#picking out every single boba pearl

[sluttywonwoo]

Bobarista seokmin who like really WANTS to give you free toppings but like his boss would actually kill him so instead he makes sure he always picks your fave color straw and hopes you understand that’s him confessing

seokmin sees the way your gaze flits back and forth between the ‘extra boba ~ $0.75’ and all of the other topping choices on the menu above the cash register and he wishes he could just sneak the tapioca pearls into your drink so you wouldn’t have to have this argument with yourself every single time… but he knows he’d get more than an earful from his boss if he were to get caught doing so, so he’s forced to helplessly wait behind the counter while you make up your mind.

you ultimately decide to go with the regular amount of boba in your milk tea (70% sweet with regular ice, not that seokmin’s memorized it or anything), and seokmin has to remind himself not to frown when he notices thinly veiled disappointment behind your smile.

you tip him nicely, you always do, and sign your name on the ipad with a heart at the end. seokmin likes to think that’s a special thing you only do when you come here but he knows better.

he’s the only one in the store today so he gets started on your order immediately, washing his hands as he always does when shifting from handling transactions to prep.

you’re quiet as you wait and seokmin wishes he could think of something to say to cheer you up but then he’s already done with your drink, sending it through the cup sealer and picking out your favorite color straw and writing your name on the plastic cup. he adds a little heart next to your name, like you do with your signature, and hopes it will make you smile.

[fqiryspit]

𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 ; 𝐞.𝐣𝐚𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐫

𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠?

.

summary: y/n went to bed to fall into a new world where she met a boy, Eren. every night she would spend with this imaginary boy, but what happens when one wants to stop dreaming?

playlist

Chapter 6: 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙤

masterlist

Eren Yeager x Female Reader. College!AU

.

【ＥＲＥＮ'Ｓ　ＰＯＶ】

Saturday, 10:30 pm

Friday I told Y/n the words I regret most in my life

"I hate you"

I couldn't hop into bed any faster, I had so much to say to Y/n

slipping back into my dreams I waited and waited.

I need to apologize to y/n

I need to fix all this

I need her 

I made the setting a deep murky forest, with animals all over, fog so thick you couldn't see your feet, deep trees covering the sky with cloudy weather, just for Y/n.

I wore black jeans and a loose gray cardigan over a black shirt, my hair tied back with a couple of strands falling out framing my face.

placing a picnic blanket at a clearing, I sat down, fiddling my fingertips as I waited for Y/n

only, she never showed.

after a while...I woke up

I felt funny when I woke up.

I felt lonely...

that hasn't happened in a while.

Sunday, 11:00 pm 

maybe she was just mad?

she has to show tonight

I tried to make the setting calm, this time I made it an old library 

I smiled as I remembered how she shifted the setting to an ancient library when I was panicking...

how she calmed me down so fast, how she knew what to do.

thinking about how we were both wrapped up in that blanket as we read together, the sound of thunder crashing outside was a nice background for the reading, only I knew nothing about the book since there was such a pretty girl in front of me, who would ever take their eyes off her?

pacing back and forth I tried to add more things to Y/n's liking...

I made the lights go out, only a single candle next to a book...

a storm raging outside, I made two cups of tea.

I picked up the tea and tried the drink, for it to taste like nothing.

fuck, I forgot I can't taste anything...

but the warmness in my stomach was replaced with a memory tea cant do

ᶠˡᵃˢʰᵇᵃᶜᵏ

"boba!" Y/n screamed making me jump

"boba?" "let's get boba!"

"Alright?" I chuckled as she walked down the street, the empty roads and the buildings of new york city were much more comforting than expected 

"Do you know where you're going?" I asked for her to scoff at me

"Obviously, I just made one over here." and soon enough we were at a boba shop

"milk tea with boba is a staple" Y/n grinned as she stabbed her straw into her boba

she put her plush lips against the straw, sucking the boba pearls into her mouth where she chewed them only for her face to turn

"It has no taste"

"Oh, wanna get another one?" I scooched my drink over for her to try

"No like, it doesn't taste like anything" she tilted her head at the drink

"here!" she stuck the straw into my mouth for me to try

I blush madly at the indirect kiss, something so simple but made me go crazy

and yep, taste like nothing

"Aw, that's disappointing" I giggled 

"I guess you can only do so much" she shrugged. my brows furrowed a bit when she said that

what does she mean?  is she aware she's a figment of my imagination?

or is she saying there's only so much I can do? sense I'm the one dreaming?

ᶠˡᵃˢʰᵇᵃᶜᵏ ᵒᵛᵉʳ

Y/n didn't show that night either

I woke up with a feeling of dread,

Y/n's really gone...

*

【Ｙ／Ｎ'Ｓ　ＰＯＶ】

Monday, 10:00 am

You were back to having regular dreams again...

You were slowly starting to forget features of Eren...

what was his nose shape again?

what was his laugh?

how tall was he?

all slowly slipping away

laying in your bed, wrapped up in your sheets you wish Sasha was back in town to come into your room and rip you out of bed

you sigh and get up, taking a shower that's louder than your thoughts.

your mind was empty, the silence was piercing.

you stayed in the shower for an hour, just so you didn't have to turn off the water and be met with the silence again 

the warmth of the shower drowning your skin as the pitter patter~ sound of the water crashing against your body filled up your mind so you didn't have to think about what was making you feel so empty in the first place

Eren

Eren was gone.

he was the one thing that you looked forward to every night

every night you'd fall into a world

a world better than this one.

and now that world is gone, and you don't know why you're still in this one.

stepping out of the shower, you wrapped a towel around your body that was somehow colder than you. you stood there in the middle of your cramped bathroom as you stared at the water falling from your nose onto the floor

.

you put your hair into a low bun to get it out of the way as you put on dark green cargo pants and a black tank top just for it to be covered with a black jacket.

you looked out the window to see thick dark gray clouds hovering over woods outside your dorm

you quickly walked over to the kitchen and made yourself some iced coffee 

sitting by the window you pulled out your sketchbook and took a sip of your iced coffee, 

you really are lucky to get this view 

the thick woods with the deep tall oak trees and the gray sky setting the mood perfectly 

you started drawing a face, not really having anything in mind

soon you drew a puffy button nose with blush on it spreading to her cheeks with pointy ears and wings. yes, you were drawing a fairy.

so lost in your drawing you didn't even notice how it started pouring outside

you sadly looked at the rain, then at your empty iced coffee

yes, you love the rain. It's just you were planning to go to the cafe today 

you decided fuck the rain, you wanted cake. you're gonna get cake.

you grabbed your umbrella and packed the tan tote bag that you snagged from your art class in the tenth grade

throwing your sketchbook and pencils in the bag you ran out of the dormitory, giggle the entire way as you sprinted to the cafe praying you wouldn't slip on the soaked pavement 

your nose taking a light pink from the cold as you finally made it to the cafe, your lungs getting filled with the scent of warm pastries and freshly brewed coffee as you wrapped the strap around the umbrella and put it into your bag

you order a tiny piece of chocolate cake and a small hot coffee due to the weather

you pulled out a chair next to the window for the view of the rain falling onto the cars speeding by.

you munched on the cake as you mindlessly started sketching 

it was a male this time

he had big doe eyes and hair that was tossed up in a bun.

then you remembered. and realized how stupid you look right now. so hung up on an imaginary boy to the point you started subconsciously drawing him

your head planted into the book and mentally groaned, then you heard a chair start to pull out

you look up to see a blond man with a light pink nose -probably due to the cold weather- and the brightest bluest eyes you've ever seen in your life

"U-uh can I sit here?" he shyly asked

"Oh sure" you smiled at him. usually, you'd get annoyed at people sitting next to you at cafes but you weren't with him, you actually admired by his sense of style with his white-collar under his dark green knitted sweater.

"thanks" he sat and took a sip of his coffee

"I'm Armin by the way"

Chapter 7

˜"*°•.˜"*°• see you soon •°*"˜.•°*"˜

an: omg next chapter will be better

taglist!: @alienvarmint

(if I missed anyone or you’d like to be a part of the tag list you can message me or just comment!)

[i-just-like-goats]

Hello may I request Atsushi with a female reader and she loves bubble tea? She introduces him to it and he loves it and they go on boba dates every fortnight. ❤️ (ok now im kinda craving for bubble tea now but ANYWAYS hope you feel better author-san!)

Hi anon! Omg yes! Two of the things I love, Atsushi, he's so sweet and ofc bubble tea. A mood, hopefully you get your bubble tea :) Ahh thank you! I actually do feel much better now. Thank you for the request :))

Atsushi x Female Reader Fluff

Summary: You share your love of bubble tea with Atsushi

Warnings: none that I can think of

WC: 0.8k

Main Masterlist

You felt sorry for the new recruit. From what Dazai told everyone yesterday, the new recruit's first day would be a challenging one.

Lucky for you, you wouldn't be there to witness the chaos. Dazai's schemes were something you never wanted to involve yourself in.

"Oh, hello,"

You snapped out of your thoughts just in time to stop yourself from crashing into someone. You glanced quickly at the bubble tea gripped in your right hand to make sure nothing spilled. With a relieved sigh, you cast your eyes back to the person you almost crashed into.

"Sorry about that, I'm Atsushi,"

He stuck out his right hand, but quickly retracted it and replaced it with his left once he saw the drink in your right hand.

"Y/N, nice to meet my new co-worker,"

"Ah, yes, I hope we get along well,"

And you both did get along well. Atsushi was sweet and hardworking and you admired him for that. You were a talented employee, but you always seemed more interested in the drink you had bought that day. 

It was a miracle to Atsushi how you got things done to a high standard, when you would frequently leave to buy yourself a new drink. Even when at the agency, he'd see you sipping on your bubble tea and almost analysing every single detail. It was puzzling.

After Atsushi kept seeing you - always with bubble tea in your hand or on your desk - he finally mustered up the courage to ask you about it.

What he didn't expect was for you to be so enthusiastic about bubble tea. It took him by surprise when you spoke so highly of bubble tea, but it only made him want to get to know you more. So, he suggested that you two go on a bubble tea outing.

"Are you asking me out, Atsushi?" You teased.

"What! No! I mean, yes. Wait, I don't know,"

"I'm just messing with you," You reassured with a smile.

He breathed out a sigh. You were the same age, but being around Dazai meant that you picked up on some of his traits, such as the teasing.

Once work finished, you practically dragged Atsushi to your favourite bubble tea shop.

"Choose whatever you want. I'm paying,"

"What! No, I can't accept. It's too pricey,"

"The price for good bubble tea sadly, but I insist. Just think of it as a 'welcome to the agency gift',"

"But-"

Your stern stare cut him off. Sighing, Atsushi stared at the menu. There were so many different teas and so many different toppings as well as the special ones; Atsushi had a hard time choosing. 

He took so long that you had already ordered and picked up your drink. A classic milk tea with tapioca pearls. 

"What's taking you so long? It's not like I asked you to play chess against Dazai,"

Atsushi smiled apologetically at you.

"It's just that," He breathed out heavily, "I've never had bubble tea,"

You blinked twice.

"This is your first time ever?"

He nodded, refusing to look into your eyes.

"Oh, then, would you like to try mine? If you don't like it, choose something that catches your eye,"

Atsushi took a nervous sip from your bubble tea. His eyes lit up.

"That's really good!"

"Do you want to order what I ordered?"

His enthusiastic nod made you smile. That smile dropped when you saw him pull out his wallet. You ran to the counter and ordered, then quickly paid for it, while Atsushi stood dejected outside the shop. You emerged with his drink in hand.

"Just accept it. Like I said, it's my treat,"

He took the drink from your hand with a sigh. You both sat down on a bench to drink your drinks in peace. You shook his head at his stubbornness, but it was worth it to see his content look while drinking the bubble tea.

"Besides, this is the only time I'll be treating you. From now on, you'll pay for your own tea,"

"Next time?"

"Yes next time,"

"Why?"

"Firstly, it would be a shame not to be friends with the only person my age at the agency. Secondly, your first ever bubble tea was the classic one, although a good choice, it's basic. We need to broaden your taste with bubble tea. So let's go out every fortnight, yeah?"

Atsushi was too caught up in the blaze in your stunning eyes to completely register everything you said.

"Yeah, I'd be glad to do that with you,"

"Good,"

You leaned your head on Atsushi's shoulder, still lazily sipping on your bubble tea.

"This alright with you?"

"Y-yeah,"

You couldn't see it, but Atsushi's cheeks were on fire. He was grateful that you were too busy staring absently in front of you to notice his flustered state. He was definitely looking forward to getting to know you more, and you were too.

[kuroopaisen]

tiny love || i

➵  as tooru’s younger sister, falling in love with iwaizumi hajime is easy. your feelings aren’t ignored, either.

warnings: f!reader

wc: 3.8k

m.list ↠ ch. 2

“Can’t you let me win once?” Tooru whined, turning to Iwaizumi with his best puppy dog eyes.

“Not a chance in hell.”

“Iwa-chan—”

“Call me that again and we bring this fight into the real world.”

“You’re so mean.”

“You should’ve thought of that before challenging me to a one-v-one.”

“You know, most people have fun while playing games.”

“There’s no space for fun here,” Iwaizumi grunted. “Only winning.”

“This isn’t the court!”

“Doesn’t matter.”

You watched the two of them battle it out on Smash. You knew well enough that challenging Iwaizumi to a battle on there was a death wish. But Tooru had an insatiable need to win all the time – even if he liked to act otherwise.

You knew that hunger would take him far. And you weren’t the only one. Everyone always knew that Tooru was going to leave an impact, no matter what he chose to do.

“Hey,” Iwaizumi called out to you, giving you a small smile. “Would you like to have a go?”

“Not against you,” you laughed, shaking your head. “I’m not mad.”

“Fight Oikawa then,” Iwaizumi smirked, nodding at him. “You’ll crush him easily.”

“Hey!” Tooru whined, waving his arms dramatically. Sometimes, you thought that Tooru should’ve pursued a career in the dramatic arts alongside volleyball. There was certainly some wasted potential there.

“You might do better if you didn’t scream every time I punched you,” Iwiazumi smirked. You could feel the fondness in his voice, even if it was buried under a layer or two of mock contempt.

“I can’t help it!” Tooru wailed. “It always takes me by surprise!”

