips through them, his smirk never faltering. “Is that how you treat your father after all this time? Surely they teach you better manners up there.”

You gasp, mouth dropping down in shock as you try and comprehend what the judge had just said. “Your father?” you whisper, trying to catch Seokjin’s gaze.

“I have no father,” Seokjin replies, jaw clenched. His lips tremble. “The only Father that I know is the one that I serve up above.”

The judge snorts, leaning casually back into his seat. “I believe we all had to serve the same Father, once upon a time. It seems like you’re the only one who hasn’t gotten the memo yet.”

Seokjin takes a step forward, urging you to do the same. You stumble after him, but not before turning inquisitively back at Namjoon. He smiles sadly, shaking his head and mouthing ‘later’ before heading to sit directly beside the judge––no, his father. The demon who had waved to you scoots over, patting Namjoon on the shoulder before hurriedly whispering something into his ear.

There is a podium right in the middle of courtroom. Seokjin leads you to it, never once letting go of you. When you stand before the court, you shoot him a frightened look, begging him to stay. He nods silently, standing firmly beside you with a hand placed warmly against the small of your back.

For the first time in your life, you feel grateful to this annoying yet kind angel, who chose to stay by your side despite having to go against every rule in his book just to keep your reckless self safe. Not for the first time, however, do you feel the guilt begin to eat you whole, at how your selfishness has once again brought pain to someone you cared about. Shithead angel or not.

Judge Kim slams the gavel, the echo especially loud in the hauntingly silent courtroom. He clears his throat, curling his finger at two impossibly large demons standing guard in front of another door closer to the judge. Without another word, they exit the room, the squeaking door frame resounding like a gunshot.

He clears his throat, his pupils blown unnervingly. “Miss… Y/N, is it not?”

You turn to Seokjin helplessly. He nods his head, quietly encouraging you. You turn back to the judge, a frog in your throat. “Y-yes. That’s my name.”

“You are the one who called upon Min Yoongi’s services on the 12th of August, did you not?”

“Yes. That is correct.”

“You, with your full consent, were locked in a covenant with Min Yoongi, an incubus who was bound to pleasure you in any way that might fulfill your desires, correct?”

You take a shaky breath. “Yes.”

“Miss Y/N,” Judge Kim peers at his documents, tongue darting to lick his fingers as he flips to the next page. His tongue is forked like a snake. “It says here in our contracts that if the conjurer, which is you in this scenario, is not sufficiently pleasured by the incubus within a given time limit, then he will be put under trial in the event that he has sabotaged his own mission. Are you aware of this?”

“Yes, your Honor.” You pause, unsure whether its your place to question him back. Seokjin notices your hesitation, so he pokes your back softly, giving you the courage you need to say your piece. You reach behind your back, finding his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze in thanks.

“Your Honor, may I ask why this trial is being held in the first place? Min Yoongi has sufficiently, uh, pleasured me to the best of his ability the night before. If my math is correct, then I know for certain that he has made his deadline. As his client, I can say that his services were more than outstanding.”

Judge Kim sneers at that, fanning himself with the documents smugly. “Although that might be so, there are other… circumstances that warrant prosecution. For example––”

Before he can finish, the doors reopen once more with a bang, drowning him out. The two guards return, hauling a mangled corpse to the front of the stands. They dump him unceremoniously to the ground, right at the foot Judge Kim’s podium. One of the guards forces the man to tilt his head up, grabbing fistfuls of his hair to reveal his bloodied face. It’s––

“Yoongi!” You cry out, nearly jumping out of your stand to reach him, but Seokjin pulls you back down. You sob in despair, trying desperately to get Seokjin to let go, but all he does is shake his head sadly. You claw the wooden podium in front of you, tears blurring your vision as you call hoarsely for Yoongi.

Yoongi lets out a low groan, eyes clenched shut. He slumps against the wall, head lolling to his shoulders as his shallow inhales fill the courtroom. His slacks are torn apart, leaving his bruised and slashed legs for you to see. His bare chest is littered with numerous small cuts, with one particularly deep gash lying dangerously close to his heart. His face is similarly decorated, with bloody rivers dripping down from his forehead and cheeks.

You can feel your heart beating outside of your chest. You want nothing more than to rush over to him, though you don’t know what you would have done if you could. He looks to be at the brink of death, as he struggled to even find the energy to take another breath. Fear rattles its claws up and down your insides, making you feel nauseous. The world begins to sway at your feet, and Seokjin has to prop you up to keep your knees from buckling under you.

“Miss Y/N, will you please explain to the court why we have testimonies from a multitude of other incubi that Min Yoongi has fallen in love with you?” Judge Kim booms, scattering all of his documents with a flourish. Dozens, if not hundreds of papers flutter above you, all of them affidavits of demons claiming that Yoongi loved you. Seokjin snatches one out of the air, scanning the document in bemusement.

“Your Honor, this is simply preposterous. Y/N and Yoongi have only known each other for less than three months! What makes you think that they could even fall in love in such a small amount of time?” Seokjin contends, shaking his head in bewilderment. “And what is this even about? How could anyone claim to be a witness to someone falling in love? What does that even entail?”

“We have eyes everywhere, Seokjin. You might have forgotten, but no demon is safe from being monitored.” The judge’s mouth curls up, smiling disparagingly at his exiled son. “It’s part of our… customer satisfaction program.”

“Bullshit,” Seokjin hisses, slamming his fist down on the podium. You startle at the pure hatred dripping from every inch of his body, his angelic glow slowly leaking out of his skin. A few of the demons closest to the two of you start shrieking in pain, crouching down to avoid his heavenly power. Judge Kim appears unaffected, however, as he slams his own gavel down to bring order back to the court.

“Silence, everyone!” he barks. He then points a finger at your companion. “As for you, Kim Seokjin... I would advise that you bring your temper down a notch. We wouldn’t want more nasty proceedings to happen while you’re here trespassing.”

“I am not trespassing––”

“Don’t think I don’t know that you still like to visit him during your downtime, my son.” Judge Kim chuckles, enjoying the shocked look on Seokjin’s face. “Why, you should know better than to try and get away without me noticing. You should be more careful. After all, I doubt you’d want Jeon Jungkook to––”

“Don’t you dare say his name!” Seokjin growls, taking a staggered step forward. Now it is your turn to hold him back, grabbing him by the sleeve to halt his advances. He doesn’t seem like he’ll go much further, but you don’t risk letting go just yet.

“Seokjin, please calm down. We have to save Yoongi.”

Seokjin glances back at you. His breathing is still harsh, but the glow around his body has subsided at least. “Okay. Okay. I––I’m sorry,” he mutters, stepping back to stand beside you.

You fix your attention back to Judge Kim. “Continuing with what Seokjin said earlier… D-don’t you think it’s ridiculous for people to claim that we have fallen in l-love, like you suggested?” You stammer a bunch in your speech, probably to your detriment. You scold yourself internally as you wait for the demon to respond.

He purses his lips, shrugging nonchalantly. “We have ways of knowing, Miss Y/N. We wouldn’t have this type of rule if we haven’t seen it happen in the past. Trust me, we always know.”

“What do you know, then?”

“We have witnesses say that when you and Min Yoongi… fulfilled your contract the other night, there was a slight difference in the way he moved. As you may or may not know, Min Yoongi is a highly trained professional. He knows better than to implicate other emotions into his job.”

“What are you implying?” You ask, though you already know what he means. In front of you, Yoongi’s chin lifts up imperceptibly.

“I am implying that Min Yoongi has fallen in love with you.”

The courtroom is once again filled with chatter. Hisses and jeers fly left and right, and even a wad of paper is thrown right at Yoongi’s immobile form. The winged ladies crow in unison, chanting “Foolish, foolish…” repeatedly as they strike their talons against the floor.

There is a yell from the upper stands. “Love has tarnished the infallible Min Yoongi!”

“Kill him! He is useless to us now!”

“What is an incubus if he is not blinded by lust? How will he ever be whole again if he is to share his heart with someone else?”

The uproar does not cease until the judge raises a hand. He affixes you with a gaze, prompting you to respond to their accusations. The crowd surveys you, like vultures waiting for you to take your last breath. You gulp, skin prickling with nerves.

“And who is to say that these accusations are even credible?”

“Oh?” The judge perks at that, leaning closely as he appraises you. You shrink back, unnerved by his sudden change in demeanor.

“Miss Y/N, did you come here to defend Min Yoongi? Or to stand as a witness? Why do you feel so… inclined to save some lowly incubus such as he? Surely, you have other things worth doing with your time right now.”

Murmurs. Nails and tongues click impatiently all around you. Your mouth goes dry as the demons start to openly stare at you, picking you apart. Trying to elicit the truth out of you.

“Or perhaps, Miss Y/N…” Judge Kim stands now, opening his arms to address the entire crowd. Everyone cheers as he pauses for theatrical effect. “You are also… inflicted with the same malady as our dear Min Yoongi is?”

The whispers grow louder. Cold terror paralyzes. You take a shaky inhale.

“I…”

“Y/N,” Seokjin warns, grasping your arm. He looks gaunt, like the soul has been sucked out of him. “The moment I sense that your life is in danger, I’m getting you out of here, understand?”

A warning. If you don’t say the right thing now, you’ll never be able to save Yoongi. You can’t blame Seokjin for wanting to get out of there either. This may be your last chance to see Yoongi, but you only hope that at the very least, it won’t be his last chance at life. You have to think fast.

