#no one knows how to hold a conversation or plan a meetup or anything. i cant keep trying to be the one that does everything

[autisticlee]

people are so bad at chatting on the bumble friends app 😭 i'm also really bad at talking to people so I need them to be good at it to make up for my autism fails, but they suck and aren't helping 😭😭😭😭😭

[fishylife]

i have a classmate from high school. we carpooled from school together for several years, so for those years, we spent a lot of time together and i'd say we were pretty friendly. towards the end of high school, we no longer carpooled, and we also naturally veered towards our own interests. but it was a pretty small school so we were still talking like every day.

i think maybe that over those years, we might have spent too much time together. because towards the end of high school, there were some times when i felt annoyed by her. but again, we were still friends.

after high school, we only sent birthday greetings, occasionally holiday greetings. i generally send birthday greetings to all of my friends but it's not common to receive them. she was one of the few who consistently did so, so to be polite, i returned them. it's continued on to this day, over 10 years later. we exchange greetings, we update each other. it's extremely civil.

despite keeping this ongoing correspondence, i have no interest in deepening (or re-deepening our friendship). i thought that perhaps some of it was jealousy and resentment. she's found great career success. she's getting married today (has been engaged since last year). meanwhile, i'm the loser who's never moved out, never worked for a big internationally company like her, never moved to a whole new different place for work and established independence. maybe because we spent so much time together as young people, i can't help but measure myself up against her.

i'm not sure if there's something else that makes me not want to spend time with her. maybe it is those small things that made me annoyed with her when we were in high school. which is completely unfair. i was 2000% cringey and annoying as fuck as a teenager. other people are allowed the same.

over the past year, every time we've corresponded, she's brought up her engagement/marriage. i say congratulations every time. weddings are a happy occasion. she also talks a lot about her situation, and i barely share much about mine. again, maybe it's the inferiority i feel. normally i feel resentment over not being asked questions. but i'm very whatever about it in this case because i don't have intentions on carrying out this conversation for too long.

since she kept bringing up her wedding, i thought i would just send her a quick congratulations message today, which is when she's getting married. she responded and said that maybe we could meet up in the future, next time she's in town. which i don't want to do. i very much see our relationship as parallel lines that only cross very occasionally (through quick birthday messages).

which i feel guilty about because literally what should i be holding against her? something she did or said in high school? clearly she never held anything against me so i know i'm being an asshole. but i just don't feel comfortable meeting up.

we have a mutual friend who i still meet up with regularly. this mutual friend has admitted to me that she hasn't contacted this friend at all ever since high school. so maybe i'm one of the few people that the friend still keeps in touch with.

i'm figuring out how to respond to the message without outright saying that i don't want to meet up. maybe i'll reply with a thumbs up emoji after like a week to show lack of enthusiasm. it's not like this meetup will happen in the near future anyway because she lives in another city on the other side of the country. i have no plans on visiting there, and i suspect she doesn't come back all that often.

people looking in on the outside will probably say that i need therapy or something. i agree with that. but for now i've been enjoying a very civil acquaintanceship where we painfully exchange messages and i would prefer to keep it that way.

[kalijhomentethi]

A nod in agreement, taking another bite of the mozzarella stick. "Mhm. Chose him for True Damage for a reason, same with the rest of the crew. We all just clicked together like puzzle pieces, y'know? We all had something to offer into the table and bam. Our magnum opus. Guess that's how it felt with us and K/DA, huh? When you and 'Ri were out scouting for members. Though we weren't so quick to warm up to each other either." A small grin.

Evelynn was—and can still be—rather blunt and harsh, and spared not even a bit of leniency for her back then, and the rapper didn't take so kindly to it. She was there as part of the team and her every attempt to come up with something was met with criticism, how else was she supposed to react? Until a twist of fate and somehow their behavior towards each other completely shifted. She still remembers that day they shot that train scene. And the tension the whole time, being so close to each other. And what followed after.

And with that, her mind is filled with nothing but that specific memory. The way Evelynn seems to pick up on her interest in her claws doesn't help either, moving in such a way that doesn't quite seem so innocent. Like her fingers are holding something that isn't a wine glass. The expression on her girlfriend's face tells Akali all she needs to know and she's sure the tips of her ears have already turned red. "Babe..." Her eyes narrow slightly, suddenly feeling a little amorous herself. "Now that you've brought it up, we can't not be busy on the way there. Ekko can deal with another day of not being able to ride the Lambo. You can ride me instead."

And she will never mention this part of their conversation to Ekko. He'll just have to despair over the fact that he can only admire Evelynn's car from outside. Maybe next time. Though maybe said next time still won't give him the opportunity to get inside the vehicle, whenever that may be.

"Just coffee's fine, nobody's gonna say anything about it. They'll just think you've already eaten before the meetup." She waves a hand dismissively, assuaging whatever concerns her girlfriend may have about passing on the wings portion of the plan. Another bite, chewing. "This is some really good mozzarella. You should try it. I got this for us, baby." Chew, chew, chew. And that's one stick down.

Though the moment Evelynn's expression changes upon the mention of Abel, her own changes to concern. That serious, then. Yikes. "I mean, to be fair, not everyone's dealt with clickbait before. Or even knows how to deal with them. Maybe he's not so wise in that sense. Or just always expects to be dealt with legit stuff all the time. He thought I was you the first time, and you guys seem to know each other way back, so if it happened again, then..." A shrug. Imagine getting targeted with malicious Rick Rolls. If that's the way you go down, that's honestly pretty embarrassing. And sad.

But nevermind Abel. They're here on a date, after all, and some (supposedly) old dude getting viruses from memes shouldn't be their topic of conversation when it's meant to be a romantic occasion.

She's back to returning Evelynn's gaze, all too aware of the adoration in her eyes, directed at her and it makes Akali's heart sing. This is her girlfriend. "And you know I'm always gonna wanna spend time with you, baby. 'Specially if I can whisk you away from work." And oh, the rest of what she was going to say dies in her throat after that, her own eyes snapping to the exposed cleavage on display just for her. This is not the first time Evelynn's done something like this before, nor would it be the last, but it never fails to draw Akali's attention.

She swallows. She tries to bring her gaze back up only to catch the way Evelynn bats her eyes at her. "I said it was a surprise, babe." She needs to focus on her food or she's going to be focusing on something else rather quickly. "But," A smirk. "You know where we're going to end up in all night unless we can't keep our hands to ourselves somewhere along the way." Their pasta better arrive soon or that's the way things are going to go. "You make it pretty damn hard to resist. Or is that what you want to happen?"

" He's a good kid. " A smile etched its way onto Evelynn's lips as Akali lights up in regards to Ekko. Normally she doesn't interact with many contacts outside of K/DA and of the occasion Pentakill, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't approve of the people her girlfriend gathered for her own band. There's a sense of pride, knowing just how well their single did and the confidence ( and much more ) it gave Akali.

In fact, Evelynn vividly remembers how fast she jumped the rapper the second she got home from her flight from Paris.

" His ideas for engine improvements were surprising, yet they really added more horsepower. " Slowly her claws tap further against the glass, purposefully giving her intent. A flirtatious grin soon grows, hair cascading as her head tilts and she beams at the woman opposite of her at the table. " Maybe we can pick him up next week. He's not gotten a chance to ride in it yet. " There's a brief pause, another glimmer to her eyes. " Unless you have plans for something for us to do on the ride there. "

Shrugging it off, she leans back in her seat with her salad now finished. A relaxing moment as she considers Akali's offer of food choice for the following week. Not that it entirely matters to her, just someone's upset stomach later could prove to be an annoyance. " Right ... I'll stick to just the coffee then. I'm sure they won't question anything. "

Letting Akali go on again, Evelynn enjoys the serene moment they share. It's not often they're able to share a ( relatively ) quiet moment alone, away from prying eyes and paparazzi as they're out on a date. Truthfully, a part of her is surprised no one has approached them yet.

Though a scowl soon settles, brief as it is, upon Akali's reaction of Abel's misfortune. A headache nearly forms at the thought of how hours were wasted earlier trying to walk him through removing the damned thing from his phone. " You'd think someone of his age would understand not to fall for every click bait possible. He's wise but -- " there's disdain on her face as she remembers, fading away as the waiter drops off the mozzarella sticks.

Her gaze follows Akali carefully, adoration clear as she amiably takes to snacking on the appetizer. " I could always use time with you, love. " Allowing the rapper have the app to herself, she takes another long sip of her wine. " You really wanted this date, didn't you honey? Won't you tell me where we're going after? "

Batting her eyes, she leans closer in her chair, nonchalantly presenting her chest up. A little flirting, especially to her girlfriend, never hurt anyone. " Or am I to guess all night? "

[bump1nthen1ght]

Jock!Fem!Orc x GN!Reader Headcanons (Part 1)

Pairing: Gender Neutral!Reader/Jock!Female!Orc

Genre: Urban Fantasy, Fluff

Warnings: None

Part 2

A/N: Now that requests are officially completed (a year or so later but shhh), I’ve decided to play around with some longer headcanons! I definitely plan to do more traditional short stories (I have some in the works at the moment), but I think these will be a good medium for general ideas that don’t have a concrete theme yet. Let me know what you guys think!

- She’s definitely on the rugby team, maybe even lacrosse or shot put

- She’s the talk of the college, both for her good looks and the way she dominates on the field

- But she isn’t boastful or even that talkative; The first time you two meet is when your paired up for class assignment

- She always sat in the back, usually sweaty from morning practice, her hair pulled back in a braid.

- You had noticed her of course; When you walked into class the first day, she had been nonchalantly checking her phone, arm thrown over the chair beside her. Her legs were lazily spread as she scrolled with her thumb.

- Those rugby shorts, her thick thighs, and those biceps had your heart stopping. Your first thought was “Damn”

- But you don’t have the guts to talk to her until you’re paired up

- She doesn’t add too much to the conversation, but she isn’t disinterested either. She’s diligent with her work and even asks that you meet up to review your respective parts. 

- “What book are you reading?” She asks, voice husky, during a short break.

- You flash the cover and she nods approvingly. You think that’s the end of the conversation. But-

- “I’ve read that author's other book and I enjoyed it. How’s this one so far?”

- “O-oh, it’s pretty good,” You stutter, still reeling from having a casual conversation. “Pacings a little wonky; I’m not sure if the endings gonna work with how little pages I have left.”

- “I hate when that happens.” She takes a bite of her croissant, brushing a rogue piece of hair behind her ear. “Keep me posted how it goes, maybe I’ll give it a read.”

- You nod

- The conversation ends, you both get back to work. But each time you meet, more little moments like that occur. You both get more comfortable, preconceived notions falling to the wayside.

- She comes to one meetup wearing her rugby uniform, hair tied into a tight fishtail braid. You can see her tummy when she stretches her arms and your heart nearly stops.

- “You have a game today, right?” 

- “Yeah, at 8”

- “Oh I should be able to swing by then.” You mimic a fake pom-pom. “Cheer you guys on.”

- She smiles. It’s bigger than normal, almost mischievous. You notice the gold rings that cling tight to her tusks, a typical Orc good luck charm.

- “Do you even know anything about rugby?”

- Your face goes red.

- “A l-little! I know there’s a ball, and some tackling, and running….”

- Let’s just say you're not a sports fan.

- She laughs. It’s a beautiful sound that sets your chest on fire.

- “Well maybe I can teach you some things after the game,” she cracks her neck, “Show you how it’s done.”

- You can’t tell if she’s trying to be flirtatious or if your brain was deep fried by your crush and is reading too much into it. Either way you frantically nod, stuttering a “Yeah for sure!” and working the rest of the time in flustered silence.

- She has to leave early to prep for the game, allowing you extra time to hype yourself up and force yourself out of the house.

- The stands are filled with people decked out in your college's colors; People with painted numbers across their chest, people with giant foam fingers, everyone is either tipsy or acting like it.

- Everyone cheers when she runs on the field, holding up signs with her last name and number. You feel wildly unprepared in your normal jeans and a t-shirt

- She’s a force to be reckoned with on the field. She brushes off tackles no problem, shoulders pushed forward with every play. She’s so large but is quick as a cat, passing with ease and making it seem so easy.

- You cheer with the crowd, not even focused on the score, just watching her

- The game ends with your school's victory, the stands and the team erupting with cheers. Her team swarms her in a dog pile and all the bystanders shout a demeaning chant to your rivals.

- You're somehow able to navigate through the crowd of fans and find the exit of the locker room. Her teammates have already left with their dates and their friends, but there hasn’t been a single sighting of the star player yet.

- You’re one of the last people left, the excitement carrying everyone else off to the after party. You almost think she left with them when she comes out.

A wet towel is slung around her neck, shirt discarded to show her sports bra. You feel your face flush.

- “Hey! Almost didn’t see you there,” she says, running a hand through her hair and undoing her frayed braid. You wave back, the breath knocked out of you when she gives you a side hug. “I wasn’t sure if you would come, but what did you think of the game?”

- “It was cool!” She hasn’t released you from the hug, arm still slung around your shoulder as you walk to the parking lot. Her fingers absentmindedly rub into your shoulder blades. “Not sure if I understood all the plays and stuff, but I know enough to say you kicked ass.”

- She chuckles, hand still slung over your shoulder. You can feel your heart beating faster and faster and will it to stop; She’s just touchy-feel the way all jocks are, it doesn’t mean anything.

- “Well I’m wiped, but I’m still down to show you some stuff if you want. Are you free Saturday?”

- “Yup, and if you wanted we could add some of those finish touches to our powerpoint beforehand.”

- She raises her brow.

- “I was thinking more of going out to breakfast before. Y’know, like a proper date.”

- You stop in your tracks, her arms slipping away from your shoulder as she takes a few steps forward. She turns back, confused.

- “L-like a what?”

- She smirks, that same mischievous one from before. With her tousled hair and sweaty body, it looks damn near debaucherous.

- “Like a date, cutie. That is, if you’re down?”

- A solid 5 seconds pass before your brain catches up with the situation.

- “Yes! Yes, I am-I am totally down. With a date, I mean.”

- She smiles, stepping closer toward you. Her hand brushes against your jaw, staring in a way that shoots right through your heart.

- “Glad to hear it. How about 9 AM? At our usual cafe?” 

- You nod, not trusting your mouth to say proper words at this moment.

- “Great. See you then, cutie.” Her thumb brushes against your bottom lip before she steps away and gives you a wave, walking toward her beat up pick up truck.

- You stand there, baffled, before realizing you’ve forgotten where you parked.

[technowoah]

Dating The Dream Team Headcanon(s)

Dream! (Clay)

Our supposed golden retriever

He loves you with his whole heart and he'll tell you that every second he gets.

He loves showering you with affection on and off camera

Mostly off camera

Pda isn't a problem because no one knows his real face.

He'll kiss you, holding hands, hug you, piggyback rides when your feet hurt, locking arms, arms around eachother when you're walking. All of be above

Just hugging you from behind all of the time. And always wanting to be around you

But if people know who you are and know you're dating Dream you two rarely go outside in public areas.

But home dates are amazing too!

Blanket forts even though its so cliché, he insists.

Watching horror movies on the first date was his choice.

Ya know for somone to cuddle, just in case they get scared. It worked.

You guys dont need "dates" because you always are around eachother.

But Clay likes to have formal dates every now and then

At first you didn't know what to call Clay.

You had called Clay, Dream for the first month you two started officially dating.

One day he asked you why, and you said that you watch videos that he's in and gotton used to people calling him Dream

He melted on spot when you mentioned you watched his videos and videos with him in it.

Except for the minecraft cheating ones

He always asks if you like the video first before anyone else because he values your opinions.

He'll sit you on his lap while recording or editing and sometimes, I emphasize sometimes, your voice will make it into a video.

He was very protective of you, and still is. Especially because of the place he is in popularity.

In the beginning your conversations while speed running would always be either muted from his audience or either cut of from the extended manhunt videos.

Now he takes pride in having his significant other's voice in videos. He dosent cut out your conversations, except if they're too personal.

Or the kisses

Dream bought you roses on the first date, and now roses are such a special thing between you two.

Those little rose pendants for jewelry, fake roses to keep around his place, gifts things that reminded him of your first date with a rose that comes with it.

He gives you merch of course!

Your closet is full of Dream hoodies and a box full of milestone coins.

You always either get the prototype one or the first one made. Idk how he made that happen, but take his word for it.

You've meet "Drista" before, and you had met his family too!

His family adores you.

He has yet to meet yours, but one day he promises he will make a great first impression.

I would do into more detail, but Dream is one of the most caring, sweet, boyfriend's you'll ever have.

Sapnap!

My boyyyy

I love sapnap srs

Gentlemanᵗᵐ

He'll treat you like royalty

He's not the biggest fan of PDA but further into your relationship he got more comfortable with showing you love in public.

He loves hugs, lying together, just hugs and sitting you on his lap and resting his head on your shoulder.

You guys mostly have home dates for him to have an excuse to hold you all day.

The dates are mostly movie marathons with one of you laying ontop of one another

He loves cheek kisses btw.. all the time

Conversation between you two flows so naturally you could talk for hours about anything.

You try to convince him to have a podcast.

When you get too riled up his voice calms you and he knows that so he uses it to his advantage.

You two play fight alot, its never serious you two barely fight.

Also calling him his real name was the strangest thing to him.

Like Dream, it had to take some getting used too because their friends wouldn't call them by their real name (most of the time)

He adores nicknames for the both of you. You both have too many nicknames but the most popular one between you is 'angel'

You never sit in the same room while he plays video games, because he can scream very loud.

There probably has been noise complaints. And you wouldn't be surprised.

You'll always defend him no matter what. Even when the twitter stans get to him, he knows you'll be there without a doubt. Always ready to defend your man.

You're kinda protective of Sapnap, but he's more protective over you.

You two would defend eachother to the ends of the earth.

You trust him with hanging out with other people, but you just dont trust Twitter.

He loves showing you off to his community. He kept you a secret at first then gradually started saying "my significant other" and they caught on.

Sapnap isnt that much of a gift giver. He loves to spend more quality time with a person.

He likes to spend more time with you than buy you material things all the time.

But he gives you his merch, but then the rest of the clothes you get are his actual hoodies.

He's actually starting to miss his clothing so he asks for them back for them to inevitably end up back in your closet.

You and Sapnap are planning to take a trip to meet his parents and then make a weekend out of it.

Then the next stop is to meet yours and out of all the relationships you've had you're not nervous for him to meet your parents.

We love sapnap in this household and he would just be the best boyfriend srs

GeorgeNotFound! (George)

This man is so annoying

But like in an endearing way ya know?

He never fails to brighten up your day

Making you laugh

repeating phrases over and over again

poking you nonstop to get a reaction out of you

giving you long hugs that never seem to end

kissing you all over your face.

He is just so bright.

Hes the neighbors kid

George loves giving you affection whether its kisses or holding your hand he wants you to know he's there.

Even if you dont want him to he'll always want to be around you.

He loves skinship.

George loves walking around London finding stuff to do for dates.

He loves taking small roadtrips too so you get to see stuff around the area you wouldn't normally see.

Just walking around holding hands while making fun of anything you can see.

You two are out in public a lot so when George does his meetups with his friends and brings you along people would stop them and want to take pictures.

He'll introduce you as his significant other in public to fans who ask or notice, but online when his friends ask about his relationship he says "what relationship?" Even though his whole fanbase knows you two are dating.

His fanbase loves you two together, but sometimes they can get too much.

George couldn't care less about what his fanbase thinks if him and his relationship and he wants you do think the same because its not worth it.

Your voice sometimes appear in his videos when you comment on something he does in minecraft.

George doesn't like to put his personal life out on the internet so he still keeps secrets about yall relationship

All his community knows is that you're his significant other and you're "really cool" in George’s words.

You stay in his room when he's recording because he insisted that you stay.

Also he doesn't give you his merch, he refuses to and everytime you ask he just says "because I said so" and "I need the money"

He ends up giving you merch, you knew it was a bluff anways.

Dreams love language is gift giving

Sapnaps is quality time

and George’s is skinship like I said.

Hugs and kisses all the time. Even when your mad at him

You guys have so many inside jokes its ridiculous.

You say them around your friends and laugh just to annoy them.

You guys love to flaunt your relationship around. Showing off that "this is George’s jumper" and "oh this is y/n's necklace"

One time you threatened to cut George’s hair and he didnt speak to you for like an hour.