“Alright,” you grinned, getting to your feet.

“I’ll lend you a hand,” Iwaizumi said, patting the space between him and Tooru on the couch.

“That’s not fair!” Tooru whined, pouting at the two of you. “There’s no way I’ll win if you work together.”

“Oh, definitely not.” Iwaizumi flashed him a wicked grin.

Tooru turned to you with pleading eyes. “Please don’t. I can’t handle this.”

Your brother knew exactly how to pull on your heartstrings – even though he was the older one.

“He’s bullshitting,” Iwaizumi cut in, quelling your guilt before it even had time to build.

“I’m not,” Tooru huffed. “I’m terrified.”

“That’s no excuse,” Iwaizumi shook his head, flicking through the menu.

Tooru watched him, hawk-like. “What are you doing?”

“I’m giving her Meta Knight.”

“That’s not fair!”

You grinned, patting your brother on the back. “I am new to this game. I’m going to need all the help I can get.”

Tooru glared at you for a long moment. It almost felt like you were having a proper fight.

“Don’t let him get to you,” Iwaizumi chuckled, handing the controller back to you. “He’s just a sore loser.”

You couldn’t have thought of a better way to describe your brother.

But you were just glad to make an attempt to reach across the gulf between you, that impassable abyss you felt you had no hopes of leaping across. For once, it felt like you belonged in your brother’s life. 

✧ ✧ ✧

“Shit,” you grumbled, patting your pockets.

“Don’t let Oikawa hear you speaking like that,” Hajime chuckled, looking at you from the corner of his eye.

The two of you were standing in line at the local boba shop, a frequent after-school haunt for the two of you. It’s usually a little busy, swallowed up by the after-school rush of students who either didn’t do their extracurriculars at school or simply didn’t care.

“What my brother doesn’t know can’t hurt him,” you mumbled half-heartedly, looking up at Hajime with your best puppy eyes. “I forgot my wallet.”

“Again?” He grinned. “I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose.”

“It’s not my fault Tooru won’t lend me any cash,” you shrugged. 

Not that long ago, your brother was responsible for financing your after-school snacks. 

But since entering high school, Tooru had discovered girls. And girls had discovered Tooru.

You hadn’t expected your brother to be so highly-sought after – seeing as he was such a brat – but you weren’t about to complain about it. If he wasn’t volunteering, he usually had a date on Tuesday afternoon, which left Hajime free to walk you home.

And he never failed to do so. Every single Tuesday, Hajime would wait for you at the school gates, ready to do his duty and escort you safely back to the Oikawa household.

Of course, these trips were rarely ever linear.

You suspected Iwaizumi abhorred studying. Sitting in one spot and reading page after page of academic jargon didn’t suit him. He never complained – and he reminded you time and time again that it’s important to stay on top of your studies – but he wasn’t above finding excuses to avoid it. 

The two of you always found ways to waste time, doing absolutely anything but studying or heading home.

His favourite of these little escapades seemed to be sitting and watching the mountains. There was always something wistful in his gaze, a sense of serenity that you’d never experienced yourself. He was only one year older than you, but he always seemed a little older than everyone around him – even if he loved monster movies. 

Regardless, you never cared much about what the two of you did. You were just willing to do whatever made him smile.

“Did you get a haircut?” He asked, shocking you out of your thoughts. He was walking over to the waiting area. You scurried after him, cheeks slightly flushed.

“No,” you shook your head. “Why?”

Hajime peered at you for a second, his brow furrowed. “It looks nice.”

You scoffed. “What, are you saying it doesn’t look nice normally?”

“No,” he sighed, rolling his eyes. “It just looks… different.” He paused, eyes flicking away from you. “But your normal hair looks nice too.”

You stood there like a marble statue, praying to every conceivable deity that your face wasn’t glowing.

He always said things like that. Things that felt like they were meant to be compliments, but so laden with awkwardness that you could never tell.

And he always got so flustered. Not that you were any better. No, in some ways, you were worse.

You just couldn’t stop yourself from hoping. You loved moments like these, stolen away with Hajime in a small pocket of your week. You weren’t even sure if Tooru knew about them; were they perhaps a secret you shared?

Of course, Tooru knew that Hajime walked you home, but not what time you got home.

You always wondered if he tried to make these little trips last longer. You certainly did.

But if he ever noticed you ambling, he never reprimanded you for it. He always slowed down to accommodate you, his arm occasionally brushing against yours. It was always enough to make your heart beat just a bit faster.

Today was no different.

“You know,” Hajime said, taking a sip of his boba. “Oikawa’s still upset that you didn’t pick up volleyball.”

You scoffed, rolling your eyes. “Really?”

“Yeah,” Hajime smiled. “Something about how he can’t believe how his ‘precious little sister’ should’ve followed in his footsteps.”

“He just wants to brag,” you huffed, sipping up a pearl with vengeance. Hajime chuckled and your heart fluttered. You couldn’t help but be proud whenever you were the reason he laughed. 

“Is that why you don’t want to play?” He asked.  

You frowned. “Sort of?”

“You don’t sound certain.” 

“I don’t know…” You chewed on your lip, turning the question over in your mind. You knew that some people expected you to follow in your older brother’s footsteps. They assumed that his skill was due to overwhelming talent. For some, the natural assumption was that it must run in the family. 

You, of course, knew otherwise. If anything, the ignorance towards Tooru’s hard work was the most insulting thing about this particular assumption. 

 “I guess… I just…” You weren’t quite sure what you wanted to say. If you had any intention to ‘follow in your brother’s footsteps,’ it would be to emulate his passion and dedication. That’s what you wanted — not to be an incredible volleyball player in your own right.

“I want to find something I excel at, you know?” You admitted. “If I even try and get into volleyball, I feel like I’ll always just be Tooru’s younger sister. Like… it’d be hard to feel like I was getting opportunities on my own merits.”

That much was true. Just as much as you abhorred how people ignored Tooru’s hard work, you feared the thought that if you did follow him into volleyball, your own efforts would be ignored. Or, worse yet, played down. 

Besides, it would be hard not to get overshadowed by Tooru. Not when he shone so brightly. 

“If volleyball is what you want to do, you shouldn’t let that hold you back,” Hajime sighed. 

You shook your head. “I don’t think I want to play volleyball though.”

Hajime paused for a moment, lips pursed around his straw. The two of you had never really spoken about the future, about what either of you wanted to do with your lives. Tooru didn’t even need to say that he wanted to pursue volleyball; that much was a given. 

“Do you know what you want to do?” He asked. 

You bit the inside of your cheek. “I don’t know.”

Part of you felt silly for that. It had been so easy for Tooru — once he’d found his passion, he’d dug his heels in. Never once had he wavered, not even when he was at his most insecure. He knew what he wanted to do. He had a hunger for it. 

You could only wonder what that felt like. 

“And that’s okay.” Hajime’s voice was soft. Softer than it usually was. It’s like he knew what you were thinking, even though you hadn’t given voice to those deeper insecurities. 

“I just… I don’t know. I know that nobody else knows what they’re doing either but, like…” You almost regret starting this thought, but you’ve never had this opportunity before. It would be foolish to let it pass by. “Tooru’s always known. It’s kind of difficult to not feel like I should know what I want to do.”

Even your parents seemed to pay you less mind. You’d never really felt like you were less loved; but Tooru burned so brightly it was inevitable that you were cast in shadow. You’d worked tirelessly to root out any bitterness, but… 

“You’re allowed to be unsure,” Hajime said, interrupting your train of thought. “I know that’s redundant, but it’s true. You’ve got time.”

It was cliché. But there’s something about the way he said it that made you feel like you were floating. Maybe because it almost sounded like “It’ll be okay. I’ve got you.” 

A hand was suddenly ruffling your hair. You flinched, looking up at the boy standing next to you. 

He was smiling gently, a warmth in his eyes that made your heart beat a little faster. 

“You’ll find your strengths. I know you will.”

You held your breath for a moment, heat blossoming across your cheeks. Perhaps this boy would be the death of you. 

“Thanks, Hajime.” 

✧ ✧ ✧

There was never any damn food in your house. It was the curse that’d plagued you since you were young – many a late night expedition to your fridge turned up fruitless.

Tonight was no different.

It was past midnight, but you couldn’t sleep. No matter how hard you tried, you’d just laid there, staring at your ceiling while the hours crawled on.

So you’d scampered down stairs, phone in hand and hunger brewing in your stomach.

You squinted into the grim white light of your fridge, that familiar disappointment settling over you.

You hated nights like this. You couldn’t just lie in your bed for hours on end, thinking of nothing and everything. But you couldn’t even eat to escape your boredom.

You let the fridge door swing close with a muted thud, sighing heavily.

You turned around with a deep frown.

A figure stood in the corner of your kitchen.

A hand flew to your hand to contain your surprised yelp. ‘I have early morning training, you know,’ Tooru would say whenever you accidentally woke him up late at night – though you contended that he was just a very light sleeper, and it wasn’t your fault that the sound of the toilet flushing was enough to rouse him from his slumber.

But it wasn’t Tooru who was standing in the kitchen with you.

“Hajime,” you gasped, placing a solid hand on your chest. “Shit, don’t sneak up on me like that.”

He chuckled quietly, shaking his head. “Sorry.”

“You should be,” you mumbled, gripping your phone.

You felt stupid, but standing alone in your kitchen with Hajime was enough to make your heart race.

You glanced down at your phone quickly for a distraction. By what might be divine providence, Amaya’s name lit up the screen. You weren’t quite sure why she was rambling about the stars at 12:41 AM, but you weren’t going to judge her for it.

“What’s so interesting?” Hajime teased, his head suddenly hovering over your shoulder and much too close to your face.

You flinched, almost dropping your phone. “I—Uh—Amaya,” you managed to splutter out, quite grateful for just how dark your kitchen was.

“She’s the tall one, right?” Hajime asked, making no effort to move out of your space. You could usually deal with the fact that he was often around at your place late in the evenings – and honestly, trying to ensure that you were more presentable than usual was more exhausting than you’d given it credit for – but you weren’t used to him being this close.

Most of the time, you just stayed in your room while Tooru and Hajime spent time together. Wonderful as he was, Hajime was stressful to be around. It was hard enough keeping your feelings a secret from him. You didn’t want to think about what Tooru’s obnoxiously observant eyes would be able to notice.

“You alright?” He frowned, moving to stand directly in front of you.

You realised what was happening a moment too late, mortification digging its heels into your stomach. “Oh, uh… yeah. Yeah.”

Hajime flicked your forehead gently, chuckling.

You pouted at him, completely unsure of where to take the conversation. Usually, you could hold yourself together enough without embarrassing yourself too much. But at 12:45 at night? Impossible. Humiliation was inevitable. 

“What’re you doing up?” He asked, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“What are you doing up?” You shot back, somewhere between defensive and playful.

He grinned. God, he was aggravatingly handsome, even for a teenage boy.

“I can’t sleep,” he shrugged. “I thought I’d just watch a film or something until I got tired.”

“And then you decided to give me the fright of my life instead.”

“You could’ve been a burglar.”

“And if I was?”

“I would’ve thought of something.”

You took a moment to scan him up and down. “I feel safer already.” That was only half a joke. You were well-aware of just how buff he was. 

He chuckled, standing up to full height. “Anyway, I’m going to go and set up the TV. Feel free to join me.” He started walking off, pausing to look over his shoulder at you. “It’ll be more fun if you’re there.” 

Your heart stuttered in your chest. 

Well, how were you supposed to say no to something like that? 

✧ ✧ ✧

For someone who’d been so adamant that they couldn’t fall asleep, you were pretty quick to doze off once bundled up on the couch in the entertainment room.

Hajime had set up the original Godzilla quite efficiently, despite his technological ineptitude. He may have been bad with machines, but there was little that could separate him from his beloved monster movies. 

You’d settled yourself down on the couch, waiting patiently for Hajime to join you. You were already overthinking it. How close would you be to him? Would he be comfortable with you resting your head on his shoulder? Would it be weird for the two of you to share a blanket? 

He switched the light off and you flinched. 

“Here,” Hajime said, handing you one of the blankets as he sat himself down on the couch. He was just a hair’s breadth away from you, your shoulders barely touching. 

You always seemed to be one step away from overt affection; bodies pressed together close enough to be suspicious, furtive glances when you thought the other wasn’t looking, ‘secret’ afternoons spent revelling in each other’s company. 

God, this was so frustrating. And so adolescent. But even if you wanted to, you couldn’t work up the courage to actually say something. 

The fear of rejection was too strong. 

“You ready?” He asked, turning to look at you. 

“Hm?” 

“To start the movie.” 

“Oh.” Your brain was far too addled for this. “Yeah.” 

Hajime nodded, pressing the play button. The screen went black for just a moment before fuzzy black and white images flickered into motion. 

You tried your best to pay attention to the movie. You really, truly did. 

But you were finally getting tired. You were vaguely aware of the fact a couple ships were destroyed, and a big dinosaur-shaped monster, and something about the government. But you couldn’t keep up – not when Hajime was so close to you. 

Perhaps you should’ve gone to bed. But you didn’t want to stop spending time with him. 

But even that wasn’t enough to help you keep your eyes open. Against your sheer determination, your eyes kept fluttering closed. You were sure he’d tell you off for not just going to bed, but you still weren’t ready to leave just yet. 

But he was so warm pressed against you, the dim light of the room so soothing, the din of an old movie a quiet lull… 

“Hey.” 

A gentle voice came from above you. 

You opened your bleary eyes, only to immediately squint. Wait, what was going on? Where were you? 

“Wake up.” 

Oh, that was Hajime’s voice. Why was… That’s right. You were watching a movie with him. 

And now, you were....

Oh, shit. You were leaning on his shoulder. If you were a little more lucid, then maybe you would’ve repositioned yourself. 

But you were tired, and he was comfortable. And, he hadn’t pushed you off yet. 

“What time is it?” You mumbled, stifling a yawn. 

“It’s two.” 

“Oh.” You blushed. “Whoops.” 

Hajime chuckled. “I thought you said you couldn’t sleep.”

“Yeah,” you groaned. “But then I got sleepy.” 

“Then you should’ve gone to bed,” he chided. But there was a playful tone to his voice. 