You chance a look around the room. You see Namjoon sitting stock still beside his father, gaze unreadable. He is looking at neither you nor Seokjin, but somewhere over your shoulder. It is clear that he will not be of help this time. On the other hand…

The demon with the heart shaped smile beside him gesticulates wildly back at you, mouthing something that you can’t quite make sense of. You watch confusedly, as he appears to be asking you to keep talking, judging by the way he’s opening his mouth as wide as he can.

“Are you sure?” you mouth back, still feeling afraid. He gives you a thumbs up, nodding enthusiastically that you think his head might fly off.

“Miss Y/N? What do you have to say?” Judge Kim snaps you out of your trance, you cheeks burning after being called out once more.

“I… have a confession to make.” You hear Seokjin stifle a gasp. Yoongi is as motionless as ever, the wound on his chest steadily dripping with scarlet. It has started to pool on the floor, painting the tiles like molten tar. You almost miss it, but his hand twitches by his side.

“When I asked Yoongi to… have sex with me, I asked him to do it in a way where I could pretend that we…”

“Pretend?” Judge Kim repeats.

Your heart pulsates to a crescendo. “Pretend that we… were in love. It was all a farce.”

The crowd erupts.

“Liar!”

“A fucking stupid story, I bet!”

“Dumb whore!”

“Miss Y/N, I’m going to need for you to explain. Properly.” He glares at you harshly, slamming a gavel when the audience wails back in defiance. “Silence! We will listen to her testimony!”

Focus, Y/N. Think fast. This is the only way you can save him. It will hurt, but it will have been for good. It is worth it.

(Or so, you hope.)

“I… I have never been in love. I never knew what that type of emotion felt, and I craved it more than anything. So, when he asked me what I wanted from him, I told him that… I wanted to pretend like we were together. It’s a stupid type of roleplay that others might not have asked for from an incubus, but I did.” Your words sound pathetic in your ears, but in a way, they are nothing if not the truth. Despite what the other demons might say, you know deep in your soul that Min Yoongi could not be in love with you.

The two of you might have shared a connection, possibly even as close acquaintances, but love? It’s a long shot. Hell, you’re not sure if you love him either. (A lie, but you won’t admit it.) Everything about this trial is making your head swim, confusing you as terror and anguish become all you can perceive.

Yes, that’s right...

There is nothing about you to love. You have been nothing but a menace to him, an inconvenience. It’s your fault that he is hurting right now, your fault for being incapable of having the most basic of human desires. If you just had been a normal human being and just fucked him on the first day, then none of this would have happened. You’ve grappled with this guilt for years, and now you have proof that what you’ve always feared is true: you’re different, and you will be punished for it.

“She’s lying!” A demon with electric blue hair and pale skin screeches, standing up with a finger pointed at you. He bears his numerous teeth, a wolfish smile tugging upwards.  

Others begin to say the same, a chorus of dissent starting to rise. Judge Kim looks down to where Yoongi sits, who still refuses to open his eyes. With a flick of his wrist, Judge Kim forces the guards to lift Yoongi to his feet. They do as he asks, and you’re left helpless as Yoongi staggers upwards, coughing up globs of blood like a morbid fountain.

“Yoongi. Is what this human saying true?”

Yoongi wheezes once, twice. He warbles something unintelligible, too soft for anyone to understand.

“Speak louder or risk your life being shortened to its last inch,” the judge sneers. The guards’ grips tighten on his torso, causing him to choke for air.

“Stop it! You’re gonna kill him!” You turn to Namjoon, wrecked sobs all you can manage at this point. “Namjoon! Make them stop!”

Judge Kim guffaws, as do the jury beside him. “Human, you really are as shameless as you say you are. However, we cannot just let him go. Your claims are baseless unless the incubus himself swears that what you say is true.”

“Y/N, we have to go now.” Seokjin fidgets beside you, shoulders hunched as if he’s ready for flight. You plead weakly with him, but he shakes his head. “No. There’s nothing else you can do.”

“Listen to Seokjin, mortal. He is right; there is no saving those lost to love.” Judge Kim says. He motions for the guards to shackle Yoongi once more, the clinking metal loud in the spacious hall. But then––

“Wait just a moment, your Honor.”

Confusion breaks out as the demon beside Namjoon stands up, his purple horns making him appear taller than he is. Even when he seems serious, his mouth still appears as heart shaped as they always do.

The judge looks surprised as everyone else. “Jung Hoseok?”

“Yes, your Honor. I am terribly sorry for interrupting you, but I’d like to question Miss Y/N some more.” He swallows heavily, jumping from foot to foot in anticipation. The atmosphere stills.

Judge Kim hums. “Well, I can certainly say that I am intrigued. Jung Hoseok, you’ve never once spoken during a trial.”

“I… believe there is something worth looking into with what Miss Y/N had said, that’s all.” He faces you, his determination blazing forth. He risks a small grin at you, making the all-consuming panic inside of you abate for a moment.

There is a pause as the judge appraises both you and Hoseok. A minute passes, but it feels like a millennia. Eventually, he sighs, waving for Hoseok to start. “Hmm. Alright, Jung Hoseok. You may proceed.”

His grin is charismatic, shedding a glow that you might even call heavenly. “Right. All I wanted to point out was that we should really consider who we’re dealing with right now. Like, come on guys!” He has the audacity to chuckle sarcastically, peering at his colleagues with contempt. “This is Min Yoongi we’re talking about! Hate him or love him, we all know that he’s one of the best in the business. Would he really risk his life for some filthy human?” He laughs, louder than before, so much so that the demons near him start giggling as well.

His amusement is contagious. Soon, the court shakes with laughter––even the blue-haired demon who had shouted a while ago has begun to snicker in earnest. Your ears redden as embarrassment fills you, defenseless against their cruelty.

Even the judge manages to let out a chuckle. “That’s true. What type of idiot would he be?”

Hoseok nods, enthusiastic. “Precisely. This is all just a misunderstanding. After all, humans are such fickle creatures… They want so endlessly, and yet at their core, they are nothing more than toys for us to discard.”

You can tell that the other demons have started to become swayed by Hoseok’s statement. A few nod their heads, and the ones closer to him even nudge him in a show of blatant camaraderie. Whoever this Hoseok was, he is certainly well-liked among the citizens of hell. Well-liked enough to be believed in an instant, it seems.

But to you, his words leave a sting that you aren’t sure you’ll forget. After all, Yoongi must see you like Hoseok described: nothing more than a foul, pathetic human. How foolish of you to think he could ever see you as an equal, much less a lover. He never once said he loved you, and he never will. Even now, as the proceedings reach its end, he has yet to look at you once.

The guards lift Yoongi up again, one of them grasping his chin so that he may face Judge Kim. You cannot see him except for his back, where his fists are folded behind him. Judge Kim leans over his podium, close enough to Yoongi that he could probably see through him if he so desired.

“Min Yoongi. I will ask you one last time and you shall speak clearly, lest you suffer the consequences. Did you or did you not fall in love with Miss Y/N?”

From your perch, you see his hands move. They tighten for a moment, fingernails digging so deeply into his palms that it is sure to draw blood, but it hardly makes a difference with how bloodied they already are. And then, they relax, just like that. Yoongi’s arms give out like a ragdoll.

You listen to his voice, for the first time that day. Like nails driven into a coffin. In just a few words, he buries you.

He says, “Yes. It’s true. Everything has been a charade.”

But the judge is not appeased. He needs to make sure that the nails won’t give out––that you’ve truly been buried under soil and heartbreak. He makes the guards turn him around, and you are faced again with Yoongi.

“If what you say is true, then say it once more. Look her in the eyes and tell her she is nothing to you. Go on.”

Yoongi refuses to open them, but he does as the judge asks. He repeats them, slowly, as if savoring them. You had hoped that it would hurt less this time, but it seems that the nails have reached deeper than you had imagined. It takes a century’s worth of effort to keep your sobs at bay.

Appeased, the judge allows the jury to convene. When they finish, Kim Namjoon is the one who stands to his feet, poised primly like he has been during the entire hearing. He is quick to dab a bead of sweat that trails down towards his chin.

“Has the jury reached a unanimous decision?” Judge Kim asks. Everyone waits for the jury to settle, watching with bated breath for the outcome of the trial.

Namjoon nods. “After heavy consideration, we, the jury, find the defendant to be... not guilty.”

Beside you, Seokjin releases a sigh of relief, head bowing in exhaustion. He laughs, disbelieving. “By God, he did it.”

The moment Namjoon finishes his statement, the guards immediately release Yoongi, leaving him to curl up to the floor in pain. He wheezes loudly at your feet, cradling his bloody torso. Instinctively, you jump over your podium, kneeling over his shivering form. Your hands float above him, afraid of hurting him further.

Seokjin is quick to pull you up, holding you tight when you struggle to reach for Yoongi. “Y/N, this is more than enough. We’ve done you needed to do, and we are going back now.”

“Fuck off,” you cry hoarsely, unwilling to leave him just yet. You need to know that he will be okay, that everything will have been worth it.

To your right, you hear footsteps hurriedly approaching you. Namjoon and Hoseok appear, a small vial of something clutched tightly in Hoseok’s hand. He is quick to feed the liquid to Yoongi, who begins coughing harshly when it hits his tongue. To your amazement, the medicine gives Yoongi enough strength to roll over on his back, broken gulps of air leaving his split lips.

“Y/N.”

Alive. Alive. He’s going to be alright.

“Yoongi, you’re going to be ok––” No. NONONONONO.

A scream rips out of your throat as you gaze at him, terrified, as he looks back at you. You are frozen, unable to tear yourself away from the frightening sight of the mangled remains of a demon who was once whole.

It can’t be real. They can’t have done this…

But they have.