You already have a good relationship with him and his friends, but you havent met his family yet.

If your family lives out of the country you both plan to travel for him to meet your family.

If your family is in the same country you guys plan a month where you both meet eachothers parents in that same month.

George would be so proud that he got to meet your parents. And the same goes for you.

After all you both love a little road trip from time to time.

Anyways being georges significant other would be a 20/10 experience.

Taglist(s)

Dream Team Imagines: @bozowrites

MCYT Imagines: @annshit @bobaducky @malfoysslutt @egorldevi

[strawberrymilkgeorge]

Part Ten. Faces

warnings: swearing, hate comments word count: 4.1k (not including pics)

behind the screen (irl dream x f!reader) series masterlist ultimate masterlist

A/N: sorry its late!!!! this feels rushed but i was just too excited to get to some parts!!! also i have had some parts written out for SO long that they dont even feel cute to me anymore so im literally praying to every deity rn that you guys think its cute lmao anyway enjoy!!!!

**********

It had been about a week since Karl's slip up but everything was already more normal than Y/n had expected it to be. Of course, George, Sapnap and Quackity were all very understanding and gave her space while simultaneously reassuring her that she was safe with them. She fully believed it too, she knew she was safe with them and they weren't going to tell anyone her name.

The one unusual thing was now she had a heavy guilt, like someone dropped another sandbag in her stomach, every time Dream texted her. If the others knew, it was only fair that she tell him her name too, right? I mean, it's Dream. Dream! The boy who had quickly slipped his way into her life and, though she wouldn't admit it to Karl or Naomi, her heart.

But how? Does she just come right out and say it or wait until it gets brought up? She hadn't practiced telling anyone her name because she wasn't planning on doing it any time soon. Though, maybe she should have been seeing as she was going to see them all in person in a little over a month.

Regardless of the guilt, Y/n had other things to worry about today; Quackity was coming to visit. Karl had picked him up from the airport and the two of them spent all day catching up and doing who knows what but Y/n still hadn't met him. She was scared. She wasn't scared of Quackity, but scared because it was the first time one of her online friends would be able to put a face to her name and voice.

Y/n shuffled across her living room rug and reached for her phone on the coffee table, looking for some sort of distraction while she waited for them to arrive.

-

Y/n rolled her eyes but smiled, shaking her head as she threw her phone on the couch. Okay, he's right. It's gonna be fine. It's gonna be great. It's just Quackity. If he said anything rude or annoying or anything she could literally just step on him like a bug.

A sharp knock on the front door of her apartment snapped her back into reality. She shook her limbs of nervousness as she made her way to the door, two familiar voices begging to be acknowledged from the other side.

"Let us iiinnn!! Y/nnn!!!!" Karl whined.

After countless times asking the same question, she finally convinced Karl that she was okay with him using her real name in front of Quackity. He clearly still felt guilty about telling the boys her name, asking her multiple times in different ways whether he should call her Y/n or Bugsy in front of the guest. She finally got it through his head that she didn't mind either way.

"Hold on!" she yelled back. She unlocked the door and swung it open to see Karl and Quackity. "So impatient."

"Holy shit, you are tall! Goddammit, I thought that was a joke!"

Y/n laughed shyly at the greeting, looking at Quackity like he was crazy. "Hello to you too. Tried to warn you, dude."

"Yeah but, damn! You're tall and attractive, what the hell?"

"Dude," she said with a warning in her voice. She thought the flirting on Twitter was funny, but in real life she got embarrassed easier and wasn't a fan. "I'm about to kick you out of my house before I even let you in."

This was weird, meeting Quackity before meeting some of her other friends. She loved Quackity, but she had known George much longer and Sapnap even before that. There was no problem with meeting Quackity, she just had no idea how to act since she felt like she hardly knew him.

"Am I allowed to tell people that you're hot?" he asked as he fell on her couch, Karl following right after.

"Quackity!" Y/n yelled, her face heating up at a compliment. "Seriously?"

Karl cackled and shoved Quackity. "Shut up, Alex! No, you're not allowed!"

"Sorry, is that compliment reserved for Dream?" He cackled at his own joke and Y/n's face heated up even more.

"I seriously will kick you out of my house."

"You wanna be flirty on main but not in real life?" Quackity scoffed.

"I'm not flirty on main, you are!" she laughed. "Seriously, don't."

"Okay, sorry, I'll stop," Quackity promised with a laugh in his words.

The three of them fell into easy conversation, mostly because Karl and Quackity were already comfortable around each other at this point. They eventually decided to go to the mall, just to mess around and do something.

*reminder: covid doesn't exist in this fic bc we only want happy things so ignore their masks :P*

Y/n frowned as she unlocked her front door, staring at her phone. She had been so happy with all the fans freaking out about the meetup so she looked at the trending list, expecting to see a flood of keyboard smashes and happiness, but that's not all she ended up seeing. BUGKARLITY was trending, so she scrolled through the tweets and was upset to see not all of them were positive. In fact, when she typed her name in the search bar, lots of the tweets using her name were rather mean.

A few that stuck in her head called her an attention whore and said that her friends only flirted with her because she paid them too. Who on earth would even do that? Some hurt way more than others but she tried to push them aside. It wasn't like this was the first time she had seen comments like this, but they had only gotten worse since her Minecraft date with Dream. She was worried it was cause more hate for her friends and the last thing she wanted was to be the cause of their own hate.

She typed several different messages to Dream, deleting them all after she reread them. She felt like she had to request the same thing from him in a different way. Maybe because she felt like his words meant more, even if he really was just joking like the rest of them. She decided to call him instead of texting.

"Hi!" he chirped happily from the other end.

"Hi, Dream," she said as her chest filled with something warm at the sound of his voice. "How are you doing?"

"Good," he dragged out the word. "How are you?"

"Okay."

"Just okay? What's up?"

"Um," she started, immediately forgetting the words she decided she'd use. "I just... would you mind, uh, not flirting with me so much on, like, Twitter and streams and stuff like that?"

There was a silence before Dream's frantically apologetic words came through. "Yes, of course, oh my gosh. I'm so sorry. If I had known I was making you uncomfortable, I wouldn't have—"

"Wait, no," she interrupted but he must not have heard.

"—said things like... oh gosh. Bug, I'm really sorry—"

"Dream!" she raised her voice, getting him to stop ranting. "You don't make me uncomfortable."

"Oh. Really?"

"Of course not. I actually think it's really..." Cute? Adorable? Endearing? "funny," she decided.

"Oh. Then why...?"

She sighed heavily and explained what she told the others. "So, yeah. I just don't want you guys getting hate because of me so I figure if you stop then... you know."

"Bug..." he said gently. "I'm really sorry. I promise you that I don't—none of us think those things about you."

"I know."

"No, seriously," he said, clearly not believing her. "You need to understand that I..." he paused. "I mean what I say. Always."

Always? she thought. There's a few things he's said that certainly he didn't really mean... like calling her cute?

"I don't joke around like that unless I want to. I wouldn't say things like I say to you unless I really, really, genuinely considered you a close friend and felt comfortable around you. And I do."

Her heart swelled. "Thanks, Dream. I just... maybe don't do it so much for right now? Online, at least," she clarified, not wanting to deprive herself completely of Dream's flirting.

"Yeah, if that's what you want, of course."

"Well, I don't want you to stop flirting with me but, yeah."

He chuckled. "Oh, you do like when I flirt with you?"

She hummed and changed the subject. "Did I interrupt you doing anything?"

"No," his teasing voice dropped and was back to his regular self. "I'm just editing the video we filmed the other day."

"Oh, the 'Minecraft, but you can't touch the floor'?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Oh," she said, not meaning to sound disappointed. "I'll let you get back to it—"

"No. I mean, you can stay on the phone. Unless you're busy."

She smiled and put her phone on speaker and set it next to her foot on the floor. "I was just gonna paint. So I can stay."

Before she knew it, almost two hours had passed of them sitting in comfortable silence, occasionally speaking to share something with the other before going back to their tasks. It was comforting knowing she didn’t need to speak constantly and could just hang out with Dream.

Y/n's phone rested on the floor next to her, Dream on speakerphone on the other end, only the sounds of his keyboard clicking letting her know he hadn't fallen asleep or hung up. She wasn't sure when they started doing this, staying on the phone even when they had nothing to talk about, but they had done it a few times before. They had talked on the phone and Discord many times but it was usually always with purpose, not usually this silently-enjoying-each-others-presence nonsense. Who was she kidding calling it nonsense, she enjoyed it an embarrassingly insane amount.

She repositioned so she was laying on her stomach as she finished sketching an image that was in her mind.

"Hey, you still there?" Dream asked softly.

"Yeah. Sorry, am I taking away from your sitting in silence time with George?" she joked.

Dream chuckled lightly. "Nah, you're more fun. I was just seeing if you ditched me for Karl yet."

"Nah, you're more fun," she mimed truthfully. "But I'm very focused on this drawing."

"Can I see it when you're done?"

"Don't expect too much. It looks bad."

"If you don't tell me what it is, I can't know how accurate or inaccurate it is."

"Very true..." she trailed off, holding the canvas further away to examine it all at once. She wanted the sketch to be perfect before she made permanent choices with paint. She enjoyed the serenity they maintained even when talking, voices low and delicate like they were keeping secrets but not quite whispering. "Are you almost done editing your video from the other day?"

"Sorta. I'm at the part where you and Sapnap almost died laughing because a ghast knocked George into lava and then Sapnap laughed so hard he fell into lava."

She chuckled, remembering the situation vividly. "That was so funny. The way George screams is so funny."

"Let Naomi know that," he mumbled, causing Y/n to gasp.

"Dream!" she laughed loudly and he joined.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry. It's true though."

"Disgusting!"

A distant voice sounded on the other end and she assumed it was Sapnap. "What do you want for dinner?"

Dream responded with a soft, "Nothing, I'm good."

"Are you talking to Bugsy?"

He must have responded physically because the next sound was Sapnap's very clear, much more lively voice speaking directly into the phone. "Hi, Bugsy!"

"Hi, Sapnap!"

"Can you tell Dream to eat some damn food? This man literally hasn't eaten a single thing all goddamn day."

"Dream," Y/n scolded slowly. "Please eat."

"I'm not hungry."

"I'm not showing you my painting until you eat."

A door closed on the other end and she took that as a sign that Sapnap had left.

"I don't wanna see it anyway. It's probably trash."

"Take that back!" she gasped lightly. She looked at the canvas as she grabbed the first paint color and laughed. It was only a sketch and it was already trash. "Fine, then I won't go on the trip if you don't eat in the next ten minutes."

"That's punishing yourself too though."

"Who says I want to see you?" she asked.

"I never said anything about not seeing me being the punishment."

She had been caught. "It was implied."

"Sure it was."

"It's true though. Who says I wanna see your stupid face?"

He didn't say anything, but an incoming FaceTime call lit up Y/n's phone. A FaceTime call from him.

Her smile dropped. "Clay?"

"Answer it," his voice was lower and her heart started beating faster. Was he really about to show her his face to prove a point? Reveal his biggest secret that only a few close friends knew? To her of all people? She made sure she couldn't be seen in the small window and pressed accept, the voice call ending and the FaceTime call starting.

To her surprise, what came into view wasn't his face, but the logo of the hoodie he was wearing, the simple smile of his merch taunting her. She laughed, the anxiety slowly fading away as it was replaced with a heavy feeling in her stomach. Was she disappointed? Maybe a little, but he teased her into believing she would see him.

"Oh, wow! Dream face reveal! He looks just like his icon, no way!!!"

His chest moved up and down as he laughed, not moving the camera away. "You heard it here first, guys! You've known my face all along, the logo is actually my face!"

She laughed and returned to painting, not paying any more attention to her phone since he was now also showing his ceiling, a small corner of his monitor in frame but nothing else. "I mean it though, if you don't eat, I'm going to be so mad I won't even want to be friends anymore. Or you'll die from malnourishment before we get the chance to meet."

"I doubt it. I'm just not hungry."

"Whatever."

"Oh, hey, so you met Quackity today. How was it?"

"Very scary."

"Yeah?" he asked sympathetically, urging her to explain if she wanted.

"Yeah. But it turned out okay! He didn't act any different so it was fine. It was mostly just awkward. He's also so freaking loud. You would not believe how much louder he and Karl get when they're together."

"I can imagine. Aren't they doing a stream right now or something?"

"Yeah, I think so. I don't wanna watch though, I've had enough of them for the month."

Dream laughed. "How will you deal with them together for New Years'? It'll be for like two weeks."

"Who knows if I'll actually go?"

"Wait, what?" he asked abruptly, not even bothering to hide the disappointment in his voice. His keyboard stopped clicking and she could picture him staring at his phone as if looking at her. "Of course you're going."

"Not if you don't eat food! You have, like, 3 minutes to eat something until I officially am busy doing other things whenever the trip is."

Dream groaned and clicked a few things on his computer before the image on the screen became blurry as he walked through the house, still pointing it at the ceiling. She looked away again and kept painting.

"Quackity's really funny though," she continued. "It was super awkward at first but it was fun to have someone else to help me make fun of Karl."

"Wait, Bug," Dream called out over the sound of wrappers crinkling.

"Hm?" She hummed, continuing to paint.

"Bug," his voice was much softer and he sounded nervous.

She looked at her screen and dropped the paintbrush as she focused on what she saw, grabbing her phone and holding it closer to her face so she could see, still making sure she wasn't in view. All the anxiety from the beginning of the FaceTime suddenly came back and hit her like a truck. Sitting on her screen, waiting to be seen, was Dream. His hood was up, tufts of blonde hair sticking out, and he was standing with his back towards a dark room, the dim light from his pantry making his face just visible.

He held up a cookie in front of his actual, real face. "Are you watching?"

"Y-yea... I... Yeah. I'm watching. Is that really you?"

He nodded once before shoving the cookie in his mouth. "There, I consumed food," he announced, his voice muffled by the cookie. "Now you're legally obligated to come."

"I—What? CLAY! WHAT?"

"What?" he asked innocently as he chewed, walking back to his room and still holding the phone up to show his face. His room light was on, making his face much more visible. If Y/n thought he was attractive in the harsh pantry light, he must have looked like a god in his room lighting, even as pixelated as he was due to the quality of FaceTime. He fell on his bed and Y/n could only gape at his features. He slumped against his headboard, surrounded by roughly a thousand pillows, sporting a small, shy smile as he stared at the screen. "Bug, what?"

She opened her mouth but no words came out. Needless to say, he was unbelievably handsome. Part of the speechlessness was from the shock that he showed his face out of the blue, but obviously, the majority of it was that he was pretty much the most attractive person she'd ever seen. It should be illegal for someone to look that good in a hoodie, especially when pixelated.

"Hmm," he hummed thoughtfully. "Wanna take back what you said earlier?" He bit into another cookie.

"W-what did I say earlier?" Why was she stuttering???

"You said you don't wanna see me and that I'm ugly," he teased.

She paused for too many seconds too long before finally muttering, "you arrogant son of a bitch." He laughed loudly at that.

His eyes crinkled and he threw his head back. So that's what he looks like when he wheezes, she thought to herself, pretty.

Dream shuffled his position on his bed and rested his head on one of his hands. He looked so comfy. "Why are you so quiet, weirdo?" he mumbled.

She set her phone back down and touched her cheeks with her hands and looked away for a moment, grounding herself to the real world for a second. She couldn't process her thoughts when she was staring at a man as gorgeous as Clay. "I don't know, maybe because you gave me no warning before showing me your face? Or because you failed to mention that you're incredibly hot?"

She was so glad she had looked back at her phone or else she would have missed the glorious sight of his cheeks turning bright red before he turned the camera back to his ceiling. "Oh my gosh."

"Aw cute, I made you blush."

"Shut up," he mumbled. "You threatened to not come if I didn't eat something!"

"You didn't have to—you showed me your freaking face just to prove you ate a cookie!! DREAM! I would have believed you if you just said you ate something!" she laughed breathlessly, staring at the phone now for a chance to see him again. "I was joking anyway!"

"Sure you were."

"I was."

"Well, oh well. You deserved to see me anyway."

"Oh, I deserve to see you?" She laughed. "How big is your ego?"

"You know what I meant," he groaned. "You got doxxed by Karl and you met Quackity in person. And you've clearly had a bad day because of all the hate and stuff. You've done a lot of stressful things recently and you deserved to be let in on a secret too."

He was so sweet. Like, tooth-rotting, Halloween candy stash hidden under a kid's bed, upset tummy sweet. She also couldn't get over the fact that he was a million times cuter when he was shy like he was being now, his voice soft and unsure. It contrasted vastly with the confident, loud-mouthed Dream everyone usually saw, though she liked that Dream too. She wished he could show his face for just one more second to see what he looked like shy. Probably sickeningly adorable.

This was it, wasn't it? The chance she had been waiting for to tell him her name? He just let her in on his biggest secret, now he was the one deserving to be let in.

"Y/n," she said with a confident, but soft voice.

There was a long pause. "W-what?"

"Y/n."

He understood the second time immediately. "Y/n..." he tested, the smile in his voice clear as day. "I like it."

"Yeah, well, I guess you deserved to know the secret too."

"I would have been content never knowing."

"Really?" She didn't believe him. He seemed like the type to never be satisfied, always looking for something better. Not in a greedy way, but in a motivational, goal-oriented big achiever way.

"Really," he hummed. "I already feel like you're too good to be true so I wouldn't be surprised if you weren't a real person."

It was silent as she tried to collect her thoughts.

"Bug? You okay?"

"Yeah, I... it's just a lot."

"Sorry."

"No, it's not you. Well... I don't know. I just don't know what I'm supposed to say when you say things like that," she admitted.

He paused. "I think you always have the perfect responses when I say things like that."

"What do I usually say?" She smiled shyly, pulling her hoodie up to her lips.

"You usually call me a nerd or say you can't stand me. 'Oh my gosh I cannot stand you'," he mimicked before laughing.

"What? How is that the perfect response to you saying you can't believe I'm real?"

He hummed and she could practically hear him shrugging. "Because it's a classic Bug response. It's a hundred perfect you. So yeah, it's perfect."

She was silent, trying to compose herself before she exploded.

"By the way, check Twitter."

"Why, are you bragging about me calling you hot?" she teased, hoping to make him blush like she had earlier. It worked.

"Oh my gosh, no. Just look."

She clicked her home button and navigated to the app, her feed instantly flooding with the same similar messages.

"Oh, my gosh," she muttered, her fingers flying away as she typed out her own tweet in response to the love.

Dream chuckled from the other end and when she asked him why, he vaguely said that George texted him but didn't explain further.

"Um, I have to go," she said mournfully. "Karl and Quackity are coming over again."

"Booooo," he pouted.

"Sorry, you aren't the only man in my life," she teased before instantly regretting her choice of words. Too flirty, Y/n, she thought to herself.

"Hm, shame. Am I at least at the top of the list?"

She bit her lips, wanting desperately to repeat what she had told him on their Minecraft date. In the end, she gave in. "I always mean what I say too," she started. "You're my main bitch, baby."

Dream made some sort of sound, a mix of a scoff and a whine but Y/n didn't comment on it, just glowing with heat in her cheeks.

"Leave before I don't let you," he said softly and the heat only grew.

"Goodnight, Dream," she pressed, the tone in her voice letting him know he was being a tease. "Thanks for... thanks for your tweet. And for everything you said earlier."

"Of course. Sorry that you have to see those kinds of things a lot."

"It's okay when I have people like you."

"People like me? What does that mean?"

"Just.... people like you." Cute, sweet, kind, genuine people who make her heart flutter.

She could hear his smile in his words and she figured he knew the unspoken words in her thoughts, the ones she was saying without saying. "Okay. Goodnight, Y/n."

"Goodnight."

**********

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[uvobreakmylegs]

Haze

i saw a meme and it made me want to write a Morel piece. then @ramwrites​ suggested making him a banshee and i loved it

i have definitely bastardized banshee lore but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do for a story

Warnings: manipulation, mentions of death

A hiking trip up to a nearby mountain trail had been on a list of things to do for you and your friend group for a while. Your friend Denali had suggested it, and she assured you all that it wouldn't be anything too difficult; it was just a beginner's trail that would consist of a few hours of walking up the trail and back. And then maybe you all could grab some food after.