You huffed, shifting yourself off his shoulder to get a better look at his face.

Even in the monochrome half-light of the TV, he was still obnoxiously handsome. Maybe not in the most classic of ways – there was something rougher about him, something unpolished, unrefined. But you’d always liked the honesty in his face; you felt it matched his personality perfectly. Some of your friends thought he looked kind of intimidating, but you’d always disagreed. To you, he looked kind. Maybe not in the most traditional sense, but in a way that was truly his. 

Oh man, you were drowsy. If you were more lucid, you’d have known better than to just sit and stare at his face. 

But he was staring right back, a certain tenderness in his eyes. You’d seen it before, on your walks home and in the quiet moments you shared. But he’s never been this open about it before. If you caught him, he usually looked away, cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. 

But tonight, he seemed to be fearless. 

You wondered – no, you hoped – that maybe, just maybe, your suspicions were correct. That he did indeed feel the same as you. 

A hand came up to cup your cheek. You leant into it instinctively, letting the weight of your head rest against his palm. 

Hajime smiled, stroking a gentle thumb over your cheek. His hands were a little rough, just as you’d expected, but they’re so gentle. 

You were about to go into cardiac arrest. You could feel it in every inch of your body. There’s no way he couldn’t hear your heartbeat – not when it was thrumming so loudly in your ears. 

“You’re so cute.” 

It took you a moment to process what he’d just said. 

Wait, he called you cute? While looking at you like that? There was no way you were making it out of this room alive– 

He leant in, pressing his lips against yours softly. You froze, every nerve in your body now on high alert. 

Iwaizumi Hajime? Kissing you? No way. No. Better yet, your first kiss? You had to be dreaming. There was no way this was happening. 

And yet the burning of your cheeks, the swelling of your heart, the feeling of his lips pressed against yours all said otherwise. This was happening. 

It was a little clumsy, a little stiff. But you didn’t care. What mattered was that it was happening. That your heart was hammering in your chest at an inhuman speed. That finally, finally, you could express this affection you had for him. 

You wanted to move, to touch him, to hold him close. But you were too dumbstruck to move, content to just stay like this for as long as he’d let you. 

He pulled away after a long moment, eyes half-lidded as he gazed at you. He was smiling widely – a rare, full-bodied smile. 

Oh. He was smiling like that because of you. Against all odds, your heart found a way to beat even faster. 

“We should go to bed,” he said, voice a few shades deeper than usual. 

The red of your cheeks deepened.

“Different beds,” he added quickly, clearing his throat. You’d thought that much was obvious, but you weren’t about to tell him that. God, you hate being seventeen. 

Somehow, you managed to get yourself out of that little room and up the stairs. He was right behind you, close enough to keep your mind muddled and your heart thrumming. There was no way you were going to be able to sleep. You’d be thinking about this all night. 

You said nothing to each other as you bid farewell, simply giving each other a small nod. You weren’t sure if it’s because he wanted to be polite, or if he was left just as speechless as you were. 

But as he walked away, he turned to give you one last smile for the night, letting it say everything he couldn’t. 

You took a deep breath as he walked away, the ghost of his kiss on your lips and your head whirling. 

You were excited for what the morning would bring.

a/n: !!!!! big thank you to ren, as always, for beta’ing this :( we’re in for a ride, fellas 

[kentos-filmcamera]

10 times, 1 occasion - Inumaki Toge

10. Date

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

Of course, with your heart fluttering on your sleeve, you had said yes to the proposal. The smile that arose from Toge’s flustered cheeks was enough to make you melt. He threw himself onto your arms, and pecked your cheek with his lips a couple times, being very noisy. I love you.

“What are you doing there?!” Nobara shrieked at you laying on your bed, the day of. “Get up!”

You only grunted. You were disheveled, and in truth, scared. Very much scared. Even though you spent all the time together, what if he thinks you’re not good enough for him and just stops talking to you right there and there? Now you moped in your bed, overthinking since almost 4 AM last night.

Maki rolled you out of the bed, but you only went limp in her arms. She just sighed and threw you over her shoulder like a sack, taking you over your bathroom.

She set you down and forced yourself to look at the mirror “Look at you” You looked over at her and groaned “You’re a talented, amazing, beautiful, unique, incredible person and today is going to be great. Go have a shower!” She pushed you into the shower and left the bathroom.

You breathed in and out carefully and nodded decisively, taking in your friend’s words. You showered with a whole new mentality, but still feeling the regular anxious turmoil in your stomach. You took your time as it was a wash day, wanting to have clean hair to style it as you pleased. You heard Nobara even interrupt as you showered, walking in grumbling about the time you were taking, claiming you had taken too long and it didn’t “fit your schedule”, whatever that meant, since you clearly didn’t have a planned out schedule for the day.

You dried your hair as you exited the bathroom, done with your skincare routine.

“So we have picked three different outfits, what do you think?” Nobara ambushed you almost immediately, dragging you towards your bed to look at the fit exposition. You hummed and peaked outside, it was a slightly windy day, so the skirt was a no-no. It was a bit chilly outside so walking around in beach clothing wasn’t happening either, so that let you on your final option. It was a sage green checkered oversized pant with breathable fabric, a cropped tight white tee, and a sage green cardigan, with a pair of black platform ankle-high Converse and a tote bag.

You nodded to the option and ushered them out “I’ll let you in when I’m done!” You threw the door behind them, hearing the structure above you rumble a bit. Oops. You breathed in and out, taking in the solitude you so needed at the moment. You hummed to the music still playing from the bathroom and headed towards your drawers, taking out your underwear before fitting the clothes. You checked the outfit from every single angle, even on camera, and gave a happy little noise of approval to the ensemble. You then sat down and started to pull some simple makeup; black smudged liner on your top waterline and lid, and on your bottom waterline, you added some shimmery olive green. Your base was soft and glowy, making your blush and highlight look similar in style. You gave your brows and hair a final brush before applying some chapstick and checking your breath. Just in case.

“What do you guys think?” You opened the door to face Nobara and Maki, the latter looking unamused at her friend’s antics, as she squealed and gave you twirls to show off your outfit.

“You look perfect!” Nobara concluded, brushing off some dirt from your shoulders. “Oop, it’s almost time. We’ll leave you, good luck, love” And so they both trotted off somewhere else.

You waited by the door, as the time Toge promised was nearing by around two minutes. But somehow, they were the longest minutes of your life. You fiddled with your thumbs, tapping your foot up and down while looking at the floor, anxious.

“Kelp” You heard a tiny voice from the end of the corridor, and a smile from ear to ear spread across your face. Toge was wearing straight-cut blue jeans, a white sweater layered with a navy blue varsity knit vest. He was wearing a navy blue fabric face mask, as he usually did when he was around non-sorcerers or it was just a special occasion.

“Hi, Inumaki-kun!” You beamed unintentionally, feeling a bit icky inside, in case that came to sound very clingy of sorts. But all those worries washed away when he lowered his mask to smile back in the same fashion, cheeks flushed. He offered his hand for you to hold, as an invitation to proceed with your adventure. You bowed your head lightly before holding it, walking off with him towards the exit of the school.

You skipped through the streets of Tokyo in happiness after you exited the train, walking hand in hand with Toge, who rather than observing everything around him, was observing you. The way you chuckled at him unapologetically, the way your eyes glimmered when you looked through the windows of a shop. You bought some boba and sat in a park for a while, talking quietly between the two of you, watching the sunset. But the real view before him was you; how your hair was highlighted by the sun, the way the rays caressed your soft skin and even the way you almost choked on a tapioca pearl of your taro root tea seemed poetic, since he got to enjoy your laughter for at least twenty minutes. I love you.

He checked his clock once it hit 7 PM, and the city became alive as it started to light up. “Tuna tuna” Toge tugged on your sleeve as he got up. You caught on immediately and went towards the recycling bins, sorting your trash appropriately.

With his arm around your waist, and yours around his shoulders and walked on par towards your destiny; a café in Shibuya. Inumaki avoided a certain detail that made you squeal, just because he wanted to see your surprise; it was a fairyland café full of cats. You hugged him tightly by the surprise, nuzzling your nose into his pale neck, to which in his mind, he replied with an I love you, but wrapped your arms around your torso instead.

You practically melted inside when an orange cat jumped on your lap and started toying with your hair. You chuckled, petting the friendly little fella, not realizing Toge was taking a video, but you soon noticed when a cat knocked his phone out of his hand and jumped off the table to play with the device by tossing it around. Toge seemed angry, but the soft eyes the cat gave him when he forcibly took his phone away made him want to cry. You enjoyed a light dinner in the café, eating your favorite pastries, snacks, and lunch box cakes with coffee or hot cocoa. Once the date seemed to be coming to a close, you realized Toge’s hand was shaking as he pets the Siamese cat sitting right next to him.

“Everything okay?” You asked, slightly concerned, putting down the spoon you were using to eat the square of strawberry shortcake. He just shook his head, embarrassed, and reached to find something in his pocket. He slid a pink Post-it in the shape of a heart towards you. You didn’t even get to flip it before a flustered Inumaki yelped and hid his face between his hands, unable to look at you.

You slowly flipped the note for the handwriting to face you specifically. You read it once, you read it a thousand times, trying to comprehend what the words meant, but it was all so clear:

‘Would you like to be my partner?’

[seungmoroll]

Heather | Han Jisung

Word count: 5.2k

Genre: slight angst, fluff, realization of feelings

A/N: this is the second part to Minho’s Heather, so if you haven’t already, you can read it here, though it’s not really necessary to read it. you can also read the other member’s here. 

F/n = friend’s name

Jisungs POV

    “No.”

    “But-“

    “No.”

    “What happened to providing the best service to your customers?”

    “Jisung,” they lock eyes with me before they continue their sentence, “I am not going to give you a large cup filled with pearls.”

    “But I’m willing to pay for it.” I give them my best puppy dog eyes in hope that they’ll give up their resolve. I had a plan, and I refuse to let Y/n get in the way of it.

    “Yeah, but I’m not willing to clean up the mess you’re going to make.” How did they know what I was going to do with the pearls?

    “I-“

    “I know exactly what you’re going to do with those tapioca pearls, and as much as I would love to see Changbin suffer, I refuse to clean up the boba you plan on spitting out at him.” Dang, they were spot on with my plan.

    “Fine.” I reluctantly say. A look of content settles on their face, “Good.”

    “I’ll just wait until Minho comes out.” A frown quickly replaces the look of content on their face. “No you will not.”

    “Did I hear my name?” Minho pops out from the back room, making me quickly change my plan of attack. I will get the boba.

    “Nope, no you didn’t. You can head back to the back room.” Y/n quickly says, trying to get Minho to leave.

“There’s my favorite CuTea worker,” I say in attempt to butter Minho up. I can feel the glare Y/n is giving me, but I ignore it and continue at my attempt to get my cup of boba, “Minho, you’ll get me a cup of pearls, right?”

    He gives me a smirk, “Oh, we spitting them at Changbin?” This is why he was my favorite worker…right after Y/n.

    “No, stop it right now. You do know that if you give him the pearls, we’re,” they motion their hand between the two of them, “the ones that are going to have to clean it up.”

    Minho takes a moment to think before he tells me, “Yeah, sorry bud, I’d totally give you some, but I got places to be after work.” By places, he meant wherever Doyeon was, we all knew. Deciding to change the topic for the sake of Y/n, “Right. Y/n,” focusing my attention on them, “you doing anything after work tonight?”

    Leaning against the counter, they say, “Uh yeah, going home to lay in the comfort of my bed.” Great. This meant good for me.

    “Well not anymore.”

    They quirk their eyebrow at me in confusion, “Excuse me?”

    “You didn’t let me finish. Let’s go out.” This time it’s Minho who quirks his eyebrow at me, which I choose to ignore as I focus on Y/n. There’s a weird expression on their face, and then that’s when I realize that what I said sounded a bit weird.

    “Like let’s hang out. You and me…as friends. Not like going out out.” I’m just making it worse and more awkward, aren’t I?

    “I’d like to Sung, but I’m tired, and I need my sleep.” Oh, you have no idea how much I love it when you call me that name, Y/n.

    “Then how about another time this week?”

    “Hmmm, what about Wednesday?” That was two days from now.

    “Wednesday? I can do that. You working that day?”

    “Yeah, but I got an earlier shift, I’ll be done by 5.” Oh? This is working awfully well for me. I’m internally jumping up and down and pumping my fists, but externally I try to play it off nonchalantly.

    “Great, it’s a date.” Keyword try. “Not like a date date, but you know.” Y/n starts to giggle at my way of trying to escape the awkwardness, and I swear that that was the sound you hear when the gates of heaven open. However, it sadly ends when the door opens, alerting the shop of a new customer. Getting out of the way for the customer, I stand off to the side of the counter, where Minho is suspiciously looking at me.

    “Is there a problem? Is there something on my face?” I quickly grab my phone from my pocket to check myself through the reflection. Fortunately, there’s nothing, but it would’ve been so embarrassing if there was while I was talking to Y/n. Instead of responding, Minho just chuckles and shakes his head.

    Before I can say anything to him, the door opens again, and I see that it’s F/n. They approach the three of us at the counter, “Hey guys.”

    “Hey F/n.” Y/n’s angelic voice says. Minho gives them a curt nod.

    “What can I get for you today?” Y/n asks F/n.

    “Let’s see, I’ll have a strawberry banana smoothie with pearls.” Speaking of pearls, I open my mouth to say something to F/n, but Y/n stops me before I can get a single word out. “Don’t even think about it.”

    In a second attempt to ask F/n, they cut me off, “I don’t want to know, nor do I want to participate in it.” Their response makes me visibly shrink.

    After paying for their drink, F/n says to me, “We should sit down and get to work.” F/n and I were currently taking geology together, and we were paired together to work on a group project. We’ve been working on it for the past three weeks, and I was the one that had suggested we work on it at CuTea. Though, F/n wanted to work on the project at the library, but I like to believe that my cute charms made them change their mind.

    Parting from Y/n and Minho, we go and sit down at a table, with me making sure that I have a good view of Y/n. It’s not like I creepily watch them or anything, but I enjoy those small moments when we meet each other’s eyes.  However, I’m sure those moments mean nothing to Y/n. When Y/n approaches our table to serve F/n drink, I focus my attention on them as the smile brightly at me and walk away, back to behind the counter with Minho.