...

His eyes are gone. Black holes where soft irises once called home.

“Go back home, Y/N. You’ve done more than enough.” Yoongi’s words would’ve hurt less had he shouted, but his voice is devoid of emotion. He stands up unsteadily, and you can only watch as Namjoon and Hoseok help him to his feet. They sling his arms around their shoulders, carrying him gently across the large courtroom. His feet drag listlessly behind him, his head bowed in silent defeat. They leave the room quickly, and you wouldn’t be able to follow even if you tried.

There is a warm hand pressed against your back. “I’m sorry, Y/N,” Seokjin whispers, his thumb rubbing circles across your shoulder blades, “There’s nothing else we can do.”

A wave of fatigue suddenly washes over you, your eyelids growing immensely heavy. You think your knees might have collapsed, Seokjin’s strong arms catching you before you hit the ground. You hardly hear him whisper another apology before your mind shuts off, allowing you to be sleep’s mistress for the night.

It is an entirely dreamless sleep––the eyes of your beloved incubus absent for the first time in weeks.

[need-a-fugue]

We Grow Together (8)

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x OFC

Summary: Relationships can be tough, especially when one person is a recovering-from-being-brainwashed-and-tortured former assassin and the other is an overworked mutant scientist. But hey, every couple has their struggles. Right?

Warning(s): some angst, some emotional and mental turmoil… some bad language words… much fluff

Chapter Summary: The world has been saved - check that off the list. Now it’s time to start planning for the future. But why does that feel so much harder than fighting a killer robot army? Luckily, Natasha’s around to talk some sense and help screw Tessa’s head on straight.

“I am not freaking out!” she shouts at the redhead before downing the shot of bourbon in front of her. She makes a pinched face as the brown liquid sets fire to her insides, then she holds out the tiny glass and shakes it, begging for a refill.

Natasha goes into the cabinet and pulls out two lowball glasses before settling in beside Tessa on the couch. She delicately folds her legs beneath her, leans forward to pour a few fingers into each glass, and hands one to Tessa. “I’m not judging,” she says slowly as she leans back.

With everything that’d been going on lately, most of the team has been pretty damn frazzled. The world didn’t end, which felt like a win. But a lot of innocent lives were lost when Sokovia was attacked. Jarvis got a body and became something… more, which everyone still seemed to be a bit on the fence about. Ultron was defeated. And all of the Avengers survived the battle, some coming out the other side in better shape than others. But the recovery and cleanup had only just begun, and man was it going to be a bitch to get through.

After Ultron and the other killer bots destroyed a good chunk of the tower, Tony had sped up the timeline on moving the Avengers’ home base upstate. Which meant that almost everyone was having to pack up their lives and slowly transition into the half-finished space. Natasha knew it was worse for Tessa because she had to move an entire lab and get to work on designing the new med floor, which Tony only just mentioned to her last week. And there was the more personal issue of deciding on living arrangements in the new compound – which apartment layout to get, what view was preferred, the types of amenities, and of course whether or not to take on a roommate.

For as long as Nat had known Tessa – and that was, what, four years now? – she had never known her to actually date anyone, not for more than a couple of months at a time anyway. But now she had a notorious assassin staying at her place nearly every night. And while they made no secret of their affair, they never actually publicly admitted to being in a relationship, let alone being in love. Even though both were painfully obvious.

“So…” Natasha starts, casually drawing out the word.

Tessa just looks at her with a confused quirk of her head. “So what?”

“Maybe you’re not freaking out, but you’re obviously upset. So…”

She takes a long, deep breath and leans back into the couch with her bourbon in hand. “I don’t know. I’m just… stressed out.”

Natasha lets loose with a small snort. “You thrive on being stressed out. You wouldn’t know how to slow down and relax if someone put you into a coma.” Tessa ducks her head and smiles a bit bashfully, knowing full well that Nat’s words describe her to a tee. “So what’s really bothering you? Because I feel like you’ve been… off for a while now.”

“Since Ultron, you mean?” she asks, sarcasm dripping.

“Yeah, since Ultron.” Natasha shifts into the couch and purses her lips as she thinks of something. “Since the thing with Wanda, really.”

Wanda. There is that. Tessa had gone along with the Avengers to Africa in large part because of the enhanced girl who had the ability to manipulate energy. From the rather limited amount of data that they had at the time, she was confident that the girl’s powers would be no match for hers. Turns out she was wrong. And Wanda was able to fry her brain just like the others.

“I hate that she’s here,” she mumbles into her glass as she finishes off the liquor.

Nat reaches over to hand her the bottle. “She’s just a kid.”

“A kid who tried to kill us and fucked with all our heads.”

“Not Clint’s.” Natasha sips at her drink as she pulls at a loose thread on her yoga pants. “I think he’s ready to adopt her.”

“Good. He can take her home with him.”

Nat gives her a questioning look. “You’d rather have her out in the world right now? With no one to help her hone her skills? She’s dangerous.”

“And we’re going to make her less dangerous?”

“You could.”

“Jesus,” Tessa sighs dramatically. “You sound like Steve.”

Natasha laughs. “Yeah, he said he was working on you.”

“Harassing me, you mean?”

“He thinks you’re the best one to help her, and honestly, he’s right. Your abilities are so similar… no one can identify better with what she’s going through.”

“What she’s going through?” She makes no attempt to hide the disdain in her voice. “She asked someone to experiment on her. She wanted powers so that she could exact revenge.”

“And now she has those powers and she doesn’t know what to do with them. Look, I’m not 100% sold on her either. But she’s here. She’s trying to make up for what she did. And she could be a huge asset to the team.”

Tessa gives a psh and downs some more of her drink.

Nat gives her an assessing look, gazing intensely at her friend for a long moment. “What did she do to you?” she finally asks.

“What do you mean?”

“That day, at the base, she really fucked you up,” she says, no question to her voice.

Tessa looks away as she replies, “She fucked all of us up.”

“Yeah, but I think the rest of us kind of got over it.” Tessa leans forward, reaching for the bourbon, and Natasha stops her, grabbing her hand when she wraps it around the bottle. “What did she show you?”

Tessa looks up into Nat’s eyes, sees that she’s truly interested in knowing, in helping. Natasha isn’t exactly a gossip. She’s usually more than content to be left out of other people’s drama. So the fact that she’s pressing her right now shows how much genuine concern the woman feels for her. “My sister,” she says simply, falling back into the couch cushions.

“Did you see her die?” she asks without preamble.

Tessa shakes her head and squints as though she’s trying to recall. “No. Not really. I just… saw her.” She takes a long pause, a confused and almost pained look on her face. “It was that night, though. The night she killed herself. But…” She shakes her head again, this time her eyes are tightly closed like they’re desperately trying to block something out.

“But what?” Natasha asks, extending her hand and slowly, softly beginning to stroke Tessa’s arm.

When she opens her eyes, they’re glassy and paler green than Nat’s ever seen them. Maybe it’s the bourbon. Maybe the lack of sleep and the abundance of stress. Maybe it’s the thought of a long-lost sister that she never talks about. “I wasn’t there.” She locks eyes with Natasha and repeats, “When she did it, I wasn’t there.”

“Okay,” she says, encouraging her to go as she maintains the delicate eye contact.

“But in the… vision… I was there. And I saw her.” She shakes her head and huffs out a breath. “But in the mirror. I saw her in the mirror.” She looks away quickly, almost seeming embarrassed by her words.

This time, when Tessa goes for a refill, Nat lets her have it. “You were twins, right?” She nods as she takes a long sip from her now half-filled glass. “Identical?” Another nod. Natasha leans back and sighs. “Well, that kind of makes sense, right? Our worst fears, our worst memories… that’s what she called to the surface. It makes sense that you’d regret not being there, and that in this… dream –”

“No,” Tessa interrupts quickly. “No, it wasn’t like that. It was… I don’t know how to explain it. I was her. I was Anna. And it didn’t feel… weird or anything. It felt… real.” A sudden shiver takes over her body. “I think…” but she can’t quite finish the thought. Instead she shakes her head again and then shakes out her arms to rid herself of the chill that suddenly overtakes her body. “Never mind. Just… forget it.” She looks up and takes note of the concerned look on Natasha’s face. “Let’s talk about something else. Can we talk about something else?”

Natasha changes her expression on a dime, going from worried frown to sly smirk. “Okay,” she starts. “Are you and the soldier gonna make it official?”

Tessa rolls her eyes. “I’m not sure what official means.” She shifts in her seat, seeming antsy and self-conscious. “I think… it sounds like we might share an apartment. I guess actually live together.”

Nat finishes the rest of her drink and sets the glass down on the coffee table. “You’re okay with that?” she asks, voice thoughtful and sincere. “That’s what you want?”

She shrugs. “It makes sense. He spends the night most nights anyway. It’d be dumb to give him his own place if he’d hardly even use it. And he doesn’t want to keep living with Steve… he deserves his own space back.”

She cocks a brow and gives a gentle mm-hmm. “And how does Steve feel about all of this?”

“Oh, mother Steve is very upset.” Tessa nods dramatically.

“Is he?” she mocks.

“He told James that if he loved me, then he’d marry me and not make me live in sin.” She takes one last sip and sets her glass down beside Nat’s. “They haven’t talked in two days.”

“Damn. I did not know that.” Natasha leans forward and takes Tessa’s hand. In a low, serious tone, she asks, “Is he making you live in sin?”

Tessa holds the eye contact for as long as she can before collapsing into a fit of hysterics. “Oh God,” she says through the laughter. “Will you save me?”