You were pretty excited for it, as the idea sounded refreshing to you. Another thing that added to the anticipation of the hike was the fact that it had also been a little while since everyone in the friend group had been able to hang out together.

Or more accurately, it had been a while since you were able to make it to one of these friend meetups.

Some kind of bad luck had been plaguing you recently; the last few times an outing for the four of you had been planned, something unexpected came up for you and you needed to cancel last minute. Be it work obligations, family emergencies or just you getting sick the night before, it had been a while since you hung out with them like you once had.

Aiden, Denali and Colton all seemed to take it well, but you swore you could sense a growing annoyance in them. They seemed to be shorter with you in texts, and there had been a few times now that you'd sent a picture or said something in the group chat and it had been ignored. You worried that they were starting to think you were making up excuses instead of genuinely being unable to see them, but every time you tried to talk with them privately, they told you that there wasn't anything wrong and that you were just overreacting.

That hadn't made you feel any better. You just felt like a bad friend.

But today would be different.

You made a point to ensure that you had the day completely cleared for the hike, getting the day off from your work well in advance and doing your best to stay away from anything that might make you sick. The morning of your friends had all confirmed that it was still on, and after a little while they were going to rendezvous at your place to pick you up before you all headed out to the trail.

Things were going to be different today, and you were excited for it.

And things were different.

But maybe not in a way that you had expected.

You didn't notice the second car that had pulled up behind Denali's initially when they stopped outside your place. You only noticed that something was different when you approached Denali's car and noticed that one of the seats in the back had been taken up by a pile of backpacks, leaving no room for you.

When Aiden stepped out of the first car as you came out to greet him, he explained the situation. Without your knowledge, Aiden had invited someone from his work, a woman named Fawn. Evidently during those times when you couldn't make it, your friends had been hanging out with her a lot, and they had figured that she should be invited on this trip as well.

That they were hanging out with other people didn't upset you; they had every right to spend their time with people that were able to show up. But you felt slightly hurt that you hadn't been asked or even given a heads-up that this was happening. You had been anticipating spending time with your old friend group for this trip and instead you would be trying to reconnect while also navigating a new group dynamic.

But you decided not to say anything about it. You just nodded and smiled when Aiden told you that you'd be riding with Fawn in her car. Although it was unexpected, you told yourself that new people wasn't necessarily a bad thing. You could probably make good friends with her while also berating yourself for your first reaction to her being disappointment. That sort of attitude was no good.

Despite all of that, you quickly came to feel that you didn't like Fawn very much.

For one thing, the woman was one of the most reckless drivers you had ever come across. Virtually blowing through stop signs, running several lights and swerving around drivers that she felt weren't going fast enough, there were several times during the trip that you felt she was going to cause an accident. She also passed by Denali's car for some reason, and when you asked her why, she said she thought it would be fun to see who could get to the mountain first. You didn't agree, but there was literally nothing you could do but hold onto the inside of the passenger side door for dear life. The motion sickness you'd gotten was so bad that by the time you made it to the parking lot next to the hiking trail, you'd needed to lean against the side of her car and take in deep breaths in an attempt to not throw up your breakfast.

At least she seemed pretty apologetic when she saw you like that, and she offered you a bottle of water which you gladly took. But the second Denali's car pulled up she seemed to switch her focus to that completely, going up to the rest of the group to greet them. She had something of a one-track mind, it seemed. It didn't make her a bad person, but you still wanted a bit of distance for now.

After recovering and making sure you had everything you needed in your backpack, you approached Aiden while the others were getting ready.

“Hey,” you said, “you think you and I could switch places for the car ride back?”

“Oh c'mon, it couldn't have been that bad,” he said, “you'll hurt her feelings if you do that. She really wants to know you.”

Fawn walked up right after, and since you weren't willing to criticize her driving right in front of her, you dropped it.

Meanwhile the mountain loomed above all of you. Tall and imposing with a rather dense white fog that almost obscured the very top of it. There were parts that were heavily forested, and you briefly wondered if you would need to worry about anything like bears or some other kind of large wild animal.

“How far up are we going?” you asked Denali.

“Not too far. We'll be sticking to the marked trail; there's a cool little observation deck at the end of it,” she told you, “I figure we'll head towards that and then come back the same way.”

You nodded, but before you could give any real response Colton called her over for something, and she left to help him. Aiden and Fawn were chatting about something, so you stood silent and at the ready, looking up once more at the mountain.

Despite the distance, you swore you saw something moving. You wanted to say it was some large kind of four-legged creature, though it was impossible to tell what exactly it was.

“Are there bears on the mountain?” you asked aloud.

“Nah.”

That was all the response you got.

For about ten minutes after the hike started, Fawn had stayed at the back with you, asking you some basic questions about yourself that you would in turn ask her once you had answered. You hoped that the interaction wasn't as awkward as it had felt to you. Maybe it was but she also didn't want to say anything about it.

Then when your group came across an old, crumbling well, Fawn had run up towards Aiden to get some better pictures of the structure, and when the group began to move again, she chose to stay there next to him.

Denali had taken the lead with Colton right behind. They were talking, though what they were talking about you couldn't be sure as you only caught bits and pieces of the conversation. A few steps behind them were Aiden and Fawn, talking about something that was going on at their workplace. And a few steps behind those two was you, trailing behind the group and unable to join either conversation. Although Aiden had said that Fawn wanted to know you, she hadn't said much of substance to you before she turned her attention back to him. Although maybe that was your fault. Maybe it really was obvious that you didn't care for her much. You thought that you were doing a decent job at being polite, but maybe she could tell that you were still a bit annoyed about her driving earlier.

Or maybe she just wanted to talk to Aiden right now and you were overreacting again.

You weren't sure.

It just felt like you were being excluded.

Of course. The first time in forever that you were able to make it to a meet-up with them, and it felt like you weren't wanted.

You sighed to yourself as you walked behind silently, trying to tell yourself that it was unreasonable to be thinking like that and that you wouldn't have been invited if they didn't want you there. The hike had just started; you couldn't decide that the whole thing would be bad just because of a rough beginning.

At least for now you could enjoy the scenery, and you looked about the woods as you walked along the trail, noting the different types of trees and plants and just how many of them surrounded you as you walked by on the trail. You stopped now and then to take a few pictures with your phone. Although you could hear the distinct chirping of birds in the distance, you didn't manage to see any, and despite the movement you thought you had seen while in the parking lot, it didn't seem like there were any other animals in the area. Denali had said this was an easy trail; maybe people frequented it enough that most animals avoided any areas close to it. That was too bad, but not that big of a deal. At least you were still getting nice pictures of the forest.

Your group came across a wide set of wooden stairs with a wooden barrier on either side after a bit, beginning a steeper ascent towards the higher parts of the mountain. Nothing had really changed within the group, though you noted that the conversations had mostly died down in an effort to appreciate the nature around you. Colton was also frequently looking behind to make sure everyone was still there. The two of you managed to lock eyes at one point, and you smiled at him. He gave back something of a half-smile before looking back in front of him. Maybe it was just a coincidence, but you noted that he didn't look back after that.

The walk continued, and all of you were quiet now, looking about the scenery. Some of them occasionally made remarks whenever they spotted something unusual, like an oddly shaped tree trunk or rock. You stayed silent, though, remembering your messages that had gone ignored and worried that if you said anything, that would be ignored as well.

Were you being too anxious about this? Probably. You sighed to yourself again as you tried to keep those kinds of thoughts from running amok.

Just distract yourself by looking around, you told yourself.

You paused when you glanced over to your right.

It looked like there was some sort of stone pillar standing in the distance. The dark rock was covered in moss and vines, but the shape was such that it couldn't have been a natural formation. Someone human had put it there some time ago. It also looked as though there was similar wreckage behind the pillar, and you wondered if it may have once been some kind of building.

Taking out your phone and pulling up the camera, you zoomed in on the the ruined structure. You briefly glanced over to your friends as you did, making sure they weren't leaving you too far behind.

But when you looked back to the phone, you let out a small sound of surprise.

There was a man standing by the pillar.

Your eyes immediately went back to the pillar as you wondered where this guy had come from.

The shadows over in that area made things a bit darker, but you were able to see a general shape that looked like a person. You squinted slightly as you looked at him, trying to make out any details. But strangely, you couldn't. It was just the shape of a rather broad man, and as you continued to look, you found that it looked almost wispy, like a few pieces of cloud had floated down and arranged themselves to imitate what a person might look like.

…. Why did it feel like it was looking back at you?

“What are you doing?”

Aiden's voice called to you, and you snapped out of your stupor to find that the whole group was standing there waiting on you.

Your mouth fell open to try and offer some explanation, to tell them about what you were looking at, but when you glanced back to where the shape had been-

He wasn't there.

And when you looked back to the camera, you found he was gone from there as well.

Had you imagined it?

The entire thing had happened within mere seconds. The pillar wasn't large enough that he could be hiding behind it, and no one could move that fast without making some bit of noise. Looking between the view from your camera and the pillar a few more times, you decided that you had imagined it. Though you were certain you had seen something standing there, there was no way that could have actually been the case. Maybe a shadow just looked weird within the lighting at that moment?

Aiden called out to you again.

“Sorry!” you called out, putting the phone away as you hurried up the stairs to rejoin them.

“What you were looking at?” Fawn asked you.

“Something back there,” you explained, “ it looked like there were some ruins of a building.”

“Oh, did you get a picture? Can I see?”

“Ah, sorry, I didn't.”

Fawn pouted, asking “why not?”

“I thought I saw someone.”

They both looked at you strangely.

“You couldn't get a picture because you thought you saw someone?” Aiden asked.

“I don't know. It was just weird,” you said, getting a bit flustered as you continued “I thought I saw a guy for a second – or something that looked like a guy – but then he was gone.”

“... 'Something' that 'looked' like a guy,” Aiden repeated.

“Oh wow, I didn't know you could see ghosts!” Fawn exclaimed, giggling a little, “we've got a coworker who swears that the printer room is haunted. Maybe we should bring her here and see if she also sees something.”

…. You weren't sure if she was making fun of you or not, so you stayed silent. Aiden was still looking at you like you had two heads while Fawn was pulling out her own phone, preparing to walk back down to take a look at the ruins herself. Then Denali called out to the three of you, asking what the hold-up was. That was enough to spur you to begin walking again.

“Aw, I wanted to get a picture,” Fawn said as you began climbing the stairs once more.

Fawn then looked to Aiden as he said to her “we can always snap a picture on the way back.”

“That's true.”

“And did Nell say that the printer room was haunted? I thought she said it was the third floor bathroom,” Aiden then said.

“It could've been both. According to her a lot of places are haunted. Something about weird energies,” Fawn responded.

They were talking about something from their work again, and since you still had no way to join in, you walked behind them in silence. As your group continued the ascent, you glanced behind to see if there was anything weird with the pillar from this angle. There was a nagging feeling at the back of your mind, and you felt as if there was someone watching you.

There was nothing, and though the feeling wasn't going away, you told yourself to forget about it.

Time passed as the clouds parted some to show how the sun had moved higher in the sky, and your group came to a wooden platform with benches and tables that were clearly meant as a rest stop for any hikers. The others decided that it was a good time to have lunch and settled themselves at a table. You, on the other hand, were still feeling some side effects from Fawn's driving earlier, and as you really didn't want to get sick in the middle of the hike, you opted not to eat. You sat with them at first, but when you once again felt like you couldn't contribute to the conversation, you stood up, the amateur photographer in you feeling fulfilled somewhat as you snapped a few more pictures of the scenery.

You wandered over to a different part of the platform, leaning your elbows on the wooden fencing as you looked out at the forest.

At the beginning of your trip it had been fairly overcast, and only after you had started this excursion had the clouds thinned and allowed the sun to shine through. But just as the weather started to clear up, it seemed to be turning overcast again as a mist began to fall, seemingly sliding from the top of the mountain and through the thick forest of trees. Was rain a possibility? Maybe, and of course you hadn't brought anything with you if that did happen. You had made a point to bring a first aid kit in case either you or someone else got hurt, but nothing to protect you in case the weather turned bad.

A flash of white caught your eye while you were caught up in your thoughts.

Glancing to your left, you found yourself staring at a white rabbit.

It was nice to finally see some wildlife for the first time since this hike had started and at first glance it seemed perfectly normal. But the more you looked at it, the more.... Odd it seemed.

It was sitting upright facing away from you, not moving at all. That didn't seem quite normal, since you thought most rabbits were inclined to hunker down and try to blend in with their surroundings if they encountered something they thought was a threat. This one didn't seem to be hiding, it just sat still, and the more you looked, the more it didn't seem like it was even breathing. It also seemed strange to find a pure white rabbit up in the mountains. The color was striking against the earthly tones of the forest, and presumably that should've meant that it would have been easy prey for any natural predators that roamed the area. In fact, it didn't look the slightest bit dirty, making you wonder if it was someone's pet that had escaped.

And the more you looked at it, the more something about it just seemed to be off. Like it had some kind of weird energy to it.

And yet you felt an urge to get closer to it.

The instant you moved closer it reacted by twisting it's head around to face you, and you saw it's face for the first time.

Or rather, it's lack of one.

No eyes, no nose, no mouth, no sort of features whatsoever. It's face, and the rest of it for that matter, was completely blank, and it seemed less and less like a living creature the longer you looked at it.

You stared at it, unsure of how you were supposed to react to such a thing.

“The rabbit doesn't have a face,” you said aloud.

Your friends didn't hear you. In their defense, you hadn't spoken all that loudly.

When you moved again it bolted, vanishing behind surrounding tree trunks.

Follow it

Maybe it was because of the shock you felt at seeing that thing that you didn't even question the thought. You just climbed over the fencing and headed out in the same direction you had seen it run off to.

It wasn't long before you caught sight of it again, and once more you were struck by how odd this thing was. It was sitting up again, staring at you. Almost like it was waiting for you.

Did you really want to follow a faceless rabbit into the woods? Apparently you did, because when you got close again it ran off, and the process repeated itself as it began to lead you through the forest, taking you further and further away from the hiking trail and down an unmarked path. The rabbit never got too far before it would stop and wait for you to catch up, and it stayed still during the few times that you would pause for a break. It really was waiting for you, and somehow, it didn't seem like it was running in any random direction. More like it was leading you somewhere.

A haze had seemed to form in your mind. Somehow, none of this seemed questionable to you, that you were running off in pursuit of a white rabbit like a heroine from a Lewis Carroll book. Or at least some darker version of that tale given the rabbit's lack of a face which you still weren't able to make sense of. There was no reason for you to be running off of the trail like this, into terrain that you weren't familiar with, but every time you caught sight of the rabbit, something inside you told you that you needed to go after it.

You did just that for some time until the haze finally broke.

In the midst of your pursuit, you happened to step on a hollow, rotted log, and the wood was weak enough that when you put your weight on it, your foot went right through. You shrieked, stumbling forward as you desperately pulled your foot out. To add to your panic, there had been a fair amount of bugs living inside of the log, some of which had attached themselves to your shoe, and you kicked your foot out rapidly to get them off of you. They scattered, and you stumbled back before landing awkwardly on your ankle. Pain shot through you, and you fell against the trunk of a tree where you sank to the forest floor, one hand steadying yourself while the other was over your chest as you tried to calm yourself down.

What the hell am I doing?

The thought struck you. Why had you gone off the trail like this? And for some weird rabbit creature, of all things? What was the point of this excursion? What if you got hurt?

You put some weight on the foot that had gone through the log and you hissed as another sharp bolt of pain hit you.

Scratch that. You'd already managed to hurt yourself.

It seemed like your ankle was sprained. Clearly you had landed on it wrong after getting your foot out of the log.

Ah, this was the worst.

You gingerly removed your shoe and tried to get a look at the damage. It didn't look too bad yet, but there was definitely something wrong with it as you only felt pain every time you moved it. How fast does the swelling set in? At least you'd had the forethought of bringing a few rolls of elastic bandage wraps, though you felt like you'd need some help to get it properly wrapped.

Which meant you'd need to find your way back to your friends.

How far away were you from the trail by now? You weren't even sure how much time had passed since you had left them. It was all so strange, that you had gotten such extreme tunnel vision like that and had run off. And because of that, you had gotten hurt and would have a hard time making your way back, or else they would need to come in to find you.

They'd be upset with you, wouldn't they?

You probably wouldn't be able to continue the hike, and you were sure there'd be some resentment if this outing was cut short because of you. Maybe you could just wait at the rest area? They'd be coming down the same path when they came back, so maybe they could continue the hike and you could rest up and join them on the return trip. It'd be boring for you but then at least the trip wouldn't be a waste for them.

You sighed as you began to shimmy your shoe back onto your foot. Today was a bust. First the thing with Fawn, then the way it seemed like you were being ignored, and now this.

They hadn't even said anything when you jumped the fence to chase after the rabbit, had they? Not that you'd really been paying attention, so maybe they had, but they sure hadn't gone after you.

… Not that it was on them to look after you. You were an adult and therefore not their responsibility. It was wrong to think like that.

You sighed again.

Everything that had happened today really had been your own fault, huh? It was all you could do to hope nothing else bad would happen.

You remembered some old superstitious saying about bad things happening in threes. If that was true, then maybe your bad luck was over for the day.

Trying to get off of that particular train of thought, you looked about for something that could work as a walking stick, something strong enough to hold your weight for when you made your way back to the path.

A voice called out from far away, and when you paused to listen, you heard the voices of your friends calling out your name.

That was actually really good.

A new creeping fear was that you would be lost in the woods and have a hard time finding the path, but as long as they were calling out to you, you could use the sounds of their voices to find your way back. As you were about to push yourself to your feet, you allowed yourself to be a little hopeful, feeling that the bad things were done for the day.

You heard something then, as though something had dropped onto the ground next to you.

In an automatic response, you turned your head towards the sound and found a pipe laying atop the dirt and fallen leaves.

Had that been there earlier?

It was moderately sized, a black stem with a little bit of intricate gold detailing on either end, while the bowl at the end of the pipe was more of a darker bronze.

Wouldn't you have noticed this earlier? Or had you been that distracted when you'd been desperately shaking all of the bugs off of your foot?

Without really thinking about why you reached out to grab it as you wondered to yourself if there were still people these days who smoked using pipes.

It was warm when your fingers made contact, and as you raised it up to inspect it more, you noted how clean it was. If it had been out here for a day or so there would've been more dirt on it, but with the state it was in, someone must have dropped it not too long ago.

At least it gave you some comfort knowing that you weren't the only one who had wandered off the trail, though you were probably still one of the dumbest to do so since you had gone off in chase of a freaky rabbit.

Should you take the pipe with you? Was there some sort of lost and found box down at the parking lot? Would the person who lost it even still be looking for it, or would they have already accepted that it was gone forever?

With those thoughts swirling around your head, you didn't notice the sound of footsteps that came closer until they stopped right next to you.

“Are you alright?”

A man's voice broke you from your thoughts, and when you turned your gaze upwards, you found an older man standing above you, leaning an arm against the same tree trunk you were resting against. White hair, a gray dress shirt with a red tie and wearing black sunglasses despite the clouds overhead, he looked down at you with a clear look of concern on his face.

“Ah – yes! Well, mostly,” you said once you realized he was waiting for an answer.

“Mostly?”

“I think I sprained my ankle.”

He knelt down next to you, asking “may I?” as he motioned to your aforementioned ankle. You nodded, and he inspected your ankle. He was gentle with you, looking over the injured area carefully and apologizing any time he caused you some discomfort.

“How bad is it?” you asked him after a moment.

“I'd say you were right. It looks sprained.”

You groaned a little, disappointed that you were correct.

“Do you have anything to wrap it with?” he asked.

“Yeah, in my backpack,” you answered, “I was gonna get my friends to help me with it once I got back to them.”

“Where are they?”

“Back by the path, I think. It sounded like they were looking for me just now.”

However, you could no longer hear them. In fact, the whole forest seemed oddly silent now, the only exception being the wind that would at times whistle through the trees. And had it gotten darker?

“That's weird,” you said more to yourself, “I know I heard them.”

The man who sat patiently before you, with your ankle still in his care, looked about for any sign of your friends before he spoke again.

“Well, I'm here now,” he told you, “care if I patch you up instead?”

“Um, as long as it isn't too much trouble?”

He smiled at you.

“It's no trouble at all.”