    “So we only have these last few things to do before we can submit the project, and you’re not even listening to me.” A hand comes into view, bringing me back to focus on F/n. I can tell by their face that they’re not happy with me.

    In attempt to make them happy, I tell them, “I was totally listening to you.”

    They roll their eyes at me, “Sure, you were.” Playfully, I grab the straw wrapper that was on the table and ball it up, throwing it F/n for not believing me. They manage to dodge it and playfully glare at me.

    “You like them, don’t you?” Confused, I tilt my head to the side in attempt to try to figure out what they mean.

    Sighing, “Y/n. You like them, it’s obvious.” My eyes widen in shock at their statement. I’m not that obvious, am I? Maybe I should be surprised that F/n. They picked up on the smallest things, like the first week of us working together, they pointed out that I like to stuff my cheeks while I eat.

    Leaning closer towards them, in case Minho, or worse, Y/n could hear us, “Is it?”

    “You don’t treat me the same way you do them, so yeah, it’s quite obvious.” Of course I didn’t treat them the same.

    “That’s because you’re you.” I could tell by the look on their face that my answer did not satisfy them. “I mean-“

    “Don’t finish that sentence.” I slowly shut my mouth to prevent anymore words from spewing out of my mouth. I really need to work on thinking before speaking, it’s going to be a big problem for me one day.

    “You plan on telling them?” I choke on my spit after hearing their question. After I manage to not die 7 feet away from Y/n, I look at F/n in bewilderment. Of course I thought about telling Y/n, but I shut down the idea every time. There were many obstacles in the way, and to be quite frank, I don’t think I can go around them.

    “I don’t have a chance.” They cock their eyebrow at me encouraging me to continue.

    “They like Minho. Liked Minho. I don’t know. Either way if they liked Minho then I definitely don’t have a chance.” I could definitely say that Minho was what everyone wanted in a man. He was handsome, smart, funny; he was even a good cat dad, which is what I found out from him after he spent half an hour showing me pictures of his cats. He was basically the whole package.

    “Han Jisung. Don’t you dare put yourself down like that. You’re an amazing, sweet, funny guy, anyone that doesn’t like you has a problem.” I knew F/n was just saying that to make me feel better, but it was still nice to hear. However, I can’t help but squint my eyes at them in suspicion, “I think that was the nicest thing you’ve said to me, are you okay? Are you sick?” Reaching out, I place my hand on their forehead to check their temperature. Weird. They’re pretty warm. I can see them looking up at my hand in bewilderment, then all of a sudden, I feel a small tinge of pain in my arm. Clutching said arm, I dramatic express my pain, “Ow, what was that for?”

    Instead of the devilish look I was expecting, there was what I think to be a hint of embarrassment on their face. I don’t know, but their face was quickly reddening.

    “Hey, but seriously are you okay, you’re pretty warm and your face is turning red.” They quickly grab their face to hide it, “I’m fine, it’s just hot in here.” I checked the thermostat that’s located on the wall and see that it’s only at 70 degrees, which wasn’t hot at all, but decide against saying anything. Alternatively, I push their drink towards them, “Here take a sip of your drink.” Quickly they do as I say, and once they’ve taken a long sip, they say, “Let’s get started on this project.”

    We spend about an hour and a half working on the project, and I can proudly say that I actually focused on my work and not Y/n. Though I was very much tempted when I heard her laugh, probably from what Minho said. Eventually we call it a day, with only a few small things that we have to go over remaining. “So when’s the next time we should meet? It’ll be the last time we have to work on this stupid project.”

    “How about Wednesday? I was already planning on coming here, so we can just meet up here and finish everything up.”

    A snicker escapes from their mouth, “You come here so often, aren’t you worried that it might seem odd?” I did think about that once, but I’ve already came up with an excuse in case anyone asked. “Don’t worry, if anyone asks, I just really like the drinks.”

    I’m 100% sure that I hear the word obvious come out from their mouth. I can’t get a word in because Changbin comes barging in the door, “Jisung c’mon, get your butt moving.” Looking at Changbin then at Y/n, who’s by the counter with a knowing look on their face.

    “You sure I can’t get that cup?” I ask Y/n.

    Giggling while shaking their head, she says to Changbin, “It’s your lucky day, I saved you.” He cocks his head, unsure of what’s happening. As I come up to him, I tell him that it’s nothing.

    The following day was possibly one of the worse days I’ve experienced. I had slept through my alarm causing me to miss two of my classes and then when I went to get lunch with Chan, I spilt my soup all over me. Which is why I decided to stop by CuTea, I needed to see Y/n to make my day better.

    I barge into the door expecting to see the beautiful face that belongs to Y/n, but instead I am met with the sight of Minho at the counter. Confused, I look at the time on my watch and see that Y/n’s shift should have started already.

    “They’re not here.” Minho says to me, continuing, “They took the day off.” I instinctively pout because I won’t be seeing Y/n today, meaning that I had to wait another day to see their angelic face. Instead of turning back around and leaving, I order a drink and as I wait for Minho to make it, he starts a conversation with me.

    “You know that I know right?” Tilting my head, confused as ever, I watch as he slightly shakes his head at me. I had no idea what he was referring to.

    “I know you like Y/n.” My eyes widen at his statement. Was I really that obvious? He was the second person to tell me that this week. Oh no, if Minho knows, then that means Y/n most likely knows too. Seeing the panic on my face, Minho reassures me, “Don’t worry, Y/n is oblivious. They don’t know.” I let out a sigh of relief. “Or maybe they do, and they choose to ignore it.” I can’t tell whether he’s joking or not, but either way, I don’t appreciate it.

    “Don’t worry, I’m just messing with you.” Minho hands me my drink, and I eye him suspiciously as a take a sip of it. I’m sure he wants to laugh at the look I give him, but he goes on to say, “Why don’t we sit down and talk.” I hesitantly agree, but that’s because I’m slightly scared of him.

    Sitting down at a table, I refuse to make eye contact with Minho. He keeps on giving me this look and I don’t know what it means, nor do I like it.

    “There’s something else that I know.” Now looking at him, I can tell that what he wants to talk about it serious. “I know that Y/n likes me.” Oh. That’s not what I was expecting. So he knew? I wonder if Y/n knows that he knows. Maybe they didn’t want to tell me because they felt embarrassed.

    Feigning innocence, I ask him, “Does she now?” He could be trying to play with me, and I wasn’t going to fall for it.

    “Quit that, I know you know.” Well he’s no fun.

    Quickly stopping my act, I ask him, “How’d you find out?”

    “I’ve known for a while now. It was kind of obvious.” He wasn’t wrong there. Even I could tell before I started talking to Y/n. Hm, that’s something that we had in common, being obvious. Wait, now is not the time to focus on our similarities.

    “Why didn’t you do anything about it?” I wasn’t mad or anything, well maybe just a little bit, but that was because he knew all along and never said anything to Y/n.

    “I didn’t want to hurt them.” Is the excuse he gives me.

    “It might be too late for that,” I sharply say.

    He awkwardly rubs the back of his neck, “Yeah…I know. Look, I didn’t want to reject them and break their heart. I really like them as a friend and I just didn’t want to ruin that. Plus, I really like Doyeon.” That last part wasn’t necessary to add, but I don’t say anything about it. Instead I ask, “Why are you telling me all of this hyung?” Minho and I weren’t that close. Outside of Y/n and CuTea, we never talk to each other, so why would he tell me this?

    “Like I said earlier, I know you like Y/n.” I had no idea where he was going with this conversation. “I think you should tell them.”

    “No.” Why was everyone telling me to confess? Is it try to embarrass and ruin Jisung’s life week or something?

    “And why not?”

    “Because…” I look away from him as he sits there and waits for my answer. “Because?” I can’t believe I was really about to tell him this. I mumble out my answer, not wanting him to understand a single word I said. “Jisung.” I didn’t appreciate the tone he said my name in, but I also knew that I was being a bit childish.

    “I said, because they don’t like me, and I don’t want to get rejected.” You can’t blame me for being scared of being rejected, I’m human after all.

    “And what makes you think that will happen?”

    “Did you just forget about our conversation earlier? They like you, not me, so of course I’m going to get rejected.” How many times do I have to say that Y/n like Minho? It’s starting to get annoying, especially since I have to say it to Minho himself.

    “Who’s to say they don’t like you too?” What kind of question was that? There was no way that Y/n could like me.

    “Did you like snort all the sugar back there or something? Y/n doesn’t like me, at least not in the way I want them to.”

    “You won’t know until you do something.” That’s it, he was definitely crazy, either that he wanted me to see me suffer.

    Instead of responding, I get up from my chair, “I should get going.”

    “Leaving so soon?” This conversation was starting to get repetitive for me and I didn’t like it. I didn’t come here to make my day worse. I don’t respond to him once again, so he asks me, “Got things to do?”

    In attempt to leave me alone, I say, “Yea, something like that.”

    “Like confess to Y/n?” I don’t have to look at him to know that he’s smirking. I’m sure that if I were to turn around and face him, that my eyes would literally shoot daggers at him.

    “Not going to happen.” I make my exit from the boba shop, and as make my way home, I can’t help but think about the conversation I had with Minho.

    Today’s the day. The day I get to hang out with Y/n outside of CuTea. Yesterday might’ve been the worse day ever, but there was no way I was going to let anything ruin today. F/n and I were meeting up at 4 to finish up our project, and then I’ll be heading out with Y/n. We agreed to go to a restaurant to get dinner and then to the park just to talk. I’m bringing my skateboard because one time they mentioned how they wanted to learn how to ride one, so I thought this might be a chance to do so.

    When arrive at CuTea later on that day, another worker is working the counter, I think their name is Sana. I’m assuming Y/n is in the back room. Once Sana has taken my order, I choose the same table from Monday to sit at, waiting for F/n to arrive.

Once they arrive, I motion for them to come sit down and slide a drink to their side of the table, “Here, I ordered your drink for you already.”

    “Oh. Um, thanks.” Pulling out their laptop from their bag, we get started on the finishing touches. I didn’t bring me laptop since I was going out, so we had to share F/n’s laptop. After we finished what needed to be done, we reviewed everything to make sure that everything was there, but I was struggling to see the screen, so I grabbed, F/n’s chair and pulled it closer to me. I could tell that they were flustered from my action when they asked what I was doing.

    “I can’t see the screen.”

    “Oh. Um, sorry. Is it better now?” Nodding my head yes, we continue to review the final project. Though something feels off about F/n, it’s like they were emitting anxiousness.

    “Hey are you okay?” They’re surprised by my question, but I can tell that there are other emotions they’re feeling.

    “Jisung,” pause, “I like you.” Uh, did I just hear that right?

    Turning to face my whole body towards them, I ask, “What are you going off about?” I wish that I didn’t turn because then I would’ve missed the way the visibly inflated.

    “You can’t be that dense, Jisung.” Honestly, I didn’t know what to say to them.

    “I’m sorry, but-“ they cut me off, something that everyone seems to be doing lately.

    “Don’t. Don’t’ apologize. I know, you like Y/n. I get it. I just wanted to let you know.” They begin to pack up their stuff as a way to escape my stare.

    “When?”

    I can tell that they’re taken back from my question, “When what?”

    “When did you start liking me?” There were no signs of F/n liking me, but then again not everyone was obvious like me, but still I should have been able to pick up on something.

    “Around the second week of us working on the project.” It’s been over two months, and I didn’t even realize it. Well this is awkward.

    “Well now that the project is done, we can stop hanging out with each other.” I watch as they get up from their seat and try make their way to the door. Getting up, I follow them, stopping them before they could leave.

    “Hey, wait up. What do you mean stop hanging out?”

    “Jisung, outside of this project, we would have never talked. We belong to two different circles.” It’s true. F/n’s group was more academic than Changbin, Chan, and I combined, but it’s not like you can’t hang out with those not in your circle.

    “Don’t say that.”

    “It’s true and you know it. Even if you didn’t like Y/n, I would have never had a chance with you. You and I both know that.” I could tell that F/n was starting to get frustrated with me, but I could let them leave without resolving whatever this was.

    “Why do you have to say it like that? Why are you making these assumptions?”

    “Because it’s true Jisung. I’m not your type and it’s clear to see with Y/n.”

    “Just because I don’t reciprocate your feelings doesn’t mean we have to stop being friends.” I liked hanging out with F/n, I didn’t want to stop talking after the project was over.

    “Yes it does. I can’t stand sitting right beside you and you having your eyes glued on Y/n, and with that being said, I’ll see you in class.” They barge out the door as I stand there unsure of how to take in the situation. I look around and I see that no one else in the shop was paying attention to us, or at least they stopped before I could notice. I sigh in defeat, but a voice brings me out of my mood.

    “Hey, did F/n leave already?” I slowly turn around to face Y/n, quickly changing the expression on my face and giving her a bright smile. I guess it was already 5.

    “Yeah, they had some other things to get to.” I didn’t actually know if they did, but I’d rather not tell Y/n what just went down, “You ready to head out?”

    The restaurant I decided to take Y/n out to was not even a restaurant. It was actually a food truck. I thought Y/n would’ve liked it better than any other place, and I was right because they love the Korean tacos they had. Since it was a food truck there were no actual chairs, so we sat on the sidewalk, talking and grubbing. If I were to be honest, I loved every moment of it. It was nice to talk about something that wasn’t boba related. I got to know Y/n more and vice versa. They also pointed out that I liked to stuff my cheeks with food and called me a chipmunk, and I couldn’t help but blush when the casually wiped a piece of food that was on my face. I would’ve been embarrassed, but I was too focus on the fact that their thumb was that close to my lips and that their hand felt so warm on my hand.

    Once we were both done with our food, I offered to throw away the trash, and when I walked back to Y/n, I saw that they were scrolling through Instagram and saw the photo that was displayed on their phone. It was a picture of Minho and Doyeon. Making sure that they knew that I was approaching, I saw that they had quickly turned off their phone. When I reached them, I said, “To the park?”

    Luckily the park was only 2 minutes away from where the food truck was. We had been walking in silence, until I saw a set of swings. Pointing at the swings, I ask, “Should we sit there?” Nodding their head, we make our way to the swings.