Natasha chuckles softly, which is about as emotive of a laugh as she ever allows. “Sounds like Steve’s already trying.”

“It’s dumb,” she says lightly, shaking her head as the giggles subside. “I know it is. We’re together all the time. He stays at my place all the time.”

“You’re completely in love,” Natasha supplies. Tessa gives her an incredulous side eye. “You’re not fooling anyone, golubushka. Sleeping with the man is one thing, but it’s so obviously way past that. And it has been for a long ass time.”

“I feel like I need wine to continue this conversation,” she says, hauling herself up off the couch and heading into Nat’s kitchen. She goes straight to the cupboard in the corner and pulls out two glasses before eyeballing the wine selection on the second shelf. “It’s so weird to me that the Black Widow’s taste in wine goes from sweet to practically Kool-Aid,” she mumbles, mostly to herself.

“There’s a Riesling in the fridge, you lush,” Natasha shouts from the other room.

Tessa wrinkles her nose. “Of course there is.” But her near disgust doesn’t stop her from grabbing the mostly full bottle of wine from the refrigerator and pouring two giant glasses.

“You know,” Nat starts, accepting the glass of wine as Tessa settles back onto the sofa, “Mixing bourbon and wine is rarely a good idea.”

“I’ve done worse,” she counters with a shrug.

Natasha raises a single brow as she looks at her friend with a smirk. “So… where were we?”

Tessa offers another shrug. “I love him, sure.”

“Sure? That does sound like love.”

“Feelings aren’t the problem.” She turns to face Nat, curling her leg up underneath her and throwing one arm over the back of the couch. She locks eyes with the redhead. “Relationships,” she says, a sort of fear and awe twisted into her voice. “That’s the part I suck at.”

“Don’t we all?” Natasha offers with a small smile. “We live strange lives here.”

“Even before here,” she says with a slow shake of the head. “I’ve always been… single minded.”

“You’re heading up the medical research lab for Stark Industries. You’re the official physician of the Avengers. And you’re not yet thirty. You don’t get here without being single minded.”

“A workaholic, you mean.”

“How about dedicated? Passionate?”

She shifts again, seemingly uncomfortable in her own skin. “It’s just… any other guy… I might’ve felt bad about not giving him my full attention, I should have. But I never really did.”

“You’ve never been in love before.”

“Oh no,” she says, eyes blown wide. “I’ve been in love before. And it did not go well.”

Nat cocks her head to the side. “Interesting…”

“Not today, no,” she responds to her friend’s fishing. That’s a looong story that’ll require more than a half a bottle of sugary Riesling to get out of her.

“Fine. But we will come back to this.”

“I’ve no doubt.”

“Are you afraid to live with him?” Natasha asks, taking no time at all to transition back to the topic at hand.

“I don’t know,” she answers honestly. “Right now, he doesn’t really have a place of his own. It’s either he stays with me or with Steve. So even though he’s usually at my place, it’s easy enough to say that he doesn’t really live there with me. But if he does actually live there… then it’s… I mean that’s…”

“Serious?”

Tessa nods, then stops short, crinkles her nose, and begins to shake her head. “It’s not just that. Or…it’s not that simple. It’s not like I’m afraid of commitment, per se.”

“Really?” Natasha asks with a smirk.

Tess rolls her eyes. “I just mean, I don’t have a problem with intimacy. Or committing to just one man. Or being in love… even though none of that has gone well in the past.” She sips her wine and stares off into the distance, focusing on nothing. “It’s… I don’t know… reliance. Dependence?”

“Explain please.”

“I can love James. I can be in love with James, and I can be intimate with him. Maybe even stay in the same apartment with him. But that’s different from being… with him.”

“How do you figure?”

“Because… I don’t know. Because if we’re together, really together, then I depend on him and he depends on me. And we’re…”

“A team?”

“Yes. I guess so.”

“And you don’t want to be part of a team.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“That wasn’t a question.” She shifts so that she’s sitting upright, and she levels Tessa with a confident stare. “When Clint first met you, you were freelancing for Genetech. Before that you were investigating – on your own – genetic anomalies. Then Clint convinced you to help out with SHIELD, which you would only do on a temporary, contract basis. Tony hired you as an independent contractor. And I know how hesitant you were to take the position as the head of the tier 1 med team. I know how long it took Tony to wear you down.”

“So you’re saying I’m not a team player?”

“Not at all. I was with you in Africa. And in Sokovia. I was part of the debrief on Mexico. I think you’re great on a team. And in case you’ve forgotten, I’ve seen your SHIELD file. So I know that you were an integral part of another pretty big team for quite a while.”

“Yeah, well…”

“Did the X-Men fuck you up that bad?”

She shakes her head emphatically. “I don’t talk about that.” She pauses for a moment, takes in Natasha’s words and says, “But… maybe it left me feeling like I shouldn’t be part of a team. Yeah. Maybe.”

“Well maybe it’s time to get over that.”

“Did Tony bribe you to try and get me on the team?”

She smiles and leans forward. “Tessa, you’re already part of the team – part of the Avengers team and, I’m pretty sure, part of the Sullivan-and-Barnes team. Whether you like it or not.”

She nods gravely and takes another drink, and the two sit in silence for a long moment. “I don’t want to disappoint him,” Tessa says softly.

“You think he’ll expect something different if you live together?”

She shrugs. “Right now, we’re just… I don’t know… we’re happy together. But – God, this is going to sound so cliché – we’ve never labeled it.”

Natasha snorts out a laugh. “Labels are for children. You don’t have to put a name to a relationship to be happy in it. You’re adults. If you’re happy together, then just be together.”

“That may be the most naïve thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

Nat merely shrugs. “Maybe. Or maybe I’m a genius and you’re just too threatened by my intellect to admit it.”

“Maybe. Doubtful.”

Natasha sets her mostly empty glass down on the coffee table and leans in toward Tessa. “You want to know what I think?” Tessa raises her eyebrows and nods. “I think that he knows you – gets you – in a way that no one else ever has. And I think that you, weirdly, get him too. And all of us in the tower think you both are disgustingly, adorably enamored with each other. And I don’t think that’ll go away because you work late and miss dinner a few nights a week, or because he leaves the toilet seat up, or because one or the other of you drank the last of the milk and put the carton back in the fridge, or whatever other ‘living together’ issues may come up.”

“I got yelled at for putting the empty OJ carton back in the fridge just last week.”

“See?!” She tenderly lays her hand on Tessa’s knee and levels her with an intense stare. “I think you’re nervous because you’re overthinking it. And if you just let go a little, which I know is crazy difficult for you, then you might just end up being happy despite yourself.”

Tessa drops her eyes and feels a hot blush slowly creep up her neck. She knows Natasha’s right. “I think…” she starts slowly, “that you’re a really good friend.” She looks back up at Nat and sees her eyes soften a bit. “And I think that we should go out and get you laid. Because you clearly have forgotten what it’s like to be with a man.”

“That might piss Bruce off.”

Tessa scoffs. “If he doesn’t make his move soon, he’s gonna piss me off. And he wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.”

[reyofgreenplaces]

REYLO FIC RECS PART V

In the year of our lords, Adam Driver and Rian Johnson, I am coming out with probably my longest and most comprehensive reylo fanfic rec list to date (about a hundred more under the break ;). Each fic has been read by yours truly, sorted into three parts as per usual under au's, in- universe, and completed. Each will be accompanied by the title, author(s), chapter count, and a short synopsis and notes. This fic list is only the start of a more ambitious project I'm working on that will further filter my fanfic lists to more specific types: long fanfics, genre fanfics (angsty, mystery, funny, fluffy, etc.), one-shots, and many more! So I hope you enjoy this one with many new additions and some familiar faces and keep an eye out for my new lists coming out soon!

(These are pretty much all explicit fics, cuz I’m a thirsty B)

In-Universe:

Forbidden: koderenn (24/?)

Canon Divergence/Senator Ben/Jedi Rey/Forbidden Relationship, very angsty

A balance of chaos: JaneofJakku (20/?)

Post TLJ/Enemies to Friends to lovers

Reset to Default: selunchen (17/28)

Canon Divergence/ Suspicious Prince Ben/ Angry Jedi Rey

The Tether: ClasseySpanks (30/40)

Post TLJ/Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Allegiance: Have_A_Biscuit (26/30)

Canon Divergence/King of Alderaan Ben/Jedi Rey

The Beauty of a Secret: caisha (15/?)

Canon Divergence/Jedi Ben & Rey/Heavy Smut/Heavy Angst

The Girl From Nowhere: SouthSideStory (6/?)

Post TLJ/Conflicted Rey/Big Asshole Ben/Heavy Angst

Footnotes: Camucia (20/22)

Post TLJ/Rey finds Ben’s bad poetry

The Bond that Ties Us: moontear (120/?)

Post TLJ/super long fic

Alternate Universe:

In Living Memory: SpaceWaffleHouseTM (30/32)

Immortal Ben & Rey/ Enemies to Friends to Lovers over centuries AU

Believe it or not: P_dunton (4/?)

Soulmate/Miscommunication/Heavy angst AU

Glory's Fray: avidvampirehunter (53/75)

Gladiator/servant AU

Ashfall: SpaceWaffleHouseTM (6/14)

Rival geologists/Forced together for science AU

Lie to me: ssalemghostss (18/?)

Rival Gang town AU, angsty

Mint to be: fettuccine_alfreylo (4/?)

Reylogan Sugar Daddy AU, very fluffy and sexy

Give me time: TheAfterglow (11/?)