Saying that it would be easier for him to work on you, the man carefully picked you up and moved you so that you sat on a nearby boulder, kneeling down in front of you again as he waited for you to fish out the bandages from your pack.

“I'm Morel, by the way.”

You gave him a small smile in return, introducing yourself as well as you handed off the bandages.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked as he began to wrap up your ankle.

“Hiking with friends.”

“I figured that much,” he said, grinning a little, “but the trail is a good distance from here. How did you end up off of it?”

“Ah....”

Despite the pain in your ankle and the circumstances between you and your friends, it hadn't been lost on you that Morel was pretty handsome. A bit rugged, but in a good way. And though you knew nothing about this man – for all you knew he had a wife and child at home waiting for him – you didn't want to say something that might make him think you were an idiot. Telling him that you had gone chasing after a rabbit would definitely make him think you were an idiot.

And you didn't want to mention that you thought it had no face. Then he'd think you were crazy.

“I saw some ruins down at the base of the mountain; thought it'd be cool if I went exploring and see if I could find some more,” you lied.

“Unfortunately, any ruins would be down at the bottom. Nobody would've built anything this far up,” Morel explained.

“Ah, I see.”

You stayed quiet a moment, looking back in the direction where you'd heard your friends calling. You still couldn't hear them, and it worried you that something may have happened.

There was also that white mist from earlier that had grown thicker while Morel wrapped your ankle, slowly settling down around you and making the scene around you look more ethereal.

“Why did you wander out on your own? One of them should've come with you,” Morel said suddenly.

“Oh.... I kinda, um, ran off without telling them anything.”

So much for not sounding like an idiot.

Morel paused, glancing back up at you as he asked “did something happen?”

“... Not really? I mean, kind of, but...” you trailed off for a moment, “it's mostly my fault. I'm the one who isn't trying hard enough to talk it out with them. Ah, I really hope I haven't ruined this trip.”

“I doubt you running off could've ruined it.”

“I hope not. But still, I'll need to apologize, maybe take all of them out for a meal after to make up for it,” you said.

There was a sad expression on Morel's face when he looked up at you after you said that. Something in the way he frowned and his brows furrowed at your words made it seem like he knew something you didn't.

You didn't get a chance to question him on it as he finished up wrapping your ankle, handing the remaining bandages back to you as he announced “all done.”

“Ah – Thank you.”

He seemed a bit more cheerful now, though he looked off in the direction you had been looking in.

“Those friends of your still on the trail?” he asked.

“I'm not sure? It really did sound like they were looking for me earlier.”

“I see. Then if they're looking for you maybe we should stay put. Wait for them to get to us. It won't do any good if we all get lost trying to find each other.”

That made sense, and you nodded.

Morel sat down next to you, the boulder being large enough to fit both of you, though he did need to squeeze in a bit closer than you would normally be comfortable with a complete stranger. You found that you didn't mind much, though. Although for the sake of your friend group you wanted to be found soon, you didn't dislike the idea of spending more time alone with Morel. He seemed trustworthy, and being in such close contact more than made up for all the stuff from earlier.

…. Good lord. Were you really this weak for a random guy you found attractive?

The mist seemed to be growing thicker, but you could still make out most of the trees that surrounded you.

“What are you doing up here, Morel?” you asked, “it doesn't look like you're dressed for hiking.”

“I live here.”

“Really? On the mountain?”

He nodded.

“Wow. I didn't know anybody lived up here. Is it just you or are there others?”

“There's a few of us up here, though my neighbors tend to keep to themselves,” he told you, “a lot of them just want to be left alone.”

It seemed surprising to you that there was more than one person who lived up on a mountain like this. Especially since you had been under the impression that the area was part of a park. Maybe his place had been built beforehand and he was grandfathered in somehow?

The more you thought about it, the more you felt that didn't make a lot of sense. But before you could voice that opinion, it was like the thought was forcibly torn from your mind, and something within you encouraged you to try and learn more about him.

“Are you one who wants to be left alone?” you asked him instead.

“For the most part,” he answered, “but I don't mind people on occasion. My neighbors, not so much.”

“Would they have gotten mad at me?”

“Definitely.”

“Guess I'm lucky you found me and not them,” you said.

He smiled at that, but didn't say anything, and you continued.

“Although if your neighbors want isolation, isn't it inconvenient that the trail's been set up here? Don't you have to worry about people trespassing?”

“Most people know not to go off the path,” Morel said, “though I guess you're not one of them.”

“It wasn't my fault!” you insisted, “there was a rabbit, and I just - I don't know, needed to follow it.”

Why had you done that again? You'd been questioning it before Morel found you but you'd gotten distracted. It was strange. And did the rabbit really have no face? Maybe your mind was just tired and had made it up or something and you just ran off because you were an idiot.

Where had it even gone, anyway?

Morel tilted his head, smirking at you.

“I thought you said you were looking for more ruins? You mean you were actually chasing after rabbits?” he asked.

….. You forgot that you lied.

Your fingers fiddled with the hem of your shirt while you looked away in embarrassment.

“.... I didn't want you to think I was stupid,” you mumbled.

He laughed at that, and you felt worse about your lie, turning your head away further as you made a point to not look at him.

“Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean it,” he said, one of his hands coming up to playfully tousle your hair. You glanced back at him then, and the sour look on your face lessened a little when you saw how he smiled at you.

“I've also gone off wandering after random things,” he continued, “I've hurt myself a few times, too, so don't feel bad.”

That made you feel a bit better, and you relaxed a little more.

“What kind of things have you gone wandering after?” you asked him.

“Things that you probably wouldn't believe if I told you.”

That answer was oddly cryptic, though you supposed that made two of you, since you were still too nervous to divulge the fact about the rabbit lacking a face. Maybe Morel had seen freakier things up here. But since he didn't seem to want to go into that, maybe it'd be better to steer the conversation away from the potentially supernatural.

“Were you wandering after something when you found me?” was your next question.

“No, not today. I was in the middle of looking for something I had lost.”

“Oh. Sorry,” you said.

“For what?”

“Distracting you, and making you wait here with me.”

“It's not that important,” Morel said, “and what kind of guy would I be if I left you out here by yourself? Especially with that fog that's settling in.”

“I'd probably be okay. Oh. Unless there's bears. Then I might not be.”

You remembered the shape you had seen when you had first arrived, and you asked him “are there bears on this mountain?”

“I've never seen any.”

You hummed at that, thinking again about what you had seen and trying to figure out what it was.

“Did you see one?” asked Morel.

“I don't know. I saw something weird when I was in the parking lot, and I'm still not sure what it was,” you explained, “I've seen some other stuff, too. Some a bit more freaky than a bear.”

“Like what?”

“.... Do you promise not to laugh at me?”

“I promise, I'm done laughing at you,” Morel said, grinning a little.

Despite being unsure if you could trust him in that regard, you decided to speak anyway.

“So, the rabbit that I saw earlier – I'm not really sure why I followed it, but I noticed it back at the rest area. It seemed kinda weird when I saw it, because it didn't look like it was breathing? And when I got closer, I swear, it didn't have a face. No features at all. It was just blank.”

You prepared yourself for him to laugh at you again. When he didn't say anything, you looked back to him.

Morel looked surprisingly neutral.

“That does sound strange,” was his reply.

“.... Do you believe me?”

Morel looked away from you, leaning back on his hands as his gaze seemed to go to the cloudy sky above the trees that surrounded the two of you.

“You know, I think I do. Living up here, I've had my fair share of strange occurrences. Not quite like that, but maybe I just haven't encountered that before.”

It was a relief to hear that he wasn't mocking you, and it was even more of a relief that he actually believed you, as you had been worried that his reaction might resemble what had happened earlier with Aiden and Fawn. Him believing you spurred you to speak more.

“I saw something before, too,” you said, “down near the ruins, at one point I thought I saw a man standing next to them. But when I looked up from my camera he was gone.”

“What did he look like?”

“Not sure. I saw him, but I somehow didn't really see him? Or I just saw his general shape,” you continued, “the others were joking that it was a ghost.”

“Could've been,” said Morel, “this is ancient land with a lot of older things attached to it. There are probably more than a few wayward souls that have found a home here.”

“..... Do you think they could be dangerous?” you asked him.

“Maybe some of them. But most people should be safe if they stay on the path.”

He grinned again when he looked back at you.

“Who knows. You could've come across something bad,” he said jokingly.

“Don't you and your neighbors live up here? It can't be all that bad if that's the case,” you responded, “though I think I'll try to keep from chasing after anymore weird rabbits.”

“Probably a good idea.”

A comfortable silence settled over the two of you. The mist had expanded as you continued to wait for your friends, who you hadn't heard in some time now. It should've worried you more that you couldn't hear them – they hadn't given up on you, had they? Even if they were really annoyed with you they surely wouldn't go that far. Yet you found yourself thinking even if that was the case, it would be okay. Morel was so nice, he wouldn't just leave you here if they didn't show up, right? At the very least, he'd take you back to the trail.

If your friends had bailed on you, then maybe you should repay him by taking him out to dinner.

The tops of the trees were slowly becoming more obscured as the fog continued to drift down, and all you could think was that it looked pretty.

“Is it nice living up here?” you asked him.

“Yeah, pretty nice. Lots of good scenery.”

He seemed to be thinking about something, and you noticed that his shoulders sagged slightly.

“Being completely alone can get to you, though.”

There was a sadness in his voice. He did say that him wanting to be alone was just 'for the most part'. Unless that was a lie. What sort of circumstance could drive him to be living alone in the wilderness if he didn't actually want to be here? You wanted to know, but worried that might be crossing a boundary of some sort, and that made you hesitate to question him further.

“Do you not want to be here?” you asked him softly.

“No, I do,” said Morel, “but I also liked being around people. It just became hard to be around them after a while.”

“Hard to be around them?” you repeated.

“Yeah. It's.... It's just tough to explain,” he said.

“Sorry.”

He shook his head.

“Don't worry about it.”

It confused you, and while you wanted to ask a few more questions, you got a sense that he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

You found yourself wondering if Morel suffered from some extreme form of anxiety or agoraphobia. He seemed like a pretty calm person, but maybe that was only because he was in an environment where he was comfortable. That could have made sense, although you mentally berated yourself shortly after for jumping to conclusions like that just because he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe you should try to move the topic to something else.

“Does anyone come up to visit you?” you asked.

“No.”

Ah. Okay then.

“Then...” you trailed off briefly as you tried to find the right words, “ as long as it isn't too hard to be around me, would you care if I came back to visit you? I could repay you with all you've done for me with a dinner. Maybe bring it by next week or something like that?”

Morel smiled at that, and yet to you it seemed forced. You got another sense that he knew something that you didn't, and that he was intentionally keeping that information from you.

What would he know that he'd be keeping from you?

The thought left your head just as quickly as it entered when he spoke again.

“I guess I could handle having you stop by,” he said jokingly, “you're pretty tolerable.”

“Ah, that's good. Glad to know I can at least be tolerated,” you answered back in a similar joking manner.

He chuckled at that.

“All jokes aside, it'll be nice to have some company up here,” he said softly.

It felt good that he accepted you so easily. Maybe he accepted you a little too easily given the short amount of time he had known you, but if he was living up here all by himself maybe he was just that desperate.

And the argument could also be made that you were similarly being too trusting of him. It was possible that this was just a facade of his that would drop the instant you were vulnerable. That'd probably be what Colton would tell you if he knew the thoughts going around your head.

Although you were already pretty vulnerable, weren't you? Alone in the wilderness with a man you just met and a sprained ankle, so you weren't even able to run if you needed to. Even with your friends that were hopefully close by, with Morel's size it would've been easy enough for him to drag you off if he wanted. Helping you, sitting down and waiting with you for your friends just to gain your trust seemed to be a bit too much effort if his ultimate goal was to take you away.

You forced down those silly, anxious thoughts of yours. Morel wouldn't hurt you, you were certain of it.

The mist around the two of you was growing thicker still, but you didn't pay it much mind as you looked back down to your lap.

Something was sticking out of the front pocket of your jacket, and then you remembered that you still had that pipe you had found this whole time, having absentmindedly stuck it into your pocket when Morel moved you earlier. A thought then occurred to you as you looked at it again.

“This wouldn't be yours, would it?” you asked him as you pulled it out to show him.

Looking down at it, you noted that he didn't seem too surprised as he said to you “it would, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That's what I was looking for when I came across you,” Morel said.

“Huh. That's some weird coincidence,” you said as you extended your hand out to give him the pipe.

“It happens,” he said. He thanked you as he took it from you, pocketing it before his hands went back to where they had been before.

There was no urgency within you as you continued to sit with Morel, the mist still swirling and settling around the two of you. The more the mist grew, the more the thoughts of your friends and the worries within you began to slip away.

You had nothing to worry about.

Had you been paying more attention to him, you would've seen Morel stiffen ever so slightly, maybe even heard him curse under his breath as he sensed something that was now in the general vicinity. But you only noticed when he stood up suddenly, hands on his hips as he turned to face you.

“Hate to say it, but this fog'll probably only get worse. I'm not sure it's a good idea to keep waiting here,” he told you.

It had seemed to become exponentially worse as soon as he spoke those words, the fog that had been fairly moderate now surprisingly thick, to the point that you had a hard time making out the trees that were closest to you. Somehow you hadn't noticed just how bad it was until now.

“Ah. Yeah, you're right,” you said, “I think I remember which direction the trail is in. I should be able to make it back on my own.”

“What – no, that's not...”

Morel was rather flustered now, a hand running through his hair as he continued “even if you can make it back there, I doubt you'll have an easy time going down those stairs with your ankle like that. And with how hard it is to see right now, there's a 100% chance that you'll end up falling.”

You nodded, though you weren't certain where he was going. It seemed like a lot to ask him to walk you back in such circumstances, and far, far too much to have him take you back down the mountain.

“Since we're not sure what happened with your friends, I think the best thing I can do is take you back to my place for the time being.”

That hadn't been what you were expecting, and you opened your mouth to second-guess that idea until he spoke again.

“Just until the fog clears,” he assured you, “and this way you can get some actual rest inside instead of sitting out in the cold like this.”

… Morel's proposal seemed a lot nicer, you had to admit.

“I guess,” you began, “as long as you're sure it isn't too much trouble.”

He smiled at you as he said “I promise, it isn't.”

Any worries that this may be overstepping some kind of boundary faded from your mind after his reassurance, and you looked about the forest again.

“I guess we should try to find something for me to use as a walking stick,” you said, squinting your eyes when the fog proved to be too thick to see clearly, “unless you're okay with me leaning on you.”

“I've got a better idea.”

With that, Morel turned around and knelt down, his arms stretched out behind his back as he said “I'll carry you.”

After assuring you that this way would be faster, it didn't take much for you to take him up on his offer. After you made sure not to put any weight on your ankle while you climbed onto his back, Morel slowly lifted you up after he had your legs secured around his waist and you loosely held on around his neck.

With the sensation of you being pressed against him, of your warmth and virtually feeling the way your heart was steadily beating against his back, Morel let out a quiet, relieved sigh as he began the trek back to his home. He was grateful that you hadn't questioned him or tried to insist that he take you back to the trail anyway. If he hadn't been able to convince you, he'd need to take you by force. Such a thing would have been easy for him to do, and it was probably more common for those like him to take their captured humans while they kicked and screamed.

But he didn't want to traumatize you during the journey to your new home.

Luckily his aura that had been slowly engulfing you was able to influence you enough that you weren't questioning him on much, so the trip would be a peaceful one, although it was marred by how dishonest he was being about all of this.

If only he could just sit you down and explain everything, why he was doing this. But he knew you wouldn't believe him.

No reasonable person would believe him if he told them he was a banshee.

Saying that would only make you feel unsafe, maybe try to run from him, and then you'd end up even more injured in the process, and even more upset when you found that you could no longer leave the mountain.

But even that would be better than the alternative.

Morel just didn't like seeing people die.

The role of a banshee was to warn when death was coming. To let out that unearthly wail so the human marked for death could prepare and make peace with their fate. For Morel, when he saw someone who was marked to die, it looked like a cloud had settled around them. An aura that grew darker and darker as the human came closer to the time of their death until the aura had blackened completely. Then Death came to collect that unfortunate's soul.

And Morel was unable to do anything but give a heads up.

It was depressing. Being part of that cycle, watching as human after human had that cloud around them turn black and vanish as it left their lifeless bodies behind. And during the last years he had spent in the heavily populated areas, he found that more and more people were panicking when they heard his warning as a fear of death had grown stronger as time had gone by. The people who feared for their lives did everything in their power to try and prevent their deaths, and more often than not their attempts to thwart death ended up being what caused it. All because they had heard his warning.

It began to feel as though he was the one responsible for those who had died that way, and that felt even more depressing, to know that they had died because of him. By the end, Morel had grown tired of it all.

So he left.

He left the areas that were overrun with humans and found a home on an ancient mountainside. And for a while, he found some peace.

But time moved forward as it always did, and evidently, people forgot what areas were meant to stay sacred when they put together the hiking trail. It had angered many of his neighbors, but most were compelled to stay away from it and leave the humans alone as long as they stayed on the path.

And yet some of them couldn't do that, and on occasion the ones that strayed would run into some of the more malevolent spirits that resided on the mountain alongside him. He could usually tell when someone would die to the supernatural. The aura about them just had a certain feel to it, but Morel chose to stay out of it completely, not wanting to cause problems with his neighbors.

Even after trying to get away, he was still forced to see that cloud of death.

It was no different when he saw you after you first arrived.

Morel had happened to be at the base of the mountain when he saw you, the death cloud around you one shade off of completely black. You'd be dead before the end of the day. Perhaps during your trip in the woods, he had thought to himself. Yet as he observed you more, he felt that wouldn't be the case. Something told him that you would make it through this hiking trip of yours, but you would die almost immediately after. You seemed pretty healthy, so illness didn't appear to be the cause. An accident, then? That would be more likely. While he couldn't determine what exactly was going to happen, whatever it was would be sudden and violent.

Looking at the rest of your group, he found that none of them were marked for death like you were. Whatever happened after you all left, you would be the only one to die.

Something compelled Morel to keep watch over you, and so he followed behind, listening in on the conversations your friends were having and waiting for you to speak up.

You weren't saying much, however, and when he moved off the trail to walk beside you so he could get a better look at your face, he was taken aback by how dejected you seemed.

Something was eating at you, but you were keeping quiet about it as you continued to follow behind, almost unnoticed by the others in your group.

Your last hours of life were going to be spent with you feeling ignored and lonely, and that depression Morel felt when it came to these things returned. You shouldn't need to die today; you should've had years left of your life, not a scant few hours. It wasn't right, but there was nothing he could do.

Or was there?

An idea came to Morel, and he became lost in his own thoughts as he found himself walking away from the trail as your group came closer to the stairs. He made his way towards what had been a chapel for some long-forgotten deity, mulling over the thought in his head.

There was something he could do to alter your fate, both him and the magic still in the mountain powerful enough to allow him to lay a claim on you. But was it worth angering Death itself to keep you safe?

As he contemplated what to do, he looked back to you.

You had taken your phone out, holding it in a way that made it clear you were aiming to get a picture of the ruins he just so happened to be standing next to.

It took less than a second for him to realize what had happened when you blinked in surprise and took your eyes off of your phone.

You could see him.

You may not have been aware of it, but your eyes met his in that moment. Based off how you looked him over, you weren't able to see him all that clearly, but he could still tell when your eyes met again as you tried to make out any features of his face.

Then one of the people from your group called out and you looked away, and Morel made himself vanish. The confusion was clear when your head turned back and found him to be gone, and you ended up following your group again with your brows furrowed.

It was something that happened on occasion with certain people, another confirmation that you were close to death: as your final hour drew near, the barrier between you and the spiritual realm was thinning and you were beginning to see things that you weren't meant to.

When you looked back one more time, you managed to look in the exact spot where he had been standing, though this time he made sure you couldn't see him. He felt the way your eyes met his again before you turned your head back, that black cloud of death still engulfing you.

Something about your situation and that sight made Morel snap.

Screw fate. He needed to save you.

As he made his decision and began to follow you in earnest, a part of him was aware that saving you wouldn't do anything for the countless people that died every day, but he felt that if he could save at least one person from an unfair and untimely death, he could live better with himself. If he could keep you alive and happy, it was worth it.