    Once seated, the silence comes back.

    “So…”

    “Don’t bring it up Jisung.” So they know that I saw their phone. However, I try to act clueless, “Bring what up?”

    “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

    “So I’m going to take that as a no then.”

    “No?”

    “No, you’re not over Minho.” Great. I really had to ruin the mood for the night by bringing this up, but I had to know the answer.

    “Jisung-“ This time it’s my turn to cut off their sentence.

    “No, it’s fine Y/n. I get it, you need time and Minho hyung is a cool guy, so of course you’re not over him yet, but I hope you know that there are other good guys out there. You shouldn’t wait for one specific fish when you could get others.”

    “Jisung, let me talk.”

    Something inside me had sparked, and for some reason I couldn’t stop my mouth from moving faster than my brain. “No Y/n, let me get this off my chest. I like you Y/n. Crazy, right? We’ve only been friends for like three months, but I’ve fallen completely head over heels for you. You know, the first time I went into CuTea with Changbin and Chan and saw you behind the counter with your cute little cap and apron, the first thought that came to my mind was ‘Wow, they’re beautiful.’ And ever since that day, I would come into CuTea every time the others went because I didn’t want to miss the chance to see you. Yes, the other two knew about my little ‘crush’ on you and tried to encourage me to say something to you that wasn’t my drink order, but I didn’t have the guts to do so because I knew you were out of my league. And then one night I came into the shop by myself after having a stressful week and I just wanted to hear your voice, even if it was for a minute, but I saw you in tears, and it broke me to see you like that. This might sound weird, but I’m thankful I saw you crying that night or else I wouldn’t have been able to talk to you. And talking to you makes my day, heck I was having the worse day yesterday, and decided to go to CuTea to see you, only to see Minho and then have that stupid conversation with him that has now landed me here.” After that long rant, I take a deep breath. I refuse to look at Y/n instead, I look up at the sky and focus my attention on the moon.

    “Are you done now?” After I nod my head they continue, “I know that you like me Jisung.” What. “I’ve known for the past two months.” Again, what. “You’re quite obvious.” At this point, I’ve twisted the swing so that I could face my whole body towards Y/n, and when I do, I see that they’ve already done the same and that they’re looking at me with those beautiful eyes.

    “I-“

    “Stop, I’m not done. I don’t like Minho anymore. I stopped liking him a month after him and Doyeon got together.” This was news was brand new to me. Y/n hasn’t really talked about her feelings for Minho as of lately, so I wasn’t sure how she felt, but I guess I know now. “I also like someone else now.” Oh. I’m pretty sure that cracking noise I just heard was my heart.

    “Oh, I see. Do I know them?” Why? Why do I like to put myself in pain?

    “Yeah, you know them really well.” Great, it was someone that I knew. Wait.

    “It’s not Changbin is it?” If it was Changbin, I think I would just cry and laugh at the same time.

    “Ew, yuck no, it’s not Changbin.” Good, Y/n is out of his league anyways.

    “Chan hyung?” Chan hyung made sense, he too was what every person wanted. I don’t think I could get mad at Y/n for liking him.

    Shaking their head no, they say, “It’s not him either.” If it wasn’t Chan or Changbin, then I wasn’t sure who Y/n could be talking about.

    “The person that I like is funny, outrageous, sincere, confident,” I couldn’t think of anyone that matched the description, “they also stuff their mouth with food like a chipmunk.” Oh, wait. It takes me a moment to process their words. Are they-are they talking about me?

    “Yes dummy I’m talking about you.” I think I need a moment. Y/n just said she liked me. Wait, “I need you to say it.” Y/n gives me a confused look. “I need you to say that you like me.” If they said it, then I can confirm that I’m not making this whole thing up.

    “Han Jisung, I like you.”

    “You like like me?”

    They roll their eyes at me, but still respond, “Yes Jisung, I like like you.”

    “Oh. That’s cool.” One second I’m sitting on the swing, and the next I’m on the ground. Y/n just pushed me. “Hey what was that for?”

    “What kind of response is that? ‘Oh. That’s cool.’ Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, happier?” Ah, I see where I went wrong. Getting up and dusting off the dirt, I stand in front of Y/n with my arms wide open. Hesitantly, they get up from the swing and wrap their arms around me. Giddily, I encase them in my arms and lift them up. I instantly fall in love with the squeal they let out.

    “Han Jisung put me down!”

    “No. It was a trap, and now that you’re in my arms, I’m never letting you go.” I give them a tight squeeze, causing for another squeal to escape from them.

    “But I thought you were going to teach me how to use a skateboard.” That’s right, I was. Gently putting them down, we make eye contact and I can’t help but look shyly away. They giggle because of my timidness, but I see them shiver due to a small gust of wind. Quickly I take off the hoodie I’m wearing and shove it towards them.

    “Here, take this.” They look at me unsure before taking it from me.

    “But what about you?”

    “Don’t worry about me, I got something else to keep me warm.” I wrap my arm around their shoulder, pulling them closer towards me.

    “I like shy Jisung more than I do bold Jisung.”

    “Well lucky for you, you can have both.”

    Yeah, today was definitely a better day than yesterday.

A/N: ah, sorry that it took so long for this to come out! 🥺the semester is coming closer to the end so it’s beginning to get hectic, but I've finally managed to get this out. I decided to do something different this time and wrote in Jisung’s POV. what did you guys think of it? also this came out a longer than I expected, but I really like how this turned out. like always, I appreciate any comments or feedback, so feel free to leave a message.

[desdealgunlugardelsur]

Harrison Ford: 2020 summary

A year like no other, as you must have heard countless times. The pandemic changed almost everybody´s life on this planet and Harrison wasn´t an exception. Our lil´ bean is strong and healthy but also has to be safe at home, so this year didn´t deliver many news about Harrison. Still, we had a new Harrison movie, The Call of the Wild, released in February, and a few other events before the lockdown. 2020 was also marked by the death of 3 former Harrison´s costars: Chadwick Boseman, Sean Connery and David Prowse. May all of them rest on peace on Heaven.

A new year begins, and we all wish Harrison (and everyone by the way) a productive, happy and healthy 2021. Stay safe!

JANUARY

Early January:  Harrison Ford enjoying his holidays in the caribbean island of Bonaire

25th: Harrison Ford with singer Carole Bayer Sager in a dinner in support of US Democratic candidate Michael Bloomberg

28th: The Call of the Wild “Adventure Companions” Featurette.  Harrison Ford talks about dogs and companionship in The Call of the Wild’s “Adventure Companions” featurette.

28th: not sure where these pics were taken. Probably in Wyoming?  (pics from Rich Elali)

FEBRUARY

3rd: Verizon Super Bowl Ad Features Harrison Ford And New Pearl Jam Song

Kathleen Kennedy Says Harrison Ford Is Still On For ‘Indiana Jones 5’

Early-mid February: the national and international promotion  of The Call of the Wild  begins

5th: In Mexico City:

Harrison Ford: America Has Lost Its Moral Leadership And Credibility:  The “Star Wars” and “Indiana Jones” star calls out U.S. policy on immigration and climate.

11th: On the Jimmy Kimmel Show:

More here 

13th: Harrison Ford, actor and watch designer.  Newly adapted from Jack London’s literary classic, “The Call of the Wild” transports us to the snowy expanses of Alaska in the 1890s, with Harrison Ford as prospector John Thornton. The actor talks about climate activism, technology and why mechanical watches beat smartwatches every time.

14th: Indiana Jones 5 Starts Shooting In Two Months Says Harrison Ford :  The long delayed fifth Indiana Jones film is finally about to get underway, as Harrison Ford reveals that he will begin shooting in two months. (that was what they were planning before COVID-19 hit the world...)

14th: Harrison Ford: Indiana Jones 5 Will “See Part of His History Resolved”

17th: “A Force ghost? I don’t know what a Force ghost is…I have no idea what a Force ghost is. And I don’t care!“. Legend.

21st: The Call of the Wild is released in cinemas

At the movie premiere in Los Angeles:

BRING ON THE PUPPIES:

More videos:

Call of the Wild Survival Tips!

SNACK??? (Kudos to that girl)

Find epic stories at your library! 

More news:

Of Course Harrison Ford Did His Own Call Of The Wild Stunts And 'Wore Out' The Stunt Team

Harrison Ford's shirtless chest is that buff (at 77) for his 'Call of the Wild' swim scene

26th: Steven Spielberg Won’t Direct ‘Indiana Jones 5,’ James Mangold in Talks to Replace  

27th: Harrison Ford Breaks Down His Career, from 'Star Wars' to 'Indiana Jones'  (Vanity Fair)

Late February: Harrison Ford visits Google´s offices in San Francisco to test the company´s self-driving car. [x] [x] [x] [x]

MARCH

14th:  Harrison spotted in South Hadley, Massachusetts [x].  Apparently Harrison and Calista went to Massachusetts to pick up their son Liam after college shut down due to the coronavirus pandemic.

MARCH

MARCH

MARCH

MARCH

...

APRIL

3rd: Disney delay multiple release dates including Jungle Cruise, The French Dispatch, and Indiana Jones 5  

(…) Another big reveal is that Indiana Jones 5 – which will reportedly be directed by James Mangold – is being pushed back a year, from July 9, 2021 to July 29, 2022.

29th: Harrison Ford under FAA investigation after making a mistake while operating an airplane on the runway

According to the audio obtained by TMZ, Ford, 77, did not follow the direction of a tower operator to “keep short” on the runway because of “traffic”. It seems that the actor did not hear the direction. He nevertheless started to cross the runway, which prompted the operator to reprimand him for not following his instructions.

“Cross this trail now!” I told you to keep it short! You have to listen, “said the operator.

“Excuse me, sir, I thought exactly the opposite. I’m really sorry, ”said Ford immediately.

TMZ said there was no risk of an accident. The other aircraft was allegedly 3600 feet from Ford’s aircraft.

MAY

6th: Lucasfilm Reportedly Wants Harrison Ford To Return For Han And Chewie Star Wars Spinoff (Note: this hasn´t been officially confirmed by Lucasfilm)

15th: No news but I think this is cute: 

From twitter.com/siikasele

21st: The Empire Strikes Back 40th anniversary. 40 years ago, TESB was released on theaters the 21st of May of 1980.

27th: James Mangold Confirmed To Direct Indiana Jones 5.  Producer Frank Marshall confirms James Mangold is directing Indiana Jones 5 and says he's only just begun to work on his own script for the movie.

28th: James Mangold plans to take Indiana Jones franchise 'someplace new'. 

Indiana Jones Writer on How Pandemic Will Affect Film's Script

JUNE

Nothing happens but look at this

You are welcome.

JULY

13th: Happy birthday king!

AUGUST

23rd:  Harrison Ford dropping off his son Liam at College with wife Calista Flockhart via private plane (from tinyrebelstuff)

28th: Chadwick Boseman dies of cancer at the age of 43

Harrison Ford Calls Chadwick Boseman "As Much a Hero as Any He Played" 

“Chadwick Boseman was as compelling, powerful and truthful as the characters he chose to play,” Ford said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “His intelligence, personal dignity and deep commitment inspired his colleagues and elevated the stories he told. He is as much a hero as any he played. He is loved and will be deeply missed.”

SEPTEMBER

24th: Harrison Ford Cleared by FAA in Runway Investigation. "The FAA has closed the case involving the pilot who crossed a Hawthorne Municipal Airport runway without authorization on April 24, 2020. The FAA required the pilot to take a remedial runway incursion training course. When the pilot successfully completed the course, the FAA closed the case with no additional action," the FAA said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

OCTOBER

19th: Harrison Ford & Ed Helms To Star In STX Seafaring Comedy ‘Adventures Of Burt Squire’ 

22nd: Actor and Pilot Harrison Ford Becomes Airlink Spokesperson. Video here

31st: Sean Connery dies at 90.

Sean Connery: Harrison Ford pays tribute to his Indiana Jones father and 'dear friend'

"He was my father... not in life... but in Indy 3," he said.

"You don't know pleasure until someone pays you to take Sean Connery for a ride in the sidecar of a Russian motorcycle bouncing along a bumpy, twisty mountain trail and getting to watch him squirm.

"God, we had fun - if he's in heaven, I hope they have golf courses.

"Rest in peace, dear friend."

NOVEMBER

2nd: Harrison Ford And Lincoln Project Back Anthony Fauci, Advocate Firing Donald Trump  

In the waning hours of the 2020 presidential election, the Lincoln Project has enlisted Harrison Ford to narrate a new ad that plays up President Donald Trump’s suggestion that he will fire Dr. Anthony Fauci.

The spot features a scene from a Trump rally on Sunday in which supporters began chanting “Fire Fauci! Fire Fauci!” and the president responded, “Don’t tell anybody, but let me wait til a little bit after the election.”

Ford then says, “Tomorrow, you can fire only one of them. The choice is yours.”

3rd: Harrison Ford and Bloomberg on Biden 2020

7th: Destiel becomes canon. Harrison doesn´t give a single fuck.

Also Joe Biden wins the US elections. Trump is defeated. Harrison, we know you hate Donald Trump. Congratulations.

21st: Harrison Ford back in Boston, Massachusetts, to pick up his son Liam for Thanksgiving Day.

28th: David Prowse, who played Darth Vader in the original trilogy, dies at the age of 85. Sorry, I didn´t find any words from Harrison on his memory... it seems they weren´t so close. Also, Jeremy Bulloch, the original Boba Fett, dies at 75 the 17th of december.

DECEMBER

10th: Indiana Jones: James Mangold, Harrison Ford Team to Close Out the Character  

Harrison Ford and James Mangold's Indiana Jones 5 will serve as the final chapter for the iconic character.

Disney changed the Indiana Jones logotype. I have a bad feeling about this.

15th: Rare, behind-the-scenes look at 'The Empire Strikes Back'

Including this jewel:

Gif from the @theorganasolo​

31st: And just at the very last day of this weird and strange year...

Disney Reportedly Wants Harrison Ford For Indiana Jones Streaming Show 

Thankfully, then, it seems that the fifth (Indiana Jones) outing may not be the last we see of the actor in the role, as insider Daniel Richtman claims that Disney wants Ford to appear in a series that’s being developed for their streaming service. Further details are unclear and the tipster doesn’t say if it’s an all-new show or a reboot of The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles, but as one of the Mouse House’s most valuable assets, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they wanted to continue mining the property once Indiana Jones 5 wraps up the big screen stories for good. 

