#one of my co-workers however will be all like “oh yes I totally agree with you!” and go on and on about how much she totally agrees

[dailymanners]

Being civil =/= being two faced. If you have to regularly see and deal with someone, such as a roommate, co-worker or other type of work associate such as a supplier, classmate, etc. If you don't like them or have personal qualms with them, for the sake of everyone around you be civil with them.

Of course this isn't about abusers or people who make you feel unsafe. This is about people who you just don't get along with or you just find to be annoying.

If you're uncivil with someone you regularly need to be around, you are making the environment worse for everyone around you including the co-workers and classmates you might actually like and get along with. Few people find it comfortable to even have to be in the vicinity of people being uncivil with each other.

Why make the whole atmosphere of your home, workplace, classroom, etc. uncomfortable for everyone there just because you don't like someone or have personal qualms with them? Don't drag others into your personal mess with your co-worker or roommate etc.

Of course you can still assert boundaries while being civil with someone. In fact you should, in a civil manner, keep your boundaries up. That's the difference between "Sorry Guðmundur, I appreciate your offer for me to join you for lunch but I'll have to pass" vs "Oh like hell am I going to join you for lunch after what you said about me at the staff party Guðmundur!" the former is just being a civil adult, while the latter is making an uncivil environment that is likely going to make your other co-workers uncomfortable.

[depressedhouseplant]

🔞 Just Fucking Write - Day 127 🔞

Prompt: Soobin Y/N full version

Tags: Unprotected sex (wrap it up kids), narrator is female, age gap (narrator is 10 yrs older than Soobin), nipple play, semi-public sex (also my brand apparently), “good boy”

A/N: Here’s the full piece. The newest part is at the bottom. Thank cold medicine & prescription pain meds for this one

“Is your MILFy co-worker here again?” Yeonjun stage whispered.

“I don’t think she has any kids,” Soobin replied.

“He’s right, I don’t have any kids. Can I help you Yeonjun or are you just taking up space at the counter?” I walked up behind him.

“No, I was just leaving. Have a good shift,” he scurried out of the shop in spite of it being empty. I stifled a laugh.

“You didn’t have to scare him,” Soobin tried to look offended and failed.

“I didn’t, but it’s fun,” I smiled as I walked behind the counter.

“And he was trying to compliment you. I think,” Soobin added.

“Just because I’m in my 30s doesn’t mean I’ve decided to reproduce,” I pointed out.

“I don’t assume,” he replied.

“So if you were going to compliment me, what would you say?” I leaned back against the counter.

“Oh, um…” he started.

“It’s okay. You don’t have to if you’re not into me,” I replied.

“No, I am, I’m just really bad at this even with girls…women…my age. I try to say something nice and it ends up coming across the wrong way,” he said.

“Nothing you can say will offend me if it’s meant with good intentions,” I said. It was mostly true. But he had let slip that he was into me.

“So I can just say what I’m thinking?” he asked.

“Say what you’re thinking,” I confirmed.

“You’re really fucking hot and I really want you on my dick,” he immediately slapped his hand over his mouth. I couldn’t help but laugh at his reaction. I stepped over to him and pulled his hand off his mouth.

“Well if we’re being honest, I’ve wondered what these long fingers would feel like in my pussy,” I wrapped our fingers together. He looked at our hands then looked at me, still somewhat like a deer in headlights.

“You have?” he squeaked.

“Mmhmm,” I noised, close enough now that our bodies were touching. “Want to know what else I’ve thought about?”

“Please,” he whined. I was feeling a distinct bulge forming at my hip.

“I’ve thought about what it would be like for you to come inside me, to feel all of you,” I continued.

“No condom?” he questioned. I shook my head.

“You trust me that much?” he asked.

“I trust that you’re clean. I’ve taken the proper precautions to make sure I don’t make a baby before I want one,” I replied. He nodded, even though I could tell he wasn’t totally sure what I meant.

“How about you change that sign to closed and we try one of the things we’ve been thinking about?” I ran my finger across his jaw and smirked.

“Yes, closed, yes, we are closed for the time being,” he agreed, scrambling to change the sign and close the blinds. I smiled. Too cute.

“Which thing did you want to try?” he asked when he got back over to where I was standing.

“I think I want to see how good you are with your hands,” I let my lips graze over his. “I assume you’ve fingered a girl before?”

“I have. And myself,” he nodded, then turned bright red.

“You really have no filter when you’re horny,” I teased.

“I barely have one when I’m not,” he replied.

“Fair enough,” I led him to the back and into the office.

“Here?” he asked as I unlocked the door.

“What? Don’t want to get bodily fluids on the boss’ chair?” I sat down and spread my legs. The effect was diminished because I was wearing pants, but he got the idea.

“And when the boss happens to be my dad?” Soobin asked.

“Doesn’t that make it hotter? Knowing you’ve done something very, very naughty in daddy’s chair on daddy’s dime?” I leaned back and bit my lip. It’s not like his dad ever came into the store. He owned 15 branches of this particular coffee shop and the only people who used the office were the managers on duty for opening and closing duties. However, the fact Soobin worked at this particular location made it the unofficial flagship store of the Choi Coffee Empire.

Soobin whined and flexed his hands, clearly trying not to press on his cock.

“So? What’ll it be?” I asked, slowly rocking the chair.

“Take your pants off,” he breathed. “And your top. I want to see your tits.”

“I always thought you were a boob guy. Should I just strip completely?” I asked.

“Yes, do that, I mean, please do that,” he agreed. I laughed and kissed him as I stood up to take my clothes off. I’d never had a guy so fully focused on me as I stripped. His eyes traced every curve, every move of my hands, his gaze dripping with desire.

“You can touch me,” I told him when I was fully naked in front of him. His hands and mouth went straight for my left tit. His hand gently massaged it as he licked and sucked on my nipple. My nipples were never very sensitive so I never got much out of nipple play. Soobin, on the other hand, was hard enough to rip his pants.

“Let me help you,” I reached down and opened his pants. I felt a sigh against my chest when they were hanging fully open. “Better?”

“Mmhmm,” he noised, refusing to move off my nipple. I tangled my fingers in his hair. “You know the other one might feel neglected if you keep going like that.”

“Right,” he pulled off and moved to my other nipple. In spite of my lack of sensitivity, slick was running down my thighs. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a partner this enthusiastic about my body. It was hot.

I moved my hands down his body and pushed his underwear down. I started lightly stroking his cock. He moaned against my chest. A hard press into the slit prompted him to pick his head up.

“What…was…that?” he panted.

“Just experimenting. Did you like it?” I asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I did,” he nodded. He kissed me, knocking me back into the chair. I spread my legs for him to get in between them better. “Sorry I got distracted by your magnificent tits. You wanted me to finger you?”

“Or fuck me or eat my pussy. I’m open to whatever,” I replied.

“I think I’ll fuck you. Want to feel you. Want to come in you,” he breathed between kisses.

“Good boy,” I grinned as he slid into me. We both groaned at the feeling of him inside of me.

“You feel…so good,” he breathed.

“So do you,” I agreed, pulling him down to kiss me. He was tall enough that he could hold onto the arms of the chair and fuck me while he was on his knees. I wrapped my legs around his hips as he thrust into me.

“This is kind of embarrassing, but I don’t think I’ll last long,” he panted into my mouth.

“Like won’t last the next 10 seconds or won’t last to finish me?” I asked.

“Oh I’ll make sure you finish. Don’t worry,” he assured me. He reached down and started playing with my clit with his thumb.

“Where did you learn that?” I asked.

“Umm…porn?” he admitted. I laughed until he started fucking into me harder. For a kid barely out of college, he knew what he was doing. “Want to feel you come on my cock before I fill you up.”

“You will,” I replied. I was blissfully making out with him when I felt my pussy flutter the first time. Soobin smiled against my lips and rubbed my clit more. Then I felt the second wave.

“Fuck,” I hissed as I came, pulling hard on his hair as he fucked into me. He kept fucking me then I felt his hips jerk and the warmth of his come spreading inside me.

“Told you,” he laughed a little when he rested his forehead against mine. That’s when I realized he was still fully clothed.

“Maybe next time we can both be naked,” I suggested.

“After work? My place? Only if you’re interested of course. I can even cook something,” he replied.

“How about we order takeout and yes, I’m interested,” I grinned.

“Great! I mean, was that too enthusiastic?” he asked.

“It was perfect,” I kissed him. “Yeonjun is gonna have a fit when he finds out you actually fucked me.”

“He might actually die,” Soobin laughed.

“Sounds like a him problem,” I said as Soobin pulled out.

“This…is gonna take a minute to clean up. Wait here,” he said as he tucked himself in and zipped his pants up.

It was naked and fucked out in the office of our shared workplace that I knew I was a little bit in love.

[staytheb]

Just A Little Bit; Falling For You - Chapter One: lotte world

Word Count: 6,674 Summary: The cousins spends their first Christmas in Seoul as well as the last day of 2022 at Lotte World with friends. masterlist || next chapter

updated: 6.1.24

Four cousins made up of two sets of sisters, Serena and Melanie, and Kierra and Linna, were currently on winter break from their university and working part-time at a cafe. While living in Seoul, the four went by their Korean names out of convenience. Park Minseo and Park Youngseo and Jung Hayoun and Jung Jiyeon, respectively, but sometimes amongst just the four of them and away from others they would end up using their English names, having been born and raised mainly in the States.

"So there's an order of seaweed rice ball, a loaded mochi waffle, a lemon cloud ade, and a cherry blossom ice cream." Melanie read back the order before announcing the overall total.

"That'll be a total of thirteen thousand and five hundred won."

Melanie ran the register while Kierra, Linna, and Serena made the orders as two others ran out the orders and even cleaned the area while doing so, too.

"Here's your number and your order should be out with you shortly." Melanie informed the customers.

The cafe, Simplistic, sold various yet simple items and if you came in during the last half an hour before closing, all items were discounted, so that the shop could start afresh the next day.

"Less than fifteen minutes left and I can actually snack to my heart's content." Serena muttered to herself, but the others clearly heard her.

"I know right." Kierra agreed with a sheepish laugh.

"I mean, it's easy to take a drink and then work, but snacking is a bit harder."

"True that." The others chimed in with a laugh.

"Go ahead and eat a rice ball and mochi waffle or whatever you want." One of the two males co-workers said as the other nodded in agreement.

"Yes, go ahead."

The cousins happily cheered at being given the small treat.

"Thank you, Chanran and Eunchan!" They thanked the pair as they each made their own rice ball and mochi waffle.

"Welcome."

The male duo laughed at their co-workers' behavior before walking to the back of the store to double check products and others things for tomorrow. The cousins had finished making their own rice balls and taken a satisfied bite out of it when a group of seven young men entered soon after.

"Oh, it's kids and friends." Serena commented with a chuckle upon recognizing three of them right away.

Despite knowing all seven of the males, she was much closer with the three younger ones as they bothered her the most.

"Um, we'll be in the back." Linna said as she and Melanie ran off with only Kierra hearing them while Serena didn't.

Serena took noticed and leaned closer to Kierra to ask her about it.

"Why'd they leave?"

"You're so clueless despite making fun of them and using their situations as inspiration for your story plots." Kierra commented as it finally dawned on Serena.

"Ah, right, right. I never really thought about it though."

However, Serena cast her cousin a playful look.

"But you're my favorite muse of them all."

Kierra scowled with a roll of her eyes.

"Yeah, I know, but I hope that you'll get your own karma with one of the other four."

Serena scoffed.

"Ni-Ki, Jungwon, and Sunoo are babies." She reasoned, seeming offended.

Kierra chuckled, amused.

"Then that leaves you with the obvious answer, cousin."

"No way."

"Yes, way!" She cheered.

"And so you get with Heeseung as the other three are off limits since you shipped them with the three of us."

"Obviously as those three fits y'all as I already used the three of you as my muses."

Serena grinned before frowning.

"However, yeah, right. Heeseung and I aren't compatible at all."

She tsked.

"If I didn't like him back in high school, then what makes you think I would like him now?"

"You never know though." Kierra remarked, shrugging.

"Things change and so do people."

She eyed her cousin.

"Besides, this isn't high school and we're in university now."

"I do know and feelings don't change so fast."

Serena rolled her eyes as Kierra grinned.

"Some times they do and life is unpredictable."

"Whatever."

"C'mon. Don't you believe in the invisible string theory and the red string of fate, too?"

Kierra nudged her cousin.

"I know you do because you write such things that you have to do some research on them, too, for realness of sorts."

"Yeah, and so?"

Serena rolled her eyes in good-nature.

"Those are things I write for fun."

She smiled.

"Besides, I enjoy reading other people's stories and the myths, too." She reasoned.

Kierra scoffed.

"Yeah, I know."

Serena ignored her.

"Mainly, it's just something I don't really think of much happening in real life, Hayoun." Serena commented while nudging her cousin back, slightly annoyed.

"Also, get off my back and go do something else."

"No. I feel like this is just deserved and the three of us are tired of being your muse some times."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever and besides, Heeseung's too tall."

"You're just short."

Kierra laughed as Serena scoffed.

"I'm considered slightly tall for an Asian girl and so are you. It's our sisters that are tall for an average Asian girl."

'Yeah, that's pretty true. People always think you and I are the younger sister."

"I know right."

Serena chuckled before casting her cousin with a Cheshire smile.

"By the way, does that mean you accept your fate with you-know-who?"

"No. Now shut up." Kierra declined with a sharp look.

The two nudged one another playfully while awaiting for what the seven wanted to order. Anyway, Linna had a crush on the one named Park Sunghoon. Melanie is friends and was tutored by another named Sim Jaeyun, who also went by Jake. Kierra has this weird relationship of sorts with a third named Park Jongseong, who also went by Jay. As for Serena, well she had had classes in the past with Heeseung, but their paths hardly crossed and didn't interact much out of school where all eleven attended the same same school, Hyebi University. However, they were all friends with a lot of mutuals between them, especially when the cousins were also friends with Sunoo and Jungwon's sisters.

"Now it's your turn."

Kierra nudged Serena to work the cash register. Serena shot her cousin an annoy look before facing the young men with a polite smile.

"What can we make fresh for you tonight?"

Ni-Ki leaned closer with a lovable smile.

"You think you could add in a bit of service for us, Minseo?"

"Not for you."

The others busted out laughing at the unexpected interaction while Ni-Ki rolled his eyes in good-nature as Serena smiled.

"Is Youngseo and Jiyeon around?" Jungwon inquired, curiously.

"Yeah, they're in the back."

Serena pointed to behind her.

"Do you want to talk to them instead?"

"Nah, I'll talk to them later," A Cheshire-like smile graced his features, "But I can talk to you, too."

"No."

"Wow."

Jungwon scoffed, eyeing Serena as she chuckled before turning her gaze over to Sunoo.

"How about you, Sunoo?"

"Do you have any mint choco related items?" Sunoo asked, looking around the menu and the display.

"I don't see any listed."

"Because not many are fond of it, but yes, we do, Mint Choco Lover." Serena cooed playfully with Sunoo chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah. So, what do you got?"

"We have a mint syrup we can use to make some stuff like putting it on the mochi waffles and ice cream. We could try blending some as a shake if you like."

"Oh, perfect. Yeah, I'll think about it."

Sunoo flashed her smile as Serena did the same thing while inputting more than the half-off discount before glancing at the others as it was nearing closing time.

"Alright..." She trailed off upon connecting eyes with Heeseung as he flashed her a warm smile.

Soon, Kierra's words immediately came to mind and she got distracted of what she was gonna say next.

"Uh..."

She instantly avoided eye-contact and looked to behind the group and at the wall instead.

"Okay, yeah, so what would you like to get started with?" She asked, hoping he and the others didn't catch that awkward moment just now.

"Do you still have a lot of protein options available this late?" Sunghoon asked a second later as Serena nodded.

"Yes, we do."

She slight tilted her head.

"Anything in particular you'll like to order?"

"Uh, pyeonyuk?" Sunghoon said in a questioning tone. as Serena nodded.

"Yeah, we got plenty of that."

"Okay, thanks."

"Welcome."

She glanced around at the others.

"So, what can we get started for the rest of y'all?"

Some spoke at the same time while the others glanced at one another wondering what the other was gonna order. Serena heard a few items, but did not input any of it into the register, wondering if this was gonna end well.

"Yeah, we'll take one of everything."

She glanced over at Jay who had spoken with Kierra shooting him a disbelief look.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, Hayoun, seriously."

Jay shot her a wide smile as Kierra scowled, but still spoke in a polite tone.

"Let me double-check on the ice bars."

"Okay."

The smile remained on Jay's face as Kierra's scowl shifted to a netural expression while she crouched down to double-check on the ice bars. Serena hadn't noticed as she continued inputting one of every menu item into the system after hearing each of them order.

"Um, anything else while she checks that?"

They once again spoke over one another before they got their order in control. Serena inputted all the other additional orders into the system while preparing all the bottled and can drinks as they continued to order. Serena re-confirmed the group's order as it got bigger once all seven mentioned in detail what they wanted for sure.

"Alright, your total will be ninety-eight thousand and seven hundred and seventy won."

"Wow. Really?"

"Mmhmm."

They were surprised of the total, expecting it to cost more. Serena refrained from chuckling at their reaction before hearing one of them speak. Suddenly four cards were offered to Serena by the oldest four although she wasn't sure which one to take. Each one insisted that he would be paying for all of them with neither of them backing down. Serena did the only thing she knew that would settled it faster

"Hey, Hayoun."

"Hmm?" Kierra hummed while grabbing all the ice bars after getting the rest of the bottled and can drinks.

"Left or right?"

"Left."

"One through four."

"three."

"Me or them?"

"You."

"Thanks."

"Mmhmm."

The seven were confused about what had just happened, but realized what it was for as Serena tapped the card of the third person, counting from the left side of her which was Heeseung. Serena gave him a polite smile after indicating for him to swipe, remaining calm, cool, and collect.

"Your order should be out with you shortly and your number is five."

She flashed him a quick smile while motioning to the tables.

"Please have a seat anywhere you like."

"Thank you." The group thanked her as Heeseung shot her a smile while he took the number tent.

"Thanks, Minseo."

"Welcome, Heeseung."

He lingered around and she watched him, curiously.

"Did you need something else?"

Heeseung smiled, shaking his head.

"Not really, but weren't you working at that Gong Food place earlier this year?"

"Ah, that. Not anymore. I quit."

Serena wasn't aware that Heeseung knew that. Before Heeseung could comment, Jake interrupted him and Serena's focus went towards him.

"Hi. Sorry, but could we push like three of the tables together?"

"Yes, Jake, you can." Serena replied.

Jake smiled as he and the others pushed two small tables to make an even bigger one together while thanking them.

"Thanks, Minseo."

"Welcome."

Heeseung shot her another smile before walking away as Ni-Ki lingered at the counter this time around while he pointed behind Serena.

"Can I have one of those first?"

She glanced over her shoulder to see the jars of lollipops she and the others had brought for themselves before focusing back on him.

"No."

"Not even one?"

"Nope. They're mine."

"There's like a lot, Minseo."

Ni-Ki pouted as Serena shook her head still.

"And your point is, Ni-Ki?"

"You're mean."

"I know."

"Please?"

"Not uh."

"Fine."

Ni-Ki made a face before changing topics.

"Anyway, what are y'all doing on Christmas day?"

"Working." Serena responded, not missing a beat.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"All day?"

"No. Just the day time."

"Hmm, interesting."

"How so?"

"Just is."

She eyed him.

"Why?"

"No reason."

"Liar."

Ni-Ki cast her with an amused look as Serena eyed him.

"Why are you asking, Nishimura Riki?"

He chuckled upon hearing his full name.

"I'm just asking, Park Minseo."

"Hmm, then I ain't gonna give you my lollipops."

"C'mon. There's like so many."

"Yeah, I know."

"You're mean."

"I know. Didn't we just go through this earlier?"

"Yes, but I thought you would change your answer."

"Not with you."

Serena chuckled as Ni-Ki made a face, but relented.

"Fine."

Serena flashed him a smile as he walked away, sulking.

"Alright, so Eunchan and Chanran are busy with manager duties so it's just me and you as our sisters preferred to keep their distance at the moment." Kierra informed Serena as the latter's brows furrowed.

"Wait, why do they wanna do that?"

"You know why, but anyway, we'll just take it out per set to make it easier."

"Okay, cool."

Serena lifted the tray of canned and bottled drinks with two hands before remembering something. She set the tray back down before grabbing a handful of lollipops and placing them onto the tray with a knowing smile. The rest of the night went fine despite Melanie and Linna staying out of sight until the group had left, not wanting to interact as they preferred to do it on school grounds instead of outside of it, especially during breaks from school, despite their sisters teasing them afterwards.

"Let's turn back." Kierra suggested, whispering for only the three to hear.

Come Christmas evening a couple of days later, Kierra and Serena eventually found themselves at Lotte World alongside their sisters, close friends, mutual friends, and several others they attended school alongside with. Ni-Ki and friends were also present and were casually conversing with their other mutual friends, too. Still, Serena and Kierra were a bit apprehensive as they preferred a smaller outing due to not socializing as much as their sisters. Then again, Melanie and Linna weren't looking forward to the nightly outing either upon seeing Jake and Sunghoon, respectively, within the crowd.

"They did not say that he would be here and so I don't want to be here." Kierra continued.

By 'he', Kierra meant Jay.

"I'm with Kierra on this though. I thought it would just be a girls' night out and not like a classmate slash friend trip." Linna agreed with a slight nervous tone.

"I didn't think he would be joining us, too."

For Linna, 'he' was Sunghoon. Despite how she found him cute and all, that didn't mean she wanted to be around him like this. She was okay at keeping her distance.

"Maybe it won't be that bad. I mean, Woojoo and Sujin would've told us." Melanie reasoned with a calm demeanor.

Woojoo was Sunoo's sister and Sujin was Jungwon's sister. Serena shot her sister a weird look.

"Didn't you like run away last time from Jake when the others came to Simplistic?"

"I didn't run away from Jake. The dishes needed to get cleared up."

"Right."

"Anyway," Kierra interjected, "Melanie actually gets along with Jake though."

Linna nodded.

"Yeah. They're a lot closer compare to me and Kierra."

Melanie rolled her eyes.

"He's just a classmate and my math tutor."

"Again, why did you run away when he came in that night with the others, hmm?" Serena inquired with a quirk brow, not dropping the matter.

Melanie nonchalantly gave her sister a vague answer.

"Because I can."

Melanie dimissed the issue.

"Besides, I mean, if you actually think about it, we all don't have to do the same thing as them since there's so many of us and it's not like they would notice."

"Yeah, that's true." Serena agreed with a nod.

"Like we can hang out in different areas and even do different things, too."

Melanie cast the others with a knowing look.

"Besides, it's not like Ni-Ki, Jungwon, Sunoo, and the others are just gonna hang out with only us for the night, too, when there are all the others around for them to play with as well." Melanie reasoned.

"Besides, I'm pretty sure there's a few of them that just wanna get this chance to hang out with some people in particular, too."

"True, but that depends if we can do anything since it's super crowded tonight." Kierra commented with a sigh as Serena agreed.

"Yeah. I forget that a lot of couples and families come to these places during special days and what not."

Their friends and several other voices loudly called out for the quartet, realizing they'd fallen behind and hurried on over to the rather large group just outside the major recreation complex with polite smiles.

"Hi." The quartet politely greeted the party.

"Okay, cool, y'all are finally here." Ni-Ki said with an excited tone.

"Let's go on the Atlantis."

He immediately hooked arms with Serena and Kierra while pulling them along in the direction of the building.

"Can't we do a different one? I would prefer if we did something else before the Atlantis." Serena complained with Kierra agreeing.

"Yeah. Something like the World Monorail or the Fantasy Dream at least?"

"Ooh, if so, then I vote for the Gyro Drop, Gyro Spin, or even the Gyro Swing!" Ni-Ki suggested instead with a laugh.

Serena continued to complain.

"Nah, not yet. Let's do a simplier ride before doing the big ones."

She turned to look over her shoulders and connected eyes with Sunoo.

"Sunoo, please help me."

"What do you want me to do, Minseo?" Sunoo responded back as Serena chuckle.

"Take me away from him."

"Nah."

"Oh, c'mon. We can even do the Studio Slick."

"Oh, yeah! Let's go!"

Sunoo ran to catch up with the trio as Serena broke free from Ni-Ki's grasp and hooked arms with Sunoo as the pair ran away, giggling.

"Yah! Minseo! Sunoo! What about me?!" Kierra called after them, but the pair ignored her.

Ni-Ki grinned as he pulled Kierra closer.

"You still got me."

Kierra eyed him before a thought came to her.

"Let's race. Whoever wins gets to choose the first ride, yeah?"

"Okay."

"1, 2, an-"

Kierra ran off first, leaving Ni-Ki behind.

"Don't cheat!" Ni-Ki screamed after her, his long legs catching up.

"I have to!" Kierra yelled, not looking back and running as fast as she could to ditch the younger man while laughing.

The rest of the party stared after their friends either amused or confused before following after them, discussing their own plans.

"Alright, who allowed Ni-Ki to take us on the Jungle Adventure in this weather?"

Both Kierra and Serena asked their sisters as the quartet were in the restroom drying themselves off after going on the ride through the rapids inside a dark cave a few minutes ago.

"The both of you did."

Both Melanie and Linna confirmed, annoyed.

"Oh, yeah."

At first it was just the older pair that hung out with Ni-Ki, but the younger two joined them for awhile as the group went around Magic Island before finding themselves at Adventure. Anyway, the four continued to pat themselves dry as best as possible, knowing how cold it was inside the theme park itself as well as the cold weather outside of it, too.

"Let's get some hot chocolate after this." Melanie suggested as Linna agreed.

"Oh, yes, please. We need that for sure."

The cousins hoped they wouldn't get sick because of it just to give their friend some fun memories.

"Y'all can get hot chocolate, but we're get something else." Kierra said, pointing to herself and Serena.

"Since we don't lik hot chocolate at all."

"Yeah, yeah."

The other two agreed.

"Definitely need it."

Once they exited the restroom, Ni-Ki patiently waited for them while playing on his phone. He looked up when they neared as he smiled, playfully.

"The others are at the skating rink and they're waiting for us to join them."

The quartet looked at one another, tiredly, but mustered up the energy to nod and appear fine.

"Sure."

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Alright."

Neither of them knew how to ice skate or have ever bothered with the sport, but decided that they would get hot chocolate later.

"Can't yall just stop hugging the side?"

Ni-Ki carefully skated alongside both Serena and Kierra as the two were using the rink's ledge to keep their balance.

"At least move away from the ledge like Jiyeon and Youngseo."

"You're not that good yourself." Serena countered with a laugh as Kierra eyed Ni-Ki.

"Actually, why not go and pester the other two?"

She was too focused to keep her balance to not fall.

"They're not that fun like you two, but okay. Fine."

Ni-Ki just rolled his eyes before slowly, but clumsily skating away. Kierra glanced behind her to look at her cousin.

"How about we just ditch our sisters and go home once we circle back to the entrance?"

"Sounds good, but we can't ditch them like that. Besides, it would look bad on the others if we just left, too."

Serena cast her cousin with a pointed look as Kierra sighed.

"Well, it was worth a try."

Just then, Kierra wobbled as she tried to look ahead of her again, but out of reflex her hand went out to grab a hold of Serena's arm or body. Serena noticed and tried to move out of the way, but couldn't in time.

"Wait. No. Hayoun. Yah, Jung Hayoun, don't gr-"

Both of them went crashing to the icy ground. Serena slightly smacked Kierra while groaning and just resting on the cold floor as other skaters passed on by them.

"This is why we're not supposed to reach out to one another when learning how to skate and that we might fall."

"My bad."

"Did you not pay attention to what Sunghoon said earlier?"

"Not really."

Kierra sheepishly laughed as Serena barely smacked her, feeling tired. Serena sighed a second later.