He'd been worried that luring you away with the rabbit wouldn't work. You were far enough along that you could see it for what it really was: a creation that he'd made out of mist and smoke. Yet during the time you had spent getting up to the rest area, he had expanded his aura around you for long enough that any reservations you may have had about the slightly horrifying thing before you were easily pushed to the side as he compelled you to go after his creation, to get you further into the woods and by yourself.

He hadn't planned on you getting injured in the process, and when he heard your friends calling for you sooner than he expected he threw his pipe next to you in an act of desperation and just hoped that you would grab it. As long as you picked up something that belonged to him of your own free will, then you would belong to him.

You had done just that. And therefore, he was now free to do whatever he pleased with you.

“Is there a reason why we need to get to your place fast?” you asked him as he carried you back.

“You see how thick the fog is, right? I need to get us there before I lose my way,” Morel said, “can't embarrass myself like that, can I?”

Actually he just wanted to get out of there because of the other being that had been approaching the two of you. As much as he was able to hold influence over you, you would no doubt panic if you saw a headless woman sitting astride a horse casually come up to you.

“That makes sense,” you said. Then you giggled a little to yourself.

“I'm still mad that you laughed at me earlier,” you told him, “so if you do get lost, then I'm allowed to laugh at you.”

“Fair enough. If I get us lost you can laugh at me,” he agreed.

You laughed a little bit more.

“I won't actually do that. If we do get lost I'll probably be more concerned with trying to keep calm.”

“Don't worry; I know this mountain like the back of my hand,” he assured you.

If you had really been thinking about it, you might have questioned him on that. If he knew his way around that well, why couldn't he take you back to the trail? Why was he insisting on taking you back to his home?

But with the way his aura was enveloping you completely, no such thoughts came to mind, and you instead softly rested your head against him, feeling content.

You were rather easy to influence, and that fact made Morel feel badly for manipulating you the way he was.

He'd make it up to you, he told himself. He'd done good by wrapping up your ankle, and now he'd take care of you.

Glancing back at you, he felt satisfied to see that the black cloud of death had vanished. You no longer needed to fear anything like that.

You belonged to him now, and Morel would keep you safe for the rest of eternity.

[yourlmanburg]

benchsquad meetup // benchtrio (& others) + reader

i know nothing about london zoo

word count: 1,485

(this hasn't been proofread or anything pls forgive how bad it is smh)

---

You hadn’t felt excitement like this since you received your invite to the Dream SMP, barely containing your smile as you sat on the train on your way to spend the day with your three best friends. You’d known Ranboo, Tubbo and Tommy for a good few months now after you met them through the server, and your friendship quickly solidified and morphed into an iconic group known as the “Bench Squad”, and today was the day you’d finally be meeting them in person.

It’d been agreed that you’d meet in London, film a Tom Simons vlog, and then meet up with Wilbur, Philza, Jack and Niki to film another vlog for your own channel before spending a few nights at Tubbo’s house. You had a busy few days ahead of you filled with recording and streaming but you couldn’t care less; you knew these were about to be the best days of your life. You passed the time with your airpods in your ears with your guys’ collab Spotify playlist blasting through your ears and catching up on missed vods and YouTube videos, when eventually the train came to a halt at your stop.

This was it. You were about to meet the people who meant the most to you.

You pulled out your bags as quickly as you could, not wasting a single second that could instead be spent with them. Shoving through the congregation of people and stopping one or twice to greet fans who recognised you, you made your way over to a less crowded area of the train station to shoot Ranboo a quick “where are you?” text. It took a few anxious minutes for him to reply, but once he did there was nothing stopping you from practically running to where they waited.

And there they were. You could see them not too far away now, two tall figures and a slightly smaller one stood in a row, looking around as if they were waiting for someone. It was then that you were struck with an idea, what if you just…

You snuck round to the other side of where they stood, making an effort not to be seen. You crouched down a little and creeped towards them, praying none of them turned round.

“BOO!” you shouted, successfully scaring the three of them and even a few poor strangers around you. With a smile you jumped straight into Ranboo’s arms, and you held each other tightly as the four of you grinned like children on Christmas day.

“Y/n!” Tommy and Tubbo exclaimed in unison, while Ranboo simply commented on the pun you accidentally made. You chuckled as you pulled away, wiping the tears from your eyes and readjusting your bags. This is the moment you’d been waiting for for so many months now.

“How was the journey?” Tommy asked after you’d greeted them properly and had begun to make your way out of the train station and to the location of where the vlog was going to be filmed.

“Wasn’t too bad, it was a bit scary doing it on my own and it took way too long but it could’ve been worse, I guess.” you replied, the smile seemingly glued to your face. “Where are we going again?”

“This way,” Tommy led you through many busy roads and you really wished you had somewhere to put your bags, which is why you were grateful when Ranboo offered to carry one of them for you. You thanked him profusely, rubbing your sore shoulder from where the heaviest bag had been resting. It took a while to get there so Tommy decided to film the vlog intro while you were all walking, though soon enough you found yourselves standing outside the great entrance to London Zoo.

“Here we are,” Tommy said as he held his phone up to the sign, clearly out of breath from all the walking, “We’re at the zoo!” he showed you and the other two on camera and you all waved, just as worn out as he was.

You went in and got all the registration sorted, and now you were free to do as you pleased! As you walked into the main area the gorilla enclosure immediately caught your eyes and you ran to see them, Tubbo in tow. Tommy started complaining to the camera as he caught up to you and Ranboo simply laughed, standing back and watching the “argument” you two were putting on for content.

The four of you walked around the zoo for a while, filming the majority of it and laughing and joking around with each other. You were having the time of your life, and it was far from over; you couldn’t wait to meet the others.

“Hold on a minute…” you interrupted Tommy filming Tubbo trying to get an Alpaca’s attention as a certain species caught your eye, and being close to the one and only Wilbur Soot made it impossible to miss. “Are they anteaters?”

“Thank God Wilbur’s not here, huh!” Ranboo chimed in, walking over and standing beside you. This still didn’t feel real.

“Can we go and see them?” Tubbo asked, but there was hardly a chance of anyone saying no. So now you were on FaceTime with Wilbur (who was already with Niki) as he gushed about how much he hated those damn creatures, pulling up the infamous list. None of you could stop laughing rather loudly and you certainly got many dirty looks, but you didn’t care.

The aquarium was quite something, too. One of the staff members got particularly mad at Tommy for tapping on the glass and shouting at the fish while you recorded him for a bit, which was definitely a sight to see. Needless to say, you rushed right past that woman the next time you guys saw her.

You saw so many incredible animals and had so many laughs with your friends, and you didn’t leave until late afternoon. It didn’t really matter though, there wasn’t much planned for your vlog. You guys made your way out of the exit and caught a taxi to take you to another place, wrapping up Tommy’s filming there. You admittedly almost fell asleep, but the calm conversation you were having with Tubbo kept you awake.

The taxi eventually pulled up outside a post restaurant which is where your vlog was going to be filmed. You didn’t choose anything too extravagant, the plan was for a short but entertaining video with you and your friends. It took about ten minutes of standing and waiting for the other four to turn up. First it was Philza, of course he was the only one on time. You suspected Niki would’ve been too, but she was probably being held up by Jack and Wilbur.

“OLD MAN!” you shouted, zooming in on him as the first clip of your vlog. He burst out laughing as he greeted you, asking if the others were here yet. “Nope! Bet they won’t be here for another two hours.” you joked, stopping the recording and talking to Phil and the others until they did eventually turn up.

Soon enough all eight of you were sitting at a table in a fancy restaurant, trying to decide what on earth you were going to order. You were squished in between Ranboo and Wilbur which made you feel particularly small, and Tommy was laughing at you from the other side of the table, Niki jokingly scolding him for being mean.

“What? I didn’t do anything!” he retorted, amping up his personality for the camera again.

“Neither did Y/n and you’re being mean to them!” Niki said, a smile evident on her face as you caught her eyes and laughed.

“Thank you, Niki, I believe Tommy should learn his lesson from a responsible adult.” you thanked her, Wilbur tuning in from his conversation with Ranboo, Tubbo, Phil and Jack.

“Tommy, stop being a dick.” He said bluntly, causing you all to burst out laughing.

“I agree.” Jack said with a deadpan face, earning an eye roll from Tommy.

“Oh, shut up Manifold!” He whined, failing to notice the very confused waitress standing over the table, waiting to take everybody’s orders. Phil was, of course, the one to apologise for all the commotion and you all took turns to let her know what you wanted, going straight back to your previous antics the moment she left.

You left the restaurant hated by most people who were in there, and you all found it funnier than it really was. You said goodbye to the adults and finished up your very chaotic vlog, making your way to another train station and taking the train back to Tubbo’s house. You got back quite late and all of you pretty much immediately crashed after such a busy yet fulfilling day. And it was the first of many.

[tarosin]

the great adventures of y/n tubbo jack niki and wilbur - racing across the sea

requested: yes/no

part 8 of the great adventures series

warning: cursing, anxiety about the sea

ever since the argument you and tubbo had become inseparable, he practically lived with you and your parents at this point, and your community was loving it. everytime one of you would stream, tens of thousands of people would tune into your stream to see what madness was going on and today was no different. the pair of you decided to stream a laugh and the stream ends challenge. safe to say you ended up changing the rules several times, you even made ranboo join the stream so you could have extra lives. not long after the stream ended you, ranboo, and tubbo practically dominated the twitter trending page. today however was tubbos last day at yours and shortly after you ended stream, the pair of you headed out to the train station so you could make sure your best friend made it onto the train safely. after you said your goodbyes, you decided to facetime jack on your way home to discuss vlog ideas, and just to talk to him, as you had been rather busy this past week going over plans with ranboo, tubbo, and all of your parents about the uk trip that was happening pretty soon.

a few days later, it was finally time to go film the vlog. you couldn’t exactly lie, you weren’t exactly looking forward to this, as you were told it had something to do with the sea and boats which oddly enough didn’t mix very well with your fear of the deep sea. you had no idea what’s down there and you didn’t want to find out, but hey at least you’d be with tubbo.

your parents offered to drive you there so you didnt have any additional stress from having to get a train then a taxi, this allowed you to have a pretty quiet journey to meet up with your friends. you sat in the back of the car on facetime with tommy who was the only one who knew about your fear and was rather confused as the why you would agree to do such a thing

“i’ll never understand what goes through your mind, you’ve got this though! you’re going to be completely okay, plus you never know it might help you get over your fear, you did tell me you had been working on getting over it.”

“I suppose you’re right, it can’t be too bad. I mean I love the sea. I just don’t like what’s deep down, you feel me?”

“i understand mate, but you need to remember jack wouldn’t put you in danger. as much as he acts like he would, and even if you do fall off the boat or some how end up in the water, you won’t automatically end up at the bottom of the sea. just try to enjoy yourself, yeah?”

“...yeah”

“call me when you get home you can tell me all about what happened, afterwards we can record a minecraft mod video.”

“of course, boss man.”

“you hang out with tubbo too much, you should hang out with me a lot more.”

the car pulled into the car park and within a minute of the car stopping tubbo was at the window shouting your name.

“right tommy, i should probably go, ill see you later bud!”

you said goodbye to your parents as tubbo opened your car door for you.

“what a gentleman, thank you, tubbo.”

“anything for you, now let’s go. jack began filming the intro and i really want the hat hes wearing.”

“you’re ridiculous.”

he stood with his arms crossed shaking his head, pretending to be offended before walking off with you not far behind him.

you stood with niki and wilbur as tubbo went off filming some of the intro with jack. the three of you stood talking about how you have all been and discussing more plans for your meetup.

“y/n, go control your friend, he’s stealing a hat!”

you ran up behind tubbo and stole the hat from him, putting it on your own head.

“why have you got the hat now?”

“i am now captain!”

“but i wanted to be captain!”

you and tubbo stood arguing back and forth over who was captain, ignoring jack trying to get the pair of you to stop.

“you have 5 seconds to stop arguing or you’re being separated 5...4...3...2...1 right.”

“jack no!”

jack pulled you aside claiming he has something really important to ask you.

“so did you bring something valuable?”

“yeah i did actually, i brought tubbo and the necklace tommy gave me for my birthday last year.”

tubbo overhearing the conversation walked over telling you both that he also brought a valuable item, in fact it was a family heirloom.

“i brought an urn.”

“why would you do that tubbo? what the fuck-“

“you two do realise if either of you lose it had to go in the sea?”

“poor grandma.”

“aye about that you will have to pry that necklace out of my hands in order to throw it in the sea!”

the three of you went up to wilbur and niki where wilbur stole the hat you stole from tubbo, and you were told that you were all about to race to the isle of wight.

it was unfortunately time to board the boat, you sat next to tubbo, so that you felt like you had some sort of control with what was about to happen. the others sat making jokes about what was going on whilst you were trying to get control of your breathing. as you all set sail, you thought you were doing a good job of hiding the fact you were potentially about to have a panic attack as no one seemed to notice, or so you thought. considering the fact tubbo was your best friend, he instantly noticed something was wrong and wrapped an arm around you, and decided that distracting you would be a lot better than making you focus on what was currently happening.

“hey y/n, i have an amazing idea for when ranboos in the uk. a 4 month sleep over.”

“heh?”

before you had time to fully process what was going on, all you could hear was wilbur now claiming to be captain then going on to tell you why portsmouth is called portsmouth. you couldnt help but laugh at the random things he was coming up with since he put the captains hat on.

“that is a cinema..i’ve been in this industry for a while now, isn’t that right?”

it was silent for a while until niki tried to steal the captains hat, but was unfortunately unsuccessful .

“maybe next time niki.”

“thank you for believing in me, y/n.”

you pointed out a castle which ended up with wilbur talking about how the planned executions there .

“are they dead?”

“...tubbo of course they’re dead. what kind of question was that?”

the other boat began getting closer to the boat you were all currently in, indicating that it was almost time for you all to split up into two groups.

“my boat is going much faster.”

“that is a sign of pollution.”

“wow jack you’re polluting the world, i hope you’re happy!”

the ride was pretty chill until jack asked what he had lost in the past.

“past relationships.”

“the love or host.”

“laugh you lose streams.”

“the waterslide races from when we went to the water park.”

you and tubbo continued listening things that jack had lost.

“okay. so i’ve lost a few things.”

jack looked towards the other boat.

“however, you two are about to lose each other.”

“excuse you?”

“no, y/n is mine!”

eventually wilbur had enough and picked tubbo up and took him to the other boat with him.

“TUBBO!”

“Y/N!”

you and niki sat laughing as jack and wilbur bickered about who was going to win the boat race. whilst jack was distracted, you felt niki tap your arm and told you to look over to the other boat where tubbo was reaching his arm out to you so you could quickly swap boats.

you quickly got into the boat and sat next to your best friend, tubbo knew you were still slightly nervous, so made it so you would be sat in between him and wilbur so you would feel a lot more comfortable. a few minutes later, your boat began to set off and all you could hear was a mixture of tubbos laughter and jacks yelling getting quieter the further you went.

“AY THEY CANT START WITHOUT US!. AND THEY GOT Y/N, WHEN DID THEY GET THEM?!”

you turned to face wilbur who pointed towards a building before announcing that it definitely belonged to the the three of you, and was renaming it reddit gold.

“reddit..reddit gold, are you serious?” you said through your laughter, the three of you sat together taking turns narrating what was happening .

“go on, y/n.”

“if this capsizes, were all drowning.”

“cheerful as awful.”

“do you think sharks are beneath us?”

“i’m not even answering that question.”

you looked over your shoulder to see that niki and jack were catching up to you all.

“i hope they don’t overtake us, otherwise it’s bye bye tubbo.”

“and grandma.”

“excuse you, tubbo?”

“he’s claiming that he brought an urn with him and if we lose our valuable item gets chucked into the sea.”

a little while later jacks boat was next to yours and you and wilbur started to shout how it was like romeo and juliet.

“y/n, you studied this at gcse a while back, yell some quotes.”

“tubbo i didn’t listen to the teachers.”

“do it!”

“no!”

wilbur continued to talk to the others whilst you and tubbo sat bickering about William Shakespeare .

“tubbo my favourite character was benvolio and he fucked off halfway through.”

“what do you mean he fucked off?”

“he literally disappeared.”

wilbur was genuinely questioning what he was listening to he slowly turned around and tried to catch your attention; however you were currently in the middle of a debate about why benvolio disappeared, which was that last thing you expected to be doing on the boat. eventually your debate died down and you looked up to see wilbur shaking his head at you both, clearly confused as to why you spent 5 minutes arguing about romeo and juliet. an idea came to wilburs mind as he started laughing and pointing at the sea.

“drink some seawater, tubbo.”

you looked away as tubbo reached into the water trying to hold as much water as he could before bringing it to his lips and drinking the seawater.

“tubbo did you really just-“

“more tubbo!”

tubbo did the same as before, however this time brought his hands towards your face.

“drink it, y/n!”

“yeah, y/n, you can help desalinate it.”

“how wonderful, i’ll pass though.”

tubbo looked at you pretending to be upset and lifted his hands towards you again, this time you gave in and drank some of the water.

“thanks, tubbo, I can now only taste salt.”

jack noticed what you and tubbo were doing and looked at wilbur confused.

“im making them drink seawater!”

“what’s it like?”

“potassium!”

“salt.. a lot of salt!”

you checked your phone as you kept receiving multiple messages from tommy trying to get your attention, forgetting that you were currently on a boat with the others. you looked up from your phone to see tubbo drinking more seawater.

“AGAIN?”

you had no idea what was going on for jack and niki, but it sounded a lot like they lost hope as jack yelled asking if there was room for him on the boat while tubbo sat flipping him off in response to his question. jack continued to yell at the three of you however none of you could hear what he was yelling, so you kind of sat just nodding your head in agreement to what he was saying. wilbur pointed out that he could see the finishing line and how it looked like you were all going to make it. you looked over to see jack and niki recreating that one scene from titanic tubbo looked at you smiling, trying not to laugh.

“absolutely not one of us, if not both of us, would end up in the sea.”

the boat began to go significantly faster. at the start you were unsure how to feel, however a few minutes into it you began laughing enjoying how fast you were going.

“woahhh we’re turning!”

the boat did a loop before going straight on as fast as it could go.

“y/n, tubbo, we’re going. we’re going.”

“OH MY GOD!”

you ended up passing another boat you and tubbo instantly waved to everyone on the boat a few people waved back .

“they don’t wanna wave.”

“they know their boat is bigger than ours.”

“they could easily ram us and kill us all.”

“hopefully they decide against doing that.”

the boat began weaving resulting in you, tubbo, and wilbur constantly crashing into each other, not that any of you cared you were all having the time of your lives. you pointed at a boat which was cutting off the boat jack and niki were in .

“we’ve got this in the bag boys, victory is ours!”

your boat slowed down so it could dock.

“i think we’ve won!”

“we won”!

“holy shit we won! tubbo doesn’t have to go in the sea now!”

everyone got out of the boat so you could all wait for jack and niki to reach the dock, as the two of them approached you all tubbo began to sing.

“we are the champions my friend!”

“STOP IT!”

“i have to go into the fucking water!”

you pulled niki into a hug.

“jack you cruel man.”

“did you not have fun niki..we had a great time.”

you let go of niki and stood behind tubbo placing your head on his shoulder whilst jack explained to wilbur what was going to happen if they lost.

“oh, I thought we got to decide who was thrown into the water.”

“no no no no no no!”

“well i think considering we won..”

after a small discussion as a team, you all instantly agreed that jack should be thrown into the water, you all stood on the boat as niki argued that he cant throw her into the water. a couple seconds later wilbur walks towards jack handing him the camera before picking him up.

“are you ready?”

“i don’t think the bits that funny will, i don’t think the bits that funny!”

you all screamed and laughed as jack was thrown into the water. jack complained about the temperature of the sea as he climbed back onto the boat only to be pushed off again by you and tubbo.

“that’s revenge for trying to put us on separate boats!”

you spent the rest of the day together just hanging together as a group before you said your goodbyes.

the ride back home was you excitedly explaining what your boat ride was like to your parents, once you got home you ran upstairs to your room then called tommy on discord

“how was it then?”

“tommy it was so cool, honestly i wish you could have come with us.”

“i mean you’re coming with me george and wilbur to a water course next week, you don’t have a choice.”