Thanks everyone! Hopefully in 2021 the pandemic will fade and the world will return to normalcy. Luckily the production of Indiana Jones V will start this spring, as well as other Harrison projects such the tv show The Staircase and the movie starring with Ed Elms. Fingers crossed for a year full of (good) news about Harrison. Have a happy and safe 2021.

[lovetenya]

𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬: 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧

pairing: tamaki amajiki x gn! reader

warnings: pretty angsty, relationship anxiety, fear of abandonment, descriptions/imaginations of choking (it’s figurative and imaginary, it’s demonstrated with snakes), hurt/comfort, reassurance, worrying, ???, ENDS IN FLUFF I PROMISE!!

word count: 1.7k 

author’s note: okay OKAY I’m sorry this took so long, i’m now onto the ones that i’m coming up with completely from scratch, because i’m not writing them from outlines. as always, this is all over the place bc i love inserting 294848 different scenarios into one work. someday, maybe, i will focus on one plot line. today is not that day. ALTHOUGH THIS ISN’T THAT BAD BY MY STANDARDS, I’M SORRY TAMAKI, I LOVE YOU SO MUCH.

being in love with tamaki amajiki is green.

it’s the small, fragile beansprouts he grew from the tips of his fingers at lunch time when you were kids, and he was trying to show you that his quirk was nothing to be afraid of. the other kids didn’t talk to him because they thought his tentacles were scary, but you just thought they were neat. 

he knew you before he knew mirio, and you were the reason he even considered talking to the loud, sunshine boy in the first place. you gave him the confidence to try to make new friends, to try to choke down the green of the nausea that comes with uncertainty.

“maybe not everyone is going to be mean to me,” he thought, slightly emboldened at the fact that he had a friend now. ‘y/n,” he thought. “they’re my friend now...”

it all started years ago in primary school when you noticed how he sat alone at his desk, drawing pictures of animals while the other kids played. his crayons never seemed to stop moving, and the green jungles he colored were detailed with a wide variety of wildlife and plants. 

he liked to be alone, where it was quiet and safe, and nobody would pick on him or ask too much of him. everyone knew that the tears that formed on his lashes were a common occurrence, so they tried to avoid pressing him too much. his peace usually remained undisturbed, until there was you. 

you walked up to show him a drawing you made of a spider. he jumped in fear, both at the drawing of a weirdly-realistic spider, but also the fact that someone was talking to him. 

“why don’t they know to just leave me alone?” he thought, already shaking in his seat. his blood ran cold, spit filled his mouth, and a bright green nausea overtook all of his senses. he looked up at your face, wincing and bracing himself for a playground insult. kids were creative, and he knew that all too well. 

“hi.. amajiki. i like your drawing. do you like animals too?”

“mm-hm..” he softly replied. this was new.

“what’s your favorite one?” you knew to keep it simple, because he clearly wasn’t comfortable speaking. he never raised his hand, even when his favorite subjects were brought up in class or when everyone was encouraged to participate. this time, however, was different. this time, there was you.

where mirio was his sun, you were his stars.

where mirio loudly encouraged him, you provided your gentle, guiding support, and always proved to be a perfect shoulder to lean a head into.

“i.. i like butterflies a lot.”

and so it began.

—

since you met, there were many periods of closeness and distance between you and tamaki, which is typical of childhood friends. you could go weeks without talking and then come right back together, making each other giggle with your newest ideas about the funniest things tamaki could do with his quirk. 

one day, you joked, “what if you ate a clam, manifested the shell, and then just knocked somebody over the head with it??? the guy would fall down like blehhh and that would be so funny!!!”

he laughed a little, before deadpanning. “wait a minute.... i think.. i think you might be onto something.”

—

tamaki remembers that the most nervous he’s ever been was while your relationship was still green. the two of you took a walk through a community garden after grabbing a quick dinner with mirio and nejire, and the two of them mysteriously had to leave at the same time, leaving the two of you alone. (the return of ultimate wingmen, mirio and nejire!) 

normally, he’d feel anxious about being in public, but he was okay because you were right there with him. you were here, walking shoulder to shoulder with him, through a garden full of butterflies. what more could he ask for? 

he didn’t have to worry about being judged or being teased, because it was you. the leaves surrounding you felt like nothing more than company. as you made your way through the beautiful maze of plants, flowers, and stone statues, it was just you two in the whole wide world, taking it all in and enjoying each other’s company.

although he hadn’t always known what his feelings meant, he now realized that he’s a crush on you for as long as he could remember. while mirio had several different flings, tamaki always had his eyes on you. nobody was as understanding, as considerate, and as perfect as you. he didn’t want to be like this with anyone but you.

his hand twitched toward yours, but he didn’t dare. he couldn’t risk the pain of rejection, he wouldn’t risk it. if it meant he could possibly lose you, it wasn’t worth it. luckily for tamaki, you didn’t share the same fear, and slowly took his hand in yours. he harshly avoided eye contact, desperate to not let you see his crimson red blush. you knew he had a hard time telling people what he really felt, but he wasn’t usually this quiet with you. 

“tamaki, is this okay?” you questioned.

“yeah. it’s.. good. i like it.”

—

green is the matcha-flavored boba tea that tamaki sips on while you’re on a date. he asks, “y/n, do you like seafood?” before he balances a boba pearl on the tip of his tongue and laughs. what a dork, you think, and then balance a pearl on yours. this is what tamaki needed sometimes, normal moments of relaxation, and you’re more than happy to provide him with it.

—

however, being in love with tamaki is also loving him through the moments that are hard, and when you can’t lean on each other, because it’s all too much. the moments where the problem is between you, and isn’t easily defined and solved. these are the moments when he’s green with envy, or sick to his stomach with worry, or overrun with anxiety at the most simple things. 

these are the moments where you’re tired, or overwhelmed, or you just can’t handle his emotional intensity today, even though you wish you could. you love him, of course you do, there would never be a moment in time where your heart wasn’t bursting for him, but every person has their limits.

these breaking moments are the ones where one of you blurts something you don’t mean in a moment of anger, cracking the meticulously constructed façade, which is in place to spare the other’s feelings.

they’re the moments where your mind goes blank, and all you can think of is, “i’m sorry. i’m sorry. i’m sorry. i’m sorry. i’m sorry. i’m sorry.”

they’re the moments spent frantically comforting, speaking through tears, words spilling out. they’re the moments where his head lays sobbing in your lap, and his arms circle your waist, desperate to hold onto something, anything. desperate to hold onto you, so that you don’t leave him. your words come out shaky, because even they aren’t really sure how to make this all better. how can you fix what was never meant to be broken? it’s uncertain, but you can’t ever finish if you never begin. you reassure him as many times as he needs to hear it.

“god, i’m so sorry, tamaki, i didn’t mean it, i promise i didn’t mean it.”

even though he says he forgives you, that it’s over with, you know he’s replaying every lilt of your voice, where it broke when you were angry. 

you know he’s feeling more than he lets on, but doesn’t share those intensities because he doesn’t want to come on too strong. you know better than to trust a simple “i’m fine, y/n. really.”

he’s not lying just to lie, because he’s never felt anything truer than his love for you. he’s doing it because he doesn’t want you to understand the heartbreak that often comes with love. he doesn’t want you to feel suffocated, or like you’re being strangled by thousands of emerald green scaled snakes. 

he doesn’t want you to feel their bodies coiled around your throat, like he does. 

he doesn’t want you to feel their scales: cool yet burning, smooth yet slicing, glide across your skin gently, intending to strangle. 

he doesn’t want you to feel their eyes boring into you, threatening under the ruse of being calculating. 

he doesn’t want you to feel what he does, so he hides it. even though he knows he shouldn’t, he can’t help it.

he can’t help how much he loves you, how afraid he is to lose you, how scared he gets whenever mirio and you are paired up together for a class.

he can’t help that he feels like time is running out, your life together is wilting away, and that you’re slipping through his fingers like fine sand.

but you know, truly and wholeheartedly, that his insecurity didn’t deem him invaluable or unworthy of love. his fear and his worries didn’t take away your love, and they never would. every moment spent reminding him that i’m not going anywhere, was worth it. because he’s worth it, and this was something worth fighting for. he’s worth the fighting and the courage it all takes, because he is what makes you whole. he, and everything he is, is worth loving, because there’s value to the things that break us.

--

being in love with tamaki is grassy green countrysides and wildflower stems, and finding little adventures in every single day. it’s reassurance through the irrational, it’s validation through the pain. it’s not loving despite, it’s loving because.

loving tamaki is green in its youth, in its freshness, in its refreshing reminder that you are loved. you are loved so vividly, so intensely, so naturally. 

tamaki loves you, and you know that, because he wouldn’t be able to muster the courage to let those words spill unless he really, truly meant it.

with you, tamaki can let a little loose, a little bit wild. he can let the vines restraining him wilt away into nothing.

because no matter what, it’s all worth it in the end.

—

thanks for reading! love, tj 🪶

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[artificialqueens]

What's Her Name? (Gigi x Nicky) - Mina

A/N: I’m working really hard on a fairy au right now (go to @goodemornting for updates on that lmao) but in the meantime I wanted to do something different! I hope you all enjoy it :)

Your soulmates name shows up on your arm when you turn 15. Gigi’s only problem is that her’s is in French, and she doesn’t speak a word of it.

Soulmates are a pretty common thing. Realistically they shouldn’t be; even with someone’s name written on your arm, what are the odds you’re going to find them in a sea of seven and a half billion people? Not only is it unlikely, it’s improbable. What if you have a name on your arm like John Smith? How many John Smiths do you have to go through before you can find the “one and only”? Soulmates were romanticized, and frankly unnecessary in Gigi’s humble opinion. She wouldn’t have had the slightest interest in finally finding her own but it’s hard to find someone who doesn’t at least have some idea of who their soulmate is. There are a lot of tells, like what language the name is written in, what gender the name is usually assigned to, stuff like that. Probably the biggest reason why so many people in the world have managed to find their soulmates is because they care so much about it. Apparently there’s also like, a gut feeling you get, when you meet them. Like you know for a fact that they’re the one and only. She’d never experienced it herself, but according to the people in her life who had met their soulmates before, there’s just some kind of pull, like on an instinctual level. This subconscious feeling you have that they’re the right person for you. And when the names match up - well, there’s really no way to deny it, at that point.

It’s kind of a sweet notion, in a way. To know someone all your life by a set of letters and then when you finally get to meet them, that they’re the right person, and they’ve been thinking of you too. Gigi was independent sure, career driven and logical, but she would’ve been lying if she wasn’t the slightest bit interested in what her soulmate might look like, what perfume they might use, what their favorite band might be. It was drilled into her since she was younger, in her defense, but that yearning feeling that encased every bone in her body whenever she accidentally glanced down at the cursive words delicately engraved on her arm made her wish that she could just find them already, so she could focus on more important things than the love of her life.

The only problem was, that the name imprinted neatly on her arm just happened to not be written in English, but some terrible variation of French.

Truth be told, she’d started studying French ever since google translate had helpfully informed her that’s what language the name was written in. She knows it starts with N, probably ends in L or Y, but her soulmates parents must’ve decided to give their child the most unique spelt name on the planet because the letters every French person had told her that the name possessed didn’t form anything that has much of a ring to it. She really hoped it was a girl’s name, because, well, it would be pretty inconvenient for her if her soulmate was a guy (Considering that she’s, like, a lesbian, and all). But other than that there were absolutely no indicators as to what it could say.

It used to bother her a lot more when she was younger. Being seventeen and knowing absolutely no characteristics of your soulmate is both pretty rare and pretty sad, but it’d never been her primary concern. She had other things to fill her life with, like good friends and family, school, art, overpriced coffee. It was frustrating that she couldn’t read it, but also extremely easy to distract herself from. Besides, having no way of knowing what the her soulmates name was gave her plenty of time and energy to spend helping her friends with their soulmate problems, and there’s plenty of those to go around.

Gigi stirred her tea, poking her tongue out slightly from between her lips. She hated that all the tapioca pearls end up sinking to the bottom, she didn’t want to put the straw in only halfway and get a mouthful of tea, but at the same time she didn’t want to drink all the boba all at once because it’s all pooled at the bottom. There were probably more important things that she could be focusing on right now, but this was a major pet peeve of hers. She cares a whole lot about how her bubble tea is consumed! The tapioca should be dispersed evenly throughout the drink, anything else is a disgrace.

Jan looked between her own two multicolored drinks, narrowing her eyes in contemplation. She was probably trying to decide which one to drink first, but it’s still pretty funny to watch. After Gigi had given up on fiddling around with the tapioca pearls, she sipped her tea and laced her fingers together, leaning forward to look at the blonde closer.

“You could try drinking the one they gave you for free.” She remarked, Jan’s golden brown eyes sliding up to meet hers with a sheepish smile. They’d been best friends since grade school but she still got way too easily embarrassed when Gigi gave her advice, it was pretty stupid. “Since you like the other one more, right?”

“I mean,” Jan pouted again, cocking her head like an upset puppy. “I like taro and lychee evenly, I just wanted lychee this time.”

“Hmm.” Gigi hummed, chewing her lip. “I’m trying to decide if you’re an immediate satisfaction kinda girl or the kind to bide your time. Or you could alternate between the two. Get a good mix of the one you’re in the mood for and the one you’re not in the mood for to keep you going.”

“That’s pretty gross, Gigi.” The older pointed out, wearing a wry smile. “It’s weird that I even have two to begin with.”

“Business as usual for you,” she chided, taking another sip of her single strawberry flavoured tea. Jan was lucky, generally. Gigi didn’t mean that in a jealous way, it was just true, and a little unnerving, at times. The fact that whoever ordered the taro bubble tea had completely took off, prompting the worker to offer it to the blonde, wasn’t even surprising to her at this point. Jan was even lucky in the soulmate department, kinda. The name on her arm was Jacquline Cox, pretty basic, and apparently they’d already met - though Jan hadn’t given her a lot of information about the mystery woman other than something about long dark hair and Persian food.

“It makes me feel awkward,” Jan complained with a sigh. “Who comes to a cafe and orders two boba teas?