Wedding singer AU

Her Killing Moon: Angelic_Hellraiser (21/23)

Vampire/werewolf war AU

Need a big God (big enough to fill you up): jedihbic, sapphiresunset, thumosren (8/?)

Sugar daddy AU

Where we left off: coffeeandcigarettesplease (8/10)

Young Rey has a crush on Ben, Ben goes off to war, comes back and feelings are felt.

Dear Mr. President: crossingwinter (2/15)

Soulmate/Political Life AU

Mating Systems, Reproductive Success, and Sexual Selection in Secretive Species: A Case Study of the Wild Ahch-to Omega: NewerConstellations (17/20)

ABO/Scientist Ben/Wild Omega Rey

The Witch in the Wood: HarpiaHarpyja, Inmyownidiom (13/18)

Knight Ben/ Witch Rey

What's Your Damage: Enterprisingly (5/22)

Dungeons & Dragons Roleplaying AU

Matchmaker, Matchmaker: meeda (8/10)

Matchmaker Rey/ Divorce Lawyer Ben AU

Queen of Alderaan: bunilicious (5/10)

Queen Rey/Usurper Ben AU

Fixer Upper: MyJediLife (3/?)

Southern single lady Rey/ House contractor Ben AU

Landscape with a blur of conquerors: diasterisms (63/65)

Post TLJ/arranged marriage AU

When these moon met the sun in the sky: RebelRebel (16/20)

Feudal Japan fantasy; childhood sweethearts/separated, emperor/samurai AU

Refuse Me: Autonomee (4/?)

ABO/ Private School/ Hidden Identity AU

A Spy’s Game: InfiniteBlackRose (30/?)

American Revolution/Opposite Sides AU

Dystopia: Cosmogonika (25/?)

Cyberpunk/Blade Runner AU

Find my nest of salt, everything’s my fault: Like_A_Dove (15/?)   

POV from Ben of We Could Plant a House

The Sun Never Sets: asfragileasasword (7/?)

Professor/Student AU

You Should See Me in Crown: 3todream3 (5/8)

ABO King Ben/Handmaiden Rey, angsty

Aegis (In This World or Any Other): Lucidlucy (15/30)

Hades/Persephone AU

Land’s End: Hagen (3/?)

Part Two for Salt in the Blood Series

Shift the Tide: AdriannaXVI (3/?)

Shapeshifter AU

Let’s Get Together: KyloTrashForever, ohwise1ne (4/8)

ABO/Camp Counselors AU

All the Money in the World: HerSistersKeeper (17/?)

Rich Bitch Rey/ Rich Bitch Disaster Ben

Say it With Sugar: fettuccine_alfreylo (18/20)

Chocolate shop/mental health and anxiety AU

Silver and Shade: midnightbluefox (6/?)

Soft Demon Ben/Investigator Rey

Genesis: Eris97 (8/?)

Zombie apocalypse/last people on earth AU

Redwood Specters: Ria84 (10/14)

Haunted mansion AU, fluffy and spooky

The Hand that Feeds: persimonne (9/?)

Ancient vampire Ben/Victorian historian Rey

I’ll be Seeing You: tomorrowthestars (22/?)

1940′s young Rey and Ben AU

The Good Fortune of the Skywalker Family: MissBliss12 (5/18)

Violent Meet Cute/Crazy family AU

The Moon Child: MotherofPorgs (6/?)

Werewolf/PNW AU

The Strange Case of Dr.Solo and Mr. Ren: fear_of_being_written, NewerConstellations (12/20)

Dr.Jekll and Mr. Hyde Au

The Layover: Hydra_bitch_please01 (18/?)

Flight Attendant Rey/Mystery Wealthy Man Ben

Completed:

Cupcake Wars: crossingwinter (8/8)

Rival Cupcake shops AU

Leave Nothing Unsaid: theselittlethings (1/1)

Post TLJ oneshot/secret tryst

You should see the things we do: Ever-so-reylo (Ever_So_Reylo) (3/3)

Roommates/Enemies to Friends to Lovers AU

Sweet Rey: bunilicious (7/7)

Very soft warrior Ben/very sweet maid Rey historical AU

An Unexpected Vacation: tigbit (10/10)

ABO medical study AU

Demon’s Possession: DragonWhiskers (13/13)

Demon Ben/Sacrifice Rey AU

Higher Ground: KathKnight, Seraphprotocol (31/31)

Post TLJ/ Disaster Kylo Ren/Angry Rey

Delicate Matters: KyloTrashForever (5/5)

Shy Ben/ Awkward Meet Cute with Underwear, very fluffy

the surface of last scattering: diasterisms (2/2)

End of the World AU

A Poetic Match: commandercrouton (2/2)

Professor/student AU

Your Eyes (Are Holding Up the Sky): elemie89 (5/5)

Highschool athlete Ben/tutor Rey AU

Just A Sandwich: walkingsaladshooter (1/1)

Hook up with feelings AU 

The Lady and the Monster: 3todream3 (21/21)

Rival colleagues AU

the world shifts (and I am better here): lachesisgrimm (olga_theodora) (32/32)

fairytale/sleeping curse AU

Witch’s Moon: Dragonwhiskers (12/12)

Witch Rey/Witch Hunter Ben AU

Steal Away With Me: Erulisse17 (18/18)

Thief Rey/Investigator Ben AU

I Caught Fire: KyloTrashForever (9/9)

Emo Highschool students/Misunderstanding AU

welcome to my cage, little lover: KyloTrashForever (8/8)

ABO warlord Kylo Ren/servant Rey

I move the Stars for No One: SageMcMae (13/13)

Post TLJ/ Labyrinth-esque

fourth part whole: trailingviolets (2/2)

Cyborg Kylo/mechanic Rey AU

Salt in the Blood: Hagen (52/52)

Kelpy monster Kylo/village girl Rey historical AU

Dust to Dust: KyloTrashForever (10/10)

Victorian Priest Ben/ Lady Rey AU

The Trail Bride: SecretReyloTrash (BadOldWest) (46/46)

Oregon Trail AU, angsty

A Scandalous Match: Musickat18 (18/18)

Victorian arranged marriage AU

Satisfied: commandercrouton (11/11)

My best friends wedding AU

At the Stroke of Midnight: bunilicious (4/4)

Cinderella AU

They Don’t Have a Word for What We Are: andabatae (69/69)

Post TLJ/ mutual pining 

Wolf at the Door: Shadowlass (4/4)

Red Riding Hood AU

Imprints: KyloTrashForever (22/22)

ABO/ reuniting AU

Looking for Raid: Polkadotdotdot (16/16)

Gaming online friends/ office rivals AU

the shore, so far away: neonheartbeat (23/23)

Titanic AU

long way home (nonstop to takodana): the-reylo-void (Anysia) (2/2)

Reuniting after breakup AU

lay then the axe to the root: sciosophia (1/1)

Duke/governess AU

Parallel lines: nite0wl29 (22/22)

Teacher/student with horses AU

Rules of Engagement for Sinners and Saints: Black_Eyed_Suzannah_Q (21/21)

Western Homesteader Rey/Outlaw Kylo Ren AU

Sun, Sand, and Stone: Black_Eyed_Suzannah_Q (21/21)

Post-Apocalypse Mad Max AU

So long, my adversary: Like_A_Dove (3/3)

Snowed in coworkers who hate each other AU

Heather and Honey: Polkadotdotdot (9/9)

Corporate lawyer Ben/Irish Brewer Rey, fluffy AU

Don’t feed the bears: Ria84 (22/22)

Canadian mounties AU

Effloresce: lovelydarkanddeep (16/16)

Flowershop/tattoo parlor AU

Tattooed Heart: KyloTrashForever (16/16)

Destination Wedding/Bridesmaid/BestMan AU

 Songs of Innocence, Songs of Wisdom: Cosmogonika (36/36)

Post TLJ/fate 

Coming Home: inexorablydrawn (14/14)

Highschool reunion AU

Snow Sparkles Like Stars: raptorginger (9/9)

Stranded in snow/Christmas AU

[never---ending---story]

A Year Redacted

Possible triggers: Death mentions/implied death, hysterics, panic, and not believing. They also call a person who’s in hysterics, insane.

See end of the post for inspirations

Word count: only 1,741

��————————————————

The morning was just another day really. It didn’t start in shambles or with the universe collapsing. Eli had woken up grumpily and everything was blurry. He forgot why. Last night he was up studying a recent breakthrough on black holes. Maybe his vision was clouded by sleep. Hopefully, it would clear up soon. So, he stumbled blindly around his apartment until he stumbled into his roommate, Damien, who snorted.

    “There you are!” He exclaimed “you left these on the bathroom counter,” he said holding out something. It was a blur of black lines. They almost looked like- oh. Glasses. They were his glasses. That was the missing piece. Eli had worn glasses for 16 years by now how could he have possibly forgotten. He felt overwhelmingly embarrassed as he put the glasses- his glasses and looked at Damien. He had a mildly amused expression on his face and his jet black hair stuck out at odd angles.

    “What is it,” he asked, “you look confused. And I might add embarrassed, your cheeks red.”

    Eli sighed and shook his head “I just,” a chuckle escaped his lips “is it dumb that I forgot that I wear glasses?”

    “You forgot that you- Eli you’ve had those for-”

    “Sixteen years. Yeah, Yeah I get it. No need to harass me,” Eli crossed his arms as Damien laughed at him

    “You act like it’s the end of the world. You were probably just unreasonably tired, I saw you up at like 2 am” Eli’s roommate took a step past him, “you want some coffee? We can stop by Starbucks or someplace.”

    “We have a coffee maker idiot.”