"I seriously did not want to spend my Christmas this way."

"You and me both."

The pair chuckled more at their current feelings and predicament than anything else.

"Do you need help?"

Kierra and Serena immediately quit laughing as they gaze up to see Jay and Heeseung hovering above them with concerned looks while holding out their hands for them to grab on to, respectively.

"No thanks, Jay. You're just as bad as I am."

Kierra pushed Jay's hands away, but he insisted.

"No, I'm not."

"Yeah, you are."

"I'm a little better than you, Hayoun."

"Yeah, right. I've watched you skate earlier and you're so bad."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Shut up."

"C'mon, Hayoun. Just take my hand."

"No, Jay."

The two argued for a while longer while Serena cast Heeseung with a polite look.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Serena accepted Heeseung's assistance as he pulled her to her feet whereas Kierra reluctantly accepted Jay's help. However, both ended up struggling themselves, causing a domino effect. Kierra fell against Jay, Jay then knocked into the back of Serena's legs, and she ungracioiusly fell on top of Heeseung, causing them to all fall against the cold floor. The four groaned in slight pain with Serena quickly rolling off of Heeseung, apologizing, and Kierra hitting Jay on his upper body, annoyed.

"I told you that you were just as bad as me."

"I didn't think it was that bad."

Kierra smack him once again as Jay flinched upon being hit.

"I'm sorry."

She gave him one more smack before rolling away from him with a huff. Jay groaned once more, but stayed quiet not wanting to be hit by the female a fourth time. The group of four slowly got up on their own accord while some of their friends watched from a distance. Melanie chuckled at the scene while standing still, wondering if it wasn't so bad to come out tonight.

"What are you laughing about, Youngseo?"

She turned her attention to see Jake as he stood beside her, wondering why he was standing beside her. He, too, gazed in the direction she faced.

"Did something happen?"

"Yeah, something like that."

His gaze focused onto her a moment later as his lips quirked up.

"Hmm, make sure you don't end up like those four over there. Safety comes first."

"Noted."

She cast him with a small smile before slowly skating off a bit clumsily. Jake strided alongside her just a bit better although he stole glances at her figure to make sure she was skating along fine on her own.

"By the way, this new school term coming up, will you still need my help with math again?"

She totally forgot about that and knew that she'll need more help once school started up again. Math was never her strongest subject since young and she hated the continuation of it even into her university years. She nodded, not looking at him as she focused all of her attention on keeping steady and ahead of her.

"Yes, please. I look forward to our tutoring sessions again along with your patience."

A smile graced his face with a simple nod, looking ahead of him as well.

"Me, too."

Meanwhile, Linna minded her own business and moved along fine at her own pace, getting used to the ice. Somehow Sunghoon assumed Linna needed assistance due to her cautious movements while making another go around of the skating rink. Still, of all the others he could be concern with, why did he have to come on over and check in on her.

"Take my hand, Jiyeon."

Sunghoon offered his hands out for Linna to take, but she ended up just latching her hands onto his forearms instead after his persistence.

"You're doing much better than before, Jiyeon." He praised, but her attention focused more on their situation than of her own skating.

Sunghoon carefully skated backwards, leading Linna along as she skated foreward while each held onto the other's forearms. Yet she faced their pair of skates than of the person leading her. Despite his encouragement, she didn't respond. He watched her a bit longer as a teasing thought crossed his mind. He made the movement of letting go of her forearms, causing her to slightly panicked and became alert. She reached to grab his forearms again, but in the process she ended up wobbling and missing his arms. This caused her to tumbled onto her butt as she swung back to counteract from falling forward.

"Are you okay?" Sunghoon immediately asked as Linna nodded, not looking up at him.

"Yeah, Sunghoon, I'm fine."

Linna couldn't looked at him as her attention looked around her instead, feeling embarrassed and awkward. Sunghoon observed her while backing away a bit to give her room to stand on her own again.

"You're not hurt anywhere, right?"

"I'm not, but thanks."

Linna cast him with a soft smile before slowly getting back to her feet. She wobbled and he almost reached out to assist, but backed off once she steadied herself.

"Um, thanks though."

"Um, yeah, you're welcome."

Just as Sunghoon opened his mouth to say something else, Woojoo popped up and took a hold of Linna's arm.

"Hey, sorry, Sunghoon, but us girls are gonna ride the carousel."

Woojoo dragged Linna away as they gathered with the others, exiting the ice rink to head to the Camelot Carousel while Linna let out a relieved breath.

"Why are we here at Lotte World again?" Kierra questioned with a disbelief look and tone as the quartet arrived at the recreation complex a couple days later.

"Especially on the last day of the year. Y'all know how it gets, right?"

She eyed Melanie and Linna.

"Couldn't we have gone to Lotte World Tower or COEX to see fireworks instead?"

Kierra looked around them at the large crowd coming and going about the theme park.

"I mean, we've already been here and don't really need to check it out further."

"Yeah. Did y'all forget how some people have said it gets super crowded here around December, right?" Serena added, mirroring Kierra's expression.

"Heck, even SEOULIGHT would have been better to see a cool light display than Lotte World's rides and such. It's kind of a hassle."

The duo still continued to slightly complained about having to spend their last hours out and about on the last day of 2022.

"Also," Serena began, "I'm sure the two of you didn't forget that I clearly told y'all that I was gonna sleep in on the new year, too."

"That doesn't sound so bad because I really don't have time for this, but I do got the time to sleep though." Kierra added with a laugh.

"Oh, we'll be fine." The younger two dismissed their sisters' words.

"Let's just have a little fun before the year ends since we always went home for the holidays." Linna reasoned.

"It is our first time to spend it like this in general?"

"Yeah, it is and we should make the most of it since we couldn't go back home like usual." Melanie agreed while shooting the older two a look.

"Even if it's crowded, it's not like we do this all the time. So, let's just have some fun for tonight, yeah?"

The younger two convinced the older two to spend their last hours at the popular theme park again since everyone else had already made their own plans for the last day of the twenty-twenty-two year. Although the cousins couldn't return back home for winter holidays due to some miscommunication on their part and not wanting to book expensive flights at the last minute had decided to just stay in Seoul for the winter vacation. Unknown to Kierra and Serena, but Linna and Melanie had planned ahead of time with Woojoo, Sujin, and others, to spend the last day of the year with one another despite the heavy traffic.

"Hi!" Woojoo and Sujin greeted the cousins as they hugged one another.

"So glad to see y'all!"

"Now that we're all here, let's go inside." Sujin said as Woojoo pointed a thumb over her shoulders.

"Also, we're sorry for not notifying y'all earlier about the others tagging along."

"Huh?"

The quartet titled their heads upon hearing that.

"What do you mean?" Kierra questioned.

The four looked to where Woojoo had pointed to an even larger party than last time. They all waved and greeted one another out of politeness and friendliness.

"Yeah, well," Sujin began, "Woojoo and I were talking about it the other day and our brothers overheard us."

"But we were talking quietly yet they still heard us somehow." Woojoo reasoned with an apologetic look.

"And so they told several others, who in turned told several others, and now there's a huge party."

"It's all good." The quartet dismissed as they made their way towards them.

Usually they weren't fond of such large crowds in general, but it couldn't be helped. Also, they didn't have to hang out with every single one of them either. So, the others continued on with Serena and Kierra trailing behind just a bit slower than the four, not all that excited to spend their last day at an amusement park.

"Now that Jay's also here, are you and him gonna have more couple moments before this year ends?" Serena inquired, amused.

Kierra scowled upon remembering her last photography assignment before winter break started.

"Ugh. I rather not."

"But like you can totally make a small photobook, especially with my words included on all the photographs you have."

"Yeah, I know you would think so. Besides, I told you not to bring that up."

"I have to since you promised to give Jay copies."

"Oh, shit. I forgot about that."

"Wow and here I thought you and Jay would become official."

"Shut up. You're a jerk."

"Takes one to know one."

"Touche."

The two shared a giggle or two amongst them.

"What are you two talking about?" Sujin asked, coming up to the two and interlocking her arms with each of them.

"On how much sweets we're gonna buy for ourselves." They chimed at the same time.

The two glanced at one another, impressed, as how scary it is at times when they reply at the same time with the same things.

"Ooh, yeah. They have some nice selections." Sujin commented with a smile.

"Let's go."

She dragged the other two along with her to follow after the others to meet up with the rest of the much larger group before they entered the amusement park with several of them splitting into smaller groups soon afterwards to do whatever is that they wanted to do first.

"Sunghoon is really good at ice skating." Melanie commented as she and Linna watched the male gliding around the ice rink, effortlessly.

"Yeah, he is." Linna agreed, slightly in awe.

"I heard that he's been skating since he was younger and even wanted to be a figure skater, too."

"Oh, nice. He has the form and skills for it."

"Mmhmm."

The pair were taking a break from other activities after returning their skates while watching their other friends either on the ice or around the place. Their sisters went off with Sunoo, Jungwon, and a few others to buy some headbands and other merchandises.

"You should confess." Melanie commented after a moment of silence.

She noticed how her cousin was watching Sunghoon's figure throughout the ice rink despite many others being on ice with him.

"Yeah, right."

"I mean, you would rather admit your feelings instead of having regrets, right. Yeah?"

"I guess, but I dunno."

Linna sighed while watching Sunghoon skate with the others.

"I feel like he likes someone else."

"Who?"

"I dunno. Just a feeling."

"Well, it could still be you." Melanie suggested in a matter-of-fact tone as Linna scoffed.

"Yeah, right."

Linna redirected the conversation elsewhere.

"Anyway, enough about me."

She chast her cousin a look.

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

Melanie cast Linna with a puzzled look.

"Are you gonna confess to Jake any time soon" 

Melanie rolled her eyes with a scoff.

"We're not even like that."

"But you never know."

"But I do know."

"How so?"

Melanie let out a huff before lifting two fingers while speaking.

"One, he and I are just school mates. Nothing more. Two, Jake also just tutors me in math. Again, nothing more than that."

She cast her cousin with a pointed look.

"There's really nothing else there and I honestly don't really see him like that despite him being attractive and is a fun guy to be around, but we don't really hang out though outside of all that."

"Why not though? I mean, he's been your tutor for like three years and y'all never thought to hang out?"

Melanie shrugged.

"Dunno, but other than that, unlike you and Sunghoon, I don't really have a crush on the guy."

Linna really doesn't believe her cousin's words.

"Nah. There has got to be something going on between the two of you."

"Honestly, there isn't."

"I feel like there is."

"That's just you then."

Before Linna could counter, Woojoo and Sujin suddenly joined the two and sat next to them.

"Hey, so what are you two talking about?" Sujin inquired with a michievous look.

"Something interesting?"

"Nothing." The pair responded as Woojoo rolled her eyes before speaking.

"Yeah, right. I saw Jiyeon staring intensely at Sunghoon earlier."

The quartet's eyes focused on the ice rink, locating the said male with Jake, Ni-Ki, and several others.

"Jiyeon has a major crush, but won't act upon it." Sujin teased her as Linna nudged her playfully back.

"And I won't."

"I think you should." Woojoo suggested with an encouraging smile.

"I mean, nobody wants to get rejected, but isn't that better than not knowing?"

"I'm okay with not knowing though." Linna answered, although not too confident.

"Right."

Woojoo and Sujin cast their eyes onto Melanie as she looked between them.

"What?"

"You and Jake." They replied as Melanie rolled her eyes.

"There's nothing between us."

However, their conversation was cut short when Serena appeared before them.

"Hey, so I'm gonna go home." Serena informed, having come upon them.

"Why?" They questioned.

"I did something to Jungwon earlier just now."

A giggle escaped from Serena's lips as she held something behind her back. 

"Does it have something to do with what you got behind you?" Sujin inquired as Serena grinned mischievously.

"Maybe, maybe not."

They laughed as Serena's name was yelled out by said person.

"Yah! Park Minseo!"

Serena didn't turn to face the person, but the other four did.

"Ah, so yeah, gotta go."

She giggled.

"Buh-bye!"

Serena ran off with Jungwon running by a moment later, trying to catch up to Serena. Kierra stopped by having spotted the trio, running after her cousin and friend.

"If Sunoo comes by, denied that you saw me and Minseo going this way."

"Why?" Woojoo asked, but Kierra didn't answer her question.

"Just because."

"But weren't y'all with him and the others to buy headbands?"

"Yeah, we were."

Kierra tentatively touched the sparkly and large orange bow headband on her head.

"This is so not my style, but Sunoo insisted."

She flashed them a smile.

"Anyway, we agreed to get them to take pictures and during that time, Minseo wanted to do something and I followed through."

A chuckle left her lips.

"So, we may or may not have caused some trouble for Jungwon and Sunoo."

"That's cute." They commented as Kierra nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, but um, yeah, okay, thanks, and bye!"

She ran off in the same direction as the other two before giving the trio any time to respond. A few seconds later Sunoo appeared before the trio.

"Hayoun and the other two ran past you guys, right?"

"Yeah." They responded automatically.

"I knew it."

"What did she do?" Woojoo inquired, curiously.

"Yeah, what did she and Minseo do?" Sujin chimed in a second later.

Melanie and Linna had a feeling of what it was, but didn't say anything.

"Minseo stole our chocolates and candies while Hayoun distracted us." Sunoo explained with a light laugh.

"Jungwon's also upset that Minseo made him lose focus when he was trying to win a plush toy and later ate all of his jellies while doing so."

The quartet laughed with a nod.

"Sounds about right."

"Anyway, gotta go before something happens."

Sunoo cast the four with a salute before running off after the other three.

"Wow, those two really attract trouble, don't they?" Sujin commented.

"Pretty much." The duo agreed with a laugh.

"Hey, let's watch the fireworks." Woojoo suggested a second later.

"Are you gonna confess to Sunghoon when they shoot off?" Sujin teased Linna as she just nudged her playfully, not commenting.

Of course, Linna made no confession that night, but Woojoo and Sujin got Melanie to admit that she thought Jake was cute as the four enjoyed Lotte World's fireworks alongside with their friends. Meanwhile, Kierra and Serena were caught by Sunoo and Jungwon while being forced to pay back the snacks. The two also had to try and win a random plush doll, too, until the area closed for the night. Neither Serena or Kierra were able to do so, either out of spite or due to Jungwon messing with them. Still, the night ended well as they all watched the night sky light up and they wished one another a happy new year into 2023 alongside a stronger friendship.

[gruvia4ever0910]

BE MY DATE

*I am having doubts to post this because I’m not really sure if someone will like it, but here I am trying my luck. 😊

Oh my, T.T I’m sooooo nervous...! 😳

*Disclaimer: Fairy Tail, and the characters are owned by Hiro Mashima.

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"How about the girl yesterday?", Natsu asked his raven-haired friend.

Natsu and Lucy are getting married in two months, and they are very excited for that day to come. However, they don't want their friend to be alone in their special day. Yes, all their friends will be there, but it is different for Gray. So, they've been suggesting some girls for him that he can bring as his date for their wedding day.

The wedding they wanted was just a simple ceremony, where only their family and friends are the only ones who will join them. Lucy invited some of her close friends at work and Natsu did the same.

Gray rolled his eyes, "Can both of you stop it already? I told you. I'm fine going there by myself, and I don't have a plan to see that girl from yesterday again.". Gray grabbed his glass then gulped the beer in one go.

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other for a few seconds then back to Gray. "Why? What happened?', Natsu curiously asked.

"Nothing. We just don’t get along so well.", Gray coldly responded.

"Again?", Lucy said annoyingly with her arms crossed. "You are always giving us the same reason over and over again with the girls that we introduced to you, or to the other girls you just met.". She sighed, "Don't tell me you haven't moved on with ---."

Natsu suddenly held Lucy's hand and she looked at him. Natsu stopped Lucy from continuing her words because he noticed that Gray was now getting irritated. Lucy looked back at Gray and she realized why her fiancé did that.

Last year, Gray broke up with his ex-girlfriend after being in a relationship for two years because she just decided to end their relationship without talking to him. Then, two months after he saw her being intimate with someone else. He was so furious, and about to confront them, but Natsu stopped him for making a scene in public.

Gray knew that it was his faults that their relationship ended, but she should've talk to him and fix everything, or maybe end it in a good way.

He moved on alright, but he just don't want to bring up that topic anymore or talk about it.

Lucy rested her arms on the table. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that."

Gray gave Lucy a half-smile then nodded. "It's fine. Let's drop it already. And ---", raised his hand. "For the last time, I'll be fine."

"We know that, but of course, we want you to enjoy life. You are always working, always busy. We had to drag you here for you to hang out with us. And maybe… just maybe it is time for you to be in a relationship again. You know?", Lucy worriedly told it to her friend in front of her.

Gray lowered his head as a sign of surrendering. He knew that Lucy will not stop bugging him unless he will bring a date on their wedding. They've been having this conversation since the couple announced their plan of getting married to all of their friends five months ago.

Natsu laughed while looking at his defeated friend that was being pestered by his fiancé.

"Let him breath, Luce. He'll find someone.", Natsu said while softly patting Lucy's shoulder.

Lucy gave up for now. She leaned her back on her chair backrest then once again crossed her arms, "Okay, I'll let it slide this time."

"Oh mavis, thank you!", Gray threw his fist in the air celebrating his freedom, but he knew that Lucy will continue bugging him about it. His friends meant well when they were introducing some girls to him, but he got tired for doing the same process. Telling their names, work, hobby, and sometimes he had to make some excuses so he can't go to that date they planned for him.

He is freaking Gray Fullbuster. A handsome man, smart, wealthy, a heartthrob since high school until now. Girls easily falls for him, but he is not a type of a guy who uses those traits to get a girl. Okay, maybe sometimes when he feels like it. But he can meet and date someone without a help from his friends. He was only agreeing so they can stop annoying him, and to be honest, he's not thinking of being in a relationship again. Not now.

>>><<< 

A week after, Gray was sitting in a private room at the bar with Natsu and Lucy again with their other friends to celebrate the birthday of Loke. As usual, they had to force him again to come out from his hive. He's satisfied enough with a beer on his hand and maybe after an hour or two he'll drive back home. But he then noticed that one of their friends haven't arrived yet.

"Where is Cana?", he asked while looking between Natsu and Lucy.

"She's on her way here with Juvia.", Lucy responded. "Oh! I invited her Loke. Is that okay? You all have met her 2 weeks ago in our company retreat, right? And she is also invited in our wedding."

"The beautiful blue-haired sexy-as hell-shy girl?", Lucy frowned on how Loke describe her friend from work. "Uhm, yeah… that is her." Lucy glared at Loke. "Do you really need to describe her like that?"

"Why? I'm just telling the truth, and FYI, I'm not the one who came up with that words.", Loke defensively explained.

"Who did?", Erza joined the conversation. Loke gulped when he heard Erza's voice then he nervously turned his head to Gray's direction. Erza and Lucy frowned staring at Gray while Natsu was laughing his heart out.

"Gray?", Lucy questionably looked at her black-haired friend, but he averted his eyes to somewhere else.

Juvia. A very familiar name that he heard for so many times in one day, and when Lucy mentioned the name, a beautiful blue-haired sexy-as hell-shy girl appeared in his mind. She became the topic of Natsu, Loke, and Gray the day after the retreat when they were in the bar. He really did describe her like that, and both Natsu and Loke teased him about it. Saying that he likes her. Gray didn't deny, but he told to his two friends to keep it a secret, but thanks to Loke who ruined it.

The moment his eyes laid on Juvia at the retreat, he was already captivated by her. He liked the color of her hair, her pale skin that shines under the sun, and the shy smile that she was showing to anyone that talked to her. He tried to focus on something else or someone else, but his gaze kept on going back to the beautiful blue-haired girl.

He wanted and tried to talk to her, but never got a chance because she was always being pulled by her co-workers, especially men. They were flirting with her, and it was obvious that she was uncomfortable. She had to excuse herself, and sometimes Lucy had to drag her away from them.

He'd noticed that some guys were checking her out and were trying to get her attention. He even saw Loke naughtily staring at her too. What a player. He then realized that he was not different with those guys and Loke because he was doing the same thing. Hey, he is a guy and it is normal to be attracted with a woman with a nice body and she totally has one. She was not wearing revealing clothes, but it was still showing her perfect curves.

When she finally joined Lucy on the table, the blonde girl introduced Juvia to her friends. And Gray had a chance to look at her up-close. Damn! She is really beautiful. The very first words he said in his mind. Their eyes met a few times, but she was always the first one to look away while showing a pink tint on her cheeks. He found her cute and interesting.

He didn't understand himself why he chickened out to talk to her that day. He got his own ways to get a girl; easy and fast. But he can't find any reason why he wasn't able to do it with Juvia.

"Why is she with Cana?", Loke asked after taking a sip on his beer.

"Those two.", Lucy chuckled. "They've gotten closer after the retreat. I can't believe they did because we all know that Cana is wild and free, unlike Juvia who is quiet and shy. They are really opposite, but Cana said she really likes her."

"I like her too.", all eyes stared at Erza, and she frowned in confusion. "What? She's sweet, she has a funny side that I found cute, and the way she talks, it's adorable. She is a unique girl, and I want her to be my friend too."

The way she talks… Gray secretly smiled remembering the woman who speaks in third person. Erza is right. She really is a unique girl. She's the only person he heard talking like that. It was weird at first, but when he kept on hearing her sweet voice. It didn't matter anymore. He liked it and can't wait to hear her voice again.

>>><<< 

"Hello bitches!", the door swung open revealing the person they've been waiting for. Cana excitedly entered the room then greeting each of her friends with a tight hug.

"What took you so long?", Natsu asked while receiving the hug from Cana.

"Oh… I went shopping, and it was really hard to find this perfect dress.", she proudly turned around to show off her tight black sexy dress.

"We are celebrating my birthday though, unless you forgot.", Loke handed her a glass of wine.

Cana took the wine then sat beside Lucy, "I didn’t honey, but I have a date later, so ---", winked sexily at Loke.

Loke rolled his eyes, Natsu and Lucy smiled, Erza just shook her head, but the other person inside the room couldn’t care less. He was so happy deep inside when Cana showed up, and immediately looked at the door expecting other person to appear, but no one came in until the door shut closed. He wanted to ask Cana, but he didn't want to receive any teasing from his friends tonight, so he chose to stay quiet.

"Where is Juvia?", at last! Thank you, Lucy. Gray thanked his blonde friend secretly for finally asking. He looked at Cana and anxiously waiting for an answer.

Cana sipped on her glass before answer, "She run into someone on our way here, and told me to go first, but she'll be here soon."

Gray finally relaxed knowing that she was really here, but he was getting impatient because he really wanted to see her now.

"Someone I know too?", Lucy curiously asked. "Nope, I don't think so. It was a girl. Although, guys are probably lining themselves right now at her for what she is wearing tonight.", she laughed.

Gray abruptly stood up making his friends confusingly looked at him. He cleared his throat and finding an excuse to tell them. "Uhm, restroom…", he simply said then began walking towards the door.

Gray stretched his hand to open the door, but someone already did it for him. He froze from where he was standing staring at the woman he's been itching to see and can't even stop himself for checking her out. She was looking so damn hot with the light blue short dress she was wearing; different from the last time he saw her. The dress was embracing her curves, his eyes trailed down on her revealing cleavage that was popping up and down as she breaths. Why is she panting? And her legs that also didn’t prevent him to examine. Those nice long legs.

"Juvia!", Gray got lost in his thoughts when Cana and Lucy shouted her name. He looked at her, meeting her midnight blue eyes. "Gray! Let her in!", he stepped away when he heard Erza quietly shouted at him. "My bad. Uhm, excuse me.", he passed by Juvia and left the room.

"Damn Juvia babe, you are looking good today."

"See I told you. She is stunning…"

"You really are Juvia…"

Gray heard all the compliments his friends was saying to the girl who just arrived.

"Juvia is a bit uncomfortable though ---"

He had heard her sweet voice again, but when the door finally closes, he took a last look at the door before walking to the restroom.

Inside the private room, Juvia was sitting between Lucy and Loke, and they were having a conversation. But she kept on looking at the door, thinking about the raven-haired man who hadn't returned yet.

Gray-sama. She blushed when she said his name inside her mind. Then the memory of the retreat went back recalling the moment her eyes landed on him. He was wearing a plain black long sleeve shirt, demin pants, and a white rubber shoes. Simple, but so handsome. He was just quietly sitting on the table with Lucy and their friends, busy drinking his beer.

She was in-demand that day, praising her for doing a great job organizing the retreat with two of her co-workers, but Juvia mostly did the job. It was well-planned and done professionally. She was really tired but didn't want to be rude when her co-workers or even the bosses were talking to her. Yet, her eyes were still taking some quick peek to the most handsome man she found in the event.

She was getting uncomfortable when some of the guys from her work were asking her out. She knew them being a womanizers', so she was avoiding them as much as possible. She doesn’t want her name to be put in their lists, and she is not that type of a girl. They have looks, but not her type.

When she finally had time to breath, Lucy pulled her into their table and introduced her to the people surrounding the table. Staring at Gray from a far was enough for her, but her being in the same table with him was too much. Her heart was beating so fast, and she can feel her cheeks getting warmer every time she and Gray were meeting each other's eyes.

She was having the same feeling now that she was in the same place with Gray again. Although, he's not returning yet. She quite missed his presence.

>>><<< 

The small room was filled with laughter's, stories being shared, and just enjoying the birthday celebration of Loke. The first time Juvia spent her time with Lucy's friend she felt really comfortable and she was glad she came along. She was engaged in a conversation with Lucy, Erza, and Cana. She was really having a great time, and really enjoying the company of the people inside the room.

All of them were laughing with the jokes that Loke had been telling them, but they stopped when the door suddenly opened then all eyes were looking at Gray who just came back.

"What took you so long ice prick?!", Natsu asked.

"It is nothing that you need to know.", Gray responded coldly.

"Being grumpy again, aren't we Mr. Fullbuster?", Cana said in a teasing way.

Gray rolled his eyes and about to sat on the chair near him, but Loke stopped him and pulled him to sit beside him. That made him settle between Loke and Juvia. His arm brushed against Juvia's, but he didn’t forget to apologize which she shyly accepted.

"You don't have that with you earlier.", Erza pointing the blazer he was holding.

"It's chilly in here.", he said while putting the blazer on and being careful not to bump Juvia again.

Natsu smirked, "That's new. What happened to "cold never bother you anyway", huh?"

"Just shut up.", Gray leaned forward to get his glass of beer then made himself comfortable on his chair.

The celebration continued, Loke and Natsu started their battle in a drinking game. Lucy was cheering her fiancé while Cana was doing the same with Loke, and Erza was busy talking to someone on the phone.

Gray shook his head, didn't want to know why he was in the same room with his idiotic friends doing some silly game, but he didn't miss a single chance to take a glance at the blue-haired girl beside him. She was smiling and giggling while watching Natsu and Loke having their best time of the night.

They haven't said a single word to each other since Gray got back from the "restroom" beside from saying sorry when he accidentally bumped her shoulder earlier, and that was an hour ago, but Gray kept noticing something about her. Like, she doesn't like drinking much because she barely touched her drink, but he can tell that she was already intoxicated; she is a lightweight drinker. She probably likes Nachos because that's the only snacks she's been eating. She smiles a lot and can really handle a conversation so well for someone who is a shy person like her, maybe because she's already used of dealing with people. Lastly, she was uncomfortable with the dress she's wearing because she kept on fixing her dress from top to bottom.

That's the reason why he had his blazer when he got back. When he heard her saying she was uncomfortable, he just walked out from the bar then went straight where he parked his car. It was like his subconscious spoke in his behalf.  

Erza had joined the drinking game, and she was playing it with Cana. Juvia leaned forward to get another piece of Nachos, but she was not the only one who is doing the same thing. Gray reached for a piece as well, both stopped and looked at each other, but Juvia back away immediately.

"Juvia is sorry. Gray-sama can have some first."