“People who are really thirsty, probably.”

“I guess you’re right,” She conceded, but she still looked apprehensive, so Gigi reached across the table and grabbed the taro drink to take a long sip of it. She wasn’t the biggest fan of taro (It’s hard to describe, it’s too earthy for her taste?) but the eyebrow raise from the older woman was funny, so it was worth the slightly unpleasant flavour. “Gigi?”

The brunette glanced up from the tea, watching as Jan’s lip curled up harshly, thinking about her next choice of words. “You said wanted to catch up today?” She asked after a moment, and Gigi buffered briefly before nodding.

“Yeah. It’s so weird not going to the same school.” Gigi smiled sadly, drawing a smiley face in the condensation of her cup, “I’m not used to not seeing you every day, but you said the new school is better, right?”

“It’s not much different than the one we went to last year,” Jan shrugged, “But it’s a good school. It’s nice going somewhere where people don’t all remember me from primary.” She chuckled, rubbing the back of her neck. “It’s how I met Jackie, so I can’t be too mad about it.”

Gigi can’t help being a little bit more attentive after she hears the name, but she’s not very expressive at the best of times, so there probably wasn’t much more than a slight shift in her expression. The shorter woman was pretty good at picking up on that stuff, though, so she wasn’t surprised at the knowing smirk smiling back it her. “You know, you could just ask if you want me to tell you about her.”

Gigi winked, leaning forward on the table and resting her head against her hands. “Tell me then, what’s Miss Jacqueline like?”

“She’s from Iran, transfer student, stupidly funny, super smart, tall,” Jan sounded wistful, smiling serenely. The expression was generally deceiving, but thankfully Gigi had a pretty good idea of how to read her, too. It comes with being best friends for so long. She chewed her boba, waving a hand to encourage the blonde to continue. “I’ve been so happy lately, she really completes me. I don’t think she likes me much yet though.”

Gigi swallowed, narrowing her eyes. “Hmmm, maybe she’s just nervous. Does she have eyes? You’re pretty attractive.” She hesitated, “Probably.”

“Thank you,” Jan giggled, “But that’s not really what I meant.” She sighed, swirling her tea with her straw. “It’s complicated.”

“I’ve got time.” She hinted, rather than say that she’d been waiting on this tea since Jan had first mentioned meeting her soulmate, and that she’d been starved of this kind of thing in her own life so she was more than happy to be hearing about it in her friends.

Gigi had never been good at any of that… romantic stuff, which people often found surprising given how confident she was normally. She didn’t read often, but on the rare occasion that she did, and she got to the romantic part of a book, she felt terribly flustered the whole time through. She had no composure. She’d just have no idea what to say, or what might be tactful to do in any situation. Sure, holding hands and cuddling sounded nice, but beyond that- things like communication, and physical gestures of affection, were intimidating. Not scary, necessarily, or unappealing (because wow Gigi loved to be kissed by g… girls…) but definitely intimidating. A large part of her was worried that when she eventually met her soulmate, she’d embarrass herself with a total lack of expertise in that area. Then again, the whole point of a soulmate is that they’re your one and only, so maybe they’d both be completely unequipped to handle what being a soulmate might entail. In general Gigi was most worried about identifying them, though. Who’s to say that they’d know English? Maybe they don’t know what the name - which was hopefully written nicely since her handwriting could be terrible at times - on their arm says either.

Jan groaned. “She’s so nice to me but she’ll never initiate it? Like if I compliment her she goes along with it otherwise it feels forced?”

Gigi scoffs, picking at her nails, the answer is fairly obvious. “It sounds like she’s doing that thing that people do in the movies.” She dipped her thumb in the puddle of water that’d formed on the table from the drips of condensation dripping off her drink. “What’s it called, playing hard to get?”

“Y’know, that does sound kinda accurate,” Jan smiled, which told Gigi that shes completely right. She’s glad for that, too, because she really just repeated platitudes. “Why don’t we talk about something else? You haven’t told me how you’ve been, recently.”

By the time they’d both finished their bubble teas (as well as the taro one in the middle of the table), they figured it’d be a good time to head home. Gigi begged the shorter woman to keep her posted on the Jackie situation, and Jan swore that she would with a roll of her eyes.

The brunette’s text came in while she was at the mall. When her phone vibrated, she stopped for a second to check the notification. It was Jan, of course, the paragraph of emojis next to her name lighting up Gigi’s lock screen.

The blonde has texted her a picture; she doesn’t recognize the subject of the photo, but she can only assume that it’s the Jackie Cox soulmate woman, or else there’d be no reason for the candid shot. She’s facing away from the camera, looking off into a cityscape, but her head is turned very slightly, and there’s a fond smile practically glowing off of her face. From what Gigi can see, her eyes are a deep wood brown, she’s freakishly tall and probably towers over Jan, and her hair is dark and curled slightly at the tips. She nods sagely, this woman and Jan would look like a cliche Pinterest board aesthetic together. The Persian woman is beaming, which probably means that the two getting along just fine- which is contrary to what Jan had told her so mayb-

Someone (or something? But she’s pretty sure it’s a someone because whatever it is is warm) collides into Gigi’s shoulder, and knocks not only her phone out of her hands, but also her feet out from under her. With an undignified sound, she watches the ground get closer to her, and then blinks in confusion when it suddenly stops roughly a foot away from her face.

“Oh my gosh, I’m sorry!” it’s a woman’s voice, Gigi thinks, and vaguely accented, but her English sounds pretty okay. When she turns her head she is accutly aware of of pale blonde hair brushing against the woman’s shoulders, the sweet scent of honeysuckle perfume, a Lana Del Rey shirt tightly hugging her chest. “I wasn’t looking where I was going, are you alright? Mon dieu, your phone..”

Huh? Gigi followed her line of sight and noticed that her phone was on the floor some ways away. As soon as her eyes landed on it, the blonde woman kneels and lifts it up delicately, wiping it off with the silky red scarf she’s wearing. It’s at that moment that it occurs to her that she’s still being held up by the other girl, and when she’s pulled to her feet, she takes a step back and chews her thumbnail, blinking at the vision before her.

This girl is fairly tall, definitely has an inch or two on Gigi. Her hair is shiny, concealed by a stylish black beret, and her eyes are sharp and seemingly all knowing. She’s remarkably pretty, Gigi’s heart beginning to get that fluttery feeling she gets whenever she makes eye contact with an unfortunately attractive girl her age. She tries to calm it down, though, because she can’t imagine that going all ditzy-highschooler on this girl will help the interaction any. It’s awkward enough as it is.

“I’m fine,” She says quietly, before the blonde girl can begin to fret about her phone. “I shouldn’t have been standing in the middle of the walkway on my phone, so it’s my fault, probably.” Gigi wipes down the wrinkles in her shirt, watching relief cross over the girl’s features. She’s looks French, the brunette concedes. Like she stylishly sell you a baguette on the side of the street, and her accent further hints at it. She’s probably around Gigi’s age as well.

“I’m happy that you aren’t mad.” The girl smiles. “But it’s still my fault.” She clears her throat, rubbing the back of her neck. “Could I make it up to you?” The way she asks it is curious, like she has some sort of other reason for asking, but Gigi holds her tongue. “I was going to this restaurant- pardon me, my name is Nicolette — are you free right now? – Not that you have to be, we could do it later – they make a really good stir-fry.”

For a pretty girl, Nicky stutters more than Gigi would’ve expected. It’s cute, charming almost, and the offer sounds great right about now. “That sounds fine.” She smiles, suddenly forgetting whatever she had come to the mall for because stir fry and French woman definitely sounded like her cup of tea.

“Perfect! I didn’t catch your name, by the way,” Nicolette - that’s a long name, maybe she could shorten it to Nicky - remarks thoughtfully, and Gigi realises that she’s a fool.

“Gigi.” She replies, and then adds, “Goode. My name is Gigi Goode.” Inwardly she scolds herself, that introduction could’ve been much smoother. For a minute she thinks she was so weird about it that Nicky has been thoroughly unsettled, but it crosses her mind after a bit of thought that the French woman’s comically widening eyes probably isn’t on account of her stuttering.

“Gigi Goode?” Echoes the girl. “Wait, uhm,” she shakes her head quickly, eyes frantically flicking between her arm and Gigi’s own, which is concealed by her coat sleeve. “Do you-” Nicky fumbled with her shirt, yanking it up with one hand. When Gigi looks down at the girl’s arm, she sees some incredibly familiar letters written, tiny hearts dotting every i. “Do you spell your name with-”

“Yeah. Yeah - yeah I do.“ The brunette interrupts, vision suddenly becoming blurry. She pulls up her own sleeve, feeling like she’s in some kind of a stupor, and holds out her forearm shakily to the taller woman. “Is this your name? I’ve never been able to read it.”

There’s a moment of silence.

“That is certainly my name,” Nicky replies, voice high pitched and frantic. “It’s spelt weird, you know, with the q and u and stuff but - merde that’s my name.”

Honestly, Gigi isn’t really capable of thinking clearly right now, but by the sounds of it she might’ve just found her soulma-

She gets knocked off her feet for second time within five minutes. This time, though, Nicky isn’t able to catch her, because though Nicky is again the reason she goes down, the blonde’s arms are occupied by being thrown tightly around Gigi’s shoulders.

“I’m so glad to meet you!” The woman bursts out, and the brunette’s face warms at the close proximity. “I came to America to look for you, did you know that? I suppose you wouldn’t, as we’ve never met before, but I- well- I’ve been searching for so long and some days I felt like I would never find you- that is a bit too much information for a first meeting, sorry, - and I’ve knocked you over again too, oh-”

“It’s okay,” Gigi dismisses quickly. “I don’t mind.” She doesn’t, though her face is definitely like a thousand degrees right now. Nicky beams at her, strands of angel blonde hair falling in front of her eyes, and Gigi swallows down a bit of flustered anxiety. Her heart is beating hard, she can hardly hear anything through it’s ringing in her ears, and Nicky can definitely feel it, but it’s not so embarrassing when she realises that the other girl’s heart is beating just as fast. At the same tempo, even, though it might be a bit presumptuous to say as much. She clears her throat a few times, trying to figure out something cool to say. “Uhm, well, how about that stir-fry then?”

Not quite, but close enough, because Nicky’s responding smile feels like a billion dollars.

[honestlyhufflepuff]

Nesting and Resting

Jam Week Day 5: Home. Summary: Steven gets a little too into decorating Connie’s dorm. Word Count: 2203

Steven surveyed the dorm room, trying to figure out what it was missing. He was sitting on Connie’s loft bed, the highest vantage point of the space, trying to get a feel for the room’s flow. The first place his eyes were drawn to was the plush Papasan chair by the bay window- mostly because of who was in it. Connie lay curled up under a white faux fur throw, dust particles dancing around her in in the setting sun. The golden light illuminated the errant hairs of her thick ponytail to make a glowing crown. She looked like a small bird in a nest of wicker and cotton.

The chair took up far too much floor space in the modest room, but Steven insisted they could make it work by raising the bed to make room for her desk underneath it. He said he just wanted to be sure she felt comfortable.

Connie kicked out her legs, dangling them over the edge of the giant chair’s cushion, and looked up at Steven.

“It looks great,” she said with a tired smile, “We’ve done enough decorating for today. I don’t think it could feel any more like home.”

He sighed, tearing his gaze away from her to scan the room once more “I know, there’s just something I’m forgetting.”

She groaned and threw the blanket off her.

“I know you’re tired,” he cooed from his perch on her bed, “Take a nap. I’ll be quiet.”

“No, I’m hungry,” she popped out of the chair, “Let’s go check out the restaurants near campus! I saw a really good looking boba tea place on our way in.”

“I’m really not hungry yet, and I want to finish some stuff in here. Why don’t you grab some stuff from the kitchen, and we can go out to Boba afterwards?”

She sighed, looking like she wanted to say something about his decorating obsession, but thought better of bringing it up when she was getting hangry.

“Fine,” she said, “but we are getting boba afterwards. Promise?”

He nodded and reached out to squeeze her hand, “Promise.”

He sat still as she left, and he could hear the indistinct chatter she was having with one of her new suite mates.

The room was lush and bursting with stimuli that elicited comfort. Connie had kindly endured months of dorm inspo videos on TubeTube as Steven picked her brain for what she would like the most. A Pothos Ivy and a succulent of green pearls were cradled in macramé that hung from the ceiling by the window. The new plants looked so small and fragile in the pots at the nursery, but one kiss each from Steven sent streams of emerald growth almost down to the floor. He wished growth in humans was as easy as that.

The bay window was easily the best feature of the room and looked out on a courtyard filled with crisp fall leaves and bustling new freshman.  The sunlight filtering into the room was softened by gauzy white curtains, that faintly glowed with twinkle lights. Not many dorms were lucky to have so much natural light, but Gale was an old, uppity university with a certain standard of living expected by the students. Even with Connie’s mom being a doctor, they could not have afforded it easily had Connie not gotten a full ride scholarship. She was the Valedictorian of her high school, an ethnic minority, a classically trained violinist, and a woman going into STEM. Apparently, all those things meant she practically had colleges fighting over her, and she was a shrewd bargainer. Gale was her dream school, but she acted aloof until they offered her a single unit dorm, a bunch of sweet collegiate merch, and meal vouchers to try nearly every restaurant around campus at least twice.

No colleges were fighting over Steven. He sat on top of a blue and white striped comforter with the college’s regal crest emblazoned on it. Connie’s drawers and wardrobe were filled with blue, a way for Gale to mark her as theirs. Even Steven wore a blue hoodie from her with the school’s name stamped to his chest, but he was not theirs. He was hers. All this blue crowding him was from a new phase of her life, one that involved him being two states away.

Throughout the room, the blue warred with the pink- with remnants from the past. On top of the Gale comforter was a throw pillow made from one of Steven’s old pink t-shirts. The gold star in the middle was more faded than he remembered when contrasted next to all the vibrant, new, blue items around it, including the stuffed poodle that rested on top of it.

Steven thought a poodle was a stupid mascot, and carefully rearranged the pillows on the bed so that the star was more prominent.