“oh okay, it’s a good job i’d love to be there then, tom, also what mod are we playing just so i can check i have it ready.”

“rlcraft.”

the two of you spent a good hour talking before getting ready to film a video with charlie and jschlatt for tommys youtube channel.

taglist:

@l0ver0fj0y @etheriaaly @xx-smiley-xx @hawarun @kylobensgirl @cawcaw-pretty-thing @reverse-iak @c1loudee

[bbywonu]

mixed messages. juyeon.

masterlist

a/n: juyeon is sweet boy. give him kith for me.

requested: no <3

summary: reader takes silence for rejection. 

word count: 1.4k

I unclasped my hands from one another as I wiped off the perspiration from them and onto the sides of my jeans. I quickly held my hand to my chest as to make sure my pounding heart wouldn’t leap out. In all my worry, I had arrived to the cafe early. I took a quick sip of my drink in order to try and calm my nerves. 

I could have sworn that my heart skipped a beat when I heard the bell ring from the entrance of the shop. I couldn’t bare to meet my eyes with his, too mixed up in my own thoughts to even comprehend what I was about to do. I was tired of sitting around and not knowing what would come next, so I decided to do something about it. Hence, me sitting here looking like the human form of a mental breakdown. 

The clearing of a throat grabbed my attention as I looked up, my eyes finally connecting with his. I hadn’t realized that I was staring at him until I saw that he mumbled something towards me. He held a curious gaze in my direction as he shifted to get comfortable in his seat.

“I’m sorry?” I asked.

“I asked if you were alright? You look awfully shaken up.” His eyes held concern as he asked his question.

“I’m fine, I just had a rough day.” I mentally gave myself a facepalm as I knew I had spilled my words out too fast. He knew me too well to know that I was in fact not fine. I tried to reassure him by offering him a warm smile. “I promise.”

“I ordered you some coffee since I arrived early. I hope you don’t mind.” I quickly tried to change the subject as I gestured to the mug that sat on the side of the table. He gladly thanked me as we delved into a multitude of talking points. I soon found myself becoming free from my worries and stress. I even relaxed to the point where I began laughing along with him as he engaged with me in conversation. 

His eyes lit up as he told me about his day, which made me chuckle because it reminded me of an excited child. The only time that he would pause his story would be to take another sip of his drink. As time went on, I soon found myself growing anxious without knowing it. I had a feeling that Juyeon could sense it as well because every once in a while he would shoot me empathetic looks as if he could that something was wrong. 

Was this really the right idea?

“Before we both forget, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?” He slid a hand through his hair as he shot me yet another concerned look.

This was it - the moment I had been dreading since I had planned this whole meetup. I promised myself that I wouldn’t back down this time. My hands shuffled nervously in my lap as I shifted my weight on my chair preparing to confess to him. I let out an awkward chuckle as I cleared my throat. Everything in my mind was telling me to not go through with it but then again, I’m sure he would find out eventually. I’m almost positive that it’s completely obvious just by the way I act whenever I am around him.

“I actually wanted to meet you here to tell you-” My voice got caught in my throat. I looked up at him just for a split second in order to gage his response. He looked at me with a small smile as he waited in anticipation for what I was going to say next. “I wanted to tell you that I have feelings for you. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I just didn’t want to risk our friendship because you know how much you mean to me. I hope that I haven’t made this awkward.”

His eyebrows raised slightly as he looked at me with parted lips. I stayed silent as I waited for his response, twitching in my seat as the silence became more and more heavy. I began to panic as I tried to think of a way out of this. My cheeks felt hot to the touch as I swiftly gathered up my things. 

“I’m sorry, please just forget about all of this. I’m so so sorry.” I stuttered over my words as I began to quickly walk towards to exit, tears threatening to spill out over my cheeks. I heard my name being called from afar, but I was already set on heading home. 

It had been two hours since the so called incident. Since then, I had promptly cried my eyes out as a random rom-com played in the background. I felt embarrassed beyond belief. I couldn’t believe that I had just confessed to one of my best friends of three years and he couldn’t even say anything. Could it be that he was repulsed by even the thought of having feelings for me? I had a million and one thoughts floating around in my head before a knock on my door shook me out of my trance.

I groaned slightly as I grabbed another tissue, attempting to clear away stray tears and convince whoever it was that was behind the door that I had most certainly not been crying. Though, I’m sure my puffy cheeks were going to give it away almost immediately. I lazily walked over to the door as I cracked it open slightly, only to reveal none other than Juyeon himself. 

“What are you doing here?” I asked as I attempted to not let my voice crack.

“I think we should talk.” He was leaned in close to the door as he had one hand resting on the side of the frame, positioning himself so that he could try and see me better. I looked down as I mentally sighed feeling the tears pool in my eyes once again. 

“There’s nothing to talk about Juyeon. I like you and you don’t feel the same way. Now if you don’t mind, I’m really tired and I would like to get some sleep.” I tried to close the door but he beat me to the punch as he already had one foot in the door. 

“I never said that I don’t feel the same way.” 

“Actually, you didn’t say anything at all.” My voice cracked as I looked up at him. He was now standing fully in the doorway inching closer as he realized how hurt I actually was by the situation. “Which is actually much worse.” “I know.” He paused as he looked down at me. If you looked hard enough then you could see the thoughts swirling around in his mind, almost as if he was trying to piece together what to say next. “I’m sorry, I should have said something. But don’t for one second think that my silence was taken for not having feelings towards you.”

I looked up at him, my heart pounding faster in my chest, only this time it was for a different reason. He took my face in his hand as he looked down upon me with pure adoration. 

“Somewhere in the midst of us being friends, I fell for you. I honestly don’t know how it happened, but I’m glad it did because then we wouldn’t be in the situation that we’re in right now. I absolutely have feelings for you, Y/n.” He laughed as he made eye contact with me. He leaned in slowly as he kissed me softly on the lips. If you listened hard enough, then I’m sure there were fireworks going off somewhere. We stayed like that for a moment more before pulling away, small smiles on each of our faces.

“Well, I guess come on in unless you’re just going to stand in my doorway all day.” I sat on the couch as I shot him a playful grin, patting the seat beside me as he gave me a large smile. I could feel him staring at me as he joined me on the couch. I turned towards him with an expectant look.

“You look cute with puffy cheeks.” He said as he leaned over to pinch them. 

I scoffed in response as I rested my head on his shoulder. I let out a sigh of relief that I hadn’t realized I had been holding. I smiled to myself as I was glad that I hadn’t lost my best friend, and had gained something even better. 

[corysmiles]

Little streamer AU prompts!

-Thinking they were all humans, either Wil or Phil bought tickets for them all to go to an amusement park....but Tommy’s too short to ride. Where does it go from there? Does Wilbur feel bad and sob out apologies? Does Tommy say it’s fine and that they can go without him, only to get kidnapped/lost? Does Tommy say f*ck it and try to sneak on with Tubbo? Your choice :)

-The bois at the arcade during the meetup. They try to cheat the games by having Tommy roll skeeballs into the best slot, or go inside machines to fix the game in their favor

-While Tubbo has Lani, and Phil has probably had like a borrower coworker or something, this is Wil’s first time heavily interacting with someone so small, and constantly watches the others and stays up at night googling how to best handle a borrower. Some of the suggestions he gets from online are way too formal and Tommy is confused as heck at where he’s getting these ideas. Like Wil you don’t have to wash your hands before picking me up if we’re RUNNING LATE C’MON LETS GO

-(the angst prompt) Tommy was so excited to meet others his size and during the meet up he doesn’t feel included or something, and he ahas a mental breakdown. Maybe he hides in a small space so the others can’t find/reach him

-If you don’t have plans for techno yet, maybe he’s also a tiny and thought he was the only one of any of his online friends, but the group FaceTimes him and he sees Tommy is small too but doesn’t make a big deal out of it, just a mentions it in the conversation at some point. Tommy feels instantly better. “Technoblade’s a bigger bad ass than any of you talk freaks!” “Techno was already the coolest, but none of you have a chance now.”

-Tommy wrestles with everyone’s hands

If you can’t tell I love this idea so much lol

-🦎anon

omg I love your ideas so much thank you and I’m so so sorry this post is so long I was gonna split it up but then I was motivated and got really excited (also pls forgive me for any spelling errors this is long and I didnt want to go back and edit it) :]

Little streamer au drabbles

—————————————————————

When Phil and Kristen had originally been planning out all the things they could do at the meet up they didn’t take into account the possibility that any of their friends might be well...tiny. So when the day came for the group to go to the amusement park and they were stopped by security at the first ride Phil knew the day wasn’t going to end well.

“Sorry sir,” the man said to Wilbur who currently had Tommy in his front pocket, “Tinies can’t go on the rides here, it’s too much liability for the park.”

Wilbur just stared at the man in mild confusion, “What if I hold him though, there’s no way anything could happen.”

The man just shrugged, “I don’t know it’s the park’s rules not mine so you can either stay out here with him or pass on rides for today.”

Wilbur looked down at the small teen in his pocket and could tell he was getting upset by the confrontation. Tommy’s shoulders drooped and he kept his eyes down as if to not show the others his disappointment.

“Its alright big man, go on I can stay down here,” Tommy whispered and patted Wilbur’s chest reassuringly. The attempt at comfort just made Wilbur’s frown grow.

“Hey it’s alright Will I’ll stay down here with Tommy,” Tubbo said, “I’m not the biggest fan of heights anyways.”

Wilbur reluctantly agreed and handed over the tiny to the other teen who walked over to one of the benches to wait for the others.

When Wilbur and Phil got off the roller coaster they panicked when they couldn’t find the two teens until they found Tubbo riding on a carousel horse with Tommy hanging off the pole.

Safe to say Wilbur didn’t let Tubbo take Tommy the rest of the day. (Sorry i didnt do angst for this one)

(More under the cut)

—————————————————————

Tommy was so excited to go to the arcade with his friends. When they got there though and Tommy saw all the prizes he could win he started to form a plan.

Tubbo of course would be the one to help him out though since he was the only one that was willing to let Tommy cause any chaos.

It started with small things like having him help them cheat on skeeball or hit targets with his hands on shooting games until they started to look for more ways to cheat.

For the final plan, Tubbo watched as Tommy climbed through the slot of a crane machine and tried to push a large bear toy into the hole.

When he saw the bear he thought Wilbur would like it and while Tubbo was usually opposed to crane games since it’s just a “waste of fucking money” he wasn’t necessarily opposed to helping Tommy get into the machine.

Everything was going fine until a woman with a child came over to the machine to play for themselves; immediately Tommy ducked down beneath the plushies so they wouldn’t get caught and Tubbo began to panic when he lost sight of the tiny.

It was at that moment that the rest of the group came over to Tubbo and asked where Tommy was.

“Uhhh hes in the bathroom,” Tubbo said nervously.

Phil tilted his head at the boy, “Uhuh...where is he Tubbo?”

“Ummmm so about that big man we uh-“

However, Tubbo was interrupted by his phone dinging and his face went pale as he read the text from Tommy.

-Pls get me out of here big man I can’t get this shit off me anymore-

“Uhhhh...oh fuck,” Tubbo muttered, “Um I have not the best news for you.”

“And what’s that?” Wilbur asked.

“Ummm do you have any coins on you?”

Phil looked at Tubbo with confusion, “Yeah, why do you ask mate?”

Tubbo turned back to the crane where the mother and daughter had left and laughed nervously, “well....ummm so by bathroom I kinda meant uh the crane machine? Yeah, Tommy’s in there.”

The adults immediately freaked out at the situation because what the fuck were the kids thinking. And when Tubbo told Wilbur they were just trying to get the teddybear for him cause Tommy thought he’d like it, he felt even more dread.

After almost an hour of Wilbur and Phil putting in money into the claw machine they finally got enough toys out of the way to see the tiny.

With one more try Tommy was able to grab onto the claw and let himself fall out of the machine. Wilbur immediately scooped him up to scold him for being a dumbass but when he saw that Tommy’s face was red and swollen he decided instead to just slip Tommy into his pocket to rest.

With the extra cheated tickets though they were able to buy Tommy a tiny plastic nerf gun from the arcade before they left.—————————————————————

Wilbur was surprised at how quickly Phil and Tubbo were okay with Tommy’s size. While Tubbo apparently had a tiny sister and Phil had had tiny friends before, Wilbur couldn’t recall ever actually interacting with someone so small expect for in passing.

He really cared about Tommy as both a friend and as a brother and he was so afraid of messing up with the teen. He didn’t want to hurt or offend Tommy in any way so of course he went to the best place to figure out what to do: wikihow.

The articles were strange for sure but anything to make Tommy feel more comfortable with him would be worth it.

So the next day when Tommy was supposed to be eating breakfast at Wilbur’s house and Wilbur wouldn’t pick him up to put him on the table he thought the taller man was just being a dick.

Then when Tommy asked him if he would pick him up Wilbur walked away from him to go to the bathroom instead of helping him.

After a minute the brunette man walked back and reached a hand down to lay besides Tommy. Tommy stepped onto his palm and expected him to pull him up towards him but when he didn’t he started to get really annoyed.

“Hey you can move what the fucks up witb you right now you’re being all weird and shit man,” Tommy grumbled.

“Huh? Oh I just...I was looking up some stuff about uh tinies and I thought maybe it would make you more comfortable?” Wilbur whispered with embarrassment.

“What?” Tommy laughed, “Why the fuck would you do that you were fine before I would tell you if I wasn’t comfortable big man you don’t have to worry about that.”

Wilbur felt his heart swell at the comfort and slowly lifted Tommy up to the table for them to eat together. It was still strange having someone so small around but Wilbur would get used to it for Tommy.—————————————————————

Tommy usually didn’t have any problems with having bigger people around. All his friends at home and his family were all humans so he knew he was overreacting about none of his online friends being tinies. But when they went out to dinner together and Phil, Tubbo, and Wilbur were all talking together while Tommy sat next to Wilbur’s cup something broke inside him.

The reason he loved streaming so much was that he thought he finally had met other people like him, but he guessed it was his own fault for never really checking.

As the three laughed loudly Tommy felt himself becoming more and more overwhelmed by the chaos in the restaurant. He couldn’t cry now though his friends were having fun, it would be a dick move for him to ruin the meet up for them just because he expected them to be tinies.

Throughout the meal and on the way home Tommy was mostly silent, he sat in Wilbur’s pocket as they arrived at the man’s apartment. Wilbur waved goodbye to Phil and Tubbo as he took Tommy inside.

Wilbur sat Tommy down on the counter as he changed and Tommy finally felt a few tears fall from his eyes. He heard the sound of a door opening and quickly hid behind a tea box so Wilbur wouldn’t see him in this state.

He started to shake as the tears kept coming while he heard Wilbur searching around for him.

“Tommy?” Wilbur called out but Tommy couldn’t even get a solid breath much less respond.

After a few moments Tommy felt the tea box he was hiding near shift as a large hand wrapped him up gently.

“Oh jeez Tommy are you okay?” Wilbur asked as he lifted Tommy to his eyes.

Tommy wiped his eyes and slowly nodded to Wilbur who looked heartbroken by the tears.

Wilbur sighed, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Tommy shook his head no and Wilbur gave the boy a sad smile.

“I’m sorry Tommy, we’ll talk about this later okay,” he whispered as he tucked Tommy up against his chest. He held the tiny until he heard soft snores replace the sobs and promised himself that whatever made him this sad would never happen again.—————————————————————

Techno had been tweeting at the rest of the sleepy boys since the start of the meetup. The American wished he had gotten to meet up with his friends but sadly because of covid there was no way to safely visit the UK, so instead they settled for FaceTiming one night so that Techno wouldn’t feel as left out.

Techno grabbed his specially made phone and anxiously waited for the call. When Phil’s contact showed up Techno opened it immediately and was greeted by the familiar blonde human’s face along with Tubbo in the corner.

“Hey Techno!” Phil smiled as Tubbo waved aggressively.

Techno smiled and waved back, “Hullo.”

After a little bit of shuffling Wilbur appeared on the screen with something cupped in his hands.

“What you got there Will?” Techno asked with an amused expression.

“It’s me bitch! Ayyy Techno,” a loud and annoying but familiar voice yelled form the taller man’s hands.

“Oh hey Tommy,” Techno laughed, but besides that there was almost no reaction to Tommy’s height.

“That’s it? No big ‘wow you’re small’ or like ‘poggers’ or anything?” Tommy asked.

Techno hummed in response, “Nah why would I care your nothing special cause you’re small.”

Tommy huffed and crossed his arms at Techno, “I’m not special bitch? I’m the only tiny here I’m amazing!”

A small chuckle left Techno as he realized the situation.

“And why are you so sure you’re the only one huh?”

Tommy blinked wide eyed at Techno before a wide grin spread across his face.

“Wait you’re small too?” Phil asked.

Techno nodded to his friends who all had different ranges of shock on their faces.

“Oh fuck yeah!” Tommy screeched causing everyone to laugh.

“See I knew this is why you were so much cooler than these bitches were alpha men you see,” Tommy laughed.

“Yeah,” Techno smiled, “I’m sure that’s why.”

The rest of the call was calmer however Tommy continued to insist that Techno and him were much cooler than the rest of the them. —————————————————————

The first time Tommy had been grabbed to try to get him to calm down or stay still it had been by Phil when he was trying to cook breakfast and Tommy kept getting too close to the stove top. Phil placed his hand over Tommy to keep him still when he felt the kid latch onto his pointer finger and try to pull it away.

“Ay what are you doing mate?” Phil laughed as the tiny continued to struggle with his finger.

“I’m wrestling you big man can’t you tell, and I’m fucking winning!” Tommy grinned.

Phil chuckled at the kid before flipping him over with his thumb.

“Yup you’re winning sure,” he said slyly.

When Wilbur and Tubbo walked in to Phil trying to pin down Tommy with his fingers while the small boy laughed and pushed them away as much as he could they had no fucking clue what was going on.

[erzaguin]

Huntmira Week 2021 Day 3:Meeting The Family

“Soooo what's their name?” Said Edric nonchalantly as he and Emira made their way home from school.

“Huh? Who's name?” Responded, Emira puzzled as she continued walking next to her brother.

“Oh you know the mysterious individual you've been seeing in secret?” 

Emira feigned ignorance as she continued walking "What makes you think I've been seeing someone?" 

*gasp* “I'm hurt, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't notice that my only twin is so obviously in love?” said Edric as he held his chest in an exaggerated gesture. All while recalling the conversation he had the previous night with their younger sister Amity, who was the one to point out that Emira had been acting differently lately and suggested she might be seeing someone in secret. 

“...Right” said Emira who knew the only way Ed had noticed was if someone had pointed it out to him. “So what’s their name?” pressured Edric. 

*sigh* “There’s no way you’re going to let this go, is there?” responded Emira hesitantly knowing that Edric loved gossip and there was no way he would be able to move past this. 

“Nope,” grinned Edric, who was dying to know more about his sister's secret. 

“Fine, ...his name is Hunter and we’re not...” Emira winced before finishing her statement as Edric let out an excited squeal. He had not been fully convinced that there was someone Emira liked but getting confirmation that there was filled him with even more excitement and curiosity.

“You have a secret boyfriend! Does he go to our school? How did you two meet? When did you meet? When can I meet him? Why hadn't you told me about him before?”  questioned Edric as he blocked his sister’s path unable to contain his excitement. 

“Calm down Ed,” said Emira as she casually stepped past her brother. “Like I was trying to say we aren’t dating. No he doesn't go to our school and we met at the library that day you went out on your date. I’m not sure when you can meet him. And I hadn’t told you because there’s nothing to tell.”  

Edric took in the information before going after his sister. “Alright I got you I’ll be your wingman don’t worry Em this guy won’t know what hit him.” 

“You don’t have to do that Ed...You’re not actually going to try to hit him are you?” questined Emira as she was unsure of her brother’s plans. 

“No it’s ok don’t worry besides you helped me find someone so I’ll be returning the favor. And since you said you two aren’t dating then it’s perfectly ok if I tag along on one of your meetups right?” Smiled Edric. 

“I don’t know about that Ed...” mused Emira as she thought about how Hunter would react to Edric tagging along plus she kind of liked having something she did not have to share with Ed. 

"Ok ok don’t worry about it" said Edric “You don’t have to invite me to your secret meetup spot. How about you invite him to go to the carnival with us?” Emira considered this. She had been planning on asking Hunter to hang out with her outside of the library. He could definitely use the distraction and having Edric around might help Hunter come out of his shell a bit.  "Ok sure why not, what's the worst that could happen?"