Gray frowned after hearing the way she called him. What did she just call me? Juvia was staring him, waiting for him to get a nacho, but he was just stuck in his position.

"Gray-sama?", Juvia called him while looking at him with her big midnight blue eyes.

He cleared his throat then leaned back and fixed himself. "No, it’s okay. You go first."

She nodded, "Thank you." She reached for the nachos then happily ate it.

Gray was watching her enjoying the piece on her hand and he can't help himself from smiling.

"You really like that, huh?", Juvia quickly turned her head at Gray, thinking if he was really talking to her. But her thoughts vanished when she realized that Gray's eyes were secured on her while wearing a smile. So handsome.

Juvia slightly shook her head, removing the thoughts of melting in front of Gray because of his attractive, and sexy smile.

"It's one of Juvia's favorite...", took another piece of nachos and dipped it into its sauce. Gray watched her taking satisfaction in the snacks she's been eating.

"I can tell.", he smirked. Juvia looked at him with confusion. He then realized what he said. She must be thinking that I've been watching her. Well, that was really what he was doing, but he didn't want her to get a wrong idea.

He cleared his throat then looked at Juvia, "It's just --- it isn’t hard not to notice."

"Gray-sama was watching Juvia?", she said with a disgusting look.

"What? No, no, not like that. I'm not --- I'm not watching you…", Juvia giggled by Gray being all defensive.

"Juvia is just kidding Gray-sama." Her laughter continued, so natural when talking to him. Maybe the alcohol helped, or maybe she was just really feeling comfortable with the people surrounding her. Gray's lips curved into smile, and their conversation grew. They didn’t even notice that their friends were watching them.

Their friends looked at each other then back to the two persons who seemed busy with each other's company. Lucy who kept on pushing Gray to have a date on her wedding day stared at her fiancé and gave him a mischievous smile which Natsu already understands.

Erza gestured to her friends to leave the two alone and have their time to get to know each other which they all nodded and go on with what they were doing.

>>><<<

It was getting late, but the birthday celebration was far from over. What happened of going home in an hour or two, Gray?

Being in their own world and still not minding the other people inside the room, Gray and Juvia already shared a lot of things to each other. Gray is not usually the one who talk much. His friends know that, and if he was in a blind date, the girl was mostly doing the talking, yet with Juvia; it’s different. Good different.

"Is that Gray-sama's favorite? Juvia haven't tried it yet, but Juvia would like too if Gray-sama will be the one taking her." she shyly smiled, but her smile vanished seconds after she realized what she said. Gray-sama must be thinking that Juvia is flirting with him. What an idiot! Juvia internally smacked her head for saying those words.

Meanwhile, Gray was caught off guard after hearing her invitation. He blinked for a second, wasn't expecting from a shy girl like her to casually ask him out. But he smiled right away, liking the idea of him spending a day with Juvia.

"Uhm, Juvia… Juvia doesn't…doesn't mean it like that. What she meant was, Gray-sama can… can tell Juvia where to buy one, and… and she will try it. Yeah, that's what she meant.", she exhaled then smile awkwardly, trying to sound convincing, but Gray was just smiling at her for getting flustered.

Gray sat properly then loosened his tie, returning his gaze to Juvia. "What is the point of telling it to you if I can take you there by myself?", his sexy voice gave Juvia chills. Her cheeks became crimson red, eyes widen while looking at the handsome man beside her.

She wanted to say something, but no words are coming out. She was stuck and just having an eye contact with Gray whose smile didn't went away.

Their little time of staring at each other got interrupted when they both heard someone cleared their throat and when they both turned their head, Loke and Natsu were standing in front of them with their arms crossed.

"We are not ruining something in here, are we?", Loke said while smiling playfully and looking at Gray.

Gray wanted to punch Loke and Natsu in their stomach right now for disturbing his pleasant moment with Juvia. He quickly went back to his old self the moment he looked at his "good-for-nothing" friends.

"What do you want?", his voice changed as well. Natsu and Loke knew that he was pissed, but of course, they didn't care. They even liked it.

"We're going to change location.", Loke said.

Then Natsu glanced at Juvia then back to Gray. "You two still like to join us, or ---?", the pink-haired man mischievously smiled at Gray that seemed like he was telling something to him which the raven-haired man understands immediately.

Juvia checked the time using her phone, and Gray averted his attention back to her. Then Juvia looked up meeting his eyes, immediately knew that something was troubling her by her wearing a frown on her face.

"What's wrong?", he worriedly asked.

Juvia gave everyone an apologetic smile then put his phone back inside her bag. "Juvia is sorry everyone, but she can't no longer join, and she needs to go now."

Disappointment showed in their faces, especially the man beside her. Gray was really having a good time talking to her and wanted to spend more time with her, but of course she must have a valid reason why she needed to go.

"Oh right!", everyone looked at Lucy. "You need to go the airport early in the morning tomorrow to see your brother."

Juvia nodded with a smile, "That is right, but Juvia still wanted to join you guys. If isn't because of her ---."

"It's alright Juvia. We can still hang out next time. No worries.". Erza winked then sweetly smiling at her. Juvia nodded with a same smile she received from Erza. She stood up, placing the strap of her bag on her shoulder. "Juvia had a great time. Thank you so much for inviting her." She then faced Loke, "Happy Birthday Loke-san."

Loke happily gave her a grin and waved at her, the other did the same as well, except one. Juvia said her final goodbye to her newfound friends, but before exiting the room she looked at Gray, but he just gave her half smile.

>>><<< 

Juvia was standing outside the bar, waiting for a taxi. She left 10 minutes ago, but she was still at the place where she had spent a great time with her new friends, and with a certain someone.

She kept on looking back at the entrance of the bar. Arguing with herself whether to go back inside or not. She even gave Gray hint, hoping he can drive her back to her apartment, but she guesses her hint was not that obvious. Or he was just so dense to notice it.

She didn't want to leave because she still wanted to get to know Gray a bit more, but she also doesn’t want to disappoint his brother because she made a promise. A promise that she will pick him up at the airport from his business trip. Nothing special really, but she and her brother are really close even though they are really not related to each other.

It is already late, but people kept on going in and out from the bar, and it was hard to get a taxi as well. Busy night.

She was hugging herself because of the cold that was touching her skin. It was Cana's fault for forcing her to wear a dress that she's not used to, it was quite revealing. She can feel some eyes ogling her and also some cars honking their horns at her, and she can't help but feel uncomfortable, worried, and alarmed.

"What's taking it so long?", she mumbled. Now getting frustrated because she's been waiting for too long. After a few minutes, she finally saw a taxi coming. She raised her hand and started waving at the taxi, but it just drove passed her.

She sighed and her shoulders dropped down. Suddenly, someone stood behind her and put a blazer on top of her shoulder, covering her skin from the cold. She nervously jumped and quickly turned around with her eyes wide open. When she saw the person behind her, her eyes soften and exhaled deeply. Feeling relaxed and safe.

"Gray-sama."

Earlier, when Juvia left the room, Gray was really disappointed. He wanted her to stay, but when he heard her reason for leaving, he had no reason to stop her. He grabbed his glass of beer and drunk what's left then placed it back on the table when he was done.

Then he leaned lazily on his seat followed by furiously rubbing his hair. He already missed her presence, longing for her company, and he didn't get to feel this feeling with other women he had met. He doesn't even remember some of their names.

His heart aches, but he was sure that if Juvia by his side, it will heal. She really did something to him, even if she's not aware of it. Damn, he's not sure what was it either. But she was driving him crazy and had a strong desire to see her more in the future.

While he was sulking like a heartbroken teenager, he was not aware of his friend’s eyes staring at him. No one was talking until Erza broke the silence.

"What are you doing?", Erza's firm voice made Gray sat up straight. When he realized that the red-haired girl was talking to him, he confusingly frowned and felt the eyes fixed on him.

"What?", he responded coldly.

"Are you just going to let her go home by herself?", Cana asked with her arms crossed.

"You are stupid if you let that amazing woman slip out of your hand.", Erza plainly added.

Gray gave his friends a confused look, but honestly, he had an idea of what they were talking about. There is no doubt that he likes her, and there was enough sign that him and Juvia were on the same page.

"Go after her Gray.", Lucy said while smiling at her friend.

Gray nodded, immediately understand Lucy's words. "Yeah, I should."

Why didn't he think about it earlier? Instead of moping in his seat like an idiot. He had to smile at himself for losing focus because of the blue-haired girl. He smiled at his friends, "Thanks guys."

After that, he immediately stood up, grabbed his blazer and left the room. He was not sure if he can still catch up with Juvia, but he was hoping he can. When he got outside, he smiled and thanking the whole world because she was still there. He noticed her for feeling uncomfortable in where she was standing, he saw guys looking at her, he heard cars honking their horns at her, and because of the cold touching her pale, delicate, soft skin.

He watched her raising her hand for calling a taxi, he was about to call her name, but when the taxi didn’t stop in front of her, he noticed her shoulders dropped and that was when he began his move.

>>><<< 

"Gray-sama."

"I'm glad you're still here."

They looked at each other, but Juvia was still in the process if Gray was really standing in front of her. She touched his cheek then when she felt a warm skin, she smiled happily. "Gray-sama is really here."

He smirked, and can't stop himself from laughing quietly, "Of course I'm here."

"What is Gray-sama doing here?", she asked. "Juvia thought ---"

She wasn't able to finish her words when Gray cupped her right cheek with his palm. "I can't just let a beautiful woman like you go home by herself. Especially, wearing like that."

He examined her from top to bottom for the second time, but he did not do it maliciously. However, despite of the cold she was feeling, her cheeks were blushing so badly that she felt some warmth sensation from what Gray just said.

Rather than responding with words, she placed her hand on top of his hand where he was cupping her cheek and smiled sweetly.

"Please allow me to take you home Juvia. So, I can spend more time with you."

Gray took her hand and he put them down together. Their hands were now intertwined, and no one was planning to let go.

"It was just a 40-minute drive Gray-sama.", she giggled. "But Juvia doesn't mind if Gray-sama will take a longer route."

How bold. She kept on surprising him. Where is the shy girl a few hours ago? And the girl who wanted to get away from the crowd at the retreat? Who cares? He doesn’t even think it as a bad thing, instead he was craving for more.

"Sounds like a deal." Soon after, Gray pulled her gently so they can cross the road and guide her where he parked his car.

As they were walking away from the bar, their friends were watching them crossing the road with a full smile on their faces.

"It looks like Gray have a date already in our wedding babe." Natsu winked at Lucy and she giggled.

"Do you think Gray will ask her? They are looking so good together." Lucy worriedly asked his fiancé. "I can't believe I didn't think of setting them up!"

"Maybe we can stop annoying him to go on a blind dates Luce. He already found someone he likes."

"You are right…"

"I'll date Juvia if he didn’t ask her." Loke received a smack on his head from Erza. "Aww!", He was rubbing his hair because the pain might disappear, but Erza really gave him a strong one.

"Find someone else. Juvia is a sweet girl and doesn't deserve to be a plaything. Plus, I know Gray will not do that to her." Erza confidently told it to her friends.

Then they left the bar with all smiles on their faces.

>>><<< 

"The retreat was amazing. I can’t believe you managed to do that by yourself.", Gray praised Juvia for doing a great job organizing a big event.

Juvia blushed, didn’t expect a sudden compliment from Gray. "Juvia had some help Gray-sama. She didn’t do it alone.", she responded shyly.

"I heard a different case from Lucy though." Gray told her while focusing on the road.

Juvia frowned in confusion. "What did Lucy-san say?". She slightly tilted her head looking at Gray while waiting for his answer.

Gray looked at her and can’t help but adore her beautiful azure eyes that were staring at him like a puppy. But he had to focus with his driving, so he immediately turned his attention back on the road.

He cleared his throat and began thinking about what to say. "Uhm well… Lucy said that you did all the work, and you didn’t even complain about your co-workers who were supposed to do the job with you. That's what she said."

She slowly nodded then sweetly smiled at him. "Juvia was still grateful… because they appreciate what she did, they recognized her talent, and Juvia was just so happy. And about the people who didn’t do their job are now being punished with a pack of paper works for the whole month. So, it is a win-win for Juvia.", she giggled.

Gray chuckled, liking her honesty and enthusiasm. This girl is really interesting, one of a kind, and definitely worth it.

Gray really did take a longer route, and Juvia didn’t complain about it, but sadly, even though they still don't want to leave each other's side. They had to say their goodbyes because they already reached their destination. Juvia's apartment.

The gloominess of her eyes was shown, but she still managed to give Gray her sweetest smile. "Thank you for giving Juvia a ride home, Gray-sama."

"The least I can do.", he simply said.

"Juvia had fun"

Gray nodded, "Me too."

They were staring at each other, no one was saying some words, and didn’t know what was running inside each other's minds. The silence stopped when Juvia deeply exhales, bit her lower lip, smiled at Gray for the last time then she opened the car door and got out from the car.

But before she closed it, Gray called her name and stepped out from his car. Juvia shut the passenger door while watching Gray walking his way to the other side of the car where she was standing. Their eyes were locked at the each other until Gray was already standing in front of her.

"Gray-sa ---"

He had to do it. He wanted to do it. Juvia's words was cut short because her lips were now being sealed by Gray's lips. She was surprised, but immediately melted by his gentle kiss. He really knows how to make a woman surrender, but it was different for Juvia.

He was kissing her with respect. Soft. Delicate. Slow. Passionate.  

No one wanted to let go and didn’t care about the few people walking at the side of road. However, they needed air and Gray was the first one to pull away, but their foreheads were resting against each other.

Their breathing was sync and they stayed like that for a few seconds before standing straight and locking their eyes at each other, but her hand was still being held by him.

"Go out with me." Gray whispered, but still loud enough for Juvia to hear.

Juvia's eye widen, wasn't expecting to hear those words from him, "G-Gray-sama…"

He smiled. Even though the dark was surrounding them he can still the red tint from Juvia's cheeks. "You don’t need to answer me right away. I'm sorry for surprising you, but I, uhm… I meant that." Cleared his throat. He was starting to sweat. He was nervous, and Juvia was the only woman who made him feel that way. He was only good at hiding it.

Juvia suddenly giggled. His brows drawn together while confusingly staring at the beautiful woman in front of him.

"You are so cute Gray-sama." Juvia actually noticed his cold sweat, his worry, and hesitation, and it was so pleasing for her eyes. With her sudden compliment, it was Gray's turn to feel flustered. He scratched the back of his head, landed his eyes at Juvia who was looking lovely with her giggling then his lips curved into a shy smile.

"Yes."

Gray's smile disappeared, confusingly looking at Juvia, and thinking if he heard her right. "What did you say?"

Juvia bit her lower lip then exhaled deeply. "Juvia said yes with what Gray-sama said earlier. She will go out with you."

Gray's face brightened like a kid who received a lollipop, but in a manly way (if that makes sense).

"You can't turn back now. I'm warning you." he said in a flirty tone.

Juvia nodded, "Juvia is serious and has no plan of turning back."

"That also means, you'll be my date at Natsu and Lucy's wedding."

She chuckled, "Juvia loves that."

He was very satisfied with her answer and smiled even more. That moment, he was so happy and can’t wait to see the future that awaits for him and with the "sexy-as hell-shy girl" in front of him.

[fific7]

Dangerous and Divine - Part 8

Billy Russo x Reader

Summary: Billy Russo is an itch you don’t want to scratch. But he’s all over you like a rash.

A/N: This does not follow canon, it’s mainly fluff & lemon zest 🍋 The GIF is from Exposed, unreleased pilot show in case you’re wondering 😌... Billy vibes.

Warnings: More stalkery-type behaviour from a certain someone. Some drinking & swearing.

(My GIF)

She just couldn’t leave it alone. And she was going to find out if she did know about all the flirting, the lunches, the drinks after work, the kiss. One way or another. She opened her car door, got out and locked it, before crossing over and walking towards the café.

It was getting near closing time, and you’d come back downstairs to help your team with all the end-of-day things which needed done. Once again, they didn’t really need your help but you’d been feeling unsettled all day, mainly due to that Homeland agent showing up in your café.

What the fuck was all that about? you wondered. It was definitely weird. You were 99% sure it was her, but you’d decided not to text Billy about it, just in case it wasn’t actually Madani. What if she was sitting right there with him when you texted? You would look like a paranoid idiot.

And yeah, that was the other thing that had been playing on your mind. Despite his reassurances, you were still worried about him being around Madani. You’d meant what you said, she was pretty, and if she decided to go all out to get her hands on Billy, would he be able to resist? After all, he did find her attractive - he’d admitted as much to you, agreeing that she was pretty - otherwise he wouldn’t have kissed her, he would’ve just kept it to flirting, surely?

While your brain was busy torturing you, you heard the café door opening and were aware of someone entering. The café wasn’t actually closed yet, and smiling to yourself, you thought ‘there’s always that one absolute last-minute customer’ before continuing to clean one of the Gaggias.

Jake had stepped up to the counter and asked what he could get for them, and you froze as you heard, “I’m Agent Madani from Homeland. I need to speak to your boss.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

You immediately swung round, thinking that - while you were shocked by her reappearance - you weren’t going to let her get the upper hand. Plastering a fake smile on your face, you stepped forward, “That’s me,” and saying your name. She was staring at you as if she wanted to see right into your head, and you continued, “Could I see your ID please?” A small frown creased her brow but she pulled out her ID, which was on a lanyard round her neck, from under her jacket and stuck it rather rudely in front of your face.

You kept the smile on your face as you examined it....so, Dinah Madani. Billy hadn’t ever called her anything but Madani to you, probably thinking that using her first name might rile you up even more. Thanking her, you then asked how you could help her, letting the smile fade down as otherwise you’d just look slightly psychopathic. She, all business-like, asked if there was somewhere you could go to talk privately and you nodded, indicating the internal door up to your office. You headed over to it, saying over your shoulder to Jake, “I’ll be back down soon.”

Before you turned away you saw her eyebrows rise at your remark, a small irritated look flitting over her face before disappearing. Reaching the door, you opened it and gestured for her to go in front of you, but she shook her head, “No, it’s fine - you first,” she said. As you started to walk up the stairs, you could feel her eyes boring into your back and you realised that you were feeling really quite uncomfortable with this turn of events. However, she was a federal agent so you couldn’t really refuse to speak to her without things escalating.

Reaching your office, you went inside and headed for your chair, indicating to her the one opposite. She sat down and you did too, waiting to see what the hell this woman wanted to speak to you about. Reaching into her bag, she took out a small black notebook and pen, then looked up at you, staring intently. You stared back, face expressionless (you hoped).

“You know Billy Russo.” Not a question.

Okayyyy, you thought - straight to the point! Nodding at her, you answered, “Yes, I do.”

“How long have you known him?” You looked back at her, wondering whether to challenge her or not, but replied, “Ummm... about a week.”

She looked down, scribbling something in her notepad, but you felt it was so you couldn’t see her expression. Looking back up, she went on, “Uhuh, and what is the nature of your relationship with him?”

Now you’d had enough. Giving her a wide smile, you said, “And why exactly would you need to know that, Agent Madani?” You wondered when or if she was going to cut to the chase.

“He’s involved in one of my ongoing cases,” she said, deadpan, “...and I need to know your connection to him so I can assess if it impacts it in any way.” You lying bitch, you thought.

“And what could I possibly have to do with your case?” you asked her. She tapped her pen impatiently on her notepad, “Well, that’s for me to decide,” she replied with a smirk. You matched her smirk, “Okay,” shrugging, “...we’re in a relationship.” She gave a sharp laugh, her eyes going wide as she stared at you, “After one whole week?!! That’s kinda fast, isn’t it?”

You could feel your mouth tightening into a line, so you quickly relaxed it. You also gave a small laugh, and sat back, hands flat on the desk. “Are you a federal agent or a relationship counsellor? It’s none of your business, Agent Madani. You asked your question, I gave you my answer.” She shifted in her chair and you knew she was getting annoyed and impatient. Good. You wanted her off-balance. Because if she’d come here just to dig out what you and Billy were to each other - and you suspected she had - you were going to make waves at Homeland about it.

Madani frowned and said, “It just seems a little suspicious to me. You only met Russo a week ago, yet you think you’re in some kind of a relationship with him? What’s your agenda, exactly? Because apart from anything else, Billy Russo doesn’t do relationships. He’s told me as much.”

You raised your eyebrows and grinned at her. She’d unwittingly related what Billy had actually said to her at some stage and it wasn’t very flattering, if she’d thought about it before she’d said it. Like, he doesn’t want a relationship with you, darling. “Really? And why would you be discussing relationships with Billy Russo?” She couldn’t resist letting another smirk appear on her lips, and you knew she was about to spill.

“Because we’ve been seeing each other. Dating. Outside of work.” A triumphant look cast your way. You smiled, although truthfully you wanted to smack her smug face. “Isn’t that a little... unprofessional?” “No, it’s not. We’re not co-workers.”

You swivelled your chair from side to side, then went for the jugular, “Billy’s told me all about you, Agent Madani. That you’re working a joint case, not that I know any details. And about the lunches, the drinks after work, and - oh yes - I believe there was a kiss at some point?” She was surprised, you could tell. She probably thought he either hadn’t told you, or hadn’t believed him when he said he had.

“Sorry, Agent Madani, but that was all before Billy met me.” Chew on that, bitch, you thought. “It’s all in the past and he won’t be repeating any of it.”

Now she just looked angry, her eyes glaring at you. You almost wished you hadn’t spared her the details of exactly why Billy had been acting the way he did with her. But you didn’t want to make things even more awkward for him.

“Oh, and as to what my ‘agenda’ is, I don’t have one.” Holding her stare, you added, “Billy and I are simply enjoying each other’s company. A lot.”

Her face was totally blank now, her eyes on yours but not connecting. It was like her battery had powered down. She stood up, shoved the notepad into her bag, and started walking to the door. Just as her hand grabbed the doorhandle, you said, “And if you haven’t already done it, be my guest and dig into my life and my business just to make sure nothing impacts your case.”

Without saying a word, she was gone and the door slammed behind her as she left. You sat right back in your chair, and a huge breath left your lungs. Wow. You hadn’t gone as intensely toe to toe like that with someone in a while.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Madani hurried through the café and out into the street. She was fuming!

Crossing the road and getting into her car, she started it up and drove away fast. She just wanted to get away from there as quickly as she could. She was very unhappy about the way the encounter had gone. It wasn’t often that she got bested in an interview. Well, okay it hadn’t been a proper interview exactly, but she admitted to herself that she hadn’t expected the woman to come back at her like that.

Yeah, she’d thought that Russo’s little girlfriend would be a pushover once she put on her Hardass Federal Agent hat. But she’d underestimated her.

Deciding to head home and sink a bottle of wine, she suddenly had a better idea. She started driving towards Anvil.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Meanwhile, you’d made your way back downstairs and headed to one of the Gaggia machines. You needed a triple corretto. “Jake,” you said quietly, and he made his way over to you. “You OK?” he asked, looking at you with a concerned expression. “Grab me the brandy, would you? And I’ll make you one too.” Coffees made and topped up, you said, “Come up to the office for a minute.” If you didn’t get what just happened off your chest, you felt like you’d implode.

And you knew Jake would only ask you why Homeland had come calling anyhow.

Once you were both settled on the sofa in your office, sipping your coffees, you told him all about the entire big drama, but glossing over certain areas where you couldn’t go into too much detail. His eyes were like saucers just about the whole time. “She said that? That she was dating him?!” You nodded, “Yeah, and she’s trying to make out that I’m the delusional one!” You both laughed. “Are you gonna report her to her bosses?” Jake asked you.

“I’d love to, I’d really would. She’s unprofessional, and I think the green-eyed monster’s sent her off the rails a bit - I mean she’s acting like a stalker! But I’ll check with Billy first, it might stir up trouble he doesn’t need right now. But I might wait till the joint case is closed and then do it!” “That might be a better idea, yeah - but I really don’t think she should get away with it.” “Oh, we’ll see. I’m angry right now, but I might have calmed down by the time the case is finished. Right... come on, let’s get this place closed down for the night.”

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Billy was also getting ready to leave the office, switching off his laptop and locking various files away in his safe. He was one of the last ones in the place, and he took a moment to stand at the big floor-to-ceiling glass window overlooking the empty training area. He stretched out his back and shoulders, rolling his neck from side to side. What a fuckin’ day, he thought.

It had started so well, he thought, a sly smile curving his lips. My god, what she can do with her mouth. He felt himself starting to get hard thinking about the two of them in bed that morning, and just what she’d done to him. He basked in the feeling for a few moments, sliding his hand down onto his zip. Mmm. Maybe he should disappear to his private bathroom and jack off before he left.

But then his smile dropped. Madani was heading across the training area towards the stairs to his office. Oh fucking hell. He moved his hand off his crotch just in time, before she looked up at him standing behind the expanse of glass.

His mind suddenly skipped to the meeting earlier that day in Dinah’s office. He really hoped all her diva drama wasn’t going to interfere with the case in a bad way. She’d just have to deal with it. He wasn’t going to mess up what he had with his girl just to keep Madani happy. He wondered what the hell she wanted to talk to him about now. Because he could really do without it, if he was honest. He just wanted to call his goddess, head over to her place, persuade her to cook some more of her heavenly food for him, eat it and fall into bed. And into her.

Madani threw open the door and marched purposefully towards him, eyes boring into his.

Turning at the sound of the door bursting open, Billy didn’t particularly like the determined look on her face.

“Dinah? he said, warily.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

She was going to sort this out, and sort it out now so that things were back the way they should be.

Saying nothing, she shoved him back against the glass and roughly pulled his jacket down over his shoulders, then started pulling his tie loose. Her other hand went to his shirt and started scrabbling at all the buttons, impatiently tugging until some of them popped and hit the carpet next to his feet. She pulled the shirt apart, leant in and ran her tongue over his skin.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

Back home, you’d lain down on the sofa and thought again about the run-in you’d had with Madani. It was really niggling at you, and so you went and got an old friend - a nice bottle of Italian red - out of your wine rack and opened it, letting it breathe for a few moments before pouring a healthy amount into a big wine glass.

After turning on the TV and taking an appreciative gulp of Barolo, you debated whether to call Billy and tell him about the Drama Queen’s two visits to you. Yes, you thought, he really should know about this as soon as possible just in case there was any backlash.

You FaceTimed him, but it rang out unanswered. Shrugging, you sent him a text, just asking him to call you as soon as he could. Then you shoved your phone onto the coffee table, turned your attention to the TV and continued sipping your wine.

»»————————————-———-　⚜　———————————-————-««

@blackbirddaredevil23 @galaxyjane

[anotheronechicagobog]

Functional Dysfunction - Rheese - Chapter 5 - It Isn’t Salad

written by @anotheronechicagobog

warnings: swearing, mention of abortion, mention of attempting to force abortion, unplanned preganancy, Connor and Robin are still together, Jimmy is still an ass, but now so is Chilli

The next day everyone was acting weird around her. Manning and Maggie were now running away from her, Halstead couldn't meet her eyes, Choi pretended to take a phone call when they were alone in the doctor's lounge, and Doris was completely silent. That never happened. She gossiped about anything and everything, until now Sarah hadn't believed there was a force on earth powerful enough to shut her up. 

A distraction came in the form of a mass casualty structural collapse at a construction site. Injured workers flooded in, while Sarah and Choi were tasked with going to the scene and treating people in the field. It was Sarah's first time working like that. So far it had only been fully stocked EDs or ORs with copious amounts of staff ready to jump into action. Here there were limited supplies, limited staff, and unlimited chaos.

So far the building they were constructing was a small five-story apartment building, it didn't have any walls or floors, it was just metal beams and underlying structure. Half of the crossbeams had just... Come off, taking the workers that were on them, towards the concrete foundation, where other workers were. It was a grizzly, awful site. There were going to be so many casualties, no doubt about it. She reached her first patient, a woman no older than twenty, whose arm was being crushed by a beam near the shoulder. It was purple. She had to amputate.