He looked for other pink things in the room. Connie’s sword was mounted above her bed, ready to grab at a moment’s notice, although she would probably never need to. He ran his hand along the artfully crafted hilt, a surge of confusing nostalgia settling in his chest, and felt pained when his fingers came away with dust on them. Was it normal to miss a time of war when people were constantly trying to abduct or kill you?

A massive pink shag rug covered most of the hard wood floor. Connie loved it the moment she saw it in the store because it reminded her of Lion’s mane.

Steven climbed down the ladder at the foot of the bed and wiggled his toes in the rug’s fibers. He wandered around, brushing the tops of the items that composed Connie’s small, new home with his fingertips. There was the noisemaker he got her for when the old pipes and creaky floors in the colonial dorm building were too creepy at night. He turned it on and found the sound of the ocean, hoping that one was her favorite.

There was the bar cart in the corner stashed with tea, mugs, and snacks. There were the tiny potted succulents and air plants in corners where more energy flow was needed. There was a hanging stack of organization cubes filled with linens, cleaning supplies, and toiletries. Then there was her desk, under the bed. That was the part of the room she wouldn’t let Steven touch, as she was more particular about her study area than anywhere else. The entire upper half of the wall under the bed was covered in cork board, which was scattered with pictures from their childhood pressed in by little star thumb-tacs, and interspersed by Connie’s fanart drawings, photos with her family, and with friends from school. Next to the picture board was a dry erase calendar, blank and crisp before being filled with responsibilities. By her desk there was a short bookshelf filled with all the fantasy novels she gushed over with him as a child, as well as new titles that were too technical for him to understand.

He was looking at some old, silly pictures of them when his eyes were drawn to the desk. Amongst the lamp, the laptop, and the new textbooks already tabbed and highlighted before the semester started, there was a mug of writing utensils with a familiar bracelet looped around a portion of them.

He lifted the small loop of pink plastic, held it under the lamp, and cupped it to his face, shielding out the light to try and make it glow once again. He knew the glowing properties had left it long ago, but for some reason he felt compelled to try, just as Connie had felt compelled to keep it even when its designed purpose was over with.

Steven had been doing a lot of work on himself the past few years, trying to not constantly feel aimless or abandoned, but as tears began to well up in his eyes, he couldn’t help but think he was backsliding. It was normal, his therapist had said, to feel sad about his best friend leaving for college. Was crying over an old glow bracelet normal, though? Was it one step away from spiraling out of control again like what happened back when he would glow pink at the slightest exacerbation of his insecurities?

Just the thought of going back to that stage of his life sent a jolt of anxiety through him, and he clutched the bracelet to his chest as he plopped in Connie’s desk chair with his knees pulled up under his chin.

“Steven?” Connie stood in the doorway, two bowls of steaming ramen noodles in her hands and worry on her face.

He must have been quite a sight, he thought to himself, tearing up and huddled in the corner over an old glow bracelet with calming ocean noises playing.

“Hey, Connie!” He wiped his face quickly before he looked up at her, “You didn’t have to make me anything!”

“It’s the least I could do for you making my room look like it belongs on a Mumblr aesthetic blog or whatever.”

She placed the bowls on her bar cart and trailed her hand down Steven’s arm until she was grasping the hand that held the bracelet. He was sure she’d noticed the red and the wetness in his eyes, but she didn’t mention it.

“You said you wanted to finish stuff in here. What were you working on?”

“Nothing,” he sighed, “It’s perfect. I guess I was just looking for something wrong with it so I could have something to fix. Sorry- you know that’s a thing I do.”

“I know,” she said, and booped his nose, “but at least you’re aware you were doing it. Now eat your ramen.”

Steven obediently took his bowl and slurped up the warm, wavy noodles. “You sure you can feel like this place is home?”

“You mean a place away from you?”

He nodded.

“Well, I know the twin bed is a little small, but you could always sleep in the Papasan. Just live here and we won’t tell anyone.”

“What if your dorm police find out?”

“Again, Steven, they’re called Resident Assistants. And if they come by you could just shapeshift into a cute emotional support cat or something.”

“Nope!”

“What?”

“I don’t do cat shapeshifting. No way.”

Connie laughed and slurped up another noodle so fast it splashed broth in between her eyes. It was second nature for Steven to wipe it off with his thumb without either of them missing a beat in the conversation.

“Ok, so the place is a little cramped for you to live in my dorm, but you could always live here in Blue Haven. If you wanted to.”

“What? And just leave everything back in Beach City?”

“I understand if you don’t want to, but all the coolest things you’re doing in Beach City you could also do here.”

She hid her face in her bowl and came back up with her cheeks red as she looked at him again.

Steven did have a lot going for him, even if college might not be his thing. He had a successful vlogging TubeTube channel. It was an eclectic mix of space adventures with Lars, pranks with Amethyst, original music and covers from animes, reaction videos, cooking tutorials, and music tutorials. He had no idea how he got almost 9 million subscribers, but it was enough to support himself easily without his dad’s help.

He was giving music lessons, which was a rewarding way to help people.

He even made emergency calls to the hospital when Dr. Maheswaran needed a spit healing, but they’d found out the hard way he couldn’t overdo that, and it wasn’t exactly a board-approved practice.

He couldn’t think of any reason he couldn’t do those things in the same town as Connie. Being in such a culturally vibrant college town could be good for connecting with other content creators.

“Also,” piped up Connie again, “you’re a space prince with a magic Lion who could easily warp you back for a visit once a week- or more if you got the right treats for him.”

“That’s true,” Steven said, “Lion only shows up when he wants to, though.”

“Well, I guess if you really need to you can just take your car like the rest of us lowly humans.” She winked at him.

“Heh, yeah. So, do you want me to move here?”

“I want you-” she stood up with her empty bowl and bent down to kiss his forehead, “-to do what you want to do. We’ll make it work either way. I’m sure this place will feel like home after a while, when I make some friends and get to know the campus.”

“Maybe,” he smiled at the idea, and plopped the rest of his ramen into his mouth, savoring the salty flavor.

“There’s no time to decide now about moving now,” said Connie, “because there’s something more important we have to do.”

“Hmm?”

“Boba?” She raised one eyebrow at him.

“Boba,” he agreed.

They strode out of the dorm, leaving Connie’s sword, instead ready to take on the world armed with bubble tea.

[sailorvinusmoved]

A thought came to me and I s2g you had rb'd a meme about sending in a scenario to make your muse feel loved (i am dumb and can't find it) but enjoy (from @maximuses ♡).

Also discord hates me lately but I DID read about Vi's cat and I'd die for her ♡

—

Their friendship had been an unexpected blessing in Michael's life. Something he didn't know, or rather would not admit to himself, that he needed. Someone who cared about him and didn't really expect anything out of him. It'd been decades it seemed since he felt that kind of way, even when surrounded by family and the friends they've made along the way.

So he wanted to return that favor. Somehow. Show Virote that he was grateful for everything and for their friendship. For the times Virote had snuck into his home and invited him out. Even if it almost gave Michael a heart attack on more than one occasion.

Michael found himself at the other's doorstep with a few treats in tow. He'd stopped by that one boba place he remembered Virote mentioning, grabbed some food, and even found himself buying a few goodies for Virote's cat. He'd heard plenty about her, but wasn't quite sure what she'd like. After all, the most Michael has done is feed the local strays. It was a little habit he'd picked up after the whole divorce, and he'd made a few feline friends that way. Hopefully Virote's little friend would like the sparkly collar and feathered toys.

When the door opened, Michael offered that signature and small smile of his.

"Hey Vi, I was in the area and thought I'd drop by. Hope you don't mind that I bought lunch."

✨ @maximuses. meme. still accepting!

He'd been distant for a few days. Sure, Virote answered his texts and he dialed up everyone's phone number. How are you? Good? I'm glad, but I have to go. I just called to see if you're well. That's about everything he said before hanging up. It was getting bad, again. This happened every now and then, like clockwork. When the depressive episodes crept in, they held him in a chokehold without much mercy spared; Vinewood didn't give a shit about that. Your emotional and mental health didn't matter in that jungle, no way.

Taking time for himself was important, but he still felt guilty that it meant he had to cut off communication from the outside world. Everything was too energy consuming. Had to get back to the basics. Get back to working out more, eat more fruit, read. Read books that sparked joy. It was time spent inward, having a moment of reflection with himself. Those days where he didn't feel the burn of studio lights were heaven-sent. All the things he could do with his downtime! Like practice smiling.

Smiling. Most people did it all the time without much of an issue. Virote watched people wander around Vespucci, grinning and smiling and laughing. The people in the business smiled, too. Insincere, dishonest, and attention-seeking. He was known for his own smile, being called one of the prettiest rising stars in Vinewood. Immaculate teeth! Brighter than a sunny day in the hills! Didn't feel like it, though. That's why he sat at his vanity, pulling up the corners of his mouth. Both index fingers on his lips, pulling back. Almost hurt.

God, he felt pathetic. Did he really forget a skill that important? It was part of his allure. Hell, even back in his old group, he was called the Thousand Watt Idol because of his smile. So... What happened?

Didn't have time to mull over that question. There was a knock on the door and he stood, throwing on his satin robe and shuffling downstairs, Kikimora following close behind in anticipation. Couldn't have been his manager, since she was out of town to attend a wedding. Didn't call for delivery, either. But, upon opening the door, he saw Michael standing there, bubble tea in hand and a few other items. The restaurant bag was one that he recognized without even thinking. It was from a little Cuban joint a few blocks down, one of the first places they went when they met. 

❝Wait... Did you bring me medianoche?❞ It was his favorite, the one thing he ordered every single time. His gaze fell to Kikimora, she was eagerly playing with Michael's shoe, pawing at it. Of course. Of course. She was a social little thing whenever she got the chance to interact with other folks. ❝And, you brought bubble tea! You remembered my order, huh?❞ Thai tea with almond jelly, light on the tapioca pearls. Of course Michael would remember it. Virote never shut up about drinking five cups whenever he was working.

The food, the drink, the little trinkets for his cat. That was the first time he was able to smile without bursting in tears. It’d been days and days and days, but Virote was finally able to manage a genuine smile. It was a tired expression, sure. His eyes didn’t betray how bogged down he felt. He was always exhausted. It felt nice, though. Happiness! A burden unloaded! ❝You didn't even tell me you were coming over! Jeeeeerk. I look like shit.❞ He hugged him, anyway. 

Then, taking a step back, he motioned for the other to come inside. ❝Thank you... Come in. We have some catching up to do. I don’t think Kiki’s gonna let you leave, so you might as well get comfy. Wanna see this script I was sent? It’s... Bad. I almost scream-laughed when I read it, so I’ll give you a dramatic reading without trying to die. But, before that, tell me about what you’ve been doing. Staying out of trouble, I’m hoping.❞ This was more like it. He missed Michael above anything else.

[shego1142]

Unpopular Opinion:

Stop food shaming. Food policing. Just… quit it. Please.

Okay, I’ve been wanting to make this post since forever.

Long before the internet became obsessed with pineapple on pizza or what utensils you use to eat Mac and Cheese.

So obviously my want for this post has only increased.

And yea, I get that those are jokes. But also.. they aren’t?

They’ve literally reached a point to be considered bullying, and it’s excused because it’s a meme™.

Idk I just get really physically disgusted at food shaming. Especially when it’s older people telling younger teens or even kids what they can and can’t eat or how they can or can’t eat it.

I mean, years and years ago, back when I didn’t have the right words, I wanted to make a post like this based on a post I saw where people,

mostly 20+ yo’s,

were mocking and seriously bullying a young girl (12, 13?) for eating boba (tapioca pearls) without putting it in tea or anything.

Like they were calling her slurs, saying she was racist and ‘just another dumb weeb’, etc..

It was totally unnecessary. She was a fucking kid.

Also, like… I eat boba that way…sometimes I just don’t have the spoons to make tea

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Hell if you eat tapioca pudding you’re basically doing the same thing…

Of course, if the other person knows you’re joking and it’s just a meme™ then it’s not so bad…

But when you’re on the vastness of the Internet and some kid (or some adult) is desperately clinging to their favourite food,

while adults constantly reply to them saying that their fave food is gross, the way they eat it is wrong, they’re wrong for liking it, etc

That’s when it becomes bullying.

And I’ve seen that. Literally seen it on twitter.

I’ve experienced it too, actually.

Back in elementary school I liked to add chocolate milk to my pudding pack to make it smoother and sweeter and everything, right?

And if it was vanilla pudding I then had chocolate pudding which was cool.

I mean it makes sense even to this day and I was like 6.

But literally everyone in class mocked me for it.

Said it was disgusting, said it looked like poop, said I was gross for liking it.

And that happened every single day. Regardless of if I even had pudding, someone would bring it up.

It made it hard for me to eat tbh. I stopped eating pudding entirely.

I was hyper aware at lunch time, I just couldn’t do anything different because someone would pick up on it.

Someone would notice and tell everyone and that’d be just another thing to pick on me for.

I don’t know if I even realised at the time how much that disrupted my meals…

And by the time I had forgotten to 'not do weird things’ I was in a different grade in a different class with different peers.

I did something else weird (I mashed up my English peas bc I was a smol Autistic who didn’t like the texture of peas whole)

and they were back at it again. Different people saying much the same things.

And it wasn’t a joke back then.

And it’s all the same now. Whether it’s pineapple on pizza, cold pizza in milk, mustard and cheese sandwhiches, soy sauce on white rice, ketchup on bread, it’s all the same.

It’s ableist. It’s elitist. Pretentious.

It’s bullying. It’s abuse.

And I know it’s not going to stop.

Me venting about it won’t stop it, because it’s 'funny’

But idk… I needed to vent about it.

Because I’m sure there are other peeps out there who feel the same…

I just want peeps to know that on this blog I don’t give a fuck what type of food you eat or how you eat it.

I just want the recipie, lol.

But seriously, I’m not saying the joke is horrible. I know it’s a joke.

It’s mkay if you find it funny, as long as everyone involved knows it’s a joke.

I’m saying there are a lot of people out there taking it way too far. Farther than it was meant to be taken.

It’s gone from joking about food preferences to policing the way people eat.

And there’s already so much of that in society with diet culture alone.

We really don’t need memes telling us how to eat too, do we?

I hope this makes sense and doesn’t sound too negative or whatever.

I just feel pretty strongly about shit like this, you know?