    Damien waltzed into the kitchen and opened a cabinet. “So what? Everything is better when it’s not in this crappy apartment”. The black-haired man stood on the tip of his toes and grabbed a cereal box from the top shelf. Damien was short-ish, around 5’9, so he always wore platform shoes. They made him confident until someone commented on him. Obviously, he wasn’t wearing the shoes at 5 am seeing as he was still in his pajamas and pouring his milk before his cereal like a psychopath.

    “I hate how you make cereal,” Eli commented, “you’re worse than a serial killer.”

    “Eli, the Zodiac Killer wishes he were me”

Eli snorted and walked into the kitchen, leaning against the counter. “You do know that cereal is terrible for you right?”

Damien shrugged “That’s kinda the point. Maybe if I eat enough I’ll go into a coma. Lord knows I need to catch up on sleep.”

Eli couldn’t argue with that as he fished a handful of cereal out of the box and into his hand. He carefully tilted his head back and dumped cereal into his mouth. Damien made fake gagging noises. Eli only called it a “feast fit for a king” before he walked off to get ready for another, likely uneventful, day with the addition of Damien following him around as his mentee.

When Eli and Damien walked into the lab everything seemed okay. Nothing was out of place, besides one scientist who Eli knew as Eric Channing. The man had a brilliant mind and was usually calm and collected. Today was different. Eric ran about the lab talking to people, looking as if he were begging them to do something. Damien, who was following Eli around, nudged his shoulder.

“Is he okay?” he asked quietly, “He looks just about ready to break down.”

Eli observed Eric more. He was fidgeting and tugging on people’s arms with a look that Eli could only describe as pure fear. He was talking fast and his eyes were wide as saucers. Dr.Channing’s hair was sticking out at odd angles. He locked eyes with Eli across the room and ran over. He looked about ready to cry.

“Dr.Nunn!” He cried, grabbing both of Eli’s arms, “You have to listen to me,” he begged. Eli glanced over at Damien with worry, by the mentee only looked mildly amused. He looked back at Eric.

“What can I do for you?” he asked. 

Eric took a deep breath, “the world is going to end if we don’t stop our current time traveling project.” he said. A scientist walked by “sure it is buddy” he mumbled. Seems Eric really had gone to everybody. “If you go through with the current project you’ll get us all killed.” Eric continued as if he hadn’t heard, which judging by the desperation he probably didn’t.  He was too caught up in his own story that he didn’t notice. “I know you’re close to Carson! You have-” He pushed on, but Damien interrupted.

“Eric, are you okay. Do you need a doctor?” he asked

Eric looked ready to explode. “I AM A DOCTOR!” he all but screamed. He looked over to Eli again, a silent prayer hidden in his eyes. “Elijah you have to believe me.” he got choked up, “I don’t want to die. Not like this.”

Eli didn’t know what to think. Eric looked so serious, but the world wasn’t going to end. He would’ve known.

“Eric, where did you hear this?” Eli asked, and Eric looked crushed. Before he could get upset and say Eli didn’t believe him he started speaking. “I need solid evidence. It’s literally a part of my job. How did you hear that? What’s going to happen?”

Eric’s brown eyes lit up a bit but the fear on his face never left. “It’s hard to explain, but I found that the required amount of energy we need is just too much. After doing some calculations I found that if we go through with this it will-”

“Cause a power shortage?” Damien guessed, “that’s not the end of the world”

“Would you shut up Mr.Lee!? It’s not just going to cause a shortage it’s going to destroy the universe!” A chill went up Eli’s spine as Eric continued. “Either it would cause a reaction like the Big Bang that would wipe us out in minutes! Maybe even seconds. Or it would completely obliterate time and space.”

Eli felt a trickle of sweat trail down the back of his collar. Fear was in his every muscle. That couldn’t be real. Damien of the other hand had an unreadable emotion on his face

“That’s not funny Eric,” He said seriously, “do your math again. People like Eli have been studying this stuff for years.”

A few tears fell down Eric’s face but he wiped them away. “You’re horrible,” he hissed, “I’ve spent just as long on this project.” he was looking to Eli once more, “you believe me right? I’m not crazy…right?”

Eli wanted to say that he wasn’t crazy, but Damien was right. Eli had spent six years on this project. He and his team couldn’t have forgotten about something as important as that.

“Eric,” he said gently, pulling his arms out of the young man’s grasp, “I think you need to see a psychiatrist, or maybe just catch some sleep.”

Eric broke down then and there. He sobbed and fell to the floor. Eli wanted to console him, but the head of the lab, Dr. Carson Anderson, said he would handle it, so Damien dragged Eli away.

The next day, Eric was at his desk when Eli walked into the office. He was calmly typing out something on his computer.

Damien gave Eric an odd look and whispered to Eli, “It looks like someone needed a nap.” Eli glared at him and elbowed him in the side.

When the time came for the lab’s time travel unit to be tested, they were holding the envelope they were going to send. Eli bounced around excitedly with his fellow scientists (and Damien) as final checks were made. Everything was going fine. And still, everyone seemed on edge. Eric’s words bounced around Eli’s head, “Either it would cause a reaction like the Big Bang, Or it would completely obliterate time and space.”

Speaking of the devil, Eric calmly walked into the room and handed a letter to Dr.Carson Anderson. It was in a neat envelope, with a fancy lab wax seal. Carson smiled at Eric and put a hand on his shoulder as he spoke to him. When Eric was done talking to Carson, he walked over to Eli, and Damien. 

Eli tapped him on the shoulder as the head of the lab packaged the letter they were sending. Apparently it was being sent back in time. As odd as it was, no one dared doubt, Carson. After all, he was a genius. Eric hummed in acknowledgment of Eli.

“Are you feeling any better,” he asked, “you were kind of a wreck yesterday.”

Eric shrugged, looking at his feet, ‘I’ve learned to cope.”

As Dr.Carson put the envelope in the machine, Damien asked: “So, your calculations were incorrect?”

Dr.Channing shook his head solemnly “No. We’re all going to die”. His voice was scarily calm and Eli felt himself shiver. “The letter they’re sending isn’t the one they wanted me to write. It’s a letter to the past. Kind of like a suicide letter, maybe a letter of mass homicide. It depends on how you look at it really.”

Eli was definitely shaking. From head to toe.

“I ran my numbers. Again and again. Nothing I did was wrong,” he looked at Eli and Damien with a dead stare. How ironic. “I’ve learned to accept it. Maybe if you believed me, you would have too.”

Damien put his hand on Eli’s shoulder as a comforting gesture. He could tell how utterly terrified Eli felt.

“We’re not going to die,” he whispered, “he’s just insane.” This didn’t help Eli’s nerves. He felt like crying. Was this how Eric felt.

Carson put his hand on the lever and started a countdown from ten with a broad smile.

Ten

Eli turned to Damien and shook his head, “I can’t do this.” he whispered

Eight

Damien quickly realized that if Eli was scared, he was bound to get scared too. Now was the moment

Six

Eric shook his head and checked his watch.

Four

 Eli hugged Damien and buried his face in his jacket as the crowd of scientists got to three. “You’re my best friend, I love you,” He said, just loud enough for Damien to hear.

Two

Damien hugged him back tightly. “Eli I,-”

There was no time for anything else. 

—————————————————

That’s my story, inspired by a school prompt. Here’s the newsletter I was given. This is what Eric sent to the past as a warning.

[charmedbrujas]

Secret Santa Fic: Back to You

For @haveyoufalleninablackhole

You requested Macy/Harry pining and there is a smidge of Macy/Harry outsiders. I apologize this turned out a bit more angsty than I had planned when I started. I hope you enjoy!

Back to You

Harry had tried everything to contact the elders from Tartarus with no luck. He had even tried orbing back home several times even though he was well aware it wouldn’t work.

Fortunately, the guards here left him alone for the most part. They seemed to be aware that he wasn’t meant to be here and while they didn’t try to capture and torture him they also weren’t receptive to helping him try to leave.

He was surviving. The heat was blistering and there was no food or water here, but the magic of the place kept him from in a constant state of starvation just short of death. So he was trapped here until the sisters or the elders were able to rescue him.

He had found a hidden alcove that was a few degrees less hot than being out in the open and was trying to stay out of sight. He didn’t want to let his guard down so sleep was also out of the question.

Most of the time, he would occupy his thoughts by wondering how the sisters were doing back home. He hoped Mel wasn’t in over her head with the Sarcana and that Maggie was recovering from her broken heart.

But his thoughts were pulled to Macy more frequently than he knew they should be. The sight of her with sleep filled eyes and dressed in pajamas making a beeline for the coffeemaker in the morning.

Sharing cups of tea (not spiked with truth serum) in his office when she would need a break from the lab.  The way he couldn’t even be annoyed when she would hog the bathroom and use up all the hot water because he knew that hot baths were her safe space.