Red tag, red tag, black tag, red tag, black tag, black tag, black tag, red tag, green tag, black tag, red tag.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She hadn’t eaten in ten hours and there were two more action-packed hours left in her shift. While she was finally back in the hospital, she couldn’t help but feel like she was still at the disaster site. One wrong move, one wrong word, and tragedy would occur. Of course at Gaffney it would be social tragedy, but still, she felt like she was navigating a mine field. She’d been on her feet non-stop since her shift started and she was feeling more mentally drained than physically drained. The other interns looked at her the way she imagined vultures would, beady eyes looking at your dying soul, ready to devour your corpse. Except... She wasn’t dying. She was in perfect health, it was apparent that they thought her career was about to be drop-kicked into an active volcano. Boy were they in for a surprise.

“Dr. Reese, scrub up, I need you in the OR with me.” Chad Dovingly, the resident “legacy” intern, almost yelled at Dr. Abrams, but Sarah watched him stop himself. “Sam-”

“Do not call me by my first name, I don’t know how many times I have to tell you that. Call me ‘Dr. Abrams’ or don’t speak to me at all.”

“Right, right, my apologies. Dr. Abrams, are you sure that Dr. Reese is the right choice? I mean, I was literally born to be a surgeon, I was in the top ten at my med school, and Dr. Reese, well... Is this because she’s pregnant-”

“Stop. Talking. You may have been in the top ten of your class, but she was the first in hers. She has shown far more dedication and skill than any of you here, and I will not stand here while you not only accuse me of favouritism, but belittle your colleague and fellow intern because of a matter that is absolutely none of your business. The reason you aren’t scrubbing in as much is that you’re not good enough to yet, so if you want to scrub in more, prove to me that you’re worthy of it, because honestly so far Dr. Reese and Dr. Kim are the only ones who have done so.” He dismissed the other interns with only a head nod, leaving the two of them alone in the hallway. “Dr. Reese, the surgery is in two hours. Read up on the procedure and eat something, then meet me in OR four.” The confusion must have been displayed on her face so he sighed and pulled her to the side away from the other interns. “Dr. Manning cornered me earlier and informed me that you’ve been on your feet all day, and you’re going to be staying late. So eat something and then join me in the OR.”

“Oh, okay, I’ll see you in two hours then.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She had a sandwich in her bag, but she doubted that the cold cut meats would still taste good after all this time. She debated going to the cafeteria but at this time all that would be available was heavy fast food. “Sarah?”

“Hi Dr. Manning, don’t worry Dr. Abrams ordered me to eat something before I join him in the OR.”

“Good. I was actually coming to get you, we ordered pizza down in the ED and I was wondering if you wanted to join us?”

“Something tells me you’re not going to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“A correct assumption, come on it should be here by now.”

They were almost at the doctor’s lounge when Sarah couldn’t ignore the need to ask anymore. “... You know, don’t you?”

“Yes. We all do. I’m sorry that we’ve been avoiding you all day, we just didn’t want to ruin the surprise.”

“What sur-”

“SURPRISE!” Sarah jumped out of her skin and then looked around the lounge. There was a shiny blue ‘congratulations’ banner along the back wall, streamers taped to the ceiling and a stack of pizza boxes on the table. “We want you to know that we’re here for you and that we’re happy for you. I know that you don’t have a lot of time, she needs to scrub up at OR four in... one hour and fifty-one minutes, but celebrate with us a little now, we just want to make sure that you feel supported.”

“And that you eat, no one needs you fainting in an OR.”

“Thank you, all of you, so much... I really appreciate this, I was pretty scared at first, I still am, but I’m confident in my decision.”

“Trust me, we know Sarah.” Puzzled, she looked around at her co-workers and found them all snickering in the direction of Connor and Robin. Connor blushed and lowered his head with anawkward smirk while Robin rolled her eyes. “Doris tried to talk smack and I can honestly say that I have never seen someone get verbally eviscerated so viciously. Showed all of us not to mess with Robin.” Everyone around her chuckled and seemed to unanimously agree with Maggie. “Thanks.”

“No problem, Sarah. Besides I think it was about time someone knocked her down a peg. I mean, I know that gossip is just a part of hospital life, but she just takes it to a whole other level.”

Maggie and Nat were the least tense around her since this whole thing started, Choi and Halstead just seemed relieved that there wasn’t anything wrong with her, April and Noah just seemed content to make her laugh as loud as possible, Robin made sassy quips about the two of them sticking together, and Connor just made sure she always had pizza on her plate. They exchanged a smile when he made sure that she was the first one to eat ‘I know that it’s not salad but it’s still pretty good’. Sarah couldn’t have been more delighted to see Connor moving more freely, lighter, with an enormous weight having been removed from his shoulders.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

The surgery... Did not go well, but it wasn’t anyone’s fault thankfully. Their patient had the largest tumor she’d ever seen in the centre of their brain and when Dr. Abrams removed it, it looked horrifying to be frank. There was literally a hole in this poor man’s brain which unfortunately resulted in brain damage. It was a serious risk from the beginning, so the patient and family had been informed numerous times in the days leading up to and of the surgery. Delivering that news had been assigned to Sarah and she was not looking forward to it. She left the recovery suite where the patient has just been examined after waking up and went to the waiting room where his husband was waiting along with his twin sister were after Dr. Abrams told them to wait while they examined him. “How is he?”

“He’s okay, right?”

“I am so sorry to tell you this, but he did sustain significant brain damage and it’s very likely that it’s permanent. There’s also a possibility that he could... Pass away due to the severity.” The second that the word ‘sorry’ was out of her mouth they both broke down in tears, holding onto each other for dear life. “You can see him, if you want, and I can explain a few things. Dr. Abrams will check on him again tomorrow at seven am, to give him more time to improve-”

“So, he could get better, my brother could recover.”

“I need to stress that while that is a vague possibility, it is incredibly unlikely, and I don’t want to get your hopes up. I’m so sorry.”

“... Can you take us to him? Or at least me? I totally understand if you can’t see him yet, he’s your twin, but... We- He’s the love of my life. I need to see him.” Sarah nodded and gestured for them to follow her, she wasn’t sure if his sister would at first, but she did, with a far-off, grave look in her eyes. Sarah tried not to think about it, after all, this poor woman was just told her twin brother suffered brain damage and would probably never be the same again, she was allowed to react however she needed to. Still... Sarah couldn’t help but feel like foreshadowing had taken physical form, like her patient’s sister knew more than she was saying. 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sarah had forty minutes left in her shift when alarms started blaring. She knew before she even turned around who it was and what the outcome would be. Despite being in her usual ‘crap someone’s dying’ speed her ankles felt like lead, and her soul had stayed at the computer she was working on. Her mind was still there, still searching her head for the best course of action before conducting it, giving orders to nurses, telling someone to get his loved ones out of the room, and shouting for someone to page the on-call neurosurgeon... But it was no use. And from the way everyone was looking at each other that this was the outcome they expected. “Time of death, 21:37.” Her voice felt so out of place, the vibrations her thoat made were irritating. The late patient’s fiance and sister were in the doorway. He was sobbing so inconsolably, so loud, it made Sarah’s heart clench. She however, looked numb, like a part of her just died. She looked Srah dead in the eyes and Sarah’s heart broke all over again. She’d known. “I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thank you Dr. Reese... I know that you and Dr. Abrams did everything you could. Could- could we have a moment with my brother? To say... Goodbye?”

“Of course.”

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When she finally left the hospital she was in tatters. She wasn’t sure if it was the pregnancy hormones or if it was her patient’s death, but all that she really wanted to do was cry. No, she needed to cry. Sadness and despair was bubbling up inside of her and she just didn’t want to keep it inside her. But of course the universe had other plans. When she finally made it to her car the last two people she wanted to see were standing beside it and sitting on it. She sighed, on the verge of tears and not in any mood to deal with either of them. “Jimmy. Chilli.”

“We need to talk.”

“We don’t actually. We really, really don’t. You don’t want to be involved and that’s fine. When they’re born we’ll do a paternity test because that’s what’s required for you to sign away your rights, and then you’ll do just that, and then you’ll walk away. It’s okay.”

“No it’s not. I’m not okay with you having my baby.”

“And I’m not okay with it either, he’s my... Boyfriend and I don’t want another chick to have his child.”

“Okay, first of all, neither of you get a say and whether or not I have this child. My body, my decision, that’s it. Second, Chilli, you have absolutely no say here in anything. You are not the mother or the father and I’m not even sure if you guys are dating given your hesitation in calling Jimmy your ‘boyfriend’ and you have such a volatile on/off relationship, you get zero say in anything even remotely related to my baby.”

“HEY! DON’T TALK TO HER LIKE THAT-”

“Speak to me like an adult or don’t speak to me at all. You don’t get to yell at me, you don’t get to use that tone with me, it’s not okay.”

“I CAN SPEAK TO YOU HOWEVER I WANT! AND YOU ARE GETTING AN ABORTION EVEN IF I HAVE TO DRAG YOU THERE MYSELF!” In the next three seconds Sarah observed three things:

There were two of them and one of her

They were in a dimly lit, poorly monitored parking garage alone

They had to deal with violent people at their jobs more than she did and would likely overpower her

“The hell she is! She made her choice Borelli and you didn’t get a say in it!” Okay, so #2 was not true apparently, as Connor walked closer to them from the entrance. “This isn’t any of your business doc, so just go, okay?”

“You’re threatening my friend in a dark parking garage. Yes, it is my business. But it isn’t yours, you’ve said that you don’t want to be a dad, so you won’t be, and I don’t even know why Chilli is here, so you two need to get off of Sarah’s car and leave her alone.”

“No. We don’t have to listen to you. I’ll talk to her however I fucking want, I don’t have to move away from her car, and Chilli doesn’t have to get off it. Fuck. Off.”

“Connor, you worked a long shift, you shouldn’t have to stay for this, I’ll figure it out.”

“I appreciate the thought Sarah, but you worked a long day too and I’m seriously worried about your safety around them. Why don’t I just drive you home? It really isn’t a big deal.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am-”

“HEY! DON’T TALK ABOUT US LIKE WE AREN’T HERE! AND THIS ISN’T ANY OF YOUR BUSINESS!”

“Oh, go suck an egg, Borelli. Lead the way, Connor.”

“Gladly.”

They’d managed to make it to his car before the, quite honestly delusional, couple(?) realized they were seriously leaving, and Connor was pulling away with them shouting expletives and trying to chase the car on foot. “Thanks Connor, I really appreciate this.”

“Anytime Sarah, seriously. I care about you, you’ve become someone I trust and I want you to be safe and happy. I’ll help to make that happen if you ever need it.” Maybe it was the hormones, the encounter with Jimmy and Chilli, or the day just catching up with her, but she just couldn’t keep the exhaustion and gratitude out of her voice. “Thank you.”

[mystery-star]

The Biggest Compliment – Spock

Pairing: Spock (AOS) x gender-neutral reader

Warnings: none

Words: 3944

Please do not repost my work on other sites or platforms!

-

Of course everyone in the 23rd century knew about Starfleet. But while you were certain that you would never join them, you had not believed that you would need to work together with their Academy one day. You hadn’t known what they wanted of you, when you had been told that your designer talent was needed. First you thought they might want to have new uniforms but probably a tailor would be better for this. Then you speculated over the possibility that they wanted a new logo. Or maybe it just was something like an advertisement for new recruits or so.

The thing they needed your help with, however, turned out be a test. Well, a simulation, to be exact. They wanted to animate the whole thing new. And not just animate, as you heard also the coding hat been redone, for whatever reason. After they had shown you what the old simulation looked like, you were introduced to your co-worker; the one who had written the new coding. It was a Vulcan and you didn’t know what to think of that. Not because he was not human but because you had never seen a Vulcan ‘close-up’ but hat heard a lot of, not so good, things about their race. As it seemed, also the instructor who was showing you around didn’t seem to be a big fan of him and leant closer to you before he left you in your new office.

“Don’t mind him, he can get pretty prissy sometimes” he whispered to you before he wished you good work and then left, leaving you alone with the man you’d spend the next weeks with. You looked at him for a while and didn’t know what to say.

“May I see what you have?” he asked. It was the first time you heard his voice and you had to admit, it sounded quite good.

“What do you mean, what I have?”

“I am certain you have already prepared something” he said it with such a certainty that made you feel bad that you had, in fact, nothing.

“No?” he raised an eyebrow “Look, I literally heard what they want from me half an hour ago. Before, they only told me that they needed my as a designer and I had no idea what it was” he remained silent and you didn’t like that “All I have are a few notes. I’m sure you couldn’t have made drafts beforehand if they just called you to their office for making a new code without telling you what it was about first”

“That is not quite correct. I have asked to reprogram the test myself and therefore have arrived to the meeting sufficiently prepared” you rolled your eyes

“Well as I said, I only took a few notes during the simulation I watched”

“May I see those?” he held out his hand to you

“It’s just the basics, like what notes what it is about. Because I was told that you would tell me exactly what you need” he still didn’t move his hand, so you sighed “Fine, here you go” you pulled out your PADD and placed it on the table. Because you didn’t want to give it into his hand if he behaved like that. He had a look then pointed at the title.

“The simulation is called Kobayashi Maru, not Cobrayoshi Moru”

“Well excuse me for understanding it wrong” he didn’t reply and continued

“What do you mean by ‘good ship’?”

“The ship, this Kobayashi Maru that is in distress”

“Then please describe it accordingly

“As I said” you hissed “this are only first notes”

“Besides, I already have defined the amount of the Klingon warbirds to five, so your note that reads ‘ca. 4-5 enemy ships’ is inaccurate”

“I counted them on the screen of the simulation I watched. And apparently that wasn’t good or else you wouldn’t have reprogrammed it, right?”

“I have solely noticed inconsistencies in the coding. The animation itself was not much flawed”

“Okay” you took a deep breath “How about we sit together and you tell me exactly what you want, so that I can get working on it?”

“For now, I solely need one of the animated warbirds”

“But that’ll take hours to make. I could make a sketch in 5 minutes or so”

“I need a three-dimensional model of it”

“Well, I don’t have one right now. The only ship that I can offer you as a model of a cruise ship. Or no, maybe we also have one of a science fiction starship somewhere”

“I do not need a cruise ship or a random starship” he explained that he needed the actual ship that would be used in the simulation so that he could finetune the programmed movements with the animation.

“Good then give two hours and you’ll have a draft-model. I can still change it later on when you have calibrated it”

“Very well” he gave a nod and you sat down at the desk that had been prepared and started unpacking your stuff before you got working on some sketches. Suddenly, you noticed that someone was standing behind you and you turned around.

“Please don’t do that”

“What are you referring to?”

“Looking over my shoulder. It’s distracting. I can’t work like that” he raised an eyebrow but left you alone.

-

About half an hour later you were ready to present him your three drafts of the ships.

“I only requested one”

“Yes, but I made three versions. Drafts”

“I have not asked for drafts, especially multiple ones”

“Do you have any idea how design works? Obviously not or you’d have done the damn animation yourself” you muttered the last part “I always make drafts for a client after they told me what they need, which you didn’t even do, so sorry if I don’t get it quite right on the first try.”

“I have informed you that I need to have a model of a Klingon warbird”

“And here you have three drafts” you pointed at three models “Which one do you like best?”

“I do not like them” you had to bite back a sigh and a part of you just wanted to smack him right in the face.

“Good” you said, taking a deep breath and picking up your stylus “Then what would you like instead?”

“I would have preferred if you had invested all your time into one model instead of three”

“Look, I will put more work into one of them, just tell me which one is the best”

“They are all flawed” at least you now totally understood what this other man had meant with that he could get prissy.

“Well it are only drafts” you explained “Don’t Vulcans do drafts?”

“We do not prepare several different versions if only one is needed since it would be a waste of time”

“Good speaking of wasting time; just tell me which model you want me to edit and make it perfect”

“No matter how much work you will put in it, it will always stay an animated model and therefore will never be perfect”

“Which. Ship?!” you hissed gesturing at your PADD.

“This one” he pointed at the second draft “However….” You had to fight not to roll your eyes. Of course you knew there was a ‘but’ coming. You did your best to not become upset when he told you what mistakes you had made on your draft, while you made notes on the most important points. A part of you wondered how long you could take it before you just broke his nose, cut off his ears, ripped off his bangs or rammed your stylus in his eye. Or all together.

-

While you started to get working on the chosen model, Commander Spock took the draft to link it with his coding, while you tried to make the starship as authentic as possible which was not so easy without an accurate source or idea how it looked like except for the description you had gotten. When you left for the day, your client seemed to be a bit disappointed that you could not finish the model already. For that reason you decided to come an hour earlier the following day but to your dismay, the Vulcan was already there

“Did we not agree that you may start at 0830 hours?” you had been in the office for three seconds and already were pissed off by him again although you had tried not to be anymore.

“Yes but since I didn’t come as far as I wanted yesterday, I decided to come earlier today. The sooner I get the animation done the better” because it meant, among other, that you would be rid of him. Luckily, you didn’t need to talk to him that much today. But then he requested you to get a second model for the second ship. “Give me a second”

“I doubt you can create an accurate model in a second”

“Just watch and see” you tapped on the model you were already working on and duplicated it “there. Took me a little under two seconds”

“You cannot just duplicate the model”

“Oh but I can. I can also centuple it” you glared at him, tapped the model again, called up the settings and set the number of duplicates to 100 and when you returned, the whole screen was filled with ships “There. That should occupy you for a while”

“As I already said, there are only five ships that I need for the simulation. Besides, I cannot use these duplicates. If you wish to copy your models, you need to use a template”

“Well okay” you said “But that’ll take me a couple of minutes” he gave a nod “Why thank you, (Y/N)” you muttered to yourself “Thank you for your co-operation and withstanding my coldness”

-

Because he wanted all ships to be visually different, you decided to change minor details on them before you gave him the new model. Once you had prepared all ships, even the Kobayashi Maru, you needed to take care of the surroundings for which you designed the space, of course in the dimensions that Spock had told you. Then you set your models into it and adjusted their positions so that they more or less corresponded with the coordinates that Spock had programmed for them. When he had a look at the model he raised an eyebrow

“What now?” you asked, knowing that something did not please him at all.

“The positions of the Klingon warbirds one, three, four and five need to be adjusted slightly” At least he was now calling the ships by numbers and not the stupid model names he had given them in his code. It had taken you almost two days to get him do that and you had just written his model name onto the according ship in ugly red letters so that you knew which one he was talking about. “Move ship one 2.3 millimeters to the left and 1.8 millimeters down, ship two….”

“Woah wait… I never heard anyone saying decimals of millimeters. This model doesn’t even accept them. I can give you half millimeters but not point three or point eight. Besides, no one can actually know if the ship is perfectly aligned when they do the simulation. And if we align the weapons right they will still hit the ship if they enter the coordinates of the ship”

“I know but I wish that it is as accurate as possible. Speaking of accuracy” he explained that the surroundings were not accurate either because the constellations were wrong and did not look like this ad the place the simulation took place

“In other words you want me to fucking re-align every single star correctly?”

“It does not need to be completely accurate, yet I do ask you to adjust their positions so that it does have more similarities with the coordinates where the simulation occurs”

Well, in contrast to you I don’t have a fucking stellar map saved in my brain” he walked away and then handed you a PADD, explaining that it would turn into a 360° stellar map if you opened the correct program and entered the coordinates you wanted.

-

So you just spent the following three days on redoing the whole surroundings, this times even with micrometers as unit so that you could adjust the ships perfectly as he wanted. At times you found it easier to agree to what he wanted and have more work instead of discussing with him, which would result in you doing as he wanted anyway. You hadn’t even been able to make it clear to him that sometimes you need to be polite and say please and thank you, to which he replied that such formalities were illogical since they did not change anything about the request and that he would never say please in an order to subordinates.

Since it was a bigger project, it took up several weeks of collaboration with Spock and somehow the thing that bugged you most about working with him was the fact that you had to admit to yourself that, despite everything he did or said, your stupid, illogical heart had managed to develop romantic feelings for the Vulcan. You didn’t know if that just was because of his appearance or if it also was his almost dominating behavior that made you feel that way. One thing was for certain; the more you worked with Spock the stronger these feelings got. So, you were a little relieved when the semester started again and he wasn’t around all day but spent a great part of his time teaching classes. But at times that also brought problems because you had learnt that sometimes it was better to just ask him if he was okay with something sooner rather than later because if he wanted you to change many things about it you’d have more work later on. So you would just leave your office and go looking for him instead to show him what you had done. He had forwarded you his timetable so that you knew where to find him at which time. If you found the correct classroom, of course.

“Spock, I think I finally could make the final….”

“Can you give me three minutes?”

“Fine but then don’t complain that we’re three minutes behind in schedule” you muttered

“There is no such detailed schedule. I even do not have a fixed date on which we need to be finished but rather a time interval”

“So that means we don’t just have one more month but two in total?”

“Yes” you gave a nod

“Good then I’ll let you finish your stuff”

-

One thing you always loved about your work was to see it in action. In that case that was, when everything was finished so far that some test people could make the simulation to see how everything was working. It was mainly to test the simulation itself, to see if the coding worked but you had been asked to be there as well so that you could have an eye on the animation and make sure everything happened in life time and correctly. You were quite proud when you noticed that almost everything was working perfectly fine and that there only were a few details you had to change. As well as some details on the ships themselves because Spock still was not perfectly happy with them.

“And?” you asked after four goes at the simulation

“What do you wish to know?” Spock asked

“Well what you think of it”

“I have noticed that there are a few instances that you will need to go over” you crossed your arms

“What?” you couldn’t believe that this was his answer and to your dismay he started listing up some flaws.  “Stop” you growled, making him raise an eyebrow “I know that there are some imperfections but I’m sorry that I’m not as perfect as you”

“I never claimed that I was perfect. I am a being and all beings are flawed”

“Wow that I got you to admit that”

“To claim that I am perfect would be a lie and highly illogical”

“You and your stupid thinking in code”

“The assumption that I think in ‘code’ is not correct”

“But logical. You think logically, as a Vulcan. Coding is pure logic”

“I see, yet the conclusion is still incorrect” you sighed

“Wow, you’re never ever gonna compliment me or my work, huh?”

“It would be illogical to point out points that do not need modification anymore. Therefore I only tell what you will need to work on again”

“Well but I’m human and we sometimes need reassurance that what we did is good!”

“As you can derive from my statement, your work can be considered as good, when there is nothing that I ask you to change about it”

“You don’t get my point, do you?”

“I do but I do not think it is necessary to point…”

“Just one compliment about my work. I stood your behavior for weeks now”

“Four weeks, five days and 3.6 hours to be exact”

“See, even worse. You have to be so precise and perfectionistic every fucking time”

“However, if you had a problem with something you would have addressed it”

“No. Because humans don’t always do that. But I am complaining now”

“Very well. What do you wish me to change?”

“Well you could make just one simple compliment or something that you like about the way I work on this project” he raised an eyebrow and was silent “Or are you just as fed up with me as I’m with your behavior?”

“You work highly focused” you let out a huff

“Well at least something”

“Besides” he added a bit more quietly and after a pause “I find your hands and fingers to be pleasingly shaped and they move gracefully”

“Okay that was hella unexpected” and even a little creepy “Did you pay that much attention to my hands?”

“When you were showing me something, yes I was at certain times” you frowned. How could he still have noticed so many flaws in your work then if he had just stared onto your hands?

“That is a little weird, don’t you think?”

“No”

“No?”

“Hands hold a different value on Vulcan” he explained that their hands were extremely sensitive and often were something like a symbol of love in their culture.

“So if you told that another Vulcan… what would happen?”

“Usually, Vulcans will only compliment their bondmate’s physiology”

“Hm okay. Are bondmates something like a spouse?”

“Or what you call fiancés”

“But back to my question, what would happen?”

“I cannot say because some might react emotionally in such a situation”

“So you’re saying that you’re not acting emotionally? Like never?”

“We are sentient being so we all will act emotionally at times, whether we want it or not”

“Okay. But what do you want to do, now that you told me how much you like my hands?”

“I have never stated that I like them” you frowned

“That sounds like something is bothering you”

“It is of no consequence”

Come on, tell me. You already told me you like, no wait you… whatever, find my hands pleasing or how you’d want to formulate it. And now something is bothering you”

“I was wondering… whether you would let me touch you”

“And you ask that?” you just took his hand in yours and ran your fingers of the other hand over the back of it. His hands were softer than you had imagined but also colder. When you looked up at him, you saw a slight green blush on his cheeks and smiled “Suddenly so flustered, huh?”

“Touching hands is something rather intimate in Vulcan culture”

“Oh” you let go of him “I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know that” but maybe you could have thought about it, considering what he had told you about the meaning of hands on Vulcan.

“I did not tell you, therefore you could not know” he said “You do not need to reproach yourself” you gave a nod and were surprised when he continued “In fact, I have found it rather pleasing” you smiled. For some reason you just held out your hand to him again and he actually took it. Well not really, he more or less just traced his fore- and middle finger over your skin, making you shudder a little

“You’re right that feels nice” he raised an eyebrow and placed his other hand at your back and pulled you closer, then lifting your head and leant down until your lips were inches apart

“Do you mind?”

“Not at all” you breathed and then his lips were on yours. For some reason you could not really say what you were feeling and you wondered if it was right to do this, you were working with him after all, at least for now. Contrary to what you had imagined, he was a pretty good kisser and his fingers still were stroking yours and while you liked the feeling, you wondered if it felt even more sensual to him. When you felt him pull you closer, you thought that this probably was the case and felt yourself smiling into the kiss. You placed your free hand at the base of his neck and pressed your whole body against his. He didn’t seem to mind but some seconds later you parted, looking at each other

“Perhaps we should not have kissed”

“We should” you corrected and leant up to do it again and he responded immediately. This time, the kiss came to a more abrupt end when suddenly the door opened. You let go of each other and quickly stepped apart. While Spock turned to the visitor, one of the people that had tried out the simulation, you touched your lips which were still tingling from the kiss, making you smile

“I’m sorry, if I interrupted something or came at an inconvenient time I can just go and well… leave. We can discuss it later”

“I will be with you momentarily” Spock said and told him to go to a briefing room. You awkwardly played with the hem of your shirt, not sure what to say.

“Well, I should get working on my faulty animation then”

“It is not faulty, (Y/N)” was there a difference in how he said your name now? You had had a long time until you got him to call you (Y/N) instead of his formal for of addressing you with your surname and he had allowed you to just call him Spock in return.

“Was that just another compliment?”

“If you wish to take it as one” he replied and you gave a nod, wanting to return to your workstation, but he took hold of your wrist

“Huh?” you asked

“I do not know what humans will do after such occurrences but on Vulcan, the logical conclusion is that the two individuals will start a relationship”

“You’re asking me for a relationship?”

“If you approve of it”

“I…” you looked down but then found yourself nodding “Yes. I think so”

“Very well” you didn’t know if there was something like a tiny curl in his lip that may have been a little smile. This made you smile as well “I suppose that the discussion will take up the rest of my time at work. Would you be amendable to accompany me to dinner later?”

[gentlyjimin]

pairing: jjk x fem!oc, kth x fem!oc, slight jjk x kth

genre: smut/slight plot

words: 3.5k

warnings: dirty talk, slight exhibitionism, fingering, oral/m receiving, orgasm denial, power play between oc and jungkook, oc and taehyung, dom!taehyung

summary: when your long term fuck-buddy is more interested in video games than fulfilling the purpose of your agreement, you need to find a way to make him as desperate for you as you are for him. surprisingly, his friend is willing to help. 

a/n: it’s my first time publishing smut on tumblr :( any tips/pointers are welcome

“Yes, keep going,” Jungkook urged, his voice edging on desperation. He tightened his grip, forcing his arm muscles to tense.

“Right there,” he leaned back further into his chair, “right- Yes!” The dark haired man shot up out of his seat the moment the text on his computer screen pronounced the red team - his team - victorious.