“This is a waste of time. I could be doing some research or training.” Grumbled Hunter to himself as he waited for the twins to arrive. He had protested against coming but ultimately Emira always got her way. 

It had been several weeks now since they had first met at the library. Since then the two had become close and would have frequent  meet ups at the library where Emira would help him with research.  Although most of the time they would just spend their time together talking about their days or of nothing at all. They could just be sitting there next to each other without saying a word and that would be enough to make a bad day a whole lot better. Before Hunter had realized it these meetups had become something that he really looked forward to each week. 

Now standing there realizing that he would be meeting a member of her family made him nervous. “Why should I be nervous? It's not like we’re dating or anything, we're just friends” he mumbled to himself the thought leaving him a bit disheartened. Then a sudden thought of being on a date with Emira flashed through his mind which caused him to blush. He was still lost in thought when he heard someone shout “Hey Em I found your boyfriend he's over here!”  

Hunter turned around to see a tall youth with emerald green hair and golden eyes staring at him with a big goofy grin on his face. His face to close to his. “You're Hunter right? I’m Edric it’s a pleasure to meet you” smiled Edric as he stretched out his hand towards Hunter. 

“Yeah nice to meet you too” Said Hunter shaking his hand as he realized that Edric had referred to him as Emira’s boyfriend. Is that how she described him to her family? But we’re just friends he reassured himself yet the thought still made his heart beat race even though he would not let it show on his face. 

A few moments later Emira was finally able to make her way through the crowd to them. Her cheeks were flushed and was a little bit out of breath. “Did she run here?” thought Hunter to himself. 

Emira took a few seconds to compose herself before staring daggers at Edric. Who now had an arm across Hunter’s shoulders but as soon as he noticed Emira’s face he quickly moved to hide behind Hunter. “Hey Em nice to see you finally made it” teased Edric from behind Hunter. 

Emira’s face did not give away how angry she was but both Hunter and Edric knew better. “Yeah sorry I was late you know the funniest thing happened. When I tried opening my bedroom door I found out that it had been hexed shut. You wouldn’t know anything about that would you, Ed?” said Emira in a cheery voice but Hunter could feel Edric tense up behind him. 

“Oh you know that really is funny. Who could have done such a terrible thing?” taunted Edric still hiding behind Hunter who was beginning to realize he was right to be nervous of meeting with Emira’s family.

Realizing that he was in a world of trouble Edrict decided to take action. Still holding on to Hunter’s shoulders he pushed the young man through the crowd away from his sister as he tried to make conversation. “I’ve never seen her so mad. You know she’s going to kill you right?” noted Hunter as he let himself be pushed through the crowd. 

“Be cool, maybe if we play our cards right we’ll both make it out of this without violence.” Whimpered Edric as he continued to push through the crowd in the direction of the carnival entrance. “What do you mean we?! She’s only mad at you” retorted Hunter, starting to get annoyed. 

“You would just throw me under the bus like that? Man I thought we were friends”Cried Edric who sounded genuinely hurt. 

“What is going on here?” thought Hunter to himself trying to make sence of the situation. What he wanted to say was that he got himself into this mess and he should get himself out but something about him made Hunter want to help. Maybe it was because he reminded him too much of Emira. Or it's something that runs in the family.  *sigh* “Ok I’ll help, what do you want me to do?” said Hunter hesitantly. 

“Really?! You’re the best!”  Beamed Edric. “Let’s see, how about you confess your undying love for her. That should make her forget how mad she is at me.” Proposed Edric. 

Upon hearing this Hunter dug in his heels and turned to face Edric who had a mischievous grin on his face. This was his plan all along! Wait, did this mean Emira liked him? Did she want him to confess? But how could he when he wasn’t sure about  his feelings for her. She was his first friend. His only friend, he couldn't risk that. 

The sudden stop gave Emira enough time to catch up to them. Edric very confidently put a hand on Hunter’s shoulder and said “Hey Em, Hunter has something that he wants to say to you” he gave hunter a wink and lightly pushed him forward towards Emira who looked mortified after hearing Edric. 

Hunter looked at Emira and started walking towards her only stopping once he was right next to her. He had been taken off guard but he had made his decision. “See you tomorrow at our usual spot?” he said with a small smirk on his face. 

Emira’s face relaxed into a smile before saying “It’s a date.” She gave him a wink before stepping forward towards Edric.

Hunter turned around to look at Edric who looked betrayed and terrified. “It was nice meeting you Edric. Hopefully we get another chance to meet in the future although I highly doubt it.” said Hunter with a smug look on his face before turning around and making his way home. The last thing he heard was Edric screaming in fear of his sister as he ran away.

“A date huh?” mused Hunter to himself. 

[bokutosworld]

perfect match | miya osamu

a/n: i am so thrilled that haikyuu is back!!! can’t wait to see more of inarizaki and (excuse my bias) osamu!!!! <3 so here’s a very self-indulgent piece in celebration of their comeback haha 

pairing: miya osamu x f!reader

wc: 2.6k words of fluff and bit of angst if you squint lmfao.  

summary: in which you and osamu go in circles, walking the fine line between keeping the friendship or taking the leap in your relationship. inspired by the prompts: “It’s you, it’s always been you.”  + “Are you really gonna leave without asking me the question you’ve been dying to ask me?”

--

'for the last time, i am telling you oyakodon cannot be better than katsudon. nothing beats a good crisp, deep-fried pork or chicken over a steaming bowl of rice,' you said, putting your lunch tray on the table with a thud and settling on the bench.

'yeah, sure. but they're basically the same thing,' he slips in the space next to you, placing his food and getting his chopsticks ready. 'they're both donburi meals, only difference is how they're prepared. what matters is they're both delicious.'

taking a spoonful of your meal, you chew fast before deciding to answer back, 'i know that.' you pause to catch your breath, earning a worried glance from osamu as if he telling you to eat slowly. 'but katsudon just ranks superior. end of discussion.'

the both of you, cooped up in your own conversation, were oblivious to the stares and smirks of your friends in the table. atsumu, deciding to be the braver among the peers, cuts through the silence. 'you know, we could hear you bickering from the queue all the way here,' a hint of tease evident in his voice and osamu smacks his twin.

suna perks up, joining the conversation, 'that's like the third discourse they had today, man. and it's only lunchtime.' the rest of the group laughs and shakes their head, as atsumu adds, 'will there ever be a day where we enjoy some peace and the two of you just quietly get along?'

you share a look with osamu who simply shrugs and continues to chomp down (albeit rather cutely) his food. your friends weren't wrong but it's not like you and the boy hated each other's guts. your close friendship with him was comfortable, so much so that the two of you would talk and argue literally about anything. but as always, there were no hard feelings in those moments of disagreements.

it's just the way it has been since the day you met the twins in middle school. they were both kind and took care of you like their little sister. but somehow, you found yourself growing more attached with the quieter twin. there was something about conversing with osamu that made you feel like you can open up to him about anything. he was smart, a good listener, a natural conversationalist that he always had something ready to answer to your quips. he would always indulge whatever topic you brought up and challenge your ideas and beliefs - the latest one being the katsudon versus oyakodon dispute.

you notice the piece of rice stuck in the corner of osamu's mouth, and you were just about to wipe it off when hikari calls out your name. your hand falls limp on your side and you turn to her, 'what's up?'

'are you free this weekend? i was supposed to set up my cousin on a blind date with my co-worker but she just informed me that she can't go. they have exams this week. so,' she purposely dragged on her words, weighing if would consider being the substitute. raising an eyebrow at her, you completed the sentence for her, 'so, you want me to go on the blind date?'

she beamed, clasping her hands together as if she was reciting a prayer. 'please! i will owe you my life, this is a one time thing, i swear! i made him a promise. you know how i hate breaking promises.'

osamu took note of the way you sighed and how your shoulders slumped at your friend's request. you were never one to say no, you always found it difficult with your kind-hearted nature. so it wasn't a surprise to him when you turned and asked, 'we don't have anything planned for this weekend, right?'

truthfully, osamu wanted to say that you did have some sort of hangout planned. he didn't know why he was finding it hard to say no right now, so he was relieved when his brother spoke. 'you should be free, y/n,' swinging his arm around his twin's shoulders, atsumu looked at him and smirked. 'besides, we have a practice match this weekend. we wouldn't be able to do the usual hangout 'til after 6pm.'

this made you exclaim, 'great! you can give that guy my number then!' hikari proceeded to tell you the details - it was happening on saturday. she already arranged for the meetup time and place to be 10 am at the subway station near the park.

as hikari continued to talk to you about your date, osamu couldn't help but listen in on the conversation and take note of the details. he didn't miss the way your eyes lit up at the mention of your date's name - taichi - to which you remarked that it was 'a handsome name.' osamu rolled his eyes at that. lost in his own thoughts and conflicted feelings about your blind date, he wasn't able to control his facial reactions anymore - a slight look of envy and disappointment ghosting over his features and atsumu was enjoying every bit of it.

weekend arrived and to say that you were excited for the blind date was an understatement. you were looking forward to it, the evidence seen in the way you have prepared your outfit (with the help of osamu who you video called last night). as your closest friend, osamu tried his best to be thrilled and happy for you. he knew you have been wanting to experience a first date for a while now. but a feeling was gnawing at him, a feeling that wishes it was him who was taking you out on that weekend. nonetheless, he gave you a pep talk and reminded you to just have fun and be yourself.

so here you are now, standing in the middle of the station and waiting for your date. it wasn't as crowded as you thought it would be so you kept an eye out for taichi. he texted you just before you left, informing that he would be wearing a denim jeans and black jacket. keeping your eyes peeled for a person who fit that description, you see a shadow of a person jogging across the station and a voice calls out your name.

'y/n!!!!' you spot taichi running over to you, he crouches to try to catch his breath when he reaches you. when he's calmed down, he immediately apologizes, 'i am so sorry. have you been waiting long?' you assure him that it's fine and after a few minutes of back-and-forths of apologies and assurances, you two go on your way to your first stop: brunch.

taichi was indeed as handsome as his name initially suggests. he's got a boyish charm to him, and it would be a lie to say he wasn't drawing you in. all throughout the brunch, he proved to be someone who can keep a conversation with you. it was one of your worries that your date would find you boring, but osamu told you would do fine. thankfully, taichi could hold his ground with you, very much like your best friend who can immediately answer your witty quips with his own humorous comebacks. in your mind, the two boys were very much like and you couldn't wait to tell this to osamu.

after eating, he brought you to an aquarium. your genuine excitement made taichi smile as he shared that it was worth an effort asking hikari what you wanted if he could see you exude so much happiness. you made a face and hit him, 'i didn't know you were cheesy. thank you.' he then led you two inside and spent the rest of the afternoon wandering around the huge aquarium, in awe of the different fishes and feeling if you were lost in the underwater.

but all good things come to an end. by the time your date ended, it was already 6:33 pm. though it was still early, you had a curfew of 8 pm and taichi offered to accompany you home.

dropping you off at the front gate, he looked at you, hopeful, 'i had a really fun time today. hikari did great by setting me and you up together.' you laughed at this, admitting you've almost forgotten that this was a blind date, 'it's like i've known you forever!' despite the surroundings being dark already, you didn't miss the movement of a shadow just a few blocks away. you had a hunch as to what or who it was, and you couldn't wait to expose them.

'well, i don't want to keep you out any longer,' taichi began saying his goodbye. 'i'll text you when i get home. we should do this again.' your attention was brought back to the boy in front of you and you chuckled, 'don't be a stranger! just text or call me anytime, okay?' taichi began walking back to the main street, and he waved as you shouted your last farewell, 'be careful on the way home.'

when he finally turned to the street, you cleared your throat and called, 'you can come out of your hiding spot now, dumbass.' the person you were referring to sheepishly moved where the light can cast over him, revealing, 'osamu.' he could see the way your eyes glinted with a hint of mischief and he knew he wouldn't be able to escape your interrogation.

you ran up to him and tackled him, poking his sides which made him fall into a fit of laughter. he took your hands to make you stop, 'stop that.'

'how long have you been hiding out there,' you ask osamu. it wasn't impossible to miss the tinge of blush on his cheeks, your question obviously caught him off guard. 'well, osamu? are you gonna answer me or are you just going to keep staring into space?' you wave your hands in front of him, but he quickly gets hold of them and laces his fingers with yours. it was a usual gesture between the two of you, but right now, why did it feel so intimate?

after moments of silence, he speaks up, 'did you have fun on your date?' his eyes boring right into your soul and you swore your heart started beating faster. for some reason, you couldn't answer right away, your voice somehow betraying you at that moment. 'it.. it was nice.'

osamu continued to stare intently, waiting for you to finish. so you went on, 'they're a good person. he's very funny, you'd like him too, you know! he surprised me by taking me to the aquarium,' at this point, you were rambling just to avoid the awkward silence. 'it was so big, osamu! you'd like it there too. and then -'

'will you take me there with you?' now your heart was threatening to beat out of the chest. osamu was rarely serious with you, and right now, you could feel that he wants to say more but he's restraining himself.

you already had an idea of what he was trying to say. the butterflies in your stomach was starting to go wild at the thought. but you wanted to hear it from your best friend himself, so you feigned ignorance, 'what do you mean, osamu?'

the grip on your hands tightens and he pulls you a little closer to him. osamu wants to say that he wishes it was him who saw your smile in the aquarium, who you talked with nonstop in the cafe, who you exchanged stories and laughter with throughout the day. he wants to say that it should have been him who took you out on your first date. all these emotions and words were too much for him, so he takes a deep breath and rests his head on your shoulders instead. perplexed at his actions, you immediately wrap your arms around his waist. 'osamu? are you okay?'

'yeah, let me just stay like this for few minutes.' he buries himself deeper in the crook of your neck, getting lost in your familiar, comforting scent. he knows why he was acting like this and he was screwed. he loves you, but he doesn't want to risk ruining the friendship you have built. after a while, he stands up straight, shooting you his signature smile and ruffles your hair.

'thanks, i was just really tired from the practice match. i guess i missed our number one cheerleader.' he steps away and begins to walk home, but he doesn't get too far when you shout, 'are you really gonna leave without asking me the question you've been dying to ask me?'

he stops in his tracks. this time, you close the distance and he feels your presence behind him. 'come on, osamu. no secrets, right?' at this, his resolve breaks and a dam opens, his unrequited feelings for you finally flowing out in the open. osamu turns around and engulfs you in a warm embrace, and you just know.

'if you wanted to ask me out, you could have just asked me you know,' you tease him. flustered at you what just said, he looks at quizzically, 'how...'

'you're not very subtle, osamu. and the stunt you just pulled tonight basically confirmed you like me too,' you hope he caught your words at the end. because honestly, while being best friends with him has been the best thing to happen in your life. you've always wondered what it feels like to take the next step in your relationship with him.

it takes him a while to register your remarks and when the realization sets, he finally asks, 'since when?' the question was vague, but you knew what he was referring to if the hopeful look in his eyes was anything to go by. so you take a courageous leap, finally crossing that bridge to move to something more. you caress his cheeks, osamu leaning close to the warmth of your hands, 'it's you, osamu. it's always been you.'

he finally closes the gap, bringing your body to his in a tight hug, as if he was afraid to let you go. you stay like that for a few minutes, the passersby cooing at the 'lovely couple' on the street. he pulls away for a quick second, then all of a sudden, he was leaning in. your eyes instinctively shut, waiting for that sensation on your lips, but instead you feel him press a tender kiss on your forehead. he was always a man of few words and through his actions, you know that everything will never be the same again, but it was the kind of change that you have always hoped for.

so when you two go to school the following week, holding hands and finally not bickering in the morning, everyone in your friend group was dumbfounded. again, his twin was the only one brave enough to point out the difference, 'took you guys long enough. congrats, osamu! i knew you had it in you!'

hikari wanted to ask you about taichi, but after the date, the boy has already his expressed gratitude and shared how he felt that your thoughts were occupied by someone. and certainly, looking at you and osamu now - sitting by each other's side in peace and in your own love bubble - it seemed that you have already found your perfect match.

[flooffybits]

Slow Down

Idol: Jeon Heejin

Part 2 of Where You At

A/n: this was so long ago damn. sorry for the wait but i hope you guys enjoy!

☕buy me a coffee☕

“What did Y/n say?” Hyunjin’s soft voice had cut in through her friend’s train of thought and the other looked away from her phone, letting out a deep breath as she turned the device off and set it down. “They haven’t replied yet, but last time, they said they would look for a free schedule.”

You were understandably busy. Your group was gaining popularity all over and the amount of interviews and performances you had lined up would mean meeting up was going to have to be scheduled at a later date.

The girls were pretty much busy, as well, prepping for their newest album and having a few interviews every now and then. Haseul was also coming back and, though she is happy to have their leader back, she can’t help the anxiety with having your meetup delayed even further than she had hoped.

What if you were purposefully avoiding her?

She shook her head, brushing the thought off. She had to be rational, and even if you were, she had no right getting upset about it. Though, maybe it was disappointing that you had said that you could talk and then left her hanging.

“I’m sure they’ll text you, some time, soon. They’re still doing promotions.” Hyunjin reminded her and she nodded her head absentmindedly. “Yeah...”

Setting her phone aside, she saw Yeojin coming closer after she finished her part in the recording room. “Unnie, it’s your turn.” She called out and Heejin smiled lightly, nodding as she stood up and went back to work, Hyunjin staring after her with a slight frown on her face.

..

Heejin has been busying herself with so much work lately, just doing anything to keep her mind off of you. She was currently finishing up the edit of her vlog when she heard her phone go off in her pocket.

Mindlessly picking it up and answering, she failed to see who had called her until your voice registered into her head.

"I'm sorry for the sudden call, but I was wondering if you were free tomorrow?" You ask her. "We get a bit of a break for the afternoon, so I thought you'd like to meet up, then." You tell her, making her eyes widen as she sat up straighter and put the stylus down so she could focus on you.

She glanced at the calendar that was hung on the wall and saw that there was nothing planned for her after lunch. "I'm free from two, onwards." She informs you, a bit of hope sparking inside her. "That's good. I'll see you, maybe around three. Wherever you want to meet is fine." You say softly. "I know that your company is kind of strict."

Something about the thought of you knowing about her company and the rules set for her group somehow made her heart skip a beat, but she quickly shook that thought away as she went to answer you. "That's fine."

She takes in a deep breath. "I'll... uh, send you the address of the place." She sees Hyunjin come into the room, pausing when their eyes meet. "Okay. See you then." After saying goodbye, she hangs up while Hyunjin walks over to her.

"Was that-"

"Y/n. I'm meeting them tomorrow." She answers quickly, staring at her phone as she tries to think of a place that you might want to go to, feeling as though she was dreaming and everything that was happening was just a figment of her imagination.

Hyunjin sat down beside her best friend and looked over everything that she was doing. When she shifted to glance at her phone, she quickly looked away when she saw that she was actually texting the address she had decided on.

"Where are you meeting up?" She can't help but ask, taking the stylus to fiddle with it instead of just sitting there and awkwardly looking around.

Her friend stared at her unfinished work when she finally put her phone down and let out a deep breath. "There's this cafe we used to go to. I remember that Y/n liked the food there and maybe they haven't gone there in a while, so-" Hyunjin quickly stopped her from rambling and placed her hand over the latter's, effectively quieting her down and letting her take a breath.

"You're there to talk. It's not a date."

Though Hyunjin doesn't mean to sound so harsh, she needed to remind her friend the reason she was really meeting you.

You had only agreed to listen to whatever it was the girl had to say and whether you decided to agree to keep in contact or not, she had to accept that.

But that didn't stop her from hoping.

"I know that there's still something in there that's wishing you could go back to normal, I do too, but before you think too far ahead, start with fixing your friendship." Hyunjin stated softly when she glanced at the few pictures Heejin had scattered on her desk. One of them was a photo she had taken of the two of you together during one of your walks. You were both so stuck in your own world and she admitted that the moment was too cute to not take a picture, so she did.

"I know." Heejin mumbled when she leaned back against her seat and nibbled on her lower lip. "But they've agreed to talk, at least. I'm taking it as a sign that they don't outright hate me." She muttered as Hyunjin gave her a small pat on the arm. "You know Y/n could never. No matter how stupid you could be, they would always be there to understand you."