Macy was his light keeping his spirits up in this dark place.

~~~~

Living with the Vera-Vaughn sisters at the orders of the elders had been both a joy and a form of torture for Harry. Even though living in the attic wasn’t ideal, he found that the chaos of the house was far preferable to the loneliness of his Whitelighter existence before the sisters came into his care.

He told himself this was a good opportunity to get to know his charges better but he couldn’t get too close to them after the disaster with Fiona.

Unfortunately, the girls didn’t see it that way and it was a struggle for Harry not to get too attached to them. After only a few days into his stay in the house he realized he had a harder time keeping his distance from one sister in particular.

Macy was also a relative newcomer to the house and both were still adjusting to the quirks of their two younger roommates, coordinating a complicated bathroom schedule and trading off the most hated chores.

And if Harry noticed that Macy was just as beautiful with messy curls and no make up first thing in the morning as she was when she was dressed up drinks at The Haunt, he quickly shoved those thoughts into a box under lock and key.

At times, they both felt like outsiders when Mel and Maggie would have an entire conversation with one look or share an inside joke. Fortunately, conversation flowed easily for Macy and Harry, often trading complaints about the red tape of academic life or what they were currently writing in the hopes of being published.

Macy’s habit of dissecting every piece of magical information to try to find the science behind it was also particularly endearing. Especially when she crinkled her eyebrows and made that face that meant she was trying to solve a puzzle.

In between trying to find who killed Marisol and defeating the ghost or demon of the week, the four of them fell into a routine. Harry would make breakfast every morning and the sisters would trade off making dinner. After dinner they would disperse around the house to their respective magical or academic endeavors.  

One night in November, the sounds of halting piano playing had pulled Harry down to the living room to find Maggie struggling through a song on the piano and Macy looking at some old Vera photo albums.

“Sorry if my playing was bothering you Harry. Mom made me take lessons when I was younger and I wanted to see if I could still play. She loved this old piano,” Maggie explained when Harry appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

“That’s alright, you weren’t bothering me at all. It sounds like you’ve almost got the hang of it,” he encouraged. “Do you mind if I...?” he gestured towards the piano and Maggie scooted over on the bench.

Harry wasn’t entirely sure why he felt a pull towards the piano, but when he sat down his fingers seemed to take over and he was able to smoothly play the end of the familiar tune that Maggie had started.

Macy looked up at both of them when she heard the shift in music. “I didn’t know you could play piano Harry. That was beautiful,” she complimented warmly.

“I didn’t know I could either actually,” he said a bit awkwardly. “It just came to me.”

“Skills like playing an instrument are implicit memory. They don’t disappear when someone gets amnesia or when a Whitelighter has their memories erased apparently. You must have learned as a human,” Macy spoke excitedly.

Harry couldn’t help feeling overcome with emotion at this bit of information and he grinned happily at Macy.  

“Maybe we can test some other implicit memories to see if we can find out more about your human life!”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you Macy,”

Recovering this small piece of his past made him happier than he had felt in a long time and he looked forward to possibly uncovering more with the scientist.

Macy’s phone chimed and interrupted the two smiling at each other, not noticing Maggie looking between the two curiously.

“Oh, this is Galvin! Excuse me,” she said moving towards the upper floor for some privacy. Harry’s eyes unconsciously followed her up the stairs but the interruption reminded him that Macy was off limits for numerous reasons. He had to try to keep his distance.

~~~

“Macy, we both want to get Harry back too but you need to sleep,” Maggie implored. Macy had been combing through the Book of Shadows for hours, attempting every portal spell she could find to bring Harry back from Tartarus.

“I can’t sleep Maggie. Every hour, every minute longer we leave him down there, the more danger he’s in,”

“Maggie’s right and your powers will be stronger after you rest. Please Macy, just take a few hours and Maggie and I will keep looking,” Mel sighed in relief when Macy nodded reluctantly.

The elder sister made her way not to her own room, but to the cot in the attic that Harry had slept on while he was living with them. She closed her eyes, laying on the bed, but sleep didn’t come as easily as it should have when she hadn’t slept in days.

She missed Harry, possibly more than the other two girls. They both shared a sense of past loneliness that the other two didn’t have growing up in a close knit trio with their mother. After the shock of learning about her sisters and their powers had worn off, she had grown to trust Harry more easily than the other two and found him to be a steady, reassuring presence that she could share a quiet cup of tea without any awkwardness when she needed a moment of calm. He always knew exactly what to say to make her feel better when she was struggling with her new job or her conflicting feelings about Galvin.

Of course she found him attractive and could listen to his soothing British voice for hours but any feelings beyond friendship were out of the question.  Besides, it was forbidden for witches and Whitelighters to be together and it would just make things too complicated.

Harry saw all three of them as his responsibility and possibly like younger sisters. He would never think of her in a romantic way.  Galvin was a much more attainable choice, even if his mark was keeping them apart. They were both scientists and came from similar backgrounds.

After they rescued Harry, she would have to talk to Galvin about what he had seen on Christmas Eve. And if things didn’t work out with Galvin she would be ok.

If she lost Harry the crack in her heart would never heal. She had to be rational and think with her head and not her heart to get him back safely, Macy thought before sleep finally claimed her.

[faith-in-dean]

A Study of Love - Chapter Three

Summary: Changes were often difficult to manage. In your case, it was a blessing sent from heaven. Sure, you had to master some difficulties but in the end, you would not have decided differently.

Words: 1362

Pairing: Professor!Tony Stark x Reader

Warnings: mild angst

A/N: Please leave some feedback! It encourages me to keep writing this!

Masterpost

What met you surprised you pleasantly. The lab was gigantic and filled with all kinds of technologies. You were speechless. How was this all possible?

“What is this?” You managed to ask as you glanced around.

“It's more of a private lab for Dr. Banner and me. This is where we test our own projects. Ultimately because we don't want to end up homeless at a failed attempt,” Mr. Stark chuckled some. Sure, you had heard about him and his projects. You just had never expected to be face to face with them.

“Just recently Tony and I had come upon a problem neither one of us can seem to solve,” Dr. Banner came into the view, meeting the two of you, “perhaps you could help us.”

The two scientists lead you over to a metal suit. It was about Tony's size and was linked to many technologies. You reached out to touch the metal, checking how every little piece was put perfectly together.

“This is a model of an iron suit. Don't ask me why I would need something like that. But we can't happen to install my software and calibrate it so it's not going crazy when someone tries to use it,” Tony… Mr. Stark told you.

“Perhaps you can see what we can't,” Dr. Banner gave you a nervous smile before you nodded.

You dropped your bag and began to check out the program called F.R.I.D.A.Y. before checking the suit and how it could possibly be linked. It didn't take long until you were completely lost in the task, studying everything you needed to know to move forward with your investigation. You programmed and switched multiple components of the system. All of that happened while Professor Stark and Dr. Banner watched you closely.

“I've told you she's gifted,” Tony whispered to Bruce while they kept an eye on her.

“I've never doubted that! It's just that she doesn't seem to put a lot of effort into her studies,” Bruce sighed in return.

“About that. I've talked to her about this matter,” Tony started, “she's taking care of her sick grandmother all on her own. That's why she's always so tired around here.”

“But that's her decision, isn't it?”

“It might be. But we should help her, find a better solution for her. She is meant for this,” Tony insisted, looking at his friend with pleading eyes.

“What should we do about it? And why is it so important to you to get her through this?” Bruce questioned the brown-haired man, already knowing he was going to give in either way.

“We could find help for her grandmother. Professional help so Y/N can focus on her studies. And I care because she's got a talent we can't let slide,” Tony pointed out though he knew there was some sort of personal bond he felt towards her. But he just couldn't wrap his mind around it.

Before the two men could continue their talk, you turned your attention back to them.

“I think I found the general source of the problem. I've got everything I need to know written down but I'll need a little more time to think and work this through,” you told them with a smile on your face.

Tony had returned your smile while Dr. Banner remained with an uncertain glance.

“You can report to me after our next class,” Mr. Stark told you, making you nod in excitement. This had actually turned out to be something you were extremely interested in. And if two well-known scientists couldn't figure the problem out but you could, your ego would experience a little boost in confidence.

“I will. Thanks, professor,” you gave him a smile before picking up your bag and heading to leave.

But instead of you getting more sleep, you had been working on the matter non-stop, sleeping even less than you had before. And instead of it just taking a couple of days, it took you a couple of weeks. Professor Stark had been checking the status every now and then, nodding his approval. But at the same time, you couldn't help but notice his worried behavior whenever he saw just how long and how much time you had put in this. He even showed some signs of guilt.

About a week into the project, Professor Stark pulled you aside after class again.

“May I talk to you for a second?” he asked you, concern in his eyes.

“Uh, sure. Is everything alright?” you questioned your professor.

“I had a talk with Dr. Banner about your current living situation and we came to a conclusion that we want to help you,” Mr. Stark’s eyes met yours.

“Oh?” quirking a brow, you looked up at him. Why would they talk about your living situation?

“I've made it my task to look for a place that could take care of your grandmother, professionally. I know you didn't want that for her but I'd hate to see you keep going like this,” Tony told you, a soft sigh on his lips, “I've looked for the best place I could find and visited it in my free time. Your grandmother will be doing good there.”

It took you a few moments to progress everything your professor had told you. He was so worried he actually looked into changing your living situation? And more so he got Dr. Banner to help too?

“But I can't even afford to live in that house all by myself,” the thought of not having to work more every time you returned from uni was like a dream. But your grandmother was the one making it possible for you to live there as well.

“You could live on the campus. Dr. Banner has already looked into a potential roommate for you. I'm going to sponsor you as long as you promise to take care of yourself,” the words hit you in shock once again. But through all this, there was one question you couldn't stop thinking about.

“Why do you care so much? Why would you do all that for me?” Your voice came through harsher than you had anticipated.

Tony's mouth opened as he wanted to reply but closed again. He looked like he truly had to consider what he was saying.

“Please just accept the offer. You have the chance of becoming the best student this university had in over 20 years,” he finally sighed, though it didn't seem like that was what he wanted to say. Maybe the smallest part of you had hoped he would say something else.

“I'll- I'll think about it, Mr. Stark,” you nodded at him, turning to leave. As you made your way to the door, you could hear your professor mutter under his breath before he called you back.

“Y/N?”

“I care because I see so much in you because you have so much worth. You are really something special and it's taking all I have to keep calm about you,” he told you, grabbing you by the wrist and pulling you against him while you were still in shock over his confession.

“I’m gonna regret this,’ Tony sighed before his lips crashed against yours, kissing you deeply. You were taken aback by his actions and didn't know how to react at first. Though after a moment of hesitation your feelings had gotten the upper hand and you returned the kiss longingly. Your bag dropped to the ground as Tony pulled you closer, pressing himself against you.

You couldn't deny yourself that with all the care your professor presented to you and how strongly he believed in you, you had developed feelings for him. The fact that he was very pleasing to look at, didn't help either.

It was only when Tony pressed his leg between yours when you remembered how little you had taken care of yourself and how unpresentable you were. Despite your mind telling you to keep going, you pushed Tony away from yourself and picked up your bag.

“I- sorry,” you mumbled before quickly taking off to your next class, leaving your professor almost dumbfounded.

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[afanoftheglassscientists]

Comments on The Glass Scientists Chapter 7 Page 28 (Discussing Chapter 7 Pages 10-28)

So my comments are being detected as spam on the comment section of The Glass Scientist page, which from what I can guess from searching through various Disqus threads is because my comments are split into paragraphs and are really, really long.  And although they automatically have a “we’ll work on getting this corrected” thing the moment it gets marked as spam I hear some comments taking months to get released from spam jail. 

Which is annoying, because for one Disqus doesn’t set any clear ground rules for commenting beside the obvious ones regarding bullying and is vague about why things might get marked as spam by accident, and for two I had to go through some threads where people were complaining that SOMEHOW it was the sjws fault that the system was so bad and how its censorship to mark their comments as spam.  NO DAWG, ITS A BAD SYSTEM OF AUTOMATICALLY MARKING THINGS AS SPAM WITH VAGUE RULES LIKE PARAGRAPH BREAKS.  WHY CAN’T YOU PEOPLE COMPLAIN ABOUT LEGITIMATE WEBSITE ISSUES WITHOUT MAKING IT A BAD FAITH FREE SPEECH DEBATE NONSENSE PARTY GUUUUUAAAAAH

But I’m not here to just complain about that.  What I’m here for is to share my riveting and thought-provoking sentiments on Sabrina Cotugno’s The Glass Scientists such as “Jasper is the best” and “Jasper is a good werewolf scientist” and “Did I mention how great Jasper is yet?” and anything else I mentioned in the dark forbidden comments I wrote.  I’m not re-writing everything word-for-word, and I’m only doing the for the ones that are spammed.  I’ll probably leave my longer thoughts here from now on if I feel like gushing more and leave my comments on the Disqus page to a paragraph. 

If you want to see my older comments that range from okay to downright embarrassing here is my profile.  I’ll mention putting my blog (the one you’re look at) in my disqus profile next time I comment if people from the glass scientist discussion want to join me in this hellsite.  So without further ado...

Jasper’s the Best.  The End.

...okay i had more than that to say.

Jekyll and Lanyon were a Thing.  Mood of the Day is “We Been Knew”

In all seriousness its nice to have it in canon as it were, but if you’ve ever looked through the author’s blogs and her previous page descriptions it was pretty clear they had some history together.  So it wasn’t so much a “oh my gawd they WERE roommates” moment as much as a “oh worm” moment.  Its nice to think about the happy time they might have had together, even it did get cut off unceremoniously.  Could it be that their break-up just HAPPENED to be in the same year Jekyll decided “Do you know what would be cool?  If I just like...plucked out the bad, naughty feelings.  Just.  Make a nasty little man from my mind and toss my bad no good feelings there.  Yeah.  That’d be nice.”  Hmmmmmmmm????  Maaaaaaaybeeeeee?????

Lanyon the Super Sleuth

Jekyll - “Oh yeah, Lanyon.  He’s great isn’t he?  He’s the best.  He taught me how to dance.  Jasper I need tell how great Lanyon is for like an hour.  In this room.  With the door closed so no one can come IN while I gush about my friend.  Just a good...long...chat.  About Lanyon.  My best friend who would definitely not go snooping through my private paperwork behind my back.”

Lanyon holding a very important page belonging to Jekyll that he’s definitely not supposed to have while hiding behind an office desk -

*silent screaming*

I Can’t Think Straight on the Hyde in Jekyll Gentlemen Jail Part of the Chapter So I’m Going to Set That Aside for Now

I don’t know why.  I just can’t have any other clear thoughts aside from “Hyde is a stinky rat man” and “oooooooh pretty mindscapesssss.”

Frankenstein and Jekyll are doing JUST Fine and They are Not Hiding ANY Underlying Issues With Bravado and/or Sparkles (They’re Not Fine)

So the thing that just clicked with me is that Jekyll and Frankenstein have the same struggle with being vulnerable and dropping their guard around others without it feeling wrong.  If they realized they had this in common they’d hate it.  I’m just going to copy the part of my comment on Frankenstein’s issue here-

She hates vulnerability.  I mean, she's definitely not a woman who bit more than she could chew and in the process lost everything she held dear until all that was left was the creature she made that led to her destruction no no no. She’s a legend. She's THE mad scientist. She made the impossible possible. She can't be vulnerable nooooo. For people as brilliant and ingenious as her vulnerability does not exist. Its not an option.

It’s good to know her history (or as I called it, “The Frankenstein F***** Up Real Bad Story”) is relatively the same as the original story’s Frankenstein, because like...Frankenstein did a real bad there.  And Jekyll is in the midst of biting more than he could chew with his whole “oh sure just split my mind its fine” thing about to get him in trouble with his best friend/ex and soon with his other friends and probably the cops somewhere along the line so its almost like Frankenstein’s life mistakes and the way she copes with it...is a reflection of Jekyll’s past and future mistakes, and how he copes now and what he might do to cope in the future...hmmmmm... symmmbolismmmm...mmmmmaaaaybbbbeeee....

Okay I Behaved Myself Now Let Me Talk About My Good Good Science Wolf Jasper Please

HE’S BACK!  HE’S BACK!  BRING IN THE MUSIC!

...okay in retrospect he was there at the beginning of the chapter so it hasn’t been that long since we last seen him.  But I haven’t caught up reading for like six months so it felt really long to me. 

Jekyll’s been having it rough and his tears are entirely reasonable.  Here’s another part of my comment that I was VERY proud of because its almost readable-

TFW you have to care for a involuntary patient who discouraged all of your lodgers to no longer participate in the exhibition which you absolutely need to succeed in order to keep the place open and also you have a part of you that you use to hide "dark desires" locked away and currently attempting a jailbreak in your mind AND YET in what might feel like the worst week of your life you find one good werewolf country boi trying his best for you and the lodgers and he might need a lot of work on presentation and cleanliness but good lord you were able to find SOMETHING to feel happy about. 

Its funny because I predicted Jasper wasn't exactly with the Frankenstein IN crowd because he's not a crowd person in general and he's got creatures to feed and large chicken legs to eat, but I was surprised that Jasper is putting effort into the exhibition without Jekyll pushing him. H-he's so good! What a good and smart man he is. I'm so proud. So strong. So sweet.

It also shows that Jasper can push himself to work on projects without outside help, even while the others around him slack off without consequence (for now.)  Which in hindsight makes sense, considering he was by his lonesome collecting critters and data for like months before he met Jekyll.  Obviously he still needs a push when it comes to socializing, which is good for Jekyll because he really, really needs someone to depend on him that doesn’t hate his guts (You hear that, Frankenstein!?)

It’s like having a class where the professor doesn’t punish anyone for ignoring his lessons so most of the class considers it free time but there’s that one student who not only takes the lessons seriously but actually works on the assignments.  Like wow!  Someone still cares!  Amazing!  Miracles still exist folks.

Its interesting how Jekyll is so willing to give away his “trade secrets” when it comes to presenting himself as a gentlemen to Jasper.  He doesn’t sugarcoat his philosophy on how people only look for the surface and don’t care what’s underneath.  He did this a little during the second chapter when he was trying to encourage Jasper, and he’s continuing it now in more detail.  Also between the sparkly lecture on how to gussy up a presentation he like...talks about himself?  Like has a chat with Jasper that isn’t exactly following the code of gentlemen sparkle-speak where he either tries to flatter people, convince people of something or find ways to improve his image.  There’s a solid line between when he’s just having a conversation and gettin’ along with new werewolf pal Jasper, and when he going into sparkle mode to give Jasper advice.

Also on the author’s twitter she revealed that Jekyll never told anyone about the dance lessons until now, which wasn’t surprising.  Jekyll is Tired enough to reveal he has an accent and is Tired enough to let his guard down a little and talk about how he learned to be sophisticated through his REALLY GOOD FRIEND LANYON WHO’S TOTALLY NOT HIDING IN HIS OFFICE.  I feel like if you really want to hear his accent you need to knock him out and hope he mumbles in his sleep because I find it hard to imagine him being even more Tired than he is now.

I think it’ll be interesting to see which aspect of their relationship moves further forward - the aspect of a growing friendship between Jasper and Jekyll that could help both of them open up or the aspect of Jekyll continuing to pass down his philosophy to Jasper (which I’m positive will have absolutely no unintended consequences hahaha and teaching Jasper the ways of the sparklemen.

Okay that’s all I’ve got to say from the comments I made.  I was going to make a list of predictions but I think I’ll save that for another day.  For now I’ll leave you to imagine Frankenstein with a steampunk-style electric guitar in her bed screaming singing heavy metal music about mad science, with a Tired Jekyll behind her going, “Ma’am please...take your medicine...”