You have been sitting back on Jungkook’s bed watching him play at least for the past hour. Each time you thought he was close to finishing, someone from his team revived him and you were forced to suffer in silence again. 

Things were starting to get really tense at work again. A co-worker who seemed to know the ‘right way and only way’ to code and file things has been breathing down your shoulder for the past week. Although you didn’t usually struggle with brushing him off, he has been particularly obsessed with you this week and you had enough. You needed to feel good to get through the coming week. Letting Jungkook have his way with you had proven to clear your mind and body of all stress and tensions in the past. Although waiting for him to finish playing was frustrating, hooking up with someone else was out of the question. Not only were you sure that sleeping with someone else wouldn’t make you see the stars that Jungkook made you see, it would also break the one rule the two of you had agreed to; no fucking around while sleeping with each other. It was safer that way for the both of you. However, at this moment in time you were beginning to wonder why that was a rule if he clearly was not interested in holding up his end of this arrangement. You were growing impatient, especially after seeing him set up another round of the same game.

“Jungkook…” You pouted, “how long will you keep me waiting?”

The dark haired boy laughed into his headset, totally ignoring you and your whining, “you fucking wish, I hard carry this team. You see those stats? I’m topping them for a reason.”

Whatever the other person replied with had Jungkook choking on air. 

You’ve had enough. You pushed yourself from off the bed and walked towards him.

“Oh yea, well- oh shit.”

Jungkook flinched when he felt your hand on his arm, “shit, Y/n, don’t scare me like that.”

He spared you a glance before turning back to the screen. You heard the buzzing of a voice coming from his headphones, but it was too distorted for you to understand.

“Yea, she’s here,” Jungkook mumbled, “whatever Tae, keep going before they capture another one of our sites.”

This was honestly unbelievable. You were right here, ready to do anything this idiot would tell you to do and he’s more interested in playing a game? You were used to Jungkook feigning interest to make you desperate for his attention. To be quite honest, it turned you on sometimes. It forced you to work for his affections, which more often than not ended up with you getting fucked so well that it left you satisfied for a few days. But that was then, right now Jungkook wasn’t faking anything. Clearly he didn’t care much about you being here.

You would have to make him care.

You ignored the buzzing of the voice that came from Jungkook’s headphones as you placed your fingers on his bare arm. He felt warm and firm beneath your palm, tensing as he pressed different buttons on his controller. Jungkook leaned in slightly into your touch. The gesture, however small, made you smile a little bit. Maybe he wasn’t totally oblivious to you being here. You moved your fingers lightly along his arm, up to his hard shoulder and then up and along the side of his warm neck, then down again. On your second trip down his arm, you leaned into his neck and ghosted your soft lips against his skin. Jungkook shivered at the light touch, squirming a little away from you when he felt your hot breath on the back of his neck. His eyes slowly closed when you began to kiss the corner of his jaw.

The voice buzzed again, startling both of you. Jungkook jerked away from your touch then, but stilled when he felt cold air against his skin.  You placed your hands on his shoulders then, massaging them to make him relax again. Although it took a bit longer this time, eventually the voice - Tae - fell silent again. You pushed his right headphone from off his ear, leaving the left one in place.

“Kookie,” you whispered into the shell of his ear. At the lack of reaction, you kissed the shell of his ear, moving down to his earlobe before taking it between your teeth and pulling at it gently; his weak spot. You felt him shiver. 

“I’m so wet for you.”

“Fuck,” Jungkook kicked his head back with a groan.

“I want you inside of me so very bad, Jungkook,” you whispered, “your warm mouth, your fingers… I’ll take anything, please…”

You stood still, hot hitting the back of his neck. Jungkook’s tongue press against his cheek as his arms grabbed on tighter to the controller in his hands. 

“You know I’ll do anything to feel you… Only you can make me come so hard.. please, baby.”

“Fuck.”

Jungkook slipped the headphones down to his neck and stood up, his gaze locked and focused on you.

You shivered in anticipation at the change in his stance. He stood up tall, easily towering over your form. The game and his friend were far at the back of his mind right now; all of his focus was on you. You watched as he clenched his jaw and furrowed his dark brow into a frown., you could almost feel the frustration radiating off of him.

You squeezed your thighs in anticipation. You would say yes to anything he’d ask right now. 

“On your knees.” 

You shivered, startled by how low his voice was.

“Now.” 

Clenched around nothing, you slowly lowered yourself down to your knees in front of him. Jungkook moved the seat out of the way to give you more room, motioning for you to kneel before it. You crawled to where he wanted you. Jungkook’s dark gaze settled on you as he spread his legs, waiting for you to take the initiative. 

Fuck it, you thought as your hands settled on his hips, tugging at the waistband of his grey sweats. You pulled them down to his thick thighs with no help from the man staring down at you. You looked back up at him expecting more guidance, only to find the same dark expression in his eyes. You rubbed your thighs together to release some friction as his gaze sent a hot wave down to the pit of your stomach. Your eyes wondered down to what was right in front of you, the reason why you came over. Your fingers ghosted the outline of his semi-hard clothed length, eager to feel its weight in your mouth.

“Ah-ah,” Jungkook tutted, “no hands.” 

You heard a buzz from the headset, to which Jungkook chuckled.

A small wave of irritated arousal washed over you. Your irritation at the voice ran deeper than any possible shame you felt right now. After all, it wasn’t your moans that the voice was about to hear.

You started to kiss Jungkook’s covered length from the very tip down to its base. It felt warm, despite the thin layer separating his skin from your lips. You sucked lightly at the tip before kissing down the shaft and to his covered base. You felt Jungkook harden more beneath your soft lips. After ignoring you for the better part of the day, you decided to take your time. Your lips brushed along the hard shaft before you ran your tongue from his base along to his very tip, to which you heard his breath catch. You smiled against him, wetting the black fabric of his underwear as you repeated the process a few times more. You felt his hand hover over your head, eager to push you further into his crotch. Once his breaths became uneven, you glanced up, finding Jungkook biting down on his bottom lip to prevent himself from making any noise.  He looked down at you then, lips parting to release a low moan as he squeezed his eyes shut. You could hear him fighting to steady his breaths. You moved your mouth back up and started to suck on the head of his clothed cock.

“Fuck,” he groaned, dark eyes locking with yours. 

You tried not to smile, forcing more of him into your mouth instead. He twitched inside of you. The sudden movement encouraged you to press your tongue against the head, pulling a small moan from Jungkook’s red lips.

“Your mouth,” he whispered, voice croaky, “its so fucking good.”

Your chest filled with pride at the compliment, especially since they weren’t common occurrence. You wrapped your mouth around his tip again, sucking a little harder while your hands itched up to tug the waistband of his boxers down.

Just when you thought you would get away with it, Jungkook wrapped his fingers around your wrist and pulled your hand away from him.

“I told you, no hands.”

You looked up at him. 

“Use your mouth.”

Was he expecting you to slide his boxers down with your mouth? 

Jungkook cocked his brows up in expectation, holding your gaze for a few moments longer before looking back up at the computer screen. He slid his headphone back in place and muttered a quick apology before a string of pointers left his mouth.

Another wave of irritated arousal washed over you.

You clenched your jaw while placing your hands on his thighs. If you weren’t this wet and eager to be filled, you would leave and finish yourself off with your favourite toy. You lifted yourself from off your heels and leaned into his hips, digging your nails into the meat of his hard thighs just to give him a sense of how pissed you were. You’d leave him high and dry next time.

Jungkook manoeuvred his arms in a way that allowed him to lift his white tee enough to reveal the band of his boxers to you. Seeing the skin of his hip, you licked up a small stripe along his hip before biting down on the fabric of his underwear, pulling it down with unexpected ease. Once you noticed Jungkook’s thumb hooked into the opposite side of his underwear, you released the pressure on his thigh and began to massage small circles into the area.

You pushed his underwear low enough to grant his cock enough freedom to slap against his abdomen. It was red and already leaking precum. Your mouth began to water at the mere sight, and your thigh squeezing and rubbing was not satisfying you at all. So, like a woman starved, you wrapped your mouth around his cock without any second thoughts, taking him whole until you felt him hit the back of your throat. 

“No, Tae, go- Oo-oh.” One of Jungkooks hands released its grip on the controller and moved to your head instead, buried into your hair. You sucked hard, letting your head bob along the length when you felt his touch on you. He tasted slightly salty in your mouth, the length heavy in your mouth as you sucked.

“Yea, no-,” his voice sounded weak, distracted, “I’m fine Tae, just- ah.”

You almost grinned at his desperate sounds, chest filling with immense pride when Jungkook yanked your head away enough to not distract him, but not enough to lose all contact.

“Keep going,” he muttered. 

You didn’t know who Jungkook was speaking to directly, but in all honesty, you didn’t care at this point. You placed kitten licks on his soft, pink head before licking a stripe up along his slit.

“Oh, God,” you felt his cock twitch against your tongue again.

“Fuck, get up, right now.”

Jungkook pushed himself from out of his chair while pulling his boxers and sweats back up, pulling the headset from off his head. Before you got a chance to celebrate you finally getting Jungkook desperate enough to fuck you, he placed the headset on your head. He adjusted the mic against your mouth before sitting back down on his chair and tugging you onto his lap.

“Now, won’t you make some pretty little sound for Taehyung, hm?” Jungkook said while cupping your clothed heat with his palm, “tell him who exactly owns who, hm?”

“It’s okay,” You heard the person - Taehyung, Tae - respond almost instantly. 

“I- what?” You stammered, arousal making you confused as to what was suddenly happening, “Jungkook?”

“Let Taehyung hear how good I make you feel, hm baby?” Jungkook muttered, rubbing his nose lightly against your neck in the same motion his index finger rubbed against your clothed entrance, “you’ll let him hear you, won’t you?”

“It’s okay, Y/n,” Taehyung whispered, “you don’t have to do anything. Make a noise now, say anything, and I’ll disconnect. I want to hear you, but not if you don’t want me to.”

The man had a deep voice, smooth and one that for some reason sounded familiar.  He sounded calm, his tone oddly warm and comforting. It contrasted heavily against Jungkooks rushed and almost angry tone. You eye-ed Jungkook who wasn’t reacting to Taehyung at all. Could he hear him?

“You’re not saying anything… do you want me to stay?”

Maybe it was the arousal talking, but you couldn’t help but find the situation arousing. 

“Yes,” you breathed out. Jungkook’s touch and gaze making you disoriented. His finger rubbed against your entrance, but the fabric of your leggings was getting in the way. You squirmed in his lap, completely ignoring Taehyung’s question.

Jungkook smirked at your reaction, taking it as the initiative to slip his hand into your leggings. 

“No panties, huh,” he whispered, his finger rubbing up along your wet slit. 

His chest vibrated with a low groan once he felt how wet you were.

“Look at you, dripping like this and I have only just touched you. Did your own thoughts make you this wet, baby?”

Without hesitation you nodded, unable to say anything as you waited in anticipation for Jungkook to finally slip his finger into you. He was so close, so so close-

“Why don’t you let Taehyung know too, hm?”

“Yes,” you replied almost instantly.

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, I’ve been thinking about you fucking me for so long Jungkook. I’m so ready, please just fuck me, please,” the desperate string of whines left your mouth in one rushed breath. 

With a satisfied smile, Jungkook slipped his middle finger into your heat, rubbing at your walls with practised skill. You sighed with relief at the contact, moaning when he pushed another finger into you without warning. 

“Fuck,” you heard Taehyung sigh, “you sound so pretty.”

“Ah-,” you moaned at the compliment at the same moment Jungkook’s fingers pushed deeper inside of you.

“Look at me,” Jungkook commanded, forcing you to look into his blown-out eyes.

You forced your eyes open, looking at his focused expression. Jungkooks fingers curled inside of you then, forcing your mouth to open with a gasp.

“Oh, Jungkook!” You whined, kicking your head back at the feeling.

His fingers easily slipped in and out of you, you were wet enough for it. He knew  just where to rub and when to curl to get you to whine for him. You squirmed when the wet noises got a bit too loud. 

“It’s okay,” he whispered, “you look so hot. So warm and wet around my fingers,” Jungkook continued to move his digits in and out of you, stretching you out as he continued to rub and push at your wet velvet walls.

“Faster, touch me.” You mumbled, grabbing his shoulders as he continued to finger you.

He slipped a hand under your tee and grabbed your breast, massaging it with his fingers. You moaned at the touch, arching your back and pushing your chest into him. 

“You have him right where you want him, don’t you?” Taehyung whispered. His voice was low and judging by the lack of change in Jungkook’s expression, he couldn’t hear the other man’s words. “Sucked his dick, got him desperate and now he’s there, doing just what you wanted him to do - isn’t that right?”

Taehyung’s deep voice forced your walls to squeeze, clenching hard around Jungkook’s fingers. He kicked his head back with a whine.

“You’re so wet,” he rushed out, “feel so tight around my fingers. Think you’re ready for my cock?”

“Yes,” you rushed out, “yes, please. I want you inside of me, please.” You felt your orgasm approach, his fingers rubbing all the right places inside of you.

“Show me.”

Jungkook stilled, leaving his fingers inside of you while his other hand fell down to your hip.

“Move for me. Show me how you’ll ride my dick.”

You heard Taehyung chuckle.

“Show him, pet. Ride his fingers and get yourself off. Leave him dry. What did he say? Show him who owns who.”

You groaned in anger, complying with Taehyung’s words almost immediatelly. You’re the one that texted Jungkook, you’re the one who practically - no, literally - begged for him to fuck you, yet he’s here pushing your buttons? And for what? You’ll make him pay. 

You locked gaze with Jungkook while settling onto his fingers. Once they were firmly inside of you again, you began to rock your hips into him, slowly but surely building up a rhythm. His hand was there to guide your hips, but it wasn’t enough. You whined, desperate for more. You needed more of his fingers, you needed more inside of you.

“It’s okay,” Taehyung said, “touch yourself. It will feel better.”

You watched Jungkook stare at you, bottom lip caught between his lips as his whispers urged you on. He sucked in a sharp breath as you walls clenched around his fingers, eager and wanting more. You moved your hand towards your clit, eager to reach your climax with whatever means were given to you. 

“Oh, ah,” you moaned as you touched yourself, the pressure making you even more desperate.

“You’re so hot,” Jungkook whispered against your neck, “look at you, fucking yourself on my fingers like this,” his warm breath fanned over your shoulder with each word.

You whined, clenching tightly around him as you felt your orgasm within your reach again.

“You’re doing so well, y/n. Keep going, come.”

With Taehyung’s voice granting you permission, you slammed your hips into Jungkook’s fingers twice more before clenching around him as the coil inside of you unwind with a desperate sound. You felt the orgasm wash over you in waves, the sweet euphoric relief finally allowing you to breathe easily. 

You rested your forehead against Jungkook’s shoulder as his fingers gently slipped out of you. You heard the sloppy sounds his mouth made as he licked off your slick from off his fingers.

“Well done,” Taehyung praised, voice smooth and low, “you got what you wanted.”

You almost laughed.

You did get what you wanted. Maybe not the way that you wanted, but all stress and anxiety did leave your body. Irritation, however, did not.

“You good?” Jungkook whispered after a moment.

Good? He was asking you if you were good?!

You nodded your head against him, “yea.”

You were fucking peachy.

It took another few seconds of trying to get your breath under control before you were confident that you wouldn’t collapse after slipping from off his lap. Your legs felt like jelly, but after a moment you managed to find your balance.

Jungkook snorted, hand wrapping around your waist as he pulled you closer to his chest.

“Shaky already? You won’t be able to walk after I’m done with you.”

“Actually,” you mumbled, placing a hand on his chest to push him away.

You heard Taehyung chuckle again at the other end.

“That’s right, pet,” his voice give away his interest, “show him who owns who.”

Jungkook cocked his head to the side, clearly not expecting your change in attitude.

“I think I’m going to go,” you mumbled, moving away from him in an effort to grab your bag.

“You’re- You’re what?” He didn’t even try to hide his surprise, “you’re leaving? Now?!”

You shrugged, tying one of his hoodies around your waist to at least attempt to hide your wet spots.

“I mean,” you threw your bag over your shoulder, “you have a game to get back to.”

“Ha,” Taehyung laughed, clearly finding this amusing, “thank you y/n. I hope I’ll get to hear you again.”

“I’ll see you around.”

 You tugged the headset from off your head and handed it to a stunned Jungkook before heading out the door.

[currywaifu]

𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐥𝐞: rival 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩: sumeragi tenma/reader 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠: sfw 𝐰𝐜: 2.9k words, 3 images

𝐚𝐧: two people from the filo discord (ty to sel & kai) gave me the idea for this! i meant to push this out a while back, but only got the time to finish it tonight! at... 5 am... sorry for the long delay, @chewie-santatoast​ ! 

If someone were to ask Tenma why he was stalking your Instablam right now, he’d be able to spout off various excuses— all with varying levels of believability.

His first excuse was that you were going to be one of his latest co-stars in a drama. Just because the both of you were going to be part of only a few episodes doesn’t mean he’s gonna stop being diligent. He’s just doing his best to be up to date with you and the other cast, for social reasons.

Why is he so focused on your page, then?

His second excuse would be that he’s only looking, following your account because you’re one of his rivals! Not only were you someone who also started acting at a young age, but you also recently started getting into theatre! Not only were you a threat to any possible awards he could get this season, but any notable troupe was a rival to Mankai for any possible competitions or awards! He’s only looking after the company by scoping out the competition!

Why is he so focused on a specific set of images?

His third excuse, actually still pretty believable, was that he was looking at your most recent posts wherein you were clearly promoting a new play, your repost of the poster signifying that you were the lead. Rival or not, he was still interested in plays or musicals— of course he was going to learn more about the production you were going to be a part of, right?

Why is he looking so intently at the caption and comments, then?

Even in his own brain, this is where Tenma began fumbling. You were just supposed to be promoting, so why were you posting a selfie with another actor, even mentioning that same person in the caption? And- and the people in the comments! Why were they talking about “shipping” you and that guy? Comments about how cute of a couple you’d make… were they fake fans of theatre or something? People who were more engrossed with the actor’s lives than the show?

That’s exactly it… he’s repulsed by people’s audacity. Fan service was alright, but you shouldn’t be feeding your followers anything unnecessary— and why were they so adamant in taking things too far and out of context anyway?

The door creaked open, and he quickly locked his phone as he hastily stashed it underneath his pillow, face unknowingly painted with a blush as though he was hiding something scandalous instead of a picture of you doing finger hearts at the camera.

… thank God it was just Misumi, who doesn’t mention anything possibly wrong with his appearance or attitude. The older boy mentioned something about eating triangle cakes together with the rest of the troupe, and he eagerly replied in agreement as he gets up from bed.

In his head, Tenma justified his actions by telling himself it’d just be a hassle if anyone (note: Yuki or Kazunari) caught him and automatically made assumptions.

When Tenma arrived on set, you were exiting out of your car as well.

‘I should probably be friendly and greet them, right?’ he thought to himself as his body was positioning itself to avoid you instead. Unfortunately (or fortunately) for him, you had already spotted him and with a loud “Tenma-kun!”, his gaze was forced to meet with yours.

You made your way beside him with a blinding smile, not giving him the time to formulate a greeting in return as you began talking up a storm.

“I’m excited to work with you again!” you said, briefly pausing to greet his manager as well before turning back to him. “The last time we’ve worked together was for a drama 6 months ago, right?”

“No,” he corrected immediately, the ‘you idiot’ that would have followed thankfully left out by Tenma. “We filmed a commercial 3 months ago, and then we had a magazine spread last month.”

When you blink up at him in surprise, he found himself getting a little conscious. “It’s… it’s not like I memorised it because of you, though!” he said, beginning to explain himself, “obviously a good actor remembers the things they’re a part of, right?”

When you giggled in response, a part of him started to feel… no, not worried, but something.

“No, no, I totally get that!” you raised your arms up in surrender, “I just meant like an actual acting gig, I guess? Nothing beats having a whole new script to learn, and getting to act with the people you admire. Right, Tenma-kun?”

Inclined to agree with you, he nodded in agreement. “Right…”

You looked at him with a blank stare on your face, like he was missing something (what was there for him to miss, though?) before quickly turning away to greet some of the production crew passing by with a wave and grin.

He, for once, managed to tune out the coos and comments of, “it’s so cute that they stayed friends after all these years!” and “aww look they even entered the set together!” in favour of wondering if there was something he said (or didn’t) that ended the conversation.

…

After filming finished for the day, he decided to lag behind instead of immediately leaving. He’s worked with a bunch of the cast beforehand, so it was a good thing to catch up with them.

“Mini Sumeragi,” one of his more… out there seniors, a friend of his father, began “are you gonna keep staring at their dressing room?”

Freezing up, he mentally took note to stop darting his eyes in that direction before anyone could make something out of it; it was too late, though, when the lead actress asked who occupied that room and several people replied your name in chorus.

“Ohoho~ our young boy is finally growing up,” the lead actor said with a grin, and the whole cast amusedly watched Tenma’s cool mask forming cracks.

“Could it be you’re waiting for them to go out? Is that why you’re staying behind to chat with us oldies?” none of them look the least bit offended, but while he was safe on that aspect, the little smirks and chuckles that escaped the others made him want to justify his actions somehow.

“It’s- it’s because I— have something to tell them!” Tenma explained, despite not knowing a) what he would even say to you, and b) that he was planning on talking to you in the first place. Even though all the signs were pointing to him wanting to do so, at least to an outsider’s perspective.

With widened eyes and an over-dramatised look of shock, the show’s director herself let out a gasp. “Sumeragi-kun, you don’t mean… you’re going to…“

Tenma’s perceptive after all, especially when it came to body language. He had to be as the Summer Troupe’s leader! He could tell there was something bothering you a while ago. As co-workers, he just doesn’t want you to have an issue with him is all! Not— not that he was super concerned about what you thought about him though, it was just—

“Tenma-kun?”

The whole group turned to look at the source of the voice, and who else could it be other than the devil itself.

“I’m glad you’re still here!” you exclaimed, a smile gracing your face as you approached the ginger. “I actually had something I needed to ask you about.”

“Huh? Oh, of course you did,” he crossed his arms, averting his eyes from your expectant gaze. “What did you want?” What— what else was he supposed to say?

Unexpectedly, you bring out your phone and hand it to him. Hold on, wasn’t this like those scenes in the dramas he acted in? Or Muku’s shoujo mangas? Where the main character would hand her phone to the guy she liked and asked for his number?

“Could we start chatting on LIME?” Tenma stiffened at your words, until you followed up with “Since you got into theatre before me, you’d probably have some tips or advice, right? I’m still inexperienced, so…”

After what felt like minutes, his thumbs quickly moved to enter his phone number, adding himself as a friend on your phone.

“I’m only doing this because it’s theatre related, okay? There’s no other reason!”

“Yes, yes, I know… Tenma-kun is always very nice to me,” with a closed-eyed smile making its way to your face, the both of you remained unaware of two things. First, the reddening of Tenma’s ears, and second, the hushed commentary of the others in the room.

“… that felt like a scene from a high school drama,” the director commented as soon as the both of you were out of earshot, looking contemplative, “they’re cute. Maybe I’ll cast them as the leads in my next show.”

Several laughs come out of the group, knowing glances thrown around from one person to another. The usually professional Sumeragi Tenma finally acting his own age, and the one who caused him to act that way. Whether you two knew it or not, you two’d become the hot topic amongst the crew for the next few filming sessions.

Unsurprisingly, Yuki’s the first one to notice something was up; while Tenma was good enough to be able to hide whoever it was he was chatting with on his phone, he was not slick enough to hide how affected he got upon hearing his phone ping, or the look on his face as he read and his fingers poised themselves to reply.

What kind of person gets smiley so early in the morning without eating breakfast, just because of a text message? Disgusting, really.

Also unsurprisingly, Kazunari’s second to notice, but unlike Yuki he’s the first to properly try and figure out who Tenma’s talking to instead of just making comments here and there.

After all, the blond can only conclude two things— first, they must be a special enough person to have the always busy actor chat with them consistently during his free time; second, Tenten… probably hasn’t noticed that he’s being so, so obvious to the point that Misumi thought their very own leader found a “very special triangle”.

Kazunari found it was a little difficult, trying to figure out who it was exactly that caught Tenma’s attention, especially with the latter keeping a tighter on his phone than usual.

However, it was not impossible.

It wasn’t uncommon for several members of the troupe to gather around the living room to watch the latest episode of whatever drama Tenma was currently in. It wasn’t that uncommon either for him to watch with everyone as well, judging his own acting and seeing how it turned out through the camera.

Tonight was different though, and it would seem that always having his phone on his possession had become his own boon… or perhaps the true boon was sitting in front of Kazunari, giving him the perfect view to have a bit of a peek without being evident about his intent.

…

Tenten—

Tenten, why—

Kazunari found himself sending a mental prayer to whatever deity existed in the universe, not just for his own sanity but for…

His eyes go to the one person on screen that Tenma’s clearly been hyper focused on. ‘Yes, I pray for your sanity, too…’ he thought to himself. It was so clear that you had some semblance of more-than-friendly interest towards his friend, and you were clearly fishing a compliment out of him— if not just for the sake of a compliment, then to gauge his interest level in you.

Honestly, he can’t let this go any further— him snooping getting revealed be damned. Tenma’s been typing and hitting the backspace key for a solid two minutes now, he was clearly hopeless, and Kazunari? Why, he was a texting MASTER— it was his duty to help out his poor disciple.

“Tenten~♪,” as soon as the ginger’s attention broke from the phone, he quickly grabbed the device out of said person’s grasp, ignoring his indignant noises as he quickly typed in a response that seemed in-character enough for Tenma, but enough to pander to you.

When Tenma finally got his phone back, Kazunari resisted the urge to take a photo of the former’s face, morphing and reddening as he registered the rest of the messages.

“Why’d you… why’d you call them cute?” Tenma whisper-shouted, looking around to make sure no one was listening in on their conversation, before turning back to Kazunari.

“Awww, so you don’t think they’re a cutie?” Kazunari asked, clearly baiting Tenma to refute.

“That’s not what I— that’s not the point!”

Unable to hold himself back, he let out a laugh while one of the more serious parts of the show was playing out, causing several people to look at him in wonder. He doesn’t really have an explanation without exposing Tenma, so he gave the vague excuse of seeing something funny on his phone.

Not his phone, but hot diggity dog, did he see something funny alright.

There was no way he’d ever admit this to you, or to anyone for that matter, but he genuinely doesn’t understand you. You were rivals, weren’t you? Sure he expected you to be civil, but you were being so friendly and kind… and even worse, you were making him feel weird. You were making him do things he normally wouldn’t do.

He glanced down, the newly bought bouquet of roses seated on his lap as he waited for the play to start— the opening night of the play you were going to be in.

Opening night… when the others found out about it, they gave him knowing glances, playful nudges, teasing comments but really, what did it matter if he just so happened to watch on opening night of all nights? It was the night he was free on!

Besides, you were his rival in acting! Obviously, he was going to watch your performance to simultaneously check out your strengths and weaknesses as an actor— how you differed on set and on stage.

… no, that didn’t sound right, even in his head.

Then, he’s watching you because you went through the trouble of asking him for tips about acting on stage, and getting into theatre. He’s kind of like your teacher, right? So he has to support you

… that didn’t sound right, either.

Even after the play ended, he waited for the audience area to be mostly deserted before coming to find you backstage, the stage manager apparently recognising him and letting him pass without much questioning on who he was here to see.

When he finally found you, he stilled in his spot. Oh, you were with…

For a few seconds, his stomach churned, like a fiery pit burning his insides on fire without so much a regard towards any pain he’d fill and—

“Tenma-kun!”

As quickly as it arrived, the fire gets extinguished at the familiar shout of his name. That person turned to you, quickly muttering something that made you giggle, the forming frown on his lips only leaving as the other man did.