Heejin smiled a bit at that fact and nodded lightly. "Yeah. I guess that's true."

.. 

"Hey, sorry, I'm late!" You apologize when you reach the table and Heejin shook her head while smiling to reassure you that it was alright. "Relax, I just got here a few minutes ago."

Even though she was really half an hour early because of her nerves, the latter didn't want to make you feel bad right off that bat with your time together.

She only hopes it could be longer than a simple chat.

Watching as you took a seat in front of her, Heejin pushed your favorite drink in front of you before both her hands wrap around her own drink just to soothe her nerves and you blink before quietly thanking her as you take a sip.

Judging with how you fiddle with the tissue wrapped around the cup, she can tell that you’re probably just as nervous as she was.

“So…”

You clear your throat awkwardly before looking up to briefly meet the girl’s eyes and then drop your gaze back to the cup in your hands and Heejin bites her lip before sucking in a deep breath. “How are you doing lately?” She tries, just to ease both of you into a steady conversation. “Promotions are still ongoing for you guys.” She attempts with a smile and you nod your head. “Yeah, but we’ll be wrapping up in a few days, so I think everything will calm down by then.” You explain and Heejin hums, leaving an awkward silence to hang over you as you fiddle with the straw of your drink.

“Congratulations, by the way.” She suddenly says, and you take a peek to see her smiling at you. “I forgot that I didn’t get to properly congratulate you for your award, but I wanted to say that I’m really proud of you.” The words come out without thinking and you both stare at each other before you let out a soft sigh.

“Heejin…”

“I’m sorry.”

Her voice is quiet, but it was enough to stop you from further speaking, and she takes that as a sign to continue, sucking in a deep breath, because it was now or never. Whatever she wanted to say - what she had to say, it had to be now. And whatever the outcome of this would be, she would accept it either way.

“What I did… it was selfish. And I know you said it was fine, but it’s really not. The day I left… I wanted to turn around and take everything back but…” She bit her lip and you look at her with understanding in your own eyes.

You let your hands rest on your lap before you let out a quiet breath. “It’s okay to be selfish, Heejin. We were both young and we had so much at stake, your career had just started and you made the right decision.” You assure her, but she stubbornly shakes her head when tears begin to build up in her eyes.

“The right decision didn’t have to cost so much.”

You purse your lips at the look on her face before reaching forward, taking her hand in yours and giving it a light squeeze. “Heejin, I know that it hurts, more than anyone else. But we both needed it. We were drifting apart no matter how much we wanted to keep our relationship together. We were only going to end up hurting each other if we kept going.”

“But I didn’t want to lose you.” She argues and you feel as her hand trembles in your grip. “Maybe I was hurt at the time, but you will always have a place in my heart. You’re never going to lose me forever.”

Your words caused a lone tear to trail down her cheek and she quickly wipes it away with her free hand, the other holding on to you in an attempt to make her believe that she still had you.

The situation you were in now, you could see just where this conversation was headed. With the regret and guilt on Heejin’s face, along with how she clung to your hand, it was clear as day.

And it would be a lie if you said you didn’t want her back, too.

Maybe you would, if the circumstances were different, but at the moment, it seemed that the tables have turned and you were the one who had to let go of her. “Look, I know, it’s hard and I want to go back to how we used to.”

The whimper she tries to suppress is heartbreaking, but you had to be stronger this time. She knows, and it didn’t make things easier. “But I can’t be in a relationship right now. My group has just started and our dating ban isn’t going to lift until another year and a half. I can’t ask you to-”

“I’ll wait for you.”

You frown at her words, shaking your head in response. “I can’t ask you to do that. That would be giving both of us false hope.” You point out, and as she tries to argue, you beat her to it. “Even if you tell me, that’s still a long time. Things can change. My feelings might go away, yours might go away. I don’t want either of us holding on to something that isn’t certain. The future is unpredictable.”

But Heejin wasn’t going to back down, not when she knew she had a chance. She wasn’t the same person when she had walked away all those years ago.

“Then you don’t have to hope, because I swear that I’m going to be waiting. I wasn’t sure when we were away from each other, but now I know. And even if your feelings do fade away by then, I’ll make you fall for me again, whatever it takes.” You could see the determination in her eyes, and you knew that no matter how much you tried to convince her, she wouldn’t listen.

Sighing in defeat, you let out a chuckle and shake your head. “You really are something, Miss Jeon.” And she shoots you a smile of her own. “If taking the risk is what it takes, then it’s worth it.”

You can’t stay for long, and she’s aware of that, but at least when you part ways, her shoulders aren’t sagged and she doesn’t feel the weight of insecurity on them. In fact, she’s able to get a hug right before you leave.

She may have left without you, but she’s made it clear.

She’ll count the days until she can finally come back to you, fully. If fate allowed it, then one day, she can find the comfort of your arms around her again.

[restlesswasteland]

Miserables Month Day 4: "Pride"

Written for the Miserables Month @themiserablesmonth High School AU. His hands shook as he painted the three little lines across his cheek. Staring himself down in the mirror, it took a few tries to get it right.

Just three stupid lines, Enjolras thought as he leaned back, turning his head to examine it again. That’s all they are. Three lines.

He took a breath. Went to get his keys. Made sure his parents were still out before heading to the garage to grab his bike. He avoided his reflection in the front hall mirror.

The closer he got to town, the more he considered turning back. But he couldn’t. Courfeyrac had begged them to come to Pride with him. Of course, they’d all said yes immediately, but Courf begged anyway. Enjolras had no real intention of not showing up to support his best friend.

He could just wipe the flag off his cheek. No one would have to know.

But he knew he wouldn’t do that either.

Courf had come out three years ago. No one was surprised. No one cared that he was gay, obviously. Jehan and Grantaire had both come out in their own time, as well. Ferre had admitted he was questioning. And each time, no one showed anything but love towards them.

Enjolras had spent many sleepless nights staring at the ceiling, wondering if the same beautiful indifference would be offered to him.

He’d always known, deep down. But he waited. Hoped things would change, maybe. When he hit puberty. But it didn’t. He wasn’t surprised about that, either.

And he was sick of sleepless nights. He was exhausted. He didn’t want to wonder anymore. He was done.

So he drew the stupid flag on his face and went to see his friends.

He was relieved when he finally got downtown. Any more time to think and he might've ended up just steering his bike into a ditch. Instead, he locked it up and went to find his friends outside the coffee shop that they’d picked for the meetup.

When he got there, he didn’t recognize anyone. He checked his phone, and of course he was early. He was always early when he was nervous. Bad habit.

He ordered a black coffee from the barista and went to sit on the bench outside. He watched as people passed him, decorated with flags and pins and so many rainbows. He spotted a girl with a flag like his printed on her shirt. When she passed the coffee shop, he tried to smile at her, but she didn’t notice.

“Why are you smiling like that?” Courf essentially bounced up to him, grinning and covered in glitter. Enjolras turned to him, noted the rainbow flag tied around his neck like a cape. Courf slowed down as Enjolras looked up at him.

“Oh,” Courf said, a look of surprise crossing his face.

Enjolras braced himself.

Courf took the spot next to him on the bench.

“Enj-”

“No, it’s just-” Enjolras didn’t know what he was planning on saying, searching frantically for an excuse. His brain wouldn’t work fast enough, and he sort of felt like he was going to be sick.

“Enj, I love it. Those colors really suit you, you know,” Courf’s grin returned to his face.

“I- uh, yeah?” He asked, his brain trying to catch up with the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s great,” his smile softened. “Breathe, Enj. You look like you’re gonna pass out.”

Enjolras did as he was told. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been holding his breath. Years, maybe.

“Better?”

“A little,” he heard himself saying.

“Hi,” Combeferre said from behind them. Enjolras turned to look up at him.

“Hey,” Courf said, and Enjolras could hear the smile return to his voice.

Combeferre looked studiously at Enjolras for a moment.

“I like your flag,” he said simply, sitting next to him.

“Thanks,” Enjolras said weakly.

“Where’s everyone else?” Ferre asked Courf, already moving onto the next subject.

“Jehan just texted me that they’re headed over. Should be here any minute.”

“Good, I want to make sure we get a spot on Main Street.” Ferre plucked Enjolras’s forgotten coffee from his hand and took a sip.

“I want some,” Courf whined, reaching across Enjolras to grab the cup. He took a sip and pulled a face. “Ew. Black coffee. Shoulda known,” he handed it back to Ferre.

“That’s mine, you know,” Enjolras protested.

“Mhm. You want some?” Ferre asked.

“Not really.”

“That’s what I thought,” he took another smug sip.

“Hey guys!” Jehan called, waving at them as they crossed the street. Courfeyrac returned it enthusiastically.

Enjolras took another breath. It was fine. He had his two best friends next to him. It was going to be fine.

And then Jehan squealed.

“Oh my god, Enj! I love it! I didn’t know,” they were absolutely beaming.

“Nice, welcome to the club,” Cosette offered him a high five, which he tentatively returned. She had the bi flag on her shirt. He hadn’t known that, either.

He offered a small smile to them all.

“Come on, we should get going. Ferre is very concerned about getting a good spot,” Courf teased, standing. He offered Enjolras a hand, and he took it.

Enjolras let his friends chatter wash over him as they made their way towards Main Street. He slowly came back to himself as they walked, his head clearing. It was okay. It was all... okay.

“It looks good on you,” he heard from behind him. He turned to find Grantaire, wearing an understated shirt (by the standards of those around them), just a graphic of three pantone paint chip cards in the colors of the bi flag.

“Thanks,” Enjolras answered.

“Sorta looks like you did it with your eyes closed, though.” He laughed. “I can redo it if you want? I did Jehan’s before we got here, and I told Cosette I would do hers, too.”

“Oh. Uh, sure?” Enjolras was surprised by the offer.

Grantaire pulled a small set of face paint out of his backpack before dropping it at his feet.

“I don’t, uh- I don’t have anything to take it off with,” Enjolras stated eloquently.

“I’ll just paint over it, straighten out the edges. No pun intended,” he half-smiled before stepping into Enjolras’s personal space. Enjolras reflexively closed his eyes. He felt Grantaire steady his hand against his cheek, then the paintbrush.

“It’s the ace flag, right?” Grantaire asked.

“Yeah.”

“Very cool,” Grantaire said. The paintbrush disappeared for a second, and then was back again. Enjolras tried to stay still.

“Done,” Grantaire announced a few moments later, stepping back. Enjolras opened his eyes.

“Thanks,” Enjolras smiled, still bewildered by him. By the entire last hour, really.

“My pleasure,” Grantaire said, packing his bag back up.

“Parade’s starting!” Cosette called back to them.

Enjolras joined the others by the side of the road. As he caught sight of two rainbow-clad baton twirlers at the head of the parade, he smiled to himself.

He knew he was going to sleep well tonight.

[oh-my-may]

Tsukishima, Sugawara and Kuroo getting prank ignored for a day

requested: hii, i really like it the getting prank ignored for a day, can u make this again but w/ tsukki, suga and kuroo

Hiii! I’m finally back??? This took forever lmao and I have to say I’m not this satisfied with it but I wanted to post something again? So I’lllet your guys’ feedback decide :)

Hopefully I’ll be able to work on some more requests until uni starts again, but we’ll see. Enjoy this until then! xx

Tsukishima Kei:

Sometimes Kei was... just Kei. In the months of your relationship he had grown a lot more used to you and you noticed how he softened with every day you spent together. That was... Until exams approached and the volleyball matches got more intense, too.

He forgot lunch dates and meetups, study sessions and he even texted you less. Of course you could understand him, he was very busy, but you felt like air to him. You didn’t even see him in school anymore. You were the one keeping the contact up, he only ever responded to your messages with an emoji or a simple sentence.

It got so frustrating to the point where you thought you might as well cut off all ends for a day. Not trying to get your mind occupied with him, just concentrating on school, your friends and yourself for a day.

However when you woke up, you were surprised to see that he had actually send you a message. Karasuno had a practice match this afternoon and he invited you to come and watch them because he knew you enjoyed watching them all play. You felt a wave of euphoria washing through your body, but then you remembered your little “game” and put your phone away.

by the time you’ve reached lunch you received a few more messages from him, mostly a bunch of question marks because you haven’t answered yet, questions whether you were still asleep or sick at home. You weren’t, you sat in the same places as usual in school.

You yourself grew impatient as the end of school was nearing and you were considering actually showing up in order to see him. You couldn’t even focus on class anymore and that’s when you knew your plan had failed. Instead of being able to focus more on other things, even now your mind was filed with thoughts of Tsukishima.

You sighed and gave up when you left the school building after your last class and saw his tall body towering over the rest of the students. His body language may not be obvious to many other people, but it is to you and you knew that he was searching for something. Looking for you.

You figured there was no way out of this for you anymore, so you just walked your usual way towards the exit, your way crossing him. He almost didn’t notice you right away, but his long arms stops you right in your tracks. “What, were you just gonna walk right past me? You seem a bit distracted today Y/N.”

You can just stare back at him. He doesn’t exactly looks worried, but something in his tone tells you he knows that something is going on. So he wasn’t quite that onblivious, but he still didn’t get what exactly was urking you. “Tsukki, really...” You sigh and move your wrist out of his hand which he wasn’t holding that tight anyway, he was just trying to stop you. “I just thought I could try and ignore you for some time, since I’ve basically been air to you lately with all your exams and volleyball stuff.” You try not to, because you know he hates it when you do, but you can’t help but huff a bit and sound kind of bitter with a slight pout on your lips that forms naturally.

There’s some silence spreading between you and you just look into the distance as you await a reaction from him. He also hates it when you don’t look at him when you talk to him like that, when it’s about something serious. So naturally, you expect a harsh reaction from him, but you’re surprised when his fingertips softly brush the top of your head, his fingers threading through some strands of your hair. When you look up you can actually clearly see the bitter regret in his eyes and face, a deep thoughtful fold on his forehead. “Kei?” you mumble a bit regretful, seeing as he’s really deep in his thoughts over your words.

“I didn’t even notice.” he just answers and puts his hand down, just to take your hand in his and intertwining your fingers. “I’m still not used to this, please excuse my behaviour.” You can just smile and coo at this, squeezing his hand and surprising him when you practically jump up to place a kiss on his cheek. “Just talk to me next time, yeah?”

Sugawara Koushi:

It wouldn’t naturally occur to you to just ignore your boyfriend for a day. Not Suga, since he was practically the sweetest and most considerate human being you ever encountered on this planet and he was cherishing you with every inch of his being. Alone the thought of him made you smile.

But your friends could be evil sometimes. You loved them, they were your friends for a reason after all, but they could do very “cruel” things sometimes, like daring you to ignore your boyfriend for a whole day. You felt like not doing it, but maybe you could proof to yourself that not everything in your life is dependent on him. You are your own being, after all. A day has 24 hours, 8 of which you normally spend in bed and around another 7 in class without him, so that leaves only about 9 hours without him. Shouldn’t be that hard, right?

But your heart already aches when you don’t allow yourself to answer his goodnight messages. That doesn’t seem to be that big of a deal to him though “You’re probably already asleep, huh? Sleep well! I hope you dream of me <3″. You smile to yourself but put your phone away, trying not to think too much about the next day.

In the morning there are already more messages from him waiting for you. “Good morning! I hope you slept well! Can’t wait to see you today <3 You’re always welcome to watch practice if you don’t have anything else to do!” There’s a sting in your heart as you swipe them away and prepare everything for the day. Your lucky it’s a wednesday, that means today your boyfriend doesn’t walk you to school, but you meet your friends halfway to school. You try not to let the teasing get to you and just make your way to and through school as quickly as you can, not even noticing that you rush right past Suga. He tries to stop you in surprise, but he fails because you’re too fast and he’s left wondering. Maybe you just didn’t see him in the crowd of people?

Luckily during your first classes that day you don’t receive any messages, as Sugawara is a responsible pupil that doesn’t like using his phone in class (be like Suga!!) But when you try your best to avoid him during lunch, he gets very suspicious and asks to go to the restroom in class just so he can text you. On the way there he walks past your classroom and can’t help but spend a minute watching you, hoping that maybe through some telepathic power you look his way. Of course you don’t though. Instead you’re surprised how easy it is to focus on class as you try to push the thoughts about your boyfriend away and distract yourself with something else.

As the school bell rings Suga is the first one out of his classroom, surprising all his classmates. He ignores Daichi’s calls saying that he shouldn’t forget about practice today. Instead Koushi runs through the hallway to your classroom to catch you right as you walk out.

You almost scream when you feel someone grabbing you and pulling you aside, until you realize its your birthday. You’re relieved for a second until you remember your bet and then give up with a sigh as you watch your freinds walking by behind Suga, dragging their fingers over their throats and acting as though they’re crying. You drag your eyes back to Suga who looks you up and down more worried than you’ve ever seen him.

“Y/N! What’s wrong? You didn’t reply to any of my messages and ignored me completely during the breaks!” He lloks frustrated and desperate for an explanation and you can’t help but smile a little at his words, raising on of your hands up to caress his cheek. “I’m sorry.” is all you can bring over your lips before you press your face against his chest and wrap your arms tightly around his torso.

You spend a while in this position until you can get yourself to explain everything to him and your voice is so filled with regret he just can’t be mad at you. He couldn’t ever be mad at you. He just tells you to never to something like that again, because he really felt like he did something horribly wrong, and then you walk to his practice hand in hand. Like that, you can even bear you friends teasing. You wouldn’t ever go without a single day without Suga, that’s what you learned.

Kuroo Tetsurou:

It was a dumb idea, really. You would have never agreed to this. But you can be stubborn sometimes, and you also would not loose a bet to Kenma, Yaku and Lev. Ignoring Kuroo for 24 hours - it couoldn’t be that hard, right? “It’s what I’m trying to do for as many hours as possible, Y/N. I would be glad if someone asked me to do that.” Kenma said in an unimpressed manner while not looking up from his game. You sighed and just left them standing there without a word, as Yaku and Lev kept on shouting things they want if you loose the bet. Which was not gonna happen. You hoped.

In the morning it was usually you that texted him first, asking about his sleep and what his day was gonna be like. It was easy not to that, though, because he never answered over text and instead just read them and answered them when you saw him in school.

Getting out of Kuroos way in school was a bit tricky, though, as he normally greeted you in front of your classroom. Sometimes he was already waiting in the door frame. You cringed a bit when you saw him standing there, but maybe the best way to go was just acting as though he wasn’t there. Just dodging under his arm and walking right to your seat and then striking a conversation with one of your classmates as soon as possible so he wouldn’t get the chance to talk to you. And it was even easier to do in practice. Kuroo was caught off guard when you just walked right past him and he could just observe your figure in the room with a surprised look. “Okay.” he said to himself quietly and left and you were almost relieved thaht when you turned around he wasn’t there. Of course it hurt you to just ignore him like that. You could just blame the others if it went wrong, right?

During lunch you literally sprinted out of the room into the restroom and waited a good 15 minuted there. Just so you could be sure he wasn’t in the cafeteria anymore, because he liked being the first one there. You could just imagine him sitting there with a free space next to him, looking around and waiting for you. Your heart clenched and you felt miserable. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all. You were just hurting yourself at this point.

With your head hanging down you left the toilets behind and waited in front of his classroom. Slowly all his classmates came and went inside, but Kuroo didn’t show up until 1 minute before the bell. You looked up in relief and then ran right into his arms, almost causing him to fall. “Woah, all of a sudden, Y/N?” He laughs into your ear and you can’t hold back a dry sob. “Yaku, Lev and Kenma mde me do it I’m sorry I’m such an idiot.”

Kuroo just giggles even more as he works his hands over your hair to soothe you. “No one can resist me for long I guess.” he sighs and makes you look up to him by placing a hand under your chin. “Yaku, Lev and Kenma you say? I’ll make sure they’ll practice some extra serves and run more laps today.” His thumb travels over the soft skin of your lips as he considers: “Or for the rest of the week, or the whole month, or until the next match.” His hand wanders along your neck until he plays with the hair at the top of your head again. “Just don’t do something like that to me ever again sweetheart.” Then he places a soft kiss on your jaw and vanishes inside of his classroom.

For as long as they have to do extra practice, you don’t get anything else from Yaku and Lev other than evil glances. They still make you buy them their favorite snack, though.