“I’m really happy you came to watch me~” you told him, a little bashfully. “My parents couldn’t come tonight, so it was nice to have someone I recognised other than my manager in the crowd.”

Right, opening night was… a lot for him, too. Tenma nodded understandingly. “Obviously? Oh and congratulations, by the way, you did really well,” he added in, watching you gingerly take the bouquet of red roses from his grasp. Your eyes turned a little softer at the present, stuck on the little tag even though all that was written on that pre-made to and from card was your name and his respectively.

“I said I’d watch you, right? Besides, just because you’re my rival doesn’t mean I’m gonna go break a promise.”

You remained silent for a minute, and he worried again if he somehow found another thing that would cause you to stop talking to him, at least for a little while— a time period just enough to bother him.

When you break your silence, you make sure to make direct eye-contact with him.

“… rival?”

“Yes?”

With a heavy sigh, you began muttering to yourself. While he wasn’t able to pick up on comprehensible sentences, your expression was enough to tell him you were annoyed.

Before he could question you, the smile returned to your face.

“You think we’re rivals? That’s a shame… I don’t see you that way at all,” you remarked offhandedly, watching Tenma’s face morph into a mixture confusion and hurt.

“What? Do you not think I’m good enough to be your—“

“Okay! Stop the thought right now!” you interrupted, shaking your head vehemently. What kind of derivation was that? “I think of us as more than rivals, is what I mean.”

Tenma’s blush seared through his cheeks, looking almost as though his face was lit up on fire. Despite this, he made no attempt to move to shield his face from your gaze, or any movement at all really— save for how he sputtered in search of some semblance of a viable reply.

“What do you… what are you trying to imply? Are you saying you think of me as a friend or—“

He gets interrupted by the sound of you giggling. “Well, the meaning can be whatever you want it to be!” you exclaimed, the tone of your voice a little mischievous as you continued, “so just let me know which one, okay?~”

[spitalofatalo]

May I ask, if Afterimage ever became canon, and got his own episode, how would that go?

this is such a cool question, thank you!! i'm SO glad there's interest in him

i don't have a full script, but i have several key points in mind for how an episode with him would go! it got very long, so i'm putting it under a read more

i'm imagining it as another halloween special, only more lighthearted in nature because of who the villain is. highlights include a scooby doo-esque chase through krei tech. please enjoy

i imagine his intro ep taking place about a week before halloween. the team would catch a glimpse of a strange figure during night patrol on a foggy, spooky evening - but he seems to disappear before they can get a good look! but there WAS definitely something there, right?

fred is convinced they just saw a ghost; hiro of course is skeptical and looks for answers. based on the footage they have, the most baymax and/or basemax can come up with are a bunch of strange blurry "ghost images" that people have taken all over the city recently. hiro figures it's some sort of viral halloween prank, but the team decides to keep an eye out just in case

hardlight has also recently escaped, so they've got bigger things to worry about, anyway

one night during a battle with hardlight, bh6 manages to knock his glove several feet away from him but then it starts... floating? moving on its own? and somehow tosses ITSELF back to hardlight, in a series of motions that leaves the team very confused. they're even more confused when things start hitting them out of nowhere - gogo is tripped on something invisible and crashes into fred, wasabi's hit with lasers from thin air, honey's suddenly ensared by a net. hardlight gets away, for the time being, and the team is left wondering about all these new tricks he's got up his sleeve...

“could it be GHOSTS?” “we know for a fact hardlight is not a ghost” “but DO WE?”

the next day, bh6 receives a report from alistair krei that there's been a strange figure showing up outside krei tech for the past few nights. nothing's been stolen - yet - but it's worth looking into. plus, a rumor's been spreading that krei tech is HAUNTED, and that's not good for publicity!

using security cam footage, they recognize the figure as the "ghost image" that's been popping up around san fransokyo. they're also able to determine that the subject is wearing some kind of robotic armor, which they recognize as the buddy guard technology - and it's confirmed even more when the figure disappears on tape! everyone wonders what this "ghost’s” goal could be, and why they'd be using the decommissioned tech. bh6 asks for a list of everyone who worked on developing the buddy guards, which krei gives them (mel meyer, notably, is NOT on that list).

in the next days, people begin to report sightings of afterimage more frequently, usually with blurry distorted photo evidence if they catch him mid-vanish. he tends to show up at big gatherings and events and sabotage them, usually by cutting the power and sending everyone into a state of confused panic. strangely, it seems to affect personal devices too, and happens too often to just be a coincidence...

big hero 6 makes note of the fact that afterimage's appearances seem to line up with hardlight's - they tend to strike on the same day, sometimes even the same place. the same is true for the photos people have been reporting; they line up with hardlight sightings. however, hardlight hasn’t been near krei tech, so that seems to be the outlier

so the next time they face hardlight, the team are prepared to confront afterimage as well. luckily for them, hardlight's on the same page. there's a line like "allow me to introduce... my player two!!!" and afterimage makes himself seen, in a dramatic, but silent, flourish. he and hardlight do a cool pose together, and there's probably some fun sparkle effects

wasabi would say something like "...does he not talk?" and hardlight would reply that the two of them agreed it was more mysterious and threatening that way

and so the battle continues. with afterimage switching in and out of visibility so fast, hardlight's menagerie of light weapons, and the two of them protecting each other, it's difficult to get a hit on either of them! and the duo escape again, much to the frustration of the team

the heroes probably do a little pondering on how the two of them can be so in-sync. even if we don't see them react to it, i'm assuming bh6 knows that hardlight = ian, so they start looking for potential connections of his. they'd probably check out retired villain dark volt (who i headcanon as ian's father), olivia (who i hc as his half-sister), and even judy (under the assumption that them being co-workers means they might have co-conspired), but of course those are all dead ends

soon enough, it's halloween eve, and bh6 figures something big is likely to go down the next night, so they try reaching out to krei again for any more information. but they can't get through to him. uh-oh... the power seems to have been cut at krei tech!!

they rush over to check on krei, and find the building encased in one of hardlight's force fields. hardlight tells them that afterimage has been in tutorial mode, and now he's on his first big solo quest - the one he's been gathering XP for all this time!! and hardlight's NOT gonna let them sabotage it, so he'll just have to dominate them in single-player >:]

so of course they have to take hardlight down first. which they do, because all they have to do is get his glove and i can't think of a cool detailed way that they do that right now

with the light shields gone, they get into krei tech and - since baymax is scan-jammed - they have to search for krei and afterimage in the dark facility. on the way, they run into a few employees who have been trapped in the building, many believing the intruder is an actual ghost! hiro is still patiently trying to convince people it's not, but the others, to his frustration, seem to be getting more open to the idea

they finally reach krei's office and find him pleading with this mysterious invisible force to leave his company, and his face, alone. he doesn't deserve to have his company haunted, he says! is this a vengeful spirit come to throw his past mistakes at him, in the form of his own obsolete decommissioned tech?? :’(

a modulated voice finally speaks, to everyone's surprise. "oh, like you decommissioned ME??" afterimage is now visible, in the moonlight coming through the large window

"i thought you weren't speaking," gogo quips, to which afterimage stammers and replies something like "ugh, i totally messed that up. but anyway-"

he proceeds to let his lasers do the talking and battles it out with big hero 6 once again!! until honey lemon jams his blaster with a chem ball. and he realizes that while he may still be able to disappear, he doesn't have the advantage of open space in krei's office. so, amidst the chaos, he manages to slip out the door

the team proceeds to chase him down the halls of krei tech, each taking different paths (this part could be a little haunted house montage where they run in and out of different doors, if you wanted a little comic relief) and fred beats him to the door. as afterimage runs toward the exit, fred finally decides on the most effective way to fight invisible with invisible, and simply sticks out his tail to trip him

AND HE TRIPS!!

the team catches up as afterimage tries to collect himself. fred and wasabi quickly grab him. hiro, excited at the opportunity to prove once and for all this is not a ghost, removes his helmet, exposing him as none other than.....

former krei tech employee mel meyer!!!! cue GASPS from everyone. "sur...prise," he manages, still a little dizzy from all that

krei is, of course, extremely upset (and pretty embarrassed and trying to brush off having ever been afraid), and demands to know what's been going on

mel explains that ever since A Certain Someone convinced him that sometimes villainy is empowering and lets one do the things they can’t as a civilian, he'd been wanting to teach krei a lesson about how he treats people. you can't keep getting away with using others!! and that's why he became the ghostly apparation, because the REAL monster looming over san fransokyo is YOU, alistair krei!!! and he would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for these meddling kids and their robot!!! >:[

“you really think THIS is what would have stopped him? trust us, he’s seen worse.” krei stubbornly nods

and, frankly, mel's a little hurt that krei never even suspected it was him. to which krei responds that he forgot about mel entirely after getting him arrested, and so did everyone else, probably. big hero 6 nods sheepishly

...well, not everyone. cut to hardlight, who is Still standing outside, long after being subdued by bh6 - he’d had the opportunity to escape when they raced off to save krei, but clearly didn’t. he calls mel's name (and would be waving if he weren't handcuffed and surrounded by the SFPD at that very moment). mel is pleasantly surprised, and a little confused. "wait, you stayed and kept watch for my WHOLE mission? you didn't even try to get away?" he asks

to which ian replies, "of course not! i wasn't gonna let anyone break up our co-op, and i wanted to make sure you got out alright. after all, you're my... player two :)" they smile at each other, seemingly unaffected by the fact that they failed and are both getting arrested again, and it's a nice moment

cut back to krei and the gang. everyone is quite confused

so, the double damage duo is in custody (for now), and it's still the night before halloween. cue some jokey banter amongst the team about what they should do to celebrate - DEFINITELY no haunted houses, and no movies about ghosts. fred accuses hiro of being disappointed that it wasn't a real ghost, and by now the whole team is in on that joke, so he begrudgingly admits that, yes, maybe it WOULD have been cool if ghosts had been real this whole time :/ so there.

The End!

(but hopefully not the end of hardlight and afterimage - ideally there'd be more in store for them, even if they just got cameos!!! 😌)

[dumbchickwrites]

office affairs -- part 3

Pairing: CEO!Sam Wilson x Reader

Summary: Sam is the CEO of the Red Wing PR agency where Reader has been working for the past two years. Problem is, they both think one hates the other. However, when their friends set them up on a blind date, they’ll realise that it was all a big misunderstanding.

Warnings: language, Reader is a bit thirsty.

Words: 2.6k

A/N: This series is part of @marvelmaree​‘s birthday challenge. You can find the masterlist on my blog and hers!

A/N 2: Guys. I’m so so sorry you had to wait this long. You see, all the updates for this fic were queued. But the gag is, they were queued for next month. How did that happen, I don’t know. But every thing is back to normal now and you should expect a new part everyday (or two days, when I want to create ~ suspense ~). Again, I apologise. I hope you enjoy!

It’s Friday night.

If you weren’t nervous this morning, you sure are now. Why though? It’s not like you haven’t been on a date before. Yes, it’s been a while, but you’re pretty sure you can handle a couple of hours of soft flirting. Not to mention the free dinner.

“Everything’s gonna be fine, relax,” Noelle says for the thirteenth time.

She gives your shoulders a brief squeeze before her hands go back to undoing the flexi-rods in your hair. You agreed that she would style your hair while you’d do your makeup. When you stated that you’d go for your usual soft makeup look, Noelle and the girls encouraged you to step out of your comfort zone a bit. That’s why you went for a – still soft—pink smokey eye paired with a nude lipstick.

After Noelle is done fluffing up your curls, you get dressed in a midi skirt and your favourite dusty pink cashmere sweater. Under your breath, you pray that you won’t spill anything on it.

Once you’re dressed and all your jewellery is on, you get to the living room where Mimi and Noelle are watching TV to show them the result.

“Okay, how do I look?” you ask with a little twirl for good measure.

“Woah, you look like a princess!” Mimi exclaims, looking up at you with stars in her eyes.

“Aw, thanks Mimi!”

“I say you look like you’re gonna order dessert twice,” Noelle says, before taking a sip of her tea.

Your jaw drops. “Noelle!”

Your sister only laughs in response and you roll your eyes playfully. She’s always making this type of jokes in front of Michelle then blames you when the same jokes come out of the little girl’s mouth at totally random and inappropriate times; like that time at a family gathering when everyone was setting up your aunt’s backyard to play dodgeball and Mimi joked that your cousin Samir would be the first person to “take that D”. The memory alone of the silence that followed makes you want to burst out laughing.

Noelle winks at you before you make your way to the foyer to put your coat on.

“Don’t forget to text us when you get to the restaurant!”

“I won’t!”

With that, you’re out the door.

The cab ride to the restaurant seems long, but since you’re lost in your thoughts for most of it, you get there soon enough.

The doorman opens the door to the establishment for you with a polite smile and you thank him with a nod. However, the hostess isn’t that polite. The way she talks to you is a bit rude, and for a minute you wonder if she’s a bitter Becky who’s about to give you a hard time but she just happens to have a stick stuck up her ass.

Instead of the main dining room, she leads you through a dimly lit corridor.

“The rest of your party is already here,” she says. “A waiter will be along in a few moments.”

With a forced smile, she slides the wooden door open and closes it behind you.

You can’t help but let your jaw drop at the sight of the man in front of you.

On the other side of the room, Sam Wilson returns your surprised stare right back at you.

Oh Lord. I will kill them. All three of them. I’ll tell Mimi her mom drowned in the Hudson.

The two of you stare at each other for what seems like hours, unsure of what to say. Your mind goes back to this morning, how you embarrassed yourself, how you shamelessly checked him out.

Speaking of checking him out, he looks absolutely delicious. He swapped this morning’s tan suit for a black suit and a burgundy turtleneck. You’ve seen him in turtlenecks before but this time feels different. Maybe Noelle was right. You might just have two desserts tonight.

“I –”

“You look—”

You both chuckle at the rather awkward situation.

“I’m sorry, you first,” Mr Wilson smiles.

“Actually… I don’t even know what I was gonna say,” you chuckle nervously.

“Well, I was gonna say that you look gorgeous. May I take your coat?”

A smile finds its way on your lips. He’s being nice. “Oh, um, sure.” Sam helps you slide the coat off your shoulders. “I think you look very handsome as well.”

It’s Mr. Wilson’s turn to smile again. He pulls a chair for you and you thank him as you sit.

“I can’t believe they set us up like this,” he chuckles, avoiding your eyes.

Oh. And here you thought every thing was going well. Okay, maybe not well, but you know, you were getting there. But he just had to ruin it. Why even compliment you if he’s going to spit in your face a second later?

Suddenly, the air in the room feels tight around you and you want to leave, get some fresh air and go home.

“You don’t have to stay, you know,” you almost whisper.

“What?”

“This must be incredibly uncomfortable for you.”

“It is.”

It’s like being slapped in the face by a frozen hand. A giant ice cream hand that leaves sticky residue all over your face. You weren’t ready for him to just flat out admit it. You hoped he would be more subtle about it.

You frown, anger, shame and frustration starting to bubble up inside you.

“In this case, I certainly won’t be the one to keep you,” you say as you stand up.

Making sure to keep your chin up, you get to the coat rack near the door in three long strides, ready to get out of here.

“Woah, wait a minute.”

Mr. Wilson’s hand grabs your wrist, giving it a gentle tug to get you to turn around. When you do so, a frown is still painted on your features.

“I don’t think we understand each other here,” he says.

“Don’t we? I mean, it’s pretty clear to me that you don’t want to spend the rest of the night with a woman who’s one, your employee, and two, someone you’re annoyed by. So please, just let me go and save the last ounce of dignity I still have in me.”

“… You think I’m annoyed by you?”

“Are you gonna make me say it again? Is this a joke to you?”

“No, of course not!” he sighs. “I just—Why would you think that?”

“Well, you’ve never held eye contact with me for more than one second, we’ve never said more than a couple sentences to each other and every time I walk in a room, you immediately get out like I have the—the plague or something!”

He stares at you for a couple of minutes, searching your face for… you don’t even know what, but you refuse to cower under his gaze if that’s what he wants.

“I apologise for my behaviour. I realise now how horrible I’ve been… I get nervous when I’m around you ‘cause I’m scared I’ll make a fool of myself.”

He what?

“You what?”

What in the name of the Lord is happening here? Are you losing your mind? Are you having a stroke? Can you still feel the left side of your body?

He gets nervous when he’s around you? Why?

“Because I like you,” he says, and you realise you thought that last bit our loud. “I’ve liked you since the first day you walked in the office.”

You blink up at him.

There’s no way any of this is real.

“I thought you hated me this whole time,” you whisper.

“I thought you hated me this whole time.”

“But… you’re my boss! Why didn’t you say anything?”

A slight shrug. “It didn’t affect your performance at work or your relationship with your colleagues.”

“Oh…”

You don’t know what to say or do, so you take a few seconds to just process everything he just said. It all makes a bit more sense now, you have to admit. But two years? You’re not that intimidating. Not at all, actually. A small part of you feels like you should apologise for your little outburst as well.

“I’m sorry for, you know, the little outburst. I was a bit rude there.”

“Don’t worry about it. Tell you what. How about, we introduce ourselves again, enjoy this free meal and be ourselves? We’re not co-workers tonight. We’re just two people enjoying their first date. Deal?”

You nod, a grin already on your lips.

“Okay. I’m Sam,” he extends his hand for you to shake. “It’s great to meet you. You look lovely.”

You giggle like a schoolgirl in front of her crush and introduce yourself as well. “You look lovely too.”

“Shall we?”

“Let’s.”

Dinner is excellent. Not only the food, but Sam as well. Turns out Maria and Natasha were right, he is a great guy. He’s the kind of person who totally gets you wrapped in whatever story he’s telling, like the one where he and his friends Steve and James once stole a car in Germany. You love every second you spend with him.

“You said you have a niece, right?”

The topic moved on family once Sam told you that his youngest sister recently became a mom.

“Yes, Michelle. She’s eight.”

“What is she like?”

“It’s gonna sound cliché but, she’s one of a kind. Very smart, kind, and surprisingly good at keeping secrets,” you say.

You can’t help but beam as you talk about Michelle, and if Sam notices, he doesn’t say anything. You tell him about how she likes cars and dinosaurs but also princesses and Bratz dolls, how blue crêpes and pizza are her favourite foods and what it’s like to live with your sister and your niece.

“I’m sorry, I’m sucking up all the air in the room,” you chuckle.

“You’re fine. I like listening to you.”

You take a sip of wine to hide your smile.

“What about your family? What are your sisters like?”

“It depends. They’re both dragons and angels.” You chuckle at that. “But they’ve always had my back and I’m very grateful for them. I couldn’t be where I am today without them.”

“It sounds like you guys are close.”

“We are,” he nods. “Our parents wanted us to know and live by the true meaning of the word ‘family’, and I think it’s the strongest thing ever, you know? And it’s not always about blood ties. Random people you meet along the way can become family as well.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

The two of you fall into a comfortable silence, eating the contents of your plates, forgotten in the heat of your conversations.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Nothing, just—” you shrug. “I feel good right now. With you. This is nice.”

Sam sets his knife down and his hand comes to cover yours on the table. Without a word, you flip your hand so you can lace your fingers with his. You both smile at each other, butterflies dancing in your belly.

You almost curse yourself. It’s too soon for that. But at the same time, why not let go for a moment?

Your friends were right, you needed this. And it looks like Sam did too.

After dessert, you stay at the restaurant for another hour, chatting around a bottle of wine, before the hostess comes around to tell you they’ll be closing house soon. You want to say something about hospitality and customers, but you decide against it. Your heart is too full right now for you to even be bothered by her.

You and Sam stand, ready to put your coats on and leave.

“So…” you break the silence. “What happens now?” you ask, almost shyly.

“Well, we go outside, we get my car from the valet,” Sam takes your hands in his. “And because my mama raised a gentleman, I’m gonna drive you back to your place. I’ll text you when I get home, tell you about what a nice time I had. Then, I’ll give you some space for the rest of the weekend, until Monday morning when you’ll find fifty roses on your desk.”

You giggle. “Why fifty?”

“One for each time I wanted to kiss you tonight,” he whispers, his forehead against yours.

Your breath hitches at his words. Here it is. It’s not like you don’t want to kiss him – you do, but there’s something inside you that tells you that this isn’t just a one time thing. You already miss him and he’s not even gone yet.

Yeah… I’m in trouble, you think.

“Sam…”

“Hm?”

“Kiss me. Please.”

It’s a slow kiss, almost timid. You let him take control as he tests the waters, taking his time to taste your lips, still sweet from the wine. When his tongue slides against your bottom lip, you let him in, and you can’t help but let out a quiet moan as his tongue brushes against yours. He pulls you closer, his arms around your waist.

You break the kiss at the same time, gazing into each other’s eyes as you catch your breath.

“That was…”

“Yeah. It was.”

*

“No, for the last time, I’ll tell you everything at brunch.”

“But I’m your sister!” Noelle almost whines, standing in the doorway of your bedroom. “I should get exclusive info.”

You throw a slipper at her that she easily dodges.

The ride home was calm. You and Sam sat in a comfortable silence the entire time as he drove through the city, the radio softly humming. More than once, you wanted to grab the hand resting on his thigh and just hold it, but you controlled yourself. You didn’t want to seem needy.

“Then you shouldn’t have teamed up with Nat and Maria. Now you guys are in the same boat,” you give her a sweet smile and she narrows her eyes at you.

“Okay fine. But if he texts you—”

As if on cue, your phone lights up with a notification. Noelle looks at you, then your phone and makes a beeline for it by jumping on your bed. Wrong move, because you’re closer to it. You grab it before she even lands on the mattress.

“You really thought you did something, huh?”

She shrugs. “At least I tried. What does he say?”

“Girl, how do you even now it’s him?!”

“I didn’t. Until you told me,” she says, a mischievous smile on her face. She looks like the model in the new Versace campaign… Loki is his name? Anyways.

You roll your eyes and finally unlock the phone, Noelle’s eyes still on you like a hawk.

Unknown: I already miss your laugh.

A giggle finds its way past your lips.

“Girlll, look at youuu!” Noelle pokes your ribs.

“How old are you?” you try your best to sound annoyed but the grin on your lips simply won’t disappear.

“When will you understand that it doesn’t matter how old I am, I will never be too old to tease my little sister?”

You shake your head at her antics and get back to your phone. You save his number immediately.

You: Well aren’t you a sweet talker…

Sam: That I am.

Sam: Seriously though, I had a great time tonight.

You: Me too. I know it’s very early but how does a second date sound?

Sam: Wait that’s my line!

Sam: Sounds great. I can’t wait to see you again.

You’re searching for the right reply when his next text appears with a soft sound. And your heart flutters.

Sam: And to kiss you again.

Yeah… I’m in real trouble.

[lennydaisy]

EPIPHANY // OUTER BANKS

The Outer Banks. Paradise on earth. Well, it is if you can afford it.

Figure 8, home of the portentous and intitled. So detached from reality that you'd have to use their private jets to bring them back down to the ground. If they're not lounging around on their secluded beaches in front of their White House sized mansions, then they're at the country club complaining that their ice-cold lemonade isn't ice-cold enough. We call them Kooks. Guess where I don't live?

Next up, The Cut, neutral habitat of, drum roll please ladies and gentleman... The Pogues. Lowest members of the food chain. You see, it's one island divided in two. You either have two houses or two jobs. I have two jobs and will still never be able to afford one house, let alone two, but that's life I guess. The Pogues are like those kids your parents tell you to stay away from when you visit the park. Well, now the park has stretched to all aspects of life warranting us to be unwanted and neglected which isn't such a bad thing, that just means we get to do whatever we want, whenever we want.

Right now, however, this is the last place I want to be. Save-A-Lot. One of my two jobs. See how this all ties in?

The continuous, subtly, beeping of the scanner, the bright overhead lights that the same moth has been flying into for a week now, that one cart that you can hear before you see, and this frustratingly itchy, red polo shirt that I'm wearing because it's 'oh-so mandatory'.

It's been reported that a storm is going to hit us in a couple of days, so naturally, the stores been busier than usual, with both Kooks and Pogues. It's like sacred land, all differences get put aside in this very store unless there's a two for one deal at the seafood counter. In that case, no one's safe, not even me, the poor, little employee. I've been slapped with a Tuna Fish before. I don't want to talk about it.

"Can I interest you in some... What are they again? Sea salted chocolate with a crushed Macadamia nut shell and a rich creamy filling, homemade by Mrs Adams?" I squint at the packaging before smiling at the man before me who peered at me, head tilted slightly. Nodding instantly, already knowing the answer, "I don't blame you, I wouldn't trust anything made by that lady."

Smashing my fingers on the scratch invested, touch screen register, slapping the side of the machine until it eventually rings up the total, "That'll be $148.98 however, you get the extended family discount, so that makes it..." twirling my finger around the air, attempting the mental math, "10% off $148," I utter, closing my eyes as if that's going to help me find the answer quicker. 'I knew I should have joined the math team with Pope.'

"$134," the man affirms looking at me sympathetically, halting my search for my calculator that is normally taped to the till. I take the mans money, squinting at him, "Okay, I'll take your word for it man but if I get fired, I want a job at The Wreck," handing him his receipt.

"We'll see," he said putting his packed bags back into his cart, "I'll get through to you one day. You can't deny I'm your favourite" I state in a matter of fact, waving him off as he pushes his cart away from the checkout, "Bye Mason."

"I don't hear you denying it," I shout, watching him hurridly pushing his cart towards the door, "Okay bye Mr Carrera, tell Kie I said hi!"

Twirling around in my chair a couple of times, I came to a stop at the sight of a pink calculator, my pink calculator, taped to Mrs Adams till. That Bitch. I sit patiently for her to be done with her customers, waving at the elderly couple as they pass, "See you later Mr and Mrs Graham, have a nice day," I smile.

"Oh you too Mason, you should stop by again, you and your friends were such a delight the last time," Mrs Graham praises tapping her ringed fingers on my counter. Nodding at her request as her husband began to drag her away from me, claiming he 'Wants to be home today not tomorrow,' knowing his wife to be quite the blether.

"What a pleasant young lady. Wouldn't you agree, Marty?"

"Oh yes, very well mannered."

"Listen here, sticky fingers, I know you stole my calculator" My smile instantly dropping as I look upon the thief that I have the pleasure of calling my co-worker.

Mrs Adams is your typical grandma. Tonged hair, thick-rimmed glasses and filled with opinions that are always unwarranted. She has had it out for as long as I can remember, once locking me in the walk-in freezer claiming to not know I was in there despite being in there with me moments before. At least I only have to deal with her a few days a week, I couldn't handle any more than that.

"What calculator?" she questions innocently. Pointing my finger accusingly at her till where low and behold, sits my calculator, "Oh really, what's that then?"

Sparing a glance at my calculator, she shakes her head, nose pointed up, "That's an anniversary gift from my husband. I, by no means, stole your calculator."

I can't believe I'm having this conversation.

Laughing at her alibi, "Are you aware of how much bullsh-", the clearing of a throat interrupts my tangent and I suddenly became aware of where I am again. Mrs Adams raises her eyebrows at me, is she mocking me? Glaring at her one last time as to say 'this conversation isn't over', I timidly spun my chair back around, plastering a smile on my face, getting ready to greet my next customer.

Oh no.

"Hi, Mr Cameron," I greet the man, scratching behind my ear hoping he didn't overhear me. Beginning to scan his items, another figure catches my eye.

Rafe.

Here, ladies and gentlemen, I present the biggest dickhead on the entire island. He thinks everybody owes him something just because his daddy is well known throughout the OBX and has no problem expressing his distaste for anyone who doesn't fit his agenda. He's a cocky, arrogant snob who needs to be knocked off his podium a few inches, or feet.

"Hello, Mason, and how many times have I told you to call me Ward?"

"Clearly not enough for me to listen," I mutter under my breath, passing the already packed bags towards a very accepting Rafe, who snatched them with a scrawl printed on his face, "Your face will stay like that if the winds change" I advise innocently, waving my fingers around my forehead area, "Don't want to get any wrinkles, but if you need some anti-ageing cream, I'm sure Mrs Adams can recommend a few of her favourites,"

"Maybe even get you a coupon," I suggest finishing to scan the last of their items, "Isn't that right, Mrs Adams," I called to the lady over my shoulder how instantly peeped up at the chance to chat with the boy.

"Oh, yes. Come here deary, I'll show you my collection,"

It's no secret throughout the OBX that Mrs Adams is a bit of a renowned cougar, having no problem expressing herself towards any sort of male attention. Mrs Adam doesn't discriminate, so even assholes like Rafe can't escape the clutches of her fondness, but she's harmless... most of the time.

Ward nudges his son in the direction of the lady, who is eagerly waiting for the boy with her creams placed in an orderly fashion before her. Rafe's eyes practically begging for his dad to have some mercy on him only to earn a point in her direction.

"I hate you," he huffs at me, feet dragging towards the ladies till.

Fluttering my eyes with a cheesy smile, "I know," I say before turning to finish Mr Cameron's groceries.

"That's $236 please," I state ringing up his total as he slides his card into the swipe machine, "It'll take a minute, a caveman has better technology than this place." He shakes his head at me, waving his hand slightly, understanding.

"Sea salted chocolate, uh?" he wonders picking up the bar, as I mentally slap myself for forgetting to ask if he was interested, "Would you like to buy one?" I questioned despite already knowing his answer. It's the same one that I've heard all day.

Placing the packet back in its place he shakes his head, "No thank you, I wouldn't trust anything made by that lady."

"That's what I'm saying," ripping off his receipt before handing it to him, "Thank you, Mason," he laughs before turning towards his son, who is still listening to Mrs Adams ramble on about why she prefers Olay over Caudlíne.

About to bid farewell to the man, he turns and asks, "I hate to be a bother and I know it's short notice, but would you mind babysitting Wheezie for me on Saturday morning, I know you don't normally work weekends, it's just this storm's going to cause a run-in with my properties and-"

"Of course I will, Mr Cameron," I interrupted his ramble. He looks at me relieved, nodding his head, "See you later, Mason."

"Bye Ward," gross, I'm sticking with Mr Cameron.

Watching as the pair walk past my till I can't help but laugh as I see Rafe slouching away with a tub of Olay Anti-ageing cream. Turning around at the sound, he flips me off, "I'll get you back for this," earning a shoving on the shoulder from his dad, but I can't help but wave cheerily, "Oh, I'm sure you will."

Mr Ward Cameron, my other boss. A few years ago I put up flyers with a tear-off of my phone number offering a babysitting service. Safe to say, I got my fair share of prank calls and when I got a call from someone claiming to be Mr Cameron I assumed it was someone messing with me again, but it turns out it wasn't. He genuinely needed someone to watch his youngest daughter Wheezie and I needed cash, and he does pay generously, especially now considering recent circumstances.

Glancing at the clock that is nailed above the exit I see that it's 2:00 P.M, the best time of my day, getting out of here. Grabbing the key from my pocket, I lock up the till before heading toward the poor excuse of a staff room.

Glancing around the room blue painted room, making sure no one is still on their lunch, I quickly grab my bag and dash over to the fridge. I never, and mean never, condone stealing, that's why I don't call it that. I prefer 'borrowing and then 'forgetting' to give it back'. Sure, I never asked if I could 'borrow' the alcohol that I am currently stuffing in my bag but, that's neither here nor there.

I throw my bag, which I can already tell is going to cause my back hell, over my shoulder. I grab Kie longboard, which I did ask for permission to use, and begin to make my way past the checkouts.

Before leaving, I pivot around, "Hey, Mrs Adams," I called out just to see that she was already glaring in my direction, a bit creepy if you ask me, "Don't worry, you've only got like what, another 6 hours?" acting like I didn't know as I pointed at the clock.

"Oh, and before I forget," I rush over to her counter and rip my calculator off her till. Smiling sweetly at the older lady, saluting her as I leave, "See you next week, Mrs Adams," I laugh, running out the door, jumping onto the longboard.

Let the fun begin.

Now there is something about my friends that you should know. As cheesy as its sounds, we're a group of misfits who happen to fit perfectly together, well almost perfectly, but no matter what we've got each other backs.

Now, where do we start?

JJ Maybank. We've been best friends since the third grade after he got into a fight with some kids who were making fun of me for having a 'boys name', and I haven't been able to get rid of him since. He's the guy who jokingly pushed me off the HMS Pogue only to quickly find out that I couldn't swim. I insisted that it was fine but JJ doesn't take no for an answer and took it upon himself to personally teach me.

He's the most loyal guy I know, willing to drop anything to help his friends. I most definitely developed my kleptomaniac tendencies from him and despite how much I deny it, I have a soft spot for him.

Next, Kiara Carrera or Kie, my best and only girl friend. I met Kie during her first year at the Kook Academy, I had seen her around before, passing out leaflets about how 'we're killing our planet' and that 'the turtles deserve better'.

I was about to go fishing with my dad when I saw someone sitting at the dock, feet dangling in the water. Long story short: she was supposed to meet up with some of her 'friends' but they had sailed away leaving her behind. So, I asked if she would like to come fishing with us, half expecting her to say no, being partly a Kook and all, but she said yes. And now she's one of us, the Pogues. Not sure how her parents feel about that, but there is no denying I'm their favourite. Right?

There's Pope Heyward. I met Pope in the first grade. We were sitting beside each other at assembly and he dared to tell me that my singing voice sounded like cats dying, not that he was any better mind you. I had seen him around the cut a few times, helping his dad with deliveries and after seeing him struggle to carry four bags of groceries, I offered him some help. Of course, being a stubborn 6-year old boy, he delined saying 'I don't need your help, I'm super strong'. Safe to say, two seconds later I was carrying two bags and helped Pope and Mr Heyward with the rest of the deliveries that day.

I got an earful from my dad when I got home, but I didn't care, I'd made a friend that wasn't my brother. They didn't believe me when I said I had a friend called Pope, just brushing it off as one of my imaginary friends. Let's just say they got a fright when my 'imaginary friend, Pope' showed up at the Château.

Speaking of, up next, John Booker Routledge, John B. My twin, fraternal twin. Is 12 minutes older than me and will never let me forget it. My favourite memory with John B was when he fought to the death with our triplet in the womb. Okay, maybe that didn't happen, but you weren't there so, where's your evidence that it didn't?

He's my other half, not my better half because we all know I'm the better twin, and I couldn't live with him and his optimism. He can be irrational at times, but he always has plan A-Z mapped out in his head. I'm currently trying to convince him that we psychic powers, and by currently I'm mean from the day we were born. It's a weird sensation like there's a pit in the bottom of my stomach, and once I get that feeling I know that something's not right. And with a brother like John B, I get that feeling at least 3 times a day.

Might as well introduce myself whilst I'm at it. I'm Mason, Mason Routledge. The better twin. Yes, I too, have a middle name but I will never tell it to anyone because of how utterly embarrassing it is. I have managed to swear John B to secrecy, but I know it's just a matter of time before he blurts it out.

Now I know what you're probably thinking, 'Mason? That's a boys name.' Well yes, you'd be right but really what is a boys or girls name? The reason why I'm called Mason is simple, mom and dad were expecting twins. Twin boys. They had the names planned out as soon as they heard the news. One would be named John B after our dad, Big John, and the other would be named Mason, after our mom's dad. Makes sense, right?. Well, it was until I popped out, y' know not being a boy. But I love my name and I wouldn't change it for the world. My unspoken middle name, however, yes, I would rather that just not be associated with me.

I like to believe that I can hold my own, maybe it's because I grow up in a predominantly male household or the fact that I'm a Pogue, but I don't take peoples shit. My friends and I seem to always have the world against us, but without a doubt, I'd ride or die for them. They're my family.

Seeing the all too familiar hippie van parked at the side off the road brings me out of my autopilot state. Jumping off the longboard, I hurriedly shoved it into the back of the van. Fun fact about John B's van, he never locks it. There would be the fear about someone stealing it, but honestly, it's trashed and smells like weed, no thanks to JJ.

Quickly scaling the fence and as quietly as possible I tip-toed into the under-construction house and up the cement stairs, dodging the dangling wires and leftover pots of plaster.

'I can't believe they got rid of the turtles for this'

I'd know that voice anywhere. Peering around the corner, I spot Kie, hunched over a table reading what I'm assuming is maps for the house. Coming up with an idea, I slowly start to creep towards her, raising my hands just to clasp them down on her shoulders, "And what do you think you're doing?" I say in the deepest voice I can muster.

Jumping out her skin with a squeal, she spins around, hand over her heart, breathing heavily, "Macy, what the fuck? Don't do that," she exclaims, slapping my arm after she realises it was only me.

Unable to stop myself from laughing at her shock, "God, Kie, didn't know you had such a girly scream," I wheeze, arms wrapped around my stomach in an attempt to stop the ache.

Nodding her head pettily, "Yeah okay, you got me," clicking her tongue, but against her best efforts, a small smile dances across her face.

Taking a few deep breaths to calm my giggles, "Once you're done with sad girl hours, come out back, I've got beer," making my way towards the open glass doors.

"Caring about the turtles doesn't make me a sad girl," she exclaims as I nod my head understandingly, "You keep telling yourself that," I wave stepping outside, breathing in the fresh ocean breeze.

From under the scaffolding, I see a pair of dangling legs, "Afternoon, boys," I announce, jumping up in an attempt to smack the dangling feet that I now know belong to JJ

"Did you get the goods?" asks John B causing me to hold my hand on my heart, mocking insult, "Do you have no faith in me Johnny boy," tosing him a beer, "Of course, I got the goods."

Holding one out for Pope, even though I knew he would decline, proving my point as he shook his head, "And where did you get said goods?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

Grabbing two beers, I begin to climb up the scaffolding, plopping down next to JJ, handing him a beer which he greatly excepts, "Are you question my morals?" I ask, taking a big gulp of my beer instantly wincing at the lukewarm taste.

"No, no," I hear him say, turning around, occupying himself with the builder's tools.

It a pretty view from up here. The calm crashing of the waves. The way the cold ocean and the warm sky meet for a perfect kiss on the horizon. Imagine living here. Having no worries. Being full Kook.

Glancing at the boy beside me, I see that he was already looking at me. Lifting my eyebrows in question, "You look cute," he cheekily says, picking at the loose thread on my sleeve.

"Very funny JJ," I saying, looking back out at the water, "No, I'm serious. I love a woman in uniform," nudging his shoulder into mine and I nudge him right back, "Hey," he laughs, dramatically falling to his side, "Watch the sweet nectar," holding his can of beer dearly to his chest.

Shaking my head, I turn to see John B scaling the house, jumping up to the peak of the roof, "Hey, please be careful, Johnny B, we don't earn enough to cover a medical bill," I warn sitting my beer beside me, using my hands to block the blinding sun, staring questionably at the boy.

"Oh, but you'd catch me though, right?" he says, now taunting the idea of falling, balancing on one foot with outstretched arms, "And break your fall? Nope," I popped, reach over to grab my can only to grasp the air. Looking at where I know I placed it, my confusion vanishes when I hear the sounds of slurping beside me.

Blinking at the boy, who just peers back at me after tanning my can, crushing it, and letting out a pleasant burp which he so graciously blows in my direction, "Gross, JJ," attempting to swat away the smell. The boy just shrugs, "What were you not done with that?" faux concern covering his face but his eyes glistening with knowing mischief.

"Should I do it?"

"Yeah, jump. I'll shoot you on the way down," says Pope, aim a drill in my brother's direction, "You'll shoot me?" John B taunts, holding up a finger gun, "Pow," he laughs as Pope fall back onto the table pretending to be shot.

"They're going to have Japanese toilets with towel warmers," complains Kie, slugging her way onto the balcony, voicing her distaste for the future Kook's beach house.

"Didn't I tell you to come out when you were done being sad?", I direct, leaning my chin against the cold pole, feeling on top of the world as the fresh breeze blows through my hair.

That swiftly changes when Kie dashes towards my feet, tugging the laces on my converses loose as I hastily attempt to lift my feet away from her snapping fingers, "Go away!" I exclaim hugging my legs to my chest, tusking at her antics "God, you're annoying."

My comment doesn't affect her as she blows me a kiss which I can't help but catch, holding it to my heart sending a wink in her direction, "This used to be a turtle habitat, but who cares about the turtle I guess?"

"Well, I did, but since you've-" I start, but the feeling of my shoe gets tighter distracts me, "...What are you doing?" I question as JJ finishes up my shoes, "You should double knot your laces," he comments, tapping his fingers in a random beat on the toe of my shoes.

Lightly, I begin to flick his hand away only for him to grab my wrist, fiddling with the silver ladybug charm on my bracelet, "Can I have this?" He has asked me this multiple times in the past and the answer has always been the same, "No."

"Can you please not kill yourself?" Kie squints up at my brother, "And don't spill that beer, you're not getting another one," JJ adds just as a sudden gust of wind brushed past causing John B to lose his balance and drop his beer.

Jinx.

"Oh, shit. No!" cries John B, making grabby hands at his fallen beer.

"Of course you did, like right when I told you."

"Smooth."

"Well done, dumbass!"

"Hey!"

The sound of a car pull up to the driveway halts our attack on John B, yelling being heard, "Hey, uh, securities here. Let's wrap it up," confirms Pope, making JJ and I raise to our feet as John B slides off the roof, "Boys are here early today."

Rushing over to grab my bag once my feet are back on the balcony, I lean over the railing squinting, "Gary? Is that you?" I asked, "You know it's me, Mason."

Turning around to look at friends, "It's Gary guys," I smile, "Gary, good to see you, man!" JJ adds and quickly pulls the back of my bag when he sees Gary climb up the stairs, "JJ!"

"You two, are asking for it," Kie laughs as we all rush back through the house, all of us laughing and cheering, running down the stairs, "Go, go!" I giggled as I Gary's attempts to grab me but I duck under his swinging arms, running out to the garden.

"Not much of a hugger man," JJs joke echoing off the empty wall of the house.

Running up beside Pope, I urge him up over the fence, "Come on, Pope, go, go, go," landing on the other side, watching as he lands flat on his face, "Graceful as always Pope," I giggle pulling him back on his feet.

"Come on Pope, Fatso's coming" JJ encourages, suddenly landing beside us just barely missing the hot-headed security who is dangling over the fence, "Come here, you little pricks!"

"Bus is leaving," John B pulls up the van honking the horn, Kie opening the door for us, laughing as we shove each other in. John B wastes no time hitting the gas, driving away from the angry security.

"Check out Gary, gunnin' for a raise," Pope laughs as we watch a hopeless Gary chase after the van.

Having an idea, JJ unzips my bag and leans out of the open door, "Come on Gary," he taunts, waving the beer can in front of the man like you would a dog with a treat.

"You're going to give him a heart attack," Kie sympathises but still finds his actions amusing, "You're so close! You can do it. There you go," he tosses the can at the poor man who attempts to dodge it.

"God, they don't pay you enough, man" I laugh peering out the door, taking in the sight of Gray who is wheezing with his hands planted on his knees.

Seeing enough torture for one day, Kie tugs us back in, "That's enough," she says finally feeling sorry for the poor man, sliding the door close.

"Oh, come on. That sort of initiative is just begging to be punished," reasons JJ, plopping down in the back of the van, now finding interest fiddling with the blunt he pulled from his back pocket.

I lean my head on Kie's shoulder and sigh, "I love Gary," I confess, earning a flick on the head from Pope and a nudge on the leg from JJ

We're the Pogues, and our mission this summer is to have a good time, all the time.

Prologue: FIN!

What did you think?

I’m really excited to explore Mason’s character and her adventures with the Pogues. I have so much planned for her.

I hope you enjoyed this introduction <3

[jungnoir]

hello!! truth be told, i am not entirely certain if your requests are open and stuff, if they aren't, please forgive me, it's honestly my first time requesting so i'm really worried that i am gonna mess up, please don't hate me :((( do you think there's a chance that you'll write some youngk or wonpil fluff (or rival!au,,, or anything would be great,,, honestly) any time soon? if not, that's totally okay, i hope i didn't bother you, thank you regardless and have a great day!!

anatomically correct heart-shaped pretzel;

kim wonpil | food service is way more competitive and romantic than you’d think, believe it or not. rival!au. mall!au. | 1.6k words. | fluff, humor.

a/n: ahhh you’re okay!!! thank you for being so polite. I’m not officially accepting requests as I’m sort of just writing whenever I want to and dropping in. usually, I will announce that I’m writing requests on my blog and leave it open for a certain amount of time. however, I’m being pretty casual with things so I totally don’t mind this request at all! here’s rival kiosk workers at the mall with wonpil

“He’s at it again. Look at him; he’s got an evil look in those puppy dog eyes, that dead customer service smile, that high-pitched “have a good day!” pep in his step. I want to wring his neck like a Shake Weight.”

Your coworker, Dowoon, pauses in the middle of refilling the fruity pebbles toppings to give you a disturbed look, “Okay, Jesus. What is wrong with you?”

You glare right back, “It’s fucking pretzel boy Wonpil showing off again.”

“You mean doing his job?”

Grumbling a “showing off” under your breath, you turn around again to continue your angry brooding when you happen to catch Wonpil’s eyes between serving customers. His friendly smile quickly turns malicious, the boy having the audacity to drop his eyelid down in a wink before going about his business again, annoyingly unbothered by your seething not 20 feet away.

Dowoon was convinced that you were paranoid. Ever since that new pretzel kiosk popped up next to your once very thriving frozen yogurt shop, you’d been noticing business trailing elsewhere. People were trading gummy bears for salty bread and Wonpil’s “personable” attitude, something that you couldn’t quite get over. He wasn’t personable at all. You knew the real truth and yet no one believed you.

It had all started two months back when they’d first opened. You had thought Wonpil to look actually pleasant to talk to, deciding to befriend your new competition to be friendly which, unfortunately, massively backfired. Perhaps you were too bubbly, too optimistic on the first go, because Wonpil seemed to immediately bristle upon greeting. That was your first sign that things were going steadily downhill.

Your next sign was how aware you were that you were dominating the conversation. It seemed like no matter how much you tried to fish out of Wonpil, he wouldn’t budge. His answers were short, blunt, and disconcerting to say the least. After a few failed attempts, you’d promptly agreed with yourself that perhaps Wonpil was just one of those people who went to work, did their job, and left it at that. But then the customers came rolling in.

He was a totally different guy, the bastard.

Everything. From the way he lit up to the way his voice rose several octaves to the way he laughed out loud at every terrible customer joke. It was a pang to your admittedly offended heart. Was there something wrong with you? Did you smell? Was he just having a bad day earlier? It had thrown you pretty off for the rest of your shift, even catching the attention of one of your other usually aloof co-workers: Sungjin.

You just couldn’t place it. You obviously didn’t want to think he simply disliked you and only you, but it was all you had to go on. Why was he so averse to you when you’d done nothing to him? ...as far as you knew, anyway.

He was even nice to Dowoon! What did Dowoon have that you didn’t?!

And then, then, Wonpil started to notice you, but for all the wrong reasons.

It was through knowing smirks and condescending winks that you began to kindle your delicate hatred-baby for Wonpil. He knew he was peeving you off. He knew that when you’d watch him with that barely veiled look of yearning in your eyes for acceptance that he could simply look your way and you’d fluster. He wasn’t kind. He was a jerk. Wonpil was an absolute asshole and no one seemed to think so except you.

Your co-workers called it a friendly rivalry. You called it war.

He was super keen on stealing your customers too, drawing them in from your shop to get them to buy those damn pretzels, just to see you squirm and fumble to turn their attention back. When he’d win, he’d get this smug look on his face and gnaw his bottom lip with a hooded gaze cast your way, practically relishing in your anger and humiliation. You’d dreamt of all the ways you could make that little pipsqueak sing for mercy-

“Hey! Can you do your job or do I need to stand you on the other side of the counter as a cardboard cutout?” Dowoon’s annoyance is not easy to ignore even in the midst of your daydream, and unfortunately, that meant that you would have to come back to your reality. Your cold, Wonpilly reality.

With a lack of vigor that could rival a pubescent boy in band practice, you continue your shift in a disgruntled haze. You don’t want to think you’re being childish about it, but you can often feel Wonpil’s eyes on you while you work, and it’s enough to make you rightfully paranoid. You know the minute you look up that he’s going to have some patronizing expression on his face and, honestly, you wouldn’t be able to hold yourself back from punching it clean off. Only fifteen more minutes, you think to yourself, counting down til the end of your shift. Fifteen more minutes and then I’m out of here.

Dowoon eventually leaves early, mentioning he has a date tonight and that he doesn’t want to be late, and you mumble an affirmative to clean and lock up for him. You’ve got no such plans for the evening, instead planning to relax and enjoy the weekend Wonpil-free. As customers slow to almost nothing, you decide it’s a good time to start closing up.

As you’re sweeping away the debris on the floor, you hear the sound of a fist knocking against glass and decide to look up, ready to shoo away a customer who came too late. Instead of a customer, it’s something much worse.

“Hey,” Wonpil says, one hand in his puffy jacket pocket, the other holding a small take-away bag from the pretzel place, “heading out tonight?”

You’re so stunned by his attempt at casual conversation that you forget to be mean, staring at him in confusion, “Uh... no. Why?”

Wonpil looks both relieved and surprised, clutching the bag a little closer to himself, “Oh... uh, well it’s just that... you know, it’s Valentine’s day. I assumed you had a date.”

Your brain is a Windows blue screen right now. Was it... oh, fuck, how could you have missed it? Today was February the 14th. You flush soon after. No, you had no date. “Nope... but I bet you do. If you came here to gloat about it, don’t even bother. I’m too tired to deal with you right now.”

A look of hurt flashes across Wonpil’s visage, “I didn’t... that’s not why I came over.”

“Then why?” You can’t hide the tired exasperation in your voice, “You closed up already, didn’t you? Just go home. I’m not in the mood.”

That same hurt flashes again and part of you almost wants to feel bad about it. 

Wonpil reaches into the bag with a trembly bottom lip, “I-I came over to apologize. And to give you this.”

In his hand now is a heart shaped pretzel, but not just the traditional heart shape. No, it was anatomically correct. Scarily so. It was also piping hot and looked rather tasty after a long day of work. You rarely indulged yourself in the enemy’s goods, but... “What do you mean, apologize?”

“I uh... I kinda totally screwed up. The thing is, I don’t hate you like you think I do. I actually really like you. I know that I don’t show it and it’s not much of an excuse, but it’s just... when I first met you, I was really, really nervous. You were so kind and funny and attractive... I froze up,” your eyes begin to bulge as he holds the pretzel out to you, “and I couldn’t act normally around you. Then people started saying we were rivals so I ran with it. Anything to get you to look at me.”

You check Wonpil’s face to see if he’s lying. He’s not, as far as you can tell, but you’d been a bad judge of his character before, “That’s really stupid, Wonpil.”

Instead of looking upset however, he laughs lightheartedly... like you’d kinda hoped he would laugh around you all along. It’s a sweet sound. You don’t even want to wring his neck right now. “I know. I don’t expect that to fix anything, but I still wanted to give you something. You can stomp it or throw it in the trash or feed it to the raccoon couple near Macy’s, I don’t mind. I just wanted you to know that I’m a really stupid guy who has a kind of embarrassingly huge crush on you. Happy Valentine’s day, (Name). I hope... I hope that we can at least be friends. Or enemies with a truce.”

Sincere. He was actually being sincere right now.

You drop the dustpan and push the swinging half-door open to leave your little kiosk, watching Wonpil as he turns to face you, pretzel still outstretched. You take it form his hands and watch his shoulders deflate in relief. A little overwhelmed with the fact that he’d just confessed to you, you test the waters, “So uh... you busy, Wonpil?”

The boy blinks rapidly, “N-No. Why?”

You take a bite from the warm pretzel and almost let out a humiliating moan in content. Goddamn, this boy made some mean pretzels. How could you ever turn that down? “There’s a movie playing in the theater upstairs in an hour. You know, that really bad remake? You wanna catch it together?”

Wonpil lets out an immediate “Yes. But... what do you wanna do until then?”

For the first time in two months, you allow Wonpil one real, warm smile once more, “You can start by finally answering all those questions I asked about you two months ago, for a start. I’d like to get to know my rival a little better.”

[imbumkyung]

I Saw It In A Movie One Time- Ch. 8

————

Chapter 1 // Chapter 2 // Chapter 3 // Chapter 4 // Chapter 5 // Chapter 6 // Chapter 7

The lights in Bella’s house stood dim. Tiny specks of light shone through the window carried by the moon. Riley didn’t need any lights, however. His vampire abilities perfectly capable of providing him sight through the dark. He picked up a red blouse, inhaling the scent like he’d never taken a breath before. Maybe it was just that— he didn’t have to breathe anymore.

Charlie lay asleep on the couch downstairs, unsuspecting to the “killer animal” who also happened to be the missing boy he had been working so hard to find.

Upon hearing the door open, Charlie stood to greet Bella, unhappy that Edward brought her home way past dinner time

“You know,” Charlie rounded the corner, “Edward could at least respect meal times,” He gruffed, despondent that he spent dinner by himself.

“I was just with Jake,” Bella refuted lightly.

Charlies face lit up approvingly, until he heard Edwards knock on the door, leaving them to have privacy.

Edward was worried for Bella’s safety, ranting to her that he had almost broken the treaty to make sure she was okay. Mid-sentence, he caught a scent unfamiliar to him.

-

“I didnt recognize his scent,” Edward explained. The Cullens stood attentive– shocked that an intruder of their kind roamed the spaces of Bella’s room.

Esme’s eyes stuck to the floor in concentration, “A nomad passing through.”

“A passerby wouldn’t have left Bella’s father alive,” Rosalie refuted

Jasper and Emmett entered the living space of the Cullen’s home, unsurprisingly composed considering they had just travelled about fifteen miles just to track the intruders scent.

“His scent disappeared about 5 miles south of Bella’s house,” Jasper informed.

The Cullens agreed that it had been orchestrated. Rosalie was correct— any other vampire wouldn’t have left Charlie alive. But somehow, he was important enough to let live by the intruder. It was clear that the intruder did not want to leave any traces of his visit behind. They just could not pinpoint who was behind it. Alice didn’t see Victoria in her visions, nor did she see Aro make any decisions regarding this issue. Carlisle’s only solution was to keep guard around Bella’s house at all times.

“Another protection detail?” Rosalie asked.

“Rosalie,” Carlisle warned.

“No— she’s right,“ Bella agreed, “You can’t protect me, my dad, and search for the intruder.”

“And for Victoria,” Rosalie pressed.

“And keep yourselves fed.” Bella finished.

Alice sighed, “We’ve also gotta watch Kai... I invited her over for dinner tomorrow.”

Rosalie let out a scoff, “Perfect.” She whispered under her breath

“I’m not gonna let you be here unprotected—,” said Edward.

“—and I’m not gonna let you starve,” Bella responded strongly, “And besides, I wouldn’t be unprotected. I have...”

“Who?” Edward asked.

-

“That’ll be $4.25” Kai said to the little boy who was currently scrambling his pocket for an extra dollar, though huffed when he could only muster $3.00.

The boy placed his $3.00 sheepishly on the counter while searching for change with his other hand. Kai smiled softly to herself, shook her head and handed him his bagged items anyway, “don’t worry about it,” she whispered to him with a soft grin. He thanked her gratefully and skipped out of the store to his friends waiting outside. She watched as they celebrated the snacks and candies with a fist bump, riding away happily on their bikes and scooters.

“That was nice of you,” said a voice behind the counter. Kai jumped, almost forgetting there was another customer, thought relaxed as she looked into the eyes of Seth.

She shrugged, “He’s young.”

Seth agreed with a soft “yeah,” as he placed his items on the counter.

“So uh...” he started, scratching the back of his neck nervously, “when are you off?”

Kai chuckled to herself softly, “Umm.. about 10 minutes from now... why? What’s up?” She asked

“Oh! Nothing I just— I mean— I just wanted to know if you wanted to hang for a little bit... that’s all,” Seth asked, prepared for rejection as he recalled the conversation they had just days before.

“Yeah uh...” she agreed, tucking a strand of hair behind her hair, eyes focused on the screen that calculated the total, “I can meet you outside in a little bit— that’s $12.76 by the way.”

“Okay! Yeah I’ll just be out there,” he said while swiping his card, eyes also focused on the machine in front of him. Their efforts to avoid eye contact were evident.

Kai nodded, lips pressed into a tight line awkwardly, “Alright... I’ll see you in a bit,” she said while swiftly bagging the receipt and handing him the bag. Their fingers touched upon the small exchange, but they both decided not to react as Seth left the store.

She heard a scoff from her co-worker who was restocking Trolli snacks in the aisle in front of her, “C’mon dude,” she shook her head, laughing at the cute yet awkward encounter.

“What?” Kai questioned astoundingly.

Her co-worker, Joanne smiled at her, “that was cute.”

Kai only shook her head, “no” while smiling softly to herself.

-

“Have you tried these?” Seth asked, holding up a brightly colored bag of orange chips, the Chinese characters bolded with cartoon pictures of little kids.

Kai shook her head, “Nah, what are they?”

“They’re like... cheese chips. Here try one they’re amazing,” he offered, opening the bag to her. Kai took a single cheese ring between her fingertips.

Her eyes widened, “Dude, they’re really good— what the heck!”

Seth laughed, “I told you!”

“It’s cheesy but like...” Kai’s brows furrowed, trying to find the words.

“Sweet too, huh?” Seth finished. Kai agreed enthusiastically.

They sat for a few moments just enjoying each others company, finishing lots and lots of snacks, and playing paper football with what used to be the receipt.

“So if you don’t mind me asking,” Seth began, his eyes concentrating on the goal created by Kai’s fingers, “where are you from?” He flicked the paper and watched it fly right in the middle of the goal.

Kai huffed. He’d made about a hundred goals while she made maybe six.

“Hawaii,” she answered simply, eyes much more focused on the goal now made by Seths’ fingers. She squinted intensely, trying her best to finally made the goal. She flicked and—

“What the heck man?!” Kai exclaimed, arms flailing in frustration as she looked at him incredulously. Seth let out the loudest laugh, “I’m sorry! I just wanted to see how you’d react,” he cackled. Kai would have definitely made it perfectly in the center, but Seth moved the goal right at the last moment, making it another miss for her.

Kai stood up, “Alright. You know what?” She threatened jokingly. Seth watched as she walked around the table, a mischievous yet playful smile on her face, and wrapped her arms around his neck in a lock and swung him side to side.

“Ahh! Ahh! I surrender! I’m sorry!” Seth feigned defeat. Kai’s not-so-tight grip loosened, as they laughed together. Her arms still were around him, only they lowered to sit above his shoulders. Seth enjoyed the feeling for just a moment, holding onto her arms still— and it was gone the second he realized.

“Sorry,” Kai sheepishly went to sit back down.

Seth smiled brightly at her, kicking her feet daringly, “Don’t be.”

“Are you trying to play footsies?” Kai asked, an uncontrollable smile adorned her face.

“Am I?” Seth challenged.

Their toes making a ruckus as they tried to see who could scuff who’s shoes more, until the game eventually wore. Kai’s phone buzzed and she slipped it out of her pocket, her head cocked back confusedly.

“What is it?” Seth asked.

“It’s Bella,” she answered, “she wants to know if I wanted to hang out with her and her friend Angela... but I don’t know how she got my number.”

Seth shrugged, “maybe Alice gave it to her,”

Kai nodded, “maybe.”

-

AAAAAAAND We’re back!! Yes, I am back to writing this and although this chapter is short, I will have more up soon! I apologize to all the people who were reading this because its been literally a year since the last update! I know it’s not a lot, but I still hope you will enjoy!

@coffees-and-constellations @rosalies-hale @sunflowerspectre @snazzydobrik @hvitserk-ragnarssons-slave @buckysjuicyplums @britty443

[mintchocolatechipnut]

kirishima's wedding

Note: This is for my sunshine boy, he deserves all the love in the world and what better way to show that through headcanons for his and his s/o’s wedding? I was inspired mainly by flash mobs and wedding dances, in particular this one, so here you go!

Tags: pure fluff, dancing, Kirishima is a sentimental man, I was projecting a little too much on this

Word count: 2.0k

To be honest, it isn’t that Kirishima isn’t interested in his own wedding

It’s more like he’s interested in marrying you

And at this point, when you’ve already given him the green light when you said yes to his proposal, he really couldn’t ask for more

So he’s actually pretty content with letting you pick out most things

His being one of the top 10 heroes (see: big bonuses) is just an added perk that he’s grateful for

You want that dress you saw in that top-grade wedding magazine? Sure. You want a multi-cuisine buffet for your reception? Go for it.

Boy’s honestly just really ecstatic that you’ve agreed to marry him

Though, if you did want input from him, just say the word and he’ll offer his ideas

He wants the best for you, but if you’re adamant on wanting this wedding to be a two-person thing, he has no qualms against that

However, it’s just that his schedule doesn’t really allow for all-day wedding planning—people still need saving, reports still need to be made, it ain’t the honeymoon yet, sweetheart!

But he’ll do his best to contribute in whatever ways he can, be it the direct planning or supporting you from the sidelines by attending wedding dress sessions with you, or checking out the venues you have in mind

Heck, he even makes sure you’re eating three full meals a day when you lose track of time planning

Meanwhile, people at work have been congratulating Kirishima for becoming an engaged man

And with so many warm-hearted regards, not just from his co-workers, but even his fans (Red Riot has the best fans ever), it’s hard not to stop him from looking forward to his own wedding even more

So from then on he finds little breaks in his routine so he can help you out

His favorite part about the entire process, though, was learning your first dance

You’d asked him if he was up for learning a fun little routine as your first dance during your wedding

Now Kirishima isn’t a great dancer by any means, but he is eager to please, so he said yes quite readily

Only when he saw the video did he blanch a little

He’d thought it’d be a sweet sensual waltz that wasn’t too hard to learn (based off what he heard from others), but you’d instead chosen a fast-paced, twisty sort of dance

What was it called again? Lindy hop? Swing? He’s not sure, but the song is catchy and cheesy enough for him to tap his foot to

But oh no. He can’t dance, he thinks. This is going to take a while

And it did. You enrolled the help of Mina, who graciously extended an offer to teach you an improvised routine for the likes of you and Kirishima despite her own busy schedule

Mina’s a strict teacher. Kirishima doesn’t know why he has never thought that before. Probably because he hadn’t danced under her tutelage during the cultural festival, but whatever

She pushes him to the limit, making sure he isn’t stiff with his movements, and to coordinate with you on timing and movements

The first class is a little of a disaster though. You end up stepping on each other’s toes a lot, and Kirishima feels unnatural and awkward as he dances

This wasn’t on his resume! He’s not cut out for this kind of agile, flexible movement. In fact, all he has to do sometimes during his hero work is stay in place as a shield. He doesn’t have it in him to twist and jive like you and Mina!

You can see that Kirishima is a little discouraged, and suggest a break

Kirishima’s quiet for those few minutes, staring down at his toes and flexing them, wondering if he can ever really do this right

It’s not like you don’t notice, but Mina is busy teaching you how to improve your own steps

When he sees you dance all on your own though, a surge of pride wells up in Kirishima because you’re doing your best even though this isn’t your territory

But you’d wanted to do it, and here you were putting your back into it

And—technically he wanted to do it too, right? Since he’d agreed.

Kirishima then realises that he hasn’t been giving this his all, considering he never thought it was in his nature, or part of his expertise, to do this

But there’s always a first time, right?

You feel a tap on your shoulder and turn to see a grinning Kirishima, holding two thumbs-up to say ‘Let’s go!’

After that practice goes a lot more smoothly, with Kirishima finally getting the rhythm in his veins and you two even having successfully danced through the first verse on just memory

When you get home, Kirishima’s so eager to get it right all over again that you have to tell him to tone it down because you yourself are aching all over from Mina’s spartan training

You begin having weekly sessions with Mina, always practicing in between when the both of you have the time, because it’s not like it’s the same when you practice on your own individually

And Kirishima realises he likes doing this with you, taking big new steps together out of your comfort zones, to do something different

Just like how you were soon to be taking a whole new big step into the future as husband and wife

And suddenly all these private dance sessions with you he brings a little closer to his heart

For one he’s never one to pass up the chance to practice with you, and what’s more, he thoroughly enjoys himself when he twirls you around the room and see the endless joy in your tired, satisfied smile at the end of it

Pretty soon he’s wanting to make sure that you put on the best performance for wedding day

He’s even resorted to bopping and doo-wopping in his office sometimes, even when Bakugou comes around for work things

In which he snorts and tells Kirishima he’s acting like a total idiot and should get off cloud 9 real quick, or else he’s gonna make him

But Kirishima really can’t bring himself to care, because he just knows that he’s going to make you proud on that day with his moves

When the day finally rolls around (or perhaps a few days earlier), Kirishima’s getting the wedding jitters

To which he copes with going out with his friends from high school, and to which Kaminari and Sero decide to hold a stag party for him

Just him and the boys, after so long

He has a great time of course, and forgets about his worries for a little while, but when he comes home and noticed you’ve gone to sleep without him, he’s brought back to thinking about the day you’ll finally sleep in the same bed as husband and wife

And there he goes again

It takes a good nag from Bakugou that ‘you don’t need to worry about a thing, Shitty Hair, or else she’ll be embarrassed for you’ for him to regain his spirits

It’s really not that he doesn’t want to marry you, but his insecurities, having just found an outlet in you, have resurfaced once more to plague him with the idea that he doesn’t deserve you

But maybe it’s precisely because he doesn’t deserve you that he’s got to do everything he can to make you happy, so you don’t regret this choice you made with him

Wedding day finally arrives, and Kirishima’s got the nerves again

But the good kind this time

You can have his hair done however you like, but I like to headcanon that he wears it down in its natural state, with half of it done up in a ponytail like how Aizawa occasionally wears it. It’s a tribute to how he’d shed his old self to be a new version of Crimson Riot, with the vibrant red hair, but also not forgetting his roots and origins

He waits nervously at the altar, where Bakugou crosses his arms impatiently to his side (because of course Bakugou is his best man)

He sees all the guests you’ve invited: pro heroes, mutual friends, your own colleagues, and of course, your families

Not to mention some of the press are lingering outside the venue in order to get some photos in for the news of Red Riot tying the knot

And he’s terrified and thrilled at the same time by the prospect that the two of you will be joining together as one in front of so many witnesses

When you finally walk toward him in a dress as radiant as your smile, Kirishima sheds a few tears

He definitely cries. He can’t help it! When you take his outstretched, trembling hand and stand next to him, you decide to tease him a little

You whisper, “What? Already can’t handle the prospect of marrying me? Are you going to break it off?”

“No!” His outburst is loud enough for the people in the front pews (namely your families) to hear, which startles you, but when you turn to face each other, both of your hands held in his, he leans forward and whispers, ‘No. I’m never going to let you go from now on.’

‘Come on Eiji, we haven’t even said the vows yet.’ But he can’t stop the tears, and it takes a few embarrassing yet endearing moments for you to calm him down and proceed with the ceremony

In the end, your first kiss as husband and wife at the altar is, as he tells the boys later, ‘indescribable’

There are just so many feelings running through him when he kisses you that he’s tempted to cry again

But the cheers all around you remind him this is a joyous occasion to be celebrated, and Mr and Mrs. Kirishima make a run down the aisle while petals are being thrown and congratulations echoing around them

It finally comes down to the first dance, and Kirishima’s got adrenaline pumping through his veins even before the music starts

He’d had a few glasses of champagne earlier to calm his nerves but the alcohol hasn’t been kicking in and it’s almost time—

He feels a hand clutch his and the moment he looks at you, all inhibitions fade

He’s ready to kill it on that dance floor with you

Needless to say, the dance goes superb and gets rave reviews from the guests, if the whoops and the whistles are anything to go by

By the end of it everyone is up and dancing and Kirishima just can’t keep the beaming smile off his face

The second time Kirishima cries is when he’s dancing with you to a ballad, as he holds you close to him, feeling every inch of your body against his and having your wonderful, beautiful self so close

You notice the silent tears dripping down his face and place a hand to his cheek, ‘What’s wrong, Ei?’

‘Nothing’s wrong. That’s just it. Everything’s so right in this moment that I feel I’ll never experience this ever again.’ And since he’s not so sober at the moment, he blurts out the whole of what he’s really thinking. ‘I just think about how I got here, with you, and I don’t know if I’ve unknowingly traded all my life’s happiness away for this one day.”

He waits for the usual pep talk you always give him when he tells you he doesn’t deserve you or any of this, or a ‘don’t be silly’ kind of logical dismissal he might expect from Bakugou, but you look him in the eye, and through his blurry vision your smile is still as bright as it was on the day you first met

‘Well, even if you’re forever sad from now on, I know I can only feel eternal happiness after this. So I’ll be nice and share some of that happiness with you, because we’re one now.’

This time the tears really come pouring lmao

Everyone mocks him for being such a crybaby afterwards but all Kirishima can think of is now that he’s given you his last name, he’s going to continue giving you all the happiness in the world

[nish-with-no-niche]

When No One's Around...

Chartered accountant!Jaebeom x Software engineer!Reader

Summary :

Ever wonder how much alcohol tolerance can Jaebeom have for you? Read till the end to find out ;)

Warning :

1) This chapter.....is a long ass ride.

2) I know some people prefer using their name, but I only realised it later that instead of (Y/N) I accidentally gave reader-nim a name, i.e, Yeseul. So kindly bear with me as it's my first time writing a 2nd person perspective and just imagine your own name in its place. Thankyou and.....enjoy!

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You finally had finished your board meeting and were heading out of the office building with your co-workers to retire to your humble abode.

"It's 7:37 pm ladies and gentlemen, and we are finally free for the night.", said Sarah, one of your close colleagues.

"Aaaand we're leaving 2 hours later than the designated office hours. This is over time!", exclaimed Kyunghwan, your senior, and sales manager. It was totally unusual but justified for everyone to feel this way. After such a heated discussion about the proposals everyone was exhausted and acted dramatically. Even though they were your seniors, almost everybody still treated each other without the honorifics outside of work; albeit they could seem eccentric given the time and place. You yourself had experienced it first hand and maybe tonight had just a little bit more in store for you.

" Everyone, I totally understand how you must feel.....", stated Mr. Yoon-ho, the team director. "We, are not getting paid enough. Let's go to a restaurant and give ourselves a well deserved treat. The person who is wearing blue today will be the ones to pay up!", came his suggestion.

Hearing his sudden offer, each person constituting the 8 people group cheered and hooted but started checking their dress colours as the realization hit in. 'Oh thank god, I'm wearing anything but blue today' , everyone thought simultaneously.

However everyone's eyes landed on you as you were the only one wearing a turquoise blue ruffle shirt with beige coloured cigarette pants. And everybody knew exactly where that suggestion in the director's mind had come up.

' Oh lord, it's Yeseul again.'

Firstly, Yoon-ho was a huge-ass spend-thrift. Even if he knows he wont eat or use something, he would still spend money on it. Especially when it's someone else's money.

And secondly, he despised you. You and your intelligence. And the fact that you were humble made it even worse for him.

Atleast one can hate on arrogant people for their arrogance. As for humble people, we can't even hate them for anything, much less like. Tch.

Sarah, concerned for you asked if you were okay with that. Not that you really had a choice in the first place.

But you had stopped listening-in to their conversation, midway. Because your eyes were solely fixated on this unexpected visitor, standing right across the road, leaning against his car and looking right at you.

Im Jaebeom, your soon-to-be fiancè, in all his glory was right in front of you and you had no idea what he was doing there.

"Sarah, I'll see you later."

Coming to your senses after 3.57 seconds, you waved back at him and quickly crossed the road to reach him.

" Yeseul, hey" started Jaebeom.

"Uh, hi! I didn't know you were here. How have you been?", unsure, you asked him.

"I've been good. I got off work early today so I decided to pick you up like a responsible boyfriend", smirked Jaebeom.

He had his hands in his pant pockets the whole time, was wearing a suit with his hair gelled up and looked like the epitome of a perfectly successful banker.

"How long had you been waiting?", you questioned. "Not too long, about 20 minutes? .... Yeah. Don't worry though, I was busy on my phone." He lied. He knew you'd feel even worse about the truth because in reality he had been waiting for you since two hours thirty-seven minutes and sixteen seconds.

But even then you insisted, " Now this makes me look really bad. You didn't have to come all the way here. Why didn't you call me?"

"I wanted to be here", he replied cheekily and pat your head. "And it was a good surprise, wasn't it?"

(Sighing) "what if I already went home or I was staying in late?"

"Well then lets just say I got lucky" he smiled.

You were about to say something further, but he cut you in, " By the way, your...... colleagues, they seem... expectant?" Looking back at them you see them all wide-eyed and smiley-faces as if they just didn't come out of an exhausting office day. Realizing their expressions , you turned and asked Jaebeom, " oh, um, Jaebeom-shi, you're not too tired, right? Have you eaten something?"

"No, not really, why?"

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" HA, HA, HA, HA, HA! WHAT A NIGHT MAN, WHOO!!" roared a drunk Mr. Yoon. "Wow, Yeseul, you have such a nice boyfriend, he's a keeper, hahahaha. Everyone! say, 'THANKYOU IM JAEBEOM-SSI!'.

Bashfully, everyone complied, giving you sorry smiles and yet enjoying the food and drinks in front of them as if it was their first time eating.

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Since the time the talks of you about to being engaged rounded up in the halls of your office, everybody had been eager and curious to meet this Mr. Perfect who they had only seen in photos. Everyday not only the women but also your male coworkers would come over at your desk asking you to set up a get together with him.

They all wanted to know who this mysterious person was, taking a liking for someone as stoic as you. They never imagined you being in a relationship with anyone- always holding the title of 'Fashion Femme Fatale'.

So now here you were- with Jaebeom- and a gang of 8 people who were doing nothing but wasting Jaebeom's hard earned money.

Yes, he offered to pay up in your stead.

Ah! So chic!

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You were getting really uncomfortable because you felt bad for Jaebeom who was nothing but sweet to everyone all this time. You were barely starting off in a relationship and now he had to witness all of ....... this.

You wanted to just take your bag and run away with him.

"Hmm, Yeseul , how long has it been since you guys started dating?" Asked Yoon-ho.

Huh?

" uh, it's been about...... 2 months?" you replied looking at Jaebeom for confirmation. After getting his nod of approval you continued, "why do you ask though, sunbae-nim?"

"Ah! I didn't get to congratulate you. First of all....... let me pour you a drink!"

"What, out of nowhere?"you retaliated.

"Ahem! I'm your superior."he countered. "You didn't even touch anything yet, Drink~ bottoms up~~".

In the midst of his coercions, you contemplated- 'Why... do I get intimidated by Yoon-ho ssi? .... Soju's too strong ...... Jaebeom won't be able to drive if he drinks it.... house is far tooo. *sighs* it's over for me if I get drunk and act like an idiot in front of them.... hhnnngg. But if I refuse, the mood will get cold.... last time I was fine for the first few drinks, right?-"

"Give it to me."interceded Jaebeom.

"Huh?"

Turning towards the crowd, he stated, "Yeseul's bad with alcohol. I'll drink for her."

"Ooo~ hahahaha~~"

"playing the knight for your girlfriend ? ~~ "

"so cool!! Whoa~"

Sighing you looked at him, starting to get a little worried. But suddenly everyone chimed in- "still! We're not satisfied with one drink!"

"Let's get Yeseul-ah drunk~!"

"Me too!"

"You cant resist our drink! We're your superiors!"

"Aah~ now, let's not push her too hard. Take it slow. Slow~" said Yoon-ho, giving you his ever so sweet smile.

'It is you I hate the most!' You thought.

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"Aah~ Jaebeom-ssi drank them all"

"~Food is great here!"

"Heard this is the hidden place for gourmets."

After a while things seemed to settle down, your thoughts again wandered towards Jaebeom-

'He keeps on tapping his fingers and feet.... all the while maintaining his smile. I wonder if he's getting bothered by them..... ' -

"Hey~ she cant take her eyes off her BOYFRIEND!" chirped Yujin( colleague, same age as you). Following suit everyone got started off- "He's good looking right?" " you didn't even glance at the others ~" "what ? No, when did I.. " you tried to defend yourself. Sarah who was sitting next to you all this time whispered, "don't take them too seriously 'seul- ah, they're only teasing you, and you know everyone is as good as drunk."

Suddenly Kyunghwan, who was sitting opposite to you, waiting for the right opportunity slipped in~ " You can take mild Brandy right?"

"Ah yes, I can"

"NO." Jaebeom interceded. Again.

He took the glass from his hand and drank it.

"Aish intercepting it all, gosh!"he exclaimed.

But leaving no stone unturned, he kept pressing, "hey! You guys are a couple, atleast show us a kiss!" And everyone started hooted demanding such a public display of affection.

Hearing this, your ears flared up, " oof, what's with you all? Dont you think it's too much? ..... please stop it already. I dont really want to do it. ........Why do we have to do it in front of you?"

Now this... was just too much. Right when you were about to give them a piece of your mind-

"Okay."Jaebeom announced.

" ...... "

" ....... "

" ....... "

What.

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The truth is that both of you had never really kissed before, the closest form of affection you were able to showcase for now was simply a hug, that too only when you were alone. You had no idea what went through his mind when he agreed to everyone's plea. Was he finally drunk? You had never seen him drunk before, all though a few of his friends that you had met told you he had a strong temperance. Maybe this was okay for him?.... Did he probably hear it wrong? Not being able to make head or tail of the situation you questioned him, "Jaebeom-"

"You....... and you." Cutting you off, said person pointed at Kyunghwan and then at Yujin.

"If you two do it, we'll do it too. In fact, it doesn't matter if any other two do it either." explained Jaebeom with a smile.

And then you realised what he was actually doing.

"Don't want to, right?..... I stink of alcohol and 'seul said she doesn't want it. Moreover, it won't look good, if a lady's colleagues at work would act like this, much less her seniors."

"Uh. . . . " a flustered Yujin tried to speak.

" Well I wasn't going to force her to do that" resigned Kyunghwan with a pout.

"Yeah let's just forget about it, okay guys? ", Sarah spoke.

"Wow~ get married already Yeseul, reqally" Said Yoon-ho.

"Such a perfect couple. Tch" mumbled Yujin.

However, when everyone went back to their own, Kyunghwan caught Jaebeom giving him a side glance with a poker face who then turned to look at you. Even though such a gesture unnerved him, the alcohol immediately brushed off that feeling.

You on the other hand were getting more and more worried about Jaebeom, you lost count of how many glasses he must've had on your account, and tried one more time to check up on him- " are you alright? You've been really drinking a lot." But he only gave you a smile in return.

(Sighing) 'He drank way too mu-' *plop*

His head suddenly on your shoulder now, he spoke, " I want to rest."

Looking at you Sarah whispered," He must be tired, you should go home now, don't worry, I'll take care of it here."

"Okay. Jaebeom-ssi ....... Jaebeom? Let's go home now, ok?" You asked.

"Seul."

"Yes?"

"My head aches."

"What? Headache?"

"Its too noisy here..... my head aches.....". Alarmed by this sight you wondered ' 'why's he like this ? Since the start he seemed a bit off. Is his head hurting from being drunk? This was such a bad idea."

You see him gently lift his head up and stare at his hands. Or the table. Or the plate? You see jaebeom blink.

"..."

And he blinked again.

'Ohmygod,he's definitely drunk.'

" uhh, hey- let's go get some fresh air, okay?" You asked holding him by the shoulders. You never witnessed something like this before. But he just stared at you.

'Answer me already.' You thought. Helping him stand up you took your bag, "okay, Sarah, we'll be leaving now, I'll catch you tomorrow, take care!"

"Yeah, you too, goodnight~" returned Sarah.

Once outside you tried to remember where the car was, since the restaurant didn't have a parking lot. You walked a few meters and then stopped. Due to him leaning on you, your back and neck hurt a little, so you decided to sit on the nearby bench. 'Ah, I'm out of strength.'

You both just sat next to each other like that for a while and then you asked him where the car was kept.

But he just smiled at you.

Heaving a sigh, you stood up and started searching around. "Just sit here, and dont move Jaebeom- ssi, I'll be right back." He saw your retreating figure as you left.

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After about 10 min you find the car at the backside of the building and return to where Jaebeon was.

"I found the car, give me the keys and I'll drop you off home" you said.

"Yeseul."

"Yes?"

He smiled. Again.

"Seems like you won't get up for a while." So you sat down. Did he even listen to a word you said? And no sooner than you did, he reached his hand out to touch your face, whereas you instinctively moved back. He paused for a moment, mid air, and then touched your cheek. "You look tired", he said thoughtfully.

Well he wasn't completely wrong.

He let his head drop on your shoulder, and again with the same sweet, mellow voice recited you name," Ye.seul.ah."

"Yes, yes I hear you." You laughed.

"I should've just left with you after work was over rather than come here. Everyone just wanted to meet you so bad. I'm sorry."

" . . . "

"Plus I didn't want you to pay for those guys." You confessed.

"Pay?", queried Jaebeom. "seeing how they sat and behaved with you , it's obvious that they were trying to leech off." He finally spoke.

" Yeseul, I want you to be very cautious and smart about who you associate yourself with in that work place and any where else. I won't always be around you, so you must be wary of people like Kyunghwan. Got it?" And then he lifted his head up to stare straight ahead.

So that's what was bothering him.

Trying to lift the strange tense atmosphere you spoke in childish wonder, "how dare they think of you as a pushover! In fact, why did you even drink whatever came my way, I could've handled-"

"What would you have done?" Cut in Jabeom.

You fell silent.

"Those two men and that woman, those three were your seniors. And anyone could notice how they exploited their position. I understood you couldn't do much from where you stand", he reprimanded you.

After a pause he continued, now in a smaller voice- "I dont think I can drive, how will you get back home?"

" Well thanx to a certain someone, I'm completely sober. So I'll drive your car to your house and drop you off. Then I'll take a cab to mine."

" 'seul?"

"Hmm?"

"You like me right?"

"Huh", you sat up straight, taken off guard by his question.

"You're sincere to me right? Whatever I do, I have always been sincere towards you."

Suddenly flustered by this uncharacteristic side of him you just tried to avoid his question, staring straight ahead.

"Just give me the car keys, let's go home now..." you said in a daze.

'Its definitely the alcohol in his brain.'

"Yeseul!"

"Ah, yes-"

chu!~~

"Wha..."

Chu!~~~

Jaebeom kissed you.

And the realization hit in.

Huh.

Huh???!!

" #$%@&**?! Jaebeom-!!! "

" ? "

"What are you ?! Why did you?!-"

"Hm? What? No one's around."

And he kissed you again. This time properly. Making you feel nothing like ever before.

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Sadly, he ended up passing-out right after and you drove him back to his house, aided the house-helper lay him on bed, took a cab, went back to your home, changed into your night clothes, slipped in your bed and you laughed. You laughed until sleep graced you with her presence.

Except she never came.You were awake the whole night, rewinding and playing the scene again and again with the thought that would nag any other girl in your shoes- 'How do I see him after tonight! '.

Adjshklllajsldgddhddfffff !!!!!!

Eeeek!

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That's the end readers! I hope you enjoyed it my very precious people. If you did then do like and comment. Feedbacks are highly appreciated 🤧🤧

And I wish for your good health in such times and hopefully I was able to help make this quarantine maybe a little more bearable for you. Thanx for reading and dont forget- You Da Best